428. Xerxes, ca. 519-464 B.C., king of Persia, defeated at Salamis in 480 in his attempted conquest of Greece. 432. Thebes, an ancient city of Boeotia in Greece, destroyed by Alexander the Great. 433. Tyrus, the most important city of ancient Phoenicia, much reduced though not utterly destroyed by Alexander. 2016 441. lin, cease, restrain myself. 443. force, perforce, of necessity. 445. quail, fall, perish. 449. Hector, son of Priam and greatest of the defenders of Troy. His death at the hands of Achilles, as recorded in the twenty-second book of the Iliad, is one of the tragic events of world literature. 451. boot, reward. 463. Cassandra, a prophetess, daughter of Priam, condemned by Apollo not to have her prophecies believed, though true. 464. Pallas' house, the temple of Pallas Athena. 467. Pyrrhus, one of the heroes concealed in the wooden horse, and slayer of Priam; in legend the son of Achilles, later married to Andromache, wife of Hector. 468. baign, bath. 474. can, know. 475. gledes, coals. 476. Neptunus, god of the Sea. 202a 480. Acheron, a river of the Underworld. 482. Charon, aged ferryman who transported souls across the rivers of the lower world. 491. fraughted, freighted, laden. 494. hoise, hoist, raise. 497. A three-sound bark. Cerberus, the monstrous dog on guard at the entrance of Hades, had three heads. 501. Foredinning, making a deafening noise or din. 504. peased, was appeased, became silent. 202b 512. puled, whimpered, whined. 517. yfear, together. 521. stilled, distilled. 532. kesar, Cæsar (cf. kaiser, czar), ruler, emperor. 533. Henry, Duke of Buckingham. Henry Stafford, second duke of Buckingham, foremost supporter of Richard III in his usurpation of the throne of England, was betrayed in a conspiracy and beheaded. He is the subject of Sackville's tale in the Mirror for Magistrates (see introductory note on Sackville). 534. forworn, worn out. 537. lorn, lost. 542. molt, melted. THOMAS, LORD VAUX The second Lord Vaux was born and chiefly resided at Harrowden in Northamptonshire. He succeeded to the 203a barony at the age of thirteen, and ap‐ parently was educated at Cambridge. Almost his only claim to prominence in his day, apart from the reputation he enjoyed as a poet, was his attainment of the order of the Bath and the captaincy of the Isle of Jersey. He belonged to the cultured group which distinguished the courts of Henry VIII and Edward VI. His known works are lyrics, in inditing which he manifestly had before him as models the works of Wyatt and Surrey. He shows metrical skill and a reflective vein, which caught the popular fancy in his time and have preserved his name in English literature. OF A CONTENTED MIND Compare Dyer's better-known poem of similar import on page 250. The attitude of philosophic calm here portrayed was hardly typical of the English state of mind in the sixteenth century. 6. deem, judge, think. 12. casual, subject to by accident. ANONYMOUS A PRAISE OF HIS LADY 203b 10. a naked boy, the image or reflection of Cupid. 18. the Phenix kind, a mythical bird said to have come from Arabia. Rarity was the essence of its nature. It appeared only once every five hundred years, and then singly. 21. Diana, goddess of Hunting and Chastity. 31. redier, ruddier. 33. Bacchus, god of Wine and Revelry. 36. stray, a straying person or animal. 38. shamefastness, steadfastness in virtue. The modern form of the word is misspelled and misinterpreted. 47. gilli-flower, clove-pink or carnation. 204a 49. graff, bud or scion. RICHARD EDWARDES A native of Somersetshire, Edwardes became a student and fellow of Oxford; but after being created M.A. in 1547, he interested himself in playmaking and poetry in London. Only one of his plays, of indifferent quality at best, has come down to us, but a number of his poems have been preserved, chiefly in the celebrated Paradyse of Daynty Devises of 1576, to which he was, principal contributor. He was greatly admired as a poet by his contemporaries, whose judgment has been approved by his retention, in a moderate way, to fame down to the present time. His chief characteristics are grace and tenderness, and a thoughtful outlook on life. AMANTIUM IRA, etc. A translation of the title may be found in the closing line of each stanza. 206a 35. some beck, some check, some nod approval, some hold in or refuse. 