ACT V.
SCENE I.
Enter Æneas, [538] with a paper in his hand, drawing the platform [539] of the city; Achates, Sergestus, Cloanthus, and Ilioneus.
Æn. Triumph, my mates! our travels are at end: Here will Æneas build a statelier Troy Than that which grim Atrides overthrew. Carthage shall vaunt her petty walls no more; For I will grace them with a fairer frame, And clad her in a crystal livery, Wherein the day may evermore delight; From golden India Ganges will I fetch, Whose wealthy streams may wait upon her towers, And triple-wise entrench her round about;10 The sun from Egypt shall rich odours bring, Wherewith his burning beams (like labouring bees That load their thighs with Hybla's honey-spoils) [540] Shall here unburden their exhalèd sweets, And plant our pleasant suburbs with their [541] fumes.
Ach. What length or breadth shall this brave town contain?
Æn. Not past four thousand paces at the most.
Ili. But what shall it be call'd? Troy, as before?
Æn. That have I not determin'd with myself.
Clo. Let it be term'd Ænea, by your name.20
Serg. Rather Ascania, by your little son.
Æn. Nay, I will have it callèd Anchisæon, Of my old father's name.
Enter Hermes with Ascanius.
Her. Æneas, stay; Jove's herald bids thee stay.
Æn. Whom do I see? Jove's wingèd messenger! Welcome to Carthage new-erected town.
Her. Why, cousin, stand you building cities here, And beautifying the empire of this queen, While Italy is clean out of thy mind? Too-too forgetful of thine own affairs,30 Why wilt thou so betray thy son's good hap? The king of gods sent me from highest heaven, To sound this angry message in thine ears: Vain man, what monarchy expect'st thou here? Or with what thought sleep'st thou in Libya shore? If that all glory hath forsaken thee, And thou despise the praise of such attempts, Yet think upon Ascanius' prophecy, And young Iulus' more than thousand years, Whom I have brought from Ida, where he slept,40 And bore young Cupid unto Cyprus' isle.
Æn. This was my mother that beguil'd the queen. And made me take my brother for my son: No marvel, Dido, though thou be in love, That daily dandlest Cupid in thy arms.— Welcome, sweet child: where hast thou been this long?
Asc. Eating sweet comfits with Queen Dido's maid, Who ever since hath lull'd me in her arms.
Æn. Sergestus, bear him hence unto our ships, Lest Dido, spying him, keep him for a pledge.50 [Exit Sergestus with Ascanius.
Her. Spend'st thou thy time about this little boy, And giv'st not ear unto the charge I bring? I tell thee, thou must straight to Italy, Or else abide the wrath of frowning Jove. [Exit.
Æn. How should I put into the raging deep. Who have no sails nor tackling for my ships? What? would the gods have me, Deucalion-like, Float up and down where'er the billows drive? Though she repair'd my fleet and gave me ships, Yet hath she ta'en away my oars and masts,60 And left me neither sail nor stern [542] aboard.
Enter Iarbas.
Iar. How now, Æneas! sad! what means these dumps?
Æn. Iarbas, I am clean besides myself; Jove hath heaped on me such a desperate charge, Which neither art nor reason may achieve, Nor I devise by what means to contrive.
Iar. As how, I pray? may I entreat you tell?
Æn. With speed he bids me sail to Italy, Whenas I want both rigging for my fleet, And also furniture for these my men.70
Iar. If that be all, then cheer thy drooping looks, For I will furnish thee with such supplies, Let some of those thy followers go with me, And they shall have what thing soe'er thou need'st.
Æn. Thanks, good Iarbas, for thy friendly aid: Achates and the rest shall wait on thee, Whilst I rest thankful for this courtesy. [Exeunt all except Æneas. Now will I haste unto Lavinian shore, And raise a new foundation to old Troy. Witness the gods, and witness heaven and earth,80 How loath I am to leave these Libyan bounds, But that eternal Jupiter commands!
Enter Dido.
Dido. I fear I saw Æneas' little son Led by Achates [543] to the Trojan fleet. If it be so, his father means to fly:— But here he is; now, Dido, try thy wit.— [Aside. Æneas, wherefore go thy men abroad? Why are thy ships new-rigged? or to what end, Launched from the haven, lie they in the road? Pardon me, though I ask; love makes me ask.90
Æn. O, pardon me, if I resolve thee why! Æneas will not feign with his dear love. I must from hence: this day, swift Mercury, When I was laying a platform [544] for these walls, Sent from his father Jove, appear'd to me, And in his name rebuk'd me bitterly For lingering here, neglecting Italy.
Dido. But yet Æneas will not leave his love.
Æn. I am commanded by immortal Jove To leave this town and pass to Italy;100 And therefore must of force.
Dido. These words proceed not from Æneas' heart.
Æn. Not from my heart, for I can hardly go; And yet I may not stay. Dido, farewell.
Dido. Farewell! is this the 'mends for Dido's love? Do Trojans use to quit [545] their lovers thus? Fare well may Dido, so Æneas stay; I die, if my Æneas say farewell.
Æn. Then let me go, and never say farewell: Let me go; farewell: [546] I must from hence.110
Dido. These words are poison to poor Dido's soul: O, speak like my Æneas, like my love! Why look'st thou toward the sea? the time hath been When Dido's beauty chain'd [547] thine eyes to her. Am I less fair than when thou saw'st me first? O, then, Æneas, 'tis for grief of thee! Say thou wilt stay in Carthage with thy [548] queen, And Dido's beauty will return again. Æneas, say, how can'st thou take thy leave? Wilt thou kiss Dido? O, thy lips have sworn120 To stay with Dido! canst thou take her hand? Thy hand and mine have plighted mutual faith; Therefore, unkind Æneas, must thou say, "Then let me go, and never say farewell?"
Æn. O queen of Carthage, wert thou ugly-black, Æneas could not choose but hold thee dear! Yet must he not gainsay the gods' behest.
Dido. The gods! what gods be those that seek my death? Wherein have I offended Jupiter, That he should take Æneas from mine arms?130 O no! the gods weigh not what lovers do: It is Æneas calls Æneas hence; And woful Dido, by these blubber'd [549] cheeks, By this right hand, and by our spousal rites, Desires Æneas to remain with her; Si [550] bene quid de te merui, fuit aut tibi quidquam Dulce meum, miserere domus labentis, et istam, Oro, si quis adhuc [551] precibus locus, exue mentem.
Æn. Desine [552] meque tuis incendere teque querelis; Italiam non sponte sequor.140
Dido. Hast thou forgot how many neighbour kings Were up in arms, for making thee my love? How Carthage did rebel, Iarbas storm, And all the world calls me a second Helen, For being entangled by a stranger's looks? So thou wouldst prove as true as Paris did, Would, as fair Troy was, Carthage might be sack'd, And I be called a second Helena! Had I a son by thee, the grief were less, That I might see Æneas in his face:150 Now if thou go'st, what canst thou leave behind, But rather will augment than ease my woe?
Æn. In vain, my love, thou spend'st thy fainting breath: If words might move me, I were overcome.
Dido. And wilt thou not be mov'd with Dido's words? Thy [553] mother was no goddess, perjured man, Nor Dardanus the author of thy stock; But thou art sprung from Scythian Caucasus, And tigers of Hyrcania gave thee suck.— Ah, foolish Dido, to forbear this long!—160 Wast thou not wrecked upon this Libyan shore, And cam'st to Dido like a fisher swain? Repaired not I thy ships, made thee a king, And all thy needy followers noblemen? O serpent, that came creeping from the shore, And I for pity harbour'd in my bosom, Wilt thou now slay me with thy venomed sting, And hiss at Dido for preserving thee? Go, go, and spare not; seek out Italy: I hope that that which love forbids me do,170 The rocks and sea-gulfs will perform at large, And thou shalt perish in the billows' ways To whom poor Dido doth bequeath revenge: I, traitor! and the waves shall cast thee up, Where thou and false Achates first set foot; Which if it chance, I'll give ye burial, And weep upon your lifeless carcasses, Though thou nor he will pity me a whit. Why starest thou in my face? If thou wilt stay, Leap in mine arms; mine arms are open wide;180 If not, turn from me, and I'll turn from thee; For though thou hast the heart to say farewell, I have not power to stay thee. [Exit Æneas. Is he gone? I, but he'll come again; he cannot go; He loves me too-too well to serve me so: Yet he that in my sight would not relent, Will, being absent, be obdurate [554] still. By this, is he got to the water-side; And, see, the sailors take him by the hand; But he shrinks back; and now remembering me,190 Returns amain: welcome, welcome, my love! But where's Æneas? ah, he's gone, he's gone!
Enter Anna.
Anna. What means my sister, thus to rave and cry?
