76 *:?1,

An March 8 and 9,1593, Lord William Herbert, age 13, I land Philip, a1e nine, the two sons of the Earl and l\-,r/Conntess'of Ptmbroke, matriculated at New College, Oxford. The younger son, Philip, returned to Wilton by July, and Lord Herbert, the elder, is said to have stayed at Oxford for two years. Samuel Daniel, who had been the youngt_oys' tutor, #as succeeded as tutor by one Hugh Sanford. Hugh Sanford was the brother of John Sanford who in 1593 was appointed chaplain at Magdalen College, Oxford, where the previous year he had been corrector to the Press. |ohn_Sanford i"as a grammarian, a linguist with a command of Italian and a poetllohn Sanford and Samuel Daniel were known as the t#o s*ans (or poets) of Somerset. They were both born in the village of Chard, some fifty mileswest of Wilton. Though John Sanf5rd in later years twice sued in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (which had jurisdiction over wills) for a share in the estate of the then deceased Hugh Sanford, appearing in court with his motheland sister as witnesses in the second trial, his claims were both times rejected as fraudulent; we mav suspect then that Hugh and lohn Sanford were not actu- ally related by blood. Sariuel Daniel, however, called Hugh Sanford his countrymary i.e., fellow townsman. 266 e Louis Ule

Precisely when Samuel Daniel ceased to be tutor to Lord Herbert and was replaced by Hugh Sanford is not known, but it is clear that Samuel Daniel-was dismissed from this post very much to his regret. Since Lord Herbert and his brother Philip matriculated at Oxford in March, 1593, this date would appear to mark the end of Samuel Daniel's services as tutor. The return of Philip to Wilton in June, L593, would provide the occasion for taking on the new tutor, Hugh Sanford. Christopher Marlowe, after Deptford, took refuge at Wilton where, as it will transpire, he was known as Hugh Sanford. If this refuge was not to be merely temporary, [e must be given some position in the Countess' household. A reason for Marlowe's continued residence then seems to have been manufactured by reviving the post of tutor; yourrg Philip was called back from Oxford to provide the necessary pupil. Since HughSanford was known tb be the principal tutoi to Philip's older brother, William, Lord William Heibert probably pre- ceded Philip in returning to Wilton. At Wilton, Marlowe would also need a new identity. The circumstances that led to his being adopted as a member of the Sanford family in Chard, Some:rset, ire not known, but it was very likely at the behest of the Privy Council. Lord Bur- gbley, #e miy suppose, was not beirig entirely unselfish when he arranged for Marlowe's flight from Catholic ven- geance. He was aware from his sources of intelligence that Spain after the failure of the Armada was planning a landing on the lightly defended coast of Wales. The Earl of?embroke, responsible for the defense of Wales had earlier recommended advance intelligence rather than the expense of increased for- tifications. But whether it was to advise on fortifications or the gathering of intelligence Christopher Marlowe was uniquely qualified to serve his country in either capacity. Saving Mar- lbwe's life then- by giving fu* u new ihenti'ty *ut 6.tly u means by which ihJPriv-y Council hoped to avail itsefi of Marlowe's service. Marlowe would serve under the Earl of Pembroke (who was in charge of both intelligence gathering and fortifications in Wales) and in that case the post of tutor would be a hastily arranged cover for his new sirvice. Advance intelligence on Spanish intentions could only be obtained in Spain and it would not be surprising to find Mar- lowe learning that language as well as Italian from John San- ford, who later published introductions to both languagesl. Christopher Marlowe (1 5 64=1 607 ) v 267

Lr a.y case soon after his arrival in Wilton Marlowe would be perfecting his command of Spanish and Italian from john Sanford either there or at Chard in Somerset. In the village of Chard, the poet Samuel Daniel, who had never met Marlowe before was introduced to him as Hugh Sanford. Samuel Dan- iel was the perfect Bull, a veritable Malvolio, and he is com- monly thought to be the gull in a play, probably by John Sanford, called A Return to Parnassus. For example, Samuel Daniel came to look upon Hugh Sanford, who had published no poetry at all, as an authority in the art, and some years later, lamenting the loss of the tutorship at Wiltoru wrote his former charge Lord Herbert (then the 3rd Earl of Pembroke) that"akindfriend and countryman, Master Hugh Sanford", warned him against the deformity of mingling feminine rhymes with masculine. In the same dedicatioru regarding his early career as a poet, Daniel wrote:

Having been first encouraged and framed thereunto by your most worthy and honorable mother, and received the first no- tion for the formal ordering of those compositions at Wiltoru which I must ever acknowledge to have been my best school, and thereof always am to hold a feeling and grateful memory.

