The Arte of English Poesie Part 21

_CHAP. XX._

_The last and princ.i.p.all figure of our poeticall Ornament._

[Sidenote: _Exargasia_ or The Gorgious.]

For the glorious l.u.s.tre it setteth vpon our speech and language, the Greeks call it [_Exargasia_] the Latine [_Expolisio_] a terme transferred from these polishers of marble or porphirite, who after it is rough hewen & reduced to that fas.h.i.+on they will do set vpon it a goodly gla.s.se, so smoth and cleere as ye may see your face in it, or otherwise as it fareth by the bare and naked body, which being attired in rich and gorgious apparell, seemeth to the common vsage of th'eye much more comely & bewtifull then the naturall. So doth this figure (which therefore I call the _Gorgious_) polish our speech & as it were attire it with copious & pleasant amplifications and much varietie of sentences all running vpon one point & to one intent so as I doubt whether I may terme it a figure, or rather a ma.s.se of many figurative speaches, applied to the bewtifying of our tale or argument. In a worke of ours int.i.tuled _Philocalia_ we have strained to shew the vse & application of this figure and all others mentioned in this booke, to which we referre you. I finde none example in English meetre, so well maintaining this figure as that dittie of her Maiesties owne making pa.s.sing sweete and harmonicall, which figure beyng as his very originall name purporteth the most bewtifull and gorgious of all others, it asketh in reason to be reserued for a last complement, and desciphred by the arte of a Ladies penne, her selfe being the most bewtifull, or rather bewtie of Queenes. And this was the occasion: our soueraigne Lady perceiuing how by the Sc.Q. residence within this Realme at so great libertie and ease (as were skarce meete for so great and daungerous a prysoner) bred secret factions among her people, and made many of the n.o.bilitie incline to fauour her partie: some of them desirous of innouation in the state: others aspiring to greater fortunes by her libertie and life. The Queene our soueraigne Lady to declare that she was nothing ignorant of those secret practizes, though she had long with great wisdome and pacience dissembled it, writeth this ditty most sweet and sententious, not hiding from all such aspiring minds the daunger of their ambition and disloyaltie: which afterward fell out most truly by th'exemplary chastis.e.m.e.nt of sundry persons, who in fauour of the said Sc.Q. declining from her Maiestie, sought to interrupt the quiet of the Realme by many euill and vndutifull practizes. The ditty is as followeth.

_The doubt of future foes, exiles my present ioy, And wit me warnes to shun such snares as threaten mine annoy.

For falshood now doth flow, and subiect faith doth ebbe, Which would not be, if reason rul'd or widsome wev'd the webbe.

But clowdes of tois vntried, do cloake aspiring mindes, Which turne to raigne of late repent, by course of changed windes.

The toppe of hope supposed, the roote of ruth wil be, And frutelesse all their gra.s.sed guiles, as shortly ye shall see.

The dazeld eyes with pride, which great ambition blinds, Shalbe vnseeld by worthy wights, whose foresight falshood finds.

The daughter of debate, that eke discord doth sowe Shal reap no gaine where formor rule hath taught stil peace to growe.

No forreine bannisht wight shall ancre in this port, Our realme it brookes no strangers force, let them elsewhere resort.

Our rusty sworde with rest shall first his edge employ, To polle their toppes that seeke, such change and gape for ioy._

In a worke of ours ent.i.tuled [_Philo Calia_] where we entreat of the loues betwene prince _Philo_ and Lady _Calia_ in their mutual letters messages, and speeches: we have strained our muse to shew the vse and application of this figure, and of all others.

