Lew. I muse, your majesty doth seem so cold, Const. O fair return of banish'd majesty! this hour. Bast. Old time the clock-setter, that bald sexton time, Is it as he will? well, then, France shall rue. Blanch. The sun's o'ercast with blood: Fair day, adieu! Which is the side that I must go withal? Lew. Lady, with me; with me thy fortune lies. Blanch. There where my fortune lives, there my life dies. K. John. Cousin, go draw our puissance together,[Exit Bastard. France, I am burn'd up with inflaming wrath; A rage, whose heat hath this condition, That nothing can allay, nothing but blood, The blood, and dearest valued blood, of France. K. Phi. Thy rage shall burn thee up, and thou shalt turn To ashes, ere our blood shall quench that fire: To arms [Exeunt. SCENE II. The same. Plains near Angiers. Alarums; Excursions. Enter the Bastard, with AUSTRIA'S Head. Some airy devil' hovers in the sky, Enter KING JOHN, ARTHUR, and HUBERT. [Exeunt. K. John. So shall it be; your grace shall stay behind, [To ELINOR. So strongly guarded.-Cousin, look not sad: [To ARTHUR. 1 There is a minute description of numerous devils or spirits, and their different functions, in Nash's Pierce Pennilesse his Supplication, 1592, where we find the following passage:- The spirits of the aire will mixe themselves with thunder and lightning, and so infect the clyme where they raise any tempest, that sodainely great mortalitie shall ensue to the inhabitants. The spirits of fire have their mansions under the regions of the moone.' Thy grandam loves thee, and thy uncle will As dear be to thee as thy father was. Arth. O, this will make my mother die with grief. And, ere our coming, see thou shake the bags Bast. Bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back; When gold and silver becks me to come on. For your fair safety: so I kiss your hand. Coz, farewell. [Exit Bastard. Eli. Come hither, little kinsman; hark, a word. [She takes ARTHUR aside. K. John. Come hither, Hubert. O my gentle Hubert, We owe thee much; within this wall of flesh But thou shalt have; and creep time ne'er so slow, Had bak'd thy blood, and made it heavy, thick, Or if that thou could'st see me without eyes, 6 The old copy reads into, the emendation is Theo. bald's. 7 Conception. 2 Here the king, who had knighted him by the name of Sir Richard, calls him by his former name. Shak. speare has followed the old plays, and the best authen- 8 Pope proposed to read broad-eyed, instead of broodticated history. The queen mother, whom King John ed. The alteration, it must be confessed, is elegant, had made regent in Anjou, was in possession of the town but unnecessary. The allusion is to the vigilance of of Mirabeau, in that province. On the approach of the animals while brooding, or with a brood of young ones French army, with Arthur at their head, she sent letters under their protection. Brooded may be used for brood o King John to come to her relief, which he imme-ing, as delighted for delighting, and discontented for Jiately did. As he advanced to the town he encounered the army that lay before it, routed them, and took Arthur prisoner. The queen in the mean while remained in perfect security in the castle of Mirabeau discontenting, in other places of these plays. To sit on brood, or abrood, is the old term applied to birds during All the metaphorical uses of the period of incubation. the verb to brood are cominon to the Latin incubo Are we not beaten? Is not Angiers lost? Lew. What he hath won, that hath he fortified: K. Phi. Well could I bear that England had this praise, So we could find some pattern of our shame. Look, who comes here! a grave unto a soul; Const. Lo, now! now see the issue of your peace! K. Phi. Patience, good lady! comfort, gentle Constance! Const. No, I defy all counsel, all redress, But that which ends all counsel, true redress, Death, death:-O amiable lovely death! Thou odoriferous stench! sound rottenness! Arise forth from the couch of lasting night, Thou hate and terror to prosperity, And I will kiss thy detestable bones; And put my eyeballs in thy vaulty brows; And ring these fingers with thy household worms; And stop this gap of breath' with fulsome dust, 1 King John, after he had taken Arthur prisoner, sent him to the town of Falaise, in Normandy, under the care of Hubert, his chamberlain, from whence he was afterwards removed to Rouen, and delivered to the custody of Robert de Veypont. Here he was secretly put to death. 'This is one of those scenes (says Steevens) to which may be promised a lasting commendation. Art could add little to its perfection; no change in dramatic | taste can injure it; and time itself can subtract nothing from its beauties." 2 Armado is a fleet of war; the word is adopted from the Spanish, and the recent defeat of the Spanish arma. do had made it familiar. 3 Convicted is vanquished, overcome. To convince and convict were synonymous. 