Ever Writ in Corinthian Brass
Dennis
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Corinthian -- A gentleman who is fashionable and adept at sporting
activities. It originally meant profligate, after the apparently
elegant yet dissipated lifestyle in ancient Corinth.
http://www.thenonesuch.com/lexicon.html
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...According to the online OED, Corinthian relates to the Greek city
of Corinth. It is also one of the three Grecian orders of columns, a
type of brass or bronze, whence also a meaning equivalent to "brassy"
or "brazen," as effrontery, an excessively elegant literary style, an
amateur yachtsman, and a variety of bagatelle. Further, and probably
the meaning most apt here, it refers to a wealthy or fashionable man,
or one who is profligate, idle, or licentious.
http://dyve.net/sandman/annotations/sm10.html
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Jonson
XI. -- ON THE PORTRAIT OF SHAKESPEARE.
TO THE READER.
This Figure that thou here seest put,
It was for gentle SHAKSPEARE cut,
Wherein the graver had a strife
With Nature, to OUT-DOO the life :
O could he but have drawn his wit
As well in BRASS, as he has hit
His face ; the print would then surpass
All that was ever writ in brass :
But since he cannot, reader, look
Not on his picture, but his book.
*************************************
History of Henry IV, Part I
Act II, Scene 4
The Boar’s-Head Tavern, Eastcheap.
---
[Enter PRINCE HENRY and POINS]
* Henry V. Ned, prithee, come out of that fat room, and lend me
985
thy hand to laugh a little.
* Edward Poins. Where hast been, Hal?
* Henry V. With three or four loggerheads amongst three or four
score hogsheads. I have sounded the very
base-string of humility. Sirrah, I am sworn brother 990
to a leash of drawers; and can call them all by
their christen names, as Tom, Dick, and Francis.
They take it already upon their salvation, that
though I be but the prince of Wales, yet I am king
of courtesy; and tell me flatly I am no proud Jack, 995
like Falstaff, but a CORINTHIAN, a lad of METTLE, a
good boy, by the Lord, so they call me, and when I
am king of England, I shall command all the good
lads in Eastcheap. They call drinking deep, dyeing
scarlet; and when you breathe in your watering, they 1000
cry 'hem!' and bid you play it off. To conclude, I
am so good a proficient in one quarter of an hour,
that I can drink with any tinker in his own language
during my life. I tell thee, Ned, thou hast lost
much honour, that thou wert not with me in this sweet 1005
action. But, sweet Ned,—to sweeten which name of
Ned, I give thee this pennyworth of sugar, clapped
even now into my hand by an under-skinker, one that
never spake other English in his life than 'Eight
shillings and sixpence' and 'You are welcome,' with 1010
this shrill addition, 'Anon, anon, sir! Score a pint
of bastard in the Half-Moon,' or so. But, Ned, to
drive away the time till Falstaff come, I prithee,
do thou stand in some by-room, while I question my
puny drawer to what end he gave me the sugar; and do 1015
thou never leave calling 'Francis,' that his tale
to me may be nothing but 'Anon.' Step aside, and
I'll show thee a precedent.
* Edward Poins. Francis!
* Henry V. Thou art perfect. 1020
* Edward Poins. Francis!
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William Cartwright
Shakespeare to thee was dull, whose best jest lyes
I'th Ladies questions, and the Fooles replyes; [70]
Old fashion'd wit, which walkt from town to town
In turn'd Hose, which our fathers call'd the Clown;
Whose wit our nice times would OBSCEANENESS call,
And which made Bawdry passe for Comicall:
Nature was all his Art, thy veine was FREE
As his, but without his SCURILITY;
**************************************
Quintilian
'A good man (vir bonus) will see that everything he
says is consistent with his dignity and the respectability of his
CHARACTER (dignitate ac verecundia); for we pay too dear for the laugh
we raise if it is at the cost of our own INTEGRITY.
(probitatis)' (6.3.35)
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Probitas
Latin probitas HONESTY, probity, uprightness.
************************************
"To My Book" by Ben Jonson
It will be looked for, book, when some but see
Thy title, Epigrams, and named of me,
Thou should'st be bold, licentious, full of gall,
Wormwood, and sulphur, sharp, and toothed withal;
Become a petulant thing, hurl ink, and wit,
As madmen stones: not caring whom they hit.
Deceive their malice, who could wish it so.
And by thy wiser temper, let men know
Thou are not covetous of least self-fame.
Made from the hazard of another's shame:
Much less with lewd, profane, and beastly phrase,
To catch the world's loose laughter, or VAIN gaze.
*He that DEPARTS with his own HONESTY
For VULGAR PRAISE, doth it too dearly buy.*
**************************************
E P I G R A M S . JONSON
XLIX. -- TO PLAYWRIGHT.
PLAYWRIGHT me reads, and still my verses damns,
He says I want the tongue of epigrams ;
I have no salt, no bawdry he doth mean ;
For witty, in his language, is OBSCENE.
Playwright, I loath to have thy MANNERS known
In my CHASTE book ; profess them in thine own.
**************************************
Jonson, Discoveries
The wit of the old comedy. - So that what either in the words or sense
of an author, or in the language or actions of men, is awry or
depraved
does strangely stir mean affections, and provoke for the most part to
laughter. And therefore it was clear that all INSOLENT and OBSCENE
speeches, jests upon the best men, injuries to particular persons,
perverse and sinister sayings (and the rather unexpected) in the old
comedy did move laughter, especially where it did imitate any
dishonesty, and SCURRILITY came forth in the place of wit, which, who
understands the nature and genius of laughter cannot but perfectly
know.
