* This get I by his death: Ah me, unhappy! To be a queen, and crown'd with infamy! K. Hen. Ah, woe is me for Gloster, wretched man! Q. Mar. Be woe for me,' more wretched than he is. What, dost thou turn away, and hide thy face? *What, art thou, like the adder, waxen deaf?? And make my image but an alehouse sign. bank 'Drove back again unto my native clime? * And he that loos'd them from their brazen caves; *And bid them blow towards England's blessed shore, * Or turn our stern upon a dreadful rock? *Yet Eolus would not be a murderer, But left that hateful office unto thee: *The pretty vaulting sea refus'd to drown me; * Knowing, that thou would'st have me drown'd on shore, * With tears as salt as sea, through thy unkindness: *The splitting rocks cower'd in the sinking sands, * And would not dash me with their ragged sides; * Because thy flinty heart, more hard than they, *Might in thy palace perish Margaret. *As far as I could ken thy chalky cliffs, * When from the shore the tempest beat us back, *I stood upon the hatches in the storm: * And when the dusky sky began to rob A heart it was, bound in with diamonds,-- And so, I wish'd, thy body might my heart: * And even with this, I lost fair England's view, *And bid mine eyes be packing with my heart; *And call'd them blind and dusky spectacles, * For losing ken of Albion's wished coast. *How often have I tempted Suffolk's tongue *(The agent of thy foul inconstancy) *To sit and witch me, as Ascanius did, *When he to madding Dido would unfold * His father's acts, commenc'd in burning Troy? * Am I not witch'd like her? or thou not false like him ?6 Perish your noble youth.' 5 The old copy reads 'watch me the emendation is Theobald's, who observes that it was Cupid in the semblance of Ascanius who bewitched Dido.' She, taking him for Ascanius, would naturally speak to him about his father, and would be witched by what she learned from him, as well as by the more regular narrative she had heard from Eneas himself. 6 Steevens thinks the word or should be omitted in this line, which would improve both the sense and metre. Mason proposes to read art instead of or. 7 Steevens proposed to read rain instead of drain. By Suffolk and the Cardinal Beaufort's means. The commons, like an angry hive of bees, That want their leader, scatter up and down, And care not who they sting in his revenge. 'Myself have calm'd their spleenful mutiny, Until they hear the order of his death. K. Hen. That he is dead, good Warwick, 'tis too true; But how he died, God knows, not Henry : Enter his chamber, view his breathless corpse, With the rude multitude, till I return. [WARWICK goes into an inner Room, and SALISBURY retires. *K. Hen. O thou that judgest all things, stay my thoughts: * My thoughts, that labour to persuade my soul, Upon his face an ocean of salt tears; *To tell my love unto his dumb deaf trunk, *K. Hen. That is to see how deep my grave is made: *For, with his soul, fled all my worldly solace; *For seeing him, I see my life in death." War. As surely as my soul intends to live With that dread King that took our state upon him To free us from his Father's wrathful curse, I do believe that violent hands were laid "What instance gives Lord Warwick for his vow? 8 This stage direction was inserted by Malone as best suited to the exhibition. The stage direction in the quarto is, Warwick draws the curtaines, and shows Duke Humphrey in his bed. In the folio, A bed with Gloster's body put forth. By these and other circumstances it seems that the theatres were then unfurnished with scenes. In those days, it appears that curtains were occasionally hung across the middle of the stage on an iron rod, which being drawn open formed a second apartment, when a change of scene was required. See Malone's Account of the ancient Theatres, prefixed to the variorum editions of Shakspeare. 9 How much discussion there has been about this simple passage, which evidently means I see my own life threatened with extermination, or surrounded by death. Thus in a passage of the Burial Service, to which I am surprised none of the commentators have adverted, 'In the midst of life we are in death? 10 Shakspeare has confounded the terms which signify body and soul together. So in A Midsummer Night's Dream:- damned spirits all, That in cross-ways and floods have burial. The word is frequently thus licentiously used by ancient writers; instances are to be found in Spenser and others. A timely parted ghost,' says Malone, 'means, a body that has become inanimate in the common course Being all descended to the labouring heart; To blush and beautify the cheek again. His hands abroad display'd,' as one that grasp'd* Like to the summer's corn by tempest lodg'd. 6 Suff. Why, Warwick, who should do the duke to death? 