The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Israel Gollancz William Shakespeare [1924]
Than with your words disturb a dying man.
CROMWELL.
Who me, my Lord? no, he disturbs not me.
My mind he stirs not, though his mighty shock
Hath brought mo' peers' heads down to the block.
Farewell, my boy! all Cromwell can bequeath,
My hearty blessing; so I take my leave.
HANGMAN.
I am your death's man; pray, my Lord, forgive me.
CROMWELL.
Even with my soul. Why, man, thou art my Doctor,
And brings me precious Physic for my soul.—
My Lord of Bedford, I desire of you,
Before my death, a corporal embrace.
[Bedford comes to him, Cromwell embraces him.]
Farewell, great Lord; my love I do commend,
My heart to you; my soul to heaven I send.
This is my joy that, ere my body fleet,
Your honoured arms is my true winding sheet.
Farewell, dear Bedford; my peace is made in heaven.
Thus falls great Cromwell a poor ell in length,
To rise to unmeasured height, winged with new strength,
The land of Worms, which dying men discover,
My soul is shrined with heaven's celestial cover.
[Exit Cromwell and the officers, and others.]
BEDFORD.
Well, farewell, Cromwell, the truest friend,
That ever Bedford shall possess again.—
Well, Lords, I fear, when this man is dead,
You'll wish in vain that Cromwell had a head.
[Enter one with Cromwell's head.]
OFFICER.
Here is the head of the deceased Cromwell.
BEDFORD.
Pray thee, go hence, and bear his head away
Unto his body; inter them both in clay.
[Enter Sir Ralph Sadler.]
SADLER.
Ho now, my Lords: what, is Lord Cromwell dead?
BEDFORD.
Lord Cromwell's body now doth want a head.
SADLER.
O God! a little speed had saved his life.
Here is a kind reprieve come from the king,
To bring him straight unto his majesty.
SUFFOLK.
Aye, aye, sir Ralph, reprieves comes now too late.
GARDINER.
My conscience now tells me this deed was ill:
Would Christ that Cromwell were alive again.
NORFOLK.
Come, let us to the king, whom well I know,
Will grieve for Cromwell, that his death was so.
[Exeunt omnes.]
FINIS.
A YORKSHIRE TRAGEDY
This Jacobean tragedy was first printed in 1608. The play was originally assigned to Shakespeare, though most modern critics reject the attribution, favouring Thomas Middleton as the play’s author. A Yorkshire Tragedy was entered into the Stationers' Register on May 2, 1608. The play was published soon after in a quarto issued by bookseller Thomas Pavier, who had published Sir John Oldcastle, another apocryphal play of 1600. The title page of the quarto repeats the attribution to "W. Shakspeare," and states that the play was acted by the King's Men at the Globe Theatre.
The play is unusual in consisting of only ten scenes. The original printed text identifies the work as "ALL'S ONE. OR, One of the foure Plaies in one, called a York-Shire Tragedy...." This plainly implies that the existing play was one of a quartet of related works that were performed on stage together. The play's genre is domestic tragedy, a subgenre of the Renaissance theatre focusing on the downfalls of ordinary people. One of the earliest examples is Arden of Faversham, which also belongs in the Shakespeare Apocrypha.
The plot is based on the biographical account of Walter Calverley of Calverley Hall, Yorkshire, who was executed on August 5, 1605 for murdering two of his children and stabbing his wife. The crimes were a well-known scandal of the day; a pamphlet on the case was issued in June 1605, with a ballad following in July.
The 1608 Quarto printing
CONTENTS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Scene i. A house in Yorkshire
Scene ii. Outside the Husband's house, near Yorkshire
Scene iii. The Husband's house, a room above
Scene iv. The Husband's house
Scene v. The Husband's house, the room above
Scene vi. The Husband's house, the room below
Scene vii. The Husband's house, the room above
Scene viii. A road just outside Yorkshire
Scene ix. The Knight's house
Scene x. Outside the Husband's house
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
OLIVER }
RALPH } serving-men of a house in Yorkshire
SAM }
A Boy
The WIFE
The HUSBAND
Four GENTLEMEN
A SERVANT
The MASTER