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By slaves that take their humours for a warrant
To break within the sacred house of life,

And on the winking of authority

To understand a law, to know the meaning

Of dangerous majesty, when perchance it frowns
More upon humour than advis'd respect.

Hub. Here is your hand and seal for what I did.
K. John. O, when the last account 'twixt heaven and earth
Is to be made, then shall this hand and seal
Witness against us to damnation!

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How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds
Make ill deeds done! Hadst not thou been by,

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A fellow by the hand of nature mark'd,
Quoted and sign'd to do a deed of shame,
This murder had not come into my mind;

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31. The winking of authority.-The slightest movement of one in power; the smallest hint dropped by a king.

34. More upon humour than advis'd respect. - John means that the frowns which he has been saying Hubert misunderstood, might have been caused by sudden change of temper, or humour, rather than by any actual consideration or determination.

35. Your hand and seal.

Your warrant; that which the two men

referred to in § VIII. "I hope your warrant," &c.

40. Make ill deeds done.—The word make should be makes, to agree with its nominative sight in the singular. In Shakespeare's time this concord of number was often violated, even by good writers, when a plural word stood close to the verb, as "deeds" in this instance. 42. Quoted.-Noted; set apart for any particular purpose.

44. Aspect.-Accent on the second syllable.

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"Abhorred aspect," means

46. Liable to be employ'd.-Well fitted for such a work.

47. I faintly broke with thee.—I mentioned the matter faintly, not openly

nor plainly.

K. John. Hadst thou but shook thy head or made a pause
When I spake darkly what I purposèd,

Or turn'd an eye of doubt upon my face,
As bid me tell my tale in express words,

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Deep shame had struck me dumb, made me break off,
And those thy fears might have wrought fears in me;
But thou didst understand me by my signs

And didst in signs again parley with sin;

Yea, without stop, didst let thy heart consent,

And consequently thy rude hand to act

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The deed, which both our tongues held vile to name.
Out of my sight, and never see me more!

My nobles leave me; and my state is brav'd,
Even at my gates, with ranks of foreign pow'rs;
Nay, in the body of this fleshly land,

This kingdom, this confine of blood and breath,
Hostility and civil tumult reigns

Between my conscience and my cousin's death.

Hub. Arm you against your other enemies,

I'll make a peace between your soul and you;
Young Arthur is alive; this hand of mine
Is yet a maiden and an innocent hand,
Not painted with the crimson spots of blood.
Within this bosom never enter'd yet

The dreadful motion of a murderous thought;
And you have slander'd nature in my form,

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51. But shook.-After hadst we should say shaken. This is one of the numerous instances of the uncertainty of perfect participles in the poet's time. See § VIII. note 40.

52. Darkly.-Used like faintly, in note 47.

58. Parley with.-Talk with; hold converse with.

62. Out of my sight, &c.—This, then, was Hubert's reward! Before the deed, John's words had been "Hubert, I love thee!"

63. My state is brav'd.—My kingdom is invaded.

65. This fleshly land.

66. This kingdom.

66. This confine of blood and breath.

of tumult.

Three phrases by which John de

scribes his own body, which he

says is, like his land, in a state

72. A maiden hand.-A hand not practised in crime.

Which, howsoever rude exteriorly,

Is yet the cover of a fairer mind

Than to be butcher of an innocent child.

K. John. Doth Arthur live? O, haste thee to the peers,
Throw this report on their incensed rage,
And make them tame to their obedience!
Forgive the comment that my passion made
Upon thy feature; for my rage was blind,
And foul imaginary eyes of blood
Presented thee more hideous than thou art.
O, answer not, but to my closet bring
The angry lords with all expedient haste.
I conjure thee but slowly; run more fast.

SCENE 3: Before the castle.

Enter ARTHUR, on the walls.

[Exeunt.

Arth. The wall is high, and yet will I leap down;
Good ground, be pitiful, and hurt me not!
There's few or none do know me; if they did,
This ship-boy's semblance hath disguis'd me quite.
I am afraid; and yet I'll venture it.

If I get down, and do not break my limbs,
I'll find a thousand shifts to get away;

As good to die and go, as die and stay.

[Leaps down.

