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That so stood out against the holy church,

The great metropolis and see of Rome:
Therefore thy threatening colours now wind up;
And tame the savage spirit of wild war,

That, like a lion foster'd up at hand,

It may lie gently at the foot of peace,

And be no further harmful than in show.

Lew. Your grace shall pardon me, I will not back:
I am too high-born to be propertied,

To be a secondary at control,

Or useful serving-man and instrument

To any sovereign state throughout the world.

Your breath first kindled the dead coal of wars
Between this chastised kingdom and myself,

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80

And brought in matter that should feed this fire; 85
And now 'tis far too huge to be blown out
With that same weak wind which enkindled it.
You taught me how to know the face of right,
Acquainted me with interest to this land,
Yea, thrust this enterprise into my heart;
And come ye now to tell me John hath made

90

His peace with Rome? What is that peace to me?
I, by the honour of my marriage-bed,

After young Arthur, claim this land for mine;
And, now it is half-conquer'd, must I back

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Because that John hath made his peace with Rome?

72. see] F 4; Seu Ff 1, 2, 3.

...

78, 80. Your grace control] your grace must excuse me, but I will not draw back. I am too highborn to be made a tool of, etc.

79. propertied] Compare Twelfth

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Night, iv. ii. 99: They have here propertied me.'

89. Acquainted . . . land] acquainted me with my claim upon the land.

Am I Rome's slave? What penny hath Rome borne,
What men provided, what munition sent,

To underprop this action? Is't not I

That undergo this charge? who else but I,
And such as to my claim are liable

100

Sweat in this business and maintain this war?
Have I not heard these islanders shout out
"Vive le roi!" as I have bank'd their towns?
Have I not here the best cards for the game,
To win this easy match play'd for a crown?
And shall I now give o'er the yielded set?
No, no, on my soul, it never shall be said.
Pand. You look but on the outside of this work.
Lew. Outside or inside, I will not return

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IIO

Till my attempt so much be glorified

As to my ample hope was promised
Before I drew this gallant head of war,
And cull'd these fiery spirits from the world,
To outlook conquest and to win renown

108. No, no,] No, Pope.

IOI. such... liable] such as are willing to admit my claim. Compare II. i. 490, IV. ii. 226 supra.

104. "Vive le roi !" Shakespeare gives this phrase four syllables, in the ultra-correct French manner-Vi-ve le roi.

104. bank'd]"formed on the analogy of coasted' (Mr. Wright), and meaning "sailed along their banks." I know of no similar use in Elizabethan English; I am inclined to suspect the text, the more so because it does not seem likely that the French went to attack many towns by sailing up rivers, although the corresponding passage of the Trouble

115

some Raigne refers to sailing up the Thames. Vaughan takes "bank'd" to mean "set up banks around." Gould conjectured "pass'd." We might suggest “hail'd.”

107. set] A term generally applied to the winning number of games in any kind of match. Here, of course, cards are referred to. Cotgrave has "Partie: a match, or set, at game." Compare Titus Andronicus, v. i. 100: "As sure a card as ever won a set."

III. glorified] Compare Iv. iii. 71 supra.

115. To outlook conquest] to defy conquest.

Even in the jaws of danger and of death.

[Trumpet sounds.

What lusty trumpet thus doth summon us?

Enter the BASTARD, attended.

Bast. According to the fair-play of the world,
Let me have audience; I am sent to speak,
My holy lord of Milan, from the king:

I come to learn how you have dealt for him;
And, as you answer, I do know the scope
And warrant limited unto my tongue.
Pand. The Dauphin is too wilful-opposite,

And will not temporize with my entreaties;
He flatly says he'll not lay down his arms.

Bast. By all the blood that ever fury breathed,

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The youth says well. Now hear our English king;
For thus his royalty doth speak in me.

He is prepared, and reason too he should:
This apish and unmannerly approach,
This harness'd masque and unadvised revel,
This unhair'd sauciness and boyish troops,

130

124. wilful-opposite] Theobald; wilful opposite F 1; wilfull opposite Ff 2, 3; wilful, opposite F 4. 125. entreaties ;] entreates. S. Walker conj.

