ORLANDO FURIOSO.

Bater MARSILIUS and ANGELICA; the SOLDAN, RODOMONT, MANDRICARD, BRANDIMART, ORLANDO, SACRIPANT and his Man, with others.

Mars. Victorious princes, summon'd to appear Within the continent of Africa;

From seven-fold Nilus to Taprobany,
Where fair Apollo darting forth his light
Plays on the seas;

From Gades' islands, where stout Hercules
Emblaz'd his trophies on two posts of brass,
To Tanais, whose swift-declining floods*
Environ rich Europa to the north;
All fetch'd

From out your courts by beauty to this coast,
To seek and sue for fair Angelica ;

Sith none but one must have this happy prize, At which you all have levell'd long your thoughts,

Set each man forth his passions how he can,
And let her censure † make the happiest man.

Sold. The fairest flower that glories Africa, Whose beauty Phoebus dares not dash with showers,

Over whose climate never hung a cloud,

But smiling Titan lights the horizon,

Egypt is mine, and there I hold my state,

Seated in Cairo ‡ and in Babylon. +

From thence the matchless § beauty of Angelica, Whose hue['s] as bright as are those silver doves That wanton Venus mann'th || upon her fist,

foods] Qy, "flood"? But afterwards (p. 90, first col.) we have the "streams" of the Danube.

† censure] i. e. judgment.

Cairo) The 4tos. "Cairye."

matchless] Qy. dele this word? But the text is wretchedly corrupt throughout.

mann'th] So the 4tos. ("manth"; to show that the word, for the sake of the metre, was to be pronounced as one syllable). To man is a term of falconry, and means to make tractable: so Shakespeare;

"Another way I have to man my haggard,

To make her come, and know her keeper's call."
The Taming of the Shrew, act iv. sc. 1.

Forc'd me to cross and cut th' Atlantic seas,
To oversearch the fearful ocean,
Where I arriv'd t' eternize with my lance
The matchless beauty of fair* Angelica ;
Nor tilt, nor tourney, but my spear and shield
Resounding on their crests and sturdy helms,
Topt high with plumes, like Mars his burgonet,
Enchasing on their curats + with my blade,
That none so fair as fair Angelica.
But leaving these such glories as they be,
I love, my lord; let that suffice for me.
Rod. Cuba my seat, a region so enrich'd
With favours sparkling from the smiling heavens,
As those that seek for traffic to my coast
Account it like that wealthy Paradise
From whence floweth Gihon and swift Euphrates §:
The earth within her bowels hath enwrapt,
As in the massy storehouse of the world,
Millions of gold, as bright as was the shower
That wanton Jove sent down to Danäe.
Marching from thence to manage arins abroad,
I pass'd the triple-parted regiment ||
That froward Saturn gave unto his sons,

Erecting statues ¶ of my chivalry,
Such and so brave as never Hercules
Vow'd for the love of lovely Iole.

But leaving these such glories as they be,

I love, my lord; let that suffice for me.
Mand. And I, my lord, am Mandricard of
Mexico,

Whose climate['s] fairer than Iberia's,**

fair] The same line occurs presently in the first speech of Orlando, but without this epithet, which seems to be an interpolation.

t curats] i. e. cuirasses.

t Account it] The 4tos. "Accounted."

§ Euphrates] Our early poets generally chose to make the second syllable of this word short. regiment] i. e. dominion.

statues] The 4to. of 1599 "Statutes." ** Iberia's] The 4tos. "Tyberius."

Seated beyond the sea of Tripoly,
And richer than the plot Hesperides,*
Or that same isle wherein Ulysses' love
Lull'd in her lap the young Telegonus; +
That did but Venus tread a dainty step,+
So would she like the land of Mexico,
As, Paphos and brave Cyprus set aside,
With me sweet lovely Venus would abide.
From thence, mounted upon a Spanish bark,
Such as transported Jason to the fleece,

Come from the south, I furrow'd Neptune's seas,
Northeast as far § as is the frozen Rhene;
Leaving fair Voya, cross'd up Danuby,
As high as Saba, whose enhancing streams
Cut 'twixt the Tartars and the Russians:
There did I act as many brave attempts,
As did Pirithöus for his Proserpine.

But leaving these such glories as they be,
I love, my lord; let that suffice for me.

Brand. The bordering islands, seated here in ken,
Whose shores are sprinkled with rich orient pearl,
More bright of hue than were the margarites
That Cæsar found in wealthy Albion ; ||
The sands of Tagus all of burnish'd gold
Made Thetis never prouder on the clifts ¶

"Still climbing trees in the Hesperides."
Love's Labour's Lost, act iv. sc. 3.

And Greene again in another play;
"Whereon the fearful dragon held his seat
That watch'd the garden call'd Hesperides."
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay.
Nay, even the very learned and very pedantic Gabriel
Harvey has; "the watchfull and dreadful dragon,
which kept the goodly golden apples, in the Occidentall
Islands of the Ocean, called Hesperides, one of the re-
nowned prizes of douty Hercules, was a West Indian
asse, &c.,"-Pierce's Supererogation, &c., 1593, p. 167.
Telegonus] The 4tos. "Telegone."

