This bald unjointed chat of his, my lord, And, I beseech you, let not his report Betwixt my love and your high majesty. Blunt. The circumstance consider'd, good my lord, Whatever Harry Percy then had said, To such a person, and in such a place, At such a time, with all the rest re-told, May reasonably die, and never rise To do him wrong, or any way impeach What then he said, so he unsay it now.7 K. Hen. Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners; That we, at our own charge, shall ransome straight Hot. Revolted Mortimer! He never did fall off, my sovereign liege, But by the chance of war ;-To prove that true, In single opposition, hand to hand, He did confound the best part of an hour In changing hardiment with great Glendower : (7) Let what he then said never rise to impeach him, so he unsay it now. JOHNS. (8) "To prove the loyalty of Mortimer," says Hotspur, "one speaking witness is sufficient; for his wounds proclaim his loyalty, those mouthed wounds," &c. JOHNS. (9) Hardiment-an obsolete word, signifying hardiness, bravery, stoutness. Spenser is frequent in his use of it. STEEV. Three times they breath'd, and three times did they drink, Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood; Who then, affrighted with their bloody looks, 2 Colour her working with such deadly wounds? Receive so many, and all willingly : Then let him not be slander'd with revolt. K. Hen. Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost belie him, He never did encounter with Glendower; I tell thee, He durst as well have met the devil alone, Art not ashamed? But, sirrah, henceforth [Exeunt King HENRY, BLUNT, and Train North. What, drunk with choler? stay, and pause awhile: Here comes your uncle. (1) It is the property of wounds to excite the most impatient thirst. The poet therefore hath with exquisite propriety introduced this circumstance, which may serve to place in its proper light the dying kindness of Sir Philip Sidney; who, though suffering the extremity of thirst from the agony of his own wounds, yet, notwithstanding, gave up his own draught of water to a wounded soldier. HENLEY. (2) This passage has been censured as sounding nonsense, which represents a stream of water as capable of fear. It is misunderstood. Severn is here not the flood, but the tutelary power of the food, who was affrighted and hid his head in the hollow bank. JOHNS. (3) Crisp is curled. STEEV. (4) "Never did policy lying open to detection so colour its workings "" JOHNS Re-enter WORCESTER. Hot. Speak of Mortimer? "Zounds, I will speak of him; and let my soul Yea, on his part, I'll empty all these veins, As high i'the air as this unthankful king, As this ingrate and canker'd Bolingbroke. North. Brother, the king hath made your nephew mad. [TO WOR. Wor. Who struck this heat up, after I was gone? Hot. He will, forsooth, have all my prisoners; And when I urg'd the ransome once again Wor. I cannot blame him: Was he not proclaim'd, And then it was, when the unhappy king (Whose wrongs in us God pardon!) did set forth Upon his Irish expedition; From whence he, intercepted, did return To be deposed, and shortly, murdered. Wor. And for whose death, we in the world's wide mouth Live scandaliz'd, and foully spoken of. Hot. But, soft, I pray you; Did king Richard then Proclaim my brother Edmund Mortimer Heir to the crown? North. He did; myself did hear it. Hot. Nay, then I cannot blame his cousin king, That wish'd him on the barren mountains starv'd. Upon the head of this forgetful man; And, for his sake, wear the detested blot (5) That is, an eye menacing death. Hotspur seems to describe the king as trembling with rage rather than fear, JOHNS. See (6) Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, who was born in 1371, was declared heir apparent to the crown in the 9th year of King Richard II. (1385.) Grafton, p. 347- But he was killed in Ireland in 1398 The person who was proclaimed by Richard heir apparent to the crown, pevious to his last voyage to Ireland, was Edmund Mortimer, (the son of Roger,) who was then but seven years old; but he was not Percy's wife's brother, but her nephew. MALONE. Of murd'rous subornation,-shall it be, Even with the bloody payment of your deaths. Wor. Peace, cousin, say no more : Hot. If he fall in, good night :-or sink or swim: So honour cross it from the north to south, And let them grapple ;-O! the blood more stirs, North. Imagination of some great exploit Drives him beyond the bounds of patience. Hot. By heaven, methinks, it were an easy leap, To pluck bright honour from the pale-fac'd moon; (7) The canker-rose is the dog-rose, the flower of the Cynosbaton. STEE (8) For disdainful. JOHNS. 9) That is, of a spear laid across. WARB.. Or dive into the bottom of the deep, Where fathom-line could never touch the ground, So he, that doth redeem her thence, might wear, But out upon this half-fac'd fellowship! 1 Wor. He apprehends a world of figures here, 1 Wor. Those same noble Scots, That are your prisoners, Hot. I'll keep them all ; By heaven, he shall not have a Scot of them : Wor. You start away, And lend no ear unto my purposes. Hot. Nay, I will; that's flat : He said, he would not ransome Mortimer; Nay, I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak Wor. Hear you, Cousin; a word. Hot. All studies here I solemnly defy, And that same sword-and-buckler prince of Wales, And would be glad he met with some mischance, Wor. Farewell, kinsman! I will talk to you, When you are better temper'd to attend. North. Why, what a wasp-stung and impatient fool (1) Figure is here used equivocally. As it is applied to Hotspur's speech it is a rhetorical mode; as opposed to form it means appearance or shape. (2) A royster or turbulent feilow, that fought in taverns, or raised disorders in the streets, was called a Swashbuckler. In this sense sword-andbuckler is here used. JOHNS. |