King John, your king and Englands, doth approach, 333 Their Armours that march'd hence fo filuer bright, 335 That is remoued by a staffe of France: Our colours do returne in those same hands That did display them when we first marcht forth: 334. day,] Ff. day! Cap. Varr. Rann. Mal. Steev. Varr. Sing. Knt, Sta. Huds. i. day: Dyce, Hal. Cam.+, Huds. ii. day. Rowe et cet. 335. Armours] armours, Rowe et seq. filuer bright] Ff, Rowe, Han. silver-bright Pope et cet. 336. with] in Rowe, Pope, Theob. Warb. Johns. Frenchmens] Frenchmens' Theob. ii, Warb. Johns. Var. '73, '78, '85. Frenchmen's Cap. et seq. Neils. blood:] blood. Del. Rlfe, Dono. 338. remoued] removèd Dyce, Fle. Huds. ii, Words. remov'd Coll. ii. 340 343 338. by a] by any Coll. ii. (MS.). France:] F2F3, Coll. France. F1, Rowe, Pope,+. France; Cap. et cet. 339. thofe] thof F1. 340. marcht] Ff, Fle. march'd Rowe et cet. 341. And...Huntsmen] Ff, Rowe, Pope, Han. Coll. Wh. i, Huds. And,... huntsmen, Theob. et cet. 342. purpled] purpl'd Cap. 343. Dide] F2F3. Stain'd Pope, Han. Died Steev. Varr. Knt i. Dyed Sing. Coll. Knt ii, Ktly, Sta. Cam.+, Fle. Huds. ii. Dy'd F, et cet. foes,] foes. Ff, Rowe, Pope,+. Coll. Ktly. foes: Coll. et cet. his antagonist. Silver armor gilt with blood is a poor image. Yet our author has it again in Macbeth: 'Here lay Duncan, His silver skin laced with his golden blood,' [II, iii, 117].—STEEVENS, in further illustration of this use of ‘gilt,' quotes: 'The curets from great Hector's breast, all gilded with his gore.'-Chapman, Iliad, bk xvi, [1. 773]; and also, ‘And showed his point gilt with the gushing gore.'— Ibid., Odyssey, xix, [l. 627].—[MURRAY (N. E. D.) gives several other examples, but quotes the present line in King John as the earliest use in this sense.-ED.] 342, 343. hands, Dide in the ... slaughter] JOHNSON: It was, I think, one of the savage practices of the chase for all to stain their hands in the blood of the deer as a trophy.-DAVIES (Dram. Miscell., i, 28): There is in Jul. Cæs., III, i, 205 a passage quite similar to this; Mark Antony in an apostrophe to the dead body of Cæsar compares his murderers to hunters stained with the blood of the slain deer: '—here thy hunters stand Sign'd in thy spoil, and crimson'd in thy lethe.' Upon looking into Turberville's book of Hunting, I can see no trace of that practice [alluded to by Johnson]; but there are two different accounts of the French and English manner of dissecting or breaking up the deer. In dividing the several parts of the deer the French employed the hands of huntsmen alone; but our English kings, barons, and other great men took part of that office upon themselves. 'Oure order is,' says Turberville, 'that the Prince or chiefe (if so please them) doe alight and take assaye of the Deare with a sharpe knyfe, the whiche is done in this Open your gates, and giue the Victors way. Rowe et cet. 345 345. lowres] F2. tow'rs Pope, Theob. Han. Warb. Johns. towers F,F, et cet. 345. Hubert.] Knt, Sta. Hunter. Hub. Ff. 1. Cit. Capell. First Cit. Dyce, Hal. Cam.+, Huds. Craig. Citi. maner. The deare being layd upon his backe, the Prince, chiefe, or such as they shall appoint, commes to it: And the chiefe huntsman (kneeling if it be to Prince) doth holde the Deare by the forefoote, whiles the Prince or chief, cut a slyt drawn alongst the brysket of the deare, somewhat lower than the brysket towards the belly. This is done to see the goodness of the flesh, and how thick it is. This being done we use to cut off the deares heades. And that is commonly done by the chiefe personage,' [ed. 1576, Clarendon reprint, p. 133]. In these operations the dissectors must necessarily be sprinkled or besmeared with the blood of the animal, and to this our author, in both passages, seems plainly to allude.STEEVENS (ed. 1793), KNIGHT, and MADDEN (p. 64) also quote the passage from Jul. Cæs. in illustration of the present lines, but without further corroboration of the staining the hands of the hunters with the blood of the deer as a common practice. [For a discussion of this hunting-custom, see Jul. Cas., this edition, p. 155.-ED.] 345. Hubert] KNIGHT: Without any assigned reason the name of this speaker has been altered by the modern editors to Citizen. The Folio distinctly gives this, and all subsequent speeches of the same person to the end of the Act, to Hubert. The proposition to the kings to reconcile their differences by the marriage of Lewis and Blanche would appear necessarily to come from some person in authority; and it would seem to have been Shakspere's intention to make that person Hubert de Burgh, who occupies so conspicuous a place in the remainder of the play. In the third Act John says to Hubert: 'thy voluntary oath Lives in this bosom.' It might be his 'voluntary oath' as a Citizen of Angiers, to John, which called forth this expression. [The voluntary oath to which John refers is, I think, more likely that made by Hubert, when, as one of the very few, he sided with John in his contest with the barons. See Dram. Persona: Hubert.