The argument you held, was wrong in you;
[To Somerset.
In sign whereof, I pluck a white rose too.
Plant. Now, Somerset, where is your argument?
Som. Ay, thou shalt find us ready for thee still:
And know us, by these colours, for thy foes;
For these my friends, in spight of thee, shall wear.
Plant. And, by my soul, this pale and angry rose,
Som. Here, in my scabbard; meditating, that 5 As cognisance of my blood-drinking hate,
Shall dye your white rose to a bloody red. [roses;
Plant. Meantime your cheeks do counterfeitour
For pale they look with fear, as witnessing
The truth on our side.
Will I for ever, and my faction, wear; Until it wither with me to my grave, Or flourish to the height of my degree. [bition! Suf. Go forward, and be choak'd with thyam10 And so farewell, until I meet thee next. [ExitSom. Have with thee, Poole.-Farewell, ambitious Richard. [Exit. Plant. How I am brav'd, and must perforce en[house,
Som. No, Plantagenet, 'Tis not for fear; but anger-that thy cheeks Blush for pure shame, to counterfeit our roses; And yet thy tongue will not confess thy error. Plant. Hath not thy rose a canker, Somerset? Som. Hath not thy rose a thorn, Plantagenet: 15 War. This blot, that they object against your
Plant. Ay, sharp and piercing, to maintain his truth;
Whiles thy consuming canker eats his falsehood.
Som. Well, I'll find friends to wear my bleed-
ing roses,
That shall maintain what I have said is true,
Where false Plantagenet dare not be seen.
Plant. Now, by this maiden blossom in my hand,
I scorn thee and thy fashion, peevish boy.
Shall be wip'd out in the next parliament,
Call'd for the truce of Winchester and Gloster:
And, if thou be not then created York,
I will not live to be accounted Warwick.
20 Mean time, in signal of my love to thee,
Against proud Somerset, and William Poole,.
Will I upon thy party wear this rose:
And here I prophesy, - This brawl to-day
Grown to this faction, in the Temple-garden,
Plant. Proud Poole, I will; and scorn both him
A thousand souls to death and deadly night.
Plant. Good master Vernon, I am bound to you,
That you on my behalf would pluck a flower.
Ver. In your behalf still will I wear the same.
Plant. Thanks, gentle sir.
Suf. Turn not thyscorns this way, Plantagenet. 25 Shall send, between the red rose and the white, and thee.
Suf. I'll turn my part thereof into thy throat.
Som. Away, away, good William De-la-Poole!
We grace the yeoman, by conversing with him. 30 Law. And so will I.
War. Now, by God's will, thou wrong'st him,
Somerset;
His grandfather was Lionel duke of Clarence,
Third son to the third Edward king of England;
Spring crestless yeomen from so deep a root? 35
Plant. He bears him on the place's privilege',
Or durst not, for his craven heart, say thus.
Come, let us four to dinner: I dare say,
Thisquarrelwill drink blood anotherday.[Exeunt.
SCENE V.
A Room in the Tower.
Enter Mortimer', brought in a chair, and Jailors.
Mor. Kind keepers of my weak decaying age,
Let dying Mortimer here rest himself.-
Som. By him that made me, I'll maintain my
On any plot of ground in Christendom: [words
Was not thy father, Richard, earl of Cambridge, 40 Even like a man new haled from the rack,
For treason executed in our late king's days?
And, by his treason, stand'st not thou attainted,
Corrupted, and exempt * from ancient gentry?
His trespass yet lives guilty in thy blood;
And, 'till thou be restor'd, thou art a yeoman.
Plant. My father was attached, not attainted;
Condemn'd to die for treason, but no traitor;
And that I'll prove on better men than Somerset,
Were growing time once ripen'd to my will.
For your partaker Poole, and you yourself,
I'll note you in my book of memory,
To scourge you for this apprehension':
Look to it well; and say you are well warn'd.
So fare my limbs with long imprisonment:
And these grey locks, the pursuivants of death,
Nestor-like aged, in an age of care,
Argue the end of Edmund Mortimer.
45 These eyes--like lamps whose wasting oil is spent--
Wax dim, as drawing to their exigent':
Weak shoulders, over-bornewithburth'ning grief;
And pithless arms, like to a wither'd vine
That droops his sapless branches to the ground.-
50 Yet are these feet-whose strengthless stay is
Unable to support this lump of clay,- [numb,
Swift-winged with desire to get a grave,
As witting I no other comfort have.-
By fashion is meant the badge of the red rose, which Somerset says he and his friends should be distinguish'd by. i. e. those who have no right to arms. 3 The Teniple, being a religious house, was an asylum, a place of exemption, from violence, revenge, and bloodshed. * Exempt for ex cluded. i. c. opinion. A badge is called a cognisance à cognoscendo, because by it such persons as do wear it upon their sleeves, their shoulders, or in their hats, are manifestly known whose servants they are. Mr. Edwards observes, that Shakspeare has varied from the truth of history, to introduce this scene between Mortimer and Richard Plantagenet. Edmund Mortimerserved under Henry V. in 1422, and died unconfined in Ireland in 1424. Holinshed says, that Mortimer was one of the mourners at the funeral of Henry V. Mr. Steevens adds, "that his uncle, Sir John Mortimer, was indeed prisoner in the Tower, and was executed not long before the earl of March's death, being charged with an attempt to make his escape in order to stir up an insurrection in Wales." i. e. the heralds that, forerunning death, proclaim its approach. i. e. end.
But tell me, keeper, will my nephew come?
Keep. Richard Plantagenet, my lord, will come: We sent unto the Temple, to his chamber;
I was the next by birth and parentage;
For by my mother I derived am
And answer was return'd, that he will come.
From Lionel duke of Clarence, the third son
To king Edward the Third; whereas he
Mor. Enough; my soul then shall be satisfy'd.- 5 From John of Gaunt doth bring his pedigree,
Poor gentleman! his wrong doth equal mine.
Since Henry Monmouth first began to reign,
Being but the fourth of that heroic line.
But mark; as, in this haughty great attempt,
(Before whose glory I was great in arms,)
This loathsome sequestration have I had;
They laboured to plant the rightful heir,
I lost my liberty, and they their lives.
And even since then hath Richard been obscur'd, 10 Long after this, when Henry the fifth,
Depriv'd of honour and inheritance;
But now, the arbitrator of despairs,
Just death, kind umpire of men's miseries,
With sweet enlargement doth dismiss me hence:
I would, his troubles likewise were expir'd,
That so he might recover what was lost.
Succeeding his father Bolingbroke, did reign,
Thy father, earl of Cambridge, then deriv'd
From famous Edmund Langley, duke of York, -
Marrying my sister, that thy mother was,
Enter Richard Plantagenet.
Keep. My lord, your loving nephew now is
15 Again, in pity of my hard distress,
Levied an army; weening to redeem,
And have install'd me in the diadem:
But, as the rest, so fell that noble earl,
And was beheaded. Thus the Mortimers,
Mor. Richard Plantagenet, my friend? is he 20 In whom the title rested, were suppress'd.
Plant. Ay, noble uncle, thus ignobly us'd,
Your nephew, late-despised Richard, comes.
Mor. Direct mine arms, I may embrace his neck,
And in his bosom spend my latter gasp:
Plant. Of which, my lord, your honour is the last.
Mor. True; and thou seest, that I no issue have;
And that my fainting words do warrant death:
Thou art my heir; the rest I wish thee gather
[me:
Oh, tell me, when my lips do touch his cheeks, 25 But yet be wary in thy studious care.
That I may kindly give one fainting kiss.
And now declare, sweet stem from York's great
Why didst thou say-of late thou wert despis'd?
Plant. Thy grave admonishments prevail with
But yet, methinks, my father's execution
Was nothing less than bloody tyranny,
Mor. With silence, nephew, be thou politick;
And, like a mountain, not to be remov'd.
But now thy uncle is removing hence;
Plant. First, lean thine aged back against mine 30 Strong fixed is the house of Lancaster,
And, in that ease, I'll tell thee my disease2. [arm;
This day, in argument upon a case,
Some words there grew 'twixt Somerset and me:
Among which terms, he us'd his lavish tongue,
And did upbraid me with my father's death;
Which obloquy set bars before my tongue,
Else with the like I had requited him:
Therefore, good uncle-for my father's sake,
In honour of a true Plantagenet,
And for alliance' sake, -declare the cause
My father, earl of Cambridge, lost his head. [me,
Mor. That cause, fair nephew, that imprison'd
And hath detain'd me, all my flow'ring youth,
Within a loathsome dungeon, there to pine,
As princes do their courts when they are cloy'd With long continuance in a settled place. [years 35 Plant. O, uncle, would some part of my young Might but redeem the passage of your age! Mor. Thou dost then wrong ine; as the slaught'rer doth,
Which giveth many wounds, when one will kill.
40 Mourn not, except thou sorrow for my good;
Only, give order for my funeral;
And
For I am ignorant, and cannot guess.
so farewell; and fair' be all thy hopes! And prosperousbethylife, in peace,andwar! [Dies. Plan. And peace, no war, befall thy parting soul!
Was cursed instrument of his decease. [was: 45 In prison hast thou spent a pilgrimage,
Plant. Discover more at large what cause that
And like a hermit over-pass'd thy days.Well, I will lock his counsel in my breast; And what I do imagine, let that rest.Keepers, convey him hence; and I myself 50 Will see his burial better than his life.Here dies the dusky torch of Mortimer, Choak'd with ambition of the meaner sort 6: And, for those wrongs, those bitter injuries, Which Somerset hath offer'd to my house,
Mor. I will; if that iny fading breath permit,
And death approach not ere my tale be done.
Henry the fourth, grandfather to this king,
Depos'd his nephew Richard; Edward's son,
The first-begotten, and the lawful heir
Of Edward king, the third of that descent;
During whose reign, the Percies of the north,
Finding his usurpation most unjust,
Endeavour'd my advancement to the throne:
The reason mov'd these warlike lords to this,
Was for that(youngking Richard thus remov'd,
Leaving no heir begotten of his body)
55 I doubt not, but with honour to redress :
And therefore haste I to the parliament;
Either to be restored to my blood,
Or make my ill the advantage of my good.
That is, he that terminates or concludes misery. i. e. my uneasiness or discontent. • The sense is, I acknowledge thee to be my heir; the consequences which may be collected from thence, I recommend it to thee to draw. i. e. lucky or prosperous. • We are to understand the speaker as reflecting on the ill fortune of Mortimer, in being always made a tool of by the Percies of the north in their rebellious intrigues; rather than in asserting his claim to the crown, in support of his own princely ambition.
Flourish. Enter King Henry, Exeter, Gloster,
Winchester, Warwick, Somerset, Suffolk, and 5
Richard Plantagenet. Gloster offers to put up
a Bill; Winchester snatches it, and tears it.
Win. COM'ST thou with deep premeditated
With written pamphlets studiously devis'd,
Humphrey of Gloster? If thou canst accuse,
Or ought intend'st to lay unto my charge,
Do it without invention suddenly;
As I with sudden and extemporal speech
Purpose to answer what thou canst object.
Glo. Presumptuous priest! this place com
Or thou shouldst find thou hast dishonour'd me.
Think not, although in writing I preferr'd
The manner of thy vile outrageous crimes,
That therefore I have forg'd, or am not able
Verbatim to rehearse the method of my pen:
No, prelate; such is thy audacious wickedness,
Thy lewd, pestiferous, and dissentious pranks,
As very infants prattle of thy pride.
Thou art a most pernicious usurer;
Froward by nature, enemy to peace;
Lascivious, wanton, more than well beseems
A man of thy profession, and degree;
Touching thy spiritual function, not thy life.
Win. Rome shall remedy this.
War. Roam thither then.
Som, My lord, it were your duty to forbear.
War. Ay, see the bishop be not over-borne.
Som. Methinks, my lord should be religious,
And know the office that belongs to such.
War. Methinks, his lordship should be humbler;
[near.
Som. Yes, when his holy state is touch'd so
War. State holy, or unhallow'd, what of that?
Is not his grace protector to the king?
10 It fitteth not a prelate so to plead.
Rich. Plantagenet, I see, must hold his tongue;
15 Lest it be said, Speak, sirrah, when you should;
Must your bold verdict enter talk with lords?
