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K. Edo. So other foes may set upon our backs. *Stand we in good array; for they, no doubt, *Will issue out again, and bid us battle: 'If not, the city being but of small defence, 'We'll quickly rouse the traitors in the same.

K. Edw. Yes, Warwick, Edward dares, and leads
the way :-

Lords, to the field; Saint George; and victory!
[March. Exeunt.

War. O, welcome, Oxford! for we want thy SCENE II.-A field of battle_near Barnet.

help.

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"Even with the dearest blood your bodies bear.
K. Edo. The harder match'd, the greater
victory;

* My mind presageth happy gain, and conquest.

Enter Somerset, with drum and colours.
Som. Somerset, Somerset, for Lancaster!

[He and his forces enter the city.
Glo. 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.

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[Taking the red rose out of his cap. Look here, I throw my infamy at thee: will not ruinate my father's house, Who gave his blood to lime' the stones together, And set up Lanoister. Why, trow'st thou, Warwick,

Alarums, and Excursions. Enter King Edward bringing in Warwick wounded.

*K. Edw. So, lie thou there: die thou, and die our fear;

4

*For Warwick was a bug, that fear'd' us all.-
Now, Montague, sit fast; I seek for thee,
*That Warwick's bones may keep thine company.
Exit.

And tell me, who is victor, York, or Warwick?
War. Ah, who is nigh? come to me, friend or foe,
Why ask I that? my mangled body shows,
*My blood, my want of strength, my sick heart
shows,

That I must yield my body to the earth,
And, by my fall, the conquest to my foe.
Thus yields the cedar to the axe's edge,
Whose arms gave shelter to the princely eagle,
Under whose shade the ramping lion slept;
Whose top-branch overpeer'd Jove's spreading tree,
And kept low shrubs from winter's powerful wind.
These eyes, that now are dimm'd with death's
Have been as piercing as the mid-day sun,
black veil,

To search the secret treasons of the world:
The wrinkles in my brows, now fill'd with blood,
Were liken'd oft to kingly sepulchres;
For who liv'd king, but I could dig his grave?
And who durst smile, when Warwick bent his brow?
Lo, now my glory smear'd in dust and blood!
My parks, my walks, my manors that I had,
Even now forsake me; and, of all my lands,
Is nothing left me, but my body's length;
Why, what is pomp, rule, reign, but earth and dust?
And, live we how we can, yet die we must.

Enter Oxford and Somerset.

*Som. 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!
'War. Why, then I would not fly.-Ah, Mon-

tague,

That Clarence is so harsh, so blunt, unnatural, • To bend the fatal instruments of war A rainst his brother, and his lawful king? *Perhaps, thou wilt object my holy oath: To keep that oath, were more impiety *Than Jephtha's, when he sacrific'd his daughter. I am so sorry for my trespass made, That, to deserve well at my brother's hands, I here proclaim myself thy mortal foe; With resolution, 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. 'K. Elw. Now welcome more, and ten times' And said-Commend me to my valiant brother. more belov'd,

Than if thou never hadst deserv'd our hate.

If thou be there, sweet brother, take my hand, And with thy lips keep in my soul a while! *Thou lov'st me not; for, brother, if thou didst, Thy tears would wash this cold congealed blood, That glews my lips, and will not let me speak. *Come quickly, Montague, or I am dead. 'Som. Ah, Warwick, Montague liath breath'd his last;

And to the latest gasp, cried out for Warwick,

And more he would have said; and more he spoke, 'Which sounded like a cannon in a vault,

Glo. Welcome, good Clarence; this is brother-That might not be distinguish'd; but, at last, like.

War. O passing traitor, perjur'd, and unjust!
K. El. What, Warwick, wilt thou leave the
town, and fight?

Or shall we beat the stones about thine ears?
War. Alas, I am not coop'd here for defence:
I will away towards Barnet presently,
And bid thee battle, Edward, if thou dar'st.

(1) i. e. To cement.

