Act ii. sc. 9, lines 79–81.

The opening of the third of the caskets (act. iii. sc. 2, l. 115, vol. ii. p. 328), that made of lead, is also as much an Emblem delineation as the other two, excelling them, indeed, in the beauty of the language as well as in the excellence of the device, a very paragon of gracefulness. “What find I here?” demands Bassanio; and himself replies,—

“Fair Portia’s counterfeit! What demi-god Hath come so near creation? Move these eyes? Or whether, riding on the balls of mine Seem they in motion? Here are sever’d lips, Parted with sugar breath: so sweet a bar Should sunder such sweet friends. Here in her hairs The painter plays the spider, and hath woven A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men, Faster than gnats in cobwebs:[92] but her eyes,— How could he see to do them? Having made one, Methinks it should have power to steal both his, And leave itself unfurnish’d. Yet look, how far The substance of my praise doth wrong this shadow In underprizing it, so far this shadow Doth limp behind the substance. Here’s a scroll, The continent and summary of my fortune. [_Reads_] You that choose not by the view, Chance as fair, and choose as true! Since this fortune falls to you, Be content and seek no new. If you will be pleased with this, And hold your fortune for your bliss, Turn you where your lady is, And claim her with a loving kiss.”

In these scenes of the casket, Shakespeare himself, therefore, is undoubtedly an Emblem writer; and there needs only the woodcut, or the engraving, to render them as perfect examples of Emblem writing as any that issued from the pens of Alciatus, Symeoni, and Beza. The dramatist may have been sparing in his use of this tempting method of illustration, yet, with the instances before us, we arrive at the conclusion that Shakespeare knew well what Emblems were. And surely he had seen, and in some degree studied, various portions of the Emblem literature which was anterior to, or contemporary with himself.

Footnote 73:

The subjects of the “nyne pageauntes,” and of their verses, are—~“Chyldhod, Manhod, Venus and Cupyde, Age, Deth, Fame, Tyme, Eternitee,”~ in English; and ~“The Port”~ in Latin.

Footnote 74:

Thus to be rendered—

While Elizabeth, as king, did reign, England the terror was of Spain; Now, chitter-chatter and Emblemes Rule, through our queen, the little James.

Footnote 75:

Through Mr. Jones, of the Chetham Library, Manchester, I applied to D. Laing, Esq., of the Signet Library, Edinburgh, to inquire if the bed of state is known still to exist. The reply, Dec. 31st, 1867, is—

“In regard to Queen Mary’s bed at Holyrood, there is one which is shown to visitors, but I am quite satisfied that it does not correspond with Drummond’s description, as ‘wrought in silk and gold.’ There are some hangings of old tapestry, but in a very bad state of preservation. Yesterday afternoon I went down to take another look at it, but found, as it was getting dark, some of the rooms locked up, and no person present. Should, however, I find anything further on the subject, I will let you know, but I do not expect it.”

Footnote 76:

This mode of naming the motto appears taken from Shakespeare’s _Pericles_, as—

“A black Æthiop, reaching at the sun: The word, _Lux tua vita mihi_.”

Footnote 77:

In two other Letters Drummond makes mention of Devices or Emblems. Writing from Paris, p. 249, he describes “the Fair of St. Germain:”—

“The diverse Merchandize and Wares of the many nations at that Mart;” and adds, “Scarce could the wandering thought light upon any Storie, Fable, Gayetie, which was not here represented to view.”

A letter to the Earl of Perth, p. 256, tells of various Emblems:—

“MY NOBLE LORD,—After a long inquiry about the Arms of your Lordships antient House, and the turning of sundry Books of _Impresaes_ and Herauldry, I found your V N D E S. famous and very honourable.”

“In our neighbour Countrey of _England_ they are born, but inverted upside down and diversified. _Torquato Tasso_ in his _Rinaldo_ maketh mention of a Knight who had a Rock placed in the Waves, with the Worde _Rompe ch’il percote_. And others hath the Seas waves with a Syren rising out of them, the word _Bella Maria_, which is the name of some Courtezan. _Antonio Perenotto, Cardinal Gravella_, had for an _Impresa_ the sea, a Ship on it, the word _Durate_ out of the first of the Æneades, _Durate et vosmet rebus servate secundis_. _Tomaso de Marini_, Duca di terra nova, had for his _Impresa_ the Waves with a sun over them, the word, _Nunquam siccabitur æstu_. The Prince of Orange used for his _Impresa_ the _Waves_ with an _Halcyon_ in the midst of them, the word, _Mediis tranquillus in undis_, which is rather an _Embleme_ than _Impresa_, because the figure is in the word.”

Footnote 78:

See device at a later part of our volume.

