Henry VI, Part 3, page 33
13. abodements: omens, forebodings
14. fair: peaceful; legitimate; foul: violent; unfair, treacherous
15. repair to us: i.e., come to meet us
16. liege: lord
23. challenge: claim, demand
24. As being: i.e., since I am
25–26. when . . . follow: proverbial
30. stout captain: brave leader
31. would . . . well: “is willing that we should enter” (Johnson)
32. So ’twere not long of him: i.e., provided that he is not blamed long of: chargeable or attributable to; being entered: i.e., once we’ve entered
36. But: except
37. What: an interjection, here expressing indignation
39. deign: think fit
43. storm: violent disturbance
50 SD. Drum: i.e., drummer (line 50); march: strikes up a marching beat
51. debate: discuss
57. pretend no title: claim no right to the title (of king)
58. wherefore: why; stand . . . points: do you dwell on trivial details
60. our meaning: my intentions
61. scrupulous wit: i.e., thoughts too filled with scruples
63. out of hand: immediately
64. bruit: tidings, news
67. like himself: i.e., like his royal self
70–75. Come . . . fight: Some editors see “fellow soldier” as addressed to Montgomery and give him lines 71–75, arguing that no common soldier would be asked to read such a proclamation.
75 SD. gauntlet: glove covered with steel plates (See picture.)
A gauntlet. (4.7.75 SD)
From Louis de Gaya, Traité des armes, des machines de guerre . . . (1678).
79. harbor: take shelter, lodge
80–81. when . . . horizon: a figurative way of saying “when the sun rises above the horizon” (In classical mythology, the sun god daily drives his chariot across the sky.) See pictures, below and at note for 2.1.21–22.
The sun god in “his car.” (4.7.80)
From Vincenzo Cartari, Le vere e noue imagini . . . (1615).
82. forward: i.e., move or go forward
83. wot: know
84. froward: perverse; evil . . . thee: it ill becomes you
87. doubt not of the day: i.e., don’t be anxious about our victory the day: the day’s work on the battlefield
* * *
4.8 King Henry, left at the Bishop’s Palace in London while Warwick and other Lancastrian leaders search for additional troops, is captured by King Edward and once again imprisoned. King Edward then marches toward Coventry to combat Warwick.
1. Belgia: the Low Countries (Belgium was not distinguished from the Netherlands and Low Germany until the 19th century.)
2. hasty: eager, rash; blunt: harsh; unpolished
3. Narrow Seas: channels separating England from the Continent and Ireland (here, the English Channel)
4. amain: at full speed
5. giddy: inconstant
7–8. A little . . . quench: proverbial suffered: allowed to go unchecked
10. mutinous: rebellious
11. muster up: assemble for battle; son: i.e., son-in-law
12. stir up: incite, urge
20. girt in with: encircled by
21. Dian: Diana, goddess of the hunt and of chastity; her nymphs: beautiful semidivine maidens who served Diana (See picture.)
“. . . modest Dian circled with her nymphs.” (4.8.21)
From Ovid, . . . Le metamorphosi . . . (1538).
22. rest: remain
23. take leave: depart; stand: wait, stop
25. Hector: most valiant protector of Troy (See picture.) Troy’s true hope: See note to 2.1.51.
26. truth: loyalty, steadfast allegiance
27. Well-minded: right-minded, loyal; fortunate: favored by Fortune
28. Comfort: i.e., take comfort
29. seal my truth: attest solemnly to my loyalty
31. all at once: everyone simultaneously
34. Cousin: a form of address among nobles
35. Methinks: it seems to me
36. encounter mine: confront mine in battle
37. doubt: fear
38. meed: merit, excellence, worth
40. posted off: postponed, delayed; suits: petitions
42. mildness: kindness; griefs: suffering
45. great subsidies: i.e., exorbitant taxes
46. forward of: eager for
48. graces challenge grace: virtues lay claim to goodwill
49. lion: most powerful of beasts (often a symbol of the king) See picture.
“. . . the kingly lion.” (4.8.49; 5.7.12)
From John Speed, The theatre of the empire of Great Britaine . . . (1627 [i.e., 1631]).
50 SD. À York: a rallying cry to King Edward
52. shamefaced: bashful, shy
54. fount: source, spring
55. stops: is choked up, blocked; suck them dry: extract all the water from the small brooks
58. bend: turn
59. peremptory: obstinate, self-willed
60–61. The sun . . . hay: Proverbial: “Make hay while the sun shines.”
62. betimes: immediately
64. amain: with full speed
* * *
5.1 At Coventry, Warwick awaits the arrival of Clarence. Other forces arrive in Warwick’s support. King Edward then arrives, and is joined by his own supporting troops. When Clarence finally appears, he turns against Warwick and once more joins his brothers in supporting the Yorkist cause. Warwick and his forces leave Coventry to fight the Yorkists at the battle of Barnet.
