Page 29, ll. 4-6 [Stz. 64]. "In Ensignes there, Some wore the Armes of their most ancient Towne, Others againe their owne Diuises beare." —The catalogue which follows is entirely in the spirit of Italian romantic poetry, and may be especially compared with that of Agramante's allies and their insignia in the "Orlando Innamorato." In many instances the device, as Drayton says, represents the escutcheon of some town within the county; in others he seems to have been indebted to his imagination, though endeavouring not unsuccessfully to adduce some reason for his choice.

Page 30, l. 11 [Stz. 68]. "Brack." —Brine.

Page 30, l. 20 [Stz. 69]. "Lyam." —A band or thong by which to lead a hound; hence lyme-hound.

Page 31, l. 3 [Stz. 71]. "A Golden Fleece and Hereford doth weare." —Grammar requires this line to begin And Hereford. Awkward dislocations, however, are not infrequent in Drayton.

Page 31, l. 6. "The Shiere whose surface seems most brute." —George Eliot, like Drayton a native of fertile Warwickshire, entitles the neighbouring county Stonyshire.

Page 33, l. 17 [Stz. 80]. "The Fleet then full," etc. —Compare this fine stanza, which might have been written by one who had never been on shipboard, with the still more poetical and at the same time intensely realistic one of Shakespeare ("Henry V.," act iii., prologue), which proves that he must have been at sea on some occasion:

"Play with your fancies, and in them behold Upon the hempen tackle ship-boys climbing; Hear the shrill whistle which doth order give To sounds confused; behold the threaden sails, Borne with the invisible and creeping wind, Draw the huge bottoms through the furrowed sea."

Page 34, ll. 9, 10 [Stz. 83]. "Long Boates with Scouts are put to land before, Vpon light Naggs the Countrey to discry." —"Before day-break the next morning, Wednesday the 14th of August, John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon, Sir Gilbert Umfreville, and Sir John Cornwall, were sent with a party of cavalry to reconnoitre Harfleur and its vicinity, with the view of selecting a proper situation for the encampment of the army" (Sir Harris Nicolas).

Page 35, l. 1 [Stz. 86]. "To the high'st earth whilst awfull Henry gets." —Whilst must here be taken as = meanwhile.

Page 35, l. 3. "With sprightly words" etc. —The confusion in this line is evidently due to the printer. Drayton must have written: "And thus with sprightly words," etc.

Page 35, l. 9 [Stz. 87]. "He first of all proclaim'd." —"A proclamation was issued forbidding under pain of death a repetition of some excesses which had been committed, and commanding that henceforth the houses should not be set on fire, or the churches or other sacred places violated, and that the persons of women and priests should be held sacred" (Sir Harris Nicolas). Holinshed adds, "or to any suche as should be founde withoute weapon or armor, and not ready to make resistance."

Page 36, l. 30 [Stz. 93]. "Shee so instructed is by Natures Lawes." —A characteristic instance of this excellent poet's frequent and unaccountable lapses into bathos.

Page 38, l. 7 [Stz. 98]. "Whose Mynes to the besieg'd more mischiefe doe." —Holinshed, however, admits that the French "with their countermining somewhat disappointed the Englishmen, and came to fight with them hand to hand within the mynes, so that they went no further forward with that worke."

Page 41, l. 30 [Stz. 113]. "But on his bare feete to the Church he came." —"He dismounted at the gate, took off his shoes and stockings, and proceeded barefoot to the church of St. Martin, where he gave solemn thanks to God for his success" (Sir Harris Nicolas, quoting the French chroniclers), Holinshed mentions Henry's repairing to the church to offer thanks, but omits the picturesque circumstance of his going thither barefoot, and passes over his entrance into the town in the briefest possible manner. It is an interesting proof of Shakespeare's dependence upon the chronicler to find him equally ignoring any solemn entry or prolonged sojourn:

"To-night in Harfleur will we be your guest, To-morrow for the march are we addrest."

