Chapter V: The Age of Elizabeth (3)

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(_a_) =James Ussher (1581–1656)= was born in Dublin, and was descended from an ancient Protestant family. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and rose to be Bishop of Meath and Archbishop of Armagh (1626). In 1640 he visited England, where, owing to the disturbed state of Ireland, he had to remain for the remainder of his life. His many sermons, discourses, and tracts show learning, adroit argument, and a plain and easy style. His _Chronologia Sacra_ was for a long time the standard work on Biblical chronology.

(_b_) =Joseph Hall (1574–1656)= was educated at Cambridge, took orders, and became a prominent opponent of the Puritans, among whom was Milton. He was appointed Bishop of Exeter (1627) and of Norwich (1641). When the Puritans rose to power Hall’s opinions brought him into disgrace. He was imprisoned, and, though liberated, forbidden to preach. He died in retirement.

Hall’s earliest work was in verse, and consisted of a series of satires called _Virgidemiarum_ (1597), which were condemned by the Church as being licentious. His theological and devotional works, the product of his later years, are very numerous, and include tracts, sermons, and treatises. Though he is often shallow and voluble, he writes with literary grace. He is without doubt the most literary of the theologians of the time.

=7. The Translators.= The zeal for learning which was such a prominent feature of the early Elizabethan times was strongly apparent in the frequent translations. This class of literature had several curious characteristics. The translators cared little for verbal accuracy, and sometimes were content to translate from a translation, say from a French version of a Latin text. The translators, moreover, borrowed from each other, and repeated the errors of their fellows. These habits deprived their work of any great pretensions to scholarship; but they were eager adventurers into the new realms of learning, and to a great extent they reproduced the spirit, if not the letter, of their originals.

One of the first and most popular of the translations was North’s _Diall of Princes_ (1557), from an Italian original. North also translated Plutarch’s _Lives_ (1579), a work that had much influence upon Shakespeare and other dramatists. Other classical translations were those of Virgil, done by =Phaer= in 1558 and =Stanyhurst= in 1583, and of Ovid, by =Turberville= in 1567 and by =Chapman= in 1595. Chapman’s Translation of Homer (1596) is perhaps the most famous of them all. It is composed in long, swinging lines, and is lively, audacious, and pleasing.

=8. The Pamphleteers.= All through this period there is a flood of short tracts on religion, politics, and literature. It was the work of a host of literary hacks who earned a precarious existence in London. These men represented a new class of writer. The Reformation had closed the Church to them; the growth of the universities and of learning continually increased their numbers. In later times journalism and its kindred careers supplied them with a livelihood; but at this time they eked out their existence by writing plays and squabbling among themselves in the pages of broadsheets.

In its buoyancy and vigor, its quaint mixture of truculence and petulance, Elizabethan pamphleteering is refreshingly boyish and alive. It is usually keenly satirical, and in style it is unformed and uncouth. The most notorious of the pamphleteers were =Thomas Nash (1567–1601)=, =Robert Greene (1560–92)=, and =Thomas Lodge (1558–1625)=. We quote a well-known passage from a pamphlet of Greene, in which he contrives to mingle praise of his friends with sly gibes at one who is probably Shakespeare. The style is typical of the pamphlets.

And thou,[100] no less deserving than the other two,[101] in
some things rarer, in nothing inferior; driven (as myself) to
extreme shifts, a little have I to say to thee; and were it
not an idolatrous oath, I would swear by sweet St. George,
thou art unworthy better hap, sith thou dependest on so mean
a stay. Base-minded men all three of you, if by my misery ye
be not warned; for unto none of you (like me) sought those
burs to cleave,--those puppets, I mean,--that speak from our
mouths,--those antics garnished in our colours. Is it not
strange that I, to whom they all have been beholden,--is it not
like that you, to whom they all have been beholden,--shall
(were ye in that case that I am now) be both at once of them
forsaken? Yes, trust them not: for there is an upstart crow,
beautified with our feathers, that with his tiger’s heart wrapt
in a player’s hide, supposes he is as well able to bombast
out a blank-verse as the best of you: and being an absolute
_Johannes factotum_, is in his own conceit the only
Shakescene in a country. Oh, that I might entreat your rare wits
to be employed in more profitable courses, and let those apes
imitate your past excellence, and never more acquaint them with
your admired inventions! I know the best husband of you all
will never prove an usurer, and the kindest of them all will
never prove a kind nurse: yet, whilst you may, seek you better
masters; for it is pity men of such rare wits should be subject
to the pleasures of such rude grooms.
_A Groatsworth of Wit bought with a
Million of Repentance_

THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY FORMS

At the beginning of the Elizabethan age English literary forms were still to a large extent in the making; at the end of the period there is a rich and varied store of most of the chief literary species. All that can be done here is to give the barest outline of this development.

