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1"ACT I"
2"SCENE I. London. The palace."
3"Enter KING HENRY, LORD JOHN OF LANCASTER, the EARL of WESTMORELAND, SIR WALTER BLUNT, and others"
4"So shaken as we are, so wan with care,"
5"Find we a time for frighted peace to pant,"
6"And breathe short-winded accents of new broils"
7"To be commenced in strands afar remote."
8"No more the thirsty entrance of this soil"
9"Shall daub her lips with her own children's blood,"
10"Nor more shall trenching war channel her fields,"
11"Nor bruise her flowerets with the armed hoofs"
12"Of hostile paces: those opposed eyes,"
13"Which, like the meteors of a troubled heaven,"
14"All of one nature, of one substance bred,"
15"Did lately meet in the intestine shock"
16"And furious close of civil butchery"
17"Shall now, in mutual well-beseeming ranks,"
18"March all one way and be no more opposed"
19"Against acquaintance, kindred and allies:"
20"The edge of war, like an ill-sheathed knife,"
21"No more shall cut his master. Therefore, friends,"
22"As far as to the sepulchre of Christ,"
23"Whose soldier now, under whose blessed cross"
24"We are impressed and engaged to fight,"
25"Forthwith a power of English shall we levy,"
26"Whose arms were moulded in their mothers' womb"
27"To chase these pagans in those holy fields"
28"Over whose acres walk'd those blessed feet"
29"Which fourteen hundred years ago were nail'd"
30"For our advantage on the bitter cross."
31"But this our purpose now is twelve month old,"
32"And bootless 'tis to tell you we will go:"
33"Therefore we meet not now. Then let me hear"
34"Of you, my gentle cousin Westmoreland,"
35"What yesternight our council did decree"
36"In forwarding this dear expedience."
37"My liege, this haste was hot in question,"
38"And many limits of the charge set down"
39"But yesternight: when all athwart there came"
40"A post from Wales loaden with heavy news,"
41"Whose worst was, that the noble Mortimer,"
42"Leading the men of Herefordshire to fight"
43"Against the irregular and wild Glendower,"
44"Was by the rude hands of that Welshman taken,"
45"A thousand of his people butchered,"
46"Upon whose dead corpse there was such misuse,"
47"Such beastly shameless transformation,"
48"By those Welshwomen done as may not be"
49"Without much shame retold or spoken of."
50"It seems then that the tidings of this broil"
51"Brake off our business for the Holy Land."
52"This match'd with other did, my gracious lord,"
53"For more uneven and unwelcome news"
54"Came from the north and thus it did import:"
55"On Holy-rood day, the gallant Hotspur there,"
56"Young Harry Percy and brave Archibald,"
57"That ever-valiant and approved Scot,"
58"At Holmedon met,"
59"Where they did spend a sad and bloody hour,"
60"As by discharge of their artillery,"
61"And shape of likelihood, the news was told,"
62"For he that brought them, in the very heat"
63"And pride of their contention did take horse,"
64"Uncertain of the issue any way."
65"Here is a dear, a true industrious friend,"
66"Sir Walter Blunt, new lighted from his horse."
67"Stain'd with the variation of each soil"
68"Betwixt that Holmedon and this seat of ours,"
69"And he hath brought us smooth and welcome news."
70"The Earl of Douglas is discomfited:"
71"Ten thousand bold Scots, two and twenty knights,"
72"Balk'd in their own blood did Sir Walter see"
73"On Holmedon's plains. Of prisoners, Hotspur took"
74"Mordake the Earl of Fife, and eldest son"
75"To beaten Douglas, and the Earl of Athol,"
76"Of Murray, Angus, and Menteith:"
77"And is not this an honourable spoil?"
78"A gallant prize? ha, cousin, is it not?"
79"In faith,"
80"It is a conquest for a prince to boast of."
81"Yea, there thou makest me sad and makest me sin"
82"In envy that my Lord Northumberland"
83"Should be the father to so blest a son,"
84"A son who is the theme of honour's tongue,"
85"Amongst a grove, the very straightest plant,"
86"Who is sweet Fortune's minion and her pride:"
87"Whilst I, by looking on the praise of him,"
88"See riot and dishonour stain the brow"
89"Of my young Harry. O that it could be proved"
90"That some night-tripping fairy had exchanged"
91"In cradle-clothes our children where they lay,"
92"And call'd mine Percy, his Plantagenet!"
93"Then would I have his Harry, and he mine."
94"But let him from my thoughts. What think you, coz,"
95"Of this young Percy's pride? the prisoners,"
96"Which he in this adventure hath surprised,"
97"To his own use he keeps, and sends me word,"
98"I shall have none but Mordake Earl of Fife."
99"This is his uncle's teaching, this is Worcester,"
100"Malevolent to you in all aspects,"
101"Which makes him prune himself, and bristle up"
102"The crest of youth against your dignity."
103"But I have sent for him to answer this,"
104"And for this cause awhile we must neglect"
105"Our holy purpose to Jerusalem."
106"Cousin, on Wednesday next our council we"
107"Will hold at Windsor, so inform the lords:"
108"But come yourself with speed to us again,"
109"For more is to be said and to be done"
110"Than out of anger can be uttered."
111"I will, my liege."
112Exeunt
113"SCENE II. London. An apartment of the Prince's."
114"Enter the PRINCE OF WALES and FALSTAFF"
115"Now, Hal, what time of day is it, lad?"
116"Thou art so fat-witted, with drinking of old sack"
117"and unbuttoning thee after supper and sleeping upon"
118"benches after noon, that thou hast forgotten to"
119"demand that truly which thou wouldst truly know."
120"What a devil hast thou to do with the time of the"
121"day? Unless hours were cups of sack and minutes"
122"capons and clocks the tongues of bawds and dials the"
123"signs of leaping-houses and the blessed sun himself"
124"a fair hot wench in flame-coloured taffeta, I see no"
125"reason why thou shouldst be so superfluous to demand"
126"the time of the day."
127"Indeed, you come near me now, Hal, for we that take"
128"purses go by the moon and the seven stars, and not"
129"by Phoebus, he,'that wandering knight so fair.' And,"
130"I prithee, sweet wag, when thou art king, as, God"
131"save thy grace,--majesty I should say, for grace"
132"thou wilt have none,--"
133"What, none?"
134"No, by my troth, not so much as will serve to"
135"prologue to an egg and butter."
136"Well, how then? come, roundly, roundly."
137"Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art king, let not"
138"us that are squires of the night's body be called"
139"thieves of the day's beauty: let us be Diana's"
140"foresters, gentlemen of the shade, minions of the"
141"moon, and let men say we be men of good government,"
142"being governed, as the sea is, by our noble and"
143"chaste mistress the moon, under whose countenance we steal."
144"Thou sayest well, and it holds well too, for the"
145"fortune of us that are the moon's men doth ebb and"
146"flow like the sea, being governed, as the sea is,"
147"by the moon. As, for proof, now: a purse of gold"
148"most resolutely snatched on Monday night and most"
149"dissolutely spent on Tuesday morning, got with"
150"swearing 'Lay by' and spent with crying 'Bring in,'"
151"now in as low an ebb as the foot of the ladder"
152"and by and by in as high a flow as the ridge of the gallows."
153"By the Lord, thou sayest true, lad. And is not my"
154"hostess of the tavern a most sweet wench?"
155"As the honey of Hybla, my old lad of the castle. And"
156"is not a buff jerkin a most sweet robe of durance?"
157"How now, how now, mad wag! what, in thy quips and"
158"thy quiddities? what a plague have I to do with a"
159"buff jerkin?"
160"Why, what a pox have I to do with my hostess of the tavern?"
161"Well, thou hast called her to a reckoning many a"
162"time and oft."
163"Did I ever call for thee to pay thy part?"
164"No, I'll give thee thy due, thou hast paid all there."
165"Yea, and elsewhere, so far as my coin would stretch,"
166"and where it would not, I have used my credit."
167"Yea, and so used it that were it not here apparent"
168"that thou art heir apparent--But, I prithee, sweet"
169"wag, shall there be gallows standing in England when"
170"thou art king? and resolution thus fobbed as it is"
171"with the rusty curb of old father antic the law? Do"
172"not thou, when thou art king, hang a thief."
173"No, thou shalt."
174"Shall I? O rare! By the Lord, I'll be a brave judge."
175"Thou judgest false already: I mean, thou shalt have"
176"the hanging of the thieves and so become a rare hangman."
177"Well, Hal, well, and in some sort it jumps with my"
178"humour as well as waiting in the court, I can tell"
179you.
180"For obtaining of suits?"
181"Yea, for obtaining of suits, whereof the hangman"
182"hath no lean wardrobe. 'Sblood, I am as melancholy"
183"as a gib cat or a lugged bear."
184"Or an old lion, or a lover's lute."
185"Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire bagpipe."
186"What sayest thou to a hare, or the melancholy of"
187Moor-ditch?
188"Thou hast the most unsavoury similes and art indeed"
189"the most comparative, rascalliest, sweet young"
190"prince. But, Hal, I prithee, trouble me no more"
191"with vanity. I would to God thou and I knew where a"
192"commodity of good names were to be bought. An old"
193"lord of the council rated me the other day in the"
194"street about you, sir, but I marked him not, and yet"
195"he talked very wisely, but I regarded him not, and"
196"yet he talked wisely, and in the street too."
197"Thou didst well, for wisdom cries out in the"
198"streets, and no man regards it."
199"O, thou hast damnable iteration and art indeed able"
200"to corrupt a saint. Thou hast done much harm upon"
201"me, Hal, God forgive thee for it! Before I knew"
202"thee, Hal, I knew nothing, and now am I, if a man"
203"should speak truly, little better than one of the"
204"wicked. I must give over this life, and I will give"
205"it over: by the Lord, and I do not, I am a villain:"
206"I'll be damned for never a king's son in"
207Christendom.
208"Where shall we take a purse tomorrow, Jack?"
209"'Zounds, where thou wilt, lad, I'll make one, an I"
210"do not, call me villain and baffle me."
211"I see a good amendment of life in thee, from praying"
212"to purse-taking."
213"Why, Hal, 'tis my vocation, Hal, 'tis no sin for a"
214"man to labour in his vocation."
215"Enter POINS"
216"Poins! Now shall we know if Gadshill have set a"
217"match. O, if men were to be saved by merit, what"
218"hole in hell were hot enough for him? This is the"
219"most omnipotent villain that ever cried 'Stand' to"
220"a true man."
221"Good morrow, Ned."
222"Good morrow, sweet Hal. What says Monsieur Remorse?"
223"what says Sir John Sack and Sugar? Jack! how"
224"agrees the devil and thee about thy soul, that thou"
225"soldest him on Good-Friday last for a cup of Madeira"
226"and a cold capon's leg?"
227"Sir John stands to his word, the devil shall have"
228"his bargain, for he was never yet a breaker of"
229"proverbs: he will give the devil his due."
230"Then art thou damned for keeping thy word with the devil."
231"Else he had been damned for cozening the devil."
232"But, my lads, my lads, to-morrow morning, by four"
233"o'clock, early at Gadshill! there are pilgrims going"
234"to Canterbury with rich offerings, and traders"
235"riding to London with fat purses: I have vizards"
236"for you all, you have horses for yourselves:"
237"Gadshill lies to-night in Rochester: I have bespoke"
238"supper to-morrow night in Eastcheap: we may do it"
239"as secure as sleep. If you will go, I will stuff"
240"your purses full of crowns, if you will not, tarry"
241"at home and be hanged."
242"Hear ye, Yedward, if I tarry at home and go not,"
243"I'll hang you for going."
244"You will, chops?"
245"Hal, wilt thou make one?"
246"Who, I rob? I a thief? not I, by my faith."
247"There's neither honesty, manhood, nor good"
248"fellowship in thee, nor thou camest not of the blood"
249"royal, if thou darest not stand for ten shillings."
250"Well then, once in my days I'll be a madcap."
251"Why, that's well said."
252"Well, come what will, I'll tarry at home."
253"By the Lord, I'll be a traitor then, when thou art king."
254"I care not."
255"Sir John, I prithee, leave the prince and me alone:"
256"I will lay him down such reasons for this adventure"
257"that he shall go."
258"Well, God give thee the spirit of persuasion and him"
259"the ears of profiting, that what thou speakest may"
260"move and what he hears may be believed, that the"
261"true prince may, for recreation sake, prove a false"
262"thief, for the poor abuses of the time want"
263"countenance. Farewell: you shall find me in Eastcheap."
264"Farewell, thou latter spring! farewell, All-hallown summer!"
265"Exit Falstaff"
266"Now, my good sweet honey lord, ride with us"
267"to-morrow: I have a jest to execute that I cannot"
268"manage alone. Falstaff, Bardolph, Peto and Gadshill"
269"shall rob those men that we have already waylaid:"
270"yourself and I will not be there, and when they"
271"have the booty, if you and I do not rob them, cut"
272"this head off from my shoulders."
273"How shall we part with them in setting forth?"
274"Why, we will set forth before or after them, and"
275"appoint them a place of meeting, wherein it is at"
276"our pleasure to fail, and then will they adventure"
277"upon the exploit themselves, which they shall have"
278"no sooner achieved, but we'll set upon them."
279"Yea, but 'tis like that they will know us by our"
280"horses, by our habits and by every other"
281"appointment, to be ourselves."
282"Tut! our horses they shall not see: I'll tie them"
283"in the wood, our vizards we will change after we"
284"leave them: and, sirrah, I have cases of buckram"
285"for the nonce, to immask our noted outward garments."
286"Yea, but I doubt they will be too hard for us."
287"Well, for two of them, I know them to be as"
288"true-bred cowards as ever turned back, and for the"
289"third, if he fight longer than he sees reason, I'll"
290"forswear arms. The virtue of this jest will be, the"
291"incomprehensible lies that this same fat rogue will"
292"tell us when we meet at supper: how thirty, at"
293"least, he fought with, what wards, what blows, what"
294"extremities he endured, and in the reproof of this"
295"lies the jest."
296"Well, I'll go with thee: provide us all things"
297"necessary and meet me to-morrow night in Eastcheap,"
298"there I'll sup. Farewell."
299"Farewell, my lord."
300"Exit Poins"
301"I know you all, and will awhile uphold"
302"The unyoked humour of your idleness:"
303"Yet herein will I imitate the sun,"
304"Who doth permit the base contagious clouds"
305"To smother up his beauty from the world,"
306"That, when he please again to be himself,"
307"Being wanted, he may be more wonder'd at,"
308"By breaking through the foul and ugly mists"
309"Of vapours that did seem to strangle him."
310"If all the year were playing holidays,"
311"To sport would be as tedious as to work,"
312"But when they seldom come, they wish'd for come,"
313"And nothing pleaseth but rare accidents."
314"So, when this loose behavior I throw off"
315"And pay the debt I never promised,"
316"By how much better than my word I am,"
317"By so much shall I falsify men's hopes,"
318"And like bright metal on a sullen ground,"
319"My reformation, glittering o'er my fault,"
320"Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes"
321"Than that which hath no foil to set it off."
322"I'll so offend, to make offence a skill,"
323"Redeeming time when men think least I will."
324Exit
325"SCENE III. London. The palace."
326"Enter the KING, NORTHUMBERLAND, WORCESTER, HOTSPUR, SIR WALTER BLUNT, with others"
327"My blood hath been too cold and temperate,"
328"Unapt to stir at these indignities,"
329"And you have found me, for accordingly"
330"You tread upon my patience: but be sure"
331"I will from henceforth rather be myself,"
332"Mighty and to be fear'd, than my condition,"
333"Which hath been smooth as oil, soft as young down,"
334"And therefore lost that title of respect"
335"Which the proud soul ne'er pays but to the proud."
336"Our house, my sovereign liege, little deserves"
337"The scourge of greatness to be used on it,"
338"And that same greatness too which our own hands"
339"Have holp to make so portly."
340"My lord.--"
341"Worcester, get thee gone, for I do see"
342"Danger and disobedience in thine eye:"
343"O, sir, your presence is too bold and peremptory,"
344"And majesty might never yet endure"
345"The moody frontier of a servant brow."
346"You have good leave to leave us: when we need"
347"Your use and counsel, we shall send for you."
348"Exit Worcester"
349"You were about to speak."
350"To North"
351"Yea, my good lord."
352"Those prisoners in your highness' name demanded,"
353"Which Harry Percy here at Holmedon took,"
354"Were, as he says, not with such strength denied"
355"As is deliver'd to your majesty:"
356"Either envy, therefore, or misprison"
357"Is guilty of this fault and not my son."
358"My liege, I did deny no prisoners."
359"But I remember, when the fight was done,"
360"When I was dry with rage and extreme toil,"
361"Breathless and faint, leaning upon my sword,"
362"Came there a certain lord, neat, and trimly dress'd,"
363"Fresh as a bridegroom, and his chin new reap'd"
364"Show'd like a stubble-land at harvest-home,"
365"He was perfumed like a milliner,"
366"And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held"
367"A pouncet-box, which ever and anon"
368"He gave his nose and took't away again,"
369"Who therewith angry, when it next came there,"
370"Took it in snuff, and still he smiled and talk'd,"
371"And as the soldiers bore dead bodies by,"
372"He call'd them untaught knaves, unmannerly,"
373"To bring a slovenly unhandsome corse"
374"Betwixt the wind and his nobility."
375"With many holiday and lady terms"
376"He question'd me, amongst the rest, demanded"
377"My prisoners in your majesty's behalf."
378"I then, all smarting with my wounds being cold,"
379"To be so pester'd with a popinjay,"
380"Out of my grief and my impatience,"
381"Answer'd neglectingly I know not what,"
382"He should or he should not, for he made me mad"
383"To see him shine so brisk and smell so sweet"
384"And talk so like a waiting-gentlewoman"
385"Of guns and drums and wounds,--God save the mark!--"
386"And telling me the sovereign'st thing on earth"
387"Was parmaceti for an inward bruise,"
388"And that it was great pity, so it was,"
389"This villanous salt-petre should be digg'd"
390"Out of the bowels of the harmless earth,"
391"Which many a good tall fellow had destroy'd"
392"So cowardly, and but for these vile guns,"
393"He would himself have been a soldier."
394"This bald unjointed chat of his, my lord,"
395"I answer'd indirectly, as I said,"
396"And I beseech you, let not his report"
397"Come current for an accusation"
398"Betwixt my love and your high majesty."
399"The circumstance consider'd, good my lord,"
400"Whate'er Lord Harry Percy then had said"
401"To such a person and in such a place,"
402"At such a time, with all the rest retold,"
403"May reasonably die and never rise"
404"To do him wrong or any way impeach"
405"What then he said, so he unsay it now."
406"Why, yet he doth deny his prisoners,"
407"But with proviso and exception,"
408"That we at our own charge shall ransom straight"
409"His brother-in-law, the foolish Mortimer,"
410"Who, on my soul, hath wilfully betray'd"
411"The lives of those that he did lead to fight"
412"Against that great magician, damn'd Glendower,"
413"Whose daughter, as we hear, the Earl of March"
414"Hath lately married. Shall our coffers, then,"
415"Be emptied to redeem a traitor home?"
416"Shall we but treason? and indent with fears,"
417"When they have lost and forfeited themselves?"
418"No, on the barren mountains let him starve,"
419"For I shall never hold that man my friend"
420"Whose tongue shall ask me for one penny cost"
421"To ransom home revolted Mortimer."
422"Revolted Mortimer!"
423"He never did fall off, my sovereign liege,"
424"But by the chance of war, to prove that true"
425"Needs no more but one tongue for all those wounds,"
426"Those mouthed wounds, which valiantly he took"
427"When on the gentle Severn's sedgy bank,"
428"In single opposition, hand to hand,"
429"He did confound the best part of an hour"
430"In changing hardiment with great Glendower:"
431"Three times they breathed and three times did"
432"they drink,"
433"Upon agreement, of swift Severn's flood,"
434"Who then, affrighted with their bloody looks,"
435"Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds,"
436"And hid his crisp head in the hollow bank,"
437"Bloodstained with these valiant combatants."
438"Never did base and rotten policy"
439"Colour her working with such deadly wounds,"
440"Nor could the noble Mortimer"
441"Receive so many, and all willingly:"
442"Then let not him be slander'd with revolt."
443"Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou dost belie him,"
444"He never did encounter with Glendower:"
445"I tell thee,"
446"He durst as well have met the devil alone"
447"As Owen Glendower for an enemy."
448"Art thou not ashamed? But, sirrah, henceforth"
449"Let me not hear you speak of Mortimer:"
450"Send me your prisoners with the speediest means,"
451"Or you shall hear in such a kind from me"
452"As will displease you. My Lord Northumberland,"
453"We licence your departure with your son."
454"Send us your prisoners, or you will hear of it."
455"Exeunt King Henry, Blunt, and train"
456"An if the devil come and roar for them,"
457"I will not send them: I will after straight"
458"And tell him so, for I will ease my heart,"
459"Albeit I make a hazard of my head."
460"What, drunk with choler? stay and pause awhile:"
461"Here comes your uncle."
462"Re-enter WORCESTER"
463"Speak of Mortimer!"
464"'Zounds, I will speak of him, and let my soul"
465"Want mercy, if I do not join with him:"
466"Yea, on his part I'll empty all these veins,"
467"And shed my dear blood drop by drop in the dust,"
468"But I will lift the down-trod Mortimer"
469"As high in the air as this unthankful king,"
470"As this ingrate and canker'd Bolingbroke."
471"Brother, the king hath made your nephew mad."
472"Who struck this heat up after I was gone?"
473"He will, forsooth, have all my prisoners,"
474"And when I urged the ransom once again"
475"Of my wife's brother, then his cheek look'd pale,"
476"And on my face he turn'd an eye of death,"
477"Trembling even at the name of Mortimer."
478"I cannot blame him: was not he proclaim'd"
479"By Richard that dead is the next of blood?"
480"He was, I heard the proclamation:"
481"And then it was when the unhappy king,"
482"--Whose wrongs in us God pardon!--did set forth"
483"Upon his Irish expedition,"
484"From whence he intercepted did return"
485"To be deposed and shortly murdered."
486"And for whose death we in the world's wide mouth"
487"Live scandalized and foully spoken of."
488"But soft, I pray you, did King Richard then"
489"Proclaim my brother Edmund Mortimer"
490"Heir to the crown?"
491"He did, myself did hear it."
492"Nay, then I cannot blame his cousin king,"
493"That wished him on the barren mountains starve."
494"But shall it be that you, that set the crown"
495"Upon the head of this forgetful man"
496"And for his sake wear the detested blot"
497"Of murderous subornation, shall it be,"
498"That you a world of curses undergo,"
499"Being the agents, or base second means,"
500"The cords, the ladder, or the hangman rather?"
501"O, pardon me that I descend so low,"
502"To show the line and the predicament"
503"Wherein you range under this subtle king,"
504"Shall it for shame be spoken in these days,"
505"Or fill up chronicles in time to come,"
506"That men of your nobility and power"
507"Did gage them both in an unjust behalf,"
508"As both of you--God pardon it!--have done,"
509"To put down Richard, that sweet lovely rose,"
510"An plant this thorn, this canker, Bolingbroke?"
511"And shall it in more shame be further spoken,"
512"That you are fool'd, discarded and shook off"
513"By him for whom these shames ye underwent?"
514"No, yet time serves wherein you may redeem"
515"Your banish'd honours and restore yourselves"
516"Into the good thoughts of the world again,"
517"Revenge the jeering and disdain'd contempt"
518"Of this proud king, who studies day and night"
519"To answer all the debt he owes to you"
520"Even with the bloody payment of your deaths:"
521"Therefore, I say--"
522"Peace, cousin, say no more:"
523"And now I will unclasp a secret book,"
524"And to your quick-conceiving discontents"
525"I'll read you matter deep and dangerous,"
526"As full of peril and adventurous spirit"
527"As to o'er-walk a current roaring loud"
528"On the unsteadfast footing of a spear."
529"If he fall in, good night! or sink or swim:"
530"Send danger from the east unto the west,"
531"So honour cross it from the north to south,"
532"And let them grapple: O, the blood more stirs"
533"To rouse a lion than to start a hare!"
534"Imagination of some great exploit"
535"Drives him beyond the bounds of patience."
536"By heaven, methinks it were an easy leap,"
537"To pluck bright honour from the pale-faced moon,"
538"Or dive into the bottom of the deep,"
539"Where fathom-line could never touch the ground,"
540"And pluck up drowned honour by the locks,"
541"So he that doth redeem her thence might wear"
542"Without corrival, all her dignities:"
543"But out upon this half-faced fellowship!"
544"He apprehends a world of figures here,"
545"But not the form of what he should attend."
546"Good cousin, give me audience for a while."
547"I cry you mercy."
548"Those same noble Scots"
549"That are your prisoners,--"
550"I'll keep them all,"
551"By God, he shall not have a Scot of them,"
552"No, if a Scot would save his soul, he shall not:"
553"I'll keep them, by this hand."
554"You start away"
555"And lend no ear unto my purposes."
556"Those prisoners you shall keep."
557"Nay, I will, that's flat:"
558"He said he would not ransom Mortimer,"
559"Forbad my tongue to speak of Mortimer,"
560"But I will find him when he lies asleep,"
561"And in his ear I'll holla 'Mortimer!'"
562Nay,
563"I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak"
564"Nothing but 'Mortimer,' and give it him"
565"To keep his anger still in motion."
566"Hear you, cousin, a word."
567"All studies here I solemnly defy,"
568"Save how to gall and pinch this Bolingbroke:"
569"And that same sword-and-buckler Prince of Wales,"
570"But that I think his father loves him not"
571"And would be glad he met with some mischance,"
572"I would have him poison'd with a pot of ale."
573"Farewell, kinsman: I'll talk to you"
574"When you are better temper'd to attend."
575"Why, what a wasp-stung and impatient fool"
576"Art thou to break into this woman's mood,"
577"Tying thine ear to no tongue but thine own!"
578"Why, look you, I am whipp'd and scourged with rods,"
579"Nettled and stung with pismires, when I hear"
580"Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke."
581"In Richard's time,--what do you call the place?--"
582"A plague upon it, it is in Gloucestershire,"
583"'Twas where the madcap duke his uncle kept,"
584"His uncle York, where I first bow'd my knee"
585"Unto this king of smiles, this Bolingbroke,--"
586'Sblood!--
587"When you and he came back from Ravenspurgh."
588"At Berkley castle."
589"You say true:"
590"Why, what a candy deal of courtesy"
591"This fawning greyhound then did proffer me!"
592"Look,'when his infant fortune came to age,'"
593"And 'gentle Harry Percy,' and 'kind cousin,'"
594"O, the devil take such cozeners! God forgive me!"
595"Good uncle, tell your tale, I have done."
596"Nay, if you have not, to it again,"
597"We will stay your leisure."
598"I have done, i' faith."
599"Then once more to your Scottish prisoners."
600"Deliver them up without their ransom straight,"
601"And make the Douglas' son your only mean"
602"For powers in Scotland, which, for divers reasons"
603"Which I shall send you written, be assured,"
604"Will easily be granted. You, my lord,"
605"To Northumberland"
606"Your son in Scotland being thus employ'd,"
607"Shall secretly into the bosom creep"
608"Of that same noble prelate, well beloved,"
609"The archbishop."
610"Of York, is it not?"
611"True, who bears hard"
612"His brother's death at Bristol, the Lord Scroop."
613"I speak not this in estimation,"
614"As what I think might be, but what I know"
615"Is ruminated, plotted and set down,"
616"And only stays but to behold the face"
617"Of that occasion that shall bring it on."
618"I smell it: upon my life, it will do well."
619"Before the game is afoot, thou still let'st slip."
620"Why, it cannot choose but be a noble plot,"
621"And then the power of Scotland and of York,"
622"To join with Mortimer, ha?"
623"And so they shall."
624"In faith, it is exceedingly well aim'd."
625"And 'tis no little reason bids us speed,"
626"To save our heads by raising of a head,"
627"For, bear ourselves as even as we can,"
628"The king will always think him in our debt,"
629"And think we think ourselves unsatisfied,"
630"Till he hath found a time to pay us home:"
631"And see already how he doth begin"
632"To make us strangers to his looks of love."
633"He does, he does: we'll be revenged on him."
634"Cousin, farewell: no further go in this"
635"Than I by letters shall direct your course."
636"When time is ripe, which will be suddenly,"
637"I'll steal to Glendower and Lord Mortimer,"
638"Where you and Douglas and our powers at once,"
639"As I will fashion it, shall happily meet,"
640"To bear our fortunes in our own strong arms,"
641"Which now we hold at much uncertainty."
642"Farewell, good brother: we shall thrive, I trust."
643"Uncle, Adieu: O, let the hours be short"
644"Till fields and blows and groans applaud our sport!"
645Exeunt
646"ACT II"
647"SCENE I. Rochester. An inn yard."
648"Enter a Carrier with a lantern in his hand"
649"Heigh-ho! an it be not four by the day, I'll be"
650"hanged: Charles' wain is over the new chimney, and"
651"yet our horse not packed. What, ostler!"
652"[Within]   Anon, anon."
653"I prithee, Tom, beat Cut's saddle, put a few flocks"
654"in the point, poor jade, is wrung in the withers out"
655"of all cess."
656"Enter another Carrier"
657"Peas and beans are as dank here as a dog, and that"
658"is the next way to give poor jades the bots: this"
659"house is turned upside down since Robin Ostler died."
660"Poor fellow, never joyed since the price of oats"
661"rose, it was the death of him."
662"I think this be the most villanous house in all"
663"London road for fleas: I am stung like a tench."
664"Like a tench! by the mass, there is ne'er a king"
665"christen could be better bit than I have been since"
666"the first cock."
667"Why, they will allow us ne'er a jordan, and then we"
668"leak in your chimney, and your chamber-lie breeds"
669"fleas like a loach."
670"What, ostler! come away and be hanged!"
671"I have a gammon of bacon and two razors of ginger,"
672"to be delivered as far as Charing-cross."
673"God's body! the turkeys in my pannier are quite"
674"starved. What, ostler! A plague on thee! hast thou"
675"never an eye in thy head? canst not hear? An"
676"'twere not as good deed as drink, to break the pate"
677"on thee, I am a very villain. Come, and be hanged!"
678"hast thou no faith in thee?"
679"Enter GADSHILL"
680"Good morrow, carriers. What's o'clock?"
681"I think it be two o'clock."
682"I pray thee lend me thy lantern, to see my gelding"
683"in the stable."
684"Nay, by God, soft, I know a trick worth two of that, i' faith."
685"I pray thee, lend me thine."
686"Ay, when? can'st tell? Lend me thy lantern, quoth"
687"he? marry, I'll see thee hanged first."
688"Sirrah carrier, what time do you mean to come to London?"
689"Time enough to go to bed with a candle, I warrant"
690"thee. Come, neighbour Mugs, we'll call up the"
691"gentleman: they will along with company, for they"
692"have great charge."
693"Exeunt carriers"
694"What, ho! chamberlain!"
695"[Within]  At hand, quoth pick-purse."
696"That's even as fair as--at hand, quoth the"
697"chamberlain, for thou variest no more from picking"
698"of purses than giving direction doth from labouring,"
699"thou layest the plot how."
700"Enter Chamberlain"
701"Good morrow, Master Gadshill. It holds current that"
702"I told you yesternight: there's a franklin in the"
703"wild of Kent hath brought three hundred marks with"
704"him in gold: I heard him tell it to one of his"
705"company last night at supper, a kind of auditor, one"
706"that hath abundance of charge too, God knows what."
707"They are up already, and call for eggs and butter,"
708"they will away presently."
709"Sirrah, if they meet not with Saint Nicholas'"
710"clerks, I'll give thee this neck."
711"No, I'll none of it: I pray thee keep that for the"
712"hangman, for I know thou worshippest St. Nicholas"
713"as truly as a man of falsehood may."
714"What talkest thou to me of the hangman? if I hang,"
715"I'll make a fat pair of gallows, for if I hang, old"
716"Sir John hangs with me, and thou knowest he is no"
717"starveling. Tut! there are other Trojans that thou"
718"dreamest not of, the which for sport sake are"
719"content to do the profession some grace, that would,"
720"if matters should be looked into, for their own"
721"credit sake, make all whole. I am joined with no"
722"foot-land rakers, no long-staff sixpenny strikers,"
723"none of these mad mustachio purple-hued malt-worms,"
724"but with nobility and tranquillity, burgomasters and"
725"great oneyers, such as can hold in, such as will"
726"strike sooner than speak, and speak sooner than"
727"drink, and drink sooner than pray: and yet, zounds,"
728"I lie, for they pray continually to their saint, the"
729"commonwealth, or rather, not pray to her, but prey"
730"on her, for they ride up and down on her and make"
731"her their boots."
732"What, the commonwealth their boots? will she hold"
733"out water in foul way?"
734"She will, she will, justice hath liquored her. We"
735"steal as in a castle, cocksure, we have the receipt"
736"of fern-seed, we walk invisible."
737"Nay, by my faith, I think you are more beholding to"
738"the night than to fern-seed for your walking invisible."
739"Give me thy hand: thou shalt have a share in our"
740"purchase, as I am a true man."
741"Nay, rather let me have it, as you are a false thief."
742"Go to, 'homo' is a common name to all men. Bid the"
743"ostler bring my gelding out of the stable. Farewell,"
744"you muddy knave."
745Exeunt
746"SCENE II. The highway, near Gadshill."
747"Enter PRINCE HENRY and POINS"
748"Come, shelter, shelter: I have removed Falstaff's"
749"horse, and he frets like a gummed velvet."
750"Stand close."
751"Enter FALSTAFF"
752"Poins! Poins, and be hanged! Poins!"
753"Peace, ye fat-kidneyed rascal! what a brawling dost"
754"thou keep!"
755"Where's Poins, Hal?"
756"He is walked up to the top of the hill: I'll go seek him."
757"I am accursed to rob in that thief's company: the"
758"rascal hath removed my horse, and tied him I know"
759"not where. If I travel but four foot by the squier"
760"further afoot, I shall break my wind. Well, I doubt"
761"not but to die a fair death for all this, if I"
762"'scape hanging for killing that rogue. I have"
763"forsworn his company hourly any time this two and"
764"twenty years, and yet I am bewitched with the"
765"rogue's company. If the rascal hath not given me"
766"medicines to make me love him, I'll be hanged, it"
767"could not be else: I have drunk medicines. Poins!"
768"Hal! a plague upon you both! Bardolph! Peto!"
769"I'll starve ere I'll rob a foot further. An 'twere"
770"not as good a deed as drink, to turn true man and to"
771"leave these rogues, I am the veriest varlet that"
772"ever chewed with a tooth. Eight yards of uneven"
773"ground is threescore and ten miles afoot with me,"
774"and the stony-hearted villains know it well enough:"
775"a plague upon it when thieves cannot be true one to another!"
776"They whistle"
777"Whew! A plague upon you all! Give me my horse, you"
778"rogues, give me my horse, and be hanged!"
779"Peace, ye fat-guts! lie down, lay thine ear close"
780"to the ground and list if thou canst hear the tread"
781"of travellers."
782"Have you any levers to lift me up again, being down?"
783"'Sblood, I'll not bear mine own flesh so far afoot"
784"again for all the coin in thy father's exchequer."
785"What a plague mean ye to colt me thus?"
786"Thou liest, thou art not colted, thou art uncolted."
787"I prithee, good Prince Hal, help me to my horse,"
788"good king's son."
789"Out, ye rogue! shall I be your ostler?"
790"Go, hang thyself in thine own heir-apparent"
791"garters! If I be ta'en, I'll peach for this. An I"
792"have not ballads made on you all and sung to filthy"
793"tunes, let a cup of sack be my poison: when a jest"
794"is so forward, and afoot too! I hate it."
795"Enter GADSHILL, BARDOLPH and PETO"
796Stand.
797"So I do, against my will."
798"O, 'tis our setter: I know his voice. Bardolph,"
799"what news?"
800"Case ye, case ye, on with your vizards: there 's"
801"money of the king's coming down the hill, 'tis going"
802"to the king's exchequer."
803"You lie, ye rogue, 'tis going to the king's tavern."
804"There's enough to make us all."
805"To be hanged."
806"Sirs, you four shall front them in the narrow lane,"
807"Ned Poins and I will walk lower: if they 'scape"
808"from your encounter, then they light on us."
809"How many be there of them?"
810"Some eight or ten."
811"'Zounds, will they not rob us?"
812"What, a coward, Sir John Paunch?"
813"Indeed, I am not John of Gaunt, your grandfather,"
814"but yet no coward, Hal."
815"Well, we leave that to the proof."
816"Sirrah Jack, thy horse stands behind the hedge:"
817"when thou needest him, there thou shalt find him."
818"Farewell, and stand fast."
819"Now cannot I strike him, if I should be hanged."
820"Ned, where are our disguises?"
821"Here, hard by: stand close."
822"Exeunt PRINCE HENRY and POINS"
823"Now, my masters, happy man be his dole, say I:"
824"every man to his business."
825"Enter the Travellers"
826"Come, neighbour: the boy shall lead our horses down"
827"the hill, we'll walk afoot awhile, and ease our legs."
828Stand!
829"Jesus bless us!"
830"Strike, down with them, cut the villains' throats:"
831"ah! whoreson caterpillars! bacon-fed knaves! they"
832"hate us youth: down with them: fleece them."
833"O, we are undone, both we and ours for ever!"
834"Hang ye, gorbellied knaves, are ye undone? No, ye"
835"fat chuffs: I would your store were here! On,"
836"bacons, on! What, ye knaves! young men must live."
837"You are Grand-jurors, are ye? we'll jure ye, 'faith."
838"Here they rob them and bind them. Exeunt"
839"Re-enter PRINCE HENRY and POINS"
840"The thieves have bound the true men. Now could thou"
841"and I rob the thieves and go merrily to London, it"
842"would be argument for a week, laughter for a month"
843"and a good jest for ever."
844"Stand close, I hear them coming."
845"Enter the Thieves again"
846"Come, my masters, let us share, and then to  horse"
847"before day. An the Prince and Poins be not two"
848"arrant cowards, there's no equity stirring: there's"
849"no more valour in that Poins than in a wild-duck."
850"Your money!"
851Villains!
852"As they are sharing, the Prince and Poins set upon  them, they all run away, and Falstaff, after a blow or two, runs away too, leaving the booty behind them"
853"Got with much ease. Now merrily to horse:"
854"The thieves are all scatter'd and possess'd with fear"
855"So strongly that they dare not meet each other,"
856"Each takes his fellow for an officer."
857"Away, good Ned. Falstaff sweats to death,"
858"And lards the lean earth as he walks along:"
859"Were 't not for laughing, I should pity him."
860"How the rogue roar'd!"
861Exeunt
862"SCENE III. Warkworth castle"
863"Enter HOTSPUR, solus, reading a letter"
864"'But for mine own part, my lord, I could be well"
865"contented to be there, in respect of the love I bear"
866"your house.' He could be contented: why is he not,"
867"then? In respect of the love he bears our house:"
868"he shows in this, he loves his own barn better than"
869"he loves our house. Let me see some more. 'The"
870"purpose you undertake is dangerous,'--why, that's"
871"certain: 'tis dangerous to take a cold, to sleep, to"
872"drink, but I tell you, my lord fool, out of this"
873"nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety. 'The"
874"purpose you undertake is dangerous, the friends you"
875"have named uncertain, the time itself unsorted, and"
876"your whole plot too light for the counterpoise of so"
877"great an opposition.' Say you so, say you so? I say"
878"unto you again, you are a shallow cowardly hind, and"
879"you lie.  What a lack-brain is this! By the Lord,"
880"our plot is a good plot as ever was laid, our"
881"friends true and constant: a good plot, good"
882"friends, and full of expectation, an excellent plot,"
883"very good friends. What a frosty-spirited rogue is"
884"this! Why, my lord of York commends the plot and the"
885"general course of action. 'Zounds, an I were now by"
886"this rascal, I could brain him with his lady's fan."
887"Is there not my father, my uncle and myself? lord"
888"Edmund Mortimer, My lord of York and Owen Glendower?"
889"is there not besides the Douglas? have I not all"
890"their letters to meet me in arms by the ninth of the"
891"next month? and are they not some of them set"
892"forward already? What a pagan rascal is this! an"
893"infidel! Ha! you shall see now in very sincerity"
894"of fear and cold heart, will he to the king and lay"
895"open all our proceedings. O, I could divide myself"
896"and go to buffets, for moving such a dish of"
897"skim milk with so honourable an action! Hang him!"
898"let him tell the king: we are prepared. I will set"
899"forward to-night."
900"Enter LADY PERCY"
901"How now, Kate! I must leave you within these two hours."
902"O, my good lord, why are you thus alone?"
903"For what offence have I this fortnight been"
904"A banish'd woman from my Harry's bed?"
905"Tell me, sweet lord, what is't that takes from thee"
906"Thy stomach, pleasure and thy golden sleep?"
907"Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth,"
908"And start so often when thou sit'st alone?"
909"Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks,"
910"And given my treasures and my rights of thee"
911"To thick-eyed musing and cursed melancholy?"
912"In thy faint slumbers I by thee have watch'd,"
913"And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars,"
914"Speak terms of manage to thy bounding steed,"
915"Cry 'Courage! to the field!' And thou hast talk'd"
916"Of sallies and retires, of trenches, tents,"
917"Of palisadoes, frontiers, parapets,"
918"Of basilisks, of cannon, culverin,"
919"Of prisoners' ransom and of soldiers slain,"
920"And all the currents of a heady fight."
921"Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war"
922"And thus hath so bestirr'd thee in thy sleep,"
923"That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow"
924"Like bubbles in a late-disturbed stream,"
925"And in thy face strange motions have appear'd,"
926"Such as we see when men restrain their breath"
927"On some great sudden hest. O, what portents are these?"
928"Some heavy business hath my lord in hand,"
929"And I must know it, else he loves me not."
930"What, ho!"
931"Enter Servant"
932"Is Gilliams with the packet gone?"
933"He is, my lord, an hour ago."
934"Hath Butler brought those horses from the sheriff?"
935"One horse, my lord, he brought even now."
936"What horse? a roan, a crop-ear, is it not?"
937"It is, my lord."
938"That roan shall by my throne."
939"Well, I will back him straight: O esperance!"
940"Bid Butler lead him forth into the park."
941"Exit Servant"
942"But hear you, my lord."
943"What say'st thou, my lady?"
944"What is it carries you away?"
945"Why, my horse, my love, my horse."
946"Out, you mad-headed ape!"
947"A weasel hath not such a deal of spleen"
948"As you are toss'd with. In faith,"
949"I'll know your business, Harry, that I will."
950"I fear my brother Mortimer doth stir"
951"About his title, and hath sent for you"
952"To line his enterprise: but if you go,--"
953"So far afoot, I shall be weary, love."
954"Come, come, you paraquito, answer me"
955"Directly unto this question that I ask:"
956"In faith, I'll break thy little finger, Harry,"
957"An if thou wilt not tell me all things true."
958Away,
959"Away, you trifler! Love! I love thee not,"
960"I care not for thee, Kate: this is no world"
961"To play with mammets and to tilt with lips:"
962"We must have bloody noses and crack'd crowns,"
963"And pass them current too. God's me, my horse!"
964"What say'st thou, Kate? what would'st thou"
965"have with me?"
966"Do you not love me? do you not, indeed?"
967"Well, do not then, for since you love me not,"
968"I will not love myself. Do you not love me?"
969"Nay, tell me if you speak in jest or no."
970"Come, wilt thou see me ride?"
971"And when I am on horseback, I will swear"
972"I love thee infinitely. But hark you, Kate,"
973"I must not have you henceforth question me"
974"Whither I go, nor reason whereabout:"
975"Whither I must, I must, and, to conclude,"
976"This evening must I leave you, gentle Kate."
977"I know you wise, but yet no farther wise"
978"Than Harry Percy's wife: constant you are,"
979"But yet a woman: and for secrecy,"
980"No lady closer, for I well believe"
981"Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know,"
982"And so far will I trust thee, gentle Kate."
983"How! so far?"
984"Not an inch further. But hark you, Kate:"
985"Whither I go, thither shall you go too,"
986"To-day will I set forth, to-morrow you."
987"Will this content you, Kate?"
988"It must of force."
989Exeunt
990"SCENE IV. The Boar's-Head Tavern, Eastcheap."
991"Enter PRINCE HENRY and POINS"
992"Ned, prithee, come out of that fat room, and lend me"
993"thy hand to laugh a little."
994"Where hast been, Hal?"
995"With three or four loggerheads amongst three or four"
996"score hogsheads. I have sounded the very"
997"base-string of humility. Sirrah, I am sworn brother"
998"to a leash of drawers, and can call them all by"
999"their christen names, as Tom, Dick, and Francis."
1000"They take it already upon their salvation, that"
1001"though I be but the prince of Wales, yet I am king"
1002"of courtesy, and tell me flatly I am no proud Jack,"
1003"like Falstaff, but a Corinthian, a lad of mettle, a"
1004"good boy, by the Lord, so they call me, and when I"
1005"am king of England, I shall command all the good"
1006"lads in Eastcheap. They call drinking deep, dyeing"
1007"scarlet, and when you breathe in your watering, they"
1008"cry  'hem!' and bid you play it off. To conclude, I"
1009"am so good a proficient in one quarter of an hour,"
1010"that I can drink with any tinker in his own language"
1011"during my life. I tell thee, Ned, thou hast lost"
1012"much honour, that thou wert not with me in this sweet"
1013"action. But, sweet Ned,--to sweeten which name of"
1014"Ned, I give thee this pennyworth of sugar, clapped"
1015"even now into my hand by an under-skinker, one that"
1016"never spake other English in his life than 'Eight"
1017"shillings and sixpence' and 'You are welcome,' with"
1018"this shrill addition, 'Anon, anon, sir! Score a pint"
1019"of bastard in the Half-Moon,' or so. But, Ned, to"
1020"drive away the time till Falstaff come, I prithee,"
1021"do thou stand in some by-room, while I question my"
1022"puny drawer to what end he gave me the sugar, and do"
1023"thou never leave calling 'Francis,' that his tale"
1024"to me may be nothing but 'Anon.' Step aside, and"
1025"I'll show thee a precedent."
1026Francis!
1027"Thou art perfect."
1028Francis!
1029"Exit POINS"
1030"Enter FRANCIS"
1031"Anon, anon, sir. Look down into the Pomgarnet, Ralph."
1032"Come hither, Francis."
1033"My lord?"
1034"How long hast thou to serve, Francis?"
1035"Forsooth, five years, and as much as to--"
1036"[Within]  Francis!"
1037"Anon, anon, sir."
1038"Five year! by'r lady, a long lease for the clinking"
1039"of pewter. But, Francis, darest thou be so valiant"
1040"as to play the coward with thy indenture and show it"
1041"a fair pair of heels and run from it?"
1042"O Lord, sir, I'll be sworn upon all the books in"
1043"England, I could find in my heart."
1044"[Within]  Francis!"
1045"Anon, sir."
1046"How old art thou, Francis?"
1047"Let me see--about Michaelmas next I shall be--"
1048"[Within]  Francis!"
1049"Anon, sir. Pray stay a little, my lord."
1050"Nay, but hark you, Francis: for the sugar thou"
1051"gavest me,'twas a pennyworth, wast't not?"
1052"O Lord, I would it had been two!"
1053"I will give thee for it a thousand pound: ask me"
1054"when thou wilt, and thou shalt have it."
1055"[Within]  Francis!"
1056"Anon, anon."
1057"Anon, Francis? No, Francis, but to-morrow, Francis,"
1058"or, Francis, o' Thursday, or indeed, Francis, when"
1059"thou wilt. But, Francis!"
1060"My lord?"
1061"Wilt thou rob this leathern jerkin, crystal-button,"
1062"not-pated, agate-ring, puke-stocking, caddis-garter,"
1063"smooth-tongue, Spanish-pouch,--"
1064"O Lord, sir, who do you mean?"
1065"Why, then, your brown bastard is your only drink,"
1066"for look you, Francis, your white canvas doublet"
1067"will sully: in Barbary, sir, it cannot come to so much."
1068"What, sir?"
1069"[Within]  Francis!"
1070"Away, you rogue! dost thou not hear them call?"
1071"Here they both call him, the drawer stands amazed, not knowing which way to go"
1072"Enter Vintner"
1073"What, standest thou still, and hearest such a"
1074"calling? Look to the guests within."
1075"Exit Francis"
1076"My lord, old Sir John, with half-a-dozen more, are"
1077"at the door: shall I let them in?"
1078"Let them alone awhile, and then open the door."
1079"Exit Vintner"
1080Poins!
1081"Re-enter POINS"
1082"Anon, anon, sir."
1083"Sirrah, Falstaff and the rest of the thieves are at"
1084"the door: shall we be merry?"
1085"As merry as crickets, my lad. But hark ye, what"
1086"cunning match have you made with this jest of the"
1087"drawer? come, what's the issue?"
1088"I am now of all humours that have showed themselves"
1089"humours since the old days of goodman Adam to the"
1090"pupil age of this present twelve o'clock at midnight."
1091"Re-enter FRANCIS"
1092"What's o'clock, Francis?"
1093"Anon, anon, sir."
1094Exit
1095"That ever this fellow should have fewer words than a"
1096"parrot, and yet the son of a woman! His industry is"
1097"upstairs and downstairs, his eloquence the parcel of"
1098"a reckoning. I am not yet of Percy's mind, the"
1099"Hotspur of the north, he that kills me some six or"
1100"seven dozen of Scots at a breakfast, washes his"
1101"hands, and says to his wife 'Fie upon this quiet"
1102"life! I want work.' 'O my sweet Harry,' says she,"
1103"'how many hast thou killed to-day?' 'Give my roan"
1104"horse a drench,' says he, and answers 'Some"
1105"fourteen,' an hour after, 'a trifle, a trifle.' I"
1106"prithee, call in Falstaff: I'll play Percy, and"
1107"that damned brawn shall play Dame Mortimer his"
1108"wife. 'Rivo!' says the drunkard. Call in ribs, call in tallow."
1109"Enter FALSTAFF, GADSHILL, BARDOLPH, and PETO, FRANCIS following with wine"
1110"Welcome, Jack: where hast thou been?"
1111"A plague of all cowards, I say, and a vengeance too!"
1112"marry, and amen! Give me a cup of sack, boy. Ere I"
1113"lead this life long, I'll sew nether stocks and mend"
1114"them and foot them too. A plague of all cowards!"
1115"Give me a cup of sack, rogue. Is there no virtue extant?"
1116"He drinks"
1117"Didst thou never see Titan kiss a dish of butter?"
1118"pitiful-hearted Titan, that melted at the sweet tale"
1119"of the sun's! if thou didst, then behold that compound."
1120"You rogue, here's lime in this sack too: there is"
1121"nothing but roguery to be found in villanous man:"
1122"yet a coward is worse than a cup of sack with lime"
1123"in it. A villanous coward! Go thy ways, old Jack,"
1124"die when thou wilt, if manhood, good manhood, be"
1125"not forgot upon the face of the earth, then am I a"
1126"shotten herring. There live not three good men"
1127"unhanged in England, and one of them is fat and"
1128"grows old: God help the while! a bad world, I say."
1129"I would I were a weaver, I could sing psalms or any"
1130"thing. A plague of all cowards, I say still."
1131"How now, wool-sack! what mutter you?"
1132"A king's son! If I do not beat thee out of thy"
1133"kingdom with a dagger of lath, and drive all thy"
1134"subjects afore thee like a flock of wild-geese,"
1135"I'll never wear hair on my face more. You Prince of Wales!"
1136"Why, you whoreson round man, what's the matter?"
1137"Are not you a coward? answer me to that: and Poins there?"
1138"'Zounds, ye fat paunch, an ye call me coward, by the"
1139"Lord, I'll stab thee."
1140"I call thee coward! I'll see thee damned ere I call"
1141"thee coward: but I would give a thousand pound I"
1142"could run as fast as thou canst. You are straight"
1143"enough in the shoulders, you care not who sees your"
1144"back: call you that backing of your friends? A"
1145"plague upon such backing! give me them that will"
1146"face me. Give me a cup of sack: I am a rogue, if I"
1147"drunk to-day."
1148"O villain! thy lips are scarce wiped since thou"
1149"drunkest last."
1150"All's one for that."
1151"He drinks"
1152"A plague of all cowards, still say I."
1153"What's the matter?"
1154"What's the matter! there be four of us here have"
1155"ta'en a thousand pound this day morning."
1156"Where is it, Jack? where is it?"
1157"Where is it! taken from us it is: a hundred upon"
1158"poor four of us."
1159"What, a hundred, man?"
1160"I am a rogue, if I were not at half-sword with a"
1161"dozen of them two hours together. I have 'scaped by"
1162"miracle. I am eight times thrust through the"
1163"doublet, four through the hose, my buckler cut"
1164"through and through, my sword hacked like a"
1165"hand-saw--ecce signum! I never dealt better since"
1166"I was a man: all would not do. A plague of all"
1167"cowards! Let them speak: if they speak more or"
1168"less than truth, they are villains and the sons of darkness."
1169"Speak, sirs, how was it?"
1170"We four set upon some dozen--"
1171"Sixteen at least, my lord."
1172"And bound them."
1173"No, no, they were not bound."
1174"You rogue, they were bound, every man of them, or I"
1175"am a Jew else, an Ebrew Jew."
1176"As we were sharing, some six or seven fresh men set upon us--"
1177"And unbound the rest, and then come in the other."
1178"What, fought you with them all?"
1179"All! I know not what you call all, but if I fought"
1180"not with fifty of them, I am a bunch of radish: if"
1181"there were not two or three and fifty upon poor old"
1182"Jack, then am I no two-legged creature."
1183"Pray God you have not murdered some of them."
1184"Nay, that's past praying for: I have peppered two"
1185"of them, two I am sure I have paid, two rogues"
1186"in buckram suits. I tell thee what, Hal, if I tell"
1187"thee a lie, spit in my face, call me horse. Thou"
1188"knowest my old ward, here I lay and thus I bore my"
1189"point. Four rogues in buckram let drive at me--"
1190"What, four? thou saidst but two even now."
1191"Four, Hal, I told thee four."
1192"Ay, ay, he said four."
1193"These four came all a-front, and mainly thrust at"
1194"me. I made me no more ado but took all their seven"
1195"points in my target, thus."
1196"Seven? why, there were but four even now."
1197"In buckram?"
1198"Ay, four, in buckram suits."
1199"Seven, by these hilts, or I am a villain else."
1200"Prithee, let him alone, we shall have more anon."
1201"Dost thou hear me, Hal?"
1202"Ay, and mark thee too, Jack."
1203"Do so, for it is worth the listening to. These nine"
1204"in buckram that I told thee of--"
1205"So, two more already."
1206"Their points being broken,--"
1207"Down fell their hose."
1208"Began to give me ground: but I followed me close,"
1209"came in foot and hand, and with a thought seven of"
1210"the eleven I paid."
1211"O monstrous! eleven buckram men grown out of two!"
1212"But, as the devil would have it, three misbegotten"
1213"knaves in Kendal green came at my back and let drive"
1214"at me, for it was so dark, Hal, that thou couldst"
1215"not see thy hand."
1216"These lies are like their father that begets them,"
1217"gross as a mountain, open, palpable. Why, thou"
1218"clay-brained guts, thou knotty-pated fool, thou"
1219"whoreson, obscene, grease tallow-catch,--"
1220"What, art thou mad? art thou mad? is not the truth"
1221"the truth?"
1222"Why, how couldst thou know these men in Kendal"
1223"green, when it was so dark thou couldst not see thy"
1224"hand? come, tell us your reason: what sayest thou to this?"
1225"Come, your reason, Jack, your reason."
1226"What, upon compulsion? 'Zounds, an I were at the"
1227"strappado, or all the racks in the world, I would"
1228"not tell you on compulsion. Give you a reason on"
1229"compulsion! If reasons were as plentiful as"
1230"blackberries, I would give no man a reason upon"
1231"compulsion, I."
1232"I'll be no longer guilty of this sin, this sanguine"
1233"coward, this bed-presser, this horseback-breaker,"
1234"this huge hill of flesh,--"
1235"'Sblood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried"
1236"neat's tongue, you bull's pizzle, you stock-fish! O"
1237"for breath to utter what is like thee! you"
1238"tailor's-yard, you sheath, you bowcase, you vile"
1239standing-tuck,--
1240"Well, breathe awhile, and then to it again: and"
1241"when thou hast tired thyself in base comparisons,"
1242"hear me speak but this."
1243"Mark, Jack."
1244"We two saw you four set on four and bound them, and"
1245"were masters of their wealth. Mark now, how a plain"
1246"tale shall put you down. Then did we two set on you"
1247"four, and, with a word, out-faced you from your"
1248"prize, and have it, yea, and can show it you here in"
1249"the house: and, Falstaff, you carried your guts"
1250"away as nimbly, with as quick dexterity, and roared"
1251"for mercy and still run and roared, as ever I heard"
1252"bull-calf. What a slave art thou, to hack thy sword"
1253"as thou hast done, and then say it was in fight!"
1254"What trick, what device, what starting-hole, canst"
1255"thou now find out to hide thee from this open and"
1256"apparent shame?"
1257"Come, let's hear, Jack, what trick hast thou now?"
1258"By the Lord, I knew ye as well as he that made ye."
1259"Why, hear you, my masters: was it for me to kill the"
1260"heir-apparent? should I turn upon the true prince?"
1261"why, thou knowest I am as valiant as Hercules: but"
1262"beware instinct, the lion will not touch the true"
1263"prince. Instinct is a great matter, I was now a"
1264"coward on instinct. I shall think the better of"
1265"myself and thee during my life, I for a valiant"
1266"lion, and thou for a true prince. But, by the Lord,"
1267"lads, I am glad you have the money. Hostess, clap"
1268"to the doors: watch to-night, pray to-morrow."
1269"Gallants, lads, boys, hearts of gold, all the titles"
1270"of good fellowship come to you! What, shall we be"
1271"merry? shall we have a play extempore?"
1272"Content, and the argument shall be thy running away."
1273"Ah, no more of that, Hal, an thou lovest me!"
1274"Enter Hostess"
1275"O Jesu, my lord the prince!"
1276"How now, my lady the hostess! what sayest thou to"
1277me?
1278"Marry, my lord, there is a nobleman of the court at"
1279"door would speak with you: he says he comes from"
1280"your father."
1281"Give him as much as will make him a royal man, and"
1282"send him back again to my mother."
1283"What manner of man is he?"
1284"An old man."
1285"What doth gravity out of his bed at midnight? Shall"
1286"I give him his answer?"
1287"Prithee, do, Jack."
1288"'Faith, and I'll send him packing."
1289"Exit FALSTAFF"
1290"Now, sirs: by'r lady, you fought fair, so did you,"
1291"Peto, so did you, Bardolph: you are lions too, you"
1292"ran away upon instinct, you will not touch the true"
1293"prince, no, fie!"
1294"'Faith, I ran when I saw others run."
1295"'Faith, tell me now in earnest, how came Falstaff's"
1296"sword so hacked?"
1297"Why, he hacked it with his dagger, and said he would"
1298"swear truth out of England but he would make you"
1299"believe it was done in fight, and persuaded us to do the like."
1300"Yea, and to tickle our noses with spear-grass to"
1301"make them bleed, and then to beslubber our garments"
1302"with it and swear it was the blood of true men. I"
1303"did that I did not this seven year before, I blushed"
1304"to hear his monstrous devices."
1305"O villain, thou stolest a cup of sack eighteen years"
1306"ago, and wert taken with the manner, and ever since"
1307"thou hast blushed extempore. Thou hadst fire and"
1308"sword on thy side, and yet thou rannest away: what"
1309"instinct hadst thou for it?"
1310"My lord, do you see these meteors? do you behold"
1311"these exhalations?"
1312"I do."
1313"What think you they portend?"
1314"Hot livers and cold purses."
1315"Choler, my lord, if rightly taken."
1316"No, if rightly taken, halter."
1317"Re-enter FALSTAFF"
1318"Here comes lean Jack, here comes bare-bone."
1319"How now, my sweet creature of bombast!"
1320"How long is't ago, Jack, since thou sawest thine own knee?"
1321"My own knee! when I was about thy years, Hal, I was"
1322"not an eagle's talon in the waist, I could have"
1323"crept into any alderman's thumb-ring: a plague of"
1324"sighing and grief! it blows a man up like a"
1325"bladder. There's villanous news abroad: here was"
1326"Sir John Bracy from your father, you must to the"
1327"court in the morning. That same mad fellow of the"
1328"north, Percy, and he of Wales, that gave Amamon the"
1329"bastinado and made Lucifer cuckold and swore the"
1330"devil his true liegeman upon the cross of a Welsh"
1331"hook--what a plague call you him?"
1332"O, Glendower."
1333"Owen, Owen, the same, and his son-in-law Mortimer,"
1334"and old Northumberland, and that sprightly Scot of"
1335"Scots, Douglas, that runs o' horseback up a hill"
1336perpendicular,--
1337"He that rides at high speed and with his pistol"
1338"kills a sparrow flying."
1339"You have hit it."
1340"So did he never the sparrow."
1341"Well, that rascal hath good mettle in him, he will not run."
1342"Why, what a rascal art thou then, to praise him so"
1343"for running!"
1344"O' horseback, ye cuckoo, but afoot he will not budge a foot."
1345"Yes, Jack, upon instinct."
1346"I grant ye, upon instinct. Well, he is there too,"
1347"and one Mordake, and a thousand blue-caps more:"
1348"Worcester is stolen away to-night, thy father's"
1349"beard is turned white with the news: you may buy"
1350"land now as cheap as stinking mackerel."
1351"Why, then, it is like, if there come a hot June and"
1352"this civil buffeting hold, we shall buy maidenheads"
1353"as they buy hob-nails, by the hundreds."
1354"By the mass, lad, thou sayest true, it is like we"
1355"shall have good trading that way. But tell me, Hal,"
1356"art not thou horrible afeard? thou being"
1357"heir-apparent, could the world pick thee out three"
1358"such enemies again as that fiend Douglas, that"
1359"spirit Percy, and that devil Glendower? Art thou"
1360"not horribly afraid? doth not thy blood thrill at"
1361it?
1362"Not a whit, i' faith, I lack some of thy instinct."
1363"Well, thou wert be horribly chid tomorrow when thou"
1364"comest to thy father: if thou love me, practise an answer."
1365"Do thou stand for my father, and examine me upon the"
1366"particulars of my life."
1367"Shall I? content: this chair shall be my state,"
1368"this dagger my sceptre, and this cushion my crown."
1369"Thy state is taken for a joined-stool, thy golden"
1370"sceptre for a leaden dagger, and thy precious rich"
1371"crown for a pitiful bald crown!"
1372"Well, an the fire of grace be not quite out of thee,"
1373"now shalt thou be moved. Give me a cup of sack to"
1374"make my eyes look red, that it may be thought I have"
1375"wept, for I must speak in passion, and I will do it"
1376"in King Cambyses' vein."
1377"Well, here is my leg."
1378"And here is my speech. Stand aside, nobility."
1379"O Jesu, this is excellent sport, i' faith!"
1380"Weep not, sweet queen, for trickling tears are vain."
1381"O, the father, how he holds his countenance!"
1382"For God's sake, lords, convey my tristful queen,"
1383"For tears do stop the flood-gates of her eyes."
1384"O Jesu, he doth it as like one of these harlotry"
1385"players as ever I see!"
1386"Peace, good pint-pot, peace, good tickle-brain."
1387"Harry, I do not only marvel where thou spendest thy"
1388"time, but also how thou art accompanied: for though"
1389"the camomile, the more it is trodden on the faster"
1390"it grows, yet youth, the more it is wasted the"
1391"sooner it wears. That thou art my son, I have"
1392"partly thy mother's word, partly my own opinion,"
1393"but chiefly a villanous trick of thine eye and a"
1394"foolish-hanging of thy nether lip, that doth warrant"
1395"me. If then thou be son to me, here lies the point,"
1396"why, being son to me, art thou so pointed at? Shall"
1397"the blessed sun of heaven prove a micher and eat"
1398"blackberries? a question not to be asked. Shall"
1399"the sun of England prove a thief and take purses? a"
1400"question to be asked. There is a thing, Harry,"
1401"which thou hast often heard of and it is known to"
1402"many in our land by the name of pitch: this pitch,"
1403"as ancient writers do report, doth defile, so doth"
1404"the company thou keepest: for, Harry, now I do not"
1405"speak to thee in drink but in tears, not in"
1406"pleasure but in passion, not in words only, but in"
1407"woes also: and yet there is a virtuous man whom I"
1408"have often noted in thy company, but I know not his name."
1409"What manner of man, an it like your majesty?"
1410"A goodly portly man, i' faith, and a corpulent, of a"
1411"cheerful look, a pleasing eye and a most noble"
1412"carriage, and, as I think, his age some fifty, or,"
1413"by'r lady, inclining to three score, and now I"
1414"remember me, his name is Falstaff: if that man"
1415"should be lewdly given, he deceiveth me, for, Harry,"
1416"I see virtue in his looks. If then the tree may be"
1417"known by the fruit, as the fruit by the tree, then,"
1418"peremptorily I speak it, there is virtue in that"
1419"Falstaff: him keep with, the rest banish. And tell"
1420"me now, thou naughty varlet, tell me, where hast"
1421"thou been this month?"
1422"Dost thou speak like a king? Do thou stand for me,"
1423"and I'll play my father."
1424"Depose me? if thou dost it half so gravely, so"
1425"majestically, both in word and matter, hang me up by"
1426"the heels for a rabbit-sucker or a poulter's hare."
1427"Well, here I am set."
1428"And here I stand: judge, my masters."
1429"Now, Harry, whence come you?"
1430"My noble lord, from Eastcheap."
1431"The complaints I hear of thee are grievous."
1432"'Sblood, my lord, they are false: nay, I'll tickle"
1433"ye for a young prince, i' faith."
1434"Swearest thou, ungracious boy? henceforth ne'er look"
1435"on me. Thou art violently carried away from grace:"
1436"there is a devil haunts thee in the likeness of an"
1437"old fat man, a tun of man is thy companion. Why"
1438"dost thou converse with that trunk of humours, that"
1439"bolting-hutch of beastliness, that swollen parcel"
1440"of dropsies, that huge bombard of sack, that stuffed"
1441"cloak-bag of guts, that roasted Manningtree ox with"
1442"the pudding in his belly, that reverend vice, that"
1443"grey iniquity, that father ruffian, that vanity in"
1444"years? Wherein is he good, but to taste sack and"
1445"drink it? wherein neat and cleanly, but to carve a"
1446"capon and eat it? wherein cunning, but in craft?"
1447"wherein crafty, but in villany? wherein villanous,"
1448"but in all things? wherein worthy, but in nothing?"
1449"I would your grace would take me with you: whom"
1450"means your grace?"
1451"That villanous abominable misleader of youth,"
1452"Falstaff, that old white-bearded Satan."
1453"My lord, the man I know."
1454"I know thou dost."
1455"But to say I know more harm in him than in myself,"
1456"were to say more than I know. That he is old, the"
1457"more the pity, his white hairs do witness it, but"
1458"that he is, saving your reverence, a whoremaster,"
1459"that I utterly deny. If sack and sugar be a fault,"
1460"God help the wicked! if to be old and merry be a"
1461"sin, then many an old host that I know is damned: if"
1462"to be fat be to be hated, then Pharaoh's lean kine"
1463"are to be loved. No, my good lord, banish Peto,"
1464"banish Bardolph, banish Poins: but for sweet Jack"
1465"Falstaff, kind Jack Falstaff, true Jack Falstaff,"
1466"valiant Jack Falstaff, and therefore more valiant,"
1467"being, as he is, old Jack Falstaff, banish not him"
1468"thy Harry's company, banish not him thy Harry's"
1469"company: banish plump Jack, and banish all the world."
1470"I do, I will."
