To sit and witch me, as Ascanius did,
When he to madding Dido would unfold
His father's acts, commenc'd in burning Troy?
Am I not witch'd like her? or thou not false
like him?

Ah me, I can no more! Die, Margaret!
For Henry weeps, that thou dost live so long.

Noise within. Enter Warwick, Salisbury, and
many Commons.

War. It is reported, mighty sovereign, [der'd
That good duke Humphrey traiterously is mur-
By Suffolk's and the cardinal Beaufort's means.
The commons, like an angry hive of bees,
That want their leader, scatter up and down,
And care not who they sting in his revenge.
Myself have calm'd their spleenful mutiny,
Until they hear the order of his death.

K. Henry. That he is dead, good Warwick,
'tis too true;

But how he died, God knows, not Henry:
Enter his chamber, view his breathless corpse,
And comment then upon his sudden death.
War. That I shall do, my liege: -Stay, Salisbury,
With the rude multitude, 'till I return.

[Warwick goes in.

K. Henry. O Thou that judgest all thing stay my thoughts;

struggling;

His hands abroad display'd, as one that grasp'd 10 And tugg'd for life, and was by strength subdu'd. Look on the sheets, his hair, you see, is sticking; Hiswellproportion'dbeardmaderoughandrugged, Like to the summer's corn by tempest lodg'd. It cannot be, but he was murder'd here; 15 The least of all these signs were probable. Suf. Why, Warwick, who should do the duke to death? Myself, and Beaufort, had him in protection; And we, I hope, sir, are no murderers.

20

25

War. But both of you were vow'd duke Humphrey's foes;

And you, forsooth, had the good duke to keep: "Tis like, you would not feast him like a friend; And 'tis well seen, he found an enemy.

2. Mar. Then you, belike, suspect these noblemen

Soine violent hands were laid on Humphrey's life! 30 And sees fast by a butcher with an axe,

My thoughts, that labour to persuade my soul,

As guilty of duke Humphrey's timeless death. War. Who finds the heifer dead, and bleeding fresh,

If my suspect be false, forgive me, God;

For judgment only doth belong to thee!

Fain would I go to chafe his paly lips

With twenty thousand kisses, and to drain

Upon his face an ocean of salt tears;

To tell my love unto his dumb deaf trunk,
And with my fingers feel his hand unfeeling:
But all in vain are these mean obsequies;
And, to survey his dead and carthy image,

But will suspect, 'twas he that made the slaughter? Who finds the partridge in the puttock's nest, But may imagine how the bird was dead, Although the kite soar with unbloody'd beak? 35 Even so suspicious is this tragedy. [your knife? 2. Mar. Are you the butcher, Suffolk? where's Is Beaufort term'd a kite? where are his talons? Suf. I wear no knife, to o slaughter sleeping men; But here's a vengeful sword, rusted with ease,

What were it but to make my sorrow greater? 40 That shall be scoured in his rancorous heart,

[A bed, with Gloster's body, put forth. War. Come hither, gracious sovereign, view this body.

K. Henry. That is to see how deep my grave
is made:

For, with his soul, fled all my worldly solace;
For seeing him, I see my life in death '.

War. As surely as my soul intends to live
With that dread King, that took our state upon him
To free us from his Father's wrathful curse,
I do believe that violent hands were laid
Upon the life of this thrice-famed duke,

Suf. A dreadful oath, sworn with a solemn

tongue!

That slanders me with murder's crimson badge:
Say, if thou dar'st, proud lord of Warwickshire,
That I am faulty in duke Humphrey's death.

[Exit Cardinal.

45 War. What dares not Warwick, if false Suffolk dare him?

2. Mar. He dares not calm his contumelious Nor cease to be an arrogant controller, [spirit, Though Suffolk dare him twenty thousand times, 50 War. Madam, be still; with reverence may I say it;

For every word, you speak in his.behalf,
slander to your royal dignity.

Is

What instance gives lord Warwick for his vow? 55 If ever lady wrong'd her lord so much,
War. See, how the blood is settled in his face!

Oft have I seen a timely-parted ghost,
Of ashy semblance, meagre, pale, and bloodless,
Being all ng all descended to the labouring heart;
Who, in the conflict that it holds with death,
Attracts the same for aidance 'gainst the enemy;

Suf. Blunt-witted lord, ignoble in demeanour!

