William Shakespeare
-
Tragedies
- Antony and Cleopatra
- Coriolanus
- Hamlet
- Julius Caesar
- King Lear
- Macbeth
- Othello
- Romeo and Juliet
- Timon of Athens
- Titus Andronicus
-
Histories
- King Henry IV Part 1
- King Henry IV Part 2
- King Henry V
- King Henry VI Part 1
- King Henry VI Part 2
- King Henry VI Part 3
- King Henry VIII
- King John
- Richard II
- Richard III
-
Comedies
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- All's Well That Ends Well
- As You Like It
- Cymbeline
- Love's Labour's Lost
- Measure for Measure
- Much Ado About Nothing
- Pericles, Prince of Tyre
- The Comedy of Errors
- The Merchant of Venice
- The Merry Wives of Windsor
- The Taming of the Shrew
- The Tempest
- The Two Gentlemen of Verona
- The Winter's Tale
- Troilus and Cressida
- Twelfth Night
-
Poetry
- A Lover's Complaint
- Sonnets 1 to 50
- Sonnets 50 to 100
- Sonnets 100 to 154
- The Passionate Pilgrim
- The Phoenix and the Turtle
- The Rape of Lucrece
- Venus and Adonis
King Henry VI, Part 3 (c. 1590)
ACT FIVE
SCENE 1. Coventry.
[Enter, upon the walls, WARWICK, the Mayor of Coventry, two Messengers, and others.]
WARWICK.
- Where is the post that came from valiant Oxford?—
- How far hence is thy lord, mine honest fellow?
1 MESSENGER.
- By this at Dunsmore, marching hitherward.
WARWICK.
- How far off is our brother Montague?
- Where is the post that came from Montague?
2 MESSENGER.
- By this at Daintry, with a puissant troop.
[Enter SIR JOHN SOMERVILLE.]
WARWICK.
- Say, Somerville, what says my loving son?
- And, by thy guess, how nigh is Clarence now?
SOMERVILLE.
- At Southam I did leave him with his forces
- And do expect him here some two hours hence.
[Drum heard.]
WARWICK.
- Then Clarence is at hand; I hear his drum.
SOMERVILLE.
- It is not his, my lord; here Southam lies.
- The drum your honour hears marcheth from Warwick.
WARWICK.
- Who should that be? belike, unlook'd-for friends.
SOMERVILLE.
- They are at hand, and you shall quickly know.
[March. Flourish. Enter KING EDWARD, GLOSTER, and Forces.]
KING EDWARD.
- Go, trumpet, to the walls and sound a parle.
GLOSTER.
- See how the surly Warwick mans the wall.
WARWICK.
- O, unbid spite! Is sportful Edward come?
- Where slept our scouts, or how are they seduc'd,
- That we could hear no news of his repair?
KING EDWARD.
- Now, Warwick, wilt thou ope the city gates?
- Speak gentle words and humbly bend thy knee,
- Call Edward king and at his hands beg mercy?
- And he shall pardon thee these outrages.
WARWICK.
- Nay, rather, wilt thou draw thy forces hence,
- Confess who set thee up and pluck'd thee down?
- Call Warwick patron and be penitent,
- And thou shalt still remain the Duke of York.
GLOSTER.
- I thought, at least, he would have said the king;
- Or did he make the jest against his will?
WARWICK.
- Is not a dukedom, sir, a goodly gift?
GLOSTER.
- Ay, by my faith, for a poor earl to give;
- I'll do thee service for so good a gift.
WARWICK.
- 'T was I that gave the kingdom to thy brother.
KING EDWARD.
- Why, then, 't is mine, if but by Warwick's gift.
WARWICK.
- Thou art no Atlas for so great a weight,
- And, weakling, Warwick takes his gift again;
- And Henry is my king, Warwick his subject.
KING EDWARD.
- But Warwick's king is Edward's prisoner;
- And, gallant Warwick, do but answer this:
- What is the body when the head is off?
GLOSTER.
- Alas! that Warwick had no more forecast,
- But, whiles he thought to steal the single ten,
- The king was slily finger'd from the deck!
- You left poor Henry at the Bishop's palace,
- And ten to one, you'll meet him in the Tower.
