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diff --git a/41726-8.txt b/41726-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1d0d692..0000000 --- a/41726-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3134 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Narcissus, by Unknown - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Narcissus - A Twelfe Night Merriment - -Author: Unknown - -Editor: Margaret Lee - -Release Date: January 5, 2013 [EBook #41726] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NARCISSUS *** - - - - -Produced by Irma Spehar, Eleni Christofaki and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - - - - - - - - -Transcriber's note - -Variable, archaic or unusual spelling and punctuation have been retained -apart from minor punctuation inconsistencies which have been silently -corrected. A list of other changes made can be found at the end of the -book. Line numbers and sidenotes are placed within [square brackets]. - -For this text version, text in superscript is placed within curly -brackets preceded by a carat character like ^{this}. Diacritical marks -that cannot be represented in plain text are shown in the following -manner: - - [=a] a with macron - Ligature [oe] is encoded as oe. - - Mark up: _italics_ - - - - -The Tudor Library. - -NARCISSUS, A TWELFE NIGHT MERRIMENT. - - - - -_Five hundred copies of this Edition are printed._ - - - - - A TWELFE NIGHT MERRIMENT. - - ANNO 1602. - - - - - NARCISSUS - - A TWELFE NIGHT MERRIMENT - - PLAYED BY YOUTHS OF THE PARISH - - AT - - THE COLLEGE OF S. JOHN THE BAPTIST IN OXFORD, A.D. 1602 - - WITH APPENDIX - - [Illustration] - - NOW FIRST EDITED FROM A BODLEIAN MS. - - BY - - MARGARET L. LEE - OF S. HUGH'S HALL, OXFORD - - - [Illustration] - - - LONDON - - PUBLISHED BY DAVID NUTT IN THE STRAND - - MDCCCXCIII - - - - -CHISWICK PRESS:--C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, -LONDON. - - - - -INTERLOQUUTORES. - - 1. TYRESIAS. - 2. CEPHISUS. - 3. NARCISSUS. - 4. DORASTUS. - 5. CLINIAS. - 6. ECCHO. - 7. LYRIOPE. - 8. FLORIDA. - 9. CLOIS. - 10. THE WELL. - 11. PORTER. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -IN editing the hitherto unpublished play of _Narcissus_, together with -the three speeches and the letter composed for Francis Clarke, porter of -S. John's, I have retained throughout the very irregular spelling of the -MS. The punctuation and use of capital letters have, however, been -modernized, the contractions employed for _the_, _which_, _with_, -_what_, and certain prefixes, expanded, and a few obviously scribal -errors corrected in the text, the notes supplying in every such case the -original MS. reading. - -In bringing to its conclusion a work which now seems even less -satisfactorily performed than I once hoped it might be, there is at -least a pleasure in recording thanks to all those who have interested -themselves on my behalf, and aided me with suggestions and criticisms, -or--as in the case of the editors of the _N. E. D._--with valuable -references. Indeed, were it not for the direct and indirect help of -friends--and amongst those who have given me the former I must make -special and grateful mention of Professor Ker, Professor Napier, and Mr. -Madan--_Narcissus_ would have been left to find a worthier editor. - - 26, WARRINGTON CRESCENT, - MAIDA HILL. - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -SECTION I. NARCISSUS. - -THIS play, which for want of a ready-made title I have called -_Narcissus_, dates from a period of peculiar interest in the history of -that class of dramatic composition to which it belongs. - -So vast a phenomenon as the rise and fall of the complete English drama -could not but be attended by widely-spread symptoms of the popular love -for stage representation; a tendency which, though it would never have -produced a Shaksperian tragedy, yet alone rendered possible the work of -a Shakspere. These lesser manifestations of the feeling that pervaded -Elizabethan England may be compared to the small fissures on the side of -a volcano, through which the same lava as fills the molten crater -emanates in slender and perhaps hardly perceptible channels. It may -chance that the activity of these side-streams presages the final -eruption at the summit; yet afterwards they are scarcely noticed, and -their effects are too puny to attract attention. So it is with the -abortive forms of drama, heralding, accompanying, and in some cases -outliving, the culmination of English dramatic art under Shakspere. They -are not, as a rule, the product of those great intellects which helped -in the rearing of the main structure; but rather of such lesser writers -as were either possessed by the dramatic spirit while ignorant of the -formative and restraining rules of art, or else imbued with a desire to -follow those rules, as they had been drawn up by Aristotle and Horace -and exemplified in French and Italian literature, whilst themselves -wanting in originality, and oblivious of the superiority of a native -growth over the best of importations. The latter class of would-be -English dramatists, in especial, found a natural field for action -amongst the scholarly societies which constituted a mediæval university. -Though as early as 1584 and 1593 statutes are found enacting that no -players shall perform within five miles of Oxford, it must be remembered -that these refer to professional, not to academical actors, and that the -regulations controlling the former were of much greater stringency than -those which concerned the latter. - -Nor were plays imitated from Greek and Latin writers the only ones to be -performed by undergraduates and others before select audiences in the -college halls. Youthful players would probably demand the introduction -of something more or less witty; and the fact that theatrical -representations generally took place on the occasion of a royal visit, -or at times of special rejoicing, accounts in some degree for the -casting aside of the strictly classical models, and the employment of -masques, or of such looser forms of comedy as were the outcome of -Heywood's _Interludes_, into either of which contemporary allusions and -jests could be readily introduced. Nevertheless, the majority of such -pieces continued to deal with subjects taken from Roman and Greek -mythology, the various anachronisms and absurdities which arose from -this method of treatment only contributing to heighten the amusement of -the spectators. - -I have already implied that _Narcissus_ belongs to the class of -University plays, inasmuch as it was acted at S. John's College, Oxford, -on Twelfth Night, 1602. It does not, however, approximate in any way to -the classical form of comedy; it is rather to be regarded as a Christmas -piece, an imitation of the Yule-tide mummeries acted by disguised -villagers or townsfolk at the houses of such wealthier persons as would -afford them hospitality. - -The following list of Oxford plays--compiled, with additions, from W. L. -Courtney's article in _Notes and Queries_ for December 11th, 1886, and -W. Carew Hazlitt's _Manual of English Plays_--may be of interest, as -showing the frequency of dramatic entertainments at the various colleges -between 1547 and the Restoration. The dates appended are in most cases -those of presentation; but when these are either unknown, or impossible -to distinguish from dates of entry at Stationers' Hall, I have -substituted the latter. - - 1547. _Archipropheta_, sive _Joannes Baptista_, by Nicholas Grimald, - in Ch. Ch. Hall. - - 1566. _Marcus Geminus_, by (?) in Ch. Ch. Hall. - - 1566. _Palæmon and Arcyte_, by Richard Edwards, in Ch. Ch. Hall. - - 1566. _Ariosto_, by Geo. Gascoigne, at Trin. Coll. - - 1566. _Progne_, by Dr. James Calfhill, in Ch. Ch. Hall. - - ? 1580. _Ulysses Redux_, by William Gager, in Ch. Ch. Hall. - - 1581. _Meleager_, by William Gager, in Ch. Ch. Hall. - - 1582. _Supposes_, translated from Ariosto, by Geo. Gascoigne, at - Trin. Coll. - - 1582. _Julius Cæsar_, by Dr. Geddes, in Ch. Ch. Hall. - - 1583. _Rivales_, by William Gager, in Ch. Ch. Hall. - - 1583. _Dido_, by William Gager, in Ch. Ch. Hall. - - ? _Tancred_, by H. Wotton, at Queen's Coll. - - ? _Kermophus_, by George Wild (?) at (?) - - 1591. _Kynes Redux_, by William Gager, in Ch. Ch. Hall. - - 1592. _Bellum Grammaticale_, sive _Nominum Verborumque Discordia - Civilis_, by (?) at Ch. Ch. - - ? 1602. _Hamlet_, by W. Shakspere, at (?). - - 1602. _Narcissus_, by (?) at S. John's College. - - 1605. _Ajax Flagellifer_, by (?) at (?). - - 1605. _Alba_, by (?) in Ch. Ch. Hall. - - 1605. _Vertumnus_, sive, _Annus Recurrens Oxonii_, by Dr. Matthew - Gwinne, in Ch. Ch. Hall. - - 1606. _The Queen's Arcadia_, by Samuel Daniel, in Ch. Ch. Hall. - - 1607. _Cæsar and Pompey_, by (?) at Trin. Coll. - - 1607. _The Christmas Prince_, by divers hands, at S. John's Coll. - - 1608. _Yule-tide_, by (?) at Ch. Ch. - - 1614. _Spurius_, by Peter Heylin, at Hart Hall. - - 1617. _Technogamia_, by Barten Holiday, at Ch. Ch. - - 1617-8. _Philosophaster_, by R. Burton, at Ch. Ch. - - 1631. _The Raging Turk_, by Thomas Goffe, at Ch. Ch. - - 1632. _The Courageous Turk_, by Thomas Goffe, at Ch. Ch. - - 1633. _Fuimus Troes_, by Dr. Jasper Fisher, at Magd. Coll. - - 1633. _Orestes_, by Thomas Goffe, at Ch. Ch. - - ? 1634. _The Sophister_, by R. Zouch, at (?). - - 1634-5. _Euphormus_, sive, _Cupido Adultus_, by Geo. Wilde, at S. John's - Coll. - - 1636. _Stonehenge_, by John Speed, at S. John's Coll. - - 1636. _The floating Island_, by William Strode, at Ch. Ch. - - 1636. _Love's Hospital_ (or, _The Hospital of Lovers_), by Geo. Wilde, - at S. John's Coll. - - 1636. _The Royal Slave_, by William Cartwright, at Ch. Ch. - - 1637. _The Converted Robber_, by Geo. Wilde, at S. John's College. - - ? 1640. _Pharamus_, sive, _Libido Vindex_ (also published under the - title of _Thibaldus_, sive _Vindictæ Ingenium_), by Thomas - Snelling, at (?). - - 1648. _Stoicus Vapulans_, by (?) at S. John's Coll. - - 1648. _Amorous War_, by Jasper Maine, D.D., at (?). - - ? _The Scholar_, by Richard Lovelace, at Gloucester Hall. - (Prologue and Epilogue appear in _Lucasta_, 1649.) - - 1651. _The Lady Errant_, by William Cartwright, at (?). - - 1653. _The Inconstant Lady_, by Arthur Wilson, at Trin. Coll. (?) - - 1654. _The Combat of Love and Friendship_, by Robt. Mead, at Ch. Ch. - - 1660. _The Christmas Ordinary_, by W. R., M.A., at Trin. Coll. - - 1660. _The Guardian_, by (?) at "new dancing-school against S. - Michael's Church." (Wood, iii. 705.) - - 1663. _Flora's Vagaries_, by Richard Rhodes, at Ch. Ch. - -This catalogue does not, of course, pretend to be exhaustive. An -examination of the various college archives would doubtless afford -further material. There exists, for instance, the record of performances -at Merton; cf. G. C. Brodrick's _Memorials of Merton College_ (Oxford -Hist. Soc., 1885), p. 67: "In January and February, 1566-7, two dramatic -performances were given in the Warden's lodgings by members of the -foundation ... the one being an English comedy, and the other Terence's -_Eunuchus_.... Again, in 1568, a play of Plautus was acted in the hall." - -It will be seen that of the above-mentioned plays six, besides -_Narcissus_, were performed at the College of S. John the Baptist, the -first recorded being the _Christmas Prince_ in 1607, the succeeding ones -taking place after an interval of twenty-six years; and to these we -should very probably add _Pharamus_, the writer of which, Thomas -Snelling, "became Scholar of S. John's in 1633, aged 19, and afterwards -fellow ... and was esteemed an excellent Latin poet." (Wood, _Ath. Ox._, -vol. iii., p. 275.) - -A passage from Wake's _Rex Platonicus_ (ed. 1, p. 18) is also worthy of -note in this connection: "Quorum primos jam ordines dum principes -contemplantur, primisque congratulantium acclamationibus delectantur, -Collegium Diui Iohannis, nobile literarum domicilium (quod Dominus -Thomas Whitus Prætor olim Londinensis, opimis reditibus locupletârat) -faciles eorum oculos speciosæ structuræ adblanditione invitat; moxque et -oculos & aures detinet ingeniosâ nec injucundâ lusiunculâ quâ -clarissimus præses cum quinquaginta, quos alit Collegium studiosis, -magnaque studentium conuiventium cateruâ prodeuns, principes in transitu -salutandos censuit. - -"Fabulæ ansam dedit antiqua de Regia prosapia historiola apud -Scoto-Britannos celebrata, quæ narrat tres olim Sibyllas occurrisse -duobus Scotiæ proceribus Macbetho & Banchoni, & illum prædixisse Regem -futurum, sed Regem nullum geniturum, hunc Regem non futurum, sed Reges -geniturum multos. Vaticinii veritatem rerum eventus comprobavit: -Banchonis enim è stirpe Potentissimus Iacobus oriundus. Tres -adolescentes concinno Sibyllarum habitu induti, è Collegio prodeuntes, & -carmina lepida alternatim canentes, Regi se tres esse illas Sibyllas -profitentur, quæ Banchoni olim Sobolis imperia prædixerant, jamque -iterum comparere, vt eâdem vaticinij veritate prædicerent Iacobo, se -iam, & diu regem futurum Britanniæ felicissimum & multorum Regum -parentem, vt ex Banchonis stirpe nunquam sit hæres Britannico diademati -defuturus. Deinde tribus Principibus suaves felicitatum triplicitates -triplicatis carminum vicibus succinentes veniamque precantes, quòd -alumni ædium Divi Iohannis (qui præcursor Christi) alumnos Ædis Christi -(quo tum Rex tendebat) præcursoriâ hâc salutatione antevertissent, -Principes ingeniosâ fictiunculâ delectatos dimittunt; quos inde vniversa -astantium multitudo, felici prædictionum successui suffragans, votis -precibusque ad portam vsque civitatis Borealem prosequitur." - - * * * * * - -The _Christmas Prince_ is, properly speaking, not a single play, but a -collection of performances consequent on the revival of the old custom, -left in abeyance since 1577, of choosing a prince, or master of the -revels, who should exercise undisputed authority during the festive -season, and in whose honour the company at large should indulge freely -in various sorts of pastimes. The account given of this revival, in -1607, seems to imply that there had been of late years no Christmas -festivities at S. John's. In 1602 the college porter, pleading for the -admission of players on Twelfth Night, could say: - - "Christmas is now at the point to bee past; - 'Tis giving vp the ghost and this is the last; - And shall it passe thus without life or cheere? - This hath not beene seene this many a yeere." - -Without laying too much stress upon a single allusion, it is safe to -assert that the discovery of the comedy of _Narcissus_, played five -years earlier than the performances of which an account is given in the -_Christmas Prince_, must be of considerable interest in the history of -S. John's, and indeed in that of Oxford play-acting generally. - -The MS. containing this comedy is one of the Rawlinson collection, now -in the possession of the Bodleian Library. The volume, which is 5½ × 4 -inches in size, with 156 leaves, appears to have been the commonplace -book of an Oxford man. It contains a variety of English poems and prose -pieces, written at the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the -seventeenth century; amongst them several pages of extracts from the -essays of Bacon and of his less-known contemporary Robert Johnson. Sir -H. Wotton's poem, "How happy is he borne or taught," also finds a place -in the collection. But the majority of the contents are of small -literary value, and, so far as I am aware, have never been published. -Perhaps the most interesting pieces in the volume are certain "English -Epigrammes much like Buckminster's Almanacke ... calculated by John -Davis of Grayes Inne ... 