I fear me, lords, for all this flattering gloss,

He will be found a dangerous protector.

Buck. Why should he then protect our sovereign,

He being of age to govern of himself?

Cousin of Somerset, join you with me,

And all together, 26 with the duke of Suffolk,

We'll quickly hoise duke Humphrey from his seat.

Car. This weighty business will not brook delay;

I'll to the duke of Suffolk presently.

Som. Cousin of Buckingham, though Humphrey's pride,

And greatness of his place be grief to us,

Yet let us watch the haughty cardinal.

His insolence is more intolerable

Than all the princes' in the land beside:

If Gloster be displac'd, he 'll be protector.

Buck. Or thou, or I, Somerset, 27 will be protector,

[Exit.

Despite duke Humphrey, or the cardinal. [Exeunt BUCKINGHAM and SOMERSET.

Sal. Pride went before, ambition follows him. 28

While these do labour for their own preferment,

Behoves it us to labour for the realm.

I never saw but Humphrey, duke of Gloster,
Did bear him like a noble gentleman. 29
Oft have I seen the haughty cardinal,

More like a soldier, than a man o' the church,
As stout and proud, as he were lord of all,
Swear like a ruffian, and demean himself 30
Unlike the ruler of a common-weal.

Warwick, my son, the comfort of my age,

Thy deeds, thy plainness, and thy house-keeping, 31
Hath won the greatest favour of the commons,

Excepting none but good duke Humphrey,

And, brother York, thy acts in Ireland,

32

26) Die Fol. liest altogether, wie sie öfter für all together hat.

27) Somerset gehört zu thou, neben dem es eigentlich stehen sollte.

and

28) Das Sprichwort, an das hier erinnert wird, lautet eigentlich: Pride goeth before, shame followeth. Hier sind jedoch unter pride Suffolk und Cardinal Winchester, unter ambition Buckingham und Somerset verstanden.

29) Ich sah stets den Herzog von Gloster sich als einen wahren Edelmann benehmen. 30) Es kann hier, wie an einer andern Stelle, in Comedy of Errors (A. 4, Sc. 3) Antipholus is mad, else would he never so demean himself zweifelhaft erscheinen, ob Sh. to demean one'sself = sich benchmen, oder, mit bösem Nebensinn sich herabwürdigen, gebraucht.

31) Dein häusliches, wirthschaftlich sparsames Leben.

32) d. h. nur der Herzog von Gloster erfreut sich noch grösserer Gunst bei den Gemeinen als Du. Humphrey ist vielleicht dreisybig (Humpherey) zu lesen.

In bringing them 33 to civil discipline;

Thy late exploits, done in the heart of France,
When thou wert regent for our sovereign,

Have made thee fear'd and honour'd of the people.
Join we together, for the public good,
In what we can to bridle and suppress

The pride of Suffolk, and the cardinal,

With Somerset's and Buckingham's ambition; 34
And, as we may, cherish duke Humphrey's deeds,
While they do tend 35 the profit of the land.

War. So God help Warwick, as he loves the land,

And common profit of his country. 36

York. And so says York, for he hath greatest cause.

Sal. Then let's make haste away,, and look unto the main.
War. Unto the main! 37 O father, Maine is lost;

That Maine, which by main force Warwick did win,
And would have kept, so long as breath did last:
Main chance, father, you meant; but I meant Maine,
Which I will win from France, or else be slain.

[Exeunt WARWICK and SALISBURY.

York. Anjou and Maine are given to the French;
Paris is lost the state of Normandy

Stands on a tickle 38 point, now they are gone.
Suffolk concluded on the articles,

The peers agreed, and Henry was well pleas'd,

To change two dukedoms for a duke's fair daughter.

I cannot blame them all: What is 't to them?

"T is thine 39 they give away, and not their own.
Pirates may make cheap pennyworths of their pillage,
And purchase friends, and give to courtezans,
Still revelling, like lords, till all be gone;

Whileas the silly 40 owner of the goods

33) them bezieht sich auf Ireland oder eigentlich auf das darin liegende the Irish. Nach der Geschichte war jedoch der Herzog von York erst vier Jahre später Vicekönig von Irland.

