Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 10.djvu/84

 62 NOTES AND QUERIES. [us.*. JAN. .. association of the two authors was, as I hope to show, of a more intimate kind, several of the scenes revealing clear traces of both hands. Act I., scene i. This is wholly Massinger's. It is all in metre. Parallels are so numerous that it is only necessary to give here a selection of the more striking. I have left many characteristic turns of expression unnoted. 1. Theophilus : 'Twas a benefit For which I ever owe you. Compare : 'Tis a noble favour For which I ever owe you. (' The Bondman,' II. i.) 2. Sapritius :. . . when we are merciful to them We to ourselves are cruel. Compare : ... in compassion to them, You to us prove cruel. (' Maid of Honour,' II. Hi.) 3. Sempronius : You pour oil On fire that burns already at the height. Compare : Your words are but as oil pour'd on a fire, That flames already at the height. (' Unnatural Combat,' II. iii.) ... in this you but pour oil on fire. (' Duke of Milan,' V. i.) Massinger has this in several other plays. 4. Dioclesian : Had you borne yourselves Dejectedly, and base, no slavery Had been too easy for you : but such is The power of noble valour, that we love it Even in our enemies. Compare : Had he suffered poorly, It had calFd on my contempt ; but manly patience And all-commanding virtue, wins upon An enemy. (' Renegade,' IV. ii.) (Occurs again in ' The Duke of Milan,' III. i., ' Emperor of the East,' I. i., and elsewhere. ) 5. Dioclesian : Queen of fate, Imperious Fortune mix some light disaster With my so many joys, to season them, And give them sweeter relish. Compare : Heaven be pleased To qualify this excess of happiness With some disaster, or I shall expire With a surfeit of felicity. (' Guardian,' II. iii.) 6. Artemia : I make payment But of a debt, which I stand bound to tender. Compare : She comes to make a tender of that service Which she stands bound to pay. (' Great Duke of Florence,' II. iii.) (Also in ' A Very Woman,' II. i., and else- where.) 7. Antoninus : As I look on the temples, or the gods, And with that reverence, lady, I behold you. Compare : As I behold the sun, the stars, the temples, I look on you. (' Bashful Lover,' I. i.) . . . when I came To see you, it was with that reverence As I beheld the altars of the gods. (' Bondman,' II. i.) 8. Antoninus : Refuse what kings upon their knees would sue for ! Massinger repeats this over and over again with slight variations. Two parallels will suffice : ... to court him to embrace A happiness which, on his knees, with joy He should have sued for. (' Great Duke of Florence,' V. ii.) ... these bounties Which all our Eastern kings have kneel'd in vain for. (' Renegado,' II. iv.) 9. Antoninus : Pardon, dread princess, that I made some scruple To leave a valley of security To mount up to the hill of majesty, On which,' the nearer Jove, the nearer lightning. Compare : I'll look on human frailty And curse the height of royal blood : since I In being born near Jove, am near his thunder. (' Maid of Honour,' III. i.) 10. Antoninus : The fox, When he saw first the forest's king, the lion, Was almost dead with fear ; the second view Only a little daunted him ; the third, He durst salute him boldly. Compare : The fox, that would confer With a lion without fear, must see him often. (' Believe as you List,' III. ii.) Act II., scene i. Written by Dekker. Over one-third con- sists of prose dialogue between Hircius and Spungius. Then Angelo appears, speaking in verse, whilst Hircius and Spungius con- tinue to speak in prose ; finally Dorothea enters, speaking verse. Apart from the fact that Massinger rarely uses prose, the Hircius -Spungius authorship in several of his characteristic words and expressions. The blank verse !is also his, showing no trace of Massinger's metrical style or vocabulary. Particular indications of Dekker's authorship to be noted are : 1. Spungius : Bacchus. . . grand patron of rob-pots, upsy-freesy tipplers, &c. Dekker's plays are full of allusions to the Dutch and their habits. The expres- sion "to drink upsie-freese " (i.e., in the
 * dialogue shows positive evidence of Dekker 's