SCRIPTURE
WITH THE VERSION HE USED
THOMAS CARTER
DR. THEOL.
Author of tl Shakespeare, Puritan and Recusant"
LONDON
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
27 PATERNOSTER ROW
1905
X
Cyi
TO MY FRIEND
WILLIAM MORTON OF ARDMILLAN
FOREWORD
I HAVE endeavoured to find out how far the English
Bible influenced the thought and formed the vocabulary
of the greatest of English writers. It is obvious that
the citing of passages which may be termed parallel has
its limitations, and that interesting parallels might be
discovered in any great literature. Words which are to
be found in Shakespeare and the Holy Scripture may
also have been the common property of the country
side. But a careful study of the poet reveals a wide
knowledge and use of Scripture, and one is therefore
justified in assuming that more remote parallels may
have arisen from the same source.
THE PLAYS ARE GIVEN IN THE ORDER OF THEIR PROBABLE
COMPOSITION.
PAGE
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST 1589-1594 .... 29
Two GENTLEMEN OF VERONA 39
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS .... 1589-1591 .... 44
ROMEO AND JULIET 1592 ..... 52
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY THE SIXTH . 1592 ..... 71
THE SECOND PART OF HENRY THE SIXTH 87
THE THIRD PART OF HENRY THE SIXTH 108
RICHARD THE THIRD 1597 120
RICHARD THE SECOND 1597 149
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE .... 1594 . ~T~ ". I" . 182
TITUS ANDRONICUS 199
KING JOHN 203
VENUS AND ADONIS
LUCRECE 217
THE SONNETS 221
A MIDSUMMER-NIGHT'S DREAM . . . 1595 225
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL . . . 1595 228
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW .... 1595 237
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY THE FOURTH . 1597 242
THE SECOND PART OF HENRY THE FOURTH 264
THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR . . . 1597-1598 .... 286
HENRY THE FIFTH 1598 293
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING .... 1599 318
As You LIKE IT 1599 325
TWELFTH NIGHT 336
viii CONTENTS
PAGE
JULIUS C^SAR 1601 343
HAMLET 1603 354
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 3 8 4
OTHELLO 1604 388
MEASURE FOR MEASURE 402
MACBETH 1605 415
KING LEAR 432
TIMON OF ATHENS 444
PERICLES 45
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA .... 1608 . . . . 451
CORIOLANUS 1609 457
CYMBELINE 1609-1610 .... 460
THE WINTER'S TALE 1610 466
THE TEMPEST . . . . . . . 1611 472
HENRY THE EIGHTH 1611 480
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE WAS BORN APRIL, 1564, AND DIED APRIL, 1616.
THE FIRST FOLIO WAS PUBLISHED 1623.
THE CITATIONS ARE FROM THE TEXT OF THE FIRST FOLIO.
THE SCRIPTURE REFERENCES ARE FROM THE GENEVAN BIBLE, 1598, AND
GENEVAN NEW TESTAMENT, 1557, WHERE THE ARCHAIC SPELLING is
RETAINED. OTHER REFERENCES ARE FROM THE AUTHORISED VERSION,
l6ll. IN SOME CASES THE ARCHAIC SPELLING HAS NOT BEEN STRICTLY
FOLLOWED.
INTRODUCTION.
SHAKESPEARE AND THE GENEVAN BIBLE x
SHAKESPEARE AND PURITANISM 20
SHAKESPEARE AND THE GENEVAN BIBLE.
IN order to deal with the question of the Version of the Bible
used by Shakespeare a short summary of the Versions is desir
able.
Our earliest complete English Bible is Coverdale's, licensed
in 1537. In the same year a black-letter Folio Bible by John
Rogers was licensed. It is known as " Matthew's Bible ". In
1539 Coverdale and Grafton issued the large black-letter Folio
known as "The Great Bible". Thomas Cromwell sent down
an injunction to the clergy "to provide one boke of the whole
Bible, in the largest volume in Englysche, sett up in summe
convenyent place within the Churche that ye have cure of,
whereat your parishioners may most commodiously resort to
the same and rede yt". Eleven thousand Bibles were required
for the parishes, and in this way seven editions of the Great
Bible were called for in the space of two years. After 1546
the free reading of the Scriptures was confined exclusively to
the upper classes, and it was not until after the death of Henry
VIII. that liberty was accorded to the common people. Under
Edward VI. there was a great revival of Bible study, but once
again, in the reign of Mary, prohibition was issued against the
Word. In 1557, however, despite the vigilance of the authorities,
the Genevan New Testament, translated by the Reformers who
had found refuge in Geneva, was smuggled into England. In
November, 1558, Elizabeth ascended the throne, and two years
later the most interesting of all the Versions was completed and
sold in England. The chief scholars employed in the produc
tion of the Genevan Version were Coverdale, Whittingham,
Gilby, Goodman, Sampson, Cole, and probably the Scottish
Reformer, John Knox.
This Bible has greater claims to originality than any Version
i
2 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
since Tyndale's, although Cranmer's or Coverdale's Version is
frequently followed. It was issued as a Quarto, printed in
Roman type, and was the first Version divided into chapter and
verse. Italics were used to denote words not represented in
the original Hebrew and Greek. It had copious notes, a Com
mentary, Concordance, and tables of Scripture names, and in
addition Sternhold and Hopkins' Metrical Psalms with music.
After 1579 a Calvinistic Catechism was also bound up with it,
as well as the Church Service and Psalter. The price was a
low one, and as a consequence there was a very great sale.
Despite certain prohibitions, the Genevan was so popular that
between 1560 and the Civil War no fewer than one hundred and
sixty editions passed into circulation. It cast the Great Bible
completely into the shade, and became the household Bible of
the people. In 1568 the Bishops' Bible was issued under the
superintendence of Archbishop Parker. It had a life of some
forty years, and passed through nineteen editions. It was a
large volume and costly. " It did not satisfy scholars, it was
ill-suited to the general public." There is no copy bearing a
later date than 1606. In 1582 the Roman Catholic New Testa
ment was printed at Rheims, and the entire Bible known as the
11 Douai " was published at Douai 1609-10. Finally in 1611 the
well-known Authorised Version of King James was published
in black-letter.
We are now in a position to deal with the question of the
probable Version used by William Shakespeare. The poet was
born in 1564, that is, twenty-four years after Cranmer's Great
Bible was published, and four years after the Genevan Bible.
He was a lad of four when the Bishops' Bible was issued, a
young man of eighteen when the Rheims New Testament was
brought into England, and a middle-aged man when the Douai
Bible was published. His literary work was nearly ended when
the Authorised Version was issued in 1611. We may therefore
rule the Douai Bible and the Authorised Version out of the
discussion, for it is clear that they could not possibly have in
fluenced his literary style or furnished a vocabulary, and, as a
matter of fact, Wiclif and the Rheims Version usually differ
entirely from Shakespeare's quotation of Biblical words. There
remain the Great Bible, the Bishops', and the Genevan. The
former were mainly used for the public reading in the churches,
SHAKESPEARE AND GENEVAN BIBLE 3
although for many years preachers took their texts and read
their lessons from the Genevan Bible until the practice was sup
pressed by authority. The Genevan Bible, by reason of its size
and price, was a home and school Version, admirably adapted
in every way to become a household Bible. Puritan teachers
in the houses of the great families and schoolmasters used the
Genevan for the purpose of instructing and catechising the
young. We know that Bacon, Milton, and many other great
men of the Elizabethan period, were trained in the Version, and
used it to the end of life. No writer has assimilated the
thoughts and reproduced the words of Holy Scripture more
copiously than Shakespeare. As Dr. Furnivall puts it, " he is
saturated with the Bible story".
Mr. Sidney Lee does not consider Shakespeare's Bible know
ledge to be anything beyond that which a clever boy would be
certain to acquire in the schoolroom or at church on Sundays,
but Mr. Lee underestimates the extent to which Shakespeare
is indebted to the Bible for thought and word. Shakespeare
was a heaven-born genius, but genius can do nothing without a
means of expression, and the artist in words must first find his
vocabulary. He does not invent it. As a scholar, in the con
ventional sense, Shakespeare's opportunities ceased at an early
age, and the literature he had then mastered was not very ex
tensive. When in London and in the work of revision of plays
he had neither time nor opportunity for scholarly pursuits.
The genius he possessed was beginning to manifest its activity,
but it had to express itself in that vehicle of thought which it
found ready to hand. Whatever else the poet had or lacked, he
must have brought to his work a mind richly stored with the
thoughts and words of the English Bible. A man does not
learn the Bible by intuition, and there must have been a period
in the poet's history when that knowledge was acquired. If in
manhood, then the presumption would be in favour of Shake
speare's personal piety ; if in youth, it would be a strong testi
mony in favour of the religious influences of his home and the
training given by his parents and schoolmasters. We know that
from the age of eight to that of thirteen William Shakespeare was
under the tuition at Stratford of Thomas Hunt, a Puritan well
qualified to train his scholars in Biblical knowledge, who was
afterwards deprived of his living of Luddington for contumacy.
4 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Again, the power of apt and literal quotation is seldom ac
quired after the earlier days of manhood have been passed, and
no man can quote instinctively and correctly unless he has been
well grounded in his childhood. The spontaneous flow of Scrip
tural ideas and phrases which are to be found everywhere in the
plays reveals the fact most clearly that the mind of Shakespeare
must indeed have been " saturated " with the Word of God. He
most readily expresses his mind in Biblical phrase or illustration.
Not that he always quotes with a religious object in view ; on the
contrary, he is often unmindful of the meaning or association of
the words, and becomes so daring and indiscriminate in his use
that he shocks the sensitive mind. He may be said to use
Scripture on any and every occasion, to dignify the thought of a
king, to point the jest of a wit, or to brighten the dulness of a
clown. But while this power of quotation bears witness to a
thorough acquaintance with the words of Scripture, and to the
fact that all his conceptions of revealed religion are cast in the
Puritan mould, it would be pressing the point unduly if we were
to consider the words put into the mouths of his characters to be
evidence of the writer's own personal belief. It is going beyond
the province of legitimate criticism to frame a creed for an author
by piecing together the words of the characters he has called
into being. But it is of importance to notice how much Shake
speare is indebted to the English Bible for his vocabulary. I
have studied every line in the plays in order to trace out how far
this indebtedness extends, and after a careful comparison have
come to the conclusion that the Genevan Bible was the version
used by Shakespeare. The deductions which naturally arise if
this conclusion be correct I am not here concerned with, but it
is of interest to note what Mr. Halliwell Phillips and Mr.
Sidney Lee have written on this point. The former says in the
Preface of a small book on the subject : " The contents of the
following pages will, it is thought, tend to the impression that
the Version of the Bible usually read by Shakespeare was that
known as the Genevan " ; and the latter : " Of the few English
books accessible to him in his schooldays, the chief was the
English Bible, either in the popular Genevan Version first issued
in a complete form in 1560, or in the Bishops' revision of
1568".
Having said so much by way of introduction let me justify
SHAKESPEARE AND GENEVAN BIBLE 5
my words by illustrations from the plays. In Romeo and Juliet,
IV. i. 8 1, we have :
" O'er covered quite with dead men's rattling bones,
With reeky shanks and yellow, chapless sculls " ;
in Richard HI., IV. iv. 27 :
" Some lay in dead men's skulles " ;
while in Richard II. , IV. i. 142, we have the phrase again :
" The field of Golgotha and dead men's skulls ".
The word Golgotha at once reveals the inspiration of the phrase,
and turning to the Versions we find that Wiclif, Rheims and
Authorised give " Golgotha, which is the place of Calvarie,"
" Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull," while in Tyndale,
Cranmer and Genevan we have "Golgotha, the place of dead
men's skulls". In Richard II., III. iv. 85, the Gardener says :
" Their fortunes both are weighed,
In your Lord's scale is nothing but himself
And some few vanities that make him light
But in the balance of Great Bolingbroke ".
The reference here is clearly to the handwriting on the wall
which presaged the passing of the kingly power from the hands
of Belshazzar. The Authorised, Daniel v. 27, gives, " Thou art
weighed in the balances and art found wanting," while the
Genevan has " Thou art weyed in the balance and art found too
light ". In the first Act of the same play Richard says :
" Give me his gage. Lions make leopards tame ; "
to which Norfolk replies in Biblical words :
" Yea, but not change his spots ".
The text quoted from is in Jeremiah xiii. 23, and is thus rendered
by the Genevan, " Can the blacke Moore change his skin ? or
the leopard his spots ? " The Genevan was the first Version to
give " leopard " ; previous Versions gave " cat o' mountain ".
In King John, IV. ii. 30, there is a use of our Lord's words
to His disciples in the passage which is as follows:
" Oftentimes excusing of a fault
Doth make the fault the worse by th 1 excuse,
As patches set upon a little breach
Discredit more in hiding of the fault
Than did the fault before it was so patched ".
6 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
The Authorised, Mark ii. 21, has " The rent is made worse".
Tyn., Cran. " So is the rent worse ".
Wiclif " More breking is made ".
Rheims " A greater rent".
Genevan " Also no man soweth a piece of new cloth in an
old garment : for else the new piece that filled it up
taketh away somewhat from the olde, and the breach is
worse ".
In the Taming of the Shrew, IV. i. 50, there is the passage :
" Where's the cook ? is supper ready, the house trimmed,
rushes strewed, cobwebs swept: the serving-men in
their new fustian, their white stockings, and every officer
his wedding garment on ? "
In reading the words we are reminded of the Parable of the
Wedding Supper, as recorded in the twenty-second chapter of
Matthew, and the phrase, " his wedding garment on," is worth a
moment's study.
Wiclif has " Without bride clothis ".
Cran. and Auth. " Not having a wedding garment ".
Rheims " Not attired in a wedding garment ".
The Genevan is the only Version which gives " on ".
Matthew xxii. n, 12 " A man which had not on a wedding
garment.
" ' Friend, how earnest thou in hither and hast not on a
wedding garment ? ' '
Again, while we are on the subject of the Parables and the
importance of single words, a passage in Henry V., IV. iii. 70, is
interesting :
King Henry. " All things are ready, if our minds be so."
The words are taken from the Parable of the Great Supper, but
it requires the Genevan Version to illustrate the connection.
Wiclif has, concerning the unwilling guests " All begunnen
togidre to excusen ".
Cran. and Tyn. "All at once beganne".
Rheims " Began all at once ".
Author. " With one consent began ".
Genevan, Luke xiv. 17-18 "Come, for all things are nowe
ready. But they all with one minde began to make
SHAKESPEARE AND GENEVAN BIBLE 7
In As You Like It there is an interesting instance of the
omission of the definite article in the words of the Duke in
V. i. 118:
" Like to the Egyptian thief at point of death ".
This omission is to be found in the Puritan Versions, Tyn.,
Cran. and Genevan, but the others give " at the point of death ".
Wiclif has " nigh dead," Rheims and Auth., " at the point of
death". Tyndale, Cran. and Genevan, Mark v. 23, "And
besought him instantly, saying, My litle daughter lieth at point
of death ". The omission may be shown to be not uncommon in
the literature of the period, but it is interesting that in his use
of a phrase Shakespeare follows the Genevan Version. In an
other somewhat amusing instance in As You Like It a knowledge
of the Genevan Version is required in order to appreciate the
force of a cynicism. Jaques says in V. iv. 35 :
"There is sure another Flood toward, and these couples are
coming to the Ark. Here comes a pair of very strange
beasts."
The point is not very clearly brought out by the reading of the
Authorised, because it gives the word " two," but the Genevan
illustrates it perfectly :
Genesis vii. 2 " Of every cleane beast thou shalt take to
thee by sevens, the male and his female ; but of the un-
cleane beasts by couples, the male and his female ".
Another interesting use of a Biblical phrase is to be found in
the play of Othello, where in V. ii. 47 the Moor exclaims :
" Peace and be still ".
If the " and " were omitted the words would at once remind us
of the Stilling of the Tempest, where, according to Wiclif, Cran-
mer, Rheims and Authorised, our Lord said to wind and sea,
" Peace be still". It is difficult to believe that the miracle on
the Sea of Galilee did not give Shakespeare the phrase, and the
idea is strengthened when we find in Tyndale and Genevan the
very words, Mark iv. 39: "And he rose up and rebuked the
winde, and sayd unto the sea, Peace and be still ".
Again, in the same play, Cassio in II. iii. 129 says :
" It hath pleased the devil drunkenness to give place to the
devil wrath ".
8 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
The reference is to the words of the Apostle Paul to the
Ephesians, chap, iv., verse 6 : " Let not the sunne goe downe upon
your wrath. Neither give place to the devill."
The Genevan is the first Version to give the phrase ; it was
followed by the Rheims and Authorised. The most difficult
and yet most interesting passage in Othello is one which con
cerns the Bible generally rather than any particular Version.
In the fifth Act, after the betrayal and murder of Desdemona,
and before the suicide of Othello, the Moor uses the well-known
words :
" Then must you speake
Of one that lov'd not wisely, but too well,
Of one not easily jealous, but being wrought
Perplexed in the extreme : of one, whose hand
(Like the base Judean) threw a Pearle away
Richer than all his tribe".
This is as the passage is in the First Folio, although the Quarto
reading of 1622 has been generally adopted because it has
appeared to commentators that the meaning is made clearer by
it. Theobald proposed " Judian," adding, " I am satisfied in his
Judian he is alluding to Herod, who, in a fit of blind jealousie,
threw away such a jewel of a wife as Mariamne was to him ".
But it was a cause of offence against Herod that he was not a
Judean, save in position. He was either an Idumean or an
Ascalonite. In support of the reading, " base Indian," it has
been pointed out in explanation of its meaning that Boswell
quotes from Habington's " Castara " :
" So the unskilful Indian those bright gems
Which might add majesty to diadems
'Mong the waves scatters ".
But surely a master of diction like Shakespeare would not use
the word " base " when he meant " ignorant " or " unskilful ".
A pearl-fisher who carelessly flung away a rich pearl might be
described as foolish, reckless or ignorant, but hardly " base " in
the sense in which the conscious-stricken Othello uses the word.
The climax of tragedy demands words and thoughts of the
tragic plane, but " base Indian " belongs rather to the blunders
of comedy than to the terrors of tragedy. The words, however,
of the First Folio, " base Judean," to many minds convey a
SHAKESPEARE AND GENEVAN BIBLE 9
meaning which associates them with the most tragic event of
human history, the betrayal and death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Judas occupies a place of universal infamy, and is constantly
referred to in this connection by Shakespeare. Every Bible
reader knows that our Lord sprang out of Judah, and that he
had but one fellow-tribesman among the disciples, namely, Judas,
who was of Kerioth, a town on the southern border of Judah.
The other disciples were Galileans. The name Judas has become
a synonym for baseness and treachery, and the betrayer was in
truth the basest of all Judeans. In the end he realised that he
had thrown away a pearl richer than all his tribe, and the final
words of Othello, before he committed Judas's act of self-de
struction, recall the traitorous action of the Apostle : " I kiss'd
thee, ere I kill'd thee ". Another instance in which critics have
interfered with the text in order to give additional clearness is
in the play of Lear, where a little Bible knowledge would serve
to illustrate the meaning of Shakespeare perfectly. In III. vi.
77, Lear says to Edgar, who has just proffered his service to the
mad king :
" You, sir, I entertain for one of my hundred : only I do not
like the fashion of your garments. You will say they are
Persian : but let them be changed."
The words " Persian attire " have been adopted in order that
critics may point out very wisely that the rags of Edgar hanging
down picturesquely remind Lear of the handsome hanging robes
of Persia.
Steevens says, " Alluding perhaps to Clytus refusing the
Persian robes offered him by Alexander," and Mr. Gollancz just
as sapiently observes that " It is spoken ironically, alluding to
the gorgeous robes of the East". But why Persian? why not
Assyrian, Greek or Roman? All the Eastern nations wore
gorgeous flowing robes. Any child who knows his Bible would
be able to explain that the meaning of Lear is that the garments
of Edgar must be changed, even although Edgar might say that
they were Persian, and therefore could not be changed, for the
unchangeable nature of the laws of the Medes and Persians was
proverbial. The emphasis is to be placed on "let them be
changed ". The text is in Daniel vi. 8 : " Nowe, O King, con-
firme the decree, and seale the writing, that it bee not changed,
io SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
according to the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth
not". In this connection, if the fourth Act of Pericles be Shake
speare's, an interesting sidelight is thrown on the passage in
Lear :
Bawd. " Come, young one, I like the manner of your garments
well."
Boult. " Ay, by my faith, they shall not be changed yet."
Returning once more to the Genevan Version, the Merchant
of Venice gives us an interesting word in " parti-coloured ".
In I. iii. 83-85, Shylock narrates the strategy of Jacob in the
battle of wits with Laban. The correctness of Shakespeare's
Bible knowledge may be noted in the way in which he recounts
the whole relationship of Jacob to the Covenant of Israel. Con
cerning the device of the shepherd he says :
83. "The skilful shepherd pilled me certain wands,
85. "Stuck them up before the fulsome ewes,
Who then conceiving did in eaning time
Fall parti-coloured lambs."
The Authorised gives " ringstraked," but the Genevan gives
"parti-coloured". Genesis xxx. 39: "brought forth yong of
parti-colour," " these lambes parti-coloured," and in Genesis
xxxvii. 32, the coat of many colours is spoken of in the Genevan
as the " parti-coloured " coat.
Again, in IV. i. 35, Shylock says :
" And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn ".
The Second Quarto gives " Sabaoth," and on this Mr. Gollancz
says : " It is just possible that Shakespeare might have been
misled by the expression ' Lord God of Sabaoth/ which occurs
in the New Testament". But there is no fixed rule in earlier
literature for the use of the words Sabbath, Sabboth, Sabbaoth,
and Sabboath, and in the Genevan Version of the Ten Com
mandments we have :
" Remember that thou holy keepe
The sacred Sabaoth day ;
Sixe days thou labour shalt and do
Thy needful workes alway ".
But the most interesting word in the Merchant of Venice is
"Nazarite" (I. iii. 31), where Shylock says in answer to the
invitation of Bassanio :
SHAKESPEARE AND GENEVAN BIBLE n
"Yes, to smell pork, to eat of the habitation which your
Prophet the Nazarite conjured the devil into".
The use of the word " Nazarite " in reference to our Lord
instead of Nazarene is quoted as an instance of inaccuracy on
the part of Shakespeare. Even Bishop Wordsworth asks : " Had
our poet any reason for making use of the term Nazarite rather
than Nazarene in this instance, or was it merely a mistake ? "
The average critic usually says that Nazarite is another word
for Nazarene. But there is a great difference between the two
words.
" Nazarene " is from the Greek Na&prjvos (Mark i. 24, " Jesus
of Nazareth " ; Mark x. 47, xiv. 67, xvi. 6), and refers to the
inhabitants of the town of Nazareth. The word used by St.
Matthew, and St. Luke in the Acts, is Nafapalos, Nafapaicav, the
meaning of which is not a dweller in Nazareth, but a member of
a consecrated race, the Nazarites.
In Numbers vi. 2 we read, " A Nazarite to separate himself
unto the Lord," and in Judges xiii. 5, "For the child shall be a
Nazarite unto God from his birth ".
The Genevan Note on the first passage adds, " which figure
was accomplished in Christ," and on the second Calvin points
out that " Christ is the original model ". Throughout the Gene
van Notes our Lord is always spoken of as the true Nazarite.
Turning to the Versions we note interesting differences.
In Matthew ii. 23 :
Wiclif gives " He shall be clepid a Nazarey ".
Rheims gives " He shall be called a Nazarite ".
Author, gives " He shall be called a Nazarene ".
Tyn., Cran., Genevan give " He shall be called a Nazarite ".
In Acts xxiv. 5 :
Wiclif" Secte of Nazarenus ".
Rheims " Secte of Nazarenus ".
Author." Sect of the Nazarenes ".
Tyn., Cran., Gen. "Secte of the Nazarites".
From these citations it will be seen that, although the Rheims
followed the Puritan Versions in one passage, Wiclif, Rheims
and Authorised translate Nafapalos as though it were Na&pijvos,
while Tyndale, Cranmer and Genevan give the correct rendering
Nazarite. There is no mistake on the part of Shakespeare, for
12 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
he was following the Versions of his day and employing a word
which expressed precisely his meaning. Shylock is not using
the term " Nazarite " as a reproach, but for the purpose of
showing that the highest Christian example warranted him in
abstaining from that intercourse which was forbidden to a con
secrated race. He as a Jew felt, as it were, the obligation of the
Nazarite upon him, and he emphasizes the point by showing that
the Christian Nazarite thought as he did, and made of the
forbidden swine a habitation for devils, fit only to be cast away
and destroyed.
In the play of Macbeth there are several test sentences which
point to the use of the Genevan Version. In the great fifth Act
there is a conversation between the Physician and the Lady of
the Bedchamber concerning the Queen.
Doctor. " What, at any time, have you heard her say ? "
Lady. " That, sir, which I will not report after her."
Doctor. " You may to me : and 'tis most meet you should."
Lady. " Neither to you nor any one, having no witness to
confirm my speech."
The origin of the closing words is manifestly to be found in
the well-known passage in the Gospels, and on turning to the
Versions the differences are instructive :
Wiclif gives " Every worde stond ".
Tyndale gives " All thingis bee established ".
Cranmer gives " Every mater may be stablished ".
Rheims gives " Every word may stand ".
Author, gives " May be established ".
The Genevan, Matthew xviii. 16 : " Take yet with thee one or
two, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every
word may be confirmed ".
Again, the words of Duncan, as he sees the Castle of Macbeth,
are nearer the Genevan Psalms than any other Version.
" This castle hath a pleasant seat,"
to which Banquo replies :
" This guest of Summer,
The Temple-haunting Barlet, does approve,
Hath made his pendant bed, and procreant cradle ".
Rowe's emendation of " Martlet " for " Barlet " is generally
approved. The words of the Psalmist are evidently in the mind
SHAKESPEARE AND GENEVAN BIBLE 13
of Banquo, Psalm Ixxxiv. 2,3:" Yea, the sparrow hath found
her an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may
lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and
my God " ; but we come nearer to the words of Duncan and the
thought of Banquo if we know the Genevan Metrical Psalms :
" How pleasant is thy dwelling-place,
O Lord of hostes, to me ;
The tabernacles of thy grace
How pleasant, Lord, they be ".
The absence of any suspicion of treachery on the part of
Duncan and Banquo is finely brought out by the illustration of
the temple-haunting swallow :
" The sparowes finde a roome to neste
And save themselves from wrong,
And eke the swallow hath a nest
Wherein to kepe her young ;
These birdes full nigh thine altars may
Have place to sit and sing ".
Touching Shakespeare's knowledge of the Metrical Psalms
there are several indications in the plays. Pistol, for instance,
in the Merry Wives, I. iii. 84, says :
" And high and low beguile the rich and poor " ;
and in II. i. 113 :
" He woos both high and low, both rich and poor,
Both young and old, one with another ".
This is a fragment of one of the Genevan Psalms. Psalm
xlix., J. Hopkins :
" All people, harken and give eare
To that that I shall tell,
Both hye and low, both rich and poore
That in the world do dwell ".
And in the Taming of the Shrew, Petruchio says of Kate, III. IK
230:
" She is my goods, my chattels ; she is my house,
My household stuff, my field, my barn,
My horse, my ox, my ass, my anything ;
And here she stands, touch her whoever dare".
i 4 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
The reference is to the Tenth Commandment, but compare the
words with those of the Genevan Metrical Version, John Crispen
of Geneva :
" Thy neighbour's house wish not to have,
His wyfe, or aught that he calls myne,
His field, his oxe, his asse, his slave,
Or anything which is not thyne ".
The famous passage in Henry F., I. i. 25, seems to have been
expressed in words reminiscent of an old Genevan Psalm. The
Archbishop of Canterbury speaks of the great change which
came over the Prince, in terms which suggest the doctrine of
Regeneration :
" The breath no sooner left his father's body
But that his wildness, mortified in him,
Seemed to die too ".
Compare with this the " Complaint of a Sinner," which is
among the Genevan Psalms :
"That I with sinne repleat
May live and sinne may dye ;
That being mortified
This sinne of mine in me,
I may be sanctified
By grace of thine in thee ".
The mention of Prince Hal suggests his genial companion
Falstafif, who is the most inveterate quoter and misquoter of
Scripture in the whole of the plays. Prince Henry says in I. ii.
106, ist Part Henry IV. ;
" I see a good amendment of life in thee : from praying to
purse taking."
" Why, Hal/' replies Falstaff, " 'tis my vocation, Hal : 'tis no
sin for a man to labour in his vocation."
The Genevan is the only version which gives the phrase
" amendment of life," the Authorised quotes it in the margin.
Wiclif " No neede to penance ".
Tyn., Cran. " Nede no repentance".
Rheims " That neede not penance ".
Author. " Nede no repentance ".
The 1557 Genevan New Testament gives " Ryght workes of
repentance," but subsequent editions " Amendment of life ".
SHAKESPEARE AND GENEVAN BIBLE 15
Acts xxvi. 20 "That they should repent and turne to God,
and do works worthy amendment of life ".
Luke xv. 7 " More then for ninetie and nine just men which
needed none amendment of life".
In II. iv. 299 Sir John says : "Well, an the fire of grace be
not quite out of thee, now thou shalt be moved " ; and a Gene
van Note on I Thess. v. 19 seems to explain the words by
" The sparkes of the Spirit of God that are kindled in us, are
nourished by the dayly hearing of the word". Just as the
argument of the ist Graved igger in Hamlet in its form seems
to have been borrowed from the forms of Puritan sermons :
" It argues an act, and an act hath three branches ; it is, to act,
to do, to perform ". A Genevan Note on I Cor. vi. 9 is to the
following effect : " Now he prepareth himselfe to passe over to
the fourth treatise of this Epistle : debating this matter first,
which question hath three branches ".
The argument of reminiscence or suggestion may also have
something to do with the passage in Richard II. :
" This royal Throne of Kings, this Sceptred Isle,
This earth of Majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-Paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself"
for in the Genevan Bible as a note on 2 Cor. xii. 4 to explain the
word " Paradise " there is the following : " Which name they that
translated the Olde Testament out of Hebrew into Greeke called
the garden Eden, whereinto Adam was put straight after his
creation, as a most delicate and pleasant place. And hereunto
grewe it, that that blessed seate of the glory of God is called by
that name."
In Richard III., I. iii. 217, we have the words :
" The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soule,"
and a Genevan Note on Isaiah Ixvi. 24 speaks in the same strain,
" a continuall torment of conscience which shall ever gnawe them
and never suffer them to be at rest". In Antony and Cleopatra,
II. v. 10, the Egyptian Queen says :
" Give me mine angle, we'll to the river : there
My music playing far off, I will betray
Tawny fine fishes, my bended hooke shall pierce
Their slimy jawes ".
16 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
The words remind the Bible student of the passage in Job
xli. 1,2: " Canst thou put an hook into his nose ? or bore his jaw
through with a thorn?" but the comparison is not felt to be
striking until the Genevan Version is read, and Shakespeare's
words are seen to be almost identical : " Canst thou cast an
hooke into his nose ? canst thou pierce his jawes with an angle ? "
Turning for a moment from the Genevan Version, a passage in
As You Like It is an interesting example of Shakespeare's use of
the Bible. The meaning of the phrase is obvious, but the source
of it is not so clear. In V. iii. i, Touchstone and Audrey have
the following dialogue :
Touchstone. " To-morrow is the joyful day, Audrey ; to
morrow will we be married."
Audrey. "I do desire it with all my heart : and I hope it is
no dishonest desire, to desire to be a woman of the world."
In our day, " a man or woman of the world " usually means
the opposite of marriage, and the phrase must be understood in
its Biblical connection if it is to be taken as synonymous with " a
married woman ". Reference to the Epistle to the Corinthians
at once shows the origin, i Cor. vii. 34 : " The unmarried
woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy
in body and in spirit : but she that is married careth for the things
of the world, how she may please her husband ". Shakespeare
dearly loved a quip or play upon words, and many examples
might be cited. For instance, the Clown in All's Well, IV. v.
20, says :
" I am no great Nebuchadnezar, sir, I have not much skill in
grace,"
where the play is on the word " grace," pronounced as " grass,"
and refers to the fate of the great Babylonian king who " did eat
grass as the oxen ". In Love's Labour's Lost, Biron is made to
play with the text in Ecclesiasticus xiii. i : " He that toucheth
pitch shall be defiled with it," when he says,
<c They have pitched a toil : I am toiling in a pitch pitch.
that defiles";
and the same play is seen in Timon of A thens, I. ii. 24 :
Timon. " Thou art a soldier, therefore seldom rich ;
All the lands thou hast lie in a pitch'd field."
Alcibiades. Ay, defil'd land, my lord."
SHAKESPEARE AND GENEVAN BIBLE 17
Again, in Love's Labour's Lost there is a quip which gains
additional point from a knowledge of the Bible. Armado says :
" Green indeed is the colour of lovers : but to have a love of
that colour, methinks, Samson had small reason for it. He
surely, affected her for her wit."
Moth. "It was so, sir, for she had a green wit."
" A green wit " was a common expression of the time, but in
reference to Delilah having a green wit and Samson having small
reason for a love of that colour, the point of the allusion is best
appreciated when we remember that it was with green cords that
Samson was bound. The Authorised, Judges xvi. 7 : "If they
bind me with seven green withs that were never dried," and the
Genevan gives : " Brought her seven green cordes that were not
dry, and she bound him therewith".
In Romeo and Juliet, I. v., the 2nd Servant says :
" When good manners shall lie all in one or two men's hands,
and they unwashed too, 'tis a foul thing,"
which is a reference to the " unwashen hands," Mark vii. 2-5.
One of the most daring perversions in the plays is in the
Midsummer Night's Dream, where Bottom misquotes the great
passage in Corinthians, where the Apostle Paul speaks of the
wonders of spiritual vision, I Cor. ii. 9 : "I will come to visions,"
2 Cor. xii. I . Bottom says :
" I have had a most rare vision. . . . The eye of man hath
not heard, the eare of man hath not seen, man's hand is
not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to
report, what my dream was."
A very fruitful study of the work of any author may be had
by endeavouring to follow the indications of the working of his
mind. The task is easiest with Shakespeare when his thoughts
are running upon Biblical illustrations, and it requires no pro
found knowledge to accurately forecast the words and instances
he is likely to use. One of the best illustrations of this is in the
2nd Part of Henry IV. If we take the speech of the Archbishop
in IV. i. 204 as the conclusion of a series of this description the
point will be clear :
Archbishop. "Full well he knows
He cannot so precisely weed this land,
As his misdoubts present occasion.
2
i8 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
His foes are so enrooted with his friends,
That plucking to unfix an enemy
He doth unfasten so and shake a friend."
In the first Act, sc. iii. 16, Lord Bardolph has in his mind
and paraphrases the Parables of the King making war, and the
Foolish Builder (Luke xiv. 31) :
" The question then, Lord Hastings, standeth thus,
Whether our present five and twenty thousand
May hold up head without Northumberland."
Line 42 :
" When we mean to build,
We first survey the plot, then draw the model ".
Hastings makes reply with another Parable, that of the house
divided against itself (Luke xi. 17) :
" So is the unfirm king
In three divided ".
The Archbishop of York then joins in the discussion, and
uses the Parable of the Falling House (Luke vi. 49) :
" An habitation giddy and unsure
Hath he that buildeth on the vulgar heart ".
The speech of the Archbishop in Act IV. has been suggested
by Mowbray in the first scene, line 194 of the same Act, where
lie says :
" We shall be winnowed with so rough a wind
That even our corn shall seem as light as chaff,
And good from bad find no partition ".
The great words of our Lord to the Apostle Peter are recalled
in this speech, and the association of ideas of the corn and the
chaff seems to have suggested to the Archbishop the Parable of
the Wheat and the Tares. But the word " winnow " in connection
with the Apostle Peter is not familiar to us, because we are used
to the Authorised, which gives " Sift as wheat ". Wiclif gives
" Reddile as wheat". Tyndale, Cranmer, Rheims, Authorised,
" Sift you as it were wheat ". The Genevan is the only Version
which gives the following, Luke xxii. 31, 32: "And the Lorde
sayde, Simon, Simon, beholde Satan hath desired you, to winnow
you as wheat ".
SHAKESPEARE AND GENEVAN BIBLE 19
The words of the Archbishop are a direct quotation of the
Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, Matt. xiii. 25 :
" His foes are so enrooted with his friends,
That plucking to unfix an enemy
He doth unfasten so and shake a friend " ;
but here again the Genevan Version is nearer than the Authorised.
Wiclif has " Drawen up ".
Rheims has " Roote up ".
Author, has " Gather up ".
Tyn., Craa, Genevan, " Plucke up," Matt. xiii. 29 : " But he
said, Nay, lest while ye go about to wede out the tares, ye plucke
up also with them the wheate ".
There are many other test words which I have collected, but
I 'have adduced enough to show that the words, thoughts and
phrases of the great Genevan Version stand out prominently in
the works of Shakespeare, and that it can be proved beyond any
reasonable doubt that the vocabulary of the dramatist is largely
that of the Puritan Version of the Holy Bible. I have only
quoted one passing text from the Apocrypha, let me conclude
with what may be the inspiration of a great passage.
In Lear, IV. vi. 178, the poor old King says :
" We came crying hither.
Thou know'st, the first time we smell the ayre
We wawle, and cry. I will preach to thee ; mark."
Gloster. " Alack, alack the day ! "
Lear. " When we are born, we cry, that we are come
To this great stage of Fools."
These words recall the speech of Jaques in As You Like It,
" All the world's a stage," " we have our exits and our entrances,"
and both speeches seem to echo the words of the Apocrypha, in
Wisdom vii. 3-6 : " And when I was born I received the common
aire and fell upon the earth which is of like nature, crying and
weeping at the first, as all others doe. All men, then, have one
entrance into life and a like going out"
SHAKESPEARE AND PURITANISM.
SHAKESPEAREAN scholarship has done much in recent years to
throw light upon the career ol our greatest dramatist ; but there
is still much painstaking work to be accomplished before what
may be termed a satisfactory life can be presented to us. One
line of investigation which promises valuable results is Shake
speare's indebtedness to and attitude towards the spiritual and
intellectual movement in English life which is known as Puri
tanism, a movement in many ways greatly misunderstood and
too often confounded with what was poorest and basest in it.
Among Shakespeareans the views of critics like Mr. Sidney Lee
and Dr. Brandes have been generally accepted, and their very
definite assertions on the matter of Shakespeare's hatred to
Puritanism have been received without much scrutiny into their
historical or literary correctness. Mr. Lee has said that, " with
Puritans and Puritanism Shakespeare was not in sympathy.
Shakespeare's references to Puritans in the plays of his middle
life are so uniformly discourteous that they must be judged to
reflect his personal feeling," and Dr. Brandes bases his concep
tion of the character of the dramatist upon what he conceives
to be a hatred of Puritanism manifested throughout the plays
(vol. i., p. 281): "We catch a glimpse at this point of one of the
subsidiary causes of Shakespeare's melancholy : as actor and
playwright he stands in a more and more strained relation to
the continually growing Free Church movement of the age, to
Puritanism, which he comes to regard as nothing but narrow-
mindedness and hypocrisy. It was the deadly enemy of his
calling. From Twelfth Night an unremitting war against Puritan
ism conceived as hypocrisy is carried on through Hamlet, through
the revised version of All's Well that Ends Well, and through
Measure for Measure, in which his wrath rises to tempestuous
pitch and creates a figure to which Moliere's Tartuffe can alone
supply a parallel." Once started upon his career, Dr. Brandes
(20)
SHAKESPEARE AND PURITANISM 21
presses lago, Goneril, Regan, Timon, Malvolio and Angelo into
his theory, and uses expressions such as, " unctuous hypocrisy,"
" hypocritical virtue," " narrow-minded hypocrisy," " self-right
eousness," "sanctimonious enemies," to illustrate Shakespeare's
hatred of the Puritan model he was using. In vol. ii., p. 77,
he says : " It is a giant stride from the stingless satire of Puritan
ism in the character of Malvolio to this representation of a
Puritan like Angelo". But is Angelo nothing but a Tartu fife, a
sanctimonious hypocrite? Surely to make Angelo no more
than this is to utterly misread the character. Measure for
Measure is a trenchant sermon on the awful power of sin upon
a man who up to the time of his greatest dignity had not
realised the true meaning and strength of Temptation. The
unholy fire of his passion was lighted by one who, unlike the
trifler and courtesan, had everything about her to induce to
purity. " O, cunning enemy, that to catch a saint, with saints
dost bait thy hook." At the end of the play the wise old coun
sellor Escalus does not speak to Angelo as an honest man would
to a detected hypocrite. With sadness, he says ;
" I am sorry, one so learned and so wise
As you, Lord Angelo, have still appeared,
Should slip so grossly, both in the heat of blood
And lack of tempered judgment afterward " ;
and receives the still more sad answer :
" I am sorry that such sorrow I procure ;
And so deep sticks it in my penitent heart,
That I crave death more willingly than mercy ;
'Tis my deserving, and I do entreat it ".
All this is far removed from the attitude of a sanctimonious
hypocrite, and to say that Shakespeare's wrath against Puritan
ism rises to tempestuous pitch in the creation of the character
of Angelo is to be ignorant of English history and to misuse
words. Dr. Brandes, like many others, bases his conclusions
upon the Puritanism of the Caroline and Commonwealth periods,
when to be Puritan was to be prosperous, and the days of per
secution had passed away, leaving room for the snuffling and
sanctimonious hypocrite to play his part. In the days of
Elizabethan Ecclesiastical Enactments it took a brave man to
be a Puritan. Whitgift and the Star Chamber soon winnowed
22 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
out the hypocrites. There would no doubt be isolated cases of
Puritan hypocrisy in Elizabeth's day, but Dr. Brandes' sweeping
denunciations are entirely out of place in describing generally
the great Puritan movement, and have about as much truth in
them as a Cavalier caricature of Oliver Cromwell would be,
which gave the Protector a hideously ugly wart for a face.
Again, Mr. Sidney Lee says : " The circumstance that Shake
speare's father was the first bailiff to encourage actors to visit
Stratford is conclusive proof that his religion was not that of
the contemporary Puritan whose hostility to all forms of drama
tic representations was one of his most persistent characteristics.
The Elizabethan Puritans too, according to Guillim's Display of
Heraldrie (1610), regarded coat-armour with abhorrence, yet John
Shakespeare with his son made persistent applications to the
College of Arms for a grant of arms." The applications were
made in 1568 and 1596, but it is difficult to believe that Mr. Lee
is serious in his argument when one remembers the men associ
ated with the Elizabethan Puritan movement Coverdale, Hooper,
John Bodley (father of the founder of the Bodleian Library), Sir
Anthony Cooke and his three daughters, Lady Burghley, Lady
Russell, and Lady Bacon, the Earl of Leycester, Denzil Holies,
Glynne (ancestor of the Hawarden Glynnes), Sir Simonds D'Ewes,
Sir William Waller, Sir Robert Harley, Sir Philip Stapleton,
Colonel Massey, Sir Henry Vane, Nathanael Fiennes, the Earl
of Essex, the Earl of Manchester, Philip Lord Wharton, Lady
Vere, and Lady Fairfax, and multitudes of others whose arms
may be seen to-day. Clearly these did not regard coat-armour
with abhorrence. Guillim's statement made in 1610 was doubt
less true of many of the low-born and fanatical Puritans, but it
is not true of the Elizabethan Puritan movement.
Concerning antagonism to the Stage, it must be remembered
that in many aspects the Elizabethan theatre did not commend
itself to thoughtful minds. The gathering together of large
numbers of people was sometimes attended with danger, and
the strolling players were not of the most reputable character.
But the legislation against Stage players came from other quarters
than Puritanism. High Church Bishops, Queen Elizabeth,
James I., and many municipalities moved for enactments against
the players on public grounds. As a matter of fact, it was early
recognised by the Reformer that the Stage was admirably
SHAKESPEARE AND PURITANISM 23
adapted for the teaching of religious principles. In Tudor days
the Stage was to the people what the Art Gallery, the Newspaper,
the Preacher and Professor are to-day, and Protestant teachers
soon recognised the opportunity afforded them and began to
write religious plays.
Bale's comedy of the Three Laws of Nature, Moses , and
Christ, 1538, was a bitter attack on Popery. In Mary's reign,
1556, a remonstrance was sent from the Privy Council to the
effect that the servants of Sir Francis Lake were representing
"certain Plays and Enterludes reflecting on her Majesty and
King Philip, and the formalities of the Mass," and in 1559 it
was enacted that no person should abuse the " Common Prayer
in any Enterlude or Play ". The English drama may be fairly
said to have taken its rise among those who afterwards became
known as Puritans. Sackville and Norton were both intimately
connected with them. Therefore to say that for a bailiff to
encourage actors to visit a country town was to give a conclusive
proof of his hostility to Puritanism is to go beyond any legitimate
deduction from the historical facts. But we return to the state
ment that " Shakespeare's references to Puritans in the plays of
his middle life are so uniformly discourteous that they must be
judged to reflect his personal feeling".
The personal in Shakespeare is so difficult to trace that any
instances which may reflect his personal feeling deserve the
closest attention, and when a critic bases so important a judg
ment upon them they must be very definite in their teaching.
Here the references are couched in language which is termed
" uniformly discourteous". We turn, therefore, with deep interest
to them, and find that four passages are cited : Twelfth Night, II.
iii. 153 ; Winter's Tale, IV. ii.46 ; Cymbeline, I. i. 136 and I. i. 30.
They are like FalstafFs halfpennyworth of bread, but they are
worth a passing scrutiny. In Twelfth Night the passage runs :
Maria. " Marry, sir, sometimes he is a kind of Puritan."
Sir Andrew. " O, if I thought that, I'd beat him like a dog."
Sir Toby. " What, for being a Puritan ? thy exquisite reason,
dear knight."
Sir Andrew. "I have no exquisite reason for't, but I have
reason good enough."
Maria. "... Puritan that he is, or anything constantly but
a time-pleaser ; an affectioned ass, that cons state without
24 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
book, and utters it by great swarths ; the best persuaded
of himself, so crammed, as he thinks, with excellences,
that it is his ground of faith that all that look on him
love him."
Sir Andrew was a truckling coward, and his courage might
have risen to the height of attacking a man if he thought that
his religion would induce him to turn the other cheek to the
smiter and submit to be beaten like a dog. This may have
been his exquisite reason, but in any case the opposition of
men of the drunken, roystering type of Sir Andrew and Sir Toby
is commendation rather than condemnation of Puritanism, and
Maria expressly states that Malvolio is not a Puritan, although
sometimes he affects the Puritan manner ; he may be a pompous,
solemn-faced, self-conceited ass, but not " a Puritan or anything
constantly". It is hard to see that there is any discourteous
reference in Maria's words.
The Winters Tale reference is slight indeed :
Clown. " She hath made me four-and-twenty nosegays for
the shearers : three-man song-men all, and very good
ones ; but they are most of them means and bases : but
one Puritan amongst them, and he sings psalms to horn
pipes."
If anything, this is a stingless satire on the fondness of the
Puritans and Calvinists for Marot's Psalm tunes, but it can
hardly be said to be discourteous or to convey any personal
feeling. The Cymbeline references are examples of Shake
speare's love of the quip :
Cymbeline. " Past grace ? obedience ? "
Imogen. " Past hope, and in despair ; that way, past grace."
Here Cymbeline in his anger uses the phrase " past grace,"
and Imogen turns the word " grace" into its theological meaning
but this is a mere play upon words, a favourite method with
Shakespeare : in some instances we find him giving at least four
meanings to the word, a title, dignity, faith, and thanks before
meat. The other instance quoted by Mr. Lee is in I. ii. 30 :
Cloten. "And that she should love this fellow, and refuse
me!"
2nd Lord (aside). " If it be a sin to make a true election, she
is damned."
SHAKESPEARE AND PURITANISM 25
The second Lord has a bitter contempt for Cloten and a great
admiration for Leonatus, and utters caustic asides when Cloten
is speaking. His meaning in the words quoted above is that in
choosing Leonatus Imogen has acted wisely, and so decisively
that she is not likely to change her mind. If it were a sin to
make such an election she would undoubtedly be lost, for nothing
will cause her to depart from her choice. The reference is a
Biblical one, based upon the text and ideas in Romans ix. 13 :
" Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated ".
If one were inclined, the task would not be a difficult one
to prove that Shakespeare shows a distinct Puritan leaning in
many well-known instances ; for example in the Comedy of Errors,
II. i. 77, we have a jest at the making of the sign of the Cross,
and blessing :
" I will break thy pate across."
Dromio (Eph.). "And he will bless that cross with other
beating :
Between you I shall have a holy head."
In Love's Labour's Lost we have the doctrine of justification
by works referred to as a heresy. The Puritan doctrine of
justification by faith needs no comment, IV. i. 21 :
Princess. " See, see, my beauty will be saved by merit.
O heresy in fair, fit for these days ! "
In Troilus and Cressida the read prayers of the Church
Services come in for a criticism, II. i. 17 :
Thersites (to Ajax). " I shall sooner rail thee into wit and
holiness : but I think thy horse will sooner con an
oration, than thou learn a prayer without book."
In Henry V. we have the use of undoubted Puritan phrase
ology in "wafer-cakes," which was the Puritan method of
referring to the Sacrament, "wafer-gods" and "wafer-cakes,"
II. iii. 51 :
" Trust none :
For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer-cakes ".
In the Winter's Tale we have the dramatist's condemnation
of religious persecution, II. iii. 114:
Paulina. " It is an heretic that makes the fire,
Not she which burns in 't."
26 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
In Troilus and Cressida there is a reference to the evil of
undue and ornate ceremonial, II. ii. :
" Tis mad idolatry
To make the service greater than the god ".
These words sum up precisely what the Puritans were preaching
all over the kingdom.
In Twelfth Night we have a very stinging reference to the
dissembling clergymen who found in the cassock of the curate
a cloak for religious wavering, IV. ii. :
Maria. " Nay, I prithee put on this gown, and this beard ;
make him believe thou art Sir Topas the curate ; do it
quickly : I'll call Sir Toby the whilst."
Clown. " Well, I'll put it on, and I will dissemble myself in't ;
and I would I were the first that ever dissembled
in such a gown. I am not tall enough to become the
function well : nor lean enough to be thought a good
student : but to be said, an honest man, and a good
housekeeper, goes as fairly, as to say, a careful man,
and a great scholar."
The accusation against Puritan preachers was that they would
not dissemble, peace would have been assured to them if there
had been on their part conformity even with dissembling. The
surplice of humility might have been worn even over the big
heart of a black gown, but the Puritan steadfastly refused, and
the utmost scorn was expressed against those men who were
pitchforked into benefices or held their living by abject con
formity.
In 1579 the students of Cambridge complained that unlearned
ministers, "nay, the scum of the people," were being preferred
before those who would not submit to the subscriptions de
manded by the ecclesiastical authorities, and in 1578 Cornwall
sent up a petition to Parliament which set forth, " we have some
ministers among us who labour painfully and faithfully in the
Lord's husbandry, but these men are not suffered to attend
their callings, because the mouths of Papists, infidels, and filthy
livers are open against them, and the ears of those who are
called lords over them are sooner open to their accusations,
though it be but for ceremonies, than to the other answers".
Shakespeare's clown was only repeating the words of many
SHAKESPEARE AND PURITANISM 27
earnest Puritans in England between 1578 and 1605, when he
spoke of the dissemblers who hid their inefficiency and falsehood
in the cassock of the curate.
In All's Well that Ends Well there is the reference to young
Charbon the Puritan and old Poysam the Papist, and in I. iii.
92 the words of the clown : " Though honesty be no Puritan, yet
it will do no hurt ; it will wear the surplice of humility over the
black gown of a big heart ".
The difficulty here is in the words "big heart," which may
mean either proud heart or generous heart. The black gown of
a proud heart appears at first sight to be the natural contrast to
the white surplice of humility, although one fails to see how
such pride concealing itself in the garb of humility can be spoken
of as not being hurtful. On the other hand, the meaning
" generous heart " seems to make the words more fitting ; the
honest heart, even though it wear the surplice of humility or
conformity over the black gown, would do no hurt. The
true heart was the important thing. This attitude would
fairly represent the standpoint of a thinker like Shakespeare,
who was in great measure lifted above the arena of partisan
strife.
One can hardly base an argument upon the play of Pericles,
but in the second and fourth Acts there are words worth quoting,
IV. vi. 7 :
Bawd. " She has me her quirks, her reasons, her master-
reasons, her prayers, her knees ; that she would make a
Puritan of the devil, if he should cheapen a kiss of
her"
where a tribute is paid to the intellectual ability as well as to
the goodness of the Puritan. Marina's high character was based
upon high principle, and her skill in defending her character
was such that she would make Good of Supreme Evil, or, in
other words, make a Puritan of the devil. In the second Act
we are reminded once more of the rapacious pitchforked clergy*
II.i.32:
is* Fisherman. " Such whales have I heard on o' the land,
who never leave gaping, till they've swallowed the whole
parish, church, steeple, bells and all."
Pericles (aside). " A pretty moral."
28 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
$rd Fisherman. " But if the good King Simonides were of my
mind, we would purge the land of these drones, that rob
the bee of her honey."
Compare this with the petition which was sent up to Parlia
ment from Cornwall, 1 578 :
"Therefore from far we come beseeching this honourable
House to dispossess these dumb dogs and ravenous
wolves, and appoint us faithful ministers who may peace
ably preach the Word of God ".
The well-known passage in Twelfth Night, II. iii. : "Dost
thou think because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more
cakes and ale?" is usually understood as being a jest against
the austerity of the Puritan, but if the reference be established,
it at least shows that to be a Puritan was to be virtuous, and
therefore is commendation rather than depreciation. As may
be seen also in the words of Dame Quickly in the first Act of
the Merry Wives of Windsor. Speaking of her servant, the
jovial Dame says, I. iv. 9 :
" An honest, willing, kind fellow, as ever servant shall come
in house withal ; and, I warrant you, no tell-tale, nor no
breed-bate : his worst fault is that he is given to prayer ;
he is something peevish that way ; but nobody but has
his fault : but let that pass."
If the servant is to be understood to be a Puritan the com
mendation of his character is worth noting.
The citations have been made from the First Folio, and the archaic
spelling maintained.
The Biblical references are from the Genevan Bible.
The plays are arranged according to their Chronological Order.
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST.
1589-94 AND REVISED 1597. PUBLISHED 1597 .
Act I. i. 3-7
King. " And then grace us in the disgrace of death
When spight of cormorant devouring Time
The endeavour of this present breath may buy :
That honour which shall bate his sythes keene edge,
And make us heyres of all eternitie."
Play on the word M Grace " and reference to the gaining
of eternal life.
I Cor. xv. 26 "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is
death."
I Cor. xv. 54 " So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is
swallowed up in victory." 57 " Thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
i Peter iii. 7 " Heires together of the grace of life."
Titus iii. 7 "That wee, being justified by his grace, shoulde
be made heires according to the hope of eternall life."
7-10 King. "Therefore, brave conquerors ! for so you are,
That warre against your owne affections
And the huge Armie of the world's desires."
Prov. xvi. 32 " He that is slow to anger is better than the
mighty ; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."
Ephes. vi. n "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye
may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
Rev. iii. 21 "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit
with me in my throne, even as I also overcame."
Act. I. i. 26, 27
Longaville. " Fat paunches have lean pates, and dainty bits.
Make rich the ribs, but bankerout the wits."
(29)
30 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
For Scripture parallel compare
Deut. xxxii. 15 " But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked : thou
art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness,
then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the
rock of his salvation."
Act I. i. 54 Biron. " By yea and nay, sir, then I swore in jest."
Reference to the text in
Matt. v. 33 " Againe ye have hearde that it was sayde to
them of olde time, Thou shalt not forsweare thyselfe, but shalt
performe thine othe to God. But I say unto you, sweare not at
all." 37 " But let your communication be, Yea, yea, Nay, nay."
Act I. i. 55 Biron. " What is the end of study, let me know ? "
King. " Why that to know which else wee should not know."
Biron. " Things hid and bar'd (you meane) from common
sense."
King. " Ay, that is studies god-like recompence."
i Cor. ii. 12 "Which is of God that we might know the
things that are given us of God."
i Cor. ii. 9 " But as it is written, The things which eye hath
not seene, neither eare hath heard, neither came into man's heart,
are, which God hath prepared for them that love Him." 10
" But God hath re veiled them unto us by His Spirit : for the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deepe things of God."
Act I. i. 150
Biron. " For every man with his affects is born
Not by might mastered but by special grace"
A Puritan phrase " special grace."
Act I. i. 190 Biron. " How low soever the matter, 7 hope in
God for high words."
Longaville. "A high hope for a low heaven, God grant us
patience."
Biron. " To heare, or forbeare hearing."
Longaville. " To heare meekely, sir, and to laugh moderately, or
to forbeare both."
Compare the words in
James i. 21 " Wherefore lay apart all fylthynes, and all
superfluitie of maliciousness and receave with meekenes the worde
that is grafted in you."
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST 31
Act I. i. 200
Costard. " The matter is to me, sir, as concerning Jaquenetta."
" The manner of it is, I was taken with the manner."
See the Biblical use of the phrase in similar connection.
Num. v. 13 " Neither she be taken with the maner."
258 "With a child of our grandmother Eve, a female."
Gen. iii. 20 " Hevah, because she was the mother of all living."
266 " For Jaquenetta (so is the weaker vessel called)."
Direct use of Scripture
I Peter iii. 7 " Giving honour unto the woman as unto the
weaker vessel."
So Tyndale, Cranmer, Geneva, Authorised.
Rheims " Weaker feminine vessel."
Sc. ii. 69 Armado. "Let them be men of good repute and
carriage."
Moth. " Samson, master ; he was a man of good carriage,
great carriage, for he carried the towngates on his back, like a
porter : and he was in love."
Arm. " O well knit, Samson ! strong jointed Samson ! "
Direct Scripture references-
Judges xvi. 3 " And Samson slept till midnight, and arose
at midnight and tooke the doores of the gates of the citie, and
the two postes, and lift them away with the barres, and put
them upon his shoulders and carried them up to the top of the
mountaine. And after this hee loved a woman by the river of
Sorek whose name was Delilah."
Judges xiv. 5. 6 "A young lion roared on him," "and he
tare him as one should have rent a kid."
Act I. i. 294 King. " Sir, I will pronounce your sentence :
you shall fast a week with bran and water."
Costard. " I had rather pray a month with mutton and
porridge."
Quip on the text.
i Cor. vii. 5 " For a time, that ye may give yourselves to
fastyng and prayer : and afterwarde come together agayne, lest
Satan tempt you for your incontinencie."
Act I. ii. 85 Arm. " Green indeed is the colour of lovers : but
to have a love of that colour, methinks, Samson had small reason
for it. He surely, affected her for her wit."
Moth. " It was so, sir, for she had a green wit."
32 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Direct Scripture reference, in which there is an interesting
play on the fact that Samson was bound with green
cords.
Judges xvi. 6 " And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I
pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou
mightest be bound, to doe thee hurte." 7 " Samson then answered
unto her, If they binde me with seven greene cordes, that were
never dried, then shall I be weake, and be as another man."
8 " And the princes of the Philistines brought her seven greene
cordes that were not dry, and she bound him therewith."
Act I. ii. 170 Armado. "There is no evil angel but Love.
Yet was Samson so tempted, and he had an excellent strength :
yet was Salomon so seduced, and hee had a very good witte."
Compare Samson and Delilah, Judges xvi.
Neh. xiii. 26 " Did not Salomon the King of Israel sinne
by these things ? yet among many nations was there no King
like him, yet strange women caused him to sinne."
Act III. i. 202
Biron. " And I to sigh for her ! to watch for her !
To pray for her."
Use of Scripture words and play on the text.
Matt. xxvi. 41 " Watch and pray, that ye enter not into
temptation."
Act IV. i. 21
Princess. " See, see, my beauty will be saved by merit.
O heresy in fair, fit for these days ! "
Compare the Puritan condemnation of the heresy of
justification by works. And see
Rom. iv. 14 " For if they which are of the law be heirs,
faith is made void."
Rom. v. i "Therefore being justified by faith."
Rom. iii. 28 " Therefore we conclude that a man is justified
by faith without the deeds of the law."
Act IV. i. 36-
Boyet. " Do not curst wives hold that self-sovereignty
Only for praise sake, when they strive to be
Lords o'er their lords."
Scripture reference to the duty of the wife
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST 33
1 Peter iii. 5, 6 " Subject to their husbandes, as Sara obeyed
Abraham and called him Syr."
Wic., Tyn., Cran., Rheims., Auth. " Lord."
Act IV. 2 Nathaniel. " Very reverend sport, truly : and done
in the testimony of a good conscience!'
Use of Scripture words.
2 Cor. i. 12 "For our rejoysing is this, the testimonie of our
conscience."
Act IV. ii. 36 Dull. " What was a month old at Cain's birth,
that's not five weeks old as yet ? "
41. Holo. "The moon was a month old when Adam was no
more."
Act IV. ii. 86 " Fire enough for a Flint : pearle enough for
a swine."
In the latter phrase a use of Scriptural words.
Matt. vii. 6 " Neither cast ye your pearles before swine."
Act IV. ii. 1 59 Nathaniel. " For societie (saith the text) is
the happinesse of life."
A reference to the making of Eve.
Gen. ii. 18 "Also the Lord God sayde, It is not good that
the man should be himselfe alone : I wil make him an help-
meete for him."
Act IV. iii. 166 Biron. "They have pitched a toil: I am
toiling in a pitch pitch that defiles."
Play on the words
Ecclus. xiii. i " He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled with
it : and he that is familiar with the proud, shalbe like unto
him."
Act IV. iii. 73 " God amend us : God amend ! we are much:
out o' the way."
For parallel of thought and words see
Exod. xxxii. 8 " They are soone turned out of the way, which
I commaunded them."
Heb. v. 2 " Compassion on them that are ignorant and that
are out of the way."
Act IV. iii. 158 Biron. "You found his mothe ; the King
your mothe doth see : But I a beame do find in each of thee."
A reference to the words in the Sermon on the Mount.
3
34 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Luke vi. 41, 42 "And why seest thou a mote in thy
brother's eye, and considereth not the beame that is in thine
owne eye."
Act IV. iii. 165
" To see great Hercules- whipping a gig,
And profound Salomon turning a jig."
Reference to Solomon, as a song maker.
2 Chron. i. 12 " Wisedome and knowledge is granted to
thee " (Solomon).
2 Chron. ix. 22 " So King Salomon excelled all the Kings
of the earth in riches and wisdom."
I Kings iv. 32 " And Salomon spake three thousand pro
verbs and his songs were a thousand and five."
Act IV. iii. 174
" I that hold it sinne
To break the vow I am engaged in
I am betrayed by keeping company
With men like you, men of inconstancy."
Reference to the following texts
Ecclus. xiii. i " He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled with
it : and he that is familiar with the proud, shalbe like unto him."
Prov. xiii. 20 " He that walketh with the wise shalbe wise,
but a companion of fools shalbe afflicted."
Eccles. v. 4 " When thou hast vowed a vowe to God, defer
not to pay it, for he delighteth not in fooles."
Act IV. iii. 250
Biron. " No face is fair, that is not full as black."
King. " O paradox ! Black is the badge of hell,
The hue of dungeons, and the scowl of night
And beauty's crest becomes the heavens well."
Biron. " Devils soonest tempt, resembling spirits of light."
For a parallel of the thought compare the words
Sol. Song i. 5 " Regarde ye mee not because I am blacke,
for the sunne hath looked upon me." 7 " Thou fairest among
women."
Direct reference to the text in Corinthians.
2 Cor. xi. 14 " For such false Apostles are deceitfull workers,
and transforme themselves into the Apostles of Christ." 14
" And no marvel for Satan himselfe is transformed into an Angel
of Light."
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST 35
Rev. xii. 9 " The great dragon, that olde serpent, called the
devill and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world."
Act IV. iii. 258
Biron. " Let us once lose our oaths, to find ourselves.
Or else we lose ourselves, to keep our oaths.
It is religion to be thus forsworn :
For charity itself fulfils the Law
And who can sever love from charity"
For the law regarding unlawful oaths, see
Mai. i. 14 " Cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock
a male and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt
thing."
Compare Mark vii. 1 1 concerning the vowed gift " Corban ".
Rom. xiii. 10 " Love doth not evill to his neighbour, there
fore is Love the fulfilling of the Lawe."
i Cor. 13. "Though I speake with the tongues of men and
angels and have not love, I am as sounding brasse."
Genevan Marg. Note "he reasoneth first of charitie."
Wiclif "charitie."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. " love." The Puritans always main
tained that the word " love " should be used instead of
"charity."
Rheims, Authorised "charity."
Act IV. iii. 380 " Sow'd cockle reap'd no corn."
Job xxxi. 40 " Let thistles growe instead of wheate, and
cockle instead of barley."
Matt. xiii. 28 Rheims alone gives u cockle," the others
" tares."
Act V. i. 123 "Joshua, Judas Maccabaeus."
Compare Old Testament and Apocrypha.
Act. V. ii. 1 8 " A light heart lives long."
For parallels in Scripture
Prov. xvii. 22 " A joyfull heart causeth good health."
Prov. xv. 15 "A good conscience is a continuall feast."
Ecclus. xxx. 22 " The joy of the heart is the life of man,
and a man's gladnesse is the prolonging of his days."
Act V. ii. 26 Kath. "So do not you, for you are a light
wench."
36 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Rosaline. " Indeed, I weigh not you, and therefore light."
Compare the text in
Dan, v. 27 " Thou art weyed in the balance, and art found
too light."
Authorised " found wanting."
Act V. ii. 63 " And wait the season, and observe the times"
Gal. iv. 10 " Ye observe days and months and times."
Act V. ii. 105 "The boy replied, An angel is not evil:
I should have feared her, had she been a devil."
A reference to the angels as servants of God.
Act V. ii. 268 " Well-liking wits they have : gross, gross :
fat, fat."
Use of Scriptural expression.
Dan. i. 10 " Therefore if he see your faces worse liking then
the other children."
Same in Authorised.
Dan. i. 15 "And in better liking than the other children."
Authorised " fairer and fatter."
Jobxxxix. 4 "Good liking" Authorised; "fatte" Genevan.
Act V. ii. 320 " Had he been Adam, he had tempted Eve."
Direct Scripture reference.
Gen. iii. 6 "Did eate and gave also to her husband with her
and he did eate."
Act V. ii. 339
King. " All hail, sweet Madam, and fair time of day."
Princess. " Fair, in all hail, is foul, as 1 conceive."
A reference to the salutation of Judas in the Betrayal.
Mark xiv. 45 " And as soon as he was come, he went
straightway to him and sayd, Hayle, Master, and kissed him."
But note that "All Hail" was used only by the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Act V. ii. 346 " Nor God, nor I, delights in perjur'd men."
Compare for thought and word
Prov. xii. 22 " The lying lips are an abomination to the
Lord ; but they that deale truely are his delite"
Act V. ii. 353
" A world of torments though I should endure,
I would not yield to be your house's guest :
LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST 37
So much I hate a breaking cause to be
Of heavenly oaths, vow'd with integrity."
Deut. xxiii. 21 "When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord
thy God thou shalt not slack to pay it : for the Lord will surely
require it of thee."
Eccles. v. 4 " When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not
to pay it."
Act V. ii. 412
Biron. " Henceforth my wooing mind shall be expressed
In russet yeas, and honest kersey noes."
Direct reference to the words in the Sermon on the Mount.
Matt. v. 37 " But let your communication be Yea, yea ;
Nay, nay : for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."
2 Cor. i. 17 " That with me should be Yea, yea, and Nay,
nay."
Act V. ii. 419
Biron. " Write, ' Lord have mercy on us ' on those three
They are infected, in their hearts it lies :
They have the plague, and caught it of your eyes :
These lords are visited : you are not free
For the Lord's tokens on you do I see."
A reference to the law concerning leprosy.
Luke xvii. 12 "Lepers which stood afarre off. And they
lift up their voices and sayd, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
Exod. iv. 6 " Behold his hand was leprous as snow."
Num. xii. 10 " Miriam became leprous white as snow."
2 Chron. xxvi. 20 "And Azariah the chief priest and all
the priests, looked upon him and behold, he was leprous in his
forehead and they thrust him out from thence : yea he himself
hasted, because the Lord had smitten him."
Act V. ii. 521
Prin. " Doth this man serve God ?
He speaks not like a man of God's making."
Luke iv. 8 " Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and
him only shalt thou serve."
Gen. i. 27 " So God created man in his own image."
Act V. ii. 587 Holo. "Judas, I am."
Dum. "A Judas!"
38 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Holo. " Not Iscariot, sir
Judas I am, ycleped Maccabaeus."
Dum. "Judas Maccabaeus clipt, is plain Judas."
Biron. " A kissing traitor. How art thou proved, Judas?"
Holo. " Judas I am."
Dum. "The more shame for you, Judas."
Holo. " What mean you, Sir ? "
Boyet. " To make Judas hang himself."
Holo. " Begin, sir : you are my elder."
Biron. " Well followed : Judas was hang'd on an elder."
See Apocrypha for Judas Maccabaeus.
A play on the word " Judas," with direct references from
Scripture and the Apocrypha.
Matt. xxvi. 14 " Then one of the twelve, Judas Iscariot."
15 " And from that time he sought opportunitie to betray him."
Matt. xxvi. 49 " And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said,
God save thee master, and kissed him."
Matt, xxvii. 5 "And when hee had cast downe the silver
pieces in the Temple, he departed and went and hanged him-
selfe."
Luke vi. 16 "Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitour."
Act. V. ii. 622 " A light for Monsieur Judas ! it grows dark,
he may stumble."
A reference to the fact that it was dark when Judas went
out to betray.
John xiii. 26 " He wet a sop and gave it to Judas Iscariot."
30 " Assoone then as he had received the soppe, he went im
mediately out, and it was night."
John xi. 9, 10 " If a man walke in the night, he stumbleth."
Act V. ii. 779
" A time methinks too short
To make a world-without-end bargain in."
Reference to the binding character of marriage.
Matt. xix. 6 " Wherefore they are no more twaine, but one
flesh."
Matt. x. 9 " Therefore what God hath coupled together,
let no man separate."
Compare also for the phrase " The Gloria."
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA.
1589-91, FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE FOLIO OF 1623.
Act I. i. 16
Valentine. " If ever danger do environ thee
Commend thy grievance to my holy prayers
For I will be thy beadsman."
Acts xii. 5 " In prison, but earnest prayer was made of the
Church unto God for him."
Psalm lv., J. Hopkins
" At morning, noone and evening tide
Unto the Lord I pray."
Act II. ii. 7 Julia. "And scale the bargaine with a holy
kisse."
Direct quotation from Scripture
i Thess. v. 26 " Greete all the brethren with a holy kisse."
Act II. iii. 23 Launce. "I have received my proportion,
like the prodigious son, and am going with Sir Proteus to the
imperial's court."
Play on the words " portion " and " prodigal."
Luke xv. 12 "And the younger of them sayd to his father,
Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me;"
" he took his journey into a farre countrey."
Act II. v. 38 Launce. " Thou shalt never get such a secret
from me but by a parable"
For parallel thought and use of the same words see
Matt. xiii. 35 "I will open my mouth in parables, I will
utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of
the world."
Prov. i. 6 " To understand a parable and the interpretation,
the words of the wise and their darke sayings."
(39)
40 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. v. 51 Launce. "If thou wilt goe with me to the
ale house ; if not thou art an Hebrew, a Jew, and not worth
the name of a Christian. Because thou hast not so much charity
in thee as to goe to the ale with a Christian."
Direct Scripture reference
Acts x. 28 " Yee know that it is an unlawfull thing for a
man that is a Jew to company or to come unto one of another
nation."
Act II. vi. n
Proteus. " LJnheedful vows may needfully be broken
And he wants wit, that wants resolved will
To learn his wit to exchange the bad for better."
Judges xi. 30 " And Iphtah vowed a vowe unto the Lorde
and sayd, If thou shalt deliver the children of Ammon into mine
handes, then that thing that commeth out of the doores of
mine house to meete me, when I come home in peace from the
children of Ammon, shal be the Lordes and I will offer it for a
burnt offering."
The Genevan has a note " Being overcome with blinde zeale,
and not considering whether the vow was lawfull or no," " so by
his rash vowe and wicked performance of the same, his victorie
was defaced."
Act II. vii. 18
Julia. " Didst thou but know the inly touch of love,
Thou wouldst as soon go kindle fire with snow,
As seek to quench the fire of love with words."
Compare
Song of Sol. viii. 6, 7 "Love is strong as death. Much
water cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it."
Act II. vii. 38 "There I'll rest, as, after much turmoil
A blessed soul doth in Elysium."
" Paradise." Genevan Note " the place of everlasting joy
and salvation, a most pleasant rest of the soules of the godly
and most quiet and joyfull dwelling."
Heb. iv. 9, 10 " There remaineth therefore a rest."
Act III. i. 19
Proteus. " Than, by concealing it, heap on your head
A pack of sorrows, which would press you down
Being unprevented, to your timeless grave."
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA 41
Compare Jacob and Benjamin, Gen. xlii. 38 " If death
come unto him by the way which ye goe, then
yee shall bring my gray head with sorrow to the
grave."
Act III. i. 85 " For long agone."
Tyn. and Genevan use "agone."
Cran., Rheims, Auth. "ago."
Rom. xv. 23 " Many yeers agone to come to thee."
2 Cor. xii. 2 " Above fourteene years agone/'
Ps. Ixxvii., J. Hopkins "The times and ages that are past
full many yeeres agone."
Act III. ii. 334 Speed. "She is proud."
Launce. " Out with that too ; it was Eve's legacy and cannot
be ta'en from her."
Direct Scripture reference
Ecclus. x. 14 " For pride is the original of sinne, and he
that hath it shall powre forth abomination, till at last hee be
overthrowen."
Gen. iii. 6 " So the woman (seeing the tree was good for
meate and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to get knowledge) tooke the fruite thereof and did
eate."
Act IV. iv. 160 " For, at Pentecost."
Biblical word.
Act V. iv. 22
Valentine. " O ! thou that dost inhabit in my breast
Leave not the mansion so long tenantless
Lest, growing ruinous, the building fall."
Compare the Biblical comparison of the body as a
mansion.
Luke xi. 24 " I will return unto mine house whence I came
out."
i Cor. vi. 19 "Your body is the Temple."
1 Cor. iii. 16 " Ye are the Temple of God."
2 Cor. v. i "Our earthly house of this tabernacle."
Wisd. of Sol. ix. 15 "Because a corruptible body is heavy
unto the soule, and the earthly mansion keepeth downe the
minde that is full of cares."
42 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act V. iv. 68
Valentine. " Who should be trusted now, when one's right hand
Is perjured to the bosom ? Proteus
I am sorry I must never trust thee more,
But count the world a stranger for thy sake
The private wound is deepest. O time most accurst !
'Mongst all foes, that a friend should be the worst ! "
For parallel thought see
John xiii. 18 " He that eateth bread with me, hath lift up
his heele against mee."
Ps. xli. 9 " Yea my familiar friend, whome I trusted, which
did eate of my bread, hath lifted up the heele against mee."
Ps. Iv. 12-14 "But it was thou, O man, even my com
panion, my guide, and familiar, which delited in consulting
together."
Matt. xxvi. 48 " Now he that betraide him had given them
a token saying, Whomsoever I shall kisse, that is he, lay holde
on him."
Act V. iv. 79
Valentine. "Who by repentance is not satisfied.
Is nor of heaven nor earth ; for these are pleas'd
By penitence the Eternal's wrath's appeased."
For Scripture references on the subject of penitence and
forgiveness see
Ps. cvi. 4, 5 " He remembered his covenant toward them
and repented according to the multitude of His mercies."
Exod. xxxii. 12 "Turne from thy fierce wrath, and change
thy mind from this evill toward thy people." 14 " Then the
Lord changed his mind from the evill which he threatned to doe
unto his people."
Jer. xviii. 8 " If this nation against whom I have pro
nounced, turne from their wickednesse, I will repent of the plague
that I thought to bring upon them."
Ephes. iv. 32 " Freely forgiving one another. Even as God
for Christe's sake, hath forgiven you."
Act V. iv. 109
Proteus. " O Heaven ! were man
But constant, he were perfect : that one error
Fills him with faults ; makes him run through all the sins."
TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA
43
James i. 14 " He is drawn away of his own lust and
enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin :
and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
2 Peter iii. 17 " Beware, lest ye be also plucked away with
the error of the wicked, and fall from your own stedfastnesse."
Heb. iii. 14 " For we are made partakers of Christ, if we
keep sure unto the ende that beginning, wherewith we are up-
holden."
i Chron. xxviii. 7 " If he be constant to rny command
ments " Authorised.
Ps. li. 10 " Renew a right spirit within me."
Authorised Margin " a constant spirit."
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS.
1589-91, FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE FOLIO OF 1623.
Act I. i. 46 "The pleasing punishment that women bear."
A reference to the punishment of Eve.
Gen. iii. 16 " Unto the woman he sayd, I wil greatly in
crease thy sorowes, and thy conceptions. In sorow thou shalt
bring forth children."
Act I. i. 51 Dromio of Eph. " But we that know what tis to
fast and pray."
Use of Scriptural words
Mark ix. 29 " By praier and fasting."
I Cor. vii. 5 " Give yourselves to fasting and prayer."
Act I. i. 98
Ant. of Syr. " They say this town is full of cozenage (Ephesus)
As nimble juglers that deceive the eie :
Dark working Sorcerers that change the mind :
Soule-killing witches, that deforme the body
Disguised cheaters, prating Mountebanks
And manie such like liberties of sinne."
See the New Testament account of the sinful conjurers
of Ephesus and the result of St. Paul's preaching.
Acts xix. 19 "Many also of them which used curious artes,
brought their bookes, and burned them before all men : and
they counted the price of them and found it fiftie thousand
pieces of silver."
Act II. i. 15 "Headstrong liberty is lashed with woe."
For parallel thought see
Prov. v. 22 " His owne iniquitie shall take the wicked him-
selfe, and he shall be holden with the cordes of his own sinne."
Jer. xxxi. 18 "I have heard Ephraim lamenting thus, Thou
hast corrected me, and I was chastised as an untamed calfe."
Wisd. of Sol. xii. 2 " Therefore, thou chastenest them mea-
sureably that goe wrong."
(44)
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS 45
Act II. i. 1 6
Luc. " There's nothing situate under heaven's eye
But hath his bound in earth, in sea, in skie :
The beasts, the fishes, and the winged fowles
Are their males subjects, and at their controules :
Man more divine, the Master of all these,
Lord of the wide world, and wilde warry seas,
Indued with intellectual sense and soules
Of more preheminence than fish and fowles
Are masters to their females, and their lords."
Reference to the words in Genesis
Gen. i. 26 " Furthermore God said, Let us make man in
our image according to our likenesse, and let them rule over the
fish of the sea, and over the foule of the heaven, and over the
beastes, and over all the earth, and over everything that creepeth
and moveth on the earth."
Heb. ii. 7 " What is man ? Thou madest him a little in-
feriour to the Angels, thou crownest him with glory and honour,
and hast set him above the workes of thine hands."
Gen. iii. 16 "Thy desire shall be subject to thine husband,
and he shall rule over thee."
Act II. i. 34
A dr. " A wretched soule bruised with adversitie
We bid be quiet when we heare it crie ;
But were we burdened with like waight of paine
As much or more, we should ourselves complaine :
So thou that hast no unkind mate to greeve thee
With urging helpelesse patience would relieve me."
For Scripture parallels see the following references to
Job and his wife and friends
Job vi. 14 " He that is in miserie ought to be comforted of
his neighbour."
Job xvi. i, 6 "But Job answered and sayd, I could also
speake as ye doe (but would God your soule were in my soules
stead) I could keepe you company in speaking, and could shake
mine head at you."
Job ii. 9 " Then saide his wife unto him, Doest thou
still continue yet in thine uprightnesse ? Blaspheme God and
die."
46 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
The Genevan Bible in the argument of Job gives the
following concerning the " unkind mate " : " For this
holy man Job was not onely extremely afflicted
in outward things and in his body, but also in his
minde and conscience, by the sharpe tentations of
his wife and chiefe friends, which by their vehement
wordes and subtill disputations brought him almost
to despaire."
Act II. i. 77 " I will break thy pate across."
Dro. E. " And he will bless that cross with other beating :
Between you I shall have a holy head."
Dromio's Puritan quip at the making of the Sign of the
Cross.
Act II. i. 87 " Fie, how impatience lowreth on your face"
For similar use of " face " and " lowring " see
Matt. xvi. 3 " The skie is red and lowring, O hypocrites
ye can discerne the face of the skie."
Act II. ii. 65 "Learne to jest in good time, there's a time
for all things."
Direct Scripture reference
Eccles. iii. 1-4 "To all things there is an appointed time,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven."
Act II. ii. 121
Adriana. " How comes it now, my husband, O ! how comes it
That thou art then estranged from thyself?
Thyself I call it, being strange to me,
That, undividable, incorporate
Am better than thy dear self's better part.
Ah, do not tear thyself from me :
For know, my love, as easy mayst thou fall
A drop of water in the breaking gulf
And take unmingled thence that drop again
Without addition or diminishing
As take from me thyself, and not me too. . . .
I live distained and thou dishonoured."
A reference to the closeness of the marriage tie.
Gen. ii. 24 "Therefore shal man leave his father and his
mother and shall cleave to his wife and they shalbe one flesh."
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS 47
Ephes. v. 28, 31 "So ought men to love their wives as their
own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself."
1 Cor. vi. 15, 1 6 For " I live distained."
Act III. ii. 99 Dromio Syr. "If she lives till doomsday,
she'll burn a week longer than the whole world."
Scriptural reference
2 Peter iii. 12 "The coming of that day of God, by the
which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the
elements shall melt with heat."
Act III. ii. io$Ant. Syr. "That's a fault that water will
mend."
Dro. Syr. " No, sir ; tis in grain : Noah's flood could not do it."
Scriptural references
Gen. vi. 17 " And beholde I will bring a flood of waters
upon the earth."
Gen. vii. 6 "And Noah was sixe hundred yeere olde, when
the flood of waters was upon the earth."
Act IV. i. I "Since Pentecost the sum is due."
Acts ii. i "And when the day of Pentecost."
Wic. " Pentecost ; " so Gen., Rheims, Auth. ; Tyn. and
Cran. " fiftye days."
Act IV. i. 22 " A man is well holp that trusts in you."
For use of word in Bible see
Ps. Ixxxvii. 17 "O Lord, hast holpen me."
Isa. xxxi. 3 " He that is holpen."
Act IV. ii. 40 Dromio S. " One that, before the Judgment,
carries poor souls to hell."
Scripture reference
Jude vi. "In everlasting chains under darknesse, unto the
Judgment of the great day."
Rev. xiv. 7 " The houre of his Judgment is come."
Luke xii. 5 " Feare him which after he hath killed, hath
power to cast into hell.' 1
Act IV. iii. i$Drom. S. " What, have you got the picture of
old Adam new apparell'd ? "
Ant. S. "What Adam dost thou mean?"
Drom. S. " Not that Adam that kept the Paradise, but that
Adam that keeps the prison : he that goes in the calfe skin that
48 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
was killed for the Prodigall : he that came behind you, sir, like
an evill angell and bid you forsake his liberty."
Direct Scripture references in incident and word
Gen. ii. 15 "Then the Lorde God tooke the man and put
him into the garden of Eden that he might dresse and keepe it."
Gen. ii. 25 " And they were both naked."
Gen. iii. 7 " And they sewed fig leaves together and made
themselves breeches."
Col. iii. 9, 10 " Ye have put off the olde man with his works,
and have put on the new " (where the reference is to the casting
off and putting on of apparel).
The sergeant was dressed in buff, hence " skin " or
"naked."
Luke xv. 23 " And bring the fat calfe and kill him."
Act IV. iii. 29 Dro. Syr. " Ay sir, the sergeant of the band ;
he that brings any man to answer it that breaks his band ; one
that thinks a man always going to bed, and says ' God give you
good rest ! ' '
Ant. S. "Well, sir, there rest in your foolery. Is there any
ship puts forth to-night ? may we be gone ? "
Dro. S. " Why sir, I brought you word an hour since, that the
bark Expedition put forth to-night ; and then were you hindered
by the sergeant to tarry for the hoy Delay. Here are the angels
that you sent for to deliver you."
Ant. S. " The fellow is distract, and so am I
A nd here we wander in illusions :
Some blessed power deliver us from hence"
Compare the incident of the release of the Apostle Peter
from prison.
Acts xii. 6 " The same night slept Peter between two
souldiers, bound with two chaines, and the keepers before the
doore kept the prison." 9 " So Peter came out and followed
him, and knew not that it was true, which was done by the
Angell but thought he had scene a vision." n "Now when
Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I knowe for a truth, that
the Lord hath sent his Angel and hath delivered me out of the
hand of Herod." 14 " And when she knew Peter's voyce, she
opened not the entrie door for gladness, but ranne in, and tolde
how Peter stood before the entrie. But they said unto her, Thou
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS 49
art mad. Yet she affirmed it constantly that it was so. Then
said they, It is his Angel."
Act IV. iii. 46 Ant. S. "Satan avoid ! I charge thee, tempt
me not ! "
Dro. S. " Master, is this Mistress Satan ?"
Ant. S. " It is the devil."
Dro. S. " Nay, she is worse, she is the devil's dam, and here
she comes in the habit of a light wench. It is written, they
appear to men like angels of light : light is an effect of fire, and
fire will burn."
Matt. iv. 10 " Get thee hence, Satan, it is written Thou
shalt not tempt."
Rev. xii. 9 " That old serpent called the Devil and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world."
2 Cor. xi. 14 " And no marveile : for Satan himselfe is trans
formed into an Angel of Light. Therefore it is no great thing,
though his ministers transforme themselves."
Act IV. iii. 56 Courtezan. " Your man and you are marvel
lous merry, sir. Will you go with me ? we'll mend our dinner
here."
Dro. S. " Master, if you do, expect spoon-meat, or bespeak a
long spoon."
Ant. S. "Why, Dromio?"
Dro. S. " Marry, he must have a long spoon that must eat with
the devil."
For parallel thought see
Prov. v. 3. "The lips of a strange woman droppe as an
honycombe, and her mouth is more soft than oyle. But the ende
of her is bitter as wormwood, and sharpe as a two-edged sword.
Her feete goe downe to death, and her steps take holde on hell.'"
Act IV. iii. 73
Dro. S. " But she, more covetous, would have a chaine.
Master, be wise : an if you give it her
The devil will shake her chaine, and fright us with it."
Direct Scripture reference
Rev. xx. i, 2 "A great chaine in his hand. And he tooke
the dragon, that olde serpent, which is the devill and Satan, and
he bound him a thousand yeres. After that he must be loosed
for a little season."
4
50 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Jude 6 " The Angels also which kept not their first estate
but left their owne habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting
chaines."
Act IV. iv. 19 Officer. "Good sir, be patient."
Dro. E. " Nay, tis for me to be patient : I am in adversity."
For parallel thought and word, see
James v. 10 " Take, my brethren, the Prophets for an en-
sample of suffering adversitie, and of long patience. Yee have
heard of the patience of Job."
Act IV. iv. 55
Pinch. " I charge thee, Satan, hous'd within this man,
To yield possession to my holy prayers,
And to thy state of darkness hie thee straight
I conjure thee by all the saints in heaven."
Ant. E. "Peace doting wizard peace, I am not mad."
Compare the New Testament narrative of the unclean
spirits.
Matt. xii. 44 "Then he (the unclene spirit) sayeth, I wil
returne unto my house, from whence I came out."
Mark ix. 25 " I charge thee come out of him, and enter no
:more into him."
Jude 13 "To whome is reserved the blacknesse of dark-
messe for ever."
Matt. xvii. 21 " Howbeit this kinde goeth not out, but by
prayer and fasting."
Act IV. iv. 92
Pinch. " Mistress, both master and man is possessed ;
I know it by their pale and deadly looks :
They must be bound, and laid in some dark room."
106 Adr. "O bind him, bind him ! let him not come near
me."
Pinch. " More company ! the fiend is strong within him."
Wic. " Vexed with the fiend."
Rheims "Vexed of the devill," does not use the word
" possessed."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Auth. " Possessed with the devil."
Mark v. 1-15 Compare the whole incident.
3 ? 4 " No man could bind him, no not with chaines. Be
cause that when he was often bound with fetters and chaines,
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS 51
plucked the chaines asunder and brake the fetters in pieces,
neither could any man tame him." 9 " My name is Legion,
for we are many."
Act V. i. 69
A bbess. " The venom clamours of a jealous woman
Poisons more deadly than a mad dogges tooth.
It seemes his sleepes were hindered by thy railing
And thereof comes it that his head is light.
Thou saiest his meate was sawc'd with thy upbraidings,
Unquiet meales make ill digestions."
For remote parallels see
Song of Sol. viii. 6 " Jealousy is cruel as the grave."
Prov. xv. 17 "Better is a dinner of greene herbes where
love is, then a stalled oxe and hatred therewith."
Prov. xvii. I " Better is a dry morsell if peace be with it."
Act V. i. 78
" Sweet recreation barred, what doth ensue,
But moody and dull melancholy
Kinsman to grim and comfortless despair,
And at their heels a huge infectious troop
Of pale distemperatures, and foes to life."
For parallel see
Ecclus. xxx. 21, 22 "Give not over thy mind unto heavi-
nesse, and vexe not thyselfe in thine owne counsell. The joy
of the heart is the life of man, and a man's gladness is the pro
longing of his dayes." 24 " Envie and wrath shorten the life,
and carefulnesse bringeth age before the time."
Act V. i. 109
A driana. " I will not hence, and leave my husband here ;
And ill it doth beseem your holiness
To separate the husband and the wife."
Scripture references
Gen. ii. 24 " Therefore shal man leave his father and his
mother and shall cleave to his wife and they shalbe one flesh."
Matt. xix. 6 " And Jesus said, Wherefore they are no more
twaine, but one flesh. Let no man therefore put asunder that
which God hath coupled together."
i Thess. i. 6 "Ye became followers of us and of the Lord."
ROMEO AND JULIET.
Shakespeare's first Tragedy, probably composed in 1592, and printed 1597 from
an imperfect acting copy ; a second quarto printed from an authentic version was
published in 1599.
Act I. i. 21
Sampson. " Tis true ; and therefore, women being the weaker
vessels."
Direct Scripture reference
i Peter iii. 7 " Giving honour to the wife as to the weaker
vessel."
Act I. i. 69 "You know not what you do."
Luke xxiii. 34 "They know not what they do."
Biblical phrase.
Act I. iv. 112
" But He, that hath the steerage of my course
Direct my sail."
For Scriptural parallel see
Prov. xvi. 9 " The heart of man purposeth his way : but the
Lord doth direct his steppes."
Prov. iii. 6 " In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall
direct thy wayes."
Act I. v. 3 2nd Servant. " When good manners shall lie all
in one or two men's hands, and they unwashed too, 'tis a foul
thing."
Reference to the words in the Gospel
Mark vii. 2, 5 " And when they sawe some of his disciples
eate meate with common hands (that is to say unwashen) they
complained."
Act I. v. 28
" Oh speake againe bright Angell, for thou art
As glorious to this night being ore my head
As is a winged messenger of heaven
(52)
ROMEO AND JULIET 53
Unto the white upturned wondring eyes
Of mortalls that fall backe to gaze on him
When he bestrides the lazy pacing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air."
For remote Scripture parallels see
Deut. xxxiii. 26 " Which rideth upon the heavens for thine
helpe, and on the cloudes in his glory."
Ps. Ixviii. 4 " Exalt him that rideth upon the heavens."
Ps. civ. 3 "Which maketh the cloudes his chariot, and
walketh upon the wings of the wind. Which maketh her spirites
his messengers and a flaming fire his ministers."
Acts i. ii " Why stand ye gazing into heaven."
Act I. v. 112
Romeo. " What shall I sweare by ? "
Juliet. " Do not sweare at all
Or if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self
Which is the God of my idolatry."
Reference to Matt. v. 24 " But I say unto you, sweare
not at all, nether by heaven for it is Goddes seat.
Nor yet by the earth for it is his fote-stole."
But the thought in Juliet's mind, while Romeo makes his
promises, is evidently expressed in the words in
Hebrews
Heb. vi. 13 "For when God made promise to Abraham
because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself."
Act II. iii. 4 "And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels."
For slight similarity see
Isa. xxiv. 20 " Shall reele to and fro like a drunken man."
Act II. iii. 26
Friar. " Two such opposed Kings encampe them still,
In Man as well as Herbs, grace and rude will :
And where the worser is predominant,
Full soone the canker death eates up that plant."
For parallels in thought and word see
Gal. v. 17 "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary the one to the
other."
Rom. vi. 12 "Let not sinne reigne therefore in your mortal
body."
54 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Rom. vi. 14 "For ye are not under the Law but under
grace."
Rom. vi. 23 " For the wages of sin is death."
Ecclus. x. 20 Where the Friar's illustrations from plant life
are paralleled :
" There is a seede of man which is an honourable seede : the
honourable seed are they that feare the Lord : there is a seede
of man which is without honour : the seede without honour are
they that transgresse the commandments of the Lorde : it is a
seed that remaineth which feareth the Lord, and a faire plant
that love him : but they are a seed without honour that despise
the law and a deceivable seede that breake the commandements."
Rom. vii. 18 "For I know that in me, that is in my flesh,
dwelleth no good thing : for to wil is present with me, but I
finde no meanes to performe that which is good." 21 " I find
then, that when I would do good I am thus yoked, that evil is
present with me." 24 " O wretched man that I am, who shall
deliver me from the body of this death."
Genevan Note " It is to be noted, that one self same man is
said to wil and not to wil, in divers respects : to wit, he is said to
wil, in that, that he is regenerate by grace : and not to will, in
that, that he is not regenerate, or in that, that he is such an one
as he is borne. But because the part which is regenerate at
length becommeth conqueror," etc.
Act II. iii. 85 "Doth grace for grace and love for love
allow."
Scriptural words
John i. 1 6 " And of his fulnesse have al we received and
grace for grace."
Act II. vi. 10
" These violent delights have violent ends . . .
The sweetest honey
Is loathsome in his owne deliciousnesse,
And in the taste confounds the appetite
Therefore Love moderately, long Love doth so
Too swift arrives as tardie as too slow."
For Scripture parallels see
Matt. xxvi. 52 " All they that take the sword shall perish
with the sword."
ROMEO AND JULIET 55
Prov. xxv. 16 " If thou have founde honey, eate that is
sufficient for thee, lest thou be overfull and vomit it."
Genevan Note " Use moderately the pleasures of this
world"
Prov. xxvii. 7 " The person that is full, despiseth an
honycombe ; but unto the hungry soule every bitter thing is
sweete."
Ecclus. xi. ii "There is some man that laboureth and
taketh paine, and the more he hasteth, the more he wanteth."
Act II. vi. 24
" Ah, Juliet : if the measure of thy joy
Be heap'd like mine."
Scriptural idea and words
Luke vi. 38 " A good measure, pressed downe, shaken
together and running over."
Act II. vi. 38 "Till holy church incorporate two in one."
Gen. ii. 24 "Therefore shal man leave his father and his
mother and shall cleave to his wife and they shalbe one
flesh."
Act III. i. 34 Benvolio. "An I were so apt to quarrel as
thou art, any man should buy the fee-simple of my life for an
hour and a quarter."
Mercutio. " The fee-simple ? O simple ! "
Ben. " By my head, here come the Capulets."
Mer. "By my heel, I care not."
An interesting and suggestive use of Biblical knowledge ;
the words of the oaths are taken from the curse of
the serpent, who was the beginner of all strife, blood
shed and enmity.
Gen. iii. 15 "I will also put enimitie betweene thee and the
woman, and betweene thy seede and her seede. He shal breake
thine head, and thou shalt bruise his heele."
See also
Matt. v. 36 " Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because
thou canst not make one hair white or black."
Act III. i. 59 "Well, peace be with you, sir."
Biblical phrase ; compare Judges xix. 20 " Peace be with
thee."
56 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. i. 120
" O Romeo, Romeo ! brave Mercutio's dead ;
That gallant spirit hath aspir'd the clouds
Which too untimely here did scorn the earth."
Scriptural thought
Eccles. xii. 7 " And dust returne to the earth as it was, and
the spirite returne to God that gave it."
Act III. i. 184
Lady Cap. " I beg for justice, which thou, prince, must give :
Romeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live."
Prince. " Romeo slew him, he slew Mercutio ;
Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe ? "
Montague. " Not Romeo, prince, he was Mercutio's friend,
His fault concludes, but what the Law should end,
The life of Tybalt."
Reference to the Scriptural law of life for life
Gen. ix. 6 "Whoso sheadeth man's blood, by man shall his
blood bee shead."
Ezek. xxxv. 6 "Therefore as I live, sayth the Lord God,
I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee."
Num. xxxv. 29, 30 " So these things shall be a lawe of judg
ment unto you, throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Whosoever killeth any person the judge shall slay the murtherer."
Act III. i. 196
" I will be deaf to pleading and excuses,
Nor tears, nor prayers, shall purchase out abuses,
Therefore use none."
For Scripture parallel see
Isa. i. 15. "And when you shal stretch out your hands,
I will hide mine eyes from you, and though yee make many
prayers, I wil not heare : for your hands are full of blood."
Act III. ii. i
Juliet. " Gallop apace, you fiery footed steedes,
Towards Phoebus lodging ; such a wagoner
As Phaeton would whip you to the West,
And bring in cloudie night immediately.
Spred thy close curtaine, Love-performing night
That run-awayes eyes may wincke, and Romeo
Leape to these armes, untalkt of and unseene."
ROMEO AND JULIET 57
Professor Dowden calls the phrase " run-awayes eyes " the
chief critical crux of the play, and says : " I add my
stone to this cairn under which the meaning lies
buried. In the Merchant of Venice, Act. II. vi.
there is an echo of the sense and of the language of
this passage which confirms the reading Runnawayes.
Gratiano and Salarino have spoken of the eagerness
of lovers outrunning time. This set Shakespeare
thinking of the passage in Romeo and Juliet.
Jessica, in her boy's disguise, says :
" * Love is blind, and lovers cannot see
The pretty follies that themselves commit.' "
Lorenzo. " ' But come at once ;
For the close night doth play the runaway.' "
Compare the first ten lines of Juliet's soliloquy : and
observe the echo of sense and speech (Mind and
Art, p. 124 note).
But Jessica is ashamed to appear in her disguise of male
clothing :
" I am much ashamed of my exchange
But love is blind, and lovers cannot see
The pretty follies that themselves commit :
For if they could, Cupid himself would blush
To see me thus transformed to a boy."
Her lover replies that she must be her own torch-bearer,
but Jessica shrinks from holding the light to her shame
and says :
" Why, tis an office of discovery, love ;
And I should be obscured."
Lorenzo. " So are you, sweet,
Even in the lovely garnish of a boy,
But come at once ;
For the close night doth play the runaway."
That is, the night itself has eyes to see, and thus the
disguise may be penetrated. In Romeo and Juliet
the idea is the same ; there are eyes in the darkness,
but Juliet prays that the gloom may be so intense
that these eyes may be caused to wink and Romeo's
coming be unseen and unknown. The "eagerness
58 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
of lovers outrunning time 1 ' has no part in Juliet's
thought. Absolute secrecy is what she desires.
Whose, then, are the eyes which have power to penetrate
the darkness ? The idea of eyes which run to and
fro through the earth is Biblical, and the thought of
Juliet is intensified if her wish is understood to be
that the darkness may be so thick that the eye of
Omniscience may be unmindful.
Zech. iv. 10 " The eyes of the Lord which run to and fro
through the whole earth," so Authorised ; " who goe thorow the
whole world," Genevan.
Prov. xv. 3 " The eyes of the Lord in every place behold
the evill and the good."
Acts xvii. 30 " And the times of their ignorance God winked
at," Authorised ; " regarded not," Genevan.
Act III. ii. 67
" Then dreadfull Trumpet sound the generall doome
For who is living, if those two are gone."
Reference to the words of St. Paul
1 Cor. xv. 51, 52 "We shall not all sleepe, but we shall all
be changed. In a moment, in the twinckling of an eie at the
last trumpet : for the trumpet shall blowe." 53 "For this cor
ruptible must put on incorruption."
