Title-page 2 characters The first use of the sense ‘description,
delineation, report’ is given by the OED as 1651
(Character, n.14.b), though this seems the most
obvious meaning for Jonson’s title. The sense ‘a graphic symbol’ may
have been in his mind, so that he is offering a ‘printed representation’
of the masque.
7 personated
acted.
16 Salue . . . semper From
Ovid, Fasti, 1.87
(which reads ‘laeta’ for ‘festa’): ‘Hail, festal day, and evermore
return still happier.’
17 Thomas
Thorp Bookseller, 1571/2–?1625, also published East. Ho! and Volp. See Sej., Title-page 9–10n.
1–9 ]
not in JnB 683
2 this of
mine i.e. this printed text.
3 absolute Free from imperfection (
OED, 4).
4 magnificence One of the Aristotelian moral virtues,
associated with liberality, used here to indicate particularly the
display of royal splendour and richness (see Hym.,
9–11).
4 these The masques themselves.
4 presently immediately.
4–5 rage . . . carcasses Chambers (
1923, 1.206), citing Hall’s
Chronicle, suggests that it was a Tudor custom to
permit the audience to take down scenery and plunder decorations, which
survived into the Jacobean period.
4 rage violent action (
OED, Rage n. 4). Cf.
Sej., 5.790–3 where it
is the ‘rage’ of the ‘rude multitude’ that tears the body of Sejanus
‘limb from limb’, and in the Epistle to Aubigny which prefaces the play
Jonson compares the ‘violence of our people here’ who condemned the play
to the ‘rage of the people of Rome’ towards Sejanus. In the masque,
however, it does not seem that any antipathy of the people towards the
entertainment itself is implied.
4–5 people – who,
as . . . greatness, . . . carcasses–]
this edn; people, who (as . . . greatnesse) . . . carkasses, Q
5 carcasses The sets.
5 spirits The distinction between the ‘body’ and the ‘spirit’
of the masque is one which Jonson elaborates in the preface to Hym., 4–13, and the privileging of words over scene
that this comment implies was to becomes the source of conflict with
Inigo Jones.
7–8 I
add . . . hand A comparison of the printed text with the MS
indicates that Jonson distinguished clearly between the performance
script and the published account in which his ‘later hand’ substantially
increased the descriptive commentary and added the marginalia. It may
also be possible that the text of the masque itself was revised after
the event (see . and Textual Analysis).
8 redeem . . . ignorance Cf. Hym., 13–20 for
Jonson’s low opinion of the learning of his auditors.
9 censure Jonson perhaps has specifically in mind the
objections of those such as Carleton to the ladies’ disguise, and
asserts that it flowed from ‘ignorance’, or a failure to comprehend the
learnedness of the device.
10 Pliny,1]
aPLINIE Q; Jonson’s marginal notes are
alphabetical in Q, and omitted from JnB 683
10 Pliny Gaius Plinius Secundus (Pliny the Elder), 23/4–79
ad. His monumental
Natural History,
ranging over everything from geography to metals and stones, and
including matter both factual and fantastical, was a sourcebook
plundered throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Jonson’s notes,
signalled by superscript numbers, and commentary on them, are placed at
the end of the present text.
JONSON'S
MARGINALIA 1 Naturalis Historiae,
5.8.[43–4].
1 The citation is to Pliny’s
Natural
History: ‘The Ethiopian nations, to wit the Nigritae, of whom
the river took name’ (trans. Holland,
1601, 96).
10 Solinus Gaius Julius Solinus (fl. after 200 ad). His Collecteana Rerum
Memorabilium was largely derived from Pliny and Pomponius Mela.
Jonson refers to it by its alternative title, Polyhistor, in marginal note 2.
2 Polyhistor, 40
et 43.
2 Polyhistor]
Orgel; Poly. hist. Q, F1
2 Polyhistor This was an alternative title for Gaius Julius
Solinus, Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium, and sometimes
taken as the name of the author. 40
et
43 Actually sections 27 and 30 of
Collecteanea.
10 Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemaeus of Alexandria (fl. 127–48),
astronomer, mathematician, and geographer. For all its inaccuracies his
Geography was the most comprehensive of ancient
geographical works.
10 of
late recently (i.e. not of the classical period).
10 Leo the
African Al-Hassan Ibn Mohammed Al-Wezaz al Fasi, born in
Granada in the late 1400s. Probably soon after his birth his family
settled in Fez, where he was educated. He was captured by pirates about
1518, and sold as a slave, ultimately falling into the hands of Pope Leo
X. Converted to Christianity, he was known under the name of Giovanni
Leone. Died about 1550. See Jonson’s marginal note
4n.
10 the African]
Q;
Africanus JnB 683
4 Descriptio Africae.
4 Descriptio Africae
J. Leonis Africani, de totius Africae descriptione:
Originally written in Italian about 1526, and published as part of G. B.
Ramusio,
Delle navigationi et viaggi (1550), the
section on Africa was excerpted, translated into Latin, and published in
Antwerp (1556). John Pory translated it into English as
A
Geographical History of Africa (
1600), and included additional
material.
10 remember
unto
us remind us of.
11 Ethiopia Jonson consistently uses the classical spelling
‘Æthiopia’. In the early modern period its geographical extent was
ill-defined; ‘Ethiopia’ was used for a region extending from Egypt to
the western coast, divided into ten to fifteen kingdoms.
11-12 people . . . Negroes Cf. the account of Lok’s second voyage
to Guinea (1554): ‘the people . . . were in old time called Ethiops and
Nigritae, which we now call Moores, Moorens, or Negros’ (Hakluyt,
1904, 6.167).
12–13 This . . . ocean The phrasing is drawn from John Pory’s
translation of Africanus; see Jonson’s marginal note
5n.
5 Some take it to be the same with Nilus,
which is by Lucan called
Melas, signifying
Niger. Howsoever, Pliny, in the place above noted,
hath this:
Nigri fluvio eadem natura, quae Nilo, calamum,
papyrum, et easdem gignit
animantes. See Solinus above-mentioned.
5 Some . . .
Nilus There was considerable uncertainty about the origin of
the river Niger (see Barbour,
1998, 132–3). Pory (
1600), 4, in a
passage added to Leo’s text, wrote: ‘This river taketh his beginning, as
some think, out of a certain desert to the east, called Sen, or
springeth rather out of a lake, and after a long race, falleth at length
into the western Ocean.’ Jonson’s identical wording suggests that he had
consulted this translation as well as, or rather than, the original.
Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus
(
ad 39–65), author of
Civil
War (also known as
Pharsalia), a history of
the wars between Caesar and Pompey. The river Melas (6.374) was a river
of Thessaly. Many rivers were known by this name, which in Greek means
‘black’.
Niger Means
‘black’ in Latin.
Nigri . . .
animantes ‘The river Niger is of the same nature as the Nile;
it produces cane, papyrus, and the same animals.’ Some ancient
geographers thought that the Nile and Niger were two branches of the
same river, and the fact that both rivers flooded the surrounding areas,
making them fertile, was frequently noted.
Solinus See .
12 taketh
spring The MS has ‘taketh his springe’; the pronoun might have
been deliberately omitted by Jonson in his revision, but could have
dropped out in error.
12 spring] Q; his springe JnB 683
12–13 certain
lake Lake Chad.
13 race journey.
