Till with thy warlike fword, despite of fate,
To my determin'd time' thou gav'ft new date.
TAL. When from the Dauphin's creft thy fword
ftruck fire,

It warm'd thy father's heart with proud defire
Of bold-fac'd victory. Then leaden age,
Quicken'd with youthful spleen, and warlike rage,
Beat down Alençon, Orleans, Burgundy,
And from the pride of Gallia refcu'd thee.
The ireful baftard Orleans-that drew blood
From thee, my boy; and had the maidenhood
Of thy firft fight-I foon encountered;
And, interchanging blows, I quickly fhed
Some of his bastard blood; and, in disgrace,
Bespoke him thus: Contaminated, base,
And mifbegotten blood I Spill of thine,

Mean and right poor; for that pure blood of mine,
Which thou didst force from Talbot, my brave boy:-
Here, purpofing the Bastard to destroy,

Came in ftrong refcue. Speak, thy father's care;
Art not thou weary, John? How doft thou fare?
Wilt thou yet leave the battle, boy, and fly,
Now thou art feal'd the fon of chivalry?
Fly, to revenge my death, when I am dead;
The help of one stands me in little stead.

"Des ondes et vents j'evitai la furie.

Que ce pere doit m'etre cher,

Qui m'a deux fois donné la vie,

"Une fois fur la terre, et l'autre fur la mer!”

and done;] See p. 623, n. 8. MALONE.

MALONE.

determin'd time-] i. e. ended. So, in King Henry IV.

"Till his friend fickness hath determin'd me."

STEEVENS.

MALONE.

The word is ftill used in that fenfe by legal conveyancers.

O, too much folly is it, well I wot,
To hazard all our lives in one fmall boat.
If I to-day die not with Frenchmen's rage,
To-morrow I fhall die with mickle age:
By me they nothing gain, an if I ftay,
'Tis but the short'ning of my life one day:
In thee thy mother dies, our household's name,
My death's revenge, thy youth, and England's
fame:

All thefe, and more, we hazard by thy ftay;
All these are fav'd, if thou wilt fly away.

JOHN. The fword of Orleans hath not made me fmart,

These words of yours draw life-blood from my

heart: 9

On that advantage, bought with such a shame, (To fave a paltry life, and flay bright fame,)'

8 'Tis but the short'ning of my life one day :] The ftructure of this line very much refembles that of another, in King Henry IV. Part II:

to say,

"Heaven fhorten Harry's happy life one day."

STEEVENS.

• The fword of Orleans hath not made me smart, Thefe words of yours draw life-blood from my heart:] "Are there not poifons, racks, and flames, and fwords? "That Emma thus muft die by Henry's words?" PRIOR.

So, in this play, Part III:

MALONE.

"Ah, kill me with thy weapon, not with words."

2 On that advantage, bought with fuch a frame,

STEEVENS.

(To fave a paltry life, and flay bright fame,)] This paffage feems to lie obfcure and disjointed. Neither the grammar is to be juftified; nor is the fentiment better. I have ventur'd at a flight alteration, which departs fo little from the reading which has obtain'd, but fo much raifes the fenfe, as well as takes away the

Before young Talbot from old Talbot fly,
The coward horse, that bears me, fall and die!
And like me to the peasant boys of France;'
To be fhame's fcorn, and fubject of mifchance!
Surely, by all the glory you have won,

An if I fly, I am not Talbot's fon:

Then talk no more of flight, it is no boot;
If fon to Talbot, die at Talbot's foot.

obfcurity, that I am willing to think it restores the author's mean

ing:

Out on that vantage,

Sir T. Hanmer reads:

O what advantage,

THEOBALD.

which I have followed, though Mr. Theobald's conjecture may be well enough admitted. JOHNSON.

I have no doubt but the old reading is right, and the amendment unneceffary; the paffage being better as it stood originally, if pointed thus:

On that advantage, bought with fuch a shame,

(To fave a paltry life, and flay bright fame,)
Before young Talbot from old Talbot fly,

The coward horfe, that bears me, fall and die!