=1. Poetry.= (_a_) _Lyrical Poetry._ The temper of the age was suited to the lyrical mood, and so the abundance of the lyric is very great. It begins with the first efforts of Wyat and Surrey (1557); it continues through the dramas in all their stages; and it appears in the numerous miscellanies of the period. Then the lyrical impulse is carried on without a break into the melodies of Campion and the darker moods of Donne. The forms of the lyric are many, and on the whole its notes are musical, wild, and natural.

An interesting sub-species of the lyric is the _sonnet_. We have seen how it took two forms--the Italian or Petrarchan form, and the English or Shakespearian type. During this period both kinds flourished, the English kind to a greater degree. Wyat began (1557) with a group of the Italian type; Surrey introduced the English form. Then the sonnet, in one or other of its two forms, was continued by Sidney in _Astrophel and Stella_ (published in 1591), by Spenser, by Shakespeare, by Daniel in _Delia_ (1592), and by Watson in _Heoatompathia, or Passionate Century of Sonnets_ (1582). Later in the period the sonnet was less popular, though Drayton wrote at least one of great power.

(_b_) _Descriptive and Narrative Poetry._ This is a convenient title for a large and important class of poems. In this period it begins with such works as Sackville’s _Induction_ (1555), and continues with Marlowe’s _Hero and Leander_ (1598) and Shakespeare’s _Venus and Adonis_ (1593) and _The Rape of Lucrece_ (1594). It culminates in the sumptuous allegorical poetry of Spenser; and it begins its decline with the Spenserians of the type of the Fletchers and with Drayton’s _Endimion and Phœbe_ (1600). The pastoral, which is a kind of descriptive poem, is seen in Spenser’s _Shepherd’s Calendar_ (1579), in Browne’s _Britannia’s Pastorals_ (1613), and in Drayton. Almost purely descriptive poetry is represented in Drayton’s _Polyolbion_ (1612); and a more strongly narrative type is the same poet’s _England’s Heroical Epistles_ (1597). All these poems are distinguished by strong descriptive power, freshness of fancy, and sometimes by positive genius of style.

(_c_) _Religious_, _satirical_, and _didactic poetry_ cannot take a position equal in importance to the rest. During the period the satirical intent is quite strong, but it does not produce great poetry. Gascoigne’s _Steel Glass_ (1576) is one of the earliest satires; and it is followed by Donne’s _Satires_ (1593) and Hall’s _Satires_ (1597). Drayton’s _Harmony of the Church_ (1591) is religious in motive; so are several poems of Donne, and also many of those of the Jesuit =Robert Southwell (1561–95)=.

=2. Drama.= The opening of the Elizabethan period saw the drama struggling into maturity. The early type of the time was scholarly in tone and aristocratic in authorship. An example of the earliest type of playwright is =Fulke Greville, Lord Brooke (1554–1628)=, who distinguished himself both as a dramatic and lyrical poet.

To this stage succeeded that of Shakespeare, which covered approximately the years 1595 to 1615. Of this drama all we can say here is that it is the crown and flower of the Elizabethan literary achievement, and embodies almost the entire spirit both of drama and poetry.

The decline begins with Jonson, and continues with Beaumont and Fletcher, Dekker, Heywood, and the other dramatists mentioned in this chapter. The decline is made clear in several ways: in the narrowing of the ample Shakespearian motive, which comprises all mankind, into themes of temporary, local, and fragmentary importance; in the lack of creative power in the characterization, resulting (as in Jonson) in mere types or “humors,” or (as in Dekker and Fletcher) in superficial improvisation, or in ponderous tragical figures (as in Webster and Tourneur); and lastly, in the degradation of the style, which will be noted below. Sometimes the decline is gilded with delicate fancy, as in Fletcher’s _Faithful Shepherdess_, or in the exquisite _Parliament of Bees_ (1607) by =John Day (1574–1640)=; but the grace and charm of such plays cannot conceal the falling-off in power and imagination.

