MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE, AND LESSONS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, WITH A BRIEF STATEMENT OF THE GENEALOGY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, EXPLANATORY NOTES, SUGGESTIONS FOR EXPRESSIVE READING, METHODS OF ANALYSIS, ETC. DESIGKED FOR USE IN COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS. BY HOMER B. SPRAGUE, Principal of the Adelphi Academy, Brooklyn, N. Y., and late Professor of Rhetoric in Cornell University. IN FOUR BOOKS. VOL. I. NEWV YORK:. W. Schermerhorn & Co., 14 BOND STREET. 1874. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by HOMER B. SPRAGUE, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. LANGE, LITTLE & CO., PRINTERS, ELECTROTYPERS AND STEREOTYPERS, 108 TO 114 MOOSTER STREET, N. Y. Being at some pause, looking back into that I have passed through, this writing seemeth to me, si nunrquam ftllit irmago, as far as a man can judge of his own work, not much better than the noise or sound which musicians make while they are tuning their instruments; which is nothing pleasant to hear, but yet is a cause why the music is sweeter afterwards. So have I been content to tune the instruments of the muses, that they may play that have better hands. FRANCIS BACON. P RE FA C E. WHAT shall we read? is becoming a serious question. A man can hardly find time for the daily newspapers, much less for even a glance over the pages of all the new books. But when he surveys the accumulation of literary treasures in a large library, he shrinks in despair from an effort to make them his own. The only resource is to select, and it is a good rule to always "get the best." The productions that have stood the test of time and of multiplied criticisms, and are recognized as masterpieces, are comparatively few. Whatever else may be omitted, no intelligent man can afford to be unacquainted with these. But in the text-books of English Literature, one of two imperfections is almost always present. The first arises from an attempt to give, by mere description, correct and vivid ideas of literary creations; as if one should seek to impart a clear knowledge and awaken a just appreciation of the particular works in an art-gallery by merely talking about them to one who had never seen them. The second and more common mistake, is the endeavor to bring all the prominent authors at once within the scope of the student's observation. Under this process the book becomes little more than a "dictionary of poetical quotations" and a collection of smart or eloquent sayings in prose. To use our former comparison, it is an art-gallery which exhibits nothing but fragments; a foot of the Venus de Medici, a devil from Michael Angelo's Last Judgment, a marble chip from the Parthenon, —in fine, a multitude of specimens in all degrees of mutilation. To obviate these faults we must, in the first place, give none but acknowledged MASTERPIEcES, admitting very sparingly, if at all, the works of living authors. Secondly, we must give, whenever practicable, productions that are complete in themselves. Thirdly, in order to keep the book within dimensions that shall be convenient for class use, the number of selections must be somewhat limited, and additional series must be published in separate volumes. 6 PREFACE. In the following work, constituting the first series, and, indeed, in each of the subsequent volumes, the object is primarily and chiefly to present for study the masterpieces in English literature; but incidentally the attempt is made to show, in the first two volumes, something of the philosophy and development of the English language, and to awaken an interest in its critical study. In the third volume it is proposed to deduce the principles of rhetoric from the passages examined, and arrange them in a system. In the fourth volume the authors will be classified, and the whole field of English Literature surveyed, and a system of logic outlined. In the present series, a brief biography is given of each author from whose works a selection is taken; for it is often quite important that we know the man in order to appreciate his book. In each volume much matter is suggested for original compositions. As no test of a pupil's appreciation of a passage is better than to require him to read it aloud with due attention to delivery, such a compilation is one of the best books for drill in oral expression. All the wealth and beauty of the author should find utterance in the voice. This practice can hardly be too strongly urged. To facilitate this drill, a brief treatise is contained in the first series, showing the elements and principles of vocal expression, with striking examples to illustrate their application. In a work involving such a multiplicity of details, the author cannot hope to have avoided errors and imperfections. With great diffidence, therefore, yet with confidence in the soundness of its method, and with the hopq that scholars will look upon it indulgently as an earnest effort in the right direction, the author submits this work to his fellow teachers. He will be grateful for any criticisms made in a friendly spirit. H. B. S. ADELPHI ACADEMY, BR~OOKLYN, N. Y., June 1, 1874. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. PAGES CLASSIFICATION OF LANGUAGES................................. 9-14 SKETCH OF CHAUCER'S LIFE................................... 15-19 THE CLERK'S TALE.................1..................... 19-58 SUMMARY OF ELEMENTARY SOUNDS AND THEIR PROPER SIGNIFICANCY.................................................... 59-61 PHONETIC ANALYSIS......................................... 62 SKETCH OF SPENSER'S LIFE..................................... 63-69 SPENSER'S EPITHALAMIUM................................ 69-80 ORTHOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS................................ 82 SKETCH OF BACON'S LIFE....................................... 83-86 BACON'S PREFATORY EPISTLE............................. 86 GRAMMATICAL EQUIVALENTS................................ 87 BACON'S ESSAY ON TRUTH.................................... 87-89 ESSAY ON DEATH.......................................... 89-91 ESSAY ON ADVERSITY....................................... 91,92 ESSAY ON STUDIES.......................................... 92, 93 ESSAY ON MARRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE....................... 93-95 ESSAY ON THE TRUE G(REATNESS OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES.. 95-103 SKETCH OF SHAKESPEARE'S LIFE................................. 104-108 MACBETH.................1....................... 109-179 SUMMARY OF RESULTS OF ELOCUTIONARY ANALYSIS AND SUGGESTIONS IN REGARD TO VOCAL EXPRESSION.............. 180-193 SKETCH OF MILTON'S LIFE................................. 194-199 AREOPAGITICA...........1................................. 199-242 SYNONYMES............2.................. 200 ODE ON THE NATIVITY............................... 243-251 COMUS..........2............................. 251-281 HISTORICAL ANALYSIS.................................. 283, 284 SKETCH OF BUNYAN'S LIFE....................................... 285-288 FIRST PART OF PILGRIM'S PROGRESS.................... 289-410 SENTENCE ANALYSIS......................................... 411-424 INDEX TO VOL. I................................................ 425 LANGUAGE. CLASSIFICATION OF L AN GUAGES.* The languages of tha world are classified as follows: I. THE Chinese stock, spoken principally in China (see p. 13). Of this stock we remark that, (1.) Every written character is an entire word. (2.) Every written character is the symbol of an idea, rather than the representative of a sound. t (3.) The languages are monosyllabic. II. The Shemitic stock, consisting principally of, (1.) The Arabic,$ including the Ethiopic, (2.) The Aramean, including the Syriac and the Chaldaic, (3.) The Hebrew, connected with which are the Canaanitish and the Phcenician. Of the Shemitic stock it is remarked, that, as a rule, (1.) Each root is dissyllabic and contains three consonants. (2.) All the Shemitic languages, except the Ethiopic, are written'from right to left. III. The Indo-Euro.pean stock. IV. The African stock, not including the Ethiopic. The Coptic, spoken by the descendants of the ancient Egyptians, has much in common with the Shemitic. V. The American stock, comprising the tongues of the aboriginal inhabitants. VI. The Oceanic or Polynesian stock. THE INDO-EUROPEAN STOCK. This is sometimes called the Japhetic, as the languages of Africa are called Hamitic, and those of Southwestern Asia, Shemitic; but the name Indo-European is more generally adopted. The Indo-European stock comprises the following divisions: * Let the student consult his atlas as he studies this subject. t Like an algebraic sign. t The Koran is in this language. 10 MASTEiRPIECES IN ENGLISIt IITERATURE. 1. Sanskcrit, the language of the ancient HIindoos, and the parent of the languages now spoken in Hindostan; viz., the Hindostanee, the Bengalee, the Pali-Mahratta, etc. The most ancient type of Sanskrit is found in the hymns of the Vedas. The word Sanskrit means perfect, polished, or classical. 2. Persian or Iranian, the language of ancient Persia or Iran. It was the sacred idiom of the Magi. In it Zoroaster, the founder of the sect of fire-worshipers called Ghebers, wrote the Zend-Avesta? The Old Persian, or language.of the Achnemenian cuneiform (wedgeshaped) inscriptions, was a dialect of this language. It is the mother of the languages now spoken in Persia. 3. Latin, the language of the ancient Romans. It is supposed to be more ancient than the Greek, and is the parent of the Italian, French, Provengal, Spanish, Portuguese, and Wallachian. 4. Greek, the language of ancient Greece, and the parent of the Romaic, or modern Greek. 5. Celtic, the language of the ancient Celts, who overspread the whole of western Europe. From the ancient Celtic are derived two modern families. One is called Medo-Celtic or Gaelic; comprising the Gaelic proper, or HIighland Scotch; the Erse, or Irish; and the Manx, or dialect spoken by the inhabitants of the Isle of Man. The Manx is fast becoming extinct. The second family is called Perso-Celtic, Cambrian, or Cymric, including the Welsh and the Armoric (spoken in Brittany). The Cornish, or language of Cornwall, belonged to this family, but it became extinct about a hundred years ago. 6. Gothic, the language of the ancient Goths, who, later than the Celts, migrated to Western Europe. They occupied especially the island of Gothland and the southern shores of the Baltic; but early in the Christian era a large number of them quit the north of Europe, and established themselves on the coasts of the Black Sea. A portion of these were permitted by the Roman emperor Valens, in the fourth century, to settle in Mcesia, a very extensive country stretching four or five hundred miles vest from the shores of the Black Sea, and bounded north by the river Danube. Those near the Black Sea were called Ostrogoths (East Goths); those further west were called Visigoths (West Goths). The Goths of Scandinavia are sometimes called Suio-Goths. Of the Gothic division there are two important branches: (1.) The Scandinavian; including the Icelandic or Old Norse, the Danish, the Swedish, the Norwegian, and the language of the Faroe islands. (2.) The Teutonic, comprising three families; the McesoGothic (which is the oldest preserved type of the Gothic), the High German, and the Low German. LANG UA GE. 11 7. Slavonic, the language of the Russians, Bulgarians, Servians, Croats, Poles, and Bohemians. It closely resembles its mother tongue, the ancient Sanskrit. 8. Lithuanian, the language of the peasantry in Lithuania. Of all the European languages it approximates nearest to the Sanskrit. THE LOW GERMAN OR SAXON FAMILY. This family includes the following dialects: (1.) The Frisian or Friesic; formerly prevailing in Friesland, north-east of the Zuyder Zee, but now on the eve of extinction. (2.) The Dutch; spoken in Holland, and remarkable for the facility with which it forms compound words. The oldest literary specimen is from about the year 1280. 1(3.) The Platt Deutsch (i. e., Low German); spoken in northern Germany by the common people, the descendants of the Old Saxons. The oldest specimen is Heliand (i. e., Saviour), a poem written in the eighth or ninth century. (4.) The Anglo-Saxon; a dialect mixed of the idiom of the Angles and that of the Saxons. The oldest poetical specimen extant is probably the beginning of the Scripture paraphrase, by Caedmon, of the seventh century. The Anglo-Saxon is the mother of the English, and, as such, is deserving of further attention from us. GENEALOGY. From what has been stated, the genealogy of the English language will be traced as follows: It is the daughter of the Anglo-Saxon dialect, of the Low Germanic family, of the Teutonic branch, of the Gothic division, of the Indo-European stock. The following diagram exhibits this relationship: LANGUAGE. rt i ockI.I I Chinese Stock. Shemitic. INDO-EUROPEAN. African. American. Oceanic. r I I I I Sanskrit. Persian. Latin. Greek. Celtic. GOTHIC. Slavonic. Lithuanian. TEUTONIC. Scandinavian. J I t I Mceso-Gothic. Low GERMANIC. High Germanic. r I J i It Frisian. Dutch. ANGLO-SAXON. Platt Deutsch. ENGLISH. 1,1 J1SIIASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH, LITERA TURE. THE INTRODUCTION OF DIFFERENT ELEMENTS. England had been for nearly four hundred years in the possession of the Romans, who, under Julius Coesar, had partially wrested it from the Celts; but, about the middle of the fifth century of our era, the critical condition of affairs in Italy made it necessary to withdraw the Roman armies from Britain. Thereupon the Picts and Scots, fierce barbarians from the north part of the island, poured down upon the helpless people of the south, enfeebled and unwarlike from long subjection to their military masters. In their distress the sufferers invoked the aid of the Teutonic pirates of the lower Elbe. "Then, sad relief, from the bleak coast that hears The German ocean roar, deep-blooming, strong, And yellow-haired, the blue-eyed Saxon came." These auxiliaries, who first arrived A. D. 451, finally turned their arms against the feeble Celts whom they came to protect. Multitudes of the Britons fled for refuge to the mountains of Wales: others crossed the English Channel to the north-west corner of France, called Brittany or Bretagne. The home of these Saxons (so called from seax, a short crooked sword carried under their loose garments) was a wide-spread territory south and southwest of Denmark. In the year 491 of the Christian era they established themselves in Sussex (i. e., South-Saxons), England; in 519, in Hampshire (formerly called Wessex; i. e., West-Saxons); and in 527, in Essex (i. e., East-Saxons). The home of the Angles (from angle, a hook, or angulus, a corner) was probably Anglen, in Sleswick. In 527 they established themselves in Norfolk (i. e., North-folks); in 559, in Yorkshire and Northumberland. The constant influx of Angles and Saxons filled England (i. e., Angleland), and their blended language became established, to the exclusion of the old Celtic. To this statement one important exception should be made: a multitude of Celtic geographical names were retained in England, precisely as the old Indian names of rivers, lakes, districts, and mountains, have been preserved in America. About the year 787, the Northmen, including Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes, began their aggressions upon England. Their inroads continued at intervals for nearly three centuries, and finally, in the year 1014, the Danish king, Sweyn, got complete possession of the country. In 1041 the Danish dynasty ceased, and the Anglo-Saxon rule was restored in the person of Edward the Confessor. In 1066, William the Norman came to England at the head of sixty thousand men. The great battle of Hastings seated him upon the English throne. F-Yor two or three hundred years persistent efforts were made by the Nornian French to substitute their language, a mixture of the Latin, the Celtic, and the Scandinavian, for the Anglo-Saxon. To only a limited extent was the attempt successful, about four-fifths of the words in actual use in England at this day being of Anglo-Saxon origin. Perhaps one-tenth of the words in common use are from the Norman French. LANGUA GE. 13 The different stages of the language of England may be thus designated by chronological periods: (1.) Celtic, to the conquest of England by the Angles and Saxons in the sixth and seventh centuries; then, (2.) Anglo-Saxon, five or six hundred years, to about the year 1150. (3.) Semi-Saxon, one hundred years, from 1150 to 1250. (4.) Old English, one hundred years, from 1250 to 1350. (5.) Middle English, two hundred years, from 1350 to 1550. (6.) Modern English, from 1550 to the present time. In every hundred words, counting those which are repeated, but omitting proper names, Chaucer and Shakespeare employ, of Anglo-Saxon Words, about ninety; Tennyson and Longfellow, about eighty-seven; Spenser, Milton, Addison, and Pope, about eighty-five; Macaulay, Everett, and Webster, about seventy-five. NOTE 1.-For an admirable statement of the development of the English language, see Professor Hadley's Brief History of the English Language, prefixed to Webster's Unabridged Dictionary. Probably there is nothing of the kind superior to it. See Marsh's Lectures on the English Language, Max Mflller's Lectures on the Science of Language, Whitney on Language and the Study of Language, English Lessons for English People, by Abbott and Seeley; Teutonic Etymology, by Prof. J. W. Gibbs, Gibbs's Philological Studies, Trench's English, Past and Present, Trench's The Study of Words; Studies in English, by Prof. M. Schele de Vere. See also the treatises of Blair, Quack. enbos, Day, Campbell, Hart, and others, on Rhetoric; those of Craik, Arnold, Taine, and others on English Literature; Fowler's English Grammar (Revised edition), Goold Brown's Grammar of Grammars, etc. NOTE 2.-Besides the six great stocks of languages named on page 9, many philologists recognize a seventh, which they variously term Altaic, Ural-Altaic, Turanian, Mongolian, Tartaric, and Scythian. The last name is most favored. According to these authorities, the Scythian stock covers the whole of the northern portion of the eastern continent, and the greater part of central Asia. It includes the languages of the Laplanders, the Finns, the Magyars of Hungary, the Samoyed tribes, the Turks, the Mongols, and the Manchus. Some scholars would add to this list the tribes that inhabit the Dekhan, and the Japanese. The distinguishing characteristic of these languages is that they are agglutinative; that is, they "attach their formative elements somewhat loosely to a root which is not liable to variation." See Whitney on Language and the Study of Language. Let the student write an essay on each of these stocks; on the Latin division, the Greek, the Celtic, the Gothic; on the Teutonic branch; on the Low Germanic family; on the Anglo-Saxon dialect; on England under the Romans, under the Saxons, under the Danes, under the Normans. Let him write an essay confirming or disproving any of the statements made in this chapter. 14 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. ABBREVIATIONS. ace........................ accent. It.................... Italian. adj...............adjective. L..................... Low. Ad........................ Addison. Lat................... Latin. A.D.......................Anno Domini. Mac.................. Macbeth. Ar........................Arabic. Mer. Ven............. Merchant of Venice. Areop.....................Areopagitica. Milt............... Milton. Arm................,.....Armoric. Morn. Nat...........Hymn on The Morning A. S....................... Anglo-Saxon. of Christ's Nativity. Bac....Bacon. n.....................noun. B. C................... before Christ. Nor. Fr...............Norman French. Bun....................... Bunyan. Norw................. Norwegian. Cf........................ compare. 0.................. old. Class. Die...............,Classical Dictionary- obs................... obsolete. Com...................... Comus. onomat.............,, onomatopoetic. D.........................Dutch. orig.................. originally. dat......................dative. p.....................page. Dan.....................Danish. Par. L................ Paradise Lost. dissyl..................... dissyllable. Pers................. Persian. Dry.............. Dryden. Pil. Pr................Pilgrim's Progress. e. g....................... for example. plu...................plural. E.......................... English. pos.................. possessive. Eng.......................English. pres................. present. es.........................essay. q. v.................. quod vide = which see. E........................European. Sans..........,......Sanskrit. fr......................... from. ~ Sax...................Saxon. Fr........................French. s....................scene. Fries......................Friesic. Scot.................. Scotch. Gael.......................Gaelic. Shak................. Shakespeare. Ger....................... German. sing,............,, singular number. Goth...................... Gothic. Span..........,, Spanish. Gr........................ Greek. Spen.................. Spenser. Heb.......................Hebrew. st.................. stanza. i...........................intransitive. S. W.................South-west. Ice........................ celandic. Sw.................... Swedish. ind,.................... indicative. syl.................... syllable. Ind. Eu................... Indo-European. tris................... trisyllable. inf........................ infinitive. v................vide = see. Ir.Iriri sh.. Wal.s........Irish. W.... I............... Welsh. GEOFFREY CHAUCER. (From a Manuscript Copy, in vellum, of the " Canterbury Tales," adorned with Marginal Paintings, in the possession of the Marquis of Stafford.) GEOFFREY CHAUCER. 1328 —1400. Dan Chaucer, well of English undefyled, On Fame's eternal bead-roll worthy to be fyled.-SPENsEn. A perpetual fountain of good sense.-DRYDENS. -That noble Chaucer, in those former times Who first enriched our English with his rhymes, And was the first of ours that ever broke Into the M5uses' treasures, and first spoke In mighty numbers, delving in the mine Of perfect knowledge.-WORDSWORTH. -The morning star of song, who made His music heard below; Dan Chaucer, the first warbler, whose sweet breath Preluded those melodious bursts that fill The spacious times of great Elizabeth With sounds that echo still.-TENNYSON. One of those rare authors, whom, if we had met him under a porch in a shower, we should have preferred to the rain! —LOWELL. In the dim twilight of five hundred years ago, the " morning star of song" began to shine. Born about the year 1328, as we infer from an inscription on his tomb, Goeffrey Chaucer, the "father of English poetry," received a thorough education, at either Oxford or Cambridge, or both. It is pretty clear that he understood well the French and Latil tongues. Whether he was versed in Italian, may be doubted, though he spent some time in Italy, and was all his life a student. In the autumn of 1359 Chaucer served in the army of Edward III. invading France, where he was captured at the siege of Retters. In the year 1367 we find him one of the king's valets de chamnbre, and receiving a yearly pension of twenty marks. About this time he married Philippa Roet, sister of the lady who afterwards became the wife of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. In 1370 he was abroad in the king's service. In November, 1372, he was sent on a mission to Genoa, to treat of the choice of a port in England where the Genoese might form a commercial establishment. Having remained about a year in Genoa and Florence, we find him again in England in the latter part of 1373. The great Dante had died fifty years before, but Petriarch and Boccaccio, already famous, werie still alive. He puts into the mouth of his " Clerk " or student, who is supposed to represent Chaucer himself, the following words in regard to the origin of the story of Patient Griselda: "I will you tell a tale which that I Learned at Padowe of a worthy clerk, As proved by his wordes and his work; He is now dead and nailed in his chest, 16 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERA T URE. I pray to God to give his soule rest; Francis Petrarch, the laureate poete, Highte this clerk, whose rhetoric sweet Enlumined all Itaille of poetry. " He repeatedly quotes Dante, but it is uncertain whether he was familiar with the writings of Boccaccio. We find a curious record on the 23d of April, 1374, of a grant of a pitcher of wine daily by the king, soon afterwards commuted for another pension of twenty marks. On the 8th of the following June he was appointed controller of the customs and subsidies of wools, skins, and tanned hides, in London. Other tokens of the royal favor followed, and in the last year of Edward's long reign (1327-1377) we find him an ambassador, first to Flanders, and afterwards to France. Soon after the accession of Richard II. Chaucer was sent to France to negotiate a treaty for a marriage between the boy king and a daughter of the French monarch. Returning soon to England, he was sent in May, 1378, to Lombardy, to treat of military matters. It was on this occasion that lhe nominated his brother poet, John Gower, whom he afterwards calls "Moral Gower," his attorney and legal representative during his absence. Gower, in his poem entitled Confessio Amantis, makes Venus say, "And greet well Chaucer when ye meet, As my disciple and my poete." In 1386 he was elected knight of the shire, or county representative in parliament, for Kent. The session was very brief, and its proceedings were largely directed against Chaucer's particular friend and patron, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Strongly enlisted on the side of the duke, Chalucer appears to have shared his fortunes, and to have lost the office of controller. Many years before, one Geoffrey Chaucer, probably our poet, had been fined two shillings for whipping a Franciscan f'iar in Fleet street; and now he became implicated in a London riot, and was obliged to flee to the Continent with his wife and children. After eighteen months he returned to England, to look after his property, but was seized and flung into the Tower. Yet he seems to have continued to receive, or at least to have been entitled to receive, his two pensions, until lie sold them in 1388, being in great destitution. In May, 1389, he was again in favor at court, and in July of that year he was appointed " Clerk of the King's Works," with a pension of ~36, and afterwards an annual pipe of wine. Cloud and sunshine alternately filled his sky. In September, 1391, he was dismissed from office, but soon afterward was restored to public favor. Sixty-three years old, weary of public life, but not soured nor despondent, he retired to his house, given him at Woodstock by the noble duke, and sat down to write. There, and at Donington Castle, where an old tree long bore the name of Chaucer's oak, lie composed his greatest work, The C(anterbury Tales. One of the vellum manuscripts of these tales, in the possession of the Marquis of Stafford, has a striking picture of the poet; a portly figure, in a thoughtful attitude, his head inclining forward, his chin almost resting on his breast; a buttoned bonnet on his head, its folds hanging gracefully behind his shoulders; a loose frock of camlet reaching below the knee, its wide sleeves gathered and fastened at the waist; his shoes horned, and his hose supposed to be red. Silver locks peep out from beneath his bonnet. Iis beard is of moderate length and neatly trimmed. The expression of his face singularly unites cheerfulness and thoughtfulness. You can fancy a mirthful twinkle in the eye, and almost expect the grave face to relax into an arch smile as some funny thought flashes through, his brain. This man has evidently a just sense of the vanity of all things earthly; but he has also a kind heart and a merry wit. The accession of his patron's son, Henry IV., brought more sunshine; for within four days the new king granted him (Oct. 8, 1399) a yearly pension of forty marks. On GEOFFREY CHA UrER. 17 the following Christmas he took the lease of a house at Westminster, near the spot where the magnificent chapel of Henry VII. now stands. Here he died, October 25, 1400, leaving two sons, one of whom became Speakel of the House of Commons. On his death-bed Chaucer is said to have been filled with remorse at the thought that some of his writings had an immoral tendency. "Wo is me, that I cannot recall and annul these things! But, alas, they are continued from man to man, and I cannot do what I desire! " His last. composition is said to have closed with the following stanza, in which the wisdom of threescore and ten years speaks with the voice of the dying man: That thee is sent, receive in buxomness; * The wrestling of this world aslketh a fall. Here is no home! Here is but wilderness! Forth, pilgrim, forth! 0 beast, out of thy stall! Look up on high and thank thy God of all Weyve thy lusts, and let thy ghost thee lead, And Truth shall thee deliver; it is no drede! The chief characteristics of his writings are common sense, a keen observation, a sportive and even comic fancy, a genial and overflowing humor, deep tenderness; and an exquisite sensibility to the beauties of nature; in a word, all the wisdom, shrewdness, naevetd, mirthfulness, pathos, and delicacy, that could well be combined in a polished old gentleman. Besides Troilus and Creseide (8,246 lines), The Assembly of Fowls (686 lines), House of Fcame (2,190 lines), Legend of Good Womens (2,722 lines), The Boo/c of the Duchess (1,334 lines), and several minor pieces, he wrote the CANTERBURY TALES (17,368 lines). On the 29th of December, 1170, the famous archbishop Thomas a Becket was murdered before the altar in the Cathedral at Canterbury (58 miles E. S. E. of London). Canonized within three years after his death and placed high on the roll of saints, it became an act of exceedingly meritorious piety to make a pilgrimage to his shrine. We will let Chaucer speak for himself on this subject: When that Aprille, with his showers swoote,t The drought of March hath pierced to the roote, And bathed every vein in swich licour, Of which virtue engendered is the flower,When Zephirus eke with his swete breath Enspired hath in every holt and heath The tender croppes; and the younge sun Hath in the Ram his halfe course yrun, And smalle fowles maken melodic, That sleepen all the night with open eyeSo pricketh hem nature in their courages;Then longen folks to go on pilgrimages, And specially from every shires end Of Engeland to Canterbury they wend, The holy blissful martyr for to seek, That them hath holpen when that they were sick. * Buxomness, meekness.-W-eyve, waive, put away.-It is no drede, there is no reason to fear.-Aprille. Trisyl. —tSwoote, sweet. Dissyl. —Swich, such.-Licour, liquor. Ace. 2d syl.-Eke, also. Dissyl.-Swete, sweet. Dissyl.-Croppes, crops. Dissyl.-.Younge. Dissyl.Ram. The constellation Aries, into which the sun enters about March 21. —Halfe. Dissyl.Yrun, run.-Smalle. Dissyl.-Fowles. Dissyl.-Courages, heart, spirit. Ace. 2d syl. 18 I1ALMASTERPIEC7ES IN ENLGLISH LITERATURE. Befell that, In that season on a day, In Southwark at the Tabard* as I lay, Ready to wenden on my pilgrimage To Canterbury, with full devout courage, At night was come into that hostelry Well nine and twenty in a company Of sundry folk, by aventure yfall In fellowship, and pilgrims were they all, That toward Canterbury woulden ride. The chambers and the stables weren wide, And well we weren eased at the best. These pilgrims agree to journey together; and, to beguile the way, each is to tell a tale both in going and in returning. Whoever shall relate the best is to have a supper at the others' expense, the fat, jolly landlord of the Tabard Inn, Harry Bailey, to be the judge. This plan would have required sixty stories, but only twenty-four are recorded. The description of the different pilgrims, who represent almost all ranks in life, except the highest and the lowest, forms a matchless picture-gallery. Most of the tales are deeply interesting. One of the best is The Clerk's (or Student's) Tale, which we have given entire. The substance of it existed before the time of Chaucer, in Latin and in Italian. It was dramatized and acted on the stage in France and Germany. It is found also, substantially, in Roberts' edition of Old English and Scotch Ballads. It was played on the English stage in the reign of Henry VIII. (1509-1547), and another dramatized version of it was made and acted in the London theatres in the time of Shakespeare. Except in the last six stanzas, I have taken the liberty to modernize the spelling wherever it would not change the pronunciation of the word, outlandish orthography being no more essential to old English poetry than to modern wit. It will materially assist, in reading Chaucer's verses, to observe the following general rules: 1. Pronounce, as a separate syllable, final e before a consonant; the final es in the plural; final es in the possessive singular; and ed in the past tense and participle. 2. Accent as in the original French the words that come from the Latin through that language. The verse is called English Heroic, consisting of ten syllables, making five feet, every second syllable being accented. It had been used before in Italian and in French poetry, but perhaps not in English. Each foot is regularly an iambus; that is, it consists of a short or unaccented syllable followed by a long or accented one. But two short syllables are often used instead of one, making the foot an anapest. For some account of the life and works of Chaucer, the reader is referred to Thomas Wright's edition of the Canterbury Tales; Godwin's Life of Chaucer; Charles Cowden Clarke's Life of Chaucer; Tyrwhitt's Chaucer's Works; Taine's History of English Literature; Craik's English Literature and Language; Corson's edition of the Legend of Good Women; March's Study of the English Language; and Lowell's admirable essay on * Tabard, the Tabard Inn. It is said to have been opposite the spot where Spurgeon's Tabernacle now stands. —Wenden, wend. —Aventure, adventure, chance.-Yfall, fallen, happening.-Eased, made at ease, accommodated. Dissyl. —At the best, or, as some manuscripts read, atte best, i. e., in the best manner. GEOFFREY CHAZ CER. 19 Chaucer in I1 Study Windows. See also Arnold's, Collier's, Shaw's, Cleveland's, Spalding's, Chambers', Angus's works on English Literature; Allibone's Dictionary of Authors; The Encyclopedia Britannica, and New American Cyclopedia; btome Pictures of English Poets, etc. Let the student cull from these and other sources additional facts in regard to Chaucer. TIIE CLERK'S TALE. 1. There is, right at the west side of Itaille,* Down at the root of Vesulus the cold, A lusty plain abundant of vitaille; There many a town and tower thou mayest behold, That founded were in time of fathers old, And many another delitable sight; And Saluces this noble country hight. 2. A marquis whilom lord was of that land, As were his worthy elders him before; And obeisant aye ready to his hand Were all his lieges, bothe less and more. Thus in delight he liveth and hath clone yore, Beloved and drad, through favor of fortune, Both of his lordes and of his commune. 3. Therewith he was, to speaken of lineage, The gentilest yborn of Lombardy, * Itaille (0. Fr. from Lat. Italia), Italy. Accent the word on 2d syl. —Vesulus, now Monte Viso, about 13,000 feet high, one of the Alps on the boundary between Italy and France, and forty miles S. W. of Turin.-Lusty (A. S. lust, lyst, vigor; Dan. and Ice. lyst, fr. Ice. liosta, to strike), fruitful.-Vitaille (O. Fr. for victuaille, fr. Lat. victualia, fr. victus, nourishment, fr. vivere, victum, to live), feood.-There, where. A. S. thcer. This demonstrative came to be used as a relative, just as the word that is still used.-Delitable (Lat. delectabilis, fr. delectare, to delight), delightful.-Saluces, Saluzzo, formerly the name of a region, now a city in Piedmont. Trisyl.Hight (A. S. hcitan, to call, name; be called; Ger. heiszen), is called. So Byron, "Childe Harold was he hight."-Whilom (A. S. hwilom, old dat. plu. of hwiul, time; Ger. weile), formerly.Obeisant (Fr. obeissant, fr. obeir, to obey; Lat. obedire, fr. ob, to, and audire, to give ear, per. haps akin to Lat. aeuris and Eng. ear), obedient. Lieges (either fr. Lat. ligare, to bind, denoting one bound by a feudal tenure, as a vassal to his lord; or fr. Ger. ledig, free, i. e., denoting one free fr. all obligation to others, being bound to one alone), liegemen, vassals.- Bothe (A. S. bM, both, tvd, two; akin to Lat. ambo, Gr. Jadsg?). Dissyl.-Yore (A. S. geSera, formerly, gedr, ger, a year; or fr. A. S. geo, of old, and cer, before), for a long time.- Drad (A. S. drcedan, to fear), dreaded, revered.-Lordes (Semi-Sax. plu: fr. A. S. hiaford, a bread-keeper, fr. hlaf, bread, and woeardian, to ward or guard), lords, nobles. Dissyl. —Commune (Lat. communis, common, ordinary; perhaps allied to Ger. gemein), common people.-Speaken (0. En. infin., like hearken).-Gentilest (Lat. gentilis, fr. gens, a clan or race), most noble in rank. See gentilesse'and note thereon, stanza 6. -Yborn (A. S. ge-, akin to Lat. co-, Ger. ge-, a particle often prefixed to A. S. verbs, and becoming, in 0. Eng., y-). The student should test the accuracy of all these notes. Let him make free use of lexicons, cyclopedias, histories, classical dictionaries, etc. The sooner the habit of thorough and original investigation is formed, the better. There is.... the west side. Th, when sonant as in there, has a demonstrative force; e. g., that, then, this, there; the. Give other examples of this. 20 JiMASTERPIECES IN ENG-LISH ELITERA TURE. A fair person* and strong and young of age And fill of honor and of courtesy; Discreet enough his country for to gie, Save in some thinges that he was to blame: And Walter was this younge lordes name. 4. I blame him thus, that he considered nought In time coming what might him betide, But on his lust present was all his thought, And for to hawk and hunt on every side: Well nigh all other cures let he slide; And eke he n'old (that was the worst of all) Wedden no wife, for nothing that might befall. 5. Only that point his people bare so sore, That flockmel on a day to him they went, And one of them, that wisest was of lore, (Or elles that the lord would best assent That he should tell him what his people meant, Or elles could he show well such matier,) He to the marquis said as ye shall hear. 6. " O noble Marquis, your humanity Assureth us and giveth us hardinesse, As oft as time is of necessity, That we to you may tell our heaviness. Accepteth, Lord, now of your gentilesse, That we with piteous heart unto you plain, And let your eares not my voice disdain. * Person (Fr. personne, fr. Lat. persona, a mask, fr. personare, to sound through). Ace. 2d syl.-Gie, guide.-Thinges (O. Semi-Sax. plu.). Dissyl.-Younge (A. S. giong; Ger. jung; allied to Lat. juvenis). Dissyl.-Lordes. Dissyl. The A. S. pos. termination of many nouns in the sing. was -es, -is, or -ys. The e, i, or y, of this ending, was afterwards omitted by syncope, and the apostrophe took its place. Hence the mode of forming the possessive case in Eng. —Time. Dissyl. —Lust (A. S. lystan, to desire), pleasure, wish. —Present. Ace. 2d syl.- Hawk, to attempt to catch birds with hawks trained for the purpose, a favorite amusement of the 0. Eng. nobility.-Cures (Lat. cura, care, fr. qucero, I seek, inquire), cares. Dissyl.-Eke (A. S. eacan, to add to; eac, also; AMceso-Goth. auk, allied to Lat. ac, and, or to augere, to increase), also. —i'old (A. S. nillan, to be unwilling; Lat. nolle), was unwilling to.-Wedden (Semi-Sax. and 0. E. infin.), wed.-No wife. Observe the use of a double negative for emphasis.-Flock. mel, in flocks.-Lore (A. S. ldr, fr. Ieeran; Ger. lehren, to teach). —Elles (A. S. elles; pos. or genitive of the root of Gr. JXXoe, Lat. altits, other), else. Dissyl.-2-Vatier (O. Fr. fr. Lat. materia), matter.-Giveth. ALonosyl. —1Hardiness, boldness. —Accepteth (the imperative plu. in A. S. is written with the ending d7e; in Early Eng., th), accept. The plu. is politely used for the sing.-G-entilesse (Lat. gentilis, fr. gens, race, stock, family, with a sense of noble or respectable, as we say a man of birth or family; whence genteel), complaisance, gentleness.Piteous, sorrowful.-Plain, complain. Obhs., except in poetry.-Eares (A. S. eare; Lat. auris; Gr. os5; Ger. ohr, ear), ears. Dissyl.-Voice (Gr.,it,; Lat. veox, voice; 0. Fr. vois; Fr. voix).Disdain (Lat. dis, asunder, apart, not; dignari, to deem worthy; O. Fr. desdaigner, to deem unworthy; Fr. dedaigner, to disdain). Well nigh all other cures let he slide. Si, as in slide, slip, slime, sly, sleight, slink, slow, (like gl,) denotes smoothness or silent motion. Other examples? GEOFFRE Y CHA UCER. 21 7. "' And have I nought to don * in this matiere More than another man hath in this place; Yet, forasmuch as ye, my Lord so clear, Have always showed me favor and grace, I dare the better ask of you a space Of audience, to showen our request, And ye, my Lord, to don right as you lest. S. " For certes, Lord, so well us liketh you And all your work, and ever hath done, that we Ne couthen not ourselves devisen how We mighten live in more felicity; Save one thing, Lord, if that your wille be, That for to be a wedded man you lest; Then were your people in sovereign hertes rest. 9. "6 Boweth your neck under that blissful yoke Of sovereignety and not service, Which that men clepen spousail or wedlock; And thinketh, Lord, among your thoughtes wise, How that our dayes pass in sundry wise; For though we sleep, or wake, or roam, or ride, Aye fleeth the time; it will no man abide. 10. A' And though your greene youthe flower as yet, In creepeth age alway as still as stone: And death menaceth every age, and smit In each estate, for there escapeth none. And also certain as we know each one * Don (A. S. don), do.-Ye (A. S. ge), you.-Showed. Dissyl. —Favor. Ace. 2d syl.Showen (Semi-Sax. and Early Eng.), show.-Lest (A. S. lystan, lustan, incline, desire), list, please.-Certes (Lat. certus, sure; Fr. certes), certainly.-Us (dative, i. e. case of indirect object, after liketh).-Liketh (plu.; you and work being the subject nominative), please. Us liketh = sae pleasing to us.-Ne..... not. The double negative for emphasis. —Couthen (0. pin. past tense of A. S. cunnan, to know, ic can, I know; Ger. konnen, to know; akin to Lat. gnoscere, noscere, Gr. ycyvaritco, to know), knew, were able to.-Lest, incline, please. See st. 7.-Hertes (Lat. cor, cordis; Gr. KapEia, Kdp; Ger. herz), heart's.-Boweth, bow. Imperative.-Which that, which.-Clepen (A. S. clepan), call.-Thinketh. Imperative.-Wise. A. S. swts; Ger. sweise; akin to wit; A. S. witan, to know; Ger. wissen; Sans. wid, to know; Lat. eid-ere, to separate by the eye, Gr. o-T-a). —Sundry wise (A. S. synderig, separate, fr. sunder, to separate. Hence sundry=several).-Wise (A. S. wisian, to direct; Ger. weise, mode, manner), ways.-Aye (A. S. a, awa; Lat. avum, an age; Gr. aEI, ever), ever.-Still as stone=' stone still.' —Vlenaceth. Acc. 2d syl.-Smit (A. S. smitan; Ger. schmeiszen, to smite. Hence smsith, one "that smootheth with the hammer "), smiteth.-None. A. S. ndsn, fr. ne, not; san one. Compare with this the Latin nemo, no one, fr. ne, not, homo, man. And though your greene youthe flower as yet. Fl and bl, as in Lat. Jflo, flare, flos, floreo, Gr. Xoosq, Ger. blsihen, blfithe, blume, blihen, blasen; Eng. flower, flourish, bloonm, blossom, blow, blaze, blast, blister, denotes a blowing or blooming; also ft denqtes a flowing, as in Gr. 4Xds, 0hsiV, aveo; Lat. fluo; Ger. fliessen, fluth, Eng. flow, flood, Lat. flere. Let the student exercise his ingenuity in collecting other examples to illustrate these phonetic principles. Let him also carefully verify or disprove the statements in the foot-notes. 22 MIASTERPIECES IN EVGXLISH LITERA TUiRE. That we shall die, as uncertain * we all Ben of that day when death shall on us fall. 11.'" Accepteth then of us the true intent, That never yet refused your behest, And we will, Lord, if that you will assent, Choose you a wife in short time at the mest, Born of the gentilest and of the best Of all this land, so that it ought to seem Honor to God and you, as we can deem. 12. " Deliver us out of all this busy dread, And take a wife, for highe Goddes sake! For if it so befell, as God forbid, That through your death your lineage should slake, And that a strange successor should take Your heritage, oh, wo were us on live! Wherefore we pray you hastily to wive." 13. Hir mreeke prayer and hir piteous cheer Made the marquis for to have pity. "Ye wold, " quoth he, " mine owen people dear, To that I never ere thought, constrainen me; I me rejoiced of my liberty, That selden time is found in marriage; There I was free, I must ben in servage. 14. " But natheless I see your true intent, And trust upon your wit, and have done aye. Wherefore, of my free will, I will assent To wedden me as soon as ever I may. But thereas ye have proffered me to-day To choosen me a wife, I you release That choice, and pray you of your proffer cease. * Uncertain. Ace. 1st and 3d syl.-Ben (O. Eng.), be, are.-M- est (A. S. moist), most.Busy (A. S. bysig, D. bezig, busy; Ice. bisa, to toil), causing business or care.-Slake (A. S. slacian, to slacken; sleacian, or slacian, to render less intense, mitigate),fail.-Strange (Lat. extraneus, foreign; extra, beyond). Dissyl. To make strange fr. extraneus, the prefix is dropped. So to form uncle fr. avunci'llus, and sample fr. exemplutm.-Successor. Ace. Ist and 3d syl.-On live, in life. Emphatic. —Iir (early Eng. pos.), their. —Cheer, countenance. See Index. —lXade. Dissyl.-Pity (Fr. pite; Lat. pietas, filial affection, kindness). Ace. 2d syl.-Wold (A. S. woilian; Ger. wollen; Lat. velle, eolo; Fr. vouloir, voudra; Eng. would; Gr. pAotoeae), would. Auxil.Ere, before.- Selden (A. S. seldon or seldan, rare), seldom.-There, wthere.-Servage, servitude.-Natheless (A. S. na; Lat. ne, no, not; the; less), nevertheless. In Milton we have nathless. Trisyl.-Thereas, whereas.-Owen (st. 13) is past participle of A. S. dagan, to possess. Ben of that day when death shall on usfalZ. The sound of a in fall, as it requires the mouth to be opened wide to enounce it properly, and is rather large in volume, seems appropriate for large things, and for serious or important subjects. E. g., all, lord, broad, law. Other examples? Deliver us out of all the busy dread. Busy has, perhaps, an onomatopoetic force. We speak of the hum of business. Buzz is clearly imitative of sound. Z final often denotes buzzing sounds, as in whiz, buzz, buzfuz. Give other examples. GEOFFREY CHA UCER. 23 15. " For God it wot,* that children often been Unlike hir worthy elders them before. Bountee cometh all of God, not of the streen Of which they been engendered and ybore. I trust in Goddes bounty, and therefore My marriage and mine estate and rest I him betake; he may do as him lest. 16. " Let me alone in choosing of my wife; That charge upon my back I will endure! But I you pray, and charge upon your life, That, what wife that I take, ye me assure To worship her, while that her life shall dure, In word and work, both here and everywhere, As she an emperores daughter were. 17.' And furthermore thus shall ye swear, That ye Against my choice shall never grudge nor strive; For since I shall forego my liberty At your request, as ever mote I thrive, There as mine heart is set, there will I wive; And, but ye will assent in such mannere, I pray you speak no more of this matiere." 18. With hertly. will they sworen and assenten * Wot (A. S. witan, to know), knows. —Been, are.-Bountee (Nor. Fr. bountee; Lat. bonitas, goodness; bonus, good; Fr. bonte), goodness.-Streen (A. S. strynd, stock, breed; streon, power), race, stocc, breed, descent. In Shakespeare we have strain in this sense.Ybore, born. The A. S. past tense, and often the past participle, took the prefix ge, at first with an intensive force. This ge became y. —Marriage, Tris.-I him betake (A. S. dative case is him or hyem = to him), I 3refer to him, or I entrust to him. —H-im lest, it pleases hism. -Dure (Lat. durare, to harden, to last; durus, hard; Fr. duerer, to last), endure.-Emperores (Lat. imperator, comnmander-in-chief; Fr. entperesur; emperores being old pos.; the e of the old pos. being now dropped, and the apostrophe taking its place to form the pos.) —ote (A. S. meot; 0. Sax. stotan), must. 1st sing. present.-There as, there where, just where. —But ye (A. S. butan, without, except; be, by, with; uta?, out, abroad. Be is not here the imperative), unless ye.-Hertly (Ger. herzlich. ilerz is akin to Lat. co', cord-is, Eng. heart; Gr. Kaplia), hearty. This word illustrates Grimm's famous law of consonant changes. This law embraces remarkable correspondences among the English, the German, and the classical languages; in fact, it extends to the whole Indo-European stock, though with many exceptions in particular words. The Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, and Slavonic, are one class; the High German dialects, another; the Mceso-Gothic and Low German, a third. The mutes are divided into: Tenues. Medice. Aspiratce. Smooth. Middle. Rough. Labials (lip mutes).................... P............B (V)............... Ph (F). Palatals (palatal mutes)................ (C)............ G............. Ch (H). Linguals (tongue mutes).............T............D................Th (Z). PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF GRIMM's LAW. To change Latin or Greek to English (or to A. S.), change smooth to rough, rough to middle, and middle to smooth. To change German to English, change rough to smooth, middle to rough, and smooth to middle. To change English to Latin or Greek, or to German, reverse these operations respectively. Thus Lat. co?, cord-is, Gr. Kap~sa, becomes Eng. heart; Lat. corn-u becomes Eng. horn; Lat. tres becomes Eng. three; Lat. frater, Eng. brother; Lat. pater, Eng. Jhther; Lat.frang-o, freg-i, Eng. break. For further illustrations, see Index, Grimm's Law.-$woren. 0. plu. —The student should be taught to scaen every line; that is, to distinguish and name the metrical feet of which each verse is composed. Against nmy choice shall never grudge nor strive. Sitr, as in strive, seems to denote exertion; e. g., strain, strenuous, stress, strike, strokce, streak, strip, strap, stripe, strife, string, strong, strength, strict, stretch, straight, struggle. The fact is, it requires a considerable exertion to articulate properly this combination of consonants. Hence its fitness to express effort. Other examples? 24 MIASTERPIECES IN ENiGLISH LITERA TURE To all this thing. There saide * no wight,'" Nay;" Beseeching him of grace, ere that they wenten, That he would granten them a certain day Of his spousail, as soon as ever he may. For yet alway the people somewhat dread Lest that the marquis would no wife wed. 19. He granted them a dcay, such as him lest, On which he would be wedded securely; And said he did all this at their request; And they with humble heart, full buxomly, Kneeling upon their knees full reverently, Him thanken all; and thus they have an end Of their intent, and home again they wend. 20. And hereupon he to his officers Colnmandeth for the feste to purvey; And, to his privy knightes and squieres, Such charge he gave as him list on theim lay. And they to his commandement obey, And each of them doth all his diligence To do unto the feast all reverence. PARSs SECuNDA. 21. Not far from thilke palace honorable, * Saide. Dissyl.-Wight (A. S. wilt, a creature; wagian, to move; whence wtight and whit), person.-Spousail, marriage. Ace. 2d syl.-Him lest, pleased him.-Securely. Ace. 1st syl. —:Buxomly (A. S. bugan, to bow, bend, yield; A. S. sum, Gr. h61s6, Lat. similis, Goth. sama, like, same; Ger. biegsam, 0. Eng. bocsom, A. S. bocszum, pliable; A. S. lic, like), obediently. -Feste (Lat. festum, plu. festa; O. Fr. feste; Fr. fete, festival, holiday), feast. ]5'este is dissyl. -Privy (Lat. privare, to separate; privus, single; Fr. prive), private.-Knightes (A. S. cniht, a boy, attendant, military follower). Dissyl. A knight was a man admitted in feudal times to a certain military rank, and entitled to be addressed as Sir. "When the order of knighthood was conferred by the sovereign in the leisure of a court, imposing preliminary ceremonies were required of the candidate. IHe prepared himself by prayer and fasting, watched his arms at night in a chapel, and was then admitted with the performance of religious rites. Klnighthood was conferred by the accolade, which, from the derivation of the name, should appear to have been originally an embrace; but afterwards consisted, as it still does, in a blow of the flat of a sword on the back of the kneeling candidate." Brande. —Squieres (Fr. ecuyer, shield-bearer; from escu, shield; Lat. sczutm), shield-bearers, or armor-bearers attendant on a knight. Dissyl. Ace. 2d syl.-A.s him list, etc., as it pleased him to lay on them. List is A. S. lystan, lustan, to incline, to desire. Hence hlst.-Commandement. Quadrisyllable.-Thilke (A. S. thylc, thus lic, thuslike; as A. Ward would say, " Thsusly." The demonstrative element th, found in this, that, the, there, they, etc., is perhaps connected radically with the element of the second person singular, th, in thou), this same.-Honorable. Ace. Ist and 3d syllables. "The tendency of English accentuation has been to get as far back in words as it is possible for it to go."-Corson. Notfar from thilke paace honorable. N, as in not, denotes negation; e. g., Gr. v in r1-rros; Lat. ne, non; Ger. nicht, neins; Welsh na, ni, not; Russian ne; It. na, ni; Sans. fna; Pers. neh; Eng. no, nor, nay. The explanation of this fact I do not find; but I conceive it to be the rejection, by the nose, of disagreeable odors; whence all rejection, dll refusal, comes to be expressed in the same way. The n is naturally prominent in the name of the nose, and in some operations in which that organ is used; as, sneeze, sneer, snort, snuzff, sniff. Other examples? GEOFFPE Y GHA UCER. 25 Where as* this marquis schope his marriage, There stood a thorp of sighte delitable, In which that poore folk of that village Hadden their beastes and their herbergage, And of their labor took their sustenance, After the earthe gave them abundance. 22. Among this poore folk there dwelt a man Which that was holden poorest of them all; But highe God sometime senden can His grace unto a little oxe stall. Janicula, men of that thorp him call. A daughter had he, fair enough to sight, And Griseldes this younge maiden hight. 23. But for to speak of virtuous beauty, Then was she one the fairest under sun; Full poorely yfostered up was she, No licorous lust was in her heart yrun;'Well ofter of the well than of the tun She drank, and, for she woulde virtue please, She knew well labor, but none idle ease. 24. But though this maiden tender were of age, Yet, in the breast of her virginity, There was enclosed ripe and sad courage; And in great reverence and charity H1er olde poore father fostered she; A few sheep, spinning, on the field she kept; She woulde not been idle till she slept. 25. And, when she homeward came, she woulde bring Wortes and other herbes times oft, The which she shred and seethe for hir living; * Where as, just where.-Schope (A. S. scnpan; Ger. schafen), shaped. —Marriage. Trisyl..-Thorp (Dan. thoerp; A. S. thorp; Lat. turba? Gr. Tvpfv?), hanlet.-Delitable. The same as in the first stanza.-H-erbergage, pasture.-In which that poore, in which poor. —Sometime. E final is often a syllable in Chaucer, as here.-Oxe. Dissyl.-Younge. Dissyl. —ight. See Ist stanza.-Poorely. Trisyl.-Yfostered. The prefix y, so common in the old writers, as already remarked, grew out of the fuller form ge, the usual prefix of the past participle. A. S. ge; O. Sax. gi; Mceso-Gothic, ga. G in the A. S. is often changed to y in Eng.-Licorouas (A. S. liccian; Ger. leckcen; Fr. lecher; Lat. lingere; Gr. X&eXeCv, to lick), lic7cerish, greedy, lecherous.-Yrun, reun.-Tun (A. S. tunne; Ger. tonne; Fr. tonne, tonneaue), cask (of liquor).-For she woulde, because she would, etc. Wozulde is a dissyl.-Sad (A. S. sad, sated, weary, sick; Ger. satt, sated; Lat. sat, satis, enough), steady, grave. —Been, be.-Wortes (A. S. wyrt, wirt, herb, root, as in liverwort, motherwort), worts, plants. Dissyl.-Times. Dissyl.-Shred (A. S. screadian, Ger. schro-. ten, to tear or cut), to cut into small pieces or strips, to shred.-Seethe (A. S. seodhan), boiled, seethed. -Hir, their. The pos. sing. masc. and neut. of he was in A. S. his; the pos. fem. was hire or hyre; the pos. plu. of all genders was hire, heora, often shortened to hir, her. She woeulde not been idle till she slept. T, as in tilt, points out, or demonstrates, and so is akin to th. E. g., Sans. tat, it; Gr. To, the, rioeo, that; Lat. tot, so many, talis, such, tantus, so great, tendere, to stretch; Eng. to, tend, tell. Other instances? 26 MASTERPIECES IN EiNTGLISH -LITERATURE. And made her bed full hard and nothing soft; And aye she kept her father's life on loft * With every obeisance and diligence That child may do to father's reverence. 26. Upon Griseldes, this poor creature, Full often sithe this marquis set his eye, As he on hunting rode peraventure; And when it fell that he might her espy, He, not with wanton looking of folly, His eyen cast on her, but, in sad wise, Upon her cheer he would him oft avise. 27. Commending in his heart her womanhead And eke her virtue, passing any wight Of so young age, as well in cheer as deed; For though the people have no great insight In virtue, he considered aright Her bountee, and disposed that he would Wed her only, if ever he wedden should. 28. The day of wedding came, but no wight can Tellen what woman that it shoulde be; For which mervaille wondered many a man, And saiden, when they were in privity,'" Will not our lord yet leave his vanity? Will he not wed? Alas, alas, the while! Why will he thus himself and us beguile? * On loft (A. S. an, on; lyft, the air), aloft. —Obeisance. Ace. Ist and 3d syl.-Creature. Ace. Ist and 3d syl.-Sithe (A. S. sidh, path, time, occasion), times.-Peraventure, by chaZce. Ace. 2d and 4th syl.-F-ell, fell out, happened. —Eyen (A. S. eage; Ger. aucge; Lat. oculucs; D. oog, the eye; Gr. &o-se, two eyes), eyes. In A. S. the plu. very often ended in n, as oxan, oxen.Cheer (Gr. Kapa, head; It. ciera, mien, face; Sp. cara, face; Gr. Xapa P joy; lr. chere, entertainment, fare), countenance, mien.-Avise (Lat. ad, to, videre, to see), to see to, observe, reflect.-Him oft avise, often take counsel with himself (a refyexive use of avise).-Womanhead (A. S. uwif; Ger. weib, woman; Sans. ma, to measure; msan, to think, mann, the thinker, man; A. S. w.ifman, wimmanoe; A. S. had, state; hadian, to ordain; Ger. heit? state, habit, condition), womanhood, womanly character.-Wight, person.-Bountee. See Index.-Disposed, arranged, determined.-M-lervaille (Fr. fr. Lat. mtirabilis, wonderful), carrvel.-The while (A. S. hwil, Ger. weile,'time), the time.-B-eguile (be is orig. same as by; A. S., Ger., Sw., Dan., D., be, near, by, at; Goth., O. S., 0. Ger., bi, Ger. bei. Sometimes this prefix gives emphasis, as in bespatter, bedeck. Guile is A. S. wile, Ice. viel, Eng. wile, fraud, deceit), cheat, deceive. Upon Griseldes, this pool creature. The sound of oo in poore is soft and smooth. Hlence it sometimes denotes softness and smoothness; as soothe, smcooth, cool, pooer. Other examples? Will he not wed? Alas, alas, the while. The second a in alas has a sound naturally expressive of pain or grief. Its enunciation requires little besides the ordinary position of the organs of speech in a child, with the simple opening of the mouth and breathing. It is an unpleasant sound to the ear, perhaps from its association with the cries of infants and of sheep and calves. So the sound of a in ak; e. g. Heb. ahh; Gr. a; Lat., Sans., Pers., Eng., Ger., ah; Ger. ach; Welsh a; Ir. a. As it is little more than a forcible breathing, it enters into some words denoting to breathe, breath, air; as Grt. Ia, apLe; Lat. halare, to breathe; aer, air; Eng. air-. Give other examples in illustration of these principles. GEOPFFREY CThA UCER. 27 29. But natheless * this marquis hath done make Of gemmes, set in gold and in azure, Brooches and ringes for Griseldes sake; And of her clothing took he the measure Of a maiden like unto her in stature; And eke, of other ornamentes, all That unto such a wedding shoulde fall. 30. The time of undern of the same day Approacheth that this wedding shoulde be, And all the palace put was in array, Both hall and chambers, each in his degree; Houses of office stuffed with plenty. There mayest thou see of dainteous vitaille That may be found as fer as lasteth Itaille. 31. This real marquis, really arrayed, Lordes and ladies in his company, The which unto the feste weren prayed, And of his retinue the bachelerie, With many a sound of sundry melody, Unto the village of the which I told, In this array the righte way they hold. 32. Griseld of this, God wot, full innocent That for her shapen was all this array, To fetclhen water at a well is went, And cometh home as soon as ever she may; N'atheless. See Index.-Done make, caused to make, got made. Make is here properly an infinitive.-Gemmes (Lat. gemma, gem, jewel). Dissyl.-Azure (Per. lajuward, azure; Ar. azraq, azure; Ger. lasur, azure-color; Sp. azul, the lapis lazuli, Ger. lasurstein, the stone of blue color). Axuere or blue, the color of the sky, is the color of truth. So in H'udibras, " Presbyterian true blue." See Spenser's Epithalamium, 3d stanza.-Brooches (Lat. brochus, a projecting tooth; W. preoc, a stab; Fr. broche, a spit, pin; Eng. brooch, a clasp, so called from the pin which fastens it), clasps. —Ringes. ]Dissyl.