K.Edw. No more, than when my daughters call thee mother. Thou art a widow, and thou hast some children; Answer no more, for thou shalt be my queen. Glo. The ghostly father now hath done his shrift. [Asi. [Aside. K.Edw. Why, Clarence, to myself. Glo. That would be ten days' wonder, at the least. Clar. That's a day longer than a wonder lasts. Glo. By so much is the wonder in extremes. K.Edw. Well, jest on, brothers: I can tell you both, Her suit is granted for her husband's lands. Enter a Nobleman. Nob. My gracious lord, Henry your foe is taken, Widow, go you along ;-Lords, use her honourable. Glo. Ay, Edward will use women honourably. Ìs Clarence, Henry, and his son young Edward, So do I wish the crown, being so far off; Flattering me with impossibilities.— My eye's too quick, my heart o'erweens too much, And deck my body in gay ornaments, And witch sweet ladies with my words and looks. O, monstrous fault, to harbour such a thought! I'll make my heaven-to dream upon the crown ; [6] It was an opinion, which, in spite of its absurdity, prevailed long, that the bear brings forth only shapeless lumps of animated flesh, which she licks into the form of bears. It is now well known that the whelps of the bear are produced in the same state with those of other creatures. JOHNS. [7] Richar i speaks here the language of nature. Whoever is stigmatized with deformity has a constant source of envy in his mind, and would counterbalance by some other superiority those advantages which he feels himself to want. Bacon remarks that the deformed are commonly daring; and it is almost proverbially observed that they are ill-natured. The truth is, that the deformed like all other men are displeased with inferiority, and endeavour to gain ground by good or bad means, as they are virtuous or corrupt. JOHNS. 5 6 7 8 "Until my mis-shap'd trunk that bears this head, Be round impaled, &c." A transposition seems to be necessary: [8] I 2 3 4 2 8 5 7 3 4 6 "Until my head, that this mis-shap'd trunk bears." Otherwise the trunk that bears the head is to be encircled with the crown, and not the head itself. STEEV. And yet I know not how to get the crown, For many lives stand between me and home: That rents the thorns, and is rent with the thorns; And frame my face to all occasions. I'll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall; SCENE III. [Exit. France. A Room in the Palace. Flourish. Enter LEWIS the French King, and Lady BONA, attended; the King takes his State. Then enter Queen MARGARET, Prince EDWARD her son, and the Earl of OXFORD. K.Lew. Fair queen of England, worthy Margaret, Sit down with us; it ill befits thy state, [Rising. And birth, that thou shouldst stand, while Lewis doth sit. Q.Mar. No, mighty king of France; now Margaret Must strike her sail, and learn a while to serve, Where kings command. I was, I must confess, Great Albion's queen in former golden days: But now mischance hath trod my title down, And with dishonour laid me on the ground; Where I must take like seat unto my fortune, And to my humble seat conform myself. K.Lew. Why, say, fair queen, whence springs this deep despair? Q.Mar. From such a cause as fills mine eyes with tears, And stops my tongue, while heart is drown'd in cares. K.Lew. Whate'er it be, be thou still like thyself, And sit thee by our side: yield not thy neck [Seats her by him. To fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind Still ride in triumph over all mischance. Be plain, queen Margaret, and tell thy grief; It shall be eas'd, if France can yield relief. Q.Mar. Those gracious words revive my drooping thoughts, And give my tongue-ty'd sorrows leave to speak. Is, of a king, become a banish'd man, Of England's true-anointed lawful king. With this my son, prince Edward, Henry's heir,- While we bethink a means to break it off. Q.Mar. The more we stay, the stronger grows our foe. K.Lew. The more I stay, the more I'll succour thee. Q.Mar. O, but impatience waiteth on true sorrow : And see, where comes the breeder of my sorrow. Enter WARWICK, attended.9 K.Lew. What's he, approacheth boldly to our pre sence? [9] This nobleman's embassy and commission, the insult he receives by the king's hasty marriage, and his consequent resolution to avenge it, with the capture, imprisonment, and escape of the king, Shakspeare, it is true, found in Hall and Holinshed; but later as well as earlier writers, of better authority, incline us to discredit the whole; and to refer the rupture between the king and his political creator, to causes which have not reached posterity, or to that jealousy and ingratitude so natural, perhaps, to those who are under great obligations too great to be discharged. There needs no other proof how little our common histories are to be depended upon than this fabulous story of Warwick and the Lady Bona. The king was privately married to Lady Elizabeth Widville, in 1463, and in February 1465, War wick actually stood sponsor to the princess Elizabeth their first child. RITSON. Q.Mar. Our earl of Warwick, Edward's greatest friend. K.Lew. Welcome, brave Warwick! What brings thee to France ? [Descending from his state. Queen MARGARET rises. War. From worthy Edward, king of Albion, With nuptial knot, if thou vouchsafe to grant To England's king in lawful marriage. Q.Mar. If that go forward, Henry's hope is done. War. And, gracious madam, [To BONA.] in our king's behalf, I am commanded, with your leave and favour, For how can tyrants safely govern home, Yet here prince Edward stands, king Henry's son. Look therefore, Lewis, that by this league and marriage Thou draw not on thy danger and dishonour: For though usurpers sway the rule a while, Yet heavens are just, and time suppresseth wrongs. Prince. And why not queen? War. Because thy father Henry did usurp ; And thou no more art prince, than she is queen. Oxf. Then Warwick disannuls great John of Gaunt, Which did subdue the greatest part of Spain ; And, after John of Gaunt, Henry the Fourth, |