Act III. ii. 80
Juliet. " O Nature ! what hadst thou to doe in hell,
When thou didst bower the spirit of a fiend
In mortall paradise of such sweet flesh." . . .
Nurse. " There's no trust, no faith, no honestie in men,
All perjured, all forsworne, all naught, all dissemblers."
Compare the Scripture texts
2 Cor. xi. 14 " Satan himselfe is transformed into an angel
of light."
Luke viii. 2 " Mary which was called Magdalene, out of
whom went seven devils."
Rom. iii. 9 " All, both Jewes and Gentiles are under sinne.
As it is written there is none righteous, no, not one."
2 Esdras vii. 68 " He pardoneth also : for if he gave not of
his goodness, that they which have done evill might be relieved
ROMEO AND JULIET 59
from their wickednesse, the ten thousand part of men should not
remaine alive."
Act III. ii. 90
" Blistered be thy tongue
For such a wish, he was not born to shame :
Upon his brow shame is asham'd to sit."
Direct references to Dives, Cain, and perhaps to Judas
Luke xvi. 24 " Then he cried and said, Father Abraham,
have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dippe the
tip of his finger in water and coole my tongue : for I am tormented
in this flame."
Gen. iv. 15 "And the Lord set a marke on Kain."
Rev. xiv. 9 " Receive his marke in their foreheads."
Matt. xxvi. 24 " Surely the Sonne of man goeth His way,
as it is written of Him : but wo be to that man, by whom the
Sonne of man is betrayed : it had bene good for that man, if he
had never bene borne."
Act III. ii. 109
" I would forget it fain
But O : it presses to my memory
Like damned guilty deeds to sinners minds."
There are many references to the terrors of conscience,
but it is interesting to note that a few lines before
this speech Shakespeare has referred to the Rich Man,
and this parable seems to be in his mind here.
Compare
Luke xvi. 25 " But Abraham sayd, Sonne remember that
thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy pleasures, and likewise Lazarus
paines : now therefore is he comforted, and thou art tormented."
Genevan Note " The ende of riotousnesse and cruell
pride."
Act III. iii. 9
Romeo. " What lesse then Doomesday
Is the Prince's doom ? "
Friar. " A gentler judgement vanisht from his lips,
Not bodies death, but bodies banishment."
Romeo. " Ha, banishment ? be mercifull, say death ;
For exile hath more terror in his looke,
Much more then Death : do not say ' banishment '."
60 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Friar. " Here from Verona art thou banished :
Be patient, for the world is broad and wide."
Romeo. " There is no world without Verona walles
But Purgatorie, Torture, Hell it selfe. . . .
Banished ?
O Frier, the damned use that word in hell
Howlings attend it."
Ezra vii. 26 " The King's Law, let him have judgment with
out delay, whether it be unto death, or to banishment."
2 Sam. xiv. 13, 14 " Why doeth the King, as one which is
faultie, speake this thing, that he will not bring again his banished.
For we must needes die, and we are as water spilt on the ground
which cannot be gathered up againe : neither doeth God spare
any person, yet doth Hee appoynt meanes, not to cast out from
Him, him that is expelled."
Compare this with the closing words of Romeo's speech
" How hast thou the heart
Being a divine, a ghostly confessor,
A sin absolver, and my friend profest
To mangle me with that word ' banished '."
And for the reference to Purgatory see
2 Esdras ix. 9 " Then shall they have pity of themselves,
which now have abused my wayes. And they that have cast
them out despightfully shal dwel in paines. For such as in
their life have received benefits, and have not knowen me. But
have abhorred my lawe while they were yet at liberty, and when
they had yet leisure of amendment, and would not understand
but despised it. They must be taught it after death by paine."
Act III. iii. 69
" Then mightest thou speake
Then mightest thou teare thy hayre
And fall upon the ground as I doe now."
A reference to the Jewish method of expressing sorrow.
Ezra ix. 3 " But when I heard this saying, I rent my clothes
and my garment, and pluckt off the haire of mine head and of
my beard, and sate downe astonied."
Act III. iii. 83
" There on the ground
With his owne teares made drunk."
ROMEO AND JULIET 61
Biblical figure
Isa. Ixiii. 6 " And make them drunken in mine indignation."
Jer. xlvi. 10 " The sword shall devour, and it shalbe satiate,
and made drunke with their blood."
Lam. iii. 15 "Made me drunken with wormwood."
Genevan Note, that is "with great anguish and sorrow
he hath made me lose my sense."
Rev. xvii. 6 " Drunken with the blood of saintes."
Deut. xxxii. 42 " I will make mine arrows drunke with
blood."
Ezek. xxiii. 33. " Thou shalt be filled with drunkennes and
sorrow," meaning "that the afflictions should be so great that
they should cause them to lose their senses and reason." Genevan
Note.
Act III. iii. 92 "Death's the end of all."
See
Num. xvi. 29 " Men die the common death of all."
Heb. ix. 27 " It is appointed unto men that they shal once
die."
Act III. iii. 116
"Hast thou slain Tybalt? wilt thou slay thyself?
And slay thy lady, that in thy life lives,
By doing damned hate upon thyself?
Why rail'st thou on thy birth, the heaven, and earth ?
Since birth, and heaven, and earth, all three do meet
In thee at once, which thou at once wouldst lose."
Exod. xx. 13 "Thou shalt not kill."
On suicide see notes on Hamlet, and for railing on birth
see Job
Job iii. 3, 4 " Let the day perish wherein I was born, and
the night when it was sayde, There is a man-child conceived.
Let that day be darkenesse, let not God regarde it from above,
neither let the light shine upon it"
Act III. iii. 139 "The Law that threatened death became
thy friend."
For parallel thought compare the argument of St. Paul-
Gal, iii. 23 " We were kept under the Lawe as under a
garison." 24 "Wherefore the Lawe was our scholemaster to
bring us to Christ."
62 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. v. 68
" Evermore weeping for your cousin's death ?
What ! wilt thou wash him from his grave with tears ?
An if thou couldst, thou couldst not make him live :
Therefore, have done. Some grief shows much of love ;
But much of grief shows still some want of wit."
For parallel thought see Apocrypha.
Ecclus. xxxviii. 23 "Seeing the dead is at rest, let his re
membrance rest, and comfort thyselfe againe for him when his
spirit is departed from him."
Ecclus. xxxviii. 16, 17, 18 "My sonne, powre forth tears
over the dead, and begin to mourne, as if thou hadst suffered
great harme thy selfe, and then cover his body according to his
appointment, and neglect not his burial. Make a grievous
lamentation, and be earnest in mourning, and use lamentation,
as he is worthy, and that a day or two, lest thou be evil spoken
of, and then comfort thy selfe for thy heavines. For of heavi-
nesse cometh death, and the heavines of the heart breaketh the
strength." 21 "Forget it not ; for there is no turning againe :
thou shalt do him no good, but hurt thy selfe."
Act III. v. 87-
" Then weep no more. I'll send to Mantua.
Where that same banished runagate doth live."
Words suggested by the banishment of Cain the murderer
Gen. iv. 14 " Beholde thou hast cast me out this day from
the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid, and shall bee a vaga
bond and a runnagate in the earth."
Authorised " fugitive."
Act III. v. 114 "Now by St. Peter's Church and Peter too."
Compare Matt. xvi. 18, 19. Direct Scripture reference.
Act III. v. 164 "That God had lent us but this only
child."
Scriptural thought. Compare
Job i. 21 "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away."
Gen. xxxiii. 5 "They are the children whom God of His
grace hath given thy servant."
Act III. v. 178" God's Bread ! it makes me mad."
The reference seems to be to the bread in the Sacrament
but see also
ROMEO AND JULIET 63
Lev. xxi. 8 " Thou shalt sanctifie him therefore, for he
offereth the bread of thy God."
Lev. xxii. 25 "Neither of the hand of a stranger shall ye
offer the bread of your God."
Act III. v. 196
" Is there no pittie sitting in the clouds
That sees into the bottome of my grief? "
For the meaning underlying the words compare
Ps. xlvii. 8 " God reigneth over the heathen : God sitteth
upon his holy Throne."
Isa. xl. 22 " He sitteth upon the circle of the earth."
Ps. ix. 12 "For when hee maketh inquisition for blood,
he remembreth it, and forgetteth not the complaint of the
poore."
Act III. v. 209
" Alack, alack, that Heaven should practise stratagems
Upon so soft a subject as myself!
What sayst thou ? hast thou not a word of joy ?
Some comfort ? "
For a parallel " Heaven should practise stratagems " com
pare Job.
Job ii. I "And on a day the children of God came and
stood before the Lord, and Satan came also among them." 3
" And the Lord sayd unto Satan, Hast thou not considered My
servant Job, how none is like him in the earth ? an upright and
just man, one that feareth God and escheweth evill ; for yet
hee continueth in his uprightnesse, although thou movedst me
against him, to destroy him without cause."
Job xix. 21 " Have pitie upon mee, have pitie upon me (O
yee my friends) for the hand of God hath touched me."
Act III. v. 226 Juliet. "Speakest thou from thy heart?"
Nurse. " And from my soul too."
Use of the Scripture words
Deut. vi. 5 " With all thine heart and with all thy soul."
Act III. v. 235
" Ancient damnation ! O most wicked fiend !
Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworne,
Or to dispraise my Lord with that same tongue
64 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Which she hath prais'd him with, above compare
So many thousand times ? "
Scripture references see
i John iii. 7. " He that committed! sinne is of the devill :
for the devill sinneth from the beginning."
James iii. 8 " The tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly
evill, full of deadly poison." 10 " Out of one mouth proceedeth
blessing and cursing : my brethren, these things ought not to be.
Doeth a fountaine sende forth at one place sweete water and
bitter."
Ecclus. xxviii. n "A tongue that beareth false witnesse,
bringeth death."
Act IV. i. 43" Till then adieu and keepe this holy kisse."
Scriptural words
i Thess. v. 26 "Greete all the brethren with an holy
kisse."
Rom. xvi. 16; i Cor. xvi. 20 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 12.
Act IV. i. 55 " God joyn'd my heart and Romeo's, thou our
hands."
Scriptural words and thoughts
Matt. xix. 6 " Let no man therefore put asunder that which
God hath coupled together."
Tob. vi. 17 " He loved her and his heart was effectually
joyned to her."
Act IV. i. 80
" Or hide me nightly in a Charnell house
Ore covered quite with dead men's ratling bones
With reekie shankes and yellow chappels (chapless) sculls."
Use of Scriptural words "dead men's," "sculls"
Matt, xxvii. 33 "Golgotha (that is to say the place of dead
men's skuls)."
Mark xv. 22. " A place named Golgotha, which is by inter
pretation, the place of dead men's skulles."
John xix. 17 "A place named of dead men's skulls."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. "Dead men's skulles."
Wic., Rheims " Place of Calvary."
Auth. " A place of a skull."
ROMEO AND JULIET 65
Act IV. iv. 43
" O woe, O woefull, wofull, wofull day
Most lamentable day, most wofull day
That ever, ever I did yet behold
O day, O day, O day, O hateful day
Never was scene so blacke a day as this."
Reminds one of the curse and lamentation of Job.
Job iii. 8 " Let them curse the day (being readie to renue
their mourning) curse it. Let the starres of that ;twilight bee
dimme through darknesse of it : let it look for light but have
none, neither let it see the dawning of the day."
And of
Ezek. xxx. 2 " Howie and cry, wo be unto this day."
Act IV. iv. 66
Friar. " Heaven and yourselfe
Had part in this faire maid, now heaven hath all,
And all the better is it for the maid.
Your part in her, you could not keepe from death,
But heaven keepes his part in eternall life.
The most you fought for was her promotion,
For twas your heaven, she should be advan'st
And weepe ye now, seeing she is advan'st
Above the clouds, as high as heaven itselfe ?
O in this love, you love your child so ill
That you run mad, seeing that she is well."
For parallels compare the following passages
Gen. xxxiii. 5 " Who are these with thee ? And hee answered,
They are the children whom God of His grace hath given thy
servant."
Job i. 21 "The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken
it, blessed be the Name of the Lord."
Phil. i. 23 "Desiring to be loosed and to be with Christ
which is best of all."
2 Cor. v. i "For we know that if our earthly house of this
tabernacle be destroyed, wee have a building of God, that is, an
house not made with hands, but eternall in the heavens."
John x. 28 " And I geve unto them eternall lyfe, and they shal
never perishe, nether shall any man plucke them out of my hand."
So Tyn., Cran., Auth. ; " Life everlasting," Rheims.
5
66 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
2 Kings iv. 20 " He sate on her knees until noone, and then
died." 23" She answered, All shall be well."
Authorised" All is well."
Act IV. iv. 94
" The heavens do lour upon you, for some ill ;
Move them no more, by crossing their high will."
For the thought compare the words of the prophet
Jer. iv. 22 " For my people are foolish, they have not
knowen me ; they are foolish children, and have none under
standing : they are wise to do evill, but to do well they have no
knowledge." 28 "Therefore shall the earth mourne and the
heavens above shall be darkened."
Act IV. iv. 108 " Tis no time to play now."
Reference to the words of the Preacher.
Eccles. iii. i "To all things there is an appointed time."
4 " A time to weepe and a time to laugh : a time to mourne
and a time to dance."
Act IV. iv. 1 16 Peter. " Then will I lay the serving-creature's
Dagger on your pate, I wil carie no crotchets, He Re you, He
Fa you, do you note me ? "
Musician. " An you Re us, and Fa us, you note us."
In the Genevan Version of Sternhold and Hopkins' Psalms,
Preface to the Reader :
" Thou shalt understand (gentle Reader) that I have for
the helpe of those that are desirous 'to learne to sing,
caused a new print of note to be made with letters
joyned to everie note : whereby thou maiest know, how
to call everie note by his right name.
" The Letters be these : U for Ut, R for Re, M for My,
F for Fa, S for Sol, L for La."
Act IV. iv. 125
" When griping griefes the heart doth wound
Then musicke with her silver sound."
For identical words see the Metrical Version of Sternhold
and Hopkins' Psalms in the Genevan Version.
Ps. xxx. 6, 7 " Though gripes of grief and pangues full sore
Shall lodge with us all night :
The Lord to joy shall us restore
Before the day be light."
ROMEO AND JULIET 67
Act V. i. 14
Romeo. " How doth my lady ? Is my father well ?
How doth my Lady Juliet ? that I ask again :
For nothing can be ill if she be well."
Balthazar. " Then she is well, and nothing can be ill,
Her body sleeps in Capel's monument
And her immortal part with angels lives"
For the Scripture parallel of the dead being well see
2 Kings iv. 26 "Run now I pray thee, to meet her, and
say unto her, Is it well with thee ? is it well with thy husband ?
is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well," so
Authorised.
The Genevan " Art thou in health ? is thine husband
in health? and is the child in health? And she
answered, We are in health."
Job iii. 13 " For so should I now have lyen and bene quiet,
/ should have slept then and bene at rest." 17 " The wicked
have there ceased from their tyrannic and there they that
laboured valiantly are at rest."
Eccles. xii. 7 " And dust returne to the earth as it was, and
the Spirite returne to God that gave it."
Act V. i. 79
Romeo. " There is thy gold ; worse poison to men's soules,
Doing more murther in this loathsome world'
Than these poore compounds that thou maiest not sell."
For Scripture parallels compare
James v. 3 " Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust
of them shalbe a witnesse against you, and shal eate your flesh
as it were fire."
i Tim. vi. 9 " For they that will be rich, fall into tentations
and snares, and into many foolish and noysome lustes, which
drowne men in perdition and destruction." 10 "For the desire
of money is the roote of all evil."
Matt. xxvi. 15, 1 6 " And sayd, What will you give me, and
I will deliver Him unto you ? And they appoynted unto him
thirtie pieces of silver. And from that time he sought op-
portunitie to betray Him."
Ecclus. x. 9 " There is not a more wicked thing than to love
money : for such one would even sell his soule."
68 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Ecclus. viii. 2 "Golde and silver hath destroyed many
and hath subverted the hearts of Kings."
Ecclus. xxxi. 6 " Many are destroyed by reason of golde,
and have found their destruction before them. It is as a stumb-
ling-blocke unto them that sacrifice unto it, and every foole is
taken therewith."
Act V. iii. 37
" The time and my intents are savage wild,
More fierce, and more inexorable farre
Than emptie Tygers or the roaring sea."
For the roaring cruelty of the sea compare
Jer. vi. 23 " With bo we and shield shall they be weaponed ;
they are cruell and will have no compassion : their voyce roareth
like the sea."
Act V. iii. 61
" I beseech thee youth
Put not another sin upon my head
By urging me to furie, O be gone !
By heaven I love thee better than myselfe,
For I come hither arm'd against myselfe."
Scripture reference
Ephes. iv. 26, 27 " Bee angry and sinne not : let not th<
sunne goe downe upon your wrath. Neither give place to th<
devill."
I Sam. xxv. 39 "The Lord hath recompensed the wicked-
nesse of Nabal upon his owne head."
Lev. xix. 18 "Thou shalt not avenge, nor be mindeful
wrong against the children of thy people but shalt love trr
neighbour as thyselfe."
Act V. iii. 108
Romeo. " Here, here will I remaine
With wormes that are thy chambermaids : O here
Will I set up my everlasting rest,
And shake the yoke of inauspicious starves
From this world-wearied flesh."
For parallel in thought and word see
Job xvii. 13, 14 "I shall make my bed in the darke.
shall say to corruption, Thou art my father, and to the worm<
Thou art my mother and my sister."
ROMEO AND JULIET 69
Genevan Note "Dust and wormes shall bee to me instead
of father, mother, sister or any worldly thing."
Job xiv. 12 "So man sleepeth and riseth not, for hee shall
not wake againe, nor be raised from his sleepe till the heavens
be no more."
Judges v. 20 " Even the starres in their courses fought
against Sisera."
Hos. xi. 4 " I was to them as He that taketh off the yoke."
Ecclus. xxviii. 19, 20 " The yoke thereof is a yoke of yron,
and the bandes of it are bandes of brasse."
Act V. iii. 152
Friar. " A greater power than we can contradict
Hath thwarted our intents : come, come away."
Reference to Scripture
Prov. xvi. 9 " The heart of man purposeth his way ; but the
Lord doth direct his steppes."
Prov. xvi. 33 " The lot is cast into the lappe, but the whole
disposition thereof is of the Lord."
Prov. xix. 21 " Many devises are in a man's heart ; but the
counsell of the Lord shall stand."
Isa. xliii. 13 "Yea before the day was, I am, and there is
none that can deliver out of mine hand : I wil do it and who
shall let it."
Acts ix. 2 " Nowe as he (Paul) journeyed, it came to passe
that as he was come neere to Damascus, suddenly there shined
rounde about him a light from heaven, and he fell to the earth."
Act V. iii. 206
Lady Cap. " O me ! this sight of death is as a bell,
That warns my old age to a sepulchre."
For the admonition of death compare
Ps. xc. 3, 4 "Thou turnest man to destruction: againe
thou sayest, returne ye sonnes of Adam. For a thousand yeeres
in thy sight are as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch
in the night." 12 "Teach us so to number our dayes, that we
may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
Act V. iii. 261" Beare this worke of Heaven with patience."
Mic. vi. 9 "The Lorde's voyce cryeth unto the citie, and
the man of wisedome shall see thy name : Heare the rodde, and
who hath appointed it."
70 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Job v. 6 " For miserie commeth not foorth of the dust,
neither doeth affliction spring out of the earth."
Ecclus. i. 28 " A patient man will suffer for a time and then
shall he have the reward of joy."
Ecclus. ii. 4 " Whatsoever commeth unto thee, receive it
patiently, and be patient in the change of thine affliction." 5
" For as gold and silver are tried in the fire, even so are men
acceptable in the furnace of adversitie."
I Cor. x. 13 "God is faithful, which wil not suffer you to
be tempted above that you be able, but will even give the issue
with the tentation, that ye may be able to beare it."
Act V. iii. 305
" A glooming peace this morning with it brings,
The sunne for sorrow will not shew his head :
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things."
Reminds one of the darkness of the Sun when the Peace
of Mankind was won upon the Cross.
Matt, xxvii. 45 " Nowe from the sixt houre was there dark
ness over all the land, unto the ninth houre."
Luke xxiii. 45 " And the sunne was darkened."
Luke xxiv. 1 3 " And beholde two of them went that same
day to a towne which was from H Jerusalem about three score
furlongs, called Emmaus." 14 "And they talked together of
al these things that were done."
FIRST PART OF HENRY THE SIXTH.
" On March 3, 1592, a new piece, called ' Henry VI.,' was acted at the Rose
Theatre by Lord Strange's men. It was no doubt the play which was subsequently
known as Shakespeare's ' The First Part of Henry VI.' On its first performance it
won a popular triumph." SIDNEY LEE.
Act I. i. 20
Bedford. " And death's dishonourable victory
We with our stately presence glorify,
Like captives bound to a triumphant car.
What ! shall we curse the planets of mishap,
That plotted thus our glory s overthrow"
Reference to the victory of Barak at Kishon
Judges v. 20 " They fought from heaven, even the starres
in their courses fought against Sisera. The river Kishon swept
them away, that ancient river."
Act I. i. 28
Bishop of Winchester
" He was a King blessed of the King of Kings.
Unto the French the dreadfull Judgement Day
So dreadfull will not be, as was his sight.
The Battailes of the Lord of Hosts he fought,
The Churche's Prayers made him so prosperous."
Gloucester. "The Church! where is it? Had not Churchmen
pray'd
His thred of life had not so soone decay'd,
None do you like but an effeminate prince,
Whom, like a school-boy, you may over-awe."
Winchester. " Gloster, whate'er we like, thou art protector
And lookest to command the prince and realm.
Thy wife is proud : she holdeth thee in awe,
More than God or religious Churchmen may."
(70
72 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Gloucester. " Name not religion for thou lovst the flesh :
And ne'er throughout the year to Church thou go'st
Except it be to pray against thy foes."
Rev. xix. 1 6 " King of Kings and Lord of Lords."
Rev. xx. n "And I saw a great white throne and One that
sate upon it, from whose face fled away both the earth and
heaven, and their place was no more found."
Rev. vi. 15 " And the Kings of the earth and the great men
and the rich men, and the chiefs captaines, and the mightie men,
and every bond man and every free man, hid themselves in
dennes, and among the rockes of the mountaines." 16 "And
said to the mountaines and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the
presence of Him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of
the Lambe." 17 " For the great day of His wrath is come, and
who can stand ? "
Isa. xiii. 14 "The Lord of Hostes numbreth the hoste of
the battell."
i Sam. xxv. 28 " Because my lord fighteth the battels of
the Lord."
Isa. xxxviii. 12 " I have cut off like a weaver my life, He
will cut me off from the height."
I John ii. 15, 16 "Love not this world, neither the things
that are in this world. If any man love this world, the love of
the Father is not in him. For all that is of the world (as the
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life) is not
of the Father, but is of the world."
Gal. v. 24 " For they that are Christ's, have crucified the
flesh with the affections and the lustes."
" The Church ? where is it ? " a truly Puritan inquiry.
Matt, xviii. 20 " Where two or three are gathered together
in My Name, there am I in the mids of them."
This is followed immediately by the verse which speaks
of the forgiveness of a brother even " unto seventie
times seven," and the Genevan Note says : " They
shall finde God severe and not to be pleased, which
doe not forgive their brethren, although they have been
diversely and grievously injured by them." Note
how Shakespeare puts the sin of praying against foes.
Luke vi. 28 " Blesse them that curse you, and pray for them
which hurt you."
FIRST PART OF HENRY THE SIXTH 73
Act I. i. 67 " These news would cause him once more yeeld
the Ghost."
Biblical phrase.
Gen. xxxv. 1 8 " Then as she was about to yeelde up the
Ghost (for she died)."
Acts v. 10 " Fell downe straightway at his feete, and yeelded
up the Ghost."
Wic. "died."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Auth -" yeelded up the Ghost."
Rheims "gave up the Ghost."
Act I. ii. 27
" He fighteth as one weary of his life.
The other lords, like Lyons wanting prey
Doe rush upon us as their hungry prey."
Compare the last fight of King Saul on Gilboa, i Sam.
xxxi. 2.
Gen. xxvii. 46 "Also Rebekah said to Izhak, I am weary of
my life."
Job x. i "My soul is weary of my life," Authorised.
Ps. xvii. n, 12 "They have compassed us nowe in our
steps, they have set their eyes to bring downe to the ground.
Like as a Lyon that is greedie of prey, and as it were, a lion's
whelpe lurking in secret places."
Ps. xxii. ii "Bee not far from mee, for trouble is neere,
for there is none to help me." 13 " They gape upon mee with
their mouthes, as a ramping and roaring lyon."
Act I. ii. 35
" For none but Samsons and Goliasses
It sendeth forth to skirmish. One to tenne."
Scripture references
Judges xv. 1 6 " And he (Samson) found a new jaw bone of
an asse, and put forth his hand and caught it and slew a thousand
men therewith."
I Sam. xvii. 23 "And as he talked with them, beholde, the
man that was betweene the two armies came up (whose name
was Goliath the Philistim of Gath)." 24 "And all the men
of Israel when they sawe the man ranne away from him and
were sore affrayd."
74 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act I. ii. 74 "Our Lady gracious."
" God's mother."
" Christ's mother."
See Luke i. 26-38 " Haile thou that are freely beloved :
the Lord is with thee : blessed art thou among
women."
Act I. ii. 104
Charles. " Stay, stay thy hands ! thou art an Amazon
And fightest with the sword of Debora."
Direct Scripture reference
Judges iv. 4 " And at that time Deborah a Prophetesse, the
wife of Lapidoth judged Israel." 6 " Then she sent and called
Barak the sonne of Abinoam out of Kedesh of Naphtali, and
sayde unto him, Hath not the Lorde God of Israel commanded,
saying, Goe and drawe towarde Mount Tabor and take with thee
ten thousande men. And I will drawe unto thee to the river
Kishon, Sisera the captain of Jabin's armie with his charets and
his multitude and will deliver him unto thine hand. And
Barak said unto her, If thou wilt goe with me I will goe."
Act I. ii. 140
Charles. " Was Mahomet inspired with a dove ?
Thou with an eagle art inspired then.
Helen, the mother of Great Constantine,
Nor yet S. Philip's daughters were like thee.
Bright Starre of Venus, falne downe on the earth,
How may I reverently worship thee enough."
A very interesting Biblical reference.
Acts xxi. 8 "We entered unto the house of Philip, the
Evangelist, which was one of the seven Deacons, and abode with
him. Now he had foure daughters, virgins, which did prophecie."
Acts xix. 35 u Ye men of Ephesus, what man is it that
knoweth not how that the citie of the Ephesians is a worshipper
of the great goddesse Diana and of the image, which came
downe from Jupiter."
Act I. iii. 38
Winchester. " Nay, stand thou back ; I will not budge a foot.
This be Damascus, be thou cursed Cain
To slay thy brother Abel, if thou wilt."
Direct Scripture references.
FIRST PART OF HENRY THE SIXTH 75
Damascus is the oldest city in the world, and is sup
posed to have been the scene of the earliest events in
the history of mankind.
Compare Josephus, Ant. I. vi. 3 ; Pococke ii. 115, 116.
The meaning of Damascus is given in the Genevan Bible
as " a cup of blood," or " blood of a sacke," or " blood
of burning."
Gen. iv. 8 " Kain rose up against Habel his brother and slew
him." 1 1 " Now therefore thou art cursed from the earth."
Act I. iii. 41
Gloster. " I will not slay thee, but I'll drive thee back,
Thy scarlet robes as a child's bearing-cloth
He use, to carry thee out of this place. . . .
Under my feet I stamp thy cardinal's hat
In spight of Pope, or dignities of Church
Here by the Cheekes He drag thee up and downe."
Winch. " Gloster, thou'lt answer this before the Pope."
Gloster. " Winchester goose ! I cry a rope ! a rope !
Now beat them hence, why doe you let them stay?
Thee He chase hence, thou wolfe in sheep's array
Out Tawney coates, out Scarlet Hypocrite!'
Gloster's reiteration of his scorn for the scarlet robes
exactly indicates the feeling of the Elizabethan
Puritan.
The Genevan Bible in its notes on Rev. xvii. 3 says : " A
skarlet colour, that is, with a red and purple garment ;
and surely it was not without cause that the Romish
clergie were so much delighted with this colour."
Ezek. xxii. 25 " There is a conspiracie of her prophets in
the mids thereof like a roaring lion ravening the prey : they
have devoured soules : they have taken the riches and precious
things : they have made her many widowes in the mids thereof."
26 " Her priests have broken my Law, and have defiled mine
holie things ; they have put no difference between holy and
prophane." 27 " Her princes in the mids thereof are like wolves,
ravening the prey, to shed blood and to destroy soules for their
owne covetous lucre."
Matt, xxiii. 13 "Woe therefore be unto you, Scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites, because ye shut up the kingdom of heaven
before men."
76 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Matt. vii. 15 " Beware of false prophets, which come to you
in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
Act I. iv. 70
" O Lord have mercy on us, miserable sinners,
O Lord ! have mercy on me, woful man."
Biblical phrases
Matt. xx. 30 " O Lord, the sonne of David, have mercy on
us."
Luke xvii. 13 "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us."
Luke xviii. 13 " O God be mercifull to me a sinner."
Ps. xxv. 1 6 " Have mercie upon me."
And compare the Liturgies.
Act I. v. 9 " Heavens, can you suffer hell so to prevail."
Biblical phraseology
Matt. xvi. 1 8 "And the gates of hell shall not prevayle
against it."
So Tyn., Cran., Rheims, Authorised ; Gen., " overcome."
Act I. v. 13 "Talbot farewell, thy houre is not yet come."
Use of Scriptural words
John vii. 30 " Then they sought to take Him, but no man
layd hands on Him because His houre was not yet come"
Act I. v. 19 "My thoughts are whirled like a Potter's
wheele."
Reference to Scripture
Jer. xviii. 3 " Then I went down to the potter's house, and
beholde he wrought a worke on the wheeles."
Act I. v. 39 "The shame hereof will make me hide my
head."
Compare
Jer. xiv. 3 " They were ashamed and confounded, and
covered their heads."
Act II. i. 26
" Well, let them practise and converse with spirits
God is our Fortresse, in whose conquering name
Let us resolve to scale their flinty bulwarkes."
Scripture reference and use of Bible words
2 Sam. xxii. 2, 3 " And he sayd, The Lord is my rocke, and
my fortresse, and he that delivereth me. God is my strength, in
FIRST PART OF HENRY THE SIXTH 77
Him will I trust : my shielde and the home of my salvation, my
hie tower and my refuge."
Ps. xxxi. 3 " For thou art my Rocke and my Fortresse."
Ps. xx. 5 " Set up the banner in the Name of our God." /
" Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will re
member the Name of the Lord our God."
Act II. iii. 6
" Great is the rumour of this dreadful knight,
And his achievements of no less account :
Fain would mine eyes be witness of mine ears,
To give their censure of these rare reports."
For parallel compare the words of Sheba
2 Chron. ix. 6 " Howbeit I beleeved not their report, untill
I came and mine eyes had seene it : and beholde, the one halfe
of thy great wisedome was not tolde me : for thou exceedest the
fame that I heard."
The Queen of Sheba and King Solomon.
Line 67 " I find, thou art no less than fame hath bruited."
Act II. v. 8
Mortimer. " These Eyes like Lampes whose wasting Oyle is spent
Waxe dimme, as drawing to their exigent."
A common figure, but compare for the language
I Sam. iii. 2 " And at that time as Eli lay in his place, his
eyes began to waxe dimme that he could not see, and yer the
light of God went out."
The Genevan Marginal Note explains " the lampes which
burnt in the night."
Ps. vi., T. Sternhold " My sight is dim and waxeth old."
And for the whole speech compare
Ps. xxxi. (2nd part), J. Hopkins
" Myne eyes waxe dimme, my sight doth fayle
My womb for woe doth ake
My life is worne with grief and payne
My yeares in woe are past :
My strength is gone and through disdaine,
My bones corrupt and wast."
Act II. v. 21 " Enough, my soule shall then be satisfied."
Use of Scriptural words
Isa. liii. ii "He shall see of the travaile of his soule, and
shall be satisfied."
78 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. v. 102
" Strong-fixed is the house of Lancaster
And like a mountaine, not to be removed."
Use of Scriptural words and idea
Ps. cxxv. i "As Mount Zion which cannot be removed, but
remaineth for ever."
Act III. i 14
Gloster. " No prelate : such is thy audacious wickedness,
Thy lewd, pestiferous, and dissentious pranks,
As very infants prattle of thy pride.
Thou art a most pernicious usurer,
Froward by nature, enemy to peace ;
Lascivious, wanton, more than well beseems
A man of thy profession and degree :
And for thy treachery, what's more manifest
In that thou laidst a trap to take my life. . . .
Beside, I fear me, if thy thoughts were sifted
The King, thy Sovereign, is not quite exempt
From envious malice of thy swelling heart"
The qualifications of the Bishop are given in the New
Testament, and are in direct contrast to those pos
sessed by Gloster's opponent
i Tim. iii. 2 " A Bishop therefore must be unreproveable,
the husband of one wife, watching, temperate, modest, harberous,
apt to teach. Not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy
lucre, but gentle, no fighter, not covetous." 6 " He may not be
a yong scholar lest he being puffed up fall into the condemna
tion of the devill. He must also be well reported of, even of them
which are without, lest he fall into rebuke and the snare of the
devill." " Treachery " suggests the supreme example of Apostolic
baseness Judas Iscariot, and the Priests of the Jews.
Matt. xxvi. 1 6 "They appoynted unto him thirtie pieces of
silver. And from that time he sought opportunitie to betray
Him." 48 " Now he that betraied Him, had given them a token,
saying, whomsoever I shall kisse, that is He, lay hold on Him."
Matt, xxvii. 18 " For He knew well that for envy they had
delivered Him."
Mark xv. 10 " Will ye that I let loose unto you the King
of the Jewes. For He knew that the Hie priestes had delivered
him of envie."
FIRST PART OF HENRY THE SIXTH 79
Act III. i. 32-
" And for dissension, who preferreth peace
More than I do, except I be provoked."
For parallel compare
Rom. xii. 18 " If it be possible, as much as in you is, have
peace with all men."
Act 1 1 1. i.67-
" I would prevayle, if Prayers might prevayle
To joyne your hearts in love and amitie."
Use of Scriptural words
Isa. xvi. 12 "Then shall he come to his temple to pray, but
he shall not prevayle."
Tob. vi. 17 "He loved her and his heart was effectually
joyned to her."
Act III. i. 1 06
King Henry. " O, how this discord doth afflict my soul !
Can you, my Lord of Winchester, behold
My sighes and teares, and will not once relent ?
Who should be pitifull, if you be npt
Or who should study to preferre a Peace
If holy Churchmen take delight in broyles ? "
2 Tim. ii. 24 "The servant of the Lord must not strive,
but must be gentle toward all men."
i Peter iii. 2 " Let him eschew evill and do good, let him
seeke peace and follow after it."
Heb. xii. 14 " Follow peace with all men and holiness."
Matt. v. 9 " Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall
be called the children of God."
Heb. iii. i " Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the
heavenly vocation, consider the Apostle and high priest of our
profession, Jesus Christ."
i Peter ii. 25 " Who when He was reviled, reviled not again ;
when Hee suffered, He threatened not but committed it to Him
that judgeth righteously."
Act III. i. 128-
" I have heard you preach
That malice was a great and grievous sinne :
And will you not maintaine the thing you teach
But prove a chief offender in the same ? "
8o SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Warwick. " Sweet King ! the Bishop hath a kindly gyrd
For shame, my Lord of Winchester, repent :
What, shall a child instruct you what to doe ? "
Luke vi. 46 " Why call ye Me Lord Lord, and doe not the
thing that I speak ? "
Ephes. iv. 31 "Let all bitterness and anger, and wrath,
crying and evill speaking, be put away from you."
Rom. ii. 19 " A guide of the blinde, a light of them which
are in darknesse. An instructor of them that lack discretion, a
teacher of the unlearned, which hast the forme of knowledge and
of the truth in the law." 20 "Thou therefore which teachest
another, teachest thou not thyselfe ? thou that preachest a man
should not steale, dost thou steale ? Thou that gloriest in the
Law, through breaking the Law, dishonourest thou God ? "
Matt. xxi. 15, 1 6 "But when the Chief Priests and Scribes
saw the children crying in the Temple and saying, Hosanna to
the Sonne of David. Yea, read ye never, by the mouth of babes
and suckling's thou hast made perfit the praise."
Act III. i. 195 " Was in the mouth of every sucking babe."
See above Matt. xxi. 16.
Act III. ii. no
" Now quiet soule, depart when Heaven please
For I have seene our enemies' overthrow.
What is the trust or strength of foolish man."
Compare the speech of the aged Simeon
Luke ii. 29 " Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in
peace, according to Thy worde. For mine eyes have seene Thy
salvation."
Ps. xx. 7 " Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but
we will remember the Name of the Lord our God."
Ps. cxviii. 8, 9 " It is better to trust in the Lord than to
have confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than
to have confidence in princes."
Act III. ii. 136
" Kings and mighty potentates must die,
For that's the end of human misery."
For Scripture parallels see
Heb. ix. 27 " It is appointed unto men that they shall once
die."
FIRST PART OF HENRY THE SIXTH 81
Eccles. viii. 8 " Man is not lord over the spirit to retain the
spirit."
Job iii. 19 " There are small and great, and the servant is
free from his master."
Ps. xlix., John Hopkins
" Yet shall no man alwayes enjoy
High honor, wealth, and rest,
But shall at length tast of deathe's cup
As well as the brute beast."
" Death shall them eate, and in that day
The dust shall Lordship have."
Act III. iii. 42
" Brave Burgundy, undoubted hope of France,
Stay, let thy humble handmaid speak to thee"
Compare the incident of David and Abigail
1 Sam. xxv. 23, 24 "And when Abigail sawe David, shee
hasted and lighted off her asse, and fell before David on her
face, and bowed herselfe to the grounde, and fell at his feete. I
pray thee let thine handmaide speake to thee."
Act III. iv. io
Talbot. " And, with submissive loyalty of heart,
Ascribes the glory of his conquest got
First to my God, and next unto your grace."
For Scripture parallel of thought and word see
Ps. cxv. I " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy
Name give the glorie, for Thy loving mercie and for Thy trueths
sake."
2 Chron. xxxii. 8 " With us is the Lord our God to help us
and to fight our battles."
i Mace. xii. 15 "For we have had helpe from heaven, that
hath succoured us, and we are delivered from our enemies, and
our enemies are subdued."
Act IV. i. 150
" Let us not forgoe
That for a trifle, that was bought with blood."
For Scripture parallel compare
i Peter i. 17 "Pass the time of your dwelling here in feare."
1 8 "Knowing that yee were not redeemed with corruptible
6
82 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
things as silver and gold." 19 " But with the precious blood
of Christ"
I Cor. vi. 19, 20 "Ye are not your owne, for ye are bought
for a price."
Act IV. i. 183
" For, had the passions of my heart burst out,
I fear, we should have seen decipher'd there
More rancorous spite, more furious raging broils,
Than yet can be imagin'd or supposed."
Compare Scripture on the wickedness of the heart
Matt. xv. 19 "For out of the heart come evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies,
slaunders."
Mark vii. 22 "Thefts, covetousnesse, wickednesse, deceit,
uncleannesse, a wicked eye, backebiting, pride, foolishnesse."
Act IV. i. 192
" Tis much, when sceptres are in children's hands,
But more, when envy breeds unkind divisions."
Scripture references
Isa. iii. 4 " And I will appoint children to be their princes,
and babes shal rule over them."
Eccles. x. 1 6 " Woe to thee, O Land, when thy King is a
jchild."
Act IV. ii. 10
" You tempt the fury of my three attendants,
Lean famine, quartering steel, and climbing fire ;
Who in a moment, even with the earth,
Shall lay your stately and ayre-braving Tower."
Act IV. ii. 14 " If you forsake the offer of their love"
For a parallel see the passage in the Gospel of St. Luke
Luke xix. 44 "And shall make thee even with the ground,
and thy children which are in thee, and they shall not leave in
thee a stone upon a stone, because thou knewest not that time of
thy visitation"
Act IV. ii. 26 : French General
" But death doth front thee with apparent spoyle,
And pale destruction meets thee in the face."
For " pale destruction " compare the passage in Revela
tion.
FIRST PART OF HENRY THE SIXTH 83
Job v. 22 " But thou shalt laugh at destruction and death."
Rev. vi. 8 " And I looked and behold a pale horse and his
name that sate on him was Death, and Hel followed after him,
and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the
earth, to kil with sword, and with hunger and with death."
See lines 10, 14 above.
Act IV. iii. 15 "God comfort him in this necessity."
Scripture references
2 Cor. i. 3, 4 " The God of all comfort, which comforteth us
in all our tribulation."
2 Cor. vii. 6 " God that comforteth the abject."
Isa. Ixvi. 13 "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will
I comfort you."
Act IV. iv. 12 : Sir William Lucy
" Whither, my Lord ; from bought and sold L. Talbot :
Who ring'd about with bold adversitie,
Cries out for noble Yorke and Somerset
To beate assayling death from his weake Regions (Legions) :
And whiles the honourable Captaine there
Drops bloody swet from his warre wearied limbs. . . .
You his false hopes
Keepe off aloof e with worthlesse emulation"
The betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ and the scene in
Gethsemane are clearly in the mind of the writer.
Matt. xxvi. 14, 15 "Then one of the twelve, Judas Iscariot,
went unto the chiefe priests and said, What will ye give me and
I will deliver Him unto you ? And they appoynted unto him
thirtie pieces of silver."
Luke xxii. 44 " And being in an agonie, He prayed more
earnestly, and His sweat was like droppes of blood, trickling
downe to the ground. And He rose up from prayer, and came
to His disciples, and found them sleeping for heavines."
Mark xiv. 50 " Then they all forsooke Him, and fled."
Act IV. vi. 29 " Now thou art seal'd the son of chivalrie."
Compare the Biblical use of " seal " as consecrated. Gene
van Note says " to scale is taken for to approve."
Act IV. vii. 3
" Triumphant Death, smear'd with captivitie,
Young Talbot's valour makes me smile at thee."
84 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
For the Scripture basis of this idea, and for the glory of
immortality, see
I Cor. xv. 25 " For He must reigne, till Hee hath put all His
enemies under His feet. The last enemie that shall be destroyed
is death."
Ephes. iv. 8 " Wherefore He saith, when He ascended up on
hie, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men."
Rom. vi. 9 " Death hath no more dominion over Him."
Isa. xxv. 8 " He will destroy death for ever."
With these texts compare also the lines which follow
Act IV. vii. 1 8
" Thou antick death, which laugh'st us here to scorn,
Anon, from thy insulting tyranny,
Coupled in bonds of perpetuity,
Two Talbots, winged through the lither skie
In thy despight shall 'scape mortalitie.
O thou whose wounds become hard favoured death
Speake to thy father, ere thou yeeld thy breath.
Poore boy, he smiles, methinkes, as who should say,
Had Death bene French, then Death had dyed today."
In the Genevan Bible in the " thanksgiving after the re-
ceving of the Lorde's Supper" the phrase "yeelded
up his breath " occurs
" His soule be gane in torments great
And yeelded up his breath."
I Cor. xv. 54 "So when this corruptible hath put on in-
corruption and this mortall hath put on im mortalitie, then shall
be brought to passe the saying that is written, Death is swallowed
up in victory. O Death, where is thy sting, O Grave, where is thy
victorie."
Act V. i. ii
ft I, marry Uncle, for I alwayes thought
It was both impious and unnaturall,
That such immanity and bloody strife
Should reigne among professors of one faith ."
Scripture references
1 Cor. vii. 15 "God hath called us in peace."
Col. iii. 15 " Let the peace of God rule in your hearts."
2 Tim. ii. 22 " Follow after righteousness, faith, love and
peace, with them that call on the Lorde with pure heart."
FIRST PART OF HENRY THE SIXTH 85
Ephes. iv. 5 " There is one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism."
Heb. iii. i "Therefore holy brethren, partakers of the
heavenly vocation, consider the Apostle and high priest of our
profession, Christ Jesus."
Act V. ii. 6
Pucelle. " Peace be amongst them, if they turne to us
Else ruine combate with their Pallaces."
A paraphrastic play on the words
Ps. cxxii. 6, 7 " Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, let them
prosper that love thee : Peace be within thy walles and pros-
peritie within thy palaces."
Act V. iii. 10
" Now ye familiar spirits, that are cull'd
Out of the powerfull legions under earth.
Help me this once, that France may get the field."
For a parallel idea and use of similar words see
I Sam. xxviii. 7 " Then said Saul to his servants, Seeke me
a woman that hath a familiar spirite." 8 " Conjecture unto mee
by the familiar spirite."
This was before the great battle of Gilboa.
Mark v. 9 (And the devils answered) " My name is Legion,
for we are many."
Act V. iii. 47
*' For I will touch thee but with reverend hands,
I kisse these fingers for eternall peace
And lay them gently on thy tender side.
Who art thou ? say, that I may honour thee."
These words have clearly been suggested by the great
incident recorded in the Gospel of John.
Act V. iv. 39
Pucelle. " Not me begotten of a shepherd swain
But issued from the progeny of Kings
Vertuous and Holy : chosen from above
By inspiration of Celestiall Grace
To worke exceeding myracles on earth.
I never had to do with wicked spirits
But you : that are polluted with your lusts,
Stain'd with the guiltless blood of innocents,
Corrupt and tainted with a thousand vices
86 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Because you want the grace that others have,
You judge it straight a thing impossible
To compass wonders, but by help of devils."
Compare for the thought and words the encounter of our
Lord with the Pharisees
Matt. x. 33, 34 " The multitudes marvelled, saying, It was
never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, He casteth out
devils through the prince of the devils."
Matt. xii. 24 " This fellow doth cast out devils by Beelzebub
the prince of the devils."
Matt. xii. 34 " O generation of vipers, how can ye, being
evil, speak good things ? for out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaketh."
Act V. iv. 52
" Whose maiden-blood thus rigorously effus'd
Will cry for vengeance, at the Gates of Heaven."
For parallel see
Gen. iv. 10 "The voyce of thy brother's blood cryeth unto
mee from the earth."
Deut. xxi. 9 " So shalt thou take away the cry of innocent
blood."
Rom. xii. 19 "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the
Lord."
Act V. v. 62
"For what is wedlock forc'd but a Hell,
An age of discord and continuall strife.
Whereas the contrarie bringeth blisse
And is a patterne of celestiall peace."
For remote parallel compare
Prov. xvii. i " Better is a dry morsel, if peace be with it,
than an house full of sacrifices, with strife."
Prov. x. 12 "Hatred stirreth up contentions but love
covereth all trespasses."
Act V. v. 92
" For your expences and sufficient charge
Among the people gather up a tenth."
Lev. xxvii. 32" The tenth shall be holy unto the Lord."
Num. xviii. 21 "I have given the children of Levi all the
tenth in Israel for an inheritance."
THE SECOND PART OF HENRY THE SIXT.
" The first of the three plays dealing with the reign of Henry VI. was origin
ally published in the collected edition of Shakespeare's works ; the second and third
plays were previously printed in a form very different from that which they subse
quently assumed when they followed the first part in the Folio. Criticism has proved
beyond doubt that in these plays Shakespeare did no more than add, revise, and
correct other men's work. In ' The First Part of Henry VI.' the scene in the
Temple Gardens, where white and red roses are plucked as emblems by the rival
political parties (Act II. iv.), the dying speech of Mortimer, and perhaps the wooing
of Margaret by Suffolk, alone bear the impress of his style." Mr. Sidney Lee on
the question of the authorship of the Trilogy, pp. 59 et seq.
Act I. i. 19
" O Lord ! that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness."
For parallels compare
Job xii. 10 " In whose hande is the soule of every living
thing, and the breath of all mankind."
Ps. 1. 14 "Offer unto God prayse."
Ephes. v. 20 " Giving thankes alwayes for all things unto
God, even the Father, in the Name of our Lorde Jesus Christ."
Act I. i. 74" Brave peers of England, pillars of the State"
Use of Bible words
Gal. ii. 9 "And when James, and Cephas and John . . .
which are counted to be pillars."
Genevan Note " Count for pillars of the Church," so all
the Versions.
Act I. i. 99 " Blotting your names from bookes of memory."
Mai. iii. 16 " A booke of remembrance was written."
Num. v. 23 " Write these curses in a booke, and shall blot
them out with the bitter water."
Rev. iii. 5 " I will not blot out his name out of the booke of
life." Authorised.
Act I. i. ii2 " Now by the death of Him that dyed for all."
Direct reference to the Lord Jesus Christ
2 Cor. v. 14, 15 "For that love of Christ constraineth us,
(87)
88 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Because we thus judge, that if one be dead for all, then were al
dead, and He died for all."
Act I. ii. 70
Dwhess. " What say'st thou ? Majesty ! I am but grace."
Hume. " But by the grace of God, and Hume's advice
Your Grace's Title shall be multiplied."
Play on the word grace and on the texts
i Cor. xv. 10 " But by the grace of God I am what I am."
I Peter i. 2 " Grace and peace be multiplied unto you."
Act I. iii. 4 "Marry, the Lord protect him, for he's a good
man, Jesu blesse him."
Ps. v. 12 "For thou Lord, wilt blesse the righteous, and
with favour will compasse him like a shield."
Act I. iii. 57
" His champions are the prophets and Apostles,
His weapons, holy sawes of Sacred Writ."
For Scriptural basis of these words see
Ephes. ii. 20 " Built upon the foundations of the Apostles
and Prophets."
Ephes. vi. 16 " Take the shield of Faith, and take the helmet
of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
God"
Act I. iii. 141
" Could I come neere your Beautie with my nayles,
I could set my ten commandments in your face."
The Decalogue was written with the ringer of God, hence
the fingers are spoken of as instruments to grave the
commandments.
Deut. ix. 10 " Two tables of stone, written with the finger
of God."
Exod. xxxi. 1 8 " Two Tables of the Testimonie, even tables
of stone, written with the finger of God."
Act I. iii. 157
" But God in mercy so deal with my soul
As I in duty love my king and country."
Scripture phraseology
Ps. cxix. 124 "Deal with Thy servant according to Thy
mercy."
SECOND PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 89
Ruth i. 8 "The Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt
with the dead and with me." Authorised.
Act I. iii. 176
Suffolk. " Because here is a man accused of treason :
Pray God, the Duke of York excuse himself."
A favourite play on the words "accuse" and "excuse"
based on the words of St. Paul-
Rom, ii. 1 5 " Their conscience also bearing witness and
their thoughts accusing one another or excusing."
Act I. iii. 188 "God is my witnesse."
Biblical phrase
Rom. i. 9 " For God is my witnesse."
Act I. iii. 214 "Alas my lord, I cannot fight; for God's
sake, pity my case ! the spight of man prevayleth against me, O
Lord, have mercy upon me."
Scripture phraseology
Ps. vi. 2 " Have mercie upon me, O Lord, for I am
weake."
Ps. ix. 13. "Have mercie upon me, O Lord, consider my
trouble which I suffer of them that hate me."
Ps. xiii. 4 " Lest mine enemie say, I have prevayled against
him."
Jer. i. 19 " For they shall fight against thee."
Act I. iv. 24
" By the Eternall God
Whose name and power thou tremblest at. . . ."
39 " Descend to darkenesse and the burning lake."
Direct reference to the words of St. James
James ii. 19 "Thou beleevest that there is one God: thou
doest well : the devils also believe and tremble."
Rev. xvi. 10 " His kingdom waxed darke, and they gnawed
their tongues with sorrow."
Rev. xix. 20 " Cast into a lake of fire, burning with brim
stone."
Act II. i. 16
Glos. " Were it not good your grace could fly to heaven ? "
King Hen. " The Treasurie of Everlasting Joy."
go SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Direct Scripture reference
Luke xii. 33 " A treasure that can never faile in Heaven,
where no thiefe commeth, neither mothe corrupteth."
Rev. vii. 17 "God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes."
Act II. i. 34
" Good Queene, and whet not on these furious Peeres,
For blessed are the Peace-Makers on Earth."
Cardinal. " Let me be blessed for the peace I make
Against this prowd Protector with my sword."
Quotation of Scripture
Matt. v. 9 " Blessed are the peace makers : for they shall
be called the children of God."
Matt. x. 34 " Think not that I am come to send peace on
earth : I came not to send peace, but a sword."
King Henry quotes our Lord's words, but the Cardinal
replies with words of opposite meaning from the
same authority.
Act II. i. 52 "Medice teipsum, Protector see to't well, pro
tect thyselfe."
Quotation of Scripture
Luke iv. 23 "Ye will surely say unto me this Proverbe,
Physician, heale thyselfe."
Act II. i. 60
" A miracle, a miracle !
Forsooth, a blinde man at Saint Albans shrine
Within this halfe houre hath received his sight,
A man that ne'er saw in his life before."
King Henry. " Now, God be praysed, that to beleeving Soules,
Gives Light in Darkenesse, Comfort in Despaire."
69 " Great is his comfort in this earthly vale
Although by his sight his sinne be multiplyed."
73 " Good fellow, tell us here the circumstance
That we for thee may glorifie the Lord
What ! hast thou beene long blinde, and now re-
stor'd ?
Simp. " Borne blind, and 't please your Grace."
Wife. " I indeed was he."
Suff. " What woman is this ? "
SECOND PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 91
Wife. " His wife, an't like your worship."
Glos. lt Hadst thou been his mother, thou couldst have
better told."
The incident follows almost line for line the account of
the healing of the blind man as recorded in John ix.
" Blind from his birth."
" Did not believe concerning him that he had been blind
and received his sight until they called the parents."
" They answered and said unto Him, Thou wast altogether
born in sins, and dost Thou teach us? And they
cast him out" (i.e., from the Synagogue privileges).
" Said unto him, Give God the praise."
Act II. i. 83
" Poor soule
God's goodness hath bene great to thee :
Let never Day nor Night unhallowed passe
But still remember what the Lord hath done."
Ps. cvii. 9 " Let them confesse before the Lorde His
loving kindness and His wonderful workes before the sonnes
of men."
Act II. i. i5i"O God, seest Thou this, and bearest so
long?"
For foundation of the thought see
Jer. xliv. 22 " Hath He not considered it ? so that the Lorde
could no longer forbeare."
Prov. xv. 3 " The eyes of the Lorde in every place behold
the evill and the good."
Act II. i. 158
" Duke Humphrey has done a miracle to-day."
Suffolk. " True ; made the lame to leape."
Use of Scripture words
Isa. xxxv. 6 " Then shall the lame man leape as an hart."
Act II. i. 183
" O God, what mischiefes work the wicked ones,
Heaping confusion on their owne head thereby."
Direct reference
Ps. vii. 16 " His mischiefe shall returne upon his owne head
and his cruelty shall fall upon his owne pate."
92 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. i. 191
" Noble shee is : but if shee have forgot
Honour and Vertue, and convers't with such
As, like to Pytch, defile Nobilitie
I banish her."
A favourite quotation from the Apocrypha.
Ecclus. xiii. I " He that toucheth pitch, shalbe defiled with
it, and he that is familiar with the proud shalbe like unto him."
Act II. i. 200
" Call these foul offenders to their answeres,
And poyse the Cause in Justice equall scales,
Whose Beame stands sure, whose rightfull cause prevailes."
For parallel see
Job xxxi. 6 " Let God weigh me in the just balance, and
he shall know mine uprightnes."
Act II. ii. 73
" Till they have snar'd the Shepheard of the Flock,
That virtuous Prince, the good Duke Humphrey,
Tis that they seek : and they in seeking that
Shall find their deaths."
For parallel idea compare
Zech. xiii. 7 " Smite the Shepheard, and the sheepe shall
be scattered."
Matt. xxvi. 31 "I will smite the Shepheard, and the sheep
of the flocke shall be scattered."
And for the play on the words " seek " and " find " see
Luke xi. 9 " Seeke and yee shall find."
Act II. iii. 84
" In sight of God, and us, your guilt is great,
Receive the sentence of the Law for sinne
Such as by God's Booke are adjudg'd to death. . . .
The witch in Smithfield shall be burnt to ashes."
Direct reference to Scripture
Deut. xviii. 10 " A charmer, or that counselleth with spirits,
or a soothsayer, or that asketh counsel at the dead. For all
that do such things are abomination unto the Lord, and because
of these abominations the Lord thy God doth cast them out
before thee."
Exod. xxii. 1 8 "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."
SECOND PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 93
Act II. iii. 1 8
" Ah Humphrey ! this dishonour in thine age
Will bring thy head with sorrow to the ground."
Compare the words of Jacob
Gen. xlii. 38 "Yee shall bring my grey head with sorrow
unto the grave."
Act II. iii. 24
" God shall be my hope,
My stay, my guide, and lantern to my feet.
And goe in peace."
Use of many texts of Scripture
Ps. cxix. 105 " Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a
light unto my path."
Ps. Ixxi. 5 " For Thou art mine hope, O Lord God, even my
trust from my youth. Upon Thee have I bene stayed."
Ps. xlviii. " For this God is our God for ever and ever. He
shalbe our Guide unto the death."
Ps. xviii. 1 8 "The Lord was my stay."
Job vi. 23 "For the commandement is a Lanterne, and
instruction a light."
" Go in peace " a very common Biblical expression.
Act II. iv. 40 " To thinke upon my Pompe, shall be my
Hell."
For parallels see
Isa. xiv. II "Thy pompe is brought downe to the grave,
and the sound of thy violes." 12 " How art thou fallen from
heaven, O Lucifer, sonne of the morning, and cutte downe to the
ground."
Luke xvi. 25 "But Abraham sayd, Sonne remember that
thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy pleasures."
Act II. iv. 46 "Was made a wonder, and a pointing stock"
The idea is Scriptural although " pointing stock " does not
occur.
Nah. iii. 6 " Will set thee as a gazing-stock."
Ps. xliv., T. Sternhold " A laughing stocke."
Ps. ii., T. Sternhold
" And make them all as mocking stocks
Throughout the world so wide."
94 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. iv. 69
" Thy greatest help is quiet, gentle Nell
I pray thee sort thy heart to patience."
For Scripture parallel see
i Peter ii. 19 " For this is thankworthie, if a man for con
science towards God endure griefe, suffering wrongfully. For
what praise is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faultes, yee take
it patiently ? but and if when yee doe well, ye suffer wrong, and
take it patiently, this is acceptable to God."
Act II. iv. 89
" Death, at whose name I oft have bene afear'd
Because I wished this world's Eternitie.' :
Compare the words in
1 John ii. 15 "Love not this world, neither the things that
are in this world."
Phil. i. 21 ; Luke xvii. 33 ; John xii. 25.
Luke xii. 31 "Seeke ye after the Kingdom of God."
Act III. i. 76
" Is he a lamb ? his skin is surely lent him,
For hee's inclin'd as is the ravenous wolves.
Who cannot steal a shape, that means deceit ? "
Direct Scripture references
Matt. vii. 15 "Which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves."
Luke x. 13 "Beholde I send you forth as lambes among
wolves."
2 Cor. xi. 14 " Satan is transformed into an angel of light."
Act III. i. 99 " A heart unspotted is not easily daunted."
Prov. xxviii. i " The wicked flee when no man pursueth,
but the righteous are bold as a lion."
Ps. xxvii. i " The Lord is my light and my salvation whom
shall I fear : the Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall
I be afraid."
Act III. i. 165-
" Ay, all of you have laid your heads together ;
Myself had notice of your conventicles,
And all to make away my guiltless life.
I shall not want false witness to condemn me."
SECOND PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 95
For a parallel compare the following passages
Ps. Ixxi. 10 " For mine enemies speake of me, and they that
lay waite for my soule, take their counsell together."
Matt. xxvi. 3 "And consulted together that they might
take Jesus by subtiltie and kill Him." 59 " Nowe the chiefe
Priests and the Elders, and all the whole council sought false
witnesse."
Matt. xxiv. 65 "Then the hie Priest rent his clothes
saying, He hath blasphemed, what have we any more need of
witnesses."
1 80 "As if she had suborned some to sweare
False allegations, to ore'throw his state."
Acts vi. n "Then they suborned men which sayd, We
have heard him speake blasphemous wordes against Moses and
God."
Wic., Tyn., Cran. do not give the word "suborned." The
Genevan is the first to use it and is followed by the
Rheims and Authorised.
Act III. i. 191
" Thus is the shepheard beaten from thy side,
And wolves are gnarling who shall gnaw thee first."
Compare for the idea
Ezek. xxxiv. 8 " My sheepe were devoured of all the beasts
of the field, having no shepheard."
Act III. i. 242 "That shows him worthy death! 1
Scriptural phrase
Acts xxv. 25 "Yet have I found nothing worthy of death."
Acts xxvi. 31 "This man doeth nothing worthy of death,
nor of bonds."
All the Versions give " worthy of death."
Act III. i. 325" So break off, the day is almost spent."
Compare
Judges xix. n "The day was sore spent."
Luke xxiv. 29 " It is towards night and the day is far spent."
(Genevan, 1598).
Tyn., Cran., Gen., 1557. "is farre passed."
Rheims " is now far spent."
Authorised " is farre spent."
96 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. i. 347 "You put sharp weapons in a madman's
hands."
For parallel see
Prov. xxvi. 1 8 "As he that faineth himselfe mad casteth
firebrands, arrowes, and mortall things."
Act III. i. 380-
" Why then from Ireland come I with my strength
And reape the Harvest which that Rascall sow'd."
Compare the proverb as given in Scripture
John iv. 57 " For herein is the saying true that one soweth
and another reapeth."
Act III. ii. 45
" Hide not thy poison with such sugar'd words ;
Lay not thy hands on me ; forbear, I say :
Their touch affrights me as a serpent's sting."
For parallel compare
Ps. cxl. 3 " They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent,
adder's poyson is under their lips."
Rom. iii. 13 " The poison of aspes is under their lips." 15
" Their feet are swift to shed blood."
Act III. ii. 57
" Although the duke was ennemie to him,
Yet he, most Christian-like, laments his death."
Compare David lamenting for Saul, 2 Sam. i. 12.
Matt. v. 43, 44 " Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy. But I say unto
you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you."
Act III. ii. 74
" What, dost thou turne away, and hide thy face ?
I am no loathsome Leaper ; look on me.
What ? Art thou like the adder waxen deafe
Be poysonous too, and kill thy forlorn Quene."
A reference to the Jewish law dealing with the Leper
Lev. xiii. 45 " The Leper also in whom the plague is, shall
have his clothes rent, and his head bare and shal put a covering
upon his lips and shal cry I am unclene, I am uncleane."
And a reference to the words of the Psalmist
Ps. Iviii. 4 "Their poyson is even like the poyson of a
SECOND PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 97
serpent : like ye deafe adder that stoppeth his eare, which heareth
not the voyce of the inchanter, though he be most expert irk
charming/'
Act III. ii. 136
" O Thou that judgest all things, stay my thoughts f
My thoughts that labour to persuade my soul,
Some violent hands were laid on Humphrey's life !
If my suspect be false, forgive me, God,
For judgment onely doth belong to Thee."
For the Scripture dealing with this thought see
Isa. xxx. 18 "The Lord is the God of Judgment."
Prov. xxix. 26 " Every man's judgment cometh from the
Lord."
Ps. ciii. 6 " The Lord executeth righteousness and judg
ment."
Gen. xviii. 25 "Shall not the Judge of all the world, doe
right."
Act III. ii. 153-
Warwick. " As surely as my soul intends to live
With that dread King, that tooke our state upon him,
To free us from his Father's wrathfull curse."
Direct reference to Scripture
Rev. xix. 1 6 "King of Kings and Lord of Lords."
John xiv. " In my Father's house are many dwelling-places."
3 " That where I am, ye may be also."
Gal. iii. 13 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the
Lawe, made a curse for us."
Rom. i. 1 8 " For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven."
Phil. ii. 6 " Who being in the form of God thought it no
robbery to be equall with God, But He made himself of no
reputation, and tooke on Him the forme of a servant and was
made like unto men, and was founde in shape as a man. He
humbled Himselfe and became obedient unto the death, even the
death of the cross."
Act III. ii. 184
"Tis like you would not feast him like a friend,
And tis well scene, he found an enemy."
Compare the incident of David and Nabal
i Sam. xxv. 10 (Then Nabal answered) " Shall I then take
7
98 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
tny bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for
my shearers, and give it unto men whom I know not whence
they be." 13 "And David said unto his men, Gird every man
his sword about him."
Act III. ii. 215 : Warwick
" But that the guilt of murder bucklers thee
And I should rob the Deathsman of his fee . . .
I would give thee thy hyre, and send thy soule to hell."
A reference to the mark upon Cain, and the doom of murder.
Gen. iv. 14 "Whosoever findeth mee shall slay me." 15
"Then the Lord sayd unto him, Doubtlesse whosoever slayeth
Kain he shall be punished sevenfold. And the Lord set a marke
upon Kain, lest any man finding him should kill him."
Gen. ix. 5 "At the hand of man, even at the hand of a
man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheadeth
man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed."
Rev. xxi. 8 " Murtherers shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone."
Rom. vi. 23 " For the wages of sinne is death."
Act III. ii. 232 : King Henry
" What stronger Brest-plate then a heart untainted ?
Thrice is he arm'd that hath his Quarrell just ;
And he but naked, though lockt up in Steele
Whose Conscience with Injustice is corrupted."
For Scripture parallels in thought and word compare
Wisd. of Sol. v. 1 8 " He shal put on righteousness for a
brest plate, and take true Judgment in stead of a helmet. He
will take Holines for an invincible shield."
Wisd. of Sol. xvii. 4" For the denne that hid them, kept
them not from feare : but the sounds that were about them
troubled them, and terrible visions and sorrowful sights did
appeare." 10 " For it is a feareful thing when malice is con
demned by her owne testimonie : and a conscience that is touched,
doeth ever forecast cruel things."
Prov. xxviii. i " The wicked flee when none pursueth, but
the righteous are bolde as a lion."
Act III. iii. 285
" And therefore by his Majesty I swear,
Whose far unworthy deputy I am."
SECOND PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 99
Rom. xiii. 4 " (The Ruler) For he is the minister of God to
thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid : for
he beareth not the sword in vain : for he is the minister of God,
a revenger to execute wrath."
Act III. iii. 330
" These dread curses, like the sun 'gainst glass
Or like an overcharged gun, recoil
And turn the force of them upon thyself."
Compare
Ps. vii. 1 6 " He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into
the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his
own head."
Ezek. ix. 10 " I will recompense their way upon their head."
Matt, xxvii. 25 " His blood be on us, and on our children."
Act III. iii. 360
" A wilderness is populous enough,
So Suffolk had thy heavenly company."
A reference to the ministering angels in the wilderness,
see
Mark i. 13 "And he was there in the wildernesse, fourtie
days and the Angells ministered unto him."
Act III. ii. 368
" To signifie unto his Majesty
That Cardinall Beauford is at point of death,
For sodainly a greevous sicknesse took him,
That makes him gaspe and stare, and catch the aire,
Blaspheming God, and cursing men on earth."
Note the phrase " at point of death."
Mark v. 23 "And besought Him instantly saying, My litle
daughter lieth at the point of death."
So Rheims and Authorised.
Wic. " nigh dead"
Tyn., Cran., Gen. " at poynt of death."
Rom. ii. 24 " For the Name of God is blasphemed."
Job ii. " Curse God and die."
Rev. xiii. 6 "Opened his mouth unto blasphemie against
God."
Rom. iii. 14 " Whose mouth is full of bitterness and cursing."
ioo SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. iii. 19
" O Thou Eternal 1 mover of the heavens,
Looke with a gentle eye upon this wretch !
Oh ! beate away the busy medling Fiend
That layes strong siege unto this wretched soule
And from his bosome purge this blacke despaire."
Warwick. " See, how the pangs of death do make him grin. . . ."
King Henry. " Forbeare to judge, for we are sinners all.
Close up his eyes, and draw the curtain close,
And let us all to meditation."
For the thought compare the following passages
1 Peter v. 8 " Your adversary the devill as a roaring lyon
walketh about seeking whom he may devoure."
Ps. li. 7 " Purge me with hyssope and I shal be cleane."
Isa. Ixv. 6 " Behold it is written before me : I will not keepe
silence but will render it and recompense it into their bosome."
2 Sam. xxii. 5 " For the pangs of death have compassed
me."
Authorised " waves of death," but gives "pangs" in
margin.
"The floods of ungodlinesse have made me afraide. The
sorrows of the grave compassed me aboute, the snares of death
overtooke me. My crie did enter into His eares."
Luke vi. 37 " Judge not, and yee shall not be judged : con-
demne not and ye shall not be condemned : forgive and ye shalbe
forgiven."
Rom. iii. 23 "For there is no difference, for all have sinned
and come short."
Ps. xc. 12 " Teach us so to number our days, that we may
apply our hearts unto wisedome."
Genevan Note " Which is, by considering the shortnesse
of our life, and by meditating the heavenly joy."
Act IV. i. 25
Whitmore. " I lost mine eye in laying the prize aboard,
And therefore to revenge it, thou shalt die."
A reference to the Jewish Law
Deut. xix. 21 "And thine eye shalt not pity ; but life shall
go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for
foot."
SECOND PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 101
Act IV. i. loi
" Reproach and Beggarie
Is crept into the palace of the King."
For the idea see
Isa. xxxiv. 13 "And it shall bring forth thornes in the
pallaces thereof, the satyre shall crye to his fellow and the
skritch owle shall rest there, there shall the owle make her nest."
Act IV. ii. 14 John. " True ; yet it is said, Labour in thy
vocation, which is as much as to say, so let the magistrates be
labouring men, and therefore should we be magistrates."
23 " Hee shall have the skinnes of our enemies to make
Dogge's leather of."
25 " Then is sin strucke downe like an oxe, and iniquitie's
throate cut like a calfe."
29" And Smith the weaver?"
George. " Argo, their thred of life is spun."
Ephes. iv. i " Walk worthy of the Vocation whereunto ye are
called."
In the Commination, Genevan Bible Church Service, the
minister exhorts the people as follows : " Seeking al-
wayes His glory and serving Him duely in our voca
tion."
The other passages sound like a parody of Biblical
phraseology, but compare
Mic. iii. 2 " But they hate the good and love the evill, they
plucke off their skins from them, and their flesh from their
bones."
Isa. Ixvi. 3" He that killeth a bullocke is as if he slewe a
man : he that sacrificeth a sheepe, as if he cut off a dogge's
necke."
Job vii. 6 " My dayes are swifter than a weaver's shittle."
Isa. xxxviii. 12 " I have cut off like a weaver my life."
Act IV. ii. 136 "Adam was a gardener."
Gen. ii. 8 " And the Lord God planted a garden eastward
in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had made." 15
" That he might dresse and keepe it."
Act IV. iv. 10
" For God forbid, so many simple souls
Should perish by the sword."
102 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
" God forbid," a common Biblical expression, used some
twenty-three times in the Old and New Testaments.
Matt. xxvi. 52 " All that take the sword shall perish with
the sword."
Wic. only gives " perische bi swerd."
Act IV. iv. 38 " O graceless men ! they know not what they
do."
Luke xxiii. 34 " Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for
they knowe not what they do."
Wic., Tyn., Cran. "wot not."
Gen. 1557 " wot not;" subsequent editions "Knowe
not."
Rheims and Authorised " know not."
Act IV. iv. 55 "God our hope will succour us."
Jer. xvii. 13 " O Lord, the hope of Israel."
Jer. xiv. 8 " O Hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time
of trouble."
Joel iii. 1 6 " The Lord will be the hope of His people."
Act IV. vii. 19 "And henceforward all things shall be in
common."
Acts ii. 44 " And al that beleeved, were in one place and
had all things common."
Act IV. vii. 74
" And seeing Ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing wherewith we flye to heaven.
Unless you be possest of divellish spirits
You cannot but forbeare."
Rom. i. 21 "Their foolish heart was full of darkenesse.
When they professed themselves to be wise, they became fools."
John xvii. 3 " And this is life eternal, that they know Thee
to be the only true God, and whome Thou hast sent, Jesus Christ."
Ephes. iv. 18 "Having their understanding darkened, and
being strangers from the life of God through the ignorance that
is in them."
Mark i. 32 "That were possessed with devils."
Act IV. vii. 109 "Away with him, he has a Familiar under
his Tongue, he speaks not a God's name."
A reference to the sin of witchcraft.
SECOND PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 103
Luke x. 17 "Lord, even the devils are subdued to us
through Thy name."
I Sam. xxviii. 7 " Hath a familiar spirit."
Lev. xix. 31 " Yee shall not regarde them that worke with
spirits neither soothsayers."
Acts xix. 15 " And the evil spirite answered and said."
Exod. xxii. 18 "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."
Deut. xviii. 10.
Act IV. vii. 116
" Ah countrimen ; If when you make your praiers
God should be so obdurate as yourselves,
How would it fare with your departed soules."
For the Scriptural basis of these words compare
Matt. v. 7 " Blessed are the mercifull ; for they shall obtain
mercy."
Luke xi. 4 " And forgive us our sinnes, for even we forgive
every man that is indetted to us."
James ii. 13 "For there shall be condemnation mercilesse
to him that sheweth not mercy, and mercie rejoyceth against
condemnation."
Act IV. viii. 19 AIL "God save the King! God save the
King."
Direct quotation of Scripture
i Sam. x. 24 " And all the people shouted and sayd, God
save the King."
Act IV. ix. 13 "Then Heaven set ope thy everlasting
gates."
Ps. xxiv. 7 " Lift up your heads, ye gates, and bee ye lift
up yee everlasting doores."
Act IV. x. 20
Iden. " I seeke not to waxe great by others' waning,
Or gather wealth I care not with what envy :
Sufficeth, that I have maintains my state
And sends the poore well pleased from my gate."
For Scriptural bases of the thought compare
Prov. xxx. 8 " Remove farre from me vanitie and lies ! give
me not povertie nor riches: feed me with food convenient for
me."
io 4 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Prov. xv. 1 6 " Better is a little with the feare of the Lord,
than great treasure and trouble therewith."
I Tim. vi. 6 "But godlines is great gaine, if a man bee
content with that he hath."
Ecclus. xl. 1 8 "To labour and bee content with that a man
hath, is a sweete life."
Phil. iv. ii " I have learned in whatsoever state I am, there
with to be con ten te."
Luke xvi. 20 " A certaine beggar named Lazarus, which was
layd at his gate."
Act V. i. 158
York. " Nay, we shall heat you thoroughly anon."
Cliff. " Take heed, lest by your heat you burn yourselves."
A favourite reference to the furnace of Nebuchadnezzar
Dan. iii. 22 " Therefore, because the King's commandement
was straite, that the fornace should bee exceeding hote, the flame
of the fire slew those men that brought forth Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego."
Act V. i. 165-
" Oh where is Faith ? oh, where is Loyalty ?
If it be banisht from the frostie head
Where shall it finde a harbour in the earth ? . . ."
1 70 " Why art thou old, and want'st experience
Or wherefore doest abuse it, if thou hast it ? "
For Scripture parallels see
Prov. xvi. 31 "Age is a crowne of glory, when it is found
in the way of righteousnesse."
Lev. xix. 32 " Thou shalt rise up before the hore head and
honour the person of the olde man."
Wisd. of Sol. iv. 8 " For the honourable age is not that
which is of long time, neither that which is measured by the
number of yeares. But wisdome is the gray haire, and an un-
defiled life is the olde age."
Act V. i. 1 80
Salisbury. " It is great sinne, to swear unto a sinne :
But greater sinne to keepe a sinfull oath.
Who can be bound by any solemne vow
To do a murd'rous deede, to rob a man,
To force a spotlesse Virgin's Chastitie,
S E COND PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 105
To reave the Orphan of his Patrimonie,
To wring the Widdow from her custom'd right,
And have no other reason for this wrong
But that he was bound by a solemne oath."
The Scriptures teach the duty of paying the obligations
of an oath, but see the New Testament on the vowed
gifts by which a Jew consecrated gifts to God and
used his oath as a pretext by which his parents were
defrauded.
Mark vii. 1 1 " But ye say, If a man say to father or mother,
Corban, that is, By the gift that is offered by me, thou mayest
have profite, he shall be free. So ye suffer him no more to doe
anything for his father and his mother."
And in the Genevan Bible there is a note on the rash vow of
Jephtha : " By his rash vowe and wicked performance
of that vowe his victory was defaced," " Being over
come with blinde zeale and not considering whether
the vowe was lawful or not."
Father Sebastian Bowden in his Religion of Shakespeare,
pp. 36, 37, considers that Shakespeare proves him
self to be a Romanist by the way in which he
deals with lawful and unlawful oaths : " Now, accord
ing to the main principles of Protestantism, by which
each man is the sole interpreter of the moral law,
as of revealed doctrine, and human engagements are
supreme, the oath or word must be kept at any cost ;
and the difficulty of the sinful consequences would
be met by the Calvinistic axiom that 'some com
mandments of God are impossible.' Now Shake
speare discusses both these cases and teaches exactly
the contrary doctrine."
The Genevan Notes are Calvinistic enough, and the cita
tions above indicate the attitude taken by the writers.
Act V. i. 212 : Richard of Yorke
" Fie, Charity : for shame, speake not in spight,
For you shall sup with Jesu Christ to-night."
That is, he would be dead before night, and therefore his
soul ought to be at peace with all men. Direct
Scripture reference
106 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Luke xxiii. 43 "And Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say
unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise."
Rev. xix. 9 " Blessed are they which are called unto the
Lambe's Supper."
Act V. ii. 33 : Young Clifford
" O warre, thou sonne of hell,
Whom angry heavens do make their minister,
Throw in the frozen bosomes of our part
Hot coales of vengeance ! . . ."
40 " O let the vile world end,
And the premised Flames of the Last day,
Knit earth and heaven together !
Now let the generall Trumpet blow his blast. . . ."
49 " Even at this sight my heart is turn'd to stone :
It shall be stony."
For words and thought compare the following passages
Ezek. xiv. 21 "For thus saith the Lord God, How much
more when I send My four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, even
the sword, and famine, and the noisome beast and pestilence."
Jer. li. 20 " Thou art mine hammer, and weapons of warre y
for with thee will I breake the nations."
Ecclus. xxxix. 29 " Fire, and haile, and famine and death :
all these are created for vengeance."
Ps. cv. 32" He gave them haile for raine and flames of fire
in their land."
Ezek. xxxviii. 8 " A sore raine, and hailestones, fire and
brimstone."
Gen. xix. 24 "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and
Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven."
Isa. Ixvi. 1 6 " For the Lord with fire and with his sworde
all flesh."
1 Cor. xv. 52 " The last trumpet, for the trumpet shall blow."
2 Peter iii. 10 " But the day of the Lord wil come as a
thiefe in the night, in the which the heavens shall passe away
with a noyse, and the elements shall melt with heate, and the
earth with the workes that are therein shal be burnt up."
I Sam. xxv. 37 " His heart died within him, and he was like
a stone."
Ezek. xi. 19" The stony heart."
SECOND PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 107
Act V. ii. 70
" Heart, be wrathfull still :
Priests pray for enemies, but Princes kill."
Direct reference to the passage
Luke vi. 27, 28 "Love your enemies. Blesse them that
curse you, and pray for them which hurt you."
Act V. ii. 73 " Can we outrun the heavens ? "
Num. xxxii. 23 " Be sure that your sinne will find you out."
Amos ix. 2, 3 " He that fleeth of them, shal not flee away ;
and he that escapeth of them, shal not be delivered. Though
they digge into the hel, thence shall mine hand take them :
though they clime up to heaven, thence will I bring them downe.
And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I wil
search and take them out thence : and though they be hid from
my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the
serpent, and he shall bite them."
Genevan Note " It is not possible for man to escape His
judgments when He punisheth."
THE THIRD PART OF HENRY THE SIXT.
.
Act I. i. 16 "Whom I encountred as the Battels joy ned."
Scriptural phraseology
Gen. xiv. 8 " And they joyned Battels with them."
Act I. i. 161 " May that ground gape and swallow me alive."
Compare the destruction of Korah and his family
Num. xvi. 30 " And the earth opened her mouth and
swallowed them up."
Act I. i. 185
Northumberland. " Be thou a prey unto the house of York,
And die in bands for this unmanly deed."
Compare for the language, Genevan Psalms : " The Com
plaint of a Sinner "
" That even the man rightwise
Falls oft in sinfull bandes."
Ps. Ixxix., J. Hopkins
" Lord set them out of band
Which unto death were destinate
And in their enemies' hand."
Ps. Ixxiii. 4 " For there are no bonds in their death " (Authoi
ised -" bands").
Isa. xlii. 22 " They shall be for a prey and none shall deliver.
Act I. iii. 8
" Ah, Clifford ! murther not this innocent child,
Lest thou be hated both of God and man."
For the guilt of murder compare
Ps. x. 8 " In the secret places doth he murther the innocent
Ps. xi. 5" The Lord will trie the righteous : but the wicked
and him that loveth iniquitie doth his soul hate."
Ezek. xxxv. 6 " Therefore as I live, sayth the Lord God, '.
will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee, except
thou hate blood, even blood shall pursue thee."
(108)
THIRD PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 109
Gen. iv. 14 (And Kain sayde to the Lord) " A vagabond and
a runnagate on the earth, and whosoever findeth mee shall slay
me."
Act I. iii. 40
" Thou hast one son, for his sake pity me
Lest, in revenge thereof, sith God be just,
He be as miserably slain as I."
Here sith == since ; sith also = ago.
Ps. Ixii., Genevan Version, J. Hopkins
" The Lord long sith one thing doth tell
Which here to minde I call."
Ps. Ixxiii., J. Hopkins
" O Lord, thou dost revenge all wrong
That office longs to thee.
Sith vengeance doth to thee belong
Declare that all may see."
Isa. xlv. 21 " A just God and a Saviour."
Rom. xii. 19 "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, sayth the
Lord."
Rev. xv. 3 " Lord God Almightie, just and true are Thy
ways."
Act I. iv. 92
" To make me sport ;
Yorke cannot speake, unlesse he weare a crowne.
A crowne for Yorke : and Lords, bow lowe to him,
Hold you his handes, whilest I doe set it on.
I marry sir, now lookes he like a King."
For a Scripture parallel compare
Matt, xxvii. 29 " Platted a crowne of thornes, and put it
upon His head, and a reed in His right hande, and bowed their
knees before Him and mocked Him, saying, God save thee, King
of the Jewes."
Luke xxiii. n "And Herod with his men of warre, despised
Him and mocked Him."
Act I. iv. 112 "Whose tongue more poysons than the
Adder s Tooth."
Ps. cxl. 3 " They have sharpened their tongues like a ser
pent, adders' poyson is under their lips."
no SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act I. iv. 167
" Hard hearted Clifford, take me from the world :
My soule to heaven, my Blood upon your heads."
Matt, xxvii. 25 " His blood be upon us and on our children."
Act I. iv. 187
" Open Thy Gate of Mercy, gracious God,
My soul flyes through these woundes to seeke out Thee."
Genevan Psalms : " The Lamentation of a Sinner "
" So come I to thy mercy gate
Where mercy doth abounde."
Ps. xxxi. 5 " Into Thine hand I commend my spirit."
Ps. xxxii. 10 " He that trusteth in the Lord mercy shall
compasse him."
Eccles. xii. 7 " And the spirite return to God who gave it."
Isa. Ix. 20 "The Lord shalbe thine everlasting light and the
dayes of thy sorrow shall be ended."
Act II. i. 21-
Richard " See how the morning opes her Golden Gates,
And takes her farwell of the glorious Sunne,
How well resembles it the prime of Youth,
Trimmd like a Yonker prancing to his love ! "
A reference to the passage in the Psalms
Ps. xix. 5 " The sunne which cometh foorth as a bridegroom
out of his chamber and rejoyceth like a mightie man to run his
race ; " while the very word " trimmed " occurs in the Metrical
Version of the Psalm by Thomas Sternhold
Ps. xix., T. S.-
" In them the Lord made for the Sunne
A place of great renowne
Who like a bridegroom readie trim'd
Doth from his chamber come."
Act II. ii. 6 "Withhold revenge, dear God, 'tis not my
fault."
Compare Rom. xii. 19 "Vengeance is mine, I will re
pay, sayth the Lord."
Act II. ii. 14
" Whose hand is that the forest bear doth lick ?
Not his that spoils her young before her face."
THIRD PART OF HENRY THE SIXT in
For Scripture parallel of the fierceness of the bear com
pare
Hos. xiii. 8 " I will meete them as a beare that is robbed of
her whelpes, and I will break the kail (caul) of their hearts, and
there will I devoure them."
Act II. ii. 162
" But when we saw our sunshine made thy Spring,
And that thy Summer bred us no increase,
We set the Axe to thy usurping Roote."
A reference to the Barren Fig Tree
Luke xiii. 6, 7 " He came and sought fruite thereon and
found none. Then sayde He ... cut it downe ; why keepeth
it also the grounde barren."
Luke iii. 9 " Now also is the axe layd unto the roote of the
tree : therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit,
shal be hewen downe and cast into the fire."
Act II. iii. 15 "Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath
drunk."
Reference to the passage in Genesis
Gen. iv. 10 " The voyce of thy brother's blood cryeth unto
me from the earth." Authorised "ground/ 1 n "Now there
fore art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth
to receive thy brother's blood."
Line 22 " The noble gentleman gave up the Ghost"
Common Biblical expression.
Act II. iii. 22 "Then let the earth be drunken with our
blood."
" Drunk with blood," a Biblical figure
Isa. xlix. 26 " Drunken with their owne blood."
Ezek xxxix. 19 " And drink blood till ye be drunken."
Rev. xvii. 6 " Drunken with the blood of Saintes."
Deut. xxxii. 42 " Arrowes drunk with blood."
Isa. xxxiv. 6 " Sword shall be drunken."
Jer. xlvi. 10 "Sword made drunke with their blood."
Act II. iii. 35 : Edward of York
" And ere my Knee rise from the Earth's cold face,
I throw my hands, mine eyes, my heart to thee."
Ps. cxxiii. I" I will lift up mine eyes unto Thee, that dwellest
in the heavens."
ii2 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Lam. iii. 41 " Let us lift up our hearts with our handes unta
God in the heavens."
Act II. iii. 37
" Thou setter up and plucker downe of Kings,
Beseeching thee (if with thy will it stands)
That to my Foes this body must be prey,
Yet that thy brazen gates of heaven may ope
And give sweet passage to my sinful soul."
Compare Act III. iii. 157, where Queen Margaret uses
to Warwick the same terms : " Proud setter up and
puller down of Kings."
Dan. ii. 20 "The name of God be praysed for ever and
ever : for wisedome and strength are His. And He changeth
the times and seasons : He taketh away Kings, He setteth up
Kings."
Ps. Ixxv. 27, Genevan Version
" The Lord our God he is,
The righteous Judge alone :
He putteth downe the one, and sets
An other in the throne. "
i Sam. iii. 18 " It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth Him
good."
Matt. xxvi. 42" Thy will be done."
Ps. xxiv. 7 "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift
up ye everlasting doores."
Rev. xxi. 24 " And the gates of it shall not be shut by day.
for there shall be no night there."
Act II. v. 47
" And to conclude the shepherd's homely curds,
His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle,
His wonted sleep under a fresh tree's shade,
All which secure and sweetly he enjoys,
Is far beyond a prince's delicates,
His viands sparkling in a golden cup,
His body couched in a curious bed,
When care, mistrust, and treason wait on him."
For Scripture parallels see
Eccles. iv. 6 " Better is an handful with quietness, than both
the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit."
THIRD PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 113
Prov. xv. 17 " Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than
a stalled ox and hatred therewith."
Eccles. v. 12 "The sleep of a labouring man is sweet,
whether he eat little or much ; but the abundance of the rich
will not suffer him to sleep."
Act II. v. 69 "Pardon me, God, I knew not what I didJ*
Scriptural phraseology
Luke xxiii. 34 " Father, forgive them, for they know not
what they do."
Acts iii. 17 "And now brethren, I know that through ignor
ance ye did it."
Act II. vi. 53
"In stead whereof, let this supply the roome :
Measure for measure must be answered."
Reference to the words in the Sermon on the Mount.
Mark iv. 24 " With what measure ye mete, it shall be
measured unto you."
Act II. vi. 67
" If so thou think'st, vex him with eager words."
Scriptural phraseology
Job xix. i " How long will ye vexe my soule, and torment
me with words."
Act III. i. 16
" Thy place is filled, thy Scepter wrung from thee,
Thy Balme washt off, wherewith thou wast Annointed."
Reference to the Anointing of Kings and Priests
i Sam. x. i " Then Samuel tooke a viole of oile and poured
it upon his head, and sayd, Hath not the Lord anointed thee to
be governor over his inheritance."
Act III. i. 24
" Let me embrace the sower adversaries,
For wise men say, it is the wisest course."
Reference to the Sermon on the Mount.
Luke vi. 27 " But I say unto you which heare, Love your
enemies : doe well to them which hate you. Blesse them that
curse you, and pray for them that hurt you. And unto him that
smiteth thee on ye one cheeke, offer also the other. And your
reward shalbe great, and ye shalbe the children of the Most High."
8
ii4 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. i. 61
Keeper. " But, if thou be a King, where is thy crown ? "
King Henry. " My crown is in my heart, not on my head ;
Not deck'd with Diamonds and Indian stones,
Nor to be scene : my Crown is call'd Content,
A Crowne it is, that seldome Kings enjoy."
For Scripture parallels see
Phil. iv. ii " I have learned in whatsoever state I am, there
with to be content."
Matt. v. 3 " Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
Kingdom of Heaven."
Luke xvii. 21 " Beholde, the Kingdom of God is within
you."
i Tim. vi. 6 " But godlinesse is great gaine, if a man bee
content with that he hath."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. of 1557 " Is great riches if a man be
content."
Rheims " But pietie with sufficiencie is great gaine."
Author. " But godliness with contentment is great gaine/
Act III. i. 97
1st Keeper. " We charge you, in God's name, and the
King's,
To go with us unto the officers."
King Henry. " In God's name, lead ; your King's name be
obeyed :
And what God will, that let your King perform,
And what he will, I humbly yeeld unto."
1 Tim. vi. 21 " I charge thee before God."
Luke ii. 2 "Let thy will be done, even in earth as it is in
heaven."
Acts xxi. 14 " So when he would not be persuaded, we
ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done."
Act III. iii. 51 " I come (in kindness andunfayned love)."
Scriptural phraseology
2 Cor. vi. 6 " By kindnesse, by love unfained."
Wic. " In swetenesse, in charitie not feyned."
Tyn., Cran. " In kyndnes, in love unfayned."
Rheims " In sweeteness, in charitie not feined."
THIRD PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 115
Act III. iii. 76
" For though usurpers sway the rule awhile,
Yet heavens are just, and time suppresseth wrongs."
For the Scripture teaching see
Job xx. 27 "The heavens shall declare his wickednesse
and the earth shall rise up against him."
Act III. iii. 84 "Whose wisedome was a mirror for the
wisest."
2 Chron. ix. 23 " And all the Kings of the earth sought the
presence of Solomon, to heare his wisdom that God had put into
his heart."
Act IV. i. 21-
Gloster. " No, God forbid, that I should wish them severed
Whom God hath joyned together :
I, and 'twere pittie, to sunder them
Thatyoake so well together."
Matt. xix. 6 " Wherefore they are no more twaine, but one
flesh. Let no man therefore put asunder that which God hath
coupled together."
Genevan Note " Hath made them yoke-fellows, as the
mariage itselfe is by a borrowed kinde of speech
called a yoake."
Act IV. viii. 48 " No Exeter, these graces challenge grace"
Scripture words
John i. 1 6 " And of his fulnesse have al we received, and
grace for grace."
Act V. i. 54
" This hand, fast wound about thy coal black hair,
Shall, while thy head is warm, and new cut off,
Write in the dust this sentence with thy blood,
Wind-changing Warwick now can change no more."
For writing in the dust see
John viii. 6 Stouped downe and with his finger wrote on
ye ground."
Act V. i. 85-
Clarence. " Why trow'st thou, Warwick,
That Clarence is so harsh, so blunt, unnaturall,
To bend the fatall Instruments of Warre
n6 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Against his Brother, and his lawfull King ?
Perhaps thou wilt object my holy Oath :
To keepe that Oath were more impietie
Than Jephah when he sacrific'd his Daughter."
Direct Scripture reference
Num. xxx. 2, 3 "This is the thing which the Lord hath
commanded, Whosoever voweth a vowe unto the Lord or sweareth
an oth to binde himselfe by a bond, he shal not breake his promise,
but shall doe according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth."
Eccles. v. 4 " When thou hast vowed a vow to God, defer
not to pay it : for He delighteth not in fools, pay therefore that
thou hast vowed."
Judges xii. 31 " That thing that commeth out of the doores of
mine house to meete me, when I come home in peace from the
children of Ammon, shal be the Lorde's, and I will offer it for a
burnt-offering." 34 " Now when Iphtah came to Mizpeh unto
his house beholde his daughter came out to meete him, who when
he sawe her he rent his clothes and sayd, Alas my daughter, thou
hast brought me low, and art of them that trouble me : for I have
opened my mouth unto the Lord and cannot goe backe." 39
" Who did unto her according to his vowe which he had vowed."
The Genevan Bible speaks of this impious oath in the
following terms
" By his rash vowe and wicked performance of that vowe his
victory was defaced."
"Being overcome with blinde zeale and not considering
whether the vowe was lawful or not."
" As the Apostle commendeth Iphtah for his worthy enterprise
in delivering the people." Heb. xi. 32 " So by his rash vowe
and wicked performance of the same his victorie was defaced :
and here we see that the sinnes of the godly doe not utterly
extinguish their faith."
See also 2nd Henry VI., Act[V. i. 180.
Act V. ii. n: Warwick
u Thus yields the Cedar to the Axe's edge,
Whose armes gave shelter to the Princely Eagle,
Under whose shade the ramping Lyon slept,
Whose top-branch over-peered Jove's spreading Tree
And kept low shrubs from winter's powrfull wind."
THIRD PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 117
For a Scripture parallel see
Ezek. xxxi. 3 " Behold Asshur was like a Cedar in Lebanon,
with faire branches, and with thicke shadowing boughes, and shot
up very high, and his top was among the thicke boughs. There
fore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field. All the
fowles of the heaven made their nestes in his boughes, and under
his branches all the beasts of the field bring forth their young."
Act V. ii. 27
" Why what is Pompe, Rule, Reigne, but Earth and Dust
And live we how we can, yet dye we must."
Job xxxiv. 1 5 " All flesh shal perish together, and man shal
returne unto dust."
Heb. ix. 27 " It is appointed unto men that they shall once
die."
Ps., J. H. "The dust shall Lordship have."
Act V. iv. 45
Prince Edward. " For, did I but suspect a fearefull man,
He should have leave to goe away betimes,
Least in our need he might infect another
And make him of like spirit to himselfe.
If any such be here, as God forbid !
Let him depart before we need his help."
For Scripture parallels compare
Deut. xx. 8" And let the officers speake further unto the
people and say, Whosoever is afraide and fainthearted, let him
go and returne unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint like
his heart."
Judges vii. 3 " Now therefore proclaime in the audience of the
people, and say, Who so is timerous or fearefull, let him returne
and depart early from Mount Gilead."
Act V. iv. 75" Ye see, I drink the water of my eye."
Scriptural idea and words
Ps. xlii. 3 " My teares have been my meate day and night."
Ps. Ixxx. 5" Thou hast fedde them with the bread of teares,
and given them teares to drinke in great measure."
Act V. iv. 81
" Then in God's Name, lords, Be valiant
And give signal to the fight."
Compare
Ps. xx. 5 "Set up the banner in the Name of our God."
n8 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act V. v. 8
" So part we sadly in this troublous world,
To meet with joy in sweet Jerusalem."
A reference to the Eternal City, the New Jerusalem
Rev. xxi. 2 " The holy citie, New Hierusalem come downe
from God out of heaven prepared as a bride trimmed for her
husband." 4 " And God shall wipe away all teares from their
eyes: and there shalbe no more death, neither sorow, neither
crying ; neither shall there be any more paine."
Act V. v. 75
" I, but thou usest to forsweare thyselfe :
Twas sin before, but now tis charity."
Matt. v. 33 "Thou shalt not forswear thyselfe, but shalt
perform unto the Lord thine oaths."
Act V. vi. 3
" Tis sinne to flatter ; good was little better,
Good Gloster, and good devil, were alike."
Scripture thus speaks of the sin of flattery
Ps. xii. 2, 3 "They speake deceitfully every one with his
neighbour, flattering with their lips and speake with a double
heart. The Lord cut off all flattering lips."
Prov. xxvi. 28 " A false tongue hateth the afflicted, and a
flattering mouth causeth ruine."
Dan. xi. 32 " And such as wickedly break the covenant,
shall he cause to sinne by flatterie."
Act V. vi. 1 1
Gloster. " Suspition alwayes haunts the guilty minde,
The thief doth feare each bush an officer."
Compare
Lev. xxvi. 36 "The sound of a leafe shaken shal chase
them, and they shal flee as fleeing from a sword, and they shall
fall no man pursuing them."
Prov. xxviii. "The wicked flee when none pursueth."
Genevan Note " Their owne conscience accuseth them."
Act V. vi. Si Richard of Gloster. "And this word love which
Greybeards call Divine."
A reference to the text in the Epistle of John
i John iv. 7 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love
THIRD PART OF HENRY THE SIXT 119
commeth of God, and every one that loveth is born of God and
knoweth God for God is Love."
Act V. vi. 19
" That thou might'st repossess the crown in peace ;
And of our labours thou shalt reap the gaine."
Richard. " He blast his Harvest, if your head were laid."
Reference to the text
John iv. 37, 38 " For herein is the saying true, that one
soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reape that whereon
yee bestowed no labour ; other men laboured and yee are entered
into their labours."
Act V. vi. 31
Gloster. " And that I love the tree from whence you sprang'st,
Witnesse the loving kisse I give the Fruite.
(Aside) To say the truth, so Judas kist his Master
And cried all haile whenas he meant all harm."
King Edward. " Now am I seated as my soule delights."
Direct reference to Scripture
Mark xiv. 45 "And assoone as He was come, hee went
straightway to Him and sayd, Haile Master, and kissed Him.
Then they layd hands on Him and tooke Him."
Isa. Ixvi. 3" Their soule delighteth."
Isa. xlii. i " In whom my soule deliteth."
THE TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD.
Published anonymously 1597, and " publikely acted by the right Honorable the
Lorde Chamber laine his servants."
Act I. i. 41 "Dive thoughts, down to my soul"
Compare the Scripture which makes the heart the seat of
thought
Gen. vi. 5 " All the imaginations of the thoughts of his
heart were only evill continually."
Matt. xv. 19 " For out of the heart cometh evil thoughts,"
Act I. i. 85 " His majesty hath straightly given in charge"
Scriptural phrase
Mark v. 43 " And He charged them straitly," Authorised.
Wic. " comaundide to hem greetly."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. "charged them straytely."
Rheims " commanded them earnestly."
Act I. i. 90
Gloster. " We speake no Treason, man ; we say the King
Is wise and vertuous, and his Noble Queene
Well strooke in year es, faire and not jealious."
Wic. "of greet age."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. "well stricken in age."
Rheims " well striken in their daies."
Author. "well striken in yeeres."
Concerning this phrase Bishop Wordsworth says : " I con
clude this chapter with a remark upon the phrase
4 well stricken in years ' which we find in Luke i. 7.
' They had no child because that Elizabeth was barren,
and they both were now well stricken in years. 1 In
Tyndale's translation, 1534, and Cranmer's, 1539, the
words were 'well stricken in age/ which we find
also in Gen. xviii. n and xxiv. i. Is it possible
(130)
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD 121
that our translator of St. Luke altered the expression
out of deference to the passage of Shakespeare ? "
But the expression is a common one in the Genevan Bible.
The Version gives " of greet yeeres ; " " stricken in
age ; " " stricken in yeeres."
Gen. xxiv. I "Abraham was olde and stricken in yeres."
Jos. xiii. i " Now when Joshua was olde and striken in yeeres."
i Kings i. i "David was olde and striken in yeres."
" Strooke."
Luke xxii. 63 " And the men that held Jesus, mocked Him,
and strooke Him."