-Undern (A. S.), the third hour of the day, or nine in the morning.-Same. Dissyl.-His degree, its degree. The form its, as possessive, is quite modern, being very rarely found as early as in Shakespeare's time. In King James's version of the Bible, Ihis is used instead of its.-Stuffed. Dissyl. —Fer (A. S.), far. —Lasteth. AMonosyl.-Real (0. Fr. real; Lat. regalis, kingly, rex, king; Fr. royal), royal. -Bachelerie (WV. bach, little, young; WV. baches, a pretty little woman; O. Fr. bacheler, a young man; L. Lat. baccalarius, a soldier not old or rich enough to lead his retainers into battle with a banner), knights of the lowest order, or young knights.-Righte. Dissyl.-Shapen (see schope, st. 21), made. —Went (A. S. wendan, to turn, go; imperf. went), gone.-Home. A. S. ham; O. Sax., O. Friesic, Sw., hem; Dan. hiemn; Ice. heimr; Ger., D., heim; Goth. hairs; Gr. K(joq? village; Lith. kaimas? Tofetchen water at a well is went. The sound of w, in water, well, went, being a weak and flowing sound, is adapted to express gentle motion, gentleness, weakness. E. g. Lat. vado (for v in Latin often corresponds to w, the latter not being found in that language), Eng. wade; Lat. vert-ere, Eng. -wards, Ger. -w(irts; Lat. veho, Eng. way, wagon, wain; Ger. wallen, to spring up, Eng. well; Ger. wvandern, Eng. wander; Ger. wehen, to blow, Eng. wind, Lat. vent-us; Ger. wenden, to turn, Eng. wend, went; Ger. winden, Eng. wind; Eng. wave, welter, wallow, warble, waddle, waft, wax, wane. Give other illustrations. 28 A2STIERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. For well she had heard say that thilke * day The marquis shoulde wed, and, if she might, She woulde fain have seen some of that sight. 33. She thought, " I will with other niaidens stand That be my fellows, in our door and see The marquisesse, and therefore will I fond To done at home, as soon as it may be, The labor which that longeth unto me; And then I may at leisure her behold, If she this way unto the castle hold." 34. And as she would over the threshold gon, The marquis came and gan her for to call. And she set down her water-pot anon Beside the threshold of this oxe stall, And down upon her knees she gan to fall, And with sad countenance she kneeleth still, Till she had heard what was the lordes will. 8 35. This thoughtful marquis spake unto this maid Full soberly, and said in this mannere, "Where is your father, Griseldes?' he said, And she with reverence and humble cheer Answered, " Lord, he is all ready here." And in she goeth, withouten longer let, And to the marquis she her father fet. 36. He by the hand then taketh this old man, And saide thus, when he him had aside: " Janicula, I neither may nor can Longer the pleasance of mine herte hide. If that thou vouchesafe what so betide, ~ Thilke, this same. See st. 21.-Fellows (A. S. felaw, fr. fyligan, fylian, to follow), companions.-Fond (Ice. fana, to act sillily; Scot. fJe, to fondle; foen, to play the fool; 0. Eng. fond, to dote on, fondle, caress), be eager.-Which that, which. —Longeth, belongeth.-Leisure (Lat. licere, to be at liberty; Fr. loisir, permission).-Threshold (A. S. thrsescan, to thresh; wald, weald, wood; A. S. threscwald).-Gan, began. A. S. ginnan, gynnan, begin. "The original sense of ginnan is to cut, split." Webster.-Oxe, dissyl. In Italy and some other countries the peasantry sometimes live under the same roof with their cattle.-Sad. See st. 24.-Withouten (A. S. widl, with; utan, out), without.-Let (A. S. lettan, to retard, make late; Idt, late), hindrance, delay. —Fet (A. S. fetian, to bring), fetched.-Pleasaunce (Lat. placere, to please; Fr. plaisir, to please; plaisance), pleasure.-Vouchesafe (vouch fr. Lat. vocare, the c changed to clh by Grimm's law; vocare, to call; O. Fr. vocher; Lat. salvus, Fr. sau;f safe; vouchesafe, vouch for safety, permit to be done safely), permit. Trisyl.-What so betide, what [I pray] may happen so. Betide, A. S. tidan, to happen. In the note on beguile, st. 28, it was shown that the prefix be. sometimes gives emphasis. Here observe another effect of the prefix; viz., it renders intransitive verbs transitive. E. g., belie, befall. Let the student look up other examples to illustrate both these points. And down upon her knees she gan to fall. The sound of kn, in knee (and of gn, in the Lat. genu, knee, Gr. yivu, knee), was originally a broken sound, and so expressed a breaking off suddenly. E. g., knot, knock, knell, klnap, knit, knag, knead, knuckle, knurly. So gnarl. Other examples? GEOFFPREY CHA UCER. 29 Thy daughter will I take, ere that I wend, As for my wife unto her lifes end. 37. "Thou lovest me, that wot I well certain, And art my faithful liegeman* ybore, And all that liketh me, I dare well sayn, It liketh thee, and, specially, therefore, Tell me that point that I have said before, If that thou wilt unto this purpose draw, To taken me as for thy son-in-law." 38. The sudden case the man astonied so That red he wax, abashed, and all quaking He stood, unnethes said he wordes mo; But only this, "Lord," quoth he, "my willing Is as ye will; against your liking I will no thing, ye be my lord so dear, Right as you list, governeth this matier." 39. " Then will I," quoth this marquis softely, " That, in thy chamber, I and thou and she Have a collation, and wost thou why? For I will ask her if it her will be To be my wife and rule her after me; And all this shall be done in thy presence: I will not speak out of thine audience." 40. And in the chamber while they were about The treaty, which as ye shall after hear, The people came unto the house without, And wondered them in how honest mannere * Liegeman. See lieges, st. 2.-Liketh (A. S. lician, to be pleased, to please), pleaseth.Sayn, say.-Astonied (A. S. stunien, to stun; Ger. staunren, to be astonished; Lat. attonare, to thunder at; fr. acd, to, and tonare, to thunder; Fr. etonner; O. Eng. astone), astonished. So in the Bible; e. g., Dan. iv. 19. —VWax (A. S. weaxen; Ger. wachsen, to grow), waxed, grew.-Unnethes (A. S. un; Lat. in, not; A. S. eadh, ready, easy; Goth. azets, easy; Fr. aisC), not easily, with defficulty.-I-_o (A. S. md; Scot. mae, more; A. S. mara; Ger. mehr; Lat. magis, more), more.Against. To make out the metre, pronounce against as a trisyl. —Governeth. Impera. plu. See governance, st. 134. —atier. Acc. 2d syl.-Collation (Lat. co-, con-, cure, together, latum, to bring; collatio, a bringing together), a conference, an interview.-Wost (2d sing. fr. wis, pres. tense of A. S. witan, to know; wiste, knew; Lat. vid-ere, to separate with the eye, to see, becoming Eng. wit by Grimm's law, and the latter meaning to separate with the mind, to know, Gr. 6FLSa, I know), Jknowest. See void, in Index. —Rlule her, rule herse7f.-Audience, hearing.Treaty (Fr. traiti; Lat. tractatus, a drawing out, agreement drawn up; Fr. traho, I draw), agreement.-Which as = which.-Wondered them (a reflexive combination, like'bethought them'), wondered,-H-onest (Lat. honestus, honorable), respectable. Ace. 2d syl. Thou lovest me, that wot I well certain. The smooth sound of I is adapted to express what is soft or soothing; as in lull, like, love, lave, lute; Lat. levis, smooth; Gr. Aeeos; Lat. libet and lubet, it pleases. By analogy, especially at the end of words, it denotes slight or little things; as satchel, a little sack; Lat. scutulum, a little shield. Naturally it is employed to name actions in which the tongue, the organ that is chiefly used in enunciating the sound, is the main instru. ment; as Gr. XaXhs, to prate; Lat, lallo; Ger. lallen; Eng. loll; Welsh, Zlolian; Gr. XierTs; Eng. lap; Lat. Iambo; Gr. XkegXw; Lat. lingo, Eng. lick, Ger. leckeen, Ir. lighim. Other examples? 30 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. And tenderly she kept her father dear. But utterly Griseldes wonder might, For never erst* ne saw she such a sight. 41. No wonder is, though that she be astoned To see so great a guest come in that place. She never was to none such guestes woned; For which she looked with full pale face. But shortly forth this matter for to chase, These arn the wordes that the marquis said To this benign, veray, and faithful maid. 42. "Griseld," he said, "ye shall well understand, It liketh to your father and to me That I you wed; and eke it may so stand, As I suppose ye will that it so be. But these demandes ask I first," quoth he, " That since it shall be done in hasty wise, Will ye assent, or elles you avise? 43. "I say this,' Be ye ready with good heart To all my lust, and that I freely may, As me best thinketh, do you laugh or smart, And never ye to grutchen night ne day, And eke when I say yea, ye say not nay, Neither by word ne frowning countenance?' Swear this, and here I swear our alliance." 14. Wondering upon this thing, quaking for dread, She saide, "Lord, undigne and unworthy Am I to thilk honor that ye me bid; But as ye will yourself, right so will I; And here I swear that never willingly In work, ne thought, I n'ill you disobey, * Erst (superlative of ere, before; fr. A. S. cer, before; cerest, most before; Ger. eher, before; erst, first), before.-Never.... ne. The double negative increases the negative force.Astoned. Same as astonied, st. 38. —Never... none. Strengthened negation. —Woned (A. S. wunian, to dwell; 0. Eng. won; Ger. wohnen), wonted, accustomed.-Chase (0. Fr. chacier; Fr. chasser; Lat. captare, to strive to seize, fr. capere, to take. See Grimm's law), pursue. -Arn (0. Eng. plu.), are. —Veray (Lat. verus, true), true, very.-Avise, give counsel, advise. See st. 26. — e best thinketh, seems best to me.-Xy lust, my wish or will.-G-rutchen (0. Fr. groucher, to murmur; Ger. greunzen, Eng. grunt. The u in these and many other words expresses low and obscure sounds), grudge.-Ne, nor. See n'as, st. 54. —Alliance. Ace. Ist and 3d. syl.-Saide. Dissyl.-Undigne (Lat. in, not, dignus, worthy), undeserving.-Un-. worthy. Ace. 1st and 3d syl.-Thilk, this. See st. 21.-Honor. Ace. 2d syl. N'ill, will not.-The reader will notice the large infusion of the French element in Chaucer's language. Contemporaries complained that he "imported a wagon-load of foreign words." Why may Chaucer have been predisposed to do this? Tiat I you wed, and eke it may so stand. To sound the st, as in stand, tends to bare and set the front teeth, and gives the face a look that denotes firmnness, stability. Thus, Gr. ~ie-77Tt, Lat. stare, Eng. stand, staff, stake, stalk, stall, stay, steady, stem, stick, stiff, stock, stout, stub, stubborn, stump, stusrdy; Ger. stein, Eng. stone. Other illustrations of this? GEOFFREY CJHA UCER. 31 For to be dead, though* me were loth to die." 45. " This is enough, Griselde mine," quoth he, And forth he goeth, with a full sober cheer, Out at the door, and after that came she; And to the people he said in this mannere: "This is my wife," quoth he, "that standeth here. Honoreth her and loveth her, I pray, Whoso me loveth. There is no more to say." 46. And for that nothing of her olde gear She shoulde bring into his house, he had That women should despoilen her right there; Of which these ladies weren nothing glad To handle her clothes, wherein she -was clad. But natheless this maiden bright of hue, From foot to head they clothed have all new. 47. Her haires have they kempt, that lay untressed Full rudely, and with their fingers smale A coroune on her head they have ydressed, And set her full of nouches great and smale. Of her array what should I make a tale? Unneth the people her knew for her fairness, When she translated was in such richesse. 48. This marquis hath her spoused with a ring Brought for the same cause, and then her set Upon a horse snow-white and well ambling, And to his palace, ere he longer let, * Though... die, though to die woere grievous to me. —Honoreth. Impera. plu. Ace. 2d syl. —-For that, because.-Gear (A. S. geara, gearwa, provision, furniture; gearwian, to prepare; Ger. gdrben, to prepare leather, to tan), clothing.-Clothes. Dissyl.-Haires. Dissyl.-Kempt (A. S. cemban; 0. Eng. kemben; Ger, kedmmen; to comb), combed.-Rudely. Trisyl.-Coroune (Lat. corona), crown. —Ydressed, adjusted. —-Nouches (allied to notch, or from' Late Latin' nusca, or nosca, noschia, a clasp), clasps, buckles, jewels.-What, why.-Urnneth, scarcely. See unnethes, st. 38. —Translated, transformed. —Richesse (Fr. and O. Eng.), riches. A. S. ric, Ger. reich, rich. The word was originally in the singular number.-Same. Dissyl. -Let (A. S. lat, late; letian, lettan, to make late, hinder), delayed. Let in the sense of permit, is from A. S. lcetan, O. Sax. latan, Ger. lassens. The student should accustom himself to scrutinize closely the root-meanings of words. The teacher will find it a very profitable exercise, for pupils to look out and memorize with great care the roots, primitive meanings, and kindred forms, of a number of words regularly assigned for the purpose as a part of the daily lesson. To handle her clothes, wherein she was clad. The sound of cl, as in cloth and clad, often denotes cleaving to, or adhering. E. g., cleave, clay, cling, clinch, clutch, climb, clamber, clot, clod, clasp; Ger. kleid, garment. Shakespeare's lines illustrate this origin of the word clothes: " New honors, come upon him, Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould, But with the aid of use.-M-ACBETr, Act I., Scene 3. This marquis hath her spoused with a ring. The sound of r, as in ring, denotes interrupted or distorted motion; as Lat. rota, wheel; Eng. ring, round, cramp, crook, crown, gripe, grasp, reel, roll. It also denotes broken or rattling noises, as Gr. Kpi'o, KpoTiO, KpSO; Eng. croak, crack, cry, crash, creak, rattle. Other examples? 32.MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. With joyful people that her led and met, Conveyed her; and thus the day they spend In revel, till the sunne gan* descend. 49. And shortly forth this tale for to chase, I say that, to this newe marquisesse, God hath such favor sent her of his grace That it ne seemed not, by likeliness, That she was born and fed in rudeness, As in a cote, or in an oxe stall, But nourished in an emlperores hall. 50. To every wight she waxen is so dear And worshipful, that folk there she was born, And from her birthe knew her year by year, Unnethes trowed they, but durst have sworn That to Janicle, of which I spake biforn, She daughter n'as; for, as by conjecture, Hem thought she was another creature. 51. For though that ever virtuous was she, She was increased in such excellence Of thewes good yset in high bountee, And so discreet and fair of eloquence, So benign and so digne of reverence, And couthe so the people's heart embrace, That each her loveth that looketh in her face. 52. Not only of Saluces in the town Pifblished was the bountee of her name, But eke beside in many a regioun, If one said'well, another said the same. So spreadeth of her high bountee the fame That men and women, young as well as old, Gon to Saluce, upon her to behold. * Gan, began. See st. 34.-Tale. Dissyl.-Rudeness. Trisyl.-Cote (A. S. cote, cyte, a small house; Ice. Jcot; W. cwt), cottage.-There, where. —Trowed (A. S. treowian; Ger. trauen, to believe, trust), thought. —Biforn, before. —.Tas, was not. "The nasals, ms and n, are employed to express negation, being the natural sounds to express refusal." Fowleer. Why? —em thought (them-thought, like mne-thought; him being the A. S. dat. plu.; Semi-Sax. heom; 0. Eng. hem, to them), it seeined to them. —Creature. Trisyl. —Thewes (A. S. theaw, thau, thaw), manners, qualities. —Digne (Lat. dignus), worthy.-Couthe, knew how to, could. See couthen. st. 8.-Loveth. This line reminds of Spenser's sweet encomium on Sir Philip Sidney: "Was never eye did see that face, Was never ear did hear that tongue, Was never mind did mind his grace, That ever thought the travel long; B3ut eye and ear and every thought Were with his sweet perfections caught." Published. Ace. 2d syl.-Gon (A. S. gangan; Scot. gang; Ger. gehen, to go; O. Eng. plu, gons, for goen), go. Went comes from A. S. wendan, to turn, to go. Give the origin, root-meaning, allied forms, etc., of every word of the fifth line, fifty-second stanza. GEOFFREY CHA UCER. 33 53. Thus Walter lowly, nay,but really,* Wedded with fortunate honestetee, In Goddes peace liveth full easily At home, and outward grace enough had he. And for he saw that under low degree Was ofte virtue hid, the people him held A prudent man, and that is seen full seld. 54. Not only this Griseldes through her wit Couth all the feat of wifely homeliness, But eke when that the time required it, The common profit coulde she redress. There n'as discord, rancor, ne heaviness, In all the land, that she ne could appease, And wisely bring hem all in rest and ease. 55. Though that her husband absent were, anon, If gentlemen, or other of that country, Were wroth, she woulde bringen them at one; So wise and ripe wordes hadde she, And judgement of so great equity, That she from heaven sent was, as men wend, People to save and every wrong to amend. 56. Not longe time after that this Griseld Was wedded, she a daughter hath ybore. All had her lever han borne a knave child. Glad was this marquis and the folk therefore; For though a maiden child come all before, She may unto a knave child attain By likelihood, sith she n'is not barrein. PARS TERTIA. 57. There fell, as falleth many times mo, * Really, royally. See real, st. 31.-Honestetee (Lat. honestas; 0. Fr. honesteti; Fr. honnttetg), virtue, good manners.-Couth, knew. See st. 8.-Feat (Lat. factum, doing, deed; Fr. fait; Nor. Fr. feat; fr. facere, to act, do), work, performance. —omeliness (A. S. hMm, home; Ger. heim; perhaps Gr. KOLoVq, by Grimm's law; -li, fr. A. S. lie, like; -ness, fr. A. S. -ness, -niss; O.Ger. -nis, -nissa; Ger. -nisz; denoting abstract quality,the termination -ness being found in about 1,300 Eng. words), home management, domestic economy. In some proper names -ness means nose, from A. S. nose, as Fifeness.-Redress, set right again.-Ne, nor, not.-Anon (0. Eng. for in one), in one moment, quickly. —At one, to agreement. Hence atone=to make one, to reconcile.Judgment. Trisyl —Wend (A. S. wenan, weenan; Ger. wdhnen; 0. Eng. ween; to think), weened, thought, fancied.-Y3bore (A. S. beran; Lat. ferre; Gr. e4petv, to bear. See Grimm's law), borne. —Lever (A. S. leof, leve, dear; lever is the comparative degree), more gladly, rather. -I-(nave (A. S. cnafa or cnapa, offspring, boy; Ger. knabe), a boy.-Sith (A. S. sith; 0. Eng. sin, since; Ger. seit), since.-M-Io, more. That shefrom heaven sent was, as men wend. H, as in heaven, is enounced with strong breathing. It therefore sometimes denotes effort and aspiration; as Lat. halare, to breathe; Eng. haul, heave, hate, hurry, hent, hope, hark, high, holy. Other examples? 34 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. When that this child had souked * but a throw, This marquis in his herte longeth so To tempt his wife, her sadness for to know, That he ne might out of his herte throw This marvellous desire his wife to assay: Needless, God wot, he thought her to affray. 58. He had assayed her enough before, And found her ever good. What needeth it Her for to tempt, and alway more and more? Though some men praise it for a subtle wit; But as for me, I say that evil it sit To assay a wife, when that it is no need, And putten her in anguish and in dread. 59. For which this marquis wrought in this mannere; He came alone anight, there as she lay, With sterne face, and with full trouble cheer, And saide thus: "Griseld," quoth he, " that day That I you took out of your poor array And put you in estate of high noblesseYe have not that forgotten, as I guess. 60. "I say, Griseld, this present dignity, In which that I have put you, as I trowe, Maketh you not forgetful for to be That I you took in poor estate full low, For any weal you mote yourselve know, Take heed of every word that I you say, There is no wight that heareth it but we tway. 61. "Ye wot yourself how that ye comen here, Into this house; it is not long ago; And though to me that ye be lefe and dear, Unto my gentils ye be nothing so. They say, to them it is great shame and wo, * Souked (A. S. sAgan, si'can; Ger. saugen; Lat. sugere, to suck), sucked.-Throw (A. S. thrag, a period of time; or from A. S. thrdwan, to turn, twist, throw), a little while.-Tempt (Lat. tentare), try, test.-Sadness, steadiness, constancy.-Assay (Lat. exigere, to drive out, as dross; It. assagiare; Fr. essayer), to try.-Needless, needlessly.-Thought, purposed.-Affray, frighten. See fray, Index.-Sit, becomes. Evil it sit = it ill becomes or suits.-Anight, at night. -There as, where.-Trouble (Lat. turbare, to disturb; Fr. troubler; O. Fr. tourbler), troubled.Cheer, countenance, aspect.-Array, apparel.-Noblesse (Fr.), distinction, nobility. -nlote (A. S. m6t, ought; mought; Ger. miissen), must.-Yourselve, yourself. —For any weal, etc., as to any goods that you possessed in your own right.-Tway (Lat. duo, which, by Grimm's law, becomes two; Gr. Svw; A. S. twegen, twd; Ger. zwei, by Grimm's law), two. —Lefe (A. S. leof, dear), loved. See lever, st. 56.-Gentils (Lat. gentilis), persons of good birth, gentle-folk. See gentilesse, Index. When that this child had souked but a throw. Thr, as in throw, requiring much effort to articulate, indicates violent motion; as thrush, throb, thrill, thrust, throng. Other instances? They say to them it is great shame and wo. The sound of sh, at the beginning of a word, being uttered with a forcible expulsion of the breath, and with the teeth set, sometimes expresses great aversion; as in shame, pshaw. Other illustrations? GEOFFREY CHA UZCER. 35 For to ben subject and ben in servage * To thee, that born art of a small linage. 62. "And, namely, sin thy daughter was ybore, These wordes han they spoken, doubteless. But I desire, as I have done before, To live my life with them in rest and peace; I may not in this case be reccheles; I mote do with thy daughter for the best, Not as I would, but as my people lest. 63. "And yet, God wot, this is full loth to me; But, natheless, withouten your wityng Will I not do; but this will I,'" quoth he, "I That ye to me assent as in this thing. Show now your patience, in your working, That ye me hight and swore in your village, That day that maked was our marriage." 64. When she had heard all this, she, nought ameeved, Neither in word, in cheer, or countenance, (For as it seemed she was nought aggrieved,) She saide, " Lord, all lieth in your pleasance, My child and I, with hertly obeisance, Ben youres all, and ye may save or spill Your owen thing. Worketh after your will. 65. "'There may no thing, so God my soule save I Liken to you, that may displeasen me. Ne I desire nothing for to have, Ne dreade for to lese, save only ye. This will is in mine heart, and aye shall be. No length of time or death may this deface, Ne change my courage to another place." 66. Glad was this marquis for her answering, But yet he feigned as he were not so. All dreary was his cheer and his looking, When that he should out of the chamber go. ~ Servage, servitude. The ending -age is said to be the Lat. -atium. —Linage (Lat. linvem, flax; linea, linen thread, line; Fr. ligne), family. - Sin, since.-Namely, particularly.Reccheles (A. S. recan, to care for; A. S. leas, Ger. los, destitute of; akin to Eng. loose, and lose), without care, reckless.-Lest, please. —Loth, odious, disagreeable.-Witynge, knowledge. See wost, Index.-Patience. Trisyl.-HIight, promised.-T-,aked (A. S. macian, to make), made. -Marriage. Trisyl.-Ameeved (Lat. movere; Fr. mouvoir, to move), moved. The a prefixed has a strengthening or intensive force. HIertly, hearty. See Index.-Owen (A. S. agan, to possess; Ger. eigen; 0. Eng. owen, to possess), possessed, own.-Courage (Fr. courage; Lat. cor, the heart), heart, inclination.-MYiarquis (Fr. marquis; 0. Fr. mnark/is; fr. Ger. mark, a bound, border. Orig. the marquis was an officer appointed to guard the marches or frontiers). Ben youres all, and ye may save or spill. The sound of sp, as in spill, at the beginning of a word, being made by a forcible puffing out of breath, naturally expresses expulsion; as spit, spout, sputter, speak, spell, spew, spatter. Give other examples. 36 IASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERA T UR}E. Soon after this, a furlong way or two, He privily hath told all his intent Unto a man, and to his wife him sent. 67. A manner-sergeant * was this prive man, The which he faithful often founden had In thinges great, and eke such folk well can Don execution in thinges bad. The lord well knew that he him loved and drad. And when this sergeant wist his lordes will, Into the chamber he stalked him full still. 68. " Madam," he said, " ye mote forgive it me, Though I do things to which I am constrained, Ye ben so wise that full well knowen ye That lordes hestes may not ben yfeigned. They may well be bewailed and complained, But-men mote need unto her lust obey, And so will I, there is no more to say. 69. " This child I am commanded for to take "And spake no more, but out the child he bent Despitously, and gan a cheer to make As though he would have slain it ere he went. Griseld moot all suffer and all consent; And as a lamb she sitteth meek and still, And let this cruel sergeant do his will. 70. Suspicious was the defame of this man, Suspect his face, suspect his word also, Suspect the time in which he this began. Alas her daughter, that she loved so! She wend he would have slaien it right tho. But natheless she neither wept ne siked, Conforming her to that the marquis liled. 71. But at the last to speken she began, And meekely she to the sergeant prayed, So as he was a worthy gentilman, That she might kiss her child, ere that it deyd. ~ Manner-sergeant, kicicd of sergeant. Of is understood after manner. See manner-governance, Index. —Prive, private, in private business (Fr. prive; Lat. preivatns; private; private, to separate).-Execution. Five syl.-Drad, dreaded. See Index.-Stalked (A. S. slt1c, stealc, high; stcelcan, stealcian, to go slowly), walked in a stealthy mlanner.-Hestes (A. S. hds; fr. 7htan, to call; Ger. heiszen), conmmands. —Yfeigned (Fr. feindre; Lat. filngre, to feign), feigned, dissembled; concealed.-Her, their. —Lust, inclination.-HIent (A. S. hendan, to seize; Ice. henda; Gr. XavisteLv, to hold; Lat. hend in prehendere, to grasp; Eng. hand), seized.Despitously (Lat. despicere, to despise; O. Eng. despitous, malicious), spitefully, maliciously.Cheer, appearance, face. —1oot, must.-Defame, ill repsute.-Slaien (A. S. slahan, slagan, to strike, slay; Ger. schlagen; Ice. sla), slain. Dissyl.-Tho, then.-Siked (A. S. sican; Ger. seufzen, to sigh), sighed. —Speken, spea7c. —leekely. Trisyl.-Sergeant (Fr. sergent, fr. Lat. serviens, servient-is, pres. particip. of servire, to serve), a high officer, attending on the king; a sergeant-at-arms.-Deyd (0. Fries. and Ice. deya, to die), died. GEOFFREY CiA UCER. 37 And in her barm* this little child she leicld With full sad face, and gan the child to bless, And lulled it, and after gan it kiss. 72. And thus she said in her benigne voice: " Farewell, my child, I shall thee never see! But sith I have thee marked with the crois, Of thilke father blessed mote thou be, That for us died upon a cross of tree: Thy soule, little child, I him betake, For this night shalt thou dien for my sake." 73, I trow that to a norice in this case It had been hard this routhe for to see: Well might a mother then have cried, " Alas!" But natheless so sad steadfast was she That she endured all adversity, And to the sergeant meekely she said, " Have here again your little younge maid. 74. " Goth now," quoth she, " and cloth my lordes hest. And one thing would I pray you of your grace, But if my lord forbade you, at the lest, Burieth this little body in some place, That beastes ne no briddes it to-race." But he no word will to the purpose say, But took the child and went upon his way, 75. This sergeant came unto his lord again, And of Griseldes wordes and her cheer He told him point for point, in short and plain, And him presented with his daughter dear. Somewhat this lord had ruth in his mannere; But natheless his purpose held he still, As lordes don, when they will have their will; * Barm (A. S. beoerma, bearm; Ger. barme; fr. A. S. beoran, beran, to bear: fr. Lat. Jerre, by Grimm's law; Gr. f'peov), bosom, lap.-Leid (A. S. lecgan?; 0. Eng. leggen; Lat. leg- re, to lay), Iaid.-Lulled (Lat. lallare, to sing lalZa, or lsullaby; Ger. lallenz), soothed, quieted.-Crois (0. Fr. crois; Lat. crux, cross), cross.-Mote,?smust.-Him betake, entrust to him. —Trow, believe. See Index.-Norice (A. S., fr. Fr. noterice; Lat. nu1trix, nurse, fr. nutsirie, to nourish), nurse.Routhe (A. S. hreowo, grief), ruth, grief. See ruuth, Index. —Goth (impera. plu. for sing.), go.Hi-est, co7osmmand. See hestes, Inclex. —But if, unless. —Lest (A. S. lytel, little; lassa, less; last, lasest, least), least. At least, aunless niy lord forbade you. —lNe, nor.-Burieth. Impera. —Briddes (A. S. bird or brid, fr. bredaon, to nourish), birds.-To-race (Gr. )CdKO0, a rag; pO~yvVy/, to tear, to break; Lat. f-reg-i, fr. frango, whence, by Grimm's law, break), to rags, in pieces. And in her barm this little child she leid. The sound of i, in little, being very minute, is excellently adapted by nature to express diminutives. Hence the great majority of diminutives have this soundc prominent. The effect is heightened in little by the sound of 1, which, itself, often has a diminutive force. Pill, little, nit, flit, whittle, giggle, illustrate this principle, which is of very extensive application. See the word diminutive, in the Index. Well might a mother then have cried, "Alas " The sound of mn, in smother, is very easily made by infants. Hence it is used to express the mnother or?nurse. E. g., Heb. em, mother; Eng. ma, mammnta; Ger. amme, nurse. Other examples of this and the preceding? 38 MASTERPIEC ES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. 76. And bade the sergeant that he privily Shoulde this childe softe wind and wrap With alle circumstances tenderly, And carry it in a coffer,* or in his lap; But, upon peyne his head off for to swap, That no man shoulde know of his intent, Ne whence he came, ne whither that he went; 77. But at Boloygne, to his suster dear, That thilke time of Panic was countess, He should it take and show her this matiere, Beseeching her to don her business This child to foster in all gentleness; And whose child that it was, he bade her hide From every wight, for aught that might betide. 78. The sergeant goeth and hath fulfilled this thing; But to the marquis now returne we; For now goeth he full fast imagining, If by his wifes cheer he mighte see, Or by her wordes apperceive that she Were changed; but he never could her find But ever in one ylike sad and kind. 79. As glad, as humble, as busy in service, And eke in love as she was wont to be, Was she to him, in every manner wise; Ne of her daughter not a word spake she; Non accident for non adversity Was seen in her, ne never her daughter name Ne nempyned she in earnest ne in game. 80. In this estate there passed-ben four year Ere she with childe was; but, as God wold, A knave child she bare by this Waltier, * Coffer (Gr. K6Lvog, a basket; Ger. and Dan. 7kofer), a chest, trunk.-Peyne (Gr. roLtv4; Lat. pcena, penalty; A. S. pin; Ger. pein; 0. Eng. peyne, paine), penalty, pain.-Swap (Ger. schwappen, to strike; whence'swop,' to strike a bargain, to barter), to strike.-Boloygne (Lat. Bononia; Fr. Bologne; Ital. Bologna), a famous city of Italy, S.S.W. of Venice, N.N.W. of Rome, capital of the province of Bologna. Its population is about 90,000. —Suster (A. S. sweoster, swyster, suster; Ger. schwester; Lat. soror), sister.-Don, etc. (A. S. don, to do), to make it her business, take pains. —Wifes (A. S. wif; Ger. weib), wife's.-Apperceive (Fr. appercevoir; Lat. ad, percipere, fr. per, through, thoroughly, wholly, and capere, to take), perceive. —Ever in one, continually. —Ylike (A. S. gelic, fr. ge-, intensive, very, and -tic, like), alike.-Non, no.-Every manner wise = every way.-Nempyned (A. S. nemnan, namian, to name; Lat. nominare; Gr. bvoagdSo; Ger. nennen; fr. root no or gno, by Grimm's law, Eng. kno-w; Sans. naman), named.-Game (A. S. gamnen, game; fr. ganzian, to play), sport.-Year, years.-Wold, would, willed. See wolde, Index.-Knave, boy.-Daughter name, in st. 79, must be considered equivalent to daughter's name. Daughter is A. S. dohtor; Ger. tochter; Gr. Ovyrirlp. Shoulde this childe softe wind and wrap. The sound of wr in wrap, denotes twisting or distorted motion; as in wrest, wring, wrony, wriggle, wrap, wreck, wrangle, wrench, wrist, wrestle, wreck, wrath, writhe, wry. Give other illustrations of this. GEOFFREY CHA ITCER. 39 Full gracious and fair for to behold; And when that folk it to his father told, Not only he, but all his country, merry Was for this child, and God they thank and hery.* 81. When it was two year old, and from the breast Departed from his norice, on a day This marquis caughte yet another lest To tempt his wife yet after, if he may. Oh, needless was she tempted in assay! But wedded men ne knowen no measure, When that they find a patient creature. 82. "Wife," quoth this marquis, "ye have heard ere this, My people sikely bearen our marriage; And, namely, sin my son yboren is, Now is it worse than ever in all our age; The murmur sleth mine heart and my courage; For to mine eares comleth the voice so smart That it well nigh destroyed hath mine heart. 83. " Now say they thus:'When Walter is agone, Then shall the blood of Janiele succeed And ben our lord, for other have we none.' Such wordes saith my people, out of dread, Well ought I of such murmur taken heed; For certainly I dreade such sentence, Though they not plainen in my audience. 84. "'I wolde live in peace, if that I might; Wherefore I am disposed utterly, As I his sister served ere by night, Right so think I to serve him privily. This warn I you, that ye not suddenly, Out of yourself for nothing should outraye. Beth patient, and thereof I you pray." * Hery (A. s. herian, to praise; Goth. hazjan), praise.-Norice, nurse. See st. 73.-After (A. S. ceJt, eft, after, behind, again. "After seems to be the comparative degree of af or aft." Webster. -R, or -er, the comparative ending, seems to be allied to Lat. -ior, and Gr. -STep-os), againz.-Sikely (A. S. sican, to sigh; 0. Eng. sile; Ger. sesufzen), sorrowfuLly, with sighs.-Sin, since.-Sleth, slayeth. See slaien, Index.-Smart (A. S. ssmeortcan; Ger. schmerzen; perhaps akin to Lat. mors, death), painful.-Audience, hearing.-Plainen (Fr. plaindre; Lat. plangere, to beat the breast, to bewail), complain.-Woulde. Dissyl.-Ere. See erst, Index.-Outraye (Lat. ultra, beyond; Fr. outrer, to go beyond reason, to exaggerate; outre, extravagant), be excessive, be outrageous.-Beth, be ye. Impera. plu. The plu. of the impera. in Early Eng. ended in -eth or -th; but in Chaucer this ending is occasionally shortened to e; and frequently it is omitted altogether. The sing. of the impera. in O. Eng. is the same as the root of the verb. The murmur sleth mine heart and my courage. The sound of u in murmur, being indistinct and produced low in the chest, expresses, when soft, gentleness; when loud, harshness, discontent, muttering, smothered wrath. E. g., Lat. murmuro, murmur; Ger. aurren; Rus. eusrtshu; Gr. /sOuo; Lat. mutio, musso; Eng. etutter; Eng. grumble; Dan. and Eng. grum; Welsh grwm; Gr. ypOWo, Lat. grundio, Ger. grunzen, Eng. grunt. Give other examples. 40 iASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. 85. " I have, " quoth * she, " said thus and ever shall4 I will nothing, ne nill no thing certain, But as you list. Nought grieveth me at all, Though that my daughter and my son be slain At your commandenment; that is to sayen, I have not had no part of children twain, But first sickness, and, after, wo and pain. 86. "Ye been our lord, doth with your owen thing Right as you list, asketh no rede of me. For as I left at home all my clothing When I first came to you, right so," quoth she, "I Left I my will and all my liberty And took your clothing. Wherefore I you pray Doth your pleasaunce; I will your lust obey. 87. "And certes, if I hadde prescience Your will to know, ere ye your lust me told, I would it do withouten negligence. But now I wot your lust, and what ye wold, All your pleasaunce firm and stable I hold; For wist I that my death would do you ease, Right gladly would I dien, you to please. 88. "Death may not maken no comparison Unto your love." And when this marquis say The constance of his wife, he cast adown Iis eyen two, and wondreth how she may In patience suffer all this array. And forth he goeth with dreary countenance, But to his heart it was full great pleasaunce. 89. This ugly sergeant in the same wise That he her daughter fette, right so he, Or worse, if men can any worse devise, Hath hent her son, that full was of beauty; And ever in one so patient was she, ~ Quoth. See Index.-W- ill (A. S. nizlan or nyllan, fr. ne, not, and willan, to will), not will, refuse, reject.-Grieveth (Lat. gracvare, to burden; fr. gravis, heavy).-Owen, own.-Rede (A. S. rcedan, to advise; rced, counsel), counsel.-C-ertes, surely. See Index.-Lust, pleasure.Wot, know.-Wold, would, would have. —Wist, knew.-Dien (O. Eng. infin. ending -en), die.Say (A. S. seon, to see; Ger. sehen; A. S. sehwan, to see), saw.-Cast (Dan. kaste; Ice. and Sw. kasta), cast.-Eyen, eyes. See Index.-Patience. Trisyl.-Fette, brought. See Index.Hent, seized. See Index.-Ever in one, ever in one oway, continually. See st. 78. Though that my daughter cand mny son be slain. The sound of m in my, being made with closed lips, is pre-eminently internal and personal to every one. It expresses the personal pro. noun of the first person, on account of its subjective importance. E. g., Sans. mam; Gr. e4; Lat. me; Eng. me, my, nine. Other examples? Other significance of this sound? Hath hent her son, that full was of beauty. The sound of fi, as in foll (corresponding by Grimm's law to 7r in Gr., pl in Lat., and vl in Ger.), is said to denote fullness or extension, from its swelling the cheeks, and filling the mouth. E. g. Gr. rkios, 7ropge,, 7rilrAqyx; Lat. plere, to fill; plenus, full; Ger. fillen, voll; Eng. fill, fiull. Other examples? GEOFFREY CHA UGER. 41 That she no cheere* made of heaviness, But kissed her son, and after gan it bless. 90. Save this she prayed him, if that he might, Her little son he would in earthe grave, His tender limmes, delicate to sight, From fowles and from beastes for to save. But she none answer of him mighte have, He went his way, as him nothing ne rought, But to Boloygne he tenderly it brought. 91. This marquis wondreth ever lenger the mdre Upon her patience, and if that he Ne hadde soothly knowen therebefore That parfitly her children loved she, He would have weened that of some subtlety And of malice, or of cruel courage, That she had suffered this with sad visage. 92. But well he knew that, next himself, certain She loved her children best in every wise. But now of women would I aske fain If these assayes mighten not suffice. What could a sturdy husband more devise To prove her wifehood and her steadfastness, And he continuing ever in sturdiness? 93. But there ben folk of such condition That, when they have a certain purpose take, They cannot stint of their intention, But, right as they were bounden to a stake, They will not of their firste purpose slake. Right so this marquis fully hath purposed To tempt his wife, as he was first disposed. 94. He waiteth, if by word or countenance, That she to him was changed of courage. But never could he finden variance; She was aye one in heart and in visage, * Cheere, appoearance.-After, afterwards. See Index. —Grave (A. S. grafan, to carve, dig; Gr. yp6iesv, to scratch, write, grave; Ger. graben; Fr. graver; A. S. graf, a grave; Ger. grab; Russ. grob), bury, entomnb.-Limmrnes (A. S. lirl; O. Eng. lysse), limbs. Dissyl. —Fowles (A. S. fleogan, to fly; fugel, a bird; Ger. vogel; Ger. fliegen, to fly; flog, flew; 0. E. fowles, flying animals), birds. Rought (A. S. recan, to reek, care for; Ger. gerhaen; 0. Dutch, rochten), recked, cared.-Lenger (A. S. lang, long, long; lengdh, length), longer.-Soothly (A. S. sodh, true; 0. S. sote, truth; lic, like), truly.-Therebefore, lpreviously thereto.-Parfitly (Lat. pe?;fectes, perfect; fr. lerfcere, to complete; per, thoroughly; facere, to make or do; 0. Fr. parfit), perfectly.-Weened, thought. See wend, Index.-Courage, heart, spirit. See Index.-Fain (A. S. feaha, gladness; fagen, glad; gefeohan, fagnian, to rejoice), gladly.-Sturdy (0. F. estourdi, stunned; Fr. etourdi, giddy, rash; Ice. styrdir, rigid), foolishly obstinate, blunt, srude. —Wifehood, the state of awife. See note on womanhood, st. 27.-Condition. Quadrisyl.-Take, taken.-Stint (A. S. stintan, to blunt; stentan, to be blunt, to be weary; Norw. stinta, to have enough), restrain within bounds, weary of, desist from.-Slake, slacken, fail. See Index. 42 zMASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. And aye the further that she was in age, The more true,* if that were possible, She was to him, and more penible. 95. For which it seemed thus, that of them two There was but oo will; for as Walter lest, The same pleasaunce was her list also, And, God be thanked! all fell for the best. She shewed well, for no worldly unrest, -A wife, as of herself, nothing ne should Will in effect, but as her husband would. 96. The sclander of Walter oft and wide spread, That of a cruel heart he wickedly, For he a poor woman wedded had, Had murdered both his children privily. Such murmur was among them commonly. No wonder is; for, to the people's ear, There came no word but that they murdered were. 97. For which, whereas his people therebefore Had loved him well, the sclander of his defame Made them that they him hateden therefor. To ben a murderer is an hateful name. But natheless, for earnest or for game, He of his cruel purpose n'olde stent; To tempt his wife was set all his intent. 98. When that his daughter twelf year was of age, He to the court of Rome, in subtil wise Informed of his will, sent his message Commanding hell such bulles to devise, As to his cruel purpose may suffice; How that the pope, as for his people's rest, Bade him to wed another, if him lest. 99. I say he bade, they shoulden counterfeit The popes bulles, making mention * Xore true. More a dissyl.-Penible, painstaklcing, capable of pain. See peyne, Index.Oo (A. S. an; Fr. un; Lat. un-us; Gr. ev; Ger. ein; Ir. and Gael. aon, an, one), one. —Fell, happened.-Unrest, trouble, uneasiness, wuant of rest.-Would, would have it, would wish, wished. See wolde, Index.-Sclander (Fr. esclandre, Lat. scandalum, Gr. Koivsahov, the stick or spring in a trap; a snare, offence, stumbling-block), scandal.-Wide. Dissyl.-For he = because he.-Game, play, joke. See Index.-N'olde -= ne would, would not.-Stent, to cease, desist. See st. 93.-Twelf, twelve (Goth. tva, two; -lif, ten).-M-1essage (Fr. messager, to send word; Lat. mittere, to send), msessenger.-Hem, them. —Bulles (Lat. bulla, anything rounded by art, a roll, a seal; Fr. bulle; akin to bill), bulls.-Counterfeit (Lat. contra, against; facere, to make; Fr. contrefaire, contrefail).-Popes, etc. Scan this line. Name the root etc. of each word. For which it seemed thus, that of them two. The sound of tw in two (corresponding by Grimm's law to Sv in Gr. and du in Lat.), in many words denotes two. No explanation is given. The sclander of Walter oft and wide spread. The sound of spr, as in spread, denotes a spreading out; e. g., sprawl, spray, sprinkle. Other examples? GEOFFREY CHA UCER. 43 That he had leave his firste wife to lete,* As by the popes dispensation, To stinten rancor and dissention Betwixt his people and him. Thus said the bull; The which they have published at the full. 100. The rude people, as no wonder is, Wenden full well that it had been right so; But when these tidings came to Griseldes, I deeme that her heart was full of wo. But she ylike sad forevermo Disposed was, this humble creature, The adversity of fortune all to endure. 101. Abiding ever his lust and his pleasance, To whom that she was given, heart and all, As to her very worldly suffisance. But shortly if this story tell I shall, This marquis written hath in special A letter, in which he sheweth his intent, And secretly he to Boloygne it sent. 102. To the earl of Panik, which that hadde tho Wedded his sister, prayed he specially To bringen home again his children two In honorable estate all openly. But one thing he him prayed utterly, That he to no wight, though men would inquire, Should not tellen whose children that they were; 103. But say the maiden should ywedded be Unto the marquis of Saluce anon. And as this earl was prayed, so did he, For at day set, he on his way is gone Toward Saluce, and lordes many on In rich array, this maiden for to guide, Her younge brother riding by her side. 104. Arrayed was toward her marriage, This freshe maiden, full of gemmes clear; Her brother, which that seven year was of age Arrayed eke full fresh in his mannere. * Lete, leave. —Stinlten, restrain, stop.-At the full = in full. —Wenden, thought. See vende, Index. —Ylike, alike. See Index. —Suffisance (IFr. suffisant, sufficient; Lat. sufficere, to;uffice), su9ficlency.-Tho (A. S. thonne; 0. Eng. thanne; Ger. dann), then.-Utterly (A. S. at, )ut; utter, outer; utemnest, outermost), most particularly.-JIYany on, many a one. —Arrayed. [he -ed of preterites and past participles is regularly a separate syllable in Chaucer. So -es in;he pos. and in the plu. The terminal " e " is usually a syllable in Chaucer. That he to no wight, though men would inquire. The sound of q ( = k) in inquire, is supposed;o have a natural fitness to express interrogation. E. g., Sans. kas, Gr, -Koe, whence comes K6repos; Lat. quis, who, Mceso-Goth. hwas, Lith. kas, Russ. koi, Gael. co, who? A. S. hwa (h for k, by lrimm's law); Eng. whoP No explanation is found. Other examples? 44 MASTTERPIECES IN EIYGLISIH LITERA TURE. And thus in great noblesse and with glad cheer, Toward Saluces shaping her * journey, From day to day they riden in hir way. PARS QUINTA. 105. Among all this, after his wicked usage, This marquis, yet his wife to tempten more To the utterest proof of her courage, Fully to have experience and lore, If that she were as steadfast as beforeHe on a day in open audience Full boisterously hath said her this sentence: 106. " Certes, Griseld, I had enough pleasance To have you to my wife, for your goodness And for your truth and for your obeisance, Not for your lineage, ne for your richesse; But now know I, in very soothfastness, That in great lordship, if I well avise, There is great servitude in sundry wise. 107. " I may not do as every ploughman may: My people me constraineth for to take Another wife, and cryen day by day; And eke the pope rancor for to slake Consenteth it, that dare I undertake; And trewely thus much I will you say, My newe wife is coming by the way. 108. " Be strong of heart, and void anon her place, And thilke dower that ye broughten me, * Shaping her..... riden in hir. Her and hit each = their. A. S. hira, heora, of them (genitive, or pos., plu.)-Courage, discosition.-Lore, learning, knowledge. —TBoisterously (Ice. bistr; D. byster, stormy; 0. Eng. boistous, furious; boist, swelling; akin to boast; W. bwyst, wild, savage; bwystus; Low Ger. biester, frowning, dark, ugly; Fr. bis, swarthy).Said her, said to her.-I had enough, etc., I was well enough pleased to have you as my wife. -For your goodness, on account of your goodness.-Soothfastness, truth. See soothly, Index. For -ness, see homneliness, Index.-Avise, observe, reflect.-Eke, also. See Index. —Pope (A. S., Lat., It., Fr., Ger., D., Dan., Sp. popa; Gr. rrdarsra, 7ra7ra, father; 0. Eng. pape), the bishop of Rome, the chief dignitary of the Catholic Church. Pope is here dissyl.-RElancor for to slake, to appease rancer. Rancor (Lat. rancos, rancidity, an old grudge, rancor; Fr. rancune), settled malignity.-Trewely (A. S. treowe, triwe, faithful; Ger. tres, gettre; A. S. treolvian, to believe, trust), truly. Trisyl.-Will you say, will say to you. —Void (Lat. vid-zuus, separate, widowed; Fr. vide. Vid, the Lat., is the same as in vid-Ere, to separate with the eye, to see. A. S. weoduoe, widuwe; Ger. wittwe; Lat. vid-ua; Eng. wid-owu), make emopty, quit. See wost, Index.-Thilke, that same. Give root, root-meaning, etc., of each word in this line. what power over foreign princes had the Pope in Chaucer's time? Was there then in England or on the Continent any form of Protestantism? What were Chaucer's religious sympathies? With what prominent English nobleman was he associated? And thus in great noblesse and with glad cheer. The sound of gl, as in glad, denotes smoothness or silent motion. E. g., Ger. glatt, smooth, even; A. S. glad; Eng. glide, glib. This signification probably arises by analogy from the smooth sound. Other examples? GEOFFREY CHA UCER. 45 Take it again, I grant it of my grace. Returneth * to your fatheres house," quoth he, " No man may always have prosperity. With even heart I rede you to endure The stroke of fortune, or ofadventure." 109. And she again answered in patience. "' My Lord," quoth she,' I wet and wist alway, How that, betwixen your magnificence And my poverty, no wight can ne may Maken comparison, it is no nay. I ne held me never digne in no mannere To ben your wife, ne yet your chanberere. 110. "And in this house there ye me lady made, (The highe God take I for my witness, And all so wisly he my soule gladc!) I never held me lady ne mistress, But humble servant to your worthiness, And ever shall, while that my life may dure, Aboven every worldly creature. 111. " That ye so long of your benignity Han holden me in honor and nobley, Whereas I was not worthy for to be, That thank I God and you, to whom I pray Foryeld it you; there is no more to say. Unto my father gladly will I wend, And with him dwell unto my life's end. 112. " There I was fostered as a child full small, Till I be dead my life there will I lead, A widow clean in body, heart, and all. ~ Returneth. Impera. plu. —Even heart, equaenimity.-RIede, advise. St. 86. —-Adventure (Lat. adclventures, about to come; fr. advcenire, to come on or to), hap, chance.%Wist, knew. See wost, Index.-Betwixen (A. S. be, and twyg, two; Lat. due. See tway, st. 60), between.-Poverty (Lat. paupertas, poverty; pauper, poor; 0. Fr. poverte; Fr. pauvrete). The 2cd syl. is ace.; probably because it is so in the Lat.-It is no nay. It cannot be denied.Digne, worthy. —Chamberere (Gr. Kaetkpa, Lat. carsera, arched roof; Fr. chambre, chamber), chaembernmaid. —There, wehere.-Wisly, certainly.-He my sonle glad, may he gladden my soul! Soule, dissyl. —Han (0. Eng. plu.), have.-Nobley (Lat. no-scere, to know; nob-ilis, well known, famous, noble; Fr. szoblesse, nobility. See newipyned, st. 79), distinction. —Foryeld (A. S. for, forth, away, fr. faran, to go. For, as an inseparable preposition, denotes,-(1) simple resvale; as in forbid, to bid away; forsake, to seek away, desert; (2) removal and disappearance; as, forgive, to give out of sight; forget, to let go out of mind; (3) removal and going worong; as, forssear; (4) removal with added notion of completeness; as, forlorn, utterly lost; (5) the same as simplefor; as, forsooth, for truth, in truth; (6) fore; as, forwarcd. Yield is A. S. gildan, geldan, to pay, yield), repay. —Wend, go, wend. See went, Incdex.-There, wshere. Unto sty father gladly will I sends. The sound of f in father (corresponding by Grimm's Law to p or pi in Lat., and s or e in Gr.), from the ease with which it is enounced, is employed to denote one of the first objects that interest the child. E. g., Sans. pitar, Zendish paiter, Pers, padar, Gr. 7rdrp, Lat. pater, Russ. batia, Ger. vater, Eng. father, and papa, Turk. peder. 46 MASTERPIECES IN ENrLISH LITERATURE. For sith* I gave to you my maydenhede And am your trewe wife, it is no drede, God schilde such a lordes wife to take Another man to husband or to make! 113. " And of your newe wife, God of his grace So grante you weal and prosperity; For I will gladly yelden her my place, In which that I was blissful wont to be. For sith it liketh you, my Lord," quoth she, "' That whilom weren all my heartes rest, That I shall gon, I will go when you lest. 114. "But thereas ye me proffer such dowaire As I first brought, it is well in my mind, It were my wretched clothes, nothing faire, The which to me were hard now for to find. Oh, goode God! How gentle and how kind Ye seemed by your speech and your visage, That day that maked was our marriage! 115. "But soth is said, algate I find it true, For in effect it proved is on me, Love is not old, as when that it is new. But certes, Lord, for none adversity To dien in this case, it shall not be That ever, in word or work, I shall repent That I you gave mine heart in whole intent. 116. "My Lord, ye wot that in my father's place Ye did me strip out of my poore weed, And richely me cladden of your grace; To you brought I nought elles out of drede But faith and nakedness and maydenhede. * Sith, since.-Xaydenhede (A. S. mag, a boy; magedh, magden, a girl), maidenhood See womanhood, st. 27.-Trewe, true. Dissyl. See trewely, st. 107. —It is no drede, there i no (occasion to) fear. See drad, st. 2.-Schilde (A. S. scild; Ger. and Dan. schild, shield fr. Ice. and Sw. skyla, to cover, defend), shield, forbid.-Make (A. S. macian; Ger. machen; Dan mage, to make, frame, fashion; A. S. nzaca, gemaca, gemacca, mate, husband, companion; Ice maki, an equal, husband; Dan. mage, equal, mate, match, spouse; 0. Eng. macche), a companion a mate. —Yelden, yield. See foryelde, st. 111.-Gon, go.-Thereas, whereas. —Dowaire (Fr douer, to endow; douaire; Lat. dotare, to endow, portion; fr. dos, a dowry, gift; fr. do, dare, to give, Gr. WGow/u,), dowry.-Soth, sooth, true, truly. See soothly, Index. —Algate (A. S. algeats, fr aZll, al, all, and geat, passage, door, way; Ger. gasse, path; Ice. and D. gat, opening), always.For none adversity, etc., for no adversity (i. e., notwithstanding any adversity, even to the extent) of dying in this case, shall it be that, etc. The student's attention is called to the touchinf pathos of the last three lines of the preceding stanza. The whole speech is remarkable.-Weee (A. S. wied, a garment; 0. Fries. wede; fr. Goth. rid-an, to bind), clothing. 0 goode God! I ow gentle and how kind. The sound of o in God, being a short sound, is more appropriate to express littleness than greatness. There is a sense of congruity in the enuncia tion of the word jot; but of incongruity in uttering the word God. Such an exception prove, the rule. This sound sometimes denotes surprise or harshness. Examples? GEOFFREY CHA UCER. 47 And here again your clothing I restore, And eke your wedding ring forevermore. 117. " The remnant of your jewels ready be Within your chamber, dare I safely sayn. Naked out of my father's house," quoth she, " I came, and naked mote I turn again. All your pleasaunce would I fulfill fain; But yet I hope it be not your intent That I smokles * out of your palace went." 120. "The smok," quoth he,' that thou hast on thy back, Let it be still, and bear it forth with thee." But well unnethes thilke word he spake, But went his way for ruth and for pity. Before the folk hirselven strippeth she, And in her smok, with foot and head all bare, Toward her father's house forth is she fare. 121. The folk her folwen weeping in hir way, And fortune aye they cursen as they gone; But she from weeping kept her eyen drey, Ne in this time word ne spake she none. Her father, that this tiding heard anon, Curseth the day and time, that nature Shope him to be a lives creature. 122. For, out of doubt, this olde poore man Was ever in suspect of her marriage. For ever he deemed, sith that it began, That when the lord fulfilled had his courage, Him woulde think that it were disparage To his estate, so lowe for to light, And voiden her as soon as ever he might. 123. Agains his daughter hastily goeth he; For he by noise of folk knew her coming; ~ Smokles (A. S. smoce; Ice. smoker, chemise. As to -les, see reccheles, Index), without under-garment. —Tnnethes, with difficulty. See Index —Ruth (A. S. hreowan, to rue; Ger. reuen), sorrow, compassion.-Fare (A. S. and Goth. faran, to go; Ger. fahren; Ice. and Sw. Jfra; Dan. fare), gone.-Folwen (A. S. folgian; Ger. folgen, to follow), follow.-D)rey (A. S. dryg, dryge, drege, dry; D. droog; Ger. trockcen), dry. —Time. Dissyl.-Shope, shaped. See schope, Index.-Lives (A. S. libban, to live; libbe, surviving; lif, life; Ger. leben, to live), live, living.-Courage, incgination.-Disparage (Lat. dispar, unequal; dis, asunder; par, equal), a disparagement. Ace. 1st and 3d syl.-Voiden, make empty, remove, cause to quit. See void, Index.-Agains (A. S. agen, ongegn; Ger. entgegen, against; 0. Eng. agens; A. S. to-geanes, to genes, toward, against; Fries. aien, agen; D. tegens. Agains is here probably the genitive case of an old noun), towards, to meet. To illustrate this origin of agains, or against, we may remark, that since, amongst, betwixt, amidst, and whilst are also old genitives. See Gibbs' Teutonic Etymology. The smoce, quoth he, that thou hast on thy back. The sound of a in hast and back, as well as that of a in half, being one of the very earliest and easiest, stands at the head of the Indo-European and some other languages, and often seems to be used where no reason exists for any other special vowel. 48 2MASTERPIECES IX E3GLISH LITERATURE. And with her olde coat,* as it might be, He covereth her, full sorrowfully weeping. But on her body might he it not bring, For rude was the cloth, and more of age By dayes fele than at her marriage. 124. Thus with her father for a certain space Dwelleth this flower of wifely patience, That neither by her wordes ne by her face, Beforn the folk, nor eke in her absence, Ne shewed she that her was done offence; Ne of her high estate no remembrance Ne hadde she, as by her countenance. 125. No wonder is, for in her great estate Her ghost was ever in plain humility; Ne tender mouth, no hearte delicate, Ne pompe, ne semblant of realty; But full of patient benignity, Discreet and prideless, aye honorable, And to her husband ever meek and stable. 126. 3Men speak of Job, and most of his humblesse, As clerkes, when hem list, can well indite; Namely, of men; but as in soothfastness, Though clerkes praisen women but a lite, There can no man in humblesse him acquite As women can, ne can be half so true As women ben, but it befall of new. * Coat, frock, gown.-Fele (A. S. fela, fele; Ger. viel, many), many. —Beforn (A. S. be-; Goth. bi-; O. Ger. pi-; Ger., Sw., Dan., D., be-, originally the same as by, and denoting nearness of place; sometimes giving emphasis, as bedeclc, bedaucb. See note on betide, st. 4; and see Teutonic Etymology, by Prof. Gibbs. Often, as here, the original meaning of the prefix is lost. Fore is A. S. for, fore; Ger. fiir, vor; Lat. pro; Gr. rp6, in front; A. S. beforan; O. Eng. beforn; Ger. bevor), in fri'ont, before.-H- er was done, to her weas done.-Ghost (A. S. gast, breath; 0. Eng. gast; Ice. geysa, to be impelled; whence geyser, a spouting spring of boiling water), spirit.-Pompe. Dissyl. —Realty (O. Fr. roial, real. The ending -ty is fr. Lat. -itas, which is much used in Lat. to form abstract substantives), royalty. See real, st. 31.-Aye (Gr. eti, ever; aivp, an age; Lat. cevum; Goth. aivs; Ice. cefi; A. S. awa, aa, a, always), always.HIumblesse (Lat. humilitas, humility; humus, the ground; Gr. Xa gai, on the ground; XajLaA6s), humility.-Clerkes (Lat. clercus, a clergyman; Gr. KAhptKSe, a priest; KA/poe, a lot, the clergy, to whom lands were allotted for their support; A. S. clerc, cleric, cleroc, priest, clerk; afterwards any educated person, for the ministers of religion were almost the only literary men), scholars. — Lite (A. S. lyt, lytel), little. — im acquite, acquit hinmself, conduct himself.-But it befall of new, unless it happen recently. The word ben, in this line, illustrates the 0. Eng. plural in -en. So we have, four lines before, praisen, and, in st. 121, folwen and cursen. The loss of this ending and the dropping of inflections generally, accompany the transition from A. S. to Eng. Ne of her high estate no remembnrance. The sound of m in remenbrance, being highly internal, made with closed lips, is exceedingly suggestive of subjectivity, belongs to one's own consciousness, and is indicative of important mental operations. E. g., Sans. man, to think; Gr. tr-vito; Lat. moneo, I remind; mcemini, I remember; Ger. ncahnen, neeinen, Eng. mean, to intend, imply; Lat. mens, Eng. mind. Hence, perhaps, the word man, A. S. mann, mon, means the thinker. Other examples? GEOFFREY CA UCER. 49 PARS SEXTA. 127. From Boloygne is the Earl of Panik come, Of which the fame up sprang to more and less;* And to the peoples eares, all and some, Was couth eke that a newe marquisess He with him brought, in such polmp and richess, That never was there seen with mannes eye So noble array in all West Lombardy. 128. The marquis which that shope and knew all this, Ere that this earl was come, sent his message For thilke poore sely Griseldes. And she with humble heart and glad visage, Not with no swollen heart in her courage, Came at his hest, and on her knees her sette, And reverently and wisely she him grette. 129. "Griseld," quoth he, " my will is utterly, This maiden, that shall wedded be to me, Received be to-morrow as really As it possible is in mine hous to be; And eke that every wight in his degree Have his estate in sitting and service, In high pleasaunce, as I can best devise. 