sudden death.
I see, I see a thousand thousand men
Come to accuse me for my wrong on earth,
And there is none so merciful a God
That will forgive the number of my sins.
How have I liv'd but by another's loss?
What have I lov'd but wreck of other's weal?
When have I vow'd and not infring'd mine oath?
Where have I done a deed deserving well?
How, what, when and where have I bestow'd a day
That tended not to some notorious ill?
My life, replete with rage and tyranny,
Craves little pity for so strange a death;
Or who will say that John deceas'd too soon?
Who will not say he rather liv'd too long?

3.

[ARTHUR _warns the_ KING OF FRANCE _not to expect ready submission
from_ JOHN.]

I rather think the menace of the world
Sounds in his ears as threats of no esteem;
And sooner would he scorn Europa's power
Than lose the smallest title he enjoys;
For questionless he is an Englishman.

[Footnote 49: boasting.]

[Footnote 50: I am.]

[Footnote 51: counsel.]

[Footnote 52: _Oedipus Tyrannus_ (Lewis Campbell's translation).]

CHAPTER V

COMEDY: LYLY, GREENE, PEELE, NASH

The term 'University Wits' is the title given to a group of scholarly
young men who, from 1584 onwards, for about ten years, took up
play-writing as a serious profession, and by their abilities and genius
raised English drama to the rank of literature. Previous dramatists had
also been men of good education and fair wit; Sackville, to name but
one, was a man of great gifts and sound learning. But tradition has
restricted the name to seven men whom time, circumstances, mental
qualities and mutual acquaintanceship brought together as one group. The
majority stood to each other almost in the relation of friends; they
were rivals for public favour, were well acquainted with each other's
work, and were quick to follow one another along improved paths. Taking
up comedy at the stage of _Ralph Roister Doister_ and tragedy at that of
_The Misfortunes of Arthur_, they transformed and refined both, lifting
them to higher levels of humour and passion, gracing them with many
witty inventions, and, above all, pouring into the pallid arteries of
drama the rich vitalizing blood of a new poetry. The seven men were
Lyly, Greene, Peele, Nash, Lodge, Kyd and Marlowe--named not in
chronological sequence but in the order of their discussion in these
pages.

*