b up the stayers, among the old postes and pinnes,
And Hodge he hied him after till broke were both his shinnes,
Cursynge and swering othes, were never of his makyng,
That Gyb wold fyre the house if that shee were not taken.

_Fyrste a Songe:_
_Backe and syde, go bare, go bare;
Booth foote and hande, go colde;
But, bellye, God sende thee good ale ynoughe,
Whether it be newe or olde_!
I can not eate but lytle meate,
My stomacke is not good;
But sure I thinke that I can dryncke
With him that weares a hood.
Thoughe I go bare, take ye no care,
I am nothinge a-colde,
I stuffe my skyn so full within
Of ioly good ale and olde.
_Backe and syde, go bare_, etc.

Our first tragedy, "Gorboduc," was written by Thomas Sackville and Thomas
Norton, and was acted in 1562, only two years before the birth of
Shakespeare. It is remarkable not only as our first tragedy, but as the
first play to be written in blank verse, the latter being most significant,
since it started the drama into the style of verse best suited to the
genius of English playwrights.

The story of "Gorboduc" is taken from the early annals of Britain and
recalls the story used by Shakespeare in _King Lear_. Gorboduc, king of
Britain, divides his kingdom between his sons Ferrex and Porrex. The sons
quarrel, and Porrex, the younger, slays his brother, who is the queen's
favorite. Videna, the queen, slays Porrex in revenge; the people rebel and
slay Videna and Gorboduc; then the nobles kill the rebels, and in turn fall
to fighting each other. The line of Brutus being extinct with the death of
Gorboduc, the country falls into anarchy, with rebels, nobles, and a
Scottish invader all fighting for the right of succession. The curtain
falls upon a scene of bloodshed and utter confusion.

The artistic finish of this first tragedy is marred by the authors' evident
purpose to persuade Elizabeth to marry. It aims to show the danger to which
England is exposed by the uncertainty of succession. Otherwise the plan of
the play follows the classical rule of Seneca. There is very little action
on the stage; bloodshed and battle are announced by a messenger; and the
chorus, of four old men of Britain, sums up the situation with a few moral
observations at the end of each of the first four acts.

CLASSICAL INFLUENCE UPON THE DRAMA. The revival of Latin literature had a
decided influence upon the En