"To fright the souls of fearful adversaries, s He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber, To the lascivious pleasing of a lute. But I,-that am not shap'd for sportive tricks, Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass; I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's ma

jesty, To strut before a wanton ambling nymph; I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,

barded many

So, in Jarvis Markham's English Arcadia, 1607 :

armed in a black armour, curiously damask'd with interwinding wreaths of cypress and ewe, his barbe upon his horse, all of black abrosetta, cut in broken hoopes upon curled cypress.” Again, in the 2d Part of K. Edward IV. by Heywood, 1626:

" With barbed horse, and valiant arined foot." Barbed, however, may be no more than a corruption of barded. Equus bardatus, in the Latin of the middle ages, was a horse adorned with military trappings. I have met with the word

times in our ancient chronicles and romances. An instance or two may

fuffice. They mounted him surely upon a good and mighty courser, well barded, &c."

Hift. of Helyas Knight of the Swanne, bl. I. no date. Again, in Hall's Chronicle, King Henry VIII. p. 45:

"-appereilled in ryche armure, on a barded courser &c.” Again, in the Miracles of Mofes, by Drayton :

“ There floats the bard iteed with his rider drown'd,

" Whose foot in his caparison is cait." Again, in Warner's Albion's England, B. VIII. chap: 38 : 66 For whether that he trots, or turns, or bounds his

barded steed." Again, in Barrett's Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionary, 1580:

" Bardes or trappers of horses. Phalere, Lat." Again, Holinshed speaking of the preparations for the battle of Agincourt : to the intent that if the barded horses ran fiercely upon them, &c” Again, p. 802, he says, that bards and trappers bad the fame meaning.

It is observed in the Turkish Spy, that the German cuirasiers, though armed and barbed, man and horse, were not able to stand against the French cavalry. STEEVENS.

's He capers) War capers. This is poetical, though a little harsh ; if it be York that capers, the antecedent is at such a distance, that it is almost forgotten. JOHNSON. ..B 3

Cheat

• Cheated of feature by diffembling nature,
Deform’d, unfinish'd, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionably,
That dogs bark at me, as I halt by them ;-
Why I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time;
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun,
And descant on mine own deformity ? :
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lovers,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,-
I am determined to prove a villain,
And' hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, 'inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophesies, libels, and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence, and the king,
In deadly hate the one against the other :

6 Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,] By dissembling is not meant bypocritical nature, that pretends one thing and does another : but nature that puts together things of a diflimilar kind, as a brave foul and a deformed body. WARBURTON. Dilenbling is here put very licentiouiiy for fraudful, deceitful.

Johụson. ? And descant on mine own deformity:] Defiant is a term in music, fignifying in general that kind of harmony wherein one part is broken and formed into a kind of paraphrase on the other. The propriety and elegance of the above figure, without such an idea of the nature of defcant, could not be discerned.

Sir J. HAWKINS. 8 And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover, ] Shakespeare very diligently inculcates, that the wickedness of Richard proceeded from his deformity, from the envy that rose at the comparison of his own person with others, and which incited him to diiturb the pleasures that he could not partake. Johnson. 9 And hate the idle pleafures-] Perhaps we might read : And bate the iille pleasures

JOHNSON. inductions dangerous,] Preparations for mischief. The induction is preparatory to the action of the play. Johnson.

Maríton has put this line, with little variation, into the mouth of Fame : Plots ha' you laid ? inductions dangerous ?”

STEEVENS,

And

And, if king · Edward be as true and just,
As I am subtle, false, and treacherous,
This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up;
About a prophesy, which says—that G
Of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul ! here Clarence

comes.

Enter Clarence guarded, and Brakenbury. Brother, good day: What means this armed guard, That waits upon your grace ?

Clar. His majesty,
Tendering my person's safety, hath appointed
This conduct to convey me to the Tower.

Glo. Upon what cause ?
Cla. Because my name is–George.

Glo. Alack, my lord, that fault is none of yours;
He should, for that, commit your godfathers :
O, belike, his majesty hath some intent,
That you should be new christen’d in the Tower.
But what's the matter, Clarence ? may I know?

