Duch.

Hadst thou groan'd for him,

As I have done, thou wouldst be more pitiful.
But now I know thy mind: thou dost suspect,
That I have been disloyal to thy bed,

And that he is a bastard, not thy son.

Sweet York, sweet husband, be not of that mind:
He is as like thee as a man may be,

Not like to me, nor any of my kin,
And yet I love him.

York.

Make way, unruly woman.

Duch. After, Aumerle! Mount thee upon his horse:

Spur, post, 15 and get before him to the king,

And beg thy pardon ere he do accuse thee.
I'll not be long behind: though I be old,

I doubt not but to ride as fast as York:

[Exit.

And never will I rise up from the ground,

Till Bolingbroke have pardon'd thee. Away! be gone.

[Exeunt.

SCENE III.

Windsor. A Room in the Castle.

Enter BOLINGBROKE as King; PERCY, and other Lords.

Boling. Can no man tell me of my unthrifty son?

"T is full three months, since I did see him last.

If any plague hang over us, 't is he.

I would to God, my lords, he might be found.
Inquire at London, 'mongst the taverns there,
For there, they say, he daily doth frequent,
With unrestrained 1 loose companions,
Even such, they say, as stand in narrow lanes,
And beat our watch, and rob our passengers;
While 2 he, young wanton, and effeminate boy,
Takes on the point of honour, to support

So dissolute a crew.

Percy. My lord, some two days since I saw the prince, And told him of these triumphs held at Oxford.

Boling. And what said the gallant?

Percy. His answer was,

he would unto the stews,

15) jage so spornstreichs wie ein Eilbote.

1) Vgl. A. 2, Sc. 1, Anm. 52.

2) While ist Pope's Verbesserung für Which der Qs. und Fol.

tivisch zu fassen, nicht wie die meisten Hgg. interpungiren, als Adjectiv zu boy: young, wanton, and effeminate boy.

And from the common'st creature pluck a glove, 3

And wear it as a favour; and with that

He would unhorse the lustiest challenger.

Boling. As dissolute, as desperate: yet, through both 5 which elder days May happily bring forth. But who comes here?

I see some sparks of better hope,

Enter AUMERLE, in great haste. 6

Aum. Where is the king?

Boling. What means our cousin, that he stares

And looks so wildly?

Aum. God save your grace. I do beseech your majesty, To have some conference with your grace alone.

Boling. Withdraw yourselves, and leave us here alone.

What is the matter with our cousin now?

[Exeunt PERCY and Lords.

Aum. For ever may my knees grow to the earth,

My tongue cleave to my roof within my mouth,
Unless a pardon, ere I rise, or speak. 7

Boling. Intended, or committed, was this fault?

If on the first, 8 how heinous e'er it be,

To win thy after-love, I pardon thee.

Aum. Then give me leave that I may turn the key, That no man enter till my tale be done.

Boling. Have thy desire.

[Kneels.

[AUMERLE locks the door. 9

York. [Within.] My liege, beware! look to thyself:

Thou hast a traitor in thy presence there.
Boling. Villain, I'll make thee safe.

Aum. Stay thy revengeful hand: thou hast no cause to fear.
York. [Within.] Open the door, secure, fool-hardy king:

[Drawing.

3) Beim Turnier trug der Ritter den Handschuh seiner Dame als ein Zeichen ihrer Huld (as a favour) am Helm.

4) durch seine Ausgelassenheit, wie durch seine Dreistigkeit durchschimmernd. 4) So Q. A. und Fol.

Manche Hgg. lesen mit den übrigen Qs. sparkles und fügen mit Steevens ein a vor better ein.

6) Enter Aumerle amazed ist die Bühnenweisung der Qs.; in der Fol. bloss Enter Aumerle. 7) Obgleich sich zur Noth unless a pardon auch elliptisch verstehen lässt: wenn nicht eine Verzeihung erfolgt, so scheint es doch, als sei in Qs. und Fol. ein folgender Vers zufällig ausgefallen, der das fehlende Verbum und ein Wort, wie my fault, enthalten haben mag. Wenigstens liesse sich this fault in Bolingbroke's Antwort auf

etwas Derartiges beziehen.

8) d. h. wenn wegen des ersteren, des beabsichtigten Vergehens, du Verzeihung begehrst. 9) Diese Bühnenweisung ist modern; dafür haben die Qs. The duke of York knocks at the door and crieth.

Shall I for love speak treason to thy face? 10
Open the door, or I will break it open.

Enter YORK.

[BOLINGBROKE opens the door.

Boling. What is the matter, uncle? speak; Recover breath: tell us how near is danger,

That we may arm us to encounter it.

York. Peruse this writing here, and thou shalt know The treason that my haste forbids me show.

Aum. Remember, as thou read'st, thy promise past,

I do repent me; read not my name there:

My heart is not confederate with my hand. 11

York. 'T was, villain, ere thy hand did set it down.

I tore it from the traitor's bosom, king:
Fear, and not love, begets his penitence.
Forget to pity him, lest thy pity prove
A serpent that will sting thee to the heart.

Boling. O heinous, strong, and bold conspiracy!

O loyal father of a treacherous son!

Thou sheer, 12 immaculate, and silver fountain,
From whence this stream through muddy passages
Hath held 13 his current, and defil'd himself!
Thy overflow of good converts to bad; 14
And thy abundant goodness shall excuse
This deadly blot in thy digressing son.

York. So shall my virtue be his vice's bawd,
And he shall spend mine honour with his shame,
As thriftless sons their scraping fathers' gold.
Mine honour lives when his dishonour dies,
Or my sham'd life in his dishonour lies:
Thou kill'st me in his life, giving him breath,

The traitor lives, the true man 's put to death.