With regard to the development of the different dramatic types, we have already noted that tragedy developed first; in Shakespeare all kinds received attention, tragedy most of all. In post-Shakespearian drama light comedy was the most popular species, chiefly because the tragic note of exalted pity had degenerated into melodrama and horrors.

A special word is perhaps necessary on the _masque_, which during this time had a brief but brilliant career. The masque is a short dramatic performance composed for some particular festive occasion, such as the marriage or majority of a great man’s son; it is distinguished by ornate stage-setting, by lyrics, music, and dancing, and by allegorical characters. It finds a place in Shakespeare’s _Tempest_ and other plays; it is strongly developed in the works of Jonson, Fletcher, and other poets of the time; and it attains its climax during the next age in the _Comus_ (1637) of Milton.

=3. Prose.= In Elizabethan times the development of prose was slower and slighter than that of poetry.

(_a_) The _essay_, beginning in the pamphlet, character-sketch, and other miscellaneous writing, develops in the work of Bacon. Its rise will be sketched more fully in a future chapter (see p. 268).

(_b_) The _novel_ has some meager but significant beginnings in More’s _Utopia_ (1516), Sidney’s _Arcadia_ (published in 1590), Lyly’s _Euphues_ (1579), Bacon’s _New Atlantis_ (1626), and most of all in Nash’s _The Unfortunate Traveller_ (1594). The rise of the novel is also reserved for a later chapter (see p. 336).

(_c_) _Miscellaneous prose_, in the pamphlets, theological works, sermons, translations, travels, and such abnormalities as Burton’s _Anatomy of Melancholy_ (1621), is exceedingly voluminous and important. We have here a large, loose, and varied mass of English prose, the central exercising-ground of the average prose-writer, that is to be the foundation of many important groups of the future.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY STYLE

=1. Poetry.= The period immediately preceding was that of the clumsy poetry of Hawes, Skelton, and their kind; succeeding it is the strength and beauty of Elizabethan poetry. Between these two extremes the different stages of development are fairly well marked.

(_a_) The earliest period (say from 1550–80) is that of Wyat, Surrey, Sidney, and the University Wits. This is the formative and imitative period, during which the dependence upon classical originals is particularly strong. The style has the precision and the erratic character of the diligent pupil. There are few deliberate innovations, and lapses into barbarism are not unknown. In this period appear the sonnet, blank verse, and many of the beautiful lyrical metrical forms. The lyrical style is least restrained by the influence of classical models.

(_b_) The Spenserian and Shakespearian stage (from about 1580 to 1615) is the stage of highest development. The native English genius, having absorbed the lessons of foreign writers, adds to them the youth and ardor of its own spirit. The result is a fullness, freshness, and grandeur of style unequaled in any other period of our literature. There are the lyrics and allegories of Spenser; the poems, dramas, and lyrics of Shakespeare; and the innumerable miscellanies, poems, and plays of other writers. The style is as varied as the poems; but the universal note is the romantic one of power and ease.

(_c_) In the second decade of the seventeenth century the decline is apparent. The inspired phraseology, the wealth and flexibility of vocabulary, and the general bloom of the style pass into the lightness of fancy and the tinkling unsubstantial verse of the nature of Campion’s. Or the high seriousness degenerates into the gloomy manner of the Websterian tragedy. The handling of blank verse is typical of the movement. The sinewy Shakesperian blank verse becomes nerveless; in drama prose is commoner in quantity and coarser in fiber. In the lyric much of the old technical dexterity survives, but the deeper qualities of passion and sincerity are less common and robust.

=2. Prose.= Unlike that of poetry, the style of prose enjoys a steady development, continued from the previous age, and maintained through the Elizabethan age. Euphuism, which appeared early in this epoch, was a kind of literary measles incidental to early growth, and it quickly passed away, leaving the general body of English prose healthier than before. There is an increase in the raw material of prose in the shape of many foreign words that are imported; there is a growing expertness in sentence-and paragraph-construction and in the more delicate graces of style, such as rhythm and melody. The prose of Hooker and Bacon (in his later stages) represents the furthest development of the time. Prose style has yet a great deal to learn, but it is learning fast.

TABLE TO ILLUSTRATE THE DEVELOPMENT OF LITERARY FORMS

EXERCISES

1. The following extracts illustrate the growth of the English lyric from earliest times. Arrange the passages approximately in order of development, adding dates when it seems possible. Write a note on the style of each, and point out in what respects it is typical of its author or period.