Taking the advice regarding feminine rhymes seriously, Daniel assiduously revised his poems to eliminate this "de- fecf" much to the amusement of other members of the Count- ess of Pembroke's circle. John Davies, in his poem on dancing called Orchestra, has an allusion to Daniel's constant revising:

O that I could old Gefferies' [Chaucer's] Muse awake, Or borrow Colin's [Spenser's ] fair heroic style, Or smooth my rhymes with Delia's Servant's [Daniel's] file.

A knowledge of Italian was becoming fashionable in the Countess of Pembroke's circle. Nashe made some pretense at it in The llnfortunate Traaeler; Marlowe, as Hugh Sanford, preparing for a trip to Italy, was learning the language from john Sanford; and Samuel Daniel, tn1594, not to be outdone by these upstarts, reminded them all in his Delia, that he alone had once made a trip to Italy. Leaming Italian would also serve Marlowe in another way-no one before had known 268 g Louis Ule

Marlowe to speak Italian-it is the one language that is absent from his earlier works. Marlowe would be able to dress and pose as an Italiary an additional disguise, should the need arise to conceal his true identity. ln The Return to Parnassus, Samuel Daniel is mentioned as the rival poet to a certain "bigltalian."

Sweet honey-cropping Daniel doth wage War with the proudest big Italian, That melts his heart in sugared sonneting. Only let him more sparingly make use Of other's wit and use his own the more.

This rival poet, "the proudest big Italian," was engaged in "sugared sonneting." Francis Meres in 1599 mentioned Shakespeare's "sugared sonnets." The sonnets of Shakespeare also have a rival poet, and this poet is easily gulled. All be- comes clear. The reason that Samuel Daniel had a high regard for Hugh Sanford, who published no poetry, is that Hugh Sanford, formerly Christopher Marlowe, was besting him in the competition for the Countess of Pembroke's approval by melting "his heart in sugared sonneting", creating the sonnets that were later published under Shakespeare's name. This is borne out in Sonnet 86: the "proud full sail" of Daniel's verse; the sonneteer pouring out his heart to compete; the gulling of Samuel Daniel with intelligence (bad advice); Marlowe struck dead, and Marlowe's devotion to his new mistress:

Was it the proud full sail of his great verse, Bound for the prize of all-too-precious you, That did my ripe thoughts in my brain inhearse, Making their tomb the womb wherein they grew? Was it his spirit, by spirits taught to write Above a mortal pitch, that struck me dead? No, neither he, nor his compeers by night Giving him aid, my verse astonished. FIe, nor that affable familiar ghost [Marlowe?] Which nightly gulls him with intelligence, As victors of my silence cannot boast; I was not sick of any fear from thence: Ch r is topher Marlow e 0. 5 6 4-L 607 ) t 269

But when your countenance filled up his line, Then lacked I matter; that enfeebled mine.