_CHAP. XXI._

_Of the vices or deformities in speach and writing princ.i.p.ally noted by auncient Poets._

It hath bene said before how by ignorance of the maker a good figure may become a vice, and by his good discretion, a vicious speach go for a vertue in the Poeticall science. This saying is to be explaned and qualified, for some maner of speaches are always intollerable and such as cannot be vsed with any decencie, but are euer vndecent namely barbarousnesse, incongruitie, ill disposition, fond affectation, rusticitie, and all extreme darknesse, such as it is not possible for a man to vnderstand the matter without an interpretour, all which partes are generally to be banished out of euery language, vnlesse it may appeare that the maker or Poet do it for the nonce, as it was reported by the Philosopher _Herac.l.i.tus_ that he wrote in obscure and darke termes of purpose not to be vnderstood, whence he merited the nickname _Scotinus_, otherwise I see not but the rest of the common faultes may be borne with sometimes, or pa.s.se without any greate reproofe, not being vsed ouermuch or out of season as I said before: so as euery surplusage or preposterous placing or vndue iteration or darke word, or doubtfull speach are not so narrowly to be looked vpon in a large poeme, nor specially in the pretie Poesies and deuises of Ladies, and Gentlewomen makers, whom we would not haue too precise Poets least with their shrewd wits, when they were maried they might become a little too phantasticall wiues, neuerthelesse because we seem to promise an arte, which doth not iustly admit any wilful errour in the teacher, and to th'end we may not be carped at by these methodicall men, that we haue omitted any necessary point in this businesse to be regarded, I will speake somewhat touching these viciosities of language particularly and briefly, leauing no little to the Grammarians for maintenaunce of the scholasticall warre, and altercations: we for our part condescending in this deuise of ours, to the appet.i.te of Princely personages & other so tender & quesie complexions in Court, as are annoyed with nothing more then long lessons and ouermuch good order.

_CHAP. XXII._

_Some vices in speaches and writing are alwayes intollerable, some others now and then borne withall by licence of approued authors and custome._

[Sidenote: _Barbarismus_, or Forrein speech.]

The foulest vice in language is to speake barbarously: this terme grew by the great pride of the Greekes and Latines, when they were dominatours of the world reckoning no language so sweete and ciuill as their owne, and that all nations beside them selues were rude and vnciuill, which they called barbarous: So as when any straunge word not of the naturall Greeke or Latin was spoken, in the old time they called it _barbarisme_, or when any of their owne naturall wordes were sounded and p.r.o.nounced with straunge and ill shapen accents, or written by wrong ortographie, as he that would say with vs in England, a dousand for a thousand, asterday, for yesterday, as commonly the Dutch and French people do, they said it was barbarously spoken. The Italian at this day by like arrogance calleth the Frenchman, Spaniard, Dutch, English, and all other breed behither their mountaines _Appennines_, _Tramontani_, as who would say Barbarous. This terme being then so vsed by the auncient Greekes, there haue bene since, notwithstanding who haue digged for the Etimologie somethat deeper, and many of them haue said that is was spoken by the rude and barking language of the Affricans now called Barbarians, who had great trafficke with the Greekes and Romanes, but that can not be so, for that part or Affricke hath but of late receiued the name of Burbarie and some others rather thinke that of this word Barbarous, that countrey came to be called _Barbaria_ and but few yeares in respect agone. Others among whom is _Ihan Leon_ a Moore of _Granada_, will seeme to deriue _Barbaria_, from this word _Bar_, twice iterated thus _Barbar_, as much to say as flye, flye, which chaunced in a persecution of the Arabians by some seditious Mahometanes in the time of their Pontif, _Habdul mumi_, when they were had in the chase, & driuen out of Arabia Westward into the countreys of _Mauritania_, & during the pursuite cried one vpon another flye away, flye away, or pa.s.se pa.s.se, by which occasion they say, when the Arabians which were had in chase came to stay and settle themselues in that part of Affrica, they called it _Barbar_, as much to say, the region of their flight or pursuite. Thus much for the terme, though not greatly pertinent to the matter, yet not vnpleasant to know for them that delight in such niceties.

[Sidenote: _Solecismus_, or Incongruitie.]

Your next intollerable vice is _solecismus_ or incongruitie, as when we speake halfe English, that is by misusing the _Grammaticall_ rules to be obserued in cases, genders, tenses, and such like, euery poore scholler knowes the fault, & cals it the breaking of _Priscians_ head, for he was among the Latines a princ.i.p.all Grammarian.

[Sidenote: Cacozelia, or Fonde affectation.]

