Like to a difmal clangor heard from far,Warwick, revenge! brother, revenge my death! 'So underneath the belly of their steeds, That ftain'd their fetlocks in his fmoking blood, The noble gentleman gave up the ghost. 'WAR. Then let the earth be drunken with our blood: I'll kill my horse, because I will not fly.4 * Were play'd in jeft by counterfeiting actors? 'I'll never paufe again, never stand still, Till either death hath clos'd thefe eyes of mine, Or fortune given me measure of revenge. EDW. O Warwick, I do bend my knee with thine; brother to the erle of Warwick, a valiant young gentleman, and of great audacitie." Holinfhed, p. 664. In this action at Ferrybridge, which happened on the 28th of March, 1461, the day before the great battle of Towton, Lord Clifford was killed. The author of this play has blended the two actions together. MALONE. • I'll kill my horfe, &c.] So, in The Miferies of Queen Margaret, by Drayton: "Refolv'd to win, or bid the world adieu : "Which spoke, the earl his sprightly courfer flew." Again, in Daniel's Civil Wars, B. VIII. ft. xiii. From Hall, Henry VI. p. 102. See p. 71, n. 7. STEEVENS. And look upon,] And are mere fpectators. So, in The Winter's Tale, where I idly fufpected fome corruption in the text: "And look on alike." MALONE. And, in this vow, do chain my foul to thine.6* And, ere my knee rife from the earth's cold face, * I throw my hands, mine eyes, my heart to thee, Thou fetter up and plucker down of kings! "Befeeching thee,7-if with thy will it ftands, That to my foes this body must be prey,'Yet that thy brazen gates of heaven may ope, And give sweet paffage to my finful foul!Now, lords, take leave until we meet again, Where-e'er it be, in heaven, or on earth. • RICH. Brother, give me thy hand;—and, gentle Warwick, 'Let me embrace thee in my weary arms:- And, in this vow, do chain my foul to thine.] Thus the folio. The quarto as follows: "And in that vow now join my foul to thee." STEEVENS. "Befeeching thee,] That is, befeeching the divine power. Shakspeare in new-forming this fpeech may feem, at the first view of it, to have made it obfcure, by placing this line immediately after-"Thou fetter up," &c. What I have now obferved is founded on a fuppofition that the words "Thou fetter up," &c. are applied to Warwick, as they appear to be in the old play. However, our author certainly intended to deviate from it, and to apply this defcription to the Deity; and this is another ftrong confirmation of the obfervation already made relative to the variations between these pieces and the elder dramas on which they were formed. In the old play the speech runs thus : "Lord Warwick, I do bend my knees with thine, "And in that vow now join my foul to thee, "Or let us die before we lofe the day!" The last two lines are certainly here addreffed to the Deity; but the preceding line, notwithstanding the anachronism, seems to be addreffed to Warwick. MALONE. WAR. Away, away! Once more, fweet lords, farewell. 'GEO. Yet let us all together to our troops, ⚫ And give them leave to fly that will not stay; And call them pillars, that will stand to us; 'And, if we thrive, promise them fuch rewards 'As victors wear at the Olympian games: * This may plant courage in their quailing breafts; *For yet is hope of life, and victory. * Fore-flow no longer, make we hence amain.' 8 [Exeunt. -quailing-] i. e. finking into dejection. So, in Cym beline: 66 my false spirits Quail to remember :-' STEEVENS. Fore-flow no longer,] To fore-flow is to be dilatory, to laiter. So, in The Battle of Alcazar, 1594: "Why, king Sebaftian, wilt thou now foreflow" Again, in Marlowe's Edward II. 1598 : Foreflow no time; fweet Lancaster, let's march.” Again, in Promos and Caffandra, 1578: "Good knight, for time do not my fuit foreflow." STEEVENS. make we hence amain.] Inftead of this and the two preceding speeches, we have in the old play the following: "Geo. Then let us hafte to cheare the fouldiers' hearts, "And call them pillers that will stand to us, "And highly promise to remunerate "Their truftie service in these dangerous warres. "Rich. Come, come away, and stand not to debate, "For yet is hope of fortune good enough. "Brothers, give me your handes, and let us part, "And take our leaves untill we meete againe ; "Where ere it be, in heaven or in earth. "Now I that never wept, now melt in woe, "Warwick, farewell." "War. Away, away; once more, fweet lords, farewell." MALONE. SCENE IV. The fame. Another Part of the Field. Excurfions. Enter RICHARD and CLIFFORD. "RICH. NOW, Clifford, I have fingled thee alone:* Suppofe, this arm is for the duke of York, And this for Rutland; both bound to revenge, 'Wert thou environ'd with a brazen wall.3 CLIF. Now, Richard, I am with thee here alone: This is the hand, that ftabb'd thy father York; And this the hand that flew thy brother Rutland; And here's the heart, that triumphs in their death, And cheers these hands, that flew thy fire and brother, To execute the like upon thyself; And fo, have at thee. [They fight. WARWICK enters; CLIFFORD flies. Now, Clifford, I have fingled thee alone: &c.] Thus the folio. The quartos thus : "Now, Clifford, for York and young Rutland's death, "For to revenge the murders thou haft made." 3 Wert thou environ'd with a brazen wall.] So, in the second Thebaid of Statius, v. 453: RICH. Nay, Warwick, fingle out fome other chafe ; For I myself will hunt this wolf to death. SCENE V. [Exeunt. Another Part of the Field. Alarum. Enter King HENRY. *K. HEN. This battle fares like to the morning's war,5 *When dying clouds contend with growing light; Nay, Warwick, &c.] We have had two very fimilar lines in the preceding play, p. 384: "Hold, Warwick, seek thee out some other chace; See p. 102, n.2. MALONE. 5 This battle fares like to the morning's war, &c.] Inftead of this interesting fpeech, the quartos exhibit only the following: "O gracious God of heaven, look down on us, "And fet fome ends to these inceffant griefs! "How like a mastless fhip upon the feas, "This woeful battle doth continue ftill, "Now leaning this way, now to that fide driven, "And none doth know to whom the day will fall. “Oh, would my death might stay these civil* jars! "Would I had never reign'd, nor ne'er been king! Margaret and Clifford chide me from the field, Swearing they had best success when I was thence. "Would God that I were dead, fo all were well; "Or, would my crown fuffice, I were content "To yield it them, and live a private life!" The leading thought in both thefe foliloquies is borrowed from Holinfhed, p. 665 :-" This deadly conflict continued ten hours in doubtful ftate of victorie, uncertainlie heaving and fetting on both fides," &c. The quarto, 1600, printed by W. W. reads---cruel jars. |