Dido. O Anna, my Æneas is abroad, And, leaving me, will sail to Italy! Once didst thou go, and he came back again: Now bring him back, and thou shalt be a queen, And I will live a private life with him.
Anna. Wicked Æneas!
Dido. Call him not wicked, sister: speak him fair,200 And look upon him with a mermaid's eye; Tell him, I never vow'd at Aulis' gulf The desolation of his native Troy, Nor sent a thousand ships unto the walls, Nor ever violated faith to him; Request him gently, Anna, to return: I crave but this,—he stay a tide or two, That I may learn to bear it patiently; If he depart thus suddenly, I die. Run, Anna, run; stay not to answer me.210
Anna. I go, fair sister: heavens grant good success! [Exit.
Enter Nurse.
Nurse. O Dido, your little son Ascanius Is gone! he lay with me last night, And in the morning he was stoln from me: I think, some fairies have beguilèd me.
Dido. O cursèd hag and false dissembling wretch, That slay'st me with thy harsh and hellish tale! Thou for some petty gift hast let him go, And I am thus deluded of my boy.— Away with her to prison presently,220
Enter Attendants.
Trait'ress too kenned [555] and cursèd sorceress!
Nurse. I know not what you mean by treason, I; I am as true as any one of yours.
Dido. Away with her! suffer her not to speak. [Exit Nurse with Attendants. My sister comes: I like not her sad looks.
Re-enter Anna.
Anna. Before I came, Æneas was aboard, And, spying me, hoist up the sails amain; But I cried out, "Æneas, false Æneas, stay!" Then gan he wag his hand, which, yet held up, Made me suppose he would have heard me speak;230 Then gan they drive into the ocean: Which when I view'd, I cried, "Æneas, stay! Dido, fair Dido wills Æneas stay!" Yet he, whose heart['s] of adamant or flint, My tears nor plaints could mollify a whit. Then carelessly I rent my hair for grief: Which seen to all, though he beheld me not, They gan to move him to redress my ruth, And stay a while to hear what I could say; But he, clapp'd under hatches, sail'd away.240
Dido. O Anna, Anna, I will follow him!
Anna. How can you go, when he hath all your fleet?
Dido. I'll frame me wings of wax, like Icarus, And, o'er his ships, will soar unto the sun, That they may melt, and I fall in his arms; Or else I'll make a prayer unto the waves, That I may swim to him, like Triton's niece. O Anna, [Anna, [556]] fetch Arion's[557] harp, That I may tice a dolphin to the shore, And ride upon his back unto my love!250 Look, sister, look! lovely Æneas' ships! See, see, the billows heave him [558] up to heaven, And now down falls the keels into the deep! O sister, sister, take away the rocks! They'll break his ships. O Proteus, Neptune, Jove, Save, save, Æneas, Dido's liefest [559] love! Now is he come on shore, safe without hurt: But, see, Achates wills him put to sea, And all the sailors merry-make for joy; But he, remembering me, shrinks back again:260 See, where he comes! welcome, welcome, my love!
Anna. Ah, sister, leave these idle fantasies! Sweet sister, cease; remember who you are.
Dido. Dido I am, unless I be deceiv'd: And must I rave thus for a runagate? Must I make ships for him to sail away? Nothing can bear me to him but a ship, And he hath all my [560] fleet.—What shall I do, But die in fury of this oversight? I; I must be the murderer of myself:270 No, but I am not; yet I will be straight.— [Aside. Anna, be glad; now have I found a mean To rid me from these thoughts of lunacy: Not far from hence There is a woman famousèd for arts, Daughter [561] unto the nymphs Hesperides, Who will'd me sacrifice his ticing relics: Go, Anna, bid my servants bring me fire. [Exit Anna.
Enter Iarbas.
Iar. How long will Dido mourn a stranger's flight That hath dishonoured her and Carthage both?280 How long shall I with grief consume my days, And reap no guerdon for my truest love?
Enter Attendants with wood and torches.
Dido. Iarbas, talk not of Æneas; let him go: Lay to thy hands, and help me make a fire, That shall consume all that this stranger left; For I intend a private sacrifice, To cure my mind, that melts for unkind love.
Iar. But afterwards, will Dido grant me love?
Dido. I, I, Iarbas; after this is done, None in the world shall have my love but thou. [They make a fire.290 So leave me now; let none approach this place. [Exeunt Iarbas and Attendants. Now, Dido, with these relics burn thyself, And make Æneas famous through the world For perjury and slaughter of a queen. Here lie [562] the sword that in the darksome cave He drew, and swore by, to be true to me: Thou shall burn first; thy crime is worse than his. Here lie the garment which I cloth'd him in When first he came on shore; perish thou too. These letters, lines, and perjur'd papers, all300 Shall burn to cinders in this precious flame. And now, ye gods, that guide the starry frame, And order all things at your high dispose, Grant, though the traitors land in Italy, They may be still tormented with unrest; And from mine ashes let a conqueror rise, That may revenge this treason to a queen By ploughing up his countries with the sword! Betwixt this land and that be never league; Litora [563] litoribus contraria, fluctibus undas310 Imprecor, arma armis; pugnent ipsique nepotes! [564] Live, false Æneas; truest Dido dies; Sic, [565] sic iuvat ire sub umbras. [Throws herself into the flames.
Re-enter Anna.
Anna. O, help, Iarbas! Dido in these flames Hath burnt herself! ay me, unhappy me!
Re-enter Iarbas, running.
Iar. Cursèd Iarbas, die to expiate The grief that tires [566] upon thine inward soul!— Dido, I come to thee.—Ay me, Æneas! [Stabs himself and dies.
Anna. What can my tears or cries prevail [567] me now Dido is dead!320 Iarbas slain, Iarbas my dear love! O sweet Iarbas, Anna's sole delight! What fatal destiny envies me thus, To see my sweet Iarbas slay himself? But Anna now shall honour thee in death, And mix her blood with thine; this shall I do, That gods and men may pity this my death, And rue our ends, senseless of life or breath: Now, sweet Iarbas, stay! I come to thee. [Stabs herself, and dies.
END OF VOL II.
FOOTNOTES FOR: "THE JEW OF MALTA"
[ [1] Heywood dedicated to Thomas Hammon the Second Part of the Fair Maid of the West (1631), and the First Part of The Iron Age (1632).
[ [2] "Marlo." Marginal note in the old copy.
[ [3] "Allin." Marginal note in the old copy. In the (old) Shakespeare Society's publications there is a memoir by J. P. Collier of the celebrated actor, the founder of Dulwich College, Edward Alleyn.
[ [4] "Perkins." Marginal note in the old copy. Richard Perkins was an actor of great ability. At the end of the White Devil Webster speaks of the "well-approved industry of my friend Master Perkins," and adds that "the worth of his action did crown both the beginning and end." He took the part of Capt. Goodlack in Heywood's Fair Maid of the West, of Sir John Belfare in Shirley's Wedding, of Hanno in Nabbes' Hannibal and Scipio, and of Fitzwater in Davenport's King John and Matilda. From Wright's Historia Histrionica we learn that he died "some years before the Restoration."
[ [5] "A metaphor borrowed from the fencing-school, prizes being played for certain degrees in the schools where the Art of Defence was taught,—degrees, it appears, of Master, Provost, and Scholar."—Dyce's Shakespeare Glossary.
[ [6] A friend of Alleyn's backed him for a wager to excel George Peele in acting any part that had been sustained by Knell or Bentley. See Dyce's Greene and Peele (ed. 1861, pp. 330, 331). In the Introduction to the Knight of the Burning Pestle the Citizen says that his prentice Ralph "should have played Jeronimo with a shoemaker for a wager."
[ [7] The Duc de Guise, who organised the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. He was assassinated in 1588.
[ [8] This is Dyce's correction for "empire."
[ [9] Old ed. "the Drancus."
[ [10] As a word is required to complete the verse, I have followed Cunningham in inserting "but."
[ [11] All the editions give "Britain." For the sake of the metre I read "Britainy"—a form found in Edward II., ii. 2, l. 42.
[ [12] Old ed. "Samintes," for which the modern editors give "Samnites." Between the "Samnites" and the "men of Uz" there can be no possible connection. My emendation suits the context. We have Saba for Sabæa in Faustus, xii. 25, &c.
[ [13] Old ed. "silverbings." Dyce observes that the word "silverling" occurs in Isaiah (vii. 23):—"A thousand vines at a thousand silverlings."
[ [14] It was a common belief that a stuffed halcyon (i.e., kingfisher), suspended by the bill, showed from what quarter the wind blew. Shakespeare alludes to the superstition in Lear, ii. 2,—
"Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks With every gale and vary of their master."
Sir Thomas Browne, who discusses the subject in Vulgar Errors (iii. 10), says that "the eldest custom of hanging up these birds was founded upon a tradition that they would renew their feathers every year as though they were alive."