Ye haue another intollerable ill maner of speach, which by the Greekes originall we may call _fonde affectation_ and is when we affect new words and phrases other then the good speakers and writers in any language, or then custome hath allowed, & is the common fault of young schollers not halfe well studied before they come from the Vniuersitie or schooles, and when they come to their friends, or happen to get some benefice or other promotion in their countreys, will seeme to coigne fine wordes out of the Latin, and to vse new fangled speaches, thereby to shew thenselues among the ignorant the better learned.

[Sidenote: Soraismus, or The mingle mangle.]

Another of your intollerable vices is that which the Greekes call _Soraismus_, & we may call the [_mingle mangle_] as when we make our speach or writinges of sundry languages vsing some Italian word, or French, or Spanish, or Dutch, or Scottish, not for the nonce or for any purpose (which were in part excusable) but ignorantly and affectedly as one that said vsing this French word _Roy_, to make ryme with another verse, thus.

_O mightie Lord of loue, dame Venus onely ioy, Whose Princely power exceedes ech other heauenly roy._

The verse is good but the terme peeuishly affected.

Another of reasonable good facilitie in translation finding certaine of the hymnes of _Pyndarus_ and of _Anacreons odes_, and other _Lirickes_ among the Greekes very well translated by _Rounsard_ the French Poet, & applied to the honour of a great Prince in France, comes our minion and translates the same out of French into English, and applieth them to the honour of a great n.o.ble man in England (wherein I commend his reuerent minde and duetie) but doth so impudently robbe the French Poet both of his prayse and also of his French termes, that I cannot so much pitie him as be angry with him for his inurious dealing, our sayd maker not being ashamed to vfe these French wordes _freddon, egar, superbous, filanding, celest, calabrois, thebanois_ and a number of others, for English wordes, which haue no maner of conformitie with our language either by custome or deriuation which may make them tollerable. And in the end (which is worst of all) makes his vaunt that neuer English finger but his hath toucht _Pindars_ string which was neuerthelesse word by word as _Rounsard_ had said before by like braggery. These be his verses.

_And of an ingenious inuention infanted with pleasant trauaile._

Whereas the French word is _enfante_ as much to say borne as a child, in another verse he saith.

_I will freddon in thine honour._

For I will shake or quiuer my fingers, for so in French is _freddon_, and in another verse.

_But if I will thus like pindar, In many discourses egar._

This word _egar_ is as much to say as to wander or stray out of the way, which in our English is not receiued, nor these wordes _calabrois, thebanois_, but rather _calabrian, theba_ [_filanding sisters_] for the spinning sisters: this man deserues to be endited of pety _larceny_ for pilfring other mens deuices from them & conuerting them to his owne vfe for in deede as I would with euery inuentour which is the very Poet to receaue the prayses of his inuention, so would I not haue a translatour be ashamed to be acknowen of this translation.

[Sidenote: _Cacosintheton_, or the Misplacer.]

Another of your intollerable vices is ill disposiiton or placing of your words in a clause or sentence: as when you will place your adiectiue after your substantiue, thus: _Mayde faire, widow riche, priest holy_, and such like, which though the Latines did admit, yet our English did not, as one that said ridiculously.

_In my yeares l.u.s.tie, many a deed doughtie did I._

All these remembred faults be intollerable and euer vndecent.

[Sidenote: _Cacemphaton_, or figure of foule speech.]

Now haue ye other vicious manners of speech, but sometimes and in some cases tollerable, and chiefly to the intent to mooue laughter, and to make sport, or to giue it some prety strange grace, and is when we vse such wordes as may be drawen to a foule and vnshamefast sence, as one that would say to a young woman, _I pray you let me iape with you_, which indeed is no more but let me sport with you. Yea and though it were not altogether so directly spoken the very sounding of the word were not commendable, as he that in the presence of Ladies would vse this common Prouerbe, _Iape with me but hurt me not, Bourde with me but shame me not._

For it may be taken in another peruerser sence by that sorte of persons that heare it, in whose eares no such matter ought almost to be called in memory, this vice is called by the Greekes _Cacemphaton_, we call it the vnshamefast or figure of foule speech, which our courtly maker shall in any case shunne, least of a Poet he become a Buffon or rayling companion, the Latines called him _Scurra_. There is also another sort of ilfauoured speech subiect to this vice, but resting more in the manner of the ilshapen sound and accent, than for the matter it selfe, which may easily be auoyded in choosing your wordes those that bee of the pleasantest orthography, and not to rune too many like sounding words together.

