'Erroneous, mutinous, and unnatural, octavo, 1616. Florio, in his Italian Dict. 1598, defines Stratagema, a policie, a wile, or wittie shift in warre." This was undoubtedly its ordinary fenfe in our author's time, though then and afterwards it was occafionally used for any fubtle device or policy. Here it has unquestionably its ordinary fignification. MALONE. Mr. Malone afferts that ftratagem in this place means a fubtle device in war; but I ftill adhere to my former opinion, that it means a difafirous event, or an atrocious action. Can we fuppose that a father in the paroxyfm of defpair, on finding that he had killed with his own hand, his only fon, fhould call that horrid deed a fubtle device in war? When Lorenzo fays, in The Merchant of Venice, that "The man who hath no mufick in himself &c. "Is fit for treafons, ftratagems, and spoils," Could he mean to rank the fubtle devices of war in the fame clafs with the worst of crimes? We find the word ftratagem in The True Chronicle Hiftory of King Lear, p. 417, where Regan fays to the Meffenger— "Haft thou the heart to act a firatagem, "And give a ftab or two, if need require? Messenger. I have a heart compact of adamant It is evident that Regan's ftratagem, or fubtle device, was affaffination. M. MASON. 8 O boy, thy father gave thee life too foon,] Becaufe had he been born later, he would not now have been of years to engage in this quarrel. WARBURTON. 9 And hath bereft thee of thy life too late!] i. e. He should have done it by not bringing thee into being, to make both father and fon thus miferable. This is the fenfe, fuch as it is, of the two lines; however, an indifferent fenfe was better than none K. HEN, Woe above woe! grief more than common grief! O, that my death would stay these ruthful deeds!— *O pity, pity, gentle heaven, pity! The red rofe and the white are on his face, *The one, his purple blood right well resembles ; *The other, his pale cheeks, methinks, prefent: as it is brought to by the Oxford editor, by reading the lines thus: O boy! thy father gave thee life too late, And hath bereft thee of thy life too foon. WARBURTON. I rather think the meaning of the line, And hath bereft thee of thy life too foon, to be this: Thy father expofed thee to danger by giving thee life too foon, and hath bereft thee of life by living himself too long. JOHNSON. The Oxford editor might have juftified the change he made, from the authority of the quarto, according to which I would read; explaining the firft line thus: Thy father begot thee at too late a period of his life, and therefore thou wert not old and Strong enough to cope with him. The next line can want no explanation. Mr. Tollet thinks, that by too late is meant too lately, as in King Richard III. A& III: "Too late he died that might have kept that title." STEEVENS, Too late, without doubt, means too recently. The memory of thy virtues and thy hapless end is too recent, to be thought of without the deepest anguish. The fame quaint expreffion is found in our author's Rape of Lucrece : O, quoth Lucretius, I did give that life, "Which the too early and too late hath fpill'd." Here late clearly means lately. Again, in this Third Part of King Henry VI: "Where fame, late entering at his heedful ears," In the old play this and the preceding line ftand thus: "Poor boy, thy father gave thee life too late, "And hath bereft thee of thy life too foon." MALONE. The prefent reading appears to be far the more eligible. Had the fon been younger, he would have been precluded from the levy that brought him into the field; and had the father recognized him before the mortal blow, it would not have been too late to have fayed him from death. HENLEY. Wither one rofe, and let the other flourish! FATH. How will my wife, for flaughter of my fon, 'Shed feas of tears, and ne'er be fatisfied? 'K. Hɛn. How will the country,3 for these woeful chances, "Misthink the king, and not be fatisfied? "SON. Was ever fon, fo ru'd a father's death? 'FATH. Was ever father, fo bemoan'd a fon ?4 If you contend, a thousand lives must wither,] Thus the folio. The quartos thus: "For if you strive, a thousand lives must perish.” STEEVENS. I think the word wither is more likely to have been inadvertently repeated by the tranfcriber, than fubftituted by Shakspeare for the former word. MALONE. 2 Take on with me,] Be enraged at me. So, in a pamphlet by T. Nathe, 1592: "Some will take on, like a madman," &c. See Vol. VII. p. 344, n. 6. MALONE. To take on is a phrase ftill in ufe among the vulgar, and fignifies-to perfift in clamorous lamentation. STEEVENS. 3 How will the country, &c.] So the folio. The quartos thus: "How will the country now mifdeem their king! Oh, would my death their minds could fatisfy!" To mif-think is to think ill, unfavourably. So, in The Northern Lafs, 1633 : and heaven pardon me what I mif-thought every hour of the night!" STEEVENS. This word, which Shakspeare substituted for misdeem, he has again used in Antony and Cleopatra : "Be it known, that we the greatest are mis-thought, "For things that others do.” MALONE. • Was ever fon, fo ru'd a father's death? Was ever father, fo bemoan'd his fon ?] The variation is here 'K. HEN. Was ever king, so griev'd for fubjects woe? 'Much is your forrow; mine, ten times fo much. • SON. I'll bear thee hence,5 where I may weep [Exit, with the Body. my fill. * FATH. These arms of mine fhall be thy winding-fheet; My heart, fweet boy, fhall be thy fepulchre; *For from my heart thine image ne'er fhall go, *My fighing breaft fhall be thy funeral bell; *And fo obfequious will thy father be," * Sad for the lofs of thee," having no more, * As Priam was for all his valiant fons. I'll bear thee hence; and let them fight that will, For I have murder'd where I should not kill. [Exit, with the Body, worth remarking, for in the old play the correfponding lines are: "Was ever fon fo rude, his father's blood to spill! MALONE. 5 I'll bear thee hence; &c.] Thus the folio. The old play thus: "I'll bear thee hence from this accurfed place, "For woe is to me, to fee my father's face." MALONE. And fo obfequious will thy father be,] Obfequious is here careful of obfequies, or of funeral rites. JOHNSON. In the fame fense it is used in Hamlet : to do obfequious forrow." STEEVENS. 7 Sad for the lofs of thee,] The old copy reads-men for the lofs &c. Mr. Rowe made the alteration; but I think we might read : <? fo obfequious will thy father be, "Man, for the lofs of thee" &c. STEEVENS. 8 As Priam was for all-] I having but one fon, will grieve as much for that one, as Priam, who had many, could grieve for many. JOHNSON. "K. HEN. Sad-hearted men, much overgone with care, Here fits a king more woful than you are. Alarums: Excurfions. Enter Queen MARGARET, Prince of Wales, and EXETEr. • PRINCE. Fly, father, fly! for all your are fled, ' And Warwick rages like a chafed bull: friends Q. MAR. Mount you, my lord, towards Berwick poft amain: "Edward and Richard, like a brace of greyhounds Having the fearful flying hare in fight, With fiery eyes, fparkling for very wrath, 'And bloody steel grafp'd in their ireful hands, Are at our backs; and therefore hence amain. 'EXE. Away! for vengeance comes along with them : Nay, ftay not to expoftulate, make speed; Or else come after, I'll away before. 'K. HEN. Nay, take me with thee, good sweet Exeter; 'Not that I fear to stay, but love to go • Whither the queen intends. Forward; away! [Exeunt. |