That Shakespeare may have seen Philemon Holland's (1552-1637)
excellent translation of Pliny is nowise unlikely. A notable passage
in his _Othello_ seems in any case to indicate that it was suggested
by Pliny's words (Bk. II, chap. 97, in Holland's version):
And the sea Pontus evermore floweth and runneth out into
Propontic, but the sea never retireth backe againe within
Pontus.
Othello replies thus to Iago's conjecture that he may change his mind
(Act iii, sc. 3):
Never, Iago. Like to the Pontic sea,
Whose icy current and compulsive course
Ne'er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on
To the Propontic and the Hellespont,
Even so my bloody thoughts, with violent pace,
Shall ne'er look back, ne'er ebb to humble love.
First Folio, "Tragedies", p. 326, col. B, lines 34-39.
There is, however, no trace of any familiarity on Shakespeare's part
with the precious stone lore of the Roman encyclopaedist, either from
the Latin text of his great "Historia Naturalis", or from the
translation published by Holland in 1601. This translator, who
Englished many of the chief Latin and Greek authors, Suetonius, Livy,
Ammianus Marcellinus, Plutarch's "Morals" and other works, was
pronounced by Fuller, in his "Worthies", to be "translator general in
his age", adding that "these books alone of his turning into English
will make a country gentleman a competent library".
Pages:
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46