13–14 Hence . . . and] Q; Hence the Inventon is derivd, and JnB 683
14 black-moors]
Q (Black-mores)
14 black-moors The term (also ‘blackamoor’) was used imprecisely
for ‘any very dark-skinned person’ (
OED, 1). There were
Africans in England and Scotland during the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, often employed as household servants; diplomatic
relationships between England and North Africa meant that others arrived
as ambassadors. For information on the African presence in England see,
in addition to the books and articles cited in the Introduction, Fryer
(1984), D’Amico (
1991).
14 at
first on their entrance, but implying their later
transformation to whiteness.
14 invention A technical rhetorical term, meaning the selection
of material relevant to a topic. The queen provided the initial idea,
and the poet then, by consultation of authorities and the exercise of
wit, found appropriate narrative material to animate the concept.
14 derived Obtained ‘by some process of reasoning, inference or
deduction’ (
OED, Derive v. 7).
16–17 First . . . falling] Q; In the end of the designd place, there
is drawne vppon a downe right cloth straynd for the scene a devise of Landtscope, which openinge
in manner of a Curtine JnB 683
16 scene painted curtain, which the audience would see as it
arrived.
16 landscape] Q
(Landtschape);
Landtscope
JnB 683;
Landtschap F1
16 landscape The manuscript, Q, and F spellings reflect the
novelty of the word, imported from Dutch and first recorded in 1598.
17 huntings scenes of hunting. The depiction of hunting scenes
within a wooded landscape would have reminded courtiers of the
tapestries which covered the walls of their houses, and might appear as
a tactful compliment to King James, for whom hunting was a favourite
pastime; see Peacock (
1995), 158–9.
17 falling The curtain was dropped, rather than being drawn.
Carleton’s eyewitness account, however, speaks of ‘the first drawing of
the traverse’ (
Carleton,
68). The MS indicates that Jonson originally anticipated a
conventional drawing of the curtain (see collation).
17–19 artificial sea . . . break The sea must have been represented
and animated by a substantial structure (it is called an ‘engine’ by
Carleton in a letter to Winwood,
Winwood Memorials,
2.44), since it bore the scallop shell which carried the masquers.
Sabbatini (
1638),
107–22 describes a variety of ways in which a sea can be represented,
and ships made to float upon it. His third suggestion, for a
wave-machine made of undulating cylinders, covered in blue cloth with
silver at the top to suggest waves, which could be turned from the
sides, seems the most likely to have been employed here (see Nicoll
(
1937),
59–60).
17 was] Q; is JnB 683
17 forth] Q; foorth itself abroad the roome JnB
683
18–19 raised . . . nature] Q;
not in JnB 683
19 orderly . . . nature An oxymoronic commonplace from classical
times onwards.
19 were] Q; are JnB 683
20 tritons sea gods.
6 The form of these Tritons, with their
trumpets, you may read lively described, in Ovid,
Metamorphoses, 1.
[330
]:
Caeruleum Tritona vocat, etc., and in
Virgil, Aeneid, 10.[209]:
Hunc vehit immanis Triton,
et
sequentem.
6 form . . .
trumpets Conti (1567), 238–9, commented: ‘Triton, however, was
the trumpeter of Oceanus and Neptune’, and cited both the passages
alluded to in Jonson’s marginal note. Caeruleum . . . vocat ‘He calls the
sea-coloured Triton.’ Hunc . . . sequentem ‘He sails upon the huge Triton,
etc.’
20–7 in moving . . . advanced] Q; with instrumentes made of
antique shells for Musique, and behind them two Sea-maides. Betweene ye
Maydes a payre of Sea-horses figured to the life put foorth them selues
in varied dispositions; Vppon whose backes are advanced Oceanus, and Niger, arme in arme enfolded
JnB 683
21 desinent Literally, ‘forming the end’; according to
OED a Jonsonian coinage, and derived from the
continuation of the Virgilian quotation in the marginal note:
frons hominem praefert, in pristim desinit alvus (
Aeneid, 10.211), ‘his forepart displayed human shape,
his belly ended in a sea-monster’. (Cf. also Horace’s description of the
mermaid,
Ars Poetica, 4,
desinat in piscem
mulier formosa superne, ‘a beautiful woman in the upper parts
ends in a fish below’.)
21–2 mounted . . . heads The fishtails were curled up over the
heads of the actors. The tritons were therefore confined to their fixed
place in the set.
22 disposition arrangement.
22 borne
out Probably on a wire frame.
23 taffeta A light, silken cloth.
23 music . . . shells The shells covered or contained wind
instruments (see .). The briefer description in the MS reads: ‘with
instrumentes made of antique shells for Musique’. The elaboration of the
description in Q may reflect both the way in which, in the actual
performance, Jones’s design filled out Jonson’s suggestion, and also
Jonson’s sophistication of the description to bring it in line with the
sources quoted in his marginal note.
Cf. Daniel, Tethys
Festival, where tritons had ‘trumpets of writhen shells
in their hands’ (
Lindley, Court Masques, 57).
24 conspicuously visibly.
24 sea-horses The mythological ‘hippocampus’ with two forefeet
and a dolphin’s tail.
25 from away from.
26 for
variation The variation of a single idea or image was
aesthetically highly valued.
26 figure
behind Presumably the more upright of the sea horses.
7 Lucian in
῾ΡῬητόρων
Διδάσκαλος
[6
] presents Nilus so:
Equo fluviatili
insidentem. And Statius, Neptune, in
Thebais
[2.45–6
].
7 Lucian of
Samosata (b.
c.
ad 120), his output, in Greek, is largely in
dialogue form.
῾ΡῬητόρων
Διδάσκαλος Professor of Public Speaking.
Equo . . . insidentem
‘Sitting on a river horse (hippopotamus)’. Cartari (
1571), 267, also
cites Lucian as the source for the Nile sitting ‘on a crocodile or a
sea-horse’.
Statius Publius
Papinius Statius (
c.
ad
45–96); his epic,
Thebais, tells the story of the
quarrel between Eteocles and Polynices. His writings were influential
throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
27 Oceanus Originally the water surrounding the world, then the
Atlantic Ocean, the limit of the ancient world. The god Oceanus was born
of Uranus and Gaia, and coupled with his sister, Tethys, who represents
the fertility of the sea. It is impossible to know whether Jonson
deleted the detail in the MS that Oceanus and Niger appeared with their
arms linked (see collation) because this in fact did not happen, or
simply because he felt it was unimportant when preparing Q.
28 presented . . . form] Q; naked JnB
683
28 colour] Q; cullors JnB 683
28 shadowed covered, clothed (
OED attributes this
usage only to Jonson).
29–30 sea-green . . . trident] Q; Seagreene. His bodie of a
humane forme. His head, and beard gray: hee is gyrlanded with
Sea-grasse, and his hand sustaynes a Trident
JnB 683
8 The ancients induced Oceanus always with
a bull’s head:
propter vim ventorum, a quibus incitatur et
impellitur; vel quia Tauris similem fremitum emittat, vel quia
tanquam Taurus furibundus, in littora feratur. Euripides in
Orestes:
᾽Ωκέανος ὄν
ταυρόκρανος ἀγκάλαις ἑλίσσων κυκλαι χθόνα. And rivers sometimes
were so called. Look Virgil
de Tiberi et Eridano,
Georgicon,
4.
[369–72
];
Aeneid, 8.
[77
]; Horace,
Carmina, 4.14.
[25
]; and Euripides,
in Ione.
8 The
ancients. . .
feratur The first phrase is translated, and the Latin directly
quoted, from Conti (1567), 237. propter . . . feratur ‘on account of the
force of the winds by which he is set in motion and driven, or because
he bellows like a bull, or because he is driven to the shore like a
raging bull’. ᾽Ωκέανος . . .