1594" of the character of which the following -lines, occurring early in the series, may give some idea. - - -_Of a Gull._ - - "Oft in my laughinge rimes I name a gull, - But this new tearme will many questions breed, - Therefore at first I will describe at full - Who is a true & perfect gull indeede. - - "A gull is hee that weares a velvett gowne, - And when a wench is brave dare not speake to her; - A gull is hee that traverseth the towne, - And is for marriage knowne a common wooer. - - "A gull is hee that, when he proudly weares - A silver hilted rapier by his side, - Endures the lye and knocks about the eares, - Whilst in his sheath his sleepinge sword doth bide. - - "A gull is hee that hath good handsome cloaths, - And stands in presence stroking vpp his haire, - And fills vpp his imperfecte speech with oathes, - But speaks not one wise woord throughout the yeere. - But, to define a gull in tearms precise, - A gull is hee that seemes, and is not, wise." - -That the play now under consideration is the work of some member or -members of the college of S. John's there can be no doubt. It is, as the -Prologue affirms, "Ovid's owne Narcissus," _i.e._, the story of -Narcissus as told in the third book of the _Metamorphoses_, which forms -the basis of the plot; and the resemblance to the Latin is in parts so -close as necessarily to imply a knowledge of that language on the part -of the writer. There is, indeed, one passage of literal and yet graceful -translation (see ll. 494-505) which especially betokens a scholarly -hand. - -But it has been already hinted that the chief interest of the comedy -lies in another direction. The arrangement and methods are those of the -rough-and-ready English stage of the period; and as in the Pyramus and -Thisbe interlude of the _Midsummer Night's Dream_, and the Nine Worthies -of _Love's Labour's Lost_, the writer imitates and ridicules that naïve -realism which appertained to native comedy in its rude embryonic forms. -The absurdities with which the _Narcissus_ abounds are obviously -intentional; it is, in fact, a burlesque, not skilful nor humorous -enough to take its place beside the immortal parodies of Shakspere, -which in aim and scope it resembles, but a good average specimen of its -class, doubtless provocative of intense delight in the minds of a -contemporary audience. It is, of course, with a view to heightening the -reality of the effect that the Porter is made to plead on behalf of -certain "youths of the parish," who are waiting, armed with their -wassail-bowl, for admittance into the hall, and who, besides a song, -have "some other sporte too out of dowbt" for the delectation of the -assembled guests. Then follows, first the song, and afterwards an -altercation in prose between the Porter and the Players, who assume an -air of bashfulness when called upon to exercise their dramatic talent. -Finally, the Prologue enters, and the play is begun; the general -smoothness of the versification standing out in contrast to the -intentional doggerel of the Porter's introductory speech and epilogue. - -The mention of "youths of the parish" is probably not serious; but as an -allusion to a real play of the kind here imitated, the following extract -from the _Christmas Prince_ (ed. 1816, p. 25) may be of interest: "S. -Steevens day was past over in silence, and so had S. John's day also; -butt that some of the princes honest neighbours of S. Giles presented -him with a maske or morris, which though it were but rudely performed, -yet itt being so freely & lovingly profered it could not but bee as -lovingly received." - - * * * * * - -I shall now pass on to the consideration of the play itself, and, first, -of the characters which make up the list of _dramatis personæ_. Five of -these, namely, Tiresias, Cephisus, Narcissus, Echo, and Liriope, appear -in the story of Narcissus as told by Ovid. Cephisus, son of Pontus and -Thalassa, and divinity of the river whence he derives his name, is the -father of the hero; the nymph Liriope is his mother. Tiresias, the blind -prophet of Thebes, and Echo, the unhappy victim of the anger of Juno and -the contempt of Narcissus, are well-known figures in classical -mythology. Neither Dorastus and Clinias, who attend Narcissus as -youthful friends, nor Florida and Clois, nymphs enamoured of his beauty, -have any actual counterparts in the _Metamorphoses_. - -Most curious and interesting is the inclusion of "The Well" in the list -of characters. We have here no mere stage property, or piece of scenery, -but an actual personification of an inanimate object, closely resembling -that of Wall and Moonshine in Peter Quince's company. Just as Moonshine -carries a lantern to represent more vividly the actual moon, so the -personage called The Well aids the imagination of his audience by the -visible sign of a water-bucket. The fact of his being enumerated amongst -the _dramatis personæ_ shows that the part was played by a separate -artist, and not doubled with that of any other character. Of the Porter, -Francis, more will be said in Section II. - - * * * * * - -The play of _Narcissus_, though it can boast of no artificial divisions, -falls naturally into twelve different portions, which for want of a -better term I will call scenes. Whilst using this word it is necessary -to bear in mind that no change of _scenery_ is implied, and probably -none was intended. - -_Scene I._ reveals Cephisus, Liriope, and Narcissus, awaiting the -prophet Tiresias. It consists of 132 lines, amplified from _Met._ iii. -341, 346-348: - - "Prima fide vocisque ratæ tentamina sumsit - Cærula Liriope ... - ... De quo consultus, an esset - Tempora maturæ visurus longa senectæ - Fatidicus vates--'Si se non viderit' inquit." - -The introduction of Cephisus, the conversation between Narcissus and his -parents, the telling of the youth's fate _by the aid of chiromancy_, and -Liriope's scornful comment on the prophecy, are the materials used by -the English writer to form an effective scene. - -_Scene II._ is wholly an interpolation. Dorastus and Clinias also try -their fate with Tiresias; he prophesies their early death, and they jest -upon the subject. - -_Scene III._, in which Dorastus and Clinias flatter Narcissus for his -beauty, has no counterpart in Ovid. Probably, however, it was suggested -by _Met._ iii. 353-355: - - "Multi illum juvenes, multæ cupiere puellæ; - Sed fuit in tenera tam dira superbia forma; - Nulli illum juvenes, nullæ tetigere puellæ." - -_Scene IV._ pursues a like theme; the nymphs Florida and Clois are in -their turn repulsed by the scornful youth, and relate their woes to -Dorastus and Clinias. - -The hint for this is given in _Met._ iii. 402: - - "Sic hanc, sic alias undis aut montibus ortas - Luserat hic Nymphas." - -And likewise the suggestion of Florida's revengeful wish: - - "Inde manus aliquis despectus ad æthera tollens - 'Sic amet ipse licet, sic non potiatur amato!' - Dixerat." - -_Scene V._ Echo enters, and gives an account of herself, amplified--with -a very free use of the English vernacular--from _Met._ iii. 356-368. - -_Scene VI._, which has no counterpart in Ovid, consists of a spirited -hunting-song in five stanzas, sung (presumably) while Narcissus, -Dorastus, and Clinias chase a supposed hare over the stage. - -_Scene VII._ introduces the "one with a bucket," _i.e._, The Well. The -first twelve lines of his speech are a literal and smoothly-versified -translation of _Met._ iii. 407-412. In Ovid, however, this description -of the well comes after the conversation between Echo and Narcissus, and -the account proceeds at once (l. 413) with: - - "Hic puer, et studio venandi lassus et æstu, - Procubuit." - -It is doubtful why the English writer should have preferred to introduce -the Well thus early. With Ovid's lines may be compared those in the -translation of the _Romaunt of the Rose_ attributed to Chaucer: - - "----Springyng in a marble stone, - Had nature set the sothe to tel - Under that pyne tree a wel. - - * * * * * - - Aboute it is grasse springyng - For moyste so thycke and wel lykyng, - That it ne may in wynter dye - No more than may the see be drye. - - * * * * * - - For of the welle this is the syne, - In worlde is none so clere of hewe, - The water is euer fresshe and newe - That welmeth vp with wawes bright." - -_Scene VIII._ consists of a dialogue between Dorastus and Echo. - -_Scene IX._ continues the same theme, Clinias being substituted for -Dorastus. Both these scenes are interpolations, introduced evidently for -the amusement of the audience rather than for any bearing on the main -plot. - -_Scene X._ Here Narcissus delivers himself of a soliloquy, suggested by -_Met._ iii. 479: - - "Forte puer, comitum seductus et agmine fido, - Dixerat"-- - -He is answered by Echo, who wishes to proffer him her affection. The -conversation, gathered from Ovid, runs as follows: - - "Ecquis adest? - Adest. - Veni! - Veni! - Quid me fugis? - Quid me fugis? - Huc Coëamus! - Coeämus!" - -This, with various amplifications, is followed in ll. 602-630 of the -_Narcissus_. - -Here, however, there is no reproduction of Ovid's account: - - "Et verbis favet ipsa suis, egressaque silvis - Ibat, ut injiceret sperato brachia collo. - Ille fugit, fugiensque manus complexibus aufert." - -which leads on to and explains the next speech of Narcissus: - - "'Ante' ait 'emoriar, quam sit tibi copia nostri.'" - -rendered in the English by: - - "Let mee dye first ere thou meddle with mee." - -This terminates the interview; Echo does not seem to make any appearance -on the stage. The few lines which, in Ovid, describe the effect of her -hopeless love, are partly followed in ll. 740-747 of the English play. - -_Scene XI._ Dorastus and Clinias abuse, fight with, and finally kill -each other. - -_Scene XII._ Narcissus enters, _fleeing from Echo_ (a connecting touch -not found in Ovid). His speech, on discovering the well, is a mixture of -the description of his transports in the _Metamorphoses_, and of the -soliloquy there attributed to him. ll. 697-707 of the _Narcissus_ -correspond word for word to _Met._ iii. 442-450. - -It is remarkable that the use of the name of the goddess of corn instead -of bread itself ("Cereris," l. 437) should have suggested to the English -writer a similar metaphorical use of the names of Morpheus and Bacchus. -Another small point worthy of note is the introduction of a jest into -the midst of this mournful scene; Ovid's: - - "Et, quantum motu formosi suspicor oris, - Verba refers aures non pervenientia nostras" - -being irreverently rendered by: - - "And by thy lippes moving, well I doe suppose - Woordes thou dost speake, may well come to our nose; - For to oure eares I am sure they never passe." - -Ovid's Narcissus discovers his own identity with the vision (_Met._ iii. -463), which the English version ignores; while, on the other hand, the -prophecy of ll. 730-731: - - "I, which whilome was - The flower of youth, shalbee made flower againe" - -finds no counterpart in Ovid. - -Many of the reflections and entreaties ascribed to Narcissus in the -Latin version are omitted in the English; neither is there any mention -of the beating of the breast (_Met._ iii. 480-485). The final -conversation with Echo is given thus by Ovid: - - Eheu! - Eheu! - Heu frustra dilecte puer! - Heu frustra dilecte puer! - Vale! - Vale! - -The English writer somewhat amplifies this, Echo being always a -favourite stage-character. The rising up of Narcissus after death is an -English expedient; so is Echo's return to give a final account of -herself, the matter of which is suggested, as has been said, by _Met._ -iii. 393-401. - -So much for the classical basis of the play; it remains to notice -briefly the points in which it resembles an English comedy, or shows -traces of the influence of other English writers. Most remarkable in the -latter connection is the frequent coincidence of expressions between the -_Narcissus_ and Shakspere's _Henry IV._ (Part 1.). Amongst these are the -following: - - L. 78. Ladds of metall. Cf. 1 _Henry IV._, ii. 4, 13. - 80. No vertue extant " ii. 4, 132. - 111. I tickle (them) for " ii. 4, 489. - 422. Never ioyd (it) since " ii. 1, 13. - 575. Kee (= quoth) pickpurse " ii. 1, 53. - 734. (My) grandam earth " iii. 1, 34. - -See also the notes on ll. 282, 396, and 683. - -As _Henry IV._ was entered at Stationers' Hall February 25th, 1597, and -the first quarto appeared in 1598, it