Else would I have a fling at Winchester. [Aside.
K. Henry. Uncles of Gloster, and of Winchester,
The special watchmen of our English weal;
20 I would prevail, if prayers might prevail,
To join your hearts in love and amity.
Oh, what a scandal is it to our crown,
That two such noble peers as ye, should jar!
Believe me, lords, my tender years can tell,
25 Civil dissention is a viperous worm,
That gnaws the bowels of the common-wealth.-
[A noise within; Down with the tawny coats!
What tumult's this?
War. An uproar, I dare warrant,
And for thy treachery, What's more manifest 30 Begun through malice of the bishop's men.
In that thou laid'st a trap to take my life,
As well at London-bridge, as at the Tower?
Beside, I fear me, if thy thoughts were sifted,
The king, thy sovereign, is not quite exempt
From envious malice of thy swelling heart.
Win. Gloster, I do defy thee.-Lords, vouch-
To give me hearing what I shall reply. [safe
If I were covetous, perverse, ambitious,
As he will have me, How am I so poor?
Or how haps it, I seek not to advance
Or raise myself, but keep my wonted calling?
And for dissention, Who preferreth peace
More than I do, except I be provok'd?
No, my good lords, it is not that offends;
is not that, that hath incens'd the duke:
It is, because no one should sway but he;
No one, but he, should be about the king;
And that engenders thunder in his breast,
And makes him roar these accusations forth.
But he shall know, I am as good-
Thou bastard of my grandfather!
Win. Ay, lordly sir; For what are you, I pray,
But one imperious in another's throne?
Glo. Am I not protector, saucy priest?
Win. And am I not a prelate of the church?
Glo. Yes, as an out-law in a castle keeps,
And useth it to patronage his theft.
Win. Unreverent Gloster!
[A noise again, Stones! Stones!
Enter the Mayor of of London, attended.
Mayor. Oh, my good lords, and virtuous
Pity the city of London, pity us! [Henry,-
35 The bishop and the duke of Gloster's men,
Forbidden late to carry any weapon,
Have fill'd their pockets full of pebble-stones;
And, banding themselves in contrary parts,
Do pelt so fast at one another's pate,
40 That many have their giddy brains knock'd out:
Our windows are broke down in every street,
And we, for fear, compell'd to shut our shops.
Enter men in skirmish, with bloody pates.
K.Henry. We charge you, on allegiance to ourself,
45 To hold your slaughťring hands, and keep the
Pray, uncle Gloster, mitigate this strife. [peace.
1 Serv. Nay, if we be
Forbidden stones, we'll fall to it with our teeth.
2 Serv. Do what you dare, we are as resolute.
[Skirmish again.
Glo. You of my household, leave this peevish
And set this unaccustom'd2 fight aside. [broil,
3 Serv. My lord, we know your grace to be a man
Just and upright; and, for your royal birth,
55 Inferior to none, but to his majesty:
And, ere that we will suffer such a prince,
So kind a father of the common-weal,
To be disgraced by an inkhorn mate',
We, and our wives, and children, all will fight,
Roam to Rome. To roam is supposed to be derived from the cant of vagabonds, who often pretended a pilgrimage to Rome. 2i. e. unseemly, indecent. i. e. a bookmax.
And have our bodies slaughter'd by thy foes.
1 Serv. Ay, and the very parings of our nails
Shall pitch a fieldwhenwe are dead.[Begin again.
Glo. Stay, stay, I say!
And, if you love me, as you say you do,
Let me persuade you to forbear a while. [soul!-
K. Henry. Oh, how this discord doth afflict my
Can you, my lord of Winchester, behold
My sighs and tears, and will not once relent?
Who should be pitiful, if you be not?
Or who should study to prefer a peace,
If holy churchmen take delight in broils?
War. My lord protector, yield; - yield,
That Richard be restored to his blood.
War. Let Richard be restored to his blood;
So shall his father's wrongs be recompens'd.
Win. As will the rest, so willeth Winchester.
K. Henry. If Richard will be true, not that
But all the whole inheritance I give,
[alone,
That doth belong unto the house of York,
From whence you spring by lineal descent.
Rich. Thy humble servant vows obedience,
And humble service, 'till the point of death.
