Finds shapes of grief, more than himself, to wail;
Which, look'd on as it is, is nought but shadows
Of what it is not. Then, thrice-gracious queen,

More than your lord's departure weep not; more's not

seen:

Or if it be, 'tis with false sorrow's eye,

Which, for things true, weeps things imaginary.
Queen. It may be so; but yet my inward soul
Persuades me, it is otherwise: Howe'er it be,
I cannot but be sad; so heavy sad,

9

As, though, in thinking, on no thought I think,9----
Makes me with heavy nothing faint and shrink.

Bush. 'Tis nothing but conceit, my gracious lady.
Queen. 'Tis nothing less: conceit is still deriv'd
From some fore-father grief; mine is not so;
For nothing hath begot my something grief;
Or something hath the nothing that I grieve:
"Tis in reversion that I do possess ;

But what it is, that is not yet known ;' what
I cannot name; 'tis nameless woe, I wot.
Enter GREEN.

Green. God save your majesty

men :

and well met, gentle

I hope, the king is not yet shipp'd for Ireland.

Queen. Why hop'st thou so ? 'tis better hope, he is
For his designs crave haste, his haste good hope;
Then wherefore dost thou hope, he is not shipp'd?
Green. That he, our hope, might have retir'd his
power,'

And driven into despair an enemy's hope,
Who strongly hath set footing in this land:
The banish'd Bolingbroke repeals himself,
And with uplifted arms is safe arriv'd
At Ravenspurg.

[9] The involuntary and unaccountable depression of the mind, which every one has sometimes felt, is here very forcibly described. JOHNSON.

[1] To possess a man, is, in Shakespeare, to inform him fully, to make him comprehend. To be possessed, is, to be fully informed. I therefore imagine the queen says thus:

'Tis in reversion--that I do possess:

The event is yet in faturity-that I know in full conviction-but what it is, that is not yet known. In any other interpretation she must say that she possesses what is not yet come, which, though it may be allowed to be poetical and figurative language, is yet, I think, less natural than my explanation. JOHNSON.

[2] Might have drawn it back. A French sense JOHNSON.

Queen. Now God in heaven forbid !

Green. O, madam, 'tis too true: and that is worse,-The lord Northumberland, his young son Henry Percy, The lords of Ross, Beaumond, and Willoughby,

With all their powerful friends, are fled to him.

Bushy. Why have you not proclaim'd Northumberland,

And all the rest of the revolting faction

Traitors?

Green. We have: whereon the earl of Worcester Hath broke his staff, resign'd his stewardship,

And all the household servants fled with him

To Bolingbroke.

Queen. So, Green, thou art the midwife to my woe, And Bolingbroke my sorrow's dismal heir :

Now hath my soul brought forth her prodigy;

And I, a gasping new-deliver'd mother,
Have woe to woe, sorrow to sorrow join'd.
Bushy. Despair not, madam.

Queen. Who shall hinder me ?
I will despair, and be at enmity
With cozening hope; he is a flatterer,
A parasite, a keeper-back of death,
Who gently would dissolve the bands of life,
Which false hope lingers in extremity.

Enter YORK.

Green. Here comes the duke of York.
Queen. With signs of war about his aged neck;
O, full of careful business are his looks!-
Uncle,

For heaven's sake, speak comfortable words.

York. Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts:
Comfort's in heaven; and we are on the earth,
Where nothing lives but crosses, care, and grief.
Your husband he is gone to save far off,
Whilst others come to make him lose at home:
Here am I left to underprop his land;
Who, weak with age, cannot support myself:-
Now comes the sick hour that his surfeit made ;
Now shall he try his friends that flatter'd him.
Enter a Servant.

Serv. My lord, your son was gone before I came.

York. He was?-Why, so!-go all which way it

will!

The nobles they are fled, the commons cold,
And will, I fear, revolt on Hereford's side.-
Sirrah,

Get thee to Plashy,' to my sister Gloster;
Bid her send me presently a thousand pound :-
Hold, take my ring.

Serv. My lord, I had forgot to tell your lordship :
To-day, as I came by, I called there ;-

But I shall grieve you to report the rest.
York. What is it, knave?

Serv. An hour before I came, the duchess died.
York. God for his mercy! what a tide of woes
Comes rushing on this woeful land at once!

I know not what to do :-I would to God,
(So my untruth' had not provok'd him to it,)
The king had cut off my head with my brother's.-
What, are there posts despatch'd for Ireland ?-
How shall we do for money for these wars ?— ́

Come, sister,-cousin, I would say :6 pray, pardon me.—-
Go, fellow, [To the Servant.] get thee home, provide

some carts,

And bring away the armour that is there.

