by Ezra Pound
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