The Arte of English Poesie Part 15

[Sidenote: _Anaphora_, or the Figure of Report.]

Repet.i.tion in the first degree we call the figure of _Report_ according to the Greeke originall, and is when we make one word begin, and as they are wont to say, lead the daunce to many verses in sute, as thus.

_To thinke on death it is a miserie To thinke on life it is a vanitie: To thinke on the world verily it is, To thinke that heare man hath no perfit blisse_.

And this written by Sir _Walter Raleigh_ of his greatest mistresse iin most excellent verses.

_In vayne mine eyes in vaine you wast your teares, In vayne my sighs the smokes of my despaires: In vayne you search th'earth and heauens aboue, In vayne ye seeke, for fortune keeps my loue._

Or as the buffon in our enterlude called _l.u.s.tie London_ said very knauishly and like himselfe.

_Many a faire la.s.se in London towne, Many a bawdie basket borne up and downe: Many a broker in a thridbare gowne.

Many a bankrowte scarce worth a crowne.

In London_.

[Sidenote: _Antistrophe_, or the Counter turne.]

Ye haue another sort of repet.i.tion quite contrary to the former when ye make one word finish many verses in sute, and that which is harder, to finish many clauses in the middest of your verses or dittie (for to make them finish the verse in our vulgar it should hinder the rime) and because I do finde few of our English makers vse this figure, I haue set you down two litle ditties which our selues in our yonger yeares played vpon the _Antistrophe_, for so is the figures name in Greeke: one vpon the mutable loue of a Lady, another vpon the meritorious loue of Christ our Sauiour, thus.

_Her lowly lookes, that gaue life to my loue, With spitefull speach, curstnesse and crueltie: She kild my loue, let her rigour remoue, Her cherefull lights and speaches of pitie Reuiue my loue: anone with great disdaine, She shunnes my loue, and after by a traine She seekes my loue, and faith she loues me most, But seing her loue, so lightly wonne and lost: I longd not for her loue, for well I thought, Firme is the loue, if it be as it ought._

The second vpon the merites of Christes pa.s.sion toward mankind, thus, _Our Christ the sonne of G.o.d, chief authour of all good, Was he by his allmight, that first created man: And with the costly price, of his most precious bloud, He that redeemed man: and by his instance wan Grace in the sight of G.o.d, his onely father deare, And reconciled man: and to make man his peere Made himselfe very man: brief to conclude the case, This Christ both G.o.d and man, he all and onely is: The man brings man to G.o.d and to all heauens blisse._

The Greekes call this figure _Antistrophe_, the Latines, _conuersio_, I following the originall call him the _counterturne_, because he turnes counter in the middest of euery meetre.

[Sidenote: _Symploche_, or the figure of replie.]

Take me the two former figures and put them into one, and it is that which the Greekes call _symploche_, the Latines _complexio_, or _conduplicatio_, and is a maner of repetion, when one and the selfe word doth begin and end many verses in sute & so wrappes vp both the former figures in one, as he that sportingly complained of his vntrustie mistresse, thus.

_Who made me shent for her loues sake?

Myne owne mistresse.

Who would not seeme my part to take, Myne owne mistresse.

What made me first so well content Her curtesie.

What makes me now so sore repent Her crueltie._

The Greekes name this figure _Symploche_, the Latins _Complexio_, perchaunce for that he seemes to hold in and to wrap vp the verses by reduplication, so as nothing can fall out. I had rather call him the figure of replie.

[Sidenote: _Anadiplosis_, or the Redouble.]

Ye haue another sort of repet.i.tion when with the worde by which you finish your verse, ye beginne the next verse with the same, as thus: _Comforte it is for man to haue a wife, Wife chast, and wise, and lowly all her life._

Or thus: _Your beutie was the cause of my first loue, Looue while I liue, that I may sore repent._

The Greeks call this figure _Anadiplosis_, I call him the _Redouble_ as the originall beares.

[Sidenote: _Epa.n.a.lepsis_, or the Eccho sound, otherwise, the slow return.]

Ye haue an other sorte of repet.i.tion, when ye make one worde both beginne and end your verse, which therefore I call the slow retourne, otherwise the Eccho sound, as thus: _Much must he be beloued, that loueth much, Feare many must he needs, whom many feare._

Vnlesse I called him the _eccho sound_, I could not tell what name to giue him, vnlesse it were the slow returne.

[Sidenote: _Epizeuxis_, or the Vnderlay, or Coocko-spel.]

Ye haue another sort of repet.i.tion when in one verse or clause of a verse, ye iterate one word without any intermission, as thus: _It was Maryne, Maryne that wrought mine woe._

And this bemoaning the departure of a deere friend.

_The chiefest staffe of mine a.s.sured stay, With no small griefe, is gon, is gon away._

And that of Sir _Walter Raleighs_ very sweet.

_With wisdomes eyes had but blind fortune seene, Than had my looue, my looue for euer beene._

The Greeks call him _Epizeuxis_, the Latines _Subiunctio_, we may call him the _vnderlay_, me thinks if we regard his manner of iteration, & would depart from the originall, we might very properly, in our vulgar and for pleasure call him the _cuckowspell_, for right as the cuckow repeats his lay, which is but one manner of note, and doth not insert any other tune betwixt, and sometimes for hast stammers out two or three of them one immediatly after another, as _cuck, cuck, cuckow_, so doth the figure _Epizeuxis_ the former verses, _Maryne, Maryne_, without any intermission at all.

[Sidenote: _Ploche_, or the Doubler.]

