King edward iii, p.37
King Edward III, page 37
36–7 For elliptical syntax, omitting the main verb, see Abbott, 382: the Prince continues the construction of the King’s question, replying that he has indeed seen the King of France.
36 not … ago See 2.54n.
37 hundred … men as in Holinshed: see 36–42 LN.
39 multitudes Cf. 8.85, 12.6 (and n.), 15.1 and 18.18.
40 cropped cut off, lopped (= slaughtered: OED v. 4, citing R3 1.2.250); cf. 4.79, 8.72 and nn.
41 happily as it turned out; fortunately
42–4 Historically, Edward arrived near Crécy before the French King (Holinshed, 3.371). The play, stacking odds against the English, gives the French the tactical advantage.
42 Crécy plains See Sc. 6n.
43 Whereas where (Abbott, 135); cf. Whenas at 211, 5.42. Cf. also 2H6 1.2.57–8, ‘unto Saint Albans, / Whereas the King and Queen do mean to hawk’ (elsewhere in Shakespeare whereas = while).
good array readiness for battle
44 Cf. 1H6 5.2.13.
44, 161, 168presently immediately
* * *
36 hours] (owers) 37 a] an Q2 38 with the] o’the Capell; of the Collier 39 And … both] I on the other; with Capell; And on the other both, Brooke; And on the other, both Armstrong2 42 Crécy] (Cressey) 43 Whereas] (Where as); Where, as Capell 45.1–2 CHARLES … LORRAINE] Melchiori1 subst.; Dukes of Normanndy and Lorraine Q 45.2BOHEMIA] Q2; Boheme Q
46 The metrical irregularity throws great emphasis on true; contrast 17.1.
47 Musing astonished that (OED v. 3e)
thou here used disparagingly, and continued throughout John’s speech to Edward (initiating the subsequent contemptuous exchanges of the scene). Cf. 1.55, 57n.
47–8 encroach … tyrannous Cf. 2H6 4.1.96, ‘lofty, proud, encroaching tyranny’.
48 tyrannous proceeding The phrase occurs in a translation of a thinly disguised Huguenot call to arms against the House of Lorraine, ‘resolue your selues to withstand the tirannous proceedings and pretences of those, who haue hetherto deceiued you’ (Eliot, 6).
proceeding advance; conduct (OED n. 4a; 2a)
49 subvert destroy, raze to the ground (OED v. 1a, citing 1H6 2.3.64)
50 2in … following in these formal terms (proverbial legal formula: see Dent, M631.1); at 52, 58 and 61 King John itemizes three causes of grievance against Edward.
51 Upbraids OED attests Q’s spelling, ‘Obraids’ (cf. ‘Obraidst’, 126).
intrusion invasion; cf. 2.356.
52–71 See pp. 7–9.
52 fugitive vagabond, wanderer (OED n. 2); cf. 154.
53, 70thievish … thefts King John scornfully attributes Edward’s invasion to financial need. Cf. 13.64; also 3.76–9 (76, 78n.), where Edward upbraids himself for theft.
53 mate fellow, used contemptuously (OED n.2 1b); pairing with pirate further implies ‘assistant to some functionary on board ship’ (4b).
54 abiding place place of abode
56 fruitful Cf. 1.42n.; also fruitless, 2.14, 151 (in both instances coupled with barren).
is had can be obtained (or grown)
58 insomuch since; also at 18.50. In both occurrences there is ellipsis of ‘that’ or ‘as’.
infringed thy faith violated your sworn oath, i.e. of allegiance; earlier in the play Edward would appear to have made no such oath: see 1.56–86 (and LN). Cf. 2.435n.
59 league peace agreement
covenant agreement or terms of an agreement
* * *
51 Upbraids] (Obraids) 57 Dost] (Doest) 59 league] (leage)
61–2 cope / With engage, fight with (OED cope v.2 2)
62 *so much Metre and meaning both validate Capell’s emendation of Q’s easy error ‘sueh’ (third letter in Q appears either as a damaged ‘e’ or a dirty ‘c’). Cf. so much at 1.58; 2.239; 11.3, 16; 18.130.
