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books were poets, and how philosophers and historians are glad to borrow from them, and sets the poet high over other men, for the poet's art lies

In making things either better than nature bringeth forth, or quite anew; forms such as never were in nature, as the heroes, demi-gods, Cyclops, Chimæras, furies, and such like; so as he goeth hand in hand with nature, not enclosed within the narrow warrant of her gifts, but freely ranging within the zodiac of his own wit. Nature T never set forth the earth in so rich tapestry as divers poets have done; neither with so pleasant rivers, fruitful trees, sweet-smelling flowers, nor whatsoever else may make the too-much-loved earth more lovely; her world is brazen, the poets only deliver a golden.

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In this way it is that the poet's imagination can make the world more beautiful for us, but no English author before Sidney wrote a book in order to bring home that fact to the minds of all. Neither does Sidney consider that mere "riming and versing" make a poet; it is rather

that feigning notable images of virtues, vices, or what else, with that delightful teaching which must be the right describing note to know a poet by who cometh to you with words set in delightful proportion, either accompanied with, or prepared for, the wellenchanting skill of music; and with a tale, forsooth, he cometh unto you with a tale which holdeth children from play, and old men from the chimney corner.

Sidney praises Chaucer, Surrey, Sackville, and Spenser, who had as yet only published the Shepherds Calendar. Sidney had the greatest admiration for the old English ballads.

I have never heard (he wrote) the old song of Percy and Douglas,1 that I found not my heart moved more than with a trumpet; and yet it is sung but by some blind crowder2, with no rougher voice than rude style.

Sidney had no great opinion of the English drama as he knew it before either Marlowe or Shakespeare began

1 The ballad of Chevy Chase.

2 fiddler.

to write; he condemned the departure from the classical rules of the Greek and Roman plays, little dreaming that that very circumstance was to have a share in giving to England the greatest drama of modern times. The book is written in clear, forcible, straightforward style, now humorous, now enthusiastic. The arguments are convincing. It is our first plea for learning and culture, and should have the more weight as the utterance, not of a scholar or recluse, but of a man of action, of an accomplished man of the world.

Sidney as

The Arcadia is a long prose romance, with verses scattered through it. Written merely to give pleasure to his sister, Sidney never intended it to be published, but the Countess of Pembroke novelist. disregarded his dying injunction that it should be burned, and printed part of it in 1590, and the rest in 1593. It was at once immensely popular, passing through seventeen editions before 1674. The story is very confused. It tells chiefly how two friends, Musidorus and Pyrocles, are wrecked, and coming to the land of Arcadia, fall in love with the two daughters of the king, Pamela1 and Philoclea. All this does not happen without many adventures and much fighting. Disguises causing much confusion are common. Pyrocles, for instance, assumes the character and dress of an Amazon, and is loved by a man who takes him for a woman, and by a woman who has wit enough to recognize, in spite of his dress, that he is a man.2 Sidney did not consider the tale ended where he left it, saying that some other spirit might awake "to exercise his pen in that wherewith mine is already dulled". And

1 That Richardson should have called his novel-generally regarded as the first English novel in the modern sense of the term-Pamela may be more than a mere coincidence.

2 Such incidents play a large part in the plays of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Indeed the Elizabethans loved disguises and mystifications. It is said that when the queen expressed a wish that she could get a sight of Mary, Queen of Scots, and judge for herself if she was really as beautiful as report said, Sir James Melville, Mary's ambassador, advised Elizabeth to disguise herself as a page, and go in his train to Scotland. The queen was in no way displeased at the suggestion but "answered it with a sigh, saying: 'Alas, if I might do it thus!'"'

sure enough there were many continuations by other pens.

The style of the Arcadia differs much from that of the Apology for Poetry. Sidney believed it possible to write a poem in prose, and such being his aim, it is not surprising that he chose a fanciful, ornamental, and often unnatural style of writing. It resembles Lyly's, though it is less affected and strained. But the book abounds in charming and unaffected descriptive passages, and shows its author to have been a man of artistic feeling and of noble ideals. The poems scattered through the Arcadia, with a few notable exceptions, like those beginning "My true love hath my heart and I have his", and "Beauty hath force to catch the human sight", have little poetical merit; they are mostly experiments in classical metres that are quite unsuited to the genius of the English language.