130. " I have no woman suffisant certain The chambers for to array in ordinance After my lust, and therefore would I fain, That thine were all such manner governance. Thou knowest eke of old all my pleasance. * Xiore and less, great and small. —All and some,'all and singular,' each and all. — Couth, cnown. See couthen, Index. —TRichess, riches. See Index. —Sely (A. S. sel, good; scelig, gescelig, happy; Ger. selig; 0. Eng. seely, lucky, inoffensive), good. This is the original of our word silly, the notion of innocence easily passing, in the minds of our naughty ancestors, into that offolly. —Grette (A. S. gretan, to address; Ger. gruszen, to greet), greeted.Really, royally. See really, Index. —lXine. Monosyl. —Sitting (A. S. sittan for sitian; Ger. sitzen, to sit; Lat. sedare. See Grimm's law, by which sed- in seclre becomes set or sit; Gr. l'ojgati. The suffix -ing has several uses: (1) to form a present active participle, it being then akin to Sans. -ant; Gr. -orv; Lat. -ent, or -ant; A. S. -ende, -and, and -ande; Ger. -end; O. Eng. -and, as glitterand in Spenser; (2) to form an adjective, it being then the same in origin as the participle; (3) to form an abstract verbal noun, it being then the same as the Gothic-eins; Ice. -ung; D. -ing; Ger. and A. S. -ung; (4) to form, in A. S., patronymic nouns, as Elising, the son of Elisha; (5) to indicate, in the Saxon tongue, offspring, as Browning, brown offspring; (6) to denote meadow or field in O. Eng., as Ruddington, town of the red meadow), situation.-Suffisarlt (Fr., fr. Lat. suficiens), sufficient. See sufisanece, Index —Ordinance, order, good order. —Lust, incliznation, pleasure. —M/anner governance, manner of direction. See manner sergeant, st. 67. Governance is fr. Gr. KvPepv av, to act as pilot; Lat. gubernare; Fr. gouverner, to govern; gouvernance, government. —Knowest. Give the derivation, root-meaning, etc., of each word in this line. Not with no swollen heart in her courage. The sound of sw in swollen is said to denote gentle motion, this notion arising from the soft sound of w (which is the same nearly as oo in foot or smooth). E. g., sway, swagger, sweep, swell, swerve, swing. Other examples? 4 50 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. Though thine array be bad and evil byseye,* Do thou thy devoir at the leste way." 131. "Not only, lord, that I am glad," quoth she, "To don your lust, but I desire also You for to serve and please in my degree, Withoute fainting, and shall evermo. Ne never for no weal, ne for no wo, Ne shall the ghost within mine hearte stent To love you best with all my true intent." 132. And with that word she gan the house to dight And tables for to set and beddes make, And pained her to don all that she might, Praying the chambereres for Goddes sake To hasten'em and faste sweep and shake, And she, the most serviceable of all, Ilath every chamber arrayed, and his hall. 133. Abouten undern gan this earl alight, That with him brought these noble children twey; For which the people ran to see the sight Of her array, so richely byseye. And then at erst amonges em they say That Walter was no fool, though that him lest To change his wife; for it was at the best. 134. For she is fairer, as they deemen all, Than is Griseld, and more tender of age; And fairer fruyt between them shoulde fall, And more pleasant for her high lineage. Her brother eke so fair was of visage * Byseye (A. S. beseon, to view; fr. be and see), beseen, adapted, adjusted. Evil byseye, ill to be seen.-Devoir (Fr. fr. Lat. debere, to owe, fr. de, from, and habere, to have; to have something from another, and so to owe), duty.-Leste (A. S. lytel, little; A. S. lassa, lasse, less; lasest, last, least), least. At the leste way, at least. —Stent, cease, be weary. See stint, Index. -Dight (A. S. dightan, to dictate, arrange; fr. Lat. dictare, to dictate; fr. dic-ere, to speak; Ger. dichten, to write poetry), set in order.-Pained, took pains. Dissyl.-Chamberes, chambermaid. See Index.-Undern, nine in the morning. See st. 30.-Twey, two. See Index.-Byseye, adjusted. See above.-Amonges (A. S. amang, onmang, among, fr. gemang, mixture; Ger. and D. mengen, to mix; Dan. mdnge, to mix: -st or -est, is usually the superlative ending; but here is probably an old genitive ending -es; O. Eng. amonges, in the crowd), among.-Deemen (A. S. deman, to think), deem. 0. Eng. plu.-Fruyt (Lat. fructus, fruit; frui, to enjoy; Fr. fruit), fruit, offspring. Ne never for no weal, ne for no wo. The sound of the first e in never, is really nothing more than the shortened sound of a in hate. The sound of e in the French word feve is akin to the sound of a in care. The sound of e in her, is the same as that of u in fur. E is a very frequent substitute for other vowels, as well as for the leading vowel. It is also often silent. These facts explain the frequent recurrence of the letter, without reference to the possible natural signification of the sound. When a little sound, however, it is not inappropriate to express little things and little actions. Thus lancet, trumpet, pocket, streamlet, cockerel, pickerel, satchel, crackle (once pronounced crack-le = crack-ly), diminutives from lance, trump, pock, stream, cock, pike, sack, crack. Give other illustrations. GEOFFREY CHA UCGER. That hem to seen the people hath caught pleasance, Commending now the marquis' governance.* 135. 0 stormy people, unsad and ever untrue! And undiscreet and changing as a fane, Delighting ever in rumble that is new; For, like the moone, waxen ye and wane. Aye full of clapping, dear enough a jane, Your doom is false, your constance evil previth A full great fool is he that on you lieveth! 136. Thus saiden sade folk in that city, When that the people gazed up and down; For they were glad right for the novelty, To have a newe lady of their town. No more of this now make I mentioun, But to Griseld again I will me dress, And tell her constance and her business. 137. Full busy was Griseld in everything, That to the feste was appertinent. Right naught was she abashed of her clothing, Though it were rude and some del eke to-rent; But with glad cheere to the gate is went With other folk, to greet the marquisesse, And after that doth forth her business. 138. With so glad cheer his guestes she receiveth. And cunningly everich in his degree, That no defaute no man apperceiveth, But aye they wondren what she mighte be, * Governance, management. See governance, Index.-Unsad, unsteady. See sad, Index. -F-ane (A. S. fana, a banner; Ger. fahne, D. vaan; 0. Eng. fane; Goth.fana, a cloth), vane, weathercock. —Rumble (Fr. romeler; Ger. rummnelz. This is one of the onomatopoetic class of words; i. e., those words whose sound, in pronouncing them, is like the sound they indicate, as hiss, buzz), rumor.-Jane (Lat. Genua; Low Lat. janua; 0. Eng. Jean; Genoa), a small coin of Genoa.-A Jane, at a farthing.-Preveth (0. Fr. prover; Fr. prouver, to prove; Lat. probare, to try, approve, fr. probus, good; A. S. profian; Ger. prufen, proben), proveth.-Lieveth (A. S. lefan, to allow; gelefan, to believe; leafa, belief; Ger. glauben, to believe), believeth.-Sade, thoughtful. See sad, Index. Dissyl.-Dress (Lat. dirigere, to direct; dis, apart, regere, to straighten; Fr. dresser, to make straight), direct.-Del (A. S. del, part; dcelan, to divide, deal out; Ger. theilen, to divide; theil, a portion), part.-Somedel, somewhat.-To-rent (A. S. to; Ger. zu; A. S. rendan, to rend; W. rhanu, to divide), torn.-Went, gone. See went, Index.-Business (A. S. bysig, biseg, busy; Ice. bisa, to work hard. For the suffix -ness, see homeliness, Index), business. Trisyl. -Cunningly (A. S. csUnnan, to know, be able, can; 0. Eng. can, to know, con, to know, to study over; Goth. kunnan; D. kunnen; Ger. konnen, to know; O. Eng. ken. Is not this word allied to the root gno- in i-gno-sco, and y~yt7r0oKW?), with skill.-Everich (A. S. afer, ever; Lat. evunm, an age; Gr. aliv; A. S. av, eternity; a, always; ylk, same; ale, elc, each), every one.Defaute (O. Fr. defaulte; Fr. defaut, deficiency; Lat. de, down; fallere, to deceive), defect. 0 stormy people, unsad and ever untrue. The sound of o is produced by the muscles in a state of tension around the lips, accompanied by a forcible expiration (and sometimes inspiration). It is appropriate to express pain, wonder, suroprise. Hence its universal use as an interjection. When prolonged, it may express greatness. Examples? 52 MIASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. That in so poor array was for to see, And couthe* such honour and reverence; And worthily they praisen her prudence. 139. In all this mene while, she ne stent This maid and eke her brother to commend, With all her heart in full benigne intent, So well that no man could her praise amend. But at the last, when that these lordes wend To sitten down to meat, he gan to call Griseld, as she was busy in the hall. 140. " Griseld," quoth he, as it were in his play,' How liketh thee my wife and her beauty!" " Right well, my lord," quoth she, " for in good fay, A fairer saw I never none than she. I pray to God give her prosperity; And so hope I that he will to you send Pleasance enough unto your lives end. 141. " One thing beseech I you and warn alsoThat ye no pricke with no tormenting This tender maiden, as ye have done mo. For she is fostered in her nourishing More tenderly, and, to my supposing, She coulde not adversity endure As could a poorly fostered creature." 142. And when this Walter saw her patience, Her glade cheer and no malice at all, And he so oft had done to her offense, And she aye sad and constant as a wall, Continuing ever her innocence over all, This sturdy marquis gan his hearte dress To rewe upon her wifely steadfastness. 143. " This is enough, Griselde mine," quoth he, " Be now no more aghast, ne evil apaid, * Couthe, knew. See couthen, Index. —Mene (Lat. medius, midst; Gr. /eaos; It. mezzo; Fr. moyen), mean, middle. —Stent, stinted, withheld. See stint, Index.-Amend (Lat. emendo, fr. e, out, and menda, spot, stain; whence emendare, to remove a spot or stain), amend, correct, improve. -Wend, go. See went, Index.-Fay (O. Fr. fei; Lat. Jfides; Fr. foi, faith; 0. Eng. feith, faryeth, fay), faith.-Pricke (A. S. oriccian; D. priklcen, to prick; A. S. prica, a sharp point), prick, sting. —XqIo (A. S. me; Goth. mik; Ger. mich; Lat. me; Gr. y4e; Sans. mac, me), me. Is this a desperate attempt at rhyme? —Creature. Trisyl. —Xalice. Ace. 2d syl.-As a wall. This reminds of the remark attributed to Gen. Lee, " There stands Jackson's brigade lik ea stone wall; " whence Stonewall Jackson.-Dress, direct. See st. 136.-Rewe, have compassion. See rutzh, Index.-Qluoth (Lat. inquit, said; A. S. cwedhan, to say; Mceso-Goth. qitcha, qath; 0. Ger. quethan; Dan. qvdde; whence -queatlh in bequeath), said. —Apaid, repaid. One thing beseech I you and warn also. The sound of e in beseech, requiring some tension of the muscles and closeness of the aperture made by the organs of speech, would seem to be appropriate to express closeness, strain, pressure, effort; as squeeze, squeal, scream. Care must be taken, however, in this case, as in all of these illustrations, not to press the analogy too far. GEOFFREY CHEA UCCER. I have thy faith and thy benignity, As well as ever woman was, assayed, In great estate, and poorelich arrayed. Now know I, deare wife, thy steadfastness." And her in arms he took and gan her kiss. 144. And she for wonder took of it no keep:* She hearde not what thing he to her said. She ferde as she had start out of a sleep, Till she out of her mazedness abraid. "Griseld," quoth he, " by God that for us deyd, Thou art my wife, none other I ne have, Ne never had, as God my soule save! 145. " This is my daughter, which thou hast supposed To be my wife. That other faithfully Shall be mine heir, as I have aye purposed. Thou bare thenm of thy body trewely. At Boloygne have I kept them privily. Take them again, for now mnayst thou not say That thou hast lorn none of thy children twey. 146. " And folk that otherwise have said of meI warn them well that I have done this deed For no malice, ne for no cruelty, But for to assay thee in thy womanhede, And not to slay my children-God forbid! But for to keep them privily and still, Till I thy purpose knew and all thy will." 147. When she this heard, aswouned down she falleth For piteous joy; and, after her swouning, She both her younge children to her calleth, And in her armes, piteously weeping, Embraceth them, and tenderly kissing, Full like a mother, with her salte tears, She bathed both her visage and her hairs. * Keep (A. S. cepan; 0. Eng. kepen, to retain), heed.-Ferde (A. S. far, a sudden coming upon, deceit, fear, danger; Ger. gefahr. Akin to yet- in Lat. vereor?) feared.-Start, started.lYfazedness (A. S. mase, a whirlpool; Ice. meis, a winding, curve), amazedness, confusion.-Abraid (A. S. abredian, to draw out, move away), awoke, aroused, recovered. So in Spenser: "For fear lest her unawares she should abraid " (i. e., awake). Deyd (0. Fries. and Ice. deya, to die; Goth. divan, to die), died. Spelled to rhyme with abraid.-Lorn (A. S. leosan, to lose; loren, lost; Ger. ver-lierenz, to lose; verloren; lost), lost.None. The negative repeated for emphasis.-Aswouned (A. S. swunan, fdswunan, to fail in intellect; swdanian, to faint; swimman, to swim; svz'na, vertigo), in a swvoon, having swooned.Piteous, sorrowful.-Swouning, swooning. And her in arms he took, and gan her kiss. The sound of s or ss as in kiss, is often onomatopoetic, or imitative. E. g. his, siss, whisper, whistle. As a rule, it is disagreeable; though here we have a palpable exception! S at the beginning of some words is supposed to have a demonstrative force; as in so, she, some. Give other illustrations. 54 baX~MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. 148. Oh, such a piteous thing it was, to see Her swouning, and her humble voice to hear! " Grand mercy, * Lord, God thank it you, " quoth she, " That ye have saved me my children dear. Now reck I never to be dead right here; Sith I stand in your love and in your grace, No force of death, ne when my spirit pace. 149. 1 O tender, deare, younge children mine! Your woful mother weened steadfastly That. cruel houndes or some foul vermine Had eaten you. But God, of his mercy, And your benigne father, tenderly Hath done you keep! " And in that same stound All suddenly she swapped down to ground. 150. And in her swough so sadly holdeth she Her children two, when she gan them embrace, That with great sleight and great difficulty The children from her arm they gan arrace. Oh, many a tear on many a piteous face Down ran, of them that stooden her beside! Unneth abouten her might they abide. 151. Walter her gladeth, and her sorrow slaketh. She riseth up abashed from her trance, And every wight her joy and feste maketh, Till she had caught again her countenance. Walter her doth so faithfully pleasance, That it was dainty for to see the cheer Betwix them two, now they be met in fere. * Grand mercy (Lat. grandis, large; Lat. misericors, of pitying heart; fr. miserroe, to pity, and cor, the heart; or mercy is from Lat. merces, mercedis, pay, reward; Fr. grand, great, merci, thanks; grand merci, great thanks; usually gramercy), great thanks, expressing gratitude and surprise.-God thank it you, may God recompense yosufor it. Thankc is A. S. thanc, thonc, thought, thanks; fr. thencan, to think, remember; Ger. dank.-Reck (A. S. recan, to care for; Ger. geruhen), care. Reck I, etc., lam willing to die, etc.-Sith, since. See Index.-No force of, no matter for.-Pace (Lat. passes, a step; Fr. passes, to pass), passes, departs. Pace follows, in construction, no force of..-H-oundes (Ger. hund, dog; Gr. KVwV, Kwvv; Lat. can-is. By Grimm's law, Lat. c, or Gr. e becomes Eng. ch or h), hounds. Dissyl.-Done you keep, had you kept, caused you to be kcept. —Stound (A. S., Dan., Sw., Ice. stund; Ger. stunde, hour, period of time), hour, time.-Swapped, fell. See swap, Index. Perhaps the word swap, to fall, now obsolete, is allied to swoop.-Swough, stupor. See aswouned, Index.-Sadly, steadily, firmly. See sad st. 26. Sleight (Ice. sltgd, cunning; Sw. slogd, workmanship; slig, skilled in art; Eng. sly; Ger. schlau), skill. Hence sleight of hand, legerdemain.-Arrace (Fr. arracher), to pull away by force. —Slaketh, appeases. See slake, Index.-Fere (A. S. fera, companion; faran, to go; Ger. gefaihrte, companion), company. That cruel houndes or somse foul vernine. The sound of ou, as in houndes, is rarely onomatopoetic; as owl, howl, bowe-wow. Ough, as an interjection, expresses sudden pain. She riseth up abashed from her trance. The sound of sh final, as in abash, is said to denote silence; also sounds and sights which end suddenly. E. g. hush, clash, crash, flash, splash, dash, mash. Clearly it is sometimes onomatopoetic. Other examples? GEOFFREY CHA UCER. 55 152. These ladies, when that they her time see,* Have taken her, and into chamber gone, And strippen her out of her rude array; And in a cloth of gold, that bright shone, With a coroune of many a riche stone Upon her head, they into hall her brought, And there she was honored as her ought. 153. Thus hath this piteous day a blissful end; For every man and woman doth his might This day in mirth and revel to dispend, Till on the welkin shone the starres bright: For more solempne in every mannes sight This feste was, and greater of costage, Than was the revel of her marriage. 154. Full many a year, in high prosperity, Liven these two in concord and in rest; And richely his daughter married he Unto a lord, one of the worthiest Of all Itaille; and then, in peace and rest, His wife's father in the court he keepeth, Till that the soul out of his body creepeth. 155. His son succeedeth in his heritage In rest and peace, after his father's day; And fortunate was eke in marriage, Al put he not his wife in great assay. This world is not so strong, it is no nay, As it hath been in olde times yore; And hearkneth what this author saith therefore. 156. This story is said, not for that wives should Follow Griseld, as in humility; For it were importable, though they would: But for that every wight, in his degree, Shoulde be constant in adversity As was Griselde; therefore Petrarch writeth This story, Which with high style he inditeth. 157. For sith a woman was so patient * Her time, their proper time. See her in'shaping her,' st. 104.-As her ought, as was due to her. See owen, Index. A. S. ahte.-Solempne (Oscan sollMs, all; Lat. annus, year; Lat. solemnis, happening every )year), annually celebrated, solemn, marked with religious pomp or ceremony. — C(ostage, cost, expense. Cost is Fr. coit, fr. Fr. coveter, fr. Lat. constare, to stand at, to cost: -age is Lat. -atium. —Al put he, although he put.-It is no nay, it cannot be denied.-Hearkeneth, hear ye. Impera.-Importable (Lat. in, not; portare, to bear), intolerable. Ace. Ist and 3d syl. The vowels were pronounced with a more open sound, probably, in Chaucer's time than now. This world is not so strong, it is no nay. The hard sound of g, as in strong (though less marked in this word than in many others), seems to be appropriate to express hardness, strength, harshness; as in tiger, eager, gripe. Give other illustrations. What is the significance of the phonetic element represented by th? by n? str? wr? 563 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. Unto a mortal man, well more we ought Receiven all in gree,* that God us sent. For great skill is he prove that he wrought; But he ne tempteth no man that he bought, As saith saint Jame, if ye his pistil read; He proveth folk all day, it is no dread. 158. And suffereth us, as for our exercise, With sharpe scourges of adversity, Full often to be beat in sundry wise; Not for to know our will; for, certes, he, Ere we were born, knew all our freeletee; And for our best is all his governance. Let us then live in virtuous sufferance. 159. But one word, Lordes, hearkeneth ere I go. It were full hard to finde, now-a-days, In all a town, Griseldes three or two. For if that they were put to such assays, The gold of'hem hath now so bad alays With brass, that though the coin be fair at eye, It woulde rather brest in two than plie. 160. For which here, for the Wifes love of Bath — Whose life and all her secte God maintain In high maistrie, and elles were it scathe, — I will, with lusty hearte fresh and green, Say you a song to gladden you, I ween. And let us stint of earnestful matiere. Htearkeneth my song, that saith in this mannere:* Gree (Fr. gri, will, liking; Lat. gratus, pleased, gratefill), good will, good heart.-In gree, with content, thankfully. —For gret skill..... wrought, for the sake of giving us skill, he proves his oork.-Jame. James i. 13, " God cannot be tempted with evil, neither teimpteth he any man." —Pistil (Gr. zr-TWoTA, anything sent, fr. 7,rto-rAXeA,, to send; Lat. epistola, a letter), epistle.-It is no dread, there is no fear, have no apprehension. The last two stanzas are a translation from Petrarch.-For to know, in order to know.-Freeletee (O. Fr. frealte; Lat. fragilitas, weakness, liability to break; ft. frangkre, to break), frailty.-Alays (Fr. aloyer; Lat. ad legem, according to law; or A. S. alecgan; to lay down; Ger. legen, to put; or fromr Fr. alliesr, to mix; fr. Lat. tlligare, to bind to; ad, to; ligare, to tie. The latter derivation is preferable, alloy and allay having been confounded in signification), alloys.-Brest (A. S. berstan,' Ger. berstan, to burst), burst.-Plie (Fr. plier, to bend; Lat. plicare, to fold), bend. —The Wifes. Wifes is a dissyl. She was one of the Canterbury pilgrims. —Secte (Lat. secare, to cut; rectumn, a cutting, a part cut off), sex.-Maistrie (0. Fr. maistrie, mastery; Lat. magister, master), mastery, superiority. —Scathe (A. S. scathian; Ger. schaden, to harm; A. S. scedh; Ger. schade), harm, damage.-Stint, desist from. See Index.-Earnestful (A. S. eornost; Ger. ernst), serious. In high maistrie, for elles were it scathe. The sound of sc in scathe seems to denote injurious motion. Often, however, sc or sk apparently denotes merely swift motion; as in scatter, scour, scud, scull, scamper, skewz, skim, skip, skirmish, skate, skedaddle. Give other examples. Say you a song to gladden you, 1 ween. The sound of ng, as in song, is sometimes onomatopoetic, or imitative. E. g., song, gongy, ding-dong. Sometimes it seems to express energetic motion; as in fling, bring, swing, hang, slang, bang, mangle. Other examples? GEOFFRE Y CHA UCER. 57 L'ENVOYE* DE CHAUCER. 161. Grisild is deed, and eek hir pacience, And bothe at oones buried in Itayle: For whiche I crye in open audience, No weddid man so hardy be to assayle His wyves pacience, in trust to fynde Grisildes, for in certeyn he schal fayle. 162. 0 noble wyves, ful of heigh prudence, Let noon humilite your tonges nayle: Ne lat no clerk have cause or diligence To write of yow a story of swiche mervayle As of Grisildes pacient and kynde, Lest Chichivache yow swolwe in hir entraile. 163. Folwith ecco, that holdith no silence, But ever answereth at the countretayle: Beth not bydaffed for your innocence, But scharply tak on yow the governayle: Empryntith wel this lessoun on your mynde, For comun profyt, sith it may avayle. 164. Ye archewyves, stondeth at defens, Syn ye ben strong, as is a greet chamayle; Ne suffre not, that men don yow offens. And sclendre wyves, felle as in batayle, Beth egre as is a tyger yond in Inde; Ay clappith as a mylle, I yow counsaile. 165. Ne drede hem not, do hem no reverence, For though thin housbond armed be in mayle, The arwes of thy crabbid eloquence * L'envoye (Fr. le, the; envoi, sending; fr. Lat. in, in, and via, way), the commendatory or explanatory postscript to a 1poem or othler lilerary work. Here follows a good specimen of Chaucer's characteristic, humor. We give it -in the antiquated orthography, following the text of Wright's edition.-Oones, once. Dissyl. Ones and once are the old genitive of one. — Wyves. Dissyl.-Prudence. Acc. 2d syl. —Tonges (Lat. lingua, tongue; A. S. and Dan. tunge; Ger. zuizge), tongues. Dissyl. —1ervayle, wonder. See Index.-Chichivache (Fr. chiche, poor, sorry, stingy; Fr. vache, Lat. vacca), cow. Chiclhevache and Bycorne are two fabulous beasts in an old ballad. C/hichevache is represented as feeding on patient wives; Bycorne, on obedient husbands. According to the story, Bycorne has plenty to eat and is fat; Chichevache is half-starved and lean! —Folwith, follow ye. Impera. See accepteth, st. 6, and folwen, st. 121. —Countertayle (Fr. contre; Lat. contra, against; Fr. tailler, to cut; whence tally, a notch cut), coutnter-tally, a tally answering exactly to another. —Beth, be ye. Impera.Bydaffed (A. S. daft, a fool; Ice. dasifr, stupid; A. S. deaf, deaf), befooled.-Governayle, governmnent. See Index.-Rede, advise. See Index.-Archewyves (Gr. apX-, beginning, leading; whence arch, chief), wives of a superior degree, or in the higher ranks; stout wives.Syn, since.-Chamayle (A. S. camell; Heb. gdmal; Ar. gamal, jemel; Gr. Gr. keXoes; Lat. camilus), camel.-Sclendre (0. D. slinder, thin), slender.-Batayle (Fr. bataille, battle; fr. Lat. battalia, fighting and fencing; batuere, to strike, beat), battle. —Clappeth (A. S. clappan; Ger. klopfen, to knoclk), strike ye. —Counsaile (Fr. conseiller, to advise; Lat. consiliari, to receive or impart advice), counsel.-Arwes (Lat. arma, arms; A. S. arewe; Welsh arv; Arm. Fr., Gael., arm, weapon), arrows.-Crabbid. Akin to Ger. herbe, Lat. acerbus, W. garv, sour. s58 AlMA STERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. Schal perse his brest, and eek his adventayle: * In gelousy I rede eek thou him bynde, And thou schalt make him couche as doth a quayle. 166. If thou be faire, ther folk ben in presence Schew thou thy visage, and thin apparaile: If thou be foul, be free of thy despence, To gete the frendes ay do thy travayle: Be ay of chier as light as lef on lynde, And let him care, and wepe, and wrynge and wayle! I ~ Adventayle (Fr. ventail, the movable part of the front of a helmet; fr. Lat. rentus, wind), the movable part of a helmet infront, the ventail. —Rede, advise. See Index.-Apparaile (Fr. appareil, preparation, furniture; Fr. pareil, like, equal; Low Lat. pariculus, a little match; fr. par, an equal, a mate), apparel. —Despence (Lat. dispendere, fr. dis, apart, and pendeVre, to weigh out; dispensare, to distribute by weight, disburse), expense. —Chier, countenance. Give the origin, root-meaning, etc., of each word in this line.-Lyndce, the lime-tree. 1 We give on these last two pages the antiquated spelling, as in Wright's edition, for the comfort of those who attach great importance to the old orthography. In gelousy I rede eek thou hin bynde. The sound of j in jealousy, requiring or permitting considerable force to utter it properly, naturally expresses energy; and so we sometimes find it, as in gyrate, gibe, gee (to oxen), gist. Other examples? Write a sketch of the life of Chaucer. Give some account of his different works. Write an essay on his life as a courtier and a politician. Write an essay on the revival of learning in Chaucer's age. Write an essay on his Canterbury Tales. Give in your own language the story of Patient Griselda. Name the peculiarities of his verse. Point out the beauties and the blemishes of this poem. Name other prominent authors of the fourteenth century, and the works they produced. Write an essay on the power of the Pope of Rome over foreign potentates in the time of Chaucer; one on the doctrines and career of Wickliffe; on Chaucer's religious tendencies; on the language of Chaucer; on Grimm's law of consonant chang'es. Let the teacher suggest other kindred topics for essays. The writing of brief compositions weekly, on subjects connected with the study of English Literature, will be found an invaluable exercise. The student should especially be encouraged to investigate for himself, and not take everything on the strength of the author's assertion. iELEMtEENTAR Y SO UNDS. 59 SUMMARY OF ELEMENTARY SOUNDS AND THEIR PROPER SIGNIFICANCY. The following list shows the phonetic elements in the English language, and, to some extent, their proper significancy.* This interesting subject, however, has been only partially investigated. It still affords a field for further research. Let the student collect words and deduce principles. VOWEL SOUNDS. SIGNIFICANCE. 1. That of e, as in we. Closeness, pressure, as some tension of the muscles is required to enunciate it properly? See p. 52. 2.' " i, " wit. This, perhaps the shortest and slightest sound in the language, is most appropriate to express little things and to form diminutives. See p. 37, and see note p. 61. 3. " a, " pale. 4. " e, " tet. A small sound, fit for unimportant things, or diminutives. See p. 50. 5. " a, " arm. Very easy for a child to utter, requiring only the opening of the mouth and breathing, it comes to express pain, grief, passion. Being so easily made, it is used where no reason exists for any special vowel. See p. 47. 52. " ~, " half. This is intermediate between the preceding and the following. See pp. 26, 47. 6. " a, " at. This is shortened from number five, and, like that, expressespain. The sound is unpleasant, suggestive of crying infants and bleating sheep. It may express contempt, mockery, disgust. See pp. 26, 47. 7. " a, " all. Largeness, seriousness. There are many exceptions. See p. 22. 8. " o, not. Surprise, harshness. Being short, it is less appropriate for large things.t See page 46. 9. " u, " fur. Produced low in the breast, it expresses, when soft, gentleness; when loud, harshness, discontent, smothered wrath, grumbling. See p. 39. 10. U" e, " but. Obscure sound, akin to the preceding. * In using the expression proper significancy, we must not be understood as holding that there is any inherent or essential significance in any sound; but simply ttiat certain sounds have a natural fitness to express certain meanings. See Whitney on Language and the Study of Language (Lecture XI.); also Fowler's Revised and Enlarged Grammar' (Chap. VII.). t Hence the sense of incongruity in applying the short word and sound of the monosyllable in naming the Infinite Being. Young persons often try, unconsciously, to avoid the feeling of its unfitness, by prolonging the o sound. 60 VI4ASTERPIEGES IN ENGLISH LI1EJRA TURE. VOWEL SOUNDS. SIGNIFICANCE. 11. That of o, as in so. Wonder, surprise; pain; calling. Prolonged, it may express greatness. See p. 51. 12. ", o solo. [The second o.] 13. " oo, " boot. Soothing, smoothness. See p. 26. 14. " oo or w, as in foot. Weakness; wavy, gentle motion. See p. 27. DIPHTHONGS. SIGNIFICANCE. 15. That of i, as in five, 5+ 2.* 16.' u, tune, 2+14. * The sound of oo here is made with the tip of the tongue in contact with the lower front teeth, and the lips in position as if to whistle. It approaches the French u. 17. o" Ou, " house, 5 + 14.* This is sometimes onomatopoetic, as in bowwow. See p. 54. 18. o, oil, 7+ 2.* CONSONANT SOUNDS. SIGNIFICANCE. 19. That of p, as in pat. Surd. - This sound has in many languages been used to indicate papa! See p. 45. From the act of pufing, it has come to express contempt and aversion in some cases. 20. " b, "' bat. Sonant.t Akin to the preceding. 21. " f, " fan. Surd. See p. 45. 22. " V, " van. Sonant. Akin to the preceding. 23. " th, " think. Surd. Akin to the following. 24. " th, " thine. Sonant. Pointing out. See p. 19. 25. " t, tin. Surd. Pointing out strongly. Akin to the following. See p. 25. 26. " d, " din. Sonant. Demonstrative; imparting. 27. 4", "k kin. Surd. Inquiry. Akin to g in go. See p. 43. 28. " g, " go. Sonant. Harshness, hardness, strength. See p. 55. 29. " ch,t " chin. Surd. Akin to the following. 30. " j,) " jest. Sonant. Force.. See p. 58. 31.'" s, " sin. Surd. Onomatopoetic; unpleasantly suggestive of snakes and geese! Sometimes it appears to be somewhat demonstrative. Akin to z. See p. 53. * These numerals refer to the preceding list of vowel sounds, and they show which combine in the compound sound. t Swurds are mere whispering sounds. Sonants are pronounced with vocal tones. Instead of the words surd and sonant, the terms sharp and flat, or aspirate and vocal, or atonic and subtonic have been used. See Latham's English Language, Dr. Rush on The Philosophy of the Human Voice, Goold Brown's Grammar of Grammars, etc. $ These sounds are by many regarded as compound, equivalent to tsh and dzh, respectively. ELE3MENTARY SO UNDS. G1 CONSONANT SOUNDS. SIGNIFICANCE. 32. That of z, as in zeaL. Sonant. Ononatopoetic, suggestive of bees, etc. See p. 22. 33. " sh, " shine. Surd. When final, it denotes enjoined silence; when initial, aversion. See pp. 34, 54. 34. " z, " azure. Sonant. Akin to the preceding. 35. "' h, " Lhot. Aspirate. Effort; aspiration. See p. 33. 36. " ng, " king. Nasal. Sometimes is onomatopoetic; sometimes expresses energetic motion. See p. 56. 37. " mn, 4" man. Labial nasal. Infants easily utter this sound, and apply it to mammai. It has also a strong subjective force. See pp. 37, 40, 48. 38. "' n, " no. Lingual nasal. Negative; nose concerns. See p. 24. 39. " 1, " lull. Smooth liquid. Soft and soothing; littleness; tongue notions. See p. 29. 40. " r, " run. Rough liquid. Rattling sounds; interrupted notions. See p. 31. CONSONANT SOUNDS IN CO3MBINATION, AND THEIR APPIROPRIATE SIGNIFICANCE. 41. B1, pt, and fi, denote blowing, blooming, flowing.. See pp. 21, 40. 42. XK denotes cleaving or adhering. See p. 31. 43. Br and ikr. The same substantially as r. See above. 44. Gl denotes smoothness, or silent motion. See p. 44. 45. Gn, in, and n denote an sudden breaking off. See p. 28. 46. Gr. Substantially like r. See above. 47. Se. Swift motion. See p. 56. 48. Shw and szo denote gentle motion. See p. 49. 49. S1. Like gl. See pp. 20, 44. 50. Sn denotes nose ideas. See n above, and p. 24. 51. Spr "' a spreading out. See p. 42. 52. St " firmness or stability. See p. 30. 53. Sp " expulsion. See p. 35. 54. Str'" exertion. See p. 23. 55. Thr. " violent motion. See p. 34. 56. Tiw " duality. See p. 42. 57. Wr " distorted motion. See p. 38. NoTE. —The word QUIZ is said, in the unabridged dictionaries, to have had a singular origin. Whatever we may think of their explanation, the word is true to its phonetics. The first element denotes inqu7iry; the second, smoothness (its force not being very prominent in this word); the third, littleness, insignificance; the fourth, busy or buzzing action. Putting these together, we should, a priori, infer that the word would mean buzzing inquiry, of a mild nacture, on unimportant matters. Let the student write an essay on this general subject of the natural fitness of articulate sounds to convey particular meanings, illustrating his views by numerous examples. 62 AMASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. PIHONETIC ANALYSIS. The method of phonetic analysis is very simple. EXAMPLE. "There is, right at the west side of Itaille."' Here the first phonetic element is that represented by th in thine (No. 24, p. 60), a sonant. Its proper signification is demonstrative. [Give examples.] The next phonetic element is that represented by a in at (No. 6, p. 59), a vowel sound, shortened from the sound of a in arn. It is somewhat unpleasant to the ear, suggesting the cries of infants and some animals. [Give examples.] The next phonetic element is that represented by r in run (No. 40, p. 61). It is a rough liquid sound, naturally symbolical of rattling noise and interrupted notions. [Give examples.] The next phonetic element is that represented by i in wit (No. 2, p. 59), a vowel sound. Being, perhaps, the shortest and slightest in the language, its use is very extensive to express littleness and to form diminutives. [Give examples.] The next phonetic element is that represented by z in zeal (No. 32, p. 61), a sonant. This sound is largely onomatopoetic, or imitative. [Give examples.] N. B.-Let the student complete this analysis, and take further exercises, until he becomes perfectly familiar with the sounds and their primary significance, so far as ascertained. NOTE.-The teacher will do well to direct the student's attention at this stage to the different theories of the origin of language, and particularly to the interjectional and the onomatopoetic. On this subject consult the lectures of Whitney, ax Miiller, and G. P. Marsh, and the various treatises on Rhetoric. See Excuzrsus in Prof. F. L. 0. Roehrig's Shortest Road to German, pp. 217, 218, etc. Give examples of the power of sound to echo sense. Discriminate carefully between what is satisfactorily established, and what is merely fanciful. Assign themes to be investigated and written upon. EDMUND SPENSER. (From aim original picture in the collection of the Right Honorable the Earl of Kinnoul.) EDMUND SPENSER. 1553-1599. -OUR sage and serious Spenser, whom I dare be known to think a better teacher than Scotus or Aquinas.-MILTON. Nor shall my verse that elder bard forget, The gentle Spenser, Fancy's pleasing son, Who, like a copious river, poured his song O'er all the mazes of enchanted ground. —TEomOsoN. Of the childhood and youth of Chaucer, Spenser, and Shakespeare, the three great masters of English poetry previous to Milton, we know almost nothing. A few facts, however, in regard to Spenser's early life, have come down to us. He was born in East Smithfield, hard by the Tower of London, about the year 1553. In his poems he repeatedly refers to his connection with the noble house of Spencer in Lancashire. Thus in his Prothalamiunm: 6At length they all to merry London cameTo merry London, my most kindly nurse, That to me gave this life's first native source, Though from another place I take my name, An house of ancient fame." His parents were probably poor, for, in May, 1569, we find him a sizar, or "poor student," in Pembroke Hall, Cambridge University. There he became intimate with Gabriel Harvey, a pedantic scholar, who afterwards introduced him to Sir Philip Sidney, and otherwise befriended him. Spenser received the degree of A. B. in 1573, and of A. M. in 1576. Leaving the university, he went to the north of England, where he is supposed to have been employed as a teacher. There he fell in love. "Rosalind "' did not reciprocate the attachment. Of course his sorrow found vent in poetry. His first important production was The Shepherd's Calendar, published in 1579. The name suggests pastoral poetry; but a great part of the work is a discussion of ecclesiastical matters by shepherds, whom Campbell very appropriately calls "parsons in disguise," and who certainly ought to have confined their discourse to matters in which their four-footed sheep were more immediately interested. Passages of considerable beauty, however, abound in the poem. It is divided into twelve parts, or eclogues, each corresponding to some month and named after it. Five editions of the work, during his lifetime, attest its popularity. Induced by Harvey, he had already come to London, and a warm friendship had sprung up between him and Sidney. Indeed, the Shepherd's Calendar is said to have been completed at Sidney's lordly mansion among the noble oaks of Penshurst, once the residence of the Saxon kings of Kent. The work was dedicated to Sidney, who introduced the young poet to his uncle, the powerful Earl of Leicester. The latter in 1580, employed Spenser to write out the Stemmata Deudleiana, a statement, probably in poetry, of the earl's genealogy and ties of kindred. In August, 1580, Spenser was secretary to Arthur Grey de Wilton, Lord Deputy to 64 l ASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH ITERA T URE. Ireland. During two years of Grey's energetic administration of Irish affairs, Spenser was with him in that country. Fourteen years later, Spenser ably vindicated Lord Grey's course by his well-written treatise, the only prose work of the poet, entitled, A View of the State of Ireland. For several years he now figured in the unenviable character of office-hunter and hanger-on at court, where he appears to have acquired that habit of gross flattery which is the greatest blemish in his writings. He made extraordinary efforts to secure the favor of Elizabeth's chief counsellor, Burleigh, who, with dogged obstinacy, sat on the lid of the treasury box whenever the queen was inclined to open it for the nice young man. It is lelated that she promised Spenser a hundred pounds, but that Burleigh pronounced the sum "beyond all reason." "Give him reason, then," replied the queen. Spenser, in a moment of boldness, sharply reminded the queenIt pleased your grace, upon a time, To grant me reason for my rhyme; But from that time until this season, I've heard of neither rhyme nor reason. We pity the gentle poet for his ill success in obtaining position and pension; but doubtless it was best that the fulsome praise with which he larded the stingy treasurer and the conceited queen should meet with disappointment. Perhaps we owe The Faerie Queene and some of his other poems to the stimulus of poverty. At all events, it is a satisfaction to know that he became thoroughly disgusted with the business of office-seeking. In tliother _Hubbard's Tcale, a poem of about 1,400 lines, composed soon afterwards, and containing some satire on the court and the clergy; he speaks with warmth of this bitter experience: Full little knowest thou, that hast not tried, What hell it is, in suing long to bide; To lose good days, that might be better spent; To waste long nights in pensive discontent; To speed to-day, to be put back to-morrow; To feed on hope, to pine with fear and sorrow; To have thy prince's grace, yet want her peer's; To have thy asking, yet wait many years; To fret thy soul with crosses and with cares; To eat thy heart through comfortless despairs; To fawn, to crouch, to wait, to ride, to run; To spend, to give, to want, to be undone. Unhappy wight, born to disastrous end, That doth his life in so long tendance spend. Through the influence of Grey, Leicester, and Sidney, he received in 1586, for his services as secretary, a grant of 3,028 acres in the county of Cork, it being a portion of the forfeited estate of the rebel earls of Desmond. As this grant was coupled with the condition that he should actually reside onil the land and till it, there is reason to suspect that the shrewd lord-treasurer contrived, by this operation, to consign to honorable exile the protege of his rival Leicester, in order that the poet might not become politically formidable with the pen. Thenceforward Spenser lived, most of the time, on his estate in Ireland, making his home at Kilcolman Castle, two miles from Doneraile. It is still a beautiful and romantic spot; and when the country abounded with woodland, it may well have been a favorite residence for such a man. Looking southward from the ruined castle, one sees a lake like a mirror-in a wide green frame of grassy land. On every side are distant mountains. The silver thread of the river Mulla winds through this region, which the poet's genius has made enchanted ground. Hardly had it become his home, when a great sorrow befell him. His best friend EDMUND SPENSER. 65 and patron, the high-born Sidney, poet, scholar, warrior, prince of gentlemen, —" my Philip," as the queen loved to call him,-was mortally wounded in fighting the Spaniards near Zutphen. Three weeks he lingered, and then died. Spenser, who was almost of the same age, bewails his untimely death in several elegaic poems, written to console the mourning relatives. These pieces are characterized by childish conceits, but they contain passages of exquisite melody. We may say of them as he says of SidneyDid never love so sweetly breathe In any mortal breast before; Did never muse inspire beneath A poet's brain with finer store 1 Witness the following: "When he descended from the mount, His personage seemed most divine, A thousand graces one might count Upon his lovely cheerful eyne; To hear him speak and sweetly smile, You were in Paradise the while I "A sweet attractive kind of graceA full assurance given by looksContinual comfort in a faceThe lineaments of gospel books. I trow that countenance cannot lie, Whose thoughts are legible in.the eye! "Was never eye did see that face, Was never ear did hear that tongue, Was never mind did mind his grace, That ever thought the travel long; But eyes and ears and every thought Were with his sweet perfections caught." The following lines tenderly express his faith in Sidney's immortality: But that immortal spirit, which was decked With all the dowries of celestial grace, By sovereign choice from th' heavenly quires select, And lineally deriv'd from angels' race, O I what is now of it become aread? Ah me, can so divine a thing be dead? Ah I no: it is not dead, ne can it die, But lives for aye, in blissful Paradise: Where like a new-born babe it soft doth lie, In bed of lilies wrapt in tender wise, And compassed all about with roses sweet, And dainty violets from head to feet. There thousand birds, all of celestial brood, To him do sweetly carol day and night; And with strange notes, of him well understood, Lull him asleep in angelic delight; Whilst in sweet dream to him presented be Immortal beauties, which no eye may see. But he them sees, and takes exceeding pleasure Of their divine aspects, appearing plain, And kindling love in him above all measure; Sweet love, still joyous, never feeling pain. For what so goodly form he there doth see, He may enjoy from jealous rancor free. 66 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. There liveth he in everlasting bliss, Sweet spirit, never fearing more to die: Ne dreading harm from any foes of his, Ne fearing savage beasts' more cruelty; Whilst we here, wretches, wail his private lack, And with vain vows do often call him back. But live thou there, still happy, happy spirit I And give us leave thee here thus to lament, Not thee, that dost thy heaven's joy inherit, But our own selves, that here in dole are drent. Thus do we weep and wail, and wear our eyes, Mourning, in others, our own miseries. Soon Sir Walter Raleigh, who had received twelve thousand acres of the same forfeited estate, visited Spenser, and, "under the green alders by the Mulla's shore," heard from his lips portions of the first three books of The Faerie Queene. Raleigh was charmed with the man and the poem, and seems to have thenceforwardloccupied the place which Sidney had filled, as the poet's most useful friend. He took Spenser to England to publish these three books. He also urged Spenser's claims upon Queen Elizabeth's bounty; not in vain, for, in February, 1591, she rewarded him with a pension of ~50. He is styled poet-laureate, but was not officially appointed. In December, 1591, after his return to Ireland, he dedicates, " To the Right Worthy and Noble Knight, Sir Walter Raleigh, Captain of Her Majesty's Guard," a poem of about a thousand lines, entitled Colin Clout's Come HIJome Again. It is a pastoral, in which he sings of "the Shepherd of the Ocean," as he styles Raleigh; of Queen Elizabeth, whom he calls " the Goddess Cynthia;" of love, of beauty, and of the ocean. Resuming his labor on his great poem, he completed the fourth, fifth, and sixth books of The Faerie Queene, the noblest allegorical poem in the English language. It was designed to consist of twelve books, each describing the adventures of a particular hero, who represents some one virtue. The first book relates the adventures of the Knight of the Red Cross, who typifies holiness. The second illustrates temperance, personified in Sir Guyon; the third, chastity, represented by Britomartis, a lady knight; the fourth, friendship, seen in Cambell and Triamon.d; the fifth, justice, embodied in Artegal; the sixth, courtesy, in Sir Calidore. It is doubtful whether Spenser developed the story beyond these six books. Perhaps it is well that the last half has not come down to us; for there is a decided falling off in power after the first book; and, although'art is long,' as this poem in its present state abundantly testifies, yet life is short. In this busy age few have time to read more of Spenser than the 35,000 lines which it contains. We may compare The Faerie Queene to the palace of the Vatican, with its thousands of apartments, its labyrinthian windings, its endless staircases and colonnades, its frescoes, statues, paintings, and beauties innumerable. The pure light of religion is over all. I shall not exhibit a chip of marble from this vast structure, and call the fragment a specimen. But I may quote enough to give a faint glimpse of the spirit and genius of the poet. Take these two stanzas on the ministry of angels, as two strains from a grand symphony. I. And is there care in heaven? And is there love In heavenly spirits to these creatures base, That may compassion of their evils move? There is:-else much more wretched were the case ED MUN'D SPENSER. 67 of men than beasts: But oh, th' exceeding grace Of highest God, that loves his creatures so, And all his works with mercy doth embrace, That blessed angels he sends to and fro, To serve to wicked man, to serve his wicked foe! II. How oft do they their silver bowers leave To come to succor us that succor want I How oft do they with golden pinions cleave The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant. Against foul fiends to aid us militant I They for us fight, they watch and duly ward, And their bright squadrons round about us plant; And all for love, and nothing for reward: Oh, why should heavenly God to men have such regard? Take the following picture as a single figure from a great panorama: A gentle knight was pricking on the plain, Yclad in mighty arms and silver shield, Wherein old dints of deep wounds did remain, The cruel marks of many a bloody field; Yet arms till that time did he never wield: His angry steed did chide his foaming bit, As much disdaining.to the curb to yield: Full jolly knight he seem'd, and fair did sit, As one for knightly jousts and fierce encounters fit. And on his breast a bloody cross he bore, The dealremembrance of his dying Lord, For whose sweet sake that glorious badge he wore, And dead, as living ever, him ador'd. Upon his shield the like was also scor'd, For sovereign hope, which in his help he had. Right faithful true he was in deed and word; But of his cheer did seem too solemn sad; Yet nothing did he dread, but ever was ydrad.* Here is a personification of truth: One day, nigh weary of the irksome way, From her unhasty beast she did alight; And on the grass her dainty limbs did lay In secret shadow, far from all men's sight. From her fair head her fillet she undight, And laid her stole aside! Her angel's face, As the great eye of heaven, shined bright, And made a sunshine in the shady place I Did never mortal eye behold such heavenly grace. The stanza in which the Faerie Queene is written, was invented by Spenser, and is known as the Spenserian. It consists of eight lines of ten syllables each, and one of twelve. The latter line is called an Alexandrine, from a poem written in French on the life of Alexander and entitled the Alexandriad. Despairing of doing anything like justice to Spenser by extracts from his Faerie Queene, I pass to some of his minor poems. Of these, one of the best is the Elpithalamium or Marriage _Hymn. It celebrates his nuptials with an Irish maiden, with whom he fell in love at the solid age of forty-one. He presents it to her " in lieu of many * Dreaded. 68 $MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. ornaments." He calls her " the third Elizabeth," the first being his mother, and the second his queen. This passion had given birth to eighty-eight Amoretti, or love-sonnets, which are among the sweetest ever written. In one of these he says of her name: Most happy letters I fram'd by skillful trade, With which that happy name was first designed, The which three times thrice happy hath me made, With gifts of body, fortune, and of mind. The first my being to me gave by kind, From mother's womb deriv'd by due descent; The second is my sovereign queen most kind, That honour and large richesse to me lent; The third, my love, my life's last ornament, By whom my spirit out of dust was raised, To speak her praise and glory excellent, Of all alive most worthy to be praised. Ye three Elizabeths! for ever live, That three such graces did unto me give. One day I wrote her name upon the strand; But came the waves, and washed it away: Again, I wrote it with a second hand; But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. Vain man, said she, that dost in vain assay A mortal thing so to immortalize; For I myself shall, like to this decay, And eke my name be wiped out likewise! Not so, quoth I; let baser things devise To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: My verse your virtues rare shall eternize, And in the heavens write your glorious name; Where, when as death shall all the world subdue, Our love shall live, and later life renew. The marriage hymn is conceded to be a masterpiece, the best of the kind in our language. The cool and judicious Hallam pronounces it " an intoxication of ecstasy, ardent, pure, and noble." Instead of a fragment from The.Faerie Queene I have preferred to give this Epithalamnium. Spenser was married in 1594. In 1596, he published, besides the fourth, fifth, and sixth books of The Faerie Queene, four noble hymns in honor of love and beaulty. In 1597, he was appointed sheriff of Cork. We are not accustomed to think of the mild bard as an officer of justice, having to deal with stiff-necked and irascible " Corkonians "; but there is reason to believe he was faithful and efficient. We know from his prose work that he was in favor of " thorough " measures. A happy future now seemed to stretch out before him. In the prime of life, honored by men like Raleigh, favored by the queen, happy in his marriage, blest with beautiful children, dwelling in a romantic and charming country, receiving a sufficient income, confessedly the first of living poets,-well might he thank God and take courage. But " Let no man be called happy till his death! " In October, 1598, the insurgent Irish gained the victory of Blackwater. By-and-by they pushed on to expel all Englishmen. They fell on the poet-sheriff like lightning. In a moment Kilcolman was shattered and desolate. In the terror and haste of flight, Spenser's infant child was left behind, and perished in the blazing pile. The exquisite sensibilities of the father were lacerated beyond endurance. In three months he died of a broken heart. His last hours were embittered by poverty; but when it was known that the great EDIUND SPENSER. 69 poet was dead, a large concourse of the learned and noble gathered to honor his remains. A splendid funeral was arranged at the expense of the Earl of Essex. Brother poets bore his pall, each casting into the grave mourning verses and the pen that wrote them. In Westminster Abbey, near the spot where the body of Chaucer had been laid two hundred years before, the form of Spenser mouldered to dust. On his monument we read, " Here lyes (expecting the second comminge of our Saviour Jesus) the body of Edmond Spenser, the Prince of Poets in his tyme, whose divine spirit needs noe othir witnesse then the works which he left behinde him. He was borne in London, in the yeare 1553, and died in the yeare 1598." " In person, Spenser was small and delicate, and in his dress precise, as became a man of taste. His face, well known from several portraits, has all the sweetness and delicacy that we require as accordant with the tone of his poetry. The mild, almondshaped eye, brow slightly elevated, the mouth compressed just enough to suggest the idea that there was felt some need of patience, give an impression of dreamy repose not without pensiveness. The forehead is lofty, but'less expanded than that of Shakespeare or Milton; and the whole countenance indicative more of an exalted tone than of great force of character." Beauty, rather than sublimity, characterizes his writings. A mellow light plays over his pages, gilding or coloring all; but it never becomes lightning. The dreamy music, the sensuous sweetness that cloys, are indeed sometimes succeeded by stirring tones; but it is ever a flute and not a trumpet that is blown. The stream of his poetry goes on forever, but it is the Mulla, and not Niagara. Yet he will always be read, for his transparent style; the inexhaustible fertility of his fancy; the wondrous stores of learning transmuted into unbroken melody; and the purity, gentleness, and piety stamped upon every page. Consult Hillard's edition of Spenser's Poems; Taine's Engflish Literature, Hart's Essay on Spenser and the Faerie Qzeeene; Warton on Spenser; Allibone's Dictionary of Authors; Campbell's Specimens of British Poets; Hallam's Literature of Europe; D'Israeli's Amnenities of Literature, 2d vol.; the works on English Literature of Craik, Collier, Angus, Chambers, Cleveland, Shaw, Arnold, Spalding, Day, Gilman, and Hart. See also Efncyclopedia Britannica, Newo Amnerican Cyclopedia, and Motley's Rise of the Dutch Republic. Collect other facts in regard to Spenser. E P I T A L A M I U M.* 1. Ye learned sisters, which have oftentimes Been to me aiding, others to adorn Whom ye thought worthy of your graceful rhymes, That even the greatest did not greatly scorn To hear their names sung in your simple lays, But joyed in their praise; And when ye list your own mishaps to mourn Which death, or love, or fortune's wreck did raise, * Epithalamium (Gr. reri, upon; 0 oaAaXo, bridal chamber, marriage), marriage hymn. The bride's name was Elizabeth. —Sisters. These were the nine Miuses, Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania, daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne (memory). They were supposed to make Mount Helicon their home. They are " personifications of the inventive powers of the mind as displayed in the several arts." As deities they were believed to inspire poets. Hence the invocations with which Homer, Virgil, and others begin their poems. See the four stanzas prefixed to the first book of the Faerie Queene; also, the beginning of the Paradise Lost.-Which have, who have. Which was formerly used of persons. It is A. S. hzuylic, fr. hwa, who, and lie, like. Note that " throughout the Indo-European languages, the interrogative or relative idea is expressed by k, or a modification of k." E. g., qu, in Lat. qui, who; quot, how many; hu or h, as who, why, howzu K6oo-o, how much, etc. See p. 43.-That even, so that even. What kind of feet in these lines? 70 MASTERPIECES IN ENSGLISH LITERAT URE. Your string could soon to sadder tenor* turn, And teach the woods and waters to lament Your doleful dreariment, — Now lay those sorrowful complaints aside, And, having all your heads with girlands crowned, Help me mine own love's praises to resound; Ne let the same of any be envied. So Orpheus, for his bride; So I, unto myself alone, will sing; The woods shall to me answer, and my echo ring. 2. Early, before the world's light-giving lamp His golden beam upon the hills doth spread, Having dispersed the night's uncheerful damp, Do ye awake; and, with fresh lustyhead, Go to the bower of my beloved love, My truest turtle dove; Bid her awake; for Hymen is awake, And long since ready forth his mask to move With his bright tead that flames with many a flake, And many a bachelor to wait on him In their fresh garments trim. Bid her awake, therefore, and soon her dight; For, lo! the wished day is come at last, That shall, for all the pains and sorrows past, Pay to her usury of long delight: And whilst she doth her dight, Do ye to her of joy and solace sing, That all the woods may answer, and your echo ring. 3. Bring with you all the nymphs that you can hear, Both of the rivers and the forests green, And of the sea that neighbors to her near; All with gay garlands goodly well beseen. * Tenor, purport. (Lat. tenor, a holding on in a continued course; fr. tenire, to hold.)Dreariment, heaviness, sorrow, dreariness. A. S. dreorig, bloody, sorrowful; Ger, traurig, sad. Note the alliteration in these lines and throughout the poem.-Girlands (It. ghirlanda, fr. root meaning to twist, O. Ger, wieren, to twist; Fr. girande, girandole; Gr. yvpoe, circle; Lat. gyrare, to turn round in a circle), garlands, wreaths. —Orpheus, a mythical Greek hero, noted for his miraculous skill in playing upon the lyre. He was the husband of Eurydice, who, bitten by a serpent, passed down to Hades. To recover her, Orpheus followed, and by his wonderful music entranced the inhabitants of that shadowy realm, and gained permission from Pluto to bring her back. See Class. Dictionary.-Lustyhead (lusty, strong; *head, hood, state. See womanhead, Index), lustiness, vigor. See lusty, Index.-Hymen (Gr.'Y/7jv, god of marriage; Lat. Hymen), a supposed deity, said by some to have been the offspring of the heavenly muse Urania; by others, the son of Bacchus and Venus. He presided over marriages. The Latin poets picture him. in a yellow robe, his temples wreathed with marjoram, his locks dropping with perfume, a nuptial torch in his hand.-Tead (Lat. taeda, torch; Gr. eats, 8as), a torch.Bachelor. See Index.-Dight, array, adorn. See Index.-Usury, a large premium, abundant interest.-Nymphs (Gr. v,4xo(h, a veiled one, a bride), nymphs, goddesses of mountains, woods, meadows, or waters (called, respectively, orecddes, dryddes, limzoniddes, ssaiddes). The word is akin to Lat. nubo, nubere, to wear the bridal veil, to le a bride. —Naeighbors (A. S. neah, nigh; gebdr, a dweller, boor; boor meaning originally a rustic), dwells near, is a neighbor. —Beseen, adapted, adjusted. See byseye, p. 50. EDMUND SPENSER. 71 And let them also with them bring in hand Another gay garland For my fair love, of lilies and of roses, Bound true-love-wise, * with a blue silk riband; And let them make great store of bridal posies, And let them eke bring store of other flowers To deck the bridal bowers; And let the ground whereas her foot shall tread, For fear the stones her tender foot should wrong, Be strewed with fragrant flowers all along, And diapered like the discolored mead. Which done, do at her chamber door await, For she will waken straight. The whiles do ye this song unto her sing, The woods shall to you answer, and your echo ring. 4. Ye nymphs of Mulla, which with careful heed The silver scaly trouts do tend full well, And greedy pikes which use therein to feedThose trouts and pikes all others do excelAnd ye likewise which keep the rushy lake Where none do fishes take; Bind up the locks, the which hang scattered light, And in his waters, which your mirror make, Behold your faces as the crystal bright; That, when you come whereas my love doth lie, No blemish she may spy. And eke, ye light-foot maids, which keep the deer That on the hoary mountains use to tower; And the wild wolves, which seek them to devour, With your steel darts do chase from coming near; Be also present here, To help to deck her, and to help to sing, That all the woods may answer, and your echo ring. 5. Wake now, my love, awake! for it is time. * True-love-wise, inz thefashion of a true-love knot; i. e., with many involutions, the emblem of intertwined affections.