Rich. Speak thou for me, and tell them what I did.1 [Throwing down the DUKE of SOMERSET'S head. * York. Richard hath best deserved of all my sons. What, is your grace dead, my lord of Somerset ? Norf. Such hope have all the line of John of Gaunt! Rich. Thus do I hope to shake king Henry's head. War. And so do I. - Victorious prince of York, Before I see thee seated in that throne Which now the house of Lancaster usurps, York. Assist me then, sweet Warwick, and I will; lords ; ' And, soldiers, stay, and lodge by me this night. War. And, when the king comes, offer him no violence, [They retire. ، Unless he seek to thrust you out by force. * York. The queen, this day, here holds her parliament, * But little thinks we shall be of her council. Unless Plantagenet, duke of York, be king; 1 Shakspeare was also led into this anachronism by the old plays. At the time of the first battle of St. Albans, where Richard is represented to have fought in the last scene of the preceding play, he was not one year old; having been born at Fotheringay castle, October 21, 1454. At the time to which the third scene of the present act refers, he was but six years old; and in the fifth act, in which Henry is represented as having been killed by him in the Tower, not more than sixteen and eight months. 1 Hawks had sometimes little bells hung on them, perhaps to dare the birds; that is, to fright them from rising. 'York. Then leave me not, my lords; be resolute; I mean to take possession of my right. War. Neither the king, nor he that loves him best, [WARWICK leads YORK to the throne, Flourish. Enter KING HENRY, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBERLAND, WESTMORELAND, EXETER, and others, with red roses in their hats. K. Hen. My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits, Even in the chair of state! Belike, he means revenge On him, his sons, his favorites, and his friends. North. If I be not, Heavens, be revenged on me! steel. ، West. What, shall we suffer this? Let's pluck him down; My heart for anger burns; I cannot brook it. K. Hen. Be patient, gentle earl of Westmoreland. He durst not sit there had your father lived. North. Well hast thou spoken, cousin; be it so. And they have troops of soldiers at their beck? 1 1 : K. Hen. Far be the thought of this from Henry's heart, To make a shambles of the parliament-house! Shall be the war that Henry means to use. [They advance to the Duke. Thou factious duke of York, descend my throne, Thou art deceived ; I am thine. Exe. For shame, come down; he made thee duke York. 'Twas my inheritance, as the earldom was.1 War. Exeter, thou art a traitor to the crown, In following this usurping Henry. Clif. Whom should he follow, but his natural king? York. K. Hen. And shall I stand, and thou sit in my throne? 'York. It must and shall be so. Content thyself. War. Be duke of Lancaster; let him be king. West. He is both king and duke of Lancaster ; And that the lord of Westmoreland shall maintain. War. And Warwick shall disprove it. You forget, That we are those, which chased you from the field, And slew your fathers, and with colors spread Marched through the city to the palace gates. North. Yes, Warwick, I remember it to my grief; And, by his soul, thou and thy house shall rue it. West. Plantagenet, of thee, and these thy sons, Thy kinsmen, and thy friends, I'll have more lives, Than drops of blood were in my father's veins. Clif. Urge it no more; lest that, instead of words, 1 The old play reads "as the kingdom is." Why Shakspeare altered it, it is not easy to say; for the new line only exhibits the same meaning more obscurely. York means that the dukedom was his inheritance from his father, as the earldom of March was his inheritance from his mother. His title to the crown was not as duke of York, but as earl of March, and by naming that he covertly asserts his right to the crown. I send thee, Warwick, such a messenger, War. Poor Clifford! how I scorn his worthless York. Will you, we show our title to the crown? • If not, our swords shall plead it in the field. K. Hen. What title hast thou, traitor, to the crown? Thy father was, as thou art, duke of York;1 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. War. Talk not of France, sith thou hast lost it all. K. Hen. The lord protector lost it, and not I; When I was crowned, I was but nine months old. Rich. You are old enough now, and yet, methinks, you lose. Father, tear the crown from the usurper's head. Edw. Sweet father, do so; set it on your head. Mont. Good brother, [To YORK.] as thou lov'st and honor'st arms, Let's fight it out, and not stand cavilling thus. Rich. Sound drums and trumpets, and the king will fly. York. Sons, peace! K. Hen. Peace thou! and give king Henry leave to speak. War. Plantagenet shall speak first.-Hear him, lords; And be you silent and attentive too, For he that interrupts him shall not live. K. Hen. 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; and their colors often borne in in France, 1 Another mistake of the author of the old play. York's father was earl of Cambridge, and was beheaded in the lifetime of his elder brother, Edward duke of York. 2 Since. A contraction of sithence. And now in England, to our heart's great sorrowShall be my winding-sheet.-Why faint you, lords? 'My title's good, and better far than his. War. But prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king. K. Hen. Henry the Fourth by conquest got the crown. York. 'Twas by rebellion against his king. K. Hen. I know not what to say; my title's weak. Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir? York. What then? K. Hen. An if he may, then am I lawful king. • For Richard, in the view of many lords, Resigned 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. War. Suppose, my lords, he did it unconstrained, Think you 'twere prejudicial to his crown? 1 Exe. No; for he could not so resign his crown, But that the next heir should succeed and reign. K. Hen. Art thou against us, duke of Exeter? Exe. His is the right, and therefore pardon me. York. Why whisper you, my lords, and answer not? Exe. My conscience tells me he is lawful king. K. Hen. All will revolt from me, and turn to him. North. Plantagenet, for all the claim thou lay'st Think not, that Henry shall be so deposed. War. Deposed he shall be, in despite of all. North. Thou art deceived. 'Tis not thy southern power, ، Of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, nor of Kent, Clif. King Henry, be thy title right or wrong, 1 i. e. detrimental to the general rights of hereditary royalty. |