NOTESTHE FIRST PART OF NEROThis play was not intended for the stage, as the rest of my plays are. It was written as an exercise in dramatic qualities other than scenic; and had its publication been contemplated, I should have been more careful not to deserve censure in one or two places: these however I have not thought it worth while to erase or correct. Owing to its inordinate length I have found it necessary, so that the volumes of this series might be of uniform size, to couple with it the shortest of the other plays. HenceACHILLES IN SCYROSis here out of order. Instead of standing second it should come fifth, that is afterThe Christian Captives. The following note is taken from the first edition.Note toAchilles in Scyros.—After I had begun this play I came by chance onCalderon’splay on the same subject,El Monstruo de los Jardines. The monster isAchilles; the gardens the same. Excepting an expression or two I found nothing that it suited me to use, and I should not have recorded the circumstance, if it were not thatCalderon’splay seemed to me to contain strong evidence that he had readThe Tempest. This observation cannot be new, but I have never met with it; so I offer it to my readers, thinking it will interest them as it did me.El Monstruo de los Jardinesopens with a storm at sea, and shipwreck of royal persons, similar as it is inferior toShakespeare’s(but compare also the Devil’s shipwreck in the second act ofEl magicio prodigioso, which may be read inShelley’stranslation).Stephanohas his counterpart,Un cofrade de Baco, que ha salido,Por no hacerle traicion, del mar á nadoPues el no beber agua le ha escapado,and the whole play is then on a supposed desert island, which turns out to be strangely peopled. There is the monsterAchilles, who in many respects remembersCaliban, and is even addressed asSeñor monstruo: ’Monsieur Monster.’ There isThetis, who is to her nymphs asProsperoto his spirits; with musical enchantments, and voices in the air, and even afantastico bajél.Calderonhas moreover hit upon the same device of imitative fancy as temptedDrydenin like sad case, and pictured a man who had never seen a woman. The island is wandered on by the prince and his suite, and one of them says of itRepublica es entera, &c. A curious reader might find more than I have here noticed: butCalderonis as far from sympathy withShakespeare, as he is from the Greek story, with his drums and trumpets andEl gran Sofí.There is a passage in myAchilles(l. 518 and foll.) which is copied fromCalderon: but this is afterMuley’swell-known speech in thePrincipe Constante(see note toThe Christian Captives); which is quoted in most books onCalderon. In my short play, which runs on without change of scene or necessary pause, I have had the act and scene divisions indicated by greater and lesser spaces in the printing.[A]R. B., 1890.[A] Not followed in this edition. 1901.Transcriber’s NotesObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. All other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.Line 1374/5 of The First Part of Nero “Now may some god of mischief Dare set me in the roll of puny spirits.” Roll could be a misprint for role but has not been changed.The varied ellipses remain unchanged.The variation in fonts, sizes etc in e-book displays makes accurate reproduction of verse indents and caesuras impossible. The approach used should give a reasonable approximation in most cases.
NOTESTHE FIRST PART OF NEROThis play was not intended for the stage, as the rest of my plays are. It was written as an exercise in dramatic qualities other than scenic; and had its publication been contemplated, I should have been more careful not to deserve censure in one or two places: these however I have not thought it worth while to erase or correct. Owing to its inordinate length I have found it necessary, so that the volumes of this series might be of uniform size, to couple with it the shortest of the other plays. HenceACHILLES IN SCYROSis here out of order. Instead of standing second it should come fifth, that is afterThe Christian Captives. The following note is taken from the first edition.Note toAchilles in Scyros.—After I had begun this play I came by chance onCalderon’splay on the same subject,El Monstruo de los Jardines. The monster isAchilles; the gardens the same. Excepting an expression or two I found nothing that it suited me to use, and I should not have recorded the circumstance, if it were not thatCalderon’splay seemed to me to contain strong evidence that he had readThe Tempest. This observation cannot be new, but I have never met with it; so I offer it to my readers, thinking it will interest them as it did me.El Monstruo de los Jardinesopens with a storm at sea, and shipwreck of royal persons, similar as it is inferior toShakespeare’s(but compare also the Devil’s shipwreck in the second act ofEl magicio prodigioso, which may be read inShelley’stranslation).Stephanohas his counterpart,Un cofrade de Baco, que ha salido,Por no hacerle traicion, del mar á nadoPues el no beber agua le ha escapado,and the whole play is then on a supposed desert island, which turns out to be strangely peopled. There is the monsterAchilles, who in many respects remembersCaliban, and is even addressed asSeñor monstruo: ’Monsieur Monster.’ There isThetis, who is to her nymphs asProsperoto his spirits; with musical enchantments, and voices in the air, and even afantastico bajél.Calderonhas moreover hit upon the same device of imitative fancy as temptedDrydenin like sad case, and pictured a man who had never seen a woman. The island is wandered on by the prince and his suite, and one of them says of itRepublica es entera, &c. A curious reader might find more than I have here noticed: butCalderonis as far from sympathy withShakespeare, as he is from the Greek story, with his drums and trumpets andEl gran Sofí.There is a passage in myAchilles(l. 518 and foll.) which is copied fromCalderon: but this is afterMuley’swell-known speech in thePrincipe Constante(see note toThe Christian Captives); which is quoted in most books onCalderon. In my short play, which runs on without change of scene or necessary pause, I have had the act and scene divisions indicated by greater and lesser spaces in the printing.[A]R. B., 1890.[A] Not followed in this edition. 1901.Transcriber’s NotesObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. All other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.Line 1374/5 of The First Part of Nero “Now may some god of mischief Dare set me in the roll of puny spirits.” Roll could be a misprint for role but has not been changed.The varied ellipses remain unchanged.The variation in fonts, sizes etc in e-book displays makes accurate reproduction of verse indents and caesuras impossible. The approach used should give a reasonable approximation in most cases.
This play was not intended for the stage, as the rest of my plays are. It was written as an exercise in dramatic qualities other than scenic; and had its publication been contemplated, I should have been more careful not to deserve censure in one or two places: these however I have not thought it worth while to erase or correct. Owing to its inordinate length I have found it necessary, so that the volumes of this series might be of uniform size, to couple with it the shortest of the other plays. Hence
is here out of order. Instead of standing second it should come fifth, that is afterThe Christian Captives. The following note is taken from the first edition.
Note toAchilles in Scyros.—After I had begun this play I came by chance onCalderon’splay on the same subject,El Monstruo de los Jardines. The monster isAchilles; the gardens the same. Excepting an expression or two I found nothing that it suited me to use, and I should not have recorded the circumstance, if it were not thatCalderon’splay seemed to me to contain strong evidence that he had readThe Tempest. This observation cannot be new, but I have never met with it; so I offer it to my readers, thinking it will interest them as it did me.
El Monstruo de los Jardinesopens with a storm at sea, and shipwreck of royal persons, similar as it is inferior toShakespeare’s(but compare also the Devil’s shipwreck in the second act ofEl magicio prodigioso, which may be read inShelley’stranslation).Stephanohas his counterpart,
and the whole play is then on a supposed desert island, which turns out to be strangely peopled. There is the monsterAchilles, who in many respects remembersCaliban, and is even addressed asSeñor monstruo: ’Monsieur Monster.’ There isThetis, who is to her nymphs asProsperoto his spirits; with musical enchantments, and voices in the air, and even afantastico bajél.Calderonhas moreover hit upon the same device of imitative fancy as temptedDrydenin like sad case, and pictured a man who had never seen a woman. The island is wandered on by the prince and his suite, and one of them says of itRepublica es entera, &c. A curious reader might find more than I have here noticed: butCalderonis as far from sympathy withShakespeare, as he is from the Greek story, with his drums and trumpets andEl gran Sofí.
There is a passage in myAchilles(l. 518 and foll.) which is copied fromCalderon: but this is afterMuley’swell-known speech in thePrincipe Constante(see note toThe Christian Captives); which is quoted in most books onCalderon. In my short play, which runs on without change of scene or necessary pause, I have had the act and scene divisions indicated by greater and lesser spaces in the printing.[A]
R. B., 1890.
[A] Not followed in this edition. 1901.
Transcriber’s NotesObvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. All other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.Line 1374/5 of The First Part of Nero “Now may some god of mischief Dare set me in the roll of puny spirits.” Roll could be a misprint for role but has not been changed.The varied ellipses remain unchanged.The variation in fonts, sizes etc in e-book displays makes accurate reproduction of verse indents and caesuras impossible. The approach used should give a reasonable approximation in most cases.
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. All other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.
Line 1374/5 of The First Part of Nero “Now may some god of mischief Dare set me in the roll of puny spirits.” Roll could be a misprint for role but has not been changed.
The varied ellipses remain unchanged.
The variation in fonts, sizes etc in e-book displays makes accurate reproduction of verse indents and caesuras impossible. The approach used should give a reasonable approximation in most cases.