Or if it be, 'tis with false sorrow's eye,
Which for things true weeps things imaginary.
Queen. It may be so; but yet my inward soul
Persuades me, it is otherwise: howe'er it be,
I cannot but be sad; so heavy sad,

As, though in thinking on no thought I think‘,-
Makes me with heavy nothing faint and shrink.

Bushy. 'Tis nothing but conceit, my gracious lady.
Queen. 'Tis nothing less: conceit is still deriv'd
From some forefather grief; mine is not so,
For nothing hath begot my something grief;
Or something hath the nothing that I grieve':
"Tis in reversion that I do possess,

But what it is, that is not yet known; what
I cannot name: 'tis nameless woe, I wot.

Enter GREEN.

Green. God save your majesty !-and well met, gentlemen.

I hope, the king is not yet shipp'd for Ireland.

Queen. Why hop'st thou so? 'tis better hope he is,

For his designs crave haste, his haste good hope;
Then, wherefore dost thou hope, he is not shipp'd?
Green. That he, our hope, might have retir'd his

power,

And driven into despair an enemy's hope,

4 AS, THOUGH IN thinking on no thought I think,] The quarto of 1597 has the line,

"As thought on thinking on no thought I think,"

which the 4to, 1598, alters to

"As though on thinking on no thought I think," which was followed in all the later impressions, quarto and folio; but it seems necessary, with Johnson, to make a farther alteration of on to "in," the meaning being, that the queen in reflecting can fix her thought upon nothing.

5 Or something hath the nothing that I grieve:] Johnson " did not know well what could be done" with this and the preceding line; but the meaning seems to be, that either nothing hath begotten the Queen's grief, or there really is something in the nothing that she grieves about. "Conceit," of course, here is to be understood as conception.

Who strongly hath set footing in this land.
The banish'd Bolingbroke repeals himself,
And with uplifted arms is safe arriv'd

At Ravenspurg.

Queen.

Now, God in heaven forbid!

Green. Ah! madam, 'tis too true: and that is

worse,

The lord Northumberland, his son, young Henry Percy,
The lords of Ross, Beaumond, and Willoughby,
With all their powerful friends, are fled to him.

Bushy. Why have you not proclaim'd Northumberland,

And all the rest of the revolted faction, traitors'?
Green. We have: whereupon the earl of Wor-

cester

Hath broken his staff, resign'd his stewardship,
And all the household servants fled with him

To Bolingbroke.

Queen. So, Green, thou art the midwife to my woe, And Bolingbroke my sorrow's dismal heir:

Now hath my soul brought forth her prodigy,

And I, a gasping new-deliver'd mother,

Have woe to woe, sorrow to sorrow join'd.
Bushy. Despair not, madam.
Queen.

I will despair, and be at enmity

Who shall hinder me?

With cozening hope: he is a flatterer,

A parasite, a keeper-back of death,

Who gently would dissolve the bands of life,
Which false hope lingers in extremity.

6

- his son, young Henry Percy,] So the quartos: the folio, 1623, "his young son," &c. We have "my son, young Harry Percy," on p. 153.

7 And ALL the rest of the revolted faction, traitors?] This is the reading of the quartos of 1597 and 1598: those of 1608 and 1615 omit "all," and have revolting for "revolted." Some modern editors, who profess to have followed the folio, 1623, read revolting, and tell us that so it stands in the folio. Malone makes the same assertion; but he was in error, and, without reference to the original, others seem to have taken his word for it. We only notice the circumstance for greater accuracy.

Enter the Duke of YORK.

Green. Here comes the duke of York.
Queen. With signs of war about his aged neck.
O! full of careful business are his looks.-
Uncle, for God's sake, speak comfortable words.
York. [Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts:]
Comfort's in heaven; and we are on the earth,
Where nothing lives but crosses, care, and grief.
Your husband, he is gone to save far off,

Whilst others come to make him lose at home:
Here am I left to underprop his land,
Who, weak with age, cannot support myself.
Now comes the sick hour that his surfeit made;
Now shall he try his friends that flatter'd him.

Enter a Servant.

Serv. My lord, your son was gone before I came. York. He was?-Why, so:-go all which way it

will!

