Part 50

=119-120=, 163-72. =The too huge . . . with hypocrisie.= In this curious passage the earth is conceived of as a recumbent figure, which usually lies face upwards to the sky. But the weight of her sins has caused her to roll over, so that her back part now braves heaven, while her face is turned to the Antipodes; and all the deceitful appearances which she has adopted through her cheating arts have come out in their true nature on her back, so that her hypocrisy stands revealed.

=120=, 178. =he:= the Friar.

=120=, 181. =his.= We should expect a repetition of her in l. 180. His, however seems to be equivalent to man's, anticipating man in l. 182. Possibly we should read this.

=121=, 191. =In, Ile after.= These words are addressed to the body of the Friar.

=122=, 20. =with terror:= inspiring terror in their enemies.

=123=, 28. =And . . . man:= And consider it, though left headless, as a completely formed man.

=123=, 36. =vertuous treasurie:= stock of virtues.

=124=, 46-53. =Not so . . . mens hate.= An adaptation of Seneca's Agamemnon, 64-72:

Non sic Libycis Syrtibus aequor Furit alternos volvere fluctus, Non Euxini turget ab imis Commota vadis unda, nivali Vicina polo; Ubi, caeruleis immunis aquis, Lucida versat plaustra Bootes, Ut praecipites regum casus Fortuna rotat.

These lines, with those immediately before and after, are more loosely adapted in Kyd's Spanish Tragedie, III, 1, 1-11.

=126=, 23. =this embodied shadow:= this spirit while it had bodily form.

=126=, 24-27. =With reminiscion . . . of art.= Cf. IV, 2, 158-61.

=127=, 41-53. =Terror of darknesse . . . greater light.= After Bussy's statement in ll. 29-32 we should expect him to immediately summon the Prince of darknesse, Behemoth. But ll. 41-46 are apparently addressed to the sun-god, who is invoked to put to flight night and mystery. Then as an alternative, in ll. 47-53, Behemoth, to whom darkness is as light, is bidden appear. Dilke substitutes oh for or (the reading of all Qq) at the beginning of l. 47. If this change be right, the invocation commences at this line, and ll. 41-46 are merely a preliminary rhetorical appeal for more illumination. But in this case there is an incongruity between such an appeal and the summoning of the Prince of shades, who sees best where darkness is thickest. Lamb in his Specimens retains the reading of the Qq, and says of the passage: "This calling upon Light and Darkness for information, but, above all, the description of the spirit--'threw his changed countenance headlong into clouds'--is tremendous, to the curdling of the blood. I know nothing in poetry like it."

=130=, 103. =all the signes:= i. e. of the Zodiac.

=131.= =Intrat Umbra Frier . . . Tamyra.= The Ghost of the Friar enters and discovers, i. e. reveals to view, Tamyra, who since the close of V, 1, has remained wrapped in the arras, or, as the variant stage direction in A here puts it, wrapt in a canapie.

=131=, 9. =before he be revenged:= before vengeance is taken on him. The reading of A, engaged, is perhaps (as Dilke suggests) preferable.

=133=, 27-28. =what . . . D'Amboys:= what bugbear, such as this, is not afraid to visit D'Amboys, even in his sleep?

=134=, 45. =Will . . . here?= D'Ambois's sword fails to pierce the privy coat worn by the murderer. Cf. V, 2, 57.

=134=, 52. =That . . . resembled:= That was a successful artifice, and a skilful impersonation.

=135=, 65. =enforce the spot:= emphasize the stain on your honour.

=136=, 82. =Then . . . fact:= then these teachers of divinity deal with figments, not with realities.

=136=, 83-84. =Man . . . servant:= Man consists of two attached friends, the body and the mind, of which the latter is swayed by the former, as a lover by his mistress.

=136=, 90-93. =And if Vespasian . . . groomes.= Cf. Suetonius, Life of Vespasian, Ch. 24. Hic, quum super urgentem valetudinem creberrimo frigidae aquae usu etiam intestina vitiasset, nec eo minus muneribus imperatoriis ex consuetudine fungeretur, ut etiam legationes audiret cubans, alvo repente usque ad defectionem soluta, Imperatorem, ait, stantem mori oportere. Dumque consurgit, ac nititur, inter manus sublevantium exstinctus est.

=137=, 100-108. =And haste . . . dwellers.= An adaptation of Seneca, Her. Oet. 1518-1526:

O decus mundi, radiate Titan, Cujus ad primos Hecate vapores Lassa nocturnae levat ora bigae, Dic sub Aurora positis Sabaeis, Dic sub Occasu positis Iberis, Quique ferventi quatiuntur axe, Quique sub plaustro patiuntur Ursae; Dic ad aeternos, properare Manes Herculem.

=137=, 110-111. =may . . . funerall:= may celebrate fittingly my unworthy end with such a funeral volley as it deserves.

=138=, 135-40. =My sunne . . . bloud.= In these lines the killing spectacle, the prodigie, of l. 134, and its effect are described. Tamyra, the light of D'Ambois's life, with her reddened bosom and hands, is likened to a sun whose beams have turned to blood. So far the imagery is clear, but it is difficult to extract a satisfactory sense from what follows. What do Pindus and Ossa symbolize, and what exactly does their melting mean? This seems one of the few passages in the play which really deserve Dryden's stricture for "looseness of expression and gross hyperboles."

=139=, 146. =struck.= The Qq, and all editors, read stuck, but the word seems inapplicable to a thunderbolt. The editor has conjectured struck, which, with a minimum of change, gives the sense required.