1471"A knocking heard"
1472"Exeunt Hostess, FRANCIS, and BARDOLPH"
1473"Re-enter BARDOLPH, running"
1474"O, my lord, my lord! the sheriff with a most"
1475"monstrous watch is at the door."
1476"Out, ye rogue! Play out the play: I have much to"
1477"say in the behalf of that Falstaff."
1478"Re-enter the Hostess"
1479"O Jesu, my lord, my lord!"
1480"Heigh, heigh! the devil rides upon a fiddlestick:"
1481"what's the matter?"
1482"The sheriff and all the watch are at the door: they"
1483"are come to search the house. Shall I let them in?"
1484"Dost thou hear, Hal? never call a true piece of"
1485"gold a counterfeit: thou art essentially mad,"
1486"without seeming so."
1487"And thou a natural coward, without instinct."
1488"I deny your major: if you will deny the sheriff,"
1489"so, if not, let him enter: if I become not a cart"
1490"as well as another man, a plague on my bringing up!"
1491"I hope I shall as soon be strangled with a halter as another."
1492"Go, hide thee behind the arras: the rest walk up"
1493"above. Now, my masters, for a true face and good"
1494conscience.
1495"Both which I have had: but their date is out, and"
1496"therefore I'll hide me."
1497"Call in the sheriff."
1498"Exeunt all except PRINCE HENRY and PETO"
1499"Enter Sheriff and the Carrier"
1500"Now, master sheriff, what is your will with me?"
1501"First, pardon me, my lord. A hue and cry"
1502"Hath follow'd certain men unto this house."
1503"What men?"
1504"One of them is well known, my gracious lord,"
1505"A gross fat man."
1506"As fat as butter."
1507"The man, I do assure you, is not here,"
1508"For I myself at this time have employ'd him."
1509"And, sheriff, I will engage my word to thee"
1510"That I will, by to-morrow dinner-time,"
1511"Send him to answer thee, or any man,"
1512"For any thing he shall be charged withal:"
1513"And so let me entreat you leave the house."
1514"I will, my lord. There are two gentlemen"
1515"Have in this robbery lost three hundred marks."
1516"It may be so: if he have robb'd these men,"
1517"He shall be answerable, and so farewell."
1518"Good night, my noble lord."
1519"I think it is good morrow, is it not?"
1520"Indeed, my lord, I think it be two o'clock."
1521"Exeunt Sheriff and Carrier"
1522"This oily rascal is known as well as Paul's. Go,"
1523"call him forth."
1524"Falstaff!--Fast asleep behind the arras, and"
1525"snorting like a horse."
1526"Hark, how hard he fetches breath. Search his pockets."
1527"He searcheth his pockets, and findeth certain papers"
1528"What hast thou found?"
1529"Nothing but papers, my lord."
1530"Let's see what they be: read them."
1531"[Reads]  Item, A capon,. . 2s. 2d."
1532"Item, Sauce,. . . 4d."
1533"Item, Sack, two gallons, 5s. 8d."
1534"Item, Anchovies and sack after supper, 2s. 6d."
1535"Item, Bread,        ob."
1536"O monstrous! but one half-penny-worth of bread to"
1537"this intolerable deal of sack! What there is else,"
1538"keep close, we'll read it at more advantage: there"
1539"let him sleep till day. I'll to the court in the"
1540"morning. We must all to the wars, and thy place"
1541"shall be honourable. I'll procure this fat rogue a"
1542"charge of foot, and I know his death will be a"
1543"march of twelve-score. The money shall be paid"
1544"back again with advantage. Be with me betimes in"
1545"the morning, and so, good morrow, Peto."
1546Exeunt
1547"Good morrow, good my lord."
1548"ACT III"
1549"SCENE I. Bangor. The Archdeacon's house."
1550"Enter HOTSPUR, WORCESTER, MORTIMER, and GLENDOWER"
1551"These promises are fair, the parties sure,"
1552"And our induction full of prosperous hope."
1553"Lord Mortimer, and cousin Glendower,"
1554"Will you sit down?"
1555"And uncle Worcester: a plague upon it!"
1556"I have forgot the map."
1557"No, here it is."
1558"Sit, cousin Percy, sit, good cousin Hotspur,"
1559"For by that name as oft as Lancaster"
1560"Doth speak of you, his cheek looks pale and with"
1561"A rising sigh he wisheth you in heaven."
1562"And you in hell, as oft as he hears Owen Glendower spoke of."
1563"I cannot blame him: at my nativity"
1564"The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,"
1565"Of burning cressets, and at my birth"
1566"The frame and huge foundation of the earth"
1567"Shaked like a coward."
1568"Why, so it would have done at the same season, if"
1569"your mother's cat had but kittened, though yourself"
1570"had never been born."
1571"I say the earth did shake when I was born."
1572"And I say the earth was not of my mind,"
1573"If you suppose as fearing you it shook."
1574"The heavens were all on fire, the earth did tremble."
1575"O, then the earth shook to see the heavens on fire,"
1576"And not in fear of your nativity."
1577"Diseased nature oftentimes breaks forth"
1578"In strange eruptions, oft the teeming earth"
1579"Is with a kind of colic pinch'd and vex'd"
1580"By the imprisoning of unruly wind"
1581"Within her womb, which, for enlargement striving,"
1582"Shakes the old beldam earth and topples down"
1583"Steeples and moss-grown towers. At your birth"
1584"Our grandam earth, having this distemperature,"
1585"In passion shook."
1586"Cousin, of many men"
1587"I do not bear these crossings. Give me leave"
1588"To tell you once again that at my birth"
1589"The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,"
1590"The goats ran from the mountains, and the herds"
1591"Were strangely clamorous to the frighted fields."
1592"These signs have mark'd me extraordinary,"
1593"And all the courses of my life do show"
1594"I am not in the roll of common men."
1595"Where is he living, clipp'd in with the sea"
1596"That chides the banks of England, Scotland, Wales,"
1597"Which calls me pupil, or hath read to me?"
1598"And bring him out that is but woman's son"
1599"Can trace me in the tedious ways of art"
1600"And hold me pace in deep experiments."
1601"I think there's no man speaks better Welsh."
1602"I'll to dinner."
1603"Peace, cousin Percy, you will make him mad."
1604"I can call spirits from the vasty deep."
1605"Why, so can I, or so can any man,"
1606"But will they come when you do call for them?"
1607"Why, I can teach you, cousin, to command"
1608"The devil."
1609"And I can teach thee, coz, to shame the devil"
1610"By telling truth: tell truth and shame the devil."
1611"If thou have power to raise him, bring him hither,"
1612"And I'll be sworn I have power to shame him hence."
1613"O, while you live, tell truth and shame the devil!"
1614"Come, come, no more of this unprofitable chat."
1615"Three times hath Henry Bolingbroke made head"
1616"Against my power, thrice from the banks of Wye"
1617"And sandy-bottom'd Severn have I sent him"
1618"Bootless home and weather-beaten back."
1619"Home without boots, and in foul weather too!"
1620"How 'scapes he agues, in the devil's name?"
1621"Come, here's the map: shall we divide our right"
1622"According to our threefold order ta'en?"
1623"The archdeacon hath divided it"
1624"Into three limits very equally:"
1625"England, from Trent and Severn hitherto,"
1626"By south and east is to my part assign'd:"
1627"All westward, Wales beyond the Severn shore,"
1628"And all the fertile land within that bound,"
1629"To Owen Glendower: and, dear coz, to you"
1630"The remnant northward, lying off from Trent."
1631"And our indentures tripartite are drawn,"
1632"Which being sealed interchangeably,"
1633"A business that this night may execute,"
1634"To-morrow, cousin Percy, you and I"
1635"And my good Lord of Worcester will set forth"
1636"To meet your father and the Scottish power,"
1637"As is appointed us, at Shrewsbury."
1638"My father Glendower is not ready yet,"
1639"Not shall we need his help these fourteen days."
1640"Within that space you may have drawn together"
1641"Your tenants, friends and neighbouring gentlemen."
1642"A shorter time shall send me to you, lords:"
1643"And in my conduct shall your ladies come,"
1644"From whom you now must steal and take no leave,"
1645"For there will be a world of water shed"
1646"Upon the parting of your wives and you."
1647"Methinks my moiety, north from Burton here,"
1648"In quantity equals not one of yours:"
1649"See how this river comes me cranking in,"
1650"And cuts me from the best of all my land"
1651"A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle out."
1652"I'll have the current in this place damm'd up,"
1653"And here the smug and silver Trent shall run"
1654"In a new channel, fair and evenly,"
1655"It shall not wind with such a deep indent,"
1656"To rob me of so rich a bottom here."
1657"Not wind? it shall, it must, you see it doth."
1658"Yea, but"
1659"Mark how he bears his course, and runs me up"
1660"With like advantage on the other side,"
1661"Gelding the opposed continent as much"
1662"As on the other side it takes from you."
1663"Yea, but a little charge will trench him here"
1664"And on this north side win this cape of land,"
1665"And then he runs straight and even."
1666"I'll have it so: a little charge will do it."
1667"I'll not have it alter'd."
1668"Will not you?"
1669"No, nor you shall not."
1670"Who shall say me nay?"
1671"Why, that will I."
1672"Let me not understand you, then, speak it in Welsh."
1673"I can speak English, lord, as well as you,"
1674"For I was train'd up in the English court,"
1675"Where, being but young, I framed to the harp"
1676"Many an English ditty lovely well"
1677"And gave the tongue a helpful ornament,"
1678"A virtue that was never seen in you."
1679Marry,
1680"And I am glad of it with all my heart:"
1681"I had rather be a kitten and cry mew"
1682"Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers,"
1683"I had rather hear a brazen canstick turn'd,"
1684"Or a dry wheel grate on the axle-tree,"
1685"And that would set my teeth nothing on edge,"
1686"Nothing so much as mincing poetry:"
1687"'Tis like the forced gait of a shuffling nag."
1688"Come, you shall have Trent turn'd."
1689"I do not care: I'll give thrice so much land"
1690"To any well-deserving friend,"
1691"But in the way of bargain, mark ye me,"
1692"I'll cavil on the ninth part of a hair."
1693"Are the indentures drawn? shall we be gone?"
1694"The moon shines fair, you may away by night:"
1695"I'll haste the writer and withal"
1696"Break with your wives of your departure hence:"
1697"I am afraid my daughter will run mad,"
1698"So much she doteth on her Mortimer."
1699"Exit GLENDOWER"
1700"Fie, cousin Percy! how you cross my father!"
1701"I cannot choose: sometime he angers me"
1702"With telling me of the mouldwarp and the ant,"
1703"Of the dreamer Merlin and his prophecies,"
1704"And of a dragon and a finless fish,"
1705"A clip-wing'd griffin and a moulten raven,"
1706"A couching lion and a ramping cat,"
1707"And such a deal of skimble-skamble stuff"
1708"As puts me from my faith. I tell you what,"
1709"He held me last night at least nine hours"
1710"In reckoning up the several devils' names"
1711"That were his lackeys: I cried 'hum,' and 'well, go to,'"
1712"But mark'd him not a word. O, he is as tedious"
1713"As a tired horse, a railing wife,"
1714"Worse than a smoky house: I had rather live"
1715"With cheese and garlic in a windmill, far,"
1716"Than feed on cates and have him talk to me"
1717"In any summer-house in Christendom."
1718"In faith, he is a worthy gentleman,"
1719"Exceedingly well read, and profited"
1720"In strange concealments, valiant as a lion"
1721"And as wondrous affable and as bountiful"
1722"As mines of India. Shall I tell you, cousin?"
1723"He holds your temper in a high respect"
1724"And curbs himself even of his natural scope"
1725"When you come 'cross his humour, faith, he does:"
1726"I warrant you, that man is not alive"
1727"Might so have tempted him as you have done,"
1728"Without the taste of danger and reproof:"
1729"But do not use it oft, let me entreat you."
1730"In faith, my lord, you are too wilful-blame,"
1731"And since your coming hither have done enough"
1732"To put him quite beside his patience."
1733"You must needs learn, lord, to amend this fault:"
1734"Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood,--"
1735"And that's the dearest grace it renders you,--"
1736"Yet oftentimes it doth present harsh rage,"
1737"Defect of manners, want of government,"
1738"Pride, haughtiness, opinion and disdain:"
1739"The least of which haunting a nobleman"
1740"Loseth men's hearts and leaves behind a stain"
1741"Upon the beauty of all parts besides,"
1742"Beguiling them of commendation."
1743"Well, I am school'd: good manners be your speed!"
1744"Here come our wives, and let us take our leave."
1745"Re-enter GLENDOWER with the ladies"
1746"This is the deadly spite that angers me,"
1747"My wife can speak no English, I no Welsh."
1748"My daughter weeps: she will not part with you,"
1749"She'll be a soldier too, she'll to the wars."
1750"Good father, tell her that she and my aunt Percy"
1751"Shall follow in your conduct speedily."
1752"Glendower speaks to her in Welsh, and she answers him in the same"
1753"She is desperate here, a peevish self-wind harlotry,"
1754"one that no persuasion can do good upon."
1755"The lady speaks in Welsh"
1756"I understand thy looks: that pretty Welsh"
1757"Which thou pour'st down from these swelling heavens"
1758"I am too perfect in, and, but for shame,"
1759"In such a parley should I answer thee."
1760"The lady speaks again in Welsh"
1761"I understand thy kisses and thou mine,"
1762"And that's a feeling disputation:"
1763"But I will never be a truant, love,"
1764"Till I have learned thy language, for thy tongue"
1765"Makes Welsh as sweet as ditties highly penn'd,"
1766"Sung by a fair queen in a summer's bower,"
1767"With ravishing division, to her lute."
1768"Nay, if you melt, then will she run mad."
1769"The lady speaks again in Welsh"
1770"O, I am ignorance itself in this!"
1771"She bids you on the wanton rushes lay you down"
1772"And rest your gentle head upon her lap,"
1773"And she will sing the song that pleaseth you"
1774"And on your eyelids crown the god of sleep."
1775"Charming your blood with pleasing heaviness,"
1776"Making such difference 'twixt wake and sleep"
1777"As is the difference betwixt day and night"
1778"The hour before the heavenly-harness'd team"
1779"Begins his golden progress in the east."
1780"With all my heart I'll sit and hear her sing:"
1781"By that time will our book, I think, be drawn"
1782"Do so,"
1783"And those musicians that shall play to you"
1784"Hang in the air a thousand leagues from hence,"
1785"And straight they shall be here: sit, and attend."
1786"Come, Kate, thou art perfect in lying down: come,"
1787"quick, quick, that I may lay my head in thy lap."
1788"Go, ye giddy goose."
1789"The music plays"
1790"Now I perceive the devil understands Welsh,"
1791"And 'tis no marvel he is so humorous."
1792"By'r lady, he is a good musician."
1793"Then should you be nothing but musical for you are"
1794"altogether governed by humours. Lie still, ye thief,"
1795"and hear the lady sing in Welsh."
1796"I had rather hear Lady, my brach, howl in Irish."
1797"Wouldst thou have thy head broken?"
1798No.
1799"Then be still."
1800"Neither,'tis a woman's fault."
1801"Now God help thee!"
1802"To the Welsh lady's bed."
1803"What's that?"
1804"Peace! she sings."
1805"Here the lady sings a Welsh song"
1806"Come, Kate, I'll have your song too."
1807"Not mine, in good sooth."
1808"Not yours, in good sooth! Heart! you swear like a"
1809"comfit-maker's wife. 'Not you, in good sooth,' and"
1810"'as true as I live,' and 'as God shall mend me,' and"
1811"'as sure as day,'"
1812"And givest such sarcenet surety for thy oaths,"
1813"As if thou never walk'st further than Finsbury."
1814"Swear me, Kate, like a lady as thou art,"
1815"A good mouth-filling oath, and leave 'in sooth,'"
1816"And such protest of pepper-gingerbread,"
1817"To velvet-guards and Sunday-citizens."
1818"Come, sing."
1819"I will not sing."
1820"'Tis the next way to turn tailor, or be red-breast"
1821"teacher. An the indentures be drawn, I'll away"
1822"within these two hours, and so, come in when ye will."
1823Exit
1824"Come, come, Lord Mortimer, you are as slow"
1825"As hot Lord Percy is on fire to go."
1826"By this our book is drawn, we'll but seal,"
1827"And then to horse immediately."
1828"With all my heart."
1829Exeunt
1830"SCENE II. London. The palace."
1831"Enter KING HENRY IV, PRINCE HENRY, and others"
1832"Lords, give us leave, the Prince of Wales and I"
1833"Must have some private conference, but be near at hand,"
1834"For we shall presently have need of you."
1835"Exeunt Lords"
1836"I know not whether God will have it so,"
1837"For some displeasing service I have done,"
1838"That, in his secret doom, out of my blood"
1839"He'll breed revengement and a scourge for me,"
1840"But thou dost in thy passages of life"
1841"Make me believe that thou art only mark'd"
1842"For the hot vengeance and the rod of heaven"
1843"To punish my mistreadings. Tell me else,"
1844"Could such inordinate and low desires,"
1845"Such poor, such bare, such lewd, such mean attempts,"
1846"Such barren pleasures, rude society,"
1847"As thou art match'd withal and grafted to,"
1848"Accompany the greatness of thy blood"
1849"And hold their level with thy princely heart?"
1850"So please your majesty, I would I could"
1851"Quit all offences with as clear excuse"
1852"As well as I am doubtless I can purge"
1853"Myself of many I am charged withal:"
1854"Yet such extenuation let me beg,"
1855"As, in reproof of many tales devised,"
1856"which oft the ear of greatness needs must hear,"
1857"By smiling pick-thanks and base news-mongers,"
1858"I may, for some things true, wherein my youth"
1859"Hath faulty wander'd and irregular,"
1860"Find pardon on my true submission."
1861"God pardon thee! yet let me wonder, Harry,"
1862"At thy affections, which do hold a wing"
1863"Quite from the flight of all thy ancestors."
1864"Thy place in council thou hast rudely lost."
1865"Which by thy younger brother is supplied,"
1866"And art almost an alien to the hearts"
1867"Of all the court and princes of my blood:"
1868"The hope and expectation of thy time"
1869"Is ruin'd, and the soul of every man"
1870"Prophetically doth forethink thy fall."
1871"Had I so lavish of my presence been,"
1872"So common-hackney'd in the eyes of men,"
1873"So stale and cheap to vulgar company,"
1874"Opinion, that did help me to the crown,"
1875"Had still kept loyal to possession"
1876"And left me in reputeless banishment,"
1877"A fellow of no mark nor likelihood."
1878"By being seldom seen, I could not stir"
1879"But like a comet I was wonder'd at,"
1880"That men would tell their children 'This is he,'"
1881"Others would say 'Where, which is Bolingbroke?'"
1882"And then I stole all courtesy from heaven,"
1883"And dress'd myself in such humility"
1884"That I did pluck allegiance from men's hearts,"
1885"Loud shouts and salutations from their mouths,"
1886"Even in the presence of the crowned king."
1887"Thus did I keep my person fresh and new,"
1888"My presence, like a robe pontifical,"
1889"Ne'er seen but wonder'd at: and so my state,"
1890"Seldom but sumptuous, showed like a feast"
1891"And won by rareness such solemnity."
1892"The skipping king, he ambled up and down"
1893"With shallow jesters and rash bavin wits,"
1894"Soon kindled and soon burnt, carded his state,"
1895"Mingled his royalty with capering fools,"
1896"Had his great name profaned with their scorns"
1897"And gave his countenance, against his name,"
1898"To laugh at gibing boys and stand the push"
1899"Of every beardless vain comparative,"
1900"Grew a companion to the common streets,"
1901"Enfeoff'd himself to popularity,"
1902"That, being daily swallow'd by men's eyes,"
1903"They surfeited with honey and began"
1904"To loathe the taste of sweetness, whereof a little"
1905"More than a little is by much too much."
1906"So when he had occasion to be seen,"
1907"He was but as the cuckoo is in June,"
1908"Heard, not regarded, seen, but with such eyes"
1909"As, sick and blunted with community,"
1910"Afford no extraordinary gaze,"
1911"Such as is bent on sun-like majesty"
1912"When it shines seldom in admiring eyes,"
1913"But rather drowzed and hung their eyelids down,"
1914"Slept in his face and render'd such aspect"
1915"As cloudy men use to their adversaries,"
1916"Being with his presence glutted, gorged and full."
1917"And in that very line, Harry, standest thou,"
1918"For thou has lost thy princely privilege"
1919"With vile participation: not an eye"
1920"But is a-weary of thy common sight,"
1921"Save mine, which hath desired to see thee more,"
1922"Which now doth that I would not have it do,"
1923"Make blind itself with foolish tenderness."
1924"I shall hereafter, my thrice gracious lord,"
1925"Be more myself."
1926"For all the world"
1927"As thou art to this hour was Richard then"
1928"When I from France set foot at Ravenspurgh,"
1929"And even as I was then is Percy now."
1930"Now, by my sceptre and my soul to boot,"
1931"He hath more worthy interest to the state"
1932"Than thou the shadow of succession,"
1933"For of no right, nor colour like to right,"
1934"He doth fill fields with harness in the realm,"
1935"Turns head against the lion's armed jaws,"
1936"And, being no more in debt to years than thou,"
1937"Leads ancient lords and reverend bishops on"
1938"To bloody battles and to bruising arms."
1939"What never-dying honour hath he got"
1940"Against renowned Douglas! whose high deeds,"
1941"Whose hot incursions and great name in arms"
1942"Holds from all soldiers chief majority"
1943"And military title capital"
1944"Through all the kingdoms that acknowledge Christ:"
1945"Thrice hath this Hotspur, Mars in swathling clothes,"
1946"This infant warrior, in his enterprises"
1947"Discomfited great Douglas, ta'en him once,"
1948"Enlarged him and made a friend of him,"
1949"To fill the mouth of deep defiance up"
1950"And shake the peace and safety of our throne."
1951"And what say you to this? Percy, Northumberland,"
1952"The Archbishop's grace of York, Douglas, Mortimer,"
1953"Capitulate against us and are up."
1954"But wherefore do I tell these news to thee?"
1955"Why, Harry, do I tell thee of my foes,"
1956"Which art my near'st and dearest enemy?"
1957"Thou that art like enough, through vassal fear,"
1958"Base inclination and the start of spleen"
1959"To fight against me under Percy's pay,"
1960"To dog his heels and curtsy at his frowns,"
1961"To show how much thou art degenerate."
1962"Do not think so, you shall not find it so:"
1963"And God forgive them that so much have sway'd"
1964"Your majesty's good thoughts away from me!"
1965"I will redeem all this on Percy's head"
1966"And in the closing of some glorious day"
1967"Be bold to tell you that I am your son,"
1968"When I will wear a garment all of blood"
1969"And stain my favours in a bloody mask,"
1970"Which, wash'd away, shall scour my shame with it:"
1971"And that shall be the day, whene'er it lights,"
1972"That this same child of honour and renown,"
1973"This gallant Hotspur, this all-praised knight,"
1974"And your unthought-of Harry chance to meet."
1975"For every honour sitting on his helm,"
1976"Would they were multitudes, and on my head"
1977"My shames redoubled! for the time will come,"
1978"That I shall make this northern youth exchange"
1979"His glorious deeds for my indignities."
1980"Percy is but my factor, good my lord,"
1981"To engross up glorious deeds on my behalf,"
1982"And I will call him to so strict account,"
1983"That he shall render every glory up,"
1984"Yea, even the slightest worship of his time,"
1985"Or I will tear the reckoning from his heart."
1986"This, in the name of God, I promise here:"
1987"The which if He be pleased I shall perform,"
1988"I do beseech your majesty may salve"
1989"The long-grown wounds of my intemperance:"
1990"If not, the end of life cancels all bands,"
1991"And I will die a hundred thousand deaths"
1992"Ere break the smallest parcel of this vow."
1993"A hundred thousand rebels die in this:"
1994"Thou shalt have charge and sovereign trust herein."
1995"Enter BLUNT"
1996"How now, good Blunt? thy looks are full of speed."
1997"So hath the business that I come to speak of."
1998"Lord Mortimer of Scotland hath sent word"
1999"That Douglas and the English rebels met"
2000"The eleventh of this month at Shrewsbury"
2001"A mighty and a fearful head they are,"
2002"If promises be kept on every hand,"
2003"As ever offer'd foul play in the state."
2004"The Earl of Westmoreland set forth to-day,"
2005"With him my son, Lord John of Lancaster,"
2006"For this advertisement is five days old:"
2007"On Wednesday next, Harry, you shall set forward,"
2008"On Thursday we ourselves will march: our meeting"
2009"Is Bridgenorth: and, Harry, you shall march"
2010"Through Gloucestershire, by which account,"
2011"Our business valued, some twelve days hence"
2012"Our general forces at Bridgenorth shall meet."
2013"Our hands are full of business: let's away,"
2014"Advantage feeds him fat, while men delay."
2015Exeunt
2016"Eastcheap. The Boar's-Head Tavern."
2017"Enter FALSTAFF and BARDOLPH"
2018"Bardolph, am I not fallen away vilely since this last"
2019"action? do I not bate? do I not dwindle? Why my"
2020"skin hangs about me like an like an old lady's loose"
2021"gown, I am withered like an old apple-john. Well,"
2022"I'll repent, and that suddenly, while I am in some"
2023"liking, I shall be out of heart shortly, and then I"
2024"shall have no strength to repent. An I have not"
2025"forgotten what the inside of a church is made of, I"
2026"am a peppercorn, a brewer's horse: the inside of a"
2027"church! Company, villanous company, hath been the"
2028"spoil of me."
2029"Sir John, you are so fretful, you cannot live long."
2030"Why, there is it: come sing me a bawdy song, make"
2031"me merry. I was as virtuously given as a gentleman"
2032"need to be, virtuous enough, swore little, diced not"
2033"above seven times a week, went to a bawdy-house once"
2034"in a quarter--of an hour, paid money that I"
2035"borrowed, three of four times, lived well and in"
2036"good compass: and now I live out of all order, out"
2037"of all compass."
2038"Why, you are so fat, Sir John, that you must needs"
2039"be out of all compass, out of all reasonable"
2040"compass, Sir John."
2041"Do thou amend thy face, and I'll amend my life:"
2042"thou art our admiral, thou bearest the lantern in"
2043"the poop, but 'tis in the nose of thee, thou art the"
2044"Knight of the Burning Lamp."
2045"Why, Sir John, my face does you no harm."
2046"No, I'll be sworn, I make as good use of it as many"
2047"a man doth of a Death's-head or a memento mori: I"
2048"never see thy face but I think upon hell-fire and"
2049"Dives that lived in purple, for there he is in his"
2050"robes, burning, burning. If thou wert any way"
2051"given to virtue, I would swear by thy face, my oath"
2052"should be 'By this fire, that's God's angel:' but"
2053"thou art altogether given over, and wert indeed, but"
2054"for the light in thy face, the son of utter"
2055"darkness. When thou rannest up Gadshill in the"
2056"night to catch my horse, if I did not think thou"
2057"hadst been an ignis fatuus or a ball of wildfire,"
2058"there's no purchase in money. O, thou art a"
2059"perpetual triumph, an everlasting bonfire-light!"
2060"Thou hast saved me a thousand marks in links and"
2061"torches, walking with thee in the night betwixt"
2062"tavern and tavern: but the sack that thou hast"
2063"drunk me would have bought me lights as good cheap"
2064"at the dearest chandler's in Europe. I have"
2065"maintained that salamander of yours with fire any"
2066"time this two and thirty years, God reward me for"
2067it!
2068"'Sblood, I would my face were in your belly!"
2069"God-a-mercy! so should I be sure to be heart-burned."
2070"Enter Hostess"
2071"How now, Dame Partlet the hen! have you inquired"
2072"yet who picked my pocket?"
2073"Why, Sir John, what do you think, Sir John? do you"
2074"think I keep thieves in my house? I have searched,"
2075"I have inquired, so has my husband, man by man, boy"
2076"by boy, servant by servant: the tithe of a hair"
2077"was never lost in my house before."
2078"Ye lie, hostess: Bardolph was shaved and lost many"
2079"a hair, and I'll be sworn my pocket was picked. Go"
2080"to, you are a woman, go."
2081"Who, I? no, I defy thee: God's light, I was never"
2082"called so in mine own house before."
2083"Go to, I know you well enough."
2084"No, Sir John, You do not know me, Sir John. I know"
2085"you, Sir John: you owe me money, Sir John, and now"
2086"you pick a quarrel to beguile me of it: I bought"
2087"you a dozen of shirts to your back."
2088"Dowlas, filthy dowlas: I have given them away to"
2089"bakers' wives, and they have made bolters of them."
2090"Now, as I am a true woman, holland of eight"
2091"shillings an ell. You owe money here besides, Sir"
2092"John, for your diet and by-drinkings, and money lent"
2093"you, four and twenty pound."
2094"He had his part of it, let him pay."
2095"He? alas, he is poor, he hath nothing."
2096"How! poor? look upon his face, what call you rich?"
2097"let them coin his nose, let them coin his cheeks:"
2098"Ill not pay a denier. What, will you make a younker"
2099"of me? shall I not take mine case in mine inn but I"
2100"shall have my pocket picked? I have lost a"
2101"seal-ring of my grandfather's worth forty mark."
2102"O Jesu, I have heard the prince tell him, I know not"
2103"how oft, that ring was copper!"
2104"How! the prince is a Jack, a sneak-cup: 'sblood, an"
2105"he were here, I would cudgel him like a dog, if he"
2106"would say so."
2107"Enter PRINCE HENRY and PETO, marching, and FALSTAFF meets them playing on his truncheon like a life"
2108"How now, lad! is the wind in that door, i' faith?"
2109"must we all march?"
2110"Yea, two and two, Newgate fashion."
2111"My lord, I pray you, hear me."
2112"What sayest thou, Mistress Quickly? How doth thy"
2113"husband? I love him well, he is an honest man."
2114"Good my lord, hear me."
2115"Prithee, let her alone, and list to me."
2116"What sayest thou, Jack?"
2117"The other night I fell asleep here behind the arras"
2118"and had my pocket picked: this house is turned"
2119"bawdy-house, they pick pockets."
2120"What didst thou lose, Jack?"
2121"Wilt thou believe me, Hal? three or four bonds of"
2122"forty pound apiece, and a seal-ring of my"
2123grandfather's.
2124"A trifle, some eight-penny matter."
2125"So I told him, my lord, and I said I heard your"
2126"grace say so: and, my lord, he speaks most vilely"
2127"of you, like a foul-mouthed man as he is, and said"
2128"he would cudgel you."
2129"What! he did not?"
2130"There's neither faith, truth, nor womanhood in me else."
2131"There's no more faith in thee than in a stewed"
2132"prune, nor no more truth in thee than in a drawn"
2133"fox, and for womanhood, Maid Marian may be the"
2134"deputy's wife of the ward to thee. Go, you thing,"
2135go
2136"Say, what thing? what thing?"
2137"What thing! why, a thing to thank God on."
2138"I am no thing to thank God on, I would thou"
2139"shouldst know it, I am an honest man's wife: and,"
2140"setting thy knighthood aside, thou art a knave to"
2141"call me so."
2142"Setting thy womanhood aside, thou art a beast to say"
2143otherwise.
2144"Say, what beast, thou knave, thou?"
2145"What beast! why, an otter."
2146"An otter, Sir John! Why an otter?"
2147"Why, she's neither fish nor flesh, a man knows not"
2148"where to have her."
2149"Thou art an unjust man in saying so: thou or any"
2150"man knows where to have me, thou knave, thou!"
2151"Thou sayest true, hostess, and he slanders thee most grossly."
2152"So he doth you, my lord, and said this other day you"
2153"ought him a thousand pound."
2154"Sirrah, do I owe you a thousand pound?"
2155"A thousand pound, Ha! a million: thy love is worth"
2156"a million: thou owest me thy love."
2157"Nay, my lord, he called you Jack, and said he would"
2158"cudgel you."
2159"Did I, Bardolph?"
2160"Indeed, Sir John, you said so."
2161"Yea, if he said my ring was copper."
2162"I say 'tis copper: darest thou be as good as thy word now?"
2163"Why, Hal, thou knowest, as thou art but man, I dare:"
2164"but as thou art prince, I fear thee as I fear the"
2165"roaring of a lion's whelp."
2166"And why not as the lion?"
2167"The king is to be feared as the lion: dost thou"
2168"think I'll fear thee as I fear thy father? nay, an"
2169"I do, I pray God my girdle break."
2170"O, if it should, how would thy guts fall about thy"
2171"knees! But, sirrah, there's no room for faith,"
2172"truth, nor honesty in this bosom of thine, it is all"
2173"filled up with guts and midriff. Charge an honest"
2174"woman with picking thy pocket! why, thou whoreson,"
2175"impudent, embossed rascal, if there were anything in"
2176"thy pocket but tavern-reckonings, memorandums of"
2177"bawdy-houses, and one poor penny-worth of"
2178"sugar-candy to make thee long-winded, if thy pocket"
2179"were enriched with any other injuries but these, I"
2180"am a villain: and yet you will stand to if, you will"
2181"not pocket up wrong: art thou not ashamed?"
2182"Dost thou hear, Hal? thou knowest in the state of"
2183"innocency Adam fell, and what should poor Jack"
2184"Falstaff do in the days of villany? Thou seest I"
2185"have more flesh than another man, and therefore more"
2186"frailty. You confess then, you picked my pocket?"
2187"It appears so by the story."
2188"Hostess, I forgive thee: go, make ready breakfast,"
2189"love thy husband, look to thy servants, cherish thy"
2190"guests: thou shalt find me tractable to any honest"
2191"reason: thou seest I am pacified still. Nay,"
2192"prithee, be gone."
2193"Exit Hostess"
2194"Now Hal, to the news at court: for the robbery,"
2195"lad, how is that answered?"
2196"O, my sweet beef, I must still be good angel to"
2197"thee: the money is paid back again."
2198"O, I do not like that paying back, 'tis a double labour."
2199"I am good friends with my father and may do any thing."
2200"Rob me the exchequer the first thing thou doest, and"
2201"do it with unwashed hands too."
2202"Do, my lord."
2203"I have procured thee, Jack, a charge of foot."
2204"I would it had been of horse. Where shall I find"
2205"one that can steal well? O for a fine thief, of the"
2206"age of two and twenty or thereabouts! I am"
2207"heinously unprovided. Well, God be thanked for"
2208"these rebels, they offend none but the virtuous: I"
2209"laud them, I praise them."
2210Bardolph!
2211"My lord?"
2212"Go bear this letter to Lord John of Lancaster, to my"
2213"brother John, this to my Lord of Westmoreland."
2214"Exit Bardolph"
2215"Go, Peto, to horse, to horse, for thou and I have"
2216"thirty miles to ride yet ere dinner time."
2217"Exit Peto"
2218"Jack, meet me to-morrow in the temple hall at two"
2219"o'clock in the afternoon."
2220"There shalt thou know thy charge, and there receive"
2221"Money and order for their furniture."
2222"The land is burning, Percy stands on high,"
2223"And either we or they must lower lie."
2224"Exit PRINCE HENRY"
2225"Rare words! brave world! Hostess, my breakfast, come!"
2226"O, I could wish this tavern were my drum!"
2227Exit
2228"ACT IV"
2229"SCENE I. The rebel camp near Shrewsbury."
2230"Enter HOTSPUR, WORCESTER, and DOUGLAS"
2231"Well said, my noble Scot: if speaking truth"
2232"In this fine age were not thought flattery,"
2233"Such attribution should the Douglas have,"
2234"As not a soldier of this season's stamp"
2235"Should go so general current through the world."
2236"By God, I cannot flatter, I do defy"
2237"The tongues of soothers, but a braver place"
2238"In my heart's love hath no man than yourself:"
2239"Nay, task me to my word, approve me, lord."
2240"Thou art the king of honour:"
2241"No man so potent breathes upon the ground"
2242"But I will beard him."
2243"Do so, and 'tis well."
2244"Enter a Messenger with letters"
2245"What letters hast thou there?--I can but thank you."
2246"These letters come from your father."
2247"Letters from him! why comes he not himself?"
2248"He cannot come, my lord, he is grievous sick."
2249"'Zounds! how has he the leisure to be sick"
2250"In such a rustling time? Who leads his power?"
2251"Under whose government come they along?"
2252"His letters bear his mind, not I, my lord."
2253"I prithee, tell me, doth he keep his bed?"
2254"He did, my lord, four days ere I set forth,"
2255"And at the time of my departure thence"
2256"He was much fear'd by his physicians."
2257"I would the state of time had first been whole"
2258"Ere he by sickness had been visited:"
2259"His health was never better worth than now."
2260"Sick now! droop now! this sickness doth infect"
2261"The very life-blood of our enterprise,"
2262"'Tis catching hither, even to our camp."
2263"He writes me here, that inward sickness--"
2264"And that his friends by deputation could not"
2265"So soon be drawn, nor did he think it meet"
2266"To lay so dangerous and dear a trust"
2267"On any soul removed but on his own."
2268"Yet doth he give us bold advertisement,"
2269"That with our small conjunction we should on,"
2270"To see how fortune is disposed to us,"
2271"For, as he writes, there is no quailing now."
2272"Because the king is certainly possess'd"
2273"Of all our purposes. What say you to it?"
2274"Your father's sickness is a maim to us."
2275"A perilous gash, a very limb lopp'd off:"
2276"And yet, in faith, it is not, his present want"
2277"Seems more than we shall find it: were it good"
2278"To set the exact wealth of all our states"
2279"All at one cast? to set so rich a main"
2280"On the nice hazard of one doubtful hour?"
2281"It were not good, for therein should we read"
2282"The very bottom and the soul of hope,"
2283"The very list, the very utmost bound"
2284"Of all our fortunes."
2285"'Faith, and so we should,"
2286"Where now remains a sweet reversion:"
2287"We may boldly spend upon the hope of what"
2288"Is to come in:"
2289"A comfort of retirement lives in this."
2290"A rendezvous, a home to fly unto."
2291"If that the devil and mischance look big"
2292"Upon the maidenhead of our affairs."
2293"But yet I would your father had been here."
2294"The quality and hair of our attempt"
2295"Brooks no division: it will be thought"
2296"By some, that know not why he is away,"
2297"That wisdom, loyalty and mere dislike"
2298"Of our proceedings kept the earl from hence:"
2299"And think how such an apprehension"
2300"May turn the tide of fearful faction"
2301"And breed a kind of question in our cause,"
2302"For well you know we of the offering side"
2303"Must keep aloof from strict arbitrement,"
2304"And stop all sight-holes, every loop from whence"
2305"The eye of reason may pry in upon us:"
2306"This absence of your father's draws a curtain,"
2307"That shows the ignorant a kind of fear"
2308"Before not dreamt of."
2309"You strain too far."
2310"I rather of his absence make this use:"
2311"It lends a lustre and more great opinion,"
2312"A larger dare to our great enterprise,"
2313"Than if the earl were here, for men must think,"
2314"If we without his help can make a head"
2315"To push against a kingdom, with his help"
2316"We shall o'erturn it topsy-turvy down."
2317"Yet all goes well, yet all our joints are whole."
2318"As heart can think: there is not such a word"
2319"Spoke of in Scotland as this term of fear."
2320"Enter SIR RICHARD VERNON"
2321"My cousin Vernon, welcome, by my soul."
2322"Pray God my news be worth a welcome, lord."
2323"The Earl of Westmoreland, seven thousand strong,"
2324"Is marching hitherwards, with him Prince John."
2325"No harm: what more?"
2326"And further, I have learn'd,"
2327"The king himself in person is set forth,"
2328"Or hitherwards intended speedily,"
2329"With strong and mighty preparation."
2330"He shall be welcome too. Where is his son,"
2331"The nimble-footed madcap Prince of Wales,"
2332"And his comrades, that daff'd the world aside,"
2333"And bid it pass?"
2334"All furnish'd, all in arms,"
2335"All plumed like estridges that with the wind"
2336"Baited like eagles having lately bathed,"
2337"Glittering in golden coats, like images,"
2338"As full of spirit as the month of May,"
2339"And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer,"
2340"Wanton as youthful goats, wild as young bulls."
2341"I saw young Harry, with his beaver on,"
2342"His cuisses on his thighs, gallantly arm'd"
2343"Rise from the ground like feather'd Mercury,"
2344"And vaulted with such ease into his seat,"
2345"As if an angel dropp'd down from the clouds,"
2346"To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus"
2347"And witch the world with noble horsemanship."
2348"No more, no more: worse than the sun in March,"
2349"This praise doth nourish agues. Let them come:"
2350"They come like sacrifices in their trim,"
2351"And to the fire-eyed maid of smoky war"
2352"All hot and bleeding will we offer them:"
2353"The mailed Mars shall on his altar sit"
2354"Up to the ears in blood. I am on fire"
2355"To hear this rich reprisal is so nigh"
2356"And yet not ours. Come, let me taste my horse,"
2357"Who is to bear me like a thunderbolt"
2358"Against the bosom of the Prince of Wales:"
2359"Harry to Harry shall, hot horse to horse,"
2360"Meet and ne'er part till one drop down a corse."
2361"O that Glendower were come!"
2362"There is more news:"
2363"I learn'd in Worcester, as I rode along,"
2364"He cannot draw his power this fourteen days."
2365"That's the worst tidings that I hear of yet."
2366"Ay, by my faith, that bears a frosty sound."
2367"What may the king's whole battle reach unto?"
2368"To thirty thousand."
2369"Forty let it be:"
2370"My father and Glendower being both away,"
2371"The powers of us may serve so great a day"
2372"Come, let us take a muster speedily:"
2373"Doomsday is near, die all, die merrily."
2374"Talk not of dying: I am out of fear"
2375"Of death or death's hand for this one-half year."
2376Exeunt
2377"SCENE II. A public road near Coventry."
2378"Enter FALSTAFF and BARDOLPH"
2379"Bardolph, get thee before to Coventry, fill me a"
2380"bottle of sack: our soldiers shall march through,"
2381"we'll to Sutton Co'fil' tonight."
2382"Will you give me money, captain?"
2383"Lay out, lay out."
2384"This bottle makes an angel."
2385"An if it do, take it for thy labour, and if it make"
2386"twenty, take them all, I'll answer the coinage. Bid"
2387"my lieutenant Peto meet me at town's end."
2388"I will, captain: farewell."
2389Exit
2390"If I be not ashamed of my soldiers, I am a soused"
2391"gurnet. I have misused the king's press damnably."
2392"I have got, in exchange of a hundred and fifty"
2393"soldiers, three hundred and odd pounds. I press me"
2394"none but good house-holders, yeoman's sons, inquire"
2395"me out contracted bachelors, such as had been asked"
2396"twice on the banns, such a commodity of warm slaves,"
2397"as had as lieve hear the devil as a drum, such as"
2398"fear the report of a caliver worse than a struck"
2399"fowl or a hurt wild-duck. I pressed me none but such"
2400"toasts-and-butter, with hearts in their bellies no"
2401"bigger than pins' heads, and they have bought out"
2402"their services, and now my whole charge consists of"
2403"ancients, corporals, lieutenants, gentlemen of"
2404"companies, slaves as ragged as Lazarus in the"
2405"painted cloth, where the glutton's dogs licked his"
2406"sores, and such as indeed were never soldiers, but"
2407"discarded unjust serving-men, younger sons to"
2408"younger brothers, revolted tapsters and ostlers"
2409"trade-fallen, the cankers of a calm world and a"
2410"long peace, ten times more dishonourable ragged than"
2411"an old faced ancient: and such have I, to fill up"
2412"the rooms of them that have bought out their"
2413"services, that you would think that I had a hundred"
2414"and fifty tattered prodigals lately come from"
2415"swine-keeping, from eating draff and husks. A mad"
2416"fellow met me on the way and told me I had unloaded"
2417"all the gibbets and pressed the dead bodies. No eye"
2418"hath seen such scarecrows. I'll not march through"
2419"Coventry with them, that's flat: nay, and the"
2420"villains march wide betwixt the legs, as if they had"
2421"gyves on, for indeed I had the most of them out of"
2422"prison. There's but a shirt and a half in all my"
2423"company, and the half shirt is two napkins tacked"
2424"together and thrown over the shoulders like an"
2425"herald's coat without sleeves, and the shirt, to say"
2426"the truth, stolen from my host at Saint Alban's, or"
2427"the red-nose innkeeper of Daventry. But that's all"
2428"one, they'll find linen enough on every hedge."
2429"Enter the PRINCE and WESTMORELAND"
2430"How now, blown Jack! how now, quilt!"
2431"What, Hal! how now, mad wag! what a devil dost thou"
2432"in Warwickshire? My good Lord of Westmoreland, I"
2433"cry you mercy: I thought your honour had already been"
2434"at Shrewsbury."
2435"Faith, Sir John,'tis more than time that I were"
2436"there, and you too, but my powers are there already."
2437"The king, I can tell you, looks for us all: we must"
2438"away all night."
2439"Tut, never fear me: I am as vigilant as a cat to"
2440"steal cream."
2441"I think, to steal cream indeed, for thy theft hath"
2442"already made thee butter. But tell me, Jack, whose"
2443"fellows are these that come after?"
2444"Mine, Hal, mine."
2445"I did never see such pitiful rascals."
2446"Tut, tut, good enough to toss, food for powder, food"
2447"for powder, they'll fill a pit as well as better:"
2448"tush, man, mortal men, mortal men."
2449"Ay, but, Sir John, methinks they are exceeding poor"
2450"and bare, too beggarly."
2451"'Faith, for their poverty, I know not where they had"
2452"that, and for their bareness, I am sure they never"
2453"learned that of me."
2454"No I'll be sworn, unless you call three fingers on"
2455"the ribs bare. But, sirrah, make haste: Percy is"
2456"already in the field."
2457"What, is the king encamped?"
2458"He is, Sir John: I fear we shall stay too long."
2459Well,
2460"To the latter end of a fray and the beginning of a feast"
2461"Fits a dull fighter and a keen guest."
2462Exeunt
2463"SCENE III. The rebel camp near Shrewsbury."
2464"Enter HOTSPUR, WORCESTER, DOUGLAS, and VERNON"
2465"We'll fight with him to-night."
2466"It may not be."
2467"You give him then the advantage."
2468"Not a whit."
2469"Why say you so? looks he not for supply?"
2470"So do we."
2471"His is certain, ours is doubtful."
2472"Good cousin, be advised, stir not tonight."
2473"Do not, my lord."
2474"You do not counsel well:"
2475"You speak it out of fear and cold heart."
2476"Do me no slander, Douglas: by my life,"
2477"And I dare well maintain it with my life,"
2478"If well-respected honour bid me on,"
2479"I hold as little counsel with weak fear"
2480"As you, my lord, or any Scot that this day lives:"
2481"Let it be seen to-morrow in the battle"
2482"Which of us fears."
2483"Yea, or to-night."
2484Content.
2485"To-night, say I."
2486"Come, come it nay not be. I wonder much,"
2487"Being men of such great leading as you are,"
2488"That you foresee not what impediments"
2489"Drag back our expedition: certain horse"
2490"Of my cousin Vernon's are not yet come up:"
2491"Your uncle Worcester's horse came but today,"
2492"And now their pride and mettle is asleep,"
2493"Their courage with hard labour tame and dull,"
2494"That not a horse is half the half of himself."
2495"So are the horses of the enemy"
2496"In general, journey-bated and brought low:"
2497"The better part of ours are full of rest."
2498"The number of the king exceedeth ours:"
2499"For God's sake. cousin, stay till all come in."
2500"The trumpet sounds a parley"
2501"Enter SIR WALTER BLUNT"
2502"I come with gracious offers from the king,"
2503"if you vouchsafe me hearing and respect."
2504"Welcome, Sir Walter Blunt, and would to God"
2505"You were of our determination!"
2506"Some of us love you well, and even those some"
2507"Envy your great deservings and good name,"
2508"Because you are not of our quality,"
2509"But stand against us like an enemy."
2510"And God defend but still I should stand so,"
2511"So long as out of limit and true rule"
2512"You stand against anointed majesty."
2513"But to my charge. The king hath sent to know"
2514"The nature of your griefs, and whereupon"
2515"You conjure from the breast of civil peace"
2516"Such bold hostility, teaching his duteous land"
2517"Audacious cruelty. If that the king"
2518"Have any way your good deserts forgot,"
2519"Which he confesseth to be manifold,"
2520"He bids you name your griefs, and with all speed"
2521"You shall have your desires with interest"
2522"And pardon absolute for yourself and these"
2523"Herein misled by your suggestion."
2524"The king is kind, and well we know the king"
2525"Knows at what time to promise, when to pay."
2526"My father and my uncle and myself"
2527"Did give him that same royalty he wears,"
2528"And when he was not six and twenty strong,"
2529"Sick in the world's regard, wretched and low,"
2530"A poor unminded outlaw sneaking home,"
2531"My father gave him welcome to the shore,"
2532"And when he heard him swear and vow to God"
2533"He came but to be Duke of Lancaster,"
2534"To sue his livery and beg his peace,"
2535"With tears of innocency and terms of zeal,"
2536"My father, in kind heart and pity moved,"
2537"Swore him assistance and perform'd it too."
2538"Now when the lords and barons of the realm"
2539"Perceived Northumberland did lean to him,"
2540"The more and less came in with cap and knee,"
2541"Met him in boroughs, cities, villages,"
2542"Attended him on bridges, stood in lanes,"
2543"Laid gifts before him, proffer'd him their oaths,"
2544"Gave him their heirs, as pages follow'd him"
2545"Even at the heels in golden multitudes."
2546"He presently, as greatness knows itself,"
2547"Steps me a little higher than his vow"
2548"Made to my father, while his blood was poor,"
2549"Upon the naked shore at Ravenspurgh,"
2550"And now, forsooth, takes on him to reform"
2551"Some certain edicts and some strait decrees"
2552"That lie too heavy on the commonwealth,"
2553"Cries out upon abuses, seems to weep"
2554"Over his country's wrongs, and by this face,"
2555"This seeming brow of justice, did he win"
2556"The hearts of all that he did angle for,"
2557"Proceeded further, cut me off the heads"
2558"Of all the favourites that the absent king"
2559"In deputation left behind him here,"
2560"When he was personal in the Irish war."
2561"Tut, I came not to hear this."
2562"Then to the point."
2563"In short time after, he deposed the king,"
2564"Soon after that, deprived him of his life,"
2565"And in the neck of that, task'd the whole state:"
2566"To make that worse, suffer'd his kinsman March,"
2567"Who is, if every owner were well placed,"
2568"Indeed his king, to be engaged in Wales,"
2569"There without ransom to lie forfeited,"
2570"Disgraced me in my happy victories,"
2571"Sought to entrap me by intelligence,"
2572"Rated mine uncle from the council-board,"
2573"In rage dismiss'd my father from the court,"
2574"Broke oath on oath, committed wrong on wrong,"
2575"And in conclusion drove us to seek out"
2576"This head of safety, and withal to pry"
2577"Into his title, the which we find"
2578"Too indirect for long continuance."
2579"Shall I return this answer to the king?"
2580"Not so, Sir Walter: we'll withdraw awhile."
2581"Go to the king, and let there be impawn'd"
2582"Some surety for a safe return again,"
2583"And in the morning early shall my uncle"
2584"Bring him our purposes: and so farewell."
2585"I would you would accept of grace and love."
2586"And may be so we shall."
2587"Pray God you do."
2588Exeunt
2589"SCENE IV. York. The ARCHBISHOP'S palace."
2590"Enter the ARCHBISHOP OF YORK and SIR MICHAEL"
2591"Hie, good Sir Michael, bear this sealed brief"
2592"With winged haste to the lord marshal,"
2593"This to my cousin Scroop, and all the rest"
2594"To whom they are directed. If you knew"
2595"How much they do to import, you would make haste."
2596"My good lord,"
2597"I guess their tenor."
2598"Like enough you do."
2599"To-morrow, good Sir Michael, is a day"
2600"Wherein the fortune of ten thousand men"
2601"Must bide the touch, for, sir, at Shrewsbury,"
2602"As I am truly given to understand,"
2603"The king with mighty and quick-raised power"
2604"Meets with Lord Harry: and, I fear, Sir Michael,"
2605"What with the sickness of Northumberland,"
2606"Whose power was in the first proportion,"
2607"And what with Owen Glendower's absence thence,"
2608"Who with them was a rated sinew too"
2609"And comes not in, o'er-ruled by prophecies,"
2610"I fear the power of Percy is too weak"
2611"To wage an instant trial with the king."
2612"Why, my good lord, you need not fear,"
2613"There is Douglas and Lord Mortimer."
2614"No, Mortimer is not there."
2615"But there is Mordake, Vernon, Lord Harry Percy,"
2616"And there is my Lord of Worcester and a head"
2617"Of gallant warriors, noble gentlemen."
2618"And so there is: but yet the king hath drawn"
2619"The special head of all the land together:"
2620"The Prince of Wales, Lord John of Lancaster,"
2621"The noble Westmoreland and warlike Blunt,"
2622"And moe corrivals and dear men"
2623"Of estimation and command in arms."
2624"Doubt not, my lord, they shall be well opposed."
2625"I hope no less, yet needful 'tis to fear,"
2626"And, to prevent the worst, Sir Michael, speed:"
2627"For if Lord Percy thrive not, ere the king"
2628"Dismiss his power, he means to visit us,"
2629"For he hath heard of our confederacy,"
2630"And 'tis but wisdom to make strong against him:"
2631"Therefore make haste. I must go write again"
2632"To other friends, and so farewell, Sir Michael."
2633Exeunt
2634"ACT V"
2635"SCENE I. KING HENRY IV's camp near Shrewsbury."
2636"Enter KING HENRY, PRINCE HENRY, Lord John of  LANCASTER, EARL OF WESTMORELAND, SIR WALTER BLUNT, and FALSTAFF"
2637"How bloodily the sun begins to peer"
2638"Above yon busky hill! the day looks pale"
2639"At his distemperature."
2640"The southern wind"
2641"Doth play the trumpet to his purposes,"
2642"And by his hollow whistling in the leaves"
2643"Foretells a tempest and a blustering day."
2644"Then with the losers let it sympathize,"
2645"For nothing can seem foul to those that win."
2646"The trumpet sounds"
2647"Enter WORCESTER and VERNON"
2648"How now, my Lord of Worcester! 'tis not well"
2649"That you and I should meet upon such terms"
2650"As now we meet. You have deceived our trust,"
2651"And made us doff our easy robes of peace,"
2652"To crush our old limbs in ungentle steel:"
2653"This is not well, my lord, this is not well."
2654"What say you to it? will you again unknit"
2655"This curlish knot of all-abhorred war?"
2656"And move in that obedient orb again"
2657"Where you did give a fair and natural light,"
2658"And be no more an exhaled meteor,"
2659"A prodigy of fear and a portent"
2660"Of broached mischief to the unborn times?"
2661"Hear me, my liege:"
2662"For mine own part, I could be well content"
2663"To entertain the lag-end of my life"
2664"With quiet hours, for I do protest,"
2665"I have not sought the day of this dislike."
2666"You have not sought it! how comes it, then?"
2667"Rebellion lay in his way, and he found it."
2668"Peace, chewet, peace!"
2669"It pleased your majesty to turn your looks"
2670"Of favour from myself and all our house,"
2671"And yet I must remember you, my lord,"
2672"We were the first and dearest of your friends."
2673"For you my staff of office did I break"
2674"In Richard's time, and posted day and night"
2675"to meet you on the way, and kiss your hand,"
2676"When yet you were in place and in account"
2677"Nothing so strong and fortunate as I."
2678"It was myself, my brother and his son,"
2679"That brought you home and boldly did outdare"
2680"The dangers of the time. You swore to us,"
2681"And you did swear that oath at Doncaster,"
2682"That you did nothing purpose 'gainst the state,"
2683"Nor claim no further than your new-fall'n right,"
2684"The seat of Gaunt, dukedom of Lancaster:"
2685"To this we swore our aid. But in short space"
2686"It rain'd down fortune showering on your head,"
2687"And such a flood of greatness fell on you,"
2688"What with our help, what with the absent king,"
2689"What with the injuries of a wanton time,"
2690"The seeming sufferances that you had borne,"
2691"And the contrarious winds that held the king"
2692"So long in his unlucky Irish wars"
2693"That all in England did repute him dead:"
2694"And from this swarm of fair advantages"
2695"You took occasion to be quickly woo'd"
2696"To gripe the general sway into your hand,"
2697"Forget your oath to us at Doncaster,"
2698"And being fed by us you used us so"
2699"As that ungentle hull, the cuckoo's bird,"
2700"Useth the sparrow, did oppress our nest,"
2701"Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk"
2702"That even our love durst not come near your sight"
2703"For fear of swallowing, but with nimble wing"
2704"We were enforced, for safety sake, to fly"
2705"Out of sight and raise this present head,"
2706"Whereby we stand opposed by such means"
2707"As you yourself have forged against yourself"
2708"By unkind usage, dangerous countenance,"
2709"And violation of all faith and troth"
2710"Sworn to us in your younger enterprise."
2711"These things indeed you have articulate,"
2712"Proclaim'd at market-crosses, read in churches,"
2713"To face the garment of rebellion"
2714"With some fine colour that may please the eye"
2715"Of fickle changelings and poor discontents,"
2716"Which gape and rub the elbow at the news"
2717"Of hurlyburly innovation:"
2718"And never yet did insurrection want"
2719"Such water-colours to impaint his cause,"
2720"Nor moody beggars, starving for a time"
2721"Of pellmell havoc and confusion."
2722"In both your armies there is many a soul"
2723"Shall pay full dearly for this encounter,"
2724"If once they join in trial. Tell your nephew,"
2725"The Prince of Wales doth join with all the world"
2726"In praise of Henry Percy: by my hopes,"
2727"This present enterprise set off his head,"
2728"I do not think a braver gentleman,"
2729"More active-valiant or more valiant-young,"
2730"More daring or more bold, is now alive"
2731"To grace this latter age with noble deeds."
2732"For my part, I may speak it to my shame,"
2733"I have a truant been to chivalry,"
2734"And so I hear he doth account me too,"
2735"Yet this before my father's majesty--"
2736"I am content that he shall take the odds"
2737"Of his great name and estimation,"
2738"And will, to save the blood on either side,"
2739"Try fortune with him in a single fight."
2740"And, Prince of Wales, so dare we venture thee,"
2741"Albeit considerations infinite"
2742"Do make against it. No, good Worcester, no,"
2743"We love our people well, even those we love"
2744"That are misled upon your cousin's part,"
2745"And, will they take the offer of our grace,"
2746"Both he and they and you, every man"
2747"Shall be my friend again and I'll be his:"
2748"So tell your cousin, and bring me word"
2749"What he will do: but if he will not yield,"
2750"Rebuke and dread correction wait on us"
2751"And they shall do their office. So, be gone,"
2752"We will not now be troubled with reply:"
2753"We offer fair, take it advisedly."
2754"Exeunt WORCESTER and VERNON"
2755"It will not be accepted, on my life:"
2756"The Douglas and the Hotspur both together"
2757"Are confident against the world in arms."
2758"Hence, therefore, every leader to his charge,"
2759"For, on their answer, will we set on them:"
2760"And God befriend us, as our cause is just!"
2761"Exeunt all but PRINCE HENRY and FALSTAFF"
2762"Hal, if thou see me down in the battle and bestride"
2763"me, so, 'tis a point of friendship."
2764"Nothing but a colossus can do thee that friendship."
2765"Say thy prayers, and farewell."
2766"I  would 'twere bed-time, Hal, and all well."
2767"Why, thou owest God a death."
2768"Exit PRINCE HENRY"
2769"'Tis not due yet, I would be loath to pay him before"
2770"his day. What need I be so forward with him that"
2771"calls not on me? Well, 'tis no matter, honour pricks"
2772"me on. Yea, but how if honour prick me off when I"
2773"come on? how then? Can honour set to a leg? no: or"
2774"an arm? no: or take away the grief of a wound? no."
2775"Honour hath no skill in surgery, then? no. What is"
2776"honour? a word. What is in that word honour? what"
2777"is that honour? air. A trim reckoning! Who hath it?"
2778"he that died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it? no."
2779"Doth he hear it? no. 'Tis insensible, then. Yea,"
2780"to the dead. But will it not live with the living?"
2781"no. Why? detraction will not suffer it. Therefore"
2782"I'll none of it. Honour is a mere scutcheon: and so"
2783"ends my catechism."
2784Exit
2785"SCENE II. The rebel camp."
2786"Enter WORCESTER and VERNON"
2787"O, no, my nephew must not know, Sir Richard,"
2788"The liberal and kind offer of the king."
2789"'Twere best he did."
2790"Then are we all undone."
2791"It is not possible, it cannot be,"
2792"The king should keep his word in loving us,"
2793"He will suspect us still and find a time"
2794"To punish this offence in other faults:"
2795"Suspicion all our lives shall be stuck full of eyes,"
2796"For treason is but trusted like the fox,"
2797"Who, ne'er so tame, so cherish'd and lock'd up,"
2798"Will have a wild trick of his ancestors."
2799"Look how we can, or sad or merrily,"
2800"Interpretation will misquote our looks,"
2801"And we shall feed like oxen at a stall,"
2802"The better cherish'd, still the nearer death."
2803"My nephew's trespass may be well forgot,"
2804"it hath the excuse of youth and heat of blood,"
2805"And an adopted name of privilege,"
2806"A hair-brain'd Hotspur, govern'd by a spleen:"
2807"All his offences live upon my head"
2808"And on his father's, we did train him on,"
2809"And, his corruption being ta'en from us,"
2810"We, as the spring of all, shall pay for all."
2811"Therefore, good cousin, let not Harry know,"
2812"In any case, the offer of the king."
2813"Deliver what you will, I'll say 'tis so."
2814"Here comes your cousin."
2815"Enter HOTSPUR and DOUGLAS"
2816"My uncle is return'd:"
2817"Deliver up my Lord of Westmoreland."
2818"Uncle, what news?"
2819"The king will bid you battle presently."
2820"Defy him by the Lord of Westmoreland."
2821"Lord Douglas, go you and tell him so."
2822"Marry, and shall, and very willingly."
2823Exit
2824"There is no seeming mercy in the king."
2825"Did you beg any? God forbid!"
2826"I told him gently of our grievances,"
2827"Of his oath-breaking, which he mended thus,"
2828"By now forswearing that he is forsworn:"
2829"He calls us rebels, traitors, and will scourge"
2830"With haughty arms this hateful name in us."
2831"Re-enter the EARL OF DOUGLAS"
2832"Arm, gentlemen, to arms! for I have thrown"
2833"A brave defiance in King Henry's teeth,"
2834"And Westmoreland, that was engaged, did bear it,"
2835"Which cannot choose but bring him quickly on."
2836"The Prince of Wales stepp'd forth before the king,"
2837"And, nephew, challenged you to single fight."
2838"O, would the quarrel lay upon our heads,"
2839"And that no man might draw short breath today"
2840"But I and Harry Monmouth! Tell me, tell me,"
2841"How show'd his tasking? seem'd it in contempt?"
2842"No, by my soul, I never in my life"
2843"Did hear a challenge urged more modestly,"
2844"Unless a brother should a brother dare"
2845"To gentle exercise and proof of arms."
2846"He gave you all the duties of a man,"
2847"Trimm'd up your praises with a princely tongue,"
2848"Spoke to your deservings like a chronicle,"
2849"Making you ever better than his praise"
2850"By still dispraising praise valued in you,"
2851"And, which became him like a prince indeed,"
2852"He made a blushing cital of himself,"
2853"And chid his truant youth with such a grace"
2854"As if he master'd there a double spirit."
2855"Of teaching and of learning instantly."
2856"There did he pause: but let me tell the world,"
2857"If he outlive the envy of this day,"
2858"England did never owe so sweet a hope,"
2859"So much misconstrued in his wantonness."
2860"Cousin, I think thou art enamoured"
2861"On his follies: never did I hear"
2862"Of any prince so wild a libertine."
2863"But be he as he will, yet once ere night"
2864"I will embrace him with a soldier's arm,"
2865"That he shall shrink under my courtesy."
2866"Arm, arm with speed: and, fellows, soldiers, friends,"
2867"Better consider what you have to do"
2868"Than I, that have not well the gift of tongue,"
2869"Can lift your blood up with persuasion."
2870"Enter a Messenger"
2871"My lord, here are letters for you."
2872"I cannot read them now."
2873"O gentlemen, the time of life is short!"
2874"To spend that shortness basely were too long,"
2875"If life did ride upon a dial's point,"
2876"Still ending at the arrival of an hour."
2877"An if we live, we live to tread on kings,"
2878"If die, brave death, when princes die with us!"
2879"Now, for our consciences, the arms are fair,"
2880"When the intent of bearing them is just."
2881"Enter another Messenger"
2882"My lord, prepare, the king comes on apace."
2883"I thank him, that he cuts me from my tale,"
2884"For I profess not talking, only this--"
2885"Let each man do his best: and here draw I"
2886"A sword, whose temper I intend to stain"
2887"With the best blood that I can meet withal"
2888"In the adventure of this perilous day."
2889"Now, Esperance! Percy! and set on."
2890"Sound all the lofty instruments of war,"
2891"And by that music let us all embrace,"
2892"For, heaven to earth, some of us never shall"
2893"A second time do such a courtesy."
2894"The trumpets sound. They embrace, and exeunt"
2895"SCENE III. Plain between the camps."
2896"KING HENRY enters with his power. Alarum to the battle. Then enter DOUGLAS and SIR WALTER BLUNT"
2897"What is thy name, that in the battle thus"
2898"Thou crossest me? what honour dost thou seek"
2899"Upon my head?"
2900"Know then, my name is Douglas,"
2901"And I do haunt thee in the battle thus"
2902"Because some tell me that thou art a king."
2903"They tell thee true."
2904"The Lord of Stafford dear to-day hath bought"
2905"Thy likeness, for instead of thee, King Harry,"
2906"This sword hath ended him: so shall it thee,"
2907"Unless thou yield thee as my prisoner."
2908"I was not born a yielder, thou proud Scot,"
2909"And thou shalt find a king that will revenge"
2910"Lord Stafford's death."
2911"They fight. DOUGLAS kills SIR WALTER BLUNT. Enter HOTSPUR"
2912"O Douglas, hadst thou fought at Holmedon thus,"
2913"never had triumph'd upon a Scot."
2914"All's done, all's won, here breathless lies the king."
2915Where?
2916Here.
2917"This, Douglas? no: I know this face full well:"
2918"A gallant knight he was, his name was Blunt,"
2919"Semblably furnish'd like the king himself."
2920"A fool go with thy soul, whither it goes!"
2921"A borrow'd title hast thou bought too dear:"
2922"Why didst thou tell me that thou wert a king?"
2923"The king hath many marching in his coats."
2924"Now, by my sword, I will kill all his coats,"
2925"I'll murder all his wardrobe, piece by piece,"
2926"Until I meet the king."
2927"Up, and away!"
2928"Our soldiers stand full fairly for the day."
2929Exeunt
2930"Alarum. Enter FALSTAFF, solus"
2931"Though I could 'scape shot-free at London, I fear"
2932"the shot here, here's no scoring but upon the pate."
2933"Soft! who are you? Sir Walter Blunt: there's honour"
2934"for you! here's no vanity! I am as hot as moulten"
2935"lead, and as heavy too: God keep lead out of me! I"
2936"need no more weight than mine own bowels. I have"
2937"led my ragamuffins where they are peppered: there's"
2938"not three of my hundred and fifty left alive, and"
2939"they are for the town's end, to beg during life."
2940"But who comes here?"
2941"Enter PRINCE HENRY"
2942"What, stand'st thou idle here? lend me thy sword:"
2943"Many a nobleman lies stark and stiff"
2944"Under the hoofs of vaunting enemies,"
2945"Whose deaths are yet unrevenged: I prithee,"
2946"lend me thy sword."
2947"O Hal, I prithee, give me leave to breathe awhile."
