K. HEN. Peace thou! and give king Henry leave to speak.

[lords,

WAR. Plantagenet shall speak first: hear him, And be you silent and attentive too, For he that interrupts him shall not live.

K. HEN. 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 colours-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.

WAR. Prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king. K. HEN. Henry the fourth by conquest got the

crown.

YORK. 'Twas by rebellion against his king. K. HEN. [Aside.] I know not what to say; my title's weak.

Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir?

YORK. What then?

K. HEN. An if he may, then am I lawful king: For Richard, in the view of many lords, Resign'd the crown to Henry the fourth, Whose heir my father was, and I am his.

YORK. He rose against him, being his sovereign,

And made him to resign his crown perforce.

a Thy father-] In the folio 1623, "My father," &c., corrected from "The True Tragedy."

403

WAR. Suppose, my lords, he did it unconstrain'd,

Think you 'twere prejudicial to his crown?

EXE. No; for he could not so resign his crown, But that the next heir should succeed and reign. K. HEN. Art thou against us, duke of Exeter? EXE. His is the right, and therefore pardon me. YORK. Why whisper you, my lords, and answer not?

EXE. My conscience tells me, he is lawful king. K. HEN. [Aside.] All will revolt from me and turn to him.

NORTH. Plantagenet, for all the claim thou lay'st,

Think not that Henry shall be so depos'd.

WAR. Depos'd he shall be, in despite of all. NORTH. Thou art deceiv'd: '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.

CLIF. King Henry, be thy title right or wrong, Lord Clifford vows to fight in thy defence: May that ground gape and swallow me alive, Where I shall kneel to him that slew my father! K. HEN. O Clifford, how thy words revive my heart!

YORK. Henry of Lancaster, resign thy crown:-What mutter you, or what conspire you, lords?

WAR. Do right unto this princely duke of

Whom I unnaturally shall disinherit.

But, be it as it may :-I here entail

The crown to thee, and to thine heirs for ever; (1) Conditionally, that here thou take an oath To cease this civil war, and, whilst I live, To honour me as thy king and sovereign, And neither by treason nor hostility, To seek to put me down, and reign thyself. YORK. This oath I willingly take, and will perform. [Coming from the throne. WAR. Long live king Henry!-Plantagenet, embrace hin. [ward sons! K. HEN. And long live thou, and these thy forYORK. Now York and Lancaster are reconcil'd. EXE. Accurs'd be he that seeks to make them foes!

[Sennet. The Lords come forward. YORK. Farewell, my gracious lord; I'll to my castle.

WAR. And I'll keep London with my soldiers. NORF. And I to Norfolk with my followers. MONT. And I unto the sea, from whence I came. [Exeunt YORK and his Sons, WARWICK, NOR

FOLK, MONTAGUE, Soldiers, and Attendants. K. HEN. And I, with grief and sorrow, to the court.

EXE. Here comes the queen, whose looks bewray her anger:

I'll steal away.

K. HEN.

Or felt that pain which I did for him once,
Or nourish'd 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. Father, you cannot disinherit me: If you be king, why should not I succeed? K. HEN. Pardon me, Margaret ;-pardon me,

sweet son ;—

The earl of Warwick and the duke enforc'd me.
Q. MAR. Enforc'd thee! art thou king, and
wilt be forc'd?

I shame to hear thee speak. Ah, timorous wretch!
Thou hast undone thyself, thy son, and me,
And given 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 sepulchre,
And creep into it far before thy time?
Warwick is chancellor, and the lord of Calais ;
Stern Falconbridge (2) commands the narrow seas ;
The duke is made protector of the realm;
And yet shalt thou be safe? such safety finds
The trembling lamb, environed with wolves.
Had I been there, which am a silly woman,
The soldiers should have toss'd me on their pikes,
Before I would have granted to that act.
But thou preferr❜st thy life before thine honour:
And, seeing thou dost, I here divorce myself,
Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed,
Until that act of parliament be repeal'd,
Whereby my son is disinherited.

The northern lords that have forsworn thy colours
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's ready; come, we'll after them.

K. HEN. Stay, gentle Margaret, and hear me speak.

Q. MAR. Thou hast spoke too much already; get thee gone.

K. HEN. Gentle son Edward, thou wilt stay with me?

Q. MAR. Ay, to be murder'd by his enemies. PRINCE. When I return with victory from the

Reveng'd may she be on that hateful duke,
Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire,
Will cost my crown and, like an empty cagle,
'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.
EXE. And I, I hope, shall reconcile them all.
[Exeunt.

SCENE II-A Room in Sandal Castle, near Wakefield, in Yorkshire.

Enter EDWARD, RICHARD, and MONTAGUE. RICH. Brother, though I be youngest, give me leave.

EDW. No, I can better play the orator.
MONT. But I have reasons strong and forcible.

Enter YORK.

YORK. Why, how now, sons and brother! at a strife?

What is your quarrel? how began it first?

EDW. No quarrel, but a slight contention.
YORK. About what?

RICH. About that which concerns your grace
and us-

The crown of England, father, which is yours.

YORK. Mine, boy? not till king Henry be dead. RICH. Your right depends not on his life or death.

EDW. 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.

YORK. I took an oath, that he should quietly
reign.
[broken:

EDW. But, for a kingdom, any oath may be I'd break a thousand oaths to reign one year. RICH. No; God forbid your grace should be forsworn.

YORK. I shall be, if I claim by open war. RICH. I'll prove the contrary, if you'll hear me speak.

YORK. Thou canst not, son; it is impossible.
RICH. 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,

C

a Will cost my crown,-] Warburton suggested coast for cost. To coast means to keep alongside but in that sense it seems as little applicable to the context as the word it would displace.

b Tire on the flesh of me, &c.] To tire is to peck as birds do; and generally implies to tear and rend the food. Steevens quotes an apt example of the word used in this sense from Decker's" Match Me in London," 1631:

the vulture tires Upon the eagle's heart."

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 dy'd
Even in the lukewarm blood of Henry's heart.
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 employ'd, what resteth more,
But that I seek occasion how to rise,
And yet the king not privy to my drift,
any of the house of Lancaster?

Nor

Enter a Messenger.a

But, stay; what news? Why com'st thou in such post? [and lords, MESS. The queen with all the northern earls Intend here to besiege you in your castle : She is hard by with twenty thousand men ; And therefore fortify your hold, my lord.

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.

MONT. Brother, I go; I'll win them, fear it not: And thus most humbly I do take my leave. [Exit.

Enter Sir JOHN and Sir HUGH MORTIMER. 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.

YORK. What, with five thousand men ?

Enter CLIFFORD and Soldiers.

CLIF. Chaplain, away! thy priesthood saves
thy life.

As for the brat of this accursed duke,
Whose father slew my father, he shall die.

TUTOR. And I, my lord, will bear him company.
CLIF. Soldiers, away with him.
[child,
TUTOR. Ah, Clifford! murder not this innocent
Lest thou be hated both of God and man.

[Eart, forced off by Soldiers. CLIF. How now! is he dead already? or, is it fear That makes him close his

eyes ?-I'll open them. RUT. 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 reveng'd on men, and let me live.

CLIF. In vain thou speak'st, poor boy; my

father's blood

Hath stopp'd the passage where thy words should

enter.

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

CLIF. Had I thy brethren here, their lives and thine

Were not revenge sufficient for me;

No, if I digg'd 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 accursed line,
And leave not one alive, I live in hell.
Therefore

[Lifting his hand. RUT. O, let me pray before I take my death!To thee I pray; sweet Clifford, pity me!

CLIF. Such pity as my rapier's point affords. RUT. I never did thee harm; why wilt thou slay me?

CLIF. Thy father hath. RUT.

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 offence,
Then let me die, for now thou hast no cause.
CLIF. No cause !

Thy father slew my father; therefore, die.(3)
[Stabs him.
RUT. Di faciant, laudis summa sit ista tuæ !
[Dies.

CLIF. Plantagenet! I come, Plantagenet! And this thy son's blood cleaving to my blade Shall rust upon my weapon, till thy blood, Congeal'd with this, do make me wipe off both.

[Exit.

SCENE IV.-Another part of the Plains.

Alarum. Enter YORK.

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 pursu'd by hunger-starved wolves.
My sons-God knows what hath bechanced them;
But this I know,-they have demean'd themselves
Like men born to renown by life or death.

a Di faciant, &c.] This line, from Ovid's "Epist. Phillis ad. Demophoon," is quoted also by Nash in his "Have With You to Saffron Walden, or Gabriel Harvey's Hunt Is Up," &c., 1596.

6 Bodg'd-] This is usually explained to be a misprint for

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 encounter'd 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 sceptre, or an earthly sepulchre !
With this we charg'd again: but, out alas!
We bodg'd again; as I have seen a swan
With bootless labour swim against the tide,
And spend her strength with over-matching waves.
[A short alarum.
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 number'd that make up my life!
Here must I stay, and here my life must end.

Enter QUEEN MARGARET, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBERLAND, and Soldiers.

Come, bloody Clifford, rough Northumberland.

I dare your quenchless fury to more rage;
I am your butt, and I abide your shot.

NORTH. Yield to our mercy, proud Plantagenet.
CLIF. Ay, to such mercy as his ruthless arm,
With downright payment, show'd unto my father.
Now Phaeton hath tumbled from his car,
And made an evening at the noontide prick.

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?
CLIF. 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.

YORK. O, Clifford, but bethink thee once again, And in thy thought o'er-run 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!

CLIF. I will not bandy with thee word for word, But buckle with thee blows, twice two for one. [Draws.

budged, or botched; but body'd is the genuine word, and means bungled. Thus in Florio's "Worlde of Wordes," 1598, Sbozzi is translated "bodges, or bunger-like workes."

c Buckle-] So "The True Tragedy:" the folios have “buckler."