SIgnorSignor
Immerito, to passe
ouerover youre needelesse ,
wyth the residue
of your preamble (for of
yͤthe
Earthquake
I
presuppose you
hauehave ere this
receyuedreceyved my goodly discourse) and withall to
: I cannot choose, but
thanke and honour the good
Aungell,Aungell (whether
it were
Gabriell or some
other)other), that put so good a motion
into the
heads of those
two excellent Gentlemen
M. Sidney, and
M. Dyer, the
two very Diamondes of hir
MaiestiesMajesties Courte for many speciall and
rare qualities: as to helpe
forwarde our new
famous
enterprise for the
Exchanging of Barbarous and
Balductum
Rymes with
Artificial
UersesVerses:
the one being in manner
of pure and fine Goulde, the other but counterfet,
and base
ylfauouredylfavoured
Copper. I doubt not but their
liuelielivelie example, and
Practise, wil
preuaileprevaile a thousand times more in short
space, than the dead
AduertizementAdvertizement, and persuasion of
M.
notwithstanding
I
reuerencereverence in respect of so learned a
MotiueMotive. . I hope your nexte Letters, which I daily
exspect, wil bring me in farther familiaritie
&and
acquaintance with
al
three. Mine owne Rules and Precepts of Arte, I
beleeuebeleeve wil fal out
not greatly
repugnant, though
peraduentureperadventure somewhat different:
and yet
am I not so resolute,
but I can be content to
reseruereserve the Coppying out and publishing therof,
vntiluntil I
hauehave a little better
consulted with my
pillowe, and taken some farther
aduizeadvize of
Madame
Sperienza. In the
meane, take this
for a general
CaueatCaveat,
and say I
hauehave
reuealedrevealed one great
mysterie
vntounto you: I am of Opinion,
there is no one more
regular and
iustifiablejustifiable
direction, eyther
for
the assured, and infallible
Certaintie of our English Artificiall
Prosodye
particularly, or generally to bring our Language ,
and to frame a Grammer or Rhetorike thereof: than first of all
vniuersallyuniversally to agree
vponupon
one and the same Ortographie, in all pointes
conformable
and
proportionate to
whether
Sir
Thomas Smithes in that respect be the most
perfit, as surely it must needes
be very good:
or else of profounder Learning,
&and longer
Experience, than
Sir Thomas was, shewing by
necessarie demonstration,
wherin he is
defectiuedefective, wil
vndertakeundertake shortely to supplie his wantes,
and make him more
absolute. My selfe dare not hope to
hoppe after him,
til I see something or other, too, or
fro, publickely and autentically
established, as it were by a generall
Counsel, or acte of Parliament:
and then
peraduentureperadventure, standing
vpponuppon
firmer grounde,
for Companie sake, I may
aduentureadventure to do as other do.
Interim,
credit me, I
dare geuegeve owte nodate geuegeve no Preceptes, nor
set downe any
Certaine General Arte: and yet
see my boldenesse, I am not greatly
squaimishe
of my
Particular Examples,
whereas . In which
respecte,
to say troth,
we
Beginners
hauehave
the start, and
aduauntageadvauntage of our Followers,
who
are to frame and conforme both their Examples, and Precepts, according
to that
President which they
hauehave
of vsus: as no doubt
Homer or some other in
Greeke, and or I know not who else in
Latine,
did
preiudiceprejudice, and
ouerruleoverrule those, that followed them, as well for
the
quantities of syllables, as number of feete, and
the like: their
onely Examples
going for current payment, and standing in steade of
Lawes, and Rules with the posteritie. In so much that it
seemed a sufficient
warrant (as still it doth in our Common Grammer schooles) to make
, and so consequently in the rest. But to let
passe, which
is already so throughly discoursed and
canuassedcanvassed of the
best
Philosophers, and namely
Aristotle, that poynt
vsus, as it were
with the forefinger, to the
very fountaines and
head springes of Artes,
and Artificiall
preceptes;preceptes, in the
most excellently set downe in these
foure Golden Termes, the famoussest
Termes to speake of in
all
Logique and
Philosophie,
shall I nowe
by the way sende you a
? Were
the
manner so very fine, as the matter is very good, I durst
presume
of an other kinde of
Plaudite and Gramercie, than now I will:
but
being as it is, I beseeche you, set parcialitie
aside, and tell me your maisterships
.
