תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

And telling me, the fovereign'ft thing on earth
Was Parmacity, for an inward bruife;
And that it was great pity, fo it was,
This villainous falt petre fhould be digg'd
Out of the bowels of the harmless earth,
Which many a good tall fellow had destroy'd
So cowardly: And but for thefe vile guns,
He would himself have been a foldier.
This bald, unjointed chat of his, my lord,
Í anfwer'd indirectly, as I faid;

And I beseech you, let not this report
Come current for an accufation,

Betwixt my love and your high Majefty.

Blunt. The circumftance confider'd, good my lord,
Whatever Harry Percy then had faid,

To fuch a perfon, and, in fuch a place,
At fuch a time, with all the reft retold,
May reasonably die; and never rise
'To do him wrong, or any way impeach
What then he faid, fo he unfay it now.

66

[ocr errors]

K. Henry. Why, yet he doth deny his prifoners,

3 To do him wrong, or any way impeach

What then be faid, so he unfay it now.] Let us confider the whole paffage, which, according to the prefent reading, bears this literal fenfe. "Whatever Percy then faid may reafonably die and never rife to "impeach what he then faid, fo "he unfay it now." This is the exact fenfe, or rather nonfenfe, which the paffage makes in the prefent reading. It should therefore, without question, be thus printed and emended,

To do him wrong, or any way
impeach.

What then be faid, SEE, he
UNSAYS it now.

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small]
[ocr errors]

But with provifo and exception,

That we at our own charge shall ransom straight
His brother-in-law, the foolish Mortimer
Who, on my foul, hath wilfully betray'd
The lives of those, that he did lead to fight
Against the great magician, damn'd Glendower;
Whofe daughter, as we hear, the Earl of March
Hath lately marry'd. Shall our coffers then
Be empty'd, to redeem a traitor home?
Shall we buy treafon ? and indent with fears,
When they have loft and forfeited themselves?
No; on the barren mountains let him starve;
For I fhall never hold that man my friend,
Whofe tongue fhall afk me for one penny coft
To ranfom home revolted Mortimer.

Hot. Revolted Mortimer?

He never did fall off, my fovereign Liege,

4 and indent with fears.] The reason why he fays, bargain and article with fears, meaning with Mortimer, is, because he fuppofed Mortimer had wilfully betrayed his own forces to Glendower out of fear, as appears from his next Speech. No need therefore to change fears to foes, as the Oxford Editor has done

WARBURTON. The difficulty feems to me to arife from this, that the King is not defired to article or contract with Mortimer, but with another for Mortimer. Perhaps we may read,

Shall we buy treason? and in

dent with peers, When they have lost and forfeited themselves? Shall we purchafe back a traytor? Shall we defcend to a compofition with Worcester, Northumber

But

land, and young Perty, who by difobedience have loft and forfeited their honours and themjelves.

5 He never did fall off, my ssvereign Liege,

But BY the chance of war -] A poor apology for a foldier, and a man of honour, that he fell off, and revolted by the chance of war. The Poet certainly wrote,

But 'BIDES the chance of war. i. e. he never did revolt, but abides the chance of war, as a prifoner. And if he ftill endured the rigour of imprison. ment, that was a plain proof he was not revolted to the enemy. Hot-fpur fays the fame thing afterwards,

Juffer'd bis kinfman March -to be encag'd in Wales. Here again the Oxford Editor

makes

6

But by the chance of war; to prove That true,
Needs no more but one tongue; for all thofe wounds,—
Those mouthed wounds, which valiantly he took,
When on the gentle Severn's fedgy bank,

In lingle oppofition, hand to hand,

He did confound the best part of an hour

In changing hardiment with great Glendower ;

Three times they breath'd, and three times did they drink,

Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood;

Who then affrighted with their bloody looks,
Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds,
And hid his crifpe head in the hollow bank,
Blood-ftained with thefe valiant Combatants.
'Never did bare and rotten Policy

makes this correction his own, at the final expence of changing 'b des to bore! WARBURTON. The plain meaning is, he came not into the enemy's power but by the chance of war. To 'bide the hance of war may well enough ignify to and the hazard of a battle, but can fcarcely mean to endure the feverities of a pin. The King charged Mort mer that be wilfully betra ed his army; and, as he was then with the enemy, calls him reusited Mortimer. Hotpur replies, that he never fell off, that is, fell into Glendower's hands, but by the chance of war. I fhould not have explained thus tedioufly a paffage fo hard to be millaken, but that two Editors have already mistaken it.

