Title the . . . bolsover This
prosaic title in JnB 680 (the Newcastle MS) reflects exactly the nature
of the occasion but stresses the dual ‘entertainment’ of both Charles
and Henrietta Maria. F2’s evocative and punning title ‘Love’s Welcome’
suggests how Love (Cupid) and the love of the host welcomes the guests,
and that the King and Queen themselves are personifications of Love. See
C. C. Brown (
1994), 158.
Title the . . . bolsover.]
JnB 680; LOVES WEL-COME. / THE KING AND
QVEENES / ENTERTAINMENT / AT / BOLSOVER: / AT /
The Earle of Newcastles, F2
Title bolsover Bolsover Castle, Derbyshire, built on a hill above
the Cavendish lands, consisted of three main buildings: the neo-Gothic
Little Castle, the large Terrace Range, and the Riding School.
Construction was begun with the Little Castle,
c.
1608–12, and the north Terrace Range,
c. 1613,
under William Cavendish’s father, Sir Charles Cavendish (1553–1617).
William continued the work on the Terrace Range, 1629–33, and further
rebuildings in the later 1630s (L. Worsley,
2001, 2.19–20, 39–40). The plan by
John Smythson, dated
c. 1630, shows the layout
including hall, great chamber, and gallery (which were constructed), and
a planned but unbuilt chapel. Bolsover acted as a hunting lodge and
banqueting house for the main Cavendish residence of Welbeck (one
contemporary poem describes it as ‘pretty’ and ‘divine’: Andrewes,
1994, 159, lines 20
and 22). The Little Castle was lavishly decorated at William’s behest in
the early 1620s with a sequence of paintings depicting the senses
(Anteroom and Pillar Chamber), the labours of Hercules (the Hall),
saints and patriarchs (Star Chamber), and Eros and Anteros. The Little
Castle was surrounded by a walled garden enclosing the Venus Fountain
(after 1628), a neo-Italianate garden sculpture, decorated with satyrs
and squatting or pissing women (Girouard,
1983, 265; L. Worsley,
2001, 2.13–46;
Worsley,
‘Lascivious Beasts’). See Introduction.
Title July 1634.] JnB 680; The
thirtieth of Iuly, I634 F2
1 banquet Normally a light meal, often of sweetmeats (cf.
Cavendish
Entertainment, 1), but see Introduction on evidence
for a much larger – almost gargantuan – meal.
2 chorus Probably not a separate group of singers but rather,
as with the Chorus of Affections in
Welbeck (2),
the two tenors and the bass together.
2 SH
chorus] in right margin
F2;
not in
JnB 680
2–30 A variation on the ‘banquet of sense’, the
dangerously enticing banquet that celebrated the sensory, sensual, and
erotic pleasures often associated with Ovid (cf.
Poet., 4.1.)
and regarded as the antitype of Platonism (F. Kermode,
1971). Here,
Cavendish’s ‘real banquet to the sense’ (
29) combines sensory pleasures and
a spiritual banquet and so surpasses the normal opposition of soul and
senses. The banquet is ‘real’ (
29), that is, material and not
simply ideal, stressing the point that his demesne embodies and fulfils
Platonic (and, implicitly, royal) ideas it announced in naming it a
banquet ‘to’ the senses rather than ‘of’ them. It is a ‘philosophical
feast’ or symposium (see
New Inn, 3.2.123 and n.) in the true
sense.
2–3 lifting . . .
intelligence Cf.
New Inn, 3.2.94–5,
106, and
146–52, where Lovel
also cites Aristotle’s
De Anima (see .) and
Ficino’s
De Amore (
Commentary
on Plato’s Symposium; see .).
5 When . . . placed The direct answer is ‘by Aristotle’ (see
.), but
Love is the force that has created this ‘order’ and ‘placed’ them.
‘Love’ is not only the royal marriage but the love of the patron,
Cavendish, for his monarch which offers ‘order’ rather than the
potential disorder associated with the senses. Literally, Cavendish has
fixed the senses in the decorative scheme of his castle (see Title n.)
and subordinated them to higher ideals.