VErtueVertue sendeth a man to Renowne, Fame
lendeth Aboundaunce,
Fame with Aboundaunce maketh a man thrise blessed and
happie.
So the Rewarde of Famous Vertue makes many wealthy,
And the Regard
of Wealthie Vertue makes many blessed:
O blessed Vertue, blessed Fame, blessed Aboundaunce,
O that I had you three, with the losse of thirtie
Comencementes.
Nowe farewell Mistresse,
whom lately I louedloved
aboueabove all,
These be my three
Not the like Trinitie
againe, sauesave onely the Trinitie aboueabove all:
Worship and Honour, first to the one, and then to the
other.
A thousandthousaud good leauesleaves be for euerever graunted
AgrippaAgrippa.
For squibbing and declayming against many fruitlesse
Artes, and Craftes, deuisdedevisde by the
DiulsDivls and Sprites, for a torment,
And for a plague to the world: as both
Pandora, Prometheus,
And that cursed good bad
Tree, can testifie
at all times.
Meere Gewegawes
and Bables, in comparison of these.
, in
comparison of these.
IuglingJugling castes, and knicknackes, in comparison of
these.
Yet behinde
there is one thing, worth a prayer at all tymes,
A good Tongue, in a mans Head, A good Tongue in a woomans.
And what so precious matter, and foode for a good
Tongue,
As blessed Vertue, blessed Fame, blessed Aboundaunce?Aboundaunce.
MaruellMarvell not, thatwhat I meane to send these Verses at
:
On Neweyeeres
EuenEven, and Oldyeeres End, as a Memento:
Trust me, I know not a ritcher IewellJewell, newish or oldish,
Than blessed Vertue, blessed Fame, blessed
Abundaunce,
O blessed Vertue, blessed Fame, blessed
Aboundaunce,
O that you had these three, with the losse of Fortie
,
He that wisheth, you may liuelive to see a hundreth Good Newe yeares, eueryevery one happier, and
merrier, than other.
Now to
your
Blindfolded pretie
God,God (wherin by
the way I woulde
gladly learne, why,
Thĕ,Thē, in the first,
Yĕ in the first, and thirde,
Hĕ, and
My, in
the last, being shorte,
Mē,
alone should be made
longelonger in the very
same) Imagin same), imagin
me to come into a goodly Kentishe , or some other Noble
man, and spying a florishing
Bay
Tree there, to : Thinke
vpponuppon
Petrarches
Arbor vittoriosa, triomfâle,tiromfâle,
Onor d’Imperadori, e di Poete:
and : at the
least if any
thing can be added
to the loftinesse of his conceite,
whõwhom gentle
Mistresse
Rosalinde, once reported to
hauehave all the
at commaundement, and an other time, Christened
herher,
Segnior
.
WhatWAat
might I call this Tree? A Laurell? O Laurell:
Needes to thy bowes will I bow this knee, and vayle my :
Who, but thou, the renowne of Prince, and Princely
Poeta?Poeta:
Th’one for Crowne, for Garland th’other thanketh Apollo.
Thrice happy : that turned was
to the Bay Tree,
Whom such seruauntesservauntes
serueserve, as challenge seruiceservice of all men.
Who chiefe Lorde, and King of Kings, but th’Emperour only?
And Poet of right
stampe,
ouerawethoveraweth
ouerawithoverawith
th’Emperour himselfe.
Who, but knowes was he not halfe Prince to the Princes?Princes.
And many a one there liueslives, as nobly minded at all poyntes.
Now Farewell Bay Tree,
very Queene, and Goddesse of all trees,
Ritchest perle to the Crowne, and fayrest Floure to
the Garland.
Faine wod ,
O that I might? but I may not: woe to my destinie
therefore.
Trust me, not one more loyall seruauntservaunt
longes to thy Persnage,Perſonage,
But what sayes Daphne?
Non omni dormio, worse lucke:
Yet Farewell, Farewell, the Reward of those, that I
honour:
Glory to Garden: Glory
to Muses: Glory to Vertue.
But seeing I must needes
bewray my
store, and set open my shoppe wyndowes,
nowe I pray thee, and
all thy amorous Regardes,
and Exorcismes of
LoueLove, call a Parliament of thy Sensible,
&and
Intelligible powers together,
&and tell me,
in earnest, what
, sayth to this bolde
SatyricallSatyriall Libell
lately
deuiseddevised at the
instaunce of
of myne olde
acquayntaunce:
Since came in, and TuscanismoTuſcaniſme gan vsurpeusurpe,
.