34) Vgl. oben Anm. 28.

35) to tend = bezwecken, erstreben, als transitives Verbum.

36) country ist dreisylbig (countery) zu lesen.

37) Wortspiel zwischen main = Hauptsache, und Maine, der französischen Provinz des Namens.

=

38) tickle unsicher, locker. So in Soliman and Perseda: the rest by turning of my tickle wheel.

Maine und auf Paris.

Das folgende now they are gone bezieht sich auf Anjou and

39) Mit thine redet York sich selbst an, da er vermöge seines Erbanspruches sich Rechnung auf den Besitz Englands und Frankreichs machte.

40) silly

: harmlos, unschuldig. whileas für das einfache while, wie Sh. whereas und whenas für where und when gebraucht.

Weeps over them, and wrings his hapless hands,
And shakes his head, and trembling stands aloof,
While all is shar'd, and all is borne away,
Ready to starve, and dare not touch his own:
So York must sit, and fret, and bite his tongue,
While his own lands are bargain'd for, and sold.
Methinks, the realms of England, France, and Ireland,
Bear that proportion to my flesh and blood,
As did the fatal brand Althea burn'd,
Unto the prince's heart of Calydon. 41

Anjou and Maine, both given unto the French!
Cold news for me; for I had hope of France,
Even as I have of fertile England's soil.

42

A day will come when York shall claim his own;
And therefore I will take the Nevils' parts,
And make a show of love to proud duke Humphrey,
And, when I spy advantage, claim the crown,
For that 's the golden mark I seek to hit.
Nor shall proud Lancaster usurp my right,
Nor hold the sceptre in his childish fist,
Nor wear the diadem upon his head,

Whose church-like humours fit not for a crown. 43
Then, York, be still awhile, till time do serve:
Watch thou, and wake, when others be asleep,
To pry into the secrets of the state,

Till Henry, surfeiting in joys of love,

With his new bride, and England's dear-bought queen,
And Humphrey with the peers be fall'n at jars:
Then will I raise aloft the milk-white rose, 44
With whose sweet smell the air shall be perfum'd,
And in my standard bear the arms of York,
To grapple with the house of Lancaster;

And, force perforce, I'll make him yield the crown,
Whose bookish rule hath pull'd fair England down.

[Exit.

41) Die Reiche England, Frankreich und Irland, deren Besitz nun bedroht ist, stehen zu Gloster's Dasein in so innigem Verhältnisse, wie der Feuerbrand, den die Althea aus den Flammen rettete und aufbewahrte, zu dem Leben ihres Sohnes Meleager, des Fürsten von Calydon, stand. of Calydon gehört zu prince's.

42) Unter den Nevils versteht er die Grafen Salisbury und Warwick, von denen der erstere, wie York selbst, eine Frau aus dem Hause der Nevils geheirathet hatte. 43) Heinrich VI. ist wegen seiner Neigung zu einem beschaulichen, frommen Leben eher zu einem Geistlichen, als zu einem Könige geeignet. In demselben Sinne spricht er nachher von Heinrich's bookish rule.

4) Die weisse Rose, welche die Yorks als Abzeichen ihrer Partei gewählt, im Gegensatz zu der rothen Rose der Lancasters. Vgl. K. Henry VI. First Part (A. 2, Sc. 4).

SCENE II.

The Same. A Room in the Duke of GLOSTER'S House.

Enter GLOSTER and the Duchess.

Duch. Why droops my lord, like over-ripen'd corn, Hanging the head at Ceres' plenteous load?

Why doth the great duke Humphrey knit his brows,

As frowning at the favours of the world?