Duch. [Within.] What, ho! my liege! for God's sake let me in.

Boling. What shrill-voic'd suppliant makes this eager cry?

Duch. A woman,
A woman, and thine aunt, great king; 't is I.

Speak with me, pity me, open the door:

A beggar begs that never begg'd before.

10) Den König Fool-hardy zu nennen, ist als eine Schmähung des königlichen Ansehns

ein Hochverrath, den er aus Anhänglichkeit ihm in's Gesicht spricht.

11) hand Handschrift, die Namensunterschrift unter dem Document.

12) sheer = rein, ungetrübt.

a fountain sheer kommt in Spenser's Faerie Queene wiederholt vor; Sh. hat das veraltete Epitheton nur einmal in Verbindung mit ale in Taming of the Shrew (Induct.).

13) So die Qs. Die Fol. Hath had.

14) Was du an Güte zu viel hast, das verkehrt sich in deinem Sohne zu Schlechtem.

Boling. Our scene is altered, from a serious thing,
And now chang'd to "The Beggar and the King." 15-
My dangerous cousin, let your mother in:

I know, she 's come to pray for your foul sin.
York. If thou do pardon, whosoever pray,
More sins for this forgiveness prosper may.
This fester'd joint cut off, the rest rests sound;
This, let alone, 16 will all the rest confound.

Enter DUCHESS.

Duch. O king! believe not this hard-hearted man:

Love, loving not itself, none other can.

York. Thou frantic woman, what dost thou make here?

Shall thy old dugs once more a traitor rear? 17

Duch. Sweet York, be patient.
Boling. Rise up, good aunt.

Hear me, gentle liege.

[Kneels.

Duch.

Not yet, I thee beseech:

For ever will I walk 18 upon my knees,
And never see day that the happy sees,
Till thou give joy; until thou bid me joy,
By pardoning Rutland, my transgressing boy.

Aum. Unto my mother's prayers I bend my knee.
York. Against them both my true joints bended be.

Ill may'st thou thrive, if thou grant any grace! 19

Duch. Pleads he in earnest? look upon his face;
His eyes do drop no tears, his prayers are in jest,
His words come from his mouth, ours from our breast;
He prays but faintly, and would be denied;

We pray with heart, and soul, and all beside:

His weary joints would gladly rise, I know;

Our knees shall kneel till to the ground they grow:

His prayers are full of false hypocrisy ;

Ours of true zeal and deep integrity.

[Kneels. [Kneels.

15) Anspielungen auf die in Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry abgedruckte Ballade vom König Cophetua und der Bettlerin Penelophon, hat Sh. in Romeo and Juliet (A. 2, Sc. 1), in K. Henry IV. Second Part (A. 5, Sc. 3) und in Love's Labour's lost (A. 4, Sc. 1). Die Annahme einiger Commentatoren, dass es ein altes Drama desselben Inhalts gegeben habe, ist eine bis jetzt durch keine Notiz gestützte Hypothese.

-

16) Dies eiternde Gelenk, wenn es in Ruhe gelassen wird, steckt die übrigen Glieder an und verdirbt sie.

17) Wenn sie ihrem Sohne jetzt das Leben erhält, so ist es, als ob sie ihn, den Hochverräther, zum zweiten Mal an ihren Brüsten grosszöge.

Our prayers do out-pray 20 his; then let them have
That mercy which true prayers ought to have.
Boling. God aunt, stand up.

Nay, do not say

Duch.
But, pardon 21 first, and afterwards, stand up.
An if I were thy nurse, thy tongue to teach,
Pardon should be the first word of thy speech.
I never long'd to hear a word till now;

-

Say pardon, king; let pity teach thee how:
The word is short, but not so short as sweet;

No word like pardon, for kings' mouths so meet.

stand up;

York. Speak it in French, king: say, pardonnez-moi? 22
Duch. Dost thou teach pardon pardon to destroy?

23

Ah! my sour husband, my hard-hearted lord,
That set'st the word itself against the word!
Speak, pardon, as 't is current in our land!
The chopping French 24 we do not understand.
Thine eye begins to speak, set thy tongue there,
Or in thy piteous heart plant thou thine ear,
That hearing how our plaints and prayers do pierce,
Pity may move thee pardon to rehearse.

Boling. Good aunt, stand up.
Duch.

I do not sue to stand:

Pardon is all the suit I have in hand.

Boling. I pardon him, as God shall pardon me.
Duch. O, happy vantage of a kneeling knee!

Yet am I sick for fear: speak it again;

Twice saying pardon doth not pardon twain,

But makes one pardon strong.

Boling. But for our trusty brother-in-law, 25 and the abbot,

With all the rest of that consorted crew,

20) to out-pray an Innigkeit oder an Wirkung des Gebets übertreffen.

Für das have

am Schluss dieser Zeile, das auf dasselbe Wort gereimt ist, schrieb Sh. vielleicht crave. 21) scil. say, pardon.

22) pardonnez-moi, zu Sh.'s Zeit eine Modephrase in England, eine höfliche Art der Verneinung oder der Ausrede, wird als solche bei Sh. auch in Romeo and Juliet (A. 2, Sc. 4) erwähnt.

23) insofern das französische Wort einen andern Sinn hat, als das englische.

24) die Franzosen, welche die Worte zerhacken, verschlucken, undeutlich aussprechen, verstehen wir nicht. Knight erklärt dagegen: the French, which changes the meaning of the words.

25) Bolingbroke's Schwager, den er hier ironisch trusty nennt, war der Herzog von Exeter; der Abt war der Abt von Westminster. In der Fol. fehlt das and.