Enter CATESBY.

Cates. Madam, his majesty doth call for you,

And for your grace, and you, my noble lords.

Q. Eliz. Catesby, we come. Lords, will you go with us?

320

Riv. We wait upon your grace. [Exeunt all but Gloucester. Glou. I do the wrong, and first begin to brawl:

The secret mischiefs that I set abroach

325

I lay unto the grievous charge of others.

Clarence, whom I indeed have cast in darkness,

I do beweep to many simple gulls,

Namely to Derby, Hastings, Buckingham,

And tell them 'tis the queen and her allies

330

That stir the king against the duke my brother.
Now they believe it, and withal whet me
To be reveng'd on Rivers, Vaughan, Grey:
But then I sigh, and, with a piece of Scripture,
Tell them that God bids us do good for evil;
And thus I clothe my naked villainy
With odd old ends stolen forth of Holy Writ,
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.

335

Enter Catesby.] Ff; omitted Qq. 321. your grace] Qq 1, 2, Ff; your noble grace, Qq 3-8. you. lords.] Capell; you my noble Lo: Qq 1, 2; you my noble Lord Qq 3-6; yours my gracious Lord Ff.

.

mee Ff.

323. We] Ff; Madam we Qq.

327.

322. we.. us] Qq; I wait upon] Ff; will attend Qq. 324. begin] Ff; began Qq. 325. mischiefs] mischiefe Qq 3-8. whom] who F 1. cast] Ff; laid Qq. 329. Derby, Hastings] Ff; Hastings, Darby Qq. 330. tell them 'tis] Ff; say it is Qq 1-7. 332. it] Ff; me Qq. 333. Vaughan] Qq; Dorset Ff. 334. I] omitted Qq 3, 5-8. 337. odd old] odde old Ff; old odde (or od) Qq. forth] Ff; out Qq.

band." "Old ends" occurs Much
Ado About Nothing, 1. i. 290, and
Jonson, Volpone, 1607, pro. 23:
"Nor
hales he in a gull old ends reciting."
Milton has "odd ends," Apology for
Smectymnuus, 1642 (Prose Works, ed.
St. John, iii. 110): "His odd ends,
which from some penurious book of
characters he had been culling out and
would fain apply." "Ends" are tags,
commonplace quotations, as in East-
ward Ho, ii. 1, where Touchstone
rebukes his dissolute apprentice, " Well
said, change your gold-ends for play-
ends."

Enter two Murderers.

But soft! here come my executioners.

How now, my hardy, stout, resolved mates!

Are you now going to despatch this thing?

340

First Murd. We are, my lord; and come to have the warrant,

That we may be admitted where he is.

Glou. Well thought upon! I have it here about me.

[Gives the warrant.

345

When you have done, repair to Crosby Place.

But, sirs, be sudden in the execution,

Withal obdurate: do not hear him plead;

For Clarence is well-spoken, and perhaps

May move your hearts to pity, if you mark him.

First Murd. Tut, tut, my lord, we will not stand to prate. 350 Talkers are no good doers: be assur'd

We go to use our hands, and not our tongues.

Glou. Your eyes drop mill-stones, when fools' eyes fall tears;
I like you, lads: about your business straight!
Go, go, dispatch!

First Murd.

We will, my noble lord. [Exeunt. 355

Enter two Murderers] Ff (murtherers); Enter Executioners. Qq (aft. 339). 339. come] QI, Ff; comes Qq 2-8. 341. you now] Qq 1, 2, Ff; ye now Qq 3-5; ye not Q6; you not Qq 7, 8. thing] Ff; deed Qq. Murd.] 1. M. Capell; Execu. Qq [var.]; Vil. Ff (and 355). It was well Qq. Gives the warrant.] Capell. 350. feare not Qq; Fear not Pope. 352. go] Ff; come Qq. 354. straight] Ff; omitted Qq. 355. Go, go. Exeunt] Qq [aft. 354]; omitted Ff.

Qq.

Qq.

346. sudden] hasty, immediate. Chapman (?), Alphonsus, act v., has "Be therefore sudden lest we die ourselves "; and, almost a repetition of the present line, "I will be sudden in the execution." Compare below, IV. ii. 19. 348. well-spoken] Compare Chapman, All Fools, act i.:—

"I know he is well-spoken, and may much prevail

In satisfying my father." In Beaumont and Fletcher, WomanHater, v. 1, one of the intelligencers says of Lucio: "He's excellently spoken."

