340. dark-seated: situated in darkness

  342. sun ’gainst glass: i.e., sun’s rays dazzlingly reflected by a mirror (glass)

  343. over-chargèd: overloaded

  345. leave: stop

  350. sport: diversion

  352. dew . . . tears: proverbial

  354. woeful monuments: commemorations of grief (i.e., tears)

  355. printed: i.e., imprinted as if in wax

  356. these: i.e., her lips; seal: device (e.g., heraldic design) imprinted in wax on a document (here the imprint of her lips on his hand)

  357. whom: i.e., which (her lips)

  359. know: be familiar with by experience

  360. surmised: imagined

  361. surfeits: overeats; want: lack (i.e., of food)

  362. repeal thee: recall you from exile; be well assured: assure yourself; trust me

  363. Adventure: venture, dare

  373. wilderness: uninhabited region

  374. So: provided that

  376. several: particular, individual

  378. I . . . more: i.e., my strength fails; joy: enjoy

  379. no . . . naught: i.e., will joy in nothing (double negative for emphasis)

  381. signify: announce

  384. catch: grasp, seize

  388. as to him: i.e., as if to the King (line 387)

  389. overchargèd: overburdened

  392. heavy: sorrowful, grievous

  393. What is this world: Proverbial: “What a world is this!”

  394. an hour’s poor loss: i.e., the (Cardinal’s) loss of an hour (of his aged life)

  395. Omitting: leaving disregarded

  397. southern clouds: i.e., the source of much rain; contend: compete

  398. increase: crops

  402. by me: i.e., in my company; thou art but dead: i.e., you are sure to die

  408. dug: nipple

  409. Where: whereas; from: i.e., out of

  411. stop: block up

  412. turn: send back

  414. Elysium: classical paradise for those favored by the gods

  415. by thee: in your company

  416. From: away from

  417. befall . . . befall: i.e., whatever happens (proverbial)

  418. a fretful corrosive: a caustic (a substance used medicinally to burn away flesh)

  419. deathful: mortal

  422. Iris: i.e., messenger (In mythology, Iris, the rainbow, is Juno’s messenger. See picture.)

  Iris, goddess of the rainbow. (3.2.422)

  From Natale Conti, . . . Mythologiae . . . (1616).

  425. cask: casket, small box for jewels

  427. splitted bark: ship split in two; sunder we: are we torn apart

 

  * * *

 

  3.3  The Cardinal dies.

  4. So: provided that

  9. he: i.e., Gloucester; Where should he die: i.e., where else would you think he would die

  10. whe’er: whether

  14. dust: i.e., that to which all things are reduced in death

  16. lime-twigs: i.e., twigs smeared with birdlime to trap birds

  17.

  An apothecary. (3.3.17)

  From Ambroise Paré, The workes of . . . (1634).

  18. of him: i.e., from him

  24. grin: bare his teeth

  25. pass: die

  26. if . . . be: i.e., if God so pleases

  30. argues: indicates

  31. Forbear to judge: See Matthew 7.1: “Judge not, that you be not judged.” we . . . all: See Matthew 3.23: “all have sinned.”

  32. curtain: bed curtain; close: shut

 

  * * *

 

  4.1  Attempting to sail to France, Suffolk is captured by shipmen and brutally assassinated.

  0 SD. Ordnance: cannon; Master: officer, ranking just below the lieutenant, responsible for navigation on a warship; Master’s Mate: officer subordinate to but working with the Master

  1. gaudy: showy; blabbing: secret-revealing; remorseful: compassionate

  3. jades: worn-out horses (imagined to drag Night’s wagon across the sky) See longer note.

