ACT III. SCENE I.—Bolingbroke's Camp at Bristol. Enter BOLINGBROKE, YORK, NORTHUMBERLAND, PERCY, WILLOUGHBY, Ross: Officers behind, with BUSHY and GREEN, prisoners. Boling. Bring forth these men.- Bushy, and Green, I will not vex your souls (Since presently your souls must part your bodies,) wrongs. And stain❜d the beauty of a fair queen's cheeks Dispark'd my parks, and fell'd my forest woods; a Dispark'd my parks. To disafforest a forest is to annul all the peculiar privileges which belong to it, and render it, with reference to the rights of the owner or lord, and the privileges of the tenants or vassals, the same as that of ordinary land. Bolingbroke, we presume, complains that, when the favourites of Richard had disparked his parks, they let out the property to common purposes of pasture or tillage, and at the same time felled his woods;-thus, not only feeding upon his seignories, but destroying their ancient beauty and propriety. From mine own windows torn my household coat, This, and much more, much more than twice all this, Bushy. More welcome is the stroke of death to me, Boling. My lord Northumberland, see them despatch'd. [Exeunt NORTHUMBERLAND and others, with Prisoners. Uncle, you say, the queen is at your house: For heaven's sake, fairly let her be entreated: Tell her, I send to her my kind commends; Take special care my greetings be deliver❜d. York. A gentleman of mine I have despatch'd Boling. Thanks, gentle uncle.-Come, lords, away; [Exeunt. SCENE II.-The Coast of Wales. A Castle in View. Flourish: Drums and Trumpets. Enter KING RICHARD, BISHOP OF CARLISLE, AUMERLE, and Soldiers. K. Rich. Barkloughly castle call you this at hand? Aum. Yea, my lord. How brooks your grace the air, After your late tossing on the breaking seas? K. Rich. Needs must I like it well; I weep for joy, To stand upon my kingdom once again. Plays fondly, with her tears and smiles, in meeting; a ? Lords, farewell, is omitted in the folio. b Steevens omits your. • The usual mode of reading these two beautiful lines is as follows: So, weeping, smiling, greet I thee, my earth,* с Shall falter under foul rebellion's arms. Bishop. Fear not, my lord; that Power that made you king Hath power to keep you king, in spite of all. [The means that heaven yields must be embrac'd, And not neglected; else, if heaven would, And we will not, heaven's offer we refuse; The proffer'd means of succour and redress.]a "As a long-parted mother with her child Plays fondly with her tears, and smiles in meeting." Smiles, in this way, is a verb; but, by the transposition of the comma, it is read as a The "long-parted mother" does not only play fondly with her tears, but with her smiles also. Richard adds, noun. "So weeping, smiling, greet I thee, my earth.” a The repeated use, by Richard, of the word earth, would seem to indicate that Shakspere employs the word in the meaning of inheritance,—possession,—“ my kingdom,". ‚"-"dear earth,"—" my earth,"-"my gentle earth." Mr. Whiter, in his curious' Etymological Dictionary,' has shown that the word heir is derived from earth. "The Latin hæres, hæred-is, or, as it was anciently written, eres, is the person who possesses, or is destined to possess, the certain spot of land,—or of earth, hertha, herda, &c." When Capulet, in Romeo and Juliet,' says, "She is the hopeful lady of my earth," there is little doubt that he means that Juliet is his heiress. b Heavy-gaited toads. This epithet is one of the many examples of Shakspere's wonderful accuracy in observing natural objects, and of his power of conveying an image by a word. c Rebellion's arms. So the quarto of 1597. The folio rebellious. d These four lines, enclosed in brackets, are omitted in the folio. Aum. He means, my lord, that we are too remiss; K. Rich. Discomfortable cousin! know'st thou not, The cloak of night being pluck'd from off their backs, For every man that Bolingbroke hath press'd, Weak men must fall; for heaven still guards the right. Enter SALISBURY. Welcome, my lord; How far off lies your power? And lights. All the old copies read that 'lights. That, as a relative, has pro bably searching eye for its antecedent; but the construction is still difficult, whilst a slight alteration removes the difficulty. b Light. In the folio, lightning. One day too late, I fear, my noble lord, And thou shalt have twelve thousand fighting men: O'erthrows thy joys, friends, fortune, and thy state; Aum. Comfort, my liege: why looks your grace so pale? Have I not reason to look pale and dead? Aum. Comfort, my liege; remember who you are. Enter SCROOP. Scroop. More health and happiness betide my liege, K. Rich. Mine ear is open, and my heart prepar'd; Strives Bolingbroke to be as great as we? |