Earthly man that I have wrought,
Awake out of thy sleep;
Earthly man that I have bought,
Of me thou hast no keep.
From heaven man’s soul I sought,
Into a dungeon deep,
My dear leman from thence I brought,
For ruth of her I weep.
I am very prince of peace,
And king of free mercy;
Who will of sinnès have release
On me they call and cry.
And if they will of sinnès cease,
I grant them peace truly,
And thereto a full rich messe
In bread my own body.
I am very bread of life;
From heaven I light and am sende,
Who eateth that bread, man or wife,
Shall live with me without end.
And that bread that I give you,
Your wicked life for to amend,
Becomes my flesh through your belief,
And doth release your sinful band.
And whosoever eateth that bread
In sin or wicked life,
He receiveth his own death,
I warn both man and wife.
Three personages other than actors sometimes occupied the stage--a
Preco or page, an expositor, and a messenger. They all three appear in
the play of _The Histories of Lot and Abraham_. The page appears on the
“pageant carriage” immediately after the play of _Noah’s Flood_, and
says:--
All lordings that be here present,
And hearken me with good intent,
How Noah away from us he went,
And all his company;
And Abraham, through God’s grace,
He is comen into this place,
And ye will give us room and space
To tell you of story.
This play, forsooth, begun shall be
In worship of the Trinity,
That you may all hear and see
That shall be done to-day;
My name is Gobbet-on-the-Green,
With you I may no longer bene;
Farewel, my lordes, bydene
For letting of your play.
The expositor or doctor takes care that the play is “understanded of
the people.” He appears early in the play on horseback, and says:--
Lordinges, what maye this signify
I will expound it appeartlye,
That the unlearned standing here by
May know what this may be.[41]
[41] Being on horseback, he would, of course, be more easily heard
by the crowd. Everything in the play points to the fact that it was
looked upon as a means of instruction for the people, and not a mere
amusement. The play itself consists of two plays compressed into one,
and seems to be one of the oldest of the series.
He interrupts at different points, and explains the rite of
circumcision and the offering up of Isaac, and then we have the
remarkable and significant fact that the crowd joins him in prayer.
_Here, let the docter knele downe, and saie_,
Such obedience grante us, O Lorde!
Ever to thy moste holye worde,
That in the same we may accorde
As this Abraham was bayne;
Then al togaither shall we
That worthy kinge in heaven see,
And dwell with him in greate glorye,
For ever and ever, Amen.
His place is now filled by a messenger, who announces the next play.
The stage direction is--
_Here the messenger maketh an ende._
Make rombe, lordinges, and give us waye,
And let Balacke come in and plaie,
And Balame that well can saie
To tell you of prophescie.
That Lord that died on Good Frydaie,
He save you all bouth nighte and daie!
Fare well, my lordinges; I goe my waie,
I may no longer abyde.
The ordinary reader has little or no idea of the literary and dramatic
value of the plays, owing to the fact that printed copies are not
easily accessible.
I have thought it well, therefore, to print (in a slightly shortened
form) and to explain the following play.
It embodies most of the points mentioned in this article, it has
distinct literary and artistic value, and, above all, the character of
Herod made it the most popular play of the cycle, and is often alluded
to.
Shakespeare uses the phrase “out-Heroding Herod.” Chaucer says of Joly
Absalon:--
Sometyme to shewe his lightness and maistrye
He pleyeth Herodes on a scaffold hye.
In the Paston letters we find Sir John Paston’s agent, in describing
the high-handed proceedings of the Duke of Norfolk in 1478, saying,
“There was no man that played Herod in _Corpus Christi_ play better
and more agreeable to his pageant than _he_ did.”
It will be seen, I think, that the verdict of the general public was a
sound and good one.