The arrrival of the boys from Oxford at Wilton marked a turning point in Marlowe's career. The Earl of Pembroke provided Hugh SanJord, alias Christopher Marlowe, with a pension of thirty pounds a year for his services whatever they were. This pension was confirmed in writing in the Earl's will two years later and, though it was not as much as the forty pounds a year that Marlowe had hoped to get from Lady Arbella, it was more than the twenty pounds a year enjoyed by the Earl's secretary, Arthur Massinger (father of the drama- tist, John Massinger). Furthermore, Samuel Daniel, the first tutor, is not mentioned in the Earl's will at all. Though the education of the children was the responsibility of the Count- ess and the choice of a tutor was largely hers, it was the Earl who arranged for a pension as compensation. Marlowe's employment as tutor would seem to have begun only a few weeks after Deptford, perhaps in the middle of June, 1593. He was at the time still in a state of emotional shock and felt much as did Ovid, that other loving poet, when he was exiled to the barbarians. The pain of permanent sepa- ration from the places and persons he loved must have been acute. The generous outpouring of love to which he had been accustomed from youth, the love for his father fohn Marlowe, for his favorite sister Joary and his only brother, young Thomas Marlowe, this love now would seek other objects. Marlowe in a state of extreme susceptibility was likely to form deep emotional ties with anyone who appeared to show him the least kindness. But it probably was not the mother, the Countess of Pembroke, with whom he would fall helplessly in love. When Christopher Marlowe met the thirteen year old Lord William Herbert in June, 1593, it may have been the first time that he had seen him. Young William was prettily dressed-the Countess, her dressmakers, and her maids would see to that. But it was not this primarily that won Marlowe's love. It was that the young man, known to be sober and somewhat melancholy, seemed to sense Marlowe's dis- tress and, in one tender glance, seemed also to convey such affection and compassion in retum as to fill the immense void in Marlowe's heart. The month, June, for this first meeting, is 270 g Louis Ule corroborated by Shakespeare's Sonnet 104, where Marlowe recalls the event as follows:

To me, fair friend, you never can be old, For as you were when first your eye I eyed, Such seems your beauty still. Three winters cold Have from the forests shook three summers'pride, Three beauteous springs to yellow autumn turned. In process of the seasons have I seery Three April perfumes in three hot Junes burned, Since first I saw you freslu which yet are green. Ahl yet doth beauty, like a dial-hand, Steal from his figure, and no pace perceived; So your sweet hue, which methinks still doth stand, Hath motion, and mine eye may be deceived; For fear of which, hear this, thou age unbred: Ere you were born was beauty's summer dead.

When Nashe first met Marlowe at Wilton, sometime in ]uly, Marlowe was in the excitement of this strange and unexpected love. The exile, which he had expected to be harsh and 6arreru now promised to be more than bearable in the company of such a,n apt and compassionate pupil. Marlowe, as much as any other-poet, ad-mired and deicribed the beauty of young men. And not to be forgotten was the fact that-the young Lord Herbert would soon be very wealthy. As the futuie Earl of Pembroke, whose father wis in failing health, as the nephew of Sir Philip Sidney, as the handJome son of the famed Countess of Pembroke, there was not a noble father in the land who would not be happy to furnish a handsome dowry to win him for his daughter. Why would Marlowe, in no position to defend himself, admit to Nashe to being in love with the Countess of Pem- broke and so invite the displeasure of the Earl, if it was not to conceal his love for young Lord Herbert? Even though Nashe himself had been iimititty smittery the thought of ohe man being in love with another man and not with a woman, seemed absurd. Nashe had blamed it on blind Cupid and tried to conceal his affection for Marlowe by unprovoked un- kindnesses. However, in one of his typical slips Nashe tells us in The Unfortunate Traaeler how much he adored his "late master," Christopher Marlowe. Christwher Marlowe (L 564-L 607 ) ry 271.