The nobles they are fled, the commons they are cold,
And will, I fear, revolt on Hereford's side.-

Sirrah, get thee to Plashy, to my sister Gloster;
Bid her send me presently a thousand pound.

Hold; take my ring.

Serv. My lord, I had forgot to tell your lordship: To-day, as I came by, I called there';

But I shall grieve you to report the rest.

York. What is't, knave?

Serv. An hour before I came the duchess died.

York. God for his mercy! what a tide of woes
Comes rushing on this woeful land at once!
I know not what to do:-I would to God,
(So my untruth had not provok'd him to it)

8 [Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts:] This line is found in all the quartos, but is wanting in the folio.

9 To day, as I came by, I called there ;] The folio, 1623, spoils this line by omitting "as," and printing " called" call'd.

The king had cut off my head with my brother's.—
What! are there no posts dispatch'd for Ireland1?—
How shall we do for money for these wars?—

Come, sister,-cousin, I would say: pray, pardon

me.

Go, fellow, [To the Servant.] get thee home; provide some carts,

And bring away the armour that is there.

Gentlemen, will you go muster men?

[Exit Servant.

If I know how, or which way, to order these affairs?, Thus disorderly thrust into my hands,

Never believe me. Both are my kinsmen:

Th' one is my sovereign, whom both my oath
And duty bids defend; th' other again,

Is

my kinsman, whom the king hath wrong'd, Whom conscience and my kindred bids to right.

Well, somewhat we must do.-Come, cousin,

I'll dispose of you.-Gentlemen, go muster up your men, And meet me presently at Berkley3.

I should to Plashy too,

But time will not permit.-All is uneven,
And every thing is left at six and seven.

[Exeunt YORK and QUEEN. Bushy. The wind sits fair for news to go for Ire

land,

1 What are there No posts dispatch'd for Ireland?] So the quarto, 1597 : the three other quartos substitute two for "no," and the folio omits both words. 2 Gentlemen, will you go muster men?

This is the regufolio, 1623, omits be irregular and

If I know how, or which way to order these affairs,] lation of the lines in all the old copies, (excepting that the "go") and Shakespeare obviously intended the measure to hurried, the better to accord with York's state of mind. The modern regulation, by adding "If I know" to "Gentlemen, will you go muster men?" is just as irregular, without having any warrant from those authorities in which the text is printed as, from their uniformity, we may suppose it to have come from the poet's pen.

And meet me presently at Berkley.] This is the text of all the quarto editions: the folio needlessly adds castle, as if to complete the line which, perhaps for the reason assigned in the preceding note, Shakespeare left imperfect. Bolingbroke and others, in the next scene, mention Berkley.

But none returns.

For us to levy power,

Proportionable to the enemy,

Is all impossible.

Green. Besides, our nearness to the king in love Is near the hate of those love not the king.

Bagot. And that's the wavering commons; for their love

Lies in their purses, and whoso empties them,
By so much fills their hearts with deadly hate.

Bushy. Wherein the king stands generally condemn'd.

Bagot. If judgment lie in them, then so do we, Because we ever have been near the king.

Green. Well, I'll for refuge straight to Bristol castle :

The earl of Wiltshire is already there.

Bushy. Thither will I with you; for little office

Will the hateful commons perform for us,
Except like curs to tear us all to pieces.-

Will you go along with us?

Bagot. No; I will to Ireland to his majesty. Farewell if heart's presages be not vain,

We three here part, that ne'er shall meet again.

Bushy. That's as York thrives to beat back Boling

broke.

Green. Alas, poor duke! the task he undertakes
Is numbering sands, and drinking oceans dry:
Where one on his side fights, thousands will fly.
Farewell at once; for once, for all, and ever.
Bushy. Well, we may meet again.
Bagot.

I fear me, never1. [Exeunt.

I fear me, never.] We follow the division of the dialogue marked out in all the quartos, which seems the natural distribution. The folio, 1623, improbably, gives the desponding line, "Farewell at once," &c. to Bushy, who had spoken cheerfully just before of the possible success of the duke of York, and who in the quartos consistently adds, "Well, we may meet again," which the folio strangely appends to "Farewell at once," &c. The modern editors,