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The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - Israel Gollancz William Shakespeare [346]

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by his endowments are made great.

YORK.

My lords of England, let me tell you this:

I have had feeling of my cousin's wrongs,

And labour'd all I could to do him right;

But in this kind to come, in braving arms,

Be his own carver and cut out his way,

To find out right with wrong-it may not be;

And you that do abet him in this kind

Cherish rebellion, and are rebels all.

NORTHUMBERLAND.

The noble Duke hath sworn his coming is

But for his own; and for the right of that

We all have strongly sworn to give him aid;

And let him never see joy that breaks that oath!

YORK.

Well, well, I see the issue of these arms.

I cannot mend it, I must needs confess,

Because my power is weak and all ill left;

But if I could, by Him that gave me life,

I would attach you all and make you stoop

Unto the sovereign mercy of the King;

But since I cannot, be it known unto you

I do remain as neuter. So, fare you well;

Unless you please to enter in the castle,

And there repose you for this night.

BOLINGBROKE.

An offer, uncle, that we will accept.

But we must win your Grace to go with us

To Bristow Castle, which they say is held

By Bushy, Bagot, and their complices,

The caterpillars of the commonwealth,

Which I have sworn to weed and pluck away.

YORK.

It may be I will go with you; but yet I'll pause,

For I am loath to break our country's laws.

Nor friends nor foes, to me welcome you are.

Things past redress are now with me past care. Exeunt

SCENE 4. A camp in Wales

Enter EARL OF SALISBURY and a WELSH CAPTAIN

CAPTAIN. My Lord of Salisbury, we have stay'd ten days

And hardly kept our countrymen together,

And yet we hear no tidings from the King;

Therefore we will disperse ourselves. Farewell.

SALISBURY.

Stay yet another day, thou trusty Welshman;

The King reposeth all his confidence in thee.

CAPTAIN.

'Tis thought the King is dead; we will not stay.

The bay trees in our country are all wither'd,

And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven;

The pale-fac'd moon looks bloody on the earth,

And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change;

Rich men look sad, and ruffians dance and leap-

The one in fear to lose what they enjoy,

The other to enjoy by rage and war.

These signs forerun the death or fall of kings.

Farewell. Our countrymen are gone and fled,

As well assur'd Richard their King is dead. Exit

SALISBURY. Ah, Richard, with the eyes of heavy mind,

I see thy glory like a shooting star

Fall to the base earth from the firmament!

The sun sets weeping in the lowly west,

Witnessing storms to come, woe, and unrest;

Thy friends are fled, to wait upon thy foes;

And crossly to thy good all fortune goes. Exit

ACT III. SCENE I. BOLINGBROKE'S camp at Bristol

Enter BOLINGBROKE, YORK, NORTHUMBERLAND, PERCY, ROSS, WILLOUGHBY,

BUSHY and GREEN, prisoners

BOLINGBROKE.

Bring forth these men.

Bushy and Green, I will not vex your souls-

Since presently your souls must part your bodies-

With too much urging your pernicious lives,

For 'twere no charity; yet, to wash your blood

From off my hands, here in the view of men

I will unfold some causes of your deaths:

You have misled a prince, a royal king,

A happy gentleman in blood and lineaments,

By you unhappied and disfigured clean;

You have in manner with your sinful hours

Made a divorce betwixt his queen and him;

Broke the possession of a royal bed,

And stain'd the beauty of a fair queen's cheeks

With tears drawn from her eyes by your foul wrongs;

Myself-a prince by fortune of my birth,

Near to the King in blood, and near in love

Till you did make him misinterpret me-

Have stoop'd my neck under your injuries

And sigh'd my English breath in foreign clouds,

Eating the bitter bread of banishment,

Whilst you have fed upon my signories,

Dispark'd my parks and fell'd my forest woods,

From my own windows torn my household coat,

Raz'd out my imprese, leaving me no sign

Save men's opinions and my living blood

To show the world I am a gentleman.

This and much more, much more than twice all this,

Condemns you to the

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