We learn fromThe UnfortunateTraaeler that Nashe and Mar- lowe were to go half-stakes for the trip to Italy. To raise money Nashe, by now an established writer, could easily sell any- thirg that bore his name. His Christ's Tearc was perhaps al- ready at the printers, for much of Nashe's daily output shows signs of having been sent directly to the compositors who worked under his guidance. Marlowe's and Nashe's Didowas by now available at the bookstalls, as were the unlicensed Oaid's Elegies and Davies' Epigrams. The incoherent structure of Nashe's Unfortunate Trapeler betrays the fact that it was an earlier unfinished narrative based on Nashe's experiences as a counter-Martinist spy, newly tumed into an account of an imagined trip to Italy and renamed Jack Wiltory the source of the name being rather obvious. For these four pieces even the popular Nashe could probably raise no more than 10 pounds. Since of these, Oaid's Elegies proved the most lucra- tive to the booksellers, Marlowe and Nashe would be inclined to meet the demand for a fulI translation, and the shortness of time available is evidenced in Marlowe's hasty work. Mar- lowe nevertheless did take the trouble to correct errors in the first edition, remove his name as translator, replacing it by his initials, C. M., as well as delete John Davies' epigram, Ignoto so obviously directed at his unhappy sister, Ann. If Marlowe had one finished manuscript ready for the press, it was his Edward II, performed by Pembroke's players the previous winter. It became, therefore, the best edition of any of Marlowe's accepted works. Edward Il was registered at Sta- tioners' Hall on Friday, July 6,1593, so that Nashe must have retumed to London with the manuscript by this time. The registering of a book at Stationers' Hall was the affair of the publisher (stationer) who thereby acquired exclusive rights to print and sell the book. We may surmise that if the manuscript was particularly valuable, the stationer would lose no time in having it registered. Even so, for Marlowe to take refuge at Wilton after Deptford, for Nashe to have begun Christ's Tears and sent Dido and Elegies to the prest for him to have been summoned to Wilton and to refum a week or so later with the manuscript of Edward Il, all this within a space of about five weeks, bespeaks a remarkable, if not improbable, dis- patch. We would expect that the manuscript even of an excellent play like Edward /I would not bring the author the customary 274 e Louis Ule

take advantage of all idle hours till I have honored you with some grave labor. But if the first heir of my invention prove deformed, I shall be sorry it had so noble a godfather, and never after ear so barren a land, for fear it yield me still so bad a harvest.I leave it to your honorable survey, and your Honor to your heart's content which I wish may always an- swer your own wish, and the world's hopeful expectation. Your Honor's in all duty, William Shakespeare.

Not only was Shakespeare's name a later addition, but the entire dedication itself was an afterthough! contrived solely for the purpose of raising money. Normally such a dedication would havehave begun on the right hand side of an opening in the book. The dedicationdedicafi was obviouslv written bv Thomas Nashe since it differs but slightly from ",1his dedication of The Unfortunate Traaeler to the same Earl of Southampton. A more recent poem of Marlowe's, one considered to be more mafure than Venus and Adonis was also sold at this time. Marlowe's Hero and Leander raised no such problems of re- ward for the author, since it was aptly dedicated to a great beauty, Lady Walsingham, who had first hand knowledge of Marlowe's arrest and the manner of his death and escape at Deptford. For this poem Marlowe probably received a more generous emolument than he was willing to accept from his good and not so wealthy friends. Its sale to the stationer, ]ohn Woll served to net Nashe and Marlowe a few extra pounds at most. One last poem, a translation of the first book of Lucan's Pharsalia, a denunciation of the disgraceful civil war between Pompey and Caesar, was inspired by patriotic motives, and Marlowe would be content merely to see it published. Though it might be construed as a subtle form of anti-Martinist propa- ganda, it shows Marlowe's genius in that the translation so far exceeds the original in force that no modern translator can ever hope to equal it. A single stationer, John Wolf, bought the following three of the above items: Hero and Lennder, Lucan's Pharsalia, and Nashe's ownlackWilton, the Unfortunate Traaeler. The last one, having an immediate market, was registered on September 17, '1.593, but Wolf must have soon realized the value of the two compositions by that unknown poet, Christopher Mar- lowe, for he registered both of them on September 28 as by Christopher Marlowe (1. 564-1607 ) g 275

Christopher Marlowe, the first time that Marlowe's name aP- pears in the Stationer's Registers. Following are the entries:

xxviij die Septembris ]ohn Wolf Entred for his Copye vnder the andes of Mastr MURGETROD and bothe the wardens, a booke intituled LUCANS firsfe booke of the famots Ciail war betwixt Pompey and Cesar. Englished by CHRISTOPHER MARLOW. John Wolf Entred for his Copye vnder the andes of Mastr MURGETROD and bothe the wardens a booke intituled HERO and LEANDER being an amorous poem devised by CHRISTOPHER MARLOW.