KING EDWARD.
- 'T is even so; yet you are Warwick still.
GLOSTER.
- Come, Warwick, take the time; kneel down, kneel down.
- Nay, when? strike now, or else the iron cools.
WARWICK.
- I had rather chop this hand off at a blow,
- And with the other fling it at thy face,
- Than bear so low a sail, to strike to thee.
KING EDWARD.
- Sail how thou canst, have wind and tide thy friend,
- This hand, fast wound about thy coal-black hair,
- Shall, whiles thy head is warm and new cut off,
- Write in the dust this sentence with thy blood,
- 'Wind-changing Warwick now can change no more.'
[Enter OXFORD, with Forces.]
WARWICK.
- O cheerful colours! see where Oxford comes.
OXFORD.
- Oxford, Oxford, for Lancaster!
[He and his forces enter the city.]
GLOSTER.
- The gates are open; let us enter too.
KING EDWARD.
- So other foes may set upon our backs.
- Stand we in good array, for they no doubt
- Will issue out again and bid us battle;
- If not, the city being but of small defence,
- We'll quietly rouse the traitors in the same.
WARWICK.
- O, welcome, Oxford, for we want thy help.
[Enter MONTAGUE, with Forces.]
MONTAGUE.
- Montague, Montague, for Lancaster!
[He and his forces enter the city.]
GLOSTER.
- Thou and thy brother both shall buy this treason,
- Even with the dearest blood your bodies bear.
KING EDWARD.
- The harder match'd, the greater victory;
- My mind presageth happy gain and conquest.
[Enter SOMERSET, with forces.]
SOMERSET.
- Somerset, Somerset, for Lancaster!
[He and his forces enter the city.]
GLOSTER.
- Two of thy name, both Dukes of Somerset,
- Have sold their lives unto the House of York;
- And thou shalt be the third if this sword hold.
[Enter CLARENCE, with Forces.]
WARWICK.
- And lo, where George of Clarence sweeps along,
- Of force enough to bid his brother battle;
- With whom an upright zeal to right prevails,
- More than the nature of a brother's love!—
[Gloster and Clarence whisper.]
- Come, Clarence, come; thou wilt if Warwick call.
CLARENCE.
- Father of Warwick, know you what this means?
[Taking the red rose out of his hat.]
- Look here, I throw my infamy at thee;
- I will not ruinate my father's house,
- Who gave his blood to lime the stones together,
- And set up Lancaster. Why, trow'st thou, Warwick,
- That Clarence is so harsh, so blunt, unnatural,
- To bend the fatal instruments of war
- Against his brother and his lawful king?
- Perhaps thou wilt object my holy oath;
- To keep that oath were more impiety
- Than Jephtha's when he sacrific'd his daughter.
- I am so sorry for my trespass made
- That, to deserve well at my brother's hands,
- I here proclaim myself thy mortal foe,
- With resolution, whereso'er I meet thee—
- As I will meet thee, if thou stir abroad—
- To plague thee for thy foul misleading me.
- And so, proud-hearted Warwick, I defy thee,
- And to my brother turn my blushing cheeks.—
- Pardon me, Edward, I will make amends;—
- And, Richard, do not frown upon my faults,
- For I will henceforth be no more unconstant.
KING EDWARD.
- Now, welcome more, and ten times more belov'd,
- Than if thou never hadst deserv'd our hate.
GLOSTER.
- Welcome, good Clarence; this is brother-like.
WARWICK.
- O passing traitor, perjur'd and unjust!
KING EDWARD.
- What, Warwick, wilt thou leave the town and fight,
- Or shall we beat the stones about thine ears?
WARWICK.
- Alas! I am not coop'd here for defence;
- I will away towards Barnet presently,
- And bid thee battle, Edward, if thou dar'st.
KING EDWARD.
- Yes, Warwick, Edward dares and leads the way.—
- Lords, to the field! Saint George and victory!
[March. Exeunt.]
SCENE 2. A field of battle near Barnet.
[Alarum and excursions. Enter KING EDWARD, bringing in WARWICK wounded.]
KING EDWARD.
- So, lie thou there; die thou, and die our fear,
- For Warwick was a bug that fear'd us all.—
- Now, Montague, sit fast; I seek for thee,
- That Warwick's bones may keep thine company.
[Exit.]
WARWICK.
- Ah! who is nigh? come to me, friend or foe,
- And tell me who is victor, York or Warwick.
- Why ask I that? my mangled body shows;
- My blood, my want of strength, my sick heart shows
- That I must yield my body to the earth
- And, by my fall, the conquest to my foe.
- Thus yields the cedar to the axe's edge,
- Whose arms gave shelter to the princely eagle,
- Under whose shade the ramping lion slept,
- Whose top-branch overpeer'd Jove's spreading tree,
- And kept low shrubs from winter's pow'rful wind.
- These eyes, that now are dimm'd with death's black veil,
- Have been as piercing as the midday sun,
- To search the secret treasons of the world;
- The wrinkles in my brows, now fill'd with blood,
- Were liken'd oft to kingly sepulchres,
- For who liv'd king but I could dig his grave?
- And who durst smile when Warwick bent his brow?
- Lo, now my glory smear'd in dust and blood!
- My parks, my walks, my manors that I had,
- Even now forsake me, and of all my lands
- Is nothing left me but my body's length.
- Why, what is pomp, rule, reign, but earth and dust?
- And live we how we can, yet die we must.
[Enter OXFORD and SOMERSET.]
SOMERSET.
- Ah, Warwick, Warwick! wert thou as we are,
- We might recover all our loss again.
- The queen from France hath brought a puissant power;
- Even now we heard the news. Ah, couldst thou fly!
WARWICK.
- Why, then I would not fly.—Ah, Montague!
- If thou be there, sweet brother, take my hand
- And with thy lips keep in my soul awhile.
- Thou lov'st me not; for, brother, if thou did'st,
- Thy tears would wash this cold, congealed blood
- That glues my lips and will not let me speak.
- Come quickly, Montague, or I am dead.
SOMERSET.
- Ah, Warwick, Montague hath breath'd his last,
- And to the latest gasp cried out for Warwick,
- And said 'Commend me to my valiant brother.'
- And more he would have said, and more he spoke,
- Which sounded like a clamour in a vault,
- That might not be distinguish'd; but at last
- I well might hear, delivered with a groan,—
- 'O farewell, Warwick!'
WARWICK.
- Sweet rest his soul!—Fly, lords, and save yourselves;
- For Warwick bids you all farewell, to meet in heaven.
[Dies.]
OXFORD.
- Away, away, to meet the queen's great power!
[Exeunt bearing off Warwick's body.]
SCENE 3. Another part of the field.
[Flourish. Enter KING EDWARD in triumph; with CLARENCE, GLOSTER, and the rest.]
KING EDWARD.
- Thus far our fortune keeps an upward course,
- And we are grac'd with wreaths of victory.
- But, in the midst of this bright-shining day,
- I spy a black, suspicious, threatEning cloud,
- That will encounter with our glorious sun
- Ere he attain his easeful western bed.
- I mean, my lords, those powers that the Queen
- Hath rais'd in Gallia have arriv'd our coast
- And, as we hear, march on to fight with us.
CLARENCE.
- A little gale will soon disperse that cloud
- And blow it to the source from whence it came;
- Thy very beams will dry those vapours up,
- For every cloud engenders not a storm.
GLOSTER.
- The queen is valued thirty thousand strong,
- And Somerset, with Oxford, fled to her;
- If she have time to breathe, be well assur'd,
- Her faction will be full as strong as ours.
KING EDWARD.
- We are advertis'd by our loving friends
- That they do hold their course toward Tewkesbury.
- We, having now the best at Barnet field,
- Will thither straight, for willingness rids way;
- And, as we march, our strength will be augmented
- In every county as we go along.—
- Strike up the drum! cry 'Courage!' and away.
[Exeunt.]
SCENE 4. Plains near Tewkesbury.
[March. Enter QUEEN MARGARET, PRINCE EDWARD, SOMERSET, OXFORD, and Soldiers.]
QUEEN MARGARET.
- Great lords, wise men ne'er sit and wail their loss,
- But cheerly seek how to redress their harms.
- What though the mast be now blown overboard,
- The cable broke, the holding-anchor lost,
- And half our sailors swallow'd in the flood?
- Yet lives our pilot still. Is 't meet that he
- Should leave the helm, and like a fearful lad
- With tearful eyes add water to the sea,
- And give more strength to that which hath too much,
- Whiles in his moan the ship splits on the rock,
- Which industry and courage might have sav'd?
- Ah, what a shame! ah, what a fault were this!
- Say Warwick was our anchor; what of that?
- And Montague our topmast; what of him?
- Our slaught'red friends the tackles; what of these?
- Why, is not Oxford here another anchor,
- And Somerset another goodly mast?
- The friends of France our shrouds and tacklings?
- And, though unskilful, why not Ned and I
- For once allow'd the skilful pilot's charge?
- We will not from the helm to sit and weep,
- But keep our course, though the rough wind say no,
- From shelves and rocks that threaten us with wrack,
- As good to chide the waves as speak them fair.
- And what is Edward but a ruthless sea?
- What Clarence but a quicksand of deceit?
- And Richard but a ragged fatal rock?
- All these the enemies to our poor bark?
- Say you can swim; alas, 't is but a while!
- Tread on the sand; why, there you quickly sink;
- Bestride the rock; the tide will wash you off,
- Or else you famish,—that's a threefold death.
- This speak I, lords, to let you understand,
- If case some one of you would fly from us,
- That there's no hop'd-for mercy with the brothers
- More than with ruthless waves, with sands, and rocks.
- Why, courage then! what cannot be avoided
- 'T were childish weakness to lament or fear.
PRINCE.
- Methinks, a woman of this valiant spirit
- Should, if a coward heard her speak these words,
- Infuse his breast with magnanimity,
- And make him, naked, foil a man at arms.
- I speak not this as doubting any here;
- For, did I but suspect a fearful man,
- He should have leave to go away betimes,
- Lest in our need he might infect another
- And make him of the like spirit to himself.
- If any such be here—as God forbid!—
- Let him depart before we need his help.
OXFORD.
- Women and children of so high a courage,
- And warriors faint! why, 't were perpetual shame.—
- O, brave young prince! thy famous grandfather
- Doth live again in thee; long mayst thou live
- To bear his image and renew his glories!
SOMERSET.
- And he that will not fight for such a hope,
- Go home to bed, and like the owl by day,
- If he arise, be mock'd and wonder'd at.
QUEEN MARGARET.
- Thanks, gentle Somerset.—Sweet Oxford, thanks.
PRINCE.
- And take his thanks that yet hath nothing else.
[Enter a Messenger.]
MESSENGER.
- Prepare you, lords, for Edward is at hand
- Ready to fight; therefore be resolute.
OXFORD.
- I thought no less; it is his policy
- To haste thus fast, to find us unprovided.
SOMERSET.
- But he's deceiv'd; we are in readiness.
QUEEN MARGARET.
- This cheers my heart, to see your forwardness.
OXFORD.
- Here pitch our battle; hence we will not budge.
[Flourish and march. Enter KING EDWARD, CLARENCE, GLOSTER, and Forces.]
KING EDWARD.
- Brave followers, yonder stands the thorny wood
- Which, by the heaven's assistance and your strength,
- Must by the roots be hewn up yet ere night.
- I need not add more fuel to your fire,
- For, well I wot, ye blaze to burn them out.
- Give signal to the fight, and to it, lords.
QUEEN MARGARET.
- Lords, knights, and gentlemen, what I should say,
- My tears gainsay; for every word I speak,
- Ye see I drink the water of my eyes.
- Therefore, no more but this: Henry, your sovereign,
- Is prisoner to the foe, his state usurp'd,
- His realm a slaughter-house, his subjects slain,
- His statutes cancell'd, and his treasure spent;
- And yonder is the wolf that makes this spoil.
- You fight in justice; then, in God's name, lords,
- Be valiant and give signal to the fight.
[Exeunt both armies.]
SCENE 5. Another part of the field.
[Flourish. Enter KING EDWARD, CLARENCE, GLOSTER, and Forces; With QUEEN MARGARET, OXFORD, and SOMERSET, as prisoners.]
KING EDWARD.
- Now, here a period of tumultuous broils.
- Away with Oxford to Hames Castle straight;
- For Somerset, off with his guilty head.
- Go, bear them hence; I will not hear them speak.
OXFORD.
- For my part, I'll not trouble thee with words.
SOMERSET.
- Nor I, but stoop with patience to my fortune.
[Exeunt Oxford and Somerset, guarded.]
QUEEN MARGARET.
- So part we sadly in this troublous world,
- To meet with joy in sweet Jerusalem.
KING EDWARD.
- Is proclamation made that who finds Edward
- Shall have a high reward, and he his life?
GLOSTER.
- It is; and lo, where youthful Edward comes!
[Enter soldiers with PRINCE EDWARD.]
KING EDWARD.
- Bring forth the gallant; let us hear him speak.
- What! can so young a man begin to prick?—
- Edward, what satisfaction canst thou make
- For bearing arms, for stirring up my subjects,
- And all the trouble thou hast turn'd me to?
PRINCE.
- Speak like a subject, proud, ambitious York!
- Suppose that I am now my father's mouth;
- Resign thy chair, and where I stand kneel thou,
- Whilst I propose the selfsame words to thee
- Which, traitor, thou wouldst have me answer to.
QUEEN MARGARET.
- Ah, thy father had been so resolv'd!
GLOSTER.
- That you might still have worn the petticoat,
- And ne'er have stol'n the breech from Lancaster.
PRINCE.
- Let Aesop fable in a winter's night;
- His currish riddle sorts not with this place.
GLOSTER.
- By heaven, brat, I'll plague you for that word.
QUEEN MARGARET.
- Ay, thou wast born to be a plague to men.
GLOSTER.
- For God's sake, take away this captive scold.
PRINCE.
- Nay, take away this scolding crook-back rather.
KING EDWARD.
- Peace, wilful boy, or I will charm your tongue.
CLARENCE.
- Untutor'd lad, thou art too malapert.
PRINCE.
- I know my duty; you are all undutiful.
- Lascivious Edward,—and thou perjur'd George,—
- And thou misshapen Dick,—I tell ye all,
- I am your better, traitors as ye are;—
- And thou usurp'st my father's right and mine.
KING EDWARD.
- Take that, the likeness of this railer here.
[Stabs him.]
GLOSTER.
- Sprawl'st thou? take that, to end thy agony.
[Stabs him.]
CLARENCE.
- And there's for twitting me with perjury.
[Stabs him.]
QUEEN MARGARET.
- O, kill me too!
GLOSTER.
- Marry, and shall.
[Offers to kill her.]
KING EDWARD.
- Hold, Richard, hold! for we have done to much.
GLOSTER.
- Why should she live to fill the world with words?
KING EDWARD.
- What! doth she swoon? use means for her recovery.
GLOSTER.
- Clarence, excuse me to the king, my brother.
- I'll hence to London on a serious matter;
- Ere ye come there, be sure to hear some news.
CLARENCE.
- What? what?
GLOSTER.
- The Tower! the Tower!
[Exit.]
QUEEN MARGARET.
- O Ned! sweet Ned! speak to thy mother, boy.
- Canst thou not speak?—O traitors! murtherers!
- They that stabb'd Caesar shed no blood at all,
- Did not offend, nor were not worthy blame,
- If this foul deed were by to equal it.
- He was a man: this, in respect, a child,
- And men ne'er spend their fury on a child.
- What's worse than murtherer, that I may name it?
- No, no, my heart will burst, an if I speak;
- And I will speak, that so my heart may burst.—
- Butchers and villains! bloody cannibals!
- How sweet a plant have you untimely cropp'd!
- You have no children, butchers! if you had,
- The thought of them would have stirr'd up remorse;
- But, if you ever chance to have a child,
- Look in his youth to have him so cut off
- As, deathsmen, you have rid this sweet young prince!
KING EDWARD.
- Away with her! go, bear her hence perforce.
QUEEN MARGARET.
- Nay, never bear me hence, dispatch me here;
- Here sheathe thy sword, I'll pardon thee my death.
- What! wilt thou not?—then, Clarence, do it thou.
CLARENCE.
- By heaven, I will not do thee so much ease.
QUEEN MARGARET.
- Good Clarence, do; sweet Clarence, do thou do
- it.
CLARENCE.
- Didst thou not hear me swear I would not do it?
QUEEN MARGARET.
- Ay, but thou usest to forswear thyself;
- 'T was sin before, but now 't is charity.
- What! wilt thou not? where is that devil's butcher,
- Hard-favour'd Richard?—Richard, where art thou?
- Thou art not here; murther is thy alms-deed,
- Petitioners for blood thou ne'er putt'st back.
KING EDWARD.
- Away, I say! I charge ye, bear her hence.
QUEEN MARGARET.
- So come to you and yours as to this prince!
[She is taken out.]
KING EDWARD.
- Where's Richard gone?
CLARENCE.
- To London, all in post, and, as I guess,
- To make a bloody supper in the Tower.
KING EDWARD.
- He's sudden if a thing comes in his head.
- Now march we hence; discharge the common sort
- With pay and thanks, and let's away to London,
- And see our gentle queen how well she fares.
- By this, I hope, she hath a son for me.
[Exeunt.]
[KING HENRY is discovered sitting with a book in his hand, the Lieutenant attending. Enter GLOSTER.]
GLOSTER.
- Good day, my lord. What! at your book so hard?
KING HENRY.
- Ay, my good lord;—my lord, I should say rather.
- 'T is sin to flatter; 'good' was little better.
- Good Gloster and good devil were alike,
- And both preposterous; therefore, not good lord.
GLOSTER.
- Sirrah, leave us to ourselves; we must confer.
[Exit Lieutenant.]
KING HENRY.
- So flies the reckless shepherd from the wolf;
- So first the harmless sheep doth yield his fleece,
- And next his throat unto the butcher's knife.—
- What scene of death hath Roscius now to act?
GLOSTER.
- Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind;
- The thief doth fear each bush an officer.
KING HENRY.
- The bird that hath been limed in a bush
- With trembling wings misdoubteth every bush;
- And I, the hapless male to one sweet bird,
- Have now the fatal object in my eye
- Where my poor young was lim'd, was caught, and kill'd.
GLOSTER.
- Why, what a peevish fool was that of Crete
- That taught his son the office of a fowl!
- And yet, for all his wings, the fool was drown'd.
KING HENRY.
- I, Daedalus; my poor boy, Icarus;
- Thy father, Minos, that denied our course;
- The sun that sear'd the wings of my sweet boy,
- Thy brother Edward; and thyself, the sea
- Whose envious gulf did swallow up his life.
- Ah, kill me with thy weapon, not with words!
- My breast can better brook thy dagger's point
- Than can my ears that tragic history.
- But wherefore dost thou come? is 't for my life?
GLOSTER.
- Think'st thou I am an executioner?
KING HENRY.
- A persecutor, I am sure, thou art;
- If murdering innocents be executing,
- Why, then thou are an executioner.
GLOSTER.
- Thy son I kill'd for his presumption.
KING HENRY.
- Hadst thou been kill'd when first thou didst presume,
- Thou hadst not liv'd to kill a son of mine.
- And thus I prophesy,—that many a thousand,
- Which now mistrust no parcel of my fear,
- And many an old man's sigh and many a widow's,
- And many an orphan's water-standing eye,—
- Men for their sons', wives for their husbands' fate,
- And orphans for their parents' timeless death,—
- Shall rue the hour that ever thou wast born.
- The owl shriek'd at thy birth, an evil sign;
- The night-crow cried, aboding luckless time;
- Dogs howl'd, and hideous tempest shook down trees;
- The raven rook'd her on the chimney's top,
- And chatt'ring pies in dismal discord sung.
- Thy mother felt more than a mother's pain,
- And yet brought forth less than a mother's hope,
- An indigested and deformed lump,
- Not like the fruit of such a goodly tree.
- Teeth hadst thou in thy head when thou wast born,
- To signify thou cam'st to bite the world;
- And, if the rest be true which I have heard,
- Thou cam'st—
GLOSTER.
- I'll hear no more. Die, prophet, in thy speech.
[Stabs him.]
For this, amongst the rest, was I ordain'd.
KING HENRY.
- Ay, and for much more slaughter after this.
- O, God forgive my sins, and pardon thee!
[Dies.]
GLOSTER.
- What! will the aspiring blood of Lancaster
- Sink in the ground? I thought it would have mounted.
- See, how my sword weeps for the poor King's death!
- O, may such purple tears be always shed
- From those that wish the downfall of our house!—
- If any spark of life be yet remaining,
- Down, down to hell; and say I sent thee thither,
[Stabs him again.]
- I, that have neither pity, love, nor fear.
- Indeed, 't is true that Henry told me of;
- For I have often heard my mother say
- I came into the world with my legs forward.
- Had I not reason, think ye, to make haste
- And seek their ruin that usurp'd our right?
- The midwife wonder'd; and the women cried
- 'O, Jesus bless us, he is born with teeth!'
- And so I was, which plainly signified
- That I should snarl and bite and play the dog.
- Then, since the heavens have shap'd my body so,
- Let hell make crook'd my mind to answer it.
- I have no brother, I am like no brother,
- And this word 'love,' which greybeards call divine,
- Be resident in men like one another,
- And not in me! I am myself alone.—
- Clarence, beware! thou keep'st me from the light;
- But I will sort a pitchy day for thee;
- For I will buzz abroad such prophecies
- That Edward shall be fearful of his life,
- And then, to purge his fear, I'll be thy death.
- King Henry and the prince his son are gone;
- Clarence, thy turn is next, and then the rest,
- Counting myself but bad till I be best.
- I'll throw thy body in another room,
- And triumph, Henry, in thy day of doom.
[Exit with the body.]
[KING EDWARD is discovered sitting on his throne; QUEEN ELIZABETH with the infant Prince, CLARENCE, Gloster, HASTINGS, and others, near him.]
KING EDWARD.
- Once more we sit in England's royal throne,
- Re-purchas'd with the blood of enemies.
- What valiant foemen, like to autumn's corn,
- Have we mow'd down in tops of all their pride!
- Three Dukes of Somerset, threefold renown'd
- For hardy and undoubted champions;
- Two Cliffords, as the father and the son;
- And two Northumberlands,—two braver men
- Ne'er spurr'd their coursers at the trumpet's sound;
- With them the two brave bears, Warwick and Montague,
- That in their chains fetter'd the kingly lion
- And made the forest tremble when they roar'd.
- Thus have we swept suspicion from our seat
- And made our footstool of security.—
- Come hither, Bess, and let me kiss my boy.—
- Young Ned, for thee thine uncles and myself
- Have in our armours watch'd the winter's night,
- Went all afoot in summer's scalding heat,
- That thou mightst repossess the crown in peace;
- And of our labours thou shalt reap the gain.
Gloster.
- [Aside.] I'll blast his harvest if your head were laid;
- For yet I am not look'd on in the world.
- This shoulder was ordain'd so thick to heave;
- And heave it shall some weight or break my back.—
- Work thou the way,—and that shall execute.
KING EDWARD.
- Clarence and Gloster, love my lovely queen;
- And kiss your princely nephew, brothers both.
CLARENCE.
- The duty that I owe unto your Majesty
- I seal upon the lips of this sweet babe.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
- Thanks, noble Clarence; worthy brother, thanks.
Gloster.
- And, that I love the tree from whence thou sprang'st,
- Witness the loving kiss I give the fruit.—
- [Aside.] To say the truth, so Judas kiss'd his Master,
- And cried, all hail! when as he meant all harm.
KING EDWARD.
- Now am I seated as my soul delights;
- Having my country's peace and brothers' loves.
CLARENCE.
- What will your Grace have done with Margaret?
- Reignier, her father, to the King of France
- Hath pawn'd the Sicils and Jerusalem,
- And hither have they sent it for her ransom.
KING EDWARD.
- Away with her and waft her hence to France.—
- And now what rests but that we spend the time
- With stately triumphs, mirthful comic shows,
- Such as befits the pleasure of the court?
- Sound drums and trumpets!—farewell sour annoy!
- For here, I hope, begins our lasting joy.
[Exeunt.]