Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

BOOK VII.

CHAPTER I.

AS YOU LIKE IT.

'AS YOU LIKE IT' was first printed in the folio collection of 1623.

[ocr errors]

The exact date of this comedy cannot be fixed, but there is no doubt that it belongs to the first or second year of the seventeenth century. It is not mentioned in the list published by Meres in 1598; and there is an allusion in the comedy which fixes the limits of its date in the other direction: "I will weep for nothing," says Rosalind," like Diana in the fountain." The cross in Westcheap, originally erected by Edward I., was reconstructed in the reign of Henry VI., and converted to the useful purpose of a conduit. The images about the cross were often broken and defaced, probably by the misdirected zeal of the early reformers; and so the heathen deities were called in, and in 1596, according to Stow, was set up an alabaster image of Diana, and water conveyed from the Thames prilling from her breast." Stow gives us this information in 1599; but in 1603, when the second edition of his 'Survey of London' was published, the glories of Diana were passed away; her fountain was no longer "prilling." "The same is ofttimes dried up, and now decayed," says Stow. There can be no doubt that Diana was included in the popular hatred of this unfortunate cross; for although Elizabeth, on the 24th September, 1600, sent a special command to the city respecting "the continuance of that monument," in accordance with which it was again repaired, gilded, and cleansed from dust, "about twelve nights following the image of our Lady was again defaced by plucking off her crown, and almost her head." When Rosalind made the allusion to Diana in the fountain, we may be pretty sure that the fountain was not "dried up."

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

If we were to accept the oracular decisions of Farmer and Steevens, as to the sources from which Shakspere derived the story of As You Like It,' we might dismiss the subject very briefly. The one says, with his usual pedantic insolence, "As You Like It' was certainly borrowed, if we believe Dr. Grey and Mr. Upton, from the 'Coke's Tale of Gamelyn,' which, by the way, was not printed till a century afterward, when, in truth, the old bard, who was no hunter of MSS., contented himself solely with Lodge's 'Rosalynd, or Euphues' Golden Legacye,' quarto, 1590."* Thus the old bard," meaning Shakspere, did not take the trouble of doing, or was incapable of doing, what another old bard, Lodge (first a player, and afterwards a naval surgeon), did with great care-consult the manuscript copy of an old English tale attributed, but supposed incorrectly so, to Chaucer. In spite, however, of Dr. Farmer, we shall take the liberty of looking at the 'Tale of Gamelyn,' in the endeavour to find some traces of Shakspere. Steevens disposes of Lodge's 'Rosalynd' in as summary a way as Farmer does of 'Gamelyn.' "Shakespeare has followed Lodge's novel more exactly than is his general custom when he is indebted to such worthless originals, and has sketched some of his principal characters and borrowed a few expressions from it. The imitations, &c., however, are in general too insignificant to merit transcription." All this is very unscrupulous, ignorant, and tasteless. Lodge's 'Rosalynd' is not a worthless original; Shakspere's imitations of it are not insignificant. Lodge's novel is, in many respects, however quaint and pedantic, informed with

* Essay on the Learning of Shakspeare, Boswell's Edition, p. 214.

a bright poetical spirit, and possesses a pastoral charm which may occasionally be compared with the best parts of Sydney's Arcadia.' Lodge most scrupulously follows the "Tale of Gamelyn,' as far as that poem would harmonise with other parts of his story which we may consider to be his own invention. But he has added so much that is new, in the creation of the incident of the banished king, the adventures of Rosalynd and Alinda (Celia) in the forest, the passion of Rosader (Orlando), and the pretty mistake of Phebe arising out of the disguise of Rosalynd, that it is nothing less than absurd to consider Shakspere's obligations to him as insignificant. It is remarkable that in the two instances where Shakspere founded dramas upon the novels of two contemporary English writers, the 'Rosalynd' of Lodge, and the 'Pandosto' of Greene, he offered a decided homage to their genius, by adopting their incidents with great fidelity. But in the process of converting a narrative into a drama he manifests the wonderful superiority of his powers over those of the most gifted of his fellow-poets, even in a more remarkable way than if, using the common language of criticism, we might call the 'As You Like It' and the 'Winter's Tale' his own invention; especially in the exquisite taste with which he combines old materials with new, narrates what is unfit to be dramatically represented, represents what he finds narrated, informs the actors with the most lively and discriminating touches of character, and throws over the whole the rich light of his poetry and his philosophy. We believe that our readers will not, in this point of view consider the space ill bestowed which we shall devote to an analysis of Lodge's Rosalynd,' as compared with the 'As You Like It.'*

"The Coke's Tale of Gamelyn," says Tyrwhitt, "is not to be found in any of the MSS. of the first authority; and the manner,

