Part 45

=33=, 84-87. =Thrice pluckt . . . scap't.= The accumulation of personal pronouns makes the interpretation somewhat difficult: thrice D'Ambois plucked at it, and thrice drew on thrusts from Barrisor who darted hither and thither like flame, and continued thrusting as D'Ambois plucked; yet, incredible to relate, the latter escaped injury.

=33=, 90. =only made more horrid with his wound:= Barrisor being only rendered fiercer by his wound. The construction is loose, as grammatically the words should qualify D'Ambois.

=33=, 92. =redoubled in his danger:= thrusting himself into danger for the second time. For this peculiar use of redoubled cf. l. 190, "on my knees redoubled," and note.

=33=, 94. =Arden.= Probably to be no more identified here with the Warwickshire district of this name than in As You Like It. Ardennes would be more appropriate on a Frenchman's lips, but the district belongs to the realm of fancy as much as Armenia in l. 117.

=33=, 97. =he gan to nodde.= An anacoluthon. The construction should be "begin to nodde" after "I have seene an oke" in l. 94, but the intervening participial clauses produce irregularity. Similarily in l. 101 "he fell" should be "fall" and "hid" should be "hide."

=33=, 103-104. =Of ten set . . . Navarre.= The war between Henry III and Henry of Navarre continued from 1587 to 1589, but the "ten set battles" are without historical foundation.

=34=, 105. [=Montsurry.=] See note on stage direction at beginning of the scene.

=34=, 108. =felt report:= probably, account related with feeling.

=34=, 121. =the treasure of his brow:= his horn.

=34=, 122. =shelter of a tree.= Unicorns were supposed to be worsted in encounters by their adversaries sheltering behind trees, in which they impaled themselves. Spenser, F. Q. II, 5, 10, describes how a lion defeats a unicorn by this stratagem. Cf. Jul. Caes. II, 1, 303-04.

"He loves to hear That unicorns may be betray'd with trees."

=34=, 128. =th' tw' other=, i. e. Pyrrhot and Melynell.

=35=, 130. =hunt Honour at the view.= A rare metaphorical application of the technical phrase, "hunt at the view."

=35.= [=Exit Nuntius.=] The editor has inserted this, as the Qq do not indicate when the Nuncius departs, and, with the entrance of Bussy, there is no further need of him. =bare:= bareheaded.

=35=, 141-44. =If ever Nature . . . one.= Difficult lines, which may be paraphrased: if ever Nature's bond maintained its strength, when subjected to the severe test of bridging the distance between sovereign and subject, both sprung from the same seed, now prove that in elevated stations she can show her nobility.

=36=, 156. =that=, i. e. positive law.

=36=, 157. =prefixing:= settling beforehand.

=36=, 164. =this fact, though of justice:= this action, though done in the name of justice.

=37=, 170. =he=, i. e. his enemy.

=37=, 175-76. =which . . . him:= which is more precious than a human life, which is inferior in value to it, and which was rightly forfeited to him through ill-doing.

=37=, 190. =This is a grace.= The grace or boon for which Bussy asks is explained by him in ll. 193-203. "This" usually refers to something that has gone before, =on my knees redoubled:= going down for the second time on my knees--from which he had risen after l. 179.

=37=, 192. =And shall=, i. e. And which grace shall.

=38=, 198-204. =Let me . . . King indeed.= With this assertion of man's original "Kingship" cf. The Gentleman Usher, V, 1.

And what's a prince? Had all been virtuous men, There never had been prince upon the earth, And so no subject: all men had been princes. A virtuous man is subject to no prince, But to his soul and honour.

=38.= [=Exit Rex cum Montsurry.=] See note on stage direction at beginning of this scene.

=40=, 18. =Although she be my ante.= From these words we learn that Beaupre is niece to the Duke and Duchess of Guise. Compare III, ii, 188, and the reference to "my lady, your niece" in the passage in Qq 1607 and 1608 quoted in the textual note on III, ii, 233.

=42=, 49. =an agent for my bloud:= an instrument in the satisfaction of my passions.

=42=, 57-58. =his retiring . . . aspiring:= his retirement to a position of inferiority will satisfy my aspirations.