2. Sam. xii. 15 "The Lord stroke the child."
Matt. xxvi. 51 "Drew his sword and stroke a servant of the
hie priest."
Luke xxii. 50
Wic. " kit " for " cut ".
Tyn. " smote."
Cran., Gen. "smote" and "stroke."
Rheims, Author. " smote " and "cut."
Luke xxii. 63
Wic. " smyten hym."
Tyn." smoote."
Cran. "smote."
Gen. "strooke him."
Rheims" smote."
Author." stroke."
Matt. xxvi. 51
Wic." smote."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. " stroke."
Rheims" striking."
Act I. i. 1 06 " We are the Queen's abjects, and must obey."
Use of Scriptural word
Ps. xxxv. 15 "The abjects assembled themselves." So also
Authorised.
In the Genevan Prayer-book, Ps. xxxv. 15 "Yea, the
very abjects," and also in the notes on 2 Cor. xi. 21
"Paule is called weake, in that he seemeth to the
Corinthians a vile and abject man, a beggarly arti
ficer, a most wretched and miserable idiot."
122 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act I. i. 130
" For they that were your Enemies, are his
And have prevail' 'd as much on him, as you."
Scripture phraseology
Ps. xiii. 4 " Lest mine enemie say, I have prevail'd against
him."
Isa. xlii. 13 " Shall prevaile against his enemies."
Act I. ii. 8
" Poore key-cold figure of a holy King,
Pale ashes of the House of Lancaster. . . .
Be it lawfull that I invocate thy Ghost."
Reference to the ordinances against witchcraft
Lev. xx. 27 " They shall die the death, they shal stone them
to death."
Deut. xviii. 10 " That useth witchcraft, or a regarder of
times, or a marker of the flying of fowles, or a sorcerer, or a
charmer, or that counselleth with spirits, or a soothsayer, or that
asketh counsel at the dead. For all that doe such things are
abomination unto the Lord."
Act I. ii. 45
" Alas, I blame you not, for you are Mortall,
And Mortall eyes cannot endure the Divell.
Avant, thou dreadful minister of Hell !
Thou hadst but power over his mortall body,
His soule thou canst not have : Therefore be gone.'*
Richard. " Sweet Saint, for charity be not so curst"
Matt. x. 28 " And fear not them which kill the body, but
are not able to kill the soul : but rather fear him which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell."
i Cor. xiii. i " Though I speake with the tongues of men and
Angells and have not love, I am as sounding brasse or a tinkling
cymbal."
Genevan Note " reasoneth first of charitie."
" Tongues of angels, and I had them, and did not use them
to the benefit of my neighbour, it were nothing else but a vaine
and pratling kinde of babbling."
Act I. ii. 58
" Tis thy presence that exhales this blood
From cold and empty veines where no blood dwels ;
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD 123
Thy Deeds inhumane and unnaturall
Provokes this Deluge most unnaturall."
A reference to the iniquity which provoked the Flood.
Gen. vi. 2 " Then the sonnes of God saw the daughters of
men that they were faire and they tooke them wives of all that
they liked." 5 "When the Lorde sawe that the wickednesse of
man was great in the earth, and all the imaginations of the
thoughts of his heart were only evill continually, Then it
repented the Lorde that Hee had made man in the earth."
17 " And I, behold I will bring a flood of waters upon the
earth to destroy all flesh."
Act I. ii. 62
" O God, which this Blood mad'st, revenge his death ;
O Earth, which this Blood drink'st, revenge his death :
Either Heaven with Lightning strike the murth'rer dead,
Or Earth gape wide and eate him quicke."
Appeal to the Creator and Avenger of man.
Gen. ix. 5 "For surely I will require your blood, wherein
your lives are, at the hand of every beast wil I require it : and
at the hand of man, even at the hand of a man's brother will I
require the life of man. Whoso sheadeth man's blood, by man
shall his blood bee shead : for in the image of God hath He
made him."
Gen. iv. 10 "The voyce of thy brother's blood cryeth unto
mee from the earth. Now therefore art thou cursed from the
earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's
blood from thine hand."
Compare method of punishment of Korah, Deut. xi.
Act I. ii. 68
Rich. " Lady, you know no Rules of Charity
Which renders good for bad, Blessings for curses."
Act I. ii. 73 Anne. "O wonderful, when divells tell the
truth."
Rich. " More wonderful, when Angells are so angry."
For the basis of these words compare
Matt. v. 44 " But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray
for them which despitefully use you and persecute you."
i2 4 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Rom. xii. 14 " Blesse them which persecute you ; blesse I
say, and curse not."
John viii. 44 " There is no truth in him (the devil) a liar,
and the father thereof."
Act I. ii. 82
Anne. " Fouler than heart can thinke thee
Thou canst make no excuse current
But to hang thyselfe."
Gloster. " By such despair, I should accuse myself."
Anne. "And by despairing shalt thou stand excused :
For doing worthy vengeance on thyselfe,
That didst unworthy slaughter upon others."
A reference to Judas the Betrayer, and a play upon the
words " excuse " and " accuse "
Rom. ii. 15 "Their conscience also bearing witnes and their
thoughts accusing one another or excusing."
Matt, xxvii. 3 "Then when Judas which betrayed Him,
saw that He was condemned, he repented himselfe, and brought
againe the thirtie pieces of silver." 4 " Saying, I have sinned,
betraying the innocent blood." 5 " And when hee had cast
downe the silver pieces in the Temple, he departed and went,
and hanged himselfe."
Act I. ii. 106
Anne. "O he was gentle, milde, and vertuous."
Rich. " The better for the King of Heaven that hath him."
Compare
Matt. v. 3 " Blessed are the poore in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdome of heaven." 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shal see God." 10 " Blessed are they which suffer perse
cution for righteousnes sake : for theirs is the kingdome of
heaven."
Act I. iii. 9 "The heavens have blest you with a goodly
son."
i Sam. ix. 2 " A goodly yong man and a faire."
I Kings i. 5, 6 "A very goodly man."
Act I. iii. 36
" I, madam, he desires to make attonement
Betweene the Duke of Glouster and your Brothers."
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD 125
Means reconciliation by pacifying.
An Old Testament word, used once in the New Testa
ment
Exod. xxix. 33 " Whereby their attonement was made."
Num. xxv. 13 "Hath made an atonement for the children
of Israel."
Rom. v. ii " By whome we have now received the attone
ment."
Wic. " recouncylinge."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. "attonement."
Rheims " reconciliation."
Act I. iii. 54 Grey. "To whom in all this presence speaks
your Grace."
Glos. "To thee, that hast not Honesty, nor Grace."
Play on the word " grace "
John i. 14 " Full of grace and trueth."
Gal. v. 4 " Yee are fallen from grace."
Act I. iii. 133
" Let me put in your minds, if you forget,
What you have been ere this, and what you are :
Withal 1, what I have beene, and what I am."
For parallel in thought
Isa. li. i. " Looke unto the rocke, whence ye are hewen,
and to the hole of the pit, whence ye are digged."
Act I. iii. 140
" I would to God, my heart were flint, like Edward's
Or Edward's, soft and pittiful like mine
I am too childish foolish for this world."
Ezek. xi. 19 " I wil take away the stonie heart out of their
bodies and will give them an heart of flesh."
Genevan Note " Meaning the heart whereunto nothing
can enter, and regenerate them anew so that their
heart may be soft."
Job xli. 15 "His heart is as strong as a stone, and as hard
as the nether milstone."
Prov. xxii. 1 5 " Foolishnesse is bound in the heart of a child."
i Cor. xiv. 20 " Brethren, be not children in understanding,
but as concerning maliciousnesse be children."
126 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act I. ili. 159 "In sharing that which you have pill' d from
me."
Word used in Scripture
Gen. xxx. 37 " Then Jaakob tooke rods of greene popular,
and of hasell, and of the chesnut tree, and pilled white strakes
in them."
Act I. iii. 179
Glos. " His curses then, from bitternesse of soul
Denounced against thee, are all falne upon thee ;
And God, not we, hath plagu'd thy bloody deed."
Queen Eliz. " So just is God, to right the innocent."
Scriptural thought and phraseology-
Job x. i " Will speake in the bitternesse of my soule."
Job xxi. 25 "Another dieth in the bitternesse of his soule."
Isa. xxxviii. 15 " I shall walk weakly all my yeeres in the
bitternes of my soule."
Ps. x. 8 " In the secret places doth he murther the innocent."
12 " Arise O Lord God, lift up Thine hand, forget not the poore."
Ps. ix. 12 "For when Hee makest inquisition for blood, He
remembreth it and forgetteth not the complaint of the poore."
Isa. xlv. 21 "A just God and a Saviour."
Rev. xv. 3 "Lord God Almightie, just and true are Thy
wayes."
Isa. xxxv. 4 "God commeth with vengeance, even God
with a recompense."
Act I. iii. 217
"If Heaven have any grievous plague in store
Exceeding those that I can wish upon thee,
O let them keepe it, till thy sinnes be ripe
And then hurle downe their indignation
On thee, the troubler of the poore world's peace !
The worme of conscience still begnaw thy soule."
Joel iii. 13 "Put in your sithes, for the harvest is ripe."
Genevan Note " Their wickednesse is full ripe."
Rev. xiv. 1 5 " Thrust in thy sickle and reape, for the time
is come to reape ; for the harvest of the world is ripe." 19
"And the Angel thrust in his sharp sickle on the earth, and
cut downe the vines of the vineyarde of the earth, and cast them
into that great winepresse of the wrath of God."
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD 127
Mark ix. 43, 44 " Into the fire that shall never be quenched,
where their worme dieth not."
Isa. Ixvi. 24 " For their worme shal not die, neither shall
their fire be quenched."
Genevan Note " Meaning, a continuall torment of consci
ence which shall evergnawe them and never suffer them
to be at rest."
See also Wis. xvii. 2.
Deut. xxviii. 60, 61 " Moreover He will bring upon thee all
the diseases of Egypt, whereof thou wast afrayd, and they shal
cleave to thee. And every sickenesse, and every plague, which
is not written in the booke of this Lawe, wil the Lorde heape
upon thee until thou be destroied."
Act I. iii. 271
" O God that seest it, do not suffer it ;
As it is wonne with blood, lost be it so."
An appeal to the All-Seeing God.
Isa. xxvi. 21 "For lo, the Lord commeth out of His place,
to visite the iniquitie of the inhabitants of the earth upon
them."
Hab. ii. 12 "Woe unto him that buildeth a towne with
blood."
285 " Thy garments are not spotted with our blood."
Act I. iii. 286
" I will not think but they ascend the sky
And there awake God's gentle sleeping peace."
See God as the God of Vengeance, and compare the words
in
Jude 23. "That garment which is spotted."
Act I. iii. 315
Gloster. " God pardon them that are the cause thereof."
Rivers. " A virtuous and a Christian like conclusion,
To pray for them that have done scath to us."
Reference to the words in the Sermon on the Mount.
Luke vi. 28 " Blesse them that curse you, and pray for them
which hurt you."
Wic. " defamen you."
Tyn., Cran. "wrongfully trouble you."
128 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Rheims " caluminate you."
Author. " despitefully use you."
Genevan of 1557 gave "wrongfully trouble you," but later
editions "which hurt you."
The text in Matt. v. 44 is even more decisive " praye
for them which hurt you, and persecute you."
So Cranmer and Genevan.
Wic. "that pursuen."
Tyn. " wronge and persecute."
Rheims " persecute and abuse."
Author. " despitefully use you and persecute you."
Act I. iii. 334
Gloster. " But then I sigh, and with a peece of Scripture
Tell them that God bids us do good for evill :
And thus I cloath my naked villanie
With odde old ends, stolne forth of holy writ
And seeme a Saint, when most I play the Devill."
1 Sam. xxiv. 17 "Thou art more righteous than I ; for thou
hast rendered me good, and I have rendred thee evill."
Compare the Temptation of Christ in the Wilderness
where the Devil tempts with "odd old ends stolen
forth of Holy Writ."
2 Cor. xi. 13, 14 "False apostles, deceitful workers, trans
forming themselves into the Apostles of Christ. And no marvel :.
for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of Light."
Act I. iv. 27
Clarence. " Inestimable Stones, unvalewed Jewels
All scattred in the bottome of the sea :
Some lay in dead men's sculles"
Compare for this phrase the Genevan Version
Matt, xxvii. 33 " The place of dead men's skuls."
Mark xv. 22 "The place of dead men's skulles."
John xix. 17.
Act I. iv. 36
" Methought I had, and often did I strive
To yeeld the Ghost."
Matt, xxvii. 50" Yeelded up the Ghost."
First in Tyndale and followed by all the Versions.
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD 129
Act I. iv. 57
" With that (me thought) a Legion of foule fiends
Invironed me."
Mark v. 9 " My name is Legion, for we are many."
Act I. iv. 68
Clarence. " O God ! if my deep prayers cannot appease thee,
But thou wilt be aveng'd on my misdeeds,
Yet execute thy wrath on me alone,
O spare my guiltlesse wife and my poore children.
Keeper, I prythee sit by me awhile
My soule is heavy, and I faine would sleepe."
A reference to the words of the commandment
Exod. xx. 5 " The Lord thy God, a jelous God, visiting the
iniquitie of the fathers upon the children, upon the third genera
tion and upon the fourth of them that hate me."
And for the words " my soul is heavy " compare
Matt. xxvi. 38 " My soule is very heavie, even unto the
death : tarie ye here, and watch with me." 43 " He came and
founde them asleepe againe, for their eyes were heavy."
Act I. iv. 1 02 2 Murd. "Why, he shall never wake, untill
the Great Judgement Day."
1 Murd. " Why, then he'll say, we stabb'd him sleeping."
2 Murd. "The urging of that word, judgment, hath bred a
kind of remorse in me."
1 Murd. "What, art thou affraid ?"
2 Murd. " Not to kill him, having a warrant ; but to be
damn'd for killing him, from the which no warrant can defend
mee."
For the thought underlying the words compare the follow
ing texts
Jude 6" The Judgement of the Great Day."
Matt. xii. 36 "Shall give account thereof in the day of
Judgement."
2 Peter ii. 9 "Reserve the unjust unto the day of Judgement
under punishment."
Rom. xiv. io" We shall all appeare before the Judgment
seate of Christ."
2 Cor. v. io " That every man may receive the things done
9
130 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good
or evill."
i John iii. 15 "No manslayer hath eternall life abiding in
him."
Act I. iv. 132 2 Murd. " He not meddle with it (Conscience),
it makes a man a coward. A man cannot steale, but it accuseth
him."
Compare Scripture on " Conscience "
Rom. ii. 15 " Their conscience also bearing witnes and their
thoughts accusing one another or excusing."
John viii. 9 "And when they heard it, being accused by
their own conscience they went out."
Lev. xxvi. 36 " The sounde of a leafe shaken shal chase
them ; and they shal flee as fleeing from a sword, and they shall
fall no man pursuing them."
Act I. iv. 1 88
" I charge you, as you hope to have redemption
By Christ's dear blood shed for our grievous sins."
Direct Scripture reference
Rev. v. 9 " Because thou wast killed, and hast redeemed
to God by thy blood."
Gal. iii. 13 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of tl
Law."
Act I. iv. 194
" Erroneous Vassals, the great King of Kings,
Hath in the Table of his Law commanded
That thou shalt do no murther. Will you then
Spurne at His Edict, and fulfill a mans ?
Take heed ; for He holds Vengeance in His hand
To hurle upon their heads that breake His Law."
Direct references to Scripture
Rev. xix. 16 " The King of Kings and Lord of Lords."
Exod. xxxii. 15, 16 "The two Tables of the Testimonie."
Exod. xxxiv. 28 " The Tables, the wordes of the Covenanl
even the Ten commandments."
Exod. xx. 13 "Thou shalt not kill."
Matt. xix. 1 8 "Thou shalt not kill."
Rheims " Thou shalt not murder."
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD 131
Author. " Thou shalt do no murder."
Rom. xii. 19 " Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the
Lord."
Act I. iv. 200
2 Murd. " And that same vengeance doth He hurl on thee
For false forswearing and for murder too."
The Second Murderer retorts with another commandment
respecting the bearing of false witness.
" How canst thou urge God's dreadful law to us
When thou hast broke it in such dear degree."
Compare Rom. ii. 21 ; Luke vi. 46.
Act I. iv. 214
"If God will be avenged for the deed,
O know you yet, He doth it publiquely,
Take not the quarrell from His powerful arme,
He needs no indirect, or lawlesse course
To cut off those that have offended Him."
Isa. xl. 10 " Behold e the Lord God will come with power,
and His arme shall rule for Him."
Isa. lix. i " Beholde the Lorde's hand is not shortened."
1 Thess. iv. 6 " The Lord is avenger."
Deut. xxxii. 43 " He will avenge the blood of his servants,
and will execute vengeance upon his adversaries."
Isa. i. 24 "Therefore thus saith the Lorde God of Hosts,
the mightie One of Israel, Ah, I will ease Me of Mine adversaries
and avenge Me of Mine enemies."
Luke xviii. 7 " Shall not God avenge His elect, which cry
day and night unto Him, yea, though He suffer long for them."
8 " I tell you, He will avenge them quickly."
Act I. iv. 240
Clar. " O do not slander him, for he is kinde."
i Murd. " Right, as snow in Harvest."
For a close similarity in expression compare
Prov. xxvi. i " As the snowe in the summer and as the
raine in the harvest are not meete."
Act I. iv. 248
2 Murd. " Make peace with God, for you must die, my lord."
Clar. " Have you that holy feeling in your soules,
To counsaile me to make my peace with God,
132 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
And are you yet to your owne soules so blinde
That you will warre with God, by murd'ring me."
For the thought suggestive of these words see
Isa. xxvii. 5 " That he may make peace with Me, and be at
one with Me."
2 Peter iii. 14 " Be diligent that ye may be found of Him
in peace, without spot and blameless."
Ps. 1. 16, 17 "But unto the wicked said God, What hast
thou to do to declare Mine ordinances, that thou shouldest take
My covenant in thy mouth. Seeing thou hatest to be reformed
and has cast My words behind thee."
Compare Luke vi. 46.
Rev. xxi. 8 " Murtherers shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone."
Act I. ii. 270
2 Murd. " A bloody deed, and desperately dispacht !
How faine (like Pilate) would I wash my hands
Of this most grievous murther."
Direct Scripture reference
Matt, xxvii. 24 " When Pilate saw that he availed nothing,
but that more tumult was made, hee tooke water and washed his
hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood
of this just man, looke you to it."
Genevan Marg. Note " It was a maner of old time, when
any man was murthered and in other slaughters to
wash their hand in water to declare themselves guilt-
lesse."
Act II. i. 3-
Kg. Edward. " I every day expect an Embassage
From my Redeemer, to redeeme me hence
And more to peace my soule shall part to heaven
Since I have made my Friends at peace on earth."
Reference to the Lord and to His words concerning the
Peace- maker.
Rev. v. 9 " Thou wast killed, and hast redeemed us to God
by thy blood." 10 " And hast made us unto our God Kings
and Priestes."
Gal. iii. 13 "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the
Law."
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD 133
James iii. 18 "And the fruite of righteousnesse is sowen in
peace, of them that make peace."
Matt. v. 9 " Blessed are the peace makers : for they shall
be called the children of God."
Act II. i. 12
" Take heed you dally not before your King,
Lest He that is the supreme King of Kings
Confound your hidden falsehood, and award
Either of you to be the other's end."
i Tim. vi. 15 "Blessed and Prince onely, the King of
kings and Lord of lords."
Ps. vii. 16 " His mischiefe shall returne upon his owne head
and his cruelty shall fall upon his owne pate/'
Prov. xix. 9 " A false witnesse shall not be unpunished, and
he that speaketh lyes, shall perish."
Act II. i. 49
" Gloster, we have done deeds of Charity ;
Made peace of enmity, faire Love of hate,
Betweene these swelling wrong-incensed Peeres."
Gloster. " A blessed labour, my most Soveraigne Lord."
Scripture reference
Matt. v. 9 " Blessed are the peace makers : for they shall
be called the children of God."
Act II. i. 70
" I do not know that Englishman alive
With whom my soule is any jot at oddes
More then the Infant that is borne tonight :
I thanke my God for my Humility."
Luke xiv. 1 1 " He that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted."
Prov. xxii. 4 "The reward of humilitie and the feare of
God, is riches and glory and life."
Act II. i. 83 " All seeing heaven, what a world is this ? "
Ps. xxxiii. 13 "The Lorde looketh downe from heaven, and
beholdeth all the children of men."
Act II. i. 122
" But when your Carters or your wayting Vassalls
Have done a drunken slaughter, and defac'd
The precious Image of our deere Redeemer."
i 3 4 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Direct Scripture reference-
Gen, i. 26 "Furthermore God said, Let us make man in
our image, accordinge to our likenesse."
Gen. ix. 6 " Whoso sheadeth man's blood, by man shall his
blood bee shead, for in the image of God hath He made him."
Rom. viii. 29 " To be made like to the image of His Sonne
that Hee might bee the first borne among many brethren."
2 Cor. iii. 18 "As in a mirrour the glorie of the Lord with
open face, and are changed unto the same image."
Act II. ii. 5
" Why do you looke on us, and shake your head,
And call us orphans, wretches, castawayes."
For the word " castaway " compare
Jer. xxx. 17 "For I will restore health unto thee, and I will
heale thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord, because they called
thee, the Castaway."
Act II. ii. 14
Son. " God will revenge it : whom I will importune
With earnest prayers all to that effect."
Daughter. "And so will I."
Duchess. " Peace, children, peace, the King doth love you wel :
Incapeable and shallow Innocents
You cannot guesse who caus'd your Father's death."
Son. " Grandam, we can ; for my good uncle Gloster
Told me, the King, provok'd to it by the Queen
Devis'd impeachments to imprison him :
And when my uncle told me so, he wept,
And pitied me, and kindly kissed my cheek ;
Bade me rely on him as on my father,
And he would love me dearly as his child."
Duchess. " Ah, that deceit should steal such gentle shape
And with a virtuous visor hide deep vice."
For passages which deal with deadly hypocrisy see
Deut. xxxii. 43 " He will avenge the blood of His servants."
Luke xviii. 7 "Shall not God avenge His elect, which cry
day and night unto Him."
Ps. x. 7 " His mouth is full of cursing, and deceite and
fraude : under his tongue is mischiefe and iniquitie. He lieth in
waite in the villages : in the secret places doth he murther the
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD 135
innocent." 12 " Arise O Lord God, lift up Thy hand, forget not
the poore." 14 "Yet Thou hast seene it : for Thou beholdest
mischiefe and wrong, that Thou mayest take it into Thine handes :
the poore committeth himselfe unto Thee : for Thou art the helper
of the fatherlesse."
Ps. xxviii. 3 " Workers of iniquity which speak peace to
their neighbours, but mischiefe is in their hearts."
Ps. Ixii. 4 "They bless with their mouth, but they curse
inwardly."
Act II. ii. 89
Dorset. " Comfort, deere Mother, God is much displeased
That you take with unthankfulnesse His doing.
In common worldly things, tis call'd ungratefull
With dull unwillingnesse to repay a debt
Which with a bounteous hand was kindly lent ;
Much more to be thus opposite with heaven,
For it requires the Royall debt it lent you."
For the thought that the Creator lends and recalls His
loan see
Job i. 21 "Naked came I out of my mother's wombe, and
naked shall I returne thither : the Lord hath given, and the
Lord hath taken it : blessed be the name of the Lord."
Act II. ii. 107
Duchess. " God blesse thee and put meekness in thy breast,
Love, Charity, Obedience, and true Dutie."
Gloster. " Amen, and make me die a good old man."
1 Tim. vi. ii " Follow after righteousnesse, godlinesse, faith,
love, patience and meekenesse."
Col. iii. 14 " And above all these things put on love which
is the bond of perfectnesse."
Num. xxiii. 10 "Let me die the death of the righteous and
let my last ende be like his."
Act II. iii. 7 " Neighbours, God speed."
Scripture phrase
2 John io." Bid him God speed." 1 1 " For he that biddeth
him God speede."
Act II. iii. 9
I Cit. " No, no ; by God's good grace, his son shall reigne."
3 at. " Wo to that land that's govern'd by a childe."
136 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Direct Scriptural references
2 Chron. xxiii. 3 " And he sayde unto them, Beholde the
King's sonne must reigne as the Lord hath said." 11 "They
brought out the King's sonne and put upon him the crowne and
gave him the testimonie, and made him King. And Jehoiada and
his sonnes anoynted him and sayd God save the King."
Eccles. x. 1 6 " Woe to thee, O land, when thy King is a child."
Act II. Hi. 35
3 Cit. " Untimely storms make men expect a Dearth.
All may be well, but if God sort it so
Tis more then we deserve, or I expect."
2 Cit. " Truly the hearts of men are full of feare
You cannot reason (almost) with a man
That lookes not heavily, and full of dread."
3. Cit. " Before the days of change still is it so :
By a divine instinct, men's mindes mistrust
Pursuing danger : as by proofe we see
The water swell before a boystrous storme.
But leave it all to God."
Compare the passage in the Gospel of Luke
Luke xxi. 25 "There shall be signes in the sunne and in
the moone, and in the starres, and upon the earth trouble among
the nations with perplexitie : the sea and the waters shall roare
and men's hearts shall faile them for feare, and for looking after
those things which shall come on the world."
Act III. i. 7-
Gloster. " Sweet prince, the untainted virtue of your yeeres
Hath not yet div'd into the world's deceit :
No more can you distinguish of a man
Then of his outward shew, which God he knowes
Seldome or never jumpeth with the heart.
Those Uncles which you want, were dangerous :
Your Grace attended to their sugred words
But look'd not on the poyson of their hearts :
God keepe you from them and from such false Friends."
Direct Scripture references
I Chron. xxviii. 9 " The Lord searcheth all hearts, and
understandeth all the imaginations of thoughts."
i Sam. xvi. 7 " But the Lord said unto Samuel, Looke not
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD 137
on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature, because I
have refused him : for God seeth not as man seeth : for man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord beholdeth the
heart."
Ps. Iv. 21 " His words were more gentle than oyle, yet they
were swords."
Ps. cxl. 3 " Adder's poyson is under their lips."
Act III. i. 46
" You break not sanctuarie in seizing him :
The benefit thereof is alwayes granted
To those whose dealings have deserved the place,
And those who have the wit to clayme the place :
This Prince has neyther claym'd it nor deserv'd it."
For a parallel, and probably the origin of Sanctuary
Num. xxxv. ii "Ye shall appoint you cities to bee cities of
refuge for you, that the slayer which slayeth any person unwares,
may flee thither. And these cities shall be ... refuge from the
avenger."
Act III. i. 126
Prince. " My Lord of Yorke will still be crosse in talke :
Uncle, your Grace knowes how to beare with him."
Play upon the words " cross " and " bear " as used in the
text-
Luke xiv. 27 " And whosoever beareth not his crosse, and
commeth after Me, cannot be My disciple."
Act III. ii. 62
Catesby. " Tis a vile thing to die, my gracious Lord,
When men are unprepar'd and looke not for it."
For the teaching of the passage compare the Biblical
words
Luke xii. 19 "And I will say to my soule, Soule thou hast
much goods laid up for many yeeres : live at ease, eate, drinke,
and take thy pastime. But God sayd unto him, O foole, this
night wil they fetch away thy soule from thee."
Matt. xxiv. 42 " Watch therefore : for yee know not what
houre your Master will come." 44 " Therefore be yee also
ready : for in the houre that ye thinke not will the Sonne of
man come."
138 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. iv.
" We know each other's faces ; for our hearts,
He knows no more of mine than I of yours ;
Nor I of his, my lord, than you of mine."
A reference to the words spoken to Samuel
I Sam. xvi. 7 " God seeth not as man seeth : for man looketh
on the outward appearance, but the Lord beholdeth the heart"
Act III. iv. 53 Hastings. " For by his face straight shall
you know his heart."
Compare
I Sam. xvi. 7.
Jer. xvii. 9 "The heart is deceitfull and wicked above all
things. Who can know it ? "
Act III. iv. 58
Gloster. " I pray you all, tell me what they deserve
That doe conspire my death with divellish Plots
Of damned witchcraft, and that have prevail'd
Upon my body with their hellish charmes."
Hastings. " The tender love I beare your Grace my Lord
Makes me most forward, in this Princely presence
To doome th' offenders, whosoe're they be :
I say, my lord, they have deserv'd death."
For the method of Gloster in thus getting the word of
condemnation from Hastings himself compare the
incident of Nathan and King David, 2 Sam. xii. 7.
Lev. xx. 27 " If any man or woman have a spirit of divina
tion or soothsaying in them, they shal die the death."
Act III. iv. 95
Hastings. " O momentarie grace of mortall man,
Which we more hunt for then the grace of God :
Who builds his hope in ayre of your good lookes
Lives like a drunken Sayler on a Mast,
Readie with every nod to tumble downe
Into the fatall Bowells of the Deepe."
The teaching is Scriptural, and note line 98.
Ps. cxlvi. 3 " Put not your trust in princes nor in the son of
man, in whom there is no help."
Jer. xvii. 5 " Thus saith the Lord ; cursed be the man that
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD 139
trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart
departeth from the Lord."
Matt. vi. 33 "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness."
Prov. xxiii. 24 "And thou shalt be as one that sleepeth in
the mids of the sea, and as he that sleepeth in the top of the
mast."
The text does not say the sleeper is drunken, but a note
on the verse in the Genevan Version says : " Though
drunkenesse maketh them more insensible than
beasts, yet can they not refraine."
Act III. vii. 74
" Meditating with two deep divines :
Not sleeping, to engross his idle body,
But praying, to enrich his watchfull soule."
A reference to the incident in the Garden of Gethsemane
Matt. xxvi. 40 " He came unto the disciples and founde them
asleepe, and sayd to Peter, What ? could ye not watch with Me
one houre ? Watch and pray, that yee enter not into tentation :
the spirit indeed is ready, but the flesh is weake."
Act IV. i. 36 "Be of good cheare."
Biblical phrase
i Kings xxi. 7 " Be of good cheere."
Act IV. i. 54-
" A cockatrice hast thou hatch't to the world,
Whose unavoided eye is murderous."
In this connection compare the following passage from
the Wisdom of Solomon xi. 15 : "Or furious beastes
newly created, and unknowen, which should breathe
out blastes of fire and cast out smoke as a tempest,
or shoote horrible sparkes like lightnings out of their
eyes which might not only destroy them with hurting
but also kill them with their horrible sight."
For the word " cockatrice " compare
Isa. xi. 8, xiv. 29 " For out of the serpent's root shall come . . ."
" cockatrice, and the fruite thereof shall be a fiery flying serpent."
Isa. lix. 5 "They hatch cockatrice egges and weave the
spider's webbe : he that eateth of their egges dieth, and that which
is trode upon, breaketh out into a serpent.''
140 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Jer. viii. 17 "I will send serpents and cockatrices among
you, which will not be charmed."
Prov. xxiii. 32 " In the end it will bite like a serpent, and
hurt like a cockatrice."
Act IV. i. 94
Duchess. " I to my grave, where peace and rest lye with mee,
Eightie odde yeeres of sorrow have I scene,
And each howres joy wrackt with a weeke of teene."
Compare
Job iii. 17 " The wicked have there ceased from their tyrannic
and there they that laboured valiantly are at rest"
Ps. xc. 10 " The time of our life is threescore yeres and ten,
and if they be of strength, fourscore yeeres : yet their strength
is but labour and sorowe."
Act IV. ii. 39
" I know a discontented gentleman
Whose humble means match not his haughty spirit :
Gold were as good as twenty orators,
And will, no doubt, tempt him to anything."
1 Tim. vi. 9, 10 " For they that will be rich fall into tenta-
tion and snares, and into many foolish and noysome lustes,
which drowne men in perdition and destruction. For the desire
of money is the roote of all evil."
Act IV. ii. 63
" I am in
So farre in blood, that sinne will plucke on sinne."
For the thought see
2 Tim. iii. 13 "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse
and worse, deceiving and being deceived."
Act IV. iii. 1 8
"We smothered
The most replenished sweet work of Nature,
That from the prime Creation e'er she framed."
Reference to the Creation.
Act IV. iii. 38 " The sonnes of Edward sleepe in Abraham's
bosome"
Quotation of Scripture
Luke xvi. 22 " Died and was caried by the angels into
Abraham's bosome."
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD 141
Act IV. iii. 51
Rich. " Come : I have learned, that fearfull commenting
Is leaden servitor to dull delay ;
Delay leads impotent and snail-pac'd Beggery,
Then fiery expedition be my wing."
For parallel thought see
Prov. xx. 4 "The slouthfull will not plowe, because of
winter : therefore shall hee begge in summer but have nothing."
Prov. xxiii. 21 " The sleeper shall bee clothed with ragges."
Prov. xii. 24 "The hand of the diligent shall beare rule:
but the idle shalbe under tribute."
Act IV. iv. 22
"Wilt Thou O God ! flye from such gentle Lambes,
And throw them in the intrailes of the Wolfe ?
When didst Thou sleepe, when such a deed was done ? "
A reference to the sleepless activity of God and His care
for children.
Isa. xl. 1 1 " He shall gather the lambes with His arme and
cary them in His bosome."
Ps. cxxi. iii. 4 " He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Beholde He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."
Act IV. iv. 51 "That foule defacer of God's handywork."
Scripture reference
Ps. cxix. 73 " Thine hands have made me and facioned me."
Act IV. iv. 55
" O upright, just, and true-disposing God,
How do I thanke Thee."
For the thought compare
Ps. xxxvii. 7 " Waite patiently upon the Lord, and hope in
Him, fret not thyselfe for him which prospereth in his way : nor
for the man that bringeth his enterprises to pass."
Luke xviii. 7, 8 " He will avenge them quickly."
Job xxxiv. 28 " They have caused the voyce of the poor to
come unto Him, and He hath heard the cry of the afflicted."
Act IV. iv. 59
Duchess. " Oh Harrie's wife, triumph not in my woes !
God witnesse with me, I have wept with thine."
Margaret. " Beare with me : I am hungry for revenge,
And now I cloy me with beholding it."
142 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Rom. xii. 15 "Rejoice with them that rejoice, and weepe
with them that weepe."
Luke xxi. 34 "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time
your hearts be oppressed with surfeting."
Act IV. iv. 140
Queen Eliz. " Hids't thou that Forehead with a Golden Crowne,
Where 't should be branded if that right were right
The slaughter of the prince that ow'd that Crowne."
Refers to Richard as a murderer, upon whose forehead the
brand of Cain should be stamped.
Gen. iv. 14 "A vagabond and a runnagate in the earth."
" And the Lord set a marke upon Kain."
Act IV. iv. 1 50
" Let not the heavens hear these tell-tale women
Rail on the Lord's Anointed."
Biblical phrase
i Sam. xvi. 6 " Surely the Lord's Anointed is before Him."
Act IV. iv. 185
" Thou wilt dye by God's just ordinance."
195 " Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end ;
Shame serves thy life, and doth thy death attend."
Isa. xxvi. 21 "For lo, the Lord commeth out of His place,
to visite the iniquitie of the inhabitants of the earth upon them :
and the earth shall disclose her blood."
Gen. ix. 6 " Whoso sheadeth man's blood, by man shall his
blood bee shead."
I Kings ii. 31 "And the King sayde unto him, Doe as he
hath sayd and smite him and bury him, that thou mayest take
away the blood which Joab shed causelesse, from me and from
the house of my father. And the Lorde shall bring his blood upon
his owne head."
Act IV. iv. 218
King Rich. " All unavoided is the doom of Destiny."
Queen Eliz. " True ; when avoyded grace makes Destiny :
My babes were destin'd to a fairer death,
If grace had blest thee with a fairer life."
Isa. xlvi. 10 " My counsel shall stand and I will do all my
pleasure."
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD ! 43
Acts xv. 1 8 "Known unto God are all his works, from the
beginning of the world."
Acts ii. 23 " Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands
have crucified and slain."
Genevan Note on Rom. ix. 28 " The pride of man is the
cause that they contemne vocation, so that the cause of their
damnation neede not to be sought for any other where but in
themselves."
" God decreed to save Paul and his companions, but He decreed
to save them on condition that the sailors should remain in the
ship" (Acts xxvii.).
" He has decreed to save many from the wrath to come, but
he has decreed to save them only if they believe in Christ."
According to the Calvinist, the liberty of a moral agent
consists in the power of acting according to his choice ;
and those actions are free which are performed without
any external compulsion or restraint, in consequence
of the determinations of his own mind.
Acts iv. 26, 27 " The Kings of the earth assembled, and the
rulers came together against the Lord and against His Christ.
For doubtlesse, against thine holy sonne Jesus, whom thou
haddest anoynted, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the
Gentiles and the people of Israel gathered themselves together.
To do whatsoever thine hand, and thy counsell had determined
before to be done."
Genevan Note, Marg. "The wicked execute God's counsell
though they thinke nothing of it, but they are not
therefore without fault."
Act IV. iv. 321
King Rich. " What ! we have many goodly days to see :
The liquid drops of tears that you have shed
Shall come againe, transform'd to Orient Pearle,
Advantaging their Lone, with interest
Of ten times double gaine of happinesse."
For parallel thought see
Heb. xii. 1 1 " Now no chastising for the present seemeth to
be joyous, but grievous : but afterward it bringeth the quiet fruite
of righteousnesse unto them which are thereby exercised."
Job xlii. 12.
144 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act IV. iv. 346 King Rich. " Tell her, the King that may
command, entreats."
Queen Eliz. " That, at her hands, which the King's King for
bids."
The Queen reminds Richard of the Levitical law which
forbids the marriage of a niece with her uncle.
Lev. xviii. 16, 17 " Thy brother's wife and of her daughter,
neither shalt thou take her sonne's daughter, nor her daughter's
daughter : for they are thy kinsfolk and it were wickedness."
Act IV. iv. 384
" And both the Princes had beene breathing heere,
Which now, two tender Bed-fellowes for dust,
Thy broken Faith hath made the prey for wormes."
Use of Scriptural ideas and words
Job xxi. 26 "They shall sleepe both in the dust, and the
wormes shall cover them."
Job xvii. 13 "I shall make my bed in the darke. I shall
say to corruption, Thou art my father, and to the worme, Thou
art my mother and my sister."
Act IV. iv. 419
Queen Eliz. " Shall I be tempted of the Divel thus ? "
King Rich. " I, if the Divell tempt you to do good."
Compare
Matt. iv. i " Into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil."
Act IV. iv. 465
" There let him sink, and be the seas on him,
White livered runagate."
Use of Scriptural word-
Gen, iv. 12 "A runnagate and a vagabond."
Act V. i. 1 6 : Buckingham
" This is the day, wherein I wisht to fall
By the false Faith of him whom most I trusted ;
This, this All Soules day to my fearfull soule
Is the determin'd respit of my wrongs :
That high All-Seer, which I dallied with
Hath turned my fained Prayer on my head
And given in earnest, what I begg'd in jest.
Thus doth he force the swords of wicked men
To turne their owne points in their Masters' bosomes,,"
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD 145
For parallels see
Isa. iii. n "Woe to the wicked it shall be evill with him,
for the reward of his handes shall be given him."
Ps. xxxvii. 15 "But their sworde shall enter into their
owne heart."
Ps. xvi. 15 " In the nette that they hid is their foote taken."
Ps. vii. 1 6 " His mischiefe shall returne upon his owne head
and his cruelty shall fall on his owne pate."
Ecclus. xxi. 3 " All iniquity is as a two edged sworde, the
wounds whereof cannot be healed."
Act V. i. 29 " Wrong hath but wrong, and blame the due
of blame."
For the thought see
Ps. vii. 14 " He that soweth iniquity shall reape vanity."
Job iv. 8 " Even as I have scene they that plow iniquity
and sow wickednesse reape the same."
Hos. viii. 7 "For they have sowen the winde, and they
shall reape the whirlwind."
Act V. iii. 7 : King Richard
" Up with my Tent, heere will I lye to-night ;
But where to-morrow ? Well, all's one for that."
James iv. 14 " Ye cannot tell what shalbe to-morrowe, For
what is your life ? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a litle
time and afterward vanisheth away."
Ecclus. x. II "He that is to-day a King, to-morow is dead.
Why is earth and ashes proude."
Act V. iii. 12" The King's Name is a Tower of Strength."
Reminiscence of the text
Prov. xviii. 10 '* The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower."
Eccles. viii. 4 "Where the word of the King is, there is
power."
Act V. iii. 19
" The weary Sunne hath made a Golden set,
And by the bright Tract of his fiery Carre
Gives token of a goodly day to-morrow."
For a parallel see
Matt. xvi. 2 " But He answered and said unto them, When
it is evening, ye say, Faire weather for the skie is red."
10
146 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act V. iii. 1 10
Richmond. " O Thou, whose Captaine I account myselfe,
Looke on my forces with a gracious eye ;
Put in their hands Thy bruising Irons of wrath,
That they may crush downe with a heavy fall
Th' usurping Helmets of our adversaries :
Make us Thy ministers of chasticement,
That we may praise Thee in Thy victory :
To Thee I do commend my watchfull soule
Ere I let fall the windowes of mine eyes :
Sleeping and waking, oh defend me still."
For parallel see
Isa. xiii. 4 " The Lord of Hostes numbreth the host of the
battell. They come from a farre countrey, from the ende of the
heaven : even the Lorde with the weapons of His wrath to destroy
the whole land."
Jer. li. 20 " Thou art mine Hammer and weapons of warre,
for with Thee will I breake the nations, and with Thee will I destroy
kingdomes, and by Thee will I breake horse and horsemen."
Ps. iii. 3-6 " Thou Lord art a buckler for me, my glory, and
the lifter up of mine head. I did call unto the Lord with my
voice and He heard me out of His holy Mountaine. I layd mee
downe and slept, and rose up againe, for the Lord susteined me.
I will not be afrayd for tenne thousand of the people, that should
beset me round about."
Act V. iii. 156
" Sleepe in peace and wake in joy ;
Good angels guard thee from the Boares annoy."
Interesting use of words found only in Genevan Version
Ps. iv. 8 " I will lay me downe and also sleepe in peace, for
Thou Lorde, onely makest me dwell in safetie."
Author. " I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep."
Ps. xci. ii "For Hee shall give His Angells charge over
thee, to keepe thee in all thy wayes. Thou shalt walke upon the
lyon and aspe, the yong lion and the dragon shalt thou treade
under feete."
Act V. iii. 195
K. Rich. " My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain."
TRAGEDY OF RICHARD THE THIRD 147
See other passages on " conscience."
Deut. xxviii. 65, 66 "The Lord shall give thee there a
trembling heart and looking to returne till thine eies fall out, and
a sorrowful mind. And thy life shall hang before thee, and thou
shalt feare both night and day, and shalt have none assurance of
thy life."
Isa. xlviii. 22 " There is no peace sayth the Lord, unto the
wicked."
Job xv. 20-24 " The wicked man is continually as one that
travelleth of child, and the number of yeeres is hid from the
tyrant. A sound of feare is in his eares, and in his prosperity
the destroyer shall come upon him. He beleeveth not to returne
out of darknesse : for he seeth the sworde before him." 24
" Affliction and anguish shall make him afraid, they shall prevaile
against him as a king readie to the battell."
Gen. Marg. Note "The cruell man is ever in danger of
death, and is never quiet in conscience."
Act V. iii. 218" By the Apostle Paul."
Scripture reference.
Act V. iii. 242
" God and our good cause, fight on our side ;
The Prayers of holy Saints and wronged soules
Like high-rear'd Bulwarkes stand before our faces."
Reference to the words in the book of Revelation
Rev. vi. 9 " I saw under the altar the soules of them that
were killed for the word of God, and for the testimonie which
they maintained. And they cryed with a loude voyce, saying,
How long, Lord, which art holy and true ! doest not Thou judge
and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth."
Rev. v. 8 " Golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers
of the Saintes."
Act V. iii. 249 " One rais'd in blood and one in blood estab-
lish'd."
For parallels see
Mic. iii. 10 " They build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem
with iniquitie. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a
field and Jerusalem shalbe an heap."
Ezek. xxxvi. 18 "Wherefore I poured My wrath upon them,
for the blood that they had shed in the land."
148 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Gen. ix. 6 " Whoso sheadeth man's blood, by man shall his
blood bee shead."
Gen. xlii. 22 " Lo, his blood is now required."
Act V. iii. 285
" The sun will not be seen to-day !
The skie doth frown and lour upon our army.
I would, these dewy tears were from the ground.
Not shine to-day ! Why what is that to me
More than to Richmond ? for the selfsame Heaven
That frowns on me, looks sadly upon him."
Matt. xvi. 3 " And in the morning ye say, To-day shall be a
tempest : for the skie is red and lowring."
Matt. v. 45 " He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on
the good and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."
Ecclus. xlii. 16 "The sun that shineth looketh upon all
things."
Act V. iv. 43
" Oh now let Richmond and Elizabeth,
The true succeeders of each Royall House,
By God's faire ordinance conjoyne together."
Mark x. 8 " Therefore what God hath coupled together, let
no man separate."
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF KING RICHARD THE
SECOND.
" Richard II. seems to have followed ' Richard III. without delay.' Subse
quently both were published anonymously in the same year (1597) as they had been
' publikely acted by the right Honorable the Lorde Chamberlaine his servants ' ; but
the deposition scene in ' Richard II.,' which dealt with a topic distasteful to the
Queen, was omitted from the early impressions. Prose is avoided throughout the
play, a certain sign of early work. The piece was probably composed very early in
1593." Sidney Lee, Life, pp. 63, 64.
Norfolk. " Until the heavens, envying earth's good hap,
Add an immortal title to your crown."
i Cor. ix. 25 "An incorruptible crown."
I Peter i. 4 " To an inheritance immortall and undefiled, and
that withereth not, reserved in heaven for us."
Wic. "eritage incorruptible."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. " inheritance immortall."
Rheims, Author. " inheritance incorruptible."
Act I. i. 1 02 : Bolingbroke
" And consequently, like a traitor coward,
Sluc'd out his innocent soule through streames of blood,
Which blood, like sacrificing A bel's cries
(Even from the tonglesse caverns of the earth),
To me for justice and rough chasticement."
Direct Scripture reference
Gen. iv. 4 "And Habel also himselfe brought of the first
fruites of his sheep, and of the fat of them, and the Lorde had
respect unto Habel and to his offering."
Heb. xi. 4 "By faith Abel offered unto God a greater
sacrifice than Cain."
Gen. iv. 8 " Kain rose up against Habel his brother and slew
him." 10 " Againe he sayd, What hast thou done? the voyce
of thy brother's blood cryeth unto Mee from the earth. Now
therefore art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her
(149)
ISO SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thine hand." 13
" Then Kain sayde to the Lord, My punishment is greater than I
can beare."
Deut. xxi. 9 " So shalt thou take away the cry of innocent
blood from thee."
Deut. xix. 13 " But thou shalt put away the crie of innocent
blood."
The Authorised gives "guilt of innocent blood" in both
passages.
Act I. i. in
Norfolk. " O let my Soveraigne turne away his face
Till I have told this slander of his blood,
How God, and good men, hate so foul a lyar."
A reference to the text in the book of Proverbs
Prov. vi. 16 "These sixe things doeth the Lord hate, yea,
His soule abhorreth seven." 17 " The hautie eyes, the lying
tongue, and the hands that shed innocent blood."
Ps. cxx. 2 " Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and
from a deceitful tongue."
Act I. i. 137
Norfolk. " Once I did lay an ambush for your life,
A trespasse that doth vex my greeved soule ;
But ere I last receiv'd the Sacrament
I did confesse it and exactly begged
Your Grace's pardon."
Mark xi. 25, 26 " But when yee shall stand and pray, forgive,
if ye have anything against any man, that your Father also which
is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."
i Cor. xi. 27 "Wherefore, whosoever shall eate this bread
and drinke the cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guiltie of
the body and blood of the Lord."
Exhortation at the Communion Service, Genevan Bible
" And if ye shall perceive your offences to be such, as be
not onely against God, but also against your neigh
bours, then ye shall reconcile yourselves unto them,
ready to make restitution and satisfaction, according
to the uttermost of your powers, for al injuries and
wrongs done by you to any other ; and likewise being
ready to forgive other that have offended you, as you
would have forgiveness of your offences at God's hand."
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 151
Act I. i. 160 Gaunt. " To be a make-peace shall become
my age."
Direct Scripture reference
Matt. v. 9 " Blessed are the peace makers : for they shall be
called the children of God."
Tit. ii. 2 " That the elder one be watchful, grave, temperate,
sound in the faith, in love and in patience."
I Tim. iii. 3 " Gentle, no fighter, not covetous."
Act I. i. 170
Norfolk. " Pierc'd to the soule with slanders venom'd speare,
The which no balme can cure, but his heart blood
Which breath'd this poyson."
For parallels see
Ps. Ivii. 4 " Whose teeth are speares and arrowes and their
tongues a sharpe sword."
Ps. cxl. 3 " Adders' poyson is under their lips."
Act I. i. 174
King Rich. " Rage must be withstood :
Give me his gage : Lyons make Leopards tame."
Norfolk. "Yea, but not change his spots."
Direct quotation from Scripture
Amos iii. 8 " The Lyon hath roared : who will not be
afraid."
Jer. xiii. 23 " Can the blacke moore change his skin ? or the
leopard his spots ? then may ye also doe good, that are accus
tomed to doe evil."
Halliwell Phillips has pointed out that this is an excellent
test word in favour of the Genevan Bible, for all the
other Versions give "cat o' mountain" where the
Genevan gives "leopard."
Act I. i. 177
Norfolk. " My dear, dear lord,
The purest treasure mortal times afford
Is spotless reputation ; that away
Men are but gilded loam or painted clay."
For the thought see
Eccles. vii. 3 " A good name is better than a good oyntment."
Prov. xxii. i " A good name is to be chosen above great
riches, and loving favour is above silver and above gold."
152 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Job xxxiii. 6 " I am also formed of the clay."
Job x. 9 " Thou hast made mee as the clay and wilt Thou
bring me into dust againe."
Act I. i. 209
Gaunt. " But since correction lyeth in those hands
Which made the fault that we cannot correct,
Put we our quarrell to the will of heaven ;
Who when they see the houres ripe on earth
Will raigne hot vengeance on offenders' head."
Direct Scripture reference
Gen. xix. 13 "For we will destroy this place because the
crie of them is greate before the Lord, and the Lord hath sent us
to destroy it." 24 "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and
Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord, out of heaven."
Ps. cv. 32 ; Ezek. xxxviii. 8.
Act I. ii. 37
Gaunt. " Heaven's is the quarrel : for heaven's substitute,
His Deputy annointed in His sight,
Hath caus'd his death, the which if wrongfully
Let heaven revenge : for I may never lift
An angry arme against His Minister."
For the teaching see
I Sam. xxvi. 9 " And David sayde to Abishai, Destroy him
not ; for who can lay his hand upon the Lord's anoynted and be
giltlesse."
I Sam. xxiv. 7 "And he saide unto his men, The Lorde
keepe mee from doing that thing unto my master the Lord's
Anoynted, to lay mine hand upon him for he is the Anoynted of
the Lord."
Ps. xciv. i " O Lord God the Avenger : O God, the Avenger
shew Thyselfe clearly."
Note in margin " Whose office is to take vengeance on
the wicked."
Act I. ii. 42
Duchess. " Where then alas may I complaint my selfe."
Gaunt. " To Heaven, the widdowe's champion to defence."
Direct reference to the words of Scripture
Exod. xxii. 22-24 "Ye shall not trouble any widow nor
fatherlesse child. If thou vex or trouble such, and so he cal and
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 153
cry unto Me, I wil surely heare his cry. Then shall My wrath be
kindled and I wil kill you with the sword."
Ps. Ixviii. 5 " He is a father of the fatherlesse and a Judge of
the widowes, even God in His holy habitation."
Act I. iii. 65 "Not sicke although I have to doe with
Death."
Scripture phraseology
2 Kings xx. I " Sicke unto Death."
Phil. ii. 27 " Sicke very neere unto Death."
Act I. iii. 85 <( However God or fortune cast my lot"
Scripture words and thought
Prov. xvi. 33 "The lot is cast into the lappe, but the whole
disposition thereof is of the Lord."
And the Genevan gives the following interesting note in
which the word " fortune " occurs
" So that there is nothing that ought to be attributed to
fortune : for all things are determined in the counsell
of God, which shal come to passe."
Act I. iii. 95
" As gentle and as jocund, as to jest
Go I to fight. Truth hath a quiet breast."
For a parallel see
Isa. xxxii. 17 "And the worke of justice shalbe peace, even
the work of justice and quietnes, and assurance for ever."
Ecclus. xiv. 2 " Blessed is he that is not condemned in his
conscience and is not fallen from his hope in the Lord."
Act I. iii. 100
Marshal. " Receive thy lance ; and Heaven defend thy right."
Boling. " Strong as a Tower in hope, I cry Amen."
Ps. ix. 4 " For Thou hast maintained my right and my cause."
Ps. Ixi. 3 " For Thou hast bene mine hope, and a strong tower
against the enemy."
Act I. iii. 161
Norfolk. " And now my tongue's use is to me no more
Then an unstringed Vyall or a Harpe."
It is impossible to base an argument upon the spelling of
words in Shakespeare. In Act I. ii. 12 vials or
phials is written " violles " in the First Folio, while in
154 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
the passage above " viole " is written " vyall ; " but it
is interesting to note that in the text in Revelation
" harp and vial " come together, and reminiscence may
possibly account for the spelling.
Rev. v. 8 " Having every one harpes and golden vials full
of odours, which are the prayers of the Saints. And they sung
a new song ; " and a Marginal Note says, " The symbols or signes
of praise, sweet in savour."
Act I. iii. 199
Doling. " As now our flesh is banish'd from this land :
Confess thy treasons, ere thou fly the realm ;
Since thou hast far to go, bear not along
The clogging burden of a guilty soul."
For a parallel compare the driving forth of Cain
Gen. iv. 13, 14 "Then Kain sayde to the Lord, My punish
ment is greater than I can beare. Beholde Thou hast cast mee
out this day from the earth, and from Thy face shall I be hid, and
shall be a vagabond and a runnagate in the earth."
Act I. iii. 201
Norfolk. " No Bolingbroke ; if ever I were traitor,
My name be blotted from the Booke of Life,
And I from heaven banish'd, as from hence."
Scripture reference
Rev. xvii 8 " Whose names are not written in the Booke^
Life."
Ps. Ixix. 28 "Let them be put out of the booke of life,
neither let them be written with the righteous."
Rev. xx. 12 " Another booke was opened which is the book(
of life." 15 "And whosoever was not found written in th<
booke of life was cast into the lake of fire."
Act I. iii. 236 Gaunt. " Things sweet to tast, prove in digestion
sowre."
Reference to the words of the following texts of Scripture
Rev. x. 10 " It was in my mouth as sweet as hony, but when
I had eaten it, my belly was bitter."
Job xx. 12 "When wickednesse was sweete in his moul
and he hid it under his tongue." 14 "Then his meate in his
bowels was turned, the Gall of Aspes was in the middes of him.'
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 155
Job xx. 22 " When he shalbe filled with his abundance, he
shalbe in paine."
Prov. xxiii. 3 " Be not desirous of his dainty meates : for it
is a deceivable meat."
Act I. iii. 304 Gaunt. " Come, come my son, lie bring thee
on thy way."
Scriptural phrase
Gen. xviii. 16 "And Abraham went with them to bring
them on the way."
1 Cor. xvi. 6 " That yee may bring mee on my way."
Wic. "ledeme."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Rheims " bring mee on my way."
Author. " bring mee on my journey."
Act I. iv. 23
King Rich. " Our selfe, and Bushy, Bagot here and Green
Observ'd his courtship to the common people ;
How he did seeme to dive into their hearts
With humble and familiar courtesie,
What reverence he did throw away on slaves,
Wooing poor Craftesmen with the craft of smiles."
For a parallel compare the action of Absalom
2 Sam. xv. 5 " And when any man came neere to him, and
did him obeisance, he put forth his hand and tooke him and
kissed him. And on this maner did Absalom to all Israel that
came to the King for judgment : so Absalom stale the hearts of
the men of Israel."
Act II. i. 7-
Gaunt. " Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vaine,
For they breath truth that breath their words in paine."
Eccles. v. i " Be not rash with thy mouth nor let thine
heart be hastie to utter a thing before God : for God is in the
heavens and thou art on the earth : therefore let thy words be
few."
Act II. i. 15
Gaunt. " Though Richard my life's counsel would not hear,
My death's sad tale may yet undeafe his eare."
York. " No : it is stopp'd with other flattering sounds,
As praises to his state : then these are found
i 5 6 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Lascivious Meeters, to whose venom sound
The open eare of youth doth alwayes listen."
Ps. Iviii. 4 "Their poyson is even like the poyson of a
serpent, like the deafe adder that stoppeth his eare, which heareth
not the voyce of the inchanter, though he be most expert in
charming."
1 Kings xii. 8 " But hee (Rehoboam) forsooke the counsell
that the olde men had given him, and asked counsell of the young
men that had been brought up with him and waited on him."
13 "And the King answered the people sharply, and left the
olde men's counsell that they gave him and spake to them after
the counsell of the yong men." 19 " And Israel rebelled against
the house of David unto this day."
Act II. i. 40
Gaunt. "This royall Throne of Kings, this sceptred Isle,
This earth of Majesty, this seate of Mars,
This other Eden, demy Paradise,
This fortresse built by Nature for herself."
2 Cor. xii. 4 " How that he was taken up into Paradise."
The Genevan note is interesting : (Paradise) " which name
they that translated the Olde Testament out of
Hebrew into Greeke called the garden Eden, where-
into Adam was put straight after his creation, as a
most delicate and pleasant place. And hereunto grewe
it, that that blessed seate of the glory of God is called
by that Name."
Act II. i. 53-
" Renowned for their deeds, as far from home,
For Christian service, and true chivalrie,
As is the Sepulcher in stubborn Jury
Of the world's ransome, blessed Marie's Sonne."
Direct references to Scripture
Matt, xxvii. 60 " Hewen out in a rocke, and rolled a great
stone to the door of the Sepulchre."
Matt. xx. 28 " Even as the Sonne of Man came not to be
served but to serve and to give His life for the ransome of many."
An important word.
Wic., Tyn., Cran., Gen. 1557, Rheims all give "a redemp-
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 157
Genevan of 1598 has the text as above.
Author. 161 1 " ransome."
I Tim. ii. 5, 6 "Christ Jesus who gave Himself a ransome
for all men."
Wic. " redemption."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. 1557 "raunsome."
Rheims " redemption."
Author. " ransome."
Luke i. 28 " And the Angel went in unto her and sayd,
Haile thou that art freely beloved : the Lord is with thee : blessed
art thou among women."
Act II. i. 74
Gaunt. " Old Gaunt, indeed ; and gaunt in being old :
Within me grief hath kept a tedious fast :
And who abstains from meat that is not gaunt ?
For sleeping England long time have I watch'd ;
Watching breeds leanness, leanness is all gaunt ". . . .
82 " Gaunt am I for the grave, gaunt as a grave,
Whose hollow womb inherits nought but bones."
For parallel in thought and words see
Job xxxiii. 19-22 "He is also striken with sorow upon his
bed and the griefe of his bones is sore. So that his life causeth him
to abhorre bread and his soule daintie meate. His flesh faileth
that it cannot be seene, and his bones which were not scene, clatter.
So his soule draweth to the grave, and his life to the buriers."
Ps. cxli. 7 " Our bones lie scattered at the grave's mouth."
Act II. i. 97
Gaunt. " And thou too carelesse patient as thou art
Commit'st thy anointed body to the cure
Of those Physitians that first wounded thee :
A thousand flatterers sit within thy crowne."
The whole passage reads like a paraphrase of the chief
incident in the life of Rehoboam, the grandson of
David, which led to the breaking up of the kingdom
of David into the rival factions, Judah and Israel.
Rehoboam, misled by the young men who flattered
him, despised the wisdom of the older counsellors, and
thus practically deposed himself from the government
often of the tribes (i Kings xii.).
158 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. i. 104
" O had thy grandsire, with a prophet's eye
Seen how his son's son should destroy his sons
From forth thy reach he would have laid thy shame,
Deposing thee before thou wert possess'd,
Which art possess'd now to depose thyselfe."
Note the play on the word " possessed."
Mark v. 1 5 " Possessed with the devil."
Act II. i. 151-
Northumb. " Words, life, and all, old Lancaster hath spent."
York. " Be York the next that must be bankrupt so !
Though death be poor, it ends a mortal woe."
King Rich. " The ripest fruit first falls and so doth he :
His time is spent, our pilgrimage must be.
So much for that."
Scripture thought and words, compare
Ecclus. xiv. 17 "Al flesh waxeth old, as a garment. And
this is the condition of al times, Thou shalt die the death."
Gen. xlvii. 9 "The whole time of my pilgrimage is an
hundreth and thirtie yeeres : few and evil have the dayes of my
life bene and I have not atteined unto the yeeres of the life of my
fathers in the days of their pilgrimages." Heb. xi. 13; Eccles.
ix. 6.
Nah. iii. 1 2 " Like figge trees with the first ripe figs : for if
they be shaken they fall into the mouth of the eater."
Ps. xc. 9 <c We have spent our yeeres as a thought."
Author. " We spend our years as a tale that is told."
Act II. i. 214
York. " By bad courses may be understood
That their events can never turn out good."
For Scripture parallels see
Luke vi. 43-45 " For it is not a good tree that bringeth forth
evill fruit : neither an evill tree that bringeth forth good fruit."
Matt. vii. 16 "Ye shal know them by their fruites. Do
men gather grapes of thornes ? or figges of thystels."
Act. II. ii. 76
Queen. " Uncle, for heaven's sake, speake comfortable words."
York. " Comfort's in heaven, and we are on the earth,
Where nothing lives but crosses, care and greefe."
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 159
Zech. i. 13 "And the Lord answered the Angel that talked
with me, with good wordes and comfortable words."
Isa. xl. 2 " Speake ye comfortably to Jerusalem."
2 Cor. i. 3 " The Father of Mercies and the God of Comfort."
2 Cor. vii. 6" God, that comforteth the abject."
Genevan Note "Whose hearts are cast downe and are
very far spent."
Act II. ii. 145
" Alas, poor duke, the taske he undertakes
Is numbring sands and drinking oceans drie."
Hos. i. 10 " As the sand of the sea which cannot bee
measured nor tolde."
Jer. xxxiii. 22 " As the army of heaven cannot be numbred
neither the sand of the sea measured."
Act II. iii. 1 66
" The Caterpillers of the Commonwealth,
Which I have sworne to weed and plucke away."
Compare the Biblical use of the caterpillar as a political
scourge, a devourer of kingdoms.
Isa. xxxiii. 4 ; Jer. xli. 14 " Surely I will fill thee with men
as with caterpillers."
Jer. xli. 27 "Cause horses to come up as the rough cater
pillers."
Act II. iv. 8
" The Bay trees in our Country all are withered
And meteors fright the fixed starres of Heaven ;
The palefac'd moone lookes bloody on the Earth
And leane look'd prophets whisper fearefull change."
For parallel see
Joel ii. 30 " And I will shewe wonders in the heavens and in
the earth : blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sunne shall be
turned into darkenesse and the moone into blood, before the great
and terrible day of the Lord come."
Act III. i. 4-
Boling. " Yet to wash your blood
From off my hands, here in the view of men,
I will unfold some causes of your death."
Scripture reference
160 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Matt, xxvii. 24 "When Pilate saw that he availed nothing
but that more tumult was made, hee tooke water and washed his
hands before the multitude saying, I am innocent of the blood."
Act III. i. 21 " Eating the bitter bread of banishment."
A reference to the curse of Eden
Gen. iii. 17 "Cursed is the earth for thy sake: in sorrow
shalt thou eate of it all the days of thy life. In the sweate of thy
face shalt thou eate bread." 24 " Thus he cast out man."
Isa. xxx. 20 " When the Lorde hath given you the bread of
adversitie and the water of affliction."
The reference being to the two nations which held Israel
in bondage and exile, Egypt and Assyria.
Act III. ii. 24
King Rich. " This earth shall have a feeling, and these stones
Prove armed souldiers ere her native King
Shall falter under foul rebellion's arms."
Compare
Luke xix. 38 " Blessed be the King that commeth in the Name
of the Lord." 40 " But He answered and said unto them, I tell
you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would cry."
Job v. 22 " For the stones of the fielde shall be in league
with thee."
Act III. ii. 37 : King Rich.
" Knowest thou not
That when the searching Eye of Heaven is hid
Behind the Globe that lights the lower world,
Then Theeves and Robbers raunge abroad unseene
In Murthers and in Outrage bloody here ;
But when from under this Terrestrial Ball
He fires the prowd tops of the Easterne pines
And darts his Lightning through every guiltie hole,
Then Murthers, Treasons, and detested sinnes,
The Cloake of Night being pluckt from off their backs
Stand bare and naked, trembling at themselves."
Job xxiv. 13 "These are they that abhorre the light : they
know not the wayes thereof nor continue in the paths thereof.
The murtherer riseth early, and killeth the poor and the needie,
and in the night he is as a theefe. The eye also of the adulterer
waiteth for the twilight and saith, None eye^shall see me, and dis-
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 161
guiseth his face. They digge through houses in the darke, which
they marked for themselves in the day : they know not the light.
But the morning is even to them as the shadow of death, if one
know them, they are in the terrours of the shadow of death."
Act III. ii. 54 : King Rich.
11 Not all the water in the rough rude Sea
Can wash the Balme from an anoynted King :
The breath of worldly men cannot depose
The Deputie elected by the Lord :
For every man that Bullingbroke hath prest
To lift shrewd steele against our Golden Crowne,
Heaven for his Richard hath in heavenly pay
A glorious A ngell ; then if Angels fight
Weake men must fall : for Heaven still guards the right."
Note the play on the word " angel " = " coin."
I Sam. xxiv. n "I will not lay mine hand on my Master,
for hee is the Lord's Anoynted."
I Sam. xxvi. 9 " Who can lay his hand on the Lord's An
oynted and be giltlesse."
Rom. xiii. I "Let every soule be subject unto the higher
power, for there is no power but of God, and the powers that be
are ordeined of God." 4 " For he is the minister of God to take
vengeance on him that doeth evill."
Ps. Ixviii. 17 "The charets of God are twentie thousand
thousand angells and the Lord is among them."
Ps. xxxiv. 7 " The Angel of the Lord pitcheth round about
them that feare him and delivereth them."
Matt. xxvi. 5 3 " He will give me more than twelve Legions
of Angells."
Luke ii. 13 "A multitude of the heavenly souldiers."
Wic. "knights."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. "souldiers."
Rheims " armie."
Author." host."
Ps. xci. ii " For Hee shall give His Angels charge over thee
to keepe thee in all thy wayes."
Genevan Note " God hath not appointed man one Angel
but many to be ministers of His providence, to keepe
His and defend them in their vocation."
n
162 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. ii. 67-
Salisbury. " One day too late, I fear, my noble lord
Hath clouded all thy happie days on Earth ;
Oh, call backe yesterday, bid Time returne."
2 Esdras iv. 5 " Weigh me the weight of the fire : or measure
me the blaste of the winde, or cal me againe the day that is past."
Act III. ii. 85-
" Is not the King's name fortie thousand names ?
Arm, arm, my name ! a puny subject strikes
At thy great glory."
Compare
Prov. xviii. 10 "The Name of the Lord is a strong Tower."
Prov. xiv. 28 " In the multitude of the people is the honour
of a King, and for the want of people commeth the destruction of
the Prince."
Act III. ii. 96
" Strive Bullingbroke to be as Great as we ?
Greater he shall not be : // hee serve God
Wee'l serve Him, too, and be his fellow so."
Deut. vi. 1 3 " Thou shalt feare the Lord thy God and serve
Him and shalt sweare by His Name."
Luke iv. 8 " Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him
alone thou shalt serve."
2 Tim. i. 3 " I thanke God whom I serve."
Act III. ii. 129 : King Rich.
" Oh villains, vipers, damn'd without redemption !
Dogges, easily won to fawne on any man,
Snakes in my heart blood warmed, that sting my heart,
Three Judasses, each one thrice worse than Judas,
Would they make peace ? terrible Hell make warre
Upon their spotted soules for this offence."
Direct Scripture references
Matt, xxiii. 33 "O serpents, the generation of Vipers howe
should ye escape the damnation of hell."
Ps. xli. 9 " Yea, my familiar friend whome I trusted, which
did eate of my breade, hath lifted up the heele against me."
Matt. xxvi. 23 " And Hee answered and sayd, Hee that
dippeth his hand with Me in the dish, he shall betray Me." 25
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 163
" Then Judas, which betrayed Him, answered and said, Is it I,
Master ? Hee saide unto him, Thou hast said it."
Act III. ii. 135-
" Sweet love I see changing his property,
Turns to the sourest and most deadly hate."
Compare
2 Sam. xiii. 15 "Then Amnon hated her exceedingly, so
that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the
love wherewith he had loved her."
Act III. ii. 194
Scroop. " Men judge by the complexion of the skie
The state and inclination of the day."
Reference to the text in the Gospel
Matt. xvi. 2, 3 " But He answered and said unto them,
When it is evening, ye say, Faire weather for ye skie is red.
And in the morning ye say, To-day shall be a tempest : for the
skie is red and lowring. O hypocrites, yee can discerne the face
of the skie and can ye not discerne the signes of the times."
Act III. iii. 77
" If we be not, show us the Hand of God
That hath dismissed us from our Stewardship ;
For well wee know, no Hand of Blood and Bone
Can gripe the sacred Handle of our Scepter
Unless he doe prophane, steale or usurpe."
For words and thought compare the Scripture parallels
i Sam. xv. 28 " The Lorde hath rent the kingdom of Israel
from thee this day, and hath given it to thy neighbour that is
better than thou."
Tit. i. 7 " For a bishop must be blameless as God's Steward."
Compare the dismissal of the Unjust Steward.
Luke xvi. 3 " Give an account of thy Stewardship for thou
mayest be no longer Steward."
See also passages on the " Lord's Anointed."
Act III. iii. 84
" And we are barren and bereft of friends,
Yet know, my master, God Omnipotent
Is mustring in His Clouds, on our behalfe
Armies of Pestilence, and they shall strike."
Reference to the destruction of Sennacherib's army
1 64 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
2 Kings xix. 35 "And the same night the Angell of the
Lorde went out and smote in the campe of Asshur an hundred
four score and five thousande : So when they rose early in the
morning, beholde they were all dead corpses."
2 Kings vi. 17 "And the Lorde opened the eyes of the
servant and hee looked, and beholde, the mountaine was full of
horses and charets of fire round about Elisha."
2 Kings vii. 6 " For the Lord had caused the campe of the
Aramites to heare a noyse of charets, and a noyse of horses, and
a noyse of a great army."
Act III. iii. 93
" He is come to ope
The purple testament of bleeding war : . . .
Change the complexion of her maid pale face to scarlet."
Compare
Rev. v. 2 " And I sawe a mightie Angell, which proclaimed
with a loude voice ; Who is worthie to open the booke and to
loose the scales thereof."
Rev. vi. 3 "And when he had opened the second Seale."
4 " And there wente out another horse, that was red, and power
was given to him that sate thereon, to take peace from the
earth and that they should kill one another, and there was given
unto him a great sword."
Act III. iv. 62-
" Had he done so, to great and growing men
They might have liv'd to beare and he to tast
Their fruits of duetie, superfluous branches
We lop away, that bearing boughes may live."
A common figure, but compare
John xv. 2 " Every branch that beareth not fruit in Me, he
taketh away, and every one that beareth fruite, he purgeth it,
that it may bring forth more fruite."
Act III. iv. 73 Queen. "Oh I am prest to death through
want of speaking."
For a close parallel see
Job xxxii. 18-20 "For I am ful of matter, and the spirit
within compelleth me as wine which hath no vent, and like the
new bottels that brast. Therefore will I speake."
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 165
Act III. iv. 74-
" Thou old Adam's likenesse set to dress this Garden,
How dares thy harsh rude tongue sound this unpleasing newes."
Direct Scripture reference and quotation
Gen. ii. 1 5 " Then the Lorde God tooke the man and put him
into the Garden of Eden, that hee might dresse it and keep it."
YAct III. iv. 76
\ " What Eve ? What Serpent hath suggested thee
, To make a second fall of cursed man."
Gen. iii. 13 " And the Lorde God sayde to the woman, Why
hast thou done this ? And the woman sayd, The Serpent beguiled
me and I did eate."
Gen. iii. 12 "The man sayde, The woman which thou gavest
to be with mee, shee gave me of the tree and I did eate."
Gen. iii. 17 "Also to Adam he said, Because thou hast
obeyed the voyce of thy wife : and hast eaten of the tree (whereof
I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eate of it) cursed is
the earth for thy sake, in sorowe shalt thou eate of it all the
dayes of thy life."
Genevan Note " Both mankinde and all other creatures
were subject to the curse."
Act III. iv. 78-
" Why dost thou say, King Richard is deposed ?
Dar'st thou, thou little better thing than earth
Divine his downfall ? "
Reference to the making of man
Gen. iii. 19 "Till thou returne to the earth: for out of it
wast thou taken, because thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou
returne."
Job xxxiv. 1 8 " Wilt thou say unto a King, Thou art wicked,
or to princes, Ye are ungodly."
Note that in the i5th verse, 34th chapter, the words occur,
" All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn
again unto dust." 17" Shall even he that hateth
right govern ? and wilt thou condemn him that is
most just?"
Act III. iv. 85 : Gardener
" Their Fortunes both are weigh'd :
In your Lord's Scale is nothing but himselfe
166 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
And some few Vanities, that make him light ;
But in the Ballance of great Bullingbrooke,
Besides himselfe, are all the English Peeres,
And with that oddes he weighes King Richard downe."
The reference is to the handwriting on the wall which
foretold the passing away of the Kingdom from the
hands of Belshazzar, and the Genevan Version seems
to have supplied the words.
Dan. v. 27 " Tekel ; thou art weyed in the balance and art
found too light."
Author. " wanting."
Ps. Ixii. 9 " Yet the children of men are vanitie, the chiefe
men are lies ; to lay them upon a balance they are altogether
lighter than vanitie."
Act IV. i. 92
Bishop. " Many a time hath banish'd Norfolke fought
For Jesu Christ, in glorious Christian field,
Streaming the Ensigne of the Christian Crosse
Against black Pagans, Turkes and Saracens :
And, toyl'd with workes of warre, retyr'd himselfe
To Italy, and there at Venice gave
His body to that pleasant Countrie's Earth,
And his pure soule unto his Captaine Christ
Under whose colours he had fought so long."
Direct Scripture references
Ps. xx. 5 " Set up the banner in the Name of our God."
2 Tim. iv. 7 " I have fought a good fight." %
Acts viii. 59 "Who called on God and sayd, Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit."
Eccles. xii. 7 " And dust returne to the earth as it was and
the spirite return to God who gave it."
Josh. v. 14 " And he saide, Nay, but as Captaine of the
hoste of the Lord am I nowe come."
2 Chron. xiii. 12 " Beholde, this God is with us as a
Captaine."
Heb. ii. 10 " Consecrate the Prince of their salvation through
afflictions."
Wic. " auctour of the helthe."
Tyn. " Lorde of their salvation."
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 167
Cran. " Lorde of their salvation,"
Gen. " Prince of their salvation." " Chieftain " in Margin.
Rheims " Author of their salvation."
Author. " Captaine of their salvation."
Service of Baptism, Genevan Version Prayer-Book
"Manfully to fight under his banner." "Soldier to
his life's end."
Act IV. i. 103
Boling. " Sweet peace conduct his sweet soule
To the bosome of good old Abraham."
Direct Scripture reference
Luke xvi. 22 "Was caried by the Angels into Abraham's
bosome."
Luke ii. 29 " Lorde, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in
peace."
Act IV. i. 117: Bishop of Car lisle
" Would God, that any in this Noble Presence
Were enough noble to be upright Judge
Of Noble Richard : then true Noblenesse would
Learne him forbearance from so foule a wrong
What subject can give sentence on his king?
And who sits here that is not Richard's subject ?
Thieves are not judg'd, but they are by to hear,
Although apparent guilt be seen in them ;
And shall the figure of God's Majestic,
His Captaine, Steward, Deputie Elect,
Anoynted, crowned, planted many yeeres,
Be judged by subject and inferior breath
And he himselfe not present ? O forbid it, God."
For the teaching of the passage compare
Job xxxiv. 17, 1 8 " Shall he that hateth judgement governe ?
and wilt thou judge him wicked that is most just? Wilt thou
say unto a king, Thou art wicked ? or to princes, Ye are un
godly."
Rom. xiii. i "Let every soule be subject unto the higher
powers."
I Peter ii. 17 "Fear God, honour the King."
Acts xxv. 1 6 " To whom I answered, that it is not the maner
of the Romans for favor to deliver any man to the death, before
168 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
that he which is accused, have the accusers before him, and have
place to defend himselfe, concerning the crime."
1 Sam. xxvi. 9 " Who can lay his hand on the Lord's
Anoynted and be giltlesse."
Jer. xxv. 9 " Sayth the Lord, Nebuchadnezzar, the King of
Babel, my servant."
Isa. xlv. I " Thus sayth the Lord unto Cyrus His Anoynted."
2 Kings xi. 12 " Then hee brought out the King's Sonne, and
put the crowne upon him, and gave him the Testimonie, and they
made him King ; also they anoynted him and clapt their hands
and sayd God save the King."
Genevan Note concerning the " Testimonie " " meaning the
Lawe of God which is his chiefe charge and whereby
only his throne is established."
Rom. xiii. 4 " For hee is the minister of God for thy wealth,
but if thou doe evill, feare : for he beareth not the sword for
nought : for he is the minister of God to take vengeance on him
that doth evill."
Act IV. i. 142
" Disorder, Horror, Feare and Mutinie
Shall here inhabite and this Land be call'd
The field of Golgotha and dead men's sculls" ^
Direct Scripture reference
Matt, xxvii. 33 "And when they came unto the place called
Golgotha (yt is to say, the place of dead men's skuls)."
Mark xv. 22 " Golgotha, which is by interpretation, the
place of dead men's skulles."
John xix. 17 "A place of dead men's skulles which is called
in Hebrew Golgotha."
A test word not found in Wiclif, Rheims and Authorised.
Wic. " Golgotha, that is, the place of caluari."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. "the place of dead men's sculles."
Rheims " Golgotha, which is the place of Caluarie."
Author. " Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull."
And so in the other passages in Mark and John.
Act IV. i. 145
" Oh if you reave this House, against this House,
It will the wofullest Division prove
That ever fell upon this cursed earth."
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 169
Direct Scripture references
Gen. iii. 17 " Cursed is earth for thy sake."
And reference to the words in
Mark iii. 24, 25 "For if a Kingdome bee divided against
itselfe that Kingdom cannot stand. Or if a house be divided
against itselfe, that house cannot continue."
Act IV. i. 166: King Rich.
" Give sorrow leave a while to tuture me
To this submission. Yet I well remember
The favors of these men : were they not mine ?
Did they not sometime cry all hayle to me ?
So Judas did to Christ : but He in Twelve
Found truth in all but one ; I, in twelve thousand, none
God save the King ! Will no man say, Amen ?
Am I both priest and clerk."
Direct Scripture references
Rom. v. 3 " Tribulation bringeth forth patience and patience
experience, and experience hope."
Ps. xli. 9 "Yea, my familiar friend whome I trusted,
which did eate of my breade, hath lifted up the heele against
me."
Matt. xxvi. 20 " He sat downe with the Twelve, and as they
did eate, He sayd, Verely I say unto you that one of you shall
betray Me."
Luke xxii. 47 "Judas, one of the Twelve."
Mark xiv. 45 " Hee went straightway to Him and sayd, Haile
Master and kissed Him."
None of the Versions have "All hail."
The words " All hail " were only once used and by our
Lord, Matt, xxviii. 9.
Wic. "hail ye."
Tyn., Cran., Rheims, Author." all hail."
The Genevan in Matt, xxvii. 29 gives " God save thee."
i Sam. x. 24 " And all the people shouted, God save the
King."
Neh. v. 13 "And all the congregation said Amen."
i Cor. xv. 16 "Say Amen, at thy giving of thankes."
Genevan Note "So then one uttered the prayers, and
all the company answered Amen."
i;o SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act IV. i. 234
" There should'st thou finde one heynous article
Contayning the deposing of a King
And cracking the strong warrant of an Oath
Mark'd with a Blot, damn'd in the Booke of Heaven,
Nay, all of you, that stand and looke upon me
Whilst that my wretchednesse doth bait myselfe,
Though some of you, with Pilate, wash your hands,
Showing an outward pittie : yet you Pilates
Have here deliver'd me to my sowre crosse
And water cannot wash away your sinne."
Direct Scripture references
I Sam. xxvi. 9 " Who can lay his hands on the Lord's
anoynted and be giltlesse."
I Sam. xxiv. n " I will not lay mine hand upon my master,
for he is the Lord's Anoynted."
Ezek. xvii. 16-19 "As I live, saith the Lord God, he shall
die in the mids of Babel, in the place of the King that made him
King, whose othe hee despised and whose covenant made with
him he brake."
Rev. xx. 12 " Another booke was opened which is the booke
of life."
Rev. xxi. 27" The Lambe's Booke of Life."
Rev. iii. 5 " I wil not put out his name out of the booke of
life."
The Authorised alone gives " blot out his name."
John xix. 12 " From thenceforth Pilate sought to loose Him."
Matt, xxvii. 24 " Hee tooke water and washed his hands
before the multitude saying, I am innocent of the blood of this
just man : look you to it."
Matt, xxvii. 26 " And scourged Jesus and delivered Him to
be crucified."
" Delivered me to my sowre cross."
The Gospels narrate that Simon was compelled to bear
the cross for Jesus, but St. John xix. 16, 17 says
"that he bare his owne crosse," and the Genevan
Version gives the following Note " They compelled
Simon to beare his burdensome crosse, whereby it
appeareth that Jesus was so sore handled before, that
He fainted by the way and was not able to beare His
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 171
crosse through, for John writeth that he did beare the
crosse, to wit, at the beginning."
Act IV. i. 274
" He read enough
When I doe see the very Booke indeede
Where all my sinnes are writ."
The thought is Scriptural
Isa. Ixv. 6 " Behold it is written before me."
Jer. xvii. I " The sinne of Judah is written with a pen of yron
and with the point of a diamond."
Rev. xx. 1 2 " Were judged of those things which were written
in the bookes, according to their workes."
Act IV. i. 284
" Was this the face
That like the Sunne did make beholders winke ? "
For a parallel compare Scripture incidents
Exod. xxxiv. 35 " And the children of Israel saw the face of
Moses, how the skin of Moses' face shone bright, therefore Moses
put the covering upon his face."
Rev. i. 1 6 " And His face shone as the sunne shineth in his
strength."
Matt. xvii. 2 " And His face did shine as the Sunne."
Act V. i. 12
Queen. " Thou man of honour, thou King Richard's tomb,
And not King Richard, thou most beauteous Inne
Why should hard favour'd Griefe be lodg'd in thee
When Triumph is become an ale-house guest"
Here the thought is that grief is like a wayfarer which
comes in to lodge at an inn.
In Wisd. of Sol. ix. 15 the body is referred to as "an
earthly mansion," but in the Metrical Version of the
Psalms (Sternhold and Hopkins) bound up with the
Genevan Version a most interesting translation is
given of Ps. xxx. 5 "Weeping may endure for a
night but joy cometh in the morning " (Authorised).
" Weeping may abide at night " (Genevan).
" Though gripes of griefe and pangues full sore
Shall lodge with us all night,
172 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
The Lord to joy shall us restore
Before the day be light."
Jer. xiv. 8 " As one that passeth by to tary for a night."
Act V. i. 23
" Cloyster thee in some Religious House :
Our holy lives must winne a new world's crowne
Which our prophane houres here have stricken down."
Direct Scripture references
Lam. v. 1 6 "The crowne of our head has fallen, woe unto
us that we have sinned."
2 Tim. iii. 8 " Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown
of righteousnesse."
I Cor. ix. 24, 25 "So runne that ye may obtain ... an
incorruptible crown."
James i. 12 " Blessed is the man that endureth tentation : for
when he is tried, hee shall receive the crowne of life which the
Lorde hath promised to them that love Him."
Act V. i. 29
Queen. " The Lyon dying, thrusteth forth his Paw
And wounds the earth, if nothing else, with rage
To be ore'powered : and wilt thou, Pupill like
Take thy Correction mildly, kisse the Rodde
And fawne on Rage with base Humilitie,
Which art a Lyon and a King of Beasts."
For remote parallels compare
Prov. xxii. 15 "The Rod of correction shall drive it away."
Prov. xxiii. 13 "Withhold not correction from the child,
thou smite him with the rod he shall not die."
Heb. xii. 7 " For what sonne is it whom the father chastenel
not endure chastening."
Prov. xix. 12 "The King's wrath is like the roaring of
lyon."
Prov. xx. 2 " The feare of the King is like the roaring of
Lyon, hee that provoketh him unto anger sinneth against hh
owne soule."
Act V. i. 46
" For why ? the senseless Brands will sympathise
The heavie accent of thy moving Tongue
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 173
And in compassion weepe the fire out ;
And some will mourne in ashes, some coale blacke,
For the deposing of a rightful king."
Luke xix. 40 " I tell you, that if these should hold their
peace, the stones would cry."
Hab. ii. n "For the stone shall crie out of the wall, and
the beame out of the timber shall answere it."
"Mourne in ashes," a melancholy play upon the Jewish
custom.
Esth. iv. 3 " There was great sorowe among the Jewes, and
fasting, and weeping, and mourning, and many lay in sackcloth
and in ashes."
Act V. i. 57-
" The time shall not be many houres of age
More then it is, ere foule sinne gathering head
Shall breake into corruption."
A favourite repetition of Shakespeare's, evidently based
upon the passage in the Epistle of James.
James i. 14, 15 "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth
forth sinne, and sinne when it is finished bringeth forth death."
Act V. i. 69
North. " My guilt be on my head, and there an end.
Take leave, and part, for you must part forthwith."
King Rich. " Doubly divorc'd ! Bad men, ye violate
A twofold marriage."
2 Sam. i. 16 " Thy blood be upon thine owne head."
Esth. ix. 25 "Let his wicked devise turne upon his owne
head."
Josh. ii. 19 " His blood shall bee upon his head and we will
be giltlesse."
Matt. xix. 6 " Let no man therefore put asunder that which
God hath coupled together."
Act V. ii. ii
" While all tongues cried ( God save thee, Bolingbroke '
You would have thought the very windows spake."
15" And that all the walls
With painted imagery had said at once
Jesu preserve thee ! welcome Bolingbroke."
174 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
1 Sam. x. 24 " And all the people shouted, God save the
King."
Matt. xxvi. 49 " And said, God save thee, master."
Hab. ii. n "For the stone shall crie out of the wall, and the
beame out of the timber shall answere it."
Prov. xx. 28 " Mercy and truth preserve the King, for his
throne shall be established with mercy."
Act V. ii. 30
" No joy full tongue gave him his welcome home :
But dust was thrown upon his sacred head ;
Which with such gentle sorrow he shooke off,
His face still combating with teares and smiles
The badges of his greefe and patience,
That had not God (for some strong purpose) steel' d
The hearts of men, they must perforce have melted
And Barbarisme it selfe have pitied him.
But heaven hath a hand in these events."
For parallels in Scripture compare
2 Sam. xvi. 13 "And as David and his men went by the
way, Shimei went by the side of the mountaine over against him,
and cursed as he went and threw stones against him and cast
dust."
2 Sam. xvi. n "Suffer him to curse, for the Lord hath
bidden him."
Compare also the patience of our Lord on the day of His
crucifixion.
Act V. ii. 95
" Wilt thou conceal this darke conspiracy ?
A dozen of them heere have tane the Sacrament,
And interchangeably set downe their hands
To kill the King at Oxford."
A remote parallel
Acts xxiii. 12 "And when the day was come, certeine of tl
Jewes made an assembly, and bound themselves with a cui
saying that they would neither eate nor drinke, till they hac
killed Paul."
Act V. iii. 30
" For ever may my knees grow to the earth,
My tongue cleave to my roofe within my mouth."
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 175
Biblical phrase
Ps. cxxxvii. 6 " If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my tongue
cleave to the roofe of my mouth."
Job xxix. 10 "Their tongue cleaved to the roofe of their
mouth."
Ezek. iv. 26 " I will make thy tongue cleave to the roofe of
their mouth."
Act V. iii. 6 1
" Thou sheere, immaculate, and silver fountaine
From whence this streame through muddy passages
Hath had his current, and defil'd himselfe !
Thy overflow of good converts to bad,
And thy abundant goodnesse shall excuse
This deadly blot in thy digressing sonne."
"Fountain " and "stream " are used Biblically for parents
and children, Prov. v. 16; Deut. xxxiii. 28.
I Cor. vii. 14 " For the unbeleeving husband is sanctified to
the wife, and the unbeleeving wife is sanctified to the husband
else were your children uncleane, but now are they holy."
Act V. iii. 70
" Mine honour lives, when his dishonour dies,
Or my sham'd life in his dishonour lies."
Prov. xvii. 25 " A foolish sonne is a griefe unto his father,
and a heavinesse to her that bare him."
Prov. xix. 13 " A foolish sonne is the calamitie of his father."
Act V. iii. 85
" This festered joynt cut off, the rest rests sound ;
This let alone will all the rest confound."
A reference to the words of our Lord
Matt, xviii. 8 " Wherefore if thy hand or thy foote cause
thee to offend, cut them off and cast them from thee : it is better
for thee to enter into life halt or maimed than having two hands
or two feete, to be cast into everlasting fire."
Act V. iii. 100
Duchess. " Pleades he in earnest ? Looke upon his face ;
His eyes do drop no teares : his prayers are in jest :
His words come from his mouth, ours from our brest.
He prays but faintly and would be denide ;
We pray with heart, and soule and all beside :
176 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
His weary joynts would gladly rise, I know ;
Our knees shall kneel, till to the ground they growe :
His prayers are full of false hypocrisie ;
Ours of true zeale and deep integritie :
Our prayers do out pray his, then let them have
That mercy, which true prayers ought to have."
This beautiful passage is full of the spirit of true prayer.
It is the essence of many Biblical passages
James i. 5-8 " But let him aske in faith and waver not, for
hee that wavereth is like a wave of the sea tost of the winde and
caried away. Neither let that man thinke that he shall receive
anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all
his wayes."
Luke xviii. n "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with
himselfe." 13 " But the Publican standing afarre off would not
lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote his brest
saying, O God be mercifull to me a sinner."
Luke xxii. 44 " But being in an agonie, he prayed more
earnestly, and his sweat was like droppes of blood trickling downe
to the ground."
Matt. vi. 5-7 " When thou prayest thou shalt not be as the
hypocrites are."
Luke vi. 12 " Spent the night in prayer to God."
Ps. cxix. 145 " I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord."
2 Tim. ii. 22 " Call on the Lorde with pure heart."
Deut. iv. 29 " If thou shalt seeke the Lord thy God, thou
shalt finde Him if thou seeke Him with all thine heart and with
all thy soule."
Deut. vi. 5 " With all thine heart, and with all thy soule,
and with all thy might."
Isa. xxix. 13 "Come neere unto mee with their mouth and
honour me with their lippes but have removed their heart farre
from me."
Isa. Ixv. 23, 24 " They shall not labour in vaine. Yea before
they call, I will answere, and whiles they speake I will heare."
Act V. iii. 131
Baling. " I pardon him, as God shall pardon me."
Duchess. " O happy vantage of a kneeling knee !
Yet am I sick for fear : speak it again ;
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 177
Twice saying pardon doth not pardon twain
But makes one pardon strong."
Baling. <l With all my heart I pardon him."
Duchess. " A god on earth thou art."
Ephes. iv. 32 " Freely forgiving one another even as God
for Christe's sake freely forgave you."
Matt, xviii. 35 "So likewise shall mine heavenly Father doe
unto you, except yee forgive from your hearts eche one to his
brother their trespasses."
Isa. Iv. 7 " Returne unto the Lorde and He will have mercy
upon him, and to our God for He is very ready to forgive."
Ecclus. xxviii. 2 " Forgive thy neighbour the hurt that he
hath done to thee, so shall thy sinnes be forgiven thee also, when
thou prayest." 5 " If he that is but flesh, nourish hatred (and
aske pardon of God) who will entreate for his sinnes."
Act V. iii. 138
" But for our trusty brother in law, and the Abbot
With all the rest of that consorted crew,
Destruction straight shall dog them at the heels."
For the teaching see
Ps. vii. 15 " He hath made a pit and digged it, and is fallen
in the pit he made."
Ps. xxxv. 8 *' Let destruction come upon him at unawares,
and let his nette that he hath laid privily take him, let him fall
into the same destruction."
Job xviii. 8-10 "For hee is taken in the net by his feete,
and hee walketh upon the snares. The grenne shall take him by
the heele."
Act V. iii. 146 Duchess. "Come, my old son: I pray God
make thee new."
The analogy of the repentant sinner has evidently been in
the mind of the Duchess, penitence leading to pardon
and to regeneration.
Ephes. ii. 15 " To make of twaine one new man in himselfe so
making peace."
Ephes. iv. 22-24 " Cast off, concerning the conversation in time
past, that olde man, which is corrupt through the deceivable lusts,
and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And put on the new man,
which after God is created unto righteousnes and true holinesse."
12
178 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act V. v. n: King Rich.
" The better sort,
As thoughts of things Divine, are intermixt
With scruples, and do set the Faith it selfe
Against the Faith : as thus : Come litle ones : and then again,
It is as hard to come as for a camell
To thred the posterne of a needle's eye."
The other reading is " do set the word against the word."
The examples of Willingness and Unwillingness are taken
from the same chapter, the great prayer chapter, which
deals with the " Importunate Widow," "The Publican
and the Pharisee," " The blind man of Jericho."
Compare Act V. iii. 90-140.
Luke xviii. 16 " But Jesus called them unto Him and sayd,
Suffer the babes to come unto Mee, and forbid them not, for of
such is the Kingdome of God."
Verse 18 introduces the Young Ruler whose sorrowful
perplexity prompted the words in verse 25.
24 " And when Jesus saw him very sorrowfull, He sayd, With
what difficultie shal they that have riches, enter into the King-
dome of God ! Surely it is easier for a camel to go through a
needle's eye, then for a rich man to enter into the Kingdome of
God."
The Rheims is the only Version which gives "eye of a
needle " in both passages Luke xviii. 24 ; Matt. xix.
24.
Act V. v. 38 : King Rich.
" And straight am nothing. But what'ere I am,
Nor I, nor any man that but man is
With nothing shall be pleas'd, till he be eas'd
With being nothing."
For the Scripture parallels to this passage see
Eccles. ii. n "Then I looked on all my works that mine
hands had wrought, and on the travell that I had laboured to doe,
and behold all is vanitie and vexation of spirit, and there is no
profite under the sunne."
Ps. xxxix. 5 " Surely every man in his best state is alto
gether vanity." 6 " Doubtlesse man walketh in a shadow and
disquieteth himselfe in vaine."
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 179
Ps. xlix. 17 " For he shall take nothing away when he dieth,
neither shall his pompe descend after him."
Hab. ii. 5 " He hath enlarged his desire as the hell, and is as
death and cannot be satisfied." 6 " Ladeth himselfe with thicke
clay."
1 Tim. vi. 7 " For wee brought nothing into the world and
it is certeine, that wee can carie nothing out."
Matt. x. 39 " He that loseth his life for My sake shall
find it"
2 Cor. vi. 10 "As having nothing, and yet possessing all
things."
Act V. v. 61
" This musicke mads me, let it sound no more ;
For though it have holp madmen to their wits
In me it seemes it will make wise-men mad :
Yet blessing on his heart that gives it me !
For 'tis a sign of love, and love to Richard
Is a strange Brooth in this all hating world."
A reference to the playing of David before Saul the King
i Sam. xvi. 15 "And Saul's servants said unto him, Beholde
now, the evill spirit of God vexeth thee. Let our Lord therefore
command thy servants that are before thee, to seeke a man that
is a cunning player upon the harpe : that when the evill spirit of
God commeth upon thee, he may play with his hand and thou
mayest be eased." 24 " And Saul was refreshed and eased :
for the evill spirit departed from him."
Act V. v. 81
King Rich. " Rode he on Barbary ? Tell me gentle Friend,
How went he under him ? "
Groom. " So proudly, as if he disdained the ground."
In Job xxxix. 37, where the horse is described, the Genevan
Version has this Note : " He rideth the ground that it
seemeth nothing under him."
King Rich. " Would he not stumble ? would he not fall down,
(Since pride must have a fall) and break the neck
Of that proud man that did usurp his back ?
Forgiveness, horse ! why do I rail on thee,
Since thou, created to be aw'd by man
Wast born to bear ? "
i8o SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Direct quotation of Scripture
Prov. xvi. 1 8 "Pride goeth before destruction, and an high
mind before the fall."
Gen. ii. 19 " So the Lorde God formed of the earth every
beast of the field, and every foule of the heaven, and brought
them unto the man to see how he would call them : for howso
ever the man named the living creature, so was the name thereof."
Genevan Note "By moving them to come and submit
themselves to Adam."
Act V. v. 103 " Patience is stale and I am weary of it."
For a remote parallel compare the words of Job
Job vi. 8, 9 " Oh that I might have my desire, and that God
would grant me the thing that I long for, that is, that God would
destroy me ; that He would let His hand goe, and cut me off."
Genevan Note " Herein he sinneth, in wishing through
impatiencie to die."
Act V. v. 108
" That hand shall burne in never-quenching fire,
That staggers thus my person. Exton, thy fierce hand,
Hath with the King's blood stain'd the King's own land,
Mount, mount, my soule, thy seate is up on high,
Whil'st my grosse flesh sinkes downward heere to die."
Num. xxxv. 33 "So ye shall not pollute the land wherein
yee shall dwell : for blood defileth the land : and the land cannot
be clensed of the blood that is shed therein but by the blood of
him that shed it"
Mark ix. 43 " Wherefore if thine hand cause thee to offend,
cut it off ; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, then
having two hands to goe into hell into the fire that never shalbe
quenched. Where their worme dieth not, and the fire never goeth
out"
Rev. xxi. 8 "Murtherers shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone."
Eccles. xii. 7 " And dust returne to the earth as it was, and
the spirite returne to God who gave it."
Act V. vi. 40
Baling. " Though I did wish him dead
I hate the murtherer, love him murthered.
The guilt of conscience take thee for thy labour
KING RICHARD THE SECOND 181
But neither my good word nor princely favour
With Caine go wander through the shade of night
And never shew thy head, by day nor light."
Direct reference to Scripture
Isa. Ixvi. 21 "Their worme shal not die, neither shall their
fire be quenched."
Genevan Note " Meaning a continuall torment of con
science which shall ever gnawe them and never suffer
them to be at rest."
Gen. ix. 6 " Whoso sheadeth man's blood, by man shall his
blood bee shead."
Gen iv. 14 "Beholde thou hast cast mee out this day from
the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid, and shall be a vaga
bond and a runnagate in the earth, and whosoever findeth mee
shall slay me." 15 " And the Lorde set a marke upon Kain, lest
any man finding him should kill him."
Act V. vi. 50
" Til make a voyage to the Holy Land
To wash this blood off from my guilty hand."
Direct reference to Scripture
Deut. xxi. 6 (< And all the Elders of that citie that came
neere to the slaine man shall wash their hands over the heifer
that is beheaded in the valley. And shall testifie, and say, Our
hands have not shed this blood neither have our eies scene it."
9 "So shalt thou take away the cry of innocent blood from
thee, when thou shalt doe that which is right in the sight of the
Lord."
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.
" ' The Venesyon Comedy ' which Henslowe, the manager produced at the
Rose on August 25, 1594, was probably the earliest version of ' The Merchant of
Venice,' and it was revised later. It was not published till 1600, when two editions
appeared, each printed from a different stage copy."
Act I. i. 73-
Gratiano. " You look not well, Signior Antonio ;
You have too much respect upon the world :
They lose it that do buy it with much care."
For the meaning of these words compare
i John ii. 15 "Love not this world neither the things that
are in this world." 17 "This world passeth away and the lust
thereof."
Matt. xvi. 26 " For what shall it profite a man though he
should winne the whole world, if he lose his owne soule ? or what
shall a man give for recompense of his soule."
