Shall gild her bridal bed; and make her rich
In titles, honours, aud promotions,
As she in beauty, education, blood,
Holds hand with any princess of the world.
K. Phi. What say'st thou, boy? look in the
lady's face.
Lew. I do, my lord, and in her eye I find
A wonder, or a wondrous miracle,
The shadow of myself form'd in her eye;
Which, being but the shadow of your son,
Becomes a sun, and makes your son a shadow:
I do protest, I never lov'd myself,
Till now infixed I beheld myself,
Drawn in the flattering table of her eye.
[Whispers with BLANCH.
Bast. Drawn in the flattering table of her
eye !-
Hang'd in the frowning wrinkle of
brow!-
And quarter'd in her heart!—he doth espy
Himself love's traitor: This is pity now,
That hang'd, and drawn, and quarter'd, there
should be,
In such a love, so vile a lout as he.
Blanch. My uncle's will, in this respect, is
mine:
If he see aught in you, that makes him like,
That any thing he sees, which moves his liking,
I can with ease translate it to my will;
Or, if you will, (to speak more properly,)
I will enforce it easily to my love.
Further I will not flatter you my lord,
That all I see in you is worthy love,
Than this, that nothing do I see in you,
Some speedy messenger bid her repair
To our solemnity :-I trust we shall,
If not fill up the measure of her will,
Yet in some measure satisfy her so,
That we shall stop her exclamation.
Go we, as well as haste will suffer us,
To this unlook'd for unprepared pomp.
[Exeunt all but the BASTARD.-The CITI.
ZENS retire from the walls.
Bast. Mad world! mad kings! mad cou-
position!
John, to stop Arthur's title in the whole,
Hath willingly departed with a part:
And France, (whose armour conscience buck-
led on;
Whom zeal and charity brought to the field,
As God's own soldier,) rounded in the ear
With that same purpose-changer, that sly devil;
That broker, that still breaks the pate of faith;
That daily break-vow; he that wins of all,
of kings, of beggars, old men, young men,
maids :-
Who having no external thing to lose
But the word maid,-cheats the poor maid of
that,
That smooth-faced gentleman, tickling com.
modity, +
Commodity, the bias of the world;
The world, who of itself is peised † well,
Made to run even, upon even ground;
Till this advantage, this vile drawing bias,
This sway of motion, this commodity,
Makes it take head from all indifferency,
From all direction, purpose, course, intent:
(Though churlish thoughts themselves should be And this same bias, this commodity.
That I can find should merit any hate.
K. John. What say these young ones? What say you, my niece?
Blanch. That she is bound in honour
to do
What you in wisdom shall vouchsafe to say.
K. John. Speak then, prince Dauphin; can
you love this lady?
Lew. Nay, ask me if I can refrain from love;
For I do love her most unfeignedly.
K. John. Then do I give Volquessen, Tou-
raine, Maine,
Poictiers, and Anjou, these five provinces,
With her to thee, and this addition more,
Full thirty thousand marks of English coin.-
Philip of France, if thou be pleas'd withal,
Command thy son and daughter to join hands.
K. Phi. It likes us well;-Young princes,
close your hands.
Aust. And your lips too; for, I am well as-
sur'd,
That I did so, when I was first assur'd.
This bawd, this broker, this all-changing word,
Clapp'd on the outward eye of fickle Frauce,
Hath drawn him from his own determin d aid,
From a resolv'd and honourable war,
To a most base and vile-concluded peace.-
And why rail I on this cominodity ?
But for because he hath not woo'd me yet:
Not that I have the power to clutch my hand,
When his fair angels § would salute my palm :
But for my hand, as unattempted yet,
Like a poor beggar, raileth on the rich,
Well, whiles I am a beggar, I will rail,
And say,-there is no sin but to be rich;
And being rich, my virtue then shall be,
To say, there is no vice, but beggary:
Since kings break faith upon commodity,
Gain be my lord! for I will worship thee!
[Exit.
K. Phi. Now, citizens of Angiers, ope your SCENE 1.-The same.-The French King's
Enter CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and SALISBURY,
Const. Gone to be married! gone to swear a
peace!