**************************************
Jonson - Timber
Censura de poetis. - Nothing in our AGE, I have observed, is more
preposterous than the running judgments upon poetry and poets; when we
shall hear those things commended and cried up for the best writings
which a man would scarce vouchsafe to wrap any wholesome drug in; he
would never light his tobacco with them. And those men almost named
for miracles, who yet are so VILE that if a man should go about to
examine and correct them, he must make all they have done but one
blot. Their good is so entangled with their bad as forcibly one must
draw on the other' s death with it. A sponge dipped in ink will do
all:-
" - Comitetur Punica librum
Spongia. - " {44a}
Et paulò post,
" Non possunt . . . multæ . . . lituræ
. . . una litura potest."
*************************************
Restraining/Stopping Shakespeare's Quill:
From To the Deceased Author of these Poems (William Cartwright)
by Jasper Mayne
For thou to Nature had'st joyn'd Art, and skill.
In Thee Ben Johnson still HELD SHAKESPEARE'S QUILL:
A QUILL, RUL'D by sharp Judgement, and such Laws,
As a well studied Mind, and Reason draws.
Thy Lamp was cherish'd with suppolied of Oyle,
Fetch'd from the Romane and the Graecian soyle.
************************************
Corinthian Brass A mixed metal made by a variety of metals melted at
the conflagration of Corinth in B.C. 146, when the city was burnt to
the ground by the consul Mummius. Vases and other ornaments were made
by the Romans of this metal, of greater value than if they had been
made of silver or gold.
The Hông-hee vases (1426) of China were made of a similar mixed metal
when the Imperial palace was burnt to the ground. These vessels are of
priceless value.
"I think it may be of Corinthian brass,
Which was a mixture of all metals, but
The brazen uppermost."
Byron: Don Juan, vi. 56. Source: Brewer's Dictionary.
**************************************
Jonson
XI. -- ON THE PORTRAIT OF SHAKESPEARE.
TO THE READER.
This Figure that thou here seest put,
It was for gentle SHAKSPEARE cut,
Wherein the graver had a strife
With Nature, to OUT-DOO the life :
O could he but have drawn his wit
As well in BRASS, as he has hit
His face ; the print would then surpass
All that was ever writ in brass :
But since he cannot, reader, look
Not on his picture, but his book.
************************************
Corinthian Brass/Shameproof
To draw no envy, SHAKSPEARE, on thy name,
Am I thus ample to thy book and fame ;
While I confess thy writings to be such,
As neither Man nor Muse can praise too much.
'Tis true, and all men's suffrage. But these ways
Were not the PATHS I meant unto thy praise ;
For seeliest ignorance on these may light,
Which, when it sounds at best, but echoes right ;
Or blind affection, which doth ne'er advance
The truth, but gropes, and urgeth all by chance ;
Or crafty malice might pretend this praise,
And think to ruin where it seemed to raise.
These are, as some infamous bawd or whore
Should praise a matron ; what could hurt her more ?
But thou art PROOF against them, and, indeed,
Above the ill fortune of them, or the need.
I therefore will begin: Soul of the age!
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Effrontery \Ef*front"er*y\, n.; pl. Effronteries. [F.
effronterie, fr. effront['e] shameless, fr. L. effrons,
-ontis, putting forth the forehead, i. e., barefaced,
shameless; ex + frons the forehead. See Front.]
Impudence or boldness in confronting or in transgressing the
bounds of duty or decorum; insulting presumptuousness;
shameless boldness; barefaced assurance.
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"His WIT was in his own power; would the rule of it had been so too."
Bartholomew Fair
Act I. Scene V.
Quar. Come, John, this ambitious WIT of yours (I am
afraid) will do you no good i' the end.
Joh. No? why Sir?
Quar. You grow so INSOLENT with it, and over-doing,
John; that if you look not to it, and TIE IT UP, *it will
bring you to some obscure place in time, and there 'twill
leave you.*
VVin-w. Do not trust it too much, John, be more spa-
ring, and use it but now and then; a WIT is a dangerous
thing in this AGE; do not over-buy it.
Joh. Think you so, Gentlemen? I'll take heed on't
hereafter.
VVin. Yes, do John.
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..Or when thy socks were on,
Leave thee alone for the comparison
Of all that INSOLENT Greece or HAUGHTY Rome
Sent forth, or since did from their ASHES come.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinthian_bronze
Corinthian bronze, also called Corinthian brass or æs Corinthiacum,
was a highly valuable metal alloy in classical antiquity. It is
thought to be an alloy of copper with gold or silver (or both),
although it has also been contended that it was simply a very high
grade of bronze, or a kind of bronze that was manufactured in Corinth.
[1] It is referred to in various ancient texts, but no known examples
of Corinthian bronze exist today.
Of the known types of bronze or brass in classical antiquity (known in
Latin as aes and in Greek as χαλκός), Corinthian bronze was the most
valuable—even more valuable than gold. Statues, vessels, or other
objects that were formed of this metal were priceless.[2] Vases and
other ornaments that were made by the Romans of this metal were of
greater value than if they had been made of silver or gold.[3] Those
who accurately documented this metal, including Pliny the Elder,
distinguished it into three kinds, depending on the metal that is
added to the copper base: in the first, gold is added (luteum); in the
second, silver (candidum); in the third, gold, silver, and copper are
equally blended.[2][4] Plutarch and Cicero both comment that
Corinthian bronze, unlike many other copper alloys, is resistant to
tarnishing.[5] Pliny also refers to a fourth, dark alloy, known as
hepatizon.