351. Talkers are no good doers] Probably proverbial. Mr. Craig found

66

342, 350. First 344. Well] Ff; Tut, tut] Ff; Tush 353. fall] Ff; drop lord.] Ff; omitted

Talking pays no toll" in Grose's collection of proverbs.

353. mill-stones] The expression was proverbial: see Troilus and Cressida, i. ii. 158. Steevens quotes Cæsar and Pompey, 1607: " Men's eyes must millstones drop, when fools shed tears"; and (on 1. iv. 239 below) Massinger, City Madam, 1632, iv. 3 :—

"He, good gentleman,

Will weep when he hears how we are used.

I Serj. Yes, mill-stones." fall tears] let tears fall. Compare stage-direction in Ff, 1. ii. 182 above: "She fals the Sword"; Measure for Measure, II. i. 6.

Enter CLARENCE and BRAKENBURY.

Brak. Why looks your grace so heavily to-day?
Clar. O, I have pass'd a miserable night,

So full of fearful dreams, of ugly sights,
That, as I am a Christian faithful man,
I would not spend another such a night,

Though 'twere to buy a world of happy days,

So full of dismal terror was the time!

Brak. What was your dream, my lord? I pray you tell me.
Clar. Methoughts that I had broken from the Tower,

And was embark'd to cross to Burgundy,
And, in my company, my brother Gloucester,

8. my lord.

...

5

ΙΟ

SCENE IV.] SCENE V. Pope. Brakenbury] Brokenbury. Qq; Keeper. Ff. 1. Brak.] Brok. Qq; Keep. Ff. (and 34, 42, 64, 75). 3. fearful. sights] Ff; vgly sights, of gastly dreames Qq. tell me] Ff; I long to heare you tell it Qq. 9. Methoughts] Me thought Qq 4-8. 9, 10. that I Burgundy] Ff; I was imbarkt for Burgundy Qq.

...

Brakenbury] In Ff Brakenbury does not enter till after line 75, and his part in the dialogue is assigned to a keeper. Possibly, in the original draft of the play, Brakenbury and the keeper were distinct persons, but were united for acting purposes, and so appeared in Qq as one. The editor of F I perhaps restored the double part from his MS. Spedding explained the absence of "Exit Keeper" at line 75 in Ff as an "error of press or pen, the context showing conclusively that the 'keeper' is supposed to retire on the entrance of his chief." The part of the keeper, however, is not necessary. Clarence is more likely to have told his story to Brakenbury than to a casual warder; and he might apply the term "keeper," as altered by Ff in lines 66, 73, to the Lieutenant of the Tower, in whose custody he was.

9. Methoughts] A corrupt form, evidently "on the false analogy of 'methinks'" (Aldis Wright). In line 18 below, all the printed copies read "me thought." In line 58, QI alone reads "me thoughts," which the present editor has adopted in harmony with this passage. The form occurs in

Winter's Tale, 1. ii. 154, and Merchant of Venice, 1. iii. 70 (Q 2 and Ff, not Q 1).

In

10. Burgundy] i.e. the Netherlands, part of the domains of the Valois Dukes of Burgundy. The princes of the house of York found a natural shelter in these provinces. After Wakefield, Clarence, then a child, resided under Burgundian_protection in the episcopal city of Utrecht. 1468, his sister Margaret became the second wife of Charles the Bold, last duke of his line. Edward IV., in 1470, took refuge in Holland from the coalition of Warwick and Clarence with Queen Margaret. Clarence had been a suitor for the hand of Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold by his first wife, and heiress of his duchy. Edward IV. put his veto on Clarence's suit; this being one of the causes of discontent that led to the imprisonment of Clarence. The year before Clarence was murdered, Burgundy proper was seized by Louis XI. of France, after the death of Charles the Bold; and the dominions of the Duchess were restricted to the Netherlands and the County of Burgundy (Franche Comté).

Who from my cabin tempted me to walk

Upon the hatches: thence we look'd toward England,
And cited up a thousand heavy times,

During the wars of York and Lancaster

That had befall'n us. As we pac'd along

Upon the giddy footing of the hatches,

Methought that Gloucester stumbled, and, in falling,
Struck me, that thought to stay him, overboard,
Into the tumbling billows of the main.

Lord, Lord! methought what pain it was to drown!
What dreadful noise of waters in mine ears!
What ugly sights of death within mine eyes!
Methoughts I saw a thousand fearful wracks,
A thousand men that fishes gnaw'd upon,
Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,
Inestimable stones, unvalu'd jewels,

15

20

25

All scatter'd in the bottom of the sea.

