Bast. James Gurney, wilt thou give us leave awhile! Philip?—sparrow 29! - James, There's toys abroad 30; anon I'll tell thee more. Exit GURNEY. Madam, I was not old Sir Robert's son; Sir Robert might have eat his part in me Upon Good Friday, and ne'er broke his fast: Sir Robert could do well; Marry, (to confess !) Could he get me? Sir Robert could not do it; We know his handy-work:—Therefore, good mother, To whom am I beholden for these limbs? Sir Robert never holp to make this leg. Lady F. Hast thou conspired with thy brother too, That for thine own gain should'st defend mine honour? What means this scorn, thou most untoward knave? Bast. Knight, knight, good mother,-Basilisco like 31 : What! I am dubb’d; I have it on my shoulder. But, mother, I am not Sir Robert's son; I have disclaim'd Sir Robert, and my land; 29 The Bastard means “Philip! Do you take me for a sparrow?' The sparrow was called Philip from its note, which was supposed to have some resemblance to that word, 'phip phip the sparrows as they fly.'— Lyly's Mother Bombie. 30 i. e. rumours, idle reports. 31 This is a piece of satire on the stupid old drama of Soliman and Perseda, printed in 1599, which had probably become the butt for stage sarcasm. In this piece there is a bragging cowardly knight called Basilisco. His pretension to valour is so blown and seen through that Piston, a buffoon servant in the play, jumps upon his back, and will not disengage him till he makes Basilisco swear upon his dagger to the contents, and in the terms he dictates; thus : Bas. O, I swear, I swear. Legitimation, name, and all is gone: Lady F. Hast thou denied thyself a Faulconbridge? father; my husband's bed :Heaven, lay not my transgression to my charge! Thou art the issue of my dear offence, Which was so strongly urg'd, past my defence. Bast. Now, by this light, were I to get again, Madam, I would not wish' a better father. Some sins do bear their privilege on earth, And so doth yours; your fault was not your folly: Needs must you lay your heart at his dispose,– Subjected tribute to commanding love,Against whose fury and unmatched force The awless lion could not wage the fight, Nor keep his princely heart from Richard's hand. He, that perforce robs lions of their hearts 32, May easily win a woman's. Ay, my mother, With all my heart I thank thee for my father! Who lives and dares but say, thou didst not well When I was got, I'll send his soul to hell. Come, lady, I will show thee to my kin; And they shall say, when Richard me begot, If thou hadst said him nay, it had been sin : Who says it was, he lies; I say, [Exeunt. 32 Shakspeare alludes to the fabulous history of King Richard I, which says that he derived his appellation of Coeur de Lion from having plucked out a lion's heart, to whose fury he had been exposed by the Duke of Austria for having slain his son with a blow of bis fist. The story is related in several of the old chronicles, as well as in the old metrical romance, SCENE I. France. Before the Walls of Angiers. Forces; on the other, PHILIP, King of France, Lew. Before Angiers well met, brave Austria.- Arth. God shall forgive you Caur-de-lion's death, Lew. A noble boy! Who would not do thee right? Leopold Duke of Austria, by whom Richard had been thrown into prison in 1193, died in consequence of a fall from his horse, in 1195, some years before the date of the events upon which this play turns. The cause of the enmity between Richard and the Duke of Austria is variously related by the old chroniclers. Shakspeare has been led into this anachronism by the old play of King John. Importunity. 1 2 my love; As seal to this indenture of from other lands her islanders, thanks, Till your strong hand shall help to give him strength, To make a more requital to your love. Aust. The peace of heaven is theirs, that lift their swords In such a just and charitable war. K. Phi. Well then, to work; our cannon shall be bent Against the brows of this resisting town. Call for our chiefest men of discipline, To cull the plots of best advantages :We'll lay before this town our royal bones, Wade to the market-place in Frenchmen's blood, But we will make it subject to this boy. Const. Stay for an answer to your embassy, you swords with blood : My Lord Chatillon may from England bring That right in peace, which here we urge in war: And then we shall repent each drop of blood, That hot rash haste so indirectly shed. 3 i.e. greater. So in King Henry IV. Part 1. Act iv. Sc. 3: • The more and less came in with cap and knee.' 4 To mark the best stations to overawe the town. Enter CHATILLON. K. Phi. A wonder, lady !-lo, upon thy wish, Our messenger Chatillon is arriy’d.What England says, say briefly, gentle lord, We coldly pause for thee; Chatillon, speak. Chat. Then turn your forces from this paltry siege, And stir them up against a mightier task. England, impatient of your just demands, Hath put himself in arms; the adverse winds, Whose leisure I have staid, have given him time To land his legions all as soon as I: His marches are expedients to this town, His forces strong, his soldiers confident. With him along is come the mother-queen, An Até 6, stirring him to blood and strife: With her her niece, the Lady Blanch of Spain; With them a bastard of the king's deceas'd: And all the unsettled humours of the land, Rash, inconsiderate, fiery voluntaries, With ladies' faces, and fierce dragons' spleens, Have sold their fortunes at their native homes, Bearing their birthrights proudly on their backs, To make a hazard of new fortunes here. In brief, a braver choice of dauntless spirits, the English bottoms have waft? o'er, Did never float upon the swelling tide, To do offence and scath8 in Christendom. The interruption of their churlish drums [Drums beat. Cuts off more circumstance; they are at hand, To parley, or to fight; therefore, prepare. 5 Immediate, expeditious. 6 The Goddess of Revenge. ? Waft for wafted. So in another place in this play we have heat for heated:- * The iron of itself though heat red hot,' 8 Damage, harm, hurt. Than now, |