6 sight . . . touching, taste Aristotle,
De
Anima, 2.6–12 reverses the last two. F. Kermode (
1971), 94, notes
that in
De Sensu taste is referred to as a form
of touch and suggests this explains the frequent reversal. Raylor (
1999a), 417,
argues this marks a ‘shocking’ inversion of the Neoplatonic expectation
of ascent through the senses; C. C. Brown (
1994), 159 sees a witty invitation to
dine.
7 Would] JnB 680, F2 subst. (’Would)
13 Love . . .
circle A pun on Lat.
annus (a year) and
anulus (a ring): the pun is unpacked at lines
17–19. In Neoplatonism the circle was a symbol of perfection and
eternity: see Ficino,
De Amore, oratio 2.2
(Ficino,
1985,
46), and
New Inn, 3.2.105 and n.
14 knot’s] knots, JnB 680,
F2
15 true-love
knot A complicated knot and love-token symbolizing constancy
and unity; perhaps also the ‘Herculean knot’ associated with marriage
and fertility. Cf.
Hym., 43, 170, and Jonson’s marginal
note 22.
19 SH
first tenor] JnB 680;
2. F2
23 Complement The heading suggests a concluding, and completing,
section of the song. To ‘fill the complements’ (30 and n.) is to
complete or perfect the banquet or the metre (
OED, 3a, 4a),
but there may also be a further play on ‘the complement’ = the group of
musicians.
23 F2;
in margin in
JnB 680
24–30 The song enacts a banquet of the sense working
through the senses: ‘beauty’,
24 (sight), ‘air and notes’,
25 (hearing), ‘Exhale
the sweets’,
26
(smell), ‘softer than silk’,
27 (touch), ‘season all for taste’
28 (taste).
28 season
Add flavour and make more palatable using spices or savoury ingredients;
with the suggestion of ‘to ripen’ or ‘bring to maturity’ (
OED, 1 and 4).
29 real
(1) substantial; (2) royal (Raylor,
1999a, 416).
29 banquet . . .
sense See .
30 complements See . The pun on ‘compliments’ (in
the modern sense of praise or courtesy) completes the banquet, song, or
Love’s welcome to the King.
31 retired . . . garden Probably the walled garden with the
fountain (see Title n.) but there were also gardens and orchards below
Little Castle’s north face.
31 are] JnB
680;
were F2
31 into a garden] JnB 680;
not in F2
32 COLONEL The senior officer of a regiment. The title is chosen
to glance at Inigo Jones’s role as a Justice of the Peace for
Westminster (from 1630 onwards, see
CSPD, 1629–31, 371), as may 39. JPs were
responsible for the ‘trained bands’ or militia of a parish.
32 colonel] JnB 680, F2 (Coronell)
32 VITRUVIUS A suitable name for Jones in that it satirizes his
pretensions (as Jonson saw them) to the status of artist, copying the
Roman architect Vitruvius. Cf. ‘Expostulation’ (6.376), lines 7–8.
32 to the] JnB 680;
to his Dance of F2
32 the
mechanics see .
33–66 this edn; As two paragraphs
divided at motion (59)
JnB 680, F2 with 41, 47–8, 52–3
as marginalia
33 holiday
The spelling in JnB 680 and F2, ‘holy-day’, emphasizes the sacred nature
of proper recreation, an echo of the
Book of
Sports (1633) (Marcus,
1986, 5 and 132). Cf.
Pan’s Ann.,
8.
36 gratis. . .
bona fide An attack on
Jones’s Latinity, by showing a misunderstanding of gratis.
36 surveyor Jones was appointed Surveyor of the King’s Works in
September 1615 (Colvin,
1995, 556).
36, 46 Colonel] JnB 680, F2 (Coronell)
37 what that] JnB 680; what a
Surveyour F2
37 A supervisor] JnB 680; I
tell you a Supervisor F2
37 supervisor An individual who controls a body of workmen. The
term may denigrate Jones’s self-description as an architect: here he is
just the foreman.