Having sold the last three items to John Woll Nashe left London at once, probably going to Wilton to join Christopher Marlowe, for by September 'l-.6,1.593, Nashe's old enemy, Doc- tor Gabriel Harvey, was in Londory drawn there by the hope of selling something to the printers, a virulent tirade against Nashe called Pierce's Supererogation, which was registered that day. Nashe's failure to reply to it or even to notice it can only be explained by his absence from the city. Harvey was the last person Nashe expected to attack him, having apologized to him so humbly in Christ's Tears. Even more strangely, Har- vey's attack was inspired by the very book that contained Nashe's apology. Not knowing what drove Nashe to repen- tance (the belief that the Puritans had killed Marlowe and that his own life was in danger), Harvey simply could not understand it and took the attitude: "I pray God, the prom- ised tears of repentance prove not the tears of the onion upon the Theater." By coincidence Harvey sold Pierce's Supererogation to the same stationer, John Wolf, who, a few days previously, had acquired the prized compositions of the "dead poet", Christo- pher Marlowe. After more than three months, this was the first that Gabriel Harvey had heard of Marlowe's death, and he was moved to write an awestruck "sonnet" on the wonder- ful event, which Wolf published together with a letter from Harvey as A New Letter of Notable Contents with a strange sonnet 276 g Louis UIe entitled the -Gorgon, or zaonderful year. Since Harvey's sfyle is somewhat obscure, the sonnet given below is amplified with comments.

SONNET

Gorgon, of the Wonderful Year 1593 St. Fame [Thomas Nashe] disposed to connycatch the world Upreared a wonderment [astrological prognostication] of Eighty Eight [1588] The Earth, a'dreading to be overwhirled "What now avails," quoth she, "my balance weight?" The Circle [the heavens] smiled to see the Center [the earth] fear) The wonder was, no wonder fell that year. [Only the defeat of the Spanish Armadall

Wonders enhance their power in numbers oddl The fatal year of years in Ninety Three! Parma hath kist [he died in1592 actually]; Demaine entreats the rod [Dumaine, brother of the duc de Guise, submitted to Navarre] War wondreth Peace and Spain in France to see. Brave Eckenberg the doughty Bashaw shames. The Christian Neptune Turkish Vulcan tames. Navarre [Henri IV of France] woos Rome; Charlmaine gives Guise the Phy. Weep Paul's [in London], Thy Tamburlaine [Marlowe] vouch- safes to die.

L'envoi. [Postscript.] The hugest miracle remains behind, The second Shakerley [Thomas Nashe] rash-swash to bind.

A Stanza declarative to the lovers of admirable works.

Pleased it hath a gentlewoman rare, [Harvey's protectress, never identifiedl With Phoenix quill in diamond hand of arf To muzzle the redoubtable Bull-bare [Nashe, probably] And play the galliard championess's part. Christopher Mnrlowe (1-564-1-507) S 277

Though miracles surcease, yet wonder see The mightiest miracle of Ninety Three: Vis consilii expers, mole ruit sua. [Force without counsel falls of its own weight.l

The writer's postscript: or a friendly Caveat to the Second Shakerley lNashe; Marlowe was the first] of Paul's.

Slumb'ring I lay in melancholy bed, Before the dawning of the sanguine light, When echo shrill or some familiar spright Buzzed an epitaph [for Marlowe] into my head.

Magnifique minds, bred of Gargantua's race, In grisly weeds [mouming garments] his obsequies waiment Imourn] Whose corpse on Paul's, whose mind [i.e., Marlowe's] tri- umphed on Kent, Scorning to bate Sir Rodomont an ace. [Not to be outdone in rodomontade.]

I mused a while and, having mused a while, |esu quoth L is that Gargantuan mind [Marlowe's] Conquered and left no Scanderbeg behind? [Marlowe appar- ently had boasted to Gabriel Harvey that he was writing a play on the Albanian national hero, Scanderbeg.l Vowed he not to Paul's a second bile [i.e., a second bombastic play, the first being Tamburlaine,in Harvey's estimation.l

"What bile or kibe?" quoth that same early spright. Have you [Marlowe] forgot the Scanderbegging wight?