In fact, as Drayton tells us, he remained eight days in Harfleur, awaiting the Dauphin's reply to his challenge, which Holinshed does not mention. Shakespeare, Drayton, and Holinshed alike pass over the exceedingly picturesque circumstance of the expulsion of the women and children under escort of the English troops. Drayton only says: "Out of the Ports all Vagrants he doth driue."

Page 42, ll. 7, 8 [Stz. 114]. "He frankly off'reth in a single fight, With the young Daulphine to decide his right." —Sir Harris Nicolas remarks: "Of the personal valour which that letter displays on the part of Henry but little can be said, for the challenger was about twenty-seven years of age, and in the full vigour of manhood, whilst his adversary, of whose prowess or bodily strength there is not the slightest evidence, and who died in the December following, had not attained his twentieth year."

Page 43, ll. 15, 16 [Stz. 119]. "A Ford was found to set his Army ore Which neuer had discouered beene before." —This cannot be, for the anonymous priest to whose narrative as an eyewitness of the campaign we are so deeply indebted, says, "The approach was by two long but narrow causeways, which the French had before warily broken through the middle" (Nicolas, p. 233).

Page 44, l. 1 [Stz. 122]. "Therfore they both in solemne Counsaile satt." —This council was held on October 20th, five days before Agincourt. "The opinions of the different members," says Sir Harris Nicolas, "are very minutely given by Des Ursins."

Page 44, l. 2. "Britaine." —Brittany. The Duke of Brittany, in fact, did not arrive in time to take part in the battle.

Page 44, l. 17 [Stz. 124]. "A Route of tatter'd Rascalls starued so." —Holinshed's description of the condition of the English army is most graphic: "The English men were brought into great misery in this journey, their victuall was in maner spent, and nowe coulde they get none: for their enemies had destroied all the corne before they came: reste could they none take, for their enemies were ever at hande to give them alarmes: dayly it rained, and nightly it freesed: of fewell there was great scarsitie, but of fluxes greate plenty: money they hadde enoughe, but of wares to bestowe it uppon for their reliefe or comforte, hadde they little or none. And yet in this great necessitye the poore people of the countrey were not spoiled, nor any thyng taken of them wythout payment, neyther was any outrage or offence done by the Englishemenne of warre, except one, whiche was, that a folish souldiour stale a pixe out of a churche." Shakespeare's use of this incident is well known.

Page 46, l. 28 [Stz. 133]. "Spirits." —Must here be pronounced as a monosyllable, as at p. 67, l. 18.

Page 48, l. 6 [Stz. 138]. "Till their foule noyse doth all the ayre infest." —Drayton probably stands alone among English poets in disliking the music of the rookery.

Page 49, l. 15 [Stz. 143]. "Quoyts, Lots, and Dice for Englishmen to cast." —"The captaines had determined before howe to devide the spoile, and the souldiours the night before had plaid the englishemen at dice" (Holinshed).

Page 50, l. 9 [Stz. 147]. "And cast to make a Chariot for the King." —This circumstance also is mentioned by Holinshed, and is authenticated by the anonymous priest.

Page 50, ll. 31, 32 [Stz. 149]. "Some pointing Stakes to stick into the ground, To guard the Bow-men." —Henry had ordered the archers to provide themselves with stakes even before the passage of the Somme.

Page 51, l. 25 [Stz. 153]. "King Richards wrongs, to minde, Lord doe not call." —Drayton evidently follows Shakespeare, but remains a long way behind:

"Not to-day, O Lord, O, not to-day, think not upon the fault My father made in compassing the crown! I Richard's body have interred new: And on it have bestowed more contrite tears Than from it issued forced drops of blood: Five hundred poor I have in yearly pay, Who twice a day their withered hands hold up Toward heaven, to pardon blood; and I have built Two chantries, where the sad and solemn priests Sing still for Richard's soul. More will I do; Though all that I can do is nothing worth, Since that my penitence comes after all, Imploring pardon."