The book enjoyed a long popularity, due to its sentiment rather than its plot. It was translated into French, and exercised an influence on the methods of later romance writers, both in France and England.

Such, then, was the life and literary work of Philip

Fulke Greville's estimate of his friend.

Sidney

Sidney. Let us take leave of him in quoting once again the words of his biographer and admirer, Fulke Greville, who declares that

was a true model of worth; a man fit for conquest, plantation1, reformation, or what action soever is greatest and hardest among men: withal, such a lover of mankind and goodness that whoever had any real parts in him, found comfort, participation, and protection to the uttermost of his power: like Zephyrus, he giving life where he blew. The universities abroad and at home accounted him a general Mæcenas of learning; dedicated their books to him, and communicated every invention or improvement of knowledge with him. Soldiers honoured him, and were so honoured by him, as no man thought he marched under the true banner of Mars that had not obtained Sir Philip Sidney's approbation. Men of affairs in most parts of Christendom entertained correspondence with him. But

1 colonization.

what speak I of these, with whom his own ways and ends did concur? Since, to descend, his heart and capacity were so large that there was not a cunning painter, a skilful engineer, an excellent musician, or any other artificer of extraordinary fame that made not himself known to this famous spirit, and found him his true friend without hire, and the common rendezvous1 of worth in his time.

In the course of this chapter it has been pointed out how vast an influence the romance writers had on the dramatists, the class of writers with whom we have next to deal. Before passing on to them, however, it will be well to say a few words about two groups of writers, the historians and the translators, whose work also was largely used by the dramatists. For that reason, although the translators have given us both poetry and prose, it has been deemed convenient to place them here.

IV. The Historians.

The Chronicle of Robert Fabyan was first printed in 1516. It extends from the arrival of Brutus in this island to his own day. It is chiefly valuable The

for what it tells of the affairs of London. historians. Fabyan. Verses are occasionally interspersed. In a verse prologue Fabyan declares that he is only preparing material for the skilled artist who will come after him.

Hall.

In 1542 Edward Hall's Chronicle was first published. It includes the history of the families of Lancaster and York and stretches to the days of Henry VIII., for whose reign, although Hall perhaps unduly glorifies the Tudors, the narration is specially valuable. Like Fabyan he gives a great deal of space to the affairs of London. Grafton, Holinshed, and Stow all borrowed from him.

John Leland (d. 1552) collected material for a great work on the History and Antiquities of this Nation, but he published nothing of import

Leland.

ance in his lifetime; and Richard Grafton, a printer

1 meeting-place.

and a prosperous London merchant, published in 1568-69 his Chronicle at Large, but it contains no original information.

Of greater importance was John Stow, a master tailor who took a great interest in the past history of his land, and gathered books about him. His Stow. Annals appeared in 1580 and were frequently reprinted up to 1600. To his Survey of London, published in 1598 and reprinted with additions in 1603, we are indebted for our knowledge of the early history of London. But the best known of all the Elizabethan historians is Raphael Holinshed. His Chronicle, which is a very valuable contribution to history, was printed Holinshed. in two folio volumes in 1578, and illustrated with woodcuts. Before the first book is placed Harrison's Description of England. The work is dedicated to William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, and its author claimed to have had "an especial eye unto the truth of things". Shakespeare drew from Holinshed's Chronicle the material for his English history plays, and the stories of Macbeth, Lear, and part of Cymbeline.

William Camden's Britannia written in Latin was printed in 1586, and translated into English Camden. under Camden's direction in 1610. Speed's History of Great Britain appeared in 1614.

V. The Translators.

Literary translation was no new thing. As we have seen, Caxton himself made translations of well-known books, and printed those made by others. The Renaissance gave a greater impulse to such work, and Henry VIII. suggested to John Bourchier, Lord Berners, that he should turn into English the work of the French | chronicler Froissart (1337-1401). The book appeared in 1523-25 with a dedication to the king. The translator did full justice to the picturesque narrative of the original, and Berners' version of Froissart may be regarded as one of the best pieces of English literary prose between the

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