-Blue silk. Why blue? See azure, Index.-Posies (Gr. 7roirotg, a making, composing; fr. 7roteev, to make; Lat. poesis, composition, poesy; whence posy, a verse made up for the occasion, a motto sent with lowers, or engraved on a ring), nosegays accompanied with mottoes, bouquets.-Whereas, where.-Diapered (Lat. Jaspis, a greenl-colored precious stone; Gr. iac7it; Fr. diacpri, marbled, variegated), diversified wit7s colors.-Straight (A. S. streht, past part. of A. S streccan, to stretch, extend), directly, strairghtway.-lM9ulla, a river running through the estate that Qleen Elizabeth granted to Spenser, situated in the county of Cork, Ireland. The lake, mentioned five lines later, lay just south of Kilcolman Castle, Spenser's residence, and about two miles from Doneraile.-Scattered light, scattered lightly, or loosely floating.-Come whereas, come where.-Use (Lat. uti. to lfse; usus, use), are wont.Tower (A. S. torr; Lat. tucrris; Gr. rtpacrS; Fr. tour; Ger. thlrm; a tower), soar, tower, climb high.-Wolves (Mceso-Goth. wulfs; A. S. wulf; D. wolf; Ger. wolf; Dan. ulv; Sw. uif; Ice. ulfr; Lat. vullpes. The last word sigaifiesfox). Is the change of p tof, in Lat. vulpes and Eng. wolf, in accordance with Grimm's Law? 7a2 JiIZMASTERPIECES IN ENXGLSH LITERAATURE. The rosy morn long since left Tithon's* bed All ready to her silver coach to climb; And Phoebus'gins to show his glorious head. Hark how the cheerful birds do chant their lays, And carol of Love's praise! The merry lark her matins sings aloft, The thrush replies, the mavis descant plays, The ouzel shrills, the ruddock warbles soft; So goodly all agree with sweet consent To this day's merriment. Ah, my dear love, why do ye sleep thus long, When meeter were that ye should now awake To await the coming of your joyous make, And hearken to the birds' love-learned song The dewy leaves among? For they of joy and pleasaunce to you sing, That all the woods them answer, and their echo ring. 6. My love is now awake out of her dream; And her fair eyes, like stars that dimmed were With darksome clouds, now show their goodly beams More bright than Hesperus his head doth rear. Come now, ye damsels, daughters of delight, Help quickly her to dight. But first come ye fair Hours, which were begot In Jove's sweet paradise of day and night; Which do the seasons of the world allot, And all that ever in this world is fair, Do make and still repair. And ye three handmaids of the Cyprian queen, The which do still adorn her beauty's pride, * Tithon, Tithonus, husband of Aurora, the morn. She was a goddess; he, a man. In youth he was wondrously beautiful, and she, becoming enamored, obtained immortality for him from Jove, but forgot to ask perpetual youth. So he grew old and shrivelled, and finally became a cicada, or locust. Aurora is represented as a nymph crowned with flowers, with a star above her head, a torch in one hand, in the other roses, which she scatters as she stands in her chariot drawn by winged steeds. According to Prof. Max Miller, Tithonus (from v(or-KW, rTOvflKa, I die) signifies the dying day.-Coach (Gr. K6yXC, a muscle, a cockle; Lat. conchla, a muscle-shell; Fr., Sp., coche; It. cocca, a vessel), c chariot, coach.-Pheebus (Gr. Conposg, the shiling one, Apollo), the sun-god. —ravis, the song thrush. —Ouzel, the bird known as the water-ouzel, or dipper.Shrills, utters a shrill note. —Ruddock (A. S. rudduc; W. rleTddog, having a redness, the redbreast; A. S. rudu, redness; rud, red; Gr. OpvOpie; Lat. raber; Ger. rotlh; Fr. rouge. See Grimm's law), redbreast. —Meeter, nzore meet, fitter.-M-ake, mate, consort. See Index.-H-esperus (Gr. Er-Trepog; Lat. Vesper), the eve/ning, evening star.-Hours (Gr. e2paL; Lat. forde), the Hours, or Seasons. They were three in number; though some name seven; others, ten: and later poets, twelve. Daughters of Jupiter and Themis (goddess of Justice and Law), they had charge of the gates of heaven, and presided over justice, peace, and order.-Jove (Gr. Zevs, Aisr, root hSf; Lat. divus, diovis, Jovis; Lith. devas; Lat. deus; Sans. dyo, dyu, the sky; akin to O. Eng. Tuisco), Jupiter, the supreme deity of the Romans, father of gods and men.-Cyprian queen, Venues, goddess of love and beauty, the Aphrodite of the Greeks. She sprang from the sea-foam near Cythera (now Cerigo). The soft west wind wafted her to Cyprus, where the goldfilleted Seasons received her. clothing her with immortal garments, and adorning her with a golden wreath, rings, and chains. She was worshipped chiefly at Cyprus and Cythera.-Handmaids, the three Graces, young and beautiful sisters, attendants of Venus. Their names were Aglcaia (brightness), Etuphrosyne (gladness), and Thalia (bloom). They may be regarded as "an aesthetic conception of all that is beautiful in the physical as well as in the social world' EDMIUND SPENSER. 73 Help to adorn my beautifulest bride; And as ye her array, still throw between Some graces to be seen; And, as ye use to Venus, to her sing; The whiles the woods shall answer, and your echo ring. 7. Now is my love all ready forth to come. Let all the virgins therefore well await; And ye fresh boys, that tend upon her groom,* Prepare yourselves, for he is coming straight. Set all your things in seemly good array Fit for so joyful day, The joyfulest day that ever sun did see. Fair sun! show forth thy favorable ray, And let thy lifeful heat not fervent be, For fear of burning her sunshiny face, I-er beauty to disgrace. O fairest Phoebus! father of the Muse! If ever I did honor thee aright, Or sing the thing that mote thy mind delight, Do not thy servant's simple boon refuse. But let this day, let this one day be mine: Let all the rest be thine. Then I thy sovereign praises loud will sing, That all the woods shall answer, and their echo ring. 8. Hark! how the minstrels'gin to shrill aloud Their merry music, that resounds from far, The pipe, the tabor, and the trembling crowd, That well agree withouten breach or jar. But most of all the damsels do delight, When they their timbrels smite, And thereunto do dance and carol sweet, That all the senses they do ravish quite; The whiles the boys run up and down the street, Crying aloud with strong confused noise, As if it were one voice. "Hymen! IO! Hymen! Hymen!" they do shout, That even to the heavens their shouting shrill Doth reach, and all the firmament doth fill; * Groom (Lat. homo, man; hutmants, of man; hzmnzts, ground; A. S. and Goth. yuma, man; Scot. grome, man, lover), brideclroom.-Lifeful, full of life, life-givinq. See lives, Index. Full is Gr. 7rkX0 in,riTrkqun, to fill; Lat. ple-suis, full; Ger. voll; A. SS. and Sw. full; Goth. fulls; A. S. fyllan, to fill; Ger.fillen. See Grimm's Law. —Shrill (Sw. skr'lla; Ger. schrillez), to utter in a sharp, shrill tone.-Tabor, a small drum. Fr. tambour; Ar. and Per. tumzblr, tambuir, a lute or guitar.-Crowd (Ir. and Gael. cruit; W. crwth), an ancient instrument of music with six strings, a kind of violin.-Withouten (0. Eng., fr. A. S. widh, with, and etan, out; widhitan), without. See Index.-The whiles, the intervening time, meanwhile, while. See the while, Index.-HEymen! Io!!Iymen! Hymen! Huzza / Hymen! Part of a Lat. song. See Index. `74 A MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERA TURE. To which the people, standing all about, As in approvance, do thereto applaud, And loud advance her laud.* And evermore they " Hymen! Hymen! " sing, That all the woods them answer, and their echo ring. 9. Lo! where she comes along with portly pace, Like Phcebe, from her chamber in the east, Arising forth to run her mighty race, Clad all in white, that seems a virgin best. So well it her beseems that you would ween Some angel she had been. Her long loose yellow locks like golden wire, Sprinkled with pearl, and pearling flowers atween, Do like a golden mantle her attire; And being crowned with a girland green, Seem like some virgin queen. Her modest eyes, abashed to behold So many gazers as on her do stare, Upon the lowly ground affixed are; Ne dare lift up her countenance too bold, But blush to hear her praises sung so loud, So far from being proud. Natheless do ye still loud her praises sing, That all the woods may answer, and your echo ring. 10. Tell me, ye merchants' daughters, did ye see So fair a creature in your town before? So sweet, so lovely, and so mild as she, Adorned with beauty's grace and virtue's store? Her goodly eyes like sapphires shining bright, Her forehead ivory white, Her cheeks like apples which the sun hath rudded, Her lips like cherries charming men to bite, Her bosom like a bowl of cream uncrudded, Her breasts like lilies budded, Her snowy neck like to a marble tower, And all her body like a palace fair, * Laud (Lat. laus, laczlis, praise; Fr. louer?, to praise),praise.-Portly (Lat. portare; Fr. porter, to carry; port, carriage), dignified, noble.-Phcabe (fem. of Phzebus, for which see st. 5), the moon goddess, Diana.-Seems, beseems, befits.-Long, loose, etc. Note the alliteration, a subject well worthy of investigation. See the various treatises on Rhetoric. The comparison of a lady's auburn locks to golden wire is a favorite one with Spenser. Thus he says of Queen Elizabeth, in the Faerie Queene, Book iI., canto iii., stanza 30:' Her yellow locks, crisped like golden wire." This simile seems to suggest Queen Elizabeth, who is mentioned four lines later.Girland. See st. 1. —Ne, nor, not.-Natheless, nevertheless. (Index.)-Ivory white. So in Faerie Qzteene, Book ii., canto iii., stanzae 24: " Her ivory forehead."-Rudded, made red. See ruddoclk, st. 5.-Uncrudded (Scot. cruzd; Gael. grutth; Ir. gruth, cruth, curd; Ir. cruthaim, I milk), uncurdled. This description of his bride is strikingly like that contained in his Sonnets, LXIV., LXXXI. EDMUND SPENSER. 75 Ascending up with many a stately stair, To honor's seat and chastity's sweet bower. Why stand ye still, ye virgins, in amaze, Upon her so to gaze, Whiles ye forget your former lay to sing, To which the woods did answer and your echo ring? 11. But if ye saw that which no eyes can see, The inward beauty of her lovely spright, Garnished with heavenly gifts of high degree, Much more then would ye wonder at that sight, And stand astonished, like to those which read * Medusa's mazeful head. There dwells sweet love, and constant chastity, Unspotted faith, and comely womanhood, Regard of honor, and mild modesty; There virtue reigns as queen in royal throne, And giveth laws alone, The which the base affections do obey, And yield their services unto her will; Ne thought of things uncomely ever may Thereto approach, to tempt her mind to ill. Had ye once seen these her celestial treasures And unrevealed pleasures, Then would ye wonder, and her praises sing, That all the woods should answer, and your echo ring. 12. Open the temple gates unto my love! Open them wide that she may enter in; And all the posts adorn as doth behove, And all the pillars deck with girlands trim, For to receive this saint with honor due That cometh in to you. With trembling steps and humble reverence She cometh in, before the Almighty's view! Of her, ye virgins, learn obedience, When so ye come into those holy places, To humble your proud faces. Bring her to the high altar, that she may The sacred ceremonies there partake, The which do endless matrimony make; And let the roaring organs loudly play * Which read, uwho perused; who attentively obseerved. — edusa, one of the three Gorgons. One legend malkes her to have anciently been beautiful, and to have fascinated Neptune; but Minerva, angry because the lovers met in her temple, changed Medusa's locks into serpents, and made her head so horrible that whoever set eyes on it was instantly changed to stone. This head was cut off by the hero Perseus, and fixed upon the centre of Minerva's egis or shield.-The which, which.-Ne, no, nor, not. Holy places, temples. T6 MAS TEPIECES IiV ElGLISH LITERA T URE. The praises of the Lord in lively notes; The whiles with hollow throats, The choristers the joyous anthem sing, That all the world may answer, and their echo ring. 13. Behold, whiles she before the altar stands, Hearing the holy priest, that to her speaks, And blesseth her with his two happy hands, How the red roses flush up in her cheeks, And the pure snow, with goodly vermeil, stain, Like crimson dyed in grain! That even the angels, which continually About the sacred altar do remain, Forget their service and about her fly, Oft peeping in her face, that seems more fair The more they on it stare. But her sad eyes, still fastened on the ground, Are governed with goodly modesty, That suffers not one look to glance awry, Which may let in a little thought unsound. Why blush ye, love, to give to me your hand, The pledge of all our band! Sing, ye sweet angels! Alleluia sing! That all the woods may answer, and your echo ring. 14. Now all is done, bring home the bride again. Bring home the triumph of our victory: Bring home with you the glory of her gain; With joyance bring her and with jollity. Never had man more joyful day than this, Whom Heaven would heap with bliss: Make feast, therefore, now all this live-long day: This day to me forever holy is. Pour out the wine without restraint or stay; Pour not by cups, but by the bellyful; Pour out to all that wull, And sprinkle all the posts and walls with wine, That they may sweat and drunken be withall. * lHollow throats, wide-open throrats.-Happy hands. This is, perhaps, the finest passage in the poem. The whole stanza is well conceived and exquisitely expressed. The very hands of the priest are conscious of joy!-Vermeil (Lat. vermis, a worm, fr. verters, to turn, to wind; vermicnlu8s, a little worm; Fr. versmel, a little worm that furnishes the scarlet color), ver~milion, a bright red.-Grain (Lat. gran2sm, a crain, seed, kernel), a reddish dye made from the coccus insect. or kermes. Dyed in grain, dyed with the tint made from grain; dyed firmly; dyed in the wool or raw material.-Alleluia (Heb. lhalelu, praise; yah, Jehovah; hallelujah, praise ye Jehovah).-Pour not by cups, etc. The stupid custom, now happily obsolescent, of swilling down wine at weddings, is of great antiquity.-Wull, will. See wolde, Index. EDMJrUND SPENSER. 77 Crown ye God Bacchus* with a coronal, And Hymen also crown with wreaths of vine; And let the Graces dance unto the rest, For they can do it best: The whiles the maidens do their carol sing, To which the woods shall answer, and their echo ring. 15. Ring ye the bells, ye young men of the town, And leave your wonted labors for this day: This day is holy: Do ye write it down, That ye forever it remember may. This day the sun is in its chiefest height With Barnaby the bright, From whence declining daily by degrees, He somewhat loseth of his heat and light, When once the crab behind his back he sees. But for this time it ill ordained was, To choose the longest day in all the year, And shortest night, when longest fittest were. Yet never day so long but it would pass. Ring ye the bells, to make it wear away, And bonefires make all day, And dance about them, and about them sing, That all the woods may answer, and your echo ring. 16. Ah! when will this long weary day have end And lend me leave to come unto my love? How slowly do the hours their number spend! How slowly does sad time his feathers move! Haste thee, O fairest planet, to thy home Within the western foam! Thy tired steeds long since have need of rest. Long though it be, at last I see it gloom, And the bright evening star with golden creast Appear out of the east. Fair child of beauty! Glorious lamp of love! That all the host of heaven in ranks dost lead, And guidest lovers through the night's sad dread, * Bacchus, the god of wine. He is said to have taught men how to cultivate the vine and spoil grapes by turning them into an intoxicating drink.-Graces, the three handmaids of the Cyprian queen, Aylaia, Etphtrosy/ne, and Thalia. See handmaids, Index, Lat. Gratice.Chiefest height. St. Barnabas' Day was June 22 (June 11, 0. S.), 1594. This, then, was the marriage day of Spenser. About this time the sun reaches the solstice. Who is Barnaby? See Acts xiv., 12.-Crab (Gr. cApapog; CapPKivo; ID. krab, A. S. crabba, a crab), Cancer, one of the twelve signs of the zodiac, somewhat resembling a crab in form, and denoting the northern limit of the sun's course in summer. The sun enters it about.the 21st or 22d of June, the longest day of the year.-Bonefires (W. bdn, high; ban-fag4, a lofty blaze; or fr. Fr. bon, Lat. bonus, good; or fr. Dan. baun, a beacon; Gr. 7rrp, fire; Lan,pyra, A. S.fyr; Ger. feter; Fr. feu. See Grimm's Law), bonfires.-Planret (Gr. rrAavado, I wander; 7rXavrrlnq; Lat. planqta, a wandering body), the suna.-Creast (Lat. crescre, to grow; Lat. crista; A. S. crdsta; Fr. eerte), crest. 78 MASTERPIEES -IN ENGLISH LITERA TURE. How cheerfully thou lookest from above And seemst to laugh atween* thy twinkling light, As joying in the sight Of these glad many, which for joy do sing, That all the woods them answer, and their echo ring! 17. Now cease, ye damsels, your delights forepast; Enough it is that all the day was yours. Now day is done and night is nighing fast; Now bring the bride into the bridal bowers. The night is come; now soon her disarray, And in her bed her lay; Lay her in lilies and in violets, And silken curtains over her display, And ordered sheets and arras coverlets. Behold, how goodly fair my love does lie In proud humility! Like unto Maia, whenas Jove her took In Tempe, lying on the flowery grass'Twixt sleep and wake, after she weary was With bathing in the Acidalian brook. Now it is night, ye damsels may be gone And leave my love alone, And leave likewise your former lay to sing. The woods no more shall answer, nor your echo ring. 19. Let no lamenting cries, nor doleful tears Be heard all night within, nor yet without. Ne let false whispers, breeding hidden fears, Break gentle sleep with misconceived doubt. Let no deluding dreams, nor dreadful sights Make sudden sad affrights. Ne let house fires, nor lightning's helpless harms, Ne let the ponke nor other evil sprites Ne let mischievous witches with their charms, Ne let hob-goblins, names whose sense we see not, * Atween, between. A, as a prefix, is explained subsequently. See apace, Index. Tween is A. S. twegan, tweonan, twa; Gr. F6EZ, Lat, duo, two; Ger. zwei.-N-ighing, approaching. See neighbors, Index.-Arras (so called because first made at Arras in France in the 14th century), tapestry, or hangings for rooms; woven stuffs decorated with a simple pattern.Ma1ia, one of the Pleiades, daughter of Atlas. She became the mother of Mercury.-Tempe, a most delightful vale in ancient Thessaly.-Acidalian, belonging to Acidalia, a fountain at Orchomenus, in ancient Bceotia. This fountain was sacred to Venus, and in it the Graces were wont to bathe.-Ponke (an erroneous form of pouke, for puck; Scot. puck; Sw. puke, a nocturnal demon), Puck, Robin Goodfellow, a merry fiend in Shakespeare's Mitdsummer Night's Dream; called also Pug, Friar Rush, etc., in old ballads and legends.-Sprites (Lat. spiritus, breath, spirit; from spiro, to breathe), spirits, ghosts, apparitions.-Hl-Iobgoblin (Hob, abbreviated from Robin or Robin Goodfellow; goblin fr. Gr. K6iaXos; L. Lat. gobelinus, knave; Ger. kobold, knave, evil spirit; Eng. cobalt, the poisonous and troublesome metal), phantom, hobgoblin.-Mischievous. Ace. 2d syl. " This accentuation is still sometimes heard, though it is obsolescent." Corson. EDMUND SPENSER. 79 Fray us * with things that be not. Let not the screech-owl nor the stork be heard, Nor the night raven, that still deadly yells; Nor damned ghosts, called up with mighty spells, Nor grisly vultures, make us once afeard. Ne let the unpleasant choir of frogs still croaking Make us to wish they're choking! Let none of these their dreary accents sing; Ne let the woods them answer, nor their echo ring. 20. But let still Silence true night-watches keep, That sacred Peace may in assurance reign, And timely Sleep, when it is time to sleep, May pour his limbs forth on your pleasant plain; The whiles an hundred little winged Loves, Like divers-feathered doves, Shall fly and flutter round about the bed, And, in the secret dark that none reproves, Their pretty stealths shall work, and snares shall spread To filch away sweet snatches of delight, Concealed through covert night. Ye sons of Venus, play your sports at will; For greedy Pleasure, careless of your toys, Thinks more upon her paradise of joys Than what ye do, albeit good or ill. All night therefore, attend your merry play, For it will soon be day. Now none doth hinder you, that say or sing; Ne will the woods now answer, nor your echo ring. 21. Who is the same, which at my window peeps? Or whose is that fair face that shines so bright? Is it not Cynthia, she that never sleeps, But walks about high heaven all the night? O fairest goddess, do not thou envy My love with me to spy! * * - d * * X * * * 22. And thou, great Juno, which with awful might The laws of wedlock still dost patronize; And the religion of the faith first plight With sacred rites hast taught to solemnize, ~ Fray us (affray, frighten; Fr. ef'rayer, to scare; Lat. frigus, cold, a cold shudder; Gr. iytLov, colder, more awful, more chilling with fear), frighten us. —Afeard (A. S. af eran, fteran, to frighten; faran, to impress fear), afraid.-Choking! Is it possible that Spenser ventures to be facetious?-Sons of Venus. Cupids. Simonides makes Eros or Cupido (Love) to have been the son of Venus and Mars.-Albeit (all be it, i. e., be it all, grant that it is all so), although, whether it be.-Cynthia, the same as Pheebe, st. 9.-Juno, wife of Jove. So MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. And eke for comfort often called art * Of women in their smart, Eternally bind thou this lovely band, And all thy blessings unto us impart. * * * * $ * * * * * And thou, fair Hebe, and thou Hymen free, Grant that it may so be. Till which we cease your further praise to sing; Ne any woods shall answer, nor your echo ring. 23. And ye high heavens, the temple of the gods, In which a thousand torches flaming bright Do burn, that to us wretched earthly clods In dreadful darkness lend desired light; And all ye powers which in the same remain, More than we men can feign; Pour out your blessing on us plenteously, And happy influence upon us rain, That we may raise a large posterity, Which from the earth, which they may long possess With lasting happiness, Up to your haughty palaces may mount; And for the guerdon of their glorious merit, May heavenly tabernacles there inherit, Of blessed saints for to increase the count. So let us rest, sweet love, in hope of this, And cease till then our timely joys to sing; The woods no more us answer, nor our echo ring. Song! made in lieu of many ornaments, With which my love should duly have been declt, Which cutting off through hasty accidents, Ye would not stay your due time to expect, But promised both to recompense; RBe unto her a goodly ornament, And for short time an endless monument! * Called art of, art called by.-Hebe (Gr. Hulv, youth), iebe, goddess of youth, daughter of Jupiter.-Clods (A. S. clud, rock, stone; Ger. closz, clod, clump), lumps of earth or turf; dolts, gross or stupid fellows.-Influence (Lat. influere, to flow upon). This word carries us hack to astrology. It was believed that the stars shed forth a mysterious and mighty power, which flowed down upon men and controlled their dispositions and destinies. One born under the influence of Jupiter (i. e., when this planet was high in heaven), would be jovial; born under that of Mercury, he would be mzercurial; under Saturn, saturnine, etc.-Haughty (Lat. altus, high; alere, to nourish, feed; Fr. haut, high; formed fr. O. Fr. hault, halt), high, lofty.Guerdon (O. Fr. guerdon, guerredon; *er. wider, again, and Lat. donum, gift; or fr. 0. Ger. widarlin. recompense; A. S. widherlean), reward.-Tabernacles (Lat. tabula, a board, plank; Lat. taberna, a hut, a shed, a slightly built habitation), tents, temples, mansions. EDMUND SPENSER. 81 Write a brief life of Spenser; an essay on his office-seeking; on his moral character; on his poetic genius; on the literary activity of the Elizabethan age; on the Faerie Queene; on this marriage hymn; on alliteration in poetry; on the changes in the English language between the times of Chaucer and Spenser; on the Spenserian stanza; on Spenser's connection with Sidney and Raleigh. Write some account of Robin Hood. (See Scott's Ivanhoe; Prof. F. J. Child's Introduction to 5th vol. Eng. and Scot. Ballads; Ritson's Robin Hood, a Collection, etc.). Write an essay on Astrology; one on the long-prevalent superstitions in regard to fairies, hobgoblins, etc.; one on the characters from heathen mythology named in this poem. 6 82 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. ORTHOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS. For orthographic analysis, which treats of the representatives or signs of sounds, the student must understand and give the classifications of letters, the power or sound of each letter or combination of letters, and the equivalent letters (i. e., those used to express the same sound). He should also apply the principles of syllabication. These particulars are discussed with tolerable fulness in works on etymology, grammars, spelling-books, and the preliminary treatises in the large dictionaries. The teacher should see to it that the student forms the habit of original investigation by industriously consulting books' of reference. The mode of orthographic analysis may be illustrated by the following. EXAMPLE. " Song made in lieu of many ornaments." S is a surd sibilant consonant, representing a phonetic element (No. 31, p. 60). Its normal force is a hissing sound, as in siss. It has sometimes the sound of z, as in reason; of sh, as in sutre; of zh, as in pleasure; and is sometimes silent, as in island. Its form, somewhat modified, is found in the Anglo-Saxon, Greek, and Latin. (But see Liddell & Scott's Greek-English Lexicon, revised edition.) It has, for an equivalent, c, before e, i, and y. 0 is a vowel, representing a phonetic element (No. 7, p. 59). Its normal force is the sound of o in go. It has also the sound of o in not, of Ui in won, oo in two. Its form is found in the Anglo-Saxon, Greek, and Latin. It has for its equivalents, in the sound here represented, au, aw, awe, al, o, oa, ou; as in Paul, law, awe, talk, or, broad, fought. N is a nasal liquid consonant, representing, when alone, a phonetic element (No. 38, p. 61). It is silent when preceded in the same syllable by m or 1. Its form is found in the Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and, as a capital letter, in the Greek. It has no equivalent. Here it is taken to form in combination with g a single sound. G is a palatal mute consonant, representing, when alone, and as its normal force, a sonant phonetic element (No. 28, p. 60). It often has, also, before e, i, or y, the sound of j, as in gen, and is silent before m or n in the same syllable. Its exact form is from the Latin, and is not found in the Anglo-Saxon nor the Greek. (See G and C in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.) The combination, ng, is a compound sign, representing a single nasal-guttural consonant element (No. 36, p. 61). As such it has no equivalent. Let the student go through the whole line in like manner. Occasional exercises of this kind should be assigned by the teacher. See Blair's Latin Pronrunciation; Max Miiller's Science of Language, Second Series; Marsh's Lectures on the English Language; the Latin Grammars of Madvig, Zumpt, Allen and Greenough; Fowler's large English Grammar, etc. Write an essay on the original sounds and shapes of the vowels; one on those of the mute consonants; one on the other letters. I'i- I..,.'~ FACIS BACON. FR~ANCIS BACON. FRANCIS BACON. 1561-1626. -" Those two incomparable men, the Prince of Poets and the Prince of Philosophers, who made the Elizabethan age a more glorious and important era in the history of the human mind than the age of Pericles, of Augustus, or of Leo."-LoRD MACAULAY. To Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, residing at York House in the Strand, Francis, the youngest of several sons, was born the twentysecond of January, 1561. The mother of Francis was Anne, a very learned and accomplished lady, daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, tutor to Edward I. Sir Nicholas was a man of great business ability, and was noted for his fine personal appearance. Queen Elizabeth was wont to say of him, "My Lord Keeper's soul is well lodged." In childhood Francis exhibited remarkable precocity. On one occasion, when the queen inquired his age, he surprised her by replying, "'I am two years younger than your Majesty's happy reign." Delighted with his wit and gravity, she used to call the boy " My young lord keeper." At thirteen he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he remained three years. Like Milton, he conceived a strong distaste for the curriculum, and especially for the Aristotelian philosophy. We find him at sixteen in Paris, ucnder the care of the English ambassador, Sir Arnias Paulet, where he appears to have lived remarkably free from the vices for which that brilliant capital was then notorious. A passion for rich dress and equipage, and a love of art, beauty, and nmagnificence, seem to have been deeply imbibed at this tifhe. From Paris he went to Poictierls, where he studied hard; investigating, among other subjects, that of Echoes, which had enlisted his attention in childhood, and Cipher-writing. He was already collecting materials for a literary work entitled, Of the State of Euerope. His father suddclnly dying in February, 1579, young Bacon returned home. "I found it necessary," he says, " to think to live, instead of living to think." After in vain soliciting aid from his uncle, Lord Burleigh, who seems to have cherished a mean jealousy of Bacon's superior abilities, which were likely to make him a formidable rival to Burleigh's son, Francis became, in 1580, a student of law in Gray's Inn. In 1586 he became a "Bencher;" in 1588, "Lent Reader;" in 1589, "Counsel Learned Extraordinary to the Queen." In 1591 he endeavored to procure from his powerful uncle some lucrative appointment which should give him means and leisure for philosophical and scientific research. In his letter applying for such a position, he remarks, "Thirty-one years is a great deal of sand in the hour-glass." The Cecils rather stingily procured him the reversion of the Registership of the Star Chamber, worth, whenever it should fall into possession, some ~1,600 a year. Unluckily, the prior occupant stubbornly refused to die, and Bacon had to wait twenty years for the commencement of the receipt of the income. In February, 1592, he took his seat as member of Parliament for Middlesex, making his first speech on the twenty-fifth of that month. On the seventh of March he made another speech of great power, in favor of popular Lights and economical reform. The queen was angered by his bold stand against the encroachments of royalty, and caused her displeasure to be communicated to him through several channels. After this, 84 k MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURlE. Bacon was more cautious. As an orator he received the commendation of old Ben Jonson, who says, "There happened in my time one noble speaker, who was full of gravity in his speaking. His language, where he could spare or pass by a jest, was nobly censorious. No man ever spake more neatly, more pressly, more weightily, or suffered less emptiness, less idleness in what he uttered. No member of his speech but consisted of its own graces. His hearers could not cough or look aside from him without loss. He commanded when he spoke, and had his judges angry and pleased at his devotion. No man had their affections more in his power. The fear of every man that heard him was lest he should make an end." Two great parties at court sought power and royal favor; one was headed by Bacon's uncle and cousin, the Cecils; the other, by the Earl of Essex, step-son of the Earl of Leicester. Bacon allied himself to Essex. The office of Solicitor-General becoming vacant in the spring of 1594, Bacon applied for it. He greatly needed the income, for he was always living beyond his means; in fact, this improvidence was the fountain of most of his subsequent difficulties and sorrows, and a knowledge of his pecuniary embarrassments is the key to the mystelies of his otherwise inexplicable misconduct. Essex exelted himself to the utmost for his friend, but in vain: the office was given to another. Essex now made Bacon a present of an estate at Twickenham, worth ~1,800. To the wayward queen, who had so unreasonably thwarted his wishes, Bacon obsequiously dedicated a treatise, written in 1596, but not published till after his death, on the elements and use of the common law. His object was to establish in this, as in every science, general principles that should diminish labor and be the foundation of discoveries. In 1597 his first publication appeared. It was a small duodecimo volume, con:taining Essays, ten in number, Religious ileditations, and a Taeble of the Colors of Good and Evil. In 1598 appeared another edition; a third, with additions, in 1612; and a fourth in 1625. They were immediately translated into French, Italian, and Latin, and for two hundred and seventy years they have enjoyed an extraordinary degree of popularity. In 1598 he made a strong effort to capture the affections of Lady Hatton, a widow of long purse and sharp tongue; but, fortunately, she was reserved to torment his great rival at the bar, Attorney-General Edward Coke. In the same year he wrote another law treatise, a luminous and profound work on the Statute of Uses. In 1599 he exerted his best endeavors to dissuade Essex from the unfortunate expedition which ultimately proved the ruin of that warm-hearted but reckless and headstrong nobleman. In 1600 it became his official duty to prosecute Essex for disobedience. A severe struggle ensued in Bacon's bleast, but he decided to act against his former benefactor. The trial took place in June. Essex was convicted, suspended from office, and imprisoned during the pleasure of the queen. The fallen favorite soon engaged in his preposterous attempt to capture London and seize the queen. The plot utterly failino, Bacon again prosecuted him, this time for high treason. The trial began February 19, 1601. On the 25th of the same month, the prisoner was beheaded in the Tower. By the queen's command, Bacon wrote an "Account of the Treasonable Practices of Robert, Earl of Essex." On the coronation of King James, May 23, 1603, some three hundred gentlemen were knighted, among whom was Bacon. It is said that his object in seeking- this honor was to gratify the lady whom he married in 1606, Miss Alice, daughter of Alderman Barnham, a Cheapside merchant. In March, 1604, he took his seat as a member of Parliament for Ipswich. He spoke often, sat upon twenty-nine committees, and in six months was appointed " King's Counsel Learned in the Law," with two pensions, of forty and sixty pounds respectively. FRANCIS BA COA.N 85 In 1605 he published his work, On the Proficiency and Advancement of Learning, afterwards enlarged and published in Latin under the title, -De Aigqmientis Scientiarmn, which also is the first part of his gigantic work, Izstauratio Scientiarum, the second part being the Novumn Organuzn. Years before this, he had deliberately written of himself, "I have taken all knowledge to be my province! " In 1607 he became Solicitor-General; in 1612, Judge of the Marshalsea Courts; in 1613, Attorney-General; in 1616, Member of the Privy Council; in 1617, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal; in January, 1618, Lord High Chancellor; in July, 1618, Baron Verulam; and in January, 1619, Viscount St. Albans. He had reached the summit of political distinction; but all such splendor grows pale in the light of his intellectual achievements. In 1620 was published in Latin his Instaweatio flasgna, of which the following synopsis may be given: I. De Aungmyntis Scientiaruym, giving a general summary of human knowledge, taking special notice of gaps and imperfections in science. II. Vovums Oryannem, explaining the inductive method of' reasoning, on which his philosophy is founded. Of the nine sections into which he divides the subject, he fully treats of but one, the rest being only named. III. Sylva Sylvarusm, designed to give a complete View of Natural Philosophy and Natural History. He has discussed but four topics under this head, viz.: the History of Winds, of Life and Death, of Density and Rarity, of Sound and Hearing. IV. Scala Intellectus, of which we have but a few pages, and those introductory. V. Prodromi, of which but a few fragments were composed. VI. Philosophia Secunda, never written. This sketch is colossal. No one man of fewer years than Methuselah could hope to fill out the details of so vast a plan. To have conceived it and to have made so grand a beginning show the grasp of a mig-hty genius. For thirty years he had been climbing, and now, on his sixtieth birthday, which he celebrated with great pomp, he seemed to have reached a higher summit of intellectual and political glory than had fallen to the lot of any other man. But in the twinkling of an eye all was changed. He "Dropped from the zenith like a falling star." Twenty-two distinct charges of bribery and corruption were made against him by the House of Commons in March, 1620. The case being investigated by the House of Lords, he substantially confessed in writing his guilt, and threw himself upon the mercy of his judges. The Lords appointed a comm-ittee to visit him and ask whether it was his own hand that was subscribed to the confession. He replied, " It is my act, my hand, my heart. I beseech your lordships, be merciful to a broken reed." He was fined ~40,000, and sentenced to be imprisoned in the Tower during the king's pleasure, be forever incapable of holding office, and never come within the veroge of the court. King James remitted the fine, and released him from the Tower after two days' imprisonment. Sixty years old, he retired to his country home in Gorhambury. Here he spent the remainder of his life in reading, writing, and in scientific experiments. IHe composed, among other works, at this time, the History of the Reign of K-inqg Henry VII., and the Fable of the 2New Atlantis, and also revised and enlarged his Essays. The last of his literary labors was his Fersion of the Psalms. On the second of April, 1626, as he was riding near Highgate, while the ground was thinly covered with snow, the question occurred to him, whether meat might not be preserved in snow as well as in salt. Alighting, he scooped up a quantity in his hands, and having bought a hare and had it dressed, he himself stuffed and packed it with snow. Extremely chilled, he immediately fell sick, and, being unable to reach 86 MIASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. home, stopped at the house of the Earl of Arundel, where he was put into a damp bed. Violent fever ensued, and on the ninth of April he breathed his last. By his own request, his body was buried in the same grave with his mother's, in St. Michael's Church, near St. Albans. "For my name and memory," he says in his last will, "I leave it to men's charitable speeches, to foreign nations, and to the next ages." See Montagu's Life of Bacon, prefixed to his edition of Bacon's Works; Macaulay's brilliant essay on Bacon; the compilations and treatises of English Literature cited in the case of Spenser, p. 69; the Encyclopedias and Dictionary of Authors, there named; the magazine articles referred to in Poole's Index, title Bacon; and the English Histories that treat of the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. Above all, in regard to Bacon's Essays, see Archbishop Whately's edition, containing that distinguished prelate's Annotations. Whately is one of the most stimulating and healthful of writers. Heard's Student's Edition of Whately, published by Lee & Sheppard, containing a Glossarial Index, should be in every reader's hands. Let not the student accept our statements in regard to Bacon without verifying them. Let him fill out with additional facts the meagre outline we have given. PREFATORY EPISTLE. TO. MR. ANTHONY BACON, HIS DEAR BROTHER. Loving and beloved brother, I do now like some that have an orchard ill-neighbored, that gather their fruit before it is ripe, to prevent stealing. These fragments of my conceits were going to print: to labor the stay of them had been troublesome, and subject to interpretation; to let them pass had been to adventure the wrong they might receive by untrue copies, or by some garnishment, which it might please any that should set them forth to bestow upon them. Therefore I held it best discretion to publish them myself, as they passed long ago from my pen, without any further disgrace than the weakness of the author. And, as I did ever hold there might be as great a vanity in retiring and withdrawing men's conceits (except they be of some nature) from the world as in obtruding them; so in these particulars I have played myself the inquisitor, and find nothing to my understanding in them contrary or infectious to the state of religion or manners, but rather, as I suppose, medicinable. Only I dislike now to put them out, because they will be like the late new halfpence, * which though the silver were good, yet the pieces were small. But since they would not stay with their master, but would needs travel abroad, I have preferred them to you, t that are next myself; dedicating them, such as they are, to our love; in the depth whereof, I assure you, I sometimes wish your infirmities translated upon myself, that her majesty might have the service of so active and able a mind; and I might be with excuse confined to these contemplations and studies, for which I am fittest. So commend I you to the preservation of the Divine Majesty. Your entire loving brother, FRAN. BACON.'romn my Chamber, at Gray's Inn, this 30th of.January, 1597. * Coined in 1582-3, and in circulation till 1601. t I have preferred them to you. I have presented or dedicated them to you. Preferred is Lat. pre, before, forward, akin to pro and prce, Gr. zrp6; Lat.fero, I bring (whence, by Grimm's Law, Eng. bear); Gr. Oepw. F'RANCIS BACON. 87 ESSAYS, CIVIL AND MORAL. OF TRUTH (1625). " What is truth? " * said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer. Certainly there be that delight in giddiness, and count it a bondage to fix a belief; affecting free-will in thinking, as well as in acting. And though the sects of philosophers of that kind be gone, yet there remain certain discoursing wits which are of the same veins, though there be not so much blood in them as was in those of the ancients. But it is not only the difficulty and labor which men take in finding out of truth; nor again, that, when it is found, it imposeth upon men's thoughts, that doth bring lies in favor; but a natural, though corrupt love of the lie itself. One of the later schools of the Grecians examineth the matter, and is at a stand to think what should be in it, that men should love lies, where neither they make for pleasure, as with poets; nor for advantage, as with the merchant; but for the lie's sake. But I cannot tell: this same truth is a naked and open daylight, that doth not show the masques and mummeries, and triumphs of the world, half so stately and daintily as candle-lights. Truth may perhaps come to the price of a pearl, that showeth best by day; but it will not rise to the price of a diamond or carbuncle, that showeth best in varied lights. A mixture of a lie cloth ever add pleasure. Doth any man doubt, that if there were taken out of men's minds vain opinions, flattering hopes, false valuations, imaginations as one would, and the like, but it would leave the * What is truth? John xviii. 38.-Jesting (Lat. gestem, deed, fr. gerlre, to accomplish; O. Fr. geste, exploit; 0. Eng. jest. story of an exploit, good story, joke). Was Pilate jesting?Giddiness (A. S. gidig, dizzy; gyddian, to be giddy), instability. See homeliness, p. 33.Fix a belief, settle upon a belief.-Affecting, aiming at, nmaking a show of.-Discoursing (Lat. dis, in different directions; currere, to run), rambling, disctlrsive, desultory.-Veins (Lat. vena, vein; Fr. veine), tempers, tendencies of disposition.-Blood. Meaning?-Ancients, Democritus and other "laughing philosophers."-Finding out of. Of should be omitted (or the word the inserted before firding).-What should be in it, the hidden cause.-Cannot tell. What? —Masques, plays or festive entertainments in which the company wear masks; masquerades; masks. —Mummeries (Ger. mummerei; Fr. momerie, mummery), farcical shows, maskings, busffooneries.-Triumphs (Lat. triutmphus, a magnificent procession with imposing ceremonies in honor of a victorious general at Rome), stately shows.-Daintily, delicately, elegantly. Either fr. Lat. dignus, worthy; or fr. W. dain, fine, delicate; or possibly fr. Lat. dens; W. dant; Ger. zahn; Gr. 6-8i6v, -86vrT-oe, a tooth. See Grimm's Law.-Carbuncle (Lat. carbo, coal, carbon; carbuncilus, a little coal), a beautiful red gem, that in the sunlight looks like burning coal. —Lie (A. S. lyge; Ger. ltige, lug). —But. After doubt that, but should be omitted.-Imaginations (of things) as one would (like to have them). GRAXIIMATICAL EQUIVALENTS.-Few exercises are more useful in giving a command of language, cultivatinr both fluency and elegance of speech, than the practice of finding equivalent grammatical expressions. He who would become an extemporaneous speaker, can hardly bestow too much time upon it. Even those who have no higher ambition in a rhetorical direction than to converse or write readily and correctly, should make it a daily exercise. The teacher will do well to give a few minutes' drill in it, if practicable, as an accompaniment to the recitations in Grammar, Composition. Rhetoric, Logic, and English Literature. We give a few illustrations, but the instructor should take paizs to supplement and continue the work by a multitude of similar exercises, and should always teach the pupil to choose wisely among the equivalents. For convenience, the expressions which we select for the pupil to translate into other language, are placed at the bottom of the successive pages of the extracts from Bacon. Affecting free-will in thinking = aiming at freedom of thought = desiring to attain intellectual freedom = endeavoring after intellectual liberty = striving to be free in thoughtsolicitous to be intellectually free, etc. Discoursing wits = discursive wits = rambling wits = ingenious minds given to discourse = subtle intellects fond of light speculation, etc. It imposeth upon men's thoughts = it lays restraint upon men's thoughts = it puts restrictions upon men's thoughts = it puts bounds to the license of speculation, etc. imaginations as one would = unrestrained imaginations = unbridled fancies. Other equivalents? 88 MASTERPIE CES ILN EN-NGLISH LITERATURE. minds of a number of men poor shrunken things, full of melancholy and indisposition, and unpleasing to themselves? One of the fathers, in great severity, called poesy* " vinum dsemonum, " because it filleth the imagination, and yet it is but with the shadow of a lie. But it is not the lie that passeth through the mind, but the lie that sinketh in and settleth in it, that doth the hurt such as we spake of before. But howsoever these things are thus in men's depraved judgments and affections, yet truth, which only doth judge itself, teacheth that the inquiry of truth, which is the love-making or wooing of it; the knowledge of truth, which is the presence of it; and the belief of truth, which is the enjoying of it; is the sovereign good of human nature. The first creature of God, in the works of the days, was the light of the sense; the last was the light of reason; and his sabbath work, ever since, is the illumination of his Spirit. First, he breatheth light upon the face of the matter, or chaos; then he breatheth light into the face of man; and still he breatheth and inspireth light into the face of his chosen. The poet that beautified the sect that was otherwise inferior to the rest, saith yet excellently well, "It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tossed upon the sea: a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle, and to see a battle, and the adventures thereof below: but no pleasure is comparable to the standing upon the vantage ground of truth (a hill not to be commanded, and where the air is always clear and serene), and to see the errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale below:'" so always that this prospect be with pity, and not with swelling or pride. Certainly it is heaven upon earth to have a man's mind move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the poles of truth. To pass from theological and philosophical truth to the truth of civil business, it will be acknowledged, even by those that practice it not, that clear and round dealing is the honor of man's nature, and that mixture of * Poesy, poetry. See posies, Index.-Vinum daemonum, wine of devils. It was St. Augustine.-Shadow of a lie. Why so?-Howsoever, however, although. Inquiry of, inquiry after, searchfor.-Belief. Genuine belief issues in action. Creature, creation, -Of the days. See the account of the Creation, in Genesis. Note the beauty of this whole passage.-Poet that beautified, Lucretius, a profound Roman philosopher as well as poet. His great work, entitled De Natura Rerum, is considered by many scholars the greatest didactic poem in any language. He is said to have died by his own hand in 52 B. C. See Lucretius, in Class. Diet.-The sect, the Epicureans. FpicTrus, the celebrated philosopher, was born in Samos in 341 B. C., and died in 270. He tauht that'vSaLt6veza, "'supreme mental bliss," is the end and should be the purpose of life. St. Paul encountered the Epicureals at Athens. Lucretius was one of their greatest ornaments.-Adventures (Lat. advenire, to come to (pass), to happen), hazards, told exploits.-Vantage-ground (Lat. ab, from, ante, before; Fr. avant, before; avacntsae, forward position), advan tageous position.-Commanded (in a military sense), held within control.-So always, on, condition alzvays, provided always.-Truth of civil business, truth exemplifled in the bsssiness of society.-R-ound (Fr. rond; Lat. rot endue, wheel-shaped, round; fr. rota, a wheel), candid, "fair and square." Vhnpleasiny = distasteful. Other equivalents? TAze sovereign good of hunan neature = man's highest welfare. Give six other equivalents. The first creatsure of God = the first creation of God = the first of God's created works = the first object created by God = God's first creation = God's earliest creation = the earliest work of Jehovah = the earliest manifestation of the creative power of Deity = the very beginning of God's handiwork = the earliest production of the Omnipotent Hand = the "' Offspring of Heaven first-born," etc. Sait7h excellently well = saith very justly and fitly = saith very happily = makes the very appropriate and striking remarks. Give other grammatical equivalents. See the adventures = witness the fortunes. Other equivalents? So always that this prospect be = provided always that this prospect be accompanied. Other equivalents? Clear and round dealing. Equivalents? FRANCIS BA CON. 89 falsehood is like alloy in coin of gold and silver, which may make the metal work * the better, but it embaseth it. For these winding and crooked courses are the goings of the serpent, which goeth basely upon the belly, and not upon the feet. There is no vice that doth so cover a man with shame as to be found false and perfidious: and therefore Montaigne saith prettily, when he inquired the reason why the word of the lie should be such a disgrace, and such an odious charge, " If it be well weighed, to say that a man lieth, is as much as to say that he is brave towards God, and a coward towards men: for a lie faces God, and shrinks from man." Surely the wickedness of falsehood and breach of faith cannot possibly be so highly expressed as in that it shall be the last peal to call the judgments of Godl upon the generations of men, it being foretold that when " Christ cometh " he shall not "find faith upon earth." OF DEATH (1612; enlarged 1625). Men fear death as children fear to go into the dark; and as that natural fear of children is increased with tales, so is the other. Certainly, the contemplation of death, as the wages of sin and passage to another world, is holy and religious; but the fear of it, as a tribute due unto nature, is weak. Yet in religious meditations there is sometimes mixture of vanity and of superstition. You shall read in some of the friars' books of mortification, that a man should think with himself what the pain is, if he have but his finger's end pressed, or tortured, and thereby imagine what the pains of death are when the whole body is corrupted and dissolved. When, many times, death passeth with less pain than the torture of a limb; for the most vital parts are not the quickest of sense: and by him that spake only as a philosopher and natural man, it was well said, " Pompa mortis magis terret quam mors ipsa." Groans, and convulsions, and a discolored face, and friends weeping, and blacks and obsequies, and the like, show death terrible. It is worthy the observing, that there is no passion in the mind of man so weak, but it mates and masters the fear of death; and, therefore, death is no such terrible enemy when a man hath so many attendants about him that can win the combat of him. Revenge triumphs over death; love * Work. In what sense?-Embaseth (Fr. em, or en; Lat. in; Gr. /aovv, base; W. bas, shallow; Gr. /ao —wv, deeper), debaseth, lowers its valee.-These. This word is superfluous.Montaigne (1533-1589), the earliest French essayist, distinguished for wit, subtlety, nice observation, and common sense. Montaigne quotes the saying in the text from Plutarch's Life of Lysander. — As in that. Supply the omitted words.-Divide this essay into paragraphs. Point out the best senrtences. Rewrite the whole in your own langauage, amplifying if necessary. Of death. This essay is partly taken from Seneca's Letters. Who was he? See p. 91. -Fear to go, etc. Would fear darkness be better? Why?-Wages. "The wages of sin is death."-Friars' books. What books? See Index. —When many times, yet often.Qguickest of sense. Meaning? —Pompa, etc. The parade (paraphernalia or array) of death terrifies more than death itself.-Blacks, black dresses, mourning drapery, etc. Obsequies (Lat. obseqtice)., feeneatl rites.-Worthy the observing. What form would be better?-But it mates, bett it nmatches, sets itself against as equal, vies wqith.-Win the combat of him. Of whom? What defect in the English language in the matter of pronouns of the third person? Embaseth it = vitiates it. Other equivalents? Cannot be so highly expressed. Grammatical equivalents? It mates = it subdues -= it overcomes. Other equivalents? 90 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. slights it; honor aspireth to it; grief flieth to it; fear pre-occupateth it.* Nay, we read, after Otho the emperor had slain himself, pity, which is the ten derest of affections, provoked many to die out of mere compassion to their sovereign, and as the truest sort of followers. Nay, Seneca adds, niceness and satiety: " Cogita quamdiu eadem feceris; mori velle, non tantuin fortis, aut miser, sed etiam fastidiosus potest." "' A man would die, though he were neither valiant nor miserable, only upon a weariness to do the same thing so oft over and over." It is no less worthy to observe, how little alteration in good spirits the approaches of death make; for they appear to be the same men till the last instant. Augustus Coesar died in a compliment: "Livia, conjugii nostri memor, vive et vale: ) Tiberius, in dissimulation, as Tacitus saith of him, " Jam Tiberium vires et corpus, non dissimulatio, deserebant:" Vespasian, in a jest,..... "Ut puto Deus fio:" Galba with a sentence, " Feri, si ex re sit populi Romani," holding forth his neck: Septimus Severus in despatch, " Adeste, si quid mihi restat agendum;;" and the like. Certainly the Stoics bestowed too much cost upon death, and by their great preparations made it appear more fearful. Better, saith he, " qui finem vitne extre* Fear pre-occupateth, the fear of some greater evil lays hold of death as a refuge; i. e., fear impels to suicide.-We read [that].-Otho, eighth Roman emperor, born A. D. 31 or 32; committed suicide, A. D. 68. after a reign of ninety-five days. Vitellius had revolted against him and been proclaimed emperor by the legions in Germany. After three victories, Otho was defeated. In his last moments he expressed an affectionate concern for his faithful followers, some of whom chose to die with him rather than live without him.-Provoked (Lat. pro, forth; oco, I call), incited, induced. This word is repeatedly used in the Bible in this sense.-Niceness, fastidiousness.-Satiety, fulness beyond desire, enn.ui, disgust arising from the appetite being cloyed. —Cogita, etc. Think well how often you have done the same tlhings over and over. One might wish to die, not only from bravery or misery, but even from ennui. —Worthy to, worth while to. —Good spirits. By spirits does he llean souls, persons, men? Or does good spirits mean life, ardor, animation, courlge, cheerfulness? If the latter, what is the antecedent of they, in they appear to be the same men? —Augustus died, A. D. 14, having reigned fortyfour years. What can you say of him and his times? See Class. Dict. —Livia, etc. Livia, remembering our wedlock, live and farewzell. —Vive et vale, live and farewell, or Life and health to you! the usual parting salutation among the Romans. —Tiberius, the successor of Augustus. Born B. C. 42; died A. D. 37, after a reign of twenty-three years. This great villain was remarkable for his dissimulation, though that was the least of his rascalities. Read his story in the classical dictionaries.-Jam Tiberium. At length his powers and bodily strength, not dissimulation, were acbandoning Tiberius. —Vespasian, emperor of Rome A. D. 70, reigned nine years. It is a little remarkable, beinf a Romann emperor, that he died a natural death and was succeeded by his son. —Ut puto. "As I suppose, I am turning into a god. "-Galba, successor of Nero and predecessor of Otho, became emperor A. D. 68, and was slain at the end of seven months, being seventy-two years of age. To quell the mutiny which Otho had stirred up, Galba caused himself to be carried in a litter into the forum; but on the appearance of a band of Otho's armed adherents, Galba'ssfollowers dropped tile litter and fled. As the assassins rushed upon him, he presented his neck, coolly addressing them in the words quoted above.-Feri, si, etc. Strike, if it be for the advantage of the Roman people. —Septimus Severus. Al'ter a reign of nearly eighteen years, this Roman emperor died at York, England, A. D. 211, at the age of sixtyfive.-In despatch, in businessfashion. —Adeste. Attend, if anything remainsfor me to do.Stoics, so called fronm Stoa, a painted portico, the most famous in Athens. Here Zeno, who died B. C. 264, at the ace of ninety-eight, taunht his doctrines, and founded the sect of Stoics. They believed that a manl should raise himself above pleasure, pain, fear, and all passion. They taught that virtue is the supreme good, and that death is no evil. On the latter point they laid so much stress, that Bacon affirms their eagerness to have had the contrary effect to what they had designed. See Index. —Better saith he. (Ile is emphatic.) Juvenal, the celebrated Roman satirist, is meant; born A. D. 40, or thereabouts; died when a little over eighty years of age. He is severe against the Stoics. In his Tenth Satire we find the line which Bacon quotes: "Qui spatitm [fi n em] vitce extremum inter munera ponat," "who would count the last period of life among the hoots (of nature). The passage means, then, " Better than the dogmas of the Stoics is the sentiment of Juvenal, who would reckon death a boon." Boyd is mistaken in supposing that Bacon is careless in his style, and that here is all instance of it. Fear pre-occupateth it = fear anticipates it. Other equivalents? Pity provoked many = compassion excited many = tender sympathy induced a large number. Other equivalents? FRANCIS BACONV. 91 mum inter munera, ponat naturte." It is as natural to die as to be born; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the other. He that dies in an earnest pursuit is like one that is wounded in hot blood; who, for the time, scarce feels the hurt; and therefore a mind fixed and bent upon somewhat that is good, doth avert the dolors * of death. But, above all, believe it, the sweetest canticle is, "Nunc dimittis," when a man hath obtained worthy ends and expectations. Death hath this also, that it openeth the gate to good fame, and extinguisheth envy: "Extinctus amabitur idem." t OF ADVERSITY (1625). It was a high speech of Seneca after the manner of the Stoics, that the good things which belong to prosperity are to be wished, but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired: "Bona rerum secundarum optabilia, adversarum mirabilia." Certainly, if miracles be the command over nature, they appear most in adversity. It is yet a higher speech of his than the other, much too high for a heathen, " It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of a man, and the security of a God: "-'" Vere magnum habere fragilitatem hominis, securitatem Dei." This would have done better in poesy, where transcendencies are more allowed; and the poets, indeed, have been busy with it. For it is in effect the thing which is figured in that strange fiction of the ancient poets, which seemeth not to be without mystery; nay, and to have some approach to the state of a Christian; " that Hercules, when he'went to unbind Prometheus, by whom human nature is represented, sailed the length of the great ocean in an earthen pot or pitcher, lively describing Christian resolution, that saileth in the frail bark of the flesh through the waves of the world." But, to speak in a mean, the virtue of prosperity is temperance, the virtue of adversity is fortitude, which in morals is the more heroical virtue. Prosperity is the blessing of * Dolors (Lat. dolor, pain; doleo, to feel pain), pangs.