-ED.]-COLLIER: Possibly the actor of the part of Hubert also personated the Citizen in order that the speeches might be well delivered, and this may have led to the insertion of his name in the MS.-The CAMBRIDGE EDD. (Note XIV.) also offer this explanation of the substitution of names; adding that ‘in the old play the Citizen who proposes the league to the two kings is a distinct person from Hubert de Burgh.'-HUDSON: This and the following speeches are most evidently from the same person who was introduced as Citizen at the opening of the preceding scene, and whose speeches there have the prefix Cit. What makes the case still stronger is, that in the original the two scenes are printed as one, the Citizens having remained on the walls during the fight. [In corroboration of Collier's suggestion Hudson says]: It was certainly not uncommon for two or more parts to be sustained by one actor, and this often occasioned mistakes in the distribution of the dialogue. [The present instance is given by WALKER (Crit., ii, § lxxxv.) among many others wherein there is either a mistake or substitution of the prefixes.-R. G. WHITE: Hubert de Burgh was an Englishman, and a nephew to William Fitz Adelin, who was in the service of John's father. But even supposing that Shakespeare did not know these facts, what was the Chamberlain to King John doing in Angiers at such a time? The prefix is, doubtless, a trace of the prompter's book, resulting from the fact that the actor who played Hubert was expected to 'double' in the Citizen of Angiers.JOHN HUNTER: We believe that Shakespeare in the present scene meant to represent Hubert de Burgh as a Citizen of Angiers.-Miss PORTER: There are some signs that Shakespeare chose to differ from the older play herein, as in many things bearing on character and human nature. Hubert's proposition denoted him to be the man of resource in Angiers. As a leader there John would seek to attach him to his person, rewarding him as the proposer of the match, attaching him to service as he had Faulconbridge, and acting magnetically towards him as he does toward King Philip. In accord with such probabilities drawn from Shakespeare's conduct of the Play are John's profession that his mother and he 'owe' Hubert 'much,' and that he has given them his 'voluntary oath,' and Hubert's reply that he is 'much bounden' to John, and Melloone's message to one Hubert with your King. The propriety of giving into French hands the charge of Geffrey's son, and the scorn of the English lords for Hubert are in general agreement with the implication that John picked out for trust and preferment this clever and gentle Angevin, whose French name also suits it.—[The same objections as were urged against Knight's explanation of Hubert's voluntary oath are equally applicable to Miss Porter's amplification of this point. John and Hubert's mutual protestations of friendship may be more probably referred to Hubert's loyalty and John's recognition of it. The suspicion and hatred of the English lords is due to the same cause. The propriety of John's placing Arthur in the hands of a citizen of Angiers is not very apparent; John had but just defeated the French, and they were as much his enemies as Arthur of Bretagne. Hubert de Burgh had long been in his councils and John knew he could be trusted. I therefore, albeit reluctantly, decide against the Folio text, and accept Collier's explanation.-ED.] 345. Heralds, from off our towres, etc.] JOHNSON: These three speeches seem to have been laboured. The Citizen's is the best; yet 'both alike we like' is a poor gingle. 347. equality] MALONE: Our author ought rather to have written 'whose superiority,' or 'whose inequality,' cannot be censured. 348. censured] MURRAY (N. E. D., s. v. 1.): To form or give a 'censure' or opinion of; to estimate, judge of, pass judgement on, criticize, judge.-MARSHALL: 'Censured' is generally explained as estimated, determined. But does it not rather mean here questioned? The sense seems to be that the two armies have shown themselves to be so equally matched that the citizens cannot say which is the superior; as the speaker says below: 'Both are alike, and both alike we like.'-1. 351. 350 Strength matcht with ftrength, and power confronted power, Both are alike, and both alike we like: One must proue greatest. While they weigh fo euen, Enter the two Kings with their powers, Iohn. France, haft thou yet more blood to caft away? Say, shall the currant of our right rome on, 350. matcht] F2, Fle. match F3. match'd Rowe et cet. power,] Ff. power. Rowe, Pope, + (-Var. '73), Neils. power: Cap. et cet. 351. like:] like. Cap. et seq. 352. greatest.] Ff, Rowe, Pope,+, Neils. greatest:- Var. '73. greatest; Sing. Ktly, Huds. greatest: Cap. et cet. SCENE V. Pope, Han. Warb. Johns. 