  5. flagging: drooping, failing

  6. Clip: embrace

  8. of our prize: i.e., from the ship we have captured

  9. pinnace: small, light vessel; the Downs: the sea just off the east coast of Kent

  10. make their ransom: pay a sum to procure their freedom

  11. discolored: stained (i.e., with their blood after they are slain—an example of prolepsis)

  13. boot: profit; this: i.e., this second prisoner (line 12)

  16. crowns: coins worth five shillings

  18. think you much: i.e., do you think it too much

  19. port: social position

  22. counterpoised: counterbalanced

  24. straight: straightaway, immediately

  25. laying the prize aboard: running our pinnace (line 9) alongside the prize in order to board it

  29. George: jewel that forms part of the insignia of the Order of the Knights of the Garter (See picture.)

  A George. (4.1.29)

  From Elias Ashmole, The institution, laws & ceremonies of the . . .Order of the Garter . . . (1672).

  30. Rate . . . wilt: i.e., estimate my value however you wish

  31. Walter: Suffolk’s response to this name indicates its Elizabethan pronunciation, in which the l is not sounded, making Walter sound like water. (See 1.4.35 and lines 35–36.)

  35. cunning man: fortune-teller; birth: fortune as influenced by the aspect of the planets at the moment of birth

  36. by water: See note to line 31.

  37. bloody-minded: cruel, bloodthirsty

  38. Gualtier: the French equivalent of Walter; sounded: pronounced

  40. blur: defile, blot

  42. sell revenge: i.e., accept ransom rather than take revenge

  43. Broke: i.e., broken; arms: coat of arms; defaced: obliterated

  45. Stay: stop, pause

  49. Jove . . . disguised: For a catalogue of the god Jove’s disguises in the pursuit of women, see Ovid’s Metamorphoses 6.103–14.

  51. lousy: vile; swain: man of low social status; King Henry’s blood: i.e., Suffolk’s blood (an exaggerated claim of consanguinity)

  52. blood of Lancaster: descendants of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (See genealogical chart.)

  53. jaded groom: i.e., contemptible fellow

  54. kissed thy hand: paid your respects (See longer note.) held my stirrup: helped me to mount, as a sign of reverence to me

  55. Bareheaded: with head uncovered as a sign of respect; footcloth mule: mule bearing or covered in a footcloth, a large ornamented cloth

  56. happy: fortunate; shook my head: i.e., nodded to you

  57. waited at my cup: i.e., kept my goblet full

  58. Fed from my trencher: i.e., eaten my food  trencher: platter; kneeled . . . board: perhaps, served at table  board: table for serving food

  60. crestfall’n: humbled

  61. abortive pride: i.e., pride that can come to nothing

  62. our voiding lobby: corridor or passageway by which we departed

  64. writ in thy behalf: i.e., written in defense of or in favor of you

  65. charm: silence; riotous: noisy, unrestrained

  66. forlorn swain: trite poetic term for an unrequited lover (literally, forsaken sweetheart)

  68. slave: rascal (term of contempt); blunt: without point or edge

  69. our longboat’s side: the side of the largest boat belonging to our ship

  71. for thy own: i.e., for fear of losing your own

  72. Pole: i.e., de la Pole, Suffolk’s surname (with possible wordplay on poll or head, on the pole on which heads were fixed after beheading, on Sir Pol or parrot in line 74, and on pool in lines 75–76)

  75. kennel: gutter; sink: cesspool

  76. Troubles: muddies

  77. yawning: gaping, eager to devour

  78. For: i.e., to prevent its

  83. Against: exposed to; senseless: unfeeling; grin: bare the teeth (in a death grimace)

  84. Who: i.e., which (the winds [line 83]); again: in response

  85. hags of hell: i.e., Furies, mythological semidivine avengers

  86. affy: marry (as a proxy); lord: i.e., Henry VI

  87. worthless king: i.e., Reignier

  88. Having: i.e., who has; diadem: crown

  89. policy: political cunning

  90. Sylla: Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Roman general whose time as dictator (82–80 B.C.E.), was notorious for the butchery of citizens; overgorged: crammed

  91. gobbets: pieces of raw flesh; thy mother’s: i.e., England’s (The implication is that Sylla gorged on his mother’s [Rome’s] bleeding heart.)

