The Works of Christopher Marlowe Volume II Part 79

[195] Loon, worthless fellow.

[196] So ed. 1598.--Dyce prints "with," and neglects--contrary to his custom--to record the reading of the earlier copies.

[197] This line and the preceding occur with slight alteration in the _Ma.s.sacre of Paris_:--

"I'll fire his crazed buildings and incense The papal towers to kiss the holy [sic] earth."

[198] 4tos. "may."

[199] So the old copies.--Dyce reads "My _love_ drops down a tear."

[200] Care.

[201] "The entrance of Kent seems to have been marked here by mistake."--_Dyce_.

[202] 4tos. "Circes."

[203] So ed. 1598.--Ed. 1612 "that."

[204] So ed. 1598.--Dyce (who retains the verb "injury" in _1 Tamburlaine_, I, i.) prints silently "injures."

[205] Avail.

[206] Regard, consideration, Cf. _Hamlet_--

"There's the _respect_ That makes calamity of so long life."

[207] Lower.

[208] So ed. 1612.--ed. 1598 "soueraigne."

[209] Affianced him.

[210] Eds. 1598, 1612, "Hector." Ed. 1622 "The conquering _Hector did_ for Hilas weepe."

[211] Cf. _2 Henry VI._ i. 3:--

"She bears a _duke's revenue on her back_."

[212] Worthless fellows.

[213] So ed. 1598.--Later eds. "others."

[214] Scene: a hall in Gloucester's mansion.

[215] So ed. 1612.--Omitted in ed. 1598.

[216] Scene: before Tynemouth Castle.

[217] Reed refers to Pliny's _Nat. Hist_., ix. 19; but Pliny merely says that the exocoetus would leap on to a rocky ledge in warm weather and there bask in the sun. It is curious that Dyce, who was such an enthusiast for Athenaeus, did not refer his readers to the account of the exocoetus quoted from Clearchus in _Deipnos._ viii. 5. According to this authority the fish, when basking on the ledge, has to be constantly on his guard against king-fishers and the like, and when he sees them afar, flies leaping and gasping until he dives under the water. Perhaps Marlowe had in his mind some embellished account that he had found in Gesner or Bellonius.

[218] So ed. 1612.--Omitted in ed. 1598.

[219] Old eds. "_Edw._" (a misprint for "_Edm._"--the prefix in the 4tos. to Kent's speeches.)

[220] Old eds. "gresses" (for "gesses.")--"Jesses" were the straps round a hawk's legs, with rings (called "varvels,") to which the falconer's leash was attached.

[221] So ed. 1622.--Eds. 1598, 1612, "sure."

[222] Old eds. read:--

"_Pem._ Here, here, king: convey hence Gaveston, thaile murder him."

I have followed Dyce in giving the line "Convey hence Gaveston, &c.," to the king; but I do not agree with him in regarding "king" as a prefix (for in the old copies "_Edw._" is always the prefix to the king's speeches.)

[223] The reader cannot fail to be reminded of Hotspur:--

"But I will find him when he lies asleep, And in his ear I'll holla 'Mortimer!'"

[224] The scene s.h.i.+fts to the interior of Tynemouth Castle.

[225] So ed. 1612.--Ed. 1598 "would."

[226] So ed. 1612.--Ed. 1598 "thy _treasure_ drie and made _the_ weake."

[227] So modern editors.--Old eds. "hath."

[228] Light-armed foot soldiers, poor and undisciplined.--Compare a pa.s.sage in the _Contention of York and Lancaster_:--

"The wild Onele, my lord, is up in arms, With troops of Irish kernes that uncontroll'd Doth plant themselves within the English pale."

[229] Old eds. "made."--"Road,"="Inroad."

[230] old eds. "Drave."

[231] Cf. _3 Henry VI_. i. 1:--"Stern Faulconbridge _commands the narrow seas_."

[232] Against.

[233] Jeering.

[234] This jig (ballad) is taken with slight alteration from Fabyan's "Chronicle," ii. 169 (ed. 1559).--"The battle of Bannockburn," says Mr.

Fleay, "was fought in 1314, yet is here alluded to in a scene which is made up from narratives of events which occurred between 1309 and 1311.

This is a striking instance of Marlowe's carelessness in such matters."

[235] "Common burdens to songs; see Skelton's _Works_, ii. 110, ed.

Dyce."--_Dyce._