The Complete Plays
Page 42
And you the eagles, soar ye ne’er so high,
I have the jesses that will pull you down,
And Aeque tandem shall that canker cry
40 Unto the proudest peer of Britainy.
[To LANCASTER]
Though thou compar’st him to a flying fish,
And threatenest death whether he rise or fall,
’Tis not the hugest monster of the sea
Nor foulest harpy that shall swallow him.
MORTIMER [to the NOBLES]
If in his absence thus he favours him,
What will he do whenas he shall be present?
LANCASTER
That shall we see. Look where his lordship comes.
Enter GAVESTON.
EDWARD
My Gaveston!
50 Welcome to Tynemouth, welcome to thy friend.
Thy absence made me droop and pine away;
For, as the lovers of fair Danaë,
When she was locked up in a brazen tower,
Desired her more and waxed outrageous,
So did it sure with me; and now thy sight
Is sweeter far than was thy parting hence
Bitter and irksome to my sobbing heart.
GAVESTON
Sweet lord and king, your speech preventeth mine,
60 Yet have I words left to express my joy.
The shepherd nipped with biting winter’s rage
Frolics not more to see the painted spring
Than I do to behold your majesty.
EDWARD
Will none of you salute my Gaveston?
LANCASTER
Salute him? Yes. Welcome, Lord Chamberlain.
MORTIMER
Welcome is the good earl of Cornwall.
WARWICK
Welcome, Lord Governor of the Isle of Man.
PEMBROKE
Welcome, Master Secretary.
KENT
Brother, do you hear them?
EDWARD
70 Still will these earls and barons use me thus?
GAVESTON
My lord, I cannot brook these injuries.
QUEEN
Ay me, poor soul, when these begin to jar.
EDWARD [to GAVESTON]
Return it to their throats, I’ll be thy warrant.
GAVESTON
Base leaden earls, that glory in your birth,
Go sit at home and eat your tenants’ beef,
And come not here to scoff at Gaveston,
Whose mounting thoughts did never creep so low
As to bestow a look on such as you.
LANCASTER
Yet I disdain not to do this for you.
[He draws his sword, MORTIMER JUNIOR and GAVESTON also draw.]
EDWARD
80 Treason, treason! Where’s the traitor?
PEMBROKE Here, here.
EDWARD
Convey hence Gaveston! They’ll murder him.
GAVESTON [to MORTIMER JUNIOR]
The life of thee shall salve this foul disgrace.
MORTIMER
Villain, thy life, unless I miss mine aim.
[He wounds GAVESTON.]
QUEEN
Ah, furious Mortimer, what hast thou done?
MORTIMER
No more than I would answer, were he slain.
[Exit GAVESTON, attended.]
EDWARD
Yes, more than thou canst answer, though he live.
Dear shall you both aby this riotous deed.
Out of my presence! Come not near the court!
MORTIMER
I’ll not be barred the court for Gaveston.
90
LANCASTER
We’ll hale him by the ears unto the block.
EDWARD
Look to your own heads, his is sure enough.
WARWICK
Look to your own crown, if you back him thus.
KENT
Warwick, these words do ill beseem thy years.
EDWARD
Nay, all of them conspire to cross me thus;
But if I live, I’ll tread upon their heads
That think with high looks thus to tread me down.
Come, Edmund, let’s away and levy men.
’Tis war that must abate these barons’ pride.
Exeunt the KING [,QUEEN, and KENT, attended.]
WARWICK
100 Let’s to our castles, for the king is moved.
MORTIMER
Moved may he be, and perish in his wrath!
LANCASTER
Cousin, it is no dealing with him now.
He means to make us stoop by force of arms,
And therefore let us jointly here protest
To prosecute that Gaveston to the death.
MORTIMER
By heaven, the abject villain shall not live.
WARWICK
I’ll have his blood or die in seeking it.
PEMBROKE
The like oath Pembroke takes.
LANCASTER And so doth Lancaster.
Now send our heralds to defy the king,
110 And make the people swear to put him down.
Enter a POST.
MORTIMER
Letters, from whence?
MESSENGER
From Scotland, my lord.
[MORTIMER JUNIOR takes the letter.]
LANCASTER
Why, how now, cousin, how fares all our friends?
MORTIMER
My uncle’s taken prisoner by the Scots.
LANCASTER
We’ll have him ransomed, man; be of good cheer.
MORTIMER
They rate his ransom at five thousand pound.
Who should defray the money but the king,
Seeing he is taken prisoner in his wars?
I’ll to the king.
LANCASTER
Do, cousin, and I’ll bear thee company.
120
WARWICK
Meantime, my lord of Pembroke and myself
Will to Newcastle here and gather head.
MORTIMER
About it then, and we will follow you.
LANCASTER
Be resolute and full of secrecy.
WARWICK I warrant you.
[Exeunt all but MORTIMER JUNIOR and LANCASTER.]
MORTIMER
Cousin, an if he will not ransom him,
I’ll thunder such a peal into his ears
As never subject did unto his king.
