Confess who set thee up and pluck’d thee down,
Call Warwick patron, and be penitent,
And thou shalt still remain – the Duke of York?
RICHARD
I thought at least he would have said the King;
Or did he make the jest against his will?
30
WARWICK Is not a dukedom, sir, a goodly gift?
RICHARD Ay, by my faith, for a poor earl to give;
I’ll do thee service for so good a gift.
WARWICK
’Twas I that gave the kingdom to thy brother.
KING EDWARD
Why then ’tis mine, if but by Warwick’s gift.
35
WARWICK Thou art no Atlas for so great a weight;
And, weakling, Warwick takes his gift again;
And Henry is my King, Warwick his subject.
KING EDWARD
But Warwick’s king is Edward’s prisoner;
And, gallant Warwick, do but answer this:
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What is the body when the head is off?
RICHARD Alas, that Warwick had no more forecast,
But, whiles he thought to steal the single ten,
The king was slily finger’d from the deck!
You left poor Henry at the Bishop’s palace,
45
And ten to one you’ll meet him in the Tower.
KING EDWARD ’Tis even so: yet you are Warwick still.
RICHARD
Come, Warwick, take the time; kneel down, kneel down.
Nay, when? Strike now, or else the iron cools.
WARWICK I had rather chop this hand off at a blow
50
And with the other fling it at thy face,
Than bear so low a sail to strike to thee.
KING EDWARD
Sail how thou canst, have wind and tide thy friend,
This hand, fast wound about thy coal-black hair,
Shall, whiles thy head is warm and new cut off,
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Write in the dust this sentence with thy blood:
‘Wind-changing Warwick now can change no more’.
Enter OXFORD, with drum and colours.
WARWICK
O cheerful colours! See where Oxford comes!
OXFORD Oxford, Oxford, for Lancaster!
[He and his forces enter the city.]
RICHARD The gates are open, let us enter too.
60
KING EDWARD So other foes may set upon our backs.
Stand we in good array, for they no doubt
Will issue out again and bid us battle;
If not, the city being but of small defence,
We’ll quickly rouse the traitors in the same.
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WARWICK O welcome, Oxford, for we want thy help.
Enter MONTAGUE, with drum and colours.
MONTAGUE Montague, Montague, for Lancaster!
[He and his forces enter the city.]
RICHARD
Thou and thy brother both shall buy this treason
Even with the dearest blood your bodies bear.
KING EDWARD
The harder match’d, the greater victory:
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My mind presageth happy gain and conquest.
Enter SOMERSET, with drum and colours.
SOMERSET Somerset, Somerset, for Lancaster!
[He and his forces enter the city.]
RICHARD Two of thy name, both Dukes of Somerset,
Have sold their lives unto the house of York,
And thou shalt be the third, and this sword hold.
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Enter GEORGE, with drum and colours.
WARWICK
And lo, where George of Clarence sweeps along,
Of force enough to bid his brother battle;
With whom an upright zeal to right prevails
More than the nature of a brother’s love.
GEORGE Clarence, Clarence, for Lancaster!
80
KING EDWARD Et tu, Brute! wilt thou stab Caesar too?
A parley, sirrah, to George of Clarence.
[Sound a parley. Richard and George whisper.]
WARWICK
Come, Clarence, come; thou wilt if Warwick call.
[George takes the red rose from his hat and throws it at
Warwick.]
GEORGE
Father of Warwick, know you what this means?
Look, here I throw my infamy at thee:
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I will not ruinate my father’s house,
Who gave his blood to lime the stones together,
And set up Lancaster. Why, trowest thou, Warwick,
That Clarence is so harsh, so blunt, unnatural,
To bend the fatal instruments of war
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Against his brother and his lawful King?
Perhaps thou wilt object my holy oath:
To keep that oath were more impiety
Than Jephthah’s when he sacrific’d his daughter.
I am so sorry for my trespass made,
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That, to deserve well at my brothers’ hands,
I here proclaim myself thy mortal foe;
With resolution, wheresoe’er I meet thee –
As I will meet thee if thou stir abroad –
To plague thee for thy foul misleading me.
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And so, proud-hearted Warwick, I defy thee,
And to my brother turn my blushing cheeks.
Pardon me, Edward, I will make amends:
And, Richard, do not frown upon my faults,
For I will henceforth be no more unconstant.
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KING EDWARD
Now welcome more, and ten times more belov’d,
Than if thou never hadst deserv’d our hate.
RICHARD Welcome, good Clarence; this is brother-like.
WARWICK O passing traitor, perjur’d and unjust!
KING EDWARD
What, Warwick, wilt thou leave the town and fight?
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Or shall we beat the stones about thine ears?
WARWICK Alas, I am not coop’d here for defence!
I will away towards Barnet presently
And bid thee battle, Edward, if thou dar’st.
KING EDWARD
Yes, Warwick, Edward dares, and leads the way.
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Lords, to the field; Saint George and victory!
Exeunt. March. Warwick and his company follow.
5.2 Alarum, and excursions. Enter KING EDWARD, bringing forth WARWICK wounded.
KING EDWARD
So, lie thou there: die thou, and die our fear;
For Warwick was a bug that fear’d us all.
Now, Montague, sit fast; I seek for thee,
That Warwick’s bones may keep thine company. Exit.
WARWICK Ah, who is nigh? Come to me, friend or foe,
5
And tell me who is victor, York or Warwick?
Why ask I that my mangled body shows? –
My blood, my want of strength, my sick heart shows? –
That I must yield my body to the earth,
And, by my fall, the conquest to my foe.
10
Thus yields the cedar to the axe’s edge
Whose arms gave shelter to the princely eagle,
Under whose shade the ramping lion slept,
Whose top branch over-peer’d Jove’s spreading tree
And kept low shrubs from winter’s powerful wind.
15
These eyes, that now are dimm’d with death’s black veil,
Have been as piercing as the mid-day sun
To search the secret treasons of the world;
The wrinkles in my brows, now fill’d with blood,
Were liken’d oft to kingly sepulchres;
20
For who liv’d King but I could dig his grave?
And who durst smile when Warwick bent his brow?
&n
bsp; Lo now my glory smear’d in dust and blood!
My parks, my walks, my manors that I had,
Even now forsake me; and of all my lands
25
Is nothing left me but my body’s length.
Why, what is pomp, rule, reign, but earth and dust?
And live we how we can, yet die we must.
Enter OXFORD and SOMERSET.
SOMERSET Ah, Warwick, Warwick! wert thou as we are
We might recover all our loss again.
30
The Queen from France hath brought a puissant power.
Even now we heard the news. Ah, couldst thou fly!
WARWICK Why then, I would not fly. Ah, Montague,
If thou be there, sweet brother, take my hand,
And with thy lips keep in my soul a while!
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Thou lov’st me not; for, brother, if thou didst,
Thy tears would wash this cold congealed blood
That glues my lips and will not let me speak.
Come quickly, Montague, or I am dead.
SOMERSET
Ah, Warwick! Montague hath breath’d his last;
40
And to the latest gasp cried out for Warwick,
And said, ‘Commend me to my valiant brother.’
And more he would have said; and more he spoke;
Which sounded like a cannon in a vault
That mought not be distinguish’d; but at last
45
I well might hear, deliver’d with a groan,
‘O farewell, Warwick!’
WARWICK Sweet rest his soul!
Fly, lords, and save yourselves, for Warwick bids
You all farewell, to meet in heaven. [He dies.]
OXFORD Away, away, to meet the Queen’s great power!
50
Here they bear away his body. Exeunt.
5.3 Flourish. Enter KING EDWARD in triumph, with RICHARD, GEORGE and the rest.
KING EDWARD
Thus far our fortune keeps an upward course,
And we are grac’d with wreaths of victory:
But in the midst of this bright-shining day
I spy a black suspicious threatening cloud
That will encounter with our glorious sun
5
Ere he attain his easeful western bed –
I mean, my lord, those powers that the Queen
Hath rais’d in Gallia have arriv’d our coast,
And, as we hear, march on to fight with us.
GEORGE A little gale will soon disperse that cloud
10
And blow it to the source from whence it came;
Thy very beams will dry those vapours up,
For every cloud engenders not a storm.
RICHARD The Queen is valu’d thirty thousand strong,
And Somerset, with Oxford, fled to her:
15
If she have time to breathe, be well assur’d
Her faction will be full as strong as ours.
KING EDWARD We are advertis’d by our loving friends
That they do hold their course toward Tewkesbury.
We, having now the best at Barnet field,
20
Will thither straight, for willingness rids way;
And as we march our strength will be augmented
In every county as we go along.
Strike up the drum; cry ‘Courage!’ and away. Exeunt.
5.4 Flourish. March. Enter QUEEN MARGARET, PRINCE EDWARD SOMERSET, OXFORD and soldiers.
QUEEN MARGARET
Great lords, wise men ne’er sit and wail their loss,
But cheerly seek how to redress their harms.
What though the mast be now blown overboard,
The cable broke, the holding anchor lost,
And half our sailors swallow’d in the flood;
5
Yet lives our pilot still: is’t meet that he
Should leave the helm and, like a fearful lad,
With tearful eyes add water to the sea
And give more strength to that which hath too much;
Whiles, in his moan, the ship splits on the rock,
10
Which industry and courage might have sav’d?
Ah, what a shame! ah, what a fault were this!
Say Warwick was our anchor; what of that?
And Montague our top-mast; what of him?
Our slaughter’d friends the tackles; what of these?
15
Why, is not Oxford here another anchor?
And Somerset another goodly mast?
The friends of France our shrouds and tacklings?
And, though unskilful, why not Ned and I
For once allow’d the skilful pilot’s charge?
20
We will not from the helm to sit and weep,
But keep our course, though the rough wind say no,
The Arden Shakespeare Complete Works Page 243
