A short view of tragedy it's original, excellency and corruption : with some reflections on Shakespear and other practitioners for the stage / by Mr. Rymer ...

THE Contents.

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  Chap. I. THe Chorus ke•…•…ps the Poet •…•…o Rules. A show to •…•…e Spectators. Two S•…•…n∣ses to be pleased▪ The Eye, by •…•…he Show, and by the Action. Pl•…•…ys Acted without words. Words often better out of the way. Instances in Shakespear. Ben Johnson and Seneca No∣ted. To the Ear, Pronunciation is all in all. The Story of Demosthenes. Mistakes in Judg∣ing. T•…•… sorts of Judges. At Athens •…•… Third sort. Judges upon Oath. In France Judges divided about the Cid. Cardinal Ri∣chelieu against the Majority. At the Thomas Morus, weeping unawares. Horace Angry with Shows. The French Opera inconsistent with Nature and Good sense. Burlesk Verse. At Paris Christ's Passion in Burlesk. A Tra∣gedy of Aeschylus. The defeat of Xerxes. The Subject, and Oeconomy. How imitated for our English Stage. King John of France,

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  Francis 1. Prisoners. The Spanish Armado in. 88. An imitation, recommended to Mr. Drey∣den.

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  Chap. 2. Tragedy before Thespis. A Religious Worship: Musick and Dance follow the Cho∣rus: Governments c•…•…re of the Stage, as of Religion. No Private Person to build a Chap∣pel. Toung Men not to present Plays. Didas∣calia, and Tragedy-doctors. Difficulty. Pub∣lick Revenue for Plays. Theatre-money sacred. End of Poetry. What effect by Aeschylus. Of his Persians. Schools for Boys. Stage for Men. Character of Aristophanes. Opinion of the Persian Ambassador. The State takes aim from him. Spares not his Master the People. De∣mocratical Corruption. His Address unimit a∣ble. Comedy after him dwindles. Somewhat like him amongst the Moderns. Rehearsal. Al∣chymist. Vertuoso. Rabilais.

  End of Poetry with the Romans. Tragedies by their Great Men. All Translation. Numa Pompilius. Old Romans aversion to Poetry. 12 Tables. Stage-Plays to remove the Plague. Never improv'd by them. The use hardly known. Far short of the Greeks. Horace and Virgil. Their Conduct. Terence's Complaint. Want∣•…•…d Show. And Action. Athens the Soil for Dramatick Poetry. A forreign Plant with the Romans. They for the Eye, pleas'd more with

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  the outside. Their Theatres co•…•…siderable, not the Tragedies. Horace's Reason.

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  Chap. 3. The first Christians cry against Idols, Stage-Plays, Pagan Worship. Apostolical Con∣stitutions. Greek and Latin Fathers. Ter∣tullian's Conceipt. Counsels against Heathen Learning. Greek Wisdom. St. Hi•…•…rom, St. Austin, their Sin of Heathen Books. A Canon that no Bishop read an Heathen Book. •…•…ulians Project. The Christians Co•…•…ntermine. A Christian Homer, Pindar, and Euripides. Stage-Plays particularly levell'd at. The same heat at this day in the Spanish Jesuits. Pe∣dro de Guzman against Stage-Plays and Bull∣feasts. The Name of Poet a Bugbear at the Reformation. The Heresie charged on Sing∣Songs, and Stage-plays. Marot's Psalms. How in vog•…•…e at the French-Court. Rea∣sons against Stage-plays. Lactantius. The same 2000 years ago by Plato. Tragedy, Homer, Aeschylu•…•…. Objections by Aristo∣phanes.

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  Chap. 4. Aristotl•…•…'s 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Answer evasive. Plato a better Divine. Not better than our Modern. God may use ill instruments. The false Dream. Th•…•… two Barr•…•…ls. Fables be∣fore Hom•…•…r. H•…•… of God sensibly. Plato, Cant. Meta•…•…hore the utmost we are capable of. Fables. Allegory. Celsus to Origen against the Bible. All•…•…gory, a cure for all. Homer's Fables from the Bible. The false Dream, from the Story of Achab improv'd by Homer. Averroes of Arabian Poets. Apollo Loxias. Particular sentences. Texts of Scripture. Juno, Job's Wife. SS. in V•…•…lgar Tongu•…•…. Euripides, ill Women. No blam•…•… to the art. Pomp of the Theatre. What ill names by •…•…esuits.

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  Chap. 5. Of Poetry in Italy. Aristotle's Works. Tramontains. Cardinal Bibiena. Tragedy there with Chorus. Strolers. Christ's Passion.

