I am disgraced, impeached, and baffled1 here; K. Rich. Rage must be withstood; And I resign my gage. My dear, dear lord, Mine honor is my life; both grow in one; K. Rich. Cousin, throw down your gage; do you begin. Boling. O, God defend my soul from such foul sin! Shall I seem crest-fallen in my father's sight? Or with pale beggar-fear impeach my height Before this out-dared dastard! Ere my tongue Shall wound mine honor with such feeble wrong, Or sound so base a parle, my teeth shall tear The slavish motive of recanting fear; And spit it bleeding in his high disgrace, Where shame doth harbor, even in Mowbray's face [Exit GAUNT. K. Rich. We were not born to sue, but to com mand; Which since we cannot do to make you friends, Be ready, as your lives shall answer it, 1 Baffled, in this place, signifies “abused, reviled, reproached in base terms;" which was the ancient signification of the word, as well as to deceive or circumvent. 2 There is an allusion here to the crest of Norfolk, which was a golden leopard. The old copies have "his spots." The alteration was made by Pope. At Coventry, upon Saint Lambert's day; [Exeunt. SCENE II. The same. A Room in the Duke of Lancaster's Palace. Enter GAUNT, and Duchess of Gloster:3 Gaunt. Alas! the part I had in Gloster's blood Doth more solicit me, than your exclaims, To stir against the butchers of his life. 5 Duch. Finds brotherhood in thee no sharper spur? Hath love in thy old blood no living fire? Edward's seven sons, whereof thyself art one, Were as seven phials of his sacred blood, Or seven fair branches springing from one root. Some of those seven are dried by nature's course, Some of those branches by the destinies cut; But Thomas, my dear lord, my life, my Gloster,One phial full of Edward's sacred blood, One flourishing branch of his most royal root,Is cracked, and all the precious liquor spilt; Is hacked down, and his summer leaves all faded, 1 i. e. make them friends, reconcile them. 2 To design is to mark out, to show by a token. It is the sense of the Latin designo. 3 The duchess of Gloster was Eleanor Bohun, widow of duke Thomas, son of Edward III. 4 i. e my relationship of consanguinity to Gloster. 5 The old copy erroneously reads "Who, when they see." By envy's hand, and murder's bloody axe. Ah, Gaunt! his blood was thine; that bed, that womb, That mettle, that self-mould, that fashioned thee, Yet art thou slain in him; thou dost consent What shall I say? To safeguard thine own life, His deputy anointed in his sight, Hath caused his death; the which, if wrongfully, An angry arm against his minister. Duch. Where then, alas! may I complain myself?1 Gaunt. To Heaven, the widow's champion and defence. Duch. Why, then, I will. Farewell, old Gaunt. Thou go'st to Coventry, there to behold Our cousin Hereford and fell Mowbray fight; Be Mowbray's sins so heavy in his bosom, That they may break his foaming courser's back, A caitiff, recreant to my cousin Hereford! 1 To complain is commonly a verb neuter; but it is here used as a verb active. It is a literal translation of the old French phrase me complaindre, and is not peculiar to Shakspeare. Farewell, old Gaunt; thy sometime brother's wife, Not with the empty hollowness, but weight. For sorrow ends not when it seemeth done. And what cheer there for welcome, but my groans? The last leave of thee takes my weeping eye. [Exeunt. SCENE III. Gosford Green, near Coventry. Lists set out, and a throne. Heralds, &c. attending. Enter the Lord Marshal, and AUMERLE.3 Mar. My lord Aumerle, is Harry Hereford armed? 1 Her house in Essex. 2 In our ancient castles the naked stone walls were only covered with tapestry or arras, hung upon tenterhooks, from which it was easily taken down on every removal of the family. 3 The duke of Norfolk was earl marshal of England; but being himself one of the combatants, the duke of Surry (Thomas Holland) officiated. Shakspeare has made a slight mistake by introducing that nobleman as a distinct person from the marshal in the present drama. Edward, duke of Aumerle (so created by his cousin-german, Richard II., in 1397), was the eldest son of Edward, duke of York, fifth son of Edward III., officiated as high constable at the lists of Coventry. He was killed at the battle of Agincourt, in 1415. Mar. The duke of Norfolk, sprightfully and bold, Stays but the summons of the appellant's trumpet. Aum. Why then, the champions are prepared, and stay For nothing but his majesty's approach. Flourish of trumpets. Enter KING RICHARD, who takes his seat on his throne; GAUNT, and several Noblemen, who take their places. A trumpet is sounded, and answered by another trumpet within. Then enter NORFOLK, in armor, preceded by a Herald. K. Rich. Marshal, demand of yonder champion The cause of his arrival here in arms. Ask him his name; and orderly proceed To swear him in the justice of his cause. Mar. In God's name, and the king's, say who thou art, And why thou com'st, thus knightly clad in arms? Against what man thou com'st, and what thy quarrel? Speak truly, on thy knighthood, and thy oath; As so defend thee Heaven, and thy valor! Nor. My name is Thomas Mowbray, duke of Norfolk;1 Who hither come engaged by my oath, (Which Heaven defend a knight should violate!) To God, my king, and my succeeding issue, [He takes his seat. 1 The duke of Hereford, being the appellant, entered the lists first, according to the historians. 2 "His succeeding issue" is the reading of the first folio: the quartos all read my. VOL. III. 47 |