Do you not read some tokens of my son K. JOHN. Mine eye hath well examined his parts, And finds them perfect Richard.-Sirrah, speak, What doth move you to claim your brother's land? BAST. Because he hath a half-face, like my father; With that half-face a would he have all my land: A half-fac'd groat, five hundred pound a-year! (1) ROB. My gracious liege, when that my father liv'd, Your brother did employ my father much, BAST. Well, sir, by this you cannot get my land; Your tale must be, how he employ'd my mother. ROB. And once dispatch'd him in an embassy To Germany, there, with the emperor, To treat of high affairs touching that time. The advantage of his absence took the king, And in the mean time sojourn'd at my father's; a With that half-face-] This is a correction of Theobald's; the folio, 1623, reading, "with half that face." b And took it, on his death,-] Steevens is the only one of the commentators who notices this expression; and he interprets it to mean, "entertained it as his fixed opinion, when he was dying." We believe it was a common form of speech, and signified that he swore, or took oath, upon his death, of the truth of his belief. Thus Falstaff, "Merry Wives of Windsor," Act II. Sc. 2, says, and when mistress Bridget lost the handle of her fan, 44 Where how he did prevail, I shame to speak; K. JOHN. Sirrah, your brother is legitimate; Your father's wife did after wedlock bear him: And, if she did play false, the fault was hers; Which fault lies on the hazards of all husbands That marry wives. Tell me, how if my brother, Who, as you say, took pains to get this son, Had of your father claim'd this son for his? In sooth, good friend, your father might have kept BAST. Of no more force to dispossess me, sir, Than was his will to get me, as I think. ELI. Whether hadst thou rather be a Faul- And like thy brother, to enjoy thy land; BAST. Madam, an if my brother had my shape, [fortune, ELI. I like thee well. Wilt thou forsake thy Bequeath thy land to him, and follow me? I am a soldier, and now bound to France. BAST, Brother, take you my land, I'll take my chance : Your face hath got five hundred pound a year; Yet sell your face for five pence, and 'tis dear.Madam, I'll follow you unto the death. ELI. Nay, I would have you go before me thither. BAST. Our country manners give our betters way. K. JOHN. What is thy name? BAST. Philip, my liege; so is my name begun ; Philip, good old sir Robert's wife's eldest son. K. JOHN. From henceforth bear his name whose form thou bearest : Kneel thou down Philip, but arise ‡ more great; Arise sir Richard, and Plantagenet. BAST. Brother-by the mother's side, give me your hand; c Lord of thy presence,-] Queen Elinor, prepossessed by Philip's gallant bearing and likeness to her son, frames her question so as to discover whether he prefers to rest his claim. to future distinction as the heir of Faulconbridge, or as the supposed son of Coeur-de-lion:-" Would you rather be a Faulconbridge, resembling your brother, but possessed of five hundred pounds a-year in land; or the reputed son of King Richard, with similar personal endowments to his, and no land at all?" My father gave me honour, yours gave land :- ELI. The very spirit of Plantagenet !— Something about, a little from the right, In at the window, or else o'er the hatch: K. JOHN. Go, Faulconbridge: now hast thou thy desire; A landless knight makes thee a landed squire.— Come, madam,-and come, Richard: we must speed, For France, for France! for it is more than need. BAST. Brother, adieu: good fortune come to thee! For thou wast got i' the way of honesty. A foot of honour better than I was; For your conversion. Now, your traveller,— d I would not be sir Nob-] So the second folio, 1632; the first has, "It would." I e In at the window, or else o'er the hatch :] Proverbial sayings applied to illegitimate children;-"Woe worth the time that ever gave suck to a child that came in at the window!"-The Family of Love, 1608. So, also, in "The Witches of Lancashire," by Heywood and Broome, 1634:—“. It appears you came in at the window."