網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版

Sound drums and trumpets boldly and cheer- If not to heaven, then hand in hand to hell,

fully; God and Saint George! Richmond and victory! [Exeunt. 270 Re-enter KING RICHARD, RATCLIFF, Attendants and Forces.

K. Rich. What said Northumberland as touching Richmond?

[blocks in formation]

His oration to his Army.

What shall I say more than I have inferr'd?
Remember whom you are to cope withal;
A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and runaways.
A scum of Bretons, and base lackey peasants,
Whom their o'er-cloyed country vomits forth
To desperate ventures and assured destruction,
You sleeping safe, they bring to you unrest;
You having lands, and blest with beauteous

wives,

321

They would restrain the one, distain the other.
And who doth lead them but a paltry fellow,
Long kept in Bretagne at our mother's cost?
A milk-sop, one that never in his life
Felt so much cold as over shoes in snow ?

Let's whip these stragglers o'er the seas again;
Lash hence these overweening rags of France,
These famish'd beggars, weary of their lives;
Who, but for dreaming on this fond exploit,
For want of means, poor rats, had hang'd them-
selves:
If we be conquer'd, let men conquer us,
And not these bastard Bretons; whom our
fathers

331

Rat. My lord ?

K. Rich. The sun will not be seen to-day; The sky doth frown and lour upon our army. I would these dewy tears were from the ground.

Have in their own land beaten, bobb'd, and thump'd,

Not shine to-day! Why, what is that to me More than to Richmond? for the selfsame heaven

[blocks in formation]

That frowns on me looks sadly upon him
Enter NORFOLK.

Ravish our daughters? [Drum afar of.]
Hark! I hear their drum.
Fight, gentlemen of England! fight, bold yoe-
men!

Nor. Arm, arm, my lord; the foe vaunts in the field.

K. Rich. Come, bustle, bustle; caparison my horse.

[blocks in formation]

Call up Lord Stanley, bid him bring his power:
I will lead forth my soldiers to the plain, 291
And thus my battle shall be ordered:
My foreward shall be drawn out all in length,
Consisting equally of horse and foot;
Our archers shall be placed in the midst :
John Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Earl of Surrey,
Shall have the leading of this foot and horse.
They thus directed, we will follow
[side
In the main battle, whose puissance on either
Shall be well winged with our chiefest horse.
This, and Saint George to boot! What think'st

thou, Norfolk ?

301

Nor. A good direction, warlike sovereign. This found I on my tent this morning. [He sheweth him a paper.

K. Rich. [Reads] Jockey of Norfolk, be
not too bold,

For Dickon thy master is bought and sold.'
A thing devised by the enemy.
Go, gentleman, every man unto his charge :
Let not our babbling dreams affright our
souls:

Conscience is but a word that cowards use,
Devised at first to keep the strong in awe: 310
Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our
law.

March on. join bravely, let us to't pell-mell;

[blocks in formation]

Alarums. Enter KING RICHARD,

K. Rich. A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!

Cate. Withdraw, my lord; I'll help you to a horse.

K. Rich. Slave, I have set my life upon a cast,

10

And I will stand the hazard of the die :
I think there be six Richmonds in the field;
Five have I slain to-day instead of him.
A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse !
[Exeunt.

SCENE V. Another part of the field. Alarum. Enter RICHARD and RICHMOND; they fight. RICHARD is slain. Retreat and flourish. Re-enter RICHMOND, DERRY bearing the crown, with divers other Lords. Richm. God and your arms be praised, victorious friends;

The day is ours, the bloody dog is dead.

Der. Courageous Richmond, well hast thou

acquit thee.

Lo, bere, this long-usurped royalty
From the dead temples of this bloody wretch
Have I pluck'd off, to grace thy brows withal:
Wear it, enjoy it, and make much of it.
Richon. Great God of heaven, say Amen to
all!

But, tell me, is young George Stanley living? Der. He is, my lord, and safe in Leicester town;

Whither, if it please you, we may now withdraw us.

Rickm. What men of name are slain on either side ?

Der. John Duke of Norfolk, Walter Lord Ferrers,

Sir Robert Brackenbury, and Sir William Brandon.

