King. Ah, what a sign it is of evil life,

Where death's approach is seen so terrible!

War. Beaufort, it is thy sovereign speaks to thee.
trial when you will.

Car. Bring me unto my
Died he not in his bed? where should he die?

Can I make men live, whêr they will or no?
O, torture me no more! I will confess.
Alive again? then show me where he is:
I'll give a thousand pound to look upon him.
He hath no eyes, the dust hath blinded them.
Comb down his hair; look, look! it stands upright,
Like lime-twigs set to catch my wingèd soul !
Give me some drink; and bid th' apothecary
Bring the strong poison that I bought of him.

King. O thou eternal Mover of the heavens,
Look with a gentle eye upon this wretch !
O, beat away the busy-meddling fiend
That lays strong siege unto this wretch's soul,

And from his bosom purge this black despair!

War. See how the pangs of death do make him grin !

Sal. Disturb him not, let him pass peaceably.

King. Peace to his soul, if't God's good pleasure be !Lord Cardinal, if thou think'st on Heaven's bliss,

Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope.

He dies, and makes no sign: -- O God, forgive him!
War. So bad a death argues a monstrous life.
King. Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all.
Close up his eyes, and draw the curtain close;
And let us all to meditation.

[Exeunt.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.- Kent. The Seashore near Dover.

Firing heard at sea. Then enter, from a boat, a Captain, a Master, a Master's-Mate, WALTER WHITMORE, and others; with them SUFFOLK disguised, and other Gentlemen, Pris

oners.

Cap. The gaudy, blabbing, and remorseful1 day
Is crept into the bosom of the sea;

And now loud-howling wolves arouse the jades
That drag the tragic melancholy night; 2

Who, with their drowsy, slow, and flagging wings,
Clip 3 dead men's graves, and from their misty jaws
Breathe foul contagious darkness in the air.
Therefore bring forth the soldiers of our prize;
For, whilst our pinnace anchors in the Downs,
Here shall they make their ransom on the sand,
Or with their blood stain this discolour'd shore.
Master, this prisoner freely give I thee;

And thou that art his mate, make boot of this ;
The other, [Pointing to SUFFOLK.] Walter Whitmore, is thy

share.

I Gent. What is my ransom, master? let me know.

1 Remorseful is pitiful.—“The epithet blabbing, applied to the day by a man about to commit murder, is exquisitely beautiful. Guilt, if afraid of light, considers darkness as a natural shelter, and makes night the confidant of those actions which cannot be trusted to the tell-tale day." — JOHNSON. 2 The chariot of the night was supposed to be drawn by dragons. See vol. iii. page 61, note 36.

3 To clip is to embrace. See vol. vii. page 81, note 15.

4 Pinnace formerly meant a ship of small burden, built for speed. See vol. vi. page 23, note 14.

Mast. A thousand crowns, or else lay down your head. Mate. And so much shall you give, or off goes yours. Cap. What, think you much to pay two thousand crowns, And bear the name and port of gentlemen?

Cut both the villains' throats;

for die

shall you

:

The lives of those which we have lost in fight
Cannot be counterpoised with such a petty sum.

1 Gent. I'll give it, sir; and therefore spare my life. 2 Gent. And so will I, and write home for it straight. Whit. I lost mine eye in laying the prize aboard, [To SUF.] And therefore, to revenge it, shalt thou die; And so should these, if I might have my will.

Cap. Be not so rash; take ransom, let him live.

Suf. Look on my George, I am a gentleman:

Rate me at what thou wilt, thou shalt be paid.

Whit. And so am I; my name is Walter Whitmore. How now! why start'st thou? what, doth death affright? Suf. Thy name affrights me, in whose sound is death. A cunning man did calculate my birth,

5

And told me that by water I should die :
Yet let not this make thee be bloody-minded;
Thy name is Gualtier, being rightly sounded.

Whit. Gualtier or Walter, which it is, I care not:
Ne'er yet did base dishonour blur our name,
But with our sword we wiped away the blot;
Therefore, when merchant-like I sell revenge,
Broke be my sword, my arms torn and defaced,
And I proclaim'd a coward through the world!

