Duch. God bless thee, and put meekness in thy breast, 24 Love, charity, obedience, and true duty.

Glo. Amen; [Aside.] and make me die a good old man! That is the butt-end of a mother's blessing;

I marvel, that her grace did leave it out.

Buck. You cloudy princes, and heart-sorrowing peers,
That bear this heavy mutual 25 load of moan,
Now cheer each other in each other's love:
Though we have spent our harvest of this king,
We are to reap the harvest of his son.
The broken rancour of your high-swoln hearts,
But lately splinter'd, knit, and join'd together,
Must gently be preserv'd, cherish'd, and kept: 26
Me seemeth good, that, with some little train,
Forthwith from Ludlow the young prince be fet 27
Hither to London, to be crown'd our king. 28

Riv. Why with some little train, my lord of Buckingham?
Buck. Marry, my lord, lest, by a multitude, 29

The new-heal'd wound of malice should break out;
Which would be so much the more dangerous,

By how much the estate is green, and yet ungovern'd: 30
Where every horse bears his commanding rein, 31
And may direct his course as please himself,

As well the fear of harm, as harm apparent,

In my opinion, ought to be prevented.

Glo. I hope the king made peace with all of us;

And the compact is firm and true in me.

24) in thy mind in den Qs.

25) mutual = im Verein empfunden, das, woran Alle Theil haben. heavy und mutual um.

26) Der Zwischensatz hat, wie an manchen andern Stellen bei Sh., auch hier das eigentliche Subject verwischt, so dass construirt wird, als ob nicht the broken rancour, sondern hearts, but lately splinter'd, knit etc. Subject zu must gently be preserv'd etc. sei. Knight, der mit der Fol. hates für das hearts der Qs. liest, fasst the broken rancour etc. in dem Sinne von the breaking up of their hates durchweg als Subject. — Die meisten Qs. haben splinted, Q. A. und die Fol. splinter'd.

27) Ludlow Castle an der Gränze von Wales war die Residenz des jungen Prinzen bei Lebzeiten seines Vaters. fet, die ältere Participialform, in der Fol., fetch'd in den Qs.

28) Die folgenden achtzehn Zeilen fehlen in den Qs.

29) by a multitude elliptisch für the young prince being fet by a multitude, im Gegensatz zu with a little train.

30)

wo die Ordnung der Dinge noch nicht gereift und zu fester Lenkung gediehen ist. 31) Wo jedes Pferd am Wagen des Staates seinen Zügel selbst in seiner Gewalt hat und

laufen kann, wohin es will.

will you go

Who they shall be that straight shall post to Ludlow. 32
Madam,
33
and you my sister,
To give your censures 34 in this business?

[Exeunt all but BUCKINGHAM and GLOSTER.

Buck. My lord, whoever journeys to the prince,
For God's sake, let not us two stay at home:
For by the way I'll sort occasion,

As index to the story 35 we late talk'd of,

To part the queen's proud kindred from the prince.
Glo. My other self, my counsel's consistory,
My dear cousin,

My oracle, my prophet!

I, as a child, will go by thy direction.

Towards Ludlow then, for we 'll not stay behind.

SCENE III.

The Same. A Street.

36

Enter Two Citizens, meeting.

1

1. Cit. Good morrow, neighbour: whither away so fast?

2. Cit. I promise you, I scarcely know myself.

Hear you the news abroad?

[Exeunt.

1. Cit.

Yes; that the king is dead.

32) Die Fol. hat hier und in der letzten Zeile dieser Scene London für Ludlow. 33) Nach der Fol. redet Richard zuerst seine Mutter und dann die Königin an; nach den Qs., die my mother für my sister lesen, umgekehrt.

34) censure = Urtheil, Meinung. Die Qs. fügen weighty vor business ein und lassen dann beide Fürstinnen antworten: With all our hearts.

35) unterwegs will ich schon eine Gelegenheit ausfindig machen, wie eine Anbahnung des neulich besprochenen Plans, um die Verwandten der Königin zu trennen von dem jungen Prinzen. occasion ist mit to part zu verbinden. index, eigentlich = die dem

Buch vorangedruckte kurze Inhaltsanzeige, aus der sich das, was später kommt, schon entnehmen lässt. So in Othello (A. 2, Se. 1) an index and obscure prologue to the history of lust and foul thoughts.

