Enter a Messenger.

Mess. Royal commanders, be in readiness:
For with a band of thirty thousand men

Comes Warwick, backing of the Duke of York;
And in the towns, as they do march along,
Proclaims him king, and many fly to him.
Darraign your battle, for they are at hand.
Clif. I would your highness would depart the field:

The queen hath best success when you are absent.

Q. Mar. Ay, good my lord, and leave us to our fortune.

K. Hen. Why, that's my fortune too: therefore I'll stay.
North. Be it with resolution then to fight.

Prince. My royal father, cheer these noble lords,
And hearten those that fight in your defence.
Unsheathe your sword, good father: cry, "Saint
George!"

67-72. Royal... thirty battle . are they passe along. 73-75. I would

my fortunes Q. fight] 74, 75. Why Q. 78-80. My

70

75

80

towns along fly to him. Darraign at hand] 65-70. Royall . fiftie townes whereas flies to him. Prepare. battels be at hand Q. Ay, good my fortune] 71-73. I would... Do good 76, 77. Why .. fortune.

stay. North. Be fortune, therefore Ile stay still. Clif. Be. fight George] 76-78. Good father cheere these noble Lords, Marlowe, Tamburlaine, Part II. iv. I (Dyce, 61, a): "my other toward brother here For person like to prove a second Mars."

66-69. Enter a Messenger... Warwick, backing of the Duke of York] Immediately after the knighthood of Henry's son, and the settling of riots in London between the Commons and the Queen's "Northren horsemen,' Hall writes: "But what soeuer man purposeth, God disposeth; for all these deuises were shortly transmuted into another forme, because trew report was broght, not onely to the citie, but also to the quene, that the erle of Marche [Duke of York] had vanqueshed the erles of Pembroke and Wiltshyre. and that the erle of Warwycke had mete with the sayd erle of Marche at Chippyng Norton and that they with both their powers_were cominge towarde London. These trew tales turned the quenes purpose

the places where, differ, but the manner how, is the same.

66

66

72. Darraign] An old expression occurring in Chaucer several times, and in Spenser's Faerie Queene, 1. vii. II; II. ii. 26; 111. i. 20. And often in Hall and Grafton. Another form of derrain," set in order, range. Not in Qq (which use "prepare") and nowhere else in Shakespeare. See note at "hap" and "hope," 11. iii. 8, below. 73, 74. I would... absent] See note at II. i. III: where his person was present, there victory fled." 75. good my lord] Shakespeare's favourite transposition. We have had good my lords " already in Part I. IV. i. 133. See note at "sweet my child," Love's Labour 's Lost, I. ii. 65, and "good my knave," ibid. III. i. 144. The expression here is in Marlowe's Tamburlaine, Part II. III. iv. (Dyce, 57, a): "Come, good my lord, and let us haste from hence."

March. Enter EDWARD, GEORGE, Richard, WARWICK,
NORFOLK, MONTAGUE, and Soldiers.

Edw. Now, perjur'd Henry, wilt thou kneel for grace,
And set thy diadem upon my head;

Or bide the mortal fortune of the field?

Q. Mar. Go, rate thy minions, proud insulting boy!
Becomes it thee to be thus bold in terms

Before thy sovereign and thy lawful king?
Edw. I am his king, and he should bow his knee ;
I was adopted heir by his consent:

85

Since when, his oath is broke; for, as I hear,

You, that are king, though he do wear the crown,
Have caused him, by new act of Parliament,

90

To blot out me, and put his own son in.

Clif. And reason too:

Who should succeed the father but the son? Rich. Are you there, butcher? O! I cannot speak! Clif. Ay, crook-back; here I stand to answer thee,

Or any he the proudest of thy sort.

Rich. 'Twas you that kill'd young Rutland, was it not?
Clif. Ay, and old York, and yet not satisfied.

kneel for

clif

95

Vnsheath your sword, sweet father crie Saint George. Clif. Pitch we our battell heere, for hence wee will not moue. Enter the house of Yorke Q. 81. March. Enter Edward, George. . . ] March. Enter Edward . . . Clarence ... Ff. 81-83. Now the field?] 79, 80. Now . yealde thy crowne, And kneele for mercie at thy soueraignes feete? Q. Go, rate. bold in terms Before king?] 81-83. Go rate Before thy king and lawfull soueraigne? Q. 87, 88. I am consent] 84, 85. I am bend his I hear

blot out me,

...

