Login

Scriptlighter

x

Psst. Thanks for trying out Scriptlighter. We hope you like it.

Do you think you may use it again in the future?

Thanks for your feedback.

We're glad to hear that Scriptlighter works for you. If you're interested in helping us make Scriptlighter better, please fill out our short survey about your experience.

Take the survey

Found a problem with the play?

Fix it

Henry VI, Part 3

by William Shakespeare

Dramatis Personae

Act 1

Scene 1

Alarum. Enter Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York; Edward; Richard; Norfolk; Montague; Warwick; and Soldiers, all wearing the white rose.

Earl of Warwick:I wonder how the King escaped our hands.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:While we pursued the horsemen of the north, He slyly stole away and left his men; Whereat the great lord of Northumberland, Whose warlike ears could never brook retreat, Cheered up the drooping army; and himself, Lord Clifford, and Lord Stafford, all abreast, Charged our main battle’s front and, breaking in, Were by the swords of common soldiers slain.

Edward:Lord Stafford’s father, Duke of Buckingham, Is either slain or wounded dangerous. I cleft his beaver with a downright blow. That this is true, father, behold his blood.

He shows his bloody sword.

Marquess of Montague:[to York, showing his sword] And, brother, here’s the Earl of Wiltshire’s blood, Whom I encountered as the battles joined.

Richard:[holding up a severed head] Speak thou for me, and tell them what I did.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Richard hath best deserved of all my sons. But is your Grace dead, my lord of Somerset?

Duke of Norfolk:Such hope have all the line of John of Gaunt!

Richard:Thus do I hope to shake King Henry’s head.

Earl of Warwick:And so do I, victorious prince of York. Before I see thee seated in that throne Which now the house of Lancaster usurps, I vow by heaven these eyes shall never close. This is the palace of the fearful king, And this the regal seat. Possess it, York, For this is thine and not King Henry’s heirs’.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Assist me, then, sweet Warwick, and I will, For hither we have broken in by force.

Duke of Norfolk:We’ll all assist you. He that flies shall die.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Thanks, gentle Norfolk. Stay by me, my lords.— And soldiers, stay and lodge by me this night.

They go up onto a dais or platform.

Earl of Warwick:And when the King comes, offer him no violence Unless he seek to thrust you out perforce.

Soldiers exit or retire out of sight.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:The Queen this day here holds her parliament, But little thinks we shall be of her council. By words or blows, here let us win our right.

Richard:Armed as we are, let’s stay within this house.

Earl of Warwick:"The Bloody Parliament" shall this be called Unless Plantagenet, Duke of York, be king And bashful Henry deposed, whose cowardice Hath made us bywords to our enemies.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Then leave me not, my lords; be resolute. I mean to take possession of my right.

Earl of Warwick:Neither the King nor he that loves him best, The proudest he that holds up Lancaster, Dares stir a wing if Warwick shake his bells. I’ll plant Plantagenet, root him up who dares. Resolve thee, Richard; claim the English crown.

York sits in the chair of state.

Flourish. Enter King Henry, Clifford, Northumberland, Westmorland, Exeter, and the rest, all wearing the red rose.

King Henry VI:My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits, Even in the chair of state! Belike he means, Backed by the power of Warwick, that false peer, To aspire unto the crown and reign as king. Earl of Northumberland, he slew thy father, And thine, Lord Clifford, and you both have vowed revenge On him, his sons, his favorites, and his friends.

Earl of Northumberland:If I be not, heavens be revenged on me!

Lord Clifford:The hope thereof makes Clifford mourn in steel.

Earl of Westmorland:What, shall we suffer this? Let’s pluck him down. My heart for anger burns. I cannot brook it.

King Henry VI:Be patient, gentle Earl of Westmorland.

Lord Clifford:Patience is for poltroons such as he. He durst not sit there had your father lived. My gracious lord, here in the Parliament Let us assail the family of York.

Earl of Northumberland:Well hast thou spoken, cousin. Be it so.

King Henry VI:Ah, know you not the city favors them, And they have troops of soldiers at their beck?

Duke of Exeter:But when the Duke is slain, they’ll quickly fly.

King Henry VI:Far be the thought of this from Henry’s heart, To make a shambles of the Parliament House! Cousin of Exeter, frowns, words, and threats Shall be the war that Henry means to use.— Thou factious Duke of York, descend my throne And kneel for grace and mercy at my feet. I am thy sovereign.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:I am thine.

Duke of Exeter:For shame, come down. He made thee Duke of York.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:It was my inheritance, as the earldom was.

Duke of Exeter:Thy father was a traitor to the crown.

Earl of Warwick:Exeter, thou art a traitor to the crown In following this usurping Henry.

Lord Clifford:Whom should he follow but his natural king?

Earl of Warwick:True, Clifford, that’s Richard, Duke of York.

King Henry VI:[to York] And shall I stand, and thou sit in my throne?

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:It must and shall be so. Content thyself.

Earl of Warwick:[to King Henry] Be Duke of Lancaster. Let him be king.

Earl of Westmorland:He is both king and Duke of Lancaster, And that the lord of Westmorland shall maintain.

Earl of Warwick:And Warwick shall disprove it. You forget That we are those which chased you from the field And slew your fathers and, with colors spread, Marched through the city to the palace gates.

Earl of Northumberland:Yes, Warwick, I remember it to my grief; And by his soul, thou and thy house shall rue it.

Earl of Westmorland:Plantagenet, of thee and these thy sons, Thy kinsmen, and thy friends, I’ll have more lives Than drops of blood were in my father’s veins.

Lord Clifford:Urge it no more, lest that, instead of words, I send thee, Warwick, such a messenger As shall revenge his death before I stir.

Earl of Warwick:Poor Clifford, how I scorn his worthless threats!

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Will you we show our title to the crown? If not, our swords shall plead it in the field.

King Henry VI:What title hast thou, traitor, to the crown? Thy father was as thou art, Duke of York; Thy grandfather, Roger Mortimer, Earl of March. I am the son of Henry the Fifth, Who made the Dauphin and the French to stoop And seized upon their towns and provinces.

Earl of Warwick:Talk not of France, sith thou hast lost it all.

King Henry VI:The Lord Protector lost it and not I. When I was crowned, I was but nine months old.

Richard:You are old enough now, and yet, methinks, you lose.— Father, tear the crown from the usurper’s head.

Edward:Sweet father, do so. Set it on your head.

Marquess of Montague:[to York] Good brother, as thou lov’st and honorest arms, Let’s fight it out and not stand caviling thus.

Richard:Sound drums and trumpets, and the King will fly.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Sons, peace!

King Henry VI:Peace thou, and give King Henry leave to speak!

Earl of Warwick:Plantagenet shall speak first. Hear him, lords, And be you silent and attentive too, For he that interrupts him shall not live.

King Henry VI:Think’st thou that I will leave my kingly throne, Wherein my grandsire and my father sat? No. First shall war unpeople this my realm; Ay, and their colors, often borne in France, And now in England to our heart’s great sorrow, Shall be my winding-sheet. Why faint you, lords? My title’s good, and better far than his.

Earl of Warwick:Prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king.

King Henry VI:Henry the Fourth by conquest got the crown.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:’Twas by rebellion against his king.

King Henry VI:[aside] I know not what to say; my title’s weak.— Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir?

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:What then?

King Henry VI:An if he may, then am I lawful king; For Richard, in the view of many lords, Resigned the crown to Henry the Fourth, Whose heir my father was, and I am his.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:He rose against him, being his sovereign, And made him to resign his crown perforce.

Earl of Warwick:Suppose, my lords, he did it unconstrained, Think you ’twere prejudicial to his crown?

Duke of Exeter:No, for he could not so resign his crown But that the next heir should succeed and reign.

King Henry VI:Art thou against us, Duke of Exeter?

Duke of Exeter:His is the right, and therefore pardon me.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Why whisper you, my lords, and answer not?

Duke of Exeter:My conscience tells me he is lawful king.

King Henry VI:[aside] All will revolt from me and turn to him.

Earl of Northumberland:[to York] Plantagenet, for all the claim thou lay’st, Think not that Henry shall be so deposed.

Earl of Warwick:Deposed he shall be, in despite of all.

Earl of Northumberland:Thou art deceived. ’Tis not thy southern power Of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, nor of Kent, Which makes thee thus presumptuous and proud, Can set the Duke up in despite of me.

Lord Clifford:King Henry, be thy title right or wrong, Lord Clifford vows to fight in thy defense. May that ground gape and swallow me alive Where I shall kneel to him that slew my father.

King Henry VI:O Clifford, how thy words revive my heart!

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Henry of Lancaster, resign thy crown.— What mutter you, or what conspire you, lords?

Earl of Warwick:[to King Henry] Do right unto this princely Duke of York, Or I will fill the house with armèd men, And over the chair of state, where now he sits, Write up his title with usurping blood.

He stamps with his foot, and the Soldiers show themselves.

King Henry VI:My lord of Warwick, hear but one word: Let me for this my lifetime reign as king.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Confirm the crown to me and to mine heirs, And thou shalt reign in quiet while thou liv’st.

King Henry VI:I am content. Richard Plantagenet, Enjoy the kingdom after my decease.

Lord Clifford:What wrong is this unto the Prince your son!

Earl of Warwick:What good is this to England and himself!

Earl of Westmorland:Base, fearful, and despairing Henry!

Lord Clifford:How hast thou injured both thyself and us!

Earl of Westmorland:I cannot stay to hear these articles.

Earl of Northumberland:Nor I.

Lord Clifford:Come, cousin, let us tell the Queen these news.

Earl of Westmorland:Farewell, faint-hearted and degenerate king, In whose cold blood no spark of honor bides.

Earl of Northumberland:Be thou a prey unto the house of York, And die in bands for this unmanly deed.

Lord Clifford:In dreadful war mayst thou be overcome, Or live in peace abandoned and despised!

Westmorland, Northumberland, Clifford, and their Soldiers exit.

Earl of Warwick:Turn this way, Henry, and regard them not.

Duke of Exeter:They seek revenge and therefore will not yield.

King Henry VI:Ah, Exeter!

Earl of Warwick:Why should you sigh, my lord?

King Henry VI:Not for myself, Lord Warwick, but my son, Whom I unnaturally shall disinherit. But be it as it may. [(To York.)] I here entail The crown to thee and to thine heirs forever, Conditionally, that here thou take an oath To cease this civil war and, whilst I live, To honor me as thy king and sovereign, And neither by treason nor hostility To seek to put me down and reign thyself.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:This oath I willingly take and will perform.

Earl of Warwick:Long live King Henry! Plantagenet, embrace him.

York stands, and King Henry ascends the dais.

King Henry VI:[to York] And long live thou and these thy forward sons!

They embrace.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Now York and Lancaster are reconciled.

Duke of Exeter:Accursed be he that seeks to make them foes.

Sennet. Here they come down.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:[to King Henry] Farewell, my gracious lord. I’ll to my castle.

Earl of Warwick:And I’ll keep London with my soldiers.

Duke of Norfolk:And I to Norfolk with my followers.

Marquess of Montague:And I unto the sea, from whence I came.

York, Edward, Richard, Warwick, Norfolk, Montague, and their Soldiers exit.

King Henry VI:And I with grief and sorrow to the court.

Enter Queen Margaret, with Prince Edward.

Duke of Exeter:Here comes the Queen, whose looks bewray her anger. I’ll steal away.

King Henry VI:Exeter, so will I.

They begin to exit.

Queen Margaret:Nay, go not from me. I will follow thee.

King Henry VI:Be patient, gentle queen, and I will stay.

Queen Margaret:Who can be patient in such extremes? Ah, wretched man, would I had died a maid And never seen thee, never borne thee son, Seeing thou hast proved so unnatural a father. Hath he deserved to lose his birthright thus? Hadst thou but loved him half so well as I, Or felt that pain which I did for him once, Or nourished him as I did with my blood, Thou wouldst have left thy dearest heart-blood there, Rather than have made that savage duke thine heir And disinherited thine only son.

Prince Edward:Father, you cannot disinherit me. If you be king, why should not I succeed?

King Henry VI:Pardon me, Margaret.—Pardon me, sweet son. The Earl of Warwick and the Duke enforced me.

Queen Margaret:Enforced thee? Art thou king and wilt be forced? I shame to hear thee speak. Ah, timorous wretch, Thou hast undone thyself, thy son, and me, And giv’n unto the house of York such head As thou shalt reign but by their sufferance! To entail him and his heirs unto the crown, What is it but to make thy sepulcher And creep into it far before thy time? Warwick is Chancellor and the lord of Callice; Stern Falconbridge commands the Narrow Seas; The Duke is made Protector of the realm; And yet shalt thou be safe? Such safety finds The trembling lamb environèd with wolves. Had I been there, which am a silly woman, The soldiers should have tossed me on their pikes Before I would have granted to that act. But thou preferr’st thy life before thine honor. And seeing thou dost, I here divorce myself Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed, Until that act of Parliament be repealed Whereby my son is disinherited. The northern lords that have forsworn thy colors Will follow mine if once they see them spread; And spread they shall be, to thy foul disgrace And utter ruin of the house of York. Thus do I leave thee.—Come, son, let’s away. Our army is ready. Come, we’ll after them.

King Henry VI:Stay, gentle Margaret, and hear me speak.

Queen Margaret:Thou hast spoke too much already. Get thee gone.

King Henry VI:Gentle son Edward, thou wilt stay with me?

Queen Margaret:Ay, to be murdered by his enemies!

Prince Edward:When I return with victory from the field, I’ll see your Grace. Till then, I’ll follow her.

Queen Margaret:Come, son, away. We may not linger thus.

Queen Margaret and Prince Edward exit.

King Henry VI:Poor queen! How love to me and to her son Hath made her break out into terms of rage! Revenged may she be on that hateful duke, Whose haughty spirit, wingèd with desire, Will cost my crown, and like an empty eagle Tire on the flesh of me and of my son. The loss of those three lords torments my heart. I’ll write unto them and entreat them fair. Come, cousin, you shall be the messenger.

Duke of Exeter:And I, I hope, shall reconcile them all.

Flourish. They exit.

Scene 2

Enter Richard, Edward, and Montague, all wearing the white rose.

Richard:Brother, though I be youngest, give me leave.

Edward:No, I can better play the orator.

Marquess of Montague:But I have reasons strong and forcible.

Enter the Duke of York.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Why, how now, sons and brother, at a strife? What is your quarrel? How began it first?

Edward:No quarrel, but a slight contention.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:About what?

Richard:About that which concerns your Grace and us: The crown of England, father, which is yours.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Mine, boy? Not till King Henry be dead.

Richard:Your right depends not on his life or death.

Edward:Now you are heir; therefore enjoy it now. By giving the house of Lancaster leave to breathe, It will outrun you, father, in the end.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:I took an oath that he should quietly reign.

Edward:But for a kingdom any oath may be broken. I would break a thousand oaths to reign one year.

Richard:No, God forbid your Grace should be forsworn.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:I shall be, if I claim by open war.

Richard:I’ll prove the contrary, if you’ll hear me speak.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Thou canst not, son; it is impossible.

Richard:An oath is of no moment, being not took Before a true and lawful magistrate That hath authority over him that swears. Henry had none, but did usurp the place. Then, seeing ’twas he that made you to depose, Your oath, my lord, is vain and frivolous. Therefore, to arms! And, father, do but think How sweet a thing it is to wear a crown, Within whose circuit is Elysium And all that poets feign of bliss and joy. Why do we linger thus? I cannot rest Until the white rose that I wear be dyed Even in the lukewarm blood of Henry’s heart.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Richard, enough. I will be king or die.— Brother, thou shalt to London presently, And whet on Warwick to this enterprise.— Thou, Richard, shalt to the Duke of Norfolk And tell him privily of our intent.— You, Edward, shall unto my Lord Cobham, With whom the Kentishmen will willingly rise; In them I trust, for they are soldiers Witty, courteous, liberal, full of spirit. While you are thus employed, what resteth more But that I seek occasion how to rise, And yet the King not privy to my drift, Nor any of the house of Lancaster. [Enter a Messenger.] But stay, what news? Why com’st thou in such post?

Messenger:The Queen with all the northern earls and lords Intend here to besiege you in your castle. She is hard by with twenty thousand men. And therefore fortify your hold, my lord.

He exits.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Ay, with my sword. What, think’st thou that we fear them?— Edward and Richard, you shall stay with me; My brother Montague shall post to London. Let noble Warwick, Cobham, and the rest, Whom we have left Protectors of the King, With powerful policy strengthen themselves And trust not simple Henry nor his oaths.

Marquess of Montague:Brother, I go. I’ll win them, fear it not. And thus most humbly I do take my leave.

Montague exits.

Enter Sir John Mortimer, and his brother, Sir Hugh Mortimer.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Sir John and Sir Hugh Mortimer, mine uncles, You are come to Sandal in a happy hour. The army of the Queen mean to besiege us.

Sir John:She shall not need; we’ll meet her in the field.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:What, with five thousand men?

Richard:Ay, with five hundred, father, for a need. A woman’s general; what should we fear?

A march afar off.

Edward:I hear their drums. Let’s set our men in order, And issue forth and bid them battle straight.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Five men to twenty: though the odds be great, I doubt not, uncle, of our victory. Many a battle have I won in France Whenas the enemy hath been ten to one. Why should I not now have the like success?

Alarum. They exit.

Scene 3

Enter Rutland and his Tutor.

Rutland:Ah, whither shall I fly to scape their hands? [Enter Clifford with Soldiers, all wearing the red rose.] Ah, tutor, look where bloody Clifford comes.

Lord Clifford:Chaplain, away. Thy priesthood saves thy life. As for the brat of this accursèd duke, Whose father slew my father, he shall die.

Rutland’s Tutor:And I, my lord, will bear him company.

Lord Clifford:Soldiers, away with him.

Rutland’s Tutor:Ah, Clifford, murder not this innocent child, Lest thou be hated both of God and man.

He exits, dragged off by Soldiers.

Lord Clifford:[approaching Rutland] How now? Is he dead already? Or is it fear That makes him close his eyes? I’ll open them.

Rutland:So looks the pent-up lion o’er the wretch That trembles under his devouring paws; And so he walks, insulting o’er his prey; And so he comes to rend his limbs asunder. Ah, gentle Clifford, kill me with thy sword And not with such a cruel threat’ning look. Sweet Clifford, hear me speak before I die. I am too mean a subject for thy wrath. Be thou revenged on men, and let me live.

Lord Clifford:In vain thou speak’st, poor boy. My father’s blood Hath stopped the passage where thy words should enter.

Rutland:Then let my father’s blood open it again; He is a man and, Clifford, cope with him.

Lord Clifford:Had I thy brethren here, their lives and thine Were not revenge sufficient for me. No, if I digged up thy forefathers’ graves And hung their rotten coffins up in chains, It could not slake mine ire nor ease my heart. The sight of any of the house of York Is as a fury to torment my soul, And till I root out their accursèd line And leave not one alive, I live in hell. Therefore—

He raises his rapier.

Rutland:O, let me pray before I take my death! To thee I pray: sweet Clifford, pity me!

Lord Clifford:Such pity as my rapier’s point affords.

Rutland:I never did thee harm. Why wilt thou slay me?

Lord Clifford:Thy father hath.

Rutland:But ’twas ere I was born. Thou hast one son; for his sake pity me, Lest in revenge thereof, sith God is just, He be as miserably slain as I. Ah, let me live in prison all my days, And when I give occasion of offense Then let me die, for now thou hast no cause.

Lord Clifford:No cause? Thy father slew my father; therefore die.

He stabs Rutland.

Rutland:Di faciant laudis summa sit ista tuae!

He dies.

Lord Clifford:Plantagenet, I come, Plantagenet! And this thy son’s blood, cleaving to my blade, Shall rust upon my weapon till thy blood, Congealed with this, do make me wipe off both.

He exits, with Soldiers carrying off Rutland’s body.

Scene 4

Alarum. Enter Richard, Duke of York, wearing the white rose.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:The army of the Queen hath got the field. My uncles both are slain in rescuing me; And all my followers to the eager foe Turn back and fly like ships before the wind, Or lambs pursued by hunger-starvèd wolves. My sons, God knows what hath bechancèd them; But this I know: they have demeaned themselves Like men borne to renown by life or death. Three times did Richard make a lane to me And thrice cried "Courage, father, fight it out!" And full as oft came Edward to my side, With purple falchion painted to the hilt In blood of those that had encountered him; And when the hardiest warriors did retire, Richard cried "Charge, and give no foot of ground!" And cried "A crown or else a glorious tomb; A scepter or an earthly sepulcher!" With this we charged again; but, out alas, We budged again, as I have seen a swan With bootless labor swim against the tide And spend her strength with over-matching waves. [A short alarum within.] Ah, hark, the fatal followers do pursue, And I am faint and cannot fly their fury; And were I strong, I would not shun their fury. The sands are numbered that makes up my life. Here must I stay, and here my life must end. [Enter Queen Margaret, Clifford, Northumberland, the young Prince Edward, and Soldiers, all wearing the red rose.] Come, bloody Clifford, rough Northumberland, I dare your quenchless fury to more rage. I am your butt, and I abide your shot.

Earl of Northumberland:Yield to our mercy, proud Plantagenet.

Lord Clifford:Ay, to such mercy as his ruthless arm With downright payment showed unto my father. Now Phaëton hath tumbled from his car And made an evening at the noontide prick.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:My ashes, as the Phoenix’, may bring forth A bird that will revenge upon you all; And in that hope I throw mine eyes to heaven, Scorning whate’er you can afflict me with. Why come you not? What, multitudes, and fear?

Lord Clifford:So cowards fight when they can fly no further; So doves do peck the falcon’s piercing talons; So desperate thieves, all hopeless of their lives, Breathe out invectives ’gainst the officers.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:O Clifford, but bethink thee once again And in thy thought o’errun my former time; And, if thou canst for blushing, view this face And bite thy tongue that slanders him with cowardice Whose frown hath made thee faint and fly ere this.

Lord Clifford:I will not bandy with thee word for word, But buckler with thee blows twice two for one.

Queen Margaret:Hold, valiant Clifford, for a thousand causes I would prolong a while the traitor’s life.— Wrath makes him deaf; speak thou, Northumberland.

Earl of Northumberland:Hold, Clifford, do not honor him so much To prick thy finger, though to wound his heart. What valor were it when a cur doth grin For one to thrust his hand between his teeth, When he might spurn him with his foot away? It is war’s prize to take all vantages, And ten to one is no impeach of valor.

They attack York.

Lord Clifford:Ay, ay, so strives the woodcock with the gin.

Earl of Northumberland:So doth the coney struggle in the net.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:So triumph thieves upon their conquered booty; So true men yield with robbers, so o’ermatched.

York is overcome.

Earl of Northumberland:[to Queen Margaret] What would your Grace have done unto him now?

Queen Margaret:Brave warriors, Clifford and Northumberland, Come, make him stand upon this molehill here That raught at mountains with outstretchèd arms, Yet parted but the shadow with his hand. [They place York on a small prominence.] What, was it you that would be England’s king? Was ’t you that reveled in our parliament And made a preachment of your high descent? Where are your mess of sons to back you now, The wanton Edward and the lusty George? And where’s that valiant crookback prodigy, Dickie, your boy, that with his grumbling voice Was wont to cheer his dad in mutinies? Or, with the rest, where is your darling Rutland? Look, York, I stained this napkin with the blood That valiant Clifford with his rapier’s point Made issue from the bosom of the boy; And if thine eyes can water for his death, I give thee this to dry thy cheeks withal. [She gives him a bloody cloth.] Alas, poor York, but that I hate thee deadly I should lament thy miserable state. I prithee grieve to make me merry, York. What, hath thy fiery heart so parched thine entrails That not a tear can fall for Rutland’s death? Why art thou patient, man? Thou shouldst be mad; And I, to make thee mad, do mock thee thus. Stamp, rave, and fret, that I may sing and dance. Thou would’st be fee’d, I see, to make me sport.— York cannot speak unless he wear a crown. A crown for York! [She is handed a paper crown.] And, lords, bow low to him. Hold you his hands whilst I do set it on. [She puts the crown on York’s head.] Ay, marry, sir, now looks he like a king. Ay, this is he that took King Henry’s chair, And this is he was his adopted heir. But how is it that great Plantagenet Is crowned so soon and broke his solemn oath?— As I bethink me, you should not be king Till our King Henry had shook hands with Death. And will you pale your head in Henry’s glory And rob his temples of the diadem Now, in his life, against your holy oath? O, ’tis a fault too too unpardonable. Off with the crown and, with the crown, his head; And whilst we breathe, take time to do him dead.

Lord Clifford:That is my office, for my father’s sake.

Queen Margaret:Nay, stay, let’s hear the orisons he makes.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:She-wolf of France, but worse than wolves of France, Whose tongue more poisons than the adder’s tooth: How ill-beseeming is it in thy sex To triumph like an Amazonian trull Upon their woes whom Fortune captivates. But that thy face is vizard-like, unchanging, Made impudent with use of evil deeds, I would assay, proud queen, to make thee blush. To tell thee whence thou cam’st, of whom derived, Were shame enough to shame thee, wert thou not shameless. Thy father bears the type of King of Naples, Of both the Sicils, and Jerusalem, Yet not so wealthy as an English yeoman. Hath that poor monarch taught thee to insult? It needs not, nor it boots thee not, proud queen, Unless the adage must be verified That beggars mounted run their horse to death. ’Tis beauty that doth oft make women proud, But God He knows thy share thereof is small. ’Tis virtue that doth make them most admired; The contrary doth make thee wondered at. ’Tis government that makes them seem divine; The want thereof makes thee abominable. Thou art as opposite to every good As the Antipodes are unto us Or as the south to the Septentrion. O, tiger’s heart wrapped in a woman’s hide, How couldst thou drain the lifeblood of the child To bid the father wipe his eyes withal, And yet be seen to bear a woman’s face? Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible; Thou, stern, obdurate, flinty, rough, remorseless. Bidd’st thou me rage? Why, now thou hast thy wish. Wouldst have me weep? Why, now thou hast thy will; For raging wind blows up incessant showers, And when the rage allays, the rain begins. These tears are my sweet Rutland’s obsequies, And every drop cries vengeance for his death ’Gainst thee, fell Clifford, and thee, false Frenchwoman!

Earl of Northumberland:[aside] Beshrew me, but his passions moves me so That hardly can I check my eyes from tears.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:That face of his the hungry cannibals Would not have touched, would not have stained with blood; But you are more inhuman, more inexorable, O, ten times more than tigers of Hyrcania. See, ruthless queen, a hapless father’s tears. This cloth thou dipped’st in blood of my sweet boy, And I with tears do wash the blood away. [He hands her the cloth.] Keep thou the napkin and go boast of this; And if thou tell’st the heavy story right, Upon my soul, the hearers will shed tears. Yea, even my foes will shed fast-falling tears And say "Alas, it was a piteous deed." [He hands her the paper crown.] There, take the crown and, with the crown, my curse, And in thy need such comfort come to thee As now I reap at thy too cruel hand.— Hard-hearted Clifford, take me from the world, My soul to heaven, my blood upon your heads.

Earl of Northumberland:Had he been slaughterman to all my kin, I should not for my life but weep with him To see how inly sorrow gripes his soul.

Queen Margaret:What, weeping ripe, my Lord Northumberland? Think but upon the wrong he did us all, And that will quickly dry thy melting tears.

Lord Clifford:[stabbing York twice] Here’s for my oath; here’s for my father’s death!

Queen Margaret:[stabbing York] And here’s to right our gentle-hearted king.

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York:Open thy gate of mercy, gracious God. My soul flies through these wounds to seek out Thee.

He dies.

Queen Margaret:Off with his head, and set it on York gates, So York may overlook the town of York.

Flourish. They exit, Soldiers carrying York’s body.

Act 2

Scene 1

A march. Enter Edward, Richard, and their power, all wearing the white rose.

Edward:I wonder how our princely father scaped, Or whether he be scaped away or no From Clifford’s and Northumberland’s pursuit. Had he been ta’en, we should have heard the news; Had he been slain, we should have heard the news; Or had he scaped, methinks we should have heard The happy tidings of his good escape. How fares my brother? Why is he so sad?

Richard:I cannot joy until I be resolved Where our right valiant father is become. I saw him in the battle range about And watched him how he singled Clifford forth. Methought he bore him in the thickest troop As doth a lion in a herd of neat, Or as a bear encompassed round with dogs, Who having pinched a few and made them cry, The rest stand all aloof and bark at him; So fared our father with his enemies; So fled his enemies my warlike father. Methinks ’tis prize enough to be his son. See how the morning opes her golden gates And takes her farewell of the glorious sun. How well resembles it the prime of youth, Trimmed like a younker, prancing to his love!

Edward:Dazzle mine eyes, or do I see three suns?

Richard:Three glorious suns, each one a perfect sun, Not separated with the racking clouds But severed in a pale clear-shining sky. See, see, they join, embrace, and seem to kiss, As if they vowed some league inviolable. Now are they but one lamp, one light, one sun; In this, the heaven figures some event.

Edward:’Tis wondrous strange, the like yet never heard of. I think it cites us, brother, to the field, That we, the sons of brave Plantagenet, Each one already blazing by our meeds, Should notwithstanding join our lights together And overshine the earth, as this the world. Whate’er it bodes, henceforward will I bear Upon my target three fair shining suns.

Richard:Nay, bear three daughters: by your leave I speak it, You love the breeder better than the male. [Enter a Messenger, blowing.] But what art thou whose heavy looks foretell Some dreadful story hanging on thy tongue?

Messenger:Ah, one that was a woeful looker-on Whenas the noble Duke of York was slain, Your princely father and my loving lord.

Edward:O, speak no more, for I have heard too much!

Richard:Say how he died, for I will hear it all.

Messenger:Environèd he was with many foes, And stood against them, as the hope of Troy Against the Greeks that would have entered Troy. But Hercules himself must yield to odds; And many strokes, though with a little axe, Hews down and fells the hardest-timbered oak. By many hands your father was subdued, But only slaughtered by the ireful arm Of unrelenting Clifford and the Queen, Who crowned the gracious duke in high despite, Laughed in his face; and when with grief he wept, The ruthless queen gave him to dry his cheeks A napkin steepèd in the harmless blood Of sweet young Rutland, by rough Clifford slain. And after many scorns, many foul taunts, They took his head and on the gates of York They set the same, and there it doth remain, The saddest spectacle that e’er I viewed.

He exits.

Edward:Sweet Duke of York, our prop to lean upon, Now thou art gone, we have no staff, no stay. O Clifford, boist’rous Clifford, thou hast slain The flower of Europe for his chivalry; And treacherously hast thou vanquished him, For hand to hand he would have vanquished thee. Now my soul’s palace is become a prison; Ah, would she break from hence, that this my body Might in the ground be closèd up in rest, For never henceforth shall I joy again. Never, O never, shall I see more joy!

He weeps.

Richard:I cannot weep, for all my body’s moisture Scarce serves to quench my furnace-burning heart; Nor can my tongue unload my heart’s great burden, For selfsame wind that I should speak withal Is kindling coals that fires all my breast And burns me up with flames that tears would quench. To weep is to make less the depth of grief: Tears, then, for babes; blows and revenge for me. Richard, I bear thy name. I’ll venge thy death Or die renownèd by attempting it.

Edward:His name that valiant duke hath left with thee; His dukedom and his chair with me is left.

Richard:Nay, if thou be that princely eagle’s bird, Show thy descent by gazing ’gainst the sun; For "chair" and "dukedom," "throne" and "kingdom" say; Either that is thine or else thou wert not his.

March. Enter Warwick, Marquess Montague, and their army, all wearing the white rose.

Earl of Warwick:How now, fair lords? What fare, what news abroad?

Richard:Great lord of Warwick, if we should recount Our baleful news, and at each word’s deliverance Stab poniards in our flesh till all were told, The words would add more anguish than the wounds. O valiant lord, the Duke of York is slain.

Edward:O Warwick, Warwick, that Plantagenet Which held thee dearly as his soul’s redemption Is by the stern Lord Clifford done to death.

Earl of Warwick:Ten days ago I drowned these news in tears. And now to add more measure to your woes, I come to tell you things sith then befall’n. After the bloody fray at Wakefield fought, Where your brave father breathed his latest gasp, Tidings, as swiftly as the posts could run, Were brought me of your loss and his depart. I, then in London, keeper of the King, Mustered my soldiers, gathered flocks of friends, Marched toward Saint Albans to intercept the Queen, Bearing the King in my behalf along; For by my scouts I was advertisèd That she was coming with a full intent To dash our late decree in Parliament Touching King Henry’s oath and your succession. Short tale to make, we at Saint Albans met, Our battles joined, and both sides fiercely fought. But whether ’twas the coldness of the King, Who looked full gently on his warlike queen, That robbed my soldiers of their heated spleen, Or whether ’twas report of her success Or more than common fear of Clifford’s rigor, Who thunders to his captives blood and death, I cannot judge; but to conclude with truth, Their weapons like to lightning came and went; Our soldiers’, like the night owl’s lazy flight Or like an idle thresher with a flail, Fell gently down, as if they struck their friends. I cheered them up with justice of our cause, With promise of high pay and great rewards, But all in vain; they had no heart to fight, And we, in them, no hope to win the day, So that we fled: the King unto the Queen; Lord George your brother, Norfolk, and myself In haste, posthaste, are come to join with you; For in the Marches here we heard you were, Making another head to fight again.

Edward:Where is the Duke of Norfolk, gentle Warwick? And when came George from Burgundy to England?

Earl of Warwick:Some six miles off the Duke is with the soldiers, And, for your brother, he was lately sent From your kind aunt, Duchess of Burgundy, With aid of soldiers to this needful war.

Richard:’Twas odds, belike, when valiant Warwick fled. Oft have I heard his praises in pursuit, But ne’er till now his scandal of retire.

Earl of Warwick:Nor now my scandal, Richard, dost thou hear? For thou shalt know this strong right hand of mine Can pluck the diadem from faint Henry’s head And wring the awful scepter from his fist, Were he as famous and as bold in war As he is famed for mildness, peace, and prayer.

Richard:I know it well, Lord Warwick; blame me not. ’Tis love I bear thy glories make me speak. But in this troublous time, what’s to be done? Shall we go throw away our coats of steel And wrap our bodies in black mourning gowns, Numb’ring our Ave Marys with our beads? Or shall we on the helmets of our foes Tell our devotion with revengeful arms? If for the last, say "Ay," and to it, lords.

Earl of Warwick:Why, therefore Warwick came to seek you out, And therefore comes my brother Montague. Attend me, lords: the proud insulting queen, With Clifford and the haught Northumberland And of their feather many more proud birds, Have wrought the easy-melting king like wax. He swore consent to your succession, His oath enrollèd in the Parliament. And now to London all the crew are gone To frustrate both his oath and what beside May make against the house of Lancaster. Their power, I think, is thirty thousand strong. Now, if the help of Norfolk and myself, With all the friends that thou, brave Earl of March, Amongst the loving Welshmen canst procure, Will but amount to five and twenty thousand, Why, via, to London will we march, And once again bestride our foaming steeds, And once again cry "Charge!" upon our foes, But never once again turn back and fly.

Richard:Ay, now methinks I hear great Warwick speak. Ne’er may he live to see a sunshine day That cries "Retire!" if Warwick bid him stay.

Edward:Lord Warwick, on thy shoulder will I lean, And when thou fail’st—as God forbid the hour!— Must Edward fall, which peril heaven forfend.

Earl of Warwick:No longer Earl of March, but Duke of York; The next degree is England’s royal throne: For King of England shalt thou be proclaimed In every borough as we pass along, And he that throws not up his cap for joy Shall for the fault make forfeit of his head. King Edward, valiant Richard, Montague, Stay we no longer dreaming of renown, But sound the trumpets and about our task.

Richard:Then, Clifford, were thy heart as hard as steel, As thou hast shown it flinty by thy deeds, I come to pierce it or to give thee mine.

Edward:Then strike up drums! God and Saint George for us!

Enter a Messenger.

Earl of Warwick:How now, what news?

Messenger:The Duke of Norfolk sends you word by me, The Queen is coming with a puissant host, And craves your company for speedy counsel.

Earl of Warwick:Why, then it sorts. Brave warriors, let’s away!

They all exit.

Scene 2

Flourish. Enter King Henry, Queen Margaret, Clifford, Northumberland, and young Prince Edward, all wearing the red rose with Drum and Trumpets, the head of York fixed above them.

Queen Margaret:[to King Henry] Welcome, my lord, to this brave town of York. Yonder’s the head of that arch-enemy That sought to be encompassed with your crown. Doth not the object cheer your heart, my lord?

King Henry VI:Ay, as the rocks cheer them that fear their wrack! To see this sight, it irks my very soul. Withhold revenge, dear God! ’Tis not my fault, Nor wittingly have I infringed my vow.

Lord Clifford:My gracious liege, this too much lenity And harmful pity must be laid aside. To whom do lions cast their gentle looks? Not to the beast that would usurp their den. Whose hand is that the forest bear doth lick? Not his that spoils her young before her face. Who scapes the lurking serpent’s mortal sting? Not he that sets his foot upon her back. The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on, And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood. Ambitious York did level at thy crown, Thou smiling while he knit his angry brows. He, but a duke, would have his son a king And raise his issue like a loving sire; Thou being a king, blest with a goodly son, Didst yield consent to disinherit him, Which argued thee a most unloving father. Unreasonable creatures feed their young; And though man’s face be fearful to their eyes, Yet in protection of their tender ones, Who hath not seen them, even with those wings Which sometime they have used with fearful flight, Make war with him that climbed unto their nest, Offering their own lives in their young’s defense? For shame, my liege, make them your precedent. Were it not pity that this goodly boy Should lose his birthright by his father’s fault, And long hereafter say unto his child "What my great-grandfather and grandsire got, My careless father fondly gave away"? Ah, what a shame were this! Look on the boy, And let his manly face, which promiseth Successful fortune, steel thy melting heart To hold thine own and leave thine own with him.

King Henry VI:Full well hath Clifford played the orator, Inferring arguments of mighty force. But, Clifford, tell me, didst thou never hear That things ill got had ever bad success? And happy always was it for that son Whose father for his hoarding went to hell? I’ll leave my son my virtuous deeds behind, And would my father had left me no more; For all the rest is held at such a rate As brings a thousandfold more care to keep Than in possession any jot of pleasure. Ah, cousin York, would thy best friends did know How it doth grieve me that thy head is here.

Queen Margaret:My lord, cheer up your spirits; our foes are nigh, And this soft courage makes your followers faint. You promised knighthood to our forward son. Unsheathe your sword and dub him presently.— Edward, kneel down.

He kneels.

King Henry VI:[dubbing him knight] Edward Plantagenet, arise a knight, And learn this lesson: draw thy sword in right.

Prince Edward:[rising] My gracious father, by your kingly leave, I’ll draw it as apparent to the crown And in that quarrel use it to the death.

Lord Clifford:Why, that is spoken like a toward prince.

Enter a Messenger.

Messenger:Royal commanders, be in readiness, For with a band of thirty thousand men Comes Warwick backing of the Duke of York, And in the towns as they do march along Proclaims him king, and many fly to him. Deraign your battle, for they are at hand.

He exits.

Lord Clifford:I would your Highness would depart the field. The Queen hath best success when you are absent.

Queen Margaret:Ay, good my lord, and leave us to our fortune.

King Henry VI:Why, that’s my fortune too; therefore I’ll stay.

Earl of Northumberland:Be it with resolution, then, to fight.

Prince Edward:My royal father, cheer these noble lords And hearten those that fight in your defense. Unsheathe your sword, good father; cry "Saint George!"

March. Enter Edward, Warwick, Richard, George, Norfolk, Montague, and Soldiers, all wearing the white rose.

Edward:Now, perjured Henry, wilt thou kneel for grace And set thy diadem upon my head, Or bide the mortal fortune of the field?

Queen Margaret:Go rate thy minions, proud insulting boy. Becomes it thee to be thus bold in terms Before thy sovereign and thy lawful king?

Edward:I am his king, and he should bow his knee. I was adopted heir by his consent. Since when, his oath is broke; for, as I hear, You that are king, though he do wear the crown, Have caused him, by new act of Parliament, To blot out me and put his own son in.

Lord Clifford:And reason too: Who should succeed the father but the son?

Richard:Are you there, butcher? O, I cannot speak!

Lord Clifford:Ay, crookback, here I stand to answer thee, Or any he, the proudest of thy sort.

Richard:’Twas you that killed young Rutland, was it not?

Lord Clifford:Ay, and old York, and yet not satisfied.

Richard:For God’s sake, lords, give signal to the fight!

Earl of Warwick:What sayst thou, Henry? Wilt thou yield the crown?

Queen Margaret:Why, how now, long-tongued Warwick, dare you speak? When you and I met at Saint Albans last, Your legs did better service than your hands.

Earl of Warwick:Then ’twas my turn to fly, and now ’tis thine.

Lord Clifford:You said so much before, and yet you fled.

Earl of Warwick:’Twas not your valor, Clifford, drove me thence.

Earl of Northumberland:No, nor your manhood that durst make you stay.

Richard:Northumberland, I hold thee reverently.— Break off the parley, for scarce I can refrain The execution of my big-swoll’n heart Upon that Clifford, that cruel child-killer.

Lord Clifford:I slew thy father; call’st thou him a child?

Richard:Ay, like a dastard and a treacherous coward, As thou didst kill our tender brother Rutland. But ere sunset I’ll make thee curse the deed.

King Henry VI:Have done with words, my lords, and hear me speak.

Queen Margaret:Defy them, then, or else hold close thy lips.

King Henry VI:I prithee, give no limits to my tongue. I am a king and privileged to speak.

Lord Clifford:My liege, the wound that bred this meeting here Cannot be cured by words; therefore, be still.

Richard:Then, executioner, unsheathe thy sword. By Him that made us all, I am resolved That Clifford’s manhood lies upon his tongue.

Edward:Say, Henry, shall I have my right or no? A thousand men have broke their fasts today That ne’er shall dine unless thou yield the crown.

Earl of Warwick:If thou deny, their blood upon thy head, For York in justice puts his armor on.

Prince Edward:If that be right which Warwick says is right, There is no wrong, but everything is right.

Richard:Whoever got thee, there thy mother stands, For well I wot thou hast thy mother’s tongue.

Queen Margaret:But thou art neither like thy sire nor dam, But like a foul misshapen stigmatic, Marked by the Destinies to be avoided, As venom toads or lizards’ dreadful stings.

Richard:Iron of Naples, hid with English gilt, Whose father bears the title of a king, As if a channel should be called the sea, Sham’st thou not, knowing whence thou art extraught, To let thy tongue detect thy baseborn heart?

Edward:A wisp of straw were worth a thousand crowns To make this shameless callet know herself.— Helen of Greece was fairer far than thou, Although thy husband may be Menelaus; And ne’er was Agamemnon’s brother wronged By that false woman as this king by thee. His father reveled in the heart of France, And tamed the King, and made the Dauphin stoop; And had he matched according to his state, He might have kept that glory to this day. But when he took a beggar to his bed And graced thy poor sire with his bridal day, Even then that sunshine brewed a shower for him That washed his father’s fortunes forth of France And heaped sedition on his crown at home. For what hath broached this tumult but thy pride? Hadst thou been meek, our title still had slept, And we, in pity of the gentle king, Had slipped our claim until another age.

George:But when we saw our sunshine made thy spring, And that thy summer bred us no increase, We set the axe to thy usurping root; And though the edge hath something hit ourselves, Yet know thou, since we have begun to strike, We’ll never leave till we have hewn thee down Or bathed thy growing with our heated bloods.

Edward:And in this resolution, I defy thee, Not willing any longer conference, Since thou denied’st the gentle king to speak.— Sound, trumpets! Let our bloody colors wave; And either victory or else a grave!

Queen Margaret:Stay, Edward!

Edward:No, wrangling woman, we’ll no longer stay. These words will cost ten thousand lives this day.

They all exit.

Scene 3

Alarum. Excursions. Enter Warwick, wearing the white rose.

Earl of Warwick:[lying down] Forspent with toil, as runners with a race, I lay me down a little while to breathe, For strokes received and many blows repaid Have robbed my strong-knit sinews of their strength; And spite of spite, needs must I rest awhile.

Enter Edward, wearing the white rose, running.

Edward:Smile, gentle heaven, or strike, ungentle death, For this world frowns and Edward’s sun is clouded.

Enter George, wearing the white rose.

Earl of Warwick:[standing] How now, my lord, what hap? What hope of good?

George:Our hap is loss, our hope but sad despair; Our ranks are broke, and ruin follows us. What counsel give you? Whither shall we fly?

Edward:Bootless is flight; they follow us with wings, And weak we are and cannot shun pursuit.

Enter Richard, wearing the white rose.

Richard:Ah, Warwick, why hast thou withdrawn thyself? Thy brother’s blood the thirsty earth hath drunk, Broached with the steely point of Clifford’s lance, 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 stained their fetlocks in his smoking blood, The noble gentleman gave up the ghost.

Earl of Warwick:Then let the earth be drunken with our blood! I’ll kill my horse because I will not fly. Why stand we like soft-hearted women here, Wailing our losses whiles the foe doth rage, And look upon, as if the tragedy Were played in jest by counterfeiting actors? [He kneels.] Here on my knee I vow to God above I’ll never pause again, never stand still, Till either death hath closed these eyes of mine Or Fortune given me measure of revenge.

Edward:O Warwick, I do bend my knee with thine, And in this vow do chain my soul to thine [He kneels.] And, ere my knee rise from the Earth’s cold face, I throw my hands, mine eyes, my heart to Thee, Thou setter up and plucker down of kings, Beseeching Thee, if with Thy will it stands That to my foes this body must be prey, Yet that Thy brazen gates of heaven may ope And give sweet passage to my sinful soul. [Edward and Warwick stand.] Now, lords, take leave until we meet again, Where’er it be, in heaven or in Earth.

Richard:Brother, give me thy hand.—And, gentle Warwick, Let me embrace thee in my weary arms. I that did never weep now melt with woe That winter should cut off our springtime so.

Earl of Warwick:Away, away! Once more, sweet lords, farewell.

George:Yet let us all together to our troops And give them leave to fly that will not stay, And call them pillars that will stand to us; And, if we thrive, promise them such rewards As victors wear at the Olympian Games. This may plant courage in their quailing breasts, For yet is hope of life and victory. Forslow no longer; make we hence amain.

They exit.

Scene 4

Excursions. Enter, at separate doors, Richard wearing the white rose, and Clifford, wearing the red rose.

Richard:Now, Clifford, I have singled thee alone. Suppose this arm is for the Duke of York, And this for Rutland, both bound to revenge, Wert thou environed with a brazen wall.

Lord Clifford:Now, Richard, I am with thee here alone. This is the hand that stabbed thy father York, And this the hand that slew thy brother Rutland, And here’s the heart that triumphs in their death And cheers these hands that slew thy sire and brother To execute the like upon thyself. And so, have at thee!

They fight; Warwick comes; Clifford flies.

Richard:Nay, Warwick, single out some other chase, For I myself will hunt this wolf to death.

They exit.

Scene 5

Alarum. Enter King Henry alone, wearing the red rose.

King Henry VI:This battle fares like to the morning’s war, When dying clouds contend with growing light, What time the shepherd, blowing of his nails, Can neither call it perfect day nor night. Now sways it this way, like a mighty sea Forced by the tide to combat with the wind; Now sways it that way, like the selfsame sea Forced to retire by fury of the wind. Sometime the flood prevails, and then the wind; Now one the better, then another best, Both tugging to be victors, breast to breast, Yet neither conqueror nor conquerèd. So is the equal poise of this fell war. Here on this molehill will I sit me down. [He sits on a small prominence.] To whom God will, there be the victory; For Margaret my queen and Clifford too Have chid me from the battle, swearing both They prosper best of all when I am thence. Would I were dead, if God’s good will were so, For what is in this world but grief and woe? O God! Methinks it were a happy life To be no better than a homely swain, To sit upon a hill as I do now, To carve out dials quaintly, point by point, Thereby to see the minutes how they run: How many makes the hour full complete, How many hours brings about the day, How many days will finish up the year, How many years a mortal man may live. When this is known, then to divide the times: So many hours must I tend my flock, So many hours must I take my rest, So many hours must I contemplate, So many hours must I sport myself, So many days my ewes have been with young, So many weeks ere the poor fools will ean, So many years ere I shall shear the fleece; So minutes, hours, days, months, and years, Passed over to the end they were created, Would bring white hairs unto a quiet grave. Ah, what a life were this! How sweet, how lovely! Gives not the hawthorn bush a sweeter shade To shepherds looking on their silly sheep Than doth a rich embroidered canopy To kings that fear their subjects’ treachery? O yes, it doth, a thousandfold it doth. And to conclude, the shepherd’s homely curds, His cold thin drink out of his leather bottle, His wonted sleep under a fresh tree’s shade, All which secure and sweetly he enjoys, Is far beyond a prince’s delicates— His viands sparkling in a golden cup, His body couchèd in a curious bed— When care, mistrust, and treason waits on him.

Alarum. Enter at one door a Son that hath killed his Father, carrying the body.

A Son:Ill blows the wind that profits nobody. This man, whom hand to hand I slew in fight, May be possessèd with some store of crowns, And I, that haply take them from him now, May yet ere night yield both my life and them To some man else, as this dead man doth me. Who’s this? O God! It is my father’s face, Whom in this conflict I unwares have killed. O heavy times, begetting such events! From London by the King was I pressed forth. My father, being the Earl of Warwick’s man, Came on the part of York, pressed by his master. And I, who at his hands received my life, Have by my hands of life bereavèd him. Pardon me, God, I knew not what I did; And pardon, father, for I knew not thee. My tears shall wipe away these bloody marks, And no more words till they have flowed their fill.

He weeps.

King Henry VI:O piteous spectacle! O bloody times! Whiles 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.

Enter at another door a Father that hath killed his Son, bearing of his Son’s body.

A Father:Thou that so stoutly hath resisted me, Give me thy gold, if thou hast any gold, For I have bought it with an 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 kills mine eye and heart! O, pity God this miserable age! What stratagems, how fell, how butcherly, Erroneous, mutinous, and unnatural This deadly quarrel daily doth beget! O, boy, thy father gave thee life too soon, And hath bereft thee of thy life too late!

King Henry VI:Woe above woe, grief more than common grief! O, that my death would stay these ruthful deeds! O pity, pity, gentle heaven, pity! The red rose and the white are on his face, The fatal colors of our striving houses; The one his purple blood right well resembles, The other his pale cheeks methinks presenteth. Wither one rose and let the other flourish; If you contend, a thousand lives must wither.

A Son:How will my mother for a father’s death Take on with me and ne’er be satisfied!

A Father:How will my wife for slaughter of my son Shed seas of tears and ne’er be satisfied!

King Henry VI:How will the country for these woeful chances Misthink the King and not be satisfied!

A Son:Was ever son so rued a father’s death?

A Father:Was ever father so bemoaned his son?

King Henry VI:Was ever king so grieved for subjects’ woe? Much is your sorrow, mine ten times so much.

A Son:I’ll bear thee hence, where I may weep my fill.

He exits, bearing the body.

A Father:These arms of mine shall be thy winding-sheet; My heart, sweet boy, shall be thy sepulcher, For from my heart thine image ne’er shall go. My sighing breast shall be thy funeral bell; And so obsequious will thy father be E’en for the loss of thee, having no more, As Priam was for all his valiant sons. I’ll bear thee hence, and let them fight that will, For I have murdered where I should not kill.

He exits, bearing the body.

King Henry VI:Sad-hearted men, much overgone with care, Here sits a king more woeful than you are.

Alarums. Excursions. Enter Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Exeter, all wearing the red rose.

Prince Edward:Fly, father, fly, for all your friends are fled, And Warwick rages like a chafèd bull. Away, for Death doth hold us in pursuit.

Queen Margaret:Mount you, my lord; towards Berwick post amain. Edward and Richard, like a brace of greyhounds Having the fearful flying hare in sight, With fiery eyes sparkling for very wrath And bloody steel grasped in their ireful hands, Are at our backs, and therefore hence amain.

Duke of Exeter:Away, for Vengeance comes along with them. Nay, stay not to expostulate, make speed; Or else come after; I’ll away before.

King Henry VI:Nay, take me with thee, good sweet Exeter; Not that I fear to stay, but love to go Whither the Queen intends. Forward, away!

They exit.

Scene 6

A loud alarum. Enter Clifford, wearing the red rose, wounded.

Lord Clifford:Here burns my candle out; ay, here it dies, Which whiles it lasted gave King Henry light. O Lancaster, I fear thy overthrow More than my body’s parting with my soul! My love and fear glued many friends to thee; And now I fall, thy tough commixtures melts, Impairing Henry, strength’ning misproud York; And whither fly the gnats but to the sun? And who shines now but Henry’s enemies? O Phoebus, hadst thou never given consent That Phaëton should check thy fiery steeds, Thy burning car never had scorched the Earth! And Henry, hadst thou swayed as kings should do, Or as thy father and his father did, 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 makes robbers bold but too much lenity? Bootless are plaints, and cureless are my wounds; No way to fly, no strength to hold out flight. The foe is merciless and will not pity, For at their hands I have deserved no pity. The air hath got into my deadly wounds, And much effuse of blood doth make me faint. Come, York and Richard, Warwick and the rest. I stabbed your fathers’ bosoms; split my breast.

He faints.

Alarum and retreat. Enter Edward, Warwick, Richard, and Soldiers, Montague, and George, all wearing the white rose.

Edward:Now breathe we, lords. Good fortune bids us pause And smooth the frowns of war with peaceful looks. Some troops pursue the bloody-minded queen That led calm Henry, though he were a king, As doth a sail filled with a fretting gust Command an argosy to stem the waves. But think you, lords, that Clifford fled with them?

Earl of Warwick:No, ’tis impossible he should escape, For, though before his face I speak the words, Your brother Richard marked him for the grave, And wheresoe’er he is, he’s surely dead.

Clifford groans, and dies.

Richard:Whose soul is that which takes her heavy leave? A deadly groan, like life and death’s departing.

Edward:See who it is; and, now the battle’s ended, If friend or foe, let him be gently used.

Richard:Revoke that doom of mercy, for ’tis Clifford, Who not contented that he lopped the branch In hewing Rutland when his leaves put forth, But set his murd’ring knife unto the root From whence that tender spray did sweetly spring, I mean our princely father, Duke of York.

Earl of Warwick:From off the gates of York fetch down the head, Your father’s head, which Clifford placèd there; Instead whereof let this supply the room. Measure for measure must be answerèd.

Edward:Bring forth that fatal screech owl to our house That nothing sung but death to us and ours; Now death shall stop his dismal threat’ning sound, And his ill-boding tongue no more shall speak.

Earl of Warwick:I think his understanding is bereft.— Speak, Clifford, dost thou know who speaks to thee?— Dark cloudy death o’ershades his beams of life, And he nor sees nor hears us what we say.

Richard:O, would he did—and so, perhaps, he doth! ’Tis but his policy to counterfeit, Because he would avoid such bitter taunts Which in the time of death he gave our father.

George:If so thou think’st, vex him with eager words.

Richard:Clifford, ask mercy and obtain no grace.

Edward:Clifford, repent in bootless penitence.

Earl of Warwick:Clifford, devise excuses for thy faults.

George:While we devise fell tortures for thy faults.

Richard:Thou didst love York, and I am son to York.

Edward:Thou pitied’st Rutland; I will pity thee.

George:Where’s Captain Margaret to fence you now?

Earl of Warwick:They mock thee, Clifford; swear as thou wast wont.

Richard:What, not an oath? Nay, then, the world goes hard When Clifford cannot spare his friends an oath. I know by that he’s dead; and, by my soul, If this right hand would buy but two hours’ life That I in all despite might rail at him, This hand should chop it off, and with the issuing blood Stifle the villain whose unstaunchèd thirst York and young Rutland could not satisfy.

Earl of Warwick:Ay, but he’s dead. Off with the traitor’s head, And rear it in the place your father’s stands. And now to London with triumphant march, There to be crownèd England’s royal king, From whence shall Warwick cut the sea to France And ask the Lady Bona for thy queen; So shalt thou sinew both these lands together, And having France thy friend, thou shalt not dread The scattered foe that hopes to rise again; For though they cannot greatly sting to hurt, Yet look to have them buzz to offend thine ears. First will I see the coronation, And then to Brittany I’ll cross the sea To effect this marriage, so it please my lord.

Edward:Even as thou wilt, sweet Warwick, let it be; For in thy shoulder do I build my seat, And never will I undertake the thing Wherein thy counsel and consent is wanting.— Richard, I will create thee Duke of Gloucester, And George, of Clarence. Warwick as ourself Shall do and undo as him pleaseth best.

Richard:Let me be Duke of Clarence, George of Gloucester, For Gloucester’s dukedom is too ominous.

Earl of Warwick:Tut, that’s a foolish observation. Richard, be Duke of Gloucester. Now to London, To see these honors in possession.

They exit, with Clifford’s body.

Act 3

Scene 1

Enter two Gamekeepers, with crossbows in their hands.

First Gamekeeper:Under this thick-grown brake we’ll shroud ourselves, For through this laund anon the deer will come; And in this covert will we make our stand, Culling the principal of all the deer.

Second Gamekeeper:I’ll stay above the hill, so both may shoot.

First Gamekeeper:That cannot be. The noise of thy crossbow 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.

Second Gamekeeper:Here comes a man; let’s stay till he be past.

Enter King Henry, in disguise, with a prayer book.

King Henry VI:From Scotland am I stol’n, even of pure love, To greet mine own land with my wishful sight. No, Harry, Harry, ’tis no land of thine! Thy place is filled, thy scepter wrung from thee, Thy balm washed off wherewith thou wast anointed. No bending knee will call thee Caesar now, No humble suitors press to speak for right, No, not a man comes for redress of thee; For how can I help them an not myself?

First Gamekeeper:[aside to Second Gamekeeper] Ay, here’s a deer whose skin’s a keeper’s fee. This is the quondam king. Let’s seize upon him.

King Henry VI:Let me embrace the sour adversaries, For wise men say it is the wisest course.

Second Gamekeeper:[aside to First Gamekeeper] Why linger we? Let us lay hands upon him.

First Gamekeeper:[aside to Second Gamekeeper] Forbear awhile; we’ll hear a little more.

King Henry VI:My queen and son are gone to France for aid, And, as I hear, the great commanding Warwick Is thither gone to crave the French king’s sister To wife for Edward. If this news be true, Poor queen and son, your labor is but lost, For Warwick is a subtle orator, And Lewis a prince soon won with moving words. By this account, then, Margaret may win him, For she’s a woman to be pitied much. Her sighs will make a batt’ry in his breast, Her tears will pierce into a marble heart. The tiger will be mild whiles she doth mourn, And Nero will be tainted with remorse To hear and see her plaints, her brinish tears. Ay, but she’s come to beg, Warwick to give; She on his left side craving aid for Henry; He on his right asking a wife for Edward. She weeps and says her Henry is deposed; He smiles and says his Edward is installed; That she, poor wretch, for grief can speak no more, Whiles Warwick tells his title, smooths the wrong, Inferreth arguments of mighty strength, And in conclusion wins the King from her With promise of his sister and what else To strengthen and support King Edward’s place. O Margaret, thus ’twill be, and thou, poor soul, Art then forsaken, as thou went’st forlorn.

Second Gamekeeper:Say, what art thou that talk’st of kings and queens?

King Henry VI:More than I seem, and less than I was born to: A man at least, for less I should not be; And men may talk of kings, and why not I?

Second Gamekeeper:Ay, but thou talk’st as if thou wert a king.

King Henry VI:Why, so I am in mind, and that’s enough.

Second Gamekeeper:But if thou be a king, where is thy crown?

King Henry VI:My crown is in my heart, not on my head; Not decked with diamonds and Indian stones, Nor to be seen. My crown is called content; A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy.

Second Gamekeeper:Well, if you be a king crowned with content, Your crown content and you must be contented To go along with us. For, as we think, You are the king King Edward hath deposed; And we his subjects sworn in all allegiance Will apprehend you as his enemy.

King Henry VI:But did you never swear and break an oath?

Second Gamekeeper:No, never such an oath, nor will not now.

King Henry VI:Where did you dwell when I was King of England?

Second Gamekeeper:Here in this country, where we now remain.

King Henry VI:I was anointed king at nine months old. My father and my grandfather were kings, And you were sworn true subjects unto me. And tell me, then, have you not broke your oaths?

First Gamekeeper:No, for we were subjects but while you were king.

King Henry VI:Why, am I dead? Do I not breathe a man? Ah, simple men, you know not what you swear. Look as I blow this feather from my face And as the air blows it to me again, Obeying with my wind when I do blow And yielding to another when it blows, Commanded always by the greater gust, Such is the lightness of you common men. But do not break your oaths, for of that sin My mild entreaty shall not make you guilty. Go where you will, the King shall be commanded, And be you kings: command, and I’ll obey.

First Gamekeeper:We are true subjects to the King, King Edward.

King Henry VI:So would you be again to Henry If he were seated as King Edward is.

First Gamekeeper:We charge you in God’s name and the King’s To go with us unto the officers.

King Henry VI:In God’s name, lead. Your king’s name be obeyed, And what God will, that let your king perform. And what he will, I humbly yield unto.

They exit.

Scene 2

Enter King Edward, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, George, Duke of Clarence, Lady Grey, and Attendants.

Edward:Brother of Gloucester, at Saint Albans field This lady’s husband, Sir Richard Grey, was slain, His land then seized on by the conqueror. Her suit is now to repossess those lands, Which we in justice cannot well deny, Because in quarrel of the house of York The worthy gentleman did lose his life.

Richard:Your Highness shall do well to grant her suit; It were dishonor to deny it her.

Edward:It were no less, but yet I’ll make a pause.

Richard:[aside to Clarence] Yea, is it so? I see the lady hath a thing to grant Before the King will grant her humble suit.

George:[formerly GEORGE, aside to Richard] He knows the game; how true he keeps the wind!

Richard:[aside to Clarence] Silence!

Edward:Widow, we will consider of your suit, And come some other time to know our mind.

Lady Grey:Right gracious lord, I cannot brook delay. May it please your Highness to resolve me now, And what your pleasure is shall satisfy me.

Richard:[aside to Clarence] Ay, widow? Then I’ll warrant you all your lands, An if what pleases him shall pleasure you. Fight closer, or, good faith, you’ll catch a blow.

George:[aside to Richard] I fear her not, unless she chance to fall.

Richard:[aside to Clarence] God forbid that, for he’ll take vantages.

Edward:How many children hast thou, widow? Tell me.

George:[aside to Richard] I think he means to beg a child of her.

Richard:[aside to Clarence] Nay, then, whip me; he’ll rather give her two.

Lady Grey:Three, my most gracious lord.

Richard:[aside to Clarence] You shall have four if you’ll be ruled by him.

Edward:’Twere pity they should lose their father’s lands.

Lady Grey:Be pitiful, dread lord, and grant it then.

Edward:Lords, give us leave. I’ll try this widow’s wit.

Richard and Clarence stand aside.

Richard:[aside to Clarence] Ay, good leave have you, for you will have leave Till youth take leave and leave you to the crutch.

Edward:Now tell me, madam, do you love your children?

Lady Grey:Ay, full as dearly as I love myself.

Edward:And would you not do much to do them good?

Lady Grey:To do them good I would sustain some harm.

Edward:Then get your husband’s lands to do them good.

Lady Grey:Therefore I came unto your Majesty.

Edward:I’ll tell you how these lands are to be got.

Lady Grey:So shall you bind me to your Highness’ service.

Edward:What service wilt thou do me if I give them?

Lady Grey:What you command that rests in me to do.

Edward:But you will take exceptions to my boon.

Lady Grey:No, gracious lord, except I cannot do it.

Edward:Ay, but thou canst do what I mean to ask.

Lady Grey:Why, then, I will do what your Grace commands.

Richard:[aside to Clarence] He plies her hard, and much rain wears the marble.

George:[aside to Richard] As red as fire! Nay, then, her wax must melt.

Lady Grey:Why stops my lord? Shall I not hear my task?

Edward:An easy task; ’tis but to love a king.

Lady Grey:That’s soon performed because I am a subject.

Edward:Why, then, thy husband’s lands I freely give thee.

Lady Grey:I take my leave with many thousand thanks.

She curtsies and begins to exit.

Richard:[aside to Clarence] The match is made; she seals it with a cursy.

Edward:But stay thee; ’tis the fruits of love I mean.

Lady Grey:The fruits of love I mean, my loving liege.

Edward:Ay, but, I fear me, in another sense. What love, think’st thou, I sue so much to get?

Lady Grey:My love till death, my humble thanks, my prayers, That love which virtue begs and virtue grants.

Edward:No, by my troth, I did not mean such love.

Lady Grey:Why, then, you mean not as I thought you did.

Edward:But now you partly may perceive my mind.

Lady Grey:My mind will never grant what I perceive Your Highness aims at, if I aim aright.

Edward:To tell thee plain, I aim to lie with thee.

Lady Grey:To tell you plain, I had rather lie in prison.

Edward:Why, then, thou shalt not have thy husband’s lands.

Lady Grey:Why, then, mine honesty shall be my dower, For by that loss I will not purchase them.

Edward:Therein thou wrong’st thy children mightily.

Lady Grey:Herein your Highness wrongs both them and me. But, mighty lord, this merry inclination Accords not with the sadness of my suit. Please you dismiss me either with ay or no.

Edward:Ay, if thou wilt say "ay" to my request; No, if thou dost say "no" to my demand.

Lady Grey:Then no, my lord; my suit is at an end.

Richard:[aside to Clarence] The widow likes him not; she knits her brows.

George:[aside to Richard] He is the bluntest wooer in Christendom.

Edward:[aside] Her looks doth argue her replete with modesty; Her words doth show her wit incomparable; All her perfections challenge sovereignty. One way or other, she is for a king, And she shall be my love or else my queen.— Say that King Edward take thee for his queen?

Lady Grey:’Tis better said than done, my gracious lord. I am a subject fit to jest withal, But far unfit to be a sovereign.

Edward:Sweet widow, by my state I swear to thee I speak no more than what my soul intends, And that is, to enjoy thee for my love.

Lady Grey:And that is more than I will yield unto. I know I am too mean to be your queen And yet too good to be your concubine.

Edward:You cavil, widow; I did mean my queen.

Lady Grey:’Twill grieve your Grace my sons should call you father.

Edward:No more than when my daughters call thee mother. Thou art a widow and thou hast some children, And, by God’s mother, I, being but a bachelor, Have other some. Why, ’tis a happy thing To be the father unto many sons. Answer no more, for thou shalt be my queen.

Richard:[aside to Clarence] The ghostly father now hath done his shrift.

George:[aside to Richard] When he was made a shriver, ’twas for shift.

Edward:Brothers, you muse what chat we two have had.

Richard:The widow likes it not, for she looks very sad.

Edward:You’d think it strange if I should marry her.

George:To who, my lord?

Edward:Why, Clarence, to myself.

Richard:That would be ten days’ wonder at the least.

George:That’s a day longer than a wonder lasts.

Richard:By so much is the wonder in extremes.

Edward:Well, jest on, brothers. I can tell you both Her suit is granted for her husband’s lands.

Enter a Nobleman.

A Nobleman:My gracious lord, Henry, your foe, is taken And brought your prisoner to your palace gate.

Edward:See that he be conveyed unto the Tower. [Nobleman exits.] And go we, brothers, to the man that took him, To question of his apprehension.— Widow, go you along.—Lords, use her honorably.

They exit. Richard remains.

Richard:Ay, Edward will use women honorably! Would he were wasted—marrow, bones, and all— That from his loins no hopeful branch may spring To cross me from the golden time I look for. And yet, between my soul’s desire and me, The lustful Edward’s title burièd, Is Clarence, Henry, and his son, young Edward, And all the unlooked-for issue of their bodies To take their rooms ere I can place myself. A cold premeditation for my purpose. Why, then, I do but dream on sovereignty Like one that stands upon a promontory And spies a far-off shore where he would tread, Wishing his foot were equal with his eye, And chides the sea that sunders him from thence, Saying he’ll lade it dry to have his way. So do I wish the crown, being so far off, And so I chide the means that keeps me from it, And so, I say, I’ll cut the causes off, Flattering me with impossibilities. My eye’s too quick, my heart o’erweens too much, Unless my hand and strength could equal them. Well, say there is no kingdom then for Richard, What other pleasure can the world afford? I’ll make my heaven in a lady’s lap And deck my body in gay ornaments, And ’witch sweet ladies with my words and looks. O miserable thought, and more unlikely Than to accomplish twenty golden crowns! Why, Love forswore me in my mother’s womb, And, for I should not deal in her soft laws, She did corrupt frail Nature with some bribe To shrink mine arm up like a withered shrub; To make an envious mountain on my back, Where sits Deformity to mock my body; To shape my legs of an unequal size; To disproportion me in every part, Like to a chaos, or an unlicked bear-whelp, That carries no impression like the dam. And am I then a man to be beloved? O monstrous fault to harbor such a thought! Then, since this Earth affords no joy to me But to command, to check, to o’erbear such As are of better person than myself, I’ll make my heaven to dream upon the crown, And, whiles I live, t’ account this world but hell Until my misshaped trunk that bears this head Be round impalèd with a glorious crown. And yet I know not how to get the crown, For many lives stand between me and home; And I, like one lost in a thorny wood, That rents the thorns and is rent with the thorns, Seeking a way and straying from the way, Not knowing how to find the open air, But toiling desperately to find it out, Torment myself to catch the English crown. And from that torment I will free myself Or hew my way out with a bloody axe. Why, I can smile, and murder whiles I smile, And cry "Content" to that which grieves my heart, And wet my cheeks with artificial tears, And frame my face to all occasions. I’ll drown more sailors than the mermaid shall; I’ll slay more gazers than the basilisk; I’ll play the orator as well as Nestor, Deceive more slyly than Ulysses could, And, like a Sinon, take another Troy. I can add colors to the chameleon, Change shapes with Proteus for advantages, And set the murderous Machiavel to school. Can I do this and cannot get a crown? Tut, were it farther off, I’ll pluck it down.

He exits.

Scene 3

Flourish. Enter Lewis the French king, his sister the Lady Bona, his Admiral called Bourbon, Prince Edward, Queen Margaret, and the Earl of Oxford, the last three wearing the red rose.

Lewis sits, and riseth up again.

King Lewis:Fair Queen of England, worthy Margaret, Sit down with us. It ill befits thy state And birth that thou shouldst stand while Lewis doth sit.

Queen Margaret:No, mighty King of France. Now Margaret Must strike her sail and learn awhile to serve Where kings command. I was, I must confess, Great Albion’s queen in former golden days, But now mischance hath trod my title down And with dishonor laid me on the ground, Where I must take like seat unto my fortune And to my humble seat conform myself.

King Lewis:Why, say, fair queen, whence springs this deep despair?

Queen Margaret:From such a cause as fills mine eyes with tears And stops my tongue, while heart is drowned in cares.

King Lewis:Whate’er it be, be thou still like thyself, And sit thee by our side. [Seats her by him.] Yield not thy neck To Fortune’s yoke, but let thy dauntless mind Still ride in triumph over all mischance. Be plain, Queen Margaret, and tell thy grief. It shall be eased if France can yield relief.

Queen Margaret:Those gracious words revive my drooping thoughts And give my tongue-tied sorrows leave to speak. Now therefore be it known to noble Lewis That Henry, sole possessor of my love, Is, of a king, become a banished man And forced to live in Scotland a forlorn; While proud ambitious Edward, Duke of York, Usurps the regal title and the seat Of England’s true-anointed lawful king. This is the cause that I, poor Margaret, With this my son, Prince Edward, Henry’s heir, Am come to crave thy just and lawful aid; And if thou fail us, all our hope is done. Scotland hath will to help but cannot help; Our people and our peers are both misled, Our treasure seized, our soldiers put to flight, And, as thou seest, ourselves in heavy plight.

King Lewis:Renownèd queen, with patience calm the storm While we bethink a means to break it off.

Queen Margaret:The more we stay, the stronger grows our foe.

King Lewis:The more I stay, the more I’ll succor thee.

Queen Margaret:O, but impatience waiteth on true sorrow. [Enter Warwick, wearing the white rose.] And see where comes the breeder of my sorrow.

King Lewis:What’s he approacheth boldly to our presence?

Queen Margaret:Our Earl of Warwick, Edward’s greatest friend.

King Lewis:[standing] Welcome, brave Warwick. What brings thee to France? [He descends. She ariseth.]

Queen Margaret:[aside] Ay, now begins a second storm to rise, For this is he that moves both wind and tide.

Earl of Warwick:From worthy Edward, King of Albion, My lord and sovereign and thy vowèd friend, I come in kindness and unfeignèd love, First, to do greetings to thy royal person, And then to crave a league of amity, And, lastly, to confirm that amity With nuptial knot, if thou vouchsafe to grant That virtuous Lady Bona, thy fair sister, To England’s king in lawful marriage.

Queen Margaret:[aside] If that go forward, Henry’s hope is done.

Earl of Warwick:[speaking to Lady Bona] And, gracious madam, in our king’s behalf, I am commanded, with your leave and favor, Humbly to kiss your hand, and with my tongue To tell the passion of my sovereign’s heart, Where fame, late ent’ring at his heedful ears, Hath placed thy beauty’s image and thy virtue.

Queen Margaret:King Lewis and Lady Bona, hear me speak Before you answer Warwick. His demand Springs not from Edward’s well-meant honest love, But from deceit, bred by necessity; For how can tyrants safely govern home Unless abroad they purchase great alliance? To prove him tyrant, this reason may suffice: That Henry liveth still; but were he dead, Yet here Prince Edward stands, King Henry’s son. Look, therefore, Lewis, that by this league and marriage Thou draw not on thy danger and dishonor; For though usurpers sway the rule awhile, Yet heav’ns are just, and time suppresseth wrongs.

Earl of Warwick:Injurious Margaret!

Prince Edward:And why not "Queen"?

Earl of Warwick:Because thy father Henry did usurp, And thou no more art prince than she is queen.

Earl of Oxford:Then Warwick disannuls great John of Gaunt, Which did subdue the greatest part of Spain; And after John of Gaunt, Henry the Fourth, Whose wisdom was a mirror to the wisest; And after that wise prince, Henry the Fifth, Who by his prowess conquerèd all France. From these our Henry lineally descends.

Earl of Warwick:Oxford, how haps it in this smooth discourse You told not how Henry the Sixth hath lost All that which Henry the Fifth had gotten. Methinks these peers of France should smile at that. But, for the rest: you tell a pedigree Of threescore and two years, a silly time To make prescription for a kingdom’s worth.

Earl of Oxford:Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against thy liege, Whom thou obeyed’st thirty and six years, And not bewray thy treason with a blush?

Earl of Warwick:Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right, Now buckler falsehood with a pedigree? For shame, leave Henry, and call Edward king.

Earl of Oxford:Call him my king, by whose injurious doom My elder brother, the Lord Aubrey Vere, Was done to death? And more than so, my father, Even in the downfall of his mellowed years, When nature brought him to the door of death? No, Warwick, no. While life upholds this arm, This arm upholds the house of Lancaster.

Earl of Warwick:And I the house of York.

King Lewis:Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, and Oxford, Vouchsafe, at our request, to stand aside While I use further conference with Warwick.

They stand aloof.

Queen Margaret:[aside] Heavens grant that Warwick’s words bewitch him not.

King Lewis:Now, Warwick, tell me, even upon thy conscience, Is Edward your true king? For I were loath To link with him that were not lawful chosen.

Earl of Warwick:Thereon I pawn my credit and mine honor.

King Lewis:But is he gracious in the people’s eye?

Earl of Warwick:The more that Henry was unfortunate.

King Lewis:Then further, all dissembling set aside, Tell me for truth the measure of his love Unto our sister Bona.

Earl of Warwick:Such it seems As may beseem a monarch like himself. Myself have often heard him say and swear That this his love was an eternal plant, Whereof the root was fixed in virtue’s ground, The leaves and fruit maintained with beauty’s sun, Exempt from envy but not from disdain, Unless the Lady Bona quit his pain.

King Lewis:Now, sister, let us hear your firm resolve.

Lady Bona:Your grant or your denial shall be mine. [(Speaks to Warwick.)] Yet I confess that often ere this day, When I have heard your king’s desert recounted, Mine ear hath tempted judgment to desire.

King Lewis:Then, Warwick, thus: our sister shall be Edward’s. And now forthwith shall articles be drawn Touching the jointure that your king must make, Which with her dowry shall be counterpoised.— Draw near, Queen Margaret, and be a witness That Bona shall be wife to the English king.

Prince Edward:To Edward, but not to the English king.

Queen Margaret:Deceitful Warwick, it was thy device By this alliance to make void my suit. Before thy coming, Lewis was Henry’s friend.

King Lewis:And still is friend to him and Margaret. But if your title to the crown be weak, As may appear by Edward’s good success, Then ’tis but reason that I be released From giving aid which late I promisèd. Yet shall you have all kindness at my hand That your estate requires and mine can yield.

Earl of Warwick:Henry now lives in Scotland at his ease, Where, having nothing, nothing can he lose.— And as for you yourself, our quondam queen, You have a father able to maintain you, And better ’twere you troubled him than France.

