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  Hait1 Deiphebe, the douchter of Glaucus,

  Quhilk to the King sone spake apoun this wise:

  This time (quod sche) to stare and to deuise

  Gouand2 on figuris, is not necessary.

  Mare needful now it war but3 langare tary

  Seuin zoung4 stottis5 that zoik6 bare neuer nane

  Brocht from the bowe7 in offerand brittin8 ilkane

  And als mony twynteris,9 as is the gise

  Chosin and ganand10 for the sacrifice.

  On this wise till Eneas spak Sibyll.

  GAVIN DOUGLAS 1474-1522

  All the midway is wildernes unplane

  Or wilsum forrest and the laithlie flude

  Cocytus with his drery bosum unrude11

  Flowis enuiroun round about that place

  Bot gif fa grete desire and luf thou has

  Twyis til owre sale12 of Styx the dolly13 lake

  And twyis behald blak hellis pit of wrake,14

  Or fa huge laubour delitis the, quod scho,

  Harkin quhat first behuffis the to do.

  Amiddis ane rank tre, lurkis a goldin beuch15

  With aureate leuis and flexibil twistis teuch,16

  1 Named 2 Gazing 3 without 4 z for y 5 bullocks

  6 yoke 7 cow-fold 8 break in offering = sacrifice

  9 sheep ‘two winters’ old 10 propitious (gagnant)

  11 the un intensive not negative 12 ? hall, or sailing place

  13 dolorous 14 revenge

  15 My glossary gives beuch = bough, but bush would imply that Gavin took it for mistletoe 16 tough

  Unto Juno infernale consecrate,

  That standis loukit1 about and obumbrate

  With dirk schaddois of the thik wod schaw.

  Bot it is na wyse lesum,2 I the schaw

  Thir secrete wayis under the erd to went

  Quhil of the tre this goldin grane3 be rent:

  Fare Proserpyne has institute and command

  To offer hir this hir awin proper presand.4

  Ane uthir goldin grane, to the ilk effeck,

  Thou sall not mys, thocht the first be doun brek,

  Incontinent euer of the samyn metal

  Sic ane like branche sal burgeoun furth withal.

  The nedis, therefor, til hald thine ene on hicht

  It for to serche and seik al at richt.

  Quhen it is fund, thou hynt5 it in thy hand

  For gif it list, esely that samyn wand

  Of the awin6 wil sal follow thi grip fute hate7

  Gif so the fatis will thou pas that gate;

  Or elles8 be na strenth thou sal it ryffe8

  Nor cut in twa with wappin, swerde nor knyfe.

  1 enclosed 2 lawful, permitted

  3 the glossary now gives bough, grain, the latter certainly the more likely, and again pointing to Gavin’s having the mistletoe in mind. The glose-maker possibly thinking more of the original Latin than of the word before him? 4 present 5 snatch

  6 its own 7 Chaucer, foothot = straight-way

  8 divination according to whether the bough comes off easily

  * * *

  The omission of Douglas from The Oxford Book of XVIth Century Verse sheds no credit on either the press or their anthologist. Blind prejudice against translation cannot explain it, as Douglas wrote a quantity of original poetry, part of which is indubitably superior to a good deal they have included.

  EXHIBIT GAVIN DOUGLAS 1474-1522

  Behaldand the large wod on athir syde:

  Thare as he stude thus makand his prayer:

  Wald God zone goldin branche list now appere

  . . . . .

  Skars war thir wordis said, quhen in that place

  Ane pair of dowis fra heuin come with ane flycht

  And richt forgane the mannis face did lycht

  . . . . .

  This rial prince als sone as he thaym saw

  His moderis birdis knew, and blythlie than

  His vrisoun1 has maid and thus began:

  O haly foulis, gif the way may be went,

  Be ze my gidis to complete my entent;

  Addres zour cours throwout the are in hy

  Unto that haly schaw2 …..

  And ze my blissit moder that oure beild3 is

  Into this doutsum cais….

  1 orison 2 grove

  3 glossary gives refuge, help, but I think it is more likely to be bail surety

  * * *

  Distinguish between Virgil’s new matter, that is the folk-lore that is distinctly Italian, not Greek, and the parts of the Aeneid due to literary tradition.

  EXHIBIT GAVIN DOUGLAS 1474-1522

  Like as full oft in schil1 wynteris tyde

  The gum or glew2 amyd the woddis wyde

  Is wount to schene zallow3 on the grane new4

  Quhilk never of that treis substance grew

  With saffroun hewit5 frute doing furth sproute

  Cirkillis6 and wympillis7 round bewis about

  Sic lik was of this gold the cullour brycht

  That burgeonit fare on the rank aikis8 hicht

  Euer as the branche for pipand wynd reboundit,

  The golden schakeris9 ratlis and resoundit.

