Was deep-sworn faith, peace, amity, true love, And shall these hands, so lately purg'd of blood, My reverend father, let it not be so: Some gentle order; and then we shall be bless'd Pand. All form is formless, order orderless, France, thou may'st hold a serpent by the tongue, A fasting tiger safer by the tooth, this kind regreet?] A regreet is an exchange of salutation. That is, to be the champion of our church; For that, which thou hast sworn to do amiss, Is not amiss when it is truly done;1 And being not done, where doing tends to ill, Is, to mistake again: though indirect, Yet indirection thereby grows direct, And falsehood falsehood cures; as fire cools fire, It is religion, that doth make vows kept; But thou hast sworn against religion; By what thou swear'st, against the thing thou swear'st; And better conquest never canst thou make, So heavy, as thou shalt not shake them off, 4 Is not amiss, when it is truly done ;] i. e. that, which you have sworn to do amiss, is not amiss, (i. e. becomes right) when it is done truly (that is, as he explains it, not done at all;) and being not done, where it would be a sin to do it; the truth is most done when you do it not: Other parts of this speech have puzzled the commentators, who have, in turn, puzzled their readers. Bast. Will't not be? Will not a calf's-skin stop that mouth of thine? Lew. Father, to arms! Blanch. Upon thy wedding day? What, shall our feast be kept with slaughter'd men? Against mine uncle. Const. O, upon my knee, Made hard with kneeling, I do pray to thee, Blanch. Now shall I see thy love; What motive may Be stronger with thee than the name of wife? Const. That which upholdeth him that thee upholds, His honour: O, thine honour, Lewis, thine honour! 6 Lew. I muse, your majesty doth seem so cold, When such profound respects do pull you on. Pand. I will denounce a curse upon his head. K. Phi. Thou shalt not need:-England, I'll fall from thee. Const. O fair return of banish'd majesty! K. John. France, thou shalt rue this hour within this hour. Bast. Old time the clock-setter, that bald sexton time, Is it as he will? well then, France shall rue. Blanch. The sun's o'ercast with blood: Fair day, adieu! Which is the side that I must go withal? 5 be measures-] The measures, it has already been more than once observed, were a species of solemn dance in our author's time. 6 I muse,] i. e. I wonder.. I am with both: each army hath a hand; Assured loss, before the match be play'd. Lew. Lady, with me; with me thy fortune lies. Blanch. There where my fortune lives, there my life dies. K. John. Cousin, go draw our puissance together. [Exit Bastard. France, I am burn'd up with inflaming wrath; K. Phi. Thy rage shall burn thee up, and thou shalt turn To ashes, ere our blood shall quench that fire: Look to thyself, thou art in jeopardy. K. John. No more than he that threats.-To arms Bast. Now, by my life, this day grows wondrous hot; Some airy devil hovers in the sky, And pours down mischief. While Philip breathes. Austria's head, lie there; Enter King JOHN, ARTHUR, and HUBERT. K. John. Hubert, keep this boy:-Philip, make up: My mother is assailed in our tent, And ta'en, I fear. Bast. My lord, I rescu'd her; Her highness is in safety, fear you not: But on, my liege; for very little pains Will bring this labour to an happy end. [Exeunt. SCENE III. The same. Alarums; Excursions; Retreat. Enter King JOHN, Eli- So strongly guarded.-Cousin, look not sad: [TO ARTHUR. Thy grandam loves thee; and thy uncle will Arth. O, this will make my mother die with grief. And, ere our coming, see thou shake the bags Use our commission in his utmost force. Bast. Bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back, When gold and silver becks me to come on. 7 Bell, book, and candle―] In an account of the Romish curse given by Dr. Grey, it appears that three candles were extinguished, one by one, in different parts of the execration. |