is quite possible that these may -be direct borrowings on the part of the writer of the _Narcissus_. - -A common trick of English burlesque at this time (cf. _Midsummer Night's -Dream_, v. 1, 337, etc.) was the inversion of epithets, producing -nonsensical combinations; an expedient which, if we condemn it as poor -wit, we must at least allow to fall under the definition of humour as -"the unexpected." A good example of this occurs in ll. 360, 361: - - "So cruell as the huge camelion, - Nor yet so changing as small elephant." - -And another in ll. 677, 678: - - "But oh, remaine, and let thy christall lippe - No more of this same cherrye water sippe." - -Sarcastic allusions are also not wanting; see, for instance, the -cheerful inducement held out to Narcissus: - - "As true as Helen was to Menela, - So true to you will bee thy Florida." - -And cf. the notes on ll. 337, 342. - -There are several facetious mistakes in the forms of words, such as -_spoone_ for moon (l. 350), _Late-mouse_ for Latmus (l. 279), and -_Davis_ for Davus (l. 400); of which the first recalls Ancient Pistol's -"Cannibals" (2 _Henry IV._ ii. 4, 180), or the contrary slip in _Every -Man in his Humour_, iii. 4, 53, and the two latter, Bottom's "Shafalus" -and "Procrus," and the blunders of Costard. - -The naïve devices by which the players seem to have made up for some -paucity of accoutrements and stage appliances, and their direct appeals -to the intelligence of the audience to excuse all defects, are highly -edifying. There is, as I have before remarked, no indication of any -scenery; and the only characters whom we know to have worn a special -dress are Tiresias and Liriope. The prophets of classical history were -often converted into bishops by English writers; so, for example, -Helenus, son of Priam, in the fourteenth century alliterative _Gest -Hystoriale of Troy_. This is why Tiresias wears a bishop's rochet. It is -unfortunate that the collection of robes now in the possession of St. -John's College does not include a garment of this description. - -Liriope has a symbolical costume, which she very carefully interprets to -Narcissus: - - "And I thy mother nimphe, as may bee seene - By coulours that I weare, blew, white, and greene; - For nimphes ar of the sea, and sea is right - Of coulour truly greene and blew and white. - Would you knowe how, I pray? Billowes are blew, - Water is greene, and foome is white of hue." - -Cephisus is content to carry the emblems of his origin, which he -emphasizes at the same time by representative action: - - "Thy father I, Cephisus, that brave river - Who is all water, doe like water shiver. - As any man of iudgment may descrye - By face, hands washt, and bowle, thy father I." - -In the same way Narcissus, rising up after his supposed death, bears a -daffodil as a sign of his metamorphosis, addressing the audience after a -manner more brusque than polite: - - "If you take mee for Narcissus y'are very sillye, - I desire you to take mee for a daffa downe dillye; - For so I rose, and so I am in trothe, - As may appeare by the flower in my mouthe." - -Echo gives her reasons somewhat confidentially: - - "But ho, the hobby horse, youle think't absurde - That I should of my selfe once speake a woord. - 'Tis true; but lett your wisdomes tell me than, - How'de you know Eccho from another man?" - -And at the conclusion of the play she kindly directs the imagination of -the spectators into the right channel: - - "Now auditors of intelligence quicke, - I pray you suppose that Eccho is sicke"---- - -and craves their applause by a skilful ruse. - -Tiresias makes his exit at an early stage in the play, addressing -congratulations to himself: - - "Goe, thou hast done, Tyresias; bidd adieu; - Thy part is well plaid and thy wordes are true." - -As a last instance of this naïve custom, Florida's words at the end of -the short part assigned to herself and Clois may be cited: - - "Looke you for maids no more, our parte is done, - Wee come but to be scornd, and so are gone." - -Both the songs contained in the play have a considerable amount of -vivacity and vigour, though they fall short of actual lyrical beauty. -The first and longer of the two is a drinking-song with a refrain of -eight lines, written in a lively and irregular, but not ill-handled -metre; the second, a hunting-song of five stanzas, with the chorus -"Yolp" in imitation of the cry of the dogs. Besides these, which may -very possibly have been in existence before the play was written, the -effusion of Dorastus on meeting Narcissus ("Cracke eye strings cracke," -l. 305) is lyrical in character. - -Taken as a whole, it will be seen that the comedy of _Narcissus_ is -rather interesting for its quaintness, its humour, and its apparent -borrowings from, and undoubted resemblances to, Shakspere, than for any -intrinsic literary value. In spite of this, I cannot but hope that those -who now study it for the first time, though they may have "seene a -farre better play at the theater," will not find reason to condemn it as -wholly dull and unprofitable. - - -SECTION II. - -It only remains to say a few words with regard to the four pieces which -I have included in the present volume. - -These occur in the same MS. as the _Narcissus_, and taken with it appear -to form a united group, by virtue of their common connection with S. -John's College. It is true that the Porter who acts so prominent a part -in the admission of the supposed players reveals to us only his -Christian name, Frances (see last line of Epilogue), but it is hardly -possible to doubt his identity with the Francke (or Francis) Clarke, the -porter of S. John's, to whom the remarkable productions above-mentioned -are attributed. After several vain attempts to discover the record of -this man's tenure of office, I have chanced upon his name in Mr. A. -Clark's _Register of the University of Oxford_, vol. ii. (1571-1622), -pt. 1, p. 398, where it occurs in the list of "personæ privilegiatæ," a -term including, in its widest sense, all persons who enjoyed the -immunities conferred by charter on the corporation of the University, -but technically used to describe certain classes to whom these -immunities were granted by special favour; as, for example, the college -servants, of whom the manciple, cook, and porter or janitor, were -amongst the chief. - -The entry is as follows: - - "8 May 1601, S. Jo., Clark, Francis; Worc., pleb. f., 24; 'janitor.'" - -From this we gather that Francis Clark had not been long appointed to -his office; that he was twenty-four years of age, a Worcestershire man, -and of humble birth. - -Judging by the internal evidence of the MS. now under consideration, we -may very naturally suppose that the porter, a worthy possessed of a -shrewd wit and somewhat combative temperament, enjoyed high favour -amongst the undergraduates, though often in disgrace with their -superiors; and that for his benefit (in the case of the first and fourth -pieces), and for their own (in the case of the third), the wags of the -college composed certain apologies, which Francis Clarke was clever -enough to commit to memory, and confident enough to pronounce before the -Head in the character of a privileged humourist. The last of the pieces -seems to have been written down and delivered as a letter; and some or -all may be the products of the same pen as wrote the _Narcissus_. That -they were not written by the porter himself is evident; for over and -above the mere improbability that a college servant would be capable of -such frequent reference to Lilly, we have the testimony of the headings, -two of which bear mention of "a speech _made for_ the foresaid porter," -and "a letter _composed for_ Francke Clarke." It is very possible that -the porter's part in the _Narcissus_ may have been specially designed -for, and entrusted to, the worthy Francis. - - * * * * * - -Of these four pieces, the apology addressed to "Master President, that -had sconc't him 10 groates for lettinge the fidlers into the hall at -Christmas," occurs next to the play in the MS., and was probably the -result of some mock trial and sentence forming a part of the Christmas -festivities. If we could suppose the "fidlers" to have been the same as -the players, a still closer connection would be established between -this speech and the comedy; but there is no mention of any dramatic -entertainment in the circumstantial account of their entrance and exit -given by the porter. - -The other pieces have no apparent connection with Christmas time, and -the last, being addressed to Laud during the year of his proctorship, -fixes its own date as 1603-4. The speech _To the Ladie Keneda_ is the -most puzzling of the group, inasmuch as it bears no reference to -collegiate life, and deals with a subject of some obscurity. _Kennedy_ -was the family name of the earls of Cassilis; and the fifth earl, then -living, had married in 1597 Jean, daughter of James, fourth Lord -Fleming, and widow of Lord Chancellor Maitland. But whether she is the -"Ladie Keneda" to whom Francis Clarke pleads on behalf of her cook -Piers, it is impossible to say. Neither have I found out anything -concerning the annual holiday for cooks, to which allusion seems to be -made. Here, however, as in the other speeches, a wide margin must be -allowed for euphuism, and bare facts are difficult to deduce. - -I have refrained from supplying references to the numerous classical -quotations with which the speeches are embellished, for the simple -reason that a contemporary edition of Lilly's Grammar will be found to -include them all. Doubtless the youthful composers derived a special -delight from the process of making "Lilly leape out of his skinne," with -a "muster of sentences" of which the porter's supposed use and -interpretation is, if not always scholarly, at least decidedly -ingenious. - - - - -A TWELFE NIGHT MERRIMENT. - -ANNO 1602. - - -_Enter the_ Porter _at the end of supper._ - - _Porter._ - - MASTER and Mistris with all your guests, [F. 81v rev.] - God save you, heerin the matter rests; - Christmas is now at the point to bee past, - 'Tis giving vp the ghost & this is the last; - And shall it passe thus without life or cheere? - This hath not beene seene this many a yeere. - If youl have any sporte, then say the woord, - Heere come youths of the parish that will it affoord, - They are heere hard by comminge alonge, - Crowning their wassaile bowle with a songe: [10] - They have some other sport too out of dowbt, - Let mee alone, & I will finde it out. - I am your porter & your vassaile, - Shall I lett in the boyes with their wassaile? - Say: they are at doore, to sing they beginne, - Goe to then, Ile goe & lett them in! - -_Enter the wassaile, two of them bearinge the bowle, & singinge the -songe, & all of them bearing the burden._ - -_The Songe._ - - Gentills all - Both great & small, - Sitt close in the hall - And make some roome, [20] - For amongst you heere - At the end of your cheere - With our countrey beare - Wee ar bold to come. - Heers then a full carowse, - Let it goe about the house, - While wee doe carrye it thus - 'Tis noe great labour. - Heave it vpp merilye, [F. 81r rev.] - Let care & anger flye, [30] - A pinne for povertye; - Drinke to your neighbour. - - Those that are wise, - Doe knowe that with spice - God Bacchus his iuyce - Is wholsome & good. - It comforts age, - It refresheth the sage, - It rebateth rage, - And cheereth the bloud. [40] - Heeres then a full, &c. - - Take it with quicknes, - Tis phisicke for sicknes, - It driveth the thicknes - Of care from the harte; - The vaynes that are empty - It filleth with plenty, - Not one amongst twenty - But it easeth of smarte. - Heers then a full, &c. [50] - - Are you sadd, - For fortune badd, - And would bee gladd - As ever you were, - If that a quaffe - Doe not make you laffe, - Then with a staffe - Drive mee out of dore. - Heers then a full, &c. - - To tell you his merritts, [60] - Good thoughts it inherites, - It raiseth the spirritts - And quickens the witt; - It peoples the veyns, - It scoureth the reynes, - It purgeth the braines - And maks all things fitte. - Heers then a full, &c. - - It makes a man bold, - It keepes out the cold; [70] - Hee hath all things twice told - Vnto his comforte, - Hee stands in the middle, - The world, hey dery diddle, - Goes round without a fiddle - To make them sporte. - Heers then a full carowse, &c. - - _Por._ Why well said, my ladds of mettall, this is [F. 80v rev.] - somwhat yett, 'tis trimlye done; but what sporte, what merriment, - all dead, no vertue extant? [80] - - _Pri[mus]._ Pray, sir, gett our good Mistris to bestowe something on - us, & wee ar gone. - - _Por._ Talke of that _tempore venturo_; there's no goinge to any - other houses now, your bowle is at the bottome, & that which is left - is for mee. - - _Sec[undus]._ Nay, good Master Porter. - - _Por._ Come, come, daunce vs a morrice, or els goe sell fishe; I - warrant youle make as good a night of it heere as if you had beene - at all the houses in the towne. - - _Ter[tius]._ Nay, pray letts goe, wee can doe nothinge. [90] - - _Por._ Noe! What was that I tooke you all a gabling tother day in - mother Bunches backside by the well there, when Tom at Hobses ranne - vnder the hovell with a kettle on's head? - - _Pri._ Why, you would not have a play, would you? - - _Por._ Oh, by all meanes, 'tis your onely fine course. About it, - ladds, a the stampe, I warrante you a reward sufficient; I tell you, - my little windsuckers, had not a certaine melancholye ingendred with - a nippinge dolour overshadowed the sunne shine of my mirthe, I had - beene I pre, sequor, one of your consorte. But [F. 80r rev.] [100] - wheres gooddy Hubbardes sonne--I saw him in his mothers holliday - cloaths eennow? - - _Sec._ Doe you heere, Master Porter, wee have pittifull nailes in - our shooes; you were best lay something on the grounde, els wee - shall make abhominable scarrs in the face on't. - - _Por. Rem tenes_; well, weele thinke on't. - - _Ter._ It is a most condolent tragedye wee