men's blood! The return of rhyme where young Talbot is again mentioned, and in no other place, strengthens this suspicion that these verses were originally part of some other work, and were copied here only to save the trouble of composing new. JOHNSON. = = 37:) of a giglot wench :] Giglot is a wanton, or a strumpet.=

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ACT V. =1:) - immanity -] i. e. barbarity, savageness, 2:) What! is my lord of Winchester install'd, And call'd unto a cardinal's degree!] This argues a great forgetfulness in the poet. In the first Act, Gloster says: "I'll canvas thee in thy broad cardinal's hát:" and it is strange that the duke of Exeter should not know of his advancement. 8:) That, neither in birth,] I would read for birth. That is, thou shalt not rule me, though thy birth is legitim- || ate, and thy authority supreme. JOHNSON. 4:) "luto two parties," MALONE. 5:)—ye charming spells, and periapts;] Charms sowed up. Periapts were worn about the neck as preservatives from disease or danger. Of these, the first chapter of St. John's Gospel was deemed the most efficacious. 6:) monarch of the north,] The north was always supposed to be the particular habitation of bad spirits. Milton, therefore, assembles the rebel angels in the north. JOHNSON. 7:) Where-] i. e. whereas. 8:)—vail her lofty plumed crest,] i. e. lower it. 9) Fell, banning hag!] To ban is to curse. 10:) As plays the sun upon the glassy streams, &c.] This comparison, made between things which seem sufficiently unlike, is intended to express the softness and delicacy of lady Margaret's beauty, which delighted, but did not dazzle; which was bright, but gave no 11:) disable not thyself;] Bain by its lustre. JOHNSON.

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not represent thyself so weak. To disable the judgment of another was, in that age, the same as to destroy its credit or authority. JOHNSON. 12:)—and makes the senses rough.] The meaning of this word is not very obvious. Sir Thomas Hanmer reads - crouch. = 13:)—a wooden thing.]|| is an awkward business, an undertaking not likely to succeed.=14:)—my fancy-] i. e. my love.=15:)-face,] To face is to carry a false appearance: to play the hypocrite. || =16:) To send such peevish tokens-] Peevish, for childish. 17:) Mad,] i. e. wild, if mad be the word that ought to stand here, which some of the commentators doubt. 18:)— timeless is untimely = 19:) Decrepit miser!] Miser has no relation to avarice in this passage, but simply means a miserable creature.= 20:) that thou wilt be so obstacle!] A vulgar corruption of obstinate, which I think has oddly lasted since our author's time till now. JOHNSON. 21:) No, misconceiv'd!] i. e. No, ye misconceivers, ye who mistake me and my qualities. 22:)--till mischief, and despair, Drive you to break your necks, or hang yourselves!] Perhaps Shakspeare intended to remark, in this execration, the frequency of suicide among the English, which has been commonly imputed to the gloominess of their air. JOHNSON. =23:)- -remorse- i. e. compassion, pity.=24:) - baleful enemies.] Baleful is sorrowful; but it had anciently the same meaning as baneful.=25:)-with a coronet;] Coronet is here used for a crown. = 26:) — upon comparison?] Do you stand to compare your present state, a state which you have neither right or power to maintain, with the terms which we offer?=27:) Of benefit-] Benefit is here a term of law. Be content to live as the beneficiary of our king: JOHNSON. 28:) So am I driven,] This simile is somewhat obscure: he seems to mean, that as a ship is driven against the tide by the wind, so he is driven by love against the current of his interest. JOHNSON. = 29:) at a triuLphA triumph, in the age of Shakspeare, signified a public exhibition, such as a mask, a revel, &c.=30:) — by attorneyship;] By the intervention of another man's choice; or the discretional agency of another. 31:) "bringeth bliss," MALONE. = 82:) If you do censure me, &c.] To censure is here simply to judge. If in judging me you consider the past frailties of your own youth. = 33:) — ruminate my grief. Grief in the first line is taken generally for pain or uneasiness; in the second specially for sorrow.=

XXII. KING HENRY VI.

PART II.

