But always resolute in most extremes. 5
He then that is not furnish'd in this sort,
Doth but usurp the sacred name of knight,
Profaning this most honourable order;
And should (if I were worthy to be judge)
Be quite degraded, like a hedge-born swain 6
That doth presume to boast of gentle blood.

K. Hen. Stain to thy countrymen! thou hear'st thy doom.
Be packing therefore, thou that wast 7 a knight.
Henceforth we banish thee on pain of death.

And now, my lord protector, view the letter

Sent from our uncle duke of Burgundy.

[Exit FASTOLFE.

Glo. What means his grace, that he hath chang'd his style? No more but, plain and bluntly, To the king!"

Hath he forgot, he is his sovereign?

Or doth this churlish superscription

Pretend some alteration in good will?

What's here? [Reads.] I have upon especial cause,

Mov'd with compassion of my country's wrack,

Together with the pitiful complaints

Of such as your oppression feeds upon,

Forsaken your pernicious faction,

And join'd with Charles, the rightful king of France." 0, monstrous treachery! Can this be so?

That in alliance, amity, and oaths,

There should be found such false dissembling guile?

K. Hen. What! doth my uncle Burgundy revolt?
Glo. He doth, my lord; and is become your foe.
K. Hen. Is that the worst this letter doth contain?
Glo. It is the worst, and all, my lord, he writes.
K. Hen. Why then, lord Talbot there shall talk with him,
And give him chastisement for this abuse.

How say you, my lord? are you not content?

Tal. Content, my liege? Yes: but that I am prevented,

I should have begg'd I might have been employ'd.

10

5) in most extremes = in den schlimmsten Nöthen. most für greatest setzt Sh. hier als ob extreme adjectivisch stände, wie etwa most extreme cases. Doch wird im ältern Englisch, z. B. bei Chaucer, auch das alleinstehende most für greatest gebraucht.

6) So in K. Henry VI. Second Part (A. 4, Sc. 1) there he was born, under a hedge. 7) Der Nachdruck liegt auf wast: Du warest ein Ritter, bist es nicht mehr.

8) to pretend = im Sinne haben, meinen, bedeuten. Einige Hgg. ändern ohne Grund portend dafür.

Hanmer stellte die Worte um: My lord, how say you? Was sagt Ihr dazu? 10 wenn man mir nicht zuvorgekommen wäre. In diesem Sinne to anticipate, ge

braucht Sh. to prevent häufig.

K. Hen. Then gather strength, and march unto him straight.

Let him perceive, how ill we brook his treason;

And what offence it is, to flout his friends.

Tal. I go, my lord; in heart desiring still,

You may behold confusion of your foes.

Enter VERNON and BASSET.

Ver. Grant me the combat, 11 gracious sovereign!
Bas. And me, my lord; grant me the combat too!
York. This is my servant: hear him, noble prince!
Som. And this is mine: Sweet Henry, favour him!

K. Hen. Be patient, lords; and give them leave to speak.
Say, gentlemen, what makes you thus exclaim?

And wherefore crave you combat? or with whom?

Ver. With him, my lord; for he hath done me wrong.

Bas. And I with him; for he hath done me wrong.

K. Hen. What is that wrong whereof you both complain?

First let me know, and then I'll answer you.

Bas. Crossing the sea from England into France,

This fellow here, with envious carping tongue

Upbraided me about the rose I wear;
Saying, the sanguine colour of the leaves
Did represent my master's blushing cheeks,
When stubbornly he did repugn 12 the truth,
About a certain question in the law,
Argu'd betwixt the duke of York and him;
With other vile and ignominious terms:
In confutation of which rude reproach,
And in defence of my lord's worthiness,
I crave the benefit of law of arms.

Ver. And that is my petition, noble lord:
For though he seem, with forged quaint conceit,
To set a gloss upon his bold intent,

Yet know, my lord, I was provok'd by him,
And he first took exceptions at this badge,
Pronouncing, that the paleness of this flower
Bewray'd the faintness of my master's heart.

York. Will not this malice, Somerset, be left?

Som. Your private grudge, my lord of York, will out,

Though ne'er so cunningly you smother it.

[Exit.

11) Er meint die Erlaubniss zum Zweikampf mit Basset, die nach dem law of arms in einer königlichen Residenz vom König eingeholt werden musste. Vgl. A. 3, Sc. 4, Anm. 8. In demselben Sinne fordert nachher Basset the benefit of law of arms.

12) to repugn

hier transitiv.

gegen Etwas ankämpfen, häufiger als Verbum neutrum gebraucht, steht

K. Hen. Good Lord! what madness rules in brain-sick men;
When, for so slight and frivolous a cause,
Such factious emulations 13 shall arise!
Good cousins both, of York and Somerset,
Quiet yourselves, I pray, and be at peace.

York. Let this dissension first be tried by fight, And then your highness shall command a peace.

Som. The quarrel toucheth none but us alone;
Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.

York. There is my pledge; accept it, Somerset.
Ver. Nay, let it rest where it began at first.
Bas. Confirm it so, mine honourable lord.