[Sidenote: _Tautologia_, or the figure of selfe saying.]

Ye haue another manner of composing your metre nothing commendable, specially if it be too much vsed, and is when our maker takes too much delight to fill his verse with wordes beginning all with a letter, as an English rimer that said: _The deadly droppes of darke disdaine, Do daily drench my due desartes._

And as the Monke we spake of before, wrote a whole Poeme to the honor of _Carolus Caluus_ euery word in his verse beginning with C, thus: _Carmina clarifone Caluis cantate camena._

Many of our English makers vse it too much, yet we confesse it doth not ill but pretily becomes the meetre, if ye pa.s.se not two or three words in one verse, and vse it not very much, as he that said by way of _Epithete._ _The smoakie sighes: the trickling teares._

And such like, for such composition makes the meetre runne away smoother, and pa.s.seth from the lippes with more facilitie by iteration of a letter then by alteration, which alteration of a letter requires an exchange of ministery and office in the lippes, teeth or palate, and so doth not the iteration.

[Sidenote: _Histeron, proteron_, or the Preposterous.]

Your misplacing and preposterous placing is not all one in behauiour of language, for the misplacing is alwaies intollerable, but the preposterous is a pardonable fault, and many times giues a pretie grace vnto the speech. We call it by a common saying to _set the carte before the horse_, and it may be done eyther by a single word or by a clause of speech: by a single word thus: _And if I not performe, G.o.d let me neuer thriue._

For performe not: and this vice is sometime tollerable inough, but if the word carry any notable sence, it is a vice not tollerable, as he that said praising a woman for her red lippes, thus: _A corrall lippe of hew._

Which is no good speech, because either he should haue sayd no more but a corrall lip, which had bene inough to declare the rednesse or els he should haue said a lip of corrall hew, and not a corrall lip of hew. Now if this disorder be in a whole clause which carieth more sentence then a word, it is then worst of all.

[Sidenote: _Acyron_, or the Vncouthe.]

Ye haue another vicious speech which the Greeks call _Acyron_, we call it the _vncouthe_, and is when we vse an obscure and darke word, and vtterly repugnant to that we would expresse, if it be not by vertue of the figures _metaph.o.r.e, allegorie, abusion_, or such other laudable figure before remembred, as he that said by way of _Epithete_.

_A dongeon deep, a dampe as darke as h.e.l.l._

Where it is euident that a dampe being but a breath or vapour, and not to be discerned by the eye, ought not to haue this _epithete (darke,)_ no more then another that praysing his mistresse for her bewtifull haire, said very improperly and with an vncouth terme.

_Her haire surmounts Apollos pride, In it such bewty raignes._

Whereas this word _raigne_ is ill applied to the bewtie of a womans haire, and might better haue bene spoken of her whole person, in which bewtie, fauour, and good grace, may perhaps in some sort be said to raigne as our selues wrate, in a _Partheniade_ praising her Maiesties countenance, thus: _A cheare where loue and Maiestie do raigne, Both milde and sterne, &c._

Because this word Maiestie is a word expressing a certaine Soueraigne dignitie, as well as a quallitie of countenance, and therefore may properly be said to _raigne_, & requires no meaner a word to set him foorth by. So it is not of the bewtie that remaines in a womans haire, or in her hand or any other member: therfore when ye see all these unproper or harde Epithets vsed, ye may put them in the number of [_uncouths_] as one that said, the _flouds of graces_: I haue heard of _the flouds of teares_, and _the flouds of eloquence_, or of any thing that may resemble the nature of a water-course, and in that respect we say also, _the streames of teares_, and _the streames of utterance_, but not _the streames of graces_, or of _beautie_. Such manner of vncouth speech did the Tanner of Tamworth vse to king _Edward_ the fourth, which Tanner hauing a great while mistaken him, and vsed very broad talke with him, at length perceiuing by his traine that it was the king, was afraide he should be punished for it, said thus with a certaine rude repentance.

_I hope I shall be hanged tomorrow._