K. Henry. Stoop then, and set your knee against
And, in reguerdon' of that duty done, [my foot:
I gird thee with the valiant sword of York:
Rise, Richard, like a true Plantagenet;
15 And risé created princely duke of York.
Except you mean, with obstinate repulse,
To slay your sovereign, and destroy the realm.
You see what mischief, and what murder too,
Hath been enacted through your enmity;
Then be at peace, except ye thirst for blood.
Win. He shall submit, or I will never yield. 20
Glo. Compassionontheking commandsme stoop;
Or, I would see his heart out, ere the priest
Should ever get that privilege of me.
War. Behold, my lord of Winchester, the duke
Hath banish'd moody discontented fury,
As by his smoothed brows it doth appear:
Why look you still so stern, and tragical?
Glo. Here, Winchester, I offer thee my hand.
K. Henry. Fie, uncle Beaufort! I have heard
you preach,
That malice was a great and grievous sin:
And will not you maintain the thing you teach,
But prove a chief offender in the same? [gird'.-
War. Sweet king!-the bishop hath a kindly
For shame, my lord of Winchester! relent;
What, shall a child instruct you what to do?
Win. Well, duke of Gloster, I will yield to thee;
Love for thy love, and hand for hand I give.
Glo. Ay; but Į fear me, with a hollow heart.-
See here, my friends, and loving countrymen;
This token serveth for a flag of truce
Betwixt ourselves, and all our followers:
So help me God, as I dissemble not!
Win. [Aside.] So help me God, as I intend it
Rich. And so thrive Richard, as thy foes may And as my duty springs, so perish they [fall! That grudge one thought against your majesty! All. Welcome, high prince, the mighty duke
Som. Perish, base prince, ignoble duke of York !
[Aside.
Glo. Now will it best avail your majesty,
To cross the seas, and to be crown'd in France:
25 The presence of a king engenders love
Amongst his subjects, and his loyal friends;
As it disanimates his enemies. [Henry goes;
K. Henry. When Gloster says the word, king
For friendly counsel cuts off many foes.
Glo. Your ships already are in readiness.
[Exeunt all but Exeter..
Exe. Ay, we may march in England, or in
Not seeing what is likely to ensue:
[France,
This late dissention, grown betwixt the peers,
Burns under feigned ashes of forg'd love,
And will at last break out into a flame:
As fester'd members rot but by degrees,
Till bones, and flesh, and sinews, tall away,
40 And now I fear that fatal prophecy,
Which, in the time of Henry, nam'd the fifth,
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe,-
That Henry, born at Monmouth, should win all;
And Henry, born at Windsor, should lose all:
K. Henry. Oloving uncle, kind duke of Gloster, 45 Which is so plain, that Exeter doth wish
How joytul I am made by this contract!-
Away, my masters! trouble us no more;
But join in friendship, as your lords have done.
1 Serv. Content; I'll to the surgeon's.
His days may finish ere that hapless time. [Erit,
SCENE II.
Which in the right of Richard Plantagenet
Enter Joan la Pucelle disguis'd, and Soldiers with
sacks upon their backs, like Countrymen.
Pucel. These are the city gates, the gates of Roan,
Through which our policymust make a breach:-
Take heed, be wary how you place your words;
Talk like the vulgar sort of market-men,
We do exhibit to your majesty. [sweet prince, 55 That come to gather money for their corn.
Glo. Well urg'd, my lord of Warwick; for,
An if your grace mark every circumstance,
You have great reason to do Richard right:
If we have entrance, (as, I hope, we shall)
And that we find the slothful watch but weak,
I'll by a sign give notice to our friends,
Especially, for those occasions
That Charles the Dauphin may encounter them.
At Eltham-place I told your majesty. [force: 60 1.Sol. Oursacks shall be a mean to sack the city,
Pucel. Paisans pauvres gens de France:
Poor market-folks, that come to sell their corn.
Watch. Enter, goin; the market-bell is rung.
If Talbot do but follow, rain will follow.-
[Talbot, and the rest, whisper together in council.
Godspeedtheparliament! who shallbe the speaker?
Tal. Dare ye come forth, and meet us in the field?
