Thus with his wife he spends the year, as blithe And blither too, For kings have wars and broils to take in hand, If country loves such sweet desires do gain, NOTES. 4. Kings have cares, &c. Compare Shak., 2 Hen. IV., Act iii., sc. I, 31: Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.' 12. Require. Subjunctive mood: the action is indef., with a feeling of conditionality or uncertainty about it. 'What the state require' is much the same as 'Whether the state require this or that.' 45 33. Sound. Lat. sonum, Fr. son; the d, being added as a support to the voice. Cf. More, note to 'limbs' (p. 56), and note to 'whiles' (p. 60). Spenser rhymes 'sown' and 'down;' he has 'sownd' also. 35. More sounder. Such double comparatives are now avoided. 42. Tide or sith. Both 'tide' and 'sith' are old words meaning 'time.' shepherd life is a favourite theme of The general contrast of court life and the poets. See Melibee (Sir Francis Walsingham)'s opinion in Spenser's Faery Queen, Bk. VI., Canto ix. Compare the king's soliloquy in Shak., 3 Hen. VI., Act ii., sc. 5; especially the last lines : "O God! methinks it were a happy life To be no better than a homely swain. Ah, what a life were this! how sweet! how lovely! To shepherds looking on their silly sheep, Is far beyond a prince's delicates, When care, mistrust, and treason waits on him.' CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE.-1564-1593. CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE, our greatest dramatist before Shakspeare, 'the Columbus of a new literary world,' was the son of a Canterbury shoemaker. He studied at Cambridge, where he took his M.A. degree in 1587. Already he had established relations with the stage. His after-life in London was, like Robert Greene's, very dissolute; and at last, in a wretched brawl, he was stabbed through the eye and brain, and died in a few hours. He was only in his thirtieth year. 'Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight, Marlowe's 'mighty line' was first seen in Tamburlaine the Great (two parts), which was acted before the author graduated M.A. in 1587. This terrific drama' is remarkable for many reasons; among others, it was the first play in which the use of blank verse was introduced upon the public stage' (Prof. Ward). Faustus, The Jew of Malta, Edward II., and The Massacre of Paris, were produced in rapid succession. Marlowe left also Translations from the Latin of Lucan and Ovid. The posthumous fragment of Hero and Leander, which the poet's own age considered his supreme achievement, is also judged by the best modern critics to be 'incomparably the finest product of Marlowe's genius.' TAMBURLAINE. (From Tamburlaine the Great, Part I., Act ii., scene 1.) [Tamburlaine (1335-1405), 'from a Scythian shepherd, by his rare and wonderful conquests, became a most puissant and mighty monarch' (Title-page). His proper name was Timur; but from a wound in the thigh, which rendered him lame for life, he was called 'Timurlenc' (lame Timur), whence the corrupted forms, Tamerlane' and "Tamburlaine.' At seventeen, he managed the flocks and herds of his family; but he was of noble descent. His conquests extended over Persia, Georgia, Tartary, Russia, India, Syria, &c. The seat of his empire he established at Samarkand, where he displayed, in a short repose, his magnificence and power.' He died on the march to the conquest of China. (See Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. lxv., and James Mill's History of British India, Book III., chap. iii.)] Of stature tall, and straightly fashioned, Are fixed his piercing instruments of sight, 10 15 A heaven of heavenly bodies in their spheres, Pale of complexion, wrought in him with passion, Should make the world subdued to Tamburlaine. NOTES. 8. Lift, for lifted.' In Elizabethan poetry, the 'ed' of p.part. of weak verbs is often conveniently dropped. So in the Bible. Cf. Psalm xxiv. 7. 10. Mainly, with main (as in 'might and main'), power, might; by sheer strength. Main' is the old 'mægan' softened, from magan (may). 11. Old Atlas' burden. Atlas, one of the Titans, who made unsuccessful war on Zeus (Jupiter), was condemned to bear heaven on his head and hands. Comp. Milton's description of Beelzebub, Par. Lost, ii. 305-7: 'Sage he stood With Atlantean shoulders fit to bear 'Twixt. Understand 'them,'' his The subject, 'that' (rel. pron.), is omitted, as is very common in poetry. TAMBURLAINE AT ZENOCRATE'S DEATH-BED. (From Tamburlaine the Great, Part II., Act ii., scene 4.) TAMBURLAINE, king of Persia, and his three sons; THERIDAMAS, king of Argier, TECHELLES, king of Fez, and UsUMCASANE, king of Morocco-generals raised to be kings by Tamburlaine; and three Physicians. 'Divine' ZENOCRATE, wife of Tamburlaine, lying on a bed of state, and just dead. Tamb. What, is she dead? Techelles, draw thy sword, And wound the earth, that it may cleave in twain, And we descend into the infernal vaults, To hale the Fatal Sisters by the hair, And throw them in the triple moat of hell, 100 For taking hence my fair Zenocrătē. Casāně and Theridamas, to arms! Raise cavalieros higher than the clouds, And with the cannon break the frame of heaven; Batter the shining palace of the sun, 105 And shiver all the starry firmament, For amorous Jove hath snatched my love from hence, The rusty beams of Janus' temple-doors, 115 If words might serve, our voice hath rent the air; If grief, our murdered hearts have strained forth blood: 120 Tamb. For she is dead!' thy words do pierce my soul: Ah, sweet Theridamas, say so no more! 126 Though she be dead, yet let me think she lives, And feed my mind that dies for want of her. Where'er her soul be, thou [To the body] shalt stay with me, Embalmed with cassia, ambergris, and myrrh, 130 Not lapt in lead, but in a sheet of gold, We both will rest, and have one epitaph 135 As I have conquered kingdoms with my sword. The houses, burnt, will look as if they mourned; And march about it with my mourning camp, NOTES. 99. The Fatal Sisters: Clotho, who spins the thread of life; Lachesis, who assigns to each his fate; and Atropos, the inflexible one, who cuts the thread. According to Hesiod, they were daughters of Zeus and Themis (Justice). 100. The triple moat of hell. Cf. Act iii., sc. 2: 'The island where the Furies mask, 103. Cavalieros, mounds, or elevations 110. Nectar and ambrosia: the drink and 91 140 two and a half centuries before Christ. In earlier times the socalled 'temple of Janus' was merely a covered passage, which stood open in war, and was closed in peace. When it was open, Janus was in the field fighting for Rome; when it was closed, he was secured as a present defence of the city. Marlowe refers to this Roman belief in 'letting out Death,' &c. Mar 130. Cassia, &c.: all of them fragrant 137. This cursed town, Larissa by name. DEATH-SCENE OF EDWARD II. (From Edward the Second, Act V., Scene v.) BERKLEY CASTLE.-The KING and LIGHTBORN, a murderer. Edward. Who's there? what light is that? wherefore com'st thou ? Lightborn. To comfort you, and bring you joyful news. Edw. Small comfort finds poor Edward in thy looks! Villain, I know thou com'st to murder me. 40 |