Ross. He hath not money for these Irish wars, His burdenous taxations notwithstanding, But by the robbing of the banish'd duke. North. His noble kinsman: most degenerate king! But, lords, we hear this fearful tempest sing, Yet seek no shelter to avoid the storm: We see the wind sit sore upon our sails, And yet we strike not, but securely perish. Ross. We see the very wreck that we must suffer; And unavoided is the danger now, For suffering so the causes of our wreck. North. Not so; even through the hollow eyes of death, I spy life peering; but I dare not say How near the tidings of our comfort is. Willo. Nay, let us share thy thoughts, as thou dost ours. Ross. Be confident to speak, Northumberland : We three are but thyself; and, speaking so, Thy words are but as thoughts; therefore, be bold. North. Then thus :-I have, from Port le Blanc, a bay In Britanny, receiv'd intelligence, That Harry Hereford, Reignold lord Cobham, [The son of Richard Earl of Arundel,] That late broke from the duke of Exeter, His brother, archbishop late of Canterbury, 6 Sir Thomas Erpingham, sir John Ramston, Sir John Norbery, sir Robert Waterton, and Francis All these well furnish'd by the duke of Bretagne, [5] To strike the sails' is, to contract them when there is too much wind. JOHNS. [6] Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, brother to the Earl of Arundel who was beheaded in this reign, had been banished by the parliament, and was afterwards deprived by the Pope of his see, at the request of the King; whence he is here called, late of Canterbury. STEEV. [7] As this expression frequently occurs in our author, it may not be amiss to explain the original meaning of it. When the wing feathers of a hawk were dropped, or forced out by accident, it was usual to supply as many as were deficient. This operation was called to imp a hawk. STEEV. Redeem from broking pawn the blemish'd crown, Stay, and be secret, and myself will go. Ross.To horse, to horse! urge doubts to them thatfear. Willo. Hold out my horse, and I will first be there. Bushy. Madam, your majesty is too much sad: And entertain a cheerful disposition. Queen. To please the king, I did; to please myself, I cannot do it; yet I know no cause Why I should welcome such a guest as grief, [8] This is a fine similitude, and the thing meant is this; among mathematical recreations, there is one in optics, in which a figure is drawn, wherein all the rules of perspective are inverted: so that, if held in the same posi. tion with those pictures which are drawn according to the rules of perspective, it can present nothing but confusion: and to be seen in form, and under a regular appearance, it must be looked upon from a contrary station; or, as Shakspeare says, ey'd awry. WARR. The perspectives here mentioned, were round crystal glasses, the convex surface of which was cut into faces like those of the rose diamond; the concave left uniformly smooth. These crystals-which were sometimes mounted on tortoise-shell box-lids, and sometimes fixed into ivory casesif placed as here represented, would exhibit the different appearances described by the poet, HENLEY. Finds shapes of grief, more than himself, to wail; seen: Or if it be, 'tis with false sorrow's eye, Which, for things true, weeps things imaginary. As, though, in thinking, on no thought I think,9 But what it is, that is not yet known; what Enter GREEN. Green. God save your majesty tlemen : and well met, gen I hope, the king is not yet shipp'd for Ireland. Queen. Why hop'st thou so? 'tis better hope, he is; And driven into despair an enemy's hope, [9] The involuntary and unaccountable depression of the mind, which every one has sometimes felt, is here very forcibly described. JOHNS. [1] To possess a man, is, in Shakspeare, to inform him fully, to make him comprehend. To be possessed, is, to be fully informed. I therefore imagine the queen says thus: 'Tis in reversion-that I do possess: The event is yet in futurity-that I know in full conviction-but what it is, that is not yet known. In any other interpretation she must say that she possesses what is not yet come,which, though it may be allowed to be poetical and figurative language, is yet, I think, less natural than my explanation, JOHNS. [2] Might have drawn it back. A French sense. JOHNS Queen. Now God in heaven forbid ! Green. O, madam, 'tis too true: and that is worse,The lord Northumberland, his young son Henry Percy, The lords of Ross, Beaumond, and Willoughby, With all their powerful friends, are fled to him. Bushy. Why have you not proclaim'd Northumberland, And all the rest of the revolting faction Traitors? Green. We have: whereon the earl of Worcester Hath broke his staff, resign'd his stewardship, And all the household servants fled with him To Bolingbroke. Queen. So, Green, thou art the midwife to my woe, And Bolingbroke my sorrow's dismal heir : Now hath my soul brought forth her prodigy; I will despair, and be at enmity Who gently would dissolve the bands of life, Enter YORK. Green. Here comes the duke of York. For heaven's sake, speak comfortable words. York. Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts: Whilst others come to make him lose at home: Enter a Servant. Serv. My lord, your son was gone before I came. York. He was ?-Why, so!-go all which way it will! The nobles they are fled, the commons cold, Get thee to Plashy, 3 to my sister Gloster ; Serv. My lord, I had forgot to tell your lordship: But I shall grieve you to report the rest. Serv. An hour before I came, the duchess died. Come,sister,-cousin, I would say: pray pardon me.- some carts, And bring away the armour that is there. [Exit Servant. Is my kinsman, whom the king hath wrong'd; [3] The lordship of Plashy was a town of the duchess of Gloster's in Essex. [4] That is, disloyalty, treachery. JOHNS. THEOBALD. [5] None of York's brothers had his head cut off, either by the king or any one else. The Duke of Gloster, to whose death he probably allu les, was secretly murdered at Calais, being smothered between two beds. RITSON. [6] This is one of Shakspeare's touches of nature. York is talking to the queen his cousin, but the recent death of his sister is uppermost in his mind. STEEV. |