Pucel. Now, Roan, I'll shake thy bulwarks to 5 Pucel. Belike, your lordship takes us then for
Enter Dauphin, Bastard, and Alençon.
Dau. Saint Denis bless this happy stratagem!
And once again we'll sleep secure in Roan.
To try if that our own be ours, or no.
Tal. I speak not to that railing Hecate,
But unto thee, Alençon, and the rest;
Will ye, like soldiers, come and fight it out?
Tal. Signior, hang!-base muleteers of France! Like peasant foot-boys do they keep the walls, And dare not take up arms like gentlemen. Pucel. Captains, away: let's get us from thewalls;
Bast. Here enter'd Pucelle, and her practisants: 10 Alen. Signior, no.
Now she is there, how will she specify
Where is the best and safest passage in?
Reig. By thrusting out a torch from yonder tower;
Which, oncediscern'd, shews, thathermeaningis,--
No way to that, for weakness, which she enter'd. 15 For Talbot means no goodness, by his looks.-
Enter Joan la Pucelle on a battlement, thrusting
out a torch burning.
Pucel. Behold, this is the happywedding torch,
That joineth Roan unto her countrymen;
But burning fatal to the Talbotites.
God be wi' you, my lord! we came, sir, but to tell you That we are here. [Exeunt from the walls. Tal. And there will we be too, ere it be long, [friend, 20 Or else reproach be Talbot's greatest fame! Vow, Burgundy, by honour of thy house, (Prick'd on by public wrongs, sustain'd in France) Either to get the town again, or die: And I, as sure as English Henry lives,
Bast. See, noble Charles! the beacon of our The burning torch in yonder turret stands. Dau. Now shine it like a comet of revenge,
A prophet to the fall of all our foes!
Reag. Defernotime, Delayshavedangerousends; 25 And as his father here was conqueror;
Enter, and cry-The Dauphin! presently,
And then do execution on the watch.
[An alarum; Talbot in an excursion.
Tal. France, thou shalt rue this treason with thy If Talbot but survive thy treachery; - [tears, 30 Tal. But, ere we go, regard this dying prince,
Pucelle, that witch, that damned sorceress,
Hath wrought this hellish mischief unawares,
Thathardly we escap'd the pride 3 of France. [Exit.
An alarum: excursions. Enter Bedford brought
As sure as in this late-betrayed town
Great Cœur-de-Lion's heart was buried;
So sure I swear, to get the town, or die. [vows.
Burg. My vows are equal partners with thy
The valiant duke of Bedford: Come, my lord,
We will bestow you in some better place,
Fitter for sickness, and for crazy age.
Bed. Lord Talbot, do not so dishonour me:
in sick, in a chair, with Talbot and Burgundy, 35 Here will I sit before the walls of Roan,
without. Within, Joan la Pucelle, Dauph n,
Bastard, and Alençon, on the Walls.
And will be partner of your weal or woe. [you.
Burg. Courageous Bedford, let us now persuade
Bed. Not to be gone from hence; for once I read,
That stout Pendragon, in his litter, sick,
40 Came to the field, and vanquished his foes*:
Methinks, I should revive the soldiers' hearts,
Because I ever found them as myself.
Tal. Undaunted spirit in a dying breast!Then be it so:-Heavens keepold Bedford safe!
And make thee curse the harvest of that corn. 45 And now no more ado, brave Burgundy,
Dau. Your grace may starve, perhaps, before
that time.
[treason!
Bed. Oh, let no words, but deeds, revenge this
Pucel. What will you do, good grey-beard?
break a lance,
And run a tilt at death within a chair?
Tal. Foulfiendof France, andhag of all despight,
Encompass'd with thy lustful paramours!
Becomes it thee to taunt his valiant age,
And twit with cowardice a man half dead?
Damsel, I'll have a bout with you again,
Or else let Talbot perish with this shame.
Pucel. Are you so hot, sir?-Yet, Pucelle,
hold thy peace;
Practice, in the language of that time, was treachery, and perhaps, in the softer sense, stratagem. Practisants are therefore confederates in stratagems. * That is, no way equal to that. signifies the haughty porver. This hero was Uther Pendragon, brother to Aurelius, and father to king Arthur.
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