37. at cap and knee, the posture of a courtly bow or formal salutation. GEORGE GASCOIGNE In his day Gascoigne's reputation as a poet suffered from his excesses as a man. Coming from a better-class Bedfordshire family, he spent some time at Cambridge without taking a degree, and then, ostensibly in the study of law, he lived somewhat the life of a rakehell in London as an inn-of-court man. Charges of gambling, debt, atheism, and even of manslaughter are recorded against him. Among worse things, he is denominated a common rymer and a deviser of slanderous pasquils against divers persones of great calling." He is important as a literary pioneer. His Supposes is the first English comedy in prose, his Steele Glas is the first regular verse satire in the language, and his Certain Notes of Instruction concerning the Making of Verse must be placed as the first critical essay in English. In his poetry he is certainly facile, but evidently he used his muse too much for his own personal advancement. He is best in his short poems, in which he attained an ease and a smoothness that are rarely discoverable in English Renaissance poetry before his day. THE LULLABY OF A LOVER 206b 42. ware, need, caution. A STRANGE PASSION OF 16. grutch, complaint, ill temper. 31. wench, girl, without the ill suggestion which the word later carries. EDWARD DE VERE, EARL Edward de Vere, seventeenth earl of Oxford, is a good example, even in the unfavorable light in which Ascham has depicted the type, of the Italianate Englishman at the English court in the period of the Renaissance. Despite many rich inheritances, he was constantly in jeopardy and was frequently brought to the verge of ruin by his reckless temper and profligate manner of living. He was a dissolute fop. In his artistic tastes he turned to music and poetry, and in the latter art he ranks high among the courtly group of his day. The charm of his verse is evident in the more than twenty of his poems which have come down to us from the anthologies of the period. 207a IF WOMEN COULD BE FAIR 1. fond, foolish. 8. Phœbus, Apollo, the personification of manly beauty and excellence. 8. Pan, the god of flocks and shepherds. His favorite residence was in Arcadia. 9. haggards, wild or ill-trained falcons. 207b 17. their fancy try, put their love to the 207a test. WILLIAM CAXTON The first English printer, William Caxton, was born in the Weald of Kent of parents whose names and condition are not known. After some routine of education, he was apprenticed to a mercer or merchant in London, on whose death he removed to Bruges in Holland for the completion of his apprenticeship, and there gradually rose to the position of governor of the English Merchants' Association. About 1469 he gave up his business career and became a translator and printer under the patronage of the Duchess of Burgundy, an English princess. In 1476 he returned to England with his new art and the following year issued from his press in Westminster his Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, which was the first book to be printed in England. From that time until his death in 1491 he displayed marvellous industry and energy as a printer and translator. Within fourteen years he published about eighty separate books, some in more than one edition, a total of eighty thousand pages in print, and translated by his own hand more than twenty works. He was versatile in French and knew Latin, was esteemed at court, and enjoyed some court patronage. As a translator he had much to do with fixing the literary usage of the language in the sixteenth century. PREFACE TO LE MORTE 11. demanded, asked. 12. do made, caused to be made. 13 f. Saint Greal, Holy Grail, the cup from which Christ drank on the night of the Last Supper or, according to another tradition, the vessel used to catch the blood from Christ's wounds as he hung on the cross. It is intimately associated with English romantic material from the tradition that Joseph of Arimathea transported the cup to England and deposited it in the monastery of Glastonbury, whence it vanished in the early Dark Ages and was known to reappear in vision here and there to any one who was virtuous enough to see it. It early became identified with the Arthurian 5. stalled, installed. 14. Godfrey of Boloine, a leader in the first crusade, latter half of the eleventh century. Caxton's book, The History of Godfrey of Boulogne, was printed in 1481. 208a 5. aretted, imputed, adjudged. 9. Glastonbury. In southwest England, now Somersetshire. See notes to Thomas Warton's Grave of King Arthur, p. 597a, 11. 