Richm. Inter their bodies as becomes their births:

20

Proclaim a pardon to the soldiers fled
That in submission will return to us:
And then, as we have ta'en the sacrament,
We will unite the white rose and the red:
Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction,
That long have frown'd upon their enmity!
What traitor hears me, and says not amen?
England hath long been mad, and scarr'd her-
self;

The brother blindly shed the brother's blood,
The father rashly slaughter'd his own son,
The son, compell'd, been butcher to the sire :
All this divided York and Lancaster,
Divided in their dire division,
O, now, let Richmond and Elizabeth,
The true succeeders of each royal house,
By God's fair ordinance conjoin together!
And let their heirs, God, if thy will be so,
Enrich the time to come with smooth-faced
peace,

30

With smiling plenty and fair prosperous days! Abate the edge of traitors, gracious Lord, That would reduce these bloody days again, And make poor England weep in streams of blood!

Let them not live to taste this land's increase That would with treason wound this fair land's peace!

Now civil wounds are stopp'd, peace lives again: That she may long live here, God say amen! [Exeunt.

ROMEO AND JULIET.

(TWO DATES ARE ASSIGNED TO IT, 1591 AND 1596-97.)

INTRODUCTION.

The story of the unhappy lovers of Verona, as a supposed historical ccurrence, is referred to the year 1303; but no account of it exists of an earlier date than that of Luigi da Porto, about 1530. The story quickly acquired a European celebrity. Published by Bandello in his collection of Italian novels in 1554, it was translated into French in 1559 by Pierre Boisteau, and in three years more touched English soil. Arthur Brooke in 1562 produced his long metrical version, founded upon Boisteau's novel, and a pure translation of Boisteau's work appeared in Paynter's Palace of Pleasure in 1537. We have here reached Shakespeare's sources: Paynter he probably consulted; in nearly all essentials he follows the Romeus and Juliet of Brooke. The precise date of Shakespeare's play is uncertain. In 1597 it was published in quarto, as it hath been often (with great applause) plaid publiquely by the right Honorable the Lord of Hunsdon his servants." Now the Lord Chamberlain, Henry Lord Hunsdon, died July 22, 1596; his son, George Lord Hunsdon, was appointed Chamberlain in April, 1597. Before July, 1596, or after April, 1597, the theatrical company would have been stylel by the more honorable designation, "the Lord Chamberlain's servants;" but during the interval they would have been described as on the title-page of the quarto. The Nurse's mention of the earthquake (Act I Sc. 1., L. 23), "'Tis since the earthquake now eleven years, has been referred to as giving the date 1591, a memorable earthquake, felt in London, having occurred in 1580; but, while professing an infallibly accurate recollection, the old woman blunders sadly bout her dates, so that even if an actual English eart! quake were alluded to, he point of the jest may have been in the inaccuracy of the reference. The internal evidence favors the opinion that this tragedy was an early work of the poet, and tha it was subsequently revised and enlarged. There is much rhyme, and much of this is in the form f alternate rhyme; the forced playing upon words, and the overstrained conceits point to an arly date. We may perhaps accept the opinion that the pla was begun, and in part written, as early as 1591, and that it assumed its final form about 1597. Apart from its intrinsic beauty, Romeo and Ju'iet is of doep interes when viewed as Shakespeare's first tragedy, and as a work which probably occupied hi thoughts, from time to time, during a series of year. It is a young man's tragedy, in whi Youth and Love are brought face to Dice with Hatred and Death. The scene is essentielly Italian: the burning noon of July in the Italian city nflame the blood of the street quarrelers; he voluptuous moonlit nights are only lik a softer d. y. And the characters are Italian, with their yrical arder, their southern impetuosity of passion, and the southern forms and color of their speech. Romeo's nature is prone to enthusiastic feeling, and, as it were, vaguely trembling in the direction of love before he sees Juliet; to meet her gives form and fixit, to his vague emotion. To Juliet-a girl of fourteen-love comes as a thing previously unknown; it is at once terrible and blissful; she rises, through love, and sorrow, and trial, from hild into a heroic woman. After Shakespeare has exalted their enthusiastic joy and rapture to the highest point, he suddenly casts it down. Romeo is at first completely unmanned; but Juliet exhibits a noble fortitude and self com mand. Mercutio and the Nurse are almost creations of Shakespeare. Brooke had described Mercutio as "a lion among maidens," and speaks of his "ice-cold hand;" but it was the dramatist who drew at full length the figure of this brilliant being, who though with wit running beyond what is becoming, and effervescent animal spirits, yet acts as a guardian of Romeo, and is always a gallant gentleman. He dies forcing a jest through his bodily anguish, bu he dies on Romeo's behalf: the scene darkens as his figure disappears. The action is accelerated by Shakespeare to the utmost, the four or five months of Brooke's poem being reduced to as many days. On Sunday the lovers meet, next day they are made one in marriage, on Tuesday morning at dawn they part, and they are finally re-united in the tomb on the night of Thursday Shakespeare does not close the tragedy with Juliet's death: as he has shown in the first scene the hatred of the houses through the comic quarrel of the servants, thereby introducing the causes which produce the tragic issue, so in the last scene he shows us the houses sorrowfully reconciled over the dead bodies of a son and daughter.