[Lays hold on Suffolk.
Suf. Stay, Whitmore; for thy prisoner is a prince,
The Duke of Suffolk, William de la Pole.
Whit. The Duke of Suffolk muffled up

in rags

!

5 Referring to the answer of the Spirit in i. 4: "By water shall he die

and take his end."

Suf. Ay, but these rags are no part of the duke: Jove sometime went disguised, and why not I?

Cap. But Jove was never slain, as thou shalt be. Suf. Obscure and lowly swain, King Henry's blood, The honourable blood of Lancaster,

Must not be shed by such a jaded groom.

Hast thou not kiss'd thy hand, and held my stirrup?
Bare-headed plodded by my foot-cloth mule,

And thought thee happy when I shook my head?
How often hast thou waited at my cup,

Fed from my trencher, kneel'd down at the board,
When I have feasted with Queen Margaret?
Remember it, and let it make thee crest-fall'n,
Ay, and allay this thy abortive pride: 7

8

How in our voiding-lobby & hast thou stood,
And duly waited for my coming forth?
This hand of mine hath writ in thy behalf,
And therefore shall it charm thy riotous tongue.9

Whit. Speak, captain, shall I stab the forlórn swain? Cap. First let my words stab him, as he hath me. Suf. Base slave, thy words are blunt, and so art thou. Cap. Convey him hence, and on our long-boat's side Strike off his head.

Suf.

Thou darest not, for thy own.

6 To be jaded is to be subjected to mean and harrassing labours.— Suffolk was, on his mother's side, a remote cousin of Henry the Sixth; but that relationship was from Joan, a daughter of Edward the First: so that he was nowise of the Lancastrian branch.

7 “Abortive pride" seems to be pride without reason, or having nothing to stand upon, and so coming to nothing.

8 A voiding-lobby is probably an entrance-hall, or passage through which the apartments of a house are voided, that is, cleared or vacated of their occupants.

9 "Charm thy riotous tongue" is "silence thy insolent talk." So charm is used in Othello, v. 2: Iago says to Emilia, " Go to, charm your tongue"; and she replies, "I will not charm my tongue; I'm bound to speak."

Cap. Yes, Pole.

Suf. Pole!

Cap. Pole! Sir Pole ! lord!

Ay, kennel, puddle, sink; 10 whose filth and dirt
Troubles the silver spring where England drinks.
Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth
For swallowing the treasure of the realm:

Thy lips, that kiss'd the Queen, shall sweep the ground;
And thou, that smiledst at good Duke Humphrey's death,
Against the senseless 11 winds shalt grin in vain,

Who, in contempt, shall hiss at thee again:
And wedded be thou to the hags of Hell,
For daring to affy 12 a mighty lord
Unto the daughter of a worthless king,
Having neither subject, wealth, nor diadem.
By devilish policy art thou grown great,
And, like ambitious Sulla, overgorged
With gobbets of thy mother's bleeding heart.
By thee Anjou and Maine were sold to France;
The false revolting Normans thorough 13 thee
Disdain to call us lord; and Picardy

Hath slain their governors, surprised our forts,
And sent the ragged soldiers wounded home.
The princely Warwick, and the Nevilles all,
Whose dreadful swords were never drawn in vain, —

10 The Captain is playing contemptuously on Suffolk's name, which was pronounced as if spelt pool. — Kennel, here, is channel, ditch, gutter; any narrow trench in which water runs or stands. So in The Taming, iv. 4: "Go, hop me over every kennel home, for you shall hop without my custom, sir." And so Scott, in Peveril of the Peak, chap. xliii.: "Had I known was thy house, man, I would sooner had my heart's blood run down the kennel, than my foot should have crossed your threshold."

11 Senseless here means insensible, unfeeling, or unregarding.

12 To affy is to betroth. See vol. ii. page 223, note 6.

13 Thorough and through are but different forms of the same word, and Shakespeare uses them interchangeably.