LANCASTER Content, I’ll bear my part. Holla! Who’s there?
[Enter a GUARD.]
MORTIMER Ay, marry, such a guard as this doth well.
130
LANCASTER Lead on the way.
GUARD Whither will your lordships?
MORTIMER Whither else but to the king?
GUARD His highness is disposed to be alone.
LANCASTER Why, so he may, but we will speak to him.
GUARD You may not in, my lord.
MORTIMER May we not?
[Enter the KING and KENT.]
EDWARD
How now, what noise is this?
Who have we there? Is’t you?
[He starts to leave.]
MORTIMER
Nay, stay, my lord, I come to bring you news:
140 Mine uncle’s taken prisoner by the Scots.
EDWARD Then ransom him.
LANCASTER
’Twas in your wars, you should ransom him.
MORTIMER
And you shall ransom him, or else.
KENT
What, Mortimer, you will not threaten him?
EDWARD
Quiet yourself. You shall have the broad seal
To gather for him thoroughout the realm.
LANCASTER
Your minion Gaveston hath taught you this.
MORTIMER
My lord, the family of the Mortimers
150 Are not so poor but, would they sell their land,
Would levy men enough to anger you.
We never beg, but use such prayers as these.
[he grasps the hilt of his sword]
EDWARD Shall I still be haunted thus?
MORTIMER
Nay, now you are here alone, I’ll speak my mind.
LANCASTER
And so will I, and then, my lord, farewell.
MORTIMER
The idle triumphs, masques, lascivious shows,
And prodigal gifts bestowed on Gaveston
Have drawn thy treasure dry and made thee weak,
The murmuring commons overstretchèd hath.
LANCASTER
160 Look for rebellion, look to be deposed.
Thy garrisons are beaten out of France,
And lame and poor lie groaning at the gates.
The wild O’Neill, with swarms of Irish kerns,
Lives uncontrolled within the English pale.
Unto the walls of York the Scots made road,
And, unresisted, drave away rich spoils.
MORTIMER
The haughty Dane commands the narrow seas,
While in the harbour ride thy ships unrigged.
LANCASTER
What foreign prince sends thee ambassadors?
MORTIMER
170 Who loves thee but a sort of flatterers?
LANCASTER
Thy gentle queen, sole sister to Valois,
Complains that thou hast left her all forlorn.
MORTIMER
Thy court is naked, being bereft of those
That makes a king seem glorious to the world:
I mean the peers, whom thou shouldst dearly love.
Libels are cast again thee in the street,
Ballads and rhymes made of thy overthrow.
LANCASTER
The northern borderers, seeing their houses burnt,
Their wives and children slain, run up and down,
180 Cursing the name of thee and Gaveston.
MORTIMER
When wert thou in the field with banner spread?
But once, and then thy soldiers marched like players,
With garish robes, not armour; and thyself,
Bedaubed with gold, rode laughing at the rest,
Nodding and shaking of thy spangled crest,
Where women’s favours hung like labels down.
LANCASTER
And thereof came it that the fleering Scots,
To England’s high disgrace, have made this jig:
’Maids of England, sore may you mourn,
For your lemans you have lost at Bannocksbourn,
190 With a heave and a ho!
What weeneth the king of England,
So soon to have won Scotland?
With a rumbelow.’
MORTIMER
Wigmore shall fly, to set my uncle free.
LANCASTER
And when ’tis gone, our swords shall purchase more.
If ye be moved, revenge it as you can.
Look next to see us with our ensigns spread.
Exeunt NOBLES [MORTIMER JUNIOR and LANCASTER].
EDWARD
My swelling heart for very anger breaks.
200 How oft have I been baited by these peers,
And dare not be revenged, for their power is great!
Yet shall the crowing of these cockerels
Affright a lion? Edward, unfold thy paws,
And let their lives’ blood slake thy fury’s hunger.
If I be cruel and grow tyrannous,
Now let them thank themselves, and rue too late.
KENT
My lord, I see your love to Gaveston
Will be the ruin of the realm and you,
For now the wrathful nobles threaten wars,
210 And therefore, brother, banish him for ever.
EDWARD
Art thou an enemy to my Gaveston?
KENT
Ay, and it grieves me that I favoured him.
EDWARD
Traitor, begone! Whine thou with Mortimer.
KENT
So will I, rather than with Gaveston.
EDWARD
Out of my sight, and trouble me no more.
KENT
No marvel though thou scorn thy noble peers,
When I thy brother am rejected thus.
EDWARD Away!
Exit [RENT].
Poor Gaveston, that hast no friend but me.
220 Do what they can, we’ll live in Tynemouth here,
And, so I walk with him about the walls,
What care I though the earls begirt us round?
Here comes she that’s cause of all these jars.
Enter the QUEEN, three LADIES [(the KING’S NIECE and two LADIES-IN-WAITING), GAVESTON,] BALDOCK, and SPENCER [JUNIOR].
