Enter HASTINGS. Hast. Good time of day unto my gracious lord! How hath your lordship brook'd imprisonment? Glo. No doubt, no doubt: and so shall Clarence too; For they, that were your enemies, are his, And have prevail'd as much on him, as you. Hast. More pity, that the eagle should be mew'd', While kites and buzzards prey at liberty. Glo. What news abroad? Hast. No news so bad abroad, as this at home;— The king is sickly, weak, and melancholy, And his physicians fear him mightily. Glo. Now, by Saint Paul, this news is bad indeed. O, he hath kept an evil diet long, And over-much consum'd his royal person; 'Tis very grievous to be thought upon. What, is he in his bed? Glo. Go you before, and I will follow you. [Exit HASTINGS. He cannot live, I hope; and must not die, Till George be pack'd with posthorse up to heaven. Clarence hath not another day to live: Which done, God take king Edward to his mercy, 3 should be mew'd,] A mew was the place of confinement where a hawk was kept till he had moulted. 4 -- an evil diet -] i. e. a bad regimen. For then I'll marry Warwick's youngest daughter: By marrying her, which I must reach unto. Clarence still breathes; Edward still lives, and reigns; When they are gone, then must I count my gains. [Exit. SCENE II. The same. Another Street. Enter the Corpse of King HENRY the Sixth, borne in an open Coffin, Gentlemen bearing Halberds, to guard it; and Lady ANNE as Mourner. 5 Anne. Set down, set down your honourable load,If honour may be shrouded in a hearse,Whilst I a while obsequiously lament The untimely fall of virtuous Lancaster.Poor key-cold figure of a holy king! Pale ashes of the house of Lancaster! Thou bloodless remnant of that royal blood! Be it lawful that I invocate thy ghost, To hear the lamentations of poor Anne, Wife to thy Edward, to thy slaughter'd son, Stabb'd by the self-same hand that made these wounds! Lo, in these windows, that let forth thy life, I pour the helpless balm of my poor eyes: 5 obsequiously lament —] Obsequious, in this instance, means funereal. 6 key-cold-] A key, on account of the coldness of the metal of which it is composed, was anciently employed to stop any slight bleeding. The epithet is common to many old writers. O, cursed be the hand, that made these holes! May fright the hopeful mother at the view; If ever he have wife, let her be made. Than I am made by my young lord, and thee!- And, still as you are weary of the weight, [The Bearers take up the Corpse, and advance. Enter GLOSTER. Glo. Stay you, that bear the corse, and set it down. Anne. What black magician conjures up this fiend, To stop devoted charitable deeds? Glo. Villains, set down the corse; or, by Saint Paul, I'll make a corse of him that disobeys. 1 Gent. My lord, stand back, and let the coffin pass. Glo. Unmanner'd dog! stand thou when I command: Advance thy halberd higher than my breast, Or, by Saint Paul, I'll strike thee to my foot, [The Bearers set down the Coffin Anne. What, do you tremble? are you all afraid? Alas, I blame you not; for you are mortal, And mortal eyes cannot endure the devil.— 7 to his unhappiness! i. e. disposition to mischief. Avaunt, thou dreadful minister of hell! Thou had'st but power over his mortal body, Anne. Foul devil, for God's sake, hence, and trouble us not; For thou hast made the happy earth thy hell, O, gentlemen, see, see! dead Henry's wounds Provokes this deluge most unnatural. O God, which this blood mad'st, revenge his death! Glo. Lady, you know no rules of charity, 8 pattern of thy butcheries:] example. see! dead Henry's wounds Pattern is instance, or Open their congeal'd mouths, and bleed afresh!] It is a tradition very generally received, that the murdered body bleeds on the touch of the murderer. This was so much believed by Sir Kenelm Digby, that he has endeavoured to explain the reason. Of these supposed evils, to give me leave, By circumstance, but to acquit myself. Anne. Vouchsafe, diffus'd infection of a man', For these known evils, but to give me leave, By circumstance, to curse thy cursed self. Glo. Fairer than tongue can name thee, let me have Some patient leisure to excuse myself. Anne. Fouler than heart can think thee, thou canst make No excuse current, but to hang thyself. Glo. By such despair, I should accuse myself. Anne. And, by despairing, shalt thou stand excus'd; For doing worthy vengeance on thyself, That didst unworthy slaughter upon others. Glo. Say, that I slew them not? Anne. Why then, they are not dead: Why, then he is alive. But dead they are, and, devilish slave, by thee. Anne. garet saw Thy murderous faulchion smoking in his blood; Glo. I was provoked by her sland'rous tongue, 2 That laid their guilt upon my guiltless shoulders. 1 Vouchsafe, diffus'd infection of a man,] Diffus'd infection of a man may mean, thou that art as dangerous as a pestilence, that infects the air by its diffusion. Diffus'd may, however, mean irregular. "In thy foul throat," &c.- MALONE That laid their guilt -] The crime of my brothers. He has just charged the murder of lady Anne's husband upon Edward. |