-"I would not have you think I scorn my grannam's cat to leap over the hatch." f Too respective,-] Too mindful, considerate, retrospective; and not, I believe, as Steevens interprets it, "respectful," "formal." g My picked man-] See Note (d), p. 82, of the present volume. h Like an A B C book:] These letters are printed as they were pronounced, Absey, in the old copies. An Absey, or A B C book, was a book to teach the young their letters, catechism, &c. :"In the A B C of bokes the least, Yt is written, Deus charitas est." It draws toward supper in conclusion so. Enter LADY FAULCONBRIDGE and JAMES How now, good lady? That holds in chase mine honour up and down? LA. FAULC. Sir Robert's son! ay, thou unreverend boy, Sir Robert's son: why scorn'st thou at sir Robert? He is sir Robert's son, and so art thou. BAST. James Gurney, wilt thou give us leave a while? GUR. Good leave, good Philip. Madam, I was not old sir Robert's son ; What! I am dubb'd; I have it on my shoulder. BAST. AS faithfully as I deny the devil. By long and vehement suit I was seduc'd Which was so strongly urg'd, past my defence. BAST. Now, by this light, were I to get again, Madam, I would not wish a better father. Some sins do bear their privilege on earth, And so doth yours; your fault was not your folly; Needs must you lay your heart at his dispose, Subjected tribute to commanding love,Against whose fury and unmatched force The awless lion could not wage the fight, Nor keep his princely heart from Richard's hand. He, that perforce robs lions of their hearts, May easily win a woman's. Ay, my mother, With all my heart I thank thee for my father! Who lives and dares but say, thou didst not well When I was got, I'll send his soul to hell. Come, lady, I will show thee to my kin; And they shall say, when Richard me begot, If thou hadst said him nay, it had been sin : Who says it was, he lies; I say, 'twas not. [Exeunt.(5) a Colbrand the giant,-] This was the Danish giant whom the renowned Guy of Warwick overcame in the presence of Athelstan. A description of the combat will be found in Drayton's "Polyelbion." Twelfth Song. b Good leave,—] "Good leave," Steevens says, "means a ready assent." e Philip!-sparrow!-] The sparrow was very early known by the name Sir Richard disdains, perhaps from its note, to which Catullus alludes: "Sed circumsiliens modo huc, modo illuc, Thus, in Lyly's "Mother Bombie:" cry Phip phip the sparrowes as they fly." Skelton, too, has a long poem, the title of which is "Phyllyp Sparowe." d There's toys abroad;] Toys may mean here rumours, idle reports, and the like; or tricks, devices, &c.; for Shakespeare uses the word with great latitude. e Thou art the issue-] The old copy has, "That art," &c.; for which Rowe substituted Thou, &c. Some alteration was certainly required; but this is not satisfactory. I am half persuaded the misprint to be corrected is in the preceding line, and that we ought to read, "Heaven lay not my transgression to thy charge She had a moment before confessed that Richard Coeur-de-lion was his father; and "Thou art the issue" is a needless repetition of the avowal. Enter on one side, the ARCHDUKE OF AUSTRIA, and Forces; on the other, PHILIP, King of France, and Forces; LEWIS, CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and Attendants. LEW. Before Angiers well met, brave Austria.Arthur, that great fore-runner of thy blood, Richard, that robb'd the lion of his heart,(1) And fought the holy wars in Palestine, By this brave duke came early to his grave: And, for amends to his posterity, At our importance" hither is he come a At our importance-] At our importunity. See Note (c), p. 143, of the present volume. To spread his colours, boy, in thy behalf; Of thy unnatural uncle, English John: The rather, that you give his offspring life, AUST. Upon thy cheek lay I this zealous kiss, As seal to this indenture of my love; That to my home I will no more return, Till Angiers, and the right thou hast in France, CONST. O, take his mother's thanks, a widow's Till your strong hand shall help to give him strength, To make a more requital to your love. AUST. The peace of heaven is theirs, that lift their swords In such a just and charitable war. K. PHI. Well, then, to work; our cannon shall be bent Against the brows of this resisting town.— CONST. Stay for an answer to your embassy, Enter CHATILLON. K. PHI. A wonder, lady!-lo, upon thy wish, Our messenger Chatillon is arriv'd. What England says, say briefly, gentle lord, We coldly pause for thee; Chatillon, speak. CHAT. Then turn your forces from this paltry siege, And stir them up against a mightier task. a A more requital-] That is, a greater requital. Thus, in "Henry IV." Pt. I. Act IV. Sc. 3, "The more and less came in with cap and knee." b So indirectly shed.] So wrongfully shed. The word occurs again with the same meaning in "Henry V." Act II. Sc. 4, An Até, stirring him to blood and strife: From France to England, there to live in peace! (*) First folio, Ace. he bids you then resign Your crown and kingdom indirectly held e Are expedient-] Expeditious, immediate. |