63–71 For a similar presentation of portable treasure before battle, cf. 1Tam, 1.2.138–40.
64 *Thy Q2’s correction of Q’s ‘They’ has been generally accepted; see 2.368n.
feared … loved Cf. Dent2, F131.11, and E2, 5.4.50, ‘Feared am I more than loved; let me be feared.’ Behind this proverbial opposition lies Cicero, 1.28.97, ‘oderint, dum metuant’ (‘Let them hate, if only they fear’).
65 in either part in both respects, i.e. desire for gold and for power (as the implied topic of 64)
66–7 The King of France’s display of treasure before the battle has no warrant in Holinshed or Froissart.
67 Exceeding store great quantities. Cf. FQ, 2.7.31–3, where Guyon is tempted by Mammon, ‘And shewd of richesse such exceeding store’, which he refuses.
68–71 ‘Stop oppressing unarmed civilians and, being armed, engage in battle with my army to win this booty in fair fight.’
69 1armed armèd
71 manfully bravely; honourably
72–3 ‘Your greeting is as sweet as what is proverbially bitter’; Edward picks up John’s contemptuous use of the second-person singular (see 47n. on thou).
72 gall proverbial for its bitter taste (Dent, G11), often contrasted with honey (Dent, G11.1); cf. Luc 889.
wormwood ‘The plant Artemisia Absinthium, proverbial for its bitter taste’ (OED 1a); cf. Luc 893.
74 the one gall or wormwood
* * *
60 false] most Q2 62 so much] Capell; sueh Q; such Q2 64 Thy] Q2; They Q 66 have I] I haue Q2
69 entering] (entring) 70’mongst] (mongest)
75 the other thy salutation
76–96 Edward answers John’s three-part challenge with a three-part defiance, with repeated If at 77, 80, 85.
76 wot know, understand
worthless Cf. 18.109, where it is self-deprecating, as at TGV 4.2.6.
77 foil defile; dishonour (OED v.1 6; 7)
78 dim … birth cast a slur on my parentage. Cf. 2.104n.; also 1H6 1.1.79, 2H6 1.1.122.
79 hinting at the proverb ‘The dog (wolf) barks in vain at the moon’ (Dent, D449)
80, 82to insinuate … To paint Both depend on ‘If thou have uttered them’ [= thy worthless taunts], 77.
80 insinuate ingratiate yourself (OED v. 2b); cf. Tit 4.2.37–8, Massacre at Paris, 14.57–8.
81–4 Cf. Son 16.6–12.
81 line painting; WP cite AYL 3.2.89–90, ‘All the pictures fairest lined / Are but black to Rosalind.’
82 deformed deformèd: distorted; morally offensive
cause motive (OED n. 3a)
84 defects defècts
85 provoke me on Cf. Son 50.9, ‘The bloody spur cannot provoke him on’.
86 As … say as if to say
89 *How Capell’s emendation of Q’s ‘Now’ to How, in parallel with 88, has been widely adopted.
90 but than
91 securely slept rather than actively pursuing his campaign; securely = carelessly, without misgiving. Cf. 1H6 3.2.18 and Tit 3.1.2–3, ‘whose youth was spent / In dangerous wars whilst you securely slept’.
93 whether if; Or (96) is related not to whether but to ‘and that I vow to have’ in 95.
* * *
76 taunts] (tants) 89 How] Capell (How,); Now Q; Now, Q2 90 the] thy Q2 92 otherwise] otherwayes Q2
94 skirmish engage in a petty battle; this starts the gradatio of the last three lines of Edward’s speech, skirmish, pillage, crown, grave, in direct challenge to John’s trivialization of England’s military campaign.