  93. false: treacherous; revolting: rebelling; thorough: on account of

  95. surprised: captured without warning

  98. dreadful: dreaded, terrible

  99. As hating thee: i.e., because they hate you

  101. a guiltless king: i.e., Richard II (See 2.2.19–30.)

  102. lofty: haughty

  103. hopeful colors: i.e., battle standards raised in the hope of winning the crown

  104. Advance: raise; half-faced sun: presumably alluding to the sunburst device associated with King Edward III and Richard II

  105. writ: i.e., written; Invitis nubibus: despite the clouds (Latin)

  107. reproach: disgrace; beggary: poverty

  109. by thee: i.e., because of you

  110. god: probably Jupiter, the Roman god called the thunder-darter, or wielder of thunderbolts

  111. servile: slavish

  115. Bargulus . . . pirate: In De officiis (44 B.C.E.), a work widely read in Elizabethan schools, Cicero mentions this pirate from the Adriatic seacoast.

  116. Drones . . . beehives: According to folklore, drone beetles creep under the wings of eagles and suck their veins dry, and drone bees eat up the honey from hives.

  118. By: i.e., by the hand of; vassal: slave

  119. remorse: repentance

  120. go of message: i.e., carry communication

  121. charge: order; waft: convey

  124. Paene . . . artus: “Cold fear almost entirely seizes my limbs” (Latin; an echo of Lucan, Civil War 1.246).

  127. stoop: bow to superior power

  128. entreat: implore; speak him fair: address him courteously

  129. imperial: commanding, majestic

  131. Far be it: i.e., God forbid; we: the royal “we”

  132. suit: petition

  133. Stoop: bend; block: executioner’s block

  135. pole: See note to line 72.

  136. uncovered: See note to line 55. vulgar: common

  139. Hale: haul

  142. bezonians: knaves, beggars (from the Italian bisogno, meaning “need, want”)

  143. sworder: gladiator; banditto: outlaw

  144. sweet: gracious; Tully: Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.E.), famous Roman orator, politician, and philosopher, actually killed by a centurion and a tribune

  144–45. Brutus’ . . . Caesar: See Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar 3.1. (Brutus’s mother became Caesar’s mistress after the death of her husband.)

  145–46. savage . . . Great: i.e., savage islanders killed Pompey the Great, Pompeius Magnus (106–48 B.C.E.), Roman general and rival to Caesar (actually killed by his own former centurions)

 

  * * *

 

  4.2  In a plot instigated by York, Jack Cade leads a rebellion against King Henry. The Staffords seek to put it down.

  0 SD. Bevis: See longer note. John Holland: The text in the First Folio gives this character the name of a known Elizabethan actor.

  2. lath: thin wood (Swords of lath were used by the Vice character in medieval morality plays.) up: in rebellion (Line 3 plays on up as “awake.”)

  4. clothier: maker of woolen cloth

  4–6. dress . . . upon it: Cade is described as treating the commonwealth as if it were a piece of cloth, which he will finish, turn inside out, and give a new surface or nap.

  9. came up: came into fashion; rose in rank

  11. handicraftsmen: artisans

  12–13. think . . . aprons: i.e., scorn to work as artisans or laborers

  16–17. Labor . . . vocation: proverbial (See also Homily against Idleness and 1 Corinthians 7.20.)

  17–18. magistrates: rulers

  20. hit it: i.e., hit the mark, correctly conjectured

  21. brave: fine; hard: hardened, calloused

  22–23. Best’s son . . . tanner: i.e., the son of Best, the tanner

  23. Wingham: village east of Canterbury

  25. dog’s leather: dogskin, used in making gloves

  30. Argo: i.e., ergo (therefore); thread . . . spun: wordplay on weaving and on one’s thread of life, spun, measured, and cut by the Fates (See picture.)

  The Fates and the thread of life. (4.2.30)

  From Vincenzo Cartari, Imagines deorum . . . (1581).