Gloss. Is it a dream? or is it the highest mind [Marlowe's] That ever haunted Paul's, or hunted wind, Bereft of that same sky-surmounting breath, That breath that taught the tympany to swell? He [Marlowe] and the plague contended for the game. The haughty man extols his hideous thoughts And gloriously insults upon poor souls [Marlowe did not suffer fools gladlyl, 278 g Louis UIe

That plague themselves-for faint hearts plague themselves. The tyrant sickness of base-minded slaves, Olu how it domineers in Coward Land! So surquidry [pride, i.e., Marlowe] rang out his'larum bell When he had girned [grinned] at many a doleful knell. The grand disease [the plague] disdained his toad conceit, And smiling at his Tamburlaine contempt Sternly struck home the peremptory stroke. He [Marlowe] that nor feared God, nor dreaded devil, Nor ought admired but his wondrous self, Like funo's gaudy bird [the peacock] that proudly stares On glittering fan of his triumphant tail [a reference to Marlowe's splendid attire] Or like the ugly bug that scorned to die, And mounts of glory reared in tow'ring wit.

Alas! the Babel pride must kiss the pit. L'envoi! [Farewell] Paul's steeple, [once the tallest in Europe] and a higher thing [Marlowe's mind] is down! [Both have toppled.]

Beware the next Bull-beggar [Nashe] of the town. Fata immatura vagantur. [Threats are brewing.]