[ [15] Pay the duty on them.
[ [16] Old ed. "By" (which might perhaps be defended, as meaning "good-bye." Cf. Shirley's Constant Maid, i. 1,—"Buoy, Close, buoy, honest Close: we are blanks, blanks.")
[ [17] A recognised form of "scrambled." Cf. Henry V. i. 1:—
"But that the scambling and unquiet time Did push it out of farther question."
[ [18] The scene is shifted to the Exchange.
[ [19] Old ed. "Iew. Doe so; Farewell, Zaareth," &c. Dyce is doubtless right in considering that "doe so" is a stage direction (= Exeunt Merchants), which has crept into the text.
[ [20] A misquotation from Terence's Andria, iv. 1. 12, "Proximus sum egomet mihi."
[ [21] Scene: the Senate-house.
[ [22] Old ed. "governours."
[ [23] Old ed. "governours."
[ [24] Convert. The word occurs in As You Like It, King John, &c.
[ [25] Old ed. "governours."
[ [26] In the 4to. this line is given to the Officer.
[ [27] Probably we should read—"You, ne'er possessed," etc.
[ [28] Dyce proposed "redress."
[ [29] Portuguese gold coins.
[ [30] Steevens (on 2 Henry IV. ii. 4, l. 42) quotes several passages where "sect" is used for "sex."
[ [31] The passage is no doubt corrupt. Cunningham reads "unforeseen," and explains the meaning to be "a steady consistent piece of acting is better than having to put on the hypocrite at a moment's warning."
[ [32] Old ed. "Enter three Fryars and two Nuns."
[ [33] Old ed. "1 Nun."
[ [34] Can this word be right? Qu. "cloisters"?
[ [35] Old ed. "Nun."
[ [36] I.e., sometime.
[ [37] Dyce reads "forgive," perhaps rightly.
[ [38] Here the old ed. gives "†" (to indicate the notch in the plank under which the treasure was concealed).
[ [39] I have added the second "go" for the sake of the metre.
[ [40] Scene: before Barabas' house.
[ [41] Collier notices that ll. 1, 2, are found (with slight variation) in Guilpin's Skialetheia, 1598. Cf. Peele's David and Bethsabe:—
"Like as the fatal raven, that in his voice Carries the dreadful summons of our death."
[ [42] Cf. Dido, iii. 3:—
"Who would not undergo all kind of toil To be well stored with such a winter's tale."
The words "in my wealth" have little meaning; I suspect that we should read "in my youth."
[ [43] Cf. Hamlet, i. 1:—
"Or if thou hast uphoarded in thy life Extorted treasure in the womb of earth, For which, they say, you spirits oft walk in death, Speak of it."
[ [44] Old ed. "walke."
[ [45] Old ed. "Birn para todos, my ganada no er." I have adopted Dyce's reading.
[ [46] Dyce thinks that Shakespeare recollected this passage when he wrote:—
"But soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East and Juliet is the sun."
[ [47] Cf. Job xli. 18:—"By his neesings a light doth shine, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning." So Sophocles in the Antigone speaks of the sun as άμέρας βλἑφαρον. The reader will remember the line in Lycidas:—
"Under the opening eyelids of the morn."
[ [48] "Perhaps what is meant here is an exclamation on the beautiful appearance of money, Hermoso parecer de los dinos, but it is questionable whether this would be good Spanish."—Collier. Dyce gives "Hermoso Placer."
[ [49] Scene: the Senate-house.
[ [50] I.e., did not lower our sails. Cf. 1 Tamburlaine, i. 2, l. 193.
[ [51] Old ed. "Spanish."
[ [52] Old ed. "left and tooke." The correction was made by Dyce.
[ [53] Established.
[ [54] Cf. King John, i. 2:—
"And now instead of bullets wrapt in fire."
[ [55] Scene: the market-place.
[ [56] The modern editors give "Poor villains, such as," &c.; but the reading of the 4to. is quite intelligible.
[ [57] Cf. Shylock's "Still have I borne it with a patient shrug."
[ [58] Dyce quotes from Barnabe Barnes' Divils Charter, 1607, "For I must have a saying to those bottels."
[ [59] Pieces of silver. Cf. Ant. and Cleo.:—
"Realms and islands were As plates dropt from his pocket."
[ [60] Old ed. "Itha."
[ [61] A cant word still in use.
[ [62] Old ed. "Ith."
[ [63] An allegorical character in the old moralities. Cf. 1 Henry IV. ii. 4:—"That reverend vice, that grey iniquity, that vanity in years." In the Devil is an Ass, "Lady Vanity" is coupled with "Iniquity."
[ [64] Old ed. "Mater."
[ [65] Stop our conversation.
[ [66] I have followed Dyce's suggestion in adding this word.
[ [67] An important part in Barabas' get-up was his large nose. In William Rowley's Search for Money, 1609, there is an allusion to the "artificial Jew of Malta's nose."
[ [68] In Titus Andronicus Aaron gives a somewhat similar catalogue of villainies.
[ [69] Use.
[ [70] Heartily.
[ [71] The scene shifts to the front of Barabas' house.
[ [72] Dyce's correction for the old copy's "vow to love him."
[ [73] Affianced. "Accordailles, the betrothing or making sure of a man and woman together."—Cotgrave.
[ [74] The word "he" was inserted by Cunningham for the sake of the metre.
[ [75] A piece of money marked on one side with a cross.
[ [76] Old ed. "thee."
[ [77] Bellamira displays herself on a balcony. Cf. a stage-direction in Brome's Covent Garden Weeded:—"Enter Dorcas above on a Bellconie. Gabriel gazes at her. Dorcas is habited like a curtizan of Venice."
[ [78] Scene: a street.
[ [79] Old ed.—
"Enter Lodow. reading. "Math. What dares the villain," &c. The challenge was "feign'd from Lodowick."
[ [80] On the upper-stage, a raised platform.
[ [81] Bold.
[ [82] Here and elsewhere, for the sake of the metre, Dyce prints "Lodovico." Perhaps he is right, for the name may have been contracted into "Lod." or "Lodo." in the MS. from which the play was printed.
[ [83] Dyce compares 3 Henry VI. ii. 5:—
"These arms of mine shall be thy winding sheet; My heart, sweet boy, shall be thy supulchre."
[ [84] Cf. Two Gentlemen of Verona, iii. 2:—
"Say that upon the altar of her beauty You sacrifice your tears."
[ [85] "Impartial" is occasionally used by old writers in the sense of "unkindly." Cf. Prologue to Peele's Arraignment of Paris:—
"Th' unpartial daughters of Necessity Bin aiders in her suit."
So in William Smith's Chloris(Sonnet 11):—
"No, it was not Nature's ornament But wingèd love's unpartial cruel wound."
[ [86] Scene: a room in Barabas' house.
[ [87] "Kept in expectation, having their hopes flattered."—Dyce.
[ [88] Old ed. "Jaynes."
[ [89] Dyce's correction: old ed. "sinne."
[ [90] So the old ed. Cunningham boldly reads "Governor," which is certainly the word we should have expected.
[ [91] Dyce and the other editors give "When duck you?" I take "when" to be an abrupt exclamation denoting impatience, in which sense the word is often found (see Dyce's Shakespeare Glossary).
[ [92] Scene: a room in Barabas' house.
[ [93] I.e. portendeth.
[ [94] Old ed. "life."
[ [95] Old ed. "least."
[ [96] A very old proverb; it is found in Chaucer's Squieres Tale, John Heywood's Proverbs, Comedy of Errors, &c.
[ [97] Old ed. "plot."
[ [98] I.e. in abundance. Dyce compares Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the Burning Pestle, ii. 2:— "Here's money and gold by th' eye, my boy."
[ [99] Briefly.
[ [100] The juice of ebony (variously written "hebon" or "hebenon") was thought to be a strong poison. Cf. Hamlet, i. 5:—
"Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial."
[ [101] Scene: the Senate-house.
[ [102] Old ed. "Bashaws." (I have kept the spelling "Basso" throughout.)
[ [103] Scene: a room in the convent.—The stage direction in the 4to. is "Enter two Friars and Abigail."
[ [104] Scene: a street.
[ [105] I.e. compared to.
[ [106] A vulgar Italian oath. (Old ed. "Catho diabola.")
[ [107] Old ed. "inmates."
[ [108] Upper rooms; lofts. The word is still used in some parts of the country.
[ [109] Dyce reads "untold."
[ [110] This line and the next are given to Ithamore in the old copy.
[ [111] Ithamore.
[ [112] The old form (preserved in "Covent Garden") of "convent."
[ [113] Scene: a room in Barabas' house. In the 4to. this scene is a continuation of the former.
[ [114] Old ed. "save." Perhaps we should read:— "What will you? save my life!"
