Bussy D'Ambois and The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois Part 31

=98=, 183. =Chymaera.= A fire-breathing monster, brought up by Amisodarus, King of Caria. She was slain by Bellerophon. This Corinthian prince, to purify himself from a murder he had committed, had fled to the court of Proetus of Argos, whose wife, Anteia, fell in love with him. On his rejection of her advances, she made false accusations against him, whereupon Proetus sent him to his father-in-law, Iobates, King of Lycia, with a sealed letter, requesting him to put him to death.

Iobates sent him to kill Chimaera, thinking he would be certain to perish in the attempt. But mounted on the winged horse Pegasus, he killed her from on high with his arrows.

=98=, 183-84. =rescued . . . Peleon.= Peleus, King of the Myrmidons, during a visit to Iolcus, attracted the love of Astydameia, the wife of Acastus. On his rejection of her proposals, she denounced him falsely to her husband, who took him to hunt wild beasts on Mount Peleon, and when he fell asleep through fatigue, concealed his sword, and left him alone to be devoured. But he was saved by Cheiron, who restored him his sword.

=98=, 185. =the chaste Athenian prince:= Hippolytus, son of Theseus and Hippolyta, with whom his step-mother Phaedra fell in love. On his rejection of her advances, she accused him to Theseus, at whose prayer Poseidon caused his destruction, by frightening his horses, when he was driving along the seacoast, and overturning his chariot. Afterwards, on the discovery of his innocence, Asclepius restored him to the upper world.

=98=, 187. =Egean.= So the Qq, instead of "Augean."

=98=, 190. =where thou fear'st, are dreadfull:= inspirest terror even in those of whom thou art afraid.

=98-99=, 192-94. =the serpent . . . and me.= A curious application of the legend of armed men springing from the dragon's teeth sown by Jason.

=99=, 204. =feares his owne hand:= is afraid of the consequences of his own handwriting.

=99=, 205-208. =papers hold . . . honors:= written doc.u.ments often contain the revelation of our true selves, and, though of no material value, put the crown to our reputations.

=99-100=, 209-210. =and with . . . knowes:= and compare with its contents the evidence of this my most intimate attendant.

=101=, 6. =trails hotly of him:= is hot upon his scent. _Him_ apparently refers to _mischiefe_ in l. 4.

=102=, 25. =With . . . affrighted:= by which all things capable of terror are frightened.

=103=, 32. =Epimethean.= Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus, opened Pandora's box, and let its evils loose among mankind.

=103=, 37-38. =Or stood . . . artillerie.= In the war of Zeus against Cronos, the Cyclopes aided the former, who had released them from Tartarus, by furnis.h.i.+ng him with thunderbolts.

=103=, 47-48. =I will . . . spirit:= I will command a spirit, raised by my art, to enlighten us.

=104=, 54. =Behemoth.= The editor has been unable to find any precedent for Chapman's application of this name--which in the Book of Job denotes the whale or hippopotamus--to the chief of the powers of darkness.

=104=, 55. =Asaroth.= Apparently a variant of _Ashtaroth_, the plural of _Ashtoreth,_ the Phoenician moon-G.o.ddess; here mistakenly used for the name of a male spirit.

=104.= =Cartophylax.= A post-cla.s.sical Greek term for "guardian of papers."

=106=, 97. =great in our command:= powerful in exercising command over us.

=107-109=, 113-51. =There is . . . his soule.= The dialogue and action here take place probably at the back of the stage, perhaps on the upper stage, of which use is made in _The Tempest_, the _Spanish Tragedie_, and other plays. The characters (as is evident from ll. 102-104) are supposed to be far off, but rendered visible and audible to Tamyra and D'Ambois by Behemoth's power.

=107=, 113. =a gla.s.se of ink:= a mirror made of ink, i. e. the paper with the proofs of Tamyra's unfaithfulness.

=107=, 116. =fames sepulchres:= the foulness beneath which her good name is buried.

=107=, 120-21. =were . . . rarely:= were it never so uncommon, bear it with as unexampled courage.

=109=, 156. =In her forc'd bloud.= Dilke is followed in the subst.i.tution of _her_ for _his_. The allusion is evidently to the letter that Tamyra afterwards writes to D'Ambois in her own blood. Cf. V, 1, 176-77.

