Browning's England: A Study in English Influences in Browning. Helen Archibald Clarke

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СКАЧАТЬ hints as these have been worked up by Browning into a consistent characterization of a man who regards himself as having foregone his chances of laureateship or "Next Poet" by devoting himself to a form of literary art which would not appeal to the powers that be as fitting him for any such position. Such honors he claims do not go to57 the dramatic poet, who has never allowed the world to slip inside his breast, but has simply portrayed the joy and the sorrow of life as he saw it around him, and with an art which turns even sorrow into beauty.—"Do I stoop? I pluck a posy, do I stand and stare? all's blue;"—but to the subjective, introspective poet, out of tune with himself and with the universe. The allusions Shakespeare makes to the last "King" are not very definite, but, on the whole, they fit Edmund Spenser, whose poems from first to last are dedicated to people of distinction in court circles. His work, moreover, is full of wailing and woe in various keys, and also full of self-revelation. He allowed the world to slip inside his breast upon almost every occasion, and perhaps he may be said to have bought "his laurel," for it was no doubt extremely gratifying to Queen Elizabeth to see herself in the guise of the Faerie Queene, and even his dedication of the "Faerie Queene" to her, used as she was to flattery, must have been as music in her ears. "To the most high, mightie, and magnificent Empresse, renouned for piety, vertue, and all gratious government, Elizabeth, by the Grace of God, Queene of England, Frahnce, and Ireland and of Virginia. Defender of the Faith, &c. Her most humble servant Edmund58 Spenser doth in all humilitie, Dedicate, present, and consecrate These his labours, To live with the eternity of her Fame." The next year Spenser received a pension from the crown of fifty pounds per annum.

      It is a careful touch on Browning's part to use the phrase "Next Poet," for the "laureateship" at that time was not a recognized official position. The term, "laureate," seems to have been used to designate poets who had attained fame and Royal favor, since Nash speaks of Spenser in his "Supplication of Piers Pennilesse" the same year the "Faerie Queene" was published as next laureate.

      The first really officially appointed Poet Laureate was Ben Jonson, himself, who in either 1616 or 1619 received the post from James I., later ratified by Charles I., who increased the annuity to one hundred pounds a year and a butt of wine from the King's cellars.

      Probably the allusion "Your Pilgrim" in the twelfth stanza of "At the Mermaid" is to "The Return from Parnassus" in which the pilgrims to Parnassus who figure in an earlier play "The Pilgrimage to Parnassus" discover the world to be about as dismal a place as it is described in this stanza.

      At first sight it might seem that the position59 taken by Shakespeare in the poem is almost too modest, yet upon second thoughts it will be remembered that though Shakespeare had a tremendous following among the people, attested by the frequency with which his plays were acted; that though there are instances of his being highly appreciated by contemporaries of importance; that though his plays were given before the Queen, he did not have the universal acceptance among learned and court circles which was accorded to Spenser.

      It is quite fitting that the scene should be set in the "Mermaid." No record exists to show that Shakespeare was ever there, it is true, but the "Mermaid" was a favorite haunt of Ben Jonson and his circle of wits, whose meetings there were immortalized by Beaumont in his poetical letter to Jonson:—

      "What things have we seen

       Done at the Mermaid? heard words that have been

       So nimble and so full of subtle flame,

       As if that every one from whence they came

       Had meant to put his whole wit in a jest,

       And had resolved to live a fool the rest

       Of his dull life."

      Add to this what Fuller wrote in his "Worthies," 1662, "Many were the wit-combats betwixt him and Ben Jonson, which60 two I behold like a Spanish great galleon and an English man-of-war; Master Jonson (like the former) was built far higher in learning, solid but slow in his performances. Shakespeare, with the English man-of-war, lesser in bulk, but lighter in sailing, could turn with all tides, tack about, and take advantage of all winds by the quickness of his wit and invention," and there is sufficient poetic warrant for the "Mermaid" setting.

      First Folio Portrait of Shakespeare

"Do I stoop? I pluck a posy. Do I stand and stare? All's blue."

      The final touch is given in the hint that all the time Shakespeare is aware of his own greatness, perhaps to be recognized by a future age.

      Let Browning, himself, now show what he has done with the material.

AT THE "MERMAID"

       Table of Contents

      The figure that thou here seest. … Tut!

       Was it for gentle Shakespeare put?

       B. Jonson. (Adapted.)

      I

      I—"Next Poet?" No, my hearties,

       I nor am nor fain would be!

       Choose your chiefs and pick your parties,

       Not one soul revolt to me!

       I, forsooth, sow song-sedition?

       I, a schism in verse provoke?

       I, blown up by bard's ambition,

       Burst—your bubble-king? You joke.

      61

      II

      Come, be grave! The sherris mantling

       Still about each mouth, mayhap,

       Breeds you insight—just a scantling—

       Brings me truth out—just a scrap.

       Look and tell me! Written, spoken,

       Here's my life-long work: and where

       —Where's your warrant or my token

       I'm the dead king's son and heir?

      III

      Here's my work: does work discover—

       What was rest from work—my life?

       Did I live man's hater, lover?

       Leave the world at peace, at strife?

       Call earth ugliness or beauty?

       See things there in large or small?

       Use to pay its Lord my duty?

       Use to own a lord at all?

      IV

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