Norf. We'll all assist you; he, that flies, shall die. York. Thanks, gentle Norfolk,-Stay by me, my lords ; And, soldiers, stay, and lodge by me this night. War. And, when the king comes, offer him no vio lence, Unless he seek to thrust you out by force. [They retire. * York. The queen, this day, here holds her parliament, *But little thinks we shall be of her council: * By words, or blows, here let us win our right. Rich. Arm'd as we are, let's stay within this house. War. The bloody parliament shall this be call'd, Unless Plantagenet, duke of York, be king; And bashful Henry depos'd, whose cowardice Hath made us by-words to our enemies. • York. Then leave me not, my lords; be resolute; I mean to take possession of my right. War. Neither the king, nor he that loves him best, The proudest he that holds up Lancaster, Dares stir a wing, if Warwick shake his bells." 'I'll plant Plantagenet, root him up who dares :Resolve thee, Richard; claim the English crown. Flourish. [WAR. leads YORK to the Throne, who seats himself. Enter King HENRY, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBERLAND, WESTMORELAND, EXETER, and Others, with red Roses in their Hats. K. Hen. My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits, Even in the chair of state! belike, he means, (Back'd by the power of Warwick, that false peer,) To aspire unto the crown, and reign as king.Earl of Northumberland, he slew thy father;And thine, lord Clifford; and you both have vow'd revenge On him, his sons, his favourites, and his friends. 5 North. If I be not, heavens, be reveng'd on me! Clif. The hope thereof makes Clifford mourn in steel. West. What, shall we suffer this? let's pluck him down: if Warwick shake his bells.] The allusion is to falconry. The hawks had sometimes little bells hung upon them, perhaps to dare the birds; that is, to fright them from rising. Johnson. My heart for anger burns, I cannot brook it. K. Hen. Be patient, gentle earl of Westmoreland. Clif. Patience is for poltroons, and such as he :6 He durst not sit there, had your father liv'd. My gracious lord, here in the parliament Let us assail the family of York. North. Well hast thou spoken, cousin; be it so. K. Hen. Ah, know you not, the city favours them, And they have troops of soldiers at their beck? Exe. But, when the duke is slain, they'll quickly fly." K. Hen. Far be the thought of this from Henry's heart, To make a shambles of the parliament-house! Cousin of Exeter, frowns, words, and threats, Shall be the war that Henry means to use.— [They advance to the Duke. Thou factious duke of York, descend my throne, And kneel for grace and mercy at my feet; I am thy sovereign. 8 Thou art deceiv'd, I am thine. Exe. For shame, come down; he made thee duke of York. York. 'Twas my inheritance, as the earldom was.9 War. Exeter, thou art a traitor to the crown, In following this usurping Henry. 6 and such as he:] Thus the second folio. The first folio and the quartos omit-and. Steevens. 7 Exe. But, when &c.] This line is by the mistake of the compositor given to Westmoreland. The king's answer shows that it be. longs to Exeter, to whom it is assigned in the old play. Malone. 8 Thou art deceiv'd,] These words, which are not in the folio, were restored from the old play. The defect of the metre in the folio, makes it probable that they were accidentally omitted. The measure is, however, still faulty. Malone. 9 — as the earldom was.] Thus the folio. The quarto, 1600, and that without date, read-as the kingdom is. Steevens. York means, I suppose, that the dukedom of York was his inheritance from his father, as the earldom of March was his inheritance from his mother, Anne Mortimer, the wife of the Earl of Cambridge; and by naming the earldom, he covertly asserts his right to the crown; for his title to the crown was not as Duke of York, but Earl of March. In the original play the line stands [as quoted by Mr. Steevens;] and why Shakspeare altered it, it is not easy to say; for the new line only exhibits the same meaning more obscurely. Malone. Clif. Whom should he follow, but his natural king? War. True, Clifford; and that 's Richard,1 duke of York. ‹ K. Hen. And shall I stand, and thou sit in my throne? York. It must and shall be so. Content thyself. War. Be duke of Lancaster, let him be king. West. He is both king and duke of Lancaster; And that the lord of Westmoreland shall maintain. War. And Warwick shall disprove it. You forget, That we are those, which chas'd you from the field, And slew your fathers, and with colours spread March'd through the city to the palace gates. 