1 Murd. What we will do, we do upon com2 Murd. And he that hath commanded is our king.
Clar. O, do not slander him, for he is kind.
1 Murd. Right, as snow in harvest.-Come,
you deceive yourself;
'Tis he that sends us to destroy you here.
Clar. It cannot be; for he bewept my fortune, And hugg'd me in his arms, and swore with sobs, 15 That he would labour my delivery.
Clar. Erroneous vassal! the great King of kings
Hath in the table of his law commanded,
That thou shalt do no murder; wilt thou then
Spurn at his edict, and fulfil a man's?
Take heed; for he holds vengeance in his hand, 20|
To hurl upon their heads that break his law.
2 Murd. And that same vengeance doth he
huri on thee,
For false forswearing, and for murder too:
Thou didst receive the sacrament to fight
In quarrel of the house of Lancaster.
1 Murd. And, like a traitor to the name of
God,
[blade,
Didst break that vow; and, with thy treacherous
Unripp'dst the bowels of thy sovereign's son.
2 Murd. Whom thou wast sworn to cherish
and defend
[law to us,
1 Murd. How canst thou urge God's dreadful
When thou hast broke it in such dear degree?
Clar. Alas! for whose sake did I that ill deed
For Edward, for my brother, for his sake;
He sends you not to murder me for this:
For in that sin he is as deep as I.
If God will be avenged for the deed,
O, know you yet, he doth it publicly:
Take not the quarrel from his powerful arm;
He needs no indirect nor lawless course,
To cut off those that have offended him. [ster,
1 Murd. Who made thee then a bloody inini-
When gallant-springing, brave Plantagenet,
That princely novice, was struck dead by thee?
Cla. My brother's love, the devil, and my rage.
Murd. Thy brother's love, our duty, and thy
fault,
Provoke us hither now to slaughter thee.
Clar. If you do love my brother, hate not me;
I am his brother, and I love him well.
If you are hir'd for meed, go back again,
And I will send you to my brother Gloster;
Who shall reward you better for my life,
Than Edward will for tidings of my death.
2 Murd. You are deceiv'd, your brother Gloster
hates you.
Cla. Oh, no; he loves mé, and he holds me Go you to him from me.
1 Murd. Why, so he doth, when he delivers you From this earth's thraldom to the joys of heaven. 2 Murd. Make peace with God, for you must die, my lord.
Clar. Hast thou that holy feeling in thy soul,
To counsel me to make my peace with God,
And art thou yet to thy own soul so blind,
That thou wilt war with God by murdering me?—
O, sirs, consider, he that sets you on
25 To do this deed, will hate you for the deed.
2 Murd. What shall we do?
Clar. Relent, and save your souls.
Which of you, if you were a prince's son,
Being pent from liberty, as I am now,
If two such murderers as yourselves came to you-
Would not intreat for life? as you would beg,
Were you in my distress,
1 Murd. Relent! 'tis cowardly, and womanish. Clar. Not to relent, is beastly,savage,devilish.— My friend, I spy some pity in thy looks;
O, if thine eye be not a flatterer,
Come thou on my side, and entreat for me:
A begging prince what beggar pities not?
2 Murd. Look behind you, my lord.
1 Murd. Take that, and that; if all this will
not serve,
[Stabs him.
I'll drown you in the malmsey-butt within. [Exit.
2 Murd. A bloody deed, and desp'rately dis-
How fain, like Pilate, would I wash my hands
Of this most_grievous guilty murder done!
Re-enter first Murderer.
1 Murd. How now? what mean'st thou, that
thou help'st me not?
[been.
50 By heaven, the duke shall know how slack you've
2 Murd. I would he knew that I had sav'd his
brother!
i. e. blooming Plantagenet, a prince in the spring of life.
Enter King Edward sick, the Queen, Dorset, Ri-
vers, Hastings, Buckingham, Grey, and others.
K. Edw. WHY, so:—now have I done a good
day's work;-
You peers, continue this united league:
I every day expect an embassage
From my Redeemer to redeem me hence;
And now in peace my soul shall part to heaven,
Since I have made my friends at peace on earth.
Rivers, and Hastings, take each other's hand;
Dissemble not your hatred, swear your love.
Riv. By heaven, my soul is purg'd from grudg-15
ing hate;
And with my hand I seal my true heart's love.
Hast. So thrive I, as I truly swear the like!
K. Edw. Take heed, you dally not before your
king;
Lest He, that is the supreme King of kings,
Confound your hidden falsehood, and award
Either of you to be the other's end.
Hast. So prosper I, as I swear perfect love.
Riv. And I, as I love Hastings with my heart!
