He wrung his hands, and tore his hair, "That have brought me And troubled me so, That I know not what to do. For I have made a vow," he sed, * * * * * * * "What thou hast spoke Do not revoke : What thou hast said, Be not affraid; Altho' it be I; Keep promises to God on high. But, dear father, grant me one request, That I may go to the wilderness, Three months there with my friends to stay; There to bewail my virginity; And let there be," Said she, "Some two or three Young maids with me." So he sent her away, For to mourn, for to mourn, till her dying day. 35 40 45 50 55 IV. A ROBYN JOLLY ROBYN. In his "Twelfth Night," Shakespeare introduces the Clown singing part of the two first stanzas of the following Song; which has been recovered from an ancient MS. of Dr. Harrington's at Bath, preserved among the many literary treasures transmitted to the ingenious and worthy possessor by a long VOL. I H line of most respectable ancestors. Of these only a small part "Clown. Hey Robin, jolly Robin. [singing.] Malvolio. Fool. Clown. My lady is unkind, perdy.' Malvolio. Fool. Clown. Alas, why is she so?' Malvolio. Fool I say. Clown. She loves another.'-Who calls, ha?" Dr. Farmer has conjectured that the Song should begin thus: "Hey, jolly Robin, tell to me How does thy lady do?" "My lady is unkind perdy "Alas, why is she so?" But this ingenious emendation is now superseded by the proper readings of the old song itself, which is here printed from what appears the most ancient of Dr. Harrington's poetical MSS., and which has, therefore, been marked No. I. (Scil. p. 68.) That volume seems to have been written in the reign of King Henry VIII. and, as it contains many of the Poems of Sir Thomas Wyatt, hath had almost all the Contents attributed to him by marginal directions written with an old but later hand, and not always rightly, as, I think, might be made appear by other good authorities. Among the rest, this Song is there attributed to Sir Thomas Wyatt also; but the discerning Reader will probably judge it to belong to a more obsolete writer. In the old MS. to the 3d and 5th stanzas is prefixed this title, "Responce," and to the 4th and 6th, “ Le Plaintif;" but in the last instance so evidently wrong, that it was thought better to omit these titles, and to mark the changes of the Dialogue by inverted commas. In other respects the MS. is strictly followed, except where noted in the margin-Yet the first stanza appears to be defective, and it should seem that a line is wanting, unless the four first words were lengthened in the tune. My lady is unkynde perde." "Alack! why is she so ?" "She loveth an other better than me ; "I fynde no such doublenes : I fynde women true. My lady loveth me dowtles, And will change for no newe." "Thou art happy while that doeth last ; But I say, as I fynde, That women's love is but a blast, "Suche folkes can take no harme by love, That can abide their torn." "But I, alas, can no way prove "But if thou wilt avoyde thy harme At others fieres thy selfe to warme, 5 10 15 20 V. A SONG TO THE LUTE IN MUSICKE. THIS Sonnet (which is ascribed to Richard Edwards,* in the "Paradise of Daintie Devises," fo. 31, b.) is by Shakespeare made the subject of some pleasant ridicule in his "Romeo and Juliet," A. iv. Sc. v., where he introduces Peter putting this Question to the Musicians. "Peter.... why Silver Sound'? why silver sound'? what say you, Simon Catling? Musicke with her 1. Mus. Marry, sir, because silver hath a sweet sound. * Concerning him see Wood's Athen. Oxon., and Tanner's Biblioth. also Sir John Hawkins's Hist. of Music, &c. Pet. Pretty! what say you, Hugh Rebecke? 2. Mus. I say, silver sound, because Musicians sound for silver. Pet. Pretty too! what say you, James Sound-post. 3 Mus. Faith, I know not what to say. I will say for you: It is Pet. Musicke with her silver sound', because Musicians have no gold for sounding." Edit. 1793, Vol. xiv. p. 529. This ridicule is not so much levelled at the song itself (which for the time it was written is not inelegant) as at those forced and unnatural explanations often given by us painful editors and expositors of ancient authors. This copy is printed from an old quarto MS. in the Cotton Library (Vesp. A. 25), intitled, "Divers things of Hen. viij's time:" with some corrections from "The Paradise of Daintie Devises." 1596. WHERE gripinge grefes the hart would wounde, With spede is wont to send redresse: In joye yt maks our mirthe abounde, The Gods by musicke have theire prayse; 5 10 For, as the Romayne poet sayes, In seas, whom pyrats would destroy, 15 A dolphin saved from death most sharpe O heavenly gyft, that rules the mynd, O musicke, whom the gods assinde To comforte manne, whom cares would nippe ! Since thow both man and beste doest move, What beste ys he, wyll the disprove ? 20 VI. KING COPHETUA AND THE BEGGAR-MAID -is a story often alluded to by our old Dramatic Writers. Shakespeare, in his "Romeo and Juliet," A. ii. Sc. i. makes Mercutio say, "Her (Venus's) purblind son and heir, Young Adam* Cupid, he that shot so true, When King Cophetua loved the beggar-maid." As the 13th line of the following ballad seems here particularly alluded to, it is not improbable but Shakespeare wrote it "shot so trim," which the players or printers, not perceiving the allusion, might alter to "true." The former, as being the more humorous expression, seems most likely to have come from the mouth of Mercutio. † In the 2d Part of Hen. IV. A. v. Sc. iii. Falstaff is introduced affectedly saying to Pistoll, "O base Assyrian knight, what is thy news? These lines, Dr. Warburton thinks, were taken from an old bombast play of "King Cophetua." No such play is, I believe, now to be found; but it does not therefore follow that it never existed. Many dramatic pieces are referred to by old writers, which are not now extant, or even mentioned in any List. In the infancy of the stage, plays were often exhibited that were never printed. It is probably in allusion to the same play that Ben Jonson says, in his Comedy of "Every Man in his Humour," A. iii. Sc. iv. "I have not the heart to devour thee, an' I might be made as rich as King Cophetua." At least there is no mention of King Cophetua's riches in the *See above, Preface to Song i. Book ii. of this vol. p. 119. + Since this conjecture first occurred, it has been discovered that "shot so trim "was the genuine reading. See Shakesp. Ed. 1793, xiv. 393. See Mere's "Wits Treas." f. 283. 1589, p. 51, 111, 143, 169. "Arte of Eng. Poes." |