Philip of France, if thou be pleas'd withal, Aust. And your lips too; for, I am well assur'd, That I did so, when I was first assur'd 21. K. Phi. Now, citizens of Angiers, ope your gates, Let in that amity which you have made; For at Saint Mary's chapel, presently, The rites of marriage shall be solemniz'd.Is not the Lady Constance in this troop?I know, she is not; for this match, made up, Her presence would have interrupted much :Where is she and her son? tell me, who knows. Lew. She is sad and passionate 22 at your high ness' tent. K. Phi. And, by my faith, this league, that we have made, Will give her sadness very little cure.— We will heal up all; K. John. For we'll create young Arthur duke of Bretagne, And earl of Richmond; and this rich fair town We make him lord of.-Call the Lady Constance; Some speedy messenger bid her repair To our solemnity:-I trust we shall, 20 See Winter's Tale, Act i. Sc. 2, p. 8. 21 Affianced, contracted. 22 Passionate here means agitated, perturbed, a prey to mournful sensations, not moved or disposed to anger. Thus in the old play, entitled The true Tragedie of Richard Duke of York, 1600: Tell me, good madam, 23 Advantage. If not fill up the measure of her will, [Exeunt all but the Bastard.-The Citizens Bast. Mad world! mad kings! mad composition! John, to stop Arthur's title in the whole, Hath willingly departed 4 with a part: 24 And France (whose armour conscience buckled on; Of kings, of beggars, old men, young men, maids,— But the word maid,-cheats the poor maid of that; That smooth-faced gentleman, tickling commodity 26; Commodity, the bias of the world; 24 To part and depart were formerly synonymous. So in Cooper's Dictionary, v. communico, to communicate or departe a thing I have with another.' 25 To round or rown in the ear is to whisper; from the Saxon runian, susurrare. The word and its etymology is fully illustrated by Casaubon in his Treatise de Ling. Saxonica, and in a Letter by Sir H. Spelman, published in Wormius, Literatura Runica. Hafniæ, 1651, p. 4. 26 Commodity is interest, advantage. So Baret:-'What fruite or commoditie had he by this his friendship?' Alvearie, letter C. 867. The construction of this passage, though harsh to modern ears, is-Commodity, he that wins of all,―he that cheats the poor maid of that only external thing she has to lose, namely the word maid, i. e. her chastity.' Henderson has adduced a passage from Cupid's Whirligig, 1607, which happily illustrates the word bias in this passage:'O, the world is like a byas bowle, and it runs All on the rich men's sides.' The world, who of itself is peised well, hand, This bawd, this broker, this all-changing word, 27 Clasp. 28 Coin. [Exit 30. 29 i. e. but cause. 30 In the old copy the second Act extends to the end of the speech of Lady Constance, in the next scene, at the conclusion of which she throws herself on the ground. The present division, which was made by Theobald, is certainly right, ACT III. SCENE I. The same. The French King's Tent. Enter CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and SALISBURY, Const. Gone to be married! gone to swear a peace! False blood to false blood join'd! Gone to be friends! Shall Lewis have Blanch? and Blanch those provinces ? It is not so; thou hast misspoke, misheard; And though thou now confess, thou didst but jest, 1 Capable is susceptible. So in Hamlet : His form and cause conjoin'd, preaching to stones, 2 This seems to have been imitated by Marston, in his Insatiate Countess, 1603 : Then how much more in me, whose youthful veins Be these sad signs confirmers of thy words? Sal. As true, as, I believe, you think them false, As doth the fury of two desperate men, Arth. I do beseech you, madam, be content. Const. If thou, that bidd'st me be content, wert grim, 3 Ugly, and sland'rous to thy mother's womb, 3 Unsightly. 4 Swart is dark, dusky. See Comedy of Errors, Act iii. Sc. 2, p. 146. Prodigious is portentous, so deformed as to be taken for a foretoken of evil. Thus in The Revenger's Tragedy, 1607 :'Over whose roof hangs this prodigious comet?' |