Henry V., act iv., sc. 1.

Shakespeare's infinite superiority in moral delicacy, not merely to his imitator, but to all poets except the very best, is forcibly shown by his causing Henry to abstain from all attempts to excuse his father and himself at the expense of Richard, so natural in the mouth of an ordinary person, so unbecoming a hero.

Page 52, ll. 6, 7 [Stz. 154]. "When as that Angell to whom God assign'd The guiding of the English." —This fine passage may very probably have been in Dryden's mind when he planned the machinery of his unwritten epic, and in Addison's when he penned the famous simile of the Angel in his poem on Blenheim.

Page 52, ll. 29, 30 [Stz. 157]. "Foorth that braue King couragious Henry goes, An hower before that it was fully light." —No personal reconnoissance on Henry's part is mentioned by the historians, although Sir Harris Nicolas says, on the authority of Elmham: "About the middle of the night, before the moon set, Henry sent persons to examine the ground, by whose report he was better able to draw up his forces on the next day." As the English were the assailants, the precaution of posting the archers behind the quickset hedge would have proved unnecessary.

Page 55, l. 27 [Stz. 169]. "His coruetting Courser." —"A little grey horse." He wore no spurs, probably to show his men that he entertained no thought of flight.

Page 56, l. 20 [Stz. 172]. "To know what he would for his Ransome pay." —This is mentioned by Holinshed, but cannot be true, for all contemporary authorities agree that the French sent envoys to Henry on the morning of the battle offering him a free passage to Calais upon condition of surrendering Harfleur. This would seem to indicate that the leaders did not fully share the confidence of their troops.

Page 57, ll. 3, 4 [Stz. 174]. "And strongly fixe the Diadem of France, Which to this day vnsteady doth remaine." —No Frenchman could have said this on such an occasion. Drayton would make for any port when in stress of rhyme.

Page 57, l. 16 [Stz. 175]. "Thus to his Souldiers comfortably spake." —Drayton's version of his speech in the main agrees with Holinshed's. Shakespeare, usually so close a follower of Holinshed, substitutes an oration entirely of his own composition. The beautiful lines—

"For he this day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile This day shall gentle his condition"—

appear to be derived from the same source as the exaggerated statement of Archbishop Des Ursins, that on another occasion Henry promised that his plebeian soldiers should be ennobled and invested with collars of SS. This cannot be taken directly from Des Ursins, whose history of the reign of Charles VI., though written in the fifteenth century, was not published until 1614.

Page 58, ll. 9, 10 [Stz. 179]. "When hearing one wish all the valiant men At home in England, with them present were." —According to the anonymous monk, who may be fully relied upon, the speaker was Sir Walter Hungerford. Shakespeare puts the sentiment into the mouth of the Earl of Westmorland.

Page 59, l. 9 [Stz. 183]. "At the full Moone looke how th'vnweldy Tide" etc. —These lines are clearly a reminiscence of Shakespeare's—

"Let the brow o'erwhelm it As fearfully as doth a galled rock O'erhang and jutty his confounded base, Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean."

Henry V., prologue to act iii.

Page 62, l. 21 [Stz. 196]. "Dampeir." —Chatillon, Admiral of France, was also Lord of Dampierre. It must be by inadvertence that Sir Harris Nicolas (p. 121) speaks of Cliquet de Brabant, whom Drayton calls Cluet, as Admiral.

Page 63, l. 6 [Stz. 198]. "Could." —Must have been pronounced cold, as it was sometimes written. See also p. 83, l. 26.

Page 63, l. 16 [Stz. 199]. "Cantels." —Corners (Germ. Kant); hence = morsels, though Shakespeare speaks of "a monstrous cantle."

Page 66, ll. 11, 12 [Stz. 211]. "Bespeaking them with honourable words Themselues their prisoners freely and confesse." —One of Drayton's awkward inversions. The anonymous ecclesiastic says that some of the French nobles surrendered themselves more than ten times, and were slain after all.