Act I. i. 95-
Gratiano. " O my Antonio, I do know of these,
That therefore only are reputed wise
For saying nothing ; when I am verie sure,
If they should speake, would almost dam those eares
Which hearing them, would call their brothers fooles."
Paraphrase and quotation of Scripture
Prov. xvii. 28 " Even a foole (when he holdeth his peace) is
counted wise, and hee that stoppeth his lippes, prudent."
Job xiii. 5 " O that you woulde holde your tongue, that it
might be imputed to you for wisedome."
Matt. v. 21, 22 "And whosoever saieth unto his brother,
Racha, shal be worthie to be punished by the Council : And
whosoever shal say, thou Foole, shall be worthy to be punished
with hel fire."
Act I. ii. i Portia. " By my troth, Nerissa, my little body is
aweary of this great world."
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 183
Nerissa. " You would be, Sweet Madam, if your miseries were in
the same abundance as your good fortunes are : and yet for ought
I see, they are as sicke that surfet with too much, as they starve
with nothing ; it is no smal happinesse therefore to be seated in
the meane : superfluitie comes sooner by white hairs, but com-
petencie lives longer."
Parallels which illustrate the passage
Prov. xxv. 1 6 " If thou have found honey, eate that is suffi
cient for thee, lest thou be overfull and vomit it."
Prov. xxvii. 7 " The person that is full, despiseth an hony-
combe."
Prov. xxv. 27 " It is not good to eate much hony."
Prov. xxx. 8 " Remove farre from mee vanitie and lies : give
me not povertie, nor riches : feede me with food convenient for
mee."
i Tim. vi. 6-8 " But godlinesse is great gaine, if a man bee
content with that he hath."
Act I. ii. 10 Portia. " Good sentences, and well pronounced."
Nerissa. " They would be better, if well followed."
Portia. " If to do were as easy as to know what were good to
do, chapels had beene churches, and poore men's cottages Princes
Pallaces, it is a good Divine that follows his owne instructions : I
can easier teach twentie what were good to be done, then to be
one of the twentie to follow mine owne teaching."
Evidently based upon the teaching of the following pass
ages-
Rom, vi. i, vii. 15 " For I alow not that which I do : for what
I would, that do I not : but what I hate that do I." 18 "For I
know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing : for
to will is present with me but I find no means to perform that
which is good. For I doe not the good thing, which I would, but
the evill, which I would not, that do I."
Rom. ii. 21 " Thou therefore, which teachest another, teachest
thou not thyselfe ? thou that preachest a man should not steale,
dost thou steale."
Act I. ii. 54 Portia. " God made him, and therefore let him
pass for a man. In truth, I know it is a sin to be a mocker."
Direct references to Scripture
Gen. ii. 7 " The Lord God also made the man of the dust of
1 84 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
the ground, and breathed in his face breath of life and the man
was a living soule."
Prov. xvii. 5 " He that mocketh the poore, reprocheth Him
that made him."
Act I. ii. 87 "When he is best, he is a little worse than a
man, and when he is worst he is little better than a beast : and
the worst fall that ever fell."
A play on the passage in Hebrews, and a reference to the
Fall of Man.
Heb. ii. 7 " Thou madest him a little inferiour to the Angels :
Thou crownedst him with glory and honour and hast set him
above the workes of Thine hands."
Act I. ii. 94 " I pray thee set a deepe glasse of Rhenish wine
on the contrary casket, for if the divell be within and that tempta
tion without I know he will choose it."
Remote Scripture parallel
Prov. xxiii. 31, 32 " Looke not thou upon the wine when it is
red, and when it sheweth its colour in the cup or goeth downe
pleasantly. In the ende thereof it will bite like a serpent and
hurt like a cockatrice."
Act. I. iii. 22 Shy lock. ft There is perills of waters, windes and
rockes."
Scriptural phrase
2 Cor. xi. 26 " In journeying I was often, in perils of waters."
Wic. "in perils of flodes."
Tyn. <c in parels of waters," and so all the Versions.
Act I. iii. 31 Shy lock. "May I speake with Antonio."
Bassanio. " If it please you to dine with us."
Shylock. " Yes to smell porke, to eate of the habitation which
your Prophet the Nazarite conjured the divell into. I will buy
with you, sell with you, talke with you, walke with you, and so
following : but I will not eate with you, drink with you, nor pray
with you."
Shylock here brings the highest Christian warrant for his
action. Bassanio is reminded that as a Jew Shylock
belonged to a consecrated race, and felt the obligation
of the strict sect of the Nazarite upon him to abstain
in eating and drinking, and he shows further that the
Christian Prophet bore the name Nazarite, and proved
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 185
himself to be of the same mind as the Jew in that He
made of the forbidden swine a habitation for devils, fit
only to be cast away and destroyed.
The references are
Lev. xi. 7 " And the swine shall be uncleane to you."
Isa. Ixvi. 17 "Eating swine's flesh and such abomination."
Luke viii. 33 "Then went the devils out of the man and
entred into the swine : and the heard was caried with violence
from a steepdowne place into the lake and was choked."
Acts x. 28 " And he said unto them, Yee know that it is an
unlawfull thing for a man that is a Jew to company or come unto
one of another nation."
Acts xi. 3 " Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised
and hast eaten with them."
Concerning the use of the word Nazarite, Bishop Words
worth (p. 89) asks : " Had our poet any reason for
making use of the term Nazarite rather than Nazarene
in this instance, or was it merely a mistake ? "
Other Shakespeare commentators give the meaning of
Nazarite = Nazarene, but the words are not identical
in meaning.
Nazarene is from the Greek word Nagaprjvos. Compare
Mark i. 24, 'lyo-ov Na&prjve, Jesus of Nazareth ; Mark
x. 47, xiv. 67, xvi. 6.
The word used in Matt. ii. 23 is Na&palos. It occurs
also in Acts xxiv. 5, " rwv Na&paicav aipea-e&s"
The Versions thus translate the passages
Wic., Matt. ii. 23 "he shal be clepid a Nazarey."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. "he shal be called a Nazarite."
Rheims "he shal be called a Nazarite."
The Authorised alone gives " He shalbe called a Nazarene."
Wic., Acts xxiv. 5 " secte of Nazarenus."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. " secte of the Nazarites."
Rheims " secte of the Nazarenes."
Author. " sect of the Nazarenes."
It is evident that Shakespeare must have had in his mind
passages as given in the Genevan Version
Matt. ii. 23 "And went and dwelt in a city called Nazaret
to fulfil that which was spoken by the Prophetes, which was that
He shoulde be called a Nazarite."
186 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Acts xxiv. 5 " A chiefs maintainer of the secte of the Naza-
rites."
Throughout the Notes in the Genevan Version our Lord
is always spoken of as the true Nazarite.
In Num. vi. 2, " A Nazarite to separate himself unto the
Lord," the Genevan Note adds, " which figure was
accomplished in Christ."
Calvin, commenting on Judges xiii. 5, " For the child shall
be a Nazarite unto God from his birth," says : " Christ
is the original model, Samson is the inferior anti
type," and on Matt. ii. 23 : <( Matthew does not derive
Nazarene from Nazareth as if this were its strict and
proper etymology, but only makes an allusion. Naza
rite signifies holy and devoted to God."
Shakespeare thus followed strict Puritan usage in making
Shylock speak of Christ as "your prophet the Nazarite."
Act I. iii. 40
Shylock. " How like a fawning publican he looks !
I hate him for he is a Christian."
The Publicans were hated of the patriotic Jews because of
their subservience to the Romans, whom they served
as tax gatherers ; but see also instances from the New
Testament which may have suggested the words to
Shylock
Luke xix. 8 " And Zaccheus stood and said unto the Lord,
Beholde Lord, the halfe of my goods I give to the poore : and if
I have taken from any man by forged cavillation, I restore him
foure fold."
Luke xviii. 13 "But the publican standing afarre off would
not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote his brest
saying, O God be mercifull to me a sinner."
Act I. iii. 70
Shylock. " When Jacob graz'd his Uncle Laban's sheepe
This Jacob from our holy Abram was
(As his wise mother wrought in his behalfe)
The third possessor: I, he was the third."
It is instructive to note the correctness of Shakespeare's
Bible knowledge in these passages
Gen. xxvii. 42 " And it was told to Rebekah of the words
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 187
of Esau her elder sonne, and she went and called Jaakob her
yonger son and sayd." 43 " Now therefore my sonne, hear my
voyce, arise and flee thou to Haran to my brother Laban."
Gen. xxx. 31 (Jacob said) "I will returne, feede, and keepe
thy sheepe."
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob were the successive possessors of
the covenants of promise, although Esau was third by
birth, but
Gen. xxv. 34 " Esau contemned his birthright."
Gen. xxvii. 15 "And Rebekah took faire clothes of her elder
sonne Esau, which were in her house, and clothed Jaakob her
yonger sonne. And she covered his hands and the smooth of his
necke with the skinnes of the kiddes of the goates."
Act I. iii. 75
Shylock. " No ; not take interest ; not, as you would say,
Directly interest : marke what Jacob did.
When Laban and himselfe were compremyz'd
That all the eanelings which were streak't and pied
Should fall as Jacob's hier, the Ewes being rancke
In end of A utumne turned to the Rammes."
83 "The skilful shepheard piVd me certaine wands."
85 " He stucke them up before the fulsome Ewes,
Who then conceaving did in eaning time
Fall party -colour' d lambs, and those were Jacob's."
Gen. xxx. 31 " Then he (Laban) saide, What shall I give thee.
And Jaakob answered, Thou shalt give me nothing at all : if thou
wilt doe this thing for mee I wil returne, feede, and keepe thy
sheepe. I will passe through all thy flocks this day and separate
from them all the sheepe with litle spots and great spots, and
all black lambes among the sheepe, and the great spotted and
litle spotted among the goates and it shall bee my wages." 41
"And in every ramming time of the stronger sheepe."
Genevan Note "about September, and brought forth
about March."
Gen. xxx. 37 "Then Jaakob tooke rods of green popular,
and of hasell, and of the chesnut tree, and pilled white strakes in
them and made the white appeare in the rods."
Gen. xxx. 41 "Jaakob layd the rods before the eyes of the
sheep in the gutters, that they might conceive before the rods."
1 88 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Gen. xxx. 39 t( Brought forth yong of particolour and with
small and great spots. And Jaakob parted these lambes, and
turned the faces of the flocke towards these lambes particoloured."
The word "pilled" occurs in several passages of the
Genevan Version ; see
2 Cor. xii. 17 "Did I pill you by any of them I sent unto
you."
The Genevan is the only Bible which gives the word
" particoloured ; " the Authorised is " ring-straked."
Gen. xxxvii. 32 The " coat of many colours " is
given in the Genevan as "the parti-coloured coat."
Act I. iii. go
Antonio. " This was a venture, sir, that Jacob serv'd for,
A thing not in his power to bring to passe,
But sway'd and fashion'd by the hand of Heaven."
Gen. xxxi. n "And the Angell of God sayde to mee in a
dreame, Jaakob, and I answered, Lo, I am here. And he said,
Lift up thine eyes and see . . . goates partiecoloured."
Gen. xxxi. 8 "The particoloured shalbe thy reward, then
bare all the sheepe particoloured. Thus hath God taken away
your fathers substance and given it me."
Act I. iii. 97
Antonio. " Mark you this, Bassanio,
The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
An evil soul, producing holy witness
Is like a villain with a smiling cheek,
A goodly apple rotten at the heart
O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath."
A reference to the Temptation of Christ where the Devil
cites Scripture from Ps. xci. II.
Ps. xxviii. 3 " Workers of iniquity which speak peace to their
neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts."
Ps. Ixii. 4 "They bless with their mouth, but they curse
inwardly."
Matt. vii. 1 5 " In shepes clothying, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves/'
Matt, xxiii. 27 "Woe be to you, Scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites : for ye are like unto whited tombes which appeare
beautifull outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and all
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 189
filthinesse. So are yee also : for outward yee appeare righteous
unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisie and iniquitie."
John viii. 44 " Ye are of your father the devill. He is a liar
and the father thereof."
i Cor. xi. 14 "And no marveile for likewise Satan is trans
formed into an Angel of Light."
Act I. iii. 130
Antonio. " If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not
As to thy friends : for when did friendship take
A breed of barren metal of his friend ?
But lend it rather to thine enemy."
Act I. iii. 139 Shylock. " And take no doite of usance for my
moneys."
A reference to the Scripture which deals with usury
Deut. xxiii. 19,20 "Thou shalt not give to usurie to thy
brother : as usurie of money, usurie of meate, usurie of anything
that is put to usurie. Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon
usurie."
Exod. xxii. 25 "If thou lend money to my people, that is,
to the poore with thee, thou shalt not be as an usurer unto him :
yee shall not oppresse him with usurie."
Lev. xxv. 36 " Thou shalt take no usurie of him, nor vantage."
Act I. iii. 159
" O Father Abram, what these Christians are
Whose owne hard dealings teaches them suspect
The thoughts of others."
Luke xvi. 24 " Then he cried and said, Father Abraham."
Matt. vii. 2 "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be
judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to
you again."
Act I. iii. 166 " As flesh of Muttons, Beefes, or Goates."
Interesting Biblical word " Beefes."
Deut. xiv. 4 " These are the beastes which ye shall eate ; the
beefe, the sheepe, and the goate."
Lev. xxii. 19 "The beeves, the sheepe, or of the goates."
Author." the ox," " the beeves."
Act I. iii. 177
Antonio. " Hie thee, gentle Jew.
This Hebrewe will turne Christian, he growes kinde."
i 9 o SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Reference to Christian charity
2 Peter i. 7 " And with godlines, brotherly kindnes ; and
with brotherly kindnes, love."
Act II. i. i-
Morocco. " Mislike me not for my complexion,
The shadow'd liverie of the burnisht sunne."
A remote parallel may be in the Song of Solomon
Cant. i. 4 " I am blacke, O daughters of Jerusalem, but
comely." 5 " Regarde ye mee not because I am blacke, for the
sunne hath looked upon me."
Act II. i. 29
" Outbrave the heart most daring on the earth,
Pluck the young suckling cubs from the she-bear,
Yea, mock the lion when he roars for prey."
See the parallel thought of the fierceness of the bear
2 Sam. xvii. 8 " They be strong men and are chafed in minde
as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field."
Prov. xvii. 12 " It is better for a man to meete a bear robbed
of her whelpes."
Hos. xiii. 8 " I will meet them as a beare that is robbed of
her whelpes."
Amos iii. 8 " The lyon hath roared, who will not be afraide."
Act. II. iv. 33
Lorenzo. "If e'er the Jew her father come to Heaven,
It will be for his gentle daughter's sake."
An application to Shylock of the text
I Cor. vii. 14-16 "For the unbeleeving husband is sanctified
to the wife, and the unbeleeving wife is sanctified to the husband."
1 6 "For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save
thine husband? Or what knowest thou, O husband, whether
thou shalt save thy wife."
Act II. v. 36 "By Jacob's staffe, I swear."
Direct reference to Scripture
Gen. xxxii. 9, 10 " Moreover Jacob said, For with my staffe
came I over this Jordan."
Heb. xi. 21 "By faith Jacob when he was a dying blessed
both the sonnes of Joseph, and leaning on the end of his staffe
worshipped God."
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 191
Act II. v. 40 Launcelot. " I will go before, sir Mistress, look
out at window for all this.
There will come a Christian by
Will be worth a Jewes eye."
Shylock. " What says that foole of Hagar's offspring."
For the appropriateness of this epithet compare
Gen. xxi. 9 "And Sarah sawe the sonne of Hagar the
Egyptian (which shee had borne unto Abraham) mocking."
Act II. vi. 14
" How like a younker, or a prodigal
The scarfed bark puts from her native bay,
Hudg'd (hugged) and embraced by the strumpet winde :
How like a prodigall doth she returne
With over-withered ribs and ragged sailes
Leane, rent and beggered by the strumpet winde."
Luke xv. 13 " He tooke his journey (i.e., from his home) into
a farre countrey and there he wasted his goods with riotous living."
17 " I die for hunger, I wil rise and go to my father." 22
" Bring forth the best robe and put it on him . . . and shoes on
his feete."
Act II. vi. 48
" But come at once,
For the close night doth play the runnaway."
See notes " Romeo and Juliet," Act III. ii. i, for the mean
ing of this passage.
Act II. ix. 60
" The fire seven times tried this :
Seven times tried that judgment is."
Direct quotation of Scripture
Ps. xii. 6 " Pure wordes, as the silver tried in a fornace of
earth, fined seven fold."
Ps. Ixvi. 10 " Tryed as silver is tried."
Act III. i. 21 Solan. "Let me say Amen betimes, lest the
devil cross my prayer : for here he comes in the likeness of a
Jew."
Direct reference to Scripture
i Cor. xiv. 17" How shall hee that occupieth the roome of
the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks."
192 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Genevan Note "one uttered the prayers, and all the
company answered Amen."
2 Cor. xi. 14 " Satan is transformed into an Angel of Light."
Act III. i. 83 Shylock. "The curse never fell upon our nation
till now ; I never felt it till now."
Isa. xliii. 27, 28 "Thy first father hath sinned, and thy
teachers have transgressed against me. Therefore have I pro-
phaned the Rulers of the Sanctuary and made Jacob a curse."
It appears, however, that Shakespeare had in his mind the
curse which the Jews brought upon themselves by the
Crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, although he
puts it into the mouth of the Jew Shylock
Matt, xxvii. 25 " Then answered all the people and said,
His blood be on us and on our children."
Act III. iv. II
" For in companions
That do converse and waste the time together,
Whose souls do bear an equal weight of love,
There must be needs a like proportion
Of lineaments, of manners, and of spirit."
Prov. xiii. 20 " He that walketh with the wise, shalbe wise."
Ecclus. ix. 1 8 " Let just men eate and drinke with thee, and
let thy rejoycing be in the feare of the Lord."
Act III. v. I. Launcelot. " Yes truly ; for looke you, the sins
of the father are to be laid upon the children." 12 " So the sins
of my mother should be visited upon me."
Direct Scripture quotation
Exod. xx. 5 " I am the Lord thy God, a jelous God, visiting
the iniquitie of the fathers upon the children, upon the third
generation and upon the fourth,"
Num. xiv. 18 "Visiting the wickedness of the fathers upon
the children."
Act III. v. 1 8 "I shall be saved by my husband ; he hath
made me a Christian."
Direct Scripture quotation
I Cor. vii. 14-16 " The unbeleeving wife is sanctified to the
husband. For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt
save thine husband? Or what knowest thou, O Man, whether
thou shalt save thy wife."
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 193
Act IV. i. 10
" I do oppose my patience to his fury and am arm'd
To suffer with a quietness of spirit"
For a similar phrase see
i Peter iii. 4 " The incorruption of a meeke and quiet spirite."
Act IV. i. 35-
Shylock " I have possessed your grace of what I purpose
And by our holy Sabbath have I sworne."
The Second Quarto gives " Sabaoth," and concerning this
reading Mr. Gollancz says " It is just possible that
Shakespeare might have been misled by the expres
sion Lord God of Sabaoth which occurs in the New
Testament." Shakespeare was not easily misled in
his knowledge of the Bible. " Sabbaoth" and " Sab-
both " are used in the Versions for the " Lord of
Hosts," or " Lord of Armies," Genevan.
Exod. xx. 8 " Remember the Sabbath day to keepe it holy."
But it is interesting to note that in the Genevan Version
Metrical Psalms, 1598, the word "Sabaoth" is used
in reference to the day of rest.
The Ten Commandements
" Remember that thou holy keepe
The sacred Sabaoth day :
Sixe days thou labour shalt and do
Thy needfull workes alway."
Act IV. i. SSDuke. "How shalt thou hope for mercy,
rendering none?"
Direct reference to Scripture
Matt. v. 7 " Blessed are the mercifull : for they shall obtain
mercy."
James ii. 13 " For there shall be condemnation mercilesse to
him that sheweth not mercie, and mercie rejoyceth against con
demnation."
Act IV. i. 183
Portia. " The quality of mercy is not strained,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath : it is twice blessed ;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes."
13
194 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
For Scripture parallels compare
2 Cor. ix. 7 " Not grudgingly, or of necessitie, for God loveth
a cheereful giver."
Genevan Note " Not niggardly nor with a loathfull mind
or hardly : But a franke and free almes is compared
to a sowing which hath a most plentifull harvest of
most abundant blessings following it."
Deut. xxxii. 2 " My doctrine shall droppe as the raine, and
my speech shall stil as the dew, as the showre upon the herbs
and as the great raine upon the grasse."
Ecclus. xxxv. 19 " Oh, howe faire a thing is mercy in the
time of anguish and trouble. It is like a cloud of raine that
cometh in the time of a drought."
Acts xx. 35 " Remember the wordes of the Lorde Jesus, howe
that He saide, It is a blessed thing to give, rather then to receive."
Act IV. i. 192
" But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute of God himself;
And earthly power doth then shew likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation : we do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy."
Col. iii. 12 "Now therefore as the elect of God, holy and
beloved, put on the bowels of mercies." 13 "Forbearing one
another and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarel to
another : even as Christ forgave, even so do ye."
Luke vi. 36 " Be ye therefore mercifull, as your Father also
is mercifull. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged : condemne
not, and ye shall not be condemned : forgive, and ye shalbe
forgiven."
Prov. xxi. 13 "Hee that stoppeth his eare at the crying of
the poore, he shall also cry and not be heard."
Ps. ciii. 8 "The Lord is full of compassion and mercie, slow
to anger and of great kindenesse." n "For as high as the
heaven is above the earth, so great is His mercie."
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 195
Mic. vii. 1 8 " Who is a God like unto thee . . . mercie pleaseth
Him."
Num. xiv. 1 8 "The Lord is slowe to anger and of great
mercie and forgiving iniquitie and sinne."
Dan. ix. 9 " Compassion and forgivenesse is in the Lorde
our God."
Rom. v. 8 " But God setteth out His love towardes us, seeing
that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more
then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from
wrath through Him."
Rom. iii. 20 " Therefore by the works of the Lawe shall no
flesh be justified in His sight" 23 " For there is no difference :
for all have sinned and are deprived of the glorie of God. And
are justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus."
Ephes. iv. 32 " Bee yee courteous one to another, and tender
hearted, freely forgiving one another, even as God for Christe's
sake, freely forgave you."
Luke xi. 4 " And forgive us our sinnes : for even wee forgive
every man that is indetted to us."
Act IV. i. 205 Shylock. " My deeds upon my head."
Scripture phrase
i Kings ii. 33 " Their bloode shall therefore returne upon
the head of Joab and on the heade of his seede for ever."
Genevan Metrical Psalms, T. Sternhold, Ps. vii., Part 2
" Thus wrong returneth to the hurt
Of him on whom it bred,
And all the mischief that he wrought
Shall fall upon his head."
Act IV. i. 213
Bassanio. "It must appear
That malice bears down truth. And I beseech you
Wrest once the law to your authority :
To do a great right, do a little wrong,
And curb this cruel devil of his will."
Portia. "It must not be ...
220 Many an error, by the same example,
Will rush into the state. It cannot be."
Rom. iii. 8 " And (as we are blamed and as some afifirme
196 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
that we say) why doe we not evill, that good may come thereof?
whose damnation is just."
Portia is definite in the stand she takes against the doctrine
of doing ill that good may come. Attempts have
been made by Romish writers to show that Shake
speare was an upholder of the theory of equivocation.
" The theory of equivocation was denounced in Shake
speare's time as Jesuitical and vile, as much as it is
now ; and it is remarkable that he should be again
found defending the unpopular and Catholic side "
(Bowden, Religion of Shakespeare, p. 37). These words
do not represent the position of Shakespeare, or that
of the Puritan, on the question of oaths, lawful and
unlawful. Here the Genevan Bible gives a Note on
Rom. iii. 8, which is explicit enough : " A third objec
tion which addeth somewhat to the former. If sinnes
doe turne to the glorie of God, they are not onely to
be punished, but we ought rather to give ourselves
to them : which blasphemie Paul contending himselfe
to curse and detest, pronounceth just punishment
against such blasphemers."
Act IV. i. 222
Shylock. " A Daniel come to judgment, yea a Daniel !
O wise young Judge how I do honour thee."
A reference to the judgment of the young child Daniel.
Susanna, verse 45 " The Lord raised up the holy spirit of
a yong childe, whose name was Daniel." 49 " Returne again
to judgment, for they have borne false witnesse against her."
50 " Wherefore the people turned againe in all haste and the
Elders said unto him, Come sit down among us and show it us
seeing God hath given thee the office of an Elder." 64 " From
that day foorth was Daniel had in great reputation."
Act IV. i. 227
Shylock. " An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven :
Shall I lay perjurie upon my soul ?
No, not for Venice."
Eccles. v. 4 " When thou hast vowed a vowe to God, defer
not to pay it : for He delighteth not in fooles : pay therefore that
thou hast vowed. Suffer not thy mouth to make thy flesh to
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 197
sinne: neither say before the Angell that this is ignorance,
wherefore shall God be angry by thy voyce and destroy the
worke of thine hands."
Act IV. i. 295
Shylock. " I have a daughter ;
Would any of the stocke of Barrabas
Had been her husband, rather than a Christian."
Direct reference to Scripture
Acts iii. 14 " Ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and
desired a murtherer to be given you."
Luke xxiii. 18, 19 " Barabbas which for a certaine insurrec
tion made in the citie and murther was cast in prison."
John xviii. 40 " Now this Barabbas was a murtherer."
Act IV. i. 316-
Portia. " As thou urgest justice, be assur'd
Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest."
James ii. 1 3 " For there shall be condemnation mercilesse to
him that sheweth not mercie."
Prov. xxi. 13 " Hee that stoppeth his eare at the crying of
the poore, he shall also cry and not be heard."
Ecclus. xxviii. 2-4 " He that seeketh vengeance shall finde
vengeance of the Lord, and he will surely keepe his sinnes.
Forgive thy neighbour the hurte that he hath done to thee, so
shall thy sinnes be forgiven thee also when thou prayest."
Act V. i. 60
Lorenzo. " There's not the smallest orb, which thou behold'st
But in his motion like an Angell sings,
Still quiring to the young ey'd Cherubins ;
Such harmony is in immortal soules ;
But whilst this muddy vesture of decay
Doth grosly close it in wee cannot heare it."
For a Scripture parallel compare
Job xxxviii. 7 " When the starres of the morning praysed
me together and all the children of God rejoyced."
Genevan Note " children of God, that is, the Angels."
Act V. i. 8 1
Lorenzo. " Since nought so stockish, hard, and full of rage,
But music for the time doth change his nature."
198 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Reference to the change wrought by the music of David
i Sam. xvi. 23 "And so, when the evill spirit of God came
upon Saul, David tooke an harpe and played with his hande,
and Saul was refreshed and was eased, for the evill spirit de
parted from him."
Act V. i. 90
Portia. " How farre that little candell throwes its beames !
So shines a good deed in a naughty world."
Luke viii. 16 " No man when hee hath lighted a candle,
covereth it under a vessell, neither putteth it under the bed, but
setteth it on a candlestick that they that enter in, may see the
light/'
Matt. v. 1 6 " Let your light so shine before men that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in
heaven."
Act V. i. 129
Portia. " Let me give light, but let me not be light ;
For a light wife doth make a heavy husband."
Ecclus. xxvi. 7 " An evill wife is as a yoke of oxen that draw
divers wayes : he that hath her is as though he held a scorpion."
Ecclus. xxv. 25 " A wicked wife maketh a sorie heart, an
heavie countenance, and a wounded minde, weak hands and
feeble knees, and cannot comfort her husband in heavinesse."
Act V. i. 294 Lorenzo. " Faire ladies, you drop manna in the
way of starved people."
Direct reference to Scripture
Exod. xvi. 3 " To kill this whole company with famine."
Exod. xvi. 14 "And when the dewe that was fallen was
ascended, beholde, a small round thing was upon the face of the
wildernes, small as the hoare frost on the earth."
Called in Genevan Version " Man " and " Manna."
TITUS ANDRONICUS.
" Acted January 23, 1593-94 by the Earl of Sussex's company.
"Acted subsequently by Shakespeare's company in 1600, and entered on the
' Stationers' Register ' to John Danter on February 6, 1594. Langbaine claims to
have seen an edition of this date, but none earlier than that of 1600 is now known.
" Edward Ravenscroft, 1678, wrote : ' I have been told by some anciently con
versant with the stage that it was not originally his (Shakespeare's), but brought by
a private author to be acted, and he only gave some master-touches to one or two
of the principal parts or characters.' Ravenscroft's assertion deserves acceptance."
Sidney Lee, Life, pp. 65, 66.
Act I. i. 55 Bassianus. "Commit my cause in balance to be
weigh'd."
Remote Scripture parallel
Job xxxi. 6 " Let God weigh me in a just balance, and He
shall know mine uprightnes."
Dan. v. 27 "Thou art weyed in the balance and art found
too light."
Act I. i. 97
Titus. " In peace and honour rest you here, my sonnes ;
Rome's readiest champions, repose you heere in rest,
Secure from worldly chaunces and mishaps :
Heere lurks no Treason, heere no envie swells,
Heere grow no damned grudges, heere are no stormes,
No noyse, but silence and Eternall sleepe."
Remote Scripture parallel
Job iii. 17 " The wicked have there ceased from their tyranny,
and there they that laboured valiantly are at rest."
Eccles. ix. 6 " Also their love and their hatred, and their envy
is now perished, and they have no more portion for ever in all
that is done unto the sunne."
Act I. i. 326 c< He lives in fame that died in virtue's cause."
Remote Scripture parallel
Prov. x. 7" The memoriall of the just shall be blessed."
(199)
200 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act I. i. 363 "Rome and the righteous heavens be my
judge."
Acts xvii. 31 " He will judge the world in righteousnesse."
Act II. v. 15 "That I may slumber in eternal sleep."
Jer. li. 39 " Sleepe a perpetual sleepe and not wake."
Job vii. 21 " Now shall I sleepe in the dust."
Act III. i. 20
" O earth . . .
So thou refuse to drink my dear son's blood."
Gen. iv. 10 "The earth, which hath opened her mouth to
receive thy brother's blood at thine hand."
Heb. vi. 7 "For the earth which drinketh in the rain."
Act III. i. 206
" O ! here I lift this one hand up to heaven,
And bow this feeble ruin to the earth :
If any power pities wretched tears,
To that I call. (To Lavinia) What ! wilt thou kneel with me ?
Doe then dear heart, for heaven will heare our prayers."
Remote Scripture parallel
Ps. ix. 1 2 " For when hee maketh inquisition for blood, he
remembreth it and forgetteth not the complaint of the poore."
Act III. i. 243
" To weepe with them that weepe, doth ease some deale,
But sorrow flouted at, is double death."
Scriptural phrase
Rom. xii. 15 " Rejoyce with them that rejoyce, and weepe with
them that weepe"
Act III. i. 263 " Now is a time to storm ; why art thou still."
Reference to the words in Ecclesiastes
Eccles. iii. i " To all things there is an appointed time, and a
time to every purpose under the sun."
Act III. i. 273
" Till all these mischiefs be returned again
Even in their throats that have committed them."
Ps. vii. 1 6 " His mischiefe shall returne upon his owne head,
and his cruelty shall fall upon his owne pate."
TITUS ANDRONICUS 201
Act III. ii. 21
" Fie, brother, fie, teach her not thus to lay
Such violent hands upon her tender life."
Exod. xx. 13 "Thou shalt not kill."
Act III. ii. 37 " She says she drinks no other drink but tears."
Remote Scripture parallel
Ps. Ixxx. 5 " Thou hast fedde them with the bread of teares,
and given them teares to drink with great measure."
Act IV. i. 35
" And so beguile thy sorrow, till the heavens
Reveal the damn'd contriver of this deed."
Rom. xii. 19 " It is written, Vengeance is Mine : I will repay,
sayth the Lord."
Isa. xxvi. 21 " For lo, the Lord commeth out of His place, to
visite the iniquitie of the inhabitants of the earth upon them ;
and the earth shall disclose her blood and shal no more hide her
slaine."
Act IV. i. 97
" But if you hunt these bear- whelps, then beware :
The dam will wake, and if she wind you once."
For parallel in Scripture see
Hos. xiii. 8 " I will meete them as a beare that is robbed of
her whelpes."
2 Sam. xvii. 18 " Chafed in minde as a beare robbed of her
whelpes."
Act IV. i. 125-
" O heavens ! can you hear a good man groan
And not relent, or not compassion him."
Remote Scripture parallel
Ps. ix. 12 " For when hee maketh inquisition for blood, he
remembreth it and forgetteth not the complaint of the poore."
Act IV. ii. 31
" And now, young lords, was't not a happy star
Led us to Rome."
Reference to the leading of the Wise Men
Matt. ii. 9 " And lo, the starre which they saw in the East,
went before them."
202 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act V. i. 71-
Lucius. " Who should I swear by ? thou believ'st no God :
That graunted, how canst thou beleeve an oath."
A aron. " What if I do not, as indeed I do not ;
Yet for I know thou art Religious
And hast a thing within thee, called conscience,
With twenty Popish trickes and ceremonies,
Which I have scene thee carefull to observe,
Therefore I urge thy oath, for that I know
An Ideot holds his Bauble for a God,
And keepes the oath which by that God he sweares."
Matt. v. 33 " Againe, ye have heard that it was said to them
of olde time, Thou shalt not forsweare thyselfe, but shalt per-
fourme thine othe to God."
Acts iv. 13 " Men without knowledge."
Genevan Note "The word used here is Idiot."
Act V. iii. 198
" No funeral rite, nor man in mournful weeds,
No mournful bell shall ring her burial ;
But throw her forth to beasts and birds of prey :
Her life was beast-like and devoid of pity."
The death of Jezebel is a remote parallel
2 Kings ix. 36 " In the field of Izreel shall the dogs eate
the flesh of Jezebel."
There is but one direct Biblical reference in " Titus An-
dronicus," and the phraseology is not Scriptural.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF KING JOHN.
" To 1594 must also be assigned ' King John.' The piece, which was not
printed till 1623, was directly adapted from a worthless play called ' The Trouble
some Raigne of King John ' (1591), which was fraudulently reissued in 1611 as
' written by W. Sh. ' and in 1622 as by W. Shakespeare." Sidney Lee, Life, p. 69.
Act I. i. 19 " Here have we war for war and blood for
blood."
Exod. xxi. 23 " Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth."
Num. xxxv. 33 "The land cannot be cleansed of the blood
that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it."
Gen. ix. 6 " Whoso sheadeth man's blood, by man shall his
blood bee shead."
Act I. i. 256 " Heaven lay not my transgression to my
charge."
Isa. xliv. 22 " I have put away thy transgression like a
cloude, and thy sinnes as a mist : turne unto me, for I have
redeemed thee."
Acts vii. 60 " Lay not this sinne to their charge.'
Cran., Tyn., Gen., Author. " to their charge."
Rheims " unto them."
Act II. i. 35-
" The peace of Heaven is theirs that lift their swords
In such a just and charitable war."
Compare
Matt. x. 34 "Thinke not that I am come to sende peace
into the earth. I came not to send peace but the sword." 39
" And he that loseth his life for My sake shall save it."
Act II. i. 86
"Whiles we, God's wrathful agent, do correct
Their proud contempt that beat his peace to heaven."
Jer. li. 20 " Thou art mine hammer and weapons of warre :
for with thee will I breake the nations, and with thee will I destroy
kingdomes."
(203)
204 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. i. no
King John. " From whom hast thou this great commission, France,
To draw my answer from thy articles ? "
King Phil. " From that Supernal Judge that stirs good thoughts
In any breast of strong authoritie
To looke into the blots and staines of right :
That Judge hath made me guardian to this boy."
i Sam. ii. 10 " The Lord shall judge the endes of the
earth."
i Chron. xvi. 33 " Rejoyce at the presence of the Lord for
Hee cometh to judge the earth."
Isa. iii. 13 "The Lord shall enter into judgement with the
ancients of the people and the princes thereof."
Ps. Ixviii. 5 " He is a father of the fatherlesse, and a Judge
of the widowes, even God in His holy habitation."
Act II. i. 169: Constance
" Draw those heaven moving pearles from his poor eies,
Which Heaven shall take in nature of a fee :
I, with these christall beads heaven shall be bribed
To do him justice, and revenge on you."
Exod. xxii. 22 "Yee shall not trouble any widowe, nor
fatherlesse child. If thou vexe or trouble such and so he cal and
cry unto Mee, I will surely heare his cry. Then shall My wrath
be kindled and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives
shall be widowes and your children fatherlesse."
Deut. xxvii. 19 " Cursed bee hee that hindreth the right of
the stranger, the fatherlesse and the widow."
Heb. x. 30 "For we know Him that hath sayd, Vengeance
belongeth unto Mee, I will recompense sayth the Lord, and
againe, The Lord shall judge His people."
Act II. i. 177
Constance. " This is thy eldest sonne's sonne,
Infortunate in nothing but in thee :
Thy sinnes are visited in this poore childe ;
The canon of the Law is laide on him,
Being but the second generation
Removed from thy sin conceiving wombe."
Direct quotation of Scripture
Exod. xx. 5 " I am the Lord thy God, a jelous God, visit-
LIFE AND DEATH OF KING JOHN 205
ing the iniquitie of the fathers upon the children, upon the third
generation and upon the fourth."
p s . H. 5 Beholde I was borne in iniquitie and in sinne hath
my mother conceived me."
Act II. i. 1 86
Constance. " But God hath made her sin and her the plague
On this removed issue, plagued for her
And with her plague, her sin ; his injury
Her injury, the beadle to her sin,
All punished in the person of this child."
For Scripture parallel compare
i Kings xvii. 17, 18 "And after these things, the sonne of
the wife of the house fell sicke, and his sickenesse was so sore,
that there was no breath left in him. And she said unto Elijah,
what have I to do with thee, O thou man of God ; art thou come
unto mee to call my sinne to remembrance and to slay my
sonne ? "
Act II. i. 196
King Phil. "It ill beseemes this presence to cry ayme (amen)
To these ill-tuned repetitions"
Matt. vi. 7 " But when ye pray use not vain repetitions as
the heathen do."
i Cor. xiv. 1 6 " When thou blessest with the spirit, how shall
hee that occupieth the roome of the unlearned say Amen, at thy
giving of thanks seeing he knoweth not what thou sayest ? For
thou verely givest thankes well, but the other is not edified."
Genevan Marginal Note " So then one uttered the
prayers and all the company answered Amen."
Act II. i. 283
King John. " Then God forgive the sinnes of all those soules
That to their everlasting residence
Before the dew of evening shall fleet."
Mark ii. 5 "Who can forgive sinnes but God onely."
1 John i. 9 " If we acknowledge our sinnes, He is faithfull
and just to forgive us our sinnes and to dense us from all un-
righteousnesse."
Luke xvi. 9 " May receive you into everlasting habitations."
2 Cor. v. i " Wee have a building given of God, that is, an
house not made with hands, but eternall in the heaven."
206 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. ii. 29 Cit. " Blood hath bought blood, and blows
have answered blows."
Gen. ix. 6 " Whoso sheadeth man's blood, by man shall his
blood bee shead."
Exod. xxi. 23-25 "Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
hand for hand, foote for foote, burning for burning, wound for
wound, stripe for stripe."
Act II. ii. 78
Bast . " Your Royall presences be ruled by mee :
Do like the Mutines of Jerusalem
Be friends awhile, and both conjoyntly bend
Your sharpest deeds of malice on this Towne."
The reference is possibly to the quarrel of Richard the
Lion Heart, Leopold of Austria and Philip of France,
July. 1191, after the fall of Acre and before the siege
of Jerusalem, although if these were the " mutines
of Jerusalem " they did not conjointly bend their
sharpest deeds of malice against the city, for the
siege was abandoned and the King of France returned.
There is an instance in the Apocrypha which may have
suggested the lines.
Alcimus the deposed High Priest and the nobles of Jeru
salem, moved with jealousy against Judas Maccabeus,
made a compact with King Demetrius, the Son of
Seleucus, who sent a great army against Jerusalem
under Nicanor. See 2 Maccabees chaps, xiv., xv.
They were defeated by Judas.
Act II. ii. 267-
Bast. " Rounded in the eare
With that same purpose-changer, that slye divell,
That Broker, that still breakes the pate of faith,
That dayly breake vow, he that winnes of all,
Of kings, of beggers, old men, yong men, maids."
For the meaning of the passage compare the following
texts
Rev. xx. 10 " The Devill that deceived them."
Rev. xii. 9 " That old serpent called the Devill, and Satan
which deceiveth all the world."
Compare the promises made to Eve in the Temptation,
Gen. iii.
LIFE AND DEATH OF KING JOHN 207
Act II. ii. 276
" The World, who of it selfe is peysed well
Made to run even, upon even ground,
Till this advantage, this vile drawing byas,
This sway of motion, this commoditie,
Makes it take head from all indifferency,
From all direction, purpose, course, intent."
Gen. i. 31 "And God sawe all that He had made, and lo it
was very good."
Rom. viii. 21, 22 " Because the creature also shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption unto the glorious libertie of the
sonnes of God. For we know that every creature groneth with
us also and travaileth in paine together unto this present"
Rom. vii. 21 " I find then that when I would do good, I am
thus yoked that evil is present with me."
Act III. i. 7
Constance. " I trust I may not trust thee, for thy word
Is but the vaine breath of a common man."
For Scriptural parallel see
Isa. ii. 22 " Cease you from the man whose breath is in his
nostrels : for wherein is he to be esteemed."
Job xvi. 1-3 "But Job answered and sayd, Shall there bee
none ende of wordes of winde ? "
Ps. cxviii. 8 " It is better to trust in the Lord than to have
confidence in man."
i Peter i. 25 " But the worde of the Lorde endureth for
ever."
Jer. xvii. 5 " Thus sayth the Lord, Cursed be the man that
trusteth in man."
Act III. i. 77
King Phil. " To solemnise this day, the glorious sun
Stays in his course."
Scripture reference
Josh. x. 13 "So the sunne abode in the middes of the
heaven, and hasted not to goe downe for a whole day. And
there was no day like that before it, nor after it, that the Lord
heard the voyce of a man : for the Lord fought for Israel/'
Ecclus. xlvi. 4 " Stood not the sunne stil by his meanes, and
one day was as long as two."
208 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. i. 86
"Nay rather, turne this day out of the weeke,
This day of shame, oppression, perjury.
Or if it must stand still, let wives with childe
Pray that their burthens may not fall this day
Lest that their hopes prodigiously be crost."
Compare the words of Job
Job iii. 3-9 " Let the day perish wherein I was borne. Let
that daye be darkenesse, let not God regarde it from above,
neither let the light shine upon it. Let darkenesse possesse that
night, let it not be joyned unto the dayes of the yeere, nor let it
come into the count of moneths neither let it see the dawning
of the day."
Matt. xxiv. 19 " Wo shalbe to them that are with child, and
to them that give sucke in those dayes."
Act III. i. 99: Constance
" You have beguil'd me with a counterfeit
Resembling Majesty, which being touch'd and tride
Proves valuelesse: you are forsworne, forsworne."
For a Scripture parallel see
Gen. iii. 4 " The serpent sayd to the woman, Ye shal not
die at all. But God doeth know that when yee shall eate there
of, your eyes shall be opened and yee shalbe as God's."
Gen. iii. 13 " And the woman sayd, The serpent beguil'd me."
Act III. i. 107 : Constance
" Arme, Arme, you heavens, against these perjured Kings,
A widdow cries, be husband to me, heavens."
Isa. liv. 4, 5 " Thou shalt not remember the reproch of thy
widowhood any more. For Hee that made thee is thine husband
(whose Name is the Lord of Hostes), and thy Redeemer the
holy one of Israel shall be called the God of the whole world."
Judith ix. 4 " O God, O my God, heare me also a widow."
Exod. xxii. 22 "Yee shall not trouble any widowe, nor
fatherlesse child. If thou vexe or trouble such and so he cal or
cry unto Mee, I will surely heare his cry. Then shall My wrath
be kindled and I will kill you with the sword."
Act III. i. 209
" O Lewis, stand fast ! the devil tempts thee here,
In likenesse of a new untrimmed bride."
LIFE AND DEATH OF KING JOHN 209
Matt. iv. i "Tempted of the devill."
2 Cor. xi. 14 " Satan himselfe is transformed into an Angel
of Light."
Compare Temptation of Eve, Temptation of Christ.
Act III. i. 218 " The King is moved and answers not to this."
Scripture phrase
2 Sam. xviii. 33 "And the King was mooved, and went up
to the chamber over the gate and wept."
Act III. i. 226
King Phil. " This royal hand and mine are newly knit
And the conjunction of our inward souls
Married in league, coupled and linked together."
Scripture phrase
Matt. xix. 5, 6 " For this cause shall a man leave father and
mother, and cleave unto his wife, and they which were two, shalbe
one flesh. Wherefore they are no more twaine, but one flesh.
Let no man therefore put asunder that which God hath coupled
together."
Wic., Rheims, Author. "joyned together."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. " coupled together."
Act III. i. 265
" O, let thy vow
First made to heaven, first be to heaven perform d"
See rest of passage for foolish and unlawful oath
Deut. xxiii. 21 "When thou shalt vowe a vowe unto the
Lord thy God, thou shalt not be slacke to pay it." 23 " That
which is gone out of thy lippes thou shalt keepe and performe, as
thou hast vowed it willingly unto the Lord thy God."
Isa. xix. 21 " Vowe vowes unto the Lord and performe them."
Nah. i. 15 " O Judah, perfourme thy vowes."
Act III. i. 344
" Thy rage shall burne thee up and thou shalt turne
To ashes, ere our blood shall quench that fire :
Looke to thyself, thou art in jeopardie."
For remote parallel compare
Wisd. of Sol. ii. 2 " For the breath is a smoke in our
nostrels, and the words as a sparke raised out of our heart,
which being extinguished, the body is turned into ashes, and the
spirit vanisheth as the soft ayre."
14
210 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. iii. 60
" He tell thee what my friend,
He is a very serpent in my way ;
And wheresoere this foot of mine doth tread
He lies before me."
Gen. xlix. 17 " Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder
by the path, byting the horse heeles, so that his rider shall fall
backward."
Act III. iv. 17
King Phil. " Looke who comes heere, a grave unto a soul ;
Holding th' eternal spirit against her will
In the vilde prison of afflicted breath."
Wisd. of Sol. ix. 15 "Because a corruptible body is heavy
unto a soule, and the earthly mansion keepeth downe the minde
that is full of cares."
2 Cor. v. 2 " For therefore we sigh desiring to be clothed
with our house, which is from heavens."
Prayer in the Commination Service, Genevan Bible
" Enter not into judgment with thy servants which be
vile earth."
Act III. iv. 25
Constance. " Death, death. O amiable lovely death !
Thou odoriferous stench, sound rottennesse !
Arise forth from the couch of lasting night,
Thou hate and terror of prosperitie,
And / will kisse thy detestable bones."
Ecclus. xli. i "O death, how bitter is the remembrance of
thee to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions, unto the man
that hath nothing to vexe him, and that hath prosperitie in all
things. . . ." 2 " O death, how acceptable is thy judgment unto
the needfull, and unto him whose strength faileth, and that is
now in the last age, and vext with all things, and to him that
despaireth and hath lost patience."
Act III. iv. 77
" That we shall see and know our friends in heaven :
If that be true, I shall see my boy againe.
For, since the birth of Caine, the first male child."
Direct Scripture references
Mark x. 13-16 "Suffer the little children to come unto Me,
and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdome of God."
LIFE AND DEATH OF KING JOHN 211
1 Cor. xv. 49 " As wee have borne the image of the earthy
so shall we beare the image of the heavenly."
2 Sam. xii. 23 " I shall go to him, but he shal not returne to
me."
Gen. iv. i " Eve conceived and bare Kain, and sayd, I have
obteined a man by the Lord."
Act III. iv. 1 08
Lewis. " Life is as tedious as a twice tolde tale
Vexing the dull ear of a drowsie man.
And bitter shame hath spoyl'd the sweet word's taste
That it yeelds nought but shame and bitterness."
For parallels in thought compare
Ecclus. xx. 1 8 "A man without grace is as a foolish tale
which is oft tolde by the mouth of the ignorant."
Wisd. of Sol. ii. I " Our life is short and tedious."
Deut. xxxii. 32 " For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and
of the vines of Gomorah : their grapes are grapes of gall, their
clusters be bitter."
Job xx. 12 "When wickednesse was sweete in his mouth,
and he hid it under his tongue. And favoured it and would not
forsake it, but kept it close in his mouth. Then his meate in his
bowels was turned, the gall of Aspes was in the middes of him."
Act III. iv. 112
Pand. " Before the curing of a strong disease,
Even in the instant of repaire and health,
The fit is strongest : Evils that take leave
On their departure, most of all shew evill."
A remote parallel may be in the curing of the Demoniac-
Mark ix. 20 " So they brought him unto Him, and assoone as
the spirit saw Him, he tare him and he fell down on the ground
wallowing and foaming." 25 "Jesus rebuked the uncleane
spirit saying unto him, Thou dumme and deafe spirit, I charge
thee come out of him and enter no more into him. Then the
spirit cried and rent him sore and came out, and he was as one
dead, in so much that many said, He is dead."
Act IV. i. 68
Arthur. "An if an angell should have come to me
And told me Hubert should put out mine eyes,
I would not have beleeved him."
2i2 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Scripture reference
Gal. i. 8 " But though that wee or an Angell from heaven
preach unto you otherwise than that we have preached unto you
let him be accursed."
Act IV. i. 8 1 "Nor looke upon the iron angerly"
2 Esdras x. 5 " Then left I my purpose wherein I was, and
spake to her angerly."
Mark iii. 5 " Then hee looked round about on them angerly."
Wic. " with wrath."
Rheims, Cran., Author. " with anger."
Tyn., Gen." angerly."
Act IV. i. 89 Hubert. " None, but to lose your eyes."
Arthur. " O heaven, that there was but a moth in yours."
Luke vi. 41 " Why seest thou a mote in thy brother's eye."
None of the Versions spell the word " moth."
Act IV. i. 106
Arthur. "No, in good sooth, the fire is dead with grief;
109 There is no malice in this burning cole ;
The breath of heaven hath blowne his spirit out
And strewed repentant ashes on his head."
Reference to the ceremonial manner of Jewish repentance
Job xlii. 6 " Repent in dust and ashes."
Luke x. 1 3 " They had a great while <agone repented, sitting
in sackcloth and ashes."
2 Esdras ix. 38 " Was grieved in heart and rent her clothes
and she had ashes on her head."
Act IV. ii. 30
" Oftentimes excusing of a fault
Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse,
As patches set upon a little breach
Discredite more in hiding of the fault
Then did the fault before it was so patch'd."
Interesting test words which occur only in the Genevan
Version
Mark ii. 21 " Also no man soweth a piece of new cloth in an
old garment ; for else the new piece that filled it up, taketh away
somewhat from the olde, and the breach is worse"
Wic. " more breking is made."
Tyn. " so is the rent worse."
LIFE AND DEATH OF KING JOHN 213
Cran. " so is the rent worse."
Rheims " a greater rent."
Author. " rent is made worse."
Act IV. ii. 79
Salisbury. " His passion is so ripe, it needs must break."
Pembroke. " And when it breakes, I fear, will issue thence
The foule corruption of a sweet childe's death."
James i. 14, 15 "When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth
sinne, and sinne when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
Act IV. ii. 82 King John. "We cannot hold mortality's
strong hand."
Act IV. ii. 92 " Have I commandment on the pulse of
life?"
Eccles. viii. 8 " Man is not lord over the spirit to retaine the
spirit : neither hath he power in the day of death."
Heb. ix. 27 "And as it is appointed unto man once to
die."
Act IV. ii. 86 Salisbury. " Indeed, we fear'd his sicknesse was
past cure."
Pembroke. " Indeed, we heard how neere his death he was."
For a Scripture parallel in thought and word see
Phil. ii. 26, 27 " For he longed after all you and was full of
heavinesse, because ye had heard that he had bene sicke. And
no doubt he was sicke, very neere unto death, but God had mercy
on him."
Act IV. ii. 103
King John. " They burn in indignation. I repent :
There is no sure foundation set on blood,
No certaine life atchieved by others' death."
Isa. xxx. 27 " Bfehold the Name of the Lord commeth from
farre, His face is burning and the burden thereof is heavie : His
lips are full of indignation and His tongue as a devouring fire."
Prov. xii. 6, 7 " The talking of the wicked is to lie in wait
for blood. God overthroweth the wicked and they are not, but
the house of the righteous shall stand."
Hab. ii. ii, 12 "Woe unto him that buildeth a towne with
blood, and erecteth a citie by iniquitie."
214 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act IV. ii. 216: King John
" Oh when the last accompt twixt heaven and earth
Is to be made, then shall this hand and scale
Witnesse against us to damnation.
How oft the sight of meanes to do ill deeds
Makes deeds ill done."
Jude 1 5 " To give judgment against all men and to rebuke
all the ungodly among them of all their wicked deedes which
they have ungodly committed."
John xii. 48 " The word that I have spoken, it shall judge
him in the last day."
2 Cor. v. 10 " For wee must all appeare before the Judgment
seate of Christ"
Act IV. iii. 67-
" The incense of a vow, a holy vow,
Never to taste the pleasures of the world."
Ps. cxli. 2 " Let my prayer be directed in thy sight as incense,
and the lifting up of mine hands as an evening sacrifice."
Compare Heb. vi. 4, Heb. vi. 5, I Peter ii. 3, John viii. 52,
for Biblical use of " taste."
Act IV. iii. 113 "For I am stifled with this smell of sinne."
Amos v. 21, 22 " I hate and abhorre your feast dayes, and
I will not smell in your solemne assemblies, though ye offer mee
burnt offerings."
Act IV. iii. 117
Bast. " Beyond the infinite and boundlesse reach of mercie
(If thou didst this deed of death), art ye damned, Hubert."
Hubert. " Do but heare me, sir."
Bast. " Ha ! I'll tell thee what ;
Thou'rt damn'd as blacke, nay nothing is so blacke ;
Thou art more deepe damn'd then Prince Lucifer."
Matt, xviii. 6 " But whosoever shall offend one of these little
ones which beleeve in Mee, it were better for him, that a milstone
were hanged about his necke and that he were drowned in the
depth of the sea."
Mark ix. 42, 43 " Into hell, into the fire that never shalbe
quenched. Where their worme dieth not, and the fire never
goeth out"
Mark iii. 22 " The prince of the devils."
LIFE AND DEATH OF KING JOHN 215
Isa. xiv. 9 " Hell beneath is mooved for thee to meete thee
at thy coming." 1 2 " How art thou fallen from Heaven, O
Lucifer, sonne of the morning." 1 5 " Thou shalt be brought
downe to the grave, to the sides of the pit."
Rev. ix. ii "And they have a King over them, which is the
Angel of the bottomlesse pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon,
and in Greeke he is named Apollyon, that is, destroying."
Act IV. iii. 140
" I am amaz'd methinks and lose my way
Among the thornes and dangers of this world."
Remote Scripture parallel
Prov. xxii. 5 "Thornes and snares are in the way of the
froward."
Act IV. iii. 155
" Now happy he, whose cloak and center (cincture) can
Hold out this tempest"
Reference to the prophet Elijah
i Kings xviii. 45, 46 "And in the meanwhile the heaven
was blacke with cloudes and winde and there was a great raine."
46 " And the hand of the Lorde was on Elijah, and he girded
up his loynes and ran before Ahab till he came to Izreel."
Act V. ii. 155
Bast. " Like Amazons, come tripping after drums :
Their thimbles into armed gauntlets chang'd,
Their neelds to lances, and their gentle hearts
To fierce and bloody inclination."
Compare the passages which may have suggested this idea
Isa. ii. 4 " They shall breake their swords also into mattockes
and their speares into siethes."
Joel iii. 10 " Breake your plowshares into swordes, and your
sithes into speares : let the weake say, I am strong."
Act V. ii. 176
" At hand
Is warlike John : and in his forehead sits
A bare-rib'd death, whose office is this day
To feast upon whole thousands of the French."
Rev. vi. 8 " And I looked and behold, a pale horse : and his
name that sate on him was Death, and Hel followed after him,
216 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth
to kil with sword, and with hunger and with death."
Act V. iii. 9" Be of good comfort."
Mark x. 49 " Be of good comfort : arise He calleth thee."
Wic. " be thou of better herte."
Rheims " be of better comfort."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. "be of good comfort."
Act V. iv. 26
Melun. " What in the world should make me now deceive,
Since I must loose the use of all deceite ?
Why should I then be false, since it is true
That I must dye heere and live hence by Truth ? "
2 Thess. ii. 1 3 " God hath from the beginning chosen you to
salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and the faith of
trueth."
Genevan Note " Faith which layeth holde not upon lies,
but upon the Trueth of God."
John xiv. 6 " I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man
commeth unto the Father but by Me."
i Tim. ii. 4 " Who will that all men shall be saved and come
unto the acknowledging of the truth."
Act V. v. I
Lewis. " The sun of heaven, methought, was loath to set,
But staid, and made the Westerne welkin blush,
When English measure backward their owne ground
In faint Retire."
Compare the Scripture reference to the victory of Joshua
Josh. x. 1 3 " And the Sunne abode, and the moone stood still,
untill the people avenged themselves upon their enemies : (is not
this written in the booke of Jasher). So the Sunne abode in the
middes of the heaven, and hasted not to goe downe for a whole
day."
Act V. vi. 37
Bast. " Withhold thine indignation, mighty Heaven,
And tempt us not to bear above our power."
I Cor. x. 1 3 " God is faithful which wil not suffer you to be
tempted above that you are able, but will even give the issue with
the tentation that ye may be able to beare it."
LUCRECE.
Entered in the " Stationers' Registers " on May 9, 1594, " A Booke intitled the
Ravyshement of Lucrece," and published the same year under the title " Lucrece "
by John Harrison. Richard Field was the printer. "Venus and Adonis" was
published May or June, 1593.
631 "Think but how vile a spectacle it were
To view thy present trespass in another.
Men's faults do seldom to themselves appear ;
Their own transgressions partially they smother :
This guilt would seem death-worthy in thy brother."
For a Scripture parallel compare Nathan and David
2 Sam. xii. 5-7 " Then David was exceeding wroth with the
man and said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath
done this thing, shall surely die. And he shall restore the lambe
foure fold, because he did this thing, and had no pitie thereof.
Then Nathan sayd to David, Thou art the man."
679 " This said, he sets his foot upon the light,
For light and lust are deadly enemies."
John iii. 20 " Loved darknesse rather than that light, because
their deeds were evill. For every man that evill doeth, hateth
the light, neither commeth to light, lest his deeds should be
reprooved."
Ephes. v. 13.
689 " So surfeit-taking
His taste delicious, in digestion souring."
Prov. xxv. 1 6 " If thou have found hony eate that is sufficient
for thee, lest thou be overfull and vomit it."
Rev. x. 10 " It was in my mouth as sweet as hony ; but
when I had eaten it, my belly was bitter."
924 "From the creation to the general doom."
Gen. ii. 3 " All his worke which God had created and made."
2 Peter iii. 10 "But the day of the Lorde wil come as a
218 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
thiefe in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with
a noyse, and the elements shall melt with heate, and the earthe
with the workes that are therein, shall be burnt up."
969 " Devise extremes beyond extremity,
To make him curse this cursed crimeful night.
Let ghastly shadows his lewd eyes affright ;
And the dire thought of his committed evil
Shape every bush a hideous shapeless devil.
Disturb his hours of rest with restless trances."
997 " At his own shadow let the thief run mad."
Job xv. 20-24 " A sound of feare is in his eares, and in his
prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him. He beleeveth not
to returne out of darkenesse for he seeth the sword before him.
He knoweth that the day of darkenesse is prepared at hand.
Affliction and anguish shall make him afraid."
Lev. xxvi. 36 "The sounde of a leafe shaken shal chase
them, and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword, and they shal
fall, no man pursuing them." Wisdom of Solomon xvii. 4-10.
in 2 " True sorrow then is feelingly suffic'd
When with like semblance it is sympathised."
Job ii. 12 "Therefore they lift up their voyces and wept,
and every one of them rent his garment, and sprinkled dust upon
their heads toward the heaven. So they sate by him upon the
ground seven dayes and seven nights, and none spake a word
unto him ; for they sawe that the grief was very great."
1 169 " So must my soul, her bark being peel'd away.
Her house is sack'd, her quiet interrupted,
Her mansion batter'd by the enemy ;
Her sacred temple spotted, spoil'd, corrupted."
" House," " mansion," " temple," Biblical words for " body."
Luke xi. 24 u When the uncleane spirit is gone out of a man,
he walketh through dry places, seeking rest : and when he findeth
none, he sayth, I will returne unto mine house whence I came
out."
2 Cor. v. i " Our earthly house of this tabernacle." 2
" Desiring to be clothed with our house which is from heaven."
Wisd. of Sol. ix. 1 5 " A corruptible body is heavy unto the
soule, and the earthly mansion keepeth down the minde that is
full of cares."
LUCRECE 219
i Cor. iii. 16 "Know ye not that ye are the Temple of
God."
1 Cor. vi. 19 "Your body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost."
1476 " And here in Troy, for trespass of thine eye,
The sire, the son, the dame, and daughter, die.
Why should the private pleasure of some one
Become the public plague of many moe ?
Let sin, alone committed, light alone
Upon his head that hath transgressed so ;
Let guiltless souls be freed from guilty woe.
For one's offence why should so many fall,
To plague a private sin in general ? "
For the teaching of Scripture see the following passages
Ezek. xviii. 2 " What meane ye that ye speake this proverbe
concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten
sowre grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge."
Jer. xxxi. 30 " But every one shall die for his owne iniquitie :
every man that eateth the sowre grape, his teeth shall be set on
edge."
Exod. xx, 5 " Visiting the iniquitie of the fathers upon the
children, upon the third generation and upon the fourth of them
that hate me."
Rom. v. 12 "Wherefore, as by one man sinne entred into
the world, and death by sinne, and so death went over all men in
whom all men have sinned."
Rom. v. 17 "For if by the offence of one, death reigned
through one."
1511 " But, like a constant and confirmed devil,
He entertained a show so seeming just,
And therein so ensconc'd his secret evil
That Jealousy itself could not mistrust
False creeping craft and perjury should thrust
Into so bright a day such black-fac'd storms,
Or blot with hell-born sin such saint-like forms"
Compare The Temptation of Eve by the Serpent, " false
creeping craft and perjury."
The Temptation of our Lord by the Devil, " so seeming
just," and using the words of Scripture
2 Cor. xi. 13, 14 "Deceitfull workers, and transforme them-
220 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
selves into the Apostles of Christ. And no marveile ; for Satan
himselfe is transformed into an Angel of Light."
1 569 " Thus ebbs and flows the current of her sorrow,
And time doth weary time with her complaining.
She looks for night, and then she longs for morrow,
And both she thinks too long with her remaining :
Short time seems long in sorrow's sharp sustaining :
Though woe be heavy, yet it seldom sleeps ;
And they that watch see time how slow it creeps."
Deut. xxviii. 67 " In the morning thou shalt say, Would
God it were evening, and at evening thou shalt say, Would God
it were morning, for the feare of thine heart, which thou shalt feare
and for the sight of thine eies, which thou shalt see."
Job vii. 4 " If I layed me downe, I sayde, When shall I arise ?
and measuring the even I am even full of tossing to and fro unto
the dawning of the day."
Ps. cxxx. 6 " My soule waiteth on the Lord more than the
morning watch watcheth for the morning."
THE SONNETS.
" Of the hundred and fifty- four sonnets that survive outside his plays, the
greater number were in all likelihood composed between that date and the autumn
of 1594, during his thirtieth and thirty-first years.
" In 1609 the Sonnets were surreptitiously sent to press. Thomas Thorpe, the
moving spirit in the design of their publication, was a camp-follower of the regular
publishing army. On May 20, 1609, he obtained a license for the publication of
' Shakespeare's Sonnets.' Thorpe employed George Eld to print the manuscript,
and two booksellers, William Aspley and John Wright, to distribute it to the publ ic.
The book was issued in June. The actor Alleyn paid five pence for a copy in that
month." Sidney Lee, Life, pp. 89, 90.
xxxiv. " To him that bears the strong offence's cross. '
xlii. "And both for my sake lay on me this cross."
References to the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
li. 10, II "Therefore desire, of perfect'st love being made,
Shall neigh no dull flesh in his fiery race."
Interesting use of the word " neigh," following Scripture
usage
Jer. v. 8 " They rose up in the morning like fedde horses :
for every man neyed after his neighbour's wife."
Iv. 12, 13 "That wear this world out to the ending doom
So, till the judgment."
2 Peter iii. 10 " But the day of the Lorde wil come as a
thiefe in the night, in the which the heavens shall passe away with
a noyse, and the elements shall melt with heate, and the earthe with
the workes that are therein, shall be burnt up."
Jude 6 " Judgment of the great day."
Ivii. 5 " Nor dare I chide the world-without-end hour."
Phrase from the Gloria.
Isa. xlv. 17" World without end."
Iviii. I "God forbid."
A Scriptural phrase common in the Old and New Testa
ments.
(221)
222 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Ixx. 10-12 "Yet this thy praise cannot be so thy praise,
To tie up envy evermore enlarged."
A reference to the letting loose of Satan upon the earth
Rev. xx. 7 "And when the thousand yeeres are expired
Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive
the people."
Envy is worse than Satan, for the Devil is let loose for a
season (verse 3).
Ixxi. 3, 4 " Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell."
Job xvii. 13 "The grave shall bee mine house, and I shall
make my bed in the darke. I shall say to corruption, Thou art
my father, and to the worme, Thou art my mother and my
sister."
Ixxiv. 8 " The earth can have but earth, which is his due ;
My spirit is thine, the better part of life."
Eccles. xii. 7 " And dust returne to the earth as it was, and
the spirite returne to God who gave it."
xciii. 9-14 " But Heaven in thy creation did decree,
That in thy face sweet love should ever dwell ;
Whate'er thy thoughts or thy heart's workings be,
Thy looks should nothing thence but sweetness tell.
How like Eve's apple doth thy beauty grow,
If thy sweet virtue answer not thy show ! "
Gen. iii. 6 " So the woman seeing that the tree was goode
for meate, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to get knowledge, tooke of the fruite thereof and did
eate."
cviii. 5-14
" Nothing, sweet boy ; but yet, like prayers divine,
I must each day say o'er the very same,
Counting no old thing old, thou mine, I thine,
Even as when first I hallowed thy faire name.
So that eternal love, in love's fresh case,
Weighs not the dust and injury of age ;
Nor gives to necessary wrinkles place,
But makes antiquity for aye his page ;
Finding the first conceit of love there bred,
Where time and outward form would show it dead."
THE SONNETS 223
A very beautiful reference to the Lord's Prayer, which is
the pattern and example of all prayer, for every soul
and for every day.
The Rheims is the only Version which does not give
" Hallowed be Thy Name," the reading being (Matt,
vi. 9), " Sanctified be Thy Name."
Matt. vi. 9 (And Jesus said) " After this maner therefore pray
ye."
ex. 13, 14
" Then give me welcome, next my heaven the best,
Even to thy pure and most most loving breast."
Luke xii. 31 "Seeke ye after the Kingdom of God."
Luke xii. 33 "A treasure that can never faile in heaven.
cxii. 9-12
" In so profound abysm I throw all care
Of others' voices, that my adder's sense
To critic and to flatterer stopped are"
Ps. Iviii. 4 "Their poyson is even like the poyson of a
serpent, like the deafe adder that stoppeth his eare, which heareth
not the voyce of the inchanter, though he be most expert in
charming."
cxlvi.
" Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth,
Fool'd by these rebel powers that thee array,
Why dost thou pine within, and suffer dearth,
Painting thy outward walls so costly gay ?
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,
Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend ?
Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,
Eat up thy charge ? is this thy body's end ?
Then, soul, live thou upon thy servant's loss,
And let that pine to aggravate thy store ;
Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross ;
Within be fed, without be rich no more :
So shalt thou feed on Death, that feeds on men,
And, Death once dead, there's no more dying then."
Matt. vi. 28 "And why care ye for rayment? Learne,
therefore of the lilies of the fielde, how they growe : they labour
224 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
not nor spinne. And yet for al that I say unto you, that even
Solomon in all his royalty, was not arayed lyke one of these."
Ps. xc. 9 " We have spent our yeeres as a thought. The time
of our life is threescore yeres and tenne, and if they be of strength,
fourscore yeres, yet their strength is but labour and sorowe, for
it is cut off quickely and we fly away."
2 Cor. iv. 1 6 " Therefore we faint not, but though our outward
man perish, yet the inward man is renewed daily." 18. "While
we looke not on the things which are seene, but on the things
which are not seene : for the things which are seene are temporall,
but the things which are not seene are eternall."
2 Cor. v. i "For we know that if our earthly house of this
tabernacle be destroyed, wee have a building given of God, that
is, an house not made with hands, but eternall in the heaven."
Rom. vi. 9 " Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead,
dieth no more : death hath no more dominion over Him. For in
that He died, He died once to sinne."
cli. I, 2 " Love is too young to know what conscience is :
Yet who knows not, conscience is borne of love ? "
Luke xxii. 61 " Then the Lord turned backe, and looked upon
Peter: and Peter remembered the word of the Lord. And
Peter went out and wept bitterly."
cliv. 14 " Love's fire heats water, water cools not love."
S. of Sol. viii. 6, 7 " Set me as a scale on thine heart, and as
a signet upon thine arme : for love is strong as death : jealousie is
cruel as the grave : the coles thereof are fierie coles, and a
vehement flame. Much water cannot quench love, neither can
the floods drowne it."
A MIDSOMMER NIGHT'S DREAME.
" Belongs probably to the winter season of 1595. Two editions were published in
1600."
Act I. i. 153
Hermia. " Then let us teach our triall patience,
Because it is a customarie crosse."
Marke viii. 34 " Whosoever will follow Me, let him forsake
himselfe, and take up his crosse and follow Me."
Genevan Marginal Note "The disciples of Christ must
beare stoutly what burden soever the Lord layeth
upon them, and subdue the affections of the flesh."
James v. 10 " Take my brethren, the Prophetes for an en-
sample of suffering adversitie and of long patience. . . ." n
"Beholde, wee count them blessed which endure. Yee have
heard of the patience of Job, and have knowen what ende the
Lorde made. For the Lord is very pitifull and merciful."
Act II. ii. 115
Oberon. " And be thou here again
Ere the Leviathan can swim a league."
Ps. civ. 26 " There goe the ships, yea that Leviathan whom
thou hast made to play therein."
Act II. ii. 136
Lysander. " For, as a surfeit of the sweetest things
The deepest loathing to the stomach brings :
Or, as the heresies, that men do leave
Are hated most of those they did deceive."
Prov. xxv. 1 6 " If thou have found hony, eate that is sufficient
for thee, lest thou be overfull and vomit it."
Luke xxi. 34 " Lest at any time your hearts be oppressed
with surfeting and drunkennesse."
IS (225)
226 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. i. 46 Bottom. " If you think I come hither as a lion,
it were pity of my life : no, I am no such thing: I am a man as
other men are."
An instance of Bottom's play with Scriptural words and
scenes.
Compare the incident at Lycaonia when Paul and Barnabas
were about to be worshipped as Jupiter and Mercury
Acts xiv. 1 5 " We are even men subject to the like passions
that ye bee."
Genevan Marginal Note " Men, as ye are, and partakers
of the self same nature of man as you."
And also the scene between Peter and Cornelius
Acts x. 26 " But Peter tooke him up, saying, Stand up, for
even I myselfe am a man."
Act III. i. 116 Snout. "O Bottom! thou art changed: what
do I see on thee."
Quince. " Blesse thee, Blesse thee, Bottom, thou art translated."
Ecclus. xliv. 1 6 " Enoch pleased God, therefore was he trans
lated for an example."
2 Mace. xi. 23 " Since our father is translated to the Gods."
Compare also 2 Kings ii. n.
Act III. ii. 66-
Hermia. " Hast thou slain him then ?
Henceforth be never numbered among men."
A reference to the banishment of Cain
Gen. iv. 10 " What hast thou done ? the voyce of thy
brother's blood cryeth unto Mee from the earth." 12 "A
vagabond and a runnagate shalt thou be in the earth." 14
" Beholde thou hast cast me out this day from the earth."
Act III. ii. 259
" Vile thing let loose,
Or I will shake thee from me like a serpent."
Acts xxviii. 4 "There came a viper out of the heate am
leapt on his hand. But he shook off the worme into the fire an<
felt no harme."
Act IV. i. 212
Bottom. " I have had a most rare vision. . . . The eye of
hath not heard, the eare of man hath not seene, man's hand is n<
A MIDSOMMER NIGHT'S DREAME 227
able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what
my dreame was."
A striking instance of Shakespeare's play with Scripture.
The words are a perversion of the great passage in
Corinthians, where the Apostle Paul speaks of the
wonders of spiritual vision
1 Cor. ii. 9 " But as it is written, The things which eye hath
not scene, neither eare hath heard, neither came into man's heart,
are, which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God
hath reveiled them unto us by His Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deepe things of God."
Act IV. ii. 13 Flute. " You must say, paragon : a paramour is,
God blesse us, a thing of naught"
A common phrase in the Genevan Bible
Isa. xli. 12 "They shall be as nothing, and the men that
warre against thee as a thing of nought."
Genevan Note on Micah i. 7 "Consumed as a thing of
nought."
Act V. i. 83-
Theseus. " For never anything can be amisse,
When simplenesse and duty tender it."
2 Cor viii. 12 "For if there be firste a willing minde, it is
accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that
he hath not."
Act V. ii. i
Puck. " Now the hungry lion roars
And the wolfe beholds (behowls) the moone ;
Whilest the heavy ploughman snores,
All with weary task fore-done."
Ps. civ. 20 " Thou makest darkenesse and it is night wherein
all the beasts of the forest creepe forth. The lyons roare after
their pray and seeke their meate at God." 23 " Then goeth
man forth to his worke and to his labour untill the evening."
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.
11 The play may be tentatively assigned to 1595. Meres, writing three years
later, attributed to Shakespeare a piece called 'Love's Labour's Won.' This title,
which is not otherwise known, may well be applied to ' All's Well.' "
Act I. i. 58 Lafeu. "Moderate lamentation is the right of
the dead, excessive grief the enemy to the living."
Ecclus. xxxviii. 16, 17 "My sonne, powre forth teares over
the dead and begin to mourne, as if thou hadst suffered great
harme thyselfe, and then cover his body according to his appoint
ment and neglect not his buriall. Make a grievous lamentation
and be earnest in mourning, and use lamentation as he is worthy,
and that, a day or two, lest thou be evil spoken of and thei
comfort thyselfe for thine heavines." 18 "For of heaviness
cometh death, and the heavines of the heart breaketh th(
strength."
Prov. xv. 1352 Cor. ii. 7.
Act I. i. 143 Parolles. " He that hangs himself is a virgin
virginity murders itself, and should be buried in highways, out oi
all sanctified limit, as a desperate offendress against nature."
Shakespeare speaks of suicide as being condemned in th<
Commandments. It is evident from the above tl
he is thinking of the commandment, " Thou shalt nol
kill " or " Thou shalt do no murder," and that he con
siders the killing of oneself to be murder and therefore
within the prohibition of the Divine Law.
Act I. i. 149 " Self love, which is the most inhibited sinne in
the Cannon."
Deut. vi. 5 and Matt. xxii. 39 " Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soule and with all
thy might." " And the second is like unto this, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyselfe."
(228)
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL 229
1 John iii. 14 " He that loveth not his brother, abideth in
death."
2 Tim. iii. 2 " For men shall be lovers of their owne selves."
Act I. i. 220
Helena. " Our remedies oft in ourselves do lye,
Which we ascribe to heaven : the fated skye
Gives us free scope, onely doth backward pull
Our slow designes, when we ourselves are dull."
For the teaching of Scripture compare
Ecclus. xv. 1 6 " He hath set water and fire before thee :
stretch out thine hand unto which thou wilt. Before man is life
and death, good and evil. What him liketh shall be given him."
Deut. xxx. 15-19 "Beholde, I have set before thee this day
life and good, death and evill. I call heaven and earth to record
this day against you, that I have set before you life and death,
blessing and cursing : therefore chuse life, that both thou and thy
seed may live."
Act I. iii. 5 Steward. "We wound our modesty, and make
foul the clearness of our deservings, when of ourselves we publish
them."
Prov. xxvii. 2 " Let another man praise thee, and not thine
owne mouth, a stranger, and not thine owne lips."
Act I. iii. 1 6 Clown. " No madam : 'tis not so well that I am
poor, though many of the rich are damned."
20 Count. " Wilt thou needs be a beggar."
Mark x. 23 " How hardly doe they that have riches, enter
into the Kingdome of God."
Luke xvi. 20-23 "The rich man also died and was buried.
And being in hell in torments, he lift up his eyes and saw Abra
ham afarre off, and Lazarus (that is, the beggar who was laid at
his gates) in his bosome."
James v. I " Go to nowe, ye rich men ; weepe and howle
for your miseries that shall come upon you."
Act I. iii. 25 Clown. " Service is no heritage, and I think I
shall never have the blessing of God, till I have issue of my body,
for they say bairns are blessings."
Ps. cxxvii. 3-5 "Behold children are the inheritance of the
Lorde, and the fruite of the wombe His reward. Blessed is the
man that hath his quiver full of them."
2 3 o SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Note the Clown's previous speech : " No madam : 'tis not
so well"
Ps. cxxviii. 2, 3 " Thou shalt be blessed, and it shall be well
with thee. Thy wife shall be as the fruitfull vine on the sides of
thy house, and the children like the olive plants round about thy
table."
Ps. cxxvii. 4 " Loe children and the fruite of the wombe are
an heritage and gift that commeth from the Lord."
Psalms, Genevan Church Service.
Act I. iii. 27 Countess. " Tell me thy reason why thou wilt
marry."
Clown. " My poor body, madam, requires it ; I am driven on
by the flesh, and he must needs go that the devil drives."
Countess. " Is this all your worship's reasons ? "
Clown. "Faith, madam, I have other holy reasons, such as
they are."
Countess. " May the world know them ? "
Clown. " I have been, madam, a wicked creature, as you and all
flesh and blood are ; and indeed, I do marry that I may repent."
Countess. " Thy marriage, sooner than thy wickedness."
Clown. " I am out o' friends, madam : and I hope to have
friends for my wife's sake."
Here the Clown has evidently in his mind the chapter in
Corinthians which deals with marriage
I Cor. vii. 9 But if they cannot abstaine, let them marrie ;
for it is better to marrie than to burne." 14 " For the unbeleev-
ing husband is sanctified to the wife." 16 " For what knowest
thou O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband."
Act I. iii. 46 Clown. " He that comforts my wife is the
cherisher of my flesh and blood : he that cherishes my flesh and
blood loves my flesh and blood : he that loves my flesh and
blood is my friend."
A play upon the passage from the Epistle to the Ephesians
Ephes. v. 28 " Hee that loveth his wife, loveth himselfe. For
no man ever yet hated his owne flesh but nourisheth and
cherisheth it." 31" They twaine shalbe one flesh."
Act I. iii. 76
" And gave this sentence then :
Among nine bad if one be good,
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL 231
Among nine bad if one be good,
There's yet one good in ten."
Luke xvii. 15 "Then one of them, when he saw that he was
healed, turned backe, and with a loud voyce, praysed God." 16
"He was a Samaritan." 17 "And Jesus answered and said,
Are there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine ? There is none
found that returned to give God prayse, save this stranger."
Act I. iii. 212
" O then, give pity
To her, whose state is such, that cannot choose
But lend and give where she is sure to lose ;
That seeks not to find that her search implies,
But riddle-like, lives sweetly where she dies."
Compare for the thought
Matt. xvi. 25 -"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it,
and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find it."
Eccles. xi. I " Cast thy bread upon the waters, for after many
dayes thou shalt find it."
Prov. xi. 24 " There is that scattereth and is more increased."
Act II. i. 14
" See that you come
Not to woo honour, but to wed it."
For a Scripture parallel see
i John iii. 18 "Let us not love in worde, neither in tongue
only, but in deede and in trueth."
Act II. i. 138
Helena. " He that of greatest works is finisher
Oft does them by the weakest minister :
So Holy Writ in babes hath judgment shown,
When judges have been babes : great floods have flownc
From simple sources : and great seas have dried
When miracles have by the greatest been denied."
i Cor. i. 27 " But God hath chosen the foolish things of the
world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weake
things of the world to confound the mighty things."
Compare the incident of the little captive maid and the
healing of Naaman, and the judgment of Daniel.
Sus. i. 45 " Therefore when she was led to be put to death,
232 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
the Lord raised up the holy spirit of a yong childe whose name
was Daniel."
Matt. xxi. 1 6 " And Jesus said unto them, Yea, read ye
never. By the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast made
perfite the praise."
Num. xx. ii "Then Moses lift up his hand, and with his
rod he smote the rocke twise, and the water came out abundantly :
so the congregation, and their beastes dranke."
Exod. xiv. 16 " And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out
thine hand upon the sea, and divide it, and let the children of
Israel goe on drie land thorow the mids of the sea."
Note that in each case the position of the Israelites seemed
so hopeless that the whole body of the people de
spaired.
Act. II. i. 151
Helena. " It is not so with Him that all things knows
As 'tis with us that square our guess by shows :
But most it is presumption in us, when
The help of Heaven we count the act of men."
Ecclus. xxxix. 19, 20 "The works of all flesh are before Him,
and nothing can be hid from His eyes. Hee seeth from everlasting
to everlasting, there is nothing wonderfull unto Him."
Ezek. xi. 5 " Thus sayth the Lord, O ye house of Israel this
have ye said, and I know that which riseth up of your minds."
Acts xv. 1 8 "From the beginning of the worlde God
knoweth all His workes."
Act II. iv. 2iParol. "Why, I say nothing."
Clown. " Marry, you are the wiser man ; for many a man's
tongue shakes out his master's undoing."
Ecclus. xxi. 26 " The heart of fooles is in their mouth, but the
mouth of the wise is in their heart"
Prov. xxi. 23 " He that keepeth his mouth and his tongue,
keepeth his soule from afflictions."
Act II. v. 49 Lafeu. "Farewell, monsieur; I have spoken
better of you, than you have or will deserve at my hand ; but we
must do good against evill."
Rom. xii. 21 "Be not overcome of evill, but overcome evill
with goodnesse."
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL 233
Prov. xxiv. 29 " Say not I will do to him as he hath done to
me."
i Thess. v. 1 5 " See that none recompense evill for evill unto
any man ; but ever follow that which is good, both toward your
selves and toward all men."
Act III. iv. 41
" My heart is heavie and mine age is weake ;
Greefe would have teares and sorrow bids me speak."
Ecclus. xxxviii. 18 "For of heavinesse commeth death, and
the heavines of the heart breaketh the strength."
Job xxxii. 18-20 "For I am ful of matter, and the spirit
within compelleth me. Therefore will I speake."
Act IV. ii. 21
Diana. " Tis not the many oaths that make the truth,
But the plain single vow, that is vow'd true.
What is not holy, that we swear not by,
But take the Highest to witness."
Matt. v. 34-37 " Let your communication be Yea, Yea, Nay,
Nay ; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."
Act IV. iii. 1 8 1st Lord. " Now, God delay our rebellion ; as
we are ourselves, how weake we are."
2nd Lord. " Merely our own traitors. And as in the common
course of all treasons, we still see them reveal themselves, till they
attain to their abhorred ends : so he, that in this action contrives
against his own nobility in his proper stream o'erflows himself."
Rom. vii. 15 "For I alow not that which I do: for what I
would, that do I not, but what I hate, that doe I."
Prov. xi. 5 " The righteousnesse of the upright shall direct
his way, but the wicked shall fall in his owne wickednes."
Ps. xxxv. 8 "Let destruction come upon him at unwares,
and let his nette that he hath laid privily take him, let him fall
into the same destruction."
Esth. vii. 10 " So they hanged Haman on the tree, that he
had prepared for Mordecai."
Act IV. v. 20 Clown. " I am no great Nebuchadnezar, sir,
I have not much skill in grace " (pronounced " grass ").
Reference to the fate of the great King of Babylon-
Dan, iv. 30 " The very same houre was this thing fulfilled
234 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men and did eate
grasse as the oxen, and his body was wet with the dewe of
heaven."
Act IV. v. 36 Clown. " Why sir, if I cannot serve you, I can
serve as great a prince as you are."
Lafeu. "Who's that? a Frenchman?"
Clown. " Faith, sir, a' has an English name ; but his phisnomy
is more hotter in France than there."
Lafeu. "What prince is that?"
Clown. " The black prince, sir ; alias, the prince of darkness ;
alias, the devill."
John xii. 31 "Now shall the prince of this world be cast
out."
Mark iii. 22 " He hath Beelzebub and through the Prince of
the devils."
Ephes. vi. n, 12 "Against the assaults of the devil. The
princes of the darkenesse of the world."
In " Godly Prayers " in the Genevan Bible the following
sentence occurs " The devill, which is the prince of
darkenesse."
Act IV. v. 47 Clown. " I am a woodland fellow, sir, that
alwaies loved a great fire, and the master I speak of ever keeps a
good fire, but sure he is the prince of the world. I am for the
house with the narrow gate, which I take to be too little for pompe
to enter : some that humble themselves may but the manie will be
too chill and tender, and they'le be for the flowrie way that leads
to the broad gate and the great fire/'
Matt. xxv. 41 "Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting
fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels."
Mark ix. 43 " Into hell, into the fire that never shalbe
quenched."
Jude 7 "The vengeance of eternal fire."
John xii. 31 " Now shall the prince of this world be cast out."
John xiv. 30 " The prince of the world commeth."
Matt. vii. 13, 14 "Enter ye at the straite gate: for wide is
the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and
many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate
and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be
that find it."
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL 235
Here the Rheims is the only Version which gives the
words "narrow gate and broad gate" : Matt. vii. 13
" Enter ye by the narrow gate : because brode is the
gate, and large is the way that leadeth to perdition."
And so in Luke xiii. 24.
Luke xviii. 25 " Surely it is easier for a camel to go through
a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdome of
God."
Matt, xviii. 4 "Whosoever therefore shall humble himselfe
as this little childe, the same is the greatest in the Kingdome of
heaven."
Wisd. of Sol. ii. 6 " Come therefore and let us enjoy the
pleasures that are present, and let us cheerefully use the creatures
as in youth. Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments,
and let not the flower of life passe by us. Let us crowne our
selves with rosebuds afore they be withered."
Act V. i. 8" God save you, sir."
Matt. xxvi. 49 " And foorthwith he came to Jesus, and saide,
God save thee, Master."
The Genevan is the only Version which gives this phrase.
Act V. ii. 50 Lafeu. " Out upon thee, knave ! dost thou put
upon mee at once both the office of God and the divell, one brings
thee in grace and the other brings thee out."
I Cor. xv. io" By the Grace of God I am that I am."
Rom. xv. 15 " Through the grace that is given me of God."
Tit. ii. ii "For that grace of God that bringeth salvation
unto all men hath appeared."
Gal. v. 4 " Yee are fallen from grace."
Act V. iii. 37
King. " All is whole ;
Not one word more of the consumed time.
Let's take the instant by the forward top,
For we are old, and on our quick'st decrees
The inaudible and noiseless foot of time
Steals, ere we can affect them."
Prov. xxvii. I " Boast not thyselfe of to morowe : for thou
knowest not what a day may bring forth."
Genevan Note "Delay not the time, but take occasion
when it is offred."
236 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
John ix. 4 " Worke the workes . . . while it is day : the
night commeth when no man can worke."
Eccles. ix. 10 " All that thine hand shall find to doe, doe it
with all thy power : for there is neither worde nor invention nor
knowledge nor wisdome in the grave whither thou goest."
2 Esdras iv. 5 " Weigh me the weight of the fire ; or measure
me the blast of the winde, or cal me againe the day that is past."
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.
" Composed probably in 1595, was first printed in the Folio."
Induction, line 104
Sly. " Are you my wife and will not call me husband ?
My men should call me lord, I am your good man."
Page. " My husband and my lord, my lord and husband ;
I am your wife in all obedience."
i Peter iii. 5 " Were subject to their husbands as Sara obeyed
Abraham and called him Sir."
So Genevan, but the rest of the Versions give " Lord."
Gen. xviii. 12 " Therefore Sarah laughed within herselfe
saying, After I am waxed olde and my lord also."
So all the Versions.
Induction, line 132
" Seeing too much sadnesse hath congeal' d your blood
And melancholly is the nurse of frenzie,
Therefore they thought it good you heare a play,
And frame your minde to mirth and merriment,
Which barres a thousand harmes and lengthens life."
For a Scripture parallel see
Prov. xvii. 22 " A joyfull heart causeth good health, but a
sorrowfull minde drieth the bones."
Prov. xv. 13 " A joyfull heart maketh a cheereful countenance,
but by the sorow of the heart the minde is heavie."
Induction, line 139
Page. " No my good lord : it is more pleasing stuffe."
Sly. " What, household stuffe."
A common phrase, but note
Gen. xxxi. 37 "Seeing thou hast searched all my stuffe,
what hast thou found of al thine household stuffe."
Act I. i. 66 " From all such devils, good Lord deliver us."
Compare the Litany.
(237)
238 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. i. 41 " God save you, gentlemen."
A form of greeting often used by Shakespeare. It is used
also in the Genevan Bible, Matt. xxvi. 49 : " God save
thee, Master."
Act II. i. 313 "Amen say we, we will be witnesses."
Ruth iv. 1 1 " And all the people that were in the gate, and
the Elders sayd, We are witnesses."
Josh. xxiv. 22 " And they sayd, We are witnesses."
Rev. iii. 14 " These things sayeth Amen, that faithfull and
true witnesse."
Act II. i. 342 " My hangings all of Tirian tapestry."
Tyre was famous for its curtains and garments, they were
double dyed in purple. Solomon sent to Hiram, King
of Tyre, for a " cunning man that can worke in golde, in
silver, and in brasse, and in yron, and in purple, and in
crimson and blue silke."
Act II. i. 353 " Myselfe am strooke in yeeres, I must confesse."
Compare "Richard III." for the word "strooke."
Act III. i. 10
" To know the cause why music was ordained !
Was it not to refresh the mind of man
After his studies, or his usual pain."
i Sam. xvi. 23 " And so, when the evill spirit of God came
upon Saul, David tooke an harpe and played with his hande, and
Saul was refreshed and was eased."
Note the word " refreshed."
Act III. i. 63-
Hortensio. " Madam, before you touch the instrument,
To learn the order of my fingering,
I must begin with rudiments of art ;
To teach you gamut in a briefer sort,
More pleasant, pithy and effectual,
Than hath been taught by any of my trade :
And there it is in writing, fairly drawn."
Bianca. "Why, I am past my gamut long ago."
Hortensio. " Yet read the gamut of Hortensio."
Bianca (reads). " Gamut I am, the ground of all accord,
A re, to plead Hortensio's passion ;
B mi, Bianca, take him for thy Lord,
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW 239
C fa ut, that loves with all affection :
D sol re, one cliff, two notes have I
E la mi, show pity or I die.
Call you this gamut ? tut ; I like it not :
Old fashions please me best : I am not so nice
To change true rules for odd inventions."
The words of Hortensio are a paraphrase of the address
prefaced to Sternhold and Hopkins' Psalms in the
Genevan Bible
"The whole Booke of Psalmes, collected into English
meetre, by Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins, and
others, conferred with the Hebrue, with apt Notes to
sing them withall. Set forth and allowed to be sung
in all churches, of all the people togither before and
after Morning and Evening praier ; as also before and
after sermons and moreover in private houses, for their
godlie solace and comfort, laieng apart all ungodlie
songs and balades, which tend onelie to the nourishing
of vice, and corrupting of youth."
This was bound up with the Genevan Bible. The Preface
to the reader is as follows
" Thou shalt understand (gentle Reader) that I have (for
the helpe of those that are desirous to learne to sing)
caused a new print of Note to be made with letters to
be joyned to everie Note : whereby thou maiest know
how to call everie Note by his right name, so that with
a verie little diligence (as thou art taught in the intro
duction heretofore in the Psalmes) thou mayest the
more easilie by the viewing of these letters, come to
the knowledge of perfect solefayeng: whereby thou
mayest sing the Psalmes the more speedilie and
easilee : The letters be these V for VT, R for Re, M
for My, F for Fa, S for Sol, L for La. Thus where
you see any letter joyned by the Note, you may easilie
call him by his right name, as by these two examples
you may the better perceive."
Act III. ii. 230
Petruchio. " She is my goods, my chattels : she is my house,
My household stuffe, my field, my barn,
24 o SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
My horse, my oxe, my asse, my anything ;
And here she stands ; touch her whoever dare."
A reference to the Tenth Commandment, and in the very
words of the Genevan Psalms
The Ten Commandements of Almighty God. 1569, Gen
evan Edition, John Crispin, Geneva
" Thy neighbour's house wish not to have,
His wyfe, or ought that he calls myne :
His field, his oxe, his asse, his slave,
Or anything which is not thyne."
Another version
" Thou shalt not covet house, that to
Thy neighbour doth belong,
Ne covet shalt in having of
His wife to do him wrong.
Nor his man servant, nor his maide,
Nor oxe, nor asse of his,
Nor any other thing that to
Thy neighbour proper is."
Act IV. i. 50 " Where's the cook ? is supper ready, the house
trimmed, rushes strewed, cobwebs swept : the serving men in their
new fustian, their white stockings, and every officer his wedding
garment on."
Compare
Matt. xxii. 4 "All things are ready." 8 "Truely the
wedding is prepared." n, 12 "A man which had not on a
wedding garment." " Friend, how earnest thou in hither, and
hast not on a wedding garment"
Tyn. and the Gen. alone give the words " on a wedding
garment."
Wic. " without bride clothes."
Cran. " not having a weddynge garment."
Rheims " not attired in a wedding garment ; " " not having
a wedding garment."
Author. " not having a wedding garment."
Act IV. ii. 154 " Will you give thankes, sweete Kate, or else
shall I."
A Biblical phrase
THE TAMING OF THE SHREW 241
i Cor. xi. 23, 24 " Tooke bread, and when He had given
thankes."
Matt. xv. 36 " And tooke the seven loaves and the fishes and
gave thanks."
Act IV. iii. ill
" Away, thou rag, thou quantity, thou remnant,
Or I shall so be-mete thee with thy yard."
A play on the words in the Sermon on the Mount
Matt. vii. 2 "And with what measure ye mete, with the
same shall it be measured to you againe."
Act V. ii. 143 " A woman moved is like a fountaine troubled."
" Fountain " is used in the Bible to express a wife
Prov. v. 1 8 "Let thy fountaine be blessed, and rejoyce with
the wife of thy youth."
And compare
Prov. xxv. 26 " A righteous man falling downe before the
wicked is like a troubled wel and a corrupt spring."
Act V. ii. 147
" Thy husband is thy Lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy soveraigne : One that cares for thee."
I Peter iii. i " Likewise let the wives be subject to their
husbandes."
Ephes. v. 23 u For the husband is the wive's head."
Ephes. v. 29 " For no man ever yet hated his owne flesh,
but nourisheth and cherisheth it."
Act V. ii. 165
" Or seeke for rule supremacie and sway
When they are bound to serve, love, and obey."
See Marriage Service, Genevan " To love, cherish and
obey."
16
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY IV.
" In 1597 Shakespeare turned once more to English history. From Holinshed's
Chronicle and from a valueless but very popular piece, The Famous Victories of
Henry V., which was repeatedly acted between 1588 and 1595, he worked up with
splendid energy two plays on the reign of Henry IV." Sidney Lee, Life, p. 167.
Act I. i. 18 : King Henry
" Therefore Friends,
As farre as to the Sepulcher of Christ,
Whose Souldier now under whose blessed Crosse
We are impress'd and ingag'd to fight,
Forthwith a power of English shall we levie ;
Whose armes were moulded in their mother's wombe,
To chace these Pagans in those holy Fields
Over whose acres walk'd those blessed feete
Which fourteene hundred yeares ago were nailed
For our advantage on the bitter Crosse"
References to the Crucifixion, the Burial, and the Redemp
tive work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Tim. ii. 3 "Thou therefore suffer affliction as a good
souldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth him-
selfe with the affaires of this life, because hee woulde please him
that hath chosen him to be a souldier."
Gal. vi. 14 "God forbid that I should rejoyce but in the
Crosse of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Col. i. 20 " And through peace made by that blood of that
His Crosse, to reconcile to Himselfe through Him, through Him I
say, all things both which are in earth and which are in heaven/'
Act I. i. 43 " Upon whose dead corpes there was such mis
use."
Compare 2 Kings xix. 35 "Behold they were all dead
corpses."
Act I. i. 78 " Yea, there thou mak'st me sad, and mak'st me
sin in envy."
(242)
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY IV 243
Rom. i. 29 " Being full of all unrighteousness, full of envy."
James iv. 5 "Lusteth after envie."
Act I. ii. 1 3 Falstaff. " Indeed, you come near me, now, Hal ;
for we that take purses, go by the moone and seven starres, and
not by Phoebus."
Amos v. 8 " Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion."
(Authorised).
" Pleiades and Orion " (Genevan).
Act I. ii. 1 6 Falstaff. " And, I prythee, sweet wag, when
thou art King as, God save thy grace majesty, I should say,
for grace thou wilt have none."
A play upon the title "grace" and the spiritual possession
" grace," and in line 2 1 upon the grace before meat.
Gal. v. 4 " Ye are fallen from grace."
Gal. i. 6 "Called you in the grace of Christ."
Act I. ii. %6 Falstaff. " But Hal, I prythee trouble me no
more with vanity. I wold thou and I knew where a commodity of
good names were to be bought : an olde Lord of the Councell
rated me the other day in the street about you sir, but I mark'd
him not, and yet he talk'd very wisely but I regarded him not, and
yet he talk'd wisely and in the street too."
Prince Henry. " Thou didst well : for no man regards it."
Quartos " Thou didst well : for wisdom cries out in the
streets and no man regards it."
Direct quotation of Scripture
Prov. i. 20 " Wisedom cryeth without, she uttereth her voyce
in the streets. She calleth in the high streete among the preasse,
in the entrings of the gates, and uttereth her words in the citie."
24 "I have stretched out mine hand and none would regarde.
But yee have despised all my counsell, and would none of my
correction."
Act I. ii. 94 Falstaff. " O thou hast damnable iteration, and
art indeed able to corrupt a Saint. Thou hast done much harme
unto me, Hal, God forgive thee for it. Before I knew thee, Hal,
I knew nothing : and now I am (if a man should speake truly)
little better than one of the wicked. I must give over this life,
and I will give it over. He be damn'd for never a King's sonne
in Christendome."
244 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Prince Henry's reply from Scripture reminds Falstaff of
the Temptation in the Wilderness, and of the inno
cence of Eden.
Compare
Ecclus. xii. 14 " Binde not two sinnes together : for there
shall not one be unpunished. Who will have pitie on the
charmer that is stinged of the serpent? or of al such as come
neere the beasts ? so is it with him that keepeth companie with
a wicked man, and wrappeth himselfe in his sinnes."
Deut. xxxii. 15 "But he that shoulde have bene upright,
when he waxed fat, spurned with his heele : thou art fat, thou
art grosse, thou art laden with fatnes : therefore he forsooke God
that made him and regarded not the strong God of his salvation."
Act I. ii. 106 Prince Henry. " I see a good amendment of life
in thee : from praying to purse-taking."
Falstaff. " Why Hal, 'tis my vocation, Hal : 'tis no sin for a
man to labour in his vocation."
Here Prince Henry does not use the word " repentance "
but amendment of life.
Acts xxvi. 20 " That they should repent and turne to God,
and do works worthy amendment of life."
Luke xv. 7 " More then for ninetie and nine just men which
neede none amendment of life."
The Genevan is the only Version that gives these words,
although the Authorised gives them in the margin of
Matt. iii. 8.
Wic. " no nede to penance."
Tyn., Cran., Author. "nede no repentance."
Rheims " that neede not penance."
The 1557 Genevan gives "ryght workes of repentance,"
but subsequent editions " amendment of life."
Ephes. iv. I "Walk worthy of the vocation whereunto ye
are called."