shall move. - - _Por. Dictum puta; satis est quod suffocat._ [110] - - _Sec._ In faith, I tickle them for a good voice. - - _Por. Sufficiente quantitate_, a woord is enough to the wise. - - _Pri._ You have noe butterd beare in the house, have yee? - - _Por._ No, no, trudge, some of the guests are one the point to bee - gone. - - _Sec._ Have you ere a gentlewomans picture in the house, or noe? - - _Por._ Why? [120] - - _Sec._ If you have, doe but hange it yonder, & twill make mee act in - conye. - - _Por._ Well then, away about your geere. - - [_Exeunt._ - -_Enter Prologue._ - - Wee are noe vagabones, wee ar no arrant - Rogues that doe runne with plaies about the country. - Our play is good, & I dare farther warrant [F. 79v rev.] - It will make you more sport then catt in plum tree. - Wee are no saucye common playenge skipiackes, - But towne borne lads, the kings owne lovely subiects. - - This is the night, night latest of the twelve, [130] - Now give vs leave for to bee blith & frolicke, - To morrow wee must fall to digg & delve; - Weele bee but short, long sittinge breeds the collicke. - Then wee beginne, & lett none hope to hisse vs, - The play wee play is Ovid's owne Narcissus. - - -CEPHISUS, LYRIOPE, NARCISSUS. - - [_Cep._] Open thine eares, my sonne, open I bidd - To heare the sound saw which the sage shall reed, - I meane the sage Tyresias, my ducke, - Which shall lay ope to thee thy lott, thy lucke. - Thy father I, Cephisus, that brave river [140] - Who is all water, doe like water shiver. - As any man of iudgment may descrye - By face, hands washt, & bowle, thy father I. - - _Lyr._ And I thy mother nimphe, as may bee seene - By coulours that I weare, blew, white, & greene; - For nimphes ar of the sea, & sea is right - Of colour truly greene & blew & white; - Would you knowe how, I pray? Billowes are blew, - Water is greene, & foome is white of hue. - - _Cep._ Wee both bidd the, Narcisse, our dearest child, [150] - With count'nance sober, modest lookes & milde, - To prophett's wisest woords with tention harken; [F. 79r rev.] - But Sunne is gonne & welkin gins to darken, - Vulcan the weary horses is a shooinge, - While Phebus with queene Thetis is a doinge: - Prophett comes not, letts goe both all & some, - Wee may goe home like fooles as wee did come. - - _Lyr._ O stay deare husband, flowe not away bright water, - The prophett will come by sooner or later. - - _Cep._ Why stand wee heere, as it were cappes a thrumming, [160] - To look for prophett? Prophett is not comminge. - - _Nar._ Sweete running river which Cephisus hight, - Whose water is so cleare, whose waves so bright, - Gold is thy sand and christall is thy current, - Thy brooke so cleare that no vile wind dare stirre in't; - Thou art my father, & thou, sweetest nimphe, - Thou art my mother, I thy sonne, thy shrimpe. - Agree you in one point, to goe or tarrye, - Narcissus must obey, aye, must hee, marye. - - _Cep._ Gush, water, gush! runne, river, from thy channell! [170] - Thou hast a sonne more lovinge then a spanniell; - With watry eyes I see how tis expedient - To have a sonne so wise & so obedient. - Most beauteous sonne, yet not indeede so beautifull - As thou art mannerly & dutifull! - - _Lyr._ See, husband, see, O see where prophett blind - In twice good time is comming heere behind. - - _Cep._ O heere hee is, and now that hee's come nye vs, - Lye close, good wife & sonne, least hee espye vs. - -_Enter_ TYRESIAS. - - All you that see mee heere in byshoppes rochett, [F. 78v rev.] [180] - And I see not, your heads may runne on crotchett, - For ought I knowe, to knowe what manner wight - In this strange guise I am, or how I hight; - I am Tyresias, the not seeing prophett, - Blinde though I bee, I pray lett noe man scoffe it: - For blind I am, yea, blind as any beetle, - And cannot see a whitt, no, nere so little. - Heere ar no eyes, why, they ar in my minde, - Wherby I see the fortunes of mankind; - Who made mee blind? Jove? I may say to you noe; [190] - But it was Joves wife & his sister Juno. - Juno & Jove fell out, both biggest gods, - And I was hee tooke vpp the merrye oddes. - You knowe it all, I am sure, 'tis somewhat common, - And how besides seven yeares I was a woman; - Which if you knowe you doe know all my state: - Come on, Ile fold the fortune of your fate. - - _Lyr._ Tremblinge, Tyresias, I pray you cease to travell, - And rest a little on the groundy gravell. - - _Tyr._ Who ist calls? Speake, for I cannot see. [200] - - _Cep._ Poore frends, sir, to the number of some three. - - _Tyr._ What would you have? - - _Cep._ Why, sir, this is the matter, - To bee plaine with you & not to flatter; - I am the stately river hight Cephise, - Smoother then glasse & softer farre then ice; [F. 78r rev.] - This nimphe before you heere whom you doe see - Is my owne wife, yclipt Lyriope. - Though with the dawbe of prayse I am loath to lome her, - This Ile assure you, the blind poett Homer [210] - Saw not the like amongst his nimphes and goddesses, - Nor in his Iliads, no, nor in his Odysses. - Thinke not, I pray, that wee are come for nought; - Our lovely infant have wee to you brought. - The purple hew of this our iolly striplynge - I would not have you thinke was gott with tiplinge; - Hee is our sonne Narcisse, no common varlett, - Nature in graine hath died his face in skarlett. - Speak then, I pray you, speake, for wee you portune - That you would tell our sunnfac't sonne his fortune. [220] - - _Lyr._ Doe not shrink backe, Narcissus, come & stand, - Hold vpp & lett the blind man see thy hand. - - _Tyr._ Come, my young sonne, hold vp & catch audacitye; - I see thy hand with the eyes of my capacitye. - Though I speake riddles, thinke not I am typsye, - For what I speake I learnde it of a gipsye, - And though I speak hard woords of curromanstike, - Doe not, I pray, suppose that I am franticke. - The table of thy hand is somewhat ragged, - Thy mensall line is too direct and cragged, [230] - Thy line of life, my sonne, is to, to breife, - And crosseth Venus girdle heere in cheife, - And heere (O dolefull signe) is overthwarte - In Venus mount a little pricke or warte. [F. 77v rev.] - Besides heere, in the hillocke of great Jupiter, - Monnsieur la mors lyes lurking like a sheppbiter; - What can I make out of this hard construction - But dolefull dumpes, decay, death, & destruction? - - _Cep._ O furious fates, O three thread-thrumming sisters, - O fickle fortune, thou, thou art the mistres [240] - Of this mishapp; why am I longer liver? - Runne river, runne, & drowne thee in the river. - - _Tyr._ Then sith to thee, my sonne, I doe pronounce ill, - It shall behove thee for to take good counsell, - And that eft soone; wisdoome they say is good, - Your parents ambo have done what they coode, - They can but bringe horse to the water brinke, - But horse may choose whether that horse will drinke. - - _Lyr._ Oh say, thou holy preist of high Apollo, - What harme, what hurt, what chaunge, what chaunce, will [250] - followe, - That if wee can wee may provide a plaster - Of holsome hearbes to cure this dire disaster. - - _Tyr._ If I should tell you, you amisse would iudge it; - I have one salve, one medecine, in my budgett, - And that is this, since you will have mee tell, - If hee himselfe doe never knowe; farewell. [_Exit_ TYR. - - _Lyr._ Mary come out, is his ould noddle dotinge? - Heere is an ould said saw well woorth the notinge; - Shall hee not know himselfe? Who shall hee then? [F. 77r rev.] - My boy shall knowe himselfe from other men, [260] - I, & my boy shall live vntill hee dye, - In spight of prophett & in spight of pye. - It is an ould sawe: That it is too late - When steede is stolne to shutt the stable gate; - Therfore take heed; yet I bethinke at Delph, - One Phibbus walls is written: Knowe thyselfe. - Shall hee not know himselfe, and so bee laught on, - When as Apollo cries, gnotti seauton? [_Exeunt._ - - -DORASTUS. CLINIAS. - - Come, prethy lett vs goe: come, Clinias, come, - And girt thy baskett dagger to thy bumme; [270] - Lett vs, I say, bee packinge, and goe meete - The poore blind prophett stalking in the streete: - Lett us be iogginge quickly. - - _Cli._ Peace, you asse, - I smell the footinge of Tyresias. - -_Enter_ TYRESIAS. - - _Dor._ O thou which hast thy staffe to bee thy tutor, - Whose head doth shine with bright hairs white as pewter, - Like silver moone, when as shee kist her minion - In Late-mouse mont, the swaine yclipt Endimion, - Who, beeing cald Endimion the drowsye, [280] - Slept fifty yeers, & for want of shift was lowsye; [F. 76v rev.] - O thou whose breast, I, even this little cantle, - Is counsells capcase, prudences portmantle, - O thou that pickest wisdome out of guttes - As easy as men doe kernells out of nuttes, - Looke in our midriffs, & I pray you tell vs - Whether wee two shall live & dye good fellowes. - - _Tyr._ How doe you both? - - _Dor._ Well, I thanke you. - - _Tyr._ Are you not sicklye? [290] - - _Cli._ Noe, I thanke God. - - _Tyr._ Yet you shall both dye quicklye. - Goe, thou hast done, Tyresias; bidd adiew; [_Exit._ - Thy part is well plaid & thy wordes are true. - - _Dor._ Shall wee dye quickly, both? I pray what coulour? - Ile bee a diar, thou shalt be a fuller; - Weele cozin the prophett, I my life will pawne yee, - Thou shalt dye whyte, & Ile dye oreng tawnye. - - -_Enter_ NARCISSUS _walkinge_. - - _Cli._ O eyes, what see you? Eyes, bee ever bloud shedd - That turne your Master thus into a codshead. [300] - O eyes, noe eyes, O instruments, O engines, - That were ordain'd to worke your Master's vengeance! - His huge orentall beawty melts my eyeballs - Into rayne dropps, even as sunne doth snowballes. - - _Dor._ Cracke eye strings, cracke, [F. 76r rev.] - Runne eyes, runne backe, - My lovely brace of beagles; - Looke no more on - Yon shininge sunne, - For your eyes are not eagles. [310] - Leave off the chace - My pretty brace, - And hide you in your kennell, - And hunt no more, - Your sight is sore; - Oh that I had some fennell! - - _Nar._ Leave off to bragg, thou boy of Venus bredd, - I am as faire as thou, for white & redd; - If then twixt mee & thee theres no more oddes, - Why I on earth & thou amongst the goddes? [320] - - _Cli._ Thy voice, Narcisse, so softly & so loude, - Makes in mine eares more musicke then a crowde - Of most melodious minstrells, & thy tonge - Is edged with silver, & with iewells strunge; - Thy throate, which speaketh ever & anan, - Is farre more shriller then the pipe of Pan, - Thy weasand pipe is clearer then an organ, - Thy face more faire then was the head of Gorgon, - Thy haire, which bout thy necke so faire dishevells, - Excells the haire of the faire queene of devills, [330] - And thy perfumed breath farr better savours - Then does the sweat hot breath of blowing Mavors; - Thy azur'd veynes blewer then Saturne shine, - And what are Cupids eyes to those of thine? [F. 75v rev.] - Thy currall cheeks hath a farre better lustre - Then Ceres when the sunne in harvest bust her; - Silenus for streight backe, & I can tell yee, - You putt downe Bacchus for a slender bellye. - To passe from braunch to barke, from rine to roote, - Venus her husband hath not such a foote. [340] - - _Dor._ O thou whose cheeks are like the skye so blewe, - Whose nose is rubye, of the sunnlike hue, - Whose forhead is most plaine without all rinkle, - Whose eyes like starrs in frosty night doe twinkle, - Most hollowe are thy eyelidds, & thy ball - Whiter then ivory, brighter yea withall, - Whose ledge of teeth is farre more bright then jett is, - Whose lipps are too, too good for any lettice, - O doe thou condiscend vnto my boone, - Graunt mee thy love, graunt it, O silver spoone, [350] - Silver moone, silver moone. - - _Cli._ Graunt mee thy love, to speake I first begunne, - Graunt mee thy love, graunt it, O golden sunne. - - _Nar._ Nor sunne, nor moone, nor twinkling starre in skye, - Nor god, nor goddesse, nor yet nimphe am I, - And though my sweete face bee sett out with rubye, - You misse your marke, I am a man as you bee. - - _Dor._ A man, Narcisse, thou hast a manlike figure; - Then bee not like vnto the savage tiger, [F. 75r rev.] - So cruell as the huge camelion, [360] - Nor yet so changing as small elephant. - A man, Narcisse, then bee not thou a wolfe, - To devoure my hart in thy mawes griping gulfe, - Bee none of these, & lett not nature vaunt her - That shee hath made a man like to a panther; - A man thou art, Narcisse, & soe are wee, - Then love thou vs againe as wee love thee. - - _Nar._ A man I am, & sweare by gods above - I cannot yett find in my heart to love. - - _Dor._ Cannott find love in hart! O search more narrowe, [370] - Thou well shalt knowe him by his ivory arrowe; - That arrowe, when in breast, my bloud was tunninge, - Broacht my harts barrell, sett it all a runninge, - Which with loves liquor vnles thou doe staunch, - All my lifes liquor will runne out my paunche. - - _Nar._ Why would you have mee love? You talke most oddlye, - Love is a naughty thinge & an ungodlye. - - _Cli._ Is love ungodlye? Love is still a god. - - _Nar._ But in his nonage allwaies vnder rodde. - - _Amb._ O love, Narcissus, wee beseech thee, O love. [380] - - _Nar._ Noe love, good gentiles, Ile assure you, noe love. - -[_Exeunt_ DORASTUS _et_ CLINIAS, _ambulat_ NARCISSUS. - - -_Enter_ FLORIDA, CLOIS. - - Clois, what ist I wis that I doe see, [F. 74v rev.] - What forme doth charme this storme within my breast, - What face, what grace, what race may that same bee, - So faire, so rare, debonaire, breeds this vnrest? - How white, how bright, how light, like starre of Venus - His beames & gleames so streames so faire between vs! - - _Clo._ 'Tis Venus sure, why doe wee stand and palter? - Lett vs goe shake our thighes vpon the altar. - - _Flo._ Most brightest Hasparus, for thou seemst to mee soe, [390] - I, and in very deed thou well maist bee soe, - For as bigg as a man is every plannett, - Although it seemes a farre that wee may spanne it, - Shine thou on mee, sweet plannet, bee soe good - As with thy fiery beames to warme my bloud; - Ile beare thee light, and