  Eneas smertlie hynt the grane that schone

  And but10 delay has rent it doun anone.

  GAVIN DOUGLAS 1474-1522

  Enee hymself ane zow was blak of fleece

  Brytnit11 with his swerd in sacrifice ful hie

  Unto the moder of the furies thre

  And hir grete sister, and to Proserpyne

  Ane zeld12 kow all to trinschit, and eftir syne

  To the infernale King, quhilk Pluto hate,13

  Hys nycht altaris begouth14 to dedicate

  The haile boukis of beistis bane and lyre15

  Amyd the flambis keist16 and haly fyre

  The fat olye did he zet and pere17

  Apoun the entrellis to mak thaym birne clere.

  1 chill 2 gum, viscous humour 3 yellow 4 newly

  5 hued 6 circles and kinks 7 around the boughs 8 oak’s

  9 skakers, labels, thin plates of gold rattled 10 without

  11 A Sax brytan = break, kill, sacrifice 12 barren, hacked

  13 hyght = is called 14 began

  15 The holy bulks (carcasses) of beasts, bone and flesh

  16 cast

  17 poured

  * * *

  Suffers nothing if compared to witch passages in Macbeth.

  EXHIBIT GAVIN DOUGLAS 1474-1522

  The byisning heist the serpent Lerna

  Horribill quhissilland, and queynt Chimera,

  With fire enarmyt on hir toppis hie,

  The laithlye Harpies, and the Gorgonis thre

  Of thrinfald bodyis, gaistly formes did grone

  Baith of Erylus and of Gerione.

  . . . . .

  And with his bitand brycht brand all in vane

  The tume1 schaddois smityng to have slane.

  . . . . .

  Awounderit of this sterage and the preis,

  Say me, virgine, sayd Enee, or thou ceis,

  Quhat menis sic confluence on this wattir syde?

  Quhat wald thir saulis? quhay will they not abyde?

  . . . . .

  The tothir ansueris with ane pietuous pepe,

  Maist wourthy Duke, Anchises’ son maist dere

  . . . . .

  The helmstok or gubernakil of tre

  Quharewith I rewlit our cours throw the se

  Lenand thereon sa fast, percase it threw

  And rent away ouerburd with me I drew.

  The wally seyis to witnes draw I here

  That for myself tuke I nane sa grete fere

  As of thy schip.

  1 empty

  * * *

  A note which I take to be Gavin’s own indicates the debt to Homer; as those who do not read Latin can get their Virgil in olde Scots, the Romans who knew no Greek got their legend of the NEKUIA from Virgil.

  EXHIBIT ARTHUR GOLDING 1536-1605


  The God now having laide aside his

  borrowed shape of Bull,

  Had in his likenesse showed himself:

  And with his pretie trull

  Tane landing in the Isle of Crete.

  When in that while her Sire

  Not knowing where she was become, sent after

  to enquire

  Hir brother Cadmus, charging him his sister

  home to bring,

  Or never for to come againe: wherein he

  did a thing

  For which he might both justlie kinde and cruel

  called be.

  When Cadmus over all the world had saught

  (for who is hee

  That can detect the thefts of Jove) and no-

  where could her see:

  Then as an outlaw (to avoyde his father’s

  wrongful yre)

  He went to Phebus Oracle most humbly to

  desire

  His heavenly council, where he would assigne

  him place to dwell.

  …..

  …..

  An olde forgrowne unfelled wood stood near at

  hand thereby

  And in the middes a queachie plot with Sedge

  and Oysiers hie.

  Where courbde about with peble stone in

  likenesse of a bow

  There was a spring with silver streames that

  forth thereof did flow.

  Here lurked in his lowring den God Mars his

  griesly Snake

  With golden scales and firie eyes beswolne with

  poyson blake.

  Three spirting tongues, three rowes of teeth

  within his head did sticke.

  No sooner had the Tirian folke set foote within

  this thicke

  And queachie plot, and deped down their

  bucket in the well,

  But that to buscle in his den began this Serpent fell

  And peering with a marble1 head right horribly

  to hisse.

  …..

  The specled serpent straight

  Comes trailing out in waving linkes and knottie

  rolles of scales,

  And bending into bunchie boughts his bodie forth

  he hales.

  And lifting up above the wast himself unto

  the Skie

  He overlooketh all the wood;

  …..

  With that he raughting fast

  A mightie Milstone, at the Snake with all

  his might it cast.

  …..

  1 marbled

  While Cadmus wondered at the hugenesse of the

  vanquisht foe,

  Upon the sodaine came a voyce: from whence

  he could not know.

  But sure he was he heard the voyce, which said:

  Agenor’s sonne,

  What gazest thus upon this Snake? The

  time will one day come

  That thou thy selfe shalt ba a Snake. He

  pale and wan for feare

  Had lost his speech: and ruffled up stiffe

  staring stood his heare.