37 word,] JnB 680; word,
that; F2
38 brought
in introduced (?explained) (
OED, Bring
18b).
38 And F2
reads ‘An’, but JnB 680’s ‘And’ may evoke Jones’s love of grand-sounding
titles.
38 And overseer] JnB 680; An
Overseer F2
39 the
poet Chaucer. An allusion to the Man of Law in Chaucer’s
‘Prologue’ to
The Canterbury Tales, lines 321–2:
‘Nowher so bisy a man as he ther nas, / And yet he seemed bisier than he
was’ (
Riverside Chaucer, 28). This may be another hit at
Jones’s status as a Justice of the Peace and his busy-ness, as in his
other title ‘Dominus Do-All’.
41–66 From ‘Come forth’ (
33) and ‘
The
dance ended’ (
67) and the references to ‘quick and sprightly motion’ (
59), it is clear that
these are entry directions for groups of four dancing workmen made up of
smiths (
41) and
builders (
47–8,
52–3). F2 even
describes this as ‘
Coronell/Vitruvius
his Oration to his Dance of/Mechanickes’
(although it also includes the contradictory later direction ‘
They begun to dance’ after
59). The three grouped entrances
recall the danced entries of
Chlor., 91, 126–8, 130, 134, 137, 140,
142, 146, themselves adapted from the
balet
de cour. The nearest equivalent to this dance of mechanics,
however, is the ‘black fairies . . . dancing spirits of the pits’
(coalminers) in
The Coleorton Masque, 75 (
Court Masques, ed. Lindley,
1995, 128).
41 quaternio quaternion, a group of four things or people. Cf.
Cynthia (Q), 5.2.47.
41 the . . . cyclopes.] this edn;
in left margin
JnB 680;
in margin
at
42 F2 (subst.)
41 CAPTAIN SMITH A suitably local and domestic name for Vulcan
(who was a smith). ‘Captain’ could simply be a familiar term of address
without implying military rank, which fits well with Vitruvius’
over-familiar jocularity.
41 VULCAN The crippled god of fire and blacksmiths; a divine
master artisan.
41 CYCLOPES One-eyed giants – Brontes, Steropes, and Arges –
divine craftsmen and builders. They were depicted by Virgil as Vulcan’s
smiths in the forge beneath Mount Etna making armour for Aeneas and
thunderbolts for Jove (Aeneid, 8.439–53).
42 or] JnB 680, F2; our H&S
42 neighbour In F2 this becomes ‘Hammer-armed’, but JnB 680
preserves the local element of the entertainment. A smith might also be
a neighbour at Bolsover as the area was already industrialized by
Cavendish’s mining activities.
42 neighbour] JnB 680;
Hammer-armed F2
42 sledges
hammers (as in the modern sledgehammer).
43 polt-foot club foot.
45 anvil . . .
music V. Hart (
1994), 152–3 suggests that this
passage alludes to Pythagoras and his discovery of universal harmony in
the pounding of the anvil. He argues that Jones is satirized as a
‘disabled shadow’ of the classical master he claims to imitate. Cf.
59–62 and n., and see D. Gordon (
1975), 100.
46 knows.] JnB 680; knowes a
little. F2
47–8 the . . . man.] this edn;
in margin
JnB 680, F2
47 CHISEL Sharp-edged tool for carving wood.
47 chisel] JnB 680, F2 (Chesil)
47 MAUL Large hammer or mallet often used for piledriving.
47 SQUARE Tool for establishing right angles (as in the modern
set square and T-square). JnB 680’s ‘Squire’ (which is a variant form of
‘square’) becomes ‘Sq. Summer’ in F2.
47 square] this edn; Squire JnB 680;
Sq. Summer F2
48 TWIBILL Axe used for cutting mortices in carpentry.
49 Square] this edn; Squire
JnB 680;
Squire Summer F2
50–1 Work . . .
ground Dance in that space. ‘Ground’ is a foundation or a
floor, but ‘the ground’ is also the underlying tune over which a descant
is played (
OED, 2a, 2b, 6c).
52 DRESSER Plumber’s mallet (
OED, 6b).