Some lay in dead men's skulls; and, in the holes

Where eyes did once inhabit, there were crept,

30

As 'twere in scorn of eyes, reflecting gems,

That woo'd the slimy bottom of the deep,

And mock'd the dead bones that lay scatter'd by.
Brak. Had you such leisure in the time of death
To gaze upon these secrets of the deep?
Clar. Methought I had: and often did I strive

35

16.

21.

22, 23.

13. thence] Qq 1-5; there Qq 6-8, Ff. 14. heavy] Ff; fearefull Qq. pac'd] Ff; pact Q 1; past Qq 2-8. 18. falling] Ff; stumbling Qq. Lord, Lord] Qq; O Lord Ff. 22. waters] Qq 1-5; water Qq 6-8, Ff. mine ... mine] my my QI. 23. ugly sights of] Qq; sights of ugly Ff. 24. Methoughts] Ff; Methought Qq. 25. A thousand] Ff; Ten thousand Qq. 28. All... sea] Ff; omitted Qq. 29. the holes] Ff; those holes Qq. That] Ff; Which Qq. 35. these] Ff; the Qq. 36, 37. and often. Ff; omitted Qq.

32.

ghost]

the phrase in accordance with the act of 3 James I. c. 21, To restraine the abuses of Players."

66

26. anchors] Aldis Wright mentions a conjectural emendation to ingots." 27. unvalu'd] invaluable, as Marlowe, 1 Tamburlaine, c. 1587, i. 2, "this success and loss unvalued." Unparagon'd" is used for "incomparable " in Cymbeline, 1. iv. 87; 11. ii. 17. See note on I. ii. 39 above.

To yield the ghost; but still the envious flood
Stopt in my soul, and would not let it forth
To find the empty, vast, and wandering air,
But smother'd it within my panting bulk,
Which almost burst to belch it in the sea.
Brak. Awak'd you not in this sore agony?
Clar. No, no, my dream was lengthen'd after life:
O, then began the tempest to my soul,
Who pass'd, methought, the melancholy flood,
With that sour ferryman which poets write of,
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.
The first that there did greet my stranger-soul
Was my great father-in-law, renowned Warwick,
Who spake aloud, "What scourge for perjury
Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence?"
And so he vanish'd: then came wandering by
A shadow like an angel, with bright hair
Dabbled in blood; and he squeak'd out aloud,

Ff.

40

45

50

39. find] Ff; seeke emptie vast and Qq 1, 42. in] Ff; with 46. sour] Ff; grim

37. but] Ff; for Qq. 38. Stopt] Stop'd Ff; Kept Qq. Qq 1, 2; keepe Qq 3-8. empty, vast, and] Qq 2, 6-8, Ff; 3-5; empty vast, and Malone. 41. Which] Qq; Who Qq. 43. No, no] Ff; O no Qq. 45. WholQq; I Ff. Qq. 49. renowned] renowmed Qq 1-5. 50. spake] Ff; cried Qq. with] Ff; in Qq. 54. squeak'd] squeakt Qq 2-8; squakt Q 1; shriek'd Ff.

37. envious] malicious. Compare 3 Henry VI. I. ii. 157, where the envy or malice of Nature is transferred to the defect which it causes.

66

39. empty, vast] Malone suggested that "empty vast' means "immense vacuity," like Tennyson's "illimitable inane" in Lucretius, line 40. Shakespeare uses vast as a substantive in the plays of his later and middle life, see Hamlet, 1. ii. 198; Winter's Tale, 1. i. 33; Tempest, 1. ii. 327. In his earlier plays it is an adjective, as King John, IV. iii. 152. However, Lodge, Wounds of Civil War, printed 1594, but probably written some years earlier, has (act i.): "Whose vows have pierc'd and search'd the deepest vast," and (act ii.):

"Those fatal fears

That dwell below amidst the dreadful vast."

Compare Tennyson, In Memoriam, 1850, epilogue, st. 31 :—

53.

"A soul shall draw from out the vast

And strike his being into bounds.” 40. bulk] the frame of the body, as Hamlet, 11. i. 95. Compare first part of Jeronimo (Dodsley, 1825, iii. 60):

"I have a mischief

Within my breast, more than my

bulk can hold."

Chapman (?), Alphonsus, act iv.: "Still looking when his poison'd bulk would break."

45. Who pass'd] Ff break up the sentence too much; and Qq have the better reading. In line 41 above there is nothing to choose between the readings.

45, 46. Compare the speech of Andrea's ghost at the beginning of Kyd, Spanish Tragedy, act i. :—

"When I was slain, my soul de-
scended straight

To pass the flowing stream of
Acheron," etc.

54. squeak'd] "Squeak," applied to