Thy mother took into her blameful bed

Some stern untutar'd churl, and noble stock Was graft with crab-tree slip; whose fruit thou art, And never of the Nevils' noble race. [thee, 60 War. But that the guilt of murder bucklera And I should rob the death's-man of his fee,

The puttock is the kite.
Quitting

i. e. I see my life destroyed or endangered by his death.

Quitting thee thereby of ten thousand shames,
And that my sovereign's presence makes me mild,
I would, false murderous coward, on thy knee
Make thee beg pardon for thy passed speech,
And say it was thy mother that thou meant'st, 5
That thou thyself wast born in bastardy:
And, after all this fearful homage done,
Give thee thy hire, and send thy soul to hell,
Pernicious blood-sucker of sleeping men! [blood,

From such fell serpents as false Suffolk is;
With whose envenomed and fatal sting,
Your loving uncle, twenty times his worth,
They say, is shamefully bereft of life.

Commons [within] An answer from the king, my lord of Salisbury. [hinds, Suf. 'Tis like, the commons, rude unpolish'd Could send such message to their sovereign : But you, my lord, were glad to be employ'd,

Suf. Thou shalt be waking, while I shed thy 10 To shew how quaint an orator you are:

If from this presence thou dar'st go with me.

War. Away even now, or I will drag thee hence:
Unworthy though thou art, I'll cope with thee,
And do some service to duke Humphrey's ghost.
[Exeunt. 15

K. Henry. What stronger breast-plate than a
heart untainted!

Thrice is he arm'd, that hath his quarrel just;
And he but naked, though lock'd up in steel,
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.
[A noise within.

2. Mar. What noise is this?
Re-enter Suffolk and Warwick, with their wea-
pous drawn.

K. Henry. Why, how now, lords? your wrath

ful weapons drawn

But all the honour Salisbury hath won,
Is that he was the lord ambassador,
Sent from a sort of tinkers to the king.
Within. An answer from the king, or we will
all break in.

K.Hen. Go, Salisbury, and tell them all from me,
I thank them for their tender loving care:
And had I not been cited so by them,
Yet did I purpose as they do entreat;
20 For, sure, my thoughts do hourly prophesy
Mischance unto my state by Suffolk's means.
And therefore,-by His Majesty I swear,
Whose far unworthy deputy I am,-

He shall not breathe intection in this air
25 But three days longer, on the pain of death.

Here in our presence? dare you be so bold?-
Why, what tumultuous clamour have we here?

[Exit Salisbury. 2. Mar. Oh Henry, let me plead for gentle Suffolk! [Suffolk. K. Henry. Ungentle queen, to call him gentle Suf. The traiterous Warwick, with the men 30 No more, I say; if thou dost plead for him,

of Bury, Set all upon me, mighty sovereign.

Noise of a crowd within. Enter Salisbury.

Sal. Sirs, stand apart; the king shall know

your mind.

Dread lord, the conimons send you word by me,
Unless lord Suffolk straight be done to death,
Or banished fair England's territories,

Thou wilt but add increase unto my wrath.
Had I but said, I would have kept my word;
But, when I swear, it is irrevocable:-

If, after three days space, thou here be'st found

35 On any ground that I am ruler of,
The world shall not be ransom for thy life.-
Come, Warwick, come, good Warwick, go with

They will by violence tear him from your palace,
And torture him with grievous ling'ring death. 40
They say, by him the good duke Humphrey died;
They say, in him they fear your highness' death;
And mere instinct of love and loyalty, -

Free from a stubborn opposite intent,

me;

I have great matters to impart to thee.

[Exeunt all but Suffolk, and the Queen. 2. Mar. Mischance, and sorrow, go along with you!

As being thought to contradict your liking,- 45 There's two of you; the devil make a third!

Makes them thus forward in his banishment.

disturb your rest,

They say, in care of your most royal person,
That, if your highness should intend to sleep,
And charge-that no man should
In pain of your dislike, or pain of death;
Yet, notwithstanding such a strait edict,
Were there a serpent seen, with forked tongue,
That slily glided towards your majesty,
It were but necessary you were wak'd;
Lest, being suffer'd in that harmful slumber,
The mortal worm' might make the sleep eternal:
And therefore do they cry, though you forbid,
That they will guard you, whe'r you will, or no,

Heart's discontent, and sour affliction,
Be play-fellows to keep you company!

And three-fold vengeance tend upon your steps!
Suf. Cease, gentle queen, these execrations;
And let thy Suffolk take his heavy leave.

50

2. Mar. Fie, coward woman, and soft-hearted wretch!

Hast thou not spirit to curse thine enemies ?
Suf. A plague upon them! wherefore should I
curse them?

Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan',
55 I would invent as bitter searching terms,
As curst, as harsh, and horrible to hear,
Deliver'd strongly through my fixed teeth,
With full as many signs of deadly hate,

3

Serpents in general are called worms. 2 i. e. a company. The fabulous accounts of the plant called a mandrake give it an inferior degree of animal life, and relate, that when it is torn from the ground, it groans, and that, this groan being certainly fatal to him that is offering such unwelcome violence, the practice of those who gather mandrakes is to the one end of a string to the plant, and the other to a dog, upon whom the fatal groan discharges its malignity.

As

My hair be fix'd on end, as one distract;

As lean-fac'd Envy in her loathsome cave:

My tongue should stumble in mine earnest words;
Mine eyes should sparkle like the beaten flint;

Enter Vaux.

Ay, every joint should seem to curse and ban: 5 That cardinal Beaufort is at point of death:

Vaux. To signify unto his majesty,

And even now my burden'd heart would break,

Should I not curse them. Poison be their drink!

Gall, worse than gall, the daintiest that they taste!
Their sweetest shade, a grove of cypress trees!!

For suddenly a grievous sickness took him,
That makes him gasp, and stare, and catch the air,
Blaspheming God, and cursing men on earth.
Sometime, he talks as if duke Humphrey's ghost

Their chiefest prospect, murdering basilisks! 10 Were by his side; sometime, he calls the king,

Their softest touch, as smart as lizards'' stings!
Their music, frightful as the serpent's hiss !

And whispers to his pillow, as to him,

And boding scritch-owls make the concert full!

All the foul terrors in dark-seated hell

The secrets of his over-charged soul :
And I am sent to tell his majesty,
That even now he cries aloud for him.

Suf. You bade me ban', and will you bid me 20 Why only, Suffolk, mourn I not for thee,

leave?

Now, by the ground that I am banish'd from,

And with the southern clouds contend in tears; Theirs for the earth's increase, mine for my sor[coming;

rows?

Where biting cold would never let grass grow, 25 If thou be found by me, thou art but dead.

And think it but a minute spent in sport.

Well could I curse away a winter's night,

Though standing naked on a mountain top,

Now, get thee hence. The king, thou know'st, is

2. Mar. Oh, let me entreat thee cease! Give

me thy hand,

Suf. If I depart fro from thee, I cannot live : And in thy sight to die, what were it else, But like a pleasant slumber in thy lap? Here could I breathe my soul into the air,

That I may dew it with my mournful tears;
Nor let the rain of heaven wet this place,
To wash away my woeful monuments.
Oh, could this kiss be printed in thy hand;

30 As mild and gentle as the cradle babe,
Dying with mother's dug between its lips :
Where, from thy sight, I should be raging mad,
And cry out for thee to close up mine eyes,
To have thee with thy lips to stop my mouth;

[Kisses his hand. That thou might'st think upon these by the seal, Through whom a thousand sighs are breath'd for 35 So shouldst thou either turn my flying soul,

Or I should breathe it so into thy body,
And then it liv'd in sweet Elysium.
To die by thee, were but to die in jest;
From thee to die, were torture more than death;
400, let me stay, befall what may befall. [corrosive,
2. Mar. Away! though parting be a fretful
It is applied to a deathful wound.
Γο France, sweet Suffolk: Let me hear from thee;
For wheresoe'er thou art in this world's globe,

45 I'll have an Iris that shall find thee out.

Once by the king, and three times thrice by thee. 50 Even as a splitted bark, so sunder we:

'Tis not the land I care for, wert thou hence;

A wilderness is populous enough,

So Suffolk had thy heavenly company;
For where thou art, there is the world itself,
With every several pleasure in the world;
And where thou art not, desolation.
I can no more :- Live thou to joy thy life;
Myself no joy in nought, but that thou liv'st.

1 Cypress was employed in the funeral rites of the Romans, and hence is always mentioned as an ill-boding plant. * It has been said of the basilisk, that it had the power of destroying by a single glance of its eye. A lizard has no sting, but is quite inoffensive. i. e. curse. * Meaning, Wherefore do I grieve that Beaufort has died an hour before his time, who, being an old man, could not have had a long time to live? Iris was the messenger of Juno.

Car. If thou be'st death, I'll give thee England's Enough to purchase such another island, [treasure, So thou wilt let me live, and feel no pain.