52 QUARREL The diamond-shaped pane in a lattice window (
H&S).
52–3 quarrel . . .
plasterer] F2;
Fret the Plasterer. / Quarel ye Glasier JnB 680
52 FRET Carved ceiling ornament.
53 BEATER A stick used to beat mortar.
52–3 the . . . mortarman.] this edn;
in right margin
JnB 680;
in right margin continuous with 54–5 F2
55 finishers . . . footing A ‘finisher’ is someone (or
something) that finishes a task in various trades; here they complete
the dance. ‘Footing’ is both dancing and an architectural foundation (in
current usage usually ‘footings’ of a building). See
OED, Footing
1c and 12.
56 with
measure (1) in time to the music (measure); (2) in moderation;
(3) punning on the workman’s ruler.
56 with] JnB 680; with Tune,
and F2
56 tickle-foot Something that incites the listener to dance.
(See
OED, Tickle 7,
Pan’s Ann.,
77, and
Gypsies (Windsor), 504 and n.
57–8 Pumps and
ribbons Dancing shoes and ornaments.
58–9 or . . . sprightly] JnB
680; with the surfet of your light and nimble F2
58 surfeit
suffer from the effects of over-indulgence: their feet are swollen with
too much dancing. The ‘surfeit’ of the mechanicals contrasts with the
controlled appetites of the courtiers.
59 motion.] JnB 680;
F2 marks a new paragraph and adds They begun to
Dance. in right margin F2
59–62 musical . . .
proportion Renaissance architectural theory linked musical
harmony, building, and the cosmic order. Dance was often seen as an
imitation of the divine harmony of creation; here, the dancing builders
suggest that the surrounding buildings are also constructed in imitation
of the cosmic order (D. Gordon,
1975, 100). This passage also
presumably appealed to scientific, especially mathematical, interests of
the Cavendish circle. Cf. 129 and n.
60 gamesters (1) merry, frolicsome individuals (cf.
EMI (F),
1.2.93); (2) athletes (
OED, Gamester,
1a, 4).
60 Or rather –] JnB 680
(Or rather!);
not in F2
60 my] JnB 680; my true
F2
61 number . . .
measure An echo of
Wisdom, 11.21, ‘But
by measure and number and weight thou didst order all things’. Cf.
Und.
70.50 and ‘Katherine Ogle’ (6.315–16), lines 22–3.
62 just
exact; with implications of rationality and appropriateness (
OED, 6, 7).
62 just] JnB 680; a
well-tim’d F2
63 a year] JnB 680; the yeare
F2
63 into] JnB 680; in F2
64 statute-tunes Tunes fixed by law (
OED, Statute
4); the reference is to the dancing and proper recreation permitted by
the
Book of Sports.
64 trestles Supports for a table (hence trestle table) or planks
for building work (
OED, Trestle 1).
65 Colonel
In F2 ‘
Iniquo’, as Jonson makes the satire on
Jones more pointed by playing on ‘Inigo’/‘iniquo’. Cf.
Informations,
368–9 and notes.
65 Colonel] JnB 680
(Cor’nell); Iniquo F2
65–6 lily . . .
rose Lilies (fleur-de-lis) and roses are the traditional
symbols of France and England, later worn by Eros and Anteros in 69. The
lilies also suggest Juno’s lilies (
Hym., 192 and
marginal note 30) while the ‘blended’ rose combines Lancastrian red and
Yorkist white roses. This flower imagery may also echo that surrounding
Charles and Henrietta Maria’s marriage. In 1625, small silver medallets
were issued, some with portraits of the King and Queen, bearing
depictions of Cupid scattering roses and lilies and the legend ‘
Fundit amor lilia mixta rosis’ (Love pours out
lilies mixed with roses). See Hawkins, Franks and Grueber (
1885), 1.238–9,
nos 1–5. (I am very grateful to Philip Attwood for his help with these
medallets). Cf.
Love’s Triumph, 171–2, and
Und.
75.57–60 and
65.1–3.
65–6 for and
moreover.
