Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 4.djvu/276

 226 NOTES AND QUERIES. [io«* s. iv. SKT. w. in either by silence to die with griefe, or by unfolding his mind, to live with shame," 'Arbastp' (Hi. 216), 1584; and again, 'Carde of Fancie' (iv. 176). 31. "I trust thy inallice shall want might, wherein thou shalt resemble the ser- pent Porphirius, who is full of poison, but being toothlesse hehurteth none but himselfe" (372). This has occurred before in Lyly (224). "Whatsoever his mind was, his malice hath wanted might, wheriii he resembleth the serpent Porphirius, who is full of poison, but being toothlesse hurteth none but him selfe," 'Arbasto'(iii. 220). 32. "Ah, Camilla, ah, wretched wench Camilla, I perceive now, that when the Hoppe groweth high it must have a pole when the Vine riseth it wreatheth about ye Elme, when virgins waxe in yeares, they follow that which beloiiKeth to their appetites, love, love? For as the stone Draconites can by no meauea be polished unlesse the Lapidarie burne it, BO the minde of Camilla can by no meanes be cured, except Surius ease it 1 but, Camilla, dissemble thy love, though it shorten thy lyfe, for better it were to dye with griefe, then lyve with shame. The Spunge is full of water, yet it is not seene, the hearbe Adyatou [Adianton], though it be wet, looketh alwayes drye, and a wise lover, be she never so much tormented, behaveth hirselfe as though she were not touched. I but fire can-not be hydden in the flaxe with-out smoake, nor Muske in the bosome with-out nmell, nor love in the breast with-out suspition " (425). There is here an early and interesting refer- ence to the maidenhair fern (Adiantum), nearly two centuries prior to the first in 'N.E.D.' (Phillips). The Draconites and lapidary is from Pliny, grievously altered and spoiled. Greene's alterations here are very interesting, so much so that he must be quoted in full. The tree Alpina (Alpya, Aipyna) he got from Euphues (307) in another connexion. Greene uses this tree as a peg to hang several sentiments upon. "Ah, Myrania, ah, wretched Myrania I per- •ceyve when the vine riseth it wreatheth about the time: when the hop groweth high it hath neede of a. poale, and when virgins waxe in yeares they fol- lowe y' which belongeth to their youth. Love, love, dissemble thy love, though it shorten thy life : for better it were to die with greefe, than live with .shame. The spring is full of water, yet is not seene. The leafe of y' tree Aipyna, though it bee wet, Jooketh alwayes drie, and a wise lover [verbatim to "suspicion"]. for as the stone Draconites can by no meanes bee pollished unlegse the Lapidarie burne it, so thy mynde can by no medicine bee cured un- .lesseArbastoeaseit: alas Arbasto, sweete Arbasto!" —' Arbasto: the Anatomie of Fortune' (iii. 216-17), The alteration of "sponge" to "springe," with the omission of Lyly's pronoun "it," referring to the water, is a crafty one—to .save an infringement of copyright. 33. " In drawing of an English man ye payntersetteth him downe naked, having in ye one hande a pay re of sheeres, in the other a piece of cloath" (43?) [ready to adopt any country's fashion. From Andrew Borde, 1542]. Lyly refers to this elsewhere (118, 152). " Almost as fantasticke as the English Gentle- man that is painted naked with a paire of sheeres in his hande, as not being resolved after what fashion to have his coat cut,3 ' Farewell to Follie ' (ix. 253). This became a stock quotation, and I think Stubbes ('Anatomie of Abuses,1 1583) anticipates Greene. Perhaps others anticipated Lyly. It is in Hall's 'Satires,' Dekker's 'Seven Deadly Shines,' Burton's 'Anatomy of Melan- choly, Webster, Beaumont and Fletcher, and others. If imitation be flattery, we see that Greene at once announced his admiration for Lyly. He went at Euphuism as soon as it was hatched, like the lapwing with the shell on its head, to use their own expression. I be- lieve the first written praise of Lyly by name (Greene never praises him by name), for 'Euphues,' was by William Webbe in his 'Discourse of English Poetrie,'1586, quoted by Fairholt (Lyly's ' Dramatic Works'). One of Lyly's plays, ' The Woman in the Moone,1 is nearly free from the taint. It appears to have preceded ' Euphues' in composition, though not acted till later. Sir Philip Sidney refers unmistakably to Lyly's 'Euphues' in ' Astrophel and Stella' (? 1581-4), Sonnet iii.: Let dainty wits cry on the sisters nine, That bravely maskt, their fancies may be told ; Or Pindar's apes flaunt they in phrases fine. Enamelling with pied flowers their thoughts of gold; Or else let them in statelier glory shine, Ennobling new-found tropes with problems old; Or with strange similes enrich each line Of herbs or beasts which Inde or Afric hold : For me, in sooth, no 51 use but one I know, Phrases and problems from my reach do grow. Aruer's ' English Garner,' vol. i. p. 501. Perhaps this is the greatest testimony to its popularity that Euphuism received. But it is noticeable how free from it Sidney's 'Arcadia' keeps throughout. The 'Arcadia' has, indeed, its own whim- sicalities of style, but they are not so insistent as to be offensive, and there is always a beautiful thought beneath the iteration, or grammatical declension of ft master-word, recurring sometimes in droves in a single sentence. Sidney had none of this in his earlier prose; and this brings to my notice a still earlier reference by him to Lyly's 'Euphues.' At least so I under- stand the following passage in * An Apologie for Poetrie' (Arber, pp. 68, 69), which is attributable to the date 1581:—