χθόνα ‘The land, round which the bull-headed Ocean rolls, and
encircles with his arms’, in Conti (1567), 236.
de . . . Eridano ‘on the Tiber and the Eridanus’. Eridanus
was the name of a mythical river-god, son of Oceanus and Tethys, the
river identified sometimes with the Po, sometimes the Rhone. In the
context of Aristaeus’s vision of the rivers underground, including the
Tiber and Eridanus, Virgil speaks of the ‘two gilded horns on the bull’s
brow’, found in
Cartari
(1567), 264.
Horace . . .
Ione Tudeau-Clayton
(
1998), 128,
notes that these two references are given in Pontanus’s commentary on
this passage in the
Georgics (1599, 593), though the reference
to
Ione is untraced.
30 trident More usually the attribute of Neptune; Giraldi (
1548), 215,
explains it as symbolizing the threefold nature of waters as
liquida, foecunda, potabili, ‘liquid, fertile,
drinkable’.
31 form . . . Ethiop Cartari (
1571), 267, notes that the Nile was
represented as black ‘because in running to the sea it passes through
the peoples of Ethiopia who are totally black’.
31 Ethiop] Q (Æthiope);
Aethiope blacke JnB 683
31 rare thin, sparse.
32 front,] Q;
not in JnB 683
32 front forehead. Also 47.
32 and crowned]
Q; crowned JnB 683
33 artificial skillfully made (without the modern pejorative
overtones).
33 paper
rush The reed from which papyrus was made.
34 induced] Q; induce JnB 683
34 induced led in (the Latinate sense, from inducere).
34 were] Q; are JnB 683
35 so] Q; as JnB 683
35 so
many the same number. (The MS reads ‘as many’.)
35 Oceaniae]
Q;
Ocianie JnB 683; OCIANAE F1
35 Oceaniae See Jonson’s marginal note 9, and .
9 The daughters of Oceanus and Tethys. See Hesiod in
Theogony
[346–70
]; Orpheus in
Hymnica
[24
], and Virgil in
Georgics
[4.382
].
9 Hesiod . . .
Orpheus . . . Virgil Cited by Giraldi (
1548), 236, in his
listing of the names of the Oceaniae, though only the first and last
actually include specific names.
35 which were]
Q; who are JnB 683
35 light-bearers In the masque (as in the world outside) noble
personages were accompanied by servants carrying torches.
36 were] Q; are JnB 683
36 a great] Q; an entire JnB 683
36 like] Q; of JnB 683
36 curiously skillfully.
37–43 rise . . . shells] Q; guarded (for more ornament) with Dolphins, and Sea-monsters of different shapes: on
which in payres their light-bearers are with their lights burninge out
of Murex shelles advanced JnB
683
37 chevron An inverted ‘v’ shape.
OED gives Jonson as
the first to apply this heraldic term to decorative art.
39 extravagant
OED cites this as the first instance of sense 3:
‘spreading or projecting beyond bounds; straggling’ – but it may simply
mean ‘unusual’ or ‘irregular’.
40 On
sides Beside. These monsters were part of the same structure,
and moved forwards with the shell.
40 six
huge sea-monsters The MS adds dolphins to these.
41 greces] Q, F1 (graces)
41 greces steps.
42 purfle profile. This spelling was superseded in the later
seventeenth century. Like other technical terms here, it was new in
English from the French
profil, and
OED cites this as the first instance of ‘in profile’
(Purfle
n. 3b).
44 attire . . . difference The hierarchy of the masquers in
their ‘real’ selves was not reflected in difference of costume. A
drawing survives: see
Illustration 16.
44 of the] Q; of F1
44 was] Q; is JnB 683
45 their hair . . . pyramids]
JnB 683;
not in Q, F1
45 their
hair . . . pyramids This clause is present only in the MS, but
is necessary to the sense, and its omission in Q must be due to
compositorial eyeskip.
45 returned on]
Q; retoorninge in JnB 683
46 scroll and antique] Q;
not in JnB 683
46 feathers and jewels,]
this edn; feathers, and jewels Q,
JnB 683
(subst.)
46 interlaced . . . pearl] Q;
not in JnB 683
47 front,] Q;
not in JnB 683
47 wrists] Q; wrist JnB 683
47 was] Q;
not in JnB 683
47 most . . . orient] Q; brightest JnB 683
49 sea-green . . . silver] Q; Sea-greene, their faces and
armes blew JnB 683
49–50 sea-green . . . sea-grass The MS suggests that the
light-bearers were originally intended to have blue faces and arms, and
their hair was to be adorned with water lilies (see collation). Jones’s
costume design (
Illustration
17) shows flowers in unbraided hair, though the figure carries
an ordinary torch, rather than a shell.
49 hair] Q; hayres JnB 683
50 sea-grass]
Q;
Alga, or Sea-grasse JnB 683
50 stuck] Q; stucke about JnB 683
50 coral] Q; corall, and water-Lillyes JnB
683e
51–4 the
scene . . . from the eye Peacock suggests that the convoluted
nature of this description, not present in the MS, and perhaps written
with the aid of Jones, testifies to the problems Jonson had in conveying
to his readers the nature of the novel use of perspective in theatrical
scenery (1995, 162–3). The vanishing point (the ‘termination’) was set at the level of the king’s throne (the
‘state’), so that only he viewed from the perfect
position.
51–8 scene . . . this] Q;
not in JnB 683
51 scene
behind painted
backdrop.
51–2 united . . . forth The painted sea merged with the blue cloth
that covered the machine on which the shell seemed to float.
53 perspective]
Q (Prospectiue)
54 conspicuous (1) striking to the eye; (2) easy to be seen. Cf.
24.
55 wandering beauty The adjective is an odd one, but links with
the description’s emphasis on irregularity and variety contained in an
ordered frame.
55 obscure dark, gloomy.
55 night-piece Since the moon and stars are revealed later, this
must have been a painted curtain in the upper part of the set.
56 set
off show to advantage, through contrast (
OED,
Set v.1 147e, f).
56 bodily
part Cf. ., for Jonson’s demeaning view of the masque’s
‘carcass’.
56 Inigo] Q (Ynigo)
56 design (1) conception, plan; (2) drawing. The term, newly
borrowed from It.
disegno, was slippery (see
Baxendall,
1990;
Peacock,
1995).
Here it seems to refer to the stage between the ‘
invention’ of the idea (14, Jonson’s part) and its execution
by the craftsmen. It was to become crucial in the quarrels between
Jonson and Jones (see
Hym., 580,
Neptune, 57, and ‘Expostulation’, (6.375–80), lines 55–6).
57 act performance i.e. the practical embodiment of the
design.
58 By
this By this time.
58 began] Q; beginne JnB 683
58 others’] Q; other JnB 683
58 others’ i.e. of the other tritons.
58 loud
music The music of brass and wind instruments.
59 trebles These singers were probably members of the Chapel
Royal, with boys representing the sea-maids.
10 All rivers are said to be the sons of the
Ocean: for, as the ancients thought, out of the vapours exhaled by the
heat of the sun rivers and fountains were begotten. And both by Orpheus
in
Hymns
[83
] and Homer,
Iliad, 14.
[201, 246, 302
]
Oceanus is celebrated
tanquam pater et origo diis et rebus,
quia nihil sine humectatione nascitur aut putrescit.
10 All . . .
putrescit Derives from
Conti (1567), 237, who gives both sources, and from whom both English
and Latin are closely paraphrased. tanquam . . . putrescit ‘as father and
origin of gods and things, because nothing is born or decays without
moisture’.