thinke light of the burthen, - And say, light plannett neare was heavy lurden. - - _Nar._ To speake the truth, faire maid, if you will have vs, - O Oedipus I am not, I am Davus. - - _Clo._ Good Master Davis, bee not so discourteous [400] - As not to heare a maidens plaint for vertuous. - - _Nar._ Speake on a Gods name, so love bee not the theame. - - _Flo._ O, whiter then a dish of clowted creame, - Speake not of love? How can I overskippe - To speake of love to such a cherrye lippe? - - _Nar._ It would beseeme a maidens slender vastitye - Never to speake of any thinge but chastitye. - - _Flo._ As true as Helen was to Menela - So true to thee will bee thy Florida. [F. 74r rev.] - - _Clo._ As was to trusty Pyramus truest Thisbee [410] - So true to you will ever thy sweete Clois bee. - - _Flo._ O doe not stay a moment nor a minute, - Loves is a puddle, I am ore shooes in it. - - _Clo._ Doe not delay vs halfe a minutes mountenance - That ar in love, in love with thy sweet countenance. - - _Nar._ Then take my dole although I deale my alms ill, - Narcissus cannot love with any damzell; - Although, for most part, men to love encline all, - I will not, I, this is your answere finall. - And so farwell; march on doggs, love's a griper, [420] - If I love any, 'tis Tickler & Piper. - Ah, the poore rascall, never ioyd it since - His fellow iugler first was iugled hence, - Iugler the hope; but now to hunte abraode, - Where, if I meete loves little minitive god, - Ile pay his breech vntill I make his bumme ake, - For why, the talke of him hath turnd my stomacke. [_Exit._ - - _Flo._ And is hee gone? Letts goe & dye, sweet Cloris, - For poets of our loves shall write the stories. - -_Enter_ CLINIAS, DORASTUS, _meeting them_. - - _Cli._ Well mett, faire Florida sweete, which way goe you? [430] - - _Flo._ In faith, sweete Clinias, I cannot knowe you. [F. 73v rev.] - - _Dor._ Noe, knowe, but did you see the white Narcisse? - - _Clo._ The whitest man alive a huntinge is; - Hee that doth looke farre whiter then the vilett, - Or moone at midday, or els skye at twilight. - - _Cli._ That is the same, even that is that Narcissus, - Hee that hath love despis'd, & scorned vs. - - _Flo._ Not you alone hee scornes, but vs also; - O doe not greive when maids part stakes in woe. - O, that same youthe's the scummer of all skorne, [440] - Of surquedry the very shooing horne, - Piller of pride, casting topp of contempt, - Stopple of statelines for takinge vente. - Many youthes, many maids sought him to gaine, - Noe youthes, noe maids could ever him obtaine: - Then thus I pray, & hands to heaven vpp leave, - So may hee love & neare his love atcheive. - Looke you for maids no more, our parte is done, - Wee come but to bee scornd, & so are gone. [_Exeunt_. - - _Dor._ But wee have more to doe, that have wee perdie, [450] - Wee must a fish & hunt the hare so hardye, - For even as after hare runnes swiftest beagle, - So doth Narcissus our poore harts corneagle. [_Exeunt_. - - -_Enter_ ECCHO. - - Who, why, wherfore, from whence or what I am, [F. 73r rev.] - Knowe, if you aske, that Eccho is my name, - That cannott speake a woord, nor halfe a sillable, - Vnles you speake before so intelligible. - But ho, the hobby horse, youle think 't absurde - That I should of my selfe once speake a woord. - 'Tis true; but lett your wisdomes tell me than [460] - How'de you know Eccho from another man? - I was a well toung'd nimphe, but what of that? - My mother Juno still to hold in chatte, - With tales of tubbes, from thence I ever strove, - Whiles nimphes abroad lay allwaies vnder Jove. - But oh, when drift was spied, my angry grammer - Made ever since my tottering tongue to stammer; - And now, in wild woods, & in moist mountaines, - In high, tall valleys, & in steepye plaines, - Eccho I live, Eccho, surnam'd the dolefull, [470] - That, in remembrance, now could weepe a bowlfull; - Or rather, if you will, Eccho the sorrowfull, - That, in remembrance, now could weepe a barrowfull. - (_Within. Yolp! yolpe!_) [_Exit clamans Yolpe!_ - - -_Enter_ DORASTUS, NARCISSUS, CLINIAS. - - _Cantantes._ - - Harke, they crye, I heare by that - The doggs have putt the hare from quatte, - Then woe bee vnto little Watt, [F. 72v rev.] - Yolp, yolp, yolp, yolp! - - Hollowe in the hind doggs, hollowe, - So come on then, solla, solla, - And lett vs so blithly followe, [480] - Yolp, &c. - - O, the doggs ar out of sight, - But the crye is my delight; - Harke how Jumball hitts it right, - Yolp, &c. - - Over briars, over bushes; - Whose affeard of pricks & pushes, - Hee's no hunter woorth two rushes, - Yolp, &c. - - But how long thus shall wee wander? [490] - O, the hares a lusty stander, - Follow apace, the doggs are yonder, - Yolp, &c. [_Exeunt._ - - -_Enter one with a buckett and boughes and grasse._ - - A well there was withouten mudd, - Of silver hue, with waters cleare, - Whome neither sheepe that chawe the cudd, - Shepheards nor goates came ever neare; - Whome, truth to say, nor beast nor bird, - Nor windfalls yet from trees had stirrde. - [_He strawes the grasse about the buckett._ - And round about it there was grasse, [F. 72r rev.] [500] - As learned lines of poets showe, - Which by next water nourisht was; [_Sprinkle water._ - Neere to it too a wood did growe, [_Sets down the bowes._ - To keep the place, as well I wott, - With too much sunne from being hott. - And thus least you should have mistooke it, - The truth of all I to you tell: - Suppose you the well had a buckett, - And so the buckett stands for the well; - And 'tis, least you should counte mee for a sot O, [510] - A very pretty figure cald _pars pro toto_. [_Exit._ - - -_Enter_ DORASTUS, ECCHO _answeringe him within_. - - _Dor._ Narcissus? - _Ecc._ Kisse us. - Kisse you; who are you, with a botts take you? - Botts take you. - Botts take mee, you rogue? - You rogue. - Slidd, hee retortes woord for woord. - Woord for woord. - Clinias, prethy, where art thou, Clinias? [520] - In, yee asse. - In where--in a ditch? - Itch. - What is his businesse? [F. 71v rev.] - At his businesse. - You don't tell mee trulye. - You lye. - Say so againe, ile cudgell you duely. - You doe lye. - Of your tearmes you are very full. [530] - Your a very foole. - Doe you crowe, I shall cracke your coxcombe. - Coxcombe. - I shall make you whine & blubber. - Lubber. - Youle make an end & dispatch. - Patch. - Goe to, youle let these woordes passe. - Asse. - If I come to you Ile make you singe a palinodye. [540] - Noddye. - Foole, coxcombe, lubber, patch, & noddye, - Are these good woords to give a bodye? - Doe not provoke me, I shall come. - Come. - Meete mee if you dare. - If you dare. - I come, despaire not. - Spare not. [_Exit._ - - -_Enter_ CLINIAS, ECCHO _answeringe within_. [F. 71r rev.] - - _Cli._ Dorastus, where art thou, Dorastus? [550] - _Ecc._ Asse to vs. - Asse to you, whose that's an asse to you? - You. - Know mee for what I am, as good as your selfe. - Elfe. - Elfe! Why I hope you ben't so malaparte. - All a parte. - All apart, yes, wee ar alone; but you doe not meane to fight, - I trust in Jove? - Trust in Jove. [560] - Jove helpes then if wee fight, but wee trust to our swoordes. - Woordes. - Woordes; why, doe you thinke tis your woordes shall vs affright? - Right. - 'Tis noe such matter, you are mightely out. - Loute. - Lout, dost abuse mee so? Goe to, y'are a scall scabbe. - Rascall scabbe. [570] - Rascall scabbe, why thou groome base & needye! - Niddye. - Slidd, if I meete you Ile bange you. - Hange you. - Ist so; nay then, Ile bee at hand, kee pickpurse. [F. 70v rev.] - Pickpurse. - Dare you vse mee thus to my face, spidar? - I dare. - But will you stand too't & not flintch? - Not flinch. [580] - Well, meete mee, I am like iron & steele, trustye. - Rustye. - Rusty, what, mocke mee to my face againe? - Asse againe. - Out of dowbt, if wee meete I shall thee boxe. - Oxe. - Why, the foole rides mee, I am spurrgald & iolted. - Jolthead. - Jolthead! this is more then I can brooke. - Rooke. [590] - Rooke too, nay then, as farr as a knockinge goes I am yours to - commaund, sir. - Come on, sir. [_Exit._ - - -_Enter_ NARCISSUS. - - O, I am weary; I have runne to daye - Ten miles, nay, 10 & a quarter I dare saye. - You may beleeve it, for my ioyntes are numme, - And every finger truly is a thumbe. - For my younge hunters, Clinias & Dorastus, - Surely so farre to day they have out past vs, [F. 70r rev.] - That heere I am encompast round about, [600] - And doe not knowe the way nor in nor out. - What Holla, holla! - _Ecc._ Holla, holla. - Is any body nye? - I. - Come neere. - Come neere. - Whither? - Hither. - I prethy helpe mee foorth, els I am the rude woods forfeiture. [610] - Faire feature. - O lord, sir, tis but your pleasure to call it soe. - Its soe. - I had rather have your counsell how to gett out of this laborinthe. - Labour in't. - Labour in't, why soe I doe, sore against my will, but to labour out - of it what shall I doe? - Doe. [620] - Nay, pray helpe mee out if you love mee. - Love mee. - Come neere, then, why doe you flye? - Why doe you flye? - Where b'ye? - [F. 69v rev.] Heerbye. - Let vs come together. - Let vs come together. - I prethy come. - I come. [630] - Let mee dye first ere thou meddle with mee. - Meddle with mee. [_Exit._ - - -_Enter_ DORASTUS, CLINIAS, _at_ 2 _doores_. - - _Cli._ Wast you, Dorastus, mockt mee all this season? - - _Dor._ Pray, Clinias, hold your tounge, y'haue little reason - To make a foole of mee & mocke mee too. - - _Cli._ Nay, sir, twas you that mockt mee, so you doe; - While heere I cald for you by greenwood side, - You gibde on mee, which you shall deare abide. - - _Dor._ Nay, you did call mee, that I was loath to heare, - Truly such woords as a dogg would not beare. [640] - But as I scorne so to bee ast & knaved, - Soe truly doe I scorne to bee outbraved. - - _Cli._ O frieng panne of all fritters of fraud, - My scindifer, that longe hath beene vndrawde, - Shall come out of his sheath most fiery hott, - And slice thee small, even as hearbes to pott. - - _Dor._ Thou huge & humminge humblebee, thou hornett, - Come doe thy worst, I say that I doe scorne it. - - _Cli._ O with thy bloud Ile make so redd my whineard, - As ripest liquor is of grapes in vineyearde. [F. 69r rev.] [650] - - _Dor._ And with thy bloud Ile make my swoord so ruddye, - As skye at eventide shall not bee soe bloudye. - [_They fight & fall._ - - _Cli._ O, O, about my harte I feele a paine; - Dorastus, hold thy handes, for I am slaine. - - _Dor._ This shall thy comfort bee when thou art dead, - That thou hast kild mee too, for I am spedd. - - _Cli._ O, I am dead, depart life out of hand, - Stray, soule, from home vnto the Stingian strand. - - _Dor._ Goe thou, my ghost, complaine thee vnto Rhadamant - That the 3 sisters hartes are made of adamant. [660] - - _Cli._ Since wee must passe ore lake in Charons ferry, - Had wee Narcissus wee should bee more merrye. - - _Dor._ My soule doth say that wee must goe before, - Narcisse will overtake vs at the shore; - And that that mockt vs both, deformed dwarfe, - Will er't bee long arive at Charons wharfe. - - _Cli._ Lett us, Dorastus, die, departe, decease; - Wee lovd in strife, & lett vs dye in peace. - - _Dor._ Stay, take mee with you, letts togither goe. - - _Am._ Vild world adieu, wee die, ô ô ô ô! [670] - - -_Enter_ NARCISSUS. - - Does the hagg followe? Stay for her never durst I; - Sh'as made mee runne so longe that I am thurstye, - But O, yee gods immortall, by good fortune [F. 68v rev.] - Heere is a well in good time & oportune; - Drinke, drinke, Narcissus, till thy belly burst, - Water is Rennish wine to them that thirst. - But oh remaine & let thy christall lippe - Noe more of this same cherrye water sippe; - What deadly beautye or what aerye nimphe - Is heare belowe now seated in the limphe? [680] - Looke, looke, Narcissus, how his eyes are silver, - Looke, least those eyes thy hart from thee doe pilfer, - Yet O looke not, for by these eyes so headye, - Thy hart from thee is filcht away allreadye; - O Well, how oft I kisse thy wholsome liquor, - While on my love kisses I heape a dicker. - O love, come foorth accordinge to my mind, - How deepe I dive yet thee I cannott find; - O love, come foorth, my face is not so foule - That thou shouldst scorne mee; pittye mee, poor soule. [690] - Well, dost thou scorne mee? Nimphes they did not soe, - They had a better thought of mee I trowe. - Not care of Ceres, Morpheus, nor of Bacchus, - That is meate, drinke, & sleepe from hence shall take vs; - Heere will I dye, this well shall bee my tombe, - My webb is spunne; Lachesis, loppe thy loome. - [_Lye downe & rise vpp againe._ [F. 68r rev.] - Tell mee, you woods, tell mee, you oakes soe stronge, - Whether in all your life, your life so longe, - So faire a youth pinde thus, & tell mee trulye - Whether that any man ere lov'd so cruellye. [700] - The thinge I like I see, but what I see - And like, natheles I cannot find perdie, - And that that greives my liver most, no seas - Surging, mountaines, monstrous or weary ways, - Nor walls with gates yshutt doe mee remove; - A little water keepes mee from my love. - Come out, come out, deare boye. - - _Ecc._ Come out, deare boye. - - [_Nar._] Thy frend I am, O doe not mee destroye; - Thou dost putt out thy hand as I doe mine, [710] - And thou dost pinke vpon mee with thine eyen, - Smile as I smile; besides I tooke good keepe, - And saw thee eke shedd teares when I did weepe, - And by thy lippes moving, well I doe suppose - Woordes thou dost speake, may well come to our nose; - For to oure eares I am sure they never passe, - Which makes me to crye out, alas! - - _Ecc._ Alas! - - [_Nar._] O delicate pretty youth, - Pretty youth; [720] - Take on my woes pittye, youthe! - Pittye, youthe! - O sweetest boy, pray love mee! [F. 67v rev.] - Pray love mee! - Or els I dye for thee, - I dye for thee! - - [_Nar._] Colour is gone & bloud in face is thinne, - And I am naught left now but bone & skinne; - I dye; but though I dye it shall come to passe, - Certes it shall, that I which whilome was [730] - The flower of youth, shalbee made flower againe. - I dye; farewell, O boy belov'd in vaine. - - [_Ecc._] O boy belov'd in vaine. - [NARCISSUS _risinge vp againe._ - And so I died & sunke into my grandam, - Surnamde old earth: lett not your iudgments randome, - For if you take mee for Narcissus y'are very sillye, - I desire you to take mee for a daffa downe dillye; - For so I rose, & so I am in trothe, - As may appeare by the flower in my mouthe. - - _Ecc._ Now auditors of intelligence quicke, [740] - I pray you suppose that Eccho is sicke; - Sicke at the hart, for you must thinke, - For lacke of love shee could nor eate nor drinke; - Soe that of her nothinge remainde but bone, - And that they say was turn'd into a stone. - Onely her voice was left, as by good happe [F. 67r rev.] - You may perceive if you imparte a clappe. [_Exit._ - - -_Enter the_ Porter _as Epilogue_. - - Are those the ladds that would doe the deede? - They may bee gone, & God bee their speede; - Ile take vpp their buckett, but I sweare by the water, [750] - I have seene a farre better play at the theater. - Ile shutt them out of doores, 'tis no matter for their larges; - Thinke you well of my service, & Ile beare the charges. - If there bee any that expecte some dances, - 'Tis I must perform it, for my name is Frances. - - -FINIS. - - - - -APPENDIX. - - -I. - - _A speech made for the foresaid porter, who [F. 84r rev.] - pronounc't it in the hall before most of the house and Master - Præsident, that had sconc't him 10 groates for lettinge the fidlers - into the hall at Christmas._ - -Ille ego qui quondam, I am hee that in ould season have made Lilly leape -out of his skinne, & with a muster of sentences out of his syntaxis have -besieged the eares of the audience in the behalfe of the wretched. But -alas!