KING RICHARD III.
Act I.
Sc. 1.
"Antony Woodeville, her brother there."
Here we must read 'Woodeville' as a trisyllable, like Catesby sometimes in this play, and Colleville in 2 Hen. IV. iv. 3.
"Even so, an't please your worship, Brackenbury."
"Well struck in years, fair, and not jealous."
The folio has jealious, which may be read as a trisyllable, of which Sidney Walker has given examples, though none from Shakespeare. I, however, prefer reading 'yeärs' and 'faïr,' as more suited to the slow chaffing tone of Gloster: "Of foür hoürs long. I must endure all." Fletch. Chances, i. 6.
"Which I must reach unto by marrying her."
This transposition seems necessary; for he is speaking simply and without involution.
Sc. 2.
"The bleeding witness of her hatred by."
This is the reading of the 4tos; the folio has my, but her hatred had been mentioned only two lines before. Still the point is doubtful.
Sc. 3.
"The slave of nature and the son of hell."
So in The Honest Whore (Part I. i. 6) we have,
"You [harlots] are the miserablest creatures breathing,
The very slaves of nature."
But that expression may have been taken from this very place.
"Why strewest thou sugar on that bottel'd spider?"
This is the orthography of the folio; the 4tos read here botled, but in iv. 4 as the folio. Now as bottled has, as far as my knowledge extends, but one sense, and one which would give no meaning here, it may be intended to show that the verb comes from bottel or bottle in the sense of truss, bundle, as a bottle of hay or straw, a sense which it retains in various compounds in the provincial dialects. 'Bottel'd spider' would then answer to 'bunch-back'd toad' a few lines further on. If this should not satisfy, we might read bloated spider, as in Cowper, Task. v. 442.
Sc. 4.
"Nay, I pr'ythee, stay a little; I hope my holy humour will change."
This is the reading of the 4tos, which I prefer. The folio has 'passionate humour of mine.' The change, as Mr. Dyce says, was made by the editors on account of the statute 3 Jac. I. 21.
"If two such murderers as yourselves came to you
Would not entreat for life? As you would beg
Were you in my distress...—
Relent! no, no; 'tis cowardly and womanish."
This punctuation gives, I think, the sense of the poet; and I am happy to find I had been anticipated in it by Singer.
Act II.
Sc. 1.
"And more to peace my soul shall part to heaven."
It might be better, though the meaning is the same, to read 'at peace,' as in the following line. The second 'to' was probably in the printer's mind. The usual reading is 'in peace' which may be right.
Sc. 2.
"To his new kingdom of ne'er-changing night."
The more appropriate term, I think, would be light. Editors follow the reading of the 4tos, 'of perpetual rest.'
"And may direct his course as it please himself."
Act III.
Sc. 1.
"Too late he died, that might have kept that title."
Surely it was too soon or too early. This may, perhaps, be regarded as an instance of the substitution of a contrary term. In the Faerie Queen, however, we have "Saying, that harlot she too lately knew" (i. 3. 25). "And knightly worth which he too late did try" (Ib. iii. 9. 25). See Index, s. v. [Too].
"I pray you, gentle uncle, give me this dagger."
We might also read 'give to me'; but it would sound rather stiff. The usual reading is 'uncle then.'
"My lord, will it please you to pass along?"
Sc. 2.
"My lord, I hold my life as dear as you do yours."
The folio omits 'you do' which is necessary for the sense, and is in the 4tos.
Sc. 3.
"Make haste, the hour of death is expiate."
In Sonnet xxii. 'expiate' is also used in the sense of expired, ended.
"And whëre one sad truth may expiate
Thy wrath."
Donne, Elegy xiv.
Sc. 5.
"Because, my lord, we would have had you heard."
Grammar requires 'hear.'
Sc. 7.
"To be spoke to, but only by the Recorder."
Only is often omitted after 'but.' We might also read 'spoken unto.'
"He is not lulling on a lewd day-bed."
A 'day-bed' was a couch or sofa. The folio has 'love-bed.' 'Lulling' and lolling are only different orthographies, like justling and jostling.