According to legend, Corinthian brass was first created by accident,
during the burning of Corinth by Lucius Mummius Achaicus in 146 BC,
when the city's immense quantities of gold, silver, and copper melted
together. Pliny (HN, xxxiv. 7), however, remarked that this story is
unbelievable, because most of the creators of the highly-valued works
in Corinthian brass in Ancient Greece lived at a much earlier period
than second century BC.[4] According to Pliny, the method of making it
had been lost for a long time,[6] although some sources describe the
process by which it is created, involving heat treatment, quenching,
leaching, and burnishing,[7] in a process similar to depletion gilding.
[5] The lost ability to give an object made from bronze the appearance
of gold or silver may be one strand behind the later alchemical quest
to turn base metals into precious metals.
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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.
Plin. Nat. 34.3
CHAP. 3.—THE CORINTHIAN BRASS.
The other kinds are made artificially, all of which will be described
in the appropriate places, the more celebrated kinds first coming
under our notice. Formerly a mixture was made of copper fused with
gold and silver, and the workmanship in this metal was considered even
more valuable than the material itself; but, at the present day, it is
difficult to say whether the workmanship in it, or the material, is
the worst. Indeed, it is wonderful, that while the value of these
works1 has so infinitely increased, the reputation of the art itself2
is nearly extinct. But it would appear, that in this, as in every
thing else, what was formerly done for the sake of reputation, is now
undertaken for the mere purpose of gain. For whereas this art was
ascribed to the gods3 themselves, and men of rank in all countries
endeavoured to acquire fame by the practice of it, we have now so
entirely lost the method of making this valuable compound by fusion,
that, for this long time past, not even chance itself has assumed, in
this department, the privilege which formerly belonged to art.4
Next after the above compound, so celebrated in antiquity, the
Corinthian metal has been the most highly esteemed. This was a
compound produced by accident, when Corinth was burnt at the time of
its capture.5 There has been a wonderful mania with many for gaining
possession of this metal. It is even said, that Verres, whom M. Cicero
caused to be condemned, was proscribed by Antonius, along with Cicero,
for no other reason than his refusal to give up some specimens of
Corinthian metal, which were in his possession. But most of these
people seem to me to make a pretence of their discernment in reference
to this metal, rather for the purpose of distinguishing themselves
from the multitude, than from any real knowledge which they possess;
and this I will briefly show.
Corinth was captured in the third year of the 158th Olympiad, being
the year of the City, 608,6 some ages after the period when those
artists flourished, who produced all the specimens of what these
persons now call Corinthian metal. It is in order, therefore, to
refute this opinion, that I shall state the age when these different
artists lived; for, if we reckon according to the above-mentioned era
of the Olympiads, it will be easy to compare their dates with the
corresponding years of our City. The only genuine Corinthian vessels,
then, are those which these men of taste metamorphose, sometimes into
dishes, sometimes into lamps, or even into washing-basins,7 without
any regard to decency. They are of three kinds; the white variety,
approaching very nearly to the splendour of silver, and in which that
metal forms a large proportion of the compound; a second kind, in
which the yellow colour of gold predominates; and a third, in which
all the metals are mixed in equal proportions. Besides these, there is
another mixture, the composition of which it is impossible to
describe, for although it has been formed into images and statues by
the hand of man, it is chance that rules in the formation of the
compound. This last is highly prized for its colour, which approaches
to that of liver, and it is on this account that it is called
"hepatizon:"8 it is far inferior to the Corinthian metal, but much
superior to the Æginetan and Delian, which long held the first rank.
**********************************
Cibber, The Rehearsal at Goatham, and the Suppression of Polly
John Fuller
The Review of English Studies, New Series, Vol. 13, No. 50 (May, 1962
In _Love in a Riddle_, Cibber had played Philautus - A Conceited
Corinthian Courtier. From the alloy of gold, silver and coppers said
to be produced at Corinth, Corinthian = brazen, an epithet also
applied to Cibber (see Pope, Dunciad (1743), i.219). from the
figurative sense of brass, brazen came to mean bold or shameless, a
quality attributed to the Corinthians. Corinthian was also the
LIGHTEST and MOST ORNATE of the three Grecian orders. It is worth
noting the complexity of this epithet in its threefold application to
Cibber, as an actor (the provenance of his character, Philautus), as a
man (his effrontery), and as a writer (his literary style). (footnote,
p. 127)
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Oxford Lies in 'Lethe's Lake':
Perrott, James, Sir, 1571-1637.
The first part of the consideration of humane condition vvherin is
contained the morall consideration of a mans selfe: as what, who, and
what manner of man he is. Written by I.P. Esquier. , At Oxford :
Printed by Joseph Barnes, and are to be sold [by J. Broome in London]
in Paules Church-yard, at the signe of the Bible.
