His sparkling eyes, replete with wrathful fire, Than mid-day sun fierce bent against their faces. He ne'er lift up his hand but conquered. Exe. We mourn in black: why mourn we not in blood? Henry is dead, and never shall revive. Upon a wooden coffin we attend; Win. He was a king, bless'd of the King of kings. So dreadful will not be, as was his sight. The church's prayers made him so prosperous. Glo. The church! where is it? Had not churchmen pray'd, His thread of life had not so soon decay'd: None do you like but an effeminate prince, Whom, like a school-boy, you may over-awe. Win. Gloster, whate'er we like, thou art protector, And lookest to command the prince, and realm. Thy wife is proud; she holdeth thee in awe, More than God, or religious churchmen may. Glo. Name not religion, for thou lov'st the flesh; And ne'er throughout the year to church thou go'st, Except it be to pray against thy foes. Bed. Cease, cease these jars, and rest your minds in peace! Let's to the altar-Heralds, wait on us.- Instead of gold, we'll offer up our arms, Since arms avail not, now that Henry's dead. Posterity, await for wretched years, When at their mothers' moist eyes babes shall suck', 3 When at their mothers' MOIST eyes babes shall suck,] This is the line as it stands in the folio, 1632: that of 1623 has moisten'd for "moist," giving a redundant syllable. It is impossible to read the line as verse, if moisten'd be preserved in it. Our isle be made a marish of salt tears', Enter a Messenger. Mess. My honourable lords, health to you all. Bed. What say'st thou, man, before dead Henry's corse Speak softly, or the loss of those great towns Will make him burst his lead, and rise from death. If Henry were recall'd to life again, These news would cause him once more yield the ghost. That here you maintain several factions; And whilst a field should be despatch'd and fought, ? 4 a MARISH of salt tears,] Pope substituted "marish," i. e. marsh, for nourish, which is the word in the first and in the later folios. 5 Than Julius Cæsar, or bright CASSIOPE.] In all the old copies a blank is left for the name of the constellation. It is difficult to account for the omission, and various modes of supplying the deficiency have been proposed, the most plausible (indeed so apparently right that we have inserted it) being that of the old annotator on the folio, 1632, who wrote "Cassiopé" in the margin. Drayton in his "Endymion and Phoebe," 1594, applies the same epithet to the same constellation—" bright Cassiopey" as he there spells it; and we have little doubt that Cassiopé, or Cassiopey was what the poet wrote. Professor Mommsen adopts "Cassiopé" without any question: "Als Julius Cäsar oder Cassiopeia." 6 A third MAN thinks, without expense at all.] "Man" is from the folio, 1632; and it is necessary, unless we suppose, as Malone might have contended, that "third" is to be pronounced as a dissyllable. Awake, awake, English nobility! Let not sloth dim your honours new-begot : Exe. Were our tears wanting to this funeral, Bed. Me they concern; regent I am of France.- Enter another Messenger. 2 Mess. Lords, view these letters, full of bad mischance. France is revolted from the English quite, Except some petty towns of no import: The Dauphin, Charles, is crowned king in Rheims; Exe. The Dauphin crowned king! all fly to him! O! whither shall we fly from this reproach? Glo. We will not fly, but to our enemies' throats.— Bedford, if thou be slack, I'll fight it out. Bed. Gloster, why doubt'st thou of my forwardness? An army have I muster'd in my thoughts, Wherewith already France is over-run. Enter a third Messenger. 3 Mess. My gracious lords, to add to your laments, Wherewith you now bedew king Henry's hearse, I must inform you of a dismal fight, Betwixt the stout lord Talbot and the French. Win. What! wherein Talbot overcame? is't so ? 3 Mess. O, no! wherein lord Talbot was o'erthrown: The circumstance I'll tell you more at large. The tenth of August last, this dreadful lord, Having scarce full six thousand in his troop, He wanted pikes to set before his archers; To keep the horsemen off from breaking in. 8 A base Walloon, to win the Dauphin's grace, Whom all France, with their chief assembled strength, Bed. Is Talbot slain? then, I will slay myself, 7 If sir John FASTOLFE] Mis-spelt Falstaffe in the old copies, but not of course intended for the humorous knight, who figures in "Henry IV.," Parts I. and II. and who died in "Henry V." The text relates to the historical sir John Fastolfe, who, as Fuller complains (Worthies, 1662, p. 253), had been misrepresented on the stage, as "a Thrasonical puff," when in fact he was "as valiant as any of his age." However, Hall and Holinshed assert that he was degraded for cowardice, although subsequently, "upon good reason alleged in his defence, restored to his honours." 8 He being in the VAWARD, plac'd behind] The "vaward" is the advanced body of the army (see Vol. ii. p. 447), and this passage has been hitherto thought a contradiction, inasmuch as the "vaward" could not be "behind." But the meaning of Shakespeare seems to be, that what was usually the "vaward" of the army had in this instance purposely been "plac'd behind," in order to "relieve and follow" the rest. This explanation seems to remove a difficulty felt and expressed by most of the commentators. The corr. fo. 1632 has "rearward" for "vaward," but if that were right, "plac'd behind " would be unnecessary: we therefore leave the text as in the old copies. 3 Mess. O, no! he lives; but is took prisoner, And lord Scales with him, and lord Hungerford: Most of the rest slaughter'd, or took, likewise. Bed. His ransom there is none but I shall pay. And hardly keeps his men from mutiny, Exe. Remember lords, your oaths to Henry sworn, Or bring him in obedience to your yoke. Bed. I do remember it; and here take my leave, To go about my preparation. [Exit. Glo. I'll to the Tower, with all the haste I can, To view th' artillery and munition; And then I will proclaim young Henry king. [Exit. Exe. To Eltham will I, where the young king is, Being ordain'd his special governor ; And for his safety there I'll best devise. [Exit. Win. Each hath his place and function to attend: I am left out; for me nothing remains. But long I will not be Jack-out-of-office: The king from Eltham I intend to steal', [Exit. 9 shall MAKE all Europe quake.] " Make" and "quake" sound awkwardly, but that of itself is no sufficient reason for substituting cause, which we find in the margin of the corr. fo. 1632. 1 I intend to STEAL,] “I intend to send" is the word in the folios, but "steal," as we are assured by the corr. fo. 1632, ought to be substituted: the fact was historically so, the rhyme most probable; and the old printer, who had just composed "intend," following it by send, may have fancied that it afforded the proper jingle at the conclusion of the scene. Mason was in favour of "steal," and was the first, in modern times, to propose it. |