2 Stupid, insensible of paternal fondness,

'I well might hear deliver'd with a groan,-
'O, farewell, Warwick!

War.
Sweet rest to his soul!-
Fly, lords, and save yourselves; For Warwick bids
You all farewell, to meet again in heaven. [Dies.
Orf. Away, away, to meet the queen's great
power!

[Exeunt, bearing of Warwick's body.

(3) Eminent, egregious. (4) Bugbear.
(5) Terrified.

80

Act V.

SCENE III-Another part of the field. Flou-* That there's no hop'd-for mercy with the brothers, rish. Enter King Edward, in triumph; More than with ruthless waves, with sands, and Clarence, Gloster, and the rest.

with

'K. Edw. Thus far our fortune keeps an upward

course,

And we are grac'd with wreaths of victory.
But, in the midst of this bright-shining day,
I spy a black, suspicious, 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 rais'd in Gallia, have arriv'd our coast,
And, as we hear, march on to fight with us.

Clar. A little gale will soon disperse that cloud,
And blow it to the source from whence it came;
Thy very beams will dry those vapours up;
*For every cloud engenders not a storm.
*Glo. The queen is valu'd thirty thousand strong,
'And Somerset, with Oxford, fled to her:
"If she have time to breathe, be well assur'd,
Her faction will be full as strong as ours.

That they do hold their course toward Tewksbury
K. Edw. We are advértis'd by our loving friends,
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.

SCENE IV.-Plains near Tewksbury. March. [Exeunt. Enter Queen Margaret, Prince Edward, Somerset, Oxford and soldiers.

* Q. Mar. 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 over-board, 'The cable broke, the holding anchor lost, 'And half our sailors swallow'd in the flood? 'Yet lives our pilot still: Is't meet, that he 'Should leave the helm, and, like a fearful lad, *With tearful eyes add water to the sea,

* And give more strength to that which hath too
much;

*Whiles, in his moan, the ship splits on the rock,
* Which industry and courage might have saved?
Ah, what a shame! ah, what a fault were this!
'Say, Warwick was our anchor; What of that?
'And Montague our top-mast; What of him?
Our slaughter'd friends the tackles; What of
thesc?

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"Why, is not Oxford here another anchor ? 'And Somerset another goodly mast?

The friends of France our shrouds and tacklings? 'And, though unskilful, why not Ned and I 'For once allow'd the skilful pilot's charge? 'We will not from the helm, to sit and weep;

* But keep our course, though the rough wind say

-no,

* From shelves and rocks that threaten us with wreck.

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 a while : Tread on the sand; why, there you quickly sink: *Bestride the rock; the tide will wash you off, *Or else you famish, that's a threefold death. *This speak I, lords, to let you understand, * In case some one of you would fly from us, (2) Unsay, deny.

(1) Know.

*

rocks.

Why, courage, then! what cannot be avoided, * "Twere childish weakness to lament, or fear. *Prince. Methinks, a woman of this valiant spirit

*Should, if a coward heard her speak these words,
Infuse his breast with ma nanimity,

* And make him, naked, foil a man at arms.
I speak not this, as doubting any here:
Kor, did I but suspect a fearful in an,
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 forb.d!

Let him depart, before we need his help.

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Go home to bed, and, like the owl by day,
Som. And he, that will not fight for such a hope,
'If he arise, be mock'd and wonder'd at.

And warriors fa nt! why, 'twere perpetual shame.-
Oxf. Women and children of so high a courage!
O, brave young prince! thy famous grandfather
To bear his image, and renew his glories!
Doth live again in thee; Long may'st thou live,

* Q. Mar. Thanks, gentle Somerset ;-sweet
Oxford, thanks.

* Prince. And take his thanks, that yet hath nothing else.

Enter a Messenger.

'Mess. Prepare you, lords, for Edward is at hand, 'Ready to fight; therefore be resolute.

Oxf. I thought no less it is his policy,
To haste thus fast, to find us unprovided
Som. But he's deceiv'd, we are in readiness.
Q. Mar. This cheers my heart, to see your for-
wardness.

Oxf. Here pitch our battle, hence we will not
budge.

March.

Enter, at a distance, King Edward, Clarence, Gloster, and forces.

'K. Edw. 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, ye blaze to burn them out :

* Give signal to the fight, and to it, lords.
Q. Mar. Lords, knights, and gentlemen, what I
should say,

My tears gainsay;2 for every word I speak,
'Ye see, I drink the water of mine eves.
"Therefore, no more but this :-Henry, your sove-
reign,

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'Is prisoner to the foe; his state usurp'd,

His statutes cancell'd, and his treasure spent ;
His realm a slaughter-house, his subjects slain,
And yonder is the wolf, that makes this spoil.
You fight in justice: then, in God's name, lords,
'Be valiant, and give signal to the fight,

[Exeunt both armies.
SCENE V.-Another part of the same.
ums; Excursions: and afterwards a Retreat,
Alar-
Then Enter King Edward, Clarence, Gloster,
and forces; with Queen Margaret, Oxford, and
Somerset, prisoners.

'K. Edw. Now, here a period of tumultuous broils. Away with Oxford to Hammes' Castle' straight =

(5) A castle in Picardy.

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For Somerset, off with his guilty head.
Go, bear them hence; I will not hear them speak.
Orf. For my part, I'll not trouble thee with words.
Som. Nor I, but stoop with patience to my for-
tune. [Exeunt Oxf. and Som. guarded.Butchers and villains, bloody cannibals!

And men ne'er spend their fury on a child.
What's worse than murder, 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.-

*Q. Mar. So part we sadly in this troublous world,
To meet with joy in sweet Jerusalem.

K. Edw. Is proclamation made,-that, who finds Edward,

Shall have a high reward, and he his life? *Glo. It is: and, lo,where youthful Edward comes.

Enter Soldiers with Prince Edward.

K. Edw. 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 turn'd me to?
Prince. Speak like a subject,proud ambitious York?
Suppose that I am now my father's mouth;
Resign thy chair, and, where I stand, kneel thou,
Whilst I propose the self-same words to thee,
Which, traitor, thou wouldst have me answer to.

Q. Mar. Ah, that thy father had been so resolv'd!
Glo. That you might still have worn the petti-
coat,

And ne'er have stol'n the breech from Lancaster.
Prince. Let Esop' fable in a winter's night;
His currish riddles sort not with this place.

Glo. By heaven, brat, I'll plague you for that word.
Q. Mar. Ay, thou wast born to be a plague to men.
Glo. For God's sake, take away this captive scold.
Prince. Nay, take away this scolding crook-
back rather.

'K. Edw. Peace, wilful boy, or I will charm2

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Gle. Clarence, excuse me to the king my brother: 'I'll hence to London on a serious matter: 'Ere ve come there, be sure to hear some news. Clar. What? what?

Glo. The Tower, the Tower!

[Exit.

'Q. Mar. O, Ned, sweet Ned! speak to thy
mother, boy!

'Canst thou not speak?-O raitors! murderers!-
They, that stabb'd Cæsar, 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;

(1) The prince calls Richard, for his crookedness, Æsop.

(2) i. e. I will compel you to be as silent as if you were deprived of speech by enchantment.

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How sweet a plant have you untimely cropp'd! 'You have no children, butchers! if you had, 'The thought of them would have stirr'd up re

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morse:

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!

K. Edio. Away with her; go, bear her hence
perforce.

Q. Mar. Nay, never bear me hence, despatch

me here;

Here sheath thy sword, I'll pardon thee my death:
What! wilt thou not ?-then, Clarence, do it thou.
Clar. By heaven, I will not do thee so much ease.
Q. Mar. Good Clarence, do; sweet Clarence,
do thou do it.

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Clar. Didst thou not hear me swear, I would not do it?