95–6 Edward clinches his speech with a rhyming couplet (see Cercignani, 102).
96 *his Q2’s correction of Q’s ‘this’ (easy misreading of initial h as th) is widely accepted.
97–108 Cf. 1.89–97.
97 cross contrarious (OED a. 5a)
98 of despite scornful
99–100 creeping … tongues proverbial: the sting of a serpent’s tongue = its venom, figuratively used for ‘venomous’ speech (Dent2, T407); the serpent was an emblem of treachery or malignancy, an idea reinforced by creeping, hide and hollow. Sams notes collocation of serpents, banks and sting at 2H6 3.1.228–9.
99 creeping Cf. Prince Edward’s Crept at 1.95 describing the French King.
hide … banks Cf. 1H4 1.3.106, ‘And hid his crisp head in the hollow bank’.
hide elliptical: which hide (see Hope, 1.4.2d, on ‘zero relative’). Cf. 2.249n. on Contains.
100–1 we … affairs Cf. 12.82; also 1Tam, 1.2.132, ‘Our swords shall play the orators for us.’
101 plead argue (OED v. 1); cf. 3H6 1.1.103, ‘our swords shall plead it in the field’.
103 poison … throat glancing back at the serpents’ stinging tongues
throat synonymous with voice or speech; also figuratively the repository for lies, 104 (OED n. 3c)
105 our pretended quarrel the occasion of grievance that we have claimed. Cf. 3H6 4.7.57; also 1.167 and n.
* * *
96 his] Q2; this Q 99 hide] hid Capell 105 is] om. Capell
107 either each
108 luckless-cursed damned by bad luck
eternal shame Cf. LLL 1.1.155 and H5 4.5.4.
110 His King John’s
112–13 i.e. before talk yields to irrevocable action
112 varies the proverb ‘Put not thy sickle in another man’s corn’ (Dent2, S420); cf. Spanish Tragedy, 2.6.9, ‘The Sickle comes not, till the corne be ripe’; Soliman and Perseda, 4.1.222–3 (Lambrechts, 166).
sickle’s Q’s ‘sickles’ could be read as plural nominative, or singular or plural possessive (making thrust a noun), but 113 requires a verb in this line to parallel the verb there, ‘[is] thrust’ (here abbreviated to ’s thrust).
113 Or that Cf. 17.32n.
enkindled … flame Cf. KJ 5.2.83–7.
turn conditional, in the sense ‘may turn’ or ‘has time to turn’
114 in context scornfully defiant, but also an ironic concession of Edward’s claim
116–17 Cf. 2Tam, 1.1.32, ‘And make this champion mead a bloody fen’; also Cornelia, 5.176–7, ‘and of a Champant Land / Makes it a Quagmire’.
116 champion open, level (OED a. 1; ‘champain’, ‘champaign’ are variant spellings). Cf. E1, ll. 87–90 (quoted at 8.91n.).
117 all our prospect everything within sight, recalling 5.55–7
slaughter-house Cf. 3H6 5.4.78, ‘His realm a slaughterhouse, his subjects slain’.
118 approves proves; confirms. Cf. 1.48.
118–19 tyrant … shepherd The antithesis recalls 1.40–1 (Sams).
121 The cruelty of tigers was a topos: see Dent2, T287.02.
* * *
108 luckless-cursed] (luckles curst) 113 turn] turned Q2
122 peers See 3.104n.
124–30 Cf. Dent2, A69.11, ‘Mock age and see how it will prosper’.
124–5 Cf. 3H6 1.1.82, ‘Whom should he follow but his natural king?’, where Clifford champions the right of King Henry VI against the claims of Richard, Duke of York.
124 aged impotent agèd. Audley was not yet 30 at the time of Crécy (see LR, 9n.).
126 Upbraid’st Cf. 51n.
126–7 within … age Cf. 12.129–30, 17.20; also Luc 203 and 1Tam, 1.2.167–70, ‘Art thou but captain of a thousand horse, / That by characters graven in thy brows, … / Deservest to have the leading of an host?’
