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Conditionally that here thou take an oath
To cease this civil war, and, whilst I live,
To honour me as thy king and sovereign;
And neither by treason nor hostility

To seek to put me down and reign thyself.
York. This oath I willingly take and will perform.
War. Long live King Henry!

Plantagenet, embrace him. K. Hen. And long live thou and these thy forward sons! York. Now York and Lancaster are reconciled. Exe. Accursed be he that seeks to make them foes!

200

205

[Sennet. Here they come down. York. Farewell, my gracious lord: I'll to my castle. War. And I'll keep London with my soldiers. Norf. And I to Norfolk with my followers. Mont. And I unto the sea from whence I came.

[Exeunt York and his Sons, Warwick, Norfolk, Montague, Soldiers and Attendants.

K. Hen. And I with grief and sorrow, to the court.

210

Enter Queen MARGARET and the PRINCE OF WALES. Exe. Here comes the queen, whose looks bewray her anger :

I'll steal away.

K. Hen.

196-198. that here

188. That here

199, 200. And

thy

...

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Exeter, so will I.

an oath thine oath

this civil war.

sovereign] 187, these ciuill Broiles Soueraigne Q. thyself] omitted Q. 201-205. This oath and these

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. foes] 189-193. That oath .. and all thy foes, Sound trumpet Q. 206. Farewell... castle] 194, 195. My Lord Ile take my leaue, for Ile to Wakefield To my Castell. Exit Yorke and his sonnes Q.

And I to.. And I unto

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Ile to
Exit. And I to
Q. 210. K. Hen. And I
will I] 199, 200. My Lord here
so will I Q.

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upon the Saturday next ensuyng, Richard Duke of Yorke, was by the sound of a trumpet, solempnly proclaimed heyre apparaunt to the crowne of Englande, and Protectour of the realme" (i. 669, 1461, 39th Yere). Amongst the many other articles "not given by Hall or Grafton, is York's oath, given by Holinshed" (1808 ed., iii. 266): "I Richard Duke of Yorke promise and sweare by the faith and truth that I owe to almightie God, that I will neuer consent, procure, or stirre, directlie, or indirectlie, in priuie or apert

anie thing that may sound to the abridgement of the naturall life of King

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Q. Mar. Nay, go not from me; I will follow thee.
K. Hen. Be patient, gentle queen, and I will stay.
Q. Mar. Who can be patient in such extremes?

Ah! wretched man; would I had died a maid,
And never seen thee, never borne thee son,
Seeing thou hast proved so unnatural a father.
Hath he deserved to lose his birthright thus?
Hadst thou but loved him half so well as I,
Or felt that pain which I did for him once,
Or nourish'd him as I did with my blood,
Thou would'st have left thy dearest heart-blood there,
Rather than have made that savage duke thine heir,
And disinherited thine only son.

Prince. Father, you cannot disinherit me.

If you be king, why should not I succeed?

K. Hen. Pardon me, Margaret; pardon me, sweet son:
The Earl of Warwick and the duke enforced me.

215

220

225

Q. Mar. Enforced thee! art thou king, and wilt be forced? 230
I shame to hear thee speak. Ah! timorous wretch;
Thou hast undone thyself, thy son, and me;
And given unto the house of York such head

As thou shalt reign but by their sufferance.

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then Ile staie Q.

2I3, 2I4. Nay Be patient. and I will stay] 201, 202. Naie staie, or else I follow thee. King. Be 215, 216. Q. Mar. Who can... man] 203. Queene. What patience can there? ah timorous man Q. 216-229. would I had died a maid ... enforced me] omitted Q. 230-234. Enforced thee.. sufferance] 204-206. Thou hast . . . and me (1. 232) And giuen our rights unto the house of Yorke. Art thou a king and wilt be forst to yeeld? Q.

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the present one adding "her anger." She does not really come at all. "The Duke of Yorke well knowyng that the Queene would spurne and impugne the conclusions agreed and taken in this Parliament, caused her and her sonne to be sent for by the King: but she being a manly woman, vsyng to rule and not to be ruled, and thereto counsayled by the Dukes of Excester and Sommerset, not only denyed to come, but also assembled together a great armie, intendyng to take the King by fine force, out of the Lordes handes, and to set them to a newe schoole " (Grafton, i. 670).

211. bewray] betray, as below, III. iii. 97, in the sense of expose to view, discover. Occurs again in King Lear, Coriolanus, and Titus Andronicus.

