The tiresome heaping of balances and allusions so cumbers narrative that these books keep little semblance of story.
Nevertheless the habit was continued in the longer English tales, sometimes called novels, of the 1580’s and 90’s. Greene’s Carde of Fancie (1584-1587) decorates emotion with allusion and supplies balances by handfuls.
He manfullie marcht on towards her, and was as hastilie incountred by Castania, who embracing Gwydonius in her armes, welcommed him with this salutation.
As the whale, Gwydonius, maketh alwaies signe of great joye at the sight of the fishe called Talpa Marina, as the Hinde greatlie delighteth to see the Leopard, as the Lion fawneth at the view of the Unicorne, and as he which drinketh of the Fountaine Hipenis in Scithia feeleth his mind so drowned in delight that no griefe, though never so great, is able to assuage it, so, Gwydonius, I conceive such surpassing pleasure in thy presence, and such heavenlie felicitie in the sight of thy perfection, that no miserie though never so monstrous, is able to amaze me, no dolour though never so direfull is able to daunt me, nor no mishap though never so perillous is able to make me sinke in sorrow, as long as I injoy thy presence, which I count a soveraine preservative against all carefull calamities.
It is not necessary to regard this as quite serious to see that balanced iteration and learned allusion had become epidemic, and that both arise from the habit of dilation. For even plain Thomas Deloney must decorate his clothier Jack of Newbury (1597) with myth and marvel. That such perversion of narrative, owing something now and then, perhaps, to the Hypnerotomachia or to Apuleius, is imitated more specifically from the Greek Romances is plainest in Sidney’s Arcadia.[74] It is one of the clearest instances of Renaissance Alexandrianism.
2. RABELAIS
Émile Egger was once moved to protest: “The actual French usage of 1530 shows nowhere in either speech or writing the diction of Rabelais.”[75] Every student of Rabelais will recognize this observation as a lead. It means much more than the truisms that every eminent author has his own style, and that study of style is the most constantly fruitful study of literature. It means that Rabelais makes the special demand of compelling attention always to his style. His vocabulary[76] ranges from Latinizing to dialect and jargon; his word-play from reckless puns to various iteration; his cadences from the clausula of Cicero to mere lists. His volubility flashes with picturesque concreteness. He is popular, yes, but rarely in being simple, usually in talking with his readers and in stimulating them by extravagance. The fifteenth-century extravagance of Skelton, showing a similar volubility, has less display. Rabelais will not let us ever forget his style.
Pantagruel rencontra un escolier tout joliet.... “Mon amy, dond viens tu à ceste heure?” L’escolier luy respondit: “De l’alme, inclyte, et celebre academie que l’on vocite Lutece.” “Q’est ce à dire?” dist Pantagruel à un de ses gens. “C’est,” respondit il, “de Paris.” “Tu viens donc de Paris,” dit il. “Et à quoy passez vous le temps, vous autres estudiants audit Paris?” Respondit l’escolier: “Nous transfretons la Sequane au dilucule et crepuscule, nous deambulons par les compites et quadrivies de l’urbe, nous despumons la verbocination latiale, et comme verisimiles amorabonds captons la benevolence de l’omnijuge, omniforme, et omnigene sexe feminin.... Et si par forte fortune y a rarité ou penurie de pecune en nos marsupies, et soient exhaustes de metal ferruginé, pour l’escot nous dimittons nos codices et vestes oppigncrées, prestolans les tabellaires à venirdes penates et lares patriotiques.” A quoy Pantagruel dist “Quel diable de langage est cecy? Par dieu, tu es quelque heretique.” “Segnor no,” dist l’escolier; “car libentissimement des ce qu’illucesce quelque minutule lesche de jour, je demigre en quelqu’un de ces tant bien architectés monstiers, et là, me irrorant de belle eau lustrale, grignotte d’un transon de quelque missique precation de nos sacrificules. Et submirmillant mes precules horaires, elue et absterge mon anime de ses inquinamens nocturnes. Je revere les olympicoles. Je venere latrialement le supernel astripotens.” Je dilige et redame mes proximes. Je serve les prescrits decalogiques, et selon la facultatule de mes vires n’en discede le late unguicule.... “Et bren, bren,” dist Pantagruel, “Qu’est ce que veult dire ce fol? Je croy qu’il nous forge icy quelque langage diabolique, et qu’il nous charme comme enchanteur.” A quoy dist un de ces gens: “Seigneur, sans nul doubte ce gallant veult contrefaire la langue des Parisiens; mais il ne fait que escorcher le latin, et cuide ainsi pindariser; et luy semble bien qu’il est quelque grand orateur en françois parce qu’il dedaigne l’usance commun de parler.” A quoy dist Pantagruel, “Est il vray?” L’escolier respondit: “Segnor missayre, mon genie n’est point apte nate à ce que dit ce flagitiose nebulon, pour escorier la cuticule de nostre vernacule gallique; mais vice-versement je gnave, opere, et par veles et rames je me enite de le locupleter de la redondance latinicome.” “Par dieu,” dit Pantagruel, “je vous apprendray à parler” (II. vi).
The parody is of that Latinizing “enrichment” of the vernacular which was a wide preoccupation and the special creed of the Pléiade. Rabelais, as Erasmus, ridicules its paganizing. The larger satire is the rendering of the conventions of student wildness in an iterative learned jargon. For the iteration is not careless. Thus he prolongs a mere play upon the word Sorbonne: