 41656 
 41657                                SCENE 7.
 41658 
 41659                       Another part of the field
 41660 
 41661        Alarum; excursions. Enter old TALBOT led by a SERVANT
 41662 
 41663   TALBOT. Where is my other life? Mine own is gone.
 41664     O, where's young Talbot? Where is valiant John?
 41665     Triumphant death, smear'd with captivity,
 41666     Young Talbot's valour makes me smile at thee.
 41667     When he perceiv'd me shrink and on my knee,
 41668     His bloody sword he brandish'd over me,
 41669     And like a hungry lion did commence
 41670     Rough deeds of rage and stern impatience;
 41671     But when my angry guardant stood alone,
 41672     Tend'ring my ruin and assail'd of none,
 41673     Dizzy-ey'd fury and great rage of heart
 41674     Suddenly made him from my side to start
 41675     Into the clust'ring battle of the French;
 41676     And in that sea of blood my boy did drench
 41677     His overmounting spirit; and there died,
 41678     My Icarus, my blossom, in his pride.
 41679 
 41680          Enter soldiers, bearing the body of JOHN TALBOT
 41681 
 41682   SERVANT. O my dear lord, lo where your son is borne!
 41683   TALBOT. Thou antic Death, which laugh'st us here to scorn,
 41684     Anon, from thy insulting tyranny,
 41685     Coupled in bonds of perpetuity,
 41686     Two Talbots, winged through the lither sky,
 41687     In thy despite shall scape mortality.
 41688     O thou whose wounds become hard-favoured Death,
 41689     Speak to thy father ere thou yield thy breath!
 41690     Brave Death by speaking, whether he will or no;
 41691     Imagine him a Frenchman and thy foe.
 41692     Poor boy! he smiles, methinks, as who should say,
 41693     Had Death been French, then Death had died to-day.
 41694     Come, come, and lay him in his father's arms.
 41695     My spirit can no longer bear these harms.
 41696     Soldiers, adieu! I have what I would have,
 41697     Now my old arms are young John Talbot's grave.        [Dies]
 41698 
 41699             Enter CHARLES, ALENCON, BURGUNDY, BASTARD,
 41700                      LA PUCELLE, and forces
 41701 
 41702   CHARLES. Had York and Somerset brought rescue in,
 41703     We should have found a bloody day of this.
 41704   BASTARD. How the young whelp of Talbot's, raging wood,
 41705     Did flesh his puny sword in Frenchmen's blood!
 41706   PUCELLE. Once I encount'red him, and thus I said:
 41707     'Thou maiden youth, be vanquish'd by a maid.'
 41708     But with a proud majestical high scorn
 41709     He answer'd thus: 'Young Talbot was not born
 41710     To be the pillage of a giglot wench.'
 41711     So, rushing in the bowels of the French,
 41712     He left me proudly, as unworthy fight.
 41713   BURGUNDY. Doubtless he would have made a noble knight.
 41714     See where he lies inhearsed in the arms
 41715     Of the most bloody nurser of his harms!
 41716   BASTARD. Hew them to pieces, hack their bones asunder,
 41717     Whose life was England's glory, Gallia's wonder.
 41718   CHARLES. O, no; forbear! For that which we have fled
 41719     During the life, let us not wrong it dead.
 41720 
 41721             Enter SIR WILLIAM Lucy, attended; a FRENCH
 41722                          HERALD preceding
 41723 
 41724   LUCY. Herald, conduct me to the Dauphin's tent,
 41725     To know who hath obtain'd the glory of the day.
 41726   CHARLES. On what submissive message art thou sent?
 41727   LUCY. Submission, Dauphin! 'Tis a mere French word:
 41728     We English warriors wot not what it means.
 41729     I come to know what prisoners thou hast ta'en,
 41730     And to survey the bodies of the dead.
 41731   CHARLES. For prisoners ask'st thou? Hell our prison is.
 41732     But tell me whom thou seek'st.
 41733   LUCY. But where's the great Alcides of the field,
 41734     Valiant Lord Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury,
 41735     Created for his rare success in arms
 41736     Great Earl of Washford, Waterford, and Valence,
 41737     Lord Talbot of Goodrig and Urchinfield,
 41738     Lord Strange of Blackmere, Lord Verdun of Alton,
 41739     Lord Cromwell of Wingfield, Lord Furnival of Sheffield,
 41740     The thrice victorious Lord of Falconbridge,
 41741     Knight of the noble order of Saint George,
 41742     Worthy Saint Michael, and the Golden Fleece,
 41743     Great Marshal to Henry the Sixth
 41744     Of all his wars within the realm of France?
 41745   PUCELLE. Here's a silly-stately style indeed!
 41746     The Turk, that two and fifty kingdoms hath,
 41747     Writes not so tedious a style as this.
 41748     Him that thou magnifi'st with all these tides,
 41749     Stinking and fly-blown lies here at our feet.
 41750   LUCY. Is Talbot slain-the Frenchmen's only scourge,
 41751     Your kingdom's terror and black Nemesis?
 41752     O, were mine eye-bans into bullets turn'd,
 41753     That I in rage might shoot them at your faces!
 41754     O that I could but can these dead to life!
 41755     It were enough to fright the realm of France.
 41756     Were but his picture left amongst you here,
 41757     It would amaze the proudest of you all.
 41758     Give me their bodies, that I may bear them hence
 41759     And give them burial as beseems their worth.
 41760   PUCELLE. I think this upstart is old Talbot's ghost,
 41761     He speaks with such a proud commanding spirit.
 41762     For God's sake, let him have them; to keep them here,
 41763     They would but stink, and putrefy the air.
 41764   CHARLES. Go, take their bodies hence.
 41765   LUCY. I'll bear them hence; but from their ashes shall be
 41766     rear'd
 41767     A phoenix that shall make all France afeard.
 41768   CHARLES. So we be rid of them, do with them what thou
 41769     wilt.
 41770     And now to Paris in this conquering vein!
 41771     All will be ours, now bloody Talbot's slain.          Exeunt
 41772 
 41773 
 41774 
 41775 
 41776 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 41777 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 41778 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 41779 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
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 41784 
 41785 
 41786 
 41787 ACT V. SCENE 1.
 41788 
 41789 London. The palace
 41790 
 41791 Sennet. Enter the KING, GLOUCESTER, and EXETER
 41792 
 41793   KING HENRY. Have you perus'd the letters from the Pope,
 41794     The Emperor, and the Earl of Armagnac?
 41795   GLOUCESTER. I have, my lord; and their intent is this:
 41796     They humbly sue unto your Excellence
 41797     To have a godly peace concluded of
 41798     Between the realms of England and of France.
 41799   KING HENRY. How doth your Grace affect their motion?
 41800   GLOUCESTER. Well, my good lord, and as the only means
 41801     To stop effusion of our Christian blood
 41802     And stablish quietness on every side.
 41803   KING HENRY. Ay, marry, uncle; for I always thought
 41804     It was both impious and unnatural
 41805     That such immanity and bloody strife
 41806     Should reign among professors of one faith.
 41807   GLOUCESTER. Beside, my lord, the sooner to effect
 41808     And surer bind this knot of amity,
 41809     The Earl of Armagnac, near knit to Charles,
 41810     A man of great authority in France,
 41811     Proffers his only daughter to your Grace
 41812     In marriage, with a large and sumptuous dowry.
 41813   KING HENRY. Marriage, uncle! Alas, my years are young
 41814     And fitter is my study and my books
 41815     Than wanton dalliance with a paramour.
 41816     Yet call th' ambassadors, and, as you please,
 41817     So let them have their answers every one.
 41818     I shall be well content with any choice
 41819     Tends to God's glory and my country's weal.
 41820 
 41821                    Enter in Cardinal's habit
 41822         BEAUFORT, the PAPAL LEGATE, and two AMBASSADORS
 41823 
 41824   EXETER. What! Is my Lord of Winchester install'd
 41825     And call'd unto a cardinal's degree?
 41826     Then I perceive that will be verified
 41827     Henry the Fifth did sometime prophesy:
 41828     'If once he come to be a cardinal,
 41829     He'll make his cap co-equal with the crown.'
 41830   KING HENRY. My Lords Ambassadors, your several suits
 41831     Have been consider'd and debated on.
 41832     Your purpose is both good and reasonable,
 41833     And therefore are we certainly resolv'd
 41834     To draw conditions of a friendly peace,
 41835     Which by my Lord of Winchester we mean
 41836     Shall be transported presently to France.
 41837   GLOUCESTER. And for the proffer of my lord your master,
 41838     I have inform'd his Highness so at large,
 41839     As, liking of the lady's virtuous gifts,
 41840     Her beauty, and the value of her dower,
 41841     He doth intend she shall be England's Queen.
 41842   KING HENRY.  [To AMBASSADOR]  In argument and proof of
 41843     which contract,
 41844     Bear her this jewel, pledge of my affection.
 41845     And so, my Lord Protector, see them guarded
 41846     And safely brought to Dover; where inshipp'd,
 41847     Commit them to the fortune of the sea.
 41848 
 41849                         Exeunt all but WINCHESTER and the LEGATE
 41850   WINCHESTER. Stay, my Lord Legate; you shall first receive
 41851     The sum of money which I promised
 41852     Should be delivered to his Holiness
 41853     For clothing me in these grave ornaments.
 41854   LEGATE. I will attend upon your lordship's leisure.
 41855   WINCHESTER.  [Aside]  Now Winchester will not submit, I
 41856     trow,
 41857     Or be inferior to the proudest peer.
 41858     Humphrey of Gloucester, thou shalt well perceive
 41859     That neither in birth or for authority
 41860     The Bishop will be overborne by thee.
 41861     I'll either make thee stoop and bend thy knee,
 41862     Or sack this country with a mutiny.                   Exeunt
 41863 
 41864 
 41865                               SCENE 2.
 41866 
 41867                        France. Plains in Anjou
 41868 
 41869               Enter CHARLES, BURGUNDY, ALENCON, BASTARD,
 41870                    REIGNIER, LA PUCELLE, and forces
 41871 
 41872   CHARLES. These news, my lords, may cheer our drooping
 41873     spirits:
 41874     'Tis said the stout Parisians do revolt
 41875     And turn again unto the warlike French.
 41876   ALENCON. Then march to Paris, royal Charles of France,
 41877     And keep not back your powers in dalliance.
 41878   PUCELLE. Peace be amongst them, if they turn to us;
 41879     Else ruin combat with their palaces!
 41880 
 41881                             Enter a SCOUT
 41882 
 41883   SCOUT. Success unto our valiant general,
 41884     And happiness to his accomplices!
 41885   CHARLES. What tidings send our scouts? I prithee speak.
 41886   SCOUT. The English army, that divided was
 41887     Into two parties, is now conjoin'd in one,
 41888     And means to give you battle presently.
 41889   CHARLES. Somewhat too sudden, sirs, the warning is;
 41890     But we will presently provide for them.
 41891   BURGUNDY. I trust the ghost of Talbot is not there.
 41892     Now he is gone, my lord, you need not fear.
 41893   PUCELLE. Of all base passions fear is most accurs'd.
 41894     Command the conquest, Charles, it shall be thine,
 41895     Let Henry fret and all the world repine.
 41896   CHARLES. Then on, my lords; and France be fortunate!
 41897                                                           Exeunt
 41898 
 41899 
 41900 
 41901 
 41902                             SCENE 3.
 41903 
 41904                          Before Angiers
 41905 
 41906               Alarum, excursions. Enter LA PUCELLE
 41907 
 41908   PUCELLE. The Regent conquers and the Frenchmen fly.
 41909     Now help, ye charming spells and periapts;
 41910     And ye choice spirits that admonish me
 41911     And give me signs of future accidents;             [Thunder]
 41912     You speedy helpers that are substitutes
 41913     Under the lordly monarch of the north,
 41914     Appear and aid me in this enterprise!
 41915 
 41916                           Enter FIENDS
 41917 
 41918     This speedy and quick appearance argues proof
 41919     Of your accustom'd diligence to me.
 41920     Now, ye familiar spirits that are cull'd
 41921     Out of the powerful regions under earth,
 41922     Help me this once, that France may get the field.
 41923                                        [They walk and speak not]
 41924     O, hold me not with silence over-long!
 41925     Where I was wont to feed you with my blood,
 41926     I'll lop a member off and give it you
 41927     In earnest of a further benefit,
 41928     So you do condescend to help me now.
 41929                                          [They hang their heads]
 41930     No hope to have redress? My body shall
 41931     Pay recompense, if you will grant my suit.
 41932                                         [They shake their heads]
 41933     Cannot my body nor blood sacrifice
 41934     Entreat you to your wonted furtherance?
 41935     Then take my soul-my body, soul, and all,
 41936     Before that England give the French the foil.
 41937                                                    [They depart]
 41938     See! they forsake me. Now the time is come
 41939     That France must vail her lofty-plumed crest
 41940     And let her head fall into England's lap.
 41941     My ancient incantations are too weak,
 41942     And hell too strong for me to buckle with.
 41943     Now, France, thy glory droopeth to the dust.            Exit
 41944 
 41945           Excursions. Enter French and English, fighting.
 41946          LA PUCELLE and YORK fight hand to hand; LA PUCELLE
 41947                     is taken. The French fly
 41948 
 41949   YORK. Damsel of France, I think I have you fast.
 41950     Unchain your spirits now with spelling charms,
 41951     And try if they can gain your liberty.
 41952     A goodly prize, fit for the devil's grace!
 41953     See how the ugly witch doth bend her brows
 41954     As if, with Circe, she would change my shape!
 41955   PUCELLE. Chang'd to a worser shape thou canst not be.
 41956   YORK. O, Charles the Dauphin is a proper man:
 41957     No shape but his can please your dainty eye.
 41958   PUCELLE. A plaguing mischief fight on Charles and thee!
 41959     And may ye both be suddenly surpris'd
 41960     By bloody hands, in sleeping on your beds!
 41961   YORK. Fell banning hag; enchantress, hold thy tongue.
 41962   PUCELLE. I prithee give me leave to curse awhile.
 41963   YORK. Curse, miscreant, when thou comest to the stake.
 41964                                                           Exeunt
 41965 
 41966           Alarum. Enter SUFFOLK, with MARGARET in his hand
 41967 
 41968   SUFFOLK. Be what thou wilt, thou art my prisoner.
 41969                                                   [Gazes on her]
 41970     O fairest beauty, do not fear nor fly!
 41971     For I will touch thee but with reverent hands;
 41972     I kiss these fingers for eternal peace,
 41973     And lay them gently on thy tender side.
 41974     Who art thou? Say, that I may honour thee.
 41975   MARGARET. Margaret my name, and daughter to a king,
 41976     The King of Naples-whosoe'er thou art.
 41977   SUFFOLK. An earl I am, and Suffolk am I call'd.
 41978     Be not offended, nature's miracle,
 41979     Thou art allotted to be ta'en by me.
 41980     So doth the swan her downy cygnets save,
 41981     Keeping them prisoner underneath her wings.
 41982     Yet, if this servile usage once offend,
 41983     Go and be free again as Suffolk's friend.     [She is going]
 41984     O, stay!  [Aside]  I have no power to let her pass;
 41985     My hand would free her, but my heart says no.
 41986     As plays the sun upon the glassy streams,
 41987     Twinkling another counterfeited beam,
 41988     So seems this gorgeous beauty to mine eyes.
 41989     Fain would I woo her, yet I dare not speak.
 41990     I'll call for pen and ink, and write my mind.
 41991     Fie, de la Pole! disable not thyself;
 41992     Hast not a tongue? Is she not here thy prisoner?
 41993     Wilt thou be daunted at a woman's sight?
 41994     Ay, beauty's princely majesty is such
 41995     Confounds the tongue and makes the senses rough.
 41996   MARGARET. Say, Earl of Suffolk, if thy name be so,
 41997     What ransom must I pay before I pass?
 41998     For I perceive I am thy prisoner.
 41999   SUFFOLK.  [Aside]  How canst thou tell she will deny thy
 42000     suit,
 42001     Before thou make a trial of her love?
 42002   MARGARET. Why speak'st thou not? What ransom must I
 42003     pay?
 42004   SUFFOLK.  [Aside]  She's beautiful, and therefore to be woo'd;
 42005     She is a woman, therefore to be won.
 42006   MARGARET. Wilt thou accept of ransom-yea or no?
 42007   SUFFOLK.  [Aside]  Fond man, remember that thou hast a
 42008     wife;
 42009     Then how can Margaret be thy paramour?
 42010   MARGARET. I were best leave him, for he will not hear.
 42011   SUFFOLK.  [Aside]  There all is marr'd; there lies a cooling
 42012     card.
 42013   MARGARET. He talks at random; sure, the man is mad.
 42014   SUFFOLK.  [Aside]  And yet a dispensation may be had.
 42015   MARGARET. And yet I would that you would answer me.
 42016   SUFFOLK.  [Aside]  I'll win this Lady Margaret. For whom?
 42017     Why, for my King! Tush, that's a wooden thing!
 42018   MARGARET. He talks of wood. It is some carpenter.
 42019   SUFFOLK.  [Aside]  Yet so my fancy may be satisfied,
 42020     And peace established between these realms.
 42021     But there remains a scruple in that too;
 42022     For though her father be the King of Naples,
 42023     Duke of Anjou and Maine, yet is he poor,
 42024     And our nobility will scorn the match.
 42025   MARGARET. Hear ye, Captain-are you not at leisure?
 42026   SUFFOLK.  [Aside]  It shall be so, disdain they ne'er so much.
 42027     Henry is youthful, and will quickly yield.
 42028     Madam, I have a secret to reveal.
 42029   MARGARET.  [Aside]  What though I be enthrall'd? He seems
 42030     a knight,
 42031     And will not any way dishonour me.
 42032   SUFFOLK. Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say.
 42033   MARGARET.  [Aside]  Perhaps I shall be rescu'd by the French;
 42034     And then I need not crave his courtesy.
 42035   SUFFOLK. Sweet madam, give me hearing in a cause
 42036   MARGARET.  [Aside]  Tush! women have been captivate ere
 42037     now.
 42038   SUFFOLK. Lady, wherefore talk you so?
 42039   MARGARET. I cry you mercy, 'tis but quid for quo.
 42040   SUFFOLK. Say, gentle Princess, would you not suppose
 42041     Your bondage happy, to be made a queen?
 42042   MARGARET. To be a queen in bondage is more vile
 42043     Than is a slave in base servility;
 42044     For princes should be free.
 42045   SUFFOLK. And so shall you,
 42046     If happy England's royal king be free.
 42047   MARGARET. Why, what concerns his freedom unto me?
 42048   SUFFOLK. I'll undertake to make thee Henry's queen,
 42049     To put a golden sceptre in thy hand
 42050     And set a precious crown upon thy head,
 42051     If thou wilt condescend to be my-
 42052   MARGARET. What?
 42053   SUFFOLK. His love.
 42054   MARGARET. I am unworthy to be Henry's wife.
 42055   SUFFOLK. No, gentle madam; I unworthy am
 42056     To woo so fair a dame to be his wife
 42057     And have no portion in the choice myself.
 42058     How say you, madam? Are ye so content?
 42059   MARGARET. An if my father please, I am content.
 42060   SUFFOLK. Then call our captains and our colours forth!
 42061     And, madam, at your father's castle walls
 42062     We'll crave a parley to confer with him.
 42063 
 42064            Sound a parley. Enter REIGNIER on the walls
 42065 
 42066     See, Reignier, see, thy daughter prisoner!
 42067   REIGNIER. To whom?
 42068   SUFFOLK. To me.
 42069   REIGNIER. Suffolk, what remedy?
 42070     I am a soldier and unapt to weep
 42071     Or to exclaim on fortune's fickleness.
 42072   SUFFOLK. Yes, there is remedy enough, my lord.
 42073     Consent, and for thy honour give consent,
 42074     Thy daughter shall be wedded to my king,
 42075     Whom I with pain have woo'd and won thereto;
 42076     And this her easy-held imprisonment
 42077     Hath gain'd thy daughter princely liberty.
 42078   REIGNIER. Speaks Suffolk as he thinks?
 42079   SUFFOLK. Fair Margaret knows
 42080     That Suffolk doth not flatter, face, or feign.
 42081   REIGNIER. Upon thy princely warrant I descend
 42082     To give thee answer of thy just demand.
 42083                                     Exit REIGNIER from the walls
 42084   SUFFOLK. And here I will expect thy coming.
 42085 
 42086                 Trumpets sound. Enter REIGNIER below
 42087 
 42088   REIGNIER. Welcome, brave Earl, into our territories;
 42089     Command in Anjou what your Honour pleases.
 42090   SUFFOLK. Thanks, Reignier, happy for so sweet a child,
 42091     Fit to be made companion with a king.
 42092     What answer makes your Grace unto my suit?
 42093   REIGNIER. Since thou dost deign to woo her little worth
 42094     To be the princely bride of such a lord,
 42095     Upon condition I may quietly
 42096     Enjoy mine own, the country Maine and Anjou,
 42097     Free from oppression or the stroke of war,
 42098     My daughter shall be Henry's, if he please.
 42099   SUFFOLK. That is her ransom; I deliver her.
 42100     And those two counties I will undertake
 42101     Your Grace shall well and quietly enjoy.
 42102   REIGNIER. And I again, in Henry's royal name,
 42103     As deputy unto that gracious king,
 42104     Give thee her hand for sign of plighted faith.
 42105   SUFFOLK. Reignier of France, I give thee kingly thanks,
 42106     Because this is in traffic of a king.
 42107     [Aside]  And yet, methinks, I could be well content
 42108     To be mine own attorney in this case.
 42109     I'll over then to England with this news,
 42110     And make this marriage to be solemniz'd.
 42111     So, farewell, Reignier. Set this diamond safe
 42112     In golden palaces, as it becomes.
 42113   REIGNIER. I do embrace thee as I would embrace
 42114     The Christian prince, King Henry, were he here.
 42115   MARGARET. Farewell, my lord. Good wishes, praise, and
 42116     prayers,
 42117     Shall Suffolk ever have of Margaret.          [She is going]
 42118   SUFFOLK. Farewell, sweet madam. But hark you, Margaret
 42119     No princely commendations to my king?
 42120   MARGARET. Such commendations as becomes a maid,
 42121     A virgin, and his servant, say to him.
 42122   SUFFOLK. Words sweetly plac'd and modestly directed.
 42123     But, madam, I must trouble you again
 42124     No loving token to his Majesty?
 42125   MARGARET. Yes, my good lord: a pure unspotted heart,
 42126     Never yet taint with love, I send the King.
 42127   SUFFOLK. And this withal.                         [Kisses her]
 42128   MARGARET. That for thyself, I will not so presume
 42129     To send such peevish tokens to a king.
 42130                                     Exeunt REIGNIER and MARGARET
 42131   SUFFOLK. O, wert thou for myself! But, Suffolk, stay;
 42132     Thou mayst not wander in that labyrinth:
 42133     There Minotaurs and ugly treasons lurk.
 42134     Solicit Henry with her wondrous praise.
 42135     Bethink thee on her virtues that surmount,
 42136     And natural graces that extinguish art;
 42137     Repeat their semblance often on the seas,
 42138     That, when thou com'st to kneel at Henry's feet,
 42139     Thou mayst bereave him of his wits with wonder.         Exit
 42140 
 42141 
 42142 
 42143 
 42144                                SCENE 4.
 42145 
 42146                   Camp of the DUKE OF YORK in Anjou
 42147 
 42148                    Enter YORK, WARWICK, and others
 42149   YORK. Bring forth that sorceress, condemn'd to burn.
 42150 
 42151               Enter LA PUCELLE, guarded, and a SHEPHERD
 42152 
 42153   SHEPHERD. Ah, Joan, this kills thy father's heart outright!
 42154     Have I sought every country far and near,
 42155     And, now it is my chance to find thee out,
 42156     Must I behold thy timeless cruel death?
 42157     Ah, Joan, sweet daughter Joan, I'll die with thee!
 42158   PUCELLE. Decrepit miser! base ignoble wretch!
 42159     I am descended of a gentler blood;
 42160     Thou art no father nor no friend of mine.
 42161   SHEPHERD. Out, out! My lords, an please you, 'tis not so;
 42162     I did beget her, all the parish knows.
 42163     Her mother liveth yet, can testify
 42164     She was the first fruit of my bach'lorship.
 42165   WARWICK. Graceless, wilt thou deny thy parentage?
 42166   YORK. This argues what her kind of life hath been-
 42167     Wicked and vile; and so her death concludes.
 42168   SHEPHERD. Fie, Joan, that thou wilt be so obstacle!
 42169     God knows thou art a collop of my flesh;
 42170     And for thy sake have I shed many a tear.
 42171     Deny me not, I prithee, gentle Joan.
 42172   PUCELLE. Peasant, avaunt! You have suborn'd this man
 42173     Of purpose to obscure my noble birth.
 42174   SHEPHERD. 'Tis true, I gave a noble to the priest
 42175     The morn that I was wedded to her mother.
 42176     Kneel down and take my blessing, good my girl.
 42177     Wilt thou not stoop? Now cursed be the time
 42178     Of thy nativity. I would the milk
 42179     Thy mother gave thee when thou suck'dst her breast
 42180     Had been a little ratsbane for thy sake.
 42181     Or else, when thou didst keep my lambs afield,
 42182     I wish some ravenous wolf had eaten thee.
 42183     Dost thou deny thy father, cursed drab?
 42184     O, burn her, burn her! Hanging is too good.             Exit
 42185   YORK. Take her away; for she hath liv'd too long,
 42186     To fill the world with vicious qualities.
 42187   PUCELLE. First let me tell you whom you have condemn'd:
 42188     Not me begotten of a shepherd swain,
 42189     But issued from the progeny of kings;
 42190     Virtuous and holy, chosen from above
 42191     By inspiration of celestial grace,
 42192     To work exceeding miracles on earth.
 42193     I never had to do with wicked spirits.
 42194     But you, that are polluted with your lusts,
 42195     Stain'd with the guiltless blood of innocents,
 42196     Corrupt and tainted with a thousand vices,
 42197     Because you want the grace that others have,
 42198     You judge it straight a thing impossible
 42199     To compass wonders but by help of devils.
 42200     No, misconceived! Joan of Arc hath been
 42201     A virgin from her tender infancy,
 42202     Chaste and immaculate in very thought;
 42203     Whose maiden blood, thus rigorously effus'd,
 42204     Will cry for vengeance at the gates of heaven.
 42205   YORK. Ay, ay. Away with her to execution!
 42206   WARWICK. And hark ye, sirs; because she is a maid,
 42207     Spare for no fagots, let there be enow.
 42208     Place barrels of pitch upon the fatal stake,
 42209     That so her torture may be shortened.
 42210   PUCELLE. Will nothing turn your unrelenting hearts?
 42211     Then, Joan, discover thine infirmity
 42212     That warranteth by law to be thy privilege:
 42213     I am with child, ye bloody homicides;
 42214     Murder not then the fruit within my womb,
 42215     Although ye hale me to a violent death.
 42216   YORK. Now heaven forfend! The holy maid with child!
 42217   WARWICK. The greatest miracle that e'er ye wrought:
 42218     Is all your strict preciseness come to this?
 42219   YORK. She and the Dauphin have been juggling.
 42220     I did imagine what would be her refuge.
 42221   WARWICK. Well, go to; we'll have no bastards live;
 42222     Especially since Charles must father it.
 42223   PUCELLE. You are deceiv'd; my child is none of his:
 42224     It was Alencon that enjoy'd my love.
 42225   YORK. Alencon, that notorious Machiavel!
 42226     It dies, an if it had a thousand lives.
 42227   PUCELLE. O, give me leave, I have deluded you.
 42228     'Twas neither Charles nor yet the Duke I nam'd,
 42229     But Reignier, King of Naples, that prevail'd.
 42230   WARWICK. A married man! That's most intolerable.
 42231   YORK. Why, here's a girl! I think she knows not well
 42232     There were so many-whom she may accuse.
 42233   WARWICK. It's sign she hath been liberal and free.
 42234   YORK. And yet, forsooth, she is a virgin pure.
 42235     Strumpet, thy words condemn thy brat and thee.
 42236     Use no entreaty, for it is in vain.
 42237   PUCELLE. Then lead me hence-with whom I leave my
 42238     curse:
 42239     May never glorious sun reflex his beams
 42240     Upon the country where you make abode;
 42241     But darkness and the gloomy shade of death
 42242     Environ you, till mischief and despair
 42243     Drive you to break your necks or hang yourselves!
 42244                                                    Exit, guarded
 42245   YORK. Break thou in pieces and consume to ashes,
 42246     Thou foul accursed minister of hell!
 42247 
 42248                Enter CARDINAL BEAUFORT, attended
 42249 
 42250   CARDINAL. Lord Regent, I do greet your Excellence
 42251     With letters of commission from the King.
 42252     For know, my lords, the states of Christendom,
 42253     Mov'd with remorse of these outrageous broils,
 42254     Have earnestly implor'd a general peace
 42255     Betwixt our nation and the aspiring French;
 42256     And here at hand the Dauphin and his train
 42257     Approacheth, to confer about some matter.
 42258   YORK. Is all our travail turn'd to this effect?
 42259     After the slaughter of so many peers,
 42260     So many captains, gentlemen, and soldiers,
 42261     That in this quarrel have been overthrown
 42262     And sold their bodies for their country's benefit,
 42263     Shall we at last conclude effeminate peace?
 42264     Have we not lost most part of all the towns,
 42265     By treason, falsehood, and by treachery,
 42266     Our great progenitors had conquered?
 42267     O Warwick, Warwick! I foresee with grief
 42268     The utter loss of all the realm of France.
 42269   WARWICK. Be patient, York. If we conclude a peace,
 42270     It shall be with such strict and severe covenants
 42271     As little shall the Frenchmen gain thereby.
 42272 
 42273         Enter CHARLES, ALENCON, BASTARD, REIGNIER, and others
 42274 
 42275   CHARLES. Since, lords of England, it is thus agreed
 42276     That peaceful truce shall be proclaim'd in France,
 42277     We come to be informed by yourselves
 42278     What the conditions of that league must be.
 42279   YORK. Speak, Winchester; for boiling choler chokes
 42280     The hollow passage of my poison'd voice,
 42281     By sight of these our baleful enemies.
 42282   CARDINAL. Charles, and the rest, it is enacted thus:
 42283     That, in regard King Henry gives consent,
 42284     Of mere compassion and of lenity,
 42285     To ease your country of distressful war,
 42286     An suffer you to breathe in fruitful peace,
 42287     You shall become true liegemen to his crown;
 42288     And, Charles, upon condition thou wilt swear
 42289     To pay him tribute and submit thyself,
 42290     Thou shalt be plac'd as viceroy under him,
 42291     And still enjoy thy regal dignity.
 42292   ALENCON. Must he be then as shadow of himself?
 42293     Adorn his temples with a coronet
 42294     And yet, in substance and authority,
 42295     Retain but privilege of a private man?
 42296     This proffer is absurd and reasonless.
 42297   CHARLES. 'Tis known already that I am possess'd
 42298     With more than half the Gallian territories,
 42299     And therein reverenc'd for their lawful king.
 42300     Shall I, for lucre of the rest unvanquish'd,
 42301     Detract so much from that prerogative
 42302     As to be call'd but viceroy of the whole?
 42303     No, Lord Ambassador; I'll rather keep
 42304     That which I have than, coveting for more,
 42305     Be cast from possibility of all.
 42306   YORK. Insulting Charles! Hast thou by secret means
 42307     Us'd intercession to obtain a league,
 42308     And now the matter grows to compromise
 42309     Stand'st thou aloof upon comparison?
 42310     Either accept the title thou usurp'st,
 42311     Of benefit proceeding from our king
 42312     And not of any challenge of desert,
 42313     Or we will plague thee with incessant wars.
 42314   REIGNIER.  [To CHARLES]  My lord, you do not well in
 42315     obstinacy
 42316     To cavil in the course of this contract.
 42317     If once it be neglected, ten to one
 42318     We shall not find like opportunity.
 42319   ALENCON.  [To CHARLES]  To say the truth, it is your policy
 42320     To save your subjects from such massacre
 42321     And ruthless slaughters as are daily seen
 42322     By our proceeding in hostility;
 42323     And therefore take this compact of a truce,
 42324     Although you break it when your pleasure serves.
 42325   WARWICK. How say'st thou, Charles? Shall our condition
 42326     stand?
 42327   CHARLES. It shall;
 42328     Only reserv'd, you claim no interest
 42329     In any of our towns of garrison.
 42330   YORK. Then swear allegiance to his Majesty:
 42331     As thou art knight, never to disobey
 42332     Nor be rebellious to the crown of England
 42333     Thou, nor thy nobles, to the crown of England.
 42334                     [CHARLES and the rest give tokens of fealty]
 42335     So, now dismiss your army when ye please;
 42336     Hang up your ensigns, let your drums be still,
 42337     For here we entertain a solemn peace.                 Exeunt
 42338 
 42339 
 42340 
 42341 
 42342                               SCENE 5.
 42343 
 42344                          London. The palace
 42345 
 42346             Enter SUFFOLK, in conference with the KING,
 42347                      GLOUCESTER and EXETER
 42348 
 42349   KING HENRY. Your wondrous rare description, noble Earl,
 42350     Of beauteous Margaret hath astonish'd me.
 42351     Her virtues, graced with external gifts,
 42352     Do breed love's settled passions in my heart;
 42353     And like as rigour of tempestuous gusts
 42354     Provokes the mightiest hulk against the tide,
 42355     So am I driven by breath of her renown
 42356     Either to suffer shipwreck or arrive
 42357     Where I may have fruition of her love.
 42358   SUFFOLK. Tush, my good lord! This superficial tale
 42359     Is but a preface of her worthy praise.
 42360     The chief perfections of that lovely dame,
 42361     Had I sufficient skill to utter them,
 42362     Would make a volume of enticing lines,
 42363     Able to ravish any dull conceit;
 42364     And, which is more, she is not so divine,
 42365     So full-replete with choice of all delights,
 42366     But with as humble lowliness of mind
 42367     She is content to be at your command
 42368     Command, I mean, of virtuous intents,
 42369     To love and honour Henry as her lord.
 42370   KING HENRY. And otherwise will Henry ne'er presume.
 42371     Therefore, my Lord Protector, give consent
 42372     That Margaret may be England's royal Queen.
 42373   GLOUCESTER. So should I give consent to flatter sin.
 42374     You know, my lord, your Highness is betroth'd
 42375     Unto another lady of esteem.
 42376     How shall we then dispense with that contract,
 42377     And not deface your honour with reproach?
 42378   SUFFOLK. As doth a ruler with unlawful oaths;
 42379     Or one that at a triumph, having vow'd
 42380     To try his strength, forsaketh yet the lists
 42381     By reason of his adversary's odds:
 42382     A poor earl's daughter is unequal odds,
 42383     And therefore may be broke without offence.
 42384   GLOUCESTER. Why, what, I pray, is Margaret more than
 42385     that?
 42386     Her father is no better than an earl,
 42387     Although in glorious titles he excel.
 42388   SUFFOLK. Yes, my lord, her father is a king,
 42389     The King of Naples and Jerusalem;
 42390     And of such great authority in France
 42391     As his alliance will confirm our peace,
 42392     And keep the Frenchmen in allegiance.
 42393   GLOUCESTER. And so the Earl of Armagnac may do,
 42394     Because he is near kinsman unto Charles.
 42395   EXETER. Beside, his wealth doth warrant a liberal dower;
 42396     Where Reignier sooner will receive than give.
 42397   SUFFOLK. A dow'r, my lords! Disgrace not so your king,
 42398     That he should be so abject, base, and poor,
 42399     To choose for wealth and not for perfect love.
 42400     Henry is able to enrich his queen,
 42401     And not to seek a queen to make him rich.
 42402     So worthless peasants bargain for their wives,
 42403     As market-men for oxen, sheep, or horse.
 42404     Marriage is a matter of more worth
 42405     Than to be dealt in by attorneyship;
 42406     Not whom we will, but whom his Grace affects,
 42407     Must be companion of his nuptial bed.
 42408     And therefore, lords, since he affects her most,
 42409     It most of all these reasons bindeth us
 42410     In our opinions she should be preferr'd;
 42411     For what is wedlock forced but a hell,
 42412     An age of discord and continual strife?
 42413     Whereas the contrary bringeth bliss,
 42414     And is a pattern of celestial peace.
 42415     Whom should we match with Henry, being a king,
 42416     But Margaret, that is daughter to a king?
 42417     Her peerless feature, joined with her birth,
 42418     Approves her fit for none but for a king;
 42419     Her valiant courage and undaunted spirit,
 42420     More than in women commonly is seen,
 42421     Will answer our hope in issue of a king;
 42422     For Henry, son unto a conqueror,
 42423     Is likely to beget more conquerors,
 42424     If with a lady of so high resolve
 42425     As is fair Margaret he be link'd in love.
 42426     Then yield, my lords; and here conclude with me
 42427     That Margaret shall be Queen, and none but she.
 42428   KING HENRY. Whether it be through force of your report,
 42429     My noble Lord of Suffolk, or for that
 42430     My tender youth was never yet attaint
 42431     With any passion of inflaming love,
 42432     I cannot tell; but this I am assur'd,
 42433     I feel such sharp dissension in my breast,
 42434     Such fierce alarums both of hope and fear,
 42435     As I am sick with working of my thoughts.
 42436     Take therefore shipping; post, my lord, to France;
 42437     Agree to any covenants; and procure
 42438     That Lady Margaret do vouchsafe to come
 42439     To cross the seas to England, and be crown'd
 42440     King Henry's faithful and anointed queen.
 42441     For your expenses and sufficient charge,
 42442     Among the people gather up a tenth.
 42443     Be gone, I say; for till you do return
 42444     I rest perplexed with a thousand cares.
 42445     And you, good uncle, banish all offence:
 42446     If you do censure me by what you were,
 42447     Not what you are, I know it will excuse
 42448     This sudden execution of my will.
 42449     And so conduct me where, from company,
 42450     I may revolve and ruminate my grief.                    Exit
 42451   GLOUCESTER. Ay, grief, I fear me, both at first and last.
 42452                                     Exeunt GLOUCESTER and EXETER
 42453   SUFFOLK. Thus Suffolk hath prevail'd; and thus he goes,
 42454     As did the youthful Paris once to Greece,
 42455     With hope to find the like event in love
 42456     But prosper better than the Troyan did.
 42457     Margaret shall now be Queen, and rule the King;
 42458     But I will rule both her, the King, and realm.          Exit
 42459 
 42460 
 42461 THE END
 42462 
 42463 
 42464 
 42465 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 42466 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 42467 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 42468 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
 42469 DISTRIBUTED SO LONG AS SUCH COPIES (1) ARE FOR YOUR OR OTHERS
 42470 PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND (2) ARE NOT DISTRIBUTED OR USED
 42471 COMMERCIALLY.  PROHIBITED COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION INCLUDES BY ANY
 42472 SERVICE THAT CHARGES FOR DOWNLOAD TIME OR FOR MEMBERSHIP.>>
 42473 
 42474 
 42475 
 42476 
 42477 
 42478 1591
 42479 
 42480 THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY THE SIXTH
 42481 
 42482 by William Shakespeare
 42483 
 42484 
 42485 
 42486 Dramatis Personae
 42487 
 42488   KING HENRY THE SIXTH
 42489   HUMPHREY, DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, his uncle
 42490   CARDINAL BEAUFORT, BISHOP OF WINCHESTER, great-uncle to the King
 42491   RICHARD PLANTAGENET, DUKE OF YORK
 42492   EDWARD and RICHARD, his sons
 42493   DUKE OF SOMERSET
 42494   DUKE OF SUFFOLK
 42495   DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM
 42496   LORD CLIFFORD
 42497   YOUNG CLIFFORD, his son
 42498   EARL OF SALISBURY
 42499   EARL OF WARWICK
 42500   LORD SCALES
 42501   LORD SAY
 42502   SIR HUMPHREY STAFFORD
 42503   WILLIAM STAFFORD, his brother
 42504   SIR JOHN STANLEY
 42505   VAUX
 42506   MATTHEW GOFFE
 42507   A LIEUTENANT, a SHIPMASTER, a MASTER'S MATE, and WALTER WHITMORE
 42508   TWO GENTLEMEN, prisoners with Suffolk
 42509   JOHN HUME and JOHN SOUTHWELL, two priests
 42510   ROGER BOLINGBROKE, a conjurer
 42511   A SPIRIT raised by him
 42512   THOMAS HORNER, an armourer
 42513   PETER, his man
 42514   CLERK OF CHATHAM
 42515   MAYOR OF SAINT ALBANS
 42516   SAUNDER SIMPCOX, an impostor
 42517   ALEXANDER IDEN, a Kentish gentleman
 42518   JACK CADE, a rebel
 42519   GEORGE BEVIS, JOHN HOLLAND, DICK THE BUTCHER, SMITH THE WEAVER,
 42520     MICHAEL, &c., followers of Cade
 42521   TWO MURDERERS
 42522 
 42523   MARGARET, Queen to King Henry
 42524   ELEANOR, Duchess of Gloucester
 42525   MARGERY JOURDAIN, a witch
 42526   WIFE to SIMPCOX
 42527 
 42528   Lords, Ladies, and Attendants; Petitioners, Aldermen, a Herald,
 42529     a Beadle, a Sheriff, Officers, Citizens, Prentices, Falconers,
 42530     Guards, Soldiers, Messengers, &c.
 42531 
 42532 
 42533 
 42534 
 42535 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 42536 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 42537 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 42538 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
 42539 DISTRIBUTED SO LONG AS SUCH COPIES (1) ARE FOR YOUR OR OTHERS
 42540 PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND (2) ARE NOT DISTRIBUTED OR USED
 42541 COMMERCIALLY.  PROHIBITED COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION INCLUDES BY ANY
 42542 SERVICE THAT CHARGES FOR DOWNLOAD TIME OR FOR MEMBERSHIP.>>
 42543 
 42544 
 42545 
 42546 SCENE:
 42547 England
 42548 
 42549 
 42550 ACT I. SCENE I.
 42551 London. The palace
 42552 
 42553 Flourish of trumpets; then hautboys. Enter the KING, DUKE HUMPHREY
 42554 OF GLOUCESTER, SALISBURY, WARWICK, and CARDINAL BEAUFORT, on the one side;
 42555 the QUEEN, SUFFOLK, YORK, SOMERSET, and BUCKINGHAM, on the other
 42556 
 42557   SUFFOLK. As by your high imperial Majesty
 42558     I had in charge at my depart for France,
 42559     As procurator to your Excellence,
 42560     To marry Princess Margaret for your Grace;
 42561     So, in the famous ancient city Tours,
 42562     In presence of the Kings of France and Sicil,
 42563     The Dukes of Orleans, Calaber, Bretagne, and Alencon,
 42564     Seven earls, twelve barons, and twenty reverend bishops,
 42565     I have perform'd my task, and was espous'd;
 42566     And humbly now upon my bended knee,
 42567     In sight of England and her lordly peers,
 42568     Deliver up my title in the Queen
 42569     To your most gracious hands, that are the substance
 42570     Of that great shadow I did represent:
 42571     The happiest gift that ever marquis gave,
 42572     The fairest queen that ever king receiv'd.
 42573   KING HENRY. Suffolk, arise. Welcome, Queen Margaret:
 42574     I can express no kinder sign of love
 42575     Than this kind kiss. O Lord, that lends me life,
 42576     Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!
 42577     For thou hast given me in this beauteous face
 42578     A world of earthly blessings to my soul,
 42579     If sympathy of love unite our thoughts.
 42580   QUEEN. Great King of England, and my gracious lord,
 42581     The mutual conference that my mind hath had,
 42582     By day, by night, waking and in my dreams,
 42583     In courtly company or at my beads,
 42584     With you, mine alder-liefest sovereign,
 42585     Makes me the bolder to salute my king
 42586     With ruder terms, such as my wit affords
 42587     And over-joy of heart doth minister.
 42588   KING HENRY. Her sight did ravish, but her grace in speech,
 42589     Her words y-clad with wisdom's majesty,
 42590     Makes me from wond'ring fall to weeping joys,
 42591     Such is the fulness of my heart's content.
 42592     Lords, with one cheerful voice welcome my love.
 42593   ALL. [Kneeling] Long live Queen Margaret, England's happiness!
 42594   QUEEN. We thank you all.                            [Flourish]
 42595   SUFFOLK. My Lord Protector, so it please your Grace,
 42596     Here are the articles of contracted peace
 42597     Between our sovereign and the French King Charles,
 42598     For eighteen months concluded by consent.
 42599   GLOUCESTER. [Reads] 'Imprimis: It is agreed between the French King
 42600     Charles and William de la Pole, Marquess of Suffolk, ambassador
 42601     for Henry King of England, that the said Henry shall espouse the
 42602     Lady Margaret, daughter unto Reignier King of Naples, Sicilia,
 42603     and Jerusalem, and crown her Queen of England ere the thirtieth
 42604     of May next ensuing.
 42605       Item: That the duchy of Anjou and the county of Maine shall be
 42606     released and delivered to the King her father'-
 42607                                            [Lets the paper fall]
 42608   KING HENRY. Uncle, how now!
 42609   GLOUCESTER. Pardon me, gracious lord;
 42610     Some sudden qualm hath struck me at the heart,
 42611     And dimm'd mine eyes, that I can read no further.
 42612   KING HENRY. Uncle of Winchester, I pray read on.
 42613   CARDINAL. [Reads] 'Item: It is further agreed between them that the
 42614     duchies of Anjou and Maine shall be released and delivered over
 42615     to the King her father, and she sent over of the King of
 42616     England's own proper cost and charges, without having any dowry.'
 42617   KING HENRY. They please us well. Lord Marquess, kneel down.
 42618     We here create thee the first Duke of Suffolk,
 42619     And girt thee with the sword. Cousin of York,
 42620     We here discharge your Grace from being Regent
 42621     I' th' parts of France, till term of eighteen months
 42622     Be full expir'd. Thanks, uncle Winchester,
 42623     Gloucester, York, Buckingham, Somerset,
 42624     Salisbury, and Warwick;
 42625     We thank you all for this great favour done
 42626     In entertainment to my princely queen.
 42627     Come, let us in, and with all speed provide
 42628     To see her coronation be perform'd.
 42629                                  Exeunt KING, QUEEN, and SUFFOLK
 42630   GLOUCESTER. Brave peers of England, pillars of the state,
 42631     To you Duke Humphrey must unload his grief
 42632     Your grief, the common grief of all the land.
 42633     What! did my brother Henry spend his youth,
 42634     His valour, coin, and people, in the wars?
 42635     Did he so often lodge in open field,
 42636     In winter's cold and summer's parching heat,
 42637     To conquer France, his true inheritance?
 42638     And did my brother Bedford toil his wits
 42639     To keep by policy what Henry got?
 42640     Have you yourselves, Somerset, Buckingham,
 42641     Brave York, Salisbury, and victorious Warwick,
 42642     Receiv'd deep scars in France and Normandy?
 42643     Or hath mine uncle Beaufort and myself,
 42644     With all the learned Council of the realm,
 42645     Studied so long, sat in the Council House
 42646     Early and late, debating to and fro
 42647     How France and Frenchmen might be kept in awe?
 42648     And had his Highness in his infancy
 42649     Crowned in Paris, in despite of foes?
 42650     And shall these labours and these honours die?
 42651     Shall Henry's conquest, Bedford's vigilance,
 42652     Your deeds of war, and all our counsel die?
 42653     O peers of England, shameful is this league!
 42654     Fatal this marriage, cancelling your fame,
 42655     Blotting your names from books of memory,
 42656     Razing the characters of your renown,
 42657     Defacing monuments of conquer'd France,
 42658     Undoing all, as all had never been!
 42659   CARDINAL. Nephew, what means this passionate discourse,
 42660     This peroration with such circumstance?
 42661     For France, 'tis ours; and we will keep it still.
 42662   GLOUCESTER. Ay, uncle, we will keep it if we can;
 42663     But now it is impossible we should.
 42664     Suffolk, the new-made duke that rules the roast,
 42665     Hath given the duchy of Anjou and Maine
 42666     Unto the poor King Reignier, whose large style
 42667     Agrees not with the leanness of his purse.
 42668   SALISBURY. Now, by the death of Him that died for all,
 42669     These counties were the keys of Normandy!
 42670     But wherefore weeps Warwick, my valiant son?
 42671   WARWICK. For grief that they are past recovery;
 42672     For were there hope to conquer them again
 42673     My sword should shed hot blood, mine eyes no tears.
 42674     Anjou and Maine! myself did win them both;
 42675     Those provinces these arms of mine did conquer;
 42676     And are the cities that I got with wounds
 42677     Deliver'd up again with peaceful words?
 42678     Mort Dieu!
 42679   YORK. For Suffolk's duke, may he be suffocate,
 42680     That dims the honour of this warlike isle!
 42681     France should have torn and rent my very heart
 42682     Before I would have yielded to this league.
 42683     I never read but England's kings have had
 42684     Large sums of gold and dowries with their wives;
 42685     And our King Henry gives away his own
 42686     To match with her that brings no vantages.
 42687   GLOUCESTER. A proper jest, and never heard before,
 42688     That Suffolk should demand a whole fifteenth
 42689     For costs and charges in transporting her!
 42690     She should have stay'd in France, and starv'd in France,
 42691     Before-
 42692   CARDINAL. My Lord of Gloucester, now ye grow too hot:
 42693     It was the pleasure of my lord the King.
 42694   GLOUCESTER. My Lord of Winchester, I know your mind;
 42695     'Tis not my speeches that you do mislike,
 42696     But 'tis my presence that doth trouble ye.
 42697     Rancour will out: proud prelate, in thy face
 42698     I see thy fury; if I longer stay
 42699     We shall begin our ancient bickerings.
 42700     Lordings, farewell; and say, when I am gone,
 42701     I prophesied France will be lost ere long.              Exit
 42702   CARDINAL. So, there goes our Protector in a rage.
 42703     'Tis known to you he is mine enemy;
 42704     Nay, more, an enemy unto you all,
 42705     And no great friend, I fear me, to the King.
 42706     Consider, lords, he is the next of blood
 42707     And heir apparent to the English crown.
 42708     Had Henry got an empire by his marriage
 42709     And all the wealthy kingdoms of the west,
 42710     There's reason he should be displeas'd at it.
 42711     Look to it, lords; let not his smoothing words
 42712     Bewitch your hearts; be wise and circumspect.
 42713     What though the common people favour him,
 42714     Calling him 'Humphrey, the good Duke of Gloucester,'
 42715     Clapping their hands, and crying with loud voice
 42716     'Jesu maintain your royal excellence!'
 42717     With 'God preserve the good Duke Humphrey!'
 42718     I fear me, lords, for all this flattering gloss,
 42719     He will be found a dangerous Protector.
 42720   BUCKINGHAM. Why should he then protect our sovereign,
 42721     He being of age to govern of himself?
 42722     Cousin of Somerset, join you with me,
 42723     And all together, with the Duke of Suffolk,
 42724     We'll quickly hoise Duke Humphrey from his seat.
 42725   CARDINAL. This weighty business will not brook delay;
 42726     I'll to the Duke of Suffolk presently.                  Exit
 42727   SOMERSET. Cousin of Buckingham, though Humphrey's pride
 42728     And greatness of his place be grief to us,
 42729     Yet let us watch the haughty cardinal;
 42730     His insolence is more intolerable
 42731     Than all the princes in the land beside;
 42732     If Gloucester be displac'd, he'll be Protector.
 42733   BUCKINGHAM. Or thou or I, Somerset, will be Protector,
 42734     Despite Duke Humphrey or the Cardinal.
 42735                                   Exeunt BUCKINGHAM and SOMERSET
 42736   SALISBURY. Pride went before, ambition follows him.
 42737     While these do labour for their own preferment,
 42738     Behoves it us to labour for the realm.
 42739     I never saw but Humphrey Duke of Gloucester
 42740     Did bear him like a noble gentleman.
 42741     Oft have I seen the haughty Cardinal-
 42742     More like a soldier than a man o' th' church,
 42743     As stout and proud as he were lord of all-
 42744     Swear like a ruffian and demean himself
 42745     Unlike the ruler of a commonweal.
 42746     Warwick my son, the comfort of my age,
 42747     Thy deeds, thy plainness, and thy housekeeping,
 42748     Hath won the greatest favour of the commons,
 42749     Excepting none but good Duke Humphrey.
 42750     And, brother York, thy acts in Ireland,
 42751     In bringing them to civil discipline,
 42752     Thy late exploits done in the heart of France
 42753     When thou wert Regent for our sovereign,
 42754     Have made thee fear'd and honour'd of the people:
 42755     Join we together for the public good,
 42756     In what we can, to bridle and suppress
 42757     The pride of Suffolk and the Cardinal,
 42758     With Somerset's and Buckingham's ambition;
 42759     And, as we may, cherish Duke Humphrey's deeds
 42760     While they do tend the profit of the land.
 42761   WARWICK. So God help Warwick, as he loves the land
 42762     And common profit of his country!
 42763   YORK. And so says York- [Aside] for he hath greatest cause.
 42764   SALISBURY. Then let's make haste away and look unto the main.
 42765   WARWICK. Unto the main! O father, Maine is lost-
 42766     That Maine which by main force Warwick did win,
 42767     And would have kept so long as breath did last.
 42768     Main chance, father, you meant; but I meant Maine,
 42769     Which I will win from France, or else be slain.
 42770                                     Exeunt WARWICK and SALISBURY
 42771   YORK. Anjou and Maine are given to the French;
 42772     Paris is lost; the state of Normandy
 42773     Stands on a tickle point now they are gone.
 42774     Suffolk concluded on the articles;
 42775     The peers agreed; and Henry was well pleas'd
 42776     To changes two dukedoms for a duke's fair daughter.
 42777     I cannot blame them all: what is't to them?
 42778     'Tis thine they give away, and not their own.
 42779     Pirates may make cheap pennyworths of their pillage,
 42780     And purchase friends, and give to courtezans,
 42781     Still revelling like lords till all be gone;
 42782     While as the silly owner of the goods
 42783     Weeps over them and wrings his hapless hands
 42784     And shakes his head and trembling stands aloof,
 42785     While all is shar'd and all is borne away,
 42786     Ready to starve and dare not touch his own.
 42787     So York must sit and fret and bite his tongue,
 42788     While his own lands are bargain'd for and sold.
 42789     Methinks the realms of England, France, and Ireland,
 42790     Bear that proportion to my flesh and blood
 42791     As did the fatal brand Althaea burnt
 42792     Unto the prince's heart of Calydon.
 42793     Anjou and Maine both given unto the French!
 42794     Cold news for me, for I had hope of France,
 42795     Even as I have of fertile England's soil.
 42796     A day will come when York shall claim his own;
 42797     And therefore I will take the Nevils' parts,
 42798     And make a show of love to proud Duke Humphrey,
 42799     And when I spy advantage, claim the crown,
 42800     For that's the golden mark I seek to hit.
 42801     Nor shall proud Lancaster usurp my right,
 42802     Nor hold the sceptre in his childish fist,
 42803     Nor wear the diadem upon his head,
 42804     Whose church-like humours fits not for a crown.
 42805     Then, York, be still awhile, till time do serve;
 42806     Watch thou and wake, when others be asleep,
 42807     To pry into the secrets of the state;
 42808     Till Henry, surfeiting in joys of love
 42809     With his new bride and England's dear-bought queen,
 42810     And Humphrey with the peers be fall'n at jars;
 42811     Then will I raise aloft the milk-white rose,
 42812     With whose sweet smell the air shall be perfum'd,
 42813     And in my standard bear the arms of York,
 42814     To grapple with the house of Lancaster;
 42815     And force perforce I'll make him yield the crown,
 42816     Whose bookish rule hath pull'd fair England down.       Exit
 42817 
 42818 
 42819 
 42820 
 42821 SCENE II.
 42822 The DUKE OF GLOUCESTER'S house
 42823 
 42824 Enter DUKE and his wife ELEANOR
 42825 
 42826   DUCHESS. Why droops my lord, like over-ripen'd corn
 42827     Hanging the head at Ceres' plenteous load?
 42828     Why doth the great Duke Humphrey knit his brows,
 42829     As frowning at the favours of the world?
 42830     Why are thine eyes fix'd to the sullen earth,
 42831     Gazing on that which seems to dim thy sight?
 42832     What see'st thou there? King Henry's diadem,
 42833     Enchas'd with all the honours of the world?
 42834     If so, gaze on, and grovel on thy face
 42835     Until thy head be circled with the same.
 42836     Put forth thy hand, reach at the glorious gold.
 42837     What, is't too short? I'll lengthen it with mine;
 42838     And having both together heav'd it up,
 42839     We'll both together lift our heads to heaven,
 42840     And never more abase our sight so low
 42841     As to vouchsafe one glance unto the ground.
 42842   GLOUCESTER. O Nell, sweet Nell, if thou dost love thy lord,
 42843     Banish the canker of ambitious thoughts!
 42844     And may that thought, when I imagine ill
 42845     Against my king and nephew, virtuous Henry,
 42846     Be my last breathing in this mortal world!
 42847     My troublous dreams this night doth make me sad.
 42848   DUCHESS. What dream'd my lord? Tell me, and I'll requite it
 42849     With sweet rehearsal of my morning's dream.
 42850   GLOUCESTER. Methought this staff, mine office-badge in court,
 42851     Was broke in twain; by whom I have forgot,
 42852     But, as I think, it was by th' Cardinal;
 42853     And on the pieces of the broken wand
 42854     Were plac'd the heads of Edmund Duke of Somerset
 42855     And William de la Pole, first Duke of Suffolk.
 42856     This was my dream; what it doth bode God knows.
 42857   DUCHESS. Tut, this was nothing but an argument
 42858     That he that breaks a stick of Gloucester's grove
 42859     Shall lose his head for his presumption.
 42860     But list to me, my Humphrey, my sweet Duke:
 42861     Methought I sat in seat of majesty
 42862     In the cathedral church of Westminster,
 42863     And in that chair where kings and queens were crown'd;
 42864     Where Henry and Dame Margaret kneel'd to me,
 42865     And on my head did set the diadem.
 42866   GLOUCESTER. Nay, Eleanor, then must I chide outright.
 42867     Presumptuous dame, ill-nurtur'd Eleanor!
 42868     Art thou not second woman in the realm,
 42869     And the Protector's wife, belov'd of him?
 42870     Hast thou not worldly pleasure at command
 42871     Above the reach or compass of thy thought?
 42872     And wilt thou still be hammering treachery
 42873     To tumble down thy husband and thyself
 42874     From top of honour to disgrace's feet?
 42875     Away from me, and let me hear no more!
 42876   DUCHESS. What, what, my lord! Are you so choleric
 42877     With Eleanor for telling but her dream?
 42878     Next time I'll keep my dreams unto myself
 42879     And not be check'd.
 42880   GLOUCESTER. Nay, be not angry; I am pleas'd again.
 42881 
 42882                        Enter a MESSENGER
 42883 
 42884   MESSENGER. My Lord Protector, 'tis his Highness' pleasure
 42885     You do prepare to ride unto Saint Albans,
 42886     Where as the King and Queen do mean to hawk.
 42887   GLOUCESTER. I go. Come, Nell, thou wilt ride with us?
 42888   DUCHESS. Yes, my good lord, I'll follow presently.
 42889                                  Exeunt GLOUCESTER and MESSENGER
 42890     Follow I must; I cannot go before,
 42891     While Gloucester bears this base and humble mind.
 42892     Were I a man, a duke, and next of blood,
 42893     I would remove these tedious stumbling-blocks
 42894     And smooth my way upon their headless necks;
 42895     And, being a woman, I will not be slack
 42896     To play my part in Fortune's pageant.
 42897     Where are you there, Sir John? Nay, fear not, man,
 42898     We are alone; here's none but thee and I.
 42899 
 42900                            Enter HUME
 42901 
 42902   HUME. Jesus preserve your royal Majesty!
 42903   DUCHESS. What say'st thou? Majesty! I am but Grace.
 42904   HUME. But, by the grace of God and Hume's advice,
 42905     Your Grace's title shall be multiplied.
 42906   DUCHESS. What say'st thou, man? Hast thou as yet conferr'd
 42907     With Margery Jourdain, the cunning witch of Eie,
 42908     With Roger Bolingbroke, the conjurer?
 42909     And will they undertake to do me good?
 42910   HUME. This they have promised, to show your Highness
 42911     A spirit rais'd from depth of underground
 42912     That shall make answer to such questions
 42913     As by your Grace shall be propounded him
 42914   DUCHESS. It is enough; I'll think upon the questions;
 42915     When from Saint Albans we do make return
 42916     We'll see these things effected to the full.
 42917     Here, Hume, take this reward; make merry, man,
 42918     With thy confederates in this weighty cause.            Exit
 42919   HUME. Hume must make merry with the Duchess' gold;
 42920     Marry, and shall. But, how now, Sir John Hume!
 42921     Seal up your lips and give no words but mum:
 42922     The business asketh silent secrecy.
 42923     Dame Eleanor gives gold to bring the witch:
 42924     Gold cannot come amiss were she a devil.
 42925     Yet have I gold flies from another coast-
 42926     I dare not say from the rich Cardinal,
 42927     And from the great and new-made Duke of Suffolk;
 42928     Yet I do find it so; for, to be plain,
 42929     They, knowing Dame Eleanor's aspiring humour,
 42930     Have hired me to undermine the Duchess,
 42931     And buzz these conjurations in her brain.
 42932     They say 'A crafty knave does need no broker';
 42933     Yet am I Suffolk and the Cardinal's broker.
 42934     Hume, if you take not heed, you shall go near
 42935     To call them both a pair of crafty knaves.
 42936     Well, so its stands; and thus, I fear, at last
 42937     Hume's knavery will be the Duchess' wreck,
 42938     And her attainture will be Humphrey's fall
 42939     Sort how it will, I shall have gold for all.            Exit
 42940 
 42941 
 42942 
 42943 
 42944 SCENE III.
 42945 London. The palace
 42946 
 42947 Enter three or four PETITIONERS, PETER, the Armourer's man, being one
 42948 
 42949   FIRST PETITIONER. My masters, let's stand close; my Lord Protector
 42950     will come this way by and by, and then we may deliver our
 42951     supplications in the quill.
 42952   SECOND PETITIONER. Marry, the Lord protect him, for he's a good
 42953     man, Jesu bless him!
 42954 
 42955                        Enter SUFFOLK and QUEEN
 42956 
 42957   FIRST PETITIONER. Here 'a comes, methinks, and the Queen with him.
 42958     I'll be the first, sure.
 42959   SECOND PETITIONER. Come back, fool; this is the Duke of Suffolk and
 42960     not my Lord Protector.
 42961   SUFFOLK. How now, fellow! Wouldst anything with me?
 42962   FIRST PETITIONER. I pray, my lord, pardon me; I took ye for my Lord
 42963     Protector.
 42964   QUEEN. [Reads] 'To my Lord Protector!' Are your supplications to
 42965     his lordship? Let me see them. What is thine?
 42966   FIRST PETITIONER. Mine is, an't please your Grace, against John
 42967     Goodman, my Lord Cardinal's man, for keeping my house and lands,
 42968     and wife and all, from me.
 42969   SUFFOLK. Thy wife too! That's some wrong indeed. What's yours?
 42970     What's here! [Reads] 'Against the Duke of Suffolk, for enclosing
 42971     the commons of Melford.' How now, sir knave!
 42972   SECOND PETITIONER. Alas, sir, I am but a poor petitioner of our
 42973     whole township.
 42974   PETER. [Presenting his petition] Against my master, Thomas Horner,
 42975     for saying that the Duke of York was rightful heir to the crown.
 42976   QUEEN. What say'st thou? Did the Duke of York say he was rightful
 42977     heir to the crown?
 42978   PETER. That my master was? No, forsooth. My master said that he
 42979     was, and that the King was an usurper.
 42980   SUFFOLK. Who is there? [Enter servant] Take this fellow in, and
 42981     send for his master with a pursuivant presently. We'll hear more
 42982     of your matter before the King.
 42983                                          Exit servant with PETER
 42984   QUEEN. And as for you, that love to be protected
 42985     Under the wings of our Protector's grace,
 42986     Begin your suits anew, and sue to him.
 42987                                        [Tears the supplications]
 42988     Away, base cullions! Suffolk, let them go.
 42989   ALL. Come, let's be gone.                               Exeunt
 42990   QUEEN. My Lord of Suffolk, say, is this the guise,
 42991     Is this the fashions in the court of England?
 42992     Is this the government of Britain's isle,
 42993     And this the royalty of Albion's king?
 42994     What, shall King Henry be a pupil still,
 42995     Under the surly Gloucester's governance?
 42996     Am I a queen in title and in style,
 42997     And must be made a subject to a duke?
 42998     I tell thee, Pole, when in the city Tours
 42999     Thou ran'st a tilt in honour of my love
 43000     And stol'st away the ladies' hearts of France,
 43001     I thought King Henry had resembled thee
 43002     In courage, courtship, and proportion;
 43003     But all his mind is bent to holiness,
 43004     To number Ave-Maries on his beads;
 43005     His champions are the prophets and apostles;
 43006     His weapons, holy saws of sacred writ;
 43007     His study is his tilt-yard, and his loves
 43008     Are brazen images of canonized saints.
 43009     I would the college of the Cardinals
 43010     Would choose him Pope, and carry him to Rome,
 43011     And set the triple crown upon his head;
 43012     That were a state fit for his holiness.
 43013   SUFFOLK. Madam, be patient. As I was cause
 43014     Your Highness came to England, so will I
 43015     In England work your Grace's full content.
 43016   QUEEN. Beside the haughty Protector, have we Beaufort
 43017     The imperious churchman; Somerset, Buckingham,
 43018     And grumbling York; and not the least of these
 43019     But can do more in England than the King.
 43020   SUFFOLK. And he of these that can do most of all
 43021     Cannot do more in England than the Nevils;
 43022     Salisbury and Warwick are no simple peers.
 43023   QUEEN. Not all these lords do vex me half so much
 43024     As that proud dame, the Lord Protector's wife.
 43025     She sweeps it through the court with troops of ladies,
 43026     More like an empress than Duke Humphrey's wife.
 43027     Strangers in court do take her for the Queen.
 43028     She bears a duke's revenues on her back,
 43029     And in her heart she scorns our poverty;
 43030     Shall I not live to be aveng'd on her?
 43031     Contemptuous base-born callet as she is,
 43032     She vaunted 'mongst her minions t' other day
 43033     The very train of her worst wearing gown
 43034     Was better worth than all my father's lands,
 43035     Till Suffolk gave two dukedoms for his daughter.
 43036   SUFFOLK. Madam, myself have lim'd a bush for her,
 43037     And plac'd a quire of such enticing birds
 43038     That she will light to listen to the lays,
 43039     And never mount to trouble you again.
 43040     So, let her rest. And, madam, list to me,
 43041     For I am bold to counsel you in this:
 43042     Although we fancy not the Cardinal,
 43043     Yet must we join with him and with the lords,
 43044     Till we have brought Duke Humphrey in disgrace.
 43045     As for the Duke of York, this late complaint
 43046     Will make but little for his benefit.
 43047     So one by one we'll weed them all at last,
 43048     And you yourself shall steer the happy helm.
 43049 
 43050           Sound a sennet. Enter the KING, DUKE HUMPHREY,
 43051      CARDINAL BEAUFORT, BUCKINGHAM, YORK, SOMERSET, SALISBURY,
 43052               WARWICK, and the DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER
 43053 
 43054   KING HENRY. For my part, noble lords, I care not which:
 43055     Or Somerset or York, all's one to me.
 43056   YORK. If York have ill demean'd himself in France,
 43057     Then let him be denay'd the regentship.
 43058   SOMERSET. If Somerset be unworthy of the place,
 43059     Let York be Regent; I will yield to him.
 43060   WARWICK. Whether your Grace be worthy, yea or no,
 43061     Dispute not that; York is the worthier.
 43062   CARDINAL. Ambitious Warwick, let thy betters speak.
 43063   WARWICK. The Cardinal's not my better in the field.
 43064   BUCKINGHAM. All in this presence are thy betters, Warwick.
 43065   WARWICK. Warwick may live to be the best of all.
 43066   SALISBURY. Peace, son! And show some reason, Buckingham,
 43067     Why Somerset should be preferr'd in this.
 43068   QUEEN. Because the King, forsooth, will have it so.
 43069   GLOUCESTER. Madam, the King is old enough himself
 43070     To give his censure. These are no women's matters.
 43071   QUEEN. If he be old enough, what needs your Grace
 43072     To be Protector of his Excellence?
 43073   GLOUCESTER. Madam, I am Protector of the realm;
 43074     And at his pleasure will resign my place.
 43075   SUFFOLK. Resign it then, and leave thine insolence.
 43076     Since thou wert king- as who is king but thou?-
 43077     The commonwealth hath daily run to wrack,
 43078     The Dauphin hath prevail'd beyond the seas,
 43079     And all the peers and nobles of the realm
 43080     Have been as bondmen to thy sovereignty.
 43081   CARDINAL. The commons hast thou rack'd; the clergy's bags
 43082     Are lank and lean with thy extortions.
 43083   SOMERSET. Thy sumptuous buildings and thy wife's attire
 43084     Have cost a mass of public treasury.
 43085   BUCKINGHAM. Thy cruelty in execution
 43086     Upon offenders hath exceeded law,
 43087     And left thee to the mercy of the law.
 43088   QUEEN. Thy sale of offices and towns in France,
 43089     If they were known, as the suspect is great,
 43090     Would make thee quickly hop without thy head.
 43091                   Exit GLOUCESTER. The QUEEN drops QUEEN her fan
 43092     Give me my fan. What, minion, can ye not?
 43093                         [She gives the DUCHESS a box on the ear]
 43094     I cry your mercy, madam; was it you?
 43095   DUCHESS. Was't I? Yea, I it was, proud Frenchwoman.
 43096     Could I come near your beauty with my nails,
 43097     I could set my ten commandments in your face.
 43098   KING HENRY. Sweet aunt, be quiet; 'twas against her will.
 43099   DUCHESS. Against her will, good King? Look to 't in time;
 43100     She'll hamper thee and dandle thee like a baby.
 43101     Though in this place most master wear no breeches,
 43102     She shall not strike Dame Eleanor unreveng'd.           Exit
 43103   BUCKINGHAM. Lord Cardinal, I will follow Eleanor,
 43104     And listen after Humphrey, how he proceeds.
 43105     She's tickled now; her fume needs no spurs,
 43106     She'll gallop far enough to her destruction.            Exit
 43107 
 43108                       Re-enter GLOUCESTER
 43109 
 43110   GLOUCESTER. Now, lords, my choler being overblown
 43111     With walking once about the quadrangle,
 43112     I come to talk of commonwealth affairs.
 43113     As for your spiteful false objections,
 43114     Prove them, and I lie open to the law;
 43115     But God in mercy so deal with my soul
 43116     As I in duty love my king and country!
 43117     But to the matter that we have in hand:
 43118     I say, my sovereign, York is meetest man
 43119     To be your Regent in the realm of France.
 43120   SUFFOLK. Before we make election, give me leave
 43121     To show some reason, of no little force,
 43122     That York is most unmeet of any man.
 43123   YORK. I'll tell thee, Suffolk, why I am unmeet:
 43124     First, for I cannot flatter thee in pride;
 43125     Next, if I be appointed for the place,
 43126     My Lord of Somerset will keep me here
 43127     Without discharge, money, or furniture,
 43128     Till France be won into the Dauphin's hands.
 43129     Last time I danc'd attendance on his will
 43130     Till Paris was besieg'd, famish'd, and lost.
 43131   WARWICK. That can I witness; and a fouler fact
 43132     Did never traitor in the land commit.
 43133   SUFFOLK. Peace, headstrong Warwick!
 43134   WARWICK. Image of pride, why should I hold my peace?
 43135 
 43136         Enter HORNER, the Armourer, and his man PETER, guarded
 43137 
 43138   SUFFOLK. Because here is a man accus'd of treason:
 43139     Pray God the Duke of York excuse himself!
 43140   YORK. Doth any one accuse York for a traitor?
 43141   KING HENRY. What mean'st thou, Suffolk? Tell me, what are these?
 43142   SUFFOLK. Please it your Majesty, this is the man
 43143     That doth accuse his master of high treason;
 43144     His words were these: that Richard Duke of York
 43145     Was rightful heir unto the English crown,
 43146     And that your Majesty was an usurper.
 43147   KING HENRY. Say, man, were these thy words?
 43148   HORNER. An't shall please your Majesty, I never said nor thought
 43149     any such matter. God is my witness, I am falsely accus'd by the
 43150     villain.
 43151   PETER. [Holding up his hands] By these ten bones, my lords, he did
 43152     speak them to me in the garret one night, as we were scouring my
 43153     Lord of York's armour.
 43154   YORK. Base dunghill villain and mechanical,
 43155     I'll have thy head for this thy traitor's speech.
 43156     I do beseech your royal Majesty,
 43157     Let him have all the rigour of the law.
 43158   HORNER`. Alas, my lord, hang me if ever I spake the words. My
 43159     accuser is my prentice; and when I did correct him for his fault
 43160     the other day, he did vow upon his knees he would be even with
 43161     me. I have good witness of this; therefore I beseech your
 43162     Majesty, do not cast away an honest man for a villain's
 43163     accusation.
 43164   KING HENRY. Uncle, what shall we say to this in law?
 43165   GLOUCESTER. This doom, my lord, if I may judge:
 43166     Let Somerset be Regent o'er the French,
 43167     Because in York this breeds suspicion;
 43168     And let these have a day appointed them
 43169     For single combat in convenient place,
 43170     For he hath witness of his servant's malice.
 43171     This is the law, and this Duke Humphrey's doom.
 43172   SOMERSET. I humbly thank your royal Majesty.
 43173   HORNER. And I accept the combat willingly.
 43174   PETER. Alas, my lord, I cannot fight; for God's sake, pity my case!
 43175     The spite of man prevaileth against me. O Lord, have mercy upon
 43176     me, I shall never be able to fight a blow! O Lord, my heart!
 43177   GLOUCESTER. Sirrah, or you must fight or else be hang'd.
 43178   KING HENRY. Away with them to prison; and the day of combat shall
 43179     be the last of the next month.
 43180     Come, Somerset, we'll see thee sent away.   Flourish. Exeunt
 43181 
 43182 
 43183 
 43184 
 43185 SCENE IV.
 43186 London. The DUKE OF GLOUCESTER'S garden
 43187 
 43188 Enter MARGERY JOURDAIN, the witch; the two priests, HUME and SOUTHWELL;
 43189 and BOLINGBROKE
 43190 
 43191   HUME. Come, my masters; the Duchess, I tell you, expects
 43192     performance of your promises.
 43193   BOLINGBROKE. Master Hume, we are therefore provided; will her
 43194     ladyship behold and hear our exorcisms?
 43195   HUME. Ay, what else? Fear you not her courage.
 43196   BOLINGBROKE. I have heard her reported to be a woman of an
 43197     invincible spirit; but it shall be convenient, Master Hume, that
 43198     you be by her aloft while we be busy below; and so I pray you go,
 43199     in God's name, and leave us. [Exit HUME] Mother Jourdain, be you
 43200     prostrate and grovel on the earth; John Southwell, read you; and
 43201     let us to our work.
 43202 
 43203                  Enter DUCHESS aloft, followed by HUME
 43204 
 43205   DUCHESS. Well said, my masters; and welcome all. To this gear, the
 43206     sooner the better.
 43207   BOLINGBROKE. Patience, good lady; wizards know their times:
 43208     Deep night, dark night, the silent of the night,
 43209     The time of night when Troy was set on fire;
 43210     The time when screech-owls cry and ban-dogs howl,
 43211     And spirits walk and ghosts break up their graves-
 43212     That time best fits the work we have in hand.
 43213     Madam, sit you, and fear not: whom we raise
 43214     We will make fast within a hallow'd verge.
 43215 
 43216      [Here they do the ceremonies belonging, and make the circle;
 43217           BOLINGBROKE or SOUTHWELL reads: 'Conjuro te,' &c.
 43218      It thunders and lightens terribly; then the SPIRIT riseth]
 43219 
 43220   SPIRIT. Adsum.
 43221   MARGERY JOURDAIN. Asmath,
 43222     By the eternal God, whose name and power
 43223     Thou tremblest at, answer that I shall ask;
 43224     For till thou speak thou shalt not pass from hence.
 43225   SPIRIT. Ask what thou wilt; that I had said and done.
 43226   BOLINGBROKE. [Reads] 'First of the king: what shall of him become?'
 43227   SPIRIT. The Duke yet lives that Henry shall depose;
 43228     But him outlive, and die a violent death.
 43229              [As the SPIRIT speaks, SOUTHWELL writes the answer]
 43230   BOLINGBROKE. 'What fates await the Duke of Suffolk?'
 43231   SPIRIT. By water shall he die and take his end.
 43232   BOLINGBROKE. 'What shall befall the Duke of Somerset?'
 43233   SPIRIT. Let him shun castles:
 43234     Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains
 43235     Than where castles mounted stand.
 43236     Have done, for more I hardly can endure.
 43237   BOLINGBROKE. Descend to darkness and the burning lake;
 43238     False fiend, avoid!       Thunder and lightning. Exit SPIRIT
 43239 
 43240                Enter the DUKE OF YORK and the DUKE OF
 43241                  BUCKINGHAM with guard, and break in
 43242 
 43243   YORK. Lay hands upon these traitors and their trash.
 43244     Beldam, I think we watch'd you at an inch.
 43245     What, madam, are you there? The King and commonweal
 43246     Are deeply indebted for this piece of pains;
 43247     My Lord Protector will, I doubt it not,
 43248     See you well guerdon'd for these good deserts.
 43249   DUCHESS. Not half so bad as thine to England's king,
 43250     Injurious Duke, that threatest where's no cause.
 43251   BUCKINGHAM. True, madam, none at all. What can you this?
 43252     Away with them! let them be clapp'd up close,
 43253     And kept asunder. You, madam, shall with us.
 43254     Stafford, take her to thee.
 43255     We'll see your trinkets here all forthcoming.
 43256     All, away!
 43257                 Exeunt, above, DUCHESS and HUME, guarded; below,
 43258                        WITCH, SOUTHWELL and BOLINGBROKE, guarded
 43259   YORK. Lord Buckingham, methinks you watch'd her well.
 43260     A pretty plot, well chosen to build upon!
 43261     Now, pray, my lord, let's see the devil's writ.
 43262     What have we here?                                   [Reads]
 43263     'The duke yet lives that Henry shall depose;
 43264     But him outlive, and die a violent death.'
 43265     Why, this is just
 43266     'Aio te, Aeacida, Romanos vincere posse.'
 43267     Well, to the rest:
 43268     'Tell me what fate awaits the Duke of Suffolk?'
 43269     'By water shall he die and take his end.'
 43270     'What shall betide the Duke of Somerset?'
 43271     'Let him shun castles;
 43272     Safer shall he be upon the sandy plains
 43273     Than where castles mounted stand.'
 43274     Come, come, my lords;
 43275     These oracles are hardly attain'd,
 43276     And hardly understood.
 43277     The King is now in progress towards Saint Albans,
 43278     With him the husband of this lovely lady;
 43279     Thither go these news as fast as horse can carry them-
 43280     A sorry breakfast for my Lord Protector.
 43281   BUCKINGHAM. Your Grace shall give me leave, my Lord of York,
 43282     To be the post, in hope of his reward.
 43283   YORK. At your pleasure, my good lord.
 43284     Who's within there, ho?
 43285 
 43286                        Enter a serving-man
 43287 
 43288     Invite my Lords of Salisbury and Warwick
 43289     To sup with me to-morrow night. Away!                 Exeunt
 43290 
 43291 
 43292 
 43293 
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 43302 
 43303 
 43304 
 43305 ACT II. SCENE I.
 43306 Saint Albans
 43307 
 43308 Enter the KING, QUEEN, GLOUCESTER, CARDINAL, and SUFFOLK,
 43309 with Falconers halloing
 43310 
 43311   QUEEN. Believe me, lords, for flying at the brook,
 43312     I saw not better sport these seven years' day;
 43313     Yet, by your leave, the wind was very high,
 43314     And ten to one old Joan had not gone out.
 43315   KING HENRY. But what a point, my lord, your falcon made,
 43316     And what a pitch she flew above the rest!
 43317     To see how God in all His creatures works!
 43318     Yea, man and birds are fain of climbing high.
 43319   SUFFOLK. No marvel, an it like your Majesty,
 43320     My Lord Protector's hawks do tow'r so well;
 43321     They know their master loves to be aloft,
 43322     And bears his thoughts above his falcon's pitch.
 43323   GLOUCESTER. My lord, 'tis but a base ignoble mind
 43324     That mounts no higher than a bird can soar.
 43325   CARDINAL. I thought as much; he would be above the clouds.
 43326   GLOUCESTER. Ay, my lord Cardinal, how think you by that?
 43327     Were it not good your Grace could fly to heaven?
 43328   KING HENRY. The treasury of everlasting joy!
 43329   CARDINAL. Thy heaven is on earth; thine eyes and thoughts
 43330     Beat on a crown, the treasure of thy heart;
 43331     Pernicious Protector, dangerous peer,
 43332     That smooth'st it so with King and commonweal.
 43333   GLOUCESTER. What, Cardinal, is your priesthood grown peremptory?
 43334     Tantaene animis coelestibus irae?
 43335     Churchmen so hot? Good uncle, hide such malice;
 43336     With such holiness can you do it?
 43337   SUFFOLK. No malice, sir; no more than well becomes
 43338     So good a quarrel and so bad a peer.
 43339   GLOUCESTER. As who, my lord?
 43340   SUFFOLK. Why, as you, my lord,
 43341     An't like your lordly Lord's Protectorship.
 43342   GLOUCESTER. Why, Suffolk, England knows thine insolence.
 43343   QUEEN. And thy ambition, Gloucester.
 43344   KING HENRY. I prithee, peace,
 43345     Good Queen, and whet not on these furious peers;
 43346     For blessed are the peacemakers on earth.
 43347   CARDINAL. Let me be blessed for the peace I make
 43348     Against this proud Protector with my sword!
 43349   GLOUCESTER. [Aside to CARDINAL] Faith, holy uncle, would 'twere
 43350     come to that!
 43351   CARDINAL. [Aside to GLOUCESTER] Marry, when thou dar'st.
 43352   GLOUCESTER. [Aside to CARDINAL] Make up no factious numbers for the
 43353       matter;
 43354     In thine own person answer thy abuse.
 43355   CARDINAL. [Aside to GLOUCESTER] Ay, where thou dar'st not peep; an
 43356       if thou dar'st,
 43357     This evening on the east side of the grove.
 43358   KING HENRY. How now, my lords!
 43359   CARDINAL. Believe me, cousin Gloucester,
 43360     Had not your man put up the fowl so suddenly,
 43361     We had had more sport. [Aside to GLOUCESTER] Come with thy
 43362       two-hand sword.
 43363   GLOUCESTER. True, uncle.
 43364   CARDINAL. [Aside to GLOUCESTER] Are ye advis'd? The east side of
 43365     the grove?
 43366   GLOUCESTER. [Aside to CARDINAL] Cardinal, I am with you.
 43367   KING HENRY. Why, how now, uncle Gloucester!
 43368   GLOUCESTER. Talking of hawking; nothing else, my lord.
 43369     [Aside to CARDINAL] Now, by God's Mother, priest,
 43370     I'll shave your crown for this,
 43371     Or all my fence shall fail.
 43372   CARDINAL. [Aside to GLOUCESTER] Medice, teipsum;
 43373     Protector, see to't well; protect yourself.
 43374   KING HENRY. The winds grow high; so do your stomachs, lords.
 43375     How irksome is this music to my heart!
 43376     When such strings jar, what hope of harmony?
 43377     I pray, my lords, let me compound this strife.
 43378 
 43379          Enter a TOWNSMAN of Saint Albans, crying 'A miracle!'
 43380 
 43381   GLOUCESTER. What means this noise?
 43382     Fellow, what miracle dost thou proclaim?
 43383   TOWNSMAN. A miracle! A miracle!
 43384   SUFFOLK. Come to the King, and tell him what miracle.
 43385   TOWNSMAN. Forsooth, a blind man at Saint Albans shrine
 43386     Within this half hour hath receiv'd his sight;
 43387     A man that ne'er saw in his life before.
 43388   KING HENRY. Now God be prais'd that to believing souls
 43389     Gives light in darkness, comfort in despair!
 43390 
 43391            Enter the MAYOR OF SAINT ALBANS and his brethren,
 43392                bearing Simpcox between two in a chair;
 43393                  his WIFE and a multitude following
 43394 
 43395   CARDINAL. Here comes the townsmen on procession
 43396     To present your Highness with the man.
 43397   KING HENRY. Great is his comfort in this earthly vale,
 43398     Although by his sight his sin be multiplied.
 43399   GLOUCESTER. Stand by, my masters; bring him near the King;
 43400     His Highness' pleasure is to talk with him.
 43401   KING HENRY. Good fellow, tell us here the circumstance,
 43402     That we for thee may glorify the Lord.
 43403     What, hast thou been long blind and now restor'd?
 43404   SIMPCOX. Born blind, an't please your Grace.
 43405   WIFE. Ay indeed was he.
 43406   SUFFOLK. What woman is this?
 43407   WIFE. His wife, an't like your worship.
 43408   GLOUCESTER. Hadst thou been his mother, thou couldst have better
 43409     told.
 43410   KING HENRY. Where wert thou born?
 43411   SIMPCOX. At Berwick in the north, an't like your Grace.
 43412   KING HENRY. Poor soul, God's goodness hath been great to thee.
 43413     Let never day nor night unhallowed pass,
 43414     But still remember what the Lord hath done.
 43415   QUEEN. Tell me, good fellow, cam'st thou here by chance,
 43416     Or of devotion, to this holy shrine?
 43417   SIMPCOX. God knows, of pure devotion; being call'd
 43418     A hundred times and oft'ner, in my sleep,
 43419     By good Saint Alban, who said 'Simpcox, come,
 43420     Come, offer at my shrine, and I will help thee.'
 43421   WIFE. Most true, forsooth; and many time and oft
 43422     Myself have heard a voice to call him so.
 43423   CARDINAL. What, art thou lame?
 43424   SIMPCOX. Ay, God Almighty help me!
 43425   SUFFOLK. How cam'st thou so?
 43426   SIMPCOX. A fall off of a tree.
 43427   WIFE. A plum tree, master.
 43428   GLOUCESTER. How long hast thou been blind?
 43429   SIMPCOX. O, born so, master!
 43430   GLOUCESTER. What, and wouldst climb a tree?
 43431   SIMPCOX. But that in all my life, when I was a youth.
 43432   WIFE. Too true; and bought his climbing very dear.
 43433   GLOUCESTER. Mass, thou lov'dst plums well, that wouldst venture so.
 43434   SIMPCOX. Alas, good master, my wife desir'd some damsons
 43435     And made me climb, With danger of my life.
 43436   GLOUCESTER. A subtle knave! But yet it shall not serve:
 43437     Let me see thine eyes; wink now; now open them;
 43438     In my opinion yet thou seest not well.
 43439   SIMPCOX. Yes, master, clear as day, I thank God and Saint Alban.
 43440   GLOUCESTER. Say'st thou me so? What colour is this cloak of?
 43441   SIMPCOX. Red, master; red as blood.
 43442   GLOUCESTER. Why, that's well said. What colour is my gown of?
 43443   SIMPCOX. Black, forsooth; coal-black as jet.
 43444   KING HENRY. Why, then, thou know'st what colour jet is of?
 43445   SUFFOLK. And yet, I think, jet did he never see.
 43446   GLOUCESTER. But cloaks and gowns before this day a many.
 43447   WIFE. Never before this day in all his life.
 43448   GLOUCESTER. Tell me, sirrah, what's my name?
 43449   SIMPCOX. Alas, master, I know not.
 43450   GLOUCESTER. What's his name?
 43451   SIMPCOX. I know not.
 43452   GLOUCESTER. Nor his?
 43453   SIMPCOX. No, indeed, master.
 43454   GLOUCESTER. What's thine own name?
 43455   SIMPCOX. Saunder Simpcox, an if it please you, master.
 43456   GLOUCESTER. Then, Saunder, sit there, the lying'st knave in
 43457     Christendom. If thou hadst been born blind, thou mightst as well
 43458     have known all our names as thus to name the several colours we
 43459     do wear. Sight may distinguish of colours; but suddenly to
 43460     nominate them all, it is impossible. My lords, Saint Alban here
 43461     hath done a miracle; and would ye not think his cunning to be
 43462     great that could restore this cripple to his legs again?
 43463   SIMPCOX. O master, that you could!
 43464   GLOUCESTER. My masters of Saint Albans, have you not beadles in
 43465     your town, and things call'd whips?
 43466   MAYOR. Yes, my lord, if it please your Grace.
 43467   GLOUCESTER. Then send for one presently.
 43468   MAYOR. Sirrah, go fetch the beadle hither straight.
 43469                                                Exit an attendant
 43470   GLOUCESTER. Now fetch me a stool hither by and by. [A stool
 43471     brought] Now, sirrah, if you mean to save yourself from whipping,
 43472     leap me over this stool and run away.
 43473   SIMPCOX. Alas, master, I am not able to stand alone!
 43474     You go about to torture me in vain.
 43475 
 43476                          Enter a BEADLE with whips
 43477 
 43478   GLOUCESTER. Well, sir, we must have you find your legs.
 43479     Sirrah beadle, whip him till he leap over that same stool.
 43480   BEADLE. I will, my lord. Come on, sirrah; off with your doublet
 43481     quickly.
 43482   SIMPCOX. Alas, master, what shall I do? I am not able to stand.
 43483 
 43484            After the BEADLE hath hit him once, he leaps over
 43485            the stool and runs away; and they follow and cry
 43486                              'A miracle!'
 43487 
 43488   KING HENRY. O God, seest Thou this, and bearest so long?
 43489   QUEEN. It made me laugh to see the villain run.
 43490   GLOUCESTER. Follow the knave, and take this drab away.
 43491   WIFE. Alas, sir, we did it for pure need!
 43492   GLOUCESTER. Let them be whipp'd through every market town till they
 43493     come to Berwick, from whence they came.
 43494                                  Exeunt MAYOR, BEADLE, WIFE, &c.
 43495   CARDINAL. Duke Humphrey has done a miracle to-day.
 43496   SUFFOLK. True; made the lame to leap and fly away.
 43497   GLOUCESTER. But you have done more miracles than I:
 43498     You made in a day, my lord, whole towns to fly.
 43499 
 43500                          Enter BUCKINGHAM
 43501 
 43502   KING HENRY. What tidings with our cousin Buckingham?
 43503   BUCKINGHAM. Such as my heart doth tremble to unfold:
 43504     A sort of naughty persons, lewdly bent,
 43505     Under the countenance and confederacy
 43506     Of Lady Eleanor, the Protector's wife,
 43507     The ringleader and head of all this rout,
 43508     Have practis'd dangerously against your state,
 43509     Dealing with witches and with conjurers,
 43510     Whom we have apprehended in the fact,
 43511     Raising up wicked spirits from under ground,
 43512     Demanding of King Henry's life and death
 43513     And other of your Highness' Privy Council,
 43514     As more at large your Grace shall understand.
 43515   CARDINAL. And so, my Lord Protector, by this means
 43516     Your lady is forthcoming yet at London.
 43517     This news, I think, hath turn'd your weapon's edge;
 43518     'Tis like, my lord, you will not keep your hour.
 43519   GLOUCESTER. Ambitious churchman, leave to afflict my heart.
 43520     Sorrow and grief have vanquish'd all my powers;
 43521     And, vanquish'd as I am, I yield to the
 43522     Or to the meanest groom.
 43523   KING HENRY. O God, what mischiefs work the wicked ones,
 43524     Heaping confusion on their own heads thereby!
 43525   QUEEN. Gloucester, see here the tainture of thy nest;
 43526     And look thyself be faultless, thou wert best.
 43527   GLOUCESTER. Madam, for myself, to heaven I do appeal
 43528     How I have lov'd my King and commonweal;
 43529     And for my wife I know not how it stands.
 43530     Sorry I am to hear what I have heard.
 43531     Noble she is; but if she have forgot
 43532     Honour and virtue, and convers'd with such
 43533     As, like to pitch, defile nobility,
 43534     I banish her my bed and company
 43535     And give her as a prey to law and shame,
 43536     That hath dishonoured Gloucester's honest name.
 43537   KING HENRY. Well, for this night we will repose us here.
 43538     To-morrow toward London back again
 43539     To look into this business thoroughly
 43540     And call these foul offenders to their answers,
 43541     And poise the cause in justice' equal scales,
 43542     Whose beam stands sure, whose rightful cause prevails.
 43543                                                 Flourish. Exeunt
 43544 
 43545 
 43546 
 43547 
 43548 SCENE II.
 43549 London. The DUKE OF YORK'S garden
 43550 
 43551 Enter YORK, SALISBURY, and WARWICK
 43552 
 43553   YORK. Now, my good Lords of Salisbury and Warwick,
 43554     Our simple supper ended, give me leave
 43555     In this close walk to satisfy myself
 43556     In craving your opinion of my tide,
 43557     Which is infallible, to England's crown.
 43558   SALISBURY. My lord, I long to hear it at full.
 43559   WARWICK. Sweet York, begin; and if thy claim be good,
 43560     The Nevils are thy subjects to command.
 43561   YORK. Then thus:
 43562     Edward the Third, my lords, had seven sons;
 43563     The first, Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales;
 43564     The second, William of Hatfield; and the third,
 43565     Lionel Duke of Clarence; next to whom
 43566     Was John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster;
 43567     The fifth was Edmund Langley, Duke of York;
 43568     The sixth was Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester;
 43569     William of Windsor was the seventh and last.
 43570     Edward the Black Prince died before his father
 43571     And left behind him Richard, his only son,
 43572     Who, after Edward the Third's death, reign'd as king
 43573     Till Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster,
 43574     The eldest son and heir of John of Gaunt,
 43575     Crown'd by the name of Henry the Fourth,
 43576     Seiz'd on the realm, depos'd the rightful king,
 43577     Sent his poor queen to France, from whence she came.
 43578     And him to Pomfret, where, as all you know,
 43579     Harmless Richard was murdered traitorously.
 43580   WARWICK. Father, the Duke hath told the truth;
 43581     Thus got the house of Lancaster the crown.
 43582   YORK. Which now they hold by force, and not by right;
 43583     For Richard, the first son's heir, being dead,
 43584     The issue of the next son should have reign'd.
 43585   SALISBURY. But William of Hatfield died without an heir.
 43586   YORK. The third son, Duke of Clarence, from whose line
 43587     I claim the crown, had issue Philippe, a daughter,
 43588     Who married Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March;
 43589     Edmund had issue, Roger Earl of March;
 43590     Roger had issue, Edmund, Anne, and Eleanor.
 43591   SALISBURY. This Edmund, in the reign of Bolingbroke,
 43592     As I have read, laid claim unto the crown;
 43593     And, but for Owen Glendower, had been king,
 43594     Who kept him in captivity till he died.
 43595     But, to the rest.
 43596   YORK. His eldest sister, Anne,
 43597     My mother, being heir unto the crown,
 43598     Married Richard Earl of Cambridge, who was
 43599     To Edmund Langley, Edward the Third's fifth son, son.
 43600     By her I claim the kingdom: she was heir
 43601     To Roger Earl of March, who was the son
 43602     Of Edmund Mortimer, who married Philippe,
 43603     Sole daughter unto Lionel Duke of Clarence;
 43604     So, if the issue of the elder son
 43605     Succeed before the younger, I am King.
 43606   WARWICK. What plain proceedings is more plain than this?
 43607     Henry doth claim the crown from John of Gaunt,
 43608     The fourth son: York claims it from the third.
 43609     Till Lionel's issue fails, his should not reign.
 43610     It fails not yet, but flourishes in thee
 43611     And in thy sons, fair slips of such a stock.
 43612     Then, father Salisbury, kneel we together,
 43613     And in this private plot be we the first
 43614     That shall salute our rightful sovereign
 43615     With honour of his birthright to the crown.
 43616   BOTH. Long live our sovereign Richard, England's King!
 43617   YORK. We thank you, lords. But I am not your king
 43618     Till I be crown'd, and that my sword be stain'd
 43619     With heart-blood of the house of Lancaster;
 43620     And that's not suddenly to be perform'd,
 43621     But with advice and silent secrecy.
 43622     Do you as I do in these dangerous days:
 43623     Wink at the Duke of Suffolk's insolence,
 43624     At Beaufort's pride, at Somerset's ambition,
 43625     At Buckingham, and all the crew of them,
 43626     Till they have snar'd the shepherd of the flock,
 43627     That virtuous prince, the good Duke Humphrey;
 43628     'Tis that they seek; and they, in seeking that,
 43629     Shall find their deaths, if York can prophesy.
 43630   SALISBURY. My lord, break we off; we know your mind at full.
 43631   WARWICK. My heart assures me that the Earl of Warwick
 43632     Shall one day make the Duke of York a king.
 43633   YORK. And, Nevil, this I do assure myself,
 43634     Richard shall live to make the Earl of Warwick
 43635     The greatest man in England but the King.             Exeunt
 43636 
 43637 
 43638 
 43639 
 43640 SCENE III.
 43641 London. A hall of justice
 43642 
 43643 Sound trumpets. Enter the KING and State: the QUEEN, GLOUCESTER, YORK,
 43644 SUFFOLK, and SALISBURY, with guard, to banish the DUCHESS. Enter, guarded,
 43645 the DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER, MARGERY JOURDAIN, HUME, SOUTHWELL, and BOLINGBROKE
 43646 
 43647   KING HENRY. Stand forth, Dame Eleanor Cobham, Gloucester's wife:
 43648     In sight of God and us, your guilt is great;
 43649     Receive the sentence of the law for sins
 43650     Such as by God's book are adjudg'd to death.
 43651     You four, from hence to prison back again;
 43652     From thence unto the place of execution:
 43653     The witch in Smithfield shall be burnt to ashes,
 43654     And you three shall be strangled on the gallows.
 43655     You, madam, for you are more nobly born,
 43656     Despoiled of your honour in your life,
 43657     Shall, after three days' open penance done,
 43658     Live in your country here in banishment
 43659     With Sir John Stanley in the Isle of Man.
 43660   DUCHESS. Welcome is banishment; welcome were my death.
 43661   GLOUCESTER. Eleanor, the law, thou seest, hath judged thee.
 43662     I cannot justify whom the law condemns.
 43663              Exeunt the DUCHESS and the other prisoners, guarded
 43664     Mine eyes are full of tears, my heart of grief.
 43665     Ah, Humphrey, this dishonour in thine age
 43666     Will bring thy head with sorrow to the ground!
 43667     I beseech your Majesty give me leave to go;
 43668     Sorrow would solace, and mine age would ease.
 43669   KING HENRY. Stay, Humphrey Duke of Gloucester; ere thou go,
 43670     Give up thy staff; Henry will to himself
 43671     Protector be; and God shall be my hope,
 43672     My stay, my guide, and lantern to my feet.
 43673     And go in peace, Humphrey, no less belov'd
 43674     Than when thou wert Protector to thy King.
 43675   QUEEN. I see no reason why a king of years
 43676     Should be to be protected like a child.
 43677     God and King Henry govern England's realm!
 43678     Give up your staff, sir, and the King his realm.
 43679   GLOUCESTER. My staff! Here, noble Henry, is my staff.
 43680     As willingly do I the same resign
 43681     As ere thy father Henry made it mine;
 43682     And even as willingly at thy feet I leave it
 43683     As others would ambitiously receive it.
 43684     Farewell, good King; when I am dead and gone,
 43685     May honourable peace attend thy throne!                 Exit
 43686   QUEEN. Why, now is Henry King, and Margaret Queen,
 43687     And Humphrey Duke of Gloucester scarce himself,
 43688     That bears so shrewd a maim: two pulls at once-
 43689     His lady banish'd and a limb lopp'd off.
 43690     This staff of honour raught, there let it stand
 43691     Where it best fits to be, in Henry's hand.
 43692   SUFFOLK. Thus droops this lofty pine and hangs his sprays;
 43693     Thus Eleanor's pride dies in her youngest days.
 43694   YORK. Lords, let him go. Please it your Majesty,
 43695     This is the day appointed for the combat;
 43696     And ready are the appellant and defendant,
 43697     The armourer and his man, to enter the lists,
 43698     So please your Highness to behold the fight.
 43699   QUEEN. Ay, good my lord; for purposely therefore
 43700     Left I the court, to see this quarrel tried.
 43701   KING HENRY. A God's name, see the lists and all things fit;
 43702     Here let them end it, and God defend the right!
 43703   YORK. I never saw a fellow worse bested,
 43704     Or more afraid to fight, than is the appellant,
 43705     The servant of his armourer, my lords.
 43706 
 43707         Enter at one door, HORNER, the Armourer, and his
 43708          NEIGHBOURS, drinking to him so much that he is
 43709         drunk; and he enters with a drum before him and
 43710        his staff with a sand-bag fastened to it; and at the
 43711         other door PETER, his man, with a drum and sandbag,
 43712                   and PRENTICES drinking to him
 43713 
 43714   FIRST NEIGHBOUR. Here, neighbour Horner, I drink to you in a cup of
 43715     sack; and fear not, neighbour, you shall do well enough.
 43716   SECOND NEIGHBOUR. And here, neighbour, here's a cup of charneco.
 43717   THIRD NEIGHBOUR. And here's a pot of good double beer, neighbour;
 43718     drink, and fear not your man.
 43719   HORNER. Let it come, i' faith, and I'll pledge you all; and a fig
 43720     for Peter!
 43721   FIRST PRENTICE. Here, Peter, I drink to thee; and be not afraid.
 43722   SECOND PRENTICE. Be merry, Peter, and fear not thy master: fight
 43723     for credit of the prentices.
 43724   PETER. I thank you all. Drink, and pray for me, I pray you; for I
 43725     think I have taken my last draught in this world. Here, Robin, an
 43726     if I die, I give thee my apron; and, Will, thou shalt have my
 43727     hammer; and here, Tom, take all the money that I have. O Lord
 43728     bless me, I pray God! for I am never able to deal with my master,
 43729     he hath learnt so much fence already.
 43730   SALISBURY. Come, leave your drinking and fall to blows.
 43731     Sirrah, what's thy name?
 43732   PETER. Peter, forsooth.
 43733   SALISBURY. Peter? What more?
 43734   PETER. Thump.
 43735   SALISBURY. Thump? Then see thou thump thy master well.
 43736   HORNER. Masters, I am come hither, as it were, upon my man's
 43737     instigation, to prove him a knave and myself an honest man; and
 43738     touching the Duke of York, I will take my death I never meant him
 43739     any ill, nor the King, nor the Queen; and therefore, Peter, have
 43740     at thee with a down right blow!
 43741   YORK. Dispatch- this knave's tongue begins to double.
 43742     Sound, trumpets, alarum to the combatants!
 43743                  [Alarum. They fight and PETER strikes him down]
 43744   HORNER. Hold, Peter, hold! I confess, I confess treason.
 43745                                                           [Dies]
 43746   YORK. Take away his weapon. Fellow, thank God, and the good wine in
 43747     thy master's way.
 43748   PETER. O God, have I overcome mine enemies in this presence? O
 43749     Peter, thou hast prevail'd in right!
 43750   KING HENRY. Go, take hence that traitor from our sight,
 43751     For by his death we do perceive his guilt;
 43752     And God in justice hath reveal'd to us
 43753     The truth and innocence of this poor fellow,
 43754     Which he had thought to have murder'd wrongfully.
 43755     Come, fellow, follow us for thy reward.
 43756                                         Sound a flourish. Exeunt
 43757 
 43758 
 43759 
 43760 
 43761 SCENE IV.
 43762 London. A street
 43763 
 43764 Enter DUKE HUMPHREY and his men, in mourning cloaks
 43765 
 43766   GLOUCESTER. Thus sometimes hath the brightest day a cloud,
 43767     And after summer evermore succeeds
 43768     Barren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold;
 43769     So cares and joys abound, as seasons fleet.
 43770     Sirs, what's o'clock?
 43771   SERVING-MAN. Ten, my lord.
 43772   GLOUCESTER. Ten is the hour that was appointed me
 43773     To watch the coming of my punish'd duchess.
 43774     Uneath may she endure the flinty streets
 43775     To tread them with her tender-feeling feet.
 43776     Sweet Nell, ill can thy noble mind abrook
 43777     The abject people gazing on thy face,
 43778     With envious looks, laughing at thy shame,
 43779     That erst did follow thy proud chariot wheels
 43780     When thou didst ride in triumph through the streets.
 43781     But, soft! I think she comes, and I'll prepare
 43782     My tear-stain'd eyes to see her miseries.
 43783 
 43784           Enter the DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER in a white sheet,
 43785             and a taper burning in her hand, with SIR JOHN
 43786                STANLEY, the SHERIFF, and OFFICERS
 43787 
 43788   SERVING-MAN. So please your Grace, we'll take her from the sheriff.
 43789   GLOUCESTER. No, stir not for your lives; let her pass by.
 43790   DUCHESS. Come you, my lord, to see my open shame?
 43791     Now thou dost penance too. Look how they gaze!
 43792     See how the giddy multitude do point
 43793     And nod their heads and throw their eyes on thee;
 43794     Ah, Gloucester, hide thee from their hateful looks,
 43795     And, in thy closet pent up, rue my shame
 43796     And ban thine enemies, both mine and thine!
 43797   GLOUCESTER. Be patient, gentle Nell; forget this grief.
 43798   DUCHESS. Ah, Gloucester, teach me to forget myself!
 43799     For whilst I think I am thy married wife
 43800     And thou a prince, Protector of this land,
 43801     Methinks I should not thus be led along,
 43802     Mail'd up in shame, with papers on my back,
 43803     And follow'd with a rabble that rejoice
 43804     To see my tears and hear my deep-fet groans.
 43805     The ruthless flint doth cut my tender feet,
 43806     And when I start, the envious people laugh
 43807     And bid me be advised how I tread.
 43808     Ah, Humphrey, can I bear this shameful yoke?
 43809     Trowest thou that e'er I'll look upon the world
 43810     Or count them happy that enjoy the sun?
 43811     No; dark shall be my light and night my day;
 43812     To think upon my pomp shall be my hell.
 43813     Sometimes I'll say I am Duke Humphrey's wife,
 43814     And he a prince, and ruler of the land;
 43815     Yet so he rul'd, and such a prince he was,
 43816     As he stood by whilst I, his forlorn duchess,
 43817     Was made a wonder and a pointing-stock
 43818     To every idle rascal follower.
 43819     But be thou mild, and blush not at my shame,
 43820     Nor stir at nothing till the axe of death
 43821     Hang over thee, as sure it shortly will.
 43822     For Suffolk- he that can do all in all
 43823     With her that hateth thee and hates us all-
 43824     And York, and impious Beaufort, that false priest,
 43825     Have all lim'd bushes to betray thy wings,
 43826     And, fly thou how thou canst, they'll tangle thee.
 43827     But fear not thou until thy foot be snar'd,
 43828     Nor never seek prevention of thy foes.
 43829   GLOUCESTER. Ah, Nell, forbear! Thou aimest all awry.
 43830     I must offend before I be attainted;
 43831     And had I twenty times so many foes,
 43832     And each of them had twenty times their power,
 43833     All these could not procure me any scathe
 43834     So long as I am loyal, true, and crimeless.
 43835     Wouldst have me rescue thee from this reproach?
 43836     Why, yet thy scandal were not wip'd away,
 43837     But I in danger for the breach of law.
 43838     Thy greatest help is quiet, gentle Nell.
 43839     I pray thee sort thy heart to patience;
 43840     These few days' wonder will be quickly worn.
 43841 
 43842                           Enter a HERALD
 43843 
 43844   HERALD. I summon your Grace to his Majesty's Parliament,
 43845     Holden at Bury the first of this next month.
 43846   GLOUCESTER. And my consent ne'er ask'd herein before!
 43847     This is close dealing. Well, I will be there.    Exit HERALD
 43848     My Nell, I take my leave- and, master sheriff,
 43849     Let not her penance exceed the King's commission.
 43850   SHERIFF. An't please your Grace, here my commission stays;
 43851     And Sir John Stanley is appointed now
 43852     To take her with him to the Isle of Man.
 43853   GLOUCESTER. Must you, Sir John, protect my lady here?
 43854   STANLEY. So am I given in charge, may't please your Grace.
 43855   GLOUCESTER. Entreat her not the worse in that I pray
 43856     You use her well; the world may laugh again,
 43857     And I may live to do you kindness if
 43858     You do it her. And so, Sir John, farewell.
 43859   DUCHESS. What, gone, my lord, and bid me not farewell!
 43860   GLOUCESTER. Witness my tears, I cannot stay to speak.
 43861                                   Exeunt GLOUCESTER and servants
 43862   DUCHESS. Art thou gone too? All comfort go with thee!
 43863     For none abides with me. My joy is death-
 43864     Death, at whose name I oft have been afeard,
 43865     Because I wish'd this world's eternity.
 43866     Stanley, I prithee go, and take me hence;
 43867     I care not whither, for I beg no favour,
 43868     Only convey me where thou art commanded.
 43869   STANLEY. Why, madam, that is to the Isle of Man,
 43870     There to be us'd according to your state.
 43871   DUCHESS. That's bad enough, for I am but reproach-
 43872     And shall I then be us'd reproachfully?
 43873   STANLEY. Like to a duchess and Duke Humphrey's lady;
 43874     According to that state you shall be us'd.
 43875   DUCHESS. Sheriff, farewell, and better than I fare,
 43876     Although thou hast been conduct of my shame.
 43877   SHERIFF. It is my office; and, madam, pardon me.
 43878   DUCHESS. Ay, ay, farewell; thy office is discharg'd.
 43879     Come, Stanley, shall we go?
 43880   STANLEY. Madam, your penance done, throw off this sheet,
 43881     And go we to attire you for our journey.
 43882   DUCHESS. My shame will not be shifted with my sheet.
 43883     No, it will hang upon my richest robes
 43884     And show itself, attire me how I can.
 43885     Go, lead the way; I long to see my prison.            Exeunt
 43886 
 43887 
 43888 
 43889 
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 43898 
 43899 
 43900 
 43901 ACT III. SCENE I.
 43902 The Abbey at Bury St. Edmunds
 43903 
 43904 Sound a sennet. Enter the KING, the QUEEN, CARDINAL, SUFFOLK, YORK,
 43905 BUCKINGHAM, SALISBURY, and WARWICK, to the Parliament
 43906 
 43907   KING HENRY. I muse my Lord of Gloucester is not come.
 43908     'Tis not his wont to be the hindmost man,
 43909     Whate'er occasion keeps him from us now.
 43910   QUEEN. Can you not see, or will ye not observe
 43911     The strangeness of his alter'd countenance?
 43912     With what a majesty he bears himself;
 43913     How insolent of late he is become,
 43914     How proud, how peremptory, and unlike himself?
 43915     We know the time since he was mild and affable,
 43916     And if we did but glance a far-off look
 43917     Immediately he was upon his knee,
 43918     That all the court admir'd him for submission.
 43919     But meet him now and be it in the morn,
 43920     When every one will give the time of day,
 43921     He knits his brow and shows an angry eye
 43922     And passeth by with stiff unbowed knee,
 43923     Disdaining duty that to us belongs.
 43924     Small curs are not regarded when they grin,
 43925     But great men tremble when the lion roars,
 43926     And Humphrey is no little man in England.
 43927     First note that he is near you in descent,
 43928     And should you fall he is the next will mount;
 43929     Me seemeth, then, it is no policy-
 43930     Respecting what a rancorous mind he bears,
 43931     And his advantage following your decease-
 43932     That he should come about your royal person
 43933     Or be admitted to your Highness' Council.
 43934     By flattery hath he won the commons' hearts;
 43935     And when he please to make commotion,
 43936     'Tis to be fear'd they all will follow him.
 43937     Now 'tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted;
 43938     Suffer them now, and they'll o'ergrow the garden
 43939     And choke the herbs for want of husbandry.
 43940     The reverent care I bear unto my lord
 43941     Made me collect these dangers in the Duke.
 43942     If it be fond, can it a woman's fear;
 43943     Which fear if better reasons can supplant,
 43944     I will subscribe, and say I wrong'd the Duke.
 43945     My Lord of Suffolk, Buckingham, and York,
 43946     Reprove my allegation if you can,
 43947     Or else conclude my words effectual.
 43948   SUFFOLK. Well hath your Highness seen into this duke;
 43949     And had I first been put to speak my mind,
 43950     I think I should have told your Grace's tale.
 43951     The Duchess, by his subornation,
 43952     Upon my life, began her devilish practices;
 43953     Or if he were not privy to those faults,
 43954     Yet by reputing of his high descent-
 43955     As next the King he was successive heir-
 43956     And such high vaunts of his nobility,
 43957     Did instigate the bedlam brainsick Duchess
 43958     By wicked means to frame our sovereign's fall.
 43959     Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep,
 43960     And in his simple show he harbours treason.
 43961     The fox barks not when he would steal the lamb.
 43962     No, no, my sovereign, Gloucester is a man
 43963     Unsounded yet, and full of deep deceit.
 43964   CARDINAL. Did he not, contrary to form of law,
 43965     Devise strange deaths for small offences done?
 43966   YORK. And did he not, in his protectorship,
 43967     Levy great sums of money through the realm
 43968     For soldiers' pay in France, and never sent it?
 43969     By means whereof the towns each day revolted.
 43970   BUCKINGHAM. Tut, these are petty faults to faults unknown
 43971     Which time will bring to light in smooth Duke Humphrey.
 43972   KING HENRY. My lords, at once: the care you have of us,
 43973     To mow down thorns that would annoy our foot,
 43974     Is worthy praise; but shall I speak my conscience?
 43975     Our kinsman Gloucester is as innocent
 43976     From meaning treason to our royal person
 43977     As is the sucking lamb or harmless dove:
 43978     The Duke is virtuous, mild, and too well given
 43979     To dream on evil or to work my downfall.
 43980   QUEEN. Ah, what's more dangerous than this fond affiance?
 43981     Seems he a dove? His feathers are but borrow'd,
 43982     For he's disposed as the hateful raven.
 43983     Is he a lamb? His skin is surely lent him,
 43984     For he's inclin'd as is the ravenous wolf.
 43985     Who cannot steal a shape that means deceit?
 43986     Take heed, my lord; the welfare of us all
 43987     Hangs on the cutting short that fraudful man.
 43988 
 43989                           Enter SOMERSET
 43990 
 43991   SOMERSET. All health unto my gracious sovereign!
 43992   KING HENRY. Welcome, Lord Somerset. What news from France?
 43993   SOMERSET. That all your interest in those territories
 43994     Is utterly bereft you; all is lost.
 43995   KING HENRY. Cold news, Lord Somerset; but God's will be done!
 43996   YORK. [Aside] Cold news for me; for I had hope of France
 43997     As firmly as I hope for fertile England.
 43998     Thus are my blossoms blasted in the bud,
 43999     And caterpillars eat my leaves away;
 44000     But I will remedy this gear ere long,
 44001     Or sell my title for a glorious grave.
 44002 
 44003                          Enter GLOUCESTER
 44004 
 44005   GLOUCESTER. All happiness unto my lord the King!
 44006     Pardon, my liege, that I have stay'd so long.
 44007   SUFFOLK. Nay, Gloucester, know that thou art come too soon,
 44008     Unless thou wert more loyal than thou art.
 44009     I do arrest thee of high treason here.
 44010   GLOUCESTER. Well, Suffolk, thou shalt not see me blush
 44011     Nor change my countenance for this arrest:
 44012     A heart unspotted is not easily daunted.
 44013     The purest spring is not so free from mud
 44014     As I am clear from treason to my sovereign.
 44015     Who can accuse me? Wherein am I guilty?
 44016   YORK. 'Tis thought, my lord, that you took bribes of France
 44017     And, being Protector, stay'd the soldiers' pay;
 44018     By means whereof his Highness hath lost France.
 44019   GLOUCESTER. Is it but thought so? What are they that think it?
 44020     I never robb'd the soldiers of their pay
 44021     Nor ever had one penny bribe from France.
 44022     So help me God, as I have watch'd the night-
 44023     Ay, night by night- in studying good for England!
 44024     That doit that e'er I wrested from the King,
 44025     Or any groat I hoarded to my use,
 44026     Be brought against me at my trial-day!
 44027     No; many a pound of mine own proper store,
 44028     Because I would not tax the needy commons,
 44029     Have I dispursed to the garrisons,
 44030     And never ask'd for restitution.
 44031   CARDINAL. It serves you well, my lord, to say so much.
 44032   GLOUCESTER. I say no more than truth, so help me God!
 44033   YORK. In your protectorship you did devise
 44034     Strange tortures for offenders, never heard of,
 44035     That England was defam'd by tyranny.
 44036   GLOUCESTER. Why, 'tis well known that whiles I was Protector
 44037     Pity was all the fault that was in me;
 44038     For I should melt at an offender's tears,
 44039     And lowly words were ransom for their fault.
 44040     Unless it were a bloody murderer,
 44041     Or foul felonious thief that fleec'd poor passengers,
 44042     I never gave them condign punishment.
 44043     Murder indeed, that bloody sin, I tortur'd
 44044     Above the felon or what trespass else.
 44045   SUFFOLK. My lord, these faults are easy, quickly answer'd;
 44046     But mightier crimes are laid unto your charge,
 44047     Whereof you cannot easily purge yourself.
 44048     I do arrest you in His Highness' name,
 44049     And here commit you to my Lord Cardinal
 44050     To keep until your further time of trial.
 44051   KING HENRY. My Lord of Gloucester, 'tis my special hope
 44052     That you will clear yourself from all suspense.
 44053     My conscience tells me you are innocent.
 44054   GLOUCESTER. Ah, gracious lord, these days are dangerous!
 44055     Virtue is chok'd with foul ambition,
 44056     And charity chas'd hence by rancour's hand;
 44057     Foul subornation is predominant,
 44058     And equity exil'd your Highness' land.
 44059     I know their complot is to have my life;
 44060     And if my death might make this island happy
 44061     And prove the period of their tyranny,
 44062     I would expend it with all willingness.
 44063     But mine is made the prologue to their play;
 44064     For thousands more that yet suspect no peril
 44065     Will not conclude their plotted tragedy.
 44066     Beaufort's red sparkling eyes blab his heart's malice,
 44067     And Suffolk's cloudy brow his stormy hate;
 44068     Sharp Buckingham unburdens with his tongue
 44069     The envious load that lies upon his heart;
 44070     And dogged York, that reaches at the moon,
 44071     Whose overweening arm I have pluck'd back,
 44072     By false accuse doth level at my life.
 44073     And you, my sovereign lady, with the rest,
 44074     Causeless have laid disgraces on my head,
 44075     And with your best endeavour have stirr'd up
 44076     My liefest liege to be mine enemy;
 44077     Ay, all of you have laid your heads together-
 44078     Myself had notice of your conventicles-
 44079     And all to make away my guiltless life.
 44080     I shall not want false witness to condemn me
 44081     Nor store of treasons to augment my guilt.
 44082     The ancient proverb will be well effected:
 44083     'A staff is quickly found to beat a dog.'
 44084   CARDINAL. My liege, his railing is intolerable.
 44085     If those that care to keep your royal person
 44086     From treason's secret knife and traitor's rage
 44087     Be thus upbraided, chid, and rated at,
 44088     And the offender granted scope of speech,
 44089     'Twill make them cool in zeal unto your Grace.
 44090   SUFFOLK. Hath he not twit our sovereign lady here
 44091     With ignominious words, though clerkly couch'd,
 44092     As if she had suborned some to swear
 44093     False allegations to o'erthrow his state?
 44094   QUEEN. But I can give the loser leave to chide.
 44095   GLOUCESTER. Far truer spoke than meant: I lose indeed.
 44096     Beshrew the winners, for they play'd me false!
 44097     And well such losers may have leave to speak.
 44098   BUCKINGHAM. He'll wrest the sense, and hold us here all day.
 44099     Lord Cardinal, he is your prisoner.
 44100   CARDINAL. Sirs, take away the Duke, and guard him sure.
 44101   GLOUCESTER. Ah, thus King Henry throws away his crutch
 44102     Before his legs be firm to bear his body!
 44103     Thus is the shepherd beaten from thy side,
 44104     And wolves are gnarling who shall gnaw thee first.
 44105     Ah, that my fear were false! ah, that it were!
 44106     For, good King Henry, thy decay I fear.        Exit, guarded
 44107   KING HENRY. My lords, what to your wisdoms seemeth best
 44108     Do or undo, as if ourself were here.
 44109   QUEEN. What, will your Highness leave the Parliament?
 44110   KING HENRY. Ay, Margaret; my heart is drown'd with grief,
 44111     Whose flood begins to flow within mine eyes;
 44112     My body round engirt with misery-
 44113     For what's more miserable than discontent?
 44114     Ah, uncle Humphrey, in thy face I see
 44115     The map of honour, truth, and loyalty!
 44116     And yet, good Humphrey, is the hour to come
 44117     That e'er I prov'd thee false or fear'd thy faith.
 44118     What louring star now envies thy estate
 44119     That these great lords, and Margaret our Queen,
 44120     Do seek subversion of thy harmless life?
 44121     Thou never didst them wrong, nor no man wrong;
 44122     And as the butcher takes away the calf,
 44123     And binds the wretch, and beats it when it strays,
 44124     Bearing it to the bloody slaughter-house,
 44125     Even so, remorseless, have they borne him hence;
 44126     And as the dam runs lowing up and down,
 44127     Looking the way her harmless young one went,
 44128     And can do nought but wail her darling's loss,
 44129     Even so myself bewails good Gloucester's case
 44130     With sad unhelpful tears, and with dimm'd eyes
 44131     Look after him, and cannot do him good,
 44132     So mighty are his vowed enemies.
 44133     His fortunes I will weep, and 'twixt each groan
 44134     Say 'Who's a traitor? Gloucester he is none.'           Exit
 44135   QUEEN. Free lords, cold snow melts with the sun's hot beams:
 44136     Henry my lord is cold in great affairs,
 44137     Too full of foolish pity; and Gloucester's show
 44138     Beguiles him as the mournful crocodile
 44139     With sorrow snares relenting passengers;
 44140     Or as the snake, roll'd in a flow'ring bank,
 44141     With shining checker'd slough, doth sting a child
 44142     That for the beauty thinks it excellent.
 44143     Believe me, lords, were none more wise than I-
 44144     And yet herein I judge mine own wit good-
 44145     This Gloucester should be quickly rid the world
 44146     To rid us from the fear we have of him.
 44147   CARDINAL. That he should die is worthy policy;
 44148     But yet we want a colour for his death.
 44149     'Tis meet he be condemn'd by course of law.