Queen Margaret:Peace, impudent and shameless Warwick, Proud setter-up and puller-down of kings! I will not hence till with my talk and tears, Both full of truth, I make King Lewis behold Thy sly conveyance and thy lord’s false love, For both of you are birds of selfsame feather.

Post blowing a horn within.

King Lewis:Warwick, this is some post to us or thee.

Enter the Post.

Post:[speaks to Warwick.] My lord ambassador, these letters are for you, Sent from your brother, Marquess Montague. [(To Lewis.)] These from our king unto your Majesty. [(To Margaret.)] And, madam, these for you—from whom, I know not.

They all read their letters.

Earl of Oxford:[aside] I like it well that our fair queen and mistress Smiles at her news, while Warwick frowns at his.

Prince Edward:[aside] Nay, mark how Lewis stamps as he were nettled. I hope all’s for the best.

King Lewis:Warwick, what are thy news? And yours, fair queen?

Queen Margaret:Mine, such as fill my heart with unhoped joys.

Earl of Warwick:Mine, full of sorrow and heart’s discontent.

King Lewis:What, has your king married the Lady Grey, And now, to soothe your forgery and his, Sends me a paper to persuade me patience? Is this th’ alliance that he seeks with France? Dare he presume to scorn us in this manner?

Queen Margaret:I told your Majesty as much before. This proveth Edward’s love and Warwick’s honesty.

Earl of Warwick:King Lewis, I here protest in sight of heaven And by the hope I have of heavenly bliss, That I am clear from this misdeed of Edward’s— No more my king, for he dishonors me, But most himself, if he could see his shame. Did I forget that by the house of York My father came untimely to his death? Did I let pass th’ abuse done to my niece? Did I impale him with the regal crown? Did I put Henry from his native right? And am I guerdoned at the last with shame? Shame on himself, for my desert is honor! And to repair my honor lost for him, I here renounce him and return to Henry. [He removes the white rose.] My noble queen, let former grudges pass, And henceforth I am thy true servitor. I will revenge his wrong to Lady Bona And replant Henry in his former state.

Queen Margaret:Warwick, these words have turned my hate to love, And I forgive and quite forget old faults, And joy that thou becom’st King Henry’s friend.

Earl of Warwick:So much his friend, ay, his unfeignèd friend, That if King Lewis vouchsafe to furnish us With some few bands of chosen soldiers, I’ll undertake to land them on our coast And force the tyrant from his seat by war. ’Tis not his new-made bride shall succor him. And as for Clarence, as my letters tell me, He’s very likely now to fall from him For matching more for wanton lust than honor, Or than for strength and safety of our country.

Lady Bona:Dear brother, how shall Bona be revenged But by thy help to this distressèd queen?

Queen Margaret:Renownèd prince, how shall poor Henry live Unless thou rescue him from foul despair?

Lady Bona:My quarrel and this English queen’s are one.

Earl of Warwick:And mine, fair Lady Bona, joins with yours.

King Lewis:And mine with hers and thine and Margaret’s. Therefore at last I firmly am resolved You shall have aid.

Queen Margaret:Let me give humble thanks for all, at once.

King Lewis:Then, England’s messenger, return in post, And tell false Edward, thy supposèd king, That Lewis of France is sending over maskers To revel it with him and his new bride. Thou seest what’s passed; go fear thy king withal.

Lady Bona:Tell him, in hope he’ll prove a widower shortly, I wear the willow garland for his sake.

Queen Margaret:Tell him my mourning weeds are laid aside And I am ready to put armor on.

Earl of Warwick:Tell him from me that he hath done me wrong, And therefore I’ll uncrown him ere ’t be long. There’s thy reward. [Gives money.] Be gone.

Post exits.

King Lewis:But, Warwick, Thou and Oxford with five thousand men Shall cross the seas and bid false Edward battle; And as occasion serves, this noble queen And prince shall follow with a fresh supply. Yet ere thou go, but answer me one doubt: What pledge have we of thy firm loyalty?

Earl of Warwick:This shall assure my constant loyalty: That if our queen and this young prince agree, I’ll join mine eldest daughter, and my joy, To him forthwith in holy wedlock bands.

Queen Margaret:Yes, I agree, and thank you for your motion. Son Edward, she is fair and virtuous. Therefore, delay not; give thy hand to Warwick, And with thy hand, thy faith irrevocable, That only Warwick’s daughter shall be thine.

Prince Edward:Yes, I accept her, for she well deserves it, And here, to pledge my vow, I give my hand.

He gives his hand to Warwick.

King Lewis:Why stay we now? These soldiers shall be levied, And thou, Lord Bourbon, our High Admiral, Shall waft them over with our royal fleet. I long till Edward fall by war’s mischance For mocking marriage with a dame of France.

All but Warwick exit.

Earl of Warwick:I came from Edward as ambassador, But I return his sworn and mortal foe. Matter of marriage was the charge he gave me, But dreadful war shall answer his demand. Had he none else to make a stale but me? Then none but I shall turn his jest to sorrow. I was the chief that raised him to the crown, And I’ll be chief to bring him down again: Not that I pity Henry’s misery, But seek revenge on Edward’s mockery.

He exits.

Act 4

Scene 1

Enter Richard of Gloucester, Clarence, Somerset, and Montague, all wearing the white rose.

Richard:Now tell me, brother Clarence, what think you Of this new marriage with the Lady Grey? Hath not our brother made a worthy choice?

George:Alas, you know ’tis far from hence to France. How could he stay till Warwick made return?

Flourish.

Duke of Somerset:My lords, forbear this talk. Here comes the King.

Richard:And his well-chosen bride.

George:I mind to tell him plainly what I think.

Enter King Edward, with Attendants, Lady Grey, now Queen Elizabeth, Pembroke, Stafford, Hastings, and others, all wearing the white rose. Four stand on one side, and four on the other.

Edward:Now, brother of Clarence, how like you our choice, That you stand pensive, as half malcontent?

George:As well as Lewis of France or the Earl of Warwick, Which are so weak of courage and in judgment That they’ll take no offense at our abuse.

Edward:Suppose they take offense without a cause, They are but Lewis and Warwick; I am Edward, Your king and Warwick’s, and must have my will.

Richard:And shall have your will because our king. Yet hasty marriage seldom proveth well.

Edward:Yea, brother Richard, are you offended too?

Richard:Not I. No, God forbid that I should wish them severed Whom God hath joined together. Ay, and ’twere pity To sunder them that yoke so well together.

Edward:Setting your scorns and your mislike aside, Tell me some reason why the Lady Grey Should not become my wife and England’s queen? And you too, Somerset and Montague, Speak freely what you think.

George:Then this is mine opinion: that King Lewis Becomes your enemy for mocking him About the marriage of the Lady Bona.

Richard:And Warwick, doing what you gave in charge, Is now dishonorèd by this new marriage.

Edward:What if both Lewis and Warwick be appeased By such invention as I can devise?

Marquess of Montague:Yet to have joined with France in such alliance Would more have strengthened this our commonwealth ’Gainst foreign storms than any home-bred marriage.

Lord Hastings:Why, knows not Montague that of itself England is safe, if true within itself?

Marquess of Montague:But the safer when ’tis backed with France.

Lord Hastings:’Tis better using France than trusting France. Let us be backed with God and with the seas Which He hath giv’n for fence impregnable, And with their helps only defend ourselves. In them and in ourselves our safety lies.

George:For this one speech, Lord Hastings well deserves To have the heir of the Lord Hungerford.

Edward:Ay, what of that? It was my will and grant, And for this once my will shall stand for law.

Richard:And yet methinks your Grace hath not done well To give the heir and daughter of Lord Scales Unto the brother of your loving bride. She better would have fitted me or Clarence; But in your bride you bury brotherhood.

George:Or else you would not have bestowed the heir Of the Lord Bonville on your new wife’s son, And leave your brothers to go speed elsewhere.

Edward:Alas, poor Clarence, is it for a wife That thou art malcontent? I will provide thee.

George:In choosing for yourself you showed your judgment, Which, being shallow, you shall give me leave To play the broker in mine own behalf. And to that end, I shortly mind to leave you.

Edward:Leave me or tarry, Edward will be king And not be tied unto his brother’s will.

Lady Grey:My lords, before it pleased his Majesty To raise my state to title of a queen, Do me but right and you must all confess That I was not ignoble of descent, And meaner than myself have had like fortune. But as this title honors me and mine, So your dislikes, to whom I would be pleasing, Doth cloud my joys with danger and with sorrow.

Edward:My love, forbear to fawn upon their frowns. What danger or what sorrow can befall thee So long as Edward is thy constant friend And their true sovereign, whom they must obey? Nay, whom they shall obey, and love thee too, Unless they seek for hatred at my hands; Which if they do, yet will I keep thee safe, And they shall feel the vengeance of my wrath.

Richard:[aside] I hear, yet say not much, but think the more.

Enter a Post.

Edward:Now, messenger, what letters or what news from France?

Post:My sovereign liege, no letters and few words But such as I without your special pardon Dare not relate.

Edward:Go to, we pardon thee. Therefore, in brief, Tell me their words as near as thou canst guess them. What answer makes King Lewis unto our letters?

Post:At my depart, these were his very words: "Go tell false Edward, the supposèd king, That Lewis of France is sending over maskers To revel it with him and his new bride."

Edward:Is Lewis so brave? Belike he thinks me Henry. But what said Lady Bona to my marriage?

Post:These were her words, uttered with mild disdain: "Tell him, in hope he’ll prove a widower shortly, I’ll wear the willow garland for his sake."

Edward:I blame not her; she could say little less; She had the wrong. But what said Henry’s queen? For I have heard that she was there in place.

Post:"Tell him," quoth she, "my mourning weeds are done, And I am ready to put armor on."

Edward:Belike she minds to play the Amazon. But what said Warwick to these injuries?

Post:He, more incensed against your Majesty Than all the rest, discharged me with these words: "Tell him from me that he hath done me wrong, And therefore I’ll uncrown him ere ’t be long."

Edward:Ha! Durst the traitor breathe out so proud words? Well, I will arm me, being thus forewarned. They shall have wars and pay for their presumption. But say, is Warwick friends with Margaret?

Post:Ay, gracious sovereign, they are so linked in friendship That young Prince Edward marries Warwick’s daughter.

George:[aside] Belike the elder; Clarence will have the younger.— Now, brother king, farewell, and sit you fast, For I will hence to Warwick’s other daughter, That, though I want a kingdom, yet in marriage I may not prove inferior to yourself. You that love me and Warwick, follow me.

Clarence exits, and Somerset follows.

Richard:[aside] Not I. My thoughts aim at a further matter: I stay not for the love of Edward, but the crown.

Edward:Clarence and Somerset both gone to Warwick? Yet am I armed against the worst can happen, And haste is needful in this desp’rate case. Pembroke and Stafford, you in our behalf Go levy men and make prepare for war. They are already, or quickly will be, landed. Myself in person will straight follow you. [Pembroke and Stafford exit.] But ere I go, Hastings and Montague, Resolve my doubt: you twain, of all the rest, Are near to Warwick by blood and by alliance. Tell me if you love Warwick more than me. If it be so, then both depart to him. I rather wish you foes than hollow friends. But if you mind to hold your true obedience, Give me assurance with some friendly vow, That I may never have you in suspect.

Marquess of Montague:So God help Montague as he proves true!

Lord Hastings:And Hastings as he favors Edward’s cause!

Edward:Now, brother Richard, will you stand by us?

Richard:Ay, in despite of all that shall withstand you.

Edward:Why, so. Then am I sure of victory. Now therefore let us hence and lose no hour Till we meet Warwick with his foreign power.

They exit.

Scene 2

Enter Warwick and Oxford in England, wearing the red rose, with French Soldiers.

Earl of Warwick:Trust me, my lord, all hitherto goes well. The common people by numbers swarm to us. [Enter Clarence and Somerset.] But see where Somerset and Clarence comes.— Speak suddenly, my lords: are we all friends?

George:Fear not that, my lord.

Earl of Warwick:Then, gentle Clarence, welcome unto Warwick, And welcome, Somerset. I hold it cowardice To rest mistrustful where a noble heart Hath pawned an open hand in sign of love; Else might I think that Clarence, Edward’s brother, Were but a feignèd friend to our proceedings. But welcome, sweet Clarence; my daughter shall be thine. And now, what rests but, in night’s coverture Thy brother being carelessly encamped, His soldiers lurking in the town about, And but attended by a simple guard, We may surprise and take him at our pleasure? Our scouts have found the adventure very easy; That, as Ulysses and stout Diomed With sleight and manhood stole to Rhesus’ tents And brought from thence the Thracian fatal steeds, So we, well covered with the night’s black mantle, At unawares may beat down Edward’s guard And seize himself. I say not "slaughter him," For I intend but only to surprise him. You that will follow me to this attempt, Applaud the name of Henry with your leader. [They all cry "Henry!"] Why then, let’s on our way in silent sort. For Warwick and his friends, God and Saint George!

They exit.

Scene 3

Enter three Watchmen to guard King Edward’s tent, all wearing the white rose.

First Watch:Come on, my masters, each man take his stand. The King by this is set him down to sleep.

Second Watch:What, will he not to bed?

First Watch:Why, no, for he hath made a solemn vow Never to lie and take his natural rest Till Warwick or himself be quite suppressed.

Second Watch:Tomorrow, then, belike shall be the day, If Warwick be so near as men report.

Third Watch:But say, I pray, what nobleman is that That with the King here resteth in his tent?

First Watch:’Tis the Lord Hastings, the King’s chiefest friend.

Third Watch:O, is it so? But why commands the King That his chief followers lodge in towns about him, While he himself keeps in the cold field?

Second Watch:’Tis the more honor, because more dangerous.

Third Watch:Ay, but give me worship and quietness; I like it better than a dangerous honor. If Warwick knew in what estate he stands, ’Tis to be doubted he would waken him.

First Watch:Unless our halberds did shut up his passage.

Second Watch:Ay, wherefore else guard we his royal tent But to defend his person from night foes?

Enter Warwick, Clarence, Oxford, Somerset, all wearing the red rose, and French Soldiers, silent all.

Earl of Warwick:This is his tent, and see where stand his guard. Courage, my masters. Honor, now or never! But follow me, and Edward shall be ours.

First Watch:Who goes there?

Second Watch:Stay, or thou diest!

Warwick and the rest cry all "Warwick, Warwick!" and set upon the guard, who fly, crying "Arm, Arm!" Warwick and the rest following them.

The drum playing and trumpet sounding, enter Warwick, Somerset, and the rest, bringing King Edward out in his gown, sitting in a chair. Richard and Hastings flies over the stage.

Duke of Somerset:What are they that fly there?

Earl of Warwick:Richard and Hastings. Let them go. Here is the Duke.

Edward:The Duke? Why, Warwick, when we parted, thou call’dst me king.

Earl of Warwick:Ay, but the case is altered. When you disgraced me in my embassade, Then I degraded you from being king And come now to create you Duke of York. Alas, how should you govern any kingdom That know not how to use ambassadors, Nor how to be contented with one wife, Nor how to use your brothers brotherly, Nor how to study for the people’s welfare, Nor how to shroud yourself from enemies?

Edward:Yea, brother of Clarence, art thou here too? Nay, then, I see that Edward needs must down. Yet, Warwick, in despite of all mischance, Of thee thyself and all thy complices, Edward will always bear himself as king. Though Fortune’s malice overthrow my state, My mind exceeds the compass of her wheel.

Earl of Warwick:Then for his mind be Edward England’s king, [Takes off his crown.] But Henry now shall wear the English crown And be true king indeed, thou but the shadow.— My lord of Somerset, at my request, See that forthwith Duke Edward be conveyed Unto my brother, Archbishop of York. When I have fought with Pembroke and his fellows, I’ll follow you and tell what answer Lewis and the Lady Bona send to him.— Now for awhile farewell, good Duke of York.