False blood to false blood join'd! Gone to he
friends!
Shall
Lewis have Blanch? and Blanch those
provinces ?
It is not so; thou hast mispoke, misheard;
Be well advis'd, tell o'er thy tale again:
It cannot be; thou dost but say, 'tis so:
I trust, I may not trust thee; for thy word
Is but the vain breath of a common man :
Believe me, I do not believe thee, man;
I have a king's oath to the contrary.
Thou shalt be punish'd for thus frighting me,
For I am sick, and capable of fears;
Oppress'd with wrongs, and therefore full of
fears;
A widow, husbandless, subject to fears;
![[blocks in formation]](https://books.google.fi/books/content?id=qbhyNKKR1GMC&hl=fi&output=html_text&pg=PA348&img=1&zoom=3&q=tongue&cds=1&sig=ACfU3U3DjfZ8HQjpAGCw3y9nBt3mvM4XzA&edge=0&edge=stretch&ci=119,114,408,438)
Fellow, be gone; I cannot brook thy sight:
This news hath made thee a most ugly man.
Sal. What other harm have 1, good lady,
done,
But spoke the harm that is by others done?
Const. Which harm within itself so heinous is,
As it makes harmful all that speak of it.
Arth. I do beseech you, madam, be content.
Const. If thou, that bid'st me be content,
wert grim,
Ugly, and sland'rous to thy mother's womb,
Full of unpleasing blots, and sightless stains,
Lame, foolish, crooked, swart, prodigious,
Patch'd with foul moles, and eye-offending
marks,
I would not care, I then would be content;
For then I should not love thee; no, nor thou
Become thy great birth, nor deserve a crown.
But thou art fair; and at thy birth, dear boy,
Nature and fortune join'd to make thee great :
Of nature's gifts thou may'st with lilies boast,
And with the half blown rose but fortune, oh!
She is corrupted, chang'd, and won from thee;
She adulterates hourly with thine uncle John;
And with her golden hand hath pluck'd on
France
To tread down fair respect of sovereignty,
And made his majesty the bawd of their's.
France is a bawd to fortune and king John;
That strumpet fortune, that usurping John:-
Tell me, thou fellow, is not France forsworn?
Envenom him with words; or get thee gone,
And leave those woes alone, which I alone,
Am bound to under-bear.
Sal Pardon me, madam,
I may not go without you to the kings.
Const. Thou may'st, thou shalt, I will not go
with thee:
I will instruct my sorrows to be proud;
For grief is proud, and makes his owner stout.
To me, and to the state of my great grief,
Let kings assemble; for my grief's so great,
That no supporter but the huge firm earth
Can hold it up: here I and sorrow sit;
Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it.
[She throws herself on the ground. Enter King JOHN, King PHILIP, LEWIS, BLANCH, ELINOR, BASTARD, AUSTRIA, and Attendants.
K. Phi. 'Tis true, fair daughter; and this blessed day,
Ever in France shall be kept festival:
To solemnize this day, the glorious sun
Stays in his course, and plays the alchemist;
Turning, with splendour of his precious eye,
The meagre cloddy earth to glittering gold:
The yearly course, that brings this day about, Shall never see it but a holyday.
Const. A wicked day, and not a holyday!— [Rising. What hath this day deserv'd, what hath it done, That it in golden letters should be set, Among the high tides, in the kalendar? Nay, rather, turn this day out of the week; This day of shame, oppression, perjury: Or, if it must stand still, let wives with child Pray that their burdens may not fall this day, Lest that their hopes prodigiously be cross'd: But, on this day, let seamen fear no wreck ; No bargains break, that are not this day made: This day, all things begun come to ill end; Yea, faith itself to hollow falsehood change? K. Phi. By heaven, lady, you shall have no
To curse the fair proceedings of this day:
Have I not pawn'd to you my majesty ?
Const. You have beguil'd me with a coun-
terfeit,
[tried,
Resembling majesty; which, being touch'd, and
Proves valueless: You are forsworn, forsworn;
You came in arms to spill mine enemies' blood,
But now in arms you strengthen it with your's.
The grappling vigour and rough frown of war
Is cold in amity and painted peace,
And our oppression hath made up this league : Arm, arm, you heavens, against these perjur'd kings!