4 A fierce cause is a cause conducted with precipita'ion. Fierce wretchedness in Timon of Athens is has ty, sudden misery. And be a carrion monster like thyself: Const. No, no, I will not, having breath to cry :- Pand. Lady, you utter madness, and not sorro▾ I am not mad: this hair I tear is mine; K. Phi. Bind up those tresses; Ó, what lovel note In the fair multitude of those her hairs! I tore them from their bonds; and cried aloud, But now I And, father cardinal, I have heard you say, Pand. You hold too heinous a respect of grief. Const. He talks to me, that never had a son.' 12 K. Phi. You are as fond of grief, as of your child. Const. Grief fills the room up of my absent child,13 5 the vile prison of afflicted breath' is the body: the same vile prison in which the breath is confined 6 To defy formerly signified to refuse, to reject. I do defy thy commiseration.'-Romeo and Juliet. 7 i. e. this mouth. 8 i. e. common. 9 Probably Constance in despair means to apostro phize the absent King John-Take my son to Eng land if you will.' 10 To suspire Shakspeare uses for to breathe. 11 Gracious is used by Shakspeare often in the sense of beautiful, comely, graceful. Florio, in his Italian Dictionary, shows that this was no uncommon signifi. cation; he explains gratioso, graceful, gracious, also comely, fine, well-favoured, gentle. 12 To the same purpose Macduff observes :He has no children. 13 'Perfruitur lachrymis, et amat pro conjuge luctum. Lucan, I ix Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me; [Tearing off her head-dress. When there is such disorder in my wit. O lord, my boy, my Arthur, my fair son! My life, my joy, my food, my all the world! My widow-comfort, and my sorrow's cure! [Exit. K. Phi. I fear some outrage, and I'll follow her. [Exit. Lew. There's nothing in this world can make me joy į. Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale,1 And bitter shame hath spoil'd the sweet world's2 taste, That it yields nought, but shame, and bitterness, Lew. All days of glory, joy, and happiness. Lew. But what shall I gain by young Arthur's fall? Pand. You, in the right of Lady Blanch your wife, May then make all the claim that Arthur did. world! John lays you plots; the time conspires with you: 1 For when thou art angry, all our days are gone, we bring our years to an end, as it were a tale that is told. Psalm xc. 2 The old copy reads word's. The alteration was made by Pope, Malone thinks that it is unnecessary; and that by the sweet word, life is met. Steevens prefers Pope's emendation, which is countenanced by Hamlet's To check his reign, but they will cherish it: Lew. May be, he will not touch young Arthur's life, But hold himself safe in his prisonment. Pand. O, sir, when he shall hear of your approach, If that young Arthur be not gone already, Even at that news he dies: and then the hearts Of all his people shall revolt from him, And kiss the lips of unacquainted change; And pick strong matter of revolt, and wrath, Out of the bloody fingers' ends of John. Methinks, I see this hurly all on foot; And, O, what better matter breeds for you, Than I have nam'd!-The bastard Faulconbridge Is now in England, ransacking the church, Offending charity: If but a dozen French Were there in arms, they would be as a call To train ten thousand English to their side; Or, as a little snow,' tumbled about, Anon becomes a mountain. O noble Dauphin, Go with me to the king: 'Tis wonderful, What may be wrought out of their discontent. Now that their souls are topfull of offence, For England go; I will whet on the king. Lew. Strong reasons make strong actions: Let us go; If you say, ay, the king will not say, no. [Exeunt. Enter ARTHur, Arth. Good morrow, Hubert. Hub. Good morrow, little prince Arth. As little prince (having so great a title To be more prince,) as may be.-You are sad. Hub. Indeed, I have been merrier. Arth. Methinks nobody should be sad but I: Mercy on me! Yet, I remember, when I was in France, Young gentlemen would be as sad as night, Only for wantonness. By my christendom," are sometimes caught; one being placed for the purpose of drawing others to the net by his note or call. 7 Bacon, in his History of Henry VII. speaking of Simnel's march, observes that their snowball did not gather as it went. 8 The first folio reads strange; the second folio strong. 9 There is no circumstance, either in the original play or in this of Shakspeare, to point out the particu lar castle in which Arthur is supposed to be confined. The castle of Northampton has been mentioned merely because, in the first act, King John seems to have been in that town. It has already been stated that Arthur was in fact confined at Falaise, and afterwards at Rouen, 'How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable Seem to me all the uses of this world!' 3John lays you plots.' A similar phrase occurs in where he was put to death. the First Part of King Henry VI. : 'He writes me here.' 4 The old copy reads scope. The emendation is Pope's. Shakspeare finely calls a monstrous birth an escape of nature, as if it were produced while she was busy elsewhere, or intent upon some other thing. 5 Hurly is tumult. 6 The image is taken from the manner in which birds 10 Tapestry. 