(1) Still to be neat, still to be drest,
As you were going to a feast;
Still to be powdered, still perfumed:
Lady, it is to be presumed,
Though art’s hid causes are not found,
All is not sweet, all is not sound.

Give me a look, give me a face,
That makes simplicity a grace;
Robes loosely flowing, hair as free:
Such sweet neglect more taketh me
Than all the adulteries of art:
They strike mine eyes, but not my heart.
JONSON, _Epicene_

(2) Son icche herde that mirie note
Thider I drogh;
I fond her in an herber swot
Under a bough
With joie enough.
Son I asked: “Thou mirie mai
Hwi sinkestou ai?”
_Nou sprinkes the sprai,
All for love icche am so seek
That slepen I ne mai._
_Old Song_

(3) A blissful life thou says I lead;
Thou wouldest know thereof the stage.
Thou wost well when thy Perle con schede,
I was full young and tender of age;
But my Lord the Lomb, through his God-hede,
He took myself to his maryage,
Coround me queen in bliss to brede[111]
In length of dayes that ever shall wage.
And seised in all his heritage
His lef[112] is; I am wholly his;
His praise, his price, and his parage
Is root and ground of all my bliss.
_Pearl_

(4) Art thou poor, yet hast thou golden slumbers?
O sweet content!
Art thou rich, yet is thy mind perplexed?
O punishment!
Dost thou laugh to see how fools are vexed
To add to golden numbers, golden numbers?
O sweet content! O sweet, O sweet content!
Work apace, apace, apace, apace;
Honest labour bears a lovely face;
Then hey nonny nonny, hey nonny nonny!

Canst drink the waters of the crisped spring?
O sweet content!
Swim’st thou in wealth, yet sink’st in thine own tears?
O punishment!
Then he that patiently want’s burden bears
No burden bears, but is a king, a king!
O sweet content! O sweet, O sweet content!
Work apace, apace, apace, apace;
Honest labour bears a lovely face;
Then hey nonny nonny, hey nonny nonny!
DEKKER, _Sweet Content_

2. In the following passages, which illustrate the development of blank verse, examine the metrical features (such as the scansion, variation of the pause, and the melody) of each, and mention if any improvement is apparent.

(1) It was the time when granted from the gods,
The first sleep creeps most sweet in weary folk,
Lo, in my dream before mine eyes, methought
With rueful cheer I saw where Hector stood
(Out of whose eyes gushed streams of tears),
Drawn at a car as he of late had been,
Distained with bloody dust, whose feet were bowl’n[113]
With the strait cords wherewith they haled him.
SURREY, _Æneid_, 1557

(2) That age is dead and vanished long ago,
Which thought that steel both trusty was and true
And needed not a foil of contraries,
But shewed all things even as they were in deed.
In stead whereof, our curious years can find
The crystal glass, which glimpseth brave and bright,
And shews the thing much better far than it,
Beguiled with foils, of sundry subtle sights
So that they seem and covet not to be.
GASCOIGNE, _The Steel Glass_, 1576

(3) _Prospero._ Of the king’s ship
The mariners, say how thou hast disposed
And all the rest o’ the fleet.
_Ariel._ Safely in harbour
Is the king’s ship: in the deep nook, where once
Thou call’dst me up at midnight to fetch dew
From the still-vex’d Bermoothes, there she’s hid:
The mariners all under hatches stow’d;
Who, with a charm join’d to their suffer’d labour,
I have left asleep: and for the rest o’ the fleet
Which I dispersed, they all have met again
And are upon the Mediterranean flote,
Bound sadly home for Naples,
Supposing that they saw the king’s ship wreck’d
And his great person perish.
SHAKESPEARE, _The Tempest_, 1611

3. Comment upon the style, meter, and general level of excellence shown in the following sonnets. Point out any development that is observable.