In the Service bound up with Genevan Version in the
Address of the Minister in the Commination, the
words occur, " Serving Him duely in our vocation."
Notes on Rom. 10 "We must ascend by faith to our
vocation, as by our vocation we came to the testimonie
of our election."
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY IV 245
Act I. ii. 1 10 Falstaff. " O, if men were to be saved by merit,
what hole in Hell were hot enough for him ? "
Reference to justification by faith as contrasted with
" works."
Rom. iii. 20 " By the works of the Lawe shall no flesh be
justified in his sight." 28 " Therefore we conclude that a man
is justified by faith, without the workes of the Lawe."
Mark ix. 44 " Into hell, into the fire that shal never be
quenched."
Act I. ii. 115 Poins. "What saies Monsieur Remorse? what
sayes Sir John Sacke and Sugar ? Jacke how agrees the Divell
and thee about thy soule which thou soldest him on Good Friday
last, for a cup of Madera and a cold capon's legge ? "
Repentance should be in sackcloth and ashes, but with
Falstaff, according to Poins, it was with " sack and
sugar."
Good Friday was the day of Salvation, but Falstaff made
it the day of damnation
1 Cor. xi. 29 " He eateth and drinketh damnation to himselfe."
Prov. xviii. 7 " A foole's mouth is his owne destruction, and
his lips are a snare for his soule."
Mark viii. 36, 37 " For what shal it profit a man though he
should winne the whole world, if he lose his soule? Or what
exchange shal a man give for his soule."
Act I. ii. i$$Faktaff. " Well maist thou have the spirit of
persuasion (God give thee the spirit of persuasion) and him the
eares of profiting, that what thou speakest may move, and what he
heares may be believed."
2 Cor. v. ii "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we
persuade men."
Rom. x. 14 " But how shall they call on Him in whom they
have not beleeved ? and how shall they beleeve in Him of whom
they have not heard ? and how shall they heare without a preacher ?
and how shall they preach except they be sent?" 17 "Then
faith is by hearing and hearing by the word of God."
Act I. ii. 195 " Provide us all things necessarie."
Use of Biblical words
Acts xxviii. 10 "And when we departed, they loaded us
with things necessarie."
246 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Wic. " what things were necessarie."
Cran. " soch thynges as were necessarie."
Rheims " laded us with necessaries."
Author. " such things as were necessary."
Tyn., Gen. " with thinges necessarie."
Act I. ii. 220
Prince Henry. " I'll so offend, to make offence a skill ;
Redeeming time, when men think least I will."
For the thought and words compare
Ephes. v. 15, 16 " Not as fooles but as wise, redemyng the
tyme for the days are evyll."
So all the Versions except Cranmer.
Act I. iii. 125
Hotspur. " And if the devil come and roare for them,
I will not send them."
Direct reference
i Peter v. 8 " Your adversary the devill as a roaring lyon
walketh about, seeking whom he may devoure."
Act I. iii. 131
" Yes, I will speake of him and let my soule
Want mercy, if I do not joyne with him."
Prov. xiv. 21 "The sinner despiseth his neighbour, but he
that hath mercy on the poore, is blessed."
Act I. iii. 240
" Why look you, I am whipt and scourg'd with rods,
Netled, and stung with Pismires, when I heare
Of this vile Politician, Bullingbrooke."
Use of Scriptural idea and words, " scourged with rods."
Mark xv. 1 5 " And delivered Jesus when he had scourged
him."
Matt. xxvi. 6, 7 " Buffeted Him and others beat Him with
rods."
Mark xiv. 65 " Smote Him with their rods of office."
Wic. " strokes with the pawme of their handis."
Tyn., Cran., Rheims, Author. " smote, with the palmes of
their handes."
Gen. " smote hym with their roddes."
In 2 Cor. xi. 25 all the Versions give "thrice beaten with
rods."
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY IV 247
Prov. vi. 6 " Go to the Pismire, O Sluggard."
Prov. xxx. 25 " The Pismires a people not strong."
Author." Ant."
Met. Psalms, Ixxxix., J. H.
" Then with my rod will I begin
Their doinges to amend,
And so with scourging for their sinne
When that they do offend."
For parallelism of lines Act I. iii. 200-210, compare Deut.
xx. 12 and Rom. x. 6, 7.
Act II. ii. 86 "O, we are undone, both we and our for
ever."
For the words compare
Isa. vi. 5 "Then I saide, Wo is me, for I am undone."
Act II. ii. 106
" The Theeves are scattred, and possest with fear
So strongly, that they dare not meet each other ;
Each takes his fellow for an officer."
For parallel compare
Prov. xxviii. i "The wicked flee when none pursueth."
Lev. xxvi. 36 "The sounde of a leafe shaken shall chase
them, and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword, and they shal
fall, no man pursuing them."
Act II. iv. 12 " I am a Corinthian, a lad of mettle."
An interesting play upon the words " Corinthian " and
" metal." Corinth was notorious for its debauchery
even among the most depraved cities of a dying
heathenism.
St. Paul in writing to the Corinthians had to deal with
flagrant immorality and drunkenness, i Cor. xi. 21,
i Cor. iv. 21, i Cor. vi. 9-20.
The evil fame of the city survives in the term " Corinthians "
for profligate idlers.
Mummius destroyed old Corinth 146 B.C. "The mass of
gold, silver and bronze melted down in the general
conflagration was so great that the rich material formed
from it was currently known in the Empire under
the name of Corinthian brass."
248 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. iv. 93 Prince Henry. " I am now of all humors that
have shewed themselves humors since the old dayes of goodman
Adam."
Direct reference
Gen. ii. 15, Gen. ii. 20.
Act II. iv. 1^6Falstaff. "God help the while! a bad world,
I say. I would I were a weaver : I could sing psalms or any
thing."
A reference to the Psalm singing of the Reformers.
Clement Marot, in the Introduction of his Version of
David's Psalms, " Sainctes Chansonettes ," said : " The
golden age would now be restored, when we would
see the peasant at his plough, the carman in the
streets, and the mechanic in his shop, solacing their
toils with psalms and canticles.
" Le Labourer a sa charrue,
Et TArtisan en sa boutique," etc.
Warton, English Poetry, p. 731, says: "They exhilarated
the convivial assemblies of the Calvinists, were com
monly heard in the streets, and accompanied the
labours of the artificer. The weavers and woollen
manufacturers of Flanders, many of whom left the
loom and went into the ministry, are said to have
been the capital performers in this science."
Many of the Huguenots were weavers.
Act II. iv. 1 80 Falstaff. "Let them speaker if they speake
more or less then the truth, they are villaines, and the sonnes of
darkenesse."
A reference to the devil, the prince of darkness and
Father of Lies
John viii. 44 "The devill hath bene a murtherer from the
beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in
him. When he speaketh a lie, then speaketh he of his owne :
for he is a liar and the father thereof."
See also line 235 "These lyes are like the Father that
begets them."
Act II. iv. 287 " Hostesse, clap to the doores : watch tonight,
pray tomorrow."
A play on the words " watch and pray."
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY IV 249
Matt xxvi. 41 "Watch and pray that ye enter not into
tentation : the spirit indeed is ready but the flesh is weak."
Wic. " Wake ye, preie ye."
Rheims "Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into
tentation."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. " Watch, and Pray, that ye."
Act II. iv. 325 "O Villaine, thou stolest a cup of sacke
eighteen years agoe, and wert taken with the manner and ever
since thou hast blusht extempore."
For the words see
Num. v. 13 "Neither shee be taken with the maner," i.e.,
taken in the very act.
Act II. iv 394Falstaff. "Well, an the fire of Grace be not
quite out of thee, now thou shalt be moved."
I Thess. v. 19, 20 "Quench not the spirit. Despise not
prophesying."
Genevan Note "The sparkes of the Spirit of God that
are kindled in us, are nourished with dayly hearing
of the word of God."
Act II. iv. 422 Falstaff. "There is a thing, Harry, which
thou hast often heard of, and it is knowne to many in our land
by the name of Pitch : this Pitch (as ancient writers doe report)
doth defile : so doth the companie thou keepest : for Harry, now
I doe not speake to thee in Drinke but in Teares : not in Pleasure
but in Passion : not in words onely, but in woes also And yet,
there is a virtuous man, whom I have often noted in thy company,
but I know not his name."
Note the correctness of "as ancient writers doe report,"
the passage being taken from the Apocryphal book
of Ecclesiasticus.
Ecclus. xiii. I " He that toucheth pitch shal be defiled with
it : and he that is familiar with the proud shall be like unto
him."
Prov. xiii. 20 " He that walketh with the wise shal be wise,
but a companion of fools shal be afflicted."
The concluding sentences read like a play upon the passage
in Romans. Compare also Prince Henry's lines, Act
II. iv. 467.
2 5 o SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Rom. xiii. 13 " So that we walke honestly, as in the day : not
in gluttonie and drunkennesse, neither in chambring and wanton-
nesse, nor in strife and envying."
Act II. iv. 4$SFalstaff. "For, Harry, I see virtue in his
looks. If then the tree may be known by the fruit, as the Fruite
by the Tree, then peremptorily I speake it, there is virtue in that
Falstaffe : him keep with, the rest banish."
Direct use of the words in the Gospel
Luke vi. 43 " For it is not a good tree that bringeth forth
evill fruit: neither an evill tree that bringeth forth good fruit.
For every tree is knowen by its owne fruit, for neither of thornes
gather men figges nor of bushes gather they grapes."
Act II. iv. 456 Prince Henry. ft Swearest thou, ungracious
boy? henceforth ne're looke on me: thou art violently carryed
away from Grace : there is a Devill haunts thee in the likenesse
of a fat old man : an old white-bearded Sathan."
A reference to the Legion of Devils which passed into th(
swine
Luke viii. 33 "Then went the devils out of the man, an<
entred into the swine: and the herd was carried with violen<
from a steepe downe place into the lake and was choked."
Gal. v. 4 " Ye are fallen from grace."
1 Peter v. 8 " Your adversary the devill as a roaring lyon."
2 Cor. xi. 14 " Satan is transformed into an Angel of Light."
Act II. iv. 487 " If to be fat be to be hated, then Pharoah'j
leane kine are to be loved."
Direct reference
Gen. xli. 3, 4 " And loe, seven other kine came up aftei
them out of the river, evill-favoured and leane fleshed, and stood(
by the other kine upon the brinke of the river. And the evill-
favoured and leane fleshed kine did eate up the seven well-
favoured and fat kine."
Act III. i. 130
" I had rather hear a brazen canstick turn'd
Or a dry wheel grate on the axle-tree ;
And that would set my teeth nothing on edge."
A common expression, but note
Jer. xxxi. 29 "The fathers have eaten a sowre grape, his
teeth shall be set on edge."
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY IV 251
Act III. i. 158-
" Oh he is as tedious
As a tyred horse, a rayling wife ;
Worse than a smoakie House. I had rather live
With Cheese and Garlicke in a windmill, farre,
Than feede on Gates, and have him talke to me
In any summerhouse in Christendome."
Compare for similarity of thought
Prov. x. 26 " As vinegar is to the teeth, and as smoke is to
the eyes."
Prov. xxv. 24 " It is better to dwell in the corner of a house
toppe then with a contentious woman in a wide house."
Prov. xvii. I " Better is a dry morsel, if peace be with it, then
an house full of sacrifices with strife."
Ecclus. xxix. 24 " The poore man's life in his owne lodge is
better than delicate fare in another man's."
Act III. ii. 8-
" But thou dost, in thy passages of life
Make me believe, that thou art only mark'd
For the hot vengeance and the rod of Heaven."
Compare the marking of Cain, the Vengeance of God,
" Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord, and I will repay,"
and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
Gen. xix. 24 "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and
Gomorah brimstone and fire from the Lorde out of heaven."
Act III. ii. 50
" And then I stole all courtesie from Heaven,
And drest myselfe in such Humilitie
That I did plucke allegeance from men's hearts,
Lowd shouts and salutations from their mouthes,
Even in the presence of the Crowned King."
Compare Absalom and David
2 Sam. xv. 5, 6 " And when any man came neere to him, and
did him obeisance, he put forth his hand, and tooke him and
kissed him. And in this maner did Absalom to all Israel, that
came to the King for judgment : so Absalom stale the hearts of
the men of Israel."
252 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. ii. 60
" The skipping king hee ambled up and downe
With shallow Jesters and rash Bavin wits,
Soone kindled and soone burnt."
Ps. cxviii. 1 2 " Quenched as the fire of thornes."
Prov. vii. 8 u For like ye noise of the thornes under the pot,
so is the laughter of the foole."
Genevan Note t( Which crackle for a while and profit
nothing."
Isa. v. 24 " As the flame of fire devoureth the stubble, and
as the chaffe is consumed of the flame."
Act III. ii. 70
" They surfeted with Hony, and began to loathe
The taste of sweetnesse, whereof a little
More then a little, is by much too much."
Prov. xxv. 1 6 " If thou have found hony eate that is suffi
cient for thee, lest thou be overfull and vomit it."
Luke xxi. 34 "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time
your hearts be oppressed with surfeting."
Prov. xx vii. 7 " The person that is full, despiseth an hony-
combe."
Ecclus. xxx vii. 28 " Be not greedie in al delites, and be not
hastie upon all meates. For excess of meates bringeth sicknesse,
and gluttonie commeth into choleric diseases. By surfeit have
many perished, but he that dieteth himselfe prolongeth his life."
Act III. ii. in "Through all the Kingdomes that ac
knowledge Christ."
Rev. xi. 15 "The Kingdomes of this world are our Lord's
and His Christ's, and He shall reign for evermore."
Act III. ii. 135
" When I will weare a Garment all of Blood
And staine my favours in a bloody maske."
Compare for remote parallel in word
Isa. Ixiii. I "Who is this that commeth from Edom, with
red garments from Bozrah ? hee is glorious in his apparell
and walketh in his great strength." 3 " Their blood shall be
sprinkled upon my garments and I will staine all my raiment."
Act III. iii. 5 "Well lie repent, and that suddenly, while I
am in some liking : I shall be out of heart shortly, and then I
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY IV 253
shall have no strength to repent. An I have not forgotten what
the inside of a Church is made of, I am a pepper-corn, a brewer's
horse. The inside of a Church ! Company, villainous company,
hath been the spoil of me."
Use of Scriptural words and thoughts
Dan. i. 10 " If he see your face worse liking than the other
children."
Job xxx ix. 4 " Their young ones are in good liking, they
grow up with corn." (Authorised.)
Genevan " their young waxe fatte."
Acts iii. 19 " Amend your lives therefore and turne, that
your sinnes may be put away."
2 Cor. vi. 2 " Beholde nowe the accepted time, beholde nowe
the day of salvation."
Isa. Iv. 6 " Seeke ye the Lord while He may be founde, call
ye upon' Him while He is neere. Let the wicked forsake his wayes
and the unrighteous his owne imaginations and returne unto the
Lord and He will have mercy upon him."
Heb. xii. 17 "Afterward also when he would have inherited
the blessing, hee was rejected for hee found no place of repentance,
though hee sought that blessing with teares."
Deut. xxxii. 15 "But he that shoulde have bene upright,
when he waxed fat, spurned with his heele : thou art fat, thou art
grosse, thou art laden with fatnes : therefore he forsooke God that
made him and regarded not the strong God of his salvation."
Ecclus. xii. 15 "Who will have pitie on the charmer that is
stinged of the serpent ? or of al such as come neere the beasts ?
so is it with him that keepeth companie with a wicked man and
wrappeth himselfe in his sinnes."
Act III. iii. 29 Fahtaff. "No, I'll be sworn, I make as good
use of it as many a man doth of a Death's Head or a Memento
Mori. I never see thy face but I thinke upon Hell Fire and
Dives that lived in Purple ; for there he is in his robes, burning,
burning. If thou wert any way given to virtue, I would swear by
thy face ; my oath should be, * By this fire, that God's Angel! But
thou art altogether given over : and wert indeed, but for the light
in thy face, the Sunne of utter darkness."
Direct references to the following passages
Ps. xc. 12 "Teach us so to number our days, that we may
apply our hearts into wisdome."
254 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Luke xvi. 19 "There was a certaine rich man which was
clothed in purple and fine linnen." 23 "And being in hell in
torments." 24 " Coole my tongue, for I am tormented in this
flame."
Heb. vi. 1 6 " For men verely sweare by him that is greater
than themselves, and an othe for confirmation is among them an
end of all strife."
Heb. i. 7 "And of the Angels he saith, He maketh the
Spirites his messengers and his ministers a flame of fire."
Exod. iii. 2 " Then the Angel of the Lord appeared unto
him in a flame of fire."
Acts vii. 30 " An angel of God in a flame of fire."
Matt. xxv. 30 " Into utter darknesse."
Matt. xxii. 13 " Into utter darknesse."
Authorised alone gives " outer darkness."
Act III. iii. ^Falstaff. " But the sack that thou hast drunke
me would have bought me lights as good cheape as the deerest
chandlers in Europe. I have maintained that Salamander of
yours with fire, any time this two and thirtie yeeres, Heaven re
ward me for it."
Bardolph, " I would my Face were in your belly."
Falstaff. " So should I sure to be heart burned."
Play on the words in the Sermon on the Mount
Matt. v. 1 5 " Nether do men light a candel, and put it under
a bushel but on a candelstycke : and it lyghteth all that are in
the house. Let your lyght so shine before men that they may
see your good worke and glorifie your Father which is in
heaven."
Ecclus. xl. 29 "The life of him that dependeth on another
man's table, is not to be counted for a life : for he tormenteth
himselfe after other men's meat : but a wise man and well
nourtured will beware thereof. Begging is sweete in the mouth
of the unshamefast and in his belly there burneth a fire."
Act III. iii. 141 Hostess. "So he doth you, my Lord, and
sayde this other day, you ought him a thousand pound."
P. Henry. " Sirrah ! do I owe you a thousand pound ? "
Matt, xviii. 24 " And when hee had begun to reckon, one
was brought unto him which ought him tenne thousand talents."
Matt, xviii. 28 " Ought him a hundredth pence."
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY IV 255
Luke vii. 41 "The one ought him five hundredth pence."
The Rheims is the only Version which gives "owed."
Act III. iii. 154 Falstaff. "As thou art a Prince, I fear thee,
as I fear the roaring of the lion's whelp."
P. Henry. " And why not as the lion."
Falstaff. " The King himself is to be feared as the lion."
Compare
Prov. xix. 12 "The King's wrath is like the roaring of a
Lyon."
Prov. xx. 2 " The feare of the King is like the roaring of a
Lyon."
Act III. iii. 171 Falstaff. "Thou know'st in the state of
Innocency Adam fell : and what should poore Jack FalstafFe do in
the dayes of villany ? Thou see'st I have more flesh than another
man and therefore more frailty."
Direct references to Scripture
Gen. ii. 25 "And they were both naked, the man and his
wife, and were not ashamed."
Genevan Note " For before sinne entred, all things were
honest and comely."
Rom. iii. 10 "There is none righteous, no, not one."
Gen. iii. 4, 5, 6 "Tooke of the fruite thereof and did eate,
and gave also to her husband with her and he did eate."
Mark xiv. 38 " The spirite indeed is willing but the flesh is
weake."
Genevan Note on John iii. 6 " This worde (Flesh) signi-
fieth the corrupt nature of man."
Act III. iii. 178 Falstaff. "Hostess. I forgive thee. Go,
make ready breakfast, love thy husband, look to thy servants,
cherish thy guests."
Compare Rom. xii. 6-16.
Rom. xii. 19 "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves but
give place unto wrath." 20 " Therefore if thine enemie hunger,
feede him : if he thirste, give him drinke."
Prov. xxxi. ii "The heart of her husband trusteth in her."
15 "She riseth whiles it is yet night, and giveth the portion to
her householde, and the ordinarie to her maydes." 20 "She
stretcheth out her hande to the poore, and putteth forth her hande
to the needie."
256 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. iii. 1 86 "O my sweet beefe, I must still be good
angel to thee."
Heb. i. 14 " Are they not all ministring spirits sent forth to
minister."
Act III. iii. 192 Falstaff. "Rob me the Exchequer the first
thing thou do'st, and do it with unwashed hands too."
That is, without scruple and without delay; direct re
ference
Mark vii. 2, 3 " And when they sawe some of His disciples
eate meate with common hands (that is* to say unwashen) they
complained."
Rheims " not washed."
Other Versions " unwashen."
Act IV. i. 6
Hotspur. " By heaven I cannot flatter : I defie
The Tongues of Soothers. But a braver place
In my heart's love hath no man then yourselfe."
Compare for the thought
Prov. xxviii. 23 " He that rebuketh a man shal finde more
favour at the length, than hee that flattereth with his tongue."
Prov. xxvii. 6 " The wounds of a lover are faithful and the
kisses of an enemie are pleasant."
Act IV. i. 80-
Hotspur. " If we, without his help, can make a head
To push against this kingdom, with his help
We shall o'erturn it topsy-turvey down."
Biblical expression
Dan. viii. 4 " I saw the ramme pushing against the West."
Dan. xi. 40 " And at the ende of the time shall the King
the South push at him, and the King of the North shall come
against him like a whirlewind with charets and with horsemen."
Act IV. i. 98 : Vernon
" All plumed like Estridges, that with the winde
Bayted like Eagles, having lately bath'd,
Glittering in Golden Coates, like Images ;
As full of spirit as the moneth of May,
And gorgeous as the sunne at Midsummer ;
Wanton as youthfull Goates, wilde as yong Bulls."
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY IV 257
Job xxxix. 1 6 " Hast thou given the pleasant wings unto
the peacocks ? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich."
Isa. xxx. 22 " The covering of the images of silver and the
rich ornament of thine images of gold."
Ps. xix. 5 "The sunne which commeth foorth as a bridegroom
out of his chamber and rejoyceth like a mighty man to run his race.
His going out is from the ende of the heaven, and his compasse
is unto the endes of the same, and none is hid from the heate
thereof."
Ps. xxii. 12 " Many^ong bulles have compassed mee : mightie
bulles of Bashan have closed me about. They gape upon me with
their mouthes, as a ramping and roaring lyon."
Act IV. i. 133-
" Come let us take a muster speedily :
Doomesday is neere : dye all, dye merrily."
Direct reference to Scripture
Zeph. i. 14 "The great day of the Lorde is neere, it is neere
id hasteth greatly."
2 Cor. v. 10 " For wee must all appeare before the judgment
ite of Christ."
Act IV. ii. 25 Falstaff. "Slaves as (ragged) Lazarus in the
tinted cloth where the glutton's dogges licked his sores."
Direct reference
Luke.xvi. 20, 21 "There was a certaine beggar named
izarus, which was layde at his gate full of sores, and desired to
be refreshed with the crummes that fell from the rich man's
table : yea, and the dogges came and licked his sores."
Luke xvi. 19 "A rich man which was clothed in purple and
fine linnen and fared well and delicately every day."
Act IV. ii. 33 Falstaff. " And such have I, to fill the roomes
of them that have bought out their services, that you would think
that I had a hundred and fiftie totter'd Prodigalls, lately come
from swine-keeping, from eating Drafife and Huskes."
Use of Scripture word and direct references
Acts xxiv. 27 " Porcius Festus came into Felix roome."
Luke xiv. 8 " Go and sit downe in the lowest roome."
Wic., Rheims " the lowest place."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. "the lowest roome,"
Wic. " Felix took a successor,"
17
258 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Rheims " Felix had a successor."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. "came into Felix roome."
Luke xv. 15 "Then hee went and clave to a citizen of that
countrey and he sent him to his farme to feede swine." 22
" Bring forth the best robe and put it on him . . . and shooes on
his feete."
Luke xv. 1 6 " He would faine have filled his belly with the
huskes that the swine ate."
Num. vi. 4 " Neither the kernels nor the huske."
Wic. u the coddis that the hoggis eten."
Tyn., Cran. "the coddes that the swyne ate."
The Genevan is the first to use the word " huskes." It was
followed by the Rheims and Authorised.
Act IV. iii. 4" Not a whit."
Biblical word
John vii. 23 " Every whit whole."
John xiii. 10 " Clene every whit."
1 Sam. iii. 18 " So Samuel told him every whit."
Met. Psalms, T. S., vi. " For why : no man among the dead
remembreth thee one whit."
Psalm xlvi., J. H. "She can no whit decay."
Psalm Iviii., J. H. " When I no whit offend."
And many other instances in Genevan Version.
Wic. "a man hool on the Sabbath."
Rheims " a man wholly."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. "every whit whole."
Wic. al clene."
Rheims " is cleane wholly."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. "clene every whit."
Act IV. iii. 81-
Hotspur. " Cryes out upon abuses, seemes to weepe
Over his Countries Wrongs : and by this Face
This seeming brow of Justice, did he winne
The hearts of all that hee did angle for."
Reference to the treachery of Absalom
2 Sam. xv. 3 " And Absalom sayde unto him, See thy matters
are good and righteous, but there is no man of the king deputed
to heare thee. Absalom sayde moreover, O that I were made
judge in the lande, that every man which hath any matter of con-
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY IV 259
troversie, might come to me that I might doe him justice." 6
" And on this maner did Absalom to all Israel that came to the
King for judgment : so Absalom stale the hearts of the men of
Israel."
Act V. i. 4-
P. Henry. " The Southerne winde
Doth play the Trumpet to his purposes,
And by his hollow whistling in the Leaves
Foretels a Tempest, and a blustring day."
Compare the signal of God to David, the noise of the wind
in the trees as a trumpet to summon to battle
2 Sam. v. 24 "And when thou hearest the noyse of one
going in the toppes of the mulberry trees, then remove : for then
shall the Lord go out before thee to smite the hoste of the Phili-
stims."
Act V. i. 125 Falstaff. " I would it were bed-time, Hal, and
all well."
P. Henry. " Why, thou owest God a death."
Falstaff. " Tis not due yet : I would be loath to pay him before
his day. What neede I bee so forward with him that calls not on
me."
i Kings xx. 42 " Thus saith the Lord, A man whom I ap-
poynted to die."
Isa. xxxviii. I "Thus saith the Lord, Put thine house in
order, for thou shalt die and not live."
Luke xii. 20 " But God said unto him, O foole, this night
wil they fetch thy soule away from thee."
Job xii. 10 " In whose hande is the soule of every living
thing : and the breath of all mankind."
Act V. ii. 20
Worcester. " All his offences live upon my head
And on his Father's. We did traine him on,
And his corruption being tane from us
We as the spring of all, shall pay for all."
1 Sam. xxv. 39 " Recompensed the wickedness of Nabal
upon his owne head."
Josh. ii. 19 " His blood shall be upon his head."
2 Chron. vi. 23 " Recompensing the wicked to bring his way
upon his head."
26o SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Joel iii. 4 " Recompence upon your head."
Ezek. xviii. 19 " Yet say ye, wherefore shall not the sonne
beare the iniquitie of the father."
Act V. ii. 35 "God forbid."
2 Sam. xx. 20 "And Joab answered and said, God forbid,
God forbid it me."
Gen. xliv. 7" God forbid."
Job xxvii. 5" God forbid."
Josh. xxiv. 1 6 " The people answered and said, God forbid."
Luke xx. 1 6 " When they heard it they said, God forbid."
The expression is used by the sons of Jacob, by Joseph,
Joshua, Samuel, Jonathan, Joab, Job, by the people of
Israel to Samuel, by Israel to Saul, by the Jews to
Jesus, also a favourite expression of the Apostle Paul
who uses it fourteen times in Romans, once in Corin
thians, thrice in Galatians.
Act V. ii. 76
" Better consider what you have to do
That I have not the gift of Tongue,
Can lift your blood up with persuasion."
A reference to the power of the Apostles on the Day of
Pentecost after the Gift of Tongues
Acts ii. 4 " And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,
and began to speake with other tongues as the Spirit gave them
utterance." 41 " And the same day there were added unto them
about three thousand souls."
Act V. ii. 80
Hotspur. " O gentlemen, the time of life is short,
To spend that shortnesse basely, were too long,
If life did ride upon a dial's point,
Still ending at the arrivall of an houre.
And if we live, we live to treade on Kings :
If dye brave death, when princes die with us."
For parallels in thought
Ps. Ixxxix. 47, 48 " Remember of what time I am. What
man liveth and shall not see death? shall hee deliver his soule
from the hande of the grave ? "
Ps. xc. 9 " We have spent our yeeres as a thought."
I Peter i. 17 " Passe the time of your dwelling here in feare."
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY IV 261
Josh. x. 24 " Come neere, set your feete upon the neckes of
these kings : and they came neere and set their feet on their
neckes."
Ps. Ix. 12 "Through God we shall doe valiantly, for He shal
treade downe our enemies."
Act V. iii. 20
Hotspur. " This, Douglas ? no ; I know this face full well :
A gallant knight he was, his name was Blunt,
Semblably furnish'd like the King himselfe."
For a remote parallel compare the incident
I Kings xxii. 30 " And the King of Israel sayde to Jehoso-
phat, I will change my apparell and will enter into the battell, but
put thou on thine apparell. And the King of Israel changed him
selfe and went into the battell."
Act V. iv. 81
" But thought's the slave of Life, and Life, Time's foole ;
And Time, that takes survey of all the world,
Must have a stop. O I could Prophesie,
But that the Earth, and the cold hand of death
Lyes on my tongue : no Percy, thou art dust,
And food for " [Dies].
P. Henry. " For worms, brave Percy, Fare thee well, great
heart."
Job xvii. 1 1 " My dayes are past, mine enterprises are broken,
and the thoughts of mine heart have changed the night for the
day and the light that approched, for darkenesse." 13 " Though
I hope, yet the grave shall bee mine house, and I shall make my
bed in the darke. I shall say to corruption, Thou art my father,
and to the worme, Thou art my mother and my sister. Where is
then now mine hope ? or who shall consider the thing that I hoped
for ? They shall goe downe into the bottom of the pit : surely it
shall lye together in the dust."
Act V. iv. 99
" Adieu, and take thy praise with thee to heaven,
Thy ignomy sleepe with thee in the grave."
Compare the passage in St. Paul's Epistle to Timothy
I Tim. v. 24 " Some men's sinnes are open beforehand and go
before unto judgment, but some men's follow after. Likewise also
the goode works are manifest beforehand."
262 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Eccles. xii. 7 " And dust returne to the earth as it was, and
the spirite returne to God that gave it."
I Kings i. 21 "Shall sleepe with his fathers."
Dan. xii. 2" That sleepe in the dust of the earth."
Ps. xiii. 3" That I sleepe not in death."
Matt, xxvii. 52 " Bodies of the saints which slept."
Act V. iv. 116 F alstaff. "But to counterfeit dying, when a
man thereby liveth, is to be no counterfeit but the true and perfect
image of life indeede"
Compare St. Paul's great argument
Rom. vi. 5 " For if we be planted with Him to the similitude
of His death, even so shall we be to the similitude of His resurrec
tion." 8 "Wherefore, if we be dead with Christ, wee beleeve
that wee shall live also with Him. Knowing that Christ being
raised from the dead dieth no more : death hath no more do
minion over Him."
See also Gal. ii. 19, 20, Rom. viii. 10, Ephes. v. 14.
Act V. iv. 118 "The better part, of Valour, is Discretion : in
the which better part, I have saved my life."
For a parallel in thought compare
Prov. xxii. 3 " A prudent man seeth the plague and hideth
himselfe : but the foolish go on still and are punished."
Act V. iv. 144 P. Henry. "Why, Percy I killed myselfe,
and saw thee dead."
Falstaff. " Didst thou ? Lord, Lord, how the world is given t<
lying ! I graunt you I was downe and out of Breath, and so w
he, but we rose both at an instant, and fought a long houre b]
Shrewsburie clock. If I may be beleeved, so : if not, let thei
that should reward valour, beare the sinne upon their owne heads."
Ps. cxvi. n "All men are lyers."
Jer. vi. 13 "From the least of them, even unto the greater
of them, every one is given to covetousnesse, and from th<
Prophet even unto the Priest they deale falsely."
Ps. Ixii. 4 "Yet they consult to cast him downe from hi<
dignity, their delight is in lies."
Ps. cxx. 2 " Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips an(
a deceitful tongue."
Ps. vii. 16 " His mischiefe shall returne upon his owne head.'
THE FIRST PART OF HENRY IV 263
See I Sam. xxv. 39, Josh. ii. 19, 2 Chron. vi. 23, Joel iii. 4,
for sin falling upon the heads of sinners.
Act V. iv. 162 Falstaff. " I'll follow, as they say, for reward.
He that rewards me, God reward him ! If I do grow great, I'll
grow less ; for I'll purge, and leave sack, and live cleanly, as a
nobleman should do."
James v. 20 " Let him know that he which hath converted
the sinner from going astray out of his way, shall save a soule from
death, and shal hide a multitude of sinnes."
Dan. xii. 3 " They that turne many to righteousnesse, shall
shine as the stars for ever and ever."
Act V. v. 6
" Three Knights upon our party slain to-day,
A noble earl, and many a creature else
Had been alive this hour,
// like a Christian, thou hadst truly borne
Betwixt our armies true intelligence."
Exod. xx. 1 6 " Thou shalt not beare false witnes against thy
neighbour."
Ephes. iv. 25 "Wherefore cast off lying, and speake every
man trueth unto his neighbour."
THE SECONDE PART OF HENRY THE FOURTH.
Induction, line 31
" And that the King before the Douglas' Rage
Stoop'd his annointed head as low as death."
For parallels compare
I Sam. xvi. 6 " Surely the Lord's Anointed is before him."
Phil. ii. 8 " He humbled himselfe and became obedient unto
the death."
Act I. i. 43
" With that he gave his able Horse the head,
And bending forward strooke his able (armed) heeles
Against the panting sides of his poor Jade
Up to the rowell head, and starting so
He seem'd in running to devours the way"
The figure is not an uncommon one. Catullus gives " viam
vorabit," but see the description of the war-horse in
the Book of Job, chapter xxxix. 27 " He swalloweth
the ground for fiercenesse and rage, and he beleeveth
not that it is the noyse of the trumpet."
Act I. i. 59
Northum. " Yea this man's brow, like to a title leaf,
Fore-tels the Nature of a Tragicke Volume."
A reference drawn from the marking of Cain
Gen. iv. 15 "And the Lorde set a marke upon Cain."
Ezek. ix. 4 " Set a marke upon their foreheads."
Rev. xiv. 9 " If any man worship the beast and his image
and receive his marke on his forehead or on his hand, he also shall
drinke of the wine of the wrath of God."
For Act I. ii. 60 to no compare the whole scene of the
despatching of the messengers Ahimaaz and Cushi
by Joab to acquaint King David with the death of
Absalom.
(264)
HENRY THE FOURTH 265
Act. I. i. 131-
" The summe of all
Is, that the King hath wonne."
Biblical phrase
Heb. viii. i " Nowe of the things which we have spoken, this
is the summe."
Dan. vii. i " Declared the summe of the matter."
Num. xxxi. 26 " This is the summe."
Act I. i. 137
" In poison there is physic : and these news
Having been well, that would have made me sick,
Being sick, have in some measure made me well."
For parallel in thought
Heb. xii. 1 1 " Now no chastising for the present seemeth to
be joyous but grievous : but afterward it bringeth the quiet fruite
of righteousnesse, unto them which are thereby exercised."
Lam. iii. 27-29 " It is good for a man that he beare the yoke
in his youth."
Ps. cxix. 67 " Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now
have I kept thy word."
Job xxxvi. 10, II " He openeth also their eare to discipline,
and commandeth them that they returne from iniquitie. If they
obey and serve him, they shall end their dayes in prosperity and
their yeres in pleasure."
Act I. i. 155
" Let the world no longer be a stage
To feede Contention in a ling'ring act ;
But let one spirit of the First-borne Caine
Reigne in all bosomes, that each heart being set
On bloody courses, the rude scene may end,
And darknesse be the burier of the dead."
A reference to the first murder, by Cain the eldest born,
which arose from wicked envy and strife
Gen. iv. 6, 8.
i John iii. 12 "Not as Cain which was of that wicked one
and slewe his brother and wherefore slew he him, because his
owne workes were evill and his brother's good."
266 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act I. i. 1 66
" You cast the event of war, my noble Lord,
And summed the account of chance, before you said
Let us make head."
A reference to the Gospel illustration of the need of fore
sight and preparation
Luke xiv. 31 "Or what King going to make warre against
another King, sitteth not downe first, and taketh counsell, whether
he be able with ten thousand to meete him that cometh against
him with twentie thousand."
Luke xiv. 28 " Sitteth not downe before, and counteth the
cost, whether he have sufficient to performe it."
Act I. i. 200-^-
Mort. " But now the Bishop
Turnes Insurrection to Religion :
Suppos'd sincere and holy in his Thoughts
He's follow'd both with Body and with Minde."
The Bishop as a minister of God is followed by his flock
who think by this that they are serving God.
Matt. xxii. 37" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thine heart, and with all thy soule, and with all thy minde."
Luke x. 27 " With all thy heart, and with all thy soule, with
all thy strength, and with all thy thought."
Act I. ii. 6 Fahtaff. " The braine of this foolish compounded
Clay-man."
For the meaning compare
Gen. ii. 7 " Made man of the dust of the ground."
Job xxxiii. 6 " I am also formed of the clay."
Isa. Ixiv. 8 " Wee are the clay, and thou art our potter, and
we all are the worke of thine hands."
Act I. ii. 13 "Thou whoreson Mandrake."
Mandrake is a kind of plant whose root, at some distance
from its upper part, is generally divided into two
branches, which is the reason that this root has some
thing of the figure of a man. Some call it a provoca
tive and that therefore it was used in philtres. Com
pare Gen. xxx. 14, 15.
Act I. ii. 34 Fahtaff. " Let him bee damn'd like the Glutton,
may his tongue be hotter, a horson Achitophel, a Rascally-yea-
HENRY THE FOURTH 267
forsooth-knave, to beare a Gentleman in hand and then stand
upon security."
References to the rich man and Lazarus, and to the subtle
counsellor of Absalom, Ahitophel, whose wise sug
gestions were neglected
Luke xvi. 19 "There was a certaine rich man which was
clothed in purple and fine linnen and fared well and delicately
every day."
Luke xvi. 24 " Have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he
may dippe the tip of his finger in water and coole my tongue : for
I am tormented in this flame."
2 Sam. xvii. 14-23 "Let me chuse out nowe twelve thousand
men and I will up and follow after David this night" (that is,
Ahitophel desired absolute security after the success of the first
move). " Nowe when Ahitophel sawe that his counsell was not
followed, he sadled his asse and arose and he went home unto his
citie, and put his householde in order and hanged himselfe."
Act I. ii. 126 Falstaff. " I am as poore as Job, my Lord, but
not so patient."
Direct reference
Job i. 21 "And sayd, Naked came I out of my mother's
wombe, and naked shall I returne thither : the Lord hath given
and the Lord hath taken it, blessed be the Name of the Lord."
James v. 1 1 " Yee have heard of the patience of Job."
Genevan Bible Note "Job in this historic is set before
our eyes the example of a singular patience."
Act I. ii. 159 Ch. Just. "There is not a white haire on your
face but should have his effect of gravity."
Tit. ii. 2 " That the elder men be watchfull, grave, temperate."
Lev. xix. 32 " Thou shalt rise up before the hore-head and
honour the person of the olde man."
Prov. xvi. 31 "Age is a crowne of glory when it is found in
the way of righteousnesse."
Act I. ii. 162 Ch. Just. " You follow the young prince up and
down, like his ill angel."
Falstaff. " Not so, my lord : your ill angel is light ; but I hope
he that lookes on me will take me without weighing."
Direct use of Scripture
268 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
1 Peter v. 8 "Your adversary the devil as a roaring lyon,
walketh about seeking whom he may devour."
Ps. Ixxviii. 49 " Vexation by the sending out of evil angels,"
" your ill angel is light," etc., is a play upon two texts
2 Cor. xi. 14 " Satan is transformed into an Angel of Light,"
and
Dan. v. 27 " Thou art weyed in the balance and art found
too light" (Author, "wanting")
Act I. ii. 190 Falstaff. " To approve my youth further I will
not : the truth is, I am only old in judgement and understanding."
Quoted from the text in! Corinthians
i Cor. xiv. 20 " Brethren be not children in understanding,
but as concerning maliciousnesse be children, but in understanding
be of a ripe age."
Compare also story of Susannna, verse 52 : " O thou that
art olde in a wicked life, now thy sinnes which thou
hast committed aforetime are come to light."
And the case of the young child Daniel who was raised up
to be Judge of the Elders.
Act I. ii. 196 Falstaff. " I have checked him for it, and the
young lion repents : marry not in ashes and sacke-cloath but in new
silke and old sacke"
A play upon the custom of the Hebrews
Jonah iii. 6 "Covered him with sackecloth and sate in
ashes."
Matt. xi. 21 "Repented long agone in sackcloth and asshes."
Luke x. 13 "A great while agone repented sitting in sacke
cloth and asshes."
Job xlii. 6 " Therefore I abhorre myselfe and repent in dust
and ashes."
The Versions show somejnteresting differences
Wic. and Rheims use the word " penance."
Tyn. and Cran. " repented," but do not use " sackecloth."
Authorised follows the Genevan.
Luke x. 13
Wic. " in heire and aisches and have doon penaunce."
Tyn. " repented sitting in heere and asshes."
Cran. " repented of their synnes, sytting in heercloth and
ashes."
HENRY THE FOURTH 269
Rheims " done penance sitting in sackecloth and asshes."
Gen. " repented sytting in sackcloth and asshes."
Matt. xi. 21
Tyn. alters to " in sackecloth and asshes."
Rheims alters to " done penance in heare cloth and ashes."
The Genevan also uses the word " sacke," and this agrees
with the point of Falstaff's quip of " new silk and old
sack."
Ps. xxxv. 13 "I was clothed with a sacke, I humbled my
soule with fasting."
Author. "sackcloth," and in the Genevan Psalms, Ps.
xxxv. 14, J. H.
" When they were sicke I mourned therefore
And clad myselfe in sack ;
With fasting I did faynt full sore,
To pray I was not slack."
Act I. ii. 222 Fahtaff. "Will your lordship lend mee a
thousand pound to furnish mee forth?"
Ch. Just. "Not a peny, sir, not a peny: you are too im
patient to beare crosses. Fare you well."
A reference to the Cross upon the coinage of the day, and
to Christian service
Luke xiv. 27 " And whosoever beareth not his cross."
Luke ix. 23 " Let him denie himselfe and take up his crosse
daily and follow Me."
Genevan Note on James i. 1 2 " We must patiently beare
the crosse, because we come by this way to the crowne
of life."
Act I. ii. 246 Fahtaff. " My pension shall seem the more
reasonable. A good wit will make use of anything. I will turn
diseases to commodity."
Wisd. x. 9, 10 " Wisedome delivered them that served her
. . . made him rich in his labours and made his paines profitable."
Wisd. xi. 1 1 " For when they perceived that through their
torments good came unto them, they felt the Lord."
Wisd. xii. 2 "Therefore thou chastenest them measurably
that goe wrong, and warnest them."
Heb. xii. 1 1 " Afterward (chastising) it bringeth the quiete
fruite of righteousnesse, unto them which are thereby exercised,"
270 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act I. iii. 15 : Lord Bardolph
" The question then, Lord Hastings, standeth thus :
Whether our present five-and-twenty thousand
May hold up head without Northumberland."
Here Lord Bardolph has in his mind the Parables of the
King making war, and of the Foolish Builder
Luke xiv. 31 "Or what King going to make warre against
another King, sitteth not downe first, and taketh counsell, whether
he be able with ten thousand to meete him that commeth against
him with twentie thousand."
Act I. iii. 41 : Lord Bardolph
" When we meane to build
We first survey the Plot, then draw the Modell ;
And when we see the figure of the house
Then must we rate the cost of the Erection ;
Which if we finde out-weighs Ability,
What do we then but draw anew the Modell
In fewer offices or at least desist
To builde at all. . . ."
58 " Like one that drawes the Modell of a house
Beyond his power to builde it ; who (halfe through)
Gives o're, and leaves his part-created cost
A naked subject to the weeping clouds
And waste for churlish winter's tyranny."
Here Lord Bardolph paraphrases the Parable of the Foolish
Builder.
Luke xiv. 28-30 " For which of you minding to build a towre
sitteth not downe before, and counteth the cost whether he have
sufficient to performe it. Lest that after he hath layd the founda
tion and is not able to perfourme it, all that beholde it begin to
mocke him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to
make an end."
Act I. iii. 69 : Hastings
" To us no more ; nay, not so much, Lord Bardolph.
For his divisions, as the times do brawl,
Are in three heads ; one power against the French,
And one against Glendower : perforce, a third
Must take up us. So is the unfirm King
In three divided."
HENRY THE FOURTH 271
Hastings replies to Bardolph with another Parable, that of
the House divided against itself
Luke xi. 17 " Every kingdome divided against itselfe shall
be desolate, and an house divided against an house, falleth."
Mark iii. 24 " For if a kingdome bee divided against itselfe,
that kingdom cannot stand."
Act I. iii. 89
" An habitation giddy and unsure
Hath he that buildeth on the vulgar heart."
The Archbishop of York joins in the discussion, and uses
another Parable of a falling house to illustrate his
point
Luke vi. 49 " Is like a man that built an house upon the earth
without foundation, against which the floode did beate and it fell
by and by : and the fall of that house was great."
Note the reminiscence in the phrase "Didst thou beate
heaven."
Act I. iii. 95
Arch. " Thou, beastly feeder, art so full of him
That thou provok'st thyself to cast him up.
So, so, thou common dog, didst thou disgorge
Thy glutton bosome of the Royall Richard ;
And now thou would'st eate thy dead vomit up."
Direct use of Scripture
2 Peter ii. 22 " But it is come to them according to the true
Proverbe, The Dogge is returned to his owne vomit."
Prov. xxvi. 1 1 " As a dogge returneth to his owne vomit."
Compare " Henry V." where the quotation is given in French
from the French Version of the Genevan Bible.
Wic. " the hound turneth agen to his castynge."
Tyn. first gave the words quoted, followed by the other
Versions.
Act I. iii. 103
A rch. " Thou that threw'st dust upon his goodly head,
When through proud London he came sighing on,
After the admired heels of Bolingbroke,
Cry'st now, * O earth, yield us that King again '."
Compare King David and Shimei, when Absalom rebelled
against his father and King, an incident which exactly
expresses the mind of the Archbishop
272 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
2 Sam. xvi. 1 3 " And as David and his men went by the
way, Shimei went by the side of the mountaine against him,
and cursed as he went and threw stones against him, and cast
dust."
2 Sam xix. 16 " And Shimei the Son of Gera, the son of
Jemini, which was of Bahurim hasted and came downe with the
men of Judah to meete King David."
Genevan Note "who had before reviled him." "In his
adversitie he was his most cruel enemie, and now in
his prosperitie seeketh by flatterie to creepe into favour."
Act II. i. 112 Ch. Just. "Sir John, Sir John, I am well
acquainted with your maner of wrenching the true cause the false
way. It is not a confident brow, nor the throng of wordes that
come with such (more than impudent) sawcines from you, can
thrust me from a level consideration. I know you ha' practised
upon the easie yeelding spirit of this woman."
For the meaning compare the following passage
Ecclus. xix. 24, 25 " There is a certain subtiltie that is fine,
but it is unrighteous, and there is that wresteth the open and mani
fest Law : yet there is that is wise and judgeth righteously.
There is some that being about wicked purposes doe bowe downe
themselves and are sad, whose inward parts burne altogether with
deceit : he looketh downe with his face and faineth himselfe deafe :
yet before thou perceive, he will be upon thee to hurt thee."
Compare Sir John's previous encounter with the Chief Justice
when FalstafT " fained himselfe deafe."
Act II. i. 142 Hostess. "By this heavenly ground I tread on,
I must be faine to pawne both my Plate and the Tapistry of my
dyning chambers."
Falstaff. " Glasses, glasses is the onely drinking : and for thy
walles a pretty slight Drollery or the Storie of the Prodigall, or
the German hunting in water-work is worth a thousand."
Acts vii. 33 "The place where thou standest is holy ground."
Ps. xxiv. i " The earth is the Lorde's and all that therein is."
For the story of the Prodigal see Luke xv.
Act II. i. 196 Ch. Just. "Now, the Lord lighten thee, thou
art a great fool."
Eccles. ii. 14 " The foole walketh in darkness,"
HENRY THE FOURTH 273
Ecclus. xxiv. 37 (Wisdom) " I wil looke upon al such as be
asleepe and lighten all them that trust in the Lord."
Act II. ii. 23 P. Henry. "God knows, whether those that
bawl out the ruins of thy linen shall inherit his kingdom : but the
midwives say, the children are not in fault."
Poins' linen, according to the Prince, is unclean, torn and
inadequate. A jesting use is made of two texts. Com
pare also Matt. xxi. 8 " And a great multitude spred
their garments in the way." 15 " The children cry
ing in the Temple, Hosanna to the Sonne of David."
1 6 " And said unto him, hearest thou what they say."
Matt. v. 8, 9 " Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall
see God. Blessed are the peace makers : for they shall be called
the children of God."
Matt. xxv. 34 "Come ye blessed of my father, take the
inheritance of the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation
of the worlde." 36 " I was naked, and ye clothed Me." 40
" Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it to Me."
Act II. ii. 45 "Thou think'st me as farre in the Divel's booke
as thou and FalstafT, for obduracie and persistencie. Let the end
try the man."
Ecclus. xi. 27 " In a man's ende, his works are discovered."
Job xxxiv. 36 " I desire that Job may be tryed unto the
ende touching the answer of wicked men."
Eccles. vii. 10 " The ende of a thing is better than the be
ginning."
Act II. ii. 101 Poins. "And how doth the martlemas your
master ? "
Bard. " In bodily health, sir ? "
Poins. " Marry, the immortal part needes a Physitian, but that
moves not him : though that bee sicke it dyes not."
Mark ii. 17 "The whole have no need of the Physitian, but
the sicke, I came not to call the righteous but the sinners to
repentance."
Act II. ii. 1 1 8 P. Henry. "Nay, they will be kin to us, but
wil fetch they it from Japhet."
Note the correctness of the allusion
18
274 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Gen. x. 2 "The sonnes of Japhet (5) were the yles of the
Gentiles divided in their landes, every man after his tongue and
after their families in their nations."
2 Sam. xix. 42 " Because the King is neere of kin to us."
Act II. ii. 131 " Thine, by yea and no."
Matt. v. 34 " Sweare not at all." 37 " But let your com
munication be Yea, yea : Nay, nay."
Act II. ii. 142 "Well, thus we play the fools with the time,
and the spirits of the wise sit in the clouds, and mock us."
Ps. ii. 4 "But He that dwelleth in the heaven shall laugh, the
Lord shall have them in derision."
Met. Psalm ii., T. S.
" But He that in the heaven dwelth
Their doings will deride,
And make them all as mocking stocks."
Met. Psalm lix., J. H.~
" But Lord thou hast theyr wayes espied
And laught thereat apace :
The heathen folke thou shalt deride
And mocke them to theyr face."
Act II. ii. 149 P. Henry. "What company?"
Page. " Ephesians, my lord ; of the old church."
Ephesus worshipped Artemis, but the divinity was not the
Diana of the Greeks. She seems to have been the
personification of the fructifying powers of Nature.
For the sensuality of the worshippers compare Farrar,
St. Paul, p. 361.
Act II. ii. 164 Bard. " I have no tongue, sir."
Page. " And for mine, sir, I will govern it."
James iii. 4, 5 "Turned about with a very small rudder
whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a litle
member and boasteth of great things : beholde howe great a thing
a litle fire kindleth."
All the Versions give " governor " except Rheims, " director."
Act II. iv. 54 Hostess. " Why this is the olde fashion, you two
never meete but you fall to some discord : you cannot bear with
one another's confirmities. One must beare, and that must be you,
you are the weaker Vessell, as they say, the emptier Vessell."
HENRY THE FOURTH 275
Play on Scripture words and ideas Mrs. Quickly's mistake
for infirmities
Rom. xv. i "We which are strong ought to beare the in
firmities of the weake."
Tyn., Craa, Gen. 1557 give "beare the frailnes of the
weake."
Wic. " susteyne the feblenesse."
Later editions of Genevan " beare the infirmities."
Rheims " susteine the infirmities."
Author. " beare the infirmities."
Gal. vi. 2 " Beare ye one another's burden."
I Peter iii. 7 " Giving honour unto the woman as unto the
weaker vessel."
Wic. the more feeble."
Rheims " the weaker feminine vessel."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. " weaker vessel."
Act II. iv. 233 Doll. "When wilt thou leave fighting on days
and foyning on nights, and begin to patch up thine old Body for
heaven."
Fahtaff. " Peace (good Dol), do not speake like a Death's-head :
doe not bid me remember mine end."
Ps. xc. 12 "Teach us so to number our days, that we may
apply our hearts unto wisedome."
Prov. xix. 20 " Heare counsell and receive instruction, that
thou maiest be wise in thy latter ende/'
Ps. xxxix. 4 " Lord, let me know mine end, and the measure
of my days what it is : let me know how long I have to live."
Act II. iv. tfSFalstaff. "The Fiend hath prickt down Bar-
dolph irrecoverable : and his face is Lucifer's Privy Kitchen. For
the boy, there is a good Angell about him, but the devil outbids
him too."
P. Henry. " For the women ? "
Falstaff. " For one of them, shee is in Hell alreadie, and burns
poore soules."
I Tim. i. 20 " Whom I have delivered unto Satan."
Matt, xviii. 10 " One of these little ones, for I say unto you
that in heaven their Angels always beholde the face of my Father
which is in heaven."
Prov. vi. 27, 28 " Can a man take fire in his bosom and his
276 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
clothes not be burned ? Can a man goe upon coales and his feet
not be burnt."
Prov. vii. 27 " Her house is the way unto the grave, which
goeth downe to the chambers of death."
Prov. v. 4 " But the ende of her is bitter as wormwood and
sharpe as a two edged sword. Her feete goe downe to death and
her steps take hold on hell."
Act II. iv. 357 Doll "What says your Grace ?"
Falstaff. " His Grace sayes that which his flesh rebells against."
Play on the spiritual meaning of the word " Grace "
Gal. v. 17 " For the flesh lusteth against the spirit."
Rom. vii. 18 "For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh,
dwelleth no good thing : for to will is present with me, but I find
no meanes to perform that which is good."
Rom. vi. 14 -" Sinne shall not have dominion over you, for ye
are not under the Law, but under grace."
Act III. i. 45 : King Henry
" O God ! that one might read the book of fate,
And see the resolution of the times
Make Mountaines levell, and the Continent
(Wearie of solid firmnesse) melt itselfe
Into the Sea."
Compare
Amos ix. 5 " And the Lord God of hostes shall touch the land
and it shall melt away, and all that dwell therein shall mourne,
and it shall rise up wholy like a flood and shall be drowned as
by the flood of Egypt."
Act III. i. 76 : King Henry
" The time will come, that foul sin, gathering head
Shall break into corruption."
A favourite idea with Shakespeare
James i. 15 " Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth
sinne, and sinne when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
Act III. ii. 9 " By yea and nay, sir."
Direct use of Scripture-
Matt, v. 37 " But let your communication be Yea, yea : Nay,
nay."
HENRY THE FOURTH 277
Act III. ii. 33 Shallow. "Jesu, Jesu! the mad days that I
have spent ! and to see how many of mine old acquaintance are
dead ! "
Silence. " We shall all follow, cousin."
Shallow. " Certain, 'tis certain ; very sure, very sure : Death
(Quartos add ' as the Psalmist saith ') is certain to all, all shall dye.
How a good yoke of bullocks at Stamford fayre ? "
The following remote parallels are interesting
Ecclus. xli. i "O death, how bitter is the remembrance of
thee to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions, unto the
man that hath nothing to vexe him and that hath prosperitie in
all things." 3 " This is the ordinance of the Lord over all flesh
whether it be tenne or an hundred or a thousand yeres, there is no
defence for life against the grave."
Ecclus. xxxviii. 25 " How can hee get wisdome that holdeth
the plough and he that hath pleasure in the goad and in driving
oxen, and is occupied in their labours, and talketh but of the breed
of bullocks."
Act III. ii. 262Falstaff. "Will you tell me, Master Shallow,
how to choose a man? Care I for the limbe, the thewes, the
stature, bulke and big assemblance of a man ? give mee the spirit."
Direct Scripture reference
i Sam. xvi. 7 " But the Lord said unto Samuel, Looke not
on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature, because I
have refused him : for God seeth not as man seeth : for man
looketh on the outward appearance but the Lord beholdeth the
heart."
Act IV. i. 41-
West. " You, Lord Archbishop
Whose white Investments figure Innocence,
The Dove, and very blessed Spirit of Peace."
The Dove, the emblem of Peace, but compare also for the
purity and innocence the scene of our Lord's Baptism-
John i. 32 "So John bare record, saying, I behelde that
Spirite come downe from heaven like a Dove and it abode upon
Him."
Act IV. i. 189 "Our peace shall stand as firm as Rockie
Mountaines."
278 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Compare
Isa. liv. 10 " For the mountaines shall remove, and the hilles
shall fall downe : but My mercie shall not depart from thee, neither
shall the covenant of My peace fall away, saith the Lord."
Act IV. i. 194
Mowbray. " We shall be winnow 'd with so rough a winde
That even our corne shall seeme as light as chaffe
And good from bad finde no partition."
An interesting instance of a thought suggesting another
illustration
" Good from bad finde no partition," while true of the
winnowing suggests also the Parable of the Wheat and
the Tares, and the Archbishop in the speech following
quotes that Parable
Dan. ii. 35 "Became like the chaffe of the summer floores,
and the winde caried them away."
Hos. xiii. 3 " As the chaffe that is driven with a whirlewim
out of the floore."
Jer. li. i, 2 " Behold I will rayse against Babel and agayn<
the inhabitants that lift up their heart against mee a destroying
wind. And will send unto Babel fanners that shall fanne her."
Genevan Note "destroy them as the wind doeth the
chaffe."
Luke xxii. 31, 32 "And the Lorde sayde, Simon, Simon,
beholde Satan hath desired you, to winnow you as wheate."
Wic. " reddile as wheat."
Tyn., Cran., Rheims, Author. " sift you, as it were wheat.'
Genevan alone gives " winnow you as wheate."
Act IV. i. 204
Arch. " Full well he knows
Hee cannot so precisely weede this Land
As his misdoubts present occasion :
His foes are so enrooted with his friends
That plucking to unfixe an Enemie
Hee doth unfasten so, and shake a friend."
The speech of the Archbishop, which had been suggested
the words of Mowbray, " And good from bad find n<
partition," is a direct Scripture reference
Matt. xiii. 25 "His enemy came and sowed tares among
HENRY THE FOURTH 279
wheat and went his way." 28 "Then the servantes said unto
hym, Wilt thou then that we go and wede them out." 29 " But
he said, Nay, lest while ye go about to wede out the tares ye
plucke up also with them the wheate."
Wic. "drawen up."
Tyn., Cran., Gen." plucke up."
Rheims " roote up."
Author." gather up."
Act IV. i. 215
" Besides, the King hath wasted all his Rods
On late offenders."
Ps. Ixxxix. 32 "Then will I visite their transgression with
the rod and their iniquitie with strokes."
2 Chron. x. n "My father hath chastised you with roddes,
but I will correct you with scourges " (" whips " in Authorised).
Mark xiv. 65 " The sergeants' smote Him with their rods."
Act IV. ii. 4 : P. John
" My Lord of Yorke, it better shew'd with you
When that your Flocke (assembled by the Bell)
Encircled you, to heare with reverence
Your exposition on the Holy Text
Then now to see you heere an Iron man,
Cheering a rowt of Rebels with your Drumme,
Turning the Word to Sword, and Life to Death"
i Peter v. 1-5 "Feede the flocke of God which dependeth
upon you."
Phil. ii. 15, 1 6 " Holding forth the Word of Life."
Ephes. vi. 17 "The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word
of God."
Matt. xxvi. 52 "Then saide Jesus unto him (Peter), Put up
thy sworde into his place, for all that take the sword shall perish
with the sword."
Act IV. ii. 13: P.John
" Alack, what mischiefes might hee set abroach
In shadow of such Greatnesse ? With you, Lord Bishop,
It is even so. Who hath not heard it spoken,
How deepe you were within the Bookes of Heaven ?
To us, the Speaker in his Parliament ;
a8o SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
To us, the imagine Voyce of Heaven it selfe :
The very Opener and Intelligencer
Betweene the Grace, the Sanctities of Heaven :
And our dull workings."
Ephes. iv. n, 12 "He therefore gave some to be Apostles
and some Prophets, and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and
Teachers, For the repairing of the Saintes, for the worke of the
ministerie, and for the edification of the body of Christ."
2 Cor. v. 20 " Now then are we ambassadors for Christ, as
though God did beseech you through us, wee pray you in Christ's
stead, that yee be reconciled to God."
Tyn., Cran. " messengers."
Gen. 1 5 57 " messengers."
Rheims " legates."
Gen., Author. " ambassadors."
2 Cor. v. 1 8 "Hath geven unto us the office to preach the
attonement."
Luke xxiv. 32 " While Hee talked with us by the way, and
when Hee opened to us the Scriptures."
" Mischiefes."
Gen. Psalm, xl., J. H.
" For I with mischiefes many one
Am sore beset about."
Act IV. ii. 25
" You have taken up,
Under the counterfeit zeal of God,
The subjects of his substitute, my father."
Compare the following passages for parallels
Rom. x. 2 " For I beare them recorde, that they have the
zeale of God but not according to knowledge."
Rom. xiii. 2-4 " The powers that be are ordeined of God
for He beareth not the sword for nought, for He is the minister of
God."
Rom. x. 2
Wic." love of God."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. 1557 "a fervent minde to God-ward."
Subsequent editions " zeale of God."
Rheims 1582 "zeale of God."
Author. 1 6 1 1 "zeale of God."
HENRY THE FOURTH 281
Act. IV. ii. 40
Arch. " And true obedience, of this Madnesse cur'd
Stoope tamely to the foot of Majestic."
Compare the incident of our Lord and the demoniac
Mark v. 4-15 "Because that when he was often bound with
fetters and chaines, he plucked the chaines asunder, and brake the
fetters in pieces, neither could any man tame him."
" Tame him " in all the Versions.
Mark v. 15 " And they came to Jesus, and saw him that had
bene possessed with the devil and had the Legion, sit both clothed
and in his right mind."
Act IV. ii. 83 tt^.-
" Therefore be merry, coz ; since sudden sorrow
Serves to say thus, Some good thing comes to-morrow."
For a Scripture parallel see
Ps. xxx. 5 " Weeping may abide at evening, but joy commeth
in the morning."
Met. Psalm, xxxv. 6, J. H.
" Though gripes of griefe and pangues full sore
Shall lodge with us all night :
The Lord to joy shall us restore
Before the day be light."
Act IV. iii. 12Faktaff. "If I do sweat, they are the drops
of thy lovers, and they weep for thy death : therefore rouse up
feare and trembling, and do observance to my mercy."
Jer. xxix. 12 (Sayth the Lord) " Then shall you crie unto Mee,
and yee shall goe and pray unto Me and I will heare you. And
yee shall seeke and finde Me, because ye shall seeke Me with all
your heart."
Jer. xxx. 5 "For thus sayth the Lord, Wee have heard a
terrible voice, of feare and not of peace " (Authorised" fear and
trembling)."
Jer. xxx. 14 "All thy lovers have forgotten thee, they seeke
thee not : for I have striken thee with the wound of an enemie
and with a sharpe chastisement."
Act IV. iv. 3
King Henry. " We will our youth lead on to higher fields
And draw no swords but what are sanctified."
282 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Ephes. vi. 14-17 " Having on the brestplate of righteousnesse.
And your feete shod with the preparation of the Gospel of Peace.
Above all, take the shield of faith : and take the Helmet of salva
tion, and the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."
Act IV. iv. 54 King Henry. " Most subject is the fattest soil
to weeds."
Ezek. xvi. 49 " Beholde this was the iniquitie of thy sister
Sodom, Pride, fulnesse of bread, and abundance of idleness was
in her."
Hos. xiii. 6 " As in their pastures, so were they filled : they
were filled and their heart was exalted : therefore have they for
gotten Me."
Prov. xviii. 1 1 " The rich man's riches are his strong citie : and
as an hie wall in his imagination."
Prov. i. 32 " For ease slayeth the foolish, and the prosperitie of
fooles destroyeth them."
Matt. xiii. 22 " Heareth the worde, but the care of thys world,
and the deceitfulness of riches choke the worde, and so is he mi
unfruiteful."
Deut. xxxii. 15 "But he that shoulde have bene upright
when he waxed fat, spurned with his heele, thou art fat, thou
grosse, thou art laden with fatnes, therefore he forsooke God that
made him and regarded not the strong God of his salvation."
Act IV. iv. 74
Warwick. "The prince will in the perfectnesse of time
Cast off his followers ; and their memorie
Shall as a Patterne, or a measure live,
By which his Grace must mete the lives of others,
Turning past evils to advantages."
King Henry. " Tis seldome, when the Bee doth leave her com]
In the dead Carrion."
Words suggested from the Sermon on the Mount, and
an incident in the life of Samson.
Mark iv. 24 "With what measure ye mete, it shall
measured unto you."
Luke vi. 38 "With what measure ye mete, with the
shal men mete to you again."
So all the Versions
Jud. xiv. 8, 9 " And within a few dayes when he returned
HENRY THE FOURTH 283
receive her, he went aside to see the karkeis of the Lion, and
beholde there was a swarme of bees, and hony in the body of the
Lion. And he tooke thereof in his hands, and went eating, and
came to his father and his mother and gave unto them and they
did eate."
Act IV. iv. 86-
" There is not now a Rebel's Sword unsheath'd,
But Peace puts forth her olive everywhere."
Gen. viii. r I " And the dove came to him in the evening, and
loe in her mouth was an olive leafe that shee had pluckt : whereby
Noah knewe that the waters were abated from off the earth."
Act IV. iv. 133
King Henry. " Let there be no noise made, my gentle friends :
Unless some dull and favourable hand
Will whisper music to my weary spirit."
i Sam. xvi. 23 " And so when the evill spirit of God came
upon Saul, David tooke an harpe and played with his hand, and
Saul was refreshed and was eased for the evill spirit departed from
him."
Act IV. iv. 140 Clarence. " I am here (Brother) full of
heavinesse"
Use of Scripture words
Phil. ii. 26 " For he longed after you all and was full of heavi-
nesse."
So Wic., Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. ; Rheims " and was
pensive."
Ps. Ixix. 20 " I am ful of heavinesse."
Ecclus. xxv. 4 " The greatest heavines is the heavines of the
heart."
Act IV. iv. 154
P. Henry. " O polish'd perturbation ! golden care !
That keep'st the ports of slumber open wide
To many a watchful night : sleep with it now !
Yet not so sound and half so deeply sweet
As he whose brow, with homely biggin bound,
Snores out the watch of night. O Majesty
When thou dost pinch thy bearer, thou dost sit
Like a rich armour, worn in heat of day
That scalds with safety."
284 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Eccles. v. ii "The sleep of him that travelleth (travaileth)
is sweete, whether he eate litle or much, but the sacietie of the
rich will not suffer him to sleep."
Prov. xv. 1 6 " Better is a litle with the feare of the Lord,
than great treasure and trouble therewith."
Eccles. iv. 6 " Better is an handfull with quietnesse, then two
handfuls with labour and vexation of spirit."
Hag. i. 6 " Ye have sowen much and bring in litle : ye
eate but ye have not enough : ye drinke but ye are not filled : yee
clothe you but ye be not warme : and he that earneth wages,
putteth the wages into a broken bagge."
Act IV. iv. 196
King Henry. " How quickly nature fall into revolt
When gold becomes her object."
i Tim. vi. 9, i-o " For they that will be rich, fall into tenta-
tions and snares, and into many foolish and noysome lustes, which
drowne men in perdition and destruction."
Matt, xx vi. 14, 15 "Then one of the twelve, called Judas
Iscariot went into the chiefe Priests, and sayd, What will ye give
me and I will deliver Him unto you ? and they appoynted unto
him thirtie pieces of silver." 16 " And from that time, he sought
opportunitie to betray Him."
Act IV. iv. 273
P. Henry. " There is your Crowne ;
And he that weares the Crowne immortally
Long guard it yours."
Rev. xi. 15 " The kingdoms of this world are our Lord's and
His Christ's and He shall reigne for evermore."
Rev. xvii. 14 " Lorde of Lordes and King of Kings."
Rev. xix. 1 6 " The King of Kings and Lord of Lords."
Act IV. iv. 330
King Henry. " For what in me was purchas'd
Falles upon thee in a more Fayrer sort."
Compare
Acts xxii. 28 "And the chiefe captaine answered, With a
greate summe obtained I this freedome. Then Paul said, But I
was so born."
HENRY THE FOURTH 285
Act V. i. 78 Fahtaff. "It is certaine, that either wise bearing
or ignorant carriage, is caught as men take diseases, one of an
other : therefore, let men take heed of their companie."
Prov. xiii. 20 " He that walketh with the wise, shal be wise ;
but a companion of fooles shal be afflicted."
Ecclus. viii. 4 " Play not with a man that is untaught, lest
thy kinred be dishonoured."
i Cor. xv. 33 " Evil speakings corrupt good manners."
Wisd. of Sol. iv. 10 " So that whereas he lived among sinners,
he translated him. He was taken away, lest wickedness should
alter his understanding or deceit beguile his mind."
Act V. ii. i Warwick. " How now my Lord Chiefe Justice,
whither away ? "
Ch. Just. " How doth the King ? "
Warwick. " Exceeding well : his cares are now all ended."
Ch. Just. " I hope not dead."
Warwick. " He's walked the way of Nature
And to our purposes, he lives no more."
Eccles. iii. 20 " All goe to one place, and all was of the dust
and all shall returne to the dust."
Job iii. 17 " The wicked have there ceased from their tyrannic,
and they that laboured valiantly are at rest."
Rev. xiv. 13 "Then I heard a voyce from heaven saying
unto me, Write, the dead which die in the Lord are fully blessed.
Even so, saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours."
Act V. iii. 114 Shallow. " I am, sir, under the King, in some
authority."
Compare the reply of the Centurion-
Luke vii. 8 " For I likewise am a man set under authority, and
have under me souldiers, and I say unto one, Goe and he goeth."
Act V. v. 47
King. " I know thee not, old man ; fall to thy prayers ;
How ill white haires become a Foole and Jester."
Prov. xvi. 31 " Age is a crowne of glory, when it is found in
the way of righteousnesse."
Wisd. of Sol. iv. 8 " For the honourable age is not that of
which is of long time neither that which is measured by the
number of yeeres. But wisedome is the gray haire, and an unde-
filed life is the old age."
Tit. ii. 2 " That the elder men be watchfull, grave, temperate."
THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR.
" In all probability ' The Merry Wives of Windsor,' a comedy inclining to farce,
and unqualified by any pathetic interest, followed close upon ' Henry IV.' An im
perfect draft of the play was printed by Thomas Creede in 1602 ; the folio of 1623
first supplied a complete version." Sidney Lee, Life, pp. 171, 172.
Act I. i. 31 " Not a whit."
Act I. i. 82 " By yea and no I do."
Biblical expressions.
Act I. i. 146
Falstaff. "Pistol."
Pistol. " He hears with ears."
(Parson) Evans. " The tevil and his tarn ! what phrase is this,
* He hears with ear ? ' why it is affectations."
Luke viii. 8 " Hee that hath eares to heare, let him heare."
Is this a jest at Parson Evans because he did not know his
Bible?
Act I. iii. 33 Pistol. " Young ravens must have food."
Direct use of Scripture
Job xxxix. 3 " Who prepareth for the raven his meate, when
his birds crie unto God, wandering for lacke of meate."
Ps. cxlvii. 9 " Which giveth to beasts their foode, and to the
yong ravens that crie."
Act I. iii. 50 Falstaff. " Now, the report goes, she has all the
rule of her husband's purse ; she hath a legend of angels."
Pistol. " As many devils entertain."
Play on the word and incident in the Gospel
Luke viii. 30 " Then Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy
name ? and he said, Legion, because many devils were entred into
him."
Matt. xxvi. 53 "Twelve Legions of Angels."
Act I. iii. 84 Pistol. " And high and low beguile the rich and
poor."
(286)
THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR 287
A fragment of a Genevan Psalm (see Act II.), Ps. xlix.
2 " As well lowe and hie, both rich and poore."
Genevan Psalm, xlix., J. H.
" Both hye and low, both rich and poore
That in the world do dwell."
Pistol goes on to say
" And I to Ford shall eke unfold
How Falstaff, varlet vile,
His dove will prove, his gold will hold,
And his soft couch defile."
Compare Psalm xlix., J. H., in thought and metre
" I will incline mine eares to know
The parables so darke,
And open all my doubtfull speech
In meeter on my harpe."
Act I. iv. 9 Quickly. " An honest, willing, kind fellow, as ever
servant shall come in house withal ; and I warrant you, no tell-tale,
nor no breed-bate : his worst fault is, that he is given to prayer ; he
is something peevish that way, but nobody but has his fault ; but
let that pass."
Is this a commendation of the Puritan character ? If it
were the other way it would probably be cited as an
evidence of Shakespeare's hostility to the Puritans.
See Introduction.
Act I. iv. 36 Rugby. " Out alas ! here comes my Master."
Quickly. "We shall all be shent : Run in here, good young
man."
A very interesting word, Preterite or Past Participle of
Shend = (a) to blame, reprove, scold, revile ; (6) to
ruin, defeat, punish, destroy.
Used by Chaucer, Spenser, Peele, Dryden. It occurs in
Genevan Bible.
In the Psalms, Genevan, Ixxiii., Thomas Sternhold
" And free from all adversity
When other men be shent ;
And with the rest they take no part
Of plague or punishment."
Act I. iv. 94 " The very yea and the no is."
Direct use of Scripture.
288 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. i. 21 Mrs. Page. "What a Herod of Jurie is this, O
wicked, wicked world ! one that is well-nye worne to peeces with
age, to show himselfe a yong Gallant."
Herod had taken to wife the mother (Herodias) of the
dancer for whose sake John the Baptist was killed
Mark vi. 17 " For Herodias' sake, which was his brother
Philip's wife." 22 "And the daughter of the same Herodias
came in and daunced and pleased Herod and them that sate at
table together, the King saide to the maide, Aske of me what thou
wilt and I will give it thee."
Act II. i. 62 Mrs. Ford. " But they do no more adhere and
keep place together, than the Hundredth Psalm to the tune of
* Green Sleeves.' "
See also Act V. iv. igFalstaff. "Let the sky rain
potatoes ; let it thunder to the tune of Green Sleeves."
Phrases expressive of incongruity.
For an account of the tune " Green Sleeves " see Hawkins,
History of Music, in., p. 5 18, quoted by Warton, English
Poetry.
Act II. i. 113
Pistol. " He woos both high and low, both rich and poor.
Both young and old, one with another."
Pistol again quotes the Psalm, Ps. xlix. 2 " As well lowe
as hie, both rich and poore."
Ps. xlix., J. H.
" All people harken and give eare
To that that I shall tell ;
Both hye and lowe, both rich and poore
That in the world do dwell."
Act II. ii. 165 Ford. " If money go before, all wayes lie open."
For parallel in thought see
Eccles. x. 19 " Silver answereth to all."
Ecclus. xiii. 23 " If a rich man offend, he hath many helpers,
he speaketh proud words, and yet men justifie him."
Act III. i. 25 : Parson Evans (sings)
" Melodious birds sing madrigals ;
When as I sat in Pabylon,
And a thousand vagrom posies
To shallow ;"-
A fragment of a Metrical Psalm, compare Psalm cxxxvii. 2.
THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR 289
Act III. i. 44 Evans. "Pless you from his mercy sake, all of
you."
Shallow. "What! the Sword and the Word. Do you study
them both, Mr. Parson ? "
In his agitation Parson Evans quotes a line from Ps. vi. 4,
compare the Metrical Version
Ps. vi. 4, T. S.
" My soule is troubled very sore
And vexed vehemently
But Lord how long wilt thou delay
To cure my miserie.
Lord turne thee to thy wonted grace,
My sillie soule up take ;
O save me not for my deserts
But for thy mercies sake."
Compare " 2 Henry IV.," Act IV., " Turning the Word to
Sword," for a play upon the same words.
Phil. ii. 16 " Holding forth the Word of life."
Ephes. vi. 17 " The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
God."
Act III. i. 63 Parson Evans. "Got's will, and his passion of
my heart! I had as lief you would tell me of a messe of
porredge."
Page. "Why?"
Evans. " He has no more knowledge in Hibbocrates and Galen
and he is a knave besides : a cowardly knave, as you would
desires to be acquainted withal."
" Gallia and Guallia, French and Welch (as the Host says,
line 95), soul-curer and body-curer," are as closely
related as brothers, and Parson Evans seems to have
on his mind the knavery by which Jacob tricked Esau
his brother ; and " mess of porredge " would seem to be
a misquotation for " mess of pottage." Curiously
enough these words are not in the Bible narrative but
are used in the chapter heading of Gen. xxv.
Genevan Version " Esau selleth his birthright for a messe
of pottage."
The heading does not occur in the Authorised.
19
290 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. iii. 204 Evans. " Heaven forgive my sins at the day
of Judgment."
Act III. iii. 206 Page. "What spirit, what devil suggests this
imagination."
References to the Last Judgment and to the temptation of
Eve by the suggestions of the Serpent.
Act III. iv. 32
Anne. " O ! what a world of vilde ill favoured faultes
Lookes handsome in three hundred pounds a yeere."
Ecclus. xiii. 25 "When the rich man speaketh, eveiy man
holdeth his tongue ; and looke what he saith they praise it unto
the cloudes."
Eccles. x. 19 " Silver answereth to all."
James ii. 2 "For if there come into your company a man
with a golde ring, and in goodly apparell and there come in also
a poor man in vile raiment. And ye have respect to him that
weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou heere in a
goodly place, and say unto the poore, Stand thou there, or sit here
under my footstoole."
Act IV. ii. 102
Mrs. Page. " We do not act, that often jest and laugh ;
Tis old but true, Still swine eat all the draff."
A reference to the Prodigal and the swine. From the
Authorised Version one would assume that the Prodi
gal, being unable to gain food from any one, satisfied
his hunger with the husks that were set for the swine.
Luke xv. 1 6 "And he would fain have filled his belly with
the husks that the swine did eat : and no man gave unto him."
But Mrs. Page seems to say that the Prodigal did not even
receive the husks, although he would have been glad
enough of them " Still swine eat all the draff."
It is interesting to note that in the 1598 edition of the
Genevan Bible the following verse occurs, Luke xv.
1 6 " And he would faine have filled his belly with the
huskes that the swine ate, but no man gave them him.'
This verse exactly agrees with Mrs. Page's proverb
that the swine ate all. All the Versions give " no
man gave unto him " except Cranmer, " no man gave
THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR 291
him." The 1557 Genevan Version, " no man gave unto
him." I have not been able to find out the exact year
when " gave them him " first appeared in the Genevan,
but it is worth noting that the phrase is in the edition
of 1598, probably the year of the writing of the
" Merry Wives."
Act IV. ii. 151 Evans. "Master Ford, you must pray and
not follow the imaginations of your owne heart."
Direct use of Scripture
Gen. viii. 21 "The imagination of man's heart is evill, even
from his youth."
Luke i. 51 "Scattered the proude in the imagination of their
hearts."
Matt. xxvi. 41 "Watch and pray, lest ye enter into tentation."
Wic. " he scatered proude men with the thoughte of his
herte."
Tyn.,Cran.,Gen., Author. " the imagination of their hearts."
Rheims " in the conceit of their hart."
Act IV. ii. 20 1 " The witness of a good conscience."
2 Cor. i. 12 "The testimonie of our conscience, that in
simplicitie and godlie purenesse."
Rom. ix. i " My conscience bearing me witnesse in the Holy
Ghost."
Rom. ii. 15 "Their conscience also bearing witness."
Act IV. v. 3 Simple. " Marry sir, I come to speak with Sir
John Falstaff from Master Slender."
Host. " There's his chamber, his house, his castle, his standing
bed, and truckle-bed : tis painted about with the story of the
Prodigal, fresh and new."
Luke xv.
Act V. i. 24 Falstaff. " He beat me grievously, in the shape
of a woman ; for in the shape of man, Master Brook, I fear not
Goliah with a weaver's beam, because I know also, life is a
shuttle."
Direct use of Scripture
i Sam. xvii. 4 " Then came a man named Goliath of Gath."
7 " And the shaft of his speare was like a weaver's beame."
Job vii. 6 " My dayes are swifter than a weaver's shittle."
292 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act V. v. 60 " That it (Windsor Castle) may stand till the
perpetual doom."
Reference to the Day of Judgment
2 Peter iii. 10 " But the day of the Lord will come as a thiefe
in the night, in the which the heavens shall passe away with a
noyse, and the elements shall melt with heate, and the earth with
the works that are therein, shall be burnt up."
Act V. v. 157 Ford. "And one that is as slanderous as
Sathan?"
Page. " And as poor as Job."
Ford. " And as wicked as his wife ? "
A very accurate use of Scripture
Satan = accuser. For slander see
Job i. 9 " Then Satan answered the Lord and sayd, Doeth
Job feare God for nought? . . . See if he will not blaspheme Thee
to Thy face "(Job ii. 4, 5).
For poverty see
Job i. 21 "Naked came I out of my mother's wombe, and
naked shall I returne thither, the Lord hath given, and the Lord
hath taken it."
And for wickedness see
Job ii. 9 " Then said his wife unto him, Doest thou continue
yet in thine uprightnes ? Blaspheme God, and dye."
Genevan Note" Satan useth the same instrument against
Job as hee did against Adam," his wife.
" Afflicted by the sharpe tentations of his wife."
HENRY THE FIFTH.
Performed early in 1599. Thomas Creede in 1600 printed an imperfect draft.
Complete version First Folio, 1623.
Act I. i. 19 Ely. " This would drink deepe."
Canter. " 'Twould drink the cup and all."
A figure of completion.
Compare the Biblical use Matt. xxvi. 39, 42
Isa. li. 17 "Which hast drunke at the hande of the Lord the
cup of His wrath : thou hast drunken the dregges of the cup of
trembling and wrung them out."
Act I. i. 22 "The King is full of grace and faire regarde."
Use of Scripture words
John i. 14 "Full of grace and truth."
Luke i. 28
Wic., Tyn., Cran., Rheims " Heil, full of grace."
Gen. " freely beloved."
Author." highly favoured."
Act I. i. 25
Canter. " The breath no sooner left his Father's body
But that his wildnesse, mortify' d in him,
Seem'd to dye too : yea, at that very moment
Consideration like an Angell came
And whipt tti offending A dam out of him,
Leaving his body as a Paradise
T' invelop and containe celestiall spirits."
Direct references and use of Bible words
Genevan Psalms: "The Complaint of a Sinner"
" That I with sinne repleat
May live and sinne may dye y
That being mortified
This sinne of mine in me
I may be sanctified
By grace of thine in thee."
(293)
294 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Col. iii. 3 " For yee are dead and your life is hid with
Christ in God." 5 " Mortifie therefore your members which are
on earth."
Gen. iii. 23 "The Lord God sent him foorth from the Gar
den of Eden, to till the earth whence he was taken. Thus he
cast out man, and at the East side of the Garden of Eden he set
the Cherubims, and the blade of a sword shaken, to keepe the way
of the tree of life."
Rev. ii. 7 " To him that overcometh, wil I give to eate of the
tree of life, which is in the mids of the Paradise of God."
I Cor. iii. 16 "Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God,
and that the Spirite of God dwelleth in you."
Act I. ii. 6
Canter. " God and His angels guard your sacred throne
And make you long become it."
For the thought compare
1 Sam. ii. 10 " The Lord shall give power unto his king, and
exalt the home of his Anoynted."
2 Sam. vii. 1 3 " I wil stablish the throne of his kingdom for
ever."
Ps. xci. n "For Hee shal give his Angells charge over thee
to keepe thee in all thy ways."
Act I. ii. 23
King. " We charge you in the Name of God take heed :
For never two such kingdoms did contend,
Without much fall of blood, whose guiltlesse drops
Are every one a woe, a sore Complaint
'Gainst him, whose wrongs give edge unto the swords
That make such waste in brief mortality."
Direct references
I Tim. vi. 1 3 " I charge thee in the sight of God."
Prov. xxx. 9 " Take the Name of my God in vaine."
Gen. iv. 10 "The voyce of thy brother's blood cryeth unto
me from the earth. Now therefore art thou cursed from the
earth."
Gen. ix. 5 " At the hand of man, even at the hand of a man's
brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheadeth man's
blood by man shall his blood bee shead."
HENRY THE FIFTH 295
Act I. ii. 29
King. " Under this conjuration, speak, my lord,
And we will heare note and beleeve in heart
That what you speake is in your Conscience washt
As pure as sinne with Baptisme."
Compare Collect for Second Sunday in Advent. Genevan
Bible " in such wise heare them, reade, marke, learne,
and inwardly digest them."
Rom. x. 9 " For if thou shalt confesse with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart." 10 "With the
heart man beleeveth unto righteousnesse."
Luke viii. 15 "But that which fell in good ground, are they
which with an honest and good heart heare the worde, and keepe it."
Acts xxii. 1 6 " Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy
sinnes, in calling on the name of the Lord."
I Tim. iii. 9 " Having the mysterie of the faith in pure
conscience."
Heb. x. 22 " Let us draw near with a true heart in assurance
of faith, our hearts being pure from an evill conscience and washed
in our bodies with pure water."
Act I. ii. 59 " Who died within the year of our Redemption
foure hundred twentie six."
Reference to the Lord Jesus Christ
i Cor. i. 30 " But ye are of Him in Christ Jesus, who of God
is made unto us wisedome and righteousnesse and sanctification
and redemption."
Col. i. 14 " In whome we have redemption through His blood."
Act I. ii. 97
Canter. " The sinne upon my head, dread Soveraigne :
For in the Booke of Numbers is it writ,
When the man dyes, let the Inheritance
Descend unto the Daughter."
Direct references
i Kings ii. 32 " The Lorde shall u bring his blood upon his
owne heade."
i Sam. xxv. 39 "Recompensed the wickedness of Nabal
upon his owne head."
The answer of Moses the Law Giver to the daughters of
Zelophehad.
296 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Num. xxvii. 8 " Also thou shalt speake unto the children of
Israel saying, If a man die and have no sonne, then yee shall turne
his inheritance unto his daughter."
Act I. ii. 184
Canter. " Therefore doth heaven divide
The state of man -in divers functions,
Setting endevour in continuall motion."
Compare St. Paul's argument of the diversities of gifts
i Cor. xii. 12 "For as the body is one and hath many
members, and all the members of the body, which is one, though
they be many, yet are but one body." 4 " There are diversities
of gifts." 5 " Diversities of administrations." 6 " Diversities of
operations."
Act II. ii. 32 : King Henry
" We therefore have great cause for thankfulness ;
And shall forget the office of our hand
Sooner than quittance of desert and merit."
For a parallel in thought which may have suggested the
words
Ps. cxxxvii. 5 " If I forget thee O Jerusalem, let my right
hand forget to play."
Author. " her cunning."
Act II. ii. 93 : King Henry
" Ingrateful, savage, and inhuman creature !
Thou, that didst beare the key of all my counsailes,
That knew'st the very bottome of my soule,
That (almost) might'st have coyn'd me into Golde."
For a remote parallel compare
Ps. Iv. 12 " Surely mine enemie did not defame me, for I
could have borne it: neither did mine adversarie exalt himselfe
against mee : for I would have hidde me from him. But it was
thou, O man, even my companion, my guide and familiar, which
delited in consulting together."
Ps. xli., T. S., Genevan
" The man also that I did trust
With me did use deceit,
Who at my table eate my bread
The same for me layd wayt."
HENRY THE FIFTH 297
Act IL ii. no: King Henry
" And whatsoever cunning fiend it was
That wrought upon thee so preposterously
Hath got the voyce in hell for excellence :
And other devils that suggest by treasons
Do botch and bungle up damnation
With patches, colours, and with formes being fetcht
From glittering semblances of piety."
References to the Temptations recorded in Scripture, to Eve
and the Serpent, and the Tempter's use of the " glitter
ing semblances of piety," of sentences from Holy Writ
in the Temptation of our Lord, and to the text in
Corinthians.
Gen. iii. I " Now the serpent was more subtill then any beast
of the field which the Lorde God hath made : and hee sayd to the
woman, Yea, hath God indeede sayd, Yee shall not eate of every
tree of the garden."
Matt, iv., Luke iv.
2 Cor. xi. 14 " For Satan himselfe is transformed into an
Angel of Light."
Act II. ii. 120: King Henry
"If that same Daemon that hath gull'd thee thus
Should with his Lyon-gate walke the whole world,
He might returne to vastie Tartar backe,
And tell the Legions I can never win
A soule so easie as that Englishman's."
Direct references to Scripture
I Peter v. 8 " For your adversary the devill as a roaring lyon
walketh about seeking whom he may devoure."
Genevan Psalms : " Complaint of a Sinner "-
" But vouchsafe me to keepe
From those infernal foes,
And from that lake so deepe
Whereas no mercy growes."
Mark v. 9 "My name is Legion for we are many." 12
" And all the devils besought him."
Prov. xi. 30 " He that winneth soules is wise."
Act II. ii. 132 King Henry. "Constant in spirit, not swerving
with the blood."
298 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Seems to be a play oh the words in
Rom. xii. n "Fervent in Spirit, serving the Lord."
Act II. ii. 137 : King Henry
" And thus thy fall hath left a kinde of blot
To mark the full fraught man, and best indeed
With some suspicion. I will weepe for thee ;
For this revolt of thine, methinks, is like
Another fall of Man."
A reference to the widespread results of the Fall of our
first parents. Compare
Rom. viii. 22 " For we know that every creature groneth with
us also, and travaileth in paine together unto this present. And
not only the creature, but we also, which have the first fruites of
the spirit, even wee doe sigh in our selves."
Rom. v. 14 " But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even
over them also that sinned not after the like manner of the trans
gression of Adam."
Act II. ii. 150 Scroop. "Our purposes God justly hath dis-
cover'd."
Isa. iii. 17 "The Lord shal discover their secret partes."
Ezek. xxi. 24 " Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Because
ye have made your iniquitie to be remembered in discovering your
rebellion that in all your workes your sinnes might appeare."
Met. Psalm, vii., 2nd part, T. S.
" Thus wrong returneth to the hurt
Of him in whom it bred,
And all the mischief that he wrought
Shall fall upon his head."
Act II. ii. 165 : King* Henry
" God quit you in His mercy : Hear your sentence.
You have conspir'd against our Royall Person,
Joyn'd with an enemy proclaim'd, and from his coffers,
Receyv'd the Golden Earnest of our death :
Wherein you would have sold your King to slaughter."
Reference to the betrayal by Judas
Exod. xxi. 19 " He that smote him shall goe quite."
Ephes. i. 14 "The earnest of our inheritance."
Rheims " pledge."
HENRY THE FIFTH 299
Matt. xxvi. 1 5 " And sayd, What will ye give me, and I will
deliver Him unto you ? and they appoynted unto him thirtie pieces
of silver. And from that time he sought opportunitie to betray
Him."
Act II. ii. 176 : King Henry
" Get you therefore hence
(Poore miserable wretches) to your death :
The taste whereof, God of his mercy give
You patience to endure, and true Repentance
Of all your deare offences."
The phrase " taste of death" is in all the Versions.
Luke ix. 27 " Which shall not taste of death."
Heb. ii. 9 " He might taste death for all men."
Wisd. of Sol. xviii. 25 "They had tasted the wrath."
Met. Psalm xlix., J. H.
" But shall at length tast of deathes cup."
Met. Psalm xxii., T. S.
" All that shall go downe to dust
Of life by him must tast."
James v. ii "Behold we count .them blessed which endure.
Yee have heard of the patience of Job and have known what ende
the Lorde made. For the Lord is very pitifull and mercifull."
Acts xi. 1 8 " Granted repentance unto life."
Act II. ii.
" That I may know the let, why gentle peace
Should not expel these inconveniences."
Here the word let = hindrance.
" Romeo and Juliet," Act II. ii. " Therefore my kinsman are
no let to me." Bishop Wordsworth, p. 37, says that
the word let, hindrance, does not occur in the Bible
"Shakespeare also uses the substantive let = hind
rance, which does not occur in the Bible."
In Acts xxviii. 31 the Genevan Version, 1598, gives the
following " Preaching the Kingdome of God, and
teaching those things which concerne the Lord Jesus
Christ, with all boldnesse of speech without let."
The Genevan is the only Version which gives " let."
Notes on the 84th Psalm, 6th verse, we have the plural =
3oo SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
hindrances, " signifying that no lets can hinder them
that are fully bent to come to Christ's Church."
Let, lets, letted, are common words in the Genevan Version.
Act II. iii. 9 Mrs. Quickly. "Nay sure, he's not in hell;
he's in Arthur's bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. A'
made a finer end, and went away and it had beene any Christome
child."
" Arthur's bosom," Mrs. Quickly's mistake for " Abraham's
bosom "
Luke xvi. 22 " Caried by the Angels into Abraham's
bosome." 23 "Saw Abrahame afar off and Lazarus in his
bosome."
" The Christom " was the white robe placed upon a child at
its baptism, a token of forgiveness, innocence and
purity.
Isa. i. 1 8 "Though your sinnes were as crimson, they shall
be made white as snowe; though they were red like skarlet,
they shalbe as wooll."
Act II. iii. 1 5 " I knew there was but one way ; for his nose was
as sharp as a pen, and a table of greene fields. How now, Sir
John (quoth I) : what, man ? be a good cheere : So a' ciyed out
God, God, God, three or foure times : now I to comfort him bid
him a' should not thinke of God, I hop'd there was no neede to
trouble himselfe with any such thoughts yet."
The Folio gives " a Table of greene fields," but Theobald's
emendation is generally accepted, " a' babbled of green
fields."
This has been considered by many to be a reference to the
words of the 23rd Psalm " He maketh me to lie
down in green pastures," but note" (a) if Falstaffs
babbling and calling upon God was the half-conscious
straying of memory to early days, we would expect an
exact reproduction of words so learned. But the
phrase " green fields " does not occur in any of the
Versions. (6) Falstaff was a Prodigal who had sinned
deeply against knowledge, for he knew his Bible well.
The 23rd Psalm is essentially a believer's Psalm, the
expression of one who has tasted and seen that the
Lord is gracious.
HENRY THE FIFTH 301
Ephraim is the Prodigal of the Old Testament, as the
Prodigal Son is of the New Testament. Ephraim,
not as an individual but as a nation. At the time of
the Babylonian Captivity Ephraim received a promise
of the forgiveness of God, and the token of that for
giveness was the Levites' field purchased by Jeremiah,
and set apart as a national object-lesson. The Levites'
field was a meadow of rich pasture-land. Wherever
the "untamed Calf Ephraim," wanton and careless,
wandered, every green field would remind him of the
promised forgiveness of God. During the long cap
tivity the preachers of Israel had one great theme
wherewith to cheer the hearts of the people, and that
was the green field which lay in Anathoth, beside the
city of Jerusalem. Falstaff was the Prodigal who was
realising the agonies of a sinful man's death, a passing
away which would be of awful blackness were it not
lightened by the gleam of hope which comes from the
promise of the mercy of God. The poor old rake had
come to the last solemn stage of life's journey, the old
companions were -of no use to him, the Bardolphs, the
Nyms, and the Tearsheets ; his bruise was incurable
and his wound dolorous, and the soul so long laden and
hampered with the thick clay was beginning to break
free, and the strong mind to assert itself as it was com
pelled to face the Eternal. The death he owed to God
could be no longer delayed in the payment, and the
terrors of the Unseen pressed in upon his soul. He
cried out in an agony of repentance, God, God, God,
three or four times, and the listening Mrs. Quickly
heard him babble of green fields. Puritans who knew
their Bibles were familiar enough with the sign of the
green field which meant so much to wanton and
prodigal Israel, and it is a fair inference that the poet
who drew Sir John Falstaff knew enough of his Bible
to be able to place in the mouth of the dying Prodigal
words most suitable for the occasion, and the fittest for
the circumstances of the man who uttered them.
Jer. xxx. 5 " For thus sayth the Lord, Wee have heard a
terrible voyce, of feare and not of peace." "Thy bruising is
302 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
incurable and thy wound is dolorous. There is none to judge thy
cause, or to lay a plaister, there are no medicines nor help for thee."
Jer. xxxi. 18 "I have heard Ephraim lamenting, Thou hast
corrected me, and I was chastised as an untamed calf; convert
thou me, and I shall be converted, for thou art the Lord my God."
Compare also for similar passages Ezek. xxxiv. 14 et seq.
" I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that
which was driven away, and will bind up that which
was broken."
For the purchase of the field and its significance see Jer.
xxxii., and for the promises, Jer. xxxiii. " Behold
I will bring health and cure, and I will cure them,
and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace
and truth. And I will cleanse them from all their
iniquity whereby they have sinned against Me, and
I will pardon all their iniquities."
Act II. iii. 29 Nym. " They say, he cried out of sack."
Hostesse. " I, that a' did."
Bard. " And of Women."
Hostesse. " Nay, that a' did not."
Boy. " Yes, that a' did, and said they were Devils incarnate."
Woman. "A' could never abide carnation, twas a colour he
never lik'd."
Boy. " A' said once, the Devil would have him about women."
Hostesse. " A' did in some sort (indeede) handle Women : but
then hee was rumatique and talk'd of the whore of Babylon."
The Puritan designation for Rome
Rev. xvii. 3 " I sawe a woman sit upon a skarlet coloured
beast. And in her forehead was a name written, a mysterie, that
great Babylon, the mother of whoredoms and abominations of the
earth. And I sawe the woman drunken with the blood of
Saintes."
Genevan Note " A skarlet colour, that is, with a red and
purple garment, and surely it was not without cause
that the Romish clergie were so delighted with this
colour."
Genevan Note by Francis Junius "That harlot, the
spirituall Babylon, which is Rome. She is described
by her attire, profession, and deedes."
HENRY THE FIFTH 303
Act II. iii. 51
Pistol. " Trust none,
For oath's are straws, men's faiths are wafer cakes"
A Puritan phrase used against the Roman Catholic method
of observing the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Com
pare also " wafer-gods," a common Puritan expression.
Act II. iii. 55
Pistol. " Let us to France, like horse-leeches, my boys,
To sucke, to sucke, the very blood to sucke."
Prov. xxx. 15 "The horse-leech hath two daughters which
crie, Give, Give."
Genevan Note "The leech hath two forkes in her tongue,
which here bee called her two daughters, whereby she
sucketh the blood and is never satiate : even so are the
covetous extortioners insatiable."
Act II. iv. 100
Exeter. " Therefore in fierce Tempest is he comming,
In Thunder and in Earthquake, like a Jove,
And bids you in the Bowels of the Lord
Deliver up the Crowne, and to take mercie
On the poore soules, for whom this hungry Warre
Opens his vastie Jawes ; and on your head
Turning the Widdowes' Teares, the Orphanes' Cryes."
For Biblical parallels in word and thought compare the
following
Isa. xix. i "Beholde the Lord rideth on a swift cloud."
Exod. xix. 1 8 " And Mount Sinai was all on smoke, because
the Lord came down upon it in fire, and the smoke thereof
ascended as the smoke of a fornace and all the mount trembled
exceedingly." 16 "There was thunders and lightnings and a
thicke cloude upon the mount, and the sounde of a trumpet exceed
ing loude."
Philem. 20 " Comfort my bowels in the Lord."
Phil. ii. i " If any compassion and mercy."
Author. " bowels and mercies."
Jer. xlvi. 10 " For the sword shall devour and it shalbe satiate
and made drunke with their blood."
Ps. Ixviii. 5 " He is a father of the fatherlesse, and a Judge
of the Widowes."
304 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Ecclus. xxxv. 14, 15 "He despiseth not the desire of the
fatherles, nor the widow when she powreth out her prayer. Doth
not the teares run downe the widow's cheekes, and her cry is
against him that causeth them : for from her cheeks do they go up
unto heaven, and the Lord which heareth them doeth accept them."
Act III. ii. $Nym. "The humour of it is too hot, that is the
very plain-song of it."
Pistol. " The plain-song is most just ;
For humors doe abound :
Knocks come and goe ;
Gods vassals drop and die :
And Sword and Shield in bloody Field
Doth winne immortall fame."
