K. Rich. But didst thou see them dead? Tyr. I did, my lord. K. Rich. And buried, gentle Tyrrel? Tyr. The chaplain of the Tower hath buried them; But where, to say the truth, I do not know. K. Rich. Come to me, Tyrrel, soon, at after supper, When thou shalt tell the process of their death. Mean time, but think how I may do thee good, And be inheritor of thy desire. Farewell, till then. Tyr. I humbly take my leave. [Exit. K. Rich. The son of Clarence have I pen'd up close; His daughter meanly have I match'd in marriage; Cate. My lord, Enter CATESBY. K. Rich. Good news or bad, that thou com'st in so bluntly? Cate. Bad news, my lord: Morton is fled to Richmond; And Buckingham, back'd with the hardy Welshmen, Is in the field, and still his power encreaseth. K. Rich. Ely with Richmond troubles me more near, Than Buckingham and his rash-levied strength. 8 the Bretagne Richmond-] He thus denominates Richmond, because after the battle of Tewksbury he had taken refuge in the court of Francis II. Duke of Bretagne, where by the procurement of King Edward IV. he was kept a long time in a kind of honourable custody. Come,-I have learn'd, that fearful commenting Delay leads impotent and snail-pac'd beggary: Jove's Mercury, and herald for a king! SCENE IV. The same. Before the Palace. Enter Queen Margaret. [Exeunt. Q. Mar. So, now prosperity begins to mellow, And will to France; hoping, the consequence Withdraw thee, wretched Margaret! who comes here? Enter Queen ELIZABETH and the Duchess of YORK. Q. Eliz. Ah, my poor princes! ah, my tender babes! My unblown flowers, new-appearing sweets! And be not fix'd in doom perpetual, fearful commenting Is leaden servitor-] Timorous thought and cautious disquisition are the dull attendants on delay. 1 dire induction-] Induction is preface, introduction, first part. It is so used by Sackville in our author's time. And hear your mother's lamentation! Q.Mar. Hover about her; say, that right for right2 Hath dimm'd your infant morn to aged night. miseries have craz'd my voice, Duch. So many miseries have craz'd That my woe-wearied tongue is still and mute,- Q. Mar. Plantagenet doth quit Plantagenet, Q. Eliz. Wilt thou, O God, fly from such gentle lambs, And throw them in the entrails of the wolf? ghost, Woe's scene, world's shame, grave's due by life usurp'd, Brief abstract and record of tedious days, [Sitting down. Unlawfully made drunk with innocent blood! Q. Eliz. Ah, that thou would'st as soon afford a grave, As thou canst yield a melancholy seat; Then would I hide my bones, not rest them here! Ah, who hath any cause to mourn, but we? [Sitting down by her. Q. Mar. If ancient sorrow be most reverent, Give mine the benefit of seniory,* 2say, that right for right] Margaret now perhaps means to say, The right of me, an injured mother, whose son was slain at Tewksbury, has now operated as powerfully as that right which the death of Rutland gave you to divine justice, and has destroyed your children in their turn. When didst thou sleep, &c.] That is, When, before the present occasion, didst thou ever sleep during the commission of such an action? seniory,] For seniority. JOHNSON. And let my griefs frown on the upper hand. [Sitting down with them. Tell o'er your woes again by viewing mine:I had an Edward, till a Richard kill'd him; I had a husband, till a Richard kill'd him: Thou hadst an Edward, till a Richard kill'd him; Thou hadst a Richard, till a Richard kill'd him. Duch. I had a Richard too, and thou didst kill him; I had a Rutland too, thou holp'st to kill him. Q. Mar. Thou hadst a Clarence too, and Richard From forth the kennel of thy womb hath crept Q. Mar. Bear with me; I am hungry for revenge, And now I cloy me with beholding it. 6 Thy Edward he is dead, that kill'd my Edward; her pew-fellow -] Pew-fellow seems to be companion. "Young York he is but boot,] Boot is that which is thrown in to mend a purchase. And the beholders of this tragick play, Earth gapes, hell burns, fiends roar, saints pray, Q. Eliz. O, thou didst prophecy, the time would come, That I should wish for thee to help me curse I call'd thee then, poor shadow, painted queen; The flattering index of a direful pageant,? 7 The flattering index of a direful pageant,] Pageants are dumb shows, and the poet meant to allude to one of these, the index of which promised a happier conclusion. The pageants then displayed on publick occasions were generally preceded by a brief account of the order in which the characters were to walk. These indexes were distributed among the spectators, that they might understand the meaning of such allegorical stuff as was usually exhibited. The index of every book was anciently placed before the beginning of it. a garish flag, To be the aim of every dangerous shot;] Alluding to the dangerous situation of those persons to whose care the standards of armies were entrusted. STEEVENS. |