- Nunc dimittis. Now lettest thou. This is the beginning of the Latin version of the aged Simeon's exclamation (Luke ii. 29) on beholcing, the infant Jesus. HIere, as in all his quotations from the Scriptures in his essays, Bacon gives the language of the Latin Vulgate, or equivalent words. —Extinctus, etc. When dead, the very one (that had been envied) will be loved. High speech, a lofty, high-toned, remarkable, or excellent saying.-Seneca, a celebrated Roman Stoic philosopher, born in Corduba (Cordova, Spain, whence the word cordwainer comes) about the beginning of the Christian era.-Most in adversity. Most what?Transcendencies (Lat. transcendere, to climb over; from tranzs, beyond, and scandere, to climb), soarings, hyperboles.-Poets, Stesichorus, Apollodorus, and others.-Nay, and, not only so, but also.-Hercules, the most famous of Grecian heroes. See Class. Dict. for ilercules and Proometheus.-Lively, with liveliness.-Frail bark. So St. Paul, 2 Cor. iv. 7, " We have this treasure in earthen vessels."-In a mean, in a moderate tone, with moderation. -Virtue of prosperity. Meaning? Note the happy antitheses. Avert the dolors of death = avert the pains of death = render unfelt the agonies of the last hour. Other equivalent expressions? t Divide this essay into suitable paragraphs. Explain why Bacon quotes Latin so profusely. Turn the essay into your own language, being careful to express every thought fully and exactly. A high speech = sublime declaration = a remark of great dignity and elevation. Give six other equivalent grammatical expressions. TIranscendencies are more allowed:= lofty flights are more permissible = hyperbeles are more allowable. Other equivalent expressions? To speak in a mean = to speak inl a medium tone = to speak with moderation = to use unadorned language, avoiding flights of fancy and exaggerations. Other grammatical equivalents? 92 XASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERA TURE. the Old Testament, * adversity is the blessing of the New, which carrieth the greater benediction, and the clearer revelation of God's favor. Yet even in the Old Testament, if you listen to David's harp, you shall hear as many hearselike airs as carols; and the pencil of the Holy Ghost hath labored more in describing the afflictions of Job than the felicities of Solomon. Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes. We see in needleworks and embroideries, it is more pleasing to have a lively work upon a sad and solemn ground, than to have a dark and melancholy work upon a lightsome ground: judge, therefore, of the pleasure of the heart by the pleasure of the eye. Certainly virtue is like precious odors, most fragrant where they are incensed, or crushed: for prosperity cloth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue. OF STUDIES (1597). Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment and disposition of business; for expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of particulars one by one: but the general counsels, and the plots and marshaling of affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is affectation; to make judgment wholly by their rules is the humor of a scholar: they perfect nature, and are perfected by experience. For natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. Crafty men contemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, andl above them, won by observation. Read not to contradict and confute, nor to believe and take for * The Old Testament laid more stress on temporal rewards; the New, on spiritual. To lose all earthly blessing' for Christ's sake, to be in adversity tor him, was eventually the source of the highest blessing'. See Rev. vii.-Coarforts and hopes. So Paul "' We glory in tribulations also." Rom. v. —Lively, biiglht, in gay colors.-Lightsome, of light or joyous aspect.-Discover (Fr. cScozvrir, to disclose; from Lat. dis-, denoting privation or negation; co- or cosn-, together, completely; and operire, to cover), euncover, reveal, mnake smanifest. Divide this essay into paragraphs. See what improvement you can make in any sentences. Cull out the thoughts, and rewrite tile essay in your own language, to see if you can improve upon the original. Specify in writing the twelve labors of H-ercules. Write out the legend of Prometheus. Privateness, seclaision. See pariy, Index.-Retiring (Lat re, back, Fr. tirer, to draw), freedom from business cares; weit/hdrawascl fromn society; modest leisure; tnobtrusivenless.General counsels, cossomprehenviv e corlmsels, plans embrsacing great and varied interests.Judgments, plaans, opinioos.-Natural plants, plants that grow avilcd.-Crafty (A. S. crraft, strength, art; Ger., Sw., and Dan. kroaft, power; W. cref, strong) may here mean men of some craft, or skilled in some mechanical work; or it may be used in the sense of cztnning. Which is preferable?-Simple, 21asoph/isticcated. Lively work cipon a sad and solemni ground = animated scenes and figures upon a dark and sober-looking ground. Other equivalents? iMrost fragrant when they are incensed = most grateful to the sense of smell when they are burning. Other equivalents? Their chief sase for delight is in privatesess = their principal use in giving pleasure is in privacy. Other equivalents? To nake judgment = to give judgment = to make decisions. Other equivalents? The haunor of a scholar = the predominant inclination of a learned man = the unreasoning fanciful inclination of a man of books. Other equivalents? FRANCIS BACON. 93 granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weighl and consider. Somlle books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; * and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some books also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books; else distilled books are, like common distillecl waters, flashy things. Reading maketh a full man; conference, a ready man; and writing, an exact man: and, therefore, if a man write little, he had need have a great memory: if he confer little, he had need have a present wit; and if he read little, he had need have much cunning, to seem to know that he doth not. Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the nmathematics, subtile; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend. " Abeunt studia in mores: " nay, there is no stand or ilmpediment in the wit, but may be wrought out by fit studies; like as diseases of the body may have appropriate exercises. Bowling is good for the stone and reins; shooting, for the lungs and breast; gentle walking, for the stomach; riding, for the head, and the like. So, if a man's wits be wandering, let him study the mathematics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so little, he must begin again. If his wit be not apt to distinguish or find differences, let him study the schoolmen; for they are "' Cymnini sectores." If he be not apt to beat over matters, and to call upon one thing to prove and illustrate another, let him study the lawyers' cases. So every defect of the mind may have a special receipt.t OF MARtRIAGE AND SINGLE LIFE (1612; slightly enlarged 1625). He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief. Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the urnmarried or childless men; which, both in affection and means, * Curiously (Lat. cura, care), carefully, wit/h eager attention.-Arguments, subjects, courses of thought. —Else (genitive case of the root of Gr. acaos: Lat. aliats, other; A. S. elles. See p. 20), ina others cases icl other circumstances.-Conference (Lat. con, tog(ether; fero, Gr. 4pwo, to bring; Lat. rociferentia, a bringing together for corn)arison; Fr. confgrence), couversation.-Abeunt, etc., studies pass into habits, or man2ers. -Stand (or stond in some editions), dclisiezcinatio to proceed.-Wit, ilztellect.-Wrought out,,worked off, removed. — Schoolmen (Gr. cXoeA, leisure; Lat. schola. a school; Fr. ecole; Ger. schule).'" The schoolmen were philosophers and divines of the Middle Ages who adopted the principles of Aristotle, and spent much time on points of nice and abstract speculation. They were so called because they taught in the schools of divinity established by Charlemagne."-Cymini, etc., cuzmin-splitters, " hcair-splilters." Cullin is a plant, also the seed of the plant, like anise and caraway.- - pt (Lat. apctis. fit), skillful, capable, able.-Beat over, scour, ransge over, drive ovesr, go over with force azed skill. —Receipt,. recipe, foruaula preescribed fo prepreparing medicine, ete.-IImpediments (Lat. imspedimentusn, hindrance; perhaps from in, against, and pes, pedis, the foot). But not cetriously = but not with eafer attention. Other equivalents? _Bat that zoould be = but that should be done. Other equivalents? Readinqg maketh a fA ll man = what? A ready mas = what? An exact man = what? Seem to know that he dotA not = seem to know that which he does not really know. Other equivalents? f This admirable essay on studies has rcrely or never been surpassed in concentration of thought. The student may profitably write out illustrations and expansions of the points made. Rewrite the thoughts in your own words, and then compare your work with Bacon's. 94 -iALSTERPIECES IN EXGLISH LITERA TURE. have married and endowed the public. Yet it were great reason that those that have children should have greatest care of future times, unto which they know they must transmit their dearest pledges. Some there are, who, though they lead a single life, yet their thoughts do end with themselves, and account future times impertinences. Nay, there are some other that account wife and children but as bills of charges. Nay, more, there are some foolish, rich, covetous men, that take a pride in having no children, because they may be thought so much the richer; for perhaps they have heard some talk, " Such an one is a great rich man," and another except to it, "Yea, but he hath a great charge of children; " as if it were an abatement to his riches. But the most ordinary cause of a single life is liberty; especially in certain self-pleasing and humorous minds, which are so sensible of every restraint, as they will go near to think * their girdles and garters to be bonds and shackles. Unmarried men are best friends, best masters, best servants, but not always best subjects; for they are light to run away; and almost all fugitives are of that condition. A single life doth well with churchmen; for charity will hardly water the ground where it must first fill a pool. It is indifferent for judges and magistrates; for, if they be facile and corrupt, you shall have a servant five times worse than a wife. For soldiers, I find the generals commonly, in their hortatives, put men in mind of their wives and children; and I think the despising of marriage among the Turks maketh the vulgar soldier more base. Certainly wife and children are a kind of discipline of humanity; and single men, though they be many times more charitable, because their means are less exhaust, yet, on the other side, they are more cruel and hard-hearted, good to make severe inquisitors, because their tenderness is not so oft called upon. Grave natures, led by custom, and therefore constant, are commonly loving husbands; as was said of Ulysses, " Vetulam suam praetulit immortalitati." Chaste women are often proud and froward, as presuming upon the merit of their chastity. It is one of the best bonds, both of chastity and obedience, in the wife, if she think her husband wise; which she will never do if she find him jealous. Wives are young men's mistresses, companions for middle age, and old men's * As they will go near to think, that they will almost think.-Light to run away, freefrom inpediments to running away. Light. srimble.-HIortatives (Lat. hortari, to excite). exhortations.-Vulgar soldier, common soldier. —Vetulam suam, etc. He preferred his little old wonman [Penelope] to immortality. This refers to the Homeric narrative, which represents the nymph Calypso, daughter of Atlas, to have promised Ulysses immortality, if he would remain in the island of Ogygia. He chose to return to his aged wife, Penelope, after twenty years' absence.-Presuming upon, etc. This remark shows a keenness and depth of mental vision worthy of Shakespeare. Indeed, it has been argued, not without a degree of plausibility, that Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays I Account future times impertinences = account (regard, consider, reckon) future times (coming ages, the future) things wholly irrelevant (of no account, unimportant). Other equivalents? Bills of charges = bills of expense. Other equivalents? Humorous minds = fancy-ruled minds = minds under the dominion of some leading whim = minds subject to some predominant inclination. Other equivalents? Whately suggests that humorous may here mean self-conceited. As they will go near to thin7 = that they will almost think. Other grammaticalequivalents? Light to run away. Give half a dozen equivalents. Their means are less exhaust = their pecuniary resources are more abundant. Other equivalents? FRANCIS B ACON0. 95 nurses; so as a man may have a quarrel to marry* when he will. But yet he was reputed one of the wise men that made answer to the question when a man should marry, " A young mian not yet, an elder man not at all." II It is often seen, that bad husbands have very good wives; whether it be that it raiseth the price of their husbands' kindness when it comes, or that the wives take a pride in their patience. But this never fails if the bad husbands were of their own choosing, against their friends' consent, for then they will be sure to make good their own folly. orF THE TRUE GREATNESS OF KINGDOMS AND ESTATES (1612; enlarged 1625). The speech of Themlistocles, the Athenian, which was haughty and arrogant in taking so much to himself, had been a grave and wise observation and censure, applied at large to others. Desired at a feast to touch a lute, he said, l he could not fiddle, but yet he could make a small town a great city." These words, holpen a little with a metaphor, may express two differing abilities in those that deal in business of estate. For, if a true survey be taken of counsellors and statesmen, there may be found, though rarely, those which can make a small state great, and yet cannot fiddle; as, on the other side, there will be found a great many that can fiddle very cunningly, but yet are so far from being able to make a small state great, as their gift lieth the other way; to bring a great and flourishing estate to ruin and decay. And, certainly, those degenerate arts and shifts, whereby many counsellors and governors gain both favor with their masters, and estimation with the vulgar, deserve no better name than fiddling; being things rather pleasing for the time, and graceful to themselves only, than tending to the weal and advancement of the state which they serve. There are also, no doubt, counsellors and governors which may be held sufficient, "negotiis pares," able to manage affairs, and to keep them from precipices and manifest inconveniences; which, nevertheless, are far from the ability to raise and amplify an estate in power, means, and fortune. But be the workmen what they may be, let us speak of the work; that is, the true greatness of kingdoms and estates, and the means thereof. An argument fit for great * Quarrel to marry (Lat. queror, to complain; querela, complaint, cause of complaint; Fr. querelle), cause to marry. See Index. Whately suggests that it may be from the Lat. quare, wherefore. Themistocles (B. C. o14-449), one of the most brilliant of Athenian statesmen. See Class. Diet. and Plutarch's Lives.-H- ad been, What mood? Common form?-Applied. What omission?-H-olpen (passive participle of the A. S. helpan; Ger. helfen, to help: the -en in the A. S. is the ending of the past or perfect participle). heled. " He hath holpen his servatnt Israel." Luke i. 54.-Estate, in the old English writers. means the same as state. (St denotes firmness, or stability: as in Gr. aoT7YL; Lat stare, to stand; Eng. stick; A. S. standan; Ger. stehen.)Those which, those who.-Cunningly (A. S. cunnan, to know, to be able. Hence cunningly is knowingly, ably. See Index), skillfully.-As their gift, that (on the contrary) their gift.Estate, as before.-Governors which. Modernize the expression. Negotiis paresi equal to (i. e., able to transact) business.-Which, nevertheless, who, nevertheless.-Argument, theme, subject. So as a man may have a quarrel to marry = so that a man may have a reason for marrying. Other equivalents? Censure, applied, at large, to others = judgment, if stated as a general principle, applicable to others. Other grammatical equivalents? Fiddle very cunningly = play a lute very skillfully. Other equivalents? An argument fitfor great and mighty princes to have in their hand = a subject appropriate for eminent and powerful monarchs to have in their intelligent consideration. Other equivalents? These essays of Bacon, it is clear, are masterpieces of condensed thought. How say you of the verbal expression? Rewrite, in a more modern style, that on Marriage and Single Life. 96 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. and mighty princes to have in their hand; to the end, that neither by overmeasuring their forces they lose themselves in vain enterprises; nor, on the other side, by undervaluing them, they descend to fearful * and pusillanimous counsels. The greatness of an estate, in bulk and territory, doth fall under measure; and the greatness of finances and revenue doth fall under computation. The population may appear by musters; and the number and greatness of cities and towns, by cards and maps; but yet there is not anything, amongst civil affairs, more subject to error than the right valuation and true jucldgment concerning the power and forces of an estate. The kingdom of heaven is compared, not to any great kernel, or nut, but to a grain of mustard-seed; which is one of the least grains, but hath in it a,property and spirit hastily to get up and spread. So are there states great in territory, and yet not apt to enlarge or command; and some that have but a small dimension of stem, and yet are apt to be the foundation of great monarchies. Walled towns, stored arsenals and armories, goodly races of horse, chariots of war, elephants, ordnance, artillery, and the like,-all this is but a sheep in a lion's skin, except the breed and disposition of the people be stout and warlike. Nay, number itself in armies importeth not much, where the people are of weak courage; for, as Virgil saith, "it never troubles the wolf how many the sheep be." The army of the Persians, in the plains of Arbela, was such a vast sea of people as it did somewhat astonish the commanders in Alexander's army, who came to him, therefore, and wished him to set upon them by night. But he answered, " he would not pilfer the victory;" and the defeat was easy. When Tigranes, the Armenian, being encamped upon a hill with four hundred thousand men, discovered the army of the Romans, being not above fourteen thousand, marching towards him, he made himself merry with it, and said, " Yonder men are too many for an embassage, and too few for a fight:" but before * Fearful,full of fear, tinmid.-Doth fall under measure. Modernize the expression. -MXay appear, may be clearly shown. —Cardls, charls (Gr. XdapTrl, a leaf of paper; Lat. charta; Fr. carte). All the quarters that they know I' the shipman's carcd. —liacbeth. Compared. See the parable, Matthew xiii.-Apt (Lat. aptuts, fit), adapted,fit.-S-tem. foundation. Rhetorically incorrect. Why?-All this is. Would all these are be better?Except, trnless.-Importeth not much. Modernize.-Virgil. The great Roman poet, who lived B. C. 70-20. The allusion is said to be to the seventh Eclogue, where Virgil says, " We care as little for the cold as the wolf for the number (of the flock)." Arbela, a city of Assyria near the small river Zabatus (Zab), which is a tributary of the Tigris. In the plain of Gangamela, near Arbela, a decisive battle was fought between Alexander the Great and Darius, B. C. 331.-Alexander (B. C. 356-323), son of Philip. In the battle of Arbela he commanded forty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry; to which Darius opposed one milliold infantry and forty thousand cavalry.-Tigranes, the self-styled King of Kingrs, was son-in-law of Mithridates. He was defeated by the Roman general Lucullus, B. C. 69, near Tigranocerta, the capital. which Lucullus captured, with eight thousand talents in ready money. The student will do well to write out fn detail the history of the events referred to in this paragraph, and to illustrate the point by more recent examples. Yet are apt to be = yet are qualified to be = are, notwithstanding, fitted to be = are, nevertheless, adapted to be. Other grammatical equivalents? Importeth not nzuch. Give six equivalent expressions. Pilfer the victory = snatch the victory by stealth. Other equivalents? FRANCIS BACON. 9 7 the sun set, he found them enow* to give him the chase, with infinite slaughter. Many are the examples of the great odds between number and courage: so that a man may truly make a judgment, that the principal point of greatness in any state is to have a race of military men. Neither is money the sinews of war, as it is trivially said, where the sinews of men's arms in base and effeminate people are failing; for Solon said well to Crcesus, when in ostentation he showed him his gold, " Sir, if any other come that hath better iron than you, he will be master of all this gold." Therefore, let any prince, or state, think soberly of his forces, except his militia of natives be of good and valiant soldiers; and let princes on the other side, that have subjects of martial disposition, know their own strength, unless they be otherwise wanting unto themselves. As for mercenary forces, (which is the help in this case,) all examples show that, whatsoever estate, or prince, doth rest upon them, he may spread his feathers for a time, but he will mew them soon after. The blessing of Judah and Issachar will never meet; that the same people, or nation, should be both the lion's whelp and the ass between burdens; neither will it be, that a people overlaid with taxes should ever become valiant and martial. It is true, that taxes, levied by consent of the estate, do abate men's courage less; as it hath been seen notably in the excises of the Low Countries, and, in some degree, in the subsidies of England. For, you must note, that we speak now of the heart, and not of the purse: so that, although the same tribute and tax, laid by consent or by imposing, be all one to the purse, yet it works diversely upon the courage. So that you may conclude, that no people overcharged with tribute is fit for empire. Let states, that aim at greatness, take heed how their nobility and gentlemen do multiply too fast; for that maketh the common subject grow to be a peasant and base swain, driven out of heart, and, in effect, but a gentleman's laborer. Even as you may see in coppice woods; if you leave your staddles too thick, you shall never have clean: underwood, but shrubs and * Enow (A. S. genih, Ger. gertyg, enough), enough. E/sow, was formerly supposed to be a plural, but was not always such. —Make a judgment. Equivalelt to what — Trivially (Lat. tres, three; and via, way, road; triviium, a place where three roads meet; hence trivial, belonging to the cross-roads or street corners, common, vulgar), commonly, tritely.-Solon (died about 559 B. C.), the celebrated lawgiver of the Athenians, and one of the seven wise men of Greece.-Crcesus, the rich king of Lydia, born about 591 B. C. His name is a synonym for rich man.-Soberly, moderately.-He showed him his. etc. Note again the defect in the English language. See p. 89.-Prince or state think soberly of his. Note the use of his with state. Is it correct?-Unless, etc., if they would not in other respects be found wanting.-The help in this case. In what case?-Spread his feathers.. mew them. Explain this metaphor by paraphrasing it.-M-ew (Fr. muer, from Lat. mutare, to change), to shedfeathers, molt, cast.-Judah, etc. See Genesis xlix. 8-12, 14, 15.-Low Countries. Why called low? Meaning of Netherleands?-Excises (ex, out, off; ceudere, to cut). What, in particular, are excises? subsidies?. Could the English monarch tax the people without the consent of parliament?-By imposing. Name English monarchs that levied taxes without authority of parliament, and state the consequences.-Empire, exercisiny imperial power over others, acquiring dominion. —aketh.... grow.... driven. Modernize.-Coppice woods (Fr. coeper, to cut), woodS' of small growth, or consisting of underwood or brushwood cut at certain times for fuel or other purposes. Staddles (the root is in IeT-rtm[, and Lat. stare, A. S. stadhol, Eng. steadcy), anything that supports; a small tree in a forest. In America a tree is called a staddle after it is three or four years old, and until it is six or eight inches in diameter. Th7ink soberly = entertain moderate views = be modest in his estimate. Other equivalents? Hath been seen notably = hath been seen in a remarkable manner. Other equivalents? It worls diversely = it works differently = it has a different aspect. Six other equivalents? 7 98 MASTERPIEC ES I1i- ENYGLISH LITERATURE. bushes. So in countries, if the gentlemen* be too many, the commons will be base; and you will bring it to that, that not the hundredth poll will be fit for a helmet; especially as to the infantry, which is the nerve of an army: and so there will be.great population and little strength. This which I speak of hath been no where better seen than by comparing of England and France; whereof England, though far less in territory and population, hath been, nevertheless, an overmatch; in regard the middle people of England make good soldiers, which the peasants of France do not. And herein the device of King Henry the Seventh, whereof I have spoken largely in the history of his life, was profound and admirable; in making farms and houses of husbandry of a standard; that is, maintained'with such a proportion of land unto them as may breed a subject to live in convenient plenty, and no servile condition; and to keep the plough in the hands of the owners, and not mere hirelings. And thus indeed ye shall attain to Virgil's character, which he gives to ancient Italy: " Terra potens armis atque ubere glebme." Neither is that state, which, for any thing I know, is almost peculiar to England, and hardly to be found any where else, except it be perhaps in Poland, to be passed over. I mean the state of free servants and attendants upon noblemen and gentlemen, which are no ways inferior unto the yeomanry for arms. And, therefore, out of all question, the splendor and magnificence, and great retinues, the hospitality of noblemen and gentlemen received into custom, do much conduce unto martial greatness: whereas, contrariwise, the close and reserved living of noblemen and gentlemen causeth a penury of military forces. By all means it is to be procured, that the trunk of Nebuchadnezzar's tree of monarchy be great enough to bear the branches and the boughs; that is, that the natural subjects of the crown or state bear a sufficient proportion to the strange subjects that they govern. Therefore, all states that are liberal of naturalization towards strangers are fit for empire: for to think that a handful of people can, with the greatest courage and policy in the * Gentlemen (Eng. genteel; gens, a family of respectability), men of goocdfamily having.coats of arms.-Poll (Low Ger. polle, the head; D. bol, a ball), the head. Hence poll-tlax, a tax levied on each head or man.-In regard, because.-Henry VII. (1485-1509). Bacon wrote the history of this king, and began that of Henry VIII.-Proportion of land (Lat. pro, before; portio, share). The order was "that all houses of husbandry that were used with twenty acres of ground and upward, should be maintained and kept up for ever," etc. His object was to increase and perpetuate the great "middle class." Or this class were nearly all of Cromwell's be.t soldiers; but the independent yeomanry of England have now nearly disappeared.Virgil, the celebrated Latin poet, author of the A2Eneid, Georgics, etc. See p. 96.-Terra, etc. A land poiveeftul by (reason of) arms and richness of soail.-State. This word may here mean class or order.-Great retinues (Lat. retinere; Fr. retenir, to retain; hence retinee, a body of retainers, or men engaged to follow a prince or other distinguished person). It is said that Elizabeth would not permit any nobleman to retain more than a hundred followers; but her own retinune sometimes required twenty-fbor thousand horses for transportation. See Scott's Ienilworf7.-Received into custom, established as a custom. —Procured. Modernize.-Free of monarchy. See Daniel iv.-Strange subjects (see strange, p. 62). Modernize.-F-it for empire, filtfor gaining and keeping dominion.-Policy (7roX-reia, system of state management), wisdomn in state management. In regard = for the reason that = owing to the fact that = because. Other equivalents? NAeither is that state.... to be passed over = neither is that order (of men).... to be omitted. Give ten equivalents, and select the best expression among them. It is to be procured = it is to be contrived = it must be brought about = care must be taken. Other equivalents? FRANCIS BA CON 99 world, embrace* too large extent of dominion, it may hold for a time, but it will fail suddenly. The Spartans were a nice people in point of naturalization: whereby, while they kept their compass, they stood firm; but when they did spread, and their boughs were become too great for their stem, they became a windfall upon the sudden. Never any state was, in this point, so open to receive strangers into their body as were the Romans. Therefore it sorted with them accordingly, for they grew to the greatest monarchy. Their manner was to grant naturalization, which they called "jus civitatis, " and to grant it in the highest degree; that is, not only "'jus commercii, jus connubii, jus hsereditatis," but also "jus suffragii," and "jus honorum;" and this not to singular persons alone, but likewise to whole families; yea, to cities, and sometimes to nations. Add to this their custom of plantation of colonies, whereby the Roman plant was removed into the soil of other nations; and, putting both constitutions together, you will say, that it was not the Romans that spread upon the world, but it was the world that spread upon the Romans; and that was the sure way of greatness. I have marvelled sometimes at Spain, how they clasp and contain so large dominions with so few natural Spaniards. But sure the whole compass of Spain is a very great body of a tree, far above Rome and Sparta at the first. And, besides, though they have not had that usage to naturalize liberally, yet they have that which is next to it; that is, to employ, almost indifferently, all nations in their militia of ordinary soldiers; yea, and sometimes in their highest commands. Nay, it seemeth, at this instant, they are sensible of this want of natives; as by the pragmatical sanction, now published, appeareth. It is certain, that sedentary and within-door arts, and delicate manufactures that require rather the finger than the arms, have in their nature a contrariety to a military disposition; and, generally, all warlike people are a little idle, and love danger better than travail. Neither must they be too much broken of it, if they shall be preserved in vigor. Therefore, it was great advantage in the ancient states of Sparta, Athens, Rome, and others, that they had the use of slaves, which commonly did rid those manufactures. * Embrace (Fr. en, in; bras, arm; Lat. brac/ui,un, arm), hold ini their glcrasp.-It may hold, it (i. e., this opinion) may prove true.-Nice, tCsticdious.-Compass (Lat. compasses, a stepping totether, circle; fr. con-,'together; passes, a step), cilrcuit, moderate bounds. Now obsolete in this sense.-Windfall (fruit blown down, or the tree itself blown down).-B-ody (politic). — Sorted (Lat. sors, a lot), suited, ssucceecled, happened.-Jus civitatis, right of citizenship.Jus commercii, etc., s ight of trading,. right of narricage, right of inheritance, right of voting, right of honors (i. e., of holding office).-Singular, single. Olbsolete? —Constitutions, fu4ndanzental lazos or usages, settled arranrgements. —They clasp. They?-Contain, comnprehend, within their limits. —Natural Spaniards, native Spainiards.-That usage to. MIodernize. -Pragmatical sanction~ a solemnn ordinance established by the supreme power of a state upon weighty matters. Does Bacon refer to the most celebrated of these, the one issned by Charles VII. of France A. D. 1438, which was the foundation of the liberties of the Gallican Church. or to a more recent decree? —Travail (Fr. travailler, to labor; Sp. trabar, to check; Lat. trabs, a beam), Zwork, labor.-Broken of it. Modernize.-Which commonly, etc., who commnonly cleared those nzanufactures out of the zway (of the fightinog men). Thte Spartans were a nice people = the LacedcemoniaIns were a fastidious people = the Spartans were hard to please. Other equivalents? Select the best expression to convey the sense. Therefore it sorted with theml accordingly = therefore it fared with them in a correspondin g degree = therefore they succeeded proportionally. Other equivalents? Not to singzlar persons = not to individuals. Other equivalents? Love danger better than travail = love peril rather than toil. Other equivalents? Which commonly did rid = who, as a general thing, dispatched. Other equivalents? 100 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. But that is abolished,* in greatest part, by the Christian law. That which cometh nearest to it is to leave those arts chiefly to strangers, which, for that purpose, are the more easily to be received, and to contain the principal bulk of the vulgar natives within those three kinds; tillers of the ground, free servants, and handicraftsmen of strong and manly arts, as smiths, masons, carpenters, etc., not reckoning professed soldiers. But, above all, for empire and greatness, it importeth most, that a nation do profess arms as their principal honor, study, and occupation. For the things which we formerly have spoken of, are but habilitations towards arms; and what is habilitation without intention and act? Romulus, after his death, as they report or feign, sent a present to the Romans, that above all they should intend arms, and then they should prove the greatest empire of the world. The fabric of the state of Sparta was wholly, though not wisely, framed and composed to that scope and end. The Persians and Macedonian's had it for a flash. The Gauls, Germans, Goths, Saxons, Normans, and others, had it for a time. The Turks have it at this day, though in great declination. Of Christian Europe, they that have it are, in effect, only the Spaniards. But it is so plain, that every man profiteth in that he most intendeth, that it needeth not to be stood upon. It is enough to point at it, that no nation, which doth not directly profess arms, may look to have greatness fall into their mouths. And, on the other side, it is a most certain oracle of time, that those states that continue long in that profession, as the Romans and Turks principally have done, do wonders; and those that have professed arms but for an age have, notwithstanding, commonly attained that greatness in that age which maintained them long after, when their profession and exercise of arms hath grown to decay. Incident to this point is for a state to have those laws or customs which may reach forth unto them just occasions, as may be pretended, of war; for there is that justice imprinted in the nature of men, that they enter not upon wars, whereof so many calamities do ensue, but upon some, at the least, * That is abolished. What?-Which (who) for that purpose. What purpose? -Contain (Lat. con-, together; tenere, to hold). keep. —Vulgar (Lat. vullgus,, common people), ordinary, common.-Importeth. Modernize. - Iabilitations (Lat. habilis, fit; fr. habere, to hold), qalifications.-Intention (Lat. intendere, to stretch on), a stretching of tile mind, earnest attention.-Present, a mandate, command. The wordis rarely found in this sense.-Intend arms, bend their energies to war. Military supremacy was the darling object of ambition to the Romans. See AEneid, vI., 848-855. -For a flash, momentarily. —Profiteth, succeeds. —Intendeth, strives after.-Stood upon. Modernize. — Profess arms. Equivalent to what? — Fiall into their mouths. Equivalent? — Oracle (Lat. orare, to speak; fr. os, oeis, the month), divine sutterance; weise and weeighty decision. What and where were the most famous oracles of antiquity? —Grown to decay, fallen into decay. Does the present condition of France, Turkey, or Spain, tend to confirm Bacon's argument P? Does he not ignore the power of public opinion and the influence of Christianity?-Incident to, appertaining to.-As may be pretended. This doctrine is worthy of Machiavel or of Themistocles, not of Bacon. It would appear from this passage, and from much of his conduct, that he really believed the end to justify the means. Habilitations towards arms = qualifications for a military life. Other equivalents? In all these cases where equivalent expressions are called for, the instructor will do well to insist on a judicious selection of the best. Sent apresent sent a command. Other equivalents? "Know all men by these presents," is the law phraseology, the substance of which, in almost the same terms, is given by Shakespeare. The Latin is literas presentes, i. e., present letters. Intend aras = pay attention to arms. Other grammatical equivalents? As may be pretended = as may be put forward = as may be assigned for pretexts Other equivalents? FRANCIS BACON. 101 specious, grounds and quarrels.* The Turk hath at hand, for cause of war, the propagation of his law or sect, a quarrel that he may'always command. *The Romans-though they esteemed the extending the limits of their empire to be great honor to their generals when it was done, yet they never rested upon that alone to begin a war, First, therefore, let nations that pretend to greatness have this, that they be sensible of wrongs, either upon borderers, merchants, or politic ministers; and that they sit not too long upon a provocation. Secondly, let them be prest and ready to give aids and succors to their confederates, as it ever was with the Romans: insomuch as if the confederates had leagues defensive with divers other states, and, upon invasion offered, did implore their aids severally, yet the Romans would ever be the foremost, and leave it to none other to have the honor. As for the vwars, which were anciently made on the behalf of a kind of party, or tacit conformity of state, I do not see how they may be well justified: as, when the Romans made a war for the liberty of Grtecia; or, when the Lacedsemonians and Athenians made war to set up or pull down democracies or oligarchies; or, when wars were made by foreigners, under the pretence of justice or protection, to deliver the subjects of others from tyranny and oppression, and the like. Let it suffice, that no estate expect to be great, that is not awake upon any just occasion of arming. No body can be healthful without exercise, neither natural body nor politic; and, certainly, to a kingdom, or estate, a just and honorable war is the true exercise. A civil war, indeed, is like the heat of a fever; but a foreign war is like the heat of exercise, and serveth to keep the body in health. For, in slothful peace, both courages will effeminate, and manners corrupt. But howsoever it be for happiness, without all question for greatness it maketh to be still for the most part in arms; and the strength of a veteran army (though it be a chargeable business), always on foot, is that which commonly giveth the law; or, at least, the reputation almongst all neighbor states, as may be well seen in Spain; which hath had, in one part or other, a veteran army almost continually, now by the space of six score years. * Quarrels, causes of dispute, grounds of hostility. See the word quarrel in Bacon's Essaonil Marriage and Single Life, p. 95. I-low far below Milton's is Bacon's conception of true great ness i "A state o)ught to be but as one huige Christian personage, one mighty growth and stature of an hoiiest man, as big and compact in virtue as in body I " But Bacon's notions of morality and duty il some oth-(r respects never rose to the Christian standard.-H-is law, the doctrine of the Koran. —Quarrel, cause of swasr. See the Index. —The extending (of) the limits. " Tlte" must be used before, and "of" after the participial noun, or both nmust be omitted. — IHave this. This what? —Politic, political. Politic miuisteres are ambassadors, diplomatists, ministers of state.-Sit not too long. Meaning? -- Prest (Fr. prtet; Lat. prestns, ready), prompt.-As if the confederates, that if the confederates.-On the behalf, etc., in favor of a political party, or for the sake of securing a tacit (i. e., riot openly avowed) correspondence in the form of the governnient. —Greecia (A. S. Grec; Lat. GrceCia), Greece. So in Daniel viii. 21.-Others, other governmesnrs. —Effeminate, yrozu womanish or wealc.-Corrupt, become impure. —It maketh, it profits, maks for a nattion's advantage. See make, Index.-Still (A. S. stille, quietly), continually.-Chargeable (Lat. carrus, a cart; W. cart; A. S. craet; Fr. charger, to load; whence cargo,) costly.-Reputation (of being law-giver?) A quarrel that he mrsay always command. Equivalents? Let tAem be prest = let them be prompt. Other equivalents? Both courages will effeminate, and manners corrupt = what? By the space of = what? See in Acts xx. 31, " By the space of three years I ceased," etc. 102 MASTERPIECES IN ENVGLISH LITERATURE. To be master of the sea is an abridgment of a monarchy. Cicero, writing to Atticus of Pompey's preparation against Ctesar, saith, " Consilium Pompeii plane Themistocleum est; putat enim, qui mari potitur, eum rerum potiri;" and, without doubt, Pompey had tired out Coesar, if upon vain confidence he had not left that way. We see the great effects of battles by sea: the battle of Actium decided the empire of the world; the battle of Lepanto arrested the greatness of the Turk. There be many examples, where sea fights have been final to the war; but this is when princes, or states, have set up their rest upon the battles. But thus much is certain, that he that commands the sea is at great liberty, and may take as much and as little of the war as he will; whereas, those that be strongest by land are many times, nevertheless, in great straits. Surely, at this day, with us of Europe, the vantage of strength at sea, which is one of the principal dowries of this kingdom of Great Britain, is great; both because most of the kingdoms of Europe are not merely inland, but girt with the sea most part of their compass; and because the wealth of both Indies seems, in great part, but an accessory to the command of the seas. The wars of later ages seem to be made in the dark, in respect of the glory and honor which reflected upon men from the wars in ancient time. There be now, for martial encouragement, some degress and orders of chivalry, which, nevertheless, are conferred promiscuously upon soldiers and no soldiers, and some remembrance perhaps upon the escutcheon, and some hospitals for maimed soldiers, and such like things. But, in ancient times, the trophies erected upon the place of the victory; the funeral laudatives and monuments for those that died in the wars; the crowns and garlands personal; the style of emperor, which the great kings of the world after borrowed; the triumphs of the generals upon their return; the great donatives and largesses upon the disbanding of the armies,-were things able to inflame all men's courages. But, above all, that of the triumph amongst the Romans was not pageants, or gaudery, but one of the wisest and noblest institutions that ever was. For it contained three things; honor to the general, * Abridgment (Fr. abriger, to abbreviate; Lat. brevis), compact form. -C icero (B. C. 107-43), the most celebrated of the Roman orators. - Atticus, friend and correspondent of Cicero. He committed suicide by starvation, B. C..33.-Pompey's (B. C. 106-48). In some editions Pompey's is printed Pomepey hzis. The old mode of' indicating the possessive by adding his, appears to have originated in a blunder. The apostrophe with s comes from the old genitive (pos.) termination es (is or ys). The e being dropped the apostrophe takes its place, and the s is retained.-Consilium, etc.'The plan of Pompey is clearly that of Themistocles; for he thinks that whoever is master of the sea is master'of the world.'-Actium, a small promontory at the entrance of the Ambracian (modern Arta) gulf, famous for the decisive naval battle between Augustus and Mark Antony, B. C. 31.Lepanto, a seaport town of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Lepanto. In this gulf the Turkish fleet was annihilated, A. D. 1571, by the combined fleets of the Christian states of the Mediterranean under Don John of Austria.-That be strongest. Note the frequent use of be for are, by the old writers. — inal to the war. Modernize.-Set ulp their rest. 3Meaning?-Vantage, advantage.-lMerely (A. S. mcere, pure, unmixed; Lat. merus), completely.Compass, circuit. See Index.-Degrees, titles of distinction.-Escutcheon (Lat. scuttum, a leather shield; Fr. icu), coat of arms.-Laudatives, panegyrics.-Style, desiqnation, title.Triumphs, magnificent parades. See Index. Describe a Roman'triunlph.'-Donatives, gifts.-Pageants (A. S. pecean, to deceive by false appearances), pompous display.-Gaudery (Lat. gaudiumr, joy), ostenltatious finery, gauds. Are not merely irnlad = are not completely inland. Other equivalents? Funeral laudatives = funeral eulogies = panegyrics. Other equivalents? FRANCIS BACON. 103 riches to the treasury out of the spoils, and donatives to the army. But that honor, perhaps, were not fit for monarchies, except it be* in the person of the monarch himself, or his sons; as it came to pass in the times of the Roman emperors, who did impropriate the actual triumphs to themselves and their sons, for such wars as they did achieve in person, and left only, for wars achieved by subjects, some triumphal garments and ensigns to the general. To conclude: no man can, by care-taking, as the Scripture saith, " add a cubit to his stature," in this little model of a man's body. But in the great frame of kingdoms and commonwealths, it is in the power of princes, or estates, to add amplitude and greatness to their kingdoms. For, by introducing such ordinances, constitutions, and customs, as we have now touched, they may sow greatness to their posterity and succession. But these things are commonly not observed, but left to take their chance. * Except it be. Equivalent?-Impropriate, auppropri 9ate, assume as one's own.-Caretaking. "Which of you with takiut thoutght, can add to his stature one cubit?" Matt. vi., 27; Luke xii., 25.-Touched (upon), treated of briefly. Who did impropriate = who appropriated. Other equivalents 9 As we have nozw touched = as wre have now slightly treated of. Other equivalents? As with the preceding essays, the student will do well to write out the leading thoughts, and recast them in the form of one or more essays. Write an argument to confirm or refute any of the doctrines here advanced by Bacon. Make citations from moder7n history to illustrate or overthrow then. Compare the concentration of thought and languagoe in Bacon with the diffusiveness of Spenser. Set forth in writing your views of trute national greatness. Write an essay on Bacon's moral character, as far as it may be inferred from these essays that we have read. Write another on his intellectual power as evinced therein. Write separate sketches of his life at different periods, as in youth, in early manhood, in middle age, while chancellor, and after retirement from active business. Has Macaulay treated him fairly? What can you say of the Baconian philosophy? 104 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 1564-1616. NOTWITHSTANDING the investigations of scores of scholars and antiquarians, little is known of the early life of Shakespeare. No history records the successive steps by which he rose from the lowest depths of poverty and obscurity to the loftiest summits of intellect and fame. His parents were illiterate, rarely, if ever, writing a word, but content to make their mark when called on for their signatures to any paper. His mother's name was Arden, a surname adopted by the Turchills, a family of some note that traced their lineage beyond the Norman conquest. Shakespeare is an old Warwickshire word. Lowell thinks that "one lobe of William's brain was Normanly refined, and the other Saxonly sagacious;" but other scholars will have it that he was purely Saxon. If we may confide in the accuracy of the painter of his bust, which had been colored to the life before Edmund Malone stultified himself by whitening it in imitation of marble, his eyes were of a light hazel color, his complexion fair, and his hair and beard auburn. His mother had inherited some property. Ilis father was a man of business; at various times, or perhaps all at once, farmer, wool-comber, butcher, and glover. In the little world of Stratford, he held successively the offices of " ale-taster," bailiff, justice of the peace, and chief alderman. At the age of thirteen, William found himself the oldest of thirteen living children, two sisters; born before him, having died in infancy. In the Stratford free grammar-school, open to William at the age of seven, he probably acquiled some knowledge of Latin and Greek, in addition to the common English branches. His extraordinary vocabulary, far surpassing in fullness and accuracy that of any other writer in any age, proves him to have been a most diligent student of language; while his learning in metaphysics, literature, logic, art, law, medicine, navigation, history, politics, mythology, shows him unequalled in keenness of observation, and in power of acquiring, classifying, and assimilating. Doubtless the first twelve years of his life passed happily enough amid the comfort and respectability of home. But clouds now gathered. The little property which William's mother had brought her husband, was slowly dissipated. Unable to support his growing family, the father sank deeper and deeper in poverty. Though nominally an alderman, he for seven years dared not attend the meetings of the board, for fear of being arrested for debt. Skulking and hiding from constables, he was at length seized in 1587 and lodged in debtor's jail. The distress of this ofice proud and respectable family must have been terrible. Mother and younger children naturally looked to the oldest boy, bright, strong, brave William, just entering manhood. Who knows but that the agonies of those nearest and dearest to him wrought in his sensitive spirit a determination to conquer all obstacles, and lift the family out of suffering and disgrace? The prodigious intellectual energies that he afterwards exhibited, must have had some great impelling force behind them, holding him to his work as with a giant's strength. Here may have been the source of his inspiration. I ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Li HEA WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. WILL~IAM[ SHIAKESPEARE. 105 Traditions, seemingly well-founded, show that William was withdrawn from school in consequence of his father's reverses, and apprenticed to a butcher. Old Aubrey says, "When he killed a calf, he would do it in high style and make a speech" I Very likely. No distress could check the buoyancy of so elastic a spirit. The torrent, dammed by temporary obstacles, becomes irresistible. I recognize in Shakespeare, as in most men of the highest genius, a singular force and intensity. More than any other writer, he loads words with meaning till they sink under the weight; vivifies nouns into verbs; injects his fiery emotion, incapable of cooling, through the rifts of granitic thought; vitalizes and incarnates the shadows of fiction, till no historic characters seem so real. Yet one blunder, great and almost fatal, stands out in bold relief. At eighteen, having no visible means of supporting a family, he marries Anne Hathaway, a woman of twenty-six. Before he is twenty-one, three little Shakespeares are crying for bread! To these embarrassments, which would have driven a small man to despair, a bad man to crime, a great man to sublime effort, there was added a yet deeper shadow. His marriage brought him little comfort. At twenty-one, or thereabouts, he quitted his wife, and for many years afterwards he rarely or never visited her. Do we have a casual negative hint of his home-misery in Twelfth Night?:" Let still the woman take An elder than herself: so wears she to him; So sways she level in her husband's heart." However this may be, in his last will and testament he omits all mention of his wife at first, and finally, on second thought, interlines this "item," "I give unto my wife my second best bed." It is sad to lift the veil that hides this woe; but all mankind are probably the gainers. The love of this great soul, that might have blessed her alone, went to the drama instead. "You have a wife already whom you love, Your social theory," says Aurora Leigh. Shakespeare was married, not to a woman, but "to immortal verse. " We are told by tradition that young Shakespeare became a school-master, a statement not likely to have been a sheer fabrication. Unfavorable rumors of one's conduct are easily generated, usually exaggerated, willingly believed, and safely transmitted to posterity. Not so with the good which men do. Alas, we do not like to hear Aristides called " The Just! " We hug the aphorism, " No man is wholly good, or wholly bad," for it brings down the lofty, and perhaps lifts us. But how could a report that Shakespeare was a school-master originate and gain credence in Warwickshire, unless founded on fact? " He understood Latin pretty well, for he had been many years a school-master in the country," says Aubrey. Some confirmation may be found in the prominence which Shakespeare gives to school exercises, and in the marvellous fluency with which he uses those words and illustrations which are the stock-in-trade of Latin school-rmasters. But the hum of pedagogy by day, or the monotony of hard study by night in a room where three babes exercise their musical prerogatives unquestioned, is dull experience for a youth conscious of gigantic powers and determined to scale the highest heaven of thought. The bow forever bent will either break, or lose its elasticity. As he had probably been inveigled into matrimony, he is supposed by White and other critics to have been drawn by some of his wild companions into the robbery of Sir Thomas Lucy's deer park, three miles from Stratford. Caught in the act, William and his young fellow-poachers show fight. The story runs that they were arrested for the trespass, and that William was obliged to leave town. The first scene in _aerry Wives of Windsor is supposed to be partially founded on this incident. 106 AIASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. We find him next in London; but for several years his history is a blank. Tradition fills it with vague reports of his joining the theatre, at first in a very humble capacity. It may have been. After seven or eight years from the time of his arrival in the metropolis, he publishes what he styles " The first heir of my invention," the poem called Venus artd Adonis. Brilliant and beautiful as much of it is, he should have burnt it; for " the trail of the serpent " is over it all. It ministers to the lowest appetite. A year later he publishes his second long poem, The Rape of Lucrece, dedicated to the same patron, Henry Wriothesly, Earl of Southampton, in language of remarkable significance: " What I have done is yours; what I have to do is yours; being part in all I have devotel yours." The tradition is that Southampton had presented him a thousand pounds. About this time we find him joint owner in the new Globe Theatre, perhaps investing here the money that the earl had given or loaned him. In 1594, too, the greatest of then living poets, Edmund Spenser, names him with high commendation, and speaks of the heroic sound of his warrior name, the only recognition of him by any illustrious contemporary, if we except Ben Jonson's encomium written many years after Shakespeare's death. Spenser's lines are, "And then, though last, not least is 2Etion. A gentler shepherd may nowhere be found; Whose name, full of high thought's invention, Doth like himself heroically sound." This seems the place to mention his one hundred and fifty-four sonnets, though some of them were evidently written later in life. It is difficult, in reading them, to avoid the impression of a mysterious and profound sorrow, possessing his whole being. They contain few aspirations after anything noble; but ther'e are vivid pictures of earthly love, strange flashes of ambition, a boundless exuberance of fancy, sublime premonitions of immortality; and revelations, too, it must be confessed, of conduct not creditable to any man's moral character. All of them are of love, and all of them could well have been omitted without damage to his fame. lHe now (1587) entered upon his threefold career of dramatic author, actor, and manager. He wrote, or re-wrote (from 1587 to 1613), for it is not certain that he wholly originated any one of his plays, fourteen comedies, eleven tragedies, and ten histories.* As to the seeds and sources of these plays, we find five comedies, Tamirng of the Shrew, M-erchant of Venice, All's Well that _Ends Well,.iMch Ado About Nothing, and Measure for ]ffeasure, Italian; two, Comedy of Errors and Twelfth Night, classical; two, Midsummer -NAight's Drecam, and As You Like It, medinval; one, Two GClemnen of Verona, Spanish; one, lferry WIVives of Windsor, English; one, Love's Labor's g,,st, probably French; two, Winter's Tale and Tempest, unknown. We finid, among the tragedies, four, Timon of Athens, Coriolanus, JTulius Ccesar, and Anztony and Cleopatra, classical; two, Borneo and Jiliet and Othello, Italian; two, Hamlet and Troilus ased Cressida, medimeval; three, Cymbelise, Lear, and _i2acbeth, from the legendary history of Britain. The ten histories are called by the names of the English kings, Henry IV. (Parts I. and II.), Henry VT, Henry VI1 (Parts I., II. IIi.), Xing John, Richard II., Richard III., and.Henry VIII: His earliest plays were probably Love's Labor's Lost, Comedy of _Errors, and Tweo Gentlemen of Verona. Between these youthful productions and the fruits of his maturer genius, an amazing progress is evident. Hamlet, written in or about the year 1600, may be taken as the dividing point between the first half and the last half of his dramas. Composed at the age at which Milton wrote his Areopagitica, it may be con* I omit Pericles and Titus Andronicus. WILLIA M'SHAKESPEARE. 1 0 sidered, like the latter, as a peculiarly representative piece. Midsummer Night's Dreame and lMerchant of Venice, the two most popular of his comedies, came before Hamlet; Macbeth and Lear, the two sublimest of his tragedies, after it. The struggles and distresses of his early years had taught him, most impressively, the value of money, and it is pretty clear that the lesson was not forgotten. Records exist of lawsuits brought by him to collect petty debts, even while he was growing rich. In 1602, he purchases one hundred and seven acres of land in Old Stratford. In 1605, he buys the moiety of a lease of all the tithes in Stratford, Old Stratford, Bishopton, and Welcombe, paying therefor ~440. Between 1610 and 1612, he resumed his residence at Stratford. Once or twice afterwards he visited London for a few days. On the twenty-fifth of March, 1616, he executed his will. On the twenty-third of the following April, probably the anniversary of his birth, he breathed his last. Of the cause of his death we have only a feeble tradition, recorded half a century after his death by John Ward, A. M., vicar of Stratford. Ward's language is, " Shakespeare, Drayton, and Ben Jonson had a merrymeeting, and, it seems, drank too hard; for Shakespeare died of a fever then contracted." We can hardly bring ourselves to believe that he fell a victim to intemperance, though such a catastrophe has befallen many a lesser genius. By common consent his is one of the greatest names, in literature. We recognize the following points in his intellectual supremacy: 1. His profound philosophical insight; his knowledge of human nature enabling him to seize unerringly upon the governing principle or master passion' of a man or class of men.* 2. The creativeness of his imagination; exemplified in the multitude of striking characters, embodiments of the laws his intuition has detected. He names more than a thousand, each of whom expresses thire thought or sentiment in fitting language and conduct. 3. The skillful grouping of characters, arrangement of scenes, construction and development of plots. 