354, 355. Enter...doores.] Flourish. Enter King John, and his Power, on one side, Bastard, Elinor, Blanch, &c. On the other, King Philip, and French, Austria, and Lewis. Capell. Enter at one side King John, with his power; Elinor, Blanch, and the Bastard; at the 355 357 other, King Philip, Lewis, Austria, and 357-362. Say...Ocean.] Om. Dono. 354, 355. Enter the two Kings ... at seuerall doores] COLLIER calls attention to the simplicity of this stage-direction, remarking that 'it is worth preserving, on account of the manner in which the two armies, headed by their kings, are represented to come upon the stage.' 357. rome on] MALONE: The editor of the Second Folio substituted runne. I do not perceive any need of change. In The Tempest we have: 'the wandering brooks,' [IV, i, 128. 'Wandering' is Steevens's emendation for windring of the original text; the adjectival participles are doubtless synonyms.-ED.]-STEEVENS: I prefer the reading of the Second Folio. So in Henry V: 'As many streams run into one self sea,' [I, ii, 209; the Qq. reading]. The King would rather describe his right as running on in a direct than in an irregular course, such as would be implied by the word 'roam.'-KNIGHT: Neither the poetry nor the sense appear to have gained by the fancied improvement [of the Second Folio].—SINGER (ed. ii.): I differ from Knight, for surely a current does not roam, but 'run right on.' The whole context shows that this is the true reading.-DYCE suggests that the word in the MS. may have have been written 'ronne,' and in defense of the Second Folio reading compares: 'And calmly run on in obedience Even to our ocean, to our great King John'-V, iv, 60.-R. G. WHITE: 'Rome' might be an easy misprint of runne. But it is to be observed that the comparison is to the current Whose passage vext with thy impediment, 358. passage] passage, Rowe, Pope,+. 360. euen] ev'n Pope,+. 358 360 361. Water,] F2F3. waters Coll. iii. (MS.), Wh. i, Dyce ii, iii, Huds. ii, Words. water F., Rowe et cet. of a stream whose 'silver waters keep a peaceful progress to the ocean.' Now such a stream does not run directly, but always roams about; and especially is this true in England; and if it be objected that Shakespeare's metaphors are rarely correspondent, the answer is that they sometimes are, and that according to authentic evidence here is one, at least, that is so. And besides, Shakespeare evidently had in his mind's eye the same stream that furnished him with the comparison which he puts into Julia's mouth in the Two Gentlemen, in eight of the loveliest lines he ever wrote. The very details of the two pictures are alike, although the earlier is the more highly finished: "The current that with gentle murmur glides, Thou know'st being stopped impatiently doth rage; But when his fair course is not hindered, He makes sweet music with th' enamell'd stones, Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge He overtaketh in his pilgrimage And so by many winding nooks he strays With willing sport to the wild ocean.'—[II, vii, 25–34]. Is there in all literature a more marked instance of the use of the same thoughts twice? This passage forbids us to change the reading of the Folio.-[Few will, I think, deny that White's comparison is very striking. Is it, however, hypercritical to point out that the present play antedates the Two Gentlemen, and that, therefore, the passage quoted is an amplification of this in King John?—ED.]— WALKER (Crit., i, 155), in a section devoted to illustrations of Ovid's influence on Shakespeare, quotes: 'Sic ego torrentem, qua nil abstabat eunti.'-Metam., iii, 568, remarking, 'Is it fanciful to suppose that this simile caught Shakespeare's fancy, and recurred to him on many occasions? Two Gentlemen, II, vii, 25–34; Meas. for Meas., III, i, 249; Venus & Adonis, lvi, and Lucrece, xciii, clx.'— SCHMIDT (Lex.) quotes the present line, s. v. roam, and thus explains it: 'Shall the current continue to overswell its banks, instead of remaining in its channel?’— WRIGHT, in referring to this interpretation, says: 'But an overflowing river which has broken its banks can hardly be said to "roam," and John implies that it has not left its native channel.' 361. Water] R. G. WHITE: There is no doubt that Collier's Folio in reading 'silver waters' corrects a trivial misprint. In Shakespeare's time, as well as in ours, the singular was not used except in speaking of water as a fluid, not as a body. Thus the waters of the sea are blue; but sea-water is salt. [Compare: 'If by your art, my dearest father, you have Put the wild waters in this roar, allay them.' —Temp., I, ii, 1; and: 'our garments... being rather new-dyed than stained with salt water.'-Ibid., II, i, 62.] |