0 SD. Coventry: an important medieval city famous for the 12-foot-high, 8-foot-thick wall enclosing and protecting it, a wall with twelve gates and twenty towers (Historically, King Henry VI and Queen Margaret based their court in Coventry during some of the years covered in the action of this play.) upon the walls: i.e., in a playing space over the stage at the rear (where Warwick and the other Lancastrians remain throughout this scene)
3. By this: i.e., by this time; Dunsmore: like Daintry (i.e., Daventry, line 6) and Southam (line 9), located southeast of Coventry
7. son: i.e., son-in-law, Clarence (line 8)
13. Warwick: a town southwest of Coventry on the Avon River (See picture of Coventry’s Greyfriars Gate, the entrance to the city from Warwick.)
A nineteenth-century engraving of Coventry’s Greyfriars Gate. (5.1.13)
From www.historiccoventry.co.uk.
14. Belike: probably, perhaps
15 SD. March: i.e., the sound of the drum accompaniment to marching troops; below: on the main stage
16. Trumpet: trumpeter; sound a parle: signal a request for a discussion of terms
17. surly: arrogant, imperious; mans: stations men on the wall to defend it
18. unbid: unbidden, uninvited; spite: outrage, injury; sportful: wanton, lascivious
19. seduced: persuaded to betray us
20. repair: arrival
26. Confess: admit
27. patron: protector
30. Or . . . will: It has been suggested that Warwick’s “Duke of York” (line 28) is a slip of the tongue, as Richard here suggests (Hattaway, New Cambridge Edition [1993]).
33. do thee service: i.e., serve you (as my liege lord)—ironic
36. Atlas: mythological giant condemned to bear the heavens on his shoulders (See picture.)
Atlas bearing the vault of heaven. (5.1.36)
From Gabriele Simeoni, Le sententiose imprese . . . (1560).
37. takes . . . again: i.e., takes back his gift
42. forecast: foresight
43–44. whiles . . . deck: a description of the capture of King Henry as a clever move in a card game single ten: poor or trivial ten card the King: i.e., the king card fingered: filched, pilfered
46. Tower: See note to 3.2.122.
47. ’Tis . . . still: This line has not been satisfactorily explained.
48. take the time: i.e., seize the opportunity (Proverbial: “Take time when time comes.”)
50. when: exclamation of impatience; Strike: literally, hit the iron with a hammer (a term from metalworking) “To strike while the iron is hot” means “to act while one has the chance.”
53. low: humble; strike: i.e., surrender (literally, in nautical language, lower the topsail as a sign of surrender)
54. have . . . friend: i.e., even if you have the wind and the tide with you
55. fast: firmly
56. new: newly, freshly
58. Wind-changing: inconstant, changing like the wind; change: i.e., transfer allegiance
58 SD. Colors: standard-bearer with Oxford’s heraldic banner
59. colors: flag
62. So: then; set upon: assail, violently attack; backs: forces at the rear
63. good array: proper martial order
64. bid us battle: challenge us to fight
65. but of small defense: i.e., only poorly defended
66. rouse: perhaps, move with violence, rush; or, perhaps, force them, like animals, from their lair; in the same: i.e., inside the city
67. want: need
69. buy: suffer the consequences of
71. The . . . victory: Proverbial: “The more danger, the more honor.” harder matched: i.e., the more difficult the adversary
72. presageth: foretells, predicts; happy: fortunate
74–75. Two . . . York: Henry VI, Part 3 opens with Richard presenting the head of the then Duke of Somerset to his father; the next Duke of Somerset was also executed by the Yorkists (an action not dramatized by Shakespeare). sold: i.e., lost
78. force: military strength
79. upright: honorable; to right: i.e., for justice
80. nature: natural feeling (In the octavo, and in some modern editions, a stage direction indicates that at this point, Richard whispers to Clarence, persuading him to return to his brothers.)
82. Father: i.e., father-in-law
84. ruinate: reduce to ruins
85. lime: cement
86. set up: raise to power (Historically, it was Clarence himself who was accused of “tak[ing] part against the house of York . . . and [setting] up again the house of Lancaster.”) trowest thou: do you believe
87. blunt: unfeeling
88. bend: aim, direct
90. object: urge as an objection
92. Jephthah . . . daughter: Jephthah’s daughter was the unintended victim of Jephthah’s keeping a rash holy oath. (See Judges 11.29–40.)
96. resolution: determination
97. stir abroad: i.e., leave the walled city
98. plague: torment, harass; foul: foully, shamefully
102. faults: transgressions, offenses
103. unconstant: inconstant
107. passing: surpassing, extreme
108. What: an interjection introducing a question
109. stones: building material for the wall and gates (See picture.)
110. cooped: enclosed
111. Barnet: a site near London (See longer note.) presently: immediately
* * *
5.2 At the battle of Barnet, King Edward brings in a wounded Warwick and leaves him to his death. Lancastrian lords find Warwick as he dies, and they prepare to join Queen Margaret and the newly arrived French forces.