They begin to lead him out forcibly.

Edward:What Fates impose, that men must needs abide; It boots not to resist both wind and tide.

Somerset and Soldiers exit, guarding King Edward.

Earl of Oxford:What now remains, my lords, for us to do But march to London with our soldiers?

Earl of Warwick:Ay, that’s the first thing that we have to do, To free King Henry from imprisonment And see him seated in the regal throne.

They exit.

Scene 4

Enter Rivers and Queen Elizabeth, wearing the white rose.

Earl Rivers:Madam, what makes you in this sudden change?

Lady Grey:Why, brother Rivers, are you yet to learn What late misfortune is befall’n King Edward?

Earl Rivers:What, loss of some pitched battle against Warwick?

Lady Grey:No, but the loss of his own royal person.

Earl Rivers:Then is my sovereign slain?

Lady Grey:Ay, almost slain, for he is taken prisoner, Either betrayed by falsehood of his guard Or by his foe surprised at unawares; And, as I further have to understand, Is new committed to the Bishop of York, Fell Warwick’s brother and by that our foe.

Earl Rivers:These news I must confess are full of grief; Yet, gracious madam, bear it as you may. Warwick may lose that now hath won the day.

Lady Grey:Till then fair hope must hinder life’s decay; And I the rather wean me from despair For love of Edward’s offspring in my womb. This is it that makes me bridle passion And bear with mildness my misfortune’s cross. Ay, ay, for this I draw in many a tear And stop the rising of blood-sucking sighs, Lest with my sighs or tears I blast or drown King Edward’s fruit, true heir to th’ English crown.

Earl Rivers:But, madam, where is Warwick then become?

Lady Grey:I am informèd that he comes towards London To set the crown once more on Henry’s head. Guess thou the rest: King Edward’s friends must down. But to prevent the tyrant’s violence— For trust not him that hath once broken faith— I’ll hence forthwith unto the sanctuary To save at least the heir of Edward’s right. There shall I rest secure from force and fraud. Come, therefore, let us fly while we may fly. If Warwick take us, we are sure to die.

They exit.

Scene 5

Enter Richard of Gloucester, Lord Hastings, and Sir William Stanley, with Soldiers, all wearing the white rose.

Richard:Now, my Lord Hastings and Sir William Stanley, Leave off to wonder why I drew you hither Into this chiefest thicket of the park. Thus stands the case: you know our king, my brother, Is prisoner to the Bishop here, at whose hands He hath good usage and great liberty, And, often but attended with weak guard, Comes hunting this way to disport himself. I have advertised him by secret means That, if about this hour he make this way Under the color of his usual game, He shall here find his friends with horse and men To set him free from his captivity.

Enter King Edward, wearing the white rose, and a Huntsman with him.

Huntsman:This way, my lord, for this way lies the game.

Edward:Nay, this way, man. See where the huntsmen stand.— Now, brother of Gloucester, Lord Hastings, and the rest, Stand you thus close to steal the Bishop’s deer?

Richard:Brother, the time and case requireth haste. Your horse stands ready at the park corner.

Edward:But whither shall we then?

Lord Hastings:To Lynn, my lord, and shipped from thence to Flanders.

Richard:Well guessed, believe me, for that was my meaning.

Edward:Stanley, I will requite thy forwardness.

Richard:But wherefore stay we? ’Tis no time to talk.

Edward:Huntsman, what sayst thou? Wilt thou go along?

Huntsman:Better do so than tarry and be hanged.

Richard:Come then, away! Let’s ha’ no more ado.

Edward:Bishop, farewell; shield thee from Warwick’s frown, And pray that I may repossess the crown.

They exit.

Scene 6

Flourish. Enter King Henry the Sixth, Clarence, Warwick, Somerset, young Henry Earl of Richmond, Oxford, Montague, all wearing the red rose, and Lieutenant of the Tower.

King Henry VI:Master lieutenant, now that God and friends Have shaken Edward from the regal seat And turned my captive state to liberty, My fear to hope, my sorrows unto joys, At our enlargement what are thy due fees?

Lieutenant:Subjects may challenge nothing of their sov’reigns, But, if an humble prayer may prevail, I then crave pardon of your Majesty.

King Henry VI:For what, lieutenant? For well using me? Nay, be thou sure I’ll well requite thy kindness, For that it made my imprisonment a pleasure, Ay, such a pleasure as encagèd birds Conceive when, after many moody thoughts, At last by notes of household harmony They quite forget their loss of liberty.— But, Warwick, after God thou sett’st me free, And chiefly, therefore, I thank God and thee. He was the author, thou the instrument. Therefore, that I may conquer Fortune’s spite By living low where Fortune cannot hurt me, And that the people of this blessèd land May not be punished with my thwarting stars, Warwick, although my head still wear the crown, I here resign my government to thee, For thou art fortunate in all thy deeds.

Earl of Warwick:Your Grace hath still been famed for virtuous And now may seem as wise as virtuous By spying and avoiding Fortune’s malice, For few men rightly temper with the stars. Yet, in this one thing let me blame your Grace: For choosing me when Clarence is in place.

George:No, Warwick, thou art worthy of the sway, To whom the heav’ns in thy nativity Adjudged an olive branch and laurel crown As likely to be blest in peace and war; And therefore I yield thee my free consent.

Earl of Warwick:And I choose Clarence only for Protector.

King Henry VI:Warwick and Clarence, give me both your hands. Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts, That no dissension hinder government. [He joins their hands.] I make you both Protectors of this land, While I myself will lead a private life And in devotion spend my latter days, To sin’s rebuke and my Creator’s praise.

Earl of Warwick:What answers Clarence to his sovereign’s will?

George:That he consents, if Warwick yield consent, For on thy fortune I repose myself.

Earl of Warwick:Why, then, though loath, yet must I be content. We’ll yoke together like a double shadow To Henry’s body, and supply his place— I mean, in bearing weight of government— While he enjoys the honor and his ease. And, Clarence, now then it is more than needful Forthwith that Edward be pronounced a traitor And all his lands and goods be confiscate.

George:What else? And that succession be determinèd.

Earl of Warwick:Ay, therein Clarence shall not want his part.

King Henry VI:But with the first of all your chief affairs Let me entreat—for I command no more— That Margaret your queen and my son Edward Be sent for, to return from France with speed, For till I see them here, by doubtful fear My joy of liberty is half eclipsed.

George:It shall be done, my sovereign, with all speed.

King Henry VI:My lord of Somerset, what youth is that Of whom you seem to have so tender care?

Duke of Somerset:My liege, it is young Henry, Earl of Richmond.

King Henry VI:[to Richmond] Come hither, England’s hope. [Lays his hand on Richmond’s head.] If secret powers Suggest but truth to my divining thoughts, This pretty lad will prove our country’s bliss. His looks are full of peaceful majesty, His head by nature framed to wear a crown, His hand to wield a scepter, and himself Likely in time to bless a regal throne. Make much of him, my lords, for this is he Must help you more than you are hurt by me.

Enter a Post.

Earl of Warwick:What news, my friend?

Post:That Edward is escapèd from your brother And fled, as he hears since, to Burgundy.

Earl of Warwick:Unsavory news! But how made he escape?

Post:He was conveyed by Richard, Duke of Gloucester, And the Lord Hastings, who attended him In secret ambush on the forest side And from the Bishop’s huntsmen rescued him, For hunting was his daily exercise.

Earl of Warwick:My brother was too careless of his charge. But let us hence, my sovereign, to provide A salve for any sore that may betide.

All but Somerset, Richmond, and Oxford exit.

Duke of Somerset:[to Oxford] My lord, I like not of this flight of Edward’s, For doubtless Burgundy will yield him help, And we shall have more wars before ’t be long. As Henry’s late presaging prophecy Did glad my heart with hope of this young Richmond, So doth my heart misgive me in these conflicts What may befall him, to his harm and ours. Therefore, Lord Oxford, to prevent the worst, Forthwith we’ll send him hence to Brittany Till storms be past of civil enmity.

Earl of Oxford:Ay, for if Edward repossess the crown, ’Tis like that Richmond, with the rest, shall down.

Duke of Somerset:It shall be so. He shall to Brittany. Come, therefore, let’s about it speedily.

They exit.

Scene 7

Flourish. Enter King Edward, Richard, Hastings, and Soldiers, all wearing the white rose.

Edward:Now, brother Richard, Lord Hastings, and the rest: Yet thus far Fortune maketh us amends, And says that once more I shall interchange My wanèd state for Henry’s regal crown. Well have we passed, and now re-passed, the seas, And brought desirèd help from Burgundy. What then remains, we being thus arrived From Ravenspurgh Haven before the gates of York, But that we enter as into our dukedom?

Hastings knocks at the gate.

Richard:The gates made fast? Brother, I like not this. For many men that stumble at the threshold Are well foretold that danger lurks within.

Edward:Tush, man, abodements must not now affright us. By fair or foul means we must enter in, For hither will our friends repair to us.

Lord Hastings:My liege, I’ll knock once more to summon them.

He knocks.

Enter on the walls the Mayor of York and his brethren, the Aldermen.

Mayor:My lords, we were forewarnèd of your coming, And shut the gates for safety of ourselves, For now we owe allegiance unto Henry.

Edward:But, master mayor, if Henry be your king, Yet Edward, at the least, is Duke of York.

Mayor:True, my good lord, I know you for no less.

Edward:Why, and I challenge nothing but my dukedom, As being well content with that alone.

Richard:[aside] But when the fox hath once got in his nose, He’ll soon find means to make the body follow.

Lord Hastings:Why, master mayor, why stand you in a doubt? Open the gates. We are King Henry’s friends.

Mayor:Ay, say you so? The gates shall then be opened.

He descends with the Aldermen.

Richard:A wise stout captain, and soon persuaded.

Lord Hastings:The good old man would fain that all were well, So ’twere not long of him; but being entered, I doubt not, I, but we shall soon persuade Both him and all his brothers unto reason.

Enter the Mayor and two Aldermen.

Edward:So, master mayor, these gates must not be shut But in the night or in the time of war. What, fear not, man, but yield me up the keys. [Takes his keys.] For Edward will defend the town and thee And all those friends that deign to follow me.

March. Enter Montgomery, with Drum and Soldiers.

Richard:Brother, this is Sir John Montgomery, Our trusty friend, unless I be deceived.

Edward:Welcome, Sir John. But why come you in arms?

Sir John Montgomery:To help King Edward in his time of storm, As every loyal subject ought to do.

Edward:Thanks, good Montgomery. But we now forget Our title to the crown, and only claim Our dukedom, till God please to send the rest.

Sir John Montgomery:Then fare you well, for I will hence again. I came to serve a king and not a duke.— Drummer, strike up, and let us march away.

The Drum begins to march.

Edward:Nay, stay, Sir John, a while, and we’ll debate By what safe means the crown may be recovered.

Sir John Montgomery:What talk you of debating? In few words, If you’ll not here proclaim yourself our king, I’ll leave you to your fortune and be gone To keep them back that come to succor you. Why shall we fight if you pretend no title?

Richard:Why, brother, wherefore stand you on nice points?

Edward:When we grow stronger, then we’ll make our claim. Till then ’tis wisdom to conceal our meaning.

Lord Hastings:Away with scrupulous wit! Now arms must rule.

Richard:And fearless minds climb soonest unto crowns. Brother, we will proclaim you out of hand; The bruit thereof will bring you many friends.

Edward:Then be it as you will, for ’tis my right, And Henry but usurps the diadem.

Sir John Montgomery:Ay, now my sovereign speaketh like himself, And now will I be Edward’s champion.

Lord Hastings:Sound, trumpet! Edward shall be here proclaimed.— Come, fellow soldier, make thou proclamation.

Flourish. Sound.

Soldier:[reads] Edward the Fourth, by the Grace of God, King of England and France, and Lord of Ireland, &c.

Sir John Montgomery:And whosoe’er gainsays King Edward’s right, By this I challenge him to single fight.

Throws down his gauntlet.

Richard, Lord Hastings, Sir John Montgomery, Soldier, Mayor, Sir John Montgomery:Long live Edward the Fourth!

Edward:Thanks, brave Montgomery, and thanks unto you all. If fortune serve me, I’ll requite this kindness. Now, for this night let’s harbor here in York, And when the morning sun shall raise his car Above the border of this horizon, We’ll forward towards Warwick and his mates; For well I wot that Henry is no soldier. Ah, froward Clarence, how evil it beseems thee To flatter Henry and forsake thy brother! Yet, as we may, we’ll meet both thee and Warwick. Come on, brave soldiers; doubt not of the day; And that once gotten, doubt not of large pay.

They exit.

Scene 8

Flourish. Enter King Henry, Warwick, Montague, Clarence, Oxford, and Exeter, all wearing the red rose.

Earl of Warwick:What counsel, lords? Edward from Belgia, With hasty Germans and blunt Hollanders, Hath passed in safety through the Narrow Seas, And with his troops doth march amain to London, And many giddy people flock to him.

King Henry VI:Let’s levy men and beat him back again.

George:A little fire is quickly trodden out, Which, being suffered, rivers cannot quench.

Earl of Warwick:In Warwickshire I have true-hearted friends, Not mutinous in peace yet bold in war. Those will I muster up; and thou, son Clarence, Shalt stir up in Suffolk, Norfolk, and in Kent The knights and gentlemen to come with thee.— Thou, brother Montague, in Buckingham, Northampton, and in Leicestershire shalt find Men well inclined to hear what thou command’st.— And thou, brave Oxford, wondrous well beloved, In Oxfordshire shalt muster up thy friends.— My sovereign, with the loving citizens, Like to his island girt in with the ocean, Or modest Dian circled with her nymphs, Shall rest in London till we come to him. Fair lords, take leave, and stand not to reply.— Farewell, my sovereign.

King Henry VI:Farewell, my Hector and my Troy’s true hope.

George:In sign of truth, I kiss your Highness’ hand.

King Henry VI:Well-minded Clarence, be thou fortunate.

Marquess of Montague:Comfort, my lord; and so I take my leave.

Earl of Oxford:And thus I seal my truth, and bid adieu.

He kisses Henry’s hand.

King Henry VI:Sweet Oxford and my loving Montague And all at once, once more a happy farewell.

Earl of Warwick:Farewell, sweet lords. Let’s meet at Coventry.

All but King Henry and Exeter exit.

King Henry VI:Here at the palace will I rest awhile. Cousin of Exeter, what thinks your Lordship? Methinks the power that Edward hath in field Should not be able to encounter mine.

Duke of Exeter:The doubt is that he will seduce the rest.

King Henry VI:That’s not my fear. My meed hath got me fame. I have not stopped mine ears to their demands, Nor posted off their suits with slow delays. My pity hath been balm to heal their wounds, My mildness hath allayed their swelling griefs, My mercy dried their water-flowing tears. I have not been desirous of their wealth Nor much oppressed them with great subsidies, Nor forward of revenge, though they much erred. Then why should they love Edward more than me? No, Exeter, these graces challenge grace; And when the lion fawns upon the lamb, The lamb will never cease to follow him.

Shout within "À York! À York!"

Duke of Exeter:Hark, hark, my lord, what shouts are these?

Enter King Edward and Richard and Soldiers, all wearing the white rose.

Edward:Seize on the shamefaced Henry, bear him hence, And once again proclaim us King of England.— You are the fount that makes small brooks to flow. Now stops thy spring; my sea shall suck them dry And swell so much the higher by their ebb.— Hence with him to the Tower. Let him not speak. [Soldiers exit with King Henry and Exeter.] And, lords, towards Coventry bend we our course, Where peremptory Warwick now remains. The sun shines hot, and if we use delay, Cold biting winter mars our hoped-for hay.