ACT I. =1:) 4s by your high, &c.] It is apparent that this play begins where the former ends, and continues the series of transactions of which it presupposes the first part already known. This is a sufficient proof that the second and third parts were not written without dependance on the first, though they were printed as containing a complete period of history. JOHNSON. 2:) The mutual conference-11 am the bolder to address you, having already familiarized you to my imagination. JOHNSON.—3:)—mine alder-liefest sovereign,] Alder-liefest is a corruption of the German word aller-liebste, beloved above all things, dearest of all. 1 4:) This peroration with such circumstance?] This speech crowded with so many instances of aggravation. JOHNSON. 5:) And are the cities, &c.] The indignation of Warwick is natural, and I wish it had been better expressed; there is a kind of jingle intended in wounds and words. JOHNSON. 6:)-the prince's heart of Calydon.] According to the fable, Meleager's life was to continue only so long

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as a certain firebrand should last. His mother Althea having thrown it into the fire, he expired in great torments, 7:) ill-nurtur'd-] Ill-nurtur'd, is ill-educated. = 8:) « Whereas - Whereas is the same as where; and seems to be brought into use only on account of its being a dissyllable. 9:) sir John!] A title frequently bestowed on the clergy. 10:)— A crafty knave does need no broker;} This is a proverbial sentence. = 11:) Sort how it will,] Let the issue be what it will. 12:) in the quill.] Perhaps our supplications in the quill, or in quill, means no more thas our written or penn'd supplications.=13:) That my master was?] Peter supposes that the queen had asked, whether the duke of York had said that his master (for so he understands the pronoun he in her speech) was rightful heir to the crown.=14:)—this late complaint-] that is, the complaint of Peter the armourer's man against his master, for saying that York was the rightful king. JOHNSON.=15:) — his censure ;] Through all these plays censure is used in as indifferent sense, simply for judgment or opinion. = 16) "her fume needs no spurs." MALONE. 17:) By these ten bones, &c.] We have just heard a duchess threaten to set her ten commandments in the face of a queen. The jests in this play turn rather too much on the enumeration of fingers. This adjuration is, however, very ancient. = 18:) These two lines spoken by K. Henry, are omitted by Mr. Malone. = 19:) our exorcisms?] The word exorcise, and its derivatives, are used by Shakspeare in an uncommon sense. In all other writers it means to lay spirits, but in these plays it invariably means to raise them. = 20:) ban-dogs howl,] A ban-dog is a village-dog, or mastif, which was formerly called a band-dog, per syncopen bandeg. 21:) That 1 had said and done! It was anciently be lieved that spirits, who were raised by incantations, remained above ground, and answered questions with reluctance. See both Lucan and Statius. = 22:) Tell me, &c.] Yet these two words were not in the paper read by Bolingbroke, which York has now in his haud; nor are they in the original play. Here we have a species of inaccuracy peculiar to Shakspeare, of which he has been guilty in other places. =

ACT II. =1:)—for flying at the brook,] The falconer's term for hawking at water-fowl. 2:) are fain] Pain, in this place, signifies fond.=3:)- -- thine eyes and thoughts ing to flutter.=4:)- my fence shall fail.] Fence is the art Beat on a crown,] To beat is a term in falconry, signifyof defence.=5:) - crying, A miracle!] This scene is founded on a story which Sir Thomas More has related, and which he says was communicated to him by his father. The impostor's name is not mentioned, but he was detected by Humphrey duke of Gloster, and in the manner here represented.6:) "sit there,"-MALONE.=7:) "all our names," -MALONE. 8:) "it is impossible."-MALONE. = 9:) — 4 sort lewdly bent,] Lewdly, in this place, and in some others, does not signify wantonly, but wickedly. A sort is a company. 10:) Your lady is forthcoming] that is, Your lady is in custody.=11:) Steevens and Malone sometimes spell this name Edmond and sometimes Edmund. They have afforded us no canon of accuracy in this case; and private plot,] Sequestered spot of ground. = 13:) Sorrow our readers will probably not think one necessary. =12:) — would solace, and mine age would ease.] that is, sorrow would have, sorrow requires, solace, and age requires ease. =14:) This staff of honour raught:] Raught is the ancient preterite of the verb reach, and is frequently used by Spenser. 15:)-worse bested,] In a worse plight. = 16:) — with a sand-bag fastened to it; As, according to the old laws of duels, knights were to fight with the lance and sword; so those of inferior rank fought with an ebon staff or battoon, to the farther end of which was fixed a bag crammed hard with sand. Mr. Sympson, in his notes on Hen Jonson, observes, that a passage in St. Chrysostom very clearly proves the great antiquity of this practice. 17:) — a rup: of charneco.] A common name for a sort of sweet wise, made at a village so called near Lisbon.=18:) For, by his death, we do perceive his guilt:] According to the ancient usage of the duel, the vanquished person not only lost his life but his reputation, and his death was always regarded as a certain evidence of his guilt. = 19:) Uneath-] i. e. | scarcely, or not easily. = 20:) envious] i. e. malicious.