67 The . . . King] this edn; The Dance ended / And / The King JnB 680; The Dance ended./ And the King F2 as part of paragraph (67–73)
67–124 This passage combines classical writers and
Renaissance mythographers, notably Alciati and Cartari (see D. Gordon,
1975, 272–4),
and Vaeni’s
Amorum Emblemata (
1606), which also
illustrates the Cupids’ contention (B2) (Jonson’s copy is in University
College London Ogden Collection A292). Among the mythographers the key
debate was whether the struggle of Eros and Anteros represented earthly
against divine love, or the importance of reciprocal love (see .; see D.
Gordon,
1975, 98
and 272). Jonson used the same passage from Cartari (
1571), 500–1 (
H&S, 10.540) as the
source for
Challenge, 149–78, where the myth symbolizes the
equal fervour of love and returned love. Cartari states: ‘Anteros’s
effort illustrates that those who respond to love do not love any less
than those who love at first, hence he is trying to take away the palm
from Eros’ (trans. O. Da Rold).
67–8 having . . . Cupids] JnB 680; having a second Banquet, set downe
before them from the Cloudes by two Loves F2
67–8 reposed . . .
cupids F2 presents a different version of the performance
with a second banquet ‘set downe before them from the Cloudes’ by the
two Cupids, presumably in the garden, while JnB 680 simply requires a
‘
fit place’ (which could be another garden:
see
31n.) as
they depart and does not include the details of the cloud-borne banquet.
C. C. Brown (
1994), 164, argues that the clouds could have descended from the
walls of the Fountain Garden; L. Worsley (
2000), 35, that the balcony of the
Elysium Room might have been used. This would provide a superb
exploitation of the performance space and its semiotics.
68 TWO
CUPIDS This SD has caused much confusion after H&S emended
by moving the palm (
70) to follow ‘
King’s’ (
68), so that it was carried by the
King’s Cupid. The logic in the SD, however, links the palm bough to the
second Cupid, since it follows on from the description of his lily
garland. This second Cupid is the Queen’s, and at
84, the palm-bearing Cupid is
identified as Eros, implying that he must be the Queen’s Cupid. This is
confirmed in the dialogue at
79–81 where the aggressive and larger Anteros is the King’s
Cupid. The SD only confuses when it is assumed that the Cupids speak in
the order in which they are described. Indeed, the specific designation
of the ‘
lesser’ (
72) as the first speaker is,
perhaps, designed to signal that the presumed order (that the first, and
larger, Cupid would speak first) has been changed. The linkage of
Eros/Queen, Anteros/King reverses the gendering of the Cupids in
Challenge, 6, where Eros was attached to the bridegroom,
representing a rampant phallic sexuality, although it matches that
text’s association of the smaller Cupid, described as ‘purer’ and
‘worthier’ (7), with the bride. In this respect
Bolsover follows Cartari closely, so the smallness of Eros
conforms to the myth that attributes Anteros’ birth to the need to
encourage Eros to grow (Cartari,
1571, 500–1), but rewrites Jonson’s
Jacobean text, possibly as an echo of the Caroline reformation of
manners. The connection of Eros to the Queen, and the love reciprocated
by the Anteros/King, also resembles their masque-roles: Divine Love or
Divine Beauty for the Queen; Heroic Valour for the King (see also
Textual Essay). See D. Gordon (
1975), 98–9 and 273–4, and A. H.
Gilbert (
1948),
42–3.
69 differenced distinguished, differentiated (
OED, 3).
Nason,
1907, 136,
argues that the usage is heraldic (to difference = to make an alteration
in a coat of arms to distinguish different families:
OED, 2b,
first example, 1708).
69 roses. . .
lilies See .
70 with . . . bottom] JnB 680, F2;
placed by H&S at line
68 after ‘King’s’
70 palm A symbol of victory. The struggle for the palm (
79–84) is to determine
who loves most, and its resolution, the division of the palm, celebrates
mutual love and harmony (D. Gordon,
1975, 99).
70 cleft . . . bottom H&S regard this as incorrect, but the
JnB 680 reading is more practical on stage where a palm already split in
two would be much easier to separate.
