Must Edward fall, which peril heaven fore- | Should lose his birthright by his father's fault? fend! Doth not the object cheer your heart, my lord? K. Hen. Ay, as the rocks cheer them that fear their wreck ; To see this sight, it irks my very soul.- The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on; brood. Ambitious York did level at thy crown, Why then things are as they should be. And long hereafter say unto his child,- K. Hen. Full well hath Clifford play'd the orator, Inferring arguments of mighty force. How it doth grieve me that thy head is here! K. Hen. Edward Plantagenet, arise a knight; And learn this lesson,-Draw thy sword in right. [leave Prince. My gracious father, by your kingly I'll draw it as apparent to the crown, And in that quarrel use it to the death. Clif. Why, that is spoken like a toward prince. lords, And hearten those that fight in your defence: Unsheath your sword, good father; cry St. George! March. Enter EDWARD, GEORGE, RICHARD, WARWICK, NORFOLK, MONTAGUE, and Soldiers. Edw. Now, perjured Henry! Wilt thou kneel And set thy diadem upon my head; for grace, Or bide the mortal fortune of the field? Q. Mar. Go rate thy minions, proud insulting boy! Becomes it thee to be thus bold in terms, Before thy sovereign, and thy lawful king? Edw. I am his king, and he should bow his I was adopted heir by his consent: [knee; Since when, his oath is broke; for, as I hear, * Foolishly. † 1. e. Arrange your host, put your host in order. was it not? Clif. Ay, and old York, and yet not satisfied. Rich. For God's sake, lords, give signal to the fight. War. What say'st thou, Henry, wilt thou yield the crown? Q. Mar. Why, how now long-tongued Warwick? Dare you speak? When you and I met at St. Albans last, Clif. You said so much before, and yet you fled. War. "Twas not your valour, Clifford, drove me thence. North. No, nor your manhood, that durst make you stay. Rich. Northumberland, I hold thee reve- Break off the parle; for scarce I can refrain Rich. Ay, like a dastard, and a treacherous As thou didst kill our tender brother Rutland; But, ere sun-set, I'll make thee curse the deed. K. Hen. Have done with words, my lords, and hear me speak. Q. Mar. Defy them then, or else hold close thy lips. K. Hen. I pr'ythee, give no limits to my I am a king, and privileged to speak. [tongue; Clif. My liege, the wound, that bred this meeting here, Cannot be cured by words; therefore be still. A thousand men have broke their fasts to-day, crown. War. If thou deny, their blood upon thy head; For York in justice puts his armour on. Prince. If that be right, which Warwick says is right, There is no wrong, but every thing is right. Rich. Whoever got thee, there thy mother stands; For, well I wot, thou hast thy mother's tongue. Q. Mar. But thou art neither like thy sire, nor dam; But like a foul misshapen stigmatic, It is my firm persuasion. + One branded by nature. Gilt is a superficial covering of gold. Whose father bears the title of a king, (As if a channel should be call'd the sea,) Shamest thou not, knowing whence thou art extraught, To let thy tongue detect+ thy base-born heart? Edw. A wisp of straw were worth a thousand crowns, To make this shameless callett know herself.- And, had he match'd according to his state, Geo. But, when we saw our sunshine made thy spring, And that thy summer bred us no increase, Or bathed thy growing with our heated bloods. wave! Edw. Bootless is flight, they follow us with | And cheers these hands that slew thy sire and wings; And weak we are, and cannot shun pursuit. Enter RICHARD. Rich. Ah, Warwick, why hast thou withdrawn thyself? Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath drunk, [lance: Broach'd with the steely point of Clifford's And, in the very pangs of death, he cried,Like to a dismal clangor heard from far,Warwick, revenge! Brother, revenge my death! So underneath the belly of their steeds, That stain'd their fetlocks in his smoking blood, The noble gentleman gave up the ghost. I'll kill my horse, because I will not fly. And, in this vow, do chain my soul to thine. Let me embrace thee in my weary arms:- farewell. brother, To execute the like upon thyself; [They fight-WARWICK enters; Clifford kies. Rich. Nay, Warwick, single out some other chase; For I myself will hunt this wolf to death. SCENE V.-Another part of the Field. K. Hen. This battle fares like to the mors- so: For what is in this world, but grief and woe? To carve out dials quaintly, point by point, Who's this?-O God! it is my father's face, And I, who at his hands receiv'd my life, K. Hen. O piteous spectacle! O bloody times! Whilst lions war, and battle for their dens, Poor harmless lambs abide their enmity.Weep, wretched man, I'll aid thee tear for tear: And let our hearts, and eyes, like civil war, Be blind with tears, and break o'ercharged with grief. Son. I'll bear thee hence, where I may weep My heart, sweet boy, shall be thy sepulchre; Here sits a king more woeful than you are. Alarums: Excursions.