THE THIRD PART OF KING HENRY THE SIXTH ACT I SCENE I.-London. Alarum. The Parliament House. Enter the DUKE OF YORK, EDWARD, RICHARD, NORFOLK, MONTAGUE, WARWICK, and Soldiers. War. I wonder how the king escaped our hands. 5 Alarum. Enter the Duke of York ] Alarum. Enter Plantagenet... Ff. and Soldiers] and Souldiers, with white Roses in their hats Q. [Other differences occur in Folio and Quarto stage-direction.] retreat] 1-5. War. I wonder omitted Q. 7. Lord Clifford Clifford abreast Q. and therewith him Q. retrait Q. ... 1-5. War. I wonder 6. Cheer'd himself] abreast] 6. Lord Stafford 8. Charged. in] 7. Chargde . front, I. I wonder .] See first line of Act ii. 5. brook] put up with. Characteristic of these three plays, where it occurs about a dozen times; elsewhere almost confined to Shakespeare's early work. Frequent in Greene's plays. ... 5. retreat] Used here with reference to the bugle call or sounding of retreat. See note at "sound retreat" (2 Henry VI. IV. viii. 4), which expression occurs again in 1 Henry IV. and in Henry V. Hence the appropriate use of "warlike ears,' ,""retreat "signifying the sound-Iv. i. :— 3 8. main battle] Again in Richard III. v. iii. 299. This is the earliest example in New Eng. Dict. It is earlier in Peele's Battle of Alcazar, Were by the swords of common soldiers slain. I cleft his beaver with a downright blow: Mont. And, brother, here's the Earl of Wiltshire's blood, ΙΟ 15 [Throwing down the Duke of Somerset's head. York. Richard hath best deserved of all my sons. But is your grace dead, my Lord of Somerset ? Norf. Such hope have all the line of John of Gaunt! Rich. Thus do I hope to shake King Henry's head. War. And so do I. Victorious Prince of York, Before I see thee seated in that throne Which now the house of Lancaster usurps, I vow by heaven these eyes shall never close. 20 25 9. Were... slain] 8. Brake in and were by the hands of common souldiers slain Q. 10-13. Lord Stafford's ... downright blow: That this is true, father .. blood] 9-12. Lord Staffords. downe right blow: Father that this is... bloud Q. head.] Theobald. 15. battles] 14. battailes Q. 16. [Throwing down 17. Richard . . . sons] omitted Q. 18. But is] 19-26. Such hope the fearful king, And this that fearefull King, And that Yorke Q. 16. York. What is Q. ... ... 66 ten thousand horse: And twenty thousand horsemen in 9. swords of common soldiers] See note at 2 Henry VI. v. ii. 58. The statement here is an inadvertency (Malone). See below, line 55 and 1. iii. 5. II. dangerous] So Folio. The Q gives dangerouslie, adopted by Theobald, unnecessarily. Shakespeare uses adjectives adverbially very often. 12. beaver] helmet, as in 1 Henry IV. IV. i. 104, and Richard III. v. iii. 50. Elsewhere in Shakespeare it is the visor of the helmet, as in Faerie Queene, II. v. 6, etc. Fr. bavière. ... 12. downright blow] Only again in 2 Henry VI. II. iii. 92, where see note. The expression is in Holland's Plinie (1601): "let drive and lay at them either with full down-right or crossblowes" (bk. xv. ch. iii. p. 431, c). 15. as the battles join'd] See below, II. i. 121, the only other example in Shakespeare of this old expression for beginning the fight. "To join," in the sense of entering on any serious business, is a common northern provincialism. Joined ploughing or reaping, joined at the turf, joined to fight, joined to rain, are usual. Compare Grafton, i. 30: "At the length they ioyned battaile and met together nere a Ryuer called Stoore"; and again p. 238. See Genesis xiv. 8. And see Grosart's Greene, xiii. 318, James the Fourth ("as the Kings are joyning battaile," stage-direction). But taking "battles " to mean troops simplifies the expression. See Kyd, Spanish Tragedy, 1. iii. 60: "When both the armies were in battell ioynd." And this the regal seat: possess it, York; 30 [They go up. War. And when the King comes, offer him no violence, York. The queen this day here holds her parliament, By words or blows here let us win our right. Unless Plantagenet, Duke of York, be king, War. Neither the king, nor he that loves him best, 27-29. For this are we ... . force Q. I stay] 29, 30. 34. And when. 35 40 45 hither we have... force] 25-27. For this . . . hither 30. you; he] 28. thee, and he Q. 31, 32. Thanks Thanks staie you here and lodge this night Q. thrust you perforce] 31, 32. And when 33, put us 38. as Henry deposed out by force Q. 35-37. York. The queen. right] omitted Q. 26. regal seat] This is the expression of Holinshed, not of Hall or Grafton. The latter uses "throne roiale," or "siege royal." It is in Locrine, "True Honour in her regale seat" (495, b, ed. Tyrrell). 32. lodge] lie, sleep. See 2 Henry VI. I. i. 80; and below, IV. iii. 13. 41. And... cowardice] "Henry must be allowed three syllables here with the accent on the last, and "cowardice" with two final unaccented syllables-for scansion. 