36) Buckingham dient dem Gloster statt einer ganzen Reichsversammlung.

In dem Ge

dicht The Ghost of Richard III. sagt Richard: My working head, my counsel's consistory Debates how I might reign, the princes living.

1) Die Qs. Neighbour, well met.

2. Cit. Il news, by 'r lady; seldom comes the better: 2 I fear, I fear, 't will prove a giddy 3 world.

That,

Enter another Citizen.

3. Cit. Neighbours, God speed!

1. Cit.

3. Cit.

2. Cit.

3. Cit.

Give you good morrow, Sir. *
Doth the news hold of good king Edward's death?
Ay, Sir, it is too true; God help, the while!
Then, masters, look to see a troublous world.
No, no; by God's good grace, his son shall reign.
Woe to that land that 's govern'd by a child! 5
2. Cit. In him there is a hope of government;
in his nonage, council under him,

1. Cit.

3. Cit.

And, in his full and ripen'd years, himself,

No doubt, shall then, and till then, govern well. 6

1. Cit. So stood the state, when Henry the Sixth

Was crown'd in Paris but at nine months old.

3. Cit. Stood the state so? no, no, good friends, God wot; For then this land was famously enrich'd

With politic grave counsel: then the king

Had virtuous uncles to protect his grace.

1. Cit. Why, so hath this, both by his father and mother.

3. Cit. Better it were, they all came by his father,

Or by his father, there were none at all;

For emulation, who shall now be nearest,

8

Will touch us all too near, if God prevent not.

O! full of danger is the duke of Gloster;

And the queen's sons and brothers haught and proud: 9

And were they to be rul'd, and not to rule,

This sickly land might solace as before.

2) Eine sprichwörtlich gebrauchte Phrase; selten bringt die Zukunft Besseres als die Gegenwart zeigt. Manche Hgg. lesen willkührlich a better.

3) Für giddy der Fol. hat Q. A. troublous, die andern Qs. troublesome.

4) Statt dieser beiden Reden haben die Qs. nur: 3. Cit. Good morrow, neighbours.

5) Steevens citirt dazu einen Spruch aus dem Pred. Salomonis: Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child.

6) Wenn der junge Prinz Eduard König ist, so darf man seine Hoffnung auf die Regierung setzen, die während seiner Minderjährigkeit unter ihm zu Rathe sitzt, und, wenn er zu reifen Jahren gelangt ist, auf ihn selbst, der dann auf eigne Hand, und bis dahin, durch die Regentschaft, regieren wird.

7) Es wäre besser, wenn er entweder nur Oheime von väterlicher Seite oder gar keine von der Seite hätte.

8) Die Qs. setzen now zu emulation.

wandten der Königin und Gloster.

9) scil. are haught and proud.

red haughty and proud.

emulation ist die Rivalität zwischen den Ver

haught = übermüthig. Die Qs. And the queen's kind

1. Cit. Come, come; we fear the worst: all will be well.

3. Cit. When clouds are seen, wise men put on their cloaks; When great leaves 10 fall, then winter is at hand:

When the sun sets, who doth not look for night?
Untimely storms make men expect a dearth.

All may be well; but, if God sort it so,
'T is more than we deserve, or I expect.

2. Cit. Truly, the hearts of men are full of fear: You cannot reason 11 almost with a man

That looks not heavily and full of dread.

3. Cit. Before the days of change, still is it so.
By a divine instinct, men's minds mistrust
Ensuing danger; 12 as by proof we see
The water swell before a boisterous storm.

But leave it all to God. Whither away?

2. Cit. Marry, we were sent for to the justices. 3. Cit. And so was I: I'll bear you company.

SCENE IV.

London. A Room in the Palace.

[Exeunt.

Enter the Archbishop of YORK, the young Duke of YORK, Queen ELIZABETH, and the Duchess of YORK.

Arch. Last night, I heard, they lay at Stony-Stratford, And at Northampton they do rest to-night: 1

To-morrow, or next day, they will be here.

Duch. I long with all my heart to see the prince.

