Enter the corpse of KING HENRY the Sixth, Gentlemen with halberds to guard it; LADY ANNE being the mourner LADY ANNE Set down, set down your honourable load, If honour may be shrouded in a hearse, Whilst I awhile obsequiously lament The untimely fall of virtuous Lancaster.
Poor key-cold figure of a holy king!
Pale ashes of the house of Lancaster!
Thou bloodless remnant of that royal blood!
Be it lawful that I invocate thy ghost, To hear the lamentations of Poor Anne, Wife to thy Edward, to thy slaughter'd son, Stabb'd by the selfsame hand that made these wounds!
Lo, in these windows that let forth thy life, I pour the helpless balm of my poor eyes.
Cursed be the hand that made these fatal holes!
Cursed be the heart that had the heart to do it!
Cursed the blood that let this blood from hence!
More direful hap betide that hated wretch, That makes us wretched by the death of thee, Than I can wish to adders, spiders, toads, Or any creeping venom'd thing that lives!
If ever he have child, abortive be it, Prodigious, and untimely brought to light, Whose ugly and unnatural aspect May fright the hopeful mother at the view;
And that be heir to his unhappiness!
If ever he have wife, let her he made A miserable by the death of him As I am made by my poor lord and thee!
Come, now towards Chertsey with your holy load, Taken from Paul's to be interred there;
And still, as you are weary of the weight, Rest you, whiles I lament King Henry's corse.
Enter GLOUCESTER GLOUCESTER Stay, you that bear the corse, and set it down. LADY ANNE What black magician conjures up this fiend, To stop devoted charitable deeds? GLOUCESTER Villains, set down the corse; or, by Saint Paul, I'll make a corse of him that disobeys. Gentleman My lord, stand back, and let the coffin pass. GLOUCESTER Unmanner'd dog! stand thou, when I command:
Advance thy halbert higher than my breast, Or, by Saint Paul, I'll strike thee to my foot, And spurn upon thee, beggar, for thy boldness. LADY ANNE What, do you tremble? are you all afraid?
Alas, I blame you not; for you are mortal, And mortal eyes cannot endure the devil.
Avaunt, thou dreadful minister of hell!
Thou hadst but power over his mortal body, His soul thou canst not have; therefore be gone. GLOUCESTER Sweet saint, for charity, be not so curst. LADY ANNE Foul devil, for God's sake, hence, and trouble us not;
For thou hast made the happy earth thy hell, Fill'd it with cursing cries and deep exclaims.
If thou delight to view thy heinous deeds, Behold this pattern of thy butcheries.
O, gentlemen, see, see! dead Henry's wounds Open their congeal'd mouths and bleed afresh!
Blush, Blush, thou lump of foul deformity;
For 'tis thy presence that exhales this blood From cold and empty veins, where no blood dwells;
Thy deed, inhuman and unnatural, Provokes this deluge most unnatural.
O God, which this blood madest, revenge his death!
O earth, which this blood drink'st revenge his death!
Either heaven with lightning strike the murderer dead, Or earth, gape open wide and eat him quick, As thou dost swallow up this good king's blood Which his hell-govern'd arm hath butchered! GLOUCESTER Lady, you know no rules of charity, Which renders good for bad, blessings for curses. LADY ANNE Villain, thou know'st no law of God nor man:
No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity. GLOUCESTER But I know none, and therefore am no beast. LADY ANNE O wonderful, when devils tell the truth! GLOUCESTER More wonderful, when angels are so angry.
Vouchsafe, divine perfection of a woman, Of these supposed-evils, to give me leave, By circumstance, but to acquit myself. LADY ANNE Vouchsafe, defused infection of a man, For these known evils, but to give me leave, By circumstance, to curse thy cursed self. GLOUCESTER Fairer than tongue can name thee, let me have Some patient leisure to excuse myself. LADY ANNE Fouler than heart can think thee, thou canst make No excuse current, but to hang thyself. GLOUCESTER By such despair, I should accuse myself. LADY ANNE And, by despairing, shouldst thou stand excused;
For doing worthy vengeance on thyself, Which didst unworthy slaughter upon others. GLOUCESTER Say that I slew them not? LADY ANNE Why, then they are not dead:
But dead they are, and devilish slave, by thee. GLOUCESTER I did not kill your husband. LADY ANNE Why, then he is alive. GLOUCESTER Nay, he is dead; and slain by Edward's hand. LADY ANNE In thy foul throat thou liest: Queen Margaret saw Thy murderous falchion smoking in his blood;
The which thou once didst bend against her breast, But that thy brothers beat aside the point. GLOUCESTER I was provoked by her slanderous tongue, which laid their guilt upon my guiltless shoulders. LADY ANNE Thou wast provoked by thy bloody mind.
Which never dreamt on aught but butcheries:
Didst thou not kill this king? GLOUCESTER I grant ye. LADY ANNE Dost grant me, hedgehog? then, God grant me too Thou mayst be damned for that wicked deed!
O, he was gentle, mild, and virtuous! GLOUCESTER The fitter for the King of heaven, that hath him. LADY ANNE He is in heaven, where thou shalt never come. GLOUCESTER Let him thank me, that holp to send him thither;
For he was fitter for that place than earth. LADY ANNE And thou unfit for any place but hell. GLOUCESTER Yes, one place else, if you will hear me name it. LADY ANNE Some dungeon. GLOUCESTER Your bed-chamber. LADY ANNE I'll rest betide the chamber where thou liest! GLOUCESTER So will it, madam till I lie with you. LADY ANNE I hope so. GLOUCESTER I know so. But, gentle Lady Anne, To leave this keen encounter of our wits, And fall somewhat into a slower method, Is not the causer of the timeless deaths Of these Plantagenets, Henry and Edward, As blameful as the executioner? LADY ANNE Thou art the cause, and most accursed effect. GLOUCESTER Your beauty was the cause of that effect;