70 cleft . . . bottom] JnB 680; a little
at the top F2
71 are] JnB
680; were F2
71 cassocks Long loose gowns or coats (
OED, Cassock,
2).
71 buskins boots.
72 perukes wigs.
72 stand] JnB 680; stood F2
72 when] JnB 680; till at last F2
72 lesser smaller. Eros was supposed not to have thrived, and so
Venus created Anteros following Themis’ advice (cf.
95–7) (Cartari,
1571, 500–1). When
in the company of Anteros, Eros grows and flourishes (cf.
93–4,
105–12).
72 lesser] JnB 680; lesser of them F2
72 begins] JnB 680; began F2
73 speak.] end of SD followed by heading Eros: Anteros. JnB 680;
Eros. Anteros. F2
74 Another . . .
self Anteros represented mutual love in the classical
tradition, although later mythographers treated him as the virtuous
opposite of Eros (Panofsky,
1939, 126–7; D. Gordon,
1975, 272). Jonson
combines both to suggest the controlled virtue (spiritual triumphing
over earthly love) and the mutual affection of the royal couple. The
image may also apply, as an assertion of disinterestedness, to the
monarch and the client-host, Cavendish.
75 mere
absolute, perfect (
OED, 4).
75 elf Any
small being, but with the implications of both the supernatural, and of
mischievousness (
OED, 1, 2b). Cupid was notoriously
‘wanton’, that is random, and even spiteful in his choice of
targets.
77 cross] cross’ JnB 680,
F2
77 cross
thwart.
80 side
Part of a building set apart for a particular person (
OED, 15c).
The reference here is to the suites of rooms designated for the King and
Queen and their separate establishments in royal palaces.
81 wings] F2; wing JnB 680
84 Anteros
snatches. . .
it Both JnB 680 and F2
place this SD in the margin, with the tense changed in F2 (‘snatch’d’,
‘divided’): see Textual Essay. Jonson follows Cartari closely at this
point (Cartari,
1571, 501), but rather than a prolonged fight Eros
surrenders, perhaps as an image of Caroline mutuality and harmony.
84 Anteros . . . it.] JnB 680
in left margin;
in right margin F2
84 snatches] JnB 680; snatch’d F2
84 divides] JnB 680; divided F2
88 Love-Again] this edn; JnB 680
(Loue, againe), F2 (Love, againe)
89 have] JnB 680; ha’ F2
90 tally
Notched stick used to reckon a bill or score a game, and so figuratively
‘the score’; the stick would be divided to provide records for the
debtor and creditor.
94 Three inches
higher See .
94, 111 sin’
Shortened form of ‘sithens’ (since).
95 ANTEROS F2’s missing SH seems to make the Graces the nurses
of Anteros whereas, in the mythographers and in JnB 680, Eros is nursed
by the Graces (D. Gordon,
1975, 273).
95 SH
anteros] JnB 680;
not in F2
95 oracle
See .
96 Graces
The three Graces, or Charities – Aglaia (Brightness), Thalia
(Youthfulness), and Euphrosine (Cheerfulness) – were supposed to bestow
beauty and attractiveness on an individual (see A. H. Gilbert,
1948, 115–17).
97 Themis’
advice Themis, the prophetess who preceded Apollo at Delphi
(also used in
Challenge, 157), advised Venus to create Anteros
(Cartari,
1571,
500–1); her daughters were the Hours (see Wheeler,
1938, 184–5).
103–5 eye . . .
other Neoplatonic theory suggests that the beloved fell in
love with the image of themselves as conceived in the mind of the lover.
The idea is from Ficino,
De Amore, 6.6 (Ficino,
1985, 115);
cf.
New
Inn, 3.2.97–100 and n. H&S describe this as a
‘Platonic touch’ citing
Phaedrus, 255D.
106 grow
galliard become lively, full of high spirits (
OED, Galliard
2).
108 urchin
hedgehog, probably a goblin or elf (it was often thought that they
assumed the shape of hedgehogs); also pert or mischievous youngster
(
OED, Urchin 1b and c, 4a).
