Then treason makes me wish myself a beggar, [Musick. With nothing shall be pleas'd, till he be eas'd Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears. n For now hath time made me his numb'ring clock, My thoughts are minutes; and, with sighs, they jar Their watches on unto mine eyes, the outward watch, &c.] This fanciful passage has been found very difficult. The meaning appears to be as follows: Time has now converted me into a clock for numbering the lapse of his hours. My thoughts are minutes; and the sighs they produce jar on their watches, i. e. tick their sounds to my eyes, which are the outward watch or dial whereto my finger is ever pointing." The metaphor is forced and bad, but I do not think the passage is corrupt. his Jack o'the clock.] That is, I strike for him. One of these automatons is alluded to in King Richard III.—STEEVENS. For 'tis a sign of love; and love to Richard Enter Groom. Groom. Hail, royal prince! K. Rich. Groom. I was a poor groom of thy stable, king, K. Rich. Rode he on Barbary? Tell me, gentle friend, How went he under him? Groom. So proudly, as if he disdain'd the ground. K. Rich. So proud that Bolingbroke was on his back! That jade hath eat bread from my royal hand; This hand hath made him proud with clapping him. Would he not stumble? Would he not fall down, (Since pride must have a fall,) and break the neck Of that proud man, that did usurp his back? Forgiveness, horse! why do I rail on thee, Since thou, created to be aw'd by man, Was born to bear? I was not made a horse; And yet I bear a burden like an ass, Spur-gall'd, and tir'd, by jauncing Bolingbroke. p - a strange brooch-] i. e. A rare jewel. A brooch was an ornamental buckle, pin, or loop. It is frequently mentioned as an ornament worn in the hat. ૧ sad dog-] The word sad in our author's time meant grave. The expression is equivalent to that gloomy villain.-STEEVENS. sometimes-] Used for formerly. jauncing-] Jaunce and jaunt were synonymous words. Enter Keeper, with a Dish. Keep. Fellow, give place; here is no longer stay. [To the Groom. K. Rich. If thou love me, 'tis time thou wert away. Groom. What my tongue dares not, that my heart shall say. Keep. My lord, will't please you to fall to? [Exit. K. Rich. Taste of it first, as thou art wont to do. Keep. My lord, I dare not; sir Pierce of Exton, who Lately came from the king, commands the contrary. K. Rich. The devil take Henry of Lancaster, and thee! Patience is stale, and I am weary of it. [Beats the Keeper. Keep. Help, help, help! Enter EXTON, and Servants, armed. K, Rich. How now? what means death in this rude assault? Villain, thy own hand yields thy death's instrument. [Snatching a weapon, and killing one. Go thou, and fill another room in hell. [He kills another, then EXTON strikes him down. That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire, That staggers thus my person.-Exton, thy fierce hand Dies.] Shakspeare has copied Holinshed in this scene, who took his account of Richard's death from Hall, as Hall did from Fabian, in whose Chronicle, I believe, this story of Sir Pierce of Exton first appeared. Froissart, who had been in England in 1396, and who appears to have finished his Chronicle soon after the death of the king, says, "How he died, and by what meanes, I could not tell when I wrote the Chronicle." Had he been murdered by eight armed men, "four of whom he slew," which is Fabian's story, such an event would most probably have reached the ears of Froissart. The Percies, in the manifesto which they published against King Henry the Fourth, in the third year of his reign, the day before the battle of Shrewsbury, expressly charge him with having "carried his sovereign lord traitorously within the castle of Pomfret, without his consent or the judgment of the lordes of the realm, by the space of fifteen days and so many nights (which is horrible among Christian people to be heard), with hunger, thirst, and cold to perish." That he died of hunger appears certain; but the fact was that he refused food, and died of voluntary abstinence and a broken heart.-MALONE and RITSON. Exton. As full of valour, as of royal blood: This dead king to the living king I'll bear ; Take hence the rest, and give them burial here. [Exeunt. SCENE VI. Windsor. A Room in the Castle. Flourish. Enter BOLINGBROKE, and YORK, with Lords and Attendants. Boling. Kind uncle York, the latest news we hear, Is-that the rebels have consum'd with fire Our town of Cicester in Glostershire; But whether they be ta'en, or slain, we hear not. Enter NORTHUMBERLAND. Welcome, my lord: What is the news? North. First, to thy sacred state wish I all happiness. The next news is, I have to London sent The heads of Salisbury, Spencer, Blunt, and Kent: At large discoursed in this paper here. [Presenting a paper. Boling. We thank thee, gentle Percy, for thy pains; And to thy worth will add right worthy gains. Enter FITZWATER. Fitz. My lord, I have from Oxford sent to London. The heads of Brocas, and sir Bennet Seely; Two of the dangerous consorted traitors, Boling. Thy pains, Fitzwater, shall not be forgot; Enter PERCY, with the Bishop of CARLISLE. Percy. The grand conspirator, abbot of Westminster," Enter EXTON, with Attendants bearing a Coffin. Boling. Exton, I thank thee not; for thou hast wrought A deed of slander, with thy fatal hand, Upon my head, and all this famous land. Exton. From your own mouth, my lord, did I this deed. Boling. They love not poison that do poison need, u -The abbot of Westminster,] He was William of Colchester. It is doubtful if he had any part in the conspiracy, and he survived Richard the Second some years. * Carlisle, this is your doom :-] This prelate was committed to the Tower, but on the intercession of his friends, obtained leave to change his prison for Westminster Abbey. To deprive him of his see, the pope, at the king's instance, translated him to a bishoprick in partibus infidelium; and the only preferment he could ever after obtain was a rectory in Gloucestershire. He died 1404. |