Richard:Away betimes, before his forces join, And take the great-grown traitor unawares. Brave warriors, march amain towards Coventry.

They exit.

Act 5

Scene 1

Enter Warwick, wearing the red rose, the Mayor of Coventry, two Messengers, and others, upon the walls.

Earl of Warwick:Where is the post that came from valiant Oxford?— How far hence is thy lord, mine honest fellow?

First Messenger:By this at Dunsmore, marching hitherward.

He exits.

Earl of Warwick:How far off is our brother Montague? Where is the post that came from Montague?

Second Messenger:By this at Daintry, with a puissant troop.

He exits.

Enter, upon the walls, Somerville wearing the red rose.

Earl of Warwick:Say, Somerville, what says my loving son? And, by thy guess, how nigh is Clarence now?

Sir John Somerville:At Southam I did leave him with his forces And do expect him here some two hours hence.

Drum offstage.

Earl of Warwick:Then Clarence is at hand; I hear his drum.

Sir John Somerville:It is not his, my lord; here Southam lies. The drum your Honor hears marcheth from Warwick.

Earl of Warwick:Who should that be? Belike unlooked-for friends.

Sir John Somerville:They are at hand, and you shall quickly know.

March. Flourish. Enter below, King Edward, Richard, and Soldiers, including a Trumpeter, all wearing the white rose.

Edward:Go, Trumpet, to the walls, and sound a parle.

Richard:See how the surly Warwick mans the wall.

Earl of Warwick:O unbid spite, is sportful Edward come? Where slept our scouts, or how are they seduced, That we could hear no news of his repair?

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.

Earl of Warwick:Nay, rather wilt thou draw thy forces hence, Confess who set thee up and plucked thee down, Call Warwick patron, and be penitent, And thou shalt still remain the Duke of York.

Richard:I thought at least he would have said "the King." Or did he make the jest against his will?

Earl of Warwick:Is not a dukedom, sir, a goodly gift?

Richard:Ay, by my faith, for a poor earl to give. I’ll do thee service for so good a gift.

Earl of Warwick:’Twas I that gave the kingdom to thy brother.

Edward:Why, then, ’tis mine, if but by Warwick’s gift.

Earl of 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.

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?

Richard:Alas, that Warwick had no more forecast, But whiles he thought to steal the single ten, The King was slyly fingered from the deck. You left poor Henry at the Bishop’s palace, And ten to one you’ll meet him in the Tower.

Edward:’Tis even so; yet you are Warwick still.

Richard:Come, Warwick, take the time; kneel down, kneel down. Nay, when? Strike now, or else the iron cools.

Earl of 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.

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, below, wearing the red rose, with Soldiers, Drum and Colors.

Earl of Warwick:O, cheerful colors, see where Oxford comes!

Earl of Oxford:Oxford, Oxford for Lancaster!

Oxford and his troops exit as through a city gate.

Richard:The gates are open; let us enter too.

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 defense, We’ll quickly rouse the traitors in the same.

Oxford enters aloft.

Earl of Warwick:O welcome, Oxford, for we want thy help.

Enter Montague, below, wearing the red rose, with Soldiers, Drum and Colors.

Marquess of Montague:Montague, Montague for Lancaster!

Richard:Thou and thy brother both shall buy this treason Even with the dearest blood your bodies bear!

Montague and his troops exit as through a city gate.

Edward:The harder matched, the greater victory. My mind presageth happy gain and conquest.

Enter Somerset, below, wearing the red rose, with Soldiers, Drum and Colors.

Duke of Somerset:Somerset, Somerset for Lancaster!

Richard: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.

Somerset and his troops exit as through a city gate.

Enter Clarence, below, wearing the red rose, with Soldiers, Drum and Colors.

Earl of 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.— Come, Clarence, come; thou wilt, if Warwick call.

George:Father of Warwick, know you what this means? [He removes the red rose.] Look, here I throw my infamy at thee. [He throws the rose at Warwick.] I will not ruinate my father’s house, Who gave his blood to lime the stones together And set up Lancaster. Why, trowest 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 Jephthah when he sacrificed 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, wheresoe’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.

Edward:Now, welcome more, and ten times more beloved, Than if thou never hadst deserved our hate.

Richard:Welcome, good Clarence; this is brother-like.

Earl of Warwick:O, passing traitor, perjured and unjust.

Edward:What, Warwick, wilt thou leave the town and fight? Or shall we beat the stones about thine ears?

Earl of Warwick:Alas, I am not cooped here for defense. I will away towards Barnet presently And bid thee battle, Edward, if thou dar’st.

Edward:Yes, Warwick, Edward dares, and leads the way.— [Warwick exits from the walls and descends.] Lords, to the field! Saint George and victory!

They exit. March. Warwick and his company follows.

Scene 2

Alarum and excursions. Enter King Edward, wearing the white rose, bringing forth Warwick, wearing the red rose, wounded.

Edward:So, lie thou there. Die thou, and die our fear, For Warwick was a bug that feared us all. Now, Montague, sit fast. I seek for thee, That Warwick’s bones may keep thine company.

He exits.

Earl of 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 overpeered Jove’s spreading tree And kept low shrubs from winter’s pow’rful wind. These eyes, that now are dimmed 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 filled with blood, Were likened oft to kingly sepulchers, For who lived king but I could dig his grave? And who durst smile when Warwick bent his brow? Lo, now my glory smeared 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, both wearing the red rose.

Duke of 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, could’st thou fly—

Earl of 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 didst, Thy tears would wash this cold congealèd blood That glues my lips and will not let me speak. Come quickly, Montague, or I am dead.

Duke of Somerset:Ah, Warwick, Montague hath breathed 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 cannon in a vault, That mought not be distinguished, but at last I well might hear, delivered with a groan, "O, farewell, Warwick."

Earl of Warwick:Sweet rest his soul! Fly, lords, and save yourselves, For Warwick bids you all farewell to meet in heaven.

He dies.

Earl of Oxford:Away, away, to meet the Queen’s great power!

Here they bear away his body. They exit.

Scene 3

Flourish. Enter King Edward in triumph, with Richard, Clarence, and the rest, all wearing the white rose.

Edward:Thus far our fortune keeps an upward course, And we are graced with wreaths of victory. But in the midst of this bright-shining day, I spy a black suspicious threat’ning 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 raised in Gallia have arrived our coast And, as we hear, march on to fight with us.

George:A little gale will soon disperse that cloud And blow it to the source from whence it came; Thy very beams will dry those vapors up, For every cloud engenders not a storm.

Richard:The Queen is valued thirty thousand strong, And Somerset, with Oxford, fled to her. If she have time to breathe, be well assured Her faction will be full as strong as ours.

Edward:We are advertised 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.

They exit.

Scene 4

Flourish. March. Enter Queen Margaret, young Prince Edward, Somerset, Oxford, and Soldiers, all wearing the red rose.

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 swallowed 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 saved? 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 slaughtered 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 unskillful, why not Ned and I For once allowed the skillful 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, ’tis but awhile; 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 hoped-for mercy with the brothers More than with ruthless waves, with sands and rocks. Why, courage then! What cannot be avoided ’Twere childish weakness to lament or fear.

Prince Edward: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 like spirit to himself. If any such be here, as God forbid, Let him depart before we need his help.

Earl of Oxford:Women and children of so high a courage, And warriors faint? Why, ’twere 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!

Duke of 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 mocked and wondered at.

Queen Margaret:Thanks, gentle Somerset.—Sweet Oxford, thanks.

Prince Edward: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.

He exits.

Earl of Oxford:I thought no less. It is his policy To haste thus fast to find us unprovided.

Duke of Somerset:But he’s deceived. We are in readiness.

Queen Margaret:This cheers my heart to see your forwardness.

Earl of Oxford:Here pitch our battle; hence we will not budge.

Flourish, and march. Enter King Edward, Richard, Clarence, and Soldiers, all wearing the white rose.

Edward:[to his army] Brave followers, yonder stands the thorny wood Which by the heavens’ 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, you blaze to burn them out. Give signal to the fight, and to it, lords!

Queen Margaret:[to her army] Lords, knights, and gentlemen, what I should say My tears gainsay, for every word I speak You see I drink the water of my eye. Therefore, no more but this: Henry, your sovereign, Is prisoner to the foe, his state usurped, His realm a slaughterhouse, his subjects slain, His statutes cancelled 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!

Alarum, retreat, excursions. They exit.

Scene 5

Flourish. Enter King Edward, Richard, and Clarence, all wearing the white rose, with Soldiers guarding Queen Margaret, Oxford, and Somerset, all wearing the red rose, prisoners.

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.

Earl of Oxford:For my part, I’ll not trouble thee with words.

Duke of Somerset:Nor I, but stoop with patience to my fortune.

Queen Margaret:So part we sadly in this troublous world To meet with joy in sweet Jerusalem.

Oxford and Somerset exit, under guard.

Edward:Is proclamation made that who finds Edward Shall have a high reward, and he his life?

Richard:It is, and lo where youthful Edward comes.

Enter Prince Edward, wearing the red rose, under guard.

Edward:Bring forth the gallant; let us hear him speak. What, can so young a thorn begin to prick?— Edward, what satisfaction canst thou make For bearing arms, for stirring up my subjects, And all the trouble thou hast turned me to?

Prince Edward: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, that thy father had been so resolved!

Richard:That you might still have worn the petticoat And ne’er have stol’n the breech from Lancaster.

Prince Edward:Let Aesop fable in a winter’s night; His currish riddles sorts not with this place.

Richard:By heaven, brat, I’ll plague you for that word.

Queen Margaret:Ay, thou wast born to be a plague to men.

Richard:For God’s sake, take away this captive scold.

Prince Edward:Nay, take away this scolding crookback, rather.

Edward:Peace, willful boy, or I will charm your tongue.

George:[to Prince Edward] Untutored lad, thou art too malapert.

Prince Edward:I know my duty. You are all undutiful. Lascivious Edward, and thou perjured George, And thou misshapen Dick, I tell you all I am your better, traitors as you are, And thou usurp’st my father’s right and mine.

Edward:Take that, the likeness of this railer here!

Stabs him.

Richard:Sprawl’st thou? Take that to end thy agony!

Richard stabs him.

George:And there’s for twitting me with perjury.

Clarence stabs him.

Queen Margaret:O, kill me too!

Richard:Marry, and shall.

Offers to kill her.

Edward:Hold, Richard, hold, for we have done too much.

Richard:Why should she live to fill the world with words?

Queen Margaret faints.

Edward:What, doth she swoon? Use means for her recovery.

They attempt to revive her.

Richard:[taking Clarence aside] Clarence, excuse me to the King my brother. I’ll hence to London on a serious matter. Ere you come there, be sure to hear some news.

George:What? What?

Richard:The Tower, the Tower!

He exits.

Queen Margaret:[rising from her swoon] O Ned, sweet Ned, speak to thy mother, boy. Canst thou not speak? O traitors, murderers! They that stabbed 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 murderer, 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 cropped! You have no children, butchers. If you had, The thought of them would have stirred 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.

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.

George:By heaven, I will not do thee so much ease.

Queen Margaret:Good Clarence, do! Sweet Clarence, do thou do it.

George:Didst thou not hear me swear I would not do it?

Queen Margaret:Ay, but thou usest to forswear thyself. ’Twas sin before, but now ’tis charity. What, wilt thou not? Where is that devil’s butcher, Richard, Hard-favored Richard? Richard, where art thou? Thou art not here. Murder is thy alms-deed; Petitioners for blood thou ne’er putt’st back.

Edward:Away, I say! [(To Soldiers.)] I charge you bear her hence.

Queen Margaret:So come to you and yours as to this prince!

Queen Margaret exits under guard. Soldiers carry off Prince Edward’s body.

Edward:Where’s Richard gone?

George:To London all in post, and, as I guess, To make a bloody supper in the Tower.

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.

They exit.

Scene 6

Enter King Henry the Sixth, wearing the red rose, and Richard of Gloucester, wearing the white rose, with the Lieutenant above on the Tower walls.

Richard:Good day, my lord. What, at your book so hard?

King Henry VI:Ay, my good lord—"my lord," I should say rather. ’Tis sin to flatter; "good" was little better: "Good Gloucester" and "good devil" were alike, And both preposterous: therefore, not "good lord."

Richard:[to Lieutenant] Sirrah, leave us to ourselves; we must confer.

Lieutenant exits.

King Henry VI: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?

Richard:Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind; The thief doth fear each bush an officer.

King Henry VI:The bird that hath been limèd 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 limed, was caught, and killed.

Richard: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 drowned.

King Henry VI:I Daedalus, my poor boy Icarus, Thy father Minos, that denied our course; The sun that seared 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?

Richard:Think’st thou I am an executioner?

King Henry VI:A persecutor I am sure thou art. If murdering innocents be executing, Why, then, thou art an executioner.

Richard:Thy son I killed for his presumption.

King Henry VI:Hadst thou been killed when first thou didst presume, Thou hadst not lived 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, Orphans for their parents’ timeless death, Shall rue the hour that ever thou wast born. The owl shrieked at thy birth, an evil sign; The night-crow cried, aboding luckless time; Dogs howled, and hideous tempest shook down trees; The raven rooked her on the chimney’s top; And chatt’ring pies in dismal discords sung; Thy mother felt more than a mother’s pain, And yet brought forth less than a mother’s hope: To wit, an indigested and deformèd 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—

Richard:I’ll hear no more. Die, prophet, in thy speech; [Stabs him.] For this amongst the rest was I ordained.

King Henry VI:Ay, and for much more slaughter after this. O God, forgive my sins, and pardon thee.

Dies.

Richard: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, ’tis 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 you, to make haste And seek their ruin that usurped our right? The midwife wondered, 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 shaped 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 graybeards 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.

He exits, carrying out the body.

Scene 7

Flourish. Enter King Edward, Queen Elizabeth, Clarence, Richard of Gloucester, Hastings, Nurse, carrying infant Prince Edward, and Attendants.

Edward:Once more we sit in England’s royal throne, Repurchased with the blood of enemies. What valiant foemen, like to autumn’s corn, Have we mowed down in tops of all their pride! Three dukes of Somerset, threefold renowned For hardy and undoubted champions; Two Cliffords, as the father and the son; And two Northumberlands; two braver men Ne’er spurred their coursers at the trumpet’s sound. With them the two brave bears, Warwick and Montague, That in their chains fettered the kingly lion And made the forest tremble when they roared. 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 armors watched the winter’s night, Went all afoot in summer’s scalding heat, That thou mightst repossess the crown in peace, And of our labors thou shalt reap the gain.

Richard:[aside] I’ll blast his harvest, if your head were laid; For yet I am not looked on in the world. This shoulder was ordained so thick to heave, And heave it shall some weight or break my back. Work thou the way and that shalt execute.

Edward:Clarence and Gloucester, love my lovely queen, And kiss your princely nephew, brothers both.

George:The duty that I owe unto your Majesty I seal upon the lips of this sweet babe.

He kisses the infant.

Edward:Thanks, noble Clarence; worthy brother, thanks.

Richard:And that I love the tree from whence thou sprang’st, Witness the loving kiss I give the fruit. [He kisses the infant.] [Aside.] To say the truth, so Judas kissed his master And cried "All hail!" whenas he meant all harm.

Edward:Now am I seated as my soul delights, Having my country’s peace and brothers’ loves.

George:What will your Grace have done with Margaret? Reignier, her father, to the King of France Hath pawned the Sicils and Jerusalem, And hither have they sent it for her ransom.

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.

Flourish. They all exit.