2948"Turk Gregory never did such deeds in arms as I have"
2949"done this day. I have paid Percy, I have made him sure."
2950"He is, indeed, and living to kill thee. I prithee,"
2951"lend me thy sword."
2952"Nay, before God, Hal, if Percy be alive, thou get'st"
2953"not my sword, but take my pistol, if thou wilt."
2954"Give it to me: what, is it in the case?"
2955"Ay, Hal, 'tis hot, 'tis hot, there's that will sack a city."
2956"PRINCE HENRY draws it out, and finds it to be a bottle of sack"
2957"What, is it a time to jest and dally now?"
2958"He throws the bottle at him. Exit"
2959"Well, if Percy be alive, I'll pierce him. If he do"
2960"come in my way, so: if he do not, if I come in his"
2961"willingly, let him make a carbonado of me. I like"
2962"not such grinning honour as Sir Walter hath: give me"
2963"life: which if I can save, so, if not, honour comes"
2964"unlooked for, and there's an end."
2965"Exit FALSTAFF"
2966"SCENE IV. Another part of the field."
2967"Alarum. Excursions. Enter PRINCE HENRY, LORD JOHN OF LANCASTER, and EARL OF WESTMORELAND"
2968"I prithee,"
2969"Harry, withdraw thyself, thou bleed'st too much."
2970"Lord John of Lancaster, go you with him."
2971"Not I, my lord, unless I did bleed too."
2972"I beseech your majesty, make up,"
2973"Lest your retirement do amaze your friends."
2974"I will do so."
2975"My Lord of Westmoreland, lead him to his tent."
2976"Come, my lord, I'll lead you to your tent."
2977"Lead me, my lord? I do not need your help:"
2978"And God forbid a shallow scratch should drive"
2979"The Prince of Wales from such a field as this,"
2980"Where stain'd nobility lies trodden on,"
2981"and rebels' arms triumph in massacres!"
2982"We breathe too long: come, cousin Westmoreland,"
2983"Our duty this way lies, for God's sake come."
2984"Exeunt LANCASTER and WESTMORELAND"
2985"By God, thou hast deceived me, Lancaster,"
2986"I did not think thee lord of such a spirit:"
2987"Before, I loved thee as a brother, John,"
2988"But now, I do respect thee as my soul."
2989"I saw him hold Lord Percy at the point"
2990"With lustier maintenance than I did look for"
2991"Of such an ungrown warrior."
2992"O, this boy"
2993"Lends mettle to us all!"
2994Exit
2995"Enter DOUGLAS"
2996"Another king! they grow like Hydra's heads:"
2997"I am the Douglas, fatal to all those"
2998"That wear those colours on them: what art thou,"
2999"That counterfeit'st the person of a king?"
3000"The king himself, who, Douglas, grieves at heart"
3001"So many of his shadows thou hast met"
3002"And not the very king. I have two boys"
3003"Seek Percy and thyself about the field:"
3004"But, seeing thou fall'st on me so luckily,"
3005"I will assay thee: so, defend thyself."
3006"I fear thou art another counterfeit,"
3007"And yet, in faith, thou bear'st thee like a king:"
3008"But mine I am sure thou art, whoe'er thou be,"
3009"And thus I win thee."
3010"They fight. KING HENRY being in danger, PRINCE HENRY enters"
3011"Hold up thy head, vile Scot, or thou art like"
3012"Never to hold it up again! the spirits"
3013"Of valiant Shirley, Stafford, Blunt, are in my arms:"
3014"It is the Prince of Wales that threatens thee,"
3015"Who never promiseth but he means to pay."
3016"They fight: DOUGLAS flies"
3017"Cheerly, my lord	how fares your grace?"
3018"Sir Nicholas Gawsey hath for succor sent,"
3019"And so hath Clifton: I'll to Clifton straight."
3020"Stay, and breathe awhile:"
3021"Thou hast redeem'd thy lost opinion,"
3022"And show'd thou makest some tender of my life,"
3023"In this fair rescue thou hast brought to me."
3024"O God! they did me too much injury"
3025"That ever said I hearken'd for your death."
3026"If it were so, I might have let alone"
3027"The insulting hand of Douglas over you,"
3028"Which would have been as speedy in your end"
3029"As all the poisonous potions in the world"
3030"And saved the treacherous labour of your son."
3031"Make up to Clifton: I'll to Sir Nicholas Gawsey."
3032Exit
3033"Enter HOTSPUR"
3034"If I mistake not, thou art Harry Monmouth."
3035"Thou speak'st as if I would deny my name."
3036"My name is Harry Percy."
3037"Why, then I see"
3038"A very valiant rebel of the name."
3039"I am the Prince of Wales, and think not, Percy,"
3040"To share with me in glory any more:"
3041"Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere,"
3042"Nor can one England brook a double reign,"
3043"Of Harry Percy and the Prince of Wales."
3044"Nor shall it, Harry, for the hour is come"
3045"To end the one of us, and would to God"
3046"Thy name in arms were now as great as mine!"
3047"I'll make it greater ere I part from thee,"
3048"And all the budding honours on thy crest"
3049"I'll crop, to make a garland for my head."
3050"I can no longer brook thy vanities."
3051"They fight"
3052"Enter FALSTAFF"
3053"Well said, Hal! to it Hal! Nay, you shall find no"
3054"boy's play here, I can tell you."
3055"Re-enter DOUGLAS, he fights with FALSTAFF,  who falls down as if he were dead, and exit DOUGLAS. HOTSPUR is wounded, and falls"
3056"O, Harry, thou hast robb'd me of my youth!"
3057"I better brook the loss of brittle life"
3058"Than those proud titles thou hast won of me,"
3059"They wound my thoughts worse than sword my flesh:"
3060"But thought's the slave of life, and life time's fool,"
3061"And time, that takes survey of all the world,"
3062"Must have a stop. O, I could prophesy,"
3063"But that the earthy and cold hand of death"
3064"Lies on my tongue: no, Percy, thou art dust"
3065"And food for--"
3066Dies
3067"For worms, brave Percy: fare thee well, great heart!"
3068"Ill-weaved ambition, how much art thou shrunk!"
3069"When that this body did contain a spirit,"
3070"A kingdom for it was too small a bound,"
3071"But now two paces of the vilest earth"
3072"Is room enough: this earth that bears thee dead"
3073"Bears not alive so stout a gentleman."
3074"If thou wert sensible of courtesy,"
3075"I should not make so dear a show of zeal:"
3076"But let my favours hide thy mangled face,"
3077"And, even in thy behalf, I'll thank myself"
3078"For doing these fair rites of tenderness."
3079"Adieu, and take thy praise with thee to heaven!"
3080"Thy ignominy sleep with thee in the grave,"
3081"But not remember'd in thy epitaph!"
3082"He spieth FALSTAFF on the ground"
3083"What, old acquaintance! could not all this flesh"
3084"Keep in a little life? Poor Jack, farewell!"
3085"I could have better spared a better man:"
3086"O, I should have a heavy miss of thee,"
3087"If I were much in love with vanity!"
3088"Death hath not struck so fat a deer to-day,"
3089"Though many dearer, in this bloody fray."
3090"Embowell'd will I see thee by and by:"
3091"Till then in blood by noble Percy lie."
3092"Exit PRINCE HENRY"
3093"[Rising up]  Embowelled! if thou embowel me to-day,"
3094"I'll give you leave to powder me and eat me too"
3095"to-morrow. 'Sblood,'twas time to counterfeit, or"
3096"that hot termagant Scot had paid me scot and lot too."
3097"Counterfeit? I lie, I am no counterfeit: to die,"
3098"is to be a counterfeit, for he is but the"
3099"counterfeit of a man who hath not the life of a man:"
3100"but to counterfeit dying, when a man thereby"
3101"liveth, is to be no counterfeit, but the true and"
3102"perfect image of life indeed. The better part of"
3103"valour is discretion, in the which better part I"
3104"have saved my life.'Zounds, I am afraid of this"
3105"gunpowder Percy, though he be dead: how, if he"
3106"should counterfeit too and rise? by my faith, I am"
3107"afraid he would prove the better counterfeit."
3108"Therefore I'll make him sure, yea, and I'll swear I"
3109"killed him. Why may not he rise as well as I?"
3110"Nothing confutes me but eyes, and nobody sees me."
3111"Therefore, sirrah,"
3112"Stabbing him"
3113"with a new wound in your thigh, come you along with me."
3114"Takes up HOTSPUR on his back"
3115"Re-enter PRINCE HENRY and LORD JOHN OF LANCASTER"
3116"Come, brother John, full bravely hast thou flesh'd"
3117"Thy maiden sword."
3118"But, soft! whom have we here?"
3119"Did you not tell me this fat man was dead?"
3120"I did, I saw him dead,"
3121"Breathless and bleeding on the ground. Art"
3122"thou alive?"
3123"Or is it fantasy that plays upon our eyesight?"
3124"I prithee, speak, we will not trust our eyes"
3125"Without our ears: thou art not what thou seem'st."
3126"No, that's certain, I am not a double man: but if I"
3127"be not Jack Falstaff, then am I a Jack. There is Percy:"
3128"Throwing the body down"
3129"if your father will do me any honour, so, if not, let"
3130"him kill the next Percy himself. I look to be either"
3131"earl or duke, I can assure you."
3132"Why, Percy I killed myself and saw thee dead."
3133"Didst thou? Lord, Lord, how this world is given to"
3134"lying! I grant you I was down and out of breath,"
3135"and so was he: but we rose both at an instant and"
3136"fought a long hour by Shrewsbury clock. If I may be"
3137"believed, so, if not, let them that should reward"
3138"valour bear the sin upon their own heads. I'll take"
3139"it upon my death, I gave him this wound in the"
3140"thigh: if the man were alive and would deny it,"
3141"'zounds, I would make him eat a piece of my sword."
3142"This is the strangest tale that ever I heard."
3143"This is the strangest fellow, brother John."
3144"Come, bring your luggage nobly on your back:"
3145"For my part, if a lie may do thee grace,"
3146"I'll gild it with the happiest terms I have."
3147"A retreat is sounded"
3148"The trumpet sounds retreat, the day is ours."
3149"Come, brother, let us to the highest of the field,"
3150"To see what friends are living, who are dead."
3151"Exeunt PRINCE HENRY and LANCASTER"
3152"I'll follow, as they say, for reward. He that"
3153"rewards me, God reward him! If I do grow great,"
3154"I'll grow less, for I'll purge, and leave sack, and"
3155"live cleanly as a nobleman should do."
3156Exit
3157"SCENE V. Another part of the field."
3158"The trumpets sound. Enter KING HENRY IV, PRINCE  HENRY, LORD JOHN LANCASTER, EARL OF WESTMORELAND, with WORCESTER and VERNON prisoners"
3159"Thus ever did rebellion find rebuke."
3160"Ill-spirited Worcester! did not we send grace,"
3161"Pardon and terms of love to all of you?"
3162"And wouldst thou turn our offers contrary?"
3163"Misuse the tenor of thy kinsman's trust?"
3164"Three knights upon our party slain to-day,"
3165"A noble earl and many a creature else"
3166"Had been alive this hour,"
3167"If like a Christian thou hadst truly borne"
3168"Betwixt our armies true intelligence."
3169"What I have done my safety urged me to,"
3170"And I embrace this fortune patiently,"
3171"Since not to be avoided it falls on me."
3172"Bear Worcester to the death and Vernon too:"
3173"Other offenders we will pause upon."
3174"Exeunt WORCESTER and VERNON, guarded"
3175"How goes the field?"
3176"The noble Scot, Lord Douglas, when he saw"
3177"The fortune of the day quite turn'd from him,"
3178"The noble Percy slain, and all his men"
3179"Upon the foot of fear, fled with the rest,"
3180"And falling from a hill, he was so bruised"
3181"That the pursuers took him. At my tent"
3182"The Douglas is, and I beseech your grace"
3183"I may dispose of him."
3184"With all my heart."
3185"Then, brother John of Lancaster, to you"
3186"This honourable bounty shall belong:"
3187"Go to the Douglas, and deliver him"
3188"Up to his pleasure, ransomless and free:"
3189"His valour shown upon our crests to-day"
3190"Hath taught us how to cherish such high deeds"
3191"Even in the bosom of our adversaries."
3192"I thank your grace for this high courtesy,"
3193"Which I shall give away immediately."
3194"Then this remains, that we divide our power."
3195"You, son John, and my cousin Westmoreland"
3196"Towards York shall bend you with your dearest speed,"
3197"To meet Northumberland and the prelate Scroop,"
3198"Who, as we hear, are busily in arms:"
3199"Myself and you, son Harry, will towards Wales,"
3200"To fight with Glendower and the Earl of March."
3201"Rebellion in this land shall lose his sway,"
3202"Meeting the cheque of such another day:"
3203"And since this business so fair is done,"
3204"Let us not leave till all our own be won."
3205Exeunt
3206"ACT I"
3207"SCENE I. Westminster Abbey."
3208"Dead March. Enter the Funeral of KING HENRY the  Fifth, attended on by Dukes of BEDFORD, Regent of  France, GLOUCESTER, Protector, and EXETER, Earl of WARWICK, the BISHOP OF WINCHESTER, Heralds,  and c"
3209"Hung be the heavens with black, yield day to night!"
3210"Comets, importing change of times and states,"
3211"Brandish your crystal tresses in the sky,"
3212"And with them scourge the bad revolting stars"
3213"That have consented unto Henry's death!"
3214"King Henry the Fifth, too famous to live long!"
3215"England ne'er lost a king of so much worth."
3216"England ne'er had a king until his time."
3217"Virtue he had, deserving to command:"
3218"His brandish'd sword did blind men with his beams:"
3219"His arms spread wider than a dragon's wings,"
3220"His sparking eyes, replete with wrathful fire,"
3221"More dazzled and drove back his enemies"
3222"Than mid-day sun fierce bent against their faces."
3223"What should I say? his deeds exceed all speech:"
3224"He ne'er lift up his hand but conquered."
3225"We mourn in black: why mourn we not in blood?"
3226"Henry is dead and never shall revive:"
3227"Upon a wooden coffin we attend,"
3228"And death's dishonourable victory"
3229"We with our stately presence glorify,"
3230"Like captives bound to a triumphant car."
3231"What! shall we curse the planets of mishap"
3232"That plotted thus our glory's overthrow?"
3233"Or shall we think the subtle-witted French"
3234"Conjurers and sorcerers, that afraid of him"
3235"By magic verses have contrived his end?"
3236BISHOP
3237"He was a king bless'd of the King of kings."
3238"Unto the French the dreadful judgement-day"
3239"So dreadful will not be as was his sight."
3240"The battles of the Lord of hosts he fought:"
3241"The church's prayers made him so prosperous."
3242"The church! where is it? Had not churchmen pray'd,"
3243"His thread of life had not so soon decay'd:"
3244"None do you like but an effeminate prince,"
3245"Whom, like a school-boy, you may over-awe."
3246BISHOP
3247"Gloucester, whate'er we like, thou art protector"
3248"And lookest to command the prince and realm."
3249"Thy wife is proud, she holdeth thee in awe,"
3250"More than God or religious churchmen may."
3251"Name not religion, for thou lovest the flesh,"
3252"And ne'er throughout the year to church thou go'st"
3253"Except it be to pray against thy foes."
3254"Cease, cease these jars and rest your minds in peace:"
3255"Let's to the altar: heralds, wait on us:"
3256"Instead of gold, we'll offer up our arms:"
3257"Since arms avail not now that Henry's dead."
3258"Posterity, await for wretched years,"
3259"When at their mothers' moist eyes babes shall suck,"
3260"Our isle be made a nourish of salt tears,"
3261"And none but women left to wail the dead."
3262"Henry the Fifth, thy ghost I invocate:"
3263"Prosper this realm, keep it from civil broils,"
3264"Combat with adverse planets in the heavens!"
3265"A far more glorious star thy soul will make"
3266"Than Julius Caesar or bright--"
3267"Enter a Messenger"
3268"My honourable lords, health to you all!"
3269"Sad tidings bring I to you out of France,"
3270"Of loss, of slaughter and discomfiture:"
3271"Guienne, Champagne, Rheims, Orleans,"
3272"Paris, Guysors, Poictiers, are all quite lost."
3273"What say'st thou, man, before dead Henry's corse?"
3274"Speak softly, or the loss of those great towns"
3275"Will make him burst his lead and rise from death."
3276"Is Paris lost? is Rouen yielded up?"
3277"If Henry were recall'd to life again,"
3278"These news would cause him once more yield the ghost."
3279"How were they lost? what treachery was used?"
3280"No treachery, but want of men and money."
3281"Amongst the soldiers this is muttered,"
3282"That here you maintain several factions,"
3283"And whilst a field should be dispatch'd and fought,"
3284"You are disputing of your generals:"
3285"One would have lingering wars with little cost,"
3286"Another would fly swift, but wanteth wings,"
3287"A third thinks, without expense at all,"
3288"By guileful fair words peace may be obtain'd."
3289"Awake, awake, English nobility!"
3290"Let not sloth dim your horrors new-begot:"
3291"Cropp'd are the flower-de-luces in your arms,"
3292"Of England's coat one half is cut away."
3293"Were our tears wanting to this funeral,"
3294"These tidings would call forth their flowing tides."
3295"Me they concern, Regent I am of France."
3296"Give me my steeled coat. I'll fight for France."
3297"Away with these disgraceful wailing robes!"
3298"Wounds will I lend the French instead of eyes,"
3299"To weep their intermissive miseries."
3300"Enter to them another Messenger"
3301"Lords, view these letters full of bad mischance."
3302"France is revolted from the English quite,"
3303"Except some petty towns of no import:"
3304"The Dauphin Charles is crowned king of Rheims,"
3305"The Bastard of Orleans with him is join'd,"
3306"Reignier, Duke of Anjou, doth take his part,"
3307"The Duke of Alencon flieth to his side."
3308"The Dauphin crowned king! all fly to him!"
3309"O, whither shall we fly from this reproach?"
3310"We will not fly, but to our enemies' throats."
3311"Bedford, if thou be slack, I'll fight it out."
3312"Gloucester, why doubt'st thou of my forwardness?"
3313"An army have I muster'd in my thoughts,"
3314"Wherewith already France is overrun."
3315"Enter another Messenger"
3316"My gracious lords, to add to your laments,"
3317"Wherewith you now bedew King Henry's hearse,"
3318"I must inform you of a dismal fight"
3319"Betwixt the stout Lord Talbot and the French."
3320BISHOP
3321"What! wherein Talbot overcame? is't so?"
3322"O, no, wherein Lord Talbot was o'erthrown:"
3323"The circumstance I'll tell you more at large."
3324"The tenth of August last this dreadful lord,"
3325"Retiring from the siege of Orleans,"
3326"Having full scarce six thousand in his troop."
3327"By three and twenty thousand of the French"
3328"Was round encompassed and set upon."
3329"No leisure had he to enrank his men,"
3330"He wanted pikes to set before his archers,"
3331"Instead whereof sharp stakes pluck'd out of hedges"
3332"They pitched in the ground confusedly,"
3333"To keep the horsemen off from breaking in."
3334"More than three hours the fight continued,"
3335"Where valiant Talbot above human thought"
3336"Enacted wonders with his sword and lance:"
3337"Hundreds he sent to hell, and none durst stand him,"
3338"Here, there, and every where, enraged he flew:"
3339"The French exclaim'd, the devil was in arms,"
3340"All the whole army stood agazed on him:"
3341"His soldiers spying his undaunted spirit"
3342"A Talbot! a Talbot! cried out amain"
3343"And rush'd into the bowels of the battle."
3344"Here had the conquest fully been seal'd up,"
3345"If Sir John Fastolfe had not play'd the coward:"
3346"He, being in the vaward, placed behind"
3347"With purpose to relieve and follow them,"
3348"Cowardly fled, not having struck one stroke."
3349"Hence grew the general wreck and massacre,"
3350"Enclosed were they with their enemies:"
3351"A base Walloon, to win the Dauphin's grace,"
3352"Thrust Talbot with a spear into the back,"
3353"Whom all France with their chief assembled strength"
3354"Durst not presume to look once in the face."
3355"Is Talbot slain? then I will slay myself,"
3356"For living idly here in pomp and ease,"
3357"Whilst such a worthy leader, wanting aid,"
3358"Unto his dastard foemen is betray'd."
3359"O no, he lives, but is took prisoner,"
3360"And Lord Scales with him and Lord Hungerford:"
3361"Most of the rest slaughter'd or took likewise."
3362"His ransom there is none but I shall pay:"
3363"I'll hale the Dauphin headlong from his throne:"
3364"His crown shall be the ransom of my friend,"
3365"Four of their lords I'll change for one of ours."
3366"Farewell, my masters, to my task will I,"
3367"Bonfires in France forthwith I am to make,"
3368"To keep our great Saint George's feast withal:"
3369"Ten thousand soldiers with me I will take,"
3370"Whose bloody deeds shall make all Europe quake."
3371"So you had need, for Orleans is besieged,"
3372"The English army is grown weak and faint:"
3373"The Earl of Salisbury craveth supply,"
3374"And hardly keeps his men from mutiny,"
3375"Since they, so few, watch such a multitude."
3376"Remember, lords, your oaths to Henry sworn,"
3377"Either to quell the Dauphin utterly,"
3378"Or bring him in obedience to your yoke."
3379"I do remember it, and here take my leave,"
3380"To go about my preparation."
3381Exit
3382"I'll to the Tower with all the haste I can,"
3383"To view the artillery and munition,"
3384"And then I will proclaim young Henry king."
3385Exit
3386"To Eltham will I, where the young king is,"
3387"Being ordain'd his special governor,"
3388"And for his safety there I'll best devise."
3389Exit
3390BISHOP
3391"Each hath his place and function to attend:"
3392"I am left out, for me nothing remains."
3393"But long I will not be Jack out of office:"
3394"The king from Eltham I intend to steal"
3395"And sit at chiefest stern of public weal."
3396Exeunt
3397"SCENE II. France. Before Orleans."
3398"Sound a flourish. Enter CHARLES, ALENCON, and REIGNIER, marching with drum and Soldiers"
3399"Mars his true moving, even as in the heavens"
3400"So in the earth, to this day is not known:"
3401"Late did he shine upon the English side,"
3402"Now we are victors, upon us he smiles."
3403"What towns of any moment but we have?"
3404"At pleasure here we lie near Orleans,"
3405"Otherwhiles the famish'd English, like pale ghosts,"
3406"Faintly besiege us one hour in a month."
3407"They want their porridge and their fat bull-beeves:"
3408"Either they must be dieted like mules"
3409"And have their provender tied to their mouths"
3410"Or piteous they will look, like drowned mice."
3411"Let's raise the siege: why live we idly here?"
3412"Talbot is taken, whom we wont to fear:"
3413"Remaineth none but mad-brain'd Salisbury,"
3414"And he may well in fretting spend his gall,"
3415"Nor men nor money hath he to make war."
3416"Sound, sound alarum! we will rush on them."
3417"Now for the honour of the forlorn French!"
3418"Him I forgive my death that killeth me"
3419"When he sees me go back one foot or fly."
3420Exeunt
3421"Here alarum, they are beaten back by the English with great loss. Re-enter CHARLES, ALENCON, and REIGNIER"
3422"Who ever saw the like? what men have I!"
3423"Dogs! cowards! dastards! I would ne'er have fled,"
3424"But that they left me 'midst my enemies."
3425"Salisbury is a desperate homicide,"
3426"He fighteth as one weary of his life."
3427"The other lords, like lions wanting food,"
3428"Do rush upon us as their hungry prey."
3429"Froissart, a countryman of ours, records,"
3430"England all Olivers and Rowlands bred,"
3431"During the time Edward the Third did reign."
3432"More truly now may this be verified,"
3433"For none but Samsons and Goliases"
3434"It sendeth forth to skirmish. One to ten!"
3435"Lean, raw-boned rascals! who would e'er suppose"
3436"They had such courage and audacity?"
3437"Let's leave this town, for they are hare-brain'd slaves,"
3438"And hunger will enforce them to be more eager:"
3439"Of old I know them, rather with their teeth"
3440"The walls they'll tear down than forsake the siege."
3441"I think, by some odd gimmors or device"
3442"Their arms are set like clocks, stiff to strike on,"
3443"Else ne'er could they hold out so as they do."
3444"By my consent, we'll even let them alone."
3445"Be it so."
3446"Enter the BASTARD OF ORLEANS"
3447"Where's the Prince Dauphin? I have news for him."
3448"Bastard of Orleans, thrice welcome to us."
3449"Methinks your looks are sad, your cheer appall'd:"
3450"Hath the late overthrow wrought this offence?"
3451"Be not dismay'd, for succor is at hand:"
3452"A holy maid hither with me I bring,"
3453"Which by a vision sent to her from heaven"
3454"Ordained is to raise this tedious siege"
3455"And drive the English forth the bounds of France."
3456"The spirit of deep prophecy she hath,"
3457"Exceeding the nine sibyls of old Rome:"
3458"What's past and what's to come she can descry."
3459"Speak, shall I call her in? Believe my words,"
3460"For they are certain and unfallible."
3461"Go, call her in."
3462"Exit BASTARD OF ORLEANS"
3463"But first, to try her skill,"
3464"Reignier, stand thou as Dauphin in my place:"
3465"Question her proudly, let thy looks be stern:"
3466"By this means shall we sound what skill she hath."
3467"Re-enter the BASTARD OF ORLEANS, with JOAN LA PUCELLE"
3468"Fair maid, is't thou wilt do these wondrous feats?"
3469"Reignier, is't thou that thinkest to beguile me?"
3470"Where is the Dauphin? Come, come from behind,"
3471"I know thee well, though never seen before."
3472"Be not amazed, there's nothing hid from me:"
3473"In private will I talk with thee apart."
3474"Stand back, you lords, and give us leave awhile."
3475"She takes upon her bravely at first dash."
3476"Dauphin, I am by birth a shepherd's daughter,"
3477"My wit untrain'd in any kind of art."
3478"Heaven and our Lady gracious hath it pleased"
3479"To shine on my contemptible estate:"
3480"Lo, whilst I waited on my tender lambs,"
3481"And to sun's parching heat display'd my cheeks,"
3482"God's mother deigned to appear to me"
3483"And in a vision full of majesty"
3484"Will'd me to leave my base vocation"
3485"And free my country from calamity:"
3486"Her aid she promised and assured success:"
3487"In complete glory she reveal'd herself,"
3488"And, whereas I was black and swart before,"
3489"With those clear rays which she infused on me"
3490"That beauty am I bless'd with which you see."
3491"Ask me what question thou canst possible,"
3492"And I will answer unpremeditated:"
3493"My courage try by combat, if thou darest,"
3494"And thou shalt find that I exceed my sex."
3495"Resolve on this, thou shalt be fortunate,"
3496"If thou receive me for thy warlike mate."
3497"Thou hast astonish'd me with thy high terms:"
3498"Only this proof I'll of thy valour make,"
3499"In single combat thou shalt buckle with me,"
3500"And if thou vanquishest, thy words are true,"
3501"Otherwise I renounce all confidence."
3502"I am prepared: here is my keen-edged sword,"
3503"Deck'd with five flower-de-luces on each side,"
3504"The which at Touraine, in Saint Katharine's"
3505churchyard,
3506"Out of a great deal of old iron I chose forth."
3507"Then come, o' God's name, I fear no woman."
3508"And while I live, I'll ne'er fly from a man."
3509"Here they fight, and JOAN LA PUCELLE overcomes"
3510"Stay, stay thy hands! thou art an Amazon"
3511"And fightest with the sword of Deborah."
3512"Christ's mother helps me, else I were too weak."
3513"Whoe'er helps thee, 'tis thou that must help me:"
3514"Impatiently I burn with thy desire,"
3515"My heart and hands thou hast at once subdued."
3516"Excellent Pucelle, if thy name be so,"
3517"Let me thy servant and not sovereign be:"
3518"'Tis the French Dauphin sueth to thee thus."
3519"I must not yield to any rites of love,"
3520"For my profession's sacred from above:"
3521"When I have chased all thy foes from hence,"
3522"Then will I think upon a recompense."
3523"Meantime look gracious on thy prostrate thrall."
3524"My lord, methinks, is very long in talk."
3525"Doubtless he shrives this woman to her smock,"
3526"Else ne'er could he so long protract his speech."
3527"Shall we disturb him, since he keeps no mean?"
3528"He may mean more than we poor men do know:"
3529"These women are shrewd tempters with their tongues."
3530"My lord, where are you? what devise you on?"
3531"Shall we give over Orleans, or no?"
3532"Why, no, I say, distrustful recreants!"
3533"Fight till the last gasp, I will be your guard."
3534"What she says I'll confirm: we'll fight it out."
3535"Assign'd am I to be the English scourge."
3536"This night the siege assuredly I'll raise:"
3537"Expect Saint Martin's summer, halcyon days,"
3538"Since I have entered into these wars."
3539"Glory is like a circle in the water,"
3540"Which never ceaseth to enlarge itself"
3541"Till by broad spreading it disperse to nought."
3542"With Henry's death the English circle ends,"
3543"Dispersed are the glories it included."
3544"Now am I like that proud insulting ship"
3545"Which Caesar and his fortune bare at once."
3546"Was Mahomet inspired with a dove?"
3547"Thou with an eagle art inspired then."
3548"Helen, the mother of great Constantine,"
3549"Nor yet Saint Philip's daughters, were like thee."
3550"Bright star of Venus, fall'n down on the earth,"
3551"How may I reverently worship thee enough?"
3552"Leave off delays, and let us raise the siege."
3553"Woman, do what thou canst to save our honours,"
3554"Drive them from Orleans and be immortalized."
3555"Presently we'll try: come, let's away about it:"
3556"No prophet will I trust, if she prove false."
3557Exeunt
3558"SCENE III. London. Before the Tower."
3559"Enter GLOUCESTER, with his Serving-men in blue coats"
3560"I am come to survey the Tower this day:"
3561"Since Henry's death, I fear, there is conveyance."
3562"Where be these warders, that they wait not here?"
3563"Open the gates, 'tis Gloucester that calls."
3564"[Within]  Who's there that knocks so imperiously?"
3565"First Serving-Man	It is the noble Duke of Gloucester."
3566"[Within]  Whoe'er he be, you may not be let in."
3567"First Serving-Man	Villains, answer you so the lord protector?"
3568"[Within]  The Lord protect him! so we answer him:"
3569"We do no otherwise than we are will'd."
3570"Who willed you? or whose will stands but mine?"
3571"There's none protector of the realm but I."
3572"Break up the gates, I'll be your warrantize."
3573"Shall I be flouted thus by dunghill grooms?"
3574"Gloucester's men rush at the Tower Gates, and WOODVILE the Lieutenant speaks within"
3575"What noise is this? what traitors have we here?"
3576"Lieutenant, is it you whose voice I hear?"
3577"Open the gates, here's Gloucester that would enter."
3578"Have patience, noble duke, I may not open,"
3579"The Cardinal of Winchester forbids:"
3580"From him I have express commandment"
3581"That thou nor none of thine shall be let in."
3582"Faint-hearted Woodvile, prizest him 'fore me?"
3583"Arrogant Winchester, that haughty prelate,"
3584"Whom Henry, our late sovereign, ne'er could brook?"
3585"Thou art no friend to God or to the king:"
3586"Open the gates, or I'll shut thee out shortly."
3587"Serving-Men	Open the gates unto the lord protector,"
3588"Or we'll burst them open, if that you come not quickly."
3589"Enter to the Protector at the Tower Gates BISHOP OF WINCHESTER and his men in tawny coats"
3590BISHOP
3591"How now, ambitious Humphry! what means this?"
3592"Peel'd priest, dost thou command me to be shut out?"
3593BISHOP
3594"I do, thou most usurping proditor,"
3595"And not protector, of the king or realm."
3596"Stand back, thou manifest conspirator,"
3597"Thou that contrivedst to murder our dead lord,"
3598"Thou that givest whores indulgences to sin:"
3599"I'll canvass thee in thy broad cardinal's hat,"
3600"If thou proceed in this thy insolence."
3601BISHOP
3602"Nay, stand thou back, I will not budge a foot:"
3603"This be Damascus, be thou cursed Cain,"
3604"To slay thy brother Abel, if thou wilt."
3605"I will not slay thee, but I'll drive thee back:"
3606"Thy scarlet robes as a child's bearing-cloth"
3607"I'll use to carry thee out of this place."
3608BISHOP
3609"Do what thou darest, I beard thee to thy face."
3610"What! am I dared and bearded to my face?"
3611"Draw, men, for all this privileged place,"
3612"Blue coats to tawny coats. Priest, beware your beard,"
3613"I mean to tug it and to cuff you soundly:"
3614"Under my feet I stamp thy cardinal's hat:"
3615"In spite of pope or dignities of church,"
3616"Here by the cheeks I'll drag thee up and down."
3617BISHOP
3618"Gloucester, thou wilt answer this before the pope."
3619"Winchester goose, I cry, a rope! a rope!"
3620"Now beat them hence, why do you let them stay?"
3621"Thee I'll chase hence, thou wolf in sheep's array."
3622"Out, tawny coats! out, scarlet hypocrite!"
3623"Here GLOUCESTER's men beat out BISHOP OF  WINCHESTER's men, and enter in the hurly- burly the Mayor of London and his Officers"
3624"Fie, lords! that you, being supreme magistrates,"
3625"Thus contumeliously should break the peace!"
3626"Peace, mayor! thou know'st little of my wrongs:"
3627"Here's Beaufort, that regards nor God nor king,"
3628"Hath here distrain'd the Tower to his use."
3629BISHOP
3630"Here's Gloucester, a foe to citizens,"
3631"One that still motions war and never peace,"
3632"O'ercharging your free purses with large fines,"
3633"That seeks to overthrow religion,"
3634"Because he is protector of the realm,"
3635"And would have armour here out of the Tower,"
3636"To crown himself king and suppress the prince."
3637"I will not answer thee with words, but blows."
3638"Here they skirmish again"
3639"Naught rests for me in this tumultuous strife"
3640"But to make open proclamation:"
3641"Come, officer, as loud as e'er thou canst,"
3642Cry.
3643"All manner of men assembled here in arms this day"
3644"against God's peace and the king's, we charge and"
3645"command you, in his highness' name, to repair to"
3646"your several dwelling-places, and not to wear,"
3647"handle, or use any sword, weapon, or dagger,"
3648"henceforward, upon pain of death."
3649"Cardinal, I'll be no breaker of the law:"
3650"But we shall meet, and break our minds at large."
3651BISHOP
3652"Gloucester, we will meet, to thy cost, be sure:"
3653"Thy heart-blood I will have for this day's work."
3654"I'll call for clubs, if you will not away."
3655"This cardinal's more haughty than the devil."
3656"Mayor, farewell: thou dost but what thou mayst."
3657BISHOP
3658"Abominable Gloucester, guard thy head,"
3659"For I intend to have it ere long."
3660"Exeunt, severally, GLOUCESTER and BISHOP OF WINCHESTER with their Serving-men"
3661"See the coast clear'd, and then we will depart."
3662"Good God, these nobles should such stomachs bear!"
3663"I myself fight not once in forty year."
3664Exeunt
3665"SCENE IV. Orleans."
3666"Enter, on the walls, a Master Gunner and his Boy"
3667"Master-Gunner	Sirrah, thou know'st how Orleans is besieged,"
3668"And how the English have the suburbs won."
3669"Father, I know, and oft have shot at them,"
3670"Howe'er unfortunate I miss'd my aim."
3671"Master-Gunner	But now thou shalt not. Be thou ruled by me:"
3672"Chief master-gunner am I of this town,"
3673"Something I must do to procure me grace."
3674"The prince's espials have informed me"
3675"How the English, in the suburbs close intrench'd,"
3676"Wont, through a secret grate of iron bars"
3677"In yonder tower, to overpeer the city,"
3678"And thence discover how with most advantage"
3679"They may vex us with shot, or with assault."
3680"To intercept this inconvenience,"
3681"A piece of ordnance 'gainst it I have placed,"
3682"And even these three days have I watch'd,"
3683"If I could see them."
3684"Now do thou watch, for I can stay no longer."
3685"If thou spy'st any, run and bring me word,"
3686"And thou shalt find me at the governor's."
3687Exit
3688"Father, I warrant you, take you no care,"
3689"I'll never trouble you, if I may spy them."
3690Exit
3691"Enter, on the turrets, SALISBURY and TALBOT, GLANSDALE, GARGRAVE, and others"
3692"Talbot, my life, my joy, again return'd!"
3693"How wert thou handled being prisoner?"
3694"Or by what means got'st thou to be released?"
3695"Discourse, I prithee, on this turret's top."
3696"The Duke of Bedford had a prisoner"
3697"Call'd the brave Lord Ponton de Santrailles,"
3698"For him was I exchanged and ransomed."
3699"But with a baser man of arms by far"
3700"Once in contempt they would have barter'd me:"
3701"Which I, disdaining, scorn'd, and craved death,"
3702"Rather than I would be so vile esteem'd."
3703"In fine, redeem'd I was as I desired."
3704"But, O! the treacherous Fastolfe wounds my heart,"
3705"Whom with my bare fists I would execute,"
3706"If I now had him brought into my power."
3707"Yet tell'st thou not how thou wert entertain'd."
3708"With scoffs and scorns and contumelious taunts."
3709"In open market-place produced they me,"
3710"To be a public spectacle to all:"
3711"Here, said they, is the terror of the French,"
3712"The scarecrow that affrights our children so."
3713"Then broke I from the officers that led me,"
3714"And with my nails digg'd stones out of the ground,"
3715"To hurl at the beholders of my shame:"
3716"My grisly countenance made others fly,"
3717"None durst come near for fear of sudden death."
3718"In iron walls they deem'd me not secure,"
3719"So great fear of my name 'mongst them was spread,"
3720"That they supposed I could rend bars of steel,"
3721"And spurn in pieces posts of adamant:"
3722"Wherefore a guard of chosen shot I had,"
3723"That walked about me every minute-while,"
3724"And if I did but stir out of my bed,"
3725"Ready they were to shoot me to the heart."
3726"Enter the Boy with a linstock"
3727"I grieve to hear what torments you endured,"
3728"But we will be revenged sufficiently"
3729"Now it is supper-time in Orleans:"
3730"Here, through this grate, I count each one"
3731"and view the Frenchmen how they fortify:"
3732"Let us look in, the sight will much delight thee."
3733"Sir Thomas Gargrave, and Sir William Glansdale,"
3734"Let me have your express opinions"
3735"Where is best place to make our battery next."
3736"I think, at the north gate, for there stand lords."
3737"And I, here, at the bulwark of the bridge."
3738"For aught I see, this city must be famish'd,"
3739"Or with light skirmishes enfeebled."
3740"Here they shoot. SALISBURY and GARGRAVE fall"
3741"O Lord, have mercy on us, wretched sinners!"
3742"O Lord, have mercy on me, woful man!"
3743"What chance is this that suddenly hath cross'd us?"
3744"Speak, Salisbury, at least, if thou canst speak:"
3745"How farest thou, mirror of all martial men?"
3746"One of thy eyes and thy cheek's side struck off!"
3747"Accursed tower! accursed fatal hand"
3748"That hath contrived this woful tragedy!"
3749"In thirteen battles Salisbury o'ercame,"
3750"Henry the Fifth he first train'd to the wars,"
3751"Whilst any trump did sound, or drum struck up,"
3752"His sword did ne'er leave striking in the field."
3753"Yet livest thou, Salisbury? though thy speech doth fail,"
3754"One eye thou hast, to look to heaven for grace:"
3755"The sun with one eye vieweth all the world."
3756"Heaven, be thou gracious to none alive,"
3757"If Salisbury wants mercy at thy hands!"
3758"Bear hence his body, I will help to bury it."
3759"Sir Thomas Gargrave, hast thou any life?"
3760"Speak unto Talbot, nay, look up to him."
3761"Salisbury, cheer thy spirit with this comfort,"
3762"Thou shalt not die whiles--"
3763"He beckons with his hand and smiles on me."
3764"As who should say 'When I am dead and gone,"
3765"Remember to avenge me on the French.'"
3766"Plantagenet, I will, and like thee, Nero,"
3767"Play on the lute, beholding the towns burn:"
3768"Wretched shall France be only in my name."
3769"Here an alarum, and it thunders and lightens"
3770"What stir is this? what tumult's in the heavens?"
3771"Whence cometh this alarum and the noise?"
3772"Enter a Messenger"
3773"My lord, my lord, the French have gathered head:"
3774"The Dauphin, with one Joan la Pucelle join'd,"
3775"A holy prophetess new risen up,"
3776"Is come with a great power to raise the siege."
3777"Here SALISBURY lifteth himself up and groans"
3778"Hear, hear how dying Salisbury doth groan!"
3779"It irks his heart he cannot be revenged."
3780"Frenchmen, I'll be a Salisbury to you:"
3781"Pucelle or puzzel, dolphin or dogfish,"
3782"Your hearts I'll stamp out with my horse's heels,"
3783"And make a quagmire of your mingled brains."
3784"Convey me Salisbury into his tent,"
3785"And then we'll try what these dastard Frenchmen dare."
3786"Alarum. Exeunt"
3787"SCENE V. The same."
3788"Here an alarum again: and TALBOT pursueth the  DAUPHIN, and driveth him: then enter JOAN LA  PUCELLE, driving Englishmen before her, and exit after them then re-enter TALBOT"
3789"Where is my strength, my valour, and my force?"
3790"Our English troops retire, I cannot stay them:"
3791"A woman clad in armour chaseth them."
3792"Re-enter JOAN LA PUCELLE"
3793"Here, here she comes. I'll have a bout with thee,"
3794"Devil or devil's dam, I'll conjure thee:"
3795"Blood will I draw on thee, thou art a witch,"
3796"And straightway give thy soul to him thou servest."
3797"Come, come, 'tis only I that must disgrace thee."
3798"Here they fight"
3799"Heavens, can you suffer hell so to prevail?"
3800"My breast I'll burst with straining of my courage"
3801"And from my shoulders crack my arms asunder."
3802"But I will chastise this high-minded strumpet."
3803"They fight again"
3804"Talbot, farewell, thy hour is not yet come:"
3805"I must go victual Orleans forthwith."
3806"A short alarum, then enter the town with soldiers"
3807"O'ertake me, if thou canst, I scorn thy strength."
3808"Go, go, cheer up thy hungry-starved men,"
3809"Help Salisbury to make his testament:"
3810"This day is ours, as many more shall be."
3811Exit
3812"My thoughts are whirled like a potter's wheel,"
3813"I know not where I am, nor what I do,"
3814"A witch, by fear, not force, like Hannibal,"
3815"Drives back our troops and conquers as she lists:"
3816"So bees with smoke and doves with noisome stench"
3817"Are from their hives and houses driven away."
3818"They call'd us for our fierceness English dogs,"
3819"Now, like to whelps, we crying run away."
3820"A short alarum"
3821"Hark, countrymen! either renew the fight,"
3822"Or tear the lions out of England's coat,"
3823"Renounce your soil, give sheep in lions' stead:"
3824"Sheep run not half so treacherous from the wolf,"
3825"Or horse or oxen from the leopard,"
3826"As you fly from your oft-subdued slaves."
3827"Alarum. Here another skirmish"
3828"It will not be: retire into your trenches:"
3829"You all consented unto Salisbury's death,"
3830"For none would strike a stroke in his revenge."
3831"Pucelle is enter'd into Orleans,"
3832"In spite of us or aught that we could do."
3833"O, would I were to die with Salisbury!"
3834"The shame hereof will make me hide my head."
3835"Exit TALBOT. Alarum, retreat, flourish"
3836"SCENE VI. The same."
3837"Enter, on the walls, JOAN LA PUCELLE, CHARLES, REIGNIER, ALENCON, and Soldiers"
3838"Advance our waving colours on the walls,"
3839"Rescued is Orleans from the English"
3840"Thus Joan la Pucelle hath perform'd her word."
3841"Divinest creature, Astraea's daughter,"
3842"How shall I honour thee for this success?"
3843"Thy promises are like Adonis' gardens"
3844"That one day bloom'd and fruitful were the next."
3845"France, triumph in thy glorious prophetess!"
3846"Recover'd is the town of Orleans:"
3847"More blessed hap did ne'er befall our state."
3848"Why ring not out the bells aloud throughout the town?"
3849"Dauphin, command the citizens make bonfires"
3850"And feast and banquet in the open streets,"
3851"To celebrate the joy that God hath given us."
3852"All France will be replete with mirth and joy,"
3853"When they shall hear how we have play'd the men."
3854"'Tis Joan, not we, by whom the day is won,"
3855"For which I will divide my crown with her,"
3856"And all the priests and friars in my realm"
3857"Shall in procession sing her endless praise."
3858"A statelier pyramis to her I'll rear"
3859"Than Rhodope's or Memphis' ever was:"
3860"In memory of her when she is dead,"
3861"Her ashes, in an urn more precious"
3862"Than the rich-jewel'd of Darius,"
3863"Transported shall be at high festivals"
3864"Before the kings and queens of France."
3865"No longer on Saint Denis will we cry,"
3866"But Joan la Pucelle shall be France's saint."
3867"Come in, and let us banquet royally,"
3868"After this golden day of victory."
3869"Flourish. Exeunt"
3870"ACT II"
3871"SCENE I. Before Orleans."
3872"Enter a Sergeant of a band with two Sentinels"
3873"Sirs, take your places and be vigilant:"
3874"If any noise or soldier you perceive"
3875"Near to the walls, by some apparent sign"
3876"Let us have knowledge at the court of guard."
3877"Sergeant, you shall."
3878"Exit Sergeant"
3879"Thus are poor servitors,"
3880"When others sleep upon their quiet beds,"
3881"Constrain'd to watch in darkness, rain and cold."
3882"Enter TALBOT, BEDFORD, BURGUNDY, and Forces, with scaling-ladders, their drums beating a dead march"
3883"Lord Regent, and redoubted Burgundy,"
3884"By whose approach the regions of Artois,"
3885"Wallon and Picardy are friends to us,"
3886"This happy night the Frenchmen are secure,"
3887"Having all day caroused and banqueted:"
3888"Embrace we then this opportunity"
3889"As fitting best to quittance their deceit"
3890"Contrived by art and baleful sorcery."
3891"Coward of France! how much he wrongs his fame,"
3892"Despairing of his own arm's fortitude,"
3893"To join with witches and the help of hell!"
3894"Traitors have never other company."
3895"But what's that Pucelle whom they term so pure?"
3896"A maid, they say."
3897"A maid! and be so martial!"
3898"Pray God she prove not masculine ere long,"
3899"If underneath the standard of the French"
3900"She carry armour as she hath begun."
3901"Well, let them practise and converse with spirits:"
3902"God is our fortress, in whose conquering name"
3903"Let us resolve to scale their flinty bulwarks."
3904"Ascend, brave Talbot, we will follow thee."
3905"Not all together: better far, I guess,"
3906"That we do make our entrance several ways,"
3907"That, if it chance the one of us do fail,"
3908"The other yet may rise against their force."
3909"Agreed: I'll to yond corner."
3910"And I to this."
3911"And here will Talbot mount, or make his grave."
3912"Now, Salisbury, for thee, and for the right"
3913"Of English Henry, shall this night appear"
3914"How much in duty I am bound to both."
3915"Arm! arm! the enemy doth make assault!"
3916"Cry: 'St. George,' 'A Talbot.'"
3917"The French leap over the walls in their shirts.  Enter, several ways, the BASTARD OF ORLEANS, ALENCON, and REIGNIER, half ready, and half unready"
3918"How now, my lords! what, all unready so?"
3919"Unready! ay, and glad we 'scaped so well."
3920"'Twas time, I trow, to wake and leave our beds,"
3921"Hearing alarums at our chamber-doors."
3922"Of all exploits since first I follow'd arms,"
3923"Ne'er heard I of a warlike enterprise"
3924"More venturous or desperate than this."
3925"I think this Talbot be a fiend of hell."
3926"If not of hell, the heavens, sure, favour him."
3927"Here cometh Charles: I marvel how he sped."
3928"Tut, holy Joan was his defensive guard."
3929"Enter CHARLES and JOAN LA PUCELLE"
3930"Is this thy cunning, thou deceitful dame?"
3931"Didst thou at first, to flatter us withal,"
3932"Make us partakers of a little gain,"
3933"That now our loss might be ten times so much?"
3934"Wherefore is Charles impatient with his friend!"
3935"At all times will you have my power alike?"
3936"Sleeping or waking must I still prevail,"
3937"Or will you blame and lay the fault on me?"
3938"Improvident soldiers! had your watch been good,"
3939"This sudden mischief never could have fall'n."
3940"Duke of Alencon, this was your default,"
3941"That, being captain of the watch to-night,"
3942"Did look no better to that weighty charge."
3943"Had all your quarters been as safely kept"
3944"As that whereof I had the government,"
3945"We had not been thus shamefully surprised."
3946"Mine was secure."
3947"And so was mine, my lord."
3948"And, for myself, most part of all this night,"
3949"Within her quarter and mine own precinct"
3950"I was employ'd in passing to and fro,"
3951"About relieving of the sentinels:"
3952"Then how or which way should they first break in?"
3953"Question, my lords, no further of the case,"
3954"How or which way: 'tis sure they found some place"
3955"But weakly guarded, where the breach was made."
3956"And now there rests no other shift but this,"
3957"To gather our soldiers, scatter'd and dispersed,"
3958"And lay new platforms to endamage them."
3959"Alarum. Enter an English Soldier, crying 'A  Talbot! a Talbot!' They fly, leaving their clothes behind"
3960"I'll be so bold to take what they have left."
3961"The cry of Talbot serves me for a sword,"
3962"For I have loaden me with many spoils,"
3963"Using no other weapon but his name."
3964Exit
3965"SCENE II. Orleans. Within the town."
3966"Enter TALBOT, BEDFORD, BURGUNDY, a Captain, and others"
3967"The day begins to break, and night is fled,"
3968"Whose pitchy mantle over-veil'd the earth."
3969"Here sound retreat, and cease our hot pursuit."
3970"Retreat sounded"
3971"Bring forth the body of old Salisbury,"
3972"And here advance it in the market-place,"
3973"The middle centre of this cursed town."
3974"Now have I paid my vow unto his soul,"
3975"For every drop of blood was drawn from him,"
3976"There hath at least five Frenchmen died tonight."
3977"And that hereafter ages may behold"
3978"What ruin happen'd in revenge of him,"
3979"Within their chiefest temple I'll erect"
3980"A tomb, wherein his corpse shall be interr'd:"
3981"Upon the which, that every one may read,"
3982"Shall be engraved the sack of Orleans,"
3983"The treacherous manner of his mournful death"
3984"And what a terror he had been to France."
3985"But, lords, in all our bloody massacre,"
3986"I muse we met not with the Dauphin's grace,"
3987"His new-come champion, virtuous Joan of Arc,"
3988"Nor any of his false confederates."
3989"'Tis thought, Lord Talbot, when the fight began,"
3990"Roused on the sudden from their drowsy beds,"
3991"They did amongst the troops of armed men"
3992"Leap o'er the walls for refuge in the field."
3993"Myself, as far as I could well discern"
3994"For smoke and dusky vapours of the night,"
3995"Am sure I scared the Dauphin and his trull,"
3996"When arm in arm they both came swiftly running,"
3997"Like to a pair of loving turtle-doves"
3998"That could not live asunder day or night."
3999"After that things are set in order here,"
4000"We'll follow them with all the power we have."
4001"Enter a Messenger"
4002"All hail, my lords! which of this princely train"
4003"Call ye the warlike Talbot, for his acts"
4004"So much applauded through the realm of France?"
4005"Here is the Talbot: who would speak with him?"
4006"The virtuous lady, Countess of Auvergne,"
4007"With modesty admiring thy renown,"
4008"By me entreats, great lord, thou wouldst vouchsafe"
4009"To visit her poor castle where she lies,"
4010"That she may boast she hath beheld the man"
4011"Whose glory fills the world with loud report."
4012"Is it even so? Nay, then, I see our wars"
4013"Will turn unto a peaceful comic sport,"
4014"When ladies crave to be encounter'd with."
4015"You may not, my lord, despise her gentle suit."
4016"Ne'er trust me then, for when a world of men"
4017"Could not prevail with all their oratory,"
4018"Yet hath a woman's kindness over-ruled:"
4019"And therefore tell her I return great thanks,"
4020"And in submission will attend on her."
4021"Will not your honours bear me company?"
4022"No, truly, it is more than manners will:"
4023"And I have heard it said, unbidden guests"
4024"Are often welcomest when they are gone."
4025"Well then, alone, since there's no remedy,"
4026"I mean to prove this lady's courtesy."
4027"Come hither, captain."
4028Whispers
4029"You perceive my mind?"
4030"I do, my lord, and mean accordingly."
4031Exeunt
4032"SCENE III. Auvergne. The COUNTESS's castle."
4033"Enter the COUNTESS and her Porter"
4034COUNTESS
4035"Porter, remember what I gave in charge,"
4036"And when you have done so, bring the keys to me."
4037"Madam, I will."
4038Exit
4039COUNTESS
4040"The plot is laid: if all things fall out right,"
4041"I shall as famous be by this exploit"
4042"As Scythian Tomyris by Cyrus' death."
4043"Great is the rumor of this dreadful knight,"
4044"And his achievements of no less account:"
4045"Fain would mine eyes be witness with mine ears,"
4046"To give their censure of these rare reports."
4047"Enter Messenger and TALBOT"
4048Madam,
4049"According as your ladyship desired,"
4050"By message craved, so is Lord Talbot come."
4051COUNTESS
4052"And he is welcome. What! is this the man?"
4053"Madam, it is."
4054COUNTESS
4055"Is this the scourge of France?"
4056"Is this the Talbot, so much fear'd abroad"
4057"That with his name the mothers still their babes?"
4058"I see report is fabulous and false:"
4059"I thought I should have seen some Hercules,"
4060"A second Hector, for his grim aspect,"
4061"And large proportion of his strong-knit limbs."
4062"Alas, this is a child, a silly dwarf!"
4063"It cannot be this weak and writhled shrimp"
4064"Should strike such terror to his enemies."
4065"Madam, I have been bold to trouble you,"
4066"But since your ladyship is not at leisure,"
4067"I'll sort some other time to visit you."
4068COUNTESS
4069"What means he now? Go ask him whither he goes."
4070"Stay, my Lord Talbot, for my lady craves"
4071"To know the cause of your abrupt departure."
4072"Marry, for that she's in a wrong belief,"
4073"I go to certify her Talbot's here."
4074"Re-enter Porter with keys"
4075COUNTESS
4076"If thou be he, then art thou prisoner."
4077"Prisoner! to whom?"
4078COUNTESS
4079"To me, blood-thirsty lord,"
4080"And for that cause I trained thee to my house."
4081"Long time thy shadow hath been thrall to me,"
4082"For in my gallery thy picture hangs:"
4083"But now the substance shall endure the like,"
4084"And I will chain these legs and arms of thine,"
4085"That hast by tyranny these many years"
4086"Wasted our country, slain our citizens"
4087"And sent our sons and husbands captivate."
4088"Ha, ha, ha!"
4089COUNTESS
4090"Laughest thou, wretch? thy mirth shall turn to moan."
4091"I laugh to see your ladyship so fond"
4092"To think that you have aught but Talbot's shadow"
4093"Whereon to practise your severity."
4094COUNTESS
4095"Why, art not thou the man?"
4096"I am indeed."
4097COUNTESS
4098"Then have I substance too."
4099"No, no, I am but shadow of myself:"
4100"You are deceived, my substance is not here,"
4101"For what you see is but the smallest part"
4102"And least proportion of humanity:"
4103"I tell you, madam, were the whole frame here,"
4104"It is of such a spacious lofty pitch,"
4105"Your roof were not sufficient to contain't."
4106COUNTESS
4107"This is a riddling merchant for the nonce,"
4108"He will be here, and yet he is not here:"
4109"How can these contrarieties agree?"
4110"That will I show you presently."
4111"Winds his horn. Drums strike up: a peal of ordnance. Enter soldiers"
4112"How say you, madam? are you now persuaded"
4113"That Talbot is but shadow of himself?"
4114"These are his substance, sinews, arms and strength,"
4115"With which he yoketh your rebellious necks,"
4116"Razeth your cities and subverts your towns"
4117"And in a moment makes them desolate."
4118COUNTESS
4119"Victorious Talbot! pardon my abuse:"
4120"I find thou art no less than fame hath bruited"
4121"And more than may be gather'd by thy shape."
4122"Let my presumption not provoke thy wrath,"
4123"For I am sorry that with reverence"
4124"I did not entertain thee as thou art."
4125"Be not dismay'd, fair lady, nor misconstrue"
4126"The mind of Talbot, as you did mistake"
4127"The outward composition of his body."
4128"What you have done hath not offended me,"
4129"Nor other satisfaction do I crave,"
4130"But only, with your patience, that we may"
4131"Taste of your wine and see what cates you have,"
4132"For soldiers' stomachs always serve them well."
4133COUNTESS
4134"With all my heart, and think me honoured"
4135"To feast so great a warrior in my house."
4136Exeunt
4137"SCENE IV. London. The Temple-garden."
4138"Enter the Earls of SOMERSET, SUFFOLK, and WARWICK, RICHARD PLANTAGENET, VERNON, and another Lawyer"
4139RICHARD
4140"Great lords and gentlemen, what means this silence?"
4141"Dare no man answer in a case of truth?"
4142"Within the Temple-hall we were too loud,"
4143"The garden here is more convenient."
4144RICHARD
4145"Then say at once if I maintain'd the truth,"
4146"Or else was wrangling Somerset in the error?"
4147"Faith, I have been a truant in the law,"
4148"And never yet could frame my will to it,"
4149"And therefore frame the law unto my will."
4150"Judge you, my Lord of Warwick, then, between us."
4151"Between two hawks, which flies the higher pitch,"
4152"Between two dogs, which hath the deeper mouth,"
4153"Between two blades, which bears the better temper:"
4154"Between two horses, which doth bear him best,"
4155"Between two girls, which hath the merriest eye,"
4156"I have perhaps some shallow spirit of judgement,"
4157"But in these nice sharp quillets of the law,"
4158"Good faith, I am no wiser than a daw."
4159RICHARD
4160"Tut, tut, here is a mannerly forbearance:"
4161"The truth appears so naked on my side"
4162"That any purblind eye may find it out."
4163"And on my side it is so well apparell'd,"
4164"So clear, so shining and so evident"
4165"That it will glimmer through a blind man's eye."
4166RICHARD
4167"Since you are tongue-tied and so loath to speak,"
4168"In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts:"
4169"Let him that is a true-born gentleman"
4170"And stands upon the honour of his birth,"
4171"If he suppose that I have pleaded truth,"
4172"From off this brier pluck a white rose with me."
4173"Let him that is no coward nor no flatterer,"
4174"But dare maintain the party of the truth,"
4175"Pluck a red rose from off this thorn with me."
4176"I love no colours, and without all colour"
4177"Of base insinuating flattery"
4178"I pluck this white rose with Plantagenet."
4179"I pluck this red rose with young Somerset"
4180"And say withal I think he held the right."
4181"Stay, lords and gentlemen, and pluck no more,"
4182"Till you conclude that he upon whose side"
4183"The fewest roses are cropp'd from the tree"
4184"Shall yield the other in the right opinion."
4185"Good Master Vernon, it is well objected:"
4186"If I have fewest, I subscribe in silence."
4187RICHARD
4188"And I."
4189"Then for the truth and plainness of the case."
4190"I pluck this pale and maiden blossom here,"
4191"Giving my verdict on the white rose side."
4192"Prick not your finger as you pluck it off,"
4193"Lest bleeding you do paint the white rose red"
4194"And fall on my side so, against your will."
4195"If I my lord, for my opinion bleed,"
4196"Opinion shall be surgeon to my hurt"
4197"And keep me on the side where still I am."
4198"Well, well, come on: who else?"
4199"Unless my study and my books be false,"
4200"The argument you held was wrong in you:"
4201"To SOMERSET"
4202"In sign whereof I pluck a white rose too."
4203RICHARD
4204"Now, Somerset, where is your argument?"
4205"Here in my scabbard, meditating that"
4206"Shall dye your white rose in a bloody red."
4207RICHARD
4208"Meantime your cheeks do counterfeit our roses,"
4209"For pale they look with fear, as witnessing"
4210"The truth on our side."
4211"No, Plantagenet,"
4212"'Tis not for fear but anger that thy cheeks"
4213"Blush for pure shame to counterfeit our roses,"
4214"And yet thy tongue will not confess thy error."
4215RICHARD
4216"Hath not thy rose a canker, Somerset?"
4217"Hath not thy rose a thorn, Plantagenet?"
4218RICHARD
4219"Ay, sharp and piercing, to maintain his truth,"
4220"Whiles thy consuming canker eats his falsehood."
4221"Well, I'll find friends to wear my bleeding roses,"
4222"That shall maintain what I have said is true,"
4223"Where false Plantagenet dare not be seen."
4224RICHARD
4225"Now, by this maiden blossom in my hand,"
4226"I scorn thee and thy fashion, peevish boy."
4227"Turn not thy scorns this way, Plantagenet."
4228RICHARD
4229"Proud Pole, I will, and scorn both him and thee."
4230"I'll turn my part thereof into thy throat."
4231"Away, away, good William de la Pole!"
4232"We grace the yeoman by conversing with him."
4233"Now, by God's will, thou wrong'st him, Somerset,"
4234"His grandfather was Lionel Duke of Clarence,"
4235"Third son to the third Edward King of England:"
4236"Spring crestless yeomen from so deep a root?"
4237RICHARD
4238"He bears him on the place's privilege,"
4239"Or durst not, for his craven heart, say thus."
4240"By him that made me, I'll maintain my words"
4241"On any plot of ground in Christendom."
4242"Was not thy father, Richard Earl of Cambridge,"
4243"For treason executed in our late king's days?"
4244"And, by his treason, stand'st not thou attainted,"
4245"Corrupted, and exempt from ancient gentry?"
4246"His trespass yet lives guilty in thy blood,"
4247"And, till thou be restored, thou art a yeoman."
4248RICHARD
4249"My father was attached, not attainted,"
4250"Condemn'd to die for treason, but no traitor,"
4251"And that I'll prove on better men than Somerset,"
4252"Were growing time once ripen'd to my will."
4253"For your partaker Pole and you yourself,"
4254"I'll note you in my book of memory,"
4255"To scourge you for this apprehension:"
4256"Look to it well and say you are well warn'd."
4257"Ah, thou shalt find us ready for thee still,"
4258"And know us by these colours for thy foes,"
4259"For these my friends in spite of thee shall wear."
4260RICHARD
4261"And, by my soul, this pale and angry rose,"
4262"As cognizance of my blood-drinking hate,"
4263"Will I for ever and my faction wear,"
4264"Until it wither with me to my grave"
4265"Or flourish to the height of my degree."
4266"Go forward and be choked with thy ambition!"
4267"And so farewell until I meet thee next."
4268Exit
4269"Have with thee, Pole. Farewell, ambitious Richard."
4270Exit
4271RICHARD
4272"How I am braved and must perforce endure it!"
4273"This blot that they object against your house"
4274"Shall be wiped out in the next parliament"
4275"Call'd for the truce of Winchester and Gloucester,"
4276"And if thou be not then created York,"
4277"I will not live to be accounted Warwick."
4278"Meantime, in signal of my love to thee,"
4279"Against proud Somerset and William Pole,"
4280"Will I upon thy party wear this rose:"
4281"And here I prophesy: this brawl to-day,"
4282"Grown to this faction in the Temple-garden,"
4283"Shall send between the red rose and the white"
4284"A thousand souls to death and deadly night."
4285RICHARD
4286"Good Master Vernon, I am bound to you,"
4287"That you on my behalf would pluck a flower."
4288"In your behalf still will I wear the same."
4289"And so will I."
4290RICHARD
4291"Thanks, gentle sir."
4292"Come, let us four to dinner: I dare say"
4293"This quarrel will drink blood another day."
4294Exeunt
4295"SCENE V. The Tower of London."
4296"Enter MORTIMER, brought in a chair, and Gaolers"
4297"Kind keepers of my weak decaying age,"
4298"Let dying Mortimer here rest himself."
4299"Even like a man new haled from the rack,"
4300"So fare my limbs with long imprisonment."
4301"And these grey locks, the pursuivants of death,"
4302"Nestor-like aged in an age of care,"
4303"Argue the end of Edmund Mortimer."
4304"These eyes, like lamps whose wasting oil is spent,"
4305"Wax dim, as drawing to their exigent,"
4306"Weak shoulders, overborne with burthening grief,"
4307"And pithless arms, like to a wither'd vine"
4308"That droops his sapless branches to the ground,"
4309"Yet are these feet, whose strengthless stay is numb,"
4310"Unable to support this lump of clay,"
4311"Swift-winged with desire to get a grave,"
4312"As witting I no other comfort have."
4313"But tell me, keeper, will my nephew come?"
4314"Richard Plantagenet, my lord, will come:"
4315"We sent unto the Temple, unto his chamber,"
4316"And answer was return'd that he will come."
4317"Enough: my soul shall then be satisfied."
4318"Poor gentleman! his wrong doth equal mine."
4319"Since Henry Monmouth first began to reign,"
4320"Before whose glory I was great in arms,"
4321"This loathsome sequestration have I had:"
4322"And even since then hath Richard been obscured,"
4323"Deprived of honour and inheritance."
4324"But now the arbitrator of despairs,"
4325"Just death, kind umpire of men's miseries,"
4326"With sweet enlargement doth dismiss me hence:"
4327"I would his troubles likewise were expired,"
4328"That so he might recover what was lost."
4329"Enter RICHARD PLANTAGENET"
4330"My lord, your loving nephew now is come."
4331"Richard Plantagenet, my friend, is he come?"
4332RICHARD
4333"Ay, noble uncle, thus ignobly used,"
4334"Your nephew, late despised Richard, comes."
4335"Direct mine arms I may embrace his neck,"
4336"And in his bosom spend my latter gasp:"
4337"O, tell me when my lips do touch his cheeks,"
4338"That I may kindly give one fainting kiss."
4339"And now declare, sweet stem from York's great stock,"
4340"Why didst thou say, of late thou wert despised?"
4341RICHARD
4342"First, lean thine aged back against mine arm,"
4343"And, in that ease, I'll tell thee my disease."
4344"This day, in argument upon a case,"
4345"Some words there grew 'twixt Somerset and me,"
4346"Among which terms he used his lavish tongue"
4347"And did upbraid me with my father's death:"
4348"Which obloquy set bars before my tongue,"
4349"Else with the like I had requited him."
4350"Therefore, good uncle, for my father's sake,"
4351"In honour of a true Plantagenet"
4352"And for alliance sake, declare the cause"
4353"My father, Earl of Cambridge, lost his head."
4354"That cause, fair nephew, that imprison'd me"
4355"And hath detain'd me all my flowering youth"
4356"Within a loathsome dungeon, there to pine,"
4357"Was cursed instrument of his decease."
4358RICHARD
4359"Discover more at large what cause that was,"
4360"For I am ignorant and cannot guess."
4361"I will, if that my fading breath permit"
4362"And death approach not ere my tale be done."
4363"Henry the Fourth, grandfather to this king,"
4364"Deposed his nephew Richard, Edward's son,"
4365"The first-begotten and the lawful heir,"
4366"Of Edward king, the third of that descent:"
4367"During whose reign the Percies of the north,"
4368"Finding his usurpation most unjust,"
4369"Endeavor'd my advancement to the throne:"
4370"The reason moved these warlike lords to this"
4371"Was, for that--young King Richard thus removed,"
4372"Leaving no heir begotten of his body--"
4373"I was the next by birth and parentage,"
4374"For by my mother I derived am"
4375"From Lionel Duke of Clarence, the third son"
4376"To King Edward the Third, whereas he"
4377"From John of Gaunt doth bring his pedigree,"
4378"Being but fourth of that heroic line."