86 and 116. 9 f. Policronicon, an historical work in Latin by Ralph Higden, fourteenth century. 14. Bochas, Boccaccio, 1313-1375, Italian poet and novelist, author of the Decame ron. His De Casu Principum ("On the Fall of Princes") belongs to the same literary type as the Mirror for Magis trates. See introductory note to Sackville, p. 195. 16 f. Galfridus in his British book, Geoffrey of Monmouth, History of the Kings of Britain, ca. 1136. See p. 75 ff. 21. St. Edward, Edward the Confessor, ca. 1004-1066. 27. Winchester, in Hampshire; according to one tradition, Camelot, the seat of Arthur's kingdom. 41. Camelot, Arthur's capital city, by Caxton here located in Wales. See also especially note to p. 96b, 1. 247 ff. 46 f. the Word of God. See Matthew xiii, 57. 208b 10. conning, knowledge, skill. 12. enprised, undertaken. 15. Sir Thomas Malorye, author of Le Morte Darthur, at one time a knight in the retinue of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. See introductory note to Malory, p. 130. 29. honest, honorable. 35. hardiness, bravery. 38. renommee, renown. Roger Ascham was born at Kirby Wiske of a native Yorkshire family. He received his earliest education from his father, who was both a wise and a good man. While still a child, he was adopted into the home of Sir Anthony Wingfield and there brought up in learning. Under his patron he made rapid progress in English and classical studies, and developed a liking for archery, which remained with him through life. At fifteen he entered St. John's College, Cambridge, won recognition soon for his proficiency in Latin and Greek, and became an accomplished musician and penman. He attained both degrees in the Arts and was made a fellow of his college. As Greek reader he was popular, but university dissensions annoyed him so much that he sought employment elsewhere. In 1545 appeared his Toxophilus with a dedication to the King, who was so pleased with the work that he settled a pension of £10 on the author. The book is celebrated for the vigor, purity, and flexibility of its style, and for the plea it makes in the prefatory address for the literary use of the English tongue as opposed to Greek and Latin. In 1546 Ascham was made public orator of the University, a position which entailed heavy correspondence for several years afterwards. For two years, 1548-1550, he was tutor to Elizabeth, then residing at Cheshunt. On the accession of Mary he became her Latin Secretary, at a salary of £20, and acquitted himself well in the office. He continued in royal favor in Elizabeth's reign but was continually harassed by ill health and insufficient means for his The title means lover of the bow. 7. Bias the wise man, one of the Seven Sages of Greece, famous for his apothegms. 12 f. news but these. The word news was used frequently in the plural sense until after Shakespeare's day. 211a 30. in such a mean, in such a moderate way. 211b 11. Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, 384322 B.C., the fountainhead of western criticism. See also notes to p. 91a, 38, and p. 91b, 19 ff. 38 f. books of feigned chivalry, romances. 212a 4. outshoot, overshoot. 9. plucketh down a side, shoots aside into the ground (?). 25. a-good, in earnest. 43. stark nought, absolutely nothing. 212b 1. bowyers, makers of bows. JOHN FOXE John Foxe, the greatest of martyrologists, was a native of Boston in Lincolnshire. His father died early, but he luckily succeeded to a good stepfather. He early displayed a zeal for study. By the help of friends he was enabled to enter Oxford at sixteen. He became a fellow of Magdalen in 1539 and proceeded M.A. in 1543; but because of his advanced religious views, he resigned his fellowship in 1545. For five years, 1548-1553, he was tutor to the orphan children of the Earl of Surrey, but fled the country at the beginning of Mary's persecutions. He returned on the accession of Elizabeth and in 1563 issued his Acts and Monuments, which became known at once as the "Book of Martyrs." The work was long the chief authority for Protestant church history, a storehouse of arguments against the Catholics, and a treasury of stories and sermon material for Protestant clergymen. But, despite the deep earnestness which gives the work its vigorous style, the author was too violent a partisan to be accurate or just. Nevertheless, in its large amount of first-hand material the work is valuable, and it reflects the social 213a habits and religious tone of Protestant thought during the Reformation. DEATH OF CRANMER 7. Cranmer. Cranmer became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1533, was committed to the Tower for treason on the accession of Mary, and was subsequently tried for heresy, condemned, and burned at the stake on March 31, 1556. 