* A reprint of this uncommonly rare tract forms part of a series entitled 'Shakespeare's Library, a Collection of the Romances, Novels, and Histories used by Shakespeare as the Foundation of his Dramas. Now first collected and accurately reprinted from the Original Editions, with Introductory Notices by J. Payne Collier, Esq., F.S.A.' Such a work, so edited, is of the greatest value to the students and lovers of Shakspere.

|

style, and versification, all prove it to have been the work of an author much inferior to Chaucer." He adds-" As a relique of our ancient poetry, and the foundation, perhaps, of Shakespeare's 'As You Like It,' I could have wished to see it more accurately printed than it is in the only edition which we have of it."+ Of the antiquity of the poem there can be no doubt. It not only employs the old language in the old spirit, but its conception of the heroic character is altogether that of a rude age, when deeds of violence did not present themselves to the imagination as any other than the natural accompaniments of bodily strength and undaunted courage. There is nothing more remarkable than the different modes in which Lodge and Shakspere-who, be it remembered, were contemporaries, and therefore, with the exception of the differences of their individual habits of thought, to be supposed equally capable of modifying their impressions by the associations of a different state of society-have dealt with their common original. In the 'Tale of Gamelyn,' an old doughty knight, Sir Johan of Boundis, is at the point of death, and directs certain "wise knights" to settle how he shall divide his goods amongst his three sons. The division which they make is, as we shall presently see, not agreeable to the wishes of the father, and he thus decrees that his land shall be divided otherwise than the friends had willed:

"For Godd 'is love, my neighbouris,
Standeith ye alle still,
And I will delin my londe
After my ownè will.

Johan myn
eldest sone shall
Yhave plowis five,
That was my fadir's heritage
While that he was on live;

And middillist sone shall
Five plowis have of lond

That I holpe for to gettin
With myn own rightè hond;

And all myn othir purchasis
Of landis and of ledes
That I bequethè Gamelyn
And all my gode stedes."

[ocr errors][merged small]

According to Lodge's 'Rosalynd,' Sir John | of Bourdeaux, in the presence of his fellow knights of Malta, calls his sons before him, and thus directs:

"As I leave you some fading pelf to countercheck poverty, so I will bequeath you infallible precepts that shall lead you unto virtue. First, therefore, unto thee, Saladyne, the eldest, and therefore the chiefest pillar of my house, wherein should be engraved as well the excellency of thy father's qualities, as the essential fortune of his proportion, to thee I give fourteen ploughlands, with all my manor-houses and richest plate. Next, unto Fernandine I bequeath twelve ploughlands. But, unto Rosader, the youngest, I give my horse, my armour, and my lance, with sixteen ploughlands; for, if the inward thoughts be discovered by outward shadows, Rosader will exceed you all in bounty and honour."

The Orlando of Shakspere thus describes his legacy:

“As I remember, Adam, it was upon this fashion bequeathed me by will, but poor a thousand crowns; and, as thou say'st, charged my brother, on his blessing, to breed me well."

The entire difference of the conception of character between the Orlando of Shakspere and the Rosader of Lodge follows this difference in the statement of the father's bequest. Shakspere, we have no doubt, was led to this difference by his knowledge of the original tale. We do not believe that he " was no hunter of MSS." The mode in

therefore allow me such exercises as may become a gentleman, or give me the poor allottery my father left me by testament; with that I will go buy my fortunes."

With the exception of the slight burst of violence at the insolence of his elder brother, the youngest son of Shakspere is perfectly submissive, unrepining at his fortunes, without revenge. In the 'Tale of Gamelyn,' and in Lodge's version of it, the youngest son being endowed more largely than his elder brother, there is a perpetual contest for power going forward. The elder brother is envious at the younger being preferred; the younger is indignant that the cunning of the elder deprives him of the advantages of his father's testament. It is singular how closely Lodge has here copied the old tale. In his preface he says,

"Having, with Captain Clarke, made a voyage to the islands of Terceras and the Canaries, to

beguile the time with labour I write this book; rough, as hatched in the storms of the ocean, and feathered in the surge of many perilous seas."

It is quite clear that he had in his cabin a copy in manuscript of the old 'Tale of Gamelyn.' For example:

[blocks in formation]

"With that, casting up his hand, he felt hair

which the friends of the old doughty knight upon his face, and, perceiving his beard to bud,

disposed of his wealth was this:

"For to delin them al too on

That was ther only thought,
And for that Gamelyn yongist was
He shuldè havin nought."

We see at once that the course which Shakspere has taken was necessary to his conception of the character of the younger brother. Because his brother neglected to breed him well, there begins his sadness:

"My father charged you in his will to give me good education: you have trained me like a peasant, obscuring and hiding me from all gentlemanlike qualities: the spirit of my father grows strong in me, and I will no longer endure it:

for choler he began to blush, and swore to himself he would be no more subject to such slavery."