215. Q. Mar. Who can. . .] The development of the Queen's character

and dramatic importance, from the Quarto, is to be noticed. At her first entry her first speech is nearly trebled, with the addition of several poetic touches. Moreover, the lines which have been knocked out of verse and misprinted are rearranged into proper metre. The Queen boasts a good deal more, being a manly woman, in the developed speech, as at line 254; we see at once what Shakespeare's view is, and what he does, given a free hand.

223. heart-blood] An old expression, revived by Spenser in Shepheard's Calender. Shakespeare has it in each of these three plays, and three times in Richard II. Also figuratively in Troilus and Cressida. It is not in Q.

233. given such head] A term in horsemanship, liberty of motion (Schmidt). See again Taming of Shrew, II. ii. 249, and 2 Henry IV. 1. i. 43.

To entail him and his heirs unto the crown,
What is it but to make thy sepulchre,

235

And creep into it far before thy time?

Warwick is chancellor and the lord of Calais;

Stern Faulconbridge commands the narrow seas;
The duke is made protector of the realm;

240

And yet shalt thou be safe? such safety finds

The trembling lamb environed with wolves.
Had I been there, which am a silly woman,

The soldiers should have toss'd me on their pikes
Before I would have granted to that act;
But thou preferr'st thy life before thine honour:

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245

land:

241, 242. such

235-238. To entail him . Calais] omitted Q. 239-241. Stern Faulconbridge safe?] 209(line)-212 (line). The Duke is made Sterne .. seas. And thinkst thou then To sleepe secure? Q. safety .. wolves] omitted Q. 243-246. Had I . . . honour] 207-209 (†). Had I beene there, the souldiers should have tost Me on their lances points, before I would haue Granted to their wils Q. 246, 247. But thou . . . thou dost] omitted Q.

238. Warwick ... Calais] These appointments are not mentioned by the Queen in Q. At the parliament held at Westminster after the first battle of St. Albans (1455-6), Grafton tells that "the Erle of Salisbury (Warwick's father) was appointed to be Chauncelor, & had the great Seale to him delivered: and the Erle of Warwike was elected to the office of the Capteyne of Calice" (i. 654).

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239. Stern Faulconbridge. row seas] This appointment is mentioned later after the battle of Tewkesbury in "the X Yere" of Edward the Fourth (Grafton, ii. 43): “One Thomas Neuel, Bastard sonne to Thomas Lorde Fauconbridge the valyaunt capitayne, a man of no lesse courage than audacitie. . . . Thys Bastarde was before thys time appoynted by the Erle of Warwike to be Viceadmyrall of the Sea, and had in charge so to keepe the passage between Douer and Calice, that none which either fauored King Edward or his friends should escape.' Stone says: "This appointment must have been made in 1470 after Warwick had broken with Edward IV." After Warwick's death he turned robber and pirate, and was taken and beheaded at Southampton. Marlowe copies this line in Edward II.: "The haughty Dane commands the narrow See note at IV. viii. 3 below.

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239. narrow seas] from Q. See again below, IV. viii. 3, and Merchant of Venice, II. viii. 28 and III. i. 4. The expression occurs in Golding's Ovid, bk. xiv. line 819

"The Lady crueller

Than are the rysing narrowe seas." The expression occurs in " English Policy" (in Hakluyt), 1436. See also J.

Aske, Elizabetha Triumphans (Nichols' Prog. ii. 574), 1588.

240. duke is made protector] For the Duke's third protectorship, see above, 11. 192-201, extract.

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242. lamb .. wolves] This favourite metaphor occurs about eight times in these plays. In the two later plays it is usually absent (as here) from the Quarto.

243. silly woman] "mere woman." Occurs again in Two Gentlemen of Verona. Not in Q. In Faerie Queene, 1. i. 30, and in Peele's David and Bethsabe.

244. toss'd me on their pikes] Compare J. Rainoldes Dolarneys Primerose (Grosart, p. 106), 1606: "to manage armes, To tosse a pike, and how to wield a lance." "Granted to that act" is a peculiar construction (consented to) not in Shakespeare elsewhere. It is in Q. In the " Irving Shakespeare a quotation from Hall (254), " Graunted 39 seas. to their petitions," is given.

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And seeing thou dost, I here divorce myself

Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed,
Until that act of parliament be repeal'd
Whereby my son is disinherited.