8. Bocardo, the old north gate at Oxford, used as a prison. 9. the university, Oxford. 17. Nunc dimittis, the first words of the vulgate Latin version of Luke ii, 29, which in the King James translation reads: "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word." 23. Cole, Henry Cole, D. D., ca. 1500-1580, provost of Eton. He was privately requested by Mary to prepare a special sermon for Cranmer's execution. 40. presently, immediately. 213b 17. . . . A resumé of Cole's sermon here follows. 18. the standers-by, etc. Contrary to the general expectation, and to the complete chagrin of his persecutors, Cranmer at the conclusion of the sermon resolutely renounced his former recantation of the Protestant faith. 214a 22 f. Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Rid ley. The two were burned at the stake on October 16, 1555. 214b 3. Brazennose, one of the colleges of Oxford. 11. he put his right hand, etc. He had formerly signed his recantation and written in defense of it, hence his open and declared purpose to let the offending hand suffer first. A famous passage. 24. the words of Stephen. See Acts vii, 60. Stephen, stoned for his boldness in preaching the Gospel, has been called the first Christian martyr. CICELY ORMES OF NORWICH 30. About the 23rd day, etc. In 1557. 31. the other above mentioned, John Noyes, burnt at the stake at Laxfield, near Norwich, September 22, 1557. 32. Norwich, the chief city of Norfolk. 215a 30. East Dereham, a town a few miles west of Norwich. DEATH OF MARY 215b 41. Mary's reign. Mary "the Bloody," so called from the many persecutions of her reign, was queen of England from 1553 to 1558. 216a 10. the year above said, 1558. 12. her sister. Both Mary and Elizabeth were daughters of Henry VIII but by different mothers, the former by Catherine of Aragon and the latter by Anne Boleyn. 14. tympany, tympanites. 21. the king's majesty her husband, etc., Philip II of Spain, whose dislike of England and neglect of Mary are well known. 216b 8. department, departure. 10. 'Calais lying in my heart.' The loss of Calais to the French in the last year of Mary's reign was a source of bitter grief to the queen. 18. king Lucius, a legendary hero, called the first Christian king in Britain, supposed to have lived in the second century. EDMUND SPENSER A Londoner by birth, Spenser came, as he says, of "an house of ancient fame," which, while it doubtless was old, belonged at best only to the humbler order of gentry. He attended the Merchant Taylors' School in London, which had just opened its doors. He entered Cambridge as a sizar in 1569, and, despite poverty and ill health, distinguished himself for his wide reading and his thorough knowledge of Greek, Latin, French, and Italian. Chief among his notable associates there was Gabriel Harvey, the scholar, who remained his firm friend for life. On the attainment of the M. A. degree in 1576, he left the university and went up to London as a secretary in Leicester's household in the Strand. There with Sir Philip Sidney, for whom he developed a deep and lasting friendship, and others was perhaps formed the celebrated literary club called the Areopagus. Probably amid these surroundings he began his Faerie Queene. Certainly, out of his experimentations with verse there, he developed the celebrated measure employed in his great poem, which since has borne his name. His Shepheards Calender appeared in 1579 (or, rather, early in 1580), and met with favor at once. In 1580 he went to Ireland as secretary to the Lord Deputy. For seven years he was an official and s popular figure in and about Dublin, but the country suited his nature and undertakings best; so in 1586 in a “plantation" scheme in Munster he secured grant of three thousand acres of land, including the old castle of Kilcolman in Cork, and settled there in 1588. To Sir Walter Ralegh, his neighbor, he showed in 1589 the first three books complete of the Faerie Queene. Delighted with the discovery, Ralegh hurried with him across the Channel to communicate his find to his sovereign and reinstate himself, if possible, in favor. Spenser's read |