6

-to prove that true, Need no more but one tongue, For all th fe wounds, &c.] This paffage is of obscure conftruction. The later editors point it, as they understood that

VOL. IV.

for the wounds a tongue was reedful, and only one tongue. This

is harfh. I rather think it is a broken sentence. To prove the loyalty of Mortimer, fays Hotpur, one Speaking witness is fufficient, for his wounds proclaim his loyalty, thofe mouthed wounds,

&c.

7 Who then affrighted, &c.] This paffage has been cenfured as founding nonfenfe, which reprefents a ftream of water as capable of fear. It is milundertood. Severn is here not the food but the tutelary power of the flood, who was frighted, and hid his head in the hollow bank.

8 Never did bare and r.tien

poly.] All the quarto's which I have feen read bare in this place. The first folio, and all the fubfequent editions, have bafe. I believe bre is right: never did policy lying open to de tection, colour its workings.

[blocks in formation]

Colour her working with fuch deadly wounds;
Nor never could the noble Mortimer
Receive fo many, and all willingly;

Then let him not be flander'd with Revolt.

K. Henry. Thou doft belie him, Percy, thou belieft him;

He never did encounter with Glendower;

He durit as well have met the Devil alone,
As Owen Glendower for an enemy.

Art not afham'd? 9 but, firrah, from this hour
Let me not hear you fpeak of Mortimer.
Send me your prifoners with the speedieft means,
Or you fhall hear in such a kind from me

As will difpleafe you. My Lord Northumberland,
We licence your departure with your fon.
--Send us your prifoners, or you'll hear of it.
[Exit K. Henry.
Hot. And if the devil come and roar for them,

I will not fend them. I'll after ftrait,

1

And tell him fo; for I will ease my heart,

Although it be with hazard of my head.

North. What, drunk with choler? ftay, and paufe a while;

Here comes your uncle.

Enter Worcester.

Hot. Speak of Mortimer?

Yes, I will fpeak of him; and let my four
Want mercy, if I do not join with him.
In his behalf, I'll empty all these veins,

[blocks in formation]

2

And fhed my dear blood drop by drop in duft,

* But I will lift the down-trod Mortimer

As high i'th' Air as this unthankful King,
As this ingrate and cankred Bolingbroke.

North. Brother, the King hath made your Nephew mad. [To Worcester. Wor. Who ftrook this heat up, after I was gone? Hot. He will, forfooth, have all my prifoners; And when I urg'd the ranfom once again

Of

my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale, And on my face he turn'd an eye of death, Trembling ev'n at the name of Mortimer.

Wor. I cannot blame him; was he not proclaim'd, By Richard that dead is, the next of blood? North. He was; I heard the Proclamation; And then it was, when the unhappy King

(Whose wrongs in us, God pardon!) did set forth Upon his Irish expedition,

From whence he, intercepted, did return

To be depos'd, and fhortly murthered.

Wor. And for whofe death, we in the world's wide

mouth

Live fcandaliz'd, and foully fpoken of.

Hot. But foft, I pray you. Did King Richard then Proclaim my brother Mortimer

Heir to the Crown?

North. He did my felf did hear it.

Hot. Nay, then I cannot blame his coufin King,
That wifh'd him on the barren mountains ftarv'd.
But fhall it be, that you, that fet the Crown
Upon the head of this forgetful man,

And for his fake wear the detefted blot

* Fut I will lift the downfall'n Mortimer] The quarto of 1599 reads down-trød Mortimer : which is better. WARB. All the quartos that I have feen read down-trod, the three

folios read downfall.

3 An eye of death.] That is, an eye menacing death. Hot-fpur feems to defcribe the King as trembling with rage rather than fear.

« הקודםהמשך »