 44150   SUFFOLK. But, in my mind, that were no policy:
 44151     The King will labour still to save his life;
 44152     The commons haply rise to save his life;
 44153     And yet we have but trivial argument,
 44154     More than mistrust, that shows him worthy death.
 44155   YORK. So that, by this, you would not have him die.
 44156   SUFFOLK. Ah, York, no man alive so fain as I!
 44157   YORK. 'Tis York that hath more reason for his death.
 44158     But, my Lord Cardinal, and you, my Lord of Suffolk,
 44159     Say as you think, and speak it from your souls:
 44160     Were't not all one an empty eagle were set
 44161     To guard the chicken from a hungry kite
 44162     As place Duke Humphrey for the King's Protector?
 44163   QUEEN. So the poor chicken should be sure of death.
 44164   SUFFOLK. Madam, 'tis true; and were't not madness then
 44165     To make the fox surveyor of the fold?
 44166     Who being accus'd a crafty murderer,
 44167     His guilt should be but idly posted over,
 44168     Because his purpose is not executed.
 44169     No; let him die, in that he is a fox,
 44170     By nature prov'd an enemy to the flock,
 44171     Before his chaps be stain'd with crimson blood,
 44172     As Humphrey, prov'd by reasons, to my liege.
 44173     And do not stand on quillets how to slay him;
 44174     Be it by gins, by snares, by subtlety,
 44175     Sleeping or waking, 'tis no matter how,
 44176     So he be dead; for that is good deceit
 44177     Which mates him first that first intends deceit.
 44178   QUEEN. Thrice-noble Suffolk, 'tis resolutely spoke.
 44179   SUFFOLK. Not resolute, except so much were done,
 44180     For things are often spoke and seldom meant;
 44181     But that my heart accordeth with my tongue,
 44182     Seeing the deed is meritorious,
 44183     And to preserve my sovereign from his foe,
 44184     Say but the word, and I will be his priest.
 44185   CARDINAL. But I would have him dead, my Lord of Suffolk,
 44186     Ere you can take due orders for a priest;
 44187     Say you consent and censure well the deed,
 44188     And I'll provide his executioner-
 44189     I tender so the safety of my liege.
 44190   SUFFOLK. Here is my hand the deed is worthy doing.
 44191   QUEEN. And so say I.
 44192   YORK. And I. And now we three have spoke it,
 44193     It skills not greatly who impugns our doom.
 44194 
 44195                           Enter a POST
 44196 
 44197   POST. Great lords, from Ireland am I come amain
 44198     To signify that rebels there are up
 44199     And put the Englishmen unto the sword.
 44200     Send succours, lords, and stop the rage betime,
 44201     Before the wound do grow uncurable;
 44202     For, being green, there is great hope of help.
 44203   CARDINAL. A breach that craves a quick expedient stop!
 44204     What counsel give you in this weighty cause?
 44205   YORK. That Somerset be sent as Regent thither;
 44206     'Tis meet that lucky ruler be employ'd,
 44207     Witness the fortune he hath had in France.
 44208   SOMERSET. If York, with all his far-fet policy,
 44209     Had been the Regent there instead of me,
 44210     He never would have stay'd in France so long.
 44211   YORK. No, not to lose it all as thou hast done.
 44212     I rather would have lost my life betimes
 44213     Than bring a burden of dishonour home
 44214     By staying there so long till all were lost.
 44215     Show me one scar character'd on thy skin:
 44216     Men's flesh preserv'd so whole do seldom win.
 44217   QUEEN. Nay then, this spark will prove a raging fire,
 44218     If wind and fuel be brought to feed it with;
 44219     No more, good York; sweet Somerset, be still.
 44220     Thy fortune, York, hadst thou been Regent there,
 44221     Might happily have prov'd far worse than his.
 44222   YORK. What, worse than nought? Nay, then a shame take all!
 44223   SOMERSET. And in the number, thee that wishest shame!
 44224   CARDINAL. My Lord of York, try what your fortune is.
 44225     Th' uncivil kerns of Ireland are in arms
 44226     And temper clay with blood of Englishmen;
 44227     To Ireland will you lead a band of men,
 44228     Collected choicely, from each county some,
 44229     And try your hap against the Irishmen?
 44230   YORK. I will, my lord, so please his Majesty.
 44231   SUFFOLK. Why, our authority is his consent,
 44232     And what we do establish he confirms;
 44233     Then, noble York, take thou this task in hand.
 44234   YORK. I am content; provide me soldiers, lords,
 44235     Whiles I take order for mine own affairs.
 44236   SUFFOLK. A charge, Lord York, that I will see perform'd.
 44237     But now return we to the false Duke Humphrey.
 44238   CARDINAL. No more of him; for I will deal with him
 44239     That henceforth he shall trouble us no more.
 44240     And so break off; the day is almost spent.
 44241     Lord Suffolk, you and I must talk of that event.
 44242   YORK. My Lord of Suffolk, within fourteen days
 44243     At Bristol I expect my soldiers;
 44244     For there I'll ship them all for Ireland.
 44245   SUFFOLK. I'll see it truly done, my Lord of York.
 44246                                              Exeunt all but YORK
 44247   YORK. Now, York, or never, steel thy fearful thoughts
 44248     And change misdoubt to resolution;
 44249     Be that thou hop'st to be; or what thou art
 44250     Resign to death- it is not worth th' enjoying.
 44251     Let pale-fac'd fear keep with the mean-born man
 44252     And find no harbour in a royal heart.
 44253     Faster than spring-time show'rs comes thought on thought,
 44254     And not a thought but thinks on dignity.
 44255     My brain, more busy than the labouring spider,
 44256     Weaves tedious snares to trap mine enemies.
 44257     Well, nobles, well, 'tis politicly done
 44258     To send me packing with an host of men.
 44259     I fear me you but warm the starved snake,
 44260     Who, cherish'd in your breasts, will sting your hearts.
 44261     'Twas men I lack'd, and you will give them me;
 44262     I take it kindly. Yet be well assur'd
 44263     You put sharp weapons in a madman's hands.
 44264     Whiles I in Ireland nourish a mighty band,
 44265     I will stir up in England some black storm
 44266     Shall blow ten thousand souls to heaven or hell;
 44267     And this fell tempest shall not cease to rage
 44268     Until the golden circuit on my head,
 44269     Like to the glorious sun's transparent beams,
 44270     Do calm the fury of this mad-bred flaw.
 44271     And for a minister of my intent
 44272     I have seduc'd a headstrong Kentishman,
 44273     John Cade of Ashford,
 44274     To make commotion, as full well he can,
 44275     Under the tide of John Mortimer.
 44276     In Ireland have I seen this stubborn Cade
 44277     Oppose himself against a troop of kerns,
 44278     And fought so long tiff that his thighs with darts
 44279     Were almost like a sharp-quill'd porpentine;
 44280     And in the end being rescu'd, I have seen
 44281     Him caper upright like a wild Morisco,
 44282     Shaking the bloody darts as he his bells.
 44283     Full often, like a shag-hair'd crafty kern,
 44284     Hath he conversed with the enemy,
 44285     And undiscover'd come to me again
 44286     And given me notice of their villainies.
 44287     This devil here shall be my substitute;
 44288     For that John Mortimer, which now is dead,
 44289     In face, in gait, in speech, he doth resemble.
 44290     By this I shall perceive the commons' mind,
 44291     How they affect the house and claim of York.
 44292     Say he be taken, rack'd, and tortured;
 44293     I know no pain they can inflict upon him
 44294     Will make him say I mov'd him to those arms.
 44295     Say that he thrive, as 'tis great like he will,
 44296     Why, then from Ireland come I with my strength,
 44297     And reap the harvest which that rascal sow'd;
 44298     For Humphrey being dead, as he shall be,
 44299     And Henry put apart, the next for me.                   Exit
 44300 
 44301 
 44302 
 44303 
 44304 SCENE II.
 44305 Bury St. Edmunds. A room of state
 44306 
 44307 Enter two or three MURDERERS running over the stage,
 44308 from the murder of DUKE HUMPHREY
 44309 
 44310   FIRST MURDERER. Run to my Lord of Suffolk; let him know
 44311     We have dispatch'd the Duke, as he commanded.
 44312   SECOND MURDERER. O that it were to do! What have we done?
 44313     Didst ever hear a man so penitent?
 44314 
 44315                            Enter SUFFOLK
 44316 
 44317   FIRST MURDERER. Here comes my lord.
 44318   SUFFOLK. Now, sirs, have you dispatch'd this thing?
 44319   FIRST MURDERER. Ay, my good lord, he's dead.
 44320   SUFFOLK. Why, that's well said. Go, get you to my house;
 44321     I will reward you for this venturous deed.
 44322     The King and all the peers are here at hand.
 44323     Have you laid fair the bed? Is all things well,
 44324     According as I gave directions?
 44325   FIRST MURDERER. 'Tis, my good lord.
 44326   SUFFOLK. Away! be gone.                       Exeunt MURDERERS
 44327 
 44328              Sound trumpets. Enter the KING, the QUEEN,
 44329                 CARDINAL, SOMERSET, with attendants
 44330 
 44331   KING HENRY. Go call our uncle to our presence straight;
 44332     Say we intend to try his Grace to-day,
 44333     If he be guilty, as 'tis published.
 44334   SUFFOLK. I'll call him presently, my noble lord.          Exit
 44335   KING HENRY. Lords, take your places; and, I pray you all,
 44336     Proceed no straiter 'gainst our uncle Gloucester
 44337     Than from true evidence, of good esteem,
 44338     He be approv'd in practice culpable.
 44339   QUEEN. God forbid any malice should prevail
 44340     That faultless may condemn a nobleman!
 44341     Pray God he may acquit him of suspicion!
 44342   KING HENRY. I thank thee, Meg; these words content me much.
 44343 
 44344                            Re-enter SUFFOLK
 44345 
 44346     How now! Why look'st thou pale? Why tremblest thou?
 44347     Where is our uncle? What's the matter, Suffolk?
 44348   SUFFOLK. Dead in his bed, my lord; Gloucester is dead.
 44349   QUEEN. Marry, God forfend!
 44350   CARDINAL. God's secret judgment! I did dream to-night
 44351     The Duke was dumb and could not speak a word.
 44352                                                [The KING swoons]
 44353   QUEEN. How fares my lord? Help, lords! The King is dead.
 44354   SOMERSET. Rear up his body; wring him by the nose.
 44355   QUEEN. Run, go, help, help! O Henry, ope thine eyes!
 44356   SUFFOLK. He doth revive again; madam, be patient.
 44357   KING. O heavenly God!
 44358   QUEEN. How fares my gracious lord?
 44359   SUFFOLK. Comfort, my sovereign! Gracious Henry, comfort!
 44360   KING HENRY. What, doth my Lord of Suffolk comfort me?
 44361     Came he right now to sing a raven's note,
 44362     Whose dismal tune bereft my vital pow'rs;
 44363     And thinks he that the chirping of a wren,
 44364     By crying comfort from a hollow breast,
 44365     Can chase away the first conceived sound?
 44366     Hide not thy poison with such sug'red words;
 44367     Lay not thy hands on me; forbear, I say,
 44368     Their touch affrights me as a serpent's sting.
 44369     Thou baleful messenger, out of my sight!
 44370     Upon thy eye-balls murderous tyranny
 44371     Sits in grim majesty to fright the world.
 44372     Look not upon me, for thine eyes are wounding;
 44373     Yet do not go away; come, basilisk,
 44374     And kill the innocent gazer with thy sight;
 44375     For in the shade of death I shall find joy-
 44376     In life but double death,'now Gloucester's dead.
 44377   QUEEN. Why do you rate my Lord of Suffolk thus?
 44378     Although the Duke was enemy to him,
 44379     Yet he most Christian-like laments his death;
 44380     And for myself- foe as he was to me-
 44381     Might liquid tears, or heart-offending groans,
 44382     Or blood-consuming sighs, recall his life,
 44383     I would be blind with weeping, sick with groans,
 44384     Look pale as primrose with blood-drinking sighs,
 44385     And all to have the noble Duke alive.
 44386     What know I how the world may deem of me?
 44387     For it is known we were but hollow friends:
 44388     It may be judg'd I made the Duke away;
 44389     So shall my name with slander's tongue be wounded,
 44390     And princes' courts be fill'd with my reproach.
 44391     This get I by his death. Ay me, unhappy!
 44392     To be a queen and crown'd with infamy!
 44393   KING HENRY. Ah, woe is me for Gloucester, wretched man!
 44394   QUEEN. Be woe for me, more wretched than he is.
 44395     What, dost thou turn away, and hide thy face?
 44396     I am no loathsome leper- look on me.
 44397     What, art thou like the adder waxen deaf?
 44398     Be poisonous too, and kill thy forlorn Queen.
 44399     Is all thy comfort shut in Gloucester's tomb?
 44400     Why, then Dame Margaret was ne'er thy joy.
 44401     Erect his statue and worship it,
 44402     And make my image but an alehouse sign.
 44403     Was I for this nigh wreck'd upon the sea,
 44404     And twice by awkward wind from England's bank
 44405     Drove back again unto my native clime?
 44406     What boded this but well-forewarning wind
 44407     Did seem to say 'Seek not a scorpion's nest,
 44408     Nor set no footing on this unkind shore'?
 44409     What did I then but curs'd the gentle gusts,
 44410     And he that loos'd them forth their brazen caves;
 44411     And bid them blow towards England's blessed shore,
 44412     Or turn our stern upon a dreadful rock?
 44413     Yet Aeolus would not be a murderer,
 44414     But left that hateful office unto thee.
 44415     The pretty-vaulting sea refus'd to drown me,
 44416     Knowing that thou wouldst have me drown'd on shore
 44417     With tears as salt as sea through thy unkindness;
 44418     The splitting rocks cow'r'd in the sinking sands
 44419     And would not dash me with their ragged sides,
 44420     Because thy flinty heart, more hard than they,
 44421     Might in thy palace perish Margaret.
 44422     As far as I could ken thy chalky cliffs,
 44423     When from thy shore the tempest beat us back,
 44424     I stood upon the hatches in the storm;
 44425     And when the dusky sky began to rob
 44426     My earnest-gaping sight of thy land's view,
 44427     I took a costly jewel from my neck-
 44428     A heart it was, bound in with diamonds-
 44429     And threw it towards thy land. The sea receiv'd it;
 44430     And so I wish'd thy body might my heart.
 44431     And even with this I lost fair England's view,
 44432     And bid mine eyes be packing with my heart,
 44433     And call'd them blind and dusky spectacles
 44434     For losing ken of Albion's wished coast.
 44435     How often have I tempted Suffolk's tongue-
 44436     The agent of thy foul inconstancy-
 44437     To sit and witch me, as Ascanius did
 44438     When he to madding Dido would unfold
 44439     His father's acts commenc'd in burning Troy!
 44440     Am I not witch'd like her? Or thou not false like him?
 44441     Ay me, I can no more! Die, Margaret,
 44442     For Henry weeps that thou dost live so long.
 44443 
 44444                Noise within. Enter WARWICK, SALISBURY,
 44445                           and many commons
 44446 
 44447   WARWICK. It is reported, mighty sovereign,
 44448     That good Duke Humphrey traitorously is murd'red
 44449     By Suffolk and the Cardinal Beaufort's means.
 44450     The commons, like an angry hive of bees
 44451     That want their leader, scatter up and down
 44452     And care not who they sting in his revenge.
 44453     Myself have calm'd their spleenful mutiny
 44454     Until they hear the order of his death.
 44455   KING HENRY. That he is dead, good Warwick, 'tis too true;
 44456     But how he died God knows, not Henry.
 44457     Enter his chamber, view his breathless corpse,
 44458     And comment then upon his sudden death.
 44459   WARWICK. That shall I do, my liege. Stay, Salisbury,
 44460     With the rude multitude till I return.                  Exit
 44461                                    Exit SALISBURY with the commons
 44462   KING HENRY. O Thou that judgest all things, stay my thoughts-
 44463     My thoughts that labour to persuade my soul
 44464     Some violent hands were laid on Humphrey's life!
 44465     If my suspect be false, forgive me, God;
 44466     For judgment only doth belong to Thee.
 44467     Fain would I go to chafe his paly lips
 44468     With twenty thousand kisses and to drain
 44469     Upon his face an ocean of salt tears
 44470     To tell my love unto his dumb deaf trunk;
 44471     And with my fingers feel his hand un-feeling;
 44472     But all in vain are these mean obsequies;
 44473     And to survey his dead and earthy image,
 44474     What were it but to make my sorrow greater?
 44475 
 44476                Bed put forth with the body. Enter WARWICK
 44477 
 44478   WARWICK. Come hither, gracious sovereign, view this body.
 44479   KING HENRY. That is to see how deep my grave is made;
 44480     For with his soul fled all my worldly solace,
 44481     For, seeing him, I see my life in death.
 44482   WARWICK. As surely as my soul intends to live
 44483     With that dread King that took our state upon Him
 44484     To free us from his Father's wrathful curse,
 44485     I do believe that violent hands were laid
 44486     Upon the life of this thrice-famed Duke.
 44487   SUFFOLK. A dreadful oath, sworn with a solemn tongue!
 44488     What instance gives Lord Warwick for his vow?
 44489   WARWICK. See how the blood is settled in his face.
 44490     Oft have I seen a timely-parted ghost,
 44491     Of ashy semblance, meagre, pale, and bloodless,
 44492     Being all descended to the labouring heart,
 44493     Who, in the conflict that it holds with death,
 44494     Attracts the same for aidance 'gainst the enemy,
 44495     Which with the heart there cools, and ne'er returneth
 44496     To blush and beautify the cheek again.
 44497     But see, his face is black and full of blood;
 44498     His eye-balls further out than when he liv'd,
 44499     Staring full ghastly like a strangled man;
 44500     His hair uprear'd, his nostrils stretch'd with struggling;
 44501     His hands abroad display'd, as one that grasp'd
 44502     And tugg'd for life, and was by strength subdu'd.
 44503     Look, on the sheets his hair, you see, is sticking;
 44504     His well-proportion'd beard made rough and rugged,
 44505     Like to the summer's corn by tempest lodged.
 44506     It cannot be but he was murd'red here:
 44507     The least of all these signs were probable.
 44508   SUFFOLK. Why, Warwick, who should do the Duke to death?
 44509     Myself and Beaufort had him in protection;
 44510     And we, I hope, sir, are no murderers.
 44511   WARWICK. But both of you were vow'd Duke Humphrey's foes;
 44512     And you, forsooth, had the good Duke to keep.
 44513     'Tis like you would not feast him like a friend;
 44514     And 'tis well seen he found an enemy.
 44515   QUEEN. Then you, belike, suspect these noblemen
 44516     As guilty of Duke Humphrey's timeless death.
 44517   WARWICK. Who finds the heifer dead and bleeding fresh,
 44518     And sees fast by a butcher with an axe,
 44519     But will suspect 'twas he that made the slaughter?
 44520     Who finds the partridge in the puttock's nest
 44521     But may imagine how the bird was dead,
 44522     Although the kite soar with unbloodied beak?
 44523     Even so suspicious is this tragedy.
 44524   QUEEN. Are you the butcher, Suffolk? Where's your knife?
 44525     Is Beaufort term'd a kite? Where are his talons?
 44526   SUFFOLK. I wear no knife to slaughter sleeping men;
 44527     But here's a vengeful sword, rusted with ease,
 44528     That shall be scoured in his rancorous heart
 44529     That slanders me with murder's crimson badge.
 44530     Say if thou dar'st, proud Lord of Warwickshire,
 44531     That I am faulty in Duke Humphrey's death.
 44532                            Exeunt CARDINAL, SOMERSET, and others
 44533   WARWICK. What dares not Warwick, if false Suffolk dare him?
 44534   QUEEN. He dares not calm his contumelious spirit,
 44535     Nor cease to be an arrogant controller,
 44536     Though Suffolk dare him twenty thousand times.
 44537   WARWICK. Madam, be still- with reverence may I say;
 44538     For every word you speak in his behalf
 44539     Is slander to your royal dignity.
 44540   SUFFOLK. Blunt-witted lord, ignoble in demeanour,
 44541     If ever lady wrong'd her lord so much,
 44542     Thy mother took into her blameful bed
 44543     Some stern untutor'd churl, and noble stock
 44544     Was graft with crab-tree slip, whose fruit thou art,
 44545     And never of the Nevils' noble race.
 44546   WARWICK. But that the guilt of murder bucklers thee,
 44547     And I should rob the deathsman of his fee,
 44548     Quitting thee thereby of ten thousand shames,
 44549     And that my sovereign's presence makes me mild,
 44550     I would, false murd'rous coward, on thy knee
 44551     Make thee beg pardon for thy passed speech
 44552     And say it was thy mother that thou meant'st,
 44553     That thou thyself was born in bastardy;
 44554     And, after all this fearful homage done,
 44555     Give thee thy hire and send thy soul to hell,
 44556     Pernicious blood-sucker of sleeping men.
 44557   SUFFOLK. Thou shalt be waking while I shed thy blood,
 44558     If from this presence thou dar'st go with me.
 44559   WARWICK. Away even now, or I will drag thee hence.
 44560     Unworthy though thou art, I'll cope with thee,
 44561     And do some service to Duke Humphrey's ghost.
 44562                                       Exeunt SUFFOLK and WARWICK
 44563   KING HENRY. What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted?
 44564     Thrice is he arm'd that hath his quarrel just;
 44565     And he but naked, though lock'd up in steel,
 44566     Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.
 44567                                                 [A noise within]
 44568   QUEEN. What noise is this?
 44569 
 44570        Re-enter SUFFOLK and WARWICK, with their weapons drawn
 44571 
 44572   KING. Why, how now, lords, your wrathful weapons drawn
 44573     Here in our presence! Dare you be so bold?
 44574     Why, what tumultuous clamour have we here?
 44575   SUFFOLK. The trait'rous Warwick, with the men of Bury,
 44576     Set all upon me, mighty sovereign.
 44577 
 44578                         Re-enter SALISBURY
 44579 
 44580   SALISBURY. [To the Commons within] Sirs, stand apart, the King
 44581       shall know your mind.
 44582     Dread lord, the commons send you word by me
 44583     Unless Lord Suffolk straight be done to death,
 44584     Or banished fair England's territories,
 44585     They will by violence tear him from your palace
 44586     And torture him with grievous ling'ring death.
 44587     They say by him the good Duke Humphrey died;
 44588     They say in him they fear your Highness' death;
 44589     And mere instinct of love and loyalty,
 44590     Free from a stubborn opposite intent,
 44591     As being thought to contradict your liking,
 44592     Makes them thus forward in his banishment.
 44593     They say, in care of your most royal person,
 44594     That if your Highness should intend to sleep
 44595     And charge that no man should disturb your rest,
 44596     In pain of your dislike or pain of death,
 44597     Yet, notwithstanding such a strait edict,
 44598     Were there a serpent seen with forked tongue
 44599     That slily glided towards your Majesty,
 44600     It were but necessary you were wak'd,
 44601     Lest, being suffer'd in that harmful slumber,
 44602     The mortal worm might make the sleep eternal.
 44603     And therefore do they cry, though you forbid,
 44604     That they will guard you, whe'er you will or no,
 44605     From such fell serpents as false Suffolk is;
 44606     With whose envenomed and fatal sting
 44607     Your loving uncle, twenty times his worth,
 44608     They say, is shamefully bereft of life.
 44609   COMMONS. [Within] An answer from the King, my Lord of Salisbury!
 44610   SUFFOLK. 'Tis like the commons, rude unpolish'd hinds,
 44611     Could send such message to their sovereign;
 44612     But you, my lord, were glad to be employ'd,
 44613     To show how quaint an orator you are.
 44614     But all the honour Salisbury hath won
 44615     Is that he was the lord ambassador
 44616     Sent from a sort of tinkers to the King.
 44617   COMMONS. [Within] An answer from the King, or we will all break in!
 44618   KING HENRY. Go, Salisbury, and tell them all from me
 44619     I thank them for their tender loving care;
 44620     And had I not been cited so by them,
 44621     Yet did I purpose as they do entreat;
 44622     For sure my thoughts do hourly prophesy
 44623     Mischance unto my state by Suffolk's means.
 44624     And therefore by His Majesty I swear,
 44625     Whose far unworthy deputy I am,
 44626     He shall not breathe infection in this air
 44627     But three days longer, on the pain of death.
 44628                                                   Exit SALISBURY
 44629   QUEEN. O Henry, let me plead for gentle Suffolk!
 44630   KING HENRY. Ungentle Queen, to call him gentle Suffolk!
 44631     No more, I say; if thou dost plead for him,
 44632     Thou wilt but add increase unto my wrath.
 44633     Had I but said, I would have kept my word;
 44634     But when I swear, it is irrevocable.
 44635     If after three days' space thou here be'st found
 44636     On any ground that I am ruler of,
 44637     The world shall not be ransom for thy life.
 44638     Come, Warwick, come, good Warwick, go with me;
 44639     I have great matters to impart to thee.
 44640                                 Exeunt all but QUEEN and SUFFOLK
 44641   QUEEN. Mischance and sorrow go along with you!
 44642     Heart's discontent and sour affliction
 44643     Be playfellows to keep you company!
 44644     There's two of you; the devil make a third,
 44645     And threefold vengeance tend upon your steps!
 44646   SUFFOLK. Cease, gentle Queen, these execrations,
 44647     And let thy Suffolk take his heavy leave.
 44648   QUEEN. Fie, coward woman and soft-hearted wretch,
 44649     Has thou not spirit to curse thine enemy?
 44650   SUFFOLK. A plague upon them! Wherefore should I curse them?
 44651     Would curses kill as doth the mandrake's groan,
 44652     I would invent as bitter searching terms,
 44653     As curst, as harsh, and horrible to hear,
 44654     Deliver'd strongly through my fixed teeth,
 44655     With full as many signs of deadly hate,
 44656     As lean-fac'd Envy in her loathsome cave.
 44657     My tongue should stumble in mine earnest words,
 44658     Mine eyes should sparkle like the beaten flint,
 44659     Mine hair be fix'd an end, as one distract;
 44660     Ay, every joint should seem to curse and ban;
 44661     And even now my burden'd heart would break,
 44662     Should I not curse them. Poison be their drink!
 44663     Gall, worse than gall, the daintiest that they taste!
 44664     Their sweetest shade a grove of cypress trees!
 44665     Their chiefest prospect murd'ring basilisks!
 44666     Their softest touch as smart as lizards' stings!
 44667     Their music frightful as the serpent's hiss,
 44668     And boding screech-owls make the consort full!
 44669     all the foul terrors in dark-seated hell-
 44670   QUEEN. Enough, sweet Suffolk, thou torment'st thyself;
 44671     And these dread curses, like the sun 'gainst glass,
 44672     Or like an overcharged gun, recoil,
 44673     And turns the force of them upon thyself.
 44674   SUFFOLK. You bade me ban, and will you bid me leave?
 44675     Now, by the ground that I am banish'd from,
 44676     Well could I curse away a winter's night,
 44677     Though standing naked on a mountain top
 44678     Where biting cold would never let grass grow,
 44679     And think it but a minute spent in sport.
 44680   QUEEN. O, let me entreat thee cease! Give me thy hand,
 44681     That I may dew it with my mournful tears;
 44682     Nor let the rain of heaven wet this place
 44683     To wash away my woeful monuments.
 44684     O, could this kiss be printed in thy hand,
 44685     That thou might'st think upon these by the seal,
 44686     Through whom a thousand sighs are breath'd for thee!
 44687     So, get thee gone, that I may know my grief;
 44688     'Tis but surmis'd whiles thou art standing by,
 44689     As one that surfeits thinking on a want.
 44690     I will repeal thee or, be well assur'd,
 44691     Adventure to be banished myself;
 44692     And banished I am, if but from thee.
 44693     Go, speak not to me; even now be gone.
 44694     O, go not yet! Even thus two friends condemn'd
 44695     Embrace, and kiss, and take ten thousand leaves,
 44696     Loather a hundred times to part than die.
 44697     Yet now, farewell; and farewell life with thee!
 44698   SUFFOLK. Thus is poor Suffolk ten times banished,
 44699     Once by the King and three times thrice by thee,
 44700     'Tis not the land I care for, wert thou thence;
 44701     A wilderness is populous enough,
 44702     So Suffolk had thy heavenly company;
 44703     For where thou art, there is the world itself,
 44704     With every several pleasure in the world;
 44705     And where thou art not, desolation.
 44706     I can no more: Live thou to joy thy life;
 44707     Myself no joy in nought but that thou liv'st.
 44708 
 44709                            Enter VAUX
 44710 
 44711   QUEEN. Whither goes Vaux so fast? What news, I prithee?
 44712   VAUX. To signify unto his Majesty
 44713     That Cardinal Beaufort is at point of death;
 44714     For suddenly a grievous sickness took him
 44715     That makes him gasp, and stare, and catch the air,
 44716     Blaspheming God, and cursing men on earth.
 44717     Sometime he talks as if Duke Humphrey's ghost
 44718     Were by his side; sometime he calls the King
 44719     And whispers to his pillow, as to him,
 44720     The secrets of his overcharged soul;
 44721     And I am sent to tell his Majesty
 44722     That even now he cries aloud for him.
 44723   QUEEN. Go tell this heavy message to the King.       Exit VAUX
 44724     Ay me! What is this world! What news are these!
 44725     But wherefore grieve I at an hour's poor loss,
 44726     Omitting Suffolk's exile, my soul's treasure?
 44727     Why only, Suffolk, mourn I not for thee,
 44728     And with the southern clouds contend in tears-
 44729     Theirs for the earth's increase, mine for my sorrows?
 44730     Now get thee hence: the King, thou know'st, is coming;
 44731     If thou be found by me; thou art but dead.
 44732   SUFFOLK. If I depart from thee I cannot live;
 44733     And in thy sight to die, what were it else
 44734     But like a pleasant slumber in thy lap?
 44735     Here could I breathe my soul into the air,
 44736     As mild and gentle as the cradle-babe
 44737     Dying with mother's dug between its lips;
 44738     Where, from thy sight, I should be raging mad
 44739     And cry out for thee to close up mine eyes,
 44740     To have thee with thy lips to stop my mouth;
 44741     So shouldst thou either turn my flying soul,
 44742     Or I should breathe it so into thy body,
 44743     And then it liv'd in sweet Elysium.
 44744     To die by thee were but to die in jest:
 44745     From thee to die were torture more than death.
 44746     O, let me stay, befall what may befall!
 44747   QUEEN. Away! Though parting be a fretful corrosive,
 44748     It is applied to a deathful wound.
 44749     To France, sweet Suffolk. Let me hear from thee;
 44750     For whereso'er thou art in this world's globe
 44751     I'll have an Iris that shall find thee out.
 44752   SUFFOLK. I go.
 44753   QUEEN. And take my heart with thee.           [She kisses him]
 44754   SUFFOLK. A jewel, lock'd into the woefull'st cask
 44755     That ever did contain a thing of worth.
 44756     Even as a splitted bark, so sunder we:
 44757     This way fall I to death.
 44758   QUEEN. This way for me.                       Exeunt severally
 44759 
 44760 
 44761 
 44762 
 44763 SCENE III.
 44764 London. CARDINAL BEAUFORT'S bedchamber
 44765 
 44766 Enter the KING, SALISBURY, and WARWICK, to the CARDINAL in bed
 44767 
 44768   KING HENRY. How fares my lord? Speak, Beaufort, to thy sovereign.
 44769   CARDINAL. If thou be'st Death I'll give thee England's treasure,
 44770     Enough to purchase such another island,
 44771     So thou wilt let me live and feel no pain.
 44772   KING HENRY. Ah, what a sign it is of evil life
 44773     Where death's approach is seen so terrible!
 44774   WARWICK. Beaufort, it is thy sovereign speaks to thee.
 44775   CARDINAL. Bring me unto my trial when you will.
 44776     Died he not in his bed? Where should he die?
 44777     Can I make men live, whe'er they will or no?
 44778     O, torture me no more! I will confess.
 44779     Alive again? Then show me where he is;
 44780     I'll give a thousand pound to look upon him.
 44781     He hath no eyes, the dust hath blinded them.
 44782     Comb down his hair; look, look! it stands upright,
 44783     Like lime-twigs set to catch my winged soul!
 44784     Give me some drink; and bid the apothecary
 44785     Bring the strong poison that I bought of him.
 44786   KING HENRY. O Thou eternal Mover of the heavens,
 44787     Look with a gentle eye upon this wretch!
 44788     O, beat away the busy meddling fiend
 44789     That lays strong siege unto this wretch's soul,
 44790     And from his bosom purge this black despair!
 44791   WARWICK. See how the pangs of death do make him grin
 44792   SALISBURY. Disturb him not, let him pass peaceably.
 44793   KING HENRY. Peace to his soul, if God's good pleasure be!
 44794     Lord Card'nal, if thou think'st on heaven's bliss,
 44795     Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope.
 44796     He dies, and makes no sign: O God, forgive him!
 44797   WARWICK. So bad a death argues a monstrous life.
 44798   KING HENRY. Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all.
 44799     Close up his eyes, and draw the curtain close;
 44800     And let us all to meditation.                         Exeunt
 44801 
 44802 
 44803 
 44804 
 44805 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
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 44807 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 44808 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
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 44813 
 44814 
 44815 
 44816 ACT IV. SCENE I.
 44817 The coast of Kent
 44818 
 44819 Alarum.  Fight at sea.  Ordnance goes off.  Enter a LIEUTENANT,
 44820 a SHIPMASTER and his MATE, and WALTER WHITMORE, with sailors;
 44821 SUFFOLK and other GENTLEMEN, as prisoners
 44822 
 44823   LIEUTENANT. The gaudy, blabbing, and remorseful day
 44824     Is crept into the bosom of the sea;
 44825     And now loud-howling wolves arouse the jades
 44826     That drag the tragic melancholy night;
 44827     Who with their drowsy, slow, and flagging wings
 44828     Clip dead men's graves, and from their misty jaws
 44829     Breathe foul contagious darkness in the air.
 44830     Therefore bring forth the soldiers of our prize;
 44831     For, whilst our pinnace anchors in the Downs,
 44832     Here shall they make their ransom on the sand,
 44833     Or with their blood stain this discoloured shore.
 44834     Master, this prisoner freely give I thee;
 44835     And thou that art his mate make boot of this;
 44836     The other, Walter Whitmore, is thy share.
 44837   FIRST GENTLEMAN. What is my ransom, master, let me know?
 44838   MASTER. A thousand crowns, or else lay down your head.
 44839   MATE. And so much shall you give, or off goes yours.
 44840   LIEUTENANT. What, think you much to pay two thousand crowns,
 44841     And bear the name and port of gentlemen?
 44842     Cut both the villains' throats- for die you shall;
 44843     The lives of those which we have lost in fight
 44844     Be counterpois'd with such a petty sum!
 44845   FIRST GENTLEMAN. I'll give it, sir: and therefore spare my life.
 44846   SECOND GENTLEMAN. And so will I, and write home for it straight.
 44847   WHITMORE. I lost mine eye in laying the prize aboard,
 44848     [To SUFFOLK] And therefore, to revenge it, shalt thou die;
 44849     And so should these, if I might have my will.
 44850   LIEUTENANT. Be not so rash; take ransom, let him live.
 44851   SUFFOLK. Look on my George, I am a gentleman:
 44852     Rate me at what thou wilt, thou shalt be paid.
 44853   WHITMORE. And so am I: my name is Walter Whitmore.
 44854     How now! Why start'st thou? What, doth death affright?
 44855   SUFFOLK. Thy name affrights me, in whose sound is death.
 44856     A cunning man did calculate my birth
 44857     And told me that by water I should die;
 44858     Yet let not this make thee be bloody-minded;
 44859     Thy name is Gualtier, being rightly sounded.
 44860   WHITMORE. Gualtier or Walter, which it is I care not:
 44861     Never yet did base dishonour blur our name
 44862     But with our sword we wip'd away the blot;
 44863     Therefore, when merchant-like I sell revenge,
 44864     Broke be my sword, my arms torn and defac'd,
 44865     And I proclaim'd a coward through the world.
 44866   SUFFOLK. Stay, Whitmore, for thy prisoner is a prince,
 44867     The Duke of Suffolk, William de la Pole.
 44868   WHITMORE. The Duke of Suffolk muffled up in rags?
 44869   SUFFOLK. Ay, but these rags are no part of the Duke:
 44870     Jove sometime went disguis'd, and why not I?
 44871   LIEUTENANT. But Jove was never slain, as thou shalt be.
 44872   SUFFOLK. Obscure and lowly swain, King Henry's blood,
 44873     The honourable blood of Lancaster,
 44874     Must not be shed by such a jaded groom.
 44875     Hast thou not kiss'd thy hand and held my stirrup,
 44876     Bareheaded plodded by my foot-cloth mule,
 44877     And thought thee happy when I shook my head?
 44878     How often hast thou waited at my cup,
 44879     Fed from my trencher, kneel'd down at the board,
 44880     When I have feasted with Queen Margaret?
 44881     Remember it, and let it make thee crestfall'n,
 44882     Ay, and allay thus thy abortive pride,
 44883     How in our voiding-lobby hast thou stood
 44884     And duly waited for my coming forth.
 44885     This hand of mine hath writ in thy behalf,
 44886     And therefore shall it charm thy riotous tongue.
 44887   WHITMORE. Speak, Captain, shall I stab the forlorn swain?
 44888   LIEUTENANT. First let my words stab him, as he hath me.
 44889   SUFFOLK. Base slave, thy words are blunt, and so art thou.
 44890   LIEUTENANT. Convey him hence, and on our longboat's side
 44891     Strike off his head.
 44892   SUFFOLK. Thou dar'st not, for thy own.
 44893   LIEUTENANT. Poole!
 44894   SUFFOLK. Poole?
 44895   LIEUTENANT. Ay, kennel, puddle, sink, whose filth and dirt
 44896     Troubles the silver spring where England drinks;
 44897     Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth
 44898     For swallowing the treasure of the realm.
 44899     Thy lips, that kiss'd the Queen, shall sweep the ground;
 44900     And thou that smil'dst at good Duke Humphrey's death
 44901     Against the senseless winds shalt grin in vain,
 44902     Who in contempt shall hiss at thee again;
 44903     And wedded be thou to the hags of hell
 44904     For daring to affy a mighty lord
 44905     Unto the daughter of a worthless king,
 44906     Having neither subject, wealth, nor diadem.
 44907     By devilish policy art thou grown great,
 44908     And, like ambitious Sylla, overgorg'd
 44909     With gobbets of thy mother's bleeding heart.
 44910     By thee Anjou and Maine were sold to France;
 44911     The false revolting Normans thorough thee
 44912     Disdain to call us lord; and Picardy
 44913     Hath slain their governors, surpris'd our forts,
 44914     And sent the ragged soldiers wounded home.
 44915     The princely Warwick, and the Nevils all,
 44916     Whose dreadful swords were never drawn in vain,
 44917     As hating thee, are rising up in arms;
 44918     And now the house of York- thrust from the crown
 44919     By shameful murder of a guiltless king
 44920     And lofty proud encroaching tyranny-
 44921     Burns with revenging fire, whose hopeful colours
 44922     Advance our half-fac'd sun, striving to shine,
 44923     Under the which is writ 'Invitis nubibus.'
 44924     The commons here in Kent are up in arms;
 44925     And to conclude, reproach and beggary
 44926     Is crept into the palace of our King,
 44927     And all by thee. Away! convey him hence.
 44928   SUFFOLK. O that I were a god, to shoot forth thunder
 44929     Upon these paltry, servile, abject drudges!
 44930     Small things make base men proud: this villain here,
 44931     Being captain of a pinnace, threatens more
 44932     Than Bargulus, the strong Illyrian pirate.
 44933     Drones suck not eagles' blood but rob beehives.
 44934     It is impossible that I should die
 44935     By such a lowly vassal as thyself.
 44936     Thy words move rage and not remorse in me.
 44937     I go of message from the Queen to France:
 44938     I charge thee waft me safely cross the Channel.
 44939   LIEUTENANT. Walter-
 44940   WHITMORE. Come, Suffolk, I must waft thee to thy death.
 44941   SUFFOLK. Gelidus timor occupat artus: it is thee I fear.
 44942   WHITMORE. Thou shalt have cause to fear before I leave thee.
 44943     What, are ye daunted now? Now will ye stoop?
 44944   FIRST GENTLEMAN. My gracious lord, entreat him, speak him fair.
 44945   SUFFOLK. Suffolk's imperial tongue is stem and rough,
 44946     Us'd to command, untaught to plead for favour.
 44947     Far be it we should honour such as these
 44948     With humble suit: no, rather let my head
 44949     Stoop to the block than these knees bow to any
 44950     Save to the God of heaven and to my king;
 44951     And sooner dance upon a bloody pole
 44952     Than stand uncover'd to the vulgar groom.
 44953     True nobility is exempt from fear:
 44954     More can I bear than you dare execute.
 44955   LIEUTENANT. Hale him away, and let him talk no more.
 44956   SUFFOLK. Come, soldiers, show what cruelty ye can,
 44957     That this my death may never be forgot-
 44958     Great men oft die by vile bezonians:
 44959     A Roman sworder and banditto slave
 44960     Murder'd sweet Tully; Brutus' bastard hand
 44961     Stabb'd Julius Caesar; savage islanders
 44962     Pompey the Great; and Suffolk dies by pirates.
 44963                                         Exit WALTER with SUFFOLK
 44964   LIEUTENANT. And as for these, whose ransom we have set,
 44965     It is our pleasure one of them depart;
 44966     Therefore come you with us, and let him go.
 44967                               Exeunt all but the FIRST GENTLEMAN
 44968 
 44969                 Re-enter WHITMORE with SUFFOLK'S body
 44970 
 44971   WHITMORE. There let his head and lifeless body lie,
 44972     Until the Queen his mistress bury it.                   Exit
 44973   FIRST GENTLEMAN. O barbarous and bloody spectacle!
 44974     His body will I bear unto the King.
 44975     If he revenge it not, yet will his friends;
 44976     So will the Queen, that living held him dear.
 44977                                               Exit with the body
 44978 
 44979 
 44980 
 44981 
 44982 SCENE II.
 44983 Blackheath
 44984 
 44985 Enter GEORGE BEVIS and JOHN HOLLAND
 44986 
 44987   GEORGE. Come and get thee a sword, though made of a lath; they have
 44988     been up these two days.
 44989   JOHN. They have the more need to sleep now, then.
 44990   GEORGE. I tell thee Jack Cade the clothier means to dress the
 44991     commonwealth, and turn it, and set a new nap upon it.
 44992   JOHN. So he had need, for 'tis threadbare. Well, I say it was never
 44993     merry world in England since gentlemen came up.
 44994   GEORGE. O miserable age! Virtue is not regarded in handicraftsmen.
 44995   JOHN. The nobility think scorn to go in leather aprons.
 44996   GEORGE. Nay, more, the King's Council are no good workmen.
 44997   JOHN. True; and yet it is said 'Labour in thy vocation'; which is
 44998     as much to say as 'Let the magistrates be labouring men'; and
 44999     therefore should we be magistrates.
 45000   GEORGE. Thou hast hit it; for there's no better sign of a brave
 45001     mind than a hard hand.
 45002   JOHN. I see them! I see them! There's Best's son, the tanner of
 45003     Wingham-
 45004   GEORGE. He shall have the skins of our enemies to make dog's
 45005     leather of.
 45006   JOHN. And Dick the butcher-
 45007   GEORGE. Then is sin struck down, like an ox, and iniquity's throat
 45008     cut like a calf.
 45009   JOHN. And Smith the weaver-
 45010   GEORGE. Argo, their thread of life is spun.
 45011   JOHN. Come, come, let's fall in with them.
 45012 
 45013                 Drum. Enter CADE, DICK THE BUTCHER, SMITH
 45014              THE WEAVER, and a SAWYER, with infinite numbers
 45015 
 45016   CADE. We John Cade, so term'd of our supposed father-
 45017   DICK. [Aside] Or rather, of stealing a cade of herrings.
 45018   CADE. For our enemies shall fall before us, inspired with the
 45019     spirit of putting down kings and princes- command silence.
 45020   DICK. Silence!
 45021   CADE. My father was a Mortimer-
 45022   DICK. [Aside] He was an honest man and a good bricklayer.
 45023   CADE. My mother a Plantagenet-
 45024   DICK. [Aside] I knew her well; she was a midwife.
 45025   CADE. My wife descended of the Lacies-
 45026   DICK. [Aside] She was, indeed, a pedlar's daughter, and sold many
 45027     laces.
 45028   SMITH. [Aside] But now of late, not able to travel with her furr'd
 45029     pack, she washes bucks here at home.
 45030   CADE. Therefore am I of an honourable house.
 45031   DICK. [Aside] Ay, by my faith, the field is honourable, and there
 45032     was he born, under a hedge, for his father had never a house but
 45033     the cage.
 45034   CADE. Valiant I am.
 45035   SMITH. [Aside] 'A must needs; for beggary is valiant.
 45036   CADE. I am able to endure much.
 45037   DICK. [Aside] No question of that; for I have seen him whipt three
 45038     market days together.
 45039   CADE. I fear neither sword nor fire.
 45040   SMITH. [Aside] He need not fear the sword, for his coat is of
 45041     proof.
 45042   DICK. [Aside] But methinks he should stand in fear of fire, being
 45043     burnt i' th' hand for stealing of sheep.
 45044   CADE. Be brave, then, for your captain is brave, and vows
 45045     reformation. There shall be in England seven halfpenny loaves
 45046     sold for a penny; the three-hoop'd pot shall have ten hoops; and
 45047     I will make it felony to drink small beer. All the realm shall be
 45048     in common, and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to grass. And
 45049     when I am king- as king I will be
 45050   ALL. God save your Majesty!
 45051   CADE. I thank you, good people- there shall be no money; all shall
 45052     eat and drink on my score, and I will apparel them all in one
 45053     livery, that they may agree like brothers and worship me their
 45054     lord.
 45055   DICK. The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.
 45056   CADE. Nay, that I mean to do. Is not this a lamentable thing, that
 45057     of the skin of an innocent lamb should be made parchment? That
 45058     parchment, being scribbl'd o'er, should undo a man? Some say the
 45059     bee stings; but I say 'tis the bee's wax; for I did but seal once
 45060     to a thing, and I was never mine own man since. How now! Who's
 45061     there?
 45062 
 45063               Enter some, bringing in the CLERK OF CHATHAM
 45064 
 45065   SMITH. The clerk of Chatham. He can write and read and cast
 45066     accompt.
 45067   CADE. O monstrous!
 45068   SMITH. We took him setting of boys' copies.
 45069   CADE. Here's a villain!
 45070   SMITH. Has a book in his pocket with red letters in't.
 45071   CADE. Nay, then he is a conjurer.
 45072   DICK. Nay, he can make obligations and write court-hand.
 45073   CADE. I am sorry for't; the man is a proper man, of mine honour;
 45074     unless I find him guilty, he shall not die. Come hither, sirrah,
 45075     I must examine thee. What is thy name?
 45076   CLERK. Emmanuel.
 45077   DICK. They use to write it on the top of letters; 'twill go hard
 45078     with you.
 45079   CADE. Let me alone. Dost thou use to write thy name, or hast thou a
 45080     mark to thyself, like a honest plain-dealing man?
 45081   CLERK. Sir, I thank God, I have been so well brought up that I can
 45082     write my name.
 45083   ALL. He hath confess'd. Away with him! He's a villain and a
 45084     traitor.
 45085   CADE. Away with him, I say! Hang him with his pen and inkhorn about
 45086     his neck.                            Exit one with the CLERK
 45087 
 45088                            Enter MICHAEL
 45089 
 45090   MICHAEL. Where's our General?
 45091   CADE. Here I am, thou particular fellow.
 45092   MICHAEL. Fly, fly, fly! Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brother are
 45093     hard by, with the King's forces.
 45094   CADE. Stand, villain, stand, or I'll fell thee down. He shall be
 45095     encount'red with a man as good as himself. He is but a knight,
 45096     is 'a?
 45097   MICHAEL. No.
 45098   CADE. To equal him, I will make myself a knight presently.
 45099     [Kneels] Rise up, Sir John Mortimer. [Rises] Now have at him!
 45100 
 45101                 Enter SIR HUMPHREY STAFFORD and WILLIAM
 45102                   his brother, with drum and soldiers
 45103 
 45104   STAFFORD. Rebellious hinds, the filth and scum of Kent,
 45105     Mark'd for the gallows, lay your weapons down;
 45106     Home to your cottages, forsake this groom;
 45107     The King is merciful if you revolt.
 45108   WILLIAM STAFFORD. But angry, wrathful, and inclin'd to blood,
 45109     If you go forward; therefore yield or die.
 45110   CADE. As for these silken-coated slaves, I pass not;
 45111     It is to you, good people, that I speak,
 45112     O'er whom, in time to come, I hope to reign;
 45113     For I am rightful heir unto the crown.
 45114   STAFFORD. Villain, thy father was a plasterer;
 45115     And thou thyself a shearman, art thou not?
 45116   CADE. And Adam was a gardener.
 45117   WILLIAM STAFFORD. And what of that?
 45118   CADE. Marry, this: Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March,
 45119     Married the Duke of Clarence' daughter, did he not?
 45120   STAFFORD. Ay, sir.
 45121   CADE. By her he had two children at one birth.
 45122   WILLIAM STAFFORD. That's false.
 45123   CADE. Ay, there's the question; but I say 'tis true.
 45124     The elder of them being put to nurse,
 45125     Was by a beggar-woman stol'n away,
 45126     And, ignorant of his birth and parentage,
 45127     Became a bricklayer when he came to age.
 45128     His son am I; deny it if you can.
 45129   DICK. Nay, 'tis too true; therefore he shall be king.
 45130   SMITH. Sir, he made a chimney in my father's house, and the bricks
 45131     are alive at this day to testify it; therefore deny it not.
 45132   STAFFORD. And will you credit this base drudge's words
 45133     That speaks he knows not what?
 45134   ALL. Ay, marry, will we; therefore get ye gone.
 45135   WILLIAM STAFFORD. Jack Cade, the Duke of York hath taught you this.
 45136   CADE. [Aside] He lies, for I invented it myself- Go to, sirrah,
 45137     tell the King from me that for his father's sake, Henry the
 45138     Fifth, in whose time boys went to span-counter for French crowns,
 45139     I am content he shall reign; but I'll be Protector over him.
 45140   DICK. And furthermore, we'll have the Lord Say's head for selling
 45141     the dukedom of Maine.
 45142   CADE. And good reason; for thereby is England main'd and fain to go
 45143     with a staff, but that my puissance holds it up. Fellow kings, I
 45144     tell you that that Lord Say hath gelded the commonwealth and made
 45145     it an eunuch; and more than that, he can speak French, and
 45146     therefore he is a traitor.
 45147   STAFFORD. O gross and miserable ignorance!
 45148   CADE. Nay, answer if you can; the Frenchmen are our enemies. Go to,
 45149     then, I ask but this: can he that speaks with the tongue of an
 45150     enemy be a good counsellor, or no?
 45151   ALL. No, no; and therefore we'll have his head.
 45152   WILLIAM STAFFORD. Well, seeing gentle words will not prevail,
 45153     Assail them with the army of the King.
 45154   STAFFORD. Herald, away; and throughout every town
 45155     Proclaim them traitors that are up with Cade;
 45156     That those which fly before the battle ends
 45157     May, even in their wives'and children's sight,
 45158     Be hang'd up for example at their doors.
 45159     And you that be the King's friends, follow me.
 45160                            Exeunt the TWO STAFFORDS and soldiers
 45161   CADE. And you that love the commons follow me.
 45162     Now show yourselves men; 'tis for liberty.
 45163     We will not leave one lord, one gentleman;
 45164     Spare none but such as go in clouted shoon,
 45165     For they are thrifty honest men and such
 45166     As would- but that they dare not- take our parts.
 45167   DICK. They are all in order, and march toward us.
 45168   CADE. But then are we in order when we are most out of order. Come,
 45169     march forward.                                        Exeunt
 45170 
 45171 
 45172 
 45173 
 45174 SCENE III.
 45175 Another part of Blackheath
 45176 
 45177 Alarums to the fight, wherein both the STAFFORDS are slain.
 45178 Enter CADE and the rest
 45179 
 45180   CADE. Where's Dick, the butcher of Ashford?
 45181   DICK. Here, sir.
 45182   CADE. They fell before thee like sheep and oxen, and thou behavedst
 45183     thyself as if thou hadst been in thine own slaughter-house;
 45184     therefore thus will I reward thee- the Lent shall be as long
 45185     again as it is, and thou shalt have a licence to kill for a
 45186     hundred lacking one.
 45187   DICK. I desire no more.
 45188   CADE. And, to speak truth, thou deserv'st no less. [Putting on SIR
 45189     HUMPHREY'S brigandine] This monument of the victory will I bear,
 45190     and the bodies shall be dragged at my horse heels till I do come
 45191     to London, where we will have the mayor's sword borne before us.
 45192   DICK. If we mean to thrive and do good, break open the gaols and
 45193     let out the prisoners.
 45194   CADE. Fear not that, I warrant thee. Come, let's march towards
 45195     London.                                               Exeunt
 45196 
 45197 
 45198 
 45199 
 45200 SCENE IV.
 45201 London. The palace
 45202 
 45203 Enter the KING with a supplication, and the QUEEN with SUFFOLK'S head;
 45204 the DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM, and the LORD SAY
 45205 
 45206   QUEEN. Oft have I heard that grief softens the mind
 45207     And makes it fearful and degenerate;
 45208     Think therefore on revenge and cease to weep.
 45209     But who can cease to weep, and look on this?
 45210     Here may his head lie on my throbbing breast;
 45211     But where's the body that I should embrace?
 45212   BUCKINGHAM. What answer makes your Grace to the rebels'
 45213     supplication?
 45214   KING HENRY. I'll send some holy bishop to entreat;
 45215     For God forbid so many simple souls
 45216     Should perish by the sword! And I myself,
 45217     Rather than bloody war shall cut them short,
 45218     Will parley with Jack Cade their general.
 45219     But stay, I'll read it over once again.
 45220   QUEEN. Ah, barbarous villains! Hath this lovely face
 45221     Rul'd like a wandering planet over me,
 45222     And could it not enforce them to relent
 45223     That were unworthy to behold the same?
 45224   KING HENRY. Lord Say, Jack Cade hath sworn to have thy head.
 45225   SAY. Ay, but I hope your Highness shall have his.
 45226   KING HENRY. How now, madam!
 45227     Still lamenting and mourning for Suffolk's death?
 45228     I fear me, love, if that I had been dead,
 45229     Thou wouldst not have mourn'd so much for me.
 45230   QUEEN. No, my love, I should not mourn, but die for thee.
 45231 
 45232                         Enter A MESSENGER
 45233 
 45234   KING HENRY. How now! What news? Why com'st thou in such haste?
 45235   MESSENGER. The rebels are in Southwark; fly, my lord!
 45236     Jack Cade proclaims himself Lord Mortimer,
 45237     Descended from the Duke of Clarence' house,
 45238     And calls your Grace usurper, openly,
 45239     And vows to crown himself in Westminster.
 45240     His army is a ragged multitude
 45241     Of hinds and peasants, rude and merciless;
 45242     Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brother's death
 45243     Hath given them heart and courage to proceed.
 45244     All scholars, lawyers, courtiers, gentlemen,
 45245     They call false caterpillars and intend their death.
 45246   KING HENRY. O graceless men! they know not what they do.
 45247   BUCKINGHAM. My gracious lord, retire to Killingworth
 45248     Until a power be rais'd to put them down.
 45249   QUEEN. Ah, were the Duke of Suffolk now alive,
 45250     These Kentish rebels would be soon appeas'd!
 45251   KING HENRY. Lord Say, the traitors hate thee;
 45252     Therefore away with us to Killingworth.
 45253   SAY. So might your Grace's person be in danger.
 45254     The sight of me is odious in their eyes;
 45255     And therefore in this city will I stay
 45256     And live alone as secret as I may.
 45257 
 45258                       Enter another MESSENGER
 45259 
 45260   SECOND MESSENGER. Jack Cade hath gotten London Bridge.
 45261     The citizens fly and forsake their houses;
 45262     The rascal people, thirsting after prey,
 45263     Join with the traitor; and they jointly swear
 45264     To spoil the city and your royal court.
 45265   BUCKINGHAM. Then linger not, my lord; away, take horse.
 45266   KING HENRY. Come Margaret; God, our hope, will succour us.
 45267   QUEEN. My hope is gone, now Suffolk is deceas'd.
 45268   KING HENRY. [To LORD SAY] Farewell, my lord, trust not the Kentish
 45269     rebels.
 45270   BUCKINGHAM. Trust nobody, for fear you be betray'd.
 45271   SAY. The trust I have is in mine innocence,
 45272     And therefore am I bold and resolute.                 Exeunt
 45273 
 45274 
 45275 
 45276 
 45277 SCENE V.
 45278 London. The Tower
 45279 
 45280 Enter LORD SCALES Upon the Tower, walking. Then enter two or three CITIZENS,
 45281 below
 45282 
 45283   SCALES. How now! Is Jack Cade slain?
 45284   FIRST CITIZEN. No, my lord, nor likely to be slain; for they have
 45285     won the bridge, killing all those that withstand them.
 45286     The Lord Mayor craves aid of your honour from the
 45287     Tower, to defend the city from the rebels.
 45288   SCALES. Such aid as I can spare you shall command,
 45289     But I am troubled here with them myself;
 45290     The rebels have assay'd to win the Tower.
 45291     But get you to Smithfield, and gather head,
 45292     And thither I will send you Matthew Goffe;
 45293     Fight for your King, your country, and your lives;
 45294     And so, farewell, for I must hence again.             Exeunt
 45295 
 45296 
 45297 
 45298 
 45299 SCENE VI.
 45300 London. Cannon street
 45301 
 45302 Enter JACK CADE and the rest, and strikes his staff on London Stone
 45303 
 45304   CADE. Now is Mortimer lord of this city. And here, sitting upon
 45305     London Stone, I charge and command that, of the city's cost, the
 45306     pissing conduit run nothing but claret wine this first year of
 45307     our reign. And now henceforward it shall be treason for any that
 45308     calls me other than Lord Mortimer.
 45309 
 45310                     Enter a SOLDIER, running
 45311 
 45312   SOLDIER. Jack Cade! Jack Cade!
 45313   CADE. Knock him down there.                    [They kill him]
 45314   SMITH. If this fellow be wise, he'll never call ye Jack Cade more;
 45315     I think he hath a very fair warning.
 45316   DICK. My lord, there's an army gathered together in Smithfield.
 45317   CADE. Come then, let's go fight with them. But first go and set
 45318     London Bridge on fire; and, if you can, burn down the Tower too.
 45319     Come, let's away.                                     Exeunt
 45320 
 45321 
 45322 
 45323 
 45324 SCENE VII.
 45325 London. Smithfield
 45326 
 45327 Alarums. MATTHEW GOFFE is slain, and all the rest.  Then enter JACK CADE,
 45328 with his company
 45329 
 45330   CADE. So, sirs. Now go some and pull down the Savoy; others to th'
 45331     Inns of Court; down with them all.
 45332   DICK. I have a suit unto your lordship.
 45333   CADE. Be it a lordship, thou shalt have it for that word.
 45334   DICK. Only that the laws of England may come out of your mouth.
 45335   JOHN. [Aside] Mass, 'twill be sore law then; for he was thrust in
 45336     the mouth with a spear, and 'tis not whole yet.
 45337   SMITH. [Aside] Nay, John, it will be stinking law; for his breath
 45338     stinks with eating toasted cheese.
 45339   CADE. I have thought upon it; it shall be so. Away, burn all the
 45340     records of the realm. My mouth shall be the Parliament of
 45341     England.
 45342   JOHN. [Aside] Then we are like to have biting statutes, unless his
 45343     teeth be pull'd out.
 45344   CADE. And henceforward all things shall be in common.
 45345 
 45346                           Enter a MESSENGER
 45347 
 45348   MESSENGER. My lord, a prize, a prize! Here's the Lord Say, which
 45349     sold the towns in France; he that made us pay one and twenty
 45350     fifteens, and one shining to the pound, the last subsidy.
 45351 
 45352                 Enter GEORGE BEVIS, with the LORD SAY
 45353 
 45354   CADE. Well, he shall be beheaded for it ten times. Ah, thou say,
 45355     thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord! Now art thou within point
 45356     blank of our jurisdiction regal. What canst thou answer to my
 45357     Majesty for giving up of Normandy unto Mounsieur Basimecu the
 45358     Dauphin of France? Be it known unto thee by these presence, even
 45359     the presence of Lord Mortimer, that I am the besom that must
 45360     sweep the court clean of such filth as thou art. Thou hast most
 45361     traitorously corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a
 45362     grammar school; and whereas, before, our forefathers had no other
 45363     books but the score and the tally, thou hast caused printing to
 45364     be us'd, and, contrary to the King, his crown, and dignity, thou
 45365     hast built a paper-mill. It will be proved to thy face that thou
 45366     hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and a verb, and
 45367     such abominable words as no Christian ear can endure to hear.
 45368     Thou hast appointed justices of peace, to call poor men before
 45369     them about matters they were not able to answer. Moreover, thou
 45370     hast put them in prison, and because they could not read, thou
 45371     hast hang'd them, when, indeed, only for that cause they have
 45372     been most worthy to live. Thou dost ride in a foot-cloth, dost
 45373     thou not?
 45374   SAY. What of that?
 45375   CADE. Marry, thou ought'st not to let thy horse wear a cloak, when
 45376     honester men than thou go in their hose and doublets.
 45377   DICK. And work in their shirt too, as myself, for example, that am
 45378     a butcher.
 45379   SAY. You men of Kent-
 45380   DICK. What say you of Kent?
 45381   SAY. Nothing but this: 'tis 'bona terra, mala gens.'
 45382   CADE. Away with him, away with him! He speaks Latin.
 45383   SAY. Hear me but speak, and bear me where you will.
 45384     Kent, in the Commentaries Caesar writ,
 45385     Is term'd the civil'st place of all this isle.
 45386     Sweet is the country, because full of riches;
 45387     The people liberal valiant, active, wealthy;
 45388     Which makes me hope you are not void of pity.
 45389     I sold not Maine, I lost not Normandy;
 45390     Yet, to recover them, would lose my life.
 45391     Justice with favour have I always done;
 45392     Pray'rs and tears have mov'd me, gifts could never.
 45393     When have I aught exacted at your hands,
 45394     But to maintain the King, the realm, and you?
 45395     Large gifts have I bestow'd on learned clerks,
 45396     Because my book preferr'd me to the King,
 45397     And seeing ignorance is the curse of God,
 45398     Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven,
 45399     Unless you be possess'd with devilish spirits
 45400     You cannot but forbear to murder me.
 45401     This tongue hath parley'd unto foreign kings
 45402     For your behoof.
 45403   CADE. Tut, when struck'st thou one blow in the field?
 45404   SAY. Great men have reaching hands. Oft have I struck
 45405     Those that I never saw, and struck them dead.
 45406   GEORGE. O monstrous coward! What, to come behind folks?
 45407   SAY. These cheeks are pale for watching for your good.
 45408   CADE. Give him a box o' th' ear, and that will make 'em red again.
 45409   SAY. Long sitting to determine poor men's causes
 45410     Hath made me full of sickness and diseases.
 45411   CADE. Ye shall have a hempen caudle then, and the help of hatchet.
 45412   DICK. Why dost thou quiver, man?
 45413   SAY. The palsy, and not fear, provokes me.
 45414   CADE. Nay, he nods at us, as who should say 'I'll be even with
 45415     you'; I'll see if his head will stand steadier on a pole, or no.
 45416     Take him away, and behead him.
 45417   SAY. Tell me: wherein have I offended most?
 45418     Have I affected wealth or honour? Speak.
 45419     Are my chests fill'd up with extorted gold?
 45420     Is my apparel sumptuous to behold?
 45421     Whom have I injur'd, that ye seek my death?
 45422     These hands are free from guiltless bloodshedding,
 45423     This breast from harbouring foul deceitful thoughts.
 45424     O, let me live!
 45425   CADE. [Aside] I feel remorse in myself with his words; but I'll
 45426     bridle it. He shall die, an it be but for pleading so well for
 45427     his life.- Away with him! He has a familiar under his tongue; he
 45428     speaks not o' God's name. Go, take him away, I say, and strike
 45429     off his head presently, and then break into his son-in-law's
 45430     house, Sir James Cromer, and strike off his head, and bring them
 45431     both upon two poles hither.
 45432   ALL. It shall be done.
 45433   SAY. Ah, countrymen! if when you make your pray'rs,
 45434     God should be so obdurate as yourselves,
 45435     How would it fare with your departed souls?
 45436     And therefore yet relent and save my life.
 45437   CADE. Away with him, and do as I command ye.  [Exeunt some with
 45438     LORD SAY]  The proudest peer in the realm shall not wear a head
 45439     on his shoulders, unless he pay me tribute; there shall not a
 45440     maid be married, but she shall pay to me her maidenhead ere they
 45441     have it. Men shall hold of me in capite; and we charge and
 45442     command that their wives be as free as heart can wish or tongue
 45443     can tell.
 45444   DICK. My lord, when shall we go to Cheapside, and take up
 45445     commodities upon our bills?
 45446   CADE. Marry, presently.
 45447   ALL. O, brave!
 45448 
 45449                       Re-enter one with the heads
 45450 
 45451   CADE. But is not this braver? Let them kiss one another, for they
 45452     lov'd well when they were alive. Now part them again, lest they
 45453     consult about the giving up of some more towns in France.
 45454     Soldiers, defer the spoil of the city until night; for with these
 45455     borne before us instead of maces will we ride through the
 45456     streets, and at every corner have them kiss. Away!     Exeunt
 45457 
 45458 
 45459 
 45460 
 45461 SCENE VIII.
 45462 Southwark
 45463 
 45464 Alarum and retreat. Enter again CADE and all his rabblement
 45465 
 45466   CADE. Up Fish Street! down Saint Magnus' Corner! Kill and knock
 45467     down! Throw them into Thames!               [Sound a parley]
 45468     What noise is this I hear? Dare any be so bold to sound retreat
 45469     or parley when I command them kill?
 45470 
 45471             Enter BUCKINGHAM and old CLIFFORD, attended
 45472 
 45473   BUCKINGHAM. Ay, here they be that dare and will disturb thee.
 45474     And therefore yet relent, and save my life.
 45475     Know, Cade, we come ambassadors from the King
 45476     Unto the commons whom thou hast misled;
 45477     And here pronounce free pardon to them all
 45478     That will forsake thee and go home in peace.
 45479   CLIFFORD. What say ye, countrymen? Will ye relent
 45480     And yield to mercy whilst 'tis offer'd you,
 45481     Or let a rebel lead you to your deaths?
 45482     Who loves the King, and will embrace his pardon,
 45483     Fling up his cap and say 'God save his Majesty!'
 45484     Who hateth him and honours not his father,
 45485     Henry the Fifth, that made all France to quake,
 45486     Shake he his weapon at us and pass by.
 45487   ALL. God save the King! God save the King!
 45488   CADE. What, Buckingham and Clifford, are ye so brave?
 45489     And you, base peasants, do ye believe him? Will you needs be
 45490     hang'd with your about your necks? Hath my sword therefore broke
 45491     through London gates, that you should leave me at the White Hart
 45492     in Southwark? I thought ye would never have given out these arms
 45493     till you had recovered your ancient freedom. But you are all
 45494     recreants and dastards, and delight to live in slavery to the
 45495     nobility. Let them break your backs with burdens, take your
 45496     houses over your heads, ravish your wives and daughters before
 45497     your faces. For me, I will make shift for one; and so God's curse
 45498     light upon you all!
 45499   ALL. We'll follow Cade, we'll follow Cade!
 45500   CLIFFORD. Is Cade the son of Henry the Fifth,
 45501     That thus you do exclaim you'll go with him?
 45502     Will he conduct you through the heart of France,
 45503     And make the meanest of you earls and dukes?
 45504     Alas, he hath no home, no place to fly to;
 45505     Nor knows he how to live but by the spoil,
 45506     Unless by robbing of your friends and us.
 45507     Were't not a shame that whilst you live at jar
 45508     The fearful French, whom you late vanquished,
 45509     Should make a start o'er seas and vanquish you?
 45510     Methinks already in this civil broil
 45511     I see them lording it in London streets,
 45512     Crying 'Villiago!' unto all they meet.
 45513     Better ten thousand base-born Cades miscarry
 45514     Than you should stoop unto a Frenchman's mercy.
 45515     To France, to France, and get what you have lost;
 45516     Spare England, for it is your native coast.
 45517     Henry hath money; you are strong and manly.
 45518     God on our side, doubt not of victory.
 45519   ALL. A Clifford! a Clifford! We'll follow the King and Clifford.
 45520   CADE. Was ever feather so lightly blown to and fro as this
 45521     multitude? The name of Henry the Fifth hales them to an hundred
 45522     mischiefs, and makes them leave me desolate. I see them lay their
 45523     heads together to surprise me. My sword make way for me for here
 45524     is no staying. In despite of the devils and hell, have through
 45525     the very middest of you! and heavens and honour be witness that
 45526     no want of resolution in me, but only my followers' base and
 45527     ignominious treasons, makes me betake me to my heels.
 45528  Exit
 45529   BUCKINGHAM. What, is he fled? Go some, and follow him;
 45530     And he that brings his head unto the King
 45531     Shall have a thousand crowns for his reward.
 45532                                              Exeunt some of them
 45533     Follow me, soldiers; we'll devise a mean
 45534     To reconcile you all unto the King.                   Exeunt
 45535 
 45536 
 45537 
 45538 
 45539 SCENE IX.
 45540 Killing, worth Castle
 45541 
 45542 Sound trumpets. Enter KING, QUEEN, and SOMERSET, on the terrace
 45543 
 45544   KING HENRY. Was ever king that joy'd an earthly throne
 45545     And could command no more content than I?
 45546     No sooner was I crept out of my cradle
 45547     But I was made a king, at nine months old.
 45548     Was never subject long'd to be a King
 45549     As I do long and wish to be a subject.
 45550 
 45551                Enter BUCKINGHAM and old CLIFFORD
 45552 
 45553   BUCKINGHAM. Health and glad tidings to your Majesty!
 45554   KING HENRY. Why, Buckingham, is the traitor Cade surpris'd?
 45555     Or is he but retir'd to make him strong?
 45556 
 45557      Enter, below, multitudes, with halters about their necks
 45558 
 45559   CLIFFORD. He is fled, my lord, and all his powers do yield,
 45560     And humbly thus, with halters on their necks,
 45561     Expect your Highness' doom of life or death.
 45562   KING HENRY. Then, heaven, set ope thy everlasting gates,
 45563     To entertain my vows of thanks and praise!
 45564     Soldiers, this day have you redeem'd your lives,
 45565     And show'd how well you love your Prince and country.
 45566     Continue still in this so good a mind,
 45567     And Henry, though he be infortunate,
 45568     Assure yourselves, will never be unkind.
 45569     And so, with thanks and pardon to you all,
 45570     I do dismiss you to your several countries.
 45571   ALL. God save the King! God save the King!
 45572 
 45573                      Enter a MESSENGER
 45574 
 45575   MESSENGER. Please it your Grace to be advertised
 45576     The Duke of York is newly come from Ireland
 45577     And with a puissant and a mighty power
 45578     Of gallowglasses and stout kerns
 45579     Is marching hitherward in proud array,
 45580     And still proclaimeth, as he comes along,
 45581     His arms are only to remove from thee
 45582     The Duke of Somerset, whom he terms a traitor.
 45583   KING HENRY. Thus stands my state, 'twixt Cade and York distress'd;
 45584     Like to a ship that, having scap'd a tempest,
 45585     Is straightway calm'd, and boarded with a pirate;
 45586     But now is Cade driven back, his men dispers'd,
 45587     And now is York in arms to second him.
 45588     I pray thee, Buckingham, go and meet him
 45589     And ask him what's the reason of these arms.
 45590     Tell him I'll send Duke Edmund to the Tower-
 45591     And Somerset, we will commit thee thither
 45592     Until his army be dismiss'd from him.
 45593   SOMERSET. My lord,
 45594     I'll yield myself to prison willingly,
 45595     Or unto death, to do my country good.
 45596   KING HENRY. In any case be not too rough in terms,
 45597     For he is fierce and cannot brook hard language.
 45598   BUCKINGHAM. I will, my lord, and doubt not so to deal
 45599     As all things shall redound unto your good.
 45600   KING HENRY. Come, wife, let's in, and learn to govern better;
 45601     For yet may England curse my wretched reign.
 45602                                                 Flourish. Exeunt
 45603 
 45604 
 45605 
 45606 
 45607 SCENE X.
 45608 Kent. Iden's garden
 45609 
 45610 Enter CADE
 45611 
 45612   CADE. Fie on ambitions! Fie on myself, that have a sword and yet am
 45613     ready to famish! These five days have I hid me in these woods and
 45614     durst not peep out, for all the country is laid for me; but now
 45615     am I so hungry that, if I might have a lease of my life for a
 45616     thousand years, I could stay no longer. Wherefore, on a brick
 45617     wall have I climb'd into this garden, to see if I can eat grass
 45618     or pick a sallet another while, which is not amiss to cool a
 45619     man's stomach this hot weather. And I think this word 'sallet'
 45620     was born to do me good; for many a time, but for a sallet, my
 45621     brain-pain had been cleft with a brown bill; and many a time,
 45622     when I have been dry, and bravely marching, it hath serv'd me
 45623     instead of a quart-pot to drink in; and now the word 'sallet'
 45624     must serve me to feed on.
 45625 
 45626                              Enter IDEN
 45627 
 45628   IDEN. Lord, who would live turmoiled in the court
 45629     And may enjoy such quiet walks as these?
 45630     This small inheritance my father left me
 45631     Contenteth me, and worth a monarchy.
 45632     I seek not to wax great by others' waning
 45633     Or gather wealth I care not with what envy;
 45634     Sufficeth that I have maintains my state,
 45635     And sends the poor well pleased from my gate.
 45636   CADE. Here's the lord of the soil come to seize me for a stray, for
 45637     entering his fee-simple without leave. Ah, villain, thou wilt
 45638     betray me, and get a thousand crowns of the King by carrying my
 45639     head to him; but I'll make thee eat iron like an ostrich and
 45640     swallow my sword like a great pin ere thou and I part.
 45641   IDEN. Why, rude companion, whatsoe'er thou be,
 45642     I know thee not; why then should I betray thee?
 45643     Is't not enough to break into my garden
 45644     And like a thief to come to rob my grounds,
 45645     Climbing my walls in spite of me the owner,
 45646     But thou wilt brave me with these saucy terms?
 45647   CADE. Brave thee? Ay, by the best blood that ever was broach'd, and
 45648     beard thee too. Look on me well: I have eat no meat these five
 45649     days, yet come thou and thy five men and if I do not leave you
 45650     all as dead as a door-nail, I pray God I may never eat grass
 45651     more.
 45652   IDEN. Nay, it shall ne'er be said, while England stands,
 45653     That Alexander Iden, an esquire of Kent,
 45654     Took odds to combat a poor famish'd man.
 45655     Oppose thy steadfast-gazing eyes to mine;
 45656     See if thou canst outface me with thy looks;
 45657     Set limb to limb, and thou art far the lesser;
 45658     Thy hand is but a finger to my fist,
 45659     Thy leg a stick compared with this truncheon;
 45660     My foot shall fight with all the strength thou hast,
 45661     And if mine arm be heaved in the air,
 45662     Thy grave is digg'd already in the earth.
 45663     As for words, whose greatness answers words,
 45664     Let this my sword report what speech forbears.
 45665   CADE. By my valour, the most complete champion that ever I heard!
 45666     Steel, if thou turn the edge, or cut not out the burly bon'd
 45667     clown in chines of beef ere thou sleep in thy sheath, I beseech
 45668     God on my knees thou mayst be turn'd to hobnails. [Here they
 45669     fight; CADE falls] O, I am slain! famine and no other hath slain
 45670     me. Let ten thousand devils come against me, and give me but the
 45671     ten meals I have lost, and I'd defy them all. Wither, garden, and
 45672     be henceforth a burying place to all that do dwell in this house,
 45673     because the unconquered soul of Cade is fled.
 45674   IDEN. Is't Cade that I have slain, that monstrous traitor?
 45675     Sword, I will hallow thee for this thy deed
 45676     And hang thee o'er my tomb when I am dead.
 45677     Ne'er shall this blood be wiped from thy point,
 45678     But thou shalt wear it as a herald's coat
 45679     To emblaze the honour that thy master got.
 45680   CADE. Iden, farewell; and be proud of thy victory. Tell Kent from
 45681     me she hath lost her best man, and exhort all the world to be
 45682     cowards; for I, that never feared any, am vanquished by famine,
 45683     not by valour.                                        [Dies]
 45684   IDEN. How much thou wrong'st me, heaven be my judge.
 45685     Die, damned wretch, the curse of her that bare thee!
 45686     And as I thrust thy body in with my sword,
 45687     So wish I, I might thrust thy soul to hell.
 45688     Hence will I drag thee headlong by the heels
 45689     Unto a dunghill, which shall be thy grave,
 45690     And there cut off thy most ungracious head,
 45691     Which I will bear in triumph to the King,
 45692     Leaving thy trunk for crows to feed upon.               Exit
 45693 
 45694 
 45695 
 45696 
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 45705 
 45706 
 45707 
 45708 ACT V. SCENE I.
 45709 Fields between Dartford and Blackheath
 45710 
 45711 Enter YORK, and his army of Irish, with drum and colours
 45712 
 45713   YORK. From Ireland thus comes York to claim his right
 45714     And pluck the crown from feeble Henry's head:
 45715     Ring bells aloud, burn bonfires clear and bright,
 45716     To entertain great England's lawful king.
 45717     Ah, sancta majestas! who would not buy thee dear?
 45718     Let them obey that knows not how to rule;
 45719     This hand was made to handle nought but gold.
 45720     I cannot give due action to my words
 45721     Except a sword or sceptre balance it.
 45722     A sceptre shall it have, have I a soul
 45723     On which I'll toss the flower-de-luce of France.
 45724 
 45725                          Enter BUCKINGHAM
 45726 
 45727     [Aside] Whom have we here? Buckingham, to disturb me?
 45728     The King hath sent him, sure: I must dissemble.
 45729   BUCKINGHAM. York, if thou meanest well I greet thee well.
 45730   YORK. Humphrey of Buckingham, I accept thy greeting.
 45731     Art thou a messenger, or come of pleasure?
 45732   BUCKINGHAM. A messenger from Henry, our dread liege,
 45733     To know the reason of these arms in peace;
 45734     Or why thou, being a subject as I am,
 45735     Against thy oath and true allegiance sworn,
 45736     Should raise so great a power without his leave,
 45737     Or dare to bring thy force so near the court.
 45738   YORK. [Aside] Scarce can I speak, my choler is so great.
 45739     O, I could hew up rocks and fight with flint,
 45740     I am so angry at these abject terms;
 45741     And now, like Ajax Telamonius,
 45742     On sheep or oxen could I spend my fury.
 45743     I am far better born than is the King,
 45744     More like a king, more kingly in my thoughts;
 45745     But I must make fair weather yet awhile,
 45746     Till Henry be more weak and I more strong.-
 45747     Buckingham, I prithee, pardon me
 45748     That I have given no answer all this while;
 45749     My mind was troubled with deep melancholy.
 45750     The cause why I have brought this army hither
 45751     Is to remove proud Somerset from the King,
 45752     Seditious to his Grace and to the state.
 45753   BUCKINGHAM. That is too much presumption on thy part;
 45754     But if thy arms be to no other end,
 45755     The King hath yielded unto thy demand:
 45756     The Duke of Somerset is in the Tower.
 45757   YORK. Upon thine honour, is he prisoner?
 45758   BUCKINGHAM. Upon mine honour, he is prisoner.
 45759   YORK. Then, Buckingham, I do dismiss my pow'rs.
 45760     Soldiers, I thank you all; disperse yourselves;
 45761     Meet me to-morrow in Saint George's field,
 45762     You shall have pay and everything you wish.
 45763     And let my sovereign, virtuous Henry,
 45764     Command my eldest son, nay, all my sons,
 45765     As pledges of my fealty and love.
 45766     I'll send them all as willing as I live:
 45767     Lands, goods, horse, armour, anything I have,
 45768     Is his to use, so Somerset may die.
 45769   BUCKINGHAM. York, I commend this kind submission.
 45770     We twain will go into his Highness' tent.
 45771 
 45772                   Enter the KING, and attendants
 45773 
 45774   KING HENRY. Buckingham, doth York intend no harm to us,
 45775     That thus he marcheth with thee arm in arm?
 45776   YORK. In all submission and humility
 45777     York doth present himself unto your Highness.
 45778   KING HENRY. Then what intends these forces thou dost bring?
 45779   YORK. To heave the traitor Somerset from hence,
 45780     And fight against that monstrous rebel Cade,
 45781     Who since I heard to be discomfited.
 45782 
 45783                     Enter IDEN, with CADE's head
 45784 
 45785   IDEN. If one so rude and of so mean condition
 45786     May pass into the presence of a king,
 45787     Lo, I present your Grace a traitor's head,
 45788     The head of Cade, whom I in combat slew.
 45789   KING HENRY. The head of Cade! Great God, how just art Thou!
 45790     O, let me view his visage, being dead,
 45791     That living wrought me such exceeding trouble.
 45792     Tell me, my friend, art thou the man that slew him?
 45793   IDEN. I was, an't like your Majesty.
 45794   KING HENRY. How art thou call'd? And what is thy degree?
 45795   IDEN. Alexander Iden, that's my name;
 45796     A poor esquire of Kent that loves his king.
 45797   BUCKINGHAM. So please it you, my lord, 'twere not amiss
 45798     He were created knight for his good service.
 45799   KING HENRY. Iden, kneel down. [He kneels] Rise up a knight.
 45800     We give thee for reward a thousand marks,
 45801     And will that thou thenceforth attend on us.
 45802   IDEN. May Iden live to merit such a bounty,
 45803     And never live but true unto his liege!
 45804 
 45805                     Enter the QUEEN and SOMERSET
 45806 
 45807   KING HENRY. See, Buckingham! Somerset comes with th' Queen:
 45808     Go, bid her hide him quickly from the Duke.
 45809   QUEEN. For thousand Yorks he shall not hide his head,
 45810     But boldly stand and front him to his face.
 45811   YORK. How now! Is Somerset at liberty?
 45812     Then, York, unloose thy long-imprisoned thoughts
 45813     And let thy tongue be equal with thy heart.
 45814     Shall I endure the sight of Somerset?
 45815     False king, why hast thou broken faith with me,
 45816     Knowing how hardly I can brook abuse?
 45817     King did I call thee? No, thou art not king;
 45818     Not fit to govern and rule multitudes,
 45819     Which dar'st not, no, nor canst not rule a traitor.
 45820     That head of thine doth not become a crown;
 45821     Thy hand is made to grasp a palmer's staff,
 45822     And not to grace an awful princely sceptre.
 45823     That gold must round engirt these brows of mine,
 45824     Whose smile and frown, like to Achilles' spear,
 45825     Is able with the change to kill and cure.
 45826     Here is a hand to hold a sceptre up,
 45827     And with the same to act controlling laws.
 45828     Give place. By heaven, thou shalt rule no more
 45829     O'er him whom heaven created for thy ruler.
 45830   SOMERSET. O monstrous traitor! I arrest thee, York,
 45831     Of capital treason 'gainst the King and crown.
 45832     Obey, audacious traitor; kneel for grace.
 45833   YORK. Wouldst have me kneel? First let me ask of these,
 45834     If they can brook I bow a knee to man.
 45835     Sirrah, call in my sons to be my bail:        Exit attendant
 45836     I know, ere thy will have me go to ward,
 45837     They'll pawn their swords for my enfranchisement.
 45838   QUEEN. Call hither Clifford; bid him come amain,
 45839     To say if that the bastard boys of York
 45840     Shall be the surety for their traitor father.
 45841                                                  Exit BUCKINGHAM
 45842   YORK. O blood-bespotted Neapolitan,
 45843     Outcast of Naples, England's bloody scourge!
 45844     The sons of York, thy betters in their birth,
 45845     Shall be their father's bail; and bane to those
 45846     That for my surety will refuse the boys!
 45847 
 45848                Enter EDWARD and RICHARD PLANTAGENET
 45849 
 45850     See where they come: I'll warrant they'll make it good.
 45851 
 45852                      Enter CLIFFORD and his SON
 45853 
 45854   QUEEN. And here comes Clifford to deny their bail.
 45855   CLIFFORD. Health and all happiness to my lord the King!
 45856                                                         [Kneels]
 45857   YORK. I thank thee, Clifford. Say, what news with thee?
 45858     Nay, do not fright us with an angry look.
 45859     We are thy sovereign, Clifford, kneel again;
 45860     For thy mistaking so, we pardon thee.
 45861   CLIFFORD. This is my King, York, I do not mistake;
 45862     But thou mistakes me much to think I do.
 45863     To Bedlam with him! Is the man grown mad?
 45864   KING HENRY. Ay, Clifford; a bedlam and ambitious humour
 45865     Makes him oppose himself against his king.
 45866   CLIFFORD. He is a traitor; let him to the Tower,
 45867     And chop away that factious pate of his.
 45868   QUEEN. He is arrested, but will not obey;
 45869     His sons, he says, shall give their words for him.
 45870   YORK. Will you not, sons?
 45871   EDWARD. Ay, noble father, if our words will serve.
 45872   RICHARD. And if words will not, then our weapons shall.
 45873   CLIFFORD. Why, what a brood of traitors have we here!
 45874   YORK. Look in a glass, and call thy image so:
 45875     I am thy king, and thou a false-heart traitor.
 45876     Call hither to the stake my two brave bears,
 45877     That with the very shaking of their chains
 45878     They may astonish these fell-lurking curs.
 45879     Bid Salisbury and Warwick come to me.
 45880 
 45881                Enter the EARLS OF WARWICK and SALISBURY
 45882 
 45883   CLIFFORD. Are these thy bears? We'll bait thy bears to death,
 45884     And manacle the berard in their chains,
 45885     If thou dar'st bring them to the baiting-place.
 45886   RICHARD. Oft have I seen a hot o'er weening cur
 45887     Run back and bite, because he was withheld;
 45888     Who, being suffer'd, with the bear's fell paw,
 45889     Hath clapp'd his tail between his legs and cried;
 45890     And such a piece of service will you do,
 45891     If you oppose yourselves to match Lord Warwick.
 45892   CLIFFORD. Hence, heap of wrath, foul indigested lump,
 45893     As crooked in thy manners as thy shape!
 45894   YORK. Nay, we shall heat you thoroughly anon.
 45895   CLIFFORD. Take heed, lest by your heat you burn yourselves.
 45896   KING HENRY. Why, Warwick, hath thy knee forgot to bow?
 45897     Old Salisbury, shame to thy silver hair,
 45898     Thou mad misleader of thy brainsick son!
 45899     What, wilt thou on thy death-bed play the ruffian
 45900     And seek for sorrow with thy spectacles?
 45901     O, where is faith? O, where is loyalty?
 45902     If it be banish'd from the frosty head,
 45903     Where shall it find a harbour in the earth?
 45904     Wilt thou go dig a grave to find out war
 45905     And shame thine honourable age with blood?
 45906     Why art thou old, and want'st experience?
 45907     Or wherefore dost abuse it, if thou hast it?
 45908     For shame! In duty bend thy knee to me,
 45909     That bows unto the grave with mickle age.
 45910   SALISBURY. My lord, I have considered with myself
 45911     The tide of this most renowned duke,
 45912     And in my conscience do repute his Grace
 45913     The rightful heir to England's royal seat.
 45914   KING HENRY. Hast thou not sworn allegiance unto me?
 45915   SALISBURY. I have.
 45916   KING HENRY. Canst thou dispense with heaven for such an oath?
 45917   SALISBURY. It is great sin to swear unto a sin;
 45918     But greater sin to keep a sinful oath.
 45919     Who can be bound by any solemn vow
 45920     To do a murd'rous deed, to rob a man,
 45921     To force a spotless virgin's chastity,
 45922     To reave the orphan of his patrimony,
 45923     To wring the widow from her custom'd right,
 45924     And have no other reason for this wrong
 45925     But that he was bound by a solemn oath?
 45926   QUEEN. A subtle traitor needs no sophister.
 45927   KING HENRY. Call Buckingham, and bid him arm himself.
 45928   YORK. Call Buckingham, and all the friends thou hast,
 45929     I am resolv'd for death or dignity.
 45930   CLIFFORD. The first I warrant thee, if dreams prove true.
 45931   WARWICK. You were best to go to bed and dream again
 45932     To keep thee from the tempest of the field.
 45933   CLIFFORD. I am resolv'd to bear a greater storm
 45934     Than any thou canst conjure up to-day;
 45935     And that I'll write upon thy burgonet,
 45936     Might I but know thee by thy household badge.
 45937   WARWICK. Now, by my father's badge, old Nevil's crest,
 45938     The rampant bear chain'd to the ragged staff,
 45939     This day I'll wear aloft my burgonet,
 45940     As on a mountain-top the cedar shows,
 45941     That keeps his leaves in spite of any storm,
 45942     Even to affright thee with the view thereof.
 45943   CLIFFORD. And from thy burgonet I'll rend thy bear
 45944     And tread it under foot with all contempt,
 45945     Despite the berard that protects the bear.
 45946   YOUNG CLIFFORD. And so to arms, victorious father,
 45947     To quell the rebels and their complices.
 45948   RICHARD. Fie! charity, for shame! Speak not in spite,
 45949     For you shall sup with Jesu Christ to-night.
 45950   YOUNG CLIFFORD. Foul stigmatic, that's more than thou canst tell.
 45951   RICHARD. If not in heaven, you'll surely sup in hell.
 45952                                                 Exeunt severally
 45953 
 45954 
 45955 
 45956 
 45957 SCENE II.
 45958 Saint Albans
 45959 
 45960 Alarums to the battle. Enter WARWICK
 45961 
 45962   WARWICK. Clifford of Cumberland, 'tis Warwick calls;
 45963     And if thou dost not hide thee from the bear,
 45964     Now, when the angry trumpet sounds alarum
 45965     And dead men's cries do fill the empty air,
 45966     Clifford, I say, come forth and fight with me.
 45967     Proud northern lord, Clifford of Cumberland,
 45968   WARWICK is hoarse with calling thee to arms.
 45969 
 45970                           Enter YORK
 45971 
 45972     How now, my noble lord! what, all a-foot?
 45973   YORK. The deadly-handed Clifford slew my steed;
 45974     But match to match I have encount'red him,
 45975     And made a prey for carrion kites and crows
 45976     Even of the bonny beast he lov'd so well.
 45977 
 45978                       Enter OLD CLIFFORD
 45979 
 45980   WARWICK. Of one or both of us the time is come.
 45981   YORK. Hold, Warwick, seek thee out some other chase,
 45982     For I myself must hunt this deer to death.
 45983   WARWICK. Then, nobly, York; 'tis for a crown thou fight'st.
 45984     As I intend, Clifford, to thrive to-day,
 45985     It grieves my soul to leave thee unassail'd.            Exit
 45986   CLIFFORD. What seest thou in me, York? Why dost thou pause?
 45987   YORK. With thy brave bearing should I be in love
 45988     But that thou art so fast mine enemy.
 45989   CLIFFORD. Nor should thy prowess want praise and esteem
 45990     But that 'tis shown ignobly and in treason.
 45991   YORK. So let it help me now against thy sword,
 45992     As I in justice and true right express it!
 45993   CLIFFORD. My soul and body on the action both!
 45994   YORK. A dreadful lay! Address thee instantly.
 45995                                  [They fight and CLIFFORD falls]
 45996   CLIFFORD. La fin couronne les oeuvres.                  [Dies]
 45997   YORK. Thus war hath given thee peace, for thou art still.
 45998     Peace with his soul, heaven, if it be thy will!         Exit
 45999 
 46000                      Enter YOUNG CLIFFORD
 46001 
 46002   YOUNG CLIFFORD. Shame and confusion! All is on the rout;
 46003     Fear frames disorder, and disorder wounds
 46004     Where it should guard. O war, thou son of hell,
 46005     Whom angry heavens do make their minister,
 46006     Throw in the frozen bosoms of our part
 46007     Hot coals of vengeance! Let no soldier fly.
 46008     He that is truly dedicate to war
 46009     Hath no self-love; nor he that loves himself
 46010     Hath not essentially, but by circumstance,
 46011     The name of valour.                 [Sees his father's body]
 46012     O, let the vile world end
 46013     And the premised flames of the last day
 46014     Knit earth and heaven together!
 46015     Now let the general trumpet blow his blast,
 46016     Particularities and petty sounds
 46017     To cease! Wast thou ordain'd, dear father,
 46018     To lose thy youth in peace and to achieve
 46019     The silver livery of advised age,
 46020     And in thy reverence and thy chair-days thus
 46021     To die in ruffian battle? Even at this sight
 46022     My heart is turn'd to stone; and while 'tis mine
 46023     It shall be stony. York not our old men spares;
 46024     No more will I their babes. Tears virginal
 46025     Shall be to me even as the dew to fire;
 46026     And beauty, that the tyrant oft reclaims,
 46027     Shall to my flaming wrath be oil and flax.
 46028     Henceforth I will not have to do with pity:
 46029     Meet I an infant of the house of York,
 46030     Into as many gobbets will I cut it
 46031     As wild Medea young Absyrtus did;
 46032     In cruelty will I seek out my fame.
 46033     Come, thou new ruin of old Clifford's house;
 46034     As did Aeneas old Anchises bear,
 46035     So bear I thee upon my manly shoulders;
 46036     But then Aeneas bare a living load,
 46037     Nothing so heavy as these woes of mine.
 46038                                               Exit with the body
 46039 
 46040        Enter RICHARD and SOMERSET to fight. SOMERSET is killed
 46041 
 46042   RICHARD. So, lie thou there;
 46043     For underneath an alehouse' paltry sign,
 46044     The Castle in Saint Albans, Somerset
 46045     Hath made the wizard famous in his death.
 46046     Sword, hold thy temper; heart, be wrathful still:
 46047     Priests pray for enemies, but princes kill.             Exit
 46048 
 46049         Fight. Excursions. Enter KING, QUEEN, and others
 46050 
 46051   QUEEN. Away, my lord! You are slow; for shame, away!
 46052   KING HENRY. Can we outrun the heavens? Good Margaret, stay.
 46053   QUEEN. What are you made of? You'll nor fight nor fly.
 46054     Now is it manhood, wisdom, and defence,
 46055     To give the enemy way, and to secure us
 46056     By what we can, which can no more but fly.
 46057                                                [Alarum afar off]
 46058     If you be ta'en, we then should see the bottom
 46059     Of all our fortunes; but if we haply scape-
 46060     As well we may, if not through your neglect-
 46061     We shall to London get, where you are lov'd,
 46062     And where this breach now in our fortunes made
 46063     May readily be stopp'd.
 46064 
 46065                      Re-enter YOUNG CLIFFORD
 46066 
 46067   YOUNG CLIFFORD. But that my heart's on future mischief set,
 46068     I would speak blasphemy ere bid you fly;
 46069     But fly you must; uncurable discomfit
 46070     Reigns in the hearts of all our present parts.
 46071     Away, for your relief! and we will live
 46072     To see their day and them our fortune give.
 46073     Away, my lord, away!                                  Exeunt
 46074 
 46075 
 46076 
 46077 
 46078 SCENE III.
 46079 Fields near Saint Albans
 46080 
 46081 Alarum. Retreat. Enter YORK, RICHARD, WARWICK, and soldiers,
 46082 with drum and colours
 46083 
 46084   YORK. Of Salisbury, who can report of him,
 46085     That winter lion, who in rage forgets
 46086     Aged contusions and all brush of time
 46087     And, like a gallant in the brow of youth,
 46088     Repairs him with occasion? This happy day
 46089     Is not itself, nor have we won one foot,
 46090     If Salisbury be lost.
 46091   RICHARD. My noble father,
 46092     Three times to-day I holp him to his horse,
 46093     Three times bestrid him, thrice I led him off,
 46094     Persuaded him from any further act;
 46095     But still where danger was, still there I met him;
 46096     And like rich hangings in a homely house,
 46097     So was his will in his old feeble body.
 46098     But, noble as he is, look where he comes.
 46099 
 46100                          Enter SALISBURY
 46101 
 46102   SALISBURY. Now, by my sword, well hast thou fought to-day!
 46103     By th' mass, so did we all. I thank you, Richard:
 46104     God knows how long it is I have to live,
 46105     And it hath pleas'd Him that three times to-day
 46106     You have defended me from imminent death.
 46107     Well, lords, we have not got that which we have;
 46108     'Tis not enough our foes are this time fled,
 46109     Being opposites of such repairing nature.
 46110   YORK. I know our safety is to follow them;
 46111     For, as I hear, the King is fled to London
 46112     To call a present court of Parliament.
 46113     Let us pursue him ere the writs go forth.
 46114     What says Lord Warwick? Shall we after them?
 46115   WARWICK. After them? Nay, before them, if we can.
 46116     Now, by my faith, lords, 'twas a glorious day:
 46117     Saint Albans' battle, won by famous York,
 46118     Shall be eterniz'd in all age to come.
 46119     Sound drum and trumpets and to London all;
 46120     And more such days as these to us befall!             Exeunt
 46121 
 46122 
 46123 THE END
 46124 
 46125 
 46126 
 46127 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 46128 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 46129 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 46130 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
 46131 DISTRIBUTED SO LONG AS SUCH COPIES (1) ARE FOR YOUR OR OTHERS
 46132 PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND (2) ARE NOT DISTRIBUTED OR USED
 46133 COMMERCIALLY.  PROHIBITED COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION INCLUDES BY ANY
 46134 SERVICE THAT CHARGES FOR DOWNLOAD TIME OR FOR MEMBERSHIP.>>
 46135 
 46136 
 46137 
 46138 
 46139 
 46140 1591
 46141 
 46142 THE THIRD PART OF KING HENRY THE SIXTH
 46143 
 46144 by William Shakespeare
 46145 
 46146 
 46147 
 46148 DRAMATIS PERSONAE
 46149 
 46150   KING HENRY THE SIXTH
 46151   EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES, his son
 46152   LEWIS XI, King of France           DUKE OF SOMERSET
 46153   DUKE OF EXETER                     EARL OF OXFORD
 46154   EARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND             EARL OF WESTMORELAND
 46155   LORD CLIFFORD
 46156   RICHARD PLANTAGENET, DUKE OF YORK
 46157   EDWARD, EARL OF MARCH, afterwards KING EDWARD IV, his son
 46158   EDMUND, EARL OF RUTLAND, his son
 46159   GEORGE, afterwards DUKE OF CLARENCE, his son
 46160   RICHARD, afterwards DUKE OF GLOUCESTER, his son
 46161   DUKE OF NORFOLK                    MARQUIS OF MONTAGUE
 46162   EARL OF WARWICK                    EARL OF PEMBROKE
 46163   LORD HASTINGS                      LORD STAFFORD
 46164   SIR JOHN MORTIMER, uncle to the Duke of York
 46165   SIR HUGH MORTIMER, uncle to the Duke of York
 46166   HENRY, EARL OF RICHMOND, a youth
 46167   LORD RIVERS, brother to Lady Grey
 46168   SIR WILLIAM STANLEY                SIR JOHN MONTGOMERY
 46169   SIR JOHN SOMERVILLE                TUTOR, to Rutland
 46170   MAYOR OF YORK                      LIEUTENANT OF THE TOWER
 46171   A NOBLEMAN                         TWO KEEPERS
 46172   A HUNTSMAN
 46173   A SON that has killed his father
 46174   A FATHER that has killed his son
 46175 
 46176   QUEEN MARGARET
 46177   LADY GREY, afterwards QUEEN to Edward IV
 46178   BONA, sister to the French Queen
 46179 
 46180   Soldiers, Attendants, Messengers, Watchmen, etc.
 46181 
 46182 
 46183 
 46184 
 46185 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 46186 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 46187 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 46188 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
 46189 DISTRIBUTED SO LONG AS SUCH COPIES (1) ARE FOR YOUR OR OTHERS
 46190 PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND (2) ARE NOT DISTRIBUTED OR USED
 46191 COMMERCIALLY.  PROHIBITED COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION INCLUDES BY ANY
 46192 SERVICE THAT CHARGES FOR DOWNLOAD TIME OR FOR MEMBERSHIP.>>
 46193 
 46194 
 46195 
 46196 SCENE:
 46197 England and France
 46198 
 46199 ACT I. SCENE I.
 46200 London. The Parliament House
 46201 
 46202 Alarum. Enter DUKE OF YORK, EDWARD, RICHARD, NORFOLK, MONTAGUE, WARWICK,
 46203 and soldiers, with white roses in their hats
 46204 
 46205   WARWICK. I wonder how the King escap'd our hands.
 46206   YORK. While we pursu'd the horsemen of the north,
 46207     He slily stole away and left his men;
 46208     Whereat the great Lord of Northumberland,
 46209     Whose warlike ears could never brook retreat,
 46210     Cheer'd up the drooping army, and himself,
 46211     Lord Clifford, and Lord Stafford, all abreast,
 46212     Charg'd our main battle's front, and, breaking in,
 46213     Were by the swords of common soldiers slain.
 46214   EDWARD. Lord Stafford's father, Duke of Buckingham,
 46215     Is either slain or wounded dangerous;
 46216     I cleft his beaver with a downright blow.
 46217     That this is true, father, behold his blood.
 46218   MONTAGUE. And, brother, here's the Earl of Wiltshire's blood,
 46219     Whom I encount'red as the battles join'd.
 46220   RICHARD. Speak thou for me, and tell them what I did.
 46221                                  [Throwing down SOMERSET'S head]
 46222   YORK. Richard hath best deserv'd of all my sons.
 46223     But is your Grace dead, my Lord of Somerset?
 46224   NORFOLK. Such hope have all the line of John of Gaunt!
 46225   RICHARD. Thus do I hope to shake King Henry's head.
 46226   WARWICK. And so do I. Victorious Prince of York,
 46227     Before I see thee seated in that throne
 46228     Which now the house of Lancaster usurps,
 46229     I vow by heaven these eyes shall never close.
 46230     This is the palace of the fearful King,
 46231     And this the regal seat. Possess it, York;
 46232     For this is thine, and not King Henry's heirs'.
 46233   YORK. Assist me then, sweet Warwick, and I will;
 46234     For hither we have broken in by force.
 46235   NORFOLK. We'll all assist you; he that flies shall die.
 46236   YORK. Thanks, gentle Norfolk. Stay by me, my lords;
 46237     And, soldiers, stay and lodge by me this night.
 46238                                                     [They go up]
 46239   WARWICK. And when the King comes, offer him no violence.
 46240     Unless he seek to thrust you out perforce.
 46241   YORK. The Queen this day here holds her parliament,
 46242     But little thinks we shall be of her council.
 46243     By words or blows here let us win our right.
 46244   RICHARD. Arm'd as we are, let's stay within this house.
 46245   WARWICK. The bloody parliament shall this be call'd,
 46246     Unless Plantagenet, Duke of York, be King,
 46247     And bashful Henry depos'd, whose cowardice
 46248     Hath made us by-words to our enemies.
 46249   YORK. Then leave me not, my lords; be resolute:
 46250     I mean to take possession of my right.
 46251   WARWICK. Neither the King, nor he that loves him best,
 46252     The proudest he that holds up Lancaster,
 46253     Dares stir a wing if Warwick shake his bells.
 46254     I'll plant Plantagenet, root him up who dares.
 46255     Resolve thee, Richard; claim the English crown.
 46256                                       [YORK occupies the throne]
 46257 
 46258        Flourish. Enter KING HENRY, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBERLAND,
 46259         WESTMORELAND, EXETER, and others, with red roses in
 46260                             their hats
 46261 
 46262   KING HENRY. My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits,
 46263     Even in the chair of state! Belike he means,
 46264     Back'd by the power of Warwick, that false peer,
 46265     To aspire unto the crown and reign as king.
 46266     Earl of Northumberland, he slew thy father;
 46267     And thine, Lord Clifford; and you both have vow'd revenge
 46268     On him, his sons, his favourites, and his friends.
 46269   NORTHUMBERLAND. If I be not, heavens be reveng'd on me!
 46270   CLIFFORD. The hope thereof makes Clifford mourn in steel.
 46271   WESTMORELAND. What, shall we suffer this? Let's pluck him down;
 46272     My heart for anger burns; I cannot brook it.
 46273   KING HENRY. Be patient, gentle Earl of Westmoreland.
 46274   CLIFFORD. Patience is for poltroons such as he;
 46275     He durst not sit there had your father liv'd.
 46276     My gracious lord, here in the parliament
 46277     Let us assail the family of York.
 46278   NORTHUMBERLAND. Well hast thou spoken, cousin; be it so.
 46279   KING HENRY. Ah, know you not the city favours them,
 46280     And they have troops of soldiers at their beck?
 46281   EXETER. But when the Duke is slain they'll quickly fly.
 46282   KING HENRY. Far be the thought of this from Henry's heart,
 46283     To make a shambles of the parliament house!
 46284     Cousin of Exeter, frowns, words, and threats,
 46285     Shall be the war that Henry means to use.
 46286     Thou factious Duke of York, descend my throne
 46287     And kneel for grace and mercy at my feet;
 46288     I am thy sovereign.
 46289   YORK. I am thine.
 46290   EXETER. For shame, come down; he made thee Duke of York.
 46291   YORK. 'Twas my inheritance, as the earldom was.
 46292   EXETER. Thy father was a traitor to the crown.
 46293   WARWICK. Exeter, thou art a traitor to the crown
 46294     In following this usurping Henry.
 46295   CLIFFORD. Whom should he follow but his natural king?
 46296   WARWICK. True, Clifford; and that's Richard Duke of York.
 46297   KING HENRY. And shall I stand, and thou sit in my throne?
 46298   YORK. It must and shall be so; content thyself.
 46299   WARWICK. Be Duke of Lancaster; let him be King.
 46300   WESTMORELAND. He is both King and Duke of Lancaster;
 46301     And that the Lord of Westmoreland shall maintain.
 46302   WARWICK. And Warwick shall disprove it. You forget
 46303     That we are those which chas'd you from the field,
 46304     And slew your fathers, and with colours spread
 46305     March'd through the city to the palace gates.
 46306   NORTHUMBERLAND. Yes, Warwick, I remember it to my grief;
 46307     And, by his soul, thou and thy house shall rue it.
 46308   WESTMORELAND. Plantagenet, of thee, and these thy sons,
 46309     Thy kinsmen, and thy friends, I'll have more lives
 46310     Than drops of blood were in my father's veins.
 46311   CLIFFORD. Urge it no more; lest that instead of words
 46312     I send thee, Warwick, such a messenger
 46313     As shall revenge his death before I stir.
 46314   WARWICK. Poor Clifford, how I scorn his worthless threats!
 46315   YORK. Will you we show our title to the crown?
 46316     If not, our swords shall plead it in the field.
 46317   KING HENRY. What title hast thou, traitor, to the crown?
 46318     Thy father was, as thou art, Duke of York;
 46319     Thy grandfather, Roger Mortimer, Earl of March:
 46320     I am the son of Henry the Fifth,
 46321     Who made the Dauphin and the French to stoop,
 46322     And seiz'd upon their towns and provinces.
 46323   WARWICK. Talk not of France, sith thou hast lost it all.
 46324   KING HENRY. The Lord Protector lost it, and not I:
 46325     When I was crown'd, I was but nine months old.
 46326   RICHARD. You are old enough now, and yet methinks you lose.
 46327     Father, tear the crown from the usurper's head.
 46328   EDWARD. Sweet father, do so; set it on your head.
 46329   MONTAGUE. Good brother, as thou lov'st and honourest arms,
 46330     Let's fight it out and not stand cavilling thus.
 46331   RICHARD. Sound drums and trumpets, and the King will fly.
 46332   YORK. Sons, peace!
 46333   KING HENRY. Peace thou! and give King Henry leave to speak.
 46334   WARWICK. Plantagenet shall speak first. Hear him, lords;
 46335     And be you silent and attentive too,
 46336     For he that interrupts him shall not live.
 46337   KING HENRY. Think'st thou that I will leave my kingly throne,
 46338     Wherein my grandsire and my father sat?
 46339     No; first shall war unpeople this my realm;
 46340     Ay, and their colours, often borne in France,
 46341     And now in England to our heart's great sorrow,
 46342     Shall be my winding-sheet. Why faint you, lords?
 46343     My title's good, and better far than his.
 46344   WARWICK. Prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be King.
 46345   KING HENRY. Henry the Fourth by conquest got the crown.
 46346   YORK. 'Twas by rebellion against his king.
 46347   KING HENRY. [Aside] I know not what to say; my title's weak.-
 46348     Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir?
 46349   YORK. What then?
 46350   KING HENRY. An if he may, then am I lawful King;
 46351     For Richard, in the view of many lords,
 46352     Resign'd the crown to Henry the Fourth,
 46353     Whose heir my father was, and I am his.
 46354   YORK. He rose against him, being his sovereign,
 46355     And made him to resign his crown perforce.
 46356   WARWICK. Suppose, my lords, he did it unconstrain'd,
 46357     Think you 'twere prejudicial to his crown?
 46358   EXETER. No; for he could not so resign his crown
 46359     But that the next heir should succeed and reign.
 46360   KING HENRY. Art thou against us, Duke of Exeter?
 46361   EXETER. His is the right, and therefore pardon me.
 46362   YORK. Why whisper you, my lords, and answer not?
 46363   EXETER. My conscience tells me he is lawful King.
 46364   KING HENRY. [Aside] All will revolt from me, and turn to him.
 46365   NORTHUMBERLAND. Plantagenet, for all the claim thou lay'st,
 46366     Think not that Henry shall be so depos'd.
 46367   WARWICK. Depos'd he shall be, in despite of all.
 46368   NORTHUMBERLAND. Thou art deceiv'd. 'Tis not thy southern power
 46369     Of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, nor of Kent,
 46370     Which makes thee thus presumptuous and proud,
 46371     Can set the Duke up in despite of me.
 46372   CLIFFORD. King Henry, be thy title right or wrong,
 46373     Lord Clifford vows to fight in thy defence.
 46374     May that ground gape, and swallow me alive,
 46375     Where I shall kneel to him that slew my father!
 46376   KING HENRY. O Clifford, how thy words revive my heart!
 46377   YORK. Henry of Lancaster, resign thy crown.
 46378     What mutter you, or what conspire you, lords?
 46379   WARWICK. Do right unto this princely Duke of York;
 46380     Or I will fill the house with armed men,
 46381     And over the chair of state, where now he sits,
 46382     Write up his title with usurping blood.
 46383                                 [He stamps with his foot and the
 46384                                        soldiers show themselves]
 46385   KING HENRY. My Lord of Warwick, hear but one word:
 46386     Let me for this my life-time reign as king.
 46387   YORK. Confirm the crown to me and to mine heirs,
 46388     And thou shalt reign in quiet while thou liv'st.
 46389   KING HENRY. I am content. Richard Plantagenet,
 46390     Enjoy the kingdom after my decease.
 46391   CLIFFORD. What wrong is this unto the Prince your son!
 46392   WARWICK. What good is this to England and himself!
 46393   WESTMORELAND. Base, fearful, and despairing Henry!
 46394   CLIFFORD. How hast thou injur'd both thyself and or us!
 46395   WESTMORELAND. I cannot stay to hear these articles.
 46396   NORTHUMBERLAND. Nor I.
 46397   CLIFFORD. Come, cousin, let us tell the Queen these news.
 46398   WESTMORELAND. Farewell, faint-hearted and degenerate king,
 46399     In whose cold blood no spark of honour bides.
 46400   NORTHUMBERLAND. Be thou a prey unto the house of York
 46401     And die in bands for this unmanly deed!
 46402   CLIFFORD. In dreadful war mayst thou be overcome,
 46403     Or live in peace abandon'd and despis'd!
 46404                                 Exeunt NORTHUMBERLAND, CLIFFORD,
 46405                                                 and WESTMORELAND
 46406   WARWICK. Turn this way, Henry, and regard them not.
 46407   EXETER. They seek revenge, and therefore will not yield.
 46408   KING HENRY. Ah, Exeter!
 46409   WARWICK. Why should you sigh, my lord?
 46410   KING HENRY. Not for myself, Lord Warwick, but my son,
 46411     Whom I unnaturally shall disinherit.
 46412     But be it as it may. [To YORK] I here entail
 46413     The crown to thee and to thine heirs for ever;
 46414     Conditionally, that here thou take an oath
 46415     To cease this civil war, and, whilst I live,
 46416     To honour me as thy king and sovereign,
 46417     And neither by treason nor hostility
 46418     To seek to put me down and reign thyself.
 46419   YORK. This oath I willingly take, and will perform.
 46420                                         [Coming from the throne]
 46421   WARWICK. Long live King Henry! Plantagenet, embrace him.
 46422   KING HENRY. And long live thou, and these thy forward sons!
 46423   YORK. Now York and Lancaster are reconcil'd.
 46424   EXETER. Accurs'd be he that seeks to make them foes!
 46425                                    [Sennet. Here they come down]
 46426   YORK. Farewell, my gracious lord; I'll to my castle.
 46427   WARWICK. And I'll keep London with my soldiers.
 46428   NORFOLK. And I to Norfolk with my followers.
 46429   MONTAGUE. And I unto the sea, from whence I came.
 46430                                              Exeunt the YORKISTS
 46431   KING HENRY. And I, with grief and sorrow, to the court.
 46432 
 46433             Enter QUEEN MARGARET and the PRINCE OF WALES
 46434 
 46435   EXETER. Here comes the Queen, whose looks bewray her anger.
 46436     I'll steal away.
 46437   KING HENRY. Exeter, so will I.
 46438   QUEEN MARGARET. Nay, go not from me; I will follow thee.
 46439   KING HENRY. Be patient, gentle queen, and I will stay.
 46440   QUEEN MARGARET. Who can be patient in such extremes?
 46441     Ah, wretched man! Would I had died a maid,
 46442     And never seen thee, never borne thee son,
 46443     Seeing thou hast prov'd so unnatural a father!
 46444     Hath he deserv'd to lose his birthright thus?
 46445     Hadst thou but lov'd him half so well as I,
 46446     Or felt that pain which I did for him once,
 46447     Or nourish'd him as I did with my blood,
 46448     Thou wouldst have left thy dearest heart-blood there
 46449     Rather than have made that savage duke thine heir,
 46450     And disinherited thine only son.
 46451   PRINCE OF WALES. Father, you cannot disinherit me.
 46452     If you be King, why should not I succeed?
 46453   KING HENRY. Pardon me, Margaret; pardon me, sweet son.
 46454     The Earl of Warwick and the Duke enforc'd me.
 46455   QUEEN MARGARET. Enforc'd thee! Art thou King and wilt be
 46456       forc'd?
 46457     I shame to hear thee speak. Ah, timorous wretch!
 46458     Thou hast undone thyself, thy son, and me;
 46459     And giv'n unto the house of York such head
 46460     As thou shalt reign but by their sufferance.
 46461     To entail him and his heirs unto the crown,
 46462     What is it but to make thy sepulchre
 46463     And creep into it far before thy time?
 46464     Warwick is Chancellor and the lord of Calais;
 46465     Stern Falconbridge commands the narrow seas;
 46466     The Duke is made Protector of the realm;
 46467     And yet shalt thou be safe? Such safety finds
 46468     The trembling lamb environed with wolves.
 46469     Had I been there, which am a silly woman,
 46470     The soldiers should have toss'd me on their pikes
 46471     Before I would have granted to that act.
 46472     But thou prefer'st thy life before thine honour;
 46473     And seeing thou dost, I here divorce myself,
 46474     Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed,
 46475     Until that act of parliament be repeal'd
 46476     Whereby my son is disinherited.
 46477     The northern lords that have forsworn thy colours
 46478     Will follow mine, if once they see them spread;
 46479     And spread they shall be, to thy foul disgrace
 46480     And utter ruin of the house of York.
 46481     Thus do I leave thee. Come, son, let's away;
 46482     Our army is ready; come, we'll after them.
 46483   KING HENRY. Stay, gentle Margaret, and hear me speak.
 46484   QUEEN MARGARET. Thou hast spoke too much already; get thee gone.
 46485   KING HENRY. Gentle son Edward, thou wilt stay with me?
 46486   QUEEN MARGARET. Ay, to be murder'd by his enemies.
 46487   PRINCE OF WALES. When I return with victory from the field
 46488     I'll see your Grace; till then I'll follow her.
 46489   QUEEN MARGARET. Come, son, away; we may not linger thus.
 46490                             Exeunt QUEEN MARGARET and the PRINCE
 46491   KING HENRY. Poor queen! How love to me and to her son
 46492     Hath made her break out into terms of rage!
 46493     Reveng'd may she be on that hateful Duke,
 46494     Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire,
 46495     Will cost my crown, and like an empty eagle
 46496     Tire on the flesh of me and of my son!
 46497     The loss of those three lords torments my heart.
 46498     I'll write unto them, and entreat them fair;
 46499     Come, cousin, you shall be the messenger.
 46500   EXETER. And I, I hope, shall reconcile them all.        Exeunt
 46501 
 46502 
 46503 
 46504 
 46505 SCENE II.
 46506 Sandal Castle, near Wakefield, in Yorkshire
 46507 
 46508 Flourish. Enter EDWARD, RICHARD, and MONTAGUE
 46509 
 46510   RICHARD. Brother, though I be youngest, give me leave.
 46511   EDWARD. No, I can better play the orator.
 46512   MONTAGUE. But I have reasons strong and forcible.
 46513 
 46514                      Enter the DUKE OF YORK
 46515 
 46516   YORK. Why, how now, sons and brother! at a strife?
 46517     What is your quarrel? How began it first?
 46518   EDWARD. No quarrel, but a slight contention.
 46519   YORK. About what?
 46520   RICHARD. About that which concerns your Grace and us-
 46521     The crown of England, father, which is yours.
 46522   YORK. Mine, boy? Not till King Henry be dead.
 46523   RICHARD. Your right depends not on his life or death.
 46524   EDWARD. Now you are heir, therefore enjoy it now.
 46525     By giving the house of Lancaster leave to breathe,
 46526     It will outrun you, father, in the end.
 46527   YORK. I took an oath that he should quietly reign.
 46528   EDWARD. But for a kingdom any oath may be broken:
 46529     I would break a thousand oaths to reign one year.
 46530   RICHARD. No; God forbid your Grace should be forsworn.
 46531   YORK. I shall be, if I claim by open war.
 46532   RICHARD. I'll prove the contrary, if you'll hear me speak.
 46533   YORK. Thou canst not, son; it is impossible.
 46534   RICHARD. An oath is of no moment, being not took
 46535     Before a true and lawful magistrate
 46536     That hath authority over him that swears.
 46537     Henry had none, but did usurp the place;
 46538     Then, seeing 'twas he that made you to depose,
 46539     Your oath, my lord, is vain and frivolous.
 46540     Therefore, to arms. And, father, do but think
 46541     How sweet a thing it is to wear a crown,
 46542     Within whose circuit is Elysium
 46543     And all that poets feign of bliss and joy.
 46544     Why do we linger thus? I cannot rest
 46545     Until the white rose that I wear be dy'd
 46546     Even in the lukewarm blood of Henry's heart.
 46547   YORK. Richard, enough; I will be King, or die.
 46548     Brother, thou shalt to London presently
 46549     And whet on Warwick to this enterprise.
 46550     Thou, Richard, shalt to the Duke of Norfolk
 46551     And tell him privily of our intent.
 46552     You, Edward, shall unto my Lord Cobham,
 46553     With whom the Kentishmen will willingly rise;
 46554     In them I trust, for they are soldiers,
 46555     Witty, courteous, liberal, full of spirit.
 46556     While you are thus employ'd, what resteth more
 46557     But that I seek occasion how to rise,
 46558     And yet the King not privy to my drift,
 46559     Nor any of the house of Lancaster?
 46560 
 46561                       Enter a MESSENGER
 46562 
 46563     But, stay. What news? Why com'st thou in such post?
 46564   MESSENGER. The Queen with all the northern earls and lords
 46565     Intend here to besiege you in your castle.
 46566     She is hard by with twenty thousand men;
 46567     And therefore fortify your hold, my lord.
 46568   YORK. Ay, with my sword. What! think'st thou that we fear them?
 46569     Edward and Richard, you shall stay with me;
 46570     My brother Montague shall post to London.
 46571     Let noble Warwick, Cobham, and the rest,
 46572     Whom we have left protectors of the King,
 46573     With pow'rful policy strengthen themselves
 46574     And trust not simple Henry nor his oaths.
 46575   MONTAGUE. Brother, I go; I'll win them, fear it not.
 46576     And thus most humbly I do take my leave.                Exit
 46577 
 46578               Enter SIR JOHN and SIR HUGH MORTIMER
 46579 
 46580   YORK. Sir john and Sir Hugh Mortimer, mine uncles!
 46581     You are come to Sandal in a happy hour;
 46582     The army of the Queen mean to besiege us.
 46583   SIR JOHN. She shall not need; we'll meet her in the field.
 46584   YORK. What, with five thousand men?
 46585   RICHARD. Ay, with five hundred, father, for a need.
 46586     A woman's general; what should we fear?
 46587                                               [A march afar off]
 46588   EDWARD. I hear their drums. Let's set our men in order,
 46589     And issue forth and bid them battle straight.
 46590   YORK. Five men to twenty! Though the odds be great,
 46591     I doubt not, uncle, of our victory.
 46592     Many a battle have I won in France,
 46593     When as the enemy hath been ten to one;
 46594     Why should I not now have the like success?           Exeunt
 46595 
 46596 
 46597 
 46598 
 46599 SCENE III.
 46600 Field of battle between Sandal Castle and Wakefield
 46601 
 46602 Alarum. Enter RUTLAND and his TUTOR
 46603 
 46604   RUTLAND. Ah, whither shall I fly to scape their hands?
 46605     Ah, tutor, look where bloody Clifford comes!
 46606 
 46607                   Enter CLIFFORD and soldiers
 46608 
 46609   CLIFFORD. Chaplain, away! Thy priesthood saves thy life.
 46610     As for the brat of this accursed duke,
 46611     Whose father slew my father, he shall die.
 46612   TUTOR. And I, my lord, will bear him company.
 46613   CLIFFORD. Soldiers, away with him!
 46614   TUTOR. Ah, Clifford, murder not this innocent child,
 46615     Lest thou be hated both of God and man.
 46616                                     Exit, forced off by soldiers
 46617   CLIFFORD. How now, is he dead already? Or is it fear
 46618     That makes him close his eyes? I'll open them.
 46619   RUTLAND. So looks the pent-up lion o'er the wretch
 46620     That trembles under his devouring paws;
 46621     And so he walks, insulting o'er his prey,
 46622     And so he comes, to rend his limbs asunder.
 46623     Ah, gentle Clifford, kill me with thy sword,
 46624     And not with such a cruel threat'ning look!
 46625     Sweet Clifford, hear me speak before I die.
 46626     I am too mean a subject for thy wrath;
 46627     Be thou reveng'd on men, and let me live.
 46628   CLIFFORD. In vain thou speak'st, poor boy; my father's blood
 46629     Hath stopp'd the passage where thy words should enter.
 46630   RUTLAND. Then let my father's blood open it again:
 46631     He is a man, and, Clifford, cope with him.
 46632   CLIFFORD. Had I thy brethren here, their lives and thine
 46633     Were not revenge sufficient for me;
 46634     No, if I digg'd up thy forefathers' graves
 46635     And hung their rotten coffins up in chains,
 46636     It could not slake mine ire nor ease my heart.
 46637     The sight of any of the house of York
 46638     Is as a fury to torment my soul;
 46639     And till I root out their accursed line
 46640     And leave not one alive, I live in hell.
 46641     Therefore-
 46642   RUTLAND. O, let me pray before I take my death!
 46643     To thee I pray: sweet Clifford, pity me.
 46644   CLIFFORD. Such pity as my rapier's point affords.
 46645   RUTLAND. I never did thee harm; why wilt thou slay me?
 46646   CLIFFORD. Thy father hath.
 46647   RUTLAND. But 'twas ere I was born.
 46648     Thou hast one son; for his sake pity me,
 46649     Lest in revenge thereof, sith God is just,
 46650     He be as miserably slain as I.
 46651     Ah, let me live in prison all my days;
 46652     And when I give occasion of offence
 46653     Then let me die, for now thou hast no cause.
 46654   CLIFFORD. No cause!
 46655     Thy father slew my father; therefore, die.       [Stabs him]
 46656   RUTLAND. Di faciant laudis summa sit ista tuae!         [Dies]
 46657   CLIFFORD. Plantagenet, I come, Plantagenet;
 46658     And this thy son's blood cleaving to my blade
 46659     Shall rust upon my weapon, till thy blood,
 46660     Congeal'd with this, do make me wipe off both.          Exit
 46661 
 46662 
 46663 
 46664 
 46665 SCENE IV.
 46666 Another part of the field
 46667 
 46668 Alarum. Enter the DUKE OF YORK
 46669 
 46670   YORK. The army of the Queen hath got the field.
 46671     My uncles both are slain in rescuing me;
 46672     And all my followers to the eager foe
 46673     Turn back and fly, like ships before the wind,
 46674     Or lambs pursu'd by hunger-starved wolves.
 46675     My sons- God knows what hath bechanced them;
 46676     But this I know- they have demean'd themselves
 46677     Like men born to renown by life or death.
 46678     Three times did Richard make a lane to me,
 46679     And thrice cried 'Courage, father! fight it out.'
 46680     And full as oft came Edward to my side
 46681     With purple falchion, painted to the hilt
 46682     In blood of those that had encount'red him.
 46683     And when the hardiest warriors did retire,
 46684     Richard cried 'Charge, and give no foot of ground!'
 46685     And cried 'A crown, or else a glorious tomb!
 46686     A sceptre, or an earthly sepulchre!'
 46687     With this we charg'd again; but out alas!
 46688     We bodg'd again; as I have seen a swan
 46689     With bootless labour swim against the tide
 46690     And spend her strength with over-matching waves.
 46691                                          [A short alarum within]
 46692     Ah, hark! The fatal followers do pursue,
 46693     And I am faint and cannot fly their fury;
 46694     And were I strong, I would not shun their fury.
 46695     The sands are numb'red that make up my life;
 46696     Here must I stay, and here my life must end.
 46697 
 46698          Enter QUEEN MARGARET, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBERLAND,
 46699                the PRINCE OF WALES, and soldiers
 46700 
 46701     Come, bloody Clifford, rough Northumberland,
 46702     I dare your quenchless fury to more rage;
 46703     I am your butt, and I abide your shot.
 46704   NORTHUMBERLAND. Yield to our mercy, proud Plantagenet.
 46705   CLIFFORD. Ay, to such mercy as his ruthless arm
 46706     With downright payment show'd unto my father.
 46707     Now Phaethon hath tumbled from his car,
 46708     And made an evening at the noontide prick.
 46709   YORK. My ashes, as the phoenix, may bring forth
 46710     A bird that will revenge upon you all;
 46711     And in that hope I throw mine eyes to heaven,
 46712     Scorning whate'er you can afflict me with.
 46713     Why come you not? What! multitudes, and fear?
 46714   CLIFFORD. So cowards fight when they can fly no further;
 46715     So doves do peck the falcon's piercing talons;
 46716     So desperate thieves, all hopeless of their lives,
 46717     Breathe out invectives 'gainst the officers.
 46718   YORK. O Clifford, but bethink thee once again,
 46719     And in thy thought o'errun my former time;
 46720     And, if thou canst for blushing, view this face,
 46721     And bite thy tongue that slanders him with cowardice
 46722     Whose frown hath made thee faint and fly ere this!
 46723   CLIFFORD. I will not bandy with thee word for word,
 46724     But buckler with thee blows, twice two for one.
 46725   QUEEN MARGARET. Hold, valiant Clifford; for a thousand causes
 46726     I would prolong awhile the traitor's life.
 46727     Wrath makes him deaf; speak thou, Northumberland.
 46728   NORTHUMBERLAND. Hold, Clifford! do not honour him so much
 46729     To prick thy finger, though to wound his heart.
 46730     What valour were it, when a cur doth grin,
 46731     For one to thrust his hand between his teeth,
 46732     When he might spurn him with his foot away?
 46733     It is war's prize to take all vantages;
 46734     And ten to one is no impeach of valour.
 46735                          [They lay hands on YORK, who struggles]
 46736   CLIFFORD. Ay, ay, so strives the woodcock with the gin.
 46737   NORTHUMBERLAND. So doth the cony struggle in the net.
 46738   YORK. So triumph thieves upon their conquer'd booty;
 46739     So true men yield, with robbers so o'er-match'd.
 46740   NORTHUMBERLAND. What would your Grace have done unto him now?
 46741   QUEEN MARGARET. Brave warriors, Clifford and Northumberland,
 46742     Come, make him stand upon this molehill here
 46743     That raught at mountains with outstretched arms,
 46744     Yet parted but the shadow with his hand.
 46745     What, was it you that would be England's king?
 46746     Was't you that revell'd in our parliament
 46747     And made a preachment of your high descent?
 46748     Where are your mess of sons to back you now?
 46749     The wanton Edward and the lusty George?
 46750     And where's that valiant crook-back prodigy,
 46751     Dicky your boy, that with his grumbling voice
 46752     Was wont to cheer his dad in mutinies?
 46753     Or, with the rest, where is your darling Rutland?
 46754     Look, York: I stain'd this napkin with the blood
 46755     That valiant Clifford with his rapier's point
 46756     Made issue from the bosom of the boy;
 46757     And if thine eyes can water for his death,
 46758     I give thee this to dry thy cheeks withal.
 46759     Alas, poor York! but that I hate thee deadly,
 46760     I should lament thy miserable state.
 46761     I prithee grieve to make me merry, York.
 46762     What, hath thy fiery heart so parch'd thine entrails
 46763     That not a tear can fall for Rutland's death?
 46764     Why art thou patient, man? Thou shouldst be mad;
 46765     And I to make thee mad do mock thee thus.
 46766     Stamp, rave, and fret, that I may sing and dance.
 46767     Thou wouldst be fee'd, I see, to make me sport;
 46768     York cannot speak unless he wear a crown.
 46769     A crown for York!-and, lords, bow low to him.
 46770     Hold you his hands whilst I do set it on.
 46771                              [Putting a paper crown on his head]
 46772     Ay, marry, sir, now looks he like a king!
 46773     Ay, this is he that took King Henry's chair,
 46774     And this is he was his adopted heir.
 46775     But how is it that great Plantagenet
 46776     Is crown'd so soon and broke his solemn oath?
 46777     As I bethink me, you should not be King
 46778     Till our King Henry had shook hands with death.
 46779     And will you pale your head in Henry's glory,
 46780     And rob his temples of the diadem,
 46781     Now in his life, against your holy oath?
 46782     O, 'tis a fault too too
 46783     Off with the crown and with the crown his head;
 46784     And, whilst we breathe, take time to do him dead.
 46785   CLIFFORD. That is my office, for my father's sake.
 46786   QUEEN MARGARET. Nay, stay; let's hear the orisons he makes.
 46787   YORK. She-wolf of France, but worse than wolves of France,
 46788     Whose tongue more poisons than the adder's tooth!
 46789     How ill-beseeming is it in thy sex
 46790     To triumph like an Amazonian trull
 46791     Upon their woes whom fortune captivates!
 46792     But that thy face is visard-like, unchanging,
 46793     Made impudent with use of evil deeds,
 46794     I would assay, proud queen, to make thee blush.
 46795     To tell thee whence thou cam'st, of whom deriv'd,
 46796     Were shame enough to shame thee, wert thou not shameless.
 46797     Thy father bears the type of King of Naples,
 46798     Of both the Sicils and Jerusalem,
 46799     Yet not so wealthy as an English yeoman.
 46800     Hath that poor monarch taught thee to insult?
 46801     It needs not, nor it boots thee not, proud queen;
 46802     Unless the adage must be verified,
 46803     That beggars mounted run their horse to death.
 46804     'Tis beauty that doth oft make women proud;
 46805     But, God He knows, thy share thereof is small.
 46806     'Tis virtue that doth make them most admir'd;
 46807     The contrary doth make thee wond'red at.
 46808     'Tis government that makes them seem divine;
 46809     The want thereof makes thee abominable.
 46810     Thou art as opposite to every good
 46811     As the Antipodes are unto us,
 46812     Or as the south to the septentrion.
 46813     O tiger's heart wrapp'd in a woman's hide!
 46814     How couldst thou drain the life-blood of the child,
 46815     To bid the father wipe his eyes withal,
 46816     And yet be seen to bear a woman's face?
 46817     Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible:
 46818     Thou stern, obdurate, flinty, rough, remorseless.
 46819     Bid'st thou me rage? Why, now thou hast thy wish;
 46820     Wouldst have me weep? Why, now thou hast thy will;
 46821     For raging wind blows up incessant showers,
 46822     And when the rage allays, the rain begins.
 46823     These tears are my sweet Rutland's obsequies;
 46824     And every drop cries vengeance for his death
 46825     'Gainst thee, fell Clifford, and thee, false Frenchwoman.
 46826   NORTHUMBERLAND. Beshrew me, but his passions move me so
 46827     That hardly can I check my eyes from tears.
 46828   YORK. That face of his the hungry cannibals
 46829     Would not have touch'd, would not have stain'd with blood;
 46830     But you are more inhuman, more inexorable-
 46831     O, ten times more- than tigers of Hyrcania.
 46832     See, ruthless queen, a hapless father's tears.
 46833     This cloth thou dipp'dst in blood of my sweet boy,
 46834     And I with tears do wash the blood away.
 46835     Keep thou the napkin, and go boast of this;
 46836     And if thou tell'st the heavy story right,
 46837     Upon my soul, the hearers will shed tears;
 46838     Yea, even my foes will shed fast-falling tears
 46839     And say 'Alas, it was a piteous deed!'
 46840     There, take the crown, and with the crown my curse;
 46841     And in thy need such comfort come to thee
 46842     As now I reap at thy too cruel hand!
 46843     Hard-hearted Clifford, take me from the world;
 46844     My soul to heaven, my blood upon your heads!
 46845   NORTHUMBERLAND. Had he been slaughter-man to all my kin,
 46846     I should not for my life but weep with him,
 46847     To see how inly sorrow gripes his soul.
 46848   QUEEN MARGARET. What, weeping-ripe, my Lord Northumberland?
 46849     Think but upon the wrong he did us all,
 46850     And that will quickly dry thy melting tears.
 46851   CLIFFORD. Here's for my oath, here's for my father's death.
 46852                                                   [Stabbing him]
 46853   QUEEN MARGARET. And here's to right our gentle-hearted king.
 46854                                                   [Stabbing him]
 46855   YORK. Open Thy gate of mercy, gracious God!
 46856     My soul flies through these wounds to seek out Thee.
 46857                                                           [Dies]
 46858   QUEEN MARGARET. Off with his head, and set it on York gates;
 46859     So York may overlook the town of York.
 46860                                                 Flourish. Exeunt
 46861 
 46862 
 46863 
 46864 
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 46873 
 46874 
 46875 
 46876 ACT II. SCENE I.
 46877 A plain near Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire
 46878 
 46879 A march. Enter EDWARD, RICHARD, and their power
 46880 
 46881   EDWARD. I wonder how our princely father scap'd,
 46882     Or whether he be scap'd away or no
 46883     From Clifford's and Northumberland's pursuit.
 46884     Had he been ta'en, we should have heard the news;
 46885     Had he been slain, we should have heard the news;
 46886     Or had he scap'd, methinks we should have heard
 46887     The happy tidings of his good escape.
 46888     How fares my brother? Why is he so sad?
 46889   RICHARD. I cannot joy until I be resolv'd
 46890     Where our right valiant father is become.
 46891     I saw him in the battle range about,
 46892     And watch'd him how he singled Clifford forth.
 46893     Methought he bore him in the thickest troop
 46894     As doth a lion in a herd of neat;
 46895     Or as a bear, encompass'd round with dogs,
 46896     Who having pinch'd a few and made them cry,
 46897     The rest stand all aloof and bark at him.
 46898     So far'd our father with his enemies;
 46899     So fled his enemies my warlike father.
 46900     Methinks 'tis prize enough to be his son.
 46901     See how the morning opes her golden gates
 46902     And takes her farewell of the glorious sun.
 46903     How well resembles it the prime of youth,
 46904     Trimm'd like a younker prancing to his love!
 46905   EDWARD. Dazzle mine eyes, or do I see three suns?
 46906   RICHARD. Three glorious suns, each one a perfect sun;
 46907     Not separated with the racking clouds,
 46908     But sever'd in a pale clear-shining sky.
 46909     See, see! they join, embrace, and seem to kiss,
 46910     As if they vow'd some league inviolable.
 46911     Now are they but one lamp, one light, one sun.
 46912     In this the heaven figures some event.
 46913   EDWARD. 'Tis wondrous strange, the like yet never heard of.
 46914     I think it cites us, brother, to the field,
 46915     That we, the sons of brave Plantagenet,
 46916     Each one already blazing by our meeds,
 46917     Should notwithstanding join our lights together
 46918     And overshine the earth, as this the world.
 46919     Whate'er it bodes, henceforward will I bear
 46920     Upon my target three fair shining suns.
 46921   RICHARD. Nay, bear three daughters- by your leave I speak it,
 46922     You love the breeder better than the male.
 46923 
 46924                  Enter a MESSENGER, blowing
 46925 
 46926     But what art thou, whose heavy looks foretell
 46927     Some dreadful story hanging on thy tongue?
 46928   MESSENGER. Ah, one that was a woeful looker-on
 46929     When as the noble Duke of York was slain,
 46930     Your princely father and my loving lord!
 46931   EDWARD. O, speak no more! for I have heard too much.
 46932   RICHARD. Say how he died, for I will hear it all.
 46933   MESSENGER. Environed he was with many foes,
 46934     And stood against them as the hope of Troy
 46935     Against the Greeks that would have ent'red Troy.
 46936     But Hercules himself must yield to odds;
 46937     And many strokes, though with a little axe,
 46938     Hews down and fells the hardest-timber'd oak.
 46939     By many hands your father was subdu'd;
 46940     But only slaught'red by the ireful arm
 46941     Of unrelenting Clifford and the Queen,
 46942     Who crown'd the gracious Duke in high despite,
 46943     Laugh'd in his face; and when with grief he wept,
 46944     The ruthless Queen gave him to dry his cheeks
 46945     A napkin steeped in the harmless blood
 46946     Of sweet young Rutland, by rough Clifford slain;
 46947     And after many scorns, many foul taunts,
 46948     They took his head, and on the gates of York
 46949     They set the same; and there it doth remain,
 46950     The saddest spectacle that e'er I view'd.
 46951   EDWARD. Sweet Duke of York, our prop to lean upon,
 46952     Now thou art gone, we have no staff, no stay.
 46953     O Clifford, boist'rous Clifford, thou hast slain
 46954     The flow'r of Europe for his chivalry;
 46955     And treacherously hast thou vanquish'd him,
 46956     For hand to hand he would have vanquish'd thee.
 46957     Now my soul's palace is become a prison.
 46958     Ah, would she break from hence, that this my body
 46959     Might in the ground be closed up in rest!
 46960     For never henceforth shall I joy again;
 46961     Never, O never, shall I see more joy.
 46962   RICHARD. I cannot weep, for all my body's moisture
 46963     Scarce serves to quench my furnace-burning heart;
 46964     Nor can my tongue unload my heart's great burden,
 46965     For self-same wind that I should speak withal
 46966     Is kindling coals that fires all my breast,
 46967     And burns me up with flames that tears would quench.
 46968     To weep is to make less the depth of grief.
 46969     Tears then for babes; blows and revenge for me!
 46970     Richard, I bear thy name; I'll venge thy death,
 46971     Or die renowned by attempting it.
 46972   EDWARD. His name that valiant duke hath left with thee;
 46973     His dukedom and his chair with me is left.
 46974   RICHARD. Nay, if thou be that princely eagle's bird,
 46975     Show thy descent by gazing 'gainst the sun;
 46976     For chair and dukedom, throne and kingdom, say:
 46977     Either that is thine, or else thou wert not his.
 46978 
 46979          March. Enter WARWICK, MONTAGUE, and their army
 46980 
 46981   WARWICK. How now, fair lords! What fare? What news abroad?
 46982   RICHARD. Great Lord of Warwick, if we should recount
 46983     Our baleful news and at each word's deliverance
 46984     Stab poinards in our flesh till all were told,
 46985     The words would add more anguish than the wounds.
 46986     O valiant lord, the Duke of York is slain!
 46987   EDWARD. O Warwick, Warwick! that Plantagenet
 46988     Which held thee dearly as his soul's redemption
 46989     Is by the stern Lord Clifford done to death.
 46990   WARWICK. Ten days ago I drown'd these news in tears;
 46991     And now, to add more measure to your woes,
 46992     I come to tell you things sith then befall'n.
 46993     After the bloody fray at Wakefield fought,
 46994     Where your brave father breath'd his latest gasp,
 46995     Tidings, as swiftly as the posts could run,
 46996     Were brought me of your loss and his depart.
 46997     I, then in London, keeper of the King,
 46998     Muster'd my soldiers, gathered flocks of friends,
 46999     And very well appointed, as I thought,
 47000     March'd toward Saint Albans to intercept the Queen,
 47001     Bearing the King in my behalf along;
 47002     For by my scouts I was advertised
 47003     That she was coming with a full intent
 47004     To dash our late decree in parliament
 47005     Touching King Henry's oath and your succession.
 47006     Short tale to make- we at Saint Albans met,
 47007     Our battles join'd, and both sides fiercely fought;
 47008     But whether 'twas the coldness of the King,
 47009     Who look'd full gently on his warlike queen,
 47010     That robb'd my soldiers of their heated spleen,
 47011     Or whether 'twas report of her success,
 47012     Or more than common fear of Clifford's rigour,
 47013     Who thunders to his captives blood and death,
 47014     I cannot judge; but, to conclude with truth,
 47015     Their weapons like to lightning came and went:
 47016     Our soldiers', like the night-owl's lazy flight
 47017     Or like an idle thresher with a flail,
 47018     Fell gently down, as if they struck their friends.
 47019     I cheer'd them up with justice of our cause,
 47020     With promise of high pay and great rewards,
 47021     But all in vain; they had no heart to fight,
 47022     And we in them no hope to win the day;
 47023     So that we fled: the King unto the Queen;
 47024     Lord George your brother, Norfolk, and myself,
 47025     In haste post-haste are come to join with you;
 47026     For in the marches here we heard you were
 47027     Making another head to fight again.
 47028   EDWARD. Where is the Duke of Norfolk, gentle Warwick?
 47029     And when came George from Burgundy to England?
 47030   WARWICK. Some six miles off the Duke is with the soldiers;
 47031     And for your brother, he was lately sent
 47032     From your kind aunt, Duchess of Burgundy,
 47033     With aid of soldiers to this needful war.
 47034   RICHARD. 'Twas odds, belike, when valiant Warwick fled.
 47035     Oft have I heard his praises in pursuit,
 47036     But ne'er till now his scandal of retire.
 47037   WARWICK. Nor now my scandal, Richard, dost thou hear;
 47038     For thou shalt know this strong right hand of mine
 47039     Can pluck the diadem from faint Henry's head
 47040     And wring the awful sceptre from his fist,
 47041     Were he as famous and as bold in war
 47042     As he is fam'd for mildness, peace, and prayer.
 47043   RICHARD. I know it well, Lord Warwick; blame me not.
 47044     'Tis love I bear thy glories makes me speak.
 47045     But in this troublous time what's to be done?
 47046     Shall we go throw away our coats of steel
 47047     And wrap our bodies in black mourning-gowns,
 47048     Numbering our Ave-Maries with our beads?
 47049     Or shall we on the helmets of our foes
 47050     Tell our devotion with revengeful arms?
 47051     If for the last, say 'Ay,' and to it, lords.
 47052   WARWICK. Why, therefore Warwick came to seek you out;
 47053     And therefore comes my brother Montague.
 47054     Attend me, lords. The proud insulting Queen,
 47055     With Clifford and the haught Northumberland,
 47056     And of their feather many moe proud birds,
 47057     Have wrought the easy-melting King like wax.
 47058     He swore consent to your succession,
 47059     His oath enrolled in the parliament;
 47060     And now to London all the crew are gone
 47061     To frustrate both his oath and what beside
 47062     May make against the house of Lancaster.
 47063     Their power, I think, is thirty thousand strong.
 47064     Now if the help of Norfolk and myself,
 47065     With all the friends that thou, brave Earl of March,
 47066     Amongst the loving Welshmen canst procure,
 47067     Will but amount to five and twenty thousand,
 47068     Why, Via! to London will we march amain,
 47069     And once again bestride our foaming steeds,
 47070     And once again cry 'Charge upon our foes!'
 47071     But never once again turn back and fly.
 47072   RICHARD. Ay, now methinks I hear great Warwick speak.
 47073     Ne'er may he live to see a sunshine day
 47074     That cries 'Retire!' if Warwick bid him stay.
 47075   EDWARD. Lord Warwick, on thy shoulder will I lean;
 47076     And when thou fail'st- as God forbid the hour!-
 47077     Must Edward fall, which peril heaven forfend.
 47078   WARWICK. No longer Earl of March, but Duke of York;
 47079     The next degree is England's royal throne,
 47080     For King of England shalt thou be proclaim'd
 47081     In every borough as we pass along;
 47082     And he that throws not up his cap for joy
 47083     Shall for the fault make forfeit of his head.
 47084     King Edward, valiant Richard, Montague,
 47085     Stay we no longer, dreaming of renown,
 47086     But sound the trumpets and about our task.
 47087   RICHARD. Then, Clifford, were thy heart as hard as steel,
 47088     As thou hast shown it flinty by thy deeds,
 47089     I come to pierce it or to give thee mine.
 47090   EDWARD. Then strike up drums. God and Saint George for us!
 47091 
 47092                        Enter a MESSENGER
 47093 
 47094   WARWICK. How now! what news?
 47095   MESSENGER. The Duke of Norfolk sends you word by me
 47096     The Queen is coming with a puissant host,
 47097     And craves your company for speedy counsel.
 47098   WARWICK. Why, then it sorts; brave warriors, let's away.
 47099                                                           Exeunt
 47100 
 47101 
 47102 
 47103 
 47104 SCENE II.
 47105 Before York
 47106 
 47107 Flourish. Enter KING HENRY, QUEEN MARGARET, the PRINCE OF WALES, CLIFFORD,
 47108 NORTHUMBERLAND, with drum and trumpets
 47109 
 47110   QUEEN MARGARET. Welcome, my lord, to this brave town of York.
 47111     Yonder's the head of that arch-enemy
 47112     That sought to be encompass'd with your crown.
 47113     Doth not the object cheer your heart, my lord?
 47114   KING HENRY. Ay, as the rocks cheer them that fear their wreck-
 47115     To see this sight, it irks my very soul.
 47116     Withhold revenge, dear God; 'tis not my fault,
 47117     Nor wittingly have I infring'd my vow.
 47118   CLIFFORD. My gracious liege, this too much lenity
 47119     And harmful pity must be laid aside.
 47120     To whom do lions cast their gentle looks?
 47121     Not to the beast that would usurp their den.
 47122     Whose hand is that the forest bear doth lick?
 47123     Not his that spoils her young before her face.
 47124     Who scapes the lurking serpent's mortal sting?
 47125     Not he that sets his foot upon her back,
 47126     The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on,
 47127     And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood.
 47128     Ambitious York did level at thy crown,
 47129     Thou smiling while he knit his angry brows.
 47130     He, but a Duke, would have his son a king,
 47131     And raise his issue like a loving sire:
 47132     Thou, being a king, bless'd with a goodly son,
 47133     Didst yield consent to disinherit him,
 47134     Which argued thee a most unloving father.
 47135     Unreasonable creatures feed their young;
 47136     And though man's face be fearful to their eyes,
 47137     Yet, in protection of their tender ones,
 47138     Who hath not seen them- even with those wings
 47139     Which sometime they have us'd with fearful flight-
 47140     Make war with him that climb'd unto their nest,
 47141     Offering their own lives in their young's defence
 47142     For shame, my liege, make them your precedent!
 47143     Were it not pity that this goodly boy
 47144     Should lose his birthright by his father's fault,
 47145     And long hereafter say unto his child
 47146     'What my great-grandfather and grandsire got
 47147     My careless father fondly gave away'?
 47148     Ah, what a shame were this! Look on the boy;
 47149     And let his manly face, which promiseth
 47150     Successful fortune, steel thy melting heart
 47151     To hold thine own and leave thine own with him.
 47152   KING HENRY. Full well hath Clifford play'd the orator,
 47153     Inferring arguments of mighty force.
 47154     But, Clifford, tell me, didst thou never hear
 47155     That things ill got had ever bad success?
 47156     And happy always was it for that son
 47157     Whose father for his hoarding went to hell?
 47158     I'll leave my son my virtuous deeds behind;
 47159     And would my father had left me no more!
 47160     For all the rest is held at such a rate
 47161     As brings a thousand-fold more care to keep
 47162     Than in possession any jot of pleasure.
 47163     Ah, cousin York! would thy best friends did know
 47164     How it doth grieve me that thy head is here!
 47165   QUEEN MARGARET. My lord, cheer up your spirits; our foes are nigh,
 47166     And this soft courage makes your followers faint.
 47167     You promis'd knighthood to our forward son:
 47168     Unsheathe your sword and dub him presently.
 47169     Edward, kneel down.
 47170   KING HENRY. Edward Plantagenet, arise a knight;
 47171     And learn this lesson: Draw thy sword in right.
 47172   PRINCE OF WALES. My gracious father, by your kingly leave,
 47173     I'll draw it as apparent to the crown,
 47174     And in that quarrel use it to the death.
 47175   CLIFFORD. Why, that is spoken like a toward prince.
 47176 
 47177                       Enter a MESSENGER
 47178 
 47179   MESSENGER. Royal commanders, be in readiness;
 47180     For with a band of thirty thousand men
 47181     Comes Warwick, backing of the Duke of York,
 47182     And in the towns, as they do march along,
 47183     Proclaims him king, and many fly to him.
 47184     Darraign your battle, for they are at hand.
 47185   CLIFFORD. I would your Highness would depart the field:
 47186     The Queen hath best success when you are absent.
 47187   QUEEN MARGARET. Ay, good my lord, and leave us to our fortune.
 47188   KING HENRY. Why, that's my fortune too; therefore I'll stay.
 47189   NORTHUMBERLAND. Be it with resolution, then, to fight.
 47190   PRINCE OF WALES. My royal father, cheer these noble lords,
 47191     And hearten those that fight in your defence.
 47192     Unsheathe your sword, good father; cry 'Saint George!'
 47193 
 47194          March. Enter EDWARD, GEORGE, RICHARD, WARWICK,
 47195                 NORFOLK, MONTAGUE, and soldiers
 47196 
 47197   EDWARD. Now, perjur'd Henry, wilt thou kneel for grace
 47198     And set thy diadem upon my head,
 47199     Or bide the mortal fortune of the field?
 47200   QUEEN MARGARET. Go rate thy minions, proud insulting boy.
 47201     Becomes it thee to be thus bold in terms
 47202     Before thy sovereign and thy lawful king?
 47203   EDWARD. I am his king, and he should bow his knee.
 47204     I was adopted heir by his consent:
 47205     Since when, his oath is broke; for, as I hear,
 47206     You that are King, though he do wear the crown,
 47207     Have caus'd him by new act of parliament
 47208     To blot out me and put his own son in.
 47209   CLIFFORD. And reason too:
 47210     Who should succeed the father but the son?
 47211   RICHARD. Are you there, butcher? O, I cannot speak!
 47212   CLIFFORD. Ay, crook-back, here I stand to answer thee,
 47213     Or any he, the proudest of thy sort.
 47214   RICHARD. 'Twas you that kill'd young Rutland, was it not?
 47215   CLIFFORD. Ay, and old York, and yet not satisfied.
 47216   RICHARD. For God's sake, lords, give signal to the fight.
 47217   WARWICK. What say'st thou, Henry? Wilt thou yield the crown?
 47218   QUEEN MARGARET. Why, how now, long-tongu'd Warwick! Dare you speak?
 47219     When you and I met at Saint Albans last
 47220     Your legs did better service than your hands.
 47221   WARWICK. Then 'twas my turn to fly, and now 'tis thine.
 47222   CLIFFORD. You said so much before, and yet you fled.
 47223   WARWICK. 'Twas not your valour, Clifford, drove me thence.
 47224   NORTHUMBERLAND. No, nor your manhood that durst make you stay.
 47225   RICHARD. Northumberland, I hold thee reverently.
 47226     Break off the parley; for scarce I can refrain
 47227     The execution of my big-swol'n heart
 47228     Upon that Clifford, that cruel child-killer.
 47229   CLIFFORD. I slew thy father; call'st thou him a child?
 47230   RICHARD. Ay, like a dastard and a treacherous coward,
 47231     As thou didst kill our tender brother Rutland;
 47232     But ere sunset I'll make thee curse the deed.
 47233   KING HENRY. Have done with words, my lords, and hear me speak.
 47234   QUEEN MARGARET. Defy them then, or else hold close thy lips.
 47235   KING HENRY. I prithee give no limits to my tongue:
 47236     I am a king, and privileg'd to speak.
 47237   CLIFFORD. My liege, the wound that bred this meeting here
 47238     Cannot be cur'd by words; therefore be still.
 47239   RICHARD. Then, executioner, unsheathe thy sword.
 47240     By Him that made us all, I am resolv'd
 47241     That Clifford's manhood lies upon his tongue.
 47242   EDWARD. Say, Henry, shall I have my right, or no?
 47243     A thousand men have broke their fasts to-day
 47244     That ne'er shall dine unless thou yield the crown.
 47245   WARWICK. If thou deny, their blood upon thy head;
 47246     For York in justice puts his armour on.
 47247   PRINCE OF WALES. If that be right which Warwick says is right,
 47248     There is no wrong, but every thing is right.
 47249   RICHARD. Whoever got thee, there thy mother stands;
 47250     For well I wot thou hast thy mother's tongue.
 47251   QUEEN MARGARET. But thou art neither like thy sire nor dam;
 47252     But like a foul misshapen stigmatic,
 47253     Mark'd by the destinies to be avoided,
 47254     As venom toads or lizards' dreadful stings.
 47255   RICHARD. Iron of Naples hid with English gilt,
 47256     Whose father bears the title of a king-
 47257     As if a channel should be call'd the sea-
 47258     Sham'st thou not, knowing whence thou art extraught,
 47259     To let thy tongue detect thy base-born heart?
 47260   EDWARD. A wisp of straw were worth a thousand crowns
 47261     To make this shameless callet know herself.
 47262     Helen of Greece was fairer far than thou,
 47263     Although thy husband may be Menelaus;
 47264     And ne'er was Agamemmon's brother wrong'd
 47265     By that false woman as this king by thee.
 47266     His father revell'd in the heart of France,
 47267     And tam'd the King, and made the Dauphin stoop;
 47268     And had he match'd according to his state,
 47269     He might have kept that glory to this day;
 47270     But when he took a beggar to his bed
 47271     And grac'd thy poor sire with his bridal day,
 47272     Even then that sunshine brew'd a show'r for him
 47273     That wash'd his father's fortunes forth of France
 47274     And heap'd sedition on his crown at home.
 47275     For what hath broach'd this tumult but thy pride?
 47276     Hadst thou been meek, our title still had slept;
 47277     And we, in pity of the gentle King,
 47278     Had slipp'd our claim until another age.
 47279   GEORGE. But when we saw our sunshine made thy spring,
 47280     And that thy summer bred us no increase,
 47281     We set the axe to thy usurping root;
 47282     And though the edge hath something hit ourselves,
 47283     Yet know thou, since we have begun to strike,
 47284     We'll never leave till we have hewn thee down,
 47285     Or bath'd thy growing with our heated bloods.
 47286   EDWARD. And in this resolution I defy thee;
 47287     Not willing any longer conference,
 47288     Since thou deniest the gentle King to speak.
 47289     Sound trumpets; let our bloody colours wave,
 47290     And either victory or else a grave!
 47291   QUEEN MARGARET. Stay, Edward.
 47292   EDWARD. No, wrangling woman, we'll no longer stay;
 47293     These words will cost ten thousand lives this day.
 47294                                                           Exeunt
 47295 
 47296 
 47297 
 47298 
 47299 SCENE III.
 47300 A field of battle between Towton and Saxton, in Yorkshire
 47301 
 47302 Alarum; excursions. Enter WARWICK
 47303 
 47304   WARWICK. Forspent with toil, as runners with a race,
 47305     I lay me down a little while to breathe;
 47306     For strokes receiv'd and many blows repaid
 47307     Have robb'd my strong-knit sinews of their strength,
 47308     And spite of spite needs must I rest awhile.
 47309 
 47310                      Enter EDWARD, running
 47311 
 47312   EDWARD. Smile, gentle heaven, or strike, ungentle death;
 47313     For this world frowns, and Edward's sun is clouded.
 47314   WARWICK. How now, my lord. What hap? What hope of good?
 47315 
 47316                          Enter GEORGE
 47317 
 47318   GEORGE. Our hap is lost, our hope but sad despair;
 47319     Our ranks are broke, and ruin follows us.
 47320     What counsel give you? Whither shall we fly?
 47321   EDWARD. Bootless is flight: they follow us with wings;
 47322     And weak we are, and cannot shun pursuit.
 47323 
 47324                          Enter RICHARD
 47325 
 47326   RICHARD. Ah, Warwick, why hast thou withdrawn thyself?
 47327     Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath drunk,
 47328     Broach'd with the steely point of Clifford's lance;
 47329     And in the very pangs of death he cried,
 47330     Like to a dismal clangor heard from far,
 47331     'Warwick, revenge! Brother, revenge my death.'
 47332     So, underneath the belly of their steeds,
 47333     That stain'd their fetlocks in his smoking blood,
 47334     The noble gentleman gave up the ghost.
 47335   WARWICK. Then let the earth be drunken with our blood.
 47336     I'll kill my horse, because I will not fly.
 47337     Why stand we like soft-hearted women here,
 47338     Wailing our losses, whiles the foe doth rage,
 47339     And look upon, as if the tragedy
 47340     Were play'd in jest by counterfeiting actors?
 47341     Here on my knee I vow to God above
 47342     I'll never pause again, never stand still,
 47343     Till either death hath clos'd these eyes of mine
 47344     Or fortune given me measure of revenge.
 47345   EDWARD. O Warwick, I do bend my knee with thine,
 47346     And in this vow do chain my soul to thine!
 47347     And ere my knee rise from the earth's cold face
 47348     I throw my hands, mine eyes, my heart to Thee,
 47349     Thou setter-up and plucker-down of kings,
 47350     Beseeching Thee, if with Thy will it stands
 47351     That to my foes this body must be prey,
 47352     Yet that Thy brazen gates of heaven may ope
 47353     And give sweet passage to my sinful soul.
 47354     Now, lords, take leave until we meet again,
 47355     Where'er it be, in heaven or in earth.
 47356   RICHARD. Brother, give me thy hand; and, gentle Warwick,
 47357     Let me embrace thee in my weary arms.
 47358     I that did never weep now melt with woe
 47359     That winter should cut off our spring-time so.
 47360   WARWICK. Away, away! Once more, sweet lords, farewell.
 47361   GEORGE. Yet let us all together to our troops,
 47362     And give them leave to fly that will not stay,
 47363     And call them pillars that will stand to us;
 47364     And if we thrive, promise them such rewards
 47365     As victors wear at the Olympian games.
 47366     This may plant courage in their quailing breasts,
 47367     For yet is hope of life and victory.
 47368     Forslow no longer; make we hence amain.               Exeunt
 47369 
 47370 
 47371 
 47372 
 47373 SCENE IV.
 47374 Another part of the field
 47375 
 47376 Excursions. Enter RICHARD and CLIFFORD
 47377 
 47378   RICHARD. Now, Clifford, I have singled thee alone.
 47379     Suppose this arm is for the Duke of York,
 47380     And this for Rutland; both bound to revenge,
 47381     Wert thou environ'd with a brazen wall.
 47382   CLIFFORD. Now, Richard, I am with thee here alone.
 47383     This is the hand that stabbed thy father York;
 47384     And this the hand that slew thy brother Rutland;
 47385     And here's the heart that triumphs in their death
 47386     And cheers these hands that slew thy sire and brother
 47387     To execute the like upon thyself;
 47388     And so, have at thee!                           [They fight]
 47389 
 47390                  Enter WARWICK; CLIFFORD flies
 47391 
 47392   RICHARD. Nay, Warwick, single out some other chase;
 47393     For I myself will hunt this wolf to death.            Exeunt
 47394 
 47395 
 47396 
 47397 
 47398 SCENE V.
 47399 Another part of the field
 47400 
 47401 Alarum. Enter KING HENRY alone
 47402 
 47403   KING HENRY. This battle fares like to the morning's war,
 47404     When dying clouds contend with growing light,
 47405     What time the shepherd, blowing of his nails,
 47406     Can neither call it perfect day nor night.
 47407     Now sways it this way, like a mighty sea
 47408     Forc'd by the tide to combat with the wind;
 47409     Now sways it that way, like the selfsame sea
 47410     Forc'd to retire by fury of the wind.
 47411     Sometime the flood prevails, and then the wind;
 47412     Now one the better, then another best;
 47413     Both tugging to be victors, breast to breast,
 47414     Yet neither conqueror nor conquered.
 47415     So is the equal poise of this fell war.
 47416     Here on this molehill will I sit me down.
 47417     To whom God will, there be the victory!
 47418     For Margaret my queen, and Clifford too,
 47419     Have chid me from the battle, swearing both
 47420     They prosper best of all when I am thence.
 47421     Would I were dead, if God's good will were so!
 47422     For what is in this world but grief and woe?
 47423     O God! methinks it were a happy life
 47424     To be no better than a homely swain;
 47425     To sit upon a hill, as I do now,
 47426     To carve out dials quaintly, point by point,
 47427     Thereby to see the minutes how they run-
 47428     How many makes the hour full complete,
 47429     How many hours brings about the day,
 47430     How many days will finish up the year,
 47431     How many years a mortal man may live.
 47432     When this is known, then to divide the times-
 47433     So many hours must I tend my flock;
 47434     So many hours must I take my rest;
 47435     So many hours must I contemplate;
 47436     So many hours must I sport myself;
 47437     So many days my ewes have been with young;
 47438     So many weeks ere the poor fools will can;
 47439     So many years ere I shall shear the fleece:
 47440     So minutes, hours, days, months, and years,
 47441     Pass'd over to the end they were created,
 47442     Would bring white hairs unto a quiet grave.
 47443     Ah, what a life were this! how sweet! how lovely!
 47444     Gives not the hawthorn bush a sweeter shade
 47445     To shepherds looking on their silly sheep,
 47446     Than doth a rich embroider'd canopy
 47447     To kings that fear their subjects' treachery?
 47448     O yes, it doth; a thousand-fold it doth.
 47449     And to conclude: the shepherd's homely curds,
 47450     His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle,
 47451     His wonted sleep under a fresh tree's shade,
 47452     All which secure and sweetly he enjoys,
 47453     Is far beyond a prince's delicates-
 47454     His viands sparkling in a golden cup,
 47455     His body couched in a curious bed,
 47456     When care, mistrust, and treason waits on him.
 47457 
 47458        Alarum. Enter a son that hath kill'd his Father, at
 47459        one door; and a FATHER that hath kill'd his Son, at
 47460                          another door
 47461 
 47462   SON. Ill blows the wind that profits nobody.
 47463     This man whom hand to hand I slew in fight
 47464     May be possessed with some store of crowns;
 47465     And I, that haply take them from him now,
 47466     May yet ere night yield both my life and them
 47467     To some man else, as this dead man doth me.
 47468     Who's this? O God! It is my father's face,
 47469     Whom in this conflict I unwares have kill'd.
 47470     O heavy times, begetting such events!
 47471     From London by the King was I press'd forth;
 47472     My father, being the Earl of Warwick's man,
 47473     Came on the part of York, press'd by his master;
 47474     And I, who at his hands receiv'd my life,
 47475     Have by my hands of life bereaved him.
 47476     Pardon me, God, I knew not what I did.
 47477     And pardon, father, for I knew not thee.
 47478     My tears shall wipe away these bloody marks;
 47479     And no more words till they have flow'd their fill.
 47480   KING HENRY. O piteous spectacle! O bloody times!
 47481     Whiles lions war and battle for their dens,
 47482     Poor harmless lambs abide their enmity.
 47483     Weep, wretched man; I'll aid thee tear for tear;
 47484     And let our hearts and eyes, like civil war,
 47485     Be blind with tears and break o'ercharg'd with grief.
 47486 
 47487                Enter FATHER, bearing of his SON
 47488 
 47489   FATHER. Thou that so stoutly hath resisted me,
 47490     Give me thy gold, if thou hast any gold;
 47491     For I have bought it with an hundred blows.
 47492     But let me see. Is this our foeman's face?
 47493     Ah, no, no, no, no, it is mine only son!
 47494     Ah, boy, if any life be left in thee,
 47495     Throw up thine eye! See, see what show'rs arise,
 47496     Blown with the windy tempest of my heart
 47497     Upon thy wounds, that kills mine eye and heart!
 47498     O, pity, God, this miserable age!
 47499     What stratagems, how fell, how butcherly,
 47500     Erroneous, mutinous, and unnatural,
 47501     This deadly quarrel daily doth beget!
 47502     O boy, thy father gave thee life too soon,
 47503     And hath bereft thee of thy life too late!
 47504   KING HENRY. Woe above woe! grief more than common grief!
 47505     O that my death would stay these ruthful deeds!
 47506     O pity, pity, gentle heaven, pity!
 47507     The red rose and the white are on his face,
 47508     The fatal colours of our striving houses:
 47509     The one his purple blood right well resembles;
 47510     The other his pale cheeks, methinks, presenteth.
 47511     Wither one rose, and let the other flourish!
 47512     If you contend, a thousand lives must perish.
 47513   SON. How will my mother for a father's death
 47514     Take on with me, and ne'er be satisfied!
 47515   FATHER. How will my wife for slaughter of my son
 47516     Shed seas of tears, and ne'er be satisfied!
 47517   KING HENRY. How will the country for these woeful chances
 47518     Misthink the King, and not be satisfied!
 47519   SON. Was ever son so rued a father's death?
 47520   FATHER. Was ever father so bemoan'd his son?
 47521   KING HENRY. Was ever king so griev'd for subjects' woe?
 47522     Much is your sorrow; mine ten times so much.
 47523   SON. I'll bear thee hence, where I may weep my fill.
 47524                                               Exit with the body
 47525   FATHER. These arms of mine shall be thy winding-sheet;
 47526     My heart, sweet boy, shall be thy sepulchre,
 47527     For from my heart thine image ne'er shall go;
 47528     My sighing breast shall be thy funeral bell;
 47529     And so obsequious will thy father be,
 47530     Even for the loss of thee, having no more,
 47531     As Priam was for all his valiant sons.
 47532     I'll bear thee hence; and let them fight that will,
 47533     For I have murdered where I should not kill.
 47534                                               Exit with the body
 47535   KING HENRY. Sad-hearted men, much overgone with care,
 47536     Here sits a king more woeful than you are.
 47537 
 47538            Alarums, excursions. Enter QUEEN MARGARET,
 47539                   PRINCE OF WALES, and EXETER
 47540 
 47541   PRINCE OF WALES. Fly, father, fly; for all your friends are fled,
 47542     And Warwick rages like a chafed bull.
 47543     Away! for death doth hold us in pursuit.
 47544   QUEEN MARGARET. Mount you, my lord; towards Berwick post amain.
 47545     Edward and Richard, like a brace of greyhounds
 47546     Having the fearful flying hare in sight,
 47547     With fiery eyes sparkling for very wrath,
 47548     And bloody steel grasp'd in their ireful hands,
 47549     Are at our backs; and therefore hence amain.
 47550   EXETER. Away! for vengeance comes along with them.
 47551     Nay, stay not to expostulate; make speed;
 47552     Or else come after. I'll away before.
 47553   KING HENRY. Nay, take me with thee, good sweet Exeter.
 47554     Not that I fear to stay, but love to go
 47555     Whither the Queen intends. Forward; away!             Exeunt
 47556 
 47557 
 47558 
 47559 
 47560 SCENE VI.
 47561 Another part of the field
 47562 
 47563 A loud alarum. Enter CLIFFORD, wounded
 47564 
 47565   CLIFFORD. Here burns my candle out; ay, here it dies,
 47566     Which, whiles it lasted, gave King Henry light.
 47567     O Lancaster, I fear thy overthrow
 47568     More than my body's parting with my soul!
 47569     My love and fear glu'd many friends to thee;
 47570     And, now I fall, thy tough commixture melts,
 47571     Impairing Henry, strength'ning misproud York.
 47572     The common people swarm like summer flies;
 47573     And whither fly the gnats but to the sun?
 47574     And who shines now but Henry's enemies?
 47575     O Phoebus, hadst thou never given consent
 47576     That Phaethon should check thy fiery steeds,
 47577     Thy burning car never had scorch'd the earth!
 47578     And, Henry, hadst thou sway'd as kings should do,
 47579     Or as thy father and his father did,
 47580     Giving no ground unto the house of York,
 47581     They never then had sprung like summer flies;
 47582     I and ten thousand in this luckless realm
 47583     Had left no mourning widows for our death;
 47584     And thou this day hadst kept thy chair in peace.
 47585     For what doth cherish weeds but gentle air?
 47586     And what makes robbers bold but too much lenity?
 47587     Bootless are plaints, and cureless are my wounds.
 47588     No way to fly, nor strength to hold out flight.
 47589     The foe is merciless and will not pity;
 47590     For at their hands I have deserv'd no pity.
 47591     The air hath got into my deadly wounds,
 47592     And much effuse of blood doth make me faint.
 47593     Come, York and Richard, Warwick and the rest;
 47594     I stabb'd your fathers' bosoms: split my breast.
 47595                                                      [He faints]
 47596 
 47597        Alarum and retreat. Enter EDWARD, GEORGE, RICHARD
 47598                MONTAGUE, WARWICK, and soldiers
 47599 
 47600   EDWARD. Now breathe we, lords. Good fortune bids us pause
 47601     And smooth the frowns of war with peaceful looks.
 47602     Some troops pursue the bloody-minded Queen
 47603     That led calm Henry, though he were a king,
 47604     As doth a sail, fill'd with a fretting gust,
 47605     Command an argosy to stern the waves.
 47606     But think you, lords, that Clifford fled with them?
 47607   WARWICK. No, 'tis impossible he should escape;
 47608     For, though before his face I speak the words,
 47609     Your brother Richard mark'd him for the grave;
 47610     And, whereso'er he is, he's surely dead.
 47611                                      [CLIFFORD groans, and dies]
 47612   RICHARD. Whose soul is that which takes her heavy leave?
 47613     A deadly groan, like life and death's departing.
 47614     See who it is.
 47615   EDWARD. And now the battle's ended,
 47616     If friend or foe, let him be gently used.
 47617   RICHARD. Revoke that doom of mercy, for 'tis Clifford;
 47618     Who not contented that he lopp'd the branch
 47619     In hewing Rutland when his leaves put forth,
 47620     But set his murd'ring knife unto the root
 47621     From whence that tender spray did sweetly spring-
 47622     I mean our princely father, Duke of York.
 47623   WARWICK. From off the gates of York fetch down the head,
 47624     Your father's head, which Clifford placed there;
 47625     Instead whereof let this supply the room.
 47626     Measure for measure must be answered.
 47627   EDWARD. Bring forth that fatal screech-owl to our house,
 47628     That nothing sung but death to us and ours.
 47629     Now death shall stop his dismal threat'ning sound,
 47630     And his ill-boding tongue no more shall speak.
 47631   WARWICK. I think his understanding is bereft.
 47632     Speak, Clifford, dost thou know who speaks to thee?
 47633     Dark cloudy death o'ershades his beams of life,
 47634     And he nor sees nor hears us what we say.
 47635   RICHARD. O, would he did! and so, perhaps, he doth.
 47636     'Tis but his policy to counterfeit,
 47637     Because he would avoid such bitter taunts
 47638     Which in the time of death he gave our father.
 47639   GEORGE. If so thou think'st, vex him with eager words.
 47640   RICHARD. Clifford, ask mercy and obtain no grace.
 47641   EDWARD. Clifford, repent in bootless penitence.
 47642   WARWICK. Clifford, devise excuses for thy faults.
 47643   GEORGE. While we devise fell tortures for thy faults.
 47644   RICHARD. Thou didst love York, and I am son to York.
 47645   EDWARD. Thou pitied'st Rutland, I will pity thee.
 47646   GEORGE. Where's Captain Margaret, to fence you now?
 47647   WARWICK. They mock thee, Clifford; swear as thou wast wont.
 47648   RICHARD. What, not an oath? Nay, then the world goes hard
 47649     When Clifford cannot spare his friends an oath.
 47650     I know by that he's dead; and by my soul,
 47651     If this right hand would buy two hours' life,
 47652     That I in all despite might rail at him,
 47653     This hand should chop it off, and with the issuing blood
 47654     Stifle the villain whose unstanched thirst
 47655     York and young Rutland could not satisfy.
 47656   WARWICK. Ay, but he's dead. Off with the traitor's head,
 47657     And rear it in the place your father's stands.
 47658     And now to London with triumphant march,
 47659     There to be crowned England's royal King;
 47660     From whence shall Warwick cut the sea to France,
 47661     And ask the Lady Bona for thy queen.
 47662     So shalt thou sinew both these lands together;
 47663     And, having France thy friend, thou shalt not dread
 47664     The scatt'red foe that hopes to rise again;
 47665     For though they cannot greatly sting to hurt,
 47666     Yet look to have them buzz to offend thine ears.
 47667     First will I see the coronation;
 47668     And then to Brittany I'll cross the sea
 47669     To effect this marriage, so it please my lord.
 47670   EDWARD. Even as thou wilt, sweet Warwick, let it be;
 47671     For in thy shoulder do I build my seat,
 47672     And never will I undertake the thing
 47673     Wherein thy counsel and consent is wanting.
 47674     Richard, I will create thee Duke of Gloucester;
 47675     And George, of Clarence; Warwick, as ourself,
 47676     Shall do and undo as him pleaseth best.
 47677   RICHARD. Let me be Duke of Clarence, George of Gloucester;
 47678     For Gloucester's dukedom is too ominous.
 47679   WARWICK. Tut, that's a foolish observation.
 47680     Richard, be Duke of Gloucester. Now to London
 47681     To see these honours in possession.                   Exeunt
 47682 
 47683 
 47684 
 47685 
 47686 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
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 47688 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
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 47694 
 47695 
 47696 
 47697 ACT III. SCENE I.
 47698 A chase in the north of England
 47699 
 47700 Enter two KEEPERS, with cross-bows in their hands
 47701 
 47702   FIRST KEEPER. Under this thick-grown brake we'll shroud ourselves,
 47703     For through this laund anon the deer will come;
 47704     And in this covert will we make our stand,
 47705     Culling the principal of all the deer.
 47706   SECOND KEEPER. I'll stay above the hill, so both may shoot.
 47707   FIRST KEEPER. That cannot be; the noise of thy cross-bow
 47708     Will scare the herd, and so my shoot is lost.
 47709     Here stand we both, and aim we at the best;
 47710     And, for the time shall not seem tedious,
 47711     I'll tell thee what befell me on a day
 47712     In this self-place where now we mean to stand.
 47713   SECOND KEEPER. Here comes a man; let's stay till he be past.
 47714 
 47715         Enter KING HENRY, disguised, with a prayer-book
 47716 
 47717   KING HENRY. From Scotland am I stol'n, even of pure love,
 47718     To greet mine own land with my wishful sight.
 47719     No, Harry, Harry, 'tis no land of thine;
 47720     Thy place is fill'd, thy sceptre wrung from thee,
 47721     Thy balm wash'd off wherewith thou wast anointed.
 47722     No bending knee will call thee Caesar now,
 47723     No humble suitors press to speak for right,
 47724     No, not a man comes for redress of thee;
 47725     For how can I help them and not myself?
 47726   FIRST KEEPER. Ay, here's a deer whose skin's a keeper's fee.
 47727     This is the quondam King; let's seize upon him.
 47728   KING HENRY. Let me embrace thee, sour adversity,
 47729     For wise men say it is the wisest course.
 47730   SECOND KEEPER. Why linger we? let us lay hands upon him.
 47731   FIRST KEEPER. Forbear awhile; we'll hear a little more.
 47732   KING HENRY. My Queen and son are gone to France for aid;
 47733     And, as I hear, the great commanding Warwick
 47734     Is thither gone to crave the French King's sister
 47735     To wife for Edward. If this news be true,
 47736     Poor queen and son, your labour is but lost;
 47737     For Warwick is a subtle orator,
 47738     And Lewis a prince soon won with moving words.
 47739     By this account, then, Margaret may win him;
 47740     For she's a woman to be pitied much.
 47741     Her sighs will make a batt'ry in his breast;
 47742     Her tears will pierce into a marble heart;
 47743     The tiger will be mild whiles she doth mourn;
 47744     And Nero will be tainted with remorse
 47745     To hear and see her plaints, her brinish tears.
 47746     Ay, but she's come to beg: Warwick, to give.
 47747     She, on his left side, craving aid for Henry:
 47748     He, on his right, asking a wife for Edward.
 47749     She weeps, and says her Henry is depos'd:
 47750     He smiles, and says his Edward is install'd;
 47751     That she, poor wretch, for grief can speak no more;
 47752     Whiles Warwick tells his title, smooths the wrong,
 47753     Inferreth arguments of mighty strength,
 47754     And in conclusion wins the King from her
 47755     With promise of his sister, and what else,
 47756     To strengthen and support King Edward's place.
 47757     O Margaret, thus 'twill be; and thou, poor soul,
 47758     Art then forsaken, as thou went'st forlorn!
 47759   SECOND KEEPER. Say, what art thou that talk'st of kings and queens?
 47760   KING HENRY. More than I seem, and less than I was born to:
 47761     A man at least, for less I should not be;
 47762     And men may talk of kings, and why not I?
 47763   SECOND KEEPER. Ay, but thou talk'st as if thou wert a king.
 47764   KING HENRY. Why, so I am- in mind; and that's enough.
 47765   SECOND KEEPER. But, if thou be a king, where is thy crown?
 47766   KING HENRY. My crown is in my heart, not on my head;
 47767     Not deck'd with diamonds and Indian stones,
 47768     Not to be seen. My crown is call'd content;
 47769     A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy.
 47770   SECOND KEEPER. Well, if you be a king crown'd with content,
 47771     Your crown content and you must be contented
 47772     To go along with us; for as we think,
 47773     You are the king King Edward hath depos'd;
 47774     And we his subjects, sworn in all allegiance,
 47775     Will apprehend you as his enemy.
 47776   KING HENRY. But did you never swear, and break an oath?
 47777   SECOND KEEPER. No, never such an oath; nor will not now.
 47778   KING HENRY. Where did you dwell when I was King of England?
 47779   SECOND KEEPER. Here in this country, where we now remain.
 47780   KING HENRY. I was anointed king at nine months old;
 47781     My father and my grandfather were kings;
 47782     And you were sworn true subjects unto me;
 47783     And tell me, then, have you not broke your oaths?
 47784   FIRST KEEPER. No;
 47785     For we were subjects but while you were king.
 47786   KING HENRY. Why, am I dead? Do I not breathe a man?
 47787     Ah, simple men, you know not what you swear!
 47788     Look, as I blow this feather from my face,
 47789     And as the air blows it to me again,
 47790     Obeying with my wind when I do blow,
 47791     And yielding to another when it blows,
 47792     Commanded always by the greater gust,
 47793     Such is the lightness of you common men.
 47794     But do not break your oaths; for of that sin
 47795     My mild entreaty shall not make you guilty.
 47796     Go where you will, the King shall be commanded;
 47797     And be you kings: command, and I'll obey.
 47798   FIRST KEEPER. We are true subjects to the King, King Edward.
 47799   KING HENRY. So would you be again to Henry,
 47800     If he were seated as King Edward is.
 47801   FIRST KEEPER. We charge you, in God's name and the King's,
 47802     To go with us unto the officers.
 47803   KING HENRY. In God's name, lead; your King's name be obey'd;
 47804     And what God will, that let your King perform;
 47805     And what he will, I humbly yield unto.                Exeunt
 47806 
 47807 
 47808 
 47809 
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 47818 
 47819 
 47820 
 47821 SCENE II.
 47822 London. The palace
 47823 
 47824 Enter KING EDWARD, GLOUCESTER, CLARENCE, and LADY GREY
 47825 
 47826   KING EDWARD. Brother of Gloucester, at Saint Albans' field
 47827     This lady's husband, Sir Richard Grey, was slain,
 47828     His land then seiz'd on by the conqueror.
 47829     Her suit is now to repossess those lands;
 47830     Which we in justice cannot well deny,
 47831     Because in quarrel of the house of York
 47832     The worthy gentleman did lose his life.
 47833   GLOUCESTER. Your Highness shall do well to grant her suit;
 47834     It were dishonour to deny it her.
 47835   KING EDWARD. It were no less; but yet I'll make a pause.
 47836   GLOUCESTER. [Aside to CLARENCE] Yea, is it so?
 47837     I see the lady hath a thing to grant,
 47838     Before the King will grant her humble suit.
 47839   CLARENCE. [Aside to GLOUCESTER] He knows the game; how true he
 47840     keeps the wind!
 47841   GLOUCESTER. [Aside to CLARENCE] Silence!
 47842   KING EDWARD. Widow, we will consider of your suit;
 47843     And come some other time to know our mind.
 47844   LADY GREY. Right gracious lord, I cannot brook delay.
 47845     May it please your Highness to resolve me now;
 47846     And what your pleasure is shall satisfy me.
 47847   GLOUCESTER. [Aside] Ay, widow? Then I'll warrant you all your
 47848       lands,
 47849     An if what pleases him shall pleasure you.
 47850     Fight closer or, good faith, you'll catch a blow.
 47851   CLARENCE. [Aside to GLOUCESTER] I fear her not, unless she chance
 47852     to fall.
 47853   GLOUCESTER. [Aside to CLARENCE] God forbid that, for he'll take
 47854     vantages.
 47855   KING EDWARD. How many children hast thou, widow, tell me.
 47856   CLARENCE. [Aside to GLOUCESTER] I think he means to beg a child of
 47857     her.
 47858   GLOUCESTER. [Aside to CLARENCE] Nay, then whip me; he'll rather
 47859     give her two.
 47860   LADY GREY. Three, my most gracious lord.
 47861   GLOUCESTER. [Aside] You shall have four if you'll be rul'd by him.
 47862   KING EDWARD. 'Twere pity they should lose their father's lands.
 47863   LADY GREY. Be pitiful, dread lord, and grant it, then.
 47864   KING EDWARD. Lords, give us leave; I'll try this widow's wit.
 47865   GLOUCESTER. [Aside] Ay, good leave have you; for you will have
 47866       leave
 47867     Till youth take leave and leave you to the crutch.
 47868                               [GLOUCESTER and CLARENCE withdraw]
 47869   KING EDWARD. Now tell me, madam, do you love your children?
 47870   LADY GREY. Ay, full as dearly as I love myself.
 47871   KING EDWARD. And would you not do much to do them good?
 47872   LADY GREY. To do them good I would sustain some harm.
 47873   KING EDWARD. Then get your husband's lands, to do them good.
 47874   LADY GREY. Therefore I came unto your Majesty.
 47875   KING EDWARD. I'll tell you how these lands are to be got.
 47876   LADY GREY. So shall you bind me to your Highness' service.
 47877   KING EDWARD. What service wilt thou do me if I give them?
 47878   LADY GREY. What you command that rests in me to do.
 47879   KING EDWARD. But you will take exceptions to my boon.
 47880   LADY GREY. No, gracious lord, except I cannot do it.
 47881   KING EDWARD. Ay, but thou canst do what I mean to ask.
 47882   LADY GREY. Why, then I will do what your Grace commands.
 47883   GLOUCESTER. He plies her hard; and much rain wears the marble.
 47884   CLARENCE. As red as fire! Nay, then her wax must melt.
 47885   LADY GREY. Why stops my lord? Shall I not hear my task?
 47886   KING EDWARD. An easy task; 'tis but to love a king.
 47887   LADY GREY. That's soon perform'd, because I am a subject.
 47888   KING EDWARD. Why, then, thy husband's lands I freely give thee.
 47889   LADY GREY. I take my leave with many thousand thanks.
 47890   GLOUCESTER. The match is made; she seals it with a curtsy.
 47891   KING EDWARD. But stay thee- 'tis the fruits of love I mean.
 47892   LADY GREY. The fruits of love I mean, my loving liege.
 47893   KING EDWARD. Ay, but, I fear me, in another sense.
 47894     What love, thinkst thou, I sue so much to get?
 47895   LADY GREY. My love till death, my humble thanks, my prayers;
 47896     That love which virtue begs and virtue grants.
 47897   KING EDWARD. No, by my troth, I did not mean such love.
 47898   LADY GREY. Why, then you mean not as I thought you did.
 47899   KING EDWARD. But now you partly may perceive my mind.
 47900   LADY GREY. My mind will never grant what I perceive
 47901     Your Highness aims at, if I aim aright.
 47902   KING EDWARD. To tell thee plain, I aim to lie with thee.
 47903   LADY GREY. To tell you plain, I had rather lie in prison.
 47904   KING EDWARD. Why, then thou shalt not have thy husband's lands.
 47905   LADY GREY. Why, then mine honesty shall be my dower;
 47906     For by that loss I will not purchase them.
 47907   KING EDWARD. Therein thou wrong'st thy children mightily.
 47908   LADY GREY. Herein your Highness wrongs both them and me.
 47909     But, mighty lord, this merry inclination
 47910     Accords not with the sadness of my suit.
 47911     Please you dismiss me, either with ay or no.
 47912   KING EDWARD. Ay, if thou wilt say ay to my request;
 47913     No, if thou dost say no to my demand.
 47914   LADY GREY. Then, no, my lord. My suit is at an end.
 47915   GLOUCESTER. The widow likes him not; she knits her brows.
 47916   CLARENCE. He is the bluntest wooer in Christendom.
 47917   KING EDWARD. [Aside] Her looks doth argue her replete with modesty;
 47918     Her words doth show her wit incomparable;
 47919     All her perfections challenge sovereignty.
 47920     One way or other, she is for a king;
 47921     And she shall be my love, or else my queen.
 47922     Say that King Edward take thee for his queen?
 47923   LADY GREY. 'Tis better said than done, my gracious lord.
 47924     I am a subject fit to jest withal,
 47925     But far unfit to be a sovereign.
 47926   KING EDWARD. Sweet widow, by my state I swear to thee
 47927     I speak no more than what my soul intends;
 47928     And that is to enjoy thee for my love.
 47929   LADY GREY. And that is more than I will yield unto.
 47930     I know I am too mean to be your queen,
 47931     And yet too good to be your concubine.
 47932   KING EDWARD. You cavil, widow; I did mean my queen.
 47933   LADY GREY. 'Twill grieve your Grace my sons should call you father.
 47934   KING EDWARD.No more than when my daughters call thee mother.
 47935     Thou art a widow, and thou hast some children;
 47936     And, by God's Mother, I, being but a bachelor,
 47937     Have other some. Why, 'tis a happy thing
 47938     To be the father unto many sons.
 47939     Answer no more, for thou shalt be my queen.
 47940   GLOUCESTER. The ghostly father now hath done his shrift.
 47941   CLARENCE. When he was made a shriver, 'twas for shrift.
 47942   KING EDWARD. Brothers, you muse what chat we two have had.
 47943   GLOUCESTER. The widow likes it not, for she looks very sad.
 47944   KING EDWARD. You'd think it strange if I should marry her.
 47945   CLARENCE. To who, my lord?
 47946   KING EDWARD. Why, Clarence, to myself.
 47947   GLOUCESTER. That would be ten days' wonder at the least.
 47948   CLARENCE. That's a day longer than a wonder lasts.
 47949   GLOUCESTER. By so much is the wonder in extremes.
 47950   KING EDWARD. Well, jest on, brothers; I can tell you both
 47951     Her suit is granted for her husband's lands.
 47952 
 47953                        Enter a NOBLEMAN
 47954 
 47955   NOBLEMAN. My gracious lord, Henry your foe is taken
 47956     And brought your prisoner to your palace gate.
 47957   KING EDWARD. See that he be convey'd unto the Tower.
 47958     And go we, brothers, to the man that took him
 47959     To question of his apprehension.
 47960     Widow, go you along. Lords, use her honourably.
 47961                                        Exeunt all but GLOUCESTER
 47962   GLOUCESTER. Ay, Edward will use women honourably.
 47963     Would he were wasted, marrow, bones, and all,
 47964     That from his loins no hopeful branch may spring
 47965     To cross me from the golden time I look for!
 47966     And yet, between my soul's desire and me-
 47967     The lustful Edward's title buried-
 47968     Is Clarence, Henry, and his son young Edward,
 47969     And all the unlook'd for issue of their bodies,
 47970     To take their rooms ere I can place myself.
 47971     A cold premeditation for my purpose!
 47972     Why, then I do but dream on sovereignty;
 47973     Like one that stands upon a promontory
 47974     And spies a far-off shore where he would tread,
 47975     Wishing his foot were equal with his eye;
 47976     And chides the sea that sunders him from thence,
 47977     Saying he'll lade it dry to have his way-
 47978     So do I wish the crown, being so far off;
 47979     And so I chide the means that keeps me from it;
 47980     And so I say I'll cut the causes off,
 47981     Flattering me with impossibilities.
 47982     My eye's too quick, my heart o'erweens too much,
 47983     Unless my hand and strength could equal them.
 47984     Well, say there is no kingdom then for Richard;
 47985     What other pleasure can the world afford?
 47986     I'll make my heaven in a lady's lap,
 47987     And deck my body in gay ornaments,
 47988     And witch sweet ladies with my words and looks.
 47989     O miserable thought! and more unlikely
 47990     Than to accomplish twenty golden crowns.
 47991     Why, love forswore me in my mother's womb;
 47992     And, for I should not deal in her soft laws,
 47993     She did corrupt frail nature with some bribe
 47994     To shrink mine arm up like a wither'd shrub
 47995     To make an envious mountain on my back,
 47996     Where sits deformity to mock my body;
 47997     To shape my legs of an unequal size;
 47998     To disproportion me in every part,
 47999     Like to a chaos, or an unlick'd bear-whelp
 48000     That carries no impression like the dam.
 48001     And am I, then, a man to be belov'd?
 48002     O monstrous fault to harbour such a thought!
 48003     Then, since this earth affords no joy to me
 48004     But to command, to check, to o'erbear such
 48005     As are of better person than myself,
 48006     I'll make my heaven to dream upon the crown,
 48007     And whiles I live t' account this world but hell,
 48008     Until my misshap'd trunk that bear this head
 48009     Be round impaled with a glorious crown.
 48010     And yet I know not how to get the crown,
 48011     For many lives stand between me and home;
 48012     And I- like one lost in a thorny wood
 48013     That rents the thorns and is rent with the thorns,
 48014     Seeking a way and straying from the way
 48015     Not knowing how to find the open air,
 48016     But toiling desperately to find it out-
 48017     Torment myself to catch the English crown;
 48018     And from that torment I will free myself
 48019     Or hew my way out with a bloody axe.
 48020     Why, I can smile, and murder whiles I smile,
 48021     And cry 'Content!' to that which grieves my heart,
 48022     And wet my cheeks with artificial tears,
 48023     And frame my face to all occasions.
 48024     I'll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall;
 48025     I'll slay more gazers than the basilisk;
 48026     I'll play the orator as well as Nestor,
 48027     Deceive more slily than Ulysses could,
 48028     And, like a Sinon, take another Troy.
 48029     I can add colours to the chameleon,
 48030     Change shapes with Protheus for advantages,
 48031     And set the murderous Machiavel to school.
 48032     Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?
 48033     Tut, were it farther off, I'll pluck it down.           Exit
 48034 
 48035 
 48036 
 48037 
 48038 SCENE III.
 48039 France.  The KING'S palace
 48040 
 48041 Flourish.  Enter LEWIS the French King, his sister BONA,
 48042 his Admiral call'd BOURBON; PRINCE EDWARD, QUEEN MARGARET,
 48043 and the EARL of OXFORD.  LEWIS sits, and riseth up again
 48044 
 48045   LEWIS. Fair Queen of England, worthy Margaret,
 48046     Sit down with us. It ill befits thy state
 48047     And birth that thou shouldst stand while Lewis doth sit.
 48048   QUEEN MARGARET. No, mighty King of France. Now Margaret
 48049     Must strike her sail and learn a while to serve
 48050     Where kings command. I was, I must confess,
 48051     Great Albion's Queen in former golden days;
 48052     But now mischance hath trod my title down
 48053     And with dishonour laid me on the ground,
 48054     Where I must take like seat unto my fortune,
 48055     And to my humble seat conform myself.
 48056   LEWIS. Why, say, fair Queen, whence springs this deep despair?
 48057   QUEEN MARGARET. From such a cause as fills mine eyes with tears
 48058     And stops my tongue, while heart is drown'd in cares.
 48059   LEWIS. Whate'er it be, be thou still like thyself,
 48060     And sit thee by our side. [Seats her by him] Yield not thy neck
 48061     To fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind
 48062     Still ride in triumph over all mischance.
 48063     Be plain, Queen Margaret, and tell thy grief;
 48064     It shall be eas'd, if France can yield relief.
 48065   QUEEN MARGARET. Those gracious words revive my drooping thoughts
 48066     And give my tongue-tied sorrows leave to speak.
 48067     Now therefore be it known to noble Lewis
 48068     That Henry, sole possessor of my love,
 48069     Is, of a king, become a banish'd man,
 48070     And forc'd to live in Scotland a forlorn;
 48071     While proud ambitious Edward Duke of York
 48072     Usurps the regal title and the seat
 48073     Of England's true-anointed lawful King.
 48074     This is the cause that I, poor Margaret,
 48075     With this my son, Prince Edward, Henry's heir,
 48076     Am come to crave thy just and lawful aid;
 48077     And if thou fail us, all our hope is done.
 48078     Scotland hath will to help, but cannot help;
 48079     Our people and our peers are both misled,
 48080     Our treasure seiz'd, our soldiers put to flight,
 48081     And, as thou seest, ourselves in heavy plight.
 48082   LEWIS. Renowned Queen, with patience calm the storm,
 48083     While we bethink a means to break it off.
 48084   QUEEN MARGARET. The more we stay, the stronger grows our foe.
 48085   LEWIS. The more I stay, the more I'll succour thee.
 48086   QUEEN MARGARET. O, but impatience waiteth on true sorrow.
 48087     And see where comes the breeder of my sorrow!
 48088 
 48089                         Enter WARWICK
 48090 
 48091   LEWIS. What's he approacheth boldly to our presence?
 48092   QUEEN MARGARET. Our Earl of Warwick, Edward's greatest friend.
 48093   LEWIS. Welcome, brave Warwick! What brings thee to France?
 48094                                       [He descends. She ariseth]
 48095   QUEEN MARGARET. Ay, now begins a second storm to rise;
 48096     For this is he that moves both wind and tide.
 48097   WARWICK. From worthy Edward, King of Albion,
 48098     My lord and sovereign, and thy vowed friend,
 48099     I come, in kindness and unfeigned love,
 48100     First to do greetings to thy royal person,
 48101     And then to crave a league of amity,
 48102     And lastly to confirm that amity
 48103     With nuptial knot, if thou vouchsafe to grant
 48104     That virtuous Lady Bona, thy fair sister,
 48105     To England's King in lawful marriage.
 48106   QUEEN MARGARET. [Aside] If that go forward, Henry's hope is done.
 48107   WARWICK. [To BONA] And, gracious madam, in our king's behalf,
 48108     I am commanded, with your leave and favour,
 48109     Humbly to kiss your hand, and with my tongue
 48110     To tell the passion of my sovereign's heart;
 48111     Where fame, late ent'ring at his heedful ears,
 48112     Hath plac'd thy beauty's image and thy virtue.
 48113   QUEEN MARGARET. King Lewis and Lady Bona, hear me speak
 48114     Before you answer Warwick. His demand
 48115     Springs not from Edward's well-meant honest love,
 48116     But from deceit bred by necessity;
 48117     For how can tyrants safely govern home
 48118     Unless abroad they purchase great alliance?
 48119     To prove him tyrant this reason may suffice,
 48120     That Henry liveth still; but were he dead,
 48121     Yet here Prince Edward stands, King Henry's son.
 48122     Look therefore, Lewis, that by this league and marriage
 48123     Thou draw not on thy danger and dishonour;
 48124     For though usurpers sway the rule a while
 48125     Yet heav'ns are just, and time suppresseth wrongs.
 48126   WARWICK. Injurious Margaret!
 48127   PRINCE OF WALES. And why not Queen?
 48128   WARWICK. Because thy father Henry did usurp;
 48129     And thou no more art prince than she is queen.
 48130   OXFORD. Then Warwick disannuls great John of Gaunt,
 48131     Which did subdue the greatest part of Spain;
 48132     And, after John of Gaunt, Henry the Fourth,
 48133     Whose wisdom was a mirror to the wisest;
 48134     And, after that wise prince, Henry the Fifth,
 48135     Who by his prowess conquered all France.
 48136     From these our Henry lineally descends.
 48137   WARWICK. Oxford, how haps it in this smooth discourse
 48138     You told not how Henry the Sixth hath lost
 48139     All that which Henry the Fifth had gotten?
 48140     Methinks these peers of France should smile at that.
 48141     But for the rest: you tell a pedigree
 48142     Of threescore and two years- a silly time
 48143     To make prescription for a kingdom's worth.
 48144   OXFORD. Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against thy liege,
 48145     Whom thou obeyed'st thirty and six years,
 48146     And not betray thy treason with a blush?
 48147   WARWICK. Can Oxford that did ever fence the right
 48148     Now buckler falsehood with a pedigree?
 48149     For shame! Leave Henry, and call Edward king.
 48150   OXFORD. Call him my king by whose injurious doom
 48151     My elder brother, the Lord Aubrey Vere,
 48152     Was done to death; and more than so, my father,
 48153     Even in the downfall of his mellow'd years,
 48154     When nature brought him to the door of death?
 48155     No, Warwick, no; while life upholds this arm,
 48156     This arm upholds the house of Lancaster.
 48157   WARWICK. And I the house of York.
 48158   LEWIS. Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Oxford,
 48159     Vouchsafe at our request to stand aside
 48160     While I use further conference with Warwick.
 48161                                               [They stand aloof]
 48162   QUEEN MARGARET. Heavens grant that Warwick's words bewitch him not!
 48163   LEWIS. Now, Warwick, tell me, even upon thy conscience,
 48164     Is Edward your true king? for I were loath
 48165     To link with him that were not lawful chosen.
 48166   WARWICK. Thereon I pawn my credit and mine honour.
 48167   LEWIS. But is he gracious in the people's eye?
 48168   WARWICK. The more that Henry was unfortunate.
 48169   LEWIS. Then further: all dissembling set aside,
 48170     Tell me for truth the measure of his love
 48171     Unto our sister Bona.
 48172   WARWICK. Such it seems
 48173     As may beseem a monarch like himself.
 48174     Myself have often heard him say and swear
 48175     That this his love was an eternal plant
 48176     Whereof the root was fix'd in virtue's ground,
 48177     The leaves and fruit maintain'd with beauty's sun,
 48178     Exempt from envy, but not from disdain,
 48179     Unless the Lady Bona quit his pain.
 48180   LEWIS. Now, sister, let us hear your firm resolve.
 48181   BONA. Your grant or your denial shall be mine.
 48182     [To WARWICK] Yet I confess that often ere this day,
 48183     When I have heard your king's desert recounted,
 48184     Mine ear hath tempted judgment to desire.
 48185   LEWIS. Then, Warwick, thus: our sister shall be Edward's.
 48186     And now forthwith shall articles be drawn
 48187     Touching the jointure that your king must make,
 48188     Which with her dowry shall be counterpois'd.
 48189     Draw near, Queen Margaret, and be a witness
 48190     That Bona shall be wife to the English king.
 48191   PRINCE OF WALES. To Edward, but not to the English king.
 48192   QUEEN MARGARET. Deceitful Warwick, it was thy device
 48193     By this alliance to make void my suit.
 48194     Before thy coming, Lewis was Henry's friend.
 48195   LEWIS. And still is friend to him and Margaret.
 48196     But if your title to the crown be weak,
 48197     As may appear by Edward's good success,
 48198     Then 'tis but reason that I be releas'd
 48199     From giving aid which late I promised.
 48200     Yet shall you have all kindness at my hand
 48201     That your estate requires and mine can yield.
 48202   WARWICK. Henry now lives in Scotland at his case,
 48203     Where having nothing, nothing can he lose.
 48204     And as for you yourself, our quondam queen,
 48205     You have a father able to maintain you,
 48206     And better 'twere you troubled him than France.
 48207   QUEEN MARGARET. Peace, impudent and shameless Warwick,
 48208     Proud setter up and puller down of kings!
 48209     I will not hence till with my talk and tears,
 48210     Both full of truth, I make King Lewis behold
 48211     Thy sly conveyance and thy lord's false love;
 48212     For both of you are birds of self-same feather.
 48213                                     [POST blowing a horn within]
 48214   LEWIS. Warwick, this is some post to us or thee.
 48215 
 48216                        Enter the POST
 48217 
 48218   POST. My lord ambassador, these letters are for you,
 48219     Sent from your brother, Marquis Montague.
 48220     These from our King unto your Majesty.
 48221     And, madam, these for you; from whom I know not.
 48222                                    [They all read their letters]
 48223   OXFORD. I like it well that our fair Queen and mistress
 48224     Smiles at her news, while Warwick frowns at his.
 48225   PRINCE OF WALES. Nay, mark how Lewis stamps as he were nettled.
 48226     I hope all's for the best.
 48227   LEWIS. Warwick, what are thy news? And yours, fair Queen?
 48228   QUEEN MARGARET. Mine such as fill my heart with unhop'd joys.
 48229   WARWICK. Mine, full of sorrow and heart's discontent.
 48230   LEWIS. What, has your king married the Lady Grey?
 48231     And now, to soothe your forgery and his,
 48232     Sends me a paper to persuade me patience?
 48233     Is this th' alliance that he seeks with France?
 48234     Dare he presume to scorn us in this manner?
 48235   QUEEN MARGARET. I told your Majesty as much before.
 48236     This proveth Edward's love and Warwick's honesty.
 48237   WARWICK. King Lewis, I here protest in sight of heaven,
 48238     And by the hope I have of heavenly bliss,
 48239     That I am clear from this misdeed of Edward's-
 48240     No more my king, for he dishonours me,
 48241     But most himself, if he could see his shame.
 48242     Did I forget that by the house of York
 48243     My father came untimely to his death?
 48244     Did I let pass th' abuse done to my niece?
 48245     Did I impale him with the regal crown?
 48246     Did I put Henry from his native right?
 48247     And am I guerdon'd at the last with shame?
 48248     Shame on himself! for my desert is honour;
 48249     And to repair my honour lost for him
 48250     I here renounce him and return to Henry.
 48251     My noble Queen, let former grudges pass,
 48252     And henceforth I am thy true servitor.
 48253     I will revenge his wrong to Lady Bona,
 48254     And replant Henry in his former state.
 48255   QUEEN MARGARET. Warwick, these words have turn'd my hate to love;
 48256     And I forgive and quite forget old faults,
 48257     And joy that thou becom'st King Henry's friend.
 48258   WARWICK. So much his friend, ay, his unfeigned friend,
 48259     That if King Lewis vouchsafe to furnish us
 48260     With some few bands of chosen soldiers,
 48261     I'll undertake to land them on our coast
 48262     And force the tyrant from his seat by war.
 48263     'Tis not his new-made bride shall succour him;
 48264     And as for Clarence, as my letters tell me,
 48265     He's very likely now to fall from him
 48266     For matching more for wanton lust than honour
 48267     Or than for strength and safety of our country.
 48268   BONA. Dear brother, how shall Bona be reveng'd
 48269     But by thy help to this distressed queen?
 48270   QUEEN MARGARET. Renowned Prince, how shall poor Henry live
 48271     Unless thou rescue him from foul despair?
 48272   BONA. My quarrel and this English queen's are one.
 48273   WARWICK. And mine, fair Lady Bona, joins with yours.
 48274   LEWIS. And mine with hers, and thine, and Margaret's.
 48275     Therefore, at last, I firmly am resolv'd
 48276     You shall have aid.
 48277   QUEEN MARGARET. Let me give humble thanks for all at once.
 48278   LEWIS. Then, England's messenger, return in post
 48279     And tell false Edward, thy supposed king,
 48280     That Lewis of France is sending over masquers
 48281     To revel it with him and his new bride.
 48282     Thou seest what's past; go fear thy king withal.
 48283   BONA. Tell him, in hope he'll prove a widower shortly,
 48284     I'll wear the willow-garland for his sake.
 48285   QUEEN MARGARET. Tell him my mourning weeds are laid aside,
 48286     And I am ready to put armour on.
 48287   WARWICK. Tell him from me that he hath done me wrong,
 48288     And therefore I'll uncrown him ere't be long.
 48289     There's thy reward; be gone.                       Exit POST
 48290   LEWIS. But, Warwick,
 48291     Thou and Oxford, with five thousand men,
 48292     Shall cross the seas and bid false Edward battle:
 48293     And, as occasion serves, this noble Queen
 48294     And Prince shall follow with a fresh supply.
 48295     Yet, ere thou go, but answer me one doubt:
 48296     What pledge have we of thy firm loyalty?
 48297   WARWICK. This shall assure my constant loyalty:
 48298     That if our Queen and this young Prince agree,
 48299     I'll join mine eldest daughter and my joy
 48300     To him forthwith in holy wedlock bands.
 48301   QUEEN MARGARET. Yes, I agree, and thank you for your motion.
 48302     Son Edward, she is fair and virtuous,
 48303     Therefore delay not- give thy hand to Warwick;
 48304     And with thy hand thy faith irrevocable
 48305     That only Warwick's daughter shall be thine.
 48306   PRINCE OF WALES. Yes, I accept her, for she well deserves it;
 48307     And here, to pledge my vow, I give my hand.
 48308                                   [He gives his hand to WARWICK]
 48309   LEWIS. stay we now? These soldiers shall be levied;
 48310     And thou, Lord Bourbon, our High Admiral,
 48311     Shall waft them over with our royal fleet.
 48312     I long till Edward fall by war's mischance
 48313     For mocking marriage with a dame of France.
 48314                                           Exeunt all but WARWICK
 48315   WARWICK. I came from Edward as ambassador,
 48316     But I return his sworn and mortal foe.
 48317     Matter of marriage was the charge he gave me,
 48318     But dreadful war shall answer his demand.
 48319     Had he none else to make a stale but me?
 48320     Then none but I shall turn his jest to sorrow.
 48321     I was the chief that rais'd him to the crown,
 48322     And I'll be chief to bring him down again;
 48323     Not that I pity Henry's misery,
 48324     But seek revenge on Edward's mockery.                   Exit
 48325 
 48326 
 48327 
 48328 
 48329 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
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 48337 
 48338 
 48339 
 48340 ACT IV. SCENE I.
 48341 London. The palace
 48342 
 48343 Enter GLOUCESTER, CLARENCE, SOMERSET, and MONTAGUE
 48344 
 48345   GLOUCESTER. Now tell me, brother Clarence, what think you
 48346     Of this new marriage with the Lady Grey?
 48347     Hath not our brother made a worthy choice?
 48348   CLARENCE. Alas, you know 'tis far from hence to France!
 48349     How could he stay till Warwick made return?
 48350   SOMERSET. My lords, forbear this talk; here comes the King.
 48351 
 48352            Flourish. Enter KING EDWARD, attended; LADY
 48353           GREY, as Queen; PEMBROKE, STAFFORD, HASTINGS,
 48354       and others. Four stand on one side, and four on the other
 48355 
 48356   GLOUCESTER. And his well-chosen bride.
 48357   CLARENCE. I mind to tell him plainly what I think.
 48358   KING EDWARD. Now, brother of Clarence, how like you our choice
 48359     That you stand pensive as half malcontent?
 48360   CLARENCE. As well as Lewis of France or the Earl of Warwick,
 48361     Which are so weak of courage and in judgment
 48362     That they'll take no offence at our abuse.
 48363   KING EDWARD. Suppose they take offence without a cause;
 48364     They are but Lewis and Warwick: I am Edward,
 48365     Your King and Warwick's and must have my will.
 48366   GLOUCESTER. And shall have your will, because our King.
 48367     Yet hasty marriage seldom proveth well.
 48368   KING EDWARD. Yea, brother Richard, are you offended too?
 48369   GLOUCESTER. Not I.
 48370     No, God forbid that I should wish them sever'd
 48371     Whom God hath join'd together; ay, and 'twere pity
 48372     To sunder them that yoke so well together.
 48373   KING EDWARD. Setting your scorns and your mislike aside,
 48374     Tell me some reason why the Lady Grey
 48375     Should not become my wife and England's Queen.
 48376     And you too, Somerset and Montague,
 48377     Speak freely what you think.
 48378   CLARENCE. Then this is mine opinion: that King Lewis
 48379     Becomes your enemy for mocking him
 48380     About the marriage of the Lady Bona.
 48381   GLOUCESTER. And Warwick, doing what you gave in charge,
 48382     Is now dishonoured by this new marriage.
 48383   KING EDWARD. What if both Lewis and Warwick be appeas'd
 48384     By such invention as I can devise?
 48385   MONTAGUE. Yet to have join'd with France in such alliance
 48386     Would more have strength'ned this our commonwealth
 48387     'Gainst foreign storms than any home-bred marriage.
 48388   HASTINGS. Why, knows not Montague that of itself
 48389     England is safe, if true within itself?
 48390   MONTAGUE. But the safer when 'tis back'd with France.
 48391   HASTINGS. 'Tis better using France than trusting France.
 48392     Let us be back'd with God, and with the seas
 48393     Which He hath giv'n for fence impregnable,
 48394     And with their helps only defend ourselves.
 48395     In them and in ourselves our safety lies.
 48396   CLARENCE. For this one speech Lord Hastings well deserves
 48397     To have the heir of the Lord Hungerford.
 48398   KING EDWARD. Ay, what of that? it was my will and grant;
 48399     And for this once my will shall stand for law.
 48400   GLOUCESTER. And yet methinks your Grace hath not done well
 48401     To give the heir and daughter of Lord Scales
 48402     Unto the brother of your loving bride.
 48403     She better would have fitted me or Clarence;
 48404     But in your bride you bury brotherhood.
 48405   CLARENCE. Or else you would not have bestow'd the heir
 48406     Of the Lord Bonville on your new wife's son,
 48407     And leave your brothers to go speed elsewhere.
 48408   KING EDWARD. Alas, poor Clarence! Is it for a wife
 48409     That thou art malcontent? I will provide thee.
 48410   CLARENCE. In choosing for yourself you show'd your judgment,
 48411     Which being shallow, you shall give me leave
 48412     To play the broker in mine own behalf;
 48413     And to that end I shortly mind to leave you.
 48414   KING EDWARD. Leave me or tarry, Edward will be King,
 48415     And not be tied unto his brother's will.
 48416   QUEEN ELIZABETH. My lords, before it pleas'd his Majesty
 48417     To raise my state to title of a queen,
 48418     Do me but right, and you must all confess
 48419     That I was not ignoble of descent:
 48420     And meaner than myself have had like fortune.
 48421     But as this title honours me and mine,
 48422     So your dislikes, to whom I would be pleasing,
 48423     Doth cloud my joys with danger and with sorrow.
 48424   KING EDWARD. My love, forbear to fawn upon their frowns.
 48425     What danger or what sorrow can befall thee,
 48426     So long as Edward is thy constant friend
 48427     And their true sovereign whom they must obey?
 48428     Nay, whom they shall obey, and love thee too,
 48429     Unless they seek for hatred at my hands;
 48430     Which if they do, yet will I keep thee safe,
 48431     And they shall feel the vengeance of my wrath.
 48432   GLOUCESTER. [Aside] I hear, yet say not much, but think the more.
 48433 
 48434                           Enter a POST
 48435 
 48436   KING EDWARD. Now, messenger, what letters or what news
 48437     From France?
 48438   MESSENGER. My sovereign liege, no letters, and few words,
 48439     But such as I, without your special pardon,
 48440     Dare not relate.
 48441   KING EDWARD. Go to, we pardon thee; therefore, in brief,
 48442     Tell me their words as near as thou canst guess them.
 48443     What answer makes King Lewis unto our letters?
 48444   MESSENGER. At my depart, these were his very words:
 48445     'Go tell false Edward, the supposed king,
 48446     That Lewis of France is sending over masquers
 48447     To revel it with him and his new bride.'
 48448   KING EDWARD. IS Lewis so brave? Belike he thinks me Henry.
 48449     But what said Lady Bona to my marriage?
 48450   MESSENGER. These were her words, utt'red with mild disdain:
 48451     'Tell him, in hope he'll prove a widower shortly,
 48452     I'll wear the willow-garland for his sake.'
 48453   KING EDWARD. I blame not her: she could say little less;
 48454     She had the wrong. But what said Henry's queen?
 48455     For I have heard that she was there in place.
 48456   MESSENGER. 'Tell him' quoth she 'my mourning weeds are done,
 48457     And I am ready to put armour on.'
 48458   KING EDWARD. Belike she minds to play the Amazon.
 48459     But what said Warwick to these injuries?
 48460   MESSENGER. He, more incens'd against your Majesty
 48461     Than all the rest, discharg'd me with these words:
 48462     'Tell him from me that he hath done me wrong;
 48463     And therefore I'll uncrown him ere't be long.'
 48464   KING EDWARD. Ha! durst the traitor breathe out so proud words?
 48465     Well, I will arm me, being thus forewarn'd.
 48466     They shall have wars and pay for their presumption.
 48467     But say, is Warwick friends with Margaret?
 48468   MESSENGER. Ay, gracious sovereign; they are so link'd in friendship
 48469     That young Prince Edward marries Warwick's daughter.
 48470   CLARENCE. Belike the elder; Clarence will have the younger.
 48471     Now, brother king, farewell, and sit you fast,
 48472     For I will hence to Warwick's other daughter;
 48473     That, though I want a kingdom, yet in marriage
 48474     I may not prove inferior to yourself.
 48475     You that love me and Warwick, follow me.
 48476                                       Exit, and SOMERSET follows
 48477   GLOUCESTER. [Aside] Not I.
 48478     My thoughts aim at a further matter; I
 48479     Stay not for the love of Edward but the crown.
 48480   KING EDWARD. Clarence and Somerset both gone to Warwick!
 48481     Yet am I arm'd against the worst can happen;
 48482     And haste is needful in this desp'rate case.
 48483     Pembroke and Stafford, you in our behalf
 48484     Go levy men and make prepare for war;
 48485     They are already, or quickly will be landed.
 48486     Myself in person will straight follow you.
 48487                                     Exeunt PEMBROKE and STAFFORD
 48488     But ere I go, Hastings and Montague,
 48489     Resolve my doubt. You twain, of all the rest,
 48490     Are near to Warwick by blood and by alliance.
 48491     Tell me if you love Warwick more than me?
 48492     If it be so, then both depart to him:
 48493     I rather wish you foes than hollow friends.
 48494     But if you mind to hold your true obedience,
 48495     Give me assurance with some friendly vow,
 48496     That I may never have you in suspect.
 48497   MONTAGUE. So God help Montague as he proves true!
 48498   HASTINGS. And Hastings as he favours Edward's cause!
 48499   KING EDWARD. Now, brother Richard, will you stand by us?
 48500   GLOUCESTER. Ay, in despite of all that shall withstand you.
 48501   KING EDWARD. Why, so! then am I sure of victory.
 48502     Now therefore let us hence, and lose no hour
 48503     Till we meet Warwick with his foreign pow'r.          Exeunt
 48504 
 48505 
 48506 
 48507 
 48508 SCENE II.
 48509 A plain in Warwickshire
 48510 
 48511 Enter WARWICK and OXFORD, with French soldiers
 48512 
 48513   WARWICK. Trust me, my lord, all hitherto goes well;
 48514     The common people by numbers swarm to us.
 48515 
 48516                  Enter CLARENCE and SOMERSET
 48517 
 48518     But see where Somerset and Clarence comes.
 48519     Speak suddenly, my lords- are we all friends?
 48520   CLARENCE. Fear not that, my lord.
 48521   WARWICK. Then, gentle Clarence, welcome unto Warwick;
 48522     And welcome, Somerset. I hold it cowardice
 48523     To rest mistrustful where a noble heart
 48524     Hath pawn'd an open hand in sign of love;
 48525     Else might I think that Clarence, Edward's brother,
 48526     Were but a feigned friend to our proceedings.
 48527     But welcome, sweet Clarence; my daughter shall be thine.
 48528     And now what rests but, in night's coverture,
 48529     Thy brother being carelessly encamp'd,
 48530     His soldiers lurking in the towns about,
 48531     And but attended by a simple guard,
 48532     We may surprise and take him at our pleasure?
 48533     Our scouts have found the adventure very easy;
 48534     That as Ulysses and stout Diomede
 48535     With sleight and manhood stole to Rhesus' tents,
 48536     And brought from thence the Thracian fatal steeds,
 48537     So we, well cover'd with the night's black mantle,
 48538     At unawares may beat down Edward's guard
 48539     And seize himself- I say not 'slaughter him,'
 48540     For I intend but only to surprise him.
 48541     You that will follow me to this attempt,
 48542     Applaud the name of Henry with your leader.
 48543                                          [They all cry 'Henry!']
 48544     Why then, let's on our way in silent sort.
 48545     For Warwick and his friends, God and Saint George!    Exeunt
 48546 
 48547 
 48548 
 48549 SCENE III.
 48550 Edward's camp, near Warwick
 48551 
 48552 Enter three WATCHMEN, to guard the KING'S tent
 48553 
 48554   FIRST WATCHMAN. Come on, my masters, each man take his stand;
 48555     The King by this is set him down to sleep.
 48556   SECOND WATCHMAN. What, will he not to bed?
 48557   FIRST WATCHMAN. Why, no; for he hath made a solemn vow
 48558     Never to lie and take his natural rest
 48559     Till Warwick or himself be quite suppress'd.
 48560   SECOND WATCHMAN. To-morrow then, belike, shall be the day,
 48561     If Warwick be so near as men report.
 48562   THIRD WATCHMAN. But say, I pray, what nobleman is that
 48563     That with the King here resteth in his tent?
 48564   FIRST WATCHMAN. 'Tis the Lord Hastings, the King's chiefest friend.
 48565   THIRD WATCHMAN. O, is it So? But why commands the King
 48566     That his chief followers lodge in towns about him,
 48567     While he himself keeps in the cold field?
 48568   SECOND WATCHMAN. 'Tis the more honour, because more dangerous.
 48569   THIRD WATCHMAN. Ay, but give me worship and quietness;
 48570     I like it better than dangerous honour.
 48571     If Warwick knew in what estate he stands,
 48572     'Tis to be doubted he would waken him.
 48573   FIRST WATCHMAN. Unless our halberds did shut up his passage.
 48574   SECOND WATCHMAN. Ay, wherefore else guard we his royal tent
 48575     But to defend his person from night-foes?
 48576 
 48577              Enter WARWICK, CLARENCE, OXFORD, SOMERSET,
 48578                    and French soldiers, silent all
 48579 
 48580   WARWICK. This is his tent; and see where stand his guard.
 48581     Courage, my masters! Honour now or never!
 48582     But follow me, and Edward shall be ours.
 48583   FIRST WATCHMAN. Who goes there?
 48584   SECOND WATCHMAN. Stay, or thou diest.
 48585 
 48586        WARWICK and the rest cry all 'Warwick! Warwick!' and
 48587       set upon the guard, who fly, crying 'Arm! Arm!' WARWICK
 48588                    and the rest following them
 48589 
 48590       The drum playing and trumpet sounding, re-enter WARWICK
 48591          and the rest, bringing the KING out in his gown,
 48592    sitting in a chair. GLOUCESTER and HASTINGS fly over the stage
 48593 
 48594   SOMERSET. What are they that fly there?
 48595   WARWICK. Richard and Hastings. Let them go; here is the Duke.
 48596   KING EDWARD. The Duke! Why, Warwick, when we parted,
 48597     Thou call'dst me King?
 48598   WARWICK. Ay, but the case is alter'd.
 48599     When you disgrac'd me in my embassade,
 48600     Then I degraded you from being King,
 48601     And come now to create you Duke of York.
 48602     Alas, how should you govern any kingdom
 48603     That know not how to use ambassadors,
 48604     Nor how to be contented with one wife,
 48605     Nor how to use your brothers brotherly,
 48606     Nor how to study for the people's welfare,
 48607     Nor how to shroud yourself from enemies?
 48608   KING EDWARD. Yea, brother of Clarence, art thou here too?
 48609     Nay, then I see that Edward needs must down.
 48610     Yet, Warwick, in despite of all mischance,
 48611     Of thee thyself and all thy complices,
 48612     Edward will always bear himself as King.
 48613     Though fortune's malice overthrow my state,
 48614     My mind exceeds the compass of her wheel.
 48615   WARWICK. Then, for his mind, be Edward England's king;
 48616                                            [Takes off his crown]
 48617     But Henry now shall wear the English crown
 48618     And be true King indeed; thou but the shadow.
 48619     My Lord of Somerset, at my request,
 48620     See that forthwith Duke Edward be convey'd
 48621     Unto my brother, Archbishop of York.
 48622     When I have fought with Pembroke and his fellows,
 48623     I'll follow you and tell what answer
 48624     Lewis and the Lady Bona send to him.
 48625     Now for a while farewell, good Duke of York.
 48626   KING EDWARD. What fates impose, that men must needs abide;
 48627     It boots not to resist both wind and tide.
 48628                                     [They lead him out forcibly]
 48629   OXFORD. What now remains, my lords, for us to do
 48630     But march to London with our soldiers?
 48631   WARWICK. Ay, that's the first thing that we have to do;
 48632     To free King Henry from imprisonment,
 48633     And see him seated in the regal throne.               Exeunt
 48634 
 48635 
 48636 
 48637 
 48638 SCENE IV.
 48639 London. The palace
 48640 
 48641 Enter QUEEN ELIZABETH and RIVERS
 48642 
 48643   RIVERS. Madam, what makes you in this sudden change?
 48644   QUEEN ELIZABETH. Why, brother Rivers, are you yet to learn
 48645     What late misfortune is befall'n King Edward?
 48646   RIVERS. What, loss of some pitch'd battle against Warwick?
 48647   QUEEN ELIZABETH. No, but the loss of his own royal person.
 48648   RIVERS. Then is my sovereign slain?
 48649   QUEEN ELIZABETH. Ay, almost slain, for he is taken prisoner;
 48650     Either betray'd by falsehood of his guard
 48651     Or by his foe surpris'd at unawares;
 48652     And, as I further have to understand,
 48653     Is new committed to the Bishop of York,
 48654     Fell Warwick's brother, and by that our foe.
 48655   RIVERS. These news, I must confess, are full of grief;
 48656     Yet, gracious madam, bear it as you may:
 48657     Warwick may lose that now hath won the day.
 48658   QUEEN ELIZABETH. Till then, fair hope must hinder life's decay.
 48659     And I the rather wean me from despair
 48660     For love of Edward's offspring in my womb.
 48661     This is it that makes me bridle passion
 48662     And bear with mildness my misfortune's cross;
 48663     Ay, ay, for this I draw in many a tear
 48664     And stop the rising of blood-sucking sighs,
 48665     Lest with my sighs or tears I blast or drown
 48666     King Edward's fruit, true heir to th' English crown.
 48667   RIVERS. But, madam, where is Warwick then become?
 48668   QUEEN ELIZABETH. I am inform'd that he comes towards London
 48669     To set the crown once more on Henry's head.
 48670     Guess thou the rest: King Edward's friends must down.
 48671     But to prevent the tyrant's violence-
 48672     For trust not him that hath once broken faith-
 48673     I'll hence forthwith unto the sanctuary
 48674     To save at least the heir of Edward's right.
 48675     There shall I rest secure from force and fraud.
 48676     Come, therefore, let us fly while we may fly:
 48677     If Warwick take us, we are sure to die.               Exeunt
 48678 
 48679 
 48680 
 48681 
 48682 SCENE V.
 48683 A park near Middleham Castle in Yorkshire
 48684 
 48685 Enter GLOUCESTER, LORD HASTINGS, SIR WILLIAM STANLEY, and others
 48686 
 48687   GLOUCESTER. Now, my Lord Hastings and Sir William Stanley,
 48688     Leave off to wonder why I drew you hither
 48689     Into this chiefest thicket of the park.
 48690     Thus stands the case: you know our King, my brother,
 48691     Is prisoner to the Bishop here, at whose hands
 48692     He hath good usage and great liberty;
 48693     And often but attended with weak guard
 48694     Comes hunting this way to disport himself.
 48695     I have advertis'd him by secret means
 48696     That if about this hour he make this way,
 48697     Under the colour of his usual game,
 48698     He shall here find his friends, with horse and men,
 48699     To set him free from his captivity.
 48700 
 48701              Enter KING EDWARD and a HUNTSMAN with him
 48702 
 48703   HUNTSMAN. This way, my lord; for this way lies the game.
 48704   KING EDWARD. Nay, this way, man. See where the huntsmen stand.
 48705     Now, brother of Gloucester, Lord Hastings, and the rest,
 48706     Stand you thus close to steal the Bishop's deer?
 48707   GLOUCESTER. Brother, the time and case requireth haste;
 48708     Your horse stands ready at the park corner.
 48709   KING EDWARD. But whither shall we then?
 48710   HASTINGS. To Lynn, my lord; and shipt from thence to Flanders.
 48711   GLOUCESTER. Well guess'd, believe me; for that was my meaning.
 48712   KING EDWARD. Stanley, I will requite thy forwardness.
 48713   GLOUCESTER. But wherefore stay we? 'Tis no time to talk.
 48714   KING EDWARD. Huntsman, what say'st thou? Wilt thou go along?
 48715   HUNTSMAN. Better do so than tarry and be hang'd.
 48716   GLOUCESTER. Come then, away; let's ha' no more ado.
 48717   KING EDWARD. Bishop, farewell. Shield thee from Warwick's frown,
 48718     And pray that I may repossess the crown.              Exeunt
 48719 
 48720 
 48721 
 48722 
 48723 SCENE VI.
 48724 London. The Tower
 48725 
 48726 Flourish. Enter KING HENRY, CLARENCE, WARWICK, SOMERSET, young HENRY,
 48727 EARL OF RICHMOND, OXFORD, MONTAGUE, LIEUTENANT OF THE TOWER, and attendants
 48728 
 48729   KING HENRY. Master Lieutenant, now that God and friends
 48730     Have shaken Edward from the regal seat
 48731     And turn'd my captive state to liberty,
 48732     My fear to hope, my sorrows unto joys,
 48733     At our enlargement what are thy due fees?
 48734   LIEUTENANT. Subjects may challenge nothing of their sov'reigns;
 48735     But if an humble prayer may prevail,
 48736     I then crave pardon of your Majesty.
 48737   KING HENRY. For what, Lieutenant? For well using me?
 48738     Nay, be thou sure I'll well requite thy kindness,
 48739     For that it made my imprisonment a pleasure;
 48740     Ay, such a pleasure as incaged birds
 48741     Conceive when, after many moody thoughts,
 48742     At last by notes of household harmony
 48743     They quite forget their loss of liberty.
 48744     But, Warwick, after God, thou set'st me free,
 48745     And chiefly therefore I thank God and thee;
 48746     He was the author, thou the instrument.
 48747     Therefore, that I may conquer fortune's spite
 48748     By living low where fortune cannot hurt me,
 48749     And that the people of this blessed land
 48750     May not be punish'd with my thwarting stars,
 48751     Warwick, although my head still wear the crown,
 48752     I here resign my government to thee,
 48753     For thou art fortunate in all thy deeds.
 48754   WARWICK. Your Grace hath still been fam'd for virtuous,
 48755     And now may seem as wise as virtuous
 48756     By spying and avoiding fortune's malice,
 48757     For few men rightly temper with the stars;
 48758     Yet in this one thing let me blame your Grace,
 48759     For choosing me when Clarence is in place.
 48760   CLARENCE. No, Warwick, thou art worthy of the sway,
 48761     To whom the heav'ns in thy nativity
 48762     Adjudg'd an olive branch and laurel crown,
 48763     As likely to be blest in peace and war;
 48764     And therefore I yield thee my free consent.
 48765   WARWICK. And I choose Clarence only for Protector.
 48766   KING HENRY. Warwick and Clarence, give me both your hands.
 48767     Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts,
 48768     That no dissension hinder government.
 48769     I make you both Protectors of this land,
 48770     While I myself will lead a private life
 48771     And in devotion spend my latter days,
 48772     To sin's rebuke and my Creator's praise.
 48773   WARWICK. What answers Clarence to his sovereign's will?
 48774   CLARENCE. That he consents, if Warwick yield consent,
 48775     For on thy fortune I repose myself.
 48776   WARWICK. Why, then, though loath, yet must I be content.
 48777     We'll yoke together, like a double shadow
 48778     To Henry's body, and supply his place;
 48779     I mean, in bearing weight of government,
 48780     While he enjoys the honour and his ease.
 48781     And, Clarence, now then it is more than needful
 48782     Forthwith that Edward be pronounc'd a traitor,
 48783     And all his lands and goods confiscated.
 48784   CLARENCE. What else? And that succession be determin'd.
 48785   WARWICK. Ay, therein Clarence shall not want his part.
 48786   KING HENRY. But, with the first of all your chief affairs,
 48787     Let me entreat- for I command no more-
 48788     That Margaret your Queen and my son Edward
 48789     Be sent for to return from France with speed;
 48790     For till I see them here, by doubtful fear
 48791     My joy of liberty is half eclips'd.
 48792   CLARENCE. It shall be done, my sovereign, with all speed.
 48793   KING HENRY. My Lord of Somerset, what youth is that,
 48794     Of whom you seem to have so tender care?
 48795   SOMERSET. My liege, it is young Henry, Earl of Richmond.
 48796   KING HENRY. Come hither, England's hope.
 48797                                      [Lays his hand on his head]
 48798     If secret powers
 48799     Suggest but truth to my divining thoughts,
 48800     This pretty lad will prove our country's bliss.
 48801     His looks are full of peaceful majesty;
 48802     His head by nature fram'd to wear a crown,
 48803     His hand to wield a sceptre; and himself
 48804     Likely in time to bless a regal throne.
 48805     Make much of him, my lords; for this is he
 48806     Must help you more than you are hurt by me.
 48807 
 48808                           Enter a POST
 48809 
 48810   WARWICK. What news, my friend?
 48811   POST. That Edward is escaped from your brother
 48812     And fled, as he hears since, to Burgundy.
 48813   WARWICK. Unsavoury news! But how made he escape?
 48814   POST. He was convey'd by Richard Duke of Gloucester
 48815     And the Lord Hastings, who attended him
 48816     In secret ambush on the forest side
 48817     And from the Bishop's huntsmen rescu'd him;
 48818     For hunting was his daily exercise.
 48819   WARWICK. My brother was too careless of his charge.
 48820     But let us hence, my sovereign, to provide
 48821     A salve for any sore that may betide.
 48822                    Exeunt all but SOMERSET, RICHMOND, and OXFORD
 48823   SOMERSET. My lord, I like not of this flight of Edward's;
 48824     For doubtless Burgundy will yield him help,
 48825     And we shall have more wars befor't be long.
 48826     As Henry's late presaging prophecy
 48827     Did glad my heart with hope of this young Richmond,
 48828     So doth my heart misgive me, in these conflicts,
 48829     What may befall him to his harm and ours.
 48830     Therefore, Lord Oxford, to prevent the worst,
 48831     Forthwith we'll send him hence to Brittany,
 48832     Till storms be past of civil enmity.
 48833   OXFORD. Ay, for if Edward repossess the crown,
 48834     'Tis like that Richmond with the rest shall down.
 48835   SOMERSET. It shall be so; he shall to Brittany.
 48836     Come therefore, let's about it speedily.              Exeunt
 48837 
 48838 
 48839 
 48840 
 48841 SCENE VII.
 48842 Before York
 48843 
 48844 Flourish. Enter KING EDWARD, GLOUCESTER, HASTINGS, and soldiers
 48845 
 48846   KING EDWARD. Now, brother Richard, Lord Hastings, and the rest,
 48847     Yet thus far fortune maketh us amends,
 48848     And says that once more I shall interchange
 48849     My waned state for Henry's regal crown.
 48850     Well have we pass'd and now repass'd the seas,
 48851     And brought desired help from Burgundy;
 48852     What then remains, we being thus arriv'd
 48853     From Ravenspurgh haven before the gates of York,
 48854     But that we enter, as into our dukedom?
 48855   GLOUCESTER. The gates made fast! Brother, I like not this;
 48856     For many men that stumble at the threshold
 48857     Are well foretold that danger lurks within.
 48858   KING EDWARD. Tush, man, abodements must not now affright us.
 48859     By fair or foul means we must enter in,
 48860     For hither will our friends repair to us.
 48861   HASTINGS. My liege, I'll knock once more to summon them.
 48862 
 48863          Enter, on the walls, the MAYOR OF YORK and
 48864                        his BRETHREN
 48865 
 48866   MAYOR. My lords, we were forewarned of your coming
 48867     And shut the gates for safety of ourselves,
 48868     For now we owe allegiance unto Henry.
 48869   KING EDWARD. But, Master Mayor, if Henry be your King,
 48870     Yet Edward at the least is Duke of York.
 48871   MAYOR. True, my good lord; I know you for no less.
 48872   KING EDWARD. Why, and I challenge nothing but my dukedom,
 48873     As being well content with that alone.
 48874   GLOUCESTER. [Aside] But when the fox hath once got in his nose,
 48875     He'll soon find means to make the body follow.
 48876   HASTINGS. Why, Master Mayor, why stand you in a doubt?
 48877     Open the gates; we are King Henry's friends.
 48878   MAYOR. Ay, say you so? The gates shall then be open'd.
 48879                                                    [He descends]
 48880   GLOUCESTER. A wise stout captain, and soon persuaded!
 48881   HASTINGS. The good old man would fain that all were well,
 48882     So 'twere not long of him; but being ent'red,
 48883     I doubt not, I, but we shall soon persuade
 48884     Both him and all his brothers unto reason.
 48885 
 48886              Enter, below, the MAYOR and two ALDERMEN
 48887 
 48888   KING EDWARD. So, Master Mayor. These gates must not be shut
 48889     But in the night or in the time of war.
 48890     What! fear not, man, but yield me up the keys;
 48891                                                 [Takes his keys]
 48892     For Edward will defend the town and thee,
 48893     And all those friends that deign to follow me.
 48894 
 48895            March. Enter MONTGOMERY with drum and soldiers
 48896 
 48897   GLOUCESTER. Brother, this is Sir John Montgomery,
 48898     Our trusty friend, unless I be deceiv'd.
 48899   KING EDWARD. Welcome, Sir john! But why come you in arms?
 48900   MONTGOMERY. To help King Edward in his time of storm,
 48901     As every loyal subject ought to do.
 48902   KING EDWARD. Thanks, good Montgomery; but we now forget
 48903     Our title to the crown, and only claim
 48904     Our dukedom till God please to send the rest.
 48905   MONTGOMERY. Then fare you well, for I will hence again.
 48906     I came to serve a king and not a duke.
 48907     Drummer, strike up, and let us march away.
 48908                                       [The drum begins to march]
 48909   KING EDWARD. Nay, stay, Sir John, a while, and we'll debate
 48910     By what safe means the crown may be recover'd.
 48911   MONTGOMERY. What talk you of debating? In few words:
 48912     If you'll not here proclaim yourself our King,
 48913     I'll leave you to your fortune and be gone
 48914     To keep them back that come to succour you.
 48915     Why shall we fight, if you pretend no title?
 48916   GLOUCESTER. Why, brother, wherefore stand you on nice points?
 48917   KING EDWARD. When we grow stronger, then we'll make our claim;
 48918     Till then 'tis wisdom to conceal our meaning.
 48919   HASTINGS. Away with scrupulous wit! Now arms must rule.
 48920   GLOUCESTER. And fearless minds climb soonest unto crowns.
 48921     Brother, we will proclaim you out of hand;
 48922     The bruit thereof will bring you many friends.
 48923   KING EDWARD. Then be it as you will; for 'tis my right,
 48924     And Henry but usurps the diadem.
 48925   MONTGOMERY. Ay, now my sovereign speaketh like himself;
 48926     And now will I be Edward's champion.
 48927   HASTINGS. Sound trumpet; Edward shall be here proclaim'd.
 48928     Come, fellow soldier, make thou proclamation.
 48929                                    [Gives him a paper. Flourish]
 48930   SOLDIER. [Reads] 'Edward the Fourth, by the grace of God,
 48931     King of England and France, and Lord of Ireland, &c.'
 48932   MONTGOMERY. And whoso'er gainsays King Edward's right,
 48933     By this I challenge him to single fight.
 48934                                           [Throws down gauntlet]
 48935   ALL. Long live Edward the Fourth!
 48936   KING EDWARD. Thanks, brave Montgomery, and thanks unto you all;
 48937     If fortune serve me, I'll requite this kindness.
 48938     Now for this night let's harbour here in York;
 48939     And when the morning sun shall raise his car
 48940     Above the border of this horizon,
 48941     We'll forward towards Warwick and his mates;
 48942     For well I wot that Henry is no soldier.
 48943     Ah, froward Clarence, how evil it beseems the
 48944     To flatter Henry and forsake thy brother!
 48945     Yet, as we may, we'll meet both thee and Warwick.
 48946     Come on, brave soldiers; doubt not of the day,
 48947     And, that once gotten, doubt not of large pay.        Exeunt
 48948 
 48949 
 48950 
 48951 
 48952 SCENE VIII.
 48953 London. The palace
 48954 
 48955 Flourish. Enter KING HENRY, WARWICK, MONTAGUE, CLARENCE, OXFORD, and EXETER
 48956 
 48957   WARWICK. What counsel, lords? Edward from Belgia,
 48958     With hasty Germans and blunt Hollanders,
 48959     Hath pass'd in safety through the narrow seas
 48960     And with his troops doth march amain to London;
 48961     And many giddy people flock to him.
 48962   KING HENRY. Let's levy men and beat him back again.
 48963   CLARENCE. A little fire is quickly trodden out,
 48964     Which, being suffer'd, rivers cannot quench.
 48965   WARWICK. In Warwickshire I have true-hearted friends,
 48966     Not mutinous in peace, yet bold in war;
 48967     Those will I muster up, and thou, son Clarence,
 48968     Shalt stir up in Suffolk, Norfolk, and in Kent,
 48969     The knights and gentlemen to come with thee.
 48970     Thou, brother Montague, in Buckingham,
 48971     Northampton, and in Leicestershire, shalt find
 48972     Men well inclin'd to hear what thou command'st.
 48973     And thou, brave Oxford, wondrous well belov'd,
 48974     In Oxfordshire shalt muster up thy friends.
 48975     My sovereign, with the loving citizens,
 48976     Like to his island girt in with the ocean
 48977     Or modest Dian circled with her nymphs,
 48978     Shall rest in London till we come to him.
 48979     Fair lords, take leave and stand not to reply.
 48980     Farewell, my sovereign.
 48981   KING HENRY. Farewell, my Hector and my Troy's true hope.
 48982   CLARENCE. In sign of truth, I kiss your Highness' hand.
 48983   KING HENRY. Well-minded Clarence, be thou fortunate!
 48984   MONTAGUE. Comfort, my lord; and so I take my leave.
 48985   OXFORD. [Kissing the KING'S band] And thus I seal my truth and bid
 48986     adieu.
 48987   KING HENRY. Sweet Oxford, and my loving Montague,
 48988     And all at once, once more a happy farewell.
 48989   WARWICK. Farewell, sweet lords; let's meet at Coventry.
 48990                               Exeunt all but the KING and EXETER
 48991   KING HENRY. Here at the palace will I rest a while.
 48992     Cousin of Exeter, what thinks your lordship?
 48993     Methinks the power that Edward hath in field
 48994     Should not be able to encounter mine.
 48995   EXETER. The doubt is that he will seduce the rest.
 48996   KING HENRY. That's not my fear; my meed hath got me fame:
 48997     I have not stopp'd mine ears to their demands,
 48998     Nor posted off their suits with slow delays;
 48999     My pity hath been balm to heal their wounds,
 49000     My mildness hath allay'd their swelling griefs,
 49001     My mercy dried their water-flowing tears;
 49002     I have not been desirous of their wealth,
 49003     Nor much oppress'd them with great subsidies,
 49004     Nor forward of revenge, though they much err'd.
 49005     Then why should they love Edward more than me?
 49006     No, Exeter, these graces challenge grace;
 49007     And, when the lion fawns upon the lamb,
 49008     The lamb will never cease to follow him.
 49009                       [Shout within 'A Lancaster! A Lancaster!']
 49010   EXETER. Hark, hark, my lord! What shouts are these?
 49011 
 49012             Enter KING EDWARD, GLOUCESTER, and soldiers
 49013 
 49014   KING EDWARD. Seize on the shame-fac'd Henry, bear him hence;
 49015     And once again proclaim us King of England.
 49016     You are the fount that makes small brooks to flow.
 49017     Now stops thy spring; my sea shall suck them dry,
 49018     And swell so much the higher by their ebb.
 49019     Hence with him to the Tower: let him not speak.
 49020                                      Exeunt some with KING HENRY
 49021     And, lords, towards Coventry bend we our course,
 49022     Where peremptory Warwick now remains.
 49023     The sun shines hot; and, if we use delay,
 49024     Cold biting winter mars our hop'd-for hay.
 49025   GLOUCESTER. Away betimes, before his forces join,
 49026     And take the great-grown traitor unawares.
 49027     Brave warriors, march amain towards Coventry.         Exeunt
 49028 
 49029 
 49030 
 49031 
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 49040 
 49041 
 49042 
 49043 ACT V. SCENE I.
 49044 Coventry
 49045 
 49046 Enter WARWICK, the MAYOR OF COVENTRY, two MESSENGERS,
 49047 and others upon the walls
 49048 
 49049   WARWICK. Where is the post that came from valiant Oxford?
 49050     How far hence is thy lord, mine honest fellow?
 49051   FIRST MESSENGER. By this at Dunsmore, marching hitherward.
 49052   WARWICK. How far off is our brother Montague?
 49053     Where is the post that came from Montague?
 49054   SECOND MESSENGER. By this at Daintry, with a puissant troop.
 49055 
 49056                    Enter SIR JOHN SOMERVILLE
 49057 
 49058   WARWICK. Say, Somerville, what says my loving son?
 49059     And by thy guess how nigh is Clarence now?
 49060   SOMERVILLE. At Southam I did leave him with his forces,
 49061     And do expect him here some two hours hence.
 49062                                                     [Drum heard]
 49063   WARWICK. Then Clarence is at hand; I hear his drum.
 49064   SOMERVILLE. It is not his, my lord; here Southam lies.
 49065     The drum your Honour hears marcheth from Warwick.
 49066   WARWICK. Who should that be? Belike unlook'd for friends.
 49067   SOMERVILLE. They are at hand, and you shall quickly know.
 49068 
 49069         March. Flourish. Enter KING EDWARD, GLOUCESTER,
 49070                          and soldiers
 49071 
 49072   KING EDWARD. Go, trumpet, to the walls, and sound a parle.
 49073   GLOUCESTER. See how the surly Warwick mans the wall.
 49074   WARWICK. O unbid spite! Is sportful Edward come?
 49075     Where slept our scouts or how are they seduc'd
 49076     That we could hear no news of his repair?
 49077   KING EDWARD. Now, Warwick, wilt thou ope the city gates,
 49078     Speak gentle words, and humbly bend thy knee,
 49079     Call Edward King, and at his hands beg mercy?
 49080     And he shall pardon thee these outrages.
 49081   WARWICK. Nay, rather, wilt thou draw thy forces hence,
 49082     Confess who set thee up and pluck'd thee down,
 49083     Call Warwick patron, and be penitent?
 49084     And thou shalt still remain the Duke of York.
 49085   GLOUCESTER. I thought, at least, he would have said the King;
 49086     Or did he make the jest against his will?
 49087   WARWICK. Is not a dukedom, sir, a goodly gift?
 49088   GLOUCESTER. Ay, by my faith, for a poor earl to give.
 49089     I'll do thee service for so good a gift.
 49090   WARWICK. 'Twas I that gave the kingdom to thy brother.
 49091   KING EDWARD. Why then 'tis mine, if but by Warwick's gift.
 49092   WARWICK. Thou art no Atlas for so great a weight;
 49093     And, weakling, Warwick takes his gift again;
 49094     And Henry is my King, Warwick his subject.
 49095   KING EDWARD. But Warwick's king is Edward's prisoner.
 49096     And, gallant Warwick, do but answer this:
 49097     What is the body when the head is off?
 49098   GLOUCESTER. Alas, that Warwick had no more forecast,
 49099     But, whiles he thought to steal the single ten,
 49100     The king was slily finger'd from the deck!
 49101     You left poor Henry at the Bishop's palace,
 49102     And ten to one you'll meet him in the Tower.
 49103   KING EDWARD. 'Tis even so; yet you are Warwick still.
 49104   GLOUCESTER. Come, Warwick, take the time; kneel down, kneel down.
 49105     Nay, when? Strike now, or else the iron cools.
 49106   WARWICK. I had rather chop this hand off at a blow,
 49107     And with the other fling it at thy face,
 49108     Than bear so low a sail to strike to thee.
 49109   KING EDWARD. Sail how thou canst, have wind and tide thy friend,
 49110     This hand, fast wound about thy coal-black hair,
 49111     Shall, whiles thy head is warm and new cut off,
 49112     Write in the dust this sentence with thy blood:
 49113     'Wind-changing Warwick now can change no more.'
 49114 
 49115                Enter OXFORD, with drum and colours
 49116 
 49117   WARWICK. O cheerful colours! See where Oxford comes.
 49118   OXFORD. Oxford, Oxford, for Lancaster!
 49119                               [He and his forces enter the city]
 49120   GLOUCESTER. The gates are open, let us enter too.
 49121   KING EDWARD. So other foes may set upon our backs.
 49122     Stand we in good array, for they no doubt
 49123     Will issue out again and bid us battle;
 49124     If not, the city being but of small defence,
 49125     We'll quietly rouse the traitors in the same.
 49126   WARWICK. O, welcome, Oxford! for we want thy help.
 49127 
 49128              Enter MONTAGUE, with drum and colours
 49129 
 49130   MONTAGUE. Montague, Montague, for Lancaster!
 49131                               [He and his forces enter the city]
 49132   GLOUCESTER. Thou and thy brother both shall buy this treason
 49133     Even with the dearest blood your bodies bear.
 49134   KING EDWARD. The harder match'd, the greater victory.
 49135     My mind presageth happy gain and conquest.
 49136 
 49137              Enter SOMERSET, with drum and colours
 49138 
 49139   SOMERSET. Somerset, Somerset, for Lancaster!
 49140                               [He and his forces enter the city]
 49141   GLOUCESTER. Two of thy name, both Dukes of Somerset,
 49142     Have sold their lives unto the house of York;
 49143     And thou shalt be the third, if this sword hold.
 49144 
 49145              Enter CLARENCE, with drum and colours
 49146 
 49147   WARWICK. And lo where George of Clarence sweeps along,
 49148     Of force enough to bid his brother battle;
 49149     With whom an upright zeal to right prevails
 49150     More than the nature of a brother's love.
 49151   CLARENCE. Clarence, Clarence, for Lancaster!
 49152   KING EDWARD. Et tu Brute- wilt thou stab Caesar too?
 49153     A parley, sirrah, to George of Clarence.
 49154                   [Sound a parley. RICHARD and CLARENCE whisper]
 49155   WARWICK. Come, Clarence, come. Thou wilt if Warwick call.
 49156   CLARENCE. [Taking the red rose from his hat and throwing
 49157       it at WARWICK]
 49158     Father of Warwick, know you what this means?
 49159     Look here, I throw my infamy at thee.
 49160     I will not ruinate my father's house,
 49161     Who gave his blood to lime the stones together,
 49162     And set up Lancaster. Why, trowest thou, Warwick,
 49163     That Clarence is so harsh, so blunt, unnatural,
 49164     To bend the fatal instruments of war
 49165     Against his brother and his lawful King?
 49166     Perhaps thou wilt object my holy oath.
 49167     To keep that oath were more impiety
 49168     Than Jephtha when he sacrific'd his daughter.
 49169     I am so sorry for my trespass made
 49170     That, to deserve well at my brother's hands,
 49171     I here proclaim myself thy mortal foe;
 49172     With resolution whereso'er I meet thee-
 49173     As I will meet thee, if thou stir abroad-
 49174     To plague thee for thy foul misleading me.
 49175     And so, proud-hearted Warwick, I defy thee,
 49176     And to my brother turn my blushing cheeks.
 49177     Pardon me, Edward, I will make amends;
 49178     And, Richard, do not frown upon my faults,
 49179     For I will henceforth be no more unconstant.
 49180   KING EDWARD. Now welcome more, and ten times more belov'd,
 49181     Than if thou never hadst deserv'd our hate.
 49182   GLOUCESTER. Welcome, good Clarence; this is brother-like.
 49183   WARWICK. O passing traitor, perjur'd and unjust!
 49184   KING EDWARD. What, Warwick, wilt thou leave die town and fight?
 49185     Or shall we beat the stones about thine ears?
 49186   WARWICK. Alas, I am not coop'd here for defence!
 49187     I will away towards Barnet presently
 49188     And bid thee battle, Edward, if thou dar'st.
 49189   KING EDWARD. Yes, Warwick, Edward dares and leads the way.
 49190     Lords, to the field; Saint George and victory!
 49191                                                  Exeunt YORKISTS
 49192                          [March. WARWICK and his company follow]
 49193 
 49194 
 49195 
 49196 
 49197 SCENE II.
 49198 A field of battle near Barnet
 49199 
 49200 Alarum and excursions. Enter KING EDWARD, bringing forth WARWICK, wounded
 49201 
 49202   KING EDWARD. So, lie thou there. Die thou, and die our fear;
 49203     For Warwick was a bug that fear'd us all.
 49204     Now, Montague, sit fast; I seek for thee,
 49205     That Warwick's bones may keep thine company.            Exit
 49206   WARWICK. Ah, who is nigh? Come to me, friend or foe,
 49207     And tell me who is victor, York or Warwick?
 49208     Why ask I that? My mangled body shows,
 49209     My blood, my want of strength, my sick heart shows,
 49210     That I must yield my body to the earth
 49211     And, by my fall, the conquest to my foe.
 49212     Thus yields the cedar to the axe's edge,
 49213     Whose arms gave shelter to the princely eagle,
 49214     Under whose shade the ramping lion slept,
 49215     Whose top-branch overpeer'd Jove's spreading tree
 49216     And kept low shrubs from winter's pow'rful wind.
 49217     These eyes, that now are dimm'd with death's black veil,
 49218     Have been as piercing as the mid-day sun
 49219     To search the secret treasons of the world;
 49220     The wrinkles in my brows, now fill'd with blood,
 49221     Were lik'ned oft to kingly sepulchres;
 49222     For who liv'd King, but I could dig his grave?
 49223     And who durst smile when Warwick bent his brow?
 49224     Lo now my glory smear'd in dust and blood!
 49225     My parks, my walks, my manors, that I had,
 49226     Even now forsake me; and of all my lands
 49227     Is nothing left me but my body's length.
 49228     what is pomp, rule, reign, but earth and dust?
 49229     And live we how we can, yet die we must.
 49230 
 49231                   Enter OXFORD and SOMERSET
 49232 
 49233   SOMERSET. Ah, Warwick, Warwick! wert thou as we are,
 49234     We might recover all our loss again.
 49235     The Queen from France hath brought a puissant power;
 49236     Even now we heard the news. Ah, couldst thou fly!
 49237   WARWICK. Why then, I would not fly. Ah, Montague,
 49238     If thou be there, sweet brother, take my hand,
 49239     And with thy lips keep in my soul a while!
 49240     Thou lov'st me not; for, brother, if thou didst,
 49241     Thy tears would wash this cold congealed blood
 49242     That glues my lips and will not let me speak.
 49243     Come quickly, Montague, or I am dead.
 49244   SOMERSET. Ah, Warwick! Montague hath breath'd his last;
 49245     And to the latest gasp cried out for Warwick,
 49246     And said 'Commend me to my valiant brother.'
 49247     And more he would have said; and more he spoke,
 49248     Which sounded like a clamour in a vault,
 49249     That mought not be distinguish'd; but at last,
 49250     I well might hear, delivered with a groan,
 49251     'O farewell, Warwick!'
 49252   WARWICK. Sweet rest his soul! Fly, lords, and save yourselves:
 49253     For Warwick bids you all farewell, to meet in heaven.
 49254                                                           [Dies]
 49255   OXFORD. Away, away, to meet the Queen's great power!
 49256                                   [Here they bear away his body]
 49257 
 49258 
 49259 
 49260 
 49261 SCENE III.
 49262 Another part of the field
 49263 
 49264 Flourish. Enter KING in triumph; with GLOUCESTER, CLARENCE, and the rest
 49265 
 49266   KING EDWARD. Thus far our fortune keeps an upward course,
 49267     And we are grac'd with wreaths of victory.
 49268     But in the midst of this bright-shining day
 49269     I spy a black, suspicious, threat'ning cloud
 49270     That will encounter with our glorious sun
 49271     Ere he attain his easeful western bed-
 49272     I mean, my lords, those powers that the Queen
 49273     Hath rais'd in Gallia have arriv'd our coast
 49274     And, as we hear, march on to fight with us.
 49275   CLARENCE. A little gale will soon disperse that cloud
 49276     And blow it to the source from whence it came;
 49277     Thy very beams will dry those vapours up,
 49278     For every cloud engenders not a storm.
 49279   GLOUCESTER. The Queen is valued thirty thousand strong,
 49280     And Somerset, with Oxford, fled to her.
 49281     If she have time to breathe, be well assur'd
 49282     Her faction will be full as strong as ours.
 49283   KING EDWARD. are advertis'd by our loving friends
 49284     That they do hold their course toward Tewksbury;
 49285     We, having now the best at Barnet field,
 49286     Will thither straight, for willingness rids way;
 49287     And as we march our strength will be augmented
 49288     In every county as we go along.
 49289     Strike up the drum; cry 'Courage!' and away.          Exeunt
 49290 
 49291 
 49292 
 49293 
 49294 SCENE IV.
 49295 Plains wear Tewksbury
 49296 
 49297 Flourish. March. Enter QUEEN MARGARET, PRINCE EDWARD, SOMERSET, OXFORD,
 49298 and SOLDIERS
 49299 
 49300   QUEEN MARGARET. Great lords, wise men ne'er sit and wail their
 49301       loss,
 49302     But cheerly seek how to redress their harms.
 49303     What though the mast be now blown overboard,
 49304     The cable broke, the holding-anchor lost,
 49305     And half our sailors swallow'd in the flood;
 49306     Yet lives our pilot still. Is't meet that he
 49307     Should leave the helm and, like a fearful lad,
 49308     With tearful eyes add water to the sea
 49309     And give more strength to that which hath too much;
 49310     Whiles, in his moan, the ship splits on the rock,
 49311     Which industry and courage might have sav'd?
 49312     Ah, what a shame! ah, what a fault were this!
 49313     Say Warwick was our anchor; what of that?
 49314     And Montague our top-mast; what of him?
 49315     Our slaught'red friends the tackles; what of these?
 49316     Why, is not Oxford here another anchor?
 49317     And Somerset another goodly mast?
 49318     The friends of France our shrouds and tacklings?
 49319     And, though unskilful, why not Ned and I
 49320     For once allow'd the skilful pilot's charge?
 49321     We will not from the helm to sit and weep,
 49322     But keep our course, though the rough wind say no,
 49323     From shelves and rocks that threaten us with wreck,
 49324     As good to chide the waves as speak them fair.
 49325     And what is Edward but a ruthless sea?
 49326     What Clarence but a quicksand of deceit?
 49327     And Richard but a ragged fatal rock?
 49328     All these the enemies to our poor bark.
 49329     Say you can swim; alas, 'tis but a while!
 49330     Tread on the sand; why, there you quickly sink.
 49331     Bestride the rock; the tide will wash you off,
 49332     Or else you famish- that's a threefold death.
 49333     This speak I, lords, to let you understand,
 49334     If case some one of you would fly from us,
 49335     That there's no hop'd-for mercy with the brothers
 49336     More than with ruthless waves, with sands, and rocks.
 49337     Why, courage then! What cannot be avoided
 49338     'Twere childish weakness to lament or fear.
 49339   PRINCE OF WALES. Methinks a woman of this valiant spirit
 49340     Should, if a coward hear her speak these words,
 49341     Infuse his breast with magnanimity
 49342     And make him naked foil a man-at-arms.
 49343     I speak not this as doubting any here;
 49344     For did I but suspect a fearful man,
 49345     He should have leave to go away betimes,
 49346     Lest in our need he might infect another
 49347     And make him of the like spirit to himself.
 49348     If any such be here- as God forbid!-
 49349     Let him depart before we need his help.
 49350   OXFORD. Women and children of so high a courage,
 49351     And warriors faint! Why, 'twere perpetual shame.
 49352     O brave young Prince! thy famous grandfather
 49353     Doth live again in thee. Long mayst thou Eve
 49354     To bear his image and renew his glories!
 49355   SOMERSET. And he that will not fight for such a hope,
 49356     Go home to bed and, like the owl by day,
 49357     If he arise, be mock'd and wond'red at.
 49358   QUEEN MARGARET. Thanks, gentle Somerset; sweet Oxford, thanks.
 49359   PRINCE OF WALES. And take his thanks that yet hath nothing else.
 49360 
 49361                         Enter a MESSENGER
 49362 
 49363   MESSENGER. Prepare you, lords, for Edward is at hand
 49364     Ready to fight; therefore be resolute.
 49365   OXFORD. I thought no less. It is his policy
 49366     To haste thus fast, to find us unprovided.
 49367   SOMERSET. But he's deceiv'd; we are in readiness.
 49368   QUEEN MARGARET. This cheers my heart, to see your forwardness.
 49369   OXFORD. Here pitch our battle; hence we will not budge.
 49370 
 49371       Flourish and march. Enter, at a distance, KING EDWARD,
 49372                GLOUCESTER, CLARENCE, and soldiers
 49373 
 49374   KING EDWARD. Brave followers, yonder stands the thorny wood
 49375     Which, by the heavens' assistance and your strength,
 49376     Must by the roots be hewn up yet ere night.
 49377     I need not add more fuel to your fire,
 49378     For well I wot ye blaze to burn them out.
 49379     Give signal to the fight, and to it, lords.
 49380   QUEEN MARGARET. Lords, knights, and gentlemen, what I should say
 49381     My tears gainsay; for every word I speak,
 49382     Ye see, I drink the water of my eye.
 49383     Therefore, no more but this: Henry, your sovereign,
 49384     Is prisoner to the foe; his state usurp'd,
 49385     His realm a slaughter-house, his subjects slain,
 49386     His statutes cancell'd, and his treasure spent;
 49387     And yonder is the wolf that makes this spoil.
 49388     You fight in justice. Then, in God's name, lords,
 49389     Be valiant, and give signal to the fight.
 49390                              Alarum, retreat, excursions. Exeunt
 49391 
 49392 
 49393 
 49394 
 49395 SCENE V.
 49396 Another part of the field
 49397 
 49398 Flourish. Enter KING EDWARD, GLOUCESTER, CLARENCE, and forces,
 49399 With QUEEN MARGARET, OXFORD, and SOMERSET, prisoners
 49400 
 49401   KING EDWARD. Now here a period of tumultuous broils.
 49402     Away with Oxford to Hames Castle straight;
 49403     For Somerset, off with his guilty head.
 49404     Go, bear them hence; I will not hear them speak.
 49405   OXFORD. For my part, I'll not trouble thee with words.
 49406   SOMERSET. Nor I, but stoop with patience to my fortune.
 49407                              Exeunt OXFORD and SOMERSET, guarded
 49408   QUEEN MARGARET. So part we sadly in this troublous world,
 49409     To meet with joy in sweet Jerusalem.
 49410   KING EDWARD. Is proclamation made that who finds Edward
 49411     Shall have a high reward, and he his life?
 49412   GLOUCESTER. It is; and lo where youthful Edward comes.
 49413 
 49414                 Enter soldiers, with PRINCE EDWARD
 49415 
 49416   KING EDWARD. Bring forth the gallant; let us hear him speak.
 49417     What, can so young a man begin to prick?
 49418     Edward, what satisfaction canst thou make
 49419     For bearing arms, for stirring up my subjects,
 49420     And all the trouble thou hast turn'd me to?
 49421   PRINCE OF WALES. Speak like a subject, proud ambitious York.
 49422     Suppose that I am now my father's mouth;
 49423     Resign thy chair, and where I stand kneel thou,
 49424     Whilst I propose the self-same words to the
 49425     Which, traitor, thou wouldst have me answer to.
 49426   QUEEN MARGARET. Ah, that thy father had been so resolv'd!
 49427   GLOUCESTER. That you might still have worn the petticoat
 49428     And ne'er have stol'n the breech from Lancaster.
 49429   PRINCE OF WALES. Let Aesop fable in a winter's night;
 49430     His currish riddle sorts not with this place.
 49431   GLOUCESTER. By heaven, brat, I'll plague ye for that word.
 49432   QUEEN MARGARET. Ay, thou wast born to be a plague to men.
 49433   GLOUCESTER. For God's sake, take away this captive scold.
 49434   PRINCE OF WALES. Nay, take away this scolding crookback rather.
 49435   KING EDWARD. Peace, wilful boy, or I will charm your tongue.
 49436   CLARENCE. Untutor'd lad, thou art too malapert.
 49437   PRINCE OF WALES. I know my duty; you are all undutiful.
 49438     Lascivious Edward, and thou perjur'd George,
 49439     And thou misshapen Dick, I tell ye all
 49440     I am your better, traitors as ye are;
 49441     And thou usurp'st my father's right and mine.
 49442   KING EDWARD. Take that, the likeness of this railer here.
 49443                                                      [Stabs him]
 49444   GLOUCESTER. Sprawl'st thou? Take that, to end thy agony.
 49445                                                      [Stabs him]
 49446   CLARENCE. And there's for twitting me with perjury.
 49447                                                      [Stabs him]
 49448   QUEEN MARGARET. O, kill me too!
 49449   GLOUCESTER. Marry, and shall.             [Offers to kill her]
 49450   KING EDWARD. Hold, Richard, hold; for we have done to much.
 49451   GLOUCESTER. Why should she live to fill the world with words?
 49452   KING EDWARD. What, doth she swoon? Use means for her recovery.
 49453   GLOUCESTER. Clarence, excuse me to the King my brother.
 49454     I'll hence to London on a serious matter;
 49455     Ere ye come there, be sure to hear some news.
 49456   CLARENCE. What? what?
 49457   GLOUCESTER. The Tower! the Tower!                         Exit
 49458   QUEEN MARGARET. O Ned, sweet Ned, speak to thy mother, boy!
 49459     Canst thou not speak? O traitors! murderers!
 49460     They that stabb'd Caesar shed no blood at all,
 49461     Did not offend, nor were not worthy blame,
 49462     If this foul deed were by to equal it.
 49463     He was a man: this, in respect, a child;
 49464     And men ne'er spend their fury on a child.
 49465     What's worse than murderer, that I may name it?
 49466     No, no, my heart will burst, an if I speak-
 49467     And I will speak, that so my heart may burst.
 49468     Butchers and villains! bloody cannibals!
 49469     How sweet a plant have you untimely cropp'd!
 49470     You have no children, butchers, if you had,
 49471     The thought of them would have stirr'd up remorse.
 49472     But if you ever chance to have a child,
 49473     Look in his youth to have him so cut off
 49474     As, deathsmen, you have rid this sweet young prince!
 49475   KING EDWARD. Away with her; go, bear her hence perforce.
 49476   QUEEN MARGARET. Nay, never bear me hence; dispatch me here.
 49477     Here sheathe thy sword; I'll pardon thee my death.
 49478     What, wilt thou not? Then, Clarence, do it thou.
 49479   CLARENCE. By heaven, I will not do thee so much ease.
 49480   QUEEN MARGARET. Good Clarence, do; sweet Clarence, do thou do it.
 49481   CLARENCE. Didst thou not hear me swear I would not do it?
 49482   QUEEN MARGARET. Ay, but thou usest to forswear thyself.
 49483     'Twas sin before, but now 'tis charity.
 49484     What! wilt thou not? Where is that devil's butcher,
 49485     Hard-favour'd Richard? Richard, where art thou?
 49486     Thou art not here. Murder is thy alms-deed;
 49487     Petitioners for blood thou ne'er put'st back.
 49488   KING EDWARD. Away, I say; I charge ye bear her hence.
 49489   QUEEN MARGARET. So come to you and yours as to this prince.
 49490                                           Exit, led out forcibly
 49491   KING EDWARD. Where's Richard gone?
 49492   CLARENCE. To London, all in post; and, as I guess,
 49493     To make a bloody supper in the Tower.
 49494   KING EDWARD. He's sudden, if a thing comes in his head.
 49495     Now march we hence. Discharge the common sort
 49496     With pay and thanks; and let's away to London
 49497     And see our gentle queen how well she fares.
 49498     By this, I hope, she hath a son for me.               Exeunt
 49499 
 49500 
 49501 
 49502 
 49503 SCENE VI.
 49504 London. The Tower
 49505 
 49506 Enter KING HENRY and GLOUCESTER with the LIEUTENANT, on the walls
 49507 
 49508   GLOUCESTER. Good day, my lord. What, at your book so hard?
 49509   KING HENRY. Ay, my good lord- my lord, I should say rather.
 49510     'Tis sin to flatter; 'good' was little better.
 49511     'Good Gloucester' and 'good devil' were alike,
 49512     And both preposterous; therefore, not 'good lord.'
 49513   GLOUCESTER. Sirrah, leave us to ourselves; we must confer.
 49514                                                  Exit LIEUTENANT
 49515   KING HENRY. So flies the reckless shepherd from the wolf;
 49516     So first the harmless sheep doth yield his fleece,
 49517     And next his throat unto the butcher's knife.
 49518     What scene of death hath Roscius now to act?
 49519   GLOUCESTER. Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind:
 49520     The thief doth fear each bush an officer.
 49521   KING HENRY. The bird that hath been limed in a bush
 49522     With trembling wings misdoubteth every bush;
 49523     And I, the hapless male to one sweet bird,
 49524     Have now the fatal object in my eye
 49525     Where my poor young was lim'd, was caught, and kill'd.
 49526   GLOUCESTER. Why, what a peevish fool was that of Crete
 49527     That taught his son the office of a fowl!
 49528     And yet, for all his wings, the fool was drown'd.
 49529   KING HENRY. I, Daedalus; my poor boy, Icarus;
 49530     Thy father, Minos, that denied our course;
 49531     The sun that sear'd the wings of my sweet boy,
 49532     Thy brother Edward; and thyself, the sea
 49533     Whose envious gulf did swallow up his life.
 49534     Ah, kill me with thy weapon, not with words!
 49535     My breast can better brook thy dagger's point
 49536     Than can my ears that tragic history.
 49537     But wherefore dost thou come? Is't for my life?
 49538   GLOUCESTER. Think'st thou I am an executioner?
 49539   KING HENRY. A persecutor I am sure thou art.
 49540     If murdering innocents be executing,
 49541     Why, then thou are an executioner.
 49542   GLOUCESTER. Thy son I kill'd for his presumption.
 49543   KING HENRY. Hadst thou been kill'd when first thou didst presume,
 49544     Thou hadst not liv'd to kill a son of mine.
 49545     And thus I prophesy, that many a thousand
 49546     Which now mistrust no parcel of my fear,
 49547     And many an old man's sigh, and many a widow's,
 49548     And many an orphan's water-standing eye-
 49549     Men for their sons, wives for their husbands,
 49550     Orphans for their parents' timeless death-
 49551     Shall rue the hour that ever thou wast born.
 49552     The owl shriek'd at thy birth- an evil sign;
 49553     The night-crow cried, aboding luckless time;
 49554     Dogs howl'd, and hideous tempest shook down trees;
 49555     The raven rook'd her on the chimney's top,
 49556     And chatt'ring pies in dismal discords sung;
 49557     Thy mother felt more than a mother's pain,
 49558     And yet brought forth less than a mother's hope,
 49559     To wit, an indigest deformed lump,
 49560     Not like the fruit of such a goodly tree.
 49561     Teeth hadst thou in thy head when thou wast born,
 49562     To signify thou cam'st to bite the world;
 49563     And if the rest be true which I have heard,
 49564     Thou cam'st-
 49565   GLOUCESTER. I'll hear no more. Die, prophet, in thy speech.
 49566                                                      [Stabs him]
 49567     For this, amongst the rest, was I ordain'd.
 49568   KING HENRY. Ay, and for much more slaughter after this.
 49569     O, God forgive my sins and pardon thee!               [Dies]
 49570   GLOUCESTER. What, will the aspiring blood of Lancaster
 49571     Sink in the ground? I thought it would have mounted.
 49572     See how my sword weeps for the poor King's death.
 49573     O, may such purple tears be always shed
 49574     From those that wish the downfall of our house!
 49575     If any spark of life be yet remaining,
 49576     Down, down to hell; and say I sent thee thither-
 49577                                                [Stabs him again]
 49578     I, that have neither pity, love, nor fear.
 49579     Indeed, 'tis true that Henry told me of;
 49580     For I have often heard my mother say
 49581     I came into the world with my legs forward.
 49582     Had I not reason, think ye, to make haste
 49583     And seek their ruin that usurp'd our right?
 49584     The midwife wonder'd; and the women cried
 49585     'O, Jesus bless us, he is born with teeth!'
 49586     And so I was, which plainly signified
 49587     That I should snarl, and bite, and play the dog.
 49588     Then, since the heavens have shap'd my body so,
 49589     Let hell make crook'd my mind to answer it.
 49590     I have no brother, I am like no brother;
 49591     And this word 'love,' which greybeards call divine,
 49592     Be resident in men like one another,
 49593     And not in me! I am myself alone.
 49594     Clarence, beware; thou keep'st me from the light,
 49595     But I will sort a pitchy day for thee;
 49596     For I will buzz abroad such prophecies
 49597     That Edward shall be fearful of his life;
 49598     And then to purge his fear, I'll be thy death.
 49599     King Henry and the Prince his son are gone.
 49600     Clarence, thy turn is next, and then the rest;
 49601     Counting myself but bad till I be best.
 49602     I'll throw thy body in another room,
 49603     And triumph, Henry, in thy day of doom.
 49604                                               Exit with the body
 49605 
 49606 
 49607 
 49608 
 49609 SCENE VII.
 49610 London. The palace
 49611 
 49612 Flourish. Enter KING EDWARD, QUEEN ELIZABETH, CLARENCE, GLOUCESTER,
 49613 HASTINGS, NURSE, with the Young PRINCE, and attendants
 49614 
 49615   KING EDWARD. Once more we sit in England's royal throne,
 49616     Repurchas'd with the blood of enemies.
 49617     What valiant foemen, like to autumn's corn,
 49618     Have we mow'd down in tops of all their pride!
 49619     Three Dukes of Somerset, threefold renown'd
 49620     For hardy and undoubted champions;
 49621     Two Cliffords, as the father and the son;
 49622     And two Northumberlands- two braver men
 49623     Ne'er spurr'd their coursers at the trumpet's sound;
 49624     With them the two brave bears, Warwick and Montague,
 49625     That in their chains fetter'd the kingly lion
 49626     And made the forest tremble when they roar'd.
 49627     Thus have we swept suspicion from our seat
 49628     And made our footstool of security.
 49629     Come hither, Bess, and let me kiss my boy.
 49630     Young Ned, for thee thine uncles and myself
 49631     Have in our armours watch'd the winter's night,
 49632     Went all afoot in summer's scalding heat,
 49633     That thou might'st repossess the crown in peace;
 49634     And of our labours thou shalt reap the gain.
 49635   GLOUCESTER. [Aside] I'll blast his harvest if your head were laid;
 49636     For yet I am not look'd on in the world.
 49637     This shoulder was ordain'd so thick to heave;
 49638     And heave it shall some weight or break my back.
 49639     Work thou the way- and that shall execute.
 49640   KING EDWARD. Clarence and Gloucester, love my lovely queen;
 49641     And kiss your princely nephew, brothers both.
 49642   CLARENCE. The duty that I owe unto your Majesty
 49643     I seal upon the lips of this sweet babe.
 49644   KING EDWARD. Thanks, noble Clarence; worthy brother, thanks.
 49645   GLOUCESTER. And that I love the tree from whence thou sprang'st,
 49646     Witness the loving kiss I give the fruit.
 49647     [Aside] To say the truth, so Judas kiss'd his master
 49648     And cried 'All hail!' when as he meant all harm.
 49649   KING EDWARD. Now am I seated as my soul delights,
 49650     Having my country's peace and brothers' loves.
 49651   CLARENCE. What will your Grace have done with Margaret?
 49652     Reignier, her father, to the King of France
 49653     Hath pawn'd the Sicils and Jerusalem,
 49654     And hither have they sent it for her ransom.
 49655   KING EDWARD. Away with her, and waft her hence to France.
 49656     And now what rests but that we spend the time
 49657     With stately triumphs, mirthful comic shows,
 49658     Such as befits the pleasure of the court?
 49659     Sound drums and trumpets. Farewell, sour annoy!
 49660     For here, I hope, begins our lasting joy.             Exeunt
 49661 
 49662 
 49663 THE END
 49664 
 49665 
 49666 
 49667 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 49668 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 49669 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 49670 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
 49671 DISTRIBUTED SO LONG AS SUCH COPIES (1) ARE FOR YOUR OR OTHERS
 49672 PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND (2) ARE NOT DISTRIBUTED OR USED
 49673 COMMERCIALLY.  PROHIBITED COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION INCLUDES BY ANY
 49674 SERVICE THAT CHARGES FOR DOWNLOAD TIME OR FOR MEMBERSHIP.>>
 49675 
 49676 
 49677 
 49678 
 49679 
 49680 1611
 49681 
 49682 KING HENRY THE EIGHTH
 49683 
 49684 by William Shakespeare
 49685 
 49686 
 49687 DRAMATIS PERSONAE
 49688 
 49689   KING HENRY THE EIGHTH
 49690   CARDINAL WOLSEY               CARDINAL CAMPEIUS
 49691   CAPUCIUS, Ambassador from the Emperor Charles V
 49692   CRANMER, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
 49693   DUKE OF NORFOLK               DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM
 49694   DUKE OF SUFFOLK               EARL OF SURREY
 49695   LORD CHAMBERLAIN              LORD CHANCELLOR
 49696   GARDINER, BISHOP OF WINCHESTER
 49697   BISHOP OF LINCOLN             LORD ABERGAVENNY
 49698   LORD SANDYS                   SIR HENRY GUILDFORD
 49699   SIR THOMAS LOVELL             SIR ANTHONY DENNY
 49700   SIR NICHOLAS VAUX             SECRETARIES to Wolsey
 49701   CROMWELL, servant to Wolsey
 49702   GRIFFITH, gentleman-usher to Queen Katharine
 49703   THREE GENTLEMEN
 49704   DOCTOR BUTTS, physician to the King
 49705   GARTER KING-AT-ARMS
 49706   SURVEYOR to the Duke of Buckingham
 49707   BRANDON, and a SERGEANT-AT-ARMS
 49708   DOORKEEPER Of the Council chamber
 49709   PORTER, and his MAN           PAGE to Gardiner
 49710   A CRIER
 49711 
 49712   QUEEN KATHARINE, wife to King Henry, afterwards divorced
 49713   ANNE BULLEN, her Maid of Honour, afterwards Queen
 49714   AN OLD LADY, friend to Anne Bullen
 49715   PATIENCE, woman to Queen Katharine
 49716 
 49717   Lord Mayor, Aldermen, Lords and Ladies in the Dumb
 49718        Shows; Women attending upon the Queen; Scribes,
 49719        Officers, Guards, and other Attendants; Spirits
 49720 
 49721                           SCENE:
 49722 
 49723               London; Westminster; Kimbolton
 49724 
 49725 
 49726 
 49727                  KING HENRY THE EIGHTH
 49728 
 49729                      THE PROLOGUE.
 49730 
 49731     I come no more to make you laugh; things now
 49732     That bear a weighty and a serious brow,
 49733     Sad, high, and working, full of state and woe,
 49734     Such noble scenes as draw the eye to flow,
 49735     We now present. Those that can pity here
 49736     May, if they think it well, let fall a tear:
 49737     The subject will deserve it. Such as give
 49738     Their money out of hope they may believe
 49739     May here find truth too. Those that come to see
 49740     Only a show or two, and so agree
 49741     The play may pass, if they be still and willing,
 49742     I'll undertake may see away their shilling
 49743     Richly in two short hours. Only they
 49744     That come to hear a merry bawdy play,
 49745     A noise of targets, or to see a fellow
 49746     In a long motley coat guarded with yellow,
 49747     Will be deceiv'd; for, gentle hearers, know,
 49748     To rank our chosen truth with such a show
 49749     As fool and fight is, beside forfeiting
 49750     Our own brains, and the opinion that we bring
 49751     To make that only true we now intend,
 49752     Will leave us never an understanding friend.
 49753     Therefore, for goodness sake, and as you are known
 49754     The first and happiest hearers of the town,
 49755     Be sad, as we would make ye. Think ye see
 49756     The very persons of our noble story
 49757     As they were living; think you see them great,
 49758     And follow'd with the general throng and sweat
 49759     Of thousand friends; then, in a moment, see
 49760     How soon this mightiness meets misery.
 49761     And if you can be merry then, I'll say
 49762     A man may weep upon his wedding-day.
 49763 
 49764 
 49765 
 49766 
 49767 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 49768 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 49769 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 49770 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
 49771 DISTRIBUTED SO LONG AS SUCH COPIES (1) ARE FOR YOUR OR OTHERS
 49772 PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND (2) ARE NOT DISTRIBUTED OR USED
 49773 COMMERCIALLY.  PROHIBITED COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION INCLUDES BY ANY
 49774 SERVICE THAT CHARGES FOR DOWNLOAD TIME OR FOR MEMBERSHIP.>>
 49775 
 49776 
 49777 
 49778 ACT I. SCENE 1.
 49779 
 49780 London. The palace
 49781 
 49782 Enter the DUKE OF NORFOLK at one door; at the other,
 49783 the DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM and the LORD ABERGAVENNY
 49784 
 49785   BUCKINGHAM. Good morrow, and well met. How have ye done
 49786     Since last we saw in France?
 49787   NORFOLK. I thank your Grace,
 49788     Healthful; and ever since a fresh admirer
 49789     Of what I saw there.
 49790   BUCKINGHAM. An untimely ague
 49791     Stay'd me a prisoner in my chamber when
 49792     Those suns of glory, those two lights of men,
 49793     Met in the vale of Andren.
 49794   NORFOLK. 'Twixt Guynes and Arde-
 49795     I was then present, saw them salute on horseback;
 49796     Beheld them, when they lighted, how they clung
 49797     In their embracement, as they grew together;
 49798     Which had they, what four thron'd ones could have weigh'd
 49799     Such a compounded one?
 49800   BUCKINGHAM. All the whole time
 49801     I was my chamber's prisoner.
 49802   NORFOLK. Then you lost
 49803     The view of earthly glory; men might say,
 49804     Till this time pomp was single, but now married
 49805     To one above itself. Each following day
 49806     Became the next day's master, till the last
 49807     Made former wonders its. To-day the French,
 49808     All clinquant, all in gold, like heathen gods,
 49809     Shone down the English; and to-morrow they
 49810     Made Britain India: every man that stood
 49811     Show'd like a mine. Their dwarfish pages were
 49812     As cherubins, an gilt; the madams too,
 49813     Not us'd to toil, did almost sweat to bear
 49814     The pride upon them, that their very labour
 49815     Was to them as a painting. Now this masque
 49816     Was cried incomparable; and th' ensuing night
 49817     Made it a fool and beggar. The two kings,
 49818     Equal in lustre, were now best, now worst,
 49819     As presence did present them: him in eye
 49820     still him in praise; and being present both,
 49821     'Twas said they saw but one, and no discerner
 49822     Durst wag his tongue in censure. When these suns-
 49823     For so they phrase 'em-by their heralds challeng'd
 49824     The noble spirits to arms, they did perform
 49825     Beyond thought's compass, that former fabulous story,
 49826     Being now seen possible enough, got credit,
 49827     That Bevis was believ'd.
 49828   BUCKINGHAM. O, you go far!
 49829   NORFOLK. As I belong to worship, and affect
 49830     In honour honesty, the tract of ev'rything
 49831     Would by a good discourser lose some life
 49832     Which action's self was tongue to. All was royal:
 49833     To the disposing of it nought rebell'd;
 49834     Order gave each thing view. The office did
 49835     Distinctly his full function.
 49836   BUCKINGHAM. Who did guide-
 49837     I mean, who set the body and the limbs
 49838     Of this great sport together, as you guess?
 49839   NORFOLK. One, certes, that promises no element
 49840     In such a business.
 49841   BUCKINGHAM. I pray you, who, my lord?
 49842   NORFOLK. All this was ord'red by the good discretion
 49843     Of the right reverend Cardinal of York.
 49844   BUCKINGHAM. The devil speed him! No man's pie is freed
 49845     From his ambitious finger. What had he
 49846     To do in these fierce vanities? I wonder
 49847     That such a keech can with his very bulk
 49848     Take up the rays o' th' beneficial sun,
 49849     And keep it from the earth.
 49850   NORFOLK. Surely, sir,
 49851     There's in him stuff that puts him to these ends;
 49852     For, being not propp'd by ancestry, whose grace
 49853     Chalks successors their way, nor call'd upon
 49854     For high feats done to th' crown, neither allied
 49855     To eminent assistants, but spider-like,
 49856     Out of his self-drawing web, 'a gives us note
 49857     The force of his own merit makes his way-
 49858     A gift that heaven gives for him, which buys
 49859     A place next to the King.
 49860   ABERGAVENNY. I cannot tell
 49861     What heaven hath given him-let some graver eye
 49862     Pierce into that; but I can see his pride
 49863     Peep through each part of him. Whence has he that?
 49864     If not from hell, the devil is a niggard
 49865     Or has given all before, and he begins
 49866     A new hell in himself.
 49867   BUCKINGHAM. Why the devil,
 49868     Upon this French going out, took he upon him-
 49869     Without the privity o' th' King-t' appoint
 49870     Who should attend on him? He makes up the file
 49871     Of all the gentry; for the most part such
 49872     To whom as great a charge as little honour
 49873     He meant to lay upon; and his own letter,
 49874     The honourable board of council out,
 49875     Must fetch him in he papers.
 49876   ABERGAVENNY. I do know
 49877     Kinsmen of mine, three at the least, that have
 49878     By this so sicken'd their estates that never
 49879     They shall abound as formerly.
 49880   BUCKINGHAM. O, many
 49881     Have broke their backs with laying manors on 'em
 49882     For this great journey. What did this vanity
 49883     But minister communication of
 49884     A most poor issue?
 49885   NORFOLK. Grievingly I think
 49886     The peace between the French and us not values
 49887     The cost that did conclude it.
 49888   BUCKINGHAM. Every man,
 49889     After the hideous storm that follow'd, was
 49890     A thing inspir'd, and, not consulting, broke
 49891     Into a general prophecy-that this tempest,
 49892     Dashing the garment of this peace, aboded
 49893     The sudden breach on't.
 49894   NORFOLK. Which is budded out;
 49895     For France hath flaw'd the league, and hath attach'd
 49896     Our merchants' goods at Bordeaux.
 49897   ABERGAVENNY. Is it therefore
 49898     Th' ambassador is silenc'd?
 49899   NORFOLK. Marry, is't.
 49900   ABERGAVENNY. A proper tide of a peace, and purchas'd
 49901     At a superfluous rate!
 49902   BUCKINGHAM. Why, all this business
 49903     Our reverend Cardinal carried.
 49904   NORFOLK. Like it your Grace,
 49905     The state takes notice of the private difference
 49906     Betwixt you and the Cardinal. I advise you-
 49907     And take it from a heart that wishes towards you
 49908     Honour and plenteous safety-that you read
 49909     The Cardinal's malice and his potency
 49910     Together; to consider further, that
 49911     What his high hatred would effect wants not
 49912     A minister in his power. You know his nature,
 49913     That he's revengeful; and I know his sword
 49914     Hath a sharp edge-it's long and't may be said
 49915     It reaches far, and where 'twill not extend,
 49916     Thither he darts it. Bosom up my counsel
 49917     You'll find it wholesome. Lo, where comes that rock
 49918     That I advise your shunning.
 49919 
 49920       Enter CARDINAL WOLSEY, the purse borne before
 49921       him, certain of the guard, and two SECRETARIES
 49922       with papers. The CARDINAL in his passage fixeth his
 49923       eye on BUCKINGHAM, and BUCKINGHAM on him,
 49924       both full of disdain
 49925 
 49926   WOLSEY. The Duke of Buckingham's surveyor? Ha!
 49927     Where's his examination?
 49928   SECRETARY. Here, so please you.
 49929   WOLSEY. Is he in person ready?
 49930   SECRETARY. Ay, please your Grace.
 49931   WOLSEY. Well, we shall then know more, and Buckingham
 49932     shall lessen this big look.
 49933                                           Exeunt WOLSEY and his train
 49934   BUCKINGHAM. This butcher's cur is venom-mouth'd, and I
 49935     Have not the power to muzzle him; therefore best
 49936     Not wake him in his slumber. A beggar's book
 49937     Outworths a noble's blood.
 49938   NORFOLK. What, are you chaf'd?
 49939     Ask God for temp'rance; that's th' appliance only
 49940     Which your disease requires.
 49941   BUCKINGHAM. I read in's looks
 49942     Matter against me, and his eye revil'd
 49943     Me as his abject object. At this instant
 49944     He bores me with some trick. He's gone to th' King;
 49945     I'll follow, and outstare him.
 49946   NORFOLK. Stay, my lord,
 49947     And let your reason with your choler question
 49948     What 'tis you go about. To climb steep hills
 49949     Requires slow pace at first. Anger is like
 49950     A full hot horse, who being allow'd his way,
 49951     Self-mettle tires him. Not a man in England
 49952     Can advise me like you; be to yourself
 49953     As you would to your friend.
 49954   BUCKINGHAM. I'll to the King,
 49955     And from a mouth of honour quite cry down
 49956     This Ipswich fellow's insolence; or proclaim
 49957     There's difference in no persons.
 49958   NORFOLK. Be advis'd:
 49959     Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot
 49960     That it do singe yourself. We may outrun
 49961     By violent swiftness that which we run at,
 49962     And lose by over-running. Know you not
 49963     The fire that mounts the liquor till't run o'er
 49964     In seeming to augment it wastes it? Be advis'd.
 49965     I say again there is no English soul
 49966     More stronger to direct you than yourself,
 49967     If with the sap of reason you would quench
 49968     Or but allay the fire of passion.
 49969   BUCKINGHAM. Sir,
 49970     I am thankful to you, and I'll go along
 49971     By your prescription; but this top-proud fellow-
 49972     Whom from the flow of gan I name not, but
 49973     From sincere motions, by intelligence,
 49974     And proofs as clear as founts in July when
 49975     We see each grain of gravel-I do know
 49976     To be corrupt and treasonous.
 49977   NORFOLK. Say not treasonous.
 49978   BUCKINGHAM. To th' King I'll say't, and make my vouch as strong
 49979     As shore of rock. Attend: this holy fox,
 49980     Or wolf, or both-for he is equal rav'nous
 49981     As he is subtle, and as prone to mischief
 49982     As able to perform't, his mind and place
 49983     Infecting one another, yea, reciprocally-
 49984     Only to show his pomp as well in France
 49985     As here at home, suggests the King our master
 49986     To this last costly treaty, th' interview
 49987     That swallowed so much treasure and like a glass
 49988     Did break i' th' wrenching.
 49989   NORFOLK. Faith, and so it did.
 49990   BUCKINGHAM. Pray, give me favour, sir; this cunning cardinal
 49991     The articles o' th' combination drew
 49992     As himself pleas'd; and they were ratified
 49993     As he cried 'Thus let be' to as much end
 49994     As give a crutch to th' dead. But our Count-Cardinal
 49995     Has done this, and 'tis well; for worthy Wolsey,
 49996     Who cannot err, he did it. Now this follows,
 49997     Which, as I take it, is a kind of puppy
 49998     To th' old dam treason: Charles the Emperor,
 49999     Under pretence to see the Queen his aunt-
 50000     For 'twas indeed his colour, but he came
 50001     To whisper Wolsey-here makes visitation-
 50002     His fears were that the interview betwixt
 50003     England and France might through their amity
 50004     Breed him some prejudice; for from this league
 50005     Peep'd harms that menac'd him-privily
 50006     Deals with our Cardinal; and, as I trow-
 50007     Which I do well, for I am sure the Emperor
 50008     Paid ere he promis'd; whereby his suit was granted
 50009     Ere it was ask'd-but when the way was made,
 50010     And pav'd with gold, the Emperor thus desir'd,
 50011     That he would please to alter the King's course,
 50012     And break the foresaid peace. Let the King know,
 50013     As soon he shall by me, that thus the Cardinal
 50014     Does buy and sell his honour as he pleases,
 50015     And for his own advantage.
 50016   NORFOLK. I am sorry
 50017     To hear this of him, and could wish he were
 50018     Something mistaken in't.
 50019   BUCKINGHAM. No, not a syllable:
 50020     I do pronounce him in that very shape
 50021     He shall appear in proof.
 50022 
 50023        Enter BRANDON, a SERGEANT-AT-ARMS before him,
 50024               and two or three of the guard
 50025 
 50026   BRANDON. Your office, sergeant: execute it.
 50027   SERGEANT. Sir,
 50028     My lord the Duke of Buckingham, and Earl
 50029     Of Hereford, Stafford, and Northampton, I
 50030     Arrest thee of high treason, in the name
 50031     Of our most sovereign King.
 50032   BUCKINGHAM. Lo you, my lord,
 50033     The net has fall'n upon me! I shall perish
 50034     Under device and practice.
 50035   BRANDON. I am sorry
 50036     To see you ta'en from liberty, to look on
 50037     The business present; 'tis his Highness' pleasure
 50038     You shall to th' Tower.
 50039   BUCKINGHAM. It will help nothing
 50040     To plead mine innocence; for that dye is on me
 50041     Which makes my whit'st part black. The will of heav'n
 50042     Be done in this and all things! I obey.
 50043     O my Lord Aberga'ny, fare you well!
 50044   BRANDON. Nay, he must bear you company.
 50045     [To ABERGAVENNY]  The King
 50046     Is pleas'd you shall to th' Tower, till you know
 50047     How he determines further.
 50048   ABERGAVENNY. As the Duke said,
 50049     The will of heaven be done, and the King's pleasure
 50050     By me obey'd.
 50051   BRANDON. Here is warrant from
 50052     The King t' attach Lord Montacute and the bodies
 50053     Of the Duke's confessor, John de la Car,
 50054     One Gilbert Peck, his chancellor-
 50055   BUCKINGHAM. So, so!
 50056     These are the limbs o' th' plot; no more, I hope.
 50057   BRANDON. A monk o' th' Chartreux.
 50058   BUCKINGHAM. O, Nicholas Hopkins?
 50059   BRANDON. He.
 50060   BUCKINGHAM. My surveyor is false. The o'er-great Cardinal
 50061     Hath show'd him gold; my life is spann'd already.
 50062     I am the shadow of poor Buckingham,
 50063     Whose figure even this instant cloud puts on
 50064     By dark'ning my clear sun. My lord, farewell.
 50065     Exeunt
 50066 
 50067 
 50068 
 50069 
 50070 ACT I. SCENE 2.
 50071 
 50072 London. The Council Chamber
 50073 
 50074 Cornets. Enter KING HENRY, leaning on the CARDINAL'S shoulder, the NOBLES,
 50075 and SIR THOMAS LOVELL, with others. The CARDINAL places himself
 50076 under the KING'S feet on his right side
 50077 
 50078   KING. My life itself, and the best heart of it,
 50079     Thanks you for this great care; I stood i' th' level
 50080     Of a full-charg'd confederacy, and give thanks
 50081     To you that chok'd it. Let be call'd before us
 50082     That gentleman of Buckingham's. In person
 50083     I'll hear his confessions justify;
 50084     And point by point the treasons of his master
 50085     He shall again relate.
 50086 
 50087       A noise within, crying 'Room for the Queen!'
 50088       Enter the QUEEN, usher'd by the DUKES OF NORFOLK
 50089       and SUFFOLK; she kneels. The KING riseth
 50090       from his state, takes her up, kisses and placeth her
 50091       by him
 50092 
 50093   QUEEN KATHARINE. Nay, we must longer kneel: I am suitor.
 50094   KING. Arise, and take place by us. Half your suit
 50095     Never name to us: you have half our power.
 50096     The other moiety ere you ask is given;
 50097     Repeat your will, and take it.
 50098   QUEEN KATHARINE. Thank your Majesty.
 50099     That you would love yourself, and in that love
 50100     Not unconsidered leave your honour nor
 50101     The dignity of your office, is the point
 50102     Of my petition.
 50103   KING. Lady mine, proceed.
 50104   QUEEN KATHARINE. I am solicited, not by a few,
 50105     And those of true condition, that your subjects
 50106     Are in great grievance: there have been commissions
 50107     Sent down among 'em which hath flaw'd the heart
 50108     Of all their loyalties; wherein, although,
 50109     My good Lord Cardinal, they vent reproaches
 50110     Most bitterly on you as putter-on
 50111     Of these exactions, yet the King our master-
 50112     Whose honour Heaven shield from soil!-even he escapes not
 50113     Language unmannerly; yea, such which breaks
 50114     The sides of loyalty, and almost appears
 50115     In loud rebellion.
 50116   NORFOLK. Not almost appears-
 50117     It doth appear; for, upon these taxations,
 50118     The clothiers all, not able to maintain
 50119     The many to them 'longing, have put of
 50120     The spinsters, carders, fullers, weavers, who
 50121     Unfit for other life, compell'd by hunger
 50122     And lack of other means, in desperate manner
 50123     Daring th' event to th' teeth, are all in uproar,
 50124     And danger serves among them.
 50125   KING. Taxation!
 50126     Wherein? and what taxation? My Lord Cardinal,
 50127     You that are blam'd for it alike with us,
 50128     Know you of this taxation?
 50129   WOLSEY. Please you, sir,
 50130     I know but of a single part in aught
 50131     Pertains to th' state, and front but in that file
 50132     Where others tell steps with me.
 50133   QUEEN KATHARINE. No, my lord!
 50134     You know no more than others! But you frame
 50135     Things that are known alike, which are not wholesome
 50136     To those which would not know them, and yet must
 50137     Perforce be their acquaintance. These exactions,
 50138     Whereof my sovereign would have note, they are
 50139     Most pestilent to th' hearing; and to bear 'em
 50140     The back is sacrifice to th' load. They say
 50141     They are devis'd by you, or else you suffer
 50142     Too hard an exclamation.
 50143   KING. Still exaction!
 50144     The nature of it? In what kind, let's know,
 50145     Is this exaction?
 50146   QUEEN KATHARINE. I am much too venturous
 50147     In tempting of your patience, but am bold'ned
 50148     Under your promis'd pardon. The subjects' grief
 50149     Comes through commissions, which compels from each
 50150     The sixth part of his substance, to be levied
 50151     Without delay; and the pretence for this
 50152     Is nam'd your wars in France. This makes bold mouths;
 50153     Tongues spit their duties out, and cold hearts freeze
 50154     Allegiance in them; their curses now
 50155     Live where their prayers did; and it's come to pass
 50156     This tractable obedience is a slave
 50157     To each incensed will. I would your Highness
 50158     Would give it quick consideration, for
 50159     There is no primer business.
 50160   KING. By my life,
 50161     This is against our pleasure.
 50162   WOLSEY. And for me,
 50163     I have no further gone in this than by
 50164     A single voice; and that not pass'd me but
 50165     By learned approbation of the judges. If I am
 50166     Traduc'd by ignorant tongues, which neither know
 50167     My faculties nor person, yet will be
 50168     The chronicles of my doing, let me say
 50169     'Tis but the fate of place, and the rough brake
 50170     That virtue must go through. We must not stint
 50171     Our necessary actions in the fear
 50172     To cope malicious censurers, which ever
 50173     As rav'nous fishes do a vessel follow
 50174     That is new-trimm'd, but benefit no further
 50175     Than vainly longing. What we oft do best,
 50176     By sick interpreters, once weak ones, is
 50177     Not ours, or not allow'd; what worst, as oft
 50178     Hitting a grosser quality, is cried up
 50179     For our best act. If we shall stand still,
 50180     In fear our motion will be mock'd or carp'd at,
 50181     We should take root here where we sit, or sit
 50182     State-statues only.
 50183   KING. Things done well
 50184     And with a care exempt themselves from fear:
 50185     Things done without example, in their issue
 50186     Are to be fear'd. Have you a precedent
 50187     Of this commission? I believe, not any.
 50188     We must not rend our subjects from our laws,
 50189     And stick them in our will. Sixth part of each?
 50190     A trembling contribution! Why, we take
 50191     From every tree lop, bark, and part o' th' timber;
 50192     And though we leave it with a root, thus hack'd,
 50193     The air will drink the sap. To every county
 50194     Where this is question'd send our letters with
 50195     Free pardon to each man that has denied
 50196     The force of this commission. Pray, look tot;
 50197     I put it to your care.
 50198   WOLSEY. [Aside to the SECRETARY]  A word with you.
 50199     Let there be letters writ to every shire
 50200     Of the King's grace and pardon. The grieved commons
 50201     Hardly conceive of me-let it be nois'd
 50202     That through our intercession this revokement
 50203     And pardon comes. I shall anon advise you
 50204     Further in the proceeding.                         Exit SECRETARY
 50205 
 50206                     Enter SURVEYOR
 50207 
 50208   QUEEN KATHARINE. I am sorry that the Duke of Buckingham
 50209     Is run in your displeasure.
 50210   KING. It grieves many.
 50211     The gentleman is learn'd and a most rare speaker;
 50212     To nature none more bound; his training such
 50213     That he may furnish and instruct great teachers
 50214     And never seek for aid out of himself. Yet see,
 50215     When these so noble benefits shall prove
 50216     Not well dispos'd, the mind growing once corrupt,
 50217     They turn to vicious forms, ten times more ugly
 50218     Than ever they were fair. This man so complete,
 50219     Who was enroll'd 'mongst wonders, and when we,
 50220     Almost with ravish'd list'ning, could not find
 50221     His hour of speech a minute-he, my lady,
 50222     Hath into monstrous habits put the graces
 50223     That once were his, and is become as black
 50224     As if besmear'd in hell. Sit by us; you shall hear-
 50225     This was his gentleman in trust-of him
 50226     Things to strike honour sad. Bid him recount
 50227     The fore-recited practices, whereof
 50228     We cannot feel too little, hear too much.
 50229   WOLSEY. Stand forth, and with bold spirit relate what you,
 50230     Most like a careful subject, have collected
 50231     Out of the Duke of Buckingham.
 50232   KING. Speak freely.
 50233   SURVEYOR. First, it was usual with him-every day
 50234     It would infect his speech-that if the King
 50235     Should without issue die, he'll carry it so
 50236     To make the sceptre his. These very words
 50237     I've heard him utter to his son-in-law,
 50238     Lord Aberga'ny, to whom by oath he menac'd
 50239     Revenge upon the Cardinal.
 50240   WOLSEY. Please your Highness, note
 50241     This dangerous conception in this point:
 50242     Not friended by his wish, to your high person
 50243     His will is most malignant, and it stretches
 50244     Beyond you to your friends.
 50245   QUEEN KATHARINE. My learn'd Lord Cardinal,
 50246     Deliver all with charity.
 50247   KING. Speak on.
 50248     How grounded he his title to the crown
 50249     Upon our fail? To this point hast thou heard him
 50250     At any time speak aught?
 50251   SURVEYOR. He was brought to this
 50252     By a vain prophecy of Nicholas Henton.
 50253   KING. What was that Henton?
 50254   SURVEYOR. Sir, a Chartreux friar,
 50255     His confessor, who fed him every minute
 50256     With words of sovereignty.
 50257   KING. How know'st thou this?
 50258   SURVEYOR. Not long before your Highness sped to France,
 50259     The Duke being at the Rose, within the parish
 50260     Saint Lawrence Poultney, did of me demand
 50261     What was the speech among the Londoners
 50262     Concerning the French journey. I replied
 50263     Men fear'd the French would prove perfidious,
 50264     To the King's danger. Presently the Duke
 50265     Said 'twas the fear indeed and that he doubted
 50266     'Twould prove the verity of certain words
 50267     Spoke by a holy monk 'that oft' says he
 50268     'Hath sent to me, wishing me to permit
 50269     John de la Car, my chaplain, a choice hour
 50270     To hear from him a matter of some moment;
 50271     Whom after under the confession's seal
 50272     He solemnly had sworn that what he spoke
 50273     My chaplain to no creature living but
 50274     To me should utter, with demure confidence
 50275     This pausingly ensu'd: "Neither the King nor's heirs,
 50276     Tell you the Duke, shall prosper; bid him strive
 50277     To gain the love o' th' commonalty; the Duke
 50278     Shall govern England."'
 50279   QUEEN KATHARINE. If I know you well,
 50280     You were the Duke's surveyor, and lost your office
 50281     On the complaint o' th' tenants. Take good heed
 50282     You charge not in your spleen a noble person
 50283     And spoil your nobler soul. I say, take heed;
 50284     Yes, heartily beseech you.
 50285   KING. Let him on.
 50286     Go forward.
 50287   SURVEYOR. On my soul, I'll speak but truth.
 50288     I told my lord the Duke, by th' devil's illusions
 50289     The monk might be deceiv'd, and that 'twas dangerous
 50290       for him
 50291     To ruminate on this so far, until
 50292     It forg'd him some design, which, being believ'd,
 50293     It was much like to do. He answer'd 'Tush,
 50294     It can do me no damage'; adding further
 50295     That, had the King in his last sickness fail'd,
 50296     The Cardinal's and Sir Thomas Lovell's heads
 50297     Should have gone off.
 50298   KING. Ha! what, so rank? Ah ha!
 50299     There's mischief in this man. Canst thou say further?
 50300   SURVEYOR. I can, my liege.
 50301   KING. Proceed.
 50302   SURVEYOR. Being at Greenwich,
 50303     After your Highness had reprov'd the Duke
 50304     About Sir William Bulmer-
 50305   KING. I remember
 50306     Of such a time: being my sworn servant,
 50307     The Duke retain'd him his. But on: what hence?
 50308   SURVEYOR. 'If' quoth he 'I for this had been committed-
 50309     As to the Tower I thought-I would have play'd
 50310     The part my father meant to act upon
 50311     Th' usurper Richard; who, being at Salisbury,
 50312     Made suit to come in's presence, which if granted,
 50313     As he made semblance of his duty, would
 50314     Have put his knife into him.'
 50315   KING. A giant traitor!
 50316   WOLSEY. Now, madam, may his Highness live in freedom,
 50317     And this man out of prison?
 50318   QUEEN KATHARINE. God mend all!
 50319   KING. There's something more would out of thee: what say'st?
 50320   SURVEYOR. After 'the Duke his father' with the 'knife,'
 50321     He stretch'd him, and, with one hand on his dagger,
 50322     Another spread on's breast, mounting his eyes,
 50323     He did discharge a horrible oath, whose tenour
 50324     Was, were he evil us'd, he would outgo
 50325     His father by as much as a performance
 50326     Does an irresolute purpose.
 50327   KING. There's his period,
 50328     To sheath his knife in us. He is attach'd;
 50329     Call him to present trial. If he may
 50330     Find mercy in the law, 'tis his; if none,
 50331     Let him not seek't of us. By day and night!
 50332     He's traitor to th' height.                                Exeunt
 50333 
 50334 
 50335 
 50336 
 50337 ACT I. SCENE 3.
 50338 
 50339 London. The palace
 50340 
 50341 Enter the LORD CHAMBERLAIN and LORD SANDYS
 50342 
 50343   CHAMBERLAIN. Is't possible the spells of France should juggle
 50344     Men into such strange mysteries?
 50345   SANDYS. New customs,
 50346     Though they be never so ridiculous,
 50347     Nay, let 'em be unmanly, yet are follow'd.
 50348   CHAMBERLAIN. As far as I see, all the good our English
 50349     Have got by the late voyage is but merely
 50350     A fit or two o' th' face; but they are shrewd ones;
 50351     For when they hold 'em, you would swear directly
 50352     Their very noses had been counsellors
 50353     To Pepin or Clotharius, they keep state so.
 50354   SANDYS. They have all new legs, and lame ones. One would take it,
 50355     That never saw 'em pace before, the spavin
 50356     Or springhalt reign'd among 'em.
 50357   CHAMBERLAIN. Death! my lord,
 50358     Their clothes are after such a pagan cut to't,
 50359     That sure th' have worn out Christendom.
 50360 
 50361            Enter SIR THOMAS LOVELL
 50362 
 50363     How now?
 50364     What news, Sir Thomas Lovell?
 50365   LOVELL. Faith, my lord,
 50366     I hear of none but the new proclamation
 50367     That's clapp'd upon the court gate.
 50368   CHAMBERLAIN. What is't for?
 50369   LOVELL. The reformation of our travell'd gallants,
 50370     That fill the court with quarrels, talk, and tailors.
 50371   CHAMBERLAIN. I am glad 'tis there. Now I would pray our monsieurs
 50372     To think an English courtier may be wise,
 50373     And never see the Louvre.
 50374   LOVELL. They must either,
 50375     For so run the conditions, leave those remnants
 50376     Of fool and feather that they got in France,
 50377     With all their honourable points of ignorance
 50378     Pertaining thereunto-as fights and fireworks;
 50379     Abusing better men than they can be,
 50380     Out of a foreign wisdom-renouncing clean
 50381     The faith they have in tennis, and tall stockings,
 50382     Short blist'red breeches, and those types of travel
 50383     And understand again like honest men,
 50384     Or pack to their old playfellows. There, I take it,
 50385     They may, cum privilegio, wear away
 50386     The lag end of their lewdness and be laugh'd at.
 50387   SANDYS. 'Tis time to give 'em physic, their diseases
 50388     Are grown so catching.
 50389   CHAMBERLAIN. What a loss our ladies
 50390     Will have of these trim vanities!
 50391   LOVELL. Ay, marry,
 50392     There will be woe indeed, lords: the sly whoresons
 50393     Have got a speeding trick to lay down ladies.
 50394     A French song and a fiddle has no fellow.
 50395   SANDYS. The devil fiddle 'em! I am glad they are going,
 50396     For sure there's no converting 'em. Now
 50397     An honest country lord, as I am, beaten
 50398     A long time out of play, may bring his plainsong
 50399     And have an hour of hearing; and, by'r Lady,
 50400     Held current music too.
 50401   CHAMBERLAIN. Well said, Lord Sandys;
 50402     Your colt's tooth is not cast yet.
 50403   SANDYS. No, my lord,
 50404     Nor shall not while I have a stamp.
 50405   CHAMBERLAIN. Sir Thomas,
 50406     Whither were you a-going?
 50407   LOVELL. To the Cardinal's;
 50408     Your lordship is a guest too.
 50409   CHAMBERLAIN. O, 'tis true;
 50410     This night he makes a supper, and a great one,
 50411     To many lords and ladies; there will be
 50412     The beauty of this kingdom, I'll assure you.
 50413   LOVELL. That churchman bears a bounteous mind indeed,
 50414     A hand as fruitful as the land that feeds us;
 50415     His dews fall everywhere.
 50416   CHAMBERLAIN. No doubt he's noble;
 50417     He had a black mouth that said other of him.
 50418   SANDYS. He may, my lord; has wherewithal. In him
 50419     Sparing would show a worse sin than ill doctrine:
 50420     Men of his way should be most liberal,
 50421     They are set here for examples.
 50422   CHAMBERLAIN. True, they are so;
 50423     But few now give so great ones. My barge stays;
 50424     Your lordship shall along. Come, good Sir Thomas,
 50425     We shall be late else; which I would not be,
 50426     For I was spoke to, with Sir Henry Guildford,
 50427     This night to be comptrollers.
 50428   SANDYS. I am your lordship's.                                Exeunt
 50429 
 50430 
 50431 
 50432 
 50433 ACT I. SCENE 4.
 50434 
 50435 London. The Presence Chamber in York Place
 50436 
 50437 Hautboys. A small table under a state for the Cardinal,
 50438 a longer table for the guests. Then enter ANNE BULLEN,
 50439 and divers other LADIES and GENTLEMEN, as guests, at one door;
 50440 at another door enter SIR HENRY GUILDFORD
 50441 
 50442   GUILDFORD. Ladies, a general welcome from his Grace
 50443     Salutes ye all; this night he dedicates
 50444     To fair content and you. None here, he hopes,
 50445     In all this noble bevy, has brought with her
 50446     One care abroad; he would have all as merry
 50447     As, first, good company, good wine, good welcome,
 50448     Can make good people.
 50449 
 50450        Enter LORD CHAMBERLAIN, LORD SANDYS, and SIR
 50451                   THOMAS LOVELL
 50452 
 50453     O, my lord, y'are tardy,
 50454     The very thought of this fair company
 50455     Clapp'd wings to me.
 50456   CHAMBERLAIN. You are young, Sir Harry Guildford.
 50457   SANDYS. Sir Thomas Lovell, had the Cardinal
 50458     But half my lay thoughts in him, some of these
 50459     Should find a running banquet ere they rested
 50460     I think would better please 'em. By my life,
 50461     They are a sweet society of fair ones.
 50462   LOVELL. O that your lordship were but now confessor
 50463     To one or two of these!
 50464   SANDYS. I would I were;
 50465     They should find easy penance.
 50466   LOVELL. Faith, how easy?
 50467   SANDYS. As easy as a down bed would afford it.
 50468   CHAMBERLAIN. Sweet ladies, will it please you sit? Sir Harry,
 50469     Place you that side; I'll take the charge of this.
 50470     His Grace is ent'ring. Nay, you must not freeze:
 50471     Two women plac'd together makes cold weather.
 50472     My Lord Sandys, you are one will keep 'em waking:
 50473     Pray sit between these ladies.
 50474   SANDYS. By my faith,
 50475     And thank your lordship. By your leave, sweet ladies.
 50476                  [Seats himself between ANNE BULLEN and another lady]
 50477     If I chance to talk a little wild, forgive me;
 50478     I had it from my father.
 50479   ANNE. Was he mad, sir?
 50480   SANDYS. O, very mad, exceeding mad, in love too.
 50481     But he would bite none; just as I do now,
 50482     He would kiss you twenty with a breath.              [Kisses her]
 50483   CHAMBERLAIN. Well said, my lord.
 50484     So, now y'are fairly seated. Gentlemen,
 50485     The penance lies on you if these fair ladies
 50486     Pass away frowning.
 50487   SANDYS. For my little cure,
 50488     Let me alone.
 50489 
 50490          Hautboys. Enter CARDINAL WOLSEY, attended; and
 50491                          takes his state
 50492 
 50493   WOLSEY. Y'are welcome, my fair guests. That noble lady
 50494     Or gentleman that is not freely merry
 50495     Is not my friend. This, to confirm my welcome-
 50496     And to you all, good health!                             [Drinks]
 50497   SANDYS. Your Grace is noble.
 50498     Let me have such a bowl may hold my thanks
 50499     And save me so much talking.
 50500   WOLSEY. My Lord Sandys,
 50501     I am beholding to you. Cheer your neighbours.
 50502     Ladies, you are not merry. Gentlemen,
 50503     Whose fault is this?
 50504   SANDYS. The red wine first must rise
 50505     In their fair cheeks, my lord; then we shall have 'em
 50506     Talk us to silence.
 50507   ANNE. You are a merry gamester,
 50508     My Lord Sandys.
 50509   SANDYS. Yes, if I make my play.
 50510     Here's to your ladyship; and pledge it, madam,
 50511     For 'tis to such a thing-
 50512   ANNE. You cannot show me.
 50513   SANDYS. I told your Grace they would talk anon.
 50514                              [Drum and trumpet. Chambers discharg'd]
 50515   WOLSEY. What's that?
 50516   CHAMBERLAIN. Look out there, some of ye.             Exit a SERVANT
 50517   WOLSEY. What warlike voice,
 50518     And to what end, is this? Nay, ladies, fear not:
 50519     By all the laws of war y'are privileg'd.
 50520 
 50521             Re-enter SERVANT
 50522 
 50523   CHAMBERLAIN. How now! what is't?
 50524   SERVANT. A noble troop of strangers-
 50525     For so they seem. Th' have left their barge and landed,
 50526     And hither make, as great ambassadors
 50527     From foreign princes.
 50528   WOLSEY. Good Lord Chamberlain,
 50529     Go, give 'em welcome; you can speak the French tongue;
 50530     And pray receive 'em nobly and conduct 'em
 50531     Into our presence, where this heaven of beauty
 50532     Shall shine at full upon them. Some attend him.
 50533               Exit CHAMBERLAIN attended. All rise, and tables remov'd
 50534     You have now a broken banquet, but we'll mend it.
 50535     A good digestion to you all; and once more
 50536     I show'r a welcome on ye; welcome all.
 50537 
 50538       Hautboys. Enter the KING, and others, as maskers,
 50539       habited like shepherds, usher'd by the LORD CHAMBERLAIN.
 50540       They pass directly before the CARDINAL,
 50541       and gracefully salute him
 50542 
 50543     A noble company! What are their pleasures?
 50544   CHAMBERLAIN. Because they speak no English, thus they pray'd
 50545     To tell your Grace, that, having heard by fame
 50546     Of this so noble and so fair assembly
 50547     This night to meet here, they could do no less,
 50548     Out of the great respect they bear to beauty,
 50549     But leave their flocks and, under your fair conduct,
 50550     Crave leave to view these ladies and entreat
 50551     An hour of revels with 'em.
 50552   WOLSEY. Say, Lord Chamberlain,
 50553     They have done my poor house grace; for which I pay 'em
 50554     A thousand thanks, and pray 'em take their pleasures.
 50555                    [They choose ladies. The KING chooses ANNE BULLEN]
 50556   KING. The fairest hand I ever touch'd! O beauty,
 50557     Till now I never knew thee!                        [Music. Dance]
 50558   WOLSEY. My lord!
 50559   CHAMBERLAIN. Your Grace?
 50560   WOLSEY. Pray tell 'em thus much from me:
 50561     There should be one amongst 'em, by his person,
 50562     More worthy this place than myself; to whom,
 50563     If I but knew him, with my love and duty
 50564     I would surrender it.
 50565   CHAMBERLAIN. I will, my lord.
 50566                                          [He whispers to the maskers]
 50567   WOLSEY. What say they?
 50568   CHAMBERLAIN. Such a one, they all confess,
 50569     There is indeed; which they would have your Grace
 50570     Find out, and he will take it.
 50571   WOLSEY. Let me see, then.                    [Comes from his state]
 50572     By all your good leaves, gentlemen, here I'll make
 50573     My royal choice.
 50574   KING.  [Unmasking]  Ye have found him, Cardinal.
 50575     You hold a fair assembly; you do well, lord.
 50576     You are a churchman, or, I'll tell you, Cardinal,
 50577     I should judge now unhappily.
 50578   WOLSEY. I am glad
 50579     Your Grace is grown so pleasant.
 50580   KING. My Lord Chamberlain,
 50581     Prithee come hither: what fair lady's that?
 50582   CHAMBERLAIN. An't please your Grace, Sir Thomas Bullen's
 50583       daughter-
 50584     The Viscount Rochford-one of her Highness' women.
 50585   KING. By heaven, she is a dainty one. Sweet heart,
 50586     I were unmannerly to take you out
 50587     And not to kiss you. A health, gentlemen!
 50588     Let it go round.
 50589   WOLSEY. Sir Thomas Lovell, is the banquet ready
 50590     I' th' privy chamber?
 50591   LOVELL. Yes, my lord.
 50592   WOLSEY. Your Grace,
 50593     I fear, with dancing is a little heated.
 50594   KING. I fear, too much.
 50595   WOLSEY. There's fresher air, my lord,
 50596     In the next chamber.
 50597   KING. Lead in your ladies, ev'ry one. Sweet partner,
 50598     I must not yet forsake you. Let's be merry:
 50599     Good my Lord Cardinal, I have half a dozen healths
 50600     To drink to these fair ladies, and a measure
 50601     To lead 'em once again; and then let's dream
 50602     Who's best in favour. Let the music knock it.
 50603                                                 Exeunt, with trumpets
 50604 
 50605 
 50606 
 50607 
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 50616 
 50617 
 50618 
 50619 ACT II. SCENE 1.
 50620 
 50621 Westminster. A street
 50622 
 50623 Enter two GENTLEMEN, at several doors
 50624 
 50625   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Whither away so fast?
 50626   SECOND GENTLEMAN. O, God save ye!
 50627     Ev'n to the Hall, to hear what shall become
 50628     Of the great Duke of Buckingham.
 50629   FIRST GENTLEMAN. I'll save you
 50630     That labour, sir. All's now done but the ceremony
 50631     Of bringing back the prisoner.
 50632   SECOND GENTLEMAN. Were you there?
 50633   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Yes, indeed, was I.
 50634   SECOND GENTLEMAN. Pray, speak what has happen'd.
 50635   FIRST GENTLEMAN. You may guess quickly what.
 50636   SECOND GENTLEMAN. Is he found guilty?
 50637   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Yes, truly is he, and condemn'd upon't.
 50638   SECOND GENTLEMAN. I am sorry for't.
 50639   FIRST GENTLEMAN. So are a number more.
 50640   SECOND GENTLEMAN. But, pray, how pass'd it?
 50641   FIRST GENTLEMAN. I'll tell you in a little. The great Duke.
 50642     Came to the bar; where to his accusations
 50643     He pleaded still not guilty, and alleged
 50644     Many sharp reasons to defeat the law.
 50645     The King's attorney, on the contrary,
 50646     Urg'd on the examinations, proofs, confessions,
 50647     Of divers witnesses; which the Duke desir'd
 50648     To have brought, viva voce, to his face;
 50649     At which appear'd against him his surveyor,
 50650     Sir Gilbert Peck his chancellor, and John Car,
 50651     Confessor to him, with that devil-monk,
 50652     Hopkins, that made this mischief.
 50653   SECOND GENTLEMAN. That was he
 50654     That fed him with his prophecies?
 50655   FIRST GENTLEMAN. The same.
 50656     All these accus'd him strongly, which he fain
 50657     Would have flung from him; but indeed he could not;
 50658     And so his peers, upon this evidence,
 50659     Have found him guilty of high treason. Much
 50660     He spoke, and learnedly, for life; but all
 50661     Was either pitied in him or forgotten.
 50662   SECOND GENTLEMAN. After all this, how did he bear him-self
 50663   FIRST GENTLEMAN. When he was brought again to th' bar to hear
 50664     His knell rung out, his judgment, he was stirr'd
 50665     With such an agony he sweat extremely,
 50666     And something spoke in choler, ill and hasty;
 50667     But he fell to himself again, and sweetly
 50668     In all the rest show'd a most noble patience.
 50669   SECOND GENTLEMAN. I do not think he fears death.
 50670   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Sure, he does not;
 50671     He never was so womanish; the cause
 50672     He may a little grieve at.
 50673   SECOND GENTLEMAN. Certainly
 50674     The Cardinal is the end of this.
 50675   FIRST GENTLEMAN. 'Tis likely,
 50676     By all conjectures: first, Kildare's attainder,
 50677     Then deputy of Ireland, who remov'd,
 50678     Earl Surrey was sent thither, and in haste too,
 50679     Lest he should help his father.
 50680   SECOND GENTLEMAN. That trick of state
 50681     Was a deep envious one.
 50682   FIRST GENTLEMAN. At his return
 50683     No doubt he will requite it. This is noted,
 50684     And generally: whoever the King favours
 50685     The Cardinal instantly will find employment,
 50686     And far enough from court too.
 50687   SECOND GENTLEMAN. All the commons
 50688     Hate him perniciously, and, o' my conscience,
 50689     Wish him ten fathom deep: this Duke as much
 50690     They love and dote on; call him bounteous Buckingham,
 50691     The mirror of all courtesy-
 50692 
 50693       Enter BUCKINGHAM from his arraignment, tip-staves
 50694       before him; the axe with the edge towards him; halberds
 50695       on each side; accompanied with SIR THOMAS
 50696       LOVELL, SIR NICHOLAS VAUX, SIR WILLIAM SANDYS,
 50697       and common people, etc.
 50698 
 50699   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Stay there, sir,
 50700     And see the noble ruin'd man you speak of.
 50701   SECOND GENTLEMAN. Let's stand close, and behold him.
 50702   BUCKINGHAM. All good people,
 50703     You that thus far have come to pity me,
 50704     Hear what I say, and then go home and lose me.
 50705     I have this day receiv'd a traitor's judgment,
 50706     And by that name must die; yet, heaven bear witness,
 50707     And if I have a conscience, let it sink me
 50708     Even as the axe falls, if I be not faithful!
 50709     The law I bear no malice for my death:
 50710     'T has done, upon the premises, but justice.
 50711     But those that sought it I could wish more Christians.
 50712     Be what they will, I heartily forgive 'em;
 50713     Yet let 'em look they glory not in mischief
 50714     Nor build their evils on the graves of great men,
 50715     For then my guiltless blood must cry against 'em.
 50716     For further life in this world I ne'er hope
 50717     Nor will I sue, although the King have mercies
 50718     More than I dare make faults. You few that lov'd me
 50719     And dare be bold to weep for Buckingham,
 50720     His noble friends and fellows, whom to leave
 50721     Is only bitter to him, only dying,
 50722     Go with me like good angels to my end;
 50723     And as the long divorce of steel falls on me
 50724     Make of your prayers one sweet sacrifice,
 50725     And lift my soul to heaven. Lead on, a God's name.
 50726   LOVELL. I do beseech your Grace, for charity,
 50727     If ever any malice in your heart
 50728     Were hid against me, now to forgive me frankly.
 50729   BUCKINGHAM. Sir Thomas Lovell, I as free forgive you
 50730     As I would be forgiven. I forgive all.
 50731     There cannot be those numberless offences
 50732     'Gainst me that I cannot take peace with. No black envy
 50733     Shall mark my grave. Commend me to his Grace;
 50734     And if he speak of Buckingham, pray tell him
 50735     You met him half in heaven. My vows and prayers
 50736     Yet are the King's, and, till my soul forsake,
 50737     Shall cry for blessings on him. May he live
 50738     Longer than I have time to tell his years;
 50739     Ever belov'd and loving may his rule be;
 50740     And when old time Shall lead him to his end,
 50741     Goodness and he fill up one monument!
 50742   LOVELL. To th' water side I must conduct your Grace;
 50743     Then give my charge up to Sir Nicholas Vaux,
 50744     Who undertakes you to your end.
 50745   VAUX. Prepare there;
 50746     The Duke is coming; see the barge be ready;
 50747     And fit it with such furniture as suits
 50748     The greatness of his person.
 50749   BUCKINGHAM. Nay, Sir Nicholas,
 50750     Let it alone; my state now will but mock me.
 50751     When I came hither I was Lord High Constable
 50752     And Duke of Buckingham; now, poor Edward Bohun.
 50753     Yet I am richer than my base accusers
 50754     That never knew what truth meant; I now seal it;
 50755     And with that blood will make 'em one day groan fort.
 50756     My noble father, Henry of Buckingham,
 50757     Who first rais'd head against usurping Richard,
 50758     Flying for succour to his servant Banister,
 50759     Being distress'd, was by that wretch betray'd
 50760     And without trial fell; God's peace be with him!
 50761     Henry the Seventh succeeding, truly pitying
 50762     My father's loss, like a most royal prince,
 50763     Restor'd me to my honours, and out of ruins
 50764     Made my name once more noble. Now his son,
 50765     Henry the Eighth, life, honour, name, and all
 50766     That made me happy, at one stroke has taken
 50767     For ever from the world. I had my trial,
 50768     And must needs say a noble one; which makes me
 50769     A little happier than my wretched father;
 50770     Yet thus far we are one in fortunes: both
 50771     Fell by our servants, by those men we lov'd most-
 50772     A most unnatural and faithless service.
 50773     Heaven has an end in all. Yet, you that hear me,
 50774     This from a dying man receive as certain:
 50775     Where you are liberal of your loves and counsels,
 50776     Be sure you be not loose; for those you make friends
 50777     And give your hearts to, when they once perceive
 50778     The least rub in your fortunes, fall away
 50779     Like water from ye, never found again
 50780     But where they mean to sink ye. All good people,
 50781     Pray for me! I must now forsake ye; the last hour
 50782     Of my long weary life is come upon me.
 50783     Farewell;
 50784     And when you would say something that is sad,
 50785     Speak how I fell. I have done; and God forgive me!
 50786                                           Exeunt BUCKINGHAM and train
 50787   FIRST GENTLEMAN. O, this is full of pity! Sir, it calls,
 50788     I fear, too many curses on their heads
 50789     That were the authors.
 50790   SECOND GENTLEMAN. If the Duke be guiltless,
 50791     'Tis full of woe; yet I can give you inkling
 50792     Of an ensuing evil, if it fall,
 50793     Greater than this.
 50794   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Good angels keep it from us!
 50795     What may it be? You do not doubt my faith, sir?
 50796   SECOND GENTLEMAN. This secret is so weighty, 'twill require
 50797     A strong faith to conceal it.
 50798   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Let me have it;
 50799     I do not talk much.
 50800   SECOND GENTLEMAN. I am confident.
 50801     You shall, sir. Did you not of late days hear
 50802     A buzzing of a separation
 50803     Between the King and Katharine?
 50804   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Yes, but it held not;
 50805     For when the King once heard it, out of anger
 50806     He sent command to the Lord Mayor straight
 50807     To stop the rumour and allay those tongues
 50808     That durst disperse it.
 50809   SECOND GENTLEMAN. But that slander, sir,
 50810     Is found a truth now; for it grows again
 50811     Fresher than e'er it was, and held for certain
 50812     The King will venture at it. Either the Cardinal
 50813     Or some about him near have, out of malice
 50814     To the good Queen, possess'd him with a scruple
 50815     That will undo her. To confirm this too,
 50816     Cardinal Campeius is arriv'd and lately;
 50817     As all think, for this business.
 50818   FIRST GENTLEMAN. 'Tis the Cardinal;
 50819     And merely to revenge him on the Emperor
 50820     For not bestowing on him at his asking
 50821     The archbishopric of Toledo, this is purpos'd.
 50822   SECOND GENTLEMAN. I think you have hit the mark; but is't
 50823         not cruel
 50824     That she should feel the smart of this? The Cardinal
 50825     Will have his will, and she must fall.
 50826   FIRST GENTLEMAN. 'Tis woeful.
 50827     We are too open here to argue this;
 50828     Let's think in private more.                               Exeunt
 50829 
 50830 
 50831 
 50832 
 50833 ACT II. SCENE 2.
 50834 
 50835 London. The palace
 50836 
 50837 Enter the LORD CHAMBERLAIN reading this letter
 50838 
 50839   CHAMBERLAIN. 'My lord,
 50840     'The horses your lordship sent for, with all the care
 50841     had, I saw well chosen, ridden, and furnish'd. They were
 50842     young and handsome, and of the best breed in the north.
 50843     When they were ready to set out for London, a man of
 50844     my Lord Cardinal's, by commission, and main power, took
 50845     'em from me, with this reason: his master would be serv'd
 50846     before a subject, if not before the King; which stopp'd
 50847     our mouths, sir.'
 50848 
 50849     I fear he will indeed. Well, let him have them.
 50850     He will have all, I think.
 50851 
 50852     Enter to the LORD CHAMBERLAIN the DUKES OF NORFOLK and SUFFOLK
 50853 
 50854   NORFOLK. Well met, my Lord Chamberlain.
 50855   CHAMBERLAIN. Good day to both your Graces.
 50856   SUFFOLK. How is the King employ'd?
 50857   CHAMBERLAIN. I left him private,
 50858     Full of sad thoughts and troubles.
 50859   NORFOLK. What's the cause?
 50860   CHAMBERLAIN. It seems the marriage with his brother's wife
 50861     Has crept too near his conscience.
 50862   SUFFOLK. No, his conscience
 50863     Has crept too near another lady.
 50864   NORFOLK. 'Tis so;
 50865     This is the Cardinal's doing; the King-Cardinal,
 50866     That blind priest, like the eldest son of fortune,
 50867     Turns what he list. The King will know him one day.
 50868   SUFFOLK. Pray God he do! He'll never know himself else.
 50869   NORFOLK. How holily he works in all his business!
 50870     And with what zeal! For, now he has crack'd the league
 50871     Between us and the Emperor, the Queen's great nephew,
 50872     He dives into the King's soul and there scatters
 50873     Dangers, doubts, wringing of the conscience,
 50874     Fears, and despairs-and all these for his marriage;
 50875     And out of all these to restore the King,
 50876     He counsels a divorce, a loss of her
 50877     That like a jewel has hung twenty years
 50878     About his neck, yet never lost her lustre;
 50879     Of her that loves him with that excellence
 50880     That angels love good men with; even of her
 50881     That, when the greatest stroke of fortune falls,
 50882     Will bless the King-and is not this course pious?
 50883   CHAMBERLAIN. Heaven keep me from such counsel! 'Tis most true
 50884     These news are everywhere; every tongue speaks 'em,
 50885     And every true heart weeps for 't. All that dare
 50886     Look into these affairs see this main end-
 50887     The French King's sister. Heaven will one day open
 50888     The King's eyes, that so long have slept upon
 50889     This bold bad man.
 50890   SUFFOLK. And free us from his slavery.
 50891   NORFOLK. We had need pray, and heartily, for our deliverance;
 50892     Or this imperious man will work us an
 50893     From princes into pages. All men's honours
 50894     Lie like one lump before him, to be fashion'd
 50895     Into what pitch he please.
 50896   SUFFOLK. For me, my lords,
 50897     I love him not, nor fear him-there's my creed;
 50898     As I am made without him, so I'll stand,
 50899     If the King please; his curses and his blessings
 50900     Touch me alike; th' are breath I not believe in.
 50901     I knew him, and I know him; so I leave him
 50902     To him that made him proud-the Pope.
 50903   NORFOLK. Let's in;
 50904     And with some other business put the King
 50905     From these sad thoughts that work too much upon him.
 50906     My lord, you'll bear us company?
 50907   CHAMBERLAIN. Excuse me,
 50908     The King has sent me otherwhere; besides,
 50909     You'll find a most unfit time to disturb him.
 50910     Health to your lordships!
 50911   NORFOLK. Thanks, my good Lord Chamberlain.
 50912                             Exit LORD CHAMBERLAIN; and the KING draws
 50913                                the curtain and sits reading pensively
 50914   SUFFOLK. How sad he looks; sure, he is much afflicted.
 50915   KING. Who's there, ha?
 50916   NORFOLK. Pray God he be not angry.
 50917   KING HENRY. Who's there, I say? How dare you thrust yourselves
 50918     Into my private meditations?
 50919     Who am I, ha?
 50920   NORFOLK. A gracious king that pardons all offences
 50921     Malice ne'er meant. Our breach of duty this way
 50922     Is business of estate, in which we come
 50923     To know your royal pleasure.
 50924   KING. Ye are too bold.
 50925     Go to; I'll make ye know your times of business.
 50926     Is this an hour for temporal affairs, ha?
 50927 
 50928       Enter WOLSEY and CAMPEIUS with a commission
 50929 
 50930     Who's there? My good Lord Cardinal? O my Wolsey,
 50931     The quiet of my wounded conscience,
 50932     Thou art a cure fit for a King.  [To CAMPEIUS]  You're
 50933       welcome,
 50934     Most learned reverend sir, into our kingdom.
 50935     Use us and it.  [To WOLSEY]  My good lord, have great care
 50936     I be not found a talker.
 50937   WOLSEY. Sir, you cannot.
 50938     I would your Grace would give us but an hour
 50939     Of private conference.
 50940   KING.  [To NORFOLK and SUFFOLK]  We are busy; go.
 50941   NORFOLK.  [Aside to SUFFOLK]  This priest has no pride in him!
 50942   SUFFOLK.  [Aside to NORFOLK]  Not to speak of!
 50943     I would not be so sick though for his place.
 50944     But this cannot continue.
 50945   NORFOLK.  [Aside to SUFFOLK]  If it do,
 50946     I'll venture one have-at-him.
 50947   SUFFOLK.  [Aside to NORFOLK]  I another.
 50948                                            Exeunt NORFOLK and SUFFOLK
 50949   WOLSEY. Your Grace has given a precedent of wisdom
 50950     Above all princes, in committing freely
 50951     Your scruple to the voice of Christendom.
 50952     Who can be angry now? What envy reach you?
 50953     The Spaniard, tied by blood and favour to her,
 50954     Must now confess, if they have any goodness,
 50955     The trial just and noble. All the clerks,
 50956     I mean the learned ones, in Christian kingdoms
 50957     Have their free voices. Rome the nurse of judgment,
 50958     Invited by your noble self, hath sent
 50959     One general tongue unto us, this good man,
 50960     This just and learned priest, Cardinal Campeius,
 50961     Whom once more I present unto your Highness.
 50962   KING. And once more in mine arms I bid him welcome,
 50963     And thank the holy conclave for their loves.
 50964     They have sent me such a man I would have wish'd for.
 50965   CAMPEIUS. Your Grace must needs deserve an strangers' loves,
 50966     You are so noble. To your Highness' hand
 50967     I tender my commission; by whose virtue-
 50968     The court of Rome commanding-you, my Lord
 50969     Cardinal of York, are join'd with me their servant
 50970     In the unpartial judging of this business.
 50971   KING. Two equal men. The Queen shall be acquainted
 50972     Forthwith for what you come. Where's Gardiner?
 50973   WOLSEY. I know your Majesty has always lov'd her
 50974     So dear in heart not to deny her that
 50975     A woman of less place might ask by law-
 50976     Scholars allow'd freely to argue for her.
 50977   KING. Ay, and the best she shall have; and my favour
 50978     To him that does best. God forbid else. Cardinal,
 50979     Prithee call Gardiner to me, my new secretary;
 50980     I find him a fit fellow.                              Exit WOLSEY
 50981 
 50982           Re-enter WOLSEY with GARDINER
 50983 
 50984   WOLSEY.  [Aside to GARDINER]  Give me your hand: much
 50985       joy and favour to you;
 50986     You are the King's now.
 50987   GARDINER.  [Aside to WOLSEY]  But to be commanded
 50988     For ever by your Grace, whose hand has rais'd me.
 50989   KING. Come hither, Gardiner.                   [Walks and whispers]
 50990   CAMPEIUS. My Lord of York, was not one Doctor Pace
 50991     In this man's place before him?
 50992   WOLSEY. Yes, he was.
 50993   CAMPEIUS. Was he not held a learned man?
 50994   WOLSEY. Yes, surely.
 50995   CAMPEIUS. Believe me, there's an ill opinion spread then,
 50996     Even of yourself, Lord Cardinal.
 50997   WOLSEY. How! Of me?
 50998   CAMPEIUS. They will not stick to say you envied him
 50999     And, fearing he would rise, he was so virtuous,
 51000     Kept him a foreign man still; which so griev'd him
 51001     That he ran mad and died.
 51002   WOLSEY. Heav'n's peace be with him!
 51003     That's Christian care enough. For living murmurers
 51004     There's places of rebuke. He was a fool,
 51005     For he would needs be virtuous: that good fellow,
 51006     If I command him, follows my appointment.
 51007     I will have none so near else. Learn this, brother,
 51008     We live not to be grip'd by meaner persons.
 51009   KING. Deliver this with modesty to th' Queen.
 51010                                                         Exit GARDINER
 51011     The most convenient place that I can think of
 51012     For such receipt of learning is Blackfriars;
 51013     There ye shall meet about this weighty business-
 51014     My Wolsey, see it furnish'd. O, my lord,
 51015     Would it not grieve an able man to leave
 51016     So sweet a bedfellow? But, conscience, conscience!
 51017     O, 'tis a tender place! and I must leave her.              Exeunt
 51018 
 51019 
 51020 
 51021 
 51022 ACT II. SCENE 3.
 51023 
 51024 London. The palace
 51025 
 51026 Enter ANNE BULLEN and an OLD LADY
 51027 
 51028   ANNE. Not for that neither. Here's the pang that pinches:
 51029     His Highness having liv'd so long with her, and she
 51030     So good a lady that no tongue could ever
 51031     Pronounce dishonour of her-by my life,
 51032     She never knew harm-doing-O, now, after
 51033     So many courses of the sun enthroned,
 51034     Still growing in a majesty and pomp, the which
 51035     To leave a thousand-fold more bitter than
 51036     'Tis sweet at first t' acquire-after this process,
 51037     To give her the avaunt, it is a pity
 51038     Would move a monster.
 51039   OLD LADY. Hearts of most hard temper
 51040     Melt and lament for her.
 51041   ANNE. O, God's will! much better
 51042     She ne'er had known pomp; though't be temporal,
 51043     Yet, if that quarrel, fortune, do divorce
 51044     It from the bearer, 'tis a sufferance panging
 51045     As soul and body's severing.
 51046   OLD LADY. Alas, poor lady!
 51047     She's a stranger now again.
 51048   ANNE. So much the more
 51049     Must pity drop upon her. Verily,
 51050     I swear 'tis better to be lowly born
 51051     And range with humble livers in content
 51052     Than to be perk'd up in a glist'ring grief
 51053     And wear a golden sorrow.
 51054   OLD LADY. Our content
 51055     Is our best having.
 51056   ANNE. By my troth and maidenhead,
 51057     I would not be a queen.
 51058   OLD LADY. Beshrew me, I would,
 51059     And venture maidenhead for 't; and so would you,
 51060     For all this spice of your hypocrisy.
 51061     You that have so fair parts of woman on you
 51062     Have too a woman's heart, which ever yet
 51063     Affected eminence, wealth, sovereignty;
 51064     Which, to say sooth, are blessings; and which gifts,
 51065     Saving your mincing, the capacity
 51066     Of your soft cheveril conscience would receive
 51067     If you might please to stretch it.
 51068   ANNE. Nay, good troth.
 51069   OLD LADY. Yes, troth and troth. You would not be a queen!
 51070   ANNE. No, not for all the riches under heaven.
 51071   OLD LADY. 'Tis strange: a threepence bow'd would hire me,
 51072     Old as I am, to queen it. But, I pray you,
 51073     What think you of a duchess? Have you limbs
 51074     To bear that load of title?
 51075   ANNE. No, in truth.
 51076   OLD LADY. Then you are weakly made. Pluck off a little;
 51077     I would not be a young count in your way
 51078     For more than blushing comes to. If your back
 51079     Cannot vouchsafe this burden, 'tis too weak
 51080     Ever to get a boy.
 51081   ANNE. How you do talk!
 51082     I swear again I would not be a queen
 51083     For all the world.
 51084   OLD LADY. In faith, for little England
 51085     You'd venture an emballing. I myself
 51086     Would for Carnarvonshire, although there long'd
 51087     No more to th' crown but that. Lo, who comes here?
 51088 
 51089          Enter the LORD CHAMBERLAIN
 51090 
 51091   CHAMBERLAIN. Good morrow, ladies. What were't worth to know
 51092     The secret of your conference?
 51093   ANNE. My good lord,
 51094     Not your demand; it values not your asking.
 51095     Our mistress' sorrows we were pitying.
 51096   CHAMBERLAIN. It was a gentle business and becoming
 51097     The action of good women; there is hope
 51098     All will be well.
 51099   ANNE. Now, I pray God, amen!
 51100   CHAMBERLAIN. You bear a gentle mind, and heav'nly blessings
 51101     Follow such creatures. That you may, fair lady,
 51102     Perceive I speak sincerely and high notes
 51103     Ta'en of your many virtues, the King's Majesty
 51104     Commends his good opinion of you to you, and
 51105     Does purpose honour to you no less flowing
 51106     Than Marchioness of Pembroke; to which tide
 51107     A thousand pound a year, annual support,
 51108     Out of his grace he adds.
 51109   ANNE. I do not know
 51110     What kind of my obedience I should tender;
 51111     More than my all is nothing, nor my prayers
 51112     Are not words duly hallowed, nor my wishes
 51113     More worth than empty vanities; yet prayers and wishes
 51114     Are all I can return. Beseech your lordship,
 51115     Vouchsafe to speak my thanks and my obedience,
 51116     As from a blushing handmaid, to his Highness;
 51117     Whose health and royalty I pray for.
 51118   CHAMBERLAIN. Lady,
 51119     I shall not fail t' approve the fair conceit
 51120     The King hath of you.  [Aside]  I have perus'd her well:
 51121     Beauty and honour in her are so mingled
 51122     That they have caught the King; and who knows yet
 51123     But from this lady may proceed a gem
 51124     To lighten all this isle?-I'll to the King
 51125     And say I spoke with you.
 51126   ANNE. My honour'd lord!                       Exit LORD CHAMBERLAIN
 51127   OLD LADY. Why, this it is: see, see!
 51128     I have been begging sixteen years in court-
 51129     Am yet a courtier beggarly-nor could
 51130     Come pat betwixt too early and too late
 51131     For any suit of pounds; and you, O fate!
 51132     A very fresh-fish here-fie, fie, fie upon
 51133     This compell'd fortune!-have your mouth fill'd up
 51134     Before you open it.
 51135   ANNE. This is strange to me.
 51136   OLD LADY. How tastes it? Is it bitter? Forty pence, no.
 51137     There was a lady once-'tis an old story-
 51138     That would not be a queen, that would she not,
 51139     For all the mud in Egypt. Have you heard it?
 51140   ANNE. Come, you are pleasant.
 51141   OLD LADY. With your theme I could
 51142     O'ermount the lark. The Marchioness of Pembroke!
 51143     A thousand pounds a year for pure respect!
 51144     No other obligation! By my life,
 51145     That promises moe thousands: honour's train
 51146     Is longer than his foreskirt. By this time
 51147     I know your back will bear a duchess. Say,
 51148     Are you not stronger than you were?
 51149   ANNE. Good lady,
 51150     Make yourself mirth with your particular fancy,
 51151     And leave me out on't. Would I had no being,
 51152     If this salute my blood a jot; it faints me
 51153     To think what follows.
 51154     The Queen is comfortless, and we forgetful
 51155     In our long absence. Pray, do not deliver
 51156     What here y' have heard to her.
 51157   OLD LADY. What do you think me?                              Exeunt
 51158 
 51159 
 51160 
 51161 
 51162 ACT II. SCENE 4.
 51163 
 51164 London. A hall in Blackfriars
 51165 
 51166 Trumpets, sennet, and cornets. Enter two VERGERS, with short silver wands;
 51167 next them, two SCRIBES, in the habit of doctors; after them,
 51168 the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY alone; after him, the BISHOPS OF LINCOLN, ELY,
 51169 ROCHESTER, and SAINT ASAPH; next them, with some small distance,
 51170 follows a GENTLEMAN bearing the purse, with the great seal,
 51171 and a Cardinal's hat; then two PRIESTS, bearing each silver cross;
 51172 then a GENTLEMAN USHER bareheaded, accompanied with a SERGEANT-AT-ARMS
 51173 bearing a silver mace; then two GENTLEMEN bearing two great silver pillars;
 51174 after them, side by side, the two CARDINALS, WOLSEY and CAMPEIUS;
 51175 two NOBLEMEN with the sword and mace. Then enter the KING and QUEEN
 51176 and their trains. The KING takes place under the cloth of state;
 51177 the two CARDINALS sit under him as judges. The QUEEN takes place
 51178 some distance from the KING. The BISHOPS place themselves on each side
 51179 of the court, in manner of consistory; below them the SCRIBES.
 51180 The LORDS sit next the BISHOPS. The rest of the attendants stand
 51181 in convenient order about the stage
 51182 
 51183   WOLSEY. Whilst our commission from Rome is read,
 51184     Let silence be commanded.
 51185   KING. What's the need?
 51186     It hath already publicly been read,
 51187     And on all sides th' authority allow'd;
 51188     You may then spare that time.
 51189   WOLSEY. Be't so; proceed.
 51190   SCRIBE. Say 'Henry King of England, come into the court.'
 51191   CRIER. Henry King of England, &c.
 51192   KING. Here.
 51193   SCRIBE. Say 'Katharine Queen of England, come into the court.'
 51194   CRIER. Katharine Queen of England, &c.
 51195 
 51196      The QUEEN makes no answer, rises out of her chair,
 51197      goes about the court, comes to the KING, and kneels
 51198      at his feet; then speaks
 51199 
 51200   QUEEN KATHARINE. Sir, I desire you do me right and justice,
 51201     And to bestow your pity on me; for
 51202     I am a most poor woman and a stranger,
 51203     Born out of your dominions, having here
 51204     No judge indifferent, nor no more assurance
 51205     Of equal friendship and proceeding. Alas, sir,
 51206     In what have I offended you? What cause
 51207     Hath my behaviour given to your displeasure
 51208     That thus you should proceed to put me of
 51209     And take your good grace from me? Heaven witness,
 51210     I have been to you a true and humble wife,
 51211     At all times to your will conformable,
 51212     Ever in fear to kindle your dislike,
 51213     Yea, subject to your countenance-glad or sorry
 51214     As I saw it inclin'd. When was the hour
 51215     I ever contradicted your desire
 51216     Or made it not mine too? Or which of your friends
 51217     Have I not strove to love, although I knew
 51218     He were mine enemy? What friend of mine
 51219     That had to him deriv'd your anger did
 51220     Continue in my liking? Nay, gave notice
 51221     He was from thence discharg'd? Sir, call to mind
 51222     That I have been your wife in this obedience
 51223     Upward of twenty years, and have been blest
 51224     With many children by you. If, in the course
 51225     And process of this time, you can report,
 51226     And prove it too against mine honour, aught,
 51227     My bond to wedlock or my love and duty,
 51228     Against your sacred person, in God's name,
 51229     Turn me away and let the foul'st contempt
 51230     Shut door upon me, and so give me up
 51231     To the sharp'st kind of justice. Please you, sir,
 51232     The King, your father, was reputed for
 51233     A prince most prudent, of an excellent
 51234     And unmatch'd wit and judgment; Ferdinand,
 51235     My father, King of Spain, was reckon'd one
 51236     The wisest prince that there had reign'd by many
 51237     A year before. It is not to be question'd
 51238     That they had gather'd a wise council to them
 51239     Of every realm, that did debate this business,
 51240     Who deem'd our marriage lawful. Wherefore I humbly
 51241     Beseech you, sir, to spare me till I may
 51242     Be by my friends in Spain advis'd, whose counsel
 51243     I will implore. If not, i' th' name of God,
 51244     Your pleasure be fulfill'd!
 51245   WOLSEY. You have here, lady,
 51246     And of your choice, these reverend fathers-men
 51247     Of singular integrity and learning,
 51248     Yea, the elect o' th' land, who are assembled
 51249     To plead your cause. It shall be therefore bootless
 51250     That longer you desire the court, as well
 51251     For your own quiet as to rectify
 51252     What is unsettled in the King.
 51253   CAMPEIUS. His Grace
 51254     Hath spoken well and justly; therefore, madam,
 51255     It's fit this royal session do proceed
 51256     And that, without delay, their arguments
 51257     Be now produc'd and heard.
 51258   QUEEN KATHARINE. Lord Cardinal,
 51259     To you I speak.
 51260   WOLSEY. Your pleasure, madam?
 51261   QUEEN KATHARINE. Sir,
 51262     I am about to weep; but, thinking that
 51263     We are a queen, or long have dream'd so, certain
 51264     The daughter of a king, my drops of tears
 51265     I'll turn to sparks of fire.
 51266   WOLSEY. Be patient yet.
 51267   QUEEN KATHARINE. I Will, when you are humble; nay, before
 51268     Or God will punish me. I do believe,
 51269     Induc'd by potent circumstances, that
 51270     You are mine enemy, and make my challenge
 51271     You shall not be my judge; for it is you
 51272     Have blown this coal betwixt my lord and me-
 51273     Which God's dew quench! Therefore I say again,
 51274     I utterly abhor, yea, from my soul
 51275     Refuse you for my judge, whom yet once more
 51276     I hold my most malicious foe and think not
 51277     At all a friend to truth.
 51278   WOLSEY. I do profess
 51279     You speak not like yourself, who ever yet
 51280     Have stood to charity and display'd th' effects
 51281     Of disposition gentle and of wisdom
 51282     O'ertopping woman's pow'r. Madam, you do me wrong:
 51283     I have no spleen against you, nor injustice
 51284     For you or any; how far I have proceeded,
 51285     Or how far further shall, is warranted
 51286     By a commission from the Consistory,
 51287     Yea, the whole Consistory of Rome. You charge me
 51288     That I have blown this coal: I do deny it.
 51289     The King is present; if it be known to him
 51290     That I gainsay my deed, how may he wound,
 51291     And worthily, my falsehood! Yea, as much
 51292     As you have done my truth. If he know
 51293     That I am free of your report, he knows
 51294     I am not of your wrong. Therefore in him
 51295     It lies to cure me, and the cure is to
 51296     Remove these thoughts from you; the which before
 51297     His Highness shall speak in, I do beseech
 51298     You, gracious madam, to unthink your speaking
 51299     And to say so no more.
 51300   QUEEN KATHARINE. My lord, my lord,
 51301     I am a simple woman, much too weak
 51302     T' oppose your cunning. Y'are meek and humble-mouth'd;
 51303     You sign your place and calling, in full seeming,
 51304     With meekness and humility; but your heart
 51305     Is cramm'd with arrogancy, spleen, and pride.
 51306     You have, by fortune and his Highness' favours,
 51307     Gone slightly o'er low steps, and now are mounted
 51308     Where pow'rs are your retainers, and your words,
 51309     Domestics to you, serve your will as't please
 51310     Yourself pronounce their office. I must tell you
 51311     You tender more your person's honour than
 51312     Your high profession spiritual; that again
 51313     I do refuse you for my judge and here,
 51314     Before you all, appeal unto the Pope,
 51315     To bring my whole cause 'fore his Holiness
 51316     And to be judg'd by him.
 51317                      [She curtsies to the KING, and offers to depart]
 51318   CAMPEIUS. The Queen is obstinate,
 51319     Stubborn to justice, apt to accuse it, and
 51320     Disdainful to be tried by't; 'tis not well.
 51321     She's going away.
 51322   KING. Call her again.
 51323   CRIER. Katharine Queen of England, come into the court.
 51324   GENTLEMAN USHER. Madam, you are call'd back.
 51325   QUEEN KATHARINE. What need you note it? Pray you keep your way;
 51326     When you are call'd, return. Now the Lord help!
 51327     They vex me past my patience. Pray you pass on.
 51328     I will not tarry; no, nor ever more
 51329     Upon this business my appearance make
 51330     In any of their courts.           Exeunt QUEEN and her attendants
 51331   KING. Go thy ways, Kate.
 51332     That man i' th' world who shall report he has
 51333     A better wife, let him in nought be trusted
 51334     For speaking false in that. Thou art, alone-
 51335     If thy rare qualities, sweet gentleness,
 51336     Thy meekness saint-like, wife-like government,
 51337     Obeying in commanding, and thy parts
 51338     Sovereign and pious else, could speak thee out-
 51339     The queen of earthly queens. She's noble born;
 51340     And like her true nobility she has
 51341     Carried herself towards me.
 51342   WOLSEY. Most gracious sir,
 51343     In humblest manner I require your Highness
 51344     That it shall please you to declare in hearing
 51345     Of all these ears-for where I am robb'd and bound,
 51346     There must I be unloos'd, although not there
 51347     At once and fully satisfied-whether ever I
 51348     Did broach this business to your Highness, or
 51349     Laid any scruple in your way which might
 51350     Induce you to the question on't, or ever
 51351     Have to you, but with thanks to God for such
 51352     A royal lady, spake one the least word that might
 51353     Be to the prejudice of her present state,
 51354     Or touch of her good person?
 51355   KING. My Lord Cardinal,
 51356     I do excuse you; yea, upon mine honour,
 51357     I free you from't. You are not to be taught
 51358     That you have many enemies that know not
 51359     Why they are so, but, like to village curs,
 51360     Bark when their fellows do. By some of these
 51361     The Queen is put in anger. Y'are excus'd.
 51362     But will you be more justified? You ever
 51363     Have wish'd the sleeping of this business; never desir'd
 51364     It to be stirr'd; but oft have hind'red, oft,
 51365     The passages made toward it. On my honour,
 51366     I speak my good Lord Cardinal to this point,
 51367     And thus far clear him. Now, what mov'd me to't,
 51368     I will be bold with time and your attention.
 51369     Then mark th' inducement. Thus it came-give heed to't:
 51370     My conscience first receiv'd a tenderness,
 51371     Scruple, and prick, on certain speeches utter'd
 51372     By th' Bishop of Bayonne, then French ambassador,
 51373     Who had been hither sent on the debating
 51374     A marriage 'twixt the Duke of Orleans and
 51375     Our daughter Mary. I' th' progress of this business,
 51376     Ere a determinate resolution, he-
 51377     I mean the Bishop-did require a respite
 51378     Wherein he might the King his lord advertise
 51379     Whether our daughter were legitimate,
 51380     Respecting this our marriage with the dowager,
 51381     Sometimes our brother's wife. This respite shook
 51382     The bosom of my conscience, enter'd me,
 51383     Yea, with a splitting power, and made to tremble
 51384     The region of my breast, which forc'd such way
 51385     That many maz'd considerings did throng
 51386     And press'd in with this caution. First, methought
 51387     I stood not in the smile of heaven, who had
 51388     Commanded nature that my lady's womb,
 51389     If it conceiv'd a male child by me, should
 51390     Do no more offices of life to't than
 51391     The grave does to the dead; for her male issue
 51392     Or died where they were made, or shortly after
 51393     This world had air'd them. Hence I took a thought
 51394     This was a judgment on me, that my kingdom,
 51395     Well worthy the best heir o' th' world, should not
 51396     Be gladded in't by me. Then follows that
 51397     I weigh'd the danger which my realms stood in
 51398     By this my issue's fail, and that gave to me
 51399     Many a groaning throe. Thus hulling in
 51400     The wild sea of my conscience, I did steer
 51401     Toward this remedy, whereupon we are
 51402     Now present here together; that's to say
 51403     I meant to rectify my conscience, which
 51404     I then did feel full sick, and yet not well,
 51405     By all the reverend fathers of the land
 51406     And doctors learn'd. First, I began in private
 51407     With you, my Lord of Lincoln; you remember
 51408     How under my oppression I did reek,
 51409     When I first mov'd you.
 51410   LINCOLN. Very well, my liege.
 51411   KING. I have spoke long; be pleas'd yourself to say
 51412     How far you satisfied me.
 51413   LINCOLN. So please your Highness,
 51414     The question did at first so stagger me-
 51415     Bearing a state of mighty moment in't
 51416     And consequence of dread-that I committed
 51417     The daring'st counsel which I had to doubt,
 51418     And did entreat your Highness to this course
 51419     Which you are running here.
 51420   KING. I then mov'd you,
 51421     My Lord of Canterbury, and got your leave
 51422     To make this present summons. Unsolicited
 51423     I left no reverend person in this court,
 51424     But by particular consent proceeded
 51425     Under your hands and seals; therefore, go on,
 51426     For no dislike i' th' world against the person
 51427     Of the good Queen, but the sharp thorny points
 51428     Of my alleged reasons, drives this forward.
 51429     Prove but our marriage lawful, by my life
 51430     And kingly dignity, we are contented
 51431     To wear our moral state to come with her,
 51432     Katharine our queen, before the primest creature
 51433     That's paragon'd o' th' world.
 51434   CAMPEIUS. So please your Highness,
 51435     The Queen being absent, 'tis a needful fitness
 51436     That we adjourn this court till further day;
 51437     Meanwhile must be an earnest motion
 51438     Made to the Queen to call back her appeal
 51439     She intends unto his Holiness.
 51440   KING.  [Aside]  I may perceive
 51441     These cardinals trifle with me. I abhor
 51442     This dilatory sloth and tricks of Rome.
 51443     My learn'd and well-beloved servant, Cranmer,
 51444     Prithee return. With thy approach I know
 51445     My comfort comes along. -Break up the court;
 51446     I say, set on.                   Exuent in manner as they entered
 51447 
 51448 
 51449 
 51450 
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 51459 
 51460 
 51461 
 51462 ACT III. SCENE 1.
 51463 
 51464 London. The QUEEN'S apartments
 51465 
 51466 Enter the QUEEN and her women, as at work
 51467 
 51468   QUEEN KATHARINE. Take thy lute, wench. My soul grows
 51469       sad with troubles;
 51470     Sing and disperse 'em, if thou canst. Leave working.
 51471 
 51472                     SONG
 51473 
 51474         Orpheus with his lute made trees,
 51475         And the mountain tops that freeze,
 51476           Bow themselves when he did sing;
 51477         To his music plants and flowers
 51478         Ever sprung, as sun and showers
 51479           There had made a lasting spring.
 51480 
 51481         Every thing that heard him play,
 51482         Even the billows of the sea,
 51483           Hung their heads and then lay by.
 51484         In sweet music is such art,
 51485         Killing care and grief of heart
 51486           Fall asleep or hearing die.
 51487 
 51488               Enter a GENTLEMAN
 51489 
 51490   QUEEN KATHARINE. How now?
 51491   GENTLEMAN. An't please your Grace, the two great Cardinals
 51492     Wait in the presence.
 51493   QUEEN KATHARINE. Would they speak with me?
 51494   GENTLEMAN. They will'd me say so, madam.
 51495   QUEEN KATHARINE. Pray their Graces
 51496     To come near. [Exit GENTLEMAN] What can be their business
 51497     With me, a poor weak woman, fall'n from favour?
 51498     I do not like their coming. Now I think on't,
 51499     They should be good men, their affairs as righteous;
 51500     But all hoods make not monks.
 51501 
 51502          Enter the two CARDINALS, WOLSEY and CAMPEIUS
 51503 
 51504   WOLSEY. Peace to your Highness!
 51505   QUEEN KATHARINE. Your Graces find me here part of housewife;
 51506     I would be all, against the worst may happen.
 51507     What are your pleasures with me, reverend lords?
 51508   WOLSEY. May it please you, noble madam, to withdraw
 51509     Into your private chamber, we shall give you
 51510     The full cause of our coming.
 51511   QUEEN KATHARINE. Speak it here;
 51512     There's nothing I have done yet, o' my conscience,
 51513     Deserves a corner. Would all other women
 51514     Could speak this with as free a soul as I do!
 51515     My lords, I care not-so much I am happy
 51516     Above a number-if my actions
 51517     Were tried by ev'ry tongue, ev'ry eye saw 'em,
 51518     Envy and base opinion set against 'em,
 51519     I know my life so even. If your business
 51520     Seek me out, and that way I am wife in,
 51521     Out with it boldly; truth loves open dealing.
 51522   WOLSEY. Tanta est erga te mentis integritas, regina serenis-sima-
 51523   QUEEN KATHARINE. O, good my lord, no Latin!
 51524     I am not such a truant since my coming,
 51525     As not to know the language I have liv'd in;
 51526     A strange tongue makes my cause more strange, suspicious;
 51527     Pray speak in English. Here are some will thank you,
 51528     If you speak truth, for their poor mistress' sake:
 51529     Believe me, she has had much wrong. Lord Cardinal,
 51530     The willing'st sin I ever yet committed
 51531     May be absolv'd in English.
 51532   WOLSEY. Noble lady,
 51533     I am sorry my integrity should breed,
 51534     And service to his Majesty and you,
 51535     So deep suspicion, where all faith was meant
 51536     We come not by the way of accusation
 51537     To taint that honour every good tongue blesses,
 51538     Nor to betray you any way to sorrow-
 51539     You have too much, good lady; but to know
 51540     How you stand minded in the weighty difference
 51541     Between the King and you, and to deliver,
 51542     Like free and honest men, our just opinions
 51543     And comforts to your cause.
 51544   CAMPEIUS. Most honour'd madam,
 51545     My Lord of York, out of his noble nature,
 51546     Zeal and obedience he still bore your Grace,
 51547     Forgetting, like a good man, your late censure
 51548     Both of his truth and him-which was too far-
 51549     Offers, as I do, in a sign of peace,
 51550     His service and his counsel.
 51551   QUEEN KATHARINE.  [Aside]  To betray me.-
 51552     My lords, I thank you both for your good wins;
 51553     Ye speak like honest men-pray God ye prove so!
 51554     But how to make ye suddenly an answer,
 51555     In such a point of weight, so near mine honour,
 51556     More near my life, I fear, with my weak wit,
 51557     And to such men of gravity and learning,
 51558     In truth I know not. I was set at work
 51559     Among my maids, full little, God knows, looking
 51560     Either for such men or such business.
 51561     For her sake that I have been-for I feel
 51562     The last fit of my greatness-good your Graces,
 51563     Let me have time and counsel for my cause.
 51564     Alas, I am a woman, friendless, hopeless!
 51565   WOLSEY. Madam, you wrong the King's love with these fears;
 51566     Your hopes and friends are infinite.
 51567   QUEEN KATHARINE. In England
 51568     But little for my profit; can you think, lords,
 51569     That any Englishman dare give me counsel?
 51570     Or be a known friend, 'gainst his Highness' pleasure-
 51571     Though he be grown so desperate to be honest-
 51572     And live a subject? Nay, forsooth, my friends,
 51573     They that must weigh out my afflictions,
 51574     They that my trust must grow to, live not here;
 51575     They are, as all my other comforts, far hence,
 51576     In mine own country, lords.
 51577   CAMPEIUS. I would your Grace
 51578     Would leave your griefs, and take my counsel.
 51579   QUEEN KATHARINE. How, sir?
 51580   CAMPEIUS. Put your main cause into the King's protection;
 51581     He's loving and most gracious. 'Twill be much
 51582     Both for your honour better and your cause;
 51583     For if the trial of the law o'ertake ye
 51584     You'll part away disgrac'd.
 51585   WOLSEY. He tells you rightly.
 51586   QUEEN KATHARINE. Ye tell me what ye wish for both-my ruin.
 51587     Is this your Christian counsel? Out upon ye!
 51588     Heaven is above all yet: there sits a Judge
 51589     That no king can corrupt.
 51590   CAMPEIUS. Your rage mistakes us.
 51591   QUEEN KATHARINE. The more shame for ye; holy men I thought ye,
 51592     Upon my soul, two reverend cardinal virtues;
 51593     But cardinal sins and hollow hearts I fear ye.
 51594     Mend 'em, for shame, my lords. Is this your comfort?
 51595     The cordial that ye bring a wretched lady-
 51596     A woman lost among ye, laugh'd at, scorn'd?
 51597     I will not wish ye half my miseries:
 51598     I have more charity; but say I warned ye.
 51599     Take heed, for heaven's sake take heed, lest at once
 51600     The burden of my sorrows fall upon ye.
 51601   WOLSEY. Madam, this is a mere distraction;
 51602     You turn the good we offer into envy.
 51603   QUEEN KATHARINE. Ye turn me into nothing. Woe upon ye,
 51604     And all such false professors! Would you have me-
 51605     If you have any justice, any pity,
 51606     If ye be any thing but churchmen's habits-
 51607     Put my sick cause into his hands that hates me?
 51608     Alas! has banish'd me his bed already,
 51609     His love too long ago! I am old, my lords,
 51610     And all the fellowship I hold now with him
 51611     Is only my obedience. What can happen
 51612     To me above this wretchedness? All your studies
 51613     Make me a curse like this.
 51614   CAMPEIUS. Your fears are worse.
 51615   QUEEN KATHARINE. Have I liv'd thus long-let me speak myself,
 51616     Since virtue finds no friends-a wife, a true one?
 51617     A woman, I dare say without vain-glory,
 51618     Never yet branded with suspicion?
 51619     Have I with all my full affections
 51620     Still met the King, lov'd him next heav'n, obey'd him,
 51621     Been, out of fondness, superstitious to him,
 51622     Almost forgot my prayers to content him,
 51623     And am I thus rewarded? 'Tis not well, lords.
 51624     Bring me a constant woman to her husband,
 51625     One that ne'er dream'd a joy beyond his pleasure,
 51626     And to that woman, when she has done most,
 51627     Yet will I add an honour-a great patience.
 51628   WOLSEY. Madam, you wander from the good we aim at.
 51629   QUEEN KATHARINE. My lord, I dare not make myself so guilty,
 51630     To give up willingly that noble title
 51631     Your master wed me to: nothing but death
 51632     Shall e'er divorce my dignities.
 51633   WOLSEY. Pray hear me.
 51634   QUEEN KATHARINE. Would I had never trod this English earth,
 51635     Or felt the flatteries that grow upon it!
 51636     Ye have angels' faces, but heaven knows your hearts.
 51637     What will become of me now, wretched lady?
 51638     I am the most unhappy woman living.
 51639     [To her WOMEN]  Alas, poor wenches, where are now
 51640       your fortunes?
 51641     Shipwreck'd upon a kingdom, where no pity,
 51642     No friends, no hope; no kindred weep for me;
 51643     Almost no grave allow'd me. Like the My,
 51644     That once was mistress of the field, and flourish'd,
 51645     I'll hang my head and perish.
 51646   WOLSEY. If your Grace
 51647     Could but be brought to know our ends are honest,
 51648     You'd feel more comfort. Why should we, good lady,
 51649     Upon what cause, wrong you? Alas, our places,
 51650     The way of our profession is against it;
 51651     We are to cure such sorrows, not to sow 'em.
 51652     For goodness' sake, consider what you do;
 51653     How you may hurt yourself, ay, utterly
 51654     Grow from the King's acquaintance, by this carriage.
 51655     The hearts of princes kiss obedience,
 51656     So much they love it; but to stubborn spirits
 51657     They swell and grow as terrible as storms.
 51658     I know you have a gentle, noble temper,
 51659     A soul as even as a calm. Pray think us
 51660     Those we profess, peace-makers, friends, and servants.
 51661   CAMPEIUS. Madam, you'll find it so. You wrong your virtues
 51662     With these weak women's fears. A noble spirit,
 51663     As yours was put into you, ever casts
 51664     Such doubts as false coin from it. The King loves you;
 51665     Beware you lose it not. For us, if you please
 51666     To trust us in your business, we are ready
 51667     To use our utmost studies in your service.
 51668   QUEEN KATHARINE. Do what ye will my lords; and pray
 51669       forgive me
 51670     If I have us'd myself unmannerly;
 51671     You know I am a woman, lacking wit
 51672     To make a seemly answer to such persons.
 51673     Pray do my service to his Majesty;
 51674     He has my heart yet, and shall have my prayers
 51675     While I shall have my life. Come, reverend fathers,
 51676     Bestow your counsels on me; she now begs
 51677     That little thought, when she set footing here,
 51678     She should have bought her dignities so dear.              Exeunt
 51679 
 51680 
 51681 
 51682 ACT III.SCENE 2.
 51683 
 51684 London. The palace
 51685 
 51686 Enter the DUKE OF NORFOLK, the DUKE OF SUFFOLK, the EARL OF SURREY,
 51687 and the LORD CHAMBERLAIN
 51688 
 51689   NORFOLK. If you will now unite in your complaints
 51690     And force them with a constancy, the Cardinal
 51691     Cannot stand under them: if you omit
 51692     The offer of this time, I cannot promise
 51693     But that you shall sustain moe new disgraces
 51694     With these you bear already.
 51695   SURREY. I am joyful
 51696     To meet the least occasion that may give me
 51697     Remembrance of my father-in-law, the Duke,
 51698     To be reveng'd on him.
 51699   SUFFOLK. Which of the peers
 51700     Have uncontemn'd gone by him, or at least
 51701     Strangely neglected? When did he regard
 51702     The stamp of nobleness in any person
 51703     Out of himself?
 51704   CHAMBERLAIN. My lords, you speak your pleasures.
 51705     What he deserves of you and me I know;
 51706     What we can do to him-though now the time
 51707     Gives way to us-I much fear. If you cannot
 51708     Bar his access to th' King, never attempt
 51709     Anything on him; for he hath a witchcraft
 51710     Over the King in's tongue.
 51711   NORFOLK. O, fear him not!
 51712     His spell in that is out; the King hath found
 51713     Matter against him that for ever mars
 51714     The honey of his language. No, he's settled,
 51715     Not to come off, in his displeasure.
 51716   SURREY. Sir,
 51717     I should be glad to hear such news as this
 51718     Once every hour.
 51719   NORFOLK. Believe it, this is true:
 51720     In the divorce his contrary proceedings
 51721     Are all unfolded; wherein he appears
 51722     As I would wish mine enemy.
 51723   SURREY. How came
 51724     His practices to light?
 51725   SUFFOLK. Most Strangely.
 51726   SURREY. O, how, how?
 51727   SUFFOLK. The Cardinal's letters to the Pope miscarried,
 51728     And came to th' eye o' th' King; wherein was read
 51729     How that the Cardinal did entreat his Holiness
 51730     To stay the judgment o' th' divorce; for if
 51731     It did take place, 'I do' quoth he 'perceive
 51732     My king is tangled in affection to
 51733     A creature of the Queen's, Lady Anne Bullen.'
 51734   SURREY. Has the King this?
 51735   SUFFOLK. Believe it.
 51736   SURREY. Will this work?
 51737   CHAMBERLAIN. The King in this perceives him how he coasts
 51738     And hedges his own way. But in this point
 51739     All his tricks founder, and he brings his physic
 51740     After his patient's death: the King already
 51741     Hath married the fair lady.
 51742   SURREY. Would he had!
 51743   SUFFOLK. May you be happy in your wish, my lord!
 51744     For, I profess, you have it.
 51745   SURREY. Now, all my joy
 51746     Trace the conjunction!
 51747   SUFFOLK. My amen to't!
 51748   NORFOLK. An men's!
 51749   SUFFOLK. There's order given for her coronation;
 51750     Marry, this is yet but young, and may be left
 51751     To some ears unrecounted. But, my lords,
 51752     She is a gallant creature, and complete
 51753     In mind and feature. I persuade me from her
 51754     Will fall some blessing to this land, which shall
 51755     In it be memoriz'd.
 51756   SURREY. But will the King
 51757     Digest this letter of the Cardinal's?
 51758     The Lord forbid!
 51759   NORFOLK. Marry, amen!
 51760   SUFFOLK. No, no;
 51761     There be moe wasps that buzz about his nose
 51762     Will make this sting the sooner. Cardinal Campeius
 51763     Is stol'n away to Rome; hath ta'en no leave;
 51764     Has left the cause o' th' King unhandled, and
 51765     Is posted, as the agent of our Cardinal,
 51766     To second all his plot. I do assure you
 51767     The King cried 'Ha!' at this.
 51768   CHAMBERLAIN. Now, God incense him,
 51769     And let him cry 'Ha!' louder!
 51770   NORFOLK. But, my lord,
 51771     When returns Cranmer?
 51772   SUFFOLK. He is return'd in his opinions; which
 51773     Have satisfied the King for his divorce,
 51774     Together with all famous colleges
 51775     Almost in Christendom. Shortly, I believe,
 51776     His second marriage shall be publish'd, and
 51777     Her coronation. Katharine no more
 51778     Shall be call'd queen, but princess dowager
 51779     And widow to Prince Arthur.
 51780   NORFOLK. This same Cranmer's
 51781     A worthy fellow, and hath ta'en much pain
 51782     In the King's business.
 51783   SUFFOLK. He has; and we shall see him
 51784     For it an archbishop.
 51785   NORFOLK. So I hear.
 51786   SUFFOLK. 'Tis so.
 51787 
 51788         Enter WOLSEY and CROMWELL
 51789 
 51790     The Cardinal!
 51791   NORFOLK. Observe, observe, he's moody.
 51792   WOLSEY. The packet, Cromwell,
 51793     Gave't you the King?
 51794   CROMWELL. To his own hand, in's bedchamber.
 51795   WOLSEY. Look'd he o' th' inside of the paper?
 51796   CROMWELL. Presently
 51797     He did unseal them; and the first he view'd,
 51798     He did it with a serious mind; a heed
 51799     Was in his countenance. You he bade
 51800     Attend him here this morning.
 51801   WOLSEY. Is he ready
 51802     To come abroad?
 51803   CROMWELL. I think by this he is.
 51804   WOLSEY. Leave me awhile.                              Exit CROMWELL
 51805     [Aside]  It shall be to the Duchess of Alencon,
 51806     The French King's sister; he shall marry her.
 51807     Anne Bullen! No, I'll no Anne Bullens for him;
 51808     There's more in't than fair visage. Bullen!
 51809     No, we'll no Bullens. Speedily I wish
 51810     To hear from Rome. The Marchioness of Pembroke!
 51811   NORFOLK. He's discontented.
 51812   SUFFOLK. May be he hears the King
 51813     Does whet his anger to him.
 51814   SURREY. Sharp enough,
 51815     Lord, for thy justice!
 51816   WOLSEY.  [Aside]  The late Queen's gentlewoman, a knight's
 51817       daughter,
 51818     To be her mistress' mistress! The Queen's queen!
 51819     This candle burns not clear. 'Tis I must snuff it;
 51820     Then out it goes. What though I know her virtuous
 51821     And well deserving? Yet I know her for
 51822     A spleeny Lutheran; and not wholesome to
 51823     Our cause that she should lie i' th' bosom of
 51824     Our hard-rul'd King. Again, there is sprung up
 51825     An heretic, an arch one, Cranmer; one
 51826     Hath crawl'd into the favour of the King,
 51827     And is his oracle.
 51828   NORFOLK. He is vex'd at something.
 51829 
 51830         Enter the KING, reading of a schedule, and LOVELL
 51831 
 51832   SURREY. I would 'twere something that would fret the string,
 51833     The master-cord on's heart!
 51834   SUFFOLK. The King, the King!
 51835   KING. What piles of wealth hath he accumulated
 51836     To his own portion! And what expense by th' hour
 51837     Seems to flow from him! How, i' th' name of thrift,
 51838     Does he rake this together?-Now, my lords,
 51839     Saw you the Cardinal?
 51840   NORFOLK. My lord, we have
 51841     Stood here observing him. Some strange commotion
 51842     Is in his brain: he bites his lip and starts,
 51843     Stops on a sudden, looks upon the ground,
 51844     Then lays his finger on his temple; straight
 51845     Springs out into fast gait; then stops again,
 51846     Strikes his breast hard; and anon he casts
 51847     His eye against the moon. In most strange postures
 51848     We have seen him set himself.
 51849   KING. It may well be
 51850     There is a mutiny in's mind. This morning
 51851     Papers of state he sent me to peruse,
 51852     As I requir'd; and wot you what I found
 51853     There-on my conscience, put unwittingly?
 51854     Forsooth, an inventory, thus importing
 51855     The several parcels of his plate, his treasure,
 51856     Rich stuffs, and ornaments of household; which
 51857     I find at such proud rate that it outspeaks
 51858     Possession of a subject.
 51859   NORFOLK. It's heaven's will;
 51860     Some spirit put this paper in the packet
 51861     To bless your eye withal.
 51862   KING. If we did think
 51863     His contemplation were above the earth
 51864     And fix'd on spiritual object, he should still
 51865     dwell in his musings; but I am afraid
 51866     His thinkings are below the moon, not worth
 51867     His serious considering.
 51868                         [The KING takes his seat and whispers LOVELL,
 51869                                            who goes to the CARDINAL]
 51870   WOLSEY. Heaven forgive me!
 51871     Ever God bless your Highness!
 51872   KING. Good, my lord,
 51873     You are full of heavenly stuff, and bear the inventory
 51874     Of your best graces in your mind; the which
 51875     You were now running o'er. You have scarce time
 51876     To steal from spiritual leisure a brief span
 51877     To keep your earthly audit; sure, in that
 51878     I deem you an ill husband, and am glad
 51879     To have you therein my companion.
 51880   WOLSEY. Sir,
 51881     For holy offices I have a time; a time
 51882     To think upon the part of business which
 51883     I bear i' th' state; and nature does require
 51884     Her times of preservation, which perforce
 51885     I, her frail son, amongst my brethren mortal,
 51886     Must give my tendance to.
 51887   KING. You have said well.
 51888   WOLSEY. And ever may your Highness yoke together,
 51889     As I will lend you cause, my doing well
 51890     With my well saying!
 51891   KING. 'Tis well said again;
 51892     And 'tis a kind of good deed to say well;
 51893     And yet words are no deeds. My father lov'd you:
 51894     He said he did; and with his deed did crown
 51895     His word upon you. Since I had my office
 51896     I have kept you next my heart; have not alone
 51897     Employ'd you where high profits might come home,
 51898     But par'd my present havings to bestow
 51899     My bounties upon you.
 51900   WOLSEY.  [Aside]  What should this mean?
 51901   SURREY.  [Aside]  The Lord increase this business!
 51902   KING. Have I not made you
 51903     The prime man of the state? I pray you tell me
 51904     If what I now pronounce you have found true;
 51905     And, if you may confess it, say withal
 51906     If you are bound to us or no. What say you?
 51907   WOLSEY. My sovereign, I confess your royal graces,
 51908     Show'r'd on me daily, have been more than could
 51909     My studied purposes requite; which went
 51910     Beyond all man's endeavours. My endeavours,
 51911     Have ever come too short of my desires,
 51912     Yet fil'd with my abilities; mine own ends
 51913     Have been mine so that evermore they pointed
 51914     To th' good of your most sacred person and
 51915     The profit of the state. For your great graces
 51916     Heap'd upon me, poor undeserver, I
 51917     Can nothing render but allegiant thanks;
 51918     My pray'rs to heaven for you; my loyalty,
 51919     Which ever has and ever shall be growing,
 51920     Till death, that winter, kill it.
 51921   KING. Fairly answer'd!
 51922     A loyal and obedient subject is
 51923     Therein illustrated; the honour of it
 51924     Does pay the act of it, as, i' th' contrary,
 51925     The foulness is the punishment. I presume
 51926     That, as my hand has open'd bounty to you,
 51927     My heart dropp'd love, my pow'r rain'd honour, more
 51928     On you than any, so your hand and heart,
 51929     Your brain, and every function of your power,
 51930     Should, notwithstanding that your bond of duty,
 51931     As 'twere in love's particular, be more
 51932     To me, your friend, than any.
 51933   WOLSEY. I do profess
 51934     That for your Highness' good I ever labour'd
 51935     More than mine own; that am, have, and will be-
 51936     Though all the world should crack their duty to you,
 51937     And throw it from their soul; though perils did
 51938     Abound as thick as thought could make 'em, and
 51939     Appear in forms more horrid-yet my duty,
 51940     As doth a rock against the chiding flood,
 51941     Should the approach of this wild river break,
 51942     And stand unshaken yours.
 51943   KING. 'Tis nobly spoken.
 51944     Take notice, lords, he has a loyal breast,
 51945     For you have seen him open 't. Read o'er this;
 51946                                                   [Giving him papers]
 51947     And after, this; and then to breakfast with
 51948     What appetite you have.
 51949                 Exit the KING, frowning upon the CARDINAL; the NOBLES
 51950                              throng after him, smiling and whispering
 51951   WOLSEY. What should this mean?
 51952     What sudden anger's this? How have I reap'd it?
 51953     He parted frowning from me, as if ruin
 51954     Leap'd from his eyes; so looks the chafed lion
 51955     Upon the daring huntsman that has gall'd him-
 51956     Then makes him nothing. I must read this paper;
 51957     I fear, the story of his anger. 'Tis so;
 51958     This paper has undone me. 'Tis th' account
 51959     Of all that world of wealth I have drawn together
 51960     For mine own ends; indeed to gain the popedom,
 51961     And fee my friends in Rome. O negligence,
 51962     Fit for a fool to fall by! What cross devil
 51963     Made me put this main secret in the packet
 51964     I sent the King? Is there no way to cure this?
 51965     No new device to beat this from his brains?
 51966     I know 'twill stir him strongly; yet I know
 51967     A way, if it take right, in spite of fortune,
 51968     Will bring me off again. What's this? 'To th' Pope.'
 51969     The letter, as I live, with all the business
 51970     I writ to's Holiness. Nay then, farewell!
 51971     I have touch'd the highest point of all my greatness,
 51972     And from that full meridian of my glory
 51973     I haste now to my setting. I shall fall
 51974     Like a bright exhalation in the evening,
 51975     And no man see me more.
 51976 
 51977         Re-enter to WOLSEY the DUKES OF NORFOLK and
 51978         SUFFOLK, the EARL OF SURREY, and the LORD
 51979         CHAMBERLAIN
 51980 
 51981   NORFOLK. Hear the King's pleasure, Cardinal, who commands you
 51982     To render up the great seal presently
 51983     Into our hands, and to confine yourself
 51984     To Asher House, my Lord of Winchester's,
 51985     Till you hear further from his Highness.
 51986   WOLSEY. Stay:
 51987     Where's your commission, lords? Words cannot carry
 51988     Authority so weighty.
 51989   SUFFOLK. Who dares cross 'em,
 51990     Bearing the King's will from his mouth expressly?
 51991   WOLSEY. Till I find more than will or words to do it-
 51992     I mean your malice-know, officious lords,
 51993     I dare and must deny it. Now I feel
 51994     Of what coarse metal ye are moulded-envy;
 51995     How eagerly ye follow my disgraces,
 51996     As if it fed ye; and how sleek and wanton
 51997     Ye appear in every thing may bring my ruin!
 51998     Follow your envious courses, men of malice;
 51999     You have Christian warrant for 'em, and no doubt
 52000     In time will find their fit rewards. That seal
 52001     You ask with such a violence, the King-
 52002     Mine and your master-with his own hand gave me;
 52003     Bade me enjoy it, with the place and honours,
 52004     During my life; and, to confirm his goodness,
 52005     Tied it by letters-patents. Now, who'll take it?
 52006   SURREY. The King, that gave it.
 52007   WOLSEY. It must be himself then.
 52008   SURREY. Thou art a proud traitor, priest.
 52009   WOLSEY. Proud lord, thou liest.
 52010     Within these forty hours Surrey durst better
 52011     Have burnt that tongue than said so.
 52012   SURREY. Thy ambition,
 52013     Thou scarlet sin, robb'd this bewailing land
 52014     Of noble Buckingham, my father-in-law.
 52015     The heads of all thy brother cardinals,
 52016     With thee and all thy best parts bound together,
 52017     Weigh'd not a hair of his. Plague of your policy!
 52018     You sent me deputy for Ireland;
 52019     Far from his succour, from the King, from all
 52020     That might have mercy on the fault thou gav'st him;
 52021     Whilst your great goodness, out of holy pity,
 52022     Absolv'd him with an axe.
 52023   WOLSEY. This, and all else
 52024     This talking lord can lay upon my credit,
 52025     I answer is most false. The Duke by law
 52026     Found his deserts; how innocent I was
 52027     From any private malice in his end,
 52028     His noble jury and foul cause can witness.
 52029     If I lov'd many words, lord, I should tell you
 52030     You have as little honesty as honour,
 52031     That in the way of loyalty and truth
 52032     Toward the King, my ever royal master,
 52033     Dare mate a sounder man than Surrey can be
 52034     And an that love his follies.
 52035   SURREY. By my soul,
 52036     Your long coat, priest, protects you; thou shouldst feel
 52037     My sword i' the life-blood of thee else. My lords
 52038     Can ye endure to hear this arrogance?
 52039     And from this fellow? If we live thus tamely,
 52040     To be thus jaded by a piece of scarlet,
 52041     Farewell nobility! Let his Grace go forward
 52042     And dare us with his cap like larks.
 52043   WOLSEY. All goodness
 52044     Is poison to thy stomach.
 52045   SURREY. Yes, that goodness
 52046     Of gleaning all the land's wealth into one,
 52047     Into your own hands, Cardinal, by extortion;
 52048     The goodness of your intercepted packets
 52049     You writ to th' Pope against the King; your goodness,
 52050     Since you provoke me, shall be most notorious.
 52051     My Lord of Norfolk, as you are truly noble,
 52052     As you respect the common good, the state
 52053     Of our despis'd nobility, our issues,
 52054     Whom, if he live, will scarce be gentlemen-
 52055     Produce the grand sum of his sins, the articles
 52056     Collected from his life. I'll startle you
 52057     Worse than the sacring bell, when the brown wench
 52058     Lay kissing in your arms, Lord Cardinal.
 52059   WOLSEY. How much, methinks, I could despise this man,
 52060     But that I am bound in charity against it!
 52061   NORFOLK. Those articles, my lord, are in the King's hand;
 52062     But, thus much, they are foul ones.
 52063   WOLSEY. So much fairer
 52064     And spotless shall mine innocence arise,
 52065     When the King knows my truth.
 52066   SURREY. This cannot save you.
 52067     I thank my memory I yet remember
 52068     Some of these articles; and out they shall.
 52069     Now, if you can blush and cry guilty, Cardinal,
 52070     You'll show a little honesty.
 52071   WOLSEY. Speak on, sir;
 52072     I dare your worst objections. If I blush,
 52073     It is to see a nobleman want manners.
 52074   SURREY. I had rather want those than my head. Have at you!
 52075     First, that without the King's assent or knowledge
 52076     You wrought to be a legate; by which power
 52077     You maim'd the jurisdiction of all bishops.
 52078   NORFOLK. Then, that in all you writ to Rome, or else
 52079     To foreign princes, 'Ego et Rex meus'
 52080     Was still inscrib'd; in which you brought the King
 52081     To be your servant.
 52082   SUFFOLK. Then, that without the knowledge
 52083     Either of King or Council, when you went
 52084     Ambassador to the Emperor, you made bold
 52085     To carry into Flanders the great seal.
 52086   SURREY. Item, you sent a large commission
 52087     To Gregory de Cassado, to conclude,
 52088     Without the King's will or the state's allowance,
 52089     A league between his Highness and Ferrara.
 52090   SUFFOLK. That out of mere ambition you have caus'd
 52091     Your holy hat to be stamp'd on the King's coin.
 52092   SURREY. Then, that you have sent innumerable substance,
 52093     By what means got I leave to your own conscience,
 52094     To furnish Rome and to prepare the ways
 52095     You have for dignities, to the mere undoing
 52096     Of all the kingdom. Many more there are,
 52097     Which, since they are of you, and odious,
 52098     I will not taint my mouth with.
 52099   CHAMBERLAIN. O my lord,
 52100     Press not a falling man too far! 'Tis virtue.
 52101     His faults lie open to the laws; let them,
 52102     Not you, correct him. My heart weeps to see him
 52103     So little of his great self.
 52104   SURREY. I forgive him.
 52105   SUFFOLK. Lord Cardinal, the King's further pleasure is-
 52106     Because all those things you have done of late,
 52107     By your power legatine within this kingdom,
 52108     Fall into th' compass of a praemunire-
 52109     That therefore such a writ be sued against you:
 52110     To forfeit all your goods, lands, tenements,
 52111     Chattels, and whatsoever, and to be
 52112     Out of the King's protection. This is my charge.
 52113   NORFOLK. And so we'll leave you to your meditations
 52114     How to live better. For your stubborn answer
 52115     About the giving back the great seal to us,
 52116     The King shall know it, and, no doubt, shall thank you.
 52117     So fare you well, my little good Lord Cardinal.
 52118                                                 Exeunt all but WOLSEY
 52119   WOLSEY. So farewell to the little good you bear me.
 52120     Farewell, a long farewell, to all my greatness!
 52121     This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth
 52122     The tender leaves of hopes; to-morrow blossoms
 52123     And bears his blushing honours thick upon him;
 52124     The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,
 52125     And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
 52126     His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,
 52127     And then he falls, as I do. I have ventur'd,
 52128     Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders,
 52129     This many summers in a sea of glory;
 52130     But far beyond my depth. My high-blown pride
 52131     At length broke under me, and now has left me,
 52132     Weary and old with service, to the mercy
 52133     Of a rude stream, that must for ever hide me.
 52134     Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye;
 52135     I feel my heart new open'd. O, how wretched
 52136     Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favours!
 52137     There is betwixt that smile we would aspire to,
 52138     That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin
 52139     More pangs and fears than wars or women have;
 52140     And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,
 52141     Never to hope again.
 52142 
 52143          Enter CROMWELL, standing amazed
 52144 
 52145     Why, how now, Cromwell!
 52146   CROMWELL. I have no power to speak, sir.
 52147   WOLSEY. What, amaz'd
 52148     At my misfortunes? Can thy spirit wonder
 52149     A great man should decline? Nay, an you weep,
 52150     I am fall'n indeed.
 52151   CROMWELL. How does your Grace?
 52152   WOLSEY. Why, well;
 52153     Never so truly happy, my good Cromwell.
 52154     I know myself now, and I feel within me
 52155     A peace above all earthly dignities,
 52156     A still and quiet conscience. The King has cur'd me,
 52157     I humbly thank his Grace; and from these shoulders,
 52158     These ruin'd pillars, out of pity, taken
 52159     A load would sink a navy-too much honour.
 52160     O, 'tis a burden, Cromwell, 'tis a burden
 52161     Too heavy for a man that hopes for heaven!
 52162   CROMWELL. I am glad your Grace has made that right use of it.
 52163   WOLSEY. I hope I have. I am able now, methinks,
 52164     Out of a fortitude of soul I feel,
 52165     To endure more miseries and greater far
 52166     Than my weak-hearted enemies dare offer.
 52167     What news abroad?
 52168   CROMWELL. The heaviest and the worst
 52169     Is your displeasure with the King.
 52170   WOLSEY. God bless him!
 52171   CROMWELL. The next is that Sir Thomas More is chosen
 52172     Lord Chancellor in your place.
 52173   WOLSEY. That's somewhat sudden.
 52174     But he's a learned man. May he continue
 52175     Long in his Highness' favour, and do justice
 52176     For truth's sake and his conscience; that his bones
 52177     When he has run his course and sleeps in blessings,
 52178     May have a tomb of orphans' tears wept on him!
 52179     What more?
 52180   CROMWELL. That Cranmer is return'd with welcome,
 52181     Install'd Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.
 52182   WOLSEY. That's news indeed.
 52183   CROMWELL. Last, that the Lady Anne,
 52184     Whom the King hath in secrecy long married,
 52185     This day was view'd in open as his queen,
 52186     Going to chapel; and the voice is now
 52187     Only about her coronation.
 52188   WOLSEY. There was the weight that pull'd me down.
 52189       O Cromwell,
 52190     The King has gone beyond me. All my glories
 52191     In that one woman I have lost for ever.
 52192     No sun shall ever usher forth mine honours,
 52193     Or gild again the noble troops that waited
 52194     Upon my smiles. Go get thee from me, Cromwell;
 52195     I am a poor fall'n man, unworthy now
 52196     To be thy lord and master. Seek the King;
 52197     That sun, I pray, may never set! I have told him
 52198     What and how true thou art. He will advance thee;
 52199     Some little memory of me will stir him-
 52200     I know his noble nature-not to let
 52201     Thy hopeful service perish too. Good Cromwell,
 52202     Neglect him not; make use now, and provide
 52203     For thine own future safety.
 52204   CROMWELL. O my lord,
 52205     Must I then leave you? Must I needs forgo
 52206     So good, so noble, and so true a master?
 52207     Bear witness, all that have not hearts of iron,
 52208     With what a sorrow Cromwell leaves his lord.
 52209     The King shall have my service; but my prayers
 52210     For ever and for ever shall be yours.
 52211   WOLSEY. Cromwell, I did not think to shed a tear
 52212     In all my miseries; but thou hast forc'd me,
 52213     Out of thy honest truth, to play the woman.
 52214     Let's dry our eyes; and thus far hear me, Cromwell,
 52215     And when I am forgotten, as I shall be,
 52216     And sleep in dull cold marble, where no mention
 52217     Of me more must be heard of, say I taught thee-
 52218     Say Wolsey, that once trod the ways of glory,
 52219     And sounded all the depths and shoals of honour,
 52220     Found thee a way, out of his wreck, to rise in-
 52221     A sure and safe one, though thy master miss'd it.
 52222     Mark but my fall and that that ruin'd me.
 52223     Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition:
 52224     By that sin fell the angels. How can man then,
 52225     The image of his Maker, hope to win by it?
 52226     Love thyself last; cherish those hearts that hate thee;
 52227     Corruption wins not more than honesty.
 52228     Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace
 52229     To silence envious tongues. Be just, and fear not;
 52230     Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's,
 52231     Thy God's, and truth's; then, if thou fall'st, O Cromwell,
 52232     Thou fall'st a blessed martyr!
 52233     Serve the King, and-prithee lead me in.
 52234     There take an inventory of all I have
 52235     To the last penny; 'tis the King's. My robe,
 52236     And my integrity to heaven, is all
 52237     I dare now call mine own. O Cromwell, Cromwell!
 52238     Had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal
 52239     I serv'd my King, he would not in mine age
 52240     Have left me naked to mine enemies.
 52241   CROMWELL. Good sir, have patience.
 52242   WOLSEY. So I have. Farewell
 52243     The hopes of court! My hopes in heaven do dwell.           Exeunt
 52244 
 52245 
 52246 
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 52248 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
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 52256 
 52257 
 52258 
 52259 ACT IV. SCENE 1.
 52260 
 52261 A street in Westminster
 52262 
 52263 Enter two GENTLEMEN, meeting one another
 52264 
 52265   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Y'are well met once again.
 52266   SECOND GENTLEMAN. So are you.
 52267   FIRST GENTLEMAN. You come to take your stand here, and
 52268       behold
 52269     The Lady Anne pass from her coronation?
 52270   SECOND GENTLEMAN. 'Tis all my business. At our last encounter
 52271     The Duke of Buckingham came from his trial.
 52272   FIRST GENTLEMAN. 'Tis very true. But that time offer'd
 52273       sorrow;
 52274     This, general joy.
 52275   SECOND GENTLEMAN. 'Tis well. The citizens,
 52276     I am sure, have shown at full their royal minds-
 52277     As, let 'em have their rights, they are ever forward-
 52278     In celebration of this day with shows,
 52279     Pageants, and sights of honour.
 52280   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Never greater,
 52281     Nor, I'll assure you, better taken, sir.
 52282   SECOND GENTLEMAN. May I be bold to ask what that contains,
 52283     That paper in your hand?
 52284   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Yes; 'tis the list
 52285     Of those that claim their offices this day,
 52286     By custom of the coronation.
 52287     The Duke of Suffolk is the first, and claims
 52288     To be High Steward; next, the Duke of Norfolk,
 52289     He to be Earl Marshal. You may read the rest.
 52290   SECOND GENTLEMAN. I thank you, sir; had I not known
 52291       those customs,
 52292     I should have been beholding to your paper.
 52293     But, I beseech you, what's become of Katharine,
 52294     The Princess Dowager? How goes her business?
 52295   FIRST GENTLEMAN. That I can tell you too. The Archbishop
 52296     Of Canterbury, accompanied with other
 52297     Learned and reverend fathers of his order,
 52298     Held a late court at Dunstable, six miles of
 52299     From Ampthill, where the Princess lay; to which
 52300     She was often cited by them, but appear'd not.
 52301     And, to be short, for not appearance and
 52302     The King's late scruple, by the main assent
 52303     Of all these learned men, she was divorc'd,
 52304     And the late marriage made of none effect;
 52305     Since which she was removed to Kimbolton,
 52306     Where she remains now sick.
 52307   SECOND GENTLEMAN. Alas, good lady!                       [Trumpets]
 52308     The trumpets sound. Stand close, the Queen is coming.
 52309 [Hautboys]
 52310 
 52311               THE ORDER OF THE CORONATION.
 52312 
 52313     1. A lively flourish of trumpets.
 52314     2. Then two JUDGES.
 52315     3. LORD CHANCELLOR, with purse and mace before him.
 52316     4. CHORISTERS singing.                                    [Music]
 52317     5. MAYOR OF LONDON, bearing the mace. Then GARTER, in
 52318        his coat of arms, and on his head he wore a gilt copper
 52319        crown.
 52320     6. MARQUIS DORSET, bearing a sceptre of gold, on his head a
 52321        demi-coronal of gold. With him, the EARL OF SURREY,
 52322        bearing the rod of silver with the dove, crowned with an
 52323        earl's coronet. Collars of Esses.
 52324     7. DUKE OF SUFFOLK, in his robe of estate, his coronet on
 52325        his head, bearing a long white wand, as High Steward.
 52326        With him, the DUKE OF NORFOLK, with the rod of
 52327        marshalship, a coronet on his head. Collars of Esses.
 52328     8. A canopy borne by four of the CINQUE-PORTS; under it
 52329        the QUEEN in her robe; in her hair richly adorned with
 52330        pearl, crowned. On each side her, the BISHOPS OF LONDON
 52331        and WINCHESTER.
 52332     9. The old DUCHESS OF NORFOLK, in a coronal of gold
 52333        wrought with flowers, bearing the QUEEN'S train.
 52334    10. Certain LADIES or COUNTESSES, with plain circlets of gold
 52335        without flowers.
 52336 
 52337              Exeunt, first passing over the stage in order and state,
 52338                                 and then a great flourish of trumpets
 52339 
 52340   SECOND GENTLEMAN. A royal train, believe me. These know.
 52341     Who's that that bears the sceptre?
 52342   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Marquis Dorset;
 52343     And that the Earl of Surrey, with the rod.
 52344   SECOND GENTLEMAN. A bold brave gentleman. That should be
 52345     The Duke of Suffolk?
 52346   FIRST GENTLEMAN. 'Tis the same-High Steward.
 52347   SECOND GENTLEMAN. And that my Lord of Norfolk?
 52348   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Yes.
 52349   SECOND GENTLEMAN.  [Looking on the QUEEN]  Heaven
 52350       bless thee!
 52351     Thou hast the sweetest face I ever look'd on.
 52352     Sir, as I have a soul, she is an angel;
 52353     Our king has all the Indies in his arms,
 52354     And more and richer, when he strains that lady;
 52355     I cannot blame his conscience.
 52356   FIRST GENTLEMAN. They that bear
 52357     The cloth of honour over her are four barons
 52358     Of the Cinque-ports.
 52359   SECOND GENTLEMAN. Those men are happy; and so are all
 52360       are near her.
 52361     I take it she that carries up the train
 52362     Is that old noble lady, Duchess of Norfolk.
 52363   FIRST GENTLEMAN. It is; and all the rest are countesses.
 52364   SECOND GENTLEMAN. Their coronets say so. These are stars indeed,
 52365     And sometimes falling ones.
 52366   FIRST GENTLEMAN. No more of that.
 52367                    Exit Procession, with a great flourish of trumpets
 52368 
 52369                Enter a third GENTLEMAN
 52370 
 52371     God save you, sir! Where have you been broiling?
 52372   THIRD GENTLEMAN. Among the crowds i' th' Abbey, where a finger
 52373     Could not be wedg'd in more; I am stifled
 52374     With the mere rankness of their joy.
 52375   SECOND GENTLEMAN. You saw
 52376     The ceremony?
 52377   THIRD GENTLEMAN. That I did.
 52378   FIRST GENTLEMAN. How was it?
 52379   THIRD GENTLEMAN. Well worth the seeing.
 52380   SECOND GENTLEMAN. Good sir, speak it to us.
 52381   THIRD GENTLEMAN. As well as I am able. The rich stream
 52382     Of lords and ladies, having brought the Queen
 52383     To a prepar'd place in the choir, fell of
 52384     A distance from her, while her Grace sat down
 52385     To rest awhile, some half an hour or so,
 52386     In a rich chair of state, opposing freely
 52387     The beauty of her person to the people.
 52388     Believe me, sir, she is the goodliest woman
 52389     That ever lay by man; which when the people
 52390     Had the full view of, such a noise arose
 52391     As the shrouds make at sea in a stiff tempest,
 52392     As loud, and to as many tunes; hats, cloaks-
 52393     Doublets, I think-flew up, and had their faces
 52394     Been loose, this day they had been lost. Such joy
 52395     I never saw before. Great-bellied women,
 52396     That had not half a week to go, like rams
 52397     In the old time of war, would shake the press,
 52398     And make 'em reel before 'em. No man living
 52399     Could say 'This is my wife' there, all were woven
 52400     So strangely in one piece.
 52401   SECOND GENTLEMAN. But what follow'd?
 52402   THIRD GENTLEMAN. At length her Grace rose, and with
 52403       modest paces
 52404     Came to the altar, where she kneel'd, and saintlike
 52405     Cast her fair eyes to heaven, and pray'd devoutly.
 52406     Then rose again, and bow'd her to the people;
 52407     When by the Archbishop of Canterbury
 52408     She had all the royal makings of a queen:
 52409     As holy oil, Edward Confessor's crown,
 52410     The rod, and bird of peace, and all such emblems
 52411     Laid nobly on her; which perform'd, the choir,
 52412     With all the choicest music of the kingdom,
 52413     Together sung 'Te Deum.' So she parted,
 52414     And with the same full state pac'd back again
 52415     To York Place, where the feast is held.
 52416   FIRST GENTLEMAN. Sir,
 52417     You must no more call it York Place: that's past:
 52418     For since the Cardinal fell that title's lost.
 52419     'Tis now the King's, and called Whitehall.
 52420   THIRD GENTLEMAN. I know it;
 52421     But 'tis so lately alter'd that the old name
 52422     Is fresh about me.
 52423   SECOND GENTLEMAN. What two reverend bishops
 52424     Were those that went on each side of the Queen?
 52425   THIRD GENTLEMAN. Stokesly and Gardiner: the one of Winchester,
 52426     Newly preferr'd from the King's secretary;
 52427     The other, London.
 52428   SECOND GENTLEMAN. He of Winchester
 52429     Is held no great good lover of the Archbishop's,
 52430     The virtuous Cranmer.
 52431   THIRD GENTLEMAN. All the land knows that;
 52432     However, yet there is no great breach. When it comes,
 52433     Cranmer will find a friend will not shrink from him.
 52434   SECOND GENTLEMAN. Who may that be, I pray you?
 52435   THIRD GENTLEMAN. Thomas Cromwell,
 52436     A man in much esteem with th' King, and truly
 52437     A worthy friend. The King has made him Master
 52438     O' th' jewel House,
 52439     And one, already, of the Privy Council.
 52440   SECOND GENTLEMAN. He will deserve more.
 52441   THIRD GENTLEMAN. Yes, without all doubt.
 52442     Come, gentlemen, ye shall go my way, which
 52443     Is to th' court, and there ye shall be my guests:
 52444     Something I can command. As I walk thither,
 52445     I'll tell ye more.
 52446   BOTH. You may command us, sir.                               Exeunt
 52447 
 52448 
 52449 
 52450 
 52451 ACT IV. SCENE 2.
 52452 
 52453 Kimbolton
 52454 
 52455 Enter KATHARINE, Dowager, sick; led between GRIFFITH, her Gentleman Usher,
 52456 and PATIENCE, her woman
 52457 
 52458   GRIFFITH. How does your Grace?
 52459   KATHARINE. O Griffith, sick to death!
 52460     My legs like loaden branches bow to th' earth,
 52461     Willing to leave their burden. Reach a chair.
 52462     So-now, methinks, I feel a little ease.
 52463     Didst thou not tell me, Griffith, as thou led'st me,
 52464     That the great child of honour, Cardinal Wolsey,
 52465     Was dead?
 52466   GRIFFITH. Yes, madam; but I think your Grace,
 52467     Out of the pain you suffer'd, gave no ear to't.
 52468   KATHARINE. Prithee, good Griffith, tell me how he died.
 52469     If well, he stepp'd before me, happily,
 52470     For my example.
 52471   GRIFFITH. Well, the voice goes, madam;
 52472     For after the stout Earl Northumberland
 52473     Arrested him at York and brought him forward,
 52474     As a man sorely tainted, to his answer,
 52475     He fell sick suddenly, and grew so ill
 52476     He could not sit his mule.
 52477   KATHARINE. Alas, poor man!
 52478   GRIFFITH. At last, with easy roads, he came to Leicester,
 52479     Lodg'd in the abbey; where the reverend abbot,
 52480     With all his covent, honourably receiv'd him;
 52481     To whom he gave these words: 'O father Abbot,
 52482     An old man, broken with the storms of state,
 52483     Is come to lay his weary bones among ye;
 52484     Give him a little earth for charity!'
 52485     So went to bed; where eagerly his sickness
 52486     Pursu'd him still And three nights after this,
 52487     About the hour of eight-which he himself
 52488     Foretold should be his last-full of repentance,
 52489     Continual meditations, tears, and sorrows,
 52490     He gave his honours to the world again,
 52491     His blessed part to heaven, and slept in peace.
 52492   KATHARINE. So may he rest; his faults lie gently on him!
 52493     Yet thus far, Griffith, give me leave to speak him,
 52494     And yet with charity. He was a man
 52495     Of an unbounded stomach, ever ranking
 52496     Himself with princes; one that, by suggestion,
 52497     Tied all the kingdom. Simony was fair play;
 52498     His own opinion was his law. I' th' presence
 52499     He would say untruths, and be ever double
 52500     Both in his words and meaning. He was never,
 52501     But where he meant to ruin, pitiful.
 52502     His promises were, as he then was, mighty;
 52503     But his performance, as he is now, nothing.
 52504     Of his own body he was ill, and gave
 52505     The clergy ill example.
 52506   GRIFFITH. Noble madam,
 52507     Men's evil manners live in brass: their virtues
 52508     We write in water. May it please your Highness
 52509     To hear me speak his good now?
 52510   KATHARINE. Yes, good Griffith;
 52511     I were malicious else.
 52512   GRIFFITH. This Cardinal,
 52513     Though from an humble stock, undoubtedly
 52514     Was fashion'd to much honour from his cradle.
 52515     He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one;
 52516     Exceeding wise, fair-spoken, and persuading;
 52517     Lofty and sour to them that lov'd him not,
 52518     But to those men that sought him sweet as summer.
 52519     And though he were unsatisfied in getting-
 52520     Which was a sin-yet in bestowing, madam,
 52521     He was most princely: ever witness for him
 52522     Those twins of learning that he rais'd in you,
 52523     Ipswich and Oxford! One of which fell with him,
 52524     Unwilling to outlive the good that did it;
 52525     The other, though unfinish'd, yet so famous,
 52526     So excellent in art, and still so rising,
 52527     That Christendom shall ever speak his virtue.
 52528     His overthrow heap'd happiness upon him;
 52529     For then, and not till then, he felt himself,
 52530     And found the blessedness of being little.
 52531     And, to add greater honours to his age
 52532     Than man could give him, he died fearing God.
 52533   KATHARINE. After my death I wish no other herald,
 52534     No other speaker of my living actions,
 52535     To keep mine honour from corruption,
 52536     But such an honest chronicler as Griffith.
 52537     Whom I most hated living, thou hast made me,
 52538     With thy religious truth and modesty,
 52539     Now in his ashes honour. Peace be with him!
 52540     patience, be near me still, and set me lower:
 52541     I have not long to trouble thee. Good Griffith,
 52542     Cause the musicians play me that sad note
 52543     I nam'd my knell, whilst I sit meditating
 52544     On that celestial harmony I go to.
 52545                                               [Sad and solemn music]
 52546   GRIFFITH. She is asleep. Good wench, let's sit down quiet,
 52547     For fear we wake her. Softly, gentle Patience.
 52548 
 52549                  THE VISION.
 52550 
 52551       Enter, solemnly tripping one after another, six
 52552       PERSONAGES clad in white robes, wearing on their
 52553       heads garlands of bays, and golden vizards on their
 52554       faces; branches of bays or palm in their hands. They
 52555       first congee unto her, then dance; and, at certain
 52556       changes, the first two hold a spare garland over her
 52557       head, at which the other four make reverent curtsies.
 52558       Then the two that held the garland deliver the
 52559       same to the other next two, who observe the same
 52560       order in their changes, and holding the garland over
 52561       her head; which done, they deliver the same garland
 52562       to the last two, who likewise observe the same order;
 52563       at which, as it were by inspiration, she makes
 52564       in her sleep signs of rejoicing, and holdeth up her
 52565       hands to heaven. And so in their dancing vanish,
 52566       carrying the garland with them. The music continues
 52567 
 52568   KATHARINE. Spirits of peace, where are ye? Are ye all gone?
 52569     And leave me here in wretchedness behind ye?
 52570   GRIFFITH. Madam, we are here.
 52571   KATHARINE. It is not you I call for.
 52572     Saw ye none enter since I slept?
 52573   GRIFFITH. None, madam.
 52574   KATHARINE. No? Saw you not, even now, a blessed troop
 52575     Invite me to a banquet; whose bright faces
 52576     Cast thousand beams upon me, like the sun?
 52577     They promis'd me eternal happiness,
 52578     And brought me garlands, Griffith, which I feel
 52579     I am not worthy yet to wear. I shall, assuredly.
 52580   GRIFFITH. I am most joyful, madam, such good dreams
 52581     Possess your fancy.
 52582   KATHARINE. Bid the music leave,
 52583     They are harsh and heavy to me.                    [Music ceases]
 52584   PATIENCE. Do you note
 52585     How much her Grace is alter'd on the sudden?
 52586     How long her face is drawn! How pale she looks,
 52587     And of an earthly cold! Mark her eyes.
 52588   GRIFFITH. She is going, wench. Pray, pray.
 52589   PATIENCE. Heaven comfort her!
 52590 
 52591              Enter a MESSENGER
 52592 
 52593   MESSENGER. An't like your Grace-
 52594   KATHARINE. You are a saucy fellow.
 52595     Deserve we no more reverence?
 52596   GRIFFITH. You are to blame,
 52597     Knowing she will not lose her wonted greatness,
 52598     To use so rude behaviour. Go to, kneel.
 52599   MESSENGER. I humbly do entreat your Highness' pardon;
 52600     My haste made me unmannerly. There is staying
 52601     A gentleman, sent from the King, to see you.
 52602   KATHARINE. Admit him entrance, Griffith; but this fellow
 52603     Let me ne'er see again.                            Exit MESSENGER
 52604 
 52605               Enter LORD CAPUCIUS
 52606 
 52607     If my sight fail not,
 52608     You should be Lord Ambassador from the Emperor,
 52609     My royal nephew, and your name Capucius.
 52610   CAPUCIUS. Madam, the same-your servant.
 52611   KATHARINE. O, my Lord,
 52612     The times and titles now are alter'd strangely
 52613     With me since first you knew me. But, I pray you,
 52614     What is your pleasure with me?
 52615   CAPUCIUS. Noble lady,
 52616     First, mine own service to your Grace; the next,
 52617     The King's request that I would visit you,
 52618     Who grieves much for your weakness, and by me
 52619     Sends you his princely commendations
 52620     And heartily entreats you take good comfort.
 52621   KATHARINE. O my good lord, that comfort comes too late,
 52622     'Tis like a pardon after execution:
 52623     That gentle physic, given in time, had cur'd me;
 52624     But now I am past all comforts here, but prayers.
 52625     How does his Highness?
 52626   CAPUCIUS. Madam, in good health.
 52627   KATHARINE. So may he ever do! and ever flourish
 52628     When I shall dwell with worms, and my poor name
 52629     Banish'd the kingdom! Patience, is that letter
 52630     I caus'd you write yet sent away?
 52631   PATIENCE. No, madam.                       [Giving it to KATHARINE]
 52632   KATHARINE. Sir, I most humbly pray you to deliver
 52633     This to my lord the King.
 52634   CAPUCIUS. Most willing, madam.
 52635   KATHARINE. In which I have commended to his goodness
 52636     The model of our chaste loves, his young daughter-
 52637     The dews of heaven fall thick in blessings on her!-
 52638     Beseeching him to give her virtuous breeding-
 52639     She is young, and of a noble modest nature;
 52640     I hope she will deserve well-and a little
 52641     To love her for her mother's sake, that lov'd him,
 52642     Heaven knows how dearly. My next poor petition
 52643     Is that his noble Grace would have some pity
 52644     Upon my wretched women that so long
 52645     Have follow'd both my fortunes faithfully;
 52646     Of which there is not one, I dare avow-
 52647     And now I should not lie-but will deserve,
 52648     For virtue and true beauty of the soul,
 52649     For honesty and decent carriage,
 52650     A right good husband, let him be a noble;
 52651     And sure those men are happy that shall have 'em.
 52652     The last is for my men-they are the poorest,
 52653     But poverty could never draw 'em from me-
 52654     That they may have their wages duly paid 'em,
 52655     And something over to remember me by.
 52656     If heaven had pleas'd to have given me longer life
 52657     And able means, we had not parted thus.
 52658     These are the whole contents; and, good my lord,
 52659     By that you love the dearest in this world,
 52660     As you wish Christian peace to souls departed,
 52661     Stand these poor people's friend, and urge the King
 52662     To do me this last right.
 52663   CAPUCIUS. By heaven, I will,
 52664     Or let me lose the fashion of a man!
 52665   KATHARINE. I thank you, honest lord. Remember me
 52666     In all humility unto his Highness;
 52667     Say his long trouble now is passing
 52668     Out of this world. Tell him in death I bless'd him,
 52669     For so I will. Mine eyes grow dim. Farewell,
 52670     My lord. Griffith, farewell. Nay, Patience,
 52671     You must not leave me yet. I must to bed;
 52672     Call in more women. When I am dead, good wench,
 52673     Let me be us'd with honour; strew me over
 52674     With maiden flowers, that all the world may know
 52675     I was a chaste wife to my grave. Embalm me,
 52676     Then lay me forth; although unqueen'd, yet like
 52677     A queen, and daughter to a king, inter me.
 52678     I can no more.                          Exeunt, leading KATHARINE
 52679 
 52680 
 52681 
 52682 
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 52691 
 52692 
 52693 
 52694 ACT V. SCENE 1.
 52695 
 52696 London. A gallery in the palace
 52697 
 52698 Enter GARDINER, BISHOP OF WINCHESTER, a PAGE with a torch before him,
 52699 met by SIR THOMAS LOVELL
 52700 
 52701   GARDINER. It's one o'clock, boy, is't not?
 52702   BOY. It hath struck.
 52703   GARDINER. These should be hours for necessities,
 52704     Not for delights; times to repair our nature
 52705     With comforting repose, and not for us
 52706     To waste these times. Good hour of night, Sir Thomas!
 52707     Whither so late?
 52708   LOVELL. Came you from the King, my lord?
 52709   GARDINER. I did, Sir Thomas, and left him at primero
 52710     With the Duke of Suffolk.
 52711   LOVELL. I must to him too,
 52712     Before he go to bed. I'll take my leave.
 52713   GARDINER. Not yet, Sir Thomas Lovell. What's the matter?
 52714     It seems you are in haste. An if there be
 52715     No great offence belongs to't, give your friend
 52716     Some touch of your late business. Affairs that walk-
 52717     As they say spirits do-at midnight, have
 52718     In them a wilder nature than the business
 52719     That seeks despatch by day.
 52720   LOVELL. My lord, I love you;
 52721     And durst commend a secret to your ear
 52722     Much weightier than this work. The Queen's in labour,
 52723     They say in great extremity, and fear'd
 52724     She'll with the labour end.
 52725   GARDINER. The fruit she goes with
 52726     I pray for heartily, that it may find
 52727     Good time, and live; but for the stock, Sir Thomas,
 52728     I wish it grubb'd up now.
 52729   LOVELL. Methinks I could
 52730     Cry thee amen; and yet my conscience says
 52731     She's a good creature, and, sweet lady, does
 52732     Deserve our better wishes.
 52733   GARDINER. But, sir, sir-
 52734     Hear me, Sir Thomas. Y'are a gentleman
 52735     Of mine own way; I know you wise, religious;
 52736     And, let me tell you, it will ne'er be well-
 52737     'Twill not, Sir Thomas Lovell, take't of me-
 52738     Till Cranmer, Cromwell, her two hands, and she,
 52739     Sleep in their graves.
 52740   LOVELL. Now, sir, you speak of two
 52741     The most remark'd i' th' kingdom. As for Cromwell,
 52742     Beside that of the Jewel House, is made Master
 52743     O' th' Rolls, and the King's secretary; further, sir,
 52744     Stands in the gap and trade of moe preferments,
 52745     With which the time will load him. Th' Archbishop
 52746     Is the King's hand and tongue, and who dare speak
 52747     One syllable against him?
 52748   GARDINER. Yes, yes, Sir Thomas,
 52749     There are that dare; and I myself have ventur'd
 52750     To speak my mind of him; and indeed this day,
 52751     Sir-I may tell it you-I think I have
 52752     Incens'd the lords o' th' Council, that he is-
 52753     For so I know he is, they know he is-
 52754     A most arch heretic, a pestilence
 52755     That does infect the land; with which they moved
 52756     Have broken with the King, who hath so far
 52757     Given ear to our complaint-of his great grace
 52758     And princely care, foreseeing those fell mischiefs
 52759     Our reasons laid before him-hath commanded
 52760     To-morrow morning to the Council board
 52761     He be convented. He's a rank weed, Sir Thomas,
 52762     And we must root him out. From your affairs
 52763     I hinder you too long-good night, Sir Thomas.
 52764   LOVELL. Many good nights, my lord; I rest your servant.
 52765                                              Exeunt GARDINER and PAGE
 52766 
 52767          Enter the KING and the DUKE OF SUFFOLK
 52768 
 52769   KING. Charles, I will play no more to-night;
 52770     My mind's not on't; you are too hard for me.
 52771   SUFFOLK. Sir, I did never win of you before.
 52772   KING. But little, Charles;
 52773     Nor shall not, when my fancy's on my play.
 52774     Now, Lovell, from the Queen what is the news?
 52775   LOVELL. I could not personally deliver to her
 52776     What you commanded me, but by her woman
 52777     I sent your message; who return'd her thanks
 52778     In the great'st humbleness, and desir'd your Highness
 52779     Most heartily to pray for her.
 52780   KING. What say'st thou, ha?
 52781     To pray for her? What, is she crying out?
 52782   LOVELL. So said her woman; and that her suff'rance made
 52783     Almost each pang a death.
 52784   KING. Alas, good lady!
 52785   SUFFOLK. God safely quit her of her burden, and
 52786     With gentle travail, to the gladding of
 52787     Your Highness with an heir!
 52788   KING. 'Tis midnight, Charles;
 52789     Prithee to bed; and in thy pray'rs remember
 52790     Th' estate of my poor queen. Leave me alone,
 52791     For I must think of that which company
 52792     Will not be friendly to.
 52793   SUFFOLK. I wish your Highness
 52794     A quiet night, and my good mistress will
 52795     Remember in my prayers.
 52796   KING. Charles, good night.                             Exit SUFFOLK
 52797 
 52798          Enter SIR ANTHONY DENNY
 52799 
 52800     Well, sir, what follows?
 52801   DENNY. Sir, I have brought my lord the Archbishop,
 52802     As you commanded me.
 52803   KING. Ha! Canterbury?
 52804   DENNY. Ay, my good lord.
 52805   KING. 'Tis true. Where is he, Denny?
 52806   DENNY. He attends your Highness' pleasure.
 52807   KING. Bring him to us.                                   Exit DENNY
 52808   LOVELL.  [Aside]  This is about that which the bishop spake.
 52809     I am happily come hither.
 52810 
 52811          Re-enter DENNY, With CRANMER
 52812 
 52813   KING. Avoid the gallery.                     [LOVELL seems to stay]
 52814     Ha! I have said. Be gone.
 52815     What!                                     Exeunt LOVELL and DENNY
 52816   CRANMER.  [Aside]  I am fearful-wherefore frowns he thus?
 52817     'Tis his aspect of terror. All's not well.
 52818   KING. How now, my lord? You do desire to know
 52819     Wherefore I sent for you.
 52820   CRANMER.  [Kneeling]  It is my duty
 52821     T'attend your Highness' pleasure.
 52822   KING. Pray you, arise,
 52823     My good and gracious Lord of Canterbury.
 52824     Come, you and I must walk a turn together;
 52825     I have news to tell you; come, come, me your hand.
 52826     Ah, my good lord, I grieve at what I speak,
 52827     And am right sorry to repeat what follows.
 52828     I have, and most unwillingly, of late
 52829     Heard many grievous-I do say, my lord,
 52830     Grievous-complaints of you; which, being consider'd,
 52831     Have mov'd us and our Council that you shall
 52832     This morning come before us; where I know
 52833     You cannot with such freedom purge yourself
 52834     But that, till further trial in those charges
 52835     Which will require your answer, you must take
 52836     Your patience to you and be well contented
 52837     To make your house our Tow'r. You a brother of us,
 52838     It fits we thus proceed, or else no witness
 52839     Would come against you.
 52840   CRANMER. I humbly thank your Highness
 52841     And am right glad to catch this good occasion
 52842     Most throughly to be winnowed where my chaff
 52843     And corn shall fly asunder; for I know
 52844     There's none stands under more calumnious tongues
 52845     Than I myself, poor man.
 52846   KING. Stand up, good Canterbury;
 52847     Thy truth and thy integrity is rooted
 52848     In us, thy friend. Give me thy hand, stand up;
 52849     Prithee let's walk. Now, by my holidame,
 52850     What manner of man are you? My lord, I look'd
 52851     You would have given me your petition that
 52852     I should have ta'en some pains to bring together
 52853     Yourself and your accusers, and to have heard you
 52854     Without indurance further.
 52855   CRANMER. Most dread liege,
 52856     The good I stand on is my truth and honesty;
 52857     If they shall fail, I with mine enemies
 52858     Will triumph o'er my person; which I weigh not,
 52859     Being of those virtues vacant. I fear nothing
 52860     What can be said against me.
 52861   KING. Know you not
 52862     How your state stands i' th' world, with the whole world?
 52863     Your enemies are many, and not small; their practices
 52864     Must bear the same proportion; and not ever
 52865     The justice and the truth o' th' question carries
 52866     The due o' th' verdict with it; at what ease
 52867     Might corrupt minds procure knaves as corrupt
 52868     To swear against you? Such things have been done.
 52869     You are potently oppos'd, and with a malice
 52870     Of as great size. Ween you of better luck,
 52871     I mean in perjur'd witness, than your Master,
 52872     Whose minister you are, whiles here He liv'd
 52873     Upon this naughty earth? Go to, go to;
 52874     You take a precipice for no leap of danger,
 52875     And woo your own destruction.
 52876   CRANMER. God and your Majesty
 52877     Protect mine innocence, or I fall into
 52878     The trap is laid for me!
 52879   KING. Be of good cheer;
 52880     They shall no more prevail than we give way to.
 52881     Keep comfort to you, and this morning see
 52882     You do appear before them; if they shall chance,
 52883     In charging you with matters, to commit you,
 52884     The best persuasions to the contrary
 52885     Fail not to use, and with what vehemency
 52886     Th' occasion shall instruct you. If entreaties
 52887     Will render you no remedy, this ring
 52888     Deliver them, and your appeal to us
 52889     There make before them. Look, the good man weeps!
 52890     He's honest, on mine honour. God's blest Mother!
 52891     I swear he is true-hearted, and a soul
 52892     None better in my kingdom. Get you gone,
 52893     And do as I have bid you.
 52894                                                          Exit CRANMER
 52895     He has strangled his language in his tears.
 52896 
 52897            Enter OLD LADY
 52898 
 52899   GENTLEMAN.  [Within]  Come back; what mean you?
 52900   OLD LADY. I'll not come back; the tidings that I bring
 52901     Will make my boldness manners. Now, good angels
 52902     Fly o'er thy royal head, and shade thy person
 52903     Under their blessed wings!
 52904   KING. Now, by thy looks
 52905     I guess thy message. Is the Queen deliver'd?
 52906     Say ay, and of a boy.
 52907   OLD LADY. Ay, ay, my liege;
 52908     And of a lovely boy. The God of Heaven
 52909     Both now and ever bless her! 'Tis a girl,
 52910     Promises boys hereafter. Sir, your queen
 52911     Desires your visitation, and to be
 52912     Acquainted with this stranger; 'tis as like you
 52913     As cherry is to cherry.
 52914   KING. Lovell!
 52915 
 52916            Enter LOVELL
 52917 
 52918   LOVELL. Sir?
 52919   KING. Give her an hundred marks. I'll to the Queen.            Exit
 52920   OLD LADY. An hundred marks? By this light, I'll ha' more!
 52921     An ordinary groom is for such payment.
 52922     I will have more, or scold it out of him.
 52923     Said I for this the girl was like to him! I'll
 52924     Have more, or else unsay't; and now, while 'tis hot,
 52925     I'll put it to the issue.                                  Exeunt
 52926 
 52927 
 52928 
 52929 
 52930 ACT V. SCENE 2.
 52931 
 52932 Lobby before the Council Chamber
 52933 
 52934 Enter CRANMER, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
 52935 
 52936   CRANMER. I hope I am not too late; and yet the gentleman
 52937     That was sent to me from the Council pray'd me
 52938     To make great haste. All fast? What means this? Ho!
 52939     Who waits there? Sure you know me?
 52940 
 52941            Enter KEEPER
 52942 
 52943   KEEPER. Yes, my lord;
 52944     But yet I cannot help you.
 52945   CRANMER. Why?
 52946   KEEPER. Your Grace must wait till you be call'd for.
 52947 
 52948            Enter DOCTOR BUTTS
 52949 
 52950   CRANMER. So.
 52951   BUTTS.  [Aside]  This is a piece of malice. I am glad
 52952     I came this way so happily; the King
 52953     Shall understand it presently.                               Exit
 52954   CRANMER.  [Aside]  'Tis Butts,
 52955     The King's physician; as he pass'd along,
 52956     How earnestly he cast his eyes upon me!
 52957     Pray heaven he sound not my disgrace! For certain,
 52958     This is of purpose laid by some that hate me-
 52959     God turn their hearts! I never sought their malice-
 52960     To quench mine honour; they would shame to make me
 52961     Wait else at door, a fellow councillor,
 52962     'Mong boys, grooms, and lackeys. But their pleasures
 52963     Must be fulfill'd, and I attend with patience.
 52964 
 52965          Enter the KING and BUTTS at window above
 52966 
 52967   BUTTS. I'll show your Grace the strangest sight-
 52968   KING. What's that, Butts?
 52969   BUTTS. I think your Highness saw this many a day.
 52970   KING. Body a me, where is it?
 52971   BUTTS. There my lord:
 52972     The high promotion of his Grace of Canterbury;
 52973     Who holds his state at door, 'mongst pursuivants,
 52974     Pages, and footboys.
 52975   KING. Ha, 'tis he indeed.
 52976     Is this the honour they do one another?
 52977     'Tis well there's one above 'em yet. I had thought
 52978     They had parted so much honesty among 'em-
 52979     At least good manners-as not thus to suffer
 52980     A man of his place, and so near our favour,
 52981     To dance attendance on their lordships' pleasures,
 52982     And at the door too, like a post with packets.
 52983     By holy Mary, Butts, there's knavery!
 52984     Let 'em alone, and draw the curtain close;
 52985     We shall hear more anon.                                   Exeunt
 52986 
 52987 
 52988 
 52989 
 52990 ACT V. SCENE 3.
 52991 
 52992 The Council Chamber
 52993 
 52994 A Council table brought in, with chairs and stools, and placed
 52995 under the state. Enter LORD CHANCELLOR, places himself at the upper end
 52996 of the table on the left band, a seat being left void above him,
 52997 as for Canterbury's seat. DUKE OF SUFFOLK, DUKE OF NORFOLK, SURREY,
 52998 LORD CHAMBERLAIN, GARDINER, seat themselves in order on each side;
 52999 CROMWELL at lower end, as secretary. KEEPER at the door
 53000 
 53001   CHANCELLOR. Speak to the business, master secretary;
 53002     Why are we met in council?
 53003   CROMWELL. Please your honours,
 53004     The chief cause concerns his Grace of Canterbury.
 53005   GARDINER. Has he had knowledge of it?
 53006   CROMWELL. Yes.
 53007   NORFOLK. Who waits there?
 53008   KEEPER. Without, my noble lords?
 53009   GARDINER. Yes.
 53010   KEEPER. My Lord Archbishop;
 53011     And has done half an hour, to know your pleasures.
 53012   CHANCELLOR. Let him come in.
 53013   KEEPER. Your Grace may enter now.
 53014 
 53015       CRANMER approaches the Council table
 53016 
 53017   CHANCELLOR. My good Lord Archbishop, I am very sorry
 53018     To sit here at this present, and behold
 53019     That chair stand empty; but we all are men,
 53020     In our own natures frail and capable
 53021     Of our flesh; few are angels; out of which frailty
 53022     And want of wisdom, you, that best should teach us,
 53023     Have misdemean'd yourself, and not a little,
 53024     Toward the King first, then his laws, in filling
 53025     The whole realm by your teaching and your chaplains-
 53026     For so we are inform'd-with new opinions,
 53027     Divers and dangerous; which are heresies,
 53028     And, not reform'd, may prove pernicious.
 53029   GARDINER. Which reformation must be sudden too,
 53030     My noble lords; for those that tame wild horses
 53031     Pace 'em not in their hands to make 'em gentle,
 53032     But stop their mouth with stubborn bits and spur 'em
 53033     Till they obey the manage. If we suffer,
 53034     Out of our easiness and childish pity
 53035     To one man's honour, this contagious sickness,
 53036     Farewell all physic; and what follows then?
 53037     Commotions, uproars, with a general taint
 53038     Of the whole state; as of late days our neighbours,
 53039     The upper Germany, can dearly witness,
 53040     Yet freshly pitied in our memories.
 53041   CRANMER. My good lords, hitherto in all the progress
 53042     Both of my life and office, I have labour'd,
 53043     And with no little study, that my teaching
 53044     And the strong course of my authority
 53045     Might go one way, and safely; and the end
 53046     Was ever to do well. Nor is there living-
 53047     I speak it with a single heart, my lords-
 53048     A man that more detests, more stirs against,
 53049     Both in his private conscience and his place,
 53050     Defacers of a public peace than I do.
 53051     Pray heaven the King may never find a heart
 53052     With less allegiance in it! Men that make
 53053     Envy and crooked malice nourishment
 53054     Dare bite the best. I do beseech your lordships
 53055     That, in this case of justice, my accusers,
 53056     Be what they will, may stand forth face to face
 53057     And freely urge against me.
 53058   SUFFOLK. Nay, my lord,
 53059     That cannot be; you are a councillor,
 53060     And by that virtue no man dare accuse you.
 53061   GARDINER. My lord, because we have business of more moment,
 53062     We will be short with you. 'Tis his Highness' pleasure
 53063     And our consent, for better trial of you,
 53064     From hence you be committed to the Tower;
 53065     Where, being but a private man again,
 53066     You shall know many dare accuse you boldly,
 53067     More than, I fear, you are provided for.
 53068   CRANMER. Ah, my good Lord of Winchester, I thank you;
 53069     You are always my good friend; if your will pass,
 53070     I shall both find your lordship judge and juror,
 53071     You are so merciful. I see your end-
 53072     'Tis my undoing. Love and meekness, lord,
 53073     Become a churchman better than ambition;
 53074     Win straying souls with modesty again,
 53075     Cast none away. That I shall clear myself,
 53076     Lay all the weight ye can upon my patience,
 53077     I make as little doubt as you do conscience
 53078     In doing daily wrongs. I could say more,
 53079     But reverence to your calling makes me modest.
 53080   GARDINER. My lord, my lord, you are a sectary;
 53081     That's the plain truth. Your painted gloss discovers,
 53082     To men that understand you, words and weakness.
 53083   CROMWELL. My Lord of Winchester, y'are a little,
 53084     By your good favour, too sharp; men so noble,
 53085     However faulty, yet should find respect
 53086     For what they have been; 'tis a cruelty
 53087     To load a falling man.
 53088   GARDINER. Good Master Secretary,
 53089     I cry your honour mercy; you may, worst
 53090     Of all this table, say so.
 53091   CROMWELL. Why, my lord?
 53092   GARDINER. Do not I know you for a favourer
 53093     Of this new sect? Ye are not sound.
 53094   CROMWELL. Not sound?
 53095   GARDINER. Not sound, I say.
 53096   CROMWELL. Would you were half so honest!
 53097     Men's prayers then would seek you, not their fears.
 53098   GARDINER. I shall remember this bold language.
 53099   CROMWELL. Do.
 53100     Remember your bold life too.
 53101   CHANCELLOR. This is too much;
 53102     Forbear, for shame, my lords.
 53103   GARDINER. I have done.
 53104   CROMWELL. And I.
 53105   CHANCELLOR. Then thus for you, my lord: it stands agreed,
 53106     I take it, by all voices, that forthwith
 53107     You be convey'd to th' Tower a prisoner;
 53108     There to remain till the King's further pleasure
 53109     Be known unto us. Are you all agreed, lords?
 53110   ALL. We are.
 53111   CRANMER. Is there no other way of mercy,
 53112     But I must needs to th' Tower, my lords?
 53113   GARDINER. What other
 53114     Would you expect? You are strangely troublesome.
 53115     Let some o' th' guard be ready there.
 53116 
 53117            Enter the guard
 53118 
 53119   CRANMER. For me?
 53120     Must I go like a traitor thither?
 53121   GARDINER. Receive him,
 53122     And see him safe i' th' Tower.
 53123   CRANMER. Stay, good my lords,
 53124     I have a little yet to say. Look there, my lords;
 53125     By virtue of that ring I take my cause
 53126     Out of the gripes of cruel men and give it
 53127     To a most noble judge, the King my master.
 53128   CHAMBERLAIN. This is the King's ring.
 53129   SURREY. 'Tis no counterfeit.
 53130   SUFFOLK. 'Tis the right ring, by heav'n. I told ye all,
 53131     When we first put this dangerous stone a-rolling,
 53132     'Twould fall upon ourselves.
 53133   NORFOLK. Do you think, my lords,
 53134     The King will suffer but the little finger
 53135     Of this man to be vex'd?
 53136   CHAMBERLAIN. 'Tis now too certain;
 53137     How much more is his life in value with him!
 53138     Would I were fairly out on't!
 53139   CROMWELL. My mind gave me,
 53140     In seeking tales and informations
 53141     Against this man-whose honesty the devil
 53142     And his disciples only envy at-
 53143     Ye blew the fire that burns ye. Now have at ye!
 53144 
 53145       Enter the KING frowning on them; he takes his seat
 53146 
 53147   GARDINER. Dread sovereign, how much are we bound to heaven
 53148     In daily thanks, that gave us such a prince;
 53149     Not only good and wise but most religious;
 53150     One that in all obedience makes the church
 53151     The chief aim of his honour and, to strengthen
 53152     That holy duty, out of dear respect,
 53153     His royal self in judgment comes to hear
 53154     The cause betwixt her and this great offender.
 53155   KING. You were ever good at sudden commendations,
 53156     Bishop of Winchester. But know I come not
 53157     To hear such flattery now, and in my presence
 53158     They are too thin and bare to hide offences.
 53159     To me you cannot reach you play the spaniel,
 53160     And think with wagging of your tongue to win me;
 53161     But whatsoe'er thou tak'st me for, I'm sure
 53162     Thou hast a cruel nature and a bloody.
 53163     [To CRANMER]  Good man, sit down. Now let me see the proudest
 53164     He that dares most but wag his finger at thee.
 53165     By all that's holy, he had better starve
 53166     Than but once think this place becomes thee not.
 53167   SURREY. May it please your Grace-
 53168   KING. No, sir, it does not please me.
 53169     I had thought I had had men of some understanding
 53170     And wisdom of my Council; but I find none.
 53171     Was it discretion, lords, to let this man,
 53172     This good man-few of you deserve that title-
 53173     This honest man, wait like a lousy footboy
 53174     At chamber door? and one as great as you are?
 53175     Why, what a shame was this! Did my commission
 53176     Bid ye so far forget yourselves? I gave ye
 53177     Power as he was a councillor to try him,
 53178     Not as a groom. There's some of ye, I see,
 53179     More out of malice than integrity,
 53180     Would try him to the utmost, had ye mean;
 53181     Which ye shall never have while I live.
 53182   CHANCELLOR. Thus far,
 53183     My most dread sovereign, may it like your Grace
 53184     To let my tongue excuse all. What was purpos'd
 53185     concerning his imprisonment was rather-
 53186     If there be faith in men-meant for his trial
 53187     And fair purgation to the world, than malice,
 53188     I'm sure, in me.
 53189   KING. Well, well, my lords, respect him;
 53190     Take him, and use him well, he's worthy of it.
 53191     I will say thus much for him: if a prince
 53192     May be beholding to a subject,
 53193     Am for his love and service so to him.
 53194     Make me no more ado, but all embrace him;
 53195     Be friends, for shame, my lords! My Lord of Canterbury,
 53196     I have a suit which you must not deny me:
 53197     That is, a fair young maid that yet wants baptism;
 53198     You must be godfather, and answer for her.
 53199   CRANMER. The greatest monarch now alive may glory
 53200     In such an honour; how may I deserve it,
 53201     That am a poor and humble subject to you?
 53202   KING. Come, come, my lord, you'd spare your spoons. You
 53203       shall have
 53204     Two noble partners with you: the old Duchess of Norfolk
 53205     And Lady Marquis Dorset. Will these please you?
 53206     Once more, my Lord of Winchester, I charge you,
 53207     Embrace and love this man.
 53208   GARDINER. With a true heart
 53209     And brother-love I do it.
 53210   CRANMER. And let heaven
 53211     Witness how dear I hold this confirmation.
 53212   KING. Good man, those joyful tears show thy true heart.
 53213     The common voice, I see, is verified
 53214     Of thee, which says thus: 'Do my Lord of Canterbury
 53215     A shrewd turn and he's your friend for ever.'
 53216     Come, lords, we trifle time away; I long
 53217     To have this young one made a Christian.
 53218     As I have made ye one, lords, one remain;
 53219     So I grow stronger, you more honour gain.                  Exeunt
 53220 
 53221 
 53222 
 53223 
 53224 ACT V. SCENE 4.
 53225 
 53226 The palace yard
 53227 
 53228 Noise and tumult within. Enter PORTER and his MAN
 53229 
 53230   PORTER. You'll leave your noise anon, ye rascals. Do you
 53231     take the court for Paris garden? Ye rude slaves, leave your
 53232     gaping.
 53233     [Within: Good master porter, I belong to th' larder.]
 53234   PORTER. Belong to th' gallows, and be hang'd, ye rogue! Is
 53235     this a place to roar in? Fetch me a dozen crab-tree staves,
 53236     and strong ones; these are but switches to 'em. I'll scratch
 53237     your heads. You must be seeing christenings? Do you look
 53238     for ale and cakes here, you rude rascals?
 53239   MAN. Pray, sir, be patient; 'tis as much impossible,
 53240     Unless we sweep 'em from the door with cannons,
 53241     To scatter 'em as 'tis to make 'em sleep
 53242     On May-day morning; which will never be.
 53243     We may as well push against Paul's as stir 'em.
 53244   PORTER. How got they in, and be hang'd?
 53245   MAN. Alas, I know not: how gets the tide in?
 53246     As much as one sound cudgel of four foot-
 53247     You see the poor remainder-could distribute,
 53248     I made no spare, sir.
 53249   PORTER. You did nothing, sir.
 53250   MAN. I am not Samson, nor Sir Guy, nor Colbrand,
 53251     To mow 'em down before me; but if I spar'd any
 53252     That had a head to hit, either young or old,
 53253     He or she, cuckold or cuckold-maker,
 53254     Let me ne'er hope to see a chine again;
 53255     And that I would not for a cow, God save her!
 53256     [ Within: Do you hear, master porter?]
 53257   PORTER. I shall be with you presently, good master puppy.
 53258     Keep the door close, sirrah.
 53259   MAN. What would you have me do?
 53260   PORTER. What should you do, but knock 'em down by th'
 53261     dozens? Is this Moorfields to muster in? Or have we some
 53262     strange Indian with the great tool come to court, the
 53263     women so besiege us? Bless me, what a fry of fornication
 53264     is at door! On my Christian conscience, this one christening
 53265     will beget a thousand: here will be father, godfather,
 53266     and all together.
 53267   MAN. The spoons will be the bigger, sir. There is a fellow
 53268     somewhat near the door, he should be a brazier by his
 53269     face, for, o' my conscience, twenty of the dog-days now
 53270     reign in's nose; all that stand about him are under the line,
 53271     they need no other penance. That fire-drake did I hit three
 53272     times on the head, and three times was his nose discharged
 53273     against me; he stands there like a mortar-piece, to blow us.
 53274     There was a haberdasher's wife of small wit near him, that
 53275     rail'd upon me till her pink'd porringer fell off her head,
 53276     for kindling such a combustion in the state. I miss'd the
 53277     meteor once, and hit that woman, who cried out 'Clubs!'
 53278     when I might see from far some forty truncheoners draw
 53279     to her succour, which were the hope o' th' Strand, where
 53280     she was quartered. They fell on; I made good my place.
 53281     At length they came to th' broomstaff to me; I defied 'em
 53282     still; when suddenly a file of boys behind 'em, loose shot,
 53283     deliver'd such a show'r of pebbles that I was fain to draw
 53284     mine honour in and let 'em win the work: the devil was
 53285     amongst 'em, I think surely.
 53286   PORTER. These are the youths that thunder at a playhouse
 53287     and fight for bitten apples; that no audience but the tribulation
 53288     of Tower-hill or the limbs of Limehouse, their dear
 53289     brothers, are able to endure. I have some of 'em in Limbo
 53290     Patrum, and there they are like to dance these three days;
 53291     besides the running banquet of two beadles that is to come.
 53292 
 53293           Enter the LORD CHAMBERLAIN
 53294 
 53295   CHAMBERLAIN. Mercy o' me, what a multitude are here!
 53296     They grow still too; from all parts they are coming,
 53297     As if we kept a fair here! Where are these porters,
 53298     These lazy knaves? Y'have made a fine hand, fellows.
 53299     There's a trim rabble let in: are all these
 53300     Your faithful friends o' th' suburbs? We shall have
 53301     Great store of room, no doubt, left for the ladies,
 53302     When they pass back from the christening.
 53303   PORTER. An't please your honour,
 53304     We are but men; and what so many may do,
 53305     Not being torn a pieces, we have done.
 53306     An army cannot rule 'em.
 53307   CHAMBERLAIN. As I live,
 53308     If the King blame me for't, I'll lay ye an
 53309     By th' heels, and suddenly; and on your heads
 53310     Clap round fines for neglect. Y'are lazy knaves;
 53311     And here ye lie baiting of bombards, when
 53312     Ye should do service. Hark! the trumpets sound;
 53313     Th' are come already from the christening.
 53314     Go break among the press and find a way out
 53315     To let the troops pass fairly, or I'll find
 53316     A Marshalsea shall hold ye play these two months.
 53317   PORTER. Make way there for the Princess.
 53318   MAN. You great fellow,
 53319     Stand close up, or I'll make your head ache.
 53320   PORTER. You i' th' camlet, get up o' th' rail;
 53321     I'll peck you o'er the pales else.                         Exeunt
 53322 
 53323 
 53324 
 53325 
 53326 ACT V. SCENE 5.
 53327 
 53328 The palace
 53329 
 53330 Enter TRUMPETS, sounding; then two ALDERMEN, LORD MAYOR, GARTER, CRANMER,
 53331 DUKE OF NORFOLK, with his marshal's staff, DUKE OF SUFFOLK,
 53332 two Noblemen bearing great standing-bowls for the christening gifts;
 53333 then four Noblemen bearing a canopy, under which the DUCHESS OF NORFOLK,
 53334 godmother, bearing the CHILD richly habited in a mantle, etc.,
 53335 train borne by a LADY; then follows the MARCHIONESS DORSET,
 53336 the other godmother, and LADIES. The troop pass once about the stage,
 53337 and GARTER speaks
 53338 
 53339   GARTER. Heaven, from thy endless goodness, send prosperous
 53340     life, long and ever-happy, to the high and mighty
 53341     Princess of England, Elizabeth!
 53342 
 53343            Flourish. Enter KING and guard
 53344 
 53345   CRANMER.  [Kneeling]  And to your royal Grace and the
 53346       good Queen!
 53347     My noble partners and myself thus pray:
 53348     All comfort, joy, in this most gracious lady,
 53349     Heaven ever laid up to make parents happy,
 53350     May hourly fall upon ye!
 53351   KING. Thank you, good Lord Archbishop.
 53352     What is her name?
 53353   CRANMER. Elizabeth.
 53354   KING. Stand up, lord.                   [The KING kisses the child]
 53355     With this kiss take my blessing: God protect thee!
 53356     Into whose hand I give thy life.
 53357   CRANMER. Amen.
 53358   KING. My noble gossips, y'have been too prodigal;
 53359     I thank ye heartily. So shall this lady,
 53360     When she has so much English.
 53361   CRANMER. Let me speak, sir,
 53362     For heaven now bids me; and the words I utter
 53363     Let none think flattery, for they'll find 'em truth.
 53364     This royal infant-heaven still move about her!-
 53365     Though in her cradle, yet now promises
 53366     Upon this land a thousand blessings,
 53367     Which time shall bring to ripeness. She shall be-
 53368     But few now living can behold that goodness-
 53369     A pattern to all princes living with her,
 53370     And all that shall succeed. Saba was never
 53371     More covetous of wisdom and fair virtue
 53372     Than this pure soul shall be. All princely graces
 53373     That mould up such a mighty piece as this is,
 53374     With all the virtues that attend the good,
 53375     Shall still be doubled on her. Truth shall nurse her,
 53376     Holy and heavenly thoughts still counsel her;
 53377     She shall be lov'd and fear'd. Her own shall bless her:
 53378     Her foes shake like a field of beaten corn,
 53379     And hang their heads with sorrow. Good grows with her;
 53380     In her days every man shall eat in safety
 53381     Under his own vine what he plants, and sing
 53382     The merry songs of peace to all his neighbours.
 53383     God shall be truly known; and those about her
 53384     From her shall read the perfect ways of honour,
 53385     And by those claim their greatness, not by blood.
 53386     Nor shall this peace sleep with her; but as when
 53387     The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix
 53388     Her ashes new create another heir
 53389     As great in admiration as herself,
 53390     So shall she leave her blessedness to one-
 53391     When heaven shall call her from this cloud of darkness-
 53392     Who from the sacred ashes of her honour
 53393     Shall star-like rise, as great in fame as she was,
 53394     And so stand fix'd. Peace, plenty, love, truth, terror,
 53395     That were the servants to this chosen infant,
 53396     Shall then be his, and like a vine grow to him;
 53397     Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine,
 53398     His honour and the greatness of his name
 53399     Shall be, and make new nations; he shall flourish,
 53400     And like a mountain cedar reach his branches
 53401     To all the plains about him; our children's children
 53402     Shall see this and bless heaven.
 53403   KING. Thou speakest wonders.
 53404   CRANMER. She shall be, to the happiness of England,
 53405     An aged princess; many days shall see her,
 53406     And yet no day without a deed to crown it.
 53407     Would I had known no more! But she must die-
 53408     She must, the saints must have her-yet a virgin;
 53409     A most unspotted lily shall she pass
 53410     To th' ground, and all the world shall mourn her.
 53411   KING. O Lord Archbishop,
 53412     Thou hast made me now a man; never before
 53413     This happy child did I get anything.
 53414     This oracle of comfort has so pleas'd me
 53415     That when I am in heaven I shall desire
 53416     To see what this child does, and praise my Maker.
 53417     I thank ye all. To you, my good Lord Mayor,
 53418     And you, good brethren, I am much beholding;
 53419     I have receiv'd much honour by your presence,
 53420     And ye shall find me thankful. Lead the way, lords;
 53421     Ye must all see the Queen, and she must thank ye,
 53422     She will be sick else. This day, no man think
 53423     Has business at his house; for all shall stay.
 53424     This little one shall make it holiday.                     Exeunt
 53425 
 53426 KING_HENRY_VIII|EPILOGUE
 53427               THE EPILOGUE.
 53428 
 53429     'Tis ten to one this play can never please
 53430     All that are here. Some come to take their ease
 53431     And sleep an act or two; but those, we fear,
 53432     W'have frighted with our trumpets; so, 'tis clear,
 53433     They'll say 'tis nought; others to hear the city
 53434     Abus'd extremely, and to cry 'That's witty!'
 53435     Which we have not done neither; that, I fear,
 53436     All the expected good w'are like to hear
 53437     For this play at this time is only in
 53438     The merciful construction of good women;
 53439     For such a one we show'd 'em. If they smile
 53440     And say 'twill do, I know within a while
 53441     All the best men are ours; for 'tis ill hap
 53442     If they hold when their ladies bid 'em clap.
 53443 
 53444 THE END
 53445 
 53446 
 53447 
 53448 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 53449 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 53450 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 53451 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
 53452 DISTRIBUTED SO LONG AS SUCH COPIES (1) ARE FOR YOUR OR OTHERS
 53453 PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND (2) ARE NOT DISTRIBUTED OR USED
 53454 COMMERCIALLY.  PROHIBITED COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION INCLUDES BY ANY
 53455 SERVICE THAT CHARGES FOR DOWNLOAD TIME OR FOR MEMBERSHIP.>>
 53456 
 53457 
 53458 
 53459 
 53460 
 53461 1597
 53462 
 53463 KING JOHN
 53464 
 53465 by William Shakespeare
 53466 
 53467 
 53468 
 53469 DRAMATIS PERSONAE
 53470 
 53471     KING JOHN
 53472     PRINCE HENRY, his son
 53473     ARTHUR, DUKE OF BRITAINE, son of Geffrey, late Duke of
 53474       Britaine, the elder brother of King John
 53475     EARL OF PEMBROKE
 53476     EARL OF ESSEX
 53477     EARL OF SALISBURY
 53478     LORD BIGOT
 53479     HUBERT DE BURGH
 53480     ROBERT FAULCONBRIDGE, son to Sir Robert Faulconbridge
 53481     PHILIP THE BASTARD, his half-brother
 53482     JAMES GURNEY, servant to Lady Faulconbridge
 53483     PETER OF POMFRET, a prophet
 53484 
 53485     KING PHILIP OF FRANCE
 53486     LEWIS, the Dauphin
 53487     LYMOGES, Duke of Austria
 53488     CARDINAL PANDULPH, the Pope's legate
 53489     MELUN, a French lord
 53490     CHATILLON, ambassador from France to King John
 53491 
 53492     QUEEN ELINOR, widow of King Henry II and mother to
 53493       King John
 53494     CONSTANCE, Mother to Arthur
 53495     BLANCH OF SPAIN, daughter to the King of Castile
 53496       and niece to King John
 53497     LADY FAULCONBRIDGE, widow of Sir Robert Faulconbridge
 53498 
 53499     Lords, Citizens of Angiers, Sheriff, Heralds, Officers,
 53500       Soldiers, Executioners, Messengers, Attendants
 53501 
 53502 
 53503 
 53504 
 53505 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 53506 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 53507 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 53508 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
 53509 DISTRIBUTED SO LONG AS SUCH COPIES (1) ARE FOR YOUR OR OTHERS
 53510 PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND (2) ARE NOT DISTRIBUTED OR USED
 53511 COMMERCIALLY.  PROHIBITED COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION INCLUDES BY ANY
 53512 SERVICE THAT CHARGES FOR DOWNLOAD TIME OR FOR MEMBERSHIP.>>
 53513 
 53514 
 53515 
 53516 SCENE:
 53517 England and France
 53518 
 53519 
 53520 
 53521 ACT I. SCENE 1
 53522 
 53523 KING JOHN's palace
 53524 
 53525 Enter KING JOHN, QUEEN ELINOR, PEMBROKE, ESSEX, SALISBURY, and others,
 53526 with CHATILLON
 53527 
 53528   KING JOHN. Now, say, Chatillon, what would France with us?
 53529   CHATILLON. Thus, after greeting, speaks the King of France
 53530     In my behaviour to the majesty,
 53531     The borrowed majesty, of England here.
 53532   ELINOR. A strange beginning- 'borrowed majesty'!
 53533   KING JOHN. Silence, good mother; hear the embassy.
 53534   CHATILLON. Philip of France, in right and true behalf
 53535     Of thy deceased brother Geffrey's son,
 53536     Arthur Plantagenet, lays most lawful claim
 53537     To this fair island and the territories,
 53538     To Ireland, Poictiers, Anjou, Touraine, Maine,
 53539     Desiring thee to lay aside the sword
 53540     Which sways usurpingly these several titles,
 53541     And put the same into young Arthur's hand,
 53542     Thy nephew and right royal sovereign.
 53543   KING JOHN. What follows if we disallow of this?
 53544   CHATILLON. The proud control of fierce and bloody war,
 53545     To enforce these rights so forcibly withheld.
 53546   KING JOHN. Here have we war for war, and blood for blood,
 53547     Controlment for controlment- so answer France.
 53548   CHATILLON. Then take my king's defiance from my mouth-
 53549     The farthest limit of my embassy.
 53550   KING JOHN. Bear mine to him, and so depart in peace;
 53551     Be thou as lightning in the eyes of France;
 53552     For ere thou canst report I will be there,
 53553     The thunder of my cannon shall be heard.
 53554     So hence! Be thou the trumpet of our wrath
 53555     And sullen presage of your own decay.
 53556     An honourable conduct let him have-
 53557     Pembroke, look to 't. Farewell, Chatillon.
 53558                                         Exeunt CHATILLON and PEMBROKE
 53559   ELINOR. What now, my son! Have I not ever said
 53560     How that ambitious Constance would not cease
 53561     Till she had kindled France and all the world
 53562     Upon the right and party of her son?
 53563     This might have been prevented and made whole
 53564     With very easy arguments of love,
 53565     Which now the manage of two kingdoms must
 53566     With fearful bloody issue arbitrate.
 53567   KING JOHN. Our strong possession and our right for us!
 53568   ELINOR. Your strong possession much more than your right,
 53569     Or else it must go wrong with you and me;
 53570     So much my conscience whispers in your ear,
 53571     Which none but heaven and you and I shall hear.
 53572 
 53573                   Enter a SHERIFF
 53574 
 53575   ESSEX. My liege, here is the strangest controversy
 53576     Come from the country to be judg'd by you
 53577     That e'er I heard. Shall I produce the men?
 53578   KING JOHN. Let them approach.                          Exit SHERIFF
 53579     Our abbeys and our priories shall pay
 53580     This expedition's charge.
 53581 
 53582      Enter ROBERT FAULCONBRIDGE and PHILIP, his bastard
 53583                      brother
 53584 
 53585     What men are you?
 53586   BASTARD. Your faithful subject I, a gentleman
 53587     Born in Northamptonshire, and eldest son,
 53588     As I suppose, to Robert Faulconbridge-
 53589     A soldier by the honour-giving hand
 53590     Of Coeur-de-lion knighted in the field.
 53591   KING JOHN. What art thou?
 53592   ROBERT. The son and heir to that same Faulconbridge.
 53593   KING JOHN. Is that the elder, and art thou the heir?
 53594     You came not of one mother then, it seems.
 53595   BASTARD. Most certain of one mother, mighty king-
 53596     That is well known- and, as I think, one father;
 53597     But for the certain knowledge of that truth
 53598     I put you o'er to heaven and to my mother.
 53599     Of that I doubt, as all men's children may.
 53600   ELINOR. Out on thee, rude man! Thou dost shame thy mother,
 53601     And wound her honour with this diffidence.
 53602   BASTARD. I, madam? No, I have no reason for it-
 53603     That is my brother's plea, and none of mine;
 53604     The which if he can prove, 'a pops me out
 53605     At least from fair five hundred pound a year.
 53606     Heaven guard my mother's honour and my land!
 53607   KING JOHN. A good blunt fellow. Why, being younger born,
 53608     Doth he lay claim to thine inheritance?
 53609   BASTARD. I know not why, except to get the land.
 53610     But once he slander'd me with bastardy;
 53611     But whe'er I be as true begot or no,
 53612     That still I lay upon my mother's head;
 53613     But that I am as well begot, my liege-
 53614     Fair fall the bones that took the pains for me!-
 53615     Compare our faces and be judge yourself.
 53616     If old Sir Robert did beget us both
 53617     And were our father, and this son like him-
 53618     O old Sir Robert, father, on my knee
 53619     I give heaven thanks I was not like to thee!
 53620   KING JOHN. Why, what a madcap hath heaven lent us here!
 53621   ELINOR. He hath a trick of Coeur-de-lion's face;
 53622     The accent of his tongue affecteth him.
 53623     Do you not read some tokens of my son
 53624     In the large composition of this man?
 53625   KING JOHN. Mine eye hath well examined his parts
 53626     And finds them perfect Richard. Sirrah, speak,
 53627     What doth move you to claim your brother's land?
 53628   BASTARD. Because he hath a half-face, like my father.
 53629     With half that face would he have all my land:
 53630     A half-fac'd groat five hundred pound a year!
 53631   ROBERT. My gracious liege, when that my father liv'd,
 53632     Your brother did employ my father much-
 53633   BASTARD. Well, sir, by this you cannot get my land:
 53634     Your tale must be how he employ'd my mother.
 53635   ROBERT. And once dispatch'd him in an embassy
 53636     To Germany, there with the Emperor
 53637     To treat of high affairs touching that time.
 53638     Th' advantage of his absence took the King,
 53639     And in the meantime sojourn'd at my father's;
 53640     Where how he did prevail I shame to speak-
 53641     But truth is truth: large lengths of seas and shores
 53642     Between my father and my mother lay,
 53643     As I have heard my father speak himself,
 53644     When this same lusty gentleman was got.
 53645     Upon his death-bed he by will bequeath'd
 53646     His lands to me, and took it on his death
 53647     That this my mother's son was none of his;
 53648     And if he were, he came into the world
 53649     Full fourteen weeks before the course of time.
 53650     Then, good my liege, let me have what is mine,
 53651     My father's land, as was my father's will.
 53652   KING JOHN. Sirrah, your brother is legitimate:
 53653     Your father's wife did after wedlock bear him,
 53654     And if she did play false, the fault was hers;
 53655     Which fault lies on the hazards of all husbands
 53656     That marry wives. Tell me, how if my brother,
 53657     Who, as you say, took pains to get this son,
 53658     Had of your father claim'd this son for his?
 53659     In sooth, good friend, your father might have kept
 53660     This calf, bred from his cow, from all the world;
 53661     In sooth, he might; then, if he were my brother's,
 53662     My brother might not claim him; nor your father,
 53663     Being none of his, refuse him. This concludes:
 53664     My mother's son did get your father's heir;
 53665     Your father's heir must have your father's land.
 53666   ROBERT. Shall then my father's will be of no force
 53667     To dispossess that child which is not his?
 53668   BASTARD. Of no more force to dispossess me, sir,
 53669     Than was his will to get me, as I think.
 53670   ELINOR. Whether hadst thou rather be a Faulconbridge,
 53671     And like thy brother, to enjoy thy land,
 53672     Or the reputed son of Coeur-de-lion,
 53673     Lord of thy presence and no land beside?
 53674   BASTARD. Madam, an if my brother had my shape
 53675     And I had his, Sir Robert's his, like him;
 53676     And if my legs were two such riding-rods,
 53677     My arms such eel-skins stuff'd, my face so thin
 53678     That in mine ear I durst not stick a rose
 53679     Lest men should say 'Look where three-farthings goes!'
 53680     And, to his shape, were heir to all this land-
 53681     Would I might never stir from off this place,
 53682     I would give it every foot to have this face!
 53683     I would not be Sir Nob in any case.
 53684   ELINOR. I like thee well. Wilt thou forsake thy fortune,
 53685     Bequeath thy land to him and follow me?
 53686     I am a soldier and now bound to France.
 53687   BASTARD. Brother, take you my land, I'll take my chance.
 53688     Your face hath got five hundred pound a year,
 53689     Yet sell your face for fivepence and 'tis dear.
 53690     Madam, I'll follow you unto the death.
 53691   ELINOR. Nay, I would have you go before me thither.
 53692   BASTARD. Our country manners give our betters way.
 53693   KING JOHN. What is thy name?
 53694   BASTARD. Philip, my liege, so is my name begun:
 53695     Philip, good old Sir Robert's wife's eldest son.
 53696   KING JOHN. From henceforth bear his name whose form thou bearest:
 53697     Kneel thou down Philip, but rise more great-
 53698     Arise Sir Richard and Plantagenet.
 53699   BASTARD. Brother by th' mother's side, give me your hand;
 53700     My father gave me honour, yours gave land.
 53701     Now blessed be the hour, by night or day,
 53702     When I was got, Sir Robert was away!
 53703   ELINOR. The very spirit of Plantagenet!
 53704     I am thy grandam, Richard: call me so.
 53705   BASTARD. Madam, by chance, but not by truth; what though?
 53706     Something about, a little from the right,
 53707     In at the window, or else o'er the hatch;
 53708     Who dares not stir by day must walk by night;
 53709     And have is have, however men do catch.
 53710     Near or far off, well won is still well shot;
 53711     And I am I, howe'er I was begot.
 53712   KING JOHN. Go, Faulconbridge; now hast thou thy desire:
 53713     A landless knight makes thee a landed squire.
 53714     Come, madam, and come, Richard, we must speed
 53715     For France, for France, for it is more than need.
 53716   BASTARD. Brother, adieu. Good fortune come to thee!
 53717     For thou wast got i' th' way of honesty.
 53718                                            Exeunt all but the BASTARD
 53719     A foot of honour better than I was;
 53720     But many a many foot of land the worse.
 53721     Well, now can I make any Joan a lady.
 53722     'Good den, Sir Richard!'-'God-a-mercy, fellow!'
 53723     And if his name be George, I'll call him Peter;
 53724     For new-made honour doth forget men's names:
 53725     'Tis too respective and too sociable
 53726     For your conversion. Now your traveller,
 53727     He and his toothpick at my worship's mess-
 53728     And when my knightly stomach is suffic'd,
 53729     Why then I suck my teeth and catechize
 53730     My picked man of countries: 'My dear sir,'
 53731     Thus leaning on mine elbow I begin
 53732     'I shall beseech you'-That is question now;
 53733     And then comes answer like an Absey book:
 53734     'O sir,' says answer 'at your best command,
 53735     At your employment, at your service, sir!'
 53736     'No, sir,' says question 'I, sweet sir, at yours.'
 53737     And so, ere answer knows what question would,
 53738     Saving in dialogue of compliment,
 53739     And talking of the Alps and Apennines,
 53740     The Pyrenean and the river Po-
 53741     It draws toward supper in conclusion so.
 53742     But this is worshipful society,
 53743     And fits the mounting spirit like myself;
 53744     For he is but a bastard to the time
 53745     That doth not smack of observation-
 53746     And so am I, whether I smack or no;
 53747     And not alone in habit and device,
 53748     Exterior form, outward accoutrement,
 53749     But from the inward motion to deliver
 53750     Sweet, sweet, sweet poison for the age's tooth;
 53751     Which, though I will not practise to deceive,
 53752     Yet, to avoid deceit, I mean to learn;
 53753     For it shall strew the footsteps of my rising.
 53754     But who comes in such haste in riding-robes?
 53755     What woman-post is this? Hath she no husband
 53756     That will take pains to blow a horn before her?
 53757 
 53758       Enter LADY FAULCONBRIDGE, and JAMES GURNEY
 53759 
 53760     O me, 'tis my mother! How now, good lady!
 53761     What brings you here to court so hastily?
 53762   LADY FAULCONBRIDGE. Where is that slave, thy brother?
 53763       Where is he
 53764     That holds in chase mine honour up and down?
 53765   BASTARD. My brother Robert, old Sir Robert's son?
 53766     Colbrand the giant, that same mighty man?
 53767     Is it Sir Robert's son that you seek so?
 53768   LADY FAULCONBRIDGE. Sir Robert's son! Ay, thou unreverend boy,
 53769     Sir Robert's son! Why scorn'st thou at Sir Robert?
 53770     He is Sir Robert's son, and so art thou.
 53771   BASTARD. James Gurney, wilt thou give us leave awhile?
 53772   GURNEY. Good leave, good Philip.
 53773   BASTARD. Philip-Sparrow! James,
 53774     There's toys abroad-anon I'll tell thee more.
 53775                                                           Exit GURNEY
 53776     Madam, I was not old Sir Robert's son;
 53777     Sir Robert might have eat his part in me
 53778     Upon Good Friday, and ne'er broke his fast.
 53779     Sir Robert could do: well-marry, to confess-
 53780     Could he get me? Sir Robert could not do it:
 53781     We know his handiwork. Therefore, good mother,
 53782     To whom am I beholding for these limbs?
 53783     Sir Robert never holp to make this leg.
 53784   LADY FAULCONBRIDGE. Hast thou conspired with thy brother too,
 53785     That for thine own gain shouldst defend mine honour?
 53786     What means this scorn, thou most untoward knave?
 53787   BASTARD. Knight, knight, good mother, Basilisco-like.
 53788     What! I am dubb'd; I have it on my shoulder.
 53789     But, mother, I am not Sir Robert's son:
 53790     I have disclaim'd Sir Robert and my land;
 53791     Legitimation, name, and all is gone.
 53792     Then, good my mother, let me know my father-
 53793     Some proper man, I hope. Who was it, mother?
 53794   LADY FAULCONBRIDGE. Hast thou denied thyself a Faulconbridge?
 53795   BASTARD. As faithfully as I deny the devil.
 53796   LADY FAULCONBRIDGE. King Richard Coeur-de-lion was thy father.
 53797     By long and vehement suit I was seduc'd
 53798     To make room for him in my husband's bed.
 53799     Heaven lay not my transgression to my charge!
 53800     Thou art the issue of my dear offence,
 53801     Which was so strongly urg'd past my defence.
 53802   BASTARD. Now, by this light, were I to get again,
 53803     Madam, I would not wish a better father.
 53804     Some sins do bear their privilege on earth,
 53805     And so doth yours: your fault was not your folly;
 53806     Needs must you lay your heart at his dispose,
 53807     Subjected tribute to commanding love,
 53808     Against whose fury and unmatched force
 53809     The aweless lion could not wage the fight
 53810     Nor keep his princely heart from Richard's hand.
 53811     He that perforce robs lions of their hearts
 53812     May easily win a woman's. Ay, my mother,
 53813     With all my heart I thank thee for my father!
 53814     Who lives and dares but say thou didst not well
 53815     When I was got, I'll send his soul to hell.
 53816     Come, lady, I will show thee to my kin;
 53817     And they shall say when Richard me begot,
 53818     If thou hadst said him nay, it had been sin.
 53819     Who says it was, he lies; I say 'twas not.                 Exeunt
 53820 
 53821 
 53822 
 53823 
 53824 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
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 53832 
 53833 
 53834 
 53835 ACT II. SCENE 1
 53836 
 53837 France. Before Angiers
 53838 
 53839 Enter, on one side, AUSTRIA and forces; on the other, KING PHILIP OF FRANCE,
 53840 LEWIS the Dauphin, CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and forces
 53841 
 53842   KING PHILIP. Before Angiers well met, brave Austria.
 53843     Arthur, that great forerunner of thy blood,
 53844     Richard, that robb'd the lion of his heart
 53845     And fought the holy wars in Palestine,
 53846     By this brave duke came early to his grave;
 53847     And for amends to his posterity,
 53848     At our importance hither is he come
 53849     To spread his colours, boy, in thy behalf;
 53850     And to rebuke the usurpation
 53851     Of thy unnatural uncle, English John.
 53852     Embrace him, love him, give him welcome hither.
 53853   ARTHUR. God shall forgive you Coeur-de-lion's death
 53854     The rather that you give his offspring life,
 53855     Shadowing their right under your wings of war.
 53856     I give you welcome with a powerless hand,
 53857     But with a heart full of unstained love;
 53858     Welcome before the gates of Angiers, Duke.
 53859   KING PHILIP. A noble boy! Who would not do thee right?
 53860   AUSTRIA. Upon thy cheek lay I this zealous kiss
 53861     As seal to this indenture of my love:
 53862     That to my home I will no more return
 53863     Till Angiers and the right thou hast in France,
 53864     Together with that pale, that white-fac'd shore,
 53865     Whose foot spurns back the ocean's roaring tides
 53866     And coops from other lands her islanders-
 53867     Even till that England, hedg'd in with the main,
 53868     That water-walled bulwark, still secure
 53869     And confident from foreign purposes-
 53870     Even till that utmost corner of the west
 53871     Salute thee for her king. Till then, fair boy,
 53872     Will I not think of home, but follow arms.
 53873   CONSTANCE. O, take his mother's thanks, a widow's thanks,
 53874     Till your strong hand shall help to give him strength
 53875     To make a more requital to your love!
 53876   AUSTRIA. The peace of heaven is theirs that lift their swords
 53877     In such a just and charitable war.
 53878   KING PHILIP. Well then, to work! Our cannon shall be bent
 53879     Against the brows of this resisting town;
 53880     Call for our chiefest men of discipline,
 53881     To cull the plots of best advantages.
 53882     We'll lay before this town our royal bones,
 53883     Wade to the market-place in Frenchmen's blood,
 53884     But we will make it subject to this boy.
 53885   CONSTANCE. Stay for an answer to your embassy,
 53886     Lest unadvis'd you stain your swords with blood;
 53887     My Lord Chatillon may from England bring
 53888     That right in peace which here we urge in war,
 53889     And then we shall repent each drop of blood
 53890     That hot rash haste so indirectly shed.
 53891 
 53892                   Enter CHATILLON
 53893 
 53894   KING PHILIP. A wonder, lady! Lo, upon thy wish,
 53895     Our messenger Chatillon is arriv'd.
 53896     What England says, say briefly, gentle lord;
 53897     We coldly pause for thee. Chatillon, speak.
 53898   CHATILLON. Then turn your forces from this paltry siege
 53899     And stir them up against a mightier task.
 53900     England, impatient of your just demands,
 53901     Hath put himself in arms. The adverse winds,
 53902     Whose leisure I have stay'd, have given him time
 53903     To land his legions all as soon as I;
 53904     His marches are expedient to this town,
 53905     His forces strong, his soldiers confident.
 53906     With him along is come the mother-queen,
 53907     An Ate, stirring him to blood and strife;
 53908     With her the Lady Blanch of Spain;
 53909     With them a bastard of the king's deceas'd;
 53910     And all th' unsettled humours of the land-
 53911     Rash, inconsiderate, fiery voluntaries,
 53912     With ladies' faces and fierce dragons' spleens-
 53913     Have sold their fortunes at their native homes,
 53914     Bearing their birthrights proudly on their backs,
 53915     To make a hazard of new fortunes here.
 53916     In brief, a braver choice of dauntless spirits
 53917     Than now the English bottoms have waft o'er
 53918     Did never float upon the swelling tide
 53919     To do offence and scathe in Christendom.             [Drum beats]
 53920     The interruption of their churlish drums
 53921     Cuts off more circumstance: they are at hand;
 53922     To parley or to fight, therefore prepare.
 53923   KING PHILIP. How much unlook'd for is this expedition!
 53924   AUSTRIA. By how much unexpected, by so much
 53925     We must awake endeavour for defence,
 53926     For courage mounteth with occasion.
 53927     Let them be welcome then; we are prepar'd.
 53928 
 53929        Enter KING JOHN, ELINOR, BLANCH, the BASTARD,
 53930                  PEMBROKE, and others
 53931 
 53932   KING JOHN. Peace be to France, if France in peace permit
 53933     Our just and lineal entrance to our own!
 53934     If not, bleed France, and peace ascend to heaven,
 53935     Whiles we, God's wrathful agent, do correct
 53936     Their proud contempt that beats His peace to heaven!
 53937   KING PHILIP. Peace be to England, if that war return
 53938     From France to England, there to live in peace!
 53939     England we love, and for that England's sake
 53940     With burden of our armour here we sweat.
 53941     This toil of ours should be a work of thine;
 53942     But thou from loving England art so far
 53943     That thou hast under-wrought his lawful king,
 53944     Cut off the sequence of posterity,
 53945     Outfaced infant state, and done a rape
 53946     Upon the maiden virtue of the crown.
 53947     Look here upon thy brother Geffrey's face:
 53948     These eyes, these brows, were moulded out of his;
 53949     This little abstract doth contain that large
 53950     Which died in Geffrey, and the hand of time
 53951     Shall draw this brief into as huge a volume.
 53952     That Geffrey was thy elder brother born,
 53953     And this his son; England was Geffrey's right,
 53954     And this is Geffrey's. In the name of God,
 53955     How comes it then that thou art call'd a king,
 53956     When living blood doth in these temples beat
 53957     Which owe the crown that thou o'er-masterest?
 53958   KING JOHN. From whom hast thou this great commission, France,
 53959     To draw my answer from thy articles?
 53960   KING PHILIP. From that supernal judge that stirs good thoughts
 53961     In any breast of strong authority
 53962     To look into the blots and stains of right.
 53963     That judge hath made me guardian to this boy,
 53964     Under whose warrant I impeach thy wrong,
 53965     And by whose help I mean to chastise it.
 53966   KING JOHN. Alack, thou dost usurp authority.
 53967   KING PHILIP. Excuse it is to beat usurping down.
 53968   ELINOR. Who is it thou dost call usurper, France?
 53969   CONSTANCE. Let me make answer: thy usurping son.
 53970   ELINOR. Out, insolent! Thy bastard shall be king,
 53971     That thou mayst be a queen and check the world!
 53972   CONSTANCE. My bed was ever to thy son as true
 53973     As thine was to thy husband; and this boy
 53974     Liker in feature to his father Geffrey
 53975     Than thou and John in manners-being as Eke
 53976     As rain to water, or devil to his dam.
 53977     My boy a bastard! By my soul, I think
 53978     His father never was so true begot;
 53979     It cannot be, an if thou wert his mother.
 53980   ELINOR. There's a good mother, boy, that blots thy father.
 53981   CONSTANCE. There's a good grandam, boy, that would blot thee.
 53982   AUSTRIA. Peace!
 53983   BASTARD. Hear the crier.
 53984   AUSTRIA. What the devil art thou?
 53985   BASTARD. One that will play the devil, sir, with you,
 53986     An 'a may catch your hide and you alone.
 53987     You are the hare of whom the proverb goes,
 53988     Whose valour plucks dead lions by the beard;
 53989     I'll smoke your skin-coat an I catch you right;
 53990     Sirrah, look to 't; i' faith I will, i' faith.
 53991   BLANCH. O, well did he become that lion's robe
 53992     That did disrobe the lion of that robe!
 53993   BASTARD. It lies as sightly on the back of him
 53994     As great Alcides' shows upon an ass;
 53995     But, ass, I'll take that burden from your back,
 53996     Or lay on that shall make your shoulders crack.
 53997   AUSTRIA. What cracker is this same that deafs our ears
 53998     With this abundance of superfluous breath?
 53999     King Philip, determine what we shall do straight.
 54000   KING PHILIP. Women and fools, break off your conference.
 54001     King John, this is the very sum of all:
 54002     England and Ireland, Anjou, Touraine, Maine,
 54003     In right of Arthur, do I claim of thee;
 54004     Wilt thou resign them and lay down thy arms?
 54005   KING JOHN. My life as soon. I do defy thee, France.
 54006     Arthur of Britaine, yield thee to my hand,
 54007     And out of my dear love I'll give thee more
 54008     Than e'er the coward hand of France can win.
 54009     Submit thee, boy.
 54010   ELINOR. Come to thy grandam, child.
 54011   CONSTANCE. Do, child, go to it grandam, child;
 54012     Give grandam kingdom, and it grandam will
 54013     Give it a plum, a cherry, and a fig.
 54014     There's a good grandam!
 54015   ARTHUR. Good my mother, peace!
 54016     I would that I were low laid in my grave:
 54017     I am not worth this coil that's made for me.
 54018   ELINOR. His mother shames him so, poor boy, he weeps.
 54019   CONSTANCE. Now shame upon you, whe'er she does or no!
 54020     His grandam's wrongs, and not his mother's shames,
 54021     Draws those heaven-moving pearls from his poor eyes,
 54022     Which heaven shall take in nature of a fee;
 54023     Ay, with these crystal beads heaven shall be brib'd
 54024     To do him justice and revenge on you.
 54025   ELINOR. Thou monstrous slanderer of heaven and earth!
 54026   CONSTANCE. Thou monstrous injurer of heaven and earth,
 54027     Call not me slanderer! Thou and thine usurp
 54028     The dominations, royalties, and rights,
 54029     Of this oppressed boy; this is thy eldest son's son,
 54030     Infortunate in nothing but in thee.
 54031     Thy sins are visited in this poor child;
 54032     The canon of the law is laid on him,
 54033     Being but the second generation
 54034     Removed from thy sin-conceiving womb.
 54035   KING JOHN. Bedlam, have done.
 54036   CONSTANCE. I have but this to say-
 54037     That he is not only plagued for her sin,
 54038     But God hath made her sin and her the plague
 54039     On this removed issue, plagued for her
 54040     And with her plague; her sin his injury,
 54041     Her injury the beadle to her sin;
 54042     All punish'd in the person of this child,
 54043     And all for her-a plague upon her!
 54044   ELINOR. Thou unadvised scold, I can produce
 54045     A will that bars the title of thy son.
 54046   CONSTANCE. Ay, who doubts that? A will, a wicked will;
 54047     A woman's will; a cank'red grandam's will!
 54048   KING PHILIP. Peace, lady! pause, or be more temperate.
 54049     It ill beseems this presence to cry aim
 54050     To these ill-tuned repetitions.
 54051     Some trumpet summon hither to the walls
 54052     These men of Angiers; let us hear them speak
 54053     Whose title they admit, Arthur's or John's.
 54054 
 54055       Trumpet sounds. Enter citizens upon the walls
 54056 
 54057   CITIZEN. Who is it that hath warn'd us to the walls?
 54058   KING PHILIP. 'Tis France, for England.
 54059   KING JOHN. England for itself.
 54060     You men of Angiers, and my loving subjects-
 54061   KING PHILIP. You loving men of Angiers, Arthur's subjects,
 54062     Our trumpet call'd you to this gentle parle-
 54063   KING JOHN. For our advantage; therefore hear us first.
 54064     These flags of France, that are advanced here
 54065     Before the eye and prospect of your town,
 54066     Have hither march'd to your endamagement;
 54067     The cannons have their bowels full of wrath,
 54068     And ready mounted are they to spit forth
 54069     Their iron indignation 'gainst your walls;
 54070     All preparation for a bloody siege
 54071     And merciless proceeding by these French
 54072     Confront your city's eyes, your winking gates;
 54073     And but for our approach those sleeping stones
 54074     That as a waist doth girdle you about
 54075     By the compulsion of their ordinance
 54076     By this time from their fixed beds of lime
 54077     Had been dishabited, and wide havoc made
 54078     For bloody power to rush upon your peace.
 54079     But on the sight of us your lawful king,
 54080     Who painfully with much expedient march
 54081     Have brought a countercheck before your gates,
 54082     To save unscratch'd your city's threat'ned cheeks-
 54083     Behold, the French amaz'd vouchsafe a parle;
 54084     And now, instead of bullets wrapp'd in fire,
 54085     To make a shaking fever in your walls,
 54086     They shoot but calm words folded up in smoke,
 54087     To make a faithless error in your cars;
 54088     Which trust accordingly, kind citizens,
 54089     And let us in-your King, whose labour'd spirits,
 54090     Forwearied in this action of swift speed,
 54091     Craves harbourage within your city walls.
 54092   KING PHILIP. When I have said, make answer to us both.
 54093     Lo, in this right hand, whose protection
 54094     Is most divinely vow'd upon the right
 54095     Of him it holds, stands young Plantagenet,
 54096     Son to the elder brother of this man,
 54097     And king o'er him and all that he enjoys;
 54098     For this down-trodden equity we tread
 54099     In warlike march these greens before your town,
 54100     Being no further enemy to you
 54101     Than the constraint of hospitable zeal
 54102     In the relief of this oppressed child
 54103     Religiously provokes. Be pleased then
 54104     To pay that duty which you truly owe
 54105     To him that owes it, namely, this young prince;
 54106     And then our arms, like to a muzzled bear,
 54107     Save in aspect, hath all offence seal'd up;
 54108     Our cannons' malice vainly shall be spent
 54109     Against th' invulnerable clouds of heaven;
 54110     And with a blessed and unvex'd retire,
 54111     With unhack'd swords and helmets all unbruis'd,
 54112     We will bear home that lusty blood again
 54113     Which here we came to spout against your town,
 54114     And leave your children, wives, and you, in peace.
 54115     But if you fondly pass our proffer'd offer,
 54116     'Tis not the roundure of your old-fac'd walls
 54117     Can hide you from our messengers of war,
 54118     Though all these English and their discipline
 54119     Were harbour'd in their rude circumference.
 54120     Then tell us, shall your city call us lord
 54121     In that behalf which we have challeng'd it;
 54122     Or shall we give the signal to our rage,
 54123     And stalk in blood to our possession?
 54124   CITIZEN. In brief: we are the King of England's subjects;
 54125     For him, and in his right, we hold this town.
 54126   KING JOHN. Acknowledge then the King, and let me in.
 54127   CITIZEN. That can we not; but he that proves the King,
 54128     To him will we prove loyal. Till that time
 54129     Have we ramm'd up our gates against the world.
 54130   KING JOHN. Doth not the crown of England prove the King?
 54131     And if not that, I bring you witnesses:
 54132     Twice fifteen thousand hearts of England's breed-
 54133   BASTARD. Bastards and else.
 54134   KING JOHN. To verify our title with their lives.
 54135   KING PHILIP. As many and as well-born bloods as those-
 54136   BASTARD. Some bastards too.
 54137   KING PHILIP. Stand in his face to contradict his claim.
 54138   CITIZEN. Till you compound whose right is worthiest,
 54139     We for the worthiest hold the right from both.
 54140   KING JOHN. Then God forgive the sin of all those souls
 54141     That to their everlasting residence,
 54142     Before the dew of evening fall shall fleet
 54143     In dreadful trial of our kingdom's king!
 54144   KING PHILIP. Amen, Amen! Mount, chevaliers; to arms!
 54145   BASTARD. Saint George, that swing'd the dragon, and e'er since
 54146     Sits on's horse back at mine hostess' door,
 54147     Teach us some fence!  [To AUSTRIA]  Sirrah, were I at home,
 54148     At your den, sirrah, with your lioness,
 54149     I would set an ox-head to your lion's hide,
 54150     And make a monster of you.
 54151   AUSTRIA. Peace! no more.
 54152   BASTARD. O, tremble, for you hear the lion roar!
 54153   KING JOHN. Up higher to the plain, where we'll set forth
 54154     In best appointment all our regiments.
 54155   BASTARD. Speed then to take advantage of the field.
 54156   KING PHILIP. It shall be so; and at the other hill
 54157     Command the rest to stand. God and our right!              Exeunt
 54158 
 54159     Here, after excursions, enter the HERALD OF FRANCE,
 54160               with trumpets, to the gates
 54161 
 54162   FRENCH HERALD. You men of Angiers, open wide your gates
 54163     And let young Arthur, Duke of Britaine, in,
 54164     Who by the hand of France this day hath made
 54165     Much work for tears in many an English mother,
 54166     Whose sons lie scattered on the bleeding ground;
 54167     Many a widow's husband grovelling lies,
 54168     Coldly embracing the discoloured earth;
 54169     And victory with little loss doth play
 54170     Upon the dancing banners of the French,
 54171     Who are at hand, triumphantly displayed,
 54172     To enter conquerors, and to proclaim
 54173     Arthur of Britaine England's King and yours.
 54174 
 54175          Enter ENGLISH HERALD, with trumpet
 54176 
 54177   ENGLISH HERALD. Rejoice, you men of Angiers, ring your bells:
 54178     King John, your king and England's, doth approach,
 54179     Commander of this hot malicious day.
 54180     Their armours that march'd hence so silver-bright
 54181     Hither return all gilt with Frenchmen's blood.
 54182     There stuck no plume in any English crest
 54183     That is removed by a staff of France;
 54184     Our colours do return in those same hands
 54185     That did display them when we first march'd forth;
 54186     And like a jolly troop of huntsmen come
 54187     Our lusty English, all with purpled hands,
 54188     Dy'd in the dying slaughter of their foes.
 54189     Open your gates and give the victors way.
 54190   CITIZEN. Heralds, from off our tow'rs we might behold
 54191     From first to last the onset and retire
 54192     Of both your armies, whose equality
 54193     By our best eyes cannot be censured.
 54194     Blood hath bought blood, and blows have answer'd blows;
 54195     Strength match'd with strength, and power confronted power;
 54196     Both are alike, and both alike we like.
 54197     One must prove greatest. While they weigh so even,
 54198     We hold our town for neither, yet for both.
 54199 
 54200     Enter the two KINGS, with their powers, at several doors
 54201 
 54202   KING JOHN. France, hast thou yet more blood to cast away?
 54203     Say, shall the current of our right run on?
 54204     Whose passage, vex'd with thy impediment,
 54205     Shall leave his native channel and o'erswell
 54206     With course disturb'd even thy confining shores,
 54207     Unless thou let his silver water keep
 54208     A peaceful progress to the ocean.
 54209   KING PHILIP. England, thou hast not sav'd one drop of blood
 54210     In this hot trial more than we of France;
 54211     Rather, lost more. And by this hand I swear,
 54212     That sways the earth this climate overlooks,
 54213     Before we will lay down our just-borne arms,
 54214     We'll put thee down, 'gainst whom these arms we bear,
 54215     Or add a royal number to the dead,
 54216     Gracing the scroll that tells of this war's loss
 54217     With slaughter coupled to the name of kings.
 54218   BASTARD. Ha, majesty! how high thy glory tow'rs
 54219     When the rich blood of kings is set on fire!
 54220     O, now doth Death line his dead chaps with steel;
 54221     The swords of soldiers are his teeth, his fangs;
 54222     And now he feasts, mousing the flesh of men,
 54223     In undetermin'd differences of kings.
 54224     Why stand these royal fronts amazed thus?
 54225     Cry 'havoc!' kings; back to the stained field,
 54226     You equal potents, fiery kindled spirits!
 54227     Then let confusion of one part confirm
 54228     The other's peace. Till then, blows, blood, and death!
 54229   KING JOHN. Whose party do the townsmen yet admit?
 54230   KING PHILIP. Speak, citizens, for England; who's your king?
 54231   CITIZEN. The King of England, when we know the King.
 54232   KING PHILIP. Know him in us that here hold up his right.
 54233   KING JOHN. In us that are our own great deputy
 54234     And bear possession of our person here,
 54235     Lord of our presence, Angiers, and of you.
 54236   CITIZEN. A greater pow'r than we denies all this;
 54237     And till it be undoubted, we do lock
 54238     Our former scruple in our strong-barr'd gates;
 54239     King'd of our fears, until our fears, resolv'd,
 54240     Be by some certain king purg'd and depos'd.
 54241   BASTARD. By heaven, these scroyles of Angiers flout you, kings,
 54242     And stand securely on their battlements
 54243     As in a theatre, whence they gape and point
 54244     At your industrious scenes and acts of death.
 54245     Your royal presences be rul'd by me:
 54246     Do like the mutines of Jerusalem,
 54247     Be friends awhile, and both conjointly bend
 54248     Your sharpest deeds of malice on this town.
 54249     By east and west let France and England mount
 54250     Their battering cannon, charged to the mouths,
 54251     Till their soul-fearing clamours have brawl'd down
 54252     The flinty ribs of this contemptuous city.
 54253     I'd play incessantly upon these jades,
 54254     Even till unfenced desolation
 54255     Leave them as naked as the vulgar air.
 54256     That done, dissever your united strengths
 54257     And part your mingled colours once again,
 54258     Turn face to face and bloody point to point;
 54259     Then in a moment Fortune shall cull forth
 54260     Out of one side her happy minion,
 54261     To whom in favour she shall give the day,
 54262     And kiss him with a glorious victory.
 54263     How like you this wild counsel, mighty states?
 54264     Smacks it not something of the policy?
 54265   KING JOHN. Now, by the sky that hangs above our heads,
 54266     I like it well. France, shall we knit our pow'rs
 54267     And lay this Angiers even with the ground;
 54268     Then after fight who shall be king of it?
 54269   BASTARD. An if thou hast the mettle of a king,
 54270     Being wrong'd as we are by this peevish town,
 54271     Turn thou the mouth of thy artillery,
 54272     As we will ours, against these saucy walls;
 54273     And when that we have dash'd them to the ground,
 54274     Why then defy each other, and pell-mell
 54275     Make work upon ourselves, for heaven or hell.
 54276   KING PHILIP. Let it be so. Say, where will you assault?
 54277   KING JOHN. We from the west will send destruction
 54278     Into this city's bosom.
 54279   AUSTRIA. I from the north.
 54280   KING PHILIP. Our thunder from the south
 54281     Shall rain their drift of bullets on this town.
 54282   BASTARD.  [Aside]  O prudent discipline! From north to south,
 54283     Austria and France shoot in each other's mouth.
 54284     I'll stir them to it.-Come, away, away!
 54285   CITIZEN. Hear us, great kings: vouchsafe awhile to stay,
 54286     And I shall show you peace and fair-fac'd league;
 54287     Win you this city without stroke or wound;
 54288     Rescue those breathing lives to die in beds
 54289     That here come sacrifices for the field.
 54290     Persever not, but hear me, mighty kings.
 54291   KING JOHN. Speak on with favour; we are bent to hear.
 54292   CITIZEN. That daughter there of Spain, the Lady Blanch,
 54293     Is niece to England; look upon the years
 54294     Of Lewis the Dauphin and that lovely maid.
 54295     If lusty love should go in quest of beauty,
 54296     Where should he find it fairer than in Blanch?
 54297     If zealous love should go in search of virtue,
 54298     Where should he find it purer than in Blanch?
 54299     If love ambitious sought a match of birth,
 54300     Whose veins bound richer blood than Lady Blanch?
 54301     Such as she is, in beauty, virtue, birth,
 54302     Is the young Dauphin every way complete-
 54303     If not complete of, say he is not she;
 54304     And she again wants nothing, to name want,
 54305     If want it be not that she is not he.
 54306     He is the half part of a blessed man,
 54307     Left to be finished by such as she;
 54308     And she a fair divided excellence,
 54309     Whose fulness of perfection lies in him.
 54310     O, two such silver currents, when they join,
 54311     Do glorify the banks that bound them in;
 54312     And two such shores to two such streams made one,
 54313     Two such controlling bounds, shall you be, Kings,
 54314     To these two princes, if you marry them.
 54315     This union shall do more than battery can
 54316     To our fast-closed gates; for at this match
 54317     With swifter spleen than powder can enforce,
 54318     The mouth of passage shall we fling wide ope
 54319     And give you entrance; but without this match,
 54320     The sea enraged is not half so deaf,
 54321     Lions more confident, mountains and rocks
 54322     More free from motion-no, not Death himself
 54323     In mortal fury half so peremptory
 54324     As we to keep this city.
 54325   BASTARD. Here's a stay
 54326     That shakes the rotten carcass of old Death
 54327     Out of his rags! Here's a large mouth, indeed,
 54328     That spits forth death and mountains, rocks and seas;
 54329     Talks as familiarly of roaring lions
 54330     As maids of thirteen do of puppy-dogs!
 54331     What cannoneer begot this lusty blood?
 54332     He speaks plain cannon-fire, and smoke and bounce;
 54333     He gives the bastinado with his tongue;
 54334     Our ears are cudgell'd; not a word of his
 54335     But buffets better than a fist of France.
 54336     Zounds! I was never so bethump'd with words
 54337     Since I first call'd my brother's father dad.
 54338   ELINOR. Son, list to this conjunction, make this match;
 54339     Give with our niece a dowry large enough;
 54340     For by this knot thou shalt so surely tie
 54341     Thy now unsur'd assurance to the crown
 54342     That yon green boy shall have no sun to ripe
 54343     The bloom that promiseth a mighty fruit.
 54344     I see a yielding in the looks of France;
 54345     Mark how they whisper. Urge them while their souls
 54346     Are capable of this ambition,
 54347     Lest zeal, now melted by the windy breath
 54348     Of soft petitions, pity, and remorse,
 54349     Cool and congeal again to what it was.
 54350   CITIZEN. Why answer not the double majesties
 54351     This friendly treaty of our threat'ned town?
 54352   KING PHILIP. Speak England first, that hath been forward first
 54353     To speak unto this city: what say you?
 54354   KING JOHN. If that the Dauphin there, thy princely son,
 54355     Can in this book of beauty read 'I love,'
 54356     Her dowry shall weigh equal with a queen;
 54357     For Anjou, and fair Touraine, Maine, Poictiers,
 54358     And all that we upon this side the sea-
 54359     Except this city now by us besieg'd-
 54360     Find liable to our crown and dignity,
 54361     Shall gild her bridal bed, and make her rich
 54362     In titles, honours, and promotions,
 54363     As she in beauty, education, blood,
 54364     Holds hand with any princess of the world.
 54365   KING PHILIP. What say'st thou, boy? Look in the lady's face.
 54366   LEWIS. I do, my lord, and in her eye I find
 54367     A wonder, or a wondrous miracle,
 54368     The shadow of myself form'd in her eye;
 54369     Which, being but the shadow of your son,
 54370     Becomes a sun, and makes your son a shadow.
 54371     I do protest I never lov'd myself
 54372     Till now infixed I beheld myself
 54373     Drawn in the flattering table of her eye.
 54374                                                [Whispers with BLANCH]
 54375   BASTARD.  [Aside]  Drawn in the flattering table of her eye,
 54376     Hang'd in the frowning wrinkle of her brow,
 54377     And quarter'd in her heart-he doth espy
 54378     Himself love's traitor. This is pity now,
 54379     That hang'd and drawn and quarter'd there should be
 54380     In such a love so vile a lout as he.
 54381   BLANCH. My uncle's will in this respect is mine.
 54382     If he see aught in you that makes him like,
 54383     That anything he sees which moves his liking
 54384     I can with ease translate it to my will;
 54385     Or if you will, to speak more properly,
 54386     I will enforce it eas'ly to my love.
 54387     Further I will not flatter you, my lord,
 54388     That all I see in you is worthy love,
 54389     Than this: that nothing do I see in you-
 54390     Though churlish thoughts themselves should be your judge-
 54391     That I can find should merit any hate.
 54392   KING JOHN. What say these young ones? What say you, my niece?
 54393   BLANCH. That she is bound in honour still to do
 54394     What you in wisdom still vouchsafe to say.
 54395   KING JOHN. Speak then, Prince Dauphin; can you love this lady?
 54396   LEWIS. Nay, ask me if I can refrain from love;
 54397     For I do love her most unfeignedly.
 54398   KING JOHN. Then do I give Volquessen, Touraine, Maine,
 54399     Poictiers, and Anjou, these five provinces,
 54400     With her to thee; and this addition more,
 54401     Full thirty thousand marks of English coin.
 54402     Philip of France, if thou be pleas'd withal,
 54403     Command thy son and daughter to join hands.
 54404   KING PHILIP. It likes us well; young princes, close your hands.
 54405   AUSTRIA. And your lips too; for I am well assur'd
 54406     That I did so when I was first assur'd.
 54407   KING PHILIP. Now, citizens of Angiers, ope your gates,
 54408     Let in that amity which you have made;
 54409     For at Saint Mary's chapel presently
 54410     The rites of marriage shall be solemniz'd.
 54411     Is not the Lady Constance in this troop?
 54412     I know she is not; for this match made up
 54413     Her presence would have interrupted much.
 54414     Where is she and her son? Tell me, who knows.
 54415   LEWIS. She is sad and passionate at your Highness' tent.
 54416   KING PHILIP. And, by my faith, this league that we have made
 54417     Will give her sadness very little cure.
 54418     Brother of England, how may we content
 54419     This widow lady? In her right we came;
 54420     Which we, God knows, have turn'd another way,
 54421     To our own vantage.
 54422   KING JOHN. We will heal up all,
 54423     For we'll create young Arthur Duke of Britaine,
 54424     And Earl of Richmond; and this rich fair town
 54425     We make him lord of. Call the Lady Constance;
 54426     Some speedy messenger bid her repair
 54427     To our solemnity. I trust we shall,
 54428     If not fill up the measure of her will,
 54429     Yet in some measure satisfy her so
 54430     That we shall stop her exclamation.
 54431     Go we as well as haste will suffer us
 54432     To this unlook'd-for, unprepared pomp.
 54433                                            Exeunt all but the BASTARD
 54434   BASTARD. Mad world! mad kings! mad composition!
 54435     John, to stop Arthur's tide in the whole,
 54436     Hath willingly departed with a part;
 54437     And France, whose armour conscience buckled on,
 54438     Whom zeal and charity brought to the field
 54439     As God's own soldier, rounded in the ear
 54440     With that same purpose-changer, that sly devil,
 54441     That broker that still breaks the pate of faith,
 54442     That daily break-vow, he that wins of all,
 54443     Of kings, of beggars, old men, young men, maids,
 54444     Who having no external thing to lose
 54445     But the word 'maid,' cheats the poor maid of that;
 54446     That smooth-fac'd gentleman, tickling commodity,
 54447     Commodity, the bias of the world-
 54448     The world, who of itself is peised well,
 54449     Made to run even upon even ground,
 54450     Till this advantage, this vile-drawing bias,
 54451     This sway of motion, this commodity,
 54452     Makes it take head from all indifferency,
 54453     From all direction, purpose, course, intent-
 54454     And this same bias, this commodity,
 54455     This bawd, this broker, this all-changing word,
 54456     Clapp'd on the outward eye of fickle France,
 54457     Hath drawn him from his own determin'd aid,
 54458     From a resolv'd and honourable war,
 54459     To a most base and vile-concluded peace.
 54460     And why rail I on this commodity?
 54461     But for because he hath not woo'd me yet;
 54462     Not that I have the power to clutch my hand
 54463     When his fair angels would salute my palm,
 54464     But for my hand, as unattempted yet,
 54465     Like a poor beggar raileth on the rich.
 54466     Well, whiles I am a beggar, I will rail
 54467     And say there is no sin but to be rich;
 54468     And being rich, my virtue then shall be
 54469     To say there is no vice but beggary.
 54470     Since kings break faith upon commodity,
 54471     Gain, be my lord, for I will worship thee.                   Exit
 54472 
 54473 
 54474 
 54475 
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 54484 
 54485 
 54486 
 54487 ACT III. SCENE 1.
 54488 
 54489 France. The FRENCH KING'S camp
 54490 
 54491 Enter CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and SALISBURY
 54492 
 54493   CONSTANCE. Gone to be married! Gone to swear a peace!
 54494     False blood to false blood join'd! Gone to be friends!
 54495     Shall Lewis have Blanch, and Blanch those provinces?
 54496     It is not so; thou hast misspoke, misheard;
 54497     Be well advis'd, tell o'er thy tale again.
 54498     It cannot be; thou dost but say 'tis so;
 54499     I trust I may not trust thee, for thy word
 54500     Is but the vain breath of a common man:
 54501     Believe me I do not believe thee, man;
 54502     I have a king's oath to the contrary.
 54503     Thou shalt be punish'd for thus frighting me,
 54504     For I am sick and capable of fears,
 54505     Oppress'd with wrongs, and therefore full of fears;
 54506     A widow, husbandless, subject to fears;
 54507     A woman, naturally born to fears;
 54508     And though thou now confess thou didst but jest,
 54509     With my vex'd spirits I cannot take a truce,
 54510     But they will quake and tremble all this day.
 54511     What dost thou mean by shaking of thy head?
 54512     Why dost thou look so sadly on my son?
 54513     What means that hand upon that breast of thine?
 54514     Why holds thine eye that lamentable rheum,
 54515     Like a proud river peering o'er his bounds?
 54516     Be these sad signs confirmers of thy words?
 54517     Then speak again-not all thy former tale,
 54518     But this one word, whether thy tale be true.
 54519   SALISBURY. As true as I believe you think them false
 54520     That give you cause to prove my saying true.
 54521   CONSTANCE. O, if thou teach me to believe this sorrow,
 54522     Teach thou this sorrow how to make me die;
 54523     And let belief and life encounter so
 54524     As doth the fury of two desperate men
 54525     Which in the very meeting fall and die!
 54526     Lewis marry Blanch! O boy, then where art thou?
 54527     France friend with England; what becomes of me?
 54528     Fellow, be gone: I cannot brook thy sight;
 54529     This news hath made thee a most ugly man.
 54530   SALISBURY. What other harm have I, good lady, done
 54531     But spoke the harm that is by others done?
 54532   CONSTANCE. Which harm within itself so heinous is
 54533     As it makes harmful all that speak of it.
 54534   ARTHUR. I do beseech you, madam, be content.
 54535   CONSTANCE. If thou that bid'st me be content wert grim,
 54536     Ugly, and sland'rous to thy mother's womb,
 54537     Full of unpleasing blots and sightless stains,
 54538     Lame, foolish, crooked, swart, prodigious,
 54539     Patch'd with foul moles and eye-offending marks,
 54540     I would not care, I then would be content;
 54541     For then I should not love thee; no, nor thou
 54542     Become thy great birth, nor deserve a crown.
 54543     But thou art fair, and at thy birth, dear boy,
 54544     Nature and Fortune join'd to make thee great:
 54545     Of Nature's gifts thou mayst with lilies boast,
 54546     And with the half-blown rose; but Fortune, O!
 54547     She is corrupted, chang'd, and won from thee;
 54548     Sh' adulterates hourly with thine uncle John,
 54549     And with her golden hand hath pluck'd on France
 54550     To tread down fair respect of sovereignty,
 54551     And made his majesty the bawd to theirs.
 54552     France is a bawd to Fortune and King John-
 54553     That strumpet Fortune, that usurping John!
 54554     Tell me, thou fellow, is not France forsworn?
 54555     Envenom him with words, or get thee gone
 54556     And leave those woes alone which I alone
 54557     Am bound to under-bear.
 54558   SALISBURY. Pardon me, madam,
 54559     I may not go without you to the kings.
 54560   CONSTANCE. Thou mayst, thou shalt; I will not go with thee;
 54561     I will instruct my sorrows to be proud,
 54562     For grief is proud, and makes his owner stoop.
 54563     To me, and to the state of my great grief,
 54564     Let kings assemble; for my grief's so great
 54565     That no supporter but the huge firm earth
 54566     Can hold it up.                     [Seats herself on the ground]
 54567     Here I and sorrows sit;
 54568     Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it.
 54569 
 54570        Enter KING JOHN, KING PHILIP, LEWIS, BLANCH,
 54571        ELINOR, the BASTARD, AUSTRIA, and attendants
 54572 
 54573   KING PHILIP. 'Tis true, fair daughter, and this blessed day
 54574     Ever in France shall be kept festival.
 54575     To solemnize this day the glorious sun
 54576     Stays in his course and plays the alchemist,
 54577     Turning with splendour of his precious eye
 54578     The meagre cloddy earth to glittering gold.
 54579     The yearly course that brings this day about
 54580     Shall never see it but a holiday.
 54581   CONSTANCE.  [Rising]  A wicked day, and not a holy day!
 54582     What hath this day deserv'd? what hath it done
 54583     That it in golden letters should be set
 54584     Among the high tides in the calendar?
 54585     Nay, rather turn this day out of the week,
 54586     This day of shame, oppression, perjury;
 54587     Or, if it must stand still, let wives with child
 54588     Pray that their burdens may not fall this day,
 54589     Lest that their hopes prodigiously be cross'd;
 54590     But on this day let seamen fear no wreck;
 54591     No bargains break that are not this day made;
 54592     This day, all things begun come to ill end,
 54593     Yea, faith itself to hollow falsehood change!
 54594   KING PHILIP. By heaven, lady, you shall have no cause
 54595     To curse the fair proceedings of this day.
 54596     Have I not pawn'd to you my majesty?
 54597   CONSTANCE. You have beguil'd me with a counterfeit
 54598     Resembling majesty, which, being touch'd and tried,
 54599     Proves valueless; you are forsworn, forsworn;
 54600     You came in arms to spill mine enemies' blood,
 54601     But now in arms you strengthen it with yours.
 54602     The grappling vigour and rough frown of war
 54603     Is cold in amity and painted peace,
 54604     And our oppression hath made up this league.
 54605     Arm, arm, you heavens, against these perjur'd kings!
 54606     A widow cries: Be husband to me, heavens!
 54607     Let not the hours of this ungodly day
 54608     Wear out the day in peace; but, ere sunset,
 54609     Set armed discord 'twixt these perjur'd kings!
 54610     Hear me, O, hear me!
 54611   AUSTRIA. Lady Constance, peace!
 54612   CONSTANCE. War! war! no peace! Peace is to me a war.
 54613     O Lymoges! O Austria! thou dost shame
 54614     That bloody spoil. Thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward!
 54615     Thou little valiant, great in villainy!
 54616     Thou ever strong upon the stronger side!
 54617     Thou Fortune's champion that dost never fight
 54618     But when her humorous ladyship is by
 54619     To teach thee safety! Thou art perjur'd too,
 54620     And sooth'st up greatness. What a fool art thou,
 54621     A ramping fool, to brag and stamp and swear
 54622     Upon my party! Thou cold-blooded slave,
 54623     Hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side,
 54624     Been sworn my soldier, bidding me depend
 54625     Upon thy stars, thy fortune, and thy strength,
 54626     And dost thou now fall over to my foes?
 54627     Thou wear a lion's hide! Doff it for shame,
 54628     And hang a calf's-skin on those recreant limbs.
 54629   AUSTRIA. O that a man should speak those words to me!
 54630   BASTARD. And hang a calf's-skin on those recreant limbs.
 54631   AUSTRIA. Thou dar'st not say so, villain, for thy life.
 54632   BASTARD. And hang a calf's-skin on those recreant limbs.
 54633   KING JOHN. We like not this: thou dost forget thyself.
 54634 
 54635                   Enter PANDULPH
 54636 
 54637   KING PHILIP. Here comes the holy legate of the Pope.
 54638   PANDULPH. Hail, you anointed deputies of heaven!
 54639     To thee, King John, my holy errand is.
 54640     I Pandulph, of fair Milan cardinal,
 54641     And from Pope Innocent the legate here,
 54642     Do in his name religiously demand
 54643     Why thou against the Church, our holy mother,
 54644     So wilfully dost spurn; and force perforce
 54645     Keep Stephen Langton, chosen Archbishop
 54646     Of Canterbury, from that holy see?
 54647     This, in our foresaid holy father's name,
 54648     Pope Innocent, I do demand of thee.
 54649   KING JOHN. What earthly name to interrogatories
 54650     Can task the free breath of a sacred king?
 54651     Thou canst not, Cardinal, devise a name
 54652     So slight, unworthy, and ridiculous,
 54653     To charge me to an answer, as the Pope.
 54654     Tell him this tale, and from the mouth of England
 54655     Add thus much more, that no Italian priest
 54656     Shall tithe or toll in our dominions;
 54657     But as we under heaven are supreme head,
 54658     So, under Him that great supremacy,
 54659     Where we do reign we will alone uphold,
 54660     Without th' assistance of a mortal hand.
 54661     So tell the Pope, all reverence set apart
 54662     To him and his usurp'd authority.
 54663   KING PHILIP. Brother of England, you blaspheme in this.
 54664   KING JOHN. Though you and all the kings of Christendom
 54665     Are led so grossly by this meddling priest,
 54666     Dreading the curse that money may buy out,
 54667     And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust,
 54668     Purchase corrupted pardon of a man,
 54669     Who in that sale sells pardon from himself-
 54670     Though you and all the rest, so grossly led,
 54671     This juggling witchcraft with revenue cherish;
 54672     Yet I alone, alone do me oppose
 54673     Against the Pope, and count his friends my foes.
 54674   PANDULPH. Then by the lawful power that I have
 54675     Thou shalt stand curs'd and excommunicate;
 54676     And blessed shall he be that doth revolt
 54677     From his allegiance to an heretic;
 54678     And meritorious shall that hand be call'd,
 54679     Canonized, and worshipp'd as a saint,
 54680     That takes away by any secret course
 54681     Thy hateful life.
 54682   CONSTANCE. O, lawful let it be
 54683     That I have room with Rome to curse awhile!
 54684     Good father Cardinal, cry thou 'amen'
 54685     To my keen curses; for without my wrong
 54686     There is no tongue hath power to curse him right.
 54687   PANDULPH. There's law and warrant, lady, for my curse.
 54688   CONSTANCE. And for mine too; when law can do no right,
 54689     Let it be lawful that law bar no wrong;
 54690     Law cannot give my child his kingdom here,
 54691     For he that holds his kingdom holds the law;
 54692     Therefore, since law itself is perfect wrong,
 54693     How can the law forbid my tongue to curse?
 54694   PANDULPH. Philip of France, on peril of a curse,
 54695     Let go the hand of that arch-heretic,
 54696     And raise the power of France upon his head,
 54697     Unless he do submit himself to Rome.
 54698   ELINOR. Look'st thou pale, France? Do not let go thy hand.
 54699   CONSTANCE. Look to that, devil, lest that France repent
 54700     And by disjoining hands hell lose a soul.
 54701   AUSTRIA. King Philip, listen to the Cardinal.
 54702   BASTARD. And hang a calf's-skin on his recreant limbs.
 54703   AUSTRIA. Well, ruffian, I must pocket up these wrongs,
 54704     Because-
 54705   BASTARD. Your breeches best may carry them.
 54706   KING JOHN. Philip, what say'st thou to the Cardinal?
 54707   CONSTANCE. What should he say, but as the Cardinal?
 54708   LEWIS. Bethink you, father; for the difference
 54709     Is purchase of a heavy curse from Rome
 54710     Or the light loss of England for a friend.
 54711     Forgo the easier.
 54712   BLANCH. That's the curse of Rome.
 54713   CONSTANCE. O Lewis, stand fast! The devil tempts thee here
 54714     In likeness of a new untrimmed bride.
 54715   BLANCH. The Lady Constance speaks not from her faith,
 54716     But from her need.
 54717   CONSTANCE. O, if thou grant my need,
 54718     Which only lives but by the death of faith,
 54719     That need must needs infer this principle-
 54720     That faith would live again by death of need.
 54721     O then, tread down my need, and faith mounts up:
 54722     Keep my need up, and faith is trodden down!
 54723   KING JOHN. The King is mov'd, and answers not to this.
 54724   CONSTANCE. O be remov'd from him, and answer well!
 54725   AUSTRIA. Do so, King Philip; hang no more in doubt.
 54726   BASTARD. Hang nothing but a calf's-skin, most sweet lout.
 54727   KING PHILIP. I am perplex'd and know not what to say.
 54728   PANDULPH. What canst thou say but will perplex thee more,
 54729     If thou stand excommunicate and curs'd?
 54730   KING PHILIP. Good reverend father, make my person yours,
 54731     And tell me how you would bestow yourself.
 54732     This royal hand and mine are newly knit,
 54733     And the conjunction of our inward souls
 54734     Married in league, coupled and link'd together
 54735     With all religious strength of sacred vows;
 54736     The latest breath that gave the sound of words
 54737     Was deep-sworn faith, peace, amity, true love,
 54738     Between our kingdoms and our royal selves;
 54739     And even before this truce, but new before,
 54740     No longer than we well could wash our hands,
 54741     To clap this royal bargain up of peace,
 54742     Heaven knows, they were besmear'd and overstain'd
 54743     With slaughter's pencil, where revenge did paint
 54744     The fearful difference of incensed kings.
 54745     And shall these hands, so lately purg'd of blood,
 54746     So newly join'd in love, so strong in both,
 54747     Unyoke this seizure and this kind regreet?
 54748     Play fast and loose with faith? so jest with heaven,
 54749     Make such unconstant children of ourselves,
 54750     As now again to snatch our palm from palm,
 54751     Unswear faith sworn, and on the marriage-bed
 54752     Of smiling peace to march a bloody host,
 54753     And make a riot on the gentle brow
 54754     Of true sincerity? O, holy sir,
 54755     My reverend father, let it not be so!
 54756     Out of your grace, devise, ordain, impose,
 54757     Some gentle order; and then we shall be blest
 54758     To do your pleasure, and continue friends.
 54759   PANDULPH. All form is formless, order orderless,
 54760     Save what is opposite to England's love.
 54761     Therefore, to arms! be champion of our church,
 54762     Or let the church, our mother, breathe her curse-
 54763     A mother's curse-on her revolting son.
 54764     France, thou mayst hold a serpent by the tongue,
 54765     A chafed lion by the mortal paw,
 54766     A fasting tiger safer by the tooth,
 54767     Than keep in peace that hand which thou dost hold.
 54768   KING PHILIP. I may disjoin my hand, but not my faith.
 54769   PANDULPH. So mak'st thou faith an enemy to faith;
 54770     And like. a civil war set'st oath to oath.
 54771     Thy tongue against thy tongue. O, let thy vow
 54772     First made to heaven, first be to heaven perform'd,
 54773     That is, to be the champion of our Church.
 54774     What since thou swor'st is sworn against thyself
 54775     And may not be performed by thyself,
 54776     For that which thou hast sworn to do amiss
 54777     Is not amiss when it is truly done;
 54778     And being not done, where doing tends to ill,
 54779     The truth is then most done not doing it;
 54780     The better act of purposes mistook
 54781     Is to mistake again; though indirect,
 54782     Yet indirection thereby grows direct,
 54783     And falsehood cures, as fire cools fire
 54784     Within the scorched veins of one new-burn'd.
 54785     It is religion that doth make vows kept;
 54786     But thou hast sworn against religion
 54787     By what thou swear'st against the thing thou swear'st,
 54788     And mak'st an oath the surety for thy truth
 54789     Against an oath; the truth thou art unsure
 54790     To swear swears only not to be forsworn;
 54791     Else what a mockery should it be to swear!
 54792     But thou dost swear only to be forsworn;
 54793     And most forsworn to keep what thou dost swear.
 54794     Therefore thy later vows against thy first
 54795     Is in thyself rebellion to thyself;
 54796     And better conquest never canst thou make
 54797     Than arm thy constant and thy nobler parts
 54798     Against these giddy loose suggestions;
 54799     Upon which better part our pray'rs come in,
 54800     If thou vouchsafe them. But if not, then know
 54801     The peril of our curses fight on thee
 54802     So heavy as thou shalt not shake them off,
 54803     But in despair die under the black weight.
 54804   AUSTRIA. Rebellion, flat rebellion!
 54805   BASTARD. Will't not be?
 54806     Will not a calf's-skin stop that mouth of thine?
 54807   LEWIS. Father, to arms!
 54808   BLANCH. Upon thy wedding-day?
 54809     Against the blood that thou hast married?
 54810     What, shall our feast be kept with slaughtered men?
 54811     Shall braying trumpets and loud churlish drums,
 54812     Clamours of hell, be measures to our pomp?
 54813     O husband, hear me! ay, alack, how new
 54814     Is 'husband' in my mouth! even for that name,
 54815     Which till this time my tongue did ne'er pronounce,
 54816     Upon my knee I beg, go not to arms
 54817     Against mine uncle.
 54818   CONSTANCE. O, upon my knee,
 54819     Made hard with kneeling, I do pray to thee,
 54820     Thou virtuous Dauphin, alter not the doom
 54821     Forethought by heaven!
 54822   BLANCH. Now shall I see thy love. What motive may
 54823     Be stronger with thee than the name of wife?
 54824   CONSTANCE. That which upholdeth him that thee upholds,
 54825     His honour. O, thine honour, Lewis, thine honour!
 54826   LEWIS. I muse your Majesty doth seem so cold,
 54827     When such profound respects do pull you on.
 54828   PANDULPH. I will denounce a curse upon his head.
 54829   KING PHILIP. Thou shalt not need. England, I will fall from thee.
 54830   CONSTANCE. O fair return of banish'd majesty!
 54831   ELINOR. O foul revolt of French inconstancy!
 54832   KING JOHN. France, thou shalt rue this hour within this hour.
 54833   BASTARD. Old Time the clock-setter, that bald sexton Time,
 54834     Is it as he will? Well then, France shall rue.
 54835   BLANCH. The sun's o'ercast with blood. Fair day, adieu!
 54836     Which is the side that I must go withal?
 54837     I am with both: each army hath a hand;
 54838     And in their rage, I having hold of both,
 54839     They whirl asunder and dismember me.
 54840     Husband, I cannot pray that thou mayst win;
 54841     Uncle, I needs must pray that thou mayst lose;
 54842     Father, I may not wish the fortune thine;
 54843     Grandam, I will not wish thy wishes thrive.
 54844     Whoever wins, on that side shall I lose:
 54845     Assured loss before the match be play'd.
 54846   LEWIS. Lady, with me, with me thy fortune lies.
 54847   BLANCH. There where my fortune lives, there my life dies.
 54848   KING JOHN. Cousin, go draw our puissance together.
 54849                                                          Exit BASTARD
 54850     France, I am burn'd up with inflaming wrath,
 54851     A rage whose heat hath this condition
 54852     That nothing can allay, nothing but blood,
 54853     The blood, and dearest-valu'd blood, of France.
 54854   KING PHILIP. Thy rage shall burn thee up, and thou shalt turn
 54855     To ashes, ere our blood shall quench that fire.
 54856     Look to thyself, thou art in jeopardy.
 54857   KING JOHN. No more than he that threats. To arms let's hie!
 54858                                                      Exeunt severally
 54859 
 54860 
 54861 
 54862 
 54863 SCENE 2.
 54864 
 54865 France. Plains near Angiers
 54866 
 54867 Alarums, excursions. Enter the BASTARD with AUSTRIA'S head
 54868 
 54869   BASTARD. Now, by my life, this day grows wondrous hot;
 54870     Some airy devil hovers in the sky
 54871     And pours down mischief. Austria's head lie there,
 54872     While Philip breathes.
 54873 
 54874           Enter KING JOHN, ARTHUR, and HUBERT
 54875 
 54876   KING JOHN. Hubert, keep this boy. Philip, make up:
 54877     My mother is assailed in our tent,
 54878     And ta'en, I fear.
 54879   BASTARD. My lord, I rescued her;
 54880     Her Highness is in safety, fear you not;
 54881     But on, my liege, for very little pains
 54882     Will bring this labour to an happy end.                    Exeunt
 54883 
 54884 
 54885 
 54886 
 54887 SCENE 3.
 54888 
 54889 France. Plains near Angiers
 54890 
 54891 Alarums, excursions, retreat. Enter KING JOHN, ELINOR, ARTHUR,
 54892 the BASTARD, HUBERT, and LORDS
 54893 
 54894   KING JOHN.  [To ELINOR]  So shall it be; your Grace shall stay
 54895       behind,
 54896     So strongly guarded.  [To ARTHUR]  Cousin, look not sad;
 54897     Thy grandam loves thee, and thy uncle will
 54898     As dear be to thee as thy father was.
 54899   ARTHUR. O, this will make my mother die with grief!
 54900   KING JOHN.  [To the BASTARD]  Cousin, away for England! haste
 54901       before,
 54902     And, ere our coming, see thou shake the bags
 54903     Of hoarding abbots; imprisoned angels
 54904     Set at liberty; the fat ribs of peace
 54905     Must by the hungry now be fed upon.
 54906     Use our commission in his utmost force.
 54907   BASTARD. Bell, book, and candle, shall not drive me back,
 54908     When gold and silver becks me to come on.
 54909     I leave your Highness. Grandam, I will pray,
 54910     If ever I remember to be holy,
 54911     For your fair safety. So, I kiss your hand.
 54912   ELINOR. Farewell, gentle cousin.
 54913   KING JOHN. Coz, farewell.
 54914                                                          Exit BASTARD
 54915   ELINOR. Come hither, little kinsman; hark, a word.
 54916   KING JOHN. Come hither, Hubert. O my gentle Hubert,
 54917     We owe thee much! Within this wall of flesh
 54918     There is a soul counts thee her creditor,
 54919     And with advantage means to pay thy love;
 54920     And, my good friend, thy voluntary oath
 54921     Lives in this bosom, dearly cherished.
 54922     Give me thy hand. I had a thing to say-
 54923     But I will fit it with some better time.
 54924     By heaven, Hubert, I am almost asham'd
 54925     To say what good respect I have of thee.
 54926   HUBERT. I am much bounden to your Majesty.
 54927   KING JOHN. Good friend, thou hast no cause to say so yet,
 54928     But thou shalt have; and creep time ne'er so slow,
 54929     Yet it shall come for me to do thee good.
 54930     I had a thing to say-but let it go:
 54931     The sun is in the heaven, and the proud day,
 54932     Attended with the pleasures of the world,
 54933     Is all too wanton and too full of gawds
 54934     To give me audience. If the midnight bell
 54935     Did with his iron tongue and brazen mouth
 54936     Sound on into the drowsy race of night;
 54937     If this same were a churchyard where we stand,
 54938     And thou possessed with a thousand wrongs;
 54939     Or if that surly spirit, melancholy,
 54940     Had bak'd thy blood and made it heavy-thick,
 54941     Which else runs tickling up and down the veins,
 54942     Making that idiot, laughter, keep men's eyes
 54943     And strain their cheeks to idle merriment,
 54944     A passion hateful to my purposes;
 54945     Or if that thou couldst see me without eyes,
 54946     Hear me without thine cars, and make reply
 54947     Without a tongue, using conceit alone,
 54948     Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound of words-
 54949     Then, in despite of brooded watchful day,
 54950     I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts.
 54951     But, ah, I will not! Yet I love thee well;
 54952     And, by my troth, I think thou lov'st me well.
 54953   HUBERT. So well that what you bid me undertake,
 54954     Though that my death were adjunct to my act,
 54955     By heaven, I would do it.
 54956   KING JOHN. Do not I know thou wouldst?
 54957     Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye
 54958     On yon young boy. I'll tell thee what, my friend,
 54959     He is a very serpent in my way;
 54960     And wheresoe'er this foot of mine doth tread,
 54961     He lies before me. Dost thou understand me?
 54962     Thou art his keeper.
 54963   HUBERT. And I'll keep him so
 54964     That he shall not offend your Majesty.
 54965   KING JOHN. Death.
 54966   HUBERT. My lord?
 54967   KING JOHN. A grave.
 54968   HUBERT. He shall not live.
 54969   KING JOHN. Enough!
 54970     I could be merry now. Hubert, I love thee.
 54971     Well, I'll not say what I intend for thee.
 54972     Remember. Madam, fare you well;
 54973     I'll send those powers o'er to your Majesty.
 54974   ELINOR. My blessing go with thee!
 54975   KING JOHN.  [To ARTHUR]  For England, cousin, go;
 54976     Hubert shall be your man, attend on you
 54977     With all true duty. On toward Calais, ho!                  Exeunt
 54978 
 54979 
 54980 
 54981 
 54982 SCENE 4.
 54983 
 54984 France. The FRENCH KING's camp
 54985 
 54986 Enter KING PHILIP, LEWIS, PANDULPH, and attendants
 54987 
 54988   KING PHILIP. So by a roaring tempest on the flood
 54989     A whole armado of convicted sail
 54990     Is scattered and disjoin'd from fellowship.
 54991   PANDULPH. Courage and comfort! All shall yet go well.
 54992   KING PHILIP. What can go well, when we have run so ill.
 54993     Are we not beaten? Is not Angiers lost?
 54994     Arthur ta'en prisoner? Divers dear friends slain?
 54995     And bloody England into England gone,
 54996     O'erbearing interruption, spite of France?
 54997   LEWIS. he hath won, that hath he fortified;
 54998     So hot a speed with such advice dispos'd,
 54999     Such temperate order in so fierce a cause,
 55000     Doth want example; who hath read or heard
 55001     Of any kindred action like to this?
 55002   KING PHILIP. Well could I bear that England had this praise,
 55003     So we could find some pattern of our shame.
 55004 
 55005                    Enter CONSTANCE
 55006 
 55007     Look who comes here! a grave unto a soul;
 55008     Holding th' eternal spirit, against her will,
 55009     In the vile prison of afflicted breath.
 55010     I prithee, lady, go away with me.
 55011   CONSTANCE. Lo now! now see the issue of your peace!
 55012   KING PHILIP. Patience, good lady! Comfort, gentle Constance!
 55013   CONSTANCE. No, I defy all counsel, all redress,
 55014     But that which ends all counsel, true redress-
 55015     Death, death; O amiable lovely death!
 55016     Thou odoriferous stench! sound rottenness!
 55017     Arise forth from the couch of lasting night,
 55018     Thou hate and terror to prosperity,
 55019     And I will kiss thy detestable bones,
 55020     And put my eyeballs in thy vaulty brows,
 55021     And ring these fingers with thy household worms,
 55022     And stop this gap of breath with fulsome dust,
 55023     And be a carrion monster like thyself.
 55024     Come, grin on me, and I will think thou smil'st,
 55025     And buss thee as thy wife. Misery's love,
 55026     O, come to me!
 55027   KING PHILIP. O fair affliction, peace!
 55028   CONSTANCE. No, no, I will not, having breath to cry.
 55029     O that my tongue were in the thunder's mouth!
 55030     Then with a passion would I shake the world,
 55031     And rouse from sleep that fell anatomy
 55032     Which cannot hear a lady's feeble voice,
 55033     Which scorns a modern invocation.
 55034   PANDULPH. Lady, you utter madness and not sorrow.
 55035   CONSTANCE. Thou art not holy to belie me so.
 55036     I am not mad: this hair I tear is mine;
 55037     My name is Constance; I was Geffrey's wife;
 55038     Young Arthur is my son, and he is lost.
 55039     I am not mad-I would to heaven I were!
 55040     For then 'tis like I should forget myself.
 55041     O, if I could, what grief should I forget!
 55042     Preach some philosophy to make me mad,
 55043     And thou shalt be canoniz'd, Cardinal;
 55044     For, being not mad, but sensible of grief,
 55045     My reasonable part produces reason
 55046     How I may be deliver'd of these woes,
 55047     And teaches me to kill or hang myself.
 55048     If I were mad I should forget my son,
 55049     Or madly think a babe of clouts were he.
 55050     I am not mad; too well, too well I feel
 55051     The different plague of each calamity.
 55052   KING PHILIP. Bind up those tresses. O, what love I note
 55053     In the fair multitude of those her hairs!
 55054     Where but by a chance a silver drop hath fall'n,
 55055     Even to that drop ten thousand wiry friends
 55056     Do glue themselves in sociable grief,
 55057     Like true, inseparable, faithful loves,
 55058     Sticking together in calamity.
 55059   CONSTANCE. To England, if you will.
 55060   KING PHILIP. Bind up your hairs.
 55061   CONSTANCE. Yes, that I will; and wherefore will I do it?
 55062     I tore them from their bonds, and cried aloud
 55063     'O that these hands could so redeem my son,
 55064     As they have given these hairs their liberty!'
 55065     But now I envy at their liberty,
 55066     And will again commit them to their bonds,
 55067     Because my poor child is a prisoner.
 55068     And, father Cardinal, I have heard you say
 55069     That we shall see and know our friends in heaven;
 55070     If that be true, I shall see my boy again;
 55071     For since the birth of Cain, the first male child,
 55072     To him that did but yesterday suspire,
 55073     There was not such a gracious creature born.
 55074     But now will canker sorrow eat my bud
 55075     And chase the native beauty from his cheek,
 55076     And he will look as hollow as a ghost,
 55077     As dim and meagre as an ague's fit;
 55078     And so he'll die; and, rising so again,
 55079     When I shall meet him in the court of heaven
 55080     I shall not know him. Therefore never, never
 55081     Must I behold my pretty Arthur more.
 55082   PANDULPH. You hold too heinous a respect of grief.
 55083   CONSTANCE. He talks to me that never had a son.
 55084   KING PHILIP. You are as fond of grief as of your child.
 55085   CONSTANCE. Grief fills the room up of my absent child,
 55086     Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me,
 55087     Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,
 55088     Remembers me of all his gracious parts,
 55089     Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form;
 55090     Then have I reason to be fond of grief.
 55091     Fare you well; had you such a loss as I,
 55092     I could give better comfort than you do.
 55093     I will not keep this form upon my head,
 55094                                                    [Tearing her hair]
 55095     When there is such disorder in my wit.
 55096     O Lord! my boy, my Arthur, my fair son!
 55097     My life, my joy, my food, my ail the world!
 55098     My widow-comfort, and my sorrows' cure!                      Exit
 55099   KING PHILIP. I fear some outrage, and I'll follow her.         Exit
 55100   LEWIS. There's nothing in this world can make me joy.
 55101     Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale
 55102     Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man;
 55103     And bitter shame hath spoil'd the sweet world's taste,
 55104     That it yields nought but shame and bitterness.
 55105   PANDULPH. Before the curing of a strong disease,
 55106     Even in the instant of repair and health,
 55107     The fit is strongest; evils that take leave
 55108     On their departure most of all show evil;
 55109     What have you lost by losing of this day?
 55110   LEWIS. All days of glory, joy, and happiness.
 55111   PANDULPH. If you had won it, certainly you had.
 55112     No, no; when Fortune means to men most good,
 55113     She looks upon them with a threat'ning eye.
 55114     'Tis strange to think how much King John hath lost
 55115     In this which he accounts so clearly won.
 55116     Are not you griev'd that Arthur is his prisoner?
 55117   LEWIS. As heartily as he is glad he hath him.
 55118   PANDULPH. Your mind is all as youthful as your blood.
 55119     Now hear me speak with a prophetic spirit;
 55120     For even the breath of what I mean to speak
 55121     Shall blow each dust, each straw, each little rub,
 55122     Out of the path which shall directly lead
 55123     Thy foot to England's throne. And therefore mark:
 55124     John hath seiz'd Arthur; and it cannot be
 55125     That, whiles warm life plays in that infant's veins,
 55126     The misplac'd John should entertain an hour,
 55127     One minute, nay, one quiet breath of rest.
 55128     A sceptre snatch'd with an unruly hand
 55129     Must be boisterously maintain'd as gain'd,
 55130     And he that stands upon a slipp'ry place
 55131     Makes nice of no vile hold to stay him up;
 55132     That John may stand then, Arthur needs must fall;
 55133     So be it, for it cannot be but so.
 55134   LEWIS. But what shall I gain by young Arthur's fall?
 55135   PANDULPH. You, in the right of Lady Blanch your wife,
 55136     May then make all the claim that Arthur did.
 55137   LEWIS. And lose it, life and all, as Arthur did.
 55138   PANDULPH. How green you are and fresh in this old world!
 55139     John lays you plots; the times conspire with you;
 55140     For he that steeps his safety in true blood
 55141     Shall find but bloody safety and untrue.
 55142     This act, so evilly borne, shall cool the hearts
 55143     Of all his people and freeze up their zeal,
 55144     That none so small advantage shall step forth
 55145     To check his reign but they will cherish it;
 55146     No natural exhalation in the sky,
 55147     No scope of nature, no distemper'd day,
 55148     No common wind, no customed event,
 55149     But they will pluck away his natural cause
 55150     And call them meteors, prodigies, and signs,
 55151     Abortives, presages, and tongues of heaven,
 55152     Plainly denouncing vengeance upon John.
 55153   LEWIS. May be he will not touch young Arthur's life,
 55154     But hold himself safe in his prisonment.
 55155   PANDULPH. O, Sir, when he shall hear of your approach,
 55156     If that young Arthur be not gone already,
 55157     Even at that news he dies; and then the hearts
 55158     Of all his people shall revolt from him,
 55159     And kiss the lips of unacquainted change,
 55160     And pick strong matter of revolt and wrath
 55161     Out of the bloody fingers' ends of john.
 55162     Methinks I see this hurly all on foot;
 55163     And, O, what better matter breeds for you
 55164     Than I have nam'd! The bastard Faulconbridge
 55165     Is now in England ransacking the Church,
 55166     Offending charity; if but a dozen French
 55167     Were there in arms, they would be as a can
 55168     To train ten thousand English to their side;
 55169     Or as a little snow, tumbled about,
 55170     Anon becomes a mountain. O noble Dauphin,
 55171     Go with me to the King. 'Tis wonderful
 55172     What may be wrought out of their discontent,
 55173     Now that their souls are topful of offence.
 55174     For England go; I will whet on the King.
 55175   LEWIS. Strong reasons makes strong actions. Let us go;
 55176     If you say ay, the King will not say no.                   Exeunt
 55177 
 55178 
 55179 
 55180 
 55181 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
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 55189 
 55190 
 55191 
 55192 ACT IV. SCENE 1.
 55193 
 55194 England. A castle
 55195 
 55196 Enter HUBERT and EXECUTIONERS
 55197 
 55198   HUBERT. Heat me these irons hot; and look thou stand
 55199     Within the arras. When I strike my foot
 55200     Upon the bosom of the ground, rush forth
 55201     And bind the boy which you shall find with me
 55202     Fast to the chair. Be heedful; hence, and watch.
 55203   EXECUTIONER. I hope your warrant will bear out the deed.
 55204   HUBERT. Uncleanly scruples! Fear not you. Look to't.
 55205                                                   Exeunt EXECUTIONERS
 55206     Young lad, come forth; I have to say with you.
 55207 
 55208                     Enter ARTHUR
 55209 
 55210   ARTHUR. Good morrow, Hubert.
 55211   HUBERT. Good morrow, little Prince.
 55212   ARTHUR. As little prince, having so great a tide
 55213     To be more prince, as may be. You are sad.
 55214   HUBERT. Indeed I have been merrier.
 55215   ARTHUR. Mercy on me!
 55216     Methinks no body should be sad but I;
 55217     Yet, I remember, when I was in France,
 55218     Young gentlemen would be as sad as night,
 55219     Only for wantonness. By my christendom,
 55220     So I were out of prison and kept sheep,
 55221     I should be as merry as the day is long;
 55222     And so I would be here but that I doubt
 55223     My uncle practises more harm to me;
 55224     He is afraid of me, and I of him.
 55225     Is it my fault that I was Geffrey's son?
 55226     No, indeed, ist not; and I would to heaven
 55227     I were your son, so you would love me, Hubert.
 55228   HUBERT.  [Aside]  If I talk to him, with his innocent prate
 55229     He will awake my mercy, which lies dead;
 55230     Therefore I will be sudden and dispatch.
 55231   ARTHUR. Are you sick, Hubert? You look pale to-day;
 55232     In sooth, I would you were a little sick,
 55233     That I might sit all night and watch with you.
 55234     I warrant I love you more than you do me.
 55235   HUBERT.  [Aside]  His words do take possession of my bosom.-
 55236     Read here, young Arthur.                        [Showing a paper]
 55237       [Aside]  How now, foolish rheum!
 55238     Turning dispiteous torture out of door!
 55239     I must be brief, lest resolution drop
 55240     Out at mine eyes in tender womanish tears.-
 55241     Can you not read it? Is it not fair writ?
 55242   ARTHUR. Too fairly, Hubert, for so foul effect.
 55243     Must you with hot irons burn out both mine eyes?
 55244   HUBERT. Young boy, I must.
 55245   ARTHUR. And will you?
 55246   HUBERT. And I will.
 55247   ARTHUR. Have you the heart? When your head did but ache,
 55248     I knit my handkerchief about your brows-
 55249     The best I had, a princess wrought it me-
 55250     And I did never ask it you again;
 55251     And with my hand at midnight held your head;
 55252     And, like the watchful minutes to the hour,
 55253     Still and anon cheer'd up the heavy time,
 55254     Saying 'What lack you?' and 'Where lies your grief?'
 55255     Or 'What good love may I perform for you?'
 55256     Many a poor man's son would have lyen still,
 55257     And ne'er have spoke a loving word to you;
 55258     But you at your sick service had a prince.
 55259     Nay, you may think my love was crafty love,
 55260     And call it cunning. Do, an if you will.
 55261     If heaven be pleas'd that you must use me ill,
 55262     Why, then you must. Will you put out mine eyes,
 55263     These eyes that never did nor never shall
 55264     So much as frown on you?
 55265   HUBERT. I have sworn to do it;
 55266     And with hot irons must I burn them out.
 55267   ARTHUR. Ah, none but in this iron age would do it!
 55268     The iron of itself, though heat red-hot,
 55269     Approaching near these eyes would drink my tears,
 55270     And quench his fiery indignation
 55271     Even in the matter of mine innocence;
 55272     Nay, after that, consume away in rust
 55273     But for containing fire to harm mine eye.
 55274     Are you more stubborn-hard than hammer'd iron?
 55275     An if an angel should have come to me
 55276     And told me Hubert should put out mine eyes,
 55277     I would not have believ'd him-no tongue but Hubert's.
 55278   HUBERT.  [Stamps]  Come forth.
 55279 
 55280      Re-enter EXECUTIONERS, With cord, irons, etc.
 55281 
 55282     Do as I bid you do.
 55283   ARTHUR. O, save me, Hubert, save me! My eyes are out
 55284     Even with the fierce looks of these bloody men.
 55285   HUBERT. Give me the iron, I say, and bind him here.
 55286   ARTHUR. Alas, what need you be so boist'rous rough?
 55287     I will not struggle, I will stand stone-still.
 55288     For heaven sake, Hubert, let me not be bound!
 55289     Nay, hear me, Hubert! Drive these men away,
 55290     And I will sit as quiet as a lamb;
 55291     I will not stir, nor wince, nor speak a word,
 55292     Nor look upon the iron angrily;
 55293     Thrust but these men away, and I'll forgive you,
 55294     Whatever torment you do put me to.
 55295   HUBERT. Go, stand within; let me alone with him.
 55296   EXECUTIONER. I am best pleas'd to be from such a deed.
 55297                                                   Exeunt EXECUTIONERS
 55298   ARTHUR. Alas, I then have chid away my friend!
 55299     He hath a stern look but a gentle heart.
 55300     Let him come back, that his compassion may
 55301     Give life to yours.
 55302   HUBERT. Come, boy, prepare yourself.
 55303   ARTHUR. Is there no remedy?
 55304   HUBERT. None, but to lose your eyes.
 55305   ARTHUR. O heaven, that there were but a mote in yours,
 55306     A grain, a dust, a gnat, a wandering hair,
 55307     Any annoyance in that precious sense!
 55308     Then, feeling what small things are boisterous there,
 55309     Your vile intent must needs seem horrible.
 55310   HUBERT. Is this your promise? Go to, hold your tongue.
 55311   ARTHUR. Hubert, the utterance of a brace of tongues
 55312     Must needs want pleading for a pair of eyes.
 55313     Let me not hold my tongue, let me not, Hubert;
 55314     Or, Hubert, if you will, cut out my tongue,
 55315     So I may keep mine eyes. O, spare mine eyes,
 55316     Though to no use but still to look on you!
 55317     Lo, by my troth, the instrument is cold
 55318     And would not harm me.
 55319   HUBERT. I can heat it, boy.
 55320   ARTHUR. No, in good sooth; the fire is dead with grief,
 55321     Being create for comfort, to be us'd
 55322     In undeserved extremes. See else yourself:
 55323     There is no malice in this burning coal;
 55324     The breath of heaven hath blown his spirit out,
 55325     And strew'd repentant ashes on his head.
 55326   HUBERT. But with my breath I can revive it, boy.
 55327   ARTHUR. An if you do, you will but make it blush
 55328     And glow with shame of your proceedings, Hubert.
 55329     Nay, it perchance will sparkle in your eyes,
 55330     And, like a dog that is compell'd to fight,
 55331     Snatch at his master that doth tarre him on.
 55332     All things that you should use to do me wrong
 55333     Deny their office; only you do lack
 55334     That mercy which fierce fire and iron extends,
 55335     Creatures of note for mercy-lacking uses.
 55336   HUBERT. Well, see to live; I will not touch thine eye
 55337     For all the treasure that thine uncle owes.
 55338     Yet I am sworn, and I did purpose, boy,
 55339     With this same very iron to burn them out.
 55340   ARTHUR. O, now you look like Hubert! All this while
 55341     You were disguis'd.
 55342   HUBERT. Peace; no more. Adieu.
 55343     Your uncle must not know but you are dead:
 55344     I'll fill these dogged spies with false reports;
 55345     And, pretty child, sleep doubtless and secure
 55346     That Hubert, for the wealth of all the world,
 55347     Will not offend thee.
 55348   ARTHUR. O heaven! I thank you, Hubert.
 55349   HUBERT. Silence; no more. Go closely in with me.
 55350     Much danger do I undergo for thee.                         Exeunt
 55351 
 55352 
 55353 
 55354 
 55355 SCENE 2.
 55356 
 55357 England. KING JOHN'S palace
 55358 
 55359 Enter KING JOHN, PEMBROKE, SALISBURY, and other LORDS
 55360 
 55361   KING JOHN. Here once again we sit, once again crown'd,
 55362     And look'd upon, I hope, with cheerful eyes.
 55363   PEMBROKE. This once again, but that your Highness pleas'd,
 55364     Was once superfluous: you were crown'd before,
 55365     And that high royalty was ne'er pluck'd off,
 55366     The faiths of men ne'er stained with revolt;
 55367     Fresh expectation troubled not the land
 55368     With any long'd-for change or better state.
 55369   SALISBURY. Therefore, to be possess'd with double pomp,
 55370     To guard a title that was rich before,
 55371     To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,
 55372     To throw a perfume on the violet,
 55373     To smooth the ice, or add another hue
 55374     Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light
 55375     To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,
 55376     Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.
 55377   PEMBROKE. But that your royal pleasure must be done,
 55378     This act is as an ancient tale new told
 55379     And, in the last repeating, troublesome,
 55380     Being urged at a time unseasonable.
 55381   SALISBURY. In this the antique and well-noted face
 55382     Of plain old form is much disfigured;
 55383     And like a shifted wind unto a sail
 55384     It makes the course of thoughts to fetch about,
 55385     Startles and frights consideration,
 55386     Makes sound opinion sick, and truth suspected,
 55387     For putting on so new a fashion'd robe.
 55388   PEMBROKE. When workmen strive to do better than well,
 55389     They do confound their skill in covetousness;
 55390     And oftentimes excusing of a fault
 55391     Doth make the fault the worse by th' excuse,
 55392     As patches set upon a little breach
 55393     Discredit more in hiding of the fault
 55394     Than did the fault before it was so patch'd.
 55395   SALISBURY. To this effect, before you were new-crown'd,
 55396     We breath'd our counsel; but it pleas'd your Highness
 55397     To overbear it; and we are all well pleas'd,
 55398     Since all and every part of what we would
 55399     Doth make a stand at what your Highness will.
 55400   KING JOHN. Some reasons of this double coronation
 55401     I have possess'd you with, and think them strong;
 55402     And more, more strong, when lesser is my fear,
 55403     I shall indue you with. Meantime but ask
 55404     What you would have reform'd that is not well,
 55405     And well shall you perceive how willingly
 55406     I will both hear and grant you your requests.
 55407   PEMBROKE. Then I, as one that am the tongue of these,
 55408     To sound the purposes of all their hearts,
 55409     Both for myself and them- but, chief of all,
 55410     Your safety, for the which myself and them
 55411     Bend their best studies, heartily request
 55412     Th' enfranchisement of Arthur, whose restraint
 55413     Doth move the murmuring lips of discontent
 55414     To break into this dangerous argument:
 55415     If what in rest you have in right you hold,
 55416     Why then your fears-which, as they say, attend
 55417     The steps of wrong-should move you to mew up
 55418     Your tender kinsman, and to choke his days
 55419     With barbarous ignorance, and deny his youth
 55420     The rich advantage of good exercise?
 55421     That the time's enemies may not have this
 55422     To grace occasions, let it be our suit
 55423     That you have bid us ask his liberty;
 55424     Which for our goods we do no further ask
 55425     Than whereupon our weal, on you depending,
 55426     Counts it your weal he have his liberty.
 55427   KING JOHN. Let it be so. I do commit his youth
 55428     To your direction.
 55429 
 55430                      Enter HUBERT
 55431 
 55432     [Aside]  Hubert, what news with you?
 55433   PEMBROKE. This is the man should do the bloody deed:
 55434     He show'd his warrant to a friend of mine;
 55435     The image of a wicked heinous fault
 55436     Lives in his eye; that close aspect of his
 55437     Doth show the mood of a much troubled breast,
 55438     And I do fearfully believe 'tis done
 55439     What we so fear'd he had a charge to do.
 55440   SALISBURY. The colour of the King doth come and go
 55441     Between his purpose and his conscience,
 55442     Like heralds 'twixt two dreadful battles set.
 55443     His passion is so ripe it needs must break.
 55444   PEMBROKE. And when it breaks, I fear will issue thence
 55445     The foul corruption of a sweet child's death.
 55446   KING JOHN. We cannot hold mortality's strong hand.
 55447     Good lords, although my will to give is living,
 55448     The suit which you demand is gone and dead:
 55449     He tells us Arthur is deceas'd to-night.
 55450   SALISBURY. Indeed, we fear'd his sickness was past cure.
 55451   PEMBROKE. Indeed, we heard how near his death he was,
 55452     Before the child himself felt he was sick.
 55453     This must be answer'd either here or hence.
 55454   KING JOHN. Why do you bend such solemn brows on me?
 55455     Think you I bear the shears of destiny?
 55456     Have I commandment on the pulse of life?
 55457   SALISBURY. It is apparent foul-play; and 'tis shame
 55458     That greatness should so grossly offer it.
 55459     So thrive it in your game! and so, farewell.
 55460   PEMBROKE. Stay yet, Lord Salisbury, I'll go with thee
 55461     And find th' inheritance of this poor child,
 55462     His little kingdom of a forced grave.
 55463     That blood which ow'd the breadth of all this isle
 55464     Three foot of it doth hold-bad world the while!
 55465     This must not be thus borne: this will break out
 55466     To all our sorrows, and ere long I doubt.            Exeunt LORDS
 55467   KING JOHN. They burn in indignation. I repent.
 55468     There is no sure foundation set on blood,
 55469     No certain life achiev'd by others' death.
 55470 
 55471                  Enter a MESSENGER
 55472 
 55473     A fearful eye thou hast; where is that blood
 55474     That I have seen inhabit in those cheeks?
 55475     So foul a sky clears not without a storm.
 55476     Pour down thy weather-how goes all in France?
 55477   MESSENGER. From France to England. Never such a pow'r
 55478     For any foreign preparation
 55479     Was levied in the body of a land.
 55480     The copy of your speed is learn'd by them,
 55481     For when you should be told they do prepare,
 55482     The tidings comes that they are all arriv'd.
 55483   KING JOHN. O, where hath our intelligence been drunk?
 55484     Where hath it slept? Where is my mother's care,
 55485     That such an army could be drawn in France,
 55486     And she not hear of it?
 55487   MESSENGER. My liege, her ear
 55488     Is stopp'd with dust: the first of April died
 55489     Your noble mother; and as I hear, my lord,
 55490     The Lady Constance in a frenzy died
 55491     Three days before; but this from rumour's tongue
 55492     I idly heard-if true or false I know not.
 55493   KING JOHN. Withhold thy speed, dreadful occasion!
 55494     O, make a league with me, till I have pleas'd
 55495     My discontented peers! What! mother dead!
 55496     How wildly then walks my estate in France!
 55497     Under whose conduct came those pow'rs of France
 55498     That thou for truth giv'st out are landed here?
 55499   MESSENGER. Under the Dauphin.
 55500   KING JOHN. Thou hast made me giddy
 55501     With these in tidings.
 55502 
 55503          Enter the BASTARD and PETER OF POMFRET
 55504 
 55505     Now! What says the world
 55506     To your proceedings? Do not seek to stuff
 55507     My head with more ill news, for it is fun.
 55508   BASTARD. But if you be afear'd to hear the worst,
 55509     Then let the worst, unheard, fall on your head.
 55510   KING JOHN. Bear with me, cousin, for I was amaz'd
 55511     Under the tide; but now I breathe again
 55512     Aloft the flood, and can give audience
 55513     To any tongue, speak it of what it will.
 55514   BASTARD. How I have sped among the clergymen
 55515     The sums I have collected shall express.
 55516     But as I travell'd hither through the land,
 55517     I find the people strangely fantasied;
 55518     Possess'd with rumours, full of idle dreams.
 55519     Not knowing what they fear, but full of fear;
 55520     And here's a prophet that I brought with me
 55521     From forth the streets of Pomfret, whom I found
 55522     With many hundreds treading on his heels;
 55523     To whom he sung, in rude harsh-sounding rhymes,
 55524     That, ere the next Ascension-day at noon,
 55525     Your Highness should deliver up your crown.
 55526   KING JOHN. Thou idle dreamer, wherefore didst thou so?
 55527   PETER. Foreknowing that the truth will fall out so.
 55528   KING JOHN. Hubert, away with him; imprison him;
 55529     And on that day at noon whereon he says
 55530     I shall yield up my crown let him be hang'd.
 55531     Deliver him to safety; and return,
 55532     For I must use thee.
 55533                                                Exit HUBERT with PETER
 55534     O my gentle cousin,
 55535     Hear'st thou the news abroad, who are arriv'd?
 55536   BASTARD. The French, my lord; men's mouths are full of it;
 55537     Besides, I met Lord Bigot and Lord Salisbury,
 55538     With eyes as red as new-enkindled fire,
 55539     And others more, going to seek the grave
 55540     Of Arthur, whom they say is kill'd to-night
 55541     On your suggestion.
 55542   KING JOHN. Gentle kinsman, go
 55543     And thrust thyself into their companies.
 55544     I have a way to will their loves again;
 55545     Bring them before me.
 55546   BASTARD. I Will seek them out.
 55547   KING JOHN. Nay, but make haste; the better foot before.
 55548     O, let me have no subject enemies
 55549     When adverse foreigners affright my towns
 55550     With dreadful pomp of stout invasion!
 55551     Be Mercury, set feathers to thy heels,
 55552     And fly like thought from them to me again.
 55553   BASTARD. The spirit of the time shall teach me speed.
 55554   KING JOHN. Spoke like a sprightful noble gentleman.
 55555                                                          Exit BASTARD
 55556     Go after him; for he perhaps shall need
 55557     Some messenger betwixt me and the peers;
 55558     And be thou he.
 55559   MESSENGER. With all my heart, my liege.                        Exit
 55560   KING JOHN. My mother dead!
 55561 
 55562                    Re-enter HUBERT
 55563 
 55564   HUBERT. My lord, they say five moons were seen to-night;
 55565     Four fixed, and the fifth did whirl about
 55566     The other four in wondrous motion.
 55567   KING JOHN. Five moons!
 55568   HUBERT. Old men and beldams in the streets
 55569     Do prophesy upon it dangerously;
 55570     Young Arthur's death is common in their mouths;
 55571     And when they talk of him, they shake their heads,
 55572     And whisper one another in the ear;
 55573     And he that speaks doth gripe the hearer's wrist,
 55574     Whilst he that hears makes fearful action
 55575     With wrinkled brows, with nods, with rolling eyes.
 55576     I saw a smith stand with his hammer, thus,
 55577     The whilst his iron did on the anvil cool,
 55578     With open mouth swallowing a tailor's news;
 55579     Who, with his shears and measure in his hand,
 55580     Standing on slippers, which his nimble haste
 55581     Had falsely thrust upon contrary feet,
 55582     Told of a many thousand warlike French
 55583     That were embattailed and rank'd in Kent.
 55584     Another lean unwash'd artificer
 55585     Cuts off his tale, and talks of Arthur's death.
 55586   KING JOHN. Why seek'st thou to possess me with these fears?
 55587     Why urgest thou so oft young Arthur's death?
 55588     Thy hand hath murd'red him. I had a mighty cause
 55589     To wish him dead, but thou hadst none to kill him.
 55590   HUBERT. No had, my lord! Why, did you not provoke me?
 55591   KING JOHN. It is the curse of kings to be attended
 55592     By slaves that take their humours for a warrant
 55593     To break within the bloody house of life,
 55594     And on the winking of authority
 55595     To understand a law; to know the meaning
 55596     Of dangerous majesty, when perchance it frowns
 55597     More upon humour than advis'd respect.
 55598   HUBERT. Here is your hand and seal for what I did.
 55599   KING JOHN. O, when the last account 'twixt heaven and earth
 55600     Is to be made, then shall this hand and seal
 55601     Witness against us to damnation!
 55602     How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds
 55603     Make deeds ill done! Hadst not thou been by,
 55604     A fellow by the hand of nature mark'd,
 55605     Quoted and sign'd to do a deed of shame,
 55606     This murder had not come into my mind;
 55607     But, taking note of thy abhorr'd aspect,
 55608     Finding thee fit for bloody villainy,
 55609     Apt, liable to be employ'd in danger,
 55610     I faintly broke with thee of Arthur's death;
 55611     And thou, to be endeared to a king,
 55612     Made it no conscience to destroy a prince.
 55613   HUBERT. My lord-
 55614   KING JOHN. Hadst thou but shook thy head or made pause,
 55615     When I spake darkly what I purposed,
 55616     Or turn'd an eye of doubt upon my face,
 55617     As bid me tell my tale in express words,
 55618     Deep shame had struck me dumb, made me break off,
 55619     And those thy fears might have wrought fears in me.
 55620     But thou didst understand me by my signs,
 55621     And didst in signs again parley with sin;
 55622     Yea, without stop, didst let thy heart consent,
 55623     And consequently thy rude hand to act
 55624     The deed which both our tongues held vile to name.
 55625     Out of my sight, and never see me more!
 55626     My nobles leave me; and my state is braved,
 55627     Even at my gates, with ranks of foreign pow'rs;
 55628     Nay, in the body of the fleshly land,
 55629     This kingdom, this confine of blood and breath,
 55630     Hostility and civil tumult reigns
 55631     Between my conscience and my cousin's death.
 55632   HUBERT. Arm you against your other enemies,
 55633     I'll make a peace between your soul and you.
 55634     Young Arthur is alive. This hand of mine
 55635     Is yet a maiden and an innocent hand,
 55636     Not painted with the crimson spots of blood.
 55637     Within this bosom never ent'red yet
 55638     The dreadful motion of a murderous thought
 55639     And you have slander'd nature in my form,
 55640     Which, howsoever rude exteriorly,
 55641     Is yet the cover of a fairer mind
 55642     Than to be butcher of an innocent child.
 55643   KING JOHN. Doth Arthur live? O, haste thee to the peers,
 55644     Throw this report on their incensed rage
 55645     And make them tame to their obedience!
 55646     Forgive the comment that my passion made
 55647     Upon thy feature; for my rage was blind,
 55648     And foul imaginary eyes of blood
 55649     Presented thee more hideous than thou art.
 55650     O, answer not; but to my closet bring
 55651     The angry lords with all expedient haste.
 55652     I conjure thee but slowly; run more fast.                  Exeunt
 55653 
 55654 
 55655 
 55656 
 55657 SCENE 3.
 55658 
 55659 England. Before the castle
 55660 
 55661 Enter ARTHUR, on the walls
 55662 
 55663   ARTHUR. The wall is high, and yet will I leap down.
 55664     Good ground, be pitiful and hurt me not!
 55665     There's few or none do know me; if they did,
 55666     This ship-boy's semblance hath disguis'd me quite.
 55667     I am afraid; and yet I'll venture it.
 55668     If I get down and do not break my limbs,
 55669     I'll find a thousand shifts to get away.
 55670     As good to die and go, as die and stay.              [Leaps down]
 55671     O me! my uncle's spirit is in these stones.
 55672     Heaven take my soul, and England keep my bones!
 55673     [Dies]
 55674 
 55675           Enter PEMBROKE, SALISBURY, and BIGOT
 55676 
 55677   SALISBURY. Lords, I will meet him at Saint Edmundsbury;
 55678     It is our safety, and we must embrace
 55679     This gentle offer of the perilous time.
 55680   PEMBROKE. Who brought that letter from the Cardinal?
 55681   SALISBURY. The Count Melun, a noble lord of France,
 55682     Whose private with me of the Dauphin's love
 55683     Is much more general than these lines import.
 55684   BIGOT. To-morrow morning let us meet him then.
 55685   SALISBURY. Or rather then set forward; for 'twill be
 55686     Two long days' journey, lords, or ere we meet.
 55687 
 55688                  Enter the BASTARD
 55689 
 55690   BASTARD. Once more to-day well met, distemper'd lords!
 55691     The King by me requests your presence straight.
 55692   SALISBURY. The King hath dispossess'd himself of us.
 55693     We will not line his thin bestained cloak
 55694     With our pure honours, nor attend the foot
 55695     That leaves the print of blood where'er it walks.
 55696     Return and tell him so. We know the worst.
 55697   BASTARD. Whate'er you think, good words, I think, were best.
 55698   SALISBURY. Our griefs, and not our manners, reason now.
 55699   BASTARD. But there is little reason in your grief;
 55700     Therefore 'twere reason you had manners now.
 55701   PEMBROKE. Sir, sir, impatience hath his privilege.
 55702   BASTARD. 'Tis true-to hurt his master, no man else.
 55703   SALISBURY. This is the prison. What is he lies here?
 55704   PEMBROKE. O death, made proud with pure and princely beauty!
 55705     The earth had not a hole to hide this deed.
 55706   SALISBURY. Murder, as hating what himself hath done,
 55707     Doth lay it open to urge on revenge.
 55708   BIGOT. Or, when he doom'd this beauty to a grave,
 55709     Found it too precious-princely for a grave.
 55710   SALISBURY. Sir Richard, what think you? Have you beheld,
 55711     Or have you read or heard, or could you think?
 55712     Or do you almost think, although you see,
 55713     That you do see? Could thought, without this object,
 55714     Form such another? This is the very top,
 55715     The height, the crest, or crest unto the crest,
 55716     Of murder's arms; this is the bloodiest shame,
 55717     The wildest savagery, the vilest stroke,
 55718     That ever wall-ey'd wrath or staring rage
 55719     Presented to the tears of soft remorse.
 55720   PEMBROKE. All murders past do stand excus'd in this;
 55721     And this, so sole and so unmatchable,
 55722     Shall give a holiness, a purity,
 55723     To the yet unbegotten sin of times,
 55724     And prove a deadly bloodshed but a jest,
 55725     Exampled by this heinous spectacle.
 55726   BASTARD. It is a damned and a bloody work;
 55727     The graceless action of a heavy hand,
 55728     If that it be the work of any hand.
 55729   SALISBURY. If that it be the work of any hand!
 55730     We had a kind of light what would ensue.
 55731     It is the shameful work of Hubert's hand;
 55732     The practice and the purpose of the King;
 55733     From whose obedience I forbid my soul
 55734     Kneeling before this ruin of sweet life,
 55735     And breathing to his breathless excellence
 55736     The incense of a vow, a holy vow,
 55737     Never to taste the pleasures of the world,
 55738     Never to be infected with delight,
 55739     Nor conversant with ease and idleness,
 55740     Till I have set a glory to this hand
 55741     By giving it the worship of revenge.
 55742   PEMBROKE. and BIGOT. Our souls religiously confirm thy words.
 55743 
 55744                      Enter HUBERT
 55745 
 55746   HUBERT. Lords, I am hot with haste in seeking you.
 55747     Arthur doth live; the King hath sent for you.
 55748   SALISBURY. O, he is bold, and blushes not at death!
 55749     Avaunt, thou hateful villain, get thee gone!
 55750   HUBERT. I am no villain.
 55751   SALISBURY. Must I rob the law?                  [Drawing his sword]
 55752   BASTARD. Your sword is bright, sir; put it up again.
 55753   SALISBURY. Not till I sheathe it in a murderer's skin.
 55754   HUBERT. Stand back, Lord Salisbury, stand back, I say;
 55755     By heaven, I think my sword's as sharp as yours.
 55756     I would not have you, lord, forget yourself,
 55757     Nor tempt the danger of my true defence;
 55758     Lest I, by marking of your rage, forget
 55759     Your worth, your greatness and nobility.
 55760   BIGOT. Out, dunghill! Dar'st thou brave a nobleman?
 55761   HUBERT. Not for my life; but yet I dare defend
 55762     My innocent life against an emperor.
 55763   SALISBURY. Thou art a murderer.
 55764   HUBERT. Do not prove me so.
 55765     Yet I am none. Whose tongue soe'er speaks false,
 55766     Not truly speaks; who speaks not truly, lies.
 55767   PEMBROKE. Cut him to pieces.
 55768   BASTARD. Keep the peace, I say.
 55769   SALISBURY. Stand by, or I shall gall you, Faulconbridge.
 55770   BASTARD. Thou wert better gall the devil, Salisbury.
 55771     If thou but frown on me, or stir thy foot,
 55772     Or teach thy hasty spleen to do me shame,
 55773     I'll strike thee dead. Put up thy sword betime;
 55774     Or I'll so maul you and your toasting-iron
 55775     That you shall think the devil is come from hell.
 55776   BIGOT. What wilt thou do, renowned Faulconbridge?
 55777     Second a villain and a murderer?
 55778   HUBERT. Lord Bigot, I am none.
 55779   BIGOT. Who kill'd this prince?
 55780   HUBERT. 'Tis not an hour since I left him well.
 55781     I honour'd him, I lov'd him, and will weep
 55782     My date of life out for his sweet life's loss.
 55783   SALISBURY. Trust not those cunning waters of his eyes,
 55784     For villainy is not without such rheum;
 55785     And he, long traded in it, makes it seem
 55786     Like rivers of remorse and innocency.
 55787     Away with me, all you whose souls abhor
 55788     Th' uncleanly savours of a slaughter-house;
 55789     For I am stifled with this smell of sin.
 55790   BIGOT. Away toward Bury, to the Dauphin there!
 55791   PEMBROKE. There tell the King he may inquire us out.
 55792                                                          Exeunt LORDS
 55793   BASTARD. Here's a good world! Knew you of this fair work?
 55794     Beyond the infinite and boundless reach
 55795     Of mercy, if thou didst this deed of death,
 55796     Art thou damn'd, Hubert.
 55797   HUBERT. Do but hear me, sir.
 55798   BASTARD. Ha! I'll tell thee what:
 55799     Thou'rt damn'd as black-nay, nothing is so black-
 55800     Thou art more deep damn'd than Prince Lucifer;
 55801     There is not yet so ugly a fiend of hell
 55802     As thou shalt be, if thou didst kill this child.
 55803   HUBERT. Upon my soul-
 55804   BASTARD. If thou didst but consent
 55805     To this most cruel act, do but despair;
 55806     And if thou want'st a cord, the smallest thread
 55807     That ever spider twisted from her womb
 55808     Will serve to strangle thee; a rush will be a beam
 55809     To hang thee on; or wouldst thou drown thyself,
 55810     Put but a little water in a spoon
 55811     And it shall be as all the ocean,
 55812     Enough to stifle such a villain up
 55813     I do suspect thee very grievously.
 55814   HUBERT. If I in act, consent, or sin of thought,
 55815     Be guilty of the stealing that sweet breath
 55816     Which was embounded in this beauteous clay,
 55817     Let hell want pains enough to torture me!
 55818     I left him well.
 55819   BASTARD. Go, bear him in thine arms.
 55820     I am amaz'd, methinks, and lose my way
 55821     Among the thorns and dangers of this world.
 55822     How easy dost thou take all England up!
 55823     From forth this morsel of dead royalty
 55824     The life, the right, and truth of all this realm
 55825     Is fled to heaven; and England now is left
 55826     To tug and scamble, and to part by th' teeth
 55827     The unowed interest of proud-swelling state.
 55828     Now for the bare-pick'd bone of majesty
 55829     Doth dogged war bristle his angry crest
 55830     And snarleth in the gentle eyes of peace;
 55831     Now powers from home and discontents at home
 55832     Meet in one line; and vast confusion waits,
 55833     As doth a raven on a sick-fall'n beast,
 55834     The imminent decay of wrested pomp.
 55835     Now happy he whose cloak and cincture can
 55836     Hold out this tempest. Bear away that child,
 55837     And follow me with speed. I'll to the King;
 55838     A thousand businesses are brief in hand,
 55839     And heaven itself doth frown upon the land.                Exeunt
 55840 
 55841 
 55842 
 55843 
 55844 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 55845 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 55846 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 55847 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
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 55852 
 55853 
 55854 
 55855 ACT V. SCENE 1.
 55856 England. KING JOHN'S palace
 55857 
 55858 Enter KING JOHN, PANDULPH, and attendants
 55859 
 55860   KING JOHN. Thus have I yielded up into your hand
 55861     The circle of my glory.
 55862   PANDULPH.  [Gives back the crown]  Take again
 55863     From this my hand, as holding of the Pope,
 55864     Your sovereign greatness and authority.
 55865   KING JOHN. Now keep your holy word; go meet the French;
 55866     And from his Holiness use all your power
 55867     To stop their marches fore we are inflam'd.
 55868     Our discontented counties do revolt;
 55869     Our people quarrel with obedience,
 55870     Swearing allegiance and the love of soul
 55871     To stranger blood, to foreign royalty.
 55872     This inundation of mistemp'red humour
 55873     Rests by you only to be qualified.
 55874     Then pause not; for the present time's so sick
 55875     That present med'cine must be minist'red
 55876     Or overthrow incurable ensues.
 55877   PANDULPH. It was my breath that blew this tempest up,
 55878     Upon your stubborn usage of the Pope;
 55879     But since you are a gentle convertite,
 55880     My tongue shall hush again this storm of war
 55881     And make fair weather in your blust'ring land.
 55882     On this Ascension-day, remember well,
 55883     Upon your oath of service to the Pope,
 55884     Go I to make the French lay down their arms.                 Exit
 55885   KING JOHN. Is this Ascension-day? Did not the prophet
 55886     Say that before Ascension-day at noon
 55887     My crown I should give off? Even so I have.
 55888     I did suppose it should be on constraint;
 55889     But, heaven be thank'd, it is but voluntary.
 55890 
 55891                  Enter the BASTARD
 55892 
 55893   BASTARD. All Kent hath yielded; nothing there holds out
 55894     But Dover Castle. London hath receiv'd,
 55895     Like a kind host, the Dauphin and his powers.
 55896     Your nobles will not hear you, but are gone
 55897     To offer service to your enemy;
 55898     And wild amazement hurries up and down
 55899     The little number of your doubtful friends.
 55900   KING JOHN. Would not my lords return to me again
 55901     After they heard young Arthur was alive?
 55902     BASTARD. They found him dead, and cast into the streets,
 55903     An empty casket, where the jewel of life
 55904     By some damn'd hand was robbed and ta'en away.
 55905   KING JOHN. That villain Hubert told me he did live.
 55906   BASTARD. So, on my soul, he did, for aught he knew.
 55907     But wherefore do you droop? Why look you sad?
 55908     Be great in act, as you have been in thought;
 55909     Let not the world see fear and sad distrust
 55910     Govern the motion of a kingly eye.
 55911     Be stirring as the time; be fire with fire;
 55912     Threaten the threat'ner, and outface the brow
 55913     Of bragging horror; so shall inferior eyes,
 55914     That borrow their behaviours from the great,
 55915     Grow great by your example and put on
 55916     The dauntless spirit of resolution.
 55917     Away, and glister like the god of war
 55918     When he intendeth to become the field;
 55919     Show boldness and aspiring confidence.
 55920     What, shall they seek the lion in his den,
 55921     And fright him there, and make him tremble there?
 55922     O, let it not be said! Forage, and run
 55923     To meet displeasure farther from the doors
 55924     And grapple with him ere he come so nigh.
 55925   KING JOHN. The legate of the Pope hath been with me,
 55926     And I have made a happy peace with him;
 55927     And he hath promis'd to dismiss the powers
 55928     Led by the Dauphin.
 55929   BASTARD. O inglorious league!
 55930     Shall we, upon the footing of our land,
 55931     Send fair-play orders, and make compromise,
 55932     Insinuation, parley, and base truce,
 55933     To arms invasive? Shall a beardless boy,
 55934     A cock'red silken wanton, brave our fields
 55935     And flesh his spirit in a warlike soil,
 55936     Mocking the air with colours idly spread,
 55937     And find no check? Let us, my liege, to arms.
 55938     Perchance the Cardinal cannot make your peace;
 55939     Or, if he do, let it at least be said
 55940     They saw we had a purpose of defence.
 55941   KING JOHN. Have thou the ordering of this present time.
 55942   BASTARD. Away, then, with good courage!
 55943     Yet, I know
 55944     Our party may well meet a prouder foe.                     Exeunt
 55945 
 55946 
 55947 
 55948 
 55949 SCENE 2.
 55950 England. The DAUPHIN'S camp at Saint Edmundsbury
 55951 
 55952 Enter, in arms, LEWIS, SALISBURY, MELUN, PEMBROKE, BIGOT, and soldiers
 55953 
 55954   LEWIS. My Lord Melun, let this be copied out
 55955     And keep it safe for our remembrance;
 55956     Return the precedent to these lords again,
 55957     That, having our fair order written down,
 55958     Both they and we, perusing o'er these notes,
 55959     May know wherefore we took the sacrament,
 55960     And keep our faiths firm and inviolable.
 55961   SALISBURY. Upon our sides it never shall be broken.
 55962     And, noble Dauphin, albeit we swear
 55963     A voluntary zeal and an unurg'd faith
 55964     To your proceedings; yet, believe me, Prince,
 55965     I am not glad that such a sore of time
 55966     Should seek a plaster by contemn'd revolt,
 55967     And heal the inveterate canker of one wound
 55968     By making many. O, it grieves my soul
 55969     That I must draw this metal from my side
 55970     To be a widow-maker! O, and there
 55971     Where honourable rescue and defence
 55972     Cries out upon the name of Salisbury!
 55973     But such is the infection of the time
 55974     That, for the health and physic of our right,
 55975     We cannot deal but with the very hand
 55976     Of stern injustice and confused wrong.
 55977     And is't not pity, O my grieved friends!
 55978     That we, the sons and children of this isle,
 55979     Were born to see so sad an hour as this;
 55980     Wherein we step after a stranger-march
 55981     Upon her gentle bosom, and fill up
 55982     Her enemies' ranks-I must withdraw and weep
 55983     Upon the spot of this enforced cause-
 55984     To grace the gentry of a land remote
 55985     And follow unacquainted colours here?
 55986     What, here? O nation, that thou couldst remove!
 55987     That Neptune's arms, who clippeth thee about,
 55988     Would bear thee from the knowledge of thyself
 55989     And grapple thee unto a pagan shore,
 55990     Where these two Christian armies might combine
 55991     The blood of malice in a vein of league,
 55992     And not to spend it so unneighbourly!
 55993   LEWIS. A noble temper dost thou show in this;
 55994     And great affections wrestling in thy bosom
 55995     Doth make an earthquake of nobility.
 55996     O, what a noble combat hast thou fought
 55997     Between compulsion and a brave respect!
 55998     Let me wipe off this honourable dew
 55999     That silverly doth progress on thy cheeks.
 56000     My heart hath melted at a lady's tears,
 56001     Being an ordinary inundation;
 56002     But this effusion of such manly drops,
 56003     This show'r, blown up by tempest of the soul,
 56004     Startles mine eyes and makes me more amaz'd
 56005     Than had I seen the vaulty top of heaven
 56006     Figur'd quite o'er with burning meteors.
 56007     Lift up thy brow, renowned Salisbury,
 56008     And with a great heart heave away this storm;
 56009     Commend these waters to those baby eyes
 56010     That never saw the giant world enrag'd,
 56011     Nor met with fortune other than at feasts,
 56012     Full of warm blood, of mirth, of gossiping.
 56013     Come, come; for thou shalt thrust thy hand as deep
 56014     Into the purse of rich prosperity
 56015     As Lewis himself. So, nobles, shall you all,
 56016     That knit your sinews to the strength of mine.
 56017 
 56018                 Enter PANDULPH
 56019 
 56020     And even there, methinks, an angel spake:
 56021     Look where the holy legate comes apace,
 56022     To give us warrant from the hand of heaven
 56023     And on our actions set the name of right
 56024     With holy breath.
 56025   PANDULPH. Hail, noble prince of France!
 56026     The next is this: King John hath reconcil'd
 56027     Himself to Rome; his spirit is come in,
 56028     That so stood out against the holy Church,
 56029     The great metropolis and see of Rome.
 56030     Therefore thy threat'ning colours now wind up
 56031     And tame the savage spirit of wild war,
 56032     That, like a lion fostered up at hand,
 56033     It may lie gently at the foot of peace
 56034     And be no further harmful than in show.
 56035   LEWIS. Your Grace shall pardon me, I will not back:
 56036     I am too high-born to be propertied,
 56037     To be a secondary at control,
 56038     Or useful serving-man and instrument
 56039     To any sovereign state throughout the world.
 56040     Your breath first kindled the dead coal of wars
 56041     Between this chastis'd kingdom and myself
 56042     And brought in matter that should feed this fire;
 56043     And now 'tis far too huge to be blown out
 56044     With that same weak wind which enkindled it.
 56045     You taught me how to know the face of right,
 56046     Acquainted me with interest to this land,
 56047     Yea, thrust this enterprise into my heart;
 56048     And come ye now to tell me John hath made
 56049     His peace with Rome? What is that peace to me?
 56050     I, by the honour of my marriage-bed,
 56051     After young Arthur, claim this land for mine;
 56052     And, now it is half-conquer'd, must I back
 56053     Because that John hath made his peace with Rome?
 56054     Am I Rome's slave? What penny hath Rome borne,
 56055     What men provided, what munition sent,
 56056     To underprop this action? Is 't not I
 56057     That undergo this charge? Who else but I,
 56058     And such as to my claim are liable,
 56059     Sweat in this business and maintain this war?
 56060     Have I not heard these islanders shout out
 56061     'Vive le roi!' as I have bank'd their towns?
 56062     Have I not here the best cards for the game
 56063     To will this easy match, play'd for a crown?
 56064     And shall I now give o'er the yielded set?
 56065     No, no, on my soul, it never shall be said.
 56066   PANDULPH. You look but on the outside of this work.
 56067   LEWIS. Outside or inside, I will not return
 56068     Till my attempt so much be glorified
 56069     As to my ample hope was promised
 56070     Before I drew this gallant head of war,
 56071     And cull'd these fiery spirits from the world
 56072     To outlook conquest, and to will renown
 56073     Even in the jaws of danger and of death.
 56074                                                      [Trumpet sounds]
 56075     What lusty trumpet thus doth summon us?
 56076 
 56077              Enter the BASTARD, attended
 56078 
 56079   BASTARD. According to the fair play of the world,
 56080     Let me have audience: I am sent to speak.
 56081     My holy lord of Milan, from the King
 56082     I come, to learn how you have dealt for him;
 56083     And, as you answer, I do know the scope
 56084     And warrant limited unto my tongue.
 56085   PANDULPH. The Dauphin is too wilful-opposite,
 56086     And will not temporize with my entreaties;
 56087     He flatly says he'll not lay down his arms.
 56088   BASTARD. By all the blood that ever fury breath'd,
 56089     The youth says well. Now hear our English King;
 56090     For thus his royalty doth speak in me.
 56091     He is prepar'd, and reason too he should.
 56092     This apish and unmannerly approach,
 56093     This harness'd masque and unadvised revel
 56094     This unhair'd sauciness and boyish troops,
 56095     The King doth smile at; and is well prepar'd
 56096     To whip this dwarfish war, these pigmy arms,
 56097     From out the circle of his territories.
 56098     That hand which had the strength, even at your door.
 56099     To cudgel you and make you take the hatch,
 56100     To dive like buckets in concealed wells,
 56101     To crouch in litter of your stable planks,
 56102     To lie like pawns lock'd up in chests and trunks,
 56103     To hug with swine, to seek sweet safety out
 56104     In vaults and prisons, and to thrill and shake
 56105     Even at the crying of your nation's crow,
 56106     Thinking this voice an armed Englishman-
 56107     Shall that victorious hand be feebled here
 56108     That in your chambers gave you chastisement?
 56109     No. Know the gallant monarch is in arms
 56110     And like an eagle o'er his aery tow'rs
 56111     To souse annoyance that comes near his nest.
 56112     And you degenerate, you ingrate revolts,
 56113     You bloody Neroes, ripping up the womb
 56114     Of your dear mother England, blush for shame;
 56115     For your own ladies and pale-visag'd maids,
 56116     Like Amazons, come tripping after drums,
 56117     Their thimbles into armed gauntlets change,
 56118     Their needles to lances, and their gentle hearts
 56119     To fierce and bloody inclination.
 56120   LEWIS. There end thy brave, and turn thy face in peace;
 56121     We grant thou canst outscold us. Fare thee well;
 56122     We hold our time too precious to be spent
 56123     With such a brabbler.
 56124   PANDULPH. Give me leave to speak.
 56125   BASTARD. No, I will speak.
 56126   LEWIS. We will attend to neither.
 56127     Strike up the drums; and let the tongue of war,
 56128     Plead for our interest and our being here.
 56129   BASTARD. Indeed, your drums, being beaten, will cry out;
 56130     And so shall you, being beaten. Do but start
 56131     And echo with the clamour of thy drum,
 56132     And even at hand a drum is ready brac'd
 56133     That shall reverberate all as loud as thine:
 56134     Sound but another, and another shall,
 56135     As loud as thine, rattle the welkin's ear
 56136     And mock the deep-mouth'd thunder; for at hand-
 56137     Not trusting to this halting legate here,
 56138     Whom he hath us'd rather for sport than need-
 56139     Is warlike John; and in his forehead sits
 56140     A bare-ribb'd death, whose office is this day
 56141     To feast upon whole thousands of the French.
 56142   LEWIS. Strike up our drums to find this danger out.
 56143   BASTARD. And thou shalt find it, Dauphin, do not doubt.
 56144     Exeunt
 56145 
 56146 
 56147 
 56148 
 56149 SCENE 3.
 56150 
 56151 England. The field of battle
 56152 
 56153 Alarums. Enter KING JOHN and HUBERT
 56154 
 56155   KING JOHN. How goes the day with us? O, tell me, Hubert.
 56156   HUBERT. Badly, I fear. How fares your Majesty?
 56157   KING JOHN. This fever that hath troubled me so long
 56158     Lies heavy on me. O, my heart is sick!
 56159 
 56160                   Enter a MESSENGER
 56161 
 56162   MESSENGER. My lord, your valiant kinsman, Faulconbridge,
 56163     Desires your Majesty to leave the field
 56164     And send him word by me which way you go.
 56165   KING JOHN. Tell him, toward Swinstead, to the abbey there.
 56166   MESSENGER. Be of good comfort; for the great supply
 56167     That was expected by the Dauphin here
 56168     Are wreck'd three nights ago on Goodwin Sands;
 56169     This news was brought to Richard but even now.
 56170     The French fight coldly, and retire themselves.
 56171   KING JOHN. Ay me, this tyrant fever burns me up
 56172     And will not let me welcome this good news.
 56173     Set on toward Swinstead; to my litter straight;
 56174     Weakness possesseth me, and I am faint.                    Exeunt
 56175 
 56176 
 56177 
 56178 
 56179 SCENE 4.
 56180 
 56181 England. Another part of the battlefield
 56182 
 56183 Enter SALISBURY, PEMBROKE, and BIGOT
 56184 
 56185   SALISBURY. I did not think the King so stor'd with friends.
 56186   PEMBROKE. Up once again; put spirit in the French;
 56187     If they miscarry, we miscarry too.
 56188   SALISBURY. That misbegotten devil, Faulconbridge,
 56189     In spite of spite, alone upholds the day.
 56190   PEMBROKE. They say King John, sore sick, hath left the field.
 56191 
 56192                  Enter MELUN, wounded
 56193 
 56194   MELUN. Lead me to the revolts of England here.
 56195   SALISBURY. When we were happy we had other names.
 56196   PEMBROKE. It is the Count Melun.
 56197   SALISBURY. Wounded to death.
 56198   MELUN. Fly, noble English, you are bought and sold;
 56199     Unthread the rude eye of rebellion,
 56200     And welcome home again discarded faith.
 56201     Seek out King John, and fall before his feet;
 56202     For if the French be lords of this loud day,
 56203     He means to recompense the pains you take
 56204     By cutting off your heads. Thus hath he sworn,
 56205     And I with him, and many moe with me,
 56206     Upon the altar at Saint Edmundsbury;
 56207     Even on that altar where we swore to you
 56208     Dear amity and everlasting love.
 56209   SALISBURY. May this be possible? May this be true?
 56210   MELUN. Have I not hideous death within my view,
 56211     Retaining but a quantity of life,
 56212     Which bleeds away even as a form of wax
 56213     Resolveth from his figure 'gainst the fire?
 56214     What in the world should make me now deceive,
 56215     Since I must lose the use of all deceit?
 56216     Why should I then be false, since it is true
 56217     That I must die here, and live hence by truth?
 56218     I say again, if Lewis do will the day,
 56219     He is forsworn if e'er those eyes of yours
 56220     Behold another day break in the east;
 56221     But even this night, whose black contagious breath
 56222     Already smokes about the burning crest
 56223     Of the old, feeble, and day-wearied sun,
 56224     Even this ill night, your breathing shall expire,
 56225     Paying the fine of rated treachery
 56226     Even with a treacherous fine of all your lives.
 56227     If Lewis by your assistance win the day.
 56228     Commend me to one Hubert, with your King;
 56229     The love of him-and this respect besides,
 56230     For that my grandsire was an Englishman-
 56231     Awakes my conscience to confess all this.
 56232     In lieu whereof, I pray you, bear me hence
 56233     From forth the noise and rumour of the field,
 56234     Where I may think the remnant of my thoughts
 56235     In peace, and part this body and my soul
 56236     With contemplation and devout desires.
 56237   SALISBURY. We do believe thee; and beshrew my soul
 56238     But I do love the favour and the form
 56239     Of this most fair occasion, by the which
 56240     We will untread the steps of damned flight,
 56241     And like a bated and retired flood,
 56242     Leaving our rankness and irregular course,
 56243     Stoop low within those bounds we have o'erlook'd,
 56244     And calmly run on in obedience
 56245     Even to our ocean, to great King John.
 56246     My arm shall give thee help to bear thee hence;
 56247     For I do see the cruel pangs of death
 56248     Right in thine eye. Away, my friends! New flight,
 56249     And happy newness, that intends old right.
 56250                                             Exeunt, leading off MELUN
 56251 
 56252 
 56253 
 56254 
 56255 SCENE 5.
 56256 
 56257 England. The French camp
 56258 
 56259 Enter LEWIS and his train
 56260 
 56261   LEWIS. The sun of heaven, methought, was loath to set,
 56262     But stay'd and made the western welkin blush,
 56263     When English measure backward their own ground
 56264     In faint retire. O, bravely came we off,
 56265     When with a volley of our needless shot,
 56266     After such bloody toil, we bid good night;
 56267     And wound our tott'ring colours clearly up,
 56268     Last in the field and almost lords of it!
 56269 
 56270                  Enter a MESSENGER
 56271 
 56272   MESSENGER. Where is my prince, the Dauphin?
 56273   LEWIS. Here; what news?
 56274   MESSENGER. The Count Melun is slain; the English lords
 56275     By his persuasion are again fall'n off,
 56276     And your supply, which you have wish'd so long,
 56277     Are cast away and sunk on Goodwin Sands.
 56278   LEWIS. Ah, foul shrewd news! Beshrew thy very heart!
 56279     I did not think to be so sad to-night
 56280     As this hath made me. Who was he that said
 56281     King John did fly an hour or two before
 56282     The stumbling night did part our weary pow'rs?
 56283   MESSENGER. Whoever spoke it, it is true, my lord.
 56284   LEWIS. keep good quarter and good care to-night;
 56285     The day shall not be up so soon as I
 56286     To try the fair adventure of to-morrow.                    Exeunt
 56287 
 56288 
 56289 
 56290 
 56291 SCENE 6.
 56292 
 56293 An open place wear Swinstead Abbey
 56294 
 56295 Enter the BASTARD and HUBERT, severally
 56296 
 56297   HUBERT. Who's there? Speak, ho! speak quickly, or I shoot.
 56298   BASTARD. A friend. What art thou?
 56299   HUBERT. Of the part of England.
 56300   BASTARD. Whither dost thou go?
 56301   HUBERT. What's that to thee? Why may I not demand
 56302     Of thine affairs as well as thou of mine?
 56303   BASTARD. Hubert, I think.
 56304   HUBERT. Thou hast a perfect thought.
 56305     I will upon all hazards well believe
 56306     Thou art my friend that know'st my tongue so well.
 56307     Who art thou?
 56308   BASTARD. Who thou wilt. And if thou please,
 56309     Thou mayst befriend me so much as to think
 56310     I come one way of the Plantagenets.
 56311   HUBERT. Unkind remembrance! thou and eyeless night
 56312     Have done me shame. Brave soldier, pardon me
 56313     That any accent breaking from thy tongue
 56314     Should scape the true acquaintance of mine ear.
 56315   BASTARD. Come, come; sans compliment, what news abroad?
 56316   HUBERT. Why, here walk I in the black brow of night
 56317     To find you out.
 56318   BASTARD. Brief, then; and what's the news?
 56319   HUBERT. O, my sweet sir, news fitting to the night,
 56320     Black, fearful, comfortless, and horrible.
 56321   BASTARD. Show me the very wound of this ill news;
 56322     I am no woman, I'll not swoon at it.
 56323   HUBERT. The King, I fear, is poison'd by a monk;
 56324     I left him almost speechless and broke out
 56325     To acquaint you with this evil, that you might
 56326     The better arm you to the sudden time
 56327     Than if you had at leisure known of this.
 56328   BASTARD. How did he take it; who did taste to him?
 56329   HUBERT. A monk, I tell you; a resolved villain,
 56330     Whose bowels suddenly burst out. The King
 56331     Yet speaks, and peradventure may recover.
 56332   BASTARD. Who didst thou leave to tend his Majesty?
 56333   HUBERT. Why, know you not? The lords are all come back,
 56334     And brought Prince Henry in their company;
 56335     At whose request the King hath pardon'd them,
 56336     And they are all about his Majesty.
 56337   BASTARD. Withhold thine indignation, mighty heaven,
 56338     And tempt us not to bear above our power!
 56339     I'll tell thee, Hubert, half my power this night,
 56340     Passing these flats, are taken by the tide-
 56341     These Lincoln Washes have devoured them;
 56342     Myself, well-mounted, hardly have escap'd.
 56343     Away, before! conduct me to the King;
 56344     I doubt he will be dead or ere I come.                     Exeunt
 56345 
 56346 
 56347 
 56348 
 56349 SCENE 7.
 56350 
 56351 The orchard at Swinstead Abbey
 56352 
 56353 Enter PRINCE HENRY, SALISBURY, and BIGOT
 56354 
 56355   PRINCE HENRY. It is too late; the life of all his blood
 56356     Is touch'd corruptibly, and his pure brain.
 56357     Which some suppose the soul's frail dwelling-house,
 56358     Doth by the idle comments that it makes
 56359     Foretell the ending of mortality.
 56360 
 56361                    Enter PEMBROKE
 56362 
 56363   PEMBROKE. His Highness yet doth speak, and holds belief
 56364     That, being brought into the open air,
 56365     It would allay the burning quality
 56366     Of that fell poison which assaileth him.
 56367   PRINCE HENRY. Let him be brought into the orchard here.
 56368     Doth he still rage?                                    Exit BIGOT
 56369   PEMBROKE. He is more patient
 56370     Than when you left him; even now he sung.
 56371   PRINCE HENRY. O vanity of sickness! Fierce extremes
 56372     In their continuance will not feel themselves.
 56373     Death, having prey'd upon the outward parts,
 56374     Leaves them invisible, and his siege is now
 56375     Against the mind, the which he pricks and wounds
 56376     With many legions of strange fantasies,
 56377     Which, in their throng and press to that last hold,
 56378     Confound themselves. 'Tis strange that death should sing.
 56379     I am the cygnet to this pale faint swan
 56380     Who chants a doleful hymn to his own death,
 56381     And from the organ-pipe of frailty sings
 56382     His soul and body to their lasting rest.
 56383   SALISBURY. Be of good comfort, Prince; for you are born
 56384     To set a form upon that indigest
 56385     Which he hath left so shapeless and so rude.
 56386 
 56387        Re-enter BIGOT and attendants, who bring in
 56388                 KING JOHN in a chair
 56389 
 56390   KING JOHN. Ay, marry, now my soul hath elbow-room;
 56391     It would not out at windows nor at doors.
 56392     There is so hot a summer in my bosom
 56393     That all my bowels crumble up to dust.
 56394     I am a scribbled form drawn with a pen
 56395     Upon a parchment, and against this fire
 56396     Do I shrink up.
 56397   PRINCE HENRY. How fares your Majesty?
 56398   KING JOHN. Poison'd-ill-fare! Dead, forsook, cast off;
 56399     And none of you will bid the winter come
 56400     To thrust his icy fingers in my maw,
 56401     Nor let my kingdom's rivers take their course
 56402     Through my burn'd bosom, nor entreat the north
 56403     To make his bleak winds kiss my parched lips
 56404     And comfort me with cold. I do not ask you much;
 56405     I beg cold comfort; and you are so strait
 56406     And so ingrateful you deny me that.
 56407   PRINCE HENRY. O that there were some virtue in my tears,
 56408     That might relieve you!
 56409   KING JOHN. The salt in them is hot.
 56410     Within me is a hell; and there the poison
 56411     Is as a fiend confin'd to tyrannize
 56412     On unreprievable condemned blood.
 56413 
 56414                  Enter the BASTARD
 56415 
 56416   BASTARD. O, I am scalded with my violent motion
 56417     And spleen of speed to see your Majesty!
 56418   KING JOHN. O cousin, thou art come to set mine eye!
 56419     The tackle of my heart is crack'd and burnt,
 56420     And all the shrouds wherewith my life should sail
 56421     Are turned to one thread, one little hair;
 56422     My heart hath one poor string to stay it by,
 56423     Which holds but till thy news be uttered;
 56424     And then all this thou seest is but a clod
 56425     And module of confounded royalty.
 56426   BASTARD. The Dauphin is preparing hitherward,
 56427     Where God He knows how we shall answer him;
 56428     For in a night the best part of my pow'r,
 56429     As I upon advantage did remove,
 56430     Were in the Washes all unwarily
 56431     Devoured by the unexpected flood.                 [The KING dies]
 56432   SALISBURY. You breathe these dead news in as dead an ear.
 56433     My liege! my lord! But now a king-now thus.
 56434   PRINCE HENRY. Even so must I run on, and even so stop.
 56435     What surety of the world, what hope, what stay,
 56436     When this was now a king, and now is clay?
 56437   BASTARD. Art thou gone so? I do but stay behind
 56438     To do the office for thee of revenge,
 56439     And then my soul shall wait on thee to heaven,
 56440     As it on earth hath been thy servant still.
 56441     Now, now, you stars that move in your right spheres,
 56442     Where be your pow'rs? Show now your mended faiths,
 56443     And instantly return with me again
 56444     To push destruction and perpetual shame
 56445     Out of the weak door of our fainting land.
 56446     Straight let us seek, or straight we shall be sought;
 56447     The Dauphin rages at our very heels.
 56448   SALISBURY. It seems you know not, then, so much as we:
 56449     The Cardinal Pandulph is within at rest,
 56450     Who half an hour since came from the Dauphin,
 56451     And brings from him such offers of our peace
 56452     As we with honour and respect may take,
 56453     With purpose presently to leave this war.
 56454   BASTARD. He will the rather do it when he sees
 56455     Ourselves well sinewed to our defence.
 56456   SALISBURY. Nay, 'tis in a manner done already;
 56457     For many carriages he hath dispatch'd
 56458     To the sea-side, and put his cause and quarrel
 56459     To the disposing of the Cardinal;
 56460     With whom yourself, myself, and other lords,
 56461     If you think meet, this afternoon will post
 56462     To consummate this business happily.
 56463   BASTARD. Let it be so. And you, my noble Prince,
 56464     With other princes that may best be spar'd,
 56465     Shall wait upon your father's funeral.
 56466   PRINCE HENRY. At Worcester must his body be interr'd;
 56467     For so he will'd it.
 56468   BASTARD. Thither shall it, then;
 56469     And happily may your sweet self put on
 56470     The lineal state and glory of the land!
 56471     To whom, with all submission, on my knee
 56472     I do bequeath my faithful services
 56473     And true subjection everlastingly.
 56474   SALISBURY. And the like tender of our love we make,
 56475     To rest without a spot for evermore.
 56476   PRINCE HENRY. I have a kind soul that would give you thanks,
 56477     And knows not how to do it but with tears.
 56478   BASTARD. O, let us pay the time but needful woe,
 56479     Since it hath been beforehand with our griefs.
 56480     This England never did, nor never shall,
 56481     Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror,
 56482     But when it first did help to wound itself.
 56483     Now these her princes are come home again,
 56484     Come the three corners of the world in arms,
 56485     And we shall shock them. Nought shall make us rue,
 56486     If England to itself do rest but true.                     Exeunt
 56487 
 56488 THE END
 56489 
 56490 
 56491 
 56492 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 56493 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 56494 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 56495 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
 56496 DISTRIBUTED SO LONG AS SUCH COPIES (1) ARE FOR YOUR OR OTHERS
 56497 PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND (2) ARE NOT DISTRIBUTED OR USED
 56498 COMMERCIALLY.  PROHIBITED COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION INCLUDES BY ANY
 56499 SERVICE THAT CHARGES FOR DOWNLOAD TIME OR FOR MEMBERSHIP.>>
 56500 
 56501 
 56502 
 56503 
 56504 
 56505 
 56506 1599
 56507 
 56508 
 56509 THE TRAGEDY OF JULIUS CAESAR
 56510 
 56511 by William Shakespeare
 56512 
 56513 
 56514 
 56515 Dramatis Personae
 56516 
 56517   JULIUS CAESAR, Roman statesman and general
 56518   OCTAVIUS, Triumvir after Caesar's death, later Augustus Caesar,
 56519     first emperor of Rome
 56520   MARK ANTONY, general and friend of Caesar, a Triumvir after his death
 56521   LEPIDUS, third member of the Triumvirate
 56522   MARCUS BRUTUS, leader of the conspiracy against Caesar
 56523   CASSIUS, instigator of the conspiracy
 56524   CASCA,          conspirator against Caesar
 56525   TREBONIUS,           "          "     "
 56526   CAIUS LIGARIUS,      "          "     "
 56527   DECIUS BRUTUS,       "          "     "
 56528   METELLUS CIMBER,     "          "     "
 56529   CINNA,               "          "     "
 56530   CALPURNIA, wife of Caesar
 56531   PORTIA, wife of Brutus
 56532   CICERO,     senator
 56533   POPILIUS,      "
 56534   POPILIUS LENA, "
 56535   FLAVIUS, tribune
 56536   MARULLUS, tribune
 56537   CATO,     supportor of Brutus
 56538   LUCILIUS,     "     "    "
 56539   TITINIUS,     "     "    "
 56540   MESSALA,      "     "    "
 56541   VOLUMNIUS,    "     "    "
 56542   ARTEMIDORUS, a teacher of rhetoric
 56543   CINNA, a poet
 56544   VARRO,     servant to Brutus
 56545   CLITUS,       "    "     "
 56546   CLAUDIO,      "    "     "
 56547   STRATO,       "    "     "
 56548   LUCIUS,       "    "     "
 56549   DARDANIUS,    "    "     "
 56550   PINDARUS, servant to Cassius
 56551   The Ghost of Caesar
 56552   A Soothsayer
 56553   A Poet
 56554   Senators, Citizens, Soldiers, Commoners, Messengers, and Servants
 56555 
 56556 
 56557 
 56558 
 56559 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 56560 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 56561 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 56562 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
 56563 DISTRIBUTED SO LONG AS SUCH COPIES (1) ARE FOR YOUR OR OTHERS
 56564 PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND (2) ARE NOT DISTRIBUTED OR USED
 56565 COMMERCIALLY.  PROHIBITED COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION INCLUDES BY ANY
 56566 SERVICE THAT CHARGES FOR DOWNLOAD TIME OR FOR MEMBERSHIP.>>
 56567 
 56568 
 56569 
 56570 SCENE: Rome, the conspirators' camp near Sardis,  and the plains of Philippi.
 56571 
 56572 
 56573 ACT I. SCENE I.
 56574 Rome. A street.
 56575 
 56576 Enter Flavius, Marullus, and certain Commoners.
 56577 
 56578   FLAVIUS. Hence, home, you idle creatures, get you home.
 56579     Is this a holiday? What, know you not,
 56580     Being mechanical, you ought not walk
 56581     Upon a laboring day without the sign
 56582     Of your profession? Speak, what trade art thou?
 56583   FIRST COMMONER. Why, sir, a carpenter.
 56584   MARULLUS. Where is thy leather apron and thy rule?
 56585     What dost thou with thy best apparel on?
 56586     You, sir, what trade are you?
 56587   SECOND COMMONER. Truly, sir, in respect of a fine workman, I am
 56588     but, as you would say, a cobbler.
 56589   MARULLUS. But what trade art thou? Answer me directly.
 56590   SECOND COMMONER. A trade, sir, that, I hope, I may use with a safe
 56591     conscience, which is indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles.
 56592   MARULLUS. What trade, thou knave? Thou naughty knave, what trade?
 56593   SECOND COMMONER. Nay, I beseech you, sir, be not out with me; yet,
 56594     if you be out, sir, I can mend you.
 56595   MARULLUS. What mean'st thou by that? Mend me, thou saucy fellow!
 56596   SECOND COMMONER. Why, sir, cobble you.
 56597   FLAVIUS. Thou art a cobbler, art thou?
 56598   SECOND COMMONER. Truly, Sir, all that I live by is with the awl; I
 56599     meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor women's matters, but with
 56600     awl. I am indeed, sir, a surgeon to old shoes; when they are in
 56601     great danger, I recover them. As proper men as ever trod upon
 56602     neat's leather have gone upon my handiwork.
 56603   FLAVIUS. But wherefore art not in thy shop today?
 56604     Why dost thou lead these men about the streets?
 56605   SECOND COMMONER. Truly, sir, to wear out their shoes to get myself
 56606     into more work. But indeed, sir, we make holiday to see Caesar
 56607     and to rejoice in his triumph.
 56608   MARULLUS. Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home?
 56609     What tributaries follow him to Rome
 56610     To grace in captive bonds his chariot wheels?
 56611     You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!
 56612     O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome,
 56613     Knew you not Pompey? Many a time and oft
 56614     Have you climb'd up to walls and battlements,
 56615     To towers and windows, yea, to chimney tops,
 56616     Your infants in your arms, and there have sat
 56617     The livelong day with patient expectation
 56618     To see great Pompey pass the streets of Rome.
 56619     And when you saw his chariot but appear,
 56620     Have you not made an universal shout
 56621     That Tiber trembled underneath her banks
 56622     To hear the replication of your sounds
 56623     Made in her concave shores?
 56624     And do you now put on your best attire?
 56625     And do you now cull out a holiday?
 56626     And do you now strew flowers in his way
 56627     That comes in triumph over Pompey's blood?
 56628     Be gone!
 56629     Run to your houses, fall upon your knees,
 56630     Pray to the gods to intermit the plague
 56631     That needs must light on this ingratitude.
 56632   FLAVIUS. Go, go, good countrymen, and, for this fault,
 56633     Assemble all the poor men of your sort,
 56634     Draw them to Tiber banks, and weep your tears
 56635     Into the channel, till the lowest stream
 56636     Do kiss the most exalted shores of all.
 56637                                            Exeunt all Commoners.
 56638     See whether their basest metal be not moved;
 56639     They vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness.
 56640     Go you down that way towards the Capitol;
 56641     This way will I. Disrobe the images
 56642     If you do find them deck'd with ceremonies.
 56643   MARULLUS. May we do so?
 56644     You know it is the feast of Lupercal.
 56645   FLAVIUS. It is no matter; let no images
 56646     Be hung with Caesar's trophies. I'll about
 56647     And drive away the vulgar from the streets;
 56648     So do you too, where you perceive them thick.
 56649     These growing feathers pluck'd from Caesar's wing
 56650     Will make him fly an ordinary pitch,
 56651     Who else would soar above the view of men
 56652     And keep us all in servile fearfulness.              Exeunt.
 56653 
 56654 
 56655 
 56656 
 56657 SCENE II.
 56658 A public place.
 56659 
 56660 Flourish. Enter Caesar; Antony, for the course; Calpurnia, Portia,
 56661 Decius, Cicero, Brutus, Cassius, and Casca; a great crowd follows,
 56662 among them a Soothsayer.
 56663 
 56664   CAESAR. Calpurnia!
 56665   CASCA. Peace, ho! Caesar speaks.
 56666                                                    Music ceases.
 56667   CAESAR. Calpurnia!
 56668   CALPURNIA. Here, my lord.
 56669   CAESAR. Stand you directly in Antonio's way,
 56670     When he doth run his course. Antonio!
 56671   ANTONY. Caesar, my lord?
 56672   CAESAR. Forget not in your speed, Antonio,
 56673     To touch Calpurnia, for our elders say
 56674     The barren, touched in this holy chase,
 56675     Shake off their sterile curse.
 56676   ANTONY. I shall remember.
 56677     When Caesar says "Do this," it is perform'd.
 56678   CAESAR. Set on, and leave no ceremony out.           Flourish.
 56679   SOOTHSAYER. Caesar!
 56680   CAESAR. Ha! Who calls?
 56681   CASCA. Bid every noise be still. Peace yet again!
 56682   CAESAR. Who is it in the press that calls on me?
 56683     I hear a tongue, shriller than all the music,
 56684     Cry "Caesar." Speak, Caesar is turn'd to hear.
 56685   SOOTHSAYER. Beware the ides of March.
 56686   CAESAR. What man is that?
 56687   BRUTUS. A soothsayer you beware the ides of March.
 56688   CAESAR. Set him before me let me see his face.
 56689   CASSIUS. Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar.
 56690   CAESAR. What say'st thou to me now? Speak once again.
 56691   SOOTHSAYER. Beware the ides of March.
 56692   CAESAR. He is a dreamer; let us leave him. Pass.
 56693                       Sennet. Exeunt all but Brutus and Cassius.
 56694   CASSIUS. Will you go see the order of the course?
 56695   BRUTUS. Not I.
 56696   CASSIUS. I pray you, do.
 56697   BRUTUS. I am not gamesome; I do lack some part
 56698     Of that quick spirit that is in Antony.
 56699     Let me not hinder, Cassius, your desires;
 56700     I'll leave you.
 56701   CASSIUS. Brutus, I do observe you now of late;
 56702     I have not from your eyes that gentleness
 56703     And show of love as I was wont to have;
 56704     You bear too stubborn and too strange a hand
 56705     Over your friend that loves you.
 56706   BRUTUS. Cassius,
 56707     Be not deceived; if I have veil'd my look,
 56708     I turn the trouble of my countenance
 56709     Merely upon myself. Vexed I am
 56710     Of late with passions of some difference,
 56711     Conceptions only proper to myself,
 56712     Which give some soil perhaps to my behaviors;
 56713     But let not therefore my good friends be grieved-
 56714     Among which number, Cassius, be you one-
 56715     Nor construe any further my neglect
 56716     Than that poor Brutus with himself at war
 56717     Forgets the shows of love to other men.
 56718   CASSIUS. Then, Brutus, I have much mistook your passion,
 56719     By means whereof this breast of mine hath buried
 56720     Thoughts of great value, worthy cogitations.
 56721     Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face?
 56722   BRUTUS. No, Cassius, for the eye sees not itself
 56723     But by reflection, by some other things.
 56724   CASSIUS. 'Tis just,
 56725     And it is very much lamented, Brutus,
 56726     That you have no such mirrors as will turn
 56727     Your hidden worthiness into your eye
 56728     That you might see your shadow. I have heard
 56729     Where many of the best respect in Rome,
 56730     Except immortal Caesar, speaking of Brutus
 56731     And groaning underneath this age's yoke,
 56732     Have wish'd that noble Brutus had his eyes.
 56733   BRUTUS. Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius,
 56734     That you would have me seek into myself
 56735     For that which is not in me?
 56736   CASSIUS. Therefore, good Brutus, be prepared to hear,
 56737     And since you know you cannot see yourself
 56738     So well as by reflection, I your glass
 56739     Will modestly discover to yourself
 56740     That of yourself which you yet know not of.
 56741     And be not jealous on me, gentle Brutus;
 56742     Were I a common laugher, or did use
 56743     To stale with ordinary oaths my love
 56744     To every new protester, if you know
 56745     That I do fawn on men and hug them hard
 56746     And after scandal them, or if you know
 56747     That I profess myself in banqueting
 56748     To all the rout, then hold me dangerous.
 56749                                              Flourish and shout.
 56750   BRUTUS. What means this shouting? I do fear the people
 56751     Choose Caesar for their king.
 56752   CASSIUS. Ay, do you fear it?
 56753     Then must I think you would not have it so.
 56754   BRUTUS. I would not, Cassius, yet I love him well.
 56755     But wherefore do you hold me here so long?
 56756     What is it that you would impart to me?
 56757     If it be aught toward the general good,
 56758     Set honor in one eye and death i' the other
 56759     And I will look on both indifferently.
 56760     For let the gods so speed me as I love
 56761     The name of honor more than I fear death.
 56762   CASSIUS. I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus,
 56763     As well as I do know your outward favor.
 56764     Well, honor is the subject of my story.
 56765     I cannot tell what you and other men
 56766     Think of this life, but, for my single self,
 56767     I had as lief not be as live to be
 56768     In awe of such a thing as I myself.
 56769     I was born free as Caesar, so were you;
 56770     We both have fed as well, and we can both
 56771     Endure the winter's cold as well as he.
 56772     For once, upon a raw and gusty day,
 56773     The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores,
 56774     Caesar said to me, "Darest thou, Cassius, now
 56775     Leap in with me into this angry flood
 56776     And swim to yonder point?" Upon the word,
 56777     Accoutred as I was, I plunged in
 56778     And bade him follow. So indeed he did.
 56779     The torrent roar'd, and we did buffet it
 56780     With lusty sinews, throwing it aside
 56781     And stemming it with hearts of controversy.
 56782     But ere we could arrive the point proposed,
 56783     Caesar cried, "Help me, Cassius, or I sink!
 56784     I, as Aeneas our great ancestor
 56785     Did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder
 56786     The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber
 56787     Did I the tired Caesar. And this man
 56788     Is now become a god, and Cassius is
 56789     A wretched creature and must bend his body
 56790     If Caesar carelessly but nod on him.
 56791     He had a fever when he was in Spain,
 56792     And when the fit was on him I did mark
 56793     How he did shake. 'Tis true, this god did shake;
 56794     His coward lips did from their color fly,
 56795     And that same eye whose bend doth awe the world
 56796     Did lose his luster. I did hear him groan.
 56797     Ay, and that tongue of his that bade the Romans
 56798     Mark him and write his speeches in their books,
 56799     Alas, it cried, "Give me some drink, Titinius,"
 56800     As a sick girl. Ye gods! It doth amaze me
 56801     A man of such a feeble temper should
 56802     So get the start of the majestic world
 56803     And bear the palm alone. Shout.                    Flourish.
 56804   BRUTUS. Another general shout!
 56805     I do believe that these applauses are
 56806     For some new honors that are heap'd on Caesar.
 56807   CASSIUS. Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
 56808     Like a Colossus, and we petty men
 56809     Walk under his huge legs and peep about
 56810     To find ourselves dishonorable graves.
 56811     Men at some time are masters of their fates:
 56812     The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
 56813     But in ourselves that we are underlings.
 56814     Brutus and Caesar: what should be in that "Caesar"?
 56815     Why should that name be sounded more than yours?
 56816     Write them together, yours is as fair a name;
 56817     Sound them, it doth become the mouth as well;
 56818     Weigh them, it is as heavy; conjure with 'em,
 56819     "Brutus" will start a spirit as soon as "Caesar."
 56820     Now, in the names of all the gods at once,
 56821     Upon what meat doth this our Caesar feed
 56822     That he is grown so great? Age, thou art shamed!
 56823     Rome, thou hast lost the breed of noble bloods!
 56824     When went there by an age since the great flood
 56825     But it was famed with more than with one man?
 56826     When could they say till now that talk'd of Rome
 56827     That her wide walls encompass'd but one man?
 56828     Now is it Rome indeed, and room enough,
 56829     When there is in it but one only man.
 56830     O, you and I have heard our fathers say
 56831     There was a Brutus once that would have brook'd
 56832     The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome
 56833     As easily as a king.
 56834   BRUTUS. That you do love me, I am nothing jealous;
 56835     What you would work me to, I have some aim.
 56836     How I have thought of this and of these times,
 56837     I shall recount hereafter; for this present,
 56838     I would not, so with love I might entreat you,
 56839     Be any further moved. What you have said
 56840     I will consider; what you have to say
 56841     I will with patience hear, and find a time
 56842     Both meet to hear and answer such high things.
 56843     Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this:
 56844     Brutus had rather be a villager
 56845     Than to repute himself a son of Rome
 56846     Under these hard conditions as this time
 56847     Is like to lay upon us.
 56848   CASSIUS. I am glad that my weak words
 56849     Have struck but thus much show of fire from Brutus.
 56850 
 56851             Re-enter Caesar and his Train.
 56852 
 56853   BRUTUS. The games are done, and Caesar is returning.
 56854   CASSIUS. As they pass by, pluck Casca by the sleeve,
 56855     And he will, after his sour fashion, tell you
 56856     What hath proceeded worthy note today.
 56857   BRUTUS. I will do so. But, look you, Cassius,
 56858     The angry spot doth glow on Caesar's brow,
 56859     And all the rest look like a chidden train:
 56860     Calpurnia's cheek is pale, and Cicero
 56861     Looks with such ferret and such fiery eyes
 56862     As we have seen him in the Capitol,
 56863     Being cross'd in conference by some senators.
 56864   CASSIUS. Casca will tell us what the matter is.
 56865   CAESAR. Antonio!
 56866   ANTONY. Caesar?
 56867   CAESAR. Let me have men about me that are fat,
 56868     Sleek-headed men, and such as sleep o' nights:
 56869     Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
 56870     He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.
 56871   ANTONY. Fear him not, Caesar; he's not dangerous;
 56872     He is a noble Roman and well given.
 56873   CAESAR. Would he were fatter! But I fear him not,
 56874     Yet if my name were liable to fear,
 56875     I do not know the man I should avoid
 56876     So soon as that spare Cassius. He reads much,
 56877     He is a great observer, and he looks
 56878     Quite through the deeds of men. He loves no plays,
 56879     As thou dost, Antony; he hears no music;
 56880     Seldom he smiles, and smiles in such a sort
 56881     As if he mock'd himself and scorn'd his spirit
 56882     That could be moved to smile at anything.
 56883     Such men as he be never at heart's ease
 56884     Whiles they behold a greater than themselves,
 56885     And therefore are they very dangerous.
 56886     I rather tell thee what is to be fear'd
 56887     Than what I fear, for always I am Caesar.
 56888     Come on my right hand, for this ear is deaf,
 56889     And tell me truly what thou think'st of him.
 56890               Sennet. Exeunt Caesar and all his Train but Casca.
 56891   CASCA. You pull'd me by the cloak; would you speak with me?
 56892   BRUTUS. Ay, Casca, tell us what hath chanced today
 56893     That Caesar looks so sad.
 56894   CASCA. Why, you were with him, were you not?
 56895   BRUTUS. I should not then ask Casca what had chanced.
 56896   CASCA. Why, there was a crown offered him, and being offered him,
 56897      he put it by with the back of his hand, thus, and then the
 56898      people fell ashouting.
 56899   BRUTUS. What was the second noise for?
 56900   CASCA. Why, for that too.
 56901   CASSIUS. They shouted thrice. What was the last cry for?
 56902   CASCA. Why, for that too.
 56903   BRUTUS. Was the crown offered him thrice?
 56904   CASCA. Ay, marry, wast, and he put it by thrice, every time gentler
 56905     than other, and at every putting by mine honest neighbors
 56906     shouted.
 56907   CASSIUS. Who offered him the crown?
 56908   CASCA. Why, Antony.
 56909   BRUTUS. Tell us the manner of it, gentle Casca.
 56910   CASCA. I can as well be hang'd as tell the manner of it. It was
 56911     mere foolery; I did not mark it. I saw Mark Antony offer him a
 56912     crown (yet 'twas not a crown neither, 'twas one of these
 56913     coronets) and, as I told you, he put it by once. But for all
 56914     that, to my thinking, he would fain have had it. Then he offered
 56915     it to him again; then he put it by again. But, to my thinking, he
 56916     was very loath to lay his fingers off it. And then he offered it
 56917     the third time; he put it the third time by; and still as he
 56918     refused it, the rabblement hooted and clapped their chopped hands
 56919     and threw up their sweaty nightcaps and uttered such a deal of
 56920     stinking breath because Caesar refused the crown that it had
 56921     almost choked Caesar, for he swounded and fell down at it. And
 56922     for mine own part, I durst not laugh for fear of opening my lips
 56923     and receiving the bad air.
 56924   CASSIUS. But, soft, I pray you, what, did Caesars wound?
 56925   CASCA. He fell down in the marketplace and foamed at mouth and was
 56926     speechless.
 56927   BRUTUS. 'Tis very like. He hath the falling sickness.
 56928   CASSIUS. No, Caesar hath it not, but you, and I,
 56929     And honest Casca, we have the falling sickness.
 56930   CASCA. I know not what you mean by that, but I am sure Caesar fell
 56931     down. If the tagrag people did not clap him and hiss him
 56932     according as he pleased and displeased them, as they use to do
 56933     the players in the theatre, I am no true man.
 56934   BRUTUS. What said he when he came unto himself?
 56935   CASCA. Marry, before he fell down, when he perceived the common
 56936     herd was glad he refused the crown, he plucked me ope his doublet
 56937     and offered them his throat to cut. An had been a man of any
 56938     occupation, if I would not have taken him at a word, I would I
 56939     might go to hell among the rogues. And so he fell. When he came
 56940     to himself again, he said, if he had done or said anything amiss,
 56941     he desired their worships to think it was his infirmity. Three or
 56942     four wenches where I stood cried, "Alas, good soul!" and forgave
 56943     him with all their hearts. But there's no heed to be taken of
 56944     them; if Caesar had stabbed their mothers, they would have done
 56945     no less.
 56946   BRUTUS. And after that he came, thus sad, away?
 56947   CASCA. Ay.
 56948   CASSIUS. Did Cicero say anything?
 56949   CASCA. Ay, he spoke Greek.
 56950   CASSIUS. To what effect?
 56951   CASCA. Nay, an I tell you that, I'll ne'er look you i' the face
 56952     again; but those that understood him smiled at one another and
 56953     shook their heads; but for mine own part, it was Greek to me. I
 56954     could tell you more news too: Marullus and Flavius, for pulling
 56955     scarfs off Caesar's images, are put to silence. Fare you well.
 56956     There was more foolery yet, if could remember it.
 56957   CASSIUS. Will you sup with me tonight, Casca?
 56958   CASCA. No, I am promised forth.
 56959   CASSIUS. Will you dine with me tomorrow?
 56960   CASCA. Ay, if I be alive, and your mind hold, and your dinner worth
 56961     the eating.
 56962   CASSIUS. Good, I will expect you.
 56963   CASCA. Do so, farewell, both.                            Exit.
 56964   BRUTUS. What a blunt fellow is this grown to be!
 56965     He was quick mettle when he went to school.
 56966   CASSIUS. So is he now in execution
 56967     Of any bold or noble enterprise,
 56968     However he puts on this tardy form.
 56969     This rudeness is a sauce to his good wit,
 56970     Which gives men stomach to digest his words
 56971     With better appetite.
 56972   BRUTUS. And so it is. For this time I will leave you.
 56973     Tomorrow, if you please to speak with me,
 56974     I will come home to you, or, if you will,
 56975     Come home to me and I will wait for you.
 56976   CASSIUS. I will do so. Till then, think of the world.
 56977                                                     Exit Brutus.
 56978     Well, Brutus, thou art noble; yet, I see
 56979     Thy honorable mettle may be wrought
 56980     From that it is disposed; therefore it is meet
 56981     That noble minds keep ever with their likes;
 56982     For who so firm that cannot be seduced?
 56983     Caesar doth bear me hard, but he loves Brutus.
 56984     If I were Brutus now and he were Cassius,
 56985     He should not humor me. I will this night,
 56986     In several hands, in at his windows throw,
 56987     As if they came from several citizens,
 56988     Writings, all tending to the great opinion
 56989     That Rome holds of his name, wherein obscurely
 56990     Caesar's ambition shall be glanced at.
 56991     And after this let Caesar seat him sure;
 56992     For we will shake him, or worse days endure.           Exit.
 56993 
 56994 
 56995 
 56996 
 56997 SCENE III.
 56998 A street. Thunder and lightning.
 56999 
 57000 Enter, from opposite sides, Casca, with his sword drawn, and Cicero.
 57001 
 57002   CICERO. Good even, Casca. Brought you Caesar home?
 57003     Why are you breathless, and why stare you so?
 57004   CASCA. Are not you moved, when all the sway of earth
 57005     Shakes like a thing unfirm? O Cicero,
 57006     I have seen tempests when the scolding winds
 57007     Have rived the knotty oaks, and I have seen
 57008     The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam
 57009     To be exalted with the threatening clouds,
 57010     But never till tonight, never till now,
 57011     Did I go through a tempest dropping fire.
 57012     Either there is a civil strife in heaven,
 57013     Or else the world too saucy with the gods
 57014     Incenses them to send destruction.
 57015   CICERO. Why, saw you anything more wonderful?
 57016   CASCA. A common slave- you know him well by sight-
 57017     Held up his left hand, which did flame and burn
 57018     Like twenty torches join'd, and yet his hand
 57019     Not sensible of fire remain'd unscorch'd.
 57020     Besides- I ha' not since put up my sword-
 57021     Against the Capitol I met a lion,
 57022     Who glaz'd upon me and went surly by
 57023     Without annoying me. And there were drawn
 57024     Upon a heap a hundred ghastly women
 57025     Transformed with their fear, who swore they saw
 57026     Men all in fire walk up and down the streets.
 57027     And yesterday the bird of night did sit
 57028     Even at noonday upon the marketplace,
 57029     Howling and shrieking. When these prodigies
 57030     Do so conjointly meet, let not men say
 57031     "These are their reasons; they are natural":
 57032     For I believe they are portentous things
 57033     Unto the climate that they point upon.
 57034   CICERO. Indeed, it is a strange-disposed time.
 57035     But men may construe things after their fashion,
 57036     Clean from the purpose of the things themselves.
 57037     Comes Caesar to the Capitol tomorrow?
 57038   CASCA. He doth, for he did bid Antonio
 57039     Send word to you he would be there tomorrow.
 57040   CICERO. Good then, Casca. This disturbed sky
 57041     Is not to walk in.
 57042   CASCA. Farewell, Cicero.                          Exit Cicero.
 57043 
 57044                         Enter Cassius.
 57045 
 57046   CASSIUS. Who's there?
 57047   CASCA. A Roman.
 57048   CASSIUS. Casca, by your voice.
 57049   CASCA. Your ear is good. Cassius, what night is this!
 57050   CASSIUS. A very pleasing night to honest men.
 57051   CASCA. Who ever knew the heavens menace so?
 57052   CASSIUS. Those that have known the earth so full of faults.
 57053     For my part, I have walk'd about the streets,
 57054     Submitting me unto the perilous night,
 57055     And thus unbraced, Casca, as you see,
 57056     Have bared my bosom to the thunderstone;
 57057     And when the cross blue lightning seem'd to open
 57058     The breast of heaven, I did present myself
 57059     Even in the aim and very flash of it.
 57060   CASCA. But wherefore did you so much tempt the heavens?
 57061     It is the part of men to fear and tremble
 57062     When the most mighty gods by tokens send
 57063     Such dreadful heralds to astonish us.
 57064   CASSIUS. You are dull, Casca, and those sparks of life
 57065     That should be in a Roman you do want,
 57066     Or else you use not. You look pale and gaze
 57067     And put on fear and cast yourself in wonder
 57068     To see the strange impatience of the heavens.
 57069     But if you would consider the true cause
 57070     Why all these fires, why all these gliding ghosts,
 57071     Why birds and beasts from quality and kind,
 57072     Why old men, fools, and children calculate,
 57073     Why all these things change from their ordinance,
 57074     Their natures, and preformed faculties
 57075     To monstrous quality, why, you shall find
 57076     That heaven hath infused them with these spirits
 57077     To make them instruments of fear and warning
 57078     Unto some monstrous state.
 57079     Now could I, Casca, name to thee a man
 57080     Most like this dreadful night,
 57081     That thunders, lightens, opens graves, and roars
 57082     As doth the lion in the Capitol,
 57083     A man no mightier than thyself or me
 57084     In personal action, yet prodigious grown
 57085     And fearful, as these strange eruptions are.
 57086   CASCA. 'Tis Caesar that you mean, is it not, Cassius?
 57087   CASSIUS. Let it be who it is, for Romans now
 57088     Have thews and limbs like to their ancestors.
 57089     But, woe the while! Our fathers' minds are dead,
 57090     And we are govern'd with our mothers' spirits;
 57091     Our yoke and sufferance show us womanish.
 57092   CASCA. Indeed they say the senators tomorrow
 57093     Mean to establish Caesar as a king,
 57094     And he shall wear his crown by sea and land
 57095     In every place save here in Italy.
 57096   CASSIUS. I know where I will wear this dagger then:
 57097     Cassius from bondage will deliver Cassius.
 57098     Therein, ye gods, you make the weak most strong;
 57099     Therein, ye gods, you tyrants do defeat.
 57100     Nor stony tower, nor walls of beaten brass,
 57101     Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron
 57102     Can be retentive to the strength of spirit;
 57103     But life, being weary of these worldly bars,
 57104     Never lacks power to dismiss itself.
 57105     If I know this, know all the world besides,
 57106     That part of tyranny that I do bear
 57107     I can shake off at pleasure.                  Thunder still.
 57108   CASCA. So can I.
 57109     So every bondman in his own hand bears
 57110     The power to cancel his captivity.
 57111   CASSIUS. And why should Caesar be a tyrant then?
 57112     Poor man! I know he would not be a wolf
 57113     But that he sees the Romans are but sheep.
 57114     He were no lion, were not Romans hinds.
 57115     Those that with haste will make a mighty fire
 57116     Begin it with weak straws. What trash is Rome,
 57117     What rubbish, and what offal, when it serves
 57118     For the base matter to illuminate
 57119     So vile a thing as Caesar? But, O grief,
 57120     Where hast thou led me? I perhaps speak this
 57121     Before a willing bondman; then I know
 57122     My answer must be made. But I am arm'd,
 57123     And dangers are to me indifferent.
 57124   CASCA. You speak to Casca, and to such a man
 57125     That is no fleering tell-tale. Hold, my hand.
 57126     Be factious for redress of all these griefs,
 57127     And I will set this foot of mine as far
 57128     As who goes farthest.
 57129   CASSIUS. There's a bargain made.
 57130     Now know you, Casca, I have moved already
 57131     Some certain of the noblest-minded Romans
 57132     To undergo with me an enterprise
 57133     Of honorable-dangerous consequence;
 57134     And I do know by this, they stay for me
 57135     In Pompey's Porch. For now, this fearful night,
 57136     There is no stir or walking in the streets,
 57137     And the complexion of the element
 57138     In favor's like the work we have in hand,
 57139     Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible.
 57140 
 57141                        Enter Cinna.
 57142 
 57143   CASCA. Stand close awhile, for here comes one in haste.
 57144   CASSIUS. 'Tis Cinna, I do know him by his gait;
 57145     He is a friend. Cinna, where haste you so?
 57146   CINNA. To find out you. Who's that? Metellus Cimber?
 57147   CASSIUS. No, it is Casca, one incorporate
 57148     To our attempts. Am I not stay'd for, Cinna?
 57149   CINNA. I am glad on't. What a fearful night is this!
 57150     There's two or three of us have seen strange sights.
 57151   CASSIUS. Am I not stay'd for? Tell me.
 57152   CINNA. Yes, you are.
 57153     O Cassius, if you could
 57154     But win the noble Brutus to our party-
 57155   CASSIUS. Be you content. Good Cinna, take this paper,
 57156     And look you lay it in the praetor's chair,
 57157     Where Brutus may but find it; and throw this
 57158     In at his window; set this up with wax
 57159     Upon old Brutus' statue. All this done,
 57160     Repair to Pompey's Porch, where you shall find us.
 57161     Is Decius Brutus and Trebonius there?
 57162   CINNA. All but Metellus Cimber, and he's gone
 57163     To seek you at your house. Well, I will hie
 57164     And so bestow these papers as you bade me.
 57165   CASSIUS. That done, repair to Pompey's Theatre.
 57166                                                      Exit Cinna.
 57167     Come, Casca, you and I will yet ere day
 57168     See Brutus at his house. Three parts of him
 57169     Is ours already, and the man entire
 57170     Upon the next encounter yields him ours.
 57171   CASCA. O, he sits high in all the people's hearts,
 57172     And that which would appear offense in us,
 57173     His countenance, like richest alchemy,
 57174     Will change to virtue and to worthiness.
 57175   CASSIUS. Him and his worth and our great need of him
 57176     You have right well conceited. Let us go,
 57177     For it is after midnight, and ere day
 57178     We will awake him and be sure of him.                Exeunt.
 57179 
 57180 
 57181 
 57182 
 57183 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
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 57191 
 57192 
 57193 
 57194 ACT II. SCENE I.
 57195 
 57196 Enter Brutus in his orchard.
 57197 
 57198   BRUTUS. What, Lucius, ho!
 57199     I cannot, by the progress of the stars,
 57200     Give guess how near to day. Lucius, I say!
 57201     I would it were my fault to sleep so soundly.
 57202     When, Lucius, when? Awake, I say! What, Lucius!
 57203 
 57204                             Enter Lucius.
 57205 
 57206   LUCIUS. Call'd you, my lord?
 57207   BRUTUS. Get me a taper in my study, Lucius.
 57208     When it is lighted, come and call me here.
 57209   LUCIUS. I will, my lord.                                 Exit.
 57210   BRUTUS. It must be by his death, and, for my part,
 57211     I know no personal cause to spurn at him,
 57212     But for the general. He would be crown'd:
 57213     How that might change his nature, there's the question.
 57214     It is the bright day that brings forth the adder
 57215     And that craves wary walking. Crown him that,
 57216     And then, I grant, we put a sting in him
 57217     That at his will he may do danger with.
 57218     The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins
 57219     Remorse from power, and, to speak truth of Caesar,
 57220     I have not known when his affections sway'd
 57221     More than his reason. But 'tis a common proof
 57222     That lowliness is young ambition's ladder,
 57223     Whereto the climber-upward turns his face;
 57224     But when he once attains the upmost round,
 57225     He then unto the ladder turns his back,
 57226     Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
 57227     By which he did ascend. So Caesar may;
 57228     Then, lest he may, prevent. And, since the quarrel
 57229     Will bear no color for the thing he is,
 57230     Fashion it thus, that what he is, augmented,
 57231     Would run to these and these extremities;
 57232     And therefore think him as a serpent's egg
 57233     Which hatch'd would as his kind grow mischievous,
 57234     And kill him in the shell.
 57235 
 57236                         Re-enter Lucius.
 57237 
 57238   LUCIUS. The taper burneth in your closet, sir.
 57239     Searching the window for a flint I found
 57240     This paper thus seal'd up, and I am sure
 57241     It did not lie there when I went to bed.
 57242                                            Gives him the letter.
 57243   BRUTUS. Get you to bed again, it is not day.
 57244     Is not tomorrow, boy, the ides of March?
 57245   LUCIUS. I know not, sir.
 57246   BRUTUS. Look in the calendar and bring me word.
 57247   LUCIUS. I will, sir.                                     Exit.
 57248   BRUTUS. The exhalations whizzing in the air
 57249     Give so much light that I may read by them.
 57250                                      Opens the letter and reads.
 57251     "Brutus, thou sleep'st: awake and see thyself!
 57252     Shall Rome, etc. Speak, strike, redress!"
 57253 
 57254     "Brutus, thou sleep'st: awake!"
 57255     Such instigations have been often dropp'd
 57256     Where I have took them up.
 57257     "Shall Rome, etc." Thus must I piece it out.
 57258     Shall Rome stand under one man's awe? What, Rome?
 57259     My ancestors did from the streets of Rome
 57260     The Tarquin drive, when he was call'd a king.
 57261     "Speak, strike, redress!" Am I entreated
 57262     To speak and strike? O Rome, I make thee promise,
 57263     If the redress will follow, thou receivest
 57264     Thy full petition at the hand of Brutus!
 57265 
 57266                         Re-enter Lucius.
 57267 
 57268   LUCIUS. Sir, March is wasted fifteen days.
 57269                                                 Knocking within.
 57270   BRUTUS. 'Tis good. Go to the gate, somebody knocks.
 57271                                                     Exit Lucius.
 57272     Since Cassius first did whet me against Caesar
 57273     I have not slept.
 57274     Between the acting of a dreadful thing
 57275     And the first motion, all the interim is
 57276     Like a phantasma or a hideous dream;
 57277     The genius and the mortal instruments
 57278     Are then in council, and the state of man,
 57279     Like to a little kingdom, suffers then
 57280     The nature of an insurrection.
 57281 
 57282                          Re-enter Lucius.
 57283 
 57284   LUCIUS. Sir, 'tis your brother Cassius at the door,
 57285     Who doth desire to see you.
 57286   BRUTUS. Is he alone?
 57287   LUCIUS. No, sir, there are more with him.
 57288   BRUTUS. Do you know them?
 57289   LUCIUS. No, sir, their hats are pluck'd about their ears,
 57290     And half their faces buried in their cloaks,
 57291     That by no means I may discover them
 57292     By any mark of favor.
 57293   BRUTUS. Let 'em enter.                            Exit Lucius.
 57294     They are the faction. O Conspiracy,
 57295     Shamest thou to show thy dangerous brow by night,
 57296     When evils are most free? O, then, by day
 57297     Where wilt thou find a cavern dark enough
 57298     To mask thy monstrous visage? Seek none, Conspiracy;
 57299     Hide it in smiles and affability;
 57300     For if thou path, thy native semblance on,
 57301     Not Erebus itself were dim enough
 57302     To hide thee from prevention.
 57303 
 57304     Enter the conspirators, Cassius, Casca, Decius, Cinna,
 57305                 Metellus Cimber, and Trebonius.
 57306 
 57307   CASSIUS. I think we are too bold upon your rest.
 57308     Good morrow, Brutus, do we trouble you?
 57309   BRUTUS. I have been up this hour, awake all night.
 57310     Know I these men that come along with you?
 57311   CASSIUS. Yes, every man of them, and no man here
 57312     But honors you, and every one doth wish
 57313     You had but that opinion of yourself
 57314     Which every noble Roman bears of you.
 57315     This is Trebonius.
 57316   BRUTUS. He is welcome hither.
 57317   CASSIUS. This, Decius Brutus.
 57318   BRUTUS. He is welcome too.
 57319 CASSIUS. This, Casca; this, Cinna; and this, Metellus Cimber.
 57320   BRUTUS. They are all welcome.
 57321     What watchful cares do interpose themselves
 57322     Betwixt your eyes and night?
 57323   CASSIUS. Shall I entreat a word?                 They whisper.
 57324   DECIUS. Here lies the east. Doth not the day break here?
 57325   CASCA. No.
 57326   CINNA. O, pardon, sir, it doth, and yongrey lines
 57327     That fret the clouds are messengers of day.
 57328   CASCA. You shall confess that you are both deceived.
 57329     Here, as I point my sword, the sun arises,
 57330     Which is a great way growing on the south,
 57331     Weighing the youthful season of the year.
 57332     Some two months hence up higher toward the north
 57333     He first presents his fire, and the high east
 57334     Stands as the Capitol, directly here.
 57335   BRUTUS. Give me your hands all over, one by one.
 57336   CASSIUS. And let us swear our resolution.
 57337   BRUTUS. No, not an oath. If not the face of men,
 57338     The sufferance of our souls, the time's abuse-
 57339     If these be motives weak, break off betimes,
 57340     And every man hence to his idle bed;
 57341     So let high-sighted tyranny range on
 57342     Till each man drop by lottery. But if these,
 57343     As I am sure they do, bear fire enough
 57344     To kindle cowards and to steel with valor
 57345     The melting spirits of women, then, countrymen,
 57346     What need we any spur but our own cause
 57347     To prick us to redress? What other bond
 57348     Than secret Romans that have spoke the word
 57349     And will not palter? And what other oath
 57350     Than honesty to honesty engaged
 57351     That this shall be or we will fall for it?
 57352     Swear priests and cowards and men cautelous,
 57353     Old feeble carrions and such suffering souls
 57354     That welcome wrongs; unto bad causes swear
 57355     Such creatures as men doubt; but do not stain
 57356     The even virtue of our enterprise,
 57357     Nor the insuppressive mettle of our spirits,
 57358     To think that or our cause or our performance
 57359     Did need an oath; when every drop of blood
 57360     That every Roman bears, and nobly bears,
 57361     Is guilty of a several bastardy
 57362     If he do break the smallest particle
 57363     Of any promise that hath pass'd from him.
 57364   CASSIUS. But what of Cicero? Shall we sound him?
 57365     I think he will stand very strong with us.
 57366   CASCA. Let us not leave him out.
 57367   CINNA. No, by no means.
 57368   METELLUS. O, let us have him, for his silver hairs
 57369     Will purchase us a good opinion,
 57370     And buy men's voices to commend our deeds.
 57371     It shall be said his judgement ruled our hands;
 57372     Our youths and wildness shall no whit appear,
 57373     But all be buried in his gravity.
 57374   BRUTUS. O, name him not; let us not break with him,
 57375     For he will never follow anything
 57376     That other men begin.
 57377   CASSIUS. Then leave him out.
 57378   CASCA. Indeed he is not fit.
 57379   DECIUS. Shall no man else be touch'd but only Caesar?
 57380   CASSIUS. Decius, well urged. I think it is not meet
 57381     Mark Antony, so well beloved of Caesar,
 57382     Should outlive Caesar. We shall find of him
 57383     A shrewd contriver; and you know his means,
 57384     If he improve them, may well stretch so far
 57385     As to annoy us all, which to prevent,
 57386     Let Antony and Caesar fall together.
 57387   BRUTUS. Our course will seem too bloody, Caius Cassius,
 57388     To cut the head off and then hack the limbs
 57389     Like wrath in death and envy afterwards;
 57390     For Antony is but a limb of Caesar.
 57391     Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius.
 57392     We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar,
 57393     And in the spirit of men there is no blood.
 57394     O, that we then could come by Caesar's spirit,
 57395     And not dismember Caesar! But, alas,
 57396     Caesar must bleed for it! And, gentle friends,
 57397     Let's kill him boldly, but not wrathfully;
 57398     Let's carve him as a dish fit for the gods,
 57399     Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds;
 57400     And let our hearts, as subtle masters do,
 57401     Stir up their servants to an act of rage
 57402     And after seem to chide 'em. This shall make
 57403     Our purpose necessary and not envious,
 57404     Which so appearing to the common eyes,
 57405     We shall be call'd purgers, not murderers.
 57406     And for Mark Antony, think not of him,
 57407     For he can do no more than Caesar's arm
 57408     When Caesar's head is off.
 57409   CASSIUS. Yet I fear him,
 57410     For in the ingrated love he bears to Caesar-
 57411   BRUTUS. Alas, good Cassius, do not think of him.
 57412     If he love Caesar, all that he can do
 57413     Is to himself, take thought and die for Caesar.
 57414     And that were much he should, for he is given
 57415     To sports, to wildness, and much company.
 57416   TREBONIUS. There is no fear in him-let him not die,
 57417     For he will live and laugh at this hereafter.
 57418                                                   Clock strikes.
 57419   BRUTUS. Peace, count the clock.
 57420   CASSIUS. The clock hath stricken three.
 57421   TREBONIUS. 'Tis time to part.
 57422   CASSIUS. But it is doubtful yet
 57423     Whether Caesar will come forth today or no,
 57424     For he is superstitious grown of late,
 57425     Quite from the main opinion he held once
 57426     Of fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies.
 57427     It may be these apparent prodigies,
 57428     The unaccustom'd terror of this night,
 57429     And the persuasion of his augurers
 57430     May hold him from the Capitol today.
 57431   DECIUS. Never fear that. If he be so resolved,
 57432     I can o'ersway him, for he loves to hear
 57433     That unicorns may be betray'd with trees,
 57434     And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,
 57435     Lions with toils, and men with flatterers;
 57436     But when I tell him he hates flatterers,
 57437     He says he does, being then most flattered.
 57438     Let me work;
 57439     For I can give his humor the true bent,
 57440     And I will bring him to the Capitol.
 57441   CASSIUS. Nay, we will all of us be there to fetch him.
 57442   BRUTUS. By the eighth hour. Is that the utter most?
 57443   CINNA. Be that the uttermost, and fail not then.
 57444   METELLUS. Caius Ligarius doth bear Caesar hard,
 57445     Who rated him for speaking well of Pompey.
 57446     I wonder none of you have thought of him.
 57447   BRUTUS. Now, good Metellus, go along by him.
 57448     He loves me well, and I have given him reasons;
 57449     Send him but hither, and I'll fashion him.
 57450   CASSIUS. The morning comes upon 's. We'll leave you, Brutus,
 57451     And, friends, disperse yourselves, but all remember
 57452     What you have said and show yourselves true Romans.
 57453   BRUTUS. Good gentlemen, look fresh and merrily;
 57454     Let not our looks put on our purposes,
 57455     But bear it as our Roman actors do,
 57456     With untired spirits and formal constancy.
 57457     And so, good morrow to you every one.
 57458                                           Exeunt all but Brutus.
 57459     Boy! Lucius! Fast asleep? It is no matter.
 57460     Enjoy the honey-heavy dew of slumber;
 57461     Thou hast no figures nor no fantasies,
 57462     Which busy care draws in the brains of men;
 57463     Therefore thou sleep'st so sound.
 57464 
 57465                            Enter Portia.
 57466 
 57467   PORTIA. Brutus, my lord!
 57468   BRUTUS. Portia, what mean you? Wherefore rise you now?
 57469     It is not for your health thus to commit
 57470     Your weak condition to the raw cold morning.
 57471   PORTIA. Nor for yours neither. have ungently, Brutus,
 57472     Stole from my bed; and yesternight at supper
 57473     You suddenly arose and walk'd about,
 57474     Musing and sighing, with your arms across;
 57475     And when I ask'd you what the matter was,
 57476     You stared upon me with ungentle looks.
 57477     I urged you further; then you scratch'd your head,
 57478     And too impatiently stamp'd with your foot.
 57479     Yet I insisted, yet you answer'd not,
 57480     But with an angry waiter of your hand
 57481     Gave sign for me to leave you. So I did,
 57482     Fearing to strengthen that impatience
 57483     Which seem'd too much enkindled, and withal
 57484     Hoping it was but an effect of humor,
 57485     Which sometime hath his hour with every man.
 57486     It will not let you eat, nor talk, nor sleep,
 57487     And, could it work so much upon your shape
 57488     As it hath much prevail'd on your condition,
 57489     I should not know you, Brutus. Dear my lord,
 57490     Make me acquainted with your cause of grief.
 57491   BRUTUS. I am not well in health, and that is all.
 57492   PORTIA. Brutus is wise, and, were he not in health,
 57493     He would embrace the means to come by it.
 57494   BRUTUS. Why, so I do. Good Portia, go to bed.
 57495   PORTIA. Is Brutus sick, and is it physical
 57496     To walk unbraced and suck up the humors
 57497     Of the dank morning? What, is Brutus sick,
 57498     And will he steal out of his wholesome bed
 57499     To dare the vile contagion of the night
 57500     And tempt the rheumy and unpurged air
 57501     To add unto his sickness? No, my Brutus,
 57502     You have some sick offense within your mind,
 57503     Which by the right and virtue of my place
 57504     I ought to know of; and, upon my knees,
 57505     I charm you, by my once commended beauty,
 57506     By all your vows of love and that great vow
 57507     Which did incorporate and make us one,
 57508     That you unfold to me, yourself, your half,
 57509     Why you are heavy and what men tonight
 57510     Have had resort to you; for here have been
 57511     Some six or seven, who did hide their faces
 57512     Even from darkness.
 57513   BRUTUS. Kneel not, gentle Portia.
 57514   PORTIA. I should not need, if you were gentle Brutus.
 57515     Within the bond of marriage, tell me, Brutus,
 57516     Is it excepted I should know no secrets
 57517     That appertain to you? Am I yourself
 57518     But, as it were, in sort or limitation,
 57519     To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed,
 57520     And talk to you sometimes? Dwell I but in the suburbs
 57521     Of your good pleasure? If it be no more,
 57522     Portia is Brutus' harlot, not his wife.
 57523   BRUTUS. You are my true and honorable wife,
 57524     As dear to me as are the ruddy drops
 57525     That visit my sad heart.
 57526   PORTIA. If this were true, then should I know this secret.
 57527     I grant I am a woman, but withal
 57528     A woman that Lord Brutus took to wife.
 57529     I grant I am a woman, but withal
 57530     A woman well reputed, Cato's daughter.
 57531     Think you I am no stronger than my sex,
 57532     Being so father'd and so husbanded?
 57533     Tell me your counsels, I will not disclose 'em.
 57534     I have made strong proof of my constancy,
 57535     Giving myself a voluntary wound
 57536     Here in the thigh. Can I bear that with patience
 57537     And not my husband's secrets?
 57538   BRUTUS. O ye gods,
 57539     Render me worthy of this noble wife! Knocking within.
 57540     Hark, hark, one knocks. Portia, go in awhile,
 57541     And by and by thy bosom shall partake
 57542     The secrets of my heart.
 57543     All my engagements I will construe to thee,
 57544     All the charactery of my sad brows.
 57545     Leave me with haste. [Exit Portia.] Lucius, who's that knocks?
 57546 
 57547                   Re-enter Lucius with Ligarius.
 57548 
 57549   LUCIUS. Here is a sick man that would speak with you.
 57550   BRUTUS. Caius Ligarius, that Metellus spake of.
 57551     Boy, stand aside. Caius Ligarius, how?
 57552   LIGARIUS. Vouchsafe good morrow from a feeble tongue.
 57553   BRUTUS. O, what a time have you chose out, brave Caius,
 57554     To wear a kerchief! Would you were not sick!
 57555   LIGARIUS. I am not sick, if Brutus have in hand
 57556     Any exploit worthy the name of honor.
 57557   BRUTUS. Such an exploit have I in hand, Ligarius,
 57558     Had you a healthful ear to hear of it.
 57559   LIGARIUS. By all the gods that Romans bow before,
 57560     I here discard my sickness! Soul of Rome!
 57561     Brave son, derived from honorable loins!
 57562     Thou, like an exorcist, hast conjured up
 57563     My mortified spirit. Now bid me run,
 57564     And I will strive with things impossible,
 57565     Yea, get the better of them. What's to do?
 57566   BRUTUS. A piece of work that will make sick men whole.
 57567   LIGARIUS. But are not some whole that we must make sick?
 57568   BRUTUS. That must we also. What it is, my Caius,
 57569     I shall unfold to thee, as we are going
 57570     To whom it must be done.
 57571   LIGARIUS. Set on your foot,
 57572     And with a heart new-fired I follow you,
 57573     To do I know not what; but it sufficeth
 57574     That Brutus leads me on.
 57575   BRUTUS. Follow me then.                                Exeunt.
 57576 
 57577 
 57578 
 57579 
 57580 SCENE II.
 57581 Caesar's house. Thunder and lightning.
 57582 
 57583 Enter Caesar, in his nightgown.
 57584 
 57585   CAESAR. Nor heaven nor earth have been at peace tonight.
 57586     Thrice hath Calpurnia in her sleep cried out,
 57587     "Help, ho! They murther Caesar!" Who's within?
 57588 
 57589                          Enter a Servant.
 57590 
 57591   SERVANT. My lord?
 57592   CAESAR. Go bid the priests do present sacrifice,
 57593     And bring me their opinions of success.
 57594   SERVANT. I will, my lord.                                Exit.
 57595 
 57596                          Enter Calpurnia.
 57597 
 57598   CALPURNIA. What mean you, Caesar? Think you to walk forth?
 57599     You shall not stir out of your house today.
 57600   CAESAR. Caesar shall forth: the things that threaten'd me
 57601     Ne'er look'd but on my back; when they shall see
 57602     The face of Caesar, they are vanished.
 57603   CALPURNIA. Caesar, I I stood on ceremonies,
 57604     Yet now they fright me. There is one within,
 57605     Besides the things that we have heard and seen,
 57606     Recounts most horrid sights seen by the watch.
 57607     A lioness hath whelped in the streets;
 57608     And graves have yawn'd, and yielded up their dead;
 57609     Fierce fiery warriors fight upon the clouds,
 57610     In ranks and squadrons and right form of war,
 57611     Which drizzled blood upon the Capitol;
 57612     The noise of battle hurtled in the air,
 57613     Horses did neigh and dying men did groan,
 57614     And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets.
 57615     O Caesar! These things are beyond all use,
 57616     And I do fear them.
 57617   CAESAR. What can be avoided
 57618     Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods?
 57619     Yet Caesar shall go forth, for these predictions
 57620     Are to the world in general as to Caesar.
 57621   CALPURNIA. When beggars die, there are no comets seen;
 57622     The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
 57623   CAESAR. Cowards die many times before their deaths;
 57624     The valiant never taste of death but once.
 57625     Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,
 57626     It seems to me most strange that men should fear
 57627     Seeing that death, a necessary end,
 57628     Will come when it will come.
 57629 
 57630                       Re-enter Servant.
 57631 
 57632     What say the augurers?
 57633   SERVANT. They would not have you to stir forth today.
 57634     Plucking the entrails of an offering forth,
 57635     They could not find a heart within the beast.
 57636   CAESAR. The gods do this in shame of cowardice.
 57637     Caesar should be a beast without a heart
 57638     If he should stay at home today for fear.
 57639     No, Caesar shall not. Danger knows full well
 57640     That Caesar is more dangerous than he.
 57641     We are two lions litter'd in one day,
 57642     And I the elder and more terrible.
 57643     And Caesar shall go forth.
 57644   CALPURNIA. Alas, my lord,
 57645     Your wisdom is consumed in confidence.
 57646     Do not go forth today. Call it my fear
 57647     That keeps you in the house and not your own.
 57648     We'll send Mark Antony to the Senate House,
 57649     And he shall say you are not well today.
 57650     Let me, upon my knee, prevail in this.
 57651   CAESAR. Mark Antony shall say I am not well,
 57652     And, for thy humor, I will stay at home.
 57653 
 57654                         Enter Decius.
 57655 
 57656     Here's Decius Brutus, he shall tell them so.
 57657   DECIUS. Caesar, all hail! Good morrow, worthy Caesar!
 57658     I come to fetch you to the Senate House.
 57659   CAESAR. And you are come in very happy time
 57660     To bear my greeting to the senators
 57661     And tell them that I will not come today.
 57662     Cannot, is false, and that I dare not, falser:
 57663     I will not come today. Tell them so, Decius.
 57664   CALPURNIA. Say he is sick.
 57665   CAESAR. Shall Caesar send a lie?
 57666     Have I in conquest stretch'd mine arm so far
 57667     To be afeard to tell greybeards the truth?
 57668     Decius, go tell them Caesar will not come.
 57669   DECIUS. Most mighty Caesar, let me know some cause,
 57670     Lest I be laugh'd at when I tell them so.
 57671   CAESAR. The cause is in my will: I will not come,
 57672     That is enough to satisfy the Senate.
 57673     But, for your private satisfaction,
 57674     Because I love you, I will let you know.
 57675     Calpurnia here, my wife, stays me at home;
 57676     She dreamt tonight she saw my statue,
 57677     Which, like a fountain with an hundred spouts,
 57678     Did run pure blood, and many lusty Romans
 57679     Came smiling and did bathe their hands in it.
 57680     And these does she apply for warnings and portents
 57681     And evils imminent, and on her knee
 57682     Hath begg'd that I will stay at home today.
 57683   DECIUS. This dream is all amiss interpreted;
 57684     It was a vision fair and fortunate.
 57685     Your statue spouting blood in many pipes,
 57686     In which so many smiling Romans bathed,
 57687     Signifies that from you great Rome shall suck
 57688     Reviving blood, and that great men shall press
 57689     For tinctures, stains, relics, and cognizance.
 57690     This by Calpurnia's dream is signified.
 57691   CAESAR. And this way have you well expounded it.
 57692   DECIUS. I have, when you have heard what I can say.
 57693     And know it now, the Senate have concluded
 57694     To give this day a crown to mighty Caesar.
 57695     If you shall send them word you will not come,
 57696     Their minds may change. Besides, it were a mock
 57697     Apt to be render'd, for someone to say
 57698     "Break up the Senate till another time,
 57699     When Caesar's wife shall meet with better dreams."
 57700     If Caesar hide himself, shall they not whisper
 57701     "Lo, Caesar is afraid"?
 57702     Pardon me, Caesar, for my dear dear love
 57703     To your proceeding bids me tell you this,
 57704     And reason to my love is liable.
 57705   CAESAR. How foolish do your fears seem now, Calpurnia!
 57706     I am ashamed I did yield to them.
 57707     Give me my robe, for I will go.
 57708 
 57709          Enter Publius, Brutus, Ligarius, Metellus, Casca,
 57710                      Trebonius, and Cinna.
 57711 
 57712     And look where Publius is come to fetch me.
 57713   PUBLIUS. Good morrow,Caesar.
 57714   CAESAR. Welcome, Publius.
 57715     What, Brutus, are you stirr'd so early too?
 57716     Good morrow, Casca. Caius Ligarius,
 57717     Caesar was ne'er so much your enemy
 57718     As that same ague which hath made you lean.
 57719     What is't o'clock?
 57720   BRUTUS. Caesar, 'tis strucken eight.
 57721   CAESAR. I thank you for your pains and courtesy.
 57722 
 57723                            Enter Antony.
 57724 
 57725     See, Antony, that revels long o' nights,
 57726     Is notwithstanding up. Good morrow, Antony.
 57727   ANTONY. So to most noble Caesar.
 57728   CAESAR. Bid them prepare within.
 57729     I am to blame to be thus waited for.
 57730     Now, Cinna; now, Metellus; what, Trebonius,
 57731     I have an hour's talk in store for you;
 57732     Remember that you call on me today;
 57733     Be near me, that I may remember you.
 57734   TREBONIUS. Caesar, I will. [Aside.] And so near will I be
 57735     That your best friends shall wish I had been further.
 57736   CAESAR. Good friends, go in and taste some wine with me,
 57737     And we like friends will straightway go together.
 57738   BRUTUS. [Aside.] That every like is not the same, O Caesar,
 57739     The heart of Brutus yearns to think upon!            Exeunt.
 57740 
 57741 
 57742 
 57743 
 57744 SCENE III.
 57745 A street near the Capitol.
 57746 
 57747 Enter Artemidorus, reading paper.
 57748 
 57749   ARTEMIDORUS. "Caesar, beware of Brutus; take heed of Cassius; come
 57750     not near Casca; have an eye to Cinna; trust not Trebonius; mark
 57751     well Metellus Cimber; Decius Brutus loves thee not; thou hast
 57752     wronged Caius Ligarius. There is but one mind in all these men,
 57753     and it is bent against Caesar. If thou beest not immortal, look
 57754     about you. Security gives way to conspiracy. The mighty gods
 57755     defend thee!
 57756                                         Thy lover, Artemidorus."
 57757     Here will I stand till Caesar pass along,
 57758     And as a suitor will I give him this.
 57759     My heart laments that virtue cannot live
 57760     Out of the teeth of emulation.
 57761     If thou read this, O Caesar, thou mayest live;
 57762     If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive.           Exit.
 57763 
 57764 
 57765 
 57766 
 57767 SCENE IV.
 57768 Another part of the same street, before the house of Brutus.
 57769 
 57770 Enter Portia and Lucius.
 57771 
 57772   PORTIA. I prithee, boy, run to the Senate House;
 57773     Stay not to answer me, but get thee gone.
 57774     Why dost thou stay?
 57775   LUCIUS. To know my errand, madam.
 57776   PORTIA. I would have had thee there, and here again,
 57777     Ere I can tell thee what thou shouldst do there.
 57778     O constancy, be strong upon my side!
 57779     Set a huge mountain 'tween my heart and tongue!
 57780     I have a man's mind, but a woman's might.
 57781     How hard it is for women to keep counsel!
 57782     Art thou here yet?
 57783   LUCIUS. Madam, what should I do?
 57784     Run to the Capitol, and nothing else?
 57785     And so return to you, and nothing else?
 57786   PORTIA. Yes, bring me word, boy, if thy lord look well,
 57787     For he went sickly forth; and take good note
 57788     What Caesar doth, what suitors press to him.
 57789     Hark, boy, what noise is that?
 57790   LUCIUS. I hear none, madam.
 57791   PORTIA. Prithee, listen well.
 57792     I heard a bustling rumor like a fray,
 57793     And the wind brings it from the Capitol.
 57794   LUCIUS. Sooth, madam, I hear nothing.
 57795 
 57796                      Enter the Soothsayer.
 57797 
 57798   PORTIA. Come hither, fellow;
 57799     Which way hast thou been?
 57800   SOOTHSAYER. At mine own house, good lady.
 57801   PORTIA. What is't o'clock?
 57802   SOOTHSAYER. About the ninth hour, lady.
 57803   PORTIA. Is Caesar yet gone to the Capitol?
 57804   SOOTHSAYER. Madam, not yet. I go to take my stand
 57805     To see him pass on to the Capitol.
 57806   PORTIA. Thou hast some suit to Caesar, hast thou not?
 57807   SOOTHSAYER. That I have, lady. If it will please Caesar
 57808     To be so good to Caesar as to hear me,
 57809     I shall beseech him to befriend himself.
 57810   PORTIA. Why, know'st thou any harm's intended towards him?
 57811   SOOTHSAYER. None that I know will be, much that I fear may chance.
 57812     Good morrow to you. Here the street is narrow,
 57813     The throng that follows Caesar at the heels,
 57814     Of senators, of praetors, common suitors,
 57815     Will crowd a feeble man almost to death.
 57816     I'll get me to a place more void and there
 57817     Speak to great Caesar as he comes along.               Exit.
 57818   PORTIA. I must go in. Ay me, how weak a thing
 57819     The heart of woman is! O Brutus,
 57820     The heavens speed thee in thine enterprise!
 57821     Sure, the boy heard me. Brutus hath a suit
 57822     That Caesar will not grant. O, I grow faint.
 57823     Run, Lucius, and commend me to my lord;
 57824     Say I am merry. Come to me again,
 57825     And bring me word what he doth say to thee.
 57826                                                Exeunt severally.
 57827 
 57828 
 57829 
 57830 
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 57839 
 57840 
 57841 
 57842 ACT III. SCENE I.
 57843 Rome. Before the Capitol; the Senate sitting above.
 57844 A crowd of people, among them Artemidorus and the Soothsayer.
 57845 
 57846 Flourish. Enter Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Casca, Decius, Metellus,
 57847 Trebonius, Cinna, Antony, Lepidus, Popilius, Publius, and others.
 57848 
 57849   CAESAR. The ides of March are come.
 57850   SOOTHSAYER. Ay, Caesar, but not gone.
 57851   A Hail, Caesar! Read this schedule.
 57852   DECIUS. Trebonius doth desire you to o'er read,
 57853     At your best leisure, this his humble suit.
 57854   ARTEMIDORUS. O Caesar, read mine first, for mine's a suit
 57855     That touches Caesar nearer. Read it, great Caesar.
 57856   CAESAR. What touches us ourself shall be last served.
 57857   ARTEMIDORUS. Delay not, Caesar; read it instantly.
 57858   CAESAR. What, is the fellow mad?
 57859   PUBLIUS. Sirrah, give place.
 57860   CASSIUS. What, urge you your petitions in the street?
 57861     Come to the Capitol.
 57862 
 57863       Caesar goes up to the Senate House, the rest follow.
 57864 
 57865   POPILIUS. I wish your enterprise today may thrive.
 57866   CASSIUS. What enterprise, Popilius?
 57867   POPILIUS. Fare you well.
 57868                                              Advances to Caesar.
 57869   BRUTUS. What said Popilius Lena?
 57870   CASSIUS. He wish'd today our enterprise might thrive.
 57871     I fear our purpose is discovered.
 57872   BRUTUS. Look, how he makes to Caesar. Mark him.
 57873   CASSIUS. Casca,
 57874     Be sudden, for we fear prevention.
 57875     Brutus, what shall be done? If this be known,
 57876     Cassius or Caesar never shall turn back,
 57877     For I will slay myself.
 57878   BRUTUS. Cassius, be constant.
 57879     Popilius Lena speaks not of our purposes;
 57880     For, look, he smiles, and Caesar doth not change.
 57881   CASSIUS. Trebonius knows his time, for, look you, Brutus,
 57882     He draws Mark Antony out of the way.
 57883                                     Exeunt Antony and Trebonius.
 57884   DECIUS. Where is Metellus Cimber? Let him
 57885     And presently prefer his suit to Caesar.
 57886   BRUTUS. He is address'd; press near and second him.
 57887   CINNA. Casca, you are the first that rears your hand.
 57888   CAESAR. Are we all ready? What is now amiss
 57889     That Caesar and his Senate must redress?
 57890   METELLUS. Most high, most mighty, and most puissant Caesar,
 57891     Metellus Cimber throws before thy seat
 57892     An humble heart.                                     Kneels.
 57893   CAESAR. I must prevent thee, Cimber.
 57894     These couchings and these lowly courtesies
 57895     Might fire the blood of ordinary men
 57896     And turn preordinance and first decree
 57897     Into the law of children. Be not fond
 57898     To think that Caesar bears such rebel blood
 57899     That will be thaw'd from the true quality
 57900     With that which melteth fools- I mean sweet words,
 57901     Low-crooked court'sies, and base spaniel-fawning.
 57902     Thy brother by decree is banished.
 57903     If thou dost bend and pray and fawn for him,
 57904     I spurn thee like a cur out of my way.
 57905     Know, Caesar doth not wrong, nor without cause
 57906     Will he be satisfied.
 57907   METELLUS. Is there no voice more worthy than my own,
 57908     To sound more sweetly in great Caesar's ear
 57909     For the repealing of my banish'd brother?
 57910   BRUTUS. I kiss thy hand, but not in flattery, Caesar,
 57911     Desiring thee that Publius Cimber may
 57912     Have an immediate freedom of repeal.
 57913   CAESAR. What, Brutus?
 57914   CASSIUS. Pardon, Caesar! Caesar, pardon!
 57915     As low as to thy foot doth Cassius fall
 57916     To beg enfranchisement for Publius Cimber.
 57917   CAESAR. I could be well moved, if I were as you;
 57918     If I could pray to move, prayers would move me;
 57919     But I am constant as the northern star,
 57920     Of whose true-fix'd and resting quality
 57921     There is no fellow in the firmament.
 57922     The skies are painted with unnumber'd sparks;
 57923     They are all fire and every one doth shine;
 57924     But there's but one in all doth hold his place.
 57925     So in the world, 'tis furnish'd well with men,
 57926     And men are flesh and blood, and apprehensive;
 57927     Yet in the number I do know but one
 57928     That unassailable holds on his rank,
 57929     Unshaked of motion; and that I am he,
 57930     Let me a little show it, even in this;
 57931     That I was constant Cimber should be banish'd,
 57932     And constant do remain to keep him so.
 57933   CINNA. O Caesar-
 57934   CAESAR. Hence! Wilt thou lift up Olympus?
 57935   DECIUS. Great Caesar-
 57936   CAESAR. Doth not Brutus bootless kneel?
 57937   CASCA. Speak, hands, for me!
 57938                         Casca first, then the other Conspirators
 57939                                   and Marcus Brutus stab Caesar.
 57940   CAESAR. Et tu, Brute?- Then fall, Caesar! Dies.
 57941   CINNA. Liberty! Freedom! Tyranny is dead!
 57942     Run hence, proclaim, cry it about the streets.
 57943   CASSIUS. Some to the common pulpits and cry out
 57944     "Liberty, freedom, and enfranchisement!"
 57945   BRUTUS. People and senators, be not affrighted,
 57946     Fly not, stand still; ambition's debt is paid.
 57947   CASCA. Go to the pulpit, Brutus.
 57948   DECIUS. And Cassius too.
 57949   BRUTUS. Where's Publius?
 57950   CINNA. Here, quite confounded with this mutiny.
 57951   METELLUS. Stand fast together, lest some friend of Caesar's
 57952     Should chance-
 57953   BRUTUS. Talk not of standing. Publius, good cheer,
 57954     There is no harm intended to your person,
 57955     Nor to no Roman else. So tell them, Publius.
 57956   CASSIUS. And leave us, Publius, lest that the people
 57957     Rushing on us should do your age some mischief.
 57958   BRUTUS. Do so, and let no man abide this deed
 57959     But we the doers.
 57960 
 57961                         Re-enter Trebonius.
 57962 
 57963   CASSIUS. Where is Antony?
 57964   TREBONIUS. Fled to his house amazed.
 57965     Men, wives, and children stare, cry out, and run
 57966     As it were doomsday.
 57967   BRUTUS. Fates, we will know your pleasures.
 57968     That we shall die, we know; 'tis but the time
 57969     And drawing days out that men stand upon.
 57970   CASSIUS. Why, he that cuts off twenty years of life
 57971     Cuts off so many years of fearing death.
 57972   BRUTUS. Grant that, and then is death a benefit;
 57973     So are we Caesar's friends that have abridged
 57974     His time of fearing death. Stoop, Romans, stoop,
 57975     And let us bathe our hands in Caesar's blood
 57976     Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords;
 57977     Then walk we forth, even to the marketplace,
 57978     And waving our red weapons o'er our heads,
 57979     Let's all cry, "Peace, freedom, and liberty!"
 57980   CASSIUS. Stoop then, and wash. How many ages hence
 57981     Shall this our lofty scene be acted over
 57982     In states unborn and accents yet unknown!
 57983   BRUTUS. How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport,
 57984     That now on Pompey's basis lies along
 57985     No worthier than the dust!
 57986   CASSIUS. So oft as that shall be,
 57987     So often shall the knot of us be call'd
 57988     The men that gave their country liberty.
 57989   DECIUS. What, shall we forth?
 57990   CASSIUS. Ay, every man away.
 57991     Brutus shall lead, and we will grace his heels
 57992     With the most boldest and best hearts of Rome.
 57993 
 57994                         Enter a Servant.
 57995 
 57996   BRUTUS. Soft, who comes here? A friend of Antony's.
 57997   SERVANT. Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel,
 57998     Thus did Mark Antony bid me fall down,
 57999     And, being prostrate, thus he bade me say:
 58000     Brutus is noble, wise, valiant, and honest;
 58001     Caesar was mighty, bold, royal, and loving.
 58002     Say I love Brutus and I honor him;
 58003     Say I fear'd Caesar, honor'd him, and loved him.
 58004     If Brutus will vouchsafe that Antony
 58005     May safely come to him and be resolved
 58006     How Caesar hath deserved to lie in death,
 58007     Mark Antony shall not love Caesar dead
 58008     So well as Brutus living, but will follow
 58009     The fortunes and affairs of noble Brutus
 58010     Thorough the hazards of this untrod state
 58011     With all true faith. So says my master Antony.
 58012   BRUTUS. Thy master is a wise and valiant Roman;
 58013     I never thought him worse.
 58014     Tell him, so please him come unto this place,
 58015     He shall be satisfied and, by my honor,
 58016     Depart untouch'd.
 58017   SERVANT. I'll fetch him presently.                       Exit.
 58018   BRUTUS. I know that we shall have him well to friend.
 58019   CASSIUS. I wish we may, but yet have I a mind
 58020     That fears him much, and my misgiving still
 58021     Falls shrewdly to the purpose.
 58022 
 58023                           Re-enter Antony.
 58024 
 58025   BRUTUS. But here comes Antony. Welcome, Mark Antony.
 58026   ANTONY. O mighty Caesar! Dost thou lie so low?
 58027     Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,
 58028     Shrunk to this little measure? Fare thee well.
 58029     I know not, gentlemen, what you intend,
 58030     Who else must be let blood, who else is rank.
 58031     If I myself, there is no hour so fit
 58032     As Caesar's death's hour, nor no instrument
 58033     Of half that worth as those your swords, made rich
 58034     With the most noble blood of all this world.
 58035     I do beseech ye, if you bear me hard,
 58036     Now, whilst your purpled hands do reek and smoke,
 58037     Fulfill your pleasure. Live a thousand years,
 58038     I shall not find myself so apt to die;
 58039     No place will please me so, no means of death,
 58040     As here by Caesar, and by you cut off,
 58041     The choice and master spirits of this age.
 58042   BRUTUS. O Antony, beg not your death of us!
 58043     Though now we must appear bloody and cruel,
 58044     As, by our hands and this our present act
 58045     You see we do, yet see you but our hands
 58046     And this the bleeding business they have done.
 58047     Our hearts you see not; they are pitiful;
 58048     And pity to the general wrong of Rome-
 58049     As fire drives out fire, so pity pity-
 58050     Hath done this deed on Caesar. For your part,
 58051     To you our swords have leaden points, Mark Antony;
 58052     Our arms in strength of malice, and our hearts
 58053     Of brothers' temper, do receive you in
 58054     With all kind love, good thoughts, and reverence.
 58055   CASSIUS. Your voice shall be as strong as any man's
 58056     In the disposing of new dignities.
 58057   BRUTUS. Only be patient till we have appeased
 58058     The multitude, beside themselves with fear,
 58059     And then we will deliver you the cause
 58060     Why I, that did love Caesar when I struck him,
 58061     Have thus proceeded.
 58062   ANTONY. I doubt not of your wisdom.
 58063     Let each man render me his bloody hand.
 58064     First, Marcus Brutus, will I shake with you;
 58065     Next, Caius Cassius, do I take your hand;
 58066     Now, Decius Brutus, yours; now yours, Metellus;
 58067     Yours, Cinna; and, my valiant Casca, yours;
 58068     Though last, not least in love, yours, good Trebonius.
 58069     Gentlemen all- alas, what shall I say?
 58070     My credit now stands on such slippery ground,
 58071     That one of two bad ways you must conceit me,
 58072     Either a coward or a flatterer.
 58073     That I did love thee, Caesar, O, 'tis true!
 58074     If then thy spirit look upon us now,
 58075     Shall it not grieve thee dearer than thy death
 58076     To see thy Antony making his peace,
 58077     Shaking the bloody fingers of thy foes,
 58078     Most noble! In the presence of thy corse?
 58079     Had I as many eyes as thou hast wounds,
 58080     Weeping as fast as they stream forth thy blood,
 58081     It would become me better than to close
 58082     In terms of friendship with thine enemies.
 58083     Pardon me, Julius! Here wast thou bay'd, brave hart,
 58084     Here didst thou fall, and here thy hunters stand,
 58085     Sign'd in thy spoil, and crimson'd in thy Lethe.
 58086     O world, thou wast the forest to this hart,
 58087     And this, indeed, O world, the heart of thee.
 58088     How like a deer strucken by many princes
 58089     Dost thou here lie!
 58090   CASSIUS. Mark Antony-
 58091   ANTONY. Pardon me, Caius Cassius.
 58092     The enemies of Caesar shall say this:
 58093     Then, in a friend, it is cold modesty.
 58094   CASSIUS. I blame you not for praising Caesar so;
 58095     But what compact mean you to have with us?
 58096     Will you be prick'd in number of our friends,
 58097     Or shall we on, and not depend on you?
 58098   ANTONY. Therefore I took your hands, but was indeed
 58099     Sway'd from the point by looking down on Caesar.
 58100     Friends am I with you all and love you all,
 58101     Upon this hope that you shall give me reasons
 58102     Why and wherein Caesar was dangerous.
 58103   BRUTUS. Or else were this a savage spectacle.
 58104     Our reasons are so full of good regard
 58105     That were you, Antony, the son of Caesar,
 58106     You should be satisfied.
 58107   ANTONY. That's all I seek;
 58108     And am moreover suitor that I may
 58109     Produce his body to the marketplace,
 58110     And in the pulpit, as becomes a friend,
 58111     Speak in the order of his funeral.
 58112   BRUTUS. You shall, Mark Antony.
 58113   CASSIUS. Brutus, a word with you.
 58114     [Aside to Brutus.] You know not what you do. Do not consent
 58115     That Antony speak in his funeral.
 58116     Know you how much the people may be moved
 58117     By that which he will utter?
 58118   BRUTUS. By your pardon,
 58119     I will myself into the pulpit first,
 58120     And show the reason of our Caesar's death.
 58121     What Antony shall speak, I will protest
 58122     He speaks by leave and by permission,
 58123     And that we are contented Caesar shall
 58124     Have all true rites and lawful ceremonies.
 58125     It shall advantage more than do us wrong.
 58126   CASSIUS. I know not what may fall; I like it not.
 58127   BRUTUS. Mark Antony, here, take you Caesar's body.
 58128     You shall not in your funeral speech blame us,
 58129     But speak all good you can devise of Caesar,
 58130     And say you do't by our permission,
 58131     Else shall you not have any hand at all
 58132     About his funeral. And you shall speak
 58133     In the same pulpit whereto I am going,
 58134     After my speech is ended.
 58135   ANTONY. Be it so,
 58136     I do desire no more.
 58137   BRUTUS. Prepare the body then, and follow us.
 58138                                           Exeunt all but Antony.
 58139   ANTONY. O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
 58140     That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
 58141     Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
 58142     That ever lived in the tide of times.
 58143     Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
 58144     Over thy wounds now do I prophesy
 58145     (Which like dumb mouths do ope their ruby lips
 58146     To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue)
 58147     A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
 58148     Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
 58149     Shall cumber all the parts of Italy;
 58150     Blood and destruction shall be so in use,
 58151     And dreadful objects so familiar,
 58152     That mothers shall but smile when they behold
 58153     Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;
 58154     All pity choked with custom of fell deeds,
 58155     And Caesar's spirit ranging for revenge,
 58156     With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
 58157     Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
 58158     Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war,
 58159     That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
 58160     With carrion men, groaning for burial.
 58161 
 58162                         Enter a Servant.
 58163 
 58164     You serve Octavius Caesar, do you not?
 58165   SERVANT. I do, Mark Antony.
 58166   ANTONY. Caesar did write for him to come to Rome.
 58167   SERVANT. He did receive his letters, and is coming,
 58168     And bid me say to you by word of mouth-
 58169     O Caesar!                                     Sees the body.
 58170   ANTONY. Thy heart is big; get thee apart and weep.
 58171     Passion, I see, is catching, for mine eyes,
 58172     Seeing those beads of sorrow stand in thine,
 58173     Began to water. Is thy master coming?
 58174   SERVANT. He lies tonight within seven leagues of Rome.
 58175   ANTONY. Post back with speed and tell him what hath chanced.
 58176     Here is a mourning Rome, a dangerous Rome,
 58177     No Rome of safety for Octavius yet;
 58178     Hie hence, and tell him so. Yet stay awhile,
 58179     Thou shalt not back till I have borne this corse
 58180     Into the marketplace. There shall I try,
 58181     In my oration, how the people take
 58182     The cruel issue of these bloody men,
 58183     According to the which thou shalt discourse
 58184     To young Octavius of the state of things.
 58185     Lend me your hand.                Exeunt with Caesar's body.
 58186 
 58187 
 58188 
 58189 
 58190 SCENE II.
 58191 The Forum.
 58192 
 58193 Enter Brutus and Cassius, and a throng of Citizens.
 58194 
 58195   CITIZENS. We will be satisfied! Let us be satisfied!
 58196   BRUTUS. Then follow me and give me audience, friends.
 58197     Cassius, go you into the other street
 58198     And part the numbers.
 58199     Those that will hear me speak, let 'em stay here;
 58200     Those that will follow Cassius, go with him;
 58201     And public reasons shall be rendered
 58202     Of Caesar's death.
 58203   FIRST CITIZEN. I will hear Brutus speak.
 58204   SECOND CITIZEN. I will hear Cassius and compare their reasons,
 58205     When severally we hear them rendered.
 58206                                Exit Cassius, with some Citizens.
 58207                                     Brutus goes into the pulpit.
 58208   THIRD CITIZEN. The noble Brutus is ascended. Silence!
 58209   BRUTUS. Be patient till the last.
 58210     Romans, countrymen, and lovers! Hear me for my cause, and be
 58211     silent, that you may hear. Believe me for mine honor, and have
 58212     respect to mine honor, that you may believe. Censure me in your
 58213     wisdom, and awake your senses, that you may the better judge. If
 58214     there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to
 58215     him I say that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his. If
 58216     then that friend demand why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is
 58217     my answer: Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome
 58218     more. Had you rather Caesar were living and die all slaves, than
 58219     that Caesar were dead to live all freemen? As Caesar loved me, I
 58220     weep for him; as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was
 58221     valiant, I honor him; but as he was ambitious, I slew him. There
 58222     is tears for his love, joy for his fortune, honor for his valor,
 58223     and death for his ambition. Who is here so base that would be a
 58224     bondman? If any, speak, for him have I offended. Who is here so
 58225     rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak, for him have I
 58226     offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country? If
 58227     any, speak, for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.
 58228   ALL. None, Brutus, none.
 58229   BRUTUS. Then none have I offended. I have done no more to Caesar
 58230     than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is
 58231     enrolled in the Capitol, his glory not extenuated, wherein he was
 58232     worthy, nor his offenses enforced, for which he suffered death.
 58233 
 58234               Enter Antony and others, with Caesar's body.
 58235 
 58236     Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony, who, though he had
 58237     no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a
 58238     place in the commonwealth, as which of you shall not? With this I
 58239     depart- that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I
 58240     have the same dagger for myself, when it shall please my country
 58241     to need my death.
 58242   ALL. Live, Brutus, live, live!
 58243   FIRST CITIZEN. Bring him with triumph home unto his house.
 58244   SECOND CITIZEN. Give him a statue with his ancestors.
 58245   THIRD CITIZEN. Let him be Caesar.
 58246   FOURTH CITIZEN. Caesar's better parts
 58247     Shall be crown'd in Brutus.
 58248   FIRST CITIZEN. We'll bring him to his house with shouts and
 58249     clamors.
 58250   BRUTUS. My countrymen-
 58251   SECOND CITIZEN. Peace! Silence! Brutus speaks.
 58252   FIRST CITIZEN. Peace, ho!
 58253   BRUTUS. Good countrymen, let me depart alone,
 58254     And, for my sake, stay here with Antony.
 58255     Do grace to Caesar's corse, and grace his speech
 58256     Tending to Caesar's glories, which Mark Antony,
 58257     By our permission, is allow'd to make.
 58258     I do entreat you, not a man depart,
 58259     Save I alone, till Antony have spoke.                  Exit.
 58260   FIRST CITIZEN. Stay, ho, and let us hear Mark Antony.
 58261   THIRD CITIZEN. Let him go up into the public chair;
 58262     We'll hear him. Noble Antony, go up.
 58263   ANTONY. For Brutus' sake, I am beholding to you.
 58264                                            Goes into the pulpit.
 58265   FOURTH CITIZEN. What does he say of Brutus?
 58266   THIRD CITIZEN. He says, for Brutus' sake,
 58267     He finds himself beholding to us all.
 58268   FOURTH CITIZEN. 'Twere best he speak no harm of Brutus here.
 58269   FIRST CITIZEN. This Caesar was a tyrant.
 58270   THIRD CITIZEN. Nay, that's certain.
 58271     We are blest that Rome is rid of him.
 58272   SECOND CITIZEN. Peace! Let us hear what Antony can say.
 58273   ANTONY. You gentle Romans-
 58274   ALL. Peace, ho! Let us hear him.
 58275   ANTONY. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!
 58276     I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
 58277     The evil that men do lives after them,
 58278     The good is oft interred with their bones;
 58279     So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus
 58280     Hath told you Caesar was ambitious;
 58281     If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
 58282     And grievously hath Caesar answer'd it.
 58283     Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest-
 58284     For Brutus is an honorable man;
 58285     So are they all, all honorable men-
 58286     Come I to speak in Caesar's funeral.
 58287     He was my friend, faithful and just to me;
 58288     But Brutus says he was ambitious,
 58289     And Brutus is an honorable man.
 58290     He hath brought many captives home to Rome,
 58291     Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.
 58292     Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?
 58293     When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept;
 58294     Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
 58295     Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
 58296     And Brutus is an honorable man.
 58297     You all did see that on the Lupercal
 58298     I thrice presented him a kingly crown,
 58299     Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition?
 58300     Yet Brutus says he was ambitious,
 58301     And sure he is an honorable man.
 58302     I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
 58303     But here I am to speak what I do know.
 58304     You all did love him once, not without cause;
 58305     What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?
 58306     O judgement, thou art fled to brutish beasts,
 58307     And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
 58308     My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar,
 58309     And I must pause till it come back to me.
 58310   FIRST CITIZEN. Methinks there is much reason in his sayings.
 58311   SECOND CITIZEN. If thou consider rightly of the matter,
 58312     Caesar has had great wrong.
 58313   THIRD CITIZEN. Has he, masters?
 58314     I fear there will a worse come in his place.
 58315   FOURTH CITIZEN. Mark'd ye his words? He would not take the crown;
 58316     Therefore 'tis certain he was not ambitious.
 58317   FIRST CITIZEN. If it be found so, some will dear abide it.
 58318   SECOND CITIZEN. Poor soul, his eyes are red as fire with weeping.
 58319   THIRD CITIZEN. There's not a nobler man in Rome than Antony.
 58320   FOURTH CITIZEN. Now mark him, he begins again to speak.
 58321   ANTONY. But yesterday the word of Caesar might
 58322     Have stood against the world. Now lies he there,
 58323     And none so poor to do him reverence.
 58324     O masters! If I were disposed to stir
 58325     Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
 58326     I should do Brutus wrong and Cassius wrong,
 58327     Who, you all know, are honorable men.
 58328     I will not do them wrong; I rather choose
 58329     To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you,
 58330     Than I will wrong such honorable men.
 58331     But here's a parchment with the seal of Caesar;
 58332     I found it in his closet, 'tis his will.
 58333     Let but the commons hear this testament-
 58334     Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read-
 58335     And they would go and kiss dead Caesar's wounds
 58336     And dip their napkins in his sacred blood,
 58337     Yea, beg a hair of him for memory,
 58338     And, dying, mention it within their wills,
 58339     Bequeathing it as a rich legacy
 58340     Unto their issue.
 58341   FOURTH CITIZEN. We'll hear the will. Read it, Mark Antony.
 58342   ALL. The will, the will! We will hear Caesar's will.
 58343   ANTONY. Have patience, gentle friends, I must not read it;
 58344     It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you.
 58345     You are not wood, you are not stones, but men;
 58346     And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar,
 58347     It will inflame you, it will make you mad.
 58348     'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs,
 58349     For if you should, O, what would come of it!
 58350   FOURTH CITIZEN. Read the will; we'll hear it, Antony.
 58351     You shall read us the will, Caesar's will.
 58352   ANTONY. Will you be patient? Will you stay awhile?
 58353     I have o'ershot myself to tell you of it.
 58354     I fear I wrong the honorable men
 58355     Whose daggers have stabb'd Caesar; I do fear it.
 58356   FOURTH CITIZEN. They were traitors. Honorable men!
 58357   ALL. The will! The testament!
 58358   SECOND CITIZEN. They were villains, murtherers. The will!
 58359     Read the will!
 58360   ANTONY. You will compel me then to read the will?
 58361     Then make a ring about the corse of Caesar,
 58362     And let me show you him that made the will.
 58363     Shall I descend? And will you give me leave?
 58364   ALL. Come down.
 58365   SECOND CITIZEN. Descend.
 58366                                   He comes down from the pulpit.
 58367   THIRD CITIZEN. You shall have leave.
 58368   FOURTH CITIZEN. A ring, stand round.
 58369   FIRST CITIZEN. Stand from the hearse, stand from the body.
 58370   SECOND CITIZEN. Room for Antony, most noble Antony.
 58371   ANTONY. Nay, press not so upon me, stand far off.
 58372   ALL. Stand back; room, bear back!
 58373   ANTONY. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
 58374     You all do know this mantle. I remember
 58375     The first time ever Caesar put it on;
 58376     'Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent,
 58377     That day he overcame the Nervii.
 58378     Look, in this place ran Cassius' dagger through;
 58379     See what a rent the envious Casca made;
 58380     Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabb'd;
 58381     And as he pluck'd his cursed steel away,
 58382     Mark how the blood of Caesar follow'd it,
 58383     As rushing out of doors, to be resolved
 58384     If Brutus so unkindly knock'd, or no;
 58385     For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel.
 58386     Judge, O you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him!
 58387     This was the most unkindest cut of all;
 58388     For when the noble Caesar saw him stab,
 58389     Ingratitude, more strong than traitors' arms,
 58390     Quite vanquish'd him. Then burst his mighty heart,
 58391     And, in his mantle muffling up his face,
 58392     Even at the base of Pompey's statue,
 58393     Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell.
 58394     O, what a fall was there, my countrymen!
 58395     Then I, and you, and all of us fell down,
 58396     Whilst bloody treason flourish'd over us.
 58397     O, now you weep, and I perceive you feel
 58398     The dint of pity. These are gracious drops.
 58399     Kind souls, what weep you when you but behold
 58400     Our Caesar's vesture wounded? Look you here,
 58401     Here is himself, marr'd, as you see, with traitors.
 58402   FIRST CITIZEN. O piteous spectacle!
 58403   SECOND CITIZEN. O noble Caesar!
 58404   THIRD CITIZEN. O woeful day!
 58405   FOURTH CITIZEN. O traitors villains!
 58406   FIRST CITIZEN. O most bloody sight!
 58407   SECOND CITIZEN. We will be revenged.
 58408   ALL. Revenge! About! Seek! Burn! Fire! Kill!
 58409     Slay! Let not a traitor live!
 58410   ANTONY. Stay, countrymen.
 58411   FIRST CITIZEN. Peace there! Hear the noble Antony.
 58412   SECOND CITIZEN. We'll hear him, we'll follow him, we'll die with
 58413     him.
 58414   ANTONY. Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up
 58415     To such a sudden flood of mutiny.
 58416     They that have done this deed are honorable.
 58417     What private griefs they have, alas, I know not,
 58418     That made them do it. They are wise and honorable,
 58419     And will, no doubt, with reasons answer you.
 58420     I come not, friends, to steal away your hearts.
 58421     I am no orator, as Brutus is;
 58422     But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man,
 58423     That love my friend, and that they know full well
 58424     That gave me public leave to speak of him.
 58425     For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,
 58426     Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech,
 58427     To stir men's blood. I only speak right on;
 58428     I tell you that which you yourselves do know;
 58429     Show you sweet Caesar's wounds, poor dumb mouths,
 58430     And bid them speak for me. But were I Brutus,
 58431     And Brutus Antony, there were an Antony
 58432     Would ruffle up your spirits and put a tongue
 58433     In every wound of Caesar that should move
 58434     The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.
 58435   ALL. We'll mutiny.
 58436   FIRST CITIZEN. We'll burn the house of Brutus.
 58437   THIRD CITIZEN. Away, then! Come, seek the conspirators.
 58438   ANTONY. Yet hear me, countrymen; yet hear me speak.
 58439   ALL. Peace, ho! Hear Antony, most noble Antony!
 58440   ANTONY. Why, friends, you go to do you know not what.
 58441     Wherein hath Caesar thus deserved your loves?
 58442     Alas, you know not; I must tell you then.
 58443     You have forgot the will I told you of.
 58444   ALL. Most true, the will! Let's stay and hear the will.
 58445   ANTONY. Here is the will, and under Caesar's seal.
 58446     To every Roman citizen he gives,
 58447     To every several man, seventy-five drachmas.
 58448   SECOND CITIZEN. Most noble Caesar! We'll revenge his death.
 58449   THIRD CITIZEN. O royal Caesar!
 58450   ANTONY. Hear me with patience.
 58451   ALL. Peace, ho!
 58452   ANTONY. Moreover, he hath left you all his walks,
 58453     His private arbors, and new-planted orchards,
 58454     On this side Tiber; he hath left them you,
 58455     And to your heirs forever- common pleasures,
 58456     To walk abroad and recreate yourselves.
 58457     Here was a Caesar! When comes such another?
 58458   FIRST CITIZEN. Never, never. Come, away, away!
 58459     We'll burn his body in the holy place
 58460     And with the brands fire the traitors' houses.
 58461     Take up the body.
 58462   SECOND CITIZEN. Go fetch fire.
 58463   THIRD CITIZEN. Pluck down benches.
 58464   FOURTH CITIZEN. Pluck down forms, windows, anything.
 58465                                   Exeunt Citizens with the body.
 58466   ANTONY. Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot,
 58467     Take thou what course thou wilt.
 58468 
 58469                         Enter a Servant.
 58470 
 58471     How now, fellow?
 58472   SERVANT. Sir, Octavius is already come to Rome.
 58473   ANTONY. Where is he?
 58474   SERVANT. He and Lepidus are at Caesar's house.
 58475   ANTONY. And thither will I straight to visit him.
 58476     He comes upon a wish. Fortune is merry,
 58477     And in this mood will give us anything.
 58478   SERVANT. I heard him say Brutus and Cassius
 58479     Are rid like madmen through the gates of Rome.
 58480   ANTONY. Be like they had some notice of the people,
 58481     How I had moved them. Bring me to Octavius.          Exeunt.
 58482 
 58483 
 58484 
 58485 
 58486 SCENE III.
 58487 A street.
 58488 
 58489 Enter Cinna the poet.
 58490 
 58491   CINNA. I dreamt tonight that I did feast with Caesar,
 58492     And things unluckily charge my fantasy.
 58493     I have no will to wander forth of doors,
 58494     Yet something leads me forth.
 58495 
 58496                         Enter Citizens.
 58497 
 58498   FIRST CITIZEN. What is your name?
 58499   SECOND CITIZEN. Whither are you going?
 58500   THIRD CITIZEN. Where do you dwell?
 58501   FOURTH CITIZEN. Are you a married man or a bachelor?
 58502   SECOND CITIZEN. Answer every man directly.
 58503   FIRST CITIZEN. Ay, and briefly.
 58504   FOURTH CITIZEN. Ay, and wisely.
 58505   THIRD CITIZEN. Ay, and truly, you were best.
 58506   CINNA. What is my name? Whither am I going? Where do I dwell? Am I
 58507     a married man or a bachelor? Then, to answer every man directly
 58508     and briefly, wisely and truly: wisely I say, I am a bachelor.
 58509   SECOND CITIZEN. That's as much as to say they are fools that marry.
 58510     You'll bear me a bang for that, I fear. Proceed directly.
 58511   CINNA. Directly, I am going to Caesar's funeral.
 58512   FIRST CITIZEN. As a friend or an enemy?
 58513   CINNA. As a friend.
 58514   SECOND CITIZEN. That matter is answered directly.
 58515   FOURTH CITIZEN. For your dwelling, briefly.
 58516   CINNA. Briefly, I dwell by the Capitol.
 58517   THIRD CITIZEN. Your name, sir, truly.
 58518   CINNA. Truly, my name is Cinna.
 58519   FIRST CITIZEN. Tear him to pieces, he's a conspirator.
 58520   CINNA. I am Cinna the poet, I am Cinna the poet.
 58521   FOURTH CITIZEN. Tear him for his bad verses, tear him for his bad
 58522     verses.
 58523   CINNA. I am not Cinna the conspirator.
 58524   FOURTH CITIZEN. It is no matter, his name's Cinna. Pluck but his
 58525     name out of his heart, and turn him going.
 58526   THIRD CITIZEN. Tear him, tear him! Come, brands, ho, firebrands. To
 58527     Brutus', to Cassius'; burn all. Some to Decius' house, and some
 58528     to Casca's, some to Ligarius'. Away, go!             Exeunt.
 58529 
 58530 
 58531 
 58532 
 58533 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 58534 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 58535 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
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 58541 
 58542 
 58543 
 58544 ACT IV. SCENE I.
 58545 A house in Rome. Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus, seated at a table.
 58546 
 58547   ANTONY. These many then shall die, their names are prick'd.
 58548   OCTAVIUS. Your brother too must die; consent you, Lepidus?
 58549   LEPIDUS. I do consent-
 58550   OCTAVIUS. Prick him down, Antony.
 58551   LEPIDUS. Upon condition Publius shall not live,
 58552     Who is your sister's son, Mark Antony.
 58553   ANTONY. He shall not live; look, with a spot I damn him.
 58554     But, Lepidus, go you to Caesar's house,
 58555     Fetch the will hither, and we shall determine
 58556     How to cut off some charge in legacies.
 58557   LEPIDUS. What, shall I find you here?
 58558   OCTAVIUS. Or here, or at the Capitol.            Exit Lepidus.
 58559   ANTONY. This is a slight unmeritable man,
 58560     Meet to be sent on errands. Is it fit,
 58561     The three-fold world divided, he should stand
 58562     One of the three to share it?
 58563   OCTAVIUS. So you thought him,
 58564     And took his voice who should be prick'd to die
 58565     In our black sentence and proscription.
 58566   ANTONY. Octavius, I have seen more days than you,
 58567     And though we lay these honors on this man
 58568     To ease ourselves of divers slanderous loads,
 58569     He shall but bear them as the ass bears gold,
 58570     To groan and sweat under the business,
 58571     Either led or driven, as we point the way;
 58572     And having brought our treasure where we will,
 58573     Then take we down his load and turn him off,
 58574     Like to the empty ass, to shake his ears
 58575     And graze in commons.
 58576   OCTAVIUS. You may do your will,
 58577     But he's a tried and valiant soldier.
 58578   ANTONY. So is my horse, Octavius, and for that
 58579     I do appoint him store of provender.
 58580     It is a creature that I teach to fight,
 58581     To wind, to stop, to run directly on,
 58582     His corporal motion govern'd by my spirit.
 58583     And, in some taste, is Lepidus but so:
 58584     He must be taught, and train'd, and bid go forth;
 58585     A barren-spirited fellow, one that feeds
 58586     On objects, arts, and imitations,
 58587     Which, out of use and staled by other men,
 58588     Begin his fashion. Do not talk of him
 58589     But as a property. And now, Octavius,
 58590     Listen great things. Brutus and Cassius
 58591     Are levying powers; we must straight make head;
 58592     Therefore let our alliance be combined,
 58593     Our best friends made, our means stretch'd;
 58594     And let us presently go sit in council,
 58595     How covert matters may be best disclosed,
 58596     And open perils surest answered.
 58597   OCTAVIUS. Let us do so, for we are at the stake,
 58598     And bay'd about with many enemies;
 58599     And some that smile have in their hearts, I fear,
 58600     Millions of mischiefs.                               Exeunt.
 58601 
 58602 
 58603 
 58604 
 58605 SCENE II.
 58606 Camp near Sardis. Before Brutus' tent. Drum.
 58607 
 58608 Enter Brutus, Lucilius, Lucius, and Soldiers; Titinius and Pindarus meet them.
 58609 
 58610   BRUTUS. Stand, ho!
 58611   LUCILIUS. Give the word, ho, and stand.
 58612   BRUTUS. What now, Lucilius, is Cassius near?
 58613   LUCILIUS. He is at hand, and Pindarus is come
 58614     To do you salutation from his master.
 58615   BRUTUS. He greets me well. Your master, Pindarus,
 58616     In his own change, or by ill officers,
 58617     Hath given me some worthy cause to wish
 58618     Things done undone; but if he be at hand,
 58619     I shall be satisfied.
 58620   PINDARUS. I do not doubt
 58621     But that my noble master will appear
 58622     Such as he is, full of regard and honor.
 58623   BRUTUS. He is not doubted. A word, Lucilius,
 58624     How he received you. Let me be resolved.
 58625   LUCILIUS. With courtesy and with respect enough,
 58626     But not with such familiar instances,
 58627     Nor with such free and friendly conference,
 58628     As he hath used of old.
 58629   BRUTUS. Thou hast described
 58630     A hot friend cooling. Ever note, Lucilius,
 58631     When love begins to sicken and decay
 58632     It useth an enforced ceremony.
 58633     There are no tricks in plain and simple faith;
 58634     But hollow men, like horses hot at hand,
 58635     Make gallant show and promise of their mettle;
 58636     But when they should endure the bloody spur,
 58637     They fall their crests and like deceitful jades
 58638     Sink in the trial. Comes his army on?
 58639   LUCILIUS. They meant his night in Sard is to be quarter'd;
 58640     The greater part, the horse in general,
 58641     Are come with Cassius.                     Low march within.
 58642   BRUTUS. Hark, he is arrived.
 58643     March gently on to meet him.
 58644 
 58645                   Enter Cassius and his Powers.
 58646 
 58647   CASSIUS. Stand, ho!
 58648   BRUTUS. Stand, ho! Speak the word along.
 58649   FIRST SOLDIER. Stand!
 58650   SECOND SOLDIER. Stand!
 58651   THIRD SOLDIER. Stand!
 58652   CASSIUS. Most noble brother, you have done me wrong.
 58653   BRUTUS. Judge me, you gods! Wrong I mine enemies?
 58654     And, if not so, how should I wrong a brother?
 58655   CASSIUS. Brutus, this sober form of yours hides wrongs,
 58656     And when you do them-
 58657   BRUTUS. Cassius, be content,
 58658     Speak your griefs softly, I do know you well.
 58659     Before the eyes of both our armies here,
 58660     Which should perceive nothing but love from us,
 58661     Let us not wrangle. Bid them move away;
 58662     Then in my tent, Cassius, enlarge your griefs,
 58663     And I will give you audience.
 58664   CASSIUS. Pindarus,
 58665     Bid our commanders lead their charges off
 58666     A little from this ground.
 58667   BRUTUS. Lucilius, do you the like, and let no man
 58668     Come to our tent till we have done our conference.
 58669     Let Lucius and Titinius guard our door.             Exeunt.
 58670 
 58671 
 58672 
 58673 
 58674 SCENE III.
 58675 Brutus' tent.
 58676 
 58677 Enter Brutus and Cassius.
 58678 
 58679   CASSIUS. That you have wrong'd me doth appear in this:
 58680     You have condemn'd and noted Lucius Pella
 58681     For taking bribes here of the Sardians,
 58682     Wherein my letters, praying on his side,
 58683     Because I knew the man, were slighted off.
 58684   BRUTUS. You wrong'd yourself to write in such a case.
 58685   CASSIUS. In such a time as this it is not meet
 58686     That every nice offense should bear his comment.
 58687   BRUTUS. Let me tell you, Cassius, you yourself
 58688     Are much condemn'd to have an itching palm,
 58689     To sell and mart your offices for gold
 58690     To undeservers.
 58691   CASSIUS. I an itching palm?
 58692     You know that you are Brutus that speaks this,
 58693     Or, by the gods, this speech were else your last.
 58694   BRUTUS. The name of Cassius honors this corruption,
 58695     And chastisement doth therefore hide his head.
 58696   CASSIUS. Chastisement?
 58697   BRUTUS. Remember March, the ides of March remember.
 58698     Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake?
 58699     What villain touch'd his body, that did stab,
 58700     And not for justice? What, shall one of us,
 58701     That struck the foremost man of all this world
 58702     But for supporting robbers, shall we now
 58703     Contaminate our fingers with base bribes
 58704     And sell the mighty space of our large honors
 58705     For so much trash as may be grasped thus?
 58706     I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon,
 58707     Than such a Roman.
 58708   CASSIUS. Brutus, bait not me,
 58709     I'll not endure it. You forget yourself
 58710     To hedge me in. I am a soldier, I,
 58711     Older in practice, abler than yourself
 58712     To make conditions.
 58713   BRUTUS. Go to, you are not, Cassius.
 58714   CASSIUS. I am.
 58715   BRUTUS. I say you are not.
 58716   CASSIUS. Urge me no more, I shall forget myself;
 58717     Have mind upon your health, tempt me no farther.
 58718   BRUTUS. Away, slight man!
 58719   CASSIUS. Is't possible?
 58720   BRUTUS. Hear me, for I will speak.
 58721     Must I give way and room to your rash choler?
 58722     Shall I be frighted when a madman stares?
 58723   CASSIUS. O gods, ye gods! Must I endure all this?
 58724   BRUTUS. All this? Ay, more. Fret till your proud heart break.
 58725     Go show your slaves how choleric you are,
 58726     And make your bondmen tremble. Must I bouge?
 58727     Must I observe you? Must I stand and crouch
 58728     Under your testy humor? By the gods,
 58729     You shall digest the venom of your spleen,
 58730     Though it do split you, for, from this day forth,
 58731     I'll use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter,
 58732     When you are waspish.
 58733   CASSIUS. Is it come to this?
 58734   BRUTUS. You say you are a better soldier:
 58735     Let it appear so, make your vaunting true,
 58736     And it shall please me well. For mine own part,
 58737     I shall be glad to learn of noble men.
 58738   CASSIUS. You wrong me every way, you wrong me, Brutus.
 58739     I said, an elder soldier, not a better.
 58740     Did I say "better"?
 58741   BRUTUS. If you did, I care not.
 58742   CASSIUS. When Caesar lived, he durst not thus have moved me.
 58743   BRUTUS. Peace, peace! You durst not so have tempted him.
 58744   CASSIUS. I durst not?
 58745   BRUTUS. No.
 58746   CASSIUS. What, durst not tempt him?
 58747   BRUTUS. For your life you durst not.
 58748   CASSIUS. Do not presume too much upon my love;
 58749     I may do that I shall be sorry for.
 58750   BRUTUS. You have done that you should be sorry for.
 58751     There is no terror, Cassius, in your threats,
 58752     For I am arm'd so strong in honesty,
 58753     That they pass by me as the idle wind
 58754     Which I respect not. I did send to you
 58755     For certain sums of gold, which you denied me,
 58756     For I can raise no money by vile means.
 58757     By heaven, I had rather coin my heart
 58758     And drop my blood for drachmas than to wring
 58759     From the hard hands of peasants their vile trash
 58760     By any indirection. I did send
 58761     To you for gold to pay my legions,
 58762     Which you denied me. Was that done like Cassius?
 58763     Should I have answer'd Caius Cassius so?
 58764     When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous
 58765     To lock such rascal counters from his friends,
 58766     Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts,
 58767     Dash him to pieces!
 58768   CASSIUS. I denied you not.
 58769   BRUTUS. You did.
 58770   CASSIUS. I did not. He was but a fool
 58771     That brought my answer back. Brutus hath rived my heart.
 58772     A friend should bear his friend's infirmities,
 58773     But Brutus makes mine greater than they are.
 58774   BRUTUS. I do not, till you practise them on me.
 58775   CASSIUS. You love me not.
 58776   BRUTUS. I do not like your faults.
 58777   CASSIUS. A friendly eye could never see such faults.
 58778   BRUTUS. A flatterer's would not, though they do appear
 58779     As huge as high Olympus.
 58780   CASSIUS. Come, Antony, and young Octavius, come,
 58781     Revenge yourselves alone on Cassius,
 58782     For Cassius is aweary of the world:
 58783     Hated by one he loves; braved by his brother;
 58784     Check'd like a bondman; all his faults observed,
 58785     Set in a notebook, learn'd and conn'd by rote,
 58786     To cast into my teeth. O, I could weep
 58787     My spirit from mine eyes! There is my dagger,
 58788     And here my naked breast; within, a heart
 58789     Dearer than Pluto's mine, richer than gold.
 58790     If that thou best a Roman, take it forth;
 58791     I, that denied thee gold, will give my heart.
 58792     Strike, as thou didst at Caesar, for I know,
 58793     When thou didst hate him worst, thou lovedst him better
 58794     Than ever thou lovedst Cassius.
 58795   BRUTUS. Sheathe your dagger.
 58796     Be angry when you will, it shall have scope;
 58797     Do what you will, dishonor shall be humor.
 58798     O Cassius, you are yoked with a lamb,
 58799     That carries anger as the flint bears fire,
 58800     Who, much enforced, shows a hasty spark
 58801     And straight is cold again.
 58802   CASSIUS. Hath Cassius lived
 58803     To be but mirth and laughter to his Brutus,
 58804     When grief and blood ill-temper'd vexeth him?
 58805   BRUTUS. When I spoke that, I was ill-temper'd too.
 58806   CASSIUS. Do you confess so much? Give me your hand.
 58807   BRUTUS. And my heart too.
 58808   CASSIUS. O Brutus!
 58809   BRUTUS. What's the matter?
 58810   CASSIUS. Have not you love enough to bear with me
 58811     When that rash humor which my mother gave me
 58812     Makes me forgetful?
 58813   BRUTUS. Yes, Cassius, and from henceforth,
 58814     When you are overearnest with your Brutus,
 58815     He'll think your mother chides, and leave you so.
 58816   POET. [Within.] Let me go in to see the generals.
 58817     There is some grudge between 'em, 'tis not meet
 58818     They be alone.
 58819   LUCILIUS. [Within.] You shall not come to them.
 58820   POET. [Within.] Nothing but death shall stay me.
 58821 
 58822       Enter Poet, followed by Lucilius, Titinius, and Lucius.
 58823 
 58824   CASSIUS. How now, what's the matter?
 58825   POET. For shame, you generals! What do you mean?
 58826     Love, and be friends, as two such men should be;
 58827     For I have seen more years, I'm sure, than ye.
 58828   CASSIUS. Ha, ha! How vilely doth this cynic rhyme!
 58829   BRUTUS. Get you hence, sirrah; saucy fellow, hence!
 58830   CASSIUS. Bear with him, Brutus; 'tis his fashion.
 58831   BRUTUS. I'll know his humor when he knows his time.
 58832     What should the wars do with these jigging fools?
 58833     Companion, hence!
 58834   CASSIUS. Away, away, be gone!                       Exit Poet.
 58835   BRUTUS. Lucilius and Titinius, bid the commanders
 58836     Prepare to lodge their companies tonight.
 58837   CASSIUS. And come yourselves and bring Messala with you
 58838     Immediately to us.             Exeunt Lucilius and Titinius.
 58839   BRUTUS. Lucius, a bowl of wine!                   Exit Lucius.
 58840   CASSIUS. I did not think you could have been so angry.
 58841   BRUTUS. O Cassius, I am sick of many griefs.
 58842   CASSIUS. Of your philosophy you make no use,
 58843     If you give place to accidental evils.
 58844   BRUTUS. No man bears sorrow better. Portia is dead.
 58845   CASSIUS. Ha? Portia?
 58846   BRUTUS. She is dead.
 58847   CASSIUS. How 'scaped killing when I cross'd you so?
 58848     O insupportable and touching loss!
 58849     Upon what sickness?
 58850   BRUTUS. Impatient of my absence,
 58851     And grief that young Octavius with Mark Antony
 58852     Have made themselves so strong- for with her death
 58853     That tidings came- with this she fell distract,
 58854     And (her attendants absent) swallow'd fire.
 58855   CASSIUS. And died so?
 58856   BRUTUS. Even so.
 58857   CASSIUS. O ye immortal gods!
 58858 
 58859                Re-enter Lucius, with wine and taper.
 58860 
 58861   BRUTUS. Speak no more of her. Give me a bowl of wine.
 58862     In this I bury all unkindness, Cassius.              Drinks.
 58863   CASSIUS. My heart is thirsty for that noble pledge.
 58864   Fill, Lucius, till the wine o'erswell the cup;
 58865   I cannot drink too much of Brutus' love.               Drinks.
 58866   BRUTUS. Come in, Titinius!                        Exit Lucius.
 58867 
 58868                  Re-enter Titinius, with Messala.
 58869 
 58870     Welcome, good Messala.
 58871     Now sit we close about this taper here,
 58872     And call in question our necessities.
 58873   CASSIUS. Portia, art thou gone?
 58874   BRUTUS. No more, I pray you.
 58875     Messala, I have here received letters
 58876     That young Octavius and Mark Antony
 58877     Come down upon us with a mighty power,
 58878     Bending their expedition toward Philippi.
 58879   MESSALA. Myself have letters of the selfsame tenure.
 58880   BRUTUS. With what addition?
 58881   MESSALA. That by proscription and bills of outlawry
 58882     Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus
 58883     Have put to death an hundred senators.
 58884   BRUTUS. There in our letters do not well agree;
 58885     Mine speak of seventy senators that died
 58886     By their proscriptions, Cicero being one.
 58887   CASSIUS. Cicero one!
 58888   MESSALA. Cicero is dead,
 58889     And by that order of proscription.
 58890     Had you your letters from your wife, my lord?
 58891   BRUTUS. No, Messala.
 58892   MESSALA. Nor nothing in your letters writ of her?
 58893   BRUTUS. Nothing, Messala.
 58894   MESSALA. That, methinks, is strange.
 58895   BRUTUS. Why ask you? Hear you aught of her in yours?
 58896   MESSALA. No, my lord.
 58897   BRUTUS. Now, as you are a Roman, tell me true.
 58898   MESSALA. Then like a Roman bear the truth I tell:
 58899     For certain she is dead, and by strange manner.
 58900   BRUTUS. Why, farewell, Portia. We must die, Messala.
 58901     With meditating that she must die once
 58902     I have the patience to endure it now.
 58903   MESSALA. Even so great men great losses should endure.
 58904   CASSIUS. I have as much of this in art as you,
 58905     But yet my nature could not bear it so.
 58906   BRUTUS. Well, to our work alive. What do you think
 58907     Of marching to Philippi presently?
 58908   CASSIUS. I do not think it good.
 58909   BRUTUS. Your reason?
 58910   CASSIUS. This it is:
 58911     'Tis better that the enemy seek us;
 58912     So shall he waste his means, weary his soldiers,
 58913     Doing himself offense, whilst we lying still
 58914     Are full of rest, defense, and nimbleness.
 58915   BRUTUS. Good reasons must of force give place to better.
 58916     The people 'twixt Philippi and this ground
 58917     Do stand but in a forced affection,
 58918     For they have grudged us contribution.
 58919     The enemy, marching along by them,
 58920     By them shall make a fuller number up,
 58921     Come on refresh'd, new-added, and encouraged;
 58922     From which advantage shall we cut him off
 58923     If at Philippi we do face him there,
 58924     These people at our back.
 58925   CASSIUS. Hear me, good brother.
 58926   BRUTUS. Under your pardon. You must note beside
 58927     That we have tried the utmost of our friends,
 58928     Our legions are brim-full, our cause is ripe:
 58929     The enemy increaseth every day;
 58930     We, at the height, are ready to decline.
 58931     There is a tide in the affairs of men
 58932     Which taken at the flood leads on to fortune;
 58933     Omitted, all the voyage of their life
 58934     Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
 58935     On such a full sea are we now afloat,
 58936     And we must take the current when it serves,
 58937     Or lose our ventures.
 58938   CASSIUS. Then, with your will, go on;
 58939     We'll along ourselves and meet them at Philippi.
 58940   BRUTUS. The deep of night is crept upon our talk,
 58941     And nature must obey necessity,
 58942     Which we will niggard with a little rest.
 58943     There is no more to say?
 58944   CASSIUS. No more. Good night.
 58945     Early tomorrow will we rise and hence.
 58946   BRUTUS. Lucius!
 58947 
 58948                        Re-enter Lucius.
 58949 
 58950     My gown.                                        Exit Lucius.
 58951     Farewell, good Messala;
 58952     Good night, Titinius; noble, noble Cassius,
 58953     Good night and good repose.
 58954   CASSIUS. O my dear brother!
 58955     This was an ill beginning of the night.
 58956     Never come such division 'tween our souls!
 58957     Let it not, Brutus.
 58958   BRUTUS. Everything is well.
 58959   CASSIUS. Good night, my lord.
 58960   BRUTUS. Good night, good brother.
 58961   TITINIUS. MESSALA. Good night, Lord Brutus.
 58962   BRUTUS. Farewell, everyone.
 58963                                           Exeunt all but Brutus.
 58964 
 58965                Re-enter Lucius, with the gown.
 58966 
 58967     Give me the gown. Where is thy instrument?
 58968   LUCIUS. Here in the tent.
 58969   BRUTUS. What, thou speak'st drowsily?
 58970     Poor knave, I blame thee not, thou art o'erwatch'd.
 58971     Call Claudio and some other of my men,
 58972     I'll have them sleep on cushions in my tent.
 58973   LUCIUS. Varro and Claudio!
 58974 
 58975                    Enter Varro and Claudio.
 58976 
 58977   VARRO. Calls my lord?
 58978   BRUTUS. I pray you, sirs, lie in my tent and sleep;
 58979     It may be I shall raise you by and by
 58980     On business to my brother Cassius.
 58981   VARRO. So please you, we will stand and watch your pleasure.
 58982   BRUTUS. I would not have it so. Lie down, good sirs.
 58983     It may be I shall otherwise bethink me.
 58984     Look Lucius, here's the book I sought for so;
 58985     I put it in the pocket of my gown.
 58986                                      Varro and Claudio lie down.
 58987   LUCIUS. I was sure your lordship did not give it me.
 58988   BRUTUS. Bear with me, good boy, I am much forgetful.
 58989     Canst thou hold up thy heavy eyes awhile,
 58990     And touch thy instrument a strain or two?
 58991   LUCIUS. Ay, my lord, an't please you.
 58992   BRUTUS. It does, my boy.
 58993     I trouble thee too much, but thou art willing.
 58994   LUCIUS. It is my duty, sir.
 58995   BRUTUS. I should not urge thy duty past thy might;
 58996     I know young bloods look for a time of rest.
 58997   LUCIUS. I have slept, my lord, already.
 58998   BRUTUS. It was well done, and thou shalt sleep again;
 58999     I will not hold thee long. If I do live,
 59000     I will be good to thee.                   Music, and a song.
 59001     This is a sleepy tune. O murtherous slumber,
 59002     Layest thou thy leaden mace upon my boy
 59003     That plays thee music? Gentle knave, good night.
 59004     I will not do thee so much wrong to wake thee.
 59005     If thou dost nod, thou break'st thy instrument;
 59006     I'll take it from thee; and, good boy, good night.
 59007     Let me see, let me see; is not the leaf turn'd down
 59008     Where I left reading? Here it is, I think.        Sits down.
 59009 
 59010                  Enter the Ghost of Caesar.
 59011 
 59012     How ill this taper burns! Ha, who comes here?
 59013     I think it is the weakness of mine eyes
 59014     That shapes this monstrous apparition.
 59015     It comes upon me. Art thou anything?
 59016     Art thou some god, some angel, or some devil
 59017     That makest my blood cold and my hair to stare?
 59018     Speak to me what thou art.
 59019   GHOST. Thy evil spirit, Brutus.
 59020   BRUTUS. Why comest thou?
 59021   GHOST. To tell thee thou shalt see me at Philippi.
 59022   BRUTUS. Well, then I shall see thee again?
 59023   GHOST. Ay, at Philippi.
 59024   BRUTUS. Why, I will see thee at Philippi then.     Exit Ghost.
 59025     Now I have taken heart thou vanishest.
 59026     Ill spirit, I would hold more talk with thee.
 59027     Boy! Lucius! Varro! Claudio! Sirs, awake!
 59028     Claudio!
 59029   LUCIUS. The strings, my lord, are false.
 59030   BRUTUS. He thinks he still is at his instrument.
 59031     Lucius, awake!
 59032   LUCIUS. My lord?
 59033   BRUTUS. Didst thou dream, Lucius, that thou so criedst out?
 59034   LUCIUS. My lord, I do not know that I did cry.
 59035   BRUTUS. Yes, that thou didst. Didst thou see anything?
 59036   LUCIUS. Nothing, my lord.
 59037   BRUTUS. Sleep again, Lucius. Sirrah Claudio!
 59038     [To Varro.] Fellow thou, awake!
 59039   VARRO. My lord?
 59040   CLAUDIO. My lord?
 59041   BRUTUS. Why did you so cry out, sirs, in your sleep?
 59042   VARRO. CLAUDIO. Did we, my lord?
 59043   BRUTUS. Ay, saw you anything?
 59044   VARRO. No, my lord, I saw nothing.
 59045   CLAUDIO. Nor I, my lord.
 59046   BRUTUS. Go and commend me to my brother Cassius;
 59047     Bid him set on his powers betimes before,
 59048     And we will follow.
 59049   VARRO. CLAUDIO. It shall be done, my lord.             Exeunt.
 59050 
 59051 
 59052 
 59053 
 59054 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
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 59056 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
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 59062 
 59063 
 59064 
 59065 ACT V. SCENE I.
 59066 The plains of Philippi.
 59067 
 59068 Enter Octavius, Antony, and their Army.
 59069 
 59070   OCTAVIUS. Now, Antony, our hopes are answered.
 59071     You said the enemy would not come down,
 59072     But keep the hills and upper regions.
 59073     It proves not so. Their battles are at hand;
 59074     They mean to warn us at Philippi here,
 59075     Answering before we do demand of them.
 59076   ANTONY. Tut, I am in their bosoms, and I know
 59077     Wherefore they do it. They could be content
 59078     To visit other places, and come down
 59079     With fearful bravery, thinking by this face
 59080     To fasten in our thoughts that they have courage;
 59081     But 'tis not so.
 59082 
 59083                     Enter a Messenger.
 59084 
 59085   MESSENGER. Prepare you, generals.
 59086     The enemy comes on in gallant show;
 59087     Their bloody sign of battle is hung out,
 59088     And something to be done immediately.
 59089   ANTONY. Octavius, lead your battle softly on,
 59090     Upon the left hand of the even field.
 59091   OCTAVIUS. Upon the right hand I, keep thou the left.
 59092   ANTONY. Why do you cross me in this exigent?
 59093   OCTAVIUS. I do not cross you, but I will do so.
 59094 
 59095       March. Drum. Enter Brutus, Cassius, and their Army;
 59096            Lucilius, Titinius, Messala, and others.
 59097 
 59098   BRUTUS. They stand, and would have parley.
 59099   CASSIUS. Stand fast, Titinius; we must out and talk.
 59100   OCTAVIUS. Mark Antony, shall we give sign of battle?
 59101   ANTONY. No, Caesar, we will answer on their charge.
 59102     Make forth, the generals would have some words.
 59103   OCTAVIUS. Stir not until the signal not until the signal.
 59104   BRUTUS. Words before blows. Is it so, countrymen?
 59105   OCTAVIUS. Not that we love words better, as you do.
 59106   BRUTUS. Good words are better than bad strokes, Octavius.
 59107   ANTONY. In your bad strokes, Brutus, you give good words.
 59108     Witness the hole you made in Caesar's heart,
 59109     Crying "Long live! Hail, Caesar!"
 59110   CASSIUS. Antony,
 59111     The posture of your blows are yet unknown;
 59112     But for your words, they rob the Hybla bees,
 59113     And leave them honeyless.
 59114   ANTONY. Not stingless too.
 59115   BRUTUS. O, yes, and soundless too,
 59116     For you have stol'n their buzzing, Antony,
 59117     And very wisely threat before you sting.
 59118   ANTONY. Villains! You did not so when your vile daggers
 59119     Hack'd one another in the sides of Caesar.
 59120     You show'd your teeth like apes, and fawn'd like hounds,
 59121     And bow'd like bondmen, kissing Caesar's feet;
 59122     Whilst damned Casca, like a cur, behind
 59123     Strooke Caesar on the neck. O you flatterers!
 59124   CASSIUS. Flatterers? Now, Brutus, thank yourself.
 59125     This tongue had not offended so today,
 59126     If Cassius might have ruled.
 59127   OCTAVIUS. Come, come, the cause. If arguing make us sweat,
 59128     The proof of it will turn to redder drops.
 59129     Look,
 59130     I draw a sword against conspirators;
 59131     When think you that the sword goes up again?
 59132     Never, till Caesar's three and thirty wounds
 59133     Be well avenged, or till another Caesar
 59134     Have added slaughter to the sword of traitors.
 59135   BRUTUS. Caesar, thou canst not die by traitors' hands,
 59136     Unless thou bring'st them with thee.
 59137   OCTAVIUS. So I hope,
 59138     I was not born to die on Brutus' sword.
 59139   BRUTUS. O, if thou wert the noblest of thy strain,
 59140     Young man, thou couldst not die more honorable.
 59141   CASSIUS. A peevish school boy, worthless of such honor,
 59142     Join'd with a masker and a reveler!
 59143   ANTONY. Old Cassius still!
 59144   OCTAVIUS. Come, Antony, away!
 59145     Defiance, traitors, hurl we in your teeth.
 59146     If you dare fight today, come to the field;
 59147     If not, when you have stomachs.
 59148                         Exeunt Octavius, Antony, and their Army.
 59149   CASSIUS. Why, now, blow and, swell billow, and swim bark!
 59150     The storm is up, and all is on the hazard.
 59151   BRUTUS. Ho, Lucilius! Hark, a word with you.
 59152   LUCILIUS. [Stands forth.] My lord?
 59153                              Brutus and Lucilius converse apart.
 59154   CASSIUS. Messala!
 59155   MESSALA. [Stands forth.] What says my general?
 59156   CASSIUS. Messala,
 59157     This is my birthday, as this very day
 59158     Was Cassius born. Give me thy hand, Messala.
 59159     Be thou my witness that, against my will,
 59160     As Pompey was, am I compell'd to set
 59161     Upon one battle all our liberties.
 59162     You know that I held Epicurus strong,
 59163     And his opinion. Now I change my mind,
 59164     And partly credit things that do presage.
 59165     Coming from Sardis, on our former ensign
 59166     Two mighty eagles fell, and there they perch'd,
 59167     Gorging and feeding from our soldiers' hands,
 59168     Who to Philippi here consorted us.
 59169     This morning are they fled away and gone,
 59170     And in their steads do ravens, crows, and kites
 59171     Fly o'er our heads and downward look on us,
 59172     As we were sickly prey. Their shadows seem
 59173     A canopy most fatal, under which
 59174     Our army lies, ready to give up the ghost.
 59175   MESSALA. Believe not so.
 59176   CASSIUS. I but believe it partly,
 59177     For I am fresh of spirit and resolved
 59178     To meet all perils very constantly.
 59179   BRUTUS. Even so, Lucilius.
 59180   CASSIUS. Now, most noble Brutus,
 59181     The gods today stand friendly that we may,
 59182     Lovers in peace, lead on our days to age!
 59183     But, since the affairs of men rest still incertain,
 59184     Let's reason with the worst that may befall.
 59185     If we do lose this battle, then is this
 59186     The very last time we shall speak together.
 59187     What are you then determined to do?
 59188   BRUTUS. Even by the rule of that philosophy
 59189     By which I did blame Cato for the death
 59190     Which he did give himself- I know not how,
 59191     But I do find it cowardly and vile,
 59192     For fear of what might fall, so to prevent
 59193     The time of life- arming myself with patience
 59194     To stay the providence of some high powers
 59195     That govern us below.
 59196   CASSIUS. Then, if we lose this battle,
 59197     You are contented to be led in triumph
 59198     Thorough the streets of Rome?
 59199   BRUTUS. No, Cassius, no. Think not, thou noble Roman,
 59200     That ever Brutus will go bound to Rome;
 59201     He bears too great a mind. But this same day
 59202     Must end that work the ides of March begun.
 59203     And whether we shall meet again I know not.
 59204     Therefore our everlasting farewell take.
 59205     Forever, and forever, farewell, Cassius!
 59206     If we do meet again, why, we shall smile;
 59207     If not, why then this parting was well made.
 59208   CASSIUS. Forever and forever farewell, Brutus!
 59209     If we do meet again, we'll smile indeed;
 59210     If not, 'tis true this parting was well made.
 59211   BRUTUS. Why then, lead on. O, that a man might know
 59212     The end of this day's business ere it come!
 59213     But it sufficeth that the day will end,
 59214     And then the end is known. Come, ho! Away!           Exeunt.
 59215 
 59216 
 59217 
 59218 
 59219 SCENE II.
 59220 The field of battle.
 59221 
 59222 Alarum. Enter Brutus and Messala.
 59223 
 59224   BRUTUS. Ride, ride, Messala, ride, and give these bills
 59225     Unto the legions on the other side.             Loud alarum.
 59226     Let them set on at once, for I perceive
 59227     But cold demeanor in Octavia's wing,
 59228     And sudden push gives them the overthrow.
 59229     Ride, ride, Messala. Let them all come down.         Exeunt.
 59230 
 59231 
 59232 
 59233 
 59234 SCENE III.
 59235 Another part of the field.
 59236 
 59237 Alarums. Enter Cassius and Titinius.
 59238 
 59239   CASSIUS. O, look, Titinius, look, the villains fly!
 59240     Myself have to mine own turn'd enemy.
 59241     This ensign here of mine was turning back;
 59242     I slew the coward, and did take it from him.
 59243   TITINIUS. O Cassius, Brutus gave the word too early,
 59244     Who, having some advantage on Octavius,
 59245     Took it too eagerly. His soldiers fell to spoil,
 59246     Whilst we by Antony are all enclosed.
 59247 
 59248                        Enter Pindarus.
 59249 
 59250   PINDARUS. Fly further off, my lord, fly further off;
 59251     Mark Antony is in your tents, my lord;
 59252     Fly, therefore, noble Cassius, fly far off.
 59253   CASSIUS. This hill is far enough. Look, look, Titinius:
 59254     Are those my tents where I perceive the fire?
 59255   TITINIUS. They are, my lord.
 59256   CASSIUS. Titinius, if thou lovest me,
 59257     Mount thou my horse and hide thy spurs in him,
 59258     Till he have brought thee up to yonder troops
 59259     And here again, that I may rest assured
 59260     Whether yond troops are friend or enemy.
 59261   TITINIUS. I will be here again, even with a thought.     Exit.
 59262   CASSIUS. Go, Pindarus, get higher on that hill;
 59263     My sight was ever thick; regard Titinius,
 59264     And tell me what thou notest about the field.
 59265                                       Pindarus ascends the hill.
 59266     This day I breathed first: time is come round,
 59267     And where I did begin, there shall I end;
 59268     My life is run his compass. Sirrah, what news?
 59269   PINDARUS. [Above.] O my lord!
 59270   CASSIUS. What news?
 59271   PINDARUS. [Above.] Titinius is enclosed round about
 59272     With horsemen, that make to him on the spur;
 59273     Yet he spurs on. Now they are almost on him.
 59274     Now, Titinius! Now some light. O, he lights too.
 59275     He's ta'en [Shout.] And, hark! They shout for joy.
 59276   CASSIUS. Come down; behold no more.
 59277     O, coward that I am, to live so long,
 59278     To see my best friend ta'en before my face!
 59279                                               Pindarus descends.
 59280     Come hither, sirrah.
 59281     In Parthia did I take thee prisoner,
 59282     And then I swore thee, saving of thy life,
 59283     That whatsoever I did bid thee do,
 59284     Thou shouldst attempt it. Come now, keep thine oath;
 59285     Now be a freeman, and with this good sword,
 59286     That ran through Caesar's bowels, search this bosom.
 59287     Stand not to answer: here, take thou the hilts;
 59288     And when my face is cover'd, as 'tis now,
 59289     Guide thou the sword. [Pindarus stabs him.] Caesar, thou art
 59290       revenged,
 59291     Even with the sword that kill'd thee.                  Dies.
 59292   PINDARUS. So, I am free, yet would not so have been,
 59293     Durst I have done my will. O Cassius!
 59294     Far from this country Pindarus shall run,
 59295     Where never Roman shall take note of him.              Exit.
 59296 
 59297                 Re-enter Titinius with Messala.
 59298 
 59299   MESSALA. It is but change, Titinius, for Octavius
 59300     Is overthrown by noble Brutus' power,
 59301     As Cassius' legions are by Antony.
 59302   TITINIUS. These tidings would well comfort Cassius.
 59303   MESSALA. Where did you leave him?
 59304   TITINIUS. All disconsolate,
 59305     With Pindarus his bondman, on this hill.
 59306   MESSALA. Is not that he that lies upon the ground?
 59307   TITINIUS. He lies not like the living. O my heart!
 59308   MESSALA. Is not that he?
 59309   TITINIUS. No, this was he, Messala,
 59310     But Cassius is no more. O setting sun,
 59311     As in thy red rays thou dost sink to night,
 59312     So in his red blood Cassius' day is set,
 59313     The sun of Rome is set! Our day is gone;
 59314     Clouds, dews, and dangers come; our deeds are done!
 59315     Mistrust of my success hath done this deed.
 59316   MESSALA. Mistrust of good success hath done this deed.
 59317     O hateful error, melancholy's child,
 59318     Why dost thou show to the apt thoughts of men
 59319     The things that are not? O error, soon conceived,
 59320     Thou never comest unto a happy birth,
 59321     But kill'st the mother that engender'd thee!
 59322   TITINIUS. What, Pindarus! Where art thou, Pindarus?
 59323   MESSALA. Seek him, Titinius, whilst I go to meet
 59324     The noble Brutus, thrusting this report
 59325     Into his ears. I may say "thrusting" it,
 59326     For piercing steel and darts envenomed
 59327     Shall be as welcome to the ears of Brutus
 59328     As tidings of this sight.
 59329   TITINIUS. Hie you, Messala,
 59330     And I will seek for Pindarus the while.        Exit Messala.
 59331     Why didst thou send me forth, brave Cassius?
 59332     Did I not meet thy friends? And did not they
 59333     Put on my brows this wreath of victory,
 59334     And bid me give it thee? Didst thou not hear their shouts?
 59335     Alas, thou hast misconstrued everything!
 59336     But, hold thee, take this garland on thy brow;
 59337     Thy Brutus bid me give it thee, and I
 59338     Will do his bidding. Brutus, come apace,
 59339     And see how I regarded Caius Cassius.
 59340     By your leave, gods, this is a Roman's part.
 59341     Come, Cassius' sword, and find Titinius' heart.
 59342                                                   Kills himself.
 59343 
 59344        Alarum. Re-enter Messala, with Brutus, young Cato,
 59345                          and others.
 59346 
 59347   BRUTUS. Where, where, Messala, doth his body lie?
 59348   MESSALA. Lo, yonder, and Titinius mourning it.
 59349   BRUTUS. Titinius' face is upward.
 59350   CATO. He is slain.
 59351   BRUTUS. O Julius Caesar, thou art mighty yet!
 59352     Thy spirit walks abroad, and turns our swords
 59353     In our own proper entrails.                     Low alarums.
 59354   CATO. Brave Titinius!
 59355     Look whe'er he have not crown'd dead Cassius!
 59356   BRUTUS. Are yet two Romans living such as these?
 59357     The last of all the Romans, fare thee well!
 59358     It is impossible that ever Rome
 59359     Should breed thy fellow. Friends, I owe moe tears
 59360     To this dead man than you shall see me pay.
 59361     I shall find time, Cassius, I shall find time.
 59362     Come therefore, and to Thasos send his body;
 59363     His funerals shall not be in our camp,
 59364     Lest it discomfort us. Lucilius, come,
 59365     And come, young Cato; let us to the field.
 59366     Labio and Flavio, set our battles on.
 59367     'Tis three o'clock, and Romans, yet ere night
 59368     We shall try fortune in a second fight.              Exeunt.
 59369 
 59370 
 59371 
 59372 
 59373 SCENE IV.
 59374 Another part of the field.
 59375 
 59376 Alarum. Enter, fighting, Soldiers of both armies; then Brutus, young Cato,
 59377 Lucilius, and others.
 59378 
 59379   BRUTUS. Yet, countrymen, O, yet hold up your heads!
 59380   CATO. What bastard doth not? Who will go with me?
 59381     I will proclaim my name about the field.
 59382     I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho!
 59383     A foe to tyrants, and my country's friend.
 59384     I am the son of Marcus Cato, ho!
 59385   BRUTUS. And I am Brutus, Marcus Brutus, I;
 59386     Brutus, my country's friend; know me for Brutus!       Exit.
 59387   LUCILIUS. O young and noble Cato, art thou down?
 59388     Why, now thou diest as bravely as Titinius,
 59389     And mayst be honor'd, being Cato's son.
 59390   FIRST SOLDIER. Yield, or thou diest.
 59391   LUCILIUS. Only I yield to die.
 59392     [Offers money.] There is so much that thou wilt kill me straight:
 59393     Kill Brutus, and be honor'd in his death.
 59394   FIRST SOLDIER. We must not. A noble prisoner!
 59395   SECOND SOLDIER. Room, ho! Tell Antony, Brutus is ta'en.
 59396   FIRST SOLDIER. I'll tell the news. Here comes the general.
 59397 
 59398                          Enter Antony.
 59399 
 59400     Brutus is ta'en, Brutus is ta'en, my lord.
 59401   ANTONY. Where is he?
 59402   LUCILIUS. Safe, Antony, Brutus is safe enough.
 59403     I dare assure thee that no enemy
 59404     Shall ever take alive the noble Brutus;
 59405     The gods defend him from so great a shame!
 59406     When you do find him, or alive or dead,
 59407     He will be found like Brutus, like himself.
 59408   ANTONY. This is not Brutus, friend, but, I assure you,
 59409     A prize no less in worth. Keep this man safe,
 59410     Give him all kindness; I had rather have
 59411     Such men my friends than enemies. Go on,
 59412     And see wheer Brutus be alive or dead,
 59413     And bring us word unto Octavius' tent
 59414     How everything is chanced.                           Exeunt.
 59415 
 59416 
 59417 
 59418 
 59419 SCENE V.
 59420 Another part of the field.
 59421 
 59422 Enter Brutus, Dardanius, Clitus, Strato, and Volumnius.
 59423 
 59424   BRUTUS. Come, poor remains of friends, rest on this rock.
 59425   CLITUS. Statilius show'd the torchlight, but, my lord,
 59426     He came not back. He is or ta'en or slain.
 59427   BRUTUS. Sit thee down, Clitus. Slaying is the word:
 59428     It is a deed in fashion. Hark thee, Clitus.        Whispers.
 59429   CLITUS. What, I, my lord? No, not for all the world.
 59430   BRUTUS. Peace then, no words.
 59431   CLITUS. I'll rather kill myself.
 59432   BRUTUS. Hark thee, Dardanius.                        Whispers.
 59433   DARDANIUS. Shall I do such a deed?
 59434   CLITUS. O Dardanius!
 59435   DARDANIUS. O Clitus!
 59436   CLITUS. What ill request did Brutus make to thee?
 59437   DARDANIUS. To kill him, Clitus. Look, he meditates.
 59438   CLITUS. Now is that noble vessel full of grief,
 59439     That it runs over even at his eyes.
 59440   BRUTUS. Come hither, good Volumnius, list a word.
 59441   VOLUMNIUS. What says my lord?
 59442   BRUTUS. Why, this, Volumnius:
 59443     The ghost of Caesar hath appear'd to me
 59444     Two several times by night; at Sardis once,
 59445     And this last night here in Philippi fields.
 59446     I know my hour is come.
 59447   VOLUMNIUS. Not so, my lord.
 59448   BRUTUS. Nay I am sure it is, Volumnius.
 59449     Thou seest the world, Volumnius, how it goes;
 59450     Our enemies have beat us to the pit;            Low alarums.
 59451     It is more worthy to leap in ourselves
 59452     Than tarry till they push us. Good Volumnius,
 59453     Thou know'st that we two went to school together;
 59454     Even for that our love of old, I prithee,
 59455     Hold thou my sword-hilts, whilst I run on it.
 59456   VOLUMNIUS. That's not an office for a friend, my lord.
 59457                                                    Alarum still.
 59458   CLITUS. Fly, fly, my lord, there is no tarrying here.
 59459   BRUTUS. Farewell to you, and you, and you, Volumnius.
 59460     Strato, thou hast been all this while asleep;
 59461     Farewell to thee too, Strato. Countrymen,
 59462     My heart doth joy that yet in all my life
 59463     I found no man but he was true to me.
 59464     I shall have glory by this losing day,
 59465     More than Octavius and Mark Antony
 59466     By this vile conquest shall attain unto.
 59467     So, fare you well at once, for Brutus' tongue
 59468     Hath almost ended his life's history.
 59469     Night hangs upon mine eyes, my bones would rest
 59470     That have but labor'd to attain this hour.
 59471                             Alarum. Cry within, "Fly, fly, fly!"
 59472   CLITUS. Fly, my lord, fly.
 59473   BRUTUS. Hence! I will follow.
 59474                         Exeunt Clitus, Dardanius, and Volumnius.
 59475     I prithee, Strato, stay thou by thy lord.
 59476     Thou art a fellow of a good respect;
 59477     Thy life hath had some smatch of honor in it.
 59478     Hold then my sword, and turn away thy face,
 59479     While I do run upon it. Wilt thou, Strato?
 59480   STRATO. Give me your hand first. Fare you well, my lord.
 59481   BRUTUS. Farewell, good Strato.              Runs on his sword.
 59482     Caesar, now be still;
 59483     I kill'd not thee with half so good a will.            Dies.
 59484 
 59485      Alarum. Retreat. Enter Octavius, Antony, Messala,
 59486                  Lucilius, and the Army.
 59487 
 59488   OCTAVIUS. What man is that?
 59489   MESSALA. My master's man. Strato, where is thy master?
 59490   STRATO. Free from the bondage you are in, Messala:
 59491     The conquerors can but make a fire of him;
 59492     For Brutus only overcame himself,
 59493     And no man else hath honor by his death.
 59494   LUCILIUS. So Brutus should be found. I thank thee, Brutus,
 59495     That thou hast proved Lucilius' saying true.
 59496   OCTAVIUS. All that served Brutus, I will entertain them.
 59497     Fellow, wilt thou bestow thy time with me?
 59498   STRATO. Ay, if Messala will prefer me to you.
 59499   OCTAVIUS. Do so, good Messala.
 59500   MESSALA. How died my master, Strato?
 59501   STRATO. I held the sword, and he did run on it.
 59502   MESSALA. Octavius, then take him to follow thee
 59503     That did the latest service to my master.
 59504   ANTONY. This was the noblest Roman of them all.
 59505     All the conspirators, save only he,
 59506     Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;
 59507     He only, in a general honest thought
 59508     And common good to all, made one of them.
 59509     His life was gentle, and the elements
 59510     So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up
 59511     And say to all the world, "This was a man!"
 59512   OCTAVIUS. According to his virtue let us use him
 59513     With all respect and rites of burial.
 59514     Within my tent his bones tonight shall lie,
 59515     Most like a soldier, ordered honorably.
 59516     So call the field to rest, and let's away,
 59517     To part the glories of this happy day.              Exeunt.
 59518 
 59519 
 59520 THE END
 59521 
 59522 
 59523 
 59524 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 59525 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 59526 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 59527 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
 59528 DISTRIBUTED SO LONG AS SUCH COPIES (1) ARE FOR YOUR OR OTHERS
 59529 PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND (2) ARE NOT DISTRIBUTED OR USED
 59530 COMMERCIALLY.  PROHIBITED COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION INCLUDES BY ANY
 59531 SERVICE THAT CHARGES FOR DOWNLOAD TIME OR FOR MEMBERSHIP.>>
 59532 
 59533 
 59534 
 59535 
 59536 
 59537 
 59538 1606
 59539 
 59540 
 59541 THE TRAGEDY OF KING LEAR
 59542 
 59543 by William Shakespeare
 59544 
 59545 
 59546 
 59547 
 59548 Dramatis Personae
 59549 
 59550       Lear, King of Britain.
 59551       King of France.
 59552       Duke of Burgundy.
 59553       Duke of Cornwall.
 59554       Duke of Albany.
 59555       Earl of Kent.
 59556       Earl of Gloucester.
 59557       Edgar, son of Gloucester.
 59558       Edmund, bastard son to Gloucester.
 59559       Curan, a courtier.
 59560       Old Man, tenant to Gloucester.
 59561       Doctor.
 59562       Lear's Fool.
 59563       Oswald, steward to Goneril.
 59564       A Captain under Edmund's command.
 59565       Gentlemen.
 59566       A Herald.
 59567       Servants to Cornwall.
 59568 
 59569       Goneril, daughter to Lear.
 59570       Regan, daughter to Lear.
 59571       Cordelia, daughter to Lear.
 59572 
 59573       Knights attending on Lear, Officers, Messengers, Soldiers,
 59574         Attendants.
 59575 
 59576 
 59577 
 59578 
 59579 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 59580 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 59581 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 59582 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
 59583 DISTRIBUTED SO LONG AS SUCH COPIES (1) ARE FOR YOUR OR OTHERS
 59584 PERSONAL USE ONLY, AND (2) ARE NOT DISTRIBUTED OR USED
 59585 COMMERCIALLY.  PROHIBITED COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION INCLUDES BY ANY
 59586 SERVICE THAT CHARGES FOR DOWNLOAD TIME OR FOR MEMBERSHIP.>>
 59587 
 59588 
 59589 
 59590 Scene: - Britain.
 59591 
 59592 
 59593 ACT I. Scene I.
 59594 [King Lear's Palace.]
 59595 
 59596 Enter Kent, Gloucester, and Edmund. [Kent and Glouceste converse.
 59597 Edmund stands back.]
 59598 
 59599   Kent. I thought the King had more affected the Duke of Albany than
 59600      Cornwall.
 59601   Glou. It did always seem so to us; but now, in the division of the
 59602      kingdom, it appears not which of the Dukes he values most, for
 59603      equalities are so weigh'd that curiosity in neither can make
 59604      choice of either's moiety.
 59605   Kent. Is not this your son, my lord?
 59606   Glou. His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge. I have so often
 59607      blush'd to acknowledge him that now I am braz'd to't.
 59608   Kent. I cannot conceive you.
 59609   Glou. Sir, this young fellow's mother could; whereupon she grew
 59610      round-womb'd, and had indeed, sir, a son for her cradle ere she
 59611      had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a fault?
 59612   Kent. I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of it being so
 59613      proper.
 59614   Glou. But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some year elder than
 59615      this, who yet is no dearer in my account. Though this knave came
 59616      something saucily into the world before he was sent for, yet was
 59617      his mother fair, there was good sport at his making, and the
 59618      whoreson must be acknowledged.- Do you know this noble gentleman,
 59619      Edmund?
 59620   Edm. [comes forward] No, my lord.
 59621   Glou. My Lord of Kent. Remember him hereafter as my honourable
 59622      friend.
 59623   Edm. My services to your lordship.
 59624   Kent. I must love you, and sue to know you better.
 59625   Edm. Sir, I shall study deserving.
 59626   Glou. He hath been out nine years, and away he shall again.
 59627                                                  Sound a sennet.
 59628      The King is coming.
 59629 
 59630       Enter one bearing a coronet; then Lear; then the Dukes of
 59631       Albany and Cornwall; next, Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, with
 59632                               Followers.
 59633 
 59634   Lear. Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, Gloucester.
 59635   Glou. I shall, my liege.
 59636                                  Exeunt [Gloucester and Edmund].
 59637   Lear. Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.
 59638      Give me the map there. Know we have divided
 59639      In three our kingdom; and 'tis our fast intent
 59640      To shake all cares and business from our age,
 59641      Conferring them on younger strengths while we
 59642      Unburthen'd crawl toward death. Our son of Cornwall,
 59643      And you, our no less loving son of Albany,
 59644      We have this hour a constant will to publish
 59645      Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife
 59646      May be prevented now. The princes, France and Burgundy,
 59647      Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love,
 59648      Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn,
 59649      And here are to be answer'd. Tell me, my daughters
 59650      (Since now we will divest us both of rule,
 59651      Interest of territory, cares of state),
 59652      Which of you shall we say doth love us most?
 59653      That we our largest bounty may extend
 59654      Where nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril,
 59655      Our eldest-born, speak first.
 59656   Gon. Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter;
 59657      Dearer than eyesight, space, and liberty;
 59658      Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
 59659      No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour;
 59660      As much as child e'er lov'd, or father found;
 59661      A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable.
 59662      Beyond all manner of so much I love you.
 59663   Cor. [aside] What shall Cordelia speak? Love, and be silent.
 59664   Lear. Of all these bounds, even from this line to this,
 59665      With shadowy forests and with champains rich'd,
 59666      With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads,
 59667      We make thee lady. To thine and Albany's issue
 59668      Be this perpetual.- What says our second daughter,
 59669      Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak.
 59670   Reg. Sir, I am made
 59671      Of the selfsame metal that my sister is,
 59672      And prize me at her worth. In my true heart
 59673      I find she names my very deed of love;
 59674      Only she comes too short, that I profess
 59675      Myself an enemy to all other joys
 59676      Which the most precious square of sense possesses,
 59677      And find I am alone felicitate
 59678      In your dear Highness' love.
 59679   Cor. [aside] Then poor Cordelia!
 59680      And yet not so; since I am sure my love's
 59681      More richer than my tongue.
 59682   Lear. To thee and thine hereditary ever
 59683      Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom,
 59684      No less in space, validity, and pleasure
 59685      Than that conferr'd on Goneril.- Now, our joy,
 59686      Although the last, not least; to whose young love
 59687      The vines of France and milk of Burgundy
 59688      Strive to be interest; what can you say to draw
 59689      A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.
 59690   Cor. Nothing, my lord.
 59691   Lear. Nothing?
 59692   Cor. Nothing.
 59693   Lear. Nothing can come of nothing. Speak again.
 59694   Cor. Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave
 59695      My heart into my mouth. I love your Majesty
 59696      According to my bond; no more nor less.
 59697   Lear. How, how, Cordelia? Mend your speech a little,
 59698      Lest it may mar your fortunes.
 59699   Cor. Good my lord,
 59700      You have begot me, bred me, lov'd me; I
 59701      Return those duties back as are right fit,
 59702      Obey you, love you, and most honour you.
 59703      Why have my sisters husbands, if they say
 59704      They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed,
 59705      That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry
 59706      Half my love with him, half my care and duty.
 59707      Sure I shall never marry like my sisters,
 59708      To love my father all.
 59709   Lear. But goes thy heart with this?
 59710   Cor. Ay, good my lord.
 59711   Lear. So young, and so untender?
 59712   Cor. So young, my lord, and true.
 59713   Lear. Let it be so! thy truth then be thy dower!
 59714      For, by the sacred radiance of the sun,
 59715      The mysteries of Hecate and the night;
 59716      By all the operation of the orbs
 59717      From whom we do exist and cease to be;
 59718      Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
 59719      Propinquity and property of blood,
 59720      And as a stranger to my heart and me
 59721      Hold thee from this for ever. The barbarous Scythian,
 59722      Or he that makes his generation messes
 59723      To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom
 59724      Be as well neighbour'd, pitied, and reliev'd,
 59725      As thou my sometime daughter.
 59726   Kent. Good my liege-
 59727   Lear. Peace, Kent!
 59728      Come not between the dragon and his wrath.
 59729      I lov'd her most, and thought to set my rest
 59730      On her kind nursery.- Hence and avoid my sight!-
 59731      So be my grave my peace as here I give
 59732      Her father's heart from her! Call France! Who stirs?
 59733      Call Burgundy! Cornwall and Albany,
 59734      With my two daughters' dowers digest this third;
 59735      Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.
