Richard II (31 page)

²⁸¹Rainold … Exeter
in fact, it was the young Earl of Arundel who escaped from Exeter’s custody; it seems likely that a line is missing here and many editors insert a line based on Shakespeare’s source, Holinshed’s
Chronicles
: “Thomas, son and heir to th’Earl of Arundel”

²⁸²broke
escaped

²⁸³His
i.e. the Earl of Arundel’s

²⁸⁶furnished
equipped

²⁸⁷tall
large, grand

²⁸⁸expedience
haste

²⁹⁰had ere this
would have done already
stay
await

²⁹³Imp out
repair by inserting new feathers (falconry term)

²⁹⁴broking pawn
being pledged to a pawnbroker

²⁹⁵gilt
gold (puns on “guilt”)

²⁹⁷post
haste
Ravenspurgh
a former Yorkshire port on the River Humber

²⁹⁸faint
lose heart, are nervous

³⁰¹Hold … horse
as long as my horse holds out

³heaviness
sorrow

⁴entertain
maintain/receive

¹⁴shadows
mirrored reflections, insubstantial things

¹⁶glazèd
glassed over/covered with a film

¹⁷thing entire to
complete thing into

¹⁸perspectives
optical devices incorporating mirrors that produce distorted images/seemingly distorted paintings that only become clear when viewed from a particular angle
rightly
directly, from the front

¹⁹awry
obliquely, from the side

²⁰Distinguish form
make their shape clear, reveal order

²²himself
the original grief/Richard’s departure
wail
bewail, lament

²⁵More
for more

²⁷for
in place of/because of

³⁰heavy
weightily/sorrowfully

³¹on … think
dwelling anxiously on nothing, on the absence of thought

³³conceit
imagination (the queen shifts the sense to “thought, understanding”)

³⁴nothing less
i.e. far from it
still
always

³⁶begot
conceived, created
something
substantial, actual

³⁷grieve
grieve for, feel sorrow over

³⁸in reversion
i.e. as a legacy, not yet inherited

⁴⁰wot
know, believe

⁴⁵wherefore
why

⁴⁶retired
pulled back (from Ireland)

⁴⁸strongly
with a powerful military force

⁴⁹repeals himself
recalls himself from exile/revokes his sentence of banishment

⁵⁰uplifted arms
arms raised in prayer/brandished weapons

⁶⁰staff
i.e. the symbol of his role as Steward of the king’s household

⁶¹household
i.e. royal establishment

⁶⁴heir
child, offspring

⁶⁵prodigy
portent/monster

⁷¹cozening
deceitful (may play on “cousin”)

⁷³bands
bonds

⁷⁴lingers
draws out, causes to linger
in extremity
to the very end/the final moments of life

⁷⁷careful
anxious, care-filled

⁷⁸comfortable
comforting

⁸⁰crosses
obstacles

⁸¹save
protect (his rule in Ireland)

⁸³underprop
support, prop up

⁸⁵surfeit
excess, overindulgence

⁸⁶try
put to the test

⁸⁷son
i.e. the Duke of Aumerle

⁸⁹cold
unenthusiastic/unmoved

⁹¹Sirrah
sir (used to an inferior)
sister
sister-in-law

⁹²presently
immediately

⁹³take my ring
i.e. as a sign that the message is genuinely from York

⁹⁹Heav’n
i.e. I pray heaven (God)

¹⁰¹would
wish

¹⁰²So
provided that
untruth
disloyalty

¹⁰³brother’s
i.e. the murdered Gloucester’s

¹⁰⁴posts
messengers

¹⁰⁵do
manage, provide

¹⁰⁹muster
assemble in readiness for action

¹¹³oath
i.e. of allegiance

¹¹⁶kindred
kinship, family bond

¹¹⁷somewhat
something

¹¹⁸Dispose of
make arrangements for

¹²⁰Berkeley Castle
a castle in Gloucestershire, near Bristol

¹²³at … seven
in chaos

¹²⁴sits
i.e. blows

¹²⁵power
troops

¹²⁹those
those who

¹³³generally
universally/by the people

¹³⁴judgement … we
they are to be judges, then our fate lies in their hands

¹³⁶straight
(go) straightaway

¹³⁸office
service

¹³⁹hateful
hate-filled

¹⁴⁰curs
dogs

¹⁴³presages
forebodings
vain
wrong, in vain

¹⁴⁵as
depends on how

⁹Cottshold
the Cotswolds, rural area covering part of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire

¹⁰In
by
wanting
lacking

¹¹beguiled
whiled away

¹²tediousness and process
tedious course

¹⁶By this
in this way/with this hope

²²whencesoever
wherever he may be

²⁶forsook
abandoned, rejected

³⁵levied
raised

³⁶repair
go

⁴²tender
offer (sense then shifts to “youthful, inexperienced”)

⁴⁵approvèd
proven

⁴⁶gentle
noble/courteous/kind

⁴⁹fortune
success, luck/wealth

⁵⁰still
always

⁵²stir
events, activity

⁵⁴yond
yonder, that
tuft
clump

⁵⁷estimate
repute

⁵⁹spurring
i.e. the blood of the horses they have spurred on so hard

⁶⁰wot
know

⁶²unfelt
i.e. not yet expressed through material reward
which
i.e. which
treasury

⁶⁶thanks … poor
i.e. gratitude is the only wealth the poor have

⁶⁷comes to years
reaches the age of maturity

⁷¹my … Lancaster
Bullingbrook will respond only to his proper title (Duke of Lancaster), inherited from his father, John of Gaunt

⁷⁴aught
anything

⁷⁶raze
erase/scrape
title
puns on “tittle,” i.e. tiniest part

⁷⁷what … will
whatever the title you wish me to use

⁷⁸glorious
illustrious, important

⁷⁹pricks
spurs

⁸⁰absent time
i.e. time during which the king is absent

⁸¹native
natural, inherent (with connotations of birth)
self-born
originating with you, brandished for your own cause (also “self-borne”—carried by yourself)

⁸⁵deceivable
deceptive

⁸⁷Grace … grace
don’t speak to me of “grace” (since your behavior is so
ungracious
)

⁸⁹ungracious
unmannerly/wicked/lacking in spiritual grace

⁹¹dust
particle of dust

⁹⁵ostentation of despisèd
display of despicable (because traitorous)

¹⁰¹Black Prince
Edward, Richard’s father and son of Edward III

¹⁰⁴palsy
weakness of the body, accompanied at times with tremor

¹⁰⁷On … wherein?
What point of law have I contravened and how?/What personal flaw am I deemed to have and how has it manifested itself?
condition
legal stipulation/personal quality; York shifts the sense to “circumstances”

¹¹²braving
defiant, boastfully flaunted

¹¹⁴for
as/to claim the title of

¹¹⁶indifferent
impartial

¹²¹perforce
forcibly

¹²²unthrifts
spendthrifts, wasteful people (with moral connotations)

¹²⁸rouse
expose, chase from hiding (hunting term)
bay
last stand (where the cornered animal turns on its hunters)

¹²⁹denied … liv’ry
refused the right to legally claim my inheritance

¹³⁰letters patents
documents signed by the king granting land or titles (Bullingbrook’s have been revoked by Richard)

¹³¹distrained
confiscated by law

¹³²amiss
wrongly

¹³⁴challenge law
claim my legal rights

¹³⁶of free descent
through legal succession