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ACT V. 1:) balance it.] that is, balance my hand. 2:) Call hither to the stake my two brave bears, Bid Salisbury, and Warwick, come―] The Nevils, earls of Warwick, had a bear and ragged staff for their cogni zance. 3:)-being suffer'd-] Being suffer'd to approach to the bear's fell paw. Such may be the meaning. I am not, however, sure, but the poet meant, being in a state of sufferance or pain. MALONE. =4:) — burgonet,] Is a helmet.

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5:) Foul stigmatic,] A stigmatic is one on whom nature has set a mark of deformity, a stigma. A stigmatic origin ally and properly signified a person who has been branded with a hot iron for some crime. = 6:) A dreadful lay!] A dreadful wager; a tremendous stake. 7:) Dies. Our author, in making Clifford fall by the hand of York, has departed from the truth of history; a practice not uncommon to him when he does his utmost to make his characters considerable. This circumstance, however, serves to prepare the reader or spectator for the vengeance afterwards taken by Clifford's son on York and Rutland. It is remarkable, that at the beginning of the third part of this historical play, the poet has forgot this occurrence, and there represents Clifford's death as it really happened. 8:) And the premised flames-] Premised, for sent before their time. The sense is, let the flames reserved for the last day be sent now. 9:) To cease!] Is to stop, a verb active. 10:)-to achieve Is, to obtain. 11:) The silver livery of advised age;] Advised is wise, experienced, or cautious, considerate. 12:) As wild Medea, &c.] When Medea fled with Jason from Colchos, she murdered her brother Absyrtus, and cut his body into several pieces, that her father might be prevented for some time from pursuing her.=18:) An allusion to Jourdain's prophecy in Act 1. Sc. IV. 14:) — all our present parts.] i. e. party. TYRWHITT. 15:) brush of time;] i. e. the gradual detrition of time. = 16:) - gallant in the brow of youth,] The brow of youth is the height of youth, as the brow of a hill is its summit.17:) Three times bestrid him, that is, three times I saw him fallen, and, striding over him, defended him till he recovered. 18: Well, lords, we have not got that which we have:] i. e. we have not secured, we are not sure of retaining, that which we have acquired.=19:) Being opposites of such repairing nature.] Being enemics that are likely so soon to rally and recover themselves from this defeat. =

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XXIII. KING HENRY VI.

PART III.