Page 72, l. 15 [Stz. 235]. "In comes the King his Brothers life to saue." —"The Duke of Gloucester, the King's brother, was sore wounded about the hippes, and borne down to the ground, so that he fel backwards, with his feete towards his enemies, whom the King bestridde, and like a brother valiantly rescued him from his enimies, and so saving his life, caused him to be conveyed out of the fight into a place of more safetie" (Holinshed).

Page 72, ll. 25, 26 [Stz. 237]. "Vpon the King Alanzon prest so sore, That with a stroke," etc. —There seems no contemporary authority for the single combat between Henry and Alencon of which Shakespeare has made such ingenious use in his management of the incident of Henry's glove. According to one account, Alencon struck at the King somewhat unfairly as he was stooping to aid his brother, and smote off a piece of his crown. According to another authority, the blow was given by one of a band of eighteen knights who had sworn to strike the diadem from Henry's head, or perish in the attempt, as they all did.

Page 82, l. 28 [Stz. 277]. "Nock." —Notch.

Page 83, l. 16 [Stz. 279]. "Tue." —Must be pronounced as a dissyllable; but the French cry was more probably tuez.

Page 85, l. 28 [Stz. 289]. "Base." —Run as at prisoners' base. Murray's "Dictionary" cites one example of the use of the word in this sense, which is from Warner's "Albion's England," a poem read and admired by Drayton.

Page 87, l. 27 [Stz. 297]. "Clunasse." —A misprint for Clamasse.

Page 87, l. 27. "Dorpe" = thorpe, a word revived by Tennyson in "The Brook."

Page 88, ll. 17, 18 [Stz. 300]. "And in his rage he instantly commands, That euery English should his prisoner kill."—

"I was not angry since I came to France Until this instant."

Henry V., act iv., sc. 7.

Page 92, l. 15 [Stz. 315]. "And so tow'rds Callice brauely marching on." —This is certainly a flat conclusion. It is surprising that Drayton made no use of the appearance of the herald Montjoy on the field, with confession of defeat and appeal for—

"Charitable licence, That we may wander o'er this bloody field To book our dead, and then to bury them."

Henry V., act iv., sc. 7.



TO MY FRINDS THE CAMBER-BRITANS AND THEYR HARP.

It has already been observed in the Introduction that this grand lyric gave the model for Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade." This latter poem appears along with "Maud," and another piece in the same slender volume contains unequivocal proof of the Laureate's acquaintance with Drayton. In the powerful poem entitled "Will" occur the lines—

"Sown in a wrinkle of the monstrous hill, The city sparkles like a grain of salt."

In a passage of Song IX. of the "Polyolbion," excerpted by Mr. Bullen, Drayton says—

"The mightie Giant-heape so less and lesser still Appeareth to the eye, untill the monstrous hill At length shewes like a cloud; and further being cast, Is out of kenning quite."

The identity of epithet might possibly be accidental, but the resemblance extends to the entire passage.

A singularly beautiful stanza from Drayton's "Barons' Warres," also in Mr. Bullen's selection, must have been unconsciously present to Shelley's mind when he wrote in "The Witch of Atlas"—

"While on her hearth lay blazing many a piece Of sandal wood, rare gems, and cinnamon. Men scarcely know how beautiful fire is; Each flame of it is as a precious stone Dissolved in ever-moving light, and this Belongs to each and all who gaze thereon."

Drayton writes:

"The Fire of precious Wood, the Light Perfume Which left a sweetnesse on each thing it shone, As every thing did to it selfe assume The Sent from them and made the same their owne So that the painted Flowres within the Roome Were sweet, as if they naturally had growne; The Light gave Colours, which upon them fell, And to the Colours the Perfume gave smell."

