Read Complete Plays, The Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
Complete Plays, The (270 page)
S
CENE
II. A
FIELD
OF
BATTLE
NEAR
B
ARNET
.
S
CENE
III. A
NOTHER
PART
OF
THE
FIELD
.
S
CENE
V. A
NOTHER
PART
OF
THE
FIELD
.
C
HARACTERS
OF
THE
P
LAY
King Henry VI
.
Prince Edward
, Prince of Wales, his son.
King Lewis XI
,
King of France.
Duke of
Somerset
,
Duke of
Exeter
,
Earl of
Oxford
,
Earl of
Northumberland
,
Earl of
Westmoreland
,
Lord
Clifford
,
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of
York
.
Edward
, Earl of March, afterwards
King Edward IV
,
Edmund Earl of
Rutland
,
George
, afterwards Duke of
Clarence
,
Richard
, afterwards Duke of
Gloucester
,
his sons.
Duke of
Norfolk
.
Marquess of
Montague
.
Earl of
Warwick
.
Earl of
Pembroke
.
Lord
Hastings
.
Lord
Stafford
.
Sir
John Mortimer
,
Sir
Hugh Mortimer
,
uncles to the Duke of York. Henry, Earl of Richmond, a youth.
Lord
Rivers
, brother to Lady Grey.
Sir William Stanley.
Sir John Montgomery.
Sir John Somerville.
Tutor
, to Rutland.
Mayor
, of York.
Lieutenant of the Tower.
A
Nobleman
,
Two Keepers.
A
Huntsman
,
A
Son
, that has killed his father.
A
Father
, that has killed his son.
Queen Margaret
.
Lady Grey
, afterwards
Queen Elizabeth
, Queen to Edward IV.
Bona
, sister to the French Queen.
Soldiers, Attendants, Messengers, Watchmen, &c.
Scene: England and France.
A
CT
I
S
CENE
I. L
ONDON
. T
HE
P
ARLIAMENT
-
HOUSE
.
Alarum. Enter York, Edward, Richard, Norfolk, Montague, Warwick, and Soldiers
Warwick
I wonder how the king escaped our hands.
York
While we pursued the horsemen of the north,
He slily stole away and left his men:
Whereat the great Lord of Northumberland,
Whose warlike ears could never brook retreat,
Cheer’d up the drooping army; and himself,
Lord Clifford and Lord Stafford, all abreast,
Charged our main battle’s front, and breaking in
Were by the swords of common soldiers slain.
Edward
Lord Stafford’s father, Duke of Buckingham,
Is either slain or wounded dangerously;
I cleft his beaver with a downright blow:
That this is true, father, behold his blood.
Montague
And, brother, here’s the Earl of Wiltshire’s blood,
Whom I encounter’d as the battles join’d.
Richard
Speak thou for me and tell them what I did.
Throwing down Somerset’s head
York
Richard hath best deserved of all my sons.
But is your grace dead, my Lord of Somerset?
Norfolk
Such hope have all the line of John of Gaunt!
Richard
Thus do I hope to shake King Henry’s head.
Warwick
And so do I. Victorious Prince of York,
Before I see thee seated in that throne
Which now the house of Lancaster usurps,
I vow by heaven these eyes shall never close.
This is the palace of the fearful king,
And this the regal seat: possess it, York;
For this is thine and not King Henry’s heirs’
York
Assist me, then, sweet Warwick, and I will;
For hither we have broken in by force.
Norfolk
We’ll all assist you; he that flies shall die.
York
Thanks, gentle Norfolk: stay by me, my lords;
And, soldiers, stay and lodge by me this night.
They go up
Warwick
And when the king comes, offer no violence,
Unless he seek to thrust you out perforce.
York
The queen this day here holds her parliament,
But little thinks we shall be of her council:
By words or blows here let us win our right.
Richard
Arm’d as we are, let’s stay within this house.
Warwick
The bloody parliament shall this be call’d,
Unless Plantagenet, Duke of York, be king,
And bashful Henry deposed, whose cowardice
Hath made us by-words to our enemies.
York
Then leave me not, my lords; be resolute;
I mean to take possession of my right.
Warwick
Neither the king, nor he that loves him best,
The proudest he that holds up Lancaster,
Dares stir a wing, if Warwick shake his bells.
I’ll plant Plantagenet, root him up who dares:
Resolve thee, Richard; claim the English crown.
Flourish. Enter King Henry VI, Clifford, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Exeter, and the rest
King Henry VI
My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits,
Even in the chair of state: belike he means,
Back’d by the power of Warwick, that false peer,
To aspire unto the crown and reign as king.