A widow cries; be husband to me, heavens!
Let not the hours of this ungodly day
Wear out the day in peace; but, ere sunset,
Set armed discord 'twixt these perjur'd kings!
Hear me, O hear me !
Aust. Lady Constance, peace.
Const. War! war! no peace! peace is to me
![[blocks in formation]](https://books.google.fi/books/content?id=qbhyNKKR1GMC&hl=fi&output=html_text&pg=PA348&img=1&zoom=3&q=tongue&cds=1&sig=ACfU3U3DjfZ8HQjpAGCw3y9nBt3mvM4XzA&edge=0&edge=stretch&ci=523,726,380,173)
A ramping fool; to brag, and stamp, and swear,
Upon my party! Thou cold-blooded slave,
Hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side?
Being sworn my soldier? bidding me depend
Upon thy stars, thy fortune, and thy strength?
And dost thou now fall over to my foes?
Thou wear a lion's hide! doff it for shame,
And hang a calf's-skin on those recreant limbs.
Aust. O that a man should speak those words
to me!
Bast. And bang a calf's-skin on those re creant limbs.
Aust. Thou dar'st not say so, villain, for thy life.
Bast. And hang a calf's-skin on those re creant limbs.
K. John. We like not this; thou dos' forget thyself.
K. Phi. Here comes the holy legate of the
pope. Pand. Hail, you anointed deputies of heaven! To thee, king John, my holy errand is. And from pope Innocent the legate here, 1 Pandulph, of fair Milan cardinal, Do, in his name, religiously demand, Why thou against the church, our holy mother, So wilfully dost spurn: and, force perforce, Keep Stephen Langton, chosen archbishop Of Canterbury, from that holy see? This, in our 'foresaid holy father's name, Pope Innocent, I do demand of thee.
Are led so grossly by this meddling priest,
Dreading the curse that money may buy out;
And, by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust,
Purchase corrupted pardon of a man,
Who, in that sale, sells pardon from himself:
Though you, and all the rest, so grossly led,
This juggling witchcraft with revenue cherish;
Yet I, alone, alone do me oppose
Against the pope, and count his friends my foes.
Pand. Then, by the lawful power that have,
Thou shalt stand curs'd and excommunicate:
And blessed shall be be, that doth revolt
From his allegiance to an heretic;
And meritorious shall that hand be call'd,
Canonized, and worshipp'd as a saint,
That takes away by any secret course
Thy bateful life.
Const. O lawful let it be,
That I have room with Rome to curse a while! Good father cardinal, cry thou Ameu
To my keen curses; for, without my wrong, There is no tongue hath power to curse him right.
Pand. There's law and warrant, lady, for my
Const. And for mine too; when law can do no right,
Let it be lawful that law bar no wrong:
Law cannot give my child his kingdom here;
For he, that holds his kingdom, holds the
law :
Therefore, since law itself is perfect wrong,
How can the law forbid my tongue to curse?
Pand. Philip of France, on peril of a curse,
Let go the hand of that arch-heretic;
And raise the power of France upon his head
Unless he do submit himself to Rome.
Eli. Look'st thou pale, France? do not let go thy hand.
Const. Look to that, devil! lest that France repent,
And, by disjoining hands, hell lose a soul.
Aust. King Philip, listen to the cardinal.
Bast. And hang a calf's-skin on his recreant
limbs.
Aust. Well, ruffian, I must pocket up these wrongs,
Const. What should he say, but as the cardinal?
Lew. Bethink you, father; for the difference Is, purchase of a heavy curse from Rome, Or the light loss of England for a friend: Forego the easier.
Blanch. That's the curse of Rome.
![[blocks in formation]](https://books.google.fi/books/content?id=qbhyNKKR1GMC&hl=fi&output=html_text&pg=PA349&img=1&zoom=3&q=tongue&cds=1&sig=ACfU3U0Plu4XBJBPtfw2Nih5SVYYv43kBQ&edge=0&edge=stretch&ci=471,97,423,391)
And tell me, how you would bestow yourself.