67–8 but . . .
bright A variation on Song of Songs, 1.4–5: ‘I am black, O
daughters of Jerusalem, but comely . . . Regard ye me not because I am
black: for the sun hath looked upon me.’
69 full of
life Though applying to all the masquers, the characterization
may possibly have drawn attention to the fact that Queen Anne was six
months pregnant.
71 feature
bodily form.
72 ] Q;
JnB 683
adds: ‘Which ended, and the Musique ceasinge Oceanus provokes Niger as
followeth.’
73 ceremony’s
The ceremony is the formal song of welcome to Niger.
76 into th’extremest] Q; in ye extreamest JnB 683.
79–92 ] Q;
not in
JnB 683
79–92 These lines are not present in the MS. While they
may have been added before the performance, it is possible that, like
Jonson’s marginal note 11, they represent Jonson clarifying and
justifying his mythological invention for the benefit of scholarly
readers after the event, perhaps in response to some specific criticism.
Floyd-Wilson (
1998), 203, sees them as deriving from ‘the commonplace
notion that the continuous circulation of the waters of the earth is
maintained through channels corresponding to the veins and canals of the
human body’. Siddiqi (
1992, 144), thinks them central to Jonson’s containment of
the threat of miscegenation.
79 ceaseless
current Cf. Conti, 236: in perpetuo cursu et
Oceanus et fluvii ex eo nati existant, ‘Oceanus and the rivers
born of him exist in perpetual motion.’
79 stands]
Orgel; stands! Q, F1
81 brackish
salty.
11 There wants not enough in nature to
authorize this part of our fiction, in separating Niger from the Ocean
(beside the fable of Alpheus, and that to which Virgil alludes of
Arethusa in his tenth
Eclogue
[4–5
]:
Sic tibi, cum
fluctus
subterlabere Sicanos, Doris amara suam non intermisceat
undam); examples of Nilus, Jordan, and others, whereof see Nicanor,
1,
De
fluminibus, and Plutarch in
Vita
Syllae
[20.4
] even of this our river (as
some think) by the name of Melas.
11 There . . .
enough There are plenty of examples.
Alpheus A river in the Peloponnese and its tutelary
deity. The river’s subterranean passage gave rise to the fable that it
flowed beneath the sea and attempted to mingle its waters with the
fountain of Arethusa in the island of Ortygia in Syracuse. This was
mythologized as the river-god’s pursuit of the love of the nymph,
Arethusa, turned by Diana into a fountain to escape his attentions (see
Ovid, Metamorphoses, 5.576ff.). Pliny, 2.103 (trans.
Holland,
1601,
44–5) reads: ‘fresh waters run aloft the sea, as being no doubt the
lighter . . . some rivers there be, which upon a hatred to the sea, run
even under the bottom thereof; as Arethusa, a fountain in Syracuse,
wherein this is observed, that whatsoever is cast into it, cometh up
again at the river Alpheus, which running through Olympus, falleth into
the sea shore of Peloponnesus’.
Sic . . . undam ‘If, when you glide beneath
Sicilian waves you would not have brackish Doris intermix her stream
with yours’.
Nicanor . . .
fluminibus A lost work,
known from a single reference in
Libellus de Fluviis,
17, Eurotas (speciously attributed to Plutarch; see
H&S, 10.452). Where Jonson found
the reference is unknown.
Plutarch (
c. 46–
c. 120).
Philosopher and biographer. One of the most widely influential of all
classical writers. His ‘Melas’ is a river of Boetia, now the
Mevropotanis (
H&S).
Cf. .
above.
11 subterlabere]
Q; subter labere F1
82 thy sweetness] Q; the sweetnesse F1
82 diademe
diadem; figuratively ‘royal dignity’. The spelling is retained for the
rhyme.
84 squarèd . . .
bodies i.e. heavenly bodies perfectly transformed into an
earthly realm (
Orgel).
The circle is the symbol of heaven, the square of the earth. To
construct a square of exactly the same area as a given circle is a
mathematical impossibility, hence a wondrous or magical achievement.
87 reserve for
ever always retain.
88 sever
separate.
89 like things
fixed as if they were things of distinct kinds.
91 Virtue] ,,Vertue Q
91 Virtue . . .
still live free This commonplace perhaps derives from Seneca,
De Beneficiis, 3.18.2, or else from
Plato, The
Republic, and is echoed in Milton,
Comus, 1018: ‘Love Virtue, she alone is free.’
92 Cf. Horace, Odes, 1.3.36: Perrupit Acheronta Herculaeus labor, ‘Hercules’
efforts burst through Acheron.’ Acheron is the river surrounding Hades
that souls must cross on their way to the underworld.
92 And] ,,And Q
93 But what’s] Q; What is JnB 683
93 end
purpose, aim.
93 Hercúlean
labours The myth alluded to in the previous line is of
Hercules’ descent into hell to bring back Cerberus the dog, the eleventh
of his ‘labours’, but here the term seems to be used more generally to
signify ‘great effort’.
95–147 The structure of this speech is complicated. The
first sentence (
95–114) praises the blackness of the daughters of Niger as
especially beloved of the sun; the second (
115–26) retails the way poets
have denigrated the virtue of blackness; the third (
127–36) tells of their anguished
response; the fourth (
137–47) recounts their consolation by a vision that sets them
out on their errand.
98 first-formed A commonly held belief. See Jonson’s marginal
note
12.
12 Read
Diodorus Siculus, [Bibliotheca Historica,] 3.[2.1]. It is a conjecture
of the old ethnics that they which dwell under the south were the first
begotten of the earth.
12 Diodorus
Siculus (fl. 60–20 bc). His
sprawling history of the world in forty books runs from the earliest
times to Caesar’s Gallic wars. ethnics pagans.
99 refulgent
shining with brilliant light.
101 formal
cause An Aristotelian philosophical term: creator of the form
or essence of things.
102 firm
unchanging.
102–3 draws . . .
love Cf. Shakespeare’s Cleopatra: ‘Think on me, / That am with
Phoebus’ amorous pinches black’ (
Ant.,
1.5.27–8).
109 herself (herself] Q; him self (him self JnB 683
109 herself
Death in classical myth is the daughter of Night, and is figured as
‘donna pallida’ in
Ripa’s Iconologia. The MS has ‘himself’,
suggesting the medieval iconology of death as a skeletal male
figure.
110 Their blackness remains even in death.
113–14 In Niger’s ingenious argument the fact of the
unchanging blackness of his daughters demonstrates that they approach
the fixity of the divine. Floyd-Wilson (
1998), 205–7, discusses the
association of black complexion with constancy, and with divine
contemplation.
113 more] Q; now
JnB 683
115 fabulous
‘fond of relating fables or legends’ (
OED, 1a).
116 brain-sick
mad, frantic.
116 styled
called.
116 poets . . . you,]
Orgel; poets, . . . you, Q, F1; poets . . . you) JnB 683
116 here with
you Q’s punctuation, with commas on both sides of the phrase,
leaves unclear whether it qualifies the poets, or their works. The MS in
placing a closing bracket after ‘you’ (with no opening bracket) suggests
the former. Either meaning is possible.
118 painted
beauties Those women made beautiful by cosmetics. In the
period the use of cosmetics was often deplored as deceitful.
Floyd-Wilson (
1998), 194, notes that Camden derived his etymology of
Britannia from the word
Brith, which ‘expresseth to
the full what the Britains really were; that is painted, stained, died,
and coloured’.
121 As For
example.
121 Phaëton
The son of Apollo, who pleaded successfully with his father to be
allowed to drive the chariot of the sun, but could not control the
horses, drove the sun too near the earth, and was destroyed before he
could set the world alight.
