But, in the midst of this bright-shining day,
I spy a black, suspicious, threat'ning cloud,
That will encounter with our glorious sun,
Ere he attain his easeful western bed:

'I mean, my lords, those powers,5 that the queen
'Hath rais'd in Gallia, have arriv'd our coast,6
'And, as we hear, march on to fight with us.

*Clar. A little gale will soon disperse that cloud,
*And blow it to the source from whence it came:
* Thy very beams will dry those vapours up;
*For every cloud engenders not a storm.

*Glo. The queen is valu'd thirty thousand strong, 'And Somerset, with Oxford, fled to her; If she have time to breathe, be well assur'd, Her faction will be full as strong as ours.

K. Edw. We are advértis'd by our loving friends, That they do hold their course toward Tewksbury; We, having now the best at Barnet field,

Will thither straight, For willingness rids way; And, as we march, our strength will be augmentet! In every county as we go along.

"Thus still our fortune gives us victory,

"And girts our temples with triumphant joys.

"The big-bon'd traitor Warwick hath breath'd his last, "And heaven this day hath smil'd upon us all." Steevens. It is observable, that the expression which Shakspeare had substituted for "temples engirt with triumphant joys," occurs again In King Richard 111:

"Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths, Again, in his Rape of Lucrece:

"Made glorious by his manly chivalry,

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"With bruised arms, and wreaths of victory." Malone.

5 I mean, my lords,—those powers, &c.] Thus the folio. The old play thus:

"I meane those powers which the queen hath got in France, "Are landed, and meane once more to menace us." Malone.

6 have arriv'd our coast,] So, in Coriolanus:

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and now, arriving

"A place of potency, —.”

Again, in Julius Cæsar :

"But ere we could arrive the point propos'd, -." Milton uses the same structure, Paradise Lost, B. II:

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ere he arrive

"The happy isle." Steevens.

Strike up the drum; cry-Courage! and away.7

SCENE IV.

Plains near Tewksbury.

[Exeunt.

March. Enter Queen MARGARET, Prince EDWARD, SOMERSET, OXFORD, and Soldiers.

8

* Q. Mar. Great lords, wise men ne'er sit and wail their loss,

* But cheerly seek how to redress their harms.
• What though the mast be now blown over-board,
The cable broke, the holding anchor lost,
And half our sailors swallow'd in the flood?
Yet lives our pilot still: Is 't meet, that he
< Should leave the helm, and, like a fearful lad,
* With tearful eyes add water to the sea,

7 Strike up the drum; cry-Courage! and away.] Thus the folio. The quartos have the following couplet:

"Come, let's go;

"For if we slack this faire bright summer's day,

"Sharp winter's showers will mar our hope for haie." Something like this has occurred in p. 402. Steevens.

8 Great lords, &c.] This speech in the old play stands thus: Queen. Welcome to England, my loving friends of

France,

"And welcome, Somerset and Oxford too.
"Once more have we spread our sails abroad;
"And though our tackling be almost consumde,
"And Warwick as our maine-mast overthrowne,
"Yet, warlike lordes, raise you that sturdie post
"That bears the sailes to bring us unto rest.
"And Ned and I, as willing pilots should,

"For once, with careful mindes, guide on the sterne,
"To beare us through that dangerous gulfe,

"That heretofore hath swallowed up our friends."

There is perhaps no speech that proves more decisively than the above, that The First Part of the Contention of the two Houses of Yorke and Lancaster, &c. and The true Tragedie of the Duke of Yorke, &c. printed in 1600, were the production of some writer who preceded Shakspeare; and that what are now called The Second and Third Parts of King Henry VI, were only a revisal and amplification of those pieces.

Here we have a thought which in the original play is expressed in eleven lines, expanded by our author into thirty-seven lines. Malone.

And give more strength to that which hath too much;" Whiles, in his moan, the ship splits on the rock, * Which industry and courage might have sav'd? * Ah, what a shame! ah, what a fault were this! Say, Warwick was our anchor; What of that? •And Montague our top-mast; What of him? 'Our slaughter'd friends the tackles; What of these? Why, is not Oxford here another anchor? 'And Somerset another goodly mast?

The friends of France our shrouds and tacklings? 'And, though unskilful, why not Ned and I For once allow'd the skilful pilot's charge?

'We will not from the helm, to sit and weep;

* But keep our course, though the rough wind say-no, * From shelves and rocks that threaten us with wreck. * As good to chide the waves, as speak them fair.

* And what is Edward, but a ruthless sea?

* What Clarence, but a quicksand of deceit?
* And Richard, but a ragged fatal rock?
All these the enemies to our poor bark.