This royal haud and mine are newly knit ;
And the conjunction of our inward souls
Married in league, coupled and link'd together
With all religious strength of sacred vows;
The latest breath that gave the sound of words,
Was deep-sworn faith, peace, amity, true love,
Between our kingdoms, and our royal selves;
And even before this truce, but new before,-
No longer than we well could wash our hands,
To clap this royal bargain up of peace,-
Heaven knows, they were besmear'd and over-
stain'd
With slaughter's pencil; where revenge did paint
The fearful difference of incensed kings:
And shall these hands, so lately purg'd of blood,
So newly join'd in love, so strong in both,
Unyoke this seizure, and this kind regreet?
Play fast and loose with faith? so jest with
heaven,
Make such unconstant children of ourselves.
As now again to snatch our palm from palm;
Unswear faith sworn; and on the marriage bed
Of smiling peace to march a bloody host,
And make a riot on the gentle brow
Of true sincerity? O holy Sir,
My reverend father, let it not be so:
Out of your grace, devise, ordain, impose
Some gentle order; and then we
To do your pleasure, and continue friends.
Pand. All form is formless, order orderless,
Save what is opposite to England's love.
Therefore to arms! be champion of our church!
Or let the church, our mother, breathe her
curse,
A mother's curse, on her revolting son.
France, thou may'st hold a serpent by the
tongue.
A cased lion by the mortal paw,
A fasting tiger safer by the tooth,
Than keep in peace that hand which thou dost
hold.
K. Phi. I may disjoin my hand, but not my faith.
Pand. So mak'st thou faith an enemy to And, like a civil war, set'st oath to oath, [faith; Thy tongue against thy tongue. O let thy vow First made to heaven, first be to heaven per
That is, to be the champion of our church! What since thou swor'st, is sworn against thy.
And may not be performed by thyself:
For that, which thou hast sworn to do amiss,
Const. O Lewis, stand fast; the devil tempts Is not amiss when it is truly done;
In likeness of a new untrimmed bride.
And being not done, where doing tends to III, The truth is then most done not doing it:
The better act of purposes mistook
Is, to mistake again; though indirect,
Yet indirection thereby grows direct,
And falsehood falsehood cures; as fire cools
fire,
Within the scorched veins of one new burn'd.
It is religion, that doth make vows kept;
But thou hast sworn against religion;
By what thou swear'st, against the thing thou swear'st;
And mak'st an oath the surety for thy truth
Against an oath: The truth thou art unsure
To swear, swear only not to be forsworn ;
Else, what a mockery should it be to swear?
But thou dost swear only to be forsworn;
And most forsworn, to keep what thou dost
![[blocks in formation]](https://books.google.fi/books/content?id=qbhyNKKR1GMC&hl=fi&output=html_text&pg=PA350&img=1&zoom=3&q=tongue&cds=1&sig=ACfU3U3JKJytTZwXX0ehgssg7XVyP_zZ2A&edge=0&edge=stretch&ci=118,372,399,190)
Will not a calf's-skin stop that mouth of thine ? Lew. Father, to arms!
Blanch. Upon thy wedding day? Against the blood that thou hast married? What, shall our feast be kept with slaughter'd men ?
Shall braying trumpets, and loud churlish drums,
Clamours of hell,-be measures to our pomp?
O husband, hear me !-ah, alack, how new
Is husband in my mouth!-even for that name,
Which till this time my tongue did ne'er pro-
nounce,
Upon my knee I beg, go not to arms
Against mine uncle.
Const. O upon my knee,
Made hard with kneeling, I do pray to thee,
Thou virtuous Dauphin, alter not the doom
Fore-thought by heaven.
Blanch. Now shall I see thy love; What mo
Be stronger with thee than the name of wife ? Const. That which upholdeth him that thee upholds,
His honour: O thine honour, Lewis, thine
Lew. I muse your majesty doth seem so cold,
When such profound respects do pull you on.
Pand. I will denounce a curse upon his head.
K. Phi. Thou shalt not need :-England, I'll
fall from thee.
Const. O fair return of banish'd majesty !
Eli. O foul revolt of Freuch inconstancy!
K. John. France, thou shalt rue this hour
within this hour.
Bast. Old time the clock-setter, that bald sexton time.