127–8engraved … grave The image of Time the carver or engraver and punning reference to the ‘grave’ are both familiar in early Shakespeare: cf. Son 100.9–10. Cf. also 2.231–3n.
127 characters engraved marks, i.e. wrinkles; cf. 2.473n.
128 Know that Capell’s metrical emendation (see t.n.) is unnecessary if the first foot is anapaestic; experience has four syllables (as in Shakespeare only at 2H6 5.1.171 and Tit 5.3.77, elsewhere trisyllabic).
scholars of experience as opposed to Prince Edward’s book-learning: cf. 1.157–9, 165.
129–30 inversion of the proverb ‘Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm’ (Dent, O3). Cf. E1, ll. 103–5, ‘Triumphant Edward, how like sturdie Oakes, / Do these thy Souldiers circle thee about, / To shield and shelter thee from winters stormes?’ (Peele, 2.75). Cf. 8.79–80n.; also 2.52n. on wood … advanced.
129 stiff-grown with age, as well as resolve and steadfastness. Cf. 161n.
131–4 Conflation of John with his father Philip of Valois results in the false statement that John was the first Valois king. As Edward’s claim to the French throne through his Capetian mother dates back to Hugh Capet, crowned in 987, 360 years would be closer than 500.
134 held … up reigned
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126 Upbraid’st] (Obraidst) 128 that] om. Capell 131–2]Capell; Q lines king, / time, / 133 lineage] (linage) 134 held] kept Q2
135 conspirators John’s supporters
descent lineage
136 this or that Edward or John; the repetition of this from the previous line clarifies the identities and clinches Derby’s argument.
137 SP *Q’s SP is ‘Pri’ (an abbreviation for ‘Prince’, used elsewhere only for Prince Edward at 36; 12.150; 14.2, 9; 17.1, 11; 18.216). As this speaker is French, it must serve for Charles or Philip. Q2 chooses the latter. Except when an entry SD serves also as a SP, Charles’s SP is ‘Ch’ throughout. As Philip speaks in all the scenes in which he enters, except Scs 17 and 18, and as his SP is either ‘Ph’ (4.107, 123) or ‘Pr’ (13.22, 24, 28; 15.30), Q2’s ‘Philip’ convinces.
137 range your battles draw up your armies in ranks. Cf. 219.
138 spend … words stock phrase of evasion: cf. Spanish Tragedy, 2.1.44 (BV).
139 escape possibly monosyllabic, ‘scape’; see 4.91n.
unfought ‘without having to defend themselves against us’ (OED a. 1b, first cited from this line); see 1.76n. on unpolished.
140–64 For pre-battle exhortations in Shakespeare, cf., e.g., 3H6 5.4.1–38; R3 5.3.237–70, 314–41; H5 3.1.1–34, 4.3.20–67.
141 intended resolved, purposeful (OED a. 3)
bide the touch endure the test (of action), as the quality of precious metals is tested by a touchstone (OED touch n. 7); cf. R3 4.2.8–9.
143–50 Anaphora heightens the declamatory nature of John’s oration to his troops.
143 your natural king Cf. 124–5 and n.
146 Cf. 29–33; also 2.589 and n. on youth.
reins rules, guides (OED v. 2b)
148 enthrone himself make himself king; OED gives no example of reflexive use, first citing AC 3.6.3–5. Cf., however, Martin Mar-Sixtus, sig. F1v: the Guise sought ‘the subuersion of the king, and inthroning himselfe in the kingdome’.
in tyranny as a tyrant; by usurpation. Contrasted with clemency, 145: for similar contrast, see 18.54–5.
* * *
137 SP] Q2; Pri: Q 139 escape] scape Capell 140 now’s] Capell; knowes Q 144 you] ye Q2
146 reins] (raines)
149 with … hand oppressively; cf. KJ 4.3.58, MA 4.1.115.