84-86. malapert, bow his consent Q. 89-92. Since when,. own son in] 86-90. George. Since when he hath broke his oath. For as we heare .. own son in Q. son ?] 91. And reason George son? Q. speak !] 92. Are you their butcher ? Qq 1, 2 (there Q 3). 96, 97. Ay Or sort] 93. I... or any of your sort] Q. 98, 99. 'Twas you. York, and .. satisfied] 94, 95. Twas you... Yorke too, and . . . satisfide Q.

reason too

any

Rich. For God's sake, lords, give signal to the fight.

100

War. What say'st thou, Henry, wilt thou yield the crown?
Q. Mar. Why, how now, long-tongued Warwick! dare you
speak?

When you and I met at Saint Alban's last,
Your legs did better service than your hands.

War. Then 'twas my turn to fly, and now 'tis thine.
Clif. You said so much before, and yet you fled.
War. 'Twas not your valour, Clifford, drove me thence.

105

North. No, nor your manhood that durst make you stay.
Rich. Northumberland, I hold thee reverently.

IIO

Break off the parley; for scarce I can refrain
The execution of my big-swoln heart
Upon that Clifford, that cruel child-killer.
Clif. I slew thy father: call'st thou him a child?
Rich. Ay, like a dastard and a treacherous coward,

115

As thou didst kill our tender brother Rutland; But ere sun set I'll make thee curse the deed. K. Hen. Have done with words, my lords, and hear me speak. Q. Mar. Defy them then, or else hold close thy lips.

...

100, 101. For God's... signal. (signall Q 3). thy crowne? Q. hands] 98-100. What, long tongde fly, and. Clifford . Clifford, that... thence Q. Upon that Clifford .

. 105-107. Then 'twas thence] 101-103. I, then twas. flee, but 108-112. No, . . . manhood. make... I hold child-killer] 104-109. No, manhood War

...

wike, that could make Northumberland, Northumberland, wee holde against that Clifford there, ... child killer Q. 113-116. I slew... dastard

sun set

deed] 110-113.

sunne set [Sun

Why I kild... villaine set F 2, Sun set Ff 3, 4] deed Q. 117-125. Have done. 114-122. Haue doone hangs upon his tongue Q.

My liege. cured. his tongue] lordes... My Lord cru'd (cur'd Q 3)

102. long-tongued] Again in Titus Andronicus, IV. ii. 150. Shakespeare was fond of the word tongued. He uses it with close-, honey-, lewd-, maiden-, poisonous-, shrill-, trumpet-, and wasp-. He uses -mouthed similarly (Spenser has "fire-mouthed "), but the tongued compound is his own probably. He is the monarch of compounds, and Schmidt his chiefest exponent.

109-112. Northumberland... childkiller] The unmetrical confusion in Q is again noticeable.

IIO. refrain] Nowhere else used transitively by Shakespeare. Compare Peele's David and Bethsabe (468, b): "If thou unkindly shouldst refrain her bed." New Eng. Dict. gives the passage in text as earliest of "refrain " in sense of "give up (something).”

my lords great

III. big-swoln] Occurs again (of the face of the sea) in Titus Andronicus, III. i. 224. Compare "high-swoln,' Richard III. II. ii. 117. Another proof of Shakespeare's continued authorship, for this line occurs in The First Part of Contention: "The big swolne venome of thy hatefull heart" (1. i. 86), in a speech of the Cardinal's which has no counterpart in 2 Henry VI. The word here is in Q.

112. child-killer] See Hall's words, quoted at I. iv. 95.

116. sun set] of Q, is certainly to be preferred to "sunset." So I read in King John, III. i. 110, but not in Romeo and Juliet, III. v. 128, nor, in Sonnet 73. Ff 3, 4 have "sun set."

K. Hen. I prithee, give no limits to my tongue :
I am a king, and privileged to speak.
Clif. My liege, the wound that bred this meeting here
Cannot be cured by words; therefore be still.
Rich. Then, executioner, unsheathe thy sword.

By Him that made us all, I am resolv'd
That Clifford's manhood lies upon his tongue.
Edw. Say, Henry, shall I have my right or no?

A thousand men have broke their fasts to-day,
That ne'er shall dine unless thou yield the crown.
War. If thou deny, their blood upon thy head;

For York in justice puts his armour on.