 59736      I do invest you jointly in my power,
 59737      Preeminence, and all the large effects
 59738      That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly course,
 59739      With reservation of an hundred knights,
 59740      By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode
 59741      Make with you by due turns. Only we still retain
 59742      The name, and all th' additions to a king. The sway,
 59743      Revenue, execution of the rest,
 59744      Beloved sons, be yours; which to confirm,
 59745      This coronet part betwixt you.
 59746   Kent. Royal Lear,
 59747      Whom I have ever honour'd as my king,
 59748      Lov'd as my father, as my master follow'd,
 59749      As my great patron thought on in my prayers-
 59750   Lear. The bow is bent and drawn; make from the shaft.
 59751   Kent. Let it fall rather, though the fork invade
 59752      The region of my heart! Be Kent unmannerly
 59753      When Lear is mad. What wouldst thou do, old man?
 59754      Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak
 59755      When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour's bound
 59756      When majesty falls to folly. Reverse thy doom;
 59757      And in thy best consideration check
 59758      This hideous rashness. Answer my life my judgment,
 59759      Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least,
 59760      Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound
 59761      Reverbs no hollowness.
 59762   Lear. Kent, on thy life, no more!
 59763   Kent. My life I never held but as a pawn
 59764      To wage against thine enemies; nor fear to lose it,
 59765      Thy safety being the motive.
 59766   Lear. Out of my sight!
 59767   Kent. See better, Lear, and let me still remain
 59768      The true blank of thine eye.
 59769   Lear. Now by Apollo-
 59770   Kent. Now by Apollo, King,
 59771      Thou swear'st thy gods in vain.
 59772   Lear. O vassal! miscreant!
 59773                                    [Lays his hand on his sword.]
 59774   Alb., Corn. Dear sir, forbear!
 59775   Kent. Do!
 59776      Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow
 59777      Upon the foul disease. Revoke thy gift,
 59778      Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat,
 59779      I'll tell thee thou dost evil.
 59780   Lear. Hear me, recreant!
 59781      On thine allegiance, hear me!
 59782      Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow-
 59783      Which we durst never yet- and with strain'd pride
 59784      To come between our sentence and our power,-
 59785      Which nor our nature nor our place can bear,-
 59786      Our potency made good, take thy reward.
 59787      Five days we do allot thee for provision
 59788      To shield thee from diseases of the world,
 59789      And on the sixth to turn thy hated back
 59790      Upon our kingdom. If, on the tenth day following,
 59791      Thy banish'd trunk be found in our dominions,
 59792      The moment is thy death. Away! By Jupiter,
 59793      This shall not be revok'd.
 59794   Kent. Fare thee well, King. Since thus thou wilt appear,
 59795      Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here.
 59796      [To Cordelia] The gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid,
 59797      That justly think'st and hast most rightly said!
 59798      [To Regan and Goneril] And your large speeches may your deeds
 59799         approve,
 59800      That good effects may spring from words of love.
 59801      Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu;
 59802      He'll shape his old course in a country new.
 59803 Exit.
 59804 
 59805   Flourish. Enter Gloucester, with France and Burgundy; Attendants.
 59806 
 59807   Glou. Here's France and Burgundy, my noble lord.
 59808   Lear. My Lord of Burgundy,
 59809      We first address toward you, who with this king
 59810      Hath rivall'd for our daughter. What in the least
 59811      Will you require in present dower with her,
 59812      Or cease your quest of love?
 59813   Bur. Most royal Majesty,
 59814      I crave no more than hath your Highness offer'd,
 59815      Nor will you tender less.
 59816   Lear. Right noble Burgundy,
 59817      When she was dear to us, we did hold her so;
 59818      But now her price is fall'n. Sir, there she stands.
 59819      If aught within that little seeming substance,
 59820      Or all of it, with our displeasure piec'd,
 59821      And nothing more, may fitly like your Grace,
 59822      She's there, and she is yours.
 59823   Bur. I know no answer.
 59824   Lear. Will you, with those infirmities she owes,
 59825      Unfriended, new adopted to our hate,
 59826      Dow'r'd with our curse, and stranger'd with our oath,
 59827      Take her, or leave her?
 59828   Bur. Pardon me, royal sir.
 59829      Election makes not up on such conditions.
 59830   Lear. Then leave her, sir; for, by the pow'r that made me,
 59831      I tell you all her wealth. [To France] For you, great King,
 59832      I would not from your love make such a stray
 59833      To match you where I hate; therefore beseech you
 59834      T' avert your liking a more worthier way
 59835      Than on a wretch whom nature is asham'd
 59836      Almost t' acknowledge hers.
 59837   France. This is most strange,
 59838      That she that even but now was your best object,
 59839      The argument of your praise, balm of your age,
 59840      Most best, most dearest, should in this trice of time
 59841      Commit a thing so monstrous to dismantle
 59842      So many folds of favour. Sure her offence
 59843      Must be of such unnatural degree
 59844      That monsters it, or your fore-vouch'd affection
 59845      Fall'n into taint; which to believe of her
 59846      Must be a faith that reason without miracle
 59847      Should never plant in me.
 59848   Cor. I yet beseech your Majesty,
 59849      If for I want that glib and oily art
 59850      To speak and purpose not, since what I well intend,
 59851      I'll do't before I speak- that you make known
 59852      It is no vicious blot, murther, or foulness,
 59853      No unchaste action or dishonoured step,
 59854      That hath depriv'd me of your grace and favour;
 59855      But even for want of that for which I am richer-
 59856      A still-soliciting eye, and such a tongue
 59857      As I am glad I have not, though not to have it
 59858      Hath lost me in your liking.
 59859   Lear. Better thou
 59860      Hadst not been born than not t' have pleas'd me better.
 59861   France. Is it but this- a tardiness in nature
 59862      Which often leaves the history unspoke
 59863      That it intends to do? My Lord of Burgundy,
 59864      What say you to the lady? Love's not love
 59865      When it is mingled with regards that stands
 59866      Aloof from th' entire point. Will you have her?
 59867      She is herself a dowry.
 59868   Bur. Royal Lear,
 59869      Give but that portion which yourself propos'd,
 59870      And here I take Cordelia by the hand,
 59871      Duchess of Burgundy.
 59872   Lear. Nothing! I have sworn; I am firm.
 59873   Bur. I am sorry then you have so lost a father
 59874      That you must lose a husband.
 59875   Cor. Peace be with Burgundy!
 59876      Since that respects of fortune are his love,
 59877      I shall not be his wife.
 59878   France. Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich, being poor;
 59879      Most choice, forsaken; and most lov'd, despis'd!
 59880      Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon.
 59881      Be it lawful I take up what's cast away.
 59882      Gods, gods! 'tis strange that from their cold'st neglect
 59883      My love should kindle to inflam'd respect.
 59884      Thy dow'rless daughter, King, thrown to my chance,
 59885      Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France.
 59886      Not all the dukes in wat'rish Burgundy
 59887      Can buy this unpriz'd precious maid of me.
 59888      Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind.
 59889      Thou losest here, a better where to find.
 59890   Lear. Thou hast her, France; let her be thine; for we
 59891      Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see
 59892      That face of hers again. Therefore be gone
 59893      Without our grace, our love, our benison.
 59894      Come, noble Burgundy.
 59895              Flourish. Exeunt Lear, Burgundy, [Cornwall, Albany,
 59896                                     Gloucester, and Attendants].
 59897   France. Bid farewell to your sisters.
 59898   Cor. The jewels of our father, with wash'd eyes
 59899      Cordelia leaves you. I know you what you are;
 59900      And, like a sister, am most loath to call
 59901      Your faults as they are nam'd. Use well our father.
 59902      To your professed bosoms I commit him;
 59903      But yet, alas, stood I within his grace,
 59904      I would prefer him to a better place!
 59905      So farewell to you both.
 59906   Gon. Prescribe not us our duties.
 59907   Reg. Let your study
 59908      Be to content your lord, who hath receiv'd you
 59909      At fortune's alms. You have obedience scanted,
 59910      And well are worth the want that you have wanted.
 59911   Cor. Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides.
 59912      Who cover faults, at last shame them derides.
 59913      Well may you prosper!
 59914   France. Come, my fair Cordelia.
 59915                                      Exeunt France and Cordelia.
 59916   Gon. Sister, it is not little I have to say of what most nearly
 59917      appertains to us both. I think our father will hence to-night.
 59918   Reg. That's most certain, and with you; next month with us.
 59919   Gon. You see how full of changes his age is. The observation we
 59920      have made of it hath not been little. He always lov'd our
 59921      sister most, and with what poor judgment he hath now cast her
 59922      off appears too grossly.
 59923   Reg. 'Tis the infirmity of his age; yet he hath ever but slenderly
 59924      known himself.
 59925   Gon. The best and soundest of his time hath been but rash; then
 59926      must we look to receive from his age, not alone the
 59927      imperfections of long-ingraffed condition, but therewithal
 59928      the unruly waywardness that infirm and choleric years bring with
 59929      them.
 59930   Reg. Such unconstant starts are we like to have from him as this
 59931      of Kent's banishment.
 59932   Gon. There is further compliment of leave-taking between France and
 59933      him. Pray you let's hit together. If our father carry authority
 59934      with such dispositions as he bears, this last surrender of his
 59935      will but offend us.
 59936   Reg. We shall further think on't.
 59937   Gon. We must do something, and i' th' heat.
 59938                                                          Exeunt.
 59939 
 59940 
 59941 
 59942 
 59943 Scene II.
 59944 The Earl of Gloucester's Castle.
 59945 
 59946 Enter [Edmund the] Bastard solus, [with a letter].
 59947 
 59948   Edm. Thou, Nature, art my goddess; to thy law
 59949      My services are bound. Wherefore should I
 59950      Stand in the plague of custom, and permit
 59951      The curiosity of nations to deprive me,
 59952      For that I am some twelve or fourteen moonshines
 59953      Lag of a brother? Why bastard? wherefore base?
 59954      When my dimensions are as well compact,
 59955      My mind as generous, and my shape as true,
 59956      As honest madam's issue? Why brand they us
 59957      With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base?
 59958      Who, in the lusty stealth of nature, take
 59959      More composition and fierce quality
 59960      Than doth, within a dull, stale, tired bed,
 59961      Go to th' creating a whole tribe of fops
 59962      Got 'tween asleep and wake? Well then,
 59963      Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land.
 59964      Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund
 59965      As to th' legitimate. Fine word- 'legitimate'!
 59966      Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed,
 59967      And my invention thrive, Edmund the base
 59968      Shall top th' legitimate. I grow; I prosper.
 59969      Now, gods, stand up for bastards!
 59970 
 59971                           Enter Gloucester.
 59972 
 59973   Glou. Kent banish'd thus? and France in choler parted?
 59974      And the King gone to-night? subscrib'd his pow'r?
 59975      Confin'd to exhibition? All this done
 59976      Upon the gad? Edmund, how now? What news?
 59977   Edm. So please your lordship, none.
 59978                                            [Puts up the letter.]
 59979   Glou. Why so earnestly seek you to put up that letter?
 59980   Edm. I know no news, my lord.
 59981   Glou. What paper were you reading?
 59982   Edm. Nothing, my lord.
 59983   Glou. No? What needed then that terrible dispatch of it into your
 59984      pocket? The quality of nothing hath not such need to hide
 59985      itself. Let's see. Come, if it be nothing, I shall not need
 59986      spectacles.
 59987   Edm. I beseech you, sir, pardon me. It is a letter from my brother
 59988      that I have not all o'er-read; and for so much as I have
 59989      perus'd, I find it not fit for your o'erlooking.
 59990   Glou. Give me the letter, sir.
 59991   Edm. I shall offend, either to detain or give it. The contents, as
 59992      in part I understand them, are to blame.
 59993   Glou. Let's see, let's see!
 59994   Edm. I hope, for my brother's justification, he wrote this but as
 59995      an essay or taste of my virtue.
 59996 
 59997   Glou. (reads) 'This policy and reverence of age makes the world
 59998      bitter to the best of our times; keeps our fortunes from us
 59999      till our oldness cannot relish them. I begin to find an idle
 60000      and fond bondage in the oppression of aged tyranny, who sways,
 60001      not as it hath power, but as it is suffer'd. Come to me, that
 60002      of this I may speak more. If our father would sleep till I
 60003      wak'd him, you should enjoy half his revenue for ever, and live
 60004      the beloved of your brother,
 60005                                                         'EDGAR.'
 60006 
 60007      Hum! Conspiracy? 'Sleep till I wak'd him, you should enjoy half
 60008      his revenue.' My son Edgar! Had he a hand to write this? a heart
 60009      and brain to breed it in? When came this to you? Who brought it?
 60010   Edm. It was not brought me, my lord: there's the cunning of it. I
 60011      found it thrown in at the casement of my closet.
 60012   Glou. You know the character to be your brother's?
 60013   Edm. If the matter were good, my lord, I durst swear it were his;
 60014      but in respect of that, I would fain think it were not.
 60015   Glou. It is his.
 60016   Edm. It is his hand, my lord; but I hope his heart is not in the
 60017      contents.
 60018   Glou. Hath he never before sounded you in this business?
 60019   Edm. Never, my lord. But I have heard him oft maintain it to be fit
 60020      that, sons at perfect age, and fathers declining, the father
 60021      should be as ward to the son, and the son manage his revenue.
 60022   Glou. O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter! Abhorred
 60023      villain! Unnatural, detested, brutish villain! worse than
 60024      brutish! Go, sirrah, seek him. I'll apprehend him. Abominable
 60025      villain! Where is he?
 60026   Edm. I do not well know, my lord. If it shall please you to suspend
 60027      your indignation against my brother till you can derive from him
 60028      better testimony of his intent, you should run a certain course;
 60029      where, if you violently proceed against him, mistaking his
 60030      purpose, it would make a great gap in your own honour and shake
 60031      in pieces the heart of his obedience. I dare pawn down my life
 60032      for him that he hath writ this to feel my affection to your
 60033      honour, and to no other pretence of danger.
 60034   Glou. Think you so?
 60035   Edm. If your honour judge it meet, I will place you where you shall
 60036      hear us confer of this and by an auricular assurance have your
 60037      satisfaction, and that without any further delay than this very
 60038      evening.
 60039   Glou. He cannot be such a monster.
 60040   Edm. Nor is not, sure.
 60041   Glou. To his father, that so tenderly and entirely loves him.
 60042      Heaven and earth! Edmund, seek him out; wind me into him, I pray
 60043      you; frame the business after your own wisdom. I would unstate
 60044      myself to be in a due resolution.
 60045   Edm. I will seek him, sir, presently; convey the business as I
 60046      shall find means, and acquaint you withal.
 60047   Glou. These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to
 60048      us. Though the wisdom of nature can reason it thus and thus, yet
 60049      nature finds itself scourg'd by the sequent effects. Love cools,
 60050      friendship falls off, brothers divide. In cities, mutinies; in
 60051      countries, discord; in palaces, treason; and the bond crack'd
 60052      'twixt son and father. This villain of mine comes under the
 60053      prediction; there's son against father: the King falls from bias
 60054      of nature; there's father against child. We have seen the best
 60055      of our time. Machinations, hollowness, treachery, and all
 60056      ruinous disorders follow us disquietly to our graves. Find out
 60057      this villain, Edmund; it shall lose thee nothing; do it
 60058      carefully. And the noble and true-hearted Kent banish'd! his
 60059      offence, honesty! 'Tis strange.                       Exit.
 60060   Edm. This is the excellent foppery of the world, that, when we are
 60061      sick in fortune, often the surfeit of our own behaviour, we make
 60062      guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars; as if
 60063      we were villains on necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion;
 60064      knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical pre-dominance;
 60065      drunkards, liars, and adulterers by an enforc'd obedience of
 60066      planetary influence; and all that we are evil in, by a divine
 60067      thrusting on. An admirable evasion of whore-master man, to lay
 60068      his goatish disposition to the charge of a star! My father
 60069      compounded with my mother under the Dragon's Tail, and my
 60070      nativity was under Ursa Major, so that it follows I am rough and
 60071      lecherous. Fut! I should have been that I am, had the
 60072      maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my bastardizing.
 60073      Edgar-
 60074 
 60075                              Enter Edgar.
 60076 
 60077      and pat! he comes, like the catastrophe of the old comedy. My
 60078      cue is villainous melancholy, with a sigh like Tom o' Bedlam.
 60079      O, these eclipses do portend these divisions! Fa, sol, la, mi.
 60080   Edg. How now, brother Edmund? What serious contemplation are you
 60081      in?
 60082   Edm. I am thinking, brother, of a prediction I read this other day,
 60083      what should follow these eclipses.
 60084   Edg. Do you busy yourself with that?
 60085   Edm. I promise you, the effects he writes of succeed unhappily: as
 60086      of unnaturalness between the child and the parent; death,
 60087      dearth, dissolutions of ancient amities; divisions in state,
 60088      menaces and maledictions against king and nobles; needless
 60089      diffidences, banishment of friends, dissipation of cohorts,
 60090      nuptial breaches, and I know not what.
 60091   Edg. How long have you been a sectary astronomical?
 60092   Edm. Come, come! When saw you my father last?
 60093   Edg. The night gone by.
 60094   Edm. Spake you with him?
 60095   Edg. Ay, two hours together.
 60096   Edm. Parted you in good terms? Found you no displeasure in him by
 60097      word or countenance
 60098   Edg. None at all.
 60099   Edm. Bethink yourself wherein you may have offended him; and at my
 60100      entreaty forbear his presence until some little time hath
 60101      qualified the heat of his displeasure, which at this instant so
 60102      rageth in him that with the mischief of your person it would
 60103      scarcely allay.
 60104   Edg. Some villain hath done me wrong.
 60105   Edm. That's my fear. I pray you have a continent forbearance till
 60106      the speed of his rage goes slower; and, as I say, retire with me
 60107      to my lodging, from whence I will fitly bring you to hear my
 60108      lord speak. Pray ye, go! There's my key. If you do stir abroad,
 60109      go arm'd.
 60110   Edg. Arm'd, brother?
 60111   Edm. Brother, I advise you to the best. Go arm'd. I am no honest man
 60112      if there be any good meaning toward you. I have told you what I
 60113      have seen and heard; but faintly, nothing like the image and
 60114      horror of it. Pray you, away!
 60115   Edg. Shall I hear from you anon?
 60116   Edm. I do serve you in this business.
 60117                                                      Exit Edgar.
 60118      A credulous father! and a brother noble,
 60119      Whose nature is so far from doing harms
 60120      That he suspects none; on whose foolish honesty
 60121      My practices ride easy! I see the business.
 60122      Let me, if not by birth, have lands by wit;
 60123      All with me's meet that I can fashion fit.
 60124 Exit.
 60125 
 60126 
 60127 
 60128 
 60129 Scene III.
 60130 The Duke of Albany's Palace.
 60131 
 60132 Enter Goneril and [her] Steward [Oswald].
 60133 
 60134   Gon. Did my father strike my gentleman for chiding of his fool?
 60135   Osw. Ay, madam.
 60136   Gon. By day and night, he wrongs me! Every hour
 60137      He flashes into one gross crime or other
 60138      That sets us all at odds. I'll not endure it.
 60139      His knights grow riotous, and himself upbraids us
 60140      On every trifle. When he returns from hunting,
 60141      I will not speak with him. Say I am sick.
 60142      If you come slack of former services,
 60143      You shall do well; the fault of it I'll answer.
 60144                                                  [Horns within.]
 60145   Osw. He's coming, madam; I hear him.
 60146   Gon. Put on what weary negligence you please,
 60147      You and your fellows. I'd have it come to question.
 60148      If he distaste it, let him to our sister,
 60149      Whose mind and mine I know in that are one,
 60150      Not to be overrul'd. Idle old man,
 60151      That still would manage those authorities
 60152      That he hath given away! Now, by my life,
 60153      Old fools are babes again, and must be us'd
 60154      With checks as flatteries, when they are seen abus'd.
 60155      Remember what I have said.
 60156   Osw. Very well, madam.
 60157   Gon. And let his knights have colder looks among you.
 60158      What grows of it, no matter. Advise your fellows so.
 60159      I would breed from hence occasions, and I shall,
 60160      That I may speak. I'll write straight to my sister
 60161      To hold my very course. Prepare for dinner.
 60162                                                          Exeunt.
 60163 
 60164 
 60165 
 60166 
 60167 Scene IV.
 60168 The Duke of Albany's Palace.
 60169 
 60170 Enter Kent, [disguised].
 60171 
 60172   Kent. If but as well I other accents borrow,
 60173      That can my speech defuse, my good intent
 60174      May carry through itself to that full issue
 60175      For which I raz'd my likeness. Now, banish'd Kent,
 60176      If thou canst serve where thou dost stand condemn'd,
 60177      So may it come, thy master, whom thou lov'st,
 60178      Shall find thee full of labours.
 60179 
 60180          Horns within. Enter Lear, [Knights,] and Attendants.
 60181 
 60182   Lear. Let me not stay a jot for dinner; go get it ready. [Exit
 60183      an Attendant.] How now? What art thou?
 60184   Kent. A man, sir.
 60185   Lear. What dost thou profess? What wouldst thou with us?
 60186   Kent. I do profess to be no less than I seem, to serve him truly
 60187      that will put me in trust, to love him that is honest, to
 60188      converse with him that is wise and says little, to fear
 60189      judgment, to fight when I cannot choose, and to eat no fish.
 60190   Lear. What art thou?
 60191   Kent. A very honest-hearted fellow, and as poor as the King.
 60192   Lear. If thou be'st as poor for a subject as he's for a king, thou
 60193      art poor enough. What wouldst thou?
 60194   Kent. Service.
 60195   Lear. Who wouldst thou serve?
 60196   Kent. You.
 60197   Lear. Dost thou know me, fellow?
 60198   Kent. No, sir; but you have that in your countenance which I would
 60199      fain call master.
 60200   Lear. What's that?
 60201   Kent. Authority.
 60202   Lear. What services canst thou do?
 60203   Kent. I can keep honest counsel, ride, run, mar a curious tale in
 60204      telling it and deliver a plain message bluntly. That which
 60205      ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in, and the best of me
 60206      is diligence.
 60207   Lear. How old art thou?
 60208   Kent. Not so young, sir, to love a woman for singing, nor so old to
 60209      dote on her for anything. I have years on my back forty-eight.
 60210   Lear. Follow me; thou shalt serve me. If I like thee no worse after
 60211      dinner, I will not part from thee yet. Dinner, ho, dinner!
 60212      Where's my knave? my fool? Go you and call my fool hither.
 60213 
 60214                                             [Exit an attendant.]
 60215 
 60216                      Enter [Oswald the] Steward.
 60217 
 60218      You, you, sirrah, where's my daughter?
 60219   Osw. So please you-                                      Exit.
 60220   Lear. What says the fellow there? Call the clotpoll back.
 60221      [Exit a Knight.] Where's my fool, ho? I think the world's
 60222      asleep.
 60223 
 60224                             [Enter Knight]
 60225 
 60226      How now? Where's that mongrel?
 60227   Knight. He says, my lord, your daughter is not well.
 60228   Lear. Why came not the slave back to me when I call'd him?
 60229   Knight. Sir, he answered me in the roundest manner, he would not.
 60230   Lear. He would not?
 60231   Knight. My lord, I know not what the matter is; but to my judgment
 60232      your Highness is not entertain'd with that ceremonious affection
 60233      as you were wont. There's a great abatement of kindness appears
 60234      as well in the general dependants as in the Duke himself also
 60235      and your daughter.
 60236   Lear. Ha! say'st thou so?
 60237   Knight. I beseech you pardon me, my lord, if I be mistaken; for
 60238      my duty cannot be silent when I think your Highness wrong'd.
 60239   Lear. Thou but rememb'rest me of mine own conception. I have
 60240      perceived a most faint neglect of late, which I have rather
 60241      blamed as mine own jealous curiosity than as a very pretence
 60242      and purpose of unkindness. I will look further into't. But
 60243      where's my fool? I have not seen him this two days.
 60244   Knight. Since my young lady's going into France, sir, the fool
 60245      hath much pined away.
 60246   Lear. No more of that; I have noted it well. Go you and tell my
 60247      daughter I would speak with her. [Exit Knight.] Go you, call
 60248      hither my fool.
 60249                                             [Exit an Attendant.]
 60250 
 60251                      Enter [Oswald the] Steward.
 60252 
 60253      O, you, sir, you! Come you hither, sir. Who am I, sir?
 60254   Osw. My lady's father.
 60255   Lear. 'My lady's father'? My lord's knave! You whoreson dog! you
 60256      slave! you cur!
 60257   Osw. I am none of these, my lord; I beseech your pardon.
 60258   Lear. Do you bandy looks with me, you rascal?
 60259                                                   [Strikes him.]
 60260   Osw. I'll not be strucken, my lord.
 60261   Kent. Nor tripp'd neither, you base football player?
 60262                                             [Trips up his heels.
 60263   Lear. I thank thee, fellow. Thou serv'st me, and I'll love thee.
 60264   Kent. Come, sir, arise, away! I'll teach you differences. Away,
 60265      away! If you will measure your lubber's length again, tarry; but
 60266      away! Go to! Have you wisdom? So.
 60267                                                [Pushes him out.]
 60268   Lear. Now, my friendly knave, I thank thee. There's earnest of thy
 60269      service.                                     [Gives money.]
 60270 
 60271                              Enter Fool.
 60272 
 60273   Fool. Let me hire him too. Here's my coxcomb.
 60274                                           [Offers Kent his cap.]
 60275   Lear. How now, my pretty knave? How dost thou?
 60276   Fool. Sirrah, you were best take my coxcomb.
 60277   Kent. Why, fool?
 60278   Fool. Why? For taking one's part that's out of favour. Nay, an thou
 60279      canst not smile as the wind sits, thou'lt catch cold shortly.
 60280      There, take my coxcomb! Why, this fellow hath banish'd two on's
 60281      daughters, and did the third a blessing against his will. If
 60282      thou follow him, thou must needs wear my coxcomb.- How now,
 60283      nuncle? Would I had two coxcombs and two daughters!
 60284   Lear. Why, my boy?
 60285   Fool. If I gave them all my living, I'ld keep my coxcombs myself.
 60286      There's mine! beg another of thy daughters.
 60287   Lear. Take heed, sirrah- the whip.
 60288   Fool. Truth's a dog must to kennel; he must be whipp'd out, when
 60289      Lady the brach may stand by th' fire and stink.
 60290   Lear. A pestilent gall to me!
 60291   Fool. Sirrah, I'll teach thee a speech.
 60292   Lear. Do.
 60293   Fool. Mark it, nuncle.
 60294           Have more than thou showest,
 60295           Speak less than thou knowest,
 60296           Lend less than thou owest,
 60297           Ride more than thou goest,
 60298           Learn more than thou trowest,
 60299           Set less than thou throwest;
 60300           Leave thy drink and thy whore,
 60301           And keep in-a-door,
 60302           And thou shalt have more
 60303           Than two tens to a score.
 60304   Kent. This is nothing, fool.
 60305   Fool. Then 'tis like the breath of an unfeed lawyer- you gave me
 60306      nothing for't. Can you make no use of nothing, nuncle?
 60307   Lear. Why, no, boy. Nothing can be made out of nothing.
 60308   Fool. [to Kent] Prithee tell him, so much the rent of his land
 60309      comes to. He will not believe a fool.
 60310   Lear. A bitter fool!
 60311   Fool. Dost thou know the difference, my boy, between a bitter
 60312      fool and a sweet fool?
 60313   Lear. No, lad; teach me.
 60314   Fool.   That lord that counsell'd thee
 60315             To give away thy land,
 60316           Come place him here by me-
 60317             Do thou for him stand.
 60318           The sweet and bitter fool
 60319             Will presently appear;
 60320           The one in motley here,
 60321             The other found out there.
 60322   Lear. Dost thou call me fool, boy?
 60323   Fool. All thy other titles thou hast given away; that thou wast
 60324      born with.
 60325   Kent. This is not altogether fool, my lord.
 60326   Fool. No, faith; lords and great men will not let me. If I had a
 60327      monopoly out, they would have part on't. And ladies too, they
 60328      will not let me have all the fool to myself; they'll be
 60329      snatching. Give me an egg, nuncle, and I'll give thee two
 60330      crowns.
 60331   Lear. What two crowns shall they be?
 60332   Fool. Why, after I have cut the egg i' th' middle and eat up the
 60333      meat, the two crowns of the egg. When thou clovest thy crown i'
 60334      th' middle and gav'st away both parts, thou bor'st thine ass on
 60335      thy back o'er the dirt. Thou hadst little wit in thy bald crown
 60336      when thou gav'st thy golden one away. If I speak like myself in
 60337      this, let him be whipp'd that first finds it so.
 60338 
 60339      [Sings]    Fools had ne'er less grace in a year,
 60340                   For wise men are grown foppish;
 60341                 They know not how their wits to wear,
 60342                   Their manners are so apish.
 60343 
 60344   Lear. When were you wont to be so full of songs, sirrah?
 60345   Fool. I have us'd it, nuncle, ever since thou mad'st thy daughters
 60346      thy mother; for when thou gav'st them the rod, and put'st down
 60347      thine own breeches,
 60348 
 60349      [Sings]    Then they for sudden joy did weep,
 60350                   And I for sorrow sung,
 60351                 That such a king should play bo-peep
 60352                   And go the fools among.
 60353 
 60354      Prithee, nuncle, keep a schoolmaster that can teach thy fool to
 60355      lie. I would fain learn to lie.
 60356   Lear. An you lie, sirrah, we'll have you whipp'd.
 60357   Fool. I marvel what kin thou and thy daughters are. They'll have me
 60358      whipp'd for speaking true; thou'lt have me whipp'd for lying;
 60359      and sometimes I am whipp'd for holding my peace. I had rather be
 60360      any kind o' thing than a fool! And yet I would not be thee,
 60361      nuncle. Thou hast pared thy wit o' both sides and left nothing
 60362      i' th' middle. Here comes one o' the parings.
 60363 
 60364                             Enter Goneril.
 60365 
 60366   Lear. How now, daughter? What makes that frontlet on? Methinks you
 60367      are too much o' late i' th' frown.
 60368   Fool. Thou wast a pretty fellow when thou hadst no need to care for
 60369      her frowning. Now thou art an O without a figure. I am better
 60370      than thou art now: I am a fool, thou art nothing.
 60371      [To Goneril] Yes, forsooth, I will hold my tongue. So your face
 60372      bids me, though you say nothing. Mum, mum!
 60373 
 60374             He that keeps nor crust nor crum,
 60375             Weary of all, shall want some.-
 60376 
 60377      [Points at Lear] That's a sheal'd peascod.
 60378   Gon. Not only, sir, this your all-licens'd fool,
 60379      But other of your insolent retinue
 60380      Do hourly carp and quarrel, breaking forth
 60381      In rank and not-to-be-endured riots. Sir,
 60382      I had thought, by making this well known unto you,
 60383      To have found a safe redress, but now grow fearful,
 60384      By what yourself, too, late have spoke and done,
 60385      That you protect this course, and put it on
 60386      By your allowance; which if you should, the fault
 60387      Would not scape censure, nor the redresses sleep,
 60388      Which, in the tender of a wholesome weal,
 60389      Might in their working do you that offence
 60390      Which else were shame, that then necessity
 60391      Must call discreet proceeding.
 60392   Fool. For you know, nuncle,
 60393 
 60394           The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long
 60395           That it had it head bit off by it young.
 60396 
 60397      So out went the candle, and we were left darkling.
 60398   Lear. Are you our daughter?
 60399   Gon. Come, sir,
 60400      I would you would make use of that good wisdom
 60401      Whereof I know you are fraught, and put away
 60402      These dispositions that of late transform you
 60403      From what you rightly are.
 60404   Fool. May not an ass know when the cart draws the horse?
 60405      Whoop, Jug, I love thee!
 60406   Lear. Doth any here know me? This is not Lear.
 60407      Doth Lear walk thus? speak thus? Where are his eyes?
 60408      Either his notion weakens, his discernings
 60409      Are lethargied- Ha! waking? 'Tis not so!
 60410      Who is it that can tell me who I am?
 60411   Fool. Lear's shadow.
 60412   Lear. I would learn that; for, by the marks of sovereignty,
 60413      Knowledge, and reason, I should be false persuaded
 60414      I had daughters.
 60415   Fool. Which they will make an obedient father.
 60416   Lear. Your name, fair gentlewoman?
 60417   Gon. This admiration, sir, is much o' th' savour
 60418      Of other your new pranks. I do beseech you
 60419      To understand my purposes aright.
 60420      As you are old and reverend, you should be wise.
 60421      Here do you keep a hundred knights and squires;
 60422      Men so disorder'd, so debosh'd, and bold
 60423      That this our court, infected with their manners,
 60424      Shows like a riotous inn. Epicurism and lust
 60425      Make it more like a tavern or a brothel
 60426      Than a grac'd palace. The shame itself doth speak
 60427      For instant remedy. Be then desir'd
 60428      By her that else will take the thing she begs
 60429      A little to disquantity your train,
 60430      And the remainder that shall still depend
 60431      To be such men as may besort your age,
 60432      Which know themselves, and you.
 60433   Lear. Darkness and devils!
 60434      Saddle my horses! Call my train together!
 60435      Degenerate bastard, I'll not trouble thee;
 60436      Yet have I left a daughter.
 60437   Gon. You strike my people, and your disorder'd rabble
 60438      Make servants of their betters.
 60439 
 60440                             Enter Albany.
 60441 
 60442   Lear. Woe that too late repents!- O, sir, are you come?
 60443      Is it your will? Speak, sir!- Prepare my horses.
 60444      Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend,
 60445      More hideous when thou show'st thee in a child
 60446      Than the sea-monster!
 60447   Alb. Pray, sir, be patient.
 60448   Lear. [to Goneril] Detested kite, thou liest!
 60449      My train are men of choice and rarest parts,
 60450      That all particulars of duty know
 60451      And in the most exact regard support
 60452      The worships of their name.- O most small fault,
 60453      How ugly didst thou in Cordelia show!
 60454      Which, like an engine, wrench'd my frame of nature
 60455      From the fix'd place; drew from my heart all love
 60456      And added to the gall. O Lear, Lear, Lear!
 60457      Beat at this gate that let thy folly in  [Strikes his head.]
 60458      And thy dear judgment out! Go, go, my people.
 60459   Alb. My lord, I am guiltless, as I am ignorant
 60460      Of what hath mov'd you.
 60461   Lear. It may be so, my lord.
 60462      Hear, Nature, hear! dear goddess, hear!
 60463      Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend
 60464      To make this creature fruitful.
 60465      Into her womb convey sterility;
 60466      Dry up in her the organs of increase;
 60467      And from her derogate body never spring
 60468      A babe to honour her! If she must teem,
 60469      Create her child of spleen, that it may live
 60470      And be a thwart disnatur'd torment to her.
 60471      Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth,
 60472      With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks,
 60473      Turn all her mother's pains and benefits
 60474      To laughter and contempt, that she may feel
 60475      How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
 60476      To have a thankless child! Away, away!                Exit.
 60477   Alb. Now, gods that we adore, whereof comes this?
 60478   Gon. Never afflict yourself to know the cause;
 60479      But let his disposition have that scope
 60480      That dotage gives it.
 60481 
 60482                              Enter Lear.
 60483 
 60484   Lear. What, fifty of my followers at a clap?
 60485      Within a fortnight?
 60486   Alb. What's the matter, sir?
 60487   Lear. I'll tell thee. [To Goneril] Life and death! I am asham'd
 60488      That thou hast power to shake my manhood thus;
 60489      That these hot tears, which break from me perforce,
 60490      Should make thee worth them. Blasts and fogs upon thee!
 60491      Th' untented woundings of a father's curse
 60492      Pierce every sense about thee!- Old fond eyes,
 60493      Beweep this cause again, I'll pluck ye out,
 60494      And cast you, with the waters that you lose,
 60495      To temper clay. Yea, is it come to this?
 60496      Let it be so. Yet have I left a daughter,
 60497      Who I am sure is kind and comfortable.
 60498      When she shall hear this of thee, with her nails
 60499      She'll flay thy wolvish visage. Thou shalt find
 60500      That I'll resume the shape which thou dost think
 60501      I have cast off for ever; thou shalt, I warrant thee.
 60502                             Exeunt [Lear, Kent, and Attendants].
 60503   Gon. Do you mark that, my lord?
 60504   Alb. I cannot be so partial, Goneril,
 60505      To the great love I bear you -
 60506   Gon. Pray you, content.- What, Oswald, ho!
 60507      [To the Fool] You, sir, more knave than fool, after your master!
 60508   Fool. Nuncle Lear, nuncle Lear, tarry! Take the fool with thee.
 60509 
 60510           A fox when one has caught her,
 60511           And such a daughter,
 60512           Should sure to the slaughter,
 60513           If my cap would buy a halter.
 60514           So the fool follows after.                       Exit.
 60515   Gon. This man hath had good counsel! A hundred knights?
 60516      'Tis politic and safe to let him keep
 60517      At point a hundred knights; yes, that on every dream,
 60518      Each buzz, each fancy, each complaint, dislike,
 60519      He may enguard his dotage with their pow'rs
 60520      And hold our lives in mercy.- Oswald, I say!
 60521   Alb. Well, you may fear too far.
 60522   Gon. Safer than trust too far.
 60523      Let me still take away the harms I fear,
 60524      Not fear still to be taken. I know his heart.
 60525      What he hath utter'd I have writ my sister.
 60526      If she sustain him and his hundred knights,
 60527      When I have show'd th' unfitness-
 60528 
 60529                      Enter [Oswald the] Steward.
 60530 
 60531      How now, Oswald?
 60532      What, have you writ that letter to my sister?
 60533   Osw. Yes, madam.
 60534   Gon. Take you some company, and away to horse!
 60535      Inform her full of my particular fear,
 60536      And thereto add such reasons of your own
 60537      As may compact it more. Get you gone,
 60538      And hasten your return. [Exit Oswald.] No, no, my lord!
 60539      This milky gentleness and course of yours,
 60540      Though I condemn it not, yet, under pardon,
 60541      You are much more at task for want of wisdom
 60542      Than prais'd for harmful mildness.
 60543   Alb. How far your eyes may pierce I cannot tell.
 60544      Striving to better, oft we mar what's well.
 60545   Gon. Nay then-
 60546   Alb. Well, well; th' event.                            Exeunt.
 60547 
 60548 
 60549 
 60550 
 60551 Scene V.
 60552 Court before the Duke of Albany's Palace.
 60553 
 60554 Enter Lear, Kent, and Fool.
 60555 
 60556   Lear. Go you before to Gloucester with these letters. Acquaint my
 60557      daughter no further with anything you know than comes from her
 60558      demand out of the letter. If your diligence be not speedy, I
 60559      shall be there afore you.
 60560   Kent. I will not sleep, my lord, till I have delivered your letter.
 60561 Exit.
 60562   Fool. If a man's brains were in's heels, were't not in danger of
 60563      kibes?
 60564   Lear. Ay, boy.
 60565   Fool. Then I prithee be merry. Thy wit shall ne'er go slip-shod.
 60566   Lear. Ha, ha, ha!
 60567   Fool. Shalt see thy other daughter will use thee kindly; for though
 60568      she's as like this as a crab's like an apple, yet I can tell
 60569      what I can tell.
 60570   Lear. What canst tell, boy?
 60571   Fool. She'll taste as like this as a crab does to a crab. Thou
 60572      canst tell why one's nose stands i' th' middle on's face?
 60573   Lear. No.
 60574   Fool. Why, to keep one's eyes of either side's nose, that what a
 60575      man cannot smell out, 'a may spy into.
 60576   Lear. I did her wrong.
 60577   Fool. Canst tell how an oyster makes his shell?
 60578   Lear. No.
 60579   Fool. Nor I neither; but I can tell why a snail has a house.
 60580   Lear. Why?
 60581   Fool. Why, to put's head in; not to give it away to his daughters,
 60582      and leave his horns without a case.
 60583   Lear. I will forget my nature. So kind a father!- Be my horses
 60584      ready?
 60585   Fool. Thy asses are gone about 'em. The reason why the seven stars
 60586      are no moe than seven is a pretty reason.
 60587   Lear. Because they are not eight?
 60588   Fool. Yes indeed. Thou wouldst make a good fool.
 60589   Lear. To tak't again perforce! Monster ingratitude!
 60590   Fool. If thou wert my fool, nuncle, I'ld have thee beaten for being
 60591      old before thy time.
 60592   Lear. How's that?
 60593   Fool. Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise.
 60594   Lear. O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven!
 60595      Keep me in temper; I would not be mad!
 60596 
 60597                          [Enter a Gentleman.]
 60598 
 60599      How now? Are the horses ready?
 60600   Gent. Ready, my lord.
 60601   Lear. Come, boy.
 60602   Fool. She that's a maid now, and laughs at my departure,
 60603      Shall not be a maid long, unless things be cut shorter
 60604                                                          Exeunt.
 60605 
 60606 
 60607 
 60608 
 60609 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 60610 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 60611 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 60612 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
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 60617 
 60618 
 60619 
 60620 ACT II. Scene I.
 60621 A court within the Castle of the Earl of Gloucester.
 60622 
 60623 Enter [Edmund the] Bastard and Curan, meeting.
 60624 
 60625   Edm. Save thee, Curan.
 60626   Cur. And you, sir. I have been with your father, and given him
 60627      notice that the Duke of Cornwall and Regan his Duchess will be
 60628      here with him this night.
 60629   Edm. How comes that?
 60630   Cur. Nay, I know not. You have heard of the news abroad- I mean the
 60631      whisper'd ones, for they are yet but ear-kissing arguments?
 60632   Edm. Not I. Pray you, what are they?
 60633   Cur. Have you heard of no likely wars toward 'twixt the two Dukes
 60634      of Cornwall and Albany?
 60635   Edm. Not a word.
 60636   Cur. You may do, then, in time. Fare you well, sir.      Exit.
 60637   Edm. The Duke be here to-night? The better! best!
 60638      This weaves itself perforce into my business.
 60639      My father hath set guard to take my brother;
 60640      And I have one thing, of a queasy question,
 60641      Which I must act. Briefness and fortune, work!
 60642      Brother, a word! Descend! Brother, I say!
 60643 
 60644                              Enter Edgar.
 60645 
 60646      My father watches. O sir, fly this place!
 60647      Intelligence is given where you are hid.
 60648      You have now the good advantage of the night.
 60649      Have you not spoken 'gainst the Duke of Cornwall?
 60650      He's coming hither; now, i' th' night, i' th' haste,
 60651      And Regan with him. Have you nothing said
 60652      Upon his party 'gainst the Duke of Albany?
 60653      Advise yourself.
 60654   Edg. I am sure on't, not a word.
 60655   Edm. I hear my father coming. Pardon me!
 60656      In cunning I must draw my sword upon you.
 60657      Draw, seem to defend yourself; now quit you well.-
 60658      Yield! Come before my father. Light, ho, here!
 60659      Fly, brother.- Torches, torches!- So farewell.
 60660                                                      Exit Edgar.
 60661      Some blood drawn on me would beget opinion
 60662      Of my more fierce endeavour. [Stabs his arm.] I have seen
 60663         drunkards
 60664      Do more than this in sport.- Father, father!-
 60665      Stop, stop! No help?
 60666 
 60667              Enter Gloucester, and Servants with torches.
 60668 
 60669   Glou. Now, Edmund, where's the villain?
 60670   Edm. Here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword out,
 60671      Mumbling of wicked charms, conjuring the moon
 60672      To stand 's auspicious mistress.
 60673   Glou. But where is he?
 60674   Edm. Look, sir, I bleed.
 60675   Glou. Where is the villain, Edmund?
 60676   Edm. Fled this way, sir. When by no means he could-
 60677   Glou. Pursue him, ho! Go after.        [Exeunt some Servants].
 60678      By no means what?
 60679   Edm. Persuade me to the murther of your lordship;
 60680      But that I told him the revenging gods
 60681      'Gainst parricides did all their thunders bend;
 60682      Spoke with how manifold and strong a bond
 60683      The child was bound to th' father- sir, in fine,
 60684      Seeing how loathly opposite I stood
 60685      To his unnatural purpose, in fell motion
 60686      With his prepared sword he charges home
 60687      My unprovided body, lanch'd mine arm;
 60688      But when he saw my best alarum'd spirits,
 60689      Bold in the quarrel's right, rous'd to th' encounter,
 60690      Or whether gasted by the noise I made,
 60691      Full suddenly he fled.
 60692   Glou. Let him fly far.
 60693      Not in this land shall he remain uncaught;
 60694      And found- dispatch. The noble Duke my master,
 60695      My worthy arch and patron, comes to-night.
 60696      By his authority I will proclaim it
 60697      That he which find, him shall deserve our thanks,
 60698      Bringing the murderous caitiff to the stake;
 60699      He that conceals him, death.
 60700   Edm. When I dissuaded him from his intent
 60701      And found him pight to do it, with curst speech
 60702      I threaten'd to discover him. He replied,
 60703      'Thou unpossessing bastard, dost thou think,
 60704      If I would stand against thee, would the reposal
 60705      Of any trust, virtue, or worth in thee
 60706      Make thy words faith'd? No. What I should deny
 60707      (As this I would; ay, though thou didst produce
 60708      My very character), I'ld turn it all
 60709      To thy suggestion, plot, and damned practice;
 60710      And thou must make a dullard of the world,
 60711      If they not thought the profits of my death
 60712      Were very pregnant and potential spurs
 60713      To make thee seek it.'
 60714   Glou. Strong and fast'ned villain!
 60715      Would he deny his letter? I never got him.
 60716                                                   Tucket within.
 60717      Hark, the Duke's trumpets! I know not why he comes.
 60718      All ports I'll bar; the villain shall not scape;
 60719      The Duke must grant me that. Besides, his picture
 60720      I will send far and near, that all the kingdom
 60721      May have due note of him, and of my land,
 60722      Loyal and natural boy, I'll work the means
 60723      To make thee capable.
 60724 
 60725                 Enter Cornwall, Regan, and Attendants.
 60726 
 60727   Corn. How now, my noble friend? Since I came hither
 60728      (Which I can call but now) I have heard strange news.
 60729   Reg. If it be true, all vengeance comes too short
 60730      Which can pursue th' offender. How dost, my lord?
 60731   Glou. O madam, my old heart is crack'd, it's crack'd!
 60732   Reg. What, did my father's godson seek your life?
 60733      He whom my father nam'd? Your Edgar?
 60734   Glou. O lady, lady, shame would have it hid!
 60735   Reg. Was he not companion with the riotous knights
 60736      That tend upon my father?
 60737   Glou. I know not, madam. 'Tis too bad, too bad!
 60738   Edm. Yes, madam, he was of that consort.
 60739   Reg. No marvel then though he were ill affected.
 60740      'Tis they have put him on the old man's death,
 60741      To have th' expense and waste of his revenues.
 60742      I have this present evening from my sister
 60743      Been well inform'd of them, and with such cautions
 60744      That, if they come to sojourn at my house,
 60745      I'll not be there.
 60746   Corn. Nor I, assure thee, Regan.
 60747      Edmund, I hear that you have shown your father
 60748      A childlike office.
 60749   Edm. 'Twas my duty, sir.
 60750   Glou. He did bewray his practice, and receiv'd
 60751      This hurt you see, striving to apprehend him.
 60752   Corn. Is he pursued?
 60753   Glou. Ay, my good lord.
 60754   Corn. If he be taken, he shall never more
 60755      Be fear'd of doing harm. Make your own purpose,
 60756      How in my strength you please. For you, Edmund,
 60757      Whose virtue and obedience doth this instant
 60758      So much commend itself, you shall be ours.
 60759      Natures of such deep trust we shall much need;
 60760      You we first seize on.
 60761   Edm. I shall serve you, sir,
 60762      Truly, however else.
 60763   Glou. For him I thank your Grace.
 60764   Corn. You know not why we came to visit you-
 60765   Reg. Thus out of season, threading dark-ey'd night.
 60766      Occasions, noble Gloucester, of some poise,
 60767      Wherein we must have use of your advice.
 60768      Our father he hath writ, so hath our sister,
 60769      Of differences, which I best thought it fit
 60770      To answer from our home. The several messengers
 60771      From hence attend dispatch. Our good old friend,
 60772      Lay comforts to your bosom, and bestow
 60773      Your needful counsel to our business,
 60774      Which craves the instant use.
 60775   Glou. I serve you, madam.
 60776      Your Graces are right welcome.
 60777                                                Exeunt. Flourish.
 60778 
 60779 
 60780 
 60781 
 60782 Scene II.
 60783 Before Gloucester's Castle.
 60784 
 60785 Enter Kent and [Oswald the] Steward, severally.
 60786 
 60787   Osw. Good dawning to thee, friend. Art of this house?
 60788   Kent. Ay.
 60789   Osw. Where may we set our horses?
 60790   Kent. I' th' mire.
 60791   Osw. Prithee, if thou lov'st me, tell me.
 60792   Kent. I love thee not.
 60793   Osw. Why then, I care not for thee.
 60794   Kent. If I had thee in Lipsbury Pinfold, I would make thee care for
 60795      me.
 60796   Osw. Why dost thou use me thus? I know thee not.
 60797   Kent. Fellow, I know thee.
 60798   Osw. What dost thou know me for?
 60799   Kent. A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a base, proud,
 60800      shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound, filthy,
 60801      worsted-stocking knave; a lily-liver'd, action-taking, whoreson,
 60802      glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical rogue;
 60803      one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd in way of
 60804      good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave,
 60805      beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch;
 60806      one whom I will beat into clamorous whining, if thou deny the
 60807      least syllable of thy addition.
 60808   Osw. Why, what a monstrous fellow art thou, thus to rail on one
 60809      that's neither known of thee nor knows thee!
 60810   Kent. What a brazen-fac'd varlet art thou, to deny thou knowest me!
 60811      Is it two days ago since I beat thee and tripp'd up thy heels
 60812      before the King? [Draws his sword.] Draw, you rogue! for, though
 60813      it be night, yet the moon shines. I'll make a sop o' th'
 60814      moonshine o' you. Draw, you whoreson cullionly barbermonger!
 60815      draw!
 60816   Osw. Away! I have nothing to do with thee.
 60817   Kent. Draw, you rascal! You come with letters against the King, and
 60818      take Vanity the puppet's part against the royalty of her father.
 60819      Draw, you rogue, or I'll so carbonado your shanks! Draw, you
 60820      rascal! Come your ways!
 60821   Osw. Help, ho! murther! help!
 60822   Kent. Strike, you slave! Stand, rogue! Stand, you neat slave!
 60823      Strike!                                        [Beats him.]
 60824   Osw. Help, ho! murther! murther!
 60825 
 60826       Enter Edmund, with his rapier drawn, Gloucester, Cornwall,
 60827                            Regan, Servants.
 60828 
 60829   Edm. How now? What's the matter?                 Parts [them].
 60830   Kent. With you, goodman boy, an you please! Come, I'll flesh ye!
 60831      Come on, young master!
 60832   Glou. Weapons? arms? What's the matter here?
 60833   Corn. Keep peace, upon your lives!
 60834      He dies that strikes again. What is the matter?
 60835   Reg. The messengers from our sister and the King
 60836   Corn. What is your difference? Speak.
 60837   Osw. I am scarce in breath, my lord.
 60838   Kent. No marvel, you have so bestirr'd your valour. You cowardly
 60839      rascal, nature disclaims in thee; a tailor made thee.
 60840   Corn. Thou art a strange fellow. A tailor make a man?
 60841   Kent. Ay, a tailor, sir. A stonecutter or a painter could not have
 60842      made him so ill, though he had been but two hours at the trade.
 60843   Corn. Speak yet, how grew your quarrel?
 60844   Osw. This ancient ruffian, sir, whose life I have spar'd
 60845      At suit of his grey beard-
 60846   Kent. Thou whoreson zed! thou unnecessary letter! My lord, if
 60847      you'll give me leave, I will tread this unbolted villain into
 60848      mortar and daub the walls of a jakes with him. 'Spare my grey
 60849      beard,' you wagtail?
 60850   Corn. Peace, sirrah!
 60851      You beastly knave, know you no reverence?
 60852   Kent. Yes, sir, but anger hath a privilege.
 60853   Corn. Why art thou angry?
 60854   Kent. That such a slave as this should wear a sword,
 60855      Who wears no honesty. Such smiling rogues as these,
 60856      Like rats, oft bite the holy cords atwain
 60857      Which are too intrinse t' unloose; smooth every passion
 60858      That in the natures of their lords rebel,
 60859      Bring oil to fire, snow to their colder moods;
 60860      Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks
 60861      With every gale and vary of their masters,
 60862      Knowing naught (like dogs) but following.
 60863      A plague upon your epileptic visage!
 60864      Smile you my speeches, as I were a fool?
 60865      Goose, an I had you upon Sarum Plain,
 60866      I'ld drive ye cackling home to Camelot.
 60867   Corn. What, art thou mad, old fellow?
 60868   Glou. How fell you out? Say that.
 60869   Kent. No contraries hold more antipathy
 60870      Than I and such a knave.
 60871   Corn. Why dost thou call him knave? What is his fault?
 60872   Kent. His countenance likes me not.
 60873   Corn. No more perchance does mine, or his, or hers.
 60874   Kent. Sir, 'tis my occupation to be plain.
 60875      I have seen better faces in my time
 60876      Than stands on any shoulder that I see
 60877      Before me at this instant.
 60878   Corn. This is some fellow
 60879      Who, having been prais'd for bluntness, doth affect
 60880      A saucy roughness, and constrains the garb
 60881      Quite from his nature. He cannot flatter, he!
 60882      An honest mind and plain- he must speak truth!
 60883      An they will take it, so; if not, he's plain.
 60884      These kind of knaves I know which in this plainness
 60885      Harbour more craft and more corrupter ends
 60886      Than twenty silly-ducking observants
 60887      That stretch their duties nicely.
 60888   Kent. Sir, in good faith, in sincere verity,
 60889      Under th' allowance of your great aspect,
 60890      Whose influence, like the wreath of radiant fire
 60891      On flickering Phoebus' front-
 60892   Corn. What mean'st by this?
 60893   Kent. To go out of my dialect, which you discommend so much. I
 60894      know, sir, I am no flatterer. He that beguil'd you in a plain
 60895      accent was a plain knave, which, for my part, I will not be,
 60896      though I should win your displeasure to entreat me to't.
 60897   Corn. What was th' offence you gave him?
 60898   Osw. I never gave him any.
 60899      It pleas'd the King his master very late
 60900      To strike at me, upon his misconstruction;
 60901      When he, conjunct, and flattering his displeasure,
 60902      Tripp'd me behind; being down, insulted, rail'd
 60903      And put upon him such a deal of man
 60904      That worthied him, got praises of the King
 60905      For him attempting who was self-subdu'd;
 60906      And, in the fleshment of this dread exploit,
 60907      Drew on me here again.
 60908   Kent. None of these rogues and cowards
 60909      But Ajax is their fool.
 60910   Corn. Fetch forth the stocks!
 60911      You stubborn ancient knave, you reverent braggart,
 60912      We'll teach you-
 60913   Kent. Sir, I am too old to learn.
 60914      Call not your stocks for me. I serve the King;
 60915      On whose employment I was sent to you.
 60916      You shall do small respect, show too bold malice
 60917      Against the grace and person of my master,
 60918      Stocking his messenger.
 60919   Corn. Fetch forth the stocks! As I have life and honour,
 60920      There shall he sit till noon.
 60921   Reg. Till noon? Till night, my lord, and all night too!
 60922   Kent. Why, madam, if I were your father's dog,
 60923      You should not use me so.
 60924   Reg. Sir, being his knave, I will.
 60925   Corn. This is a fellow of the selfsame colour
 60926      Our sister speaks of. Come, bring away the stocks!
 60927                                              Stocks brought out.
 60928   Glou. Let me beseech your Grace not to do so.
 60929      His fault is much, and the good King his master
 60930      Will check him for't. Your purpos'd low correction
 60931      Is such as basest and contemn'dest wretches
 60932      For pilf'rings and most common trespasses
 60933      Are punish'd with. The King must take it ill
 60934      That he, so slightly valued in his messenger,
 60935      Should have him thus restrain'd.
 60936   Corn. I'll answer that.
 60937   Reg. My sister may receive it much more worse,
 60938      To have her gentleman abus'd, assaulted,
 60939      For following her affairs. Put in his legs.-
 60940                                     [Kent is put in the stocks.]
 60941      Come, my good lord, away.
 60942                            Exeunt [all but Gloucester and Kent].
 60943   Glou. I am sorry for thee, friend. 'Tis the Duke's pleasure,
 60944      Whose disposition, all the world well knows,
 60945      Will not be rubb'd nor stopp'd. I'll entreat for thee.
 60946   Kent. Pray do not, sir. I have watch'd and travell'd hard.
 60947      Some time I shall sleep out, the rest I'll whistle.
 60948      A good man's fortune may grow out at heels.
 60949      Give you good morrow!
 60950   Glou. The Duke 's to blame in this; 'twill be ill taken.
 60951 Exit.
 60952   Kent. Good King, that must approve the common saw,
 60953      Thou out of heaven's benediction com'st
 60954      To the warm sun!
 60955      Approach, thou beacon to this under globe,
 60956      That by thy comfortable beams I may
 60957      Peruse this letter. Nothing almost sees miracles
 60958      But misery. I know 'tis from Cordelia,
 60959      Who hath most fortunately been inform'd
 60960      Of my obscured course- and [reads] 'shall find time
 60961      From this enormous state, seeking to give
 60962      Losses their remedies'- All weary and o'erwatch'd,
 60963      Take vantage, heavy eyes, not to behold
 60964      This shameful lodging.
 60965      Fortune, good night; smile once more, turn thy wheel.
 60966                                                          Sleeps.
 60967 
 60968 
 60969 
 60970 
 60971 Scene III.
 60972 The open country.
 60973 
 60974 Enter Edgar.
 60975 
 60976   Edg. I heard myself proclaim'd,
 60977      And by the happy hollow of a tree
 60978      Escap'd the hunt. No port is free, no place
 60979      That guard and most unusual vigilance
 60980      Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may scape,
 60981      I will preserve myself; and am bethought
 60982      To take the basest and most poorest shape
 60983      That ever penury, in contempt of man,
 60984      Brought near to beast. My face I'll grime with filth,
 60985      Blanket my loins, elf all my hair in knots,
 60986      And with presented nakedness outface
 60987      The winds and persecutions of the sky.
 60988      The country gives me proof and precedent
 60989      Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices,
 60990      Strike in their numb'd and mortified bare arms
 60991      Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary;
 60992      And with this horrible object, from low farms,
 60993      Poor pelting villages, sheepcotes, and mills,
 60994      Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers,
 60995      Enforce their charity. 'Poor Turlygod! poor Tom!'
 60996      That's something yet! Edgar I nothing am.             Exit.
 60997 
 60998 
 60999 
 61000 
 61001 Scene IV.
 61002 Before Gloucester's Castle; Kent in the stocks.
 61003 
 61004 Enter Lear, Fool, and Gentleman.
 61005 
 61006   Lear. 'Tis strange that they should so depart from home,
 61007      And not send back my messenger.
 61008   Gent. As I learn'd,
 61009      The night before there was no purpose in them
 61010      Of this remove.
 61011   Kent. Hail to thee, noble master!
 61012   Lear. Ha!
 61013      Mak'st thou this shame thy pastime?
 61014   Kent. No, my lord.
 61015   Fool. Ha, ha! look! he wears cruel garters. Horses are tied by the
 61016      head, dogs and bears by th' neck, monkeys by th' loins, and men
 61017      by th' legs. When a man's over-lusty at legs, then he wears
 61018      wooden nether-stocks.
 61019   Lear. What's he that hath so much thy place mistook
 61020      To set thee here?
 61021   Kent. It is both he and she-
 61022      Your son and daughter.
 61023   Lear. No.
 61024   Kent. Yes.
 61025   Lear. No, I say.
 61026   Kent. I say yea.
 61027   Lear. No, no, they would not!
 61028   Kent. Yes, they have.
 61029   Lear. By Jupiter, I swear no!
 61030   Kent. By Juno, I swear ay!
 61031   Lear. They durst not do't;
 61032      They would not, could not do't. 'Tis worse than murther
 61033      To do upon respect such violent outrage.
 61034      Resolve me with all modest haste which way
 61035      Thou mightst deserve or they impose this usage,
 61036      Coming from us.
 61037   Kent. My lord, when at their home
 61038      I did commend your Highness' letters to them,
 61039      Ere I was risen from the place that show'd
 61040      My duty kneeling, came there a reeking post,
 61041      Stew'd in his haste, half breathless, panting forth
 61042      From Goneril his mistress salutations;
 61043      Deliver'd letters, spite of intermission,
 61044      Which presently they read; on whose contents,
 61045      They summon'd up their meiny, straight took horse,
 61046      Commanded me to follow and attend
 61047      The leisure of their answer, gave me cold looks,
 61048      And meeting here the other messenger,
 61049      Whose welcome I perceiv'd had poison'd mine-
 61050      Being the very fellow which of late
 61051      Display'd so saucily against your Highness-
 61052      Having more man than wit about me, drew.
 61053      He rais'd the house with loud and coward cries.
 61054      Your son and daughter found this trespass worth
 61055      The shame which here it suffers.
 61056   Fool. Winter's not gone yet, if the wild geese fly that way.
 61057 
 61058           Fathers that wear rags
 61059             Do make their children blind;
 61060           But fathers that bear bags
 61061             Shall see their children kind.
 61062           Fortune, that arrant whore,
 61063           Ne'er turns the key to th' poor.
 61064 
 61065      But for all this, thou shalt have as many dolours for thy
 61066      daughters as thou canst tell in a year.
 61067   Lear. O, how this mother swells up toward my heart!
 61068      Hysterica passio! Down, thou climbing sorrow!
 61069      Thy element's below! Where is this daughter?
 61070   Kent. With the Earl, sir, here within.
 61071   Lear. Follow me not;
 61072      Stay here.                                            Exit.
 61073   Gent. Made you no more offence but what you speak of?
 61074   Kent. None.
 61075      How chance the King comes with so small a number?
 61076   Fool. An thou hadst been set i' th' stocks for that question,
 61077      thou'dst well deserv'd it.
 61078   Kent. Why, fool?
 61079   Fool. We'll set thee to school to an ant, to teach thee there's no
 61080      labouring i' th' winter. All that follow their noses are led by
 61081      their eyes but blind men, and there's not a nose among twenty
 61082      but can smell him that's stinking. Let go thy hold when a great
 61083      wheel runs down a hill, lest it break thy neck with following
 61084      it; but the great one that goes upward, let him draw thee after.
 61085      When a wise man gives thee better counsel, give me mine again. I
 61086      would have none but knaves follow it, since a fool gives it.
 61087           That sir which serves and seeks for gain,
 61088             And follows but for form,
 61089           Will pack when it begins to rain
 61090             And leave thee in the storm.
 61091           But I will tarry; the fool will stay,
 61092             And let the wise man fly.
 61093           The knave turns fool that runs away;
 61094             The fool no knave, perdy.
 61095   Kent. Where learn'd you this, fool?
 61096   Fool. Not i' th' stocks, fool.
 61097 
 61098                       Enter Lear and Gloucester
 61099 
 61100   Lear. Deny to speak with me? They are sick? they are weary?
 61101      They have travell'd all the night? Mere fetches-
 61102      The images of revolt and flying off!
 61103      Fetch me a better answer.
 61104   Glou. My dear lord,
 61105      You know the fiery quality of the Duke,
 61106      How unremovable and fix'd he is
 61107      In his own course.
 61108   Lear. Vengeance! plague! death! confusion!
 61109      Fiery? What quality? Why, Gloucester, Gloucester,
 61110      I'ld speak with the Duke of Cornwall and his wife.
 61111   Glou. Well, my good lord, I have inform'd them so.
 61112   Lear. Inform'd them? Dost thou understand me, man?
 61113   Glou. Ay, my good lord.
 61114   Lear. The King would speak with Cornwall; the dear father
 61115      Would with his daughter speak, commands her service.
 61116      Are they inform'd of this? My breath and blood!
 61117      Fiery? the fiery Duke? Tell the hot Duke that-
 61118      No, but not yet! May be he is not well.
 61119      Infirmity doth still neglect all office
 61120      Whereto our health is bound. We are not ourselves
 61121      When nature, being oppress'd, commands the mind
 61122      To suffer with the body. I'll forbear;
 61123      And am fallen out with my more headier will,
 61124      To take the indispos'd and sickly fit
 61125      For the sound man.- Death on my state! Wherefore
 61126      Should be sit here? This act persuades me
 61127      That this remotion of the Duke and her
 61128      Is practice only. Give me my servant forth.
 61129      Go tell the Duke and 's wife I'ld speak with them-
 61130      Now, presently. Bid them come forth and hear me,
 61131      Or at their chamber door I'll beat the drum
 61132      Till it cry sleep to death.
 61133   Glou. I would have all well betwixt you.                 Exit.
 61134   Lear. O me, my heart, my rising heart! But down!
 61135   Fool. Cry to it, nuncle, as the cockney did to the eels when she
 61136      put 'em i' th' paste alive. She knapp'd 'em o' th' coxcombs with
 61137      a stick and cried 'Down, wantons, down!' 'Twas her brother that,
 61138      in pure kindness to his horse, buttered his hay.
 61139 
 61140              Enter Cornwall, Regan, Gloucester, Servants.
 61141 
 61142   Lear. Good morrow to you both.
 61143   Corn. Hail to your Grace!
 61144                                        Kent here set at liberty.
 61145   Reg. I am glad to see your Highness.
 61146   Lear. Regan, I think you are; I know what reason
 61147      I have to think so. If thou shouldst not be glad,
 61148      I would divorce me from thy mother's tomb,
 61149      Sepulchring an adultress. [To Kent] O, are you free?
 61150      Some other time for that.- Beloved Regan,
 61151      Thy sister's naught. O Regan, she hath tied
 61152      Sharp-tooth'd unkindness, like a vulture, here!
 61153                                    [Lays his hand on his heart.]
 61154      I can scarce speak to thee. Thou'lt not believe
 61155      With how deprav'd a quality- O Regan!
 61156   Reg. I pray you, sir, take patience. I have hope
 61157      You less know how to value her desert
 61158      Than she to scant her duty.
 61159   Lear. Say, how is that?
 61160   Reg. I cannot think my sister in the least
 61161      Would fail her obligation. If, sir, perchance
 61162      She have restrain'd the riots of your followers,
 61163      'Tis on such ground, and to such wholesome end,
 61164      As clears her from all blame.
 61165   Lear. My curses on her!
 61166   Reg. O, sir, you are old!
 61167      Nature in you stands on the very verge
 61168      Of her confine. You should be rul'd, and led
 61169      By some discretion that discerns your state
 61170      Better than you yourself. Therefore I pray you
 61171      That to our sister you do make return;
 61172      Say you have wrong'd her, sir.
 61173   Lear. Ask her forgiveness?
 61174      Do you but mark how this becomes the house:
 61175      'Dear daughter, I confess that I am old.          [Kneels.]
 61176      Age is unnecessary. On my knees I beg
 61177      That you'll vouchsafe me raiment, bed, and food.'
 61178   Reg. Good sir, no more! These are unsightly tricks.
 61179      Return you to my sister.
 61180   Lear. [rises] Never, Regan!
 61181      She hath abated me of half my train;
 61182      Look'd black upon me; struck me with her tongue,
 61183      Most serpent-like, upon the very heart.
 61184      All the stor'd vengeances of heaven fall
 61185      On her ingrateful top! Strike her young bones,
 61186      You taking airs, with lameness!
 61187   Corn. Fie, sir, fie!
 61188   Lear. You nimble lightnings, dart your blinding flames
 61189      Into her scornful eyes! Infect her beauty,
 61190      You fen-suck'd fogs, drawn by the pow'rful sun,
 61191      To fall and blast her pride!
 61192   Reg. O the blest gods! so will you wish on me
 61193      When the rash mood is on.
 61194   Lear. No, Regan, thou shalt never have my curse.
 61195      Thy tender-hefted nature shall not give
 61196      Thee o'er to harshness. Her eyes are fierce; but thine
 61197      Do comfort, and not burn. 'Tis not in thee
 61198      To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train,
 61199      To bandy hasty words, to scant my sizes,
 61200      And, in conclusion, to oppose the bolt
 61201      Against my coming in. Thou better know'st
 61202      The offices of nature, bond of childhood,
 61203      Effects of courtesy, dues of gratitude.
 61204      Thy half o' th' kingdom hast thou not forgot,
 61205      Wherein I thee endow'd.
 61206   Reg. Good sir, to th' purpose.
 61207                                                   Tucket within.
 61208   Lear. Who put my man i' th' stocks?
 61209   Corn. What trumpet's that?
 61210   Reg. I know't- my sister's. This approves her letter,
 61211      That she would soon be here.
 61212 
 61213                      Enter [Oswald the] Steward.
 61214 
 61215      Is your lady come?
 61216   Lear. This is a slave, whose easy-borrowed pride
 61217      Dwells in the fickle grace of her he follows.
 61218      Out, varlet, from my sight!
 61219   Corn. What means your Grace?
 61220 
 61221                             Enter Goneril.
 61222 
 61223   Lear. Who stock'd my servant? Regan, I have good hope
 61224      Thou didst not know on't.- Who comes here? O heavens!
 61225      If you do love old men, if your sweet sway
 61226      Allow obedience- if yourselves are old,
 61227      Make it your cause! Send down, and take my part!
 61228      [To Goneril] Art not asham'd to look upon this beard?-
 61229      O Regan, wilt thou take her by the hand?
 61230   Gon. Why not by th' hand, sir? How have I offended?
 61231      All's not offence that indiscretion finds
 61232      And dotage terms so.
 61233   Lear. O sides, you are too tough!
 61234      Will you yet hold? How came my man i' th' stocks?
 61235   Corn. I set him there, sir; but his own disorders
 61236      Deserv'd much less advancement.
 61237   Lear. You? Did you?
 61238   Reg. I pray you, father, being weak, seem so.
 61239      If, till the expiration of your month,
 61240      You will return and sojourn with my sister,
 61241      Dismissing half your train, come then to me.
 61242      I am now from home, and out of that provision
 61243      Which shall be needful for your entertainment.
 61244   Lear. Return to her, and fifty men dismiss'd?
 61245      No, rather I abjure all roofs, and choose
 61246      To wage against the enmity o' th' air,
 61247      To be a comrade with the wolf and owl-
 61248      Necessity's sharp pinch! Return with her?
 61249      Why, the hot-blooded France, that dowerless took
 61250      Our youngest born, I could as well be brought
 61251      To knee his throne, and, squire-like, pension beg
 61252      To keep base life afoot. Return with her?
 61253      Persuade me rather to be slave and sumpter
 61254      To this detested groom.                 [Points at Oswald.]
 61255   Gon. At your choice, sir.
 61256   Lear. I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad.
 61257      I will not trouble thee, my child; farewell.
 61258      We'll no more meet, no more see one another.
 61259      But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter;
 61260      Or rather a disease that's in my flesh,
 61261      Which I must needs call mine. Thou art a boil,
 61262      A plague sore, an embossed carbuncle
 61263      In my corrupted blood. But I'll not chide thee.
 61264      Let shame come when it will, I do not call it.
 61265      I do not bid the Thunder-bearer shoot
 61266      Nor tell tales of thee to high-judging Jove.
 61267      Mend when thou canst; be better at thy leisure;
 61268      I can be patient, I can stay with Regan,
 61269      I and my hundred knights.
 61270   Reg. Not altogether so.
 61271      I look'd not for you yet, nor am provided
 61272      For your fit welcome. Give ear, sir, to my sister;
 61273      For those that mingle reason with your passion
 61274      Must be content to think you old, and so-
 61275      But she knows what she does.
 61276   Lear. Is this well spoken?
 61277   Reg. I dare avouch it, sir. What, fifty followers?
 61278      Is it not well? What should you need of more?
 61279      Yea, or so many, sith that both charge and danger
 61280      Speak 'gainst so great a number? How in one house
 61281      Should many people, under two commands,
 61282      Hold amity? 'Tis hard; almost impossible.
 61283   Gon. Why might not you, my lord, receive attendance
 61284      From those that she calls servants, or from mine?
 61285   Reg. Why not, my lord? If then they chanc'd to slack ye,
 61286      We could control them. If you will come to me
 61287      (For now I spy a danger), I entreat you
 61288      To bring but five-and-twenty. To no more
 61289      Will I give place or notice.
 61290   Lear. I gave you all-
 61291   Reg. And in good time you gave it!
 61292   Lear. Made you my guardians, my depositaries;
 61293      But kept a reservation to be followed
 61294      With such a number. What, must I come to you
 61295      With five-and-twenty, Regan? Said you so?
 61296   Reg. And speak't again my lord. No more with me.
 61297   Lear. Those wicked creatures yet do look well-favour'd
 61298      When others are more wicked; not being the worst
 61299      Stands in some rank of praise. [To Goneril] I'll go with thee.
 61300      Thy fifty yet doth double five-and-twenty,
 61301      And thou art twice her love.
 61302   Gon. Hear, me, my lord.
 61303      What need you five-and-twenty, ten, or five,
 61304      To follow in a house where twice so many
 61305      Have a command to tend you?
 61306   Reg. What need one?
 61307   Lear. O, reason not the need! Our basest beggars
 61308      Are in the poorest thing superfluous.
 61309      Allow not nature more than nature needs,
 61310      Man's life is cheap as beast's. Thou art a lady:
 61311      If only to go warm were gorgeous,
 61312      Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st
 61313      Which scarcely keeps thee warm. But, for true need-
 61314      You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need!
 61315      You see me here, you gods, a poor old man,
 61316      As full of grief as age; wretched in both.
 61317      If it be you that stirs these daughters' hearts
 61318      Against their father, fool me not so much
 61319      To bear it tamely; touch me with noble anger,
 61320      And let not women's weapons, water drops,
 61321      Stain my man's cheeks! No, you unnatural hags!
 61322      I will have such revenges on you both
 61323      That all the world shall- I will do such things-
 61324      What they are yet, I know not; but they shall be
 61325      The terrors of the earth! You think I'll weep.
 61326      No, I'll not weep.
 61327      I have full cause of weeping, but this heart
 61328      Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws
 61329      Or ere I'll weep. O fool, I shall go mad!
 61330               Exeunt Lear, Gloucester, Kent, and Fool. Storm and
 61331                                                         tempest.
 61332   Corn. Let us withdraw; 'twill be a storm.
 61333   Reg. This house is little; the old man and 's people
 61334      Cannot be well bestow'd.
 61335   Gon. 'Tis his own blame; hath put himself from rest
 61336      And must needs taste his folly.
 61337   Reg. For his particular, I'll receive him gladly,
 61338      But not one follower.
 61339   Gon. So am I purpos'd.
 61340      Where is my Lord of Gloucester?
 61341   Corn. Followed the old man forth.
 61342 
 61343                           Enter Gloucester.
 61344 
 61345      He is return'd.
 61346   Glou. The King is in high rage.
 61347   Corn. Whither is he going?
 61348   Glou. He calls to horse, but will I know not whither.
 61349   Corn. 'Tis best to give him way; he leads himself.
 61350   Gon. My lord, entreat him by no means to stay.
 61351   Glou. Alack, the night comes on, and the bleak winds
 61352      Do sorely ruffle. For many miles about
 61353      There's scarce a bush.
 61354   Reg. O, sir, to wilful men
 61355      The injuries that they themselves procure
 61356      Must be their schoolmasters. Shut up your doors.
 61357      He is attended with a desperate train,
 61358      And what they may incense him to, being apt
 61359      To have his ear abus'd, wisdom bids fear.
 61360   Corn. Shut up your doors, my lord: 'tis a wild night.
 61361      My Regan counsels well. Come out o' th' storm.        [Exeunt.]
 61362 
 61363 
 61364 
 61365 
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 61374 
 61375 
 61376 
 61377 ACT III. Scene I.
 61378 A heath.
 61379 
 61380 Storm still. Enter Kent and a Gentleman at several doors.
 61381 
 61382   Kent. Who's there, besides foul weather?
 61383   Gent. One minded like the weather, most unquietly.
 61384   Kent. I know you. Where's the King?
 61385   Gent. Contending with the fretful elements;
 61386      Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea,
 61387      Or swell the curled waters 'bove the main,
 61388      That things might change or cease; tears his white hair,
 61389      Which the impetuous blasts, with eyeless rage,
 61390      Catch in their fury and make nothing of;
 61391      Strives in his little world of man to outscorn
 61392      The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain.
 61393      This night, wherein the cub-drawn bear would couch,
 61394      The lion and the belly-pinched wolf
 61395      Keep their fur dry, unbonneted he runs,
 61396      And bids what will take all.
 61397   Kent. But who is with him?
 61398   Gent. None but the fool, who labours to outjest
 61399      His heart-struck injuries.
 61400   Kent. Sir, I do know you,
 61401      And dare upon the warrant of my note
 61402      Commend a dear thing to you. There is division
 61403      (Although as yet the face of it be cover'd
 61404      With mutual cunning) 'twixt Albany and Cornwall;
 61405      Who have (as who have not, that their great stars
 61406      Thron'd and set high?) servants, who seem no less,
 61407      Which are to France the spies and speculations
 61408      Intelligent of our state. What hath been seen,
 61409      Either in snuffs and packings of the Dukes,
 61410      Or the hard rein which both of them have borne
 61411      Against the old kind King, or something deeper,
 61412      Whereof, perchance, these are but furnishings-
 61413      But, true it is, from France there comes a power
 61414      Into this scattered kingdom, who already,
 61415      Wise in our negligence, have secret feet
 61416      In some of our best ports and are at point
 61417      To show their open banner. Now to you:
 61418      If on my credit you dare build so far
 61419      To make your speed to Dover, you shall find
 61420      Some that will thank you, making just report
 61421      Of how unnatural and bemadding sorrow
 61422      The King hath cause to plain.
 61423      I am a gentleman of blood and breeding,
 61424      And from some knowledge and assurance offer
 61425      This office to you.
 61426   Gent. I will talk further with you.
 61427   Kent. No, do not.
 61428      For confirmation that I am much more
 61429      Than my out-wall, open this purse and take
 61430      What it contains. If you shall see Cordelia
 61431      (As fear not but you shall), show her this ring,
 61432      And she will tell you who your fellow is
 61433      That yet you do not know. Fie on this storm!
 61434      I will go seek the King.
 61435   Gent. Give me your hand. Have you no more to say?
 61436   Kent. Few words, but, to effect, more than all yet:
 61437      That, when we have found the King (in which your pain
 61438      That way, I'll this), he that first lights on him
 61439      Holla the other.
 61440                                              Exeunt [severally].
 61441 
 61442 
 61443 
 61444 
 61445 Scene II.
 61446 Another part of the heath.
 61447 
 61448 Storm still. Enter Lear and Fool.
 61449 
 61450   Lear. Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
 61451      You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
 61452      Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!
 61453      You sulph'rous and thought-executing fires,
 61454      Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
 61455      Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,
 61456      Strike flat the thick rotundity o' th' world,
 61457      Crack Nature's moulds, all germains spill at once,
 61458      That makes ingrateful man!
 61459   Fool. O nuncle, court holy water in a dry house is better than this
 61460      rain water out o' door. Good nuncle, in, and ask thy daughters
 61461      blessing! Here's a night pities nether wise men nor fools.
 61462   Lear. Rumble thy bellyful! Spit, fire! spout, rain!
 61463      Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire are my daughters.
 61464      I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness.
 61465      I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children,
 61466      You owe me no subscription. Then let fall
 61467      Your horrible pleasure. Here I stand your slave,
 61468      A poor, infirm, weak, and despis'd old man.
 61469      But yet I call you servile ministers,
 61470      That will with two pernicious daughters join
 61471      Your high-engender'd battles 'gainst a head
 61472      So old and white as this! O! O! 'tis foul!
 61473   Fool. He that has a house to put 's head in has a good head-piece.
 61474           The codpiece that will house
 61475             Before the head has any,
 61476           The head and he shall louse:
 61477             So beggars marry many.
 61478           The man that makes his toe
 61479             What he his heart should make
 61480           Shall of a corn cry woe,
 61481             And turn his sleep to wake.
 61482      For there was never yet fair woman but she made mouths in a
 61483      glass.
 61484 
 61485                              Enter Kent.
 61486 
 61487   Lear. No, I will be the pattern of all patience;
 61488      I will say nothing.
 61489   Kent. Who's there?
 61490   Fool. Marry, here's grace and a codpiece; that's a wise man and a
 61491      fool.
 61492   Kent. Alas, sir, are you here? Things that love night
 61493      Love not such nights as these. The wrathful skies
 61494      Gallow the very wanderers of the dark
 61495      And make them keep their caves. Since I was man,
 61496      Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder,
 61497      Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never
 61498      Remember to have heard. Man's nature cannot carry
 61499      Th' affliction nor the fear.
 61500   Lear. Let the great gods,
 61501      That keep this dreadful pudder o'er our heads,
 61502      Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou wretch,
 61503      That hast within thee undivulged crimes
 61504      Unwhipp'd of justice. Hide thee, thou bloody hand;
 61505      Thou perjur'd, and thou simular man of virtue
 61506      That art incestuous. Caitiff, in pieces shake
 61507      That under covert and convenient seeming
 61508      Hast practis'd on man's life. Close pent-up guilts,
 61509      Rive your concealing continents, and cry
 61510      These dreadful summoners grace. I am a man
 61511      More sinn'd against than sinning.
 61512   Kent. Alack, bareheaded?
 61513      Gracious my lord, hard by here is a hovel;
 61514      Some friendship will it lend you 'gainst the tempest.
 61515      Repose you there, whilst I to this hard house
 61516      (More harder than the stones whereof 'tis rais'd,
 61517      Which even but now, demanding after you,
 61518      Denied me to come in) return, and force
 61519      Their scanted courtesy.
 61520   Lear. My wits begin to turn.
 61521      Come on, my boy. How dost, my boy? Art cold?
 61522      I am cold myself. Where is this straw, my fellow?
 61523      The art of our necessities is strange,
 61524      That can make vile things precious. Come, your hovel.
 61525      Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart
 61526      That's sorry yet for thee.
 61527   Fool. [sings]
 61528 
 61529           He that has and a little tiny wit-
 61530             With hey, ho, the wind and the rain-
 61531           Must make content with his fortunes fit,
 61532              For the rain it raineth every day.
 61533 
 61534   Lear. True, my good boy. Come, bring us to this hovel.
 61535                                          Exeunt [Lear and Kent].
 61536   Fool. This is a brave night to cool a courtesan. I'll speak a
 61537      prophecy ere I go:
 61538           When priests are more in word than matter;
 61539           When brewers mar their malt with water;
 61540           When nobles are their tailors' tutors,
 61541           No heretics burn'd, but wenches' suitors;
 61542           When every case in law is right,
 61543           No squire in debt nor no poor knight;
 61544           When slanders do not live in tongues,
 61545           Nor cutpurses come not to throngs;
 61546           When usurers tell their gold i' th' field,
 61547           And bawds and whores do churches build:
 61548           Then shall the realm of Albion
 61549           Come to great confusion.
 61550           Then comes the time, who lives to see't,
 61551           That going shall be us'd with feet.
 61552      This prophecy Merlin shall make, for I live before his time.
 61553 Exit.
 61554 
 61555 
 61556 
 61557 
 61558 Scene III.
 61559 Gloucester's Castle.
 61560 
 61561 Enter Gloucester and Edmund.
 61562 
 61563   Glou. Alack, alack, Edmund, I like not this unnatural dealing! When
 61564      I desir'd their leave that I might pity him, they took from me
 61565      the use of mine own house, charg'd me on pain of perpetual
 61566      displeasure neither to speak of him, entreat for him, nor any
 61567      way sustain him.
 61568   Edm. Most savage and unnatural!
 61569   Glou. Go to; say you nothing. There is division betwixt the Dukes,
 61570      and a worse matter than that. I have received a letter this
 61571      night- 'tis dangerous to be spoken- I have lock'd the letter in
 61572      my closet. These injuries the King now bears will be revenged
 61573      home; there's part of a power already footed; we must incline to
 61574      the King. I will seek him and privily relieve him. Go you and
 61575      maintain talk with the Duke, that my charity be not of him
 61576      perceived. If he ask for me, I am ill and gone to bed. Though I
 61577      die for't, as no less is threat'ned me, the King my old master
 61578      must be relieved. There is some strange thing toward, Edmund.
 61579      Pray you be careful.                                  Exit.
 61580   Edm. This courtesy, forbid thee, shall the Duke
 61581      Instantly know, and of that letter too.
 61582      This seems a fair deserving, and must draw me
 61583      That which my father loses- no less than all.
 61584      The younger rises when the old doth fall.             Exit.
 61585 
 61586 
 61587 
 61588 
 61589 Scene IV.
 61590 The heath. Before a hovel.
 61591 
 61592 Storm still. Enter Lear, Kent, and Fool.
 61593 
 61594   Kent. Here is the place, my lord. Good my lord, enter.
 61595      The tyranny of the open night 's too rough
 61596      For nature to endure.
 61597   Lear. Let me alone.
 61598   Kent. Good my lord, enter here.
 61599   Lear. Wilt break my heart?
 61600   Kent. I had rather break mine own. Good my lord, enter.
 61601   Lear. Thou think'st 'tis much that this contentious storm
 61602      Invades us to the skin. So 'tis to thee;
 61603      But where the greater malady is fix'd,
 61604      The lesser is scarce felt. Thou'dst shun a bear;
 61605      But if thy flight lay toward the raging sea,
 61606      Thou'dst meet the bear i' th' mouth. When the mind's free,
 61607      The body's delicate. The tempest in my mind
 61608      Doth from my senses take all feeling else
 61609      Save what beats there. Filial ingratitude!
 61610      Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand
 61611      For lifting food to't? But I will punish home!
 61612      No, I will weep no more. In such a night
 61613      'To shut me out! Pour on; I will endure.
 61614      In such a night as this! O Regan, Goneril!
 61615      Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave all!
 61616      O, that way madness lies; let me shun that!
 61617      No more of that.
 61618   Kent. Good my lord, enter here.
 61619   Lear. Prithee go in thyself; seek thine own ease.
 61620      This tempest will not give me leave to ponder
 61621      On things would hurt me more. But I'll go in.
 61622      [To the Fool] In, boy; go first.- You houseless poverty-
 61623      Nay, get thee in. I'll pray, and then I'll sleep.
 61624                                                     Exit [Fool].
 61625      Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are,
 61626      That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
 61627      How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
 61628      Your loop'd and window'd raggedness, defend you
 61629      From seasons such as these? O, I have ta'en
 61630      Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp;
 61631      Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel,
 61632      That thou mayst shake the superflux to them
 61633      And show the heavens more just.
 61634   Edg. [within] Fathom and half, fathom and half! Poor Tom!
 61635 
 61636                      Enter Fool [from the hovel].
 61637 
 61638   Fool. Come not in here, nuncle, here's a spirit. Help me, help me!
 61639   Kent. Give me thy hand. Who's there?
 61640   Fool. A spirit, a spirit! He says his name's poor Tom.
 61641   Kent. What art thou that dost grumble there i' th' straw?
 61642      Come forth.
 61643 
 61644                  Enter Edgar [disguised as a madman].
 61645 
 61646   Edg. Away! the foul fiend follows me! Through the sharp hawthorn
 61647      blows the cold wind. Humh! go to thy cold bed, and warm thee.
 61648   Lear. Hast thou given all to thy two daughters, and art thou come
 61649      to this?
 61650   Edg. Who gives anything to poor Tom? whom the foul fiend hath led
 61651      through fire and through flame, through ford and whirlpool, o'er
 61652      bog and quagmire; that hath laid knives under his pillow and
 61653      halters in his pew, set ratsbane by his porridge, made him proud
 61654      of heart, to ride on a bay trotting horse over four-inch'd
 61655      bridges, to course his own shadow for a traitor. Bless thy five
 61656      wits! Tom 's acold. O, do de, do de, do de. Bless thee from
 61657      whirlwinds, star-blasting, and taking! Do poor Tom some charity,
 61658      whom the foul fiend vexes. There could I have him now- and there-
 61659      and there again- and there!
 61660                                                     Storm still.
 61661   Lear. What, have his daughters brought him to this pass?
 61662      Couldst thou save nothing? Didst thou give 'em all?
 61663   Fool. Nay, he reserv'd a blanket, else we had been all sham'd.
 61664   Lear. Now all the plagues that in the pendulous air
 61665      Hang fated o'er men's faults light on thy daughters!
 61666   Kent. He hath no daughters, sir.
 61667   Lear. Death, traitor! nothing could have subdu'd nature
 61668      To such a lowness but his unkind daughters.
 61669      Is it the fashion that discarded fathers
 61670      Should have thus little mercy on their flesh?
 61671      Judicious punishment! 'Twas this flesh begot
 61672      Those pelican daughters.
 61673   Edg. Pillicock sat on Pillicock's Hill. 'Allow, 'allow, loo, loo!
 61674   Fool. This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen.
 61675   Edg. Take heed o' th' foul fiend; obey thy parents: keep thy word
 61676      justly; swear not; commit not with man's sworn spouse; set not
 61677      thy sweet heart on proud array. Tom 's acold.
 61678   Lear. What hast thou been?
 61679   Edg. A servingman, proud in heart and mind; that curl'd my hair,
 61680      wore gloves in my cap; serv'd the lust of my mistress' heart and
 61681      did the act of darkness with her; swore as many oaths as I spake
 61682      words, and broke them in the sweet face of heaven; one that
 61683      slept in the contriving of lust, and wak'd to do it. Wine lov'd
 61684      I deeply, dice dearly; and in woman out-paramour'd the Turk.
 61685      False of heart, light of ear, bloody of hand; hog in sloth, fox
 61686      in stealth, wolf in greediness, dog in madness, lion in prey.
 61687      Let not the creaking of shoes nor the rustling of silks betray
 61688      thy poor heart to woman. Keep thy foot out of brothel, thy hand
 61689      out of placket, thy pen from lender's book, and defy the foul
 61690      fiend. Still through the hawthorn blows the cold wind; says
 61691      suum, mun, hey, no, nonny. Dolphin my boy, my boy, sessa! let
 61692      him trot by.
 61693                                                     Storm still.
 61694   Lear. Why, thou wert better in thy grave than to answer with thy
 61695      uncover'd body this extremity of the skies. Is man no more than
 61696      this? Consider him well. Thou ow'st the worm no silk, the beast
 61697      no hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume. Ha! Here's three
 61698      on's are sophisticated! Thou art the thing itself;
 61699      unaccommodated man is no more but such a poor, bare, forked
 61700      animal as thou art. Off, off, you lendings! Come, unbutton
 61701      here.
 61702                                          [Tears at his clothes.]
 61703   Fool. Prithee, nuncle, be contented! 'Tis a naughty night to swim
 61704      in. Now a little fire in a wild field were like an old lecher's
 61705      heart- a small spark, all the rest on's body cold. Look, here
 61706      comes a walking fire.
 61707 
 61708                     Enter Gloucester with a torch.
 61709 
 61710   Edg. This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet. He begins at curfew,
 61711      and walks till the first cock. He gives the web and the pin,
 61712      squints the eye, and makes the harelip; mildews the white wheat,
 61713      and hurts the poor creature of earth.
 61714 
 61715            Saint Withold footed thrice the 'old;
 61716            He met the nightmare, and her nine fold;
 61717               Bid her alight
 61718               And her troth plight,
 61719            And aroint thee, witch, aroint thee!
 61720 
 61721   Kent. How fares your Grace?
 61722   Lear. What's he?
 61723   Kent. Who's there? What is't you seek?
 61724   Glou. What are you there? Your names?
 61725   Edg. Poor Tom, that eats the swimming frog, the toad, the todpole,
 61726      the wall-newt and the water; that in the fury of his heart, when
 61727      the foul fiend rages, eats cow-dung for sallets, swallows the
 61728      old rat and the ditch-dog, drinks the green mantle of the
 61729      standing pool; who is whipp'd from tithing to tithing, and
 61730      stock-punish'd and imprison'd; who hath had three suits to his
 61731      back, six shirts to his body, horse to ride, and weapons to
 61732      wear;
 61733 
 61734           But mice and rats, and such small deer,
 61735           Have been Tom's food for seven long year.
 61736 
 61737      Beware my follower. Peace, Smulkin! peace, thou fiend!
 61738   Glou. What, hath your Grace no better company?
 61739   Edg. The prince of darkness is a gentleman!
 61740      Modo he's call'd, and Mahu.
 61741   Glou. Our flesh and blood is grown so vile, my lord,
 61742      That it doth hate what gets it.
 61743   Edg. Poor Tom 's acold.
 61744   Glou. Go in with me. My duty cannot suffer
 61745      T' obey in all your daughters' hard commands.
 61746      Though their injunction be to bar my doors
 61747      And let this tyrannous night take hold upon you,
 61748      Yet have I ventur'd to come seek you out
 61749      And bring you where both fire and food is ready.
 61750   Lear. First let me talk with this philosopher.
 61751      What is the cause of thunder?
 61752   Kent. Good my lord, take his offer; go into th' house.
 61753   Lear. I'll talk a word with this same learned Theban.
 61754      What is your study?
 61755   Edg. How to prevent the fiend and to kill vermin.
 61756   Lear. Let me ask you one word in private.
 61757   Kent. Importune him once more to go, my lord.
 61758      His wits begin t' unsettle.
 61759   Glou. Canst thou blame him?
 61760                                                     Storm still.
 61761      His daughters seek his death. Ah, that good Kent!
 61762      He said it would be thus- poor banish'd man!
 61763      Thou say'st the King grows mad: I'll tell thee, friend,
 61764      I am almost mad myself. I had a son,
 61765      Now outlaw'd from my blood. He sought my life
 61766      But lately, very late. I lov'd him, friend-
 61767      No father his son dearer. True to tell thee,
 61768      The grief hath craz'd my wits. What a night 's this!
 61769      I do beseech your Grace-
 61770   Lear. O, cry you mercy, sir.
 61771      Noble philosopher, your company.
 61772   Edg. Tom's acold.
 61773   Glou. In, fellow, there, into th' hovel; keep thee warm.
 61774   Lear. Come, let's in all.
 61775   Kent. This way, my lord.
 61776   Lear. With him!
 61777      I will keep still with my philosopher.
 61778   Kent. Good my lord, soothe him; let him take the fellow.
 61779   Glou. Take him you on.
 61780   Kent. Sirrah, come on; go along with us.
 61781   Lear. Come, good Athenian.
 61782   Glou. No words, no words! hush.
 61783   Edg. Child Rowland to the dark tower came;
 61784      His word was still
 61785 
 61786           Fie, foh, and fum!
 61787           I smell the blood of a British man.
 61788                                                          Exeunt.
 61789 
 61790 Scene V.
 61791 Gloucester's Castle.
 61792 
 61793 Enter Cornwall and Edmund.
 61794 
 61795   Corn. I will have my revenge ere I depart his house.
 61796   Edm. How, my lord, I may be censured, that nature thus gives way to
 61797      loyalty, something fears me to think of.
 61798   Corn. I now perceive it was not altogether your brother's evil
 61799      disposition made him seek his death; but a provoking merit, set
 61800      awork by a reproveable badness in himself.
 61801   Edm. How malicious is my fortune that I must repent to be just!
 61802      This is the letter he spoke of, which approves him an
 61803      intelligent party to the advantages of France. O heavens! that
 61804      this treason were not- or not I the detector!
 61805   Corn. Go with me to the Duchess.
 61806   Edm. If the matter of this paper be certain, you have mighty
 61807      business in hand.
 61808   Corn. True or false, it hath made thee Earl of Gloucester.
 61809      Seek out where thy father is, that he may be ready for our
 61810      apprehension.
 61811   Edm. [aside] If I find him comforting the King, it will stuff his
 61812      suspicion more fully.- I will persever in my course of loyalty,
 61813      though the conflict be sore between that and my blood.
 61814   Corn. I will lay trust upon thee, and thou shalt find a dearer
 61815      father in my love.
 61816                                                          Exeunt.
 61817 
 61818 
 61819 
 61820 
 61821 Scene VI.
 61822 A farmhouse near Gloucester's Castle.
 61823 
 61824 Enter Gloucester, Lear, Kent, Fool, and Edgar.
 61825 
 61826   Glou. Here is better than the open air; take it thankfully. I will
 61827      piece out the comfort with what addition I can. I will not be
 61828      long from you.
 61829   Kent. All the power of his wits have given way to his impatience.
 61830      The gods reward your kindness!
 61831                                               Exit [Gloucester].
 61832   Edg. Frateretto calls me, and tells me Nero is an angler in the
 61833      lake of darkness. Pray, innocent, and beware the foul fiend.
 61834   Fool. Prithee, nuncle, tell me whether a madman be a gentleman or a
 61835      yeoman.
 61836   Lear. A king, a king!
 61837   Fool. No, he's a yeoman that has a gentleman to his son; for he's a
 61838      mad yeoman that sees his son a gentleman before him.
 61839   Lear. To have a thousand with red burning spits
 61840      Come hizzing in upon 'em-
 61841   Edg. The foul fiend bites my back.
 61842   Fool. He's mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf, a horse's
 61843      health, a boy's love, or a whore's oath.
 61844   Lear. It shall be done; I will arraign them straight.
 61845      [To Edgar] Come, sit thou here, most learned justicer.
 61846      [To the Fool] Thou, sapient sir, sit here. Now, you she-foxes!
 61847   Edg. Look, where he stands and glares! Want'st thou eyes at trial,
 61848      madam?
 61849 
 61850              Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me.
 61851 
 61852   Fool.      Her boat hath a leak,
 61853              And she must not speak
 61854            Why she dares not come over to thee.
 61855 
 61856   Edg. The foul fiend haunts poor Tom in the voice of a nightingale.
 61857      Hoppedance cries in Tom's belly for two white herring. Croak
 61858      not, black angel; I have no food for thee.
 61859   Kent. How do you, sir? Stand you not so amaz'd.
 61860      Will you lie down and rest upon the cushions?
 61861   Lear. I'll see their trial first. Bring in their evidence.
 61862      [To Edgar] Thou, robed man of justice, take thy place.
 61863      [To the Fool] And thou, his yokefellow of equity,
 61864      Bench by his side. [To Kent] You are o' th' commission,
 61865      Sit you too.
 61866   Edg. Let us deal justly.
 61867 
 61868           Sleepest or wakest thou, jolly shepherd?
 61869             Thy sheep be in the corn;
 61870           And for one blast of thy minikin mouth
 61871             Thy sheep shall take no harm.
 61872 
 61873      Purr! the cat is gray.
 61874   Lear. Arraign her first. 'Tis Goneril. I here take my oath before
 61875      this honourable assembly, she kicked the poor King her father.
 61876   Fool. Come hither, mistress. Is your name Goneril?
 61877   Lear. She cannot deny it.
 61878   Fool. Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool.
 61879   Lear. And here's another, whose warp'd looks proclaim
 61880      What store her heart is made on. Stop her there!
 61881      Arms, arms! sword! fire! Corruption in the place!
 61882      False justicer, why hast thou let her scape?
 61883   Edg. Bless thy five wits!
 61884   Kent. O pity! Sir, where is the patience now
 61885      That you so oft have boasted to retain?
 61886   Edg. [aside] My tears begin to take his part so much
 61887      They'll mar my counterfeiting.
 61888   Lear. The little dogs and all,
 61889      Tray, Blanch, and Sweetheart, see, they bark at me.
 61890   Edg. Tom will throw his head at them. Avaunt, you curs!
 61891            Be thy mouth or black or white,
 61892            Tooth that poisons if it bite;
 61893            Mastiff, greyhound, mongrel grim,
 61894            Hound or spaniel, brach or lym,
 61895            Bobtail tyke or trundle-tall-
 61896            Tom will make them weep and wail;
 61897            For, with throwing thus my head,
 61898            Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled.
 61899      Do de, de, de. Sessa! Come, march to wakes and fairs and market
 61900      towns. Poor Tom, thy horn is dry.
 61901   Lear. Then let them anatomize Regan. See what breeds about her
 61902      heart. Is there any cause in nature that makes these hard
 61903      hearts? [To Edgar] You, sir- I entertain you for one of my
 61904      hundred; only I do not like the fashion of your garments. You'll
 61905      say they are Persian attire; but let them be chang'd.
 61906   Kent. Now, good my lord, lie here and rest awhile.
 61907   Lear. Make no noise, make no noise; draw the curtains.
 61908      So, so, so. We'll go to supper i' th' morning. So, so, so.
 61909   Fool. And I'll go to bed at noon.
 61910 
 61911                           Enter Gloucester.
 61912 
 61913   Glou. Come hither, friend. Where is the King my master?
 61914   Kent. Here, sir; but trouble him not; his wits are gone.
 61915   Glou. Good friend, I prithee take him in thy arms.
 61916      I have o'erheard a plot of death upon him.
 61917      There is a litter ready; lay him in't
 61918      And drive towards Dover, friend, where thou shalt meet
 61919      Both welcome and protection. Take up thy master.
 61920      If thou shouldst dally half an hour, his life,
 61921      With thine, and all that offer to defend him,
 61922      Stand in assured loss. Take up, take up!
 61923      And follow me, that will to some provision
 61924      Give thee quick conduct.
 61925   Kent. Oppressed nature sleeps.
 61926      This rest might yet have balm'd thy broken senses,
 61927      Which, if convenience will not allow,
 61928      Stand in hard cure. [To the Fool] Come, help to bear thy master.
 61929      Thou must not stay behind.
 61930   Glou. Come, come, away!
 61931                                          Exeunt [all but Edgar].
 61932   Edg. When we our betters see bearing our woes,
 61933      We scarcely think our miseries our foes.
 61934      Who alone suffers suffers most i' th' mind,
 61935      Leaving free things and happy shows behind;
 61936      But then the mind much sufferance doth o'erskip
 61937      When grief hath mates, and bearing fellowship.
 61938      How light and portable my pain seems now,
 61939      When that which makes me bend makes the King bow,
 61940      He childed as I fathered! Tom, away!
 61941      Mark the high noises, and thyself bewray
 61942      When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee,
 61943      In thy just proof repeals and reconciles thee.
 61944      What will hap more to-night, safe scape the King!
 61945      Lurk, lurk.                                         [Exit.]
 61946 
 61947 
 61948 
 61949 
 61950 Scene VII.
 61951 Gloucester's Castle.
 61952 
 61953 Enter Cornwall, Regan, Goneril, [Edmund the] Bastard, and Servants.
 61954 
 61955   Corn. [to Goneril] Post speedily to my lord your husband, show him
 61956      this letter. The army of France is landed.- Seek out the traitor
 61957      Gloucester.
 61958                                   [Exeunt some of the Servants.]
 61959   Reg. Hang him instantly.
 61960   Gon. Pluck out his eyes.
 61961   Corn. Leave him to my displeasure. Edmund, keep you our sister
 61962      company. The revenges we are bound to take upon your traitorous
 61963      father are not fit for your beholding. Advise the Duke where you
 61964      are going, to a most festinate preparation. We are bound to the
 61965      like. Our posts shall be swift and intelligent betwixt us.
 61966      Farewell, dear sister; farewell, my Lord of Gloucester.
 61967 
 61968                      Enter [Oswald the] Steward.
 61969 
 61970      How now? Where's the King?
 61971   Osw. My Lord of Gloucester hath convey'd him hence.
 61972      Some five or six and thirty of his knights,
 61973      Hot questrists after him, met him at gate;
 61974      Who, with some other of the lord's dependants,
 61975      Are gone with him towards Dover, where they boast
 61976      To have well-armed friends.
 61977   Corn. Get horses for your mistress.
 61978   Gon. Farewell, sweet lord, and sister.
 61979   Corn. Edmund, farewell.
 61980                            Exeunt Goneril, [Edmund, and Oswald].
 61981      Go seek the traitor Gloucester,
 61982      Pinion him like a thief, bring him before us.
 61983                                         [Exeunt other Servants.]
 61984      Though well we may not pass upon his life
 61985      Without the form of justice, yet our power
 61986      Shall do a court'sy to our wrath, which men
 61987      May blame, but not control.
 61988 
 61989             Enter Gloucester, brought in by two or three.
 61990 
 61991      Who's there? the traitor?
 61992   Reg. Ingrateful fox! 'tis he.
 61993   Corn. Bind fast his corky arms.
 61994   Glou. What mean, your Graces? Good my friends, consider
 61995      You are my guests. Do me no foul play, friends.
 61996   Corn. Bind him, I say.
 61997                                             [Servants bind him.]
 61998   Reg. Hard, hard. O filthy traitor!
 61999   Glou. Unmerciful lady as you are, I am none.
 62000   Corn. To this chair bind him. Villain, thou shalt find-
 62001                                        [Regan plucks his beard.]
 62002   Glou. By the kind gods, 'tis most ignobly done
 62003      To pluck me by the beard.
 62004   Reg. So white, and such a traitor!
 62005   Glou. Naughty lady,
 62006      These hairs which thou dost ravish from my chin
 62007      Will quicken, and accuse thee. I am your host.
 62008      With robber's hands my hospitable favours
 62009      You should not ruffle thus. What will you do?
 62010   Corn. Come, sir, what letters had you late from France?
 62011   Reg. Be simple-answer'd, for we know the truth.
 62012   Corn. And what confederacy have you with the traitors
 62013      Late footed in the kingdom?
 62014   Reg. To whose hands have you sent the lunatic King?
 62015      Speak.
 62016   Glou. I have a letter guessingly set down,
 62017      Which came from one that's of a neutral heart,
 62018      And not from one oppos'd.
 62019   Corn. Cunning.
 62020   Reg. And false.
 62021   Corn. Where hast thou sent the King?
 62022   Glou. To Dover.
 62023   Reg. Wherefore to Dover? Wast thou not charg'd at peril-
 62024   Corn. Wherefore to Dover? Let him first answer that.
 62025   Glou. I am tied to th' stake, and I must stand the course.
 62026   Reg. Wherefore to Dover, sir?
 62027   Glou. Because I would not see thy cruel nails
 62028      Pluck out his poor old eyes; nor thy fierce sister
 62029      In his anointed flesh stick boarish fangs.
 62030      The sea, with such a storm as his bare head
 62031      In hell-black night endur'd, would have buoy'd up
 62032      And quench'd the steeled fires.
 62033      Yet, poor old heart, he holp the heavens to rain.
 62034      If wolves had at thy gate howl'd that stern time,
 62035      Thou shouldst have said, 'Good porter, turn the key.'
 62036      All cruels else subscrib'd. But I shall see
 62037      The winged vengeance overtake such children.
 62038   Corn. See't shalt thou never. Fellows, hold the chair.
 62039      Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot.
 62040   Glou. He that will think to live till he be old,
 62041      Give me some help!- O cruel! O ye gods!
 62042   Reg. One side will mock another. Th' other too!
 62043   Corn. If you see vengeance-
 62044   1. Serv. Hold your hand, my lord!
 62045      I have serv'd you ever since I was a child;
 62046      But better service have I never done you
 62047      Than now to bid you hold.
 62048   Reg. How now, you dog?
 62049   1. Serv. If you did wear a beard upon your chin,
 62050      I'ld shake it on this quarrel.
 62051   Reg. What do you mean?
 62052   Corn. My villain!                               Draw and fight.
 62053   1. Serv. Nay, then, come on, and take the chance of anger.
 62054   Reg. Give me thy sword. A peasant stand up thus?
 62055                         She takes a sword and runs at him behind.
 62056   1. Serv. O, I am slain! My lord, you have one eye left
 62057      To see some mischief on him. O!                     He dies.
 62058   Corn. Lest it see more, prevent it. Out, vile jelly!
 62059      Where is thy lustre now?
 62060   Glou. All dark and comfortless! Where's my son Edmund?
 62061      Edmund, enkindle all the sparks of nature
 62062      To quit this horrid act.
 62063   Reg. Out, treacherous villain!
 62064      Thou call'st on him that hates thee. It was he
 62065      That made the overture of thy treasons to us;
 62066      Who is too good to pity thee.
 62067   Glou. O my follies! Then Edgar was abus'd.
 62068      Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him!
 62069   Reg. Go thrust him out at gates, and let him smell
 62070      His way to Dover.
 62071                                      Exit [one] with Gloucester.
 62072      How is't, my lord? How look you?
 62073   Corn. I have receiv'd a hurt. Follow me, lady.
 62074      Turn out that eyeless villain. Throw this slave
 62075      Upon the dunghill. Regan, I bleed apace.
 62076      Untimely comes this hurt. Give me your arm.
 62077                                   Exit [Cornwall, led by Regan].
 62078   2. Serv. I'll never care what wickedness I do,
 62079      If this man come to good.
 62080   3. Serv. If she live long,
 62081      And in the end meet the old course of death,
 62082      Women will all turn monsters.
 62083   2. Serv. Let's follow the old Earl, and get the bedlam
 62084      To lead him where he would. His roguish madness
 62085      Allows itself to anything.
 62086   3. Serv. Go thou. I'll fetch some flax and whites of eggs
 62087      To apply to his bleeding face. Now heaven help him!
 62088                                                          Exeunt.
 62089 
 62090 
 62091 
 62092 
 62093 <<THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM
 62094 SHAKESPEARE IS COPYRIGHT 1990-1993 BY WORLD LIBRARY, INC., AND IS
 62095 PROVIDED BY PROJECT GUTENBERG ETEXT OF ILLINOIS BENEDICTINE COLLEGE
 62096 WITH PERMISSION.  ELECTRONIC AND MACHINE READABLE COPIES MAY BE
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 62101 
 62102 
 62103 
 62104 ACT IV. Scene I.
 62105 The heath.
 62106 
 62107 Enter Edgar.
 62108 
 62109   Edg. Yet better thus, and known to be contemn'd,
 62110      Than still contemn'd and flatter'd. To be worst,
 62111      The lowest and most dejected thing of fortune,
 62112      Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear.
 62113      The lamentable change is from the best;
 62114      The worst returns to laughter. Welcome then,
 62115      Thou unsubstantial air that I embrace!
 62116      The wretch that thou hast blown unto the worst
 62117      Owes nothing to thy blasts.
 62118 
 62119                  Enter Gloucester, led by an Old Man.
 62120 
 62121      But who comes here?
 62122      My father, poorly led? World, world, O world!
 62123      But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee,
 62124      Life would not yield to age.
 62125   Old Man. O my good lord,
 62126      I have been your tenant, and your father's tenant,
 62127      These fourscore years.
 62128   Glou. Away, get thee away! Good friend, be gone.
 62129      Thy comforts can do me no good at all;
 62130      Thee they may hurt.
 62131   Old Man. You cannot see your way.
 62132   Glou. I have no way, and therefore want no eyes;
 62133      I stumbled when I saw. Full oft 'tis seen
 62134      Our means secure us, and our mere defects
 62135      Prove our commodities. Ah dear son Edgar,
 62136      The food of thy abused father's wrath!
 62137      Might I but live to see thee in my touch,
 62138      I'ld say I had eyes again!
 62139   Old Man. How now? Who's there?
 62140   Edg. [aside] O gods! Who is't can say 'I am at the worst'?
 62141      I am worse than e'er I was.
 62142   Old Man. 'Tis poor mad Tom.
 62143   Edg. [aside] And worse I may be yet. The worst is not
 62144      So long as we can say 'This is the worst.'
 62145   Old Man. Fellow, where goest?
 62146   Glou. Is it a beggarman?
 62147   Old Man. Madman and beggar too.
 62148   Glou. He has some reason, else he could not beg.
 62149      I' th' last night's storm I such a fellow saw,
 62150      Which made me think a man a worm. My son
 62151      Came then into my mind, and yet my mind
 62152      Was then scarce friends with him. I have heard more since.
 62153      As flies to wanton boys are we to th' gods.
 62154      They kill us for their sport.
 62155   Edg. [aside] How should this be?
 62156      Bad is the trade that must play fool to sorrow,
 62157      Ang'ring itself and others.- Bless thee, master!
 62158   Glou. Is that the naked fellow?
 62159   Old Man. Ay, my lord.
 62160   Glou. Then prithee get thee gone. If for my sake
 62161      Thou wilt o'ertake us hence a mile or twain
 62162      I' th' way toward Dover, do it for ancient love;
 62163      And bring some covering for this naked soul,
 62164      Who I'll entreat to lead me.
 62165   Old Man. Alack, sir, he is mad!
 62166   Glou. 'Tis the time's plague when madmen lead the blind.
 62167      Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure.
 62168      Above the rest, be gone.
 62169   Old Man. I'll bring him the best 'parel that I have,
 62170      Come on't what will.                                  Exit.
 62171   Glou. Sirrah naked fellow-
 62172   Edg. Poor Tom's acold. [Aside] I cannot daub it further.
 62173   Glou. Come hither, fellow.
 62174   Edg. [aside] And yet I must.- Bless thy sweet eyes, they bleed.
 62175   Glou. Know'st thou the way to Dover?
 62176   Edg. Both stile and gate, horseway and footpath. Poor Tom hath been
 62177      scar'd out of his good wits. Bless thee, good man's son, from
 62178      the foul fiend! Five fiends have been in poor Tom at once: of
 62179      lust, as Obidicut; Hobbididence, prince of dumbness; Mahu, of
 62180      stealing; Modo, of murder; Flibbertigibbet, of mopping and
 62181      mowing, who since possesses chambermaids and waiting women. So,
 62182      bless thee, master!
 62183   Glou. Here, take this Purse, thou whom the heavens' plagues
 62184      Have humbled to all strokes. That I am wretched
 62185      Makes thee the happier. Heavens, deal so still!
 62186      Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man,
 62187      That slaves your ordinance, that will not see
 62188      Because he does not feel, feel your pow'r quickly;
 62189      So distribution should undo excess,
 62190      And each man have enough. Dost thou know Dover?
 62191   Edg. Ay, master.
 62192   Glou. There is a cliff, whose high and bending head
 62193      Looks fearfully in the confined deep.
 62194      Bring me but to the very brim of it,
 62195      And I'll repair the misery thou dost bear
 62196      With something rich about me. From that place
 62197      I shall no leading need.
 62198   Edg. Give me thy arm.
 62199      Poor Tom shall lead thee.
 62200                                                          Exeunt.
 62201 
 62202 
 62203 
 62204 
 62205 Scene II.
 62206 Before the Duke of Albany's Palace.
 62207 
 62208 Enter Goneril and [Edmund the] Bastard.
 62209 
 62210   Gon. Welcome, my lord. I marvel our mild husband
 62211      Not met us on the way.
 62212 
 62213                      Enter [Oswald the] Steward.
 62214 
 62215      Now, where's your master?
 62216   Osw. Madam, within, but never man so chang'd.
 62217      I told him of the army that was landed:
 62218      He smil'd at it. I told him you were coming:
 62219      His answer was, 'The worse.' Of Gloucester's treachery
 62220      And of the loyal service of his son
 62221      When I inform'd him, then he call'd me sot
 62222      And told me I had turn'd the wrong side out.
 62223      What most he should dislike seems pleasant to him;
 62224      What like, offensive.
 62225   Gon. [to Edmund] Then shall you go no further.
 62226      It is the cowish terror of his spirit,
 62227      That dares not undertake. He'll not feel wrongs
 62228      Which tie him to an answer. Our wishes on the way
 62229      May prove effects. Back, Edmund, to my brother.
 62230      Hasten his musters and conduct his pow'rs.
 62231      I must change arms at home and give the distaff
 62232      Into my husband's hands. This trusty servant
 62233      Shall pass between us. Ere long you are like to hear
 62234      (If you dare venture in your own behalf)
 62235      A mistress's command. Wear this.          [Gives a favour.]
 62236      Spare speech.
 62237      Decline your head. This kiss, if it durst speak,
 62238      Would stretch thy spirits up into the air.
 62239      Conceive, and fare thee well.
 62240   Edm. Yours in the ranks of death!                        Exit.
 62241   Gon. My most dear Gloucester!
 62242      O, the difference of man and man!
 62243      To thee a woman's services are due;
 62244      My fool usurps my body.
 62245   Osw. Madam, here comes my lord.                          Exit.
 62246 
 62247                             Enter Albany.
 62248 
 62249   Gon. I have been worth the whistle.
 62250   Alb. O Goneril,
 62251      You are not worth the dust which the rude wind
 62252      Blows in your face! I fear your disposition.
 62253      That nature which contemns it origin
 62254      Cannot be bordered certain in itself.
 62255      She that herself will sliver and disbranch
 62256      From her material sap, perforce must wither
 62257      And come to deadly use.
 62258   Gon. No more! The text is foolish.
 62259   Alb. Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile;
 62260      Filths savour but themselves. What have you done?
 62261      Tigers, not daughters, what have you perform'd?
 62262      A father, and a gracious aged man,
 62263      Whose reverence even the head-lugg'd bear would lick,
 62264      Most barbarous, most degenerate, have you madded.
 62265      Could my good brother suffer you to do it?
 62266      A man, a prince, by him so benefited!
 62267      If that the heavens do not their visible spirits
 62268      Send quickly down to tame these vile offences,
 62269      It will come,
 62270      Humanity must perforce prey on itself,
 62271      Like monsters of the deep.
 62272   Gon. Milk-liver'd man!
 62273      That bear'st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs;
 62274      Who hast not in thy brows an eye discerning
 62275      Thine honour from thy suffering; that not know'st
 62276      Fools do those villains pity who are punish'd
 62277      Ere they have done their mischief. Where's thy drum?
 62278      France spreads his banners in our noiseless land,
 62279      With plumed helm thy state begins to threat,
 62280      Whiles thou, a moral fool, sit'st still, and criest
 62281      'Alack, why does he so?'
 62282   Alb. See thyself, devil!
 62283      Proper deformity seems not in the fiend
 62284      So horrid as in woman.
 62285   Gon. O vain fool!
 62286   Alb. Thou changed and self-cover'd thing, for shame!
 62287      Bemonster not thy feature! Were't my fitness
 62288      To let these hands obey my blood,
 62289      They are apt enough to dislocate and tear
 62290      Thy flesh and bones. Howe'er thou art a fiend,
 62291      A woman's shape doth shield thee.
 62292   Gon. Marry, your manhood mew!
 62293 
 62294                           Enter a Gentleman.
 62295 
 62296   Alb. What news?
 62297   Gent. O, my good lord, the Duke of Cornwall 's dead,
 62298      Slain by his servant, going to put out
 62299      The other eye of Gloucester.
 62300   Alb. Gloucester's eyes?
 62301   Gent. A servant that he bred, thrill'd with remorse,
 62302      Oppos'd against the act, bending his sword
 62303      To his great master; who, thereat enrag'd,
 62304      Flew on him, and amongst them fell'd him dead;
 62305      But not without that harmful stroke which since
 62306      Hath pluck'd him after.
 62307   Alb. This shows you are above,
 62308      You justicers, that these our nether crimes
 62309      So speedily can venge! But O poor Gloucester!
 62310      Lose he his other eye?
 62311   Gent. Both, both, my lord.
 62312      This letter, madam, craves a speedy answer.
 62313      'Tis from your sister.
 62314   Gon. [aside] One way I like this well;
 62315      But being widow, and my Gloucester with her,
 62316      May all the building in my fancy pluck
 62317      Upon my hateful life. Another way
 62318      The news is not so tart.- I'll read, and answer.
 62319 Exit.
 62320   Alb. Where was his son when they did take his eyes?
 62321   Gent. Come with my lady hither.
 62322   Alb. He is not here.
 62323   Gent. No, my good lord; I met him back again.
 62324   Alb. Knows he the wickedness?
 62325   Gent. Ay, my good lord. 'Twas he inform'd against him,
 62326      And quit the house on purpose, that their punishment
 62327      Might have the freer course.
 62328   Alb. Gloucester, I live
 62329      To thank thee for the love thou show'dst the King,
 62330      And to revenge thine eyes. Come hither, friend.
 62331      Tell me what more thou know'st.
 62332                                                          Exeunt.
 62333 
 62334 
 62335 
 62336 
 62337 Scene III.
 62338 The French camp near Dover.
 62339 
 62340 Enter Kent and a Gentleman.
 62341 
 62342   Kent. Why the King of France is so suddenly gone back know you the
 62343      reason?
 62344   Gent. Something he left imperfect in the state, which since his
 62345      coming forth is thought of, which imports to the kingdom so much
 62346      fear and danger that his personal return was most required and
 62347      necessary.
 62348   Kent. Who hath he left behind him general?
 62349   Gent. The Marshal of France, Monsieur La Far.
 62350   Kent. Did your letters pierce the Queen to any demonstration of
 62351      grief?
 62352   Gent. Ay, sir. She took them, read them in my presence,
 62353      And now and then an ample tear trill'd down
 62354      Her delicate cheek. It seem'd she was a queen
 62355      Over her passion, who, most rebel-like,
 62356      Sought to be king o'er her.
 62357   Kent. O, then it mov'd her?
 62358   Gent. Not to a rage. Patience and sorrow strove
 62359      Who should express her goodliest. You have seen
 62360      Sunshine and rain at once: her smiles and tears
 62361      Were like, a better way. Those happy smilets
 62362      That play'd on her ripe lip seem'd not to know
 62363      What guests were in her eyes, which parted thence
 62364      As pearls from diamonds dropp'd. In brief,
 62365      Sorrow would be a rarity most belov'd,
 62366      If all could so become it.
 62367   Kent. Made she no verbal question?
 62368   Gent. Faith, once or twice she heav'd the name of father
 62369      Pantingly forth, as if it press'd her heart;
 62370      Cried 'Sisters, sisters! Shame of ladies! Sisters!
 62371      Kent! father! sisters! What, i' th' storm? i' th' night?
 62372      Let pity not be believ'd!' There she shook
 62373      The holy water from her heavenly eyes,
 62374      And clamour moisten'd. Then away she started
 62375      To deal with grief alone.
 62376   Kent. It is the stars,
 62377      The stars above us, govern our conditions;
 62378      Else one self mate and mate could not beget
 62379      Such different issues. You spoke not with her since?
 62380   Gent. No.
 62381   Kent. Was this before the King return'd?
 62382   Gent. No, since.
 62383   Kent. Well, sir, the poor distressed Lear's i' th' town;
 62384      Who sometime, in his better tune, remembers
 62385      What we are come about, and by no means
 62386      Will yield to see his daughter.
 62387   Gent. Why, good sir?
 62388   Kent. A sovereign shame so elbows him; his own unkindness,
 62389      That stripp'd her from his benediction, turn'd her
 62390      To foreign casualties, gave her dear rights
 62391      To his dog-hearted daughters- these things sting
 62392      His mind so venomously that burning shame
 62393      Detains him from Cordelia.
 62394   Gent. Alack, poor gentleman!
 62395   Kent. Of Albany's and Cornwall's powers you heard not?
 62396   Gent. 'Tis so; they are afoot.
 62397   Kent. Well, sir, I'll bring you to our master Lear
 62398      And leave you to attend him. Some dear cause
 62399      Will in concealment wrap me up awhile.
 62400      When I am known aright, you shall not grieve
 62401      Lending me this acquaintance. I pray you go
 62402      Along with me.                                      Exeunt.
 62403 
 62404 
 62405 
 62406 