Is it as he will? well then, France shall rue. Blanch. The sun's o'ercast with blood: Fair
Which is the side that I must go withal?
I am with both; each army hath a hand;
And, in their rage, I having hold of both,
They whirl asunder, and dismember me.
Husband, I cannot pray that thou may'st win;
Uncle, I needs must pray that thou may'st
lose; Father, I may not wish the fortune thine; Grandam, I will not wish thy wishes thrive : Whoever wins, on that side shall I lose; Assured loss, before the match be play'd. Lew. Lady, with me; with me thy fortune lies.
Blanch. There where my fortune lives, there my life dies.
K. John. Cousin, go draw our puissance together.[Exit BASTARD. France, I am burn'd up with inflaming wrath; A rage, whose heat hath this condition, Than nothing can allay, nothing but blood, The blood, and dearest-valu'd blood, of France. K. Phi. Thy rage shall burn thee up, and thou shalt turn
To ashes, ere our blood shall quench that fire: Look to thyself, thou art in jeopardy.
K. John. No more than he that threats.-To arms lets hie! [Exeunt.
SCENE II.-The same.-Plains near
Alarums; Excursions; Retreat. Enter King JOHN, ELINOR, ARTHUR, the BASTARD, HUBERT, and Lords.
K. John. So shall it be; your grace shall stay behind, [TO ELINOR.
So strongly guarded.-Cousin, look not sad: [To ARTHUR. Thy grandam loves thee; and thy uncle will As dear be to thee as thy father was. Arth. O this will make my mother die with grief.
K. John. Cousin, [To the BASTARD] away for England; haste before : And, ere our coming, see thou shake the bags Of hoarding abbots; angels imprisoned Set thou at liberty: the fat ribs of peace Must by the hungry now be fed upon : Use our commission in his utmost force. Bast. Bell, book, and candle shall not drive
When gold and silver becks me to come on. I leave your highness :-Grandam, I will pray (If ever I remember to be holy,) For your fair safety; so I kiss your hand. Eli. Farewell, my gentle cousin. [Exit BASTARD. K. John. Coz, farewell. Eli. Come hither, little kinsman; hark, a word. [She takes ARTHUR aside. K. John. Come hither, Hubert. O my gentle
We owe thee much; within this wall of flesh
There is a soul, counts thee her creditor,
And with advantage means to pay thy love:
And, my good friend, thy voluntary oath
Lives in this bosom, derrly cherished.
Give me thy hand. I had a thing to say,-
But I will fit it with some better time.
By heaven, Hubert, I am almost asham'd
To say what good respect I have of thee.
Hub. I am much bounden to your majesty.
K. John. Good friend, thou hast no cause to
say so yet:
But thou shalt have; and creep time ne'er so
slow,
Yet it shall come, for me to do thee good.
I had a thing to say,--But let it go
The sun is in the heaven, and the proud day,
Attended with the pleasures of the world,
Is all too wanton, and too full of gawds,
To give me audience :-If the midnight bell
Did, with his iron tongue and brazeu mouth,
Sound one unto the drowsy race of night;
If this same were a church-yard where we
stand,
And thou possessed with a thousand wrongs;
Or if that surly spirit, melancholy,
Had bak'd thy blood, and made it heavy, thick;
(Which, else, runs tickling up and down the
veins,
Making that idiot, laughter, keep men's eyes,
And strain their cheeks to idle merriment,
A passion hateful to my purposes ;)
Or if that thou could'st see me without eyes,
Hear me without thine ears, and make reply
Without a tongue, using conceit + alone,
Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound
words;
Then, in despite of brooded watchful day,
I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts:
But ab, I will not :-Yet I love thee well;
And, by my troth, I think tnou lov'st me well.
Hub. So well, that what you bid me under-
take,
Though that my death were adjunct to my act,
By heaven, I'd do't.
K. John. Do not I know, thou would'st?
Good Hubert, Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye
On you young boy: I'll tell thee what, my
friend-
He is a very serpent in my way;
And, whersoe'er this foot of mine doth tread,
He lies before me: Dost thou understand me?
Thou art his keeper.