--The well willer of them, that wish well--
James Perrott
...Even so commonly wee see that many of noble birthe and greate
parentage persuade themselves that they exceede all others in
estimation of bloode and linage: whereas they mighte consider with
themselves that how noblye soever they are borne, their Nobility hath
a beginning, not by their own, but by their Auncestors deserts and
vertues; wherefore if that there be not in them good partes and
properties aunswereable to the behaviour and good qualities of their
Elders, and their owne birthes, them are they but a blemish to the
Elders, and a staine to their names, and honors. We see the fairest
and richest silkes, when once they receive any blemish or staine, they
are more DISFIGURED
http://mysite.du.edu/~showard/shake.jpg
and in greater disgrace then cloath, or other
matter of lesse moment and reckoning: even so is it in the estimation
of Nobility. For a fault in a man of great birth and parentage is more
noted, and breedeth unto him greater disgrace and dishonour, then the
same should do unto a man of lesse and lower dignity. It is not inough
to be born of high bloude, without vertue aunswerable to that birth:
neither with reason may a noble man, because he is honourable
descended, challendge love, estimation, and honour of the actions
accomplished by his Auncestors, unless his owne carriage be
correspondent & aunswerable to theirs, and to his owne calling: for
Seneca sayeth, & that very truely, that, hee which braggeth of his
kindred, commendeth that which concerneth others. And the Poet
speaking to the same purpose saide very well.
Nam genus, et proavos, et quae non fecimus ipsi
Vix ea nostra voco.
that is:
What kindred did, or Elders ours,
And what we have not donne,
I call not ours: it scarcely hath
Us any credit wonne.
This caused a Gentle man of great worth and worthines (note - Sir
Philip Sidney), as any that have lived in our age, to adde this mote
underneath his coate of armes: Vix ea nostra voce. Who although hee
might most deservedly have claimed unto himselfe as much honor as ever
any of his Auncestors have had, yet he would not appropriate their
vertues (which could not be called his) unto himselfe: for he had
rather gaine glory by his owne noble and worthy actes, then be
accoumpted renowned for the greatness of his Auncestors, how neere and
how deere soever unto him. *As his noble minde is worthy of memory in
all ages, and his heroicall actes never to be committed to oblivion:
so are they (which DEGENERATE from their Elders, or do disgrace and
dishonor the honourable actions of their Auncestors) to be accoumpted
worthy if not of all shame) yet of a place in LETHES LAKE to lye in
perpetually*. Q. Pompeius Pretor of Rome did most stoutely and wisely
carry himselfe, when he did interdict and disinherite the sonne of Q.
Fabius Max. from the use and benefit of all his fathers goods, because
he did DEGENERATE from the vertues of his noble father, as spent that
most luxuriously, which his father had most honorable gotten. There
was a law amongst the Rhodians, that what sonne soever followed not
the foot-steps of their fathers vertues should be disinherited: which
lawe if it were kept, & did continue in force amongst us this day, it
would make many a sonne goe without goods, and leave his fathers
living for others to inherite. For our daies make experience of that,
which the Poet spake, and applied to former ages.
Aequat rara patrem soboles, sed plurimi ab illis
DEGENERANT; pauci superant probitate parentem. (Homer)
that is,
Fewe sonnes are found of fathers mindes,
Or equall them in vertues actes:
The greatest sorte growe out of kinde:
Who doth regard his fathers factes?
Children seldome seeke indeede,
Their sires (in goodness) to exceede.
**************************************
Papers Complaint, compil'd in ruthfull Rimes Against the Paper-
spoylers of these Times. John Davies
...Another (ah Lord helpe) mee vilifies
With Art of Loue, and how to subtilize,
Making lewd Venus, with eternall Lines,
To tye Adonis to her loues designes :
Fine wit is shew'n therein : but finer twere
If not attired in such bawdy Geare.
But be it as it will : the coyest Dames,
In priuate read it for their Closset-games :
For, sooth to say, the Lines so draw them on,
To the venerian speculation,
That will they, nill they (if of flesh they bee)
They will thinke of it, sith loose Thought is free.
And thou (O Poet) that dost pen my Plaint,
Thou art not scot-free from my iust complaint
For, thou hast plaid thy part, with thy rude Pen,
To make vs both ridiculous to men.
(ll.47-62, Complete Works, vol. II, p. 75)
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Dennis
Dennis
http://www.thenonesuch.com/lexicon.html
*************************************
http://dyve.net/sandman/annotations/sm10.html
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The wit of the old comedy. - So that what either in the words or sense
of an author, or in the language or actions of men, is awry or
depraved does strangely stir mean affections, and provoke for the most
part to laughter. And therefore it was clear that all INSOLENT and
OBSCENE speeches, jests upon the best men, injuries to particular
persons, perverse and sinister sayings (and the rather unexpected) in
the old comedy did move laughter, especially where it did imitate any
dishonesty, and SCURRILITY came forth in the place of wit, which, who
understands the nature and genius of laughter cannot but perfectly
know.
Aristophanes. - Plautus. - Of which Aristophanes affords an ample
harvest, having not only outgone Plautus or any other in that kind,
but expressed all the moods and figures of what is ridiculous oddly.
In short, as vinegar is not accounted good until the wine be
corrupted, so jests that are true and natural seldom raise laughter
with the beast the multitude. *They love nothing that is right and
proper. The farther it runs from reason or possibility with them the
better it is*.
Socrates. - Theatrical wit. - What could have made them laugh, like to
see Socrates presented, that example of all good life, honesty, and
virtue, to have him hoisted up with a pulley, and there play the
philosopher in a basket; measure how many foot a flea could skip
geometrically, by a just scale, and edify the people from the engine.
