Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

He is my son, ay, and therein my shame,

Yet from my dugs he drew not this deceit.

Son. Think you, my uncle did dissemble, grandam?
Duch. Ay, boy.

Son. I cannot think it. Hark! what noise is this!

Enter Queen ELIZABETH, distractedly; RIVERS and DORSET, following her.

Q. Eliz. Ah! who shall hinder me to wail and weep, To chide my fortune, and torment myself?

I'll join with black despair against my soul,

And to myself become an enemy.

Duch. What means this scene of rude impatience?
Q. Eliz. To make an act of tragic violence:—
Edward, my lord, thy son, our king, is dead!—
Why grow the branches, when the root is gone?
Why wither not the leaves, that want their sap"?—
If you will live, lament; if die, be brief;

That our swift-winged souls may catch the king's;
Or, like obedient subjects, follow him

To his new kingdom of ne'er changing night'.

Duch. Ah! so much interest have I in thy sorrow, As I had title in thy noble husband.

I have bewept a worthy husband's death,
And liv'd with looking on his images;

But now, two mirrors of his princely semblance
Are crack'd in pieces by malignant death,
And I for comfort have but one false glass,
That grieves me when I see my shame in him.
Thou art a widow; yet thou art a mother,
And hast the comfort of thy children left:

4 Enter Queen Elizabeth, DISTRACTEDLY ;] "With her hair about her ears,"

is the stage-direction in the folio: "Enter the Queen" in the quartos, where the stage-directions are generally more brief.

5 - when the root is gone?] "Now the root is wither'd," quartos.

6 that want their sap ?] "The sap being gone," quartos.

7

8

of ne'er-changing night.] "Of perpetual rest," quartos.

thy children left :] The quartos add thee at the end of this line.

But death hath snatch'd my husband' from mine arms,
And pluck'd two crutches from my feeble hands,
Clarence, and Edward. O! what cause have I,
(Thine being but a moiety of my moan')

To over-go thy woes, and drown thy cries?

Son. Ah, aunt! you wept not for our father's death; How can we aid you with our kindred tears?

Daugh. Our fatherless distress was left unmoan'd ; Your widow-dolour likewise be unwept.

Q. Eliz. Give me no help in lamentation; I am not barren to bring forth complaints2. All springs reduce their currents to mine eyes, That I, being govern'd by the watry moon, May send forth plenteous tears to drown the world! Ah, for my husband, for my dear lord, Edward"!

Chil. Ah, for our father, for our dear lord Clarence! Duch. Alas, for both! both mine, Edward and Cla

rence.

Q. Eliz. What stay had I, but Edward? and he's

gone.

Chil. What stay had we, but Clarence? and he's

gone.

Duch. What stays had I, but they? and they are

gone.

Q. Eliz. Was never widow had so dear a loss.

Chil. Were never orphans had so dear a loss.

Duch. Was never mother had so dear a loss.

Alas! I am the mother of these griefs*:
Their woes are parcell'd, mine are general.
She for an Edward weeps, and so do I;

9 my HUSBAND-] Children, in the quartos.

1

a moiety of my MOAN,] All the quartos, excepting that of 1634, have grief for "moan :" the quarto of 1634 gives the line, "Then, being but a moiety of myself." In the next line, the quartos read plaints for "woes."

[blocks in formation]

I for a Clarence weep, so doth not she:
These babes for Clarence weep, and so do I:
I for an Edward weep, so do not they3:-
Alas! you three on me, threefold distress'd,
Pour all your tears, I am your sorrow's nurse,
And I will pamper it with lamentation.

Dor. Comfort, dear mother: God is much displeas'd,
That you take with unthankfulness his doing.
In common worldly things, 'tis call'd ungrateful,
With dull unwillingness to repay a debt,

Which with a bounteous hand was kindly lent;
Much more to be thus opposite with heaven,
For it requires the royal debt it lent you.

Riv. Madam, bethink you, like a careful mother, Of the young prince your son: send straight for him, Let him be crown'd; in him your comfort lives. Drown desperate sorrow in dead Edward's grave, And plant your joys in living Edward's throne".

Enter GLOSTER, BUCKINGHAM, STANLEY, HASTINGS, RATCLIFF, and Others.

