Old English Plays, Vol. I | Page 5

pleasure to me to rescue this fine old play from undeserved oblivion. There is but one living poet whose genius could treat worthily the tragical story of Nero's life and death. In his three noble sonnets, "The Emperor's Progress," Mr. Swinburne shows that he has pondered the subject deeply: if ever he should give us a Tragedy of Nero, we may be sure that one more deathless contribution would be added to our dramatic literature.

Addenda and Corrigenda.
After Nero had been printed I found among the Egerton MSS. (No. 1994), in the British Museum, a transcript in a contemporary hand. The precious folio to which it belongs contains fifteen plays: of these some will be printed entire in Vols. II and III, and a full account of the other pieces will be given in an appendix to Vol. II. The transcript of Nero is not by any means so accurate as the printed copy; and sometimes we meet with the most ridiculous mistakes. For instance, on p. 82 for "Beauties sweet _Scarres_" the MS. gives "Starres"; on p. 19 for "Nisa" ("not Bacchus drawn from _Nisa_") we find "Nilus"; and in the line "Nor us, though _Romane, Lais_ will refuse" (p. 81) the MS. pointlessly reads "Ladies will refuse." On the other hand, many of the readings are a distinct improvement, and I am glad to find some of my own emendations confirmed. But let us start _ab initio_:--
p. 13, l. 4. 4to. Imperiall tytles; MS. Imperial stuffe.
p. 14, l. 3. 4to. small grace; MS. sale grace.--The allusion in the following line to the notorious "dark lights" makes the MS. reading certain.--Lower down for "and other of thy blindnesses" the MS. gives "another": neither reading is intelligible.
p. 17, l. 5. MS. rightly gives "cleave the ayre."
p. 30, l. 2. "Fatu[m']st in partibus illis || Quas sinus abscondit. Petron."--added in margin of MS.
p. 31, l. 17. 4to. or bruised in my fall; MS. I bruised in my fall!
p. 32, l. 4. 4to. Shoulder pack't Peleus; MS. Shoulder peac'd. The MS. confirms my emendation "shoulder-piec'd."
p. 32, l. 13. 4to. shoutes and noyse; MS. shoutes and triumphs.--From this point to p. 39 (last line but one) the MS. is defective.
p. 40, l. 8. 4to. our visitation; MS. or visitation.
p. 42, l. 11. 4to. others; MS. ours.
p. 46, l. 22. 4to. Wracke out; MS. wreake not.
p. 47, l. 17. 4to. Toth' the point of _Agrippa_; MS. tooth' prince [sic] of Agrippinas.
p. 54, l. 2. 4to. Pleides burnes; Jupiter Saturne burnes; MS. Alcides burnes, Jupiter Stator burnes.
p. 54, l. 23. 4to. thee gets; in MS. gets has been corrected, by a different hand, into Getes.
p. 54, l. 26. 4to. the most condemned; MS. the ------ condemned: a blank is unfortunately left in the MS.
p. 56, l. 20. 4to. writhes; MS. wreathes.
p. 59, l. 1. MS. I now command the souldyer of the Cyttie.
p. 61, l. 13. The MS. preserves the three following lines, not found in the printed copy--
"High spirits soaring still at great attempts, And such whose wisdomes, to their other wrongs, Distaste the basenesse of the government."
p. 62, l. 15. 4to. are we; MS. arowe.
p. 66, l. 4 "Sed quis custodiet ipsos || Custodes. Juvenal"--noted in margin of MS.
p. 68, l. 15. 4to. Galley-asses? MS. gallowses.
p. 69, l. 1. The MS. makes the difficulty even greater by reading--
"Silver colour [sic] on the Medaean fields Not Tiber colour."
p. 75, l. 2. 4to. One that in whispering oreheard; MS. one that this fellow whispring I oreharde.
p. 78, l. 22. 4to. from whence it first let down; MS. from whence at first let down.
p. 80. In note (1) for "Eilius Italicus" read "Silius Italicus."
p. 127. In note (2) for "_Henry IV_" read I Henry IV.
p. 182, l. 6. Dele [?]. The sense is quite plain if we remember that soldiers degraded on account of misconduct were made "pioners": vid. commentators on _Othello_, iii. 3. Hence "pioner" is used for "the meanest, most ignorant soldier."
p. 228. In note (2) for "earlle good wine" read "Earlle good-wine."
p. 236. In note (2) after "[Greek: _staphis_] and" add "[Greek: _agria_]."
p. 255. The lines "To the reader of this Play" are also found at the end of T. Heywood's "Royal King and Loyal Subject."
p. 257, l. 1. I find (on turning to Mr. Arbor's _Transcript_) that the Noble Spanish Souldier had been previously entered on the Stationers' Registers (16 May, 1631), by John Jackman, as a work of Dekker's. Since the sheets have been passing through the press, I have become convinced that Dekker's share was more considerable than I was willing to allow in the prefatory Note.
p. 276. Note (2) is misleading; the reading of the 4to "flye-boat" is no doubt right. "Fly-boat" comes from Span. filibote, flibote--a fast-sailing vessel. The Dons hastily steer clear of the rude soldier.
p. 294. In