119 will and
nill will and will not: to wish and not to wish for the same
thing.
119–20 move . . .
wills The ‘will’ (desire) was often opposed to ‘wit’ (reason);
the inference here is that mutual love combines both. Cf.
New
Inn, 3.2.150–2 which imagines mutual love involving
‘will’ and ‘affection’ to graft the souls together.
122 that] JnB 680; which
F2
122 circular The Bolsover fountain garden was also circular (see
Lindley, 269). As
circles were symbols of perfection (see .), ideal gardens, especially
those associated with the Virgin Mary, were often depicted as circular,
as in the frontispiece to Hery Hawkins’s
Parthenia
Sacra (
1633).
123, 129 school
(1) the place where classical philosophers taught (cf. ‘academy’, 129
and n.); (2) the faculties or disciplines of medieval higher education
(
OED, 2, 7a and 7b).
123 which] JnB 680 (wch); that F2
124 the] JnB 680; a F2
125 PHILALETHES Lover of truth.
125 philalethes]
Philaléthes JnB 680;
Philalethes F2
126 SH
philalethes] this edn; not
in
JnB 680, F2
129 academy
A place where arts and sciences are taught; especially the garden where
Plato taught philosophy.
130 throughly fully, completely (
OED).
131 analytic
tables Possibly algebraic tables (suggested by ‘proportions,
and harmony’, 130), but the term could also translate the Lat.
analytica of Aristotelian logic (hence
‘analytics’ were the part of logic that treated analysis) (see
OED, Analytic 2a and 2b). The language suggests that
Neoplatonism is not simply mysterious but rational, even mathematical,
and may echo Cavendish’s own interests in the science of sensory
perception (hence ‘demonstrable to the senses’).
133 here in] JnB 680
JnB 680; here in the edge of F2
133 Derbyshire . . . ale Cf.
Gypsies (Burley),
165, and
Welbeck, 118.
133, 152 region
Jonson plays on two senses of ‘region’: (1) kingdom; (2) area of land,
part of a country or kingdom. At 133 clearly the more restricted sense
(2) is required, but in 152 Philalethes uses the term doubly to suggest
how Cavendish has inculcated proper values into his ‘region’ that he
wishes would permeate the rest of the kingdom. See
OED, Region
1.
133 it] JnB 680; not in F2
134 shrewd
grevious, serious (‘an intensive qualifying a word denoting something in
itself bad’); also ‘evil-natured’ (
OED, 3). Cf.
Staple, Intermean 1, 54. ‘Shrewd’ can also
refer to railing and abusive language (
OED, 12),
suggesting how poetry has come to be seen as devalued, indecorous, and
even uncourtly.
134 things] JnB 680; not in
F2
135–6 Rhyme . . .
court Part of Jonson’s quarrel with the Caroline masque and
its spectacular culture. The lines echo ‘What need of prose / Or verse,
or sense . . .’ in ‘Expostulation’ (6.375–6), lines 40–1, and also
Und.
29. ‘Rhyme’ = verse.
137 done of
the end of.
138 verge
The area subject to the Lord High Steward, defined as within twelve
miles of the court.
139 a
mere . . . canters a pair of
rogues. Canting was the language of thieves widely reported in pamphlets
and used in plays, such as Middleton and Dekker’s
The
Roaring Girl (1611); Jonson uses the idea in
Gypsies (Burley),
22ff.
139 gypsies
thieves, beggars. Cf.
Gypsies (Burley), 178–9; and see
Sanders (
2002).
141–2 canons . . .
love A series of metaphors that stress the religiosity and
absoluteness of royal married love. ‘Canons’ were laws laid down by the
church and ‘decretals’ the canon law decrees. ‘Canons’ could also be
axioms (
OED, 1a, 2b), and ‘decretals’ could imply the sense
of absolute commands (
OED, 1 and 2).
142 school-divinity A playful reference to Scholastic doctrine,
medieval moral theology (see also
123n.); court Neoplatonism is as
rational, rigorous, and perhaps pedantic, as medieval theology. Cf.