(1) The sweet season, that bud and bloom forth brings,
With green hath clad the hill and eke the vale.
The nightingale, with feathers new, she sings;
The turtle to her mate hath told her tale;
Summer is come, for every spray now springs.
The hart hath hung his old head on the pale:
The buck in brake his winter coat he flings;
The fishes fleet with new repaired scale;
The adder all her slough away she flings;
The swift swallow pursueth the flies small;
The busy bee her honey how she mings!
Winter is worn, that was the flowers’ bale,
And thus I see among these pleasant things
Each care decays, and yet my sorrow springs.
SURREY, _To Spring_, 1557

(2) Sweet is the rose, but growes upon a brere;
Sweet is the juniper, but sharpe his bough;
Sweet is the eglantine, but pricketh nere,
Sweet is the firbloome, but his braunches rough;
Sweet is the cyprese, but his rynd is tough;
Sweet is the nut, but bitter is his pill;[114]
Sweet is the broome flowre, but yet sowre enough;
And sweet is moly, but his root is ill;
So, every sweet, with soure is tempred still,
That maketh it be coveted the more:
For easie things that may be got at will
Most sorts of men doe set but little store.
Why then should I accompt of little paine
That endlesse pleasure shall unto me gaine!
SPENSER, _Amoretti_, 1595

(3) Since there’s no help, come, let us kiss and part,--
Nay, I have done, you get no more of me;
And I am glad, yea, glad with all my heart,
That thus so cleanly I myself can free;
Shake hands for ever, cancel all our vows,
And when we meet at any time again,
Be it not seen in either of our brows
That we one jot of former love retain.
Now at the last gasp of love’s latest breath,
When, his pulse failing, passion speechless lies,
When faith is kneeling by his bed of death,
And innocence is closing up his eyes,
--Now if thou wouldst, when all have given him over,
From death to life thou mightest him yet recover!
DRAYTON, 1620

4. Hooker’s is sometimes considered to be the most highly developed of Elizabethan prose styles. In the following two extracts examine the vocabulary, sentence-construction, and general competence of the first, and compare it with the second, which was written about two hundred years earlier.

(1) Touching musical harmony, whether by instrument or by voice,
it being but of high and low in sounds a due proportionable
disposition, such notwithstanding is the force thereof, and
so pleasing effects it hath in that very part of man which is
most divine, that some have been thereby induced to think
that the soul itself by nature is, or hath in it, harmony; a
thing which delighteth all ages, and beseemeth all states; a
thing as seasonable in grief as in joy; as decent being added
unto actions of greatest weight and solemnity, as being used
when men most sequester themselves from action. The reason
hereof is an admirable facility which music hath to express and
represent to the mind, more inwardly than any other sensible
mean, the very standing, rising and falling, the very steps and
inflections every way, the turns and varieties of all passions
whereunto the mind is subject; yea, so to imitate them, that,
whether it resemble unto us the same state wherein our minds
already are, or a clean contrary, we are not more contentedly by
the one confirmed, than changed and led away by the other. In
harmony, the very image and character even of virtue and vice
is perceived, the mind delighted with their resemblances, and
brought by having them often iterated into a love of the things
themselves. For which cause there is nothing more contagious and
pestilent than some kinds of harmony; than some, nothing more
strong and potent unto good.
HOOKER, _The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity_, 1592

(2) This Emperor Prester John, when he goeth in to battle,
against any other lord, he hath no banners borne before him: but
he hath three crosses of gold, fine, great and high, full of
precious stones: and every of the crosses be set in a chariot,
full richly arrayed. And for to keep every cross, be ordained
ten thousand men of arms, and more than a hundred thousand
men on foot, in manner as men would keep a standard in our
countries, when that we be in land of war. And this number of
folk is without the principal host, and without wings ordained
for the battle. And when he hath no war, but rideth with a privy
retinue, then he hath borne before him but a cross of tree,
without peinture, and without gold or silver or precious stones;
in remembrance, that Jesu Christ suffered death upon a cross of
tree.
MANDEVILLE, _Travels_, 1400

5. In what respects is each of the following extracts typical of
its author and its age? Write a very brief appreciation of the
style of each.

(1) Was this the face that launched a thousand ships,
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.--
Her lips suck forth my soul: see where it flies!
Come, Helen, come, give me my soul again.
Here will I dwell, for heaven is in those lips,
And all is dross that is not Helena.
I will be Paris, and for love of thee,
Instead of Troy, shall Wittenberg be sacked;
And I will combat with weak Menelaus,
And wear thy colours on my plumed crest;
Yea, I will wound Achilles in the heel,
And then return to Helen for a kiss.
Oh, thou art fairer than the evening air
Clad in the beauty of a thousand stars.
MARLOWE, _Doctor Faustus_

(2) Iffida, the water standing in her eyes, clasping my hand in
hers, with a sad countenance answered me thus:

