Alarum. Enter York, Edward, Richard, Norfolk,
Montague, Warwick, and soldiers, with white roses
in their hats
WARWICK
I wonder how the King escaped our hands?
YORK
While we pursued the horsemen of the north,
He slily 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.
MONTAGUE
And, brother, here's the Earl of Wiltshire's blood,
Whom I encountered as the battles joined.
RICHARD
Speak thou for me and tell them what I did.
He throws down the Duke of Somerset's head
YORK
Richard hath best deserved of all my sons.
But is your grace dead, my lord of Somerset?
NORFOLK
Such hope have all the line of John of Gaunt!
RICHARD
Thus do I hope to shake King Henry's head.
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 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, soldiers, stay and lodge by me this night.
They go up
WARWICK
And when the King comes, offer him no violence,
Unless he seek to thrust you out perforce.
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 by-words 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.
Flourish. Enter King Henry, Clifford, Northumberland,
Westmorland, Exeter, and soldiers, with
red roses in their hats
KING
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
Be patient, gentle Earl of Westmorland.
CLIFFORD
Patience is for poltroons, such as he;
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
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
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.
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 my 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; that is Richard Duke of York.
KING
And shall I stand, and thou sit in my throne?
YORK
It must and shall be so; content thyself.
WARWICK
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
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
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
Poor Clifford, how I scorn his worthless threats!
YORK
Will you we show our title to the crown?
If not, our swords shall plead it in the field.
KING
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
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.
Father, tear the crown from the usurper's head.
EDWARD
Sweet father, do so; set it on your head.
MONTAGUE
Good brother, as thou lovest and honourest arms,
Let's fight it out and not stand cavilling thus.
cavil (v.) dispute over details, raise pointless objections
RICHARD
Sound drums and trumpets, and the King will fly.
YORK
Sons, peace!
KING
Peace, thou! And give King Henry leave to speak.
WARWICK
Plantagenet shall speak first. Hear him, lords;
And be you silent and attentive too,
For he that interrupts him shall not live.
KING
Thinkest 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 hearts' great sorrow,
Shall be my winding-sheet. Why faint you, lords?
faint (v.) 1 lose courage, show fear, lose heart, take fright
My title's good, and better far than his.
WARWICK
Prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king.
KING
Henry the Fourth by conquest got the crown.
YORK
'Twas by rebellion against his king.
KING
(aside)
I know not what to say; my title's weak. –
Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir?
YORK
What then?
KING
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
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
My conscience tells me he is lawful king.
KING
(aside)
All will revolt from me and turn to him.
NORTHUMBERLAND
Plantagenet, for all the claim thou layest,
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
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
My Lord of Warwick, hear 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 livest.
KING
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
Farewell, faint-hearted and degenerate King,
In whose cold blood no spark of honour bides.
Exit
NORTHUMBERLAND
Be thou a prey unto the house of York,
And die in bands for this unmanly deed!
Exit
CLIFFORD
In dreadful war mayst thou be overcome,
Or live in peace abandoned and despised!
Exit
WARWICK
Turn this way, Henry, and regard them not.
EXETER
They seek revenge and therefore will not yield.
KING
Ah, Exeter!
WARWICK
Why should you sigh, my lord?
KING
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 an oath
To cease this civil war; and, whilst I live,
To honour me as thy king and sovereign;
And neither 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! Plantagenet, embrace him.
KING
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 they come down
YORK
Farewell, my gracious lord; I'll to my castle.
Exeunt York and his sons
WARWICK
And I'll keep London with my soldiers.
Exit
NORFOLK
And I to Norfolk with my followers.
Exit
MONTAGUE
And I unto the sea from whence I came.
Exit
KING
And I with grief and sorrow to the court.
Enter the Queen and the Prince of Wales
EXETER
Here comes the Queen, whose looks bewray her anger;
I'll steal away.
KING
Exeter, so will I.
QUEEN
Nay, go not from me. I will follow thee.
KING
Be patient, gentle Queen, and I will stay.
QUEEN
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
Father, you cannot disinherit me;
If you be king, why should not I succeed?
KING
Pardon me, Margaret; pardon me, sweet son;
The Earl of Warwick and the Duke enforced me.
QUEEN
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 given 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 environed with wolves.
Had I been there, which am a silly woman,
The soldiers should have tossed me on their pikes
Before I would have granted to that act.
But thou preferrest 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 utter ruin of the house of York.
Thus do I leave thee. Come, son, let's away.
Our army is ready; come, we'll after them.
KING
Stay, gentle Margaret, and hear me speak.
QUEEN
Thou hast spoke too much already; get thee gone.
KING
Gentle son Edward, thou wilt stay with me?
QUEEN
Ay, to be murdered by his enemies.
PRINCE
When I return with victory from the field,
I'll see your grace; till then I'll follow her.
QUEEN
Come, son, away; we may not linger thus.
Exeunt Queen and Prince
KING
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 cost my crown, and like an empty eagle
cost (v.) involve the loss of, deprive one of
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