=110=, 169-70. =Lest . . . abuse:= lest a furious outburst due to your foreknowledge of the plot against us.

=111=, 185. =And . . . policy:= and the Monsieur's stratagems shall be taken in the flank by my own.

=111=, 186. =Center.= Here and in l. 192 this word, though strictly meaning the central point of the earth, seems used for the earth itself, as the centre of the universe. For this use cf. Shaks. _Tro. and Cress._ I, 3, 85-86.

"The heavens themselves, the planets, and this center Observe degree, priority, and place."

=111=, 191. =calme . . . ruine:= unsuspecting tranquillity previous to a convulsion of the elements.

=113=, 17-18. =The stony . . . sleeper.= The thunderstone, or thunderbolt, was supposed to have no power of harming any one who was asleep, or who wore laurel leaves. Leigh, in his _Observations on the First Twelve Caesars_ (1647), p. 43, says of Tiberius that "he feared thunder exceedingly, and when the aire or weather was any thing troubled, he even carried a chaplet or wreath of laurell about his neck, because that as (Pliny reporteth) is never blasted with lightning."

=114=, 50. =determinate:= apparently used in the sense of _final_, though the sense is rare, except as qualifying a word which implies previous deliberation.

=115=, 55-56. =preventing . . . death:= antic.i.p.ating the last blast that is to kill those who live, and to give life anew to the dead.

=115=, 64. =Fame growes in going.= Borrowed from the _aeneid_, IV, 173-75, _Fama . . . viresque acquirit eundo._

=115=, 67-68. =come . . . l.u.s.t.= The _syren_ is Tamyra; her song the letter she is to write to her lover (cf. l. 75); Montsurry; band of murderers the fatal _rocks_; and the _ruffin gally_, D'Ambois.

=115=, 69-71. =the nets . . . danc'd.= There is a play here upon _nets_ in the sense of wiles, and in its usual signification. To "dance," or "march," or "hide" in a net was to delude oneself that one was acting secretly (cf. _Henry V_, I, 4, 173, and _Span. Trag._ IV, 4, 118).

=116=, 84. =for all:= in spite of all.

=116=, 86. =their= should be, in grammatical sequence, "her," referring to "a womans" in 83.

=116=, 91. =nor in humane consort:= nor do they find human fellows.h.i.+p.

The metaphor of the _wildernesse_ is still being carried on.

=118=, 128-30. =Where . . . cruelty:= in the same quarter [i. e. your person] where all these bonds have been violated, they are preserved by the infliction of just punishment, with some exhibition of the same quintessence of cruelty that you have shown me.

=118=, 142. =Thus I expresse thee yet:= thus I give a further stroke to my delineation of thee.

=118=, 143. =thy . . . yet:= the image of thy unnatural depravity is not yet fully completed.

=118=, 145. =This other engine:= the rack, on which Montsurry's servants place Tamyra. Cf. l. 157, "O let me downe, my lord."

=119=, 151-52. =O who . . . None but my lord and husband.= Tamyra thinks that some evil spirit has taken her husband's shape, and cries to Montsurry to appear and deliver her.

=119=, 161. =Now . . . stands still.= This statement of the leading principle of the Copernican system, as a mere rhetorical paradox, is remarkable.

=119-120=, 163-72. =The too huge . . . with hypocrisie.= In this curious pa.s.sage the earth is conceived of as a rec.u.mbent figure, which usually lies face upwards to the sky. But the weight of her sins has caused her to roll over, so that her back part now _braves_ heaven, while her face is turned to the Antipodes; and all the deceitful appearances which she has adopted through her cheating arts have come out in their true nature on her back, so that her hypocrisy stands revealed.

=120=, 178. =he:= the Friar.

=120=, 181. =his.= We should expect a repet.i.tion of _her_ in l. 180.

_His_, however seems to be equivalent to _man's_, antic.i.p.ating _man_ in l. 182. Possibly we should read _this_.

=121=, 191. =In, Ile after.= These words are addressed to the body of the Friar.

=122=, 20. =with terror:= inspiring terror in their enemies.