Of woeful ages, long ago betid: And, ere thou bid good night, to quit their grief, And fend the hearers weeping to their beds. And fome will mourn in ashes, fome coal-black, Enter NORTHUMBERLAND, and others. Noth. My lord, the mind of Bolingbroke is chang'd; He shall think, that thou, which knoweft the way North. My guilt be on my head, and there an end. 1- to quit their grief,] To retaliate their mournful ftories. JoENSON. 3 For why,-] The poet fhould have ended this fpeech with the foregoing line, and have spared his childish prattle about the fire. G4 JOHNSON. Part us, Northumberland; I towards the north, Sent back like Hallowmas 9, or fhort'ft of day. Queen. And must we be divided? must we part? K. Rich. Ay, hand from hand, my love, and heart from heart. Queen. Banish us both, and fend the king with me. North. That were some love', but little policy. Queen. Then whither he goes, thither let me go. K. Rich. So two together weeping, make one woe. Weep thou for me in France, I for thee here; Better far off, than-near, be ne'er the near'2. Go, count thy way with fighs: I mine with groans. Queen. So longeft way fhall have the longest moans. K. Rich. Twice for one ftep I'll groan, the way being fhort, And piece the way out with a heavy heart. Come, come, in wooing forrow let's be brief, That I may ftrive to kill it with a groan. K. Rich. We make woe wanton with this fond delay: Once more, adieu; the reft let forrow say. [Exeunt. 9- - Hallowmas,] All-ballows, or all-ballowtide; the first of November. STEEVENS. 1 That were fome love, &c.] The quartos give this fpeech to the king. STEEVENS. 2 Better far off, than-near, be ne'er the near'.] To be never the nigber, or, as it is commonly fpoken in the mid-land counties, ne'er the ne-er, is, to make no advance towards the good defired. JOHNSON. The meaning is, it is better to be at a great diftance, than being near each other, to find that we yet are not likely to be peaceably and hap pily united. MALONE. 3 and kill thy heart.] So in our author's Venus and Adonis : SCENE II. The fame. A Room in the Duke of York's Palace. Dutch. My lord, you told me, you would tell the rest, York. Where did I leave? Dutch. At that fad ftop, my lord, Where rude misgovern'd hands, from windows' tops, York. Then, as I faid, the duke, great Bolingbroke, Mounted upon a hot and fiery fteed, Which his afpiring rider feem'd to know, With flow, but ftately pace, kept on his course, Dutch. Alas, poor Richard! where rides he the while? After a well-grac'd actor leaves the stage, 4 With painted imagery, bad fail at once,] Our authour probably was thinking of the painted clothes that were hung in the streets, in the pageants exhibited in his own time; in which the figures fometimes had -labels iffuing from their mouths, containing fentences of gratulation. MALONE. 5 Are idly bent-] That is, carelefly turned, thrown without at. tention. This the poet learned by his attendance and practice on the ftage. JOHNSON. Thinking Thinking his prattle to be tedious: Even fo, or with much more contempt, men's eyes That had not God, for fome ftrong purpose, steel'd But heaven hath a hand in these events; To whofe high will we bound our calm contents. Whose state and honour I for aye allow. But that is loft, for being Richard's friend, And lafting fealty to the new-made king. Dutch. Welcome, my fon: Who are the violets now, That ftrew the green lap of the new-come spring?? Aum. Madam, I know not, nor I greatly care not; God knows, I had as lief be none, as one. York. Well, bear you well in this new spring of time, Left you be cropt before you come to prime. What news from Oxford? hold those jufts and triumphs ? Aum. For aught I know, my lord, they do. • Aumerle that was ;] The dukes of Aumerle, Surrey, and Exeter, were by an act of Henry's firft parliament deprived of their dukedoms, but were allowed to retain their earldoms of Rutland, Kent, and Huntingdon. Holinfhed, p. 513, 514. STEEVENS. 7 That firew the green lap of the new-come Spring ?] So Milton in one of his fongs: 8 66 -who from her green lap throws "The yellow cowflip and the pale primrofe." STEEVENS. -bear you well-] That is, conduct yourself with prudence. JOHNSON. York. You will be there, I know. Aum. If God prevent it not; I purpose so. York. What feal is that, that hangs without thy bofom è Yea, look'ft thou pale? let me fee the writing". Aum. My lord, 'tis nothing. York. No matter then who fees it: I will be fatisfy'd, let me fee the writing. Which for fome reasons I would not have seen. Dutch. What should you fear? 'Tis nothing but fome bond, that he is enter'd into For gay apparel 'gainst the triumph day'. York. Bound to himself? what doth he with a bond That he is bound to? Wife, thou art a fool.— Boy, let me fee the writing. Aum. I do befeech you, pardon me; I may not fhew it. York. I will be fatisfied; let me fee it, I fay. [Snatches it, and reads. Treafon! foul treafon !-villain, traitor! flave! Dutch. What is the matter, my lord? York. Ho! who is within there? [Enter a fervant.] Saddle my horse. God for his mercy! what treachery is here! Dutch. Why, what is it, my lord? York. Give me my boots, I fay; saddle my horse :Now by mine honour, by my life, my troth, I will appeach the villain. Dutch. What's the matter? [Exit Jervant. Dutch. I will not peace :-What is the matter, fon? 9 Yea, look'ft thou pale? let me see the writing.] Such harsh and defective lines as this, are probably corrupt, and might be eafily fupplied, but that it would be dangerous to let conjecture loose on such flight occafions. JOHNSON. Perhaps Shakspeare wrote-Boy, let me fee the writing. York ufes thefe words a little lower. MALONE. gainst the triumph day.] See Vol. II. p. 442, n. 4. MALONE. Aum. |