0 SD. Alarum: call to arms; excursions: attacks and counterattacks
2. bug: object of terror, bugbear; feared: frightened
3. sit fast: i.e., stay where you are, don’t move
4. That: i.e., so that
8. want: lack
9. yield: surrender
10. the conquest: i.e., yield (i.e., concede) the victory
11–15. Thus . . . wind: Warwick compares himself to the lofty cedar tree, protecting the most noble of animals (eagles and lions) and overtopping the royal oak tree. arms: i.e., branches ramping lion: upreared lion (as on the British royal crest) overpeered: looked down on Jove’s spreading tree: In Virgil and Ovid, the oak is Jove’s tree. (Jove is the king of the gods in Roman mythology.)
19. search: try to find
21. kingly sepulchers: royal burial places
23. durst: dared; bent his brow: scowled, frowned
25. walks: tracts of forest land
26. forsake: abandon
30. wert thou: if you were
34. fly: flee
37. keep in my soul: i.e., block the passage of my soul through my lips
43. latest: final
46. sounded . . . vault: perhaps, was a mere roar of noise
47. mought: might; distinguished: i.e., understood as separate words
48. well might: i.e., could distinctly
52. power: army
* * *
5.3 King Edward, Richard, and Clarence are triumphant after the battle of Barnet, but they know they must now meet Queen Margaret and her forces at Tewkesbury.
0 SD. in triumph: possibly wearing a wreath of laurel, as did victorious Roman generals (See line 2, and picture.)
3–13. But . . . storm: an extended metaphor in which Edward is the sun and Margaret’s army the cloud that threatens to darken the bright-shining day of Yorkist victory encounter: do battle our: my sun: See longer note to 2.3.7. he: i.e., the sun powers: troops, forces Gallia: the Latin name for Gaul or France beams: sunbeams
14. valued: estimated at
16. breathe: pause
18. are advertised: have been notified
19. they . . . course: i.e., Margaret’s forces march; Tewkesbury: located in west central England on the Severn River and famous for the battle fought there (See picture.)
A depiction of the battle at Tewkesbury. (5.3.19)
From John Speed, The theatre of the empire of Great Britaine . . . (1627 [i.e., 1631]).
20. the best: i.e., the victory
21. thither straight: i.e., go there immediately; rids way: makes progress
* * *
5.4 Queen Margaret rallies her forces despite Henry’s capture and Warwick’s death. King Edward and his forces enter. The battle of Tewkesbury ensues.
2. cheerly: in a cheerful manner; harms: injuries
3–36. What though . . . rocks: An extended metaphor in which the Lancastrian cause is described as a ship in serious trouble, with parts of the ship (mast, cable, anchor) lost or broken and the ship itself threatened by sea, rocks, and quicksand. Margaret urges her followers to let her and Prince Edward take Henry’s place as pilot and warns that to desert the ship is to be drowned or killed in the quicksand or on the rocks.
5. flood: ocean
6. pilot: i.e., King Henry; meet: fitting
10. in his moan: as he laments
11. industry: diligence
18. shrouds and tacklings: ropes
19. Ned: Prince Edward
20. charge: duty
23. shelves: sandbanks; wrack: shipwreck
24. speak them fair: i.e., speak to them courteously
27. ragged: jagged
28. bark: ship
34. If case: if by some chance
39. Methinks: it seems to me
41. magnanimity: fortitude
42. naked: unarmed; foil: defeat; man-at-arms: fully armed knight
45. leave: permission; betimes: quickly
47. like spirit to: the same spirit as
52. thy famous grandfather: i.e., Henry V (See picture.)
58. gentle, Sweet: terms of polite address
59. that yet: i.e., who yet
60. for: because
62. policy: stratagem, cunning
65. forwardness: eagerness, readiness
66. pitch: arrange, set up; battle: army
67. wood: woods, forest (i.e., the Lancastrian army)
69. hewn up: felled, cut to pieces
71. wot: know; blaze: burn with excitement or passion
72. to it: i.e., go to it, attack
74. gainsay: hinder
77. state: greatness, power
80. spoil: destruction
82 SD. retreat: signal to retire
* * *
5.5 Queen Margaret and other Lancastrian leaders are brought in as captives. King Edward sends out orders to find Prince Edward. When the prince is brought in, he refuses to treat Edward as king and thus enrages Edward, Richard, and Clarence, who each stab him in turn. Queen Margaret begs them to kill her, too, but they refuse. Richard slips away to travel to the Tower of London. Margaret is led into captivity.
1. here a period: we have reached the end
2. straight: straightaway, at once
3. For: as for
8. sweet Jerusalem: i.e., the heavenly city
9. Is proclamation made: i.e., has it been proclaimed; who: whoever; Edward: i.e., Prince Edward
10. he his life: i.e., Edward’s life will be spared
11. is: i.e., has been
12. gallant: fine gentleman
13. What: an exclamation of surprise, introducing a question
14. what . . . make: i.e., how can you atone
16. turned: put
18. I am . . . mouth: i.e., I speak for my father
19. chair: throne
20. propose: set forth, state
22. resolved: resolute
23. That: i.e., so that; still . . . petticoat: i.e., continued to act like a woman
