204 C. F. Tttcker Brooke, 



and other jocularities quite out of keeping with the character of the 

 speaker. The hand of the young Shakespeare is easily recognizable 

 in verses hke the following (11. 100 ff.) : 



" They say, ' A crafty knave does need no broker;' 

 Yet am I Suffolk and the Cardinal's broker. 

 Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near 

 To call them both a pair of crafty knaves," etc. 



The first hnes of Act II, scene iv (2 Henry VI) again offer an 

 insight into Shakespeare's revisionary method. In the Contention, 

 the passage is brief and direct, the one object being to show Hum- 

 phrey's keen feeling of the degradation of his wife {Contention, 

 p. 7, 11. 1-10) : 



" Humph. Sirra, whats a clocke ? 



Serving {Man). Almost ten, my Lord. 



Humph. Then is that wofull houre hard at hand, 



That my poore Lady should come by this way, 



In shamefull penance wandring in the streetes. 



Sweete Nell, ill can thy noble minde abrooke 



The abiect people gazing on thy face. 



With envious lookes laughing at thy shame. 



That earst did follow thy proud Chariot wheeles, 



When thou didst ride in tryumph through the streetes." 



The 1623 version omits three of these hnes (3—5), retains the rest 

 without any noteworthy change, and adds ten new verses expressing 

 a conspicuously different mood. I give the passage as it occurs 

 in the later text, italicizing the lines which seem to be original with 

 Shakespeare : 



" Glo. Thus sometimes hath the brightest day a cloud ; 



And after svmmer evermore succeeds 



Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold : 



So cares and joys abound, as seasons fleet. 



Sirs, what's o'clock ? 



Serv{ing-man). Ten, my lord, 



Glo. Ten is the hour that was appointed me 



To watch the coming of my punished duchess : 



Uneath may she endure the flinty streets. 



To tread them with her tender-feeling feet. 



Sweet Nell, ill can thy noble mind abrook 



The abject people, gazing on thy face 



With envious looks still laughing at thy shame. 