Hub. And I will keep him so,
That he shall not offend your majesty.
K. John. Death.
Hub. My lord?
K. John. A grave.
Hub. He shall not live.
K. John. Enough.
I could be merry Low: Hubert, I love thee;
Well, I'll not say what I intend for thee:
Remember.Madam, fare you well:
I'll send those powers o'er to your majesty.
Eli. My blessing go with thee!
K. John. For England, cousin :
Hubert shall be your man, attend on you
With all true duty.-On toward Calais, bo!
SCENE IV.-The same.-The French King's
Tent.
K. Phi. Well could I bear that England had
this praise,
So we could find some pattern of our shame.
Enter CONSTANCE.
Look, who comes here! a grave unto a soul;
Holding the eternal spirit against her will,
In the vile prison of afflicted breath :---
I pr'ythee, lady, go away with me.
Const. Lo, now! now see the issue of your
peace!
K. Phi. Patience, good lady! comfort, gentle
Constance !
Const. No, I defy all counsel, all redress,
But that which ends all counsel, true redress,
Death, death:-O amiable lovely death!
Thou odoriferous stench! sound rottenness!
Arise forth from the couch of lasting night,
Thou hate and terror to prosperity,
And I will kiss thy détestable bones;
And put my eye-balls in thy vaulty brows;
And ring these fingers with thy household
worms;
And stop this gap of breath with fulsome dust,
And be a carrion monster like thyself:
Come, grin on me; and I will think thou
smil'st,
And buss thee as thy wife! Misery's love,
O come to me!
K. Phi. O fair affliction, peace.
Const. No, no, I will not, having breath to
O that my tongue were in the thunder's mouth }
Then with a passion would I shake the world;
And rouse from sleep that fell anatomy,
Which cannot hear a lady's feeble voice,
Which scorns a modern invocation.
Pand. Lady, you utter madness, and not
Const. Thou art not holy to belie me so;
I am not mad: this hair I tear, is mine;
My name is Constance; I was Geffrey's wife;
Young Arthur is my son, and he is lost:
I am not mad ;-I would to heaven 1 were!
For then, 'tis like I should forget myself:
Oh! if I could, what grief should I forget!—
Preach some philosophy to make me mad,
And thou shalt be canoniz'd, cardinal;
For, being not mad, but sensible of grief,
My reasonable part produces reason
How I may be deliver'd of these woes,
And teaches me to kill or hang myself:
If I were mad, I should forget my son;
Or madly think, a babe of clouts were he:
I am not mad; too well, too well I feel
The different plague of each calamity.
K. Phi. Bind up those tresses: O what love
I note
In the fair multitude of those her hairs!
Where but by chance a silver drop hath fallen,
Even to that drop ten thousand wiry friends
Enter King PHILIP, LEWIS, PANDULPH, and Do glew themselves in sociable grief;
K. Phi. So, by a roaring tempest on the flood,
A whole armado of convicted sail
Is scatter'd and disjoin'd from fellowship.
Pand. Courage and comfort! all shall yet go
well.
K. Phi. What can go well, when we have run
so ill ?
Are we not besten? Is not Angiers lost Arthur ta'en prisoner? divers dear slain ?
And bloody England into England gone,
O'erbearing interruption, spite of France?
Lew. What he hath won, that hath he
Like true, inseparable, faithful loves,
Sticking together in calamity.
Const. To England, if you will.
K. Phi. Bind up your hairs.
Const. Yes, that I will; and wherefore will I
do it?
I tore them from their bonds; and cried aloud,
O that these hands could so redeem my son,
As they have given these hairs their liberty!
But now I envy at their liberty,
And will again commit them to their bonds,
Because my poor child is a prisoner.--
And, father cardinal, I have heard you say,
That we shall see and know our friends n
heaven :
forti-If that be true, I shall see my boy again;
For, since the birth of Cain, the first male child,
To him that did but yesterday suspire,
There was not such a gracious creature born.
But now will canker sorrow eat my bud,
And chase the native beauty from his cheek,
So hot a speed with such advice dispos'd,
Such temperate order in so fierce a cause,
Doth want example: Who bath read, or heard,
Of any kindred action like to this?
|