[ [115] Scene: the front of Barabas' house.
[ [116] I am tempted to arrange the verse thus:—
"O happy hour, Wherein I shall convert an infidel, And bring his gold into our treasury!"
[ [117] Scene: a balcony of Bellamira's house.
[ [118] The verse read by criminals to entitle them to "benefit of clergy." The first words of the 51st Psalm were commonly chosen.
[ [119] Sermon. Cf. Richard III. iii. 2:—
"I thank thee, good Sir John, with all my heart; I am in debt for your last exercise."
[ [120] I.e., a pair of mustachios.
[ [121] The contemptuous expression "Turk of tenpence" is found in Dekker's Satiromastix, &c.
[ [122] In old ed. these words are printed as part of the text. I have followed Dyce in printing them as a stage-direction.
[ [123] So the old ed.—Dyce and Cunningham read "cunning;" but the expression "running banquet" (akin to our "hasty meal") occurs in Henry VIII. i. 4, l. 13.
[ [124] So modern editors. Old ed. "steed."
[ [125] Dyce observes that "realm" was often written "ream." Marlowe was not much addicted to quibbling.
[ [126] A musical term.
[ [127] Scene: a room in Barabas' house.
[ [128] "Tottered" and "tattered" are used indifferently by old writers.
[ [129] Cf. a somewhat similar description of a ruffian in Arden of Feversham:—
"A lean-faced writhen knave, Hawk-nosed and very hollow-eyed, With mighty furrows in his stormy brows; Long hair down his shoulders curled; His chin was bare, but on his upper lip A mutchado which he wound about his ear."
[ [130] A word formed from "catso."
[ [131] Swindling.
[ [132] Scene: the balcony of Bellamira's house.
[ [133] Old ed. Pil.
[ [134] The origin of this boisterous exclamation is uncertain. Gifford suggested that it was corrupted from the Spanish rio, which is figuratively used for "a large quantity of liquor." Dyce quotes from the anonymous comedy, Look about you:—
"And Ryvo will he cry and Castile too."
[ [135] A corrupt passage. "Snickle" is a North-country word for "noose." Cunningham proposed "snickle hard and fast."
[ [136] Old ed. "incoomy." The word "incony" (which is found in Love's Labour's Lost, &c.) means "delicate, dainty." It has been doubtfully derived from the North-country "canny" or "conny" (in the sense of pretty), the prefix "in" having an intensive force.
[ [137] Dyce quotes from Sir John Mandeville:—
"And fast by is zit the tree of Eldre that Judas henge him self upon for despeyt that he hadde when he solde and betrayed our Lorde."—Voiage and Travell, &c., p. 112, ed. 1725.
"That Judas hanged himself," says Sir Thomas Browne, "much more that he perished thereby, we shall not raise a doubt. Although Jansenius, discoursing the point, produceth the testimony of Theophylact and Euthymius that he died not by the gallows but under a cart-wheel; and Baronius also delivereth, this was the opinion of the Greeks and derived as high as Papias one of the disciples of John. Although, also, how hardly the expression of Matthew is reconcileable unto that of Peter, and that he plainly hanged himself, with that, that falling headlong he burst asunder in the midst—with many other the learned Grotius plainly doth acknowledge."—Vulgar Errors, vii. 11.
[ [138] Old ed. "masty." Dyce "nasty."
[ [139] Old ed. "we."
[ [140] Scene: the Senate-house.
[ [141] We are to suppose that Barabas' body had been thrown "o'er the walls," according to the Governor's order. The scene is now changed from the Senate-house to the outside of the city.
[ [142] A herb of powerful soporific qualities. Shakespeare couples it with "poppy" in Othello:—
"Not poppy nor mandragora, Nor all the powerful syrups of the world, Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep Which thou ow'dst yesterday."
[ [143] Old ed. "truce." The correction is Collier's. Dyce reads "trench."
[ [144] Scene: a square in the city.
[ [145] Lower.
[ [146] Old ed. "to kept."
[ [147] The scene shifts to the Governor's house.
[ [148] I.e. "intend'st."
[ [149] Large cannons.
[ [150] See vol. 1, p. 67, note 2.
[ [151]Old ed.—
"And toward Calabria back'd by Sicily, Two lofty Turrets that command the Towne. When Siracusian Dionisius reign'd; I wonder how it could be conquer'd thus."
The correction was made by the editor of 1826.
[ [152] Scene: a street.
[ [153] The stick that held the gunner's match.
[ [154] Scene: the hall of the Governor's house. Barabas is in the gallery.
[ [155] Old ed. "Serv."
[ [156] Old ed. "summe."
[157] Dyce reads "ascend."
[ [158] The stage-direction in old ed. is "A charge, the cable cut. A caldron discovered." In Scene 4 the Governor had directed the Knights and Del Bosco to issue out at the discharge of the culverin.
[ [159] Cunningham's correction for the old eds. "fate."
[ [160] Intended.
[ [161] Old ed. "meditate."
[162] Old ed. "call."
FOOTNOTES FOR: "EDWARD THE SECOND"
[ [163] Scene: a street in London.
[ [164] So 4tos.—Dyce gives "lie;" but "die" may perhaps be interpreted as "swoon."
[ [165] Cf. Day's Parliament of Bees:—
"Yet if you meet a tart antagonist, Or discontented rugged satirist, That slights your errant or his art that penned it, Cry Tanti!"
So in the Prologue to Day's Isle of Gulls:—
"Detraction he scorns, honours the best: Tanti for hate, thus low for all the rest."
[ [166] So Dyce.—4tos. "fanne."
[ [167] Mr. Tancock quotes from Pliny's Natural History:—"Hystrici longiores aculei et cum intendit cutem missiles. Ora urgentium figit canum et paulo longius jaculatur."
[ [168] So the 4tos.—Dyce reads "sylvan."
[ [169] The name of a rustic dance.
[ [170] So the 4tos.—Dyce reads "shall."
[ [171] The 4tos. read, "My lord, here comes the king and the nobles." Dyce gives, "Here comes my lord the king and the nobles." Mr. Fleay arranges the passage thus:—
"Here comes my lord The king and th' nobles from the parliament. I'll stand aside."
[ [172] Equivalent to a dissyllable.
[ [173] Cf. 3 Henry VI. v. 6, "aspiring blood of Lancaster."
[ [174] I have kept the form found in ed. 1598, as a trisyllable is here required.
[ [175] Dyce's correction "leave" seems unnecessary. Warwick is speaking ironically.
[ [176] Dyce altered "Gaveston" to "Lancaster;" but the language is ironical.
[ [177] Fight, contend. The word is borrowed from the game of tennis.
[ [178] Ed. 1598, "mourned for Hercules." Eds. 1612, 1622, "mourned for of Hercules"—and so Dyce.
[ [179] Rule. Cf. 1 Tamburlaine, i. 1, l. 119.
[ [180] Kennel, gutter. Cf.Jew of Malta, v. 1, l. 91.
[ [181] Dyce proposed to read "Prut prut!" others suppose that the bishop is playing on the word "convey," which was a cant term for "steal." Cf. Richard II. iv. 1, l. 113:—
"Bol. Go, some of you, convey him to the Tower. King. O good! convey! conveyers are you all."
[ [182] So eds. 1612, 1622.—Ed. 1598 omits "best."
[ [183] Scene: Westminster.
[ [184] Untimely.
[ [185] Are angry at him. We have the word again later in the play—
"I know, my lord, many will stomach me."
[ [186] Old eds. "Weele."
[ [187] It is not absolutely necessary to suppose that there is an allusion to any particular forest. What the queen means is that she is seeking solitude.
[ [188] Scene: a street.
[ [189] Scene: the New Temple (cf. ll. 74-5 of scene ii.). At the entrance of the king we are to suppose a change of scene.
[ [190] "Was the poet thinking of Ovid, 'Non bene conveniunt,' &c. Met. ii. 846?"—Dyce.
[ [191] Perhaps we should read "upon": but "traitor" may be pronounced as a trisyllable by inserting a vowel sound before the first r.
[ [192] Float.
[ [193] So ed. 1612.—Ed. 1598 "lord."
[ [194] So ed. 1598.—Ed. 1612 "are."
[ [195] Loon, worthless fellow.
[ [196] So ed. 1598.—Dyce prints "with," and neglects—contrary to his custom—to record the reading of the earlier copies.
[ [197] This line and the preceding occur with slight alteration in the Massacre of Paris:—
"I'll fire his crazèd buildings and incense The papal towers to kiss the holy [sic] earth."
[ [198] 4tos. "may."
[ [199] So the old copies.—Dyce reads "My love drops down a tear."
[ [200] Care.
[ [201] "The entrance of Kent seems to have been marked here by mistake."—Dyce.
[ [202] 4tos. "Circes."