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ACTI.1:) Third Part of King Henry VI.] This play is only divided from the former for the convenience of exhibition; for the series of action is continued without interruption, nor are any two scenes of any play more closely connected than the first scene of this play with the last of the former. JOHNSON. = 2:)if Warwick shake his bells.] The allusion is to falconry. The hawks had sometimes little bells hung upon them, perhaps to dare the birds; that is, to fright them from rising. —3:) “Patience is for póltroons, such as he."-MALONE.4:)-sith] i. e. since. 5:) Mr. Malone omits But. = 6:) prejudicial to his crown?] i, e. to the prerogative of the crown. 7:) "hear but one word;" -MALONE. 8:) They seek revenge,] They go away, not because they doubt the justice of this determination, but because they have been conquered, and seek to be revenged. They are not influenced by principle, but passion. = 9) I'll to my castle.] Sandal Castle, near Wakefield, in Yorkshire. 10:)-bewray-] i. e. betray, discover. 11:) "Rather than have made" -MALONE. 12:) What is it, but to make thy sepulchre,] The queen's reproach is founded on a position long received among politicians, that the loss of a king's power is soon followed by loss of life. = 18:) Tire on the flesh of me,] To tire is to fasten, to fix the talons, from the French tirer; or rather, to peck. 14:) those three lords-] that is, of Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Clifford, who had left him in disgust.15:) An oath is of no moment,] The obligation of an oath is here eluded by very despicable sophistry. A lawful magistrate alone has the power to exact an oath, but the oath derives no part of its force from the magistrate. The plea against the obligation of an oath obliging to maintain an usurper, taken from the unlawfulness of the oath itself in the foregoing play, was rational and just.=16:) The queen, with all, &c.] I know not whether the author intended any moral instruc

tion, but he that reads this has a striking admonition against that precipitancy by which men often use unlawful means to do that which a little delay would put honestly in ther power. Had York staid but a few moments, he had saved his cause from the stain of perjury. JOHNSON. The whole, however, is a violation of historic truth. = 17:) Whose fe ther-] i. e. the father of which brat, namely the duke of York. 18:) We bodg'd again;] i. e. we boggled, made bas or bungling work of our attempt to rally. = 19) - nov tide prick. Or, noontide point on the dial.=20:) It is war prize-] It is the estimation of people at war; the settled opinion. 21:) That raught] i, e. that reach'd. The ancient preterite and participle passive of reach.=22;) — this napkin- A napkin is a handkerchief. 23:) And will you pale- i. e. impale, encircle with a crown. = 24:)—to de him dead.] To kill him. 25:)-the type-] i. e. the distinguishing mark; an obsolete use of the word. = 26) Tu government, that makes them scem divine;] Government, in the language of that time, signified evenness of tempet, and decency of manners. JOHNSON. = 27:) · septentrion)

i. e. the north. Septentrio, Lat. =

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ACT II. 1:) Methought, he bore him--] i, e. he demeaned himself. =2:) And takes her farewell of the glori ous sun!] Aurora takes for a time her farewell of the sun, when she dismisses him to his diurnal course. 3) - the racking clouds,] i. e. the clouds in rapid, tumultuary notion.

4:) - blazing by our meeds,] Meed here means merit. =5:) 0, speak no more!] The generous tenderness of Edward, and savage fortitude of Richard, are well distinguished by their different reception of their father's death. Joasos, = 6:)the hope of Troy) Hector. 7:)-haught Northumberland,] i. e. high spirited, or haughty. 8:) Why then it sorts,] Why then things are as they should be. = 9)fondly- i. e. foolishly.=10:)——did'st thou never hear,

That things ill got had ever bad success? &c.] The proverb quoted by his majesty on this occasion, seems to militate directly against his own argument, and shows that things ill got might have good success. M. MASON. 11; Whose father, &c.] Alluding to a common proverb: "Happy the child whose father went to the devil."=12:) Darraign= that is, range your host, put your host in order. = 13) I am resolved,] It is my firm persuasion; I am no longer in doubt. 14:) (As if a channel should be call'd the sea, A channel, in our author's time, signified what we now call a kennel. 15:) To let thy tongue detect-] To show thy meanness of birth by the indecency of language with which thou railest at my deformity. JOHNSON. 1) A wisp of straw-] An instrument of correction that might disgrace, but not hurt her. A wisp was also the punishment for a scold. 17:) To make this shameless callet-] Callet, a lewd woman, a drab, perhaps so called from the French calote, which was a sort of headdress worn by country girls.

