[5-6], [1-33]. Fortune . . . port. This opening speech of Bussy illustrates the difficult compression of Chapman's style and the diversion of his thought from strictly logical sequence by his excessive use of simile. He begins (ll. 1-4) by emphasising the paradoxical character of human affairs, in which only those escape poverty who are abnormal, while it is among the necessitous that worthily typical representatives of the race must be sought. The former class, under the designation of "great men," are then (after a parenthetical comparison with cedars waxing amidst tempests) likened to statuaries who are satisfied if the exterior of the Colossus they are creating is sufficiently imposing; they are then (by an awkward transition of the imagery) likened to the statues themselves (l. 15) "heroique" in form but "morter, flint, and lead" within. Chapman's meaning is here obvious enough, but it is a singular canon of æsthetics that estimates the worth of a statue by the materials out of which it is made. In l. 18 a new thought is started, that of the transitoriness of life, and the perishable nature of its gifts, and as the ocean-voyager needs a stay-at-home pilot to steer him safely into port, so the adventurer in "the waves of glassie glory" (ll. 29-30) is bidden look to "vertue" for guidance to his desired haven—not exactly the conclusion to be expected from the opening lines of the speech.
[6], [23]. To put a girdle . . . world. The editors all compare Mid. Night's Dream, i, 1, 175, which Chapman probably had in mind.
[7], [34]. in numerous state. A play of words, apparently, on two senses of the phrase: (1) the series of numbers, (2) a populous kingdom.
[8], [59]. gurmundist. The N. E. D. quotes no other example of the form "gurmundist" for "gurmond" = "gourmand."
[9], [86-87]. set my looks In an eternall brake: keep my countenance perpetually immoveable. A "brake" is a piece of framework for holding something steady.
[15], [187]. I am a poet. This is historically true. A poem of some length, Stances faictes par M. de Bussy, is quoted by Joubert in his Bussy D'Amboise, pp. 205-09.
[15], [194-95]. chaine And velvet jacket: the symbols of a steward's office.
[16], [207]. his woodden dagger. The Elizabethan jester carried the wooden dagger or sword, which was often one of the properties of the "Vice" in the later Moralities and the Interludes.
[17], [Pyra.] Though this character is mentioned here and elsewhere among the Dramatis Personæ, she takes no part in the dialogue.
[17], [2]. that English virgin: apparently Annable, who is the Duchess of Guise's lady-in-waiting (cf. [iii, 2, 234-40]).