[blocks in formation]

seeing his brother in a brown study, and to forget his wonted reverence, thought to shake him out of his dumps thus. Sirrah,' quoth he, 'what, is your heart on your halfpenny, or are you saying a dirge for your father's soul? what, is my dinner ready?' At this question Rosader, turning his head askance, and bending his brows as if anger there had ploughed the furrows of her wrath, with his eyes full of fire, he made this reply: 'Dost thou ask me, Saladyne, for thy cates? ask some of thy churls who are fit for such an office.""

In the 'Tale of Gamelyn,' which continues to be almost literally followed by Lodge, we have now a terrible conflict between the two brothers, The elder calls his men to bind

But we turn again to the old tale, and we find that Shakspere avails himself of whatever exists in that story suited for his dramatic object; although Lodge may have given a different version of it. With that care with which he distinguishes between what is necessary as a preparation for a dramatic incident, and the exhibition of another incident not essentially dramatic, he engages our sympathy for Orlando by narrating the triumph of the wrestler over the old man's three sons:

"Yonder they lie; the poor old man, their father, making such pitiful dole over them, that all the beholders take his part with weeping."

and beat; the younger seizes " a pestill," When Gamelyn arrived at the wrestling-place, (Lodge calls it “a rake,”)

"And droffe all his brother's men

Right sone on a hepe."

But there is a touch of nature in the old tale, equal in its pathos to the most beautiful things in our ancient ballads, which we look for in vain in Lodge, but which unquestionably entered into Shakspere's conception of the generous and forgiving Orlando :

"The knightè thoughtin on traison But Gamelyn on none,

And went and kissid his brothir,

And then they were at one.”

We e are now arrived at the incident of the wrestling. In the old tale there is no treacherous agreement between the elder brother and the wrestler. The knight simply wishes that Gamelyn

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

he lighted down from his steed and stood upon the grass;

"And ther he herd a frankelyn Weloway for to sing,

And beganin all bittirly

His handis for to wring."

Here we trace Shakspere; in Lodge we lose him.

"At this unlooked-for massacre the people murmured, and were all in a deep passion of pity; but the franklin, father unto these, never changed his countenance, but as a man of courageous resolution took up the bodies of his sons without show of outward discontent."

Farther, in Lodge, when the champion approaches Rosader, he simply gives him a shake by the shoulder; in 'As You Like It' he mocks Orlando with taunting speeches; and so in Gamelyn he starts towards the youth,

"And seidè, Who is thy fadir, And who is eke thy sire? Forsothe thou art a gret fole,

For that thou camist hire."

Up to this point has Lodge followed his original, with few exceptions, very literally; but he now gives a new interest to the story by presenting to us Rosalynd. The style in which he describes her beauty is amongst the prettiest of poetical exaggerations :

"The blush that gloried Luna, when she kissed the shepherd on the hills of Latmos, was not tainted with such a pleasant dye as the

vermilion flourished on the silver hue of Rosalynd's countenance: her eyes were like those lamps that make the wealthy covert of the heavens more gorgeous, sparkling favour and disdain; courteous and yet coy, as if in them Venus had placed all her amorets, and Diana all her chastity. The trammels of her hair, folded in a caul of gold, so far surpassed the burnished glister of the metal as the sun doth the meanest star in brightness: the tresses that fold in the brows of Apollo were not half so rich to the sight, for in her hairs it seemed Love had laid herself in ambush, to entrap the proudest eye that durst gaze upon their excellence."

Mr. Collier, quoting this description of Lodge, says it "puts one a little in mind of James Shirley's excellent ridicule of overstrained hyperbolical compliments and unnatural resemblances, in his play of "The Sisters'" (1652).* We wonder Shakspere's own playful sonnet did not occur to him as a closer example of this ridicule :

66

'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress
reeks.

I love to hear her speak,-yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go,—

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground;

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare."

In this sonnet we see the dominant principle of good sense by which Shakspere made his poetry a reality. His Rosalind is a living being, full of grace, and spirit, and tenderness; arch, witty, playful, impassioned. The Rosalynd of Lodge is not exactly "of no character at all," but she leaves no very distinct or pleasing impression on our mind. Shakspere's exquisite conception of her character is in no place more clearly evinced than in the manner with which he deals

* Poetical Decameron,' vol. ii. p. 171.

with an incident that Lodge thus presents to him :

"As the king and lords graced him (Rosader) with embracing, so the ladies favoured him with their looks, especially Rosalynd, whom the beauty and valour of Rosader had already touched: but she accounted love a toy, and fancy a momentary passion; that, as it was taken in with a gaze, might be shaken off with a wink, and therefore feared not to dally in the flame; and, to make Rosader know she affected him, took from her neck a jewel, and sent it by a page to the young gentleman."

Compare this with the following delicious passage:

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]
« ZurückWeiter »