Wither one rofe, and let the other flourish! • If you contend, a thousand lives must wither.' SON. How will my mother, for a father's death, Take on with me, and ne'er be fatisfied? FATH. How will my wife, for flaughter of my fon, 'Shed feas of tears, and ne'er be fatisfied? ‹ K. HɛN. How will the country,3 for these woeful chances, "Misthink the king, and not be satisfied? 'SON. Was ever fon, fo ru'd a father's death? 'FATH. Was ever father, fo bemoan'd a fon ?4 I If you contend, a thousand lives muft wither,] Thus the folio. The quartos thus : 66 For if you ftrive, a thousand lives-must perish." STEEVENS. I think the word wither is more likely to have been inadvertently repeated by the tranfcriber, than fubftituted by Shakspeare for the former word. MALONE. 2 Take on with me,] Be enraged at me. So, in a pamphlet by T. Nathe, 1592: "Some will take on, like a madınan," &c. See Vol. VII. p. 344, n. 6. MALONE. To take on is a phrase still in ufe among the vulgar, and fignifies-to perfift in clamorous lamentation. STEEVENS. 3 How will the country, &c.] So the folio. The quartos thus: "How will the country now mifdeem their king! 66 Oh, would my death their minds could fatisfy !" To mif-think is to think ill, unfavourably. So, in The Northern Lafs, 1633 : 66 - and heaven pardon me what I mif-thought every hour of the night!" STEEVENS. This word, which Shakspeare fubftituted for misdeem, he has again ufed in Antony and Cleopatra: "Be it known, that we the greateft are mif-thought, "For things that others do." MALONE. 4 Was ever fon, fo ru'd a father's death? Was ever father, fo bemoan'd his fon ?] The variation is here. 'K. HEN. Was ever king, so griev'd for subjects" woe? 'Much is your forrow; mine, ten times so much. 'SON. I'll bear thee hence,5 where I may weep [Exit, with the Body. my fill. *FATH. These arms of mine fhall be thy winding-fheet; *My heart, fweet boy, fhall be thy fepulchre ; I'll bear thee hence; and let them fight that will, [Exit, with the Body. worth remarking, for in the old play the correfponding lines are: "Was ever fon fo rude, his father's blood to spill! MALONE. * I'll bear thee hence; &c.] Thus the folio. The old play thus : "I'll bear thee hence from this accurfed place, "For woe is to me, to fee my father's face." MALONE. 6 And fo obfequious will thy father be,] Obfequious is here careful of obfequies, or of funeral rites. JOHNSON, In the fame fense it is used in Hamlet : 66 to do obfequious forrow." STEEVENS. 7 Sad for the lofs of thee,] The old copy reads-men for the lofs &c. Mr. Rowe made the alteration; but I think we might read : fo obfequious will thy father be, "Man, for the lofs of thee" &c. STEEVENs. As Priam was for all-] I having but one fon, will grieve as much for that one, as Priam, many. JOHNSON, who had many, could grieve for "K. HEN. Sad-hearted men, much overgone with care, "Here fits a king more woful than you are. Alarums: Excurfions. Enter Queen MARGARET, Prince of Wales, and EXETER. PRINCE. Fly, father, fly! for all your friends are fled, 'And Warwick rages like a chafed bull: 'Away! for death doth hold us in pursuit. 'Q. MAR. Mount you, my lord, towards Berwick poft amain : • Edward and Richard, like a brace of greyhounds 'Having the fearful flying hare in fight, With fiery eyes, fparkling for fparkling for very wrath, And bloody fteel grafp'd in their ireful hands, · Are at our backs; and therefore hence amain. EXE. Away! for vengeance comes along with them : Nay, ftay not to expoftulate, make speed; Or else come after, I'll away before. 'K. HEN. Nay, take me with thee, good sweet Exeter ; 'Not that I fear to stay, but love to go Whither the queen intends. Forward; away! [Exeunt. SCENE VI. The fame. A loud Alarum. Enter CLIFFORD, wounded. "CLIF. Here burns my candle out, ay, here it dies,' Which, while it lafted, gave king Henry light. More than my body's parting with my foul. Enter Clifford, wounded.] The quarto adds, with an arrow in his neck. In ridicule of this, Beaumont and Fletcher, have introduced Ralph, the grocer's prentice, in The Knight of the Burning Peftle, with a forked arrow through his head. It appears, however, from Holinfhed, p. 664, that this circumftance has fome relation to the truth: "The lord Clifford, either for heat or paine, putting off his gorget fuddenlie, with an arrow (as fome faie) without a head, was ftriken into the throte, and immediately rendered his fpirit." STEEVENS. I Here burns part of this play : my . candle out, ay, here it dies,] So, in the first "Here dies the dusky torch of Mortimer." STEEVENS. 2thy tough commixtures melt.] Perhaps better, the tough commixture. JOHNSON. The quartos read-" that tough commixture melts." STEEVENS. 3 The common people fwarm like fummer flies :] This line, which is not in the folio, was recovered from the old play by Mr. Theobald. The context fhows, that like a line in The Second Part of King Henry VI. it was omitted by the negligence of the transcriber or compofitor. MALONE. And whither fly the gnats, but to the fun ?4 Giving no ground unto the house of York, ' And what makes robbers bold, but too much lenity? Bootlefs are plaints, and cureless are my wounds; For, at their hands, I have deferv'd no pity. 4 The common people fwarm like fummer flies: And whither fly the gnats, but to the fun?] Hence, perhaps, originated the following paffage in The Bard of Gray: "The fwarm that in thy noontide beam were borne ? "Gone to falute the rifing morn." STEEVENS. O Phoebus! hadst thou never given confent-] The Duke of York had been entrusted by Henry with the reins of government both in Ireland and France; and hence perhaps was taught to aspire to the throne. MALONE. 6 No way to fly, nor ftrength to hold out flight :] This line is clear and proper as it is now read; yet perhaps an oppofition of images was meant, and Clifford faid: No way to fly, nor ftrength to hold out fight. JOHNSON. The sense of the original reading is-No way to fly, nor with ftrength sufficient left to sustain myself in flight, if there were. STEEVENS. |