Boy. " Would I were in an ale-house in London. I would gh
all my fame for a pot of ale, and safety."
Pistol. " And I :
If wishes would prevayle with me,
My purpose should not fail with me,
But thither would I high."
Boy. " As duly
But not as truly
As Bird doth sing on bough."
The play on the word "plain-song" is clear, and Pistol
seems to caricature one of the Genevan Psalms. The
metre is familiar, but I have not been able to find a
parallel in the Genevan collection.
Act III. ii. 37 Boy. "For Nym, he hath heard that men of
few words are the best men, and therefore hee scornes to say his
Prayers, lest a' should be thought a coward : but his few bad words
are match with as few good Deeds."
A reference to the text in Ecclesiastes
Eccles. v. I " Be not rash with thy mouth, nor let thine heart
be hastie to utter a thing before God, for God is in the heavens
and thou art on the earth, therefore let thy words be few." 5
" Suffer not thy mouth to make thy flesh to sinne, neither say
before the Angell that this is ignorance."
Act III. iii. 15
" What is it then to me, if impious war,
Array'd in flames like to the Prince of 'fiends.
HENRY THE FIFTH 305
Do, with his smirched complexion, all fell feats
Enlink'd to waste and desolation."
Compare numerous references to Satan as the Destroyer
and to the flames of the pit. In the Genevan Version
" Godly Prayers," the words occur, " but with the
Devill which is the Prince of Darkenesse."
Act III. iii. 24
" We may as bootlesse spend our vaine Command
Upon th' enraged Souldiers in their Spoyle.
As send precepts to the Leviathan
To come ashore."
Direct reference
Job xl. 20 " Canst thou draw out Liviathan with an hooke
and with a line which thou shalt cast downe unto his tongue."
22 " Will hee make many prayers unto thee, or speake thee faire.
Will hee make a covenant with thee ? and wilt thou take him as a
servant for ever."
Job xli. 15 " His heart is as strong as a stone, and as hard as
the nether millstone."
Act III. iii. 38
" Your naked Infants spitted upon Pykes,
Whiles the mad mothers, with their howles confus'd
Doe breake the cloudes : as did the wives of Jewry
At Herod's bloody-hunting slaughter men."
Direct reference to Scripture
Matt. ii. 1 6 "Then Herod when he saw that he was mocked
of the wise men was exceeding wroth and sent forth, and slew all
the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof."
1 8 " In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation and weeping
and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would
not be comforted because they are not."
Jer. xxxi. 1 5 " Thus saith the Lord, A voyce was heard on hie,
a mourning and bitter weeping, Rahel weeping for her children."
Dan. v. 1 3 " Brought out of Jewrie."
Act III. vi. 7 Fluellen. "A man that I do love and honour
with my soule and my heart, and my dutie, and my love, and my
living and my uttermost power."
A paraphrase of the words
20
306 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Luke x. 27 " And hee answered and sayde, Thou shalt love
thy Lord God with all thine heart, and with all thy soule, and
with all thy strength, and with all thy thought and thy neighbour
as thyselfe."
Deut. vi. 5 " And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thine heart, and with all thy soule, and with all thy might."
Act III. vi. 119 "Though we seemed dead, we did but
sleepe."
For remote Scripture parallels see
Mark v. 39 " The childe is not dead but sleepeth."
John xi. ii "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." 13 " Howbeit
Jesus spake of His death : but they thought that He had spoken of
the naturall sleepe."
Act III. vi. 156
" Yet God before, tell him we will come on,
Though France himself, and such another neighbour
Stand in our way."
Isa. Hi. 1 2 " The Lord will go before you."
Ps. xxxiv. 7 " The Angel of the Lord pitcheth round about
them that feare Him and delivereth them."
Act III. vi. 169 "We are in God's hand, Brother, not in
theirs."
Isa. 1. 2 " Is Mine hand so shortened that it cannot helpe? or
have I no power to deliver ? "
Isa. lix. i " Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it
cannot save."
Isa. xlix. 1 6 " Beholde I have graven thee upon the palme of
Mine hands, thy wals are ever in My sight."
Act III. vii. 28 Dauphin. " It is the Prince of Palfrayes, his
neigh is like the bidding of a monarch and his countenance enforces
homage."
For the whole speech compare the passage in Job
Job xxxix. 22 " Hast thou given the horse strength, or
covered his necke with neying, his strong neying is fearefull."
24 " He diggeth in the valley and rejoyceth in his strength, he
goeth foorth to meete the har nest man." 25 "Hee mocketh at
feare, and is not afrayd and turneth not backe from the
sword."
HENRY THE FIFTH 307
Act III. vii. 62 Constable of France. " I could make as true a
boast as that, if I had a Sow to my Mistresse."
Dauphin. " Le chien est retourne a son propre vomissement, et
la (truie) lavee au bourbier."
2 Peter ii. 22 " The dogge is returned to his owne vomit ;
and the Sowe that was washed, to the wallowing in the myre."
Bishop Wordsworth points out that this is quoted from the
French Version of the Genevan Bible " The text of
St. Peter is given in French almost exactly from the
Genevan Bible of 1588."
Act IV. Chorus 17 " Prowd of their numbers and secure in
soule."
For a remote parallel compare
Jud. viii. 1 1 " And Gideon smote the host : for the hoste was
carelesse."
Chorus 41
" That every wretch, pining and pale before,
Beholding him, plucks comfort from his Lookes :
A Largesse universall, like the Sunne
His liberall Eye doth give to everyone"
Matt. v. 45 " For He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and
on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."
Ecclus. xlii. 1 6 " The sun that shineth looketh upon al things,
and al the worke thereof is ful of the glory of the Lord."
Act IV. i. 4 : King Henry
" God Almightie
There is some soule of goodnesse in things evill
Would men observingly distill it out."
For parallels see
Rom. viii. 28 " Also we know that all things work together
for good."
2 Cor. xii. 9 " My grace is sufficient for thee, for My power
is made perfect through weaknesse."
Gen. xli. 52 " God hath made me fruitfull in the land of mine
affliction."
Job xlii. 12 " So the Lorde blessed the last days of Job more
then the first."
Judg. xiv. 14 " Out of the eater came meate, and out of the
strong came sweetnesse."
3 o8 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act IV. i. 8-
" For our bad Neighbour makes us early stirrers,
Which is both healthfull and good husbandly :
Besides, they are our outward Consciences,
And Preachers to us all : admonishing
That we should dresse us fairly for our end.
Thus may we gather Honey from the Weed,
And make a Morall of the Divell himselfe."
Act IV. i. 1 8
" Tis good for men to love their present pains
Upon example."
Ps. cxix. 67 " Before I was afflicted I went astray : but nowe
I keepe Thy worde."
Genevan Note " The use of God's roddes is to call us home
to God."
Prov. x. 5 " He that gathereth in summer is the sonne of wise-
dome : but he that sleepeth in harvest is the sonne of confusion."
Prov. xx. 1 3 " Love not sleep, lest thou come unto povertie,
open thine eyes and thou shalt be satisfied with bread."
Prov. xxxi. 15 "She riseth while it is yet night. She con-
sidereth a field and getteth it, and with the fruit of her hands she
planteth a vineyard."
Act IV. i. 77 Fluellen. " If the enemy is an ass and a fool
and a prating coxcomb, is it meet, think you, that we should also,
look you, be an ass and a fool and a prating coxcomb : in your
own conscience now ? "
Exod. xxiii. 2 " Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evill,
neither agree in a controversie to decline after many and overthrowe
the trueth."
Act IV. i. 101 King Henry. "Though I speak it to you, I
think the King is but a man as I am. The violet smells to him
as it doth to me : the element shows to him as it doth to me : all
his senses have but human conditions : in his nakedness he appears
but a man."
Eccles. iii. 20 " All goe to one place, and all was of the dust
and all shall returne to the dust."
Acts x. 34 " God is no accepter of persons."
Job xxxiv. 19 " Accepteth not the persons of princes and
HENRY THE FIFTH 309
regardeth not the rich more then the poore ? for they bee all the
worke of his handes."
Line 133 Williams. " But if the Cause be not good, the King
himselfe hath a heavie Reckoning to make, when all those Legges,
and Armes and Heads chopt off in a battaile shall joyne together
at the latter day and cry all, wee dy'd at such a place."
The figure is evidently taken from the Bible narrative in
Ezek. xxxvii. 7 " There was a shaking, and the bones came
together, bone to his bone."
Rev. xx. 12 "And I sawe the dead, both great and small,
stand before God, and the sea gave up her dead which were in her,
and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them."
Act IV. i. 165 King Henry. " Now, if these men have de
feated the Lawe, and outrun native punishment : though they can
outstrip men they have no wings to flye from God. Warre is His
beadle, Warre is His vengeance : where they feared the death, they
have borne life away, and where they would bee safe, they perish.
Then if they die unprovided, no more is the King guiltie of their
damnation, than hee was before guiltie of^those Impieties, for the
which they are now visited."
Jer. xxiii. 22-24 "They should have turned them from the
evil way and from the wickednesse of their inventions. Am I a God
at hand, sayth the Lord, and not a God farre off? Can any hide
himselfe in secret places, that I shall not see him sayth the Lord."
Jer. li. 20 " Thou art mine hammer and weapons of warre :
for with thee will I breake the nations."
Num. xxxii. 23 " Ye have sinned against the Lorde, and be
sure that your sinne will find you out."
Exod. xxxii. 34 " In the day of my visitation I will visite
their sinne upon them."
Gal. vi. 7 " Bee not deceived : God is not mocked : for what
soever a man soweth that shall hee also reape."
Line 175 " Therefore should every souldier in the warres doe
as every sicke man in his bed, wash every moth out of his con
science, and dying so, Death is to him advantage : or not dying, the
time was blessedly lost, wherein such preparation was gayned : and
in him that escapes, it were not sinne to think that making God so
free an offer, He let him outlive that day to see His Greatnesse and
to teach others how they should prepare."
3 io SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Job xi. 14, 15 " If iniquitie be in thine hand put it farre away,
and let no wickednesse dwelle in thy Tabernacle. Then truely
shalt thou lift up thy face without spot and shalt be stable and not
feare."
2 Peter iii. 14 " Be diligent that ye may be found of Him in
peace, without spot and blamelesse."
Luke vi. 42 " Cast out the beame out of thine owne eye first,
and then shalt thou see perfectly to pul out the mote that is
in thy brother's eye."
Phil. i. 21 "For Christ is to me both in life and in death
advantage."
Wic. " to die is wynnynge."
Rheims, Author. " to die is gaine."
Tyn. " a vauntage."
Cran. and Gen. "advantage."
Isa. xxxviii. 5 " Goe and tell Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord
God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer and scene thy
teares : beholde I will adde unto thy dayes fifteene yeeres."
Isa. xxxviii. 16 " O Lord, to them that overlive them and to
all that are in them, the life of my spirite shall be knowen, that
Thou causedst me to sleepe and hast given life to me. Behold for
felicitie I had bitter griefe, but it was Thy pleasure to deliver my
soule from the pit of corruption : for Thou hast cast all my sinnes
behind Thy back."
" Tis certaine, every man that dyes ill, the ill is upon his owi
head, the King is not to answer it."
Ps. vii., 2nd part, Genevan, T. S.
" Thus wrong returneth to the hurt
Of him in whom it bred,
And all the mischief that he wrought
Shall fall upon his head."
Joel iii. 7 " Render your reward upon your owne head."
i Sam. xxv. 39 "Recompensed the wickednesse of Nal
upon his owne head."
i Kings ii. 32 "The Lord shall bring his blood upon
owne head."
Act IV. i. 266 : King Henry
" Not all these, lay'd in Bed Majesticall,
Can sleepe so soundly as the wretched slave,
HENRY THE FIFTH 311
Who with a body fill'd and vacant mind
Gets him to rest, cramd with distressefull bread"
Eccles. v. 12 "The sleepe of him that travaileth is sweete,
whether he eate litle or much, but the sacietie (Margin, surfeting,
great abundance) of the rich will not suffer him to sleepe."
The phrase " distressful bread " does not occur in Scripture,
but we have "the bread of tears" (Ps. Ixxx. 5), and in
the 1 27th Psalm, the Genevan Marginal Note seems
to come near the idea of Shakespeare's lines.
Ps. cxxvii. 2 " It is in vaine for you to rise earely and to lie
downe late and eate the bread of sorow : but He will surely give
rest to His beloved."
Author. " So he giveth His beloved sleep."
The Genevan Note explains " bread of sorrow," " Either
that which is gotten by hard labour, or eaten with
griefe of mind."
Act IV. i. 288 : King Henry
" O God of Battailes, steele my Souldiers' hearts ;
Possesse them not with feare."
Ps. Ixiv. i " Heare my voyce, O Godwin my prayer : preserve
my life from feare of the enemie."
2 Chron. xx. 15 "Feare you not, neither be afraide for this
great multitude : for the battle is not yours but God's."
1 Chron. v. 20 " They cried to God in the battle and Hee
heard them."
Exod. xv. 3 " The Lord is a man of warre."
Ps. xxiv. 8 " The Lord strong and mightie, the Lord mightie
in battell."
Isa. xiii. 4 " The Lord of hostes nombreth the hoste of the
battell."
2 Chron. xxxii. 8 "With us is the Lord our God for to
helpe us and to fight our battels."
Act IV. i. 301
" More will I do ;
Though all that I can do is nothing worth,
Since that my penitence comes after all,
Imploring pardon."
Luke xvii. 10 "When ye have done all those things which
are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants."
312 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Isa. Ixiv. 6.
Act IV. ii. 23 : Constable of France
" Let us but blow on them,
The vapour of our valour will oreturne them."
Compare the song of triumph when the army of Egypt
had been overwhelmed in the sea.
Exod. xv. 7 " And in Thy great glory Thou hast over-
throwen them that rose against Thee : Thou sentest forth Thy wrath
which consumed them as the stubble. And by the blast of Thy
nostrels the waters were gathered."
Isa. xl. 24 "For He did even blowe upon them and they
withered, and the whirlewinde will take them away as stubble."
Ezek. xxi. 31 "I will blowe against thee in the fire of My
wrath."
Act IV. iii. 27
" Such outward things dwell not in my desire :
But if it be a sinne to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive."
Reference to the Tenth Commandment
Exod. xx. 17 "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house,
neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant,
nor his mayde, nor his oxe, nor his asse, neyther anything that is
thy neighbour's."
Act IV. iii. 34
" Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he, which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart, his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse :
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us."
Judg. vii. 3 " Now therefore proclaim in the audience of the
people and say, Whoso is timerous or fearefull, let him returne and
depart early from Mount Gilead."
Notice that Westmoreland wished for ten thousand men,
which is one number of Gideon's army. Compare
Jud. vii. 3.
2 Mace. xiv. 1 8 "Nevertheless Nicanor hearing the manli
ness of them that were with Judas and the bolde stomaches that
they had for their country."
HENRY THE FIFTH 313
Act IV. iii. 70 King Henry. "All things are ready, if our
minds be so."
A reference to the Great Supper as recorded in the Gospel
of Luke is well brought out by comparing the Genevan
with the other Versions.
Wic. " all begunnen togidre to excusen hem."
Cran. " all at once beganne."
Tyn. " at once beganne."
Rheims " began all at once."
Author. " with one consent."
Gen., Luke xiv. 17, 18 "And sent his servant at supper
time to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all
things are nowe ready. But they all with one minde
began to make excuse."
Act IV. iii. 82-
Montjoy. " Besides, in mercy,
The Constable desires thee thou wilt mind
Thy followers of Repentance ; that their soules
May make a peacefull and a sweet retyre
From off these fields."
Acts xxvi. 20 " That they should repent and turne to God
and do works worthy amendment of life."
2 Cor. vii. 10 " For godly sorrow causeth repentance unto
salvation, not to be repented of, but the worldly sorow causeth
death."
2 Peter iii. 9 " The Lord is patient toward us, and would
have no man perish but would all men come to repentance."
Act IV. vi. 26
" And so, espous'd to death, with blood he seal'd
A Testament of Noble-ending Love."
Compare
1 Cor. xi. 25 "The Newe Testament in My blood."
Heb. x. 29 " Counteth the blood of the Testament an unholy
thing wherewith he was sanctified."
2 Cor. i. 22 " Who hath also sealed us and hath given the
earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."
Heb. viii. 6" He is the Mediatour of a better Testament."
Act IV. vii. 60
" And make them skirr away, as swift as stones
Enforced from the old Assyrian slings."
3H SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Judith ix. 7 " Behold, the Assyrians are multiplied by their
power : they have exalted themselves with horses and horsemen :
they glory in the strength of their footmen, they truste in shield,
speare and bowe and sling."
Act IV. vii. 88 King Henry. " Praised be God, and not our
strength, for it."
Judith xiii. 14 "Then she saide to them with a loud voyce,
Praise God, praise God : for Hee hath not taken away His mercie
from the house of Israel, but hath destroyed our enemies by mine
hands this night."
Act IV. vii. 135 Fluellen. " Though he be as good a gentle
man as the devil is, as Lucifer and Belzebub himself, it is neces
sary, look your grace, that he keep his vow and his oath. If he
be perjured, see you now, his reputation is as arrant a villain, and
a Jack-sauce, as ever his black shoe trod upon God's ground and
His earth, in my conscience, la."
Fluellen here refers to the Devil as a gentleman.
Lucifer was high in heaven before his fall (Isa. xiv. i
and the Devil is spoken of as the Prince of Dark
and Prince of the power of the air, the Prince
Devils, and Prince of this world.
John viii. 44 " When he speaketh a lie, then speaketh he of
his owne, for he is a liar and the father thereof."
It is worth noting that Shakespeare draws his Welshmen |
with a sure and sympathetic hand. Fluellen, with his j
long words and involved sentences, his preciseness in |
terms and descriptions, speaks very like a schoolmaster |
to his boys " You shall find in the comparisons be
tween Macedon and Mon mouth, that the situations, look ;
you, is both alike. There is a river in Macedon, and j
there is also a river at Monmouth ; it is called Wye '
at Monmouth." " I need not be ashamed of your
majesty, praised be God, so long as your majesty is
an honest man." " I pray you to serve God, and
keepe you out of prawles and prabbles and quarrels
and dissensions."
In the " Merry Wives," which is a play full of local allusions
and characters, we have the Welsh Parson-School
master, Sir Hugh Evans. In 1577, when Shakespeare
HENRY THE FIFTH 315
was a lad of thirteen, Thomas Jenkins was appointed
the Schoolmaster of Stratford School ; he held office
until 1580, when he was succeeded by John Cotton.
The name is a Welsh one, and it is not unlikely that
Thomas Jenkins was the original from which Shake
speare drew his Welshmen.
Act IV. viii. 2 Fluellen. " God's will and his pleasure, captain,
I beseech you now, come apace to the King : there is more good
toward you, peradventure, than is in your knowledge to dream of."
1 Cor. ii. 9 " But as it is written, The things which eye hath
not seene, neither eare hath heard, neither came into man's heart,
are, which God hath prepared for them that love Him."
Act IV. viii. 146 Williams. " All offences, my lord, come
from the heart."
Jer. xvii. 9 "The heart is deceitfull and wicked above all
things, who can know it ? "
Matt. xv. 19 " For out of the heart come evill thoughts."
Act IV. viii. 164 Fluellen. " I pray you to serve God, and
keepe you out of prawles and prabbles, and quarrels and dis
sensions."
Luke iv. 8 " Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him
alone thou shalt serve."
James i. 26 " If any man among you seeme religious and
refraineth not his tongue."
The following is the Genevan Note on this text "The
fountaine of all brabling and cursed speaking, and
sawcinesse is this, that men knowe not themselves."
Act IV. viii. 205
" O God Thy arme was heere ;
And not to us but to Thy arme alone
Ascribe we all."
219" God fought for us."
222 " Do we all holy rites ;
Let there be sung Non Nobis, and Te Deum."
Isa. Hi. 10 "The Lorde hath made bare His holy arme."
2 Chron. xxxii. 8 " With him is an arme of flesh, but with us
is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles."
Isa. xl. 10 " Beholde the Lord God will come with power, and
His arme shall rule for Him."
3 i6 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Ps. xliv. 3 " For they inherited not the land by their owne
sword : neither did their owne arme save them : but Thy right
hand and Thine arme."
1 Mace. xii. 1 5 " For we have had helpe from heaven, that
hath succoured us, and we are delivered from our enemies, and
our enemies are subdued."
Ps. cxv. "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us but unto Thy
Name be the glorie."
Te Deum " We praise thee, O God."
Act V. 21 : Chorus
" Giving full trophy, signal and ostent
Quite from himself, to God."
2 Mace. xiii. 15 "And so giving his soldiers for a watcl
word, The Victorie of God."
Act V. i. 30 Pistol " Base Troian, thou shalt die."
Fluellen. " You say very true, scauld knave, when God's will is.'
Ps. civ. 29 " If thou take away their breath they die an<
returne to their dust."
Heb. ix. 27 " It is appointed unto men that they shall on<
die."
James iv. 1 5 " For that ye ought to say, If the Lord wil am
if we live, we will do this or that."
Act V. ii. 41
" Her vine, the merry chearer of the heart
Unpruned, dyes."
Ps. civ. 15 " Wine that maketh glad the heart of man."
2 Sam. xiii. 28 " Amnon's heart is merry with wine."
Ecclus. xxxi. 28 "Wine was made (from the beginning)
make men glad (and not for drunkenes). Wine measurably
drunken and in time, bringeth gladnesse and cheerfulnesse of the
minde."
ActV. ii. 119 King Henry. "What says she, fair one? that
the tongues of men are full of deceits ? "
Ps. 1. 19 " Thou givest thy mouth to evill, and with thy tongue
thou forgest deceits."
Rom. iii. 13 "Theyr throat is an open sepulchre, they have
used their tongues to deceite."
HENRY THE FIFTH 317
Act V. ii. 146 " I have no cunning in protestation : only
downright oathes which I never use till urg'd, and never breake for
urging."
Zech. viii. 17 " Love no false othe, for al these are the things
I hate, saith the Lord."
Eccles. v. 4 " When thou vowest a vowe to God defer not to
pay it-
Matt, v. 37 " Let your communication be, Yea, yea, : Nay,
nay."
Heb. vi. 1 6 " An othe for confirmation is among them an
end of all strife."
Act V. ii. 177 King Henry. " I will have it all mine : and
Kate, when France is mine and I am yours : then yours is France
and you are mine."
Compare
I Cor. iii. 21-23 " For all things are yours, whether it be Paul,
or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, whether they
be things present or things to come, even all are yours, and ye are
Christ's and Christ's God's."
Act V. ii. 207 " If ever thou be'est mine, Kate, as I have a
saving Faith within me tells me thou shalt"
Luke vii. 50" Thy faith hath saved thee."
Ephes. ii. 8 " For by grace are ye saved through faith."
Act V. ii. 309 " They are then excus'd, my lord, when they
see not what they doe."
Mark xxiii. 34 " Forgive them, for they knowe not what they
do."
Act V. ii. 366 : Queen ha.
" God, the best maker of all marriages,
Combine your hearts in one, your Realmes in one
As man and wife, being two, are one in love."
Gen. ii. 24 "Therefore shall man leave his father and his
mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be one flesh."
Matt. xix. 6 " Wherefore they are no more twaine, but one
flesh. Let no man therefore put asunder that which God hath
coupled together."
Ephes. v. 28-32 " Hee that loveth his wife loveth himselfe."
Tob. vi. 17 " He loved her and his heart was effectually
joyned to her."
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.
" In 1599, after abandoning English history with ' Henry V.,' Shakespeare ad
dressed himself to the composition of his three most perfect essays in comedy,
' Much Ado About Nothing,' ' As You Like It,' and ' Twelfth Night.'
" ' Much Ado ' was entered in the ' Stationers' Registers ' before August 4, 1600,
and published before the close of the year." Sidney Lee, Life, p. 207.
Act I. i. 30 Leonato. " How much better is it to weepe at
joy, then to joy at weeping."
Rom. xii. 15 "Re Joyce with them that re Joyce, and weepe
with them that weepe."
Act I. i. 49 Messenger. " He hath done good service, lady, in
these wars."
Beatrice. " You had musty victual, and he that holp to eat it."
Beatrice has little faith in the honest report of the messen
ger, and reminds him of the device of the Gibeonites
who deceived Joshua.
Josh. ix. 12 "This our bread, we took it hote with us for
vitailes out of our houses the day wee departed to come unto you :
but now beholde it is dried and it is mouled."
Act I. i. 149 Pedro. " I dare sweare hee is no hypocrite, but
praies from his heart."
Matt. xv. 7 " Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you,
saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and
honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me."
Act I. i. 248 Pedro. " Well, if ever thou dost fall from this
faith, thou wilt prove a notable argument."
Benedick. " If I do, hang me in a bottle like a cat, and shoot at
me : and he that hits me, let him be clapped on the shoulder, and
cal'd Adam."
2 Peter iii. 17 "Ye therefore beloved seeing ye know these
things before, beware, lest ye be also plucked away with the errour
of the wicked, and fall from your owne stedfastnesse."
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 319
i Tim. vi. 21 "Which while some professe, they have erred
concerning the faith."
" Called Adam," that is, the first man.
Act II. i. 48 Beatrice. " * Get you to heaven, Beatrice, get you
to heaven ; here's no place for you maids : ' so deliver I up my
Apes and away to S. Peter for the heavens, he shows me where
the bachelors sit."
Matt. xvi. 1 8" Thou art Peter." 19" And I wil give unto
thee the keys of the kingdome of heaven."
For the source of the idea of Beatrice that heaven is the
place for maids and bachelors see
Rev. xiv. 4 " For they are virgines ; these follow the Lambe
whithersoever hee goeth : these are bought from men, being the
first fruites unto God, and to the Lambe." 5 "And in their
mouthes was found no guile : for they are without spot before the
throne of God."
Act II. i. 60 Beatrice. "Not till God make men of some
other metall than earth. Would it not greeve a woman to be
overmastered with a piece of valiant dust: no uncle, lie none;
Adam's sonnes are my brethren ; and truly I hold it a sinne to
match with my kinred"
A reference to the making of man from the dust, and to
Eve as the mother of all living.
Lev. xviii. 6 " None shal come neere to any of the kinred of
his flesh."
Genevan Note "As Moses cannot contract matrimonie
with the women that are so of kinne to him as is above
specified, so also cannot Mary his sister marrie with
the men that are in like degree. Note also, that besides
the persons here specified, there are also meant those
that ascend or descend of the same line, be it of blood
or kinred."
This Note of the Genevan exactly expresses the thought of
Beatrice.
Act II. i. 99 Marg. " I have many ill qualities."
Balth. "Which is one?"
Marg. " I say my prayers alowd."
Balth. " I love you the better, the hearers may cry Amen."
320 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Reference to two texts
Matt. vi. 5 " And when thou prayest, be not as the hypocrites
are : for they love to pray in the Synagoges and in the corners of
the stretes, because they would be scene of men." 6 " Shut thy
dore, pray thou to thy Father which is in secret."
I Cor. xiv. 14 " For if I pray in a strange tongue, my spirit
praieth : but mine understanding is without fruite." 16 " Else,
when thou blessest with the spirite how shall hee that occupieth
the roome of the unlearned say Amen, at thy giving of thankes
seeing he knoweth not what thou sayest."
Genevan Note " One uttered the prayers, and all the com
pany answered, Amen."
Act II. i. 147 Beatrice. "We must follow the leaders."
Benedick. " In every good thing."
Beatrice. " Nay, if they lead to any ill, I will leave them at the
next turning."
Exod. xxiii. 2 " Thou shall not followe a multitude to do
evil, neither agree in a controversie to decline after many and
overthrowe the trueth."
Genevan Note " Doe that which is godly, though few do
favour it."
Act II. i. 210 Benedick. " I found him here as melancholy as
a Lodge in a Warren. I tolde him, and I thinke I tolde him true,
that your grace had got the will of this young lady, and I offered
him my company to a willow tree, either to make him a garland
as being forsaken, or to binde him a rod as being worthy to be
whipt."
" A Lodge in a Warren " is not found in Scripture, but a
" lodge " as a figure of desolation and grief is Biblical
Isa. i. 7, 8 " Desolate like the overthrowe of strangers. And
the daughter of Zion shall remaine like a cottage in a vineyarde,
like a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and like a besieged
citie."
It may be, however, that the allusion is to the melancholy
appearance of a scarecrow in a warren, and a text in
the Apocrypha throws some light on the passage
(Baruch vi. 69) " For as a skarcrow in a garden of
cucumbers."
Jer. ix. i, 2 " O that mine head were full of water and mine
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 321
eyes a fountaine of teares that I might weepe day and night. O
that I had in the wildernes a cottage of wayfaring men."
Prov. x. 13 "A rod shall be for the backe of him that is
destitute of wisdom."
Prov. xix. 29 " Stripes (are prepared) for the backe of fooles."
Prov. xxvi. 3 " Unto the horse belongeth a whip, to the asse,
a bridle, and a rod to the foole's back."
Ps. cxxxvii. 2 " Wee wept, when we remembered Zion, wee
hanged our harpes upon the willowes."
Act II. i. 243 " She speaks poynyards and every word stabbes."
Prov. xii. 1 8 " There is that speaketh wordes like the prickings
of a sworde."
Ps. Ixiv. 3 " Which have whette their tongue like a sworde."
Ps. Ivii. 4 " Whose teeth are speares and arrows, and their
tongue a sharpe sword."
Act II. i. 245 " I would not marry her though she were en
dowed with all that Adam had left him before he transgrest."
Gen. i. 31 " And God sawe all that He had made, and loe, it
was very good."
Rom. v. 14 " Not after the like maner of the transgression of
Adam."
Act II. iii. 191 Pedro. " In the managing of quarrels you may
say he is wise : for either he avoids them with great discretion, or
undertakes them with a most Christian-like fear."
Leonato. " If he do fear God, he must necessarily keep peace : if
he break the peace, he ought to enter into a quarrel with fear and
trembling."
Ps. ii. 1 1 " Serve the Lord in feare, and rejoyce in trembling."
Matt. v. 9 " Blessed are the peace makers."
Matt. v. 39 " Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheke,
turne to him the other."
Rom. xii. 18 " If it be possible, as much as in you is, have
peace with all men."
Act II. iii. 215 "Let there be the same net spread for her."
Ps. cxl. 5 " Spredde a nette with cordes in my pathway."
Hos. vii. 12 " I will spred my net upon them."
Prov. i. 1 7 " The net is spred before the eyes of all that hath
wings."
322 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Lam. i. 1 3 " He hath spread a nette for my feete."
Act II. iii. 231 Benedick. "Happy are they that hear their
detractions, and can put them to mending."
Prov. ix. 8 " Rebuke a wise man and he will love thee, give
admonition to the wise and he will be wiser : teach a righteous
man and hee will increase in learning."
Act III. ii. 8 "From the crowne of his head to the sole of
his foot."
2 Sam. xiv. 25 " From the sole of his foot to the top of his
head."
Job ii. 7 " From the sole of his foot to his crowne."
Act III. iii. 25 Dogberry. " You shall comprehend all vagrom
men. . . ."
Act III. iii. 49 "If you meet a thief, you may suspect him,
by virtue of your office, to be no true man ; and for such kind of
men, the less you meddle or make with them, why the more is for
your honesty."
Ecclus. xxxvi. 26 " Who will trust a theefe that is alway ready
and wandereth from town to towne ? and likewise him, that hath
no rest, and lodgeth whersoever the night taketh him."
Act III. iii. 55 Dogberry. "Truly by your office you may:
but I think, they that touch pitch will be defil'd."
Ecclus. xiii. I " He that toucheth pitch shalbe defiled with it ;
and he that is familiar with the proud shalbe like unto him."
Act III. iii. 68 Dogberry. "Why then depart in peace."
Luke ii. 29 " Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace"
So in all the Versions except the Rheims, which gives
" Now Thou doest dismisse Thy servant, O Lord,
according to Thy word in peace."
Act III. iii. 131 Borachio. "Sometime, fashioning them like
Pharooe's souldiers in the rechie painting, sometime like god Bel's
priests in the old Church window."
Historie of Bel, i. 6 "Then said the King unto him,
Thinkest thou not that Bel is a living God ?" 10
" Nowe the Priests of Bel were threescore and ten,
beside their wives and children."
Exod. xiv. 9.
MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 323
Act III. iv. 28 Margaret. "Is not marriage honourable in a
beggar?"
Heb. xiii. 4 " Manage is honourable among all."
Wic. "weddyng."
Tyn., Cran. " wedlock."
Gen. 1 5 5 7 " wedlocke."
Subsequent editions " marriage."
Rheims, Author. " marriage."
Act III. iv. $6 Margaret. "Godsend everyone their hart's
desire."
Ps. xxxvii. 4 " And delite thy selfe in the Lord, and Hee shall
give thee thine heart's desire."
Act III. v. 10 Dogberry. "But, in faith, honest as the skin
between his brows."
Verges. " Yes, I thank God, I am as honest as any man living
that is an old man and no honester than I."
" Honest as the skin between his brows," that is, unmarked.
A reference to the marking of Cain, and the wearing of the
mark of the Evil One in the forehead, and also to the
marked forehead of the leprous man.
Gen. iv. 15 "The Lorde set a marke upon Kain."
Rev. xiv. 9 " If any man worship the beaste and his image
and receive his marke in his forehead."
Lev. xiii. 41 " It is a leprosie springing in his balde head or
in his balde foreheade." 44 " He is a leper and uncleane."
Act IV. i. 36
Claudio. " O, what authority and show of truth
Can cunning sin cover itself withal."
A reference to the Temptation in the Wilderness, where the
Devil hid his cunning beneath the show of Bible truth
and authority
2 Cor. xi. 14 "Satan himselfe is transformed into an Angel
of Light."
Act IV. i. 218
Friar. " Upon the instant that she was accusd,
Shall be lamented, pitied, and excusd
Of every hearer : for it so falls out
That what we have we prize not to the worth
324 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Whiles we enjoy it, but being lack'd and lost,
Why then, we rack the value : then we find
The virtue, that possession would not show us,
While it was ours."
Rom. ii. 1 5 " Their conscience also bearing witness, and their
thoughts accusing one another or excusing."
Luke xvii. 22 " The dayes will come, when ye shal desire to
see one of the dayes of the Sonne of Man, and ye shall not see it."
The Genevan Note is significant " Wee oftentimes neglect
those things when they be present which wee afterward
desire when they are gone but in vaine."
Act V. i. 181 Claudio. " All, all : and moreover, God saw him
when he was hid in the garden."
Compare
Gen. iii. 8 " Hid themselves from the presence of the Lorde
God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to
the man and sayd unto him, Where art thou ? "
Act V. i. 315 Dogberry. "And borrows money in God's
name ; the which he hath used so long, and never paid, that now
men grow hard hearted and will lend nothing for God's sake."
Matt. v. 40-42 " Give to him that asketh, and from him that
would borow, tume not away."
Ephes. iv. 32 " Bee ye courteous one to another, and tender
hearted, freely forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake,
freely forgave you."
Act V. ii. 72 Beatrice. "There's not one wise man among
twenty that will praise himself."
Prov. xxvii. 2 "Let another man praise thee,iand not thine
owne mouth ; a stranger, and not thine owne lips."
Act V. ii. 8 1 Benedick. " Therefore is it most expedient for
the wise (if Don Worm, his conscience, find no impediment to the
contrary) to be the trumpet of his own virtues."
Isa. Ixvi. 24 " For their worme shall not die."
Genevan Note " Meaning a continuall torment of con
science, which shall ever gnawe them and never suffer
them to be at rest."
Mark ix. 44 " Where their worme dieth not."
AS YOU LIKE IT.
1599.
Act I. i. 39 Orlando. " Shall I keep your hogs and eate hushes
with them ? What prodigall portion have I spent that I should
come to such penury."
Luke xv. 14 " Wasted his goods with riotous living. Now
when hee had spent all, there arose a great dearth throughout that
land and he began to be in necessitie." 1 5 " Sente him to his
farme to feede swine." 16 "And he would faine have filled his
belly with the huskes that the swine ate."
Act I. i. 55 Orlando. " Come, come, elder brother, you are too
yong in this ? "
Luke xv. 25 " Now the elder brother was in the field." 28
" Then he was angry and would not go in."
Wic., Rheims, Author. " elder sonne."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. "elder brother."
Act I. ii. 193 Celia. "Your heart's desires be with you."
Ps. xxxvii. 4 " Hee shall give thee thine heart's desire."
Act I. iii. ii Rosalind. "Oh, how full of briers is this work
ing-day world."
Gen. iii. 17-19 "Cursed is the earth for thy sake : in sorowe
shalt thou eate of it all the dayes of thy life. Thornes also, and
thistles shall it bring foorth to thee. In the sweate of thy face
shalt thou eate bread, till thou returne to the earth."
Isa. vii. 23 " All the land shall be briers and thornes."
Isa. xxxii. 13 "Shall growe thornes and briers."
Act II. i. 5-
Duke. " Heere feel we not (but) the penaltie of Adam,
The seasons' difference; as the Icie phange
And churlish chiding of the winter's winde,
(325)
326 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Which when it bites and blowes upon my body,
Even till I shrinke with cold, I smile and say
This is no flattery : these are counsellors
That feelingly persuade me what I am."
Gen. iii. 17 "Also to Adam he said . . . Cursed is the earth
for thy sake : in sorrow shalt thou eate of it all the days of thy
life." 1 8 " Thornes also and thistles shall it bring foorth to thee."
Ps. v. 9 " For no constancy is in their mouth, within they
are very corruption : their throat is an open sepulchre, and they
flatter with their tongue."
Act II. i. 12 " Sweet are the uses of adversitie, which like the
toad, ougly and venemous weares yet a precious Jewell in his
head."
Ps. cxix. 71 " It is good for me that I have beene afflicted,
that I may learne thy statutes."
Job v. 17 "Beholde, blessed is the man whome God cor-
recteth."
Heb. xii. 5, 6 " For whom the Lord loveth, Hee chasteneth,
and He scourgeth eveiy Sonne that He receiveth."
Heb. xii. n "Afterward it bringeth the quiet fruite of
righteousnesse."
Act II. i. 52
ist Lord. " Anon, a careless herd,
Full of the pasture, jumps along by him,
And never stays to greet him : Ay, quoth Jacques,
Sweep on, you fat and greazie citizens ;
Tis just the fashion : wherefore do you looke
Upon that poore and broken banrupt there ? "
Prov. xix. 7 " All the brethren of the poore doe hate him :
how much more will his friends depart farre from him ? "
Ecclus. xiii. 21 "As the proud hate humility, so doe the rich
abhorre the poore. If a riche man fal, his friends set him up
againe : but when the poore falleth, his friends drive him away."
Prov. xiv. 23 "The poore is hated even of his owne neigh
bour : but the friends of the rich are many."
Act II. iii. 10
Adam. " Know you not, master, to some kind of men
Their graces serve them but as enemies ?
i
AS YOU LIKE IT 327
No more do yours : your virtues gentle master
Are sanctified and holy traitors to you.
O what a world is this when what is comely
Envenoms him that bears it ! "
Ps. xxxvii. 32 "The wicked watcheth the righteous and
seeketh to slay him."
I John iii. 12 "Not as Cain which was of that wicked one
and slew his brother : and wherefore slew he him ? because his
owne workes were evill and his brother's good."
Gen. xxxvii. 18 "And when they saw him (Joseph) afarre
off, even before he came at them, they conspired against him for
to slay him."
Job ii. 6 " Then the Lord sayde unto Satan, Loe, he is in
thine hand."
Dan. vi. 5 "We shall not finde an occasion against this
Daniel, except wee finde it against him concerning the Law of
his God."
Luke vi. 7 " And the Scribes and Pharisees watched Him,
whether He would heale on the Sabbath day, that they might
finde an accusation against Him."
Act II. iii. 43
Adam. "Take that, and He that doth the Ravens feede,
Yea, providently caters for the Sparrow,
Be comfort to my age."
Luke xii. 6 " Are not five sparowes bought for two farthings,
and yet not one of them is forgotten before God."
Ps. cxlvii. 9 " Which giveth to beastes their foode and to the
yong ravens that crie."
Job xxxix. 3 (Author, xxxviii. 41) "Who prepareth for the
raven his meate, when his birds crie unto God, wandering for
lacke of meate."
Luke xii. 24 " Consider the ravens : for they neither sowe
nor reape : which neither have storehouse nor barne, and yet God
feedeth them : how much more are ye better than foules."
Act II. iv. 5 Rosalind. " But I must comfort the weaker vessel,
as doublet and hose ought to show itself courageous to petticoat :
therefore, courage, good Aliena."
Celia. " I pray you, bear with me : I can go no further."
328 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Touchstone. " For my part, I had rather bear with you than bear
you : yet I should bear no cross, if I did bear you ; for I think you
have no money in your purse."
A favourite play on words and cross-marked money.
i Peter iii. 7 " Giving honour unto the woman as unto the
weaker vessel."
Rom. xv. i. " We which are strong, ought to beare the infir
mities of the weake."
Gal. vi. 2 " Beare ye one another's burden."
Luke xiv. 27 " And whosoever beareth not his Crosse."
Act II. iv. 78
Corin. " My master is of churlish disposition
And little wreakes to find the way to heaven
By doing deeds of hospitality."
Heb. xiii. 2 "Be not forgetful to entertaine strangers: for
thereby some have received Angels into their houses unwares."
i Peter iv. 9 " Be ye harberous one to another without grudg-
ing."
Rom. xii. 13 " Distributing unto the necessities of the Saints :
given to hospitality."
Matt. xxv. 34-43 " Take the inheritance of the kingdom pre
pared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an
hungred and ye gave Me meat."
Act II. v. $%Jaques. " He go sleepe if I can : if I cannot, I'll
raile against all the first-borne of Egypt."
A reference to the noise and wailing heard throughout
Egypt on the death of the first-born.
Exod. xii. 29 " Now at midnight the Lorde smote all the
first-borne in the land of Egypt, from the first-borne of Pharoah
that sate on his throne, unto the first-borne of the captive that
was in prison, and all the first-borne of beastes."
Act II. vii. 64
Duke S. " Most mischievous foule sin, in chiding sin :
For thou thyselfe hast bene a Libertine."
Rom. ii. 22 "Thou that sayest, a man should not commit
adulterie, doest thou commit adultery ? thou that abhorrest idoles,
committest thou sacrilege. Thou that gloriest in the Law, through
breaking the Law dishonourest thou God."
AS YOU LIKE IT 329
Act II. vii. 70
] agues. " Why who cries out in pride,
That can therein taxe any private party ?
Doth it not flow as hugely as the sea."
Ecclus. x. 13, 14 "The beginning of man's pride is to fal
away from God and to tume away his heart from his Maker. For
pride is the original of sinne."
Prov. xvi. 5 " All that are proud in heart are an abomination
to the Lorde."
Act II. vii. 101
Duke S. " What would you have ?
Your gentlenesse shall force, more that your force
Move us to gentlenesse."
Prov. xv. i "A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous
words stir up anger."
Act II. vii. 139
Jaques. " All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely Players :
They have the Exits and their Entrances ;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the Infant
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms."
Wisd. of. Sol. vii. 3 " And when I was borne, I received the
common aire, and fell upon the earth, which is of like nature,
crying and weeping at the first as all other doe. I was nourished
in swadling clothes and with cares." 6 " All men then have one
entrance unto life and a like going out."
Act II. vii. 163
" Last scene of all,
That ends this strange, eventful history,
Is second childishness, and mere oblivion ;
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything."
Jaques is like the Preacher of Ecclesiastes
Eccles. xii. 3 " When the keepers of the house shal tremble,
and the strong men shal bowe themselves, and the grinders shall
cease because they are fewe, and they waxe darke that looke out
by the windows." 5 " For man goeth to the house of his age,
and the mourners goe about in the streete." 7 " And duste returne
330 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
to the earth as it was, and the spirite returne to God that gave it.
Vanity of vanities, sayeth the Preacher, all is vanitie."
Act II. vii. 174 : Amiens
" Blow, blow thou winter winde,
Thou art not so unkind as man's ingratitude ;
Thy tooth is not so keen, because thou art not seene,
Although thy breath be rude."
184 "Freize, Freize, thou bitter skie,
That dost not bite so nigh
As benefitts forgot :
Though thou the waters warpe
Thy sting is not so sharpe
As friend remembred not."
Luke xxii. 48 " And Jesus sayd unto him, Judas, betrayest
thou the Sonne of Man with a kisse."
Matt. xxvi. 49, 50 " And forthwith he came to Jesus, and
saide, God save Thee, Master, and kissed Him. Then Jesus saide
unto him, Friende, wherefore art thou come."
Ps. xli. 9 " Yea, my familiar friend whome I trusted, which
did eate of my bread, hath lifted up the heele against mee."
Act III. i. 5 : Duke Frederick
" But looke to it :
Finde out thy brother wheresoere he is ;
Seek him with candle, bring him dead or living."
In the straying of the younger son, the Duke is reminded
of the Parables of Seeking the Lost, and uses the
imagery there employed the Lost Sheep, the Lost
Coin, the Lost Brother.
Luke xv. 8 " Either what woman having ten groates, if she
lose one groate, doth not light a candle, and sweepe the house, and
seeke diligently till she finde it."
Luke xv. 4 " Go after that which is lost, untyl he finde it."
31 "Thy brother was dead and is alive againe, and he was lost
but he is founde."
Act III. ii. 42 Touchstone. "Then thy manners must be
wicked, and wickedness is sin, and sin is damnation."
Rom. vi. 23 " For the wages of sinne is death, but the gift of
God is eternall life."
AS YOU LIKE IT 331
Act III. ii. 115 Rosalind. " Peace, you dull fool ! I found them
a tree."
Touchstone. " Truly, the tree yields bad fruit"
A reference to the Sermon on the Mount.
Matt. vii. 1 8 "A good tree can not bring forth bad fruit."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. only give the words " bad fruit ; " the
others give " evil fruit."
The Rheims, on the other hand, is the only Version which
gives " yelds " in this text.
Act III. ii. 129
Celia. " How briefe the life of man
Runnes his erring pilgrimage,
That the stretching of a span
Buckles in his summe of age."
Ps. xxxix. 5 " Behold Thou hast made my dayes as an hand-
breadth, and mine age as nothing in respect of Thee."
Gen. xlvii. 9 "The whole time of my pilgrimage is an
hundreth and thirtie yeeres : few and evil have the dayes of my
life bene."
Psalter, Genevan Version, xxxix. 6 " Beholde, thou hast made
my dayes as it were a span long." 7 " For man walketh in a
vaine shadow."
Met. Ps., J. H., xxxix. 6
" Lord, Thou hast poynted out my life,
In length much like a span :
Mine age is nothing unto Thee
So vayne is every man."
Act III. ii. 206 Rosalind. "Is he of God's making? What
manner of man ? "
Gen. i. 17 "Thus God created man in His image: in the
image of God created he him."
2 Kings i. 7 " And he said unto them, What manner of man
was he?"
Act III. ii. 280 Orlando. "I will chide no breather in the
world, but myself, against whom I know most faultes."
Luke vi. 42 " Cast out the beame out of thine owne eye first,
and then shalt thou see perfectly to pul out the mote that is in
thy brother's eye."
332 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
I Cor. xi. 31 "For if we would judge ourselves, wee should
not be judged."
Gal. vi. 3, 4 " For if any man seeme to himselfe, that he is
somewhat, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself in his
imagination."
Act III. iv. 7 Rosalind. "His very hair is of the dissembling
colour."
Celia. " Something browner than Judasse's. Marry, his kisses
are Judasse's owne children."
A reference to the kiss of betrayal
Luke xxii. 48 " And Jesus sayd unto him, Judas, betrayest
thou the Sonne of Man with a kisse."
Act III. iv. 12 Rosalind. "His kisses are as ful of sanctitie
as is the touch of holy bread."
Rom. xvi. 6" Salute one another with an holy kiss."
Lev. xxiv. 9 " And the breade shall be Aaron's and his sonnes,
and they shall eate it in the holy place : for it is most holy unto
him of the offerings of the Lorde made by fire."
I Sam. xxi. 4 "There is no common bread under mine
hand, but heere is halowed bread."
i Cor. x. 6 " The bread which we break is it not the Com
munion of the the body of Christ."
The reference is either to the Shew Bread or to the Bread
in the Sacrament.
Act III. iv. 35 Rosalind. " But what talk we of fathers, when
there is such a man as Orlando ? "
Gen. ii. 24 "Therefore shal man leave his father and his
mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shalbe one flesh."
Act III. v. SSPhebe. "Thou hast my love: is not that
neighbourly."
Silvius. " I would have you."
Phebe. " Why, that were covetousnesse."
Lev. xix. 1 8 " But shalt love thy neighbour as thyselfe."
Exod. xx. 17 "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife,
nor his man-servant, nor his mayde."
Act III. v. 113 Phebe. " But sure he's proud : and yet his pride
becomes him."
Ecclus. x. 14 " For pride is the original of sinne."
AS YOU LIKE IT 333
Act IV. i. 24 Rosalind. " A traveller ! By my faith, you have
great reason to be sad. I fear, you have sold your own lands,
to see other men's : then, to have seen much, and to have nothing,
is to have rich eyes and poor hands."
Jaques. " Yes, I have gained my experience."
Rosalind. " And your experience makes you sad."
Compare the character of Jaques with the Preacher of
Ecclesiastes
Eccles. ii. 10 " And whatsoever mine eyes desired, I withheld
it not from them. I withdrew not my heart from any joy : for
mine heart rejoyced in all my labour : and this was my portion of
all my travell." n " Beholde, all is vanitie and vexation of
the spirite, and there is no profite under the sunne."
Act IV. i. 197 Rosalind. "Time is the old justice that ex
amines all such offenders, and let Time try."
Acts v. 38, 39 "And now I say unto you, Refraine your
selves from these men, and let them alone : for if this counsell or
this work bee of men, it will come to nought. But if it be of God,
yee can not destroy it."
Ecclus. xi. 27 " In a man's ende his works are discovered."
Act IV. iii. 128 Oliver. "But kindness, nobler ever than
revenge."
Prov. xxv. 21 " If he that hateth thee be hungry, give him
bread to eate, and if he be thirstie, give him water to drinke."
Luke vi. 27, 28 " But I say unto you which heare, Love your
enemies : doe well to them which hate you. Blesse them that curse
you, and pray for them which hurt you."
Act IV. iii. 136
Celia. " Was't you that did so oft contrive to kill him."
Oliver. " Twas I, but 'tis not I. I do not shame
To tell you what I was, since my conversion
So sweetly tastes, being the thing I am."
Compare
Rom. vii. 15-21 "For I doe not the good thing which I
would, but the evill, which I would not, that do I. Now if I do
that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but the sinne that
dwelleth in me."
Gal. ii. 20 " I live, yet not I any more, but Christ liveth in me."
334 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act V. i. 32 Touchstone. " I do remember a saying, * The fool
doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows he is a fool. 5 "
Compare
i Cor. iii. 18 "Let no man deceive himselfe. If any man
among you seeme to be wise in this world, let him be a foole that
he may be wise."
Act V. ii. 17 Rosalind. "God save you, brother."
The Genevan is the only Version which gives this greeting.
It occurs
Matt. xxvi. 49 " God save Thee, Master, and kissed Him."
Act V. ii. 87 Rosalind. " By my life, I do, which I tender
dearly, though I say I am a magician."
A reference to the penalty against witchcraft
Exod. xxii. 1 8 "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."
Act V. iii. i Touchstone. "Tomorrow is the joyfull day,
Audrey: tomorrow will we be married."
A udrey. " I do desire it with all my heart, and I hope it is no
dishonest desire, to desire to be a woman of the world"
This is a most interesting phrase, " a woman of the world,'
that is, a married woman. The phrase of our day,
" a man of the world," usually means the opposite of
marriage.
The origin of the phrase is Biblical, and is from Corinthians
i Cor. vii. 34 " There is difference also betwene a virgine and
a wife : the unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord,
that she may be holy both in body and in spirit : but she that is
married, careth for the things of the world, how she may please
her husband."
Act V. iv. 35 Jaques. "There is sure another Flood toward,
and these couples are camming to the Arke. Here comes a payre
of verie strange beasts."
Reference to Noah and the Ark (Gen. vi. 14-17). The
force of Jacques' cynicism is only appreciated by a
knowledge of the Biblical text as it is in the Genevan.
Gen. vii. 2 " Of every cleane beast thou shalt take to thee by
sevens, the male and his female : but of uncleane beasts by couples,
the male and his female."
The Authorised gives " two."
AS YOU LIKE IT 335
Act V. iv. 1 60
" Where, meeting with an old religious man,
After some question with him, was converted
Both from his enterprize, and from the world."
James v. 19, 20 " Brethren if any of you hath erred from the
trueth and some man hath converted him. Let him know that he
which hath converted the sinner from going astray out of his way,
shall save a soule from death, and shal hide a multitude of sinnes."
Act V. iv. 179 "With measure heaped with joy."
Luke vi. 38 " A good measure, pressed down, shaken together
and running over shal men give into your bosome."
TWELFTH NIGHT.
Act I. iii. 2 " Care's an enemy to life."
Ecclus. xxx. 21, 22 " Give not over thy mind into heavinesse,
and vexe not thyselfe in thine owne counsell. The joy of the
heart is the life of man, and a man's gladnesse is the prolonging
of his days." 23 " Sorrow hath slaine many." 24 " Envie and
wrath shorten the life, and carefulnesse bringeth age before the
time."
Act I. v. 13 "Clown. Well, God give them wisdom that have
it : and those that are fools, let them use their talents."
A reference to the misuse of the Talent, and to the gift to
the servant who had gained ten Talents.
Matt. xxv. 25 " I was therefore afraid, and went and hid thy
talent in the earth." 28 " Take therefore the talent from him,
and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every man
that hath, it shall be given, and he shal have abundance, and from
him that hath not, even that he hath shalbe taken away."
James i. 5 " If any of you lacke wisdome, let him aske of God,
which giveth to all men liberally."
Act I. v. 26 "As witty a piece of Eve's flesh as any in
Illyria."
Gen. iii. 20 "And the man called his wive's name Hevah, be
cause she was the mother of all living."
Act. I. v. 92 Olivia. " There is no slander in an allowed foole,
though he do nothing but rayle : nor no rayling in a knowne dis
creet, though he do nothing but reprove."
Ps. cxli. 5 " Let the righteous smite me, for that is a benefite,
and let him reprove me, and it shall be a precious oyle that shall not
breake mine head."
Act I. v. 219 Olivia. "A comfortable doctrine, and much
may be said of it. Where lies your text ? "
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TWELFTH NIGHT 337
Viola. " In Orsino's bosom."
Olivia. " In his bosom ! In what chapter of his bosom ? "
Puritan phraseology.
Act II. ii. 27
Viola. " Disguise, I see thou art a wickednesse,
Wherein the pregnant enemie does much."
Gen. iii. I "The serpent beguiled me and I did eate."
Genevan Note "As Satan can change himselfe into an
Angell of Light, so did he abuse the wisdom of the
serpent to deceive man. God suffered Satan to make
the serpent His instrument to speake in him."
2 Cor. xi. 14 "Satan himselfe is transformed into an Angell
of Light."
Act II. iii. 1 1 Sir Toby. " Does not our life consist of the four
elements ? "
Sir Andrew. " Faith, so they say ; but I think, it rather consists
of eating and drinking."
Sir Toby. " Th'art a scholler ; let us therefore eat and drink."
A reference possibly to the earlier Ionic natural philosophers,
but Sir Andrew's reply seems to run on the lines of a
passage in Ecclesiasticus
Ecclus. xxix. 23 "The chiefe thing of life is water, and
bread, and clothing and lodging."
Ecclus. xxxix. 26 " The principall things for the whole use
of man's life is water, fire, and iron, and salt, and meale, wheat,
and hony, and milke, the blood of the grape, and oyle and clothing.
All these things are for good to the godly but to the sinners they
are turned unto evill."
i Cor. xv. 32 "Let us eate and drinke; for to-morowe we
shall die."
Act II. iii. 50 " In delay there lies no plenty."
Prov. xx. 4 " The slothfull will not plowe because of winter ;
therefore shall he begge in summer but have nothing."
Act II. iii. 57 Sir Toby. "Shall we rouse the night-owl in a
catch, that will draw three souls out of one weaver ? shall we do
that?"
A reference to the fervour of the Puritan psalm singers,
and to the Protestant exiles from France and the
Netherlands.
22
338 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. iii. 69 Sir Andrew. " Begin, fool : it begins, ' Hold thy
peace.'"
Clown. " I shall never begin, if I hold my peace."
Jud. xviii. 19 "And they answered him, Hold thy peace, lay
thine hand upon thy mouth."
Wic. "wax doumbe," Mark i. 25, Luke iv. 35, Acts
xviii. 9.
Act II. iii. 79 Sir Toby. "There dwelt a man in Babylon,
lady, lady."
Seems to be a play on the words in the 1 37th Psalm.
Compare
Ps. cxxxvii. I "By the waters of Babylon we sat downe and
wept." 3 "For they that led us away captive, required of us
then a song and melodie in our heavinesse : sing us one of the
songs of Zion."
Act II. iii. 96 Malvolio. "My lady bade me tell you, that
though she harbours you as her kinsman."
I Peter iv. 9 " Be ye harberous one to another without grudj
ing."
Wic., Rheims, Author." hospitality."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. "harberous."
Act II. iv. 70 Clown. "Truly sir, and pleasure will be paic
one time or another."
Eccles. xi. 9 " Rejoyce, O yong man, in thy youth, and let
thine heart cheere thee in the dayes of thy youth : and walke in
the wayes of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes : but know
that for all these things, God will bring thee to judgment."
Genevan Note " Hee derideth them that set their delite
in worldly pleasures, as though God would not call
them to an account"
Act II. v. 44 Sir Andrew. "Fie on him, Jezebel."
Sir Andrew evidently mistakes " Jezebel " for " Judas."
I Kings xxi. " Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, King of Samaria."
Act II. v. 194 Sir Toby. "Wilt thou set thy foot o' my
neck?"
Compare
Josh. x. 24 "Come, neere, set your feete upon the neckes
of these Kings."
TWELFTH NIGHT 339
Act III. i. 89 Viola. "Most excellent accomplished lady, the
heavens rain odours on you."
Compare "Winter's Tale."
Rev. v. 8 " Having every one harpes and golden vials full of
odours, which are the prayers of Saintes."
Act III. ii. 13 Fabian. "I will prove it legitimate, sir, upon
the Oathes of judgment and reason."
Sir Toby. " And they have been Grand Jurie men, since before
Noah was a sayler."
2 Peter ii. 5 " Neither hath spared the olde world, but saved
Noe the eight person a preacher of righteousnesse, and brought in
the flood upon the world of the ungodly."
Act III. ii. 68 Maria. " Yond gull Malvolio is turned Heathen,
a very Renegatho, for there is no Christian that meanes.to be saved
rightly, can ever believe such impossible passages of grossenesse."
Salvation comes through right belief by faith and not by
works
Act xv. n "But we beleeve through the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ to be saved."
i Cor. xv. 2 "Whereby yee are saved except ye have be-
leeved in vaine."
Rom. x. 10 " For with the heart man beleeveth unto i righteous
ness."
Act III. iv. 87 Sir Toby. " If Legion himselfe possessed him,
yet lie speak to him."
Mark v. 2 " And when He was come out of the ship, there
met Him incontinently out of the graves a man which had an
uncleane spirit." 3 " No man could bind him, no not with
chaines." 9 "And he asked him, What is thy name? and he
answered, saying, My name is Legion, for we are many." 15
"Saw him that had bene possessed with the devil and had the
Legion, sit both clothed and in his right mind."
Act III. iv. 99 Sir Toby. "What man! defy the devil; con
sider, he's an enemy to mankind."
Rev. xii. 9 "That olde serpent called the devill and Satan
which deceiveth all the world."
i Peter v. 8 "Your adversary the devill as a roaring lion,
walketh about seeking whom he may devour."
James iv. 7 " Resist the devill and he will flee from you."
340 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. iv. 117 Sir Toby. "What, man! 'tis not for gravity
to play at cherry-pit with Satan. Hang him, foul collier ! "
Maria. " Get him to say his prayers ! good Sir Toby, get him
to pray."
Malvolio. " My prayers, minx."
Maria. " No, I warrant you ; he will not hear of godliness."
1 Thess. v. 22 " Absteine from all appearance of evill."
Prov. iv. 14, 15 "Enter not into the way of the wicked, and
walke not in the way of evill men."
Prov. i. 10 " If sinners do intise thee consent thou not."
2 Cor. vi. 14, 15 "What fellowship hath righteousnes with
unrighteousnesse, and what communion hath light with darkenesse."
Act III. iv. 202
Olivia. " There's something in me that reproves my fault,
But such a headstrong potent fault it is
That it but mocks reproof."
Gal. v. 17 " For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the
spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary one to another, so
that yee cannot doe the same things that ye would."
Rom. vii. 18 "For I know that in me, that is in my flesh,
dwelleth no good thing : for to wil is present with me : but I find
no means to perform that which is good."
Act III. iv. 337 : 1st Officer
" No sir, no jot : I know your favour well,
Though now you have no sea-cap on your head."
Concerning this word Bishop Wordsworth says " Favour =
countenance, frequent in Shakespeare ; in the Bible the
adjective only is used, as well-favoured, ill-favoured,
hard-favoured."
This is an oversight, for favour = countenance, appearance,
is used in
Prov. xxxi. 30 " Favour is deceitful and beautie is vanity."
Act III. iv. 394 Sir Toby. " His dishonesty appears in leaving
his friend here in necessity, and denying him ; and for his coward-
ship, ask Fabian."
Fabian. " A coward, a most devout coward, religious in it."
Matt. xxvi. 69 " Peter sate without in the hall, and a maide
came to him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galile." 70
TWELFTH NIGHT 341
" But he denyed before them all." 72 " Again he denied with an
othe." 74 " Then he began to curse himself e and to sweare,
saying, I know not the man."
Act IV. ii. 43 Clown. " Madman, thou errest ; I say there is
no darkness but ignorance, in which thou art more puzel'd than
the Egyptians in their fogge."
Exod. x. 22 " Then Moses stretched foorth his hand toward
heaven, and there was a blacke darkenesse in all the land of Egypt
three days. No man saw another, neither rose up from the place
where he was for three dayes."
Act IV. ii. 1 06 Clown. " Alas sir, be patient. What say you
sir ? I am shent for speaking to you."
See " Merry Wives of Windsor," Act I. iv. 37.
Act V. i. 12 Clown. "Truly sir, the better for my foes, and
the worse for my friends."
Duke. " Just the contrary ; the better for thy friends."
Clown. " No sir, the worse."
Duke. " How can that be ? "
Clown. " Marry sir, they praise me."
Luke vi. 26 "Wo be to you when all men speake well of
you."
Act V. i. nSDuke. "Like to the Egyptian thief at point of
death"
Mark v. 23 "And besought Him instantly, saying, My litle
daughter lieth at point of death."
Wic." nigh deed."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. "at poynt of death."
Rheims, Author. " at the point of death."
Act V. i. 249 Viola. " If nothing lets to make us happy
both."
Lets = hinders, interferes
Isa. xliii. 13 "There is none that can deliver out of mine
hand : I wil do it and who shall let it."
2 Thess. ii. 7 "Onely he which now withholdeth, shall let
till he be taken out of the way."
Rom. i. 1 3 " I have oftentimes purposed to come unto you
but have bin let hitherto."
342 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Rheims " been staied."
Rheims " doe hold."
All the other Versions give " let."
Act V. i. 270
Viola. " That Orbed Continent, the fire
That severs day from night."
Gen. i. 14 "Lights in the firmament of heaven, to separate
the day from the night."
Author." divide."
Ecclus. xliii. 4 "The sunne burneth the mountaines three
times more than hee that keepeth a fornace with continual heate :
it casteth out the firie vapours and with the shining beames
blindeth the eyes."
Act V. i. 284 Clown. " Truly, madam, he holds Belzebub at
the staves' end, as well as a man in his case may do. He has here
writ a letter to you : I should have given it you to-day morning :
but as a madman's Epistles are no Gospels."
Matt. xii. 24 " Beelzebub the prince of the devills."
James iv. 7 " Resist the devill and he will flee from you."
i Cor. v. 9 " I wrote unto you in an Epistle."
Mark i. i "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Act V. i. 391-
Clown. " When that I was and a little tiny boy,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
But when I came to man's estate."
Suggests the words of St. Paul
i Cor. xiii. u "When I was a childe, I spake as a childe, I
understoode as a childe, I thought as a child : but when I became
a man I put away childish things."
THE TRAGEDIE OF JULIUS C^SAR.
There are hardly any direct references to Biblical texts or subjects in the play.
It must be remembered that in Julius Caesar, Coriolanus, Antony and Cleopatra
Shakespeare followed very closely the words of Sir Thomas North's version of
Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, 1579.
Mr. Gollancz says : " North's monumental version is one of the masterpieces of
English prose, and no better proof exists than a comparison of the play (Coriolanus)
with its original. Shakespeare has borrowed North's very vocabulary, and many
of his most striking effects ; so closely does he follow the whole history that North's
prose may actually assist in restoring a defective passage."
Act I. i. 65 Flavins. " They vanish tongue-tyd in their
guiltinesse."
Compare
John viii. 9 "And when they heard it, being accused by
their owne conscience, they went out one by one, beginning at the
eldest even to the last."
Act I. ii. 9
Antony. "I shall remember:
When Caesar says, Do this, it is perform'd."
Luke vii. 8 " For I likewise am a man set under authority,
and have under me souldiers, and I say unto one, Goe, and he
goeth : and to another, Come, and he commeth : and to my
servant, Doe this, and he doth it."
Act I. ii. 15 Ccesar. "Who is it in the press that calls on
me?"
" Press " for " crowd " used in all the Versions Mark v. 27,
30, Mark ii. 4, Luke viii. 19, Luke xix. 3.
Rheims gives " multitude " in two instances.
Act I. ii. 66
Cassius. " And since you cannot see yourself
So well as by reflection, I, your glass,
Will modestly discover to yourself
That of yourself which you [yet know not of."
(343)
344 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Compare
Prov. xxvii. 19 " As in water face answereth to face, so the
heart of man to man."
Act I. ii. 138
Cassius. " Men at some time are masters of their fates :
The fault is not in our stars
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
Deut. xxx. 15, 19 "Beholde, I have set before thee this day
life and good, death and evill : therefore choose."
Jer. xxi. 8 " I set before you the way of life and the way of
death."
Ecclus. xv. 1 6, 17 " He hath set fire and water before thee:
stretch out thine hand unto which thou wilt. Before man is life
and death, good and evil : what him liketh shall be given him."
Act I. ii. 151 : Cassius
" When went there by an Age, since the great Flood,
But it was fam'd with more then with one man ? "
May be a reference to some well-known local inundation,
or to that of Deucalion, but it is most likely to be a
reference to the Noachian Flood, for Shakespeare
makes his characters speak like sixteenth-century
Englishmen. In the same speech Cassius says
" There was a Brutus once, that would have brook'd
The eternal Devill keep his state in Rome
As easily as a King."
Act I. ii. 268 Casca. " When he came to himselfe againe, hee
said."
Compare
Luke xv. 17 "Then he came to himselfe and saide."
Author. " And when he came to himselfe, he said."
Act I. ii. 308 : Cassius
"Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet I see
Thy honourable metal may be wrought
From that it is dispos'd : therefore tis meet
That noble minds keep ever with their likes :
For who so firm that cannot be seduc'd ? "
Prov. xiii. 20 " Hee that walketh with the wise, shalbe wise,
but a companion of fooles shall be afflicted."
THE TRAGEDIE OF JULIUS CAESAR 345
Prov. iv. 14 " Enter not into the way of the wicked and walke
not in the way of evill men."
Ecclus. xiii. I " He that toucheth pitch shalbe defiled with
it, and he that is familiar with the proude, shalbe like unto him."
Ecclus. xi. 6 " Many mighty men have bene brought to dis
honour, and the honourable have bene delivered unto other men's
hands."
Act I. iii. 10 : Casca
" But never till to-night, never till now,
Did I go through a tempest dropping fire.
Either there is a civil strife in Heaven
Or else the world, -too saucy with the gods,
Incenses them to send destruction."
Compare
Ps. cv. 32 " He gave them haile for raine and flames of fire
in their land."
Ezek. xxxviii. 22 " And I wil pleade against him with pesti
lence and blood, and I will cause to raine upon him and upon his
bands and upon the great people that are with him, a sore raine
and hailestones, fire and brimstone."
Joel ii. 30, 31 "And I will shewe wonders in the heavens
and in the earth : blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sunne
shalbe turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the
great and terrible day of the Lord come."
Luke x. 1 8 "And He saide unto them, I sawe Satan, like
lightning fall downe from heaven."
Jude vi. " The angels also which kept not their first estate."
Act I. iii. 46 Casca. "Who ever knew the Heavens menace
so?"
Cassius. " Those that have knowne the earth so full of faults."
Compare
Gen. xix. 13 " For we wil destroy this place, because the crie
of them is great before the Lorde, and the Lord hath sent us to
destroy it." 24 " Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon
Gomorah brimstone and fire from the Lorde out of heaven."
Gen. vi. 5 "When the Lorde sawe that the wickednesse of
man was great in the earth, and all the imaginations of the thoughts
of his heart were onely evill continually."
Gen. vii. n, 12 "The same day were all the fountaines of
346 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
the great deepe broken up and the windowes of heaven were
opened."
Act I. iii. 53
" But wherefore did you so much tempt the heavens ?
It is the part of men to feare and tremble,
When the most mightie Gods, by tokens send
Such dreadfull Heraulds to astonish us."
Compare
Exod. xix. 16 "And the third day, when it was morning,
there was thunders and lightnings and a thicke cloud upon the
mount, and the sounde of the trumpet exceeding loude, so that all
the people that was in the camp was afrayd."
Heb. xii. 21 "And so terrible was the sight which appeared,
that Moses said, I feare and quake."
Act I. iii. 91 : Cassius
" Therein yee Gods, you make the weake most strong ;
Therein yee Gods, you Tyrants doe defeat :
Nor Stonie Tower nor walls of beaten Brasse,
Nor ayreless Dungeon, nor strong Linkes of Iron
Can be retentive to the strength of spirit."
Eccles. viii. 8 " Man is not lorde over the spirite to retaine the
spirite."
Jer. xv. 20 " And I will make thee unto this people a strong
brasen wall and they shall fight against thee, but they shal not
prevaile against thee, for I am with thee to save thee."
Genevan Note " I will arme thee with an invincible
strength and constancie, so that all the powers of the
world shall not overcome thee."
2 Cor. xii. 10 "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in
reproches, in necessities, in persecutions, in anguish for Christ's
sake ; for when I am weake, then am I strong."
Act I. iii. 107 : Cassius
" Those that with haste will make a mighty fire
Begin it with weak straws."
Compare
James iii. 5 " Beholde, how great a thing a litle fire kindleth."
Zech. xii. 6 " Like coales of fire among the wood and like a
firebrand in the sheafe."
THE TRAGEDIE OF JULIUS CAESAR 347
Act II. i. 14: Brutus
" It is the bright day that brings forth the adder ;
And that craves wary walking."
Gen. xlix. 17 "A serpent by the way, an adder by the path,
byting the horse heeles, so that his rider shall fall backward."
Prov. i. 32 " For ease slayeth the foolish, and the prosperitie
of fooles destroyeth them."
Prov. xxix. 5 " A man that flattereth his neighbour, spreadeth
a net for his feet."
Ps. Ixii. 10 " If riches increase, set not your heart thereon."
i Cor. x. 12 "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth
take heede lest he fall."
Act II. i. 32: Brutus
" And therefore thinke him as a Serpent's egge,
Which hatch'd, would as his kinde grow mischievous,
And kill him in the shell."
Isa. lix. 5 "They hatch cockatrice egges, and weave the
spider's webbe : he that eateth of their egges dieth, and that which
is trode upon, breaketh out into a serpent."
Act II. i. 63: Brutus
" Between the acting of a dreadfull thing
And the first motion, all the Interim is
Like a Phantasma, or a hideous Dreame ;
The Genius, and the mortall Instruments
Are then in Councell ; and the state of a man,
Like to a little kingdome, suffers then
The nature of an Insurrection."
For a parallel compare St. Paul's account of the struggle
between the law of the mind and the law of the flesh,
where in the Genevan the parallel is made more
interesting by the use of the word " rebelling " where
the Authorised gives "warring."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. " rebelling."
Wic. " making me caitif."
Rheims " repugning to."
Author. " warring against."
Rom. vii. 22, 23 " For I delite in the Law of God concerning
the inner man. But I see another Law in my members, rebelling
against the Law of my minde and leading me captive unto the
348 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Law of Sinne which is in my members." 24 " O wretched man
that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death."
Act II. i. 145 : Metellus
" O let us have him, for his silver haires
Will purchase us a good opinion
And buy men's voyces to commend our deeds :
It shall be sayd, his judgment rul'd our hands ;
Our youths and wildenesse shall no whit appeare ;
But all be buried in his Gravity."
Ecclus. xxv. 4 " Oh, howe pleasant a thing is it when gray
headed men minister judgement, and when the elders can give
good counsell." 6 "The crowne of old men is to have much
experience and the feare of God is their glory."
2 Mace. vi. 23 " He began to consider discreetly and as be
came his age, and the excellencie of his ancient yeres, and the
honour of his gray haires."
Wisd. of Sol. iv. 8 " For the honourable age is not that which
is of long time, neither that which is measured by the number of
yeeres. But wisedome is the gray haire, and an undefiled life is the
olde age."
Lev. xix. 32 "Thou shalt rise up before the hore-head and
honour the person of the olde man."
Ps. xlvi., J. H., Genevan Met. Psalms
" In midst of her the Lord doth dwell
She can no whit decay."
Act II. i. 272 : Portia
" By all your vowes of Love, and that great Vow
Which did incorporate and make us one."
Gen. ii. 24 " Therefore shal man leave his father and his
mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shal be one flesh."
Act II. i. 327
Brutus. " A piece of worke that will make sicke men whole"
Caius. " But are not some whole, that we must make sicke."
Luke v. 31 "And Jesus answered and saide unto them, They
that are whole neede not the Phisician, but they that are sicke."
All the Versions give "whole" and "sicke" except the
Rheims " but they that are ill at ease."
THE TRAGEDIE OF JULIUS C^SAR 349
Act II. ii. 27: Cczsar
" What can be avoyded
Whose end is purposed by the mighty Gods ? "
Isa. xlvi. 10 "Which declare the last thing from the beginning
and from of olde things that were not done, saying, My Counsell
shall stande and I will doe whatsoever I will."
Isa. xliii. 1 3 " Yea before the day was I am, and there is none
that can deliver out of Mine hand, I wil do it and who shall let
it."
Act II. ii. 33: Casar
" Cowards die many times before their deaths ;
The valiant never taste of death but once.
Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
It seems to me most strange that men should fear ;
Seeing that death, a necessary end,
Will come, when it will come."
Deut. xxviii. 66 " Thou shalt feare both night and day, and
shalt have none assurance of thy life. In the morning thou shalt
say, Would God it were evening, and at evening thou shalt say,
Would God it were morning, for the feare of thine heart."
Ps. Iv. 4, 5 " Mine heart trembleth within me, and the terrours
of death are fallen upon me. Feare and trembling are come upon
mee and an horrible feare hath covered mee."
John viii. 52, Luke ix. 27, Heb. ii. 9 " taste of death."
Act III. i. 98 : Trebonius
" Men, Wives, and Children, stare, cry out and run,
As it were Doomesday."
Rev. vi. 1 6 " And saide to the mountaines and rocks, Fall
on us, and hide us from the presence of Him that sitteth on the
throne and from the wrath of the Lambe : For the great day of His
wrath is come, and who can stand."
Act III. ii. 122 Antony. "And none so poor to do him
reverence."
Mark xv. 19 " Bowed the knees and did Him reverence."
All the Versions give "worshipped Him" except the
Rheims " bowing the knees they adored Him." The
Genevan of 1557 gives "worshipped," but the edition
of 1598 "did Him reverence."
350 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. ii. 185 : Antony
" This was the most unkindest cut of all ;
For when the noble Caesar saw him stab,
Ingratitude more strong than traitors' arms
Quite vanquished him : then burst his mighty heart."
Ps.lv. 12-14 "Surely mine enemie did not defame me for
I could have borne it : neither did mine adversarie exalt himself
against me, for I would have hidde me from him. But it was thou,
O man, even my companion, my guide and familiar."
Act III. ii. 229: Antony
" But were I Brutus,
And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony
Would ruffle up your spirits, and put a Tongue
In every wound of Cesar, that should move
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny."
Gen. iv. 10 " The voyce of thy brother's blood cryeth unto
Mee from the earth."
Luke xix. 40 " But He answered and said unto them, I tell
you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would cry."
Act IV. i. 50 : Octavius
" And some that smile, have in their hearts I feare,
Millions of mischeefes."
Ps. Ixii. 4 " They consult to cast him downe from his dignity,
their delight is in lies, they blesse with the mouthes but curse with
their hearts."
Ps. xxviii. 3 "Workers of iniquity, which speake friendly to
their neighbours when malice is in their hearts."
Ps. Hi. 2 " Thy tongue imagineth mischiefe, and is like a
sharp razor that cutteth deceitfully."
Ps. xl., J. H., Genevan
" For I with mischiefes many one
Am sore beset about."
Act IV. iii. 87 Cassiiis. " A friend should beare his Friend's
infirmities."
Rom. xv. ,i "We which are strong ought to beare the in
firmities of the weake and not to please ourselves."
Act IV. iii. 135 Brutus. "He know his humor, when he
knowes his time."
THE TRAGEDIE OF JULIUS C^SAR 351
Eccles. iii. I "To all things there is an appointed time, and a
time to every purpose under the heaven."
Act IV. iii. 189
Brutus. "Why farewell, Portia. We must die, Messala ;
With meditating that she must die once,
I have the patience to endure it now."
Messala. " Even so great men great losses should endure."
Job i. 21 "The Lord hath given and the Lorde hath taken
it : blessed be the Name of the Lord."
Heb ix. 27 " And as it is appointed unto men that they shall
once die."
So all the Versions.
Act IV. iii. 217 : Brutus
" There is a tide in the affaires of men,
Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat ;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures."
Compare
Eccles. ix. 10 " All that thine hande shall finde to doe, doe
it with all thy power."
John xii. 35 "Yet a little while is the light with you : walke
while ye have that light lest the darkenesse come upon you."
Heb. xii. 17 "For yee know howe that afterward also when
hee would have inherited the blessing, hee was rejected : for hee
founde no place to repentance, though hee sought that blessing
with teares."
Act IV. iii. 277 : Brutus
" I thinke it is the weakenesse of mine eyes
That shapes this monstrous Apparition.
It comes upon me. Art thou anything ?
Art thou some God, some Angell, or some D evilly
That mak'st my blood cold, and my hair to stare."
i Sam. xxviii. 13 "And the woman sayd unto Saul, I saw
Gods ascending up out of the earth."
352 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Genevan Margin "To his imagination (it was Samuel)
albeit it was Satan, who to blinde his eyes took upon
him the forme of Samuel, as he can doe of an Angell
of Light."
Job iv. 14 " Feare came upon mee, and dread which made
all my bones to tremble. And the winde passed before mee, and
made the haires of my flesh to stand up. Then stoode one and
I knewe not his face, an image was before mine eyes."
Act V. i. 48 : Octavius
" Come, come, the cause. If arguing make us Swet,
The proofe of it will turne to redder drops."
The Genevan in a Marginal Note on Luke xxii. 44, shows
that our Lord was striving as it were in argument
"with the fearefull judgment of his angrie Father,"
" the agonie sheweth that our Lord strove much and
was in great distresse."
Luke xxii. 44 "But being in an agonie, He prayed more
earnestly : and his sweat was like droppes of blood trickling downe
to the ground."
Act V. i. 88" Ready to give up the Ghost."
Gen. xlix. 33" Gave up the Ghost."
Acts v. io" Yeelded up the Ghost."
Matt, xxvii. 50" Yielded up the Ghost."
Gen. xxxv. 29 " Gave up the Ghost."
Act V. i. 100: Brutus
" Even by the rule of that philosophy
By which I did blame Cato for the death
Which he did give himself : I know not how,
But I do finde it cowardly and vile,
For feare of what might fall, so to prevent
The time of life, arming my selfe with patience
To stay the providence of some high Powers
That governe us below."
Exod. xx. 13 "Thou shalt not kill."
Ps. xxxi. 15 "Thou art my God, my times are in Thine
hand."
Ps. Ixxix. 8 " Let Thy tender mercies prevent us."
i Thess. iv. 15 "Shall not prevent them which sleepe."
THE TRAGEDIE OF JULIUS OESAR 353
Job vii. i "Is there not an appointed time to man upon
earth ? and are not his days as the days of an hireling."
Job xiv. 14 "All the dayes of mine appointed time wil I
waite until my changing shall come. Thou shalt call me and I
shall answer."
James i. 4 " Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may
be perfect and entire, lacking nothing."
Act V. iii. 69
Messala. " O error, soon conceiv'd,
Thou never com'st unto a happy birth,
But killest the mother that engender'd thee."
James i. 1 5 " Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth
sinne, and sinne when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
Job iv. 8 "They that plow iniquitie and sowe wickednesse,
reape the same."
Hos. viii. 7 " For they have sowen the winde, and they shall
reape the whirlwinde."
Ecclus. xxi. 2 "Flee from sinne, as from a serpent: for if
thou comest to neere it, it wil bite thee. All iniquity is as a two
edged sword, the wounds whereof cannot be healed."
Act V. iii. 95 : Brutus
" Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords
In our own proper entrails."
Ps. xxxvii. 15 "But their sword shall enter into their owne
heart and their bowes shall be broken."
Act V. v. 19 Brutus. " I know my houre is come."
John ii. 4 " Mine houre is not yet come."
Act V. v. 39 : Brutus
" So, fare you well at once : for Brutus' tongue
Hath almost ended his life's histoiy.
Night hangs upon mine eyes : my bones would rest
That have but laboured to attain this hour."
Job iii. 17 " The wicked have there ceased from their tyrannic,
and there they that laboured valiantly, are at rest"
Author " There the wicked cease from troubling, and there
the weary be at rest."
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET, PRINCE OF
DENMARK.
First Quarto, 1603. Second Quarto, 1604.
First Folio, 1623. " Here many passages not to be found in the Quartos appear
for the first time, but a few others that appear in the Quartos are omitted. The
Folio text probably came nearest to the original manuscript."
Act I. i. 75 : Marcellus
" Why such impress of shipwrights, whose sore task
Does not divide the Sunday from the week?"
Exod. xx. 8 " Remember the Sabbath day to keepe it holy.
Sixe dayes shalt thou labour and doe all thy worke."
Act I. i. 1 12 " A moth it is to trouble the mind's eye."
Not in Folio.
Luke vi. 42 " Let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye."
Act Li. 118 : Horatio
" Disasters in the sun ; and the moist star
Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands
Was sick almost to doomsday with eclipse :
And even the like precurse of fierce events,
As harbingers preceding still the fates
And prologue to the omen coming on,
Have heaven and earth together demonstrated
Unto our climatures and countrymen."
Compare
Matt. xxiv. 29 "And immediately after the tribulations of
those dayes shall the sunne be darkened, and the moone shall not
give her light, and the starres shall fall from heaven, and the
powers of heaven shall be shaken."
Act I. i. 147
Bernardo. " It was about to speak, when the cock crew"
Horatio. " And then it started, like a guilty thing
Upon a fearful summons."
(354)
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 355
Compare
Matt. xxvi. 74 "Then began he to curse himselfe, and to
sweare, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cocke
crew." 75 "Then Peter remembred the words of Jesus which
had said unto him, Before the cocke crowe thou shalt denie me
thrice. So he went out, and wept bitterly."
Act Li. 157 : Marcellus
" It faded on the crowing of the Cocke.
Some sayes, that ever 'gainst that Season comes
Wherein our Saviour's Birth is celebrated,
The Bird of Dawning singeth all night long :
And then (they say) no spirit can walke abroad . . .
164 So hallow'd and so gracious is the time."
Gen. xliii. 25 "And they made ready their present against
Joseph came at noone."
Mark xiii. 35 "At even or at midnight, at the cock -crowing
or in the dawning."
Wic. " mornynge." followed by Rheims and Author.
Tyn., Cran., Gen. "dawning."
i Sam. xxv. 32 " By the dawning."
Author. " morning light."
Luke ii. 8 " And there were in the same countrey shepheards
abiding in the field and keeping watch by night over their flocke,
and loe, the Angell of the Lord came upon them and the glory of
the Lord shone about them." n "A Saviour, which is Christ
the Lord."
Act I. ii. i : King
" Though yet of Hamlet our deere brother's death
The memory be greene : and that it us befitted
To beare our hearts in greefe, and our whole kingdome
To be contracted in one brow of woe :
Yet so farre hath Discretion fought with Nature
That we with wisest sorrow thinke on him."
i Thess. iv. 1 3 " I would not brethren have you ignorant
concerning them which are asleepe, that ye sorow not even as
other which have no hope."
Ecclus. xxxviii. 17 "Make a greevous lamentation and be
earnest in mourning, and use lamentation as he is worthy, and
356 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
that, a day or two, lest thou be evil spoken of and then comfort
thyselfe for thine heavines."
Act I. ii. 70
Queen. " Do not for ever with thy veyled lids
Seeke for thy Noble Father in the dust :
Thou know'st tis common, all that lives must dye,
Passing through Nature to Eternity."
Job vii. 21 "For nowe shall I sleep in the dust, and if thou
seekest me in the morning I shall not be founde."
Num. xvi. 29 " If these men die the common death of all
men."
Heb. ix. 27 " It is appointed unto men that they shall once
die, and after that commeth the judgment."
Heb. xi. 1 3 " Confessed that they were pilgrims and strangers
on the earth." 16 " But now they desire a better (countrey) that
is, a heavenly."
Act I. ii. 92
King. " But to persever
In obstinate condolement, is a course
Of impious stubbornesse. Tis unmanly greefe ;
It shewes a will most incorrect to Heaven,
A Heart unfortified, a Minde impatient,
An Understanding simple and unschooled."
Ecclus. xxxviii. 23 "Seeing the dead is at rest, let his re
membrance rest, and comfort thyselfe againe for him when his
spirit is departed from him."
Rom. viii. 28 "Also we know that all things work together
for the best unto them that love God."
Act I. ii. 10 1
King. " Fie, tis a fault to Heaven,
A fault against the dead, a fault to Nature,
To reason most absurd, whose common theme
Is death of fathers."
Ecclus xli. 3, 4 " Feare not the judgment of death, remember
them that have bin before thee and that come after, this is the
ordinance of the Lord over all flesh. And why wouldest thou be
against the pleasure of the most High ? whether it be tenne or an
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 357
hundreth or a thousand yeres, there is no defence for life against
the grave."
Act I. ii. 129
Hamlet. " Oh that this too too solid flesh would melt.
Thaw, and resolve itself into a Dew :
Or that the Everlasting had not fixt
His Cannon 'gainst selfe slaughter."
Baruch iv. 14 "Which the Everlasting hath brought upon
them."
Baruch v. 2 " The glory of the Everlasting."
Baruch iv. 20 " I will call upon the Everlasting."
Shakespeare, following Puritan thought, evidently considers
that suicide is forbidden in the Ten Commandments.
Exod. xx. 1 3" Thou shalt not kill."
Genevan Note on 2 Mace. xiv. 41 " This private example
(the suicide of Razis) ought not to be followed of the
godly, because it is contrary to the Word of God."
Wisd. of Sol. i. 12 " Seeke not death in the errour of your
life, destroy not yourselves thorow the works of your owne hands,"
1 5 " For righteousnesse is immortall, but unrighteousnesse bringeth
death. And the ungodly call it (to wit, death) unto them both
with hands and words : and while they thinke to have a friend of
it they come to nought : for they are confederate with it, therefore
are they worthy to be partakers thereof."
Act I. ii. 133
" How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable,
Seem to me all the uses of this world !
Fie on't ! O fie ! 'tis an unweeded garden
That grows to seed ; things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely."
Eccles. i. 14 " I have considered all the workes that are done
under the Sunne, and beholde, all is vanitie and vexation of the
spirit."
Gen. iii. 17 "Cursed is the earth for thy sake, in sorow shalt
thou eate of it all the dayes of thy life. Thornes also and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee."
Act I. ii. 179 Horatio. " Indeed my lord, it followed hard
upon."
2 Sam. i. 6 " The chariots and horsemen followed hard after
him."
358 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Phil. iii. 14 " And folow harde towarde the mark."
Ps. Ixiii. 8 (Author.)" My soul followeth hard after thee."
Act I. ii. 244
"He speake to it, though Hell itself e should gape
And bid me hold my peace."
Jud. xviii. 19 " And they said unto him, Hold thy peace."
Luke iv. 35 " Hold thy peace and come out of him."
Act I. ii. 256
" Foule deeds will rise,
Though all the earth orewhelm them, to men's eies."
Num. xxxii. 23 " Be sure that your sinne will finde you out."
Gen. iv. 10 "The voyce of thy brother's blood cryeth unto
Mee from the earth."
Isa. xxvi. 20, 21 "The earth shall disclose her blood, and
shal no more hide her slain."
Job xxxiv. 21, 22 -"For His eyes are on the wayes of man,
and He seeth all his doings. There is no darkenesse nor shadowe
of death, that the workers of iniquitie might be hid therein."
Amos ix. 2, 3 "Though they dig into the hel, thence shall
My hand take them : though they clime up to heaven thence will
I bring them downe. And though they hide themselves in the
top of Carmel, I wil search and take them out thence, and though
they be hid from My sight in the bottome of the sea, thence wil I
command the serpent and he shall bite them."
Act I. iii. 12
Laertes. " But as his Temple waxes,
The inward service of the mind and Soule
Grows wide withal."
1 Cor. vi. 19 " Your body is the Temple."
Ephes. ii. 21 "In whom all the building, coupled together,
groweth unto an holy Temple in the Lord."
2 Cor. iv. 1 6 "But though our outward man perish, yet the
inward man is renewed daily."
John ii. 21 " But he spake of the temple of His body."
Act I. iii. 45 : Ophelia
" I shall the effect of this good lesson keep,
As watchman to my heart. But good, my brother,
Doe not as some ungracious Pastors doe
Shew me the steepe and thorny way to Heaven ;
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 359
Whilst like a puft and recklesse Libertine
Himselfe, the Primrose path of dalliance treade,
And recks not his owne reade."
Ezek. xxxiii. 2 "Make him their watchman. If when he
seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and
warne the people. Then he that heareth the sounde of the
trumpet and will not be warned, if the sword come, and take him
away, his blood shalbe upon his owne head."
Matt, xxiii. 2, 3, 4 " The Scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses'
seate. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe that observe
and doe : but after their works doe not : for they say and doe
not."
Genevan Note " Hypocrites for the most part are most
severe exacters of those things which they themselves
chiefly neglect."
Rom. ii. 21 "Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest
thou not thyselfe."
" The Primrose path of dalliance," see also " Macbeth," the
Porter's speech.
Wisd. of Sol. ii. 6 (For the ungodly say) "Come therefore
and let us enjoy the pleasures that are present, and let us cheer
fully use the creatures in youth. Let us fill ourselves with costly
wine and ointments, and let not the flower of life passe by us. Let
us crowne ourselves with rosebuds afore they be withered."
Act I. iii. 54 " A double blessing is a double grace."
A play on the act of blessing and the grace before meat,
but the words " double grace " and " double blessing "
occur in the Genevan Bible in veiy interesting con
nections.
Ecclus. xxvi. 15 "A shamefast and faithfull woman is a
double grace."
In Isa. xl. 2 a Genevan Note on the verse says " Sufficient
or double grace whereas she deserved double punish
ment ; " and again " This was fully accomplished when
John the Baptist brought tidings of Jesus Christe's
comming, who was the true deliverer of His Church
from sinne and Satan ; hence this double blessing of the
Forerunner and the Messiah announced the sufficient
or double grace of the forgiveness of God."
360 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act I. iii. 59 : Polonius
" Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportion'd thought his act."
68 " Give every man thine ear but few thy voice ;
Take each man's censure, but reserve thy judgment."
James i. 19 " Let every man be swift to heare, slowe to speake,
and slowe to wrath."
Ecclus. xx. 7 " A wise man will holde his tongue till he see
opportunitie : but a trifler and a foole will regarde no time."
Act I. iii. 63
" The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soule, with hoopes of steele."
Ecclus. ix. 1 2 " Forsake not an olde friend, for the newe
shall not be like him, a newe friend is as new wine, when it is olde
thou shalt drinke it with pleasure."
Act I. iii. 72 " For the apparel oft proclaims the man."
Ecclus. xix. 28 " A man's garment, and his excessive laughter
and going declare what person he is."
Act I. iii. 75
" Neither a borrower nor a lender be ;
For lone oft loses both it selfe and friend."
Prov. xxii. 7 " The rich ruleth the poore, and the borower is
servant to him that lendeth."
Act I. iv. 19, not in Folio
" They clepe us drunkards and with swinish phrase
Soil our addition ; and indeed, it takes
From our achievements, though performed at height,
The pith and marrow of an attribute."
Isa. v. ii "Woe unto them that rise up early to follow
drunkennesse and to them that continue untill night, till the wine
doe inflame them."
Ecclus. xxxi. 29 " Wine drunken with excesse, maketh bitter-
nesse of mind with braulings and scouldings."
Act I. iv. 35, not in Folio
" Shall in the general censure take corruption
From that particular fault : the dram of eale
Doth all the noble substance of a doubt
To his own scandal."
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 361
Eccles. x. i " Dead flies cause to stirike and putrifie the oint
ment of the apoticarie : so doth a little folly him that is in estima
tion for wisedome and glory."
1 Cor. v. 6 " A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump."
Matt. xvi. 6 " Take heede and beware of the leaven of the
Pharises and Sadducees."
Act I. iv. 39 Hamlet. " Angels and ministers of Grace defend
us."
Heb. i. 14 "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to
minister."
Ps. xci. ii "For Hee shall give His Angels charge over thee
to keepe thee in all thy wayes."
Act I. v. 9 : Ghost
" I am thy father's spirit,
Doom'd for a certaine terme to walke the night,
And for the day confm'd to fast in Fiers,
Till the foul crimes done in my dayes of nature
Are burnt and purg'd away."
2 Esdras ix. 9 "Then shall they have pity of themselves
which now have abused My wayes. And they that have cast
them out despightfully shal dwel in paines. For such as in their
life have received benefits and have not knowen Me. But have
abhorred My lawe while they were yet at liberty and when they
had yet leisure of amendment and would not understand but
despised it. They must be taught it after death by paine."
Act I. v. 13
" But that I am forbid
To tell the secrets of my prisonhouse."
Gen. xlii. 19 " If yee be true men, let one of your brethren be
bound in your prisonhouse."
Isa. xlii. 7 " And them, that sit in darknes out of the prison-
house."
Act I. v. 22" To eares of flesh and blood."
Matt. xvi. 17 "Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee."
Gal. i. 16 "Communicated not with flesh and blood."
Ephes. vi. 12 "We wrestle not against flesh and blood."
Heb. ii. 14" Partakers of flesh and blood."
362 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act I. v. 72
" Most lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust,
All my smooth body."
Luke xvi. 20 "Also there was a certaine beggar named
Lazarus, which was layde at his gate full of sores."
Act I. v. 86
" Leave her to Heaven
And to those Thornes that in her bosome lodge,
To pricke and sting her."
Compare passages on conscience
Isa. Ivii. 20 " The wicked are like the raging sea, that cannot
rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace,
sayeth my God, to the wicked."
Ps. Ixxiii. 21 " Certeinly mine heart was vexed, and I was
pricked in my reines."
Acts ii. 37 " Now when they heard it, they were pricked in
their hearts."
Prov. xxii. 5 " Thornes and snares are in the way of the
froward."
Act I. v. 92" Oh, all you host of heaven."
Neh. ix. 6 " Thou hast made heaven, and the heaven of all
heavens, with all their hoste."
Isa. xxxiv. 4 "And all the hoste of heaven shall be dissolved,
and the heavens shall be folden like a booke, and all their hostes
shall fall as the leafe falleth."
I Kings xxii. 19 " I sawe the Lord sit on His throne, and all
the hoste of heaven stood about Him."
Act I. v. 98
" Yea, from the table of my memory
He wipe away all trivial fond records."
1 02. " And thy commandement all alone shall live
Unmix't with baser matter."
Jer. xvii. I "Graven upon the table of their heart."
Prov. vii. 3 " Binde them upon thy fingers, and write them
upon the table of thine heart."
Isa. xxx. 8 " Now go, and write it before them in a table and
note it in a booke that it may be for the last day for ever and
ever."
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 363
Act I. v. 1 06
" Oh Villaine, Villaine, smiling damned Villaine !
My Tables, my Tables ; meet it is I set it downe
That one may smile, and smile, and be a Villaine."
Ps. Iv. 21 "The wordes of his mouth were softer than butter,
yet warre was in his heart : his words were more gentle then oyle,
yet they were swords."
Ps. Ixii. 4 " They blesse with their mouthes, but curse with
their hearts."
Ecclus. xii. 17 "An enemie is sweet in his lips : he can make
many good words and speake many good things : yea he can
weepe with his eyes, but in his heart he imagineth how to throw
thee into the pit : and if he may find opportunitie, hee will not
be satisfied with blood."
Act I. v. 164
Horatio. " O day and night, but this is wondrous strange ! "
Hamlet. " And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio,
Than are dream't of in our Philosophy."
Heb. xiii. 2 " Be not forgetful to entertaine strangers, for
thereby some have received Angels into their houses un wares."
i Cor. ii. 9 " But as it is written, The things which eye hath
not scene, neither eare hath heard, neither came into man's heart,
are, which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God
hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deepe things of God."
Act II. ii. 44 : Polonius
" I hold my dutie, as I hold my soule,
Both to my God, one to my gracious King."
Eccles. xii. 1 3 " Let us heare the ende of all : feare God
and keepe His commandements : for this is the whole duetie of
man."
i Peter ii. 17 "Feare God, honour the King."
Act II. ii. 137 Polonius. " Or given my heart a winking, mute
and dumbe."
Genevan Ps. 1., 3rd part, W. W.
" Hereat while I do wink
As though I did not see."
364 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Acts xvii. 30 " And the time of this ignorance God winked
at" (Authorised).
Act II. ii. 178 Hamlet. "Ay sir; to be honest, as this world
goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand."
The Folio gives "two thousand."
2 Esdras vii. 68 " He pardoneth also, for if He gave not of His
goodness that they which have done evill might be relieved from
their wickednesse, the ten thousand part of men should not re-
maine alive." 70 " There should peradventure be very few left
in an innumerable multitude."
Act 1 1. ii. 229 Guild. " Happy in that we are not over happy."
Ecclus. xl. 1 8 "To labour and bee content with that a man
hath, is a sweete life."
I Tim. vi. 8 " Therefore when wee have foode and raiment
let us therewith bee contente."
Phil. iv. ii "I have learned in whatsoever state I am, there
with to be content.
Act II. ii. 237
Hamlet. " What's the news ? "
Rosen. " None, my Lord, but that the world's growne honest."
Hamlet. " Then is Doomesday neere."
Eccles. viii. 30 " I have founde one man of a thousand, but a
woman among them all have I not found. Onely loe, this have I
founde that God hath made man righteous, but they have sought
many inventions."
Rom. iii. 10 " There is none righteous, no not one."
Rev. xx. 2, 3 " And he tooke the dragon, that olde serpent,
which is the devill and Satan, and he bound him a thousand
yeres. And cast him into the bottomles pit, and he shut him up
and sealed the doore upon him that he should deceive the people
no more."
Heb. viii. 1 1 " And they shall not teach eveiy man his neigh
bour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all
shall know Me from the least of them to the greatest of them."
Act II. ii. 269 Guild. "Which dreames indeed are Ambition:
for the very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadowe of
a Dreame."
Hamlet. " A dreame itselfe is but a shadow."
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 365
Rosen. "Truly, and I hold Ambition of so ayry and light a
quality, that it is but a shadowe's shadow."
