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And ask the Lady Bona for thy queen:
So shalt thou sinew both these lands together;
And, having France thy friend, thou shalt not

dread

The scatter'd foe that hopes to rise again;

For though they cannot greatly sting to hurt,
Yet look to have them buzz to offend thine ears.

First will I see the coronation;

And then to Brittany I'll cross the sea,

To effect this marriage, so it please my lord. Edw. Even as thou wilt, sweet Warwick, let it be;

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For in thy shoulder do I build my seat,
And never will I undertake the thing
Wherein thy counsel and consent is wanting.
Richard, I will create thee Duke of Gloucester,
And George, of Clarence: Warwick, as ourself,
Shall do and undo as him pleaseth best.

Rich. Let me be Duke of Clarence, George of

Gloucester;

For Gloucester's dukedom is too ominous.

War. Tut, that's a foolish observation:

Richard, be Duke of Gloucester. Now to London,

To see these honors in possession. [Exeunt. 110

100. "in thy shoulder"; so F. 1; Ff. 2, 3, 4, "on thy s.—I. G. 110. Holinshed, after Hall, winds up the story of "the good Duke Humphrey's" death with the following: "Some thinke that the name and title of Glocester hath beene unluckie to diverse, as Hugh Spenser, Thomas of Woodstoke, and this duke Humfrie; which three persons by miserable death finished their daies, and after them king Richard the third also. So that this name is taken for an unhappie stile, as the proverb speaketh of Sejans horsse, whose rider was ever unhorssed, and whose possessor was ever brought to miserie."Η. Ν. Η.

ACT THIRD

SCENE I

A forest in the north of England.

Enter two Keepers, with cross-bows in their hands. First Keep. Under this thick-grown brake we'll shroud ourselves;

For through this laund anon the deer will come;
And in this covert will we make our stand,
Culling the principal of all the deer.

Sec. Keep. I'll stay above the hill, so both may

shoot.

First Keep. That cannot be; the noise of thy cross

bow

Will scare the herd, and so my shoot is lost.
Here stand we both, and aim we at the best:
And, for the time shall not seem tedious,
I 'll tell thee what befell me on a day
In this self-place where now we mean to stand.

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"Enter two keepers"; Ff., "Enter Sinklo and Humfrey; “as Sinklo is certainly the name of an Actor who is mentioned in the stage directions in the Taming of the Shrew (Ind. i. 86), and in Henry IV, Part II, Act v. Sc. 4, there is a great probability that Humphrey is the name of another Actor; perhaps, as Malone suggests, Humfrey Jeaffes. Neither of these is mentioned in the list of "Principall Actors" prefixed to the first Folio" (Camb. Editors).I. G.

9. Evidently meaning.--"And, that the time may not seem tedious"; a mode of speech not uncommon in the old writers.-H. N. H.

Sec. Keep. Here comes a man; let's stay till he be past.

Enter King Henry, disguised, with a prayer-book. K. Hen. From Scotland am I stolen, even of pure love,

To greet mine own land with my wishful sight.
No, Harry, Harry, 'tis no land of thine;
Thy place is fill'd, thy scepter wrung from thee,
Thy balm wash'd off wherewith thou wast

anointed:

No bending knee will call thee Cæsar now,
No humble suitors press to speak for right,

13. "Enter King Henry, disguised, with a Prayer-book," Malone's emendation; Ff., "Enter the King with a Prayer booke"; Collier MS., adds, "disguised as a Churchman"; Capell (from Qq.), "Enter King Henrie disguisde." I. G.

The Poet here leaps over something more than four years of military and parliamentary slaughter. After the battle of Towton the king fled into Scotland, and from thence sent the queen and prince to France. In October, 1463, she returned to Scotland with a small power of men, and soon after, having obtained a great company of Scots, she entered England with the king. At first the Lancastrian cause had a gleam of success, but was again crushed at the battle of Hexham, in April, 1464. After this overthrow, the king escaped a second time into Scotland; and it was upon his second return in June, 1465, that he was taken, somewhat as is represented in this scene. Such, at least, is the account delivered by Hall and Holinshed; who, after speaking of Edward's measures of security against his rival, add the following: "But all the doubts of trouble that might insue by king Henries being at libertie were shortlie taken away; for he himselfe, whether he was past all feare, or that hee was not well established in his wits, or for that he could not long keepe himselfe secret, in disguised atire boldlie entered into England. He was no sooner entred, but he was knowne and taken of one Cantlow, and brought toward the king; whom the earle of Warwicke met on the way, and brought him through London to the Tower, and there he was laid in sure hold."-H. Ν. Η.

14. "To greet mine own land with my wishful sight"; Rann (from Qq.), "and thus disguis'd to greet my native land."-I. G. 17. "wast," the reading of Ff. 3, 4; Ff. 1, 2, "was.”—I. G.

No, not a man comes for redress of thee; 20
For how can I help them, and not myself?

First Keep. Aye, here's a deer whose skin's a keeper's fee:

This is the quondam king; let 's seize upon him.

K. Hen. Let me embrace thee, sour adversity,
For wise men say it is the wisest course.
Sec. Keep. Why linger we? let us lay hands upon
him.

First Keep. Forbear awhile; we'll hear a little

more.

K. Hen. My queen and son are gone to France for aid;

And, as I hear, the great commanding Warwick
Is thither gone, to crave the French king's

sister

To wife for Edward: if this news be true,
Poor queen and son, your labor is but lost;
For Warwick is a subtle orator,

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And Lewis a prince soon won with moving
words.

By this account then Margaret may win him;
For she's a woman to be pitied much:

Her sighs will make a battery in his breast;
Her tears will pierce into a marble heart;
The tiger will be mild while she doth mourn;
And Nero will be tainted with remorse,
To hear and see her plaints, her brinish tears.
Aye, but she's come to beg, Warwick, to give;

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24. "thee, sour adversity"; Dyce's emendation; Ff., "the sower Adversaries"; Pope, "these sour adversities"; Clarke's Concordance, "these sour adversaries"; Delius, "the sour adversities."-I. G.

She, on his left side, craving aid for Henry, He, on his right, asking a wife for Edward. She weeps, and says her Henry is deposed; He smiles, and says his Edward is install'd; That she, poor wretch, for grief can speak no

more;

Whiles Warwick tells his title, smooths the

wrong,

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Inferreth arguments of mighty strength,
And in conclusion wins the king from her,
With promise of his sister, and what else,
To strengthen and support King Edward's
place.

O Margaret, thus 'twill be; and thou, poor soul,
Art then forsaken, as thou went'st forlorn,

Sec. Keep. Say, what art thou that talk'st of kings

and queens?

K. Hen. More than I seem, and less than I was born to:

A man at least, for less I should not be;

And men may talk of kings, and why not I? Sec. Keep. Aye, but thou talk'st as if thou wert a

king.

K. Hen. Why, so I am, in mind; and that's enough.

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54. "The piety of Henry scarce interests us more for his misfortunes than this his constant solicitude for the welfare of his deceitful queen." Steevens.

55. "thou that talkst," &c.; Rowe's emendation; Qq., "thou that talkes," &c.; Ff., "thou talk'st," &c.; Collier, "thou talkest," &c.I. G.

60. "and that's enough"; Rann (from Qq.), "though not in shew." -I. G.

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