I cheer'd them up with justice of our cause, With promise of high pay and great rewards:
But all in vain; they had no heart to fight, And we in them no hope to win the day;So that we fled; the king unto the queen;Lord George your brother, Norfolk and myself, In haste, post-haste, are come to join with you:
For in the marches here we heard you were, Making another head to fight again. EDWARD Where is the Duke of Norfolk, gentle Warwick?
And when came George from Burgundy to England? WARWICK Some six miles off the duke is with the soldiers;And for your brother, he was lately sent From your kind aunt, Duchess of Burgundy, With aid of soldiers to this needful war. RICHARD 'Twas odds, belike, when valiant Warwick fled:
Oft have I heard his praises in pursuit, But ne'er till now his scandal of retire. WARWICK Nor now my scandal, Richard, dost thou hear;For thou shalt know this strong right hand of mine Can pluck the diadem from faint Henry's head, And wring the awful sceptre from his fist, Were he as famous and as bold in war As he is famed for mildness, peace, and prayer. RICHARD I know it well, Lord Warwick; blame me not:
'Tis love I bear thy glories makes me speak.
But in this troublous time what's to be done?
Shall we go throw away our coats of steel, And wrap our bodies in black mourning gowns, Numbering our Ave-Maries with our beads?
Or shall we on the helmets of our foes Tell our devotion with revengeful arms?
If for the last, say ay, and to it, lords. WARWICK Why, therefore Warwick came to seek you out;And therefore comes my brother Montague.
Attend me, lords. The proud insulting queen, With Clifford and the haught Northumberland, And of their feather many more proud birds, Have wrought the easy-melting king like wax.
He swore consent to your succession, His oath enrolled in the parliament;And now to London all the crew are gone, To frustrate both his oath and what beside May make against the house of Lancaster.
Their power, I think, is thirty thousand strong:
Now, if the help of Norfolk and myself, With all the friends that thou, brave Earl of March, Amongst the loving Welshmen canst procure, Will but amount to five and twenty thousand, Why, Via! to London will we march amain, And once again bestride our foaming steeds, And once again cry 'Charge upon our foes!'
But never once again turn back and fly. RICHARD Ay, now methinks I hear great Warwick speak:
Ne'er may he live to see a sunshine day, That cries 'Retire,' if Warwick bid him stay. EDWARD Lord Warwick, on thy shoulder will Ilean;And when thou fail'st--as God forbid the hour!--Must Edward fall, which peril heaven forfend! WARWICK No longer Earl of March, but Duke of York:
The next degree is England's royal throne;For King of England shalt thou be proclaim'd In every borough as we pass along;And he that throws not up his cap for joy Shall for the fault make forfeit of his head.
King Edward, valiant Richard, Montague, Stay we no longer, dreaming of renown, But sound the trumpets, and about our task. RICHARD Then, Clifford, were thy heart as hard as steel, As thou hast shown it flinty by thy deeds, I come to pierce it, or to give thee mine. EDWARD Then strike up drums: God and Saint George for us!
Enter a Messenger WARWICK How now! what news? Messenger The Duke of Norfolk sends you word by me, The queen is coming with a puissant host;And craves your company for speedy counsel. WARWICK Why then it sorts, brave warriors, let's away.
Exeunt SCENE II. Before York. Flourish. Enter KING HENRY VI, QUEEN MARGARET, PRINCE EDWARD, CLIFFORD, and NORTHUMBERLAND, with drum and trumpets QUEEN MARGARET Welcome, my lord, to this brave town of York.
Yonder's the head of that arch-enemy That sought to be encompass'd with your crown:
Doth not the object cheer your heart, my lord? KING HENRY VI Ay, as the rocks cheer them that fear their wreck:
To see this sight, it irks my very soul.
Withhold revenge, dear God! 'tis not my fault, Nor wittingly have I infringed my vow. CLIFFORD My gracious liege, this too much lenity And harmful pity must be laid aside.
To whom do lions cast their gentle looks?
Not to the beast that would usurp their den.
Whose hand is that the forest bear doth lick?
Not his that spoils her young before her face.
Who 'scapes the lurking serpent's mortal sting?
Not he that sets his foot upon her back.
The smallest worm will turn being trodden on, And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood.
Ambitious York doth level at thy crown, Thou smiling while he knit his angry brows:
He, but a duke, would have his son a king, And raise his issue, like a loving sire;Thou, being a king, blest with a goodly son, Didst yield consent to disinherit him, Which argued thee a most unloving father.
Unreasonable creatures feed their young;
And though man's face be fearful to their eyes, Yet, in protection of their tender ones, Who hath not seen them, even with those wings Which sometime they have used with fearful flight, Make war with him that climb'd unto their nest, Offer their own lives in their young's defence?
For shame, my liege, make them your precedent!
Were it not pity that this goodly boy Should lose his birthright by his father's fault, And long hereafter say unto his child, 'What my great-grandfather and his grandsire got My careless father fondly gave away'?
Ah, what a shame were this! Look on the boy;And let his manly face, which promiseth Successful fortune, steel thy melting heart To hold thine own and leave thine own with him. KING HENRY VI Full well hath Clifford play'd the orator, Inferring arguments of mighty force.
But, Clifford, tell me, didst thou never hear That things ill-got had ever bad success?
And happy always was it for that son Whose father for his hoarding went to hell?
I'll leave my son my virtuous deeds behind;And would my father had left me no more!
For all the rest is held at such a rate As brings a thousand-fold more care to keep Than in possession and jot of pleasure.