150 Curtail … curb reduce … restrain; terms from horse management, cf. 146. Q’s spelling ‘Curtall’ suggests stress on the first syllable.
152 haughty courage a common collocation: haughty = exalted in bravery (not pejorative; OED a. 2). Cf. haughty flight, 4.152; also 1H6 4.1.35.
153 Answer correspond with (OED v. 28)
154 fugitives Cf. 52n.; also 1H6 3.3.66–7.
155–7 King John’s informant is unidentified. Only here and at 8.100–1 do the later scenes make explicit reference back to the events of Scs 2 and 3. See LN and p. 63.
155 belly-god glutton, one who makes a god of his appetite(s) (see Philippians, 3.19). S.R. Golding, 315, compares Wilson, Cobbler’s, sig. A3v, ‘Bacchus belly-God’.
156 tender weak
lascivious wantonness Cf. Apuleius, sig. M3v, ‘by accusation of luxurie and lasciuious wantonnes’; also 1H6 3.1.17–19, ‘Thou art a most pernicious usurer, / … Lascivious, wanton’. Cf. 8.100.
158–62For foreigners’ eating and drinking habits, see 4.25–7, 114–16 and nn. Cf. 13.43, 15.20; also H5 3.7.148–53.
158 goodly guard handsome (ironic) body of soldiers (Riv)
159 scant deprive
chines joints, i.e. ‘any part of the back (ribs or sirloin)’ (OED n.2 3a). Beef has long been associated with the English, and the Elizabethans were renowned for their predominantly meat diet (see Shakespeare’s England, 2.134–6).
160 downy featherbeds tautologous for emphasis (downy = stuffed with soft feathers)
161 resty-stiff stiff through inaction (OED resty a.2 4a: lazy, inactive); resty is also applied to obstinate, immovable and unbroken horses (1a), hence jades, 162. Brooke compares Cym 3.6.33–5: ‘Weariness / Can snore upon the flint when resty sloth / Finds the down pillow hard’. Cf. 129n.
* * *
150 Curtail] (Curtall) curb] (courb) 161 resty-stiff] (resty stiffe), Capell
162 a many For a before a numeral adjective indicating ‘that the objects enumerated are regarded collectively as one’, see Abbott, 87. Cf. 7.0.1.
over-ridden exhausted by excessive riding. Cf. H5 3.5.19, ‘sur-reined jades’ (GWW).
jades contemptuous name for horses: of inferior breed, worthless; cf. 8.101 (answering this line) and 12.97.
164 captive bands prisoners’ fetters; cf. 18.183 (and 181–3n.). Cf. FQ, 2.12.82, ‘They tooke them both, and both them strongly bound / In captiue bandes.’
165 Vive le Roi (Long) live the king. Cf. KJ 5.2.104 and Massacre at Paris, 14.1, 11.
166 plain of Crécy See Sc. 6n.
169 resolve the day ‘bring the battle (OED day n. 13: day of battle) to such a conclusion as’; Capell’s ‘this’ for the confines the phrase to ‘determine today’. Cf. 4.117n.; also, e.g., 1H6 1.5.56 and 3H6 2.1.134–5.
170 scandalous crime libellous accusation (see OED crime n. 3), i.e. John’s speech, 144–62
171 be … innocence die to prove our innocence of the offences alleged
entombed entombèd: buried (OED v. 1, 2)
172–205 The Prince’s ceremonial arming appears to be the invention of the playwright(s). Earning a knighthood in battle was an ancient custom (174), from which a royal prince was not exempt: ‘no man is borne a Knight of any title, but made’ (Segar, Military, sig. G1r).
172 Ned See 1.141, 157n.
173 pitched field pitchèd: formally deployed battlefield (OED pitched a.2 2; field n.1 6a, 7a); cf. 4.97n.