Isa. xxix. 8 " And it shall be like as an hungry man dreameth
and behold he eateth : and when hee awaketh, his soule is emptie :
or like as a thirstie man dreameth and loe he is drinking, and
when hee awaketh, beholde he is faint and his soule longeth."
Act II. ii. 307 Hamlet. " What a peece of worke is man : how
Noble in Reason ! how infinite in faculty ! in forme and moving
how expresse and admirable ! in action, how like an Angel ! in
apprehension, how like a God ! the beauty of the world, the
Parragon of Animals ! And yet to me, what is this Quintessence
of Dust?"
For " express image " see Heb. i. 3 (Authorised).
I Cor. xi. 7 " He is the image and glory of God."
Ps. viii. 4-7 " What is man say I, that Thou art mindfull of
him ? and the sonne of man that thou visitest him ? For Thou hast
made him a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and
honour. Thou hast made him to have dominion in the works of
Thine hands : Thou hast put all things under his feete. All sheep
and oxen, yea, and the beastes of the field."
Heb. ii. 6 " What is man ? " 7 " Thou madest him a little
inferiour to the Angels."
Gen. iii. 19 "Thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou returne."
Act II. ii. 409 Hamlet. " O Jephta, Judge of Israel, what a
treasure hadst thou."
Polonius. " What a treasure had he, my lord ? "
Hamlet. " Why, one faire daughter and no more
The which he loved passing well."
Jud. xii. 7 " And Iphtah judged Israel sixe yeere." xi. 34
" Beholde his daughter came out to meete him with timbrels and
daunces, which was his onely child : hee had none other sonne
nor daughter."
For Hamlet's allusion in thus quoting the daughter of
Jephtha compare Act III. i. 122.
Jud. xi. 37 " Also she sayde unto her father, Doe this much
for me, suffer me two moneths, that I may goe to the mountaines
and bewaile my virginitie."
Act II. ii. 536 Hamlet. "Use every man after his desert, and
who shall 'scape whipping. Use them after your own honour
366 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
and dignity: the less they deserve, the more merit is in your
bounty."
Ps. cxxx. 3 " If thou, O Lord, straightly markest iniquities,
O Lord, who shall stand ? "
Act II. ii. 603
" For murther, tho' it have no tongue, will speake
With most myraculous Organ."
A reference to the murder of Abel.
Gen. iv. 10 "The voyce of thy brother's blood cryeth unto
Mee from the earth."
Act II. ii. 608 : Hamlet
" The Spirit that I have seene
May be the Divell, and the Divel hath power
T' assume a pleasing shape, yea and perhaps
Out of my weaknesse and my melancholly,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me."
Compare The Witch and Saul, where the Genevan has a
note that the Devil assumed the form of the prophet
Samuel, and
2 Cor. xi. 14 " Satan himselfe is transformed into an Angell
of Light."
Act III. i. 48 : Polonius
" Tis too much prov'd that with Devotion's visage
And pious action, we do surge o're
The devill himselfe."
Matt. xv. 8 "This people draweth nye unto Me with theyr
mouthes and honoureth Me with their lippes, how be it, theyr
hartes are farre from Me."
Luke xii. i "Take heede to yourselves of the leaven of the
Pharises, which is hypocrisy."
Act III. i. 59 : Hamlet
" Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them."
Two metaphors blended, but compare
Isa. lix. 19 "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the
Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him " (Authorised).
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 367
Act III. i. 76: Hamlet
" Who would these Fardles beare,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered Countrey, from whose Borne
No Traveller returnes."
"Fardel" not a very common word. It is used by
Hakluyt "one fardel of cloth," Fuller " things
orderly fardled up," and the Genevan Bible. The
passage is interesting when compared with the words
of Hamlet.
The Apostle Paul was setting out on his last journey to Jeru
salem ; his friends felt that he would never return and
"sorrowed for the words which he spake, That they
should see his face no more. They bade him farewell
with tears."
Acts. xxi. 14, 15 "So when he would not be persuaded we
ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. And after those
dayes wee trussed up our fardels and went up to Hierusalem."
Wic. " we werun made redi."
Tyn. " we made our selfes ready."
Cran. " we tooke up our burthens."
Rheims " being prepared."
Author. " tooke up our carriages."
Gen. 1557 and subsequent editions "trussed up our
fardels."
The Genevan is the only Version to use the word.
Act III. i. 133 "We are arrant knaves, all, beleeve none of us."
Eccles. ix. 3 " There is one condition to all, and also the heart
of the sonnes of men is full of evill."
Act III. i. 150 "God has given you one pace, and you make
yourself e another : you gidge, you amble, and you lispe, and nick
name God's creatures, and make your wantonnesse your Ignorance."
Isa. iii. 1 6 "The Lord also saith, Because the daughters of
Zion are hautie, and walke with stretched out neckes, and with
wandring eyes, walking and mincing as they goe and make a
tinckeling with their feet."
Genevan Note " Women which gave themselves to wan
tonnesse and dissolution, lightnesse and vanitie."
3 68 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. ii. 8 Hamlet. " O it offends mee to the soule, to see
a robustious Pery-wig-pated fellow teare a passion to tatters, to
verie ragges, to split the eares of the groundlings : .... it out
Herods Herod."
Mr. Gollancz thus explains the allusion " Termagant and
Herod, common characters in the mysteiy plays, repre
sented as furious and violent tyrants."
Marriott, p. 83, Coventry Miracle Play, quoted by Wright,
gives the stage direction " Here Erode rages." This is
doubtless correct, but it is worth noting that one of the
Herods prided himself upon his skill in oratory. Acts
xii. 21, 22 " And upon a day appointed Herod arayed
himselfe in royall apparell, and sate on the Judgment
seate and made an oration unto them. And the
people gave a shoute, saying, The voyce of God and
not of man." 23 " But immediately the Angel of the
Lorde smote him." The Genevan Note exactly ex
presses Hamlet's idea "The flatterie of the people,
maketh fooles faine."
Act III. ii. 63 : Hamlet
" Since my deere Soule was Mistris of my choyse
And could of men distinguish, her election
Hath seal'd thee for her selfe : for thou hast bene
As one in suffering all, that suffers nothing,
A man that Fortune's buffets, and Rewards
Hath tane with equall thankes."
2 Cor. i. 21, 22 "And it is God which establisheth us with
you in Christ and hath anoynted us. Who hath also sealed us,
and hath given the earnest of the spirit in our hearts."
John vi. 27 " Which the Sonne of Man shall give unto you,
for him hath God the Father sealed."
Ecclus. xl. 1 8 "To labour and bee content with that a man
hath is a sweete life."
Phil. iv. ii "I have learned in whatsoever state I am, there
with to be content."
Act III. ii. 202 : Player King
" This world is not for aye, nor tis not strange
That even our Loves should with our Fortunes change,"
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 369
Isa. xxiv. 20 " The earth shall reele to and fro like a drunken
man and shalbe removed like a tent."
Heb. i. 10 " Thou Lord in the beginning hast established the
earth, and the heavens are the workes of Thine handes. They shall
perish but Thou doest remaine, and they all shall waxe olde as
doeth a garment, and as a vesture shalt Thou folde them up and
they shall be changed."
Act III. ii. 336 Rosen. " My Lord, you once did love me."
Hamlet. " So I do now, by these pickers and stealers."
Question xi. Catechism bound up with Genevan Version
" To keepe my hands from picking and stealing."
Tit. ii. 9, 10 "Let servants be subject to their masters and
please them in all things, not answering againe, neither pickers."
Wic., Rheims " not defraudinge."
Author. " not purloyning."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. " neither pickers."
Act III. ii. 370 Hamlet. "Why do you thinke that I am
easier to be plaid on then a Pipe ? Call me what Instrument you
will, though you can fret me, you cannot play upon me."
Job xvii. 2 " There are none but mockers with me, and mine
eyes continueth in their bitternesse." 5 " For the eyes of his
children shall faile that speaketh flattery to his friend. Hee hath
also made me a byword of the people and I am as a Tabret before
them"
Act III. ii. 397
" I will speak daggers to her, but use none ;
My tongue and soul in this be hypocrites ;
How in my words soever she be shent,
To give them seals never my soul consent."
For the word "shent" see " Merry Wives."
Prov. xii. 17, 1 8 "A false witnesse useth deceite. There is
that speaketh wordes like the prickings of a sworde : but the
tongue of wise men is health."
Ps. Ivii. 4 "Whose teeth are speares and arrowes, and their
tongue a sharpe sword." 6 "They have laide a net for my
; steps."
Prov. xi. 9 " An hypocrite with his mouth hurteth his neigh
bour."
24
370 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. iii. 36: King
" Oh my offence is ranke, it smells to heaven ;
It hath the primall eldest curse upon 't,
A Brother's Murther."
Amos v. 21 " I hate and abhorre your feasts days, and I will
not smell in your solemne assemblies."
Gen. iv. 10 " The voyce of thy brother's blood cryeth unto
Mee from the earth. Now therefore art thou cursed from the
earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brothers blood
from thine hand."
Act III. iii. 39
" Pray can I not,
Though inclination be as sharpe as will :
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent ;
And like a man to double business bound,
I stand in pause where I shall first begin,
And both neglect."
Isa. i. 1 3 " Bring no more oblations : in vaine : incense is an
abomination unto Mee." 1 5 " And when you shal stretch out
your hands I will hide Mine eyes from you : and though yee make
many prayers I wil not heare, for your handes are full of blood."
1 6 " Wash you, make you cleane : take away the evill of your workes
from before mine eyes : cease to doe evill, learne to do well."
James i. 6 " But let him aske in faith and waver not, for hee
that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, tost of the winde and
caried away. Neither let that man thinke that he shall receive
anything of the Lorde. A double minded man is unstable in
all his ways."
Luke xii. 29, on prayer, has this Note in the Genevan " A
Metaphore taken of things that hang in the ayre, for
they that are carefull for this worldly life and hang
upon the arme of man, have alwayes wavering and
doubtfull mindes, swaying sometimes this way, and
sometimes that way."
Act III. iii. 45
" What if this cursed hand
Were thicker than itselfe with Brothers blood,
Is there not Raine enough in the sweet Heavens
To wash it white as snowe ? Whereto serves mercy
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 371
But to confront the visage of offence ?
And what's in Prayer, but this two-fold force,
To be forestalled ere we come to fall,
Or pardoned being downe ? "
Gen. iv. 10 " Thou art cursed from the earth . . . thy brother's
blood from thine hand."
Ps. li. 7 " Wash me and I shall be whiter then snow."
Prayer of King David, who had murdered Uriah the
Hittite.
Isa. i. 1 8 "Come nowe, and let us reason together, saith the
Lord, though your sinnes were as crimson, they shall be made white
as snow : though they were red like skarlet, they shalbe as wooll."
Act III. iii. 50
" Then ile looke up ;
My fault is past. But oh, what forme of Prayer
Can serve my turne ? Forgive me my foule Murther ?
That cannot be, since I am still possest
Of those effects for which I did the Murther,
My Crowne, mine owne Ambition, and my Queene.
May one be pardon'd and retain the offence ?
In the corrupted currents of this world
Offence's gilded hand may shove by Justice,
And oft 'tis scene, the wicked prize itselfe
Buyes out the Law ; but 'tis not so above ;
There is no shuffling, there the Action lyes
In his true Nature, and we ourselves compell'd,
Even to the teeth and forehead of our faults
To give in evidence."
Gal. vi. 7 " Bee not deceived, God is not mocked : for what
soever a man soweth, that shall hee also reape."
Num. xxxii. 23 " Be sure that your sinne will finde you out."
Jer. ii. 19 "Thine owne wickednesse shal correct thee."
i Tim. v, 24, 25 "Some men's sinnes are open beforehand,
and goe before unto judgment : but some men's follow after."
Ecclus. xxxiv. 26 " He that washeth himself because of a
dead body and toucheth it again, what availeth his washing ? So
iis it with a man that fasteth for his sins, and committeth them
iigaine : who wil heare his prayer ? or what doeth his fasting helpe
372 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Eccles. xii. 14 "For God will bring every worke unto judg
ment with every secret thing whether it be good or evill."
Deut. xxxii. 4 " Perfecte is the worke of the mighty God, for
all His wayes are judgment. God is true and without wickednesse :
just and righteous is He."
Job viii. 3 "Doeth God pervert judgment? or doeth the
Almightie subvert justice."
Jer. xi. 20 " O Lord of Hostes, that judgest righteously and
triest the reines and the heart."
Ps. xc. 8 " Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, and our
secret sinnes in the light of Thy countenance."
Act III. iii. 64
" What then ? what rests ?
Try what Repentance can. What can it not ?
Yet what can it, when one cannot repent ?
Oh wretched state ! O bosom, blacke as death !
Oh limed soule, that strugling to be free
Art more engag'd : Helpe Angels, make assay :
Bow stubborne knees, and heart with strings of steele,
Be soft as sinewes of the new-borne Babe !
All may be well."
Ps. li. I " Have mercy upon me O God, according to Thy
loving kindnes, according to the multitude of Thy compassions put
away mine iniquities. Wash me throughly from mine iniquitie,
and dense me from my sinne."
Ps. xli. 4 "Lord have mercy upon me, heale my soule, for I
have sinned against Thee."
Ps. Ixix. 14 " Deliver mee out of the myre, that I sinke not,
let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the
deepe waters. Let not the water flood drown me, neither let the
deepe swallow me up : and let not the pit shut her mouth upon
me."
2 Cor. vii. 10 " Godly sorow causeth repentance unto salvation,
not to be repented of, but the worldly sorow causeth death."
Heb. xii. 16, 17 "Let there bee no fornicator or prophane
person as Esau, which for one portion of meate solde his birthright.
For yee knowe howe that afterward also when hee would have
inherited the blessing, hee was rejected : for hee founde no place
to repentance, though he sought that blessing with teares."
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 373
Act III. iii. 80
Hamlet. " He tooke my Father grossely, full of bread ;
With all his Crimes broad blown."
84 " And am I then reveng'd
To take him in the purging of his soule."
Ezek. xvi. 49 "Beholde this was the iniquity of thy sister
Sodom, Pride, fullnesse of bread, and abundance of idleness."
Ps. li. 7 " Purge me with hyssope and I shalbe cleane : wash
me, and I shalbe whiter then snow."
Act III. iii. 91
" Or about some acte
That has no rellish of salvation in 't ;
Then trip him, that his heeles may kicke at Heaven,
And that his soule may be as damned and blacke
As Hell, whereto it goes."
Ezek. xxxiii. 14 " Agayne, when I shall say unto the wicked,
thou shalt die the death, if he turne from his sin and do that
which is lawfull and right ... he shall surely live and not die."
Jude 1 3 " To whom is reserved the blackeness of darkenesse
for ever."
Rom. vi. 23 " For the wages of sin is death."
Act III. iii. 98: King
" My words flye up, my thoughts remain below :
Words without thoughts, never to Heaven go."
Ps. Ixvi. 1 8 " If I regarde wickednesse in my heart, the Lord
will not heare me."
Mai. ii. 13 "This have ye done againe and covered the altar
of the Lorde with teares, with weeping and with mourning:
because the offering is no more regarded, neither received acceptably
at your hands." 17 "Yee have wearied the Lorde with your
words"
Isa. xxix. 1 3 " Therefore the Lorde said, Because this people
come neere unto me with their mouth, and honour me with their
lips, but have removed their heart farre from me, and their feare
toward me was taught by the precept of men."
Isa. i. 15 "And when you shal stretch out your hands I will
hide Mine eyes from you : and though yee make many prayers I
will not heare, for your hands are full of blood."
374 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. iv. 36: Hamlet
" Leave wringing of your hands, peace, sit you downe,
And let me wring your heart."
Joel ii. 13 "Rent your heart and not your clothes; and
turne unto the Lord your God, for He is gracious and mercifull,
slowe to anger and of great kindness."
Act III. iv. 49
" Heaven's face doth glow ;
Yea, this solidity and compound mass,
With tristful visage, as against the doom,
Is thought-sick at the act."
Reference to the Doomsday and final destruction of the
earth.
2 Peter iii. 7 "But the heavens and earth, which are now,
are kept by the same word in store, and reserved unto fire again*
the day of condemnation, and of the destruction of ungodly men.'
10 "The elements shall melte with heate, and the earth, with the
workes that are therein, shalbe burnt up."
Act III. iv. 62
"Where every God did seeme to set his scale,
To give the world assurance of a man."
John vi. 27 " Which the Sonne of Man shall give unto you,
for him hath God the Father sealed."
The Genevan has the following interesting Note " Whoi
God the Father hath distinguished from all other m<
by planting His owne vertue in Him, as though He hi
sealed Him with His scale, that He might be a liv(
patterne and representer of Him."
Gen i. 26 " God said, Let us make man in our image accord
ing to our likenesse."
Act III. iv. 65
" Here is your Husband, like a mildew d care,
Blasting his wholsom brother " (" breath " in Folio).
A reference to the spread of mildew, but compare also
Gen. xli. 5 " Behold, seven eares of corne grew upon one stalke,
ranke and goodly." 6 " And loe seven thin eares and blasted with
the East winde sprang up after them. And the thinne eares devoured
the seven ranke and full eares."
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 375
Act III. iv. 105
Hamlet. " Save me and hover o're me with your wings,
You heavenly guards."
Luke ii. 13 "A multitude of heavenly souldiers."
Luke iv. 10 " For it is written, That Hee will give His Angels
charge over thee to keepe thee."
Act III. iv. 118
Queen. " You bend your eye on vacancie
And with the incorporal air do hold discourse.
Forth at your eyes, your spirits wildely peepe ;
And as the sleeping souldiers in th' alarme,
Your bedded haire, like life in excrements,
Start up and stand on end."
See Matt, xxviii. 3, 4.
Job iv. 13 "When sleepe falleth upon men. Feare came
upon me and dread which made all my bones to tremble. And the
winde passed before me, and made the haires of my flesh to stand
up. Then stoode one and I knewe not his face, an image was be
fore mine eyes and in silence heard I a voyce."
Act III. iv. 127
" His forme and cause conjoyn'd, preaching to stones
Would make them capeable."
Luke iii. 8 " God is able of these stones to raise up children
unto Abraham."
Luke xix. 40 " But He answered and said unto them, I tell
you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would cry."
Act III. iv. 150
" Confess yourself to Heaven
Repent what's past, avoyd what is to come."
Prov. xxviii. 1 3 " He that hideth his sinnes shall not prosper,
but hee that confesseth and forsaketh them, shall have mercy."
Dan. ix. 4 " I prayed unto God and made my confession."
Ezek. xviii. 31 " Cast away from you all your transgressions
whereby ye have transgressed and make you a newe heart and a
new spirit."
Act III. iv. 157
Queen. " Oh Hamlet ! thou hast cleft my heart in twain."
Hamlet. " O throw away the worser part of it,
And live the purer with the other halfe,"
376 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Ps. Ixix. 20 " Rebuke hath broken mine heart and I am ful
of heavinesse, and I looked for some to have pitie on me but there
was none : and for comforters but I found none."
Phil. iii. 13 "I forget that which is behinde and endevour
myselfe unto that which is before, And folow hard toward the
marke for the prize of the high calling of God."
Act III. iv. 1 66
" Refraine to-night,
And that shall lend a kinde of easinesse
To the next abstinence : the next more easy :
For use almost can change the stamp of Nature,
And master the devil or throw him out
With wondrous potency."
Job xvii. 9 " But the righteous will hold his way, and he
whose hands are pure shall increase his strength."
Ps. Ixxxiv. 7 " They goe from strength to strength."
James iv. 7 " Submit yourselves to God : resist the devill and
he will flee from you."
Heb. v. 14 "Through long custome have their wits exercised
to discerne both good and evill."
Act III. iv. 198
" If words be made of breath,
And breath of life : I have no life to breath
What thou hast saide to me."
Met. Psalms, Genevan, xc., J. H.
" Our yeares consume like wordes of blaste."
Ps. civ. 29 " If Thou take away their breath, they dye and
returne to their dust."
Gen. vi. 17 " Wherein is the breath of life."
Acts xvii. 25 " He giveth to all life and breath."
Act III. iv. 206
" Let it work ;
For 'tis the, sport to have thelenginer
Hoist with his own petar : and 't shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines."
Ps. vii. 15, 1 6 "He hath made a pit and digged it, and is
fallen into the pit that he made."
Prov. xxvi. 27 " He that diggeth a pit shal fall therein and he
that rolleth a stone, it shall returne Junto him."
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 377
Act IV. ii. 5 : Rosen " What have you done, my Lord, with
the dead body?"
Hamlet. " Compounded it with dust, whereto 'tis kinne."
Gen. ii. 7 " The Lord God also made the man of the dust of
the ground."
Eccles. iii. 30 " All goe to one place, and all was of the dust
and all shall returne to the dust."
Act IV. ii. 22 : Rosen " I understand you not, my lord."
Hamlet. " I am glad of it : a knavish speech sleepes in a foolish
eare."
Ecclus. xxii. 10 "Whoso telleth a foole of wisdome, is as a
man which speaketh to one that is asleepe : when he hath told his
tale, he saith, what is the matter."
Act IV. ii. 26
Hamlet. " The body is with the King, but the King is not with
the body. The King is a thing- "
Guild. " A thing, my lord ! "
Hamlet. "Of nothing."
A common expression in Genevan Bible
Isa. xl. 23 " Hee bringeth the Princes to nothing."
Isa. xli. 12 "They shall be as nothing, and the men that
warre against thee as a thing of nought."
Ps. cxliv. 4" Man is like a thing of nought" (Psalter).
Note on Mic. i. 7 "Consumed as a thing of nought."
Act IV. iii. 51 Hamlet. " Man and wife is one flesh."
Gen. ii. 24 " Shal cleave to his wife and they shalbe one flesh."
Act IV. v. 16
Queen. " Let her come in.
To my sick soul, as sin's true nature is,
Each toy seems prologue to some great amiss :
So full of artless jealousy is guilt,
It spills itself in fearing to be spilt."
Mark ii. 17 "The whole have no neede of the Physitian but
the sicke. I came not to call the righteous but the sinners to
repentance."
2 Esdras viii. 31 "For wee and our fathers have all the same
sicknesse, but because of us that are sinners, thou shalt be called
mercifull."
378 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Job xv. 20, 24 "A sound of feare is in his eares ... he
seeth the sword before him . . . affliction and anguish shall make
him afraid."
Act IV. v. i2i
King. " Do not fear our person :
There's such divinity doth hedge a King,
That Treason can but peepe to what it would."
Job i. 10 " Hast thou not made a hedge about him and about
his house."
Genevan Note " The graces of God, as a rampart."
i Sam. ii. 10 " The Lord shal give power to His King, and
exalt the horn of His anoynted."
Ps. xviii. 50 " Great deliverances giveth He unto his King."
Ps. Ixi. 6, 7 " Thou shalt give the King a long life, his yeeres
shall be as many ages. He shall dwell before God for ever, pre
pare mercy and faithfulnesse, that they may preserve him."
i Sam. xvi. 9 " And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not :
for who can lay his hand on the Lord's Anoynted and be
giltlesse."
Act IV. v. 198 Laertes. " Do you see this, O God."
Gen. xxix. 32 " The Lord hath looked upon my tribulation."
Gen. xxii. 14 "Jehovah Jireh, i.e., the Lord will see or pro
vide."
Ps. xxxiii. 1 3 " The Lorde looketh downe from heaven and
beholdeth all the children of men."
Act IV. v. 216 King. "Where the offence is, let the great
axe fall."
Ezek. xviii. 4 "The soule that sinneth, it shall die."
Act IV. vii. 117 : King
" That we would do,
We should do when we would : for this would changes."
James iv. 14 "Ye cannot tell what shal be tomorrow."
Prov. xxvii. I "Thou knowest not what a day may bring
forth."
John xii. 35 " Walke while ye have that light, lest the darke-
nesse come upon you."
Eccles. ix. 10 "All that thine hand shall find to doe, doe it
with all thy power."
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 379
Act IV. vii. 125
Laertes. " To cut his throat i' the Church."
King. " No place indeed should murder Sancturize."
I Kings ii. 28-34 " J oaD fled unto the Tabernacle of the Lorde
and caught holde on the homes of the altar. And it was tolde
King Solomon that Joab was fled unto the Tabernacle of the
Lord, and beholde, he is by the altar " (Genevan Note " Thinking
to be saved by the holiness of the place "). " Then Solomon sent
Benaiah, the sonne of Jehoiada, saying, Goe, fall upon him."
34 " So Benaiah went up and smote him and slew him."
Act V. i. 10 1st Clown. " For here lies the point, if I drown
myself wittingly, it argues an act, and an act hath three branches ;
it is, to act, to do, and to perform."
The Grave-digger seems to have some remembrance of a
sermon in his mind. This is a common form of exposi
tion ; for instance, in the Notes on I Cor. vi. 9, the
Genevan has the following " Now he prepareth him-
selfe to passe over to the fourth treatise of this Epistle :
debating this matter first ... which question hath
three branches . . . secondarily . . . next."
Act V. i. 31 ist Clown. "There is no ancient Gentlemen, but
Gardiners, Ditchers, and Grave-makers : they hold up Adam's pro
fession."
2nd Clown. " Was he a Gentleman ? "
ist Clown. " He was the first that ever bore armes."
2nd Clown. " Why, he had none."
ist Clown. "What, art a Heathen? how dost thou understand
the Scripture ? the Scripture sayes Adam digg'd : could hee digge
without armes."
Gen. ii. 8 " And the Lord God planted a garden Eastward
in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had made." 15
" That he might dresse it and keepe it."
Gen. iii. 23 " Foorth from the garden of Eden to till the
earth."
Mark xv. 28" Thus the Scripture was fulfilled."
John vii. 38 " Sayth the Scripture."
Rom. iv. 3 " Thus saith the Scripture."
Act V. i. 60" The houses that he makes last till doomsday."
i Cor. xv. 52, Rev. xx. 12.
3 8o SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act V. i. 78-" Caine's jaw-bone that did the first murther."
Gen. iv. 8.
Act V. i. 131 "Tis for the dead not for the quick."
2 Tim. iv. i "Shall judge the quicke and dead."
i Peter iv. 5, Acts x. 42, Num. xvi. 30, Ps. cxxiv. 3.
Rheims only " living and dead."
Act V. i. 237
" She should in ground unsanctified have lodg'd
Till the last trumpet."
i Cor. xv. 52 " In a moment, in the twinckling of an eie at
the last trumpet, for the trumpet shall blow and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible."
The Genevan was the first Version to give "the last
trumpet," followed by Rheims and Authorised.
Act V. i. 248
" I tell thee (churlish Priest),
A Ministring Angell shall my sister be
When thou liest howling."
Joel i. 13 "Girde yourselves and lament, ye Priests: howle
ye ministers of the altar."
Zech. xi. 3 " There is the voyce of the howling of the shep-
heardes, for their glorie is destroyed."
Heb. i. 14 (The angels) " Are they not al ministring spirits,
sent forth to minister, for their sakes which shalbe heires of salva
tion."
Act. V. i. 267
Laertes. " The devil take thy soul."
Hamlet. " Thou pray'st not well
I pry' thee, take thy fingers from my throat."
Matt. V. 44 " But I say unto you, Love your enemies, blesse
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them
which hurt you, and persecute you."
Act V. ii. 8-
" Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well,
When our deare plots do paule, and that should teach us
There's a Divinity that shapes our ends
Rough-hew them how we will."
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 381
Prov. xvi. 9 " The heart of man purposeth his way, but the
Lord doth direct his steppes."
Prov. xix. 21 "Many devises are in a man's heart, but the
counsell of the Lorde shall stand."
2 Sam. xv. 31 "And David sayde, O Lord, I pray thee,
turne the counsell of Ahithophel into foolishnesse."
Act V. ii. 227 Hamlet. " Not a whit, we defie augury : theirs
a speciall Providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, tis not
to come : if it bee not to come, it will be now : if it be not now,
yet it will come : the readinesse is all, since no man has ought of
what he leaves. What is't to leave betimes."
Matt. x. 29 "Are not two sparowes sold for one farthing?
and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father."
Luke xii. 6, 7 " Are not five sparowes bought for two farthings,
and yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Yea and all
the haires of your head are nombred : feare not therefore ; ye are
more of value than many sparowes."
i Tim. vi. 7 " For wee brought nothing into the world, and
it is certeine that we can carie nothing out."
Hab. ii. 3 " For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but
at the last it shall speake and not lie : though it tary, waite : for
it shall surely come and shall not stay."
Matt. xxiv. 44 " Therefore be yee also ready, for in the houre
that yee thinke not, wil the Sonne of man come."
Biblical use of " betimes."
Gen. xxvi. 31 " And they rose up betimes in the morning."
Prov. xiii. 24 "He that loveth his son chasteneth him betimes."
Genevan Psalms, Ixiii., T. S.
" O God, my God, I watch betime
To come to Thee in haste."
Act V. ii. 240 : Hamlet
" I heere proclaime was madness.
Was 't Hamlet wrong'd Laertes ? Never Hamlet :
If Hamlet from himselfe be tane away,
And when he's not himselfe, do's wrong Laertes,
Then Hamlet does it not, Hamlet denies it :
Who does it then ? his madness ? If 't be so,
Hamlet is of the Faction that is wrong'd ;
His madnesse is poore Hamlet's Enemy."
382 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
For a striking similarity in form compare the passage in
Romans where the Apostle Paul describes the conflict
between the spirit and the flesh
Rom. vii. 15 "For I alow not that which I doe: for what I
would, that do I not : but what I hate that doe I. If I do then
that which I would not, I consent to the Law that it is good. Now
then it is no more I that do it, but sinne that dwelleth in me. For
I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing."
19 "For I doe not the good thing which I would, but the evill
which I would not that doe I. Now if I doe that I would not, it is
no more I that doe it, but the sinne that dwelleth in me." 24
" O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death."
Act. V. ii. 315 Osric. " How is 't, Laertes?"
Laertes. "Why, as a woodcock to mine Sprindge, Osricke
I am justly killed with mine owne Treacherie."
Ps. vii. 1 6 " His mischiefe shall returne upon his owne head,
and his cruelty shall fall upon his owne pate."
Prov. xxvi. 27 " He that diggeth a pit shall fall therein, and
he that rolleth a stone, it shal returne unto him."
Ps. xxxv. 8 " Let his nette that he hath laid privily, take him."
Ecclus. xxi. 3 " All iniquity is as a two edged sword."
Act V. ii. 325
Laertes. " The foul practice
Hath turn'd itselfe on me."
336 " He is justly serv'd ;
It is a poison tempered by himself."
Horatio. 390 " Of deaths put on by cunning, and forc'd cause,
And in this upshot, purpose mistook
Fall'n on the inventors' head."
Prov. xi. 5 " The wicked shall fall in his owne wickednesse."
Wisd. of Sol. xi. 1 3 " Wherewith a man sinneth by the same
shall he be punished."
Isa. Hi. ii " Woe be to the wicked, it shall be evill with him :
for the reward of his hand shalbe given him."
Hos. viii. 7 " They have sown the winde, they shall reape the
whirlwind."
Ps. vii. 1 6 " His mischiefe shall returne upon his owne head,
and his cruelty shall fall upon his owne pate."
THE TRAGEDIE OF HAMLET 383
Exod. xxix. 2 " Cakes unleavened tempered with oyle."
Ezek. xiii. 10 " Daubed it with untempered morter," i.e., un
mixed.
Act V. ii. 366
Hamlet. " So tell him with the occurrants more or lesse
Which have solicited. The rest is silence. O. O. O."
Horatio. " Now cracke a noble heart.
Goodnight sweet Prince ;
And flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest"
The famous phrase " the rest is silence " has often been
adduced as proof of unbelief in immortality, but the
thought of Hamlet is Biblical.
2 Esdras vii. 32 " Then the earth shall restore those that have
slept in her, and so shall the dust those that dwell therein in
silence."
Ps. cxv. 17 "The dead prayse not the Lord, neither any that
goe downe into the place of silence."
Job iii. 17, 1 8 "There they that laboured valiantly are at
rest. The prisoners rest together and heare not the voyce of the
oppressor."
Luke xvi. 22 "Was caried by the angels into Abraham's
bosome."
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA.
Act I. iii. 20
Aga. " But the protractive trials of Great Jove
To find persistive constancy in men ?
The fineness of which metal is not found
In fortune's love."
27 " Distinction, with a broad and powerful fan
Puffing at all, winnows the light away ;
And what hath mass, or matter, by itself
Lies rich in virtue, and unmingled."
Heb. xii. 6 " For whom the Lord loveth, Hee chasteneth : and
Hee scourgeth eveiy sonne that He receiveth."
Job xxiii. 10 " But Hee knoweth my way and trieth me, and
I shall come foorth like the gold."
Zech. xiii. 9 " And will fine them as the silver is fined, and
will trie them as golde is tried."
Luke xxii. 31 "And the Lord sayde, Simon, Simon, beholde
Satan hath desired you, to winnow you as wheate. But I have
prayed for thee that thy faith faile not, therefore when thou art
converted, strengthen thy brethren."
Act I. iii. 240
" The worthiness of praise distains his worth,
If that the prais'd himself bring the praise forth."
Prov. xxvii. 2 " Let another man praise thee, and not thine
owne mouth : a stranger, and not thine owne lips."
Act II. i. 1 20 Thersites. "I will keep where there is wit
stirring, and leave the faction of fools."
Prov. xiii. 20 " He that walketh with the wise shall be wise,
but a companion of fooles shall be afflicted."
Ecclus. ix. 1 6, 17 " Aske counsell of the wise. Let thy talke
be with the wise."
(384)
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 385
Act II. ii. 57
Hector. " 'Tis mad idolatry
To make the service greater than the God."
Matt, xxiii. 17 "Ye fooles and blinde, whether is greater, the
gold or the Temple that sanctifieth the gold ? " 19 " Whether is
greater, the offering, or the altar which sanctifieth the offering."
Act II. ii. 81
" Why she is a Pearle,
Whose price hath launch'd above a thousand ships,
And turn'd crown'd kings to merchants."
Matt. xiii. 45 "Like to a merchant that seeketh good pearles
which when he had found one of great price, went and solde all
that he had and bought it."
Act II. ii. 171
" Have eares more deafe than adders to the voice
Of any true decision."
Ps. Iviii. 4 " Like ye deafe adder that stoppeth his eare, which
heareth not the voyce of the inchanter, though he be most expert
in charming."
Act II. iii. 20 Thersites. " I have said my prayers, and devil
Envy say Amen."
Genevan Note on i Cor. xiv. 16 " One uttereth the prayers,
and all the company answered, Amen."
Act III. i. 135 " Why they are vipers : is love a generation of
vipers."
Matt. iii. 7 "O generation of vipers," Tyn., Cran., Gen.,
Author.
Wic. " generaciouns of eddris."
Rheims " ye vipers brood."
And so in Matt. xii. 34, Matt, xxiii. 33.
In Luke iii. 7 the 1557 edition of Genevan gives "offspring
of vipers," but subsequent editions " generation of
vipers."
Act III. iii. 71
Patro. " They pass by strangely : they were us'd to bend,
To send their smiles before them to Achilles :
To come as humbly as they us'd to creep
To holy altars."
25
3 86 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Achilles. "What! am I poor of late?
"Pis certain, greatness, once fall'n out with fortune,
Must fall out with men too : what the declin'd is
He shall as soon read in the eyes of others
As feel in his own fall."
Prov. xiv. 20 " The poore is hated even of his owne neighbour,
but the friends of the rich are many."
Prov. xix. 4-7 " Riches gather many friends : but the poore is
separated from his neighbour. Many reverence the face of the
prince, and every man is friend to him that giveth gifts. All
the brethren of the poore doe hate him, how much more will his
friends depart farre-from him."
Ecclus. xiii. 22 " If a rich man fal, his friends set him up
againe, but when the poore falleth, his friends drive him away."
Act IV. i. 75-
" Fair Diomed, you doias chapmen do,
Dispraise the thing that you desire to buy."
Prov. xx. 14 " It is naught, it is naught saith the buyer, but
when he is gone apart, he boasteth."
Act IV. iv. 79
" Alas, a kind of godly jealousy
(Which, I beseech you, call virtuous sin)
Makes me afraid."
Cressida. " O heavens ! you love me not."
2 Cor. xi. 2 " For I am jelous over you, with a godly jealousie :
for I have prepared you for one husband, to present you as a pure
virgine."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. " godly jealousy."
Wic. " I love you bi the love of God."
Rheims " I emulate you with the emulation of God."
Act IV. iv. 87-
" But I can tell, that in each grace of these
There lurks a still and dumb discoursive devil
That tempts most cunningly. But be not tempted."
2 Cor. xi. 3 " But I feare least as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtiltie, so your mindes shoulde be corupt from the
simplicitie that is in Christ."
TROILUS AND CRESSIDA 387
Act V. i. 53 Thersites. "Here's Agamemnon an honest
fellow enough, and one that loves Quailes, but he has not so much
Braine as eare-wax."
" Loves Quailes," i.e., is full of fleshy desires. The figure
is derived from an incident in the history of the
Israelites.
Num. xi. 32 " Then there went forth a winde from the Lord
and brought quailes from the sea."
Ps. Ixxviii. 29 " So they did eate and were well filled : for he
gave them their desire. They were not turned from their lust."
Gen. Met. Ps. Ixxviii. " Requiring such a kind of meat
as served to their lust."
The place where the quails came was called " the graves of
Lust," because of the punishment which fell upon the
Israelites, and the meaning read into the incident is
sufficiently shown in the Genevan Note in Psalm
Ixxviii. "Such is the nature of concupiscence, that
the more it hath, the more it lusteth."
Act V. iv. 32 Thersites. " I think they have swallowed one
another : I would laugh at that miracle : yet in a sort, lechery eats
itself."
A reference to the miracle of Aaron's rod, which was turned
into a serpent.
Exod. vii. 12 " For they cast downe every man his rod, and
they were turned into serpents : But Aaron's rod devoured their
rods."
THE TRAGEDIE OF OTHELLO THE MOORE OF
VENICE.
" To 1604 the composition of ' Othello ' can be confidently assigned. It was
produced at Whitehall on November ist, and was doubtless the first new piece by
Shakespeare that was acted before King James."
Act I. i. 71
I ago. " And, though he in a fertile Clymate dwell,
Plague him with flies."
Genevan chapter heading " Egypt is plagued with noy-
some flies."
Act I. i. 155 " Though I doe hate him as I do hell-paines."
Ps. xviii. 4 " The paines of hell came about mee : the snares
of death overtook me."
Ps. cxvi. 3 " The paines of hell gat hold upon me."
Psalter bound up with Genevan Bible.
Act I. ii. 6
" Nay but he prated
And spoke such scurvy, and provoking termes
Against your Honor, that with the little godlinesse I have,
1 did full hard forbeare him."
I.e., forbearance is a duty of the godly.
Col. iii. 1 2 " Now therefore as the elect of God, holy and
beloved, put on the bowels of mercies, kindenesse, humblenesse of
minde, meekenesse, long suffering. Forbearing one another and
forgiving one another, if any man have a quarel to another."
Act I. iii. 82 " Rude am I, in my speech."
2 Cor. xi. 6 " Though I be rude in speaking, yet I am not so
in knowledge."
Wic. " unlerned in word."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. " rude in speaking."
Rheims, Author. " rude in speech."
(388)
THE TRAGEDIE OF OTHELLO 389
Act I. Hi. 97
" A maiden, never bold
Of spirit so still and quiet."
Compare
i Peter iii. 4 " The incorruption of a meeke and quiet spirit,
which is before God a thing much set by. For even after this
maner in time past did the holy women which trusted in God,
tire themselves."
Act I. iii. 145
Othello. "This to hear
Would Desdemona seriously incline."
Ps. xlv. 10 " Hearken O daughter, and consider and incline
thine eare : forget also thine owne people and thy father's house."
Isa. xxxvii. 17 " Incline thine ear."
Ps. xvii. 6 " Incline thine eare to Me."
Act I. iii. 154 " That I would all my pilgrimage dilate."
Biblical use of " pilgrimage" for "life."
Act I. iii. 178
" Destruction on my head, if my bad blame
Light on the man."
i Kings ii. 33 "Their blood shall therefore returne upon the
head of Joab and on the head of his seede for ever."
Ezek. ix. 10 " Will recompense their wayes upon their head."
Act I. iii. 187: Desdemona
" I am hitherto your daughter : but here's my husband ;
And so much duty as my mother show'd
To you, preferring you before her father
So much I challenge that I may profess
Due to the Moor, my lord."
Gen. ii. 24 "Therefore shal man leave his father and his
mother and shal cleave to his wife, and they shalbe one flesh."
Matt. xix. 6 " Wherefore they are no more twaine, but one
flesh. Let no man therefore put asunder that which God hath
coupled together."
Act I. iii. 190" God be with you."
Deut. xx. i" For the Lord thy God is with thee."
Josh. i. 9" For I, the Lord thy God will be with thee."
390 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act I. iii. 213 : Brabantio
" He bears the sentence well, that nothing bears,
But the free comfort which from thence he hears,
But he bears both the sentence and the sorrow
That, to pay grief, must of poor patience borrow."
219 " But words are words ; I never yet did hear
That the bruis'd heart was pierced through the eare."
Job xvi. i " But Job answered and sayd, I have oftentimes
heard such things, miserable comforters are ye all. Shall there be
none ende of wordes of winde ? or what maketh thee bold so to
answere. I could also speak as ye doe (but would God your soule
were in my soule's stead) I could keepe you company in speaking
and could shake mine head at you."
James v. 10 "Take my brethren, the Prophets for an en-
sample of suffering adversitie and of long patience."
Job ii. 13 "So they sat downe with him upon the ground
seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him for
they saw that his grief was very great."
Act I. iii. 320 I ago. " Virtue ? a fig ! 'tis in ourselves that we
are thus, or thus. Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our
wills are gardeners."
See " Romeo and Juliet," Act I. i.
Ecclus. xv. 1 6 " He hath set water and fire before thee,
stretch out thine hand unto which thou wilt. Before man is life
and death, good and evil, what him liketh shalbe given him."
Hos. x. 12 "Sowe to yourselves in righteousnesse, reape after
the measure of mercie."
Deut. xxx. 15-19 "Behold I have set before thee this day,
life and good, death and evill."
Act I. iii. 348 "The Food that to him now is lushious as
Locusts, shall be to him shortly as bitter as Coloquintida."
The Biblical reference to Locusts and wild honey seems to
be in lago's mind and is contrasted with bitterness.
Mark i. 6 " Now John was clothed with camel's haire and
with a girdle of a skin about his Loynes, and he did eate Locusts
and wild hony."
Act I. iii. 403
lago. " I have 't ; it is engender'd : hell and night
Must bring this monstrous birth to the world's light."
THE TRAGEDIE OF OTHELLO 391
James i. 15 "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth
forth sinne, and sinne when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
Act II. i. 86: Cassio
" Haile to thee, Ladie ; and the grace of Heaven,
Before, behinde thee, and on every hand,
Enwheele thee rounde."
The reference seems to be to the guiding Pillar of Fire and
Cloud (Exod. xiv. 19).
Isa. Hi. 12 "The Lord will go before you, and the God of
Israel will be your rereward."
Isa. Iviii. 8 " Righteousness shall go before thee : the glory of
the Lord shall embrace thee."
Genevan Note " That is, the prosperous estate, wherewith
God will blesse thee."
Act II. i. 300
lago. " And nothing can, or shall, content my soul
Till I am even'd with him, wife for wife."
A play on the words of the Mosaic law.
Exod. xxi. 22, 23 " He shall be surely punished, according as
the woman's husband shall lay upon him : and he shall pay as the
judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give
life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth."
Act II. iii. 2
" Let's teach ourselves that honourable stop,
Not to out-sport discretion."
Prov. xxv. 1 6 " If thou have found honey, eate that is suffici
ent for thee, lest thou be overfull and vomit it."
Act II. iii. 71
" A souldier's a man ;
Oh man's life's but a span ;
Why then, let a souldier drinke."
Ps. xxxix. 5 " Behold Thou hast made my dayes as an hand-
breadth, and mine age as nothing in respect of Thee : surely every
man in his best state is altogether vanitie."
i Cor. xv. 32 "Let us eate and drinke: for tomorrow we
shall die."
Act II. iii. 101 Cassio. "Well: heaven's above all: and there
be soules must be saved, and there be soules must not be saved."
392 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
1 10 " Forgive us our sinnes : Gentlemen, lets looke to our busi-
nesse. Do not thinke, Gentlemen, I am drunke ; this is my
Ancient, this is my right hand, and this is my left."
Rom. ix. 1 5 " For he saith to Moses, I wil have mercy on
him, to whom I wil shew mercy, and wil have compassion on him,
on whom I wil have compassion." 1 8 " Therefore He hath mercy
on whom He will, and whom He will He hardeneth." 22 " What
and if God would to shewe His wrath, and to make His power
knowen, suffer with long patience the vessels of wrath, prepared
to destruction. And that He might declare the riches of His glory
upon the vessels of mercy, which Hee hath prepared unto glory."
Rom. x. 12 "For Hee that is Lord over all, is rich unto all
that call on Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved."
Isa. iv. ii "Cannot discerne between their right hand and
their left."
Bishop Wordsworth uses these words of the intoxicated
Cassio as indicative of Shakespeare's antagonism to
Puritanism, and says " In reference to the doctrine
of Fatalism, I cannot forbear adding that it is Cassio,
when he is no longer sober, who is made to vent the
extreme Calvinistic sentiment, 'Well, Heaven's above
all ; and there be souls that must be saved, and there
be souls must not be saved.' The argument is some
what unworthy, and sober, earnest men who have
signed the 39 Articles of Religion will doubtless re
member Article 17 which says, 'Predestination to
Life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before
the foundations of the world were laid) He hath con
stantly decreed by His counsel secret to us, to deliver
from curse and damnation those whom He hath chosen
in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ
to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour.' "
Act II. iii. 276 Cassio. " Oh, thou invisible spirit of wine, if
thou hast no name to be knowne by, let us call thee Divell."
Rev. xii. 9 " The devill, and Satan, which deceiveth all the
world."
Prov. xx. i "Wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging,
andjwhosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
THE TRAGEDIE OF OTHELLO 393
Prov. xxiii. 31 " Looke not thou upon the wine when it is
red, and when it sheweth his colour in the cup or goeth downe
pleasantly. In the ende thereof it will bite like a serpent and hurt
like a cockatrice."
i Cor. x. 21 "Ye cannot drinke the cup of the Lord, and the
cup of the devills."
Act II. iii. 291 Cassio. " It hath pleased the devil drunken-
nesse, to give place to the devil wrath."
Ephes. iv. 26 " Bee angry, but sinne not : let not the sunne
goe downe upon your wrath. Neither give place to the devill."
The Genevan is the first to give the phrase " give place to
the devill," followed by Rheims and Authorised.
Luke xi. 26 "Then goeth hee, and taketh to him seven
other spirites worse then himselfe : and they enter in and dwell
there : so the last state of that man is worse then the first."
Act II. iii. 339
I ago. " And then for her
To win the Moore, were 't to renounce his Baptisme,
All scales and Simbols of redeemed Sin."
Acts ii. 38 " Amend your lives and be baptised every one of
you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sinnes."
Tit iii. 5 "According to His mercie Hee saved us, by the
washing of the new birth."
Genevan Notes I Cor. vii. 14 "Baptisme is added as a
scale of holinesse." It is a seal of the Covenant of
Grace. "Our baptisme is a sign and pledge" (Rom.
vi. 4). " To scale up the righteousnesse of faith " (Rom.
iv. n).
Act II. iii. 347
lago. " Divinitie of hell !
When devils will the blackest sinnes put on,
They do suggest at first with heavenly shewes."
Compare Temptation of Eve, " ye shall be as God's." Temp
tation of our Lord by means of the show of Scripture.
2 Cor. xi. 14 " Satan himselfe is transformed into an Angel
of Light."
Act II. iii. 357 " So will I turn her virtue into pitch."
I.e., by her virtue Desdemona will be defiled.
394 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Ecclus. xiii. I " Hee that toucheth pitch shal be defiled with
it."
Act III. iii. 138
I ago. " As where's that Palace, whereinto foule things
Sometimes intrude not ? who has a breast so pure
Wherein uncleanly apprehensions
Keepe Leetes, and Law-Dayes, and in Sessions sit
With meditations lawfull."
Prov. xxx. 28 "The spider taketh holde with her handes,
and is in King's palaces."
Prov. xx. 9 " Who can say, I have made mine heart cleane,
I am cleane from my sinne."
Act III. iii. 156
I ago. " Good name in Man and Woman (deere my Lord)
Is the immediate Jewell of their Soules."
Ecclus. xli. 12 "Have regarde to thy name, for that shal
continue with thee above a thousand treasures of gold."
Prov. xxii. i "A Good Name is to be chosen above great
riches."
Prov. xx. 15 "There is golde, and a multitude of precious
stones : but the lippes of knowledge are a precious Jewell."
Prov. x. 7 " The name of the wicked shall rotte."
Act III. iii. 166
I ago. " Oh, beware my lord of Jealousie ;
It is the green-ey'd Monster, which doth mocke
The meate it feeds on."
Num. v. 13, 14 "There be no witness against her, neither
shee be taken with the manner. If he be mooved with a jelous
minde, so that he is jelous over his wife."
Genevan Note " If the spirite of jealousie come upon him."
Prov. vi. 34 " For jealousie is the rage of a man, therefore
he will not spare in the day of vengeance."
Song of Sol. viii. 6 " Jelousie is cruel as the grave : the coles
thereof are fierie coles and a vehement flame."
Act III. iii. 173
lago. " Poore and content, is rich and rich enough,
But Riches finelesse, is as poore as winter
To him that ever feares he shall be poore."
THE TRAGEDIE OF OTHELLO 395
i Tim. vi. 6, 7 " But Godlinesse is great gaine, if a man bee
content with that hee hath." 8 "Therefore when wee have
foode and raiment, let us therewith bee content."
Genevan Note " Hee mocketh their follie, which doe so
greedily gape after fraile things that they can in no
wise be satisfied, and yet notwithstanding they cannot
enjoy that excesse."
Act III. iii, 323
lago. " Trifles, light as air
Are, to the jealous, confirmations strong
As proofs of holy writ."
I Cor. xv. 3, Genevan Note " Confirmeth it first by the
testimonie of the Scriptures."
3 " according to the Scriptures."
4 " according to the Scriptures."
Scripture Paraphrase xxvi.
" How long to streams of false delight
Will ye in crowds repair ?
How long your strength and substance waste
On trifles, light as air ? "
Act III. iii. 362 Othello. "Or by the worth of mine eternall
soule."
Mark viii. 36 "For what shal it profit a man, though he
should winne the whole world, if he lose his soule? or what
exchange shall a man give for his soule?"
Act III. iii. 382
Othello. " Nay, stay. Thou shouldst be honest."
lago. " I should be wise ; for honesty's a fool
And loses that it works for."
Luke xvi. 8 " And the Lorde commended the unjust steward,
because he had done wisely. Wherefore the children of this world
are in their generation wiser than the children of light."
Act III. iii. 463 lago. "Witnesse you ever-burning Lights
above."
Gen. i. 14 " And God said, Let there be lights in the firma
ment of the heaven to separate the day from the night." 1 6
" God then made two great lightes."
396 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. iv. 130 Desdemona. "Sohelpe me every spirit sancti
fied."
Heb. i. 14 " Are they not al ministring spirits, sent forth to
minister, for their sakes which shalbe heires of salvation."
Act IV. i. 9 : Othello
" It is hypocrisy against the devil :
They that mean virtuously and yet do so,
The devil their virtue tempts, and they tempt Heaven."
James i. 1 3 " Let no man say when he is tempted, I am
tempted of God : for God cannot bee tempted with evill, neither
tempteth He any man. But every man is tempted when hee is
drawen away by his owne concupiscence and is entised."
Act IV. ii. 14
Emilia. " If any wretch have put this in your head,
Let Heaven requit it with the Serpent's curse."
Reference to the Temptation of Eve by the Serpent, and
the curse
Gen. iii. 14 "Then the Lord God sayd to the Serpent,
Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattel and
above every beast of the field : upon thy belly shalt thou goe, and
dust shalt thou eate all the dayes of thy life."
Genevan Note " As a vile and contemptible beast."
Act IV. ii. 42 Desdemona. " Alas, the heavy day ! "
Joel i. 15 "Alas: for the day."
Jer. xxx. 7 "All faces are turned into palenesse. Alas for
this day is great."
Act IV. ii. 44 : Desdemona
" If haply you my father do suspect
An instrument of this your calling back,
Lay not your blame on me ; if you have lost him,
Why, I have lost him too."
Exod. xx. 5 " Visiting the iniquitie of the fathers upon the
children."
Ezek. xviii. 20 " The sonne shall not beare the iniquitie of
the father."
Gen. ii. 24 "Therefore shal man leave his father and his
mother and shal cleave to his wife, and they shalbe one flesh."
THE TRAGEDIE OF OTHELLO 397
Act IV. ii. 48
Othello. " Had it pleas'd Heaven
To try me with Affliction, had they rain'd
All kind of Sores and Shames on my bare-head,
Steep'd me in povertie to the very lippes,
Given to Captivitie, me, and my utmost hopes,
I should have found in some place of my soule
A drop of patience."
A paraphrase of the trials of Job, the capture of his cattle,
the loss of his property, the smiting with disease
Job ii. 7 " Smote Job with sore boyles from the sole of his
foote to his crowne."
Job i. 20, 21 "Then Job arose and rent his garment, and
shaved his head, and fell downe on the ground and worshipped.
The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken it : blessed be the
Name of the Lord."
Job xxiii. 10 " But He knoweth my way and trieth me, and
I shall come forth like the gold."
James i. 3 " The trying of your faith bringeth forth patience."
Act IV. ii. 59
Othello. " The fountain from the which my current runs,
Or else dries up : to be discarded thence
Or keep it as a cistern, for foul toads
To knot and gender there."
Othello speaks of his wife as a " fountain " and a " cistern."
Compare the Biblical use of the same words
Prov. v. 15-18 " Drinke the water of thy cisterne. Let thy
fountaine be blessed, and rejoyce with the wife of thy youth."
Act IV. ii. 84 : Desdemona
" No, as I am a Christian
If to preserve this vessel for my Lord
From any other foule unlawfull touch."
1 Thess. iv. 3, 4 " That every one of you should know howe
to possesse his vessel in holinesse and honour."
2 Tim. ii. 21 " A vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meetefor
the Lord."
i Peter iii. 7 " Giving honour unto the woman, as unto the
weaker vessel."
398 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Genevan Note on i Cor. vii. 14 " The vessel of his un-
faithfull wife."
Act IV. ii. 90
Othello. " You mistress,
That have the office opposite to Saint Peter
And keepes the gate of hell."
Reference to the passage
Matt. xvi. 18, 19 "Thou art Peter." "And I will give unto
thee the keyes of the kingdome of heaven."
Act V. ii. 7 : Othello
" Put out the Light, and then put out the Light :
If I quench thee, thou flaming minister,
I can againe thy former light restore
Should I repent me. But once put out thy Light,
Thou cunning'st Patterne of excelling Nature,
I know not where is that Promethean heate
That can thy Light re-lume."
2 Sam. xxi. 17 "Lest thou quench the light of Israel."
Job xviii. 5 " Yea, the light of the wicked shall be quenched."
6 " His candle shall be put out with him." 13 " The first borne
of death shall devoure his strength."
Wisd. of Sol. xvi. 14 "A man indeede by his wickednesse
may slay another : but when the Spirit is gone forth, it turneth
not againe, neither can he call againe the soule that is taken away."
Gen. i. 26 " God said, Let us make man (in our image, accord
ing to our likenesse."
Act V. ii. 20 : Othello
" I must weep,
But they are cruel teares. This sorrow's heavenly ;
It strikes where it doth love."
Heb. xii. 6 " For whom the Lord loveth, Hee chasteneth : and
He scourgeth every sonne that He receiveth."
Act V. ii. 26
Oth. " If you bethinke your selfe of any Crime
Unreconcil'd as yet to Heaven and Grace,
Solicite for it straight."
Des. " Alas, my lord ! what may you mean by that ? "
THE TRAGEDIE OF OTHELLO 399
Oth. " Well, do it and be briefe ; I will walk by :
I would not kill thy unprepared spirit,
No (Heavens fore-fend), I would not kille thy soule."
Des. " Then Heaven have mercy upon me."
2 Cor. v. 20 " That yee be reconciled to God."
Ps. ix. 1 3 " Have mercie upon mee : O Lord : consider my
trouble which I suffer of them that hate me."
Matt. x. 28 " And fear not them which kill the body, but are
not able to kill the soule : but rather feare him which is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell."
Act V. ii. 47 Othello. " Peace, and be still."
This phrase used only by Tyndale and Genevan Version.
Mark iv. 39 " And He rose up and rebuked the winde, and
sayd unto the sea, Peace and be still. So the winde ceased and it
was a great calme."
Wic. " be stille, wexe doumbe."
Tyn. " peace and be still."
Cran. " peace be styll."
Gen. " peace and be still."
Rheims " peace be still."
Author." peace be still."
Act V. ii. 59: Desdemona
" Never loved Cassio
But with such general warrantie of Heaven
As I might love."
i John iii. ii " For this is the message, that yee heard from
the beginning that we should love one another."
Luke vi. 27-35 " Love your enemies."
i Thess. iv. 9 " Yee are taught of God to love one another."
Rom. xiii. 8 "Owe nothing to any man, but to love one
another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law."
Act V. ii. 136 Othello. " She was false as water."
The figure of the falseness of water seems to be derived
from the expression used by Jacob to his son Reuben
for the sin of unchastity
Gen. xlix. 4 " Thou wast light as water : thou shalt not be
excellent, because thou wentest up to thy father's bed , then diddest
thou defile my bed, thy dignitie is gone."
400 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act V. ii. 199
Emilia. " Good gentlemen, let me have leave to speak ;
Tis proper I obey him, but not now."
1 Peter iii. 5, 6 " Subject to their husbands, as Sara obeyed
Abraham."
Ephes. v. 24 " In subjection even so let the wives be to their
husbands in everything." v
Act V. ii. 211 "Yea curse his better Angell from his side."
Heb. i. 14.
Act V. ii. 224 Emilia. " No, I will speak as liberal as the north-"
Liberal = unrestrained, unchecked.
The Biblical usage is to make the North the quarter whence
sweeping winds and floods proceed.
Jer. xlvii. 2 " Behold waters rise up out of the North, and
shall be as a swelling flood and shall overflow the land."
Job xxxvii. 9 " The cold commeth from the North winde."
Genevan Note " In Ebrewe it is called the scattering winde,
because it driveth away the cloudes and purgeth the
ayre."
Ezek. i. 4 " A whirlewind came out of the North."
Job xxxvii. 21, 22 "The brightnesse commeth out of the
North."
Act V. ii. 276 : Othello
When we shall meet at compt,
This looke of thine will hurle my soule from heaven,
And Fiends will snatch at it."
Reference to the judgment and fate of murderers.
2 Cor. v. 10 " For wee must all appeare before the Judgment
seate of Christ, that every man may receive the things which are
done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be
good or evill."
Ps. ix. 12 "For when hee maketh inquisition for blood, he
remembreth it, and forgetteth not the complaint of the poore."
Rev. xxi. 8 " Murtherers shall have their part in the lake
which burneth with fire and brimstone."
Act V. ii. 345-
Othello. " Then must you speake,
Of one that lov'd not wisely, but too well.
Of one, not easily jealous, but being wrought
THE TRAGEDIE OF OTHELLO 401
Perplexed in the extreme : Of one, whose hand
(Like the base Judean) threw a Pearle away
Richer than all his Tribe."
The Quarto of 1622 gives "Like the base Indian," and this
reading is generally followed.
Theobald proposed "Judian," adding, "I am satisfied in his
Judian he is alluding to Herod, who, in a fit of blind
jealousie, threw away such a jewel of a wife as Mariamne
was to him."
But Herod was not a Judean although King of Judea In
support of "base Indian" it has been pointed out in
explanation of its meaning, that Boswell quotes from
Habington's "Castara"
" So the unskilful Indian those bright gems
Which might add majesty to diadems
'Mong the waves scatters."
But surely there is a difference between "unskilful" and
"base."
A pearl fisher who carelessly flung away a rich pearl might
be foolish or ignorant, but hardly base in the sense in
which Othello applies the term to himself. The words
"like the base Judean" rather point to one of uni
versal infamy, and there is no character in history more
aptly described by them than Judas Iscariot.
Our Lord sprang out of the royal tribe of Judah, and Judas
among all the disciples was the only Judean. He was
of Kerioth, a town on the southern border of the tribe
of Judah (Josh. xv. 24), while the other disciples were
Galileans. His name has become a synonym for base
ness and treachery, and it is true of him to say that
" he threw a pearl away richer than all his tribe."
Othello's final words before he committed suicide (as Judas
did) recall the traitorous action in the Garden of
Gethsemane
Othello. " I kiss'd thee, ere I kill'd thee."
Matt. xxvi. 49 " And forthwith he came to Jesus, and saide,
God save Thee, Master, and kissed Him."
For these reasons the reading of the Folio, " Like the base
Judean," seems to be the correct one.
26
MEASURE FOR MEASURE.
The play was produced at Whitehall, December 26th, 1605, but was not printed
in Shakespeare's lifetime.
Act I. i. 32 : Duke
" Heaven doth with us, as we with torches do,
Not light them for themselves ; for if our virtues
Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike
As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touch'd
But to fine issues : nor Nature never lends
The smallest scruple of her excellence
But, like a thrifty goddess, she determines
Herself the glory of a creditor
Both thanks and use."
I Cor. iv. 2 " It is required of the disposers, that every man
be found faithfull."
Matt. xxv. 15 "And unto one he gave five talents and to
another two and to another one, to every man after his own
ability." 19 "But after a long season, the master of those
servants came and reckoned with them."
Act I. ii. 7 Lucio. " Thou concludest like the Sanctimonious
Pirate, that went to sea with the Ten Commandments, but scraped
one out of the Table"
2nd Gentleman. " Thou shalt not steale."
Exod. xxxiv. 28 "Wrote in the Tables the wordes of the
Covenant, even the Ten Commandments."
Expd. xx. 15 "Thou shalt not steale."
The Genevan Bible usually speaks of the Commandments
as the Tables.
Act I. ii. 55 Lucio. " So sound as things that are hollow ; thy
bones are hollow : Impiety hath made a feast of thee."
Ezek. xxxii. 27 " Their iniquitie shalbe upon their bones."
(402)
MEASURE FOR MEASURE 403
Prov. xii. 4 " Is as corruption in his bones."
Job xx. 1 1 " His bones are full of the sinne of his youth."
Act I. iii. 8
Claudio. " The wordes of heaven : on whom it will, it will
On whom it will not (soe) yet still tis just."
Rom. ix. 14, 15 "What shall we say then? Is there un
righteousness with God ? God forbid. For He saith to Moses, I
wil have mercy on him to whom I wil shew mercy, and wil have
compassion on him on whom I wil have compassion."
Act I. iii. ii
Claudio. " As surfeit is the father of much fast,
So every scope by the immoderate use
Turns to restraint. Our natures do pursue,
Like rats that ravin down their proper bane
A thirsty evil, and when we drink, we die."
Isa. xxvi. 9 " Seeing thy judgments are in the earth, the
inhabitants of the world shall learne righteousnesse."
Job xxxvi. 8-10 " He openeth also their eare to discipline."
Jer. ii. 19 "Thine owne wickednesse shall correct thee, and
thy turnings backe shall reprove thee."
Job iv. 8 " As I have seene, they that plow iniquitie and sowe
wickednesse, reap the same."
Prov. xi. 19 "As righteousness leadeth to life: so he that
followeth evil seeketh his owne death."
Ecclus. xxxvii. 28-30 " Be not greedie in al delites, and be
not too hasty upon all meates. By surfeit have many perished."
Act I. iv. 52
Duke. " Or that his appetite
Is more to bread than stone."
Figure drawn from the words in
Matt. vii. 9 " Or what man is there of you, whom if his son
ask bread, will he give him a stone."
Luke iv. 3 " Command this stone, that it be made bread."
Act I. v. 15 Isabella. "Peace and prosperity."
Ps. cxxii. 7 "Peace be within thy walles, and prosperitie
within thy palaces."
Lam. iii. 17 " Farre off from peace I forgot prosperitie."
404 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. i. 17
A ngelo. " 'Tis one thing to be tempted, Escalus,
Another thing to fall."
Heb. iv. 15 "For we have not an high Priest which cannot
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all things
tempted in like sort, yet without sinne."
Act II. ii. 32
Isabella. " But that I am at warre
Twixt will and will not."
Rom. vi. 15 "For I alow not that which I do: for what I
would, that do I not : but what I hate, that do I." 23" Rebelling
against the Law of my minde, and leading me captive."
Act II. ii. 73 : Isabella
" Why all the soules that were, were forfeit once ;
And He that might the vantage best have tooke
Found out the remedie : how would you be,
If He, which is^the top of Judgement, should
But judge you, as you are ? Oh thinke on that ;
And mercie then will breathe within your lips
Like man new made."
Matt. xxv. 27 " And then at My coming should I have
received Mine owne with vantage."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. "vantage."
Wic., Rheims, Author." usurie."
Rom. v. 8 " But God setteth out His love towardes us, seeing
that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
2 Cor. v. 21 " For He hath made Him to be sinne for us which
knewe no sinne, that we should be made the righteousnesse of God
in Him."
1 Sam. ii. 10 "The Lord shall judge the endes of the world.'
Heb. xii. 23" God, the Judge of all."
Luke vi. 36 " Be ye therefore mercifull, as your Father also
is mercifull."
Col. iii. 12, 13 "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one
another, if any man have a quarrel to another, even as Christ for
gave, even so do ye."
2 Cor. v. 17 "If any man be in Christ, let him be a new
creature. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become
new."
MEASURE FOR MEASURE 405
i Thess. v. 14, 15 "Beare with the weake, be patient toward
all men ; see that none recompense evil for evil unto any man."
Act II. ii. 117: Isabella
" But man, proud man,
Drest in a little briefe authoritie,
Most ignorant of what he's most assur'd,
His glassie Essence, like an angry ape,
Plaies such phantastique trickes before high heaven
As makes the Angels weepe : who with our spleenes,
Would all themselves laugh mortall."
James i. 23, 24 " He is like unto a man that beholdeth his
naturall face in a glass. For when hee hath considered himselfe,
hee goeth his way, and forgetteth immediately what maner of
one he was."
Genevan Note on verse 26 " The fountaine of all brabling,
and cursed speaking, and sawcinesse is this, that men
knowe not themselves."
Act II. ii. 127 Isabella. "We cannot weigh our brother with
ourself."
Rom. xiv. 12, 13 " So then every one of us shall give accounts
of himselfe to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any
more : but use your judgement rather in this, that no man put an
occasion to fall, or a stumbling blocke before his brother."
Rom. ii. i., Gal vi. i.
Act II. ii. 136: Isabella
"Goe to your bosome ;
Knocke there, and aske your heart what it doth know
That's like my brother's fault : if it confesse
A naturall guiltinesse, such as is his,
Let it not sound a thought upon your tongue
Against my brother's life."
Gal. vi. i "Brethren if a man be suddenly taken in any
(offence, ye which are spirituall, restore such one with the spirit of
jmeekenesse, least thou also be tempted."
Rom. xiv. 4 " Who art thou that condemnest another man's
iservant ? he standeth or falleth to his owne master."
Rom. xiv. 12, 13 " So then every one of us shall give accounts
of himselfe to God. Let us not therefore judge one another any
406 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
more : but use your judgement rather in this, that no man put an
occasion to fall, or a stumbling blocke before his brother."
Rom. ii. i "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whoso
ever thou art that condemnest : for in that thou condemnest
another, thou condemnest thyselfe : for thou that condemnest,
doest the same things."
Act II. ii. 149
Isabella. " Not with fond Sides of the tested gold, . . .
But with true prayers
That shall be up at heaven and enter there."
Genevan gives " shekel " in text and " Side " in the margin.
Lev. xxvii. 25 "And all thy valuation shall be according to
the shekel of the Sanctuarie."
The reference is to the greater value of true prayer as
contrasted with the gift and sacrifice.
Ps. Ii. 1 6 "For thou desirest no sacrifice, though I would give
it : thou delitest not in burne ofTring. The sacrifices of God are a
contrite spirit, a contrite and a broken heart, O God, thou wilt not
despise."
Act II. ii. 158 Isabella. " Heaven keep your honour safe."
A ngelo. " Amen :
For I am that way going to temptation,
Where prayers cross."
Gal. vi. i "Considering thyselfe, lest thou also be tempted."
James i. 5, 6 " If any of you lacke wisdome, let him aske of
God, which giveth to all men liberally and reprocheth no man, and
it shall be given him. But let him aske in faith and waver not :
for hee that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, tost of the wind
and caried away."
James i. 14 "But every man is tempted, when hee is cTrawen
away by his owne concupiscence, and is entised."
James i. 8 "A double minded man is unstable in all his
wayes."
Act II. ii. 164: A ngelo
" The Tempter or the Tempted, who sins most ? ha !
Not she, nor doth she tempt, but it is I,
That, lying by the violet in the sun,
Do, as the carrion does, not as the flower,
Corrupt with virtuous season."
MEASURE FOR MEASURE 407
1 8 1 " O cunning enemy, that to catch a Saint,
With Saints dost bait thy hook ! Most dangerous
Is that temptation, that doth goad us on
To sin in living virtue."
Heb. iv. 15 " For we have not an high Priest which cannot
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all things
tempted in like sort, yet without sinne."
James i. 1-3, 14 "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am
tempted of God ; for God cannot bee tempted with evill, neither
tempteth Hee any man. But every man is tempted, when hee is
drawen away by his owne concupiscence, and is entised."
Compare the Temptation of the Lord by the use of Scrip
ture.
2 Cor. xi. 14 "Satan is transformed into an Angel of Light."
Act II. iii. 3
Duke. " Bound by my charity, and my bless'd order,
I come to visit the afflicted spirits
Here in the prison."
1 Peter iii. 19 " By the which he also went and preached unto
the spirits that are in prison."
Act II. iii. 30 : Duke
" Tis meet so (daughter) ; but least you do repent,
As that the sin hath brought you to this shame ;
Which sorrow is always toward ourselves, not Heaven,
Showing we would not spare heaven, as we love it,
But as we stand in feare."
Compare the passages on Repentance in " Hamlet."
2 Cor. vii. 10 "For godly sorow causeth repentance unto
salvation, not to be repented of: but the worldly sorow causeth
death."
Isa. xxix. 13 "This people come neere to Me with their
mouth and honour Me with their lips, but have removed their
heart farre from Me, and their feare toward Me was taught by the
precept of men."
For True Repentance compare David, 2 Sam. xii. 13, Ps.
li. ; Manasseh, 2 Chron. xxxiii., Job xlii. 6 ; Peter,
Matt. xxvi. 75 ; the Publican, Luke xviii.
For Worldly Repentance, Pharaoh, Esau, Saul, I Sam. xv ;
Ahab, i Kings xxi. ; Judas, Matt, xxvii.
4 o8 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. iv. i : Angelc
" When I would pray and thinke, I thinke and pray
To severall subjects : heaven hath my empty words."
4 " Heaven in my mouth,
And in my heart the strong and swelling evil
Of my conception."
James i. 6-8.
Matt. xv. 8 " This people draweth nigh unto me with their
mouth and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from
me."
Isa. xxix. 1 5 " Woe unto them that seeke deepe to hide their
counsell from the Lorde."
Act II. iv. 15
" O place ! O form
How often dost thou with thy case, thy habit,
Wrench awe from fools, and tie the wiser souls
To thy false seeming ! Blood, thou art blood :
Let's write good angel on the devil's horn ;
Tis not the devil's crest."
Rev. xii. 9 " The great dragon, that olde serpent, called the
devill and Satan, which deceiveth all the world."
2 Cor. xi. 13, 14 " For such false apostles are deceitfull workers,
and transforme themselves into the Apostles of Christ. And no
marvel : for Satan himselfe is transformed into an Angel of Light."
Luke vi. 44 " For every tree is knowen by his owne fruite."
45 " A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth
foorth good, and an evill man out of the evill treasure of his heart
bringeth foorth evill."
The Genevan Note on the passage i Cor. xi. is interesting
as bearing on the phrase " Blood, thou art blood."
"The Apostle sheweth that all this is nothing but
colours and painting. Now at length he painteth out
these fellows in their colours, forewarning, that it will
come to passe, that they will at length betray them
selves, what countenance soever they make of zeale
that they have to God's glory."
Act II. iv. 43 : Angelo
" It were as good
To pardon him that hath from Nature stolen
MEASURE FOR MEASURE 409
A man already made, as to remit
Their saucy sweetness, that do coin Heaven's image
In stamps that are forbid."
Gen. ix. 6 " Whoso sheadeth man's blood, by man shall his
blood bee shead : for in the image of God made he him."
Note " Therefore to kill man is to deface God's image."
Act II. iv. 78
Isabella. " Let me be ignorant, and in nothing good,
But graciously to know I am no better."
Isa. Ixiv. 6 " But we have all bene as an uncleane thing, and
all our righteousnesse is as filthy cloutes."
Act II. iv. 160
Angela. " I have begun,
And now I give my sensual race the rein."
James i. 1 5 " Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth
sinne."
Act III. i. 17: Duke
" For thou dost fear the soft and tender fork
Of a poor worm. Thy best of rest is sleepe,
And that thou oft provokst ; yet grossly fear'st
Thy death, which is no more. Thou art not thyself;
For thou exist'st on many a thousand grains
That issue out of dust"
25 "If thou art rich, thou'rt poor ;
For, like an ass, whose back with ingots bows,
Thou bear'st thy heavy riches but a journey,
And death unloads thee. Friend hast thou none ;
For thine own bowels, which do call thee sire."
Job xvii. 14 ." I shall say to corruption, Thou art my father,
and to the worme, Thou art my mother and my sister."
Prov. iii. 24 " When thou sleepest, thy sleepe shall be sweete."
Eccles. v. ii " The sleep of him that travelleth is sweete."
Job xiv. 12 "So man sleepeth and riseth not, for he shall not
wake again, nor be raised from his sleepe, till the heaven be no
more."
Job iii. 17 " The wicked have there ceased from their tyrannic,
and there they that laboured valiantly are at rest."
Isa. xxx. 6 " Shall beare their riches upon the shoulders of
4 io SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
the coltes (Author. " young asses ") and their treasures upon the
bounches of the camels."
Rev. iii. 17 "Forthou sayest, I am rich and increased with
goods and have neede of nothing, and knowest not how thou art
wretched and miserable and poore."
For the term " thine own bowels " for children see
Philem. verse 10 " I beseeche thee for my sonne Onesimus
whom I have begotten in my bonds." 1 2 " Whom I have sent
againe, thou therefore receive him, that is mine owne bowels."
Wic. " myn owne entrailes ; " other Versions " mine owne
bowels."
Act III. i. 43
" To sue to live, I finde I seeke to die ;
And seeking Death, find life."
Luke xvii. 33 "Whosoever will seeke to save his soule, shall
lose it, and whosoever shall lose it, shall get it life."
Act III. i. 80
Claudio. " If I must die ;
I will encounter darkenesse as a bride."
Job xvii. 1 1 " My dayes are past, mine enterprises are broken,
and the thoughts of mine heart have changed the night for the
day and the light that approached for darkenesse." 14 " I shall
make my bed in the darke."
Act III. i. 86
" This outward sainted Deputie is yet a devill ;
His filth within being cast, he would appeare
A pond as deepe as hell."
93 " The cunning liverie of hell,
The damned'st body to invest and cover."
2 Cor. xi. 14 "Satan himselfe is transformed into an Angel
of Light."
Matt, xxiii. 27 "Woe be to you, Scribes and Pharises,
hypocrites : for ye are like unto whited tombes which appeare
beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and all
filthinesse."
Act III. i. 115
Claudio. " I, but to die, and go we know not where ;
To lie in cold obstruction, and to rot ;
MEASURE FOR MEASURE 411
This sensible warm motion to become
A kneaded clod ; and the delighted spirit
To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside
In thrilling regions of thick ribbed ice ;
To be imprisoned in the viewless winds,
And blown with restless violence."
Ps. Iv. 4, 5 " Mine heart trembleth within mee, and the
terrours of death are fallen upon mee. Feare and trembling are
come upon me, and a horrible feare hath covered me."
Act III. i. 181 Duke. "The goodness that is cheap in beauty
makes beauty brief in goodness ; but grace, being the soul of your
complexion, shall keep the body of it ever fair."
Prov. xxxi. 30 " Favour is deceitful and beautie is vanity, but
a woman that feareth the Lord she shall be praysed."
Act III. i. 208 " Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful."
Prov. xxviii. i " The wicked flee when none pursueth : but
the righteous are bolde as a lyon."
Ps. xxvii. i " The Lorde is my light and my salvation, whom
shall I feare?"
Ecclus. xiv. 2 " Blessed is he that is not condemned in his
conscience."
Act III. ii. 34
Duke. " Correction and Instruction must both worke
Ere this rude beast will profit"
Jer. ii. 19 " Thine owne wickednes shal correct thee, and thy
turnings backe shall reprove thee."
Act III. ii. 153 Duke. "Love talks with better knowledge,
and knowledge with deare love."
Phil. i. 9 " And this, I pray, that your love may abound more
and more in knowledge and in all judgement."
Act III. ii. 178 Lucio. "The Duke yet would have darke
deeds darkelie answered, hee would never bring them to light."
John iii. 19 " Men loved darkenesse rather than that light,
because their deeds were evill. For every man that evill doeth,
hateth the light, neither commeth to light, lest his deedes should
be reproved."
412 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. ii. 189
" What King so strong
Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue ? "
Ps. cxl. 3 " They have sharpened their tongues like the serpent,
adders' poison is under their lips."
Gen. Met. Psalms, Iviii., J. H.
" In them the poyson and the breath
Of serpents do appeare,
Yea like the adder that is deafe
And fast doth stop his eare."
Act III. ii. 263
" He who the sword of heaven will bear"
269 " Shame to him, whose cruel striking
Kills for faults of his own liking."
273 " O what may man within him hide,
Though Angel on the outward side."
Rom. xiii. 4 " For he beareth not the sword for nought, for
he is the minister of God to take vengeance on him that doth evil."
Rom. ii. 3 " And thinkest thou this, O man, that condemnest
them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt
escape the judgement of God."
Gen. i. 26 " God said, Let us make man in our image, accord
ing to our likenesse."
Ps. viii. 5 " For thou hast made him a little lower than God."
Heb. ii. 7 " Thou madest him a little inferiour to the Angels."
Mark vii. 21, 22 "For from within, even out of the heart
of man, proceed evill thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murthers,
thefts, covetousnesse, wickednesse, deceit, uncleannesse, a wicked
eye, backebiting, pride, foolishnesse."
Act III. ii. 282
" So disguise shall, by the disguised,
Pay with falsehood false exacting."
Mark iv. 24 " With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured
to you againe."
Isa. xliv. 20 " A seduced heart hath deceived him, that he
cannot deliver his soule nor say, Is there not a lie in my right
hand."
Act IV. ii. i Provost. " Come hither, sirrah. Can you cut off
a man's head ? "
MEASURE FOR MEASURE 413
Clown. " If the man be a bachelor, sir, I can ; but if he be a
married man, he is his wife's head, and I can never cut off a
woman's head."
i Cor. xi. 3 " The man is the woman's head."
Ephes. v. 23 " For the husband is the wive's head."
Act IV. ii. 66-
" As fast lock'd up in sleepe, as guiltlesse labour
When it lies starkely in the Traveller's bones."
Eccles. v. ii "The sleepe of him that travelleth is sweete,
whether he eate litle or much."
Author. " The sleep of a labouring man is sweet whether
he eat little or much."
The word may mean " travaileth," but it is interesting to
note that the Genevan gives a verse which exactly
suits the idea as expressed by Shakespeare.
Act IV. ii. 95 " As near the dawning."
Mark xiii. 35 "At even or at midnight, at the cock crowing,
or in the dawning."
I Sam. xxv. 22 " By the dawning of the day."
Author. " morning light."
Wic., Rheims, Author. "morning."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. "dawning."
Act IV. vi. 6
" He tells me, that if peradventure
He speak against me on the adverse side,
I should not think it strange ; for tis a physic
That's bitter to sweet end."
Heb. xii. 10 " He chasteneth us for our profite."
Ps. cxli. 5 " Let the righteous smite me : for that is a benefite :
and let him reprove me and it shall be a precious oyle that shall
not breake mine head."
Prov. ix. 8 " Rebuke a wise man and he will love thee."
Act V. i. 46-
Isabella. " For truth is truth
To the end of reckoning."
i Esdras iii. 1 2 " Truth overcommeth all things."
i Esdras iv. 38 "But trueth doeth abide and is strong for
ever, and liveth and reigneth for ever and ever."
4H SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
2 Esdras vii. 34 " Justice onely shall continue : the trueth shall
remaine, and faith shalbe strong."
Act V. i. 1 1 1 : Duke
" If he had so offended,
He would have waighed thy brother with himselfe
And not have cut him off."
Gal. vi. i " Brethren if a man be suddenly taken in any
offence, ye which are spiritual, restore such one with the spirite of
meekenesse, considering thyselfe, least thou also be tempted."
Act V. i. 117
Isabella. " Oh, you blessed ministers above,
Keep me in patience."
Heb. i. 1 4 " Are they not al ministring spirits sent forth to
minister, for their sakes which shalbe heires of salvation."
Act V. i. 406-
Duke. " The very mercy of the Law cries out
Most audible, even from his proper tongue
An Angelo for Claudio, death for death."
The proper tongue of the Law as contrasted with the blood
of the innocent which is spoken of as crying out for
justice.
Num. xxxv. 30 "Whosoever killeth any person, the Judge
shall slay the murtherer, through witnesses."
Num. xxxv. 31 "Moreover ye shall take no recompense for
the life of the murtherer which is worthy to die, but he shalbe put
to death."
Lev. xxiv. 17 " He also that killeth any man he shalbe put to
death."
Act V. i. 437 : Mariana
" They say best men are moulded out of faults ;
And for the most, become much more the better
For being a little bad."
Wisd. of Sol. xii. 2 " Therefore Thou chastenest them measur
ably that goe wrong, and warnest them by putting them in re
membrance of the things wherein they have offended, that leaving
wickednesse they may beleeve in Thee, O Lord."
Jer. ii. 1 9 " Thine owne wickednesse shal correct thee, and
thy turnings backe shall reprove thee."
THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH.
Completed in 1606, published in 1623. The play is in its present shape the
shortest of all Shakespeare's plays.
Act I. ii. 40 : Captain
" Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorise another Golgotha"
Wic. " the place of Calvari."
Rheims " the place of Calvari."
Author." A place of a skull."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. " Golgotha, that is to say, the place of
dead men's sculles" (Matt, xxvii. 30, John xix. 17, 18).
The reference of the Captain is best understood by the
reading " the place of dead men's sculles."
Act I. ii. 48 Rosse. " God save the King."
2 Kings xi. 1 2 " They anoynted him and clapt their handes
and sayde, God save the King."
Matt. xxvi. 49 " God save Thee, Master."
Genevan only, others " Hail."
Matt, xxvii. 29 " God save thee Kyng of the Jews."
Genevan only, others " Hail."
Matt, xxviii. 9 " God save you."
Act I. iii. 48 Witch. " All haile, Macbeth, haile to thee."
Matt, xxviii. 9 " Jesus met them, saying, God save you."
Wic. " heil ye."
Tyn., Cran., Rheims, Author. " all haile."
The Genevan is the only Version which does not give " all
haile."
Mark xv. 18 " Began to salute Him saying, Haile."
Luke i. 28" And the Angel sayd, Haile."
John xix. 3 " And said, Haile, King of the Jewes."
(415)
416 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act I. iii. 59 : Bdnquo
"If you can looke into the Seedes of Time,
And say, which Graine will grow and which will not,
Speake then to me."
Eccles. xi. 6 " In the morning sowe thy seede, and in the
evening let not thine hand rest : for thou knowest not whether
shall prosper, this or that, or whether both shall be alike good."
Act I. iii. 104
Rosse. " And for anfearnest of a greater Honour,
He bad me from him, call thee Thane of Cawdor :
In which addition, haile, most worthy Thane
For it is thine."
Banquo. " What ! can the devil speak true ? "
2 Cor. i. 22 " The earnest of the spirit in our hearts."
2 Cor. v. 5, Ephes. i. 14 "The earnest of our inheritance."
All the Versions give "earnest" except the Rheims,
" pledge."
Genevan] Note "He that receives earnest is sure to have
the full sum paid him or the full bargain made good."
John viii. 44 " (The devill) there is no trueth in him. When
he speaketh a lie, then speaketh he of his owne : for he is a liar
and the father thereof."
Act I. iii. 123
Banquo. " And oftentimes, to winne us to our harme,
The Instruments of Darkenesse tell us Truths,
Win us with honest Trifles, to betray's
In deepest consequence."
Rev. xii. 9 " The great dragon, that old Serpent called the
Devill and Satan was cast out, which deceaveth all the world.
And his Angels were cast out with him."
2 Cor. xi. 14 "Satan himselfe is transformed into an Angel
of Light."
Compare the Temptation of Eve, and the Temptation of
the Lord where Satan uses Holy Scripture to tempt.
Act I. iii. 1 50 : Macbeth
" Come what come may,
Time and the Houre, runs through the roughest Day."
John ix. 4 " The night commeth when no man can worke."
THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH 417
Job vii. i , 2 " Is there not an appointed time to man upon
the earth ? and are not his dayes as the dayes of an hireling. As
a servant longeth for the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for
the end of his worke."
Act I. iv. 12
Duncan. " There's no art
To find the mind's construction in the face."
i Sam. xvi. 7 " But the Lord saide unto Samuel, Looke not
on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature, because I
have refused him, for God seeth not as man seeth : for man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord beholdeth the
heart."
Act I. iv. 28
Duncan. " I have begun to plant thee, and will labour
To make thee full of growing."
Jer. xi. 1 6 "The Lord called thy name, a green olive tree,
faire and of goodly fruite. For the Lord of Hostes that planted
thee."
Jer. xii. 2 "Thou hast planted them and they have taken
roote : they grow and bring forth fruite."
Act I. v. 50 : Lady Macbeth
" Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes."
Job xxiv. 1 3 " These are they that abhorre the light : they
know not the wayes thereof, nor continue in the pathes thereof.
The murtherer riseth early and killeth the poore and the needie,
and in the night he is as a theefe."
Act I. v. 57
Macbeth. " My dearest love,
Duncan comes here to-night"
Lady Macbeth. " And when goes he hence ? "
Macbeth. " To-morrow, as he proposes."
Lady Macbeth. " O ! never
Shall sun that morrow see."
James iv. 1 3 " Go to now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow
we will goe into such a citie, and continue there a year, and buy
and sell and get gaine. And yet ye cannot tell what shall be to-
27
418 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
morrowe, For what is your life? It is even a vapour that ap-
peareth for a little time, and afterward vanisheth away."
Act I. vi. i-
Duncan. " This castle hath a pleasant seat."
Banquo. " This guest of summer,
The Temple-haunting Barlet does approve."
Rowe's emendation " martlet."
" Hath made his pendant bed, and procreant cradle."
Baruch vi. 20, 21 "In the temple the owles, swallowes, and
birds flie."
Ps. Ixxxiv. 2, 3 " Yea, the sparowe hath found her an
house, and the swallow a nest for her where she may lay her
young: even thine altars, O Lord of Hosts."
The Gen. Metrical Ps. Ixxxiv., J. H., seems to bring us yet
nearer Duncan's words
" How pleasant is thy dwelling place,
O Lord of hostes to me !
The tabernacles of thy grace
How pleasaunt, Lord they be."
3 " The sparrowes finde a roome to neste
And save themselves from wrong,
And eke the swallow hath a neste
Wherein | to kepe her young.
These birdes full nigh thine altar may
Have place to sit and sing."
The Authorised and the Psalter give " O how amiable are
thy Tabernacles."
Act I. vii. I : Macbeth
" If it were done, when 'tis done, then 'twer well
It were done quickly."
Macbeth thinks of himself as Judas betraying His Master
to death, and the words spoken by the Lord at supper
come into his mind.
John xiii. 27 " And after the soppe Satan entred into him.
Then sayd Jesus unto him, That thou doest, doe quickly."
Act I. vii. 7 : Macbeth
" But in these cases
We still have judgment heere, that we but teach
Bloody Instructions, which being taught, returne
THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH 419
To plague th' Inventor : this even-handed Justice
Commends th' Ingredience of our poyson'd Challice
To our owne lips."
Prov. xxvi. 27 " He that diggeth a pit shall fall therein, and
he that rolleth a stone, it shall returne unto him."
Job iv. 8, 9 " They that plowe iniquitie and sowe wickednesse,
reape the same."
Ecclus. xxxi. 5 " He that followeth corruption shall have
enough thereof."
Wisd. of Sol. xi. 1 3 " Wherewith a man sinneth, by the same
also shall he be punished."
Gal. vi. 7 " Bee not deceived : God is not mocked : for what
soever a man soweth, that shall hee also reape."
Act I. vii. 25
" I have no Spurre
To prick the sides of my intent, but onely
Vaulting Ambition, which oreleapes itself e
And falles on th' other ."
Matt, xxiii. 1 2 " For whosoever will exalt himselfe, shall be
brought lowe."
Prov. xxix. 23 " The pride of a man shall bring him low."
Prov. xvi. 1 8 " Pride goeth before destruction, and an high
minde before the fall."
Genevan Note on Gen. iii. 22 " Adam's miserie, whereinto
he was fallen by Ambition."
Act II. i. 56 : Macbeth
"Thou sowre and firme-set Earth,
Heare not my steps, which way they walke, for feare
The very stones prate of my where about."
Job xx. 27 " The heaven shall declare his wickednesse, and
the earth shall rise up against him."
Hab. ii. 10, 11 "Thou hast consulted shame to thine own
house, by destroying many people, and hast sinned against thine
owne soule. For the stone shall crie out of the wall and the beame
out of the timber shall answer it, woe unto him that buildeth a
town with blood."
Act II. ii. 58 Macbeth. " How is 't with me, when every noise
appals me ? "
420 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Lev. xxvi. 36 " I will send even a faintnesse into their hearts
in the lande of their enemies, and the sounde of a leafe shaken
shal chase them, and they shall flee as fleeing from a sword, and
they shall fall no man pursuing them."
Job xv. 21-24 "A sound of feare is in his eares, and in his
prosperity the destroyer shall come upon him."
Act II. ii. 66 Lady Macbeth. " A little water cleares us of this
deed."
A double reference to the washing by water and the formal
ceremony of washing the hands as a testimony of
innocence.
Deut. xxi. 6 " Shall wash their hands . . . and shall testifie
and say, Our hands have not shed this blood."
Matt, xxvii. 24 " Pilate took water and washed his hands be
fore the multitude saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just
person."
Act II. iii. 3 Porter. " Knock, knock, knock. Who's there, i'
the name of Belzebub. . . . Faith here's an Equivocator, that could
sweare in both the scales against eyther scale, who committed
Treason enough for God's sake, yet could not equivocate to
Heaven. O, come in, equivocator. ... He Devill- Porter it no
farther : I had thought to have let in some of all Professions, that
goe the Primrose way to tti everlasting Bonfire"
See Luke xi., the chapter which deals with Importunity
"Shall goe to him at midnight." 9 "Knock and it shall be
opened unto you." 1 5 " He casteth out devils through Beelzebub
the chiefe of the devils."
Wisd. of Sol. ii. 6 " (The ungodly say) Come therefore, and let
us enjoy the pleasures that are present, and let us cheerefully use
the creatures as in youth. Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and
ointments, and let not the flower of life pass by us. Let us crowne
ourselves with rosebuds afore they be withered."
The words " Equivocator who committed Treason enough
for God's sake " may refer to the Jesuit Garnett, who
was executed in 1 605. See his Defence of Equivocation.
The line "Here's a farmer that hanged himself on the
expectation of plenty " may also refer to him ; he was
known by various names Darcey, Roberts, Meaze,
Walley, and Farmer.
THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH 421
Act II. iii. 69: Macduff
" Most sacrilegious murther hath broke ope
The Lord's anoynted temple, and stole thence
The life o' the Building."
2 Sam. i. 14 "How wast thou not afrayd to put forth thine
hand to destroy the anoynted of the Lord." 16 " Thy blood be
upon thine owne head, for thine owne mouth hath testified against
thee saying, I have slaine the Lord's anoynted."
Lam. iv. 20 " The breath of our nostrels, the anoynted of the
Lord was taken in their nets."
John ii. 21 " He spake of the temple of His body."
Act II. iii. 77 : Macduff
" Shake off this downy sleepe, death's counterfeit,
And looke on Death itselfe : up, up and see
The great Doome's Image ! Malcolm, Banquo.
As from your Graves rise up, and walke like Sprights
To countenance this horror ! Ring the bell."
(Bell rings.)
Enter Lady Macbeth.
Lady Macb. " What's the business,
That such a hideous trumpet calls to parley
The sleepers of the house ? "
Macduff has spoken of the great Doomsday when the
graves shall give up their dead, and Lady Macbeth
takes up the thought and speaks of the Trumpet
which shall call the sleepers to the Judgment.
Rev. xx. 1 2 " And I saw the dead both great and small stand
before God and the bookes were opened."
Matt. xxiv. 31 "And He shaj send His angels with a great
sound of a trumpet."
i Thess. iv. 16 "With the voyce of the Archangel and with
the trumpet of God."
i Cor. xv. 52 " In a moment, in the twinckling of an eie at the
last trumpet: for the trumpet shall blow and the dead shall be
raised."
Act II. iii. 132 "In the great Hand of God I stand."
Ezra vii. 28 " I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord
my God was upon me."
Ezra viii. 1 8 " By the good hand of our God upon us."
422 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Ps. xviii. 35 "Thy right hand hath stayed me."
Isa. xlix. 2 " Under the shadow of His hand hath He hid me."
Ps. xxxi. 15 " Thou art my God, my times are in Thy hand."
Isa. lix. I "The Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot
save."
Act II. iii. 138
"To show an unfelt sorrow, is an office
Which the false man does easy."
1 42 " There's daggers in men's smiles."
Ps. Ixii. 4 "Their delight is in lies, they blesse with their
mouthes but curse with their hearts."
Ps. xxviii. 3 " Workers of iniquity which speake friendly to
their neighbour when malice is in their hearts."
Act II. iv. i "Threescore and ten I can remember well."
Ps. xc. 10 "The time of our life is three score yeres and ten,
and if they be of strength fourscore yeares."
Act II. iv. 6
" Thou see'st the Heavens, as troubled with man's act,
Threatens his bloody stage : by th' clock 'tis Day,
And yet darke Night strangles the travailing Lampe
Is't Night's predominance, or the Dayes shame,
That Darknesse does the face of Earth intombe
When living light should kisse it."
Old Man. " Tis unnaturall,
Even like the deed that's done."
Reads like a paraphrase of the description of the darkne<
which overshadowed Jerusalem during the tragedy
the Crucifixion, and the words, " Is't night's predomin
ance " recall the words in
Luke xxii. 53 "This is your very hour and the power
darknesse."
Acts iii. 14 "Ye denied the Holy One and the Just." 15
" And killed the Lord of Life."
Luke xxiii. 44 " It was about the sixt houre, and there
a darkenesse over all the land until the ninth houre. And the
sunne was darkened."
Genevan Note "The strangenesse of the wonder is so
much the more set forth, in that, that at the feast of
THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH 423
the Passover, and in the full moone, when the sunne
shined over all the rest of the world, and at mid-day,
that corner of the world wherein so wicked an act was
committed was over covered with most grosse dark
ness."
Act II. iv. 40
" God's benison go with you : and with those
That would make good of bad and friends of foes."
Matt. v. 9 " Blessed are the peace-makers : for they shalbe
called the children of God."
Rom. xii. 20 " Therefore, if thine enemie hunger, fede him :
if he thirste give him drinke."
Act III. i. 64
" For Banquo's issue have I fil'd my minde ;
For them, the gracious Duncan have I murther'd
Put Rancours in the Vessell of my Peace
Onely for them, and mine eternall Jewell
Given to the common Enemie of man."
Isa. Ivii. 20, 21 "There is no peace, sayeth my God, to the
wicked."
Mark viii. 36 " For what shal it profite a man, though he
should winne the whole world if he lose his soule. Or what
exchange shall a man give for his soule."
It may be that this phrase " mine eternall Jewell," that is,
the immortal soul, may throw some light upon the
passage in " Othello " " threw a pearle away richer than
all his tribe." The meaning being that Othello like
Judas not only threw away a rich treasure but also lost
his own soul.
i Peter v. 8 " (The Devill) seeking whom he may devoure."
Rev. xii. 9 " Satan, which deceaveth all the world."
Act III. i. 84 : Macbeth
" Do you finde your patience so predominant
In your nature, that you can let this goe ?
Are you so Gospell'd, to pray for this good man
And for his Issue, whose heavie hand
Hath bowed you to the Grave."
Luke vi. 28 " Love your enemies : doe well to them which
hate you. Blesse them that curse you, and pray for them which
4 2 4 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
hurt you. And unto him that smiteth thee on ye one cheeke,
offer also the other."
Act III. i. 96 : Macbeth
" Every one
According to the gift, which bounteous Nature
Hath in him clos'd : whereby he does receive
Particular addition, from the Bill
That writes them all alike : and so of men."
Matt. xxv. 1 5 " And unto one he gave five talents, and to
another two, and to another one, to every man after his owne
ability."
Prov. xviii. 1 6 " A man's gift enlargeth him and leadeth him
before great men."
Ephes. iv. 7 " But unto every one of us is given grace, accord
ing to the measure of the gift."
I Peter iv. 10 "Let every man as he hath received the gift,
minister the same one to another."
Act III. ii. 6
Lady Macb. " Nought's had, all's spent,
Where our desire is got without content."
Ps. cvi. 15 "Then He gave them their desire: but He sent
leannesse into their soule."
Prov. xiii. 7 "There is that maketh himselfe rich and hath
nothing."
Eccles. iv. 6 " Better is an handfull with quietnesse, then two
handfuls with labour and vexation of spirit."
Ecclus. xl. 1 8 " To labour and bee content with that a man
hath is a sweete life."
Act III. ii. 19: Macbeth
" Better be with the dead,
Whom we, to gain our peace, have sent to peace,
Than on the torture of the mind to lie
In restless ecstasy."
See passages on Conscience.
Act III. ii. 51: Macbeth
" Light thickens ;
And the crow makes wing to the Rookie wood ;
Good things of Day begin to droope and drowse ;
Whiles Night's black Agents to their Preys doe rowse."
THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH 425
Ps. civ. 19-22 "Thou makest darkenesse, and it is night
wherein all the beasts of the forest creepe foorth. The lyons roare
after their pray and seeke their meate at God. When the sun
riseth, they retire, and couch in their dennes."
Act. III. iv. 122 : Macbeth
"It will have blood, they say : blood will have blood :
Stones have been known to move, and trees to speak."
Gen. iv. I o " The voyce of thy brother's blood cryeth unto
Me from the earth, therefore thou art cursed from the earth."
Gen. ix. 6 " Whoso sheadeth man's blood, by man shall his
blood bee shead."
Ezek. xxxv. 6 " Therefore as I live, sayth the Lord God, I
will prepare thee unto blood and blood shall pursue thee."
Act III. v. 32
" And you all know, Security
Is Mortal's cheefest Enemie."
Ecclus. v. 7 " Make no tarying to turne unto the Lord, and
put not off from day to day : for suddenly shall the wrath of the
Lorde breake forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed."
1 Cor. x. 12 "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth,
take heede lest he fall."
Jud. xviii. 7 " Which dwelt carelesse . . . quiet and sure
because no man made any trouble in the land or usurped any
dominion." 27 " They smote them with the edge of the sword,
and burnt the citie with fire."
Act IV. i. 133
" Let this pernitious houre
Stand aye accursed in the kalender."
Job iii. 5 " Let darknesse and the shadowe of death staine it :
let the cloud remayne upon it, and let them make it fearefull as a
bitter day. Let darkenesse possess that night, let it not be joyned
unto the dayes of the yeere, nor let it come into the count of
moneths."
Act IV. i. 153" No boasting like a Foole."