Clar. Yea, Richard, when I know ; for, I protest, As yet I do not : But, as I can learn, He hearkens after prophefies, and dreams; And from the cross-row plucks the letter G, And says—a wizard told him, that by G His iffue difinherited should be ; And, for my name of George begins with G', It follows in his thought, that I am he :

2

-Edward be as true and just,] i, e, as open-hearted and free from deceit. WARBURTON. The meaning is only this; if Edward keeps his word.

Johnson. 3 And, for my name of George begins with G, &c.] So, in Ni. cols's Tragical Life and Death of Richard III:

“ By that blind riddle of the letter G,
• George lost his life ; it took effect in me." STEEVENS.

These,

В 4

These, as I learn, and such like toys as these 4,
Have mov'd his highness to commit me now.
Glo. Why, this it is, when men are ruld by

women :-
Tis not the king, that sends you to the Tower;
My lady Grey his wife, Clarence, 'tis she,
That tempts him to this harsh extremity.
Was it not she, and that good man of worship,
Anthony Woodeville, her brother there,
That made him send lord Hastings to the Tower ;
From whence this present day he is deliver'd ?
We are not safe, Clarence, we are not safe.

Clar. By heaven, I think, there is no man secure,
But the queen's kindred, and night-walking heralds
That trudge betwixt the king and mistress Shore.
Heard you not, what an humble suppliant
Lord Hastings was to her for his delivery?

Glo. 5 Humbly complaining to her deity
Got my lord chamberlain his liberty.
I'll tell you what,- I think, it is our way,
If we will keep in favour with the king,
To be her men, and wear her livery :

The jealous o'er-worn widow, and herself,
Since that our brother dubb'd them gentlewomen,
Are mighty gossips in this monarchy.

Brak. I beseech your graces both to pardon me ; His majesty hath ftraitly given in charge, That no man shall have private conference, Of what degree foever, with his brother.

Glo. Even fo? an please your worship, Brakenbury, You may partake of any thing we say : We speak no treafon, man ;-We say, the king Is wise, and virtuous ; and his noble queen

6

4 -toys-] Fancies, freaks of imagination. Johnson.

s Humbly complaining &c.] I think these two lines might be better given to Clarence. JOHNSON.

• The jealous o'er-worn widow, and herself,] That is, the queen and Shore. JOHNSON.

Well

Well struck in years ?'; fair, and not jealous :-
We say, that Shore's wife hath a pretty foot,
A cherry lip, a bonny eye, a paffing pleasing tongue;
That the queen's kindred are made gentle-folks :
How say you, fir ? can you deny all this?

Brak. With this, my lord, myself have nought

to do.

Glo. Naught to do with mistress Shore ? I tell thee,

fellow,
He that doth naught with her, excepting one,
Were best to do it secretly, alone.

Brak. What one, my lord ?
Glo. Her husband, knave :—Would'st thou betray

me ?
Brak. I beseech your grace to pardon me; and,

withal,
Forbear your conference with the noble duke.
Clar. We know thy charge, Brakenbury, and will

obey.
Glo. We are the 8 queen's abjects, and must obey.
Brother, farewel : I will unto the king;
And whatsoe'er you will employ me in,-
Were it, to call king Edward's widow-fifter',-

I will

7 Well struck in years ;] This odd expression in our language was preceded by one as uncouth though of a similar kind.

" Well shot in years he seem'd. &c.] Spenser's F. Queen, B. V. c. vi: The meaning of neither is

very

obvious; but as Mr. Warton has observed in his Essay on the Faery Queen, by an imperceptible progression from one kindred sense to another, words at length obtain a meaning entirely foreign to their original etymology. STEEVENS.

the queen's abject] That is, not the queen's Subjects, whom she might protect, but her abjects, whom she drives away. Johnson.

Were it to call king Edvard's widow-fifter,] This is a very covert and subtle manner of insinuating treason. The natural expression would have been, were it to call king Edward's wife, fifter. I will folicit for you, though it should be at the expence of so much degradation and conftraint, as to own the low-born wife of King Edward for a fifter. But by flipping, as it were

casually,