CHAPTER VI. THE LATER ELISABETHANS. of this Chapter. UNDER the above heading the present chapter will Contents offer some observations on the more remarkable among the dramatists whose literary activity began in the closing years of Queen Elisabeth's reign, and was therefore to some extent contemporary both with that of Shakspere's maturity and with that of Jonson's prime. Among these dramatists the place of honour belongs by something more than the prerogative of age to GEORGE CHAPMAN, whose name is a familiar one in the history of our poetic literature. It is difficult to say whether on the whole Chapman's fame as a dramatist has gained or lost from his fame as a translator of Homer. In his own day the glory reflecting from what his contemporaries accounted the highest kind of poetical achievement raised his literary reputation higher perhaps than that of any of his fellowdramatists. In these latter times, when a well-known economical principle has generally asserted itself even in the domains of art and literature, few authors are wont to excel equally in species of composition so widely apart as those which Chapman attempted. And, on the other hand, there are not many critics ready to acknowledge varied 1 The Comedies and Tragedies of George Chapman (with Notes and a Memoir). 3 vols. London, 1873. (A literal reprint from the old copies.)—A cheap modernised text of Chapman's plays, edited by Mr. R. H. Shepherd, has been published in the present year (1874).-A well-written but by no means exhaustive essay, Chapman in seinem Verhältniss zu Shakespeare, was contributed by F. Bodenstedt to the Jahrbuch, vol. i (1865). George Chapman His life and literary labours. excellence in the same author, even where it exists; for criticism is quite as much under the influence of its times as productive art. It neither follows, however, that Chapman was eminent as a dramatist because he was eminent as an epic translator, nor that he was incapable of greatness in one branch of the poetic art because he was so successful in another. In such a case a candid judgment will be especially on its guard to 'Avoid extremes, and shun the fault of such Who still are pleas'd too little or too much;' and perhaps the time has arrived for judging Chapman fairly as a dramatist, now that both the merits and the shortcomings of his translation of Homer have come to be more thoroughly examined and appreciated. 'Georgius Chapmannus Homeri metaphrastes,' as he is called in the legend of a portrait prefixed to an edition of his Homer issued by himself, was, according to the statement there made as to his age, born in 1559, according to Wood, in 1557. His birthplace seems to have been near Hitchin in Hertfordshire, where he lived for some time1. He is stated to have passed two years at Trinity College, Oxford, 'with a contempt,' says Warton, 'of philosophy2, but in close attention to the Greek and Roman classics.' is supposed to have completed his studies at Cambridge. It is probable that he afterwards travelled, and the intimate acquaintance with the German language as well as with German manners and usages exhibited in one of his plays has been naturally enough made the basis of a conjecture that he passed several years in Germany. From ten to He 1 See Memoir, pp. vi-vii. In his poem of Euthymiae Raptus, or, The Teares of Peace, the spirit of Homer recalls his visits to him in his 'native air; and on the hill Next Hitchin's left hand;' and William Browne in his Pastorals refers to him under the periphrasis of 'the learned Shepheard of faire Hitching hill.' 2 Wood had said the same thing; but it may be only an a posteriori conclusion. At the same time, Chapman's Caesar and Pompey seems to show that he had at some time studied metaphysics. * See Elze's Introduction to Alphonsus Emperor of Germany, p. 31 of the edition of the play cited below. Elze, however, himself prefers the supposition. twenty years of his life otherwise remain unaccounted for; but it is to be noted that none of his works except the play in question furnishes any indications of his having sojourned in that country. Chapman's first extant publication (The Shadow of Night) bears the date of 1594; his earliest extant play (The Blind Beggar of Alexandria) was published four years later. By this time however he was already held in esteem as a writer for the stage; for he is mentioned with praise both as a tragic and as a comic writer in Meres Palladis Tamia (1598). During the next seven years he seems, with the exception of one other comedy, to have written nothing further for the stage, the reason doubtless being that he was occupied with his Homer, of which the first division was published in 1598, the remainder at different periods up to 1615. The Iliads, when complete, were republished with a dedication to Henry Prince of Wales; the Odysses followed. On the merits or shortcomings of Chapman's Homer, by His Homer. which his name is most widely remembered, this is not the place to enlarge. I will content myself with observing that, after commanding the admiration of many generations, its fame inevitably suffered from the influence of the so-called Augustan school, and from the success of Pope's translation, and as inevitably benefited by the reaction against that influence, which found expression in this instance in the admiration manifested for Chapman by Charles Lamb and Keats. Of more recent critics, none has refused to Chapman's Homer the praise due to its vigour and passion, qualities without which Homer can never be worthily reproduced. On the other hand, there can be no doubt that the style of Chapman's translation reflects some of the most marked peculiarities of his own literary age; and that these characteristics are precisely such as are most foreign to other Homeric qualities,-above all to those of that the German element in Alphonsus was the result of Chapman's having associated with the retinue of the Elector Palatine, who arrived in London in 1612; and points out that the mask written for the marriage of Frederick and Elisabeth is devoid of the slightest allusion to Germany. His theatrical simplicity and directness1. It will not be forgotten, in connexion with subsequent remarks on the versification of Chapman, that the metre of his translation is not blankverse, but a rhymed fourteen-syllable metre, with seven accents. Chapman's return to the stage led to one of the most experiences. remarkable incidents (already adverted to 2) in his life and in the annals of the stage. For certain passages in the comedy of Eastward Hoe (1605), which he had written conjointly with Marston and Jonson (though Jonson had not share in the passages objected to), he and Marston were imprisoned; and Jonson voluntarily joined them in their confinement. The release of the poets was doubtless in part attributable to the favour which Chapman seems to have enjoyed with the Court. Of his gratitude or loyalty he subsequently gave more than one sign. In 1612 he produced a mask for the marriage of the Princess Elisabeth; while to her brother he, as has been seen, dedicated his Iliads. He had other patrons of high rank, to one of whom (Somerset) he remained faithful even in the disgrace which overtook that reckless adventurer. But there is no reason to suspect Chapman of undue 'morigeration' to the great. On the contrary, several passages in his plays attest a candour and an uprightness on questions lying at the root of the politics of his times which do honour to his character as well as his intellect. On a subsequent occasion he seems to have given offence to the French ambassador by a scene introduced into his play of Byron's Conspiracy (1608); but in this case the offence is said to have consisted in bringing the Queen of France on the stage and representing her in no very pleasing light 3. The performance was prohibited, but repeated as soon as the Court had quitted London. Close of his life. No other data remain as to Chapman's career except 1 See Mr. Matthew Arnold's Lectures on Translating Homer, pp. 22-29. 3 She was introduced as rating a lady of her Court, to whom she finally administered a box on the ear. The scene was of course omitted from the printed copy. |