Edward IV. had two brothers, George, Duke of Clarence, who is the chief speaker in the scene, and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who became King Richard III. after the deaths of his brother and nephew. At the time to which this scene refers, the Duke of Clarence was a prisoner in the Tower of London, where, shortly afterwards, he was put to death, probably by the secret order of his brother Gloucester, who was aiming to obtain the crown. Brakenbury was lieutenant of the Tower at the time.

SCENE-The Tower of London.

Brak. Why looks your grace' so heavily today?

Clar. Oh, I have pass'd a miserable night, So full of ugly sights, of ghastly dreams, That, as I am a Christian faithful man, I would not spend another such a night, Though 'twere to buy a world of happy days, So full of dismal terror was the time! Brak. What was your dream? I long to hear you tell it.

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2

Clar. Methought that I had broken from the Tower,

And was embarked to cross to Burgundy;"
And in my company my brother Gloucester;

1Ο

Clar. "My soul is heavy, and I fain would sleep."

Who from my cabin tempted me to walk
Upon the hatches; thence we looked toward

England,

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4

And cited up a thousand fearful times,
During the wars of York and Lancaster
That had befallen us. As we paced along
Upon the giddy footing of the hatches,
Methought that Gloucester stumbled; and, in
falling,

Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard,
Into the tumbling billows of the main.
Lord, Lord! methought, what pain it was to
drown!

What dreadful noise of water in mine ears!
What ugly sights of death within mine eyes!
Methought I saw a thousand fearful wrecks;
Ten thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon;
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,
Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,
All scattered in the bottom of the sea;
Some lay in dead men's skulls; and, in those
holes

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25

Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept, 30
As 'twere in scorn of eyes, reflecting gems,
Which wooed the slimy bottom of the deep,
And mock'd the dead bones that lay scatter'd by.
Brak. Had you such leisure in the time of
death

To gaze upon the secrets of the deep?

8

Clar. Methought I had; and often did I strive To yield the ghost; but still the envious flood Kept in my soul, and would not let it forth

N

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9

To seek the empty, vast, and wandering air,
But smother'd it within my panting bulk,"
Which almost burst to belch it in the sea.

Brak. Awak'd you not with this sore agony? Clar. Oh, no, my dream was lengthen'd after life;

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Oh, then, began the tempest to my soul,
Who passed, methought, the melancholy flood,1o 45
With that grim ferryman" which poets write of,
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.

The first that there did greet my stranger soul,
Was my great father-in-law, renowned War-

wick;

Who cried aloud, "What scourge for perjury 50
Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence?"
And so he vanished; then came wandering by
A shadow like an angel,12 with bright hair
Dabbled in blood; and he cried out aloud,
"Clarence is come; false, fleeting, perjured
Clarence,

13

That stabbed me in the field by Tewkesbury; Seize on him, Furies,1 take him to your torments!"

With that, methought, a legion of foul fiends
Environ'd 15 me, and howlèd in mine ears
Such hideous cries, that with the very noise
I trembling waked, and for a season after
Could not believe but that I was in hell,
Such terrible impression made the dream.
Brak. No marvel, my lord, though it
affrighted you;

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I promise you, I am afraid to hear you tell it. 65

Clar. O Brakenbury, I have done those things, Which now bear evidence against my soul, For Edward's sake; and see how he requites me! O God! if my deep prayers cannot appease Thee, But Thou wilt be avenged on my misdeeds, Yet execute Thy wrath in me alone; Oh, spare my guiltless wife, and my poor children !

I pray thee, gentle keeper, stay by me;
My soul is heavy, and I fain would sleep.
Brak. I will, my lord; God give your grace
good rest! [CLARENCE sleeps.
Sorrow breaks seasons and reposing hours,
Makes the night morning, and the noon-tide
night.

Princes have but their titles for their glories,
An outward honour for an inward toil;
And, for unfelt imagination,

They often feel a world of restless cares;
So that, betwixt their titles and low name,
There's nothing differs but the outward fame.

NOTES.

1 Your grace, the usual and proper

mode of addressing a duke.

2 Methought, it seemed to me.
3 Burgundy, a province in France.
4 Hatches, here is applied to the
deck of the ship. The term is
also used to mean the doors or
entrances on deck to various
parts of the vessel.

5 Cited up, talked about.

6 Wars of York and Lancaster, the wars of the Roses.

7 Inestimable, their value could not be named.

8 Yield the ghost, to die.

9 Panting bulk, his drowning body. 10 Melancholy flood, the river Styx,

which ancient mythology tells us was a river in hell, over which

12

the souls of the dead were con-
veyed.

11 Grim ferryman, Charon.
A shadow like an angel, Edward,
Prince of Wales, son of Henry VI.
and Margaret of Anjou, who
was murdered by Clarence and
Gloucester after the battle of
Tewkesbury.

13 Fleeting, changeable.
14 Furies, the three daughters of
Ilon and Acheron, whom the gods
employed to punish the guilty.
Mythology tells us that they held
a burning torch in one hand, and
in the other a whip of scorpions,
their heads being wreathed with
serpents.

15 Environ'd, surrounded.

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