Текст книги "William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition"

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Exeunt severally

5.2 ⌈An alehouse sign: a castle.⌉ Alarums to the battle. Then enter the Duke of Somerset and Richard fighting. Richard kills Somerset ⌈under the sign⌉

RICHARD So lie thou there—

For underneath an alehouse’ paltry sign,

The Castle in Saint Albans, Somerset

Hath made the wizard famous in his death.

Sword, hold thy temper; heart, be wrathfull still—

Priests pray for enemies, but princes kill.

Exit ⌈with Somerset’s body. The sign is removed⌉

5.3 ⌈Alarum again.⌉ Enter the Earl of Warwick

WARWICK

Clifford of Cumberland, ’tis Warwick calls!

An if thou dost not hide thee from the bear,

Now, when the angry trumpet sounds alarum,

And dead men’s cries do fill the empty air,

Clifford I say, come forth and fight with me!

Proud northern lord, Clifford of Cumberland,

Warwick is hoarse with calling thee to arms!

CLIFFORD (Within)

Warwick, stand still; and stir not till I come.

Enter the Duke of York

WARWICK

How now, my noble lord? What, all afoot?

YORK

The deadly-handed Clifford slew my steed.

But match to match I have encountered him,

And made a prey for carrion kites and crows

Even of the bonny beast he loved so well.

Enter Lord Clifford

WARWICK (to Clifford)

Of one or both of us the time is come.

YORK

Hold, Warwick—seek thee out some other chase,

For I myself must hunt this deer to death.

WARWICK

Then nobly, York; ‘tis for a crown thou fight’st.

(To Clifford) As I intend, Clifford, to thrive today,

It grieves my soul to leave thee unassailed. Exit

YORK

Clifford, since we are singled here alone,

Be this the day of doom to one of us.

For know my heart hath sworn immortal hate

To thee and all the house of Lancaster.

CLIFFORD

And here I stand and pitch my foot to thine,

Vowing not to stir till thou or I be slain.

For never shall my heart be safe at rest

Till I have spoiled the hateful house of York.

Alarums. They fight. York kills Clifford

YORK

Now, Lancaster, sit sure—thy sinews shrink.

Come, fearful Henry, grovelling on thy face—

Yield up thy crown unto the prince of York. Exit

Alarums, then enter Young Clifford

YOUNG CLIFFORD

Shame and confusion, all is on the rout!

Fear frames disorder, and disorder wounds

Where it should guard. O, war, thou son of hell,

Whom angry heavens do make their minister,

Throw in the frozen bosoms of our part

Hot coals of vengeance! Let no soldier fly!

He that is truly dedicate to war

Hath no self-love; nor he that loves himself

Hath not essentially, but by circumstance,

The name of valour.

He sees his father’s body

O, let the vile world end,

And the premised flames of the last day

Knit earth and heaven together.

Now let the general trumpet blow his blast,

Particularities and petty sounds

To cease! Wast thou ordained, dear father,

To lose thy youth in peace, and to achieve

The silver livery of advised age,

And in thy reverence and thy chair-days, thus

To die in ruffian battle? Even at this sight

My heart is turned to stone, and while ’tis mine

It shall be stony. York not our old men spares;

No more will I their babes. Tears virginal

Shall be to me even as the dew to fire,

And beauty that the tyrant oft reclaims

Shall to my flaming wrath be oil and flax.

Henceforth I will not have to do with pity.

Meet I an infant of the house of York,

Into as many gobbets will I cut it

As wild Medea young Absyrtus did.

In cruelty will I seek out my fame.

Come, thou new ruin of old Clifford’s house,

He takes his father’s body up on his back

As did Aeneas old Anchises bear,

So bear I thee upon my manly shoulders.

But then Aeneas bare a living load,

Nothing so heavy as these woes of mine.

Exit with the body

5.4 ⌈Alarums again. Then enter three or four bearing the Duke of Buckingham wounded to his tent.⌉ Alarums still. Enter King Henry, Queen Margaret, and others

QUEEN MARGARET

Away, my lord! You are slow. For shame, away!

KING HENRY

Can we outrun the heavens? Good Margaret, stay.