4. His style; that marvellous copiousness and felicity of speech, whereby is brought down to our midst the Shakespearian world, as perceived by an eye at once telescopic and microscopic, by an ear keenly sensitive to all harmonies and discords, by a mind at once the most piercing and the most comprehensive, by a heart tenderer than a mother's, yet stouter than that of Leonidas. 5. His wit and humor. Falstaff is the most comic character ever invented; yet he is but one of a multitude. 6. His power of portraying deep emotion. Others may have equalled him in single instances, but their successes in this particular are few to his. Yet Shakespeare was but a half man, rarely looking beyond the uses of the theatre. Prince of dramatists, master of the revels to all mankind, chief caterer to human amusement-this is something: it is even noble. But it is not enough. Great intellectual, moral, and political movements are in progress in England and on the Continent during the whole of his career. Shall not the most consummate of artists play the man? Shall the foremost intellect of the irace be insignificant in action and loose in conduct? see nothing but from the stand-point of his theatre? say nothing but as an actor on the stage? do nothing to lead the struggling millions to a higher life? But let us not judge hastily. We may be pardoned for the perhaps excessive charity of believing that, if his days had been prolonged, he would have atoned for the indifference or idleness of the past. Cut off suddenly at the age of fifty-two, what plans for human improvement may not have been buried with him! Given thirty years more, * We must not, however, look to him for portraits that are in exact accordance with historical facts. His Julius Ccesar, for example, is a caricature. 108 MASTERPIECES IN EN2KGLISH LITERATURE. he might have shown himself as sublime in action as in thought. We have here his own explicit declaration that the life of a trifler was distasteful to him: "Alas!'tis true I have gone here and there And made myself a motley to the view, Gored mine own thoughts, sold cheap what is most dear, Made old offenses of affections new. Most true it is that I have looked on truth Askance and strangely. " Oh, for my sake do you with Fortune chide, The guilty goddess of my harmful deeds, That did not better for my life provide Than public means which public manners breeds! Thence comes it that my name receives a brand, And almost thence my nature is subdued To what it works in, like the dyer's hand!" It is said that there have been published upwards of two thousand works treating of Shakespeare and his plays. Among them, consult White's Shakespeare, vol. 1; Drake's Shakespeare and his Times; Lowell's Shakespeare Once llMore; Hazlitt's Characters of Shakespeaere's Plays; Whipple's Lectusres and Essays; Johnson's Preface to Shakespeare; De Quincey's Essay on.Shakespeare in the Encyclopedia Britannica; Campbell's Essay or, English Poetry; Hudson's Shakespeare; Richardson's Analysis of Shlakespeare; Stearns's Shakespeare Treasury qf Wit and Wisdom; Mrs. Jameson's Characteristics of Shakespeare's Women; Schlegelss Lectscres on Dramatic Literature; Pope's Preafcce to his edition of Shakespeare; Reed's Lectures; Price's Wisdom and Genius of Shakespeare; Emerson's Shakespeare in his Representative lIen. See also the various works on English Literature cited at the close of our sketch of Spenser, p. 69. Let the student collect other facts in regard to Shakespeare. MACBETH. " Since The Furies of sEschylus nothing so grand and terrible has ever been composed. The Witches, it is true, are not divine Eumenides, and are not intended to be so; they are ignoble and vulgar instruments of hell. They discourse with one another like women of the very lowest class; for this was the class to which witches were supposed to belong. When, however, they address Macbeth, their tone assumes more elevation; their predictions have all the obscurity, the majestic solemnity, by which oracles have in all times contrived to inspire mortals with reverential awe. We here see that the witches are merely instruments; they are governed by an invisible spirit, or the operation of such great and dreadful events would be above their sphere.... "I Macbeth is an ambitious but noble hero, who yields to a deep-laid hellish temptation; and all the crimes to which he is impelled by necessity, to secure the fruits of his first crime, cannot altogether eradicate in him the stamp of native heroism...... In every feature we see a vigorous heroic age in the hardy North, which steels every nerve. The precise duration of the action cannot be ascertained; years, perhaps, according to the story; but we know that, to the imagination, the most crowded time appears to be the shortest. Here we can hardly conceive how so very much can be compressed into so narrow a space. Not merely external events, the very innermost recesses of the minds of the persons of the drama are laid open to us. It is as if the drags were taken from the wheels of time, and they rolled along without interruption in their descent. Nothing can equal the power of this picture in the excitation of horror. We need only allude to the circumstances attending the murder of Duncan, the dagger that hovers before the eyes of Macbeth, the vision of Banquo at the feast, the madness of Lady Macbeth;-what can we possibly say that will not weaken the impression? Such scenes stand alone, and are to be found only in this poet. Otherwise the tragic Muse might exchange her mask for the head of Medusa."-Lectures on Dramatic Literature, by A. W. Schlegel. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 109 MACBETIH. PERSONS REPRESENTED. DUNCAN, King of Scotland. YOUNG SIWAiD, his Son. MALCOLM, his Sons. SEYTON, an QfOicer attending on Macbeth. DONALBAIN, Son to Macdtiff. MIACBETH, Generals of the I Any An English Doctor. A Scotch Doctor. BANQUO, s of the Kngs rmy ASoldier. A Porter. An old Man. MACDUiFF, 1 LADY 3MACBETH. LENOX, LADY MIACDUFF. IOSSE, Iomn Gentlewoman attending onil Lady Macbeth. MONTEITH, oblemen of Scotland. HECATE and Witches. ANGUS, Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, MurCATHNESS, J dlerers, Attendants, and Messengers. FLEANCE, Son to Banquo. The Ghost of Banquo, and several other AppaSIWARD, Earl of Northumberland, General ritions. of the English forces. SCENE-In the end of the Fourth Act, lies in England; through the rest of the play, in Scotland, and, chiefly, at Macbeth's Castle. ACT I. SCENE I. An open place. Thunder and lightning. Enter three Witches. 1st Witch. When shall we three meet again, In thunder,* lightning, or in rain? 2d Witch. When the hurly-burly's done, When the battle's lost and won. 3d Witch. That will be ere set of sun. 1st Witch. Where the place? 2d Witch. Upon the heath, 3d Witch. There to meet with Macbeth. 1st Witch. I come, Graymalkin! All. Paddock calls:-Anon. Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. [Witches vanish. ~ Thunder (A. S. thunor; D. donder; Ger. donner; Lat. tonitru, by Grimm's Law, Eng. thtender; Lat. ton-are, to thunder). The question appears to be not, " In which of the three, thunder, lightning, or rain, shall we meet? " but, " When shall we meet again in threatening or stormy weather? "-H-Iurly-burly. This word is formed by onomatopceia, which is thus defined by Peacham in 1577: "Onomatopceia, when we invent, devise, fayne, and make a name imitating the sound of that it si,'vnifieth; as hurly-burly, for an uproar or tumultuous stir." Here it means the din of battle. See Onomatopceia in the treatises on Rhetoric.-Heath (A. S. hddh, Ger. and D. heide, heath, an evergreen shrub), a place overgrown with heath. Hence heathen, originally a dweller on the heath. Christianity having become established in cities sooner than in the country, the dwellers on the heath, or heathen, wvere still unbelievers; and so the word heathen came to have an opprobrious sense.-Graymalkin (or Grimalkin, fr. Fr. gris, gray), a common name for a cat. iMalkiin (pronounced mawk7in) is from Mfary and the diminutive ending -kin, which originally meant child, allied to Lat. genus, birth, race: as mnanikin, little man; malkin, little Mary. "Cats played an important part in witchcraft." White.-Paddock (A. S. padde, D. pad, a toad). One witch appears to have had some point of resemblance to a cat; perhaps in voice. For a like reason another is called "Paddock," or toad.-Fair is foul, etc. Fair weather is foul for witches, and vice versa. 110 iLMASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. SCEaNE II. A Camp near Forres.* Alarum within. Enter King DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENOX, with Attendants, neeting a bleeding Soldier. Dun. What bloody man is that? He can report, As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt The newest state. Mal. This is the sergeant, Who, like a good and hardy soldier, fought'Gainst my captivity. Hail, brave friend! Say to the king thy knowledge of the broil, As thou didst leave it. Sold. Doubtful it stood; As two spent swimmers, that do cling together, And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald (Worthy to be a rebel, for to that The multiplying villanies of nature Do swarm upon him) from the Western Isles, Of Kernes and Gallowglasses is supplied; And Fortune, on his damned quarry smiling, Show'd like a rebel's [ — ]. But all's too weak: For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name!) Disdaining Fortune, with his brandished steel, Which smoked with bloody execution, Like Valor's minion, Carved out his passage, till he faced the slave; And ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Till he unseamnecd him from the nave to the chaps, And fixed his head upon our battlements! Dun. 0, valiant cousin! worthy gentleman! * Forres, or Fores, a Scotch parish, ten miles W. S. W. of Elgin. Near it is a remarklable obelisk called " Sweno's Pillar." probably erected in commemoration of a victory over the Danes. -Sergeant (Lat. serviens, serving; Fr. sergelnt), formerly an officer of importance, higher in rank than now. —For to that, becaytse. Solle critics interpret "for to that" as meaning "for, to that edcl." — estern Isles, HIebrides. Location? The population is Celtic; the language, Gaelic.-Kernes, lighit-alrined Irish foot-soldiers. Of Kernes, ewit/ Kernes. —Gallowglasses (Ir. giolla, servant; gleac, to fight; gallowgolach, a fighting servant), heavy-armed foot-soldiers from Ireland and the Western Isles. The gallowglass carried an axe; the kern, a sword and target. They are mentioned in Shakespeare's Kizg Ilenry VI., Part II., Act iv., Scene 9.Damned. Dissyl.-Q-uarry (Lat. qtuadratts, squilre), square, squaclron, phaclaix. White and some other editors follow Dr. Johnson in reading quarrel instead of quacry. See qpe'rrel, pages 95, 101. —Showed like, etc. Fortune smiled but to deceive.-But all's too weak. Mr. Hunter suggests that we should read all-to. i. e., cltopetgher, entirely. See Juedges ix. 53.Minion (Lat. cin-us, less; Eng. mzininz, something minute; Ft. mzignon; 0. High. Ger. minni, mininia, love, affection), favorite, darling. This word came alfterwarcds to have an iunfavorable sense, and to signify the smean.favorite of a tyrant. SUGGESTIONS FOR ExPREssivE READING. (See Sccmmacry of Piesults of Elocutioznacy Analysis, post.) What bloody mnan? Sturprise and excitement blended are apt to be loud and quick. Read accordingly. Let the instructor unyieldingly insist upon correct vocal expression. This is the sergeant. Stcpcrise. joy, gratitude, and adoircation,. are mingled here. The utterance should be loud, quick, and high in " pitch" (or musical tone). 0, valiant cousin. Excitement, Surprise, joy, great admic'ation. Loud, with full volume of voice, an(r rather high pitch, with " median stress" (i. e., the middle part of the accented vowel sound is enunciated forcibly). WILLIA M SHAKIESPEARE. 111 Sold. As, whence' the sun'gins his reflection, Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break; So from that spring, whence comfort seemed to come, Discomfort swells. Mark, King of Scotland, mark: No sooner justice had, with valor armed, Compelled these skipping Kernes to trust their heels; But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage, With furbished arms and new supplies of men, Began a fresh assault. Dun. Dismayed not this Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo? Sold. Yes; As sparrows, eagles; or the hare, the lion! If I say sooth, I must report they were As cannons overcharged with double cracks! So they Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe. Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds, Or memorize another Golgotha, I cannot tellBut I am faint, my gashes cry for help. Dun. So well thy words become thee, as thy wounds! They smack of honor both. —Go, get him surgeons. [Exit Soldier, attended. Enter RossE. Who comes here? _lVal. The worthy Thane of Rosse. LIen. What a haste looks through his eyes! So should he look, That seems to speak things strange. Posse. God save the king! Dun. Whence cam'st thou, worthy thane? Posse. From Fife, great king, Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky, And fan our people cold! Norway himself, with terrible numbers, * As, whence, etc. As shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break [from the east] whence the sull begins his reflection (i. e., shining).-Norweyan lord, Sweno.-Surveying vantage, seeing his advantage, recognizing his opportunity. See vantage, p. 88.-Sooth, tr2thl. See sootlily, p. 41.-C-racks, explosions, reports. Gaelic and Irish crac; Fr. craquer; Ger. krachen, to burst into chinks. When was-gunpowder invented? Any anachronism in this passage?-l-Vemoriz;e, make memorable.-Golgotha. See John xix. 17.-Seems to speak, seems about to speak.-Thane, a nobleman in A. S. and Dan. times; called a baron after the Normall Conquest. A. S. thegan, servant of the king.-Fife, a county of Scotland forming a peninlsula, bounded by the Frith of Tay, Frith of Forth, and the North Sea, on the north, south, and east, respectively. —Flout (Goth. flautan, to boast; 0. D. lauyten, to pipe, lie, flatter; A. S. flitan, to quarrel; Prov. Eng. flite, to scold), mock.-Cold. As if they brought the cold air of Norway. As whence the sun. The sergeant is blunt, brave, warm hearted, full of admiration for Macbeth, with a dash of boastfulness. He would speak loud even to his king. His voice fails him at the last. Read accordingly. From Fife, great king. Excitement, haste, joy, admiration. Loud and quick. 112 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. Assisted by that most disloyal traitor, The Thane of Cawdor,* began a dismal conflict; Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapped in proof, Confronted him with self-comparisons, Point against point rebellious, arm'gainst arm, Curbing his lavish spirit! And, to conclude, The victory fell on usDun. Great happiness! Rosse. That now The Norway's king craves composition; Nor would we deign him burial of his men, Till he disbursed, at Saint Colme's Inch, Ten thousand dollars to our general use. Dun. No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive Our bosom interest.-Go, pronounce his death, And with his former title greet Macbeth. Posse. I'll see it done. Dun. What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won. [Exeunt. SCENE III. A Heath. Thunder. Enter the three Witches. 1st Witch. Where hast thou been, sister? 2d Witch. Killing swine. 3d Witch. Sister, where thou? 1st Witch. A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap, And mounched, and mounched, and mounched: —Give me, quoth I: Aroint thee, witch the rump-fed ronybn cries. Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o' the Tiger: But in a sieve I'll thither sail, And, like a rat without a tail, I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do! * Cawdor, or Calder, a parish of Scotland, in the counties of Nairn and Inverness. It is three and a half miies southwest of Nairn. Here is a castle, an imposing feudal fortress, in which, it is said, Duncan was murdered by Macbeth."-Till that, till.-Bellona's bridegroom. Bellona, in mythology, is the goddess of war, sister (and wife, some say) of Mars. Here the bridegroom is Macbeth, as glorious in strength and beauty as Mars himself on his marriage day.-Proof (Lat. probare, to test), proof, armor, armor capable of resisting any impression.-Self-comparisons, self matcleibg self. The expression is explained in the next line. —Rebellious (Lat. re, back; bellum, war), warring back, striking back. Originally rebellion meant bringing war back, making war again after having been vanquished.-Composition (Lat. con-, together; ponere, to place; comnposition, a putting together), a peaceful agreement or settlement.-Saint Colme's inch (St. Columb; Gael. n-is, island; Lat. insola; the Celtic inch, island, being part of the name of many places on the coast of Ireland and Scotland), Inchcolmn, or Isle of Columba, a small island in Edinburgh Frith, with an abbey upon it dedicated to St. Columb. Colme's is dissyl. St. Columb was a native of Ireland, said to have died A. D. 597. See New American Cyclopedia.-Dollars (Dan., D., Sw. daler; Ger. thaler.' a piece of money," says Wachter, "first coined about the year 1518, in Bohemia"). Any anachronism here?-X-lounched (Lat. masticare, to masticate; manducare, to chew; Fr. manger, to eat), munched, chewed witle closed lips.-Aroint. This word is also used in King Lear, Act iii., Scene 4. Perhaps irom Fr. arry avtnt I away there! In the north of England milk-maids say'rynt thee,' to drive away a cow that has been milked. A. S. ryman, rymde, to make room.lRump-fed (Sw. rtumpa, a tail),fed on olqals. Webster gives a different meaning to this word -crowded basement and empty attic. —Ronyon, "a vulgar term of reproach meaning'scurvy drab."'" From Fr. rogne, itch; Lat. rent, renes, reins.-Aleppo, a great emporium of Asiatic Turkey in the north of Syria.-Sieve. In Shakespeare's time, writers on witchcraft affirmed that witches could sail in sieves.-A tail. The same writers asserted that witches could take the shape of any animal, but the tail would be wanting!-I'll do, etc. Gnaw a hole through the ship's hull? WILLIA:M SHAKESPEARE. 113 2d Witch. I'll give thee a wind. 1st Witch. Thou art kind.* 3d Witch. And I another. 1st Witch. I myself have all the others And the very ports they blow, All the quarters that they know I' the shipman's card. I will drain him dry as hay: Sleep shall, neither night nor day, Hang upon his pent-house lid: He shall live a man forbid: Weary sevennights, nine times nine, Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine: Though his bark cannot be lost, Yet it shall be tempest-tossed. Look what I have! 2d Witch. Show me, show me. 1st Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb, Wrecked, as homeward he did come. [Drum within. 3d Witch. A drum! a drum! Macbeth doth come. All. The weird sisters, hand in hand, Posters of the sea and land, Thus do go about, about; Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine, And thrice again to make up nine. Peace! —the charm's wound up. Enter MACBETH aind BANQUO. Afacb. So foul and fair a day I have not seen. Ban. How far is't called to Forres?-What are these, So withered, and so wild in their attire, That look not like the inhabitants o' the earth, And yet are on't? Live you? or are you aught * Kind (Gr. y~vo;, race, birth; Lat. genus; by Grimm's Law, Eng. kin, kind; A. S. cyn, cynd, race, offspring; Ger. kind, child), related by blood; consequently, kind. The word probably rhymed with wind.-Ports (Lat. porta, a gate; or portus, a harbor), the gates the winds blow from, or the harbors they blow to.?-Card (Lat. charta, a leaf ot papyrus, paper; Fr.'carte), chart. —Pent-house (Lat. pendire, to hang; Fr. pente, slope), a shed standing aslope. Scott says, "Had there not lurked under the pernt-house of his eye that sly epicurean twinkle."-Forbid, interdicted, accursed, blasted. See foryeld, p. 45.-Peak, become sharp-featured.-Pine. Marasmus was supposed to be produced by witchcraft. Holinshed thus describes the witchcraft used to destroy King Duff: "For as the waxen image [resembling the king's person] did waste afore the fire, so did the body of the king break forth in sweat; arid as for the words of the enchantment, they served to keep him still waking from sleep."-Weird (A. S. wyrd, fate). skilled in witchcraft, supernatural, wild. Dissyl.-Fair and foul, fair because of victory, andfoul because of the weather. What are these, etc. Wonder with slight awe,' Aspirated quality;' i. e., with prominence given to the consonants; whispering; not loud, as not wishing to attract attention. Liv'e you, etc. Boldness, as of one having authority. Loud, with' radical stress;' i. e., with force on the first part of each accented vowel sound. 8 114 MAASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. That man may question? You seem to understand me, By each at once her choppy * finger laying Upon her skinny lips.-You should be women, And yet your beards forbid me to interpret That you are so. JMIacb. Speak, if you can.-What are you? 1st Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Glamis! 2d Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor 3d Witch. All hail, Macbeth! that shalt be King hereafter. Ban. Good sir, why do you start, and seem to fear Things that do sound so fair?-I' the name of truth, Are ye fantastical, or that indeed Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner You greet with present grace, and great prediction Of noble having and of royal hope, That he seems rapt withal: to me you speak not. If you can look into the seeds of time, And say whichi grain will grow, and which will not, Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear Your favors nor your hate. 1st Witch. Hail! 2d Witch. Hail! 3d Witch. Hail! 1st Witch. Lesser than Macbeth, and greater. 2d Witch. Not so happy, yet much happier. 3d Witch. Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none: So, all hail, Macbeth and Banquo! 1st Witch. Banquo and Macbeth, all hail! Macb. Stay, you imperfect speakers; tell me more. By Sinel's death, I know, I am Thane of Glamis; But how of Cawdor? the Thane of Cawdor lives, A prosperous gentleman; and to be king Stands not within the prospect of belief, ~ Choppy, chapped.-Glamis, Glammis, a Scotch parish, five and a half miles south-west of Forfar. It contains a venerable castle, the ancient residence of the Macbeths. The thaneship of Glamis was in the Macbeth family.-Fantastical, (creatures) of fantasy. Holinshed applies the same adjective to the witches. Macbeth's trance of thought is supposed by Hudson to indicate a wrong, moral predisposition, and " a long course of secret inward preparation for the crimes that follow." —aving, possession, fortune. Here the allusion is to the thainedom of Cawdor, which is the'present grace.'-Royal hope, hope of the crown.-That he seems, so that he seems.-Rapt (Lat. rapere, to snatch away; raptus, transported; Gr. aprra(oi, I seize), transported, ravished.-Withal, with the rest, likezwise, with it.-Sinel's death. Sinel was Macbeth's father according to Boethius, whom Holinshed followed. The thaneship was inherited.-Cawdor, or Calder, p. 112. For all these geographical names, consult Lippincott's Gazetteer and a good atlas. Good sir, why do you start, etc. A little of wonder at Macbeth's strange starting. For Macbeth had probably been thinking of becoming king, and he is struck by the astonishing coincidence of his thoughts with the witches' prediction I Spoken politely with rounded lips. Take great pains to read expressively. 1' the name of truth, etc. This address is bold; without a particle of fear, and in the last part with a tone of defiance. Loud and deliberate. Stay, you imperfect speakcers, etc. Earnest appeal. Spoken rapidly, but with occasional brief hesitation, as of one puzzled. Rather loud. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 115 No more than to be Cawdor. Say from whence You owe * this strange intelligence! or why Upon this blasted heath you stop our way With such prophetic greeting!-Speak, I charge you! [Witches vanish. Ban. The earth hath bubbles, as the water has, And these are of them. —Whither are they vanished? Mack. Into the air; and what seemed corporal, melted As breath into the wind.-'Would they had stayed! Ban. Were such things here, as we do speak about? Or have we eaten of the insane root, That takes the reason prisoner? ffacb. Your children shall be kings. Ban. You shall be king. H.iacb. And Thane of Cawdor too: went it not so? Ban. To the selfsame tune and words. Who's here? Enter RossE and ANGUS. Posse. The king hath happily receiv'd, Macbeth, The news of thy success; and when he reads Thy personal venture in the rebels' fight, His wonders and his praises do contend, Which should be, thine, or his. Silenced with that, In viewing o'er the rest o' the selfsame day, He finds thee in the stout Norweyan ranks, Nothing afeard of what thyself didst make Strange images of-death. As thick as tale, Came post with post; and every one did bear Thy praises in his kingdom's great defence, And poured them down before him. Anq. We are sent, To give thee, from our royal master, thanks; To herald thee into his sight, not pay thee. Posse. And, for an earnest of a greater honor, He bade me, from him, call thee Thane of Cawdor: In which addition, hail, most worthy Thane! For it is thine. * Owe, possess. See owen, p. 35.-Insane root, henbane. Batman says, "Henbane is called insana, mad... if it be eate or dronke it breedeth madness." —Rebels' fight. This was the first fight, before the Norwegians came.-His wonders and his praises do contend (with each other), which should be (i. e., which should survive the other, wonder struggling with the utterance of praise, a struggle for existence), thine or his (i. e.,' thine,' the praise; *his,' the wonders.) This language is highly figurative. The next sentence throws light on it.-Silenced with that. The meaning is, admiration contends with ability to praise, overpowers his speech, and the result is silence. —Afeard, etc. Afraid of death, which thou didst make strange images of. Put a rhetorical pause before' death.'-Tale (A. S. tale, fr. tellan, to tell, to count: Ger. zaihlen, to number; zahl, number, counter), count.'As thick as tale' means' as fast as one could count.' Tally is fi. Fr. tailler, to cut.-Earnest, pledge. A. S. eornost; Goth. arneis, sure; or fr. O. Eng. earles-penny, part payment.-Addition, title. The king hatlh happily, etc. Bold, polite, joyful, declamatory, admiring. Rather loud and rather fast. He has his speech all committed to memory. 116 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERA TUiE. Ban. What! can the Devil* speak true? Macb. The Thane of Cawdor lives: Why do you dress me In borrowed robes? Ang. Who was the Thane, lives yet; But under heavy judgment bears that life Which he deserves to lose. Whether he was combined With those of Norway, or did line the rebel With hidden help and vantage; or that with both He labored in his country's wreck, I know not; But treasons capital, confessed and proved, Have overthrown him. Macb. [Aside.] Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor; The greatest is behind.-Thanks for your pains.Do you not hope your children shall be kings, When those that gave the Thane of Cawdor to me, Promised no less to them? Ban. That, trusted home, Might yet enkindle you unto the crown, Besides the Thane of Cawdor. But'tis strange;And oftentimes, to win us to our harm, The instruments of darkness tell us truths; Win us with honest trifles, to betray us In deepest consequence.Cousins, a word, I pray you. Macb. Two truths are told, As happy prologues to the swelling act Of the imperial theme!-I thank you, gentlemen.This supernatural soliciting Cannot be ill; cannot be good. If ill, Why hath it given me earnest of success, Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor. If good, why do I yield to that suggestion Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair, And make my seated heart knock at my ribs, Against the use of nature? Present fears Are less than horrible imaginings: * Devil, the devil in the witches. Note that devil is shortened from Lat. diabblus, Gr. &6LoXeos, accuser; it being in accordance with the genius of the English language to make long words short, a process by which Voltaire said the English Vain two houis a day I-Line, place alongside of for security, strengthene. —Thanks. Said to Rosse and Angus.Do you not. Addressed to Banquo.-Trusted lome, trusted entirely.-Enkindle, fire, encourage.-Deepest consequence. Elsewhere Shakespeare says,'"It i5 a matter of small consequence."-Prologues. Belbore a dramatic performance, a brief discourse or poem was spoken to the audience. Prologue (Gr. 7rp6, before; A6yoe, discourse), preliminary speech. Happy prologues are auspicious prologues. — Swelling act, a grand or imposing drama.Soliciting, incitement, temptation. —Earnest, assurance, pledge, token. See p. 115.-Suggestion, the thought of the murder of Duncan. Shakespeare uses suggest in the sense of tempt. Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor, etc. In the following soliloquies, of course, Macbeth speaks in an undertone. The interjected thanks to Rosse and Angus are in an ordinary tone of voice. The last part of the soliloquy is in a whisper. WILLJA M SHAKESPEARE. 117 M3y thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,* Shakes so my single state of man, that function Is smothered in surmise; and nothing is, But what is not! Ban. Look, how our partner's rapt! Mach. If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me Without my stir. Ban. New honors, come upon him, Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould, But with the aid of use. facb. Come what come may, Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. Ban. Worthy Macbeth, we stay upon your leisure. faucb. Give mne your favor:-my dull brain was wrought With things forgotten. Kind gentlemen, your pains Are registered where every day I turn The leaf to read them. —Let us toward the king.Think upon what hath chanced: and, at more time, The interim having weighed it, let us speak Our free hearts each to other. Ban. Very gladly. MacB. Till then, enough. —Come, friends. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. Forres. A Room in the Palace. Flourish. Enter DUNcAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENOX, and Attendants. Dun. Is execution done on Cawdor? Are not Those in commission yet returned? Mal. My liege, They are not yet come back; but I have spoke With one that saw him die, who did report, That very frankly he confessed his treasons; Implored your highness' pardon; and set forth A deep repentance. Nothing in his life Became him like the leaving it: he died As one that had been studied in his death, To throw away the dearest thing he owed, As'twere a careless trifle. * Fantastical, the creation of fancy.-Single state, "my inadequate, unsupported manhood," says White; "weak, feeble state," says Hudson. Webster defines singole as "small, weak, silly;" Worcester, as "weak, silly." —Function, action, performance.Nothing is, etc. The visible, tangible, and present, are as nothing; the invisible, intangible, and future, everything; fact is nothing; fancy, everything.-Time and the hour. Some suppose that Macbeth has in mind the hour-glass. The line appears to have been almost proverbial. —Favor, countenance, good-will. -Wrought, exercised.-Pains, painstaking efforts.-The interim, in the meantime. —Free, freefrom guile, frank.-Studied, studiously prepared.-Owed, owned, possessed. See Owen, p. 35.-Careless, uneared for. It is supposed that in this description Shakespeare was thinking of thie circumstances of the execution of the Earl of Essex. Was Shakespeare's friend Southampton connected with Essex? my liege, they are not yet come back, etc. This is spoken in a business way, respectfully, of course, to the king; and it is commented upon with some earnestness and in a tone of surprise and disappointment. 118 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLIS[H LITERATURE. Dun. There's no art, To find* the mind's construction in the face: He was a gentleman on whom I built An absolute trust.-O worthiest cousin! Enter MACBETH, BANQuo, RosSE, and ANGUS. The sin of my ingratitude even now Was heavy on me. Thou art so far before, That swiftest wing of recompense is slow To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less deserved; That the proportion both of thanks and payment Might have been mine! Only I have left to say, More is thy due than more than all can pay..Macb. The service and the loyalty I owe, In doing it, pays itself. Your Highness' part Is to receive our duties: and our duties Are, to your throne and state, children and servants; Which do but what they should, by doing everything Safe toward your love and honor. _Dun. Welcome hither: I have begun to plant thee, and will labor To make thee full of growing.-Noble Banquo, That hast no less deserved, nor must be known No less to have done so, let me enfold thee And hold thee to my heart. Bean. There if I grow, The harvest is your own. Dun. My plenteous joys, Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves In drops of sorrow!-Sons, kinsmen, thanes, And you whose places are the nearest, know, We will establish our estate upon Our eldest, Malcolm; whom we name hereafter, The Prince of Cumberland: which honor must Not, unaccompanied, invest him only, * To find, etc., to discern the character in the face.-O worthiest. To Macbeth. -Ingratitude, in not rewarding Macbeth sufficieutly. —Proportion, etc., that the proportioning of thanks and payment to your desert might have been mine, i. e., in my power.-The service, etc. Virtue is its own reward.-Duties, etc. Our duties are as children and servants.-Safe, etc. This seems to have been taken from the customary saying in Lat., salvo honore Dei, the honor of God being safe; or the old Fr. phrase, sauf votre honneur; or, in Norlman Fr., saulf le foy qte jeo doy a nsostre seignor le roy, a phrase of reservation in acknowledgments of allegiance or avowals of' fealty. —or.... no less. The double negative here, as often in Shakespeare, strengthens the negation.-Drops of sorrow, tears.-Cumberland (A. S. comb, a valley, hollow), the land of hollows; Cumnberland, the north-west county of England. Holinshed assigns this appointment of Malcolm as the cause of Macbeth's plot to murder Duncan and seize the throne. " Prince of Cumberland" was the title borne during the life of a king of Scotland by his appointed successor. O worthtiest cousin, etc. Great joy, adniration, agffection. Loud, rather quick at first, with "median stress" (i. e., with a swuell of the voice on each long accented vowel). So in the following speeches of Duncan in this scene. The pitch is somewhat high. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. t19 But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine On all deservers.-From hence to Inverness,* And bind us further to you. Macb. The rest is labor, which is not used for you: I'll be myself the harbinger, and make joyful The hearing of my wife with your approach; So, humbly take my leave. Dun. My worthy Cawdor! Macb. The Prince of Cumberland!-That is a step Aside. On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires; The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be, Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see. [Exit. DOun. True, worthy Banquo; he is full so valiant; And in his commendations I am fed; It is a banquet to me. Let us after him Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome: It is a peerless kinsman. [Flourish. Exeunt. SCENE V. Inverness. A Poom in MACBETH'S Castle. Enter Lady MlACBETHr, reading a letter. Lady M. "They met me in the dcay of success; and I have learned by the perfectest report, they have more in them than mortal knowledge. When I burned in desire to question them further, they made themselves-air, into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it, came missives from the king, who allhailed me, Thane of Cawdor; by which title, before, these weird sisters saluted me, and referred me to the coming on of time, with, Hail, King that shalt be! This have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness, that thou mightest not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, and farewell." Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be What thou art promised!-Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' the milk of human kindness, To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great; Art not without ambition; but without * Inverness. See Cclwdor, pp. 112, 114.-Bind, etc. Lay us under further obligations. — Rest, etc. Rest, if not taken for your sake, is labor. -The Prince, etc. Macbeth, passing out, soliloquizes. Meanwhile Duncan and Banquo converse unheard. When Macbeth is gone, Duncan exclaims aloud in reply to some remark of Banquo's, " True, worthy Banquo, he (i. e., Macbeth) is full," etc.-Banquet. Is the word suggested by the name Baunquo?-Lady l1Macbeth. Her name was Greach. Wyntoun's Chronicle makes her to have been the wife of Duncan and, afterwards, of his murderer.-1-Iissives (Lat. nmittere, to send), messengers. The first part of this letter, or the whole of a previous one, is omitted. The Prince of Cumberland, etc. Startled, angry, malicious, yet secret, so as not to be overheard or suspected. An undertone, or loud whisper. They met me in the day of success, etc. Very slow, with pauses, to think out and take in the meaning of every word. So, wherever the thought is greatly condensed, or the words are very pregnant with meaning. Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, etc. Decision; earnestness intense, yet under control; a hard, metallic voice; slow utterance. A tone of exultation running through the last part of the soliloquy. 120 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERA TURE. The illness * should attend it. What thou wouldst highly, That wouldst thou holily; wouldst not play false, And yet wouldst wrongly win. Thou'dst have, great Glamis, That which cries, " Thius thou must do, if thou have it; And that which rather thou dost fear to do, Than wishest should be undone." Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear; And chastise with the valor of my tongue All that impedes thee from the golden round, Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem To have thee crowned withal.-What is your tidings? Enter an Attendant. Attend. The king comes here to-night. Lady M. Thou'rt mad to say it. Is not thy master with him? who, wer't so, Would have informed for preparation. Attend. So please you, it is true; our thane is coming: One of my fellows had the speed of him; Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more Than would make up his message. Lady At. Give him tending: He brings great news. The raven himself is hoarse, [Exit Attendant. That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, come, you spirits That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here! And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood, Stop up the access and passage to remorse! That no compunctious visitings of nature Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between The effect, and it! Come to my woman's breasts, * The illness, the evil nature, the wickedness. Thou'dst have, etc.'I'hou wouldst have the crown, which (crown) cries,': Thus thou must do if thou have it (i. e., the crown), and thou must do that (i. e., the murder) which thou rather fearest to do, than wishest should be undone." 1etaphysical (Gr. IeX-a, beyond; *fvacs, nature), beyond physical, super9natural. Seem to have, seem determined to have.-Master, Mlacbeth.-F-ellows, companions. See p. 28.-Speed, start, advance.-Give him, etc., give your breathless companion courteous attention. —Entrance. Good critics suppose this word to have the force of a trisyl. here; as if enterance.-Raven.... hoarse.... croaks.... fatal.... battlements. Hlow the dark purpose of Lady Macbeth summons things of evil omen to suit her fierce and bloody mood I Contrast these images with those suggested by Duncan and Banquo in the commencement of the next scene, where all is hospitality and cheer.'" If all this be accident," says Lowell, " it is at least one of those accidents of which only Shakespeare was ever capable.' -Spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, spirits that incite to deadly crimes.-Remorse, pity; compassion; compunctions.-Keep peace, etc., intervene between thefellpurpose and its execution.-M-y woman's breasts, the breasts of me, a woman. What is your tidings, etc. Spoken sharply and quickly on the abrupt entrance of the attendant. The raven himself is hoarse, etc. A muttering, threatening tone. " Radical stress," the words being spitefully spit out through the set teeth. Fierce determination. The last part rather loud, violent, yet with small " volume " (or size of voice), it being a woman that speaks, and she not wishing to be overheard. "Aspirated quality," the consonant sounds being desperately hissed and blurted out. Take great pains in the reading. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 121 And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers, * Wherever in your sightless substances You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick Night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell! That my keen knife see not the wound it makes; Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark, To cry, "Hold, Hold / "-Great Glamlis! worthy Cawdor! Enter MACBETH. Greater than both, by the All-hail, hereafter! Thy letters have transported me beyond This ignorant present, and I feel now The future in the instant. Mlacb. M1Vy dearest love, Duncan comes here to-night. Lady M. And when goes hence MJacb. To-morrow, as he purposes. Lady M. 0, never Shall sun that morrow see! Your face, my Thane, is as a book, where men Nay read strange matters!-To beguile the time, Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, Your hand, your~ tongue: look like the innocent flower, But be the serpent under it! He that's coming Must be provided for; and you shall put This night's great business into my despatch, Which shall to all our nights and days to come Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom. Macb. We will speak further. Lady M. Only look up clear: To alter favor ever is to fear. Leave all the rest to me. [Exeunt. SCENE VI. The Same. Before the Castle. IHautboys. Servants of MACBETHr attending. Enter DUNcAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, BANQUO, LENOX, MACDUFF, ROSSE, ANGUS, and Attendants. * Take my milk for gall, exchange my milk for gall.-Pall (Lat. pallium; A. S. phll, cloak, cover), hide, cloakc.-This ignorant present. The present time, which is ignorant of the future.-Instant, p?'esent. Lat. instare, to stand on; to be urgent, to press.-Favor, countenance, the face. See Index. —Scene vI. After the intense excitement of Scene v, how calm and sweet is this repose! Note, however, the lack of anything like personal affection in Lady Macbeth's welcome, and that she overacts. Great Glamis, etc. Rapturous admiration. Very loud; quick; very strong median stress; "pure quality " (i. e., the vowel sounds being clear and full, and the consonant sounds not very prominent). Miy dearest love, etc. Love for Lady Macbeth, blended with treacherous malice towards the king. Love is here soft in force, gently median in stress. Malice towards Duncan preponderates. It expresses itself by decision blended with secrecy. Radical stress. Yourface, my Thane, is as a book, etc. Sly exultation; malice mingled with affection. Suppressed force; quick utterance; small volume. 122 M[ASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. Dun. This castle hath a pleasant seat. The air Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself Unto our gentle senses. Ban. This guest of summer, The temple-haunting martlet, * does approve, By his loved mansionry, that the heaven's breath Smells wooingly here: no jutty, frieze, Buttress, nor coigne of vantage, but this bird Hath made his pendent bed and procreant cradle. Where they most breed and haunt, I have observed, The air is delicate. Enter Lady MACBETH. Dun. See, see! our honored hostess! The love that follows us, sometime is our trouble; Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you, How you shall bid God yield us for your pains, And thank us for your trouble. Lady M. All our service, In every point twice done and then done double, Were poor and single business to contend Against those honors deep and broad, wherewith Your Majesty loads our house. For those of old, And the late dignities heaped up to them, We rest your hermits. Dun. Where's the Thane of Cawdor? We coursed him at the heels, and had a purpose To be his purveyor; but he rides well, And his great love, sharp as his spur, hath holp him To his home before us. Fair and noble hostess, We are your guest to-night. * Mlartlet, a kind of swallow, a martin.-Approve, give proof.-Jutty, projection.Frieze, that part of the entablature of a column which is between the architrave and cornice. -Coigne of vantage (Lat. cmnetLs, wedge; Fr. coin; Gr. yovia, angle), "a projecting angle in the masonry," advantageous corner.-Delicate, soft, pure, and agreeable.-The love that, etc., loving attentions to us are sometimes troublesorne, yet we thank the giver for the spirit that prompts themn.-Herein, by this illustration.-Y-ield, recompense. Seeforyelde, p. 45.-'Your pains, the pains we compel you to take by coming so unceremoniously to your castle.Single business, a slight matter. See single state, 1). 117.-Contend against, comzpare with.-Hermits (Gr. /priios, solitary; Lat. eremita, a hermit), beadsmnen, persons bound to pray constantly for you, as hermits are wont. —Coursed, pursued as a hunter follows the game. — Iolp (O. Eng.), helped. So isolpen in Luke i. 54. This castle /ath a pleasant seat, etc. The first two speeches in this scene are full of calmness and tranquillity. The tone is pure (i. e., free frlom nasal, guttural, hissisng, and prominent consoinant sounds); the force is soft; the pitch is medium (or average); the movement (or rate of utterance) is rather slow; the slides (i. e., inflections, or changes of pitch on a single long sound) are moderate. All the delivery is gentle, yet glad. See, see! our honored hostess, etc. Joy, benevolence, politeness. Rather loud and rather fast; radical and median stress. All our service. Polite, ceremonious, yet with metallic hardness; not out-gushing, but measured. She " speaks a piece," which she has learned for the occasion; speaks it prettily, but with the lips merely, not the heart. Where's tse Thane of Cawdor, etc. A blunt, straightforward inquiry, in a good-natured, business way and tone. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 123 Lady M. Your servants ever Hath theirs, themselves, and what is theirs, in compt,* To make their audit at your Highness' pleasure, Still to return your own. Dun.. Give me your hand: Conduct me to mine host. We love him highly And shall continue our graces towards him. By your leave, hostess. [Exeunt. SCENE VII. The same. A Room in the Castle. Hautboys and Torches. Enter, and pass over the Stage, a Sewer, and divers Servants with Dishes and Service. Then enter MACBETH. Macb. If it were done, when'tis done, then'twere well It were done quickly. If the assassination Could trammel up the consequence, and catch, With his surcease, success; that but this blow Might be the be-all and the end-all here, But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,We'd jump the life to come. —But, in these cases We still have judgment here; that we but teach Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return To plague the inventor. This even-handed Justice Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice To our own lips.-He's here in double trust: First, as I am his kinsman and his subject; Strong both against the deed: then, as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been * In compt (Lat. computare, to compute; con-, together, putare, to think, reckon; Fr. compter, to reckon; compte, comoputation), subject to account or computation.-Audit, examination (of accounts).-M-ake their audit, present their accounts for a hearing and settlement. Lat. audit, he hears.-Return your own, give back to you your own property.-By your leave. Perhaps taking her by the hand, or even kissinL her.-Sewer (Fr. asseoir, to set, place; or 0. E. sese, to follow: Lat. sequi; F. suivre; O. Fr. sewer, squire), an officer who had charge of the arrangement of table dishes and decorations in great houses. The French essayear tasted each dish to show that there was no poison in the 1ood.-If it were done. White puts a period after well, and no comma after quickly, and reads, " If it were done (i. e., ended), when'tis done (i. e., peaformed), then it were (i. e., woould be) well. It were (i. e.. would be) done (i. e., ended) quickly, if the assassination," etc. But the common interpretation is, perhaps, better: " If it were to be all over and ended as soon as the fatal blow is struck, then it would be well to strike it quickly."-Trammel up, gather up and hold fast, tie up. —Iis surcease. Surcease is cessation. His strcease may be the cessation of Duncan's life. So White understands it. Others construe his as its, which latter is rarely found in Shakespeare or Milton, and not at all in Kingc James's version of the Bible. In this case, surecease means the completion of the bloody deed.-Jump, risk, hazard. Jump the life to come, run the risk of the life to come, disregard it. In Coriolanus, Act v., Scene 4. we have "Jump the after inquiry."-Commends (Lat. con-, completely; manus, hand; do, dare, to give; Lat. commendare, to give completely into the hands of), connzits, delivers.-Chalice (Lat. calix, cup; by Grimm's Law). Is Macbeth thinking of the communion cup? Your servants ever, etc. Another polished, ceremonious, heartless speech. A woman's voice, soft, but —hard! If it were done, etc. Secrecy; slowness, because he is thinking out his plans, weighing consequences, and his language is weighty; his twisting thought requires long winding slides, i. e., extensive changes of musicalpitch on the accented vowels. 124 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATUYRE. So clear* in his great office, that his virtues Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against The deep damnation of his taking-off: And Pity, like a naked new-born babe, Striding the blast, or heaven's cherubin, horsed Upon the sightless couriers of the air, Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye, That tears shall drown the wind! —I have no spur To prick the sides of my intent; but only Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself, And falls on the other - How now? what news? Enter Lady MACBETH. Lady M. He has almost supped. Why have you left the chamber? Maacb. Hath he asked for me? Lady M. Know you not, he has? Macb. We will proceed no further in this business. He hath honored me of late; and I have bought Golden opinions from all sorts of people, Which would be worn now in their newest gloss, Not cast aside so soon. Lady M. Was the hope drunk, Wherein you dressed yourself? hath it slept since? And wakes it now, to look so green and pale At what it did so freely? From this time, Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard To be the same in thine own act and valor As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteemest the ornament of life, And live a coward in thine own esteem, * So clear, so pure, so uprighzt.-Taking-off, m'turder.-B3abe. Suggested by the tenderness of pity? —Striding, i. e., Pity, striding, etc.-Sightless couriers, unseen swift messengers, the winds. Lat. currere, to run; Fr. courir, to run. "Who maketh the winds his messengers," Psalms civ. 4, usually translated, " Who maketh his angels spirits." -Drown the wind! A most extravagant metaphor. Sometimes during a shower the rain pours so copiously that it seems to cause a lull in the wind.-Prick the sides of, stimulate, as the spur does the horse. —O'erleaps itself. As we say'overreached himself," or " overshot himself." Possibly we should read " o'erleaps its sell," sell being an old word for saddle. Lat. sella, for sedile, fir. sedes, a " seat," by Grimm's law. Spenser says: "He left his lofty seat with yellow sell." —Falls on the other, i. e., osf the other side. The sentence is unfinished, he being interrupted by the entrance of Lady Macbeth.-Opinions. In a previous scene honors are likened to garments.-Would be worn, i. e., should be worn. Would and should, as also shalland will, were not in Shakespeare's time fully differentiated. — hI-ope.... dressed. This is sugeested by Macbeth's metaphor.-Such I account. Spoken with a disdainful gesture? Or does she mean to say she counts his love but a sickly affair?-That which thou esteem'st, i. e., the crown.-And live, and (yet) live. Will plead like angels, etc. Conscience begins to be aroused; horror makes him shudder. By a kind of imitation, " trumpet-tongued " etc. should be uttered louder. Voice energetic but tremulous; aspirated (rough) quality. Ihave no spuer, etc. Impatience, abandcnment of the plan. Hlow now? what news? The circumstances require whispers or undertone through this dialogue. Rapid utterance. Was the hope drunk, etc. Expostulation, ricdicule, anger, contempt. Rapid,'jerky' utterance; radical (i. e., initial) stress; as loud as the necessity of secrecy-will permit; strongly aspirated quality, the words being blown out hissing. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 125 Letting "II dare not" * wait upon "I would," Like the poor cat i' the adage? Macb. Pr'ythee, peace! I dare do all that may become a man; Who dares do more, is none. Lady M. What beast was't, then, That made you break this enterprise to me? When you durst do it, then you were a man; And, to be more than what you were, you would Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place Did then adhere, and yet you would make both. They have made themselves, and that their fitness now Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know How tender'tis to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn, as you Have done to this! Macb. If we should fail, Lady M. We fail! But screw your courage to the sticking place, And we'll not fail. When Duncan is asleep, (Whereto the rather shall his day's hard journey Soundly invite him,) his two chamberlains Will I with wine and wassail so convince That memory, the warder of the brain, Shall be a fume, and the receipt of reason A limbeck only. When in swinish sleep * I dare not. This is the grammatical object of letting.-I would. Grammat. object of wait uvon.-Cat. In Heywood's Proverbs, published in 1566, we have the adage, "The catt wol'de fish eat, but she wolde not wet her feet." —Pr'ythee, I pray thee.-Become a man. lXan is emphatic. —Beast. Beast is to be emphasized. It was suggested by the mention of man.-Adhere (Lat. ad, to; haerire, to stick, cling to), be consistent, favor.-Then adhere. When?-We fail. Mrs. Siddons used to utter the we very slowly, and then, with an air of desperate determination, let the voice strike with downward slide and great emphasis on the wordfail.-Screw (Fr. icrou; Ger. schraube). The strings of musical instruments are tightened by turning a peg on which one end of the string is wound. When the proper tension is reached, the peg is made to remain fast in its " sticking place."-Whereto, to which. —Chamberlains. The killing of the chamberlains appears to have ber(n suggested to Shakespeare by the similar circumstance mentioned in Holinshed's account of the murder of Kingl Duff.-Wassail (A. S. wces-hael, or wes-hal, be in health, health to you, an ancient formula on drinking healths; A. S. waes, wss, be, was; Ger. wesen, a being; A. S. hAil, healthy; Gr. ioo, whole; Eng. whole; Ger. heil; Eng. hale), quaffing, carousing, intemperate indulgence in drink — Convince (Lat. con-, completely; vincere, to conquer), overcome..-Warder, geard, keeper. The memory was supposed to be in the cerebellum, as a sort of a sentinel to warn the reason. —PReceipt, rseceptacle. Here it is the cavity filled by the brain, the skull.-Limbeck (Ar. al-ambiq; Gr. aq3Lpt, a cup, the cap of a still), the vessel in which the vapor of liquors is condensed in the process of distillation; an alembic. What did Shakespeare know about distilleries? Does alcohol accumulate in the cavity of the drunkard's cranium? Ihave given suck, etc. Still more energy. Initial stress with expulsive force. Dashed the braisns, etc. Suppressed scream of wrathful energy, hurtling through the teeth and nostrils. Loud, quick, rough, convulsive voice, yet a constant effort to speak softly. tWhen Duncan is asleep, etc. Decision, precision, business-like, yet energetic; the last part with exultation, as if gloating over the successful accomplishment of the ingenious plan. Utterance rapid; radical stress; aspirated quality. 1 26 I~A STERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERA T URE. Their drenched * natures lie, as in a death, What cannot you and I perform upon The unguarded Duncan? what not put upon His spongy officers, who shall bear the guilt Of our great quell? Macb. Bring forth men-children only! For thy undaunted mettle should compose Nothing but males. Will it not be received, When we have marked with blood those sleepy two Of his own chamber, and used their very daggers, That they have done't? Lady _M. Who dares receive it other, As we shall make our griefs and clamor roar Upon his death? Macb. I am settled, and bend up Each corporal agent to this terrible feat! Away, and mock the time with fairest show: False face must hide what the false heart doth know. [Exeunt. ACT II. SCENE I. The Same. Court within the Castle. Enter BANQUO and FLEANCE, and a Servant with a Torch before them. Ban. How goes the night, boy? Fle. The moon is clown: I have not heard the clock. Ban. And she goes down at twelve. Flie. I take't,'tis later, sir. Ban. Hold, take my sword.-There's husbandry in heaven: Their candles are all out.-Take thee that too. A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, And yet I would not sleep. Merciful Powers, Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature Gives way to in repose!-Give me my sword;Enter MACBETH, and a Servant with a Torch. Who's there? * Drenched (A. S. drincan, to drink; drencan, to give to drink; Ger. trdnken; Fr. trizquer), soaked in liquor.-Spongy, absorbing liquor like a sponge.-Quell (0. E. quellen, kill; A. S. cwelian; Dan. qvdle, to kill; Ger. quilen., to torment), murderous act.-Received, accepted as true.-Other, otherwise. H-ow goes, etc. Fleance understands the question as referring especially to time.Husbandry, thrift, frugality, economy. Note the skill with which Shakespeare introduces the fact that it is a little past midnight, and that. the sky is moonless and starless I-Summons, Nature's call to repose.-Would not sleep, because in my dreams comes the temptation to kill Duncan. Banquo's prayers against temptation strikingly contrast his heart with Macbeth's. Bow goes the night, etc. The tone of ordinary conversation. Whenever there appears no special reason for something unusual in the utterance, the stress (i. e., emphasis, or accent, or force, on the first part, middle part, or last part of an accented vowel), the time (i. e., the rate or movement, whether fast or slow), the force (whether soft or loud), the pitch (i. e., musical tone, whether high or low), the quality (i. e., musical quality, whether pure or impure), the slides (i. e., ascent or descent, musically speaking, of the voice on the long vowel sounds), and the volume (i. e., the bigness or size of the voice, depending partly on the openness or closeness of the aperture of the vocal organs)-all these should be moderate. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 127 Macb. A friend. Ban. What, sir! not yet'at rest? The king's abed: He hath been in unusual pleasure, and Sent forth great largess* to your offices. This diamond he greets your wife withal, By the name of most kind hostess; and shut up In measureless content. Macb. Being unprepared, Our will became the servant to defect, Which else should free have wrought. Ban. All's well. I dreamt last night of the three weird sisters: To you they have showed some truth. Macb. I think not of them; Yet, when we can entreat an hour to serve, Would spend it in some words upon that business, If you would grant the time. _Ban. At your kind'st leisure. Macb. If you shall cleave to my consent, —when'tis, It shall make honor for you. Baan. So I lose none, In seeking to augment it, but still keep My bosom franchised and allegiance clear, I shall be counselled. Macb. Good repose the while! Ban. Thanks, sir: the like to you! [Exit BANQUO. Macb. Go, bid thy mistress, when my drink is ready,.3he strike upon the bell. Get thee to bed.- [Exit Servant. Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee:I have thee not, and yet I see thee still! Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible * Largess (Lat. larygito, a giving freely; bribery), bounty, gifts. —Offices, "rooms occupied by the officers of Macbeth's castle."-Withal, with.-Shut up, conclued.-Will became, etc. Our inclination to entertain the king sumptuously was subjected to the necessity imposed by defective means. Otherwise our will would have acted on a more liberal scale.-All's well. Your reception of the king is sufficiently hospitable.-I dreamt, etc. This refers to the " cursed thoughts " above mentioned?-Consent (Lat. con-, together; sentire, to feel), accord, agreement; or the company of those that are with me in sentiment, my party. White suspects here a misprint of consort, meaning company, and he quotes from Kfing Lear, Act II., Scene i.: "Yes, Madam, he was of that consort;" also The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act IV., Scene i.: " Wilt thou be of our consort? "-When'tis, when the event, at which I hint, shall take place.-None, no honor.-Franchised (Fr.franche, free; Sp.franqueza; Ger. frank; Ice.fri, free), free from wrong.