5

K. Henry. Ah, what a sign it is of evil life,
When death's approach is seen so terrible !
War. Beaufort, it is thy sovereign speaks to thee.
Car. Bring me unto my trial when you will.
Dy'd he not in his bed? where should he die?
Can I make men live, whe'r they will or no?-
Oh! torture me no more, I will confess.-
Alive again? then shew me where he is :
I'll give a thousand pound to look upon him.-
He hath no eyes, the dust hath blinded them.
Comb down his hair; look! look! it stands upright,
Like lime-twigs set to catch my winged soul!-15
Give me some drink; and bid the apothecary
Bring the strong poison that I bought of him.

K.Henry. O thou eternal Mover of the heavens,

Look witha gentle eye upon this wretch!
Oh, beat away the busy meddling fiend,
That lays strong siege unto this wretch's soul,
And from his bosom purge this black despair!
War. See, how the pangs of death do make him
grin.
Sal. Disturb him not, let him pass peaceably.
K.Henry. Peace to his soul, if God's good plea-
sure be!-

10 Lord cardinal, if thou think'st on heaven's bliss,
Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope.-
He dies, and makes no sign: -O God, forgive him!
War. So bad a death argues a monstrous life.
K. Henry. Forbear to judge, for we are sinners

all.

Close up his eyes, and draw the curtain close;
And let us all to meditation.
[Exeunt.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.

| Whit. I lost mine eye in laying the prize aboard,
And therefore, to revenge it, shalt thou die;
[To Suffolk.

The Coast of Kent. Alarm. Fight at Sea. Ordnance goes off. Enter And so should these, if I might have my will. Captain, Whitmore, and other pirates, with 30 Cap. Be not so rash; take ransom, let him live. Suffolk, and other prisoners.

Cap. THE gaudy, blabbing', and remorse

ful day

Suf. Look on my George, I am a gentleman;
Rate me at what thou wilt, thou shalt be paid.-
Whit. And so am I; my name is Walter
Whitmore

35 How now? why start'st thou? what, doth deatha
affright?
[death.

Is crept into the bosom of the sea;

And now loud-howling wolves arouse the jades
That drag the tragic melancholy night;
Who with their drowsy, slow, and flagging wings
Clip dead men's graves, and from their misty jaws
Breathe foul contagious darkness in the air.

Suf. Thy name affrights me, in whose sound is
A cunning man did calculate my birth,
And told me that by Water I should die:

Therefore bring forth the soldiers of our prize; 40 Yet let not this make thee be bloody-minded;

For, whilst our pinnace anchors in the Downs,
Here shall they make their ransom on the sand,
Or with their blood stain this discolour'd shore. -
Master, this prisoner freely give I thee;-

Thy name is-Gualtier, being rightly sounded.
Whit. Gualtier, or Walter, which it is, I care not:
Ne'er yet did base dishonour blur our name,
But with our sword we wip'd away the blot;

Broke be my sword, my arms torn and defac'd,
And I proclaim'd a coward through the world!
Suf. Stay, Whitmore; for thy prisoner is a prince,
The duke of Suffolk, William de la Pole.

And thou that art his mate, make boot of this;- 45 Therefore, when merchant-like I sell revenge,

The other, Walter Whitmore, is thy share.

[Pointing to Suffolk. 1 Gent. What is my ransom, master? let me know. [head. Mate. And so much shall you give, or off goes yours. [sand crowns, Whit. What, think you much to pay two thouAnd bear the name and port of gentlemen?Cut both the villains' throats; - for die you shall; 55 The honourable blood of Lancaster, Nor can those lives which we have lost in fight, Be counterpois'd with such a petty sum. [life. 1 Gent. I'll give it, sir; and therefore spare my 2 Gent. And so will I, and write home for it straight.

Mast. A thousand crowns, or else lay down your 50 Whit. The duke of Suffolk, muffled up in rags!

Suf. Ay, but these rags are no part of the duke;
Jove sometime went disguis'd, and why not I?
Cap. But Jove was never slain, as thou shalt be.
Suf. Obscure and lowly swain, king Henry's
[blood,

Must not be shed by such a jaded groom.
Hast thou not kiss' d'thy hand, and and held held my stirrup?
And bare-head plodded by my foot-cloth mule,
And thought thee happy when I shook my head?
60 How often hast thou waited at my cup,

The epithet blabbing, applied to the day by a man about to commit murder, is exquisitely beautiful. Guilt is afraid of light, considers darkness as a natural shelter, and makes night the confidante of those actions which cannot be trusted to the teli-tale day. Remorseful is pitiful. See the fourth scene of the first act of this play.

