Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 34.djvu/68

 America, ded.) He seems to have been again in England early in 1593, and brought back no very good opinion of his commander, Cavendish.

These adventures stimulated Lodge's literary ambition afresh. After his return from his first voyage, he contributed verses in French to his friend Greene's 'Spanish Masquerado' (1589), and first made public claim to the title of poet by issuing a volume of verse. The volume, licensed for the press 22 Sept. 1589, was entitled 'Scillaes Metamorphosis; Enterlaced with unfortunate love of Glaucus. Whereunto is annexed the delectable discourse of the discontented Satyre; with sundrie other most absolute Poems and Sonnets.' The title-page was probably the composition of the publisher, Richard Jones. In the dedication to 'Master Rafe Crane and the rest of his most entire well-willers, the Gentlemen of the Inns of Court and Chauncerie,' Lodge obscurely suggests that his 'Imperfit Poems' had already been published by a needy pirate, 'owing to the base necessity of an extravagant mate,' and elsewhere he complains (p. 39) that 'some insolent poets' had set their own names to his verses. 'Glaucus and Scilla' is written in the same metre as Shakespeare's 'Venus and Adonis,' which was not published till 1593. The general resemblance is conspicuous enough to render it probable that Shakespeare was indebted to Lodge for the general plan of his poem. Writing in 1595 Lodge complained that he had been 'unjustly taxed' with plagiarism (Fig for Momus, 'To the Reader'), and the dates justify the theory of Shakespeare's indebtedness to Lodge rather than the reverse. 'Glaucus' is very graceful, and far superior in literary faculty to a succeeding series of detached poems in the same volume, which chiefly sets forth the poet's melancholy (cf. Shakespeare Soc. Papers, iii. 143). The 'sonnets' are not in the ordinary metrical form, and are clearly suggested by Watson. The work failed to sell, and was reissued with a new title-page, 'A most pleasant Historie of Glaucus and Scilla,' in 1610.

Meanwhile Lodge pursued another vein— that opened by Lyly, and already worked with success by his friend Greene. On the Canaries voyage he wrote his best-known romance: 'Rosalynde. Euphues Golden Legacie; found after his death in his cell at Silexedra. Bequeathed to Philautus sonnes noursed up with their father in England,' London, 1590; licensed for the press 6 Oct. 1590. He there describes himself as a soldier and a sailor, offering to his readers 'the fruits of his labors that he wrought in the ocean when everie line was wet with a surge, and everie passion countercheckt with by storm.' The book is dedicated to Lord Hunsdon, whose sons were his friends at Oxford. Lodge's languid prose is characterised by many of the affectations of 'Euphues,' and the long speeches and letters and abundance of moral reflection prove how closely Lodge followed Lyly's example. But the story, which was probably suggested by the mediaeval 'Tale of Gamelyn,' although tedious and artificial, has many pathetic episodes, and can be read with satisfaction. Some very beautiful lyrics are introduced, and at one place Lodge attempts a short poem in French (p. 47). Shakespeare directly drew from this romance the plot of 'As you like it,' inventing the characters of Jaques, Touchstone, and Audrey, but adopting all the other personages in Lodge's tale. (Shakespeare altered their names, except in the cases of Phoebe, Adam, and Charles the Wrestler.) At the close of the work Lodge bids his patrons 'expect the Sailers Kalender,' apparently some account of his maritime adventures, of which nothing further is known. In the same year (1590) verses by him were prefixed to Peter Bales's 'Writing Scholemaster.'

Before setting out on his second voyage Lodge published in 1591 an historical romance of little interest, 'drawn out of the old and ancient antiquaries,' but worked out on euphuistic lines, and including one very charming song (p. 42) amid its 'many conceits of pleasure;' it was entitled 'The History of Robert, second Duke of Normandy, surnamed Robin the Divell,' and was dedicated to 'the Worshipful and true Mæcenas of learning, M. Thomas Smith, from my Chamber,' 2 May 1591. Later in the year, probably after Lodge had left England, appeared his 'Catharos. Diogenes in his Singularitie. Wherein is comprehended his merrie baighting fit for all mens benefits: Christened by him, A Nettle for Nice Noses, by T. L., of Lincolns Inne, Gent.,' 1591. The publisher, John Busbie, inscribed it to Sir John Hart as 'a small conceit penned by a gentleman, my dear friend.' It is a prose discussion on the immorality of Athens, in which Diogenes, Philoplutos, and Cosmosophos are the interlocutors; Athens stands for London; the tone recalls Sir Thomas Elyot's 'Pasquil the Plain.'

While Lodge was still at sea, his friend Greene published his closest imitation of Lyly, 'Euphues Shadow, the Battaile of the Sences: wherein youthfull folly is set downe in his right figure, and vaine fancies are proved to produce many offences. Hereunto is annexed the Deafe Man's Dialogue, contayning Philamis Athanatos: fit for all sortes to peruse, and the better sorte to practise,' 1592. Collier