And, what I would not, I'll compell I will;
Provided that yourself remove those lets
That stand between your highness' love and mine.
Edw.
Name them, fair countess, and, by heaven, I will.
Cou. It is their lives, that stand between our love,
That I would have chok'd up, my sovereign.
Edw. Whose lives, my lady?
My thrice loving liege,
My wedded husband Salisbury, and your queen;
Who living have that title in our love,
That we cannot bestow but by their death.
Edw. Thy opposition is beyond our law.
Cou.
And so is your desire: If the law
Can hinder you to execute the one,
Let it forbid you to attempt the other :
I cannot think you love me as you say,
Unless you do make good what you have sworn.
Edw. No more; thy husband and the queen shall die. Fairer thou art by far than Hero was;
Beardless Leander not so strong as I :
He swam an easy current for his love;
But I will, through a helly spout of blood,
Arrive at Sestos where my Hero lies.
Cou. Nay, you'll do more; you'll make the river too,
With their heart-bloods that keep our love asunder,
Of which, my husband, and your wife, are twain.
Edw. Thy beauty makes them guilty of their death,
And gives in evidence, that they shall die;
Upon which verdict, I, their judge, condemn them.
Cou. O perjur'd beauty! more corrupted judge!
When, to the great star-chamber o'er our heads,
The universal sessions calls to count
This packing evil, we both shall tremble for it.
Edw. What says my fair love? is she resolute ?
Cou.
Resolv'd to be dissolv'd; and, therefore, this,—
Keep but thy word, great king, and I am thine.
Stand where thou dost, I'll part a little from thee,
And see how I will yield me to thy hands.
[Turning suddenly upon him, and showing two daggers.
Here by my side do hang my wedding knives :
Take thou the one, and with it kill thy queen,
And learn by me to find her where she lies;
And with this other I'll dispatch my love,
Which now lies fast asleep within my heart :
When they are gone, then I'll consent to love.
Stir not, lascivious king, to hinder me;
My resolution is more nimbler far,
Than thy prevention can be in my rescue,
And, if thou stir, I strike; therefore stand still,
And hear the choice that I will put thee to:
Either swear to leave thy most unholy suit,
And never henceforth to solicit me;
Or else, by heaven [kneeling], this sharp-pointed knife Shall stain thy earth with that which thou wouldst stain,
My poor chaste blood. Swear, Edward, swear,
Or I will strike, and die, before thee here.
Edw. Even by that Power I swear, that gives me now The power to be ashamed of myself,
I never mean to part my lips again
In any word that tends to such a suit.
Arise, true English lady! whom our isle
May better boast of, than e'er Roman might
Of her, whose ransack'd treasury hath task'd
The vain endeavour of so many pens:
Arise; and be my fault thy honour's fame,
Which after-ages shall enrich thee with.
I am awakéd from this idle dream.
Warwick, my son, Derby, Artois, and Audley,
Brave warriors all, where are you all this while?
Enter PRINCE and Lords.
Warwick, I make thee warden of the north :—
You, Prince of Wales, and Audley, straight to sea;
Scour to New-haven; some, there stay for me :-
Myself, Artois, and Derby, will through Flanders,
To greet our friends there, and to crave their aid:
This night will scarce suffice me, to discover
My folly's siege against a faithful lover;
For, ere the sun shall gild the eastern sky,
We'll wake him with our martial harmony.
SCENE I. The Coast of Flanders.
Enter KING JOHN OF FRANCE; his two sons, CHARLES, Duke of Normandy, and PHILIP; DUKE OF LORRAIN, and others.
Here, till our navy, of a thousand sail,
Have made a breakfast to our foe by sea,
Let us encamp, to wait their happy speed.—
Lorrain, what readiness is Edward in?
How hast thou heard that he provided is
Of martial furniture for this exploit ?
Lor. To lay aside unnecessary soothing,
And not to spend the time in circumstance,
'Tis bruited for a certainty, my lord,
That he's exceeding strongly fortify'd ;
His subjects flock as willingly to war,
As if unto a triumph they were led.