QUEEN
My lord, ’tis thought the earls are up in arms.
EDWARD
Ay, and ’tis likewise thought you favour him.
QUEEN
Thus do you still suspect me without cause.
NIECE
Sweet uncle, speak more kindly to the queen.
GAVESTON [aside to EDWARD]
My lord, dissemble with her, speak her fair.
EDWARD [to the QUEEN]
Pardon me, sweet, I forgot myself.
QUEEN
230 Your pardon is quickly got of Isabel.
EDWARD
The younger Mortimer is grown so brave
That to my face he threatens civil wars.
GAVESTON
Why do you not commit him to the Tower?
EDWARD
I dare not, for the people love him well.
GAVESTON
Why then, we’ll have him privily made away.
EDWARD
Would Lancaster and he had both caroused
A bowl of poison to each other’s health!
But let them go, and tell me what are these.
NIECE
Two of my father’s servants whilst he lived.
240 May’t please your grace to entertain them now?
EDWARD [to BALDOCK]
Tell me, where wast thou born? What is thine arms?
BALDOCK
My name is Baldock, and my gentry
I fetched from Oxford, not from heraldry.
EDWARD
The fitter art thou, Baldock, for my turn.
Wait on me, and I’ll see thou shalt not want.
BALDOCK
I humbly thank your majesty.
EDWARD [pointing to SPENCER JUNIOR]
Knowest thou him, Gaveston?
GAVESTON Ay, my lord,
His name is Spencer; he is well allied.
For my sake, let him wait upon your grace;
250 Scarce shall you find a man of more desert.
EDWARD
Then, Spencer, wait upon me; for his sake
I’ll grace thee with a higher style ere long.
SPENCER
No greater titles happen unto me
Than to be favoured of your majesty.
EDWARD [to his NIECE]
Cousin, this day shall be your marriage feast.
And, Gaveston, think that I love thee well
To wed thee to our niece, the only heir
Unto the earl of Gloucester late deceased.
GAVESTON
I know, my lord, many will stomach me,
260 But I respect neither their love nor hate.
EDWARD
The headstrong barons shall not limit me;
He that I list to favour shall be great.
Come, let’s away, and when the marriage ends,
Have at the rebels and their complices.
Exeunt.
[Scene 7]
Enter LANCASTER, MORTIMER [JUNIOR], WARWICK, PEMBROKE, KENT.
KENT
My lords, of love to this our native land
I come to join with you and leave the king,
And in your quarrel and the realm’s behoof
Will be the
first that shall adventure life.
LANCASTER
I fear me you are sent of policy,
To undermine us with a show of love.
WARWICK
He is your brother, therefore have we cause
To cast the worst, and doubt of your revolt.
KENT
Mine honour shall be hostage of my truth.
10 If that will not suffice, farewell, my lords.
MORTIMER
Stay, Edmund. Never was Plantagenet
False of his word, and therefore trust we thee.
PEMBROKE
But what’s the reason you should leave him now?
KENT
I have informed the earl of Lancaster.
LANCASTER
And it sufficeth. Now, my lords, know this,
That Gaveston is secretly arrived,
And here in Tynemouth frolics with the king.
Let us with these our followers scale the walls
And suddenly surprise them unawares.
MORTIMER
I’ll give the onset.
WARWICK And I’ll follow thee.
20
MORTIMER
This tattered ensign of my ancestors,
Which swept the desert shore of that Dead Sea
Whereof we got the name of Mortimer,
Will I advance upon this castle walls.
Drums, strike alarum! Raise them from their sport,
And ring aloud the knell of Gaveston.
LANCASTER
None be so hardy as to touch the king,
But neither spare you Gaveston nor his friends.
Exeunt.
[Scene 8]
[Alarums.] Enter the KING and SPENCER [JUNIOR].
EDWARD
O tell me, Spencer, where is Gaveston?
SPENCER
I fear me he is slain, my gracious lord.
EDWARD
No, here he comes. Now let them spoil and kill.
[Enter] to them GAVESTON, [the QUEEN, the KING’S NIECE and LORDS].
Fly, fly, my lords! The earls have got the hold.
Take shipping and away to Scarborough;
Spencer and I will post away by land.
GAVESTON
O stay, my lord. They will not injure you.
EDWARD
I will not trust them, Gaveston. Away!
GAVESTON Farewell, my lord.
10 EDWARD Lady, farewell.
NIECE
Farewell, sweet uncle, till we meet again.
EDWARD
Farewell, sweet Gaveston, and farewell, niece.
QUEEN
No farewell to poor Isabel, thy queen?
EDWARD
Yes, yes, for Mortimer, your lover’s sake.
Exeunt all; ISABELLA remains.
QUEEN
Heavens can witness I love none but you.
From my embracements thus he breaks away.
O, that mine arms could close this isle about,
That I might pull him to me where I would,
Or that these tears that drizzle from mine eyes
20 Had power to mollify his stony heart,
That when I had him we might never part!