-Clear, clear of guilt.-Counselled, obedient to your counsel. —Get thee to bed. A careless dismissal for the night. Thee should not be emphasized.-Clutch (0. Eng. clouch, claw, grasp; 0. Ger. chluppe, tongs, claw). Several times he tries to seize with his fingers the air-drawn dagger? Get thee to bed, etc. Spoken carelessly in appearance. Is this a dagger? etc. Alarm mingled with curiosity; a puzzled state of mind; full of horror and foreboding, yet overruled by desperate determination. Horror, when not passionate but akin to awe, speaks in a low pitch; fitful utterance, yet very slow, by reason of long pauses; guttural quality; slight force; large volume (not loud, however); falling slides, and tremulous (sometimes called "intermittent ") stress. 128 MAIASTERPIECES IN ENG LISH LIT-ERA T URE. To feeling, as to sight? Or art thou but A dagger of the mind, a false creation, Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain? I see thee yet, in form as palpable As this which now I draw. Thou marshall'st* me the way that I was going; And such an instrument I was to use! Mine eyes are made the fools o' the other senses, Or else worth all the rest.-I see thee still; And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood, Which was not so before!-There's no such thing: It is the bloody business which informs Thus to mine eyes. —-Now o'er the one half world Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse The curtained sleep: witchcraft celebrates Pale Hecate's offerings; and withered Murder, Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf, Whose howl's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace, With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design Moves like a ghost!-Thou sure and firm-set earth, Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear The very stones prate of my whereabout, And take the present horror from the time, Which now suits with it. —Whiles I threat, he lives: Words to the heat of deeds, too cold breath gives. I go, and it is done: the bell invites me. [A bell rings. Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell That summons thee to heaven, or to hell! [Exit. SCENE II. The Same. Enter Lady MACBETH. Lady M. That which hath made them drunk, hath made me bold: * Marshall'st (O. Ger. marah, horse; scale, servant; A. S. mear, mare. See Webster's Dictionary), leadest as a harbinger; pointest out the path.-X-lVine eyes, etc. Either my eyes are deceived (made fools), or they are better than touch and the other senses (which are at fault, if my sight is trustworthy).-Dudgeon, hilt, handle. "Dudgeon is the root of box."-Gouts (Lat. gutta, Fr. goutte, a drop).-Informs, takes form; or gives information.-Hecate. "Hecate was a mystical Greek goddess, a divinity of the lower world, of whose individuality and functions the profoundest scholars and acutest investigators have found difficulty in obtaining an exact notion. Some of her attributes were those of the Greek Artemis and the Latin Diana. She was represented as having three heads; one of a horse, one of a dog, and one of a lion. A spectral being herself, she it was who sent at night demons and phantoms and disembodied souls upon the earth. Hence Shakespeare has been censured for mixing her up with vulgar Scotch witches, smelling of snuff and usquebaugh. But he sinned in this regard with many better scholais than himself; and had he not such companionship, his shoulders could bear the blame, as they also could that of pronouncing the name HIc-at, instead of lec-a-te." WTVte.-Tarquin's. Sextus Tarquinius, guilty of the rape of Lucrece. Hence the words ravis/hisng strides, long, cautiouns steps on tiptoe, such as one takes in a room where he does not wish to disturb sleepers. Shakespeare's nice observation is here apparent. —The time. What time was was it? See the beginning of Act II. Thou sure and firm-set earth, hear not my steps, etc. Do not speak very loud in this utterance, as some actors do. I have heard good readers shout it so that not only the earth, but everybody in the neighborhood, could have heard it distinctly. It is midnight: Macbeth must not wake Duncan! That which hath made, etc. Excitement, secrecy, boldness, determination. Undertone; rapid, convulsive utterance, yet with long pauses. WILLIA Jf SHAKESPEARE. 129 What hath quenched them hath given me fire!-Hark — Peace! It was the owl * that shrieked, the fatal bellman Which gives the stern'st good night. He is about it! The doors are open, and the surfeited grooms Do mock their charge with snores. I have drugged their possets, That death and nature do contend about them, Whether they live or die. Macb. [Within] Who's there?-what, ho! Lady M. Alack! I am afraid, they have awak'd, And'tis not done!-the attempt and not the deed Confounds us.-Hark!-I laid their daggers readyHe could not miss them.-Had he not resembled My father as he slept, I had done't.-My husband! Enter MACBETH. Macb. I have done the deed!-Didst thou not hear a noise? Lady M. I heard the owl scream, and the crickets cry. Did not you speak? iMacb. When? Lady iX. Now. Mcacb. As I descended? Lady M. Ay. Macb. Hark!Who lies i' the second chamber? Lady M. Donalbain. Mfacb. This is a sorry sight! [Looking on his hands. Lady M. A foolish thought, to say a sorry sight. Macb. There's one did laugh in his sleep, and one cried, "M'urder!" That they did wake each other; I stood and heard them. But they did say their prayers, and addressed them Again to sleep. Lady M. There are two lodged together. Macb. One cried, " God bless us! " and, " Amen, " the other, As they had seen me, with these hangman's hands, * Owl (Gr.!bXoAXv'c, to howl; Lat. ululare, to howl; *ulula, screech-owl; A. S. tile; Ger. eule, owl; a word formed probably by onomatopceia). This mention of the owl heightens the borror.-Bellman. In Webster's Duchess of iMalfi, we find the office of bellman thus described: " I am the common bellman that usually is sent to condemned persons the night before they suffer."-Grooms. See p. 73.-Possets (W. posel, curdled milk; fr. pos, gather), a kind of milk punch; a beverage of milk curdled with alcoholic liquor.-The attempt.. deed, an unsuccessful attempt.-My father. Here the woman's heart appears, more tender than she had herself imaOined.-As they had seen, as if they had seen. Who's there?-what, ho! Not very loud, but very quick. Alack! lam afraid, etc. Same tone, etc., as before Macbeth speaks. 1 have done the deed, etc. Horror, consternation, remorse, secrecy, all extreme. Lady Macbeth tries to speak calmly, in a matter-of-fact way, and she measurably succeeds; but Macbeth is a slave to terror and remorse. He speaks convulsively, gaspingly, with anguish. She gets out of patience with him, and finally scolds him quite sharply. His agony continues till they retreat at the sound of the knocking. In this scene, from the close of Macbeth's soliloquy to the entrance of the porter, there is intense excitement, but also a felt need of silence. Read rapidly in an undertone or whisper. 9 130 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. Listening their fear I could not say "Amen," When they did say, "God bless us." Lady M. Consider it not so deeply. Macb. But wherefore could not I pronounce " Amen?" I had most need of blessing, and' Amen" Stuck in my throat. Lady A1. These deeds must not be thought After these ways: so, it will make us mad. Macb. Methought,* I heard a voice cry, " Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep-the innocent sleepSleep, that knits up the ravelled sleave of care, The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, Chief nourisher in life's feast "Lady M. What do you mean? Macb. Still it cried, "Sleep no more! " to all the house: "Glamis hath murdered sleep, and therefore Cawdor Shall sleep no more: Macbeth shall sleep no more!" Lady A. Who was it that thus cried?-Why, worthy Thane, You do unbend your noble strength, to think So brainsickly of things! —Go, get some water, And wash this filthy witness from your hand.Why did you bring these daggers from the place? They must lie there. Go, carry them, and smear The sleepy grooms with blood. Macb. I'll go no more. I am afraid to think what I have done: Look on't again, I dare not. Lady M. Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers! The sleeping and the dead Are but as pictures:'tis the eye of childhood, That fears a painted devil! If he do bleed, I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal, For it must seem their guilt. [Exit. —Knocking within. lliacb. Whence is that knocking? How is't with me, when every noise appals me? What hands are here! Ha! they pluck out wnine eyes! Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather * dethought (me is here the A. S. dative case), it seemed to me.-Innocent. Anr adjective belonging to sleep.-Knits (A. S. ceyttan; L. Ger. kniitten, to form in knots; A. S. cnot; Lat. nodus, knot; Ger. knoten), arranges in good order (what care had discomposed).Sleave (A. S. slWfan, to put on, clothe; Ice. slefa, slender thread; Ger. schleife, a knot). a knot or snarl in thread, floss-silk. In Poole's English Parncassus (1657), hair is called "braided, dangling, sleavy, silken."-The death, etc. Warburton suggested birth in place of death; but a thousand poets, from the time of Job till now, have spoken gently of death as a rest for the weary.-Glamis, etc. This is probably the utterance of Macbeth's horror-stricken fancy.Gild.... guilt. Punning is one of Shakespeare's besetting sins. But is it not here a desperate attempt of Lady Macbeth to bring her husband back to his senses?-Neptune, same as the Gr. Poseidon, god of the sea, son of Saturn, and brother of Jupiter and Pluto. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 131 The multitudinous seas incarnadine,* Making the green one red! Re-enter Lady MACBETH. Lady M. My hands ale of your color, but I shame To wear a heart so white! [Knock.] I hear a knocking At the south entry-retire we to our chamber. A little water clears us of this deed: How easy is it, then! Your constancy Hath left you unattended.-[Knocking.] Hark! more knocking! Get on your nightgown, lest occasion call us, And show us to be watchers.-Be not lost So poorly in your thoughts. Macb. To know my deed,-'twere best not know myself. [Knock. Wake Duncan with thy knocking! I would thou couldst! [Exeunt. SCENE III. The Same. Enter a Porter. [Knocking within.] Porter. Here's a knocking, indeed! If a man were porter of hell-gate, he should have old turning the key. [Knocking.] Knock, knock, knock! Who's there, i' the name of Beelzebub? Here's a farmer, that hanged himself on the expectation of plenty! Come in time; have napkins enough about you; here you'll sweat for't. [Knocking.] Knock, knock! Who's there, i' the other devil's name?'Faith, here's an equivocator, that could swear in both the scales against either scale; who committed treason enough for God's sake, yet could not equivocate to heaven-O, come in, equivocator! [Knoc7ing.] Knock, knock, knock! Who's there?'Faith, here's an English tailor come hither, for stealing out of a French hose. Come in, tailor; here you may roast your goose. [Knocking.] Knock, knock! Never at quiet! What are you? —But this place is too cold for hell. I'll devil-porter it no further. I had thought to have let in some of all professions, that go the primrose way to the everlasting bonfire. [Knocking.] Anon, anon! I pray you, remember the porter. [ Opens the gate. ~ Incarnadine (Lat. caro, carnis, flesh), make of flesh color.-Green, etc., making the green waters one red mass. So Milton in Comnzs, " Make one blot of all the air."-Constancy, firmness, resolution, courage.-Unattended, without the courage that usually attended him.'Constancy hath forsaken you.'-Nightgown, what we should call a dressing-gown or robe de chambre, rather than a modern nightgown. The latter was not used in Macbeth's time.Watchers (Lat. vigilare, to watch; A. S. weccan; by Grimm's Law, Eng. wake; Ger. weeken), personas not in bed at night when most, people are asleep.-To know my deed, etc. So long as I know of my deed, it were best to be lost in my thoughts.-Scene III. After the terrible scene just passed, the mind needs the chanlie which the porter's nonsense brings. This is one view. In another light, this drunken levity adds to the horror. " Life, struck sharp on death, makes awfnl lighlitning." Taine, Voltaire, and all the French critics are shocked at what they call the inelegance, the savageness of Shakespeare. He was just as savage as nature and real life. Old turning,frequent terninq. In Merchant of Venice, Act iv., Scene 2, we have the phrase'old swearing"'; in Merry Wives'of Winsdsor, Act i., Scene 4,'old abusing.'Hanged, because plenty would bring down prices of farmer's produce.-Napkins (Lat. mappa, a napkin; Fr. nappe, a table-cloth; kin, fr. A. S. cyn, offspring, child. Kin is a diminutive ending. See kind, p. 113. Napkin,, a little table-cloth), handkerchiefs.-Equivocator. This is said to mean a Jesuit. The members of this order were charged with having invented the doctrine of equivocation, or mental reservation. Lat. aequus, equal; vox, vocis, a word or voice: caquivocus, capable of double interpretation.-Primrose (Lat. prima rosa, first rose), gay. So "primrose path of dalliance," in Hamlet.-Anon; i. e., I'll open the gate anon. See p. 33. 132 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLIStH LITERATURE. Enter MACDUFF and LENOX. Macd. Was it so late, friend, ere you went to bed, That you do lie so late? Port.'Faith, sir, we were carousing till the second cock. Macd. Port. MMacd. I believe drink gave thee the lie last night. Port. That it did, sir, i' the very throat o' me. But I requited him for his lie; and, I think, being too strong for him, though he took up my legs sometime, yet I made a shift to cast him.* Macd. Is thy master stirring?Our knocking has awaked him; here he comes. Enter MACBETH. Len. Good-morrow, noble sir! Macb. Good-morrow, both! Macd. Is the king stirring, worthy Thane? Mac2b. Not yet. Macd. He did command me to call timely on him: I have almost slipped the hour. Macb. I'll bring you to him. Macd. I know this is a joyful trouble to you; But yet,'tis one. Macb. The labor we delight in physics pain. This is the door. Macd. I'll make so bold to call, For'tis my limited service. [Exit MACDUFrF. Len. Goes the king hence to-day? Macb. He does-he did appoint so. Len. The night has been unruly. Where we lay, Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say, Lamentings heard i' the air; strange screams of death; And prophesying, with accents terrible, Of dire combustion, and confus'd events, New hatched to the woful time. The obscure bird Clamored the livelong night. Some say the earth Was feverous and did shake. Macb.'Twas a rough night. Len. My young remembrance cannot parallel A fellow to it. * To cast him. Vomit?-Physics (Gr. qOLUKni, science of nature; vxens, nature; *veLv, to grow; hence, physic, the art of healing), cures.-Limited appointed. Lat. limes, a prescribed boundary.-He does —he did appoint so. Truth momentarily struggles to his lips.-Prophesying (Gr. 7rp6, forth; qiIt~, I speak), utterance (of strange, solemn, or important things).-Parallel (Gr.,rapa, beside; &A)oIAov, of one another; 7rapdAAhhAo5, alongside of one another), bring alongside, cite. Faith, sir, etc. Spoken, like all of his gabble, in a rollicking way, with frequent hiccoughs? WILLIAMS[ SHAKESPEARE. 133 Re-enter MACDUFF. Macd. 0 horror! horror! horror! Tongue, nor heart, Cannot conceive, nor name thee! Macb., Len. What's the matter? Maced. Confusion now hath made his masterpiece! Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope The Lord's anointed * temple, and stole thence The life o' the building! Macb. What is't you say? the life? Len. Mean you his majesty? Macdl. Approach the chamber, and destroy your sight With a new Gorgon!-Do not bid me speak — See, and then speak yourselves.-Awake! awake![Exeunt MACBETH and LENOX. Ring the alarum-bell! Murder! and treason! Banquo! and Donalbain! Malcolm! awake! Shake off this downy sleep, death's counterfeit, And look on death itself!-up, up, and see The great doom's image!-Malcolm! Banquo! As from your graves rise up, and walk like sprights, To countenance this horror! [Bell rings. Eter Lady MACBETH. Lady M. What's the business, That such a hideous trumpet calls to parley The sleepers of the house? speak, speak! — _faced. 0, gentle lady,'Tis not for you to hear what I can speak! The repetition, in a woman's ear, Would murder as it fell - O Banquo! Banquo! Enter BANQUO. Our royal master's murdered! Lady M. Wo, alas! What, in our house? Ban. Too cruel, anywhere!* Anointed. What can you say'of the ceremony of anointing kings?-Gorgon (Gr. ropycov). The Gorgons were three monstrous sisters of so terrific an aspect'that the sight of them turned the beholder to stone. See lMecdusa, p. 75; also see Class. Dict.-The great doom's image, the image of the Judgmnent Day, when the dead are expected to rise.Sprights, spirits, ghosts. See spright, Index.-Parley (Gr. rrapaloA4j, a sentence, a parable; Lat. parabola, a comparison; 0. F. paroler; Fr. parler, to speak), conversation.-What, in our house P No pity for Duncan, but a fear of being suspected! 0 horror! horror! horror! etc. Here intense horror is followed by a desire to " rouse the neighborhood." The horror for an instant awes to silence, but it soon gives way to terror that shrieks "Awake! awake!" etc. We may suppose the language of Macdnuff, as far as "Awake I awake I" to be pronounced with shuddering awe, in a low pitch, median or final stress, aspirated quality, with rapid utterance. 134 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. Dear Duff, I pr'ythee, contradict thyself, And say, it is not so. Re-enter MACBETHI and LENOX. Macb. Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had lived a blessed time; for, from this instant, There's nothing serious in mortality; All is but toys; renown and grace is dead; The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees Is left this vault to brag of. Enter MALCOLM and DONALBAIN. Don. What is amiss? Macb. You are, and do not know it: The spring, the head, the fountain of your blood Is stopped; the very source of it is stopped. Macd. Your royal father's murdered. Mal. O, by whom? Len. Those of his chamber, as it seemed, had done't: Their hands and faces were all badged with blood; So were their daggers, which, unwiped, we found Upon their pillows: They stared, and were distracted: no man's life Was to be trusted with them. Macb. O, yet. I do repent* me of my fury, That I did kill them. Macd. Wherefore did you so? Macb. Who can be wise, amazed, temperate and furious, Loyal and neutral, in a moment? No man. The expedition of my violent love Outran the pauser reason. —Here lay Duncan, His silver skin laced with his golden blood; And his gashed stabs looked like a breach in nature, For ruin's wasteful entrance! there, the murderers, Steeped in the colors of their trade, their daggers Unmannerly breeched with gore! Who could refrain, That had a heart to love, and in that heart Courage, to make his love known? Lady M. Help me hence, ho! Macd. Look to the lady. * Yet I do repent, etc. Although they had killed Duncan, I nevertheless do repent of my killing them in my fury. —Silver skin laced. Observe these studied metaphors. They betray Macbeth, who, if innocent and really taken by surprise, would have used simpler language. Note,-too, just before, the different styles in which Macdcff and Macbeth respectively announce to Donalbain the murder of his father. —Breeched, covered to the hilt, or having the, hilt covered thick with coagulated blood. Had Ibut died, etc. Assumed earnestness and pretended grief. Loud; quick; median stress. JWio can be awise, amazed, etc. Assumed earnestness, loyalty, love, and anger. Sham excitement; loud; quick; median and radical stress, moderate pitch. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 135 Mal. Why do we hold our tongues, That most may claim this argument for ours? Don. What should be spoken Here, where our fate, hid in an auger-hole, Aside to each May rush, and seize us? Let's away; our tears other. Are not yet brewed.* 1Mal. Nor our strong sorrow Upon the foot of motion. Ban. Look to the lady:- [Lady MACBETH is carried out. And when we have our naked frailties hid, That suffer in exposure, let us meet, And question this most bloody piece of work, To know it further. Fears and scruples shake us. In the great hand of God I stand;. and thence Against the undivulged pretence I fight Of treasonous malice! Macb. And so do I. All. So all. Macbh. Let's briefly put on manly readiness, And meet i' the hall together. All. Well contented. [Exeunt all but MALCOLM and DONALBAIN. Mlal. What will you do? Let's not consort with them. To show an unfelt sorrow is an office Which the false man does easy. I'll to England. ~Don. To Ireland, I: our separated fortune Shall keep us both the safer. Where we are, There's daggers in men's smiles. The near in blood, The nearer bloody. M al. This murderous shaft that's shot, I-ath not yet lighted; and our safest way Is to avoid the aim. Therefore, to horse. And let us not be dainty of leave-taking, But shift away. There's warrant in that theft Which steals itself, when there's no mercy left. [Exeunt. * Brewed. Macbeth has already brewed, or carefully premeditated, his tears; we have not. —Foot of motion. Our sorrow has not begun to step or move; Iacbeth's has.-Lady Macbeth is carried out. Probably her fainting is genuine. She is unprepared for the other murders. —Frailties, etc. (Lat. fregiliteas, brittleness; fr..frangire, to break). When we have clothed our bodies, now naked and suffering from cold. See freeletee, p. 56.-Pretence (Lat. prce, before; tendire, to stretch; prcetenzdere, to hold out as an excuse or pretext), design, intention, pretext (which malice may allege).-Nearer bloody. Macbeth was own cousin to the princes.-Murderous shaft.... lighted; i. e., Macbeth's fell purpose is not yet entirely accomplished. And when we have our naked frailties hid, etc. Decision, anger, solemnity. At first, moderate time, pitch, and force, with radical stress; next, low pitch, soft force, slow time, and median stress; at last (i. e., beginning with "and thence against"), moderate pitch, loud force, moderate time, and radical stress. The instrector should insist, all through this play, that every passage and every sentence shall be, in every particular, correctly read aloud. This will wonderfully bring out the merit of the play. 136 IMASTERPIECGES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. SCENE IV. Without the Castle. Enter RossE and an Old Man. Old M. Threescore and ten I can remember well: Within the volume of which time, I have seen Hours dreadful and things strange. But this sore night Hath trifled former knowings. Rosse. Ah, good father, Thou seest, the heavens, as troubled with man's act, Threaten his bloody stage. By the clock'tis day; And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp. Is it night's predominance, or the day's shame, That darkness does the face of earth entomb, When living light should kiss it? Old M.'Tis unnatural, Even like the deed that's done. On Tuesday last, A falcon, towering in her pride of place, Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed. Rosse. And Duncan's horse, (a thing most strange and certain,) Beauteous and swift, the minions of their race, Turned wild in nature, broke their stalls, flung out, Contending'gainst obedience, as they would make War with mankind. Old M.'Tis said, they ate each other. Rosse. They did so; to the amazement of mine eyes, That looked upon't. Here comes the good Macduff — Enter MACDUFF. How goes the world, sir, now? Macd. Why, see you not? Rosse. Is't known who did this more than bloody deed? HAlacd. Those that Macbeth hath slain. Rosse. Alas the day! What good could they pretend? Macd.. They were suborned. Malcolm and Donalbain, the king's two sons, Are stolen away and fled; which puts on them Suspicion of the deed. Rosse.'Gainst nature still! Thriftless ambition, that will ravin up * Living light. Holinshed tells us that, for six months after King Duff's murder, there appeared no sun, nor moon, but clouds, lightnings, and tempests.-Pride of place (a technical phrase in falconry), highest soaring, loftiness.-Horse (Sans. hresh, to neigh; A. S. hors, for hros; Ger. ross, horse), horses. —Minions, darlings. See p. 110.-Ate each other. So Holinshed. of Duff's horses.-Pretend, design. See pretence, p. 135.-Ravin up (Gr. a&pmrioS, I snatch; Lat. rapere, to seize and carry away; Eng. rapine, forcible snatching and pillaging), prey with rapacity upon, devour ravenously. See "'Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf," in Genesis xlix. 27. Spelled also, raven. Tihreescore anl ten, etc. Awe. Rather soft force, low pitch, slow time, ax::d somewhat impure quality (i. e., with slight prominence to consonant and hoarse pectoral sounds). WILLIA iF SIHAKESPEARE. 137 Thine own life's means!- Then,'tis most like, The sovereignty * will fall upon Macbeth. Maced. He is already named, and gone to Scone To be invested. Posse. Where is Duncan's body? Afacd. Carried to Colme-kill, The sacred storehouse of his predecessors, And guardian of their bones. Posse. Will you to Scone? Macd. No, cousin: I'11 to Fife. Posse. Well, I will thither. Mcaccl. Well, may you see things well done there;-madieu - Lest our old robes sit easier than our new! Posse. Father, farewell. Old M. God's benison go with you: and with those That would make good of bad, and friends of foes! [Exeunt. ACT III. SCENE I. Forres. A Room in the Palace. Enter BANQUO. Ban. Thou hast it now, King, Cawdor, Glamis, —all, As the weird women promised; and, I fear, Thou playedst most foully for't. Yet it was said It should not stand in thy posterity, But that myself should be the root and father Of many kings. If there come truth from them, (As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine,) Why, by the verities on thee made good, May they not be my oracles as well, And set me up in hope? But, hush; no more. * Sovereignty. After the sons of Duncan, the next heir was Macbeth.-Scone. At ancient Scone, in Scotland, County of Perth, the kings of that country used to be crowned sitting on a famous stone now preserved in Westminster Abbey. It is placed as the seat of a wooden chair, which is still used at coronations.-Invested (Lat. vestire, to clothe). inaguqurated.-Colme-kill, Icolmkill (Isle of Columb's Cell), iona, one of the Western Isles (Hebrides), the burial place, according to Holinshed, of the Scottish Kings. St. Columb, who flourished in the sixth century, was a native of Ireland. He is said to have founded an abbey here. Cell, Lat. cella, is chapel or church, the same as kil or kill; as in IKilpatrick, church of Patrick. For a long time Iona was the chief seat of learning in the north and the centre of missionary enterprise.-Benison (O. Fr. benifon, blessing), benediction. Speeches shine, predictions are sunshiny. " Shine' means prosper," says Warburton: "Appear with all the lustre of conspicuous truth," is the stately paraphrase of Johnson.Mlly oracles. My is emphatic. Thou hast it now, etc. This utterance T fancy to have been extremely slow, energetic, with long pauses. The ou, in foully, should be much prolonged, the diphthongal sound being struck on a moderate pitch, but the voice sliding down to a deep tremulous pectoral on the last part of the syllable. Yet it was said, etc. This is uttered in a matter-of-fact way, as far as, "But, hush." " Circumflex slides" (the voice passing through what would be termed in music "higher, lower, and higher," or "lower, higher, and lower," making a wave in the pitch) prevail. This wave of the voice is on the long sounds of the accented syllables. 138 NASTERPIECES IiN E:NG-LSXH LITERATURE. Sennet * sounded. Enter MACBETH, as King; Lady MACBETr, as Queen; LENOX, ROSSE, Lords, Ladies, and Attendants. Aiacb. Here's our chief guest! Lady l. If he had been forgotten, It had been as a gap in our great feast, And all things unbecoming. Macb. To-night we hold a solemn supper, sir, And I'll request your presence. Ban. Let your Highness Command upon me; to the which my duties Are with a most indissoluble tie Forever knit. fMacb. Ride you this afternoon? Ban. Ay, my good lord. Macb. We should have else desired your good advice (Which still hath been both grave and prosperous) In this day's council; but we'll take to-morrow. IsIt far you ride? Ban. As far, my lord, as will fill up the time'Twixt this and supper: go not my horse the better, I must become a borrower of the night For a dark hour, or twain. iacb. Fail not our feast. Ban. My lord, I will not. Macb. We hear, our bloody cousins are bestowed In England and in Ireland; not confessing Their cruel parricide, filling their hearers With strange invention. But of that to-morrow, When, therewithal, we shall have cause of state Craving us jointly. Hie you to, horse. Adieu, Till you return at night. Goes Fleance with you? Ban. Ay, my good lord: our time does call upon us. Macb. I wish your horses swift, and sure of foot; And so I do commend you to their backs. Farewell.- [Exit BANQUO. Let every man be master of his time Till seven at night. To make society The sweeter welcome, we will keep ourself Till supper-time alone. While then, God b' wi' you. [Exeunt Lady MACBETH, Lords, Ladies, etc. * Sennet, a particular time or mode of martial music.-Solemn slpper, a banquet with form and ceremony. See solempne, Index.-To the which, to wohich command; or, to whom (i. e., to your Highness).-The better. Better than to nmalle night-travelling necessary.Cause of state, state affairs.-Commend. See p. 123.-While then, meanwhile, then; or, perhaps, till then.-God. b' wi' you. This expression is said to be the origiral of "good-bye," which would appear to be a mere contraction; but see the unabridged dictionaries. Here's ozer chief guest, etc. The following dialogue requires only moderate force, time, etc., as far'as, I' Bring them before us." WILLIAM' SHAKESPEAR. 139 Sirrah, * a word with you. Attend those men Our pleasure? Atten. They are, my lord, without the palace gate. MIacb. Bring them before us.- [Exit Attendant. To be thus is nothing; But to be safely thus!-Our fears in Banquo Stick deep; and in his royalty of nature Reigns that which would be feared.-'Tis much he dares; And, to that dauntless temper of his mind, He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valor To act in safety. There is none but he Whose being I do fear; and, under him, My genius is rebuked; as, it is said, Mark Antony's was by Caesar. He chid the sisters When first they put the name of King upon me, And bade them speak to him: then, prophet-like, They hailed him father to a line of kings! Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown, And put a barren sceptre in mly gripe, Thence to be wrenched with an unlineal hand, No son of mine succeeding. If it be so, For Banquo's issue have I filed my mind; For them the gracious Duncan have I murdered; Put rancors in the vessel of my peace Only for them; and mine eternal jewel Given to the common enemy of man, To make them kings! —the seed of Banquo kings! Rather than so, come, Fate, into the list, And champion me to the utterance!-Who's there?Re-enter Attendant, with twoo Murderers. Now to the door, and stay there till we call. [Exit Attendant. Was it not yesterday we spoke together? 1st Mur. It was, so please your Highness. * Sirrah (Sir, ha! O. Fr. sire, father; fr. Lat. senior, elder; senex, senis, old; Fr. seigneur, sieur; Ital. signor; Sp. seizor; Eng. sir; or it may be fr. Ir. sirreach, poor, lean), sir. Now used rather costemptuously and rarely; bat in Shakespeare's time used familiarly. It was usually addressed to males.-Attend, are in attendance oil, await.Thus, in the condition of a king.-Would be feared. WVould and should were interchangeable in Shakespeare's time. —And to that, and in addition to that.-None but he, none other than he. But is primarily fr. be, be, and utan, outward, fri. it, out. Is but a preposition when it has the sense of except? May it be followed by him? — ark Antony's was by Caesar. Octavias COesar is meant. See Antony and Cleopatra, Act ii., Scene 3, and Piutarch's Lives. —Filed (A. S. fylan, to pollute; akin to jilth and foul), dtfiled.-Enemny. The word Satan means adversary.-Utterance (Fr. i l'outrance, to extremity, to the last drop of blood. See, also, A. S. it, out; sitelr, exterior; ettBr, outer), utmnost, extsremity. To be thus is nothing, etc. Undertone, so as not to be heard far. Impatience and spite and, towards the last, remorse; ending with angry defiance. "Vanishing stress" on the most impatient utterances. The forcible utterance of the last part of an accented vowel, the voice b)eing jerked out at the end of the syllable, is particularly appropriate in the expression of vexation, impatience, etc. 140 MASTERPIECES IN EiNGLISH LITERATURE. Macb. Well, then, now Have you considered of my speeches? Know, That it was he, in the times past, which held you' So under fortune; which, you thought, had been Our innocent self. This I made good to you In our last conference, passed in probation with you,* How you were borne in hand; how crossed; the instruments; Who wrought with them; and all things else, that might, To half a soul, and to a notion crazed, Say, "Thus did Banquo." 1st M'ur. You made it known to us. Macb. I did so; and went further, which is now Our point of second meeting. Do you find Your patience so predominant in your nature That you can let this go? Are you so gospelled To pray for that good man, and for his issue, Whose heavy hand hath bowed you to the grave, And beggared yours for ever? Ist Mur. We are men, my liege. Mach. Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men; As hounds, and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs, Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves, are cleped All by the name of dogs! The valued file Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle, The house-keeper, the hunter,-every one According to the gift which bounteous Nature Hath in him closed; whereby he does receive Particular addition, from the bill That writes them all alike: and so of men. Now, if you have a station in the file, Not in the worst rank of manhood, say it; And I will put that business in your bosoms, Whose execution takes your enemy off; Grapples you to the heart and love of us, Who wear our health but sickly in his life, Which in his death were perfect. * Probation with you, proving to you.-Borne in hand, deluded by fair promises never fllfilled.-Gospelled, obedient to the Gospel, which bids us pray for those who wrong us.-Spaniels (Lat. Hispania, Spain; Iispeaniola, little Spain, i. e., Hayti, "where was the best breed of this dog ").-Shoughs (A. S. scacga, a bush of hair, that which is shag'y; Sw. skdgg; Dan. skfg, tire beard; Eng. shag), shock-dogs. In Pope's Rape of thie Lock, the dog is called shock, and the name is quite comlnon.-Cleped (A. S. clepan, to call), called.-Valued file, descriptive list showing values and qualities.-Particular addition, particular title. Are you so gospelled? etc. Here we have the circumflex slides again. This wave of the voice is especially adapted to irony, mockery, railing, etc. It usually expresses, indefinitely or conditionally, some idea contrasted with another to which the straight slide belongs. Now, if you have a station, etc. This is uttered with decision and energy, so as to inspire confidence. It is bold; quite loud, but not so as to be overheard; with radical stress; rather quick time; rather aspirated quality; not much volume. This manner prevails to the end of the colloquy. WILLIAM SHA:KESPEARE. 141 2d MArur. I am one, my liege, Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world Have so incensed that I am reckless what I do to spite the world. 1st Mur. And I another, So weary with disasters, tugged with fortune, That I would set my life on any chance, To mend it, or be rid on't. Macb. Both of you Know Banquo was your enemy. 2d Mur. True, my lord. Mfacb. So is he mine, and in such bloody distance* That every minute of his being thrusts Against my near'st of life; and though I could With bare-faced power sweep him from my sight, And bid my will avouch it, yet I must not, For certain friends that are both his and mine; Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall Whom I myself struck down! and thence it is, That I to your assistance do make love, Masking the business from the common eye For sundry weighty reasons. 2d Mur. We shall, my lord, Perform what you command us. 1st Miur. Though our livesMacb. Your spirits shine through you. Within this hour, at most, I will advise you where to plant yourselves, Acquaint you, with a perfect spy, o' the time, The moment on't: for't must be done to-night, And something from the palace; always thought That I require a clearness. And with him, To leave no rubs nor botches in the work, Fleance his son, that keeps him company, Whose absence is no less material to me Than is his father's, must embrace the fate Of that dark hour. Resolve yourselves apart. I'll come to you anon. 2d Mur. We are resolved, my lord. * Distance, enmity. So Bacon uses it in his essay on Seditions and Troubles. Hudson interprets distance as here equivalent to degree. In fierce combat with swords, the less the distance, the bloodier the fight.-With a perfect spy of, etc. I will acquaint [inform] you, with [by means of] a perfect [thoroughly Nwell-informed] spy, of [in regard to] the time, etc. Some prefer to read " the perfect spy," meaning " the sure means of spying or knowing;" but AMr. Collier's folio of 1632 has "a perfect spy."-From [at a distance from] the palace.Always thought, it being always borne in mind that I must be unsuspected.-Botches (It. bozza, a swelling; Fr. bosse, bunch, swelling; Ger. boll, hard, bulbous), bungling patches. So is he mine, etc. Secrecy, but such as befits a king: an undertone, therefore. Hate. Aspirated quality; low pitch; initial stress. 142 MfASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. Macb. I'll call upon you straight: abide within.- [Exeunt Murderers. It is concluded.-Banquo, thy soul's flight, If it find heaven, must find it out to-night. [Exit. SCENE II. The Same. Another Room. Enter Lady MACBETH and a Servant. Lady M. Is Banquo gone from court? Serv. Ay, madam, but returns again to-night. Lady iM. Say to the king, I would attend his leisure For a few words. Serv. Madam, I will. [Exit. Lady M. Nought's had, all's spent, Where our desire is got without content.'Tis safer to be that which we destroy, Than, by destruction, dwell in doubtful joy. Enter MACBETH. How now, my lord? why do you keep alone, Of sorriest * fancies your companions making, Using those thoughts which should indeed have died With them they think on? Things without remedy, Should be without regard: what's done, is done. l~acb. We have scotched the snake, not killed it! She'll close, and be herself; whilst our poor malice Remains in danger of her former tooth. But let the frame of things disjoint, Both the worlds suffer, Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep In the affliction of these terrible dreams That shake us nightly. Better be with the dead, Whom we, to gain our place, have sent to peace, Than on the torture of the mind to lie In restless ecstasy. Duncan is in his grave; After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well; Treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison, Malice domestic, foreign levy,-nothing, Can touch him further! * Sorriest (A. S. sorg, sorrow; 0. E. sorwe; sdr, sore), most utnhappy.-Scotched (Gael. sgoch, a slit, incision), chopped a bit of skin from, scratched.-To gain our place. Many read peace instead of place.-Ecstasy (Gr. iK, out; oSarsa, standing), that condition in which one is " beside himself," or, as the phrase is, "out of his head," out of his right mind, whether through pain or delight.-Levy (Fr. lever, to raise; Lat. levare, to raise; levis, light), raising of troops, preparation for war. Nought's had, etc. Spoken with sighs and weariness: high pitch. How now, nzy lord? etc. Tenderness. Soft force, high pitch, median stress. We have scotched the seakce, etc. Decision; desperate resolve. Not loud, but forcible, with "expulsive stress" (the accented syllables being expelled with much breath); an earnest conversational tone. Duncan is in his grave, etc. Sorrow and remorse. Vanishing stress; plaintive; half wailing distress; high pitch; aspirated. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 143 Lady M. Comle on, gentle my lord; Sleek o'er your rugged looks; be bright and jovial Among your guests to-night. Macb. So shall I, love; And so, I pray, be you. Let your remembrance Apply to Banquo: present him eminence, both With eye and tongue: unsafe the while, that we Must lave our honors in these flattering streams, And make our faces vizards to our hearts, Disguising what they are! Lady M. You must leave this. Macb. Oh, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! Thou knowest that Banquo and his Fleance live. Lady M. But in them nature's copy's not eterne. Macb. There's comfort yet; they are assailable. Then be thou jocund. Ere the bat hath flown His cloistered flight; ere, to black Hecate's summons, The shard-borne beetle, with his drowsy hums, Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done A deed of dreadful note. Lady A. What's to be done? Macb. Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night, Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day; And, with thy bloody and invisible hand, Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond Which keeps me pale!-Light thickens, and the crow Makes wing to the rooky wood; * Gentle my lord, mny gentle lord. This inversion is quite common in Shakespeare. -Present, etc. Show him high honor.-Unsafe the while, it being an unsafe state all the while. White nmakes' while " a substantive and interprets thus: " Unsafe is that time in which our royalty is obliged to stoop to flattery."-Viza.rds (Lat. vidire to see, visus, visum, seen; Eng. visor, a part of a helmet perforated for the purpose of seeing through), maseks.-You must leave this; i. e., this way of thinking. Would it be in keeping with her humor to play upon the words leave and lave?-Copy, the copy of court rolls. being the evidence of a lifeestate. Here Shakespeare's technical legal knowledge is supposed to be apparent. But is it necessary to regard copy as a legal term here?-Shard-borne (A. S sceard, a shearing, a part, share; A. S. sceran, to shear, cut; a fragment of earthenware or like brittle substance, a shell or scale; hence pot-she rd), borne ore scaly wings.-With his drowsy hums. Gray evidently had this passage in mind in writing the second stanza of his' Ele(ry.""Save where the beetle wheels his dron)in flight, And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds." Dearest chuck (A. S. cicen, chicken, whence chuaek; or perhaps formed in imitation of the cluck of a hen), chicken, a pet name. So chickens, A(ct iv., Sc. 3.-Seeling, blindiing. Seeling is said to be a term fromfalconcry; to seel a Ih:awk's eyes was to sew the eyelids together. Fr. siller, ciller, to wink, to seel, fr. cil, Lat. cilium, an eyelash. —Bond, Banquo's life. This wvord gives countenance to the explanation of copy as a technical law term. In Cynmbeline wve have " Cancel his bond of life, dear God, I pray."-Thickens; i. e., it is growing dark.-R-ooky, abounding in rooks. By such incidental allusions Shakespeare is shown to have been a close observer of nature. Come on, gentle my lord, etc. Tender and soothino love. Soft; median; pure quality; highpitch. So shall I, love, etc. Effort at hope; but weak from remorse and fear. Plaintive; high pitch; sighing, distressful; rising slides. Oh, full of scorpions, etc. Distress. Vanishinc stress; high; aspirated. There's comfort yet, etc. Ile cheers himself. Decision. Initial stress. Ere the bat hath flown, etc. Desperation, horror. Low pitch; slow; undertone. Be innocent, etc.' Small volume," appropriate to endearment. Come, seelinzg nzight, etc. Awe and horror. Low; slow; large volume; undertone; initial stress. 144 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISHt LITERATURE. Good things of day begin to droop and drowse, Whiles night's black agents to their preys do rouse. Thou marvell'st at my words; but hold thee still: Things, bad begun, make strong themselves by ill. So, pr'ythee, go with me. [Exeunt, SCENE III. The Same. A Park or Lawn, with a Gate leading to the Palace. Enter three Murderers. 1st Mur. But who did bid thee join with us? 8d Mur. Macbeth. 2d MXur. He needs not our mistrust; since he delivers * Our offices, and what we have to do, To the direction just. 1st Xur. Then stand with us. The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day. Now spurs the lated traveller apace, To gain the timely inn; and near approaches The subject of our watch. 3d Mur. Hark! I hear horses. Ban. [ WIithin.] Give us a light there, ho! 2d tMur. Then it is he; the rest That are within the note of expectation, Already are i' the court. Ist Mur. His horses go about. 3d Mur. Almost a mile; but he does usually, So all men do, from hence to the palace gate Make it their walk. Enter BANQUO and FLEANCE, a Servant with a Torch preceding them. 2d Mur. A light, a light! 3d Muzur.'Tis he. Ist Miur. Stand to't. Ban. It will be rain to-night. Ist Mur. Let it come down! [Assaults BANQUO. Ban. Oh, treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly! Thou may'st revenge.-O slave! [Dies. FLEANCE and Servant escape. 3d Mfur. Who did strike out the light? * He delivers, etc. He communicates Macbeth's directions accurately to us. This third murderer is supposed to be the "perfect spy" that was to acquaint the other two with the particulars of Banqno's approach, etc.-Apace (Lat. passus, a step), at a quick step, rapidly. See apace, Index.-Note of expectation, list of expected geests.-It will be rain. Then it was cloudy and, consequently, darkl-Fleance and servant escape. Fleance fled to Wales. He was an ancestor of James I., in compliment to whom, as is supposed, Shakespeare represents Banquo as innocent of Dtuncan's murder, though history shows him to have been equally guilty with Macbeth. Was Shakespeare justifiable in thus perverting history to flatter the thick-headed pedantic Scotchman? 0/, treachery! etc. Surprise; shouting; scorn. Loud; quick; strongly aspirated; explosive. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 145 1st Mur. Was't not the way? 3d Mur. - There's sbut one down: the son is fled! 2d Mur. We have lost best half of our affair. 1st Mur. Well, let' s away, and say how much is done. [Exeunt. SCENE IV. A Room of State in the Palace. A Banquet prepared. Enter MACBETH, Lady MACBETH, ROSSE, LENOX, Lords, and Attendants. Macb. You know your own degrees; sit down. At first And last, the hearty welcome. Lords. Thanks to your majesty. Macb. Ourself will mingle with society, And play the humble host. Our hostess keeps her state;* but, in best time, We will require her welcome. Lady M. Pronounce it for me, sir, to all our friends; For my heart speaks, they are welcome. Enter first Murderer to the door. Macb. See, they encounter thee with their heart's thanks:Both sides are even. Here I'll sit'i the midst. Be large in mirth; anon, we'll drink a measure The table round. -There's blood upon thy face. [Approaching the door. Mur.'Tis Banquo's then. Macb.'Tis better thee without, than he within. Is he dispatched? Mukr. My lord, his throat is cut; that I did for him. Macb. Thou art the best o' the cut-throats! Yet he' s good That did the like for Fleance: if thou didst it, Thou art the nonpareil. Mur. Most royal sir, Fleance is'scaped. Macb. Then comes my fit again! I had else been perfect, Whole as the marble, founded as the rock, As broad and general as the casing air; But now I am cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in To saucy doubts and fears. But Banquo's safe? * Her state. State is chair, or royal seat. It was upon the canopied dais and at the head of the table. Macbeth descends.-:Encounter thee. The guests encounter Lady Macbeth with their thanks.-Thy face. He steps aside to the door and whispers, "There's blood," etc. —Ie within, within him. So the editors generally. But possibly Macbeth means, for he has not yet been informed of B3aiquo's death, "'Tis better for thee to be without [outside] the palace, than that he [Banquo] should be within it," implying that the murderer has intruded, leaving Banquo's murder, or his body, unattended to.-Non-pareil (Fr. ror, not; pareil, equal; fr. Lat. par, equal), the peerless, the unmatched.-Cabined. (W., Ir., and Gael. caban, a hut or booth, cot), shut up as in a cabin.-Cribbed (A. S. crybb; Ger. krsippe, a manger), caged, cramped, straitened. You know your own degrees, etc. Polished courtesy, avoiding command. Soft; median; quick. There's blood, etc. Secrecy. Whispering; initial stress. Then comes my fit, etc. Great impatience. Vanishing stress; aspirated quality; undertone; quick; small volume. 10 146 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERA TURE. Mlur. Ay, my good lord: safe in a ditch he bides, With twenty trenched* gashes on his head, The least a death to nature. Macb. Thanks for that!There the grown serpent lies. The worm, that's fled, Hath nature that in time will venom breed, No teeth for the present.-Get thee gone. To-morrow We'll hear ourselves again. [Exit Murderer. Lady.. My royal lord, You do not give the cheer. The feast is sold, That is not often vouched, while'tis a making,'Tis given with welcome. To feed were best at home; From thence, the sauce to meat is ceremony; Meeting were bare without it. Macb. Sweet remembrancer!Now, good digestion wait on appetite, And health on both! Len. May it please your Highness sit? [The Ghost of BANQuo rises, and sits in MACBETIT'S place. Macb. Here had we now our country's honor roofed, Were the graced person of our Banquo present; Whom may I rather challenge for unkindness, Than pity for mischance! Posse. His absence, sir, Lays blame upon his promise. Please it your Highness To grace us with your royal company? Macb. The table's full. Len. Here's a place reserved, sir..Macb.'Where? Len. Here, my good lord. What is't that moves your Highness? Macb. Which of you have done this? Lords. What, my good lord? Macb. Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake Thy gory locks at me! Rosse. Gentlemen, rise; his Highness is not well. Lady M. Sit, worthy friends.-My lord is often thus, And hath been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat; *-Trenched (Lat. truncare, to cut off; Fr. trancher, to cut; Eng. trench, a ditch cut il the earth), deep cut.-To feed, etc. J. Wilkes Booth quoted this in his diary, when, after the assassination of the President, he was clandestinely fed by a friend who dared not seat him openly at his table.-Meeting. Alas, the quibble I Lady Macbeth seems to have had a weakness for puns.-Whom may I, whom may I, a wish.-Thou canst not say, etc. One Dr. Forman in his Diary, preserved In the Ashmolean Museum, records his seeing the play of Macbeth at the Globe Theatre, April 20, 1610. He describes the consternation of Macbeth on turning and beholding the ghost, after " drinking a carouse to the noble Banquo, and wishing he were there." See note in White's Shakespeare. See also Hudson's note on this ghost scene. Evidently the ghost is a' subjective' one, seen by Macbeth only. 11ly royal lord, etc. Rather loud, but polite; median; circumflex; slight volume; pure quality. Thou canst not say Idid it, etc. Terror. Very loud; tremulous; quick; explosive; rising slides.,Sit, worthyfriends, etc. Courteous, but authoritative; polite, earnest appeal. High; quick; loud. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 14:7 The fit is momentary: upon a thought * He will again be well. If much you note him, You shall offend him and extend his passion. Feed, and regard him not.-Are you a man? Mcacb. Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that Which might appal the devil! Lady M. 0 proper stuff! [Aside to MACBETH. This is the very painting of your fear. This is the air-drawn dagger, which, you said, Led you to Duncan! Oh, these flaws and starts (Impostors to true fear) would well become A woman's story at a winter's fire, Authorized by her grandam! Shame itself! Why do you make such faces? When all's done, You look but on a stool. M.Aacb. Pr'ythee, see there! behold! look! lo! how say you?Why, what care I? If thou canst nod, speak too.If charnel-houses and our graves must send Those that we bury back, our monuments Shall be the maws of kites! [Ghost disappears. Lady M. What! quite unmanned in folly? Macb. If I stand here, I saw him. Lady M. Fie! for shame! Mach. Blood hath been shed, ere now, i' the olden time, Ere human statute purged the gentle weal: Ay, and since, too, murders have been performed Too terrible for the ear. The times have been, That, when the brains were out, the man would die, And there an end; but now, they rise again, With twenty mortal murders on their crowns, And push us from our stools! This is fiore strange Than such a murder is. Lady 2W. My worthy lord, Your noble friends do lack you. * Upon a thought, as quick as thought.-Extend his passion, prolong his suffering.Flaws (Norw. flage, flaag, a sudden gust of wind; Lat. flare, to blow; Eng. blast, by Grimm's Law?), sharp gusts.-Impostors to, impostors in comparison with. —Become, befit; like Lat. convenire, to come together, to be fitting.-Authorized, vouchedfor.-Grandam (Fr. grand, great; dame, lady; Lat. grandis, domina), grandmother.-Pr'ythee. To Lady Macbeth.Why, what care I? To the ghost.-If charnel-houses. To Lady Macbeth, in an under.. tone or whisper.-M-aws. Spenser says. " Be not entombed in the raven or the kite."-Gentle weal, etc. " Ere human statute made the commonwealth gentle by purging or cleansing it from the pollutions of barbarism." fHudson. — y worthy lord. This, of course, is spoken aloud. Are you a man? 0 proper stff,, etc. Reproach, impatience, scorn. Radical; nasal; aspirated; " expulsive" stress; quick. Pr'ythee! etc. Secrecy. Loud whisper to his wife; spasmodic utterance. Why, what care I? etc. Loud defiance, which instantly melts into terror. "Intermittent stress " at the last. Blood hath been shed, etc. Undertone to his wife; tremor; gasping. Vy worthy lord, etc. Quite loud, cheerful, re-assuring. ~1458 MASTERPIECES IiN ENGLISH LITERATUJRE. Macb. I do forget.Do not muse* at me, my most worthy friends. I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing To those that know me. Come, love and health to all; Then I'll sit down. -Give me some wine: fill full. I drink to the general joy of the whole table, Ghost rises. And to our dear friend Banquo, whom we miss.'Would he were here! to all, and him, we thirst, And all to all. Lords. Our duties, and the pledge. Macb. Avaunt! and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee! Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold! Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Which thou dost glare with! Lady M. Think of this, good peers, But as a thing of custom.'Tis no other; Only it spoils the pleasure of the time. Mackb. What man dare, I dare: Approach thou like the rugged Russian bear, The armed rhinoceros, or the Hyrcan tiger, Take any shape but that, and my firm nerves Shall never tremble! Or, be alive again, And dare me to the desert with thy swordIf trembling I inhabit then, protest me The baby of a girl! Hence, horrible shadow! Unreal mockery, hence!-Why, so; —being gone, [Ghost disappears. I am a man again.-Pray you, sit still. Lady M. You have displaced the mirth, broke the good meeting, With most admired disorder. Macb. Can such things be, And overcome us like a summer's cloud, Without our special wonder? You make me strange, * Muse, wonder, be in an eager study. Fr. muser, to loiter, trifle; Ger. musze, leisure; Lat. musa; Gr. goEaa, a muse, a fabled goddess; fr. liao, to seek out, invent.-All to all. Proverbial. May all good things be to you all; or, we all drink to the health of all.-Speculation, seeing; or intelligence.-HIyrcan, HIyrcanian. Hyrcania was a large country to the southeast of the Caspian. In Hamlet, Act ii., Scene 2, we have, "The rugged Pyrrhus, like the Hyrcanian beast."-Trembling I inhabit, inhabit trembling; as in Ps. xxii., 3, we read, "Thou that inhabitest'thepraises of Israel." Others interpret the passage thus: If, trenblinT, I remain in any habitation when thou dost dare me to the desert. Pope changed ihabit to Znhibit; Steevens changed then to thee; Dyce adopts both alterations.-Baby, doll. So White.Admired (Lat. ad, at; miror, I wonder), wonderful. —Overcome, come over, pans'' iens.v( Idoforget, etc. Apologetic, courteous, confused; desperate attempt at cheerfinlns —. Fits and starts in the voice, with stammering; radical now; now median; rather high l)itch. Avaunt! etc. A scream of terror-defiance yieldings instantly to consternation. Very loud; very quick; very high; gcuttural quality at last, with convulsive gasps. T/isd)k of this, etc. Very decided and emphatic, but polite; assumed indifference. What man dare, etc. Frantic terror, gradually giving way to frantic spasmodic courage; convulsive tremor; very loud; very quick; explosive radical stress on the last. Can such things be, etc. Wonder. He slowly recovers from histerror. WTILLIAM SHIA KESPEARE. 149 Even to the disposition that I owe,* When now I think you can behold such sights And keep the natural ruby of your cheek, When mine is blanched with fear. Posse. What sights, my lord? Lady M. I pray you, speak not. He grows worse and worse: Question enrages him. At once, good night:Stand not upon the order of your going, But go at once. Len. Good night, and better health Attend his Majesty! Lady M. A kind good night to all! [Exceunt Lords and Attendants. Macb. It will have blood! They say, blood will have blood! Stones have been known to move, and trees to speak; Augurs, and understood relations have, By magot-pies, and choughs, and rooks, brought forth The secret'st man of blood.-What is the night? Lady M. Almost at odds with morning, which is which. Macb. How say'st thou, that Macduff denies his person At our great bidding? Lady M. Did you send to him, sir? Maeb. I hear it by the way; but, I will send: There's not a man of them, but in his house I keep a servant feed. I will to-morrow (And betimes I will) to the weird sisters. More shall they speak; for now I am bent to know, By the worst means, the worst. For mine own good, All causes shall give way. I am in blood Stept in so far, that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er. Strange things I have in head, that will to hand; Which must be acted, ere they may be scanned. Lady M. You lack the season of all natures, sleep. Macb. Come, we'11 to sleep. My strange and self-abuse Is the initiate fear, that wants hard use:We are yet but young in deed. [Exeunt. * Owe, possess. Here we have the original meaning of owe. See owen, p. 35.-Stand not, etc. Do not stand waiting in order to pass out according to your rankl.-Augurs, augrtties, divinations. So Singer, who, however, spells the word augures. Why not augurs, in its proper signification?-Understood relations, proofs based on circumstantial evidence.-Magotpies (Lat. margarita, a pearl; Gr. Iapy aptTgr; O. Fr. Milargot, diminutive of Marguerite; abbreviat.ed to Mlaggie and Mag; Lat. pica, a bird o1 the magpie kind), magpies.-Choughs (p)rot)ably onomatopoetic), a kind of crow.-How say'st thou? P What say you to this circumstance?Feed, paid afee, under pay.-Season, that which gives a relish, seasoning.-Initiate fear, fear that attends the initiatory steps of guilt. I pray you, speak not, etc. Anxious appeal; decision blended with entreaty. High; quick; median. It will have blood, etc. Suppressed remorse, fear, and despair. Ihear it, etc. Decision; reckless resolve. Quick; radical. 150 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. SCENE V. The Heath. Thunder. Erter HECATE, meeting the three Witches. 1st Witch. Why, how now, Hecate? * you look angerly. Hec. Have I not reason, beldams, as you are, Saucy and overbold? How did you dare To trade and traffic with Macbeth In riddles and affairs of death; And I, the mistress of your charms, The close contriver of all harms, Was never called to bear my part, Or show the glory of our art? And, which is worse, all you have done Hath been but for a wayward son, Spiteful and wrathful; who, as others do, Loves for his own ends, not for you. But make amends now. Get you gone, And at the pit of Acheron Meet me i' the morning. Thither he Will come to know his destiny. Your vessels and your spells, provide, Your charms, and every thing beside. I am for the air: this night I'11 spend Unto a dismal and a fatal end. Great business must be wrought ere noon. Upon the corner of the moon There hangs a vaporous drop profound: I'll catch it ere it come to ground: And that, distilled by magic sleights, Shall raise such artificial sprights, As, by the strength of their illusion, Shall draw him on to his confusion: He shall spurn fate, scorn death, and bear His hopes'bove wisdom, grace, and fear: And you all know, security Is mortals' chiefest enemy. * Hecate. See p. 128.-]3eldam. " Beldam probably meant originally mother-in-law, and hence the opprobrium which it finally came to convey." White. Fr. beaut-pire, fine or handsome father; belle-miere, fine or handsome mother; Fr. dame, lady; belle-dame, mother-in-law,Acheron (Gr.'Axlpwv; axoq, ache, pain; *;o, I flow; bpv, flowing), flowing with pain, Acheron, the river over which the souls of the dead were first conveyed. "'Sad Acheron, of sorrow black and deep." Milton. Here, and often, the word is synonymous with bell.-Corner of the moon. Was Milton thinking of this when he wrote, among the concluding lines of Comus, "And from thence can soar as soon To the corners of the moon"? -Profound, of deep or hidden power.