4379"But mark: as in this haughty attempt"
4380"They laboured to plant the rightful heir,"
4381"I lost my liberty and they their lives."
4382"Long after this, when Henry the Fifth,"
4383"Succeeding his father Bolingbroke, did reign,"
4384"Thy father, Earl of Cambridge, then derived"
4385"From famous Edmund Langley, Duke of York,"
4386"Marrying my sister that thy mother was,"
4387"Again in pity of my hard distress"
4388"Levied an army, weening to redeem"
4389"And have install'd me in the diadem:"
4390"But, as the rest, so fell that noble earl"
4391"And was beheaded. Thus the Mortimers,"
4392"In whom the tide rested, were suppress'd."
4393RICHARD
4394"Of which, my lord, your honour is the last."
4395"True, and thou seest that I no issue have"
4396"And that my fainting words do warrant death,"
4397"Thou art my heir, the rest I wish thee gather:"
4398"But yet be wary in thy studious care."
4399RICHARD
4400"Thy grave admonishments prevail with me:"
4401"But yet, methinks, my father's execution"
4402"Was nothing less than bloody tyranny."
4403"With silence, nephew, be thou politic:"
4404"Strong-fixed is the house of Lancaster,"
4405"And like a mountain, not to be removed."
4406"But now thy uncle is removing hence:"
4407"As princes do their courts, when they are cloy'd"
4408"With long continuance in a settled place."
4409RICHARD
4410"O, uncle, would some part of my young years"
4411"Might but redeem the passage of your age!"
4412"Thou dost then wrong me, as that slaughterer doth"
4413"Which giveth many wounds when one will kill."
4414"Mourn not, except thou sorrow for my good,"
4415"Only give order for my funeral:"
4416"And so farewell, and fair be all thy hopes"
4417"And prosperous be thy life in peace and war!"
4418Dies
4419RICHARD
4420"And peace, no war, befall thy parting soul!"
4421"In prison hast thou spent a pilgrimage"
4422"And like a hermit overpass'd thy days."
4423"Well, I will lock his counsel in my breast,"
4424"And what I do imagine let that rest."
4425"Keepers, convey him hence, and I myself"
4426"Will see his burial better than his life."
4427"Exeunt Gaolers, bearing out the body of MORTIMER"
4428"Here dies the dusky torch of Mortimer,"
4429"Choked with ambition of the meaner sort:"
4430"And for those wrongs, those bitter injuries,"
4431"Which Somerset hath offer'd to my house:"
4432"I doubt not but with honour to redress,"
4433"And therefore haste I to the parliament,"
4434"Either to be restored to my blood,"
4435"Or make my ill the advantage of my good."
4436Exit
4437"ACT III"
4438"SCENE I. London. The Parliament-house."
4439"Flourish. Enter KING HENRY VI, EXETER, GLOUCESTER,  WARWICK, SOMERSET, and SUFFOLK, the BISHOP OF  WINCHESTER, RICHARD PLANTAGENET, and others.  GLOUCESTER offers to put up a bill, BISHOP OF WINCHESTER snatches it, and tears it"
4440BISHOP
4441"Comest thou with deep premeditated lines,"
4442"With written pamphlets studiously devised,"
4443"Humphrey of Gloucester? If thou canst accuse,"
4444"Or aught intend'st to lay unto my charge,"
4445"Do it without invention, suddenly,"
4446"As I with sudden and extemporal speech"
4447"Purpose to answer what thou canst object."
4448"Presumptuous priest! this place commands my patience,"
4449"Or thou shouldst find thou hast dishonour'd me."
4450"Think not, although in writing I preferr'd"
4451"The manner of thy vile outrageous crimes,"
4452"That therefore I have forged, or am not able"
4453"Verbatim to rehearse the method of my pen:"
4454"No, prelate, such is thy audacious wickedness,"
4455"Thy lewd, pestiferous and dissentious pranks,"
4456"As very infants prattle of thy pride."
4457"Thou art a most pernicious usurer,"
4458"Forward by nature, enemy to peace,"
4459"Lascivious, wanton, more than well beseems"
4460"A man of thy profession and degree,"
4461"And for thy treachery, what's more manifest?"
4462"In that thou laid'st a trap to take my life,"
4463"As well at London bridge as at the Tower."
4464"Beside, I fear me, if thy thoughts were sifted,"
4465"The king, thy sovereign, is not quite exempt"
4466"From envious malice of thy swelling heart."
4467BISHOP
4468"Gloucester, I do defy thee. Lords, vouchsafe"
4469"To give me hearing what I shall reply."
4470"If I were covetous, ambitious or perverse,"
4471"As he will have me, how am I so poor?"
4472"Or how haps it I seek not to advance"
4473"Or raise myself, but keep my wonted calling?"
4474"And for dissension, who preferreth peace"
4475"More than I do?--except I be provoked."
4476"No, my good lords, it is not that offends,"
4477"It is not that that hath incensed the duke:"
4478"It is, because no one should sway but he,"
4479"No one but he should be about the king,"
4480"And that engenders thunder in his breast"
4481"And makes him roar these accusations forth."
4482"But he shall know I am as good--"
4483"As good!"
4484"Thou bastard of my grandfather!"
4485BISHOP
4486"Ay, lordly sir, for what are you, I pray,"
4487"But one imperious in another's throne?"
4488"Am I not protector, saucy priest?"
4489BISHOP
4490"And am not I a prelate of the church?"
4491"Yes, as an outlaw in a castle keeps"
4492"And useth it to patronage his theft."
4493BISHOP
4494"Unreverent Gloster!"
4495"Thou art reverent"
4496"Touching thy spiritual function, not thy life."
4497BISHOP
4498"Rome shall remedy this."
4499"Roam thither, then."
4500"My lord, it were your duty to forbear."
4501"Ay, see the bishop be not overborne."
4502"Methinks my lord should be religious"
4503"And know the office that belongs to such."
4504"Methinks his lordship should be humbler,"
4505"it fitteth not a prelate so to plead."
4506"Yes, when his holy state is touch'd so near."
4507"State holy or unhallow'd, what of that?"
4508"Is not his grace protector to the king?"
4509RICHARD
4510"[Aside]  Plantagenet, I see, must hold his tongue,"
4511"Lest it be said 'Speak, sirrah, when you should,"
4512"Must your bold verdict enter talk with lords?'"
4513"Else would I have a fling at Winchester."
4514"Uncles of Gloucester and of Winchester,"
4515"The special watchmen of our English weal,"
4516"I would prevail, if prayers might prevail,"
4517"To join your hearts in love and amity."
4518"O, what a scandal is it to our crown,"
4519"That two such noble peers as ye should jar!"
4520"Believe me, lords, my tender years can tell"
4521"Civil dissension is a viperous worm"
4522"That gnaws the bowels of the commonwealth."
4523"A noise within, 'Down with the tawny-coats!'"
4524"What tumult's this?"
4525"An uproar, I dare warrant,"
4526"Begun through malice of the bishop's men."
4527"A noise again, 'Stones! stones!' Enter Mayor"
4528"O, my good lords, and virtuous Henry,"
4529"Pity the city of London, pity us!"
4530"The bishop and the Duke of Gloucester's men,"
4531"Forbidden late to carry any weapon,"
4532"Have fill'd their pockets full of pebble stones"
4533"And banding themselves in contrary parts"
4534"Do pelt so fast at one another's pate"
4535"That many have their giddy brains knock'd out:"
4536"Our windows are broke down in every street"
4537"And we for fear compell'd to shut our shops."
4538"Enter Serving-men, in skirmish, with bloody pates"
4539"We charge you, on allegiance to ourself,"
4540"To hold your slaughtering hands and keep the peace."
4541"Pray, uncle Gloucester, mitigate this strife."
4542"First Serving-man	Nay, if we be forbidden stones,"
4543"We'll fall to it with our teeth."
4544"Second Serving-man	Do what ye dare, we are as resolute."
4545"Skirmish again"
4546"You of my household, leave this peevish broil"
4547"And set this unaccustom'd fight aside."
4548"Third Serving-man	My lord, we know your grace to be a man"
4549"Just and upright, and, for your royal birth,"
4550"Inferior to none but to his majesty:"
4551"And ere that we will suffer such a prince,"
4552"So kind a father of the commonweal,"
4553"To be disgraced by an inkhorn mate,"
4554"We and our wives and children all will fight"
4555"And have our bodies slaughtered by thy foes."
4556"First Serving-man	Ay, and the very parings of our nails"
4557"Shall pitch a field when we are dead."
4558"Begin again"
4559"Stay, stay, I say!"
4560"And if you love me, as you say you do,"
4561"Let me persuade you to forbear awhile."
4562"O, how this discord doth afflict my soul!"
4563"Can you, my Lord of Winchester, behold"
4564"My sighs and tears and will not once relent?"
4565"Who should be pitiful, if you be not?"
4566"Or who should study to prefer a peace."
4567"If holy churchmen take delight in broils?"
4568"Yield, my lord protector, yield, Winchester,"
4569"Except you mean with obstinate repulse"
4570"To slay your sovereign and destroy the realm."
4571"You see what mischief and what murder too"
4572"Hath been enacted through your enmity,"
4573"Then be at peace except ye thirst for blood."
4574BISHOP
4575"He shall submit, or I will never yield."
4576"Compassion on the king commands me stoop,"
4577"Or I would see his heart out, ere the priest"
4578"Should ever get that privilege of me."
4579"Behold, my Lord of Winchester, the duke"
4580"Hath banish'd moody discontented fury,"
4581"As by his smoothed brows it doth appear:"
4582"Why look you still so stern and tragical?"
4583"Here, Winchester, I offer thee my hand."
4584"Fie, uncle Beaufort! I have heard you preach"
4585"That malice was a great and grievous sin,"
4586"And will not you maintain the thing you teach,"
4587"But prove a chief offender in the same?"
4588"Sweet king! the bishop hath a kindly gird."
4589"For shame, my lord of Winchester, relent!"
4590"What, shall a child instruct you what to do?"
4591BISHOP
4592"Well, Duke of Gloucester, I will yield to thee,"
4593"Love for thy love and hand for hand I give."
4594"[Aside]  Ay, but, I fear me, with a hollow heart.--"
4595"See here, my friends and loving countrymen,"
4596"This token serveth for a flag of truce"
4597"Betwixt ourselves and all our followers:"
4598"So help me God, as I dissemble not!"
4599BISHOP
4600"[Aside]  So help me God, as I intend it not!"
4601"O, loving uncle, kind Duke of Gloucester,"
4602"How joyful am I made by this contract!"
4603"Away, my masters! trouble us no more,"
4604"But join in friendship, as your lords have done."
4605"First Serving-man	Content: I'll to the surgeon's."
4606"Second Serving-man	And so will I."
4607"Third Serving-man	And I will see what physic the tavern affords."
4608"Exeunt Serving-men, Mayor,  and c"
4609"Accept this scroll, most gracious sovereign,"
4610"Which in the right of Richard Plantagenet"
4611"We do exhibit to your majesty."
4612"Well urged, my Lord of Warwick: or sweet prince,"
4613"And if your grace mark every circumstance,"
4614"You have great reason to do Richard right,"
4615"Especially for those occasions"
4616"At Eltham Place I told your majesty."
4617"And those occasions, uncle, were of force:"
4618"Therefore, my loving lords, our pleasure is"
4619"That Richard be restored to his blood."
4620"Let Richard be restored to his blood,"
4621"So shall his father's wrongs be recompensed."
4622BISHOP
4623"As will the rest, so willeth Winchester."
4624"If Richard will be true, not that alone"
4625"But all the whole inheritance I give"
4626"That doth belong unto the house of York,"
4627"From whence you spring by lineal descent."
4628RICHARD
4629"Thy humble servant vows obedience"
4630"And humble service till the point of death."
4631"Stoop then and set your knee against my foot,"
4632"And, in reguerdon of that duty done,"
4633"I gird thee with the valiant sword of York:"
4634"Rise Richard, like a true Plantagenet,"
4635"And rise created princely Duke of York."
4636RICHARD
4637"And so thrive Richard as thy foes may fall!"
4638"And as my duty springs, so perish they"
4639"That grudge one thought against your majesty!"
4640"Welcome, high prince, the mighty Duke of York!"
4641"[Aside]  Perish, base prince, ignoble Duke of York!"
4642"Now will it best avail your majesty"
4643"To cross the seas and to be crown'd in France:"
4644"The presence of a king engenders love"
4645"Amongst his subjects and his loyal friends,"
4646"As it disanimates his enemies."
4647"When Gloucester says the word, King Henry goes,"
4648"For friendly counsel cuts off many foes."
4649"Your ships already are in readiness."
4650"Sennet. Flourish. Exeunt all but EXETER"
4651"Ay, we may march in England or in France,"
4652"Not seeing what is likely to ensue."
4653"This late dissension grown betwixt the peers"
4654"Burns under feigned ashes of forged love"
4655"And will at last break out into a flame:"
4656"As fester'd members rot but by degree,"
4657"Till bones and flesh and sinews fall away,"
4658"So will this base and envious discord breed."
4659"And now I fear that fatal prophecy"
4660"Which in the time of Henry named the Fifth"
4661"Was in the mouth of every sucking babe,"
4662"That Henry born at Monmouth should win all"
4663"And Henry born at Windsor lose all:"
4664"Which is so plain that Exeter doth wish"
4665"His days may finish ere that hapless time."
4666Exit
4667"SCENE II. France. Before Rouen."
4668"Enter JOAN LA PUCELLE disguised, with four Soldiers with sacks upon their backs"
4669"These are the city gates, the gates of Rouen,"
4670"Through which our policy must make a breach:"
4671"Take heed, be wary how you place your words,"
4672"Talk like the vulgar sort of market men"
4673"That come to gather money for their corn."
4674"If we have entrance, as I hope we shall,"
4675"And that we find the slothful watch but weak,"
4676"I'll by a sign give notice to our friends,"
4677"That Charles the Dauphin may encounter them."
4678"Our sacks shall be a mean to sack the city,"
4679"And we be lords and rulers over Rouen,"
4680"Therefore we'll knock."
4681Knocks
4682"[Within]  Qui est la?"
4683"Paysans, pauvres gens de France,"
4684"Poor market folks that come to sell their corn."
4685"Enter, go in, the market bell is rung."
4686"Now, Rouen, I'll shake thy bulwarks to the ground."
4687Exeunt
4688"Enter CHARLES, the BASTARD OF ORLEANS, ALENCON, REIGNIER, and forces"
4689"Saint Denis bless this happy stratagem!"
4690"And once again we'll sleep secure in Rouen."
4691"Here enter'd Pucelle and her practisants,"
4692"Now she is there, how will she specify"
4693"Where is the best and safest passage in?"
4694"By thrusting out a torch from yonder tower,"
4695"Which, once discern'd, shows that her meaning is,"
4696"No way to that, for weakness, which she enter'd."
4697"Enter JOAN LA PUCELLE on the top, thrusting out a torch burning"
4698"Behold, this is the happy wedding torch"
4699"That joineth Rouen unto her countrymen,"
4700"But burning fatal to the Talbotites!"
4701Exit
4702"See, noble Charles, the beacon of our friend,"
4703"The burning torch in yonder turret stands."
4704"Now shine it like a comet of revenge,"
4705"A prophet to the fall of all our foes!"
4706"Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends,"
4707"Enter, and cry 'The Dauphin!' presently,"
4708"And then do execution on the watch."
4709"Alarum. Exeunt"
4710"An alarum. Enter TALBOT in an excursion"
4711"France, thou shalt rue this treason with thy tears,"
4712"If Talbot but survive thy treachery."
4713"Pucelle, that witch, that damned sorceress,"
4714"Hath wrought this hellish mischief unawares,"
4715"That hardly we escaped the pride of France."
4716Exit
4717"An alarum: excursions. BEDFORD, brought in sick  in a chair. Enter TALBOT and BURGUNDY without:  within JOAN LA PUCELLE, CHARLES, BASTARD OF ORLEANS, ALENCON, and REIGNIER, on the walls"
4718"Good morrow, gallants! want ye corn for bread?"
4719"I think the Duke of Burgundy will fast"
4720"Before he'll buy again at such a rate:"
4721"'Twas full of darnel, do you like the taste?"
4722"Scoff on, vile fiend and shameless courtezan!"
4723"I trust ere long to choke thee with thine own"
4724"And make thee curse the harvest of that corn."
4725"Your grace may starve perhaps before that time."
4726"O, let no words, but deeds, revenge this treason!"
4727"What will you do, good grey-beard? break a lance,"
4728"And run a tilt at death within a chair?"
4729"Foul fiend of France, and hag of all despite,"
4730"Encompass'd with thy lustful paramours!"
4731"Becomes it thee to taunt his valiant age"
4732"And twit with cowardice a man half dead?"
4733"Damsel, I'll have a bout with you again,"
4734"Or else let Talbot perish with this shame."
4735"Are ye so hot, sir? yet, Pucelle, hold thy peace,"
4736"If Talbot do but thunder, rain will follow."
4737"The English whisper together in council"
4738"God speed the parliament! who shall be the speaker?"
4739"Dare ye come forth and meet us in the field?"
4740"Belike your lordship takes us then for fools,"
4741"To try if that our own be ours or no."
4742"I speak not to that railing Hecate,"
4743"But unto thee, Alencon, and the rest,"
4744"Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out?"
4745"Signior, no."
4746"Signior, hang! base muleters of France!"
4747"Like peasant foot-boys do they keep the walls"
4748"And dare not take up arms like gentlemen."
4749"Away, captains! let's get us from the walls,"
4750"For Talbot means no goodness by his looks."
4751"God be wi' you, my lord! we came but to tell you"
4752"That we are here."
4753"Exeunt from the walls"
4754"And there will we be too, ere it be long,"
4755"Or else reproach be Talbot's greatest fame!"
4756"Vow, Burgundy, by honour of thy house,"
4757"Prick'd on by public wrongs sustain'd in France,"
4758"Either to get the town again or die:"
4759"And I, as sure as English Henry lives"
4760"And as his father here was conqueror,"
4761"As sure as in this late-betrayed town"
4762"Great Coeur-de-lion's heart was buried,"
4763"So sure I swear to get the town or die."
4764"My vows are equal partners with thy vows."
4765"But, ere we go, regard this dying prince,"
4766"The valiant Duke of Bedford. Come, my lord,"
4767"We will bestow you in some better place,"
4768"Fitter for sickness and for crazy age."
4769"Lord Talbot, do not so dishonour me:"
4770"Here will I sit before the walls of Rouen"
4771"And will be partner of your weal or woe."
4772"Courageous Bedford, let us now persuade you."
4773"Not to be gone from hence, for once I read"
4774"That stout Pendragon in his litter sick"
4775"Came to the field and vanquished his foes:"
4776"Methinks I should revive the soldiers' hearts,"
4777"Because I ever found them as myself."
4778"Undaunted spirit in a dying breast!"
4779"Then be it so: heavens keep old Bedford safe!"
4780"And now no more ado, brave Burgundy,"
4781"But gather we our forces out of hand"
4782"And set upon our boasting enemy."
4783"Exeunt all but BEDFORD and Attendants"
4784"An alarum: excursions. Enter FASTOLFE and a Captain"
4785"Whither away, Sir John Fastolfe, in such haste?"
4786"Whither away! to save myself by flight:"
4787"We are like to have the overthrow again."
4788"What! will you fly, and leave Lord Talbot?"
4789Ay,
4790"All the Talbots in the world, to save my life!"
4791Exit
4792"Cowardly knight! ill fortune follow thee!"
4793Exit
4794"Retreat: excursions. JOAN LA PUCELLE, ALENCON, and CHARLES fly"
4795"Now, quiet soul, depart when heaven please,"
4796"For I have seen our enemies' overthrow."
4797"What is the trust or strength of foolish man?"
4798"They that of late were daring with their scoffs"
4799"Are glad and fain by flight to save themselves."
4800"BEDFORD dies, and is carried in by two in his chair"
4801"An alarum. Re-enter TALBOT, BURGUNDY, and the rest"
4802"Lost, and recover'd in a day again!"
4803"This is a double honour, Burgundy:"
4804"Yet heavens have glory for this victory!"
4805"Warlike and martial Talbot, Burgundy"
4806"Enshrines thee in his heart and there erects"
4807"Thy noble deeds as valour's monuments."
4808"Thanks, gentle duke. But where is Pucelle now?"
4809"I think her old familiar is asleep:"
4810"Now where's the Bastard's braves, and Charles his gleeks?"
4811"What, all amort? Rouen hangs her head for grief"
4812"That such a valiant company are fled."
4813"Now will we take some order in the town,"
4814"Placing therein some expert officers,"
4815"And then depart to Paris to the king,"
4816"For there young Henry with his nobles lie."
4817"What wills Lord Talbot pleaseth Burgundy."
4818"But yet, before we go, let's not forget"
4819"The noble Duke of Bedford late deceased,"
4820"But see his exequies fulfill'd in Rouen:"
4821"A braver soldier never couched lance,"
4822"A gentler heart did never sway in court,"
4823"But kings and mightiest potentates must die,"
4824"For that's the end of human misery."
4825Exeunt
4826"SCENE III. The plains near Rouen."
4827"Enter CHARLES, the BASTARD OF ORLEANS, ALENCON, JOAN LA PUCELLE, and forces"
4828"Dismay not, princes, at this accident,"
4829"Nor grieve that Rouen is so recovered:"
4830"Care is no cure, but rather corrosive,"
4831"For things that are not to be remedied."
4832"Let frantic Talbot triumph for a while"
4833"And like a peacock sweep along his tail,"
4834"We'll pull his plumes and take away his train,"
4835"If Dauphin and the rest will be but ruled."
4836"We have been guided by thee hitherto,"
4837"And of thy cunning had no diffidence:"
4838"One sudden foil shall never breed distrust."
4839"Search out thy wit for secret policies,"
4840"And we will make thee famous through the world."
4841"We'll set thy statue in some holy place,"
4842"And have thee reverenced like a blessed saint:"
4843"Employ thee then, sweet virgin, for our good."
4844"Then thus it must be, this doth Joan devise:"
4845"By fair persuasions mix'd with sugar'd words"
4846"We will entice the Duke of Burgundy"
4847"To leave the Talbot and to follow us."
4848"Ay, marry, sweeting, if we could do that,"
4849"France were no place for Henry's warriors,"
4850"Nor should that nation boast it so with us,"
4851"But be extirped from our provinces."
4852"For ever should they be expulsed from France"
4853"And not have title of an earldom here."
4854"Your honours shall perceive how I will work"
4855"To bring this matter to the wished end."
4856"Drum sounds afar off"
4857"Hark! by the sound of drum you may perceive"
4858"Their powers are marching unto Paris-ward."
4859"Here sound an English march. Enter, and pass over at a distance, TALBOT and his forces"
4860"There goes the Talbot, with his colours spread,"
4861"And all the troops of English after him."
4862"French march. Enter BURGUNDY and forces"
4863"Now in the rearward comes the duke and his:"
4864"Fortune in favour makes him lag behind."
4865"Summon a parley, we will talk with him."
4866"Trumpets sound a parley"
4867"A parley with the Duke of Burgundy!"
4868"Who craves a parley with the Burgundy?"
4869"The princely Charles of France, thy countryman."
4870"What say'st thou, Charles? for I am marching hence."
4871"Speak, Pucelle, and enchant him with thy words."
4872"Brave Burgundy, undoubted hope of France!"
4873"Stay, let thy humble handmaid speak to thee."
4874"Speak on, but be not over-tedious."
4875"Look on thy country, look on fertile France,"
4876"And see the cities and the towns defaced"
4877"By wasting ruin of the cruel foe."
4878"As looks the mother on her lowly babe"
4879"When death doth close his tender dying eyes,"
4880"See, see the pining malady of France,"
4881"Behold the wounds, the most unnatural wounds,"
4882"Which thou thyself hast given her woful breast."
4883"O, turn thy edged sword another way,"
4884"Strike those that hurt, and hurt not those that help."
4885"One drop of blood drawn from thy country's bosom"
4886"Should grieve thee more than streams of foreign gore:"
4887"Return thee therefore with a flood of tears,"
4888"And wash away thy country's stained spots."
4889"Either she hath bewitch'd me with her words,"
4890"Or nature makes me suddenly relent."
4891"Besides, all French and France exclaims on thee,"
4892"Doubting thy birth and lawful progeny."
4893"Who joint'st thou with but with a lordly nation"
4894"That will not trust thee but for profit's sake?"
4895"When Talbot hath set footing once in France"
4896"And fashion'd thee that instrument of ill,"
4897"Who then but English Henry will be lord"
4898"And thou be thrust out like a fugitive?"
4899"Call we to mind, and mark but this for proof,"
4900"Was not the Duke of Orleans thy foe?"
4901"And was he not in England prisoner?"
4902"But when they heard he was thine enemy,"
4903"They set him free without his ransom paid,"
4904"In spite of Burgundy and all his friends."
4905"See, then, thou fight'st against thy countrymen"
4906"And joint'st with them will be thy slaughtermen."
4907"Come, come, return, return, thou wandering lord:"
4908"Charles and the rest will take thee in their arms."
4909"I am vanquished, these haughty words of hers"
4910"Have batter'd me like roaring cannon-shot,"
4911"And made me almost yield upon my knees."
4912"Forgive me, country, and sweet countrymen,"
4913"And, lords, accept this hearty kind embrace:"
4914"My forces and my power of men are yours:"
4915"So farewell, Talbot, I'll no longer trust thee."
4916"[Aside]  Done like a Frenchman: turn, and turn again!"
4917"Welcome, brave duke! thy friendship makes us fresh."
4918"And doth beget new courage in our breasts."
4919"Pucelle hath bravely play'd her part in this,"
4920"And doth deserve a coronet of gold."
4921"Now let us on, my lords, and join our powers,"
4922"And seek how we may prejudice the foe."
4923Exeunt
4924"SCENE IV. Paris. The palace."
4925"Enter KING HENRY VI, GLOUCESTER, BISHOP OF  WINCHESTER, YORK, SUFFOLK, SOMERSET, WARWICK,  EXETER, VERNON	BASSET, and others. To them with his Soldiers, TALBOT"
4926"My gracious prince, and honourable peers,"
4927"Hearing of your arrival in this realm,"
4928"I have awhile given truce unto my wars,"
4929"To do my duty to my sovereign:"
4930"In sign, whereof, this arm, that hath reclaim'd"
4931"To your obedience fifty fortresses,"
4932"Twelve cities and seven walled towns of strength,"
4933"Beside five hundred prisoners of esteem,"
4934"Lets fall his sword before your highness' feet,"
4935"And with submissive loyalty of heart"
4936"Ascribes the glory of his conquest got"
4937"First to my God and next unto your grace."
4938Kneels
4939"Is this the Lord Talbot, uncle Gloucester,"
4940"That hath so long been resident in France?"
4941"Yes, if it please your majesty, my liege."
4942"Welcome, brave captain and victorious lord!"
4943"When I was young, as yet I am not old,"
4944"I do remember how my father said"
4945"A stouter champion never handled sword."
4946"Long since we were resolved of your truth,"
4947"Your faithful service and your toil in war,"
4948"Yet never have you tasted our reward,"
4949"Or been reguerdon'd with so much as thanks,"
4950"Because till now we never saw your face:"
4951"Therefore, stand up, and, for these good deserts,"
4952"We here create you Earl of Shrewsbury,"
4953"And in our coronation take your place."
4954"Sennet. Flourish. Exeunt all but VERNON and BASSET"
4955"Now, sir, to you, that were so hot at sea,"
4956"Disgracing of these colours that I wear"
4957"In honour of my noble Lord of York:"
4958"Darest thou maintain the former words thou spakest?"
4959"Yes, sir, as well as you dare patronage"
4960"The envious barking of your saucy tongue"
4961"Against my lord the Duke of Somerset."
4962"Sirrah, thy lord I honour as he is."
4963"Why, what is he? as good a man as York."
4964"Hark ye, not so: in witness, take ye that."
4965"Strikes him"
4966"Villain, thou know'st the law of arms is such"
4967"That whoso draws a sword, 'tis present death,"
4968"Or else this blow should broach thy dearest blood."
4969"But I'll unto his majesty, and crave"
4970"I may have liberty to venge this wrong,"
4971"When thou shalt see I'll meet thee to thy cost."
4972"Well, miscreant, I'll be there as soon as you,"
4973"And, after, meet you sooner than you would."
4974Exeunt
4975"ACT IV"
4976"SCENE I. Paris. A hall of state."
4977"Enter KING HENRY VI, GLOUCESTER, BISHOP OF  WINCHESTER, YORK, SUFFOLK, SOMERSET, WARWICK, TALBOT, EXETER, the Governor, of Paris, and others"
4978"Lord bishop, set the crown upon his head."
4979BISHOP
4980"God save King Henry, of that name the sixth!"
4981"Now, governor of Paris, take your oath,"
4982"That you elect no other king but him,"
4983"Esteem none friends but such as are his friends,"
4984"And none your foes but such as shall pretend"
4985"Malicious practises against his state:"
4986"This shall ye do, so help you righteous God!"
4987"Enter FASTOLFE"
4988"My gracious sovereign, as I rode from Calais,"
4989"To haste unto your coronation,"
4990"A letter was deliver'd to my hands,"
4991"Writ to your grace from the Duke of Burgundy."
4992"Shame to the Duke of Burgundy and thee!"
4993"I vow'd, base knight, when I did meet thee next,"
4994"To tear the garter from thy craven's leg,"
4995"Plucking it off"
4996"Which I have done, because unworthily"
4997"Thou wast installed in that high degree."
4998"Pardon me, princely Henry, and the rest"
4999"This dastard, at the battle of Patay,"
5000"When but in all I was six thousand strong"
5001"And that the French were almost ten to one,"
5002"Before we met or that a stroke was given,"
5003"Like to a trusty squire did run away:"
5004"In which assault we lost twelve hundred men,"
5005"Myself and divers gentlemen beside"
5006"Were there surprised and taken prisoners."
5007"Then judge, great lords, if I have done amiss,"
5008"Or whether that such cowards ought to wear"
5009"This ornament of knighthood, yea or no."
5010"To say the truth, this fact was infamous"
5011"And ill beseeming any common man,"
5012"Much more a knight, a captain and a leader."
5013"When first this order was ordain'd, my lords,"
5014"Knights of the garter were of noble birth,"
5015"Valiant and virtuous, full of haughty courage,"
5016"Such as were grown to credit by the wars,"
5017"Not fearing death, nor shrinking for distress,"
5018"But always resolute in most extremes."
5019"He then that is not furnish'd in this sort"
5020"Doth but usurp the sacred name of knight,"
5021"Profaning this most honourable order,"
5022"And should, if I were worthy to be judge,"
5023"Be quite degraded, like a hedge-born swain"
5024"That doth presume to boast of gentle blood."
5025"Stain to thy countrymen, thou hear'st thy doom!"
5026"Be packing, therefore, thou that wast a knight:"
5027"Henceforth we banish thee, on pain of death."
5028"Exit FASTOLFE"
5029"And now, my lord protector, view the letter"
5030"Sent from our uncle Duke of Burgundy."
5031"What means his grace, that he hath changed his style?"
5032"No more but, plain and bluntly, 'To the king!'"
5033"Hath he forgot he is his sovereign?"
5034"Or doth this churlish superscription"
5035"Pretend some alteration in good will?"
5036"What's here?"
5037Reads
5038"'I have, upon especial cause,"
5039"Moved with compassion of my country's wreck,"
5040"Together with the pitiful complaints"
5041"Of such as your oppression feeds upon,"
5042"Forsaken your pernicious faction"
5043"And join'd with Charles, the rightful King of France.'"
5044"O monstrous treachery! can this be so,"
5045"That in alliance, amity and oaths,"
5046"There should be found such false dissembling guile?"
5047"What! doth my uncle Burgundy revolt?"
5048"He doth, my lord, and is become your foe."
5049"Is that the worst this letter doth contain?"
5050"It is the worst, and all, my lord, he writes."
5051"Why, then, Lord Talbot there shall talk with him"
5052"And give him chastisement for this abuse."
5053"How say you, my lord? are you not content?"
5054"Content, my liege! yes, but that I am prevented,"
5055"I should have begg'd I might have been employ'd."
5056"Then gather strength and march unto him straight:"
5057"Let him perceive how ill we brook his treason"
5058"And what offence it is to flout his friends."
5059"I go, my lord, in heart desiring still"
5060"You may behold confusion of your foes."
5061Exit
5062"Enter VERNON and BASSET"
5063"Grant me the combat, gracious sovereign."
5064"And me, my lord, grant me the combat too."
5065"This is my servant: hear him, noble prince."
5066"And this is mine: sweet Henry, favour him."
5067"Be patient, lords, and give them leave to speak."
5068"Say, gentlemen, what makes you thus exclaim?"
5069"And wherefore crave you combat? or with whom?"
5070"With him, my lord, for he hath done me wrong."
5071"And I with him, for he hath done me wrong."
5072"What is that wrong whereof you both complain?"
5073"First let me know, and then I'll answer you."
5074"Crossing the sea from England into France,"
5075"This fellow here, with envious carping tongue,"
5076"Upbraided me about the rose I wear,"
5077"Saying, the sanguine colour of the leaves"
5078"Did represent my master's blushing cheeks,"
5079"When stubbornly he did repugn the truth"
5080"About a certain question in the law"
5081"Argued betwixt the Duke of York and him,"
5082"With other vile and ignominious terms:"
5083"In confutation of which rude reproach"
5084"And in defence of my lord's worthiness,"
5085"I crave the benefit of law of arms."
5086"And that is my petition, noble lord:"
5087"For though he seem with forged quaint conceit"
5088"To set a gloss upon his bold intent,"
5089"Yet know, my lord, I was provoked by him,"
5090"And he first took exceptions at this badge,"
5091"Pronouncing that the paleness of this flower"
5092"Bewray'd the faintness of my master's heart."
5093"Will not this malice, Somerset, be left?"
5094"Your private grudge, my Lord of York, will out,"
5095"Though ne'er so cunningly you smother it."
5096"Good Lord, what madness rules in brainsick men,"
5097"When for so slight and frivolous a cause"
5098"Such factious emulations shall arise!"
5099"Good cousins both, of York and Somerset,"
5100"Quiet yourselves, I pray, and be at peace."
5101"Let this dissension first be tried by fight,"
5102"And then your highness shall command a peace."
5103"The quarrel toucheth none but us alone,"
5104"Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then."
5105"There is my pledge, accept it, Somerset."
5106"Nay, let it rest where it began at first."
5107"Confirm it so, mine honourable lord."
5108"Confirm it so! Confounded be your strife!"
5109"And perish ye, with your audacious prate!"
5110"Presumptuous vassals, are you not ashamed"
5111"With this immodest clamorous outrage"
5112"To trouble and disturb the king and us?"
5113"And you, my lords, methinks you do not well"
5114"To bear with their perverse objections,"
5115"Much less to take occasion from their mouths"
5116"To raise a mutiny betwixt yourselves:"
5117"Let me persuade you take a better course."
5118"It grieves his highness: good my lords, be friends."
5119"Come hither, you that would be combatants:"
5120"Henceforth I charge you, as you love our favour,"
5121"Quite to forget this quarrel and the cause."
5122"And you, my lords, remember where we are,"
5123"In France, amongst a fickle wavering nation:"
5124"If they perceive dissension in our looks"
5125"And that within ourselves we disagree,"
5126"How will their grudging stomachs be provoked"
5127"To wilful disobedience, and rebel!"
5128"Beside, what infamy will there arise,"
5129"When foreign princes shall be certified"
5130"That for a toy, a thing of no regard,"
5131"King Henry's peers and chief nobility"
5132"Destroy'd themselves, and lost the realm of France!"
5133"O, think upon the conquest of my father,"
5134"My tender years, and let us not forego"
5135"That for a trifle that was bought with blood"
5136"Let me be umpire in this doubtful strife."
5137"I see no reason, if I wear this rose,"
5138"Putting on a red rose"
5139"That any one should therefore be suspicious"
5140"I more incline to Somerset than York:"
5141"Both are my kinsmen, and I love them both:"
5142"As well they may upbraid me with my crown,"
5143"Because, forsooth, the king of Scots is crown'd."
5144"But your discretions better can persuade"
5145"Than I am able to instruct or teach:"
5146"And therefore, as we hither came in peace,"
5147"So let us still continue peace and love."
5148"Cousin of York, we institute your grace"
5149"To be our regent in these parts of France:"
5150"And, good my Lord of Somerset, unite"
5151"Your troops of horsemen with his bands of foot,"
5152"And, like true subjects, sons of your progenitors,"
5153"Go cheerfully together and digest."
5154"Your angry choler on your enemies."
5155"Ourself, my lord protector and the rest"
5156"After some respite will return to Calais,"
5157"From thence to England, where I hope ere long"
5158"To be presented, by your victories,"
5159"With Charles, Alencon and that traitorous rout."
5160"Flourish. Exeunt all but YORK, WARWICK, EXETER and VERNON"
5161"My Lord of York, I promise you, the king"
5162"Prettily, methought, did play the orator."
5163"And so he did, but yet I like it not,"
5164"In that he wears the badge of Somerset."
5165"Tush, that was but his fancy, blame him not,"
5166"I dare presume, sweet prince, he thought no harm."
5167"An if I wist he did,--but let it rest,"
5168"Other affairs must now be managed."
5169"Exeunt all but EXETER"
5170"Well didst thou, Richard, to suppress thy voice,"
5171"For, had the passions of thy heart burst out,"
5172"I fear we should have seen decipher'd there"
5173"More rancorous spite, more furious raging broils,"
5174"Than yet can be imagined or supposed."
5175"But howsoe'er, no simple man that sees"
5176"This jarring discord of nobility,"
5177"This shouldering of each other in the court,"
5178"This factious bandying of their favourites,"
5179"But that it doth presage some ill event."
5180"'Tis much when sceptres are in children's hands,"
5181"But more when envy breeds unkind division,"
5182"There comes the rain, there begins confusion."
5183Exit
5184"SCENE II. Before Bourdeaux."
5185"Enter TALBOT, with trump and drum"
5186"Go to the gates of Bourdeaux, trumpeter:"
5187"Summon their general unto the wall."
5188"Trumpet sounds. Enter General and others, aloft"
5189"English John Talbot, captains, calls you forth,"
5190"Servant in arms to Harry King of England,"
5191"And thus he would: Open your city gates,"
5192"Be humble to us, call my sovereign yours,"
5193"And do him homage as obedient subjects,"
5194"And I'll withdraw me and my bloody power:"
5195"But, if you frown upon this proffer'd peace,"
5196"You tempt the fury of my three attendants,"
5197"Lean famine, quartering steel, and climbing fire,"
5198"Who in a moment even with the earth"
5199"Shall lay your stately and air-braving towers,"
5200"If you forsake the offer of their love."
5201"Thou ominous and fearful owl of death,"
5202"Our nation's terror and their bloody scourge!"
5203"The period of thy tyranny approacheth."
5204"On us thou canst not enter but by death,"
5205"For, I protest, we are well fortified"
5206"And strong enough to issue out and fight:"
5207"If thou retire, the Dauphin, well appointed,"
5208"Stands with the snares of war to tangle thee:"
5209"On either hand thee there are squadrons pitch'd,"
5210"To wall thee from the liberty of flight,"
5211"And no way canst thou turn thee for redress,"
5212"But death doth front thee with apparent spoil"
5213"And pale destruction meets thee in the face."
5214"Ten thousand French have ta'en the sacrament"
5215"To rive their dangerous artillery"
5216"Upon no Christian soul but English Talbot."
5217"Lo, there thou stand'st, a breathing valiant man,"
5218"Of an invincible unconquer'd spirit!"
5219"This is the latest glory of thy praise"
5220"That I, thy enemy, due thee withal,"
5221"For ere the glass, that now begins to run,"
5222"Finish the process of his sandy hour,"
5223"These eyes, that see thee now well coloured,"
5224"Shall see thee wither'd, bloody, pale and dead."
5225"Drum afar off"
5226"Hark! hark! the Dauphin's drum, a warning bell,"
5227"Sings heavy music to thy timorous soul,"
5228"And mine shall ring thy dire departure out."
5229"Exeunt General,  and c"
5230"He fables not, I hear the enemy:"
5231"Out, some light horsemen, and peruse their wings."
5232"O, negligent and heedless discipline!"
5233"How are we park'd and bounded in a pale,"
5234"A little herd of England's timorous deer,"
5235"Mazed with a yelping kennel of French curs!"
5236"If we be English deer, be then in blood,"
5237"Not rascal-like, to fall down with a pinch,"
5238"But rather, moody-mad and desperate stags,"
5239"Turn on the bloody hounds with heads of steel"
5240"And make the cowards stand aloof at bay:"
5241"Sell every man his life as dear as mine,"
5242"And they shall find dear deer of us, my friends."
5243"God and Saint George, Talbot and England's right,"
5244"Prosper our colours in this dangerous fight!"
5245Exeunt
5246"SCENE III. Plains in Gascony."
5247"Enter a Messenger that meets YORK. Enter YORK with trumpet and many Soldiers"
5248"Are not the speedy scouts return'd again,"
5249"That dogg'd the mighty army of the Dauphin?"
5250"They are return'd, my lord, and give it out"
5251"That he is march'd to Bourdeaux with his power,"
5252"To fight with Talbot: as he march'd along,"
5253"By your espials were discovered"
5254"Two mightier troops than that the Dauphin led,"
5255"Which join'd with him and made their march for Bourdeaux."
5256"A plague upon that villain Somerset,"
5257"That thus delays my promised supply"
5258"Of horsemen, that were levied for this siege!"
5259"Renowned Talbot doth expect my aid,"
5260"And I am lowted by a traitor villain"
5261"And cannot help the noble chevalier:"
5262"God comfort him in this necessity!"
5263"If he miscarry, farewell wars in France."
5264"Enter Sir William LUCY"
5265"Thou princely leader of our English strength,"
5266"Never so needful on the earth of France,"
5267"Spur to the rescue of the noble Talbot,"
5268"Who now is girdled with a waist of iron"
5269"And hemm'd about with grim destruction:"
5270"To Bourdeaux, warlike duke! to Bourdeaux, York!"
5271"Else, farewell Talbot, France, and England's honour."
5272"O God, that Somerset, who in proud heart"
5273"Doth stop my cornets, were in Talbot's place!"
5274"So should we save a valiant gentleman"
5275"By forfeiting a traitor and a coward."
5276"Mad ire and wrathful fury makes me weep,"
5277"That thus we die, while remiss traitors sleep."
5278"O, send some succor to the distress'd lord!"
5279"He dies, we lose, I break my warlike word,"
5280"We mourn, France smiles, we lose, they daily get,"
5281"All 'long of this vile traitor Somerset."
5282"Then God take mercy on brave Talbot's soul,"
5283"And on his son young John, who two hours since"
5284"I met in travel toward his warlike father!"
5285"This seven years did not Talbot see his son,"
5286"And now they meet where both their lives are done."
5287"Alas, what joy shall noble Talbot have"
5288"To bid his young son welcome to his grave?"
5289"Away! vexation almost stops my breath,"
5290"That sunder'd friends greet in the hour of death."
5291"Lucy, farewell, no more my fortune can,"
5292"But curse the cause I cannot aid the man."
5293"Maine, Blois, Poictiers, and Tours, are won away,"
5294"'Long all of Somerset and his delay."
5295"Exit, with his soldiers"
5296"Thus, while the vulture of sedition"
5297"Feeds in the bosom of such great commanders,"
5298"Sleeping neglection doth betray to loss"
5299"The conquest of our scarce cold conqueror,"
5300"That ever living man of memory,"
5301"Henry the Fifth: whiles they each other cross,"
5302"Lives, honours, lands and all hurry to loss."
5303Exit
5304"SCENE IV. Other plains in Gascony."
5305"Enter SOMERSET, with his army, a Captain of TALBOT's with him"
5306"It is too late, I cannot send them now:"
5307"This expedition was by York and Talbot"
5308"Too rashly plotted: all our general force"
5309"Might with a sally of the very town"
5310"Be buckled with: the over-daring Talbot"
5311"Hath sullied all his gloss of former honour"
5312"By this unheedful, desperate, wild adventure:"
5313"York set him on to fight and die in shame,"
5314"That, Talbot dead, great York might bear the name."
5315"Here is Sir William Lucy, who with me"
5316"Set from our o'ermatch'd forces forth for aid."
5317"Enter Sir William LUCY"
5318"How now, Sir William! whither were you sent?"
5319"Whither, my lord? from bought and sold Lord Talbot,"
5320"Who, ring'd about with bold adversity,"
5321"Cries out for noble York and Somerset,"
5322"To beat assailing death from his weak legions:"
5323"And whiles the honourable captain there"
5324"Drops bloody sweat from his war-wearied limbs,"
5325"And, in advantage lingering, looks for rescue,"
5326"You, his false hopes, the trust of England's honour,"
5327"Keep off aloof with worthless emulation."
5328"Let not your private discord keep away"
5329"The levied succors that should lend him aid,"
5330"While he, renowned noble gentleman,"
5331"Yields up his life unto a world of odds:"
5332"Orleans the Bastard, Charles, Burgundy,"
5333"Alencon, Reignier, compass him about,"
5334"And Talbot perisheth by your default."
5335"York set him on, York should have sent him aid."
5336"And York as fast upon your grace exclaims,"
5337"Swearing that you withhold his levied host,"
5338"Collected for this expedition."
5339"York lies, he might have sent and had the horse,"
5340"I owe him little duty, and less love,"
5341"And take foul scorn to fawn on him by sending."
5342"The fraud of England, not the force of France,"
5343"Hath now entrapp'd the noble-minded Talbot:"
5344"Never to England shall he bear his life,"
5345"But dies, betray'd to fortune by your strife."
5346"Come, go, I will dispatch the horsemen straight:"
5347"Within six hours they will be at his aid."
5348"Too late comes rescue: he is ta'en or slain,"
5349"For fly he could not, if he would have fled,"
5350"And fly would Talbot never, though he might."
5351"If he be dead, brave Talbot, then adieu!"
5352"His fame lives in the world, his shame in you."
5353Exeunt
5354"SCENE V. The English camp near Bourdeaux."
5355"Enter TALBOT and JOHN his son"
5356"O young John Talbot! I did send for thee"
5357"To tutor thee in stratagems of war,"
5358"That Talbot's name might be in thee revived"
5359"When sapless age and weak unable limbs"
5360"Should bring thy father to his drooping chair."
5361"But, O malignant and ill-boding stars!"
5362"Now thou art come unto a feast of death,"
5363"A terrible and unavoided danger:"
5364"Therefore, dear boy, mount on my swiftest horse,"
5365"And I'll direct thee how thou shalt escape"
5366"By sudden flight: come, dally not, be gone."
5367"Is my name Talbot? and am I your son?"
5368"And shall I fly? O if you love my mother,"
5369"Dishonour not her honourable name,"
5370"To make a bastard and a slave of me!"
5371"The world will say, he is not Talbot's blood,"
5372"That basely fled when noble Talbot stood."
5373"Fly, to revenge my death, if I be slain."
5374"He that flies so will ne'er return again."
5375"If we both stay, we both are sure to die."
5376"Then let me stay, and, father, do you fly:"
5377"Your loss is great, so your regard should be,"
5378"My worth unknown, no loss is known in me."
5379"Upon my death the French can little boast,"
5380"In yours they will, in you all hopes are lost."
5381"Flight cannot stain the honour you have won,"
5382"But mine it will, that no exploit have done:"
5383"You fled for vantage, everyone will swear,"
5384"But, if I bow, they'll say it was for fear."
5385"There is no hope that ever I will stay,"
5386"If the first hour I shrink and run away."
5387"Here on my knee I beg mortality,"
5388"Rather than life preserved with infamy."
5389"Shall all thy mother's hopes lie in one tomb?"
5390"Ay, rather than I'll shame my mother's womb."
5391"Upon my blessing, I command thee go."
5392"To fight I will, but not to fly the foe."
5393"Part of thy father may be saved in thee."
5394"No part of him but will be shame in me."
5395"Thou never hadst renown, nor canst not lose it."
5396"Yes, your renowned name: shall flight abuse it?"
5397"Thy father's charge shall clear thee from that stain."
5398"You cannot witness for me, being slain."
5399"If death be so apparent, then both fly."
5400"And leave my followers here to fight and die?"
5401"My age was never tainted with such shame."
5402"And shall my youth be guilty of such blame?"
5403"No more can I be sever'd from your side,"
5404"Than can yourself yourself in twain divide:"
5405"Stay, go, do what you will, the like do I,"
5406"For live I will not, if my father die."
5407"Then here I take my leave of thee, fair son,"
5408"Born to eclipse thy life this afternoon."
5409"Come, side by side together live and die."
5410"And soul with soul from France to heaven fly."
5411Exeunt
5412"SCENE VI. A field of battle."
5413"Alarum: excursions, wherein JOHN TALBOT is hemmed about, and TALBOT rescues him"
5414"Saint George and victory! fight, soldiers, fight."
5415"The regent hath with Talbot broke his word"
5416"And left us to the rage of France his sword."
5417"Where is John Talbot? Pause, and take thy breath,"
5418"I gave thee life and rescued thee from death."
5419"O, twice my father, twice am I thy son!"
5420"The life thou gavest me first was lost and done,"
5421"Till with thy warlike sword, despite of late,"
5422"To my determined time thou gavest new date."
5423"When from the Dauphin's crest thy sword struck fire,"
5424"It warm'd thy father's heart with proud desire"
5425"Of bold-faced victory. Then leaden age,"
5426"Quicken'd with youthful spleen and warlike rage,"
5427"Beat down Alencon, Orleans, Burgundy,"
5428"And from the pride of Gallia rescued thee."
5429"The ireful bastard Orleans, that drew blood"
5430"From thee, my boy, and had the maidenhood"
5431"Of thy first fight, I soon encountered,"
5432"And interchanging blows I quickly shed"
5433"Some of his bastard blood, and in disgrace"
5434"Bespoke him thus, 'Contaminated, base"
5435"And misbegotten blood I spill of thine,"
5436"Mean and right poor, for that pure blood of mine"
5437"Which thou didst force from Talbot, my brave boy:'"
5438"Here, purposing the Bastard to destroy,"
5439"Came in strong rescue. Speak, thy father's care,"
5440"Art thou not weary, John? how dost thou fare?"
5441"Wilt thou yet leave the battle, boy, and fly,"
5442"Now thou art seal'd the son of chivalry?"
5443"Fly, to revenge my death when I am dead:"
5444"The help of one stands me in little stead."
5445"O, too much folly is it, well I wot,"
5446"To hazard all our lives in one small boat!"
5447"If I to-day die not with Frenchmen's rage,"
5448"To-morrow I shall die with mickle age:"
5449"By me they nothing gain an if I stay,"
5450"'Tis but the shortening of my life one day:"
5451"In thee thy mother dies, our household's name,"
5452"My death's revenge, thy youth, and England's fame:"
5453"All these and more we hazard by thy stay,"
5454"All these are saved if thou wilt fly away."
5455"The sword of Orleans hath not made me smart,"
5456"These words of yours draw life-blood from my heart:"
5457"On that advantage, bought with such a shame,"
5458"To save a paltry life and slay bright fame,"
5459"Before young Talbot from old Talbot fly,"
5460"The coward horse that bears me fail and die!"
5461"And like me to the peasant boys of France,"
5462"To be shame's scorn and subject of mischance!"
5463"Surely, by all the glory you have won,"
5464"An if I fly, I am not Talbot's son:"
5465"Then talk no more of flight, it is no boot,"
5466"If son to Talbot, die at Talbot's foot."
5467"Then follow thou thy desperate sire of Crete,"
5468"Thou Icarus, thy life to me is sweet:"
5469"If thou wilt fight, fight by thy father's side,"
5470"And, commendable proved, let's die in pride."
5471Exeunt
5472"SCENE VII. Another part of the field."
5473"Alarum: excursions. Enter TALBOT led by a Servant"
5474"Where is my other life? mine own is gone,"
5475"O, where's young Talbot? where is valiant John?"
5476"Triumphant death, smear'd with captivity,"
5477"Young Talbot's valour makes me smile at thee:"
5478"When he perceived me shrink and on my knee,"
5479"His bloody sword he brandish'd over me,"
5480"And, like a hungry lion, did commence"
5481"Rough deeds of rage and stern impatience,"
5482"But when my angry guardant stood alone,"
5483"Tendering my ruin and assail'd of none,"
5484"Dizzy-eyed fury and great rage of heart"
5485"Suddenly made him from my side to start"
5486"Into the clustering battle of the French,"
5487"And in that sea of blood my boy did drench"
5488"His over-mounting spirit, and there died,"
5489"My Icarus, my blossom, in his pride."
5490"O, my dear lord, lo, where your son is borne!"
5491"Enter Soldiers, with the body of JOHN TALBOT"
5492"Thou antic death, which laugh'st us here to scorn,"
5493"Anon, from thy insulting tyranny,"
5494"Coupled in bonds of perpetuity,"
5495"Two Talbots, winged through the lither sky,"
5496"In thy despite shall 'scape mortality."
5497"O, thou, whose wounds become hard-favour'd death,"
5498"Speak to thy father ere thou yield thy breath!"
5499"Brave death by speaking, whether he will or no,"
5500"Imagine him a Frenchman and thy foe."
5501"Poor boy! he smiles, methinks, as who should say,"
5502"Had death been French, then death had died to-day."
5503"Come, come and lay him in his father's arms:"
5504"My spirit can no longer bear these harms."
5505"Soldiers, adieu! I have what I would have,"
5506"Now my old arms are young John Talbot's grave."
5507Dies
5508"Enter CHARLES, ALENCON, BURGUNDY, BASTARD OF ORLEANS, JOAN LA PUCELLE, and forces"
5509"Had York and Somerset brought rescue in,"
5510"We should have found a bloody day of this."
5511"How the young whelp of Talbot's, raging-wood,"
5512"Did flesh his puny sword in Frenchmen's blood!"
5513"Once I encounter'd him, and thus I said:"
5514"'Thou maiden youth, be vanquish'd by a maid:'"
5515"But, with a proud majestical high scorn,"
5516"He answer'd thus: 'Young Talbot was not born"
5517"To be the pillage of a giglot wench:'"
5518"So, rushing in the bowels of the French,"
5519"He left me proudly, as unworthy fight."
5520"Doubtless he would have made a noble knight,"
5521"See, where he lies inhearsed in the arms"
5522"Of the most bloody nurser of his harms!"
5523"Hew them to pieces, hack their bones asunder"
5524"Whose life was England's glory, Gallia's wonder."
5525"O, no, forbear! for that which we have fled"
5526"During the life, let us not wrong it dead."
5527"Enter Sir William LUCY, attended, Herald of the French preceding"
5528"Herald, conduct me to the Dauphin's tent,"
5529"To know who hath obtained the glory of the day."
5530"On what submissive message art thou sent?"
5531"Submission, Dauphin! 'tis a mere French word,"
5532"We English warriors wot not what it means."
5533"I come to know what prisoners thou hast ta'en"
5534"And to survey the bodies of the dead."
5535"For prisoners ask'st thou? hell our prison is."
5536"But tell me whom thou seek'st."
5537"But where's the great Alcides of the field,"
5538"Valiant Lord Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury,"
5539"Created, for his rare success in arms,"
5540"Great Earl of Washford, Waterford and Valence,"
5541"Lord Talbot of Goodrig and Urchinfield,"
5542"Lord Strange of Blackmere, Lord Verdun of Alton,"
5543"Lord Cromwell of Wingfield, Lord Furnival of Sheffield,"
5544"The thrice-victorious Lord of Falconbridge,"
5545"Knight of the noble order of Saint George,"
5546"Worthy Saint Michael and the Golden Fleece,"
5547"Great marshal to Henry the Sixth"
5548"Of all his wars within the realm of France?"
5549"Here is a silly stately style indeed!"
5550"The Turk, that two and fifty kingdoms hath,"
5551"Writes not so tedious a style as this."
5552"Him that thou magnifiest with all these titles"
5553"Stinking and fly-blown lies here at our feet."
5554"Is Talbot slain, the Frenchmen's only scourge,"
5555"Your kingdom's terror and black Nemesis?"
5556"O, were mine eyeballs into bullets turn'd,"
5557"That I in rage might shoot them at your faces!"
5558"O, that I could but call these dead to life!"
5559"It were enough to fright the realm of France:"
5560"Were but his picture left amongst you here,"
5561"It would amaze the proudest of you all."
5562"Give me their bodies, that I may bear them hence"
5563"And give them burial as beseems their worth."
5564"I think this upstart is old Talbot's ghost,"
5565"He speaks with such a proud commanding spirit."
5566"For God's sake let him have 'em, to keep them here,"
5567"They would but stink, and putrefy the air."
5568"Go, take their bodies hence."
5569"I'll bear them hence, but from their ashes shall be rear'd"
5570"A phoenix that shall make all France afeard."
5571"So we be rid of them, do with 'em what thou wilt."
5572"And now to Paris, in this conquering vein:"
5573"All will be ours, now bloody Talbot's slain."
5574Exeunt
5575"ACT V"
5576"SCENE I. London. The palace."
5577"Sennet. Enter KING HENRY VI, GLOUCESTER, and EXETER"
5578"Have you perused the letters from the pope,"
5579"The emperor and the Earl of Armagnac?"
5580"I have, my lord: and their intent is this:"
5581"They humbly sue unto your excellence"
5582"To have a godly peace concluded of"
5583"Between the realms of England and of France."
5584"How doth your grace affect their motion?"
5585"Well, my good lord, and as the only means"
5586"To stop effusion of our Christian blood"
5587"And 'stablish quietness on every side."
5588"Ay, marry, uncle, for I always thought"
5589"It was both impious and unnatural"
5590"That such immanity and bloody strife"
5591"Should reign among professors of one faith."
5592"Beside, my lord, the sooner to effect"
5593"And surer bind this knot of amity,"
5594"The Earl of Armagnac, near knit to Charles,"
5595"A man of great authority in France,"
5596"Proffers his only daughter to your grace"
5597"In marriage, with a large and sumptuous dowry."
5598"Marriage, uncle! alas, my years are young!"
5599"And fitter is my study and my books"
5600"Than wanton dalliance with a paramour."
5601"Yet call the ambassador, and, as you please,"
5602"So let them have their answers every one:"
5603"I shall be well content with any choice"
5604"Tends to God's glory and my country's weal."
5605"Enter CARDINAL OF WINCHESTER in Cardinal's habit, a Legate and two Ambassadors"
5606"What! is my Lord of Winchester install'd,"
5607"And call'd unto a cardinal's degree?"
5608"Then I perceive that will be verified"
5609"Henry the Fifth did sometime prophesy,"
5610"'If once he come to be a cardinal,"
5611"He'll make his cap co-equal with the crown.'"
5612"My lords ambassadors, your several suits"
5613"Have been consider'd and debated on."
5614"And therefore are we certainly resolved"
5615"To draw conditions of a friendly peace,"
5616"Which by my Lord of Winchester we mean"
5617"Shall be transported presently to France."
5618"And for the proffer of my lord your master,"
5619"I have inform'd his highness so at large"
5620"As liking of the lady's virtuous gifts,"
5621"Her beauty and the value of her dower,"
5622"He doth intend she shall be England's queen."
5623"In argument and proof of which contract,"
5624"Bear her this jewel, pledge of my affection."
5625"And so, my lord protector, see them guarded"
5626"And safely brought to Dover, where inshipp'd"
5627"Commit them to the fortune of the sea."
5628"Exeunt all but CARDINAL OF WINCHESTER and Legate"
5629CARDINAL
5630"Stay, my lord legate: you shall first receive"
5631"The sum of money which I promised"
5632"Should be deliver'd to his holiness"
5633"For clothing me in these grave ornaments."
5634"I will attend upon your lordship's leisure."
5635CARDINAL
5636"[Aside]  Now Winchester will not submit, I trow,"
5637"Or be inferior to the proudest peer."
5638"Humphrey of Gloucester, thou shalt well perceive"
5639"That, neither in birth or for authority,"
5640"The bishop will be overborne by thee:"
5641"I'll either make thee stoop and bend thy knee,"
5642"Or sack this country with a mutiny."
5643Exeunt
5644"SCENE II. France. Plains in Anjou."
5645"Enter CHARLES, BURGUNDY, ALENCON, BASTARD OF ORLEANS, REIGNIER, JOAN LA PUCELLE, and forces"
5646"These news, my lord, may cheer our drooping spirits:"
5647"'Tis said the stout Parisians do revolt"
5648"And turn again unto the warlike French."
5649"Then march to Paris, royal Charles of France,"
5650"And keep not back your powers in dalliance."
5651"Peace be amongst them, if they turn to us,"
5652"Else, ruin combat with their palaces!"
5653"Enter Scout"
5654"Success unto our valiant general,"
5655"And happiness to his accomplices!"
5656"What tidings send our scouts? I prithee, speak."
5657"The English army, that divided was"
5658"Into two parties, is now conjoined in one,"
5659"And means to give you battle presently."
5660"Somewhat too sudden, sirs, the warning is,"
5661"But we will presently provide for them."
5662"I trust the ghost of Talbot is not there:"
5663"Now he is gone, my lord, you need not fear."
5664"Of all base passions, fear is most accursed."
5665"Command the conquest, Charles, it shall be thine,"
5666"Let Henry fret and all the world repine."
5667"Then on, my lords, and France be fortunate!"
5668Exeunt
5669"SCENE III. Before Angiers."
5670"Alarum. Excursions. Enter JOAN LA PUCELLE"
5671"The regent conquers, and the Frenchmen fly."
5672"Now help, ye charming spells and periapts,"
5673"And ye choice spirits that admonish me"
5674"And give me signs of future accidents."
5675Thunder
5676"You speedy helpers, that are substitutes"
5677"Under the lordly monarch of the north,"
5678"Appear and aid me in this enterprise."
5679"Enter Fiends"
5680"This speedy and quick appearance argues proof"
5681"Of your accustom'd diligence to me."
5682"Now, ye familiar spirits, that are cull'd"
5683"Out of the powerful regions under earth,"
5684"Help me this once, that France may get the field."
5685"They walk, and speak not"
5686"O, hold me not with silence over-long!"
5687"Where I was wont to feed you with my blood,"
5688"I'll lop a member off and give it you"
5689"In earnest of further benefit,"
5690"So you do condescend to help me now."
5691"They hang their heads"
5692"No hope to have redress? My body shall"
5693"Pay recompense, if you will grant my suit."
5694"They shake their heads"
5695"Cannot my body nor blood-sacrifice"
5696"Entreat you to your wonted furtherance?"
5697"Then take my soul, my body, soul and all,"
5698"Before that England give the French the foil."
5699"They depart"
5700"See, they forsake me! Now the time is come"
5701"That France must vail her lofty-plumed crest"
5702"And let her head fall into England's lap."
5703"My ancient incantations are too weak,"
5704"And hell too strong for me to buckle with:"
5705"Now, France, thy glory droopeth to the dust."
5706Exit
5707"Excursions. Re-enter JOAN LA PUCELLE fighting hand  to hand with YORK. JOAN LA PUCELLE is taken. The French fly."
5708"Damsel of France, I think I have you fast:"
5709"Unchain your spirits now with spelling charms"
5710"And try if they can gain your liberty."
5711"A goodly prize, fit for the devil's grace!"
5712"See, how the ugly wench doth bend her brows,"
5713"As if with Circe she would change my shape!"
5714"Changed to a worser shape thou canst not be."
5715"O, Charles the Dauphin is a proper man,"
5716"No shape but his can please your dainty eye."
5717"A plaguing mischief light on Charles and thee!"
5718"And may ye both be suddenly surprised"
5719"By bloody hands, in sleeping on your beds!"
5720"Fell banning hag, enchantress, hold thy tongue!"
5721"I prithee, give me leave to curse awhile."
5722"Curse, miscreant, when thou comest to the stake."
5723Exeunt
5724"Alarum. Enter SUFFOLK with MARGARET in his hand"
5725"Be what thou wilt, thou art my prisoner."
5726"Gazes on her"
5727"O fairest beauty, do not fear nor fly!"
5728"For I will touch thee but with reverent hands,"
5729"I kiss these fingers for eternal peace,"
5730"And lay them gently on thy tender side."
5731"Who art thou? say, that I may honour thee."
5732"Margaret my name, and daughter to a king,"
5733"The King of Naples, whosoe'er thou art."
5734"An earl I am, and Suffolk am I call'd."
5735"Be not offended, nature's miracle,"
5736"Thou art allotted to be ta'en by me:"
5737"So doth the swan her downy cygnets save,"
5738"Keeping them prisoner underneath her wings."
5739"Yet, if this servile usage once offend."
5740"Go, and be free again, as Suffolk's friend."
5741"She is going"
5742"O, stay! I have no power to let her pass,"
5743"My hand would free her, but my heart says no"
5744"As plays the sun upon the glassy streams,"
5745"Twinkling another counterfeited beam,"
5746"So seems this gorgeous beauty to mine eyes."
5747"Fain would I woo her, yet I dare not speak:"
5748"I'll call for pen and ink, and write my mind."
5749"Fie, de la Pole! disable not thyself,"
5750"Hast not a tongue? is she not here?"
5751"Wilt thou be daunted at a woman's sight?"
5752"Ay, beauty's princely majesty is such,"
5753"Confounds the tongue and makes the senses rough."
5754"Say, Earl of Suffolk--if thy name be so--"
5755"What ransom must I pay before I pass?"
5756"For I perceive I am thy prisoner."
5757"How canst thou tell she will deny thy suit,"
5758"Before thou make a trial of her love?"
5759"Why speak'st thou not? what ransom must I pay?"
5760"She's beautiful, and therefore to be woo'd,"
5761"She is a woman, therefore to be won."
5762"Wilt thou accept of ransom? yea, or no."
5763"Fond man, remember that thou hast a wife,"
5764"Then how can Margaret be thy paramour?"
5765"I were best to leave him, for he will not hear."
5766"There all is marr'd, there lies a cooling card."
5767"He talks at random, sure, the man is mad."
5768"And yet a dispensation may be had."
5769"And yet I would that you would answer me."
5770"I'll win this Lady Margaret. For whom?"
5771"Why, for my king: tush, that's a wooden thing!"
5772"He talks of wood: it is some carpenter."
5773"Yet so my fancy may be satisfied,"
5774"And peace established between these realms"
5775"But there remains a scruple in that too,"
5776"For though her father be the King of Naples,"
5777"Duke of Anjou and Maine, yet is he poor,"
5778"And our nobility will scorn the match."
5779"Hear ye, captain, are you not at leisure?"
5780"It shall be so, disdain they ne'er so much."
5781"Henry is youthful and will quickly yield."
5782"Madam, I have a secret to reveal."
5783"What though I be enthrall'd? he seems a knight,"
5784"And will not any way dishonour me."
5785"Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say."
5786"Perhaps I shall be rescued by the French,"
5787"And then I need not crave his courtesy."
5788"Sweet madam, give me a hearing in a cause--"
5789"Tush, women have been captivate ere now."
5790"Lady, wherefore talk you so?"
5791"I cry you mercy, 'tis but Quid for Quo."
5792"Say, gentle princess, would you not suppose"
5793"Your bondage happy, to be made a queen?"
5794"To be a queen in bondage is more vile"
5795"Than is a slave in base servility,"
5796"For princes should be free."
5797"And so shall you,"
5798"If happy England's royal king be free."
5799"Why, what concerns his freedom unto me?"
5800"I'll undertake to make thee Henry's queen,"
5801"To put a golden sceptre in thy hand"
5802"And set a precious crown upon thy head,"
5803"If thou wilt condescend to be my--"
5804What?
5805"His love."
5806"I am unworthy to be Henry's wife."
5807"No, gentle madam, I unworthy am"
5808"To woo so fair a dame to be his wife,"
5809"And have no portion in the choice myself."