K. Edw. Madam, yourself are not exempt in
this,-
Buck. And, in good time, here comes the noble
[duke
Glo. Good-morrow to my sovereign king and
And, princely peers, a happy time of day! [queen;
K. Edw. Happy, indeed, as we have spent the
Brother, we have done deeds of charity; [day :-
Made peace of enmity, fair love of hate,
Between these swelling wrong-incensed peers.
Glo. A blessed labour,iny most sovereign liege.—
10Among this princely heap, if any here,
By false intelligence, or wrong surmise,
Hold me a foe; if I unwittingly
Have aught committed that is hardly borne
By any in this presence, I desire
To reconcile me to his friendly peace :
Tis death to me, to be at enmity;
I hate it, and desire all good men's love.—
First, madam, entreat true peace of you,
Which I will purchase with my duteous service;-
20Of you, my noble cousin Buckingham,
Nor your son Dorset,-Buckingham, nor you;-
You have been factious one against the other.
Wife, love lord Hastings, let him kiss your hand;30
And what you do, do it unfeignedly. [remember
Queen. There, Hastings;-I will never more
Our former hatred, so thrive I, and mine!
K.Edw. Dorset, embrace him ;-Hastings, love!
lord marquis.
Dor. This interchange of love, I here protest,
Upon my part, shall be inviolable.
K. Edw. Now, princely Buckingham, seal thou
With thy embracements to my wife's allies,
And make me happy in your unity.
Buck. Whenever Buckingham doth turn his hate
Upon your grace, but with all duteous love
[To the Queen.
Doth cherish you, and yours, God punish me
With hate in those where I expect most love!
When I have most need to employ a friend,
And most assured that he is a friend,
Deep, hollow, treacherous, and full of guile,
Be he unto me! This do I beg of heaven,
When I am cold in love, to you, or yours.
[Embracing Rivers, &c.
K. Ed. A pleasing cordial, princely Bucking-
Is this thy vow unto my sickly heart. [ham,
There wanteth now our brother Gloster here,
To make the blessed period of this peace.
If ever any grudge were lodg'd between us;-
Of you, lord Rivers,—and, lord Grey, of
you,
That all without desert have frown'd on me;—
Of you, lordWoodville,--and, lord Scales, of you,--
Dukes, earls, lords, gentlemen; indeed, of all.
I do not know that Englishman alive,
With whom my soul is any jot at odds,
More than the infant that is born to-night;
thank my God for ny humility.
2ucen. Aholy-day this shall be kept hereafter:would to God,all Strifes were well compounded.-My sovereign lord, I do beseech your highness To take our brother Clarence to your grace.
Glo. Why, madam, have I offer'd love for this,
35 To be so flouted in this royal presence?
Who knows not, that the gentle duke is dead?
[They all start.
You do him injury, to scorn his corse. [he is?
K. Edre. Who knows uct, he is dead! who knows
Queen. All-seeing heaven, what a world is this!
Buck. Look I so pale, Ford Dorset, as the rest?
Dr. Ay, my good lord; and no man in the
This alludes to a proverbial expression, that "Ill news hath wings, and with the wind doth "Comfort's a cripple, and comes ever slow."
K. Edw. I pr'ythee, peace; my soul is full off
Stan. I will not rise, unless your highness hear me.
K. Edw. Then say at once, what is it thou re-
quest'st.
Stan. The forfeit, sovereign, of my servant's life;
Who slew to-day a riotous gentleman,
Lately attendant on the duke of Norfolk.
K. Ed. Have I a tongue to doom my bro-
ther's death,
As loth to lose him; not your father's death;
It were lost sorrow, to wail one that's lost,
Son. Then,grandam, you conclude that he is dead.
The king mine uncle is to blame for this:
God will revenge it; who.n I will importune
With earnest prayers, all to that effect.
Daugh. And so will I. [love you well: 10 Dutch. Peace, children, peace! the king doth Incapable and shallow innocents,
And shall that tongue give pardon to a slave?
My brother kill'd no man, his fault was thought,
And yet his punishment was bitter death.
Who su'd to me for him? who, in my wrath,
Kacel'd at my feet, and bid me be advis'd?
Who spoke of brotherhood? who spoke of love?
Who told me, how the poor soul did forsake
The mighty Warwick, and did fight for me?
Who told me, in the field at Tewksbury,
When Oxford had me down, he rescu'd me,
And said, Dear brother, five, and be a king?
Who told me, when we both lay in the field,
Frozen almost to death, how he did lap me
Een in his garments; and did give himself,
All thin and naked, to the numb-cold night?
All this from my remembrance brutish wrath
Sinfully pluck'd, and not a man of you
Had so much grace to put it in my mind.
But, when your carters, or your waiting vassals,
Have done a drunken slaughter, and defac'd
The precious image of our dear Redeemer,
You straight are on your knees for pardon, pardon;
And I, unjustly too, must grant it you:-
But for my brother not a man would speak,-
Nor I (ungracious) speak unto myself
For him, poor soul.-The proudest of you all
Hath been beholden to him in his life;
Yet none of you would once plead for his life.--
O God! I fear, thy justice will take hold
On me, and you, and mine, and yours, for this.-40
Come, Hastings, help me to my closet. Oh,
Poor Clarence! [Exeunt King and Queen, Hast-
ings, Rivers, Dorset, and Grey.
Glo. These are the fruits of rashness-Mark"
you not,
How that the guilty kindred of the queen [death?
Look'd pale, when they did hear of Clarence'
Of they did urge it still unto the king:
God will revenge it. Come, lords; will you go,
To comfort Edward with our company?
Buck. We wait upon your grace.
You cannot guess who caus'd your father's death.
Son. Grandam,we can: for my good uncle Gloster
Told me, the king, provok'd to 't by the queen,
Devis'd impeachments to imprison hin:
And when my uncle told me so, he wept,
And pitied me, and kindly kiss'd my cheek;
Bade me rely on him, as on my father,
And he would love me dearly as his child.
Dutch. Ah, that deceit should steal such gentle
shapes,
And with a virtuous vizor hide deep vice!
He is my son, ay, and therein my shame,
Yet from my dugs he drew not this deceit.
Son. Think you, my uncle did dissemble, gran-
Dutch. Ay, boy.
[dam? Son. I cannot think it. Hark! what noise is this? Enter the Queen, distractedly; Rivers, and Dorset, after her.
Queen. Ah! who shall hinder me to wail and
weep?
To chide my fortune, and torment myself?
I'll join with black despair against my soul,
And to myself become an enemy.-
Dutch. What means this scene of rude impa-
Queen. To make an act of tragic violence:-
Edward, my lord, thy son, our king, is dead.—
Why grow the branches, when the root is gone?
Why wither not the leaves, that want their sap?-
If you will live, lament; if die, be brief;
That our swift-winged souls may catch the king's;
Or, like obedient subjects, follow him
To his new kingdom of perpetual rest.
Dutch. Ah,so much interest have I in thy sorrow,
45 As I had title in thy noble husband!
I have bewept a worthy husband's death,
And liv'd by looking on his images:
But now, two mirrors of his princely semblance
Are crack'd in pieces by malignant death;
50 And I for comfort have but one false glass,
Enter the Dutchess of York, with the two children 55
of Clarence.
Son. Good grandam, tell us, is our father dead?
Dutch. No, boy.
[breast?
Daugh. Why do you weep so oft? and beat your
And cry,-O Clarence, my unhappy son! [head, 60
Son. Why do you look on us, and shake your
And call us,-orphans, wretches, cast-aways,
If that our noble father be alive?
That grieves me when I see my shame in him.
Thou art a widow; yet thou art a mother,
And hast the comfort of thy children left thee:
Butdeathhath snatch'dmyhusbandfromminearms,
And pluck'd two crutches from my feeble hands,
Clarence, and Edward. O, what cause have I
(Thine being but a moiety of my grief)
To over-go thy plaints, and drown thy cries!
Son. Ah, aunt! [To the Queen.] you wept not
for our father's death;
How can we aid you with our kindred tears?
Daugh. Our fatherless distress was left unmoan'd,
Your widow dolours likewise be unwept!
! He means the remission of the forfeit.
KING
Queen. Give me no help in lamentation,
am not barren to bring forth laments:
All springs reduce their currents to mine eyes,
That I, being govern'd by the watry moon,
May send forth plenteous tears to drown the world!
Ah, for my husband, for my dear lord Edward!
Chil. Ah, for our father, for our dear lord Cla-
[Clarence!
rence!
Dutch. Alas, for both, both mine, Edward and
The broken rancour of your high-swoln hearts,
But lately splinter'd, knit and join'd together,
Must gently be preserv'd, cherish'd, and kept:
Forthwithfrom Ludlow the youngprincebefetch'd
Me seemeth good, that, with some little train,
Hither to London, to be crown'd our king.
Rio. Why with some little train, my lord of
Buckingham?
Buck. Marry, my lord, lest, by a multitude,
Queen. What stay had I, but Edward? and he's 10 The new-heal'd wound of malice should break out:
Chil. What stay had we, but Clarence? and he's
Dutch. What stays had I, but they? and they
Queen. Was never widow, had so dear a loss.