13 Notissima fabula.
Ovid, Metamorphoses, 2.[1–410].
13 Notissima fabula ‘The very famous story’. That the falling
Phaëton turned the Ethiops black is found at 121–5.
122–4 The poetic myth that the blackness of African
races resulted from this misadventure is what has distressed the
ladies.
126 ranged
classified.
14 Alluding to that of Juvenal,
Saturae, 5.
[54
],
Et cui
per mediam nolis occurrere
noctem.
14 Et . . . noctem ‘And whom you would not wish to encounter at
midnight’. The line is written of a blackamoor servant.
129 whole
entirely.
15 The poets.
130–2 They . . .
patience The conceit that it is the grief of the daughters
which has caused Niger’s overflow is a comically exaggerated alternative
account of the reason for their appearance at the western court.
132 seek them
patience find a way of calming their emotions.
132–4 e’ermore . . .
revilings Jonson cites classical sources in his marginal note
16 of which Pliny is the most directly influential. The idea was widely
circulated, turning up in, for example, Barne’s account of Lok’s second
voyage to Guinea (Hakluyt,
1904, 167): ‘Ethiops . . . so scorched
and vexed with the heat of the sun, that in many places they curse it
when it riseth’.
16 A custom of the Ethiops, notable in
Herodotus, [2.22,] and
Diodorus Siculus, [3.9.2]. See
Pliny, Naturalis Historiae, 5.8.[45].
16 and 17 The relevant passage from Pliny is part of a
distinctly negative account: ‘The Atlas tribes have fallen below the
level of human civilization . . . when they behold the rising and
setting sun, they utter awful curses against it as the cause of disaster
to themselves and their fields, and when they are asleep they do not
have dreams like the rest of mankind’ (Loeb).
138–9 settled . . .
are This contradicts the more usual assertion that women’s
minds are intrinsically changeable.
139–41 they . . .
resisted Niger admits that his arguments against the ladies’
view of their blackness as imperfection are contradicted by the
miraculous vision they receive, which implies that they will be restored
to whiteness.
141 else they
feigned or else they were pretending.
143 one] Q; by
JnB 683
144 circumfused surrounded, bathed.
145–6 ] Q;
these lines are transposed in
JnB 683
146 decipher
The message is written on the moon’s reflection (
188–9).
149 termination (grammatical) word-ending.
150, 157 -tania]
Orgel;
Tania Q, F1; Tania JnB 683
150–4 where . . .
light Tacitus wrote in his
Agricola: ‘the
nights are bright and in the most distant parts of Britain so short that
you can hardly distinguish between evening and morning twilight . . .
they say that the sun’s glow can be seen by night. It does not set and
rise but passes across the horizon’ (1999, 10). Jonson may have found
the quotation in Camden (
1610),
Scotland, 64. He converts Tacitus’s
description into the hyperbolic conceit that the sun (Sol) bypasses
Britain, since the ‘greater light’ of King James does his work for
him.
151 or] Q; nor
JnB 683
18 Consult with Tacitus, in
Vita
Agricolae,
[12,
]
and the
Panegyricus ad Constantinus.
18 Tacitus . . .
Agricola See .
Panegyricus ad
Constantinus This anonymous poem is quoted in Camden’s
Britannia; the relevant passage is translated by
Holland (
1610, 3):
‘the sun itself, which unto us seemeth for to set, appeareth there only
to pass along and go aside’.
155 The dominant sense is that the quasi-divine power
of the light of the King’s presence generates beauty, but ‘sight’ may
also carry the senses of ‘judgement’ and ‘knowledge or insight’ (
OED,
Sight n1. 12a, b).
155 Who] Q;
That JnB 683
155 beauty] Q;
beautyes JnB 683
156 three
princedoms Camden (
1610), 27, lists these three countries
as sharing the Greek termination, which ‘signifies a
Region or
Country’.
158 Mauritania
Land of the Moors in North Africa.
159 Swart] Q (Swarth)
159 Swart
Swarthy.
159 Lusitania
Portugal and western Spain.
160 Rich The
obvious meaning is ‘fertile’, but Floyd-Wilson (
1998), 187, suggests that it refers to
colour, citing
OED (Rich, adv., and n. 6b): ‘strong, deep, warm’, so that the
geographical movement is from black Ethiopia, via the olive complexions
of the Mediterranean nations to ‘white’ Britain.
160 Aquitania
South-west France.
160 and, yet,
The commas make clear that the primary meaning is one of time.
161 designed
appointed.
163 this] Q; thir
JnB 683
19 Orpheus in his
Argonautica
calls it
Λευκαῖον χέρσον.
19 Λευκαῖον χέρσον ‘white land’. Not in
Argonautica, but the reference is given in Camden (
1586), 20.
166 Neptune’s
son James (see Jonson’s marginal note
20). It is not uncommon for the King
to be afforded multiple mythological roles in a single masque.
20 Alluding to that rite of styling princes after
the name of their princedoms; so is he still Albion, and Neptune’s son
that governs. As also his being dear to Neptune, in being so embraced by
him.
166 who] Q; that
JnB 683
167 guard
protection.
168 Deucalion’s Deucalion was the Greek equivalent of Noah; both
survived a great flood.
170 Above] Q;
About F1
171 was] Q; is JnB 683
171 silver throne] Q; Chariot JnB 683
171 silver
throne In the MS the moon is described as appearing in a
chariot.
172 made . . . pyramis] Q;
not in JnB 683
172 pyramis This older form of the word ‘pyramid’ has been
retained, since it is the classical spelling, and probably chosen by
Jonson for that reason.
173–7 a luminary . . . passion:] Q; lights. To
her Niger
JnB 683
180 Ethiopia,21]
this edn; no numeral in Q
175 several separate.
176–7 present
passion immediate outburst. That this SD is interjected into
the middle of a complete metrical line suggests that the moon was
revealed quickly, so that there was little break between the speeches of
Oceanus and Neptune.
179 thus far
i.e. even at this distance from home.
21 The Ethiopians worshipped the moon by that
surname. See Stephanus,
περὶ πόλεων,
in voce
ΑΙ´ΘΙΟΠΙΟΟΝ, and his reasons.
21 Stephanus . . .
πόλεων
Stephanus of Byzantium,
De Urbibus. Jonson at some time
possessed a copy of the 1568 edition, now in the library of Clare
College, Cambridge (see Electronic Edition, Jonson’s Library).
in voce
ΑΙ´ΘΙΟΠΙΟΝ ‘under the
word Ethiopia’.
180 shore] Q;
store JnB 683
183 zealous
fiercely devoted (to the moon).
185 which] Q;
that JnB 683
186 ethiopia She speaks from her elevated throne in the set.
186 native
cheer natural disposition.
187 their] Q; thy
JnB 683
187 period
end.
188 errors
Both (1) wanderings, and (2) his earlier mistakes in trying to persuade
his daughters to accept their blackness.
189 thy] Q,
JnB 683; the F1
189 race
offspring, daughters.
190–1 Pythagoras . . .
glass The Greek philosopher/mathematician was supposed to be
able to reflect messages written in blood on a mirror onto the moon.
Jonson probably drew on Conti (1567), 80.
191 reverberate reflecting.
195 Britania
The spelling is retained since the narrative turns on it.
195 triple
world the three realms of heaven, earth and underworld (
Orgel). Floyd-Wilson
(
1998), 187,
suggests Asia, Europe, and Africa, ‘or even northern, temperate, and
southern regions’.