5810"How say you, madam, are ye so content?"
5811"An if my father please, I am content."
5812"Then call our captains and our colours forth."
5813"And, madam, at your father's castle walls"
5814"We'll crave a parley, to confer with him."
5815"A parley sounded. Enter REIGNIER on the walls"
5816"See, Reignier, see, thy daughter prisoner!"
5817"To whom?"
5818"To me."
5819"Suffolk, what remedy?"
5820"I am a soldier, and unapt to weep,"
5821"Or to exclaim on fortune's fickleness."
5822"Yes, there is remedy enough, my lord:"
5823"Consent, and for thy honour give consent,"
5824"Thy daughter shall be wedded to my king,"
5825"Whom I with pain have woo'd and won thereto,"
5826"And this her easy-held imprisonment"
5827"Hath gained thy daughter princely liberty."
5828"Speaks Suffolk as he thinks?"
5829"Fair Margaret knows"
5830"That Suffolk doth not flatter, face, or feign."
5831"Upon thy princely warrant, I descend"
5832"To give thee answer of thy just demand."
5833"Exit from the walls"
5834"And here I will expect thy coming."
5835"Trumpets sound. Enter REIGNIER, below"
5836"Welcome, brave earl, into our territories:"
5837"Command in Anjou what your honour pleases."
5838"Thanks, Reignier, happy for so sweet a child,"
5839"Fit to be made companion with a king:"
5840"What answer makes your grace unto my suit?"
5841"Since thou dost deign to woo her little worth"
5842"To be the princely bride of such a lord,"
5843"Upon condition I may quietly"
5844"Enjoy mine own, the country Maine and Anjou,"
5845"Free from oppression or the stroke of war,"
5846"My daughter shall be Henry's, if he please."
5847"That is her ransom, I deliver her,"
5848"And those two counties I will undertake"
5849"Your grace shall well and quietly enjoy."
5850"And I again, in Henry's royal name,"
5851"As deputy unto that gracious king,"
5852"Give thee her hand, for sign of plighted faith."
5853"Reignier of France, I give thee kingly thanks,"
5854"Because this is in traffic of a king."
5855Aside
5856"And yet, methinks, I could be well content"
5857"To be mine own attorney in this case."
5858"I'll over then to England with this news,"
5859"And make this marriage to be solemnized."
5860"So farewell, Reignier: set this diamond safe"
5861"In golden palaces, as it becomes."
5862"I do embrace thee, as I would embrace"
5863"The Christian prince, King Henry, were he here."
5864"Farewell, my lord: good wishes, praise and prayers"
5865"Shall Suffolk ever have of Margaret."
5866Going
5867"Farewell, sweet madam: but hark you, Margaret,"
5868"No princely commendations to my king?"
5869"Such commendations as becomes a maid,"
5870"A virgin and his servant, say to him."
5871"Words sweetly placed and modestly directed."
5872"But madam, I must trouble you again,"
5873"No loving token to his majesty?"
5874"Yes, my good lord, a pure unspotted heart,"
5875"Never yet taint with love, I send the king."
5876"And this withal."
5877"Kisses her"
5878"That for thyself: I will not so presume"
5879"To send such peevish tokens to a king."
5880"Exeunt REIGNIER and MARGARET"
5881"O, wert thou for myself! But, Suffolk, stay,"
5882"Thou mayst not wander in that labyrinth,"
5883"There Minotaurs and ugly treasons lurk."
5884"Solicit Henry with her wondrous praise:"
5885"Bethink thee on her virtues that surmount,"
5886"And natural graces that extinguish art,"
5887"Repeat their semblance often on the seas,"
5888"That, when thou comest to kneel at Henry's feet,"
5889"Thou mayst bereave him of his wits with wonder."
5890Exit
5891"SCENE IV. Camp of the YORK in Anjou."
5892"Enter YORK, WARWICK, and others"
5893"Bring forth that sorceress condemn'd to burn."
5894"Enter JOAN LA PUCELLE, guarded, and a Shepherd"
5895"Ah, Joan, this kills thy father's heart outright!"
5896"Have I sought every country far and near,"
5897"And, now it is my chance to find thee out,"
5898"Must I behold thy timeless cruel death?"
5899"Ah, Joan, sweet daughter Joan, I'll die with thee!"
5900"Decrepit miser! base ignoble wretch!"
5901"I am descended of a gentler blood:"
5902"Thou art no father nor no friend of mine."
5903"Out, out! My lords, an please you, 'tis not so,"
5904"I did beget her, all the parish knows:"
5905"Her mother liveth yet, can testify"
5906"She was the first fruit of my bachelorship."
5907"Graceless! wilt thou deny thy parentage?"
5908"This argues what her kind of life hath been,"
5909"Wicked and vile, and so her death concludes."
5910"Fie, Joan, that thou wilt be so obstacle!"
5911"God knows thou art a collop of my flesh,"
5912"And for thy sake have I shed many a tear:"
5913"Deny me not, I prithee, gentle Joan."
5914"Peasant, avaunt! You have suborn'd this man,"
5915"Of purpose to obscure my noble birth."
5916"'Tis true, I gave a noble to the priest"
5917"The morn that I was wedded to her mother."
5918"Kneel down and take my blessing, good my girl."
5919"Wilt thou not stoop? Now cursed be the time"
5920"Of thy nativity! I would the milk"
5921"Thy mother gave thee when thou suck'dst her breast,"
5922"Had been a little ratsbane for thy sake!"
5923"Or else, when thou didst keep my lambs a-field,"
5924"I wish some ravenous wolf had eaten thee!"
5925"Dost thou deny thy father, cursed drab?"
5926"O, burn her, burn her! hanging is too good."
5927Exit
5928"Take her away, for she hath lived too long,"
5929"To fill the world with vicious qualities."
5930"First, let me tell you whom you have condemn'd:"
5931"Not me begotten of a shepherd swain,"
5932"But issued from the progeny of kings,"
5933"Virtuous and holy, chosen from above,"
5934"By inspiration of celestial grace,"
5935"To work exceeding miracles on earth."
5936"I never had to do with wicked spirits:"
5937"But you, that are polluted with your lusts,"
5938"Stain'd with the guiltless blood of innocents,"
5939"Corrupt and tainted with a thousand vices,"
5940"Because you want the grace that others have,"
5941"You judge it straight a thing impossible"
5942"To compass wonders but by help of devils."
5943"No, misconceived! Joan of Arc hath been"
5944"A virgin from her tender infancy,"
5945"Chaste and immaculate in very thought,"
5946"Whose maiden blood, thus rigorously effused,"
5947"Will cry for vengeance at the gates of heaven."
5948"Ay, ay: away with her to execution!"
5949"And hark ye, sirs, because she is a maid,"
5950"Spare for no faggots, let there be enow:"
5951"Place barrels of pitch upon the fatal stake,"
5952"That so her torture may be shortened."
5953"Will nothing turn your unrelenting hearts?"
5954"Then, Joan, discover thine infirmity,"
5955"That warranteth by law to be thy privilege."
5956"I am with child, ye bloody homicides:"
5957"Murder not then the fruit within my womb,"
5958"Although ye hale me to a violent death."
5959"Now heaven forfend! the holy maid with child!"
5960"The greatest miracle that e'er ye wrought:"
5961"Is all your strict preciseness come to this?"
5962"She and the Dauphin have been juggling:"
5963"I did imagine what would be her refuge."
5964"Well, go to, we'll have no bastards live,"
5965"Especially since Charles must father it."
5966"You are deceived, my child is none of his:"
5967"It was Alencon that enjoy'd my love."
5968"Alencon! that notorious Machiavel!"
5969"It dies, an if it had a thousand lives."
5970"O, give me leave, I have deluded you:"
5971"'Twas neither Charles nor yet the duke I named,"
5972"But Reignier, king of Naples, that prevail'd."
5973"A married man! that's most intolerable."
5974"Why, here's a girl! I think she knows not well,"
5975"There were so many, whom she may accuse."
5976"It's sign she hath been liberal and free."
5977"And yet, forsooth, she is a virgin pure."
5978"Strumpet, thy words condemn thy brat and thee:"
5979"Use no entreaty, for it is in vain."
5980"Then lead me hence, with whom I leave my curse:"
5981"May never glorious sun reflex his beams"
5982"Upon the country where you make abode,"
5983"But darkness and the gloomy shade of death"
5984"Environ you, till mischief and despair"
5985"Drive you to break your necks or hang yourselves!"
5986"Exit, guarded"
5987"Break thou in pieces and consume to ashes,"
5988"Thou foul accursed minister of hell!"
5989"Enter CARDINAL OF WINCHESTER, attended"
5990CARDINAL
5991"Lord regent, I do greet your excellence"
5992"With letters of commission from the king."
5993"For know, my lords, the states of Christendom,"
5994"Moved with remorse of these outrageous broils,"
5995"Have earnestly implored a general peace"
5996"Betwixt our nation and the aspiring French,"
5997"And here at hand the Dauphin and his train"
5998"Approacheth, to confer about some matter."
5999"Is all our travail turn'd to this effect?"
6000"After the slaughter of so many peers,"
6001"So many captains, gentlemen and soldiers,"
6002"That in this quarrel have been overthrown"
6003"And sold their bodies for their country's benefit,"
6004"Shall we at last conclude effeminate peace?"
6005"Have we not lost most part of all the towns,"
6006"By treason, falsehood and by treachery,"
6007"Our great progenitors had conquered?"
6008"O Warwick, Warwick! I foresee with grief"
6009"The utter loss of all the realm of France."
6010"Be patient, York: if we conclude a peace,"
6011"It shall be with such strict and severe covenants"
6012"As little shall the Frenchmen gain thereby."
6013"Enter CHARLES, ALENCON, BASTARD OF ORLEANS, REIGNIER, and others"
6014"Since, lords of England, it is thus agreed"
6015"That peaceful truce shall be proclaim'd in France,"
6016"We come to be informed by yourselves"
6017"What the conditions of that league must be."
6018"Speak, Winchester, for boiling choler chokes"
6019"The hollow passage of my poison'd voice,"
6020"By sight of these our baleful enemies."
6021CARDINAL
6022"Charles, and the rest, it is enacted thus:"
6023"That, in regard King Henry gives consent,"
6024"Of mere compassion and of lenity,"
6025"To ease your country of distressful war,"
6026"And suffer you to breathe in fruitful peace,"
6027"You shall become true liegemen to his crown:"
6028"And Charles, upon condition thou wilt swear"
6029"To pay him tribute, submit thyself,"
6030"Thou shalt be placed as viceroy under him,"
6031"And still enjoy thy regal dignity."
6032"Must he be then as shadow of himself?"
6033"Adorn his temples with a coronet,"
6034"And yet, in substance and authority,"
6035"Retain but privilege of a private man?"
6036"This proffer is absurd and reasonless."
6037"'Tis known already that I am possess'd"
6038"With more than half the Gallian territories,"
6039"And therein reverenced for their lawful king:"
6040"Shall I, for lucre of the rest unvanquish'd,"
6041"Detract so much from that prerogative,"
6042"As to be call'd but viceroy of the whole?"
6043"No, lord ambassador, I'll rather keep"
6044"That which I have than, coveting for more,"
6045"Be cast from possibility of all."
6046"Insulting Charles! hast thou by secret means"
6047"Used intercession to obtain a league,"
6048"And, now the matter grows to compromise,"
6049"Stand'st thou aloof upon comparison?"
6050"Either accept the title thou usurp'st,"
6051"Of benefit proceeding from our king"
6052"And not of any challenge of desert,"
6053"Or we will plague thee with incessant wars."
6054"My lord, you do not well in obstinacy"
6055"To cavil in the course of this contract:"
6056"If once it be neglected, ten to one"
6057"We shall not find like opportunity."
6058"To say the truth, it is your policy"
6059"To save your subjects from such massacre"
6060"And ruthless slaughters as are daily seen"
6061"By our proceeding in hostility,"
6062"And therefore take this compact of a truce,"
6063"Although you break it when your pleasure serves."
6064"How say'st thou, Charles? shall our condition stand?"
6065"It shall,"
6066"Only reserved, you claim no interest"
6067"In any of our towns of garrison."
6068"Then swear allegiance to his majesty,"
6069"As thou art knight, never to disobey"
6070"Nor be rebellious to the crown of England,"
6071"Thou, nor thy nobles, to the crown of England."
6072"So, now dismiss your army when ye please:"
6073"Hang up your ensign, let your drums be still,"
6074"For here we entertain a solemn peace."
6075Exeunt
6076"SCENE V. London. The palace."
6077"Enter SUFFOLK in conference with KING HENRY VI, GLOUCESTER and EXETER"
6078"Your wondrous rare description, noble earl,"
6079"Of beauteous Margaret hath astonish'd me:"
6080"Her virtues graced with external gifts"
6081"Do breed love's settled passions in my heart:"
6082"And like as rigor of tempestuous gusts"
6083"Provokes the mightiest hulk against the tide,"
6084"So am I driven by breath of her renown"
6085"Either to suffer shipwreck or arrive"
6086"Where I may have fruition of her love."
6087"Tush, my good lord, this superficial tale"
6088"Is but a preface of her worthy praise,"
6089"The chief perfections of that lovely dame"
6090"Had I sufficient skill to utter them,"
6091"Would make a volume of enticing lines,"
6092"Able to ravish any dull conceit:"
6093"And, which is more, she is not so divine,"
6094"So full-replete with choice of all delights,"
6095"But with as humble lowliness of mind"
6096"She is content to be at your command,"
6097"Command, I mean, of virtuous chaste intents,"
6098"To love and honour Henry as her lord."
6099"And otherwise will Henry ne'er presume."
6100"Therefore, my lord protector, give consent"
6101"That Margaret may be England's royal queen."
6102"So should I give consent to flatter sin."
6103"You know, my lord, your highness is betroth'd"
6104"Unto another lady of esteem:"
6105"How shall we then dispense with that contract,"
6106"And not deface your honour with reproach?"
6107"As doth a ruler with unlawful oaths,"
6108"Or one that, at a triumph having vow'd"
6109"To try his strength, forsaketh yet the lists"
6110"By reason of his adversary's odds:"
6111"A poor earl's daughter is unequal odds,"
6112"And therefore may be broke without offence."
6113"Why, what, I pray, is Margaret more than that?"
6114"Her father is no better than an earl,"
6115"Although in glorious titles he excel."
6116"Yes, lord, her father is a king,"
6117"The King of Naples and Jerusalem,"
6118"And of such great authority in France"
6119"As his alliance will confirm our peace"
6120"And keep the Frenchmen in allegiance."
6121"And so the Earl of Armagnac may do,"
6122"Because he is near kinsman unto Charles."
6123"Beside, his wealth doth warrant a liberal dower,"
6124"Where Reignier sooner will receive than give."
6125"A dower, my lords! disgrace not so your king,"
6126"That he should be so abject, base and poor,"
6127"To choose for wealth and not for perfect love."
6128"Henry is able to enrich his queen"
6129"And not seek a queen to make him rich:"
6130"So worthless peasants bargain for their wives,"
6131"As market-men for oxen, sheep, or horse."
6132"Marriage is a matter of more worth"
6133"Than to be dealt in by attorneyship,"
6134"Not whom we will, but whom his grace affects,"
6135"Must be companion of his nuptial bed:"
6136"And therefore, lords, since he affects her most,"
6137"It most of all these reasons bindeth us,"
6138"In our opinions she should be preferr'd."
6139"For what is wedlock forced but a hell,"
6140"An age of discord and continual strife?"
6141"Whereas the contrary bringeth bliss,"
6142"And is a pattern of celestial peace."
6143"Whom should we match with Henry, being a king,"
6144"But Margaret, that is daughter to a king?"
6145"Her peerless feature, joined with her birth,"
6146"Approves her fit for none but for a king:"
6147"Her valiant courage and undaunted spirit,"
6148"More than in women commonly is seen,"
6149"Will answer our hope in issue of a king,"
6150"For Henry, son unto a conqueror,"
6151"Is likely to beget more conquerors,"
6152"If with a lady of so high resolve"
6153"As is fair Margaret he be link'd in love."
6154"Then yield, my lords, and here conclude with me"
6155"That Margaret shall be queen, and none but she."
6156"Whether it be through force of your report,"
6157"My noble Lord of Suffolk, or for that"
6158"My tender youth was never yet attaint"
6159"With any passion of inflaming love,"
6160"I cannot tell, but this I am assured,"
6161"I feel such sharp dissension in my breast,"
6162"Such fierce alarums both of hope and fear,"
6163"As I am sick with working of my thoughts."
6164"Take, therefore, shipping, post, my lord, to France,"
6165"Agree to any covenants, and procure"
6166"That Lady Margaret do vouchsafe to come"
6167"To cross the seas to England and be crown'd"
6168"King Henry's faithful and anointed queen:"
6169"For your expenses and sufficient charge,"
6170"Among the people gather up a tenth."
6171"Be gone, I say, for, till you do return,"
6172"I rest perplexed with a thousand cares."
6173"And you, good uncle, banish all offence:"
6174"If you do censure me by what you were,"
6175"Not what you are, I know it will excuse"
6176"This sudden execution of my will."
6177"And so, conduct me where, from company,"
6178"I may revolve and ruminate my grief."
6179Exit
6180"Ay, grief, I fear me, both at first and last."
6181"Exeunt GLOUCESTER and EXETER"
6182"Thus Suffolk hath prevail'd, and thus he goes,"
6183"As did the youthful Paris once to Greece,"
6184"With hope to find the like event in love,"
6185"But prosper better than the Trojan did."
6186"Margaret shall now be queen, and rule the king,"
6187"But I will rule both her, the king and realm."
6188Exit
6189"ACT I"
6190"SCENE I. London. The palace."
6191"Flourish of trumpets: then hautboys. Enter KING  HENRY VI, GLOUCESTER, SALISBURY, WARWICK, and  CARDINAL, on the one side, QUEEN MARGARET, SUFFOLK, YORK, SOMERSET, and BUCKINGHAM, on the other"
6192"As by your high imperial majesty"
6193"I had in charge at my depart for France,"
6194"As procurator to your excellence,"
6195"To marry Princess Margaret for your grace,"
6196"So, in the famous ancient city, Tours,"
6197"In presence of the Kings of France and Sicil,"
6198"The Dukes of Orleans, Calaber, Bretagne and Alencon,"
6199"Seven earls, twelve barons and twenty reverend bishops,"
6200"I have perform'd my task and was espoused:"
6201"And humbly now upon my bended knee,"
6202"In sight of England and her lordly peers,"
6203"Deliver up my title in the queen"
6204"To your most gracious hands, that are the substance"
6205"Of that great shadow I did represent,"
6206"The happiest gift that ever marquess gave,"
6207"The fairest queen that ever king received."
6208"Suffolk, arise. Welcome, Queen Margaret:"
6209"I can express no kinder sign of love"
6210"Than this kind kiss. O Lord, that lends me life,"
6211"Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!"
6212"For thou hast given me in this beauteous face"
6213"A world of earthly blessings to my soul,"
6214"If sympathy of love unite our thoughts."
6215"Great King of England and my gracious lord,"
6216"The mutual conference that my mind hath had,"
6217"By day, by night, waking and in my dreams,"
6218"In courtly company or at my beads,"
6219"With you, mine alder-liefest sovereign,"
6220"Makes me the bolder to salute my king"
6221"With ruder terms, such as my wit affords"
6222"And over-joy of heart doth minister."
6223"Her sight did ravish, but her grace in speech,"
6224"Her words y-clad with wisdom's majesty,"
6225"Makes me from wondering fall to weeping joys,"
6226"Such is the fulness of my heart's content."
6227"Lords, with one cheerful voice welcome my love."
6228"[Kneeling]  Long live Queen Margaret, England's"
6229happiness!
6230"We thank you all."
6231Flourish
6232"My lord protector, so it please your grace,"
6233"Here are the articles of contracted peace"
6234"Between our sovereign and the French king Charles,"
6235"For eighteen months concluded by consent."
6236"[Reads]  'Imprimis, it is agreed between the French"
6237"king Charles, and William de la Pole, Marquess of"
6238"Suffolk, ambassador for Henry King of England, that"
6239"the said Henry shall espouse the Lady Margaret,"
6240"daughter unto Reignier King of Naples, Sicilia and"
6241"Jerusalem, and crown her Queen of England ere the"
6242"thirtieth of May next ensuing. Item, that the duchy"
6243"of Anjou and the county of Maine shall be released"
6244"and delivered to the king her father'--"
6245"Lets the paper fall"
6246"Uncle, how now!"
6247"Pardon me, gracious lord,"
6248"Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart"
6249"And dimm'd mine eyes, that I can read no further."
6250"Uncle of Winchester, I pray, read on."
6251"[Reads]  'Item, It is further agreed between them,"
6252"that the duchies of Anjou and Maine shall be"
6253"released and delivered over to the king her father,"
6254"and she sent over of the King of England's own"
6255"proper cost and charges, without having any dowry.'"
6256"They please us well. Lord marquess, kneel down:"
6257"We here create thee the first duke of Suffolk,"
6258"And gird thee with the sword. Cousin of York,"
6259"We here discharge your grace from being regent"
6260"I' the parts of France, till term of eighteen months"
6261"Be full expired. Thanks, uncle Winchester,"
6262"Gloucester, York, Buckingham, Somerset,"
6263"Salisbury, and Warwick,"
6264"We thank you all for the great favour done,"
6265"In entertainment to my princely queen."
6266"Come, let us in, and with all speed provide"
6267"To see her coronation be perform'd."
6268"Exeunt KING HENRY VI, QUEEN MARGARET, and SUFFOLK"
6269"Brave peers of England, pillars of the state,"
6270"To you Duke Humphrey must unload his grief,"
6271"Your grief, the common grief of all the land."
6272"What! did my brother Henry spend his youth,"
6273"His valour, coin and people, in the wars?"
6274"Did he so often lodge in open field,"
6275"In winter's cold and summer's parching heat,"
6276"To conquer France, his true inheritance?"
6277"And did my brother Bedford toil his wits,"
6278"To keep by policy what Henry got?"
6279"Have you yourselves, Somerset, Buckingham,"
6280"Brave York, Salisbury, and victorious Warwick,"
6281"Received deep scars in France and Normandy?"
6282"Or hath mine uncle Beaufort and myself,"
6283"With all the learned council of the realm,"
6284"Studied so long, sat in the council-house"
6285"Early and late, debating to and fro"
6286"How France and Frenchmen might be kept in awe,"
6287"And had his highness in his infancy"
6288"Crowned in Paris in despite of foes?"
6289"And shall these labours and these honours die?"
6290"Shall Henry's conquest, Bedford's vigilance,"
6291"Your deeds of war and all our counsel die?"
6292"O peers of England, shameful is this league!"
6293"Fatal this marriage, cancelling your fame,"
6294"Blotting your names from books of memory,"
6295"Razing the characters of your renown,"
6296"Defacing monuments of conquer'd France,"
6297"Undoing all, as all had never been!"
6298"Nephew, what means this passionate discourse,"
6299"This peroration with such circumstance?"
6300"For France, 'tis ours, and we will keep it still."
6301"Ay, uncle, we will keep it, if we can,"
6302"But now it is impossible we should:"
6303"Suffolk, the new-made duke that rules the roast,"
6304"Hath given the duchy of Anjou and Maine"
6305"Unto the poor King Reignier, whose large style"
6306"Agrees not with the leanness of his purse."
6307"Now, by the death of Him that died for all,"
6308"These counties were the keys of Normandy."
6309"But wherefore weeps Warwick, my valiant son?"
6310"For grief that they are past recovery:"
6311"For, were there hope to conquer them again,"
6312"My sword should shed hot blood, mine eyes no tears."
6313"Anjou and Maine! myself did win them both,"
6314"Those provinces these arms of mine did conquer:"
6315"And are the cities, that I got with wounds,"
6316"Delivered up again with peaceful words?"
6317"Mort Dieu!"
6318"For Suffolk's duke, may he be suffocate,"
6319"That dims the honour of this warlike isle!"
6320"France should have torn and rent my very heart,"
6321"Before I would have yielded to this league."
6322"I never read but England's kings have had"
6323"Large sums of gold and dowries with their wives:"
6324"And our King Henry gives away his own,"
6325"To match with her that brings no vantages."
6326"A proper jest, and never heard before,"
6327"That Suffolk should demand a whole fifteenth"
6328"For costs and charges in transporting her!"
6329"She should have stayed in France and starved"
6330"in France, Before--"
6331"My Lord of Gloucester, now ye grow too hot:"
6332"It was the pleasure of my lord the King."
6333"My Lord of Winchester, I know your mind,"
6334"'Tis not my speeches that you do mislike,"
6335"But 'tis my presence that doth trouble ye."
6336"Rancour will out: proud prelate, in thy face"
6337"I see thy fury: if I longer stay,"
6338"We shall begin our ancient bickerings."
6339"Lordings, farewell, and say, when I am gone,"
6340"I prophesied France will be lost ere long."
6341Exit
6342"So, there goes our protector in a rage."
6343"'Tis known to you he is mine enemy,"
6344"Nay, more, an enemy unto you all,"
6345"And no great friend, I fear me, to the king."
6346"Consider, lords, he is the next of blood,"
6347"And heir apparent to the English crown:"
6348"Had Henry got an empire by his marriage,"
6349"And all the wealthy kingdoms of the west,"
6350"There's reason he should be displeased at it."
6351"Look to it, lords! let not his smoothing words"
6352"Bewitch your hearts, be wise and circumspect."
6353"What though the common people favour him,"
6354"Calling him 'Humphrey, the good Duke of"
6355Gloucester,'
6356"Clapping their hands, and crying with loud voice,"
6357"'Jesu maintain your royal excellence!'"
6358"With 'God preserve the good Duke Humphrey!'"
6359"I fear me, lords, for all this flattering gloss,"
6360"He will be found a dangerous protector."
6361"Why should he, then, protect our sovereign,"
6362"He being of age to govern of himself?"
6363"Cousin of Somerset, join you with me,"
6364"And all together, with the Duke of Suffolk,"
6365"We'll quickly hoise Duke Humphrey from his seat."
6366"This weighty business will not brook delay:"
6367"I'll to the Duke of Suffolk presently."
6368Exit
6369"Cousin of Buckingham, though Humphrey's pride"
6370"And greatness of his place be grief to us,"
6371"Yet let us watch the haughty cardinal:"
6372"His insolence is more intolerable"
6373"Than all the princes in the land beside:"
6374"If Gloucester be displaced, he'll be protector."
6375"Or thou or I, Somerset, will be protector,"
6376"Despite Duke Humphrey or the cardinal."
6377"Exeunt BUCKINGHAM and SOMERSET"
6378"Pride went before, ambition follows him."
6379"While these do labour for their own preferment,"
6380"Behoves it us to labour for the realm."
6381"I never saw but Humphrey Duke of Gloucester"
6382"Did bear him like a noble gentleman."
6383"Oft have I seen the haughty cardinal,"
6384"More like a soldier than a man o' the church,"
6385"As stout and proud as he were lord of all,"
6386"Swear like a ruffian and demean himself"
6387"Unlike the ruler of a commonweal."
6388"Warwick, my son, the comfort of my age,"
6389"Thy deeds, thy plainness and thy housekeeping,"
6390"Hath won the greatest favour of the commons,"
6391"Excepting none but good Duke Humphrey:"
6392"And, brother York, thy acts in Ireland,"
6393"In bringing them to civil discipline,"
6394"Thy late exploits done in the heart of France,"
6395"When thou wert regent for our sovereign,"
6396"Have made thee fear'd and honour'd of the people:"
6397"Join we together, for the public good,"
6398"In what we can, to bridle and suppress"
6399"The pride of Suffolk and the cardinal,"
6400"With Somerset's and Buckingham's ambition,"
6401"And, as we may, cherish Duke Humphrey's deeds,"
6402"While they do tend the profit of the land."
6403"So God help Warwick, as he loves the land,"
6404"And common profit of his country!"
6405"[Aside]  And so says York, for he hath greatest cause."
6406"Then let's make haste away, and look unto the main."
6407"Unto the main! O father, Maine is lost,"
6408"That Maine which by main force Warwick did win,"
6409"And would have kept so long as breath did last!"
6410"Main chance, father, you meant, but I meant Maine,"
6411"Which I will win from France, or else be slain,"
6412"Exeunt WARWICK and SALISBURY"
6413"Anjou and Maine are given to the French,"
6414"Paris is lost, the state of Normandy"
6415"Stands on a tickle point, now they are gone:"
6416"Suffolk concluded on the articles,"
6417"The peers agreed, and Henry was well pleased"
6418"To change two dukedoms for a duke's fair daughter."
6419"I cannot blame them all: what is't to them?"
6420"'Tis thine they give away, and not their own."
6421"Pirates may make cheap pennyworths of their pillage"
6422"And purchase friends and give to courtezans,"
6423"Still revelling like lords till all be gone,"
6424"While as the silly owner of the goods"
6425"Weeps over them and wrings his hapless hands"
6426"And shakes his head and trembling stands aloof,"
6427"While all is shared and all is borne away,"
6428"Ready to starve and dare not touch his own:"
6429"So York must sit and fret and bite his tongue,"
6430"While his own lands are bargain'd for and sold."
6431"Methinks the realms of England, France and Ireland"
6432"Bear that proportion to my flesh and blood"
6433"As did the fatal brand Althaea burn'd"
6434"Unto the prince's heart of Calydon."
6435"Anjou and Maine both given unto the French!"
6436"Cold news for me, for I had hope of France,"
6437"Even as I have of fertile England's soil."
6438"A day will come when York shall claim his own,"
6439"And therefore I will take the Nevils' parts"
6440"And make a show of love to proud Duke Humphrey,"
6441"And, when I spy advantage, claim the crown,"
6442"For that's the golden mark I seek to hit:"
6443"Nor shall proud Lancaster usurp my right,"
6444"Nor hold the sceptre in his childish fist,"
6445"Nor wear the diadem upon his head,"
6446"Whose church-like humours fits not for a crown."
6447"Then, York, be still awhile, till time do serve:"
6448"Watch thou and wake when others be asleep,"
6449"To pry into the secrets of the state,"
6450"Till Henry, surfeiting in joys of love,"
6451"With his new bride and England's dear-bought queen,"
6452"And Humphrey with the peers be fall'n at jars:"
6453"Then will I raise aloft the milk-white rose,"
6454"With whose sweet smell the air shall be perfumed,"
6455"And in my standard bear the arms of York"
6456"To grapple with the house of Lancaster,"
6457"And, force perforce, I'll make him yield the crown,"
6458"Whose bookish rule hath pull'd fair England down."
6459Exit
6460"SCENE II. GLOUCESTER'S house."
6461"Enter GLOUCESTER and his DUCHESS"
6462"Why droops my lord, like over-ripen'd corn,"
6463"Hanging the head at Ceres' plenteous load?"
6464"Why doth the great Duke Humphrey knit his brows,"
6465"As frowning at the favours of the world?"
6466"Why are thine eyes fixed to the sullen earth,"
6467"Gazing on that which seems to dim thy sight?"
6468"What seest thou there? King Henry's diadem,"
6469"Enchased with all the honours of the world?"
6470"If so, gaze on, and grovel on thy face,"
6471"Until thy head be circled with the same."
6472"Put forth thy hand, reach at the glorious gold."
6473"What, is't too short? I'll lengthen it with mine:"
6474"And, having both together heaved it up,"
6475"We'll both together lift our heads to heaven,"
6476"And never more abase our sight so low"
6477"As to vouchsafe one glance unto the ground."
6478"O Nell, sweet Nell, if thou dost love thy lord,"
6479"Banish the canker of ambitious thoughts."
6480"And may that thought, when I imagine ill"
6481"Against my king and nephew, virtuous Henry,"
6482"Be my last breathing in this mortal world!"
6483"My troublous dream this night doth make me sad."
6484"What dream'd my lord? tell me, and I'll requite it"
6485"With sweet rehearsal of my morning's dream."
6486"Methought this staff, mine office-badge in court,"
6487"Was broke in twain, by whom I have forgot,"
6488"But, as I think, it was by the cardinal,"
6489"And on the pieces of the broken wand"
6490"Were placed the heads of Edmund Duke of Somerset,"
6491"And William de la Pole, first duke of Suffolk."
6492"This was my dream: what it doth bode, God knows."
6493"Tut, this was nothing but an argument"
6494"That he that breaks a stick of Gloucester's grove"
6495"Shall lose his head for his presumption."
6496"But list to me, my Humphrey, my sweet duke:"
6497"Methought I sat in seat of majesty"
6498"In the cathedral church of Westminster,"
6499"And in that chair where kings and queens are crown'd,"
6500"Where Henry and dame Margaret kneel'd to me"
6501"And on my head did set the diadem."
6502"Nay, Eleanor, then must I chide outright:"
6503"Presumptuous dame, ill-nurtured Eleanor,"
6504"Art thou not second woman in the realm,"
6505"And the protector's wife, beloved of him?"
6506"Hast thou not worldly pleasure at command,"
6507"Above the reach or compass of thy thought?"
6508"And wilt thou still be hammering treachery,"
6509"To tumble down thy husband and thyself"
6510"From top of honour to disgrace's feet?"
6511"Away from me, and let me hear no more!"
6512"What, what, my lord! are you so choleric"
6513"With Eleanor, for telling but her dream?"
6514"Next time I'll keep my dreams unto myself,"
6515"And not be cheque'd."
6516"Nay, be not angry, I am pleased again."
6517"Enter Messenger"
6518"My lord protector, 'tis his highness' pleasure"
6519"You do prepare to ride unto Saint Alban's,"
6520"Where as the king and queen do mean to hawk."
6521"I go. Come, Nell, thou wilt ride with us?"
6522"Yes, my good lord, I'll follow presently."
6523"Exeunt GLOUCESTER and Messenger"
6524"Follow I must, I cannot go before,"
6525"While Gloucester bears this base and humble mind."
6526"Were I a man, a duke, and next of blood,"
6527"I would remove these tedious stumbling-blocks"
6528"And smooth my way upon their headless necks,"
6529"And, being a woman, I will not be slack"
6530"To play my part in Fortune's pageant."
6531"Where are you there? Sir John! nay, fear not, man,"
6532"We are alone, here's none but thee and I."
6533"Enter HUME"
6534"Jesus preserve your royal majesty!"
6535"What say'st thou? majesty! I am but grace."
6536"But, by the grace of God, and Hume's advice,"
6537"Your grace's title shall be multiplied."
6538"What say'st thou, man? hast thou as yet conferr'd"
6539"With Margery Jourdain, the cunning witch,"
6540"With Roger Bolingbroke, the conjurer?"
6541"And will they undertake to do me good?"
6542"This they have promised, to show your highness"
6543"A spirit raised from depth of under-ground,"
6544"That shall make answer to such questions"
6545"As by your grace shall be propounded him."
6546"It is enough, I'll think upon the questions:"
6547"When from St. Alban's we do make return,"
6548"We'll see these things effected to the full."
6549"Here, Hume, take this reward, make merry, man,"
6550"With thy confederates in this weighty cause."
6551Exit
6552"Hume must make merry with the duchess' gold,"
6553"Marry, and shall. But how now, Sir John Hume!"
6554"Seal up your lips, and give no words but mum:"
6555"The business asketh silent secrecy."
6556"Dame Eleanor gives gold to bring the witch:"
6557"Gold cannot come amiss, were she a devil."
6558"Yet have I gold flies from another coast,"
6559"I dare not say, from the rich cardinal"
6560"And from the great and new-made Duke of Suffolk,"
6561"Yet I do find it so, for to be plain,"
6562"They, knowing Dame Eleanor's aspiring humour,"
6563"Have hired me to undermine the duchess"
6564"And buz these conjurations in her brain."
6565"They say 'A crafty knave does need no broker,'"
6566"Yet am I Suffolk and the cardinal's broker."
6567"Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near"
6568"To call them both a pair of crafty knaves."
6569"Well, so it stands, and thus, I fear, at last"
6570"Hume's knavery will be the duchess' wreck,"
6571"And her attainture will be Humphrey's fall:"
6572"Sort how it will, I shall have gold for all."
6573Exit
6574"SCENE III. The palace."
6575"Enter three or four Petitioners, PETER, the Armourer's man, being one"
6576"My masters, let's stand close: my lord protector"
6577"will come this way by and by, and then we may deliver"
6578"our supplications in the quill."
6579"Marry, the Lord protect him, for he's a good man!"
6580"Jesu bless him!"
6581"Enter SUFFOLK and QUEEN MARGARET"
6582"Here a' comes, methinks, and the queen with him."
6583"I'll be the first, sure."
6584"Come back, fool, this is the Duke of Suffolk, and"
6585"not my lord protector."
6586"How now, fellow! would'st anything with me?"
6587"I pray, my lord, pardon me, I took ye for my lord"
6588protector.
6589"[Reading]  'To my Lord Protector!' Are your"
6590"supplications to his lordship? Let me see them:"
6591"what is thine?"
6592"Mine is, an't please your grace, against John"
6593"Goodman, my lord cardinal's man, for keeping my"
6594"house, and lands, and wife and all, from me."
6595"Thy wife, too! that's some wrong, indeed. What's"
6596"yours? What's here!"
6597Reads
6598"'Against the Duke of Suffolk, for enclosing the"
6599"commons of Melford.' How now, sir knave!"
6600"Alas, sir, I am but a poor petitioner of our whole township."
6601"[Giving his petition]  Against my master, Thomas"
6602"Horner, for saying that the Duke of York was rightful"
6603"heir to the crown."
6604"What sayst thou? did the Duke of York say he was"
6605"rightful heir to the crown?"
6606"That my master was? no, forsooth: my master said"
6607"that he was, and that the king was an usurper."
6608"Who is there?"
6609"Enter Servant"
6610"Take this fellow in, and send for"
6611"his master with a pursuivant presently: we'll hear"
6612"more of your matter before the King."
6613"Exit Servant with PETER"
6614"And as for you, that love to be protected"
6615"Under the wings of our protector's grace,"
6616"Begin your suits anew, and sue to him."
6617"Tears the supplication"
6618"Away, base cullions! Suffolk, let them go."
6619"Come, let's be gone."
6620Exeunt
6621"My Lord of Suffolk, say, is this the guise,"
6622"Is this the fashion in the court of England?"
6623"Is this the government of Britain's isle,"
6624"And this the royalty of Albion's king?"
6625"What shall King Henry be a pupil still"
6626"Under the surly Gloucester's governance?"
6627"Am I a queen in title and in style,"
6628"And must be made a subject to a duke?"
6629"I tell thee, Pole, when in the city Tours"
6630"Thou ran'st a tilt in honour of my love"
6631"And stolest away the ladies' hearts of France,"
6632"I thought King Henry had resembled thee"
6633"In courage, courtship and proportion:"
6634"But all his mind is bent to holiness,"
6635"To number Ave-Maries on his beads,"
6636"His champions are the prophets and apostles,"
6637"His weapons holy saws of sacred writ,"
6638"His study is his tilt-yard, and his loves"
6639"Are brazen images of canonized saints."
6640"I would the college of the cardinals"
6641"Would choose him pope, and carry him to Rome,"
6642"And set the triple crown upon his head:"
6643"That were a state fit for his holiness."
6644"Madam, be patient: as I was cause"
6645"Your highness came to England, so will I"
6646"In England work your grace's full content."
6647"Beside the haughty protector, have we Beaufort,"
6648"The imperious churchman, Somerset, Buckingham,"
6649"And grumbling York: and not the least of these"
6650"But can do more in England than the king."
6651"And he of these that can do most of all"
6652"Cannot do more in England than the Nevils:"
6653"Salisbury and Warwick are no simple peers."
6654"Not all these lords do vex me half so much"
6655"As that proud dame, the lord protector's wife."
6656"She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies,"
6657"More like an empress than Duke Humphrey's wife:"
6658"Strangers in court do take her for the queen:"
6659"She bears a duke's revenues on her back,"
6660"And in her heart she scorns our poverty:"
6661"Shall I not live to be avenged on her?"
6662"Contemptuous base-born callet as she is,"
6663"She vaunted 'mongst her minions t'other day,"
6664"The very train of her worst wearing gown"
6665"Was better worth than all my father's lands,"
6666"Till Suffolk gave two dukedoms for his daughter."
6667"Madam, myself have limed a bush for her,"
6668"And placed a quire of such enticing birds,"
6669"That she will light to listen to the lays,"
6670"And never mount to trouble you again."
6671"So, let her rest: and, madam, list to me,"
6672"For I am bold to counsel you in this."
6673"Although we fancy not the cardinal,"
6674"Yet must we join with him and with the lords,"
6675"Till we have brought Duke Humphrey in disgrace."
6676"As for the Duke of York, this late complaint"
6677"Will make but little for his benefit."
6678"So, one by one, we'll weed them all at last,"
6679"And you yourself shall steer the happy helm."
6680"Sound a sennet. Enter KING HENRY VI, GLOUCESTER,  CARDINAL, BUCKINGHAM, YORK, SOMERSET, SALISBURY, WARWICK, and the DUCHESS"
6681"For my part, noble lords, I care not which,"
6682"Or Somerset or York, all's one to me."
6683"If York have ill demean'd himself in France,"
6684"Then let him be denay'd the regentship."
6685"If Somerset be unworthy of the place,"
6686"Let York be regent, I will yield to him."
6687"Whether your grace be worthy, yea or no,"
6688"Dispute not that: York is the worthier."
6689"Ambitious Warwick, let thy betters speak."
6690"The cardinal's not my better in the field."
6691"All in this presence are thy betters, Warwick."
6692"Warwick may live to be the best of all."
6693"Peace, son! and show some reason, Buckingham,"
6694"Why Somerset should be preferred in this."
6695"Because the king, forsooth, will have it so."
6696"Madam, the king is old enough himself"
6697"To give his censure: these are no women's matters."
6698"If he be old enough, what needs your grace"
6699"To be protector of his excellence?"
6700"Madam, I am protector of the realm,"
6701"And, at his pleasure, will resign my place."
6702"Resign it then and leave thine insolence."
6703"Since thou wert king--as who is king but thou?--"
6704"The commonwealth hath daily run to wreck,"
6705"The Dauphin hath prevail'd beyond the seas,"
6706"And all the peers and nobles of the realm"
6707"Have been as bondmen to thy sovereignty."
6708"The commons hast thou rack'd, the clergy's bags"
6709"Are lank and lean with thy extortions."
6710"Thy sumptuous buildings and thy wife's attire"
6711"Have cost a mass of public treasury."
6712"Thy cruelty in execution"
6713"Upon offenders, hath exceeded law,"
6714"And left thee to the mercy of the law."
6715"They sale of offices and towns in France,"
6716"If they were known, as the suspect is great,"
6717"Would make thee quickly hop without thy head."
6718"Exit GLOUCESTER. QUEEN MARGARET drops her fan"
6719"Give me my fan: what, minion! can ye not?"
6720"She gives the DUCHESS a box on the ear"
6721"I cry you mercy, madam, was it you?"
6722"Was't I! yea, I it was, proud Frenchwoman:"
6723"Could I come near your beauty with my nails,"
6724"I'd set my ten commandments in your face."
6725"Sweet aunt, be quiet, 'twas against her will."
6726"Against her will! good king, look to't in time,"
6727"She'll hamper thee, and dandle thee like a baby:"
6728"Though in this place most master wear no breeches,"
6729"She shall not strike Dame Eleanor unrevenged."
6730Exit
6731"Lord cardinal, I will follow Eleanor,"
6732"And listen after Humphrey, how he proceeds:"
6733"She's tickled now, her fume needs no spurs,"
6734"She'll gallop far enough to her destruction."
6735Exit
6736"Re-enter GLOUCESTER"
6737"Now, lords, my choler being over-blown"
6738"With walking once about the quadrangle,"
6739"I come to talk of commonwealth affairs."
6740"As for your spiteful false objections,"
6741"Prove them, and I lie open to the law:"
6742"But God in mercy so deal with my soul,"
6743"As I in duty love my king and country!"
6744"But, to the matter that we have in hand:"
6745"I say, my sovereign, York is meetest man"
6746"To be your regent in the realm of France."
6747"Before we make election, give me leave"
6748"To show some reason, of no little force,"
6749"That York is most unmeet of any man."
6750"I'll tell thee, Suffolk, why I am unmeet:"
6751"First, for I cannot flatter thee in pride,"
6752"Next, if I be appointed for the place,"
6753"My Lord of Somerset will keep me here,"
6754"Without discharge, money, or furniture,"
6755"Till France be won into the Dauphin's hands:"
6756"Last time, I danced attendance on his will"
6757"Till Paris was besieged, famish'd, and lost."
6758"That can I witness, and a fouler fact"
6759"Did never traitor in the land commit."
6760"Peace, headstrong Warwick!"
6761"Image of pride, why should I hold my peace?"
6762"Enter HORNER, the Armourer, and his man PETER, guarded"
6763"Because here is a man accused of treason:"
6764"Pray God the Duke of York excuse himself!"
6765"Doth any one accuse York for a traitor?"
6766"What mean'st thou, Suffolk, tell me, what are these?"
6767"Please it your majesty, this is the man"
6768"That doth accuse his master of high treason:"
6769"His words were these: that Richard, Duke of York,"
6770"Was rightful heir unto the English crown"
6771"And that your majesty was a usurper."
6772"Say, man, were these thy words?"
6773"An't shall please your majesty, I never said nor"
6774"thought any such matter: God is my witness, I am"
6775"falsely accused by the villain."
6776"By these ten bones, my lords, he did speak them to"
6777"me in the garret one night, as we were scouring my"
6778"Lord of York's armour."
6779"Base dunghill villain and mechanical,"
6780"I'll have thy head for this thy traitor's speech."
6781"I do beseech your royal majesty,"
6782"Let him have all the rigor of the law."
6783"Alas, my lord, hang me, if ever I spake the words."
6784"My accuser is my 'prentice, and when I did correct"
6785"him for his fault the other day, he did vow upon his"
6786"knees he would be even with me: I have good"
6787"witness of this: therefore I beseech your majesty,"
6788"do not cast away an honest man for a villain's"
6789accusation.
6790"Uncle, what shall we say to this in law?"
6791"This doom, my lord, if I may judge:"
6792"Let Somerset be regent over the French,"
6793"Because in York this breeds suspicion:"
6794"And let these have a day appointed them"
6795"For single combat in convenient place,"
6796"For he hath witness of his servant's malice:"
6797"This is the law, and this Duke Humphrey's doom."
6798"I humbly thank your royal majesty."
6799"And I accept the combat willingly."
6800"Alas, my lord, I cannot fight, for God's sake, pity"
6801"my case. The spite of man prevaileth against me. O"
6802"Lord, have mercy upon me! I shall never be able to"
6803"fight a blow. O Lord, my heart!"
6804"Sirrah, or you must fight, or else be hang'd."
6805"Away with them to prison, and the day of combat"
6806"shall be the last of the next month. Come,"
6807"Somerset, we'll see thee sent away."
6808"Flourish. Exeunt"
6809"SCENE IV. GLOUCESTER's garden."
6810"Enter MARGARET JOURDAIN, HUME, SOUTHWELL, and BOLINGBROKE"
6811"Come, my masters, the duchess, I tell you, expects"
6812"performance of your promises."
6813"Master Hume, we are therefore provided: will her"
6814"ladyship behold and hear our exorcisms?"
6815"Ay, what else? fear you not her courage."
6816"I have heard her reported to be a woman of an"
6817"invincible spirit: but it shall be convenient,"
6818"Master Hume, that you be by her aloft, while we be"
6819"busy below, and so, I pray you, go, in God's name,"
6820"and leave us."
6821"Exit HUME"
6822"Mother Jourdain, be you"
6823"prostrate and grovel on the earth, John Southwell,"
6824"read you, and let us to our work."
6825"Enter the DUCHESS aloft, HUME following"
6826"Well said, my masters, and welcome all. To this"
6827"gear the sooner the better."
6828"Patience, good lady, wizards know their times:"
6829"Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night,"
6830"The time of night when Troy was set on fire,"
6831"The time when screech-owls cry and ban-dogs howl,"
6832"And spirits walk and ghosts break up their graves,"
6833"That time best fits the work we have in hand."
6834"Madam, sit you and fear not: whom we raise,"
6835"We will make fast within a hallow'd verge."
6836"Here they do the ceremonies belonging, and make the  circle, BOLINGBROKE or SOUTHWELL reads, Conjuro te, and c. It thunders and lightens terribly, then the Spirit riseth"
6837Adsum.
6838Asmath,
6839"By the eternal God, whose name and power"
6840"Thou tremblest at, answer that I shall ask,"
6841"For, till thou speak, thou shalt not pass from hence."
6842"Ask what thou wilt. That I had said and done!"
6843"'First of the king: what shall of him become?'"
6844"Reading out of a paper"
6845"The duke yet lives that Henry shall depose,"
6846"But him outlive, and die a violent death."
6847"As the Spirit speaks, SOUTHWELL writes the answer"
6848"'What fates await the Duke of Suffolk?'"
6849"By water shall he die, and take his end."
6850"'What shall befall the Duke of Somerset?'"
6851"Let him shun castles,"
6852"Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains"
6853"Than where castles mounted stand."
6854"Have done, for more I hardly can endure."
6855"Descend to darkness and the burning lake!"
6856"False fiend, avoid!"
6857"Thunder and lightning. Exit Spirit"
6858"Enter YORK and BUCKINGHAM with their Guard and break in"
6859"Lay hands upon these traitors and their trash."
6860"Beldam, I think we watch'd you at an inch."
6861"What, madam, are you there? the king and commonweal"
6862"Are deeply indebted for this piece of pains:"
6863"My lord protector will, I doubt it not,"
6864"See you well guerdon'd for these good deserts."
6865"Not half so bad as thine to England's king,"
6866"Injurious duke, that threatest where's no cause."
6867"True, madam, none at all: what call you this?"
6868"Away with them! let them be clapp'd up close."
6869"And kept asunder. You, madam, shall with us."
6870"Stafford, take her to thee."
6871"Exeunt above DUCHESS and HUME, guarded"
6872"We'll see your trinkets here all forthcoming."
6873"All, away!"
6874"Exeunt guard with MARGARET JOURDAIN, SOUTHWELL,  and c"
6875"Lord Buckingham, methinks, you watch'd her well:"
6876"A pretty plot, well chosen to build upon!"
6877"Now, pray, my lord, let's see the devil's writ."
6878"What have we here?"
6879Reads
6880"'The duke yet lives, that Henry shall depose,"
6881"But him outlive, and die a violent death.'"
6882"Why, this is just"
6883"'Aio te, AEacida, Romanos vincere posse.'"
6884"Well, to the rest:"
6885"'Tell me what fate awaits the Duke of Suffolk?"
6886"By water shall he die, and take his end."
6887"What shall betide the Duke of Somerset?"
6888"Let him shun castles,"
6889"Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains"
6890"Than where castles mounted stand.'"
6891"Come, come, my lords,"
6892"These oracles are hardly attain'd,"
6893"And hardly understood."
6894"The king is now in progress towards Saint Alban's,"
6895"With him the husband of this lovely lady:"
6896"Thither go these news, as fast as horse can"
6897"carry them:"
6898"A sorry breakfast for my lord protector."
6899"Your grace shall give me leave, my Lord of York,"
6900"To be the post, in hope of his reward."
6901"At your pleasure, my good lord. Who's within"
6902"there, ho!"
6903"Enter a Servingman"
6904"Invite my Lords of Salisbury and Warwick"
6905"To sup with me to-morrow night. Away!"
6906Exeunt
6907"ACT II"
6908"SCENE I. Saint Alban's."
6909"Enter KING HENRY VI, QUEEN MARGARET, GLOUCESTER, CARDINAL, and SUFFOLK, with Falconers halloing"
6910"Believe me, lords, for flying at the brook,"
6911"I saw not better sport these seven years' day:"
6912"Yet, by your leave, the wind was very high,"
6913"And, ten to one, old Joan had not gone out."
6914"But what a point, my lord, your falcon made,"
6915"And what a pitch she flew above the rest!"
6916"To see how God in all his creatures works!"
6917"Yea, man and birds are fain of climbing high."
6918"No marvel, an it like your majesty,"
6919"My lord protector's hawks do tower so well,"
6920"They know their master loves to be aloft,"
6921"And bears his thoughts above his falcon's pitch."
6922"My lord, 'tis but a base ignoble mind"
6923"That mounts no higher than a bird can soar."
6924"I thought as much, he would be above the clouds."
6925"Ay, my lord cardinal? how think you by that?"
6926"Were it not good your grace could fly to heaven?"
6927"The treasury of everlasting joy."
6928"Thy heaven is on earth, thine eyes and thoughts"
6929"Beat on a crown, the treasure of thy heart,"
6930"Pernicious protector, dangerous peer,"
6931"That smooth'st it so with king and commonweal!"
6932"What, cardinal, is your priesthood grown peremptory?"
6933"Tantaene animis coelestibus irae?"
6934"Churchmen so hot? good uncle, hide such malice,"
6935"With such holiness can you do it?"
6936"No malice, sir, no more than well becomes"
6937"So good a quarrel and so bad a peer."
6938"As who, my lord?"
6939"Why, as you, my lord,"
6940"An't like your lordly lord-protectorship."
6941"Why, Suffolk, England knows thine insolence."
6942"And thy ambition, Gloucester."
6943"I prithee, peace, good queen,"
6944"And whet not on these furious peers,"
6945"For blessed are the peacemakers on earth."
6946"Let me be blessed for the peace I make,"
6947"Against this proud protector, with my sword!"
6948"[Aside to CARDINAL]  Faith, holy uncle, would"
6949"'twere come to that!"
6950"[Aside to GLOUCESTER]  Marry, when thou darest."
6951"[Aside to CARDINAL]  Make up no factious"
6952"numbers for the matter,"
6953"In thine own person answer thy abuse."
6954"[Aside to GLOUCESTER]  Ay, where thou darest"
6955"not peep: an if thou darest,"
6956"This evening, on the east side of the grove."
6957"How now, my lords!"
6958"Believe me, cousin Gloucester,"
6959"Had not your man put up the fowl so suddenly,"
6960"We had had more sport."
6961"Aside to GLOUCESTER"
6962"Come with thy two-hand sword."
6963"True, uncle."
6964"[Aside to GLOUCESTER]  Are ye advised? the"
6965"east side of the grove?"
6966"[Aside to CARDINAL]  Cardinal, I am with you."
6967"Why, how now, uncle Gloucester!"
6968"Talking of hawking, nothing else, my lord."
6969"Aside to CARDINAL"
6970"Now, by God's mother, priest, I'll shave your crown for this,"
6971"Or all my fence shall fail."
6972"[Aside to GLOUCESTER]  Medice, teipsum--"
6973"Protector, see to't well, protect yourself."
6974"The winds grow high, so do your stomachs, lords."
6975"How irksome is this music to my heart!"
6976"When such strings jar, what hope of harmony?"
6977"I pray, my lords, let me compound this strife."
6978"Enter a Townsman of Saint Alban's, crying 'A miracle!'"
6979"What means this noise?"
6980"Fellow, what miracle dost thou proclaim?"
6981"A miracle! a miracle!"
6982"Come to the king and tell him what miracle."
6983"Forsooth, a blind man at Saint Alban's shrine,"
6984"Within this half-hour, hath received his sight,"
6985"A man that ne'er saw in his life before."
6986"Now, God be praised, that to believing souls"
6987"Gives light in darkness, comfort in despair!"
6988"Enter the Mayor of Saint Alban's and his  brethren, bearing SIMPCOX, between two in a chair, SIMPCOX's Wife following"
6989"Here comes the townsmen on procession,"
6990"To present your highness with the man."
6991"Great is his comfort in this earthly vale,"
6992"Although by his sight his sin be multiplied."
6993"Stand by, my masters: bring him near the king,"
6994"His highness' pleasure is to talk with him."
6995"Good fellow, tell us here the circumstance,"
6996"That we for thee may glorify the Lord."
6997"What, hast thou been long blind and now restored?"
6998"Born blind, an't please your grace."
6999"Ay, indeed, was he."
7000"What woman is this?"
7001"His wife, an't like your worship."
7002"Hadst thou been his mother, thou couldst have"
7003"better told."
7004"Where wert thou born?"
7005"At Berwick in the north, an't like your grace."
7006"Poor soul, God's goodness hath been great to thee:"
7007"Let never day nor night unhallow'd pass,"
7008"But still remember what the Lord hath done."
7009"Tell me, good fellow, camest thou here by chance,"
7010"Or of devotion, to this holy shrine?"
7011"God knows, of pure devotion, being call'd"
7012"A hundred times and oftener, in my sleep,"
7013"By good Saint Alban, who said, 'Simpcox, come,"
7014"Come, offer at my shrine, and I will help thee.'"
7015"Most true, forsooth, and many time and oft"
7016"Myself have heard a voice to call him so."
7017"What, art thou lame?"
7018"Ay, God Almighty help me!"
7019"How camest thou so?"
7020"A fall off of a tree."
7021"A plum-tree, master."
7022"How long hast thou been blind?"
7023"Born so, master."
7024"What, and wouldst climb a tree?"
7025"But that in all my life, when I was a youth."
7026"Too true, and bought his climbing very dear."
7027"Mass, thou lovedst plums well, that wouldst"
7028"venture so."
7029"Alas,  good master, my wife desired some damsons,"
7030"And made me climb, with danger of my life."
7031"A subtle knave! but yet it shall not serve."
7032"Let me see thine eyes: wink now: now open them:"
7033"In my opinion yet thou seest not well."
7034"Yes, master, clear as day, I thank God and"
7035"Saint Alban."
7036"Say'st thou me so? What colour is this cloak of?"
7037"Red, master, red as blood."
7038"Why, that's well said. What colour is my gown of?"
7039"Black, forsooth: coal-black as jet."
7040"Why, then, thou know'st what colour jet is of?"
7041"And yet, I think, jet did he never see."
7042"But cloaks and gowns, before this day, a many."
7043"Never, before this day, in all his life."
7044"Tell me, sirrah, what's my name?"
7045"Alas, master, I know not."
7046"What's his name?"
7047"I know not."
7048"Nor his?"
7049"No, indeed, master."
7050"What's thine own name?"
7051"Saunder Simpcox, an if it please you, master."
7052"Then, Saunder, sit there, the lyingest knave in"
7053"Christendom. If thou hadst been born blind, thou"
7054"mightest as well have known all our names as thus to"
7055"name the several colours we do wear. Sight may"
7056"distinguish of colours, but suddenly to nominate them"
7057"all, it is impossible. My lords, Saint Alban here"
7058"hath done a miracle, and would ye not think his"
7059"cunning to be great, that could restore this cripple"
7060"to his legs again?"
7061"O master, that you could!"
7062"My masters of Saint Alban's, have you not beadles in"
7063"your town, and things called whips?"
7064"Yes, my lord, if it please your grace."
7065"Then send for one presently."
7066"Sirrah, go fetch the beadle hither straight."
7067"Exit an Attendant"
7068"Now fetch me a stool hither by and by. Now, sirrah,"
7069"if you mean to save yourself from whipping, leap me"
7070"over this stool and run away."
7071"Alas, master, I am not able to stand alone:"
7072"You go about to torture me in vain."
7073"Enter a Beadle with whips"
7074"Well, sir, we must have you find your legs. Sirrah"
7075"beadle, whip him till he leap over that same stool."
7076"I will, my lord. Come on, sirrah, off with your"
7077"doublet quickly."
7078"Alas, master, what shall I do? I am not able to stand."
7079"After the Beadle hath hit him once, he leaps over the stool and runs away, and they follow and cry, 'A miracle!'"
7080"O God, seest Thou this, and bearest so long?"
7081"It made me laugh to see the villain run."
7082"Follow the knave, and take this drab away."
7083"Alas, sir, we did it for pure need."
7084"Let them be whipped through every market-town, till"
7085"they come to Berwick, from whence they came."
7086"Exeunt Wife, Beadle, Mayor,  and c"
7087"Duke Humphrey has done a miracle to-day."
7088"True, made the lame to leap and fly away."
7089"But you have done more miracles than I,"
7090"You made in a day, my lord, whole towns to fly."
7091"Enter BUCKINGHAM"
7092"What tidings with our cousin Buckingham?"
7093"Such as my heart doth tremble to unfold."
7094"A sort of naughty persons, lewdly bent,"
7095"Under the countenance and confederacy"
7096"Of Lady Eleanor, the protector's wife,"
7097"The ringleader and head of all this rout,"
7098"Have practised dangerously against your state,"
7099"Dealing with witches and with conjurers:"
7100"Whom we have apprehended in the fact,"
7101"Raising up wicked spirits from under ground,"
7102"Demanding of King Henry's life and death,"
7103"And other of your highness' privy-council,"
7104"As more at large your grace shall understand."
7105"[Aside to GLOUCESTER]  And so, my lord protector,"
7106"by this means"
7107"Your lady is forthcoming yet at London."
7108"This news, I think, hath turn'd your weapon's edge,"
7109"'Tis like, my lord, you will not keep your hour."
7110"Ambitious churchman, leave to afflict my heart:"
7111"Sorrow and grief have vanquish'd all my powers,"
7112"And, vanquish'd as I am, I yield to thee,"
7113"Or to the meanest groom."
7114"O God, what mischiefs work the wicked ones,"
7115"Heaping confusion on their own heads thereby!"
7116"Gloucester, see here the tainture of thy nest."
7117"And look thyself be faultless, thou wert best."
7118"Madam, for myself, to heaven I do appeal,"
7119"How I have loved my king and commonweal:"
7120"And, for my wife, I know not how it stands,"
7121"Sorry I am to hear what I have heard:"
7122"Noble she is, but if she have forgot"
7123"Honour and virtue and conversed with such"
7124"As, like to pitch, defile nobility,"
7125"I banish her my bed and company"
7126"And give her as a prey to law and shame,"
7127"That hath dishonour'd Gloucester's honest name."
7128"Well, for this night we will repose us here:"
7129"To-morrow toward London back again,"
7130"To look into this business thoroughly"
7131"And call these foul offenders to their answers"
7132"And poise the cause in justice' equal scales,"
7133"Whose beam stands sure, whose rightful cause prevails."
7134"Flourish. Exeunt"
7135"SCENE II. London. YORK'S garden."
7136"Enter YORK, SALISBURY, and WARWICK"
7137"Now, my good Lords of Salisbury and Warwick,"
7138"Our simple supper ended, give me leave"
7139"In this close walk to satisfy myself,"
7140"In craving your opinion of my title,"
7141"Which is infallible, to England's crown."
7142"My lord, I long to hear it at full."
7143"Sweet York, begin: and if thy claim be good,"
7144"The Nevils are thy subjects to command."
7145"Then thus:"
7146"Edward the Third, my lords, had seven sons:"
7147"The first, Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales,"
7148"The second, William of Hatfield, and the third,"
7149"Lionel Duke of Clarence: next to whom"
7150"Was John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster,"
7151"The fifth was Edmund Langley, Duke of York,"
7152"The sixth was Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester,"
7153"William of Windsor was the seventh and last."
7154"Edward the Black Prince died before his father"
7155"And left behind him Richard, his only son,"
7156"Who after Edward the Third's death reign'd as king,"
7157"Till Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster,"
7158"The eldest son and heir of John of Gaunt,"
7159"Crown'd by the name of Henry the Fourth,"
7160"Seized on the realm, deposed the rightful king,"
7161"Sent his poor queen to France, from whence she came,"
7162"And him to Pomfret, where, as all you know,"
7163"Harmless Richard was murder'd traitorously."
7164"Father, the duke hath told the truth:"
7165"Thus got the house of Lancaster the crown."
7166"Which now they hold by force and not by right,"
7167"For Richard, the first son's heir, being dead,"
7168"The issue of the next son should have reign'd."
7169"But William of Hatfield died without an heir."
7170"The third son, Duke of Clarence, from whose line"
7171"I claimed the crown, had issue, Philippe, a daughter,"
7172"Who married Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March:"
7173"Edmund had issue, Roger Earl of March,"
7174"Roger had issue, Edmund, Anne and Eleanor."
7175"This Edmund, in the reign of Bolingbroke,"
7176"As I have read, laid claim unto the crown,"
7177"And, but for Owen Glendower, had been king,"
7178"Who kept him in captivity till he died."
7179"But to the rest."
7180"His eldest sister, Anne,"
7181"My mother, being heir unto the crown"
7182"Married Richard Earl of Cambridge, who was son"
7183"To Edmund Langley, Edward the Third's fifth son."
7184"By her I claim the kingdom: she was heir"
7185"To Roger Earl of March, who was the son"
7186"Of Edmund Mortimer, who married Philippe,"
7187"Sole daughter unto Lionel Duke of Clarence:"
7188"So, if the issue of the elder son"
7189"Succeed before the younger, I am king."
7190"What plain proceeding is more plain than this?"
7191"Henry doth claim the crown from John of Gaunt,"
7192"The fourth son, York claims it from the third."
7193"Till Lionel's issue fails, his should not reign:"
7194"It fails not yet, but flourishes in thee"
7195"And in thy sons, fair slips of such a stock."
7196"Then, father Salisbury, kneel we together,"
7197"And in this private plot be we the first"
7198"That shall salute our rightful sovereign"
7199"With honour of his birthright to the crown."
7200"Long live our sovereign Richard, England's king!"
7201"We thank you, lords. But I am not your king"
7202"Till I be crown'd and that my sword be stain'd"
7203"With heart-blood of the house of Lancaster,"
7204"And that's not suddenly to be perform'd,"
7205"But with advice and silent secrecy."
7206"Do you as I do in these dangerous days:"
7207"Wink at the Duke of Suffolk's insolence,"
7208"At Beaufort's pride, at Somerset's ambition,"
7209"At Buckingham and all the crew of them,"
7210"Till they have snared the shepherd of the flock,"
7211"That virtuous prince, the good Duke Humphrey:"
7212"'Tis that they seek, and they in seeking that"
7213"Shall find their deaths, if York can prophesy."
7214"My lord, break we off, we know your mind at full."
7215"My heart assures me that the Earl of Warwick"
7216"Shall one day make the Duke of York a king."
7217"And, Nevil, this I do assure myself:"
7218"Richard shall live to make the Earl of Warwick"
7219"The greatest man in England but the king."
7220Exeunt
7221"SCENE III. A hall of justice."
7222"Sound trumpets. Enter KING HENRY VI, QUEEN  MARGARET, GLOUCESTER, YORK, SUFFOLK, and SALISBURY,  the DUCHESS, MARGARET JOURDAIN, SOUTHWELL, HUME, and BOLINGBROKE, under guard"
7223"Stand forth, Dame Eleanor Cobham, Gloucester's wife:"
7224"In sight of God and us, your guilt is great:"
7225"Receive the sentence of the law for sins"
7226"Such as by God's book are adjudged to death."
7227"You four, from hence to prison back again,"
7228"From thence unto the place of execution:"
7229"The witch in Smithfield shall be burn'd to ashes,"
7230"And you three shall be strangled on the gallows."
7231"You, madam, for you are more nobly born,"
7232"Despoiled of your honour in your life,"
7233"Shall, after three days' open penance done,"
7234"Live in your country here in banishment,"
7235"With Sir John Stanley, in the Isle of Man."
7236"Welcome is banishment, welcome were my death."
7237"Eleanor, the law, thou see'st, hath judged thee:"
7238"I cannot justify whom the law condemns."
7239"Exeunt DUCHESS and other prisoners, guarded"
7240"Mine eyes are full of tears, my heart of grief."
7241"Ah, Humphrey, this dishonour in thine age"
7242"Will bring thy head with sorrow to the ground!"
7243"I beseech your majesty, give me leave to go,"
7244"Sorrow would solace and mine age would ease."
7245"Stay, Humphrey Duke of Gloucester: ere thou go,"
7246"Give up thy staff: Henry will to himself"
7247"Protector be, and God shall be my hope,"
7248"My stay, my guide and lantern to my feet:"
7249"And go in peace, Humphrey, no less beloved"
7250"Than when thou wert protector to thy King."