Chil. Were never orphans, had so dear a loss.
Dutch. Was never mother, had so dear a loss.
Alas! I am the mother of these griefs;
Their woes are parcell'd, mine are general.
She for an Edward weeps, and so do I;
I for a Clarence weep, so doth not she:
These babes for Clarence weep, and so do I;
I for an Edward weep, so do not they :-
Alas! you three, on me, threefold distress'd,
Pour all your tears; I am your sorrow's nurse,
And I will pamper it with lamentations.
Dor. Comfort, dear mother; God is much
displeas'd,
Which would be so much the more dangerous,
Byhowmuchtheestateisgreen, and yet ungovern'd:
Where every horse bears his conimmanding rein,
15 As well the fear of harm, as harm apparent,
And may direct his course as please himself:
In my opinion, ought to be prevented.
Glo. I hope, the king made peace with all of us;
And the compact is firm, and true in me.
Riv. And so in me; and so, I think, in all:
20 Yet, since it is but green, it should be put
To no apparent likelihood of breach,
Which, haply, by much company might be urg'd:
Therefore, I say, with noble Buckingham,
That it is meet so few should fetch the prince.
Hast. And so say I.
That you take with unthankfulness his doing:
In common worldly things, 'tis call'd-ungrateful,|30|
With dull unwillingness to pay a debt,
Which with a bounteous hand was kindly lent;
Much more, to be thus opposite with heaven,
For it requires the royal debt it lent you. [ther,
Riv. Madam, bethink you, like a careful mo-35
Of the young prince your son: send straight for
him,
Let him be crown'd: in him your comfort lives:
Drown desp'rate sorrow in dead Edward's
And plant your joys in living Edward's throne. 40
grave,
Enter Gloster, Buckingham, Stanley, Hastings,
and Ratcliff.
Glo. Sister, have comfort: all of us have cause
To wail the dimming of our shining star;
But none can cure their harms by wailing them.-45
Madam, my mother, I do cry you mercy,
I did not see your grace :-Huinbly on my knee
I crave your blessing.
Dutch. God bless thee; and put meekness in
[thy breast,
Love, charity, obedience, and true duty!
Glo.Amen; and make me die a good old man!-
That is the butt-end of a mother's blessing![Aside.
I marvel, that her grace did leave it out.
Buck. You cloudy princes, and heart-sorrowing
That bear this nutual heavy load of moan,
Now chear each other in each other's love:
Though we have spent our harvest of this king,
are to reap the harvest of his son.
Glo. Then be it so: and go we to determine
Who theyshallbe that straight shall post to Ludlow.
Madam,-and you my inother, will you go
To give your censures in this weighty business?
[Exeunt Queen, &c.
Manent Buckingham, and Gloster.
Buck. My lord, whoever journeys to the prince,
For, by the way, I'll sort occasion,
For God's sake, let not us two stay at home:
As index' to the story we late talk'd of,
Topart the queen's proud kindred from the prince.
Glo. My other self, my counsel's consistory,
My oracle, my prophet!-My dear cousin,
Towards Ludlow then, for we'll not stay behind.
, as a child, will go by thy direction.
[Exeunt.
SCENE III.
A Street near the Court.
Enter two Citizens, meeting.
Good morrow, neighbour: Whither away so fast?
2 Cit. I promise you, I hardly know myself: Hear you the news abroad?
1 Cit. Yes, that the king is dead.
2 Cit. Ill news, by'r lady: seldom comes a I fear, I fear, 'twill prove a giddy world.
3 Cit. Neighbours, God speed'
1 Cit. Give you good morrow, sir.
3 Cit. Doth the news hold of good king Edward's
[death?
2 Cit. Ay, sir, it is too true; God help, the while!
3Cit. Then,masters, lookto see a troublousworld.
1 Edward the young prince, in his father's life-time, and at his demise, kept his household at Ludlow, as prince of Wales, under the governance of Anthony Woodville, earl of Rivers, his uncle by the mother's side. The intention of his being sent thither was to see justice done in the Marches; and, by the authority of his presence, to restrain the Welchmen, who were wild, dissolute, and ill-disposed, from their ccustomed murders and outrages. i. e. your opinions. i. e. preparatory-by 1 Cit
1 Cit. No, no; by God's good grace, his son
shall reign.
[child!
3 Cit. Woe to that land, that's govern'd by a
2 C. In him there is a hope of government;
That, in his nonage, council under him,
And, in his full and ripen'd years, himself,
No doubt, shall then, and till then, govern well.
1 Cit. So stood the state, when Henry the sixth
Was crown'd in Paris but at nine months old.
