Chapter 9
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
End of Project Gutenberg's The Battaile of Agincourt, by Michael Drayton