Q. Mar. Ay, But thou usest to forswear thyself; 'Twas sin before, but now 'tis charity.

What! wilt thou not? where is that devil's butcher,
Hard-favour'd Richard? Richard, where art thou?
Thou art not here: Murder is thy alms-deed;
Petitioners for blood thou ne'er put'st back.
'K. Edw. Away, I say; I charge ye, bear her
hence.

Q. Mar. So come to you, and yours, as to this
prince!
[Exil, led out forcibly.
K. Edio. Where's Richard gone?
'Clar. To London, all in post; and, as I guess,
To make a bloody supper in the Tower.

K. Edw. He's sudden, if a thing comes in his

head.

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Glo. Good day, my lord! What, at your book so hard?

K. Hen. Ay, my good lord: My lord, I should
say rather;

'Tis sin to flatter, good was little better:
Good Gloster, and good devil, were alike,

And both preposterous; therefore, not good lord.
* Glo. Sirrah, leave us to ourselves: we must
confer.
[Exit Lieutenant.
*K. Hen. 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?

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

'K. Hen. The bird, that hath been limed in a

bush,

With trembling wings misdoubteth every bush,
And I, the hapless male to one sweet bird,
Have now the fatal object in my eye,

(3) Dispute, contention.

(4) She alludes to the desertion of Clarence. (5) Careless.

(6) To misdoubt is to suspect danger, to fear.

Where my poor young was lim'd, was caught and kill'd.

'Glo. Why, what a peevish' fool was that of Crete,

That taught his son the office of a fowl? And yet, for all his wings, the fool was drown'd. 'K. Hen. I, Dædalus; my poor boy, Icarus; Thy father, Minos, that denied our course; The sun, that sear'd the wings of my sweet Thy brother Edward; and thyself, the sea, "Whose envious gulf did swallow up his life.

I

Let hell make crook'd my mind to answer it.
have no brother, I am like no brother:
And this word-love, which grey beards 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,
boy,That Edward shall be fearful of his life;
And then, to purge his fear, I'll be thy death.
'King Henry, and the prince his son, are gone;
Clarence, thy turn is next, and then the rest;
Counting myself but bad, till I be best.-
'I'll throw thy body in another room,
And triumph, Henry, in thy day of doom. [Exit.
SCENE VII.-The same. A room in the pal-

Ah, kill me with thy weapon, not with words! 'My breast can better brook thy dagger's point, Than can my cars that tragic history.

But wherefore dost thou come? is't for my life? 'Glo. Think'st thou I am an executioner? K. Hen. A persecutor, I am sure, thou art; "If murdering innocents be executing, "Why, then thou art an executioner.

Glo. Thy son I kill'd for his presumption.

K. Hen. Hadst thou been kill'd, when first thou

didst presume,

Thou hadst not liv'd to kill a son of mine.

And thus I prophesy,-that many a thousand, "Which now mistrust no parcel of my fear;

ace. King Edward is discovered sitting on his throne; Queen Elizabeth with the infant prince, Clarence, Gloster, Hastings, and others, near him.

K. Edw. Once more we sit in England's royal throne,

Re-purchas'd with the blood of enemies.
What valiant foe-men, like to autumn's corn,

And many an old man's sigh, and many a Have we mow'd down, in tops of all their pride?

widow's,

And many an orphan's water-standing eye,Men for their sons, wives for their husbands' fate, And orphans for their parents' timeless death,'Shall rue the hour that ever thou wast born. The owl shriek'd at thy birth, an evil sign; "The night-crow cried, aboding luckless time; Dogs howl'd, and hideous tempests shook down

trees;

The raven rook'd' her on the chimney's top,
And chattering 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 indigest deformed lump,
Not like the fruit of such a goodly tree.
Teeth hadst thou in thy head, when thou wast born,
To signifv,-thou cam'st to bite the world:
And, if the rest be true which I have heard,
་ Thou cam'st-

Glo. I'll hear no more ;-Die, prophet, in thy
speech;
[Stabs him.