--Mihi isthic nec seritur nec metitur; it is to mee neither a -sorrye turne nor a merrye turne. I have sifted out for other mens sakes -the flower of my fancye, that I have left nothing but the branne in my -braine. And yet who is there amongst them that in the depth of my -distresse will speake for the poore porter, who meltes [10] the muses -into mourninge or turnes Parnassus into plaintes, Hellicon into -heavines, Apollo into an apollogie, for my sake? My learninge goeth not -beyond Lillye, nor my reading beyond my rules, yet have I for them so -canvast their concavitye that I have opened their entraills, so dived -into the depth of them that I have manifested their marrowe, soe pried -into their profunditye that I have plac't the verye pith of them before -you. And, alas that I should [F. 83v rev.] now speake for my -selfe, what remaines for mee but the rinde & the barke, when I have -given the roote & [20] the bodye to others? What remaines for mee but -the shell, when I have given others the substaunce, what remaines for -mee but the curdes, when I have given others the creame? Yea, what is -left for mee but the paringes, when I have given others the peares? But -I therin made knowen my valour, for you knowe, Aliorum vitia cernere -oblivisci suorum, to supplye other mens wants & to forgett his owne, -proprium est stultitiæ, is the parte of a stoute man; since then I must -speake for my selfe, Stat mihi casus renovare omnes; you shall [30] -heare the whole cause, case, and the course of it. - -Sub nocte silenti, (i) in nocte vel paulo ante noctem, cum spectatur in -ignibus aurum; when you might have seene gold in the fier, the fier -shin'de so like gold, Ecce per opaca locorum, came the fidlers creeping -alonge, densa subter testudine casus, their instruments vnder their -arms, in their cases, & at lenghe, Itum est in viscera terræ, broke open -into the harte of the hall; neither when they were there could they bee -content to [F. 83r rev.] warme their fingers by the fier and bee gone, -though I [40] would have persuaded them thereto, but Iuvat vsque morari -et conferre gradum; they would needes staye & the youth daunce; but oh -to see, woe to see, that pleasure is but a pinch and felicitye but a -phillippe; when as Juvat ire per altum, some were cutting capers aloft -in the ayre, canit similiter huic, and they likewise with their -minstrelsey fitting it to their footing, all on a suddaine, Subito I may -say to them, but Repente to mee, their sporte was spoild, their musicke -marrd, their dauncinge dasht with a vox hominem sonat, with a voyce, -[50] with an awefull voice, Hæccine fieri flagitia; ar these the fruites -of the fires; statur a me, (i) sto, statur ab illis, (i) stant; they -that even now scrap't so fast with their stickes fell now to scraping -faster with their leggs; their fum fum was turn'd to mum mum, and their -pleasaunt melodye to most pittifull making of faces; but when they -look't that their fiddles should have flyen about their eares, their -calveskin cases about their calveshead pates, as the sunne shines -brightest through a shower, so did softnes in the midst of severitye: -[F. 82v rev.] there was noe more [60] said to them but, Teque his ait -eripe flammis; they were best, since they had made many mens heeles -warme with shakinge, to coole their owne by quaking without doore. But -the more mercy was shewed before, the lesse was left for mee. Had I -beene dealt with soe mercifullye, I had not neede to have come with this -exclamation, or had it beene but gratia ab officio, but a groat out of -mine office, I should not have stonied the stones nor rented the rockes -with my dolorous outcryes. - -But when it shall come to denarii dicti quod denos, [70] when tenn -groats shall make a muster togeather and sitte heavy on my head, actum -est ilicet, the porter periit. O weathercoke of wretchednes that I am, -seated on the may-pole of misfortune; whither shall I turne, or to whome -shall I looke for releife? Shall I speake to my minstrells for my money? -Why, they have allready forsaken mee, to the verifieng of the ould -proverbe; Quantum quisque sua nummorum servat in arc[=a], tantum habet -et fidei; as long as a man hath money in his purse, so long hee shall -have the fidlers. What is to bee looked [80] for of them that will doe -nothing without pay, and hard-mony for their harmonye? Shall I speake to -my frends? Why: nullus ad amissas ibit amicus opes. [F. 43r rev.] Oh, -then, lett mee runne to the speare of Achilles (recorded by auncient -philosophers) which first hurt mee and last can heale mee: lett my -penitencye find pittye, and my confession move compassion; if you will -live according to rule, ever after penitet, tædet, lett miseret, -miserescit succeede. - -That they came in, it was a fault of oversight in not overseeing my -office: if any should slinke by Cerberus [90] out of hell, it weare a -thing to bee wondred at, & yet wee see there doth, ther are so many -spirritts walking. If any should steale by Janus into heaven, it weare -much woorthy of marvaile, and yet wee see there doth, there are soe many -of Jupiters lemmans: if anye should skippe in or out by mee it is not to -bee admired: for why? Cerberus the porter of hell hath 3 heads, Janus -hath two, & I your poore colledg porter have but one. That they weare -not putt out of the colledge when they weare in, it was a fault; but a -fault of curtesie; for who could [100] find in his hart, when hee seeth -a man accompanied with musicke, musis comitantibus, to bidd him, Ibis -Homere foras, gett you home for an asse? - -But though my breast (I must confesse) weare then somewhat [F. 42v rev.] -moved with their melodye, yet heerafter my breast shall bee marble when -they warble: Nemo sibi Mimos accipere debet favori, I will never lett in -minstrells againe vpon favour; for your selves I can say no more but -profit; & when (after this Christmas cheere is ended) you fall againe to -your studdies, I could wish that [110] Hippocrene may bee Hippocrise, -the muses Muskadine, & the Pierides pies every day for your sakes; and -as for my tenn groates, if it will please you to remitte it, I will give -you decies decem mille gratiarum. Dixi. - - -II. - - _A speech delivered by Francis Clarke to the Ladie Keneda._ - [F. 46r rev.] - -Noble ladye, give him leave that hath beene so bolde as to take leave, -to speake before your ladyshipp, and out of the prognosticks, not of -profound pond or deepe dale, but out of the candlesticke of mine owne -observation, to give your ladyshipp some lightning of a great thunder -that will happen in the morning. - -The reason of it is a flatt, slimye, & sulphureous matter exhaled out of -the kitchins & enflamed in the highest region of the dripping pannes, -which will breed fiery commetts with much lightning and thunder. And -[10] the influence of it will so domineere in the cooks heads, that are -brought vpp under the torridd zone of the chimney, that few of them will -take rest this night, & suffer as few to take rest in the morning. They -have sett a little porch before so great an house, and have called their -show the flye. Some say because a maide comming to towne with butter was -mett by a cooke & by him deceaved in a wood neare adioyning, whose -laments the dryades and hamadriades of the place, pittieng, turned her -into a butterflie; & ever since the cooks are bound to this [20] -anniversary celebration of her metamorphosis; but soft, if the cooks -heare that the porridgpott of my mouth [F. 45v rev.] runnes over soe, -they will keele it with the ladle of reprehension; therfore I will make -hast away, onely asking this boone, which wilbee as good as a bone to -the cookes; that your ladyshipps servaunt Monsieur Piers may ride -to-morrowe with the fierye fraternitye of his fellowe cookes, & make -vpp the worthy companye of the round table, which they are resolvd not -to leave till the whole house goe rounde with them. [30] - - -III. - - _A Speech spoken by Francis Clarke in the behalfe of the freshmen._ - -Ne sævi, magne sacerdos, bee not so severe, great session [F. 44v rev.] -holder; lett pittie prevaile over the poenitent, lett thy woords of -woormwood goe downe againe into thy throate, & so by consequence into -thy belly, but lett not those goe to the place from whence they came, & -so by cohærence to the place of exequution: and though these bee, as it -is rightly said in the rule, Turba gravis paci placidæque inimica -quieti, yet thinke what goes next before, Sis bonus ô felixque tuis: and -although I must needes say I am sorry for it that Fertur atrocia -flagitia [10] designasse, yet remember what followes immediatlye in the -place; Teque ferunt iræ poenituisse tuæ. - -Your lordshipp is learned as well as I (it is bootles & I should offer -you the bootes), you knowing the Latine to expounde. - -I am heere the jaylor, the Janus, the janitor; you are the judge, the -justice, the Jupiter, to this miserable companye; yet beare I not two -faces under a hoode, neither deale I doubly betweene your lordshipp & -the lewde; for though Janus & the jaylor goe together, vt bifrons, [20] -custos, yet Bos stands for a barre to distinguish the jaylor from the -theefe, vt bifrons, custos, bos, fur. - -O that you weare Jupiter, to bee a helping father to these sonnes of -sorrow, or I weare Janus indeed, that I might have two tongues to -intreate for this pittifull crew. [F. 44r rev.] Looke, O thou flower of -favour, thou marigold of mercye and columbine of compassion, looke, O -looke on the dolorous dew dropps distilld from the limbecks or -loope-holes of their eyes, and plentifully powred on the flower of their -faces; O see in these (O thou most exalted [30] eldest sonne of Justice) -a lamentable example; consider that homo bulla, honor is but a blast; -pittie, O pitty the cause of these hopeles, helples, hartles and indeed -half-hanged young men; if they have erred, humanum est, they are men; -looke not thou for that of them which you can but expect of gods. Have -they spoken against the lawes of your court, why, Dolet dictum -imprudenti adolescenti et libero: has their tongue tript, why, Lingua -percurrit, it was too quicke for the witt, quicknes is commendable. -Pectora percussit, have they fought with [40] your highnes servaunts, -have they beene obstinate? Why, they have had their punishment, and -toties quoties, went either wett skind or dry beaten to bedd. Quid est -quod, in hac caus[=a] defensionis egeat; take pittie (O thou peerles -patterne of equity) if on nothing els, yet on their youth. - -Some of them are heires, all of good abilitye; I beseech your lordshipp -with the rest of the ioynd stooles, I would say the bench, take my -foolish iudgment, & lett them fine for it, merce them according to their -merritts [50] [F. 43v rev.] and their purses, wee shall all fare the -better for it. - -As for other punishments (I speake it with weeping teares) they have -suffered no small affliction in my keeping; Est locus in carcere quod -dungeanum appellatur; there they lay, noctes atque dies, at no great -charge, for, Constat parvo fames; but so laded with irons that I made -them Livida armis brachia, & now, see, they are come foorth after all, -Trepidus morte futura. - -O miseresce malis, take pitty on the poore prisners, Patres æquum esse -censent nos iam iam; you may very [60] well remember, since yourselfe -weare in the same case. Cutt not off for some few slippes those younge -plantes of such towardnes; make not mothers weepe, winke at small -faultes, rovoke your sentence, lett the common good have their fines, -mee have my fees, they have their lives, and all shalbee well pleased. -Dixi. - - -IV. - - _A letter composd for Francke Clarke, the porter of [F. 84v rev.] - S. John's, who in his brother's behalfe did breake one's head with - a blacke staffe._ - -TO MASTER LAUDE, THEN PROCTOR. - -Worshipfull and woorthy Master Proctor, wheras I, your poore vassaile, -in charitye towardes my afflicted brother, have stepped over the shooes -of my duetye in participatinge or accommodatinge my blacke staffe to the -easinge of his over-charged artickles & members, wherby I have iustlye -plucked the oulde house, or rather the maine beame of your indignation, -upon my impotent and impudent shoulders, I doe now beseech