Page images
PDF
EPUB

< Makes him oppose himself against his king.
Clif. He is a traitor; let him to the Tower,
• And chop away that factious pate of his.
Q. Mar. He is arrested, but will not obey;
His sons, he says, shall give their words for him.
York. Will you not, sons?

Edw. Ay, noble father, if our words will serve. Rich. And if words will not, then our weapons shall. * Clif. Why, what a brood of traitors have we here! * York. Look in a glass, and call thy image so; * I am thy king, and thou a false-heart traitor.Call hither to the stake my two brave bears, * That, with the very shaking of their chains, * They may astonish these fell lurking curs ;7 * Bid Salisbury, and Warwick, comes to me.9 Drums. Enter WARWICK and SALSIBURY, with Forces.

Clif. Are these thy bears? we 'll bait thy-bears to death, And manacle the bear-ward in their chains, • If thou dar'st bring them to the baiting-place. * Rich. Oft have I seen1 a hot o'erweening cur

* Run back and bite, because he was withheld;

14 yeare of his raigne. It was an hospitall for distracted people." Survay of London, 1598, p 127

7

Ritson.

- fell lurking curs; Mr Roderick would read " fell barking;" Mr. Heath " fell lurching;" but, perhaps, by fell lurking is meant curs who are at once a compound of cruelty and treachery.

Steevens.

8 Call hither to the stake my two brave bears,Bid Salisbury, and Warwick, come - The Nevils, earls of Warwick, had a bear and ragged staff for their cognizance.

Sir J Hawkins..

• Bid Salisbury, and Warwick, come to me.] Here in the old play the following lines are found:

King. Call Buckingham, and bid him arm himself.
York Call Buckingham and all the friends thou hast;

Both thou and they shall curse this fatal hour.

Buckingham accordingly enters immediately with his forces. Shakspeare, we see, has not introduced him in the present scene, but has availed himself of those lines below. Malone.

1 Oft have I seen &c.] Bear-baiting was anciently a royal sport. See Stowe's account of Queen Elizabeth's Amusements of this kind; and Langham's Letter concerning that Queen's Entertainment at Kenelworth Castle. Percy.

The one of them has adopted his description from the other.

[merged small][ocr errors]

* Who, being suffer's with the bear's fell paw,
* Hath clapp'd his tail between his legs, and cry'd:

* And such a piece of service will you do,

* If you oppose yourselves to match lord Warwick.

* Clif. Hence, heap of wrath, four indigested lump,

* As crooked in thy manners as thy shape!

* York. Nay, we shali heat you thoroughly anon.

* Clif. Take heed, lest by your heat you burn your

selves. 3

* K. Hen. Why, Warwick, hath thy knee forgot to

bow?

* Old Salisbury-shame to thy silver hair,

* Thou mad misleader of thy brainsick son!

* What, wilt thou on thy death-bed play the ruffian,

* And seek for sorrow with thy spectacles?

* O, where is faith? O, where is loyalty?

* If it be banish'd from the frosty head,

* Where shall it find a harbour in the earth?

* Wilt thou go dig a grave to find out war,
* And shame thine honourable age with blood?
* Why art thou old, and want'st experience?
* Or wherefore dost abuse it, if thou hast it?
* For shame! in duty bend thy knee to me,
* That bows unto the grave with mickle age.

* Sal. My lord, I have consider'd with myself

* The title of this most renowned duke;

* And in my conscience do repute his grace

* The rightful heir to England's royal seat.

* K. Hen. Hast thou not sworn allegiance unto me! * Sal. I have.

* K. Hen. Canst thou dispense with heaven for such

an oath?

* Sal. It is great sin, to swear unto a sin

2-being suffer'd-] Being suffer'd to approach to the bear's fell paw. Such may be the meaning. I am not however sure but the poet meant, being in a state of sufferance or pain. Malone

3 Take heed, lest by your heat you burn yourselves.] So, in King Henry VIII:

"Heat not a furnace for yourself so hot,

"That it do singe yourself." Steevens.

4 It is great sin, to swear unto a sin; &c.] We have the same sentiment in Love's Labour's Lost:

"It is religion, to be thus forsworn."

* But greater sin, to keep a sinful oath.
* Who can be bound by any solemn vow
* To do a murderous deed, to rob a man,
* To force a spotless virgin's chastity,

* To reave the orphan of his patrimony,
* To wring the widow from her custom'd right;

* And have no other reason for this wrong,

* But that he was bound by a solemn oath?

* Q. Mar. A subtle traitor needs no sophister.

K. Hen. Call Buckingham, and bid him arm himself.

York. Call Buckingham, and all the friends thou hast, * I am resolv'd for death, or dignity.5

Clif. The first I warrant thee, if dreams prove true. War. You were best to go to bed, and dream again, To keep thee from the tempest of the field.

