ix. 111. To thém of Síen, Flórence ánd Belógna;
or _Bolónia_, gliding ending.
ii. 156. ⋀ Maíster Búrden whèn shàll we sée you at Hénly?
Of feminine endings Knaut counts ten, and about four gliding.
2. They should allow also for the anapæst in itself (as ix. 231) or by
way of compensation for a missing syllable in an adjoining foot. Two
such give the appearance of a senarius. Occasionally, as in vi. 163
('gay straightwáy,' or 'way from Frés--'), the foot is awkward. Even
so, I do not think that the emendation 'straight' (Dy., W.) for this
'straightway' is necessary.
3. _Senarii._ (_a_) The following are such in appearance only. They
should be read as pentameters in which the anapæst, slurring, or
elision, is employed. In
i. 156. Send létters speéd'ly | to Óxford óf the néwes,
we have the epic cæsura. So also vi. 94, cæsura after 'Beckles'; and so
x. 77. Give mè ... but tén days' réspite | and Íle replý,
and xvi. 30. Atténds on Él'nor | gramércies, lórd, for hér.
In ix. 191. ⋀ Mártiall Plantágenet | Hénries highmínded sónne,
we have the lyric cæsura; so also in
xiii. 67. Then this for her | Áh, well thrúst. But márke, the wárd.
Cf. Schipper _Neuengl. Metr._, p. 25 _n_.
In iii. 51. For we've líttle leísure tó debáte of thát,
vi. 131-132. 'Twere a lóng poinárd, my lórd, to reách betweéne
⋀ Óxford and Frésingfiéld, but sit stíll and see móre,
vi. 162. I've stroók him dúm my lórd | 'n if your hónor pleáse,
ix. 31. Of éleméntal éssence, térra's but thóught,
ix. 45. Ànd òf the víg'r of the géomantic fiends,
xiv. 79. We cánnot stáy my lórd | 'n if she bé so stríct,--
anapaestic readings with natural apocope or syncope preserve the
pentameter. Dy's 'you' for 'your honor' in vi. 162, and omission of 'my
lord' in xiv. 79, are therefore unnecessary.
xvi. 64 appears to have six feet; but if it is taken in sequence with
the preceding line the effect is of two five-foot lines.
(_b_) The following senarii of Q 1 are real, and should be preserved,
though Dyce and Ward generally place the first foot in a line by
itself. The Marlowan reform had not yet completed the rout of the
Alexandrine,--and even if it had Greene would have remained unrouted.
He uses the Alexandrine, sometimes unconsciously, sometimes for
variety. Perhaps a few of these senarii, i. 10, 83; ii. 112, 148; iii.
26; vi. 77; ix. 185; x. 149; xi. 7, 92; xii. 18; xiv. 78; xvi. 40, are
accidental, but most of them are intended to be impressive, and the
additional foot generally indicates the person most concerned.
=E. Other Debated Lines.=
iv. 11. Ward retains the senarius. Dyce thinks 'corrupted,' and
queries, 'As Agenor's damsel did,' for 'through the deep' is almost a
repetition of 'through the seas.'--Wagner: 'like Europa through the
deep.'--Perhaps (says Palgrave acc. to Ward) the dramatist pronounced
the name _Ágenor_. We might then scan:--
And vénture as Ágenor's dámsel thróugh the deép.
But it is quite as likely that Greene intended, or let slip, a
senarius. ix. 112. The quartos are right, and we should scan thus:--
Reìmès, Lovaín, and faí-r Rótherdam.
For 'fayer,' etc., see _B_ 1, above. By altering to 'Rheims,' Do., Dy.,
G., and W. miss the metre. G., for instance, reads 'Rheims [and]'; Elze
(_Notes on Elizab. Dramatists_, Halle, 1886, cxcix): 'Of Rheíms, of
Loúvain ánd fair Rótterdám'; Knaut: 'Rheims, Loúvain, Páris ánd.' But
if we preserve the spelling of the quartos the scansion is simple.
=A Few Conclusions.=--Greene was sensitive to dramatic niceties
of utterance. Hence most of the metrical idiosyncrasies which are
improperly called irregularities. An induction from the instances
cited under _C_ above shows that the following were the conditions of
utterance to which he accorded special elocutionary recognition: the
pause before a question or a response and the increase of emphasis upon
the syllable succeeding the silence; the pause for reflection, and
the pause before deliberate utterance; decision attending a command;
the pause of speechless anger; the stoppage due to sighing, sobbing,
horror, or any recoil of emotion; the period of, or after, a gesture,
an inarticulate cry, a burst of laughter, an exclamatory remark; the
pause during the suppression of the self-explanatory. The examination
of his practice in _Friar Bacon_ shows that in order to represent
these conditions in dramatic blank verse Greene availed himself of
silent beats with a uniformity that might be called system, were it the
outcome of anything less spontaneous than the rhetorical instinct and
the feeling for rhythm. Subordinating these to his knowledge of stage
'business,' Greene seems, then, to have developed a metrical use of the
lacuna somewhat like this:--
_Before_ an important affirmation, the name of one addressed in
exclamation, an inquiry, an imperative request, a command;
_At_ the transition from one form of utterance to another, the
suppression of word or words understood, the gulp of rage, the burst of
laughter;
_After_ an outcry.
These conclusions are confirmed by an examination of the other plays
in which the text is fairly authentic. The dramatist naturally and,
in that sense, intentionally suited his 'lines' to the histrionic
emergency: an achievement not difficult for one of his rhetorical
quality, who was also familiar with the practice of the stage. On
similar grounds and with a regard likewise for the conditions of verse
at the time, his senarii are to be retained and defended.
Most of the attempts to reduce his dramatic blank verse to anything
like measured uniformity are, therefore, in my opinion academic and
superfluous. They are indeed worse, for not only do they ignore the
personal equation, they tend to pervert the data from which the history
of English metres must be derived. There may, of course, be lines,
like vi. 17 and ix. 47 of this play, where dramatist or intermediary
has unwittingly omitted something, or actor wantonly added, but they
are few; and unless the sense calls out for orthopædic assistance,
no literary, historical, or philological interest is subserved by
doctoring the text.
_Henry Porter_
THE PLEASANT HISTORY OF
THE TWO ANGRY WOMEN OF ABINGTON
_Edited with Critical Essay and
Notes by Charles Mills Gayley,
LL. D., Professor in the University
of California._