Sal. As true, as, I believe, you think them false, Const. O, if thou teach me to believe this sorrow, As doth the fury of two desperate men, Which, in the very meeting, fall, and die.— Arth. I do beseech you, madam, be content. Const. If thou, that bid'st me be content, wert grim, Ugly, and sland'rous to thy mother's womb, Full of unpleasing blots, and sightless2 stains, Lame, foolish, crook'd, swart', prodigious*, Patch'd with foul moles, and eye-offending marks, I would not care, I then would be content; For then I should not love thee; no, nor thou Become thy great birth, nor deserve a crown. But thou art fair; and at thy birth, dear boy! Nature and fortune join'd to make thee great: Of nature's gifts thou may'st with lilies boast, And with the half-blown rose: but fortune, O! She is corrupted, chang'd, and won from thee; She adulterates hourly with thine uncle John; And with her golden hand hath pluck'd on France To tread down fair respect of sovereignty, 2 sightless] The poet uses sightless for that which we now express by unsightly, disagreeable to the eyes. 3 4 swart,] Swart is brown, inclining to black. prodigious,] That is, portentous, so deformed as to be taken for a foretoken of evil. And made his majesty the bawd to theirs. Sal. Pardon me, madam, I may not go without you to the kings. Const. Thou may'st, thou shalt, I will not go with thee: I will instruct my sorrows to be proud; For grief is proud, and makes his owner stout †. [She throws herself on the ground. Enter King JOHN, King PHILIP, LEWIS, BLANCH, ELINOR, Bastard, AUSTRIA, and Attendants. K. Phi. 'Tis true, fair daughter; and this blessed day, Ever in France shall be kept festival: + "and makes its owner stoop."-MALONE. To me, and to the state of my great grief, Let kings assemble ;] In Much Ado about Nothing, the father of Hero, depressed by her disgrace, declares himself so subdued by grief, that a thread may lead him. How is it that grief, in Leonato and Lady Constance, produces effects directly opposite, and yet both agreeable to nature? Sorrow softens the mind while it is yet warmed by hope, but hardens it when it is congealed by despair. Distress, while there remains any prospect of relief, is weak and flexible, but when no succour remains, is fearless and stubborn; angry alike at those that injure, and at those that do not help; careless to please where nothing can be gained, and fearless to offend when there is nothing further to be dreaded. Such was this writer's knowledge of the passions. JOHNSON. "here I and sorrows sit ;”—MALONE. To solemnize this day, the glorious sun Const. A wicked day, and not a holyday![Rising. Among the high tides, in the kalendar? K. Phi. By heaven, lady, you shall have no cause Const. You have beguil'd me with a counterfeit, And our oppression hath made up this league: Let not the hours of this ungodly day 6 high tides,] i. e. solemn seasons. 7 prodigiously be cross'd:] i. e. be disappointed by the production of a prodigy, a monster. * But on this day,] That is, except on this day. Wear out the day in peace; but, ere sunset, Aust. Lady Constance, peace. Const. War! war! no peace! peace is to me a war. O Lymoges! O Austria! thou dost shame That bloody spoil: Thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward; Thou little valiant, great in villainy! Thou ever strong upon the stronger side! Thou fortune's champion, that dost never fight O Lymoges! O Austria!] The propriety or impropriety of these titles, which every editor has suffered to pass unnoted, deserves a little consideration. Shakspeare has, on this occasion, followed the old play, which at once furnished him with the character of Faulconbridge, and ascribed the death of Richard I. to the duke of Austria. In the person of Austria he has conjoined the two well-known enemies of Coeur-de-lion. Leopold, duke of Austria, threw him into prison, in a former expedition [in 1193]; but the castle of Chaluz, before which he fell [in 1199] belonged to Vidomar, viscount of Limoges; and the archer who pierced his shoulder with an arrow (of which wound he died) was Bertrand de Gourdon. The editors seem hitherto to have understood Lymoges as being an appendage to the title of Austria, and therefore enquired no further about it. STEEVENS. Bast. And hang a calf's skin on those recreant limbs. K. John. We like not this; thou dost forget thyself. Enter PANDUlph. K. Phi. Here comes the holy legate of the pope. To thee, king John, my holy errand is. I Pandulph, of fair Milan cardinal, Why thou against the church, our holy mother, K. John. What earthly name to interrogatories, To charge me to an answer, as the pope. Tell him this tale; and from the mouth of England, Shall tithe or toll in our dominions; But as we under heaven are supreme head, K. Phi. Brother of England, you blaspheme in this. dom, Are led so grossly by this meddling priest, 1 What earthly name to interrogatories, Can task the free breath, &c.] i. e. what earthly name subjoined to interrogatories, can force a king to speak and answer them? |