I have heard that fearful commenting Is leaden servitor to dull delay; Delay leads impotent and snail-paced beggary:246 Then fiery expedition247 be my wing, Jove’s Mercury,248 and herald for a king! Come, muster men: my counsel is my shield; We must be brief when traitors brave the field.249
K. RICH.
Ely with Richmond troubles me more near
Than Buckingham and his rash-levied army.
Come, I have heard that fearful commenting
Is leaden servitor to dull delay;
Delay leads impotent and snail-paced beggary: 246
Then fiery expedition247 be my wing,
Jove’s Mercury, 248 and herald for a king!
Come, muster men: my counsel is my shield;
We must be brief when traitors brave the field. 249
[Exeunt.]
Footnotes
246 fearful ... beggary] timorous reflection serves the slow purpose of sluggish procrastination; procrastination superinduces feeble and creeping beggary.
247 fiery expedition] rapidity of fire or lightning.
248 Mercury] the swift messenger of Jove.
249 brave the field] vauntingly challenge (us) to the battlefield.