Yet haue ye one sorte of repet.i.tion, which we call the _doubler_, and is as the next before, a speedie iteration of one word, but with some little intermission by inserting one or two words betweene, as in a most excellent dittie written by Sir _Walter Raleigh_ these two closing verses: _Yet when I sawe my selfe to you was true, I loued my selfe, bycause my selfe loued you._

And this spoken in common Prouerbe.

_An ape wilbe an ape, by kinde as they say, Though that ye clad him all in purple array._

Or as we once sported vpon a fellowes name who was called _Woodc.o.c.k_, and for an ill part he had plaid entreated fauour by his friend.

_I praie you intreate no more for the man, Woodc.o.c.ke wilbe a woodc.o.c.ke do what ye can._

Now also be there many other sortes of repet.i.tion if a man would vse them, but are nothing commendable, and therefore are not obserued in good poesie, as a vulgar rimer who doubled one word in the end of euery verse, thus: _adieu, adieu my face, my face_.

And an other that did the like in the beginning of his verse, thus: _To loue him and loue him, as sinners should doo._

These repet.i.tions be not figuratiue but phantastical, for a figure is euer vsed to a purpose, either of beautie or of efficacie: and these last recited be to no purpose, for neither can ye say that it vrges affection, nor that it beautifieth or enforceth the sence, nor hath any other subtilitie in it, and therfore is a very foolish impertinency of speech, and not a figure.

[Sidenote: _Prosonomasia_, or the Nicknamer.]

Ye haue a figure by which ye play with a couple of words or names much resembling, and because the one seemes to answere th'other by manner of illusion, and doth, as it were, nick him, I call him the _Nicknamer_. If any other man can geue him a fitter English name, I will not be angrie, but I am sure mine is very neere the origninall sense of the _Prosonomasia_, and is rather a by-name geuen in sport, than a surname geuen of any earnest purpose. As, _Tiberius_ the Emperor, because he was a great drinker of wine, they called him by way of derision to his owne name _Caldius Biberius Mero_, in steade of _Claudius Tiberius Nero_: and so a iesting frier that wrate against _Erasmus_, called him by resemblance to his own _Errans mus_, and are mainteined by this figure _Prosonomasia_, or the Nicknamer. But euery name geuen in iest or by way of a surname, if it do not resemble the true, is not by this figure, as, the Emperor of Greece, who was surnamed _Constantinus Cep.r.o.nimus_, because he bes.h.i.+t the foont at the time he was christened: and so ye may see the difference betwixt the figures _Antonomasia_ & _Prosonomatia_. Now when such resemblance happens betweene words of another nature and not vpon mens names, yet doeth the Poet or maker finde prety sport to play with them in his verse, specially the Comicall Poet and the Epigrammatist. Sir _Philip Sidney_ in a dittie plaide very pretily with these two words, _Loue and liue_, thus.

_And all my life I will confesse, The lesse I loue, I liue the lesse._

And we in our Enterlude called the woer, plaid with these two words, lubber and louer, thus, the countrey clowne came & woed a young maide of the Citie, and being agreeued to come so oft, and not to haue his answere, said to the old nurse very impatiently.

[Sidenote: Woer.]

_Iche pray you good mother tell our young dame, Whence I am come and what is my name, I cannot come a woing euery day._

Quoth the nurse.

[Sidenote: Nurse.]

_They be lubbers not louers that so use to say._

Or as one replyed to his mistresse charging him with some disloyaltie towards her.

_Proue me madame ere ye fall to reproue, Meeke mindes should rather excuse than accuse._

Here the words proue and reproue, excuse and accuse, do pleasantly encounter, and (as it were) mock one another by their much resemblance: and this is by the figure _Prosonomatia_, as wel as if they were mens proper names, alluding to each other.

[Sidenote _Traductio_, or the tranlacer.]

Then haue ye a figure which the Latines call _Traductio_, and I the tranlacer: which is when ye turne and tranlace a word into many sundry shapes as the Tailor doth his garment, & after that sort do play with him in your dittie: as thus, _Who liues in loue his life is full of feares, To lose his loue, liuelode or libertie But liuely sprites that young and recklesse be, Thinke that there is no liuing like to theirs._

Or as one who much gloried in his owne wit, whom _Persius_ taxed in a verse very pithily and pleasantly, thus.

_Scire tuum nihil est nisi te scire, hoc sciat alter._

Which I haue turned into English, not so briefly, but more at large of purpose the better to declare the nature of the figure: as thus, _Thou weenest thy wit nought worth if other weet it not As wel as thou thy selfe, but a thing well I wot, Who so in earnest weenes, he doth in mine aduise, Shew himselfe witlesse, or more wittie than wise._

Here ye see how in the former rime this word life is tranlaced into liue, liuing, liuely, liuelode: & in the latter rime this word wit is translated into weete, weene, wotte, witlesse, witty & wise: which come all from one originall.

[Sidenote: _Antipophora_, or Figure of responce.]

Ye haue a figuratiue speach which the Greeks cal _Antipophora_, I name him the _Responce_, and is when we will seeme to aske a question to th'intent we will aunswere it our selues, and is a figure of argument and also of amplification. Of argument, because proponing such matter as our aduersarie might obiect and then to answere it our selues, we do vnfurnish and preuent him of such helpe as he would otherwise haue vsed for himselfe: then because such obiection and answere spend much language it serues as well to amplifie and enlarge our tale. Thus for example.

_Wylie worldling come tell me I thee pray, Wherein hopest thou, that makes thee so to swell?

Riches? alack it taries not a day, But where fortune the fickle list to dwell: In thy children? how hardlie shalt thou finde, Them all at once, good and thriftie and kinde: Thy wife? o' faire but fraile mettall to trust, Seruants? what theeues? what threachours and iniust?