In the above so-called sonnet, Gabriel Harvey, who knew Nashe and Marlowe well could barely believe the news that Marlowe was dead, no more than he could earlier believe that Nashe's apology to him was not some trick. Marlowe's " death" was to him the most important event in 1593. Harvey, at heart a simple man, can hardly be blamed, for neither he nor anyone in Paul's, save Thomas Nashe, knew the circum- stances, and even Nashe seems not to have known about Deptford. Yet unwittingly, Harvey's epitaph on Marlowe Por- trays him as a brilliant and self-confident young man. There is also a detail that Gabriel Harvey may have leamed from Richard Hawey, namely, that Marlowe's death was mourned by "magnifique minds", great merL whoever they were. Toward the end of August the course of events set an early date for Marlowe's and Nashe's departure. Sir Robert Sidney, wounded in battle in ]une of the previous yeat was now fully Christopher Marlowe (1 564-1 607 ) c 279 recovered; Sir Robert Cecil, knowing Sidney's hopes for the presidency of Wales, which Cecil desired for himself, was anxious to see his rival out of the country. He began arrange- ments whereby Sidney would first be sent to Paris with a message to Henri IV from the Queen. Meanwhile, Sidney's sister, the Countess of Pembroke, learned of her brother's new mission and hoped to take advantage ot it. She summoned him to Wilton on an urgent private matter, by way of his steward, Roland Whyte. On Monda/, August 27, 1593, Sir Robert Sidney sent a message from the Court at Windsor to his wife Lady Barbara, at Penhurst, saying: "I am going to Wilton this day, where I am afraid I shall find my sister very ill, for Roland Whyte brought me word yesterday that she hath gotten an ague. I think to be back again the end of this week or the beginning of the next." (That is, by September 2nd at the latest.) It was typical of such letters of the time, inasmuch as they were liable to interception, that the true nature of any business was concealed. The Countess could hardly be seriously ill, since her brother expected to make the round trip of some two hundred miles in as little as five days. We may suppose that at Wilton Sir Robert Sidney was easily persuaded by his elder sister to take Marlowe and Nashe with him as his "ser- vants" when he went abroad. Marlowe (as Hugh Sanford) and Roland Whyte, Sidney's steward, were already good friends, a friendship that continued for many years. Sir Robert Sidney and Roland Whyte, returning to London early in September were involved in raising some €500 from local merchants to finance the trip to the French Court. They would be leaving for Flanders early in October. In the mean- time, Nashe wound up up his affairs in London and joined Marlowe, probably at Wilton. The two of them, both dis- guised in some fashioru may then have joined Sidney's party, perhaps at Penhurst. As tb the disguise, if any, employed by Marlowe and Nashe for the channel crossing Nashe would play the gentleman, providing the "conveyance" for Marlowe's clothes and other personal belongings. To avoid arousing suspiciory Marlowe would be his "wlfe", sent along to be a midwife to the very pregnant Lady Barbara Sidney. Admittedly the evidence for this wild conjecture is slight, but here it is. In later years, Sir Robert Sidney, writing to Lady Barbara, identified one of his 280 S Louis Ule men as "the midwife's husband", not giving his name be- cause he was probably a spy, and it was a private joke that Lady Barbara used -ia*i'ues as no other woman did, which would be pointless if it referred only to her well known fertil- ity. The Countess of Pembroke had previously written to Lady Blrbara offering to provide u ,,trr" and a tiid-if" and their presence on this trip with Lady Barbara would raise no eye- brows. In October 1593, Sir Robert Sidney sent a message to his wife Barbara saying: "I am sent to the King of France with a message from the Queen....Upon the return of this message deoends all the matter of Calais." Since Sidnev did not return froim Paris till the following April, and since &uring this time there is no correspondence with Lady Barbara, she probably traveled with her husband. It was likelv in October that Nashe and Marlowe reached Middleburgh'(which Nashe had misspelled as "Middlebor- ough" both in the London edition of Oaid's Elegies, and rnThe IJn/ortunate T r azt eler). In Nashe's Unfor tunat e Tr aa eler, Surrey (Marlowe) was to meet |ack Wilton (Nashe) at Middlebor- ough, from which they would proceed together to Italy, and neihans this plan was actuallv carried out. There is evidence 'thut t iurhe', ituy in Middleburgh may have been rather pro- tracted. Only hi:, personally aiquainted with the hand-s of both Marlowe and John Davies, could see the manuscript of their combined book, Epigrams by I.D. and AII Oaid's Elegies: 3 Books by C.M., through the press in a foreign country-. Of course there were otheiEnglishmen in Middteburgh, which was in the hands of the Protestant party, soldiers mostly, even frustrated scholars turned soldiers like Ben fonsory and Nashe might have found Middleburgh more congenial and less ex- -pensive than a troublesome trip to Italy. Not much is known of Ben Jonson's tour of military service. While his father was alive, Ben Jonson was tutored by the eminent William Camden at Westminster, but when his wid- owed mother married a bricklayer, young Ben was apPren- ticed to that trade instead. He was then a willing recruit for service in Flanders and by his own account he distinguished himself there by slaying an enemy in single-handed combat in full view of both armies. A few years later he is found in London as Nashe's aPPren- tice in *riting a play, and it may be that it was in Mid- dleburgh thaf Ben Jonson and Nashe, who was by now r Marlowe (1564-L607) famous, first met, and where else but on common ground, at the printer's shop. Any young mary certainly the thoroughly mas^culine Ben |onson, would be fascinated by reading Mar- lowe's translation of Ovid's love poems, but only Ben Jonsor; inculcated in strict principles of prosody by his master Cam- dery would be so pedantic as to polish one of Marlowe's rough-cut diamondi. But this Ben Jonson did, the result ap- p"aiing alongside Marlowe's and signedlY lonson's,initials, B. L pen jonson later reprinted it in his Poetaster, claiming it for his owry so there is no doubt about the interpretation of his initials.) So that the reader may make a comparisory the opening and the last lines of the two versions are givery first Marlowe's.

Enry, why carpest thou my time is spent so ill, And term'st my works fruits of an idle quill? Or that unlike the line from whence I come, War's dusty honors are refused, being young? Nor that I study not the brawling laws, Nor set my voice to sale in every cause? Thy scope is mortal, mine eternal fame, That all the world may ever chant my name.

Then, though death rakes my bones in funeral fire, I'11 live, and as he pulls me dowry mount higher.

The same by B.I.

Envy, why twit'st thou me, my time's spent ill? And call'st my verse fruits of an idle quill? Or that (unlike the line from whence I sprung) War's dusty honors I pursue not young? Or that I study not the tedious laws, And prostitute my voice in every cause? Thy scope is mortal, mine eternal fame, Which through the world shall ever chant my name.

Thery when this body falls in funeral fire, My name shall live, and my best part aspire.

