K. Edw. Well, jest on, brothers: I can tell | Why, I can smile, and murder whiles I smile, you both

"

Her suit is granted for her husband's lands.

And cry Content' to that which grieves my heart,

Enter a Nobleman.

Nob. My gracious lord, Henry your foe is taken,
And brought your prisoner to your palace gate.
K. Edw. See that he be convey'd unto the Tower:
And go we, brothers, to the man that took him,
To question of his apprehension.
122
Widow, go you along. Lords, use her honourably.
Exeunt all but GLOUCESTER.
Glou. Ay, Edward will use women honourably.
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 buried,

Is Clarence, Henry, and his son young Edward,

And all the unlook'd for issue of their bodies,
To take their rooms, ere I can place myself: 132
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,

140

151

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 wither'd 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 unlick'd bear-whelp
That carries no impression like the dam.
And am I then a man to be belov'd?
O monstrous fault! to harbour 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, to account this world but hell,
Until my misshap'd trunk that bears this head
Be round impaled 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 rends 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.

171

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 slily than Ulysses could,
And, like a Sinon, take another Troy.
I can add colours to the chameleon,
Change shapes with Proteus for advantages,
And set the murd'rous Machiavel to school.
Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?
Tut! were it further off, I'll pluck it down.

Exit.

SCENE III.-France. A Room in the Palace.

Flourish. Enter LEWIS the French King, his sister

BONA, attended: his Admiral, called BOURBON;
the King takes his state. Then enter Queen MAL-
GARET, Prince EDWARD, and the Earl of Ox-
FORD, LEWIS sits, and riseth up again.

190

K. Lew. Fair Queen of England, worthy Mar-
garet,

Sit down with us: it ill befits thy state
And birth that thou should'st stand while Lewis
doth sit.

Q. Mar. 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 dishonour laid me on the ground,
Where I must take like seat unto my fortune, 19
And to my humble seat conform myself.

K. Lew. Why, say, fair queen, whence springs
this deep despair?

Q. Mar. From such a cause as fills mine eyes with tears

And stops my tongue, while heart is drown'd in

cares.

K. Lew. Whate'crit be, be thou stilllikethyself,
And sit thee by our side. Seats her by him.
Yield not thy neck
To fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind
160 Still ride in triumph over all mischance.

Be plain, Queen Margaret, and tell thy grief;
It shall be eas'd, if France can yield relief.

20

Q. Mar. Those gracious words revive my droop-
ing 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 banish'd man,
And forc'd 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 seiz'd, our soldiers put to flight,
And, as thou seest, ourselves in heavy plight.

180

K. Lew, Renowned queen, with patience calm | You told not how Henry the Sixth hath lost the storm, All that which Henry the Fifth had gotten? 90 Methinks these peers of France should smile at that.

While we bethink a means to break it off.

Q. Mar. The more we stay, the stronger grows our foe.

40

K. Lew. The more I stay, the more I'll succour thee.

Q. Mar. O but impatience waiteth on true

sorrow:

And see where comes the breeder of my sorrow.
Enter WARWICK, attended.

99

K. Lew. What's he approacheth boldly to our
presence?

War. Can Oxford, that did ever fence the right,
Now buckler falsehood with a pedigree?
For shame! leave Henry, and call Edward king.
Oxf. Call him my king, by whose injurious doom
My elder brother, the Lord Aubrey Vere,

Q. Mar. Our Earl of Warwick, Edward's
greatest friend.

K. Lew. Welcome, brave Warwick! What Was done to death? and more than so, my father,
brings thee to France?
Even in the downfall of his mellow'd 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.

War. And I the house of York.

Descending from his state. Queen
MARGARET rises.

Q. Mar. Ay, now begins a second storm to rise; For this is he that moves both wind and tide.

War. From worthy Edward, King of Albion,
My lord and sovereign, and thy vowed friend, ♫ɔ
I come, in kindness and unfeigned 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.

Q. Mar. If that go forward, Henry's hope is
done.

War. To BONA. And, gracious madam, in our king's behalf,

I am commanded, with your leave and favour, co
Humbly to kiss your hand, and with my tongue
To tell the passion of my sovereign's heart;
Where fame, late entering at his heedful ears,
Hath plac'd thy beauty's image and thy virtue.

Q. Mar. 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 dishonour;
For though usurpers sway the rule awhile,
Yet heavensare just, and timesuppresseth wrongs.

War. Injurious Margaret!
Prince.