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18:)- Menelaus;] i. e. a cuckold. 19:)--we saw our sunshine made thy spring, And that thy summer bred s no increase,] When we saw that by favouring thee we made thee grow in fortune, but that we received no advantage from thy fortune flourishing by our favour, we then resolved to destroy thee, and determined to try some other meass, though our first efforts have failed. =20:) A Field of Battle, &c. We should read near Towton. Shakspeare has bere perhaps intentionally, thrown three different actions into one, 21:) And look upon,] And are mere spectaters. = 22:) Beseeching Thee,] that is, beseeching the divine power 23:) quailing] i. e. sinking into dejection.=24:) Fore slow no longer, To fore slow is to be dilatory, to loiter. = 25:) methinks, it were a happy life,] This specca is mournful and soft, exquisitely suited to the character of the king, and makes a pleasing interchange, by affording, amidst the tumult and horror of the battle, an unexpected ghape of rural innocence and pastoral tranquillity. JouNSON. = 26:) Enter a Son, &c.] These two horrible incidents are se lected to show the innumerable calamities of civil war. JOHNSON. In the battle of Constantine and Maxentius, by Raphael, the second of these incidents is introduced on a similar occasion. 27:) And let our hearts, and eyes, like civil war, Be blind with tears, and break o'ercharged with grief.] The meaning is here inaccurately expressed. The king intends to say that the state of their hearts and eyes shall be like that of the kingdom in a civil war, all shal be destroyed by power formed within themselves. JOHNSON =28:) What stratagems,] Stratragem is used by Shakspeare not merely to express the events and surprises of war.The word means in this place some dreadful event. = 2 O boy, thy father gave thee life too soon, &c.] Of the various meanings given to these two lines, the following seems the most probable. Had the son been younger, be would have been precluded from the levy that brought him into the field; and had the father recognised him before the mortal blow, it would not have been too late to bave saved him from death. HENLEY. 30:) Take on with me, To take on is a phrase still in use among the vulgar, and siguities to persist in clamorous lamentation. 31:) Misthink i. e. think ill, unfavourably. = 32:) And so obsequious will thy father be.] Obsequious is here careful of osbequies, or of funeral rites.: 33:) like life and death's departing Departing for separation. 34:) eager words.] Sour words; words of asperity. 35:)-too ominous.] Alluding, perhaps, to the deaths of Thomas of Woodstock, and Humphrey, dukes of Gloster.=

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ACT III. =1:) — brake—] A brake anciently signified a thicket. = 2:) this laund-] Laund means the same as lawn; a plain extended between woods. 3:) 0 Margaret, &c.] The piety of Henry scarce interests us more for his misiortunes, than this his constant solicitude for the welfare of his deceitful queen. STEEVENS.=4:) Widow, we will consider] This is a very lively and spritely dialogue; the reciprocation is quicker than is common in Shakspeare. JOHNSON. 5:) good leave have you;] Good leave, are words implying readiness of assent. = 6:) — the sadness-] i. e. the seriousness7:) "for she looks very sad." MALONE. = 8:) unlick'd bear whelp,] It was an opinion which, in spite of its absurdity, prevailed long, that the bear brings forth only shapeless lumps of animated flesh, which she licks into the form of bears. It is now well known that the whelps of the bear are produced in the same state with those of other creatures. :)—to o'erbear such || As are of better person than myself, Richard speaks here the language of nature. Whoever is stigmatized with deformity has a constant source of envy in his mind, and would counterbalance by some other superiority those advantages which hee feels himself to want. Bacon remarks that the deformed are commonly daring; and it is almost proverbially observed that they are ill-natured. The truth is, that the deformed, like all other men, are displeased with inferiority, and endeavour to gain ground by good or bad means, as they are virtuous or corrupt. JOHNSON. = 10:) that Henry was unfortunate.] He means, that Henry was unsuccessful in war, having lost his dominious in France, &c. =11:) Exempt from envy, but not from disdain,] Envy is always supposed to have some fascinating or blasting power; and to be out of the reach of cavy is therefore a privilege belonging only to great excellence. I know not well why envy is mentioned here, or whose envy can be meant; but the meaning is, that his love is superior to envy, and can feel no blast from the lady's disdain. Or that, if Bona refuse to quit or requite his pain, his love may turn to disdain, though the consciousness of his own merit will exempt him from the pangs of envy. JOHNSON. I believe envy is in this place, as in many others, put for malice or hatred. His situation places him above these, though it cannot secure him from female disdain. STEEVENS. = 12:) You have a father able-] This seems ironical. The poverty of Margaret's father is a very frequent topic of reproach. 13:) Thy sly conveyance,] Conveyance, is juggling, and thence is taken for artilice and fraud =14:)—to sooth your forgery and his,] To soften it, to make it more endurable: or perhaps, to sooth us, and to prevent our being exasperated by your forgery and his. MALONE. 15:) guerdon'di. e. rewarded. 16:)-go fear thy king –Ĵ That is, fright thy king. = 17:) — to put armour on. It was once no unusual thing for queens themselves to appear in armour at the head of their forces. The suit which Elizabeth wore, when she rode through the lines at Tilbury to encourage the troops, on the approach of the armada, may be still seen in the Tower. = 18:) — thy reward;] Here we are to suppose that, according to ancient custom, Warwick makes a present to the herald or messenger, whom the original copies call a post. 19:)-to make a stale,] i. e. stalking-horse, pretence. =