O me! my uncle's spirit is in these stones;
Heaven take my soul, and England keep my bones!

[Dies.

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77. Exteriorly.-On the outside. John had referred to Hubert's "abhorred aspect;" Hubert here admits that his body is not handsome.

80. The peers.-The nobility who had forsaken John.

89. Conjure thee.-Earnestly beg thee; beseech thee.

93. Ship-boy's semblance.-The dress of a sailor-boy, which Arthur had put on.

98. My uncle's spirit.-Alluding to the stony heart of King John.

X.

KING RICHARD II.

ACT i. SCENE 3.-BANISHMENT OF BOLINGBROKE.

[In this scene is narrated the banishment of Henry Bolingbroke by his cousin, King Richard the Second. Bolingbroke had quarrelled with the Duke of Norfolk, and, according to a custom of those times, the king had appointed that the two noblemen should decide their quarrel by single combat, in other words, by fighting. On the occasion of the combat, however, he suddenly put a stop to the proceedings, and banished both men from the kingdom, Norfolk for life, and Bolingbroke for ten years. Among the nobility present on this occasion was John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the father of Bolingbroke, and uncle to King Richard; throughout the scene he will be called Gaunt. There are two other persons who are included in this scene, namely, the Duke of Aumerle, a cousin of Bolingbroke and of the king, and the Lord Marshal, the officer who had charge of the arrangements for the combat which was to have taken place.]

SCENE: The lists at Coventry.

K. Rich. Draw near,

And list what with our council we have done.
For that our kingdom's earth should not be soil'd
With that dear blood which it hath fostered;
Therefore we banish you our territories;
You, cousin Hereford, upon pain of life,

Till twice five summers have enrich'd our fields,
Shall not regreet our fair dominions,

But tread the stranger paths of banishment.

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Boling. Your will be done; this must my comfort be,

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That sun that warms you here shall shine on me;
And those his golden beams to you here lent,
Shall point on me and gild my banishment.

K. Rich. (To Gaunt.) Uncle, even in the glasses of thine eyes
I see thy grievèd heart; thy sad aspect

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3. For that.-Equal to "so that," "in order that," or in one word

"because."

4. Fostered.-Reared; brought up as a child.

8. Regreet.-Literally, greet again; that is, return to.

15. Thy sad aspect.-Thy sorrowful looks; accent the word aspèct on

the second syllable.

Hath from the number of his banish'd years

Pluck'd four away. (To Boling.) Six frozen winters

spent,

Return with welcome home from banishment.
Boling. How long a time lies in one little word!

Four lagging winters and four wanton springs
End in a word; such is the breath of kings.
Gaunt. I thank my liege, that in regard of me
He shortens four years of my son's exile;
But little vantage shall I reap thereby;

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For, ere the six years that he hath to spend

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Can change their moons and bring their times about,

My oil-dried lamp and time-bewasted light

Shall be extinct with age and endless night;
My inch of taper will be burnt and done,
And blindfold death not let me see my son.
K. Rich. Why, uncle, thou hast many years to live.
Gaunt. But not a minute, king, that thou canst give;

Shorten my days thou canst with sullen sorrow,
And pluck nights from me, but not lend a morrow;
Thou canst help time to furrow me with age,

But stop no wrinkle in his pilgrimage;

Thy word is current with him for my death,

But dead, thy kingdom cannot buy my breath. K. Rich. Thy son is banish'd upon good advice,

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22. My liege.-My lord. See § III. note 28. 24. Vantage.-Gain; the word is now generally written advantage. 28. Extinct.-Gone out; Gaunt has just compared life to a lamp, and to a light; death may therefore justly be regarded as the extinction, or putting out, of the lamp.

29. Inch of taper.-Comparing his life to a taper, or candle, Gaunt implies, by using the word inch, that he has not long to live. 35. Furrow me.-Make furrows or wrinkles, as a plough does in the field, and as age does on the forehead.

37. Thy word is current with him.-The word current means running, continuing; a person's word is current, when it is accepted as good or reliable; Gaunt therefore means that the king's word would be sufficient to bring about his (Gaunt's) death.

39. Upon good advice. This does not necessarily imply that the king

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