* Thy balm wash'd off, wherewith thou wast anointed: No bending knee will call thee Cæfar now, '1 KEEP. Ay, here's a deer whose skin's a keeper's fee: This is the quondam king; let's seize upon him. 6 Thy balm wash'd off,] This is an image very frequent in the works of Shakspeare. So again, in this scene: "I was anointed king." It is common in these plays to find the same images, whether jocular or ferious, frequently recurring. JOHNSON. So, in King Richard II: "Not all the water in the rough rude sea It is obfervable that this line is one of those additions to the original play, which are found in the folio, and not in the quarto. MALONE. This is the quondam king; &c.] Thus the folio. The quartos thus: " Ay, marry, fir, here's a deer; his skin is a "This is the king, king Edward hath depos'd." STEEVENS. Quondam had not in Shakspeare's time uniformly acquired a ludicrous sense. "Make them quondams (says Latimer in one of his Sermons,) out with them, caft them out of their office." And in another place : " He will have every man a quondam, as he is. As for my quondamship I thank God that he gaue me the grace to come by it, by so honeft a meanes as I did; I thanke him for myne owne quondamship, and as for them I will not haue them made quondams, if they discharge their office. I would haue them doe their duety. I would haue no more quondams, as God help me." Fol. 53. Again, in Warner's Albion's England, B. V. ch. 28, 1602: "Not knights alone, but prelates too, and queens whereof were twain, "The quondam & in effe queenes-." HOLT WHITE. * K. HEN. Let me embrace these four adverfities; * For wife men say, it is the wifeft course. *2 KEEP. Why linger we? let us lay hands upon him. * 1 KEEP. Forbear a while; we'll hear a little more. K. HEN. My queen, and son, are gone to France for aid; And, as I hear, the great commanding Warwick * And Lewis a prince foon won with moving words. 8 - these four adversities;] The old copy reads-the fowre adverfaries. STEEVENS. Corrected by Mr. Pope. MALONE. • The tiger will be mild, while she doth mourn;] So, in Othello: "-She will fing the savageness out of a bear." STEEVENS. * And Nero will-) Perhaps we might better read-A Nero will. STEEVENS. * That she, poor wretch, for grief can speak no more: * Whiles Warwick tells his title, smooths the wrong, * Inferreth arguments of mighty strength;2 * And, in conclufion, wins the king from her, * With promise of his fister, and what else, * To ftrengthen and support king Edward's place. * O Margaret, thus 'twill be; and thou, poor foul, * Art then forsaken, as thou went'st forlorn. 2 KEEP. Say, what art thou, that talk'st of kings and queens ? 'K. HEN. More than I seem, and less than I was born to :4 A man at least, for less I should not be ;5 And men may talk of kings, and why not I? 2 KEEP. Ay, but thou talk'st as if thou wert a king. K. HEN. Why, so I am, in mind; and that's ? enough." * Inferreth arguments of mighty strength ;) In the former Act was the fame line: Inferring arguments of mighty force." JOHNSON. This repetition, like many others in these two plays, seems to have arisen from Shakspeare's first copying his original as it lay before him, and afterwards in subsequent passages (added to the old matter) introducing expreffions which had ftruck him in preceding scenes. In the old play the line occurs but once. MALONE. 3 O Margaret, &c.] The piety of Henry scarce interests us more for his misfortunes, than this his conftant folicitude for the welfare of his deceitful Queen. STEEVENS. 4 less than I was born to :) Thus the folio. The quartos thus: for less I should not be. STEEVENS. 5 -for less I should not be ;] Such is the reading of the folio. The quartos thus and more I cannot be. STEEVENS. 6 but thou talkst as if thou wert a king. K. Hen. Why, fo I am, in mind ;) There seems to be an 2 KEEP. But, if thou be a king, where is thy crown? K. HEN. My crown is in my heart, not on my head; * Not deck'd with diamonds, and Indian stones, * Nor to be seen: 'my crown is call'd, content; A crown it is, that seldom kings enjoy. ، 2 KEEP. Well, if you be a king crown'd with content, Your crown content, and you, must be contented To go along with us: for, as we think, • You are the king, king Edward hath depos'd; • And we his fubjects, sworn in all allegiance, • Will apprehend you as his enemy. * K. HEN. But did you never swear, and break an oath? *2 KEEP. No, never fuch an oath, nor will not now. * K. HEN. Where did you dwell, when I was king of England? * 2 KEEP. Here in this country, where we now remain. * K. HEN. I was anointed king at nine months old; allusion to a line in an old fong, (quoted in Every Man out of his Humour) : " My mind to me a kingdom is." MALONE. See Dr. Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, 3d edit. Vol. I. p. 293. STEEVENS. 7 - and that's enough.] So the folio. The quartos thus : -though not in show." STEEVENS. * And we his fubjects, &c.] So the folio. The quartos thus: " And therefore we charge you in God's name, and the king's, "To go along with us unto the officers." STEEVENS. * My father and my grandfather, were kings; * And you were sworn true subjects unto me: * And, tell me then, have you not broke your oaths? * 1 ΚΕΕΡ. No; For we were fubjects, but while you were king. * K. HEN. Why, am I dead? do I not breathe a man? * Ah, simple men, you know not what you swear. * Look, as I blow this feather from my face, * And as the air blows it to me again, * Obeying with my wind when I do blow, And yielding to another when it blows, * Commanded always by the greater guft; * Such is the lightness of you common men. * But do not break your oaths; for, of that fin * My mild entreaty shall not make you guilty. * Go where you will, the king shall be com manded; * And be you kings; command, and I'll obey. * 1 KEEP. We are true subjects to the king, king Edward. * K. HEN. SO would you be again to Henry, * If he were seated as king Edward is. 1 KEEP. We charge you, in God's name, and in the king's,' To go with us unto the officers. • Look, as I blow this feather from my face, And as the air blows it to me again, &c.] So, in The Winter's Tale: r "I am a feather for each wind that blows." MALONE. --and in the king's,] The preposition-in, which is wanting in the old copy, I have supplied for the fake of metre. STEEVENS. |