And
therfore
at the kynges country brother
Eche man for himself, there is noon other.
Eche man for himself, there is noon other.
John Donne
These lines are correctly printed in _1633_, though the old
use of the semicolon to indicate at one time a little less than a
full stop, at another just a little more than a comma, has caused
confusion. I have, therefore, ventured to alter the first (after
'farre') to a full stop, and the second (after 'duties') to a comma.
'_That_', says Donne (the italics give emphasis), 'was the iron age
when justice was sold. Now' (in this 'age of rusty iron') 'injustice
is sold dearer. Once you have allowed all the demands made on you, you
find, suitors (and suitors are gamblers), that the money you toiled
for has passed into other hands, the lands for which you urged your
rival claims has escaped you, as Angelica escaped while Ferrau and
Rinaldo fought for her. '
To the reading of the editions _1635-54_, which Chambers has adopted
(but by printing in roman letters he makes 'that' a relative pronoun,
and 'iron age' subject to 'did allow'), I can attach no meaning:
The iron Age _that_ was, when justice was sold (now
Injustice is sold dearer) did allow
All claim'd fees and duties. Gamesters anon.
How did the iron age allow fees and duties? The text of _1669_ reverts
to that of _1633_ (keeping the 'claim'd fees' of _1635-54_), but does
not improve the punctuation by changing the semicolon after 'farre' to
a comma.
Mr. Allen (_Rise of Formal Satire, &c. _) points out that the allusion
to the age of 'rusty iron', which deserves some worse name, is
obviously derived from Juvenal XIII. 28 ff. :
Nunc aetas agitur, peioraque saecula ferri
Temporibus: quorum sceleri non invenit ipsa
Nomen, et a nullo posuit natura metallo.
With Donne's
so controverted lands
Scape, like Angelica, the strivers hands
compare Chaucer's
We strive as did the houndes for the boon
Thei foughte al day and yet hir parte was noon:
Ther cam a kyte, whil that they were so wrothe,
And bar away the boon betwixt hem bothe.
And therfore at the kynges country brother
Eche man for himself, there is noon other.
_Knightes Tale_, ll. 319 ff.
ll. 45-6. _powre of the Courts below Flow. _ Grosart and Chambers
silently alter to 'Flows', but both the editions and MSS. have the
plural form. Franz notes the construction in Shakespeare:
The venom of such looks, we fairly hope,
Have lost their quality.
_Hen. V_, V. ii. 18.
All the power of his wits have given way to his impatience.
_Lear_, III. v.
use of the semicolon to indicate at one time a little less than a
full stop, at another just a little more than a comma, has caused
confusion. I have, therefore, ventured to alter the first (after
'farre') to a full stop, and the second (after 'duties') to a comma.
'_That_', says Donne (the italics give emphasis), 'was the iron age
when justice was sold. Now' (in this 'age of rusty iron') 'injustice
is sold dearer. Once you have allowed all the demands made on you, you
find, suitors (and suitors are gamblers), that the money you toiled
for has passed into other hands, the lands for which you urged your
rival claims has escaped you, as Angelica escaped while Ferrau and
Rinaldo fought for her. '
To the reading of the editions _1635-54_, which Chambers has adopted
(but by printing in roman letters he makes 'that' a relative pronoun,
and 'iron age' subject to 'did allow'), I can attach no meaning:
The iron Age _that_ was, when justice was sold (now
Injustice is sold dearer) did allow
All claim'd fees and duties. Gamesters anon.
How did the iron age allow fees and duties? The text of _1669_ reverts
to that of _1633_ (keeping the 'claim'd fees' of _1635-54_), but does
not improve the punctuation by changing the semicolon after 'farre' to
a comma.
Mr. Allen (_Rise of Formal Satire, &c. _) points out that the allusion
to the age of 'rusty iron', which deserves some worse name, is
obviously derived from Juvenal XIII. 28 ff. :
Nunc aetas agitur, peioraque saecula ferri
Temporibus: quorum sceleri non invenit ipsa
Nomen, et a nullo posuit natura metallo.
With Donne's
so controverted lands
Scape, like Angelica, the strivers hands
compare Chaucer's
We strive as did the houndes for the boon
Thei foughte al day and yet hir parte was noon:
Ther cam a kyte, whil that they were so wrothe,
And bar away the boon betwixt hem bothe.
And therfore at the kynges country brother
Eche man for himself, there is noon other.
_Knightes Tale_, ll. 319 ff.
ll. 45-6. _powre of the Courts below Flow. _ Grosart and Chambers
silently alter to 'Flows', but both the editions and MSS. have the
plural form. Franz notes the construction in Shakespeare:
The venom of such looks, we fairly hope,
Have lost their quality.
_Hen. V_, V. ii. 18.
All the power of his wits have given way to his impatience.
_Lear_, III. v.
