Come, lady, I will show thee to my kin; [Exeunt. ACT II. SCENE 1. France. Before the Walls of Angiers. Enter, on one side, the Archduke of Austria,' and Forces; on the other, PHILIP, King of France, and Forces; LEWIS, CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and Attend ants. Lew. Before Angiers well met, brave Austria.- 2 At our importance, hither is he come, Of thy unnatural uncle, English John. Embrace him, love him, give him welcome hither. Arth. God shall forgive you Coeur-de-lion's death, The rather, that you give his offspring life, Shadowing their right under your wings of war. I give you welcome with a powerless hand, 1 Leopold, duke of Austria, by whom Richard had been thrown into prison in 1193, died in consequence of a fall from his horse, 1195, some years before the date of the events upon which this play turns. The cause of the enmity between Richard and the duke of Austria is variously related by the old chroniclers. Shakspeare has been led into this anachronism by the old play of King John. 2 Importunity. But with a heart full of unstained love. Welcome before the gates of Angiers, duke. Lew. A noble boy! who would not do thee right? Aust. Upon thy cheek lay I this zealous kiss, As seal to this indenture of my love; That to my home I will no more return, Till Angiers, and the right thou hast in France, Together with that pale, that white-faced shore, Whose foot spurns back the ocean's roaring tides, And coops from other lands her islanders,— Even till that England, hedged in with the main, That water-walled bulwark, still secure And confident from foreign purposes,Even till that utmost corner of the west Salute thee for her king. Till then, fair boy, Will I not think of home, but follow arms. Const. O, take his mother's thanks, a widow's thanks, Till your strong hand shall help to give him strength, To make a more requital to your love. 1 Aust. The peace of heaven is theirs, that lift their swords In such a just and charitable war. K. Phi. Well, then, to work; our cannon shall be bent Against the brows of this resisting town. Const. Stay for an answer to your embassy, 1 i. e. greater. 2 To mark the best stations to overawe the town. Enter CHATILLON. K. Phi. A wonder, lady!-lo, upon thy wish, What England says, say briefly, gentle lord; Chat. Then turn your forces from this paltry siege, And stir them up against a mightier task. England, impatient of your just demands, To do offence and scath in Christendom. The interruption of their churlish drums [Drums beat. Cuts off more circumstance; they are at hand, To parley, or to fight; therefore, prepare. K. Phi. How much unlooked for is this expedition! Aust. By how much unexpected, by so much We must awake endeavor for defence; For courage mounteth with occasion. Let them be welcome then; we are prepared. 1 Immediate, expeditious. Enter KING JOHN, ELINOR, BLANCH, the Bastard, PEMBROKE, and Forces. K. John. Peace be to France; if France in peace permit Our just and lineal entrance to our own! If not, bleed France, and peace ascend to heaven! To draw my answer from thy articles? K. Phi. From that supernal Judge, that stirs good thoughts In any breast of strong authority, To look into the blots and stains of right— 1 Undermined. 2 A short writing, abstract, or description. Under whose warrant I impeach thy wrong; K. John. Alack, thou dost usurp authority. Than thou and John in manners; being as like, It cannot be, an if thou wert his mother.2 Eli. There's a good mother, boy, that blots thy father. Const. There's a good grandam, boy, that would blot thee. Aust. Peace! Bast. Aust. Hear the crier. What the devil art thou? Bast. One that will play the devil, sir, with you, An 'a may catch your hide and you alone.3 You are the hare of whom the proverb goes, Whose valor plucks dead lions by the beard;4 1 "Surely (says Holinshed) Queen Eleanor, the king's mother, was sore against her nephew Arthur, rather moved thereto by envye conceyved against his mother, than upon any just occasion, given in behalfe of the childe for that she saw, if he were king, how his mother Constance would looke to beare the most rule within the realme of Englande till her son should come of lawful age to governe of himselfe. So hard a thing it is to bring women to agree in one minde, their natures commonly being so contrary." 2 Constance alludes to Elinor's infidelity to her husband, Louis the VIIth, when they were in the Holy Land; on account of which he was divorced from her. She afterwards, in 1151, married Henry II. of England. 3 Austria, who had imprisoned king Richard Coeur-de-lion, wore, as the spoil of that prince, a lion's hide, which had belonged to him. This was the ground of the Bastard's quarrel. 4 The proverb alluded to is "Mortuo leoni et lepores insultant."-Erasmi Adagia. |