That Yarington could write vigorously is shown in the
scene where Fallerio hires the two murderers (who remind us of Shagbag
and Black Will in _Arden_) to murder his nephew; and again in the
quarrel between these two ruffians. Allenso's affection for his little
cousin and solicitude at their parting are tenderly portrayed with
homely touches of quiet pathos. The diction of the _Two Tragedies_ is
plain and unadorned. In reading _Arden_ we sometimes feel that the
simplicity of language has been deliberately adopted for artistic
purposes; that the author held plenty of strength in reserve, and would
not have been wanting if the argument had demanded a loftier style. In
Yarington's case we have no such feeling. He seems to be giving us the
best that he had to give; and it must be confessed that he is
intolerably flat at times. It is difficult to resist a smile when the
compassionate Neighbour (in his shirt), discovering poor Thomas
Winchester with the hammer sticking in his head, delivers himself after
this fashion:--
"What cruell hand hath done so foule a deede,
Thus to bemangle a distressed youth
Without all pittie or a due remorse!
See how the hammer sticketh in his head
Wherewith this honest youth is done to death!
Speak, honest _Thomas_, if any speach remaine:
What cruell hand hath done this villanie?"
Merry's "last dying speech and confession" is as nasty as such things
usually are.
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