New-York tribune., 1884-11-02
NEW PUBLICATIONS
CHRISTOPHER MARLOwE.
~r cupvsTOPHER MARLOwE. Edited
sv = II. BuLLEs vcla syo. pp h1xiv'' szs' ''o
e. ucughfon Mihlin Co.

rnos. handsome volumes arc the first In collec-
&;ye edition of The English Dramatists OF anon'
.,o time of Shakespeare, with which MI. buiic"
,r,,osee TO enrich libraries The publishers
announce that the present edition Is strictly hnteu
4. $50 copies; the type has been distributed ana no
moro will be printed. Mr.. Bucn's editorial WORK
shows TASTE Judgment. scholarship, ana research
lie has exercised unwearied diligence IN searching
for the genuine text Of the poet amid the corrup-
4o,s contradictions and countless inaccuracies OF
Tho early editions Of his plays. but he has not IN
dr,.,od tho ,emptaton 60 make conjectura changes,
or ,,,pe,d Marlowe's faulty grammar. or to intro
d, ,cy rca linqs without positive authority. Ills
uo,c arc humorous but brief. and while he explains
o,>crrr allusions. he pays his readers the comph-
mer, ~ prcuiming that they will not relish over
cIIlc ius assistance.
Of N the English dramatists before Shakespeare
Nariowc presents hy far the most Interesting hgnre
lIc nly almost pass ~ an embodiment oi the wnoio
epirl, Of his time The rude and sensual temper
OF a nation which was of the grandcst the ihoso
v,oo,ons the boldest, the least polished, the least
refined of Christendon. was undergoing an eN'rh"r-
din,ry fcrnent The intellect after long sleep
.s ,s,,. itself to restless aud feverish activity.
Imagination, which had long confined itself TO the
trivial and absurd fances Of childhood essayeh the
daring niehs of manly age, aud revelled IN the
sensation Of its new found powers. Search. auVeh
ture aspiration, enjoyment freedom, were the notes
of t,s vonns. fresh. abounding life. II is common
~ attribute this Sudden intellectual emancipation ~
the religious revolution. nut In England the over
throw uf the old church vas not the result oi
,nn,inf demand fut ruref morality " was
tntbpr ~ tie outset, a revolt against tells"ns W.
s,es,nlsi and the TOW intellectual movement was
,omii,aint with that fioiuns march oi nathtaiish
snd snnsnaty which ini 10 tine ~ ihn biuthel ahh
dune hnan literature af tho istafatihhi Fibm tho
begnnng tho English renaissance was phti"d "'
splandii msty disorder, Ia giving rfee play !" thu
passions aud ambitions at eihaheilatei man. ~
seeuel for a while Ia inllame his brutal appetle
ouite AS much as il animated and lnylgorateh the
higher functions of his mind. The g'osser INSTINCTS
of the English people found the most eXubefaht "A
preston. and that strong relish for tho bdrbarous
which centuries of culture have not erailcaled from
their nature. displayed itself with confident and
exnltaut franbne,s in high life and In low. When
gallans u,el the churches for gossip and ashiona-
HE assembly, and drabs crowded them to ply their
trade we may imagine the condition OF the stage.
and the character of those who lived by amusing
the town The theatre had recently ceased to be an
adjunct of the church, and hal not yet become q
mirror OF the times but it was gradually conform
ing To the popular tastes. and learning TO reflect te
popular faults. Actors and dramatists, as rule,
wrrc men of dissolute habits ana low estate Mar
lowe.
rovs.erlng and blatant atheist. upon whose per
sonal story it can be satisfaction to dwell. we
may receive with canton the accounts of him pre-
served by some of his bltter-mnde1 contempo-
rarcs bat there Is nothing goo to he SAID OF MS
life and he was killed at the age of thirty in tav
ern broil about cOurtesan.
In this short noisy. dstcnperel life. Marlowe
rendered service to the English drama of which
the best critics have written with cuthIslaSin Ills
PLAYS have something of the reckless violent head
strong movement of his personal reer; something
of the coarse and excessive vrlty characteristic OF
his time; but they have nobility and distinction
which we find in no previous English dramas He
was the first in England" says Mr. Bullen, to COM
nose tragedies that should have n lasting interest
for men, The plays of Greene and Peele are import
mt only as showing how poor was the state or
dramatic art at the young poets advent 1t was
Narlowe who created, III the true sense OF the word
English blank verse. and constituted 1t the sole
vehicle of dramatic expression for all time Inc,
rest of Shakespearc's pre- iecessors are sha lows;
Marlowe alone lives By the first of his produc-
tions Tamburlainc the Great" he disanced all his
rivals and raised the drama to n new plane. AT one
stroke he swept away pelantres and trivial CON
cets anl set lofty subject in 4 clear and glowing
light His majestic and sOnor0us lines rang with
heroic passion. For the first time the frequentcrs OF
the play-h house recognized IN the swelling language
of tragedy the expansive and daring impulses which
were beginning to throh in the national heart If
Mtrowc ldealize1 passion by mlgnlfyng It's lnten-
sity to the stretch OF excess the turbulent
intellect of the time heard echo of itself IN the
widest bombast of his raging kings and warriors.
Often il must be confessed, he pushed extravaganza
close to the limit of burlesquc, and drowned poetic
thought IN a torrent of rant. Even IN his own day
his hgh-souuding phrases were theme of travesty.
Shakespeare rIdiculel his pomp of words IN the ro
tund speech of ancient Pistol. The explanation of
that worthy in Henry w., H., 4:
Shall packhorses
And hollow pampercd iades of ASIA
Which cannot go but thirty miles day.
Compare with Ciesars, and with Cannlbals,
And Trojan Greeks l.
Is a parody upon famous assape in "Tambur
laine" where the cOnqueror enters, drawn IN bis
chariot by the Kings of Trebizond and Soria, with
bits in their mouths, reins in his left hand and In
his right hand whip with which he scOurgeth
them" and begins speech thus:
Holla, We pampered jades of Asia
What can yc draw but twenty miles day etc.,etc
The story of Priams slaughter, in the scene be
tween Hamlot and the Players, is a free burlesque
upon Marlowe's " tragedy of Dido. Queen of Garth
age" and there is one part of the original which
even surpasses the absuriity of the imitation. But
to the audiences of the Curtain and the Cockpit
three hundred years ago n thuhucrous IheIoIlc
must have been heavy indeed to seem overcharged;
and we may doubt whether they saw anything
strained in speeches like this OF Iamb@'aineS:
The god of war resigns his room TO me,
Meaning 10 make me general of the world:
Joye view ing me in arms. looks pale and wan,
Fearing my power should pull him from his throne.
Whereer come the Fatal Sisters sweat,
And grisy Death, by running to and fro,
TO do their cea seless homage 10 my sword;
And here in AfTic, where IT seldom rams,
1 All xN Ia my
Have swelling clouds, drawn from wide-gaspmg
wounds,
Been Oft resoly we'd in bloody purple showers,
A meteor that might teirly the earth