2

Fed

Suf. Thou dar'st not for thine own.

Cap. Poole? Sir Poole? Lord?

ground;

What, are ye daunted now? now will ye stoop?
1 Gent. My gracious lord, entreat him, speak
him fair.

Suf.Suffolk'simperial tongue is stern and rough,
15 Us'd to command, untaught to plead for favour,
Far be it, we should honour such as these
With humble suit: no, rather let my head
Stoop to the block, than these knees bow to any,
Save to the God of heaven, and to my king;
20 And sooner dance upon a bloody pole,
Than stand uncover'd to the vulgar groom.
True nobility is exempt from fear:-
More can I bear, than you dare execute.

Cap. Hale him away, and let him talk no more:

6

25 Come, soldiers, shew what cruelty ye can.-
Suf. That this my death may never be forgot!-
Great men oft die by vile bezonians':
A Roman sworder and banditto slave
Murder'd sweet Tully; Brutus' bastard hand'
30 Stabb'd Julius Cæsar; savage islanders,
Pompey the great; and Suffolk dies by pirates.
[Exit Walter Whitmore, with Suffolk.
Cap. And as for these whoseransom we have set,
It is our pleasure one of them depart :-
35 Therefore come you with us, and let him go.
[Exit Captain, with all but the first Gentleman.

Ay, kennel, puddle, sink; whose filth and dirt
I roubles the silver spring where England drinks.
Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth,
For swallowing the treasure of the realm :
Thy lips, that kiss'd the queen, shall sweep the
[death,
And thou, that smil'dst at good duke Humphrey's
Against the senseless winds shall grin in vain,
Who, in contempt, shall hiss at thee again:
And wedded be thou to the hags of hell,
For daring to affy a mighty lord
Unto the daughter of a worthless king,
Having neither subject, wealth, nor diadem.
By devilish policy art thou grown great,
And, like ambitious Sylla, over-gorg'd
With gobbets of thy mother's bleeding heart.
By thee, Anjou and Maine were sold to France:
The false revolting Normans, thorough thee,
Disdain to call us lord; and Picardy
Hath slain their governors, surpriz'd our forts,
And sent the ragged soldiers wounded home.
The princely Warwick, and the Nevils all,-
Whosedreadfulswordswereneverdrawn in vain, - 40
As hating thee, are rising up in arnis: [crown,
And now the house of York-thrust from the
By shameful murder of a guiltless king,
And lofty proud encroaching tyranny,
Burns with revenging fire; whose hopeful colours 45
Advance our half-fac'd sun, striving to shine,
Under the which is writ-Invitis nubibus.
The cominons here in Kent are up in arms:
And, to conclude, reproach, and beggary,
Is crept into the palace of our king,
And all by thee: -Away! convey him hence.

Suf. O that I were a god, to shoot forth thunder
Upon these paltry, servile, abject drudges! [here,
Small things make base men proud: this villain
Being captain of a pinnace', threatens more
Than Bargulus the strong Illyrian pirate.
Drones suck not eagles' blood, but rob bee-hives.

Re-enter Whitmore, with Suffolk's body.
Whit. There let his head and lifeless body lie,
Until the queen his mistress bury it. [Exit Whit
1 Gent. O barbarous and bloody spectacle !
His body will I bear unto the king;
If he revenge it not, yet will his friends;
So will the queen, that living held him dear.

SCENE II.

Another part of Kent.

[Exit.

Enter George Bevis and John Holland. Bevis. Come, and get thee a sword, though made 50 of a lath; they have been up these two days. Hol. They have the more need to sleep now then. Bevis. I tell thee, Jack Cade the clothier means to dress the commonwealth, and turn it, and set a new nap upon it.

55 Hol. So he had need, for 'tis thread-bare. Well, I say, it was never merry world in England, since gentlemen canre up.

1 Meaning, pride assumed before its time. 2 To affy is to betroth in marriage. 3 A pinnace did not anciently signify, as at present, a man of war's boat, but a ship of sınall burthen. + This Bargulus is to be met with in Tully's Offices; and the legend is the famous Theopompus's History. Bargulus Illyrius latro, de quo est apud Theopompum, magnas opes habuit," lib. ii. cap. 11. See note, page 505. i.e. Herennius a centurion, and Popilius Laenas, tribune of the soldiers. 'Brutus was the son of Servilia, a Roman lady, who had been concubine to Julius Cæsar. • The poet seems to have confounded the story of Pompey with some other.