K. HEN. And otherwise will Henry ne'er pre sume. Therefore, my lord protector, give consent, GLO. So should I give consent to flatter sin. You know, my lord, your highness is betroth'd Unto another lady of esteem; How shall we then dispense with that contract, SUF. As doth a ruler with unlawful oaths; A poor earl's daughter is unequal odds, GLO. Why, what, I pray, is Margaret more than that? Her father is no better than an earl, Although in glorious titles he excel. SUF. Yes, my good lord," her father is a king, The king of Naples, and Jerusalem; And of such great authority in France, As his alliance will confirm our peace, And keep the Frenchmen in allegiance. 8 at a triumph-] That is, at the sports at which a triumph is celebrated. JOHNSON. A triumph, in the age of Shakspeare, signified a public exhibition, such as a mask, a revel, &c. Thus, in King Richard II: "What news from Oxford? hold those justs and triumphs?” STEEVENS. See A Midsummer-Night's Dream, Vol. IV. p. 318, n. 5. 9 MALONE. my good lord,] Good, which is not in the old copy, was added for the sake of the metre, in the second folio. MALONE. GLO. And so the earl of Armagnac may do, Because he is near kinsman unto Charles. EXE. Beside, his wealth doth warrant liberal dower; While Reignier sooner will receive, than give. SUF. A dower, my lords! disgrace not so your king, That he should be so abject, base, and poor, And not to seek a queen to make him rich: 1 by attorneyship;] By the intervention of another man's choice; or the discretional agency of another. JOHNSON. This is a phrase of which Shakspeare is peculiarly fond. It occurs twice in King Richard III: Again: "Be the attorney of my love to her." “I, by attorney, bless thee from thy mother." STEEVENS. It must-] The word It, which is wanting in the old copy, was inserted by Mr. Rowe. Malone. Whereas the contrary bringeth forth bliss,] The wordforth, which is not in the first- folio, was supplied, I think, unnecessarily, by the second. Contrary was, I believe, used by the author as a quadrisyllable, as if it were written conterary; according to which pronunciation the metre is not defective: And is a pattern of celestial peace. Whom should we match, with Henry, being a king, As is fair Margaret, he be link'd in love. report, My noble lord of Suffolk; or for that Whereas the conterary bringeth bliss. In the same manner Shakspeare frequently uses Henry as a trisyllable, and hour and fire as dissyllables. See Vol. IV. p. 201, n. 5. MALone. I have little confidence in this remark. Such a pronunciation of the word contrary is, perhaps, without example. Hour and fire were anciently written as dissyllables, viz. hower-fier. STEEVENS. * Will answer our hope in issue of a king;] The useless word —our, which destroys the harmony of this line, I suppose ought to be omitted. STEEVENS. 5 As I am sick with working of my thoughts.] So, in Shakspeare's King Henry V: "Work, work your thoughts, and therein see a siege." MALONE. Take, therefore, shipping; post, my lord, to France; Be gone, [Exit. GLO. Ay, grief, I fear me, both at first and last. [Exeunt GLOSTER and EXETER. SUF. Thus Suffolk hath prevail'd: and thus he goes, As did the youthful Paris once to Greece; [Exit. If you do censure me &c.] To censure is here simply to judge. If in judging me you consider the past frailties of your own youth. JOHNSon. 7 See Vol. IV. p. 190, n. 4. -ruminate my grief.] nerally for pain or uneasiness; MALONE. Grief in the first line is taken gein the second specially for sorrow. JOHNSON. Of this play there is no copy earlier than that of the folio in 1623, though the two succeeding parts are extant in two editions in quarto. That the second and third parts were published without the first, may be admitted as no weak proof that the copies were surreptitiously obtained, and that the printers of that time gave the publick those plays, not such as the author designed, but such as they could get them. That this play was written before the two others is indubitably collected from the series of events; that it was written and played before Henry the Fifth is apparent, because in the epilogue there is mention made of this play, and not of the other parts: "Henry the sixth in swaddling bands crown'd king, "That they lost France, and made his England bleed: France is lost in this play. The two following contain, as the old title imports, the contention of the houses of York and Lan caster. The second and third parts of Henry VI.were printed in 1600. When Henry V. was written, we know not, but it was printed likewise in 1600, and therefore before the publication of the first and second parts. The first part of Henry VI. had been often shown on the stage, and would certainly have appeared in its place, had the author been the publisher. JOHNSON. That the second and third parts (as they are now called) were printed without the first, is a proof, in my apprehension, that they were not written by the author of the first: and the title of The Contention of the Houses of York and Lancaster, being affixed to the two pieces which were printed in quarto 1600, is a proof that they were a distinct work, commencing where the other ended, but not written at the same time; and that this play was never known by the name of The first Part of King Henry VI. till Heminge and Condell gave it this title in their volume, to distinguish it from the two subsequent plays; which being altered by Shakspeare, assumed the new titles of The Second and Third Parts of King Henry VI. that they might not be confounded with the original pieces on which they were formed. This first part was, I conceive, originally called The Historical Play of King Henry VI. See the Essay at the end of these contested pieces. MALone. |