11 This is a satirical glance at the fashionable affec tation of his time by Shakspeare: which Lyly also ridi cules in his Midas-Now every base companion, being in his muble-fubles, says he is melancholy.' Again: Melancholy is the crest of courtiers, and now every base companion says he is melancholy' 12 i. e. by my baptism. The use of this word for So I were out of prison, and kept sheep, Arth. Hub. And will you? And I will. Arth. Have you the heart? When your head did but ake, I knit my handkerchief about your brows And with my hand at midnight held your head; Or, What good love may I perform for you? Are you more stubborn-hard than hammer'd iron? Hub. Come forth. [Stamps. Re-enter Attendants, with Cords, Irons, &c. Do as I bid you do. Arth. O, save me, Hubert, save me; my eyes are out, I will not struggle, I will stand stone-still. christening or baptism is not peculiar to Shakspeare; it And I will sit as quiet as a lamb: will not stir, nor wince, nor speak a word; Thrust but these men away, and I'll forgive you, Hub. Go, stand within; let me alone with him. None, but to lose your eyes. Arth. O heaven!-that there were but a mote in yours, A grain, a dust, a gnat, a wand'ring hair, Hub. Is this your promise? go to, hold your tongue. Arth. Hubert, the utterance of a brace of tongues Hub. Being create for comfort, to be us'd In undeserv'd extremes: See else yourself; Hub. But with my breath I can revive it, boy. Hub. Well, see to live; I will not touch thine eyes Hub. Peace: no more. Adieu: SCENE II. The same. A Room of State in the takes his State. K. John. Here once again we sit, once again crown'd, And look'd upon, I hope, with cheerful eyes. 1 The participle heat, though now obsolete, was in use in Shakspeare's time. 'He commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heat.-Daniel, iii. 19. 2 This is according to nature,' says Johnson. 'We imagine no evil so great as that which is near us.' 3The fire being created, not to hurt, but to comfort, is dead with grief for finding itself used in acts of cru elty, which, being innocent, I have not deserved.' 4 i. e. stimulate, set him on. 5 Owns. 6 i. e. secretly privately. Pem. This once again, but that your highness | Than whereupon our weal, on you depending, pleas'd, Was once superfluous: you were crown'd before, Sal. Therefore, to be possess'd with double pomp, To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish, Pem. But that your royal pleasure must be done, This act is as an ancient tale new told ;3 Sal. In this, the antique and well-noted face It makes the course of thoughts to fetch about: Makes sound opinion sick, and truth suspected, Pem. When workmen strive to do better than well, They do confound their skill in covetousness: 4 Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse; ness To overbear it; and we are all well pleas'd; The enfranchisement of Arthur; whose restraint Counts it your weal, he have his liberty. To your direction.-Hubert, what news with you? Pem. This is the man should do the bloody deed; He show'd his warrant to a friend of mine: The image of a wicked heinous fault Lives in his eye, that close aspect of his Sal. The colour of the king doth come and go, His passion is so ripe it needs must break. Pem. And when it breaks, I fear, will issue thence The foul corruption of a sweet child's death. K. John. We cannot hold mortality's strong hand: Good lords, although my will to give is living, Sal. Indeed, we fear'd his sickness was past cure. Pem. Indeed, we heard how near his death he was, Before the child himself felt he was sick: This must be answer'd, either here, or hence. K. John. Why do you bend such solemn brows on me? Think you, I bear the shears of destiny? Sal. It is apparent foul-play; and 'tis shame, That blood, which ow'd'2 the breadth of all this isle, Three foot of it doth hold; Bad world the while! This must not be thus borne: this will break out To all our sorrows, and ere long, I doubt. [Exeunt Lords. A fearful eye thou hast; Where is that blood, For any foreign preparation, Was levied in the body of a land! The copy of your speed is learn'd by them; K. John. O, where hath our intelligence been drunk? Where hath it slept ?14 Where is my mother's care? Mess. 10 In the middle ages, the whole education of princes and noble youths consisted in martial exercises, &c. Mental improvement might have been had in a prison as well as any where else. 11 The purpose of the king, to which Salisbury alludes, is that of putting Arthur to death, which he considers as not yet accomplished, and therefore supposes that there might be still a conflict in the king's mind 'Between his purpose and his conscience.' 12 i. e. 'own'd the breadth of all this isle.' The two last variorum editions erroneously read breath for breadth,' which is found in the old copy. 13 The king asks how all goes in France; the mes senger catches the word goes, and answers, that whatever is in France goes now into England. 14 So in Macbeth :- Was the hope drunk Wherein you drest yourself? hath it slept since?' |