“My good Fidus, if the increasing of my sorrows, might mitigate
the extremity of thy sickness, I could be content to resolve
myself into tears to rid thee of trouble: but the making of a
fresh wound in my body is nothing to the healing of a festered
sore in thy bowels: for that such diseases are to be cured
in the end, by the names of their original. For as by basil
the scorpion is engendered and by the means of the same herb
destroyed: so love which by time and fancy is bred in an idle
head, is by time and fancy banished from the heart: or as the
salamander which, being a long space nourished in the fire,
at the last quencheth it, so affection having taken hold of
the fancy, and living as it were in the mind of the lover, in
tract of time altereth and changeth the heat, and turneth it to
chillness.
LYLY, _Euphues and his England_

(3) Cozen german to idleness, and a concomitant cause which goes hand in hand with it, is _nimia solitudo_, too much solitariness--by the testimony of all physicians, cause and symptom both; but as it is here put for a cause, it is either coact, enforced, or else voluntary. Enforced solitariness is commonly seen in students, monks, friars, anchorites, that, by their order and course of life, must abandon all company, society of other men, and betake themselves to a private cell; _otio superstitioso seclusi_ (as Bale and Hospinian well term it), such as are the Carthusians of our time, that eat no flesh (by their order), keep perpetual silence, never go abroad; such as live in prison, or some desert place, and cannot have company, as many of our country gentlemen do in solitary houses; they must either be alone without companions, or live beyond their means, and entertain all comers as so many hosts, or else converse with their servants and hinds, such as are unequal, inferior to them, and of a contrary disposition; or else, as some do, to avoid solitariness, spend their time with lewd fellows in taverns, and in ale-houses, and thence addict themselves to some unlawful disports, or dissolute courses. BURTON, _The Anatomy of Melancholy_

(4) Mr Peter, as one somewhat severe of nature, said plainly, that the rod only was the sword that must keep the school in obedience, and the scholar in good order. Mr Wotton, a man of mild nature, with soft voice, and few words, inclined to Mr Secretary’s judgment, and said, “In mine opinion the school-house should be in deed, as it is called by name, the house of play and pleasure, and not of fear and bondage; and as I do remember, so saith Socrates in one place of Plato. And therefore, if a rod carry the fear of a sword it is no marvel if those that be fearful of nature choose rather to forsake the play, than to stand always within the fear of a sword in a fond man’s handling.” ASCHAM, _The Scholemaster_

(5) Come little babe, come silly soul,
Thy father’s shame, thy mother’s grief,
Born as I doubt to all our dole,
And to thyself unhappy chief:
Sing lullaby and lap it warm,
Poor soul that thinks no creature harm.

Thou little think’st and less dost know
The cause of this thy mother’s moan;
Thou want’st the wit to wail her woe,
And I myself am all alone;
Why dost thou weep, why dost thou wail,
And know’st not yet what thou dost ail?

Come little wretch, ah silly heart,
Mine only joy; what can I more?
If there be any wrong thy smart,
That may the destinies implore;
’Twas I, I say, against my will;
I wail the time, but be thou still.
_A Sweet Lullaby_
(from _The Arbor of Amorous Devices_)

(6) Ere long they come where that same wicked wight
His dwelling has, low in an hollow cave,[115]
Far underneath a craggie clifty pight,
Darke, dolefull, dreary, like a greedy grave,
That still for carrion carcases doth crave:
On top whereof ay dwelt the ghastly Owle,
Shrieking his balefull note, which ever drave
Far from that haunt all other chearefull fowle;
And all about it wandring ghostes did wayle and howle.

And all about old stockes and stubs of trees,
Whereon nor fruit nor leafe was ever seene,
Did hang upon the ragged rocky knees;
On which had many wretches hanged beene,
Whose carcases were scattred on the greene,
And throwne about the clifts. Arrived there,
That bare-head knight, for dread and dolefull teene,
Would faine have fled, ne durst approchen neare;
But th’ other forst him staye, and comforted in feare.

That darksome cave they enter, where they find
That cursed man, low sitting on the ground,
Musing full sadly in his sullein mind:
His griesie lockes, long growen and unbound,
Disordered hong about his shoulders round,
And his face, through which his hollow eyne
Lookt deadly dull, and stared as astound;
His raw-bone cheekes, through penurie and pine,
Were shronke into his jawes, as he did never dine.
SPENSER, _The Faerie Queene_

6. What features of Shakespeare’s life and literary work does Arnold refer to in the following sonnet? How far do his statements appear to you inaccurate or exaggerated?

