in Lingua, or The Combat of the Tongue and the Five Senses for Superiority — Tomkis, Thomas
Metadata
Play
Lingua, or The Combat of the Tongue and the Five Senses for Superiority
Author
Tomkis, Thomas
Year (catalogued)
1607
First performance
1607
Decade
1600s
Genre
Allegorical Comedy
Play type
University
Speech prefix(es)
CRAP. | CRA. | CRA,
Words
389
Characters
2193
Typicality
0.44 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A13804
BritDrama no.
1524
Cluster
Cluster 22 — Ghosts, curses & horror voices
Important excerpts
Passages from this character's speech that contain the most distinguishing words for Cluster 22 (broom, tiff, loathsome, snakes, hercles, dismal…). Matches are highlighted.
You filthy long Crane, you meager slave, will you kill our guests with blowing continual hunger in them? (tiff, toffe, tiff, toffe) the Senses have overcharged their stomachs already, and you Sirrah serve them up a fresh appetite with every new dish, they had burst their
their stomachs already, and you Sirrah serve them up a fresh appetite with every new dish, they had burst their guts if thou hadst stayed but a thought longer? (tiff, toffe, tiff, toffe,) be gone or isle set thee a way, begun you gnaw-bone, rawbone, rascal. Away Sirrah, (tiff toff, tiff. &c. Dost thou talk (tiff, toff) hence,
tiff, toffe,) be gone or isle set thee a way, begun you gnaw-bone, rawbone, rascal. Away Sirrah, (tiff toff, tiff. &c. Dost thou talk (tiff, toff) hence, hence tiff, tiff, hence avant cur, avant you dog! Leave, leave at length these base contentions, Olfac tus let him go? Good u litus give over? Somnus here's worse then all
Full speech
You filthy long Crane, you meager slave, will you kill our guests with blowing continual hunger in them? (tiff, toffe, tiff, toffe) the Senses have overcharged their stomachs already, and you Sirrah serve them up a fresh appetite with every new dish, they had burst their guts if thou hadst stayed but a thought longer? (tiff, toffe, tiff, toffe,) be gone or isle set thee a way, begun you gnaw-bone, rawbone, rascal. Away Sirrah, (tiff toff, tiff. &c. Dost thou talk (tiff, toff) hence, hence tiff, tiff, hence avant cur, avant you dog! Leave, leave at length these base contentions, Olfac tus let him go? Good u litus give over? Somnus here's worse then all his sellowes Stay but a while and you shall see him rage! Somnus, good Somnus, sweet Somnus, come a pace! Why I tell you unless you help Soft son of night, right heir to Quietness, Labours repose, life's best restorative, Digestions careful Nurse, bloods Comforter, With S help, thoughts charm, the stay of Microcosm, Sweet Somnus chiefest enemy to Care: My dearest friend, liftvp thy lumpish head, Open thy dull eyes, shake of this drowsiness, Rouse up thy self. As I told you, the noble Senses peers of Microcosm; Will eft soon fallen to ruin perpetual, Unless your ready helping hand recure them: Lately they banqueted at Gustus table. 1 page duplicate 1 page duplicate And there fell mad, or drunk, I know not whither, So that it's doubtful in these outrageous fits, That the e murder one another. Thanks gentle Somnus, I'll go seek them out, And bring then to you soon as possible. Stand still, stand still? Visus I think comes yonder. If you think good, begin and bind him first: For he made fast, the rest will soon be quiet. Now Somnus there's but only one remaining, That was the author of these outrages. Yes, yes, yes, 'tis Appetitus; if you go that way, and look about those thickets, isle go hither, and search this grove, I doubt not but to find him? Somnus, Somnus, come hither, come hither quickly, he's here, he's here. Oh gentle Appetitus. Good Appetitus. Am I not dead? is not my soul departed? Nothing my Lord, but that the Senses were mad, and that Somnus at my request laid them asleep, in hope to recover them.
Plot summary
Plot — Lingua, or The Combat of the Tongue and the Five Senses for Superiority
Lingua wants to be a sense, but feels that the five established senses are preventing her from pleading her cause with the judge Common Sense. Having failed to appeal to the senses’ various proclivities, she decides to cause discord between them. She is in possession of a crown and robe which were to have been the prize in a public-speaking competition, but which came to her, as the patroness of oratory, when the five contestants were all adjudged equal; now the inscription promising the crown to the greatest of the five will put the five senses at odds. Tactus comes upon the robe and crown: he puts them on, gets delusions of grandeur, and unsuccessfully tries to conceal his find from the other senses. When Lingua’s page Mendacio tells them that the objects were left by Mercury, they begin to quarrel over precedence and mobilize troops against one another. Lingua reports the discord to Common Sense, and Mendacio describes the various animals in the armies. Common Sense defuses the conflict by deciding to judge the senses’ relative worthiness: each sense will present his case in a show. While the shows are in preparation, he hears Lingua’s petition to become the sixth sense: she asserts her importance as a medium of communication; but the senses put in a counter-plea drawing attention to her misdeeds. The shows are performed. Visus presents Light and Colour, Heaven and Earth, while Auditus offers Comedy and Tragedy. Olfactus’ show features Odour and Tobacco, currently the most popular of scents, while Bacchus and Ceres turn out for Gustus. Tactus has problems: he had intended to present a show of women, but his performer has spent too long getting dressed and made up, and is late; he has to make do with putting his case verbally. Common Sense makes his judgement: Visus and Auditus, the senses which feed the soul, have precedence over those which only nourish the body, and Visus is awarded the crown; but Tactus is given the robe, and the others get court appointments. Lingua may not be a sense - there can be only five — but Common Sense decrees that women shall henceforth 1606 have a sixth, speaking. Newly appointed as court purveyor, Gustus invites the company to supper. Lingua chafes at the outcome — her rivals brought to amity with one another and herself made only half a sense - and plots more mischief. Mendacio fetches a bottle of drugged wine from the witch Acrasia, and induces Appetitus to serve it to the senses. This drives them out of their wits…