[Constance.] And for mine too, since law will do no right; Since law withholds his kingdom from my child, And he that holds the kingdom holds the law. [Pandulph.] Philip of France, on peril of a curse, And raise the power of France upon his head, [Philip.] Good father cardi'nal, make my person yours, Heaven knows our hands were overstain'd with slaugh- Out of your grace, devise, ordain, impose, [Pandulph.] All form is formless, order orderless, France, thou mayst hold a serpent by the tongue, Than keep in peace the hand which thou dost hold. [Philip.] I may disjoin my hand, but not my faith. [Pandulph.] So mak'st thou faith an enemy to faith. The silence of suspense, which follows, is broken by an exclamation from the duke of Austria. [Austria.] King Philip, listen to the cardinal. [Faulconb.] And hang a calf's skin on his recreant limbs. [Austria.] Rebellion, flat rebellion to the church! [Faulconb.] Will not a calf's skin stop that mouth of thine? these wrongs [Austria.] Well, ruffian, I must pocket up Because [Faulconb.] Your pockets best may carry them. The dauphin, observing the irresolution of his father, advances.to determine him against continuing a peace with John. The next immediate speakers are the lady Blanche and lady Constance. [Blanche.] O, husband, hear me !—ah, alas, how new Is husband to my mouth!—even for that name, [Constance.] O, upon my knee Made hard with kneeling, I do pray to thee, [Blanche.] Husband, what motive may Be stronger with thee than the name of wife? [Constance.] That which upholdeth him,-that thee upholds, His honou'r;-O, thine honour, Lewi's, thine honour! [Lewis.] I muse my royal father is so cold, When such profound respects do pull him on. [Pandulph.] I will denounce a curse upon his head. [Philip.] Thou shalt not need: England I fall from thee. [John.] France, thou shalt rue this hour within this hour. The wrath, the rage I burn with, hath a heat That nothing can allay, nothing but blood, The blood, the dearest valu'd blood in France. [Philip.] Look to thyself, thou art in jeopardy. [John.] No more than he that threats: To arms! to arms. THE INDIGNATION OF PHILIP AND HIS SON AT THE TEMPORARY SUCCESSES OF KING JOHN; THE DESPAIR OF CONSTANCE ON THE CAPTURE OF ARTHUR; AND THE RISING HOPES OF LEWIS; REPRESENTED BY SCENES IMAGINED TO OCCUR AT THE FRENCH COURT. HISTORICAL MEMORANDA. Arthur was taken prisoner in 1203. He had broken into Poictou with a small army, in the hope of surprising Queen Eleanor, who had always been unfavourable to his interests; but John fell on his camp unawares, dispersed his force, captured him with many other nobles, and returned to Normandy with a force, which made it prudent in Philip to retire from before Arques, which he was besieging. The greater part of John's prisoners were sent to England, and the poet imagines Arthur to be among them. The destruction of the French fleet did not occur till 1213. It was in 1206 that John took Angers, and the poet magnifies the success of the English king by bringing together facts of different dates. The circumstances which fixed the hopes of Lewis on the crown of England did not occur till 1216. The speakers are King Philip and the Cardinal Pandulph; subsequently the Lady Constance and the Cardinal; lastly the Dauphin and the Cardinal. [Philip.] So, by a roaring tempest on the flood, A whole armada, flying from the foe, Is scatter'd, and disjoin'd from fellowship. [Pandulph.] Courage and comfort! all shall yet go well. [Philip.] What can go well, when we have run so ill? Are we not beaten? Is not Angiers lost? Arthur ta'en prisoner? divers dear friends slain? [Constance.] Lo now! now see the issue of your peace. But that which ends all counsel,-death. O Death, O come to me. [Pandulph.] Lady, you utter madness. [Constance.] Thou art not holy to belie me so: [Pandulph.] You hold too heinous a respect of grief. When there is such disorder in my wit. King Philip, fearing some outrage, follows Constance : Lewis and the Cardinal remain. [Lewis.] There's nothing in this world can make me joy . And bitter shame hath spoil'd the sweet world's taste, [Pandulph.] Before the curing of a strong disease, No, no when fortune means to men most good, Thy foot to England's throne: and therefore mark. An hour, a minute, nay a breath of rest: That John may stand, young Arthur needs must fall. [Lewis.] But what shall I gain by young Arthur's fall? [Pandulph.] You, in the right of Lady Blanche your wife, May then make all the claim that Arthur doth. [Lewis.] May be, he will not touch young But hold him safely in imprisonment. Arthur's life, |