Act IV.
Sc. 4.
"That excellent grand tyrant of the earth,
That reigns in galled eyes of weeping souls."
So Capell judiciously transposed these lines.
"Nay, then indeed she cannot choose but hate thee."
For 'hate,' Tyrwhitt read love; Mason have.
Sc. 5.
"Sir Gilbert Talbot and Sir William Stanley."
Act V.
Sc. 2.
"That spoil'd your summer fields and fruitful vines."
Sc. 3.
"Fill me a bowl of wine. Give me a watch-light."
As he required a light, for he was going to write, and 'watch' alone never has this sense, I think light may have been effaced. Introd. p. [58].
"Bid my guard watch. Now leave me."
"Harry, that prophesy'd thou shouldest be king,
Doth comfort thee in sleep now. Live and flourish."
There is evidently a syllable wanting after 'sleep'; and now seems, being as it were opposed to the preceding line, to be the most likely word. We might, perhaps, but with loss of force, read slumber for 'sleep,' or 'Flourish and live'; but everywhere else it is 'Live and flourish.' The usual reading is 'in thy sleep,' thus setting metre at defiance. Introd. p. [79].
"The lights burn blue. It is now dread midnight."
This passage down to the line 'Find in myself,' etc., is perhaps the worst in all Shakespeare. Steevens was, I think, right in supposing that, though it is undoubtedly the poet's, he cancelled it; and I am of opinion that he substituted the three last lines of the speech—which, it may be seen, do not cohere with what precedes—and that the cancelled passage was retained by the copyist or printer, as was done in L. L. L. iv. 3, and v. 2.
"They thus directed, we will follow then."
Sc. 4.
"But tell me, pray, is young George Stanley living."
The omission of pray is here as in 1 Hen. IV. v. 2.
"All this divided York and Lancaster—
Divided in their dire division—
Oh! now let Richmond and Elizabeth," etc.
KING HENRY VIII.
Act I.
Sc. 1.
"Out of his self-drawing web. Oh! gives us note,
The force of his own merit makes his way."
So the folio reads. Steevens and Malone read 'he gives us note,' and Singer 'Oh, it gives us note.' Mr. Collier says, very plausibly, that the 'Oh' arose from 'a being written for he. I read "Out of his self-drawing web—Oh, give it note!"
"A gift that Heaven gives for him, which buys."
Perhaps 'for' should be to.
"A new hell in himself now.—Why the Devil."
"And his own letters,
The honourable board of Council out,
Must fetch in him he papers."
'Papers' is here evidently a verb, as Pope saw, in the sense of 'puts on paper'; but we have no other instance of it. Mr. Staunton proposes paupers, a verb equally unknown and still more devoid of meaning here. I cannot regard 'papers' as right; yet I know not what to propose in its place. Possibly the original may have been puts there.
"A beggar's book
Outworths a noble's blood."
Collier's folio reads brood for 'book,' and a rime may have been intended.
Sc. 2.
"To you that chok'd it."
'Chok'd' is a very bold term in this place; perhaps the word was check'd.
"I am solicited, not by a few, to tell you—
And those of true condition—that your subjects
Are in great grievance."
It is quite evident something has been lost here.
"That tractable Obedience is a slave."
For 'That' the folio has This.
"There is no primer business."
'Business' is the correction of both Southern and Warburton for baseness of the folio, and is deservedly adopted by most editors.
"What we oft do best,
By sick interpreters, once weak ones, is
Not ours, or not allow'd."
'By' would seem to be here the same as apud or bei, Germ., a sense it sometimes bears (see [Index] s. v.). Steevens gives instances of 'once' in the sense of sometimes; but I should incline to read or or and, with those whom he terms "the modern editors." I suspect that 'sick' may have been such.
"State statues only.—Things done well."
Perhaps my lord or lord cardinal has been effaced at the end.
"Almost with listening ravish'd, could not find."
The folio has 'ravish'd listening.'
"This dangerous conception in this point."
