But like a foul misshapen stigmatic,
Mark'd by the destinies to be avoided,
As venom toads, or lizards' dreadful stings
Rich. Iron of Naples, hid with English gilt,
Whose father bears the title of a king,

(As if a channel 10 should be call'd the sea,) Sham'st thou not, knowing whence thou art extraught,11

To let thy tongue detect thy base-born heart?

12

Edw. A wisp of straw were worth a thousand

crowns,

To make this shameless callet know herself. -
Helen of Greece was fairer far than thou,
Although thy husband may be Menelaus; 13
And ne'er was Agamemnon's brother wrong'd
By that false woman, as this king by thee."
His father revell'd in the heart of France,
And tam'd the king, and made the Dauphin stoop;

9 One whom nature has marked out for shame, or stigmatized. See the Second Part, Act v. sc. 1, note 14.

H.

10 A channel in the Poet's time signified what we now call a kennel; which word is still pronounced channel in the north.

11 Extraught for extracted. The quarto has deriv'd.- Detect in the next line is used in its original sense of uncover or disclose

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12 A wisp of straw was often applied as a mark of opprobrium to an immodest woman, a scold, or similar offender even showing it to a woman was therefore considered as a grievous affront. A callet was a lewd wanton; but the term was often given to a scold.

13 That is, a cuckold. In Troilus and Cressida, Act v. sc. 1, The sites, speaking of Menelaus, calls him "the primitive statue and oblique memorial of cuckolds.”

14 Malone relies much on the frequency of classical allusions in the quarto, as inferring a more learned author than Shakespeare. Whien makes it worth remarking that this and the three preceding lines are found only in the folio. What renders it the more remarkable is, that all the rest of this speech is the same in the quarto. See, also, note 9 of the preceding scene.

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And, had he match'd according to his state,
He might have kept that glory to this day;
But, when he took a beggar to his bed,
And grac'd thy poor sire with his bridal day,
Even then that sunshine brew'd a shower for him,
That wash'd his father's fortunes forth of France,
And heap'd sedition on his crown at home.
For what hath broach'd this tumult, but thy pride?
Hadst thou been meek, our title still had slept;
And we, in pity of the gentle king,

Had slipp'd our claim until another age.

Geo. But, when we saw our sunshine made thy
spring,

And that thy summer bred us no increase,
We set the axe to thy usurping root;

And though the edge hath something hit ourselves,
Yet, know thou, since we have begun to strike,
We'll never leave, till we have hewn thee down,
Or bath'd thy growing with our heated bloods.

Edw. And in this resolution I defy thee;

Not willing any longer conference,

Since thou deny'st the gentle king to speak.

Sound trumpets! - let our bloody colours wave! And either victory, or else a grave.

Queen. Stay, Edward.

Edw. No, wrangling woman; we'll no longer

stay:

These words will cost ten thousand lives to-day."

[Exeunt.

This scene has 177 lines, of which 10 are peculiar to the lio, 51 altered, most of them very slightly, from the quarto, and 1:6 common to both.

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SCENE III.

A Field of Battle near Towton in Yorkshire.'

Alarums: Excursions. Enter WARWICK.

War. Forspent with toil, as runners with a race I lay me down a little while to breathe;

For strokes receiv'd, and many blows repaid,
Have robb'd my strong-knit sinews of their strength,
And, spite of spite, needs must I rest a while.

Enter EDWARD, running.

Edw. Smile, gentle heaven! or strike, ungentle death!

For this world frowns, and Edward's sun is clouded. War. How now, my lord! what hap? what hope

of good?

1 Soon after the second battle of St. Albans, Edward, coming fresh from his victory at Mortimer's Cross, united his forces with those under Warwick and Montague, and marched straight to London, which he knew was altogether of his faction. A few days later, a great council being held, it was resolved that Henry, by joining the queen's forces, had broken the late compact, and forfeited the crown to Edward, the heir to Richard late duke of York. Edward then made harangues to the people, who with shouts and acclamations ratified the sentence of the council; whereupon he was proclaimed king. This was done March 4, 1461. The 12th of the same month he started northward with a large army, intending to finish the war at one stroke. The imine diate preliminaries to the action of the following scene are thus given in Holinshed: "His armie and all things prepared, he departed out of London the twelfe daie of March, and by easie journies came to the castell of Pomfret, where he rested, appointing the lord Fitz Walter to keepe the passage of Ferrybridge with a good number of tall men. King Henrie on the other part, having his armie in readinesse, committed the governance thereof to the duke of Summerset, the earle of Northumberland, and the lord Clifford, as men desiring to revenge the death of their parents, slaine at the first battell at saint Albons."

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Enter GEORGE.

Geo. Our hap is loss, our hope but sad despair : Our ranks are broke, and ruin follows us. What counsel give you? whither shall we fly? Edw. Bootless is flight; they follow us with wings;

And weak we are, and cannot shun pursuit.

Enter RICHARD.

Rich. Ah, Warwick! why hast thou withdrawn thyself?

Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath drunk,
Broach'd with the steely point of Clifford's lance;
And in the very pangs of death he cried,-
Like to a dismal clangor heard from far,
"Warwick, revenge! brother, revenge my death!"
So underneath the belly of their steeds,

-

That stain'd their fetlocks in his smoking blood,
The noble gentleman gave up the ghost.'

War. Then let the earth be drunken with our

blood:

I'll kill my horse, because I will not fly.

Why stand we like soft-hearted women here,
Wailing our losses, whiles the foe doth rage,
And look upon,' as if the tragedy

Were play'd in jest by counterfeiting actors?

The lord Clifford determined to make a charge upon them that kept the passage of Ferrybridge; and so he departed with his light horssemen, and earlie, yer his enimies were aware, slue the keepers, and wan the bridge. The lord Fitz Walter, hearing the noise, suddenlie rose out of his bed, and, thinking it had beene a fraie amongst his men, came downe to appease the same; but yer he knew what the matter meant was slaine, and with him the bastard of Salisburie, brother to the earle of Warwicke, a valiant yoong gentleman, and of great audacitie." -Holinshed.

3 Look upon for look on; that is, are mere spectators

H.

Here on my knee I vow to God above,
I'll never pause again, never stand still,
Till either death hath clos'd these eyes of mine,
Or fortune given me measure of revenge.'

Edw. O Warwick! I do bend my knee with thine ;

And, in this vow, do chain my soul to thine.-
And, ere my knee rise from the earth's cold face,
I throw my hands, mine eyes, my heart to Thee,
Thou Setter-up and Plucker-down of kings;
Beseeching Thee, -if with Thy will it stands,
That to my foes this body must be prey,—
Yet that Thy brazen gates of heaven may ope,
And give sweet passage to my sinful soul!
Now, lords, take leave until we meet again,
Where'er it be, in heaven, or in earth.

Rich. Brother, give me thy hand; and, gentle Warwick,

Let me embrace thee in my weary arms.

I, that did never weep, now melt with woe,

That winter should cut off our spring-time so. War. Away, away! Once more, sweet lords, farewell.

Geo. Yet let us all together to our troops, And give them leave to fly that will not stay, And call them pillars, that will stand to us; And, if they thrive, promise them such rewards

4 « When the earle of Warwicke was informed hereof, like a man desperat, he mounted on his hacknie, and hasted puffing and blowing to king Edward, saieng, Sir, I praie God have mercie of their soules, which in the beginning of your enterprise have lost their lives.' With that he lighted downe, and slue his horse with his sword, saieng, — Let him flee that will, for surelie I will tarrie with him that will tarrio with me;' and kissed the crosse of his sword, as it were for a vow to the promise." -- Holinshed

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