Richard, not far from hence, hath hid his head. YORK. It would beseem the lord Northumberland To say, King Richard. Alack the heavy day, When such a sacred king should hide his head! NORTH. Your grace mistakes; only to be brief, Left I his title out. YORK. The time hath been, Would you have been so brief with him, he would Have been so brief with you,* to shorten you, For taking so the head, your whole head's length. BOLING. Mistake not, uncle, further than you should. YORK. Take not, good cousin, further than you should, Lest you mis-take. The heavens are o'er our heads.+ BOLING. I know it, uncle; and oppose not myself Against their will.-But who comes here? Why, it contains no king? PERCY. Yes, my good lord, Sir Stephen Scroop; besides a clergyman NORTH. Oh! belike it is the bishop of Carlisle. Go to the rude ribs of that ancient castle : On both his knees doth kiss King Richard's hand; It is such crimson tempest should bedrench A parle sounded; answered by another trumpet within. Flourish. Enter on the walls, KING RICHARD, the BISHOP OF CARLISLE, AUMERLE, SCROOP, and SALISBURY. BOLING. See, see, King Richard doth himself appear, As doth the blushing discontented sun, To watch the fearful bending of thy knee, [TO NORTII. Because we thought ourself thy lawful king : And if we be, how dare thy joints forget Το pay their awful duty to our presence? If we be not, show us the hand of God That hath dismiss'd us from our stewardship; For well we know, no hand of blood and bone Can gripe the sacred handle of our sceptre, Unless he do profane, steal, or usurp. And though you think that all, as you have done, Have torn their souls, by turning them from us, And we are barren, and bereft of friends; Yet know,-my master, God omnipotent, Is mustering in his clouds, on our behalf, Armies of pestilence; and they shall strike Your children yet unborn, and unbegot, Her pastures' grass with faithful English blood. NORTH. The king of heaven forbid, our lord the king Should so with civil and uncivil arms Be rush'd upon! Thy thrice-noble cousin, AUM. No, good my lord; let's fight with gentle words, Till time lend friends, and friends their helpful swords. K. RICH. O God! O God! that e'er this tongue of mine, That laid the sentence of dread banishment Since foes have scope to beat both thee and me. AUM. Northumberland comes back from Bolingbroke. K. RICH. What must the king do now? Must he submit? The king shall do it. Must he be depos'd? C K. RICH. Northumberland, say thus, the king And, buried once, why not upon my head ? Aumerle, thou weep'st; my tender-hearted cousin! e Some way of common trade,-] That is, a place of common resort, as we now talk of, "A road of frequent traffic." Thus in Lord Surrey's Translation of the Second Book of the Eneid : "A postern with a blind wicket there was, A common trade, to pass through Priam's house." d Shall lodge the summer corn,-] Corn beaten down by rain or wind in modern language is said to be lay'd. Formerly lodg'd had the same import. So, in " Macbeth," Act IV. Sc. 1:"Though bladed corn be lodg'd." And again, in "Henry VI." Part II. Act III. Sc. 2:- Would not this ill, do well?-Well, well, I see To speak with you; may it please you to come down? K. RICH. Down? down, I come; like glistering Phaeton, Wanting the manage of unruly jades. [NORTH, retires to BOLING. In the base court? Base court, where kings grow base, To come at traitors' calls, and do them grace. In the base court? Come down? Down court! down king! a In the base court-] Base court is simply lower court, from the French, basse cour. BOLING. My gracious lord, I come but for mine own. K. RICH. Your own is yours, and I am yours, and all. [lord, BOLING. So far be mine, my most redoubted As my true service shall deserve your love. K. RICH. Well you deserve: *-They well That know the strong'st and surest way to get. Then I must not say, no.(3) SCENE IV.-Langley. The Duke of York's Garden. Enter the QUEEN and two Ladies. QUEEN. And I could sing, would weeping do And never borrow any tear of thee. Enter a Gardener and two Servants. [QUEEN and Ladies retire. Cut off the heads of too-fast-growing sprays, 1 SERV. Why should we, in the compass of a QUEEN. What sport shall we devise here in this Keep law, and form, and due proportion, garden, To drive away the heavy thought of care? 1 LADY. Madam, we'll play at bowls. [of rubs, QUEEN. "Twill make me think the world is full And that my fortune runs against the bias. 1 LADY. Madam, we'll dance. QUEEN. My legs can keep no measure in delight, When my poor heart no measure keeps in grief: Therefore, no dancing, girl; some other sport. 1 LADY. Madam, we'll tell tales. QUEEN. 1 LADY. Of either, madam. QUEEN. Of joy or grief?" Of neither, girl : It adds more sorrow to my want of joy: 1 LADY. I could weep, madam, would it do you (*) First folio, deserv'd. a Of joy or grief?] All the old copies read, "Of sorrow or of grief." The text adopted here is the amendment of Capell. b And I could sing, would weeping do me good,-] The reading of all the old copies; but which Pope, perhaps without necessity, altered to "I could weep," &c. The meaning appears to be this: -Were my griefs of so light a nature that weeping would remedy them, I could sing for joy, and would never ask any one to shed a tear for me. It may be worth considering, however, whether the poet did not write, Showing, as in a model, our firm estate? GARD. C Hold thy peace: He that hath suffer'd this disorder'd spring shelter, They might have liv'd to bear, and he to taste, The fruits of duty. Superfluous branches We lop away, that bearing boughs may live: Had he done so, himself had borne the crown, Which waste of idle hours hath quite thrown down, [be depos'd? 1 SERV. What, think you then,† the king shall GARD. Depress'd he is already; and depos'd, 'Tis doubt he will be. Letters came last night To a dear friend of the good § duke of York's, That tell black tidings. QUEEN. O, I am press'd to death through want of speaking!- Thou, old Adam's likeness, [Coming forward] set to dress this garden, How dares thy harsh rude tongue sound this unpleasing news? What Eve, what serpent hath suggested thee GARD. Pardon me, madam: little joy have I To breathe this news: yet what I say is true. King Richard, he is in the mighty hold Of Bolingbroke; their fortunes both are weigh'd: no worse, a I would my skill were subject to thy curse.- (*) First folio, I would. [Exeunt. (1) First folio, drop. "these news." News appears to have been used by our ancestors either as singular or plural, indifferently. |