The first 'This' should be perhaps His or The.
"By a vain prophecy of Nicholas Hopkins."
The folio has Henton, the name of his convent, for 'Hopkins.'
"Whom after under the confession's seal."
The folio reads commission's; the correction is Theobald's.
"The monk might be deceiv'd, and that 'twas dangerous for him."
In the folio it is 'for this'; Rowe corrected it.
"As he made semblance of his duty he would."
Sc. 3.
"The spavin,
A springhalt reign'd among them."
For 'A' Collier's folio reads Or; I read And. See on Temp. i. 2.
"For I was spoke to, with Sir Henry Guildford ...
This night to be comptrollers."
I think we should punctuate thus to get rid of the grammatical difficulty. We have precisely such another in 3 Hen. VI. i. 2.
Sc. 4.
"My lord Sands.—Yes, if I can make my play."
"Because they speak no English, thus they prayed me."
Act II.
Sc. 1.
"Whither away so fast?—Oh! God save you, sir."
"To have brought, vivâ voce, to his face."
For 'have' the folio has him. The correction was made in the 4th folio.
"No black envy
Shall mark my grave."
This is the reading of Warburton, generally followed. The folio has make for 'mark.'
"Yet are the King's; and till my soul forsake."
We may, with Rowe, read 'forsake me' making 'vows and prayers' the subj. to 'Shall cry'; but a line may have been lost, as 'my soul' is a more suitable subj. to 'cry.'
Sc. 2.
"I know your Majesty has always lov'd her
So dear in heart, not to deny her that."
It would seem that 'So' should be Too; but then the negative may make a difficulty. 'Not' is, as not.
Sc. 3.
"To leave's a thousand times more bitter than."
"Yet if that quarrel, by fortune, do divorce."
I think the passage thus gains sense: "I found by fortune" (Othel. v. 2). "And shalt, by fortune, once more resurvey" (Son. xxxii.). Hanmer read 'quarreler,' and Warburton said 'quarrel' was arrow. 'It' is the 'pomp' just mentioned.
"You'd venture an emballing."
Warburton read embalming; Steevens empalling.
"Commends his good opinion of you [to you] and
Does purpose honour to you."
The first 'To you' was evidently caused by the second. See Introd. p. [59].
"Would I had no being
If this salute my blood a jot. It faints me."
'Faints' is here a causative. (See Introd. p. [71].) For 'salute,' which is used in a rather unusual connexion, Collier's folio reads elate, not a Shakespearian word. We have, however, "It greets me, as an enterprise of kindness" (Peric. iv. 4), which is similar, and
"For why should others' false adulterate eyes
Give salutation to my sportive blood?"
Son. cxxi.
Sc. 4.
"What friend of mine,
That had to him derived your anger, did I
Continue in my liking? Nay, gave notice
He was from thence discharg'd."
I think we should read 'gave not notice.'
"My father, King of Spain, was reckoned one
The wisest prince that there had reigned."
"For he is one the truest knight alive."
F. Q. i. 3. 37.
"It shall be therefore bootless
That longer you desire the court. * *"
It is difficult to make any good sense of 'desire' here; and a foot is wanting. The 4th folio, for 'desire,' reads defer. We might add deferr'd or delay'd at the end.
"Sir ... I am about to weep."
This seems to be the right punctuation.
"As you have done my truth. If he then know."
"Where powers are your retainers; and your words,
Domestics to you, serve your will."
For 'words,' which certainly makes no sense, Tyrwhitt read wards. I doubt if either be right.
"And marriage 'twixt the Duke of Orleans and."
For the first 'And' Pope properly read A, as above, i. 3.
"This respite shook
The bosom of my conscience."
For 'bosom' Theobald read bottom. In Holingshed the King's words are, "Which words conceived within the secret bottom of my conscience," which I think settles the question. We have also, "Twill purge the bottoms of their consciences" (Fletch. Span. Cur. iv. 5).
"Yea with a splitting power, and made to tremble."
The folio has spitting; the correction was made in the 2nd folio.
Act III.