Glo. Sister, have comfort': all of us have cause
To wail the dimming of our shining star;

But none can help our harms by wailing them.-—
Madam, my mother, I do cry you mercy;

I did not see your grace.-Humbly on my knee
I crave your blessing.

Duch. God bless thee; and put meekness in thy breast9,

Love, charity, obedience, and true duty.

5 These babes for Clarence weep, AND SO DO I:

I for an Edward weep, so do not they :] The last line is omitted in the folio, and in the first line, 66 so do not they" is printed for "and so do I." The omission is supplied, and the error corrected from the quarto, 1597.

6 And plant your joys in living Edward's throne,] This and the eleven preceding lines are first found in the folio, 1623.

7 SISTER, have comfort:] "Madam, have comfort," quartos.

[blocks in formation]

can HELP OUR harms-] "Can cure their harms," quartos.

in thy BREAST,] "In thy mind," quartos.

Glo. Amen; [Aside.] and make me die a good old

man!

That is the butt-end of a mother's blessing;

I marvel, that her grace' did leave it out.

Buck. You cloudy princes, and heart-sorrowing peers,
That bear this heavy mutual load of moan,
Now cheer each other in each other's love:
Though we have spent our harvest of this king,
We are to reap the harvest of his son.

The broken rancour of your high-swoln hates,
But lately splinter'd, knit, and join'd together,
Must gently be preserv'd, cherish'd, and kept :
Me seemeth good, that, with some little train,
Forthwith from Ludlow the young prince be fet
Hither to London, to be crown'd our king.

Riv. Why with some little train, my lord of Buckingham?

Buck. Marry, my lord, lest, by a multitude,

The new-heal'd wound of malice should break out;
Which would be so much the more dangerous,

By how much the estate is green, and yet ungovern'd:
Where every horse bears his commanding rein,
And may direct his course as please himself,
As well the fear of harm, as harm apparent,

In my opinion, ought to be prevented.

Glo. I hope the king made peace with all of us;
And the compact is firm, and true, in me.

Riv. And so in me; and so, I think, in all:
Yet, since it is but green, it should be put
To no apparent likelihood of breach,

Which, haply, by much company might be urg'd:
Therefore, I say with noble Buckingham,
That it is meet so few should fetch the prince.
Hast. And so say I3.

2

1 THAT her grace-] "Why her grace," quartos.

your high-swoln HATES,] The quartos have hearts for "hates."

3 And so say I.] This and the seventeen lines preceding form one of the

additions in the folio, 1623. They are in none of the quarto impressions.

Glo. Then be it so; and go we to determine

Who they shall be that straight shall post to Ludlow1. Madam, and you my sister, will you go

To give your censures in this business?

[Exeunt all but BUCKINGHAM and GLOSTER. Buck. My lord, whoever journeys to the prince, For God's sake, let not us two stay at home: For by the way I'll sort occasion,

As index to the story' we late talk'd of,

To part the queen's proud kindred from the prince.
Glo. My other self, my counsel's consistory,

My oracle, my prophet!-My dear cousin,

I, as a child, will go by thy direction.

Towards Ludlow then, for we'll not stay behind.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.

The Same. A Street.

Enter Two Citizens, meeting.

1 Cit. Good morrow, neighbour: whither away so fast?

2 Cit. I promise you, I scarcely know myself. Hear you the news abroad?

1 Cit.

Yes; that the king is dead.

4 post to LUDLOW.] So the quartos, correctly, both here and afterwards : the folio, London, in both places. In the next line, the folio has "sister," and the quartos, mother.

5 To give your CENSURES in this business?] Here, as in many other places, "censure" is only used for opinion or judgment. See this Vol. p. 125. Modern editors have injured this line, by inserting weighty before "business,” from the quartos.

&1

- I'll SORT occasion,] I will select or sort out an opportunity.

7 AS INDEX to the story-] i. e. As introduction or commencement. Shakespeare not unfrequently employs the word "index" in this sense: thus, later in this play, (Act iv. sc. 4,) we have, "The flattering index of a direful pageant ;" and in "Othello,” Act ii. sc. 1, “An index and obscure prologue to the history." This use of the word seems to have arisen out of the fact, that the index of a book was formerly placed at the beginning.

« ZurückWeiter »