Footnote 79:

See Symeon’s _Deuises Heroiques & Morales_, edition, 4to, Lyons, 1561, p. 246, where the motto and device occur, followed by the explanation, “_Ceux qui ont escrit de la Physiognomie, & mesme Aristote, disent parmy d’autres choses que le front de l’homme est celuy, par lequell’ on peut facilement cognoistre la qualité de ses mœurs, & la complexion de sa nature_,” &c.

Footnote 80:

It may be named as a curious fact that a copy of Alciat’s _Emblemes en Latin et en Francois Vers pour Vers_, 16mo, Paris, 1561, contains the autograph of the Prolocutor against Mary Queen of Scots, W. PYKERYNGE, 1561, which would be about _five_ years before Mary’s son was born, for whom she wrought a bed of state. The edition of Paradin, a copy of which bears Geffrey Whitney’s autograph, was printed at Antwerp in 1562; and one at least of his Emblems to the motto, _Video et taceo_, was written as early as 1568.

Footnote 81:

In some of the more elaborate of Plantin’s devices, the action of “the omnific word” seems pictured, though in very humble degree,—

“In his hand He took the golden compasses, prepared In God’s eternal store, to circumscribe This universe, and all created things: One foot he centred, and the other turn’d Round through the vast profundity obscure.”—_Par. Lost_, bk. vii.

Footnote 82:

Derived from Joachim du Bellay (who died in 1560 at the age of thirty-seven), the excellence of whose poetry entitled him to be named the Ovid of France. There is good evidence to show that Du Bellay was well acquainted with the Emblematists, who in his time were rising into fame.

Footnote 83:

Dibdin, in his _Bibliomania_, p. 331, adduces an instance; he says, “In the PRAYER-BOOK which goes by the name of QUEEN ELIZABETH’S, there is a portrait of her Majesty kneeling, upon a superb cushion, with elevated hands, in prayer. This book was first printed in 1575, and is decorated with woodcut borders of considerable spirit and beauty, representing, among other things, some of the subjects of Holbein’s _Dance of Death_.”

Footnote 84:

Amplified by Whitney, p. 108, _Respice, et prospice_, “Look back, and look forward.”

“THE former parte, nowe paste, of this my booke, The seconde parte in order doth insue: Which, I beginne with IANVS double looke, That as hee sees, the yeares both oulde, and newe, So, with regarde, I may these partes behoulde, Perusinge ofte, the newe, and eeke the oulde

And if, that faulte within vs doe appeare, Within the yeare, that is alreadie donne, As IANVS biddes vs alter with the yeare, And make amendes, within the yeare begonne, Even so, my selfe suruayghinge what is past; With greater heede, may take in hande the laste.”

Footnote 85:

We subjoin the old French,—

“LE Dieu Ianus iadis à deux visages, Noz anciẽs ont pourtraict & trassé, Pour demõstrer que l’aduis des gẽs sages. Vis[e/] au futur aussi bien qu’ au passé, Tout temps doibt estr[e/] en effect cõpassé, Et du passé auoir la recordance, Pour au futur preueoir en providence, Suyuant vertu en toute qualité. Qui le fera verra par euidence, Qu’il pourra viure en grãd tranquillité.”

Footnote 86:

The illustration we immediately choose is from Sym. cxxxvii. p. cccxiiii. of Achilles Bocchius, edition Bologna, 1555, with the motto—

“ARS RHETOR, TRIPLEX MOVET, IVVAT, DOCET, SED PRÆPOTENS EST VERITAS DIVINITVS. SIC MONSTRA VITIOR, DOMAT PRVDENTIA.”

Rhetoric’s art threefold, it moves, delights, instructs, But powerful above all is truth of heaven inspired. So the monsters of our vices doth wisdom’s self subdue.

Footnote 87:

See _Les Emblemes de Maistre Andre Alciat, mis en rime françoyse_, Paris, 1540.

Footnote 88:

The device, however, of this Emblem is copied from Symeoni’s _Vita et Metamorfoseo d’Ovidio_, Lyons, 1559, p. 72; as also are some others used by Reusner.

Footnote 89:

In _Troilus and Cressida_, act i. sc. 3, l. 39, vol. vi. p. 142, we read,—

“Anon beheld The strong-ribb’d bark through liquid mountains cut, Bounding between the two moist elements, Like Perseus’ horse.”

Footnote 90:

The description and quotations are almost identical with the Whitney _Dissertations_, pp. 294–6.

Footnote 91:

See Whitney’s _Fac-simile Reprint_, plate 32.

Footnote 92:

In the work of Joachim Camerarius, just quoted, at p. 152, to the motto, “VIOLENTIOR EXIT,”—_The more violent escapes_, p. 99,—there is the device of Gnats and Wasps in a cobweb, with the stanza,—

“_Innodat culicem, sed vespæ pervia tela est: Sic rumpit leges vis, quibus hæret inops._”

“The gnat the web entangles, but to the wasp Throughout is pervious; so force breaks laws, To which the helpless is held bound in chains.”