[ [203] So ed. 1598.—Ed. 1612 "that."
[ [204] So ed. 1598.—Dyce (who retains the verb "injury" in 1 Tamburlaine, I, i.) prints silently "injures."
[ [205] Avail.
[ [206] Regard, consideration, Cf. Hamlet—
"There's the respect That makes calamity of so long life."
[ [207] Lower.
[ [208] So ed. 1612.—ed. 1598 "soueraigne."
[ [209] Affianced him.
[ [210] Eds. 1598, 1612, "Hector." Ed. 1622 "The conquering Hector did for Hilas weepe."
[ [211] Cf. 2 Henry VI. i. 3:—
"She bears a duke's revenue on her back."
[ [212] Worthless fellows.
[ [213] So ed. 1598.—Later eds. "others."
[ [214] Scene: a hall in Gloucester's mansion.
[ [215] So ed. 1612.—Omitted in ed. 1598.
[ [216] Scene: before Tynemouth Castle.
[ [217] Reed refers to Pliny's Nat. Hist., ix. 19; but Pliny merely says that the exocœtus would leap on to a rocky ledge in warm weather and there bask in the sun. It is curious that Dyce, who was such an enthusiast for Athenæus, did not refer his readers to the account of the exocœtus quoted from Clearchus in Deipnos. viii. 5. According to this authority the fish, when basking on the ledge, has to be constantly on his guard against king-fishers and the like, and when he sees them afar, flies leaping and gasping until he dives under the water. Perhaps Marlowe had in his mind some embellished account that he had found in Gesner or Bellonius.
[ [218] So ed. 1612.—Omitted in ed. 1598.
[ [219] Old eds. "Edw." (a misprint for "Edm."—the prefix in the 4tos. to Kent's speeches.)
[ [220] Old eds. "gresses" (for "gesses.")— "Jesses" were the straps round a hawk's legs, with rings (called "varvels,") to which the falconer's leash was attached.
[ [221] So ed. 1622.—Eds. 1598, 1612, "sure."
[ [222] Old eds. read:—
"Pem. Here, here, king: convey hence Gaveston, thaile murder him."
I have followed Dyce in giving the line "Convey hence Gaveston, &c.," to the king; but I do not agree with him in regarding "king" as a prefix (for in the old copies "Edw." is always the prefix to the king's speeches.)
[ [223] The reader cannot fail to be reminded of Hotspur:—
"But I will find him when he lies asleep, And in his ear I'll holla 'Mortimer!'"
[ [224] The scene shifts to the interior of Tynemouth Castle.
[ [225] So ed. 1612.—Ed. 1598 "would."
[ [226] So ed. 1612.—Ed. 1598 "thy treasure drie and made the weake."
[ [227] So modern editors.—Old eds. "hath."
[ [228] Light-armed foot soldiers, poor and undisciplined.— Compare a passage in the Contention of York and Lancaster:—
"The wild Onele, my lord, is up in arms, With troops of Irish kernes that uncontroll'd Doth plant themselves within the English pale."
[ [229] Old eds. "made."—"Road,"="Inroad."
[230] old eds. "Drave."
[ [231] Cf. 3 Henry VI. i. 1:—"Stern Faulconbridge commands the narrow seas."
[ [232] Against.
[ [233] Jeering.
[ [234] This jig (ballad) is taken with slight alteration from Fabyan's "Chronicle," ii. 169 (ed. 1559).—"The battle of Bannockburn," says Mr. Fleay, "was fought in 1314, yet is here alluded to in a scene which is made up from narratives of events which occurred between 1309 and 1311. This is a striking instance of Marlowe's carelessness in such matters."
[ [235] "Common burdens to songs; see Skelton's Works, ii. 110, ed. Dyce."—Dyce.
[ [236] "Ralph de Wigmore, who came into England with the Conqueror, obtained the Castle of Wigmore, Co. Hereford, and the Roger Mortimer of this play was summoned to Parliament as 'de Wigmore.'"—Cunningham.
[ [237] Old eds. "him."
[ [238] Scene: the neighbourhood of Tynemouth.
[ [239] Surmise.
[ [240] Tattered.
[ [241] "In all Latin deeds the Mortimers are called 'de Mortuo mari.'" Cunningham.
[ [242] Scene: the interior of Tynemouth Castle.
[ [243] Delay. The word occurs in 3 Henry VI. ii. 3, l. 56; Arden of Feversham, &c.
[ [244] Old eds. "this."
[ [245] So ed. 1622.—Eds. 1598, 1612, "and therefore."
[ [246] "There is such uncertainty about the location of this scene that I can only mark it—an open country."—Dyce.
[ [247] The Italian form of "maugre."
[ [248] So ed. 1612.—Ed. 1598 "these."
[ [249] A line, as Dyce remarks, in which Warwick says that Gaveston shall be beheaded, has dropped out.
[ [250] The passage is corrupt: I have followed the reading of the old eds. Dyce gives—
"Will now these short delays beget my hopes?"
[ [251] "When? can you tell?"—a sort of proverbial expression. See Dyce's Shakespeare Glossary.
[ [252] So Dyce.—Ed. 1598 omits "his." Eds. 1612, 1622, read:— "He that hath the care of Realme-remits." ("Care" must be pronounced as a dissyllable.)
[ [253] Cunningham reads "sees."
[ [254] Old eds. "It is."
[ [255] "The exclamation of those who repent what they have rashly done."—Dyce.
[ [256] Here and throughout iii. II, the 4tos give "Mat" and "Matreuis" for "Arundel." The mistake arose, as Dyce pointed out, by the parts of Arundel and Matrevis having been taken by the same actor.
[ [257] Scene: the open country (near Warwick?).
[ [258] The meaning is surely "ghost, spirit," not, as Mr. Fleay interprets, "representative, plenipotentiary."
[ [259] Scene: neighbourhood of Borrowbridge.
[ [260] Braggard challenges.
[ [261] Fr. haut.
[ [262] Old eds "the."
[ [263] So ed. 1612.—Ed. 1598 "come."
[ [264] Cunningham and Mr. Fleay silently print "more."
[ [265] Ed. 1598 "heres is."—Ed. 1612, 1622, "heres."
[ [266] So ed. 1622.—Eds. 1598, 1612, "roote."
[ [267] So ed. 1612.—Ed. 1598 "leave."
[ [268] Schemes.
[ [269] So ed. 1612.—Ed. 1589 "It is."
[ [270] Rule.
[ [271] Old eds. "leuied."
[ [272] Old eds. "claps close."
[ [273] Scene: London, near the Tower.
[ [274] Scene: Paris.
[ [275] So eds. 1598, 1622.—Ed. 1612 "goe."
[ [276] Mr. Fleay reads "please," supposing that the letters th are repeated from the next word.
[ [277] Dyce's correction "on" seems to be quite unnecessary.
[ [278] Dyce needlessly reads "part."
[ [279] Equipped to meet our foes.
[ [280] Earned.
[ [281] An allusion to the game of Prisoner's Base. To "bid a base" is for a player to run into the centre and challenge one of the opposite party to pursue.
[ [282] Scene: the royal palace, London.
[ [283] Old eds. "Matr." and "Matreuis."—The elder Spencer is a muta persona. Mr. Fleay, who ousts him altogether from this scene, observes "There is no hint of Old Spencer being on the stage after the third act,"—strangely forgetting that he is introduced in the fifth scene of the present act.
[ [284] Old eds. "Matr."
[ [285] So ed. 1598.—Eds. 1612, 1622, "not long ago."
[ [286] Old eds. "Isabell."
[ [287] Cf. Romeo and Juliet, iii. 2:—"Gallop apace you fiery-footed steeds," &c.
[ [288] Scene: the neighbourhood of Harwich.
[ [289] Kennel.
[ [290] Scene: the neighbourhood of Bristol.
[ [291] So ed. 1622.—Eds. 1598, 1612, "successfulls."
[ [292] As in l. 21 Kent determined to "dissemble," I have not changed the prefix of the old eds. Dyce gives the words to Y. Mor. Mr. Fleay prints—
"Kent. This, Edward, is the ruin, &c. [To the Prince."
[ [293] Scene: the Abbey of Neath, Glamorganshire.
[ [294] So ed. 1598.—Omitted in ed. 1612. (Ed. 1622 "thy.")
[ [295] So eds. 1598, 1612.—Ed. 1622 " with sore" (and so Dyce.)
[ [296] So eds. 1612, 1622.—Ed. 1598 "open."
[ [297] Seneca Thyestes, 613.
[ [298] Old form of "yearns."
[ [299] So old eds. The repetition of "and these" in the next line is certainly suspicious. Dyce proposed
"For friends hath hapless Edward none but these, And these must die," &c.
Mr. Fleay's suggestion that "these and these" are "the 'hags' and 'Spencer and Baldock,'" seems very questionable.