  Of Poetry in France. Clem. Marot. Strolers there. Proceedings at Law against them. Re∣port of their Case. Their Old Testament. Acts of the Apostles, and Christ's Passion. Banisht from France. Comedy there. Trage∣dy by Hardy, Corneille, Richilieu. Aca∣d•…•…my Royal. The Theatre. Caution that no Equivoque, nor ought against good Man∣ners.

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  More nice than the Pulpit. Their Gal∣l•…•…ntry, Verse, Language, unfit for Trage∣dy. Dramatick representations banish'd from Spain. Nurse of Heresie. Father Guzman. Escobar.

  Of Poetry in England. British, Saxon, Nor∣man, Latin and Provencial Poetry there. Richard Ceur de Lion, a Provencial Poet. O•…•…r Monks and History false on that account. The Gay Science. That and the Albigenses Contemporary, and from the same Countr•…•…y. King Kichard's Fellow-Poets. Jef•…•…ry Rudel, and Countess of Tripoly.

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  Chap. 6. Savery de Mauleon a Provencial Po∣et. Testimony of him. King R. I. His Ver∣ses when Prisoner in Austria. The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. His Poetry. Ramond Beringhier. Four Daughters, four Queens. Rob. Grosthead. His Provencial Poetry. O∣ther Languages stubborn. Chaucer refin'd our English. Which in perfection by Waller. His Poem on the Navy Royal, beyond all modern Poetry in any Language. Before him our Poets better expressed their thoughts in Latin. Whence Hoveden might mistake, and his Malice. A Translation from Grosthead. The Harp a Musick then in fashion. Five Tragedies from Joan Queen of Naples. For∣reigners all call'd French. Plays by the Parish∣Clerks

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  of London. What under H. VIII. flou∣rish under Queen Elizabeth. The Gorboduck. French much behind-hand with us. Tragedy, with us, but a shadow.

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  Chap. 7. Othello. More of a piece. In Trage∣dy four parts. Fable, the Poets part. Cin∣thio's Novels. Othello altered for the worse. Marriage, absurd, forbidden by Horace. Fa∣ble of Othello▪ Use and Application. Othel∣lo's Love-powder. High-German Doctor. Ve∣netians odd taste of things. Their Women fools. Employ Strangers. Hate the Moors. Characters. Nothing of the Moor in Othel∣lo, of a Venetian in Desdemona. Of a Sol∣dier in Jago. The Souldiers Character, by Horace▪ What by Shakespear. Agamem∣non. Venetians no sense of Jelaousie. Thoughts, in Othello, in a Horse, or Mastiff, more sen∣sibly exprest. Ill Manners. Outragious to a Nobleman, to Humanity. Address, in telling bad news. In Princes Courts. In Aristopha∣nes. In Rabelais. Venetian Senate. T•…•…eir Wisdom.

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  Chap. 8. Re•…•…lections on the Julius Caesar. Men fa∣mous in History. To be rob'd of their go•…•…d name, Sacriledge. Shakespear, abuse of History. Con∣tradiction, in the character of Brutus. Villon and Dante, that Hugh Capet from a Butcher. Preparation in Poetry. Strong reasons in Cassius▪ Roman Senators impertinent as the Venetian. Portia as Desdemona. The same parts and good breeding. How talk of Business. •…•…is∣pers. Brutus's Tinder-box, Sleepy Boy, Fid∣dle. Bru•…•…us and Cassius, Flat-foot Mimicks. The Indignity. Laberius. Play of the Incar∣nation. The Madonna's—Shouting and Ba•…•…tel. Strolers in Cornwal. Rehearsal, law for act∣ing it once a week.

  The Catiline by Ben. Johnson. Why an Orator to be vir bonus. Ben cou▪d distinguish Men and Manners. Sylla's Ghost. The spee•…•…h not to be made in a blind Corner. Corneille. Common sence teaches Unity of Action. The Chorus, of necessity, keep the Poet to time, and place. No rule observ'd. A Life in Plu∣tarch. Acts of the Apostles. Ben is fidus in∣terpres. Is the Horse in Mill in slat opposition to Horace. Tristing tale, or corruption of Hi∣story, unfit for Tragedy. In contempt of Poetry. Aristophanes, not the occasion of the Death of Socrates. Was for a reformation in the ser∣vice book. With what address he effected it.

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  Sarpedon's Fast, of divine institution. The le•…•… sally from, or Parenthesis in the ancient Comedy of more moment than all our Tragedies. English Comedy the best.

  Extrait des Registres du Parlement du Ven∣dredy 9. Decembre l'an 1541. Monsieur de S. André President.