March. Enter EDWARD, GEOrge, Richard, WarWICK, NORFOLK, MONTAGUE, and Soldiers.

Edw. Now, perjur'd Henry! wilt thou kneel for grace,

And set thy diadem upon my head;

* Or bide the mortal fortune of the field?

Q. Mar. Go, rate thy minions, proud insulting boy!

Becomes it thee to be thus bold in terms,
Before thy sovereign, and thy lawful king?

Edw. 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,—
Have caus'd him, by new act of parliament,
'To blot out me, and put his own son in.

'Clif. And reason too;

Who should succeed the father, but the son? Rich. Are you there, butcher?-O, I cannot speak!

Clif. Ay, crook-back; here I stand, to answer thee,

'Or any he the proudest of thy sort.

Rich. "Twas you that kill'd young Rutland, was it not?

Clif. Ay, and old York, and yet not satisfied. Rich. For God's sake, lords, give signal to the fight.

War. What say'st thou, Henry, wilt thou yield the crown?

'Q. Mar. Why, how now, long-tongu'd Warwick? dare you speak?

When you and I met at Saint Alban's last,

Your legs did better service than

your hands.

War. Then 'twas my turn to fly, and now 'tis

thine.

Clif. You said so much before, and yet you fled. War. 'Twas not your valour, Clifford, drove me thence.

'North. No, nor your manhood, that durst make you stay.

Rich. Northumberland, I hold thee reverently;Break off the parle; for scarce I can refrain The execution of my big-swoln heart

Upon that Clifford, that cruel child-killer.

Clif. I slew thy father: Call'st thou him a child? Rich. Ay, like a dastard, and a treacherous coward, As thou didst kill our tender brother Rutland; But, ere sun-set, I'll make thee curse the deed. K. Hen. Have done with words, my lords, and hear me speak.

Q. Mar. Defy them then, or else hold close thy lips.

K. Hen. I pr'ythee, give no limits to my tongue; I am a king, and privileg❜d to speak.

Clif. My liege, the wound, that bred this meeting here,

Cannot be cur'd by words; therefore be still.

Rich. Then, executioner, unsheath thy sword: By him that made us all, I am resolv'd,' 'That Clifford's manhood lies upon his tongue. 'Edw. 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. War. If thou deny, their blood upon thy head; For York in justice puts his armour on.

'Prince. If that be right, which Warwick says is right,

There is no wrong, but every thing is right.

Rich. Whoever got thee, there thy mother stands; For, well I wot, thou hast thy mother's tongue.

9

in doubt.

I am resolv'd,] It is my firm persuasion; I am no longer

Q. Mar. But thou art neither like thy sire, nor

dam ;

But like a foul misshapen stigmatick,

Mark'd by the destinies to be avoided,
'As venom toads, or lizards' dreadful stings.
Rich. Iron of Naples, hid with English gilt,
Whose father bears the title of a king,

(As if a channel should be call'd the sea,)1
Sham'st thou not, knowing whence thou art ex-
traught,

To let thy tongue detect' thy base-born heart? Edw. A wisp of straws were worth a thousand

crowns,

To make this shameless callet' know herself.*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, And tam'd 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 grac'd thy poor sire with his bridal day;

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.

1 (As if a channel should be call'd the sea,)] A channel, in our author's time, signified what we now call a kennel.

2 To let thy tongue detect-] To show thy meanness of birth by the indecency of language with which thou railest at my deformity. JOHNSON.

9 A wisp of straw-] An instrument of correction that might disgrace, but not hurt her. A wispe was also the punishment for a scold.

+ To make this shameless callet-] Callet, a lewd woman, drab, perhaps so called from the French calote, which was a sort of head-dress worn by country girls.

› Menelaus ;] i. e. a cuckold.

For what hath broach'd this tumult, but thy pride? Hadst thou been meek, our title still had slept; And we, in pity of the gentle king,

Had slipp'd our claim until another age.

"Geo. 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:

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 bath'd thy growing with our heated bloods.

Edw. And, in this resolution, I defy thee; Not willing any longer conference,

Since thou deny'st the gentle king to speak.Sound trumpets!-let our bloody colours wave!And either victory, or else a grave.

Q. Mar. Stay, Edward.

Edw. No, wrangling woman; we'll no longer stay: These words will cost ten thousand lives to-day.

SCENE III.

[Exeunt.

A Field of Battle between Towton and Saxton in Yorkshire.

Alarums: Excursions. Enter WARWICK. 'War. Forspent with toil, as runners with a race, I lay me down a little while to breathe:

5

we saw our sunshine made thy spring,

And that thy summer bred us no increase,] When we saw that by favouring thee we made thee grow in fortune, but that we received no advantage from thy fortune flourishing by our favour, we then resolved to destroy thee, and determined to try some other means, though our first efforts have failed.

6 A Field of Battle, &c.] We should read near Towton. Shakspeare has here, perhaps, intentionally thrown three different actions into one.

For strokes receiv'd, and many blows repaid,
Have robb'd my strong-knit sinews of their strength,
And, spite of spite, needs must I rest awhile.

Enter EDWARD, running.

Edw.Smile,gentle heaven! or strike,ungentle death! For this world frowns, and Edward's sun is clouded. War. How now, my lord? what hap? what hope of good?

Enter GEORge.

*Geo. Our hap is loss, our hope but sad despair; 'Our ranks are broke, and ruin follows us: • What counsel give you, whither shall we fly? 'Edw. Bootless is flight, they follow us with wings;

And weak we are, and cannot shun pursuit.

Enter RICHARD.

Rich. Ah, Warwick, why hast thou withdrawn thyself?

Thy brother's blood the thirsty earth hath drunk, 'Broach'd with the steely point of Clifford's lance: And, in the very pangs of death, he cried,

'Like to a dismal clangor heard from far,

Warwick, revenge! brother, revenge my death! 'So underneath the belly of their steeds,

"That stain'd their fetlocks in his smoking blood, 'The noble gentleman gave up the ghost.

'War. Then let the earth be drunken with our blood:

I'll kill my horse because I will not fly.

* Why stand we like soft-hearted women here, * Wailing our losses, whiles the foe doth rage; * And look upon,' as if the tragedy

"And look upon,] And are mere spectators.