* Say, you can swim; alas 'tis but a while :

Tread on the sand; why, there you quickly sink: * Bestride the rock; the tide will wash you off, * Or else you famish, that 's a threefold death. *This speak I, lords, to let you understand,

In case some one of you would fly from us, *That there's no hop'd-for mercy with the brothers, * More than with ruthless waves, with sands, and rocks.

9 With tearful eyes add water to the sea,

And give more strength to that which hath too much;] See note on As you Like it, Vol. V, p. 36, n. 1.

So, in our author's Lover's Complaint:

Reed.

"Upon whose weeping margent she was set,
"Like usury, applying wet to wet."

Again, in As you Like it:

Thou mak'st a testament

"As worldlings do, giving the sum of more
"To that which hath too much."

Again, in Romeo and Juliet:

"With tears augmenting the fresh morning dew."

So also, Spenser, in his Shepherd's Calendar, 1579:

"Thou, plenteous spring, hast lull'd me oft asleep,

"Whose streames my trickling tears did oft augment." Of this thought, which we see Shakspeare has so often expressed, there is no trace in the old play. See note 8. Malone.

*Why, courage, then! what cannot be avoided, *Twere childish weakness to lament, or fear.

* Prince. Methinks, a woman1 of this valiant spirit * Should, if a coward heard her speak these words, *Infuse his breast with magnanimity,

* And make him, naked, foil a man at arms.
'I speak not this, as doubting any here:
< For, did I but suspect a fearful man,
'He should have leave to go away betimes;
'Lest, in our need, he might infect another,
'And make him of like spirit to himself.

If any such be here, as God forbid !

Let him depart, before we need his help.

Oxf. Women and children of so high a courage! And warriors faint! why, 'twere perpetual shame.'O, brave young prince! thy famous grandfather Doth live again in thee; Long may'st thou live, To bear his image, and renew his glories!

Som. And he, that will not fight for such a hope, Go home to bed, and, like the owl by day,

If he arise, be mock'd and wonder'd at.2

* Q. Mar. Thanks, gentle Somerset ;-sweet Oxford,

thanks.

*Prince. And take his thanks, that yet hath nothing else.

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. Prepare you, lords,3 for Edward is at hand,

1 Methinks, a woman &c.] In this speech there is much and important variation in the quarto:

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"Prince. And if there be (as God forbid there should)

'Mongst us a timorous or fearful man,

"Let him depart before the battles join;

"Lest he in time of need entice another,

"And so withdraw the soldiers' hearts from us.

"I will not stand aloof, and bid you fight,

"But with my sword press in the thickest throngs,
"And single Edward from his strongest guard,

"And hand to hand enforce him for to yield,

"Or leave my body, as witness of my thoughts." Steevens, Our author has availed himself of these lines in former scenes

2 If he arise, be mock'd and wonder'd at.] So, the folio. The old play thus:

"Be hiss'd, and wonder'd at, if he arise." Malone.

Ready to fight; therefore be resolute.

Oxf. I thought no less: it is his policy, To haste thus fast, to find us unprovided.

Som. But he's deceiv'd, we are in readiness.

Q. Mar. This cheers my heart, to see your forward

ness.

Oxf. Here pitch our battle, hence we will not budge, March, Enter at a distance King EDWARD, CLARENCE, GLOSTER, and Forces.

'K. Edw. Brave followers, yonder stands the thorny wood,

Which, by the heavens' assistance, and your strength, Must by the roots be hewn up yet ere night.

* I need not add more fuel to your fire,

* For, well I wot, ye blaze to burn them out:

* Give signal to the fight, and to it, lords.

Q. Mar. Lords, knights, and gentlemen, what I should say,

My tears gainsay; for every word I speak,
Ye see, I drink the water of mine eyes.

3 Prepare you, lords, &c.] In the old play these speeches stand

thus:

"Mess. My lordes, duke Edward with a mightie power "Is marching hitherward to fight with you.

"Oxf. I thought it was his policy to take us unprovided, "But here will we stand, and fight it to the death."

Malone.

4 K. Edw. Brave followers, &c.] This scene is ill-contrived, in which the King and Queen appear at once on the stage at the head of opposite armies. It had been easy to make one retire before the other entered. Johnson.

5 My tears gainsay;] To gainsay is to unsay, to deny, to contradict. So, in A Knack to Know a Knave, 1594:

6 Ye see, I drink the water of mine eyes.] This phrase is scriptural: "Thou feedest them with the bread of tears, and givest them tears to drink." Psalm lxxxv, 5. Steevens.

So, in our author's Venus and Adonis:

“Dost thou drink tears, that thou provok'st such weeping?" These passages were probably recollected by Rowe, when he wrote in his Jane Shore:

"Feed on my sighs, and drink my falling tears." So also, Pope, in the Epistle from Eloisa to Abelard : "And drink the falling tears each other shed."