'Myself, and Beaufort, had him in protection; And we, I hope, sir, are no murderers. War. But both of you were vow'd Duke Humphrey's foes; And you, forsooth, had the good duke to keep: Tis like, you would not feast him like a friend; ' And 'tis well seen he found an enemy. 'Q. Mar. Then you, belike, suspect these noble men 'As guilty of Duke Humphrey's timeless death. And sees fast by a butcher with an axe, Suff. Thou shalt be waking, while I shed thy If from this presence thou dar'st go with me. Thrice is he armed, that hath his quarrel just; Q. Mar. What noise is this? K. Hen. Why, how now, lords? your wrathful Here in our presence? dare you be so bold ?— Set all upon me, mighty sovereign. Noise of a Crowd within. Re-enter SALISBURY. * Sal. Sirs, stand apart; the king shall know your mind.[Speaking to those within. Dread lord, the commons send you word by me, Unless false Suffolk straight be done to death, Or banished fair England's territories, 'Q. Mar. Are you the butcher, Suffolk; where's* your knife? : Is Beaufort term'd a kite? where are his talons? Q. Mar. He dares not calm his contumelious Nor cease to be an arrogant controller, Though Suffolk dare him twenty thousand times. say; For every word, you speak in his behalf, 'Suff. Blunt-witted lord, ignoble in demeanour! War. But that the guilt of murder bucklers thee, of nature; to which violence has not brought a timeless end. But Mr. Douce has justly observed, that timely may mean early, recently, newly. 1 i. e. the fingers being widely distended. 'Herein was the Emperor Domitian so cunning, that let a boy a good distance off hold up his hand, and stretch his! They will by violence tear him from your palace, And torture him with grievous ling'ring death. They say, by him the good Duke Humphrey died; They say, in him they fear your highness' death; And mere instinct of love and loyalty,Free from a stubborn opposite intent, As being thought to contradict your liking,'Makes them thus forward in his banishment. They say, in care of your most royal person, *That, if your highness should intend to sleep, *And charge-that no man should disturb your rest,. ;* In pain of your dislike, or pain of death; * Yet notwithstanding such a strait edict, *Were there a serpent seen, with forked tongue, That slily glided towards your majesty, *It were but necessary you were wak'd; *Lest, being suffer'd in that harmful slumber, The mortal worm3 might make the sleep eternal; And therefore do they cry, though you forbid, *That they will guard you, whe'r you will, or no, From such fell serpents as false Suffolk is; *With whose envenomed and fatal sting * Your loving uncle, twenty times his worth, *They say, is shamefully bereft of life. Commons. [Within.] An answer from the king, my lord of Salisbury. Suff. 'Tis like the commons, rude unpolish'd." Could send such message to their sovereign: 'K. Hen. Go, Salisbury, and tell them all from me, fingers abroad, he would shoote through the spaces 2 Thus in Marlowe's Lust's Dominion:- 3 Deadly serpent. 4 i. e. dexterous. 5 A company. 'He shall not breathe infection in this air1 Exit SALISBURY. 'Q. Mar. O Henry, let me plead for gentle Suffolk! K. Hen. Ungentle queen, to call him gentle No more, I say; if thou dost plead for him, * If, after three days' space, thou here be'st found, *On any ground that I am ruler of, *The world shall not be ransom for thy life,'Come, Warwick, come, good Warwick, go with me; 'I have great matters to impart to thee. [Exeunt K. HENRY, WARWICK, Lords, &c. 'Q. Mar. Mischance, and sorrow, go along with you! "Heart's discontent, and sour affliction, Be playfellows to keep you company! There's two of you, the devil make a third! And threefold vengeance tend upon your steps! *Suff. Cease, gentle queen, these execrations, And let thy_Suffolk take his heavy leave. 'Q. Mar. Fye, coward woman, and soft-hearted wretch! Hast thou not spirit to curse thine enemies? Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan,2 Q. Mar. Enough, sweet Suffolk; thou torment'st * And these dread curses-like the sun 'gainst glass, * Or like an overcharged gun-recoil, * And turn the force of them upon thyself. Suff. You bade me ban,' and will you bid me Now, by the ground that I am banish'd from, Give So, get thee gone, that I may know my grief; "Tis but surmis'd whilst thou art standing by, *As one that surfeits thinking on a want. I will repeal thee, or, be well assur'd, Adventure to be banished myself: * And banished I am, if but from thee. Go, speak not to me; even now be gone.