Sound but another, and another shall, The Approach of Death. It is too late; the life of all his blood Is touch'd corruptibly; and his pure brain (Which some suppose the soul's frail dwelling-house) Doth by the idle comments that it makes, Foretell the ending of mortality. King John's Death by Poison. Ay, marry, now my soul hath elbow-room ; Poison' d-ill-fare;-dead, forsook, cast off: * Nor let my kingdom's rivers take their course Through my burn'd bosom ; nor entreat the north To make his bleak winds kiss my parched lips, And comfort me with cold. England Invincible if Unanimous. This England never did, nor never shall, And we shall shock them: Naught shall make us rue, If England to itself do rest but true. -000 KING RICHARD II. This historical play describes the dethronement and death of the monarch whose name it bears. Richard, on the death of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, appropriates to himself the lands of the deceased nobleman, to enable him to prosecute a war in Ireland, for which country he takes his departure. In the king's absence, Bolingbroke (son of John of Gaunt), who had been banished, returns to England, and levying an army, hastens to meet the king on his return from Ireland. Finding his nobles. falling away from him, and his soldiers deserting his standard, the king accompanies Bolingbroke to London, and there resigns his crown to him. The dethroned monarch is imprisoned in Pomfret Castle, where he is assassinated by Sir Pierce of Exton, and the play concludes with the reproval of Exton by Bolingbroke, who resolves himself to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to expiate his cruelty towards the unfortunate King Richard. Dr. Johnson says of this tragedy-"It is not finished at last with that happy force of some others of Shakspere's tragedies; nor can it be said much to affect the passions, or enlarge the understanding " Аст I Reputation. THE purest treasure mortal times afford Cowardice. That which in mean men we entitle-patience, Is pale cold cowardice in noble breasts. Banishment. All places, that the eye of heaven visits, Think not, the king did banish thee; But thou the king; woe doth the heavier sit, To lie that way thou go'st, not whence thou com'st; The grass whereon thou tread'st, the presence strew'd Than a delightful measure, or a dance : Imagination Ineffectual to Moderate Afflictions. O, who can hold a fire in his hand Or wallow naked in December's snow, * Grumbling, snarling. O, no! the apprehension of the good, Popularity. Ourself, and Bushy, Bagot here, and Green, What reverence he did throw away on slaves; As 't were, to banish their affects with him. Off goes his bonnet to an oyster-wench; A brace of draymen bid-God speed him well, With—"Thanks my countrymen, my loving friends ;" -As were our England in reversion his, And he our subjects next degree in hope. ACT II. England described. This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, This other Eden, demi-paradise ; This fortress, built by nature for herself, This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege Grief. Each substance of a grief hath twenty shadows, Hope Deceitful. I will despair, and be at enmity Who gently would dissolve the bands of life, Prognostics of War. The bay-trees in our country are all wither'd, And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven: The pale-faced moon looks bloody on the earth, And lean look'd prophets whisper fearful change; Rich men look sad, and ruffians dance and leap. |