in Summer's Last Will and Testament — Nashe, Thomas
Metadata
Play
Summer's Last Will and Testament
Author
Nashe, Thomas
Year (catalogued)
1600
First performance
1592
Decade
1600s
Genre
Comedy
Play type
Adult (?) or Boys (?) Professional
Company
Unknown
Speech prefix(es)
Vertum. | Vertumnus.
Words
353
Characters
1929
Typicality
0.24 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A08009
BritDrama no.
941
Cluster
Cluster 3 — Citizens, tradesfolk & neighbors
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
I will, my Lord. For, lusty For, by the name of lusty For, come into the court, loose a mark in issues. Spring, the sweet spring, is the years pleasant King, Then blooms eke thing, then maids dance in a ring, Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing, Cuckoo, jug, jug, pu we, to witta woo. The Palm and May make country houses gay. Lambs frisk and play, the Shep herds pipe all day, And we hear aye, birds tune this merry lay, Cuckoo, jug, jug, pu we, to witta woo. The fields breathe sweet, the dayzies kiss our feet, Young lovers meet, old wives a sunning fit: In every street, these tunes our ears do greet, Cuckoo, jug, jug, pu we, to witta woo. Spring the sweet spring. Solstitium, come into the court without: peace there below; make room for master Solstitium. Oriȝon, Vrion, Arion; my Lord thou must look up on: Oriȝon, gentleman dogge-keeper, huntsman, come into the court: look you bring all bounds, and no bandogges. Peace there, that we may hear their horns blow. Bacchus, Baccham, Bacchum, God Bacchus, God fat back, Baron of double beer, and bottle ale, come in & show thy nose that is nothing pale: back, back there, God barrel belly may enter. Mounsieur Mingo, for quaeffing does surpass, In Cup, in Can, or glass. God Bacchus do me right, And dub me knight Domingo. Stand forth, sta ̄ worser forth, hold up your head, speak out. Solemnizing, Solemnizing, ut, re, me, fa, solemnizing, come to church while the bell toll. Harvest, by west, and by north, by south and southeast, show thy self Like a beast. Goodman Harvest yeoman, come in, and say what you can: room for the sith and the siccles there. Merry, merry, merry, cheery, cheery, cheery, Trowle the black bowl to me, Heigh derry, derry, with a poop and a lerry, I'll trowle it again to thee: Hooky, hooky, we have shorn, and we have bound, And we have brought Harvest home to town. I have dispatched, my Lord, I have brought you them you sent me for.
Plot summary
Plot — Summer's Last Will and Testament
The ghost of WillNSWRIRIERS) assigned to speak the prologue to the play, is irritated that he has not been given a better part, and decides to remain on stage throughout the play and mock the actors. Siiiiier is mortally ill, He summons his officers to account for the wealth with which he has entrusted them. All M8, the Spring, has to show for his stewardship is a morris dance and other seasonal sports; he justifies his prodigality with the argument that gold is contemptible. Summer imposes a penance: he will always be attended with the abstinence of Lent. SGIStiEMm received little from Summer in the first place and can only render his loyalty and faithful service. Sol is criticized for arrogance above his station: he withers plants and dries up rivers, most recently the Thames. He insists that his haughty demeanour is appropriate for a servant of the great Summer, and tries to blame the moon for his misdeeds; so Summer sentences him to be eclipsed. @HiGh has left his celestial hunting-ground to look for game on Earth. After Abin disparages dogs, he declares their glories at length. He has no tribute to offer Summer, so he is banished for a year. H@EVE8t is more interested in singing than in rendering his account. He faces charges of corruption and hoarding corn, but denies them: it has simply been a poor harvest this year. Summer is satisfied and awards him a year’s rest from his labours. is too busy drinking to answer questions. He gets Will Summers drunk and ‘knights’ him with a jack of ale. Summer is unimpressed, Bacchus’ sentence is to be imprisoned in cellars and never entrusted with men’s secrets. Bacchus curses Summer with the absence of good cheer. Despairing of his servants’ negligence, Summer makes his will. Since he has no children, all he has must go to Autumn and Wintér. Autumn is over-eager to get his hands on Summer's crown, and Winter presents himself as a worthier successor. He disapproves of what he considers to be unprofitable members of the commonwealth, such as poets and philosophers, and feels that the only good books are works of divinity. Summer appoints Winter as Autumn’s overseer, treasurer, and protector; Autumn will be able to rule only with Winter’s consent. Autumn will not accept this, and warns Summer of the threat posed by Winter’s sons, Ghtistimas and BaekWinter. Called to answer the changes, Christmas proves hostile to the humbug of seasonal cheer and hospitality, and the mean-spirited Backwinter hates all warmth and…