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tion of" un-heard " of F 1, "unheard" of Ff 2-4. As Mr. Wright points out, this is supported by the spelling of "haires as "heares " in the Faerie Queene, II. ix. 13. The meaning "unbearded" (Keightley conjectured "unbeard") is obvious when taken in connection with "boyish troops." For "unhair'd... and" the Collier MS. reads "unheard... of." Collier's second edition gives "unhair'd... of"; while Vaughan conjectures "unfear'd . . . in."`

The king doth smile at; and is well prepared

To whip this dwarfish war, these pigmy arms,
From out the circle of his territories.

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That hand which had the strength, even at your door,

To cudgel you and make you take the hatch,

To dive like buckets in concealed wells,

To crouch in litter of your stable planks,
To lie like pawns lock'd up in chests and trunks,
To hug with swine, to seek sweet safety out
In vaults and prisons, and to thrill and shake
Even at the crying of your nation's crow,
Thinking his voice an armed Englishman;
Shall that victorious hand be feebled here,
That in your chambers gave you chastisement?
No: know the gallant monarch is in arms
And like an eagle o'er his aery towers,
To souse annoyance that comes near his nest.
145. his] Rowe; this Ff.
149. towers] tower F 4.

140

145

I 50 148. No: know] No, no, Lettsom conj. souse] F 4; sowsse Ff 1, 2, 3.

150. 135. these pigmy arms] Rowe's reading. The Folios have this pigmy Armes, defended by Mr. MooreSmith, who treats "pigmy arms singular. Vaughan suggests "this pigmy swarm.'

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138. take the hatch] leap over the lower half of the door without waiting to open it. Compare King Lear, III. vi. 76: "Dogs leap the hatch and all are fled "; and see 1. i. 171 supra. 141. pawns] things that are lying in pawn.

144. your nation's crow] The obvious reference is to the cock (gallus); there is a contemptuous side reference and play upon words in calling it a crow, and there may be, as Dr. Nicholson pointed out in Notes and Queries (Series iii. No. xi.

p. 251), a reference to the flight of ravens which was said to have struck terror into the French before the battle of Poitiers. There are many needless emendations of the passage.

149. And like an eagle, etc.] soars high above his young ones to swoop down upon anything that comes near to annoy his nest." Aery" really means nest, but Shakespeare uses it for the young brood. Compare Richard III. 1. iii. 270: "Your aery buildeth in our aery's nest." "To tower" is to soar into a position for striking. Compare Lucrece, 506:— "Which, like a falcon towering in the skies,

Coucheth the fowl below." 150. souse] to swoop down upon; like "towering," another term from

And you degenerate, you ingrate revolts,
You bloody Neroes, ripping up the womb
Of your dear mother England, blush for shame ;
For your own ladies and pale-visaged maids
Like Amazons come tripping after drums,
Their thimbles into armed gauntlets change,

Their needles to lances, and their gentle hearts

To fierce and bloody inclination.

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Lew. There end thy brave, and turn thy face in peace; We grant thou canst outscold us: fare thee well; 160 We hold our time too precious to be spent

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Strike up the drums; and let the tongue of war Plead for our interest and our being here. Bast. Indeed, your drums, being beaten, will cry out; And so shall you, being beaten: do but start 156. change] chang'd Dyce (Lettsom conj. and Collier MS.). falconry. Compare Ford's Fancies Chaste and Noble, iii. 2: "And (I) therefore mean to give the sowse whenever I find the game on wing." 152, 153. You bloody Neroes, etc.] Nothing was too awful to be believed of Nero. This special piece of atrocity is to be found in full in Higden's Polychronicon (Rolls Series, iv. 395); it is also referred to in the Troublesome Raigne, p. 34, line 389, and again by Shakespeare in Hamlet, III. ii. 412.

"needles." Steevens (1778) gives the old form, "neelds."

154. maids] daughters.

157. Their needles] Pope omitted "Their "; Folios I and 2 read "needl's," evidently indicating the pronunciation; Folios 3 and 4 read

159. brave] thy braving of us, bravado. So Taming of the Shrew, III. i. 15: "Sirrah, I will not bear these braves of thine."

162. brabbler] prater, babbler (Rowe read "babler"). So Troilus and Cressida, v. i. 99: "He will spend his mouth and promise, like Brabbler the hound." Cotgrave has "Breteleur: a brabler, chider, brawler or wrangler: a litigious or vain talker." Cotgrave's gloss shows clearly that Shakespeare had chosen the word,-a word, however, quite common in Elizabethan English.

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