[Rosalynde or Euphues' Golden Legacy] by Thomas Lodge.
Published in 1590 Rosalynde is a pastoral romance and it proved to be very popular in its day and has been reprinted a number of times. The Golden Legacy in the title is an interesting concept, because the story was adapted from a 14th century tale; "The Tale of Gamelyn" once attributed to Chaucer, however more famously Shakespeare used Lodge's story as a source for his play "[As you Like it]" and so we have a sort of lineage stretching from Chaucer to Shakespeare. The Legacy in the title refers to [Euphues; the anatomy of wit] the novel published ten years earlier by John Lyly seen as the earliest precursor to what we now understand as a novel and certainly Lodge uses the ornate writing style of Lyly throughout his book, however the sources which I think have the most significant influence on Rosalynde are Edmund Spenser's [The Shepheardes Calender] and Philip Sydney's Arcadia. Not a bad lineage then stretching from Chaucer to Shakespeare by way of Lyly, Spenser and Sydney. Rosalynde uses a similar formula to other pastoral romances most of which contained poems: songs, roundelays and sonnets and so it wins no points for being original, but it does combine the story telling and poetry to produce a short novel length book, which sold well. It suffers a little in comparison with Sir Philip Sydney's Arcadia which was a much longer work published in the same year but written ten years earlier and published posthumously.

The story involves the usual tropes in that two brothers Rosader and Saladyne who are in receipt of legacies from their wealthy father after disputing their inheritance find themselves banished at different times from court and seek shelter in the countryside of an Arcadian forest (The forest of Arden) where they separately fall under the spell of the idyllic lives of the shepherds. Two princesses Rosalynde and Aliena are also banished by the usurping king Torismond and they travel in the forest disguised as Alinda and her squire Ganymede. Rosader is in love with Rosalynde but does not recognise her as Ganymede, while Alinda falls in love with Saladyne. The shepherds are also suffering from problems of the heart with Montanus trying to woo Phoebe, but Phoebe falls in love with Ganymede. Gerismond the usurped king is also living in the forest and he is the father of Rosalynde, but with the assistance of Rosader and Saladyne he plans to win back his kingdom. There are plenty of opportunities for poems and songs as the protagonists have much to be unhappy about express their sorrows in sonnets and roundelays. The most interesting love story is that between Phebe and Montanus where Ganymede (Rosalynde in disguise) must say to Phoebe that:

"I will never marry myself to woman but unto thyself."

to placate her tears and to extract a promise from her that she will entertain the lovelorn Montanus if things do not work out between herself and Ganymede. This is the most complex of the love affairs and Lodge handles it well.

Readers today may fall for this tale of romance, it does have some charm but they will have to be prepared to read through passages of archaic ornate prose in the style of John Lyly and also the frequent stops for the poetry of unrequited love where Lodge proves to have an unexceptional talent. Lyly's influence was starting to abate in the 1590's, his prose with its three distinct mannerisms: a balance of phrases, an elaborate system of alliteration, and a profusion of similes taken from fabulous natural history was starting to sound old fashioned. Lodge collaborated with Robert Greene on various projects and their play A looking glass for London was successful, they both tried their writing hand on various projects, but Greene who in 1590 only had another four years to live was quicker to leave behind the old fashioned stylings. A three star read for me. ( )