Glo. Confirm it so? Confounded be your strife!
And perish ye, with your audacious prate!
Presumptuous vassals! are you not asham'd,
With this immodest clamorous outrage 14
To trouble and disturb the king and us?
And you, my lords, methinks you do not well,
To bear with their perverse objections;

Mach less, to take occasion from their mouths
To raise a mutiny betwixt yourselves:

Let me persuade you, take a better course.
Exe. It grieves his highness:

good my lords, be friends:
K. Hen. Come hither, you that would be combatants.
Henceforth, I charge you, as you love our favour,
Quite to forget this quarrel, and the cause.
And you, my lords, remember where we are;
In France, amongst a fickle wavering nation.
If they perceive dissension in our looks,
And that within ourselves we disagree,
How will their grudging stomachs be provok'd
To wilful disobedience, and rebel?
Beside, what infamy will there arise,
When foreign princes shall be certified,

That for a toy, a thing of no regard,
King Henry's peers, and chief nobility,
Destroy'd themselves, and lost the realm of France?

O! think upon the conquest of my father,

My tender years; and let us not forego

That for a trifle that was bought with blood.

Le me be umpire in this doubtful strife.

13) Umgekehrt steht in Troilus and Cressida (A. 2, Sc. 3) emulous factions.

14) outrage hat sonst bei Sh. die gewöhnliche Betonung auf der ersten Sylbe, wird jedoch im ältern Englisch, wie hier, auf der zweiten accentuirt.

I see no reason, if I wear this rose,
That any one should therefore be suspicious
I more incline to Somerset than York:

Both are my kinsmen, and I love them both.

As well they may upbraid me with my crown,
Because, forsooth, the king of Scots is crown'd. 15
But your discretions better can persuade,
Than I am able to instruct or teach:

And therefore, as we hither came in peace,

So let us still continue peace and love.
Cousin of York, we institute your grace
To be our regent in these parts of France:

And good my lord of Somerset, unite

Your troops of horsemen with his bands of foot;
And, like true subjects, sons of your progenitors,
Go cheerfully together, and digest

Your angry choler on your enemies.

Ourself, my lord protector, and the rest,

After some respite, will return to Calais;
From thence to England, where I hope ere long
To be presented, by your victories,

With Charles, Alençon, and that traitorous rout.

[Putting on a red rose.

[Flourish. Exeunt King HENRY, GLO., SOM., WIN., SUF., and BASSET. War. My lord of York, I promise you, the king.

Prettily, methought, did play the orator.

York. And so he did: but yet I like it not,

In that he wears the badge of Somerset.

War. Tush! that was but his fancy, blame him not;

I dare presume, sweet prince, he thought no harm.

York. And, if I wist, 16 he did, But let it rest;

Other affairs must now be managed. [Exeunt YORK, WARWICK, and VERNON. Exe. Well didst thou, Richard, to suppress thy voice;

For, had the passions of thy heart burst out,

I fear, we should have seen decipher'd there

More rancorous spite, more furious raging broils,

Than yet can be imagin'd or suppos'd.

15) Heinrich steckt die rothe Rose an, ohne Rücksicht darauf, dass Somerset sie zum Abzeichen gewählt hat, wie er die Krone aufgesetzt hat, ohne Rücksicht darauf, dass auch der Erbfeind Englands, der König von Schottland, eine Krone trägt.

16) wist ist Steevens' Emendation für wish der Fol.: Und wenn ich wüsste, dass der König Uebles im Sinne hatte, als er die rothe Rose nahm den Nachsatz, der eine Drohung enthalten sollte, unterdrückt York. Johnson wollte die alte Lesart durch eine veränderte Interpunction retten: And if I wish, he did Und wenn - scil. der König Uebles im Sinne gehabt ich wollte, er hätte es gehabt, scil. dann würde es sogleich zum Bruch zwischen mir und ihm kommen.

But howsoe'er, no simple man that sees
This jarring discord of nobility,

This shouldering of each other in the court,
This factious bandying of their favourites,
But that it doth presage some ill event. 17

'T is much, 18 when sceptres are in children's hands,

But more, when envy breeds unkind division: 19

There comes the ruin, there begins confusion.

Enter TALBOT, with his Forces.

Tal. Go to the gates of Bourdeaux, trumpeter:

Summon their general unto the wall.

[Exit.

Trumpet sounds a parley. Enter, on the walls, the General of the French Forces, and Others.

English John Talbot, captains, calls you forth,

Servant in arms to Harry king of England;

17) Die Construction ist wie häufig bei der Anwendung längerer Relativsätze bei Sh. ungenau. Der Sinn ist: Selbst jeder einfältige schlichte Mann, der dieses Parteitreiben u. s. w. sieht, sieht auch, dass es einen schlimmen Ausgang weissagt. – Das Verbum sees ist mit einer Negation begleitet vor but that wiederholt zu denken. Malone dagegen wollte ein auf no simple man bezügliches to him zu presage suppliren. 18) 't is much es macht viel aus, es ist von Gewicht, hier im schlimmen Sinne, der gesteigert wird in dem folgenden more.

19) envy = Gehässigkeit, Feindseligkeit.

unkind division = unnatürliche Spaltung,

Zwietracht in demselben Volke oder Geschlechte.

1) So in K. Henry V. (A. I, Chorus) at his heels || Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword, and fire || Crouch for employment. Sh. entlehnte den Gedanken aus Holinshed. Vgl. die betreffende Anm. 6 in K. Henry V. A. 1, Chorus.

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2) their love, das Hanmer in our love umändern wollte, bezieht sich auf three attendants und ist ihr freundliches Verhalten, zu fassen.

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