--Enter Queen MARGA- And Warwick rages like a chafed bull: Enter a FATHER who hath killed his Son, with Are at our backs; and therefore hence amain. the Body in his Arms. Fath. Thou that so stoutly had resisted me, Give me thy gold, if thou hast any gold; For I have bought it with a hundred blows.But let me see :-Is this our foeman's face? Ah, no, no, no, it is mine only son!Ah, boy, if any life be left in thee, Throw up thine eye; see, see, what showers arise, Blown with the windy tempest of my heart, Upon thy wounds, that kill mine eye and heart! O, pity, God, this miserable age!- Take on with me and ne'er be satisfied! Exe. Away! for vengeance comes along with them: Nay, stay not to expostulate, make speed; K. Hen. Nay, take me with thee, good sweet Not that I fear to stay, but love to go Whither the queen intends. Forward; away! [Exeunt. SCENE VI.-The same. A loud Alarum.-Enter CLIFFORD, wounded. Clif. Here burns my candle out, ay, here it dies, Which, while it lasted, gave king Henry light. More than my body's parting with my soul. The common people swarm like summer flies: Or as thy father, and his father, did, Fath. How will my wife, for slaughter of Giving no ground unto the house of York, They never then had sprung like summer flies; I, and ten thousand in this luckless realm, Had left no mourning widows for our death, And thou this day hadst kept thy chair in peace. For what doth cherish weeds, but gentle air? And what make robbers bold, but too much [wounds; lenity? Bootless are plaints, and cureless are my And much effuse of blood doth make me faint: [rest; Come, York, and Richard, Warwick, and the I stabb'd your fathers' bosoms, split my breast. [He faints. Alarum and Retreat.-Enter EDWARD, GEORGE, RICHARD, MONTAGUE, WARWICK, and Soldiers. Edw. Now breathe we, lords; good fortune bids us pause, [looks.And smooth the frowns of war with peaceful Some troops pursue the bloody-minded queen; That led calm Henry, though he were a king, As doth a sail, fill'd with a fretting gust, Command an argosy to stem the waves. But think you, lords, that Clifford fled with them? War. No, 'tis impossible he should escape; For, though before his face I speak the words, Your brother Richard mark'd him for the grave; And, wheresoe'er he is, he's surely dead. [CLIFFORD groans and dies. Edw. Whose soul is that which takes her heavy leave? Rich. A deadly groan, like life and death's departing. Edw. See who it is: and now the battle's ended, If friend, or foe, let him be gently used. Who, not contented that he lopp'd the branch, I mean our princely father, duke of York. War. From off the gates of York fetch down the head, Your father's head, which Clifford placed there: Instead whereof, let this supply the room; Measure for measure must be answered. Edw. Bring forth this fatal screech-owl to our house, Dark cloudy death o'ershades his beams of life, And he nor sees, nor hears us what we say. Rich. O, 'would he did! And so, perhaps, he "Tis but his policy to counterfeit, [doth; Because he would avoid such bitter taunts Which in the time of death he gave our father. Geo. If so thou think'st, vex him with eager words.* Rich. Clifford, ask mercy, and obtain no grace. Edw. Clifford, repent in bootless penitence. War. Clifford, devise excuses for thy faults. Geo. While we devise fell tortures for thy faults. Rich. Thou didst love York, and I am son to York. Edw. Thou pitied'st Rutland, I will pity thee. Geo. Where's captain Margaret to fence you now? War. They mock thee, Clifford! Swear as thou wast wont. Sour words, words of asperity. Rich. What, not an oath? world goes hard, Nay, then the [oath:When Clifford cannot spare his friends an I know by that, he's dead; and, by my soul, If this right hand would buy two hours' life, That I in all despite might rail at him, This hand should chop it off; and with the is suing blood Stifle the villain, whose unstaunched thirst York and young Rutland could not satisfy. War. Ay, but he's dead: Off with the trator's head, And rear it in the place your father's stands - And ask the lady Bona for thy queen: The scatter'd foe, that hopes to rise again; And then to Britanny I'll cross the sea, it be: SCENE 1.-A Chase in the North of England. Enter Two KEEPERS, with Cross-bows in their Hands. 1 Keep. Under this thick-grown brake* we'll shroud ourselves; [come: For through this laund+ anon the deer will And in this covert will we make our stand, Culling the principal of all the deer. 2 Keep. I'll stay above the hill, so both may shoot, 1 Keep. That cannot be; the noise of thy cross-bow Will scare the herd, and so my shoot is lost. Here stand we both and aim we at the best: And, for the time shall not seem tedious, I'll tell thee what befell me on a day, In this self-place where now we mean to stand. 2 Keep. Here comes a man, let's stay till he be past. Enter King HENRY, disguised, with a Prayerbook. K. Hen. From Scotland am I stolen, even of pure love, To greet mine own land with my wishful sight. |