1909 rushtonN

rushtonN

1119-32 I will be briefe . . . . remainder thus] Rushton (1909, pp. 100-3): <p.100> “Shakespeare in this passage may refer to the Figure Rabbate, or to the Doubler, or to both Figures— ‘A word as he lieth in course of language is many ways figured and thereby not a ittle altered in sound, which consequently alters the tune and harmony of a metre as to the ear. And this alteration is sometimes by adding, sometimes by rabbating of a syllable or letter to or from a word either in the beginning, middle or ending, joining or unjoining of syllables and letters, suppressing or confounding their several sounds, or by misplacing of a letter, or by exchange of one letter for another, or by wrong ranging of the accent. And your figures of addition or surplus be three, videl.

‘In the beginning, as to say I-doen, for doon, endanger for danger, embolden for bolden.’

‘In the middle, as to say renuers for reuers, meeterly for meetly, goldy locks for gold locks.

‘In the end, as to say remembren for remembre, spoken for spoke. And your figures of rabbate be as many, videl. </p.100>

<p.101> ‘From the beginning, as to say ‘twixt for betwixt, gainsay for again say, ill for evil.

‘From the middle, as to say parvater for paraventure, poorety for poverty, sovraigne for soveraigne, tane for taken.

‘From the end, as to say morne for morning, bet for better, and such like.

‘Your swallowing or eating up one letter by another is when two vowels meet, whereof the ones sound goeth into other, as to say for to attain t’attain, for sorrow and smart, sor’ and smart.

‘Your displacing of a syllable, as to say desier for desire, fier for fire.

‘By clear exchange of one letter or syllable for another, as to say evermare for evermore, wrang for wrong, gould for gold, fright for fraight, and a hundred more, which be commonly misused and strained to make rhyme.

‘By wrong ranging the accent of a syllable, by which mean a short syllable is made long and a long short, as to say soveráine for sovéraine, gratíous for grátious, éndure for endúre, Solómon for Sólomon.

‘These many ways may our maker alter his words, and sometimes it is done for pleasure to give a better sound, sometimes upon necessity, and to make up the rhyme. But our maker must take heed that he be not too bold, specially in exchange of one letter for another, for unless usual speech and custom allow t, it is a fault and </p.101><p.102> no figure, and because these be figures of the smallest importance, I forbear to give them any vulgar name.’

“According to Puttenham, ‘your figure of rabbate be many,’ and Polonius using ‘ ‘tis’ for ‘it is,’ uses the first-mentioned figure of rabbate, where the letter is taken from the beginning of the word, as to say ‘ ‘twixt for betwixt, gainsay for again say, ill for evil.’

“In the modern editions we read, ‘ ‘tis true ‘tis pity; And pity ‘tis ‘tis true.’ In the First Folio we read, ‘ ‘tis true ‘tis pity; And pity it is true.’

“In this passage, in the modern editions, ‘it’ is used eight times, and ‘it’ is rabbated six times; and in the First Folio ‘it’ is used seven times, and rabbated five times: so, the sue of the figure of rebbate in taking the first letter away from ‘it,’ or the use of the doubler in making ‘a speedy iteratio of one word (it), but with some little inter- </p.102><p.103> mission, by inserting one or two words between,’ may make, as Polonius says, ‘a foolish figure.’” </p.103>