Shakespeare/Shakespeare (1991)(Creative Multimedia).iso/dp/0006/00066.txt

Text File | 1989-11-03 | 14KB | 289 lines

$Unique_ID{SSP00066}
$Title{King Henry VI, Part I:  Act IV, Scene I}
$Author{Shakespeare, William}
$Subject{}
$Log{Dramatis Personae*00050.txt}

                Portions copyright (c) CMC ReSearch, Inc., 1989

                   The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

                              KING HENRY VI PART I


            ACT IV
................................................................................


           SCENE I:  Paris.  A hall of state.
.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

                     {Enter KING HENRY VI, GLOUCESTER, BISHOP OF
                      WINCHESTER, YORK, SUFFOLK, SOMERSET, WARWICK,
                      TALBOT, EXETER, the Governor, of Paris, and others.}

        GLOUCESTER:  Lord bishop, set the crown upon his head.

            BISHOP
     OF WINCHESTER:  God save King Henry, of that name the sixth!

        GLOUCESTER:  Now, governor of Paris, take your oath,
                     That you elect no other king but him;
                     Esteem none friends but such as are his friends,
                     And none your foes but such as shall pretend
                     Malicious practices against his state:
                     This shall ye do, so help you righteous God!

                     {Enter FASTOLFE.}

          FASTOLFE:  My gracious sovereign, as I rode from Calais,
                     To haste unto your coronation,                          10
                     A letter was deliver'd to my hands,
                     Writ to your grace from the Duke of Burgundy.

            TALBOT:  Shame to the Duke of Burgundy and thee!
                     I vow'd, base knight, when I did meet thee next,
                     To tear the garter from thy craven's leg,

                     [Plucking it off]

                     Which I have done, because unworthily
                     Thou wast installed in that high degree.
                     Pardon me, princely Henry, and the rest
                     This dastard, at the battle of Patay,
                     When but in all I was six thousand strong               20
                     And that the French were almost ten to one,
                     Before we met or that a stroke was given,
                     Like to a trusty squire did run away:
                     In which assault we lost twelve hundred men;
                     Myself and divers gentlemen beside
                     Were there surprised and taken prisoners.
                     Then judge, great lords, if I have done amiss;
                     Or whether that such cowards ought to wear
                     This ornament of knighthood, yea or no.

        GLOUCESTER:  To say the truth, this fact was infamous                30
                     And ill beseeming any common man,
                     Much more a knight, a captain and a leader.

            TALBOT:  When first this order was ordain'd, my lords,
                     Knights of the garter were of noble birth,
                     Valiant and virtuous, full of haughty courage,
                     Such as were grown to credit by the wars;
                     Not fearing death, nor shrinking for distress,
                     But always resolute in most extremes.
                     He then that is not furnish'd in this sort
                     Doth but usurp the sacred name of knight,               40
                     Profaning this most honorable order,
                     And should, if I were worthy to be judge,
                     Be quite degraded, like a hedge-born swain
                     That doth presume to boast of gentle blood.

     KING HENRY VI:  Stain to thy countrymen, thou hear'st thy doom!
                     Be packing, therefore, thou that wast a knight:
                     Henceforth we banish thee, on pain of death.

                     [Exit FASTOLFE.]

                     And now, my lord protector, view the letter
                     Sent from our uncle Duke of Burgundy.

        GLOUCESTER:  What means his grace, that he hath changed his style?   50
                     No more but, plain and bluntly, 'To the king!'
                     Hath he forgot he is his sovereign?
                     Or doth this churlish superscription
                     Pretend some alteration in good will?
                     What's here?

                     [Reads]

                                'I have, upon especial cause,
                     Moved with compassion of my country's wreck,
                     Together with the pitiful complaints
                     Of such as your oppression feeds upon,
                     Forsaken your pernicious faction
                     And join'd with Charles, the rightful King of
                          France.'                                           60
                     O monstrous treachery! can this be so,
                     That in alliance, amity and oaths,
                     There should be found such false dissembling guile?

     KING HENRY VI:  What!  doth my uncle Burgundy revolt?

        GLOUCESTER:  He doth, my lord, and is become your foe.

     KING HENRY VI:  Is that the worst this letter doth contain?

        GLOUCESTER:  It is the worst, and all, my lord, he writes.

     KING HENRY VI:  Why, then, Lord Talbot there shall talk with him
                     And give him chastisement for this abuse.
                     How say you, my lord?  are you not content?             70

            TALBOT:  Content, my liege!  yes, but that I am prevented,
                     I should have begg'd I might have been employ'd.

     KING HENRY VI:  Then gather strength and march unto him straight:
                     Let him perceive how ill we brook his treason
                     And what offence it is to flout his friends.

            TALBOT:  I go, my lord, in heart desiring still
                     You may behold confusion of your foes.

                     [Exit.]

                     {Enter VERNON and BASSET.}

            VERNON:  Grant me the combat, gracious sovereign.

            BASSET:  And me, my lord, grant me the combat too.

              YORK:  This is my servant:  hear him, noble prince.            80

          SOMERSET:  And this is mine:  sweet Henry, favor him.

     KING HENRY VI:  Be patient, lords; and give them leave to speak.
                     Say, gentlemen, what makes you thus exclaim?
                     And wherefore crave you combat?  or with whom?

            VERNON:  With him, my lord; for he hath done me wrong.

            BASSET:  And I with him; for he hath done me wrong.

     KING HENRY VI:  What is that wrong whereof you both complain?
                     First let me know, and then I'll answer you.

            BASSET:  Crossing the sea from England into France,
                     This fellow here, with envious carping tongue,          90
                     Upbraided me about the rose I wear;
                     Saying, the sanguine color of the leaves
                     Did represent my master's blushing cheeks,
                     When stubbornly he did repugn the truth
                     About a certain question in the law
                     Argued betwixt the Duke of York and him;
                     With other vile and ignominious terms:
                     In confutation of which rude reproach
                     And in defence of my lord's worthiness,
                     I crave the benefit of law of arms.                    100

            VERNON:  And that is my petition, noble lord:
                     For though he seem with forged quaint conceit
                     To set a gloss upon his bold intent,
                     Yet know, my lord, I was provoked by him;
                     And he first took exceptions at this badge,
                     Pronouncing that the paleness of this flower
                     Bewray'd the faintness of my master's heart.

              YORK:  Will not this malice, Somerset, be left?

          SOMERSET:  Your private grudge, my Lord of York, will out,
                     Though ne'er so cunningly you smother it.              110

     KING HENRY VI:  Good Lord, what madness rules in brainsick men,
                     When for so slight and frivolous a cause
                     Such factious emulations shall arise!
                     Good cousins both, of York and Somerset,
                     Quiet yourselves, I pray, and be at peace.

              YORK:  Let this dissension first be tried by fight,
                     And then your highness shall command a peace.

          SOMERSET:  The quarrel toucheth none but us alone;
                     Betwixt ourselves let us decide it then.

              YORK:  There is my pledge; accept it, Somerset.               120

            VERNON:  Nay, let it rest where it began at first.

            BASSET:  Confirm it so, mine honorable lord.

        GLOUCESTER:  Confirm it so!  Confounded be your strife!
                     And perish ye, with your audacious prate!
                     Presumptuous vassals, are you not ashamed
                     With this immodest clamorous outrage
                     To trouble and disturb the king and us?
                     And you, my lords, methinks you do not well
                     To bear with their perverse objections;
                     Much less to take occasion from their mouths           130
                     To raise a mutiny betwixt yourselves:
                     Let me persuade you take a better course.

            EXETER:  It grieves his highness:  good my lords, be friends.

     KING HENRY VI:  Come hither, you that would be combatants:
                     Henceforth I charge you, as you love our favor,
                     Quite to forget this quarrel and the cause.
                     And you, my lords, remember where we are,
                     In France, amongst a fickle wavering nation:
                     If they perceive dissension in our looks
                     And that within ourselves we disagree,                 140
                     How will their grudging stomachs be provoked
                     To wilful disobedience, and rebel!
                     Beside, what infamy will there arise,
                     When foreign princes shall be certified
                     That for a toy, a thing of no regard,
                     King Henry's peers and chief nobility
                     Destroy'd themselves, and lost the realm of France!
                     O, think upon the conquest of my father,
                     My tender years, and let us not forego
                     That for a trifle that was bought with blood           150
                     Let me be umpire in this doubtful strife.
                     I see no reason, if I wear this rose,

                     [Putting on a red rose]

                     That any one should therefore be suspicious
                     I more incline to Somerset than York:
                     Both are my kinsmen, and I love them both:
                     As well they may upbraid me with my crown,
                     Because, forsooth, the king of Scots is crown'd.
                     But your discretions better can persuade
                     Than I am able to instruct or teach:
                     And therefore, as we hither came in peace,             160
                     So let us still continue peace and love.
                     Cousin of York, we institute your grace
                     To be our regent in these parts of France:
                     And, good my Lord of Somerset, unite
                     Your troops of horsemen with his bands of foot;
                     And, like true subjects, sons of your progenitors,
                     Go cheerfully together and digest.
                     Your angry choler on your enemies.
                     Ourself, my lord protector and the rest
                     After some respite will return to Calais;              170
                     From thence to England; where I hope ere long
                     To be presented, by your victories,
                     With Charles, Alencon and that traitorous rout.

                     [Flourish.  Exeunt all but YORK, WARWICK, EXETER
                      and VERNON.]

           WARWICK:  My Lord of York, I promise you, the king
                     Prettily, methought, did play the orator.

              YORK:  And so he did; but yet I like it not,
                     In that he wears the badge of Somerset.

           WARWICK:  Tush, that was but his fancy, blame him not;
                     I dare presume, sweet prince, he thought no harm.

              YORK:  An if I wist he did,--but let it rest;                 180
                     Other affairs must now be managed.

                     [Exeunt all but EXETER.]

            EXETER:  Well didst thou, Richard, to suppress thy voice;
                     For, had the passions of thy heart burst out,
                     I fear we should have seen decipher'd there
                     More rancorous spite, more furious raging broils,
                     Than yet can be imagined or supposed.
                     But howsoe'er, no simple man that sees
                     This jarring discord of nobility,
                     This shouldering of each other in the court,
                     This factious bandying of their favorites,             190
                     But that it doth presage some ill event.
                     'Tis much when sceptres are in children's hands;
                     But more when envy breeds unkind division;
                     There comes the rain, there begins confusion.

                     [Exit.]