[ [300] Mr. Fleay prints this speech as verse:
"Come, come, keep these preachments till you come To th' place appointed. You, and such as you are, Have made wise work in England; will you away."
The lines hobble badly.
[ [301] Scene: Kenilworth Castle.
[ [302] Dittany. Cf. Virgil Aen. xii. 411-15:—
"Hic Venus, indigno nati concussa dolore, Dictamnum genitrix Cretaea carpit ab Ida, Puberibus caulem foliis et flore comantum Purpureo: non illa feris incognita capris Gramina cum tergo volucres hausere sagittæ."
Elizabethan poets are fond of alluding to the virtues of this herb. Cf. (one of many instances) Peele's Arraignment of Paris, iii. 1:—
"And whither wends yon thriveless swain? like to the stricken deer, Seeks he dictamnum for his wound within our forest here."
[ [303] Rule.
[ [304] An allusion (as Steevens observed) to Creusa's crown in Euripides' Medea.
[ [305] Old eds. "vines."
[ [306] Ed. 1622 "survive" (and so Dyce).
[ [307] So eds. 1612, 1622.—Omitted in ed. 1598.
[ [308] Ed. 1612 "not whilst I live."
[ [309] In old eds. after this line the entrance of Berkeley is marked. I have followed Dyce in giving the words "My lord" to Winchester, and in placing Berkeley's entrance after line 127.
[ [310] Eds. 1612, 1622, "and."
[ [311] Scene: the royal palace, London.
[ [312] An allusion to the Greek proverb,
τὁν λὑκον τὡτωνἑχω.
[ [313] So eds. 1612, 1622.—Ed. 1598 "as."
[ [314] So eds. 1612, 1622.—Ed. 1598 "will."
[ [315] The entrance and exit of Winchester are not marked in the old eds. I have followed Dyce.
[ [316] Dyce proposed to omit the word "letter."
[ [317] Mr. Fleay reads:—
"And where he lieth none but we shall know."
[ [318] Ed. 1598 "it."—Eds. 1612, 1622, "it is."
[ [319] Scene: precincts of Kenilworth Castle.
[ [320] Aura vitæ.
[ [321] Edward II. was only forty-three when he was murdered. Stow often speaks of Edward II. as the "old king." Malone on Richard II. i. 1 ("Old John of Gaunt, time-honoured Lancaster"), remarks:—"Our ancestors, in their estimate of old age, appear to have reckoned somewhat differently from us, and to have considered men as old whom we should esteem middle-aged. With them every man that had passed fifty seems to have been accounted an old man.... I believe this is made to arise from its being customary to enter into life in former times at an earlier period than we do now. Those who were married at fifteen had at fifty been masters of a house and family for thirty-five years."
[ [322] Scene: the Royal Palace, London.
[ [323] So ed. 1598.—Eds. 1612, 1622, "down."
[ [324] Ovid Metam. vi. 195.
[ [325] The scene shifts to Westminster.
[ [326] Old eds. "Bishop."
[ [327] Scene: Berkeley Castle.
[ [328] I.e., the dungeon full of mire and puddle. But perhaps we should read "lock."
[ [329] A curtain is drawn and the king is discovered in the dungeon.
[ [330] Business.
[ [331] So eds. 1598, 1612.—Ed. 1622 "tottered."
[ [332] The feather-bed mentioned in l. 32. "It was no doubt thrust upon the stage from the wing after the exit of Gurney and Matrevis."—Dyce.
[ [333] Old eds. "That and even."
[ [334] Mr. Fleay would read "fau't" (i.e. fault), comparing Richard III. ii. 1, 104:—"His fault was thought."
[ [335] So ed. 1598.—Omitted in eds. 1612, 1622.
[ [336] So eds. 1598, 1612, ("eies-lids").—Ed. 1622 "eye lids."
[ [337] Eds. 1598, 1612,
"O let me not die, yet stay, O stay a while."
Ed. 1622
"O let me not die yet! O stay a while" (and so Dyce).
Mr. Fleay prints:—
"Oh! Let me not die yet; stay, oh stay a while."
[ [338] Scene: the royal palace, London.
[ [339] So ed. 1598.—Omitted in eds. 1612, 1622.
[ [340] The old eds. repeat "I."
[ [341] The prefix in the old eds. is "Lords."
[ [342] So ed. 1598.—Eds. 1612, 1622, "How now, my Lord?" (which is perhaps the right reading).
[ [343] Old eds. "Lords."
[ [344] Omitted in eds. 1612, 1622.
[ [345] Old eds. "Lords."
[ [346] So ed. 1598.—Eds. 1612, 1622, "the."
[ [347] Old eds. "Lords."
FOOTNOTES FOR: "THE MASSACRE AT PARIS"
[ [348] In the old copy there is no division into scenes. Scene: an apartment in the Louvre.
[ [349] Untimely.
[ [350] Scene: an apartment in a house near the Louvre.
[ [351] "About noone, when he [the Admiral] was in returning home from the Counsell, with a greate companie of noblemen and gentlemen, beholde a harquebuzier out of a window of a house neere adjoyning shot the Admiral with two bullets of lead through both the arms.... The name of him that shot was very diligently kept secret. Some, saye it was Manrevet, which in the third Civill War traitorously slew his Captaine, Monsieur de Mony, a most valiant and noble gentleman, and straightway fled into the enemie's campe. Some say it was Bondot, one of the archers of the king's guard."—The Three Partes of Commentaries containing the whole and perfect discourse of the Civill Wars of France, &c. 1574 (Book x.).
[ [352] Crowns.
[ [353] This word occurs in 3 Henry VI., v. 1, and Titus Andronicus, v. 3; also in Shakespeare's Sonnets and Rape of Lucrece.
[ [354] Dwell. (In this sense the word "keep" is still used at Cambridge.)
[ [355] Old ed. "Nauarre, Nauarre."
[ [356] So old ed.—Dyce reads, "That those which do behold them."
[ [357] Scene: a street.
[ [358] Cunningham arranges ll. 34-5 thus:
"We are betrayed! come, my lords, and let us Go tell the king of this."
[ [359] Scene: an apartment in the Louvre.
[ [360] So Dyce.—Old ed. "suspected."
[ [361] Beset.
[ [362] Old ed. "humble."
[ [363] Not marked in old ed.
[ [364] Old ed. "Enter the Admirall in his bed," a stage-direction meaning that a bed containing the Admiral should be thrust upon the stage. Cf. a stage-direction in Heywood's Golden Age;—"Enter the foure old Beldams, drawing out Danae's bed, she in it."
[ [365] Dyce reads "his."
[ [366] Scene: a street.
[ [367] Commencement. Dyce quotes from Heywood's Four Prentises of London:—
"Take them to guard: this entrance to our warres Is full of spirit, and begets much hope."
[ [368] From the upper stage.
[ [369] "Then a certain Italian of Gonzague's band cut off the Admiral's head, and sent it, preserved with spices, to Rome to the Pope and the Cardinal of Lorraine. Others cut off his hands."—Three Parts of Commentaries, &c., Book x. p. 14.
[ [370] "So the old ed.; and so indeed our early authors usually wrote the name:
'O, may they once as high as Haman mount, And from Mount Faulcon give a sad account,' &c.
Sylvester's Du Bartas's."—Dyce.
[ [371] Scene: a street.
[ [372] Scene: the entrance to Seroune's house.
[ [373] Old ed. "Sancta."
[ [374] Old ed. "he was."
[ [375] Old ed. "Rene."
[ [376] Old ed. "scoftes."
[ [377] Old ed. "actions."
[ [378] I have adopted Mitford's emendation. The reading of the old ed. is "Argumentum testimonis est in arte fetialis."
[ [379] Old ed. "Shekins."
[ [380] Grounds of proof,—in the scholastic sense of τὁποι, or loci. "Itaque licet definire, locum esse argumenti sedem."—Cicero, Top. ii. 3.
[ [381] Old ed. "thorbonest."
[ [382] " ... tandemque P. Ramum diu quaesitum vicariorum coryphaeus unus offendit, eique veniam frustra deprecanti vulnus in brachio infligit, et plurimis aliis ictibus postea confoditur.... E fenestra spiritum trahens praecipitatur in aream, pedibusque fune devinctis per urbis sordes devolvitur et capite a chirurgo quodam truncato cadaver in ... Sequanam flumen misere projicitur."—Theophilus Banosius' Vita Rami, prefixed to Commentarii de Religione Christiana (Francofurti, 1577).
[ [383] "'Carbonarius pater probri loco illi [sc. Ramo] objectus est.' Rami Vita per Freigium."—Dyce.
[ [384] Old ed. "Rene."
[ [385] The scene shifts to the King of Navarre's quarters in the Louvre.
