...O, it will get us a huge deal of money, Captain, and we have
need on't; for this winter has made us all poorer than so many starved
snakes. Nobody comes at us, not a gentleman, nor a--'
In the same scene Tucca utters curses, before that player, against
the theatres on the other side of the Tiber. The actor he addresses
belongs to one of them. Tucca mentions two theatres by name--'your
Globes, and your Triumphs.' He says to the actor:--'Commend me
to seven shares and a half.' Shakespere and his colleagues had
certain fixed shares in the 'Globe;' and the words of the actor, as
regards the poor winter they had, confirm that which Shakspere gives
to understand in _Hamlet_, that 'there was, for a while, no money
bid for argument, unless the poet and the player went to cuffs in the
question.'
VI.
'VOLPONE,' by Ben Jonson.
'EASTWARD HOE,' by Chapman, Ben Jonson, and Marston.
'THE MALCONTENT,' by John Marston.
Ben Jonson's 'Volpone' was first acted in 1605; and on February 11, 1607,
it appeared in print. [1] It is preceded by a Dedication, in which the
author dedicates 'both it and himself' to 'the most noble and most
equal sisters, the two famous Universities,' in grateful acknowledgment
'for their love and acceptance shown to this Poem in the presentation.'
In this Dedication the most passionate language is used against all
contemporary poets--especially against those who now, he says, practise
'in dramatic, as they term it: stage-poetry, nothing but ribaldry,
profanation,' and 'all licence of offence to God and man.
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