Which then blew bitterly against our faces,
Awak'd the fleeping rheum; and fo, by chance,
Did grace our hollow parting with a tear.

K. RICH. What faid our coufin, when you parted
with him?

AUM. Farewell:

And, for my heart difdained that my tongue Should fo profane the word, that taught me craft To counterfeit oppreffion of such grief,

That words feem'd buried in my forrow's grave. Marry, would the word farewell have lengthen'd hours,

And added years to his fhort banishment,
He should have had a volume of farewells;
But, fince it would not, he had none of me.

K. RICH. He is our coufin, coufin; but 'tis doubt,
When time fhall call him home from banishment,
Whether our kinfman come to fee his friends.
Ourself, and Bufhy, Bagot here, and Green,3
Obferv'd his courtship to the common people:-
How he did feem to dive into their hearts,
With humble and familiar courtesy;

What reverence he did throw away on flaves; Wooing poor craftfinen, with the craft of fmiles,

by the editor of the fecond folio; but without neceffity. For me, may mean, on my part. Thus we say, "For me, I am content," &c. where these words have the fame fignification as here. MALONE.

If we read-for me, the expreffion will be equivocal, and feem as if it meant--no tears were fhed on my account. So, in the preceding scene:

3

"O, let no noble eye profane a tear

"For me," &c. STEEVENS.

Bagot here, and Green,] The old copies read-here Bagot. The tranfpofition was made in a quarto of no value, printed in 1634. MALONE.

And patient underbearing of his fortune,
As 'twere, to banish their affects with him.
Off goes his bonnet to an oyster-wench;
A brace of draymen bid-God speed him well,
And had the tribute of his fupple knee,+
With-Thanks, my countrymen, my loving friends;-
As were our England in reverfion his,

And he our fubjects' next degree in hope.5

GREEN. Well, he is gone; and with him

thoughts.

go

thefe

Now for the rebels, which stand out in Ireland ;-
Expedient manage must be made, my liege;
Ere further leifure yield them further means,
For their advantage, and your highness' lofs.

K. RICH. We will ourself in perfon to this war."
And, for our coffers 7-with too great a court,
And liberal largefs, are grown fomewhat light,
We are enforc'd to farm our royal realm;
The revenue whereof fhall furnish us

For our affairs in hand: If that come fhort,
Our fubftitutes at home fhall have blank charters;
Whereto, when they fhall know what men are rich,
They shall subscribe them for large fums of gold,

4

the tribute of his fupple knee,] To illuftrate this phrase, it should be remembered that courtefying, (the act of reverence now confined to women,) was anciently practised by men.

STEEVENS.

5 And he our fubjects' next degree in hope.] Spes altera Romæ. Virg. MALONE. Expedienti.e. expeditious. So, in King John :

7

"His marches are expedient to this town.' STEEVENS.

·for our coffers-] i. e. because. So, at the beginning of this scene:

And, for my heart disdained that my tongue," &c. Again, in Othello:

66

Haply, for I am black-;" STEEVENS.

And fend them after to fupply our wants;
For we will make for Irelend presently.

Enter BUSHY.

Bushy, what news?

BUSHY. Old John of Gaunt is grievous fick, my lord;

Suddenly taken; and hath fent post-haste,
To entreat your majesty to visit him.

K. RICH. Where lies he?

BUSHY. At Ely-house.

K. RICH. Now put it, heaven, in his phyfician's mind,

To help him to his grave immediately!

The lining of his coffers fhall make coats
To deck our foldiers for thefe Irish wars.-
Come, gentlemen, let's all go vifit him:

Pray God, we may make hatte, and come too late!

[Exeunt.

ACT II. SCENE I.

London. A Room in Ely-house.

GAUNT on a Couch; the Duke of YORK, and Others ftanding by him.

GAUNT. Will the king come? that I may breathe

my

laft

In wholesome counsel to his unftaied youth.

8

the duke of York,] was Edmund, fon of Edward III. WALPOLE.

YORK. Vex not yourself, nor ftrive not with your

breath;

For all in vain comes counsel to his ear.

GAUNT. O, but they fay, the tongues of dying

men

Enforce attention, like deep harmony:

Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in

vain;

For they breathe truth, that breathe their words in

pain.

He, that no more must say, is liften'd more

Than they whom youth and ease have taught to

glofe;

More are men's ends mark'd, than their lives before:

The setting fun, and mufick at the close, As the last taste of fweets, is sweetest laft; Writ in remembrance, more than things long past : Though Richard my life's counfel would not hear, My death's fad tale may yet undeaf his ear.

YORK. No; it is ftopp'd with other flattering founds,

As, praises of his ftate: then, there are found
Lafcivious metres; to whofe venom found

The

open ear of youth doth always liften:

at the clofe,] This I fuppofe to be a mufical term. So, in Lingua, 1607:

"I dare engage my ears, the clofe will jar."

STEEVENS,

Lafcivious metres ;] The old copies have-meelers; but I believe we thould read metres for verfes. Thus the folio fpells the word metre in The First Part of King Henry IV:

one of these fame meeter ballad-mongers." Venom found agrees well with lafcivious ditties, but not fo conmodiously with one who meets another; in which fenfe the word appears to have been generally received. STEEVENS.

Report of fafhions in proud Italy;2
Whofe manners ftill our tardy apifh nation
Limps after, in base imitation.

Where doth the world thrust forth a vanity,
(So it be new, there's no respect how vile,)
That is not quickly buzz'd into his ears?
Then all too late comes counfel to be heard,
Where will doth mutiny with wit's regard.3
Direct not him, whofe way himself will choofe ;4
"Tis breath thou lack'ft, and that breath wilt thou
lofe.

1

GAUNT. Methinks, I am a prophet new inspir'd; And thus, expiring, do foretell of him:

His rafh5 fierce blaze of riot cannot laft;
For violent fires foon burn out themselves :
Small showers laft long, but fudden ftorms are fhort
He tires betimes, that fpurs too fast betimes;
With eager feeding, food doth choke the feeder:
Light vanity, infatiate cormorant,

Confuming means, foon preys upon itself.
This royal throne of kings, this fcepter'd ifle,
This earth of majesty, this feat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradife;

t;

2 Report of fashions in proud Italy ;] Our author, who gives to all nations the cuftoms of England, and to all ages the manners of his own, has charged the times of Richard with a folly not perhaps known then, but very frequent in Shakspeare's time, and much lamented by the wifest and best of our ancestors.

JOHNSON. 3 Where will doth mutiny with wit's regard.] Where the will rebels against the notices of the understanding. JOHNSON.

4 whose way himself will choofe;] Do not attempt to guide him, who, whatever thou fhalt fay, will take his own courfe. JOHNSON.

5rash] That is, hafty, violent. JOHNSON. So, in King Henry IV. Part I:

"Like aconitum, or rash gunpowder." MALONE.