Puc. Chang'd to a worser shape thou canst not be. YORK. O, Charles the Dauphin is a proper man ; No shape but his can please your dainty eye. Puc. A plaguing mischief light on Charles, and thee! And may ye both be suddenly surpriz'd By bloody hands, in sleeping on your beds! YORK. Fell, banning hag! enchantress, hold thy tongue. Puc. I pr'ythee, give me leave to curse a while. YORK. Curse, miscreant, when thou comest to [Exeunt. the stake. Alarums. Enter SUFFOLK, leading in Lady MARGARET. SUF. Be what thou wilt, thou art my prisoner. [Gazes on her. O fairest beauty, do not fear, nor fly; For I will touch thee but with reverent hands, I kiss these fingers [Kissing her hand.] for eternal peace': Fell, BANNING hag!] To ban is to curse. So, in The Jew of Malta, 1633: "I han their souls to everlasting pains." STEEVENS. 'I kiss these fingers for eternal peace :] In the old copy these lines are thus arranged and pointed: "For I will touch thee but with reverent hands, "I kiss these fingers for eternal peace, "And lay them gently on thy tender side." By which Suffolk is made to kiss his own fingers, a symbol of peace of which, there is, I believe, no example. The transposition was made, I think, rightly, by Mr. Capell. In the old edition, as here, there is only a comma after "hands," which seems to countenance the regulation now made. To obtain something like sense, the modern editors were obliged to put a full point at the end of that line. In confirmation of the transposition here made, let it be remem Who art thou? say, that I may honour thee. MAR. Margaret my name; and daughter to a king, The king of Naples, whosoe'er thou art. SUF. An earl I am, and Suffolk am I call'd. Be not offended, nature's miracle, Thou art allotted to be ta'en by me: So doth the swan her downy cygnets save, Keeping them prisoners underneath her wings". Yet, if this servile usage once offend, Go, and be free again as Suffolk's friend. [She turns away as going. O, stay!-I have no power to let her pass; bered that two lines are in like manner misplaced in Troilus and Cressida, Act I. fol. 1623: "Or like a star dis-orb'd; nay, if we talk of reason, "And fly like a chidden Mercury from Jove." Again, in King Richard III. Act IV. Sc. IV. : "That reigns in galled eyes of weeping souls, "That excellent grand tyrant of the earth." MAlone. 7- HER Wings] Old copy-his. This manifest error I only mention, because it supports a note in vol. vi. p. 506, n. 4, and justifies the change there made. Her was formerly spelt hir; hence it was often confounded with his. MALONE. 8 My hand would free her, BUT MY HEART SAYS-NO.] Thus, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona : 66 my heart accords thereto, And yet a thousand times it answers—no.” STEEVENS. 9 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 pain by its lustre. JOHNSON. Thus, Tasso: Qual raggio in onda, le scintilla un riso HENLEY. Sidney, in his Astrophel and Stella, serves to support Dr. Johnson's explanation: "Lest if no vaile these brave gleames did disguise, 66 They, sun-like, should more dazle than delight.” Twinkling another counterfeited beam, Hast not a tongue? is she not here thy prisoner 2 ? Wilt thou be daunted at a woman's sight? Ay; beauty's princely majesty is such, Confounds the tongue, and makes the senses rough 3. MAR. Say, earl of Suffolk,-if thy name be so,— What ransom must I pay before I pass? For, I perceive, I am thy prisoner. SUF. How canst thou tell, she will deny thy suit Before thou make a trial of her love? [Aside. MAR. Why speak'st thou not? what ransom must I pay? SUF. She's beautiful; and therefore to be woo'd: She is a woman; therefore to be won 4. [Aside. MAR. Wilt thou accept of ransom, yea, or no? SUF. Fond man! remember, that thou hast a wife; Then how can Margaret be thy paramour? [Aside. MAR. I were best leave him, for he will not hear. 3 -disable not thyself;] Do 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. So, in As You Like it, Act V.: “ If again, it was not well cut, he disabled my judgment." STEEVENS. * Hast not a tongue? is she not here THY PRISONER?] The words-thy prisoner, which are wanting in the first folio, are found in the second. STEEVENS. 3 — and makes the senses ROUGH.] The meaning of this word is not very obvious. Sir Thomas Hanmer reads-crouch. MALONE. 4 She is a woman; therefore to be won.] This seems to be a proverbial line, and occurs in Greene's Planetomachia, 1585. STERVENS. SUF. There all is marr'd; there lies a cooling card". MAR. He talks at random; sure, the man is mad. MAR. And yet I would that you would answer me. MAR. What though I be enthrall'd? he seems a knight, And will not any way dishonour me. [Aside. S -a COOLING CARD.] So, in Marius and Sylla, 1594: "I'll have a present cooling card for you." STEEVENS. 6 a WOODEN thing.] Is an aukward business, an undertaking not likely to succeed. So, in Lyly's Galathea, 1592: “Would I were out of these woods, for I shall have but wooden luck." Again, in Sidney's Astrophel and Stella: 66 Or, seeing, have so woodden wits as not that worth to know." Again, in The Knave of Spades, &c. no date: "To make an end of that same wooden phrase." STEEVENS. Again, in Bacon's Essays, 1628: "It is sport to see a bold fellow out of countenance, for that puts his face into a most shrunken and wooden posture. MALONE. 7-my FANCY-] i. e. my love. So, in A MidsummerNight's Dream: "Fair Helena in fancy following me." See vol. v. p. 301, n. 7. STEEVENS. SUF. Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say. MAR. Perhaps, I shall be rescu'd by the French And then I need not crave his courtesy. [Aside. SUF. Sweet madam, give me hearing in a causeMAR. Tush! women have been captivate ere now. [Aside. SUF. Lady, wherefore talk you so? MAR. I cry you mercy, 'tis but quid for quo. SUF. Say, gentle princess, would you not suppose Your bondage happy, to be made a queen? MAR. To be a queen in bondage, is more vile, Than is a slave in base servility; For princes should be free. SUF. And so shall you, If happy England's royal king be free. MAR. Why, what concerns his freedom unto me? SUF. I'll undertake to make thee Henry's queen; To put a golden scepter in thy hand, And set a precious crown upon thy head, MAR. What? SUF. His love. 8 MAR. I am unworthy to be Henry's wife. SUF. No, gentle madam; I unworthy am To woo so fair a dame to be his wife, And have no portion in the choice myself. How say you, madam; are you so content? MAR. An if my father please, I am content. SUF. Then call our captains, and our colours, forth: 8 If thou wilt condescend to BE MY] I have little doubt that the words-be my, are an interpolation, and that the passage originally stood thus: "If thou wilt condescend to What? His love." Both sense and measure are then complete. STEEVENS. |