The lives of those that he did lead to fight Hot. Revolted Mortimer! He never did fall off, my sovereign liege, But by the chance of war;-To prove that true, Needs no more but one tongue for all those wounds, Those mouthed wounds, which valiantly he took, When on the gentle Severn's sedgy bank, In single opposition, hand to hand, He did confound the best part of an hour In changing hardiments with great Glendower: Three times they breath'd, and three times did they drink, Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood; 7 and indent with fears,] i. e. bargain and article with fears. 8 hardiment-] An obsolete word, signifying hardiness, bravery, stoutness. Spenser is frequent in his use of it. 9 three times did they drink,] It is the property of wounds to excite the most impatient thirst. The poet therefore hath with exquisite propriety introduced this circumstance, which may serve to place in its proper light the dying kindness of Sir Philip Sydney; who, though suffering the extremity of thirst from the agony of his own wounds, yet, notwithstanding, gave up his own draught of water to a wounded soldier. HENLEY. 1 his crisp head-] Crisp is curled. Never did bare and rotten policy Colour her working with such deadly wounds; Receive so many, and all willingly: Then let him not be slander'd with revolt. K. Hen. Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost belie him, He never did encounter with Glendower; I tell thee, He durst as well have met the devil alone, Exeunt King HENRY, BLUNT, and Train. North. What, drunk with choler? stay, and pause awhile; Here comes your Hot. uncle. Re-enter Worcester. Speak of Mortimer? 'Zounds, I will speak of him; and let my soul Want mercy, if I do not join with him: As this ingrate and canker'd Bolingbroke. North. Brother, the king hath made your nephew mad. [TO WORCESTEr. Wor. Who struck this heat up, after I was gone? Hot. He will, forsooth, have all my prisoners; And when I urg'd the ransome once again Of my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale; And on my face he turn'd an eye of death,2 Trembling even at the name of Mortimer. Wor. I cannot blame him: Was he not proclaim'd, By Richard that dead is, the next of blood? From whence he, intercepted, did return Wor. And for whose death, we in the world's wide mouth Live scandaliz'd, and foully spoken of. Hot. But, soft, I pray you; Did king Richard then Proclaim my brother Edmund Mortimer Heir to the crown? North. He did; myself did hear it. Hot. Nay, then I cannot blame his cousin king, That wish'd him on the barren mountains starv'd. But shall it be, that you,-that set the crown Upon the head of this forgetful man; And, for his sake, wear the detested blot Of murd❜rous subornation,-shall it be, That you a world of curses undergo; Being the agents, or base second means, The cords, the ladder, or the hangman rather?— O, pardon me, that I descend so low, To show the line, and the predicament, 2 an eye of death,] That is, an eye menacing death. Wherein you range under this subtle king.— Even with the bloody payment of your deaths. Wor. Hot. If he fall in, good night:-or sink or swim: Send danger from the east unto the west, North. Imagination of some great exploit this canker, Bolingbroke?] The canker-rose is the dogrose, the flower of the Cynosbaton. Hot. By heaven, methinks, it were an easy leap, To pluck bright honour from the pale-fac'd moon; Or dive into the bottom of the deep, Where fathom-line could never touch the ground, But out upon this half-fac'd fellowship!" Wor. He apprehends a world of figures here, Wor. That are your prisoners, Hot. Those same noble Scots, I'll keep them all; By heaven, he shall not have a Scot of them: Wor. You start away, And lend no ear unto my purposes. Those prisoners you shall keep. Hot. Nay, I will; that's flat: I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak But out upon this half-fac'd fellowship!] A coat is said to be faced, when part of it, as the sleeves or bosom, is covered with something finer or more splendid than the main substance. The mantua-makers still use the word. Half-fac'd fellowship is then "partnership but half-adorned, partnership which yet wants half the show of dignities and honours." JOHNSON. 6 a world of figures here,] Figures mean shapes created by Hotspur's imagination. |