This was theatrical wit, right stage jesting, and relishing a
playhouse, invented for scorn and laughter;
http://home.att.net/~tleary/GIFS/DROUS.JPG
whereas, if it had
savoured of equity, truth, perspicuity, and candour, to have tasted a
wise or a learned palate, - spit it out presently! this is bitter and
profitable: this instructs and would inform us: what need we know any
thing, that are NOBLY BORN, *more than a horse-race, or a hunting-
match, our day to break with citizens, and such innate mysteries*?
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Comus;
The Hutchinson Encyclopedia 09-22-2003
Comus
Greek komos 'revel' or 'a company of revellers'
In late Greek mythology, the god of festive mirth. He is depicted as a
sleeping winged youth, crowned with flowers and holding a hunting
SPEAR
and an INVERTED TORCH.
The English poet John Milton in his masque Comus represents him as the
offspring of Bacchus and the enchantress CIRCE, endowed with the power
to turn human faces into those of beasts.
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Milton, John: Comus
118: COMUS enters, with a charming-rod in one hand, his glass in the
119: other: with him a rout of monsters, headed like sundry sorts of
120: wild
121: beasts, but otherwise like men and women, their apparel
122: glistering.
123: They come in making a riotous and unruly noise, with torches in
124: their hands.
125:
126:
127: COMUS. The star that bids the shepherd fold
128: Now the top of heaven doth hold;
129: And the gilded car of day
130: His glowing axle doth allay
131: In the steep Atlantic stream;
132: And the slope sun his upward beam
133: Shoots against the dusky pole,
134: Pacing toward the other goal
135: Of his chamber in the east.
136: Meanwhile, welcome joy and feast,
137: Midnight shout and revelry,
138: Tipsy dance and jollity.
139: Braid your locks with rosy twine,
140: Dropping odours, dropping wine.
141: Rigour now is gone to bed;
142: And Advice with scrupulous head,
143: Strict Age, and sour Severity,
144: With their grave saws, in slumber lie.
145: We, that are of purer fire,
146: Imitate the starry quire,
147: Who, in their nightly watchful spheres,
148: Lead in swift round the months and years.
149: The sounds and seas, with all their finny drove,
150: Now to the moon in wavering morrice move;
151: And on the tawny sands and shelves
152: Trip the pert fairies and the dapper elves.
153: By dimpled brook and fountain-brim,
154: The wood-nymphs, decked with daisies trim,
155: Their merry wakes and pastimes keep:
156: What hath night to do with sleep?
157: Night hath better sweets to prove;
158: Venus now wakes, and wakens Love.
159: Come, let us our rights begin;
160: 'T is only daylight that makes sin,
161: Which these dun shades will ne'er report.
162: Hail, goddess of nocturnal sport,
163: Dark-veiled Cotytto, to whom the secret flame
164: Of midnight torches burns! mysterious dame,
165: That ne'er art called but when the dragon womb
166: Of Stygian darkness spets her thickest gloom,
167: And makes one blot of all the air!
168: Stay thy cloudy ebon chair,
169: Wherein thou ridest with Hecat', and befriend
170: Us thy vowed priests, till utmost end
171: Of all thy dues be done, and none left out,
172: Ere the blabbing eastern scout,
173: The nice Morn on the Indian steep,
174: From her cabined loop-hole peep,
175: And to the tell-tale Sun descry
176: Our concealed solemnity.
178: In a LIGHT FANTASTIC round.
179:
180: The Measure.
181:
182: Break off, break off! I feel the different pace
183: Of some chaste footing near about this ground.
184: Run to your shrouds within these brakes and trees;
185: Our number may affright. Some virgin sure
186: (For so I can distinguish by mine art)
187: Benighted in these woods! Now to my charms,
188: And to my wily trains: I shall ere long
189: Be well stocked with as fair a herd as grazed
190: About my mother Circe. Thus I hurl
191: My dazzling spells into the spongy air,
192: Of power to cheat the eye with blear illusion,
193: And give it false presentments, lest the place
194: And my quaint habits breed astonishment,
195: And put the damsel to suspicious flight;
196: Which must not be, for that's against my course.
197: I, under fair pretence of friendly ends,
198: And well-placed words of glozing courtesy,
199: Baited with reasons not unplausible,
200: Wind me into the easy-hearted man,
201: And hug him into snares. When once her eye
202: Hath met the virtue of this magic dust,
203: I shall appear some harmless villager
204: Whom thrift keeps up about his country gear.
205: But here she comes; I fairly step aside,
206: And hearken, if I may her business hear.
207:
208: The LADY enters.
209:
210: LADY. This way the noise was, if mine ear be true,
211: My best guide now. Methought it was the sound
212: Of riot and ill-managed merriment,
213: Such as the jocund flute or gamesome pipe
214: Stirs up among the loose unlettered hinds,
215: When, for their teeming flocks and granges full,
216: In wanton dance they praise the bounteous Pan,
217: And thank the gods amiss. I should be loth
218: To meet the rudeness and swilled INSOLENCE
219: Of such late wassailers; yet, oh! where else
220: Shall I inform my unacquainted feet
221: In the blind mazes of this tangled wood?
**************************************
Jonson, Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue
<<Do you hear, my friends? to whom did you sing all this now? Pardon
me only that I ask you, for I do not look for an answer; I'll answer
myself. I know it is now such a time as the Saturnals.for all the
world, that every man stands under the eaves of his own hat and sings
what pleases him; that's the right and the liberty of it. Now you sing
of
god COMUS here, the BELLY-god. I say it is well, and I say it is not
well.
