1    I wonder how the king escaped our hands.

2    While we pursued the horsemen of the north,
3    He slily stole away and left his men:
4    Whereat the great Lord of Northumberland,
5    Whose warlike ears could never brook retreat,
6    Cheer'd up the drooping army; and himself,
7    Lord Clifford and Lord Stafford, all abreast,
8    Charged our main battle's front, and breaking in
9    Were by the swords of common soldiers slain.

10   Lord Stafford's father, Duke of Buckingham,
11   Is either slain or wounded dangerously;
12   I cleft his beaver with a downright blow:
13   That this is true, father, behold his blood.

14   And, brother, here's the Earl of Wiltshire's blood,
15   Whom I encounter'd as the battles join'd.

16   Speak thou for me and tell them what I did.

17   Richard hath best deserved of all my sons.
18   But is your grace dead, my Lord of Somerset?

19   Such hope have all the line of John of Gaunt!

20   Thus do I hope to shake King Henry's head.

21   And so do I. Victorious Prince of York,
22   Before I see thee seated in that throne
23   Which now the house of Lancaster usurps,
24   I vow by heaven these eyes shall never close.
25   This is the palace of the fearful king,
26   And this the regal seat: possess it, York;
27   For this is thine and not King Henry's heirs'

28   Assist me, then, sweet Warwick, and I will;
29   For hither we have broken in by force.

30   We'll all assist you; he that flies shall die.

31   Thanks, gentle Norfolk: stay by me, my lords;
32   And, soldiers, stay and lodge by me this night.

33   And when the king comes, offer no violence,
34   Unless he seek to thrust you out perforce.

35   The queen this day here holds her parliament,
36   But little thinks we shall be of her council:
37   By words or blows here let us win our right.

38   Arm'd as we are, let's stay within this house.

39   The bloody parliament shall this be call'd,
40   Unless Plantagenet, Duke of York, be king,
41   And bashful Henry deposed, whose cowardice
42   Hath made us by-words to our enemies.

43   Then leave me not, my lords; be resolute;
44   I mean to take possession of my right.

45   Neither the king, nor he that loves him best,
46   The proudest he that holds up Lancaster,
47   Dares stir a wing, if Warwick shake his bells.
48   I'll plant Plantagenet, root him up who dares:
49   Resolve thee, Richard; claim the English crown.

50   My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits,
51   Even in the chair of state: belike he means,
52   Back'd by the power of Warwick, that false peer,
53   To aspire unto the crown and reign as king.
54   Earl of Northumberland, he slew thy father.
55   And thine, Lord Clifford; and you both have vow'd revenge
56   On him, his sons, his favourites and his friends.

57   If I be not, heavens be revenged on me!

58   The hope thereof makes Clifford mourn in steel.

59   What, shall we suffer this? let's pluck him down:
60   My heart for anger burns; I cannot brook it.

61   Be patient, gentle Earl of Westmoreland.

62   Patience is for poltroons, such as he:
63   He durst not sit there, had your father lived.
64   My gracious lord, here in the parliament
65   Let us assail the family of York.

66   Well hast thou spoken, cousin: be it so.

67   Ah, know you not the city favours them,
68   And they have troops of soldiers at their beck?

69   But when the duke is slain, they'll quickly fly.

70   Far be the thought of this from Henry's heart,
71   To make a shambles of the parliament-house!
72   Cousin of Exeter, frowns, words and threats
73   Shall be the war that Henry means to use.
74   Thou factious Duke of York, descend my throne,
75   and kneel for grace and mercy at my feet;
76   I am thy sovereign.

77   I am thine.

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

79   'Twas my inheritance, as the earldom was.

80   Thy father was a traitor to the crown.

81   Exeter, thou art a traitor to the crown
82   In following this usurping Henry.

83   Whom should he follow but his natural king?

84   True, Clifford; and that's Richard Duke of York.

85   And shall I stand, and thou sit in my throne?

86   It must and shall be so: content thyself.

87   Be Duke of Lancaster; let him be king.

88   He is both king and Duke of Lancaster;
89   And that the Lord of Westmoreland shall maintain.

90   And Warwick shall disprove it. You forget
91   That we are those which chased you from the field
92   And slew your fathers, and with colours spread
93   March'd through the city to the palace gates.

94   Yes, Warwick, I remember it to my grief;
95   And, by his soul, thou and thy house shall rue it.

96   Plantagenet, of thee and these thy sons,
97   Thy kinsman and thy friends, I'll have more lives
98   Than drops of blood were in my father's veins.

99   Urge it no more; lest that, instead of words,
100  I send thee, Warwick, such a messenger
101  As shall revenge his death before I stir.

102  Poor Clifford! how I scorn his worthless threats!

103  Will you we show our title to the crown?
104  If not, our swords shall plead it in the field.

105  What title hast thou, traitor, to the crown?
106  Thy father was, as thou art, Duke of York;
107  Thy grandfather, Roger Mortimer, Earl of March:
108  I am the son of Henry the Fifth,
109  Who made the Dauphin and the French to stoop
110  And seized upon their towns and provinces.

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

112  The lord protector lost it, and not I:
113  When I was crown'd I was but nine months old.

114  You are old enough now, and yet, methinks, you lose.
115  Father, tear the crown from the usurper's head.

116  Sweet father, do so; set it on your head.

117  Good brother, as thou lovest and honourest arms,
118  Let's fight it out and not stand cavilling thus.

119  Sound drums and trumpets, and the king will fly.

120  Sons, peace!

121  Peace, thou! and give King Henry leave to speak.

122  Plantagenet shall speak first: hear him, lords;
123  And be you silent and attentive too,
124  For he that interrupts him shall not live.

125  Think'st thou that I will leave my kingly throne,
126  Wherein my grandsire and my father sat?
127  No: first shall war unpeople this my realm;
128  Ay, and their colours, often borne in France,
129  And now in England to our heart's great sorrow,
130  Shall be my winding-sheet. Why faint you, lords?
131  My title's good, and better far than his.

132  Prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king.

133  Henry the Fourth by conquest got the crown.

134  'Twas by rebellion against his king.

Aside
135   I know not what to say; my title's weak.--
136  Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir?

137  What then?

138  An if he may, then am I lawful king;
139  For Richard, in the view of many lords,
140  Resign'd the crown to Henry the Fourth,
141  Whose heir my father was, and I am his.

142  He rose against him, being his sovereign,
143  And made him to resign his crown perforce.

144  Suppose, my lords, he did it unconstrain'd,
145  Think you 'twere prejudicial to his crown?

146  No; for he could not so resign his crown
147  But that the next heir should succeed and reign.

148  Art thou against us, Duke of Exeter?

149  His is the right, and therefore pardon me.

150  Why whisper you, my lords, and answer not?

151  My conscience tells me he is lawful king.

Aside
152   All will revolt from me, and turn to him.

153  Plantagenet, for all the claim thou lay'st,
154  Think not that Henry shall be so deposed.

155  Deposed he shall be, in despite of all.

156  Thou art deceived: 'tis not thy southern power,
157  Of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, nor of Kent,
158  Which makes thee thus presumptuous and proud,
159  Can set the duke up in despite of me.

160  King Henry, be thy title right or wrong,
161  Lord Clifford vows to fight in thy defence:
162  May that ground gape and swallow me alive,
163  Where I shall kneel to him that slew my father!

164  O Clifford, how thy words revive my heart!

165  Henry of Lancaster, resign thy crown.
166  What mutter you, or what conspire you, lords?

167  Do right unto this princely Duke of York,
168  Or I will fill the house with armed men,
169  And over the chair of state, where now he sits,
170  Write up his title with usurping blood.

171  My Lord of Warwick, hear me but one word:
172  Let me for this my life-time reign as king.

173  Confirm the crown to me and to mine heirs,
174  And thou shalt reign in quiet while thou livest.

175  I am content: Richard Plantagenet,
176  Enjoy the kingdom after my decease.

177  What wrong is this unto the prince your son!

178  What good is this to England and himself!

179  Base, fearful and despairing Henry!

180  How hast thou injured both thyself and us!

181  I cannot stay to hear these articles.

182  Nor I.

183  Come, cousin, let us tell the queen these news.

184  Farewell, faint-hearted and degenerate king,
185  In whose cold blood no spark of honour bides.

186  Be thou a prey unto the house of York,
187  And die in bands for this unmanly deed!

188  In dreadful war mayst thou be overcome,
189  Or live in peace abandon'd and despised!

190  Turn this way, Henry, and regard them not.

191  They seek revenge and therefore will not yield.

192  Ah, Exeter!

193  Why should you sigh, my lord?

194  Not for myself, Lord Warwick, but my son,
195  Whom I unnaturally shall disinherit.
196  But be it as it may: I here entail
197  The crown to thee and to thine heirs for ever;
198  Conditionally, that here thou take an oath
199  To cease this civil war, and, whilst I live,
200  To honour me as thy king and sovereign,
201  And neither by treason nor hostility
202  To seek to put me down and reign thyself.

203  This oath I willingly take and will perform.

204  Long live King Henry! Plantagenet embrace him.

205  And long live thou and these thy forward sons!

206  Now York and Lancaster are reconciled.

207  Accursed be he that seeks to make them foes!

208  Farewell, my gracious lord; I'll to my castle.

209  And I'll keep London with my soldiers.

210  And I to Norfolk with my followers.

211  And I unto the sea from whence I came.

212  And I, with grief and sorrow, to the court.

213  Here comes the queen, whose looks bewray her anger:
214  I'll steal away.

215  Exeter, so will I.

216  Nay, go not from me; I will follow thee.

217  Be patient, gentle queen, and I will stay.

218  Who can be patient in such extremes?
219  Ah, wretched man! would I had died a maid
220  And never seen thee, never borne thee son,
221  Seeing thou hast proved so unnatural a father
222  Hath he deserved to lose his birthright thus?
223  Hadst thou but loved him half so well as I,
224  Or felt that pain which I did for him once,
225  Or nourish'd him as I did with my blood,
226  Thou wouldst have left thy dearest heart-blood there,
227  Rather than have that savage duke thine heir
228  And disinherited thine only son.

229  Father, you cannot disinherit me:
230  If you be king, why should not I succeed?

231  Pardon me, Margaret; pardon me, sweet son:
232  The Earl of Warwick and the duke enforced me.

233  Enforced thee! art thou king, and wilt be forced?
234  I shame to hear thee speak. Ah, timorous wretch!
235  Thou hast undone thyself, thy son and me;
236  And given unto the house of York such head
237  As thou shalt reign but by their sufferance.
238  To entail him and his heirs unto the crown,
239  What is it, but to make thy sepulchre
240  And creep into it far before thy time?
241  Warwick is chancellor and the lord of Calais;
242  Stern Falconbridge commands the narrow seas;
243  The duke is made protector of the realm;
244  And yet shalt thou be safe? such safety finds
245  The trembling lamb environed with wolves.
246  Had I been there, which am a silly woman,
247  The soldiers should have toss'd me on their pikes
248  Before I would have granted to that act.
249  But thou preferr'st thy life before thine honour:
250  And seeing thou dost, I here divorce myself
251  Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed,
252  Until that act of parliament be repeal'd
253  Whereby my son is disinherited.
254  The northern lords that have forsworn thy colours
255  Will follow mine, if once they see them spread;
256  And spread they shall be, to thy foul disgrace
257  And utter ruin of the house of York.
258  Thus do I leave thee. Come, son, let's away;
259  Our army is ready; come, we'll after them.

260  Stay, gentle Margaret, and hear me speak.

261  Thou hast spoke too much already: get thee gone.

262  Gentle son Edward, thou wilt stay with me?

263  Ay, to be murder'd by his enemies.

264  When I return with victory from the field
265  I'll see your grace: till then I'll follow her.

266  Come, son, away; we may not linger thus.

267  Poor queen! how love to me and to her son
268  Hath made her break out into terms of rage!
269  Revenged may she be on that hateful duke,
270  Whose haughty spirit, winged with desire,
271  Will cost my crown, and like an empty eagle
272  Tire on the flesh of me and of my son!
273  The loss of those three lords torments my heart:
274  I'll write unto them and entreat them fair.
275  Come, cousin you shall be the messenger.

276  And I, I hope, shall reconcile them all.
Exeunt
277  3 KING HENRY VI