Henry VI, Part 3, page 7
Not for myself, Lord Warwick, but my son,
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Whom I unnaturally shall disinherit.
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But be it as it may. (
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The crown to thee and to thine heirs forever,
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Conditionally, that here thou take an oath
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To cease this civil war and, whilst I live,
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To honor me as thy king and sovereign,
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And neither by treason nor hostility
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To seek to put me down and reign thyself.
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YORK
This oath I willingly take and will perform.
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WARWICK
Long live King Henry! Plantagenet, embrace him.
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KING HENRY,
And long live thou and these thy forward sons!
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YORK
Now York and Lancaster are reconciled.
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EXETER
Accursed be he that seeks to make them foes.
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Sennet. Here they come down.
YORK,
Farewell, my gracious lord. I’ll to my castle.
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WARWICK
And I’ll keep London with my soldiers.
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NORFOLK
And I to Norfolk with my followers.
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MONTAGUE
And I unto the sea, from whence I came.
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Montague, and their Soldiers exit.>
KING HENRY
And I with grief and sorrow to the court.
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Enter Queen
EXETER
Here comes the Queen, whose looks bewray her
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anger.
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I’ll steal away.
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KING HENRY Exeter, so will I.
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QUEEN MARGARET
Nay, go not from me. I will follow thee.
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KING HENRY
Be patient, gentle queen, and I will stay.
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QUEEN MARGARET
Who can be patient in such extremes?
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Ah, wretched man, would I had died a maid
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And never seen thee, never borne thee son,
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Seeing thou hast proved so unnatural a father.
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Hath he deserved to lose his birthright thus?
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Hadst thou but loved him half so well as I,
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Or felt that pain which I did for him once,
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Or nourished him as I did with my blood,
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Thou wouldst have left thy dearest heart-blood
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there,
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Rather than have made that savage duke thine heir
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And disinherited thine only son.
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PRINCE EDWARD
Father, you cannot disinherit me.
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If you be king, why should not I succeed?
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KING HENRY
Pardon me, Margaret.—Pardon me, sweet son.
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The Earl of Warwick and the Duke enforced me.
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QUEEN MARGARET
Enforced thee? Art thou king and wilt be forced?
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I shame to hear thee speak. Ah, timorous wretch,
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Thou hast undone thyself, thy son, and me,
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And giv’n unto the house of York such head
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As thou shalt reign but by their sufferance!
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To entail him and his heirs unto the crown,
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What is it but to make thy sepulcher
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And creep into it far before thy time?
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Warwick is Chancellor and the lord of Callice;
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Stern Falconbridge commands the Narrow Seas;
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The Duke is made Protector of the realm;
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And yet shalt thou be safe? Such safety finds
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The trembling lamb environèd with wolves.
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Had I been there, which am a silly woman,
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The soldiers should have tossed me on their pikes
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Before I would have granted to that act.
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But thou preferr’st thy life before thine honor.
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And seeing thou dost, I here divorce myself
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Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed,
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Until that act of Parliament be repealed
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Whereby my son is disinherited.
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The northern lords that have forsworn thy colors
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Will follow mine if once they see them spread;
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And spread they shall be, to thy foul disgrace
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And utter ruin of the house of York.
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Thus do I leave thee.—Come, son, let’s away.
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Our army is ready. Come, we’ll after them.
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KING HENRY
Stay, gentle Margaret, and hear me speak.
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QUEEN MARGARET
Thou hast spoke too much already. Get thee gone.
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KING HENRY
Gentle son Edward, thou wilt stay
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QUEEN MARGARET
Ay, to be murdered by his enemies!
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PRINCE EDWARD
When I return with victory
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I’ll see your Grace. Till then, I’ll follow her.
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QUEEN MARGARET
Come, son, away. We may not linger thus.
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KING HENRY
Poor queen! How love to me and to her son
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Hath made her break out into terms of rage!
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Revenged may she be on that hateful duke,
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Whose haughty spirit, wingèd with desire,
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Will cost my crown, and like an empty eagle
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Tire on the flesh of me and of my son.
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The loss of those three lords torments my heart.
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I’ll write unto them and entreat them fair.
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Come, cousin, you shall be the messenger.
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EXETER
And I, I hope, shall reconcile them all.
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Flourish.
Enter Richard, Edward, and Montague,
RICHARD
Brother, though I be youngest, give me leave.
1
EDWARD
No, I can better play the orator.
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MONTAGUE
But I have reasons strong and forcible.
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Enter the Duke of York.
YORK
Why, how now, sons and brother, at a strife?
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What is your quarrel? How began it first?
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EDWARD
No quarrel, but a slight contention.
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YORK About what?
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RICHARD
About that which concerns your Grace and us:
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The crown of England, father, which is yours.
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YORK
Mine, boy? Not till King Henry be dead.
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RICHARD
Your right depends not on his life or death.
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EDWARD
Now you are heir; therefore enjoy it now.
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By giving the house of Lancaster leave to breathe,
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It will outrun you, father, in the end.
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YORK
I took an oath that he should quietly reign.
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EDWARD
But for a kingdom any oath may be broken.
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I would break a thousand oaths to reign one year.
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RICHARD
No, God forbid your Grace should be forsworn.
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YORK
I shall be, if I claim by open war.
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RICHARD
I’ll prove the contrary, if you’ll hear me speak.
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YORK
Thou canst not, son; it is impossible.
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RICHARD
An oath is of no moment, being not took
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Before a true and lawful magistrate
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That hath authority over him that swears.
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Henry had none, but did usurp the place.
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Then, seeing ’twas he that made you to depose,
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Your oath, my lord, is vain and frivolous.
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Therefore, to arms! And, father, do but think
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How sweet a thing it is to wear a crown,
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Within whose circuit is Elysium
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And all that poets feign of bliss and joy.
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Why do we linger thus? I cannot rest
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Until the white rose that I wear be dyed
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Even in the lukewarm blood of Henry’s heart.
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YORK
Richard, enough. I will be king or die.—
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Brother, thou shalt to London presently,
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And whet on Warwick to this enterprise.—
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Thou, Richard, shalt to the Duke of Norfolk
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And tell him privily of our intent.—
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You, Edward, shall unto my Lord Cobham,
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With whom the Kentishmen will willingly rise;
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In them I trust, for they are soldiers
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Witty, courteous, liberal, full of spirit.
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While you are thus employed, what resteth more
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But that I seek occasion how to rise,
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And yet the King not privy to my drift,
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Nor any of the house of Lancaster.
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Enter
But stay, what news? Why com’st thou in such post?
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MESSENGER
The Queen with all the northern earls and lords
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Intend here to besiege you in your castle.
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She is hard by with twenty thousand men.
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And therefore fortify your hold, my lord.
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YORK
Ay, with my sword. What, think’st thou that we fear
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them?—
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Edward and Richard, you shall stay with me;
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My brother Montague shall post to London.
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Let noble Warwick, Cobham, and the rest,
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Whom we have left Protectors of the King,
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With powerful policy strengthen themselves
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And trust not simple Henry nor his oaths.
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MONTAGUE
Brother, I go. I’ll win them, fear it not.
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And thus most humbly I do take my leave.
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Montague exits.
Enter
YORK
Sir John and Sir Hugh Mortimer, mine uncles,
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You are come to Sandal in a happy hour.
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The army of the Queen mean to besiege us.
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SIR JOHN
She shall not need; we’ll meet her in the field.
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YORK What, with five thousand men?
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RICHARD
Ay, with five hundred, father, for a need.
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A woman’s general; what should we fear?
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A march afar off.
EDWARD
I hear their drums. Let’s set our men in order,
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And issue forth and bid them battle straight.
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YORK
Five men to twenty: though the odds be great,
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I doubt not, uncle, of our victory.
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Many a battle have I won in France
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Whenas the enemy hath been ten to one.
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Why should I not now have the like success?
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Alarum.
Enter Rutland and his Tutor.
RUTLAND
Ah, whither shall I fly to scape their hands?
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Enter Clifford
Ah, tutor, look where bloody Clifford comes.
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CLIFFORD
Chaplain, away. Thy priesthood saves thy life.
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As for the brat of this accursèd duke,
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Whose father slew my father, he shall die.
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TUTOR
And I, my lord, will bear him company.
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CLIFFORD
Soldiers, away with him.
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TUTOR
Ah, Clifford, murder not this innocent child,
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Lest thou be hated both of God and man.
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He exits,
CLIFFORD,
How now? Is he dead already? Or is it fear
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That makes him close his eyes? I’ll open them.