[ [386] The young Prince of Condé, cousin to the King of Navarre.
[ [387] The stage-direction in old ed. is "Enter Guise."
[ [388] Scene: a room in the Louvre.
[ [389] Scene: near Paris.
[ [390] Old ed. "by the."
[ [391] Scene: a wood near Paris.
[ [392] Scene: a room in the Castle of Vincennes.
[ [393] Du-Plessis Mornay.
[ [394] Old ed. "there," which Dyce silently retains. The correction was made by Cunningham, who explains the passage thus:—"There are persons (you yourself and my Protestant subjects, for instance) from whom I have deserved a scourge, but their feelings would never lead them to poison their king; God grant that my dearest relations may prove to have been no worse than those who ought to be my enemies," &c.—"Scourge" must surely be the scourge of God. Navarre had said, "God will sure restore you:" to which the king answers, "I have deserved a scourge" from God. Before l. 10 a line or more referring to the massacre of the Protestants must have dropped out.
[ [395] Old ed. "Nauarre."
[ [396] Old ed. "seeme."
[ [397] Pampeluna.
[ [398] Scene: a hall in the Louvre.
[ [399] I should prefer to read:—
"Then may it please Your majesty to give me leave to punish Those that do [dare] profane this holy feast."
[ [400] Old ed. "as."
[ [401] Old ed. "lords."
[ [402] Scene: a room in the Duke of Guise's house.
[ [403] "The gallant of the Duchess was not Mugeroun (Maugiron), but Saint-Mégrin, another of the King's 'Mignons.' See Anquetil.—Hist. de France, t. v. 345, ed. 1817."— Dyce.
[ [404] Old ed. "wert."
[ [405] "I must leave the location of this scene to the reader. I should have marked it—La Rochelle, but that the Messenger presently informs the King that 'a mighty army comes from France.'"—Dyce.
[ [406] Hinder.
[ [407] Scene: an apartment in the Louvre.
[ [408] Old ed. "mor du."
[ [409] Old ed. "make."
[ [410] Scene: near Coutras.
[ [411] Scene: outside the Louvre.—In his Hist. of Eng. Dram. Poetry, iii. 134 (old ed.), Collier printed a portion (given below) of this scene from a fragment of a MS. copy. It will be seen that the printed text was much mutilated.
Enter a Souldier with a muskett.
Souldier. Now, sir, to you that dares make a duke a cuckolde, and use a counterfeyt key to his privye chamber: though you take out none but your owne treasure, yett you put in that displeases him, and fill up his rome that he shold occupye. Herein, sir, you forestalle the markett, and sett up your standinge where you shold not. But you will saye you leave him rome enoghe besides: that's no answere; he's to have the choyce of his owne freeland; yf it be not too free, there's the questione. Nowe, for where he is your landlorde, you take upon you to be his, and will needs enter by defaulte: what though you were once in possession, yett comminge upon you once unawares, he frayde you out againe; therefore your entrye is mere intrusione: this is against the law, sir: and though I come not to keepe possessione (as I wolde I might!), yet I come to keepe you out, sir.
Enter Minion.
You are wellcome, sir: have at you! [He kills him.
Minion. Trayterouse Guise, ah, thou hast morthered me!
Enter Guise.
Guise. Hold the[e], tall soldier! take the[e] this, and flye. [Exit Soldier. Thus fall, imperfett exhalatione, Which our great sonn of France cold not effecte; A fyery meteor in the fermament: Lye there, the kinge's delyght and Guise's scorne! Revenge it, Henry, yf thou list or darst: I did it onely in dispight of thee. Fondlie hast thou incenste the Guise's sowle, That of it selfe was hote enough to worke Thy just degestione with extreamest shame. The armye I have gatherd now shall ayme, More at thie end then exterpatione; And when thou thinkst I have forgotten this, And that thou most reposest in my faythe, Than will I wake thee from thy folishe dreame, And lett thee see thie selfe my prysoner. [Exeunt."
[ [412] "Mugeroun (Maugiron) fell in a duel: Anquetil, Hist. de France, t. v. 344, ed. 1817: but Saint-Mégrin, the gallant of the Duchess of Guise, was assassinated. 'Ils dressèrentu ne embuscade à la porte du Louvre. Comme Saint-Mégrin, en sortoit la nuit, des assassins apostés se jetèrent sur lui, et l'étendirent sur le pavé, percé de trente-cinq coups. Il vécut cependant jusqu au lendemain.' Anquetil, Ibid. p. 347." —Dyce.
[ [413] Pension, maintenance.
[ [414] Collier's correction for the old copy's "sexious."
[ [415] Quit, free.
[ [416] It cannot be determined where this scene takes place.
[ [417] Dyce reads "'A takes" (i.e. "He takes"); but the omission of a personal pronoun, where the sense is plain, occurs not unfrequently.
[ [418] Scene: a room in the royal palace at Blois.
[ [419] Cf. 2 Tamburlaine iv. 3:—"Mounted his shining chariot" (for "mounted in").
[ [420] Dyce conjectures that Guise must have seen himself in a mirror as he uttered these words.
[ [421] Set.
[ [422] Order.
[ [423] Scene: the interior of a prison at Blois.
[ [424] Scene: a room in Dumaine's house, at Paris.
[ [425] Old ed. "His life and all," &c.
[ [426] Scene: Saint-Cloud.
[ [427] Old ed. "Lucrecia walles."
[ [428] Old ed. "Jacobus."
[ [429] Old ed. "their."
[ [430] Dyce's correction for "incense ... to kiss the holy earth." He compares Edward II. (I. 4, ll. 100, 101):—
"I'll fire thy crazed buildings, and enforce The papal towers to kiss the lowly ground."
[ [431] The bracketed words were inserted by Dyce.
[ [432] Dyce's correction for the old copy's "for."
FOOTNOTES FOR: "THE TRAGEDY OF DIDO, QUEEN OF CARTHAGE"
[ [433] Old ed. "aire."
[ [434] "This expression is well illustrated by Titian's[?] picture (in the National Gallery) of the rape of Ganymede.—In Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, act v. sc. 2, we have,—
'A lady wall'd-about with diamonds!'"—Dyce.
[ [435] This speech is undoubtedly by Marlow, but it is curious that Nashe, in Summer's Last Will and Testament speaks of the amusement caused among the gods by the sight of Vulcan's dancing:—"To make the gods merry the celestial clown Vulcan tuned his polt foot to the measures of Apollo's lute, and danced a limping galliard in Jove's starry hall." (Hazlitt's Dodsley, viii. 91). In both passages there is perhaps an allusion to the lines in the first book of the Iliad (599-600), describing how "unquenchable laughter rose among the blessed gods when they saw Hephæstus limping through the hall."
[ [436] Surprised.
[ [437] The stars were the children of Astræus and Eos. See Hesiod, Theogony, ll. 381-2.
[ [438] These rhyming lines are suggestive of Nashe.
"Parce metu, Cytherea; manént immota tuorum Fata tibi." Virg. Æn. i. 257-8.
"Hic jam ter centumt totos regnabitur annos Gente sub Hectorea." Virg. Æn. i. 272-3.
"Donec regina sacerdos Marte gravis geminam partu dabit Ilia prolem." Virg. Æn. i. 273.
[ [442] Probably a misspelling of "eternise."
[ [443] Business.
[ [444] The scene shifts to a wood near the sea-shore.
[ [445] Old ed. "Cimodoæ."—Cf. Virgil, Æn. i. 144.
[ [446] Old ed. "thee."
"Vos et Scyllaeam rabiem penitusque sonantes Accestis scopulos, vos et Cyclopia saxa Experti: revocate animos, maestumque timorem Mittite." —Virgil, Æn. i. 200-203.
[ [448] Old ed. "cunning."
[ [449] Cf. Titus Andronicus, iii. 2 (a great part of which I attribute to Marlowe):—
"Thou map of woe that thus dost talk in signs" (l. 12).
[ [450] Old ed. "aire."
[ [451] From this point to the end of the scene Marlowe follows Virgil very closely.—Cf. Æn. i. 321-410.
[ [452] Old ed. "Turen."
[ [453] Greene (in Orlando Furioso) uses the same form:—
"Thou see'st that Mador and Angelica Are still so secret in their private walks, As that they trace the shady lawnds."
"Quid natum totiens, crudelis tu quoque, falsis Ludis imaginibus." Virg. Æn. i. 407-8.
[ [455] Scene: Carthage.
[ [456] Old ed. "Cloanthes."
[ [457] For what follows cf. Virg. Æn. i. 524-78.
[ [458] The expression "buckle with" occurs twice in 1 Henry VI., and once in 3 Henry VI.: nowhere in Shakespeare's undoubted plays.
[ [459] Old ed. "Vausis."
