No more, good York; sweet Somerset, be still.
Thy fortune, York, hadst thou been Regent there,
Might happily have prov'd far worse than his.
YORK. What, worse than
nought? Nay, then a shame take all!
SOMERSET. And in the number, thee that wishest shame!
CARDINAL. My Lord of York, try what your fortune is.
Th' uncivil kerns of Ireland are in arms
And
temper clay with blood of Englishmen;
To Ireland will you lead a band of men,
Collected choicely, from each county some,
And try your hap against the Irishmen?
YORK. I will, my lord, so please his Majesty.
SUFFOLK. Why, our authority is his consent,
And what we do establish he confirms;
Then, noble York, take thou this task in hand.
YORK. I am content; provide me soldiers, lords,
Whiles I take order for mine own affairs.
SUFFOLK. A
charge, Lord York, that I will see perform'd.
But now return we to the false Duke Humphrey.
CARDINAL. No more of him; for I will deal with him
That
henceforth he shall trouble us no more.
And so break off; the day is almost spent.
Lord Suffolk, you and I must talk of that event.
YORK. My Lord of Suffolk, within fourteen days
At Bristol I expect my soldiers;
For there I'll ship them all for Ireland.
SUFFOLK. I'll see it truly done, my Lord of York.
Exeunt all but YORK
YORK. Now, York, or never, steel thy
fearful thoughts
And change misdoubt to resolution;
Be that thou hop'st to be; or what thou art
Resign to death- it is not worth th' enjoying.
Let pale-fac'd fear keep with the mean-born man
And find no harbour in a royal heart.
Faster than spring-time show'rs comes thought on thought,
And not a thought but thinks on dignity.
My brain, more busy than the labouring spider,
Weaves
tedious snares to trap mine enemies.
Well, nobles, well, 'tis politicly done
To send me packing with an host of men.
I fear me you but warm the starved snake,
Who, cherish'd in your breasts, will sting your hearts.
'Twas men I lack'd, and you will give them me;
I take it kindly. Yet be well assur'd
You put sharp weapons in a madman's hands.
Whiles I in Ireland
nourish a
mighty band,
I will stir up in England some black storm
Shall blow ten thousand souls to heaven or hell;
And this fell
tempest shall not cease to rage
Until the golden
circuit on my head,
Like to the
glorious sun's
transparent beams,
Do calm the fury of this mad-bred flaw.
And for a
minister of my intent
I have seduc'd a headstrong Kentishman,
John Cade of Ashford,
To make
commotion, as full well he can,
Under the tide of John Mortimer.
In Ireland have I seen this
stubborn Cade
Oppose himself against a troop of kerns,
And fought so long tiff that his thighs with darts
Were almost like a sharp-quill'd porpentine;
And in the end being rescu'd, I have seen
Him caper
upright like a wild Morisco,
Shaking the
bloody darts as he his bells.
Full often, like a shag-hair'd
crafty kern,
Hath he conversed with the enemy,
And undiscover'd come to me again
And given me notice of their villainies.
This devil here shall be my substitute;
For that John Mortimer, which now is dead,
In face, in gait, in speech, he doth resemble.
By this I shall
perceive the commons' mind,
How they
affect the house and claim of York.
Say he be taken, rack'd, and tortured;
I know no pain they can
inflict upon him
Will make him say I mov'd him to those arms.
Say that he
thrive, as 'tis great like he will,
Why, then from Ireland come I with my strength,
And reap the
harvest which that
rascal sow'd;
For Humphrey being dead, as he shall be,
And Henry put apart, the next for me. Exit
SCENE II.
Bury St. Edmunds. A room of state
Enter two or three MURDERERS
running over
the stage, from the murder of DUKE HUMPHREY
FIRST MURDERER. Run to my Lord of Suffolk; let him know
We have dispatch'd the Duke, as he commanded.
SECOND MURDERER. O that it were to do! What have we done?
Didst ever hear a man so penitent?
Enter SUFFOLK
FIRST MURDERER. Here comes my lord.
SUFFOLK. Now, sirs, have you dispatch'd this thing?
FIRST MURDERER. Ay, my good lord, he's dead.
SUFFOLK. Why, that's well said. Go, get you to my house;
I will
reward you for this venturous deed.
The King and all the peers are here at hand.
Have you laid fair the bed? Is all things well,
According as I gave directions?
FIRST MURDERER. 'Tis, my good lord.
SUFFOLK. Away! be gone. Exeunt MURDERERS
Sound trumpets. Enter the KING, the QUEEN,
CARDINAL, SOMERSET, with attendants
KING HENRY. Go call our uncle to our presence straight;
Say we intend to try his Grace to-day,
If he be
guilty, as 'tis published.
SUFFOLK. I'll call him
presently, my noble lord. Exit
KING HENRY. Lords, take your places; and, I pray you all,
Proceed no straiter 'gainst our uncle Gloucester
Than from true evidence, of good esteem,
He be approv'd in practice culpable.
QUEEN. God
forbid any
malice should prevail
That
faultless may
condemn a nobleman!
Pray God he may
acquit him of suspicion!
KING HENRY. I thank thee, Meg; these words content me much.
Re-enter SUFFOLK
How now! Why look'st thou pale? Why tremblest thou?
Where is our uncle? What's the matter, Suffolk?
SUFFOLK. Dead in his bed, my lord; Gloucester is dead.
QUEEN. Marry, God forfend!
CARDINAL. God's secret judgment! I did dream to-night
The Duke was dumb and could not speak a word.
[The KING swoons]
QUEEN. How fares my lord? Help, lords! The King is dead.
SOMERSET. Rear up his body; wring him by the nose.
QUEEN. Run, go, help, help! O Henry, ope thine eyes!
SUFFOLK. He doth
revive again; madam, be patient.
KING. O
heavenly God!
QUEEN. How fares my
gracious lord?
SUFFOLK. Comfort, my sovereign! Gracious Henry, comfort!
KING HENRY. What, doth my Lord of Suffolk comfort me?
Came he right now to sing a raven's note,
Whose
dismal tune
bereft my vital pow'rs;
And thinks he that the chirping of a wren,
By crying comfort from a hollow breast,
Can chase away the first conceived sound?
Hide not thy
poison with such sug'red words;
Lay not thy hands on me;
forbear, I say,
Their touch af
frights me as a serpent's sting.
Thou baleful
messenger, out of my sight!
Upon thy eye-balls
murderous tyranny
Sits in grim
majesty to
fright the world.
Look not upon me, for thine eyes are wounding;
Yet do not go away; come, basilisk,
And kill the
innocent gazer with thy sight;
For in the shade of death I shall find joy-
In life but double death,'now Gloucester's dead.
QUEEN. Why do you rate my Lord of Suffolk thus?
Although the Duke was enemy to him,
Yet he most Christian-like laments his death;
And for myself- foe as he was to me-
Might
liquid tears, or heart-offending groans,
Or blood-consuming sighs, recall his life,
I would be blind with
weeping, sick with groans,
Look pale as
primrose with blood-drinking sighs,
And all to have the noble Duke alive.
What know I how the world may deem of me?
For it is known we were but hollow friends:
It may be judg'd I made the Duke away;
So shall my name with slander's tongue be wounded,
And princes' courts be fill'd with my reproach.
This get I by his death. Ay me, unhappy!
To be a queen and crown'd with infamy!
KING HENRY. Ah, woe is me for Gloucester,
wretched man!
QUEEN. Be woe for me, more
wretched than he is.
What, dost thou turn away, and hide thy face?
I am no
loathsome leper- look on me.
What, art thou like the adder waxen deaf?
Be
poisonous too, and kill thy
forlorn Queen.
Is all thy comfort shut in Gloucester's tomb?
Why, then Dame Margaret was ne'er thy joy.
Erect his
statue and
worship it,
And make my image but an alehouse sign.
Was I for this nigh wreck'd upon the sea,
And twice by
awkward wind from England's bank
Drove back again unto my native clime?
What boded this but well-forewarning wind
Did seem to say 'Seek not a scorpion's nest,
Nor set no
footing on this
unkind shore'?
What did I then but curs'd the gentle gusts,
And he that loos'd them forth their
brazen caves;
And bid them blow towards England's
blessed shore,
Or turn our stern upon a
dreadful rock?
Yet Aeolus would not be a
murderer,
But left that
hateful office unto thee.
The pretty-vaulting sea refus'd to drown me,
Knowing that thou wouldst have me drown'd on shore
With tears as salt as sea through thy
unkindness;
The splitting rocks cow'r'd in the sinking sands
And would not dash me with their
ragged sides,
Because thy flinty heart, more hard than they,
Might in thy palace
perish Margaret.
As far as I could ken thy chalky cliffs,
When from thy shore the
tempest beat us back,
I stood upon the hatches in the storm;
And when the dusky sky began to rob
My earnest-gaping sight of thy land's view,
I took a
costly jewel from my neck-
A heart it was, bound in with diamonds-
And threw it towards thy land. The sea receiv'd it;
And so I wish'd thy body might my heart.
And even with this I lost fair England's view,