'North. Yes, Warwick, I remember it to my grief; And, by his soul, thou and thy house shall rue it. West. Plantagenet, of thee, and these thy sons, Thy kinsmen, and thy friends, I'll have more lives, Than drops of blood were in my father's veins. Clif. Ürge it no more; lest that, instead of words, I send thee, Warwick, such a messenger, As shall revenge his death, before I stir. War. Poor Clifford! how I scorn his worthless threats! York. Will you, we show our title to the crown? 'If not, our swords shall plead it in the field. K. Hen. What title hast thou, traitor, to the crown? Who made the Dauphin and the French to stoop, War. Talk not of France, sith thou hast lost it all. and that's Richard,] The word and, which was accidentally omitted in the first folio, is found in the old play. Malone. 2 Thy father was, as thou art, duke of York;] This is a mistake, into which Shakspeare was led by the author of the old play. The father of Richard Duke of York was Earl of Cambridge, and was never Duke of York, being beheaded in the life-time of his elder brother Edward Duke of York, who fell in the battle of Agincourt. The folio, by an evident error of the press, readsMy father. The true reading was furnished by the old play. Malone. reputation of The name of Johnson. 3 I am the son of Henry the fifth,] The military Henry the Fifth is the sole support of his son. Henry the Fifth dispersed the followers of Cade. sith-i. e. since. So, in Measure for Measure: "Sith 'twas my fault to give the people scope." Steevens. K. Hen. The lord protector lost it, and not I; Father, tear the crown from the usurper's head. Let's fight it out, and not stand cavilling thus. Rich. Sound drums and trumpets, and the king will fly. York. Sons, peace! K. Hen. Peace thou! and give king Henry leave to speak. War. Plantagenet shall speak first:-hear him, lords; And be you silent and attentive too, For he, that interrupts him, shall not live. K. Hen. Think'st thou, that I will leave my kingly Wherein my grandsire, and my father, sat? War. But prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king." K. Hen. Henry the fourth by conquest got the crown. York. 'Twas by rebellion against his king. K. Hen. I know not what to say; my title's weak. Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir? York. What then? ‹ K. Hen. An if he may, then am I lawful king: 5 Think'st thou, &c.] The old play here exhibits four lines that are not in the folio. They could not have proceeded from the imagination of the transcriber, and therefore they must be added to the many other circumstances that have been already urged, to show that these plays were not originally the production of Shakspeare: "Ah Plantagenet, why seek'st thou to depose me? 6 But prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king.] Thus the second folio. The first omits the necessary word-But. Steevens. For Richard, in the view of many lords, Resign'd the crown to Henry the fourth; Whose heir my father was, and I am his. York. He rose against him, being his sovereign, And made him to resign his crown perforce. War. Suppose, my lords, he did it unconstrain'd, Think you, 'twere prejudicial to his crown!7 Exe. No; for he could not so resign his crown, But that the next heir should succeed and reign. K. Hen. Art thou against us, duke of Exeter? Exe. His is the right, and therefore pardon me. * York. Why whisper you, my lords, and answer not? Exe. My conscience tells me, he is lawful king. K. Hen. All will revolt from me, and turn to him. North. Plantagenet, for all the claim thou layʼst, Think not, that Henry shall be so depos'd. • War. Depos'd he shall be, in despite of all. North. Thou art deceiv'd: 'tis not thy southern power, 'Of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, nor of Kent,— Which makes thee thus presumptuous and proud, Can set the duke up, in despite of me. Clif. King Henry, be thy title right or wrong, heart! Lord Clifford vows to fight in thy defence: 7 Think you, 'twere prejudicial to his crown?] The phrase prejudicial to the crown, if it be right, must mean, detrimental to the general rights of hereditary royalty; but I rather think that the transcriber's eye caught crown from the line below, and that we should read—prejudicial to his son, to his next heir. Johnson. Dr. Percy observes on Dr. Johnson's note, that son could not have been the right word, as Richard the Second had no issue; and our author would hardly have used it simply for heir general. Prejudicial to the crown, is right, i. e. to the prerogative of the crown. Steevens. 8 May that ground gape, and swallow me alive,] So, in Phaer's translation of the fourth Æneid: "But rather would I wish the ground to gape for me below." Steevens. |