Q. Eliz. Be brief, lest that the process of thy kindness Last longer telling than thy kindness' date. K. Rich. Then know, that, from my soul, I love thy daughter. Q. Eliz. My daughter's mother thinks it with her soul. K. Rich. What do you think? Q. Eliz. That thou dost love my daughter, from thy soul: So, from thy soul's love, didst thou love her brothers; And, from my heart's love, I do thank thee for it. K. Rich. Be not so hasty to confound my meaning: I mean, that with my soul I love thy daughter, And do intend to make her queen of England. Q. Eliz. Well then, who dost thou mean shall be her king? K. Rich. Even he, that makes her queen; Who else should be? That I would learn of you, Madam, with all my heart.5 As one being best acquainted with her humour. K. Rich. Q. Eliz. Send to her, by the man that slew her bro thers, A pair of bleeding hearts; thereon engrave, 4 Even so: What think you of it, madam?] Thus the folio, except that it reads-how instead of what. The quarto, without attention to the broken verse preceding: I, even I: what think you of it, madam? "I am not (says Mr. Malone) sure whether it should not be printed, Ay, even I." Steevens. 5 Madam, with all my heart.] I suppose the word-Madam, may be safely omitted, as it violates the measure. Steevens. 6 ―as sometime Margaret-] Here is another reference to the plays of Henry VI. Johnson. And bid her wipe her weeping eyes withal. Tell her, thou mad'st away her uncle Clarence, Mad'st quick conveyance with her good aunt Anne. Q. Eliz. And not be Richard that hath done all this. K. Rich. Say, that I did all this for love of her? Q. Eliz. Nay, then indeed, she cannot choose but have thee,8 Having bought love with such a bloody spoil.9 K. Rich. Look, what is done cannot be now amended.: Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes, Which after-hours give leisure to repent. Say, that I did &c.] This and the following fifty-four lines, ending with the words tender years, in p. 152, are found only in the folio. Malone. 8 Nay, then indeed, she cannot choose but have thee,] [Old copy -hate.] The sense seems to require that we should read: ironically. but love thee, Tyrwhitt. As this is evidently spoken ironically, I agree with Tyrwhitt, that the present reading is corrupt, but should rather amend it by reading "have you," than "love you" as the word have is more likely to have been mistaken for hate, the traces of the letters being nearly the same. M. Mason. As this conjecture is, in my opinion, at once fortunate and judicious, I have placed it in the text. A somewhat corresponding error had happened in Coriolanus, last speech of scene iv, Act IV, where have was apparently given instead of hate. Steevens. bloody spoil.] Spoil is waste, havock. Johnson. 9 1 Even of your mettle, of your very blood;] The folio has-met Of all'one pain,-save for a night of groans The king, that calls your beauteous daughter,-wife, Of ten-times-double gain of happiness.* tal. The two words are frequently confounded in the old copies. That mettle was the word intended here, appears from various other passages. So, in Macbeth: 66 Thy undaunted mettle should compose "Nothing but males.” Again, in King Richard II: 66 that bed, that womb, "That mettle, that self-mould that fashion'd thee, Again, in Timon of Athens: Common mother, thou, "Whose womb unmeasurable, and infinite breast, "Teems and feeds all, whose self-same mettle "Whereof thy proud child, arrogant man, is puff'd, "Engenders the black toad," &c. Malone. 2 Endur'd of her,] Of in the language of Shakspeare's age was frequently used for by. Malone. 3 bid like sorrow.] Bid is in the past tense from bide. ↑ Advantaging their loan, with interest Johnson. Of ten-times-double gain of happiness.] [The folio-love.] My easy emendation will convince every reader that love and lone are made out of one another only by a letter turned upside down.. Go then, my mother, to thy daughter go; Q. Eliz. What were I best to say? her father's brother That God, the law, my honour, and her love, K. Rich. Infer fair England's peace by this alliance. treats. Q. Eliz. That at her hands, which the king's King forbids.6 K. Rich. Say, she shall be a high and mighty queen. Q. Eliz. To wail the title, as her mother doth. K. Rich. Say, I will love her everlastingly. Q. Eliz. But how long shall that title, ever, last?" The tears that you have lent to your afflictions, shall be turned into gems; and requite you by way of interest, &c. Theobald. How often the letters u and n are confounded in these copies, has been shown in various places. See Vol. III, p 40, n. 5; and note on Timon of Athens, Act IV, sc. iii, Vol. XV. Malone. 5 To whom I will retail my conquest won,] To retail (as Mr. M. Mason has observed in a note on Act III, sc. i, p. 81, n. 6,) is to hand down from one to another. Richard, in the present instance, means to say he will transmit the benefit of his victories to Elizabeth. Steevens. 6 which the king's King forbids] Alluding to the prohibition in the Levitical law. See Leviticus, xviii, 14. Grey. 7 But how long shall that title, ever, last?] Young has borrowed this thought in his Universal Passion: "But say, my all, my mistress, and my friend, "What day next week th' eternity shall end?" Steevens. K. Rich. Sweetly in force unto her fair life's end. Q. Eliz. An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told. K. Rich. Harp not1 on that string, madam; that is past. am her subject low.] Thus the folio. The quarto reads: her subject love. Steevens. 9 Then, in plain terms tell her my loving tale.] So the quarto. The folio reads: "Then plainly to her tell my loving tale." Malone. 1 Harp not &c.] In the regulation of these short speeches I have followed the quarto, 1597. Steevens. K. Rich. Harp not on that string, madam; that is past. Q Eliz. Harp on it still shall Ï, &c.] In the quarto, 1598, the first of these two lines is wanting. The passage stands thus: "Qu. O, no, my reasons, &c. "Too deep and dead, poor infants, in their graves. “King. Harp on it still shall I, till heart-strings break. "Now by my george," &c. The printer of the next quarto saw that the line-" Harp on it still shall I," &c. could not belong to Richard, and therefore annexed it to the Queen's former speech, but did not insert the omitted line. The editor of the folio supplied the line that was wanting, but absurdly misplaced it, and exhibited the passage thus: "Qu. O, no, my reasons are too deep and dead; "Too deep and dead, poor infants, in their graves. "Harp on it still shall I, till heart-strings break. "King. Harp not on that string, madam, that is past. "Now by my george," &c. The text is formed from the quarto, and the folio. Malone. * I have restored the true reading, " Two deep and dead," &c. instead of "Too deep and dead," &c. The eye of the compositor must have been led astray, by the frequent repetition of the word too, and the ear of the proof-reader could not detect the error. Mr. Ayscough's edition, which deservedly ranks with the most correct, countenances the reading which I have taken the liberty to adopt. Am. Ed. |