QUEEN MARGARET

What are you made of? You’ll nor fight nor fly.

Now is it manhood, wisdom, and defence,

To give the enemy way, and to secure us

By what we can, which can no more but fly.

Alarum afar off

If you be ta’en, we then should see the bottom

Of all our fortunes; but if we haply scape—

As well we may if not through your neglect—

We shall to London get where you are loved,

And where this breach now in our fortunes made

May readily be stopped.

Enter Young Clifford

YOUNG CLIFFORD (to King Henry)

But that my heart’s on future mischief set,

I would speak blasphemy ere bid you fly;

But fly you must; uncurable discomfit

Reigns in the hearts of all our present parts.

Away for your relief, and we will live

To see their day and them our fortune give.

Away, my lord, away! Exeunt

5.5 Alarum. Retreat. Enter the Duke of York, his sons Edward and Richard, and soldiers, including a drummer and some bearing colours

YORK (to Edward and Richard)

How now, boys! Fortunate this fight hath been,

I hope, to us and ours for England’s good

And our great honour, that so long we lost

Whilst faint-heart Henry did usurp our rights.

Of Salisbury, who can report of him?

That winter lion who in rage forgets

Aged contusions and all brush of time,

And, like a gallant in the brow of youth,

Repairs him with occasion. This happy day

Is not itself, nor have we won one foot

If Salisbury be lost.

RICHARD My noble father,

Three times today I holp him to his horse;

Three times bestrid him; thrice I led him off,

Persuaded him from any further act;

But still where danger was, still there I met him,

And like rich hangings in a homely house,

So was his will in his old feeble body.

Enter the Earls of Salisbury and Warwick

EDWARD (to York)

See, noble father, where they both do come—

The only props unto the house of York!

SALISBURY

Now, by my sword, well hast thou fought today;

By th’ mass, so did we all. I thank you, Richard.

God knows how long it is I have to live,

And it hath pleased him that three times today

You have defended me from imminent death.

Well, lords, we have not got that which we have—

’Tis not enough our foes are this time fled,

Being opposites of such repairing nature.

YORK

I know our safety is to follow them,

For, as I hear, the King is fled to London,

To call a present court of Parliament.

Let us pursue him ere the writs go forth.

What says Lord Warwick, shall we after them?

WARWICK

After them? Nay, before them if we can!

Now by my hand, lords, ’twas a glorious day!

Saint Albans battle won by famous York

Shall be eternized in all age to come.

Sound drums and trumpets, and to London all,

And more such days as these to us befall!

⌈Flourish.⌉ Exeunt

ADDITIONAL PASSAGES

A. We adopt the 1594 Quarto version of the Queen’s initial speech, 1.1.24—9; the Folio version, which follows, is probably the author’s original draft.

QUEEN MARGARET

Great King of England, and my gracious lord,

The mutual conference that my mind hath had—

By day, by night; waking, and in my dreams;

In courtly company, or at my beads—

With you, mine alder liefest sovereign,

Makes me the bolder to salute my king

With ruder terms, such as my wit affords

And overjoy of heart doth minister.

B. For 1.4.39―40.2 the Quarto substitutes the following; it may report a revision made in rehearsal to cover the Spirit’s descent.

The Spirit sinks down again

BOLINGBROKE

Then down, I say, unto the damned pool

Where Pluto in his fiery wagon sits

Riding, amidst the singed and parched smokes,

The road of Ditis by the River Styx.

There howl and burn for ever in those flames.

Rise, Jordan, rise, and stay thy charming spells—

Zounds, we are betrayed!

C. The entire debate on Duke Humphrey’s death in 3. 1

is handled differently by the Quarto from the Folio. We

retain the Folio version of the debate, but the Quarto

version may represent authorial revision. The following

Q lines, roughly corresponding to 3.1.310―30.1, are of

particular interest because they supply Buckingham with

speeches for this latter part of the scene.

[YORK]

Let me have some bands of chosen soldiers,

And York shall try his fortune ‘gainst those kerns.

QUEEN MARGARET

York, thou shalt. My lord of Buckingham,

Let it be your charge to muster up such soldiers

As shall suffice him in these needful wars.

