“Yield to our mercy, proud Plantagenet;”
had this answer given for him by the faithful Clifford,—
“Ay, to such mercy, as his ruthless arm,
With downright payment, shew’d unto my father.
Now Phaethon hath tumbled from his car,
And made an evening at the noontide prick.”
That same Clifford (act ii. sc. 6, l. 10, vol. v. p. 271), when wounded and about to die for the Lancastrian cause, makes use of the allusion,—
“And who shines now but Henry’s enemy?
O Phœbus! hadst thou never given consent
That Phaëthon should check thy fiery steeds,