Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/200

 162 NOTES AND QUERIES. [l0"' s. IV. AUG. 26, 1905, certain that she anticipated Macpherson, for in her latter years she was poor and miserable, and she died just as he secured his renown. Burns says that the song first appeared on the streets as a ballad about 1771, and in that case it is not likely to have been known to Macpherson when he was engaged in clothing.Ossian with glory. On t e other hand, if the lyric is ick e’s he may have roduced it at the time Burns mentions, and fic would then be familiar, like everybody else, with the Ossianic rhapsodies. There remains, of course, the strotzég probability that neither author was indeb to the other, and that each is deserving of credit for special inspiration. In the meantime this conclusion seems unavoidable, and it is 1111- portant that it should be fully admitted, ln order that Macpherson in particular may get bare justice, for his undoubted poetical merits fail at present to secure the recognition to which they are manifestly entitled. Tnomas BAYNE. ROBERT GREENE’S PROSE WVORKS. (See ante, pp. 1, 81.) I MAY now deal with Greene’s larger repe- titions. From the ‘ Princelie Mirrour of Peerelesse Modestie’ (Grosart, iii. 18), at the words “ Be not amazed, mistresse Susanna,” to “And with that she cried with aloud voice” (28), being Susanna’s remonstrances with the Elders, becomes “Bernardo’s discourse to Isabel ” in ‘Never too Late ’ (viii. 147-57). At that point in the latter piece some sonnets intervene: then there are a few passages in common (iii. 29; viii. 159, &c.). And on p. 32 in Susanna’s tale her fine speech after her sentence, beginning “O God, which seest the secrets of all hearts,” is put into Isabel’s li s on pp. 161 to 163 in ‘Never too Late.’ About thirteen pages in all are common to the two pieces. Slight alterations (merely of names, or in the (Personal pronouns) were made where require . From the ‘Anatomie of Fortune’ (iii. 192) the lines “ Juno strove but once with Venus, and she was vanquished,” to “make the sore more dangerous” (193) appear again in ‘Alcida’ (ix. 32), with the dissrence that the salamander is deliberately set aside, after having served so faithfully, a few other lines (iii. 215 and ix. 34) are common to both pieces, but “Zutho” is changed to “Zathe.” As this passage is taken from ‘ Euphues an_d his England] we learn that “Zutho” 18 correct., _ _ From the ‘Carde of Fancne ’ (iv. 36 and 38) passages concerning the elephant and the rose, the roebuck and red cloth, and love being a chaos of cares occur again in ‘Orpharion’ (xii. 28, 29). The elephant’s rose is misprinted “ wast ” in the latter piece, which is indebted to several previous tracts in various places. From the ‘Carde of Fancie,’ again (73), the stone Garatides and the Germander leaf are borrowed into ‘Orpharion’ (33). And in the latter piece, on pp. 35, 37, are passages from the former (“Apelles - fEsop’s Crowe ”) at pp. 102, 103. The same applies to some metaphors on p. 42 in ‘Orpharion.’ which found an earlier citation (from ‘ Euphues,’ I believe) in the ‘ Carde of Fancie,’ 115, 116. From ‘Planetomachia’ (v. 53), “as she stoode in a window...Rodento, amazed at the sight of such a heavenly creature ” (54), to “ wolves to bark against the moone” (not Syrian wolves), on p. 55, appears again in ‘ Perimedes’ (vii. 66, 67). Again, in the same tracts, on p. 75 in ‘Planetomachia,’ the words “Ah, unhap ie Pasylla,” to “play the woman and seeks to revenge” (p. 77), are transported bodily into ‘ Perimedes ' (vii. 74-6) with the barest needful changes. I am dealing here with verbal repetitions but it is hardly necessary to point out that the tales are the same in outline, otherwise so many portions would not mortise harmo- niously into either composition. Dyce has pointed out that Francesco in ‘Never too Late’ and Roberto in Greene’s ‘Groatsworth of Wit’ have much in common, both characters being pictures of himself, and some of their adventures his own. More verbal repetitions were‘obvious in my previous article devoted to “ Greenisms,” these being generally scraps, and not whole- sale transferences. And yet more will appear presently, for many of Greene’s passages are rom ‘Euphues,’ practically verbatim, and these valuable aids often do duty more than once. I will set forth the more prominent of these assimilations next. In several cases these metaphors, common enough later, are primarily due to Lyly’s ‘ Euphues.’ Greene and Euphues. To the eneral subject of Greene’s indebted-» ness to iyly I have already referred sufli- ciently. A detailed account remains to be- furnished. My references are to Arber’s valuable reprint of ‘Euphues, the Anatomy of Wit’ (1579), coupled with ‘Euphues and' his England ’ (1580). The pagination runs. through, the latter work commencing at . 212, and being some fifty pages the longer. My quotations will be from ‘Euphues,’ with