And, in that hope, I throw mine eyes to heaven, Scorning whate'er you can afflict me with. 'Why come you not! what! multitudes, and fear? Clif. So cowards fight, when they can fly no further; 'So doves do peck the falcon's piercing talons; So desperate thieves, all hopeless of their lives, Breathe out invectives 'gainst the officers. York. O, Clifford, but bethink thee once again, 'And in thy thought o'er-run my former time: * And, if thou canst for blushing, view this face; And bite thy tongue, that slanders him with cowar dice, "Whose frown hath made thee faint and fly ere this. Clif. I will not bandy with thee word for word; But buckle with thee blows, twice two for one. [Draws. Q. Mar. Hold, valiant Clifford! for a thousand causes, I would prolong awhile the traitor's life:- [They lay hands on YORK, who struggles. Clif. Ay, ay, so strives the woodcock with the gin. North. So doth the coney struggle in the net. [YORK is taken prisoner. York. So triumph thieves upon their conquer'd booty; "It is war's prize-] It is the estimation of people at war; the settled opinion. So true men yield, with robbers so o'er-match'd. North. What would your grace have done unto him now? Q. Mar. Brave warriors, Clifford, and Northumberland, Come make him stand upon this molehill here; 8 "That raught at mountains with outstretched arms, Yet parted but the shadow with his hand. * What! was it you, that would be England's king? Was't you that revell'd in our parliament, And made a preachment of your high descent? ' And where's that valiant crook-back prodigy, Or, with the rest, where is your darling Rutland? I give thee this to dry thy cheeks withal. Alas, poor York ! but that I hate thee deadly, I should lament thy miserable state. I pr'ythee, grieve, to make me merry, York; Stamp, rave, and fret, that I may sing and dance. What, hath thy fiery heart so parch'd thine entrails, That not a tear can fall for Rutland's death? * Why art thou patient, man? thou should'st be mad; * And I, to make thee mad, do mock thee thus. Thou would'st be fee'd, I see, to make me sport; York cannot speak, unless he wear a crown. A crown for York ;-and, lords, bow low to him.— That raught - i. e. That reach'd. The antient preterite and participle passive of reach. this napkin-] A napkin is a handkerchief. Hold you his hands, whilst I do set it on.- Is crown'd so soon, and broke his solemn oath? Now in his life, against your holy oath? Off with the crown; and, with the crown, his head; York. She-wolf of France, but worse than wolves of France, "Whose tongue more poisons than the adder's tooth! How ill-beseeming is it in thy sex, To triumph like an Amazonian trull, Upon their woes, whom fortune captivates? But that thy face is, visor-like, unchanging, Made impudent with use of evil deeds, I would assay, proud queen, to make thee blush: Thy father bears the type of king of Naples, Yet not so wealthy as an English yeoman. 2 3 ' And will you pale] i. e. impale, encircle with a crown. to do him dead.] To kill him. the type i. e. the distinguishing mark; an obsolete use of the word. Hath that poor monarch taught thee to insult? That beggars, mounted, run their horse to death. 'Tis beauty, that doth oft make women proud; But, God he knows, thy share thereof is small: "Tis virtue, that doth make them most admir'd; The contrary doth make thee wonder'd at: "Tis government, that makes them seem divine;" The want thereof makes thee abominable: Thou art as opposite to every good, As the Antipodes are unto us, Or as the south to the septentrion." O, tiger's heart, wrapp'd in a woman's hide! And yet be seen to bear a woman's face? will: For raging wind blows up incessant showers, And, when the rage allays, the rain begins. These tears are my sweet Rutland's obsequies; And every drop cries vengeance for his death, "'Gainst thee, fell Clifford,-and thee false French woman. North. Beshrew me, but his passions move me so, That hardly can I check my eyes from tears. York. That face of his the hungry cannibals Would not have touch'd, would not have stain'd with blood: + 'Tis government, that makes them seem divine;] Government, in the language of that time, signified evenness of temper, and decency of manners. JOHNSON. Septentrio, Lat. But you are more inhuman, more inexorable,- [He gives back the Handkerchief. And, if thou tell'st the heavy story right, There, take the crown, and, with the crown, my curse; And, in thy need, such comfort come to thee, Hard-hearted Clifford, take me from the world; Q. Mar. What, weeping-ripe, my lord North umberland? Think but upon the wrong he did us all, And that will quickly dry thy melting tears. Clif. Here's for my oath, here's for my father's death. [Stabbing him. Q. Mar. And here's to right our gentle-hearted king. [Stabbing him. York. Open thy gate of mercy, gracious God! 'My soul flies through these wounds to seek out thee. [Dies. Q. Mar. Off with his head, and set it on York gates; So York may overlook the town of York. [Exeunt. |