[Exit Servant Gentlemen, will you go muster men? if I know How, or which way, to order these affairs, Thus thrust disorderly into my hands,

Never believe me.

Both are my kinsmen ;-
The one's my sovereign, whom both my oath
Ard duty bids defend; the other again,
Is my kinsman, whom the king hath wrong'd;
Whom conscience and my kindred bids to right.
Well, somewhat we must do.-Come, cousin, I'll
Dispose of you :-Go, muster up your men,
And meet me presently at Berkley-castle.

I should to Plashy too ;—

[3] The lordship of Plashy was a town of the duchess of Gloster's in Essex.

[4] That is, disloyalty, treachery. JOHNSON.

THEOBALD.

[5] None of York's brothers had his head cut off, either by the king or any one else. The Duke of Gloster, to whose death he probably alludes, was secretly murdered at Calais, being smothered between two beds. RITSON.

[6] This is one of Shakespeare's touches of nature. York is talking to the queen bis cousin, but the recent death of his sister is uppermost in his mind. STEEVENS.

But time will not permit :-All is uneven,
And every thing is left at six and seven.

[Exeunt YORK and Queen. Bushy. The wind sits fair for news to go to Ireland, But none returns. For us to levy power,

Proportionable to the enemy,

Is all impossible.

Green. Besides, our nearness to the king in love, Is near the hate of those love not the king.

Bagot. And that's the wavering commons: for their love

Lies in their purses; and whoso empties them,
By so much fills their hearts with deadly hate.

Bushy. Wherein the king stands generally condemn'd. Bagot. If judgment lie in them, then so do we, Because we ever have been near the king.

Green. Well, I'll for refuge straight to Bristol castle ; The earl of Wiltshire is already there.

Bushy. Thither will I with you for little office
The hateful commons will perform for us;
Except like curs to tear us all to pieces.-
Will you go along with us?

Bagot. No; I'll to Ireland to his majesty.
Farewell if heart's presages be not vain,

:

We three here part, that ne'er shall meet again.

Bushy. That's as York thrives to beat back Bolingbroke. Green. Alas, poor duke! the task he undertakes Is-numb'ring sands, and drinking oceans dry; Where one on his side fights, thousands will fly. Bushy. Farewell at once; for once, for all, and ever. Green. Well, we may meet again.

Bagot. I fear me, never.

SCENE III.

[Exeunt.

The Wilds in Glostershire. Enter BOLINGBROKE and NORTH

UMBERLAND, with Forces.

Boling. How far is it, my lord, to Berkley now?
North. Believe me, noble lord,

I am a stranger here in Glostershire.

These high wild hills, and rough uneven ways,
Draw out our miles, and make them wearisome :
And yet your fair discourse hath been as sugar,

Making the hard way sweet and délectable.
But, I bethink me, what a weary way

From Ravenspurg to Cotswold, will be found
In Ross and Willoughby, wanting your company;
Which, I protest, hath very much beguil'd
The tediousness and process of my travel:
But theirs is sweeten'd with the hope to have
The present benefit which I possess :
And hope to joy, is little less in joy,

Than hope enjoy'd by this the weary lords
Shall make their way seem short; as mine hath done
By sight of what I have, your noble company.
Boling. Of much less value is my company,

Than your good words.

But who comes here?

Enter HARRY PERCY.

North. It is my son, young Harry Percy,
Sent from my brother Worcester, whencesoever.-
Harry, how fares your uncle?

Percy. I had thought, my lord, to have learn'd his health of you.

North. Why, is he not with the queen?

Percy. No, my good lord; he hath forsook the court, Broken his staff of office, and dispers'd

The household of the king.

North. What was his reason?

He was not so resolv'd, when last we spake together.
Percy. Because your lordship was proclaimed traitor.
But he, my lord, is gone to Ravenspurg,

To offer service to the duke of Hereford;
And sent me o'er by Berkley, to discover

What power the duke of York had levied there;
Then with direction to repair to Ravenspurg.

North. Have you forgot the duke of Hereford, boy?
Percy. No, my good lord; for that is not forgot,
Which ne'er I did remember to my knowledge,
I never in my life did look on him.

North. Then learn to know him now; this is the duke. Percy. My gracious lord, I tender you my service, Such as it is, being tender, raw, and young;

Which elder days shall ripen, and confirm

To more approved service and desert.

Boling. I thank thee, gentle Percy; and be sure, I count myself in nothing else so happy,