[ [460] Dyce proposes "all" for "shall." Retaining "shall" the sense is "we would hope to reunite your kindness in such a way as shall," &c.
[ [461] Scene: Juno's temple at Carthage.
[ [462] Virgil represents the tale of Troy depicted on a fresco in Juno's temple.
[ [463] Perhaps a misprint for "tears."
[ [464] Æneas is not shrouded in a cloud, as the reader (remembering Virgil) might at first suppose. Ilioneus fails to recognise Æneas in his mean apparel.
[ [465] Old ed. "meanes."
[ [466] We must suppose that the scene changes to Dido's palace.
[ [467] Old ed. "viewd."
[ [468] "An odd mistake on the part of the poet; similar to that which is attributed to the Duke of Newcastle in Smollet's Humphry Clinker (vol. i. 236, ed. 1783), where his grace is made to talk about 'thirty thousand French marching from Acadia to Cape Breton.' (The following passage of Sir J. Harington's Orlando Furioso will hardly be thought sufficient to vindicate our author from the imputation of a blunder in geography:
'Now had they lost the sight of Holland shore, And marcht with gentle gale in comely ranke,' &c. B. x. st. 16.)"—Dyce.
The passage of Harington seems to amply vindicate Marlowe.
[ [469] This epithet alone would show that the passage is Marlowe's.—Cf. Edward II. v. i. l. 44,
"Heaven turn it to a blaze of quenchless fire!"
[ [470] We have had the expression "ring of pikes" in 2 Tamburlaine, iii. 2. l. 99.
[ [471] Mr. Symonds has an excellent criticism on this passage in Shakespeare's Predecessors, 664-5. He contrasts Virgil's reserve with Marlowe's exaggeration; and remarks that "even Shakespeare, had he dealt with Hector's as he did with Hamlet's father's ghost, would have sought to intensify the terror of the apparition at the expense of artistic beauty."
[ [472] Armour.
[ [473] Old ed. "wound." The emendation was suggested by Collier. Shakespeare certainly glanced at this passage when he wrote:—
"Unequal match'd Pyrrhus and Priam drives, in rage strikes wide; But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword The unnerved father falls."
Very slight heightening was required to give a burlesque turn to this speech of Æneas.
[ [474] Old ed. "Fawne."
[ [475] Old ed. "And after by that."
[ [476] Cease speaking.
[ [477] We must suppose that Venus had borne the sleeping Ascanius to Cyprus.—Cf. Virg. Æn. i. 680-1:—
"Hunc ego sopitum somno super alta Cythera Aut super Idalium sacrata sede recondam."
[ [478] Sentinels. The form "centronel" (or "sentronel") occurs in the Tryal of Chevalry (1605), i. 3:—"Lieutenant, discharge Nod, and let Cricket stand Sentronell till I come."
[ [479] Old ed. "Citheida's."
[ [480] Grandson (Lat. nepos).
[ [481] Scene: a room in Dido's palace.
[ [482] The same form of expression occurs in the Jew of Malta, iii. ll. 32, 33:—
"Upon which altar I will offer up My daily sacrifice of sighs and tears."
[ [483] "I.e. (I suppose) twisted."—Dyce.
[ [484] "The blank verse, falling in couplets, seems to cry aloud for rhymes."—Symonds.
[ [485] Ballast.
[ [486] I have adopted Dyce's emendation. The old ed. gives "meanly." (Collier suggested "newly.")
[ [487] Dyce gives this line to Sergestus, arguing that the prefix Æn. is "proved to be wrong by the next speech of Dido." But we may suppose that Dido is there calling Æneas' attention to another set of pictures on the opposite side of the stage.
[ [488] Old ed. "Olympus."
[ [489] Old ed. "how."
[ [490] Old ed. "speak" (repeated from the line above).
[ [491] Scene: a grove.
[ [492] "Heir of Fury" is certainly a strange expression, but I dare not adopt Cunningham's emendation, "heir of Troy."
[ [493] Old ed. "face."
[ [494] Old ed. "left out."
[ [495] Old ed. "made."—The correction is Dyce's.
[ [496] See vol. i. p. 35, note 4.
[ [497] Ready.
[ [498] A Virgilian passage. Cf. Æn. i. 26-8:—
"Manet alta mente repostum Judicium, Paridis, spretæque injuria formæ, Et genus invisum, et rapti Ganimedis honores."
[ [499] Irresistible.
[ [500] Old ed. "change."
[ [501] Love.
[ [502] Old ed. "these."
[ [503] Scene: a wood near Carthage.
[ [504] Old ed. "shrowdes."
[ [505] A deer or other animal was said to "take soil" when it fled from its pursuers to the water. Dyce quotes from Cotgrave:—"Souil de sanglier. The soile of a wild Boare; the slough or mire wherein he hath wallowed."
[ [506] Far-fetched. There was a common proverb "far-fet and dear-bought is good for ladies."—Old ed. "far fet to the sea."
[ [507] Old ed. "for."
[ [508] The father of Anchises.
[ [509] Old ed. "descend" (which Dyce and Cunningham strangely retain).
[ [510] Scene: before the cave.
[ [511] The line is unrhythmical and corrupt. Qy. "That can call forth the winds"?
[ [512] Old ed. "Tiphous."
[ [513] Still, hushed.
[ [514] Old ed. "eares."
[ [515] Scene: a room in Iarbas' house.
[ [516] The epithet "gloomy," here and in l. 2, contrasts oddly with "Father of gladness and all frolic thoughts."
[ [517] Elissa (Dido).
[ [518] Scene: a room in Dido's palace.
[ [519] Old ed. "the."
[ [520] Cf. Faustus, scene xiv.—"And burnt the topless towers of Ilium."
[ [521] Old ed. "beames,"—a mistake, as Dyce observed, for "reames" (a common form of "realms)."
[ [522] Old ed. "my."
[ [523] "Coll" = cling round the neck.
[ [524] Scene: a room in Dido's palace.
[ [525] Old ed. "Circes."
[ [526] It is related in the fifth book of the Iliad how Aphrodite shrouded Æneas in a cloud when he was hard-pressed by Diomed.—Old ed. "fleest."
[ [527] Old ed. "Heavens."
[ [528] Desire, order.
[ [529] Old ed. "loues."
[ [530] Cf. Faustus.—
"Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss."
[ [531] Intrigued.
[ [532] Old ed. "he."
[ [533] Float.
[ [534] Lat. lympha is the same word as Nympha.
[ [535] Scene: the open country near Carthage.
[ [536] The reader will be reminded of Juliet's Nurse.
[ [537] Wencher.
[ [538] Scene; a room in Dido's palace.
[ [539] Plan.
[ [540] Old ed. "honeys spoyles."
[ [541] Old ed. "her." In the Athenæum for 10th May 1884, Dr. Karl Elze makes the plausible emendation,
"And scent our pleasant suburbs with perfumes."
[ [542] Rudder. Cf. 1 Henry VI. i. 1:—
"The king from Eltham I intend to send, And sit at chiefest stern of public weal."
[ [543] At l. 50 the stage-direction was "Exit Sergestus with Ascanius."
[ [544] Plan.
[ [545] Requite.
[ [546] A word which it is not easy to supply has been omitted.
Dyce's "farewell [none]"
and Cunninghan's "Let me go is farewell"
are equally unsatisfactory.
[ [547] Old ed. "chaunged."
[ [548] Old ed. "my"
[ [549] Cf. 1 Tamburlaine, v. 1. l. 21.
[ [550] Virgil, Æn. iv. 317.
[ [551] Old ed. "ad hæc."
[ [552] Virgil, Æn. iv. 360.
[ [553] Cf. Virgil, Æn. iv. 365-7:—
"Nec tibi diva parens, generis nec Dardanus auctor, Perfide; sed duris genuit te cautibus horrens Caucasus, Hycanæque admorunt ubera tigres."
[ [554] Old ed. "abdurate."
[ [555] Old ed. "keend." If "kenned" is the right reading, we must suppose the meaning to be "too clearly perceived."
[ [556] I have repeated "Anna" for the sake of the metre. Cf. l. 241.
[ [557] Old ed. "Orions."
[ [558] Dyce's correction "'em" seems unnecessary.
[ [559] Dearest. Cf. 2 Henry VI. iii. 1:—
"And with your best endeavours have stirred up My liefest liege to be mine enemy."
[ [560] Old ed. "thy."
[ [561] "Daughter" is nonsense. Should we read "Guardian to" (or "unto")? Cf. Virg., Æn. iv. 484:—
"Hesperidum templi custos."
[ [562] Here and in l. 298 Dyce needlessly reads "lies."
[ [563] Virg., Æn. iv. 628.
[ [564] The best editions of Virgil read "ipsique nepotesque."
[ [565] Virg., Æn. iv. 660.
[ [566] Preys.
[ [567] Avail.