, quoth a Lording:
No wordes but valorous, no workes but woomanish
onely.
For likelife Magnificoes, not a beck
but glorious in shew,
In deede most friuolousfrivolous, not a looke but Tuscanish alwayes.
His cringing side necke, Eyes
glauncing, Fisnamie
smirking,
With forefinger kisse,
and
.
,
.
A little Apish Hatte, cowchdcowched fast to the pate, like an Oyster,
French Camarick
,
to the purpose.
EueryEvery one
, his termes, and
braueriesbraveries
in Print,
Delicate in speach, queynte in araye: conceited
:
In Courtly guyses,guyles, a passing
singular
man,
For Gallantes a brauebrave
Myrrour, a
of
Honour,
A Diamond for
nonce, a in England.
Not the like Discourser
for Tongue, and head to be
found out:
Not the like resolute Man, for great
and serious affayres,
Not the like Lynx, to
spie out secretes, and priuitiesprivities of States.
This,
nay
more than this doth practise
of Italy in one yeare.
None doe I
name, but some doe I know, that a peece of a tweluemonthtwelvemonth:
Hath so perfited outly, and inly, both body, both
soule,
That none for sense, and senses, halfe matchable with
them.
Compoundes of wisedome, witte, prowes, bountie,
behauiourbehaviour,
All gallantgallaut Vertues, all qualities of body and soule:
O thrice tenne hundreth thousand times blessed and
happy,
Blessed and happy
TrauaileTravaile, TrauailerTravailer
most blessed and happy.
:
Tell me in good sooth, doth it not too
euidentlyevidently appeare, that this
English Poet
wanted but
a good patterne before
his eyes,
as it
might be some delicate,
and choyce elegant Poesie of good
M.
Sidneys, or
M. Dyers, (Dyers (owerouer
ueryvery
for such and many greater
matters)matters),
when this trimme geere was in hatching:
Muchmuch
like some
Gentlewooman, I coulde name in England, who by all
Phisick and Physiognomie too,
might as well
hauehave brought forth all goodly faire children, as
they
hauehave now some
ylfauored and
deformed, had they at the tyme of
their
Conception, had in
sight, the amiable and gallant beautifull
Pictures of
, or the like, which no doubt
would
hauehave wrought such deepe impression in their fantasies, and imaginations,
as their children, and perhappes their Childrens children too, myght
hauehave thanked them for, as long as they shall
hauehave Tongues in their
heades.
But myne owne leysure
fayleth me:
and to say troth, I am lately become
a
maruellousmarvellous great straunger at myne olde
Mistresse Poetries, being
newly entertayned, and dayly employed (
sauingsaving that I
hauehave alreadie addressed ,
wherevntowhereunto my next Letter, if you please
mee well, may perchaunce make you
priuie:)privie:)priuie):privie):
marrie nowe, if it lyke
you in the meane while, for varietie sake, to see howe I taske of
mynemyne, (whom of playne
IohnJohn, our
Italian Maister hath
Cristened
his
Piccolo GiouannibattistaGiovannibattista),Picciolo GiouannibattistaGiovannibattista,)
Lo here (and God will) a peece
of an hollydayesof An hollydayesof hollydayes exercise. In the morning I
gauegave him this
Theame out
of
OuidOvid, to translate, and varie after his best
fashion.
His translation, or rather Paraphrase before dinner, was
first this:
And then forsooth this: to make proofe of his facultie in
too, affecting a certaine
withall.
And the last and largest of all, this:
BeleeueBeleeve me, I am not to be charged with
aboueabove one, or two of the
UersesVerses:
and a foure or
fiuefive wordes in the rest. His afternoones
Theame was
borrowed out of ,
whõwhom one
, they say, is : and is quoted as your
self best remember, .
Giunto Alessandro ala famosa tomba
Del fero Achille, sospirando disse,
O fortunato, che si chiara tromba
TrouastiTrovasti.
Within an houre, or there aboutes, he brought me these foure
lustie
Hexameters, altered since
not past in a worde, or two.