That did but Venus tread a dainty step] This linebefore which something has certainly dropt out-appears to be corrupted.

§ Northeast as far, &c.] These four lines, with slight variations, occur towards the end of Peele's Old Wives Tale;

"For thy sweet sake I have cross'd the frozen Rhine; Leaving fair Po, I sail'd up Danuby,

As far as Saba, whose enhancing streams Cut twixt the Tartars and the Russians." Whether Peele borrowed from Greene, or vice versd, it is impossible to ascertain.

More bright of hue than were the margarites

That Cæsar found in wealthy Albion] So our author in one of his prose-tracts; "Amongst many curious pearles I found out one orient margerite richer then those which Cæsar brought from the westerne shores of Europe."-Ciceronis Amor, &c., Sig. E 2. ed. 1611.-This speech is mutilated.

་

e. cliffs.

That overpeer the bright and golden shore,
Than do the rubbish of my country seas:
And what I dare, let say the Portingale,

And Spaniard tell, who, mann'd with mighty fleets,

Came to subdue my islands to their king,
Filling our seas with stately argosies,
Calvars and magars, hulks of burden great;
Which Brandimart rebated* from his coast,
And sent them home ballass'd with little wealth.
But leaving these such glories as they be,

I love, my lord; let that suffice for me.

Orl. Lords of the south, and princes of esteem, Viceroys unto the state of Africa,

I am no king, yet am I princely born,
Descended from the royal house of France,
And nephew to the mighty Charlemagne,
Surnam'd Orlando, the County Palatine.
Swift fame hath † sounded to our western seas
The matchless beauty of Angelica,
Fairer than was the nymph of Mercury,
Who, when bright Phoebus mounteth up his coach,
And tracts Aurora in her silver steps,
And sprinkles from the folding of her lap
White lilies, roses, and sweet violets.
Yet thus believe me, princes of the south,
Although my country's love, dearer than pearl
Or mines of gold, might well have kept me back;
The sweet conversing with my king and friends,
Left all for love, might well have kept me back
The seas by Neptune hoisèd to the heavens,
Whose dangerous flaws § might well have kept
me back;

The savage Moors and Anthropophagi, ||
Whose lands I pass'd, might well have kept me

back;

* rebated] Mr. Collier (Hist. of the Engl. Stage, &c. p. 32,-Shakespeare, vol i., ed. 1858) thinks that "it is as clear as day that here rebated' ought to be 'rebutted,'" and that the same alteration is required in a subsequent part of the play (p. 101, first col.),

"This is the city of great Babylon,

Where proud Darius was rebated from." But Mr. Collier is greatly mistaken:-the old copies are right in both passages. Greene uses rebate in the sense of beat back (which is its proper sense,-Fr. rebattre). So again in the first speech of the next play we find,"Great Jewry's God, that foil'd stout Benhadab, Could not rebate the strength that Rasni brought, "&c. thath] The 4tos. "that"

And sprinkles, &c.] In England's Parnassus, 1600, p. 415, this passage is quoted with the variation, "And sprinkling," &c. I have no doubt that a line which immediately preceded the present one has dropped out. A critic in The Retrospective Review, iii. 111., silently prints "Doth sprinkle."

§ flaws] 1. e. blasts.

Anthropophagi] The 4tos. "Anthropagei."

The doubt of entertainment in the court
When I arriv'd, might well have kept me back;
But so the fame of fair Angelica

Stamp'd in my thoughts the figure of her love,
As neither country, king, or seas, or cannibals,*
Could by despairing keep Orlando back.
I list not boast in acts of chivalry,
(An humour never fitting with my mind,)
But come there forth the proudest champion
That hath suspicion in the Palatine,
And with my trusty sword Durandell,+
Single, I'll register upon his helm
What I dare do for fair Angelica.

But leaving these such glories as they be,
I love, my lord;

Angelica herself shall speak for me.

Mars. Daughter, thou hear'st what love hath here alleg'd,

How all these kings, by beauty summon'd here,
Put in their pleas, for hope of diadem,
Of noble deeds, of wealth, and chivalry,
All hoping to possess Angelica.

Sith father's will may hap to aim amiss,
(For parents' thoughts in love oft step awry,)
Choose thou the man who best contenteth thee,
And he shall wear the Afric crown next me.
For trust me, daughter, like of whom thou please,
Thou satisfied, my thoughts shall be at ease.

Ang. Kings of the south, viceroys of Africa,
Sith father's will hangs on his daughter's choice,
And I, as erst Princess Andromache
Seated amidst the crew of Priam's sons,
Have liberty to choose where best I love;

Must freely say, for fancy hath no fraud,
That far unworthy is Angelica

Of such as deign to grace her with their loves;

The Soldan with his seat in Babylon,

The Prince of Cuba, and of Mexico,

Rod. How likes Marsilius of his daughter's choice?

Mars. As fits Marsilius of his daughter's spouse.