196 now
recovered . . . name James resurrected the name of Britain as
part of his campaign to unite Scotland to the realms of England and
Wales (see
Introduction
and
Hym., 376–81n.,
Barriers, 77n.).
Camden, who discussed the name in
Britannia, played a
part in this controversial endeavour; see
Epigr.
14.3–4: ‘to whom my country owes / The great renown and name wherewith
she goes’.
196 her] Q; his
JnB 683
197 those] Q; the
JnB 683
198 sacred muses’
sons Poets, revising the negative account of them in Niger’s
speech at 115ff.
199 bright] Q;
sweete JnB 683
199 Hesperus to
Eos Hesperus is the evening star, Eos the personification of
the dawn, hence implying ‘from west to east’.
199 Eos] Q (EOVS)
201 style
title.
202 A . . .
world
Virgil, Eclogues, 1.66:
et penitus toto divisos
orbe Britannos, ‘and the Britons completely separated from the
world’. Cf.
Kings Ent., 34–6,
Love
Freed, 240.
202–3 tried . . .
pride ‘experienced the ideal of it through England’s own pride
in herself’ (
Orgel).
204–6 Cf. Camden (
1605), 1: ‘Britain . . . well known to
be the most flourishing and excellent . . . isle of the whole world. So
rich in commodities, so beautiful in situation, so resplendent in all
glory, that if the most Omnipotent had fashioned the world round like a
ring, as he did like a globe, it might have been most worthily the only
gem therein.’ Cf.
Epigr. 5.4: ‘The spousèd pair two
realms, the sea the ring’.
204 For] Q; And
JnB 683
205 new] Q; fresh
JnB 683
205 new name
James had taken the title King of Great Britain by royal proclamation in
1604. The MS reads ‘fresh’ for ‘new’.
205 all tongues] Q; thunder JnB 683
206 enchase
set in (as a jewel).
209 To . . .
Ethiop ‘To wash an Ethiop white’ was a proverbial
impossibility. See
Alciati, 59, Whitney (
1586), 59. Its classical source is
Lucian,
Adversus Indoctum (‘Against Ignorance’), 28,
and it is also found in Jeremiah, 13.23: ‘Can the black moor change his
skin? or the leopard his spots?’
209 corse]
JnB 683, F2; Cor’s Q, F1
209 corse An
alternative form of ‘corpse’.
210 sciental
endowed with knowledge. (James prided himself on his learning.)
214 Indent
Make an impression or mark upon.
215 native
Either ‘natural’ (appropriate to the dignity of the masquers), or ‘of
the region of their birth’.
220 sounded] Q; sound JnB 683
220 danced] Q; daunce JnB 683
220–2 every . . . qualities The ladies advanced in pairs,
displaying fans to the audience, on one was the pair of names, on the
other a picture which represented their allegorical nature. The Queen
and her Ladies of the Bedchamber, the most prestigious of the ladies of
her court, were presented first.
220 advanced]
Q; advance JnB 683
220 severally separately.
221 presenting The ladies either simply displayed their fans, or
else actually presented them to the king.
221 were] Q; are JnB 683
221–2 mute
hieroglyphic silent picture. It is ‘mute’ because there are no
explanatory words attached. Hieroglyphics originated with the Egyptians,
and were thought to embody an ancient wisdom (sometimes imagined as
taught to the Egyptians by Moses). Renaissance collections included the
Hieroglyphica of Horus Apollo (1551) and
Valeriano,
Hieroglyphica (
1556, and many editions thereafter;
quotations are given from the Lyon edition of 1595).
222 I
‘wee’ in the MS; the change indicates Jonson’s concern to differentiate
his contribution from that of Inigo Jones in Q.
222 I] Q; wee JnB 683
222 chose] Q; choose JnB 683
223 imprese
Symbols with a riddling motto, Italian in origin, often carried in
tournament and festival. Samuel Daniel translated one foundational text
in his
Worthy Tract of Paulus Iovius (1585), and
Abraham Fraunce collected many authorities, together with comments of
his own, in
Insignium Armorum, ed. Orgel (1979). In
Renaissance theory the categories of
impresa, emblem,
and hieroglyphic overlapped, but whereas the verse of an emblem directly
explained the picture, the motto of an
impresa was
independent of the image, and the two were interpreted together as
indicating the nature or situation of the bearer. (See also
King’s Ent.,
204n.) Jonson is perhaps suggesting
that though the fans with names might seem to function as a ‘motto’,
they should not be taken to indicate the ladies ‘real’ nature in the way
an
impresa carried at a tournament would.
223 for
strangeness Jonson deliberately chooses the most arcane form.
The challenge of interpreting both
impresa and
hieroglyphic was precisely their attraction, though theorists disagreed
about how obscure they should be. Fraunce (
1991), 35, notes that one theorist
rejected hieroglyphs as ‘obscure and unfamiliar to the majority’, but
yet notes that it was inevitable that the meaning of an
impresa ‘be concealed and, as it were, dimmed by some little
cloud of obscurity because the invention of
imprese is
not common and usual, but elegant and refined: in such a way that the
person who causes an
impresa to be so plain that it
clearly becomes something that is vulgar is, in my opinion, having
regard for the interests of the common people, but is prejudiced against
those of noble birth’. Nonetheless, it would have been an exceptionally
learned member of Jonson’s audience who could have deciphered his
hieroglyphs and names.
223 of] Q; more of JnB 683
223 more] Q; nearer JnB 683
224 sculpture Used in its original sense of engraving
(hieroglyphics) in stone.
224 brought] Q; derived JnB 683
224 Ethiopians22]
this edn; no numeral in Q
22 Diodorus Siculus,
[3.3.4, 3.4.1
]; Herodotus,
[History, 2.110
].
22 Diodorus
Siculus 3.4.1 begins: ‘We must now speak of the Ethiopian
writing which is called hieroglyphic amongst the Egyptians’, and
continues with a discussion of the nature of meaning in
hieroglyphics.
225–47 ]
not in JnB 683
226 Euphoris Means ‘fertile’, from Greek εὔφορος. Particularly appropriate to Anne,
visibly pregnant.
226–43 Gordon (
1975), 140–1, notes that, taken
together, the emblems can be seen as representing the four elements of
water (the second and third emblems), fire, air, and earth, with,
throughout, an emphasis on the temperance and wateriness of the English
climate.
227 A . . .
fruit Cf.
Hym.,
632–3: ‘The golden tree of marriage began / In Paradise, and bore the
fruit of man.’ The combination ‘might thus suggest a royal and spiritual
beauty fertilizing the earth’ (Gordon,
1975, 140).
228 icosahedron]
G; Isocaedron Q, F1
228 Aglaia The only name Jonson did not invent: the first of the
three Graces, in Giraldi signifying majesty, or ‘honest’ love.
229 Diaphane Means ‘transparent, translucent’, from διαφανής.
230 The . . . crystal The twenty-sided figure of the icosahedron,
according to
Valeriano (1595), 585, signifies water ‘because of the
extreme mobility and divisibility of this element’. The misspelling
‘isocaedron’, which appears in Q and F, is in Valeriano’s text, though
it is correctly given in the index. Relevant passages are quoted in
Gordon (
1975),
Appendix 4.
231 Eucampse Means ‘flexibility (of body)’, from εὐκαμψία.
232 Ocyte Means ‘quick, swift’, from ὠκύς.
233 A . . .
river In Horus Apollo (1551) the image signifies ‘the fuller’
whose business was cleansing; for
Valeriano (1595), 337, it signifies,
more generally, ‘the purifier’.
234 Kathare Means ‘pure’, from καθαρός.
235 Notis The south wind, associated with dampness and moisture,
from νότος.