Prince. If that be right which Warwick says is right,
There is no wrong, but every thing is right.
Rich. Whoever got thee, there thy mother stands;

For well I wot thou hast thy mother's tongue.
Q. Mar. But thou art neither like thy sire nor dam,
But like a foul misshapen stigmatic,
Mark'd by the destinies to be avoided,

126-132. Say, Henry ... fasts.

blood upon

If that

120

125

130

135

which

every thing is right] 123-129. What saist thou, Henry . fast.. bloods be on If all... that . . all things must be right Q. dreadful stings] 130-135.

Whoever

Whatsoever

133-138.

fainting lookes Q.

ard III. III. iv. 79: "I swear I will not dine until I see the same "; where it is taken verbatim from Grafton's Continuation of Hardyng, p. 495, 1543.

133. Whoever got thee] See "Menelaus," below, l. 147. At the birth of Prince Edward, Hall says (rept. p. 230): "which was christened & named Edward. whose mother susteyned not a little slaunder and obloquye of the common people, saiyng that the kyng was not able to get a chyld, and that this was not his sonne, with many slaunderous woords, to the quenes dishonor, which here nede not to be rehersed." This speech is erroneously (as the answer shows) given to Warwick in the Folios.

134. well I wot] See 1 Henry VI. Iv. vi. 32 (note), and Introduction, p. xxviii.

140

As venom toads, or lizards' dreadful stings.
Rich. Iron of Naples hid with English gilt,
Whose father bears the title of a king,
As if a channel should be call'd the sea,
Sham'st thou not, knowing whence thou art extraught,
To let thy tongue detect thy base-born heart?

Edw. A wisp of straw were worth a thousand crowns,
To make this shameless callat know herself.
Helen of Greece was fairer far than thou,
Although thy husband may be Menelaus;

145

139-143. Iron ... whose... Sham'st... knowing... heart?] 136-140. Iron Shames. knowing from whence thou art deriude, to parlie

Thy thus with Englands lawfull heires? Q. .. herself] 141, 142. A wispe 149. Helen by thee] omitted Q.

138. lizards' dreadful stings] Altered from "fainting looks" of Q. Lizards stings occurs in 2 Henry VI. III. ii. 325. Fainting looks," looks that produce fainting. One would suggest Lodge's "faintful.”

141. channel] gutter, kennel, drain. 142. extraught] derived (the Quarto word). A participle for extracted, like distraught for distracted. Spenser has "from whos race... she was lineallie extract" (Faerie Queene, III. ix. 38). "Extraught" occurs twice in the Troublesome Raigne of King John, where Shakespeare read it, probably earlier than this play: "I beg some instance whence I am extraught' " (Shakespeare's Library, Hazlitt, p. 234). And on p. 236. Earlier examples are in New Eng. Dict.

143. detect] betray, expose. The oldest sense, and Shakespeare's usual one. This line completely differs from Quarto. See next note.

143. base-born] A word of Peele's, but earlier in Churchyard. See note in Part II. 1. iii. 82 to "base-born callat." In neither case is this word in the Quartos. Spenser has "baseborn men "in Ruines of Time and Teares of the Muses. It is several times in Marlowe's Tamburlaine, Part I.

144, 145. A wisp. this shameless that shamelesse her selfe Q.

144. A wisp of straw] the badge of a scold. See Nares for ample illustrations, culled mostly from the com

146

"So perfyte and exacte a scoulde that women mighte geve place Whose tatlynge tongues had won

a wispe." The only early one I can add is from Gabriel Harvey's Pierces Supererogation (Grosart, ii. 219), 1593: "She hath already put-on her wispen_garland"-Harvey's tu quoque to Nashe in Pierce Penilesse. See, too, Ben Jonson, The Vision of Delight, 1607.

It

145. callat] See Part II. 1. iii. 82, and note at "base-born callat.' is hard to reject the idea that the repetition here (from Part II.) is smoothed away by parting the company of these terms, though only by a line or two. "Callat" is an old word, often in Skelton and Golding (Irish, cailleach). A violent scold, or horrid old woman.

147. Menelaus] Steevens quotes from Troilus and Cressida (v. i. 60), where Thersites, speaking of Menelaus, calls him "the goodly transformation of Jupiter there, his brother, the bull,— the primitive statue and oblique memorial of cuckolds." Schmidt adds the reference to Troilus and Cressida, 1. i. 115 "Menelaus horn," the prototype of cuckolds.