Boling. Duch. Speak, pardon, as 'tis current in our land; Boling. Good aunt, stand up. With all my heart A god on earth thou art. Boling. But for our trusty brother-in-law,3—and the abbot,* With all the rest of that consorted crew,- new. [Exeunt. 1 Thus "chopping churches" is changing one church for another, and chopping logic is discoursing or interchanging logic with another. To chop and change is still a common idiom. 2 The old copies read, "I pardon him with all my heart." The transposition was made by Pope. 3 The brother-in-law meant was John duke of Exeter and earl of Huntingdon (own brother to Edward II.), who had married the lady Elizabeth, Bolingbroke's sister. 4 i. e. the abbot of Westminster. 5 Too, which is not in the old copies, was added by Theobald for the sake of the metre. SCENE IV. Enter EXTON and a Servant. Exton. Didst thou not mark the king, what words he spake? Have I no friend will rid me of this living fear? Serv. Those were his very words. Exton. Have I no friend? quoth he; he spake it twice, And urged it twice together; did he not? Serv. He did. Exton. And, speaking it, he wistfully looked on me; As who should say,-I would thou wert the man That would divorce this terror from my heart; Meaning, the king at Pomfret. Come, let's go; I am the king's friend, and will rid1 his foe. [Exeunt. SCENE V. Pomfret. The Dungeon of the Castle. Enter KING RICHARD. K. Rich. I have been studying how I may compare This prison, where I live, unto the world; And, for because the world is populous, And here is not a creature but myself, I cannot do it ;—yet I'll hammer it out. My brain I'll prove the female to my soul; My soul, the father; and these two beget A generation of still-breeding thoughts, And these same thoughts people this little world; 2 In humors, like the people of this world, 2 i. e. his own body. 1 To rid and to despatch were formerly synonymous, as may be seen i the old dictionaries. 446 For no thought is contented. The better sort- KING RICHARD II. As thus, Come, little ones; and then again,— 2 ร [Music. And here have I the daintiness of ear 1 By the word is meant the Holy Scriptures. The folio reads, the faith itself against the faith. 2 The folio, and other copies, read "in one prison." [ACT V. To check1 time broke in a disordered string; Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears. Enter Groom. Groom. Hail, royal prince! Thanks, noble peer; 1 The folio reads "To hear." 2 Tick. 3 It should be recollected that there are three ways in which a clock notices the progress of time, viz. by the vibration of the pendulum, the index on the dial, and the striking of the hour. To these the king, in his comparison, severally alludes; his sighs corresponding to the jarring or ticking of the pendulum, which, at the same time that it watches or numbers the seconds, marks also their progress in minutes on the dial-plate, or outward watch, to which the king compares his eyes; and their want of figures is supplied by a succession of tears (or minute drops, to use an expression of Milton); his finger, by as regularly wiping these away, performs the office of the dial's point; his clamorous groans are the sounds that tell the hour. 4 That is, I strike for him. One of these automatons is alluded to in King Richard III. Act iv. Sc. 2. Where no man never comes, but that sad dog 1 Groom. I was a poor groom of thy stable, king, When thou wert king; who, travelling towards York, With much ado, at length have gotten leave To look upon my (sometimes royal) master's face. O, how it yearned my heart, when I beheld, In London streets, that coronation day, When Bolingbroke rode on roan Barbary! That horse, that thou so often hast bestrid; That horse, that I so carefully have dressed! K. Rich. Rode he on Barbary? Tell me, gentle friend, How went he under him? Groom. So proudly, as if he disdained the ground. K. Rich. So proud that Bolingbroke was on his back! That jade hath eat bread from my royal hand; Since pride must have a fall,) and break the neck Enter Keeper, with a dish. Keep. Fellow, give place; here is no longer stay. [Exit. 1 Sometimes was used for former, as well as sometime. 2 Jauncing is hard riding, from the old French word jancer, which Cotgrave explains, "to stir a horse in the stable till he sweat withal; or (as our) to jaunt." |