ACT IV. =

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= 1:) Why, knows not Montague, that of itself, England is safe, if true within itself?] Neither the lapse of two centuries, nor any circumstance which has occurred during that eventful period, has in any degree shook the credit of this observation, or impaired the confidence of the public in the truth of it. "England is and will be still safe, if true within itself." =2;) — with the seas,] This has been the advice of every man who in any age understood and favoured the interest of England. == 3:) - you would not have bestow'd the heir-] It must be remembered, that till the Restoration, the heiresses of great estates were in the wardship of the king, who in their minority gave them up to plunder, and afterwards matched them to his favourites. I know not when liberty gained more than by the abolition of the court of wards. JOHNSON. 4:) I was not ignoble of descent,] Her father was sir Richard Widville, "knight, afterwards earl of Rivers; her mother, Jaqueline, duchess-dowager of Bedford, who was daughter to Peter of Luxemburgh, earl of Saint Paul, and widow of John duke of Bedford, brother to King Henry V. she was there in place.] This expression, signifying, she was there present, occurs frequently in old English writers. En place, a Gallicism.=6:)— are done,] i. e. are consumed, thrown off. The word is often used in this sense by the writers of our author's age. = 7:) "welcome, sweet Clarence;"MALONE. 8:) the Thracian fatal steeds;] We are told by some of the writers on the Trojan story, that the capture of these horses was one of the necessary preliminaries to the fate of Troy. 9:) Then, for his mind, be Edward England's king:] That is, in his mind; as far as his own mind goes. = 10:)few men rightly temper with the stars:] I suppose the meaning is, that few men conform their temper to their destiny; which King Henry did, when finding himself unfortunate he gave the management of public affairs to more prosperous hands. JOHNSON. = 11:) in place.] i. e. here present. 12:) This pretty lad-] He was afterwards Henry VII.; a man who put an end to the civil war of the two houses, but no otherwise

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5:)

remarkable for virtue. Shakspeare knew his trade. Henry VII. was grandfather to queen Elizabeth, and the king from whom James inherited. JOHNSON. = 18:) attended him—] i. e. waited for him. =14:) The good old man would fain that all were well,] The mayor is willing we should enter, so he may not be blamed. ==== 15:) The bruit-] i. e. noise, report. = 16:) my meed-] Meed signifies here merit. 17:) The sun shines hot, &c.] The allusion is to a wellknown proverb-"Make hay while the sun shines.”=