236 The
salamander According to
Valeriano (1595), 151–2, ‘a creature
so cold and damp that it can extinguish fire by touch’.
236 simple alone.
237 Psychrote Means ‘cold’, from ψυχρός.
238 Glycyte Means ‘sweet, sweetness’, from γλυκύς, γλυκύτης.
239 A . . .
dropping An image from Horus Apollo, where it signifies
‘education’; Valeriano (1595), 369, glosses it as divine wisdom that
brings forth fruit.
240 Malacia Means ‘soft, gentle, mild’, from μαλακός.
241 Baryte Means ‘heavy, weight’, from βαρύς, βαάρύτης.
242 An . . . wine The meaning is obscure.
OED
(Sphere v. 2), glosses ‘sphered’ as: ‘to
make into a sphere; to fill up or “crown” with liquor’. Gordon
conjectures that ‘wine’ is a misprint for ‘vine’; but the source is not
Valeriano, and no convincing parallel has been found.
243 Periphere Means ‘spherical, globular’, from
περιφερής. ‘Taken
together, the names suggest earth’ (Gordon,
1975).
245–7 Despite Jonson’s marginal note 23, the names
Cydippe,
Beroe, and
Lycoris do not appear in Hesiod, but in
Virgil, Georgics, 4.336–345 (the last as
Lycorias).
Glauce appears in neither, but is
listed (as one of the Nereids, daughters of Doris and therefore
granddaughter of Oceanus) in Giraldi (
1548), 236, where there are summaries
of the names of the Oceaniae. There seems to be no reason for the
selection of these particular names, and they would not have been
identifiable to the audience.
23 Hesiod in
Theogony
[346ff.
].
23 Hesiod The
names are not all from Hesiod: see .
248 Their . . . ended] Q; When their owne Daunce is ended JnB 683
248 single
dance A specially choreographed dance for the ladies
alone.
248 were] Q; are JnB 683
248 make choice of] Q; choose JnB 683
249 was] Q; is JnB 683
249 charm] Q; song JnB 683
249 charm Jonson generally uses the word for some kind of
quasi-magical incantation, though here it may mean little more than
‘song’ (Lat. carmen, from which it derives). The MS
reads ‘song’.
251–5 Come . . . land In a gender-reversal of the myth of the
Sirens, whose songs enticed mariners on to the rocks, the singer is
jealous because he imagines that the women, unless they ‘stop’ their
ears, will be enticed away by the lords – the ‘Sirens of the land’.
252 We The
spirits of the sea.
257 danced] Q; daunce JnB 683
257 with
their men The sequence in which ladies took out partners from
the audience was planned carefully in advance. Carleton reports that the
Queen took out the Spanish ambassador who ‘forgot not to kiss her hand,
though there was danger it would have left a mark on his lips’ (Winwood Memorials, 2.44).
257–8 several . . . sea] Q; Which beinge perfect they are againe
provoked from the Sea JnB 683
257 measures and corantos The social dancing generally moved from
slower, stately dances (‘the measures’) to quicker dances such as the
coranto.
258 accited summoned.
258 whose . . . iterated] Q; iterated in ye fall JnB 683
258 double
echo As Walls (
1996), 44–6, notes, the echo song had
many precedents in European music, including songs in the
Balet Comique de la Royne, one of the most important of French
entertainments, and figures in a number of masques by Jonson and others.
It provided ‘an excuse for spatial separation and . . . hidden
responses’ (
44).
Unfortunately no music survives for any echo song in masques.
259 from . . . land] Q;
not in JnB 683
261, 269, 271 first treble]
JnB 683 (Treb.i);
not in Q
261 first treble The MS division of the song between the two
trebles is plausible, and is adopted here, though it is possible that in
the actual song composed for the masque performance the trebles sang
together. The Echo lines are not written out in the MS, and it may be
that, once they were added, Jonson, the copyist, or the printer, felt
that retaining speech-headings for treble voices would render the lines
too cluttered.
261 subtle
thin, rarefied.
263–4 ] Q;
not in JnB 683
266 By dancing with the men they give them hope. The
hope evaporates in the second echo.
267–8 ] Q;
not in JnB 683
270 second treble]
JnB 683 (Treb.2);
not in Q
272 A proverbial image (see Tilley, L518), which
Jonson varies in
Forest, 7. Cf. Chapman,
Ovid’s Banquet of Sense (in
Poem,
1941, 56): ‘It is
our
[i.e. women’s
] grace and sport
to see, / Our beauties sorcerie, / That makes (like destinie) / Men
follow us the more we flee.’
273–4 ] Q;
not in JnB 683
275 both trebles]
JnB 683 (Tre: do);
not in Q
275 If they do not follow you, it is because you are
of different elements.
276–81 Q sets lines
276 and
279 as a single line, with
277–8 and
280–1 in double
column beneath. While this visually sets up the opposition between earth
and water, it is not likely that it represented simultaneous singing of
the lines, and so the lyric is here laid out sequentially.
275 other’s] Q;
other JnB 683
276–81 ]
layout after Orgel; Q prints 276 and 279 as a single line, with 277–8 and 280–1
underneath in double column, separated by a bracket
277–8, 280–1 ] Q;
not in JnB 683
279 vowed] Q;
owed JnB 683
281 ] Q;
JnB 683 adds: ‘Att this Aethiopia
speakes againe’
283–4 we cannot . . .
light The moon can shine no longer.
285 Your father,
only i.e. only Niger will return.
288 veil Their
dark skin.
289 blood] Q;
bloods JnB 683
291 Thirteen
The number of the lunar months in the year. Johnson (
1994), 122–7,
argues that the masque is constructed numerologically by the interplay
of the lunar 13 and the solar 12.
297 rosmarine
sea-dew (
OED gives this as the only instance). It is also the
Latin name of the herb rosemary, and was used as an alternate form into
the seventeenth century. In herbals from the early sixteenth century,
rosemary had the virtue, when infused with white wine, to wash the face
and clear it of spots and disfigurements. See Pugh (
2005).
298–301 Venus was said to be begotten of the sexual
organs of Uranus (the sky), cut off by his son, Cronos, which fell into
the sea from which she was born. In pictorial representations (as in
Botticelli’s Birth of Venus) the seed of Uranus is
represented as the foaming crest of the waves.
298 gentler] Q;
gentle JnB 683
303 perfection
Finally, and unambiguously, whiteness is represented as the ideal,
though the term here is also used with the sense ‘the fact, state, or
condition of being completed or perfected’ (
OED, Perfection n. 1).
304 So that On
condition that.
304 this . . .
round Implies strongly that Jonson and Anne already had The Masque of Beauty in mind for the next year,
though, in the event, the ladies had to wait until 1608 to make their
return.
306 yond bright
sun James.
308 At] Q; With JnB 683
308 returned]
Q; return JnB 683
308 sea] Q; Sea agayne JnB 683
308 took] Q; take JnB 683
308 this] Q; a JnB 683
309 went] Q; goe JnB 683
311 Dian
Goddess of the moon.
315 forward
eager, ardent (
OED, Forward adj. 6a, c).
But also alluding to the fact that courtiers were not permitted to turn
their backs on the sovereign and had to back out of his presence.
318 In sight
of (1) In the view of; (2) through coming to see.
319–21 ]
Hos ego versiculos feci. / Ben: Jonson. JnB 683
319 first
masque Both the first of the pair, Blackness
and Beauty, and the first of the three masques printed
in 1608.
321 personated acted.