Why are thine eyes fix'd to the sullen earth,
Gazing on that which seems to dim thy sight?
What seest thou there? king Henry's diadem,
Enchas'd with all the honours of the world?
If so, gaze on, and grovel on thy face,
Until thy head be circled with the same.
Put forth thy hand; reach at the glorious gold.
What, is 't too short? I'll lengthen it with mine;
And, having both together heav'd it up,
We'll both together lift our heads to heaven,

And never more abase our sight so low,

As to vouchsafe one glance unto the ground.

Glo. O Nell! sweet Nell, if thou dost love thy lord,

Banish the canker of ambitious thoughts:

And may that thought, when I imagine ill 1

Against my king and nephew, virtuous Henry,
Be my last breathing in this mortal world.

My troublous dream this night doth make me sad.

Duch. What dream'd my lord? tell me, and I'll requite it

With sweet rehearsal of my morning's dream. 2

Glo. Methought, this staff, mine office-badge in court, 3

Was broke in twain: by whom, I have forgot,

But, as I think, it was by the cardinal;

And on the pieces of the broken wand

Were plac'd the heads of Edmond Duke of Somerset,

And William de la Poole, first duke of Suffolk.
This was my dream: what it doth bode, God knows.
Duch. Tut! this was nothing but an argument,

That he that breaks a stick of Gloster's grove,
Shall lose his head for his presumption.

But list to me, my Humphrey, my sweet duke:

1) wenn ich Uebles ersinne oder denke gegen meinen König.

2) Der Morgentraum wird als ein angenehmer, günstiger, dem ängstlichen Traume der Nacht entgegengesetzt, wie sweet dem troublous.

3) Der Stab ist das Abzeichen des Amtes, mit welchem Gloster am Hofe erschien.

Methought, I sat in seat of majesty,

In the cathedral church of Westminster,

And in that chair where kings and queens were 4 crown'd;
Where Henry, and dame Margaret, kneel'd to me,
And on my head did set the diadem.

Glo. Nay, Eleanor, then must I chide outright.
Presumptuous dame! ill-nurtur'd 5 Eleanor!
Art thou not second woman in the realm,
And the protector's wife, belov'd of him?
Hast thou not worldly pleasure at command,
Above the reach or compass of thy thought?
And wilt thou still be hammering treachery, 6
To tumble down thy husband, and thyself,
From top of honour to disgrace's feet?
Away from me, and let me hear no more.

Duch. What, what, my lord! are you so choleric

With Eleanor, for telling but her dream?
Next time I'll keep my dreams unto myself,
And not be check'd. 7

Glo. Nay, be not angry, I am pleas'd again.

Enter a Messenger.

Mess. My lord protector, 't is his highness' pleasure,

You do prepare to ride unto St. Alban's,

Whereas the king and queen do mean to hawk.

Glo. I go.
Duch. Yes, my good lord, I'll follow presently.

Come, Nell; thou wilt ride with us ?

[Exeunt GLOSTER and Messenger.

Follow I must; I cannot go before,

While Gloster bears this base and humble mind.

Were I a man,
a duke, and next of blood,
I would remove these tedious stumbling-blocks,

And smooth my way upon their headless necks:
And, being a woman, I will not be slack

To play my part in fortune's pageant. 9

Where are you there? Sir 10 John! nay, fear not, man,
We are alone; here 's none but thee, and I.

4) So die Fol. Manche Hgg. entlehnen dafür are aus den Qs.
5) ill-nurtured

schlechtgeartet, bösartig.

6) to hammer mit dem Accusativ

=

über etwas grübeln, etwas ausdenken. So in Lodge's Drama Wounds of Civil War: whose heart doth hammer nought but mutinies. 7) ich will mich keinen Verweisen aussetzen, indem ich meine Träume wieder erzähle.

8) whereas für where. Vgl. A. 1, Sc. 1, Anm. 40.

9) In dem Schaugepränge der Fortuna will auch die Herzogin die ihr bestimmte Rolle spielen.

-

- pageant scheint dreisylbig (pagëant) lauten zu müssen.

10) Mit Sir wurden die Priester angeredet, und als solchen fand Sh. den Hume schon bei Holinshed bezeichnet: John Hum, priest.