7251"I see no reason why a king of years"
7252"Should be to be protected like a child."
7253"God and King Henry govern England's realm."
7254"Give up your staff, sir, and the king his realm."
7255"My staff? here, noble Henry, is my staff:"
7256"As willingly do I the same resign"
7257"As e'er thy father Henry made it mine,"
7258"And even as willingly at thy feet I leave it"
7259"As others would ambitiously receive it."
7260"Farewell, good king: when I am dead and gone,"
7261"May honourable peace attend thy throne!"
7262Exit
7263"Why, now is Henry king, and Margaret queen,"
7264"And Humphrey Duke of Gloucester scarce himself,"
7265"That bears so shrewd a maim, two pulls at once,"
7266"His lady banish'd, and a limb lopp'd off."
7267"This staff of honour raught, there let it stand"
7268"Where it best fits to be, in Henry's hand."
7269"Thus droops this lofty pine and hangs his sprays,"
7270"Thus Eleanor's pride dies in her youngest days."
7271"Lords, let him go. Please it your majesty,"
7272"This is the day appointed for the combat,"
7273"And ready are the appellant and defendant,"
7274"The armourer and his man, to enter the lists,"
7275"So please your highness to behold the fight."
7276"Ay, good my lord, for purposely therefore"
7277"Left I the court, to see this quarrel tried."
7278"O God's name, see the lists and all things fit:"
7279"Here let them end it, and God defend the right!"
7280"I never saw a fellow worse bested,"
7281"Or more afraid to fight, than is the appellant,"
7282"The servant of this armourer, my lords."
7283"Enter at one door, HORNER, the Armourer, and his  Neighbours, drinking to him so much that he is drunk,  and he enters with a drum before him and his staff  with a sand-bag fastened to it, and at the other  door PETER, his man, with a drum and sand-bag, and 'Prentices drinking to him"
7284"Here, neighbour Horner, I drink to you in a cup of"
7285"sack: and fear not, neighbour, you shall do well enough."
7286"And here, neighbour, here's a cup of charneco."
7287"And here's a pot of good double beer, neighbour:"
7288"drink, and fear not your man."
7289"Let it come, i' faith, and I'll pledge you all, and"
7290"a fig for Peter!"
7291"First 'Prentice	Here, Peter, I drink to thee: and be not afraid."
7292"Second 'Prentice	Be merry, Peter, and fear not thy master: fight"
7293"for credit of the 'prentices."
7294"I thank you all: drink, and pray for me, I pray"
7295"you, for I think I have taken my last draught in"
7296"this world. Here, Robin, an if I die, I give thee"
7297"my apron: and, Will, thou shalt have my hammer:"
7298"and here, Tom, take all the money that I have. O"
7299"Lord bless me! I pray God! for I am never able to"
7300"deal with my master, he hath learnt me so much fence already."
7301"Come, leave your drinking, and fall to blows."
7302"Sirrah, what's thy name?"
7303"Peter, forsooth."
7304"Peter! what more?"
7305Thump.
7306"Thump! then see thou thump thy master well."
7307"Masters, I am come hither, as it were, upon my man's"
7308"instigation, to prove him a knave and myself an"
7309"honest man: and touching the Duke of York, I will"
7310"take my death, I never meant him any ill, nor the"
7311"king, nor the queen: and therefore, Peter, have at"
7312"thee with a downright blow!"
7313"Dispatch: this knave's tongue begins to double."
7314"Sound, trumpets, alarum to the combatants!"
7315"Alarum. They fight, and PETER strikes him down"
7316"Hold, Peter, hold! I confess, I confess treason."
7317Dies
7318"Take away his weapon. Fellow, thank God, and the"
7319"good wine in thy master's way."
7320"O God, have I overcome mine enemy in this presence?"
7321"O Peter, thou hast prevailed in right!"
7322"Go, take hence that traitor from our sight,"
7323"For his death we do perceive his guilt:"
7324"And God in justice hath revealed to us"
7325"The truth and innocence of this poor fellow,"
7326"Which he had thought to have murder'd wrongfully."
7327"Come, fellow, follow us for thy reward."
7328"Sound a flourish. Exeunt"
7329"SCENE IV. A street."
7330"Enter GLOUCESTER and his Servingmen, in mourning cloaks"
7331"Thus sometimes hath the brightest day a cloud,"
7332"And after summer evermore succeeds"
7333"Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold:"
7334"So cares and joys abound, as seasons fleet."
7335"Sirs, what's o'clock?"
7336"Ten, my lord."
7337"Ten is the hour that was appointed me"
7338"To watch the coming of my punish'd duchess:"
7339"Uneath may she endure the flinty streets,"
7340"To tread them with her tender-feeling feet."
7341"Sweet Nell, ill can thy noble mind abrook"
7342"The abject people gazing on thy face,"
7343"With envious looks, laughing at thy shame,"
7344"That erst did follow thy proud chariot-wheels"
7345"When thou didst ride in triumph through the streets."
7346"But, soft! I think she comes, and I'll prepare"
7347"My tear-stain'd eyes to see her miseries."
7348"Enter the DUCHESS in a white sheet, and a taper  burning in her hand, with STANLEY, the Sheriff, and Officers"
7349"So please your grace, we'll take her from the sheriff."
7350"No, stir not, for your lives, let her pass by."
7351"Come you, my lord, to see my open shame?"
7352"Now thou dost penance too. Look how they gaze!"
7353"See how the giddy multitude do point,"
7354"And nod their heads, and throw their eyes on thee!"
7355"Ah, Gloucester, hide thee from their hateful looks,"
7356"And, in thy closet pent up, rue my shame,"
7357"And ban thine enemies, both mine and thine!"
7358"Be patient, gentle Nell, forget this grief."
7359"Ah, Gloucester, teach me to forget myself!"
7360"For whilst I think I am thy married wife"
7361"And thou a prince, protector of this land,"
7362"Methinks I should not thus be led along,"
7363"Mail'd up in shame, with papers on my back,"
7364"And followed with a rabble that rejoice"
7365"To see my tears and hear my deep-fet groans."
7366"The ruthless flint doth cut my tender feet,"
7367"And when I start, the envious people laugh"
7368"And bid me be advised how I tread."
7369"Ah, Humphrey, can I bear this shameful yoke?"
7370"Trow'st thou that e'er I'll look upon the world,"
7371"Or count them happy that enjoy the sun?"
7372"No, dark shall be my light and night my day,"
7373"To think upon my pomp shall be my hell."
7374"Sometime I'll say, I am Duke Humphrey's wife,"
7375"And he a prince and ruler of the land:"
7376"Yet so he ruled and such a prince he was"
7377"As he stood by whilst I, his forlorn duchess,"
7378"Was made a wonder and a pointing-stock"
7379"To every idle rascal follower."
7380"But be thou mild and blush not at my shame,"
7381"Nor stir at nothing till the axe of death"
7382"Hang over thee, as, sure, it shortly will,"
7383"For Suffolk, he that can do all in all"
7384"With her that hateth thee and hates us all,"
7385"And York and impious Beaufort, that false priest,"
7386"Have all limed bushes to betray thy wings,"
7387"And, fly thou how thou canst, they'll tangle thee:"
7388"But fear not thou, until thy foot be snared,"
7389"Nor never seek prevention of thy foes."
7390"Ah, Nell, forbear! thou aimest all awry,"
7391"I must offend before I be attainted,"
7392"And had I twenty times so many foes,"
7393"And each of them had twenty times their power,"
7394"All these could not procure me any scathe,"
7395"So long as I am loyal, true and crimeless."
7396"Wouldst have me rescue thee from this reproach?"
7397"Why, yet thy scandal were not wiped away"
7398"But I in danger for the breach of law."
7399"Thy greatest help is quiet, gentle Nell:"
7400"I pray thee, sort thy heart to patience,"
7401"These few days' wonder will be quickly worn."
7402"Enter a Herald"
7403"I summon your grace to his majesty's parliament,"
7404"Holden at Bury the first of this next month."
7405"And my consent ne'er ask'd herein before!"
7406"This is close dealing. Well, I will be there."
7407"Exit Herald"
7408"My Nell, I take my leave: and, master sheriff,"
7409"Let not her penance exceed the king's commission."
7410"An't please your grace, here my commission stays,"
7411"And Sir John Stanley is appointed now"
7412"To take her with him to the Isle of Man."
7413"Must you, Sir John, protect my lady here?"
7414"So am I given in charge, may't please your grace."
7415"Entreat her not the worse in that I pray"
7416"You use her well: the world may laugh again,"
7417"And I may live to do you kindness if"
7418"You do it her: and so, Sir John, farewell!"
7419"What, gone, my lord, and bid me not farewell!"
7420"Witness my tears, I cannot stay to speak."
7421"Exeunt GLOUCESTER and Servingmen"
7422"Art thou gone too? all comfort go with thee!"
7423"For none abides with me: my joy is death,"
7424"Death, at whose name I oft have been afear'd,"
7425"Because I wish'd this world's eternity."
7426"Stanley, I prithee, go, and take me hence,"
7427"I care not whither, for I beg no favour,"
7428"Only convey me where thou art commanded."
7429"Why, madam, that is to the Isle of Man,"
7430"There to be used according to your state."
7431"That's bad enough, for I am but reproach:"
7432"And shall I then be used reproachfully?"
7433"Like to a duchess, and Duke Humphrey's lady,"
7434"According to that state you shall be used."
7435"Sheriff, farewell, and better than I fare,"
7436"Although thou hast been conduct of my shame."
7437"It is my office, and, madam, pardon me."
7438"Ay, ay, farewell, thy office is discharged."
7439"Come, Stanley, shall we go?"
7440"Madam, your penance done, throw off this sheet,"
7441"And go we to attire you for our journey."
7442"My shame will not be shifted with my sheet:"
7443"No, it will hang upon my richest robes"
7444"And show itself, attire me how I can."
7445"Go, lead the way, I long to see my prison."
7446Exeunt
7447"ACT III"
7448"SCENE I. The Abbey at Bury St. Edmund's."
7449"Sound a sennet. Enter KING HENRY VI, QUEEN  MARGARET, CARDINAL, SUFFOLK, YORK, BUCKINGHAM, SALISBURY and WARWICK to the Parliament"
7450"I muse my Lord of Gloucester is not come:"
7451"'Tis not his wont to be the hindmost man,"
7452"Whate'er occasion keeps him from us now."
7453"Can you not see? or will ye not observe"
7454"The strangeness of his alter'd countenance?"
7455"With what a majesty he bears himself,"
7456"How insolent of late he is become,"
7457"How proud, how peremptory, and unlike himself?"
7458"We know the time since he was mild and affable,"
7459"And if we did but glance a far-off look,"
7460"Immediately he was upon his knee,"
7461"That all the court admired him for submission:"
7462"But meet him now, and, be it in the morn,"
7463"When every one will give the time of day,"
7464"He knits his brow and shows an angry eye,"
7465"And passeth by with stiff unbowed knee,"
7466"Disdaining duty that to us belongs."
7467"Small curs are not regarded when they grin,"
7468"But great men tremble when the lion roars,"
7469"And Humphrey is no little man in England."
7470"First note that he is near you in descent,"
7471"And should you fall, he as the next will mount."
7472"Me seemeth then it is no policy,"
7473"Respecting what a rancorous mind he bears"
7474"And his advantage following your decease,"
7475"That he should come about your royal person"
7476"Or be admitted to your highness' council."
7477"By flattery hath he won the commons' hearts,"
7478"And when he please to make commotion,"
7479"'Tis to be fear'd they all will follow him."
7480"Now 'tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted,"
7481"Suffer them now, and they'll o'ergrow the garden"
7482"And choke the herbs for want of husbandry."
7483"The reverent care I bear unto my lord"
7484"Made me collect these dangers in the duke."
7485"If it be fond, call it a woman's fear,"
7486"Which fear if better reasons can supplant,"
7487"I will subscribe and say I wrong'd the duke."
7488"My Lord of Suffolk, Buckingham, and York,"
7489"Reprove my allegation, if you can,"
7490"Or else conclude my words effectual."
7491"Well hath your highness seen into this duke,"
7492"And, had I first been put to speak my mind,"
7493"I think I should have told your grace's tale."
7494"The duchess, by his subornation,"
7495"Upon my life, began her devilish practises:"
7496"Or, if he were not privy to those faults,"
7497"Yet, by reputing of his high descent,"
7498"As next the king he was successive heir,"
7499"And such high vaunts of his nobility,"
7500"Did instigate the bedlam brain-sick duchess"
7501"By wicked means to frame our sovereign's fall."
7502"Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep,"
7503"And in his simple show he harbours treason."
7504"The fox barks not when he would steal the lamb."
7505"No, no, my sovereign, Gloucester is a man"
7506"Unsounded yet and full of deep deceit."
7507"Did he not, contrary to form of law,"
7508"Devise strange deaths for small offences done?"
7509"And did he not, in his protectorship,"
7510"Levy great sums of money through the realm"
7511"For soldiers' pay in France, and never sent it?"
7512"By means whereof the towns each day revolted."
7513"Tut, these are petty faults to faults unknown."
7514"Which time will bring to light in smooth"
7515"Duke Humphrey."
7516"My lords, at once: the care you have of us,"
7517"To mow down thorns that would annoy our foot,"
7518"Is worthy praise: but, shall I speak my conscience,"
7519"Our kinsman Gloucester is as innocent"
7520"From meaning treason to our royal person"
7521"As is the sucking lamb or harmless dove:"
7522"The duke is virtuous, mild and too well given"
7523"To dream on evil or to work my downfall."
7524"Ah, what's more dangerous than this fond affiance!"
7525"Seems he a dove? his feathers are but borrowed,"
7526"For he's disposed as the hateful raven:"
7527"Is he a lamb? his skin is surely lent him,"
7528"For he's inclined as is the ravenous wolf."
7529"Who cannot steal a shape that means deceit?"
7530"Take heed, my lord, the welfare of us all"
7531"Hangs on the cutting short that fraudful man."
7532"Enter SOMERSET"
7533"All health unto my gracious sovereign!"
7534"Welcome, Lord Somerset. What news from France?"
7535"That all your interest in those territories"
7536"Is utterly bereft you, all is lost."
7537"Cold news, Lord Somerset: but God's will be done!"
7538"[Aside]  Cold news for me, for I had hope of France"
7539"As firmly as I hope for fertile England."
7540"Thus are my blossoms blasted in the bud"
7541"And caterpillars eat my leaves away,"
7542"But I will remedy this gear ere long,"
7543"Or sell my title for a glorious grave."
7544"Enter GLOUCESTER"
7545"All happiness unto my lord the king!"
7546"Pardon, my liege, that I have stay'd so long."
7547"Nay, Gloucester, know that thou art come too soon,"
7548"Unless thou wert more loyal than thou art:"
7549"I do arrest thee of high treason here."
7550"Well, Suffolk, thou shalt not see me blush"
7551"Nor change my countenance for this arrest:"
7552"A heart unspotted is not easily daunted."
7553"The purest spring is not so free from mud"
7554"As I am clear from treason to my sovereign:"
7555"Who can accuse me? wherein am I guilty?"
7556"'Tis thought, my lord, that you took bribes of France,"
7557"And, being protector, stayed the soldiers' pay,"
7558"By means whereof his highness hath lost France."
7559"Is it but thought so? what are they that think it?"
7560"I never robb'd the soldiers of their pay,"
7561"Nor ever had one penny bribe from France."
7562"So help me God, as I have watch'd the night,"
7563"Ay, night by night, in studying good for England,"
7564"That doit that e'er I wrested from the king,"
7565"Or any groat I hoarded to my use,"
7566"Be brought against me at my trial-day!"
7567"No, many a pound of mine own proper store,"
7568"Because I would not tax the needy commons,"
7569"Have I disbursed to the garrisons,"
7570"And never ask'd for restitution."
7571"It serves you well, my lord, to say so much."
7572"I say no more than truth, so help me God!"
7573"In your protectorship you did devise"
7574"Strange tortures for offenders never heard of,"
7575"That England was defamed by tyranny."
7576"Why, 'tis well known that, whiles I was"
7577protector,
7578"Pity was all the fault that was in me,"
7579"For I should melt at an offender's tears,"
7580"And lowly words were ransom for their fault."
7581"Unless it were a bloody murderer,"
7582"Or foul felonious thief that fleeced poor passengers,"
7583"I never gave them condign punishment:"
7584"Murder indeed, that bloody sin, I tortured"
7585"Above the felon or what trespass else."
7586"My lord, these faults are easy, quickly answered:"
7587"But mightier crimes are laid unto your charge,"
7588"Whereof you cannot easily purge yourself."
7589"I do arrest you in his highness' name,"
7590"And here commit you to my lord cardinal"
7591"To keep, until your further time of trial."
7592"My lord of Gloucester, 'tis my special hope"
7593"That you will clear yourself from all suspect:"
7594"My conscience tells me you are innocent."
7595"Ah, gracious lord, these days are dangerous:"
7596"Virtue is choked with foul ambition"
7597"And charity chased hence by rancour's hand,"
7598"Foul subornation is predominant"
7599"And equity exiled your highness' land."
7600"I know their complot is to have my life,"
7601"And if my death might make this island happy,"
7602"And prove the period of their tyranny,"
7603"I would expend it with all willingness:"
7604"But mine is made the prologue to their play,"
7605"For thousands more, that yet suspect no peril,"
7606"Will not conclude their plotted tragedy."
7607"Beaufort's red sparkling eyes blab his heart's malice,"
7608"And Suffolk's cloudy brow his stormy hate,"
7609"Sharp Buckingham unburthens with his tongue"
7610"The envious load that lies upon his heart,"
7611"And dogged York, that reaches at the moon,"
7612"Whose overweening arm I have pluck'd back,"
7613"By false accuse doth level at my life:"
7614"And you, my sovereign lady, with the rest,"
7615"Causeless have laid disgraces on my head,"
7616"And with your best endeavour have stirr'd up"
7617"My liefest liege to be mine enemy:"
7618"Ay, all you have laid your heads together--"
7619"Myself had notice of your conventicles--"
7620"And all to make away my guiltless life."
7621"I shall not want false witness to condemn me,"
7622"Nor store of treasons to augment my guilt,"
7623"The ancient proverb will be well effected:"
7624"'A staff is quickly found to beat a dog.'"
7625"My liege, his railing is intolerable:"
7626"If those that care to keep your royal person"
7627"From treason's secret knife and traitors' rage"
7628"Be thus upbraided, chid and rated at,"
7629"And the offender granted scope of speech,"
7630"'Twill make them cool in zeal unto your grace."
7631"Hath he not twit our sovereign lady here"
7632"With ignominious words, though clerkly couch'd,"
7633"As if she had suborned some to swear"
7634"False allegations to o'erthrow his state?"
7635"But I can give the loser leave to chide."
7636"Far truer spoke than meant: I lose, indeed,"
7637"Beshrew the winners, for they play'd me false!"
7638"And well such losers may have leave to speak."
7639"He'll wrest the sense and hold us here all day:"
7640"Lord cardinal, he is your prisoner."
7641"Sirs, take away the duke, and guard him sure."
7642"Ah! thus King Henry throws away his crutch"
7643"Before his legs be firm to bear his body."
7644"Thus is the shepherd beaten from thy side,"
7645"And wolves are gnarling who shall gnaw thee first."
7646"Ah, that my fear were false! ah, that it were!"
7647"For, good King Henry, thy decay I fear."
7648"Exit, guarded"
7649"My lords, what to your wisdoms seemeth best,"
7650"Do or undo, as if ourself were here."
7651"What, will your highness leave the parliament?"
7652"Ay, Margaret, my heart is drown'd with grief,"
7653"Whose flood begins to flow within mine eyes,"
7654"My body round engirt with misery,"
7655"For what's more miserable than discontent?"
7656"Ah, uncle Humphrey! in thy face I see"
7657"The map of honour, truth and loyalty:"
7658"And yet, good Humphrey, is the hour to come"
7659"That e'er I proved thee false or fear'd thy faith."
7660"What louring star now envies thy estate,"
7661"That these great lords and Margaret our queen"
7662"Do seek subversion of thy harmless life?"
7663"Thou never didst them wrong, nor no man wrong,"
7664"And as the butcher takes away the calf"
7665"And binds the wretch, and beats it when it strays,"
7666"Bearing it to the bloody slaughter-house,"
7667"Even so remorseless have they borne him hence,"
7668"And as the dam runs lowing up and down,"
7669"Looking the way her harmless young one went,"
7670"And can do nought but wail her darling's loss,"
7671"Even so myself bewails good Gloucester's case"
7672"With sad unhelpful tears, and with dimm'd eyes"
7673"Look after him and cannot do him good,"
7674"So mighty are his vowed enemies."
7675"His fortunes I will weep, and, 'twixt each groan"
7676"Say 'Who's a traitor? Gloucester he is none.'"
7677"Exeunt all but QUEEN MARGARET, CARDINAL, SUFFOLK, and YORK, SOMERSET remains apart"
7678"Free lords, cold snow melts with the sun's hot beams."
7679"Henry my lord is cold in great affairs,"
7680"Too full of foolish pity, and Gloucester's show"
7681"Beguiles him as the mournful crocodile"
7682"With sorrow snares relenting passengers,"
7683"Or as the snake roll'd in a flowering bank,"
7684"With shining chequer'd slough, doth sting a child"
7685"That for the beauty thinks it excellent."
7686"Believe me, lords, were none more wise than I--"
7687"And yet herein I judge mine own wit good--"
7688"This Gloucester should be quickly rid the world,"
7689"To rid us of the fear we have of him."
7690"That he should die is worthy policy,"
7691"But yet we want a colour for his death:"
7692"'Tis meet he be condemn'd by course of law."
7693"But, in my mind, that were no policy:"
7694"The king will labour still to save his life,"
7695"The commons haply rise, to save his life,"
7696"And yet we have but trivial argument,"
7697"More than mistrust, that shows him worthy death."
7698"So that, by this, you would not have him die."
7699"Ah, York, no man alive so fain as I!"
7700"'Tis York that hath more reason for his death."
7701"But, my lord cardinal, and you, my Lord of Suffolk,"
7702"Say as you think, and speak it from your souls,"
7703"Were't not all one, an empty eagle were set"
7704"To guard the chicken from a hungry kite,"
7705"As place Duke Humphrey for the king's protector?"
7706"So the poor chicken should be sure of death."
7707"Madam, 'tis true, and were't not madness, then,"
7708"To make the fox surveyor of the fold?"
7709"Who being accused a crafty murderer,"
7710"His guilt should be but idly posted over,"
7711"Because his purpose is not executed."
7712"No, let him die, in that he is a fox,"
7713"By nature proved an enemy to the flock,"
7714"Before his chaps be stain'd with crimson blood,"
7715"As Humphrey, proved by reasons, to my liege."
7716"And do not stand on quillets how to slay him:"
7717"Be it by gins, by snares, by subtlety,"
7718"Sleeping or waking, 'tis no matter how,"
7719"So he be dead, for that is good deceit"
7720"Which mates him first that first intends deceit."
7721"Thrice-noble Suffolk, 'tis resolutely spoke."
7722"Not resolute, except so much were done,"
7723"For things are often spoke and seldom meant:"
7724"But that my heart accordeth with my tongue,"
7725"Seeing the deed is meritorious,"
7726"And to preserve my sovereign from his foe,"
7727"Say but the word, and I will be his priest."
7728"But I would have him dead, my Lord of Suffolk,"
7729"Ere you can take due orders for a priest:"
7730"Say you consent and censure well the deed,"
7731"And I'll provide his executioner,"
7732"I tender so the safety of my liege."
7733"Here is my hand, the deed is worthy doing."
7734"And so say I."
7735"And I    and now we three have spoke it,"
7736"It skills not greatly who impugns our doom."
7737"Enter a Post"
7738"Great lords, from Ireland am I come amain,"
7739"To signify that rebels there are up"
7740"And put the Englishmen unto the sword:"
7741"Send succors, lords, and stop the rage betime,"
7742"Before the wound do grow uncurable,"
7743"For, being green, there is great hope of help."
7744"A breach that craves a quick expedient stop!"
7745"What counsel give you in this weighty cause?"
7746"That Somerset be sent as regent thither:"
7747"'Tis meet that lucky ruler be employ'd,"
7748"Witness the fortune he hath had in France."
7749"If York, with all his far-fet policy,"
7750"Had been the regent there instead of me,"
7751"He never would have stay'd in France so long."
7752"No, not to lose it all, as thou hast done:"
7753"I rather would have lost my life betimes"
7754"Than bring a burthen of dishonour home"
7755"By staying there so long till all were lost."
7756"Show me one scar character'd on thy skin:"
7757"Men's flesh preserved so whole do seldom win."
7758"Nay, then, this spark will prove a raging fire,"
7759"If wind and fuel be brought to feed it with:"
7760"No more, good York, sweet Somerset, be still:"
7761"Thy fortune, York, hadst thou been regent there,"
7762"Might happily have proved far worse than his."
7763"What, worse than nought? nay, then, a shame take all!"
7764"And, in the number, thee that wishest shame!"
7765"My Lord of York, try what your fortune is."
7766"The uncivil kerns of Ireland are in arms"
7767"And temper clay with blood of Englishmen:"
7768"To Ireland will you lead a band of men,"
7769"Collected choicely, from each county some,"
7770"And try your hap against the Irishmen?"
7771"I will, my lord, so please his majesty."
7772"Why, our authority is his consent,"
7773"And what we do establish he confirms:"
7774"Then, noble York, take thou this task in hand."
7775"I am content: provide me soldiers, lords,"
7776"Whiles I take order for mine own affairs."
7777"A charge, Lord York, that I will see perform'd."
7778"But now return we to the false Duke Humphrey."
7779"No more of him, for I will deal with him"
7780"That henceforth he shall trouble us no more."
7781"And so break off, the day is almost spent:"
7782"Lord Suffolk, you and I must talk of that event."
7783"My Lord of Suffolk, within fourteen days"
7784"At Bristol I expect my soldiers,"
7785"For there I'll ship them all for Ireland."
7786"I'll see it truly done, my Lord of York."
7787"Exeunt all but YORK"
7788"Now, York, or never, steel thy fearful thoughts,"
7789"And change misdoubt to resolution:"
7790"Be that thou hopest to be, or what thou art"
7791"Resign to death, it is not worth the enjoying:"
7792"Let pale-faced fear keep with the mean-born man,"
7793"And find no harbour in a royal heart."
7794"Faster than spring-time showers comes thought"
7795"on thought,"
7796"And not a thought but thinks on dignity."
7797"My brain more busy than the labouring spider"
7798"Weaves tedious snares to trap mine enemies."
7799"Well, nobles, well, 'tis politicly done,"
7800"To send me packing with an host of men:"
7801"I fear me you but warm the starved snake,"
7802"Who, cherish'd in your breasts, will sting"
7803"your hearts."
7804"'Twas men I lack'd and you will give them me:"
7805"I take it kindly, and yet be well assured"
7806"You put sharp weapons in a madman's hands."
7807"Whiles I in Ireland nourish a mighty band,"
7808"I will stir up in England some black storm"
7809"Shall blow ten thousand souls to heaven or hell,"
7810"And this fell tempest shall not cease to rage"
7811"Until the golden circuit on my head,"
7812"Like to the glorious sun's transparent beams,"
7813"Do calm the fury of this mad-bred flaw."
7814"And, for a minister of my intent,"
7815"I have seduced a headstrong Kentishman,"
7816"John Cade of Ashford,"
7817"To make commotion, as full well he can,"
7818"Under the title of John Mortimer."
7819"In Ireland have I seen this stubborn Cade"
7820"Oppose himself against a troop of kerns,"
7821"And fought so long, till that his thighs with darts"
7822"Were almost like a sharp-quill'd porpentine,"
7823"And, in the end being rescued, I have seen"
7824"Him caper upright like a wild Morisco,"
7825"Shaking the bloody darts as he his bells."
7826"Full often, like a shag-hair'd crafty kern,"
7827"Hath he conversed with the enemy,"
7828"And undiscover'd come to me again"
7829"And given me notice of their villanies."
7830"This devil here shall be my substitute,"
7831"For that John Mortimer, which now is dead,"
7832"In face, in gait, in speech, he doth resemble:"
7833"By this I shall perceive the commons' mind,"
7834"How they affect the house and claim of York."
7835"Say he be taken, rack'd and tortured,"
7836"I know no pain they can inflict upon him"
7837"Will make him say I moved him to those arms."
7838"Say that he thrive, as 'tis great like he will,"
7839"Why, then from Ireland come I with my strength"
7840"And reap the harvest which that rascal sow'd,"
7841"For Humphrey being dead, as he shall be,"
7842"And Henry put apart, the next for me."
7843Exit
7844"SCENE II. Bury St. Edmund's. A room of state."
7845"Enter certain Murderers, hastily"
7846"Run to my Lord of Suffolk, let him know"
7847"We have dispatch'd the duke, as he commanded."
7848"O that it were to do! What have we done?"
7849"Didst ever hear a man so penitent?"
7850"Enter SUFFOLK"
7851"Here comes my lord."
7852"Now, sirs, have you dispatch'd this thing?"
7853"Ay, my good lord, he's dead."
7854"Why, that's well said. Go, get you to my house,"
7855"I will reward you for this venturous deed."
7856"The king and all the peers are here at hand."
7857"Have you laid fair the bed? Is all things well,"
7858"According as I gave directions?"
7859"'Tis, my good lord."
7860"Away! be gone."
7861"Exeunt Murderers"
7862"Sound trumpets. Enter KING HENRY VI, QUEEN MARGARET, CARDINAL, SOMERSET, with Attendants"
7863"Go, call our uncle to our presence straight,"
7864"Say we intend to try his grace to-day."
7865"If he be guilty, as 'tis published."
7866"I'll call him presently, my noble lord."
7867Exit
7868"Lords, take your places, and, I pray you all,"
7869"Proceed no straiter 'gainst our uncle Gloucester"
7870"Than from true evidence of good esteem"
7871"He be approved in practise culpable."
7872"God forbid any malice should prevail,"
7873"That faultless may condemn a nobleman!"
7874"Pray God he may acquit him of suspicion!"
7875"I thank thee, Meg, these words content me much."
7876"Re-enter SUFFOLK"
7877"How now! why look'st thou pale? why tremblest thou?"
7878"Where is our uncle? what's the matter, Suffolk?"
7879"Dead in his bed, my lord, Gloucester is dead."
7880"Marry, God forfend!"
7881"God's secret judgment: I did dream to-night"
7882"The duke was dumb and could not speak a word."
7883"KING HENRY VI swoons"
7884"How fares my lord? Help, lords! the king is dead."
7885"Rear up his body, wring him by the nose."
7886"Run, go, help, help! O Henry, ope thine eyes!"
7887"He doth revive again: madam, be patient."
7888"O heavenly God!"
7889"How fares my gracious lord?"
7890"Comfort, my sovereign! gracious Henry, comfort!"
7891"What, doth my Lord of Suffolk comfort me?"
7892"Came he right now to sing a raven's note,"
7893"Whose dismal tune bereft my vital powers,"
7894"And thinks he that the chirping of a wren,"
7895"By crying comfort from a hollow breast,"
7896"Can chase away the first-conceived sound?"
7897"Hide not thy poison with such sugar'd words,"
7898"Lay not thy hands on me, forbear, I say,"
7899"Their touch affrights me as a serpent's sting."
7900"Thou baleful messenger, out of my sight!"
7901"Upon thy eye-balls murderous tyranny"
7902"Sits in grim majesty, to fright the world."
7903"Look not upon me, for thine eyes are wounding:"
7904"Yet do not go away: come, basilisk,"
7905"And kill the innocent gazer with thy sight,"
7906"For in the shade of death I shall find joy,"
7907"In life but double death, now Gloucester's dead."
7908"Why do you rate my Lord of Suffolk thus?"
7909"Although the duke was enemy to him,"
7910"Yet he most Christian-like laments his death:"
7911"And for myself, foe as he was to me,"
7912"Might liquid tears or heart-offending groans"
7913"Or blood-consuming sighs recall his life,"
7914"I would be blind with weeping, sick with groans,"
7915"Look pale as primrose with blood-drinking sighs,"
7916"And all to have the noble duke alive."
7917"What know I how the world may deem of me?"
7918"For it is known we were but hollow friends:"
7919"It may be judged I made the duke away,"
7920"So shall my name with slander's tongue be wounded,"
7921"And princes' courts be fill'd with my reproach."
7922"This get I by his death: ay me, unhappy!"
7923"To be a queen, and crown'd with infamy!"
7924"Ah, woe is me for Gloucester, wretched man!"
7925"Be woe for me, more wretched than he is."
7926"What, dost thou turn away and hide thy face?"
7927"I am no loathsome leper, look on me."
7928"What! art thou, like the adder, waxen deaf?"
7929"Be poisonous too and kill thy forlorn queen."
7930"Is all thy comfort shut in Gloucester's tomb?"
7931"Why, then, dame Margaret was ne'er thy joy."
7932"Erect his statue and worship it,"
7933"And make my image but an alehouse sign."
7934"Was I for this nigh wreck'd upon the sea"
7935"And twice by awkward wind from England's bank"
7936"Drove back again unto my native clime?"
7937"What boded this, but well forewarning wind"
7938"Did seem to say 'Seek not a scorpion's nest,"
7939"Nor set no footing on this unkind shore'?"
7940"What did I then, but cursed the gentle gusts"
7941"And he that loosed them forth their brazen caves:"
7942"And bid them blow towards England's blessed shore,"
7943"Or turn our stern upon a dreadful rock"
7944"Yet AEolus would not be a murderer,"
7945"But left that hateful office unto thee:"
7946"The pretty-vaulting sea refused to drown me,"
7947"Knowing that thou wouldst have me drown'd on shore,"
7948"With tears as salt as sea, through thy unkindness:"
7949"The splitting rocks cower'd in the sinking sands"
7950"And would not dash me with their ragged sides,"
7951"Because thy flinty heart, more hard than they,"
7952"Might in thy palace perish Margaret."
7953"As far as I could ken thy chalky cliffs,"
7954"When from thy shore the tempest beat us back,"
7955"I stood upon the hatches in the storm,"
7956"And when the dusky sky began to rob"
7957"My earnest-gaping sight of thy land's view,"
7958"I took a costly jewel from my neck,"
7959"A heart it was, bound in with diamonds,"
7960"And threw it towards thy land: the sea received it,"
7961"And so I wish'd thy body might my heart:"
7962"And even with this I lost fair England's view"
7963"And bid mine eyes be packing with my heart"
7964"And call'd them blind and dusky spectacles,"
7965"For losing ken of Albion's wished coast."
7966"How often have I tempted Suffolk's tongue,"
7967"The agent of thy foul inconstancy,"
7968"To sit and witch me, as Ascanius did"
7969"When he to madding Dido would unfold"
7970"His father's acts commenced in burning Troy!"
7971"Am I not witch'd like her? or thou not false like him?"
7972"Ay me, I can no more! die, Margaret!"
7973"For Henry weeps that thou dost live so long."
7974"Noise within. Enter WARWICK, SALISBURY, and many Commons"
7975"It is reported, mighty sovereign,"
7976"That good Duke Humphrey traitorously is murder'd"
7977"By Suffolk and the Cardinal Beaufort's means."
7978"The commons, like an angry hive of bees"
7979"That want their leader, scatter up and down"
7980"And care not who they sting in his revenge."
7981"Myself have calm'd their spleenful mutiny,"
7982"Until they hear the order of his death."
7983"That he is dead, good Warwick, 'tis too true,"
7984"But how he died God knows, not Henry:"
7985"Enter his chamber, view his breathless corpse,"
7986"And comment then upon his sudden death."
7987"That shall I do, my liege. Stay, Salisbury,"
7988"With the rude multitude till I return."
7989Exit
7990"O Thou that judgest all things, stay my thoughts,"
7991"My thoughts, that labour to persuade my soul"
7992"Some violent hands were laid on Humphrey's life!"
7993"If my suspect be false, forgive me, God,"
7994"For judgment only doth belong to thee."
7995"Fain would I go to chafe his paly lips"
7996"With twenty thousand kisses, and to drain"
7997"Upon his face an ocean of salt tears,"
7998"To tell my love unto his dumb deaf trunk,"
7999"And with my fingers feel his hand unfeeling:"
8000"But all in vain are these mean obsequies,"
8001"And to survey his dead and earthly image,"
8002"What were it but to make my sorrow greater?"
8003"Re-enter WARWICK and others, bearing GLOUCESTER'S body on a bed"
8004"Come hither, gracious sovereign, view this body."
8005"That is to see how deep my grave is made,"
8006"For with his soul fled all my worldly solace,"
8007"For seeing him I see my life in death."
8008"As surely as my soul intends to live"
8009"With that dread King that took our state upon him"
8010"To free us from his father's wrathful curse,"
8011"I do believe that violent hands were laid"
8012"Upon the life of this thrice-famed duke."
8013"A dreadful oath, sworn with a solemn tongue!"
8014"What instance gives Lord Warwick for his vow?"
8015"See how the blood is settled in his face."
8016"Oft have I seen a timely-parted ghost,"
8017"Of ashy semblance, meagre, pale and bloodless,"
8018"Being all descended to the labouring heart,"
8019"Who, in the conflict that it holds with death,"
8020"Attracts the same for aidance 'gainst the enemy,"
8021"Which with the heart there cools and ne'er returneth"
8022"To blush and beautify the cheek again."
8023"But see, his face is black and full of blood,"
8024"His eye-balls further out than when he lived,"
8025"Staring full ghastly like a strangled man,"
8026"His hair uprear'd, his nostrils stretched with struggling,"
8027"His hands abroad display'd, as one that grasp'd"
8028"And tugg'd for life and was by strength subdued:"
8029"Look, on the sheets his hair you see, is sticking,"
8030"His well-proportion'd beard made rough and rugged,"
8031"Like to the summer's corn by tempest lodged."
8032"It cannot be but he was murder'd here,"
8033"The least of all these signs were probable."
8034"Why, Warwick, who should do the duke to death?"
8035"Myself and Beaufort had him in protection,"
8036"And we, I hope, sir, are no murderers."
8037"But both of you were vow'd Duke Humphrey's foes,"
8038"And you, forsooth, had the good duke to keep:"
8039"'Tis like you would not feast him like a friend,"
8040"And 'tis well seen he found an enemy."
8041"Then you, belike, suspect these noblemen"
8042"As guilty of Duke Humphrey's timeless death."
8043"Who finds the heifer dead and bleeding fresh"
8044"And sees fast by a butcher with an axe,"
8045"But will suspect 'twas he that made the slaughter?"
8046"Who finds the partridge in the puttock's nest,"
8047"But may imagine how the bird was dead,"
8048"Although the kite soar with unbloodied beak?"
8049"Even so suspicious is this tragedy."
8050"Are you the butcher, Suffolk? Where's your knife?"
8051"Is Beaufort term'd a kite? Where are his talons?"
8052"I wear no knife to slaughter sleeping men,"
8053"But here's a vengeful sword, rusted with ease,"
8054"That shall be scoured in his rancorous heart"
8055"That slanders me with murder's crimson badge."
8056"Say, if thou darest, proud Lord of Warwick-shire,"
8057"That I am faulty in Duke Humphrey's death."
8058"Exeunt CARDINAL, SOMERSET, and others"
8059"What dares not Warwick, if false Suffolk dare him?"
8060"He dares not calm his contumelious spirit"
8061"Nor cease to be an arrogant controller,"
8062"Though Suffolk dare him twenty thousand times."
8063"Madam, be still, with reverence may I say,"
8064"For every word you speak in his behalf"
8065"Is slander to your royal dignity."
8066"Blunt-witted lord, ignoble in demeanor!"
8067"If ever lady wrong'd her lord so much,"
8068"Thy mother took into her blameful bed"
8069"Some stern untutor'd churl, and noble stock"
8070"Was graft with crab-tree slip, whose fruit thou art,"
8071"And never of the Nevils' noble race."
8072"But that the guilt of murder bucklers thee"
8073"And I should rob the deathsman of his fee,"
8074"Quitting thee thereby of ten thousand shames,"
8075"And that my sovereign's presence makes me mild,"
8076"I would, false murderous coward, on thy knee"
8077"Make thee beg pardon for thy passed speech,"
8078"And say it was thy mother that thou meant'st"
8079"That thou thyself was born in bastardy,"
8080"And after all this fearful homage done,"
8081"Give thee thy hire and send thy soul to hell,"
8082"Pernicious blood-sucker of sleeping men!"
8083"Thou shall be waking well I shed thy blood,"
8084"If from this presence thou darest go with me."
8085"Away even now, or I will drag thee hence:"
8086"Unworthy though thou art, I'll cope with thee"
8087"And do some service to Duke Humphrey's ghost."
8088"Exeunt SUFFOLK and WARWICK"
8089"What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted!"
8090"Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just,"
8091"And he but naked, though lock'd up in steel"
8092"Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted."
8093"A noise within"
8094"What noise is this?"
8095"Re-enter SUFFOLK and WARWICK, with their weapons drawn"
8096"Why, how now, lords! your wrathful weapons drawn"
8097"Here in our presence! dare you be so bold?"
8098"Why, what tumultuous clamour have we here?"
8099"The traitorous Warwick with the men of Bury"
8100"Set all upon me, mighty sovereign."
8101"[To the Commons, entering]  Sirs, stand apart,"
8102"the king shall know your mind."
8103"Dread lord, the commons send you word by me,"
8104"Unless Lord Suffolk straight be done to death,"
8105"Or banished fair England's territories,"
8106"They will by violence tear him from your palace"
8107"And torture him with grievous lingering death."
8108"They say, by him the good Duke Humphrey died,"
8109"They say, in him they fear your highness' death,"
8110"And mere instinct of love and loyalty,"
8111"Free from a stubborn opposite intent,"
8112"As being thought to contradict your liking,"
8113"Makes them thus forward in his banishment."
8114"They say, in care of your most royal person,"
8115"That if your highness should intend to sleep"
8116"And charge that no man should disturb your rest"
8117"In pain of your dislike or pain of death,"
8118"Yet, notwithstanding such a strait edict,"
8119"Were there a serpent seen, with forked tongue,"
8120"That slily glided towards your majesty,"
8121"It were but necessary you were waked,"
8122"Lest, being suffer'd in that harmful slumber,"
8123"The mortal worm might make the sleep eternal,"
8124"And therefore do they cry, though you forbid,"
8125"That they will guard you, whether you will or no,"
8126"From such fell serpents as false Suffolk is,"
8127"With whose envenomed and fatal sting,"
8128"Your loving uncle, twenty times his worth,"
8129"They say, is shamefully bereft of life."
8130"[Within]  An answer from the king, my"
8131"Lord of Salisbury!"
8132"'Tis like the commons, rude unpolish'd hinds,"
8133"Could send such message to their sovereign:"
8134"But you, my lord, were glad to be employ'd,"
8135"To show how quaint an orator you are:"
8136"But all the honour Salisbury hath won"
8137"Is, that he was the lord ambassador"
8138"Sent from a sort of tinkers to the king."
8139"[Within]  An answer from the king, or we will all break in!"
8140"Go, Salisbury, and tell them all from me."
8141"I thank them for their tender loving care,"
8142"And had I not been cited so by them,"
8143"Yet did I purpose as they do entreat,"
8144"For, sure, my thoughts do hourly prophesy"
8145"Mischance unto my state by Suffolk's means:"
8146"And therefore, by His majesty I swear,"
8147"Whose far unworthy deputy I am,"
8148"He shall not breathe infection in this air"
8149"But three days longer, on the pain of death."
8150"Exit SALISBURY"
8151"O Henry, let me plead for gentle Suffolk!"
8152"Ungentle queen, to call him gentle Suffolk!"
8153"No more, I say: if thou dost plead for him,"
8154"Thou wilt but add increase unto my wrath."
8155"Had I but said, I would have kept my word,"
8156"But when I swear, it is irrevocable."
8157"If, after three days' space, thou here be'st found"
8158"On any ground that I am ruler of,"
8159"The world shall not be ransom for thy life."
8160"Come, Warwick, come, good Warwick, go with me,"
8161"I have great matters to impart to thee."
8162"Exeunt all but QUEEN MARGARET and SUFFOLK"
8163"Mischance and sorrow go along with you!"
8164"Heart's discontent and sour affliction"
8165"Be playfellows to keep you company!"
8166"There's two of you, the devil make a third!"
8167"And threefold vengeance tend upon your steps!"
8168"Cease, gentle queen, these execrations,"
8169"And let thy Suffolk take his heavy leave."
8170"Fie, coward woman and soft-hearted wretch!"
8171"Hast thou not spirit to curse thine enemy?"
8172"A plague upon them! wherefore should I curse them?"
8173"Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan,"
8174"I would invent as bitter-searching terms,"
8175"As curst, as harsh and horrible to hear,"
8176"Deliver'd strongly through my fixed teeth,"
8177"With full as many signs of deadly hate,"
8178"As lean-faced Envy in her loathsome cave:"
8179"My tongue should stumble in mine earnest words,"
8180"Mine eyes should sparkle like the beaten flint,"
8181"Mine hair be fixed on end, as one distract,"
8182"Ay, every joint should seem to curse and ban:"
8183"And even now my burthen'd heart would break,"
8184"Should I not curse them. Poison be their drink!"
8185"Gall, worse than gall, the daintiest that they taste!"
8186"Their sweetest shade a grove of cypress trees!"
8187"Their chiefest prospect murdering basilisks!"
8188"Their softest touch as smart as lizards' sting!"
8189"Their music frightful as the serpent's hiss,"
8190"And boding screech-owls make the concert full!"
8191"All the foul terrors in dark-seated hell--"
8192"Enough, sweet Suffolk, thou torment'st thyself,"
8193"And these dread curses, like the sun 'gainst glass,"
8194"Or like an overcharged gun, recoil,"
8195"And turn the force of them upon thyself."
8196"You bade me ban, and will you bid me leave?"
8197"Now, by the ground that I am banish'd from,"
8198"Well could I curse away a winter's night,"
8199"Though standing naked on a mountain top,"
8200"Where biting cold would never let grass grow,"
8201"And think it but a minute spent in sport."
8202"O, let me entreat thee cease. Give me thy hand,"
8203"That I may dew it with my mournful tears,"
8204"Nor let the rain of heaven wet this place,"
8205"To wash away my woful monuments."
8206"O, could this kiss be printed in thy hand,"
8207"That thou mightst think upon these by the seal,"
8208"Through whom a thousand sighs are breathed for thee!"
8209"So, get thee gone, that I may know my grief,"
8210"'Tis but surmised whiles thou art standing by,"
8211"As one that surfeits thinking on a want."
8212"I will repeal thee, or, be well assured,"
8213"Adventure to be banished myself:"
8214"And banished I am, if but from thee."
8215"Go, speak not to me, even now be gone."
8216"O, go not yet! Even thus two friends condemn'd"
8217"Embrace and kiss and take ten thousand leaves,"
8218"Loather a hundred times to part than die."
8219"Yet now farewell, and farewell life with thee!"
8220"Thus is poor Suffolk ten times banished,"
8221"Once by the king, and three times thrice by thee."
8222"'Tis not the land I care for, wert thou thence,"
8223"A wilderness is populous enough,"
8224"So Suffolk had thy heavenly company:"
8225"For where thou art, there is the world itself,"
8226"With every several pleasure in the world,"
8227"And where thou art not, desolation."
8228"I can no more: live thou to joy thy life,"
8229"Myself no joy in nought but that thou livest."
8230"Enter VAUX"
8231"Wither goes Vaux so fast? what news, I prithee?"
8232"To signify unto his majesty"
8233"That Cardinal Beaufort is at point of death,"
8234"For suddenly a grievous sickness took him,"
8235"That makes him gasp and stare and catch the air,"
8236"Blaspheming God and cursing men on earth."
8237"Sometimes he talks as if Duke Humphrey's ghost"
8238"Were by his side, sometime he calls the king,"
8239"And whispers to his pillow, as to him,"
8240"The secrets of his overcharged soul,"
8241"And I am sent to tell his majesty"
8242"That even now he cries aloud for him."
8243"Go tell this heavy message to the king."
8244"Exit VAUX"
8245"Ay me! what is this world! what news are these!"
8246"But wherefore grieve I at an hour's poor loss,"
8247"Omitting Suffolk's exile, my soul's treasure?"
8248"Why only, Suffolk, mourn I not for thee,"
8249"And with the southern clouds contend in tears,"
8250"Theirs for the earth's increase, mine for my sorrows?"
8251"Now get thee hence: the king, thou know'st, is coming,"
8252"If thou be found by me, thou art but dead."
8253"If I depart from thee, I cannot live,"
8254"And in thy sight to die, what were it else"
8255"But like a pleasant slumber in thy lap?"
8256"Here could I breathe my soul into the air,"
8257"As mild and gentle as the cradle-babe"
8258"Dying with mother's dug between its lips:"
8259"Where, from thy sight, I should be raging mad,"
8260"And cry out for thee to close up mine eyes,"
8261"To have thee with thy lips to stop my mouth,"
8262"So shouldst thou either turn my flying soul,"
8263"Or I should breathe it so into thy body,"
8264"And then it lived in sweet Elysium."
8265"To die by thee were but to die in jest,"
8266"From thee to die were torture more than death:"
8267"O, let me stay, befall what may befall!"
8268"Away! though parting be a fretful corrosive,"
8269"It is applied to a deathful wound."
8270"To France, sweet Suffolk: let me hear from thee,"
8271"For wheresoe'er thou art in this world's globe,"
8272"I'll have an Iris that shall find thee out."
8273"I go."
8274"And take my heart with thee."
8275"A jewel, lock'd into the wofull'st cask"
8276"That ever did contain a thing of worth."
8277"Even as a splitted bark, so sunder we"
8278"This way fall I to death."
8279"This way for me."
8280"Exeunt severally"
8281"SCENE III. A bedchamber."
8282"Enter the KING, SALISBURY, WARWICK, to the CARDINAL in bed"
8283"How fares my lord? speak, Beaufort, to"
8284"thy sovereign."
8285"If thou be'st death, I'll give thee England's treasure,"
8286"Enough to purchase such another island,"
8287"So thou wilt let me live, and feel no pain."
8288"Ah, what a sign it is of evil life,"
8289"Where death's approach is seen so terrible!"
8290"Beaufort, it is thy sovereign speaks to thee."
8291"Bring me unto my trial when you will."
8292"Died he not in his bed? where should he die?"
8293"Can I make men live, whether they will or no?"
8294"O, torture me no more! I will confess."
8295"Alive again? then show me where he is:"
8296"I'll give a thousand pound to look upon him."
8297"He hath no eyes, the dust hath blinded them."
8298"Comb down his hair, look, look! it stands upright,"
8299"Like lime-twigs set to catch my winged soul."
8300"Give me some drink, and bid the apothecary"
8301"Bring the strong poison that I bought of him."
8302"O thou eternal Mover of the heavens."
8303"Look with a gentle eye upon this wretch!"
8304"O, beat away the busy meddling fiend"
8305"That lays strong siege unto this wretch's soul."
8306"And from his bosom purge this black despair!"
8307"See, how the pangs of death do make him grin!"
8308"Disturb him not, let him pass peaceably."
8309"Peace to his soul, if God's good pleasure be!"
8310"Lord cardinal, if thou think'st on heaven's bliss,"
8311"Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope."
8312"He dies, and makes no sign. O God, forgive him!"
8313"So bad a death argues a monstrous life."
8314"Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all."
8315"Close up his eyes and draw the curtain close,"
8316"And let us all to meditation."
8317Exeunt
8318"ACT IV"
8319"SCENE I. The coast of Kent."
8320"Alarum. Fight at sea. Ordnance goes off. Enter a  Captain, a Master, a Master's-mate, WALTER WHITMORE, and others, with them SUFFOLK, and others, prisoners"
8321"The gaudy, blabbing and remorseful day"
8322"Is crept into the bosom of the sea,"
8323"And now loud-howling wolves arouse the jades"
8324"That drag the tragic melancholy night,"
8325"Who, with their drowsy, slow and flagging wings,"
8326"Clip dead men's graves and from their misty jaws"
8327"Breathe foul contagious darkness in the air."
8328"Therefore bring forth the soldiers of our prize,"
8329"For, whilst our pinnace anchors in the Downs,"
8330"Here shall they make their ransom on the sand,"
8331"Or with their blood stain this discolour'd shore."
8332"Master, this prisoner freely give I thee,"
8333"And thou that art his mate, make boot of this,"
8334"The other, Walter Whitmore, is thy share."
8335"What is my ransom, master? let me know."
8336"A thousand crowns, or else lay down your head."
8337"Master's-Mate	And so much shall you give, or off goes yours."
8338"What, think you much to pay two thousand crowns,"
8339"And bear the name and port of gentlemen?"
8340"Cut both the villains' throats, for die you shall:"
8341"The lives of those which we have lost in fight"
8342"Be counterpoised with such a petty sum!"
8343"I'll give it, sir, and therefore spare my life."
8344"And so will I and write home for it straight."
8345"I lost mine eye in laying the prize aboard,"
8346"And therefore to revenge it, shalt thou die,"
8347"To SUFFOLK"
8348"And so should these, if I might have my will."
8349"Be not so rash, take ransom, let him live."
8350"Look on my George, I am a gentleman:"
8351"Rate me at what thou wilt, thou shalt be paid."
8352"And so am I, my name is Walter Whitmore."
8353"How now! why start'st thou? what, doth"
8354"death affright?"
8355"Thy name affrights me, in whose sound is death."
8356"A cunning man did calculate my birth"
8357"And told me that by water I should die:"
8358"Yet let not this make thee be bloody-minded,"
8359"Thy name is Gaultier, being rightly sounded."
8360"Gaultier or Walter, which it is, I care not:"
8361"Never yet did base dishonour blur our name,"
8362"But with our sword we wiped away the blot,"
8363"Therefore, when merchant-like I sell revenge,"
8364"Broke be my sword, my arms torn and defaced,"
8365"And I proclaim'd a coward through the world!"
8366"Stay, Whitmore, for thy prisoner is a prince,"
8367"The Duke of Suffolk, William de la Pole."
8368"The Duke of Suffolk muffled up in rags!"
8369"Ay, but these rags are no part of the duke:"
8370"Jove sometimes went disguised, and why not I?"
8371"But Jove was never slain, as thou shalt be."
8372"Obscure and lowly swain, King Henry's blood,"
8373"The honourable blood of Lancaster,"
8374"Must not be shed by such a jaded groom."
8375"Hast thou not kiss'd thy hand and held my stirrup?"
8376"Bare-headed plodded by my foot-cloth mule"
8377"And thought thee happy when I shook my head?"
8378"How often hast thou waited at my cup,"
8379"Fed from my trencher, kneel'd down at the board."
8380"When I have feasted with Queen Margaret?"
8381"Remember it and let it make thee crest-fall'n,"
8382"Ay, and allay this thy abortive pride,"
8383"How in our voiding lobby hast thou stood"
8384"And duly waited for my coming forth?"
8385"This hand of mine hath writ in thy behalf,"
8386"And therefore shall it charm thy riotous tongue."
8387"Speak, captain, shall I stab the forlorn swain?"
8388"First let my words stab him, as he hath me."
8389"Base slave, thy words are blunt and so art thou."
8390"Convey him hence and on our longboat's side"
8391"Strike off his head."
8392"Thou darest not, for thy own."
8393"Yes, Pole."
8394Pole!
8395"Pool! Sir Pool! lord!"
8396"Ay, kennel, puddle, sink, whose filth and dirt"
8397"Troubles the silver spring where England drinks."
8398"Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth"
8399"For swallowing the treasure of the realm:"
8400"Thy lips that kiss'd the queen shall sweep the ground,"
8401"And thou that smiledst at good Duke Humphrey's death,"
8402"Against the senseless winds shalt grin in vain,"
8403"Who in contempt shall hiss at thee again:"
8404"And wedded be thou to the hags of hell,"
8405"For daring to affy a mighty lord"
8406"Unto the daughter of a worthless king,"
8407"Having neither subject, wealth, nor diadem."
8408"By devilish policy art thou grown great,"
8409"And, like ambitious Sylla, overgorged"
8410"With gobbets of thy mother's bleeding heart."
8411"By thee Anjou and Maine were sold to France,"
8412"The false revolting Normans thorough thee"
8413"Disdain to call us lord, and Picardy"
8414"Hath slain their governors, surprised our forts,"
8415"And sent the ragged soldiers wounded home."
8416"The princely Warwick, and the Nevils all,"
8417"Whose dreadful swords were never drawn in vain,"
8418"As hating thee, are rising up in arms:"
8419"And now the house of York, thrust from the crown"
8420"By shameful murder of a guiltless king"
8421"And lofty proud encroaching tyranny,"
8422"Burns with revenging fire, whose hopeful colours"
8423"Advance our half-faced sun, striving to shine,"
8424"Under the which is writ 'Invitis nubibus.'"
8425"The commons here in Kent are up in arms:"
8426"And, to conclude, reproach and beggary"
8427"Is crept into the palace of our king."
8428"And all by thee. Away! convey him hence."
8429"O that I were a god, to shoot forth thunder"
8430"Upon these paltry, servile, abject drudges!"
8431"Small things make base men proud: this villain here,"
8432"Being captain of a pinnace, threatens more"
8433"Than Bargulus the strong Illyrian pirate."
8434"Drones suck not eagles' blood but rob beehives:"
8435"It is impossible that I should die"
8436"By such a lowly vassal as thyself."
8437"Thy words move rage and not remorse in me:"
8438"I go of message from the queen to France,"
8439"I charge thee waft me safely cross the Channel."
8440Walter,--
8441"Come, Suffolk, I must waft thee to thy death."
8442"Gelidus timor occupat artus it is thee I fear."
8443"Thou shalt have cause to fear before I leave thee."
8444"What, are ye daunted now? now will ye stoop?"
8445"My gracious lord, entreat him, speak him fair."
8446"Suffolk's imperial tongue is stern and rough,"
8447"Used to command, untaught to plead for favour."
8448"Far be it we should honour such as these"
8449"With humble suit: no, rather let my head"
8450"Stoop to the block than these knees bow to any"
8451"Save to the God of heaven and to my king,"
8452"And sooner dance upon a bloody pole"
8453"Than stand uncover'd to the vulgar groom."
8454"True nobility is exempt from fear:"
8455"More can I bear than you dare execute."
8456"Hale him away, and let him talk no more."
8457"Come, soldiers, show what cruelty ye can,"
8458"That this my death may never be forgot!"
8459"Great men oft die by vile bezonians:"
8460"A Roman sworder and banditto slave"
8461"Murder'd sweet Tully, Brutus' bastard hand"
8462"Stabb'd Julius Caesar, savage islanders"
8463"Pompey the Great, and Suffolk dies by pirates."
8464"Exeunt Whitmore and others with Suffolk"
8465"And as for these whose ransom we have set,"
8466"It is our pleasure one of them depart,"
8467"Therefore come you with us and let him go."
8468"Exeunt all but the First Gentleman"
8469"Re-enter WHITMORE with SUFFOLK's body"
8470"There let his head and lifeless body lie,"
8471"Until the queen his mistress bury it."
8472Exit
8473"O barbarous and bloody spectacle!"
8474"His body will I bear unto the king:"
8475"If he revenge it not, yet will his friends,"
8476"So will the queen, that living held him dear."
8477"Exit with the body"
8478"SCENE II. Blackheath."
8479"Enter GEORGE BEVIS and JOHN HOLLAND"
8480"Come, and get thee a sword, though made of a lath,"
8481"they have been up these two days."
8482"They have the more need to sleep now, then."
8483"I tell thee, Jack Cade the clothier means to dress"
8484"the commonwealth, and turn it, and set a new nap upon it."
8485"So he had need, for 'tis threadbare. Well, I say it"
8486"was never merry world in England since gentlemen came up."
8487"O miserable age! virtue is not regarded in handicrafts-men."
8488"The nobility think scorn to go in leather aprons."
8489"Nay, more, the king's council are no good workmen."
8490"True, and yet it is said, labour in thy vocation,"
8491"which is as much to say as, let the magistrates be"
8492"labouring men, and therefore should we be"
8493magistrates.
8494"Thou hast hit it, for there's no better sign of a"
8495"brave mind than a hard hand."
8496"I see them! I see them! there's Best's son, the"
8497"tanner of Wingham,--"
8498"He shall have the skin of our enemies, to make"
8499"dog's-leather of."
8500"And Dick the Butcher,--"
8501"Then is sin struck down like an ox, and iniquity's"
8502"throat cut like a calf."
8503"And Smith the weaver,--"
8504"Argo, their thread of life is spun."
8505"Come, come, let's fall in with them."
8506"Drum. Enter CADE, DICK the Butcher, SMITH the Weaver, and a Sawyer, with infinite numbers"
8507"We John Cade, so termed of our supposed father,--"
8508"[Aside]  Or rather, of stealing a cade of herrings."
8509"For our enemies shall fall before us, inspired with"
8510"the spirit of putting down kings and princes,"
8511"--Command silence."
8512Silence!
8513"My father was a Mortimer,--"
8514"[Aside]  He was an honest man, and a good"
8515bricklayer.
8516"My mother a Plantagenet,--"
8517"[Aside]  I knew her well, she was a midwife."
8518"My wife descended of the Lacies,--"
8519"[Aside]  She was, indeed, a pedler's daughter, and"
8520"sold many laces."
8521"[Aside]  But now of late, notable to travel with her"
8522"furred pack, she washes bucks here at home."
8523"Therefore am I of an honourable house."
8524"[Aside]  Ay, by my faith, the field is honourable,"
8525"and there was he borne, under a hedge, for his"
8526"father had never a house but the cage."
8527"Valiant I am."
8528"[Aside]  A' must needs, for beggary is valiant."
8529"I am able to endure much."
8530"[Aside]  No question of that, for I have seen him"
8531"whipped three market-days together."
8532"I fear neither sword nor fire."
8533"[Aside]  He need not fear the sword, for his coat is of proof."
8534"[Aside]  But methinks he should stand in fear of"
8535"fire, being burnt i' the hand for stealing of sheep."
8536"Be brave, then, for your captain is brave, and vows"
8537"reformation. There shall be in England seven"
8538"halfpenny loaves sold for a penny: the three-hooped"
8539"pot, shall have ten hoops and I will make it felony"
8540"to drink small beer: all the realm shall be in"
8541"common, and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to"
8542"grass: and when I am king, as king I will be,--"
8543"God save your majesty!"
8544"I thank you, good people: there shall be no money,"
8545"all shall eat and drink on my score, and I will"
8546"apparel them all in one livery, that they may agree"
8547"like brothers and worship me their lord."
8548"The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."
8549"Nay, that I mean to do. Is not this a lamentable"
8550"thing, that of the skin of an innocent lamb should"
8551"be made parchment? that parchment, being scribbled"
8552"o'er, should undo a man? Some say the bee stings:"
8553"but I say, 'tis the bee's wax, for I did but seal"
8554"once to a thing, and I was never mine own man"
8555"since. How now! who's there?"
8556"Enter some, bringing forward the Clerk of Chatham"
8557"The clerk of Chatham: he can write and read and"
8558"cast accompt."
8559"O monstrous!"
8560"We took him setting of boys' copies."
8561"Here's a villain!"
8562"Has a book in his pocket with red letters in't."
8563"Nay, then, he is a conjurer."
8564"Nay, he can make obligations, and write court-hand."
8565"I am sorry for't: the man is a proper man, of mine"
8566"honour, unless I find him guilty, he shall not die."
8567"Come hither, sirrah, I must examine thee: what is thy name?"
8568Emmanuel.
8569"They use to write it on the top of letters: 'twill"
8570"go hard with you."
8571"Let me alone. Dost thou use to write thy name? or"
8572"hast thou a mark to thyself, like an honest"
8573"plain-dealing man?"
8574"Sir, I thank God, I have been so well brought up"
8575"that I can write my name."
8576"He hath confessed: away with him! he's a villain"
8577"and a traitor."
8578"Away with him, I say! hang him with his pen and"
8579"ink-horn about his neck."
8580"Exit one with the Clerk"
8581"Enter MICHAEL"
8582"Where's our general?"
8583"Here I am, thou particular fellow."
8584"Fly, fly, fly! Sir Humphrey Stafford and his"
8585"brother are hard by, with the king's forces."
8586"Stand, villain, stand, or I'll fell thee down. He"
8587"shall be encountered with a man as good as himself:"
8588"he is but a knight, is a'?"
8589No.
8590"To equal him, I will make myself a knight presently."
8591Kneels
8592"Rise up Sir John Mortimer."
8593Rises
8594"Now have at him!"
8595"Enter SIR HUMPHREY and WILLIAM STAFFORD, with drum and soldiers"
8596"Rebellious hinds, the filth and scum of Kent,"
8597"Mark'd for the gallows, lay your weapons down,"
8598"Home to your cottages, forsake this groom:"
8599"The king is merciful, if you revolt."
8600"But angry, wrathful, and inclined to blood,"
8601"If you go forward, therefore yield, or die."
8602"As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass not:"
8603"It is to you, good people, that I speak,"
8604"Over whom, in time to come, I hope to reign,"
8605"For I am rightful heir unto the crown."
8606"Villain, thy father was a plasterer,"
8607"And thou thyself a shearman, art thou not?"
8608"And Adam was a gardener."
8609"And what of that?"
8610"Marry, this: Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March."
8611"Married the Duke of Clarence' daughter, did he not?"
8612"Ay, sir."
8613"By her he had two children at one birth."
8614"That's false."
8615"Ay, there's the question, but I say, 'tis true:"
8616"The elder of them, being put to nurse,"
8617"Was by a beggar-woman stolen away,"
8618"And, ignorant of his birth and parentage,"
8619"Became a bricklayer when he came to age:"
8620"His son am I, deny it, if you can."
8621"Nay, 'tis too true, therefore he shall be king."
8622"Sir, he made a chimney in my father's house, and"
8623"the bricks are alive at this day to testify it,"
8624"therefore deny it not."
8625"And will you credit this base drudge's words,"
8626"That speaks he knows not what?"
8627"Ay, marry, will we, therefore get ye gone."
8628"Jack Cade, the Duke of York hath taught you this."
8629"[Aside]  He lies, for I invented it myself."
8630"Go to, sirrah, tell the king from me, that, for his"
8631"father's sake, Henry the Fifth, in whose time boys"
8632"went to span-counter for French crowns, I am content"
8633"he shall reign, but I'll be protector over him."
8634"And furthermore, well have the Lord Say's head for"
8635"selling the dukedom of Maine."
8636"And good reason, for thereby is England mained, and"
8637"fain to go with a staff, but that my puissance holds"
8638"it up. Fellow kings, I tell you that that Lord Say"
8639"hath gelded the commonwealth, and made it an eunuch:"
8640"and more than that, he can speak French, and"
8641"therefore he is a traitor."
8642"O gross and miserable ignorance!"
8643"Nay, answer, if you can: the Frenchmen are our"
8644"enemies, go to, then, I ask but this: can he that"
8645"speaks with the tongue of an enemy be a good"
8646"counsellor, or no?"
8647"No, no, and therefore we'll have his head."
8648"Well, seeing gentle words will not prevail,"
8649"Assail them with the army of the king."
8650"Herald, away, and throughout every town"
8651"Proclaim them traitors that are up with Cade,"
8652"That those which fly before the battle ends"
8653"May, even in their wives' and children's sight,"
8654"Be hang'd up for example at their doors:"
8655"And you that be the king's friends, follow me."
8656"Exeunt WILLIAM STAFFORD and SIR HUMPHREY, and soldiers"
8657"And you that love the commons, follow me."
8658"Now show yourselves men, 'tis for liberty."
8659"We will not leave one lord, one gentleman:"
8660"Spare none but such as go in clouted shoon,"
8661"For they are thrifty honest men, and such"
8662"As would, but that they dare not, take our parts."
8663"They are all in order and march toward us."