you upon the -knees of my sorrowfullnes and marybones of repentance to forgive mee all -delictes & crimes as have beene [10] formerly committed. - -And wheras you, contrary to my desertes, have out of the bottomles pitt -of your liberalitye restored mee out of the porters lodge of miserye -into the tower of fælicitie, by giving that which was due from mee -(silly mee) vnto your worshippfull selfe, I meane my ladye pecunia; lett -mee intreate you that I may burden the leggs of your liberalitie so -much farther, as to deliver mee the afore-said blacke staffe, without -which I am a man & noe beast, a wretch & no porter. But wheras it is -thus [20] by my most vnfortunate fate, that so woorthy a President [F. -85r rev.] hath seene so vnworthy a present, I cannott but condole my -tragedies, committing you to the profunditye or abisse of your -liberalitie, & my selfe to the 3 craues of my adversitie. Dixi. - - - - -NOTES TO THE PLAY OF "NARCISSUS." - - - - -NOTES TO THE PLAY OF "NARCISSUS." - - -Line 1. _Master and Mistris._--Doubtless the President of S. John's and -his wife. The office was held at this time by Ralph Hutchinson, who had -been elected to it in 1590, after holding for some years the college -living of Charlbury, Oxon. Little seems to be known of Mrs. Hutchinson -beyond the fact that after her husband's death in 1606 she placed his -effigy in the college chapel. - -Line 39. _Rebateth._--To rebate, to blunt or disedge; see _Measure for -Measure_, i. 4, 60--"Doth rebate and blunt his natural edge." - -Line 55. _Quaffe._--The substantival use of this word is not uncommon in -contemporary writings. Cf., in 1579, L. Tomson, Calvin's _Sermons on -Timothy, &c.,_ p. 512, col. 2: "Now they thinke that a sermon costeth no -more then a quaffe wil them." - -Line 78. _Ladds of mettall._--Cf. 1 _Henry IV._ ii. 4, 13. - -Line 80._ No vertue extant._--Cf. 1 _Henry IV._ ii. 4, 132, where virtue -= bravery, physical courage. The porter's use of the phrase sounds like -a quotation. - -Line 97. _A the stampe._--Halliwell gives "Stamp, a tune," and quotes -from MS. Fairfax, 16, "Songes, stampes, and eke daunces." Cf. also -_Midsummer Night's Dream_, iii. 2, 25. - -Line 98. _Windsuckers._--This old name for the kestrel, or wind-hover, -is of tolerably frequent occurrence. It is used metaphorically of a -person ready to pounce on anything. "There is a certain envious -windsucker that hovers up and down" (Chapman). - -Line 101. _I pre, sequor._--Literally, "Go before, I follow." The porter -supplies a free translation in the words "one of your consorte." Cf. -the use of the phrase "to be hail-fellow-well-met with anyone." - -Line 109. _Condolent_ here means _expressing sorrow_. For this sense see -Wood, Ath. Oxon. (R)--"His vein for ditty and amorous ode was deemed -most lofty, condolent, and passionate." - -Line 110. _Suffocat._--The porter's substitute for _sufficit_; though, -strictly speaking, the _o_ should be long. - -Line 111. _I tickle them for a good voice._--Besides the ordinary -metaphorical meaning of to flatter, _tickle_ sometimes = to serve one -right, to make one pay for a thing. For this sense see 1 _Henry IV._ ii. -4, 489, "I'll tickle ye for a young prince, i' faith;" and cf. _Ibid._ -ii. 1, 66. Probably the expression has a similar force here. - -Line 114. _Butterd beare._--Ale boiled with lump-sugar, butter, and -spice. - -Line 122. _Act in conye._--The adjective _incony_, with the apparent -sense of fine, delicate, is used twice by Costard in _Love's Labour's -Lost_ (iii. 136, iv. 1, 144) and also in Marlowe's _Jew of Malta_, iv. -5--"While I in thy incony lap do tumble." Other examples are rare, and I -have not found any instance of an adverbial use. A second, though much -less probable interpretation of the passage is suggested by the frequent -use of _cony_ as a term of endearment to a woman (cf. Skelton's _Eleanor -Rummyng_, 225--"He called me his whytyng, his nobbes, and his conny"). -If, however, "act in conye" were equivalent to "act as woman," _i.e._ -take a female part, examples of analogous constructions should be -forthcoming. - -Line 129. _Lovely._--Here used in the sense of loving, tender. Cf. -_Taming of the Shrew_, iii. 2, 125--"And seal the title with a lovely -kiss." - -Line 156. _All and some._--An expression meaning everyone, everything, -altogether: - - "For which the people blisful, _al and somme_, - So cryden" ... - - (CHAUCER, _Anelida and Arcite_, i. 26.) - - "Thou who wilt not love, do this; - Learne of me what Woman is. - Something made of thred and thrumme; - A meere botch of all and some." - - (HERRICK, _Hesperides_, i. 100.) - -Line 160. _Cappes a thrumming._--Cf. _Knight of the Burning Pestle_, iv. -5-- - - "And let it ne'er be said for shame that we, the youths of London, - Lay thrumming of our caps at home, and left our custom undone." - -To _thrum_ = to beat in the Suffolk dialect. - -Line 167. _Shrimpe._--This use of the word in the sense of child, -offspring (or possibly as a term of endearment, "little one") is not -common. It was generally employed contemptuously, and meant a dwarfish -or stunted creature, as in 1 _Henry VI._ ii. 3, 23. See, however, -_Love's Labour's Lost_, v. 2, 594. - -Line 193. _Oddes_ here = contention, quarrel. For this sense compare-- - - "I cannot speak - Any beginning to this peevish odds." - - (_Othello_, ii. 3, 185.) - -and also _Henry V._ ii. 4, 129, and _Timon of Athens_, iv. 3, 42. - -Line 195. _Seven yeares I was a woman._--The blindness of Tiresias is -most frequently ascribed, either to his having, when a child, revealed -the secrets of the gods, or to his having gazed upon Athenè bathing, on -which occasion the goddess is said to have deprived him of sight. -Another tradition, however (adhered to by Ovid, _Met._ iii. 516, etc.), -relates that Tiresias beheld two serpents together; he struck at them, -and, happening to kill the female, was himself changed into a woman. -Seven years later he again encountered two serpents, but now killed the -male, and resumed the shape of man. Zeus and Hera, disputing over the -relative happiness of man and woman, referred the matter to Tiresias, as -having a practical knowledge of both conditions. He favoured Zeus's -assertion that a woman possessed the more enjoyments; whereupon Hera, -indignant, blinded him, while Zeus bestowed on him, in compensation, the -power of prophecy. - -Line 197. _Fold._--The omission of a prefix to suit the exigencies of -metre, common enough in verbs such as defend, defile, becomes remarkable -when the force of the prefix itself is such as to change entirely the -meaning of the verb. Examples of omission in such cases are comparatively -rare, but they are not confined to our own language. See Vergil, _Aen._ -i. 262-- - - "Longius et volvens fatorum arcana movebo"-- - -and cf. also _Aen._ v. 26, and Cicero's _Brutus_, 87. - -Line 223. _Catch audacitye._--For the old metaphorical use of catch cf. -Wyclif's Bible (1 Tim. vi. 12), "Catche euerlastyng lyf." - -Line 227. _Curromanstike_, chiromantic, _i.e._ pertaining to chiromancy; -the rhyme being probably responsible for the use of the adjective rather -than the noun. - -Line 229. _The table_, etc.--"The table-line, or line of fortune, begins -under the mount of Mercury, and ends near the index and middle -finger.... When lines come from the mount of Venus, and cut the line of -life, it denotes the party unfortunate in love and business, and -threatens him with some suddain death" (_The True Fortune-teller, or -Guide to Knowledge_, 1686). - -Line 236. _Sheppbiter._--A malicious, surly fellow; according to Dyce, -"a cant term for a thief." See _Twelfth Night_, ii. 5, 6, "The -niggardly, rascally sheep-biter." - -Line 246. _What._--MS. has the abbreviation w^{th}, usually denoting -_with_, but evidently substituted here, by a copyist's error, for w^{t} -= _what_. - -Line 247. _They can but bring_, etc.--W. Carew Hazlitt (_English -Proverbs_, p. 28) quotes from Heywood, 1562--"A man maie well bring a -horse to the water, but he can not make him drinke without he will." He -also mentions that the proverb is ascribed (probably falsely) to Queen -Elizabeth, in the _Philosopher's Banquet_ (1614). - -Line 261. _I_ = ay.--Both spellings occur in the MS. For the common use -of the capital _I_ in this sense, see Juliet's play upon the word-- - - "Hath Romeo slain himself? Say thou but 'I,' - And that bare vowel 'I' shall poison more - Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice; - I am not I, if there be such an I." - - (_Romeo and Juliet_, iii. 2, 45, etc.) - -Line 262. _In spight of ... pye._--Alluding to the common belief in the -pie, or magpie, as a bird of ill-omen. - -Line 266. _Phibbus._--The same spelling as in _Midsummer Night's Dream_, -i. 2, 37. - -Line 270. _Baskett dagger._--Doubtless a weapon resembling the -basket-_sword_, which had a hilt specially designed to protect the hand -from injury. Cf. 2 _Henry IV._ ii. 4, 141. - -Line 275. _Footinge_, step, tread; cf. _Merchant of Venice_, v. 24. - -Line 279.--_Late-mouse._--A facetious spelling of Latmus, the "mount of -oblivion." - -Line 281. _Shift_ originally meant simply change, substitution of one -thing for another. Cf. _Timon of Athens_, i. 1, 84--"Fortune, in her -shift and change of mood." Wotton writes--"My going to Oxford was not -merely for shift of air." From this arose the later sense of a change of -clothing, in which the word is here used; and which has now become -further limited, _shift_ amongst the lower classes being equivalent to -an under-garment. - -Line 282. _Cantle._--A corner, angle, small point. Cf. 1 _Henry IV._ -iii. 1, 100; _Antony and Cleopatra_, iii. 10, 6. See also under _cantle_ -in N. E. D. - -Line 283. _Portmantle._--The older and commoner form of _portmanteau_, -occurring, for example, in Howell's _Familiar Letters_ (1623). Early -instances of _portmanteau_ are, however, to be found. - -Line 296. _Ile bee a diar,_ etc.--The joke is on the double meaning of -_diar_; there seems to be no special significance in the choice of the -colour orange-tawny. - -Line 300. _Codshead_ = stupid-head, foolish fellow. Cf. in 1607, -Drewill's _Arraignm_. in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) iii. 56:--"Lloyd -(threatning he) woulde trye acquaintance with the other codsheade." -Also, in 1594, Carew Huarte's _Exam. Wits_, i. (1596), 2:--"His -(Cicero's) sonne ... prooued but a cods-head." - -Line 301. _O eyes, noe eyes._--The common tag from Hieronymo, in Kyd's -_Spanish Tragedy_, Act iii.: - - "O eyes! No eyes, but fountains fraught with tears; - O life! No life, but lively form of death." - -The line was a frequent subject of ridicule amongst contemporary -writers; cf. _Every Man in his Humour_, i. 5, 58, etc. - -Line 316. _Fennell._--Foeniculum vulgare, considered as an inflammatory -herb, and used as an emblem of flattery. Cf. _Hamlet_, iv. 5, 180. - -Line 320. _Thou._--MS. has _though_. - -Line 327. _Weasand._--This word is generally used as a noun, and itself -means wind-pipe. Cf. _Tempest_, iii. 2, 99. - -Line 328. _Thy face more faire, etc._--According to some legends, Gorgon -or Medusa was a beautiful maiden before Athenè, in anger, changed her -hair into serpents, thereby rendering her so hideous that all who saw -her became petrified. Possibly, however, the allusion here is merely -facetious. - -Line 329. _Dishevells._--Spreads in disorder (an intransitive use). -"Their hair, curling, dishevels about their shoulders." (Sir T. -Herbert.) - -Line 330. _Queene of devills._--Probably Persephone, the wife of Pluto, -who ruled amongst the shades of the departed. - -Line 332. _Mavors_ or _Mavers_ is the form from which _Mars_ is -contracted. - -Line 337. _Silenus for streight backe._--Silenus is usually depicted as -a fat, jovial old man, intoxicated and requiring support. The comparison -is of course ironical. - -Line 339. _Rine_ = rind or bark. The O. E. form was rinde; but for a -similar omission of _d_ in the literary language cf. _lime_ (O. E. -linde) and _lawn_ (M. E. launde). - -Line 342. _Whose nose, etc._--Cf. _Midsummer Night's Dream_, v. 338. A -similar jest occurs in Peele's "Old Wives' Tale": "Her corall lippes, -her crimson chinne." - -Line 345. _Thy._--MS. has _they_. - -Line 360. _Cruell_, _huge_, are the epithets properly belonging to -_elephant_; _changing_, _small_, to _chameleon_. See Introduction. - -Line 396. _Ile beare thee light._--If this expression be an idiom, I can -find no other instance of it; cf., however, the analogous phrase "to -bear hard," _i.e._ to take ill (_Julius Cæsar_, ii. 1, 215; 1 _Henry -IV._ i. 3, 270). The punning character of the passage makes it difficult -to determine what exact meaning Florida wishes to convey. A not -improbable sense would be obtained by supplying a comma after _thee_, -and thus turning _light_ into a nominative of address. - -Line 397. _Lurden_, a clown, sluggard, ill-bred person (Halliwell). - - "And seyde, lurden, what doyst thou here? - Thou art a thefe, or thefys fere." - - (MS. _Cantab_, Ff. ii. 38, f. 240.) - -The word occurs in _Piers Plowman_. - -Line 399. _O Oedipus I am not, I am Davus._--A quotation from Terence, -_Andria_, i. 2, 23: "Davus sum, non Oedipus." - -Line 400. _Master Davis._--Evidently an intentional anglicizing of the -classical name. - -Line 406. _Vastitye._--So MS., possibly for _vastilye_. - -Line 408. _As true as Helen, etc._--Cf. the professions of Pyramus and -Thisbe (where, however, no irony is intended), _Midsummer Night's -Dream_, v. 1, 200-203. - -Line 413. _Loves._--So MS. for _love_. - -Line 413. _I am ore shooes in it._--Cf. _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, i. 1, -23: - - "That's a deep story of a deeper love, - For he was more than over shoes in love." - -Line 414. _Mountenance_, quantity, amount. The translation of the -_Romaunt of the Rose_, attributed to Chaucer, has--"The mountenance of -two fynger hight." - -Line 422. _Never ioyd it since._--Cf. 1 _Henry IV._ ii. 1, 13: "Poor -fellow, never joyed since the price of oats rose; it was the