Uppon the viewe whereof, Ah
my
Syrrha, quoth I here is a gallant exercise
for you in deede: we
hauehave had a little prettie triall of
your Latin,you Latin, and
Italian Translation: Let me
see now I pray, what you can doo in
your owne Tongue: And with that, reaching a certaine famous
Booke,
called the
newe
Shephardes Calender: I
turned to
Willyes, and
Thomalins Emblemes, in
Marche: and bad
him make them eyther better,
or worse in English
verse. I
gauegave him an other howres respite: but
before I
looked
for him, he suddainely rushed
vponupon me, and
gauegave me
his
deuisedevise, thus formally set downe in a faire peece of
Paper.
Of Honny, and of Gaule in LoueLove there is store,
The Honny is much, but the Gaule is more.
To be wize, and eke to LoueLove,
Is graunted scarce to God aboueabove.
With a small voluntarie Supplement of his owne, ,
in
commendation of hir most gratious, and thrice excellent
MaiestieMajestie:
In both not passing a worde, or two, corrected by mee.
I
hauehave of his, partly that very day begun, and partly
continued
since: but yet not so
perfitly finished, that I dare committe the viewe,
and examination thereof, to
Messer Immeritoes Censure, whom after
those
same two
incomparable and myraculous
,
Omni exceptione maiores,
I
recount, and chaulk
vppeuppe in the Catalogue of
our very principall Englishe
Aristarchi. Howbeit, I am
nigh halfe perswaded,
that in tyme
()
for length, bredth, and depth, it will not come far
behinde your
: the rather,
hauinghaving so fayre a
president, and
patterne
before his Eyes, as I warrant him, and he
presumeth to
hauehave
of that: both
Master
Collinshead, and
Master
too, being togither therein.
But
euerever,
&and
euerever, me thinkes your
great
Catoes,
Ecquid erit
pretijpretii, and our little
Catoes,
, make suche a buzzing,
&and ringing in my head, that
I
hauehave little
ioyjoy to
animate,
&and encourage either you, or
him
to goe forward,
vnlesseunlesse
ye might
make account
of some certaine
ordinarie wages,
or at the leastwiseat at the lea[ſt]wiseleastwise
hauehave your meate, and drinke for
your dayes workes. As for my selfe,
howsoeuerhowsoever I
hauehave toyed, and trifled
heretofore, , and I trust I shall shortly
learne,learne
to employ my
trauayle,travayle, and tyme wholly, or chiefely
on those studies and practizes, that
carrie as they saye, meate in their mouth,
hauinghaving
euermoreevermore their eye
vpponuppon the
Title
,
and their . For, I
pray now, what saith
M. Cuddie,
alias
, in the tenth
Æglogue
of the foresaid
famous
new Calender?
But Master
Collin Cloute is not
eueryevery body, and albeit his olde Companions,
Master Cuddy,
&and
Master Hobbinoll
as
euerever you wist: yet he
peraduentureperadventure, by the meanes
of hir
speciall
fauour,favour,
, may
happely
liuelive by
hauehave, and will affourde him.
Extra iocum,
I like your
Dreames
passingly well: and
the rather,
bicause they
sauoursavour of that
singular extraordinarie veine and
inuentioninvention, whiche I
euerever
fancied
moste, and in a manner admired
onelye,onelye in
Lucian, Petrarche, Aretine, Pasquill, and all the most delicate,
and fine conceited Grecians
&and Italians: (for the Romanes to speake of, are but
verye Ciphars
in this kinde:) whose
chiefest
endeuour,endevour, and drifte was, to
hauehave nothing
vulgare, but in
some respecte or other, and especially in
liuelylively Hyperbolicall
Amplifications, rare, queint, and odde in
eueryevery pointe,
and as a man woulde saye, a degree or two at the leaste,
aboueabove the
reache,
and compasse of a common Schollers capacitie. But what needeth this
digression
betweene you and me? But,
see, how I
hauehave the Arte
MemoratiueMemorative
at commaundement. In good faith I
had once
againe nigh
forgotten your howbeit by good chaunce,
I
hauehave nowe sent hir home at the laste, neither in better
nor worse
case, than I founde hir. And
must you of necessitie
hauehave my
IudgementJudgement of hir in deede? To be
plaine,
I am voyde of al
iudgementjudgement, if your
Nine Comœdies, whervntowherunto
, you
giuegive the names
of the
Nine Muses,Muses (and in one mans fansie not
vnworthily)vnworthily),unworthily)unworthily), come not
neerer
, eyther for the finenesse of
plausible Elocution,
or the rarenesse of Poetical
InuentionInvention, than that
EluishElvish Queene doth to his
Orlando Furioso, which notwithstanding, you wil
needes
seeme to emulate, and
hope to
ouergoovergo, as you flatly professed your
self in . Besides
that you know, it hath bene
the
vsualusual
practise of the most exquisite and
odde wittes in all nations,
and specially in
Italie,
rather to shewe, and
aduaunceadvaunce
themseluesthemselves
, than any other: as
namely, those three notorious dyscoursing
heads,
passe)passe), with the great
admiration, and wonderment of the
whole countrey: being in deede reputed
matchable in all points, both
for
conceyt of Witte, and eloquent
decyphering of matters, either
with
Aristophanes and
Menander in Greek, or with
Plautus and
Terence in Latin,
or with any other, in any other tong. But I wil not
stand
greatly with you in your owne matters.