A still stronger proof of the extent to which Shelley had unconsciously imbibed the spirit of Drayton is afforded by a comparison of the noble speech of Fame in "The tragicall legend of Robert Duke of Normandie" (Bullen, pp. 25, 27) with Shelley's still finer "Hymn of Apollo." There is hardly any instance of direct verbal resemblance; but the metre, the strain of sentiment, the oratorical pose, the mental and moral attitude of the two poems are so much alike as to justify the assertion that the younger owes its form and much of its spirit to the older.

The following is the Roxburghe version of the ballad of the Dauphin's present of tennis-balls, mentioned at p. 106:—

KING HENRY V. HIS CONQUEST OF FRANCE, In Revenge for the Affront Offered by the French King; In Sending Him (Instead of the Tribute) A Ton of Tennis-Balls.

As our King lay musing on his bed, He bethought himself upon a time, Of a tribute that was due from France, Had not been paid for so long a time. Fal, lal, etc.

He called for his lovely page, His lovely page then called he; Saying, You must go to the King of France, To the King of France, sir, ride speedily.

O then went away this lovely page, This lovely page then away went he; Low he came to the King of France, And then fell down on his bended knee.

My master greets you, worthy sir, Ten ton of Gold that is due to he, That you will send his tribute home, Or in French land you soon him will see. Fal, lal, etc.

Your master's young and of tender years, Not fit to come into my degree, And I will send him three Tennis-Balls That with them he may learn to play.

O then returned this lovely page, This lovely page then returned he, And when he came to our gracious King, Low he fell down on his bended knee.

[A line cut off.] What is the news you have brought to me? I have brought such news from the King of France That he and you will ne'er agree.

He says, You're young and of tender years, Not fit to come to his degree; And he will send you three Tennis-Balls That with them you may learn to play.

Recruit me Cheshire and Lancashire, And Derby Hills that are so free; No marry'd man, or widow's son, For no widow's curse shall go with me.

They recruited Cheshire and Lancashire, And Derby Hills that are so free; No marry'd man, nor no widow's son, Yet there was a jovial bold company.

O then we march'd into the French land With drums and trumpets so merrily; And then bespoke the King of France, Lo yonder comes proud King Henry.

The first shot that the Frenchmen gave They kill'd our Englishmen so free, We kill'd ten thousand of the French, And the rest of them they run away.

And then we marched to Paris gates, With drums and trumpets so merrily, O then bespoke the King of France, The Lord have mercy on my men and me.

O I will send him his tribute home, Ten ton of Gold that is due to he, And the finest flower that is in all France, To the Rose of England I will give free.

CHISWICK PRESS:—C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Errors and inconsistencies noted by transcriber:

"Henry the Fift" [this spelling is used consistently]

except the "Faery Queen," [spelling unchanged] next to the Miter and Phaenix [error for "Phoenix" in original]

[Stz. 3 sidenote] ... Dowglas [spelled "Dowglass" in main text] [Stz. 5 and editor's note] When presently a Parliament is calld [error for "call'd" in original] [Stz. 94 sidenote] ... in the 19 following Stanzaes. [spelling unchanged] [Stz. 267 sidenote] the word Frappe Fort [text unchanged]

Page 35, l. 9 [Stz. 87]. "A proclamation was issued... [open quote missing] In the powerful poem entitled "Will" ["en-/entitled" at line break] Low he fell down on his bended knee. [fell dowh]

Abbreviated nasals:

The form "e" (e with overline) occurs twice, and o (o with overline) three times:

Stanza 19 sidenote: Examples of such as haue aduanced theselues [themselues] Stanza 65, note c: An expressio of King Harolds death [expression] Stanza 116, last line: To scourge proud France whe now her Coqueror comes [when ... Conqueror] Stanza 167ff. sidenote: The Marshalling of the English Army cotaining... [containing]

U and V

In the main poem, v is used initially, u non-initially. Exceptions are rare:

[Stz. 92] levied [Stz. 107] Tuttivile [Stz. 120] divulg'd [Stz. 127] invectiue [Stz. 163] wherevpon [Stz. 164] Averney [Stz. 296] Burnivile

THE END