Earl of Northumberland, he slew thy father.
And thine, Lord Clifford; and you both have vow’d revenge
On him, his sons, his favourites and his friends.
Northumberland
If I be not, heavens be revenged on me!
Clifford
The hope thereof makes Clifford mourn in steel.
Westmoreland
What, shall we suffer this? let’s pluck him down:
My heart for anger burns; I cannot brook it.
King Henry VI
Be patient, gentle Earl of Westmoreland.
Clifford
Patience is for poltroons, such as he:
He durst not sit there, had your father lived.
My gracious lord, here in the parliament
Let us assail the family of York.
Northumberland
Well hast thou spoken, cousin: be it so.
King Henry VI
Ah, know you not the city favours them,
And they have troops of soldiers at their beck?
Exeter
But when the duke is slain, they’ll quickly fly.
King Henry VI
Far be the thought of this from Henry’s heart,
To make a shambles of the parliament-house!
Cousin of Exeter, frowns, words and threats
Shall be the war that Henry means to use.
Thou factious Duke of York, descend my throne,
And kneel for grace and mercy at my feet;
I am thy sovereign.
York
I am thine.
Exeter
For shame, come down: he made thee Duke of York.
York
’Twas my inheritance, as the earldom was.
Exeter
Thy father was a traitor to the crown.
Warwick
Exeter, thou art a traitor to the crown
In following this usurping Henry.
Clifford
Whom should he follow but his natural king?
Warwick
True, Clifford; and that’s Richard Duke of York.
King Henry VI
And shall I stand, and thou sit in my throne?
York
It must and shall be so: content thyself.
Warwick
Be Duke of Lancaster; let him be king.
Westmoreland
He is both king and Duke of Lancaster;
And that the Lord of Westmoreland shall maintain.
Warwick
And Warwick shall disprove it. You forget
That we are those which chased you from the field
And slew your fathers, and with colours spread
March’d through the city to the palace gates.
Northumberland
Yes, Warwick, I remember it to my grief;
And, by his soul, thou and thy house shall rue it.
Westmoreland
Plantagenet, of thee and these thy sons,
Thy kinsman and thy friends, I’ll have more lives
Than drops of blood were in my father’s veins.
Clifford
Urge it no more; lest that, instead of words,
I send thee, Warwick, such a messenger
As shall revenge his death before I stir.
Warwick
Poor Clifford! how I scorn his worthless threats!
York
Will you we show our title to the crown?
If not, our swords shall plead it in the field.
King Henry VI
What title hast thou, traitor, to the crown?
Thy father was, as thou art, Duke of York;
Thy grandfather, Roger Mortimer, Earl of March:
I am the son of Henry the Fifth,
Who made the Dauphin and the French to stoop
And seized upon their towns and provinces.
Warwick
Talk not of France, sith thou hast lost it all.
King Henry VI
The lord protector lost it, and not I:
When I was crown’d I was but nine months old.
Richard
You are old enough now, and yet, methinks, you lose.
Father, tear the crown from the usurper’s head.
Edward
Sweet father, do so; set it on your head.
Montague
Good brother, as thou lovest and honourest arms,
Let’s fight it out and not stand cavilling thus.
Richard
Sound drums and trumpets, and the king will fly.
York
Sons, peace!
King Henry VI
Peace, thou! and give King Henry leave to speak.
Warwick
Plantagenet shall speak first: hear him, lords;
And be you silent and attentive too,
For he that interrupts him shall not live.
King Henry VI
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.
Warwick
Prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king.
King Henry VI
Henry the Fourth by conquest got the crown.
York
’Twas by rebellion against his king.
King Henry VI
[Aside]
I know not what to say; my title’s weak.—
Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir?
York
What then?
King Henry VI
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.
Warwick
Suppose, my lords, he did it unconstrain’d,
Think you ’twere prejudicial to his crown?
Exeter
No; for he could not so resign his crown
But that the next heir should succeed and reign.
King Henry VI
Art thou against us, Duke of Exeter?
Exeter
His is the right, and therefore pardon me.
York
Why whisper you, my lords, and answer not?
Exeter
My conscience tells me he is lawful king.
King Henry VI
[Aside]
All will revolt from me, and turn to him.
Northumberland
Plantagenet, for all the claim thou lay’st,
Think not that Henry shall be so deposed.
Warwick
Deposed he shall be, in despite of all.
Northumberland
Thou art deceived: ’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.
Clifford
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!
King Henry VI
O Clifford, how thy words revive my heart!
York
Henry of Lancaster, resign thy crown.
What mutter you, or what conspire you, lords?