For this, amongst the rest, was I ordain'd. K. Hen. Ay, and for much more slaughter after this.

O God! forgive my sins, and pardon thee! [Dies.
Glo. 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 downfal 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 ye, to make haste,

And seek their ruin that usurp'd our right?
The midwife wonder'd; and the women cried,
O, Jesus bless us, he is horn with teeth!

And so I was; which plainly signifiedThat I should snarl, and bite, and play the dog. "Then, since the heavens have shap'd my body so,

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Three dukes of Somerset, threefold renown'd
For hardy and undoubted champions:
Two Cliffords, as the father and the son,
And two Northumberlands; two braver men
Ne'er spurr'd their coursers at the trumpet's sound:
With them, the two brave bears, Warwick and
Montague,

That in their chains fetter'd the kingly lion,
And made the forest tremble when they roar'd.
Thus have we swept suspicion from our seat,
And made our footstool of security.-
Come hither, Bess, and let me kiss my boy :-
Young Ned, for thee, thine uncles, and myself,
Have in our armours watch'd the winter's night;
'Went all afoot in summer's scalding heat,
That thou might'st repossess the crown in peace;
And of our labours thou shalt reap the gain.

Glo. I'll blast his harvest, if your head were laid,
For yet I am not look'd on in the world.
This shoulder was ordain'd so thick, to heave;
And heave it shall some weight, or break my
back:-

Work thou the way,-and thou shalt execute.

[Aside. K. Edw. Clarence, and Gloster, love my lovely

queen;

And kiss vour princely nephew, brothers both.
Clar. The duty that I owe unto your majesty,
I seal upon the lips of this sweet babe.
K. Edw. Thanks, noble Clarence; worthy bro
ther, thanks.

'Glo. And, that I love the tree from whence thou sprang'st,

Witness the loving kiss I give the fruit:-
To say the truth, so Judas kiss'd his

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And hither have they sent it for her ransom.
K. Edw. Away with her, and wast her hence to
France.

And now what rests, but that we spend the time
With stately triumphs, mirthful comic shows,
Such as befit the pleasures of the court?-
Sound, drums and trumpets!-farewell, sour annoy!
For here, I hope, begins our lasting joy. [Exeunt.

The three parts of King Henry VI. are suspected, by Mr. Theobald, of being suppositious, and are declared, by Dr. Warburton, to be certainly not Shakspeare's. Mr. Theobald's suspicion arises from some obsolete words; but the phraseology is like the rest of our author's style, and single words, of which however I do not observe more than two, can conclude little.

matter itself will defeat the artist. Of every au thor's works one will be the best, and one will be the worst. The colours are not equally pleasing, nor the attitudes equally graceful, in all the pictures of Titian or Reynolds.

Dissimilitude of style and heterogeneousness of sentiment, may sufficiently show that a work does not really belong to the reputed author. But in these plays no such marks of spuriousness are found. The diction, the versification, and the figures, are Shakspeare's. These plays, considered without regard to characters and incidents, merely as narratives in verse, are more happily conceived, and more accurately finished, than those of King John, Richard II. or the tragic scenes of King Henry IV. and V. If we take these plays from Shak speare, to whom shall they be given? What au thor of that age had the same easiness of expres sion and fluency of numbers?

Of these three plays I think the second the best. Dr. Warburton gives no reason, but I suppose The truth is, that they have not sufficient variety him to judge upon deeper principles and more of action, for the incidents are too often of the same comprehensive views, and to draw his opinion from kind; yet many of the characters are well disthe general effect and spirit of the composition, criminated. King Henry, and his Queen, King which he thinks inferior to the other historical plays. Edward, the Duke of Gloucester, and the Earl of From mere inferiority nothing can be inferred; Warwick, are very strongly and distinctly painted. in the productions of wit there will be inequality. Sometimes judgment will err, and sometimes the

VOL. II.

2 A

JOHNSON.

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