QUEEN MARGARET | |
No, mighty King of France: now Margaret | |
| | Must strike her sail and learn awhile to serve | 5 |
| | Where kings command. I was, I must confess, | |
| | Great Albion's queen in former golden days: | |
| | But now mischance hath trod my title down, | |
| | And with dishonour laid me on the ground; | |
| | Where I must take like seat unto my fortune, | 10 |
| | And to my humble seat conform myself. | |
KING LEWIS XI | |
Whate'er it be, be thou still like thyself, | 15 |
| | And sit thee by our side: | |
| | [Seats her by him] |
| | Yield not thy neck | |
| | To fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind | |
| | Still ride in triumph over all mischance. | |
| | Be plain, Queen Margaret, and tell thy grief; | 20 |
| | It shall be eased, if France can yield relief. | |
QUEEN MARGARET | |
Those gracious words revive my drooping thoughts | |
| | And give my tongue-tied sorrows leave to speak. | |
| | Now, therefore, be it known to noble Lewis, | |
| | That Henry, sole possessor of my love, | 25 |
| | Is of a king become a banish'd man, | |
| | And forced to live in Scotland a forlorn; | |
| | While proud ambitious Edward Duke of York | |
| | Usurps the regal title and the seat | |
| | Of England's true-anointed lawful king. | 30 |
| | This is the cause that I, poor Margaret, | |
| | With this my son, Prince Edward, Henry's heir, | |
| | Am come to crave thy just and lawful aid; | |
| | And if thou fail us, all our hope is done: | |
| | Scotland hath will to help, but cannot help; | 35 |
| | Our people and our peers are both misled, | |
| | Our treasures seized, our soldiers put to flight, | |
| | And, as thou seest, ourselves in heavy plight. | |
WARWICK | |
From worthy Edward, King of Albion, | 50 |
| | My lord and sovereign, and thy vowed friend, | |
| | I come, in kindness and unfeigned love, | |
| | First, to do greetings to thy royal person; | |
| | And then to crave a league of amity; | |
| | And lastly, to confirm that amity | 55 |
| | With a nuptial knot, if thou vouchsafe to grant | |
| | That virtuous Lady Bona, thy fair sister, | |
| | To England's king in lawful marriage. | |
WARWICK | |
[To BONA] And, gracious madam, in our king's behalf, | 60 |
| | I am commanded, with your leave and favour, | |
| | Humbly to kiss your hand, and with my tongue | |
| | To tell the passion of my sovereign's heart; | |
| | Where fame, late entering at his heedful ears, | |
| | Hath placed thy beauty's image and thy virtue. | 65 |
QUEEN MARGARET | |
King Lewis and Lady Bona, hear me speak, | |
| | Before you answer Warwick. His demand | |
| | Springs not from Edward's well-meant honest love, | |
| | But from deceit bred by necessity; | |
| | For how can tyrants safely govern home, | 70 |
| | Unless abroad they purchase great alliance? | |
| | To prove him tyrant this reason may suffice, | |
| | That Henry liveth still: but were he dead, | |
| | Yet here Prince Edward stands, King Henry's son. | |
| | Look, therefore, Lewis, that by this league and marriage | 75 |
| | Thou draw not on thy danger and dishonour; | |
| | For though usurpers sway the rule awhile, | |
| | Yet heavens are just, and time suppresseth wrongs. | |
OXFORD | |
Then Warwick disannuls great John of Gaunt, | |
| | Which did subdue the greatest part of Spain; | |
| | And, after John of Gaunt, Henry the Fourth, | 85 |
| | Whose wisdom was a mirror to the wisest; | |
| | And, after that wise prince, Henry the Fifth, | |
| | Who by his prowess conquered all France: | |
| | From these our Henry lineally descends. | |
WARWICK | |
Oxford, how haps it, in this smooth discourse, | 90 |
| | You told not how Henry the Sixth hath lost | |
| | All that which Henry Fifth had gotten? | |
| | Methinks these peers of France should smile at that. | |
| | But for the rest, you tell a pedigree | |
| | Of threescore and two years; a silly time | 95 |
| | To make prescription for a kingdom's worth. | |
OXFORD | |
Call him my king by whose injurious doom | |
| | My elder brother, the Lord Aubrey Vere, | |
| | Was done to death? and more than so, my father, | 105 |
| | Even in the downfall of his mellow'd years, | |
| | When nature brought him to the door of death? | |
| | No, Warwick, no; while life upholds this arm, | |
| | This arm upholds the house of Lancaster. | |
WARWICK | |
Such it seems | |
| | As may beseem a monarch like himself. | 125 |
| | Myself have often heard him say and swear | |
| | That this his love was an eternal plant, | |
| | Whereof the root was fix'd in virtue's ground, | |
| | The leaves and fruit maintain'd with beauty's sun, | |
| | Exempt from envy, but not from disdain, | 130 |
| | Unless the Lady Bona quit his pain. | |
QUEEN MARGARET | |
Peace, impudent and shameless Warwick, peace, | |
| | Proud setter up and puller down of kings! | 160 |
| | I will not hence, till, with my talk and tears, | |
| | Both full of truth, I make King Lewis behold | |
| | Thy sly conveyance and thy lord's false love; | |
| | For both of you are birds of selfsame feather. | |
| | [Post blows a horn within] |
WARWICK | |
King Lewis, I here protest, in sight of heaven, | |
| | And by the hope I have of heavenly bliss, | 185 |
| | That I am clear from this misdeed of Edward's, | |
| | No more my king, for he dishonours me, | |
| | But most himself, if he could see his shame. | |
| | Did I forget that by the house of York | |
| | My father came untimely to his death? | 190 |
| | Did I let pass the abuse done to my niece? | |
| | Did I impale him with the regal crown? | |
| | Did I put Henry from his native right? | |
| | And am I guerdon'd at the last with shame? | |
| | Shame on himself! for my desert is honour: | 195 |
| | And to repair my honour lost for him, | |
| | I here renounce him and return to Henry. | |
| | My noble queen, let former grudges pass, | |
| | And henceforth I am thy true servitor: | |
| | I will revenge his wrong to Lady Bona, | 200 |
| | And replant Henry in his former state. | |
WARWICK | |
So much his friend, ay, his unfeigned friend, | 205 |
| | That, if King Lewis vouchsafe to furnish us | |
| | With some few bands of chosen soldiers, | |
| | I'll undertake to land them on our coast | |
| | And force the tyrant from his seat by war. | |
| | 'Tis not his new-made bride shall succor him: | 210 |
| | And as for Clarence, as my letters tell me, | |
| | He's very likely now to fall from him, | |
| | For matching more for wanton lust than honour, | |
| | Or than for strength and safety of our country. | |
KING LEWIS XI | |
But, Warwick, | |
| | Thou and Oxford, with five thousand men, | |
| | Shall cross the seas, and bid false Edward battle; | |
| | And, as occasion serves, this noble queen | 240 |
| | And prince shall follow with a fresh supply. | |
| | Yet, ere thou go, but answer me one doubt, | |
| | What pledge have we of thy firm loyalty? | |
QUEEN MARGARET | |
Yes, I agree, and thank you for your motion. | |
| | Son Edward, she is fair and virtuous, | |
| | Therefore delay not, give thy hand to Warwick; | 250 |
| | And, with thy hand, thy faith irrevocable, | |
| | That only Warwick's daughter shall be thine. | |
WARWICK | |
I came from Edward as ambassador, | 260 |
| | But I return his sworn and mortal foe: | |
| | Matter of marriage was the charge he gave me, | |
| | But dreadful war shall answer his demand. | |
| | Had he none else to make a stale but me? | |
| | Then none but I shall turn his jest to sorrow. | 265 |
| | I was the chief that raised him to the crown, | |
| | And I'll be chief to bring him down again: | |
| | Not that I pity Henry's misery, | |
| | But seek revenge on Edward's mockery. | |
| | [Exit] |
This edition copyright © 2000 Dana Spradley, Publisher, shakespeare.com. Originally derived from the Complete Moby Shakespeare(tm), which is now in the public domain.
'The First Web Folio Edition' is a trademark of Dana Spradley, Publisher, shakespeare.com. All rights reserved.