Sc. 1.
"Seek me out, and in that way I am wife in."
"I am sorry my integrity should breed
So deep suspicion, where all faith was meant,
And service to his Majesty and you."
This transposition of the last two lines was made by Edwards, and is right.
"And comforts to your cause."
The folio reads our, with the usual confusion of these pronouns. The 2nd folio made the correction.
"But Cardinal Sins and hollow hearts I fear ye're."
"Better, both for your honour and your cause."
The folio reads "Both for your honour better."
Sc. 2.
"Have uncontemn'd gone by him, or at least not
Strangely neglected."
Here the negative is absolutely necessary.
"May you be happy in your wish, my lord;
For I profess you have it.—Now all my joy
Trace the conjunction!"
I hesitate not to read with Collier's folio, 'Now may all joy.'
"Into his own hand, in his bed-chamber."
"Was in his countenance. You he bade then."
"And strikes his breast hard; and anon he casts."
"Yet filed with my abilities. Mine own ends."
The folio reads fill'd. I adopt the usual correction.
"That for your Highness' good I ever labour'd
More than mine own, that am, have, and will be...."
There is an evident aposiopesis here, which the editors have not perceived.
"What sudden anger's this? how have I reap'd it?"
As 'reap'd' makes no sense, we might read riped, raised, or roused.
"Toward the King, my ever royal master, I
Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be."
"Now, if you can, blush and cry Guilty, Cardinal."
So it should be pointed. "Then, if you can, be pale." Cymb. ii. 4.
"Chattels and whatsoever, and to be."
The folio reads Castles. Theobald made the change, as Holingshed has cattels. Perhaps we should read else after 'whatsoever.'
"Thou fallest a blessed martyr. Serve the King and ...
Pr'ythee lead me in," etc.
Act IV.
"You're well met once again, sir.—So are you."
"A bold brave gentleman. And that should be."
Sc. 2.
"One that by suggestion
Tied all the kingdom."
I do not understand 'Tied' here. Hanmer proposed Tith'd; the word might also be Tir'd; or perhaps task'd. "And in the neck of that task'd the whole state" (1 Hen. IV. iv. 3). We, however, meet in B. and F.'s Four Plays in One, Triumph of Time, Sc. 1:—
"And greedy Lucre at a serious conference
Which way to tie the world within their statutes."
Holingshed's words are, "By crafty suggestion got into his hands innumerable treasure."
"Unwilling to outlive the good that did it."
We must either read he for 'that,' or, what is more likely, suppose a word lost at the end of the line. We might read cherish, as we have. "This juggling witchcraft with reverence cherish" (King John, iii. 1). I have, however, read nourish, though I see no advantage in it. "Kings shall be thy nursing-fathers" may have been in the poet's mind. 'Good' is goodness, as fair is fairness.
"How pale she looks,
And of an earthly coldness! Mark her eyes!"
So Collier's folio also reads. Mr. Staunton proposes Her hand for 'And,' or 'And feels.'
"Say to him his long trouble now is passing
Out of the world."
Act V.
Sc. 1.
"Have broken with the King; who hath so far
Given ear to our complaint, that of his great grace
And princely care—foreseeing those fell mischiefs,
Our reasons laid before him—he hath commanded."
"The good I stand on is my truth and honesty."
For 'good' Johnson and Collier's folio read ground, which may be right.
Sc. 2.
"'Mong boys and grooms and lackeys."
"In our own natures frail and capable
Of our flesh."
For 'capable' Malone read 'incapable.' Perhaps the right word would be culpable, and it and 'frail' should be transposed, as 'frailty' follows.
"A man that more detests, more stirs against."
For 'stirs' I read strives, as Shakespeare nowhere uses 'stirs' in conjunction with 'against.'
"And in my presence,
They are too thin and base to hide offences."
For 'base' Malone read bare, which may be right.
Sc. 3.
"Be't he or she, cuckold or cuckold-maker."
"He stands there like a mortar-piece to blow us up."
Sc. 4.
"And your good brethren I am much beholding."