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ACT V. 1:) I'll do thee service-] i. e. enroll myself among thy dependants. Cowell informs us, that servitium is that service which the tenant, by reason of his fee, oweth unto his lord."=2:) The king was slily finger'd from the deck!] A pack of cards was anciently termed a deck of cards, or a pair of cards, and this is still in use in some parts. - 3:) Two of thy name, both dukes of Somerset, Have sold their lives unto the house of York;] The first of these noblemen was Edmund, slain at the battle of Saint Alban's, 1455. The second was Henry his son, beheaded after the battle of Hexham, 1463. The present duke Edmund, brother to Henry, was taken prisoner at Tewksbury, 1471, and there beheaded, his brother John losing his life in the same fight. 4:)—to lime the stones-] that is, to cement the stones. Lime makes mortar. = 5:) so blunt,] Stupid, insensible of paternal foudness. 6:) passing traitor, Eminent, egregious; traitorous beyond the common track of treason. 7:) - a bug, that fear'd us all.] Bug is a bugbear, a terrific being.8:) My parks, &c.] This mention of his parks and manors diminishes the pathetic effect of the foregoing lines. = 9:) Which sounded like a cannon in a vault,] Mr. Steevens thinks clamour, which is in the old play, the proper word, and adds, "The indistinct gabble of will abundantly illustrate the preceding simile. Such a peundertakers, while they adjust a coffin in a family vault, culiar hubbub of inarticulate sounds might have attracted our author's notice; it has too often forced itself on mine."

10:) My tears gainsay;] To gainsay is to unsay, to deny, to contradict. 11:) to Hammes' castle-] A castle in Picardy, where Oxford was confined for many years. =12:) Let sop, &c.] The prince calls Richard, for his crookedness, sop; and the poet, following nature, makes Richard highly incensed at the reproach. 13:) the likeness of this railer here.] That thou resemblest thy railing mother. 14:) with words?] i. e. dispute, contention. 15:) 'Twas sin before,] She alludes to the desertion of Clarence. = 16:)

hapless male-] The word male is here used in a very uncommon sense, not for the male of the female, but for the male parent: the sweet bird is evidently his son prince Edward. 17:) Which now mistrust no parcel of my jear ;] Who suspect no part of what my fears presage. 18:) The raven rook'd her -] To rook, or rather to ruck, is a northcountry word, signifying to squat down, or lodge on any thing. 19:) But I will sort a pitchy day for thee:] But I will choose out an hour whose gloom shall be as fatal to you. To sort is to select. 20:) Work thou the way, &c.] He speaks this line, first touching his head, and then looking on his hand. 21:) Thanks, noble Clarence; worthy brother, thanks.] In my copy of the second folio, which had belonged to king Charles the first, his majesty has erased. Cla, and written King in its stead. Shakspeare, therefore, in the catalogue of his restorers, may boast of a royal name. STEEVENS. = 22:) With stately triumphs,] Triumphs are public shows. =

XXIV. KING RICHARD III.

ACT I. = 1:) this sun of York;] Alluding to the cognizance of Edward IV. which was a sun, in memory of the three suns, which are said to have appeared at the battle which he gained over the Lancastrians at Mortimer's Cross. =2:) — delightful measures.] A measure was, strictly speaking, a court dance of a stately turn, though the word is sometimes employed to express dances in general. = 3:) — barbed steeds, i.e. steeds caparisoned in a warlike manner, Barbed, however, may be no more than a corruption of barded. Equus bardatus, in the Latin of the middle ages, was a horse adorned with military trappings. = 4:) He capers-] War capers. This is poetical, though a little harsh; if it be York that capers, the antecedent is at such a distance, that it is almost forgotten. = 5:) Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,] By dissembling is not meant hypocritical nature, that pretends one thing, and does another; but nature that puts together things of a dissimilar kind, as a brave soul and a deformed body. Feature is used here, as in other pieces of the same age, for beauty in general. 6:) And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,] Shakspeare very diligently inculcates, that the wickedness of Richard proceeded from his deformity, from the envy that rose at the comparison of his own person with others, and which incited him to disturb the pleasures that he could not partake. JOHNSON. = 7:)-inductions dangerous,] Preparations for mischief. The induction is preparatory to the action of the play. 8:)-toys-] Fancies, freaks of imagination.=9:) The jealous o'er-worn widow, and herself] That is the queen and Shore. 10:) "And that the queen's," &c.-MALONE. = 11:) — the queen's abjects,] The most ser