The dividing the fentence into two diftinct parts, occafioned the obfcurity of it, which this method of printing removes.

M. MASON.

The fenfe is Before young Talbot fly from his father, (in order to fave his life while he deftroys his character,) on, or for the fake of, the advantages you mention, namely, preferving our household's name, &c. may my coward horfe drop down dead!

MALONE.

3 And like me to the peasant boys of France;] To like one to the peasants is, to compare, to level by comparison; the line is therefore intelligible enough by itself, but in this fenfe it wants connection. Sir T. Hanmer reads,-And leave me, which makes a clear sense and juft confequence. But as change is not to be allowed without neceffity, I have fuffered like to ftand, because I suppose the author meant the fame as make like, or reduce to a level with.

JOHNSON. So, in King Henry IV. Part II: " when the prince broke thy head for liking his father to a finging man" &c. STEEVENS.

TAL. Then follow thou thy defperate fire of

Crete,

4

Thou Icarus; thy life to me is sweet:

If thou wilt fight, fight by thy father's fide; And, commendable prov'd, let's die in pride. [Exeunt.

SCENE VII.

Another Part of the fame.

Alarum: Excurfions. Enter TALBOT wounded, fupported by a Servant.

TAL. Where is my other life?-mine own is gone ;

O, where's young Talbot? where is valiant John?— Triumphant death, fmear'd with captivity!" Young Talbot's valour makes me fmile at thee:When he perceiv'd me fhrink, and on my knee, His bloody fword he brandifh'd over me,

thy defperate fire of Crete,

Thou Icarus;] So, in the third part of this play:
"What a peevish fool was that of Crete?"

Again :

"I, Dædalus; my poor boy, Icarus-." STEEVENS. Triumphant death, Smear'd with captivity!] That is, death ftained and dishonoured with captivity. JOHNSON.

Death ftained by my being made a captive and dying in captivity. The author when he firft addreffes death, and ufes the epithet triumphant, confiders him as a person who had triumphed over him by plunging his dart in his breaft. In the latter part of the line, if Dr. Johnson has rightly explained it, death must have its ordinary fignification. "I think light of my death, though rendered difgraceful by captivity," &c. Perhaps however the construction intended by the poet was- -Young Talbot's valour makes me, fmeared with captivity, fmile, &c. If fo, there should be a comma after captivity. MALONE.

And, like a hungry lion, did commence
Rough deeds of rage, and ftern impatience;
But when my angry guardant ftood alone,
Tend'ring my ruin, and affail'd of none,
Dizzy-ey'd fury, and great rage of heart,
Suddenly made him from my fide to start
Into the cluft'ring battle of the French:
And in that fea of blood my boy did drench
His overmounting fpirit; and there dy'd
My Icarus, my bloffom, in his pride.

Enter Soldiers, bearing the body of JOHN TALBOT."

SERV. O my dear lord! lo, where your fon is borne !

TAL. Thou antick death," which laugh'ft us here to fcorn,

4 Tend'ring my ruin,] Watching me with tenderness in my fall. JOHNSON.

I would rather read

Tending my ruin, &c.

TYRWHITT.

I adhere to the old reading. So, in Hamlet, Polonius fays to Ophelia :

Tender yourself more dearly." STEEVENS.

Again, in King Henry VI. Part II:

"I tender fo the fafety of my liege." MALONE.

3 the body of John Talbot.] This John Talbot was the eldest fon of the first Earl by his fecond wife, and was Viscount Lifle, when he was killed with his father, in endeavouring to relieve Chatillon, after the battle of Bourdeaux, in the year 1453. He was created Viscount Lifle in 1451. John, the earl's eldeft fon by his first wife, was flain at the battle of Northampton in 1460. MALONE.

6 Thou antick death,] The fool, or antick of the play, made sport by mocking the graver perfonages. JOHNSON.

In King Richard II. we have the fame image:

66

within the hollow crown

"That rounds the mortal temples of a king