And why not queen?
War. Because thy father Henry did usurp,
And thou no more art prince than she is queen.
Orf. Then Warwick disannuls great John of
Gaunt,

81

But for the rest, you tell a pedigree
Of threescore and two years; a silly time
To make prescription for a kingdom's worth.
Oxf. Why, Warwick, canst thou speak against
thy liege,

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 conquered all France :
From these our Henry lineally descends.
War. Oxford, how haps it, in this smooth dis-

course,

Whom thou obeyedst thirty and six years,
And not bewray thy treason with a blush?

War.
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 fix'd in virtue's ground,
The leaves and fruit maintain'd with beauty's sun,
Exempt from envy, but not from disdain,
Unless the Lady Bona quit his pain.

70

K. Lew. Now, sister, let us hear your firm resolve.

K. Lew. 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.
War. Thereon I pawn my credit and mine
honour.

K. Lew. But is he gracious in the people's eye?
War. The more that Henry was unfortunate.
K. Lew. Then further, all dissembling set aside,
Tell me for truth the measure of his love
Unto our sister Bona.

120

Bona. Your grant, or your denial, shall be mine. To WARWICK. Yet I confess that often ere this

131

day, When I have heard your king's desert recounted, Mine ear hath tempted judgment to desire.

K. Lew. 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 counterpois'd.
Draw near, Queen Margaret, and be a witness
That Bona shall be wife to the English king.
Prince. To Edward, but not to the English
king.

140

Q. Mar. Deceitful Warwick! it was thy device
By this alliance to make void my suit :
Before thy coming Lewis was Henry's friend.

K. Lew. 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,.

149

Then 'tis but reason that I be releas'd
From giving aid which late I promised.
Yet shall you have all kindness at my hand
That your estate requires and mine can yield.
War. 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.
Q. Mar. Peace! impudent and shameless War-
wick, peace,

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 self-same feather.
A horn sounded within. 161
K. Lew. Warwick, this is some post to us or thee.

Enter a Post.

Post. My lord ambassador, these letters are
for you,

Sent from your brother, Marquess Montague:
These from our king unto your majesty;
And, madam, these for you; from whom I know
not.
They all read their letters.

Oxf. I like it well that our fair queen and
mistress

Smiles at her news, while Warwick frowns at his. Prince. Nay, mark how Lewis stamps as he were nettled:

I hope all's for the best.

170

K. Lew. Warwick, what are thy news? and yours, fair queen?

War. So much his friend, ay, his unfeigned
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 succour 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 honour,
Or than for strength and safety of our country.
Bona. Dear brother, how shall Bona be reveng'd
But by thy help to this distressed queen?

29

Q. Mar. Renowned prince, how shall poor
Henry live,

Unless thou rescue him from foul despair?
Bona. My quarrel and this English queen's are

once.

K. Lew. Then, England's messenger, return in
post,

And tell false Edward, thy supposed king,
That Lewis of France is sending over masquers
To revel it with him and his new bride.
Thou seest what's past; go fear thy king withal.
Bona. Tell him, in hope he 'll prove a widower
shortly,

Q. Mar. Mine, such as fill my heart with un-I'll wear the willow garland for his sake. hop'd joys.

War. Mine, full of sorrow and heart's dis-
content.

K. Lew. 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 the alliance that he seeks with France?
Dare he presume to scorn us in this manner?
Q. Mar. I told your majesty as much before:
This proveth Edward's love and Warwick's
honesty.

180

War. 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 dishonours 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 the abuse done to my niece?
Did I impale him with the regal crown?
Did I put Henry from his native right?
And am I guerdon'd at the last with shame?
Shame on himself! for my desert is honour:
And to repair my honour lost for him,
I here renounce him and return to Henry.
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.

190

Q. Mar. Tell him, my mourning weeds are laid aside,

And I am ready to put armour on.

War. Tell him from me that he hath done me
wrong,

And therefore I'll uncrown him ere 't be long.
There's thy reward: be gone.

K. Lew.

Exit Post.

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?

War. 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.

Q. Mar. 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. 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.
K. Lew. Why stay we now? These soldiers
shall be levied,

And thou, Lord Bourbon, our high admiral,

Q. Mar. Warwick, these words have turn'd Shall waft them over with our royal flect.

my hate to love;

I long till Edward fall by war's mischance,
For mocking marriage with a dame of France.
Exeunt all but WARWICK.

So we, well cover'd 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.
Why, then, let's on our way in silent sort.
They all ery Henry!'
For Warwick and his friends, God and Saint
George!

Enter three Watchmen, to guard the KING's tent. 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 suppress'd.
Second Watch. To-morrow 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? 1a First Watch. 'Tis the Lord Hastings, the king's chiefest friend.