Among the
monsters
were Amazons, Anthropophagi,
and men whose heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders.
and men whose heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders.
John Donne
21.
_seaven Antiquaries studies.
_ Donne has more than
one hit at Antiquaries. See the _Epigrams_ and _Satyre V_. The reign
of Elizabeth witnessed a great revival of antiquarian studies and the
first formation of an Antiquarian society: 'There was a time, most
excellent king,' says a later writer addressing King James, 'when
as well under Queen Elizabeth, as under your majesty, certain
choice gentlemen, men of known proof, were knit together, _statis
temporibus_, by the love of these studies, upon contribution among
themselves: which company consisted of an elective president and of
clarissimi, of other antiquaries and a register. ' Oldys, _Life of
Raleigh_, p. 317. He goes on to describe how the society was dissolved
by death. In the list of names he gives there are more than seven,
but it is just possible that Donne refers to some such society in its
early stages.
l. 22. _Africks monsters, Guianaes rarities. _ Africa was famous as the
land of monsters. The second reference is to the marvels described in
Sir Walter Raleigh's _The discoverie of the large, rich and bewtiful
Empire of Guiana, with a relation of the great and golden City of
Manoa which the Spaniards call El Dorado, performed in the year 1595_
(pub. 1596).
Among the monsters were Amazons, Anthropophagi,
and men whose heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders.
l. 23. _Stranger then strangers, &c. _ The 'Stranger then strangest'
of some MSS. would form a natural climax to the preceding list of
marvels. But 'strangers' is the authoritative reading, and forms the
transition to the next few lines. The reference is to the unpopularity
in London of the numerous strangers whom wars and religious
persecution had collected in England. Strype (_Annals_, iv) prints a
paper of 1568 in which the Lord Mayor gives to the Privy Council
an account of the strangers in London. In 1593 there were again
complaints of their presence and threats to attack them. 'While these
inquiries were making, to incense the people against them there were
these lines in one of their libels: Doth not the world see that
you, beastly brutes, the Belgians, or rather drunken drones and
faint-hearted Flemings; and you fraudulent father (_sic. Query_
'faitor[s]'), Frenchmen, by your cowardly flight from your own natural
countries, have abandoned the same into the hands of your proud,
cowardly enemies, and have by a feigned hypocrisy and counterfeit show
of religion placed yourself here in a most fertile soil, under a most
gracious and merciful prince; who hath been contented, to the great
prejudice of her own natural subjects, to suffer you to live here in
better case and more freedom then her own people--Be it known to all
Flemings and Frenchmen that it is best for them to depart out of the
realm of England between this and the 9th of July next. If not then to
take that which follows: for that there shall be many a sore stripe.
Apprentices will rise to the number of 2336. And all the apprentices
and journeymen will down with the Flemings and strangers. '
Another libel was in verse, and after quoting it the official document
proceeds: 'The court upon these seditious motives took the most
prudent measures to protect the poor strangers, and to prevent any
riot or insurrection.
one hit at Antiquaries. See the _Epigrams_ and _Satyre V_. The reign
of Elizabeth witnessed a great revival of antiquarian studies and the
first formation of an Antiquarian society: 'There was a time, most
excellent king,' says a later writer addressing King James, 'when
as well under Queen Elizabeth, as under your majesty, certain
choice gentlemen, men of known proof, were knit together, _statis
temporibus_, by the love of these studies, upon contribution among
themselves: which company consisted of an elective president and of
clarissimi, of other antiquaries and a register. ' Oldys, _Life of
Raleigh_, p. 317. He goes on to describe how the society was dissolved
by death. In the list of names he gives there are more than seven,
but it is just possible that Donne refers to some such society in its
early stages.
l. 22. _Africks monsters, Guianaes rarities. _ Africa was famous as the
land of monsters. The second reference is to the marvels described in
Sir Walter Raleigh's _The discoverie of the large, rich and bewtiful
Empire of Guiana, with a relation of the great and golden City of
Manoa which the Spaniards call El Dorado, performed in the year 1595_
(pub. 1596).
Among the monsters were Amazons, Anthropophagi,
and men whose heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders.
l. 23. _Stranger then strangers, &c. _ The 'Stranger then strangest'
of some MSS. would form a natural climax to the preceding list of
marvels. But 'strangers' is the authoritative reading, and forms the
transition to the next few lines. The reference is to the unpopularity
in London of the numerous strangers whom wars and religious
persecution had collected in England. Strype (_Annals_, iv) prints a
paper of 1568 in which the Lord Mayor gives to the Privy Council
an account of the strangers in London. In 1593 there were again
complaints of their presence and threats to attack them. 'While these
inquiries were making, to incense the people against them there were
these lines in one of their libels: Doth not the world see that
you, beastly brutes, the Belgians, or rather drunken drones and
faint-hearted Flemings; and you fraudulent father (_sic. Query_
'faitor[s]'), Frenchmen, by your cowardly flight from your own natural
countries, have abandoned the same into the hands of your proud,
cowardly enemies, and have by a feigned hypocrisy and counterfeit show
of religion placed yourself here in a most fertile soil, under a most
gracious and merciful prince; who hath been contented, to the great
prejudice of her own natural subjects, to suffer you to live here in
better case and more freedom then her own people--Be it known to all
Flemings and Frenchmen that it is best for them to depart out of the
realm of England between this and the 9th of July next. If not then to
take that which follows: for that there shall be many a sore stripe.
Apprentices will rise to the number of 2336. And all the apprentices
and journeymen will down with the Flemings and strangers. '
Another libel was in verse, and after quoting it the official document
proceeds: 'The court upon these seditious motives took the most
prudent measures to protect the poor strangers, and to prevent any
riot or insurrection.