[blocks in formation]

MONTAGUE, heads of two houses at variance
CAPULET,

with each other. An old man, cousin to Capulet.

ROMEO, son to Montague.

MERCUTIO, kinsman to the prince, and friend

to Romeo.

BENVOLIO, nephew to Montague, and friend

to Romeo.

TYBALT, nephew to Lady Capulet.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

loves me.

10

Gre. To move is to stir; and to be valiant is to stand: therefore, if thou art moved, thou rumi'st away.

Sam. A dog of that house shall move me to stand: I will take the wall of any man or maid of Montague's.

Gre. That shows thee a weak slave; for the weakest goes to the wall.

Som, True; and therefore women, being the weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall: therefore I will push Montague's men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall.

Gre. The quarrel is between our masters and us their men.

Sam. 'Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant: when I have fough, with the men, I will be cruel with the maids, and cut off their heads.

29

Gre. The heads of the maids? Sam. Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maidenheads; take it in what sense thou wilt. Gre. They must take it in sense that feel it. Sam. Me they shall feel while I am able to stand: and 'tis known I am a pretty piece of flesh.

Gre. 'Tis well thou art not fish: if thou hadst, thou hadst been poor John. Draw thy tool; here comes two of the house of the Montagues.

Sam. My naked weapon is out: quarrel, I will back thee.

Gre. How! turn thy back and run ?
Sam. Fear me not.

Gre. No, marry; I fear thee!

40

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

1

Enter CAPULET in his gown, and LADY CAPULET.

Right glad I am he was not at this fray.
Ben. Madam, an hour before the worshipp'd

Cap. What noise is this? Give me my long sword, ho!

sun

La. Cap. A crutch, a crutch! why call

you for a sword?

Cap. My sword, I say! Old Montague is

come,

And flourishes his blade in spite of me.

Enter MONTAGUE and LADY MONTAGUE. Mon. Thou villain Capulet, -Hold me not, let me go.

La. Mon. Thou shalt not stir a foot to seek a foe.

Enter PRINCE, with Attendants. Prin. Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace, Profaners of this neighbor-stained steel, Will they not hear? What, ho! you men,

you beasts,

90 That quench the fire of your pernicious rage With purple fountains issuing from your veins,

On pain of torture, from those bloody hands Throw your mistemper'd weapons to the ground,

And hear the sentence of your moved prince.
Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word,
By thee, old Capulet, and Montague,

Have thrice disturb'd the quiet of our streets,
And made Verona's ancient citizens
Cast by their grave beseeming ornaments, 100
To wield old partisans, in hands as old,
Canker'd with peace, to part your canker'd

hate:

[blocks in formation]

130

Peer'd forth the golden window of the east,
A troubled mind drave me to walk abroad;
Where, underneath the grove of sycamore
That westward rooteth from the city's side,
So early walking did I see your son:
Towards him I made, but he was ware of me
And stole into the covert of the wood:
I, measuring his affections by my own,
That most are busied when they're most alone,
Pursued my humor not pursuing his,
And gladly shunn'd who gladly fled from me.
Mon. Many a morning hath he there been

seen,

With tears augmenting the fresh morning'
dew,
[siglbs
Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep
But all so soon as the all-cheering sun
14
Should in the furthest east begin to draw
The shady curtains from Aurora's bed,
Away from light steals home my heavy son,
And private in his chamber pens himself,
Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight ou
And makes himself an artificial night:
Black and portentous must this humor prove
Unless good counsel may the cause remove.
Ben. My noble uncle, do you know ti
cause ?

Mon. I neither know it nor can learn
him.
Ben. Have you importuned him by ar

means?

12

[blocks in formation]

But he, his own affections' counsellor,
Is to himself-I will not say how true-
But to himself so secret and so close,
So far from sounding and discovery,
As is the bud bit with an envious worm,
Ere he can spread his sweet leaves to the ai
Or dedicate his beauty to the sun

Could we but learn from whence his sorro

grow,

« 上一頁繼續 »