.
(Snip)
Beware of dealing with the BELLY; the BELLY will not be
talked to, especially when he is full. Then there is no venturing
upon Venter; he will blow you all up; he will thunder indeed, la:
some in deri-sion call him the father of FARTs. But I say he was
the first inventor of great ordnance, and taught us to discharge
them on festival days.
******************************
Jonson, Discoveries
Impostorum FUCUS. - Imposture is a specious thing, yet never worse
than when it feigns to be best, and to none discovered sooner than the
simplest. For truth and goodness are plain and open; but imposture is
ever ashamed of the light.
******************************
imposture
noun The act or instance of engaging in deception under an assumed
name or identity.
*******************************
Fucus \Fu"cus\, n.; pl. Fuci. [L. rock lichen, orchil, used as
a red dye, red or purple color, disguise, deceit.]
1. A paint; a dye; also, false show. [Obs.]
*****************************
Davies, Scourge of Folly
Of the staid furious Poet FUCUS.
Epig. 114
Fucus the furious Poet writes but Plaies;
So, playing, writes: that’s, idly writeth all:
Yet, idle Plaies, and Players are his Staies;
Which stay him that he can no lower fall:
For, he is fall’n into the deep’st decay,
Where Playes and Players keepe him at a stay.
******************************
Idle \I"dle\, a. [Compar. Idler; superl. Idlest.] [OE. idel,
AS. [=i]del vain, empty, useless; akin to OS. [=i]dal, D.
ijdel, OHG. [=i]tal vain, empty, mere, G. eitel, Dan. & Sw.
idel mere, pure, and prob. to Gr. ? clear, pure, ? to burn.
Cf. Ether.]
1. Of no account; useless; vain; trifling; unprofitable;
thoughtless; silly; barren. ``Deserts idle.'' --Shak.
Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall
give account thereof in the day of judgment. --Matt.
xii. 36.
Down their idle weapons dropped. --Milton.
This idle story became important. --Macaulay.
2. Not called into active service; not turned to appropriate
use; unemployed; as, idle hours.
The idle spear and shield were high uphing.
--Milton.
3. Not employed; unoccupied with business; inactive; doing
nothing; as, idle workmen.
Why stand ye here all the day idle? --Matt. xx. 6.
4. Given rest and ease; averse to labor or employment; lazy;
slothful; as, an idle fellow.
5. Light-headed; foolish. [Obs.] --Ford.
******************************
playboy
n : a man devoted to the pursuit of pleasure [syn: man-about-
town, Corinthian]
*******************************
play-fere/plaifaier, n. (play and fere). A play fellow
*******************************
Venus and Adonis
I have been woo'd, as I entreat thee now,
Even by the stern and direful god of war,
Whose sinewy neck in battle ne'er did bow,
Who conquers where he comes in every jar;
Yet hath he been my captive and my slave,
And begg'd for that which thou unask'd shalt have.
Over my altars hath he hung his lance,
His batter'd shield, his uncontrolled crest,
And for my sake hath learn'd to sport and dance,
To toy, to wanton, dally, smile and jest,
Scorning his churlish drum and ensign red,
Making my arms his field, his tent my bed.
Thus he that overruled I oversway'd,
*Leading him prisoner in a red-rose chain*:
Strong-tempered steel his stronger strength obey'd,
Yet was he servile to my coy disdain.
O, be not proud, nor brag not of thy might,
For mastering her that foil'd the god of fight!
Touch but my lips with those fair lips of thine, --
Though mine be not so fair, yet are they red --
The kiss shall be thine own as well as mine.
What seest thou in the ground? hold up thy head:
Look in mine eye-balls, there thy beauty lies;
Then why not lips on lips, since eyes in eyes?
Art thou ashamed to kiss? then wink again,
And I will wink; so shall the day seem night;
Love keeps his revels where they are but twain;
Be bold to PLAY, our SPORT is not in sight:
These blue-vein'd violets whereon we lean
Never can blab, nor know not what we mean.
******************************
Papers Complaint, compil'd in ruthfull Rimes Against the Paper-
spoylers of these Times. John Davies
...Another (ah Lord helpe) mee vilifies
With Art of Loue, and how to subtilize,
Making lewd Venus, with eternall Lines,
To tye Adonis to her loues designes :
Fine wit is shew'n therein : but finer twere
If not attired in such bawdy Geare.
But be it as it will : the coyest Dames,
In priuate read it for their Closset-games :
For, sooth to say, the Lines so draw them on,
To the venerian speculation,
That will they, nill they (if of flesh they bee)
They will thinke of it, sith loose Thought is free.
And thou (O Poet) that dost pen my Plaint,
Thou art not scot-free from my iust complaint
For, thou hast plaid thy part, with thy rude Pen,
To make vs both ridiculous to men.