8664"But then are we in order when we are most"
8665"out of order. Come, march forward."
8666Exeunt
8667"SCENE III. Another part of Blackheath."
8668"Alarums to the fight, wherein SIR HUMPHREY and WILLIAM STAFFORD are slain. Enter CADE and the rest"
8669"Where's Dick, the butcher of Ashford?"
8670"Here, sir."
8671"They fell before thee like sheep and oxen, and thou"
8672"behavedst thyself as if thou hadst been in thine own"
8673"slaughter-house: therefore thus will I reward thee,"
8674"the Lent shall be as long again as it is, and thou"
8675"shalt have a licence to kill for a hundred lacking"
8676one.
8677"I desire no more."
8678"And, to speak truth, thou deservest no less. This"
8679"monument of the victory will I bear,"
8680"Putting on SIR HUMPHREY'S brigandine"
8681"and the bodies shall be dragged at my horse' heels"
8682"till I do come to London, where we will have the"
8683"mayor's sword borne before us."
8684"If we mean to thrive and do good, break open the"
8685"gaols and let out the prisoners."
8686"Fear not that, I warrant thee. Come, let's march"
8687"towards London."
8688Exeunt
8689"SCENE IV. London. The palace."
8690"Enter KING HENRY VI with a supplication, and the QUEEN with SUFFOLK'S head, BUCKINGHAM and Lord SAY"
8691"Oft have I heard that grief softens the mind,"
8692"And makes it fearful and degenerate,"
8693"Think therefore on revenge and cease to weep."
8694"But who can cease to weep and look on this?"
8695"Here may his head lie on my throbbing breast:"
8696"But where's the body that I should embrace?"
8697"What answer makes your grace to the rebels'"
8698supplication?
8699"I'll send some holy bishop to entreat,"
8700"For God forbid so many simple souls"
8701"Should perish by the sword! And I myself,"
8702"Rather than bloody war shall cut them short,"
8703"Will parley with Jack Cade their general:"
8704"But stay, I'll read it over once again."
8705"Ah, barbarous villains! hath this lovely face"
8706"Ruled, like a wandering planet, over me,"
8707"And could it not enforce them to relent,"
8708"That were unworthy to behold the same?"
8709"Lord Say, Jack Cade hath sworn to have thy head."
8710"Ay, but I hope your highness shall have his."
8711"How now, madam!"
8712"Still lamenting and mourning for Suffolk's death?"
8713"I fear me, love, if that I had been dead,"
8714"Thou wouldst not have mourn'd so much for me."
8715"No, my love, I should not mourn, but die for thee."
8716"Enter a Messenger"
8717"How now! what news? why comest thou in such haste?"
8718"The rebels are in Southwark, fly, my lord!"
8719"Jack Cade proclaims himself Lord Mortimer,"
8720"Descended from the Duke of Clarence' house,"
8721"And calls your grace usurper openly"
8722"And vows to crown himself in Westminster."
8723"His army is a ragged multitude"
8724"Of hinds and peasants, rude and merciless:"
8725"Sir Humphrey Stafford and h is brother's death"
8726"Hath given them heart and courage to proceed:"
8727"All scholars, lawyers, courtiers, gentlemen,"
8728"They call false caterpillars, and intend their death."
8729"O graceless men! they know not what they do."
8730"My gracious lord, return to Killingworth,"
8731"Until a power be raised to put them down."
8732"Ah, were the Duke of Suffolk now alive,"
8733"These Kentish rebels would be soon appeased!"
8734"Lord Say, the traitors hate thee,"
8735"Therefore away with us to Killingworth."
8736"So might your grace's person be in danger."
8737"The sight of me is odious in their eyes,"
8738"And therefore in this city will I stay"
8739"And live alone as secret as I may."
8740"Enter another Messenger"
8741"Jack Cade hath gotten London bridge:"
8742"The citizens fly and forsake their houses:"
8743"The rascal people, thirsting after prey,"
8744"Join with the traitor, and they jointly swear"
8745"To spoil the city and your royal court."
8746"Then linger not, my lord, away, take horse."
8747"Come, Margaret, God, our hope, will succor us."
8748"My hope is gone, now Suffolk is deceased."
8749"Farewell, my lord: trust not the Kentish rebels."
8750"Trust nobody, for fear you be betray'd."
8751"The trust I have is in mine innocence,"
8752"And therefore am I bold and resolute."
8753Exeunt
8754"SCENE V. London. The Tower."
8755"Enter SCALES upon the Tower, walking. Then enter two or three Citizens below"
8756"How now! is Jack Cade slain?"
8757"No, my lord, nor likely to be slain, for they have"
8758"won the bridge, killing all those that withstand"
8759"them: the lord mayor craves aid of your honour from"
8760"the Tower, to defend the city from the rebels."
8761"Such aid as I can spare you shall command,"
8762"But I am troubled here with them myself,"
8763"The rebels have assay'd to win the Tower."
8764"But get you to Smithfield, and gather head,"
8765"And thither I will send you Matthew Goffe,"
8766"Fight for your king, your country and your lives,"
8767"And so, farewell, for I must hence again."
8768Exeunt
8769"SCENE VI. London. Cannon Street."
8770"Enter CADE and the rest, and strikes his staff on London-stone"
8771"Now is Mortimer lord of this city. And here, sitting"
8772"upon London-stone, I charge and command that, of the"
8773"city's cost, the pissing-conduit run nothing but"
8774"claret wine this first year of our reign. And now"
8775"henceforward it shall be treason for any that calls"
8776"me other than Lord Mortimer."
8777"Enter a Soldier, running"
8778"Jack Cade! Jack Cade!"
8779"Knock him down there."
8780"They kill him"
8781"If this fellow be wise, he'll never call ye Jack"
8782"Cade more: I think he hath a very fair warning."
8783"My lord, there's an army gathered together in"
8784Smithfield.
8785"Come, then, let's go fight with them, but first, go"
8786"and set London bridge on fire, and, if you can, burn"
8787"down the Tower too. Come, let's away."
8788Exeunt
8789"SCENE VII. London. Smithfield."
8790"Alarums. MATTHEW GOFFE is slain, and all the rest. Then enter CADE, with his company."
8791"So, sirs: now go some and pull down the Savoy,"
8792"others to the inns of court, down with them all."
8793"I have a suit unto your lordship."
8794"Be it a lordship, thou shalt have it for that word."
8795"Only that the laws of England may come out of your mouth."
8796"[Aside]  Mass, 'twill be sore law, then, for he was"
8797"thrust in the mouth with a spear, and 'tis not whole"
8798yet.
8799"[Aside]  Nay, John, it will be stinking law for his"
8800"breath stinks with eating toasted cheese."
8801"I have thought upon it, it shall be so. Away, burn"
8802"all the records of the realm: my mouth shall be"
8803"the parliament of England."
8804"[Aside]  Then we are like to have biting statutes,"
8805"unless his teeth be pulled out."
8806"And henceforward all things shall be in common."
8807"Enter a Messenger"
8808"My lord, a prize, a prize! here's the Lord Say,"
8809"which sold the towns in France, he that made us pay"
8810"one and twenty fifteens, and one shilling to the"
8811"pound, the last subsidy."
8812"Enter BEVIS, with Lord SAY"
8813"Well, he shall be beheaded for it ten times. Ah,"
8814"thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord! now"
8815"art thou within point-blank of our jurisdiction"
8816"regal. What canst thou answer to my majesty for"
8817"giving up of Normandy unto Mounsieur Basimecu, the"
8818"dauphin of France? Be it known unto thee by these"
8819"presence, even the presence of Lord Mortimer, that I"
8820"am the besom that must sweep the court clean of such"
8821"filth as thou art. Thou hast most traitorously"
8822"corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a"
8823"grammar school, and whereas, before, our forefathers"
8824"had no other books but the score and the tally, thou"
8825"hast caused printing to be used, and, contrary to"
8826"the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a"
8827"paper-mill. It will be proved to thy face that thou"
8828"hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and"
8829"a verb, and such abominable words as no Christian"
8830"ear can endure to hear. Thou hast appointed"
8831"justices of peace, to call poor men before them"
8832"about matters they were not able to answer."
8833"Moreover, thou hast put them in prison, and because"
8834"they could not read, thou hast hanged them, when,"
8835"indeed, only for that cause they have been most"
8836"worthy to live. Thou dost ride in a foot-cloth, dost thou not?"
8837"What of that?"
8838"Marry, thou oughtest not to let thy horse wear a"
8839"cloak, when honester men than thou go in their hose"
8840"and doublets."
8841"And work in their shirt too, as myself, for example,"
8842"that am a butcher."
8843"You men of Kent,--"
8844"What say you of Kent?"
8845"Nothing but this, 'tis 'bona terra, mala gens.'"
8846"Away with him, away with him! he speaks Latin."
8847"Hear me but speak, and bear me where you will."
8848"Kent, in the Commentaries Caesar writ,"
8849"Is term'd the civil'st place of this isle:"
8850"Sweet is the country, because full of riches,"
8851"The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy,"
8852"Which makes me hope you are not void of pity."
8853"I sold not Maine, I lost not Normandy,"
8854"Yet, to recover them, would lose my life."
8855"Justice with favour have I always done,"
8856"Prayers and tears have moved me, gifts could never."
8857"When have I aught exacted at your hands,"
8858"But to maintain the king, the realm and you?"
8859"Large gifts have I bestow'd on learned clerks,"
8860"Because my book preferr'd me to the king,"
8861"And seeing ignorance is the curse of God,"
8862"Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven,"
8863"Unless you be possess'd with devilish spirits,"
8864"You cannot but forbear to murder me:"
8865"This tongue hath parley'd unto foreign kings"
8866"For your behoof,--"
8867"Tut, when struck'st thou one blow in the field?"
8868"Great men have reaching hands: oft have I struck"
8869"Those that I never saw and struck them dead."
8870"O monstrous coward! what, to come behind folks?"
8871"These cheeks are pale for watching for your good."
8872"Give him a box o' the ear and that will make 'em red again."
8873"Long sitting to determine poor men's causes"
8874"Hath made me full of sickness and diseases."
8875"Ye shall have a hempen caudle, then, and the help of hatchet."
8876"Why dost thou quiver, man?"
8877"The palsy, and not fear, provokes me."
8878"Nay, he nods at us, as who should say, I'll be even"
8879"with you: I'll see if his head will stand steadier"
8880"on a pole, or no. Take him away, and behead him."
8881"Tell me wherein have I offended most?"
8882"Have I affected wealth or honour? speak."
8883"Are my chests fill'd up with extorted gold?"
8884"Is my apparel sumptuous to behold?"
8885"Whom have I injured, that ye seek my death?"
8886"These hands are free from guiltless bloodshedding,"
8887"This breast from harbouring foul deceitful thoughts."
8888"O, let me live!"
8889"[Aside]  I feel remorse in myself with his words,"
8890"but I'll bridle it: he shall die, an it be but for"
8891"pleading so well for his life. Away with him! he"
8892"has a familiar under his tongue, he speaks not o'"
8893"God's name. Go, take him away, I say, and strike"
8894"off his head presently, and then break into his"
8895"son-in-law's house, Sir James Cromer, and strike off"
8896"his head, and bring them both upon two poles hither."
8897"It shall be done."
8898"Ah, countrymen! if when you make your prayers,"
8899"God should be so obdurate as yourselves,"
8900"How would it fare with your departed souls?"
8901"And therefore yet relent, and save my life."
8902"Away with him! and do as I command ye."
8903"Exeunt some with Lord SAY"
8904"The proudest peer in the realm shall not wear a head"
8905"on his shoulders, unless he pay me tribute, there"
8906"shall not a maid be married, but she shall pay to me"
8907"her maidenhead ere they have it: men shall hold of"
8908"me in capite, and we charge and command that their"
8909"wives be as free as heart can wish or tongue can tell."
8910"My lord, when shall we go to Cheapside and take up"
8911"commodities upon our bills?"
8912"Marry, presently."
8913"O, brave!"
8914"Re-enter one with the heads"
8915"But is not this braver? Let them kiss one another,"
8916"for they loved well when they were alive. Now part"
8917"them again, lest they consult about the giving up of"
8918"some more towns in France. Soldiers, defer the"
8919"spoil of the city until night: for with these borne"
8920"before us, instead of maces, will we ride through"
8921"the streets, and at every corner have them kiss. Away!"
8922Exeunt
8923"SCENE VIII. Southwark."
8924"Alarum and retreat. Enter CADE and all his rabblement"
8925"Up Fish Street! down Saint Magnus' Corner! Kill"
8926"and knock down! throw them into Thames!"
8927"Sound a parley"
8928"What noise is this I hear? Dare any be so bold to"
8929"sound retreat or parley, when I command them kill?"
8930"Enter BUCKINGHAM and CLIFFORD, attended"
8931"Ay, here they be that dare and will disturb thee:"
8932"Know, Cade, we come ambassadors from the king"
8933"Unto the commons whom thou hast misled,"
8934"And here pronounce free pardon to them all"
8935"That will forsake thee and go home in peace."
8936"What say ye, countrymen? will ye relent,"
8937"And yield to mercy whilst 'tis offer'd you,"
8938"Or let a rebel lead you to your deaths?"
8939"Who loves the king and will embrace his pardon,"
8940"Fling up his cap, and say 'God save his majesty!'"
8941"Who hateth him and honours not his father,"
8942"Henry the Fifth, that made all France to quake,"
8943"Shake he his weapon at us and pass by."
8944"God save the king! God save the king!"
8945"What, Buckingham and Clifford, are ye so brave? And"
8946"you, base peasants, do ye believe him? will you"
8947"needs be hanged with your pardons about your necks?"
8948"Hath my sword therefore broke through London gates,"
8949"that you should leave me at the White Hart in"
8950"Southwark? I thought ye would never have given out"
8951"these arms till you had recovered your ancient"
8952"freedom: but you are all recreants and dastards,"
8953"and delight to live in slavery to the nobility. Let"
8954"them break your backs with burthens, take your"
8955"houses over your heads, ravish your wives and"
8956"daughters before your faces: for me, I will make"
8957"shift for one, and so, God's curse light upon you"
8958all!
8959"We'll follow Cade, we'll follow Cade!"
8960"Is Cade the son of Henry the Fifth,"
8961"That thus you do exclaim you'll go with him?"
8962"Will he conduct you through the heart of France,"
8963"And make the meanest of you earls and dukes?"
8964"Alas, he hath no home, no place to fly to,"
8965"Nor knows he how to live but by the spoil,"
8966"Unless by robbing of your friends and us."
8967"Were't not a shame, that whilst you live at jar,"
8968"The fearful French, whom you late vanquished,"
8969"Should make a start o'er seas and vanquish you?"
8970"Methinks already in this civil broil"
8971"I see them lording it in London streets,"
8972"Crying 'Villiago!' unto all they meet."
8973"Better ten thousand base-born Cades miscarry"
8974"Than you should stoop unto a Frenchman's mercy."
8975"To France, to France, and get what you have lost,"
8976"Spare England, for it is your native coast,"
8977"Henry hath money, you are strong and manly,"
8978"God on our side, doubt not of victory."
8979"A Clifford! a Clifford! we'll follow the king and Clifford."
8980"Was ever feather so lightly blown to and fro as this"
8981"multitude? The name of Henry the Fifth hales them"
8982"to an hundred mischiefs, and makes them leave me"
8983"desolate. I see them lay their heads together to"
8984"surprise me. My sword make way for me, for here is"
8985"no staying. In despite of the devils and hell, have"
8986"through the very middest of you? and heavens and"
8987"honour be witness, that no want of resolution in me."
8988"but only my followers' base and ignominious"
8989"treasons, makes me betake me to my heels."
8990Exit
8991"What, is he fled? Go some, and follow him,"
8992"And he that brings his head unto the king"
8993"Shall have a thousand crowns for his reward."
8994"Exeunt some of them"
8995"Follow me, soldiers: we'll devise a mean"
8996"To reconcile you all unto the king."
8997Exeunt
8998"SCENE IX. Kenilworth Castle."
8999"Sound Trumpets. Enter KING HENRY VI, QUEEN MARGARET, and SOMERSET, on the terrace"
9000"Was ever king that joy'd an earthly throne,"
9001"And could command no more content than I?"
9002"No sooner was I crept out of my cradle"
9003"But I was made a king, at nine months old."
9004"Was never subject long'd to be a king"
9005"As I do long and wish to be a subject."
9006"Enter BUCKINGHAM and CLIFFORD"
9007"Health and glad tidings to your majesty!"
9008"Why, Buckingham, is the traitor Cade surprised?"
9009"Or is he but retired to make him strong?"
9010"Enter below, multitudes, with halters about their necks"
9011"He is fled, my lord, and all his powers do yield,"
9012"And humbly thus, with halters on their necks,"
9013"Expect your highness' doom of life or death."
9014"Then, heaven, set ope thy everlasting gates,"
9015"To entertain my vows of thanks and praise!"
9016"Soldiers, this day have you redeemed your lives,"
9017"And show'd how well you love your prince and country:"
9018"Continue still in this so good a mind,"
9019"And Henry, though he be infortunate,"
9020"Assure yourselves, will never be unkind:"
9021"And so, with thanks and pardon to you all,"
9022"I do dismiss you to your several countries."
9023"God save the king! God save the king!"
9024"Enter a Messenger"
9025"Please it your grace to be advertised"
9026"The Duke of York is newly come from Ireland,"
9027"And with a puissant and a mighty power"
9028"Of gallowglasses and stout kerns"
9029"Is marching hitherward in proud array,"
9030"And still proclaimeth, as he comes along,"
9031"His arms are only to remove from thee"
9032"The Duke of Somerset, whom he terms traitor."
9033"Thus stands my state, 'twixt Cade and York distress'd."
9034"Like to a ship that, having 'scaped a tempest,"
9035"Is straightway calm'd and boarded with a pirate:"
9036"But now is Cade driven back, his men dispersed,"
9037"And now is York in arms to second him."
9038"I pray thee, Buckingham, go and meet him,"
9039"And ask him what's the reason of these arms."
9040"Tell him I'll send Duke Edmund to the Tower,"
9041"And, Somerset, we'll commit thee thither,"
9042"Until his army be dismiss'd from him."
9043"My lord,"
9044"I'll yield myself to prison willingly,"
9045"Or unto death, to do my country good."
9046"In any case, be not too rough in terms,"
9047"For he is fierce and cannot brook hard language."
9048"I will, my lord, and doubt not so to deal"
9049"As all things shall redound unto your good."
9050"Come, wife, let's in, and learn to govern better,"
9051"For yet may England curse my wretched reign."
9052"Flourish. Exeunt"
9053"SCENE X. Kent. IDEN's garden."
9054"Enter CADE"
9055"Fie on ambition! fie on myself, that have a sword,"
9056"and yet am ready to famish! These five days have I"
9057"hid me in these woods and durst not peep out, for"
9058"all the country is laid for me, but now am I so"
9059"hungry that if I might have a lease of my life for a"
9060"thousand years I could stay no longer. Wherefore,"
9061"on a brick wall have I climbed into this garden, to"
9062"see if I can eat grass, or pick a sallet another"
9063"while, which is not amiss to cool a man's stomach"
9064"this hot weather. And I think this word 'sallet'"
9065"was born to do me good: for many a time, but for a"
9066"sallet, my brainpan had been cleft with a brown"
9067"bill, and many a time, when I have been dry and"
9068"bravely marching, it hath served me instead of a"
9069"quart pot to drink in, and now the word 'sallet'"
9070"must serve me to feed on."
9071"Enter IDEN"
9072"Lord, who would live turmoiled in the court,"
9073"And may enjoy such quiet walks as these?"
9074"This small inheritance my father left me"
9075"Contenteth me, and worth a monarchy."
9076"I seek not to wax great by others' waning,"
9077"Or gather wealth, I care not, with what envy:"
9078"Sufficeth that I have maintains my state"
9079"And sends the poor well pleased from my gate."
9080"Here's the lord of the soil come to seize me for a"
9081"stray, for entering his fee-simple without leave."
9082"Ah, villain, thou wilt betray me, and get a thousand"
9083"crowns of the king carrying my head to him: but"
9084"I'll make thee eat iron like an ostrich, and swallow"
9085"my sword like a great pin, ere thou and I part."
9086"Why, rude companion, whatsoe'er thou be,"
9087"I know thee not, why, then, should I betray thee?"
9088"Is't not enough to break into my garden,"
9089"And, like a thief, to come to rob my grounds,"
9090"Climbing my walls in spite of me the owner,"
9091"But thou wilt brave me with these saucy terms?"
9092"Brave thee! ay, by the best blood that ever was"
9093"broached, and beard thee too. Look on me well: I"
9094"have eat no meat these five days, yet, come thou and"
9095"thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead"
9096"as a doornail, I pray God I may never eat grass more."
9097"Nay, it shall ne'er be said, while England stands,"
9098"That Alexander Iden, an esquire of Kent,"
9099"Took odds to combat a poor famish'd man."
9100"Oppose thy steadfast-gazing eyes to mine,"
9101"See if thou canst outface me with thy looks:"
9102"Set limb to limb, and thou art far the lesser,"
9103"Thy hand is but a finger to my fist,"
9104"Thy leg a stick compared with this truncheon,"
9105"My foot shall fight with all the strength thou hast,"
9106"And if mine arm be heaved in the air,"
9107"Thy grave is digg'd already in the earth."
9108"As for words, whose greatness answers words,"
9109"Let this my sword report what speech forbears."
9110"By my valour, the most complete champion that ever I"
9111"heard! Steel, if thou turn the edge, or cut not out"
9112"the burly-boned clown in chines of beef ere thou"
9113"sleep in thy sheath, I beseech God on my knees thou"
9114"mayst be turned to hobnails."
9115"Here they fight. CADE falls"
9116"O, I am slain! famine and no other hath slain me:"
9117"let ten thousand devils come against me, and give me"
9118"but the ten meals I have lost, and I'll defy them"
9119"all. Wither, garden, and be henceforth a"
9120"burying-place to all that do dwell in this house,"
9121"because the unconquered soul of Cade is fled."
9122"Is't Cade that I have slain, that monstrous traitor?"
9123"Sword, I will hollow thee for this thy deed,"
9124"And hang thee o'er my tomb when I am dead:"
9125"Ne'er shall this blood be wiped from thy point,"
9126"But thou shalt wear it as a herald's coat,"
9127"To emblaze the honour that thy master got."
9128"Iden, farewell, and be proud of thy victory. Tell"
9129"Kent from me, she hath lost her best man, and exhort"
9130"all the world to be cowards, for I, that never"
9131"feared any, am vanquished by famine, not by valour."
9132Dies
9133"How much thou wrong'st me, heaven be my judge."
9134"Die, damned wretch, the curse of her that bare thee,"
9135"And as I thrust thy body in with my sword,"
9136"So wish I, I might thrust thy soul to hell."
9137"Hence will I drag thee headlong by the heels"
9138"Unto a dunghill which shall be thy grave,"
9139"And there cut off thy most ungracious head,"
9140"Which I will bear in triumph to the king,"
9141"Leaving thy trunk for crows to feed upon."
9142Exit
9143"ACT V"
9144"SCENE I. Fields between Dartford and Blackheath."
9145"Enter YORK, and his army of Irish, with drum and colours"
9146"From Ireland thus comes York to claim his right,"
9147"And pluck the crown from feeble Henry's head:"
9148"Ring, bells, aloud, burn, bonfires, clear and bright,"
9149"To entertain great England's lawful king."
9150"Ah! sancta majestas, who would not buy thee dear?"
9151"Let them obey that know not how to rule,"
9152"This hand was made to handle naught but gold."
9153"I cannot give due action to my words,"
9154"Except a sword or sceptre balance it:"
9155"A sceptre shall it have, have I a soul,"
9156"On which I'll toss the flower-de-luce of France."
9157"Enter BUCKINGHAM"
9158"Whom have we here? Buckingham, to disturb me?"
9159"The king hath sent him, sure: I must dissemble."
9160"York, if thou meanest well, I greet thee well."
9161"Humphrey of Buckingham, I accept thy greeting."
9162"Art thou a messenger, or come of pleasure?"
9163"A messenger from Henry, our dread liege,"
9164"To know the reason of these arms in peace,"
9165"Or why thou, being a subject as I am,"
9166"Against thy oath and true allegiance sworn,"
9167"Should raise so great a power without his leave,"
9168"Or dare to bring thy force so near the court."
9169"[Aside]  Scarce can I speak, my choler is so great:"
9170"O, I could hew up rocks and fight with flint,"
9171"I am so angry at these abject terms,"
9172"And now, like Ajax Telamonius,"
9173"On sheep or oxen could I spend my fury."
9174"I am far better born than is the king,"
9175"More like a king, more kingly in my thoughts:"
9176"But I must make fair weather yet a while,"
9177"Till Henry be more weak and I more strong,--"
9178"Buckingham, I prithee, pardon me,"
9179"That I have given no answer all this while,"
9180"My mind was troubled with deep melancholy."
9181"The cause why I have brought this army hither"
9182"Is to remove proud Somerset from the king,"
9183"Seditious to his grace and to the state."
9184"That is too much presumption on thy part:"
9185"But if thy arms be to no other end,"
9186"The king hath yielded unto thy demand:"
9187"The Duke of Somerset is in the Tower."
9188"Upon thine honour, is he prisoner?"
9189"Upon mine honour, he is prisoner."
9190"Then, Buckingham, I do dismiss my powers."
9191"Soldiers, I thank you all, disperse yourselves,"
9192"Meet me to-morrow in St. George's field,"
9193"You shall have pay and every thing you wish."
9194"And let my sovereign, virtuous Henry,"
9195"Command my eldest son, nay, all my sons,"
9196"As pledges of my fealty and love,"
9197"I'll send them all as willing as I live:"
9198"Lands, goods, horse, armour, any thing I have,"
9199"Is his to use, so Somerset may die."
9200"York, I commend this kind submission:"
9201"We twain will go into his highness' tent."
9202"Enter KING HENRY VI and Attendants"
9203"Buckingham, doth York intend no harm to us,"
9204"That thus he marcheth with thee arm in arm?"
9205"In all submission and humility"
9206"York doth present himself unto your highness."
9207"Then what intends these forces thou dost bring?"
9208"To heave the traitor Somerset from hence,"
9209"And fight against that monstrous rebel Cade,"
9210"Who since I heard to be discomfited."
9211"Enter IDEN, with CADE'S head"
9212"If one so rude and of so mean condition"
9213"May pass into the presence of a king,"
9214"Lo, I present your grace a traitor's head,"
9215"The head of Cade, whom I in combat slew."
9216"The head of Cade! Great God, how just art Thou!"
9217"O, let me view his visage, being dead,"
9218"That living wrought me such exceeding trouble."
9219"Tell me, my friend, art thou the man that slew him?"
9220"I was, an't like your majesty."
9221"How art thou call'd? and what is thy degree?"
9222"Alexander Iden, that's my name,"
9223"A poor esquire of Kent, that loves his king."
9224"So please it you, my lord, 'twere not amiss"
9225"He were created knight for his good service."
9226"Iden, kneel down."
9227"He kneels"
9228"Rise up a knight."
9229"We give thee for reward a thousand marks,"
9230"And will that thou henceforth attend on us."
9231"May Iden live to merit such a bounty."
9232"And never live but true unto his liege!"
9233Rises
9234"Enter QUEEN MARGARET and SOMERSET"
9235"See, Buckingham, Somerset comes with the queen:"
9236"Go, bid her hide him quickly from the duke."
9237"For thousand Yorks he shall not hide his head,"
9238"But boldly stand and front him to his face."
9239"How now! is Somerset at liberty?"
9240"Then, York, unloose thy long-imprison'd thoughts,"
9241"And let thy tongue be equal with thy heart."
9242"Shall I endure the sight of Somerset?"
9243"False king! why hast thou broken faith with me,"
9244"Knowing how hardly I can brook abuse?"
9245"King did I call thee? no, thou art not king,"
9246"Not fit to govern and rule multitudes,"
9247"Which darest not, no, nor canst not rule a traitor."
9248"That head of thine doth not become a crown,"
9249"Thy hand is made to grasp a palmer's staff,"
9250"And not to grace an awful princely sceptre."
9251"That gold must round engirt these brows of mine,"
9252"Whose smile and frown, like to Achilles' spear,"
9253"Is able with the change to kill and cure."
9254"Here is a hand to hold a sceptre up"
9255"And with the same to act controlling laws."
9256"Give place: by heaven, thou shalt rule no more"
9257"O'er him whom heaven created for thy ruler."
9258"O monstrous traitor! I arrest thee, York,"
9259"Of capital treason 'gainst the king and crown,"
9260"Obey, audacious traitor, kneel for grace."
9261"Wouldst have me kneel? first let me ask of these,"
9262"If they can brook I bow a knee to man."
9263"Sirrah, call in my sons to be my bail,"
9264"Exit Attendant"
9265"I know, ere they will have me go to ward,"
9266"They'll pawn their swords for my enfranchisement."
9267"Call hither Clifford! bid him come amain,"
9268"To say if that the bastard boys of York"
9269"Shall be the surety for their traitor father."
9270"Exit BUCKINGHAM"
9271"O blood-besotted Neapolitan,"
9272"Outcast of Naples, England's bloody scourge!"
9273"The sons of York, thy betters in their birth,"
9274"Shall be their father's bail, and bane to those"
9275"That for my surety will refuse the boys!"
9276"Enter EDWARD and RICHARD"
9277"See where they come: I'll warrant they'll"
9278"make it good."
9279"Enter CLIFFORD and YOUNG CLIFFORD"
9280"And here comes Clifford to deny their bail."
9281"Health and all happiness to my lord the king!"
9282Kneels
9283"I thank thee, Clifford: say, what news with thee?"
9284"Nay, do not fright us with an angry look,"
9285"We are thy sovereign, Clifford, kneel again,"
9286"For thy mistaking so, we pardon thee."
9287"This is my king, York, I do not mistake,"
9288"But thou mistakest me much to think I do:"
9289"To Bedlam with him! is the man grown mad?"
9290"Ay, Clifford, a bedlam and ambitious humour"
9291"Makes him oppose himself against his king."
9292"He is a traitor, let him to the Tower,"
9293"And chop away that factious pate of his."
9294"He is arrested, but will not obey,"
9295"His sons, he says, shall give their words for him."
9296"Will you not, sons?"
9297"Ay, noble father, if our words will serve."
9298"And if words will not, then our weapons shall."
9299"Why, what a brood of traitors have we here!"
9300"Look in a glass, and call thy image so:"
9301"I am thy king, and thou a false-heart traitor."
9302"Call hither to the stake my two brave bears,"
9303"That with the very shaking of their chains"
9304"They may astonish these fell-lurking curs:"
9305"Bid Salisbury and Warwick come to me."
9306"Enter the WARWICK and SALISBURY"
9307"Are these thy bears? we'll bait thy bears to death."
9308"And manacle the bear-ward in their chains,"
9309"If thou darest bring them to the baiting place."
9310"Oft have I seen a hot o'erweening cur"
9311"Run back and bite, because he was withheld,"
9312"Who, being suffer'd with the bear's fell paw,"
9313"Hath clapp'd his tail between his legs and cried:"
9314"And such a piece of service will you do,"
9315"If you oppose yourselves to match Lord Warwick."
9316"Hence, heap of wrath, foul indigested lump,"
9317"As crooked in thy manners as thy shape!"
9318"Nay, we shall heat you thoroughly anon."
9319"Take heed, lest by your heat you burn yourselves."
9320"Why, Warwick, hath thy knee forgot to bow?"
9321"Old Salisbury, shame to thy silver hair,"
9322"Thou mad misleader of thy brain-sick son!"
9323"What, wilt thou on thy death-bed play the ruffian,"
9324"And seek for sorrow with thy spectacles?"
9325"O, where is faith? O, where is loyalty?"
9326"If it be banish'd from the frosty head,"
9327"Where shall it find a harbour in the earth?"
9328"Wilt thou go dig a grave to find out war,"
9329"And shame thine honourable age with blood?"
9330"Why art thou old, and want'st experience?"
9331"Or wherefore dost abuse it, if thou hast it?"
9332"For shame! in duty bend thy knee to me"
9333"That bows unto the grave with mickle age."
9334"My lord, I have consider'd with myself"
9335"The title of this most renowned duke,"
9336"And in my conscience do repute his grace"
9337"The rightful heir to England's royal seat."
9338"Hast thou not sworn allegiance unto me?"
9339"I have."
9340"Canst thou dispense with heaven for such an oath?"
9341"It is great sin to swear unto a sin,"
9342"But greater sin to keep a sinful oath."
9343"Who can be bound by any solemn vow"
9344"To do a murderous deed, to rob a man,"
9345"To force a spotless virgin's chastity,"
9346"To reave the orphan of his patrimony,"
9347"To wring the widow from her custom'd right,"
9348"And have no other reason for this wrong"
9349"But that he was bound by a solemn oath?"
9350"A subtle traitor needs no sophister."
9351"Call Buckingham, and bid him arm himself."
9352"Call Buckingham, and all the friends thou hast,"
9353"I am resolved for death or dignity."
9354"The first I warrant thee, if dreams prove true."
9355"You were best to go to bed and dream again,"
9356"To keep thee from the tempest of the field."
9357"I am resolved to bear a greater storm"
9358"Than any thou canst conjure up to-day,"
9359"And that I'll write upon thy burgonet,"
9360"Might I but know thee by thy household badge."
9361"Now, by my father's badge, old Nevil's crest,"
9362"The rampant bear chain'd to the ragged staff,"
9363"This day I'll wear aloft my burgonet,"
9364"As on a mountain top the cedar shows"
9365"That keeps his leaves in spite of any storm,"
9366"Even to affright thee with the view thereof."
9367"And from thy burgonet I'll rend thy bear"
9368"And tread it under foot with all contempt,"
9369"Despite the bear-ward that protects the bear."
9370"And so to arms, victorious father,"
9371"To quell the rebels and their complices."
9372"Fie! charity, for shame! speak not in spite,"
9373"For you shall sup with Jesu Christ to-night."
9374"Foul stigmatic, that's more than thou canst tell."
9375"If not in heaven, you'll surely sup in hell."
9376"Exeunt severally"
9377"SCENE II. Saint Alban's."
9378"Alarums to the battle. Enter WARWICK"
9379"Clifford of Cumberland, 'tis Warwick calls:"
9380"And if thou dost not hide thee from the bear,"
9381"Now, when the angry trumpet sounds alarum"
9382"And dead men's cries do fill the empty air,"
9383"Clifford, I say, come forth and fight with me:"
9384"Proud northern lord, Clifford of Cumberland,"
9385"Warwick is hoarse with calling thee to arms."
9386"Enter YORK"
9387"How now, my noble lord? what, all afoot?"
9388"The deadly-handed Clifford slew my steed,"
9389"But match to match I have encounter'd him"
9390"And made a prey for carrion kites and crows"
9391"Even of the bonny beast he loved so well."
9392"Enter CLIFFORD"
9393"Of one or both of us the time is come."
9394"Hold, Warwick, seek thee out some other chase,"
9395"For I myself must hunt this deer to death."
9396"Then, nobly, York, 'tis for a crown thou fight'st."
9397"As I intend, Clifford, to thrive to-day,"
9398"It grieves my soul to leave thee unassail'd."
9399Exit
9400"What seest thou in me, York? why dost thou pause?"
9401"With thy brave bearing should I be in love,"
9402"But that thou art so fast mine enemy."
9403"Nor should thy prowess want praise and esteem,"
9404"But that 'tis shown ignobly and in treason."
9405"So let it help me now against thy sword"
9406"As I in justice and true right express it."
9407"My soul and body on the action both!"
9408"A dreadful lay! Address thee instantly."
9409"They fight, and CLIFFORD falls"
9410"La fin couronne les oeuvres."
9411Dies
9412"Thus war hath given thee peace, for thou art still."
9413"Peace with his soul, heaven, if it be thy will!"
9414Exit
9415"Enter YOUNG CLIFFORD"
9416"Shame and confusion! all is on the rout,"
9417"Fear frames disorder, and disorder wounds"
9418"Where it should guard. O war, thou son of hell,"
9419"Whom angry heavens do make their minister"
9420"Throw in the frozen bosoms of our part"
9421"Hot coals of vengeance! Let no soldier fly."
9422"He that is truly dedicate to war"
9423"Hath no self-love, nor he that loves himself"
9424"Hath not essentially but by circumstance"
9425"The name of valour."
9426"Seeing his dead father"
9427"O, let the vile world end,"
9428"And the premised flames of the last day"
9429"Knit earth and heaven together!"
9430"Now let the general trumpet blow his blast,"
9431"Particularities and petty sounds"
9432"To cease! Wast thou ordain'd, dear father,"
9433"To lose thy youth in peace, and to achieve"
9434"The silver livery of advised age,"
9435"And, in thy reverence and thy chair-days, thus"
9436"To die in ruffian battle? Even at this sight"
9437"My heart is turn'd to stone: and while 'tis mine,"
9438"It shall be stony. York not our old men spares,"
9439"No more will I their babes: tears virginal"
9440"Shall be to me even as the dew to fire,"
9441"And beauty that the tyrant oft reclaims"
9442"Shall to my flaming wrath be oil and flax."
9443"Henceforth I will not have to do with pity:"
9444"Meet I an infant of the house of York,"
9445"Into as many gobbets will I cut it"
9446"As wild Medea young Absyrtus did:"
9447"In cruelty will I seek out my fame."
9448"Come, thou new ruin of old Clifford's house:"
9449"As did AEneas old Anchises bear,"
9450"So bear I thee upon my manly shoulders,"
9451"But then AEneas bare a living load,"
9452"Nothing so heavy as these woes of mine."
9453"Exit, bearing off his father"
9454"Enter RICHARD and SOMERSET to fight. SOMERSET is killed"
9455"So, lie thou there,"
9456"For underneath an alehouse' paltry sign,"
9457"The Castle in Saint Alban's, Somerset"
9458"Hath made the wizard famous in his death."
9459"Sword, hold thy temper, heart, be wrathful still:"
9460"Priests pray for enemies, but princes kill."
9461Exit
9462"Fight: excursions. Enter KING HENRY VI, QUEEN MARGARET, and others"
9463"Away, my lord! you are slow, for shame, away!"
9464"Can we outrun the heavens? good Margaret, stay."
9465"What are you made of? you'll nor fight nor fly:"
9466"Now is it manhood, wisdom and defence,"
9467"To give the enemy way, and to secure us"
9468"By what we can, which can no more but fly."
9469"Alarum afar off"
9470"If you be ta'en, we then should see the bottom"
9471"Of all our fortunes: but if we haply scape,"
9472"As well we may, if not through your neglect,"
9473"We shall to London get, where you are loved"
9474"And where this breach now in our fortunes made"
9475"May readily be stopp'd."
9476"Re-enter YOUNG CLIFFORD"
9477"But that my heart's on future mischief set,"
9478"I would speak blasphemy ere bid you fly:"
9479"But fly you must, uncurable discomfit"
9480"Reigns in the hearts of all our present parts."
9481"Away, for your relief! and we will live"
9482"To see their day and them our fortune give:"
9483"Away, my lord, away!"
9484Exeunt
9485"SCENE III. Fields near St. Alban's."
9486"Alarum. Retreat. Enter YORK, RICHARD, WARWICK, and Soldiers, with drum and colours"
9487"Of Salisbury, who can report of him,"
9488"That winter lion, who in rage forgets"
9489"Aged contusions and all brush of time,"
9490"And, like a gallant in the brow of youth,"
9491"Repairs him with occasion? This happy day"
9492"Is not itself, nor have we won one foot,"
9493"If Salisbury be lost."
9494"My noble father,"
9495"Three times to-day I holp him to his horse,"
9496"Three times bestrid him, thrice I led him off,"
9497"Persuaded him from any further act:"
9498"But still, where danger was, still there I met him,"
9499"And like rich hangings in a homely house,"
9500"So was his will in his old feeble body."
9501"But, noble as he is, look where he comes."
9502"Enter SALISBURY"
9503"Now, by my sword, well hast thou fought to-day,"
9504"By the mass, so did we all. I thank you, Richard:"
9505"God knows how long it is I have to live,"
9506"And it hath pleased him that three times to-day"
9507"You have defended me from imminent death."
9508"Well, lords, we have not got that which we have:"
9509"'Tis not enough our foes are this time fled,"
9510"Being opposites of such repairing nature."
9511"I know our safety is to follow them,"
9512"For, as I hear, the king is fled to London,"
9513"To call a present court of parliament."
9514"Let us pursue him ere the writs go forth."
9515"What says Lord Warwick? shall we after them?"
9516"After them! nay, before them, if we can."
9517"Now, by my faith, lords, 'twas a glorious day:"
9518"Saint Alban's battle won by famous York"
9519"Shall be eternized in all age to come."
9520"Sound drums and trumpets, and to London all:"
9521"And more such days as these to us befall!"
9522Exeunt
9523"ACT I"
9524"SCENE I. London. The Parliament-house."
9525"Alarum. Enter YORK, EDWARD, RICHARD, NORFOLK, MONTAGUE, WARWICK, and Soldiers"
9526"I wonder how the king escaped our hands."
9527"While we pursued the horsemen of the north,"
9528"He slily stole away and left his men:"
9529"Whereat the great Lord of Northumberland,"
9530"Whose warlike ears could never brook retreat,"
9531"Cheer'd up the drooping army, and himself,"
9532"Lord Clifford and Lord Stafford, all abreast,"
9533"Charged our main battle's front, and breaking in"
9534"Were by the swords of common soldiers slain."
9535"Lord Stafford's father, Duke of Buckingham,"
9536"Is either slain or wounded dangerously,"
9537"I cleft his beaver with a downright blow:"
9538"That this is true, father, behold his blood."
9539"And, brother, here's the Earl of Wiltshire's blood,"
9540"Whom I encounter'd as the battles join'd."
9541"Speak thou for me and tell them what I did."
9542"Throwing down SOMERSET's head"
9543"Richard hath best deserved of all my sons."
9544"But is your grace dead, my Lord of Somerset?"
9545"Such hope have all the line of John of Gaunt!"
9546"Thus do I hope to shake King Henry's head."
9547"And so do I. Victorious Prince of York,"
9548"Before I see thee seated in that throne"
9549"Which now the house of Lancaster usurps,"
9550"I vow by heaven these eyes shall never close."
9551"This is the palace of the fearful king,"
9552"And this the regal seat: possess it, York,"
9553"For this is thine and not King Henry's heirs'"
9554"Assist me, then, sweet Warwick, and I will,"
9555"For hither we have broken in by force."
9556"We'll all assist you, he that flies shall die."
9557"Thanks, gentle Norfolk: stay by me, my lords,"
9558"And, soldiers, stay and lodge by me this night."
9559"They go up"
9560"And when the king comes, offer no violence,"
9561"Unless he seek to thrust you out perforce."
9562"The queen this day here holds her parliament,"
9563"But little thinks we shall be of her council:"
9564"By words or blows here let us win our right."
9565"Arm'd as we are, let's stay within this house."
9566"The bloody parliament shall this be call'd,"
9567"Unless Plantagenet, Duke of York, be king,"
9568"And bashful Henry deposed, whose cowardice"
9569"Hath made us by-words to our enemies."
9570"Then leave me not, my lords, be resolute,"
9571"I mean to take possession of my right."
9572"Neither the king, nor he that loves him best,"
9573"The proudest he that holds up Lancaster,"
9574"Dares stir a wing, if Warwick shake his bells."
9575"I'll plant Plantagenet, root him up who dares:"
9576"Resolve thee, Richard, claim the English crown."
9577"Flourish. Enter KING HENRY VI, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBERLAND, WESTMORELAND, EXETER, and the rest"
9578"My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits,"
9579"Even in the chair of state: belike he means,"
9580"Back'd by the power of Warwick, that false peer,"
9581"To aspire unto the crown and reign as king."
9582"Earl of Northumberland, he slew thy father."
9583"And thine, Lord Clifford, and you both have vow'd revenge"
9584"On him, his sons, his favourites and his friends."
9585"If I be not, heavens be revenged on me!"
9586"The hope thereof makes Clifford mourn in steel."
9587"What, shall we suffer this? let's pluck him down:"
9588"My heart for anger burns, I cannot brook it."
9589"Be patient, gentle Earl of Westmoreland."
9590"Patience is for poltroons, such as he:"
9591"He durst not sit there, had your father lived."
9592"My gracious lord, here in the parliament"
9593"Let us assail the family of York."
9594"Well hast thou spoken, cousin: be it so."
9595"Ah, know you not the city favours them,"
9596"And they have troops of soldiers at their beck?"
9597"But when the duke is slain, they'll quickly fly."
9598"Far be the thought of this from Henry's heart,"
9599"To make a shambles of the parliament-house!"
9600"Cousin of Exeter, frowns, words and threats"
9601"Shall be the war that Henry means to use."
9602"Thou factious Duke of York, descend my throne,"
9603"and kneel for grace and mercy at my feet,"
9604"I am thy sovereign."
9605"I am thine."
9606"For shame, come down: he made thee Duke of York."
9607"'Twas my inheritance, as the earldom was."
9608"Thy father was a traitor to the crown."
9609"Exeter, thou art a traitor to the crown"
9610"In following this usurping Henry."
9611"Whom should he follow but his natural king?"
9612"True, Clifford, and that's Richard Duke of York."
9613"And shall I stand, and thou sit in my throne?"
9614"It must and shall be so: content thyself."
9615"Be Duke of Lancaster, let him be king."
9616"He is both king and Duke of Lancaster,"
9617"And that the Lord of Westmoreland shall maintain."
9618"And Warwick shall disprove it. You forget"
9619"That we are those which chased you from the field"
9620"And slew your fathers, and with colours spread"
9621"March'd through the city to the palace gates."
9622"Yes, Warwick, I remember it to my grief,"
9623"And, by his soul, thou and thy house shall rue it."
9624"Plantagenet, of thee and these thy sons,"
9625"Thy kinsman and thy friends, I'll have more lives"
9626"Than drops of blood were in my father's veins."
9627"Urge it no more, lest that, instead of words,"
9628"I send thee, Warwick, such a messenger"
9629"As shall revenge his death before I stir."
9630"Poor Clifford! how I scorn his worthless threats!"
9631"Will you we show our title to the crown?"
9632"If not, our swords shall plead it in the field."
9633"What title hast thou, traitor, to the crown?"
9634"Thy father was, as thou art, Duke of York,"
9635"Thy grandfather, Roger Mortimer, Earl of March:"
9636"I am the son of Henry the Fifth,"
9637"Who made the Dauphin and the French to stoop"
9638"And seized upon their towns and provinces."
9639"Talk not of France, sith thou hast lost it all."
9640"The lord protector lost it, and not I:"
9641"When I was crown'd I was but nine months old."
9642"You are old enough now, and yet, methinks, you lose."
9643"Father, tear the crown from the usurper's head."
9644"Sweet father, do so, set it on your head."
9645"Good brother, as thou lovest and honourest arms,"
9646"Let's fight it out and not stand cavilling thus."
9647"Sound drums and trumpets, and the king will fly."
9648"Sons, peace!"
9649"Peace, thou! and give King Henry leave to speak."
9650"Plantagenet shall speak first: hear him, lords,"
9651"And be you silent and attentive too,"
9652"For he that interrupts him shall not live."
9653"Think'st thou that I will leave my kingly throne,"
9654"Wherein my grandsire and my father sat?"
9655"No: first shall war unpeople this my realm,"
9656"Ay, and their colours, often borne in France,"
9657"And now in England to our heart's great sorrow,"
9658"Shall be my winding-sheet. Why faint you, lords?"
9659"My title's good, and better far than his."
9660"Prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king."
9661"Henry the Fourth by conquest got the crown."
9662"'Twas by rebellion against his king."
9663"[Aside]  I know not what to say, my title's weak.--"
9664"Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir?"
9665"What then?"
9666"An if he may, then am I lawful king,"
9667"For Richard, in the view of many lords,"
9668"Resign'd the crown to Henry the Fourth,"
9669"Whose heir my father was, and I am his."
9670"He rose against him, being his sovereign,"
9671"And made him to resign his crown perforce."
9672"Suppose, my lords, he did it unconstrain'd,"
9673"Think you 'twere prejudicial to his crown?"
9674"No, for he could not so resign his crown"
9675"But that the next heir should succeed and reign."
9676"Art thou against us, Duke of Exeter?"
9677"His is the right, and therefore pardon me."
9678"Why whisper you, my lords, and answer not?"
9679"My conscience tells me he is lawful king."
9680"[Aside]  All will revolt from me, and turn to him."
9681"Plantagenet, for all the claim thou lay'st,"
9682"Think not that Henry shall be so deposed."
9683"Deposed he shall be, in despite of all."
9684"Thou art deceived: 'tis not thy southern power,"
9685"Of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, nor of Kent,"
9686"Which makes thee thus presumptuous and proud,"
9687"Can set the duke up in despite of me."
9688"King Henry, be thy title right or wrong,"
9689"Lord Clifford vows to fight in thy defence:"
9690"May that ground gape and swallow me alive,"
9691"Where I shall kneel to him that slew my father!"
9692"O Clifford, how thy words revive my heart!"
9693"Henry of Lancaster, resign thy crown."
9694"What mutter you, or what conspire you, lords?"
9695"Do right unto this princely Duke of York,"
9696"Or I will fill the house with armed men,"
9697"And over the chair of state, where now he sits,"
9698"Write up his title with usurping blood."
9699"He stamps with his foot and the soldiers show themselves"
9700"My Lord of Warwick, hear me but one word:"
9701"Let me for this my life-time reign as king."
9702"Confirm the crown to me and to mine heirs,"
9703"And thou shalt reign in quiet while thou livest."
9704"I am content: Richard Plantagenet,"
9705"Enjoy the kingdom after my decease."
9706"What wrong is this unto the prince your son!"
9707"What good is this to England and himself!"
9708"Base, fearful and despairing Henry!"
9709"How hast thou injured both thyself and us!"
9710"I cannot stay to hear these articles."
9711"Nor I."
9712"Come, cousin, let us tell the queen these news."
9713"Farewell, faint-hearted and degenerate king,"
9714"In whose cold blood no spark of honour bides."
9715"Be thou a prey unto the house of York,"
9716"And die in bands for this unmanly deed!"
9717"In dreadful war mayst thou be overcome,"
9718"Or live in peace abandon'd and despised!"
9719"Exeunt NORTHUMBERLAND, CLIFFORD, and WESTMORELAND"
9720"Turn this way, Henry, and regard them not."
9721"They seek revenge and therefore will not yield."
9722"Ah, Exeter!"
9723"Why should you sigh, my lord?"
9724"Not for myself, Lord Warwick, but my son,"
9725"Whom I unnaturally shall disinherit."
9726"But be it as it may: I here entail"
9727"The crown to thee and to thine heirs for ever,"
9728"Conditionally, that here thou take an oath"
9729"To cease this civil war, and, whilst I live,"
9730"To honour me as thy king and sovereign,"
9731"And neither by treason nor hostility"
9732"To seek to put me down and reign thyself."
9733"This oath I willingly take and will perform."
9734"Long live King Henry! Plantagenet embrace him."
9735"And long live thou and these thy forward sons!"
9736"Now York and Lancaster are reconciled."
9737"Accursed be he that seeks to make them foes!"
9738"Sennet. Here they come down"
9739"Farewell, my gracious lord, I'll to my castle."
9740"And I'll keep London with my soldiers."
9741"And I to Norfolk with my followers."
9742"And I unto the sea from whence I came."
9743"Exeunt YORK, EDWARD, EDMUND, GEORGE, RICHARD,  WARWICK, NORFOLK, MONTAGUE, their Soldiers, and Attendants"
9744"And I, with grief and sorrow, to the court."
9745"Enter QUEEN MARGARET and PRINCE EDWARD"
9746"Here comes the queen, whose looks bewray her anger:"
9747"I'll steal away."
9748"Exeter, so will I."
9749"Nay, go not from me, I will follow thee."
9750"Be patient, gentle queen, and I will stay."
9751"Who can be patient in such extremes?"
9752"Ah, wretched man! would I had died a maid"
9753"And never seen thee, never borne thee son,"
9754"Seeing thou hast proved so unnatural a father"
9755"Hath he deserved to lose his birthright thus?"
9756"Hadst thou but loved him half so well as I,"
9757"Or felt that pain which I did for him once,"
9758"Or nourish'd him as I did with my blood,"
9759"Thou wouldst have left thy dearest heart-blood there,"
9760"Rather than have that savage duke thine heir"
9761"And disinherited thine only son."
9762"Father, you cannot disinherit me:"
9763"If you be king, why should not I succeed?"
9764"Pardon me, Margaret, pardon me, sweet son:"
9765"The Earl of Warwick and the duke enforced me."
9766"Enforced thee! art thou king, and wilt be forced?"
9767"I shame to hear thee speak. Ah, timorous wretch!"
9768"Thou hast undone thyself, thy son and me,"
9769"And given unto the house of York such head"
9770"As thou shalt reign but by their sufferance."
9771"To entail him and his heirs unto the crown,"
9772"What is it, but to make thy sepulchre"
9773"And creep into it far before thy time?"
9774"Warwick is chancellor and the lord of Calais,"
9775"Stern Falconbridge commands the narrow seas,"
9776"The duke is made protector of the realm,"
9777"And yet shalt thou be safe? such safety finds"
9778"The trembling lamb environed with wolves."
9779"Had I been there, which am a silly woman,"
9780"The soldiers should have toss'd me on their pikes"
9781"Before I would have granted to that act."
9782"But thou preferr'st thy life before thine honour:"
9783"And seeing thou dost, I here divorce myself"
9784"Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed,"
9785"Until that act of parliament be repeal'd"
9786"Whereby my son is disinherited."
9787"The northern lords that have forsworn thy colours"
9788"Will follow mine, if once they see them spread,"
9789"And spread they shall be, to thy foul disgrace"
9790"And utter ruin of the house of York."
9791"Thus do I leave thee. Come, son, let's away,"
9792"Our army is ready, come, we'll after them."
9793"Stay, gentle Margaret, and hear me speak."
9794"Thou hast spoke too much already: get thee gone."
9795"Gentle son Edward, thou wilt stay with me?"
9796"Ay, to be murder'd by his enemies."
9797"When I return with victory from the field"
9798"I'll see your grace: till then I'll follow her."
9799"Come, son, away, we may not linger thus."
9800"Exeunt QUEEN MARGARET and PRINCE EDWARD"
9801"Poor queen! how love to me and to her son"
9802"Hath made her break out into terms of rage!"
9803"Revenged may she be on that hateful duke,"
9804"Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire,"
9805"Will cost my crown, and like an empty eagle"
9806"Tire on the flesh of me and of my son!"
9807"The loss of those three lords torments my heart:"
9808"I'll write unto them and entreat them fair."
9809"Come, cousin you shall be the messenger."
9810"And I, I hope, shall reconcile them all."
9811Exeunt
9812"SCENE II. Sandal Castle."
9813"Enter RICHARD, EDWARD, and MONTAGUE"
9814"Brother, though I be youngest, give me leave."
9815"No, I can better play the orator."
9816"But I have reasons strong and forcible."
9817"Enter YORK"
9818"Why, how now, sons and brother! at a strife?"
9819"What is your quarrel? how began it first?"
9820"No quarrel, but a slight contention."
9821"About what?"
9822"About that which concerns your grace and us,"
9823"The crown of England, father, which is yours."
9824"Mine boy? not till King Henry be dead."
9825"Your right depends not on his life or death."
9826"Now you are heir, therefore enjoy it now:"
9827"By giving the house of Lancaster leave to breathe,"
9828"It will outrun you, father, in the end."
9829"I took an oath that he should quietly reign."
9830"But for a kingdom any oath may be broken:"
9831"I would break a thousand oaths to reign one year."
9832"No, God forbid your grace should be forsworn."
9833"I shall be, if I claim by open war."
9834"I'll prove the contrary, if you'll hear me speak."
9835"Thou canst not, son, it is impossible."
9836"An oath is of no moment, being not took"
9837"Before a true and lawful magistrate,"
9838"That hath authority over him that swears:"
9839"Henry had none, but did usurp the place,"
9840"Then, seeing 'twas he that made you to depose,"
9841"Your oath, my lord, is vain and frivolous."
9842"Therefore, to arms! And, father, do but think"
9843"How sweet a thing it is to wear a crown,"
9844"Within whose circuit is Elysium"
9845"And all that poets feign of bliss and joy."
9846"Why do we finger thus? I cannot rest"
9847"Until the white rose that I wear be dyed"
9848"Even in the lukewarm blood of Henry's heart."
9849"Richard, enough, I will be king, or die."
9850"Brother, thou shalt to London presently,"
9851"And whet on Warwick to this enterprise."
9852"Thou, Richard, shalt to the Duke of Norfolk,"
9853"And tell him privily of our intent."
9854"You Edward, shall unto my Lord Cobham,"
9855"With whom the Kentishmen will willingly rise:"
9856"In them I trust, for they are soldiers,"
9857"Witty, courteous, liberal, full of spirit."
9858"While you are thus employ'd, what resteth more,"
9859"But that I seek occasion how to rise,"
9860"And yet the king not privy to my drift,"
9861"Nor any of the house of Lancaster?"
9862"Enter a Messenger"
9863"But, stay: what news? Why comest thou in such post?"
9864"The queen with all the northern earls and lords"
9865"Intend here to besiege you in your castle:"
9866"She is hard by with twenty thousand men,"
9867"And therefore fortify your hold, my lord."
9868"Ay, with my sword. What! think'st thou that we fear them?"
9869"Edward and Richard, you shall stay with me,"
9870"My brother Montague shall post to London:"
9871"Let noble Warwick, Cobham, and the rest,"
9872"Whom we have left protectors of the king,"
9873"With powerful policy strengthen themselves,"
9874"And trust not simple Henry nor his oaths."
9875"Brother, I go, I'll win them, fear it not:"
9876"And thus most humbly I do take my leave."
9877Exit
9878"Enter JOHN MORTIMER and HUGH MORTIMER"
9879"Sir John and Sir Hugh Mortimer, mine uncles,"
9880"You are come to Sandal in a happy hour,"
9881"The army of the queen mean to besiege us."
9882"She shall not need, we'll meet her in the field."
9883"What, with five thousand men?"
9884"Ay, with five hundred, father, for a need:"
9885"A woman's general, what should we fear?"
9886"A march afar off"
9887"I hear their drums: let's set our men in order,"
9888"And issue forth and bid them battle straight."
9889"Five men to twenty! though the odds be great,"
9890"I doubt not, uncle, of our victory."
9891"Many a battle have I won in France,"
9892"When as the enemy hath been ten to one:"
9893"Why should I not now have the like success?"
9894"Alarum. Exeunt"
9895"SCENE III. Field of battle betwixt Sandal Castle and Wakefield."
9896"Alarums. Enter RUTLAND and his Tutor"
9897"Ah, whither shall I fly to 'scape their hands?"
9898"Ah, tutor, look where bloody Clifford comes!"
9899"Enter CLIFFORD and Soldiers"
9900"Chaplain, away! thy priesthood saves thy life."
9901"As for the brat of this accursed duke,"
9902"Whose father slew my father, he shall die."
9903"And I, my lord, will bear him company."
9904"Soldiers, away with him!"
9905"Ah, Clifford, murder not this innocent child,"
9906"Lest thou be hated both of God and man!"
9907"Exit, dragged off by Soldiers"
9908"How now! is he dead already? or is it fear"
9909"That makes him close his eyes? I'll open them."
9910"So looks the pent-up lion o'er the wretch"
9911"That trembles under his devouring paws,"
9912"And so he walks, insulting o'er his prey,"
9913"And so he comes, to rend his limbs asunder."
9914"Ah, gentle Clifford, kill me with thy sword,"
9915"And not with such a cruel threatening look."
9916"Sweet Clifford, hear me speak before I die."
9917"I am too mean a subject for thy wrath:"
9918"Be thou revenged on men, and let me live."
9919"In vain thou speak'st, poor boy, my father's blood"
9920"Hath stopp'd the passage where thy words should enter."
9921"Then let my father's blood open it again:"
9922"He is a man, and, Clifford, cope with him."
9923"Had thy brethren here, their lives and thine"
9924"Were not revenge sufficient for me,"
9925"No, if I digg'd up thy forefathers' graves"
9926"And hung their rotten coffins up in chains,"
9927"It could not slake mine ire, nor ease my heart."
9928"The sight of any of the house of York"
9929"Is as a fury to torment my soul,"
9930"And till I root out their accursed line"
9931"And leave not one alive, I live in hell."
9932Therefore--
9933"Lifting his hand"
9934"O, let me pray before I take my death!"
9935"To thee I pray, sweet Clifford, pity me!"
9936"Such pity as my rapier's point affords."
9937"I never did thee harm: why wilt thou slay me?"
9938"Thy father hath."
9939"But 'twas ere I was born."
9940"Thou hast one son, for his sake pity me,"
9941"Lest in revenge thereof, sith God is just,"
9942"He be as miserably slain as I."
9943"Ah, let me live in prison all my days,"
9944"And when I give occasion of offence,"
9945"Then let me die, for now thou hast no cause."
9946"No cause!"
9947"Thy father slew my father, therefore, die."
9948"Stabs him"
9949"Di faciant laudis summa sit ista tuae!"
9950Dies
9951"Plantagenet! I come, Plantagenet!"
9952"And this thy son's blood cleaving to my blade"
9953"Shall rust upon my weapon, till thy blood,"
9954"Congeal'd with this, do make me wipe off both."
9955Exit
9956"SCENE IV. Another part of the field."
9957"Alarum. Enter YORK"
9958"The army of the queen hath got the field:"
9959"My uncles both are slain in rescuing me,"
9960"And all my followers to the eager foe"
9961"Turn back and fly, like ships before the wind"
9962"Or lambs pursued by hunger-starved wolves."
9963"My sons, God knows what hath bechanced them:"
9964"But this I know, they have demean'd themselves"
9965"Like men born to renown by life or death."
9966"Three times did Richard make a lane to me."
9967"And thrice cried 'Courage, father! fight it out!'"
9968"And full as oft came Edward to my side,"
9969"With purple falchion, painted to the hilt"
9970"In blood of those that had encounter'd him:"
9971"And when the hardiest warriors did retire,"
9972"Richard cried 'Charge! and give no foot of ground!'"
9973"And cried 'A crown, or else a glorious tomb!"
9974"A sceptre, or an earthly sepulchre!'"
9975"With this, we charged again: but, out, alas!"
9976"We bodged again, as I have seen a swan"
9977"With bootless labour swim against the tide"
9978"And spend her strength with over-matching waves."
9979"A short alarum within"
9980"Ah, hark! the fatal followers do pursue,"
9981"And I am faint and cannot fly their fury:"
9982"And were I strong, I would not shun their fury:"
9983"The sands are number'd that make up my life,"
9984"Here must I stay, and here my life must end."
9985"Enter QUEEN MARGARET, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBERLAND, PRINCE EDWARD, and Soldiers"
9986"Come, bloody Clifford, rough Northumberland,"
9987"I dare your quenchless fury to more rage:"
9988"I am your butt, and I abide your shot."
9989"Yield to our mercy, proud Plantagenet."
9990"Ay, to such mercy as his ruthless arm,"
9991"With downright payment, show'd unto my father."
9992"Now Phaethon hath tumbled from his car,"
9993"And made an evening at the noontide prick."
9994"My ashes, as the phoenix, may bring forth"
9995"A bird that will revenge upon you all:"
9996"And in that hope I throw mine eyes to heaven,"
9997"Scorning whate'er you can afflict me with."
9998"Why come you not? what! multitudes, and fear?"
9999"So cowards fight when they can fly no further,"
10000"So doves do peck the falcon's piercing talons,"
10001"So desperate thieves, all hopeless of their lives,"
10002"Breathe out invectives 'gainst the officers."
10003"O Clifford, but bethink thee once again,"
10004"And in thy thought o'er-run my former time,"
10005"And, if though canst for blushing, view this face,"
10006"And bite thy tongue, that slanders him with cowardice"
10007"Whose frown hath made thee faint and fly ere this!"
10008"I will not bandy with thee word for word,"
10009"But buckle with thee blows, twice two for one."
10010"Hold, valiant Clifford! for a thousand causes"
10011"I would prolong awhile the traitor's life."
10012"Wrath makes him deaf: speak thou, Northumberland."
10013"Hold, Clifford! do not honour him so much"
10014"To prick thy finger, though to wound his heart:"
10015"What valour were it, when a cur doth grin,"
10016"For one to thrust his hand between his teeth,"
10017"When he might spurn him with his foot away?"
10018"It is war's prize to take all vantages,"
10019"And ten to one is no impeach of valour."
10020"They lay hands on YORK, who struggles"
10021"Ay, ay, so strives the woodcock with the gin."
10022"So doth the cony struggle in the net."
10023"So triumph thieves upon their conquer'd booty,"
10024"So true men yield, with robbers so o'ermatch'd."
10025"What would your grace have done unto him now?"
10026"Brave warriors, Clifford and Northumberland,"
10027"Come, make him stand upon this molehill here,"
10028"That raught at mountains with outstretched arms,"
10029"Yet parted but the shadow with his hand."
10030"What! was it you that would be England's king?"
10031"Was't you that revell'd in our parliament,"
10032"And made a preachment of your high descent?"
10033"Where are your mess of sons to back you now?"
10034"The wanton Edward, and the lusty George?"
10035"And where's that valiant crook-back prodigy,"
10036"Dicky your boy, that with his grumbling voice"
10037"Was wont to cheer his dad in mutinies?"
10038"Or, with the rest, where is your darling Rutland?"
10039"Look, York: I stain'd this napkin with the blood"
10040"That valiant Clifford, with his rapier's point,"
10041"Made issue from the bosom of the boy,"
10042"And if thine eyes can water for his death,"
10043"I give thee this to dry thy cheeks withal."
10044"Alas poor York! but that I hate thee deadly,"
10045"I should lament thy miserable state."
10046"I prithee, grieve, to make me merry, York."
10047"What, hath thy fiery heart so parch'd thine entrails"
10048"That not a tear can fall for Rutland's death?"
10049"Why art thou patient, man? thou shouldst be mad,"
10050"And I, to make thee mad, do mock thee thus."
10051"Stamp, rave, and fret, that I may sing and dance."
10052"Thou wouldst be fee'd, I see, to make me sport:"
10053"York cannot speak, unless he wear a crown."
10054"A crown for York! and, lords, bow low to him:"
10055"Hold you his hands, whilst I do set it on."
10056"Putting a paper crown on his head"
10057"Ay, marry, sir, now looks he like a king!"
10058"Ay, this is he that took King Henry's chair,"
10059"And this is he was his adopted heir."
10060"But how is it that great Plantagenet"
10061"Is crown'd so soon, and broke his solemn oath?"
10062"As I bethink me, you should not be king"
10063"Till our King Henry had shook hands with death."
10064"And will you pale your head in Henry's glory,"
10065"And rob his temples of the diadem,"
10066"Now in his life, against your holy oath?"
10067"O, 'tis a fault too too unpardonable!"
10068"Off with the crown, and with the crown his head,"
10069"And, whilst we breathe, take time to do him dead."
10070"That is my office, for my father's sake."
10071"Nay, stay, lets hear the orisons he makes."
10072"She-wolf of France, but worse than wolves of France,"
10073"Whose tongue more poisons than the adder's tooth!"
10074"How ill-beseeming is it in thy sex"
10075"To triumph, like an Amazonian trull,"
10076"Upon their woes whom fortune captivates!"
10077"But that thy face is, vizard-like, unchanging,"
10078"Made impudent with use of evil deeds,"
10079"I would assay, proud queen, to make thee blush."
10080"To tell thee whence thou camest, of whom derived,"
10081"Were shame enough to shame thee, wert thou not shameless."
10082"Thy father bears the type of King of Naples,"
10083"Of both the Sicils and Jerusalem,"
10084"Yet not so wealthy as an English yeoman."