BUCKINGHAM

Madam, I will, and levy such a band

As soon shall overcome those Irish rebels.

But, York, where shall those soldiers stay for thee?

YORK

At Bristol I will expect them ten days hence.

BUCKINCHAM

Then thither shall they come, and so farewell.

Exit

YORK

Adieu, my lord of Buckingham.

QUEEN MARGARET

Suffolk, remember what you have to do—

And you, Lord Cardinat—concerning Duke Humphrey.

‘Twere good that you did see to it in time.

Come, let us go, that it may be performed.

Exeunt all but York

D. We adopt the Quarto version of the confrontation between Clifford and York at 5.3.20—30; the Folio version, an edited text of which follows, is probably the author’s original draft.

CLIFFORD

What seest thou in me, York? Why dost thou pause?

YORK

With thy brave bearing should I be in love,

But that thou art so fast mine enemy.

CLIFFORD

Nor should thy prowess want praise and esteem,

But that ’tis shown ignobly and in treason.

YORK

So let it help me now against thy sword,

As I in justice and true right express it.

CLIFFORD

My soul and body on the action, both.

YORK

A dreadful lay. Address thee instantly.

CLIFFORD

La fin couronne les oeuvres.

Alarms. They fight. York kills Clifford

YORK

Thus war hath given thee peace, for thou art still.

Peace with his soul, heaven, if it be thy will. Exit

RICHARD DUKE OF YORK

(3 HENRY VI)

THE play printed in the 1623 Folio as The Third Part of Henry the Sixth, with the Death of the Duke of York was described on the title-page of its first, unauthoritative publication in 1595 as The True Tragedy of Richard, Duke of York, and the Death of Good King Henry the Sixth, with the whole Contention between the two houses Lancaster and York. It is clearly a continuation of The First Part of the Contention, taking up the story where that play had ended, with the aspirations of Richard, Duke of York to the English throne, and was probably composed immediately afterwards.

The final scenes of The First Part of the Contention briefly introduce two of York’s sons, Edward (the eldest) and Richard (already described as a ‘foul, indigested lump, | As crooked in . . . manners as [in] shape’). They, along with their brothers Edmund, Earl of Rutland, and George (later Duke of Clarence), figure more prominently in Richard Duke of York. The first scenes show York apparently fulfilling his ambition, as Henry VI weakly cedes his rights to the throne after his death; but Queen Margaret leads an army against York, and, when he is captured, personally taunts him with news of the murder of his youngest son, stabs York to death, and commands that his head be ‘set on York gates’. (This powerful scene includes the line ‘O tiger’s heart wrapped in a woman’s hide’, paraphrased by Robert Greene before September 1592, which establishes the upward limit of the play’s date.)

Though Richard of York dies early in the action, the remainder of the play centres on his sons’ efforts (aided by Warwick’s politic schemings) to avenge his death and to establish the dominance of Yorkists over Lancastrians. The balance of power shifts frequently, and the brothers’ alliance crumbles, but finally Queen Margaret, with her French allies, is defeated and captured, and Richard of York’s surviving sons avenge their father’s death by killing her son, Edward, before her eyes. Richard of Gloucester starts to clear his way to the throne by murdering ‘Good King Henry’ in the Tower, and the play ends with the new King Edward IV exulting in his ‘country’s peace and brothers’ loves’ while Richard makes clear to the audience that Edward’s self-confidence is ill-founded.

Though the play is loud and strife-ridden with war, power politics, and personal ambition, a concern with humane values emerges in the subtle and touching continuing portrayal of the quietist Henry VI, a saintly fool who meditates on the superiority of humble contentment to regal misery in an emblematic scene (2.5) that epitomizes the tragedy of civil strife.

Richard Duke of York, like The First Part of the Contention, draws extensively on English chronicle history. Historically, the period of the action covers about sixteen years (1455 to 1471), but events are telescoped and rearranged; for instance, the opening scenes move rapidly from the Battle of St Albans (1445) to York’s death (1460); the future Richard III was only three years old, and living abroad, at the time of this opening battle in which he takes an active part; and Richard’s murder of Henry owes more to legend than to fact.

THE PERSONS OF THE PLAY

Of the King’s Party

KING HENRY VI

QUEEN MARGARET

PRINCE EDWARD, their son

Duke of S0MERSET

Duke of EXETER

Earl of NORTHUMBERLAND

Earl of WESTMORLAND

Lord CLIFFORD

Lord Stafford

SOMERVILLE

Henry, young Earl of Richmond

A SOLDIER who has killed his father

A HUNTSMAN who guards King Edward

The Divided House of Neville

Earl of WARWICK, first of York’s party, later of Lancaster’s

Marquis of MONTAGUE, his brother, of York’s party

Earl of OXFORD, their brother-in-law, of Lancaster’s party

Lord HASTINGS, their brother-in-law, of York’s party

Of the Duke of York’s Party

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of YORK

EDWARD, Earl of March, his son, later Duke of York and

KING EDWARD IV

LADY GRAY, a widow, later Edward’s wife and queen

Earl RIVERS, her brother

GEORGE, Edward’s brother, later Duke OF CLARENCE

RICHARD, Edward’s brother, later Duke OF GLOUCESTER

Earl of RUTLAND, Edward’s brother

Rutland’s TUTOR, a chaplain

SIR JOHN Mortimer, York’s uncle

Sir Hugh Mortimer, his brother

Duke of NORFOLK

Sir William Stanley

Earl of Pembroke

Sir John MONTGOMERY

A NOBLEMAN

Two GAMEKEEPERS

Three WATCHMEN, who guard King Edward’s tent

LIEUTENANT of the Tower

The French

KING LOUIS

LADY BONA, his sister-in-law

Lord Bourbon, the French High Admiral

Others

A SOLDIER who has killed his son

Mayor of Coventry

MAYOR of York

Aldermen of York

Soldiers, messengers, and attendants

The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York and the Good King Henry the Sixth

1.1 A chair of state. Alarum. Enter Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, his two sons Edward, Earl of March, and Crookback Richard, the Duke of Norfolk, the Marquis of Montague, and the Earl of Warwick, ⌈with drummers⌉ and soldiers. ⌈They all wear white roses in their hats⌉

WARWICK

I wonder how the King escaped our hands?

YORK

While we pursued the horsemen of the north,

He slyly stole away and left his men;

Whereat the great lord of Northumberland,

Whose warlike ears could never brook retreat,

Cheered up the drooping army; and himself,

Lord Clifford, and Lord Stafford, all abreast,

Charged our main battle’s front, and, breaking in,

Were by the swords of common soldiers slain.

EDWARD

Lord Stafford’s father, Duke of Buckingham,

Is either slain or wounded dangerous.

I cleft his beaver with a downright blow.

That this is true, father, behold his blood.

He shows a bloody sword

MONTAGUE ⌈to York⌉

And, brother, here’s the Earl of Wiltshire’s blood,

He shows a bloody sword

Whom I encountered as the battles joined.

RICHARD (to Somerset’s head, which he shows) Speak thou for me, and tell them what I did.

YORK

Richard hath best deserved of all my sons.

(To the head) But is your grace dead, my lord of

Somerset?

NORFOLK

Such hap have all the line of John of Gaunt.

RICHARD

Thus do I hope to shake King Henry’s head.

⌈He holds aloft the head, then throws it down⌉

WARWICK

And so do I, victorious prince of York.

Before I see thee seated in that throne

Which now the house of Lancaster usurps,

I vow by heaven these eyes shall never close.

This is the palace of the fearful King,

And this (pointing to the chair of state), the regal

seat—possess it, York,

For this is thine, and not King Henry’s heirs’.

YORK

Assist me then, sweet Warwick, and I will,

For hither we have broken in by force.

NORFOLK

We’ll all assist you—he that flies shall die.

YORK

Thanks, gentle Norfolk. Stay by me, my lords

And soidiers—stay, and lodge by me this night.

They go up upon the state

WARWICK

And when the King comes, offer him no violence

Unless he seek to thrust you out perforce.

⌈The soldiers withdraw⌉

YORK

The Queen this day here holds her Parliament,

But little thinks we shall be of her council;

By words or blows here let us win our right.

RICHARD

Armed as we are, let’s stay within this house.

WARWICK

‘The Bloody Parliament’ shall this be called,

Unless Plantagenet, Duke of York, be king,

And bashful Henry deposed, whose cowardice

Hath made us bywords to our enemies.

YORK

Then leave me not, my lords. Be resolute—

I mean to take possession of my right.

WARWICK

Neither the King nor he that loves him best—

The proudest he that holds up Lancaster—

Dares stir a wing if Warwick shake his bells.

I’ll plant Plantagenet, root him up who dares.

Resolve thee, Richard—claim the English crown.

⌈York sits in the chair.⌉

Flourish. Enter King Henry, Lord Clifford, the Earls

of Northumberland and Westmorland, the Duke of

Exeter, and the rest. ⌈They all wear red roses in

their hats⌉

KING HENRY

My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits—

Even in the chair of state! Belike he means,

Backed by the power of Warwick, that false peer,

To aspire unto the crown and reign as king.

Earl of Northumberland, he slew thy father—

And thine, Lord Clifford—and you both have vowed

revenge

On him, his sons, his favourites, and his friends.

NORTHUMBERLAND

If I be not, heavens be revenged on me.

CLIFFORD

The hope thereof makes Clifford mourn in steel.

WESTMORLAND

What, shall we suffer this? Let’s pluck him down.

My heart for anger burns—I cannot brook it.

KING HENRY

Be patient, gentle Earl of Westmorland.

CLIFFORD

Patience is for poltroons, such as he (indicating York).

He durst not sit there had your father lived.

My gracious lord, here in the Parliament

Let us assail the family of York.

NORTHUMBERLAND

Well hast thou spoken, cousin, be it so.

KING HENRY

Ah, know you not the city favours them,

And they have troops of soldiers at their beck?

EXETER

But when the Duke is slain, they’ll quickly fly.

KING HENRY

Far be the thought of this from Henry’s heart,

To make a shambles of the Parliament House.

Cousin of Exeter, frowns, words, and threats

Shall be the war that Henry means to use.

(To York) Thou factious Duke of York, descend my

throne

And kneel for grace and mercy at my feet.

I am thy sovereign.

YORK I am thine.

EXETER

For shame, come down—he made thee Duke of York.

YORK

It was mine inheritance, as the earldom was.

EXETER

Thy father was a traitor to the crown.

WARWICK

Exeter, thou art a traitor to the crown

In following this usurping Henry.

CLIFFORD

Whom should he follow but his natural king?

WARWICK

True, Clifford, and that’s Richard Duke of York.

KING HENRY (to York)

And shall I stand and thou sit in my throne?

YORK

It must and shall be so—content thyself.

WARWICK (to King Henry)

Be Duke of Lancaster, let him be king.

WESTMORLAND

He is both king and Duke of Lancaster—

And that, the Lord of Westmorland shall maintain.

WARWICK

And Warwick shall disprove it. You forget

That we are those which chased you from the field,

And slew your fathers, and, with colours spread,

Marched through the city to the palace gates.

NORTHUMBERLAND

Yes, Warwick, I remember it to my grief,

And, by his soul, thou and thy house shall rue it.

WESTMORLAND (to York)

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.

CLIFFORD (to Warwick)

Urge it no more, lest that, instead of words,

I send thee, Warwick, such a messenger

As shall revenge his death before I stir.

WARWICK ⌈to York⌉

Poor Clifford, how I scorn his worthless threats.

YORK ⌈to King Henry⌉

Will you we show our title to the crown?

If not, our swords shall plead it in the field.

KING HENRY

What title hast thou, traitor, to the crown?

Thy father was, as thou art, Duke of York;

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.

WARWICK

Talk not of France, sith thou hast lost it all.

KING HENRY

The Lord Protector lost it, and not I.

When I was crowned, I was but nine months old.

RICHARD

You are old enough now, and yet, methinks, you lose.

(To York) Father, tear the crown from the usurper’s

head.

EDWARD (to York)

Sweet father, do so—set it on your head.

MONTAGUE (to York)

Good brother, as thou lov‘st and honour’st arms,

Let’s fight it out and not stand cavilling thus.

RICHARD

Sound drums and trumpets, and the King will fly.

YORK Sons, peace!

⌈NORTHUMBERLAND⌉

Peace, thou—and give King Henry leave to speak.

KING HENRY

Ah, York, why seekest thou to depose me?

Are we not both Plantagenets by birth,

And from two brothers lineally descent?

Suppose by right and equity thou be king—

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;

Ay, and their colours, often borne in France,

And now in England to our heart’s great sorrow,

Shall be my winding-sheet. Why faint you, lords?

My title’s good, and better far than his.

WARWICK

Prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king.

KING HENRY

Henry the Fourth by conquest got the crown.

YORK

’Twas by rebellion against his king.

KING HENRY ⌈aside⌉

I know not what to say—my title’s weak.

(To York) Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir?

YORK What then?

KING HENRY

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.

WARWICK

Suppose, my lords, he did it unconstrained—

Think you ’twere prejudicial to his crown?

EXETER

No, for he could not so resign his crown

But that the next heir should succeed and reign.

KING HENRY

Art thou against us, Duke of Exeter?

EXETER

His is the right, and therefore pardon me.

YORK

Why whisper you, my lords, and answer not?

EXETER ⌈to King Henry⌉

My conscience tells me he is lawful king.

KING HENRY ⌈aside⌉

All will revolt from me and turn to him.

NORTHUMBERLAND (to York)

Plantagenet, for all the claim thou lay’st,

Think not that Henry shall be so deposed.

WARWICK

Deposed he shall be, in despite of all.

NORTHUMBERLAND

Thou art deceived—’tis not thy southern power

Of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, nor of Kent,

Which makes thee thus presumptuous and proud,

Can set the Duke up in despite of me.

CLIFFORD

King Henry, be thy title right or wrong,

Lord Clifford vows to fight in thy defence.

May that ground gape and swallow me alive

Where I shall kneel to him that slew my father.

KING HENRY

O, Clifford, how thy words revive my heart!

YORK

Henry of Lancaster, resign thy crown.

What mutter you, or what conspire you, lords?

WARWICK

Do right unto this princely Duke of York,

Or I will fill the house with armed men

And over the chair of state, where now he sits,

Write up his title with usurping blood.

He stamps with his foot and the soldiers show

themselves

KING HENRY

My lord of Warwick, hear me but one word—

Let me for this my lifetime reign as king.

YORK

Confirm the crown to me and to mine heirs,

And thou shalt reign in quiet while thou liv’st.

KING HENRY

I am content. Richard Plantagenet,

Enjoy the kingdom after my decease.

CLIFFORD

What wrong is this unto the prince your son?

WARWICK

What good is this to England and himself?

WESTMORLAND

Base, fearful, and despairing Henry.

CLIFFORD

How hast thou injured both thyself and us?

WESTMORLAND

I cannot stay to hear these articles.

NORTHUMBERLAND Nor I.

CLIFFORD

Come, cousin, let us tell the Queen these news.

WESTMORLAND (to King Henry)

Farewell, faint-hearted and degenerate king,

In whose cold blood no spark of honour bides.

⌈Exit with his soldiers⌉

NORTHUMBERLAND (to King Henry)

Be thou a prey unto the house of York,

And die in bands for this unmanly deed.

⌈Exit with his soldiers⌉

CLIFFORD (to King Henry)

In dreadful war mayst thou be overcome,

Or live in peace, abandoned and despised.

Exit ⌈with his soldiers⌉

WARWICK (to King Henry)

Turn this way, Henry, and regard them not.

EXETER (to King Henry)

They seek revenge and therefore will not yield.

KING HENRY

Ah, Exeter.

WARWICK Why should you sigh, my lord?

KING HENRY

Not for myself, Lord Warwick, but my son,

Whom I unnaturally shall disinherit.

But be it as it may. (To York) I here entail

The crown to thee and to thine heirs for ever,

Conditionally, that here thou take thine oath

To cease this civil war, and whilst I live

To honour me as thy king and sovereign,

And nor by treason nor hostility

To seek to put me down and reign thyself.

YORK

This oath I willingly take and will perform.

WARWICK

Long live King Henry. (To York) Plantagenet, embrace him.

⌈York descends.⌉ Henry and York embrace

KING HENRY (to York)

And long live thou, and these thy forward sons.

YORK

Now York and Lancaster are reconciled.

EXETER

Accursed be he that seeks to make them foes. Sennet. Here York’s train comes down from the state

YORK (to King Henry)

Farewell, my gracious lord, I’ll to my castle. Exeunt York, Edward, and Richard, ⌈with soldiers⌉

WARWICK

And I’ll keep London with my soldiers.

Exit ⌈With soldiers⌉

NORFOLK

And I to Norfolk with my followers.

Exit ⌈With soldiers⌉

MONTAGUE

And I unto the sea from whence I came.

Exit ⌈with soldiers⌉

KING HENRY

And I with grief and sorrow to the court. ⌈King Henry and Exeter turn to leave.⌉

Enter Queen Margaret and Prince Edward

EXETER

Here comes the Queen, whose looks bewray her anger. I’ll steal away.

KING HENRY Exeter, so will I.

QUEEN MARGARET

Nay, go not from me—I will follow thee.

KING HENRY

Be patient, gentle Queen, and I will stay.

QUEEN MARGARET

Who can be patient in such extremes?

Ah, wretched man, would I had died a maid

And never seen thee, never borne thee son,

Seeing thou hast proved so unnatural a father.

Hath he deserved to lose his birthright thus?

Hadst thou but loved him half so well as I,

Or felt that pain which I did for him once,

Or nourished him as I did with my blood,

Thou wouldst have left thy dearest heart-blood there

Rather than have made that savage Duke thine heir

And disinherited thine only son.

PRINCE EDWARD

Father, you cannot disinherit me.

If you be king, why should not I succeed?

KING HENRY

Pardon me, Margaret; pardon me, sweet son—

The Earl of Warwick and the Duke enforced me.

QUEEN MARGARET

Enforced thee? Art thou king, and wilt be forced?

I shame to hear thee speak! Ah, timorous wretch,

Thou hast undone thyself, thy son, and me,

And giv’n unto the house of York such head

As thou shalt reign but by their sufferance.

To entail him and his heirs unto the crown—

What is it, but to make thy sepulchre

And creep into it far before thy time?

Warwick is Chancellor and the Lord of Calais;

Stern Falconbridge commands the narrow seas;

The Duke is made Protector of the Realm;

And yet shalt thou be safe? Such safety finds

The trembling lamb environèd with wolves.

Had I been there, which am a seely woman,

The soldiers should have tossed me on their pikes

Before I would have granted to that act.

But thou preferr’st thy life before thine honour.

And seeing thou dost, I here divorce myself

Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed,

Until that act of Parliament be repealed

Whereby my son is disinherited.

The northern lords that have forsworn thy colours

Will follow mine, if once they see them spread—

And spread they shall be, to thy foul disgrace

And the utter ruin of the house of York.

Thus do I leave thee. (To Prince Edward) Come, son,

let’s away.

Our army is ready—come, we’ll after them.

KING HENRY

Stay, gentle Margaret, and hear me speak.

QUEEN MARGARET

Thou hast spoke too much already.

⌈To Prince Edward⌉ Get thee gone.

KING HENRY

Gentle son Edward, thou wilt stay with me?

QUEEN MARGARET

Ay, to be murdered by his enemies.

PRINCE EDWARD (to King Henry)

When I return with victory from the field,

I’ll see your grace. Till then, I’ll follow her.

QUEEN MARGARET

Come, son, away—we may not linger thus.

Exit with Prince Edward

KING HENRY

Poor Queen, how love to me and to her son

Hath made her break out into terms of rage.

Revenged may she be on that hateful Duke,

Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire,

Will coast my crown, and, like an empty eagle,

Tire on the flesh of me and of my son.

The loss of those three lords torments my heart.

I’ll write unto them and entreat them fair.

Come, cousin, you shall be the messenger.

EXETER

And I, I hope, shall reconcile them all.

Flourish. Exeunt