Others abide our question. Thou art free.
We ask and ask--thou smilest and art still,
Out-topping knowledge. For the loftiest hill,
Who to the stars uncrowns his majesty,
Planting his stedfast footsteps in the sea,
Making the heaven of heavens his dwelling-place,
Spares but the cloudy border of his base
To the foil’d searching of mortality;
And thou, who didst the stars and sunbeams know,
Self-school’d, self-scann’d, self-honour’d, self-secure,
Didst tread on earth unguess’d at. Better so!
All pains the immortal spirit must endure,
All weakness which impairs, all griefs which bow,
Find their sole speech in that victorious brow.
MATTHEW ARNOLD, _Shakespeare_

7. Compare very carefully the two given extracts from Shakespeare’s plays. Observe the handling of each: the simplicity or ornateness of diction, the power of expression, and the strength and flexibility of the blank verse. On these grounds, which would you say was taken from an early and which from a later?

(1) _Cordelia._ He wakes; speak to him.

_Doctor._ Madam, do you: ’tis fittest.

_Cordelia._ How does my royal lord? How fares your majesty?

_Lear._ You do me wrong to take me out o’ the grave:
Thou art a soul in bliss; but I am bound
Upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears
Do scald like molten lead.

_Cordelia._ Sir, do you know me?

_Lear._ You are a spirit, I know: when did you die?

_Cordelia._ Still, still, far wide!

_Doctor._ He’s scarce awake: let him alone awhile.

_Lear._ Where have I been? Where am I? Fair daylight?
I am mightily abused. I should e’en die with pity,
To see another thus. I know not what to say.
I will not swear these are my hands: let’s see;
I feel this pin prick. Would I were assured
Of my condition!
_King Lear_

(2) _Portia._ It must not be. There is no power in Venice
Can alter a decree established:
’Twill be recorded for a precedent,
And many an error by the same example
Will rush into the state. It cannot be.

_Shylock._ A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel!
O wise young judge, how I do honour thee!

_Portia._ I pray you, let me look upon the bond.

_Shylock._ Here ’tis, most reverend doctor, here it is.

_Portia._ Shylock, there’s thrice thy money offered thee.

_Shylock._ An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven.
Shall I lay perjury upon my soul?
No, not for Venice.

_Portia._ Why, this bond is forfeit;
And lawfully by this the Jew may claim
A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off
Nearest the merchant’s heart.--Be merciful:
Take thrice thy money; bid me tear the bond.
_The Merchant of Venice_

8. Explain and discuss the following statements concerning Shakespeare. Whenever you can, illustrate with examples from the plays.

(1) He was not of an age, but for all time.--JONSON.

(2) Panting time toiled after him in vain.--JOHNSON.

(3) The genius of Shakespeare was an innate universality.
KEATS.

(4) His plays are distinguished by signal adherence to the great
laws of nature, that all opposites tend to attract and temper
each other.--COLERIDGE.

(5) The striking peculiarity of Shakespeare’s mind was its
power of communicating with other minds, so that it contained a
universe of thought and feeling within itself.--HAZLITT.

9. What were the signs of the “dramatic decline” that set in after Shakespeare? Mention some dramatists whose plays show this decline.

10. Try to account for the weakness of English prose when compared with the poetry of the time.

(1) No single prose writer of the time, not even Hooker, holds
the same rank that Spenser holds in poetry.--SAINTSBURY.

(2) The poets and dramatists of the age of Elizabeth completed
their work quickly, and attained, by leaps and bounds, to the
consummate perfection of their diction. But prose style grows
more slowly; and its growth is hindered rather than quickened by
the very variety of its subject.--CRAIK.

11. In what respects is the title “Elizabethan literature” open to objection when it is applied to the matter of this chapter? Suggest other titles.

12. To what extent were the University Wits immature dramatists? What was their contribution to the English drama?

13. “The age of Elizabeth made the most of both native and classical elements.” Discuss this statement.

14. It is frequently stated that during the second half of the Elizabethan period drama weakened and prose strengthened. Confirm or confute the statement.

15. How was this time “the Golden Age of the lyric”?

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A history of English literatureChapter V: The Age of Elizabeth (3)

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