Cha. England was wont to harbour malecontents, Blood-thirsty and seditious Catilines,
Spend-thrifts, and such as gape for nothing else
But change and alteration of the state;
And is it possible, that they are now
So loyal in themselves?
Lor. All but the Scot; who solemnly protests,
As heretofore I have inform'd your grace,
Never to sheath his sword, or take a truce.
Joh. Ah, that's the anchorage of some better hope!
But, on the other side; to think what friends
King Edward hath retain'd in Netherland,
Among those ever-bibbing epicures,
Those frothy Dutchmen, puff'd with double beer,
That drink and swill in every place they come,
Doth not a little aggravate mine ire ;
Besides, we hear, the emperor conjoins,
And stalls him in his own authority:
But, all the mightier that their number is,
The greater glory reaps the victory.
Some friends have we, beside domestic power;
The stern Polonian, and the warlike Dane,
The king of Bohemia, and of Sicily,
Are all become confederates with us,
And, as I think, are marching hither apace.
But, soft, I hear the music of their drums,
By which I guess that their approach is near.
Enter BOHEMIA, and Forces.
Boh. King John of France, as league, and neighbourhood Requires, when friends are any way distress'd, I come to aid thee with my country's force. And from great Moscow, fearful to the Turk, And lofty Poland, nurse of hardy men, I bring these servitors to fight for thee,
Who willingly will venture in thy cause.
Joh. Welcome, Bohemian king; and welcome, all :
This your great kindness I will not forget;
Beside your plentiful rewards in crowns,
That from our treasury ye shall receive,
There comes a hare-brain'd nation, deck'd in pride,
The spoil of whom will be a treble game.—
And now my hope is full, my joy complete :
At sea, we are as puissant as the force
Of Agamemnon in the haven of Troy;
By land, with Xerxes we compare of strength,
Whose soldiers drank up rivers in their thirst:
Then, Bayard-like, blind over-weening Ned,
To reach at our imperial diadem,
Is, either to be swallow'd of the waves,
Or hack'd apieces when thou comest ashore.
Mar. Near to the coast I have descry'd, my lord,
As I was busy in my watchful charge,
The proud armado of King Edward's ships:
Which, at the first, far off when I did ken,
Seem'd as it were a grove of wither'd pines;
But, drawing near, their glorious bright aspect,
Their streaming ensigns wrought of colour'd silk,
Like to a meadow full of sundry flowers,
Adorns the naked bosom of the earth :
Majestical the order of their course,
Figuring the hornéd circle of the moon :
On the top-gallant of the admiral,
And likewise all the handmaids of his train,
The arms of England and of France united
Are quarter'd equally by herald's art.
Thus, tightly carry'd with a merry gale;
They plough the ocean hitherward amain.
Joh. Dare he already crop the flower-de-luce?
I hope, the honey being gather'd thence,
He'll suck forth deadly venom from the leaves.—
But where's our navy? how are they prepar'd
To wing themselves against this flight of ravens ?
Mar. They, having knowledge brought them by the
Did break from anchor straight; and, puff'd with rage,
No otherwise than were their sails with wind,
Made forth; as when the empty eagle flies,
To satisfy his hungry griping maw.
Joh. There's for thy news. Return unto thy bark;
And, if thou 'scape the bloody stroke of war,
And do survive the conflict, come again,
And let us hear the manner of the fight.-
Mean space, my lords, 'tis best we be dispers'd,
To several places, lest they chance to land:
First, you, my lord, with your Bohemian troops,
Shall pitch your battles on the lower hand;
My eldest son, the Duke of Normandy,
Together with this aid of Muscovites,
Shall climb the higher ground another way;
Here in the middle coast, betwixt you both,
Philip, my youngest boy, and I will lodge.
So, lords, be gone, and look unto your charge;
You stand for France, an empire fair and large.—
[Exeunt CHA., LOR., BOHEMIA, and Forces.
Now tell me, Philip, what is thy conceit,
Touching the challenge that the English make?
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