Jonson, Ben · published 1616 · first performed or written 1601 (Annals) comedy · Children of the Chapel (second) T19 Virtue, Fortune and Vice as abstractions typicality 0.78 · 504 words · other edition — not in the analysis
Marked words are the most distinguishing words of T19: virtue, fortune, virtues, honour, fame, vice, envy, world, pride, great.
PHOEBUS himself shall kneel at Caesar's shrine, And deck it with bay-garlands dewed with wine, To quite the worship CAESAR does to him: Where other Princes, hoist to their thrones By fortunes passionate and disordered power, Sit in their height, like clouds, before the sun, Hindering his comforts; and (by their excess Of cold in virtue, and cross heat in vice) Thunder, and tempest, on those learned heads, Whom CAESAR with such honour doth advance. All human business fortune doth command Without all order; and with her blind hand, She, blind, bestows blind gifts: that still have nursed They see not who, nor how, but still, the worst. CAESAR, for his rule, and for so much stuff As fortune puts in his hand, shall dispose it (As if his hand had eyes, and soul, in it) With worth and judgement." Hands, that part with gifts, Or will restrain their use, without desert; " Or with a misery, numbed to virtues right, Work, as they had no soul to govern them, " And quite reject her: severing their estates From human order. Whosoever can, " And will not cherish virtue, is no man. VIRGIL is now at hand, imperial CAESAR. Rome's honour is at hand then. Fetch a chair, And set it on our right hand; where 'tis fit. Rome's honour, and our own, should ever sit. Now he is come out of Campania, I doubt not, he hath finished all his Aeneids, Which, like another soul, I long t'enjoy. What think * you three, of VIRGIL, gentlemen, (That are of his profession, though ranked higher) Or HORACE, what sayst thou, that art the poorest, And like liest to envy, or to detract? CAESAR speaks after common men, in this, To make a difference of me, for my poorness: As if the filth of poverty sunk as deep Into a knowing spirit, as the bane Of riches doth, into an ignorant soul. No, CAESAR, they be pathless, moorish minds, That being once made rotten with the dung Of damned riches, ever after sink Beneath the steps of any villainy. But knowledge is the nectar, that keeps sweet A perfect soul, even in this grave of sin; And for my soul, it is as free, as Caesar's: For, what I know is due, I'll give to all. " He that detracts, or envies virtuous merit, Is still the covetous, and the ignorant spirit. Thanks, HORACE, for thy free, and wholesome sharpness: Which pleaseth CAESAR more, then servile fawns. " A flattered prince soon turns the prince of fools. And for thy sake, we'll put no difference more Between the great, and good, for being poor. Say then, loved HORACE, thy true thought of VIRGIL. I judge him of a rectified spirit, By many revolutions of discourse (In his bright reason's influence) refined From all the tartarous moods of common men; Bearing the nature, and similitude Of a right heavenly body: most severe In fashion, and collection of himself, And then as clear, and confident, as JOVE.
Other edition — placed after the fit, excluded from the main statistics
Position
nodes 1645–1708 (positions in the processed text, not lines of the printed book) · chunk 42 of 57 in this edition
Length
504 words · 720 tokens
Topic (seed 42)
T19 — Virtue, Fortune and Vice as abstractionsreviewed — decision pending · typicality 0.782 (cosine to the topic centroid) · placed after the fit (approximate_predict), not counted in the topic statistics
Other seeds
seed 43: T13 · seed 44: T16 — topic numbers are assigned independently in each run; equal or different numbers say nothing by themselves
Original spelling (EEBO-TCP, unregularized)
PHOEBVS himselfe shall kneele at CAESARS shrine, And deck it with bay-garlands dew'd with wine, To quite the worship CAESAR does to him: Where other Princes, hoisted to their thrones By fortunes passionate and disordered power, Sit in their height, like clouds, before the sunne, Hindring his comforts; and (by their excesse Of cold in vertue, and crosse heate in vice) Thunder, and tempest, on those learned heads, Whom CAESAR with such honour doth aduance. All humane businesse fortune doth command Without all order; and with her blinde hand, Shee, blinde, bestowes blinde gifts: that still haue nurst They see not who, nor how, but still, the worst. CAESAR, for his rule, and for so much stuffe As fortune puts in his hand, shall dispose it (As if his hand had eyes, and soule, in it) With worth and iudgement. "Hands, that part with gifts, "Or will restraine their vse, without desert; "Or with a miserie, numm'd to vertues right, "Worke, as they had no soule to gouerne them, "And quite reiect her: seu'ring their estates "From humane order. Whosoeuer can, "And will not cherish vertue, is no man. VIRGIL is now at hand, imperiall CAESAR. Romes honour is at hand then. Fetch a chaire, And set it on our right hand; where 'tis fit. Romes honour, and our owne, should euer sit. Now he is come out of Campania, I doubt not, he hath finisht all his Aeneids, Which, like another soule, I long t'enioy. What thinke you three, of VIRGIL, gentlemen, (That are of his profession, though rankt higher) Or HORACE, what saist thou, that art the poorest, And like liest to enuy, or to detract? CAESAR speakes after common men, in this, To make a difference of me, for my poorenesse: As if the filth of pouertie sunke as deepe Into a knowing spirit, as the bane Of riches doth, into an ignorant soule. No, CAESAR, they be path-lesse, moorish minds, That being once made rotten with the dung Of damned riches, euer after sinke Beneath the steps of any villanie. But knowledge is the nectar, that keepes sweet A perfect soule, euen in this graue of sinne; And for my soule, it is as free, as CAESARS: For, what I know is due, I'le giue to all. "He that detracts, or enuies vertuous merit, "Is still the couetous, and the ignorant spirit. Thankes, HORACE, for thy free, and holsome sharpnesse: Which pleaseth CAESAR more, then seruile fawnes. "A flatterd prince soone turnes the prince of fooles. And for thy sake, wee'll put no difference more Betweene the great, and good, for being poore. Say then, lou'd HORACE, thy true thought of VIRGIL. I iudge him of a rectified spirit, By many reuolutions of discourse (In his bright reasons influence) refin'd From all the tartarous moodes of common men; Bearing the nature, and similitude Of a right heauenly bodie: most seuere In fashion, and collection of himselfe, And then as cleare, and confident, as IOVE.