Clif. I am resolv'd to bear a greater storm,
Than any thou canst conjure up to-day;
And that I'll write upon thy burgonet,
Might I but know thee by thy houshold badge.7

War. Now, by my father's badge, old Nevil's crest,
The rampant bear chain'd to the ragged staff,
This day I'll wear aloft my burgonet,
(As on a mountain-top the cedar shows,
That keeps his leaves in spite of any storm,)
Even to affright thee with the view thereof.

Clif. And from thy burgonet I'll rend thy bear,
And tread it under foot with all contempt,
Despight the bear-ward that protects the bear.
Y. Clif. And so to arms, victorious father,
To quell the rebels, and their 'complices.

Again, in King John:

"It is religion that doth make vows kept;
"But thou dost swear only to be forsworn;
" And most forsworn to keep what thou dost swear."

Malone.

5- for death, or dignity.] The folio reads and dignity.

The emendation was made by Mr. Pope. Malone.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors]

now tye

"Strong charms upon my full-plum'd burgonet." Steevens. 7- thy houshold badge,] The folio has housed badge, owing probably to the transcribe's ear deceiving him. The true reading is found in the old play. Malone.

[blocks in formation]

Rich. Fy! charity, for shame! speak not in spite, For you shall sup with Jesu Christ to-night.

Y. Clif. Foul stigmatick, that's more than thou canst

tell.

Rich. If not in heaven, you'll surely sup in hell.
[Exeunt severally.

SCENE II.

Saint Albans.

Alarums: Excursions. Enter WARWICK.

War. Clifford of Cumberland, 'tis Warwick calls!

And if thou dost not hide thee from the bear,
Now, when the angry trumpet sounds alarm,
And dead men's cries do fill the empty air,-
Clifford, I say, come forth and fight with me!
Proud northern lord, Clifford of Cumberland,
Warwick is hoarse with calling thee to arms.

Enter YORK.

How now, my noble lord? what, all a-foot?
، York. The deadly-handed Clifford slew my steed;
But match to match I have encounter'd him,
And made a prey for carrion kites and crows
Even of the bonny beast he lov'd so well.2

Enter CLIFFORD.

War. Of one or both of us the time is come. York. Hold, Warwick, seek thee out some other chace,

For I myself must hunt this deer to death.

8 Foul stigmatick,] A stigmatick is one on whom nature has set a mark of deformity, a stigma. Stigma. Steevens. This certainly nly is the meaning here A stigmatick originally and properly signified a person who has been branded with a hot iron for some crime. See Bullokar's English Expositor, 1616.

Malone.

9 Warwick is hoarse with calling thee to arms.] See Macbeth, Vol. VII, p. 53, n. 7. Steevens.

1 And made a prey for carrion kites and crows - So, in Homet: " I should have fatted all the region kites "With this slave's offal." Steevens.

2 Even of the bonny beast he lov'd so well.] In the old play: "The bonniest gray, that e'er was bred in North."

Malone.

3 For I myself &c.] This passage will remind the classical reader of Achilles' conduct in the 22d Iliad, v. 205, where he War. Then, nobly, York; 'tis for a crown thou fight'st.As I intend, Clifford, to thrive to-day,

It grieves my soul to leave thee unassail'd. [Exit WAR. Clif. What seest thou in me, York?4 why dost thou

pause?

، York. With thy brave bearing should I be in love, But that thou art so fast mine enemy.

Clif. Nor should thy prowess want praise and esteem,
But that 'tis shown ignobly, and in treason.
، York. So let it help me now against thy sword,
As I in justice and true right express it!

Clif. My soul and body on the action both!-
York. A dreadful lay !5-address thee instantly.

[They fight, and CLIF. falls.

Clif. La fin couronne les oeuvres.6

[Dies.7

expresses his determination that Hector should fall by no other hand than his own. Steevens.

4 What seest thou in me, York? &c.] Instead of this and the ten following lines, we find these in the old play, and the variation is worth noting:

"York. Now, Clifford, since we are singled here alone, "Be this the day of doom to one of us; "For now my heart hath sworn immortal hate "To thee and all the house of Lancaster.

"Clif. And here I stand, and pitch my foot to thine, "Vowing ne'er to stir till thou or I be slain; "For never shall my heart be safe at rest, "Till I have spoil'd the hateful house of York.

[Alarums, and they fight, and York kills Clifford. "York. Now Lancaster, sit sure; thy sinews shrink, "Come, fearful Henry, groveling on thy face, "Yield up thy crown unto the prince of York. [Exit York. Malone.

5 A dreadful lay!] A dreadful wager; a tremendous stake.

8 La fin couronne les ocuores.] The players read:

La fin corrone les eumenes. Steevens.

Corrected by the editor of the second folio. Malone.

Johnson.

7 Dies.] Our author, in making Clifford fall by the hand of York, has departed from the truth of history; a practice not uncommon to him when he does his utmost to make his characters considerable. This circumstance, however, serves to prepare the reader or spectator for the vengeance afterwards taken by Clifford's son on York and Rutland.

It is remarkable, that the beginning of the third part of this historical play, the poet has forgot this occurrence, and there represents Clifford's death as it really happened:

« PreviousContinue »