That France must vail! her lofty-plumed crest, York. Damsel of France, I think I have you fast: And may ye both be suddenly surpris'd stake. Puc. I pr'ythee, give me leave to curse a while. York. Curse, miscreant, when thou comest to the [Exeunt. Alarums. Enter Suffolk, leading in Lady Margaret. Suff. Be what thou wilt, thou art my prisoner. [Gazes on her. O fairest beauty, do not fear, nor fly; For I will touch thee but with reverent hands, And lay them gently on thy tender side. I kiss these fingers [Kissing her hand.] for eternal peace: Who art thou? say, that I may honour thee. Mar. Margaret my name; and daughter to a king, The king of Naples, whosoe'er thou art. Suff. An earl I am, and Suffolk am I call'd. [She turns away as going. Suff How canst thou tell, she will deny thy suit, Before thou make a trial of her love? [Aside Mar. Why speak'st thou not? what ransom must I pay? Suff. She's beautiful; and therefore to be woo'd: She is a woman; therefore to be won. [Aside Mar. Wilt thou accept of ransom, yea, or no? Suff. Fond man! remember, that thou hast a wife; (1) Lower. (2) To ban is to curse. (3) Do not represent thyself so weak.' Then how can Margaret be thy paramour? (Aside. Mar. I were best leave him, for he will not hear. Suff. There all is marr'd; there lies a cooling card. Mar. He talks at random; sure the man is mad. Suff. And yet a dispensation may be had. Mar. And yet I would that you would answer me. Suff. I'll win this lady Margaret. For whom? Why, for my king: Tush! that's a wooden thing.4 Mar. He talks of wood: It is some carpenter. Suff. Yet so my fancy5 may be satisfied, And [Aside. Mar. Hear ye, captain? Are you not at leisure? Suff. It shall be so, disdain they ne'er so much: Henry is youthful, and will quickly yield.— Madam, I have a secret to reveal. Mar. What though I be enthrall'd? he seems a knight, And will not any way dishonour me. [Aside. Suff Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say. Mar. Perhaps, I shall be rescu'd by the French; And then I need not crave his courtesy. [Aside. Suff. Sweet madam, give me hearing in a cause-Mar. Tush! women have been captivate ere [Aside. now. Suff. Lady, wherefore talk you so? Mar. I cry you mercy, 'tis but quid for quo. Suff Say, gentle princess, would you not suppose Your bondage happy, to be made a queen? Mar. To be a queen in bondage, is more vile, Than is a slave in base servility; For princes should be free. Suff And so shall you, If happy England's royal king be free. Suff. His love. What? Mar. I am unworthy to be Henry's wife. And, madam, at your father's castle walls [Troops come forward. To me. Suffolk, what remedy? I am a soldier; and unapt to weep, Or to exclaim on fortune's fickleness. Suff Yes, there is remedy enough, my lord; Consent (and, for thy honour, give consent,) Thy daughter shall be wedded to my king; Whom I with pain have woo'd and won thereto; And this her easy-held imprisonment Hath gain'd thy daughter princely liberty. (4) An awkward business, an undertaking no* likely to succeed. (5) Love. Where I may have fruition of her love. As is fair Margaret, he be link'd in love. Suff. Tush! my good lord! this superficial tale Then yield, my lords; and here conclude with me Is but a preface of her worthy praise: And, which is more, she is not so divine, K. Hen. And otherwise will Henry ne'er sume. Therefore, my lord protector, give consent, That Margaret may be England's royal queen. Glo. So should I give consent to flatter sin. You know, my lord, your highness is betroth'd Unto another lady of esteem; How shall we then dispense with that contract, And not deface your honour with reproach? Suff. As doth a ruler with unlawful oaths; Or one, that, at a triumph1 having vow'd To try his strength, forsaketh yet the lists By reason of his adversary's odds: A poor earl's daughter is unequal odds, And therefore may be broke without offence. That Margaret shall be queen, and none but she. K. Hen. Whether it be through force of your report, My noble lord of Suffolk; or for that I feel such sharp dissension in my breast, Glo. Why, what, I pray, is Margaret more than that? Her father is no better than an earl, Suff. Yes, my good lord, her father is a king, Glo. And so the earl of Armagnac may do, Because he is near kinsman unto Charles. Exe. Beside, his wealth doth warrant liberal dower; While Reignier sooner will receive, than give. Suff. A dower, my lords! disgrace not so your king, That he should be so abject, base, and poor, And therefore, lords, since he affects her most, In our opinion she should be preferr'd. If with a lady of so high resolve, (1) A triumph then signified a public exhibition; such as a mask, or revel. That lady Margaret do vouchsafe to go he Of this play there is no copy earlier than that of the folio in 1623, though the two succeeding parts are extant in two editions in quarto. That the second and third parts were published without the first, may be admitted as no weak proof that the copies were surreptitiously obtained, and that the printers of that time gave the public those plays, not such as the author designed, but such as they could get them. That this play was written before the two others is indubitably collected from the series of events; that it was written and played before Henry the Fifth is apparent; because, in the epilogue there is mention made of this play, and not of the other parts: Henry the Sixth in swaddling bands crown'd king, Which oft our stage hath shown.' France is lost in this play. The two following contain, as the old title imports, the contention of the houses of York and Lancaster. The second and third parts of Henry VI. were printed in 1600. When Henry V. was written, we know not, but it was printed likewise in 1600, and therefore before the publication of the first and second parts. The first part of Henry VI. had been often shown on the stage, and would certainly have appeared in its place, had the author been the publisher. JOHNSON. (2) By the discretional agency of another. (3) Judge. SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. 'The Contention of the two famous houses of York and Lancaster,' in two parts, was pub. lished in quarto, in 1600; and the first part was entered on the Stationers' books, (as Mr. Steevens has observed,) March 12, 1593-4. On these two plays, which I believe to have been written by some preceding author, before the year 1590, Shakspeare formed, as I conceive, this and the following drama; altering, retrenching, or amplifying, as he thought proper. At present it is only necessary to apprize the reader of the method observed in the printing of these plays. All the lines printed in the usual manner are found in the original quarto plays (or at least with such minute variations as are not worth noticing :) and those, I conceive, Shakspeare adopted as he found them. The lines to which inverted commas are prefixed, were, if my hypothesis be well founded, retouched, and greatly improved by him; and those with asterisks were his own original production; the embroidery with which he ornamented the coarse stuff that had been awkwardly made up for the stage by some of his contemporaries. The speeches which he new-modelled, he improved, sometimes by amplification, and sometimes by retrenchment. MALONE. Bolingbroke, a conjurer. A Spirit raised by him. Cardinal Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, great Thomas Horner, an armourer. Peter, his man. PERSONS REPRESENTED. King Henry the Sixth: Hume and Southwell, two priests. Humphrey, duke of Gloster, his uncle. Clerk of Chatham. Mayor of Saint Alban's. George, John, Dick, Smith, the Weaver, Michael, Alexander Iden, a Kentish gentleman. Margaret, queen to king Henry. Margery Jourdain, a witch. Wife to Simpcox. Lords, Ladies, and Attendants; Petitioners, Aldermen, a Beadle, Sheriff, and Officers; Citizens, Prentices, Falconers, Guards, Soldiers, Messengers, &c. Scene, dispersedly in various parts of England. ACT I. SCENE I-London.-A room of state in the AS by your high imperial majesty I had in charge at my depart for France, To marry princess Margaret for your grace; The dukes of Orleans, Calaber, Bretaigne, and VOL. II. 'The mutual conference that my mind hath had1 By day, by night; waking, and in my dreams; In courtly company, or at my beads,- K. Hen. Her sight did ravish: but her grace in • Her words y-clad with wisdom's majesty, Q. Mar. We thank you all. [Flourish. Suff. My lord protector, so it please your grace, Here are the articles of contracted peace, Between our sovereign and the French king Charles, "For eighteen months concluded by consent. Studied so long, sat in the council-house, 'Car. Nephew, what means this passionate dis- This peroration with such circumstance? For France, 'tis ours; and we will keep it still. *Glo. Ay, uncle, we will keep it, if we can; But now it is impossible we should: Suffolk, the new-made duke that rules the roast, Hath given the duchies of Anjou and Maine Unto the poor king Reignier, whose large style Agrees not with the leanness of his purse. *Sal. Now, by the death of him that died for all, *These counties were the keys of Normandy:But wherefore weeps Warwick, my valiant son? 'War. For grief, that they are past recovery: For, were there hope to conquer them again, My sword should shed hot blood, mine eyes no Glo. [Reads. Imprimis, It is agreed between the French king, Charles, and William de la Poole, marquess of Suffolk, ambassador for Henry king* of England,-that the said Henry shall espouse * the lady Margaret, daughter unto Reignier king of Naples, Sicilia, and Jerusalem; and crown her queen of England, ere the thirtieth of May next ensuing. -Item,-That the duchy of Anjou and the county of Maine, shall be released and delivered to the king her father K. Hen. Uncle, how now? We here create thee the first duke of Suffolk, Cousin of York, we here discharge your grace Somerset, Salisbury, and Warwick; We thank you all for this great favour done, [Ereunt King, Queen, and Suffolk. In winter's cold, and summer's parching heat, (1) I am the bolder to address you, having already familiarized you to my imagination. (2) Beloved above all things. tears. Anjou and Maine! myself did win them both; Those provinces these arms of mine did conquer: * York. For Suffolk's duke-may he be suffocate, And our king Henry gives away his own, To match with her that brings no vantages. *Glo. A proper jest, and never heard before, *That Suffolk should demand a whole fifteenth, *For costs and charges in transporting her! * She should have staid in France, and starv'd in France, *Before *Car. My lord of Gloster, now you grow too hot; *It was the pleasure of my lord the king. *Glo. My lord of Winchester, I know your mind; 'Tis not my speeches that you do mislike, But 'tis my presence that doth trouble you. Rancour will out: Proud prelate, in thy face I see thy fury: If I longer stay, We shall begin our ancient bickerings. I prophesied-France will be lost ere long. [Exit. * Nay, more, an enemy unto you all; *And no great friend, I fear me, to the king. *Consider, lords, he is the next of blood, *And heir apparent to the English crown; *Had Henry got an empire by his marriage, And all the wealthy kingdoms of the west, *There's reason he should be displeas'd at it. (3) This speech crowded with so many circumstances of aggravation. (4) Skirmishings. SECOND PART OF KING HENRY VI. Look to it, lords; let not his smoothing words *Bewitch your hearts; be wise, and circumspect. What though the common people favour him, • Calling him-Humphrey, the good duke of Glos ter; • Clapping their hands, and crying with a loud voice Jesu maintain your royal excellence! With-God preserve the good duke Humphrey! 'I fear me, lords, for all this flattering gloss, "He will be found a dangerous protector. *Buck. Why should he then protect our sovereign, * He being of age to govern of himself?— Cousin of Somerset, join you with me, And all together-with the duke of Suffolk, • We'll quickly hoise duke Humphrey from his seat. *Car. This weighty business will not brook de-* lay; I'll to the duke of Suffolk presently. Som Cousin of Buckingham, though phrey's pride, And greatness of his place be grief to us, Yet let us watch the haughty cardinal; His insolence is more intolerable [Exit. *The peers agreed; and Henry was well pleas'd, daughter. 'Tis thine they give away, and not their own. pillage, *And purchase friends, and give to courtezans, Ireland, Bear that proportion to my flesh and blood, Than all the princes in the land beside; [Exeunt Buckingham and Somerset. Sal. Pride went before, ambition follows him. While these do labour for their own preferment, • Behoves it us to labour for the realm. 'I never saw but Humphrey duke of Gloster •Did bear him like a noble gentleman. 'Oft have I seen the haughty cardinal'More like a soldier, than a man o'the church, 'As stout, and proud, as he were lord of all,- Unlike the ruler of a common-weal.- In bringing them to civil discipline; Join we together, for the public good; • With Somerset's and Buckingham's ambition; * War. So God help Warwick, as he loves the land, *And common profit of his country! * York. And so says York, for he hath greatest cause. A day will come, when York shall claim his own; Till Henry, surfeiting in joys of love, Sal. Then let's make haste away, and look unto* War. Unto the main! O father, Maine is lost; [Exeunt Warwick and Salisbury. York. Anjou and Maine are given to the French; *Paris is lost; the state of Normandy *Stands on a ticklel point, now they are gone: *Suffolk concluded on the articles; (1) For ticklish. A room in the duke Enter Gloster and the Duch. Why droops my lord, like over-ripen'd corn, Why doth the great duke Humphrey knit his brows, Hanging the head at Ceres' plenteous load? *As frowning at the favours of the world? Why are thine eyes fix'd to the sullen earth, What see'st thou there? king Henry's diadem, Gazing on that which seems to dim thy sight? *If so, gaze on, and grovel on thy face, Enchas'd with all the honours of the world? *Until thy head be circled with the same. Put forth thy hand, reach at the glorious gold: What, is't too short? I'll lengthen it with mine: *We'll both together lift our heads to heaven; And, having both together heav'd it up, And never more abase our sight so low, As to vouchsafe one glance unto the ground. (2) Meleager; whose life was to continue only so long as a certain firebrand should last. His mother Althea having thrown it into the fire, he lexpired in torment. |