Because sweet flowers are slow, and weeds make haste.
[not hold Dutch. Good faith, good faith, the saying did In him that did object the same to thee: [young, 5 He was the wretched'st thing, when he was So long a growing, and so leisurely,
3 Cut. Stood the state so? no, no, good friends, 10
God wot;
For then this land was famously enrich'd
With politick grave counsel; then the king
Had virtuous uncles to protect his grace. [mother.
1 Cit. Why, so hath this, both by his father and 15
3 Cit. Better it were, they all came by his father;
Or, by his father, there were none at all:
For emulation now, who shall be nearest,
Will touch us all too near, if God prevent not.
O, full of danger is the duke of Gloster; [proud: 20
And the queen's sons, and brothers, haught and
And were they to be rul'd and not to rule,
This sickly land might solace as before.
1 Cit. Come, come, we fear the worst; all will
be well.
[their cloaks; 25
3 Cit. When clouds are seen, wise men put on
When great leaves fall, then winter is at hand;
When the sun sets, who doth not look for night?
Untimely storms make men expect a dearth:
All may be well; but, if God sort it so,
'Tis more than we deserve, or I expect.
2 Cit. Truly, the hearts of men are full of fear:
You cannot reason almost with a man
That looks not heavily, and full of dread.
3 Cit. Before the days of change, still is it so: 35 By a divine instinct, men's minds mistrust Ensuing danger; as, by proof, we see The water swell before a boist'rous storm. But leave it all to God. Whither away? 2 Cit. Marry, we were sent for to the justices. 3 Cit. And so was I; I'll bear you company.
A Room in the Palace.
Enter Archbishop of York, the young Duke of York,
the Queen, and the Dutchess of York.
Arch. Last night, I heard, they lay at Northamp-
At Stony-Stratford they do rest to-night: [ton!
To-morrow, or next day, they will be here.
Dutch. I long with all my heart to see the prince:
I hope, he is much grown since last I saw him.
Queen. But I hear, no; they say, my son of York
Has almost overta'en him in his growth.
York. Ay, mother, but I would not have it so.
Dutch. Why, my young cousin? it is good to grow.
York. Grandam, one night as we did sit at supper,
My uncle Rivers talk'd how I did grow
More than my brother; Ay, quoth my uncle Glos-
Small herbs have grace, great weeds do grow apace:
And since, methinks, I would not grow so fast,
That, if his rule were true, he should be gracious. Arch. And so, no doubt, he is, my gracious madam.
Dutch. I hope, he is; but yet let mothers doubt. York. Now, by my troth, if I had been remember'd,
could have given my uncle's grace a flout,
To touch his growth, nearer than he touch'd mine.
Dutch. How, my young York? I pr'ythee, let
me hear it.
York. Marry, they say, my uncle grew so fast,
That he could gnaw a crust at two years old;
'Twas full two years ere I could get a tooth.
Grandam, this would have been a biting jest.
Dutch. I pr'ythee, pretty York, who told thee
York. Grandam, his nurse.
Dutch. His nurse! why, she was dead ere thou
[me.
York. If 'twere not she, I cannot tell who told
Queen. A parlous' boy:-Go to, you are too
shrewd.
[child.
Dutch. Good madam, be not angry with the
Queen. Pitchers have ears.
Mes. Lord Rivers, and lord Grey,
Are sent to Pomfret, prisoners; and, with them,
Sir Thomas Vaughan.
Dutch. Who hath committed them?
Mes. The mighty dukes, Gloster and Bucking-
Queen. For what offence?
Mes. The sum of all I can, I have disclos'd;
Why, or for what, the nobles were committed,
Is all unknown to me, my gracious lady.
45 Queen. Ah me, I see the ruin of my house!
The tyger now hath seiz'd the gentle hind;
Insulting tyranny begins to jut
Upon the innocent and awless throne :---
Welcome destruction, blood, and massacre!
50I see, as in a map, the end of all.
Dutch. Accursed and unquiet wrangling days!
How many of you have mine eyes beheld?
My husband lost his life to get the crown;
And often up and down my sons were tost,
55 For me to joy, and weep, their gain, and loss:
And being seated, and domestick broils
Clean over-blown, themselves, the conquerors,
Make war upon themselves; brother to brother,
Blood to blood, self against self:-O, preposterous
And frantick outrage, end thy damned spleen;
Or let me die, to look on death no more!
Wretched here means paltry, pitiful, being below expectation. To be remembered is used by Shakspeare to imply, to have one's memory quick, to have one's thoughts about one. is keen, shrewd. i. e. not producing awe, not reverenced. To jut upon is to encroach.
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