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Suf. Obscure and lowly swain, King Henry's

blood,

The honorable blood of Lancaster,
Must not be shed by such a jaded groom.

50

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,

60

When I have feasted with Queen Margaret? Remember it and let it make thee crest-fall'n, Aye, and allay this thy abortive pride; 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. Whit. Speak, captain, shall I stab the forlorn

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.

50. In Ff. this line is made part of preceding speech, with "lowsie" for "lowly," restored by Pope (from Qq.).-I. G.

52. A jaded groom is a low fellow. Suffolk's boast of his own blood was hardly warranted by his origin. His great-grandfather had been a merchant at Hull. If Shakespeare had known his pedigree he would not have failed to make some of his adversaries reproach him with it.-H. N. Η.

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Aye, kennel, puddle, sink; 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 Hum

phrey's death

Against the senseless 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 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 Sylla, overgorged
With gobbets of thy mother's bleeding heart.
By thee Anjou and Maine were sold to France,
The false revolting Normans thorough thee
Disdain to call us lord, and Picardy
Hath slain their governors, surprised our forts,
And sent the ragged soldiers wounded home. 90
The princely Warwick, and the Nevils all,

80

70. "Cap. Yes, Pole. Suf. Pole!" added by Capell from Qq.-I. G. 85. "mother's bleeding,” Rowe's correction of Ff., "Mother-bleeding."-I. G.

Whose dreadful swords were never drawn in

vain,

As hating thee, are rising up in arms:

And now the house of York, thrust from the

crown

By shameful murder of a guiltless king,
And lofty proud encroaching tyranny,

Burns with revenging fire; whose hopeful colors
Advance our half-faced sun, striving to shine,
Under the which is writ 'Invitis nubibus.'
The commons here in Kent are up in arms: 100
And, to conclude, reproach and beggary
Is crept into the palace of our king,
And all by thee. Away! convey him hence.
Suf. O that I were a god, to shoot forth thunder
Upon these paltry, servile, abject drudges!

Small things make base men proud: this villain
here,

Being captain of a pinnace, threatens more
Than Bargulus the strong Illyrian pirate.
Drones suck not eagles' blood but rob bee-hives:
It is impossible that I should die

By such a lowly vassal as thyself.
Thy words move rage and not remorse in me:
I go of message from the queen to France;

110

I charge thee waft me safely cross the Channel.

Cap. Walter,—

Whit. Come, Suffolk, I must waft thee to thy

death.

Suf. Gelidus timor occupat artus: it is thee I fear. 117. "Gelidus timor occupat artus," i. e., "chill fear seizes my

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Whit. Thou shalt have cause to fear before I leave

thee.

What, are ye daunted now? now will ye stoop? First Gent. My gracious lord, entreat him, speak

him fair.

120

Suf. Suffolk's imperial tongue is stern and rough,
Used to command, untaught to plead for favor.
Far be it we should honor such as these
With humble suit: no, rather let my head
Stoop to the block than these knees bow to any
Save to the God of heaven and to my king;
And sooner dance upon a bloody pole
Than stand uncover'd to the vulgar groom.

True nobility is exempt from fear.

130

More can I bear than you dare execute. Cap. Hale him away, and let him talk no more. Suf. Come, soldiers, show what cruelty ye can, That this my death may never be forgot! Great men oft die by vile bezonians: A Roman sworder and banditto slave Murder'd sweet Tully; Brutus' bastard hand Stabb'd Julius Cæsar; savage islanders

limbs"; the reading of Ff. 2, 3, 4; F. 1 reads, "Pine gelidus"; Theobald, "Pæne gelidus," &c. (cp. Eneid, vii. 446).-I. G.

129. Lloyd, "Exempt from fear is true nobility." I. G.

136. "Brutus bastard hand"; Theobald proposed "dastard," but afterwards withdrew his suggestion; Servilia, the mother of Brutus, became, it is true, the mistress of Julius Cæsar, but not until after the birth of Brutus.-I. G.

137, 138. "savage islanders Pompey the Great"; the story of Pompey's death is given in Plutarch; the murderers were Achillas, an Egyptian, and Septimius, who had served under him; perhaps they are described as "islanders," because the murder was committed at Pelusium, an island-like spot in the midst of morasses, easternmost mouth of the Nile.-I. G.

Pompey the Great; and Suffolk dies by pirates. [Exeunt Whitmore and others with Suffolk. Cap. And as for these whose ransom we have set, It is our pleasure one of them depart: Therefore come you with us and let him go.

140

[Exeunt all but the First Gentleman.

Re-enter Whitmore with Suffolk's body.

[Exit.

Whit. There let his head and lifeless body lie,
Until the queen his mistress bury it.
First Gent. O barbarous and bloody spectacle!
His body will I bear unto the king:
If he revenge it not, yet will his friends;
So will the queen, that living held him dear.

[Exit with the body.

SCENE II

Blackheath.

Enter George Bevis and John Holland. Bevis. Come, and get thee a sword, though

147. The fate of Suffolk is despatched in few words by the chroniclers. Thus Holinshed, following Hall: "But Gods justice would not that so ungracious a person should so escape: for when he shipped in Suffolke, intending to transport himselfe over into France, he was incountered with a ship of warre, appertaining to the duke of Excester, constable of the Tower of London, called the Nicholas of the Tower. The capteine of that barke with small fight entered into the dukes ship, and, perceiving his person present, brought him to Dover road, and there on the one side of a cocke bote caused his head to be striken off, and left his bodie with the head lieng there on the sands. Which corps, being there found by a chapleine of his, was conveied to Wingfield college in Suffolke, and there buried." His death was in May, 1450.-H. Ν. Η.

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