10085"Hath that poor monarch taught thee to insult?"
10086"It needs not, nor it boots thee not, proud queen,"
10087"Unless the adage must be verified,"
10088"That beggars mounted run their horse to death."
10089"'Tis beauty that doth oft make women proud,"
10090"But, God he knows, thy share thereof is small:"
10091"'Tis virtue that doth make them most admired,"
10092"The contrary doth make thee wonder'd at:"
10093"'Tis government that makes them seem divine,"
10094"The want thereof makes thee abominable:"
10095"Thou art as opposite to every good"
10096"As the Antipodes are unto us,"
10097"Or as the south to the septentrion."
10098"O tiger's heart wrapt in a woman's hide!"
10099"How couldst thou drain the life-blood of the child,"
10100"To bid the father wipe his eyes withal,"
10101"And yet be seen to bear a woman's face?"
10102"Women are soft, mild, pitiful and flexible,"
10103"Thou stern, obdurate, flinty, rough, remorseless."
10104"Bids't thou me rage? why, now thou hast thy wish:"
10105"Wouldst have me weep? why, now thou hast thy will:"
10106"For raging wind blows up incessant showers,"
10107"And when the rage allays, the rain begins."
10108"These tears are my sweet Rutland's obsequies:"
10109"And every drop cries vengeance for his death,"
10110"'Gainst thee, fell Clifford, and thee, false"
10111Frenchwoman.
10112"Beshrew me, but his passion moves me so"
10113"That hardly can I cheque my eyes from tears."
10114"That face of his the hungry cannibals"
10115"Would not have touch'd, would not have stain'd with blood:"
10116"But you are more inhuman, more inexorable,"
10117"O, ten times more, than tigers of Hyrcania."
10118"See, ruthless queen, a hapless father's tears:"
10119"This cloth thou dip'dst in blood of my sweet boy,"
10120"And I with tears do wash the blood away."
10121"Keep thou the napkin, and go boast of this:"
10122"And if thou tell'st the heavy story right,"
10123"Upon my soul, the hearers will shed tears,"
10124"Yea even my foes will shed fast-falling tears,"
10125"And say 'Alas, it was a piteous deed!'"
10126"There, take the crown, and, with the crown, my curse,"
10127"And in thy need such comfort come to thee"
10128"As now I reap at thy too cruel hand!"
10129"Hard-hearted Clifford, take me from the world:"
10130"My soul to heaven, my blood upon your heads!"
10131"Had he been slaughter-man to all my kin,"
10132"I should not for my life but weep with him."
10133"To see how inly sorrow gripes his soul."
10134"What, weeping-ripe, my Lord Northumberland?"
10135"Think but upon the wrong he did us all,"
10136"And that will quickly dry thy melting tears."
10137"Here's for my oath, here's for my father's death."
10138"Stabbing him"
10139"And here's to right our gentle-hearted king."
10140"Stabbing him"
10141"Open Thy gate of mercy, gracious God!"
10142"My soul flies through these wounds to seek out Thee."
10143Dies
10144"Off with his head, and set it on York gates,"
10145"So York may overlook the town of York."
10146"Flourish. Exeunt"
10147"ACT II"
10148"SCENE I. A plain near Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire."
10149"A march. Enter EDWARD, RICHARD, and their power"
10150"I wonder how our princely father 'scaped,"
10151"Or whether he be 'scaped away or no"
10152"From Clifford's and Northumberland's pursuit:"
10153"Had he been ta'en, we should have heard the news,"
10154"Had he been slain, we should have heard the news,"
10155"Or had he 'scaped, methinks we should have heard"
10156"The happy tidings of his good escape."
10157"How fares my brother? why is he so sad?"
10158"I cannot joy, until I be resolved"
10159"Where our right valiant father is become."
10160"I saw him in the battle range about,"
10161"And watch'd him how he singled Clifford forth."
10162"Methought he bore him in the thickest troop"
10163"As doth a lion in a herd of neat,"
10164"Or as a bear, encompass'd round with dogs,"
10165"Who having pinch'd a few and made them cry,"
10166"The rest stand all aloof, and bark at him."
10167"So fared our father with his enemies,"
10168"So fled his enemies my warlike father:"
10169"Methinks, 'tis prize enough to be his son."
10170"See how the morning opes her golden gates,"
10171"And takes her farewell of the glorious sun!"
10172"How well resembles it the prime of youth,"
10173"Trimm'd like a younker prancing to his love!"
10174"Dazzle mine eyes, or do I see three suns?"
10175"Three glorious suns, each one a perfect sun,"
10176"Not separated with the racking clouds,"
10177"But sever'd in a pale clear-shining sky."
10178"See, see! they join, embrace, and seem to kiss,"
10179"As if they vow'd some league inviolable:"
10180"Now are they but one lamp, one light, one sun."
10181"In this the heaven figures some event."
10182"'Tis wondrous strange, the like yet never heard of."
10183"I think it cites us, brother, to the field,"
10184"That we, the sons of brave Plantagenet,"
10185"Each one already blazing by our meeds,"
10186"Should notwithstanding join our lights together"
10187"And over-shine the earth as this the world."
10188"Whate'er it bodes, henceforward will I bear"
10189"Upon my target three fair-shining suns."
10190"Nay, bear three daughters: by your leave I speak it,"
10191"You love the breeder better than the male."
10192"Enter a Messenger"
10193"But what art thou, whose heavy looks foretell"
10194"Some dreadful story hanging on thy tongue?"
10195"Ah, one that was a woful looker-on"
10196"When as the noble Duke of York was slain,"
10197"Your princely father and my loving lord!"
10198"O, speak no more, for I have heard too much."
10199"Say how he died, for I will hear it all."
10200"Environed he was with many foes,"
10201"And stood against them, as the hope of Troy"
10202"Against the Greeks that would have enter'd Troy."
10203"But Hercules himself must yield to odds,"
10204"And many strokes, though with a little axe,"
10205"Hew down and fell the hardest-timber'd oak."
10206"By many hands your father was subdued,"
10207"But only slaughter'd by the ireful arm"
10208"Of unrelenting Clifford and the queen,"
10209"Who crown'd the gracious duke in high despite,"
10210"Laugh'd in his face, and when with grief he wept,"
10211"The ruthless queen gave him to dry his cheeks"
10212"A napkin steeped in the harmless blood"
10213"Of sweet young Rutland, by rough Clifford slain:"
10214"And after many scorns, many foul taunts,"
10215"They took his head, and on the gates of York"
10216"They set the same, and there it doth remain,"
10217"The saddest spectacle that e'er I view'd."
10218"Sweet Duke of York, our prop to lean upon,"
10219"Now thou art gone, we have no staff, no stay."
10220"O Clifford, boisterous Clifford! thou hast slain"
10221"The flower of Europe for his chivalry,"
10222"And treacherously hast thou vanquish'd him,"
10223"For hand to hand he would have vanquish'd thee."
10224"Now my soul's palace is become a prison:"
10225"Ah, would she break from hence, that this my body"
10226"Might in the ground be closed up in rest!"
10227"For never henceforth shall I joy again,"
10228"Never, O never shall I see more joy!"
10229"I cannot weep, for all my body's moisture"
10230"Scarce serves to quench my furnace-burning heart:"
10231"Nor can my tongue unload my heart's great burthen,"
10232"For selfsame wind that I should speak withal"
10233"Is kindling coals that fires all my breast,"
10234"And burns me up with flames that tears would quench."
10235"To weep is to make less the depth of grief:"
10236"Tears then for babes, blows and revenge for me"
10237"Richard, I bear thy name, I'll venge thy death,"
10238"Or die renowned by attempting it."
10239"His name that valiant duke hath left with thee,"
10240"His dukedom and his chair with me is left."
10241"Nay, if thou be that princely eagle's bird,"
10242"Show thy descent by gazing 'gainst the sun:"
10243"For chair and dukedom, throne and kingdom say,"
10244"Either that is thine, or else thou wert not his."
10245"March. Enter WARWICK, MONTAGUE, and their army"
10246"How now, fair lords! What fare? what news abroad?"
10247"Great Lord of Warwick, if we should recount"
10248"Our baleful news, and at each word's deliverance"
10249"Stab poniards in our flesh till all were told,"
10250"The words would add more anguish than the wounds."
10251"O valiant lord, the Duke of York is slain!"
10252"O Warwick, Warwick! that Plantagenet,"
10253"Which held three dearly as his soul's redemption,"
10254"Is by the stern Lord Clifford done to death."
10255"Ten days ago I drown'd these news in tears,"
10256"And now, to add more measure to your woes,"
10257"I come to tell you things sith then befall'n."
10258"After the bloody fray at Wakefield fought,"
10259"Where your brave father breathed his latest gasp,"
10260"Tidings, as swiftly as the posts could run,"
10261"Were brought me of your loss and his depart."
10262"I, then in London keeper of the king,"
10263"Muster'd my soldiers, gather'd flocks of friends,"
10264"And very well appointed, as I thought,"
10265"March'd toward Saint Alban's to intercept the queen,"
10266"Bearing the king in my behalf along,"
10267"For by my scouts I was advertised"
10268"That she was coming with a full intent"
10269"To dash our late decree in parliament"
10270"Touching King Henry's oath and your succession."
10271"Short tale to make, we at Saint Alban's met"
10272"Our battles join'd, and both sides fiercely fought:"
10273"But whether 'twas the coldness of the king,"
10274"Who look'd full gently on his warlike queen,"
10275"That robb'd my soldiers of their heated spleen,"
10276"Or whether 'twas report of her success,"
10277"Or more than common fear of Clifford's rigour,"
10278"Who thunders to his captives blood and death,"
10279"I cannot judge: but to conclude with truth,"
10280"Their weapons like to lightning came and went,"
10281"Our soldiers', like the night-owl's lazy flight,"
10282"Or like an idle thresher with a flail,"
10283"Fell gently down, as if they struck their friends."
10284"I cheer'd them up with justice of our cause,"
10285"With promise of high pay and great rewards:"
10286"But all in vain, they had no heart to fight,"
10287"And we in them no hope to win the day,"
10288"So that we fled, the king unto the queen,"
10289"Lord George your brother, Norfolk and myself,"
10290"In haste, post-haste, are come to join with you:"
10291"For in the marches here we heard you were,"
10292"Making another head to fight again."
10293"Where is the Duke of Norfolk, gentle Warwick?"
10294"And when came George from Burgundy to England?"
10295"Some six miles off the duke is with the soldiers,"
10296"And for your brother, he was lately sent"
10297"From your kind aunt, Duchess of Burgundy,"
10298"With aid of soldiers to this needful war."
10299"'Twas odds, belike, when valiant Warwick fled:"
10300"Oft have I heard his praises in pursuit,"
10301"But ne'er till now his scandal of retire."
10302"Nor now my scandal, Richard, dost thou hear,"
10303"For thou shalt know this strong right hand of mine"
10304"Can pluck the diadem from faint Henry's head,"
10305"And wring the awful sceptre from his fist,"
10306"Were he as famous and as bold in war"
10307"As he is famed for mildness, peace, and prayer."
10308"I know it well, Lord Warwick, blame me not:"
10309"'Tis love I bear thy glories makes me speak."
10310"But in this troublous time what's to be done?"
10311"Shall we go throw away our coats of steel,"
10312"And wrap our bodies in black mourning gowns,"
10313"Numbering our Ave-Maries with our beads?"
10314"Or shall we on the helmets of our foes"
10315"Tell our devotion with revengeful arms?"
10316"If for the last, say ay, and to it, lords."
10317"Why, therefore Warwick came to seek you out,"
10318"And therefore comes my brother Montague."
10319"Attend me, lords. The proud insulting queen,"
10320"With Clifford and the haught Northumberland,"
10321"And of their feather many more proud birds,"
10322"Have wrought the easy-melting king like wax."
10323"He swore consent to your succession,"
10324"His oath enrolled in the parliament,"
10325"And now to London all the crew are gone,"
10326"To frustrate both his oath and what beside"
10327"May make against the house of Lancaster."
10328"Their power, I think, is thirty thousand strong:"
10329"Now, if the help of Norfolk and myself,"
10330"With all the friends that thou, brave Earl of March,"
10331"Amongst the loving Welshmen canst procure,"
10332"Will but amount to five and twenty thousand,"
10333"Why, Via! to London will we march amain,"
10334"And once again bestride our foaming steeds,"
10335"And once again cry 'Charge upon our foes!'"
10336"But never once again turn back and fly."
10337"Ay, now methinks I hear great Warwick speak:"
10338"Ne'er may he live to see a sunshine day,"
10339"That cries 'Retire,' if Warwick bid him stay."
10340"Lord Warwick, on thy shoulder will I lean,"
10341"And when thou fail'st--as God forbid the hour!--"
10342"Must Edward fall, which peril heaven forfend!"
10343"No longer Earl of March, but Duke of York:"
10344"The next degree is England's royal throne,"
10345"For King of England shalt thou be proclaim'd"
10346"In every borough as we pass along,"
10347"And he that throws not up his cap for joy"
10348"Shall for the fault make forfeit of his head."
10349"King Edward, valiant Richard, Montague,"
10350"Stay we no longer, dreaming of renown,"
10351"But sound the trumpets, and about our task."
10352"Then, Clifford, were thy heart as hard as steel,"
10353"As thou hast shown it flinty by thy deeds,"
10354"I come to pierce it, or to give thee mine."
10355"Then strike up drums: God and Saint George for us!"
10356"Enter a Messenger"
10357"How now! what news?"
10358"The Duke of Norfolk sends you word by me,"
10359"The queen is coming with a puissant host,"
10360"And craves your company for speedy counsel."
10361"Why then it sorts, brave warriors, let's away."
10362Exeunt
10363"SCENE II. Before York."
10364"Flourish. Enter KING HENRY VI, QUEEN MARGARET,  PRINCE EDWARD, CLIFFORD, and NORTHUMBERLAND, with drum and trumpets"
10365"Welcome, my lord, to this brave town of York."
10366"Yonder's the head of that arch-enemy"
10367"That sought to be encompass'd with your crown:"
10368"Doth not the object cheer your heart, my lord?"
10369"Ay, as the rocks cheer them that fear their wreck:"
10370"To see this sight, it irks my very soul."
10371"Withhold revenge, dear God! 'tis not my fault,"
10372"Nor wittingly have I infringed my vow."
10373"My gracious liege, this too much lenity"
10374"And harmful pity must be laid aside."
10375"To whom do lions cast their gentle looks?"
10376"Not to the beast that would usurp their den."
10377"Whose hand is that the forest bear doth lick?"
10378"Not his that spoils her young before her face."
10379"Who 'scapes the lurking serpent's mortal sting?"
10380"Not he that sets his foot upon her back."
10381"The smallest worm will turn being trodden on,"
10382"And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood."
10383"Ambitious York doth level at thy crown,"
10384"Thou smiling while he knit his angry brows:"
10385"He, but a duke, would have his son a king,"
10386"And raise his issue, like a loving sire,"
10387"Thou, being a king, blest with a goodly son,"
10388"Didst yield consent to disinherit him,"
10389"Which argued thee a most unloving father."
10390"Unreasonable creatures feed their young,"
10391"And though man's face be fearful to their eyes,"
10392"Yet, in protection of their tender ones,"
10393"Who hath not seen them, even with those wings"
10394"Which sometime they have used with fearful flight,"
10395"Make war with him that climb'd unto their nest,"
10396"Offer their own lives in their young's defence?"
10397"For shame, my liege, make them your precedent!"
10398"Were it not pity that this goodly boy"
10399"Should lose his birthright by his father's fault,"
10400"And long hereafter say unto his child,"
10401"'What my great-grandfather and his grandsire got"
10402"My careless father fondly gave away'?"
10403"Ah, what a shame were this! Look on the boy,"
10404"And let his manly face, which promiseth"
10405"Successful fortune, steel thy melting heart"
10406"To hold thine own and leave thine own with him."
10407"Full well hath Clifford play'd the orator,"
10408"Inferring arguments of mighty force."
10409"But, Clifford, tell me, didst thou never hear"
10410"That things ill-got had ever bad success?"
10411"And happy always was it for that son"
10412"Whose father for his hoarding went to hell?"
10413"I'll leave my son my virtuous deeds behind,"
10414"And would my father had left me no more!"
10415"For all the rest is held at such a rate"
10416"As brings a thousand-fold more care to keep"
10417"Than in possession and jot of pleasure."
10418"Ah, cousin York! would thy best friends did know"
10419"How it doth grieve me that thy head is here!"
10420"My lord, cheer up your spirits: our foes are nigh,"
10421"And this soft courage makes your followers faint."
10422"You promised knighthood to our forward son:"
10423"Unsheathe your sword, and dub him presently."
10424"Edward, kneel down."
10425"Edward Plantagenet, arise a knight,"
10426"And learn this lesson, draw thy sword in right."
10427"My gracious father, by your kingly leave,"
10428"I'll draw it as apparent to the crown,"
10429"And in that quarrel use it to the death."
10430"Why, that is spoken like a toward prince."
10431"Enter a Messenger"
10432"Royal commanders, be in readiness:"
10433"For with a band of thirty thousand men"
10434"Comes Warwick, backing of the Duke of York,"
10435"And in the towns, as they do march along,"
10436"Proclaims him king, and many fly to him:"
10437"Darraign your battle, for they are at hand."
10438"I would your highness would depart the field:"
10439"The queen hath best success when you are absent."
10440"Ay, good my lord, and leave us to our fortune."
10441"Why, that's my fortune too, therefore I'll stay."
10442"Be it with resolution then to fight."
10443"My royal father, cheer these noble lords"
10444"And hearten those that fight in your defence:"
10445"Unsheathe your sword, good father, cry 'Saint George!'"
10446"March. Enter EDWARD, GEORGE, RICHARD, WARWICK, NORFOLK, MONTAGUE, and Soldiers"
10447"Now, perjured Henry! wilt thou kneel for grace,"
10448"And set thy diadem upon my head,"
10449"Or bide the mortal fortune of the field?"
10450"Go, rate thy minions, proud insulting boy!"
10451"Becomes it thee to be thus bold in terms"
10452"Before thy sovereign and thy lawful king?"
10453"I am his king, and he should bow his knee,"
10454"I was adopted heir by his consent:"
10455"Since when, his oath is broke, for, as I hear,"
10456"You, that are king, though he do wear the crown,"
10457"Have caused him, by new act of parliament,"
10458"To blot out me, and put his own son in."
10459"And reason too:"
10460"Who should succeed the father but the son?"
10461"Are you there, butcher? O, I cannot speak!"
10462"Ay, crook-back, here I stand to answer thee,"
10463"Or any he the proudest of thy sort."
10464"'Twas you that kill'd young Rutland, was it not?"
10465"Ay, and old York, and yet not satisfied."
10466"For God's sake, lords, give signal to the fight."
10467"What say'st thou, Henry, wilt thou yield the crown?"
10468"Why, how now, long-tongued Warwick! dare you speak?"
10469"When you and I met at Saint Alban's last,"
10470"Your legs did better service than your hands."
10471"Then 'twas my turn to fly, and now 'tis thine."
10472"You said so much before, and yet you fled."
10473"'Twas not your valour, Clifford, drove me thence."
10474"No, nor your manhood that durst make you stay."
10475"Northumberland, I hold thee reverently."
10476"Break off the parley, for scarce I can refrain"
10477"The execution of my big-swoln heart"
10478"Upon that Clifford, that cruel child-killer."
10479"I slew thy father, call'st thou him a child?"
10480"Ay, like a dastard and a treacherous coward,"
10481"As thou didst kill our tender brother Rutland,"
10482"But ere sunset I'll make thee curse the deed."
10483"Have done with words, my lords, and hear me speak."
10484"Defy them then, or else hold close thy lips."
10485"I prithee, give no limits to my tongue:"
10486"I am a king, and privileged to speak."
10487"My liege, the wound that bred this meeting here"
10488"Cannot be cured by words, therefore be still."
10489"Then, executioner, unsheathe thy sword:"
10490"By him that made us all, I am resolved"
10491"that Clifford's manhood lies upon his tongue."
10492"Say, Henry, shall I have my right, or no?"
10493"A thousand men have broke their fasts to-day,"
10494"That ne'er shall dine unless thou yield the crown."
10495"If thou deny, their blood upon thy head,"
10496"For York in justice puts his armour on."
10497"If that be right which Warwick says is right,"
10498"There is no wrong, but every thing is right."
10499"Whoever got thee, there thy mother stands,"
10500"For, well I wot, thou hast thy mother's tongue."
10501"But thou art neither like thy sire nor dam,"
10502"But like a foul mis-shapen stigmatic,"
10503"Mark'd by the destinies to be avoided,"
10504"As venom toads, or lizards' dreadful stings."
10505"Iron of Naples hid with English gilt,"
10506"Whose father bears the title of a king,--"
10507"As if a channel should be call'd the sea,--"
10508"Shamest thou not, knowing whence thou art extraught,"
10509"To let thy tongue detect thy base-born heart?"
10510"A wisp of straw were worth a thousand crowns,"
10511"To make this shameless callet know herself."
10512"Helen of Greece was fairer far than thou,"
10513"Although thy husband may be Menelaus,"
10514"And ne'er was Agamemnon's brother wrong'd"
10515"By that false woman, as this king by thee."
10516"His father revell'd in the heart of France,"
10517"And tamed the king, and made the dauphin stoop,"
10518"And had he match'd according to his state,"
10519"He might have kept that glory to this day,"
10520"But when he took a beggar to his bed,"
10521"And graced thy poor sire with his bridal-day,"
10522"Even then that sunshine brew'd a shower for him,"
10523"That wash'd his father's fortunes forth of France,"
10524"And heap'd sedition on his crown at home."
10525"For what hath broach'd this tumult but thy pride?"
10526"Hadst thou been meek, our title still had slept,"
10527"And we, in pity of the gentle king,"
10528"Had slipp'd our claim until another age."
10529"But when we saw our sunshine made thy spring,"
10530"And that thy summer bred us no increase,"
10531"We set the axe to thy usurping root,"
10532"And though the edge hath something hit ourselves,"
10533"Yet, know thou, since we have begun to strike,"
10534"We'll never leave till we have hewn thee down,"
10535"Or bathed thy growing with our heated bloods."
10536"And, in this resolution, I defy thee,"
10537"Not willing any longer conference,"
10538"Since thou deniest the gentle king to speak."
10539"Sound trumpets! let our bloody colours wave!"
10540"And either victory, or else a grave."
10541"Stay, Edward."
10542"No, wrangling woman, we'll no longer stay:"
10543"These words will cost ten thousand lives this day."
10544Exeunt
10545"SCENE III. A field of battle between Towton and Saxton, in"
10546Yorkshire.
10547"Alarum. Excursions. Enter WARWICK"
10548"Forspent with toil, as runners with a race,"
10549"I lay me down a little while to breathe,"
10550"For strokes received, and many blows repaid,"
10551"Have robb'd my strong-knit sinews of their strength,"
10552"And spite of spite needs must I rest awhile."
10553"Enter EDWARD, running"
10554"Smile, gentle heaven! or strike, ungentle death!"
10555"For this world frowns, and Edward's sun is clouded."
10556"How now, my lord! what hap? what hope of good?"
10557"Enter GEORGE"
10558"Our hap is loss, our hope but sad despair,"
10559"Our ranks are broke, and ruin follows us:"
10560"What counsel give you? whither shall we fly?"
10561"Bootless is flight, they follow us with wings,"
10562"And weak we are and cannot shun pursuit."
10563"Enter RICHARD"
10564"Ah, Warwick, why hast thou withdrawn thyself?"
10565"Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath drunk,"
10566"Broach'd with the steely point of Clifford's lance,"
10567"And in the very pangs of death he cried,"
10568"Like to a dismal clangour heard from far,"
10569"'Warwick, revenge! brother, revenge my death!'"
10570"So, underneath the belly of their steeds,"
10571"That stain'd their fetlocks in his smoking blood,"
10572"The noble gentleman gave up the ghost."
10573"Then let the earth be drunken with our blood:"
10574"I'll kill my horse, because I will not fly."
10575"Why stand we like soft-hearted women here,"
10576"Wailing our losses, whiles the foe doth rage,"
10577"And look upon, as if the tragedy"
10578"Were play'd in jest by counterfeiting actors?"
10579"Here on my knee I vow to God above,"
10580"I'll never pause again, never stand still,"
10581"Till either death hath closed these eyes of mine"
10582"Or fortune given me measure of revenge."
10583"O Warwick, I do bend my knee with thine,"
10584"And in this vow do chain my soul to thine!"
10585"And, ere my knee rise from the earth's cold face,"
10586"I throw my hands, mine eyes, my heart to thee,"
10587"Thou setter up and plucker down of kings,"
10588"Beseeching thee, if with they will it stands"
10589"That to my foes this body must be prey,"
10590"Yet that thy brazen gates of heaven may ope,"
10591"And give sweet passage to my sinful soul!"
10592"Now, lords, take leave until we meet again,"
10593"Where'er it be, in heaven or in earth."
10594"Brother, give me thy hand, and, gentle Warwick,"
10595"Let me embrace thee in my weary arms:"
10596"I, that did never weep, now melt with woe"
10597"That winter should cut off our spring-time so."
10598"Away, away! Once more, sweet lords farewell."
10599"Yet let us all together to our troops,"
10600"And give them leave to fly that will not stay,"
10601"And call them pillars that will stand to us,"
10602"And, if we thrive, promise them such rewards"
10603"As victors wear at the Olympian games:"
10604"This may plant courage in their quailing breasts,"
10605"For yet is hope of life and victory."
10606"Forslow no longer, make we hence amain."
10607Exeunt
10608"SCENE IV. Another part of the field."
10609"Excursions. Enter RICHARD and CLIFFORD"
10610"Now, Clifford, I have singled thee alone:"
10611"Suppose this arm is for the Duke of York,"
10612"And this for Rutland, both bound to revenge,"
10613"Wert thou environ'd with a brazen wall."
10614"Now, Richard, I am with thee here alone:"
10615"This is the hand that stabb'd thy father York,"
10616"And this the hand that slew thy brother Rutland,"
10617"And here's the heart that triumphs in their death"
10618"And cheers these hands that slew thy sire and brother"
10619"To execute the like upon thyself,"
10620"And so, have at thee!"
10621"They fight. WARWICK comes, CLIFFORD flies"
10622"Nay Warwick, single out some other chase,"
10623"For I myself will hunt this wolf to death."
10624Exeunt
10625"SCENE V. Another part of the field."
10626"Alarum. Enter KING HENRY VI alone"
10627"This battle fares like to the morning's war,"
10628"When dying clouds contend with growing light,"
10629"What time the shepherd, blowing of his nails,"
10630"Can neither call it perfect day nor night."
10631"Now sways it this way, like a mighty sea"
10632"Forced by the tide to combat with the wind,"
10633"Now sways it that way, like the selfsame sea"
10634"Forced to retire by fury of the wind:"
10635"Sometime the flood prevails, and then the wind,"
10636"Now one the better, then another best,"
10637"Both tugging to be victors, breast to breast,"
10638"Yet neither conqueror nor conquered:"
10639"So is the equal of this fell war."
10640"Here on this molehill will I sit me down."
10641"To whom God will, there be the victory!"
10642"For Margaret my queen, and Clifford too,"
10643"Have chid me from the battle, swearing both"
10644"They prosper best of all when I am thence."
10645"Would I were dead! if God's good will were so,"
10646"For what is in this world but grief and woe?"
10647"O God! methinks it were a happy life,"
10648"To be no better than a homely swain,"
10649"To sit upon a hill, as I do now,"
10650"To carve out dials quaintly, point by point,"
10651"Thereby to see the minutes how they run,"
10652"How many make the hour full complete,"
10653"How many hours bring about the day,"
10654"How many days will finish up the year,"
10655"How many years a mortal man may live."
10656"When this is known, then to divide the times:"
10657"So many hours must I tend my flock,"
10658"So many hours must I take my rest,"
10659"So many hours must I contemplate,"
10660"So many hours must I sport myself,"
10661"So many days my ewes have been with young,"
10662"So many weeks ere the poor fools will ean:"
10663"So many years ere I shall shear the fleece:"
10664"So minutes, hours, days, months, and years,"
10665"Pass'd over to the end they were created,"
10666"Would bring white hairs unto a quiet grave."
10667"Ah, what a life were this! how sweet! how lovely!"
10668"Gives not the hawthorn-bush a sweeter shade"
10669"To shepherds looking on their silly sheep,"
10670"Than doth a rich embroider'd canopy"
10671"To kings that fear their subjects' treachery?"
10672"O, yes, it doth, a thousand-fold it doth."
10673"And to conclude, the shepherd's homely curds,"
10674"His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle."
10675"His wonted sleep under a fresh tree's shade,"
10676"All which secure and sweetly he enjoys,"
10677"Is far beyond a prince's delicates,"
10678"His viands sparkling in a golden cup,"
10679"His body couched in a curious bed,"
10680"When care, mistrust, and treason waits on him."
10681"Alarum. Enter a Son that has killed his father, dragging in the dead body"
10682"Ill blows the wind that profits nobody."
10683"This man, whom hand to hand I slew in fight,"
10684"May be possessed with some store of crowns,"
10685"And I, that haply take them from him now,"
10686"May yet ere night yield both my life and them"
10687"To some man else, as this dead man doth me."
10688"Who's this? O God! it is my father's face,"
10689"Whom in this conflict I unwares have kill'd."
10690"O heavy times, begetting such events!"
10691"From London by the king was I press'd forth,"
10692"My father, being the Earl of Warwick's man,"
10693"Came on the part of York, press'd by his master,"
10694"And I, who at his hands received my life, him"
10695"Have by my hands of life bereaved him."
10696"Pardon me, God, I knew not what I did!"
10697"And pardon, father, for I knew not thee!"
10698"My tears shall wipe away these bloody marks,"
10699"And no more words till they have flow'd their fill."
10700"O piteous spectacle! O bloody times!"
10701"Whiles lions war and battle for their dens,"
10702"Poor harmless lambs abide their enmity."
10703"Weep, wretched man, I'll aid thee tear for tear,"
10704"And let our hearts and eyes, like civil war,"
10705"Be blind with tears, and break o'ercharged with grief."
10706"Enter a Father that has killed his son, bringing in the body"
10707"Thou that so stoutly hast resisted me,"
10708"Give me thy gold, if thou hast any gold:"
10709"For I have bought it with an hundred blows."
10710"But let me see: is this our foeman's face?"
10711"Ah, no, no, no, it is mine only son!"
10712"Ah, boy, if any life be left in thee,"
10713"Throw up thine eye! see, see what showers arise,"
10714"Blown with the windy tempest of my heart,"
10715"Upon thy words, that kill mine eye and heart!"
10716"O, pity, God, this miserable age!"
10717"What stratagems, how fell, how butcherly,"
10718"Erroneous, mutinous and unnatural,"
10719"This deadly quarrel daily doth beget!"
10720"O boy, thy father gave thee life too soon,"
10721"And hath bereft thee of thy life too late!"
10722"Woe above woe! grief more than common grief!"
10723"O that my death would stay these ruthful deeds!"
10724"O pity, pity, gentle heaven, pity!"
10725"The red rose and the white are on his face,"
10726"The fatal colours of our striving houses:"
10727"The one his purple blood right well resembles,"
10728"The other his pale cheeks, methinks, presenteth:"
10729"Wither one rose, and let the other flourish,"
10730"If you contend, a thousand lives must wither."
10731"How will my mother for a father's death"
10732"Take on with me and ne'er be satisfied!"
10733"How will my wife for slaughter of my son"
10734"Shed seas of tears and ne'er be satisfied!"
10735"How will the country for these woful chances"
10736"Misthink the king and not be satisfied!"
10737"Was ever son so rued a father's death?"
10738"Was ever father so bemoan'd his son?"
10739"Was ever king so grieved for subjects' woe?"
10740"Much is your sorrow, mine ten times so much."
10741"I'll bear thee hence, where I may weep my fill."
10742"Exit with the body"
10743"These arms of mine shall be thy winding-sheet,"
10744"My heart, sweet boy, shall be thy sepulchre,"
10745"For from my heart thine image ne'er shall go,"
10746"My sighing breast shall be thy funeral bell,"
10747"And so obsequious will thy father be,"
10748"Even for the loss of thee, having no more,"
10749"As Priam was for all his valiant sons."
10750"I'll bear thee hence, and let them fight that will,"
10751"For I have murdered where I should not kill."
10752"Exit with the body"
10753"Sad-hearted men, much overgone with care,"
10754"Here sits a king more woful than you are."
10755"Alarums: excursions. Enter QUEEN MARGARET, PRINCE EDWARD, and EXETER"
10756"Fly, father, fly! for all your friends are fled,"
10757"And Warwick rages like a chafed bull:"
10758"Away! for death doth hold us in pursuit."
10759"Mount you, my lord, towards Berwick post amain:"
10760"Edward and Richard, like a brace of greyhounds"
10761"Having the fearful flying hare in sight,"
10762"With fiery eyes sparkling for very wrath,"
10763"And bloody steel grasp'd in their ireful hands,"
10764"Are at our backs, and therefore hence amain."
10765"Away! for vengeance comes along with them:"
10766"Nay, stay not to expostulate, make speed,"
10767"Or else come after: I'll away before."
10768"Nay, take me with thee, good sweet Exeter:"
10769"Not that I fear to stay, but love to go"
10770"Whither the queen intends. Forward, away!"
10771Exeunt
10772"SCENE VI. Another part of the field."
10773"A loud alarum. Enter CLIFFORD, wounded"
10774"Here burns my candle out, ay, here it dies,"
10775"Which, whiles it lasted, gave King Henry light."
10776"O Lancaster, I fear thy overthrow"
10777"More than my body's parting with my soul!"
10778"My love and fear glued many friends to thee,"
10779"And, now I fall, thy tough commixture melts."
10780"Impairing Henry, strengthening misproud York,"
10781"The common people swarm like summer flies,"
10782"And whither fly the gnats but to the sun?"
10783"And who shines now but Henry's enemies?"
10784"O Phoebus, hadst thou never given consent"
10785"That Phaethon should cheque thy fiery steeds,"
10786"Thy burning car never had scorch'd the earth!"
10787"And, Henry, hadst thou sway'd as kings should do,"
10788"Or as thy father and his father did,"
10789"Giving no ground unto the house of York,"
10790"They never then had sprung like summer flies,"
10791"I and ten thousand in this luckless realm"
10792"Had left no mourning widows for our death,"
10793"And thou this day hadst kept thy chair in peace."
10794"For what doth cherish weeds but gentle air?"
10795"And what makes robbers bold but too much lenity?"
10796"Bootless are plaints, and cureless are my wounds,"
10797"No way to fly, nor strength to hold out flight:"
10798"The foe is merciless, and will not pity,"
10799"For at their hands I have deserved no pity."
10800"The air hath got into my deadly wounds,"
10801"And much effuse of blood doth make me faint."
10802"Come, York and Richard, Warwick and the rest,"
10803"I stabb'd your fathers' bosoms, split my breast."
10804"He faints"
10805"Alarum and retreat. Enter EDWARD, GEORGE, RICHARD, MONTAGUE, WARWICK, and Soldiers"
10806"Now breathe we, lords: good fortune bids us pause,"
10807"And smooth the frowns of war with peaceful looks."
10808"Some troops pursue the bloody-minded queen,"
10809"That led calm Henry, though he were a king,"
10810"As doth a sail, fill'd with a fretting gust,"
10811"Command an argosy to stem the waves."
10812"But think you, lords, that Clifford fled with them?"
10813"No, 'tis impossible he should escape,"
10814"For, though before his face I speak the words"
10815"Your brother Richard mark'd him for the grave:"
10816"And wheresoe'er he is, he's surely dead."
10817"CLIFFORD groans, and dies"
10818"Whose soul is that which takes her heavy leave?"
10819"A deadly groan, like life and death's departing."
10820"See who it is: and, now the battle's ended,"
10821"If friend or foe, let him be gently used."
10822"Revoke that doom of mercy, for 'tis Clifford,"
10823"Who not contented that he lopp'd the branch"
10824"In hewing Rutland when his leaves put forth,"
10825"But set his murdering knife unto the root"
10826"From whence that tender spray did sweetly spring,"
10827"I mean our princely father, Duke of York."
10828"From off the gates of York fetch down the head,"
10829"Your father's head, which Clifford placed there,"
10830"Instead whereof let this supply the room:"
10831"Measure for measure must be answered."
10832"Bring forth that fatal screech-owl to our house,"
10833"That nothing sung but death to us and ours:"
10834"Now death shall stop his dismal threatening sound,"
10835"And his ill-boding tongue no more shall speak."
10836"I think his understanding is bereft."
10837"Speak, Clifford, dost thou know who speaks to thee?"
10838"Dark cloudy death o'ershades his beams of life,"
10839"And he nor sees nor hears us what we say."
10840"O, would he did! and so perhaps he doth:"
10841"'Tis but his policy to counterfeit,"
10842"Because he would avoid such bitter taunts"
10843"Which in the time of death he gave our father."
10844"If so thou think'st, vex him with eager words."
10845"Clifford, ask mercy and obtain no grace."
10846"Clifford, repent in bootless penitence."
10847"Clifford, devise excuses for thy faults."
10848"While we devise fell tortures for thy faults."
10849"Thou didst love York, and I am son to York."
10850"Thou pitied'st Rutland, I will pity thee."
10851"Where's Captain Margaret, to fence you now?"
10852"They mock thee, Clifford: swear as thou wast wont."
10853"What, not an oath? nay, then the world goes hard"
10854"When Clifford cannot spare his friends an oath."
10855"I know by that he's dead, and, by my soul,"
10856"If this right hand would buy two hour's life,"
10857"That I in all despite might rail at him,"
10858"This hand should chop it off, and with the"
10859"issuing blood"
10860"Stifle the villain whose unstanched thirst"
10861"York and young Rutland could not satisfy."
10862"Ay, but he's dead: off with the traitor's head,"
10863"And rear it in the place your father's stands."
10864"And now to London with triumphant march,"
10865"There to be crowned England's royal king:"
10866"From whence shall Warwick cut the sea to France,"
10867"And ask the Lady Bona for thy queen:"
10868"So shalt thou sinew both these lands together,"
10869"And, having France thy friend, thou shalt not dread"
10870"The scatter'd foe that hopes to rise again,"
10871"For though they cannot greatly sting to hurt,"
10872"Yet look to have them buzz to offend thine ears."
10873"First will I see the coronation,"
10874"And then to Brittany I'll cross the sea,"
10875"To effect this marriage, so it please my lord."
10876"Even as thou wilt, sweet Warwick, let it be,"
10877"For in thy shoulder do I build my seat,"
10878"And never will I undertake the thing"
10879"Wherein thy counsel and consent is wanting."
10880"Richard, I will create thee Duke of Gloucester,"
10881"And George, of Clarence: Warwick, as ourself,"
10882"Shall do and undo as him pleaseth best."
10883"Let me be Duke of Clarence, George of Gloucester,"
10884"For Gloucester's dukedom is too ominous."
10885"Tut, that's a foolish observation:"
10886"Richard, be Duke of Gloucester. Now to London,"
10887"To see these honours in possession."
10888Exeunt
10889"ACT III"
10890"SCENE I. A forest in the north of England."
10891"Enter two Keepers, with cross-bows in their hands"
10892"Under this thick-grown brake we'll shroud ourselves,"
10893"For through this laund anon the deer will come,"
10894"And in this covert will we make our stand,"
10895"Culling the principal of all the deer."
10896"I'll stay above the hill, so both may shoot."
10897"That cannot be, the noise of thy cross-bow"
10898"Will scare the herd, and so my shoot is lost."
10899"Here stand we both, and aim we at the best:"
10900"And, for the time shall not seem tedious,"
10901"I'll tell thee what befell me on a day"
10902"In this self-place where now we mean to stand."
10903"Here comes a man, let's stay till he be past."
10904"Enter KING HENRY VI, disguised, with a prayerbook"
10905"From Scotland am I stol'n, even of pure love,"
10906"To greet mine own land with my wishful sight."
10907"No, Harry, Harry, 'tis no land of thine,"
10908"Thy place is fill'd, thy sceptre wrung from thee,"
10909"Thy balm wash'd off wherewith thou wast anointed:"
10910"No bending knee will call thee Caesar now,"
10911"No humble suitors press to speak for right,"
10912"No, not a man comes for redress of thee,"
10913"For how can I help them, and not myself?"
10914"Ay, here's a deer whose skin's a keeper's fee:"
10915"This is the quondam king, let's seize upon him."
10916"Let me embrace thee, sour adversity,"
10917"For wise men say it is the wisest course."
10918"Why linger we? let us lay hands upon him."
10919"Forbear awhile, we'll hear a little more."
10920"My queen and son are gone to France for aid,"
10921"And, as I hear, the great commanding Warwick"
10922"Is thither gone, to crave the French king's sister"
10923"To wife for Edward: if this news be true,"
10924"Poor queen and son, your labour is but lost,"
10925"For Warwick is a subtle orator,"
10926"And Lewis a prince soon won with moving words."
10927"By this account then Margaret may win him,"
10928"For she's a woman to be pitied much:"
10929"Her sighs will make a battery in his breast,"
10930"Her tears will pierce into a marble heart,"
10931"The tiger will be mild whiles she doth mourn,"
10932"And Nero will be tainted with remorse,"
10933"To hear and see her plaints, her brinish tears."
10934"Ay, but she's come to beg, Warwick to give,"
10935"She, on his left side, craving aid for Henry,"
10936"He, on his right, asking a wife for Edward."
10937"She weeps, and says her Henry is deposed,"
10938"He smiles, and says his Edward is install'd,"
10939"That she, poor wretch, for grief can speak no more,"
10940"Whiles Warwick tells his title, smooths the wrong,"
10941"Inferreth arguments of mighty strength,"
10942"And in conclusion wins the king from her,"
10943"With promise of his sister, and what else,"
10944"To strengthen and support King Edward's place."
10945"O Margaret, thus 'twill be, and thou, poor soul,"
10946"Art then forsaken, as thou went'st forlorn!"
10947"Say, what art thou that talk'st of kings and queens?"
10948"More than I seem, and less than I was born to:"
10949"A man at least, for less I should not be,"
10950"And men may talk of kings, and why not I?"
10951"Ay, but thou talk'st as if thou wert a king."
10952"Why, so I am, in mind, and that's enough."
10953"But, if thou be a king, where is thy crown?"
10954"My crown is in my heart, not on my head,"
10955"Not decked with diamonds and Indian stones,"
10956"Nor to be seen: my crown is called content:"
10957"A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy."
10958"Well, if you be a king crown'd with content,"
10959"Your crown content and you must be contented"
10960"To go along with us, for as we think,"
10961"You are the king King Edward hath deposed,"
10962"And we his subjects sworn in all allegiance"
10963"Will apprehend you as his enemy."
10964"But did you never swear, and break an oath?"
10965"No, never such an oath, nor will not now."
10966"Where did you dwell when I was King of England?"
10967"Here in this country, where we now remain."
10968"I was anointed king at nine months old,"
10969"My father and my grandfather were kings,"
10970"And you were sworn true subjects unto me:"
10971"And tell me, then, have you not broke your oaths?"
10972No,
10973"For we were subjects but while you were king."
10974"Why, am I dead? do I not breathe a man?"
10975"Ah, simple men, you know not what you swear!"
10976"Look, as I blow this feather from my face,"
10977"And as the air blows it to me again,"
10978"Obeying with my wind when I do blow,"
10979"And yielding to another when it blows,"
10980"Commanded always by the greater gust,"
10981"Such is the lightness of you common men."
10982"But do not break your oaths, for of that sin"
10983"My mild entreaty shall not make you guilty."
10984"Go where you will, the king shall be commanded,"
10985"And be you kings, command, and I'll obey."
10986"We are true subjects to the king, King Edward."
10987"So would you be again to Henry,"
10988"If he were seated as King Edward is."
10989"We charge you, in God's name, and the king's,"
10990"To go with us unto the officers."
10991"In God's name, lead, your king's name be obey'd:"
10992"And what God will, that let your king perform,"
10993"And what he will, I humbly yield unto."
10994Exeunt
10995"SCENE II. London. The palace."
10996"Enter KING EDWARD IV, GLOUCESTER, CLARENCE, and LADY GREY"
10997"Brother of Gloucester, at Saint Alban's field"
10998"This lady's husband, Sir Richard Grey, was slain,"
10999"His lands then seized on by the conqueror:"
11000"Her suit is now to repossess those lands,"
11001"Which we in justice cannot well deny,"
11002"Because in quarrel of the house of York"
11003"The worthy gentleman did lose his life."
11004"Your highness shall do well to grant her suit,"
11005"It were dishonour to deny it her."
11006"It were no less, but yet I'll make a pause."
11007"[Aside to CLARENCE]  Yea, is it so?"
11008"I see the lady hath a thing to grant,"
11009"Before the king will grant her humble suit."
11010"[Aside to GLOUCESTER]  He knows the game: how true"
11011"he keeps the wind!"
11012"[Aside to CLARENCE]  Silence!"
11013"Widow, we will consider of your suit,"
11014"And come some other time to know our mind."
11015"Right gracious lord, I cannot brook delay:"
11016"May it please your highness to resolve me now,"
11017"And what your pleasure is, shall satisfy me."
11018"[Aside to CLARENCE]  Ay, widow? then I'll warrant"
11019"you all your lands,"
11020"An if what pleases him shall pleasure you."
11021"Fight closer, or, good faith, you'll catch a blow."
11022"[Aside to GLOUCESTER]  I fear her not, unless she"
11023"chance to fall."
11024"[Aside to CLARENCE] God forbid that! for he'll"
11025"take vantages."
11026"How many children hast thou, widow? tell me."
11027"[Aside to GLOUCESTER]  I think he means to beg a"
11028"child of her."
11029"[Aside to CLARENCE]  Nay, whip me then: he'll rather"
11030"give her two."
11031"Three, my most gracious lord."
11032"[Aside to CLARENCE]  You shall have four, if you'll"
11033"be ruled by him."
11034"'Twere pity they should lose their father's lands."
11035"Be pitiful, dread lord, and grant it then."
11036"Lords, give us leave: I'll try this widow's wit."
11037"[Aside to CLARENCE]  Ay, good leave have you, for"
11038"you will have leave,"
11039"Till youth take leave and leave you to the crutch."
11040"GLOUCESTER and CLARENCE retire"
11041"Now tell me, madam, do you love your children?"
11042"Ay, full as dearly as I love myself."
11043"And would you not do much to do them good?"
11044"To do them good, I would sustain some harm."
11045"Then get your husband's lands, to do them good."
11046"Therefore I came unto your majesty."
11047"I'll tell you how these lands are to be got."
11048"So shall you bind me to your highness' service."
11049"What service wilt thou do me, if I give them?"
11050"What you command, that rests in me to do."
11051"But you will take exceptions to my boon."
11052"No, gracious lord, except I cannot do it."
11053"Ay, but thou canst do what I mean to ask."
11054"Why, then I will do what your grace commands."
11055"[Aside to CLARENCE]  He plies her hard, and much rain"
11056"wears the marble."
11057"[Aside to GLOUCESTER]  As red as fire! nay, then"
11058"her wax must melt."
11059"Why stops my lord, shall I not hear my task?"
11060"An easy task, 'tis but to love a king."
11061"That's soon perform'd, because I am a subject."
11062"Why, then, thy husband's lands I freely give thee."
11063"I take my leave with many thousand thanks."
11064"[Aside to CLARENCE]  The match is made, she seals it"
11065"with a curtsy."
11066"But stay thee, 'tis the fruits of love I mean."
11067"The fruits of love I mean, my loving liege."
11068"Ay, but, I fear me, in another sense."
11069"What love, think'st thou, I sue so much to get?"
11070"My love till death, my humble thanks, my prayers,"
11071"That love which virtue begs and virtue grants."
11072"No, by my troth, I did not mean such love."
11073"Why, then you mean not as I thought you did."
11074"But now you partly may perceive my mind."
11075"My mind will never grant what I perceive"
11076"Your highness aims at, if I aim aright."
11077"To tell thee plain, I aim to lie with thee."
11078"To tell you plain, I had rather lie in prison."
11079"Why, then thou shalt not have thy husband's lands."
11080"Why, then mine honesty shall be my dower,"
11081"For by that loss I will not purchase them."
11082"Therein thou wrong'st thy children mightily."
11083"Herein your highness wrongs both them and me."
11084"But, mighty lord, this merry inclination"
11085"Accords not with the sadness of my suit:"
11086"Please you dismiss me either with 'ay' or 'no.'"
11087"Ay, if thou wilt say 'ay' to my request,"
11088"No if thou dost say 'no' to my demand."
11089"Then, no, my lord. My suit is at an end."
11090"[Aside to CLARENCE]  The widow likes him not, she"
11091"knits her brows."
11092"[Aside to GLOUCESTER]  He is the bluntest wooer in"
11093Christendom.
11094"[Aside]  Her looks do argue her replete with modesty,"
11095"Her words do show her wit incomparable,"
11096"All her perfections challenge sovereignty:"
11097"One way or other, she is for a king,"
11098"And she shall be my love, or else my queen.--"
11099"Say that King Edward take thee for his queen?"
11100"'Tis better said than done, my gracious lord:"
11101"I am a subject fit to jest withal,"
11102"But far unfit to be a sovereign."
11103"Sweet widow, by my state I swear to thee"
11104"I speak no more than what my soul intends,"
11105"And that is, to enjoy thee for my love."
11106"And that is more than I will yield unto:"
11107"I know I am too mean to be your queen,"
11108"And yet too good to be your concubine."
11109"You cavil, widow: I did mean, my queen."
11110"'Twill grieve your grace my sons should call you father."
11111"No more than when my daughters call thee mother."
11112"Thou art a widow, and thou hast some children,"
11113"And, by God's mother, I, being but a bachelor,"
11114"Have other some: why, 'tis a happy thing"
11115"To be the father unto many sons."
11116"Answer no more, for thou shalt be my queen."
11117"[Aside to CLARENCE]  The ghostly father now hath done"
11118"his shrift."
11119"[Aside to GLOUCESTER]  When he was made a shriver,"
11120"'twas for shift."
11121"Brothers, you muse what chat we two have had."
11122"The widow likes it not, for she looks very sad."
11123"You'll think it strange if I should marry her."
11124"To whom, my lord?"
11125"Why, Clarence, to myself."
11126"That would be ten days' wonder at the least."
11127"That's a day longer than a wonder lasts."
11128"By so much is the wonder in extremes."
11129"Well, jest on, brothers: I can tell you both"
11130"Her suit is granted for her husband's lands."
11131"Enter a Nobleman"
11132"My gracious lord, Henry your foe is taken,"
11133"And brought your prisoner to your palace gate."
11134"See that he be convey'd unto the Tower:"
11135"And go we, brothers, to the man that took him,"
11136"To question of his apprehension."
11137"Widow, go you along. Lords, use her honourably."
11138"Exeunt all but GLOUCESTER"
11139"Ay, Edward will use women honourably."
11140"Would he were wasted, marrow, bones and all,"
11141"That from his loins no hopeful branch may spring,"
11142"To cross me from the golden time I look for!"
11143"And yet, between my soul's desire and me--"
11144"The lustful Edward's title buried--"
11145"Is Clarence, Henry, and his son young Edward,"
11146"And all the unlook'd for issue of their bodies,"
11147"To take their rooms, ere I can place myself:"
11148"A cold premeditation for my purpose!"
11149"Why, then, I do but dream on sovereignty,"
11150"Like one that stands upon a promontory,"
11151"And spies a far-off shore where he would tread,"
11152"Wishing his foot were equal with his eye,"
11153"And chides the sea that sunders him from thence,"
11154"Saying, he'll lade it dry to have his way:"
11155"So do I wish the crown, being so far off,"
11156"And so I chide the means that keeps me from it,"
11157"And so I say, I'll cut the causes off,"
11158"Flattering me with impossibilities."
11159"My eye's too quick, my heart o'erweens too much,"
11160"Unless my hand and strength could equal them."
11161"Well, say there is no kingdom then for Richard,"
11162"What other pleasure can the world afford?"
11163"I'll make my heaven in a lady's lap,"
11164"And deck my body in gay ornaments,"
11165"And witch sweet ladies with my words and looks."
11166"O miserable thought! and more unlikely"
11167"Than to accomplish twenty golden crowns!"
11168"Why, love forswore me in my  mother's womb:"
11169"And, for I should not deal in her soft laws,"
11170"She did corrupt frail nature with some bribe,"
11171"To shrink mine arm up like a wither'd shrub,"
11172"To make an envious mountain on my back,"
11173"Where sits deformity to mock my body,"
11174"To shape my legs of an unequal size,"
11175"To disproportion me in every part,"
11176"Like to a chaos, or an unlick'd bear-whelp"
11177"That carries no impression like the dam."
11178"And am I then a man to be beloved?"
11179"O monstrous fault, to harbour such a thought!"
11180"Then, since this earth affords no joy to me,"
11181"But to command, to cheque, to o'erbear such"
11182"As are of better person than myself,"
11183"I'll make my heaven to dream upon the crown,"
11184"And, whiles I live, to account this world but hell,"
11185"Until my mis-shaped trunk that bears this head"
11186"Be round impaled with a glorious crown."
11187"And yet I know not how to get the crown,"
11188"For many lives stand between me and home:"
11189"And I,--like one lost in a thorny wood,"
11190"That rends the thorns and is rent with the thorns,"
11191"Seeking a way and straying from the way,"
11192"Not knowing how to find the open air,"
11193"But toiling desperately to find it out,--"
11194"Torment myself to catch the English crown:"
11195"And from that torment I will free myself,"
11196"Or hew my way out with a bloody axe."
11197"Why, I can smile, and murder whiles I smile,"
11198"And cry 'Content' to that which grieves my heart,"
11199"And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,"
11200"And frame my face to all occasions."
11201"I'll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall,"
11202"I'll slay more gazers than the basilisk,"
11203"I'll play the orator as well as Nestor,"
11204"Deceive more slily than Ulysses could,"
11205"And, like a Sinon, take another Troy."
11206"I can add colours to the chameleon,"
11207"Change shapes with Proteus for advantages,"
11208"And set the murderous Machiavel to school."
11209"Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?"
11210"Tut, were it farther off, I'll pluck it down."
11211Exit
11212"SCENE III. France. KING LEWIS XI's palace."
11213"Flourish. Enter KING LEWIS XI, his sister BONA,  his Admiral, called BOURBON, PRINCE EDWARD, QUEEN  MARGARET, and OXFORD. KING LEWIS XI sits, and riseth up again"
11214"Fair Queen of England, worthy Margaret,"
11215"Sit down with us: it ill befits thy state"
11216"And birth, that thou shouldst stand while Lewis doth sit."
11217"No, mighty King of France: now Margaret"
11218"Must strike her sail and learn awhile to serve"
11219"Where kings command. I was, I must confess,"
11220"Great Albion's queen in former golden days:"
11221"But now mischance hath trod my title down,"
11222"And with dishonour laid me on the ground,"
11223"Where I must take like seat unto my fortune,"
11224"And to my humble seat conform myself."
11225"Why, say, fair queen, whence springs this deep despair?"
11226"From such a cause as fills mine eyes with tears"
11227"And stops my tongue, while heart is drown'd in cares."
11228"Whate'er it be, be thou still like thyself,"
11229"And sit thee by our side:"
11230"Seats her by him"
11231"Yield not thy neck"
11232"To fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind"
11233"Still ride in triumph over all mischance."
11234"Be plain, Queen Margaret, and tell thy grief,"
11235"It shall be eased, if France can yield relief."
11236"Those gracious words revive my drooping thoughts"
11237"And give my tongue-tied sorrows leave to speak."
11238"Now, therefore, be it known to noble Lewis,"
11239"That Henry, sole possessor of my love,"
11240"Is of a king become a banish'd man,"
11241"And forced to live in Scotland a forlorn,"
11242"While proud ambitious Edward Duke of York"
11243"Usurps the regal title and the seat"
11244"Of England's true-anointed lawful king."
11245"This is the cause that I, poor Margaret,"
11246"With this my son, Prince Edward, Henry's heir,"
11247"Am come to crave thy just and lawful aid,"
11248"And if thou fail us, all our hope is done:"
11249"Scotland hath will to help, but cannot help,"
11250"Our people and our peers are both misled,"
11251"Our treasures seized, our soldiers put to flight,"
11252"And, as thou seest, ourselves in heavy plight."
11253"Renowned queen, with patience calm the storm,"
11254"While we bethink a means to break it off."
11255"The more we stay, the stronger grows our foe."
11256"The more I stay, the more I'll succor thee."
11257"O, but impatience waiteth on true sorrow."
11258"And see where comes the breeder of my sorrow!"
11259"Enter WARWICK"
11260"What's he approacheth boldly to our presence?"
11261"Our Earl of Warwick, Edward's greatest friend."
11262"Welcome, brave Warwick! What brings thee to France?"
11263"He descends. She ariseth"
11264"Ay, now begins a second storm to rise,"
11265"For this is he that moves both wind and tide."
11266"From worthy Edward, King of Albion,"
11267"My lord and sovereign, and thy vowed friend,"
11268"I come, in kindness and unfeigned love,"
11269"First, to do greetings to thy royal person,"
11270"And then to crave a league of amity,"
11271"And lastly, to confirm that amity"
11272"With a nuptial knot, if thou vouchsafe to grant"
11273"That virtuous Lady Bona, thy fair sister,"
11274"To England's king in lawful marriage."
11275"[Aside]  If that go forward, Henry's hope is done."
11276"[To BONA]  And, gracious madam, in our king's behalf,"
11277"I am commanded, with your leave and favour,"
11278"Humbly to kiss your hand, and with my tongue"
11279"To tell the passion of my sovereign's heart,"
11280"Where fame, late entering at his heedful ears,"
11281"Hath placed thy beauty's image and thy virtue."
11282"King Lewis and Lady Bona, hear me speak,"
11283"Before you answer Warwick. His demand"
11284"Springs not from Edward's well-meant honest love,"
11285"But from deceit bred by necessity,"
11286"For how can tyrants safely govern home,"
11287"Unless abroad they purchase great alliance?"
11288"To prove him tyrant this reason may suffice,"
11289"That Henry liveth still: but were he dead,"
11290"Yet here Prince Edward stands, King Henry's son."
11291"Look, therefore, Lewis, that by this league and marriage"
11292"Thou draw not on thy danger and dishonour,"
11293"For though usurpers sway the rule awhile,"
11294"Yet heavens are just, and time suppresseth wrongs."
11295"Injurious Margaret!"
11296"And why not queen?"
11297"Because thy father Henry did usurp,"
11298"And thou no more are prince than she is queen."
11299"Then Warwick disannuls great John of Gaunt,"
11300"Which did subdue the greatest part of Spain,"
11301"And, after John of Gaunt, Henry the Fourth,"
11302"Whose wisdom was a mirror to the wisest,"
11303"And, after that wise prince, Henry the Fifth,"
11304"Who by his prowess conquered all France:"
11305"From these our Henry lineally descends."
11306"Oxford, how haps it, in this smooth discourse,"
11307"You told not how Henry the Sixth hath lost"
11308"All that which Henry Fifth had gotten?"
11309"Methinks these peers of France should smile at that."
11310"But for the rest, you tell a pedigree"
11311"Of threescore and two years, a silly time"
11312"To make prescription for a kingdom's worth."
11313"Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against thy liege,"
11314"Whom thou obeyed'st thirty and six years,"
11315"And not bewray thy treason with a blush?"
11316"Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right,"
11317"Now buckler falsehood with a pedigree?"
11318"For shame! leave Henry, and call Edward king."
11319"Call him my king by whose injurious doom"
11320"My elder brother, the Lord Aubrey Vere,"
11321"Was done to death? and more than so, my father,"
11322"Even in the downfall of his mellow'd years,"
11323"When nature brought him to the door of death?"
11324"No, Warwick, no, while life upholds this arm,"
11325"This arm upholds the house of Lancaster."
11326"And I the house of York."
11327"Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Oxford,"
11328"Vouchsafe, at our request, to stand aside,"
11329"While I use further conference with Warwick."
11330"They stand aloof"
11331"Heavens grant that Warwick's words bewitch him not!"
11332"Now Warwick, tell me, even upon thy conscience,"
11333"Is Edward your true king? for I were loath"
11334"To link with him that were not lawful chosen."
11335"Thereon I pawn my credit and mine honour."
11336"But is he gracious in the people's eye?"
11337"The more that Henry was unfortunate."
11338"Then further, all dissembling set aside,"
11339"Tell me for truth the measure of his love"
11340"Unto our sister Bona."
11341"Such it seems"
11342"As may beseem a monarch like himself."
11343"Myself have often heard him say and swear"
11344"That this his love was an eternal plant,"
11345"Whereof the root was fix'd in virtue's ground,"
11346"The leaves and fruit maintain'd with beauty's sun,"
11347"Exempt from envy, but not from disdain,"
11348"Unless the Lady Bona quit his pain."
11349"Now, sister, let us hear your firm resolve."
11350"Your grant, or your denial, shall be mine:"
11351"To WARWICK"
11352"Yet I confess that often ere this day,"
11353"When I have heard your king's desert recounted,"
11354"Mine ear hath tempted judgment to desire."
11355"Then, Warwick, thus: our sister shall be Edward's,"
11356"And now forthwith shall articles be drawn"
11357"Touching the jointure that your king must make,"
11358"Which with her dowry shall be counterpoised."
11359"Draw near, Queen Margaret, and be a witness"
11360"That Bona shall be wife to the English king."
11361"To Edward, but not to the English king."
11362"Deceitful Warwick! it was thy device"
11363"By this alliance to make void my suit:"
11364"Before thy coming Lewis was Henry's friend."
11365"And still is friend to him and Margaret:"
11366"But if your title to the crown be weak,"
11367"As may appear by Edward's good success,"
11368"Then 'tis but reason that I be released"
11369"From giving aid which late I promised."
11370"Yet shall you have all kindness at my hand"
11371"That your estate requires and mine can yield."
11372"Henry now lives in Scotland at his ease,"
11373"Where having nothing, nothing can he lose."
11374"And as for you yourself, our quondam queen,"
11375"You have a father able to maintain you,"
11376"And better 'twere you troubled him than France."
11377"Peace, impudent and shameless Warwick, peace,"
11378"Proud setter up and puller down of kings!"
11379"I will not hence, till, with my talk and tears,"
11380"Both full of truth, I make King Lewis behold"
11381"Thy sly conveyance and thy lord's false love,"
11382"For both of you are birds of selfsame feather."
11383"Post blows a horn within"
11384"Warwick, this is some post to us or thee."
11385"Enter a Post"
11386"[To WARWICK]  My lord ambassador, these letters are for you,"
11387"Sent from your brother, Marquess Montague:"
11388"To KING LEWIS XI"
11389"These from our king unto your majesty:"
11390"To QUEEN MARGARET"
11391"And, madam, these for you, from whom I know not."
11392"They all read their letters"
11393"I like it well that our fair queen and mistress"
11394"Smiles at her news, while Warwick frowns at his."
11395"Nay, mark how Lewis stamps, as he were nettled:"
11396"I hope all's for the best."
11397"Warwick, what are thy news? and yours, fair queen?"
11398"Mine, such as fill my heart with unhoped joys."
11399"Mine, full of sorrow and heart's discontent."
11400"What! has your king married the Lady Grey!"
11401"And now, to soothe your forgery and his,"
11402"Sends me a paper to persuade me patience?"
11403"Is this the alliance that he seeks with France?"
11404"Dare he presume to scorn us in this manner?"
11405"I told your majesty as much before:"
11406"This proveth Edward's love and Warwick's honesty."
11407"King Lewis, I here protest, in sight of heaven,"
11408"And by the hope I have of heavenly bliss,"
11409"That I am clear from this misdeed of Edward's,"
11410"No more my king, for he dishonours me,"
11411"But most himself, if he could see his shame."
11412"Did I forget that by the house of York"
11413"My father came untimely to his death?"
11414"Did I let pass the abuse done to my niece?"
11415"Did I impale him with the regal crown?"
11416"Did I put Henry from his native right?"
11417"And am I guerdon'd at the last with shame?"
11418"Shame on himself! for my desert is honour:"
11419"And to repair my honour lost for him,"
11420"I here renounce him and return to Henry."
11421"My noble queen, let former grudges pass,"
11422"And henceforth I am thy true servitor:"
11423"I will revenge his wrong to Lady Bona,"
11424"And replant Henry in his former state."
11425"Warwick, these words have turn'd my hate to love,"
11426"And I forgive and quite forget old faults,"
11427"And joy that thou becomest King Henry's friend."
11428"So much his friend, ay, his unfeigned friend,"
11429"That, if King Lewis vouchsafe to furnish us"
11430"With some few bands of chosen soldiers,"
11431"I'll undertake to land them on our coast"
11432"And force the tyrant from his seat by war."
11433"'Tis not his new-made bride shall succor him:"
11434"And as for Clarence, as my letters tell me,"
11435"He's very likely now to fall from him,"
11436"For matching more for wanton lust than honour,"
11437"Or than for strength and safety of our country."
11438"Dear brother, how shall Bona be revenged"
11439"But by thy help to this distressed queen?"
11440"Renowned prince, how shall poor Henry live,"
11441"Unless thou rescue him from foul despair?"
11442"My quarrel and this English queen's are one."
11443"And mine, fair lady Bona, joins with yours."
11444"And mine with hers, and thine, and Margaret's."
11445"Therefore at last I firmly am resolved"
11446"You shall have aid."
11447"Let me give humble thanks for all at once."
11448"Then, England's messenger, return in post,"
11449"And tell false Edward, thy supposed king,"
11450"That Lewis of France is sending over masquers"
11451"To revel it with him and his new bride:"
11452"Thou seest what's past, go fear thy king withal."
11453"Tell him, in hope he'll prove a widower shortly,"
11454"I'll wear the willow garland for his sake."
11455"Tell him, my mourning weeds are laid aside,"
11456"And I am ready to put armour on."
11457"Tell him from me that he hath done me wrong,"
11458"And therefore I'll uncrown him ere't be long."
11459"There's thy reward: be gone."
11460"Exit Post"
11461"But, Warwick,"
11462"Thou and Oxford, with five thousand men,"
11463"Shall cross the seas, and bid false Edward battle,"
11464"And, as occasion serves, this noble queen"
11465"And prince shall follow with a fresh supply."
11466"Yet, ere thou go, but answer me one doubt,"
11467"What pledge have we of thy firm loyalty?"
11468"This shall assure my constant loyalty,"
11469"That if our queen and this young prince agree,"
11470"I'll join mine eldest daughter and my joy"
11471"To him forthwith in holy wedlock bands."
11472"Yes, I agree, and thank you for your motion."
11473"Son Edward, she is fair and virtuous,"
11474"Therefore delay not, give thy hand to Warwick,"
11475"And, with thy hand, thy faith irrevocable,"
11476"That only Warwick's daughter shall be thine."
11477"Yes, I accept her, for she well deserves it,"
11478"And here, to pledge my vow, I give my hand."
11479"He gives his hand to WARWICK"
11480"Why stay we now? These soldiers shall be levied,"
11481"And thou, Lord Bourbon, our high admiral,"
11482"Shalt waft them over with our royal fleet."
11483"I long till Edward fall by war's mischance,"
11484"For mocking marriage with a dame of France."
11485"Exeunt all but WARWICK"
11486"I came from Edward as ambassador,"
11487"But I return his sworn and mortal foe:"
11488"Matter of marriage was the charge he gave me,"
11489"But dreadful war shall answer his demand."
11490"Had he none else to make a stale but me?"
11491"Then none but I shall turn his jest to sorrow."
11492"I was the chief that raised him to the crown,"
11493"And I'll be chief to bring him down again:"
11494"Not that I pity Henry's misery,"
11495"But seek revenge on Edward's mockery."
11496Exit