(ll.47-62, Complete Works, vol. II, p. 75)
****************************
An Iconographical Interpretation of Venus and Adonis, Shakespeare's
Ovidian Comedy
Eugene B. Cantelupe
One of Shakespeare's most happy touches is the goddess's proclivity
for self-praise, often wild and hyperbolic but always amusing and
entertaining. The most effective of these self-laudatory passages is
her recital of the conquest of Mars, and exemplum which should not
only instruct the youth woefully ignorant of amatory lore but also
impress him with the reputation of the woman who so desperately begs
his attention. Shakespeare renders the scene as a magnificent
medieval
pageant. After Venus tells Adonis that Mars became her captive and
slave who begged for that which the boy can have without asking, she
describes the war god as prancing across a tented field on a
caparisoned stallion, his "churlish drumme" beating and accompaniment
to each victory - except that of love. To it he makes the supreme
sacrifice. Over her altar, Venus boasts, he
...hung his lance,
His batter'd shield, his uncontrolled crest,
And for my sake hath learn'd to sport and dance,
To toy, to wanton, dally, smile and jest...
Making my arms his field, his tent my bed. (ll.104-109)
This stanzaic picture contrasts with Spenser's portrayal of a
languid Acrasia and an impassive VERDANT in the Bower of Bliss, but
compares with a Venus and Mars painting by Francesca Cossa. The
resemblance to Cossa's pictorial version, in the astrological cycle
that decorates on of the rooms of the Palazzo Schifonia at Ferrara,
depends upon the last image of the passage, which is one of the most
engaging in the poem and one of Shakespeare's original details in his
telling of this legendary romance. Venus emphasizes her triumph over
Mars by adding that she then led him "prisoner in a red-rose chain".
This image alludes to her planetary grace and amiability, which are
stronger than the physical prowess of the planet Mars, a power which
Cossa depicts by placing Venus on a chariot with Mars, in full armor,
kneeling before her, his waist encircled by a chain attached to her
throne.
http://www.wga.hu/art/c/cossa/schifano/2april/2april_0.jpg
******************************
_Volpone_, Jonson:
To the most N O B L E and most E Q U A L S I S T E R S,
The two Famous Universities,
For their Love and Acceptance shewn to his P O E M in the P R E S E N
T A T I O N,
B E N. J O H N S O N,
The Grateful Acknowledger, Dedicates both It and Himself.
Never (most Equal Sisters) had any Man a Wit so presently Excellent,
as that it could raise it self; but there must come both Matter,
Occasion, Commenders, and Favourers to it. If this be true, and that
the Fortune of all Writers doth daily prove it, it behoves the Careful
to provide well toward these Accidents; and, having acquir'd them, to
preserve that part of Reputation most tenderly, wherein the Benefit of
a Friend is also defended. Hence is it, that I now render my self
grateful, and am studious to justifie the Bounty of your Act; to
which, though your meer Authority were satisfying, yet it being an AGE
wherein Poetry and the Professors of it hear so ill on all Sides,
there will a Reason be look't for in the Subject. It is certain, nor
can it with any FOREHEAD be oppos'd, that the too much Licence of
Poetasters in this Time, hath much deform'd their Mistris; that, every
day, their manifold and manifest Ignorance doth stick unnatural
Reproaches upon her: But for their Petulancy, it were an Act of the
greatest Injustice, either to let the Learned suffer, or so Divine a
Skill (which indeed should not be attempted with unclean Hands) to
fall under the least Contempt. For, if Men will impartially, and not
asquint, look toward the Offices and Function of a Poet, they will
easily conclude to themselves the Impossibility of any Man's being the
good Poet, without first being a good Man. He that is said to be able
to inform young Men to all good Disciplines, inflame grown Men to all
great Vertues, keep old Men in their best and supream State, or as
they decline to Childhood, recover them to their first Strength; that
comes forth the Interpreter and Arbiter of Nature, a Teacher of Things
Divine no less than Humane, a Master in Manners; and can alone (or
with a few) effect the Business of Mankind: This, I take him, is no
Subject for Pride and Ignorance to exercise their failing Rhetorick
upon. But it will here be hastily answer'd, That the Writers of these
Days are other Things; that not only their MANNERS, but their NATURES
are INVERTED, and nothing remaining with them of the Dignity of Poet,
but the abused Name, which every Scribe usurps; that now, especially
in Drammatick, or (as they term it) Stage-Poetry, nothing but
Ribaldry, Prophanation, Blasphemy, all Licence of Offence to God and
Man is practis'd. I dare not deny a great part of this, (and I am
sorry I dare not) because in some Mens abortive Features (and would
they had never boasted the Light) it is over-true: But that all are
imbark'd in this bold Adventure for Hell, is a most uncharitable
Thought, and, utter'd, a more malicious Slander. For my particular, I
can (and from a most clear Conscience) affirm, That I have ever
trembled to think toward the least Profaneness; have loathed the use
of such foul and unwash'd Bawd'ry, as is now made the Food of the
Scene: And, howsoever I cannot escape from some the Imputation of
Sharpness, but that they will say, I have taken a pride, or lust, to
be bitter, and not my youngest Instant but hath come into the World
with all his Teeth; I would ask of these supercilious Politicks, What
Nation, Society, or general Order or State I have provoked? What
Publick Person? Whether I have not (in all these) preserv'd their
Dignity, as mine own Person, safe? My Works are read, allow'd, (I
speak of those are intirely mine) look into them: What broad Repoofs
have I us'd? Where have I been particular? Where Personal? Except to a
Mimick, Cheater, Bawd, or Buffon, Creatures (for their Insolencies)
worthy to be tax'd? Yet to which of these so pointingly, as he might
not either ingenuously have confest, or wisely dissembled his Disease?