death of -him." - -Line 426. _Pay_ = beat (still used dialectically): - - "They with a foxe tale him soundly did pay." - - (_The King and a poore Northerne Man_, 1640.) - -Line 440. _Scummer._--The meanings of this word appear to be either -various or obscure. Halliwell gives "_Scummer_, wonder; Somerset." In -Elworthy's _West Somersetshire Wordbook_ the definitions stand thus: (1) -row, disturbance; (2) confusion, upset; (3) mess, dirty muddle. Wright, -in his _Provincial Dictionary_, gives the meaning as ordure, without -referring the word to any special locality. Obviously, this _scummer_ is -not to be confounded with M. E. _scumer_, a rover or pirate. - -Line 441. _Surquedry_, presumption, arrogance, conceit. Chaucer -has--"Presumpcion is he whan a man taketh an emprise that him ought not -to do, or ellis he may it not do & that is called surquidrie" (_Parson's -Tale_, Corpus MS.). - -Line 441. _Shooing-horne._--Metaphorically, anything which helps to draw -something else on: a tool. Cf. _Troilus and Cressida_, v. 1, 61: "A -thrifty shoeing-horn in a chain, hanging at his brother's leg." The -expression "shoeing horn of surquedry" is thus equivalent to "chosen -implement of personified arrogance." - -Line 442. _Casting topp_, a peg-top. See W. Coles (1657), _Adam in -Eden_, 169--"The fruit is in forme like a casting-top." - -Line 443. _Stopple._--The older form of stopper. Cotgrave has--"Tampon, -a bung or stopple." - -Line 446. _Vpp leave._--So MS. for _vpp heave_, possibly by confusion -with _vpp lift_. - -Line 453. _Corneagle._--I can find no instances whatever of this very -puzzling word; neither does it seem to be closely analogous to any known -form. Can _corneagle_ be a corrupt spelling of _co-niggle_, to niggle -both (our hearts) together? _Niggle_ was used formerly for deceive, -steal (still in the dialects), make sport of, mock; but is not, to my -knowledge, compounded elsewhere with this prefix. Or is "harts -corneagle" a substitution for "harts' core niggle"? (Heart's core occurs -in _Hamlet_.) Both explanations have been suggested to me only as a last -resource, and are too far-fetched to be at all convincing. Moreover, the -context seems to require the sense of pursue, persecute, rather than of -deceive. - -Line 464. _Tales of tubbes._--A characteristic rendering into -Elizabethan English of Ovid's "Illa Deam longo prudens sermone tenebat." -The earliest instances of the expression "tales of tubs" seem to occur -about the middle of the sixteenth century. - -_Notes and Queries_, series v. vol. xi. p. 505, quotes amongst "curious -phrases in 1580"--"To heare some Gospel of a distaffe and tale of a -tubbe" (_Beehive of the Romish Church_, fo. 275b). See also Holland's -"Plutarch," p. 644, and (for further references) Dodsley-Hazlitt's _Old -Plays_, ii. 335. - -Line 475. _Quatte._--A corruption of _squat_, sometimes used -substantively for the sitting of a hare: - - "Procure a little sport - And then be put to the dead quat." - - (_White Devil_, 4to, H.) - -That the word in this sense was not general may be gathered from the -fact that George Turberville, in his full description of the various -methods of hunting the hare (_Noble Art of Venerie_, 1575), makes no use -of it, but speaks constantly of the hare's form. _Quat_ for _squat_ -(non-substantival) is still frequent in some of the dialects, and is the -word specially used of a hare or other game when flattening itself on -the earth to escape observation. In West Somersetshire it is used in -connection with the verb to go--"The hare went quat" (Elworthy). This -is the modern use most nearly approximating to that of the present -passage. - -Line 476. _Watt_, the old name for a hare; hence metaphorically used of -a wily, cautious person (Halliwell). - -Line 478. _Hollowe in the hind doggs._--Turberville, describing the -hunting of hares, writes,--"One of the huntesmen shall take charge to -rate & beate on _such doggs as bide plodding behinde_; and the other -shall make them seeke and cast about." - -Line 518. _Slidd_, God's lid, a mean oath. See _Merry Wives of Windsor_, -iii. 4, 24; _Twelfth Night_, iii. 4, 427; _Every Man in his Humour_, i. -1, 56. - -Line 537. _Patch._--A term of contempt, generally supposed to have been -first applied to professional fools, by reason of their parti-coloured -dress. See _Tempest_, iii. 2, 71; _Comedy of Errors_, iii. 1, 32, 36. - -Line 556. _Malaparte_, forward, saucy. See _Twelfth Night_, iv. 1, 47, -and 3 _Henry VI._ v. 5, 32. - -Line 569. _Scall scabbe._--A scall = a scab; scald = scabby. See _Merry -Wives of Windsor_, iii. 1, 123; _Twelfth Night_, ii. 5, 82; _Troilus and -Cressida_, ii. 1, 31. - -Line 571. _Groome._--In M. E. this word meant simply boy, youth; hence -(at a later period) serving-lad. See _Taming of the Shrew_, iii. 2, 215, -and _Titus Andronicus_, iv. 2, 164. - -Line 573. _Bange_, beat. Cf. _Othello_, ii. 1, 21, and _Julius Cæsar_, -iii. 3, 20. - -Line 575. _Kee pickpurse._--This expression seems to be a quotation from -1 _Henry IV._ ii. 1, 53: - - "_Gads._ What, ho! Chamberlain! - - _Cham. (within)._ At hand, quoth pick-purse." - -I am told that the colloquial use of _kee_, or _quy_, for _quoth_, is -frequent in certain parts of Scotland; but I can find no literary -example of the form, and it is hard to account for its presence in this -passage. The scribal substitution of _quy_ for the abbreviated _quoth_ -might easily occur, the thorn-letter being erroneously transcribed by -_y_, as in _the_; but this cannot have given rise to any M. E. phonetic -change such as the spelling _kee_ certainly implies. - -Line 587. _Spurrgald._--Cf. _Richard II._ v. 5, 94. - -Line 588. _Jolthead_, blockhead, dunce. See _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, -iii. 1, 290,--"Fie on thee, jolt-head! Thou canst not read." Also -_Taming of the Shrew_, iv. 1, 169. - -Line 590. _Rooke_ = cheat or sharper, and is used as a general term of -contempt. See _Every Man in his Humour_, i. 5, 89,--"Hang him, rook!" -The host of the Garter frequently addresses his familiars as -"bully-rook." See _Merry Wives of Windsor_, i. 3, 2; ii. 1, 200, 207, -213. - -Line 611. _Forfeiture._--Properly, something lost on engagement, or in -consequence of the breach of an obligation. Cf. _Merchant of Venice_, i. -3, 165; iv. 1, 24, 122. Here the word is used in a modified and more -general sense. - -Line 641. _Ast._--Cf., in 1592, G. Harvey's _Pierces Superer_, 57,--"He -... bourdeth, girdeth, asseth, the excellentest writers." - -Line 644. _Scindifer._--So MS., possibly for _scimitar_. - -Line 649. _Whineard_, a sword or hanger (Halliwell):-- - - "His cloake grew large and sid - And a faire whinniard by his side." - - (_Cobler of Canterburie_, 1608, sig. E, ii.) - -Line 658. _Stingian._--So MS. for _Stygian_. - -Line 668. _Lovd._--So MS., possibly for _livd_. - -Line 670. _Vild._--So MS. for _vile_ or _wild_. - -Lines 677, 678. _Christall_ and _cherrye_ reversed. - -Line 683. _Headye_, rash, impetuous. See 1 _Henry IV._ ii. 3, 58, and -_Henry V._ i. 1, 34. - -Line 686. _Dicker._--Ten of any commodity, as ten hides of leather, ten -bars of iron, etc. This word comes from the late Latin _dicra_ (_dicora, -decora, dacra, dacrum_), classical Latin _decuria_, meaning ten hides, -occasionally ten of other things. "Also that no maner foreyn sille no -lether in the seid cite, but it be in the yelde halle of the same, -paying for the custom of every _dyker_ i.d." (_English Guilds_, ed. by -Toulmin Smith, p. 384). For the wide use of the word in Western and -Northern Europe, cf. O. Norse _dekr_, ten hides, M. H. G. _decker_, ten -of anything, especially hides. Modern German _decker_ = ten hides. - -Line 688. _How_ here = however, as in _Venus and Adonis_, 79; 1 _Henry -IV._ v. 2, 12; and _Much Ado about Nothing_, iii. 1, 60. - -Line 703. _Seas._--MS. has _sea_. - -Line 711. _Pinke._--A word found in the northern dialects for "to peep -slyly." Cf. the adjective _pink_, winking, half-shut; "Plumpy Bacchus -with pink eyne" (_Antony and Cleopatra_, ii. 7, 121). - -Line 734. _My grandam ... earth._--Cf. 1 _Henry IV._ iii. 1, 34. - -Line 735. _Randome._--The verb random, to stray wildly, is more -frequently found with the original spelling _randon_ (French _randoner_, -to run rapidly), which became altered, possibly by analogy with _whilom_ -and _seldom_, possibly by a process of change similar to that which -converted _ranson_ to _ransom_. Sackville writes:--"Shall leave them -free to randon of their will." - - - - -NOTES TO THE APPENDIX. - - -I. - -Line 32. (_i_) is here equivalent to _id est_. Lilly gives the examples -of lines 52, 53 (in which the same abbreviation here occurs) with the -words written in full. - -Line 48. _Repente._--A play on the meaning of the English and the form -of the Latin word _repente_ is clearly intended. - -Line 70. "Denarii dicti, quod denos æris valebant; quinarii, quod -quinos" (Varro). - -Line 93. _Janus_ is frequently, though not invariably, represented in -mythology as guardian of the entrance to heaven; in which capacity he -holds in his right hand a staff, and in his left a key, symbolical of -his office (Ovid, _Fast._ i. 125). The names of Jupiter and Janus were -usually coupled in prayer, as the divinities whose aid it was necessary -to invoke at the beginning of any undertaking. Jupiter gave by augury -the requisite sanction; but it was the part of Janus to confer a -blessing at the outset. - -Line 111. _Hippocrise._--A beverage composed of wine, with spices and -sugar, strained through a cloth; said to have been named from -Hippocrates' sleeve, the term given by apothecaries to a strainer -(Halliwell). - -Line 111. _Muskadine._--A well-known rich wine. - - "And I will have also wyne de Ryne - With new maid clarye, that is good and fyne, - Muscadell, terantyne, and bastard, - With Ypocras and Pyment comyng afterwarde." - - (_MS. Rawl._ C. 86.) - -Though _muscadell_ is the usual form (for instances see Furnivall, _The -Babees Book_, p. 205), the spelling _muscadine_ occurs in Beaumont and -Fletcher's _Loyal Subject_, iii. 4. - -Line 112. _The Pierides pies._--The reference is not to the Muses -themselves (sometimes called Pierides from Pieria, near Olympus), but to -the nine daughters of Pierus, who for attempting to rival the Muses were -changed into birds of the magpie kind. For a full account of the -transformation see Ovid, _Met._ v. 670, etc. There is a play here on the -double meaning of _pie_, namely a bird (Latin pica), and an article of -food. - - -II. - -Line 23.--_Keele_, to cool, from O. E. cêlan, M. E. kelen. See _Love's -Labour's Lost_, v. 2, 930--"While greasy Joan doth keel the pot." -Usually, however, the verb bore the derived sense of "to keep from -boiling over by stirring round." _A Tour to the Caves_, 1781, -gives--"_Keel_, to keep the pot from boiling over." This is evidently -the meaning which should be adopted here. - - -III. - -Line 13. _It is bootles_, etc.--Puns on the different meanings of the -word _boot_ are very common in Elizabethan writers, and the relevant use -of the one frequently entails the irrelevant introduction of the other. -See, for example, _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, i. 1, 27, etc.: - - "_Pro._ Over the boots? Nay, give me not the boots. - - _Val._ No, I will not, for it boots thee not." - -And _Every Man in his Humour_, i. 3, 30, etc.: - - "_Brai._ Why, you may ha' my master's gelding, to save your longing, - sir. - - _Step._ But I ha' no boots, that's the spite on't. - - _Brai._ Why, a fine wisp of hay roll'd hard, Master Stephen. - - _Step._ No, faith, it's no boot to follow him now." - -"Give me not the boots" = "do not make a laughing-stock of me." - -Line 48. _Ioynd stooles._--The word joint-stool, meaning a seat made -with joints, a folding-chair, is sometimes spelt _join'd stool_ in old -editions of Shakespeare. The porter's use of this form is probably -intended to convey a jest; _ioynd stooles_ is here equivalent to stooles -joined to one another, and the term is used as a facetious synonym for -_bench_. - - -IV. - -Line 6. _Oulde._--So MS., possibly for _whole_. - -Line 19. _A man & noe beast._--An inversion, probably intentional. - -Line 22. _Condole my tragedies._--_Condole_ is here used in the now -obsolete transitive sense, and is equivalent to bewail, grieve over, -lament. See (in 1607) Hieron, _Works_, i. 179--"How tender-hearted the -Lord is, and how he doth ... condole our miseries." Cf. also Pistol's -use of the verb, _Henry V._ ii. 1, 133. - -Line 24. _Craues._--The substantive crave, = craving, is not in general -use, but appears to be considered rather as a new formation than as an -obsolete word. Thus the earliest of the three examples given in the N. -E. D. dates from 1830--"His crave and his vanity so far deluded him" -(_Fraser's Magazine_, i. 134). This is a clear instance of a previous -use. - -The sentence as it stands presents some difficulty, inasmuch as the -porter has made in the course of his speech only two distinct petitions, -namely that he may be forgiven "all delictes and crimes" (l. 10), and -that his black staff may be restored to him (l. 18). Perhaps the -delicate hint concerning "my ladye pecunia," coupled with the appeal to -"the profunditye or abisse" of the President's liberality, is to be -considered as constituting a third. - - - - -[Illustration: CHISWICK PRESS:--C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, -CHANCERY LANE.] - - - - -Corrections. - -The first line indicates the original, the second the correction: - -p. 18: - - [F. 72r. rev.] - [F. 72r rev.] - -p. 30: - - [F. 43r. rev.] - [F. 43r rev.] - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Narcissus, by Unknown - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NARCISSUS *** - -***** This file should be named 41726-8.txt or 41726-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/7/2/41726/ - -Produced by Irma Spehar, Eleni Christofaki and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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