, but there an End for
this once, and
fare you well, till God
or some good Aungell putte you in a better
minde.
And yet, bicause
somewhat suspitiouslye with an olde
promise, to
deliuerdeliver you of that
iealousiejealousie, I am so farre from hyding
mine owne matters from you, that loe, I
muste needes be
reuealingrevealing my
friendes secreates, now
an honest Countrey Gentleman,
sometimes a
Scholler: At
whose request, I bestowed this
pawlting
Rime
vponupon him, to present
his Maistresse withall. The parties
shall
bee namelesse:
sauingsaving, that the Gentlewomans true, or counterfaite
Christen name, must necessarily be
bewrayed.
¶To my good Mistresse
Anne: the
very lyfe of my lyfe, and onely
belouedbeloved Mystresse.
GEntleGentle
Mistresse Anne, I am plaine by
nature:
I was neuernever so farre in louelove with any creature.
Happy were your seruantservant, if hee coulde bee so Anned,
And you not vnhappyunhappy, if you shoulde be so manned.
I louelove not to gloze,
where I louelove indeede,
Nowe God, and good
sende me good speede.
Suche goodly Vertues, suche amiable Grace,
But I must not fall a praysing: I wante Time, and
Place.
Oh, that I had mine olde Wittes at commaundement:
I knowe, what I coulde say without controlement:
But let this suffice: thy desertes are suche:
That no one in this worlde can louelove thee too muche.
I
leaueleave to louelove the Muses, since I louedloved thee,
Alas, what are they, when I thee see?
Adieu, adieu pleasures, and profits all:
My Hart, and my Soule, but at .
Woulde God, I might saye to hir: My hart-roote is
thine:
And,And (ô Pleasure of Pleasures)Pleasures), Thy sweete mine.
Nowe I beseeche thee by whatsoeuerwhatsoever thou louestlovest beste,
Let it be, as I hauehave saide, and, Soule,
take thy reste.
By the faith of true LoueLove, and by my truest Truely,
Thou shalt neuernever putte forth thy LoueLove to greater VsurieUsurie.
And for other odde necessaries, take no care,
Your seruauntsservaunts
Dæmonium shall ridde you of that
feare.
I serueserve but two Saints, Saint Penny,
and Saint Anne,
Commende this
I muste, commaunde that I canne.
Nowe, shall I be plaine? I praye thee eueneven most ,
Requite
LoueLove, with LoueLove: and farewell most hartily.
I Butbut once louedloved before, and shee forsooth was a Susanne:
But the Heart of a Susanne,
not worth the Haire of an Anne:
A Sus to Anne, if you can any Latine, or
Pewter:
Shee Flesh, , hir Father a
verye Newter.
I woulde once, and might after, hauehave
spedde a Gods name:
But, if she it once,
she is none of
my Dame.
Nowe I praye thee moste hartily, Thricegentle
Mistresse Anne,
Looke for
no long seruiceservice of so plaine a manne.
And yet I assure thee, thou shalt neuernever want any seruiceservice,
If my selfe, or my S. Penny may performe thy
wishe.
And thus once againe,againe (full loath)loath), I take my leaueleave of thy sweete harte,
With as many louingloving Farewels, as be louingloving pangs in my heart.
He that longeth to be thine ovvneowne
inseparably, for euerever and euerever.
God helpe
vsus, you and I are wisely
employed,employed (are wee
not?)not?), when
our
Pen and Inke, and Time, and
Wit, and all runneth away in this goodly
yonkerly veine: as if the world had nothing else for us to do: or we
were borne to be the only
and
Nihilagents of the world.