-- Yet now farewell; and farewell life with thee! Suff. Thus is poor Suffolk ten times banished, Once by the king, and three times thrice by thee. 'Tis not the land I care for, wert thou hence; * A wilderness is populous enough, *So Suffolk had thy heavenly company: *For where thou art, there is the world itself, *With every several pleasure in the world; And where thou art not, desolation." * I can no more :-Live thou to joy thy life; *Myself no joy in nought, but that thou liv'st. Enter VAUX. Q. Mar. Whither goes Vaux so fast? what news, I pr'ythee? Vaux. To signify unto his majesty, That cardinal Beaufort is at point of death: For suddenly a grievous sickness took him, That makes him gasp, and stare, and catch the air, 'Blaspheming God, and cursing men on earth. Sometime, he talks as if Duke Humphrey's ghost Were by his side; sometime, he calls the king, And whispers to his pillow, as to him, *The secrets of his overcharged soul:* And I am sent to tell his majesty, That even now he cries aloud for him. begin to rave, they immediately see in them what they could not find in themselves, the deformity and folly of I i, e. he shall not contaminate this air with his in- useless rage. fected breath. 6 That by the impression of my kiss for ever remain2 The fabulous accounts of the plant called a man-ing on thy hand, thou mightest think on those lipa drake give it an inferior degree of animal life, and re-through which a thousand sighs will be breathed for late, that when it is torn from the ground it groans, and thee. that this groan being certainly fatal to him that is offering 7 Nec sine te pulchrum dias in luminis auras Exoritur, neque sit lætum nec amabile quicquam." And, still more elegantly, Milton, in a passage of his + This is one of the vulgar errors in the natural history of our ancestors. The lizard has no sting, and is quite harmless. 5 This inconsistency is very common in real life. Those who are vexed to impatience, are angry to see others less disturbed than themselves; but when others 8' This dusky hollow is a paradise, To their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets. 9 Why do I lament a circumstance of which the im pression will pass away in an hour; while I neglect to think on the loss of Suffolk, my affection for whom no time will efface?' Like lime-twigs set to catch my winged soul!'Give me some drink; and bid the apothecary Bring the strong poison that I bought of him. *K. Hen. O thou eternal Mover of the heavens, *Look with a gentle eye upon this wretch! 1 Where for whereas; as in other places. 2 Pope was indebted to this passage in his Eloisa to Abelard, where he makes that votarist of exquisite sensibility say : * O, beat away the busy meddling fiend, *Sal. Disturb him not, let him pass peaceably. 'Lord cardinal, if thou think'st on heaven's bliss, 'Close up his eyes, and draw the curtain close; ACT IV. [Exeunt. a SCENE I. Kent. The Seashore near Dover.11 *Cap. The gaudy, blabbing, and remorseful12 day *Is crept into the bosom of the sea; And now loud howling wolves arouse the jades *That drag the tragic melancholy night; Who with their drowsy, slow, and flagging wings13 *Clip dead men's graves, and from their misty jaws *Breathe foul contagious darkness in the air. *Therefore, bring forth the soldiers of our prize; *For, whilst our pinnace anchors in the Downs, *Here shall they make their ransom on the sand, Or with their blood stain this discolour'd shore.6 Master, this prisoner freely give I thee :And thou that art his mate, make boot of this ;'The other, [pointing to SUFFOLK,] Walter Whitmore, is thy share. 1 Gent. What is my ransom, master? let me know. 'Mast. A thousand crowns, or else lay down your head. 'Mate. And so much shall you give, or off goes This is one of the scenes which have been applauded by the critics, and which will continue to be admired See my lips tremble, and my eyeballs roll, when prejudices shall cease, and bigotry give way to Suck my last breath, and catch my flying soul.' impartial examination. These are beauties that rise 3 Corrosive was generally pronounced and most fre-out of nature and of truth; the superficial reader canquently written corsive in Shakspeare's time. See Mr. Nares's Glossary in voce. The accent, as Mr. Todd observes, being then on the first syllable, the word was easily thus abbreviated. 