250

The northern lords that have forsworn thy colours
Will follow mine, if once they see them spread;

And spread they shall be, to thy foul disgrace,
And utter ruin of the house of York.

Thus do I leave thee. Come, son, let's away;
Our army is ready; come, we 'll after them.

255

K. Hen. Stay, gentle Margaret, and hear me speak.

Q. Mar. Thou hast spoke too much already: get thee gone.

K. Hen. Gentle son Edward, thou wilt stay with me?

Q. Mar. Ay, to be murder'd by his enemies.

Prince. When I return with victory from the field

I'll see your grace: till then I'll follow her.
Q. Mar. Come, son, away; we may not linger thus.

260

265

[Exeunt Queen Margaret and the Prince. K. Hen. Poor queen! how love to me and to her son Hath made her break out into terms of rage. Revenged may she be on that hateful duke, Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire, Will cost my crown, and like an empty eagle

247-250. I here... disinherited] 212-214. I heere diuorce me Henry From thy bed, untill that Act recalde, wherein thou yeeldest to the house of Yorke Q. 251-253. The northern . . . foul disgrace] 215-217. The Northern spread they shall unto thy deepe disgrace Q. 254-256. And utter Come, son. after them] 218. Come sonne, lets awaie, and leaue him heere alone Q. 257-262. Stay, gentle get thee gone thou wilt.. her] 219-224. Staie gentle therefore be still wilt thou follow her. Exit. Q. 263. Come... thus] omitted Q.

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follow Exit.

264-272. Poor queen

.. messenger] 225-230. Poore Queene, her loue to me and to the prince Her

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Tire on the flesh of me and of my son!
The loss of those three lords torments my heart:
I'll write unto them and entreat them fair.
Come, cousin; you shall be the messenger.
Exe. And I, I hope, shall reconcile them all.

SCENE II.-Sandal Castle.

Enter EDWARD, RICHARD, and MONTAGUE.

Rich. Brother, though I be youngest, give me leave.
Edw. No, I can better play the orator.

Mont. But I have reasons strong and forcible.

Enter the DUKE OF YORK.

York. Why, how now, sons and brother! at a strife?
What is your quarrel? how began it first?
Edw. No quarrel, but a slight contention.

York. About what?

Rich. About that which concerns your grace

and us;

The crown of England, father, which is yours.

270

[Exeunt.

5

sonne, Makes hir in furie thus forget hir selfe. Reuenged maie shee be on that accursed Duke. Come cosen of Exeter, staie thou here, For Clifford and those Northren Lords be gone I feare towards Wakefield, to disturbe the Duke Q. 273. And I them all] omitted Q.

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SCENE II.

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1-3. Rich. Brother ... Edw. No... orator forcible] 1-3. Edw. Brother, and cosen Montague, giue mee leaue to speake. Rich. Nay, . Orator forceable Q. 4-5. Enter York. York. Why ... first?] 4. Enter the Duke of Yorke. Yorke. How nowe sonnes what at a jarre amongst your selves? Q. 6-9. Edw. No quarrel • yours] 5-7. (prose) Rich. No father, but a sweete

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Golding's Ovid (x. 44): "Too tyre on Titius growing hart the greedy Grype forbeares" (when Orpheus played). Craig quotes from Sidney's Astrophel and Stella, Sonnet 14, where this same gripe tires on Prometheus. Also in Marlowe's Tamburlaine, Part I.

271. entreat them fair] be courteous to them. Occurs again Richard III. and Troilus and Cressida. Compare "Speak him fair" (2 Henry VI. IV. i. 120). Spenserian language:

"He them with speaches meet Does faire entreat; no courting nicetee,

But simple, trew and eke unfained

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full"
give me leave to speak" in Q,
which has already occurred in both
texts (1. i. 120 above). See again, III.
iii. 22 below.

2. play the orator] See note, 1 Henry VI. iv. i. 175. The expression occurs there, and twice later in the present play. Also in Richard III. Ġabriel Harvey has "his constant zeale to play the Diuels Oratour" (Pierces Supererogation (Grosart, ii. 75), 1593). "Devil's orator 99 is a favourite expression of Harvey's.

4. at a strife]" at a jar " in Quarto here is paralleled in Part II. I. i. 251: "the peers be fall'n at jars." The lines 6 to 9 omitting "About what?" are printed as prose in Q, but are obviously verse. The careless printing of that copy is to be borne in

I. give me leave] Shortened from the mind.

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