But
hôehoe I pray you, gentle
sirra, a
word with you more. In good sooth,
and by the faith I beare to the Muses, you shal
neuernever
hauehave my
subscriptiõsubscription or consent (though you
should charge me wyth the authoritie of
fiuefive hundreth Maister
Drants,) to make your
Carpēnter our
Carpĕnter, an inche longer, or bigger, than God and his Englishe
people
hauehave made him. Is there no other Pollicie to pull downe
Ryming,
and set
vppeuppe Versifying, but you must needes
and againste all order of Lawe, and in despite of
Custome, forcibly
vsurpeusurpe, and tyrannize
vpponuppon a quiet ? What? Is
Horaces
Ars Poëtica so quite out of
our
Englishe Poets
head, that he muste
hauehave his , to
pull hym
by the
sleeuesleeve, and put him in mind, of, Indeed
I
remẽberremember, Noble
3.462. M.: Master3.462. Mr: MasterM.Mr
Valānger.Valanger.
Else
neuernever heard I any, that durst presume so much
ouerover
the Queenes Englishe,the Queenes Englishethe Queenes Englishethe Englishe, (excepting a fewe suche stammerers, as
hauehave not the
masterie of
their owne
Tongues)Tongues), as to alter the Quantitie of any one
sillable,
otherwise, than oure
common speache, and generall
receyuedreceyved Custome
woulde beare them
oute. Woulde not I laughe, thinke you, to heare
Messer
Immerito
come in baldely with his
MaiēstieMajēstie, Royāltie, Honēstie,
sciēnces, Facūlties, Excēllent, TauērnourTavērnour, Manfūlly, Faithfūlly, and a thousande the like: in steade of
MaiĕstieMajĕstie, Royăltie, Honĕstie, and so forth? And trowe you anye coulde forbeare the
byting of his
Lippe, or
smyling in his Sleeve, if a jolly fellowe, and greate
Clarke,Clarke
(as it mighte be youre
selfe,)selfe), reading a fewe
UerVerses
vntounto him, for
his own credite and
commendation, should nowe and then, tell him of,
or the like, in
steade of,
bargaĭneth, follŏwing, harrŏwing, and
the
reste? Or will
Segnior Immerito,
bycause,
may
happe,
he
hathe onehathe onhathe a
on his side, take
vpponuppon him to
controll
for his or Maister
Ascham himselfe, for
abusing
Homer,
and corrupting our Tongue, in that he saith:
I
assure you
III
knowe who dareth not, and
suddăinly
feareth the displeasure
of all true Englishemen if he should.
Say you
suddaīnly,
if you
liste: by my
certaĭnly, and
certaĭnty I wil not. You may
perceiueperceive by the
Premisses,Premisses
(which very worde I would
hauehave you
note by
the waye
to)to), the Latine is no rule for
vsus: or imagine
aforehande
(bycause you are like to
proueprove a
great
Purchaser, and
leaueleave suche store of money, and possessions behinde
you)you),
your
Execŭtors wil deale
fraudulĕntly,
or
violĕntly
with your
(whiche
in a maner is
eueryevery mans
case)case),
and it will fall oute
a
resolute pointe: the third
in :
as in
seauenseaven
hundreth more:
suche as,
discīple, recīted, excīted: tenĕment, orătour, laudĭble:
&and
a number of their fellowes
are long in English, short in
Latine: long in Latine, short in English.
Howebeit, in my fancy, such words, as
violently, diligently,
magnificently,
indifferently,
seeme in a manner reasonably , neither woulde I
greately
him, that
translated the
UerseVerse.
Marry so, that being left
for verse, they are to be pronounced
shorte in Prose, after the maner of the Latines, in suche wordes as
these,
Cathedra, , mediocres, Celebres.
And thus farre of your
Carpēnter, and his
fellowes, wherin we are
to be moderated, and
ouerruledoverruled by the
vsuallusuall, and common
receiuedreceived sounde,
and not to
deuisedevise any counterfaite fantasticall Accent of oure
owne,
as manye, otherwise not
vnlearned,unlearned,vnlearnedunlearned
hauehave corruptely and ridiculouslye
done in the Greeke.
