That this
occasion was the same as that celebrated in 4 we have no reason to
believe.
occasion was the same as that celebrated in 4 we have no reason to
believe.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
'The passages in _DA.
_ and _Gipsies_[92]
are less close. The 'valley _called_ my nest' may be a reference to
_DA. _ 2. 6. 74 f. Jonson had already spoken of the 'girdle 'bout her
waist' in _Challenge_, _2 Cup. _ _Charis_ 5 seems then to have been
written later than _U. 36_, _Challenge_, 1613, and probably _Devil is
an Ass_, 1616. The evidence is strong, though not conclusive.
_Charis_ 6 evidently refers to a marriage at Whitehall. That Cupid, who
is referred to in 2, 3, 5, had any part in the marriage of _Charis_ 6
is nowhere even intimated. That Charis led the Graces in a dance is
a conjecture equally unfounded. Jonson of course takes the obvious
opportunity (ll. 20, 26) of playing on the name Charis.
That this
occasion was the same as that celebrated in 4 we have no reason to
believe. It applies equally well, for instance, to _A Challenge at
Tilt_, but we are by no means justified in so limiting it. It may have
been imaginary.
_Charis_ 7 was written before 1618, since Jonson quoted a part of it to
Drummond during his visit in Scotland (cf. _Conversations_ 5). It was
a favorite of the poet's and this furnishes sufficient reason for its
insertion here. It is worthy of note that the two sections of _Charis_,
which we know by external proof to have been in existence before 1623,
are those which give internal evidence of being interpolations.
_Summary. _ The poem was probably a late production and of composite
nature. There is no reason for supposing that the greater part was not
written in 1622-3. The fourth and seventh parts are interpolations.
The first stanza of the fourth part, upon which the identification
largely rests, seems not to have been written until the poem was put
together in 1622-3. If it was written at the same time as the other
two stanzas, we cannot expect to find it forming part of a connected
narrative. The events described in the fourth and sixth parts are not
necessarily the same. There is practically no evidence that Lady Hatton
was the Venus of 1608, or that _Charis_ is addressed to any particular
lady.
The other link in Fleay's chain of evidence is of still weaker
substance.
are less close. The 'valley _called_ my nest' may be a reference to
_DA. _ 2. 6. 74 f. Jonson had already spoken of the 'girdle 'bout her
waist' in _Challenge_, _2 Cup. _ _Charis_ 5 seems then to have been
written later than _U. 36_, _Challenge_, 1613, and probably _Devil is
an Ass_, 1616. The evidence is strong, though not conclusive.
_Charis_ 6 evidently refers to a marriage at Whitehall. That Cupid, who
is referred to in 2, 3, 5, had any part in the marriage of _Charis_ 6
is nowhere even intimated. That Charis led the Graces in a dance is
a conjecture equally unfounded. Jonson of course takes the obvious
opportunity (ll. 20, 26) of playing on the name Charis.
That this
occasion was the same as that celebrated in 4 we have no reason to
believe. It applies equally well, for instance, to _A Challenge at
Tilt_, but we are by no means justified in so limiting it. It may have
been imaginary.
_Charis_ 7 was written before 1618, since Jonson quoted a part of it to
Drummond during his visit in Scotland (cf. _Conversations_ 5). It was
a favorite of the poet's and this furnishes sufficient reason for its
insertion here. It is worthy of note that the two sections of _Charis_,
which we know by external proof to have been in existence before 1623,
are those which give internal evidence of being interpolations.
_Summary. _ The poem was probably a late production and of composite
nature. There is no reason for supposing that the greater part was not
written in 1622-3. The fourth and seventh parts are interpolations.
The first stanza of the fourth part, upon which the identification
largely rests, seems not to have been written until the poem was put
together in 1622-3. If it was written at the same time as the other
two stanzas, we cannot expect to find it forming part of a connected
narrative. The events described in the fourth and sixth parts are not
necessarily the same. There is practically no evidence that Lady Hatton
was the Venus of 1608, or that _Charis_ is addressed to any particular
lady.
The other link in Fleay's chain of evidence is of still weaker
substance.
