3.15. Of auricular figures working by exchange.
Your figures that worke auricularly by exchange, were more
obseruable to the Greekes and Latines for the brauenesse of their language,
ouer that ours is, and for the multiplicitie of their Grammaticall accidents,
or verball affects, as I may terme them, that is to say, their diuers cases,
moodes, tenses, genders, with variable terminations, by reason whereof,
they changed not the very word, but kept the word, and changed the shape of
him onely, vsing one case for another, or tense, or person, or gender, or
number, or moode. We, hauing no such varietie of accidents, haue little or
no vse of this figure. The called it
Enallage.
But another sort of exchange which they had, and very prety, we doe
likewise vse, not changing one word for another, by their accidents or cases,
as the Enallage: nor by the places, as the [Preposterous] but
changing their true construction and application, whereby the sence is quite
peruerted and made very absurd: as, he that should say, for tell me troth
and lie not, lie me troth and tell not. For come dine with me and stay
not, come stay with me and dine not.
A certaine piteous louer, to moue his mistres to compassion, wrote among
other amorous verses, this one.
Madame, I set your eyes before mine woes.
For, mine woes before your eyes, spoken to th'intent to winne fauour in her
sight.
But that was pretie of a certaine sorrie man of law, that gaue his Client but
bad councell, and yet found fault with his fee, and said: my fee, good frend,
hath deserued better counsel. Good master, quoth the Client, if your selfe
had not said so, I would neuer haue beleeued it: but now I thinke as you doo.
The man of law perceiuing his error, I tell thee (quoth he) my counsel hath
deserued a better fee. Yet of all others was that a most ridiculous, but very
true exchange, which the yeoman of London vsed with his Sergeant at the
Mace, who said he would goe into the countrie, and make merry a day or two,
while his man plyed his busines at home: an example of it you shall finde in
our Enterlude entituled Lustie London: the Sergeant, for sparing of hors-hire,
said he would goe with the Carrier on foote. That is not for your
worship, said his yeoman, whereunto the Sergeant replyed.
I wot what I meane Iohn, it is for to stay
And company the knaue Carrier, for loosing my way.
The yeoman thinking it good manner to soothe his Sergeant, said againe,
I meane what I wot Sir, your vest is to hie,
And carrie a knaue with you for companie.
Ye see a notorious exchange of the construction, and application of the
words in this: I wot what I meane; and I meane what I wot, and
in the other, company the knaue Carrier, and carrie a knaue in your
company. The Greekes call this figure [Hipallage]
the Latins
Submutatio, we in our vulgar may call him the
[
underchange] but I had rather haue him called the [
Changeling]
nothing at all sweruing from his originall, and much more aptly to the
purpose, and pleasanter to beare in memory: specially for our Ladies and
pretie mistresses in Court, for whose learning I write, because it is a terme
often in their mouthes, and alluding to the opinion of Nurses, who are wont
to say, that the Fayries vse to steale the fairest children out of their
cradles, and put other ill fauoured in their places, which they called
changelings, or Elfs, so, if ye mark, doeth our Poet, or maker play with his
wordes, vsing a wrong construction for a right, and an absurd for a sensible,
by manner of exchange.
