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. 'T was 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 't was my turn to fly, and now 't is thine.
Clif. You said so much before, and yet you fled.

War. 'T was 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 parley; 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

Q. Mar.

speak.

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.

Q. Mar. But thou art neither like thy sire, nor dam; But like a foul mis-shapen stigmatic,

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)

Sham'st thou not, knowing whence thou art extraught,

To let thy tongue detect thy base-born heart?

Edw. A wisp of straw were worth a thousand crowns, To make this shameless callat 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.
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 deniedst 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.

A Field of Battle near Towton.

Alarums: Excursions. Enter WARWICK.

War. Forspent with toil, as runners with a race,

I lay me down a little while to breathe;

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.

[Exeunt.

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

Were play'd in jest by counterfeiting actors?
Here on my knee I vow to God above,
I'll never pause again, never stand still,

Till either death hath clos'd these eyes of mine,

Or fortune given me measure of revenge.

Edw. O Warwick! I do bend my knee with thine;

And in this vow do chain my soul to thine.

And, ere my knee rise from the earth's cold face,
I throw my hands, mine eyes, my heart to thee,
Thou setter up and plucker down of kings;
Beseeching thee, if with thy will it stands,
That to my foes this body must be prey,
Yet that thy brazen gates of heaven may ope,
And give sweet passage to my sinful soul.

Now, lords, take leave until we meet again,
Where'er it be, in heaven, or in earth.

and, gentle Warwick,

Rich. Brother, give me thy hand;
Let me embrace thee in my weary arms.
I, that did never weep, now melt with woe,
That winter should cut off our spring-time so.

War. Away, away! Once more, sweet lords, farewell.
Geo. Yet let us all together to our troops,
And give them leave to fly that will not stay,
And call them pillars that will stand to us;
And if we thrive promise them such rewards
As victors wear at the Olympian games.

This may plant courage in their quailing breasts;
For yet is hope of life, and victory.

Foreslow no longer; make we hence amain.

SCENE IV.

The Same. Another part of the Field.

Excursions. Enter RICHARD and CLIFFord.
Rich. Now, Clifford, I have singled thee alone.
Suppose, this arm is for the duke of York,
And this for Rutland; both bound to revenge,
Wert thou environ'd with a brazen wall.

Clif. Now, Richard, I am with thee here alone.
This is the hand that stabb'd thy father York,
And this the hand that slew thy brother Rutland;
And here's the heart that triumphs in their death,
And cheers these hands, that slew thy sire and brother,
To execute the like upon thyself;

And so, have at thee.

[Exeunt.

[They fight. WARWICK enters; CLIFFORD flies. Rich. Nay, Warwick, single out some other chase; For I myself will hunt this wolf to death.

[Exeunt.