  31. fall in with: join

  31 SD. Sawyer: one who saws lumber; infinite numbers: i.e., a large number of nonspeaking actors dressed as artisans

  32. We: the royal “we”; termed of our: named after my

  34. of: as a consequence of; cade: barrel

  35. enemies . . . us: See Leviticus 26.8: “and your enemies shall fall before you upon the sword”

  36. putting down: crushing, overcoming

  39. Mortimer: See 3.1.364.

  41.

  A bricklayer. (4.2.41; 4.2.142)

  From Jan Luiken, Spiegal . . . (1704).

  42. Plantagenet: name attached to the royal family of England since the time of King Henry II and revived by Richard, Duke of York as his family name (See Henry VI, Part 1, 2.4.)

  44. Lacys: family name of the earls of Lincoln

  47. of late: recently

  48. furred pack: animal-skin knapsack; bucks: loads of washing (There may be obscene wordplay here on furred pack as female genitalia and bucks as young men.)

  52. cage: prison for petty criminals

  54. must needs: i.e., must be (valiant); beggary is valiant: “Valiant beggar” referred to one denied alms because he was strong enough to work.

  57. whipped: the usual punishment for vaga-bonds (See 2.1.171.) market-days: fixed days for holding markets; together: without intermission

  60. of proof: impenetrable (perhaps because caked with mud, or covered with pitch)

  62. burnt: branded

  65–66. three-hooped pot: the wooden quart pot for the sale of beer (The number of hoops, or equidistant bands, around the pot indicated the quantity of liquor the pot contained.)

  67. felony: serious crime; small beer: weak beer

  67–68. in common: possessed equally by all

  68. Cheapside: chief commercial district in London (which Cade imagines as transformed into a pasture on which he will graze his horse)

  72. score: account

  74. worship: honor, treat with respect

  78. parchment: used for legal documents

  79. undo: destroy

  80. beeswax: used for the seals on legal documents

  80–81. seal . . . thing: i.e., become surety for someone

  81. mine own man: i.e., a free man

  83. Chartham: village in Kent

  84. cast account: cipher, use arithmetic

  86. setting of boys’ copies: writing specimens of handwriting to be copied by pupils

  88. red letters: used to indicate saints’ days and church festivals, and in school primers for capital letters

  90. obligations: written contracts

  90–91. court hand: style of handwriting used in law courts

  92. proper: respectable, worthy; of: i.e., on

  94. sirrah: term of address to male social inferior

  97. it: the word Emmanuel (Hebrew), which may be translated as “God with us” (a pious formula)

  98. go hard: fare badly

  99. Let me alone: i.e., don’t interfere

  100. mark: a character, made with a pen, used by the illiterate in place of a signature

  107. inkhorn: a small portable vessel for holding ink

  109. particular: individual, special (playing on general [line 108] as communal, common)

  111. hard by: nearby

  112. Stand: stop

  115. No: i.e., no more

  117. presently: immediately; Sir John Mortimer: See note to 3.1.364.

  118. have at him: i.e., let me at him

  119. hinds: boors

  120. Marked: destined

  121. groom: fellow (contemptuous)

  122. revolt: return to your allegiance

  123. blood: bloodshed

  125. silken-coated: By law only those of the rank of gentleman and above could wear silk. slaves: a term of contempt; pass: care

  130. shearman: one who shears the superfluous nap from woolen cloth

  131. Adam . . . gardener: Proverbial: “When Adam delved and Eve span, / Who was then the gentleman?”

  133. Marry: indeed

  138. question: problem, uncertainty

  139. put to nurse: committed to the care of a wet nurse

  146. testify: i.e., testify to

  148. credit: believe

  152. Go to: an expression of remonstrance

  154–55. boys . . . crowns: i.e., boys won French kingdoms playing such games as span-counter (the goal of which is to throw one’s counters so close to one’s opponent’s that the distance between them is a mere handspan)  French crowns: diadems of French rulers, with wordplay on (1) French coins; (2) bald heads of those suffering from the French disease, syphilis

  159. mained: maimed

  160. fain to go: obliged to walk; puissance: power

  162. gelded: castrated

  165. miserable: despicable

  166. answer: rebut this