But it is not Rumour can make Men guilty, much less entitle me to
other Mens Crimes. I know, that nothing can be so innocently writ or
carried, but may be made obnoxious to Construction; marry, whilst I
bear mine Innocence about me, I fear it not. Application is now grown
a Trade with many; and there are that profess to have a Key for the
decyphering of every thing: But let Wise and Noble Persons take heed
how they be too credulous, or give leave to these invading
Interpreters to be over-familiar with their Fames, who cunningly, and
often, utter their own virulent Malice, under other Mens simplest
Meanings. As for those that will (by Faults which Charity hath rak'd
up, or common Honesty conceal'd) make themselves a Name with the
Multitude, or (to draw their rude and beastly Claps) care not whose
living Faces they intrench with their petulant Styles, may they do it
without a Rival, for me: I chuse rather to live grav'd in Obscurity,
than share with them in so PREPOSTEROUS a FAME. Nor can I blame the
Wishes of those severe and wise Patriots, who providing the Hurts
these licentious Spirits may do in a State, desire rather to see Fools
and Devils, and those antick Relicks of Barbarism retriv'd, with all
other ridiculous and exploded Follies, than behold the Wounds of
Private Men, of Princes and Nations. For, as Horace makes Trebatius
speak, among these,
------ Sibi quisque timet, quanquam est intactus, & odit.
And Men may justly impute such Rages, if continu'd, to the Writer, as
his Spots. The Increase of which Lust in Liberty, together with the
present Trade of the Stage, in all their Masc'line Enterludes, what
Learned or Liberal Soul doth not already abhor? Where nothing but the
Filth of Time is utter'd, and that with such impropriety of Phrase,
such plenty of SolOEcisms, such dearth of Sense, so bold Prolepses, so
rack'd Metaphors, with Brothelry able to violate the Ear of a Pagan,
and Blasphemy, to turn the Blood of a Christian to Water. I cannot but
be serious in a Cause of this nature, wherein my Fame, and the
Reputations of divers Honest and Learned are the Question; when a Name
so full of Authority, Antiquity, and all great Mark, is (through their
Insolence) become the lowest Scorn of the Age; and those Men subject
to the Petulancy of every vernaculous Orator, that were wont to be the
Care of Kings and happiest Monarchs. This it is that hath not only
rap't me to present Indignation, but made me studious heretofore, and
by all my Actions to stand off from them; which may most appear in
this my latest Work (which you, most learned Arbitresses, have seen,
judg'd, and to my Crown, approv'd) wherein I have labour'd, for their
instruction and amendment, to reduce not only the ancient Forms, but
Manners of the Scene, the Easiness, the Propriety, the Innocence, and
last the Doctrine, which is the principal End of Poesie, to inform Men
in the best Reason of living. And though my Catastrophe may, in the
strict rigour of Comick Law, meet with Censure, as turning back to my
Promise; I desire the Learned and Charitable Critick, to have so much
faith in me, to think it was done of Industry: For, with what ease I
could have varied it nearer his Scale (but that I fear to boast my own
Faculty) I could here insert. But my special aim being to put the
Snaffle in their Mouths, that cry out, we never punish Vice in our
Enterludes, &c. I took the more liberty; though not without some Lines
of Example, drawn even in the Ancients themselves, the Goings-out of
whose ComOEdies are not always joyful, but oft-times the Bawds, the
Servants, the Rivals, yea, and the Masters, are mulcted; and fitly, it
being the Office of a Comick Poet to imitate Justice, and instruct to
Life, as well as Purity of Language, or stir up gentle Affections: To
which I shall take the occasion elsewhere to speak. For the present
(most Reverenced Sisters) as I have car'd to be thankful for your
Affections past, and here made the Understanding acquainted with some
Ground of your Favours; let me not despair their Continuance, to the
maturing of some worthier Fruits: Wherein, if my Muses be true to me,
I shall raise the despis'd Head of Poetry again, and stripping her out
of those rotten and base Rags wherewith the Times have adulterated her
Form, restore her to her primitive Habit, Feature, and Majesty, and
render her worthy to be embraced and kist of all the Great and Master-
Spirits of our World. As for the Vile and Slothful, who never affected
an Act worthy of Celebration, or are so inward with their own vicious
Natures, as they worthily fear her, and think it a high Point of
Policy to keep her in contempt with their declamatory and windy
Invectives; she shall out of just rage incite her Servants (who are
Genus iritabile) to spout Ink in their Faces, that shall eat farther
than their Marrow, into their Fames; and not Cinnamus the Barber, with
his Art, shall be able to take out the Brands; but they shall live,
and be read, till the Wretches die, as Things worst deserving of
Themselves in chief, and then of all Mankind.
*************************************
Dennis
book...@yahoo.com
wrote:
POINS As merry as crickets, my lad. But hark ye; what
cunning match have you made with this jest of the
drawer? come, what's the issue?
OED, drawer:
1. One who draws, in various senses of the verb.
1537 Bible Josh. ix. 21 Hewers of wodd, and drawers of water.
2. One who draws liquor for customers; a tapster at a tavern.
1592 SHAKES. Rom. & Jul. III, i, 9.
Romeo and Juliet
Act 3, Scene 1
MERCUTIO Thou art like one of those fellows that when he
enters the confines of a tavern claps me his sword
upon the table and says 'God send me no need of
thee!' and by the operation of the second cup draws
it on the drawer, when indeed there is no need.
>Latin as aes and in Greek as ??????), Corinthian bronze was the most