Nowe for your
HeauenHeaven, SeauenSeaven, EleauenEleaven, or the like, I am likewise of
the same opinion: as generally in all
words else: we are not to goe
a
Tittlelittle farther, either for the
Prosody, or the
Orthography,Orthography (and
therefore your Imaginarie
nothing
worthe)worthe), 3.521. then: thanthenthan we are licenced
and
authorized by the ordinarie
vseuse,
&and custome, and proprietie, and
Idiome, and, as it
were, .
And
therefore
hauinghaving respecte
therevntothereunto, and reputing it
to
reuoltrevolt therefro: dare hardly eyther in the
Prosodie,
, allowe them two sillables in steade
of one,
but woulde as
well in Writing, as in Speaking,
hauehave them
vsedused, as
Monosyllaba,
thus:
heavn, seavn, a leavn;a leavn,
as Maister
Ascham in his
Toxophilus
doth
Yrne, commonly written
Yron::
VpUp to the pap his string did he pull, his shafte to the
harde .
Especially the difference so manifestly appearing by the
Pronunciation,
betweene these twoo,
a leavnaleavn a clocke and
a leaven of Dowe, admitteth the
Diastole, you speake of. But see, what absurdities
thys
Orthographye, or rather
in the moste, hathe
beene the sole, or
principall cause of corrupte
Prosodye in
ouerover
many?
Marry, I confesse some wordes we
hauehave indeede, as for example,
wyth an infinyte
companye of the
same sorte: sometime
Monosyllaba, sometime
Polysyllaba.
To conclude both pointes in one, I dare sweare
priuatelyprivately
to your selfe,
and
will defende publiquely againste any, it is neither Heresie,
nor
Paradox, to sette downe, and
stande
vpponuppon this
assertion,assertion (notwithstanding
all the
PreiudicesPrejudices
and Presumptions to the contrarie,
if they were
tenne times as manye
moe)moe), that it is
not, either Position, or Dipthong,
or Diastole, or anye like Grammer Schoole
DeuiceDevice, that doeth, or
can indeede, either make long or short, or encrease, or
diminish the
number of Sillables, but
onely the : taken
vpup by an
vniuersalluniversall
consent of all, and continued
by a generall
vseuse, and Custome of all. .
It is the vulgare, and naturall that alone
, as the onely supreame
Foundresse, and Reformer of Position,
Dipthong, Orthographie, or
whatsoeuerwhatsoever else:
AffirmatiuesAffirmatives are
nothing worth, if she once conclude the
NegatiueNegative: and whose
. And therefore , this is the verie shorte,
and the
long:
Position neither maketh shorte, nor long in oure Tongue,
but
so farre as we can get hir good
leaueleave.
Peraduenture,Peradventure,
vpponuppon the diligent
suruewesurvewe, and examination of Particulars, some the like
Analogie
and Uniformity, might be founde oute in some other respecte, that shoulde
as
vniuersallyuniversally and
Canonically holde
amongst
vsus, as Position doeth
with the Latines and Greekes. I
saye, (peraduenture,)saye, (peradventure,)saye (peraduenture),saye (peradventure),
bycause,
hauinghaving not yet made anye speciall
ObseruationObservation, I dare not precisely affirme
any generall certaintie: albeit I
presume, so good and sensible a Tongue,
as ours is, beeyng wythall , as it is, cannot
but
hauehave something
equipollent, and
counteruaileablecountervaileable
to the
beste Tongues, in some one such kinde of
conformitie, or other. And
this forsooth is all the Artificial Rules and Precepts, you are like
to borrowe of one man
at this time.
Sed amabo te, ad Corculi tui
delicatissimas Literas, propediem, quāquam
potero, accuratissimè: tot interim illam exquisitissimis
salutibus,
atqueatque
salutationibus impertiens, quot habet in Capitulo, capillos semiaureos, semiargenteos, semigemmeos. Quid quæris? Per tuam Venerem altera
Rosalindula est: eamqueeamque non alter, sed idem
ille,ille
(tua, vtut ante, bona cum
gratia)gratia),
copiosè amat Hobbinolus. O
mea Domina Immerito, mea bellissima Collina
Clouta, multo plus plurimùm saluesalve,
atqueatque vale.
You knowe my ordinarie
Postscripte: you may
communicate
as much, or as little, as you list,
of these Patcheries, and fragments,
with : but
there a
straw,
and you
louelove me: not with
any else,
friend or foe, one, or other:
vnlesseunlesse haply you
hauehave a special
desire to imparte
some parte hereof, to my good friend
: whose curtesies are also registred in my . You know my
meaning.
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