Rod. Highly thou wrong'st us, King of Africa,
To brave thy neighbour princes with disgrace,
To tie thine honour to thy daughter's thoughts,
Whose choice is like that Greekish giglot's love,
That left her lord, Prince Menelaus,
And with a swain made scape away to Troy.
What is Orlando but a straggling mate,
Banish'd for some offence by Charlemagne,
Skipp'd from his country as Anchises' son,
And means, as he did to the Carthage Queen,
To pay her ruth and ruin for her love?

Orl. Injurious Cuba, ill it fits thy gree
To wrong a stranger with discourtesy.
Were't not the sacred presence of Angelica
Prevails with me, as Venus' smiles with Mars,
To set a supersedeas of my wrath,

Soon should I teach thee what it were to brave. Mand. And, Frenchman, were't not 'gainst the law of arms,

In place of parley for to draw a sword,
Untaught companion, I would learn you know
What duty 'longs to such a prince as he.

Orl. Then as did Hector 'fore Achilles' tent,
Trotting his courser softly on the plains,
Proudly dar'd forth the stoutest youth of Greece;
So who stands highest in his own conceit,
And thinks his courage can perform the most,
Let him but throw his gauntlet on the ground,
And I will pawn my honour to his gage,
He shall ere night be met and combated.

Mars. Shame you not, princes, at this bad

agree,

Young Brandimart, master of all the isles

Where Neptune planted hath his treasury;
The worst of these men of so high import
As may command a greater dame than I.
But fortune, or some deep-inspiring fate,
Venus, or else the bastard brat of Mars,
Whose bow commands the motions of the mind,
Hath sent proud love to enter such a plea
As nonsuits all your princely evidence,
And flat commands that, maugre majesty,
I choose Orlando, County Palatine.

• king, or seas, or cannibals] Qy. "king, seas, cannibals"? And with my trusty sword Durandell] In this line "sword" is a dissyllable; see Walker's Shakespeare's Versification, &c., p. 32.

Brand. But would these princes follow my

advice,

And enter arms as did the Greeks 'gainst Troy, Nor he, nor thou shouldst have Angelica.

Rod. Let him be thought a dastard to his death,
That will not sell the travails he hath past
Dearer than for a woman's fooleries:
What says the mighty Mandricard?

Mand. I vow to hie me home to Mexico,
To troop myself with such a crew of men
As shall so fill the downs of Africa,
Like to the plains of watery Thessaly,
Whenas an eastern gale, whistling aloft,

*gree] i. e. degree.

town,

And here ensconce myself despite of thee,
And hold thee play till Mandricard return.-
What says the mighty Soldan of Egypt?

Sold. That when Prince Menelaus with all† his
mates

Had ten years held their siege in Asia,
Folding their wraths in cinders of fair Troy,
Yet, for their arms grew by conceit of love,
Their trophies were but conquest of a girl:
Then trust me, lords, I'll never manage arms
For women's loves that are so quickly lost.

Brand. Tush, my lords, why stand you upon
terms?

Let's to our sconce, and you, my lord, to Mexico.

Orl. Ay, sirs, ensconce ye how you can, See what we dare, and thereon set your rest. [Exeunt all except SACRIPANT and his Man. Sac. [aside.] Boast not too much, Marsilius, in thyself,

Nor of contentment in Angelica;
For Sacripant must have Angelica,

And with her Sacripant must have the crown:
By hook or crook I must and will have both.
Ah sweet Revenge, incense their angry minds,
Till, all these princes weltering in their bloods,
The crown do fall to County Sacripant !

Sweet are the thoughts that smother from

Deserves as much: yet County Sacripant

Must he a swain salute with name of lord.— Sirrah, what thinks the Emperor of my colours, Because in field I wear both blue and red at once ? §

Man. They deem, my lord, your honour lives at peace,

As one that's neuter in these mutinies,
And covets to rest equal friend || to both;
Neither envious to Prince Mandricard,
Nor wishing ill unto Marsilius,

That you may safely pass where'er you please,
With friendly salutations from them both.

Sac. Ay, so they guess, but level far awry ;
For if they knew the secrets of my thoughts,
Mine emblem sorteth to another sense.

I wear not these as one resolv'd to peace,
But blue and red as enemy to both;
Blue, as hating King Marsilius,
And red, as in revenge to Mandricard;
Foe unto both, friend only to myself,
And to the crown, for that's the golden mark
Which makes my thoughts dream on a diadem.
See'st not thou all men presage I shall be king?
Marsilius sends to me for peace; Mandricard
Puts off his cap, ten mile off: two things more,
And then I cannot miss the crown.

Man. O, what be those, my good lord?
Sac. First must

get the love of fair Angelica.
Now am I full of amorous conceits,

Not that I doubt to have what I desire,

* glorious] A wrong epithet, -repeated by mistake

from the preceding line.

Then these] Qy." Then win these "?

And] Qy. "Ay"?

§ at once] An interpolation?

friend] The 4to. of 1594 "friends."

not thou] The 4to. of 1599 "thou not. "-Qy.“ S é'st

not all men presage," &c. ?