world whose waters produced forgetfulness in the souls who drank of it.
IV. iv. 276. Cf. 3 Henry VI, I. iv. 79–83, and I. iii. 178 above.
IV. iv. 284. conveyance. Cf. 3 Henry VI, III. iii. 160: 'Thy sly conveyance and thy lord's false love.'
IV. iv. 289. Richard repeats the argument he used to Anne in I. ii. 115–124.
IV. iv. 312. Dorset. Shakespeare ignores historical time here. Dorset first joined with Buckingham. That expedition failed in October, 1483. He then went abroad and joined Richmond, who set out on his successful expedition in August, 1485. (See, also, IV. i. 41, 42, and IV. ii. 48, 49 above.)
IV. iv. 324. love. Theobald's emendation 'loan' has been generally accepted by modern editors.
IV. iv. 333. Cf. Richard's earlier references: 'The deep-revolving, witty Buckingham,' IV. ii. 42; 'High-reaching Buckingham,' IV. ii. 31.
IV. iv. 347. king's King forbids. The reference is to marriage within forbidden degrees of kinship. Cf. Leviticus, xviii, 14: ‘Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife. . . .'
IV. iv. 365, 366. The Folio transposes these two lines. 366 is omitted in the Quartos from 2 through 8. It is probable, therefore, that in editing the Folio text an error occurred in the insertion of the missing line. The expression to 'harp on a string' was a common one.
IV. iv. 367. George. An anachronism. The image of St. George on horseback, tilting at the dragon, was added to the collar of the badge of the Garter by Henry VIII (Ashmole).
IV. iv. 375. In the Quarto this line follows 'thy life hath it dishonour'd.'
IV. iv. 378. God. As elsewhere in the Folio text,