4 Iris was the messenger of Juno. 5 The quarto offers this stage-direction :-'Enter the King and Salisbury, and then the curtaines be drawne, and the Cardinal is discovered in his bed, raving and staring as if he were mad. This description did not escape Shakspeare, for he has availed himself of it in a preceding speech by Vaux. 6 A passage in Hall's Chronicle, Henry VI. fol. 70, b. suggested the corresponding lines in the old play. 7 We cannot hold mortality's strong hand :Why do you bend such solemn brows on me? Think you, I bear the shears of destiny? Have I commandinent on the pulse of life? King John. 8Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Then, good my lord, if you forgive them all, est.' not miss them, the profound can image nothing beyond them.'-Johnson. 11 There is a curious circumstantial account of the event on which this scene is founded in the Paston Letters, published by Sir John Fenn, vol. i. p. 38, Letter x. The scene is founded on the narration of Hall, which is copied by Holinshed. 12 The epithet blabbing, applied to the day by a man about to commit murder, is exquisitely beautiful. Guilt, if afraid of light, considers darkness as a natural shelter, and makes night the confidant of those actions which cannot be trusted to the tell-tale day.-Johnson. Spenser and Milton make use of the epithet :-"For Venus hated his all-blabbing light.' Britain's Ida, c. ii. Ere the blabbing eastern scout.'- Comus, v. 138 Remorseful is pitiful. 13 The chariot of the night is supposed by Shakspeare to be drawn by dragons. Vide Cymbeline, Act ii. Sc. 2. 14 The word cannot, which is necessary to complete the sense of the passage, is not in the old copy: it was supplied by Malone. The difference between the captain's present and succeeding sentiments may be thus accounted for. Here he is only striving to intimidate his prisoners into a ready payment of their ransom. Afterwards his natural disposition inclines him to mercy, till he is provoked by the upbraidings of Suffolk. A cunning man did calculate my birth, And told me that by Water I should die :2 But with our sword we wip'd away the blot; The duke of Suffolk, William de la Poole. Whit. The duke of Suffolk, muffled up in rags! The honourable blood of Lancaster, Must not be shed by such a jaded groom.4 Hast thou not kiss'd thy hand, and held my stirrup? Bare-headed plodded by my footcloth mule, And thought thee happy when I shook my head? How often hast thou waited at my cup, Fed from my trencher, kneel'd down at the board, When I have feasted with Queen Margaret? *Remember it, and let it make thee crest-fall'n; Ay, and allay this thy abortive pride: " *How in our voiding lobby hast thou stood, *And duly waited for my coming forth? This hand of mine hath writ in thy behalf, And therefore shall it charm thy riotous tongue. *Whit. Speak, captain, shall I stab the forlorn *Suff. Base slave! thy words are blunt, and so Cap. Convey him hence, and on our longboat's *By shameful murder of a guiltless king, *And, to conclude, reproach, and beggary, Being captain of a pinnace," threatens more It is impossible, that I should die By such a lowly vassal as thyself. Thy words move rage, and not remorse, in me:1 6 By this expression, 'charm thy riotous tongue,' the poet meant Suffolk to say that it should be as potent as a charm in stopping his licentious talk. The same expression occurs in Othello, Act iv. Sc. 1. 7 To betroth in marriage. This enumeration of Sufror for Magistrates. See the Legend of William de la folk's crimes seems to have been suggested by the Mirthere is no trace of it in the original play. Poole. The rest of this speech is entirely Shakspeare's; 8 Edward III. bore for his device the rays of the sun dispersing themselves out of a cloud.-Camden's Re 9 A pinnace then signified a ship of small burthen, built for speed. Vide note on The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act i. Sc. 3. 10 Bargulus, Illyrius Latro, de quo est apud Theopompum, magnas opes habuit.'-Cicero de Officiis, lib. ii. c. 11. Shakspeare, as Dr. Farmer has shown, might have met with this pirate in some of the translations of In the old play it is, 'Abradas the great Macedonian his time: he points out two in which he is mentioned. pirate." 11 This line in the original play is properly given to be called upon to show to his assailant? Whereas the the captain. What remorse (i. e. pity) could Suffolk captain might with propriety say to his captive, Thy haughty language exasperates me, instead of exciting my compassion. Mr. Boswell is, I believe, mistaken in At least I find no instance where it is so used by Shakasserting that remorse was used in the modern sense speare. |