= A not
infrequent
word-order in
Jonson.
Jonson.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
B.
& Fl.
, _Fair Maid of the Inn_ 2.
2:
'_Host. _ Thy master, that lodges here in my Osteria,
is a rare man of art; they say he's a witch.
_Clown. _ A witch? Nay, he's one step of the ladder to
preferment higher; he's a conjurer. '
=1. 6. 10 wedlocke. = Wife; a common latinism of the period.
=1. 6. 14 it not concernes thee?
= A not infrequent word-order in
Jonson. Cf. 4. 2. 22.
=1. 6. 18 a Niaise. = Gifford says that the side note 'could scarcely
come from Jonson; for it explains nothing. A niaise (or rather
an _eyas_, of which it is a corruption) is unquestionably a young hawk,
but the niaise of the poet is the French term for, "a simple, witless,
inexperienced gull", &c. The word is very common in our old
writers. '
The last statement is characteristic of Gifford. It would have been
well in this case if he had given some proof of his assertion. The
derivation _an eyas_ > _a nyas_ is probably incorrect. The _Centary
Dictionary_ gives '_Niaise_, _nyas_ (and corruptly _eyas_, by
misdivision of _a nias_). ' The best explanation I can give of the side
note is this.
'_Host. _ Thy master, that lodges here in my Osteria,
is a rare man of art; they say he's a witch.
_Clown. _ A witch? Nay, he's one step of the ladder to
preferment higher; he's a conjurer. '
=1. 6. 10 wedlocke. = Wife; a common latinism of the period.
=1. 6. 14 it not concernes thee?
= A not infrequent word-order in
Jonson. Cf. 4. 2. 22.
=1. 6. 18 a Niaise. = Gifford says that the side note 'could scarcely
come from Jonson; for it explains nothing. A niaise (or rather
an _eyas_, of which it is a corruption) is unquestionably a young hawk,
but the niaise of the poet is the French term for, "a simple, witless,
inexperienced gull", &c. The word is very common in our old
writers. '
The last statement is characteristic of Gifford. It would have been
well in this case if he had given some proof of his assertion. The
derivation _an eyas_ > _a nyas_ is probably incorrect. The _Centary
Dictionary_ gives '_Niaise_, _nyas_ (and corruptly _eyas_, by
misdivision of _a nias_). ' The best explanation I can give of the side
note is this.