Lady’s Frampul’s quasi-medieval response to Lovel’s defence of
Neoplatonism (
New Inn, 3.2.205–6).
142–51 Contemplate . . . perpetual D. Gordon (
1975), 99
describes this final section as an ‘allegorical portrait’ with the King
and Queen ‘trampling Fortune and Time’ and the Fates supporting them: a
visual triumph of royal love. A. H. Gilbert (
1948), 233 suggested that, in view of
the cost of the masque, the Fates, Fortune, and Time may have appeared
rather than simply have been described, but see Masque Archive,
Bolsover, 1, and Introduction.
143 Hymen . . .
torches The Roman god of marriage was usually represented with
a single torch, but often multiple nuptial torches are mentioned. Here
the point seems to be that not only do the torches burn clear, a good
omen, but that they feed each other. Cf. ‘Hymen’s lamps’,
Temp.,
4.1.23.
144 aspect
sight, mental looking.
145 Fates
The three sisters who determined man’s length of life and destinty.
Clotho holds the distaff, Lachesis the spindle, and Atropos the shears
with which life is woven, measured, and cut off. They are usually
depicted in white garments bordered with purple, sometimes as
representing youth, middle age, and old age, and with a book of adamant
placed before them (A. H. Gilbert,
1948, 184–5).
146 whitest
wool A sign of good fortune.
146 without . . .
purl A sign of refinement and purity. The wool spun by the
Fates is without flaws and plain (a ‘brack’ was a flaw in cloth (
OED, 3); a ‘purl’ was usually a decoration made with
loops of wool or thread). Cf.
Welbeck, 20n.
146 Fortune
Chance, luck; normally depicted as a woman. For instance, the statue
which decorated London’s Aldgate showed her ‘standing on a globe, with a
prosperous sail spreading over her head’ (A. H. Gilbert,
1948, 108–9).
147 Time
Usually depicted as an old, bald man: A. H. Gilbert (
1948), 234.
148 for] F2; from JnB 680
148 starting from
them revolting from them (
OED, Start
4.7).
150 with] JnB 680; with the
F2
150 their subjects] F2; the
Subject JnB 680
152 this] JnB 680; the F2
152 region
See
133 and n.
153 let the] JnB 680; let that
F2
155–6 descended . . . warlike An allusion to James Ⅵ and Ⅰ (the
peacemaker) and Henry Ⅳ of France.
158 alluding . . . riddle
Judges, 14.14. A
riddle posed by Samson, referring to bees making honey in the carcase of
a lion. See Textual Essay.
158 alluding . . . riddle] JnB
680, F2;
placed as marginalia
H&S
160–1 islands . . .
ocean An allusion to the Virgilian description of Britain
divided from the world (‘
toto divisos orbe
Britannos’), also suggesting the ‘more nebulous association
with the mythical islands of the Western Ocean, such as Thule, the
Fortunate Isles, or Hesperides’ (Bennett,
1956, 117). A more recent political
meaning may be implied as the ownership of the North Sea was much
disputed; Selden’s
Mare Clausum (
1635) supported
English maritime ownership on the grounds that England had once ruled
France.
161 by] JnB 680; not in F2
163 Welcome] JnB 680;
Welcome. Welcome, Welcome. F2
The song at the banquet,
sung by TWO
TENORS and a BASS
See more
‘Welcome’, true
‘Welcome’ fill the
See moreif you, brethren,
should report and swear to, would hardly get
credit above
See moreconclude you for
See moreOh, that rhyme is a
See moreto your sceptres, and a
strength to secure your own
See moreyour Colonel
Vitruvius
See moretrust, lads, in the
name of your
See moreSing in the air and
notes of nightingales,
See moreAnd tell you, softer
than in silk, these tales,
See more‘Welcome’ should
See morewith your quick and
sprightly
See morewith your quick and
sprightly
See moreTo serve you,
brother, and report
See moreTo look upon and
thrive. Me seems I grew
See moreWe either, looking on
each other, thrive!
See more