The Complete Plays
Page 48
O, spare me, or dispatch me in a trice!
[MATREVIS and GURNEY bring in a table and a red-hot spit.]
LIGHTBORNE
So, lay the table down, and stamp on it,
But not too hard, lest that you bruise his body.
[EDWARD dies.]
MATREVIS
I fear me that this cry will raise the town,
And therefore let us take horse and away.
LIGHTBORNE
Tell me, sirs, was it not bravely done?
GURNEY
Excellent well. Take this for thy reward.
Then GURNEY stabs LIGHTBORNE.
Come, let us cast the body in the moat,
And bear the king’s to Mortimer, our lord.
120 Away!
Exeunt [with the bodies].
[Scene 26]
Enter MORTIMER [JUNIOR] and MATREVIS [at different doors].
MORTIMER
Is’t done, Matrevis, and the murderer dead?
MATREVIS
Ay, my good lord. I would it were undone.
MORTIMER
Matrevis, if thou now growest penitent,
I’ll be thy ghostly father. Therefore choose
Whether thou wilt be secret in this
Or else die by the hand of Mortimer.
MATREVIS
Gurney, my lord, is fled, and will, I fear,
Betray us both; therefore let me fly.
MORTIMER Fly to the savages.
10 MATREVIS I humbly thank your honour.
[Exit MATREVIS.]
MORTIMER
As for myself, I stand as Jove’s huge tree,
And others are but shrubs compared to me;
All tremble at my name, and I fear none.
Let’s see who dare impeach me for his death?
Enter the QUEEN.
QUEEN
Ah, Mortimer, the king my son hath news
His father’s dead, and we have murdered him.
MORTIMER
What if he have? The king is yet a child.
QUEEN
Ay, ay, but he tears his hair, and wrings his hands,
And vows to be revenged upon us both.
20 Into the council chamber he is gone
To crave the aid and succour of his peers.
Ay me! See where he comes, and they with him.
Now, Mortimer, begins our tragedy.
Enter the KING, with the LORDS [and ATTENDANTS].
FIRST LORD
Fear not, my lord. Know that you are a king.
EDWARD III [to MORTIMER JUNIOR]
Villain!
MORTIMER
How now, my lord?
EDWARD III
Think not that I am frighted with thy words.
My father’s murdered through thy treachery,
And thou shalt die, and on his mournful hearse
30 Thy hateful and accursèd head shall lie,
To witness to the world that by thy means
His kingly body was too soon interred.
QUEEN
Weep not, sweet son.
EDWARD III
Forbid not me to weep. He was my father,
And, had you loved him half so well as I,
You could not bear his death thus patiently;
But you, I fear, conspired with Mortimer.
FIRST LORD [to MORTIMER JUNIOR]
Why speak you not unto my lord the king?
MORTIMER
Because I think scorn to be accused.
40 Who is the man dare say I murdered him?
EDWARD III
Traitor, in me my loving father speaks
And plainly saith ’twas thou that murdered’st him
MORTIMER
But hath your grace no other proof than this?
EDWARD III
Yes, if this be the hand of Mortimer.
[He shows the letter.]
MORTIMER [aside]
False Gurney hath betrayed me and himself.
QUEEN [aside]
I feared as much. Murder cannot be hid.
MORTIMER
’Tis my hand. What gather you by this?
EDWARD III
That thither thou didst send a murderer.
MORTIMER
What murderer? Bring forth the man I sent.
EDWARD III
Ah, Mortimer, thou knowest that he is slain,
50 And so shalt thou be too. Why stays he here?
Bring him unto a hurdle! Drag him forth,
Hang him, I say, and set his quarters up,
But bring his head back presently to me.
QUEEN
For my sake, sweet son, pity Mortimer.
MORTIMER
Madam, entreat not. I will rather die
Than sue for life unto a paltry boy.
EDWARD III
Hence with the traitor, with the murderer!
MORTIMER
Base Fortune, now I see that in thy wheel
There is a point to which when men aspire
60 They tumble headlong down. That point I touched,
And, seeing there was no place to mount up higher,
Why should I grieve at my declining fall?
Farewell, fair queen. Weep not for Mortimer,
That scorns the world, and as a traveller
Goes to discover countries yet unknown.
EDWARD III [to his LORDS and ATTENDANTS]
What, suffer you the traitor to delay?
[Exit MORTIMER JUNIOR, guarded, with the FIRST LORD.]
QUEEN
As thou received’st thy life from me,
Spill not the blood of gentle Mortimer.
EDWARD III
70 This argues that you spilt my father’s blood,
Else would you not entreat for Mortimer.
QUEEN
I spill his blood? No.
EDWARD III
Ay, madam, you, for so the rumour runs.
QUEEN
That rumour is untrue; for loving thee
Is this report raised on poor Isabel.
EDWARD III [to his LORDS]
I do not think her so unnatural.
SECOND LORD
My lord, I fear me it will prove too true.
EDWARD III
Mother, you are suspected for his death,
And therefore we commit you to the Tower
80 Till further trial may be made thereof.
If you be guilty, though I be your son,
Think not to find me slack or pitiful.
QUEEN
Nay, to my death, for too long have I lived
Whenas my son thinks to abridge my days.
EDWARD III [weeping]
Away with her! Her words enforce these tears,
And I shall pity her if she speak again.
QUEEN
Shall I not mourn for my belovèd lord,
And with the rest accompany him to his grave?
SECOND LORD
Thus, madam, ’tis the king’s will you shall hence.
QUEEN
90 He hath forgotten me. Stay, I am his mother.
SECOND LORD
That boots not. Therefore, gentle madam, go.
QUEEN
Then come, sweet death, and rid me of this grief.
[Exit the QUEEN, attended. Enter the FIRST LORD with MORTIMER’S head.]
FIRST LORD
My lord, here is the head of Mortimer.
EDWARD III
Go fetch my father’s hearse, where it shall lie,
And bring my funeral robes. Accursèd head,
Could I have ruled thee then as I do now,
Thou hadst not hatched this monstrous treachery!
[Enter ATTENDANTS with hearse.]
Here comes the hearse. Help me to mourn, my lords.
Sweet father, here unto thy murdered ghost
I offer up this wicked traitor’s head;
100 And let these tears distilling from mine eyes,
Be witness of
my grief and innocency!
[Exeunt.]
THE MASSACRE AT PARIS
[Dramatis Personae
KING CHARLES IX, King of France
CATHERINE, the Queen-Mother of France
KING OF NAVARRE, later King Henry IV
PRINCE OF CONDÉ, cousin to Navarre
THE LORD HIGH ADMIRAL
MARGARET, Catherine’s daughter, wife to Navarre
DUKE OF GUISE
AN APOTHECARY
A SOLDIER
OLD QUEEN OF NAVARRE, mother of Henry,
King of Navarre
DUKE OF ANJOU, Charles IX’s brother, later King Henry III
DUKE DUMAINE
COSSIN
THE ADMIRAL’S MAN
GONZAGO
RETES
MOUNTSORRELL
LOREINE, a Protestant preacher
SEROUNE’S WIFE
SEROUNE
RAMUS
TALEUS
TWO SCHOOLMASTERS
TWO LORDS OF POLAND
TWO SOLDIERS
CARDINAL OF LORRAINE
PROTESTANTS
EPERNOUN
PLESHÉ
DUKE JