Thy overflow of good converts to bad; ; York. So shall my virtue be his vice's bawd And he shall spend mine honor with his shame, As thriftless sons their scraping fathers' gold. Mine honor lives when his dishonor dies, Or my shamed life in his dishonor lies. Thou kill'st me in his life; giving him breath, The traitor lives, the true man's put to death. Duch. [Within.] What, ho, my liege! for God's sake, let me in. Boling. What shrill-voiced suppliant makes this eager cry? Duch. A woman, and thine aunt, great king; 'tis I. Speak with me, pity me, open the door; A beggar begs, that never begged before. Boling. Our scene is altered,-from a serious thing, And now changed to The Beggar and the King.—' My dangerous cousin, let your mother in; I know she's come to pray for your foul sin. Enter Duchess. Duch. O king, believe not this hard-hearted man; Love, loving not itself, none other can. York. Thou frantic woman, what dost thou make 2 here? Shall thy old dugs once more a traitor rear? Duch. Sweet York, be patient. Hear me, gentle [Kneels. liege. 1 It is probable that the old ballad of "King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid" is here alluded to. The reader will find it in the first volume of Dr. Percy's Reliques of Ancient Poetry. There may have been a popular interlude on the subject. 2 i. e. "what dost thou do here?" Not yet, I thee beseech Boling. Rise up, good aunt. Duch. Forever will I kneel1 upon my knees, And never see day that the happy sees, Till thou give joy; until thou bid me joy, By pardoning Rutland, my transgressing boy. Aum. Unto my mother's prayers, I bend my knee. [Kneels. York. Against them both, my true joints bended be Ill mayst thou thrive, if thou grant any grace!? [Kneels. Duch. Pleads he in earnest? look upon his face His eyes do drop no tears; his prayers are in jest ; His words come from his mouth, ours from our breast; He prays but faintly, and would be denied; We pray with heart, and soul, and all beside; His weary joints would gladly rise, I know; Our knees shall kneel till to the ground they grow; Our prayers do out-pray his; then let them have Duch. Duch. Dost thou teach pardon pardon to destroy? Ay, my sour husband, my hard-hearted lord, That sett'st the word itself against the word! 1 Thus the folio. The quarto copies read walk. 2 This line is not in the folio. 3 i. e. excuse me-a phrase used when any thing is civilly declined. Speak, pardon, as 'tis current in our land; Boling. Good aunt, stand up. I do not sue to stand; Pardon is all the suit I have in hand. Boling. I pardon him, as God shall pardon me. Twice saying pardon, doth not pardon twain, Boling. I pardon him.2 Duch. With all my heart A god on earth thou art. Boling. But for our trusty brother-in-law,3-and the abbot,1 With all the rest of that consorted crew,- new. 1 Thus "chopping churches" is changing one church for another, and chopping logic is discoursing or interchanging logic with another. To chop and change is still a common idiom. The old copies read, "I pardon him with all my heart." The transposition was made by Pope. 3 The brother-in-law meant was John duke of Exeter and earl of Huntingdon (own brother to Edward II.), who had married the lady Elizabeth, Bolingbroke's sister. 4 i. e. the abbot of Westminster. 5 Too, which is not in the old copies, was added by Theobald for the sake of the metre. SCENE IV. Enter EXTON and a Servant. Exton. Didst thou not mark the king, what words he spake ? Have I no friend will rid me of this living fear? Was it not so? Serv. Those were his very words. Exton. Have I no friend? quoth he; he spake it twice, And urged it twice together; did he not? Serv. He did. Exton. And, speaking it, he wistfully looked on me ; As who should say,-I would thou wert the man That would divorce this terror from my heart; Meaning, the king at Pomfret. Come, let's go; I am the king's friend, and will rid his foe. [Exeunt. SCENE V. Pomfret. The Dungeon of the Castle. Enter KING RICHARD. K. Rich. I have been studying how I may compare And these same thoughts people this little world; 2 1 To rid and to despatch were formerly synonymous, as may be seen i the old dictionaries. 2 i. e. his own body. For no thought is contented. The better sort- As thus, Come, little ones; and then again,- And here have I the daintiness of ear [Music. 1 By the word is meant the Holy Scriptures. The folio reads, the faith itself against the faith. 2 The folio, and other copies, read "in one prison." |