  Behold (mans helper at his neede) Dame Pallas

  gliding through

  The vacant Ayre was straight at hand and

  bade him take a plough

  And cast the Serpents teeth in ground as of

  the which should spring

  Another people out of hand.

  …..

  the clods began to move

  And from the forrow first of all the pikes ap-

  pearde above,

  Next rose up helmes with fethered crests, and

  then the Poldrens bright,

  Successively the Curets whole and all the armour

  right.

  Thus grew up men like corne in field in rankes of

  battle ray

  I apologize for the cuts in the story, but I cannot give a whole book of the Metamorphoses here, and I do not honestly think that anyone can know anything about the art of lucid narrative in English, or let us say about the history of the development of English narrative-writing (verse or prose) without seeing the whole of the volume (‘The xv Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, entytuled Metamorphosis, translated oute of Latin into English meeter, by Arthur Golding Gentleman.’ First edition, so far as I know, Imprinted at London by Willyam Seres, 1567, with the mark of bear standing at post inside the garter. Honi soit). Shakespeare, b. 1564, d. 1616.

  Though it is the most beautiful book in the language, I am not here citing it for decorative purposes but for the narrative quality.

  It should be read as natural spoken language. The metre is, I admit, susceptible to bad reading. A bad reader of fourteeners is almost certain to tub-thump. The reader will be well advised to read according to sense and syntax, keep from thumping, observe the syntactical pause, and not stop for the line ends save where sense requires or a comma indicates. That is the way to get the most out of it, and come nearest to a sense of the time-element in the metrical plan.

  GOLDING 1536-1605

  Their tales did ende and Mineus daughters still

  their businesse plie

  In spight of Bacchus whose high feast they

  breake contemptuously.

  When on the sodaine (seeing naught) they

  heard about them round

  Of tubbish Timbrels perfectly a hoarse and

  jarring sound

  With shraming shalmes and gingling belles

  and furthermore they felt

  A cent of Saffron and of Myrrhe that verie hotly smelt

  And (which a man would ill believe) the

  web they had begun

  Immediately waxt freshe and greene, the

  flaxe the which they spun

  Did flourish full of Ivie leaves. And part

  thereof did run

  Abrode in Vines. The threede it selfe in

  braunches forth did spring.

  Young burgeons full of clustred grapes

  their Distaves forth did bring

  And as the web they wrought was dey’d a deep

  darke purple hew,

  Even so upon the painted grapes the

  selfe same colour grew.

  The day was spent. And now was come the

  tyme which neyther night

  Nor day, but middle bound of both a man

  may terme of right.

  The house at sodaine seemed to shake, and all

  about it shine

  With burning lampes, and glittering fires to

  flash before their eyen.

  And likenesses of ougly beastes with gastful

  noyses yeld.

  For feare whereof in smokie holes the sisters

  were compeld

  To hide their heades, one here and there

  another for to shun

  The glistering light. And while they thus in

  corners blindly run,

  Upon their little pretie limmes a fine crispe

  filme there goes

  And slender finnes instead of handes their

  shortened armes enclose.

  But how they lost their former shape of

  certaintie to know

  The darknesse would not suffer them. No

  feathers on them grow

  And yet with shere and vellume wings they hover

  from the ground

  And when they goe about to speake they

  make but little sound

  According as their bodies give bewayling their

  despight

  By chirping shrilly to themselves. In houses

  they delight

  And not in woodes: detesting day they

  flitter towards night

  Wherethrough they of the Evening late in Latin

  take their name

  And we in English language Backes or Reermice

  call the same.

  …..

  …..

  Now while I underneath t
he Earth the Lake of

  Styx did passe

  I saw your daughter Proserpine with these same

  eyes. She was

  Not merie, neyther rid of feare as seemed by

  hir cheere

  But yet a Queene, but yet of great God Dis

  the stately Feere:1

  But yet of that same droupie Realme the chiefe

  and sovereigne Peere.

  …..

  …..

  And came of mightie Marsis race, Pandion

  sought of joyne

  Aliance with him by and by, and gave him to his Feere

  His daughter Progne. At this match (as

  after will appeare)

  Was neither Juno, President of mariage, wont

  to bee

  Nor Hymen, no nor any one of all the

  graces three.

  1 companion

  The Furies snatching Tapers up that on some

  Herse did stande,

  Did light them, and before the Bride did

  beare them in their hande.

  …..

  …..

  As both Progne and hir selfe should joy and

  confort bring,

  When both of them in verie deede should after-

  ward it rew.

  To endward of his daily race and travell Phoebus

  drew

  And on the shoring side of Heaven his horses

  downeward flew.

  …..

  In open face of all the world: or if thou keepe

  me still

  As prisoner in these woods, my voyce the

  verie woods shall fill