Hot. And I say, the earth was not of my mind, If you suppose, as fearing you it shook. Glend. The heavens were all on fire, the earth did tremble. Hot. O, then the earth shook to see the heavens on fire, And not in fear of your nativity. Diseased nature1 oftentimes breaks forth Within her womb; which, for enlargement striving, Glend. Cousin, of many men I am not in the roll of common men. Which calls me pupil, or hath read to me? 1 Diseased nature-] The poet has here taken, from the perverseness and contrariousness of Hotspur's temper, an opportunity of raising his character, by a very rational and philosophical confutation of superstitious error. JoHNSON. 2 and topples down -] To topple is to tumble. Hot. I think, there is no man speaks better Welsh:: I will to dinner. Mort. Peace, cousin Percy; you will make him mad. Glend. I can call spirits from the vasty deep. Hot. Why, so can I; or so can any man: But will they come, when you do call for them? Glend. Why, I can teach you, cousin, to command The devil. Hot. And I can teach thee, coz, to shame the devil, By telling truth; Tell truth, and shame the devil.If thou have power to raise him, bring him hither, And I'll be sworn, I have power to shame him hence. O, while you live, tell truth, and shame the devil. Mort. Come, come, No more of this unprofitable chat. Glend. Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke made head Against my power: thrice from the banks of Wye, And sandy-bottom'd Severn, have I sent him, Bootless home, and weather-beaten back.. Hot. Home without boots, and in foul weather too! How 'scapes he agues, in the devil's name? Glend. Come, here's the map; Shall we divide our right, According to our three-fold order ta'en? Mort. The archdeacon hath divided it England, from Trent and Severn hitherto, The remnant northward, lying off from Trent. (A business that this night may execute,) My father Glendower is not ready yet, Nor shall we need his help these fourteen days:Within that space, [To GLEND.] you may have drawn together Your tenants, friends, and neighbouring gentle men. Glend. A shorter time shall send me to you, lords, And in my conduct shall your ladies come: From whom you now must steal, and take no leave;' For there will be a world of water shed, Upon the parting of your wives and you. 3 Hot. Methinks, my moiety, north from Burton here, In quantity equals not one of yours: It shall not wind with such a deep indent, Glend. Not wind? it shall, it must; you see, it doth. 3 Methinks, my moiety,] The division is here into three parts, -A moiety was frequently used by the writers of Shakspeare's age, as a portion of any thing, though not divided into two equal parts. 4 cantle out.] A cantle is a corner, or piece of any thing. Mort. Yea, But mark, how he bears his course, and runs me up As on the other side it takes from you. Wor. Yea, but a little charge will trench him here, And on this north side win this cape of land; Hot. I'll have it so; a little charge will do it. Hot. Glend. No, nor you shall not. Glend. Why, that will I. Hot. Speak it in Welsh. Will not you? Who shall say me nay? Let me not understand you then, Glend. I can speak English, lord, as well as you; For I was train'd up in the English court:" Where, being but young, I framed to the harp And gave the tongue a helpful ornament; heart; Hot. Marry, and I'm glad of it with all my For I was train'd up in the English court:] The real name of Owen Glendower was Vaughan, and he was originally a barrister of the Middle Temple. 6 the tongue ] The English language. 7 - a brazen canstick turn'd,] The word candlestick, which destroys the harmony of the line, is written canstick in the quartos, 1598, 1599, and 1608; and so it was pronounced. Heywood, and several of the old writers, constantly spell it in this manner. 'Tis like the forc'd gait of a shuffling nag. But, in the way of bargain, mark ye me, Are the indentures drawn? shall we be gone? I'll haste the writer, and, withal, Break with your wives of your departure hence: [Exit. Mort. Fye, cousin Percy! how you cross my fa ther! Hot. I cannot choose: sometimes he angers me, A clip-wing'd griffin, and a moulten raven, But mark'd him not a word. O, he's as tedious Worse than a smoky house:-I had rather live 9 8 I'll haste the writer,] He means the writer of the articles. of the moldwarp and the ant,] This alludes to an old prophecy, which is said to have induced Owen Glendower to take arms against King Henry. The mould-warp is the mole, so called because it renders the surface of the earth unlevel by the hillocks which it raises. |