2 Cor. xi. 1 6 "I say againe, Let no man thinke that I am
foolish, or else take me even as a foole that I also may boast
myselfe a litle."
426 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act IV. ii. 12 : Lady Macduff " All is the Feare and nothing
is the Love."
1 John iv. 1 8 "There is no feare in love, but perfect love
casteth out feare."
Wic. " perfect charitie putteth out drede."
Rheims " perfect charitie casteth out feare."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. "perfect love casteth out
feare."
Act IV. iii. i
" Let us seek out some desolate shade, and there
Weep our sad bosoms empty."
Ps. cxxxvii. i, 2 "By the rivers of Babel we sate, and there
wee wept when wee remembered Zion. Wee hanged our harpes
upon the willows."
Compare "Whenas I sate in Babylon," "Merry Wives,"
Act III. i.
Act IV. iii. 22 Malcolm. "Angels are bright still, though
the brightest fell."
Luke x. 1 8 " I sawe Satan like lightning, fall downe from
heaven."
Isa. xiv. 1 2 " How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,
sonne of the morning."
Jude 6 " The Angells also which kept not their first estate."
2 Peter ii. 4 "For if God spared not the Angels that had
sinned, but cast them downe into hell."
Act IV. iii. 45 "When I shall treade upon the Tyrant's head."
Ps. cviii. 13 " We shall treade downe our enemies."
Zech. x. 5 " As the mightie men, which treade downe their
enemies in the myre of the streetes in the battell."
Josh. x. 24 " Come neere, set your feete upon the neckes of
these kings."
Act IV. iii. 56
" Not in the Legions
Of horrid Hell, can come a Devill more damn'd
In evil."
Luke viii. 30 "And he said, Legion, because many devils
were entred into him."
THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH 427
Act IV. iii. 85
" Avarice grows with more pernicious root
Than summer- seeding lust."
Matt. xiii. 22 " And the corne that was sowen among thornes
is he that heareth the worde : but the care of thys world, and the
deceitfulnesse of riches choke the worde and so he is made un
fruitful."
Act IV. iii. 1 08 : Macduff
" Thy Royall Father
Was a most Sainted-King : the Queene that bore thee,
Oft'ner upon her knees than on her feet,
Dyde every day she liv'd."
i Cor. xv. 31 " By our rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus
our Lord, / die dayly."
Act IV. iii. 1 20
" But God above
Deale betweene thee and me."
The Biblical phrase in Covenant making.
Gen. xxxi. 49, 50 " The Lord looke betweene me and thee "
(Laban and Jacob).
Gen. xxi. 23 "Thou shalt deale with me and with the
countrey where thou hast bene a stranger, according unto the
kindnesse that I have shewed thee " (Abraham and Abimelech).
i Sam. xx. 23 " The Lorde be betweene thee and me for
ever" (David and Jonathan).
Act IV. iii. 1 27
" Scarcely have coveted what was mine owne,
At no time broke my Faith, would not betray
The Devill to his Fellow, and delight
No lesse in truth then life."
Exod. xx. 17 "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house
. . . neyther anything that is thy neighbour's."
Ps. Ixii. 4 " Their delight is in lies."
i Cor. xiii. 6 " Rejoyceth in the truth."
Ps. xxiv. 4 " Even he that hath innocent handes, and a pure
heart : which hath not lift up his mind unto vanitie, nor sworne
deceitfully."
Act IV. iii. 158" That speake him full of Grace."
John i. 14 " Full of grace and truth."
428 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act IV. iii. 179 Macduff. " How do's my wife ?"
Rosse. " Why, well."
Macduff. " And all my children ? "
Rosse. "Well, too."
Macduff. " The Tyrant ha's not batter'd at their peace ? "
Rosse. " No, they were wel at peace, when I did leave 'em."
Compare the coming of the Shunammite to the Prophet
and her answer respecting her dead child, " It is well '
(2 Kings iv. 23).
Act IV. iii. 197
Rosse. " No mind that's honest
But in it shares some woe, though the maine part
Pertaines to you alone."
2 Cor. xi. 29 " Who is weake, and I am not weake, who is
offended and I burn not."
Act IV. iii. 210
" Give sorrow words, the griefe that do's not speake
Whispers the o're fraught heart, and bids it breake."
Ps. xxxix. 2 " I kept silence even from good and my sorrow
was more stirred."
Job xxxii. 1 8-20 " For I am full of matter, and the spirit
within me compelleth me. Therefore will I speake."
Act IV. iii. 225 : Macduff
" Did Heaven looke on,
And would not take their part ? Sinfull Macduff,
They were all strooke for thee : Naught that I am :
Not for their owne demerits, but for mine,
Fell slaughter on their soules."
Prov. xv. 3 " The eyes of the Lord in every place behold the
evill and the good."
Amos ix. 8 " Beholde the eyes of the Lord God are upon
the sinfull kingdom."
2 Chron. xvi. 9 " For the eyes of the Lorde behold all the
earth."
Zech. iv. 10 "The eyes of the Lord which goe thorow the
whole world."
Exod. xx. 5 " Visiting the iniquitie of the fathers upon the
children."
THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH 429
Ezek. xviii. 2 " The fathers have eaten sowre grapes, and
the children's teeth are set on edge."
Act IV. iii. 237
" Macbeth is ripe for shaking, and the powers above
Put on their instruments."
Nah. iii. 1-12 "All thy strong cities shall be like figge trees
with the first ripe figs : for if they be shaken, they fall into the
mouth of the eater."
Act V. i. 1 6 Doctor. " What, at any time, have you heard her
say ? "
Lady. " That, sir, which I will not report after her."
Doctor. " You may, to me ; and 'tis most meet you should."
Lady. " Neither to you, nor any one, having no witnesse to con-
firme my speech"
Matt, xviii. 1 6 " Take yet with thee one or two, that by the
mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be confirmed"
Wic. " every worde stond."
Tyn. " all thinges bee established."
Cran. " every mater may be stablished."
Rheims " every word may stand."
Author. " every word may be established."
Gen. " confirmed."
Act V. i. 53 Lady Macbeth. " Heere's the smell of the blood
still : all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand."
Isa. lix. 2, 3 " Your iniquities have separated betweene you
and your God, and your sinnes have hid His face from you, that He
will not heare. For your handes are defiled with blood and your
fingers with iniquitie." 10 " We grope for the wall like the blinde
and we grope as one without eyes."
Prov. vi. 1 6- 1 8 "These things doeth the Lord hate, yea, His
soule abhorreth. . . . The hands that shed innocent blood, an
heart that imagineth wicked enterprises: feete that be swift in
running to mischiefe."
Ps. li. 2, 3 "Wash me throughly from mine iniquitie and
cleanse me from my sinne. For I know mine iniquities and my
sinne is ever before me."
Act V. iii. 20
" This push
Will cheer me ever, or diseate me now."
430 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Dan. xi. 40 " And at the end of the time shall the king of
the South push at him."
That is, " attack."
Act V. iii. 25
" I have lived long enough, my way of life
Is falne into the Scare, the yellow Leafe."
Isa. Ixiv. 6 "We all doe fade like a leafe, and our iniquities
like the winde have taken us away."
Isa. i. 30 " For ye shalbe as an oke whose leafe fadeth, and as
a garden that hath no water."
Act V. iii. 40
" Canst thou not Minister to a Minde diseas'd,
Plucke from the Memory a rooted sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the Braine
And with some sweet oblivious Antidote
Cleanse the stufft bosome, of that perilous stuffe
Which weighes upon the heart ? "
Doctor. " Therein the patient
Must minister to himselfe."
Deut. xxviii. 65 " Thou shalt find no reste, neither shall the
sole of thy foote have rest : for the Lord shall give thee there a
trembling heart and looking to returne till thine eies fall out and a
sorrowfull mind. And thy life shall hang before thee and thou
shalt feare both night and day and shalt have none assurance of
thy life."
Jer. viii. 22 " Is there no balme in Gilead ? is there no Phy-
sitian there ? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my
people recovered ? "
Isa. i. 1 5 " Your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make
you cleane, take away the evill of your workes from before Mine
eyes cease to do evill, learne to do well."
Rom. xii. 2 " Bee ye changed by the renewing of your
minde."
Act V. v. 18: Macbeth
" To morrow and to morrow and to morrow,
Creepes in this petty pace from day to day
To the last Syllable of Recorded time,
And all our yesterdayes, have lighted Fooles
The way to dusty death."
THE TRAGEDIE OF MACBETH 431
2 Cor. vi. 2 " Beholde now, the accepted time : behold now
the day of salvation."
Isa. Iv. 6 " Seeke ye the Lorde while He may be found, call
ye upon Him while He is neere."
Ps. xxii. 1 5 " Thou hast brought mee into the dust of death."
Act V. v. 24
" Out, out breefe Candle
Life's but a walking Shadow."
Job xviii. 6 " The light shall be darke in his dwelling, and
his candle shall be put out with him."
Job viii. 9 " We are but of yesterday and are ignorant : for
our days upon earth are but a shadow."
Ps. xxxix. 6 " Man walketh in a shadowe and disquieteth
himself in vain."
Wisd. of Sol. ii. 4 " Our life shall pass away as the trace of a
cloude, and come to nought as the miste that is driven away with
the beames of the sunne. For our time is as a shadowe that
passeth away, and after our ende there is no returning."
Wisd. of Sol. v. 9 " Passed away like a shadow, and as a post
that passeth by."
Ecclus. v. 7 " Make no tarying to turne unto the Lorde, and
put not off from day to day : for suddenly shall the wrath of the
Lorde breake forth, and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed
and thou shalt perish in time of vengeance."
Act V. v. 43
" The Equivocation of the Fiend
That lies like Truth."
Compare the Temptation of Eve (Gen. iii. 1-5), the Tempta
tion of our Lord (Matt. iv. i-i i).
" And be these Jugling Fiends no more beleeved
That palter with us in a double sense."
Act V. vii. 35 : Macbeth
" But get thee back, my soul is too much charg'd
With blood of thine already."
Deut. xxi. 8 " Lay no innocent blood to the charge of thy
people Israel."
Gen. ix. 5 " Surely I will require your blood ... at the hand of
man, even at the hand of a man's brother will I require the life of man.
Whoso sheadeth man's blood, by man shall his blood bee shead."
THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR.
The play was written during 1606, and was produced at Whitehall on 26th
December, of that year. Entered on the " Stationers' Registers " on 26th November,
1607.
Act I. i. 39 : Lear
" Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.
Give me the map there know that we have divided
In three our Kingdom ; and 'tis our fast intent
To shake all cares and business from our age ;
Conferring them on younger strengths, while we
Unburden'd crawl toward death."
Ecclus. xxxiii. 1 8 " Give not thy sonne and wife, thy brother
and friend, power over thee while thou livest, and give not away thy
substance to another, lest it repent thee, and thou intreate for the
same againe. As long as thou livest and hast breath, give not thy
selfe over to any person. For better it is that thy children should
pray unto thee, then that thou shouldest looke up to the handes of
thy children. In all thy workes bee excellent that thine honour
be never stained. At the time when thou shalt ende thy daies
and finish thy life, distribute thine inheritance."
Act I. i. i oo: Cordelia
" I returne those duties backe as are right fit,
Obey you, Love you, and most Honour you.
Why have my Sisters' Husbands, if they say
They love you all."
Ephes. vi. i , 2 " Children obey your parents in the Lord, for
this is right. Honour thy father and mother."
Ephes. v. 23 "The husband is the wive's head."
Gen. ii. 24 "Therefore shal man leave his father and his
mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they shalbe one flesh."
Act I. i. 1 88 : Kent
" And your large speeches may your deeds approve,
That good effects may spring from words of love,"
(432)
THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR 433
1 John iii. 18 "Let us not love in word, neither in tongue
onely, but in deede and in truth."
Act I. i. 255 : France
" Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich being poore ;
Most choice forsaken, and most lov'd despised."
Compare
2 Cor. vi. 9, 10 " As unknown and yet known : as dying and
beholde we live : as chastened and not yet killed : as sorrowing,
and yet alway rejoycing : as poore and yet making many rich : as
having nothing, and yet possessing all things."
Act I. i. 284 : Cordelia
" Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides :
Who covers faults, at last shame them derides."
Job xxviii. 1 1 " The thing that is hid bringeth He to light."
Luke viii. 17 " For nothing is secret that shall not be evident :
neither anything hidde that shall not be knowen and come to
light."
Num. xxxii. 23 " Be sure that your sinne will find you out."
i Cor. iii. 1 3 " Every man's work shall be made manifest : for
the day shall declare it."
Prov. xxviii. 1 3 " He that hideth his sinnes shall not prosper,
but hee that confesseth and forsaketh them, shall have mercy."
Act I. iii. 105 Gloster. "These late Eclipses in Sun and Moone
portend no good to us. ... Love cools, friendship falls off. Brothers
divide. In Cities, mutinies, in Countries, discord ; in Pallaces,
Treason ; and the Bond crack'd twixt Sonne and Father. This
villaine of mine comes under the Prediction : there's Son against
Father, the King fals from byas of Nature, there's Father against
Childe. We have seene the best of our time. Machinations,
hollownesse, treacherie and all ruinous disorders follow us disquietly
to our graves."
See the " Prediction " in the Gospels concerning the signs
of the last times.
Matt. xxiv. 7 "For nation shall rise against nation and
realme against realme, and there shall be famine and pestilence
and earthquakes in divers places." 12 "The love of many shall
be cold." 29 "And immediately after the tribulation of those
dayes shall the sun bee darkened and the moone shall not give her
28
434 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
light, 'and the starres shall fall from heaven, and the powers of
heaven shall be shaken."
Mark xiii. 12 " Yea, and the brother shall deliver the brother
'to death, and the Father the sonne, and the children shall rise
against their parents and shall cause them to die." 8 " Nation
shall rise against nation and kingdome against kingdome." " These
are the beginnings of sorowes."
Act I. iii. 121 Edmund. "This is the excellent foppery of
the world, that when we are sicke in fortune, often the surfets of
our own behaviour, we make guilty of our disasters, the Sun the
Moone, and Starres as if we were villaines on necessitie. Fooles
by heavenly compulsion, Knaves, Theeves, and Treachers by spheri-
call predominance, Drunkards, Lyars, and Adulterers by an
inforc'd obedience of Planatory influence : and all that we are evill
in, by a divine thrusting on."
Compare Edmund's philosophy of Man's Free-Will and Re
sponsibility with
James i. 13 "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am
tempted of God : for God cannot be tempted with evill, neither
tempteth He any man. But every man is tempted, when hee is
drawne away by his owne concupiscence and is entised."
Ecclus. xv. 1 6, 17 "He hath set water and fire before thee :
stretch out thine hand unto which thou wilt. Before man is life
and death, good and evil, what him liketh shalbe given him."
Deut. xxx. 19 "I call heaven and earth to record this day
against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and
cursing: therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may
live."
Act I. iv. 1 6 Kent. " To converse with him that is wise."
Ecclus. ix. 17 "Let thy talke be with the wise."
Prov. xiii. 20 " He that walketh with the wise, shalbe wise."
Act I. iv. 164 Fool. "Thou hadst little wit in thy bald crowi
when thou gavest thy golden one away."
Ecclus. xxxiii. 19 "As long as thou livest and hast breat
give not thyselfe over to any person."
Job xxxii. 9 "Great men are not alway wise, neither doe
the aged alway understand judgment."
Eccles. iv. 13,1 4 " Better is a poore and wise child than an
old and foolish king which wil no more be admonished. For oul
THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR 435
of the prison he commeth forth to reigne when as he that is borne
in his kingdom is made poore."
Act I. iv. 242 Goneril. " As you are old and reverend, should
be wise."
Job xxxii. 7 " For I sayd, The dayes shall speake and the
multitude of yeeres shall teach wisdome."
Act II. ii. 67 Kent. " My lord, if you will give me leave, I will
tread this unboulted villaine into morter, and daube the wall of a
Jakes with him."
For the use of this word in the Genevan see
2 Kings x. 27 " And they destroyed the image of Baal, and
threw downe the house of Baal and made a jakes of it unto this
day."
Author. " draught house."
Act II. ii. 165
Kent. " Nothing almost sees miracles
But misery."
2 Kings vii. 3 " Now there were four leprous men at the
entring in of the gate : and they sayd one to another, why sit we
here untill we dye." 4 "Nowe therefore come and let us fall
into the campe of the Aramites, if they save our lives we shall live
and if they kill us we are but dead." 5 " When they came to
the utmost part of the campe, loe, there was no man there. For the
Lord had caused a noyse of charets and a noyse of horses and a
noyse of a great armie. Wherefore they arose and fled."
Act II. iv. 67 Fool. "Wee'l set thee to schoole to an Ant,
to teach thee there's no labouring i' th' winter."
Prov. xxx. 25 " The pismires a people not strong, yet prepare
they their meate in summer."
Prov. vi. 6 " Go to the pismire, O Sluggard, behold her wayes
and be wise. For she having no guide, governor nor ruler." 8
" Prepareth her meate in the summer and gathereth her foode in
harvest."
Author." ant."
Act II. iv. 78 : Fool
" That sir, which serves and seeks for gain,
And follows but for form,
Will pack when it begins to rain,
And leave them in the storm."
436 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
John x. 1 3 " The hired servant flyeth because he is a hyred
servant and careth not for the shepe."
Prov. xix. 4 " Riches gather many friends, but the poore is
separated from his neighbour." 6 " Many reverence the face of
the prince, and every man is friend to him that giveth gifts. All
the brethren of the poore doe hate him : how much more will his
friends depart farre from him."
Act II. iv. 190 : Lear
" O heavens,
If you do love old men, if your sweet sway
Allow obedience, if yourselves are old,
Make it your cause : send down and take my part."
Ps. Ixxi. 1 8 " Yea even unto mine old age and gray head, O
God, forsake me not."
Ps. Ixxi. 9 " Cast mee not off in the time of age : forsake
me not when my strength faileth. For mine enemies speake of
me and they that lay waite for my soule, take their counsell to
gether saying God hath forsaken him, pursue and take him for
there is none to deliver him. Goe not far from me, O God ; my
God, haste thee to help me."
Act II. iv. 241-
Regan. " How, in one house,
Should many people, under two commands
Hold amity."
Mark iii. 24, 25 " For if a kingdom bee divided against itselfe,
that kingdome cannot stand. Or if a house be divided against
itselfe, that house cannot continue."
Act II. iv. 305
Regan. " O sir, to wilful men,
The injuries that they themselves procure
Must be their schoole-masters."
Gal. iii. 23 "Wherefore the Lawe was our Schole-master to
bring us to Christ."
Ps. cxix. 67 " Before I was afflicted I went astray, but nowe
I keepe Thy worde." 71 "It is good for me that I have bene
afflicted, that I may learne Thy statutes."
Act III. i. 37 Lear. " No, I will be the pattern of all patience ;
I will say nothing."
THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR 437
Matt, xxvii. 14 "But hee answered him not to one worde, in
so much that the governor marvelled greatly."
Luke xxiii. 9 " Then questioned Herod with Him of many
things, but Hee answered him nothing."
Isa. liii. 7 " As a sheepe before her shearer is dumme, so hee
openeth not his mouth."
Act III. ii. 42 : Kent
" Things that love night
Love not such nights as these ; the wrathfull skies
Gallow the very wanderers of the darke,
And make them keepe their caves."
Ps. civ. 20 " Thou makest darknesse and it is night, wherein
all the beasts of the forest creepe forth. The lyons roare after
their pray and seeke their meat at God. When the sunne riseth,
they retire, and couch in their dennes."
Act III. iv. 32 : Lear
" O' I have ta'en
Too little care of this. Take physic, pomp ;
Expose thyselfe to feel what wretches feel,
That thou mayst shake the super flux to them,
And show the heavens more just."
Exod. xxiii. 9 " Thou shalt not oppress a stranger : for ye
know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land
of Egypt."
Deut. xxiv. 1 9, 2 1 " When thou gatherest thy vineyard, thou
shalt not gather the grapes cleane after thee, but they shalbe for
the stranger, for the fatherlesse, and for the widowe."
Luke xvi. 21 " And desired to be refreshed with the crummes
that fell from the rich man's table."
Act III. iv. 74 : Lear
" Should have thus little mercy on their flesh.
Judicious punishment ! 'twas this flesh begot
Those Pelicane daughters."
Wisd. xi. ii "That they might knowe that wherewith a
man sinneth by the same also shall he be punished."
Job iv. 8, 9 " They that plow iniquity and sow wickedness,
reap the same."
Act III. iv. 105 Lear. "Is man no more than this? Consider
him well."
438 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Heb. ii. 6 " But one in a certeine place witnessed, saying,
What is man that Thou shouldest be mindfull of him ? or the sonne
of man, that Thou wouldest consider him ? "
The Genevan is the only Version which gives " consider."
Wic., Cran., Rheims, Author. " visitest him."
Tyn. " myndfull of him."
Gen. 1557 "looke upon hym."
Gen. 1 590 " consider hym."
Heb. vii. 4 " Now consider how great this man was."
Wic., Rheims "behold."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. "consider."
Act III. vi. 37 "And thou, his yoke-fellow of equity."
Phil. iv. 3 " I beseech thee, faithfull yokefellow."
Wic. " the german felowe."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. " faithfull yokefellow."
Rheims " sincere companion."
Act III. vi. 77 Lear. "You sir, I entertaine for one of my
hundred : only I do not like the fashion of your garments. You
will say they are Persian : but let them be changed?
The words " Persian attire " have been adopted, although
the Folio " Persian " is quite definite as to meaning
without the addition of the word "attire." A little
Bible knowledge shows the addition to be unnecessary.
The critics place the emphasis upon "garments," and
labour to show that Lear is speaking ironically, and
making reference to the hanging rags of Edgar.
Steevens thus explains the passage "Alluding perhaps
to Clytus refusing the Persian robes offered him by
Alexander." Gollancz " Spoken ironically, alluding to
the gorgeous robes of the East."
But why Persian ? why not Assyrian, Greek or Roman, for
Eastern nations all wore gorgeous, flowing robes.
The emphasis ought to be placed upon the words " let them
be changed," and we at once see the reason for the
word " Persian," for the unchangeable nature of the
Laws of the Medes and Persians was proverbial.
Dan. vi. 8 " Nowe, O King, confirme the decree, and scale
the writing that it bee not changed according to the law of the
Medes and Persians which altereth not."
THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR 439
It is interesting to note that in " Pericles " Act IV. iii. 1 36
we have
Bawd. " Come young one, I like the manner of your gar
ments well."
Boult. " Ay, by my faith, they shall not be changed yet,"
Where it is clear that the emphasis is on the word " changed."
Act IV. i. 18: Gloster
" I have no way and therefore want no eyes ;
I stumbled when I saw."
Matt. xiii. 13 " Because they seeing, see not: and hearing,
they hear not, neither do they understand."
Isa. lix. 10 "Wee grope for the wall like the blinde, and we
grope as one without eyes : wee stumble at the noone day as in
the twilight."
Act IV. i. 47 Gloster. " Tis the times' plague, when madmen
lead the blind."
Matt. xv. 14 " Let them alone, they be the blinde leaders of
the blind : and if the blinde lead the blinde, both shall fall into the
ditch."
Act IV. i. 67 : Gloster
" Heavens, deal so still !
Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man,
That slaves your ordinance, that will not see
Because he doth not feel, feel your power quickly."
Wisd. of Sol. xi. ii " For when they perceived that through
their torments good came unto them, they felt the Lord."
Job v. 17 " Behold, blessed is the man whom God correcteth,
therefore refuse not thou the chastening of the Almighty."
Act IV. ii. 30
Albany. "O Goneril !
You are not worth the dust which the rude wind
Blows in your face. I feare your disposition :
That Nature, which contemns its origin,
Cannot be border'd certain in itself ;
She that herself will sliver and disbranch
From her material sap, perforce must wither
And come to deadly use."
440 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Goneril. " No more : the text is foolish."
A Ibany. " Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile :
Filths savour but themselves."
Ecclus. xxvi. 7 " An evill wife is as a yoke of oxen that draw
divers wayes ; he that hath her is as though he held a scorpion."
Ecclus. xxv. 25 " A wicked wife maketh a sorie heart, an
heavie countenance and a wounded minde, weake hands and
feeble knees and cannot comfort her husband in heavinesse."
Prov. xxx. II There is a generation that curseth their father
and doth not blesse their mother."
Prov. xxx. 17 " The eye that mocketh his father and despiseth
the instruction of his mother, let the ravens of the valley pick it
out and the yong eagles eat it."
Ecclus. iii. II " Rejoyce not at the dishonour of thy father, for
it is not honour unto thee, but shame."
For " disbranch from her material sap " compare
John xv. 6 " If a man abide not in Mee, he is cast forth as a
branch and withereth : and men gather them, and cast them into
the fire, and they burne."
Genevan Note " Unlesse he cleave fast unto the vine, and
so draw juice out of it."
Titus i. 1 5 " Unto the pure are all things pure, but unto them
that are defiled and unbeleeving is nothing pure, but even their
minds and consciences are defiled."
Wisd. ii. 21 " Their owne wickednesse hath blinded them."
Act IV. ii. 52 : Gonertl
" Milke-livered man
That bear'st a cheeke for blows, a head for wrongs."
Luke vi. 29 "And unto him that smiteth thee on the one
cheeke, offer also the other."
Matt. v. 39 " But I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but
whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheeke, turn to him the
other also."
Act IV. ii. 79 : Albany
" This shewes you are above,
You Justices, that these our nether crimes
So speedily can venge."
Luke xviii. 7 " Now shall not God avenge His elect, which
THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR 441
cry day and night unto Him, yea, though He suffer long for them ?
I tell you He will avenge them quickly."
Authorised alone gives " avenge them speedily."
Act IV. vi. 98 Lear. " To say I and No to everything that
I said ! I and No, too, was no good Divinity."
2 Cor. i. 17-20 "When I therefore was thus minded, did I
use lightnesse ? or minde I those things which I minde, according
to the flesh, that with me should be Yea, yea and Nay, nay. Yea
God is faithful, that our word toward you was not Yea and Nay."
Rheims " it is and it is not."
Act IV. vi. 178
Lear. " We came crying hither :
Thou knowest, the first time that we smell the ayre
We wawle and cry. I will preach to thee. Marke."
Gloster. " Alacke, alacke the day."
Lear. " When we are borne, we cry that we are come
To this great stage of Fooles."
Compare also " all the world's a stage," and " our exits and
our entrances."
Wisd. vii. 3 " And when I was borne I received the common
aire and fell upon the earth which is of like nature, crying and
weeping at the first as all other doe." 6 " All men then have one
entrance into life and a like going out."
Act IV. vi. 205 : Gentleman
" Thou hast one daughter
Who redeems nature from the general curse
Which twain have brought her to."
A daring comparison. Goneril and Regan are like our first
parents, who brought the curse into the world, while
Cordelia is like the Redeemer.
Rom. v. 15 " For if through the offence of one many be dead,
much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by
one man Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many."
Rom. v. 19 "For as by one man's disobedience many were
made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made
righteous."
Act IV. vii. 84 : Lear
" You must bear with me :
Pray you now forget and forgive : I am old and foolish."
442 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Rom. xv. i "We which are strong, ought to beare the in
firmities of the weake and not to please ourselves."
Act V. ii. 9 : Edgar
" Men must endure
Their going hence, even as their coming hither :
Ripeness is all."
Compare " Hamlet," Act V. ii. 230" If it be not now, yet
it will come : the readiness is all."
Luke xii. 40 " Bee yee also prepared therefore : for the Sonne
of man will come at an houre when yee thinke not."
Act V. iii. 21 : Lear
" Have I caught thee ?
He that parts us, shall bring a Brand from Heaven,
And fire us hence, like Foxes : wipe thine eyes ;
The good yeares shall devoure them, flesh and fell
Ere they shall make us weepe,
Weell see 'em starv'd first."
References to Samson and the foxes, to the famine in
Egypt, and to Pharaoh's dream of the kine.
Jud. xv. 4 " And Samson went out and tooke three hundred
foxes, and tooke firebrandes, and turned them taile to taile, and put
a firebrand in the middes betweene two tails. And when hee had
set the brands on fire, he sent them out into the standing corne of
the Philistims and burnt up both the rickes and the standing
corne."
Gen. xli. 26 " The seven good kine are seven yeeres, and the
seven good eares are seven yeeres. Likewise the seven thinne
and evil favoured kine that came after them are seven yeeres, and
the seven emptie eares blasted with the East wind are seven yeeres
of famine." 20 " And the leane and evill favoured kine did eate
the first seven fat kine." 24 "And the thinne eares devoured
the seven good eares."
Act V. iii. 171 : Edgar
" The Gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to plague us."
Wisd. of Sol. xi. ii "Wherewith a man sinneth by the same
also shall he be punished."
Job iv. 8, 9 " They that plow iniquity and sow wickedness,
reap the same."
THE TRAGEDIE OF KING LEAR 443
Jer. ii. 19 "Thine owne wickedness shal correct thee."
Wisd. of Sol. xii. 23 "Wherefore thou hast tormented the
wicked that have lived a dissolute life by their owne imaginations."
Act V. iii. 265 Kent. " Is this the promis'd end ? "
Edgar. " Or image of that horror ? "
/ Reference to the horrors and tribulations which are to pre
cede the coming of the Day of Judgment.
Matt. xxiv. 6 " And ye shall heare of warres and rumours of
warres : see that ye be not troubled : for all these things must
come to pass, but the end is not yet."
Luke xii. 52, 53 "For from henceforth there shall be five in
one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The
father shalbe divided against the sonne, and the sonne against the
daughter, and the daughter against the mother."
THE LIFE OF TYMON OF ATHENS.
" Although Shakespeare's powers showed no sign of exhaustion, he reverted in
the year following the colossal effort of Lear ' (1607) to his earlier habit of col
laboration, and with another's aid composed two dramas ' Timon of Athens ' and
1 Pericles.' Internal evidence makes it clear that Shakespeare's colleague was re
sponsible for nearly the whole of Acts III. and V. But the character of Timon
himself and all the scenes which he dominates are from Shakespeare's pen. Timon
is cast in the mould of Lear." Sidney Lee, Life, pp. 242, 243.
Act I. i. 50 : Poet
" My free drift
Halts not particularly, but moves itselfe
In a wide Sea of wax, no levelled malice
Infects one comma in the course I hold ;
But flies an Eagle flight, bold, and forth on
Leaving no Tract behinde."
Prov. xxx. 19 "The way of an eagle in the ayre, the way of
a serpent upon a stone, the way of a ship in the mids of the sea."
Wisd. of Sol. v. i o " As a ship that passeth over the waves
of the water, which when it is gone by, the trace thereof cannot be
found, neither the path of it in the floods. Or as a bird that flieth
thorow in the aire, and no man can see any token of her passage."
Act I. i. 88 : Poet
" When Fortune in her shift and change of mood
Spumes downe her late beloved : all his Dependants
Which labour'd after him to the mountaine's top
Even on their knees and hand, let him sit (slip) downe,
Not one accompanying his declining foote."
Prov. xix. 7 " All the brethren of the poore doe hate him :
how much more will his friends depart farre from him."
Prov. xiv. 20 " The poore is hated even of -his own neighbour ;
but the friends of the rich are many."
Ecclus. xiii. 22 " If a rich man fall, his friends set him up
againe, but when the poore falleth his friends drive him away."
(444)
THE LIFE OF TYMON OF ATHENS 445
Act I. i. 1 1 o
Timon. " Tis not enough to helpe the Feeble up
But to support him after. Fare you well."
Compare
Luke x. 34 " And went to him, and bound up his wounds . . .
And on the morrow when he departed he tooke out two pence and
gave them to the host and said unto him, Take care of him, and
whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come againe I will recom
pense thee." 37 " Then saide Jesus unto him, Go and do thou
likewise."
Act I. ii. 41 Apemantus. " It greeves me to see so many dip
their meate in one man's blood." 47 "There's much example
for't : the fellow, that sits next him, now parts bread with him,
pledges the breath of him in a divided draught, is the readiest
man to kill him. T'as bene proved."
A reference to the dipping of the bread and drinking of
the wine at the Last Supper.
Mark xiv. 18 " And as they sate at table and did eate, Jesus
saide, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me
which eateth with Me."
Matt. xxvi. 23 " Hee that dippeth his hand with Me in the
dish, hee shall betray Me."
Act I. ii. 1 02 Timon. " We are borne to do benefits ; and what
better or properer can we call our own, than the riches of our
friends ? O what a precious comfort tis, to have so many, like
brothers, commanding one another's fortunes."
Deut. xv. 7 " If one of thy brethren with thee be poore,
within any of thy gates in thy land, which the Lord thy God
giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand
from thy poore brother."
Act I. ii. 143 : Apemantus
" I should fear, those that dance before me now
Would one day stampe upon me : T'as bene done ;
Men shut their doores against a setting sun."
Compare the action of the people of Jerusalem on two
great occasions
Matt. xxi. 8 " And a great multitude spred their garments
in the way, and other cut downe branches from the trees and
strawed them in the way." " Hosanna to the Sonne of David."
Matt, xxvii. 22 " They all said to him, Let Him be crucified."
446 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act I. ii. 163 Apemantus. "When all's spent, he'd be crossed
then."
Luke xv. 1 4 " Now when he had spent all, there arose a
great dearth throughout that land, and he began to be in
necessitie."
Act I. ii. 223
Timon. " Alcibiades thou art a soldier, therefore sildome riche,
It comes in charitie to thee : for all thy living
Is 'mong'st the dead : and all the lands thou hast
Lie in a pitch'd field."
Alcibiades. " I, defil'd land, my lord."
A play upon the words of Ecclesiasticus
Ecclus. xiii. I " He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled with
it."
Act I. ii. 252 : Apemantus
" O that men's eares should be
To Counsell deafe, but not to flatterie."
A reference to the deaf adder that stoppeth his ears
Ps. Iviii. 4 "Like the deaf adder that stoppeth his eare,
which heareth not the voyce of the inchanter though he be most
expert in charming."
Act II. i. 77 Apemantus. " Would I had a Rod in my mouth,
that I might answer thee profitably."
Prov. xxvi. 3, 4 " Unto the horse belongeth a whip, to the
asse a bridle, and a rod to the foole's backe. Answere not a fool
according to his foolishnesse, lest thou also be like him."
Act II. i. 220 : Timon
" And nature, as it grows again toward earth,
Is fashioned for the journey, dull and heavy."
Gen. iii. 1 9 " Till thou returne to the earth : for out of it
wast thou taken, because thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou
returne."
Act III. i. 63 Flaminius. " And when he's sick to death."
Phil. ii. 27 "And no doubt he was sicke, very neere unto
death."
Rheims " sicke even to death ; " others " nigh unto death."
John xi. 4 " This sicknesse is not unto death."
Rheims " This sicknesse is not to death."
THE LIFE OF TYMON OF ATHENS 447
Act III. ii. 67 : is* Stranger
" Why, this is the world's soul ; and just of the same piece
Is every flatterer's spirit. Who can call him his friend
That dips in the same dish."
A reference to the betrayal of Judas
Matt. xxvi. 23 " Hee that dippeth his hand with Me in the
dish, hee shall betray Me."
Matt xxvi. 49, 50 " And foorthwith he came to Jesus and
saide, God save Thee, Master, and kissed Him. Then Jesus saide
unto him, Friende, wherefore art thou come."
John xiii. 1 8 " He that eateth bread with Me, hath lift up his
heele against Me."
Act III. iv. 62 2nd Servant. " Who can speak broader than he
that has no house to put his head in ? such may rail against great
buildings."
Luke ix. 58 " And Jesus sayd unto him, The Foxes have
holes, and the birdes of the heaven nests, but the Sonne of man
hath not whereon to lay His head."
Mark xiii. 2 " Then Jesus answered and sayd unto him, Seest
thou these great buildings ? there shall not be left one stone upon
a stone, that shall not be throwen down."
" Great buildings " in all the Versions.
Act III. v. 25 : 1st Senator
" Your words have took such paines, as if they laboured
To bring manslaughter into form, and set quarrelling
Upon the head of valour.
Quarrelling indeede
Is valour mis-begot, and came into the world
When Sects and Factions were newly born."
A reference to the murder of Abel by Cain.
Act III. v. 87 : 1st Senator
" We are for law : he dies : urge it no more,
On height of our displeasure : Friend or Brother,
He forfeits his owne blood that spilles another."
Gen. ix. 5 " For surely I will require your blood, wherein
your lives are : at the hand of every beast wil I require it : and
at the hand of man, even at the hand of a man's brother will I
require the life of man. Whoso sheadeth man's blood by man
shall his blood bee shead."
448 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. vi. 62 : 2nd Lord" This is the old man still."
A reference to the phrase in the Epistle to the Ephesians
Ephes. iv. 22 " That yee cast off, concerning the conversation
in time past that olde man, which is corrupt through the deceivable
lustes."
So in all the Versions.
Act III. vi. 119: 4th Lord " One day he gives us diamonds,
next day stones."
Play upon the words in the Gospel
Matt. vii. 9 " If his son aske bread will he give him a
stone ? "
Act IV. iii. 30 : Timon
" Gold ! why this
Will lug your priests and servants from your sides,
Pluck stout men's pillows from beneath their heads :
This yellow slave
Will knit and break religions : bless the accursed
Make the hoar leprosy ador'd."
I Tim. vi. 9, 10 " For the desire of money is the roote of all
evill, which while some lusted after, they erred from the faith and
pearced themselves through with many sorowes."
Exod. iv. 6 " His hand was leprous as snow."
Lev. xiii. 3 " If the haire in the sore be turned to white."
Act V. i. 48 : Painter
" When the day serves, before black-corner'd night,
Find what thou want'st by free and offered light."
John xii. 35 " Yet a little while is the light with you : walke
while ye have that light, lest the darkenesse come upon you, for he
that walketh in the darke, knoweth not whither he goeth."
Act V. ii. 50 : is* Senator
" Who, like a boar too savage, doth root up
His country's peace."
Ps. Ixxx. 1 3 " The wilde bore out of the wood hath destroyed
it, and the wilde beasts of the field have eaten it up. Returne we
beseech thee, O God of hosts, looke down from heaven . . . visit
this vine."
THE LIFE OF TYMON OF ATHENS 449
Act V. v. 36 : 1st Senator
" All have not offended
For those that were, it is not square to take
On those that are, revenge : crimes, like lands,
Are not inherited."
Deut. xxiv. 1 6 "The fathers shall not be put to death for the
children, nor the children put to death for the fathers, but every
man shall be put to death for his owne sinne."
29
PERICLES.
Not in the First Folio, and was not included in Shakespeare's collected works
until 1664. Mr. Lee traces three authors in the collaboration, and considers that
Shakespeare contributed Acts III. and V., and parts of IV.
Act I. ii. 38 : Helicanus
" They do abuse the king that flatter him :
For flattery is the bellows blows up sin ;
The thing the which is flattered, but a spark
To which that blast gives heat and stronger glowing :
Whereas reproof, obedient and in order
Fits kings, as they are men, for they may err."
Prov. xiii. 18 " He that regardeth reproof shall be honoured."
Prov. xxviii. 23 " He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall
find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue."
Prov. xxix. 5 " A man that flattereth his neighbour spreadeth
a net for his feet."
Act II. ii. 56 : Simonides
" Opinion's but a fool, that makes us scan
The outward habit by the inward man"
2 Cor. iv. 1 6 " Yet the inward man isfrenewed daily."
So in all the Versions except the Rheims " yet that which
is within, is renewed from day to day."
James ii. 3 " And ye have a respect to him that weareth the
gay clothing and say unto him, Sit thou heere in a goodly place,
and say unto the poore, Stand thou there, or sit here under my
footstoole. Are ye not partiall in your selves and are become
judges of evill thoughts."
i Sam. xvi. 7 " God seeth not as man seeth : for man looketh
on the outward appearance, but the Lord beholdeth the heart."
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THE TRAGEDIE OF ANTHONIE AND CLEOPATRA.
The play was first printed in the First Folio, 1623. " The whole theme is
instinct with a dramatic grandeur which lifts into sublimity even Cleopatra's moral
worthlessness and Antony's criminal infatuation. The ' happy valiancy ' of the
style to use Coleridge's admirable phrase sets the tragedy very near the zenith of
Shakespeare's achievement, and while differentiating it from 'Macbeth,' 'Othello,'
and ' Lear,' renders it a very formidable rival." Sidney Lee, Life, pp. 245, 246.
Act I. i. 1 5
A ntony. " There's beggery in the love that can be reckoned."
Cleo. " He set a bourne how farre to be belov'd."
Antony. " Then must thou needes finde out new Heaven, new
earth."
2 Peter iii. 1 3 " But we looke for newe heavens, and a newe
earth, according to His promise, wherein dwelleth righteousness."
Tyn., Cran. " new heaven."
Wic., Gen., Rheims, Author. " new heavens."
Act I. ii. 27 Charmian. " Let me have a childe at fifty, to
whom Herode of Jewry may do homage."
Matt. ii. 7 " Then Herod when he had privily called the wise
men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.
And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, Go and search diligently
for the young child, and when ye have found him, bring me word
again, that I may come and worship him also."
Act I. iv. 25 : Octavius
" If he fill'd
His vacancie with his Voluptuousnesse,
Full surfets and the drinesse of his bones
Call on him for 't."
Prov. xvii. 22 " A sorroweful minde drieth the bones."
Ezek. xxxvii. ii " Our bones are dried."
Job xx. ii " His bones are full of the sinne of his youth, and
it shal lie downe with him in the dust. When wickedenesse was
sweete in his mouth, and he hid it under his tongue." 2 1 " There
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452 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
shall none of his meate bee left." 22 " When hee shal be filled
with his abundance, he shalbe in paine."
Act II. i. 7 : Menecrates
" We, ignorant of ourselves,
Beg often our own harmes, which the wise Powers
Deny us for our good : so finde we Profit
By losing of our Prayers."
Job xxi. 15 "Who is the Almightie, that we should serve
Him ? and what profite shoulde we have, if we should pray unto
Him?"
Lam. iii. 7, 8 " He hath hedged about me, that I can not get
out, He hath made my chaines heavy. Also when I crie and shoute,
Hee shutteth out my praier."
Genevan Note "This is a great tentation to the godly
when they see not the fruit of their prayers."
2 Cor. xii. 7, 8 " For this thing I besought the Lord thrice
that it might depart from me. And He saide to me, My grace is
sufficient for thee, for My power is made perfecte through weak-
nesse."
Act II. v. 10 : Cleopatra
" Give me mine angle, we'll to the river : there
My music playing far off, I will betray
Tawny fine fishes, my bended hooke shall pierce
Their slimy jawes."
Job xl. 20, 21 Genevan (xli. i, 2, Authorised) "Canst thou
draw out Liviathan with an hooke and with a line which thou
shalt cast downe unto his tongue? Canst thou cast an hooke
into his nose ? canst thou pierce his jawes with an angle."
Author. " Canst thou put an hook into his nose ? or bore
his jaw through with a thorn ? "
Act II. vi. 31
Messenger. " First, Madam, he is well."
Cleopatra. "Why, there's more gold.
But, sirrah, mark, we use
To say, the dead are well."
A reference to the words of the Shunammite mother
2 Kings iv. 25, 26 "Is it well with thee? is it well with thy
husband ? Is it well with the child ? and she answered, It is well."
So Author. ; Gen." We are in health."
ANTHONIE AND CLEOPATRA 453
Act III. ii. 4 Alexas. "Good Majesty, Herod of Jury dare
not looke upon you, but when you are well pleas' d"
Cleopatra. " That Herod's head I'll have."
Possibly the incident of the daughter of Herodias and the
beheading of John the Baptist suggested these words
Matt. xiv. 6 " The daughter of Herodias danced before them
and pleased Herod." 8 "And she, being before instructed of
her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger."
Act III. iv. 14: Octavia
" Praying for both parts :
The good Gods wil mocke me presently,
When I shall pray, Oh blesse my Lord and Husband,
Undo that prayer, by crying out as loud,
Oh blesse my Brother, Husband winne, winne Brother
Prayes and destroyes the prayer."
James i. 6 " But let him aske in faith, and waver not : for hee
that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, tost of the winde, and
caried away. Neither let that man thinke that he shall receive
any thing of the Lorde. A double minded man is unstable in all
his wayes."
Genevan Note " Against prayers which are conceived with
a doubting minde."
Act III. xi. no: Antony
" When we in our viciousnesse grow hard,
(Oh misery on't) the wise Gods seele our eyes ;
In our owne filth, drop our cleere judgments, make us
Adore our errors, laugh at's while we strut
To our confusion."
Isa. xliv. 1 6 "He maketh . . . idole . . . boweth unto it.
Hee worshippeth and prayeth unto it and saith, Deliver me : for
thou art my God." 18 "God hath shut their eyes that they
cannot see, and their hearts that they cannot understand." 20
" He feedeth of ashes, a seduced heart hath deceived him, that he
cannot deliver his soule, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right
hand."
Act III. xi. 126: Antony
" O that I were
Upon the hill of Basan to out-roare
The horned Heard, for I have savage cause."
454 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
A mountain district north of Gilead famous for its pasturage
and cattle. The Bull of Bashan is used in Scripture
as a type of furious and jealous anger.
Ps. xxii. 1 2 " Many yong bulles have compassed me, mightie
bulles of Bashan have closed me about. They gape upon mee
with their mouthes, as a ramping and roaring lyon."
In the Genevan Version Bashan, Basan, and Bazan.
Act IV. vi. 5 : Ccesar
" The time of universal peace is neere :
Prove this a prosp'rous day, the three nookt world
Shall beare the olive freely."
Isa. ii. 4 " They shall breake their swordes also into mattocks,
and their speares into siethes : nation shall not lift up a sword against
nation : neither shall they learne to fight any more."
Gen. viii. n "And the dove came to him in the evening, and
loe, in her mouth was an olive leafe that shee had pluckt : whereby
Noah knewe that the waters were abated from off the earth."
Act IV. x. 60 Antony. " The witch shall die."
Exod. xxii. 1 8 "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."
Act IV. xii. 3 : Antony
" Sometime, we see a cloud that's dragonish,
A vapour, sometime, like a bear, a lion,
A tower'd citadel, a pendant rock."
1 2 " My good knave, Eros, now thy captain is
Even such a body."
See Hamlet and Polonius on the changing cloud ; for the
thought see
Hos. xiii. 3 "Therefore they shall be as the morning cloude :
and as the morning dewe that passeth away, as the chafife that is
driven with a whirlewinde out of the floore, and as the smoke that
goeth out of the chimney."
Act IV. xii. 37 : Antony
11 Unarme Eros ; the long day's task is done
And we must sleepe."
Job vii. 1 , 2 " Is there not an appointed time to man upon
earth ? and are not his dayes as the dayes of an hireling. As a
servant longeth for the shadow and as an hireling looketh for the
ende of his worke." 21 " Now shall I sleepe in the dust."
ANTHONIE AND CLEOPATRA 455
Act IV. xii. 136: Antony
" Bid that welcome
Which comes to punish us, and we punish it
Seeming to beare it lightly."
Heb. xii. n "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to
be joyous but grievous : but afterward, it bringeth the quiet fruite
of righteousnesse unto them which are thereby exercised."
Act IV. xiii. 8 1 : Cleopatra
" Then is it sinne
To rush into the secret house of death.
Ere death dare come to us ? "
Deut v. 17" Thou shalt not kill."
Act V. i. 32 : Agrippa
" A rarer spirit never
Did steere humanity : but you Gods will give us
Some faults to make us men."
Ps. viii. 4 "What is man, say I, that Thou art mindful of him.
For Thou hast made him a little lower then God and crowned him
with glory and worship."
Heb. ii. 7 "Thou madest him a little inferiour to the angels."
Act V. ii. 22 Proculeius. " Be of good cheere."
1 Kings xxi. 7 " Be of good cheere."
Act V. ii. 51 "This mortall house I'll ruine."
2 Cor. v. i "For we know that if our earthly house of this
tabernacle be destroyed."
Act V. ii. 147 Cleopatra. "What have I kept back?"
Seleucus. " Enough to purchase what you have made known."
Cczsar. " Nay, blush not, Cleopatra : I approve
Your wisdom in the deed."
Luke xvi. 8 " And the Lorde commended the unjust steward
because he had done wisely. Wherefore the children of this world
are in their generation wiser then the children of light."
Act V. ii. 192 : Iras
" Finish, good lady : the bright day is done,
And we are for the dark."
230 " I'll give thee leave to play till Doomesday."
Job x. 22 " Before I goe and shall not returne, even to the
land of darkenesse and shadow of death."
456 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
2 Cor. v. 10 "For wee must all appeare before the judgment
seat."
i Cor. xv. 52 " In a moment, in the twinckling of an eie at
the last trumpet."
Act V. ii. 274 Clown. " But truly, these same whorson devils
doe the Gods great harme in their women : for in every tenne
that they make, the devills marre five."
Matt xxv. i , 2 " Then the kingdom of heaven shalbe likened
unto ten virgins. Five of them were wise and five foolish."
THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS.
First printed in 1623. " The metrical characteristics prove the play to have been
written about the same period as 'Antony and Cleopatra,' probably in 1609."
Sidney Lee, Life, p. 247.
" He again adhered to the text of Plutarch with the utmost literalness, and at
times even in the great crises of the action repeated North's translation word for
word." Pp. 246, 247.
Act I. i. 96 Menenim. " There was a time when all the bodie's
members rebelled."
Compare I Cor. xii. for St. Paul's argument concerning the
various operations of the body.
i Cor. xii. 14-26 "For the body also is not one member but
many. If the foot would say. Because I am not the hand, I am
not of the body, is it therefore not of the body ? "
Act I. i. 208
" The gods sent not
Corn for the rich men only."
Eccles. v. 7, 8 " If in a countrey thou seest the oppression of
the poore, and the defrauding of judgement and justice, be not
astonied at the matter : for He that is higher than the highest,
regardeth, and there be higher than they. And the abundance
of the earth is over all : the King also consisteth by the field that
is tilled."
Act II. i. 6 Sicinius. " Nature teaches Beasts to know their
friends."
Isa i. 3 " The oxe knoweth his owner, and the asse his
master's crib."
Genevan Note " The most bruite and dull beasts doe more
acknowledge their duetie to their masters, then My
people doe toward me, of whom they have received
benefites without comparison."
Act II. ii. 28 2nd Officer. "But hee hath so planted his
Honors in their Eyes and his actions in their Hearts, that for
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458 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
their Tongues to be silent, and not confesse so much were a kind
of ingratefull Injurie."
Luke xix. 45 " But he answered and said unto them, I tell
you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would cry."
Act II. ii. 127: Cominius
" And lookt upon things precious as they were
The common Muck of the world : he covets lesse
Then miserie it selfe would give : rewards her deeds
With doing them, and is content
To spend the time, to end it."
Phil. iii. 7 " But the things that were vantage to me, the same
I counted losse . . . and do judge them to be dongue ..." 13
" Brethren, I count not myselfe that I have attained to it, but
one thing I doe; I forget that which is behinde, and endevour
myselfe unto that which is before. And folow hard toward the
marke for the prize of the high calling."
Act II. iii. 33 $rd Citizen. "The fourth would returne, for
conscience sake."
Rom. xiii. 5 " But also for conscience sake."
I Cor. x. 25 " Aske no question for conscience sake."
Rom. xiii. 5, Wic., Tyn., Craa, Gen. 1557 "because of
conscience."
Later editions of Genevan " for conscience sake."
Rheims, Author. " for conscience sake."
i Cor. x. 25, Wic. "for conscience."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. "for conscience sake."
Rheims "for conscience."
Act III. i. 66 : Coriolanus
" I say againe,
In soothing them, we nourish 'gainst our Senate
The cockle of Rebellion, Insolence, Sedition,
Which we ourselves have plow'd for, sow'd and scatter'd
By mingling them with us."
Matt. xiii. 25 "But while men slept, there came his fo and
sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. And when the
blade was sprung up and broght forth fruite, then appeared the
tares also."
The Rheims alone gives " cockle."
THE TRAGEDY OF CORIOLANUS 459
Act V. i. 24 : Cominius
" His answer to me was,
He could not stay to picke them, in a pile
Of noysome musty chaffe. He said, 'twas folly
For one poore graine or two, to leave unburnt,
And still to nose the offence."
Compare the incident of Abraham and the cities of the
plain
Gen. xviii. 23 "Then Abraham drew neere and said, Wilt
thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked ? "
Gen. xviii. 32 " Then he sayde, Let not my Lord bee now
angry, and I will speake but this once, what if ten be found there ?
And hee answered, I will not destroy it for tennes sake."
Act V. iii. 137: Volumnia
" And each in either side
Give the All-haile to thee, and cry be Blest
For making up this peace. Thou know'st, great Son
The end of warre's uncertain."
Matt, xxviii. 9" All hail."
The Genevan is the only Version which does not give these
words.
Matt. v. 9 " Blesse'd are the peace-makers."
i Kings xx. ii " And the King of Israel answered and sayd,
Tel him, Let not him that girdeth his harness, boast himselfe, as
he that putteth it off."
Genevan Note " Boast not before the victorie be gotten."
Act V. iv. 24 Menenius. " He wants nothing of a God but
Eternity, and a Heaven to Throne in."
Sicinius. " Yes mercy, if you report him truly."
Isa. Ivii. 1 5 ' For thus saith He that is hie and excellent, He
that inhabiteth the Eternity."
Isa. Ixvi. i " Thus saith the Lorde, The heaven is My throne
and the earth is My footestoole."
Ps. Ixii. 1 2 " Power belongeth unto God, And to Thee, O
Lord, mercie, for Thou rewardest every one according to his worke."
Act V. iv. 50
" The Trumpets, Sackbuts, Psalteries, and Fifes
Tabors and Symboles."
Dan. iii. 7 " The sound of the cornet, trumpet, harpe, sackebut,
psalterie, and all instruments of music."
THE TRAGEDY OF CYMBELINE.
Act I. iv. 30 : Imogen
" Or have charg'd him
At the fixt houre of Morne, at Noone, at Midnight,
To encounter me with Orisons, for then
I am in Heaven for him."
Ps. Iv. 17 " Evening and morning and at noone will I pray."
Dan. vi. 10 " He kneeled upon his knees three times a day
and prayed, and praised his God."
Act I. vii. 39 : lachimo
" For apes and monkeys
Twixt two such she's, would chatter this way, and
Contemne with mowes the other."
Genevan Version Prayer Book, Ps. xxxv. 1 5 " Yea, the
very abjects came together against mee unawares,
making mowes at mee."
Ps. xxii. 7 " They make a mowe and nod the head."
Author." they shoot out the lip."
Act I. vii. 1 36 lachimo. " More noble than that Runnagate."
Gen. iv. 14 " A vagabond and a Runnagate in the earth."
Act II. v. 33 : Posthumus
" Yet, tis greater skill
In a true hate, to pray they have their will.
The very devils cannot plague them better."
Ps. cvi. 1 5 " Then He gave them their desire, but He sent
leanness into their soule."
Prov. v. 22 "His owne iniquities shal take the wicked himselfe,
and he shall be holden with the cordes of his owne sinne."
Act III. iv. 35 : Pisanio
" Tis slander
Whose edge is sharper then the sword, whose tongue
Out-venomes all the wormes of Nyle, whose breath
Rides on the posting windes."
THE TRAGEDY OF CYMBELINE 461
Ps. Ivii. 4 " Whose teeth are speares and arrowes, and their
tongue a sharp sworde."
Ps. cxl. 3 " They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent :
adder's poyson is under their lippes."
Act III. iv. 62 : Imogen
" Thou Posthumus
Wilt lay the leaven on all proper men ;
Goodly and valiant shall be false and perjured
From thy great fall."
A reference to the curse which passed upon all by reason of
the Fall of Adam.
Act III. iv. 79 : Imogen
" Against Selfe-slaughter
There is a prohibition so Divine
That cravens my weak hand."
A reference to the Commandment which says " Thou shalt
not kill."
Act III. iv. 82 : Imogen
" The Scriptures of the Loyall Leonatus,
All turned to Heresie ? Away, away,
Corrupters of my Faith, you shall no more
Be Stomachers to my heart : thus may poore Fooles
Beleeve false Teachers : Those those that are betraed
Do feele the Treason sharpely, yet the Traitor
Stands in worse case of woe."
2 Tim. iii. 16 " For the whole Scripture is given by inspira
tion of God, and is profitable to teache, to convince, to correct, and
to instruct in righteousnesse."
2 Peter ii. I "Even as there shall be false teachers among
you, which privily bring in damnable heresies."
Matt, xviii. 7 ' * Woe unto the world because of offences, for
it must needes bee that offences shall come, but woe be to that
man by whom the offence cometh."
Act III. iv. 125 : Pisanio
" He give but notice you are dead, and send him
Some bloody signe of it."
Gen. xxxvii. 31 "And they tooke Joseph's coate and killed
462 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
a kid of the goates and dipped the coat in the blood. So they
sent that particolored coat and they brought it unto their father."
Act III. vi. 54 : Arviragus
"All gold and silver rather turn to dirt !
As tis no better reckoned, but of those
Who worship durty Gods."
Isa. ii. 20 " At that day shall man cast away his silver idoles,
and his golden idoles (which they had made themselves to worship
them)".
Hab. ii. 6 "Woe to him that increaseth that which is not
his ! how long ? and to him that ladeth himself with thick
clay."
Act III. vi. 80 : Imogen
" Great men,
That had a court no bigger than this Cave,
That did attend themselves, and had the vertue
Which their owne Conscience seal'd them."
Heb. xi. 38 "Whom the world was not worthie of: they
wandered in wildernesses and mountaines, and dennes and caves
of the earth." .39 "And these all through faith obtained good
report."
Act IV. ii. 4
Arviragus. " Are we not brothers ? "
Imogen. li So man and man should be :
But Clay and Clay differs in dignitie,
Whose dust is both alike."
Gen. iii. 19 " Thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou returne."
Job x. 9 " Thou hast made me as the clay, and wilt Thou
bring me into dust againe."
Rom. ix. 21 " Hath not the potter power of the clay to make
of the same lumpe one vessell to honour and another unto
dishonour."
Act IV. ii. 88 : Guiderius
" Thou art some Foole ;
I am loath to beate thee."
Prov. xix. 29 "Stripes are prepared for the backe of the
foole."
Prov. xxvi. 3 " Unto the horse belongeth a whip, to the
asse a bridle, and a rod to the fool's back."
THE TRAGEDY OF CYMBELINE 463
Act IV. ii. 191 : Guiderius
" All solemne things
Should answer solemne accidents."
Ps. xlii. 7 " One deepe calleth another deepe."
Author. " Deep calleth unto deepe."
Act IV. ii. 248 : Belarim
" Though meane and mighty rotting
Together have one dust, yet Reverence
(That Angell of the world) doth make distinction
Of place 'tweene high and low."
Eccles. iii. 20 "All goe to one place and all was of the dust:
and all shall returne to the dust."
Job xxi. 23 "One dyeth in his full strength being in all ease
and prosperitie." 25 "And another dieth in the bitternesse of
his soule." 26 " They shall sleepe both in the dust."
Rom. xiii. 7 "Give to all men therefore their duety, tribute
to whom tribute : custom to whome custome : feare to whom
feare : honour to whom honour."
Act IV. ii. 258-
" Feare no more the heate o th' sun,
Nor the furious Winter's rages ;
Thou thy worldly task hast don
Home art gone and tane thy wages."
Job vii. i "Is there not an appointed time to man upon
earth ? and are not his dayes as the dayes of an hireling ? "
1 Cor. iii. 8 "Every man shall receive his wages, according
to his labour."
Rev. vii. 16 "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any
more, neither shall the sunne light on them neither any heate."
2 Cor. v. i "We have a building given of God, that is, an
house not made with hands but eternall in the Heavens."
Act IV. ii. 264
" Feare no more the frowne o' the Great ;
Thou art past the Tirant's stroake ;
Care no more to cloath and eate ;
To thee the Reede is as the Oak."
Job iii. 17, 1 8 "The wicked there have ceased from their
tyrannic, and there they that laboured valiantly are at rest. The
prisoners rest together and heare not the voyce of the oppressor."
464 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Matt. vi. 31 "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shal
we eat? or what shal we drincke? or wherewith shall we be
clothed ? " 34 " Care not then for the morrow : for the morow
shall care for itself."
Act IV. ii. 289 : Belarius
" The ground that gave them first, has them againe :
Their pleasures here are past, so are their paine."
Gen. iii. 19 "In the sweate of thy face shalt thou eate breade
till thou returne to the earth, for out of it wast thou taken, because
thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou return."
Author. " return unto the ground."
Act IV. ii. 404 : Lucius
" Be cheerful : wipe thine eyes :
Some Falles are meanes the happier to rise."
Pa cxix. 71 "It is good for me that I have been afflicted :
that I might learn Thy statutes."
Act V. ii. 35 : Posthumus
" That some, turn'd coward
But by Example (O, a sin in war)
Damn'd in the first beginners."
A reference to the Fall and Curse of Man.
Act V. iv. 1 01
"Whom best I love, I crosse : to make my guift
The more delay'd delighted."
Heb. xii. 6 " For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth and
He scourgeth every sonne that He receiveth."
Act V. iv. 176 Gaoler. " For look you, sir, you know not which
way you shall go."
Posthumus. " Yes indeed do I, fellow."
Gaoler. " Your deaths has eyes in's head then : I have not
seen him so pictured : you must either be directed by some that
take upon them to know, or take upon yourself that which I am
sure you do not know, or jump the after enquiry on your owne
perill ; and how you shall speed in your journie's end, I thinke
you'l never returne to tell one."
Posthumus. " I tell thee, Fellow, there are none want eyes to
direct them the way I am going, but such as wink and will not use
them."
THE TRAGEDY OF CYMBELINE 465
John xiv. 4 " And whither I goe, ye knowe, and the way ye
knowe. Thomas saide unto Him, Lord we knowe not whither Thou
goest, and how can we then know the way. Jesus said unto him,
I am that Way, that Truth, and that Life. No man commeth
unto the Father but by Me."
Act V. v. 351 : Belarius
" The benediction of these covering heavens
Fall on their heads like dew ! for they are worthy
To inlay Heaven with starres."
Dan. xii. 3 " And they that be wise shall shine as the bright
ness of the firmament, and they that turne many to righteousnesse
shall shine as the stars for ever and ever."
THE WINTER'S TALE.
Act I. ii. 28 Hermione. " I had thought, sir, to have held my
peace."
Prov. xvii. 28 " Even a foole (when he holdeth his peace) is
counted wise."
Neh. viii. u " Saying, Hold your peace."
Luke xix. 40 " If these should hold their peace."
Acts xii. 17 "He beckoned unto them with the hande to
hold their peace."
Act I. ii. 47
Polixenes. " I may not verely."
Hermione. " Verely."
The expression " verily, verily " is peculiar to the Gospel of
St. John, and used some twenty-three times.
The Synoptics have " Verily, I say."
Rheims gives in these passages, " Amen, amen, I say unto
you."
Act I. ii. 69 : Polixenes
"We knew not
The doctrine of ill-doing, nor dreamed
That any did : Had we pursued that Life,
And our weak spirits ne're been higher rear'd
With stronger blood, we should have answer'd Heav'n
Boldly, not guilty : the imposition cleared
Hereditarie ours"
Rom. v. 1 2 " Wherefore as by one man sinne entred into the
world, and death by sinne, and so death went over all men in
whom all men have sinned."
2 Esdras vii. 48 " O Adam, what hast thou done ? for in that
that thou hast sinned, thou art not fallen alone, but the fall also
redoundeth unto us that come of thee."
(466)
THE WINTER'S TALE 467
Act I. ii. 417 : Polixenes
'' O then my best blood turne
To an infected Gelly, and my Name
Be yoaked with his that did betray the Best."
A reference to the Betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ by
Judas.
John xviii. 2 "And Judas, also, which betrayed Him.
Act II. iii. 114: Paulina.
" I care not :
It is an Heretique that makes the fire,
Not she that burns in it."
i John iv. 20 " How can he that loveth not his brother
whome he hath seene, love God whom he hath not scene."
Act II. iii. 175 : Leontes
" (Take up the child)
That thou leave it
(Without more mercy) to it owne protection
And favour of the Climate . . .
That thou commend it strangely to some place
Where chance may nurse or end it."
Compare the placing of the child Moses on the banks of
the river
Exod. ii. 3 " Layd the child therein, and put it among the
bulrushes by the river's brinke."
Act II. iii. 183 : Antigonus
" Come on (poore babe)
Some powerfull spirit instruct the Kytes and Ravens
To be thy nurses."
I Kings xvii. 4 "I have commanded the Ravens to feede
thee there." 6 "And the ravens brought him bread and flesh
in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he dranke
of the river."
Act III. ii. 28 : Hermione
" If powers Divine
Behold our human actions, as they do,
I doubt not then but innocence shall make
False accusation blush, and tyranny
Tremble at patience."
468 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Ps. xxxiii. 13 "The Lorde looketh downe from heaven and
beholdeth all the children of men." 18 " Beholde the eye of the
Lord is upon them that feare Him and upon them that trust in His
mercie."
Ps. ix. 12 "When Hee maketh inquisition for blood, He
remembreth it and forgetteth not the complaint of the poore."
Act III. ii. 42 : Hermione
" For life, I prize it
As I weigh grief, which I would spare : for honour,
Tis a derivative from me to mine,
And only that I stand for."
Ecclus. iii. 1 1, 1 2 " Rejoyce not at the dishonour of thy father :
for it is not honour unto thee but shame, seeing that man's glorie
commeth by his father's honour, and the reproch of the mother
is dishonour to the children."
Act III. iii. 5
Mariner. " The heavens with that we have in hand are angry
And frown upon's."
A ntig. " Their sacred wills be done."
Luke xxii. 42 " Not my will but Thine be done."
Matt, xxvii. 45 " Now from the sixt houre was there darke-
nesse over the land unto the ninth houre."
Act III. iii. 83 : Clown " I have seen two such sights, by sea,
and by land but I am not to say it is a sea, for it is now the sky :
betwixt the Firmament and it, you cannot thrust a bodkin's point "
(i.e., a return to chaos).
Gen. i. 6 " Againe God saide, Let there be a firmament in
the mids of the waters and let it separate the waters from the
waters."
Act III. iii. 120: Clown "You're a made old man : if the
sinnes of your youth are forgiven you, you're well to live."
Ps. xxv. 7 " Remember not the sinnes of my youth."
Job xx. ii " His bones are full of the sinne of his youth,
and it shal lie downe with him in the dust."
Act IV. Chorus : Time " To speak of Perdita, now grown
in grace."
2 Peter iii. 1 8 " But grow in grace, and in the knowledge."
THE WINTER'S TALE 469
Act IV. iii. 30 : Autolycus " For the life to come, I sleep out
the thought on't."
i Tim. iv. 8 " The life present and of that that is to come."
Rom. xiii. n "And that considering the season, that it is
now time that we should arise from sleepe."
Act IV. iii. 42 : Clown " Three man song men all, and very
good ones, but they are most of them Meanes and Bases : but one
Puritan amongst them and he sings Psalms to home-pipes."
Ephes. v. 19 " Speaking unto yourselves in Psalmes and
hymns and spirituall songs, singing and making melodic to the
Lord in your hearts."
Act IV. iii. 97 : Autolycus " I know this man well : he hath
been since an ape-bearer : then a process-server, a bailiff ; then he
compast a motion of the Prodigall Sonne, and married a tinker's
wife within a mile where my land and living lies : and having
flown over many knavish professions, he settled only in rogue."
The meaning of the phrase " compassed a motion " is some
times given as " gained possession of," but compare
the Biblical use'of the word " compass "
Acts xxviii. 13 "And from thence we set a compasse and
came to Rhegium."
So Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. ; Wic. " we seileden aboute."
Rheims " compassing by the shore."
" He compast a motion of the Prodigall Sonne " is a refer
ence to the return of the Prodigal, but the repentance
of Autolycus is best indicated by the fact of his marry
ing a tinker's wife and settling down into roguery.
Act IV. iii. 448 : Perdita
" I was about to speak and tell him plainly,
The self same Sunne that shines upon his Court
Hides not his visage from our Cottage but
Lookes on all alike."
Ecclus. xlii. 1 6 '' The sun that shineth looketh upon al things,
and all the work thereof is full of the glory of the Lord."
Act IV. iii. 545 : Florizel
" But as unthought-on accident is guiltie
To what we wildely do, so we professe
Our selves to be the slaves of chance, and flyes
Of every winde that blowes."
470 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Eccles. ix. 1 1 " I returned and sawe under the sunne that the
race is not to the swift, nor the battell to the strong, nor yet bread
to the wise, nor also riches to men of understanding, neither yet
favour to men of knowledge : but time and chance commeth to
them all."
Act V. i. 5 : Cleomenes
" No fault could you make,
Which you have not redeem'd : indeed payd downe
More penitence then done trespas : at the last
Doe, as the Heavens have done : forget your evill
With them, forgive yourselfe."
Joel ii. 1 3 " Rent your heart and not your clothes : and turne
unto the Lorde your God, for He is gracious and mercifull."
Job xlii. 6 " I abhorre myself and repent in dust and ashes."
Jer. xxxi. 34 " I wil forgive their iniquitie and wil remember
their sinnes no more."
Act V. ii. 14 : 1st Gentleman " They look'd as they had heard
of a world ransom'd or one destroyed."
Mark x. 45 " To give His life a ransom for many."
i Tim. ii. 6 " Christ Jesus, who gave Himselfe a ransome for
all men."
Gen. vi. 17 "And I, behold, I will bring a flood of waters
upon the earth to destroy all flesh."
Act V. ii. 197 : Lord " Lay't so to his charge."
Acts vii. 60 " And he kneeled downe, and cried with a loud
voyce, Lord, lay not this sinne to their charge."
Wic. " sette not to them this sinne."
Rheims " lay not this sinne to them."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. "lay not this sinne to their
charge."
Act V. iii. 77 : Leontes
"For this affliction has a taste as sweet
As any cordiall comfort."
Heb. xii. ii "Now no chastening for the present seemeth to
be joyous, but grievous : but afterward it bringeth the quiet fruite
of righteousnesse, unto them which are thereby exercised."
Act V. iii. 95 : Paulina
" It is requir'd
You do awake your Faith : then, all stand still.
THE WINTER'S TALE 471
Exod. xiv. 1 3 " Then Moses sayd to the people, Feare ye not,
stand still and beholde the salvation of the Lord." 22 " Then the
children of Israel came through the mids of the sea."
Act V. iii. 121: Hermione
" You gods look downe
And from your sacred Viols poure your graces
Upon my daughter's head."
Rev. v. 8 " Golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers
of the Saintes."
Ps. cxxxiii. 2 " It is like to the precious oyntment upon the
head."
Genevan Note " The oyntment was a figure of the graces
which come from Christ the head unto His Church."
THE TEMPEST.
1611.
" The Tempest " was probably the latest drama that Shakespeare completed.
Act I. ii. 28 : Prospero
" I have with such provision in mine art
So safely ordered, that there is no soule,
No not so much perdition as an hayre
Betid to any creature in the vessel
Which thou heardst cry : which thou saw'st sinke."
Compare Acts xxvii. in which the line "no not so much
perdition as an hayre " occurs as follows
Acts xxvii. 34 " For there shall not an haire of your heads
perish."
Acts xxvii. 22 " There shall be no losse of any man's life
among you save of the shippe onely."
Act I. ii. 217 : Ariel
" Not a haire perished ;
On their sustaining garments not a blemish,
But fresher than before."
Luke xxi. 18 "Yet there shall not an haire of your heads
perish."
Ariel was a spirit of flame and made the vessel "all afire,"
line 212, and Shakespeare seems to have recalled the
incident of the burning fiery furnace of Nebuchad
nezzar, where the words occur
Dan. iii. 27 " The fire had no power over their bodies, for
not an haire of their head was burnt, neither were their coats
changed, nor any smell of fire came upon them."
Act I. ii. 337 : Caliban
" Teach me to name the bigger Light, and how the lesse
That burne by day and night."
(4/2)
THE TEMPEST 473
Gen. i. 16 "God then made two great lightes, the greater
light to rule the day, and the lesse light to rule night."
Act II. i. 3 : Gonzalo.
" Our hint of woe is common ;
Every day some sailor's wife,
The master of some merchant, and the merchant
Have just our theme of woe."
Job v. 7 " But man is borne unto travell, as the sparks flie
upward."
Act II. i. 121 Francisco. "He came alive to land."
Acts xxvii. 43 " And the other, some on boards and some on
certaine pieces of the ship : and so it came to passe that they came
all safe to land."
Act II. i. 1 60: Gonzalo
" All things in common nature should produce
Without sweat or endeavour : treason, felony,
Sword, pike, knife, gun or need of any engine
Would I not have : for Nature should bring forth
Of it owne kinde, all foizon, all abundance
To feed my innocent people."
I.e., a return to Paradise and its conditions of peace and
innocence.
Gen. i. 21 " Brought foorth in abundance, according to their
kinde'.' 29 " And God saide, Beholde I have given unto you
every herbe bearing seede which is upon all the earth and every
tree wherein is the fruite of a tree bearing seed that shall be to
you for meate."
Gen. iii. 17-19 "In the sweate of thy face shalt thou eate
bread."
" In sorrow shalt thou eate of it."
Act II. i. 225 : Antonio
" Ebbing men, indeed,
Most often do so near the bottom run
By their own fear or sloth."
Prov. xxii. 1 3 " The slouthfull man saith, A lyon is without,
I shall be slaine in the streete."
Prov. xxvi. 14 "As the door turneth upon his hinges, so
doth the slouthfull man upon his bed." 13 " The slouthfull man
says, A lyon is in the way, a lyon is in the streetes."
474 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act II. i. 251 Antonio. "We all were sea-swallowed, though
some cast again."
I.e., as by a miracle, compare Jonah.
Jonah i. 17 "To swallow up Jonah."
Jonah ii. 10 " Cast out Jonah upon the dry land."
Act II. i. 305
Gonzalo. " Now good angels
Preserve the King."
Ps. xci. ii "For Hee shall give His Angels charge over thee
to keep thee in all thy wayes."
Genevan Note "God hath appoynted every man one
Angel, but many to be ministers of His providence
to keepe His and defend them in their vocation."
Act III. ii. 6 1 Caliban
" Yea, yea, my lord : He yeeld him thee asleepe,
Where thou mai'st knocke a naile into his head."
A reference to the murder of Sisera
Jud. iv. 21 "Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a nayle of the
tent, and tooke an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto
him, and smote the nayle into his temples and fastened it into
the ground, for hee was fast asleepe and weary, and so he
dyed."
Act III. ii. 130 Stephano. " If thou bee'st a man, show thyself
in thy likeness : if thou bee'st a devil, take 't as thou list."
Trinculo. " O, forgive me my sinnes."
Stephano. " He that dies, pays all debts : I defy thee :
Mercy upon us."
Fearing the devil, Stephano is reminded of religious hopes
and thinks of salvation.
Rom. vi. i o " For in that He died, He died once to sinne,
but in that He liveth, He liveth to God. Likewise thinke ye also,
that ye are dead to sin, but are alive to God in Jesus Christ our
Lord."
Rom. vii. I "The Law hath dominion over a man as long as
he liveth." 2 " If a man bee dead, shee is delivered from the
law of the man." 4 " So ye, my brethren, are dead also to the
Law by the body of Christ."
THE TEMPEST 475
Act III. iii. 72 : Ariel
" For which foule deed
The Powres delaying (not forgetting) have
Incens'd the seas and shores, yea, all the Creatures
Against your peace."
Ps. ix. 12 "For when Hee maketh inquisition for blood, He
remembreth it and forgetteth not the complaint of the poor."
Genevan Note " Though God revengeth not suddenly the
wrong done to His, yet He suffereth not the wicked
to go unpunished."
Act III. iii. 81 Ariel. "Heart's sorrow, and a clear life en-
sueing."
2 Cor. 7-10 "For godly sorrow causeth repentance unto
salvation."
Act III. iii. 96: Alonzo
"Oh it is monstrous, monstrous!
Methought the billows spoke and told me of it ;
The wind did sing it to me ; and the thunder,
That deepe and dreadfull organ-pipe, pronounced
The name of Prosper : it did bass my trespass."
Job xv. 20-24 " Affliction and anguish shall make him afraid."
Deut. xxviii. 65, 66 "The Lord shall give thee a trembling
heart, a sorrowful mind. And thy life shall hang before thee, and
thou shalt feare both night and day : and shalt have none assurance
of thy life."
Lev. xxvi. 36 " The sound of a leafe shaken shall chase
them."
Hab. ii. n " For the stone shall crie out of the wall, and the
beame out of timber shall answere it."
2 Esdras v. 5 " Blood shall drop out of the wood, and the
stone shall give his voyce."
Wisd. of Sol. xvii. 3-10 " A conscience that is touched, doeth
ever forecast cruel things."
Act III. iii. 103: Sebastian
" But one fiend at a time,
I'll fight their legions o'er."
A reference to the reply of the fiends in Gadara.
St. Mark v. 9 " My name is legion, for we are many."
476 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act III. iii. 1 06: Gonzalo
" Their great guilt
Like poison given to work a great time after
Now 'gins to bite the spirits/'
Wisd. of Sol. xvii. 3 "While they thought to be hidde in
their darke sinnes, they were scattered abroade in the darke cover
ing of forgetfulnesse, fearing horribly and troubled with visions.
For the denne that hid them, kept them not from feare ! but
the sounds that were about them troubled them, and terrible
visions and sorrowfull sights did appeare." 10 " For it is a feare-
full thing when malice is condemned by her owne testimonie :
and a conscience that is touched, doeth ever forecast cruel things."
Isa. Ivii. 20 " There is no peace saith my God, to the wicked."
Act IV. i. 43-
Ariel. "Presently?"
Prosp. " Ay, with a twink."
Ariel. " Before you can say ' come ' and 'go.' "
I Cor. xv. " In a moment, in the twinckling of an eie."
Act IV. i. 51 : Prospero
" Look thou be true. Do not give dalliance
Too much the rein : the strongest oaths are straw
To the fire i' the blood, Be more abstemious."
i Thess. v. 22 " Absteine from all appearance of evil."
Matt. xxvi. 41 "The spirit indeed is ready but the fleshe is
weake."
Act IV. 1 148 : Prospero
" These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin aire :
And like the baseless fabric of this vision
The clowd cap Towres, the gorgeous Pallaces,
The solemne Temples, the great Globe itselfe,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve
And like this insubstantial Pageant faded,
Leave not a racke behinde : we are such stuffe
As dreames are made on : and our little life
Is rounded with a sleepe."
Rev. xxi. i " And I saw a new heaven and a new earth."
THE TEMPEST 477
Isa. Ixv. 1 7 " For lo, I will create new heavens and a new
earth, and the former shall not be remembered nor come into
minde."
2 Peter iii. 10-12 "The heavens shall pass away. The
heavens being on fire shajl be dissolved."
Ps. cii. 25, 26 '"They all shall waxe olde as doeth a garment,
as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed."
Ps. cii. 1 1 " My dayes are like a shadow that fadeth."
James iv. 14 "What is your life? It is even a vapour that
appeareth for a little time and afterward vanisheth away."
Ps. xc. 5 " They are as a sleep."
Ps. xiii. 3 " That I slepe not in death."
Acts vii. 60 " When he had thus spoken, he slept."
Act V. i. 21 : Prosper o
" Hast thou (which art but aire) a touch, a feeling
Of their afflictions, and shall not my selfe,
One of their kinde, that rellish all as sharply,
Passion as they, be kindlier moved then thou art ? "
Heb. iv. 1 5 " We have not an high Priest which cannot be
touched with a feeling of our infirmities, but was in all things
tempted in like sort."
Act V. i. 27
" They being penitent,
The sole drift of my purpose doth extend
Not a frowne further."
Jonah iii. 10 "And God saw their workes that they turned
from their evil wayes, and God repented of the evil that Hee had
sayde that Hee would doe unto them and He did it not."
Act V. i. 49 : Prosper o
" Graves at my command
Have wak'd their sleepers, op'd and let 'em forth."
Matt, xxvii. 52 "And the graves did open themselves, and
many bodies of the Saints which slept arose."
Act V. i. 58 : Prospero
" A solemne ayre, and the best comforter
To an unsettled fancie, cure thy brains."
i Sam. xvi. 23 " David took an harpe and played with his
hand, and Saul was refreshed and was eased : for the evill spirit
departed from him."
478 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Act V. i. 183 : Miranda
" How many goodly creatures are there here ?
How beauteous Mankinde is."
Gen. i. 26 " God said, Let us make man in our image, accord
ing to our likeness."
Act V. i. 205 : Gonzalo
" Look down, you gods, . . .
For it is you that have chalk'd out the way
Which brought us hither."
Prov. xvi. 9 " The heart of man purpose th his way, but the
Lord doth direct his steppes."
Act V. i. 217 : Gonzalo" Be it so, Amen."
Deut. xxvii. 15 "And all the people shal answere and say,
So be it."
Author. " Amen."
i Kings i. 36 " Then Benaiah sayd, So be it."
i Cor. xiv. 1 6 "Say, Amen."
Rev. xxii. 20 " Even so, Amen."
Act V. i. 311 : Prospero
" Thence retire me to my Milaine, where
Every third thought shall be my grave."
Ps. Ixxxviii. 3 " My life draweth neere to the grave."
Ps. xxxix. 3, 4 "While I was musing, the fire kindled and I
spake with my tongue, saying, Lord, let me know mine ende and
the measure of my dayes, what it is."
Ps. xc. 1 2 " Teache us so to number our dayes, that we may
apply our hearts unto wisedome."
Genevan Note " Which is, by considering the shortnesse
of our life, and by meditating the heavenly joy."
Epilogue spoken by Prospero
" And my ending is despaire,
Unlesse I be relieved by praier,
Which pierces so, that it assaults
Mercy itself e, and frees all faultes.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free."
THE TEMPEST 479
Luke xi. 4 " And forgive us our sinnes : for even wee forgive
every man that is indetted to us."
James v. 1 3 " Is any among you afflicted ? Let him pray."
Ps. cii. 17 "The Lord shall turne unto the prayer of the
desolate and not despise their prayer."
THE FAMOUS HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF KING
HENRY THE EIGHT.
" First printed in the Folio of 1623. The three chief characters the King,
Queen Katharine of Arragon and Cardinal Wolsey bear clear marks of Shake
speare's best workmanship ; but only Act I. i., Act II. iii. and iv. (Katharine's trial),
Act III. ii. (except 11. 204-460), Act V. i. can on either aesthetic or metrical grounds
be confidently assigned to him. These portions may, according to their metrical
characteristics, be dated, like the 'Winter's Tale,' about 1611. There are good
grounds for assigning nearly all the remaining thirteen scenes to the pen of Fletcher,
with occasional aid from Massinger."
" The conjecture that Massinger and Fletcher alone collaborated in ' Henry
VIII.' (to the exclusion of Shakespeare altogether) does not deserve serious considera
tion. Sidney Lee, Life, pp. 262, 263.
Act I. i. 7 Buckingham. " Those Sunnes of Glory, those two
Lights of Men."
Gen. i. 1 5 " And let them bee for lightes in the firmanent of
the heaven to give light upon the earth, and it was so."
Act I. i. 64 : Norfolk
" The force of his owne merit makes his way ;
A guift that heaven gives for him, which buyes
A place next to the King."
Prov. xviii. 16 "A man's gift enlargeth him and leadeth him
before great men."
Act I. i. 66 : A bergavenny
" I cannot tell
What Heaven hath given him, let some graver eye
Pierce into that, but I can see his Pride
Peepe through each part of him : whence ha's he that,
If not from Hell."
Ecclus. x. 7 " Pride is hate full before God and man." 14
' For Pride is the original of sinne, and he that hath it shall powre
forth abomination, till at last hee be overthrowen."
LIFE OF KING HENRY THE EIGHT 481
Act I. i. 140
Buckingham. " There's difference in no persons."
Norfolk. "Be advis'd ;
Heat not a Furnace for your foe so hot
That it do sindge yourself."
Acts x. 34 " God is no accepter of persons."
Rom. ii. ii "There is no respect of persons with God."
Dan. iii. 19-22 "Therefore he charged and commanded that
they should heate the fornace at once seven times more than it
was wont to be heat. Therefore because the King's command
ment was straite, that the fornace should bee exceeding hote, the
flame of the fire slew those men that brought forth Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego."
Act I. i. 202 : Buckingham
" Lo you, my Lord,
The net has falne upon me, I shall perish
Under device and practice."
Ps. cxl. 5 " The prowde have laid a snare for me, and spred
a nette with cordes in my pathway, and set grennes for me."
Act I. i. 209
" The will of Heav'n
Be done in this and all things."
Matt. xxvi. 42 " Thy will be done."
2 Sam. x. 1 2 " Let the Lord do that which is good in His
eyes."
Act I. i. 225
" My life is spann'd already :
I am the shadow of poore Buckingham,
Whose Figure even this instant clowd puts on,
By darkning my cleere Sunne."
Ps. xxxix. 5 " Beholde thou hast made my dayes as an hand
breadth and mine age as nothing in respect of thee : Surely every
man in his best state is altogether vanitie. Doubtlesse man
walketh in a shadowe."
Author. " a vain shew."
Act I. ii. 50 Queen Katharine. " The back is Sacrifice to the
load."
Compare
Gen. xxii. 6 " Then Abraham tooke the woode of the burnt
482 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
offering, and layd it upon Izhak his sonne, and hee tooke the fire
in his hand and the knife and they both went together. Then
spake Izhak to Abraham his father, . . . Beholde the fire and the
wood, but where is the Lambe for the burnt offering?" 9
" Abraham builded an altar and couched the wood and bound
Izhak his sonne, and layd him on the altar upon the wood."
Act I. ii. 211 : King Henry
" If he may
Finde mercy in the Law, 'tis his, if none,
Let him not seek 't of us."
Rom. ii. 1 2 " As many as have sinned in the Lawe. shalbe
judged by the Lawe."
Act I. iii. 60 : Sands
" Sparing would shew a worse sinne, then ill Doctrine :
Men of his way, should be most liberall ;
They are set heere for examples."
I Tim. 4, 6 " A good minister of Jesus Christ, which hast
bene nourished up in the words of faith, and of good doctrine
which thou hast continually followed."
i Peter v. 3 "That ye may be ensamples to the flocke."
I Tim. iv. 1 2 " Be unto them that beleeve an ensample."
I Peter iv. 9 " Bee yee harberous to one another, without
grudging."
Act II. i. 64 : Buckingham
" But those that sought it I could wish more Christian :
(Be what they will) I heartily forgive 'em :
Yet let them look they glory not in mischiefe,
Nor build their evils on the graves of great men ;
For then my guiltlesse blood must cry against 'em.
75 " Goe with me like good Angels to my end ;
And as the long divorce of steele fals on me,
Make of your Prayers one sweet sacrifice
And lift my soule to Heaven."
Luke vi. 27 " Love your enemies : doe well to them that hate
you. Blesse them that curse you, and pray for them which hurt
you."
Ps. vii. 1 6 " His mischiefe shall returne upon his owne head,
and his cruelty shall fall upon his owne pate."
LIFE OF KING HENRY THE EIGHT 483
Gen. iv. 10 "The voyce of thy brother's blood cryeth unto
Me from the earth."
Ps. cxli. 2 " Let my prayer be directed in thy sight as incense,
and the lifting up of mine handes as an evening sacrifice."
Act II. i. 121 : Buckingham
" Yet thus farre we are one in Fortunes : both
Fell by our Servants, by those men we lov'd most ;
A most unnaturall and faithlesse service."
Compare the betrayal by Judas, and the words of the
Psalmist
Ps. xli. 9 " Yea, my familiar friend, whome I trusted, which
did eate of my bread, hath lifted up the heele against mee."
Act II. i. 127 : Buckingham
" For those you make friends
And give your hearts to, when they once perceive
The least rub in your fortunes, fall away
Like water from ye, never found again."
Job vi. 15-18 "My brethren have deceived me as a brooke,
and as the rising of the rivers they pass away they depart from
their way and course, yea, they vanish and perish."
Act II. ii. 48 : Suffolk
"All men's honours
Lie like one lumpe before him, to be fashion d
Into what pitch he please."
I.e., Wolsey was aiming at Omnipotence.
Rom. ix. 21 " Hath not the potter power of the clay to make
of the same lumpe one vessel to honour, and another unto dis
honour."
Wic. " of the same gobet."
Rheims " of the same masse."
Tyn., Cran., Gen., Author. "of the same lumpe."
Jer. xviii. 4 " So he returned and made it another vessel, as
seemed good to the potter to make it."
Isa. xlv. 9 " Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, what
makest thou ? "
Wisd. of Sol. xv. 7 "The potter also tempereth soft earth,
and fashioneth every vessel with labor to our use : but of the same
clay he maketh both the vessels that serve to cleane uses and the
484 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
contrary likewise : but whereto every vessel serve th, the potter is
the judge."
Act II. ii. 50 : Suffolk
" I love him not, nor feare him, there's my Creede :
As I am made without him, so Tie stand."
Gen. i. 7 " The Lorde God also made man of the dust of the
grounde and breathed in his face breath of life, and the man was
a living soule."
Wisd. of Sol. xv. 8 " Even he, which a litle afore was made
of earth himselfe, and within a litle while after goeth thither
againe whence he was taken, when hee shal make account for the
lone of his life."
Act II. iii. 19
Anne. " I sweare, tis better to be lowly borne,
And range with humble livers in Content,
Then to be perk'd up in a glistring griefe
And weare a golden sorrow."
Old Lady. " Our content
Is our best having."
Ecclus. xl. 1 8 u To labour and to bee contente with that a
man hath, is a sweete life."
i Tim. vi. 6 "But godlinesse is great gaine, if a man bee
content with that hee hath."
Wic. "a greet wynnynge is pitee with sufficiencie."
Tyn., Cran., Gen. " with that hee hath."
Rheims " pietie with sufficiencie is great gaine."
Author. " godlinesse with contentment is great gaine."
Phil. iv. n "I have learned in whatsoever state I am there
with to be content."
" Glistering," Ezek. i. 1 3 " the fire gave a glister ; " Luke
ix. 29 " was white and glistered."
So also Rheims and Author.
Wic., Tyn., Cran." shone."
Act II. iv. 1 8 Queen Katharine. "In what have I offended
you ? "
Gen. xx. 9 " And what have I offended thee."
Act II. iv. 107 : Queen Katharine
" Y'are meek and humble-mouthed ;
You signe your place and calling, in full seeming
LIFE OF KING HENRY THE EIGHT 485
With Meekenesse and Humilitie : but your Heart
Is cramm'd with Arrogancie : Spleene, and Pride."
Ephes. iv. 2 " Pray you that yee walk worthy of the vocation
whereunto ye are called. With all humblenesse of minde and
meekenesse."
Col. iii. 1 2 " Put on the bowels of mercies, kindenesse, humble
nesse of minde, meekenesse, long suffering."
2 Tim. ii. 24 "But the servant of the Lord must not strive
but must be gentle toward all men, apt to teach, suffering the
evill, instructing them with meekenesse that are contrary minded."
Prov. viii. 13 "The feare of the Lord is to hate evil, as pride,
and arrogancie."
Act III. i. 99 : Queen Katharine
" Is this your Christian councell ? Out upon ye,
Heaven is above all yet ; there sits a Judge
That no King can corrupt."
Gen. xviii. 25 "Shall not the Judge of all the world doe
right."
Ps. xvii. I "Heere the right O Lord, consider my crye,
hearken unto my prayer of lips unfained. Let my sentence come
forth from Thy presence, and let Thine eyes beholde equitie."
Ps. cxl. n, 12 " Evill shall hunt the cruell man to destruction.
I knowe that the Lord will avenge the afflicted and judge the
poore."
Act III. i. no: Queen Katharine
" Take heed, for heaven's sake, take heed, lest at once
The burthen of my sorrows fall upon ye."
1 14 " Woe upon ye
And all such false Professors."
1 1 6 " If ye be anything but Churchmen's habits."
Ps. cxl. 9, 10 "As for the chiefe of them that com passe me
about, let the mischiefe of their owne lippes come upon them.
Let coles fall upon them : let him cast them into the fire and into
the deepe pits that they rise not."
Matt vii. 15 " Beware of false Prophets, which come to you
in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
Act III. i. 146 : Queen Katharine " Ye have Angels' faces, but
Heaven knows your hearts."
4 86 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
I Sam. xvi. 7 " For God seeth not as man seeth : for man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord beholdeth the
heart."
Act III. i. 1 68: Wolsey
" Pray, think us
Those we profess, peace-makers."
Matt. v. 9 " Blessed are the peace-makers : for they shalbe
called the children of God."
Act III. ii. 100: Wolsey
" That she should lye in the bosom of
Our hard ruled King."
i Kings i. 2 " Let her stand before the King and cherish him,
and let her lie in thy bosom."
Act III. ii. 243 : Wolsey
" Follow your envious courses, men of malice,
You have Christian warrant for 'em, and no doubt
In time will finde their fit Rewards."
Matt, xxvii. 17, 18 "When they were then gathered together,
Pilate sayd unto them, Whether will ye that I let loose unto you
Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? For he knew well,
that for envie they had delivered Him."
Matt, xxvii. 25 "Then answered all the people and said,
His blood be on us and on our children."
Matt, xxvii. 4, 5 "I have sinned, betraying the innocent
blood." " He went and hanged himselfe."
Act III. ii. 257
"Thy ambition (Thou Scarlet sinne)."
300 " So much fairer
And spotlesse, shall mine Innocence arise
When the King knowes my Truth."
Isa. i. 1 8 "Though your sinnes were as crimson, they shall
be made white as snow : though they were red like skarlet, they
shalbe as wooll."
Act III. ii. 366 : Wolsey
" O how wretched
Is that poor man, that hangs on princes' favours !
There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to.
That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin,
LIFE OF KING HENRY THE EIGHT 487
More pangs and fears than wars and women have :
And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,
Never to hope againe."
Ps. cxlvi. 3 " Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sonne
of man, for there is none helpe in him."
Jer. xvii. 5 " Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that
trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arme and withdraweth his
heart from the Lord."
Isa. xiv. 12 " How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer,
sonne of the morning."
Act III. ii. 377 : Wolsey
" Why well ;
Never so truly happy : my good Cromwell,
I know myselfe now, and I feele within me
A peace above all earthly Dignities
A still and quiet Conscience."
Isa. xxxii. 1 7 " And the work of justice shall be peace, even
the work of justice and quietness and assurance for ever."
Ecclus. xiv. i, 2 "Blessed is the man that hath not fallen by
the word of his mouth and is not tormented with the sorrow of
sinne. Blessed is he that is not condemned in his conscience and
is not fallen from his hope in the Lord."
Act III. ii. 412 : Wolsey
" Go, get thee from me, Cromwell ;
I am a poor fall'n man."
Ecclus. xiii. 22 <; If a rich man fal, his friends set him up
again, but when the poore falleth, his friends drive him away."
Act III. ii. 439 : Wolsey
" Marke but my Fall, and that that Ruin'd me.
Cromwel, I charge thee, fling away Ambition :
By that sinne fell the Angels : how can man then
(The Image of his Maker) hope to win by 't ?
Love thyself last, cherish those hearts that hate thee."
Gen. i. 26 " Furthermore God said, Let us make man in our
image, according to our likenesse."
Genevan Note on Gen. iii. 22 "By this derision he re-
procheth Adam's miserie, whereunto he was fallen by
Ambition."
4 88 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
i Tim. iii. 6 "Lest he being puffed up fall into the con
demnation of the devil."
Genevan Note " Lest he take occasion to be proud, which
will undoe him, and so he fall into the same con
demnation that the devil himselfe is fallen into."
Isa. ii. 17 "The hautinesse of men shalbe brought low, and
the loftinesse of men shall be abased."
Prov. xxix. 23 "The pride of a man shall bring him low."
Luke vi. 27, 28 "Love your enemies, doe well to them which
hate you. Blesse them that curse you, and pray for them which
hurt you."
Act III. ii. 454 : Wolsey
"Had I but serv'd my God with halfe the zeale
I serv'd the King ; He would not in mine age
Have left me naked to mine Enemies."
460 " My hopes in heaven do dwell."
Ps. xxxvii. 28 " For the Lord loveth judgment and forsaketh
not His saints, they shall be preserved for evermore."
Isa. xli. 17 "I the Lord will heare them, I the God of Israel
will not forsake them."
Ps. xxxvii. 25 "I have bene young, and am olde, yet I saw
never the righteous forsaken, nor his seede begging bread."
Ps. Ixxi. 7-9 " I am become as it were a monster unto many :
but thou art my sure trust. Cast me not off in the time of age :
forsake me not when my strength faileth."
Act IV. ii. 2 : Queen Katharine 11 Griffith, sicke to death."
Phil. ii. 27 " Sicke, very neere unto death."
Act V. i. 1 10 : Cranmer
" And am right glad to catch this good occasion
Most thoroughly to be winnowed, where my Chaffe
And Corne shall flye asunder."
Luke xxii. 3 1 " Satan hath desired you, to winnow you as
wheate."
Wic. "reddile as wheate."
Tyn., Cran., Rheims, Author. "sifte you, as it were
wheate."
Genevan alone gives " wynowe you."
LIFE OF KING HENRY THE EIGHT 489
Act V. i. 1 26 : King Henry
t( Weene you of better lucke,
I meane in perjur'd witnesse, then your Master,
Whose Minister you are, whiles heere he liv'd
Upon this naughty earth."
Matt. xxvi. 59 " Now the chief e Priests and the Elders, and
all the whole Council sought false witnesse against Jesus to put
Him to death." 60 " At last came two false witnesses."
Act V. i. 145" Be of good cheere."
A common Biblical phrase.
! 54" God's blest Mother."
A reference to the Virgin
Luke i. 28 " Blessed art thou among women."
Act V. ii. 79 : Cranmer
" I do beseech your lordships,
That in this case of justice, my accusers,
Be what they will, may stand forth face to face,
And freely urge against me."
Acts xxv. 13-16 "To whom I answered, that it is not the
manner of the Romans for favor to deliver any man to the death,
before that he which is accused, have the accusers before him, and
have place to defend himselfe, concerning the crime."
Act V. ii. 96 : Cranmer
" Love and Meekenesse, Lord,
Become a Churchman better than Ambition :
Win straying soules with modesty againe,
Cast none away."
Col. iii. 12 "And the Lord increase you, and make you
abound in love one toward another, and towarde all men."
Act V. ii. 137: Suffolk
" By Heav'n, I told ye all,
When we first put this dangerous stone a rowling,
'Twold fall upon our selves."
Ecclus. xxvii. 25 "Whoso casteth a stone on hie, casteth it
upon his owne head : and hee that smiteth with guile, maketh a
great wound. Whoso diggeth a pit shal fall therein, and he that
layeth a stone in his neighbour's way, shall stumble thereon, and
he that layeth a snare for another shall be taken in it himselfe."
490 SHAKESPEARE AND HOLY SCRIPTURE
Prov. xxvi. 27 " He that diggeth a pit shall fall therein, and
he that rolleth a stone, it shall returne upon him."
Act V. ii. 147 : Cromwell " Ye blew the fire that burns ye."
Dan. iii. 22 " That the fornace should be exceeding hote, the
flame of the fire slew those men that brought forth Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego."
Act V. iii. 21 : Man
" I am not Samson, nor Sir Guy, nor Colebrand,
To mow 'em downe before me."
Reference to the Jewish Judge, Judges xv.
Act V. iv. 23 : Cranmer
" Seba was never
More covetous of Wisedome and faire Vertue
Then this pure soule shall be."
I Kings x. I -3 " And when the Queen of Sheba heard . .
and Solomon told her all her questions, there was not anything
hid from the King, which he told her not."
Act V. iv. 33 : Cranmer
" In her dayes, Every man shall eate in safety,
Under his owne Vine what he plants ; and sing
The merry Songs of Peace to all his Neighbours :
God shall be truely knowne."
I Kings iv. 20-25 "And Judah and Israel dwelt without
feare, every man under his vine, and under his fig-tree, from Dan
even to Beersheba, all the dayes of Solomon."
Mic. iv. 3, 4 " They shall breake their swordes into mat-
tockes, and their speares into siethes: nation shall not lift up a
sword against nation, neither shall they learne to fight any more.
But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his figge-
tree."
THE END
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Carter, Thomas
Shakespeare and the Holy
Scripture