42. by-words] objects of reproach and derision, as in Deuteronomy xxviii. 37, and Psalms xliv. 14. 46. The proudest he] Occurs again in Taming of Shrew, III. ii. 236, and 43-49. I'll plant Plantagenet, root him up who dares. Flourish. Enter King HENRY, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBER- K. Hen. My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits, 50 And thine, Lord Clifford; and you both have vow'd 55 revenge On him, his sons, his favourites, and his friends. North. If I be not, heavens be revenged on me! Clif. The hope thereof makes Clifford mourn in steel. West. What! shall we suffer this? let's pluck him down : My heart for anger burns: I cannot brook it. K. Hen. Be patient, gentle Earl of Westmoreland. Clif. Patience is for poltroons, such as he : He durst not sit there had your father liv'd. 60 65 • nor him root him up crown] 38-44. Then leave... . for now I meane . . that proudest burd . . . root him out crowne Q. 49. Flourish.] F 1; omitted Ff 2, 3, 4; Q. Enter and the rest.] Ff; Enter [somewhat varied]... with red Roses in their hats Q. 50. My lords, look] 45. Looke Lordings Q. 50-56. where the sturdy thine, Lord Clifford . friends] 45-51. where the sturdy I be] 52. And if I be Q. 57-60. cannot brook it] 52-55. heavens be. 61-66. K. Hen. Be patient... be it 57. If thine Clifford friends Q. heavens be pluck him. burns: I Pull him... breakes, I cannot speake Q. so] 56-61. King. Be patient... be it so Q. "therein did wayt source with Shakespeare. See Othello, III. iii. 261-3 (in this edition, notes); and As You Like It, III. iii. 89. Compare Lucrece, 510, 511 :— "Harmless Lucretia, marking what With trembling fear, as fowl hear The bell was attached above the foot. 50. lords] lordings in Q; see note at Part II. 1. i. 143. Shakespeare discards this word, later, entirely. 50. sturdy] Only again in Venus and Adonis, 152, of trees; strong, stout. Here it has the bad sense of Spenser's Faerie Queene, II. vii. 40:— A sturdie villein, stryding stiffe and bold." Greene was fond of the word. Compare this speech with the King's in 2 Henry VI. v. i. 161-174. Backbone is being put into his construction; but uselessly, line 72. 51. belike] as it seems, probably. No one so fond of this word as Shakespeare; it occurs half-a-dozen times in this play. For the original form, "by like," see note at "safeguard," below, II. ii. 18. 58. mourn in steel] Compare "why mourn we not in blood" (1 Henry VI. 1. i. 17). 62. poltroon] lazy coward. Only here in Shakespeare. Capell inserts "and" (F 2) before "such." North. Well hast thou spoken, cousin: be it so. And they have troops of soldiers at their beck? 70 York. Thou factious Duke of York, descend my throne, 75 I am thine. I am thy sovereign. Exe. For shame, come down: he made thee Duke of York. War. Exeter, thou art a traitor to the crown In following this usurping Henry. 80 Clif. Whom should he follow but his natural king? War. True, Clifford: and that's Richard, Duke of York. 85 K. Hen. And shall I stand, and thou sit in my throne? 67-69. K. Hen. Ah, know you quicklie flie Q. 70-74. Far be. the war... my thronej 65-69. heart words, frowns, . . . the feet] omitted Q. quickly fly] 62-64. King. O know you frowns, words Far be it from the thoughtes of Henries warres . . my throne Q. 75. And. 76. I am.. thine] 70, 71. I am thy soueraigne. York. Thou art deceiv'd: I am thine Q. 77, 78. For shame. . . earldom was] 72, 73. For shame. 'Twas mine inheritance as the kingdome is Q. 79 83. Thy father that's Richard, Duke of York] 74-78. Thy father. that is Richard Duke of Yorke [F I reads that 's (omitting and)] Q. 84, 85. And .. and thou sit. It must... content thyself] 80, 81. And while thou sittest . . . Content thyselfe it must .. so Q. 86-88. Be 68. at their beck] Again in Sonnet 58; Taming of Shrew, Ind. ii. 36; and Hamlet, III. i. 127. 69. Exeter] Folios give this speech erroneously to Westmoreland. Corrected by Theobald. 71. shambles] Again in Othello, IV. ii. 66. The number of butcher metaphors in these plays has been noted in Part II., at "slaughterhouse" (III. i. 212). 74. factious] rebellious. Often in these plays; see Part I. IV. i. 113, 190; and Part II. II. i. 39 (note). 74. descend] climb down, as of a hill, or a flight of steps; the throne includes the steps to the dais. 76. sovereign. I am thine] Theobald, followed by Malone and Steevens, inserted "Thou 'rt deceived," from Q. 78. It was my inheritance] If the reading of the Folio is to be altered to that of the Quarto, harmony would demand the whole ""Twas mine inheritance." The alteration of "kingdom" to "earldom" here "only exhibits the same meaning more obscurely " (Malone). 78. earldom] the earldom of March, by which, through his mother, he claimed the throne. 82. natural] rightful. |