I hope, he is much grown since last I saw him.

10) great leaves das Laub in Masse.

ein bestimmtes Thema im

11) to reason = sich unterhalten mit Jemandem, eigentlich Gespräch verhandeln. So in Merchant of Venice (A. 2, Sc. 8) I reason'd with a Frenchman yesterday.

12) Vermöge eines göttlichen Instincts haben die Gemüther der Menschen eine bange Ahnung vor der bald nachfolgenden Gefahr.

Ensuing in den Qs., Pursuing in der Fol. instinct betont Sh. auf der zweiten Sylbe. Der Gedanke dieses Satzes ist aus Holinshed entlehnt: yet began there some manner of muttering among the people, as though all should not be well, though they neither wist what they feared, nor wherefore: were it, that before such great things, men's hearts of a secret instinct of nature misgive them; as the sea without wind swelleth of himself sometime before a tempest, etc. etc.

1) So lauten diese beiden Verse in der Fol. in Uebereinstimmung mit der Erzählung der Chronisten, dass Gloster den jungen Prinzen in Stony - Stratford überfallen und nach Northampton zurückgeschleppt habe. Die Lesart der Qs. ist: Last night, I hear, they lay at Northampton; || At Stony-Stratford will they be to-night und wird von Malone adoptirt, weil Stratford näher als Northampton bei London liegt und der Erzbischof von dem beabsichtigten Gewaltstreich Richard's noch nichts wissen kann.

Q. Eliz. But I hear, no: they say, my son of York
Hath almost overta'en him in his growth.

York. Ay, mother, but I would not have it so.
Duch. Why, my young cousin, 2 it is good to grow.
York. Grandam, one night, as we did sit at supper,
My uncle Rivers talk'd how I did grow

More than my brother; Ay," quoth my uncle Gloster,.
„Small herbs have grace, great weeds do grow apace:"
And since, methinks, I would not grow so fast,

Because sweet flowers are slow, and weeds make haste.
Duch. 'Good faith, 'good faith, the saying did not hold
In him that did object the same to thee:

He was the wretched'st thing when he was young,

So long a growing, and so leisurely, 3

That, if his rule were true, he should be gracious. 4

Arch. And so, no doubt, he is, my gracious Madam.
Duch. I hope, he is; but yet let mothers doubt.
York. Now, by my troth, if I had been remember'd, 5
I could have given my uncle's grace a flout,

To touch his growth nearer than he touch'd mine. "

Duch. How, my young York? I pr'ythee, let me hear it.
York. Marry, they say, my uncle grew so fast,

That he could gnaw a crust at two hours old: 7

'T was full two years ere I could get a tooth.
Grandam, this would have been a biting jest.

Duch. I pr'ythee, pretty York, who told thee this?
York. Grandam, his nurse.

Duch. His nurse! why, she was dead ere thou wast born.
York. If 't were not she, I cannot tell who told me.

8

Q. Eliz. A parlous boy. Go to, you are too shrewd.

Arch. Good Madam, be not angry with the child.
Q. Eliz. Pitchers have ears. 9

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

3) es dauerte so lange mit seinem Wachsthum und er nahm sich so viel Zeit dabei. *) gracious bezieht sich auf das erwähnte Sprichwort small herbs have grace.

Ebenso

weiterhin doppelsinnig my uncle's grace.

-

Die folgende Zeile theilt die Fol. irrthüm

lich dem jungen Herzog von York zu.

5) wenn ich daran gedacht hätte, wenn es mir eingefallen wäre.

6) In den Qs. That should have nearer touch'd his growth than he did mine.

7) So hatte in K. Henry VI. Third Part (A. 5, Sc. 6) der König zu Gloster gesagt: Teeth hadst thou in thy head, when thou wast born.

8) parlous, entstellt aus perilous, wie die Qs. lesen, gebraucht Sh. öfter halb scherzhaft von Leuten, vor denen man auf seiner Hut sein muss, weil sie zu schlau oder zu satirisch sind.

9) Das alte Sprichwort, das auch in Taming of the Shrew (A. 4, Sc. 4) vorkommt und vollständig lautet: Small pitches have great ears, ist die Wände haben Ohren.