Who, weak with age, cannot support myself:- Enter a Servant. Serv. My lord, your son was gone before I came. York. He was?-Why, so!-go all which way it will! The nobles they are fled, the commons cold, 9 8 Get thee to Plashy, to my sister Gloster; Serv. My lord, I had forgot to tell your lordship: But I shall grieve you to report the rest. York. What is it, knave? Serv. An hour before I came, the duchess died.. York. God for his mercy! what a tide of woes Comes rushing on this woeful land at once! I know not what to do:-I would to God, (So my untruth1 had not provok'd him to it) The king had cut off my head with my brother's.2What, are there posts despatch'd for Ireland?3. How shall we do for money for these wars?— Come, sister,-cousin, I would say: pray, pardon me.— 4 8 The nobles they are fled, the commons cold,] The old copies, injuriously to the metre, read: The nobles they are fled, the commons they are cold. Steevens. 9 Get thee to Plashy, The lordship of Plashy, was a town of the duchess of Gloster's in Essex. See Hall's Chronicle, p. 13. Theobald. 1 untruth That is, disloyalty, treachery. Johnson. 2 The king had cut off my head with my brother's.] None of York's brothers had his head cut off, either by the King or any one else. The Duke of Gloster, to whose death he probably alludes, was secretly murdered at Calais, being smothered between two beds. Ritson. 3 What, are there posts despatch'd for Ireland?] Thus the folio. The quartos-two posts-and- -no posts. Steevens. 4 Come, sister,-cousin, I would say:] This is one of Shakspeare's touches of nature York is talking to the Queen his cousin, but the recent death of his sister is uppermost in his mind. Steevens. Go, fellow, [to the Serv.] get thee home, provide some carts, And bring away the armour that is there. [Exit. Serv. Thus thrust disorderly into my hands, Never believe me. Both are my kinsmen; The one 's my sovereign, whom both my oath Is my kinsman, whom the king hath wrong'd;5 But time will not permit:-All is uneven, [Exeunt YORK and Queen. Bushy. The wind sits fair for news to go to Ireland, But none returns. For us to levy power, Proportionable to the enemy, Is all impossible. Green. Besides, our nearness to the king in love, Is near the hate of those love not the king. Bagot. And that's the wavering commons: for their love Lies in their purses; and whoso empties them, Green. Well, I'll for refuge straight to Bristol-castle; The earl of Wiltshire is already there. Bushy. Thither will I with you: for little office Bagot. No; I'll to Ireland to his majesty. 5 Is my kinsman, whom the king hath wrong'd;] Sir T. Hanmer has completed this defective line, by reading: My kinsman is, one whom the king hath wrong'd. Steevens. Farewel: if heart's presages be not vain, We three here part, that ne'er shall meet again. Bushy. That's as York thrives to beat back Bolingbroke. Green. Alas, poor duke! the task he undertakes Is-numb'ring sands, and drinking oceans dry; Where one on his side fights, thousands will fly. Bushy. Farewel at once; for once, for all, and ever. Green. Well, we may meet again. Bagot. I fear me, never. SCENE III. The Wilds in Glostershire. [Exeunt. Enter BOLINGBROKE and NORTHUMBERLAND, Boling. How far is it, my lord, to Berkley now ? I am a stranger here in Glostershire. These high wild hills, and rough uneven ways, And hope to joy, is little less in joy, 5 wanting your company; Which, I protest, hath very much beguil’d The tediousness and process of my travel:] So, in King Leir, 1605: "Thy pleasant company will make the way seem short." Malone. 6 And hope to joy,] To joy is, I believe, here used as a verb. So, in the second Act of King Henry IV: "Poor fellow never joy'd since the price of oats rose." Again, in K. Henry VI, P. II: "Was ever king that joy'd on earthly throne." The word is again used with the same signification in the play before us. Malone. Than hope enjoy'd: by this the weary lords North. It is my son, young Harry Percy, Percy. I had thought, my lord, to have learn'd his health of you. North. Why, is he not with the queen? Percy. No, my good lord; he hath forsook the court, Broken his staff of office, and dispers'd The household of the king. North. What was his reason? He was not so resolv'd, when last we spake together." To offer service to the duke of Hereford; North. Then learn to know him now; this is the duke. Percy. My gracious lord, I tender you my service, Such as it is, being tender, raw, and young; Which elder days shall ripen, and confirm To more approved service and desert. Boling. I thank thee, gentle Percy; and be sure, My heart this covenant makes, my hand thus seals it. 7 He was not so resolv'd, when last we spake together.] i. e. conversed: together is an interpolation sufficiently evident from the redundancy of the metre. Steevens. North. How far is it to Berkley? And what stir Keeps good old York there, with his men of war? Percy. There stands the castle, by yon tuft of trees, Mann'd with three hundred men, as I have heard: And in it are the lords of York, Berkley, and Seymour; None else of name, and noble estimate. Enter Ross and WILLOUGHBY. North. Here come the lords of Ross and Willoughby, Bloody with spurring, fiery-red with haste. Boling. Welcome, my lords: I wot, your love pursues A banish'd traitor; all my treasury Is yet but unfelt thanks, which, more enrich'd, Ross. Your presence makes us rich, most noble lord. North. It is my lord of Berkley, as I guess. Berk. My lord of Hereford, my message is to you.8 Boling. My lord, my answer is-to Lancaster;" And I am come to seek that name in England: And I must find that title in your tongue, Before I make reply to aught you say. Berk. Mistake me not, my lord; 'tis not my meaning, To raze one title of your honour out: To you, my lord, I come, (what lord you will) 8 My lord of Hereford, my message is to you.] I suspect that our author designed this for a speech rendered abrupt by the impatience of Bolingbroke's reply; and therefore wrote: My lord of Hereford, my message is The words to you, only serve to destroy the metre. Steevens. to 9 my answer is to Lancaster;] Your message, you say, is my lord of Hereford. My answer is, It is not to him; it is to the Duke of Lancaster. Malone. 1 To raze one title of your honour out:] "How the names of them which for capital crimes against majestie were erazed out of the publicke records, tables, and registers, or forbidden to be borne by their posteritie, when their memorie was damned, I could show at large." Camden's Remains, p. 136, edit. 1605. Malone. |