If Ben Jonson managed to attain some position in Sidney's 282 g Louis Ule entourage above that of a common soldier, it was probably that of a messenger or secret agent, for he is not mentioned by name in any of the numerous letters between Robert and Lhdy Sidne!, nor in the letters of Roland Whyte, nor is Nashe, for lhat -uttet. It is likely that in this corr-espondence they were identified by code numbers of low denomination (like 11,13, etc., the larger round numbers like 4,000 being reserved for persons of importance). But Ben ]onson was on occasion an honored guest at Sir Robert Sidney's manor in Penshurst, and commemorated the liberal hospitality he received there in his famous Ode to Penshurst. Whether Thomas Nashe did or not, Marlowe certainly made the trip to Italy, but he was not necessarily alone. Two very young mery who were later to become famous, ate thoirght to-have made a trip to Italy at the same time; they were lohn Donne, the poet, and Inigo Jones, the architect. Coincidentally, Ben ]onson, John Donne and Inigo Jones were all twenty years of age at this time. In Majr iSgg, Johr, Donne, then a devout Catholig wit- nessed the arrest of his younger brother Henry for harboring the Jesuit Harrington. Harrington was hanged at Tyburn, and Henry perished in the Clink. Ruefully John Donne remem- bered that "...no family hath endured and suffered more [than hisl in their persons and fortunes for obeying the teachers of Roman doctrine." Some influence on his trip to Italy in 1,593, converted Donne to the established religion of England, and it may be that Marlowe and Donne then formed a lifelong friendship, for it is only the close friend of ]ohn Donne, lzaak Walton, who remembered that it was Christopher Marlowe (and not Shakespeare) who wrote The Passionate Shepherd, the poem having first appeared in Shakespeare's The Passionate Pilgrim. Inigo ]ones seems to have started out as a joiner employed in the building of Wilton House (which continued for many years), and hii trip to Italy would have for its purpose the study of the latest in Italian styles of architecture and con- struitiory for some of his later Italian creations still adom the grounds at Wilton. In this respect his missiory promoted by the Countess of Pembroke, who admired anything Italiary was similar to that of Marlowe who, apparently, was to ob- serve, copy, and if possible procure, the latest in Italian fash- ions, romances, works of ar! and drama. The influence of the Christopher Marlowe (1. 564=1 607 ) u 283

Italian Commedia dell' Arte on English drama is seen in the comedies that followed soon afterl. The Merchant of Venice, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Loae's Labor's Lost. While Marlowe was abroad, he was not forgotten at Wilton. In 1593 (that is, anytime up to March 25, 7594, by modern reckoning) a collection of poems called The Phoenix'Nesf was made by one R.S. of the Inner Temple and printed at London by John Jackson. The authors of the poems were members of the Countess of Pembroke's circle, Sir Edward Dyer, Nicholas Breton, Sir Walter Ralegh, Matthew Roydon and one W. H. Perhaps R. S. of the Middle Temple (of which Sidney was not a member) really was Sir Robert Sidney furtively trying to raise money by selling these trifles to some printer. In any case, it is the poem by Sir W. H. that interests us, since this puerile creation seems to have been written by Lord William Herbert, Marlowe's pupil, and sent to Marlowe overseas, in effect a letter in verse.

These lines I send by waves of woe, And bale becomes my boat, Which sighs of sorrows still shall keep On floods of fear afloat.

My sighs shall serve me still for wind, My lading is my srnart And true report my pilot is, My haven is thy heart.

My keep is framed of crabbed care. My ribs are al of ruth; My planks are nothing else but plants, With treenails jointed with truth.

My mainmast made of nought but moan, My tackling trickling tears; And topyard like a trouble mind, . A flag of folly bears.

My cable is a constant heart My anchor luckless love; Which reasons capstones from the ground Of griefs cannot remove. 284 g Louis Ule

My decks are all of deep disgrace, My compass disconten! And peril is my Northern Pole And death my Orient. My sailors are my sorrowing thoughtg The boatswain bitter sense; The mastery, misery; his mate Is dolefull diligence. Sir W. H.

References 1. fohn Sanford, Grammar or lntroduction to the ltalian Tongue, Lon- don L605; and An Entrance to the Spanish Tongue, London 1611.