-Sleights (Ice. slhgd, cunning), subtle arts. See Index. Many critics suppose this whole scene to be an interpolation by some inferior pen. Certainly it is of a weak, milk-and-water quality. Have Inot reason, etc. Scolding. Aspirated; loud; radical; rather quick. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 151 [Song,* accompanied, within. "Come away, come away," etc.] Hark, I am called; my little spirit, see, Sits in a foggy cloud and stays for me! [Exit. 1st Witch. Come, let's make haste; she'11 soon be back again. [Exeunt. SCENE VI. Forres. A Room in the Palace. Enter LENOX and another Lord. Len. My former speeches have but hit your thoughts, Which can interpret further. Only, I say, Things have been strangely borne. The gracious Duncan Was pitied of Macbeth.-Marry, he was deadcl!And the right-valiant Banquo walked too late; Whom you may say, if it please you, Fleance killed; For Fleance fled. Men must not walk too late. Who cannot want the thought, how monstrous It was for Malcolm and for Donalbain To kill their gracious father? damned fact! How it did grieve Macbeth! did he not straight, In pious rage, the two delinquents tear, That were the slaves of drink and thralls of sleep? Was not that nobly done? Ay, and wisely too; For'twould have angered any heart alive, To hear the men deny it. So that, I say, He has borne all things well: and I do think, That, had he Duncan's sons under his key, (As, an't please heaven, he shall not,) they should find What'twere to kill a father; so should Fleance. But, peace!-for from broad words, and'cause he failed His presence at the tyrant's feast, I hear, Macduff lives in disgrace. Sir, can you tell Where he bestows himself? Lord. The son of Duncan, From whom this tyrant holds the due of birth, Lives in the English court; and is received * Song. In Middleton's WVitch, Act III., Scene 3, we find a song beginning thus: "Come away, come away, Hecate, Hecate, come away! flec. I come, I come, I come, I come, With all the speed I may. Where's Stadlin? [Voice above.] Here," etc. Marry, he was dead. Marry is a petty oath, meaning, By ilary /-Who cannot want, etc. Most critics are inclined to think Lenox, that is, Shakespeare, blunders, and that he means, " Who can want," etc. But perhaps want should be interpreted wish for. The meaning would then be, " Who cannot desire to cherish the thought, how monstrous it was," etc., the whole being ironical. Keightiey would change "w/ho" to "we," and put a period after father. The gracious Duncan was pitied, etc. Irony. Circumflex. Whenever the thought is winding, crooked, sarcastic, etc., the wave (or circumflex) is likely to be appropriate. T'he son of Duncan, etc. Matter of fact, business style. 152 KASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LIhIRATURBE. Of the most pious Edward * with such grace That the malevolence of fortuine nothing Takes from his high respect. Thither Macduff Is gone to pray the holy king, upon his aid To wake Northumberland and warlike Siward; That, by the help of these, with Him above To ratify the work, we may again Give to our tables meat, sleep to our nights; Free from our feasts and banquets bloody knives; Do faithful homage, and receive free honors;All which we pine for now. And this report Hath so exasperate the king, that he Prepares for some attempt of war. Len. Sent he to Macduff? Lord. lHe did; and with an absolute,' Sir, not I," The cloudy messenger turns me his back, And hums, as who should say, "You'II rue the time That clogs me with this answer."I Len. And that well might Advise him to a caution, to hold what distance His wisdom can provide. Some holy angel Fly to the court of England, and unfold His message ere he come; that a swift blessing May soon return to this our suffering country Under a hand accursed! Lord. I'll send my prayers with, him! [Exeunt. ACT IV. SCENE I. A dark Cave. In the middle, a Caldron boiling. Thunder. Enter the three Witches. 1st Witch. Thrice the brinded cat hath mewed. 2d Witch. Thrice; and once the hedge-pig whined. 3d Witch. Harpier cries. —'Tis time,'tis time.'st Witch. Round about the caldron go; In the poisoned entrails throw.* Edward. Edward the Confessor (1042-1066).-Northumberland (north-Humber-land;: i. e., the land north of the Humber, an estuary of the east coast of Entrland between Yorkshire and Lincolnshire), the most northerly county of England, having Scotland on the northwest.Free from our feasts, remove from our feasts.-Exasperate, exasperated.-Turns me. Me is expletive, as is often the Lat. mihti.-Hedge-pig.''he hedge-hog, owing to its ugliness, solitary habits. and supposed diabolic character, figured extensively in demonology.-Harpier. I would fain believe that Shakespeare meant this word to be equivalent to Harpie, or Harpy, a fabulous monster, winged, ravenous, and filthy, with long claws, the lace of a woman, and the body of a vulture. See Virgil's 3Xneid, III., 212, 365, etc.-Suffering country under, i. e., country suff'ering under. You'll rue the time. "Circumflex" on rue and time. Some holy angel. Solemn, but fervent. Median; quick utterance, because instant and rapid action is sought. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 153 Toad, that, under [the] cold stone,* Days and nights hast thirty-one Sweltered venom, sleeping got, Boil thou first i' the charmed pot! All. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire, burn; and, caldron, bubble. 2d Witch. Fillet of a fenny snake, In the caldron boil and bake: Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog, Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, Lizard's leg and owlet's wing,For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. All. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire, burn; and, caldron, bubble. 3d Witch. Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf; Witch's mummy; maw and gulf Of the ravined salt-sea shark; Root of hemlock, digged i' the dark; Liver of blaspheming Jew; Gall of goat, and slips of yew Slivered in the moon's eclipse; Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips; Finger of birth-strangled babe, Ditch-delivered by a drab,Make the gruel thick and slab: Add thereto a tiger's chaudron, For the ingredients of our caldron. All. Double, double toil and trouble; Fire, burn; and, caldron, bubble. 2d Witch. Cool it with a baboon's blood: Then the charm is firm and good. Enter HECATE. Hec. O, well done! I commend your pains; And every one shall share i' the gains. And now about the caldron sing, Like elves and fairies in a ring, Enchanting all that you put in. * Under [the] cold stone. The was inserted by Pope to make out the metre. -Sweltered, exuded. A. S. sweltan, to hunoger, fail, fainlt; be overcome with heat.Blind-worm, slow-worm. Its eyes are almost invisible.-Gulf (Gr. K6Arros, bosom, bay; modern Gr. K6Xqoo, gulf; Ger. golf, by Grimm's Law?), throat.-Ravined, ravenous. Such use of the participle is common in Shakespeare. See p. 136, racin.-Slivered, split into thin pieces, splintered, cleft. A. S. slifdcnl, to split.-Slab (Ice. slcapp, mire; Ir. slaib, mud deposited by a river), thick, glutinous, viscous.-Chaudron. "This seems to have been the omentum or rim: it was certainly some part of the entrails." White. 154 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. [MUSIC AND X SoNG.* Black spirits and wThite, Red spirits and gray; fingle, mingle, mingle, You that smingle may.] 2d Witch. By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes: Open, locks, whoever knocks. Enter MACBETH. Macb. How now, you secret, black, and midnight hags! What is't you do? All. A deed without a name..Miac6. I conjure you, by that which you profess, (Howe'er you come to know it,) answer me. Though you untie the winds, and let them fight Against the churches; though the yesty waves Confound and swallow navigation up; Though bladed corn be lodged, and trees blown down; Though castles topple on their warders' heads; Though palaces and pyramids do slope Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure Of nature's germins tumble altogether, Even till destruction sicken, — aswer me To what I ask you! 1st Witch. Speak. 2d Witch. Demand. 3d Witch. We'11 answer. 1st Witch. Say, if thou'dst rather hear it from our mouths, Or from our masters'l]Iack. Call'em, let me see'em. 1st Witch. Pour in sow's blood, that hath eaten Her nine farrow; grease, that's sweaten * Song. In Middleton's Witch, Act v.. Scene 2, this song also may be found, as follows: " Black spirits and white, red spirits and gray, Mingle, mingle, mingle, you that mingle may! Titty, Tiffin, keep it stiff in: Fire-drake, Puckey, make it lucky; Lizard, Robin, you must bob in. Round, around, around, about, about I All ill come running in, all good keep out I " By the pricking. The superstition still lives, which regards pricking sensations in the thumbs, burnings in the ear, etc., as omens.-Yesty (A. S. gist, yeast; Ger. gischt, froth, ferment), yeasty, foamy. So in Byron's apostrophe to the ocean, in Childe Harold, — "These are thy toys, and as the snowy flake They melt into thy yeast of waves." Lodged, laid prostrate.-Germins, sprouting seeds, all germs.-Eaten her nine. It is nothing uncommon for the swine mother to eat her new-born young I-Farrow (A. S. fearh, pig; A. S.foor, hog; Ger. ferkel, pig; Lat. porcus, hog, pork; by Grimm's Law), litter of pigs. How now, you.... hags, etc. Bold, slow, scornful, defiant. Loud, large volume. Iconjure you, etc. Same. Radical stress, as is always the case in commands. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 155 From the murderer's gibbet, throw Into the flame. All. Come, high or low; Thyself and office deftly * show! Thunder. An Apparition of an armed Head rises. Miacb. Tell me, thou unknown power, — 1st Witch. He knows thy thought: Hear his speech, but say thou nought. App. Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! beware Macduff; Beware the Thane of Fife.-Dismiss me.-Enough. [Descends. l acb. Whate'er thou art, for thy good caution, thanks! Thou hast harped my fear aright.-But one word more:1st Witch. He will not be commanded. Here's another More potent than the first. Thunder. An Apparition of a bloody Child rises. App. Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!Macb. Had I three ears, I'd hear thee. App. Be bloody, bold, And resolute. Laugh to scorn the power of man, For none of woman born shall harm Macbeth. [Descends. Macb. Then live, Macduff! What need I fear of thee? But yet I'll make assurance doubly sure, And take a bond of Fate. Thou shalt not live; That I may tell pale-hearted fear, it lies, And sleep in spite of thunder.-What is this, Thunder. An Apparition of a Child crowned, with a Tree in his Hand, rises. That rises like the issue of a king, And wears upon his baby brow the round And top of sovereignty? All. Listen, but speak not to't. App. Be lion-mettled, proud; and take no care Who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are; Macbeth shall never vanquished be, until * Deftly (Goth. daban, to be fit; A. S. daift, fit), dexterously.-Nought. Silence was necessary during the incantations. Hence, a little further on, "Listen, but speak not."Thane of Fife, 2llacduff. —Harped, soundedforth, uttered. —Bloody child. This is supposed to represent Macduff, who was born by the Caesarean operation. The "armed head" symbolizes Macbeth's own head, which was to be severed from his body. The " child crowned" is Malcolm, the tree representing Birnam wood. See Act v., Scene 5.-Three ears,/ as if responsive to the three utterances of the word "Macbeth."-Of woman born. Holinshed tells us that Macbeth would have put Macduff to death, but for the assertion of a certain witch that none of woman born should harm Macbeth. She also made the prediction in regard to Birnam iwood.-R-ound and top. The "round " is the part encircling the head; the "top'" is the crest or ornament above the "round." " The crown not only completes and rounds, as with the perfection of a circle, the claim to sovereignty; but it is figuratively the top, the summit, of ambitious hopes."- White. See White's comment on this passage. Tell me, thou urtknown power, etc. Awe. Low; slow. Then live, Macduff, etc. Very determined, yet soliloquizing, and so not very loud. Radical. What is this? etc. Wonder, without fear. Somewhat aspirated. Moderate force; slow. 15 3 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERA4'TURE. Great Birnanm wood to high Dunsinane* hill Shall come against him. [Descends. Mach. That will never be. Who can impress the forest? bid the tree Unfix his earth-bound root? Sweet bodements! good! Rebellion's head, rise never till the wood Of Birnam rise, and our high-placed Macbeth Shall live the lease of nature, pay his breath To time and mortal custom!-Yet my heart Throbs to know one thing:-tell me, (if your art Can tell so much,) shall Banquo's issue ever Reign in this kingdom? All. Seek to know no more. Macb. I will be satisfied! Deny me this, And an eternal curse fall on you! Let me know:Why sinks that caldron? and what noise is this? [Hautboys. 1st Witch. Show! 2d 7;itch. Show! 3d Witch. Show! All. Show his eyes, and grieve his heart! Come like shadows, so depart. Eight Kings appear, and pass over the Stage in order; the last with a Glass in his Hand; BAKQUO's Ghost following. Mach. Thou art too like the spirit of Banquo; down! Thy crown does sear mine eyeballs! —And thy hair, Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first.A third is like the former. —Filthy hags! Why do you show me this?-A fourth?-Start, eyes! What! will the line stretch out to the crack of doom? Another yet?-A seventh?-I'll see no more!And yet the eighth appears, who bears a glass, Which shows me many more; and some I see, That twofold balls and treble sceptres carry! * High Dunsinane. Dunsinane in this line has the accent on the 2d syl.; elsewhere, on the Ist. —Impress, press into service.-Rebellion's head. So the folio ot Mr. Collier, 1632. Others read, i' rebellious head."-Show his eyes, etc. See 1 Samlluel, ii., 33, "to consume thine eyes and to grieve thine heart." What other evidence can you give of Shakespeare's familiarity with the Bible? —Bears a glass. Just as fiortune-tellers now, Druid-like, will show you in a, glass the likeness of come sainted friend, whom yodu never saw, or your future husband or wife, whom you never will see. Magic mirrors were much used in the old enchantments. See the Squire's Tale in Chaucer; also Feiry Queen, II. 2; and Mlieasure for Mecasre, ii. 2.-Twofold balls, typifying the two islands of Great Britain and Ireland. Some would refer the expression to the two independent crowns of England and Scotland. White prefers the former.-Treble sceptres. The three kingdoms of Bngl(and, Scotland, and Ireland, united under James I., in compliment to whom this is inserted by Shakespeare. See the beautiful compliment to Queen Elizabeth in Midsuzmmer Nigiht's Dream, Act It., sc. 2. That will never be, etc. Elated. Loud; quick; radical. Tell me, if your art, etc. Earnest appeal..Iwill be satisfied, etc. Fiery and fierce anger. Aspirated; guttural; initial stress; quick. Thou art too like, etc. Surprise, alarmin defiance, anger, fear, horror. Aspirated; loud; spasmodic; explosive; tremulous; deep guttural; shuddering. WILLIAM SHAiKESPEARE. 157 Horrible sight!-Aye, now, I see,'tis true; For the blood-boltered * Banquo smiles upon me, And points at them for his. —What! is this so? 1st Witch. Aye, sir: all this is so. But why Stands Macbeth thus amazedly?Come, sisters, cheer we up his sprights, And show the best of our delights. I'll charm the air to give a sound, While you perform your antic round; That this great king may kindly say, Our duties did his welcome pay. [Music. The Witches dance, and vanish. Macb. Where are they? Gone?-Let this pernicious hour Stand aye accursed in the calendar! Come in, without there! ~nter LENOX. Len. What's your grace's will? Macb. Saw you the weird sisters? Len. No, my lord. Macb. Came they not by you? Len. No, indeed, my lord. Mackb. Infected be the air whereon they ride, And damned all those that trust them! —I did hear The galloping of horse. Who was't came by? Len.'Tis two or three, my lord, that bring you word, Macduff is fled to England. Macb. Fled to England? Len. Aye, my good lord. -Macb. Time, thou anticipat'st my dread exploits: The flighty purpose never is o'ertook, Unless the deed go with it. From this moment, The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand. And even now, To crown my thoughts with acts, be it thought and done: The castle of Macduff I will surprise; Seize upon Fife; give to the edge o' the sword His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls That trace him in his line. No boasting like a fool: This deed I'11 do, before this purpose cool. But no more sights!-Where are these gentlemen? Come, bring nme where they are. [Exeunt. * Blood-boltered, blood-besmeared, blood-clotted. Boltered is a Warwickshire word, meaning "matted" or' clotted" [with the blood].-Sprights, spirits. See sprites, pp. 78, 133. -Weird. Dissyl. See p. 113. —Purpose.... unless the deed, etc. The execution of the purpose lags behind;-Trace (Lat. trahere, to draw),follow in the steps of, follow, succeed. Infected be the air, etc. Anger; hate; desperation. Aspirated; loud; quick; expulsive radical. Time, thou anticipat'st, etc. Undertone; quick; rough; radical. -1j,58 2JI.STERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. SCENE II. Fife. A Room in MACDUFF'S CGastle, Enter Lady MACDUFF, her Son and RoSSE. l. Macd. What had he done to nmake him fly the land? Rosse. You must have patience, madam. L. Mlacd. He had none; His flight was madness. When our actions do not, Our fears do make us traitors.* Rosse. You know not, Whether it was his wisdom or his fear. L. Macd. Wisdom! to leave his wife, to leave his babes, His mansion, and his titles, in a place From whence himself does fly? He loves us not: He wants the natural touch; for the poor wren, The most diminutive of birds, will fight, Her young ones in her nest, against the owl. All is the fear, and nothing is the love. As little is the wisdom, where the flight So runs against all reason. Rosse. My dearest coz, I pray you, school yourself. But, for your husband, He is noble, wise, judicious, and best knows The fits o' the season. I dare not speak much further: But cruel are the times, when we are traitors, And do not know ourselves; when we hold rumor From what we fear, yet know not what we fear, But float upon a wild and violent sea, Each way and move.-I take my leave of you. Shall not be long but I'11 be here again. Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upward To what they were before.-My pretty cousin, Blessing upon you! L. Macd. Fathered he is, and yet he's fatherless. Posse. I am so much a fool, should I stay longer, It would be my disgrace, and your discomfort. I take my leave at once. [Exit RosSE. L. XMacd. Sirrah, your father's dead; And what will you do now? How will you live? * MIake us traitors, manke us appear traitors, convict us of being traitors.-Natural touch, natural affection, natural feeling. Shakespeare elsewhere speaks of the "'inly touch of love," and the " touch of nature," that makes all the world our kindred.-Young ones, etc.; i. e., if her young ones are in her nest. —Fits (A. S. feoht, fight, attack), passing humors, vicissitudes, impulsive irregular actions, paroxysms, convulsions, fits. —Hold rumor, etc. Ourfears, thougA vague, engender rumors.-Each way and move, each way and each motion. -Shall not be long, it s/hall not be long. The pronoun is not seldom omitted in Shakespeare. -Cousin. The boy. He had none, etc. Impatience. High; quick; vanishing. Wisdom, etc. Impatience; complaint. Vanishing stress; high. Ipray you, school yourself, etc. Matter of fact; kindness. Soft force; rather quick. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 159 Son. As birds do, mother. L. Maced. What, with worms and flies? Son. With what I get, I mean; and so do they. L. Maced. Poor bird! thou'dst never fear the net, nor lime, The pitfall, nor the gin. Son. Why should I, mother? Poor birds they are not set for. My father is not dead, for all your saying. L. Macd. Yes, he is dead. How wilt thou do for a father? Son. Nay, how will you do for a husband? L. Macd. Why, I can buy me twenty at any market. Son. Then you'11 buy'em to sell again. L. Macd. Thou speak'st with all thy wit; and yet i' faith, With wit enough for thee. Son. Was my father a traitor, mother? L. Macd. Ay, that he was. Son. What is a traitor? L..i7acd. Why, one that swears and lies. Son. And be all traitors that do so? L. M~acd. Every one that does so is a traitor, and must be hanged. Son. And must they all be hanged that swear and lie? L. Mcacd. Every one. Son. Who must hang them? L. Macd. Why, the honest men. Son. Then the liars and swearers are fools; for there are liars and swearers enough to beat the honest men and hang up them. L. Macd. Now, God help thee, poor monkey! But how wilt thou do for a father? Son. If he were dead, you'd weep for him: if you would not, it were a good sign that I should quickly have a new father. L. Metacd. Poor prattler! how thou talk'st! Enter cc Messenger. Mess. Bless you, fair dame! I am not to you known, Though in your state of honor* I am perfect. I doubt, some danger does approach you nearly. If you will take a homely man's advice, Be not found here: hence, with your little ones. To fright you thus, methinks, I am too savage: To do worse to you, were fell cruelty, Which is too nigh your person. Heaven preserve you! I dare abide no longer. [Exit Messenger. L. Ma cd. Whither should I fly? * In your state of honor, etc. I am perfectly aware of your honorable rank. As birds do, mother. This small talk, and all light conversation or unimportant matter, should be spoken rapidly. A child's voice. Bless you,fair dame, etc. Hurry, and earnest kindness. Very quick; loud; radical. 160 MASTERPIECES IXV ENGLISH LITERATURlE. I have done no harm. But I remember now I am in this earthly world; where, to do harm Is often laudable; to do good sometime Accounted dangerous folly. Why then, alas! Do I put up that womanly defence, To say, I have done no harm?-What are these faces? Enter Murderers. lzfur. Where is your husband? L. MJacd. I hope, in no place so unsanctified, Where such as thou may'st find him. Mur. He's a traitor. Son. Thou liest, thou shag-haired * villain. JMur. What, you egg! [Stabbing him. Young fry of treachery! Son. He has killed me, mother! Run away, I pray you. [Dies. [Exit Lady MACDUFF, crying murder, and pursued by the Murderers. SCENE III. England. A room in the King's Palace. -Enter MALCOLM and MACDUFF. fMal. Let us seek out some desolate shade, and there Weep our sad bosoms empty. MAacd. Let us rather Hold fast the mortal sword, and, like good men, Bestride our down-fallen birthdom. Each new morn, New widows howl; new orphans cry; new sorrows Strike heaven on the face, that it resounds As if it felt with Scotland, and yelled out Like syllable of dolor. aJt1. What I believe, I'11 wail; What know, believe; and, what I can redress, As I shall find the time to friend, I will. What you have spoke, it may be so, perchance. This tyrant, whose sole name blisters our tongues, * Shag-haired (A. S. secacea, a bush of hair),. bushy-haired. a term of albusive slang. -Young fry (0. Fr. fraye, M. Fr. frai, spawning, spawn of fishes), small fry. —Scene III. Irt this scene Shakespeare follows very closely the account in Holinshed's Chronicle. — Bestride. As a brave warrior stands over his fallen friend in battle, to defend him.Birthdom (-dom is A. S. dom; Ger. -thoum; Lat. -tium; Sans. tvan; and denotes quality, as wisdom; act, as martyrdom; state, as thraldomn, freedom; appurtenances or possessions, as dukedom; by metonymny the collective concrete, as fIbhristendom), birth-place, native land. — Like syllable, similar utterance.-To friend, to befriend.-Whose sole name, whose mere name. Ihave done no harm, etc. Earnest; alarmed. Quick; rather loud. What are theseffaces? etc. Fright. Loud; very quick. Irhope in no place, etc. Bold, defiant, scornful. Loud; radical; quick. He has killed nme, mother, etc. Do not read this tamely. Let us seek out, etc. Weak, despondent. Slow; feeble; median. Let us rather hold fast, etc. Bold; energetic. Loud; quick; radical. What Ibelieve, etc. Assumed weakness. Moderate; median; becoming cool and business-like. WILLIAM StHAKESPEARE. j161 Was once thought honest. You have loved him well. He hath not touched you yet. I am young; but something You may deserve* of him through me; and wisdom To offer up a weak, poor, innocent lamb, To appease an angry god! Maed. I am not treacherous. Mlcc. But Macbeth is. A' good and virtuous nature may recoil In an imperial charge. But I shall crave your pardon. That which you are, my thoughts cannot transpose; Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell; Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace, Yet grace must still look so. acrd. I have lost my hopes. Mal. Perchance, even there where I did find my doubts. Why in that rawness left you wife and child, Those precious motives, those strong knots of love, Without leave-taking?-I pray you, Let not my jealousies be your dishonors, But mine own safeties. You may be rightly just, Whatever I shall think. M-acd. Bleed, bleed, poor country! Great tyranny, lay thou thy basis sure, For goodness dares not check thee!-Wear thou thy wrongs: The title is affeered!-Fare thee well, lord: I would not be the villain that thou think'st For the whole space that's in the tyrant's grasp, And the rich East to boot. Jlcal. Be not offended: I speak not as in absolute fear of you. I think our country sinks beneath the yoke; It weeps, it bleeds; and each new day a gash Is added to her wounds. f think, withal, There would be hands uplifted in my right; * Mhay deserve.... me, may earn some favor from him by destroying me. This is said with some bitterness by the distrustful Malcolm.-Imnperial charge, the execution of a royal commissioen. Shakespeare had not read Eng'lish history to no purpose. Illustrate, by citation of instances, the truth of this assertion of Malcolm's.-Look so, look like herself, look beauttiful.-Rawness, hasty manner. Malcolm here asks a very pertinent and incisive question.-Wear thou. To Malcolm. But some refer it to tyranny incarnat'ed in Macbeth. -Title. This is usually explained as meaning Macbeth's title to the crown; but, perhaps it means Malcolm's title to the wrongs he wears.-Affeered (Fr. atfier, to reduce to a certainty. Webster gives a different etymology), confirmed.-Rich East. So Milton's expression, "The gorgeous East with richest hand." But Macbeth is, etc. Moderation; assumed despondency. Perchance, even teere where I, etc. Circumflex; or it may be read in a business way. Why in that rawness, etc. Pointed inquiry. Rather sharp, metallic voice; quick; radical. ipray you, let not my jealousies, etc. Circumflex, as the thought winds. Bleed, bleed, poor country, etc. Grief and despondency. Slow; median; high. Iwould not be the villain. etc. Indignation. Rather loud; expulsive; rather quick; aspirated. Be not offended, etc. Assumed coolness and hardness; putting on the mocking unsympathizin'g tone of a villain. 11 162 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATVURE. And here, from gracious England, have I offer Of goodly thousands. But, for all this, When I shall tread * upon the tyrant's head, Or wear it on my sword, yet my poor country Shall have more vices than it had before; More suffer, and more sundry ways than ever, By him that shall succeed. Matcd. What should he be? Mal. It is myself I mean; in whom I know All the particulars of vice so grafted, That, when they shall be opened, black Macbeth Will seem as pure as snow; and the poor state Esteem him as a lamb, being compared With my confineless harms. Macd. Not in the legions Of horrid hell can come a devil more damned In evils, to top Macbeth! Maal. I grant him bloody, Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful, Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin That has a name. But there's no bottom, none, In my voluptuousness!. and my desire All continent impediments would o'erbear, That did oppose my will. Better Macbeth, Than such a one to reign. _lacd. Boundless intemperance In nature is a tyranny. It hath been The untimely emptying of the happy throne, And fall of many kings. But fear not yet To take upon you what is yours: you may Convey your pleasures in a spacious plenty, And yet seem cold, the time you may so hoodwink. Mal. With this, there grows, ~ When I shall tread, etc. Malcolm here enters upon a most ingenious, a crucial test of Macduff's sincerity.-Confineless harms. boundless vices.-Top lMacbeth, surpass or tower above Macbeth.-Sudden, passionate.-Continent (Lat. continere, to keep together, hold within bounds), restrain.ing.-Convey, take by stealth. See Lear, Act I., Scene 2. It is myselfImean, etc. Coolness and sneering. Not in the legions, etc. Anger. Loud; quick; radical; aspirated. I grant him bloody, etc. Circumflex: mocking; cold and heartless; dismissing his assumed diabolic thoughts as mere matter of course, not to be ashamed of, but rather as ground formalicious satisfaction I A guttural, sensual tone. Boundless intemperance, etc. Apologetic; persuasive; argumentative. With this there grows, etc. Assumed malicious hardened avarice. Avoid the median; rather low pitch; guttural and growling. WILLIAMI SHAKESPEARE. 163 In my most ill-composed affection, such A stanchless avarice, that, were I king, I should cut off the nobles for their lands; Desire his jewels, and this other's house; And my more-having would be as a sauce To make me hunger more; that I should forge Quarrels unjust against the good and loyal, Destroying them for wealth. Macd. This avarice Sticks deeper, grows with more pernicious root Than summer-seeming * lust, and it hath been The sword of our slain kings. Yet do not fear: Scotland hath foisons to fill up your will, Of your mere own. All these are portable, With other graces weighed..3fal. But I have none. The king-becoming graces, As justice, verity, temperance, stableness, Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude, — I have no relish of them; but abound In the division of each several crime, Acting it many ways. Nay, had I power, I should Pour the sweet milk of concord into hell, Uproar the universal peace, confound All unity on earth. Miacd. 0 Scotland! Scotland! Maal. If such a one be fit to govern, speak. I am as I have spoken. lacced. Fit to govern! No, not to live!-O nation miserable, With an untitled tyrant bloody-sceptred, When shalt thou see thy wholesome days again, Since that the truest issue of thy throne By his own interdiction stands accursed, And does blaspheme his breed — Thy royal father Was a most sainted king; the queen, that bore thee, Oftener upon her knees than on her feet, Died every day she lived. Fare thee well! * Summer-seeming; "seeming to last but a summer," says White; "hot as summer," says Steevens; "burns awhile like summer, and, like summer, passes away," says Hudson.Foisons (Fr. foison; Lat. fusio, a pouring, fr. fundire, to pour), plenty.-Portable, endurable. -Perseverance. Ace. 2d syl. —Died, i. e., died unto sin. Paul says, "I die daily." This avarice, etc. Serious, and somewhat emphatic. Yet do not fear. etc. Persuasive; moderate argument. Buet 1 have none. Pretended swaggering and boastfiulness of a villain proud of his villany. Coarse; guttural; loud; slow, cool, scornful; aspirated; radical. O Scotland! Scotland! etc. Great grief. Loud; quick; high; vanishing. Fit to govern! No, not to live! etc. Intense wrathful energy. Very loud; explosive radical. O nation miserable, etc. Loud grief, ending in despair. 164 XIASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. These evils thou repeat'st upon thyself Have banished me from Scotland.-O, my breast! Thy hope ends here! Mal. Macduff, this noble passion, Child of integrity, hath from my soul Wiped the black scruples, reconciled my thoughts To thy good truth and honor. Devilish Macbeth By many of these trains hath sought to win me Into his power; and modest wisdom plucks me From over-credulous haste. But God above Deal between thee and me; for even now I put myself to thy direction, and Unspeak mine own detraction; here abjure The taints and blames I laid upon myself, For strangers to my nature. I am yet Unknown to woman; never was forsworn; Scarcely have coveted what was mine own; At no time broke my faith; would not betray The devil to his fellow; and delight No less in truth, than life: my first false speaking Was this upon myself. What I am truly, Is thine, and my poor country's, to command: Whither, indeed, before thy here-approach, Old Siward, with ten thousand warlike men, Already at a point,* was setting forth. Now we'11 together; and the chance of goodness Be like our warranted quarrel!-Why are you silent? MaVicd. Such welcome and unwelcome things at once,'T is hard to reconcile. Enter a Doctor. Mcal. Well; more anon. —Comes the king forth, I pray you? Doct. Aye, sir: there are a crew of wretched souls, That stay his cure. Their malady convinces The great assay of art; but, at his touch, Such sanctity hath heaven given his hand, They presently amend. 11al1. I thank you, Doctor. [Exit Doctor. Macd. What's the disease lie means? Mal.'Tis called the Evil: * Ready at a point, minutely, peifectly ready. Thus in Hamlet, "armed to point."Warranted quarrel, just cause. May the chance of goodness be as fair as our cause is just.Convinces, overcome.-His touch, etc. King Edward, the Confessor, is said to have been the first, and Queen Anne the last, English sovereign, who " touched " to cure scrofula, or " the King's Evil." The latter tried the remedy without effect on Samuel Johnson in his infancy. Macduff, this noble passion. etc. Malcolm's whole manner now changes. He becomes cheerful noble, emphatic in his purity and truth; closing with exultation. Loud; radical and median; pure quality; large volume. TVILLIAM1 SHAKESPEARE. 165 A most miraculous work in this good king, Which often, since my here-remain in England, I have seen him do. How he solicits Heaven, Himself best knows: but strangely-visited people, All swoln and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye, The mere despair of surgery, he cures, Hanging a golden stamp* about their necks, Put on with holy prayers: and'tis spoken, To the succeeding royalty he leaves The healing benediction. With this strange virtue, He hath a heavenly gift of prophecy; And sundry blessings hang about his throne, That speak him full of grace. Enter RossE. Afacd. See, who comes here? Mal. My countryman; but yet I know him not. Macd. My ever-gentle cousin, welcome hither. MiXl. I know him now. Good God, betimes remove The means that make us strangers! Posse. Sir, amen. Maad. Stands Scotland where it did? Posse. Alas, poor country! Almost afraid to know itself! It cannot Be called our mother, but our grave: where nothing, But who knows nothing, is once seen to smile; Where sighs, and groans, and shrieks that rend the air, Are made, not marked; where violent sorrow seems A modern ecstacy; the dead man's knell Is there scarce asked, for who; and good men's lives Expire before the flowers in their caps, Dying or ere they sicken. Xacd. Oh, relation Too nice, and yet too true! Mid. What is the newest grief? Posse. That of an hour's age doth hiss the speaker. Each minute teems a new one. Miacd. How does my wife? Posse. Why, —well. iaccd. And all my children? * Golden stamp, a coin called an angel. See Irlerc7hant of Venice, ir., 6. —1MTodern, lommon, trite.-Ecstacy, alienation of mind, unusual state of mind. Xodern ecstacy, "a slight iervousness," says White. See ecstacy, p. 142.-For who, for whom. Shakespeare repeatedly tses who for whom: but perhaps we should read whom in this place. Lowell says that Shakepeare was " incapable of bad grammar. " i most miraculous work, etc. Slight admiration. Rather loud; median and radical. tlas, poor country! etc. Distress. Loud; median and vanishing. V7hy,-well.. No; they were, etc. Long pauses; slow; slight force. 166 MASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATUREo 1osse. Well too. Macd. The tyrant has not battered at their peace? Rosse. No;-they were well at peace when I did leave them. Macd. Be not a niggard of your speech. How goes it? Rosse. When I came hither to transport the tidings, Which I have heavily borne, there ran a rumor Of many worthy fellows that were out; Which was to my belief witnessed the rather, For that I saw the tyrant's power afoot. Now is the time of help! Your eye in Scotland Would create soldiers, make our women fight, To doff * their dire distresses. Mal. Be it their comfort, We are coming thither. Gracious England hath Lent us good Siward and ten thousand men: An older and a better soldier, none That Christendom gives out. Rosse. Would I could answer This comfort with the like! But I have words, That would be howled out in the desert air, Where hearing should not latch them. Macd. What concern they? The general cause? or is it a fee-grief, Due to some single breast? Rosse. No mind, that's honest, But in it shares some wo; though the main part Pertains to you alone. Maced. If it be mine, Keep it not from me: quickly let me have it. Rosse. Let not your ears despise mly tongue for ever, Which shall possess them with the heaviest sound That ever yet they heard. AMacd. Humph! I guess at it. Rosse. Your castle is surprised; your wife, and babes, Savagely slaughtered: to relate the manner, Were, on the quarry of these murdered deer, To add the death of you. Mal. Merciful Heaven!What, man! ne'er pull your hat upon your brows; Give sorrow words: the grief that does not speak, Whispers the o'erfraught heart, and bids it break. * Doff (do o7f, as don is do on), put of.-Latch, catch, as a door-latch catches the door. -Fee-grief, grief that has but one owner; private grief. Fee is A. S.feoh, cattle; and, as cattle were used for money or a medium of payment, fee caine to mean money, property. So the Lat. pecunia, money, is from pecess, small cattle, sheep.-Quarry, a heap of dead game. -Grief that does not, etc. See, in Tennyson's Princess, the exquisite song beginning, CHome they brought her warrior dead."-O'erfraught (Dan. fragt; Fr. fret; Ger. fracht; freight of a ship), overloaded, overburdened. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. Mfacd. My children too? Bosse. Wife, children, servants,-all That could be found. 3i~acd. And I must be from thence!My wife killed too? Rosse. I have said. Malt. Be comforted. Let's make us medicines of our great revenge, To cure this deadly grief. Macd. He has no children.* —All my pretty ones? Did you say, all?-O, hell-kite!-All? What! all my pretty chickens and their dam At one fell swoop? Mal. Dispute it like a man. Ac11cd. I shall do so; But I must also feel it as a man: I cannot but remember such things were, That were most precious to me.-Did heaven look on, And would not take their part? Sinful Macdcluff, They were all struck for thee! Naught that I am, Not for their own demerits, but for mine, Fell slaughter on their souls. Heaven rest them now! Mal. Be this the whetstone of your sword. Let grief Convert to anger: blunt not the heart; enrage it. Macd. Oh, I could play the woman with mine eyes, And braggart with my tongue!-But, gentle Heaven, Cut short all intermission; front to front, Bring thou this fiend of Scotland and myself; Within my sword's length set him; if he'scape, Heaven forgive him too! ]Mal. This tune goes manly. Come, go we to the king. Our power is ready: Our lack is nothing but our leave. Macbeth Is ripe for shaking, and the powers above Put on their instruments. Receive what cheer you may; The night is long that never finds the day. [Exeunt. * He has no children. The thought of revenge perhaps suggests to Macduff that Macbeth has no children. But is it not more likely that Macduff refers to Malcolm's being childless and therefore unable to sympathize fully with Macduff?-Dispute, etc. Contend with this terrible blow like a man. —Swoop (A. S. swapaen; 0. Fries. swepa; Goth. sveipan; Ice. and Swed. sopa, to sweep), a falling on and seizing.-Intermission, intervening time, delay.-Forgive him too. Note the intensive and pregnant force of too.-Put on their instruments, incite, encourage, or urgeforward us, who are their instruments. All my pretty ones? etc. An agony of grief. High; convulsive. 0, hell-kite! etc. Intensest wrath hissing. Bat I rustalsofeel it as a man, etc. Under this crushing blow, his voice falters, sobs, and wails Sinful Macdus{, etc. Self-reproach, with tears and sobs. Be this the whetstone, etc. Loud, cheerful, decisive. iFront to front, etc. Frenzied anger and hate. Very much aspirated; explosive; very loud This tune goes manly, etc. Cheerful. Loud; quick. 168 MASTERPIECES IN ENGL SH LITERA TURE. ACT V. SCENE I.* Dunsinane. A room in the Castle. Enter a Doctor of Physic, and a waiting Gentlewoman. Doct. I have two nights watched with you, but can perceive no truth in your report. When was it she last walked? Gent. Since his Majesty went into the field, I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her night-gown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon it, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep. Doct. A great perturbation in nature!-to receive at once the benefit of sleep, and do the effects of watching.-In this slumbery agitation, besides her walking and other actual performances, what, at any time, have you heard her say? Gent. That, sir, which I will not report after her. Doct. You may to me; and'tis most meet you should. Gent. Neither to you, nor any one, having no witness to confirm my speech. Enter Lady MACBETH, with a Taper. Lo you, here she comes! This is her very guise; and, upon my life, fast asleep! Observe her: stand close. Doct. How came she by that light? Gent. Why, it stood by her: she has light by her continually:'tis her command. -Doet. You see her eyes are open. Gent. Aye, but their sense is shut. Doct. What is it she does now? Look, how she rubs her hands! Gent. It is an accustomed action with her to seem thus washing her hands. I have known her continue in this a quarter of an hour. Lady M. Yet here's a spot! Doct. Hark, she speaks! I will set down what comes from her, to satisfy my remembrance the more strongly. Lady M. Out, damned spot! out, I say!-One: two. Why, then't is time to do't! —Hell is murky! —Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeared? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him? Doct. Do you mark that? * Scene I. This scene is especially worthy of study, as one of the most wonderful in dramatic literature.-Hell is murky! etc. We must suppose her to be scornfully repeating this language uttered by her husband.-Fie (Gr. ~e6; Ger. pfui; Fr. fl. Origin of the word?). Ihave two nights watched, etc. Undertone till Lady M. enters, and then whispering. Lo, you, here she comes, etc. Whispering. Yet here's a spot, etc. A cry of anguish. High aspirated with sighs. Out, damsned spot! etc. Radical; aspirated; high; slow. One: two, etc. She counts the striking of the clock. Slow, and then quick, on the words, " Why, then't is time," etc. Hell is murky! etc. Scornful, sneering. Pause after it. Aspirated. Yet who would hrve thought, etc. Horror. Low; slow; soft; shuddering; aspirated. WILLIAM' SHA KESPEARE. 169 Lady 21.. The Thane of Fife had a wife! Where is she now?-What! will these hands ne'er be clean?-No more o'. that, my lord, no more o' that! you mar all* with this starting. Doct. Go to, go to: you have known what you should not. Gent. She has spoke what she should not, I am sure of that! Heaven knows what she has known! Lady M. Here's the smell of the blood still! all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. Oh! oh! oh! Doct. What a sigh is there! The heart is sorely charged. Gent. I would not have such a heart in my bosom for the dignity of the whole body. Doct. Well, well, well!Gent.'Pray God, it be, sir. Doct. -this disease is beyond my practice. Yet I have known those which have. walked in their sleep, who have died holily in their beds. Lady M. Wash your hands, put on your night-gown; look not so pale.I tell you yet again, Banquo Is buried: he cannot come out of his grave. Doct. Even so? Lady i. To bed, to bed: there's knocking at the gate. Come, come, come, come, give me your hand. What's done, cannot be undone. To bed, to bed, to bed. [Exit Lady MACBETH. Doct. Will she go now to bed? Gent. Directly. Doct. Foul whisperings are abroad. Unnatural deeds Do breed unnatural troubles. Infected minds To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets. More needs she the divine, than the physician.God, God, forgive us all! Look after her; Remove from her the means of all annoyance, And still keep eyes upon her.-So, good night. My mind she has mated, and amazed my sight. I think, but dare not speak. Gent. d Good night, good doctor. [Ezeunt. * You mar all. Her mind wanders from the blood on her hands to the scene at the supper, where the ghost of Banquo terrified Macbeth.-The smell of the blood. There is a parallel passage in the Agamzemnon of A/Eschylus, where Cassandra, in prophetic spell or trance, scents the odor of blood and the exhalations from the tomb. What evidence is there that Shakespeare had read /Eschylus? See Lowell's Essay on Shakespeare. —The question has been asked why this terrible scene should have been written in prose. In answer it may be said, first, that there is a kind of rhythm running through much of it; secondly, that the irregular and fitful utterances of a somnambulist would hardly seem natural, if expressed in perfect metre; and. thirdly, that whispered questions and answers are not easily capable of rhythm, which requires distinct vowel sounds. —1lated (Fr. nzatere, to fatigui e, enfeeble, checkmate; Ger. matt, faint, exhausted; 0. Fr. maltt, overcome, confounded, dismayed), astowunded, overcome. The Thane of Fife had a wife, etc. Wailing. High; slow; pure tone. TW7eat! will these hands, etc. Impatient distress. Vanishingo. No sore o' that, etc. Command; decision. Quick, firm voice, yet in undertone; radical. Here's the smell of the blood, etc. A cry of anguish. Very high; vanishing; slow. Wash your hands, etc. Undertone; quick; impetuous; angry, aspirated. To bed, to bed, etc. Very quick; much aspirated..Foul whisperings, etc. Very solemn. Low; slow; soft. Look after her, etc. Serious; business tone. 170 MASTERPIECES INX ENGLIS11 LITERATURE. SCENE II. The Country near Dunsinane.* Enter, with D)rum and Colors, MENTETH, CATHNESS, ANGUS, LENOx, and Soldiers. Afent. The English power is near, led on by Malcolm, His uncle Siward, and the good Macduff. Revenges burn in them; for their dear causes Would, to the bleeding and the grim alarm, Excite the mortified man. Ang. Near Birnam wood Shall we well meet them: that way are they coming. Cath. Who knows if Donalbain be with his brother? Len. For certain, sir, he is not. I have a file Of all the gentry. There is Siward's son, And many unrough youths, that even now Protest their first of manhood. Jent. What does the tyrant? Cath. Great Dunsinane he strongly fortifies. Some say, he's mad; others, that lesser hate him, Do call it valiant fury; but, for certain, He cannot buckle his distemnpered cause Within the belt of rule. Ang. Now does he feel His secret murders sticking on his hands; Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith-breach; Those he commands move only in command, Nothing in love. Now does he feel his title Hang loose about him, like a giant's robe Upon a dwarfish thief. Ment. Who, then, shall blame His pestered senses to recoil and start, When all that is within him does condemn Itself for being there! C(ath. Well, march we on, To give obedience where'tis truly owed: Meet we the medicine of the sickly weal; And with him pour we, in our country's purge, Each drop of us. Len. Or so much as it needs, To dew the sovereign flower, and drown the weeds. Make we our march towards Birnam. [Exeunt, marching. * Dunsinane, p. 156.-Uncle Siward. DImncan's wife, who was Malcolm's mother, was the sister (or, as some say, the danghter) of Siward, Earl of Northumberland.- ortified, ascetic, deadened by religious discipline. " Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth." —Col. iii. 5.-Unrough, smooth-faced, beardless.-IIinutely (adjective), happeniny every minute; (or it may be adverbial,) minute by minate.-Condemn itself, etc. He is filled with ielf-loathing.-March we. mlllperative Ist person plaral.-MlNedicine, the physician, i. e. Malcolm.-Weal. State, commonwealth? A. S. elda; O. Eng. wele. welfare.'/e English power is near, etc. Matter of fact. Moderation, therefore, in pitch, time, etc. WILLIAM ]I SHA KESPEARE. 171 SCENE III. Dunsinane., A Room in the Castle, Enter MACBETH, Doctor, and Attendants. Macb. Bring me no more reports: let them fly all. Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane, I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm? Was he not born of woman? The spirits that know All mortal consequences, have pronounced me thus: " IFear not, Mlacbeth: no man that's born of woman, Shall e'er have power on thee."-Then fly, false thanes, And mingle with the English epicures.* The mind I sway by, and the heart I bear, Shall never sag with doubt, nor shake with fear. Enter a Servant. The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon! Where got'st thou that goose look? Serv. There is ten thousandiMacb. Geese, villain? Serv. Soldiers, sir. Mackb. Go, prick thy face, and over-red thy fear, Thou lily-livered boy! What soldiers, patch? Death of thy soul! those linen cheeks of thine Are counsellors to fear. What soldiers, whey-face? Serv. The English force, so please you. Macb. Take thy face hence.-Seyton!-I am sick at heart, When I behold-Seyton, I say!-This push Will chair me ever, or disseat me now. I have lived long enough. My way of life Is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf; And that which should accompany old age, As honor, love, obedience, troops of friends, I must not look to have; but, in their stead, Curses, not loud, but deep; mouth-honor, breath; Which the poor heart would fain deny, but dare not. Seyton!~ Epicures, followers of Epicurus (B. C. 341-270), voluptuaries. Scotch abstemiousness was proverbial. Holinshed notices the fact that the English introduced gormandizing and luxury into Scotland.-Sag (A. S. and 0. Ger. slgan, to fall, sink), sink with its own weight.-Loon (A. S. lun, poor, needy; Fr. liun, idle, lazy; Scotch loun, lown, loon, a stupid man), a sorry, stlpid.fellow. But perhaps Mlacbeth means the northern swimming bird called loon. —Patch, wretch, fool. The name owes its origin perhaps to the patched or motley coat worn by the professional fool. The word is akin to botch, p. 141. —Cream-faced, goose-look, lily-livered, linen cheeks, whey-face, etc. What a vocabulary!-Chair me, seat me permanently.-Sear (A. S. searian, to dry; Gr. tp6os, dry), dry, withered.-Fain deny, gladly refuse or reject. Bring me no more reports, etc. Excitement; anger; scorn; exultation. Loud; high onr emphatic syllables; explosive radical; large volume; aspirated; quick. The devil, etc. Great anger. Very loud; very rough; very quick; explosive; large volume. Go, prick thy face, etc. Anger. Contempt at littleness and at boyish cowardice may make the volume moderate or even small. I'm sick at heart, etc. Distressful; disgusted; impatient. Aspirated; expulsive, vanishing. Ihave lived long enough, etc. Plaintive. Curses, not loud but deep, etc. Aspirated; varying pitch, forcible; radical, vanishing. 172 fXASTERPIECES IN EIVGLIST LITERA TURE. Enter SEYTON. Sey. What is your gracious pleasure? M.achk. What news more? Sey. All is confirmed, my lord, which was reported..M'acb. I'll fight till from my bones my flesh be hacked! Give me my armor. Sey.'Tis not needed yet. Mchb. I'll put it on. Send out more horses, skirr* the country round. Hang those that talk of fear.-Give me mine armor.How does your patient, Doctor? Doct. Not so sick, my lord, As she is troubled with thick-coming fancies, That keep her from her rest..Macb. Cure her of that. Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased; Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow; Raze out the written troubles of the brain; And, with some sweet oblivious antidote, Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff Which weighs upon the heart?.Doct. Therein the patient Must minister to himself. Mac. Throw physic to the dogs! I'll none of it.Come, put mine armor on: give me my staff:Seyton, send out.-Doctor, the thanes fly from me.Come, sir, despatch.-If thou couldst, Doctor, cast The water of my land, find her disease, And purge it to a sound and pristine health, I would applaud thee to the very echo, That should applaud again.-Pull't off, I say.What rhubarb, senna, or what purgative drug, Would scour these English hence? —Hear'st thou of them?.Doct. Aye, my good lord; your royal preparation Makes us hear something. Mack. Bring it after me.I will not be afraid of death and bane, Till Birnam forest come to Dunsinane. [Exit. * Skirr (A. S. scur, a scouring; Ger. scheuern, fr. Lat. ex, out, and curare, to take care of, to look to? Low Ger. schieren, to flee away; Fr. &cutrer, to scour, clean). scour; scutd over. See note on the significance of the sound of sc, p. 56.-Patient, Lady M/acbeth.-Stuffed.... stuff. Another play on words?-Staff, lance, spear.-Cast the water, inspect the water, as physicians do.-Pull't off. He is talking of his dress or a part of his armor. —Bring it after me. He refers to some of his accoutrements.-Biirnam forest, a forest covering and surrounding a high hill twelve miles N.W. of Perth, and about the same distance W.N.W. of Dunsinane. l'lfigqt, etc. Savage energy. Very loud; quick; radical; impure; large volume. Cure her of that, etc. Calmer, but yet in a beseeching tone. Throw physic, etc. Anger; contempt; haste. Loud; quick; radical; aspirated; small volume. I.f thou couldst, Doctor, cast, etc. Grim humor. Radical, business tone, with energy. WILLIAM~ SHIAKESPEARE. 13 Doct. Were I from Dunsinane away and clear, Profit again should hardly draw me here. [Exit. SCENE IV. Country near Dunsinane. A Wood in view. Enter, with Drumn and Colors, MALCOLM, old SIWARD, and his Son, MACIDUFF, MENTETH, CAT ANESS, ANGUS, LENOX, ROssu, and Soldiers, marching. Mal. Cousins, I hope the days are near at hand That chambers will be safe.* Ment. We doubt it nothing. Sizo. What wood is this before us? Ment. The wood of Birnam. Mal. Let every soldier hew him clown a bough, And bear't before him. Thereby shall we shadow The numbers of our host, and make discovery Err in report of us. Sold. It shall be done. Siw. We learn no other but the confident tyrant Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure Our setting down before't. Ala?.'Tis his main hope: For where there is advantage to be given, Both more and less have given him the revolt; And none serve with him but constrained things, Whose hearts are absent too. 2Macd. Let our just censures Attend the true event, and put we on Industrious soldiership. Siw. The time approaches That will with due decision make us know What we shall say we have, and what we owe. Thoughts speculative their unsure hopes relate; But certain issue, strokes must arbitrate: Towards which, advance the war. [Exeunt, marching. SCENE V. Dtunsinane. Within the Castle. Enter, wvith Drums and Colors, MACBETH, SEYTON, and Soldiers. iVlacb. Hang out our banners on the outward walls. The cry is still, " Tlzey come! " Our castle's strength Will laugh a siege to scorn. Here let them lie * Chambers will be safe, alluding to the murder of Duncan; or, perhaps, to the paid spies of Macbeth in their houses. —For where.... advantage, etc. Where Macbeth's subjects occupy adlvantageous positions in which they might assist him and injure us.-L-)ore and less, high and low. —Censures.... event, judgments await the actual result. —What we shall say, etc. The time draws near when we shall know what we can truly claim as ours, and what duties we owe to the government.-Arbitrate, determine. -War, army. Coutsins, I hope, etc. Matter of fact through this scene. All the vocal elements moderate. Hang out ocur banzers, etc. Command. Loud; bold; scornful. 174 2LLXASTERPIECES IX ENG-LISEr I TERATURE. Till famine and the ague eat them up. Were they not forced* with those that should be ours, We might have met them dareful, beard to beard, And beat them backward home.-What is that noise? [A cry within, of'oomen. Sey. It is the cry of women, my good lord. [Exit. Macb. I have almost forgot the taste of fears. The time has been, my senses would have cooled To hear a night-shriek; and my fell of hair Would at a dismal treatise rouse and stir As life were in't. I have supped full with horrors: Direness, familiar to my slaughterous thoughts, Cannot once start me.-Wherefore was that cry? [Re-enter SEYTON. Sey. The queen, my lord, is dead. Macb. She should have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word.To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing!Enter a Messenger. Thou com'st to use thy tongue:-thy story-quickly! Mess. Gracious my lord, I shall report that which I say I saw, But know not how to do it. Tffacb. Well, say it, sir. Mess. As I did stand my watch upon the hill, I looked toward Birnam, and anon, methought, The wood began to move. Jifacb. Liar and slave! [Str~iking him. 1fVess. Let me endure your wrath, if't be not so. * Forced, reinforced. —Fell (A. S. and Ger. fell; akin to Lat. pellis, skin. See Grimm's law), the skin of a beast, particularly of a sheep with the wool on it; scalp, or head of hair. See " lion-fell," in ilildsucmmer Night's Dream, Act v., Scene I.-Treatise, etc. Even a dismal tale in a book would make my hair stand on end, as if it were alive.-Such a word, sztch a message, such tidings.-To-morrow, etc. Note the deep pathos of the situation and the language. Tillfamine, etc. Defiant. Loud; quick; radical. Ihave almostforygot, etc. Serious. Low; slow; small volume. She should have died, etc. Sorrow. Low; slow: soft; small volume. To-mnorrow, and to-morrow, etc. Solemn; despairing. Low pitch, monotone; slow; slight force. Thou comst to use, etc. Angry. Quick; loud. Liar and slave! etc. Great anger. Very loud and quick. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. 175 Within this three mile may you see it coming: I say, a moving grove. lMach. If thou speak'st false, Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive Till famine cling* thee: if thy speech be sooth, I care not if thou dost for me as much.I pull in resolution; and begin To doubt the equivocation of the fiend, That lies like truth: "I Fear not, till Birnam wood Do come to Dunsinane; " —and now a wood Comes toward Dunsinane.-Arm, arm, and out!If this, which he avouches, does appear, There is nor flying hence, nor tarrying here. I'gin to be a-weary of the sun, And wish the estate o' the world were now undone.Ring the alarum-bell! —Blow, wind! come, wrack! At least we'11 die with harness on our back. -[Exeunt. SCENE VI. The Same. A Plain before the Castle. Enter, owith Drums and Colors, MALcOLM, old SIWARD, MACDUFF, etc., and their Arrmy with Boughs. JIal. Now near enough: your leavy screens throw down, And show like those you are.-You, worthy uncle, Shall, with my cousin, your right noble son, Lead our first battle: worthy Macduff and we Shall take upon us what else remains to do, According to our order. Sitw. Fare you well.Do we but find the tyrant's power to-night, Let us be beaten, if we cannot fight. Macd. Make all our trumpets speak: give them all breath, Those clamorous harbingers of blood and death. [Exeunt. Alarums continued. SCENE VII. The Same. Another part of the Plain. Enter MACBETH. Maicb. They have tied me to a stake; I cannot fly, But bear-like, I must fight the course.-What's he That was not born of woman? Such a one Am I to fear, or none. * Cling (A. S. clingan, to wither), shrivel, wither, pinch.-Sooth, truth. See soothly, p. 41.-Harness (W. haiarn, iron; 0. Fr. harnas, iron armor; Fr. harnais), armor. —First battle, advanced force.-Fight the course. An expression taken from bear-baiting. The bear was tied to a stake, and the dogs were then let loose upon him. To doubt the equivocation, etc. Puzzled; alarmed. Very rapid; small volume; aspirated. Arm, arm, and out! etc. Excited command. Very loud; quick; large volume. Blow, wind, etc. I Shouting defiance. 176 M2IASTERPIECES IN ENGLISH LITERATURE. Enter young SIWARD. Yo. Siw. What is thy name? Mtacb. Thou'lt be afraid to hear it. Yo. Siw. No; though thou call'st thyself a hotter name Than any is in hell. Mach. My name's Macbeth. Yo. Siw. The devil himself could not pronounce a title More hateful to mine ear. XMacb. No, nor more fearful. Yo. Siw. Thou liest, abhorred tyrant i! with my sword I'll prove the lie thou speak'st. [ They fight, and young SIWARD is slainI. Macb. Thou wast born of woman:But swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn, Brandished by man that's of a woman born. [Exit. Alarums. Enter MACDUFF. iac&d. That way the noise is. —Tyrant, show thy face! If thou be'st slain, and with no stroke of mine, My wife and children's ghosts will haunt me still. I cannot strike at wretched kernes,* whose arms Are hired to bear their staves: either thou, Macbeth, Or else my sword, with an unbattered edge, I sheathe again undeeded. There thou shouldst be; By this great clatter, one of greatest note Seems bruited. Let me find him, Fortune! And more I beg not. [Exit. Alarum. Enter MALCOLM and old SIWARD. Siw. This way, my lord; —the castle's gently rendered: The tyrant's people on both sides do fight; The noble thanes do bravely in the war; The day almost itself professes yours, And little is to do. _Mat. We have met with foes That strike beside us. Siw. Enter, sir, the castle. [Exeunt. Alarum. Re-enter MACBETH. Maceb. Why should I play the Roman fool, and die On mine own sword? Whiles I see lives, the gashes Do better upon them. * Kernes. " Here the word seems to mean the lowest order of mercenary soldiers." White. See note on lfernes, Act i.j se. 2.-Bruited, noised abroad. Fr. brusire, to roar; bruit, noise.-Gently rendered, quietly sur