1 The citation is to Pliny’s
Natural
History: ‘The Ethiopian nations, to wit the Nigritae, of whom
the river took name’ (trans. Holland,
1601, 96).
2 Polyhistor]
Orgel; Poly. hist. Q, F1
2 Polyhistor This was an alternative title for Gaius Julius
Solinus, Collectanea Rerum Memorabilium, and sometimes
taken as the name of the author. 40
et
43 Actually sections 27 and 30 of
Collecteanea.
4 Descriptio Africae
J. Leonis Africani, de totius Africae descriptione:
Originally written in Italian about 1526, and published as part of G. B.
Ramusio,
Delle navigationi et viaggi (1550), the
section on Africa was excerpted, translated into Latin, and published in
Antwerp (1556). John Pory translated it into English as
A
Geographical History of Africa (
1600), and included additional
material.
5 Some . . .
Nilus There was considerable uncertainty about the origin of
the river Niger (see Barbour,
1998, 132–3). Pory (
1600), 4, in a
passage added to Leo’s text, wrote: ‘This river taketh his beginning, as
some think, out of a certain desert to the east, called Sen, or
springeth rather out of a lake, and after a long race, falleth at length
into the western Ocean.’ Jonson’s identical wording suggests that he had
consulted this translation as well as, or rather than, the original.
Lucan Marcus Annaeus Lucanus
(
ad 39–65), author of
Civil
War (also known as
Pharsalia), a history of
the wars between Caesar and Pompey. The river Melas (6.374) was a river
of Thessaly. Many rivers were known by this name, which in Greek means
‘black’.
Niger Means
‘black’ in Latin.
Nigri . . .
animantes ‘The river Niger is of the same nature as the Nile;
it produces cane, papyrus, and the same animals.’ Some ancient
geographers thought that the Nile and Niger were two branches of the
same river, and the fact that both rivers flooded the surrounding areas,
making them fertile, was frequently noted.
Solinus See .
6 form . . .
trumpets Conti (1567), 238–9, commented: ‘Triton, however, was
the trumpeter of Oceanus and Neptune’, and cited both the passages
alluded to in Jonson’s marginal note. Caeruleum . . . vocat ‘He calls the
sea-coloured Triton.’ Hunc . . . sequentem ‘He sails upon the huge Triton,
etc.’
7 Lucian of
Samosata (b.
c.
ad 120), his output, in Greek, is largely in
dialogue form.
῾ΡῬητόρων
Διδάσκαλος Professor of Public Speaking.
Equo . . . insidentem
‘Sitting on a river horse (hippopotamus)’. Cartari (
1571), 267, also
cites Lucian as the source for the Nile sitting ‘on a crocodile or a
sea-horse’.
Statius Publius
Papinius Statius (
c.
ad
45–96); his epic,
Thebais, tells the story of the
quarrel between Eteocles and Polynices. His writings were influential
throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
8 The
ancients. . .
feratur The first phrase is translated, and the Latin directly
quoted, from Conti (1567), 237. propter . . . feratur ‘on account of the
force of the winds by which he is set in motion and driven, or because
he bellows like a bull, or because he is driven to the shore like a
raging bull’. ᾽Ωκέανος . . .
χθόνα ‘The land, round which the bull-headed Ocean rolls, and
encircles with his arms’, in Conti (1567), 236.
de . . . Eridano ‘on the Tiber and the Eridanus’. Eridanus
was the name of a mythical river-god, son of Oceanus and Tethys, the
river identified sometimes with the Po, sometimes the Rhone. In the
context of Aristaeus’s vision of the rivers underground, including the
Tiber and Eridanus, Virgil speaks of the ‘two gilded horns on the bull’s
brow’, found in
Cartari
(1567), 264.
Horace . . .
Ione Tudeau-Clayton
(
1998), 128,
notes that these two references are given in Pontanus’s commentary on
this passage in the
Georgics (1599, 593), though the reference
to
Ione is untraced.
9 Hesiod . . .
Orpheus . . . Virgil Cited by Giraldi (
1548), 236, in his
listing of the names of the Oceaniae, though only the first and last
actually include specific names.
10 All . . .
putrescit Derives from
Conti (1567), 237, who gives both sources, and from whom both English
and Latin are closely paraphrased. tanquam . . . putrescit ‘as father and
origin of gods and things, because nothing is born or decays without
moisture’.
11 There . . .
enough There are plenty of examples.
Alpheus A river in the Peloponnese and its tutelary
deity. The river’s subterranean passage gave rise to the fable that it
flowed beneath the sea and attempted to mingle its waters with the
fountain of Arethusa in the island of Ortygia in Syracuse. This was
mythologized as the river-god’s pursuit of the love of the nymph,
Arethusa, turned by Diana into a fountain to escape his attentions (see
Ovid, Metamorphoses, 5.576ff.). Pliny, 2.103 (trans.
Holland,
1601,
44–5) reads: ‘fresh waters run aloft the sea, as being no doubt the
lighter . . . some rivers there be, which upon a hatred to the sea, run
even under the bottom thereof; as Arethusa, a fountain in Syracuse,
wherein this is observed, that whatsoever is cast into it, cometh up
again at the river Alpheus, which running through Olympus, falleth into
the sea shore of Peloponnesus’.
Sic . . . undam ‘If, when you glide beneath
Sicilian waves you would not have brackish Doris intermix her stream
with yours’.
Nicanor . . .
fluminibus A lost work,
known from a single reference in
Libellus de Fluviis,
17, Eurotas (speciously attributed to Plutarch; see
H&S, 10.452). Where Jonson found
the reference is unknown.
Plutarch (
c. 46–
c. 120).
Philosopher and biographer. One of the most widely influential of all
classical writers. His ‘Melas’ is a river of Boetia, now the
Mevropotanis (
H&S).
Cf. .
above.
11 subterlabere]
Q; subter labere F1
12 Diodorus
Siculus (fl. 60–20 bc). His
sprawling history of the world in forty books runs from the earliest
times to Caesar’s Gallic wars. ethnics pagans.
13 Notissima fabula ‘The very famous story’. That the falling
Phaëton turned the Ethiops black is found at 121–5.
14 Et . . . noctem ‘And whom you would not wish to encounter at
midnight’. The line is written of a blackamoor servant.
16 and 17 The relevant passage from Pliny is part of a
distinctly negative account: ‘The Atlas tribes have fallen below the
level of human civilization . . . when they behold the rising and
setting sun, they utter awful curses against it as the cause of disaster
to themselves and their fields, and when they are asleep they do not
have dreams like the rest of mankind’ (Loeb).
18 Tacitus . . .
Agricola See .
Panegyricus ad
Constantinus This anonymous poem is quoted in Camden’s
Britannia; the relevant passage is translated by
Holland (
1610, 3):
‘the sun itself, which unto us seemeth for to set, appeareth there only
to pass along and go aside’.
19 Λευκαῖον χέρσον ‘white land’. Not in
Argonautica, but the reference is given in Camden (
1586), 20.
21 Stephanus . . .
πόλεων
Stephanus of Byzantium,
De Urbibus. Jonson at some time
possessed a copy of the 1568 edition, now in the library of Clare
College, Cambridge (see Electronic Edition, Jonson’s Library).
in voce
ΑΙ´ΘΙΟΠΙΟΝ ‘under the
word Ethiopia’.
22 Diodorus
Siculus 3.4.1 begins: ‘We must now speak of the Ethiopian
writing which is called hieroglyphic amongst the Egyptians’, and
continues with a discussion of the nature of meaning in
hieroglyphics.
23 Hesiod The
names are not all from Hesiod: see .