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 admir'd;
The
contrary doth make thee wond'red 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 wrapp'd in a woman's hide!
How
couldst thou drain the life-blood 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.
Bid'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.
NORTHUMBERLAND. Beshrew me, but his passions move me so
That hardly can I check my eyes from tears.
YORK. That face of his the hungry cannibals
Would not have touch'd, would not have stain'd 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 dipp'dst in blood of my sweet boy,
And I with tears do wash the blood away.
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!'
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!
NORTHUMBERLAND. Had he been slaughter-man 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.
CLIFFORD. Here's for my oath, here's for my father's death.
[Stabbing him]
QUEEN MARGARET. And here's to right our gentle-hearted king.
[Stabbing him]
YORK. Open Thy gate of mercy,
gracious God!
My soul flies through these wounds to seek out Thee.
[Dies]
QUEEN MARGARET. Off with his head, and set it on York gates;
So York may
overlook the town of York.
Flourish. Exeunt
ACT II. SCENE I.
A plain near Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire
A march. Enter EDWARD, RICHARD, and their power
EDWARD. I wonder how our
princely father scap'd,
Or whether he be scap'd 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 scap'd,
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 resolv'd
Where our right
valiant father is become.
I saw him in the battle range about,
And watch'd 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, encompass'd round with dogs,
Who having pinch'd a few and made them cry,
The rest stand all aloof and bark at him.
So far'd 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,
Trimm'd 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 sever'd in a pale clear-shining sky.
See, see! they join,
embrace, and seem to kiss,
As if they vow'd 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
When as 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. Environed he was with many foes,
And stood against them as the hope of Troy
Against the Greeks that would have ent'red Troy.
But Hercules himself must yield to odds;
And many strokes, though with a little axe,
Hews down and fells the hardest-timber'd oak.
By many hands your father was subdu'd;
But only slaught'red by the ireful arm
Of unrelenting Clifford and the Queen,
Who crown'd the
gracious Duke in high despite,
Laugh'd in his face; and when with grief he wept,
The
ruthless Queen gave him to dry his cheeks
A
napkin steeped 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 view'd.
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 flow'r of Europe for his chivalry;
And treacherously hast thou vanquish'd him,
For hand to hand he would have vanquish'd 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 closed up in rest!
For never
henceforth shall I joy again;
Never, O never, shall I see more joy.
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 self-same 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
renowned 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, MONTAGUE, and their army
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 poinards 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.
WARWICK. Ten days ago I drown'd 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 breath'd 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,
Muster'd my soldiers, gathered flocks of friends,
And very well appointed, as I thought,
March'd toward Saint Albans to
intercept the Queen,
Bearing the King in my
behalf along;
For by my scouts I was advertised
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 join'd, and both sides
fiercely fought;
But whether 'twas the
coldness of the King,
Who look'd full
gently on his
warlike queen,
That robb'd my soldiers of their heated spleen,
Or whether 'twas report of her success,
Or more than common fear of Clifford's rigour,
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 cheer'd them up with justice of our cause,
With promise of high pay and great rewards,