| ACT II 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: | 5 |
| 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. | 10 |
| 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? | 15 |
| 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: | 20 |
| 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. | 25 |
| 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, | 30 |
| 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, | 35 |
| 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 | 40 |
| 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 | 45 |
| 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! | 50 |
| 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. |
| Ah, cousin York! would thy best friends did know |
| How it doth grieve me that thy head is here! | 55 |
| QUEEN MARGARET | My lord, cheer up your spirits: our foes are nigh, |
| And this soft courage makes your followers faint. |
| You promised knighthood to our forward son: |
| Unsheathe your sword, and dub him presently. |
| Edward, kneel down. | 60 |
| KING HENRY VI | Edward Plantagenet, arise a knight; |
| And learn this lesson, draw thy sword in right. |
| PRINCE | My gracious father, by your kingly leave,
|
| I'll draw it as apparent to the crown, |
| And in that quarrel use it to the death. | 65 |
| CLIFFORD | Why, that is spoken like a toward prince. |
| [Enter a Messenger] |
| Messenger | Royal commanders, be in readiness: |
| For with a band of thirty thousand men |
| Comes Warwick, backing of the Duke of York; |
| And in the towns, as they do march along, | 70 |
| Proclaims him king, and many fly to him: |
| Darraign your battle, for they are at hand. |
| CLIFFORD | I would your highness would depart the field: |
| The queen hath best success when you are absent. |
| QUEEN MARGARET | Ay, good my lord, and leave us to our fortune. | 75 |
| KING HENRY VI | Why, that's my fortune too; therefore I'll stay. |
| NORTHUMBERLAND | Be it with resolution then to fight. |
| PRINCE EDWARD | My royal father, cheer these noble lords |
| And hearten those that fight in your defence: |
| Unsheathe your sword, good father; cry 'Saint George!' | 80 |
| [
March. Enter EDWARD, GEORGE, RICHARD, WARWICK,
NORFOLK, MONTAGUE, and Soldiers
] |
| EDWARD | Now, perjured Henry! wilt thou kneel for grace, |
| And set thy diadem upon my head; |
| Or bide the mortal fortune of the field? |
| QUEEN MARGARET | Go, rate thy minions, proud insulting boy! |
| Becomes it thee to be thus bold in terms | 85 |
| Before thy sovereign and thy lawful king? |
| EDWARD | I am his king, and he should bow his knee; |
| I was adopted heir by his consent: |
| Since when, his oath is broke; for, as I hear, |
| You, that are king, though he do wear the crown, | 90 |
| Have caused him, by new act of parliament, |
| To blot out me, and put his own son in. |
| CLIFFORD | And reason too: |
| Who should succeed the father but the son? |
| RICHARD | Are you there, butcher? O, I cannot speak! | 95 |
| CLIFFORD | Ay, crook-back, here I stand to answer thee, |
| Or any he the proudest of thy sort. |
| RICHARD | 'Twas you that kill'd young Rutland, was it not? |
| CLIFFORD | Ay, and old York, and yet not satisfied. |
| RICHARD | For God's sake, lords, give signal to the fight. | 100 |
| WARWICK | What say'st thou, Henry, wilt thou yield the crown? |
| QUEEN MARGARET | Why, how now, long-tongued Warwick! dare you speak? |
| When you and I met at Saint Alban's last, |
| Your legs did better service than your hands. |
| WARWICK | Then 'twas my turn to fly, and now 'tis thine. | 105 |
| CLIFFORD | You said so much before, and yet you fled. |
| WARWICK | 'Twas not your valour, Clifford, drove me thence. |
| NORTHUMBERLAND | No, nor your manhood that durst make you stay. |
| RICHARD | Northumberland, I hold thee reverently. |
| Break off the parley; for scarce I can refrain | 110 |
| The execution of my big-swoln heart |
| Upon that Clifford, that cruel child-killer. |
| CLIFFORD | I slew thy father, call'st thou him a child? |
| RICHARD | Ay, like a dastard and a treacherous coward, |
| As thou didst kill our tender brother Rutland; | 115 |
| But ere sunset I'll make thee curse the deed. |
| KING HENRY VI | Have done with words, my lords, and hear me speak. |
| QUEEN MARGARET | Defy them then, or else hold close thy lips. |
| KING HENRY VI | I prithee, give no limits to my tongue: |
| I am a king, and privileged to speak. | 120 |
| CLIFFORD | My liege, the wound that bred this meeting here |
| Cannot be cured by words; therefore be still. |
| RICHARD | Then, executioner, unsheathe thy sword: |
| By him that made us all, I am resolved |
| that Clifford's manhood lies upon his tongue. | 125 |
| EDWARD | Say, Henry, shall I have my right, or no? |
| A thousand men have broke their fasts to-day, |
| That ne'er shall dine unless thou yield the crown. |
| WARWICK | If thou deny, their blood upon thy head; |
| For York in justice puts his armour on. | 130 |
| PRINCE EDWARD | If that be right which Warwick says is right, |
| There is no wrong, but every thing is right. |
| RICHARD | Whoever got thee, there thy mother stands; |
| For, well I wot, thou hast thy mother's tongue. |
| QUEEN MARGARET | But thou art neither like thy sire nor dam; | 135 |
| But like a foul mis-shapen stigmatic, |
| Mark'd by the destinies to be avoided, |
| As venom toads, or lizards' dreadful stings. |
| RICHARD | Iron of Naples hid with English gilt, |
| Whose father bears the title of a king,-- | 140 |
| As if a channel should be call'd the sea,-- |
| Shamest thou not, knowing whence thou art extraught, |
| To let thy tongue detect thy base-born heart? |
| EDWARD | A wisp of straw were worth a thousand crowns, |
| To make this shameless callet know herself. | 145 |
| Helen of Greece was fairer far than thou, |
| Although thy husband may be Menelaus; |
| And ne'er was Agamemnon's brother wrong'd |
| By that false woman, as this king by thee. |
| His father revell'd in the heart of France, | 150 |
| And tamed the king, and made the dauphin stoop; |
| And had he match'd according to his state, |
| He might have kept that glory to this day; |
| But when he took a beggar to his bed, |
| And graced thy poor sire with his bridal-day, | 155 |
| Even then that sunshine brew'd a shower for him, |
| That wash'd his father's fortunes forth of France, |
| And heap'd sedition on his crown at home. |
| For what hath broach'd this tumult but thy pride? |
| Hadst thou been meek, our title still had slept; | 160 |
| And we, in pity of the gentle king, |
| Had slipp'd our claim until another age. |
| GEORGE | But when we saw our sunshine made thy spring, |
| And that thy summer bred us no increase, |
| We set the axe to thy usurping root; | 165 |
| And though the edge hath something hit ourselves, |
| Yet, know thou, since we have begun to strike, |
| We'll never leave till we have hewn thee down, |
| Or bathed thy growing with our heated bloods. |
| EDWARD | And, in this resolution, I defy thee; | 170 |
| Not willing any longer conference, |
| Since thou deniest the gentle king to speak. |
| Sound trumpets! let our bloody colours wave! |
| And either victory, or else a grave. |
| QUEEN MARGARET | Stay, Edward. | 175 |
| EDWARD | No, wrangling woman, we'll no longer stay: |
| These words will cost ten thousand lives this day. |
[Exeunt] |
The Essential Student History Quiz (with answers and illustrations)