Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 7.djvu/392

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. VIL MAY is, 1901.

of the City of London and the whole realm, I have granted and quitclaimed to the said City and citizens, for me and my heirs for ever, all those wells and their waters which lie in my net ot Tyburne near the public highway leading towards the said City ; to bring the said waters by a conduit to the said City through such parts of my nef as they may deem expedient." Mention is also made of "the tower or reservoir where the waters are collected."]

EDMUND SPENSER, ' LOCRINE,' AND 'SELIMUS.'

(Concluded from p. 325.)

OFTEN, when comparing Marlowe's plays and poems with each other, I have been struck by the close manner in which * Dido ' repeats ' Tamburlaine,' and it has occurred to me that perhaps the author worked con- currently at the two dramas, and threw ' Dido' aside to get on with other work. Although Marlowe left 'Dido' unfinished at his death, it is pretty safe to say that his friend Thomas Nashe, who completed it, added but little to the play. The phrasing of ' Dido ' arid ' Tam- burlaine ' is sometimes uncommonly alike and different from what we find in other parts of Marlowe's work ; and occasionally a whole line of one play is repeated or nearly repeated in the other. Note, for instance, the follow- ing :

Tamb. And clothe it in a crystal livery.

'2 Tamb., 'I. iii., p. 46, col. 2.

JZn. And olad her in a crystal livery.

' Dido,' V., p. 270, col. 1.

And not unseldom we come across bits like these, which enable us to pick out with pre- cision parts of ' Dido ' that were certainly penned by Marlowe :

Tamb. But then run desperate through the

thickest throngs,

Dreadless of blows, of bloody wounds, and death. '2 Tamb., ''III. ii., p. 56, col. 1. JEn. Yet flung I forth, and, desperate of my life, Ran in the thickest throngs, and, &c.

'Dido,' II., p. 258, col. 1.

The scene from which the latter passage is taken is undoubtedly by Marlowe entirely, and parts of it copy from Spenser.

'Dido' also contains repetitions of other

pieces by Marlowe, as the following will show :

JEn. Threatening a thousand deaths at every

glance. ' Dido/ II., p. 258, col. 1.

Threatening a thousand deaths at every glance. ' Hero and Leander,' 1st Sest., 1. 382.

Faust. Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a

kiss. ' Dr. Faustus,' p. 99, col. 2.

Dido. And he '11 make me immortal with a kiss.

'Dido,' IV., p. 269, col. 1.

Hence it is apparent not only that Marlowe repeats himself occasionally, but that the

repetitions in * Dido ' are a certain guide to portions of the tragedy that are from his hand. That being so, I will now compare Dido ' with 'Selimus ' :

Dido. And wilt thou not be mov'd with Dido's

words ?

Thy mother was no goddess, perjur'd man, Nor Dardanus the author of thy stock ; But thou art sprung from Scythian Caucasus, And tigers of Hyrcania gave thee suck.

' Dido,' V., p. 272, col. 1.

Zonara. Thou art not, false groom, son to Bajazet ; He would relent to hear a woman weep, But thou wast born in desert Caucasus, And the Hyrcanian tigers gave thee suck ; Knowing thou wert a monster like themselves.

' Selimus,' 11. 1235-9.

The lines are paralleled again in ' Edward II.,' p. 219, col. 2, where the king tells Lightborn that the story of what he (the king) has had to endure would melt a heart hewn from the Caucasus, and make it relent at his misery.

For style and phrasing compare the follow- ing, and note how Guise and Selimus echo each other again :

Guise. Let mean conceits and baser men fear

death : Tut, they are peasants ; / am Duke of Guise.

' Massacre at Paris,' p. 242, col. 1.

Selimus. Let Mahound's laws be locked up in their

ease,

And meaner men and of a baser spirit, In virtuous actions seek for glorious merit, / count it, &c. ' Selimus,' 11. 246-9.

Guise. I am a juror in the holy league, And therefore hated of the Protestants : What should I do but stand upon my guard ?

'Massacre at Paris,' p. 240, col. 1.

Sel. But for I see the Schoolmen are prepar'd To plant 'gainst me their bookish ordinance, I mean to stand on a sententious guard.

' Selimus,' 11. 303-5.

Thirsting with sovereignty and love of arms.

'1 Tamb.,' II. i., p. 13, col. 1. Love of rule and kingly sovereignty.

' Selimus,' 1. 200.

But when the imperial lion's flesh is gor'd, He rends and tears it with his wrathful paw.

'Ed ward II., 'p. 212, col. 2. As when a lion, rav'ning for his prey, Falleth upon a drove of horned bulls, And rends them strongly in his kingly paws.

' Selimus,' 11. 2495-7.

As princely lions, when they rouse themselves, Stretching their paws, and threatening herds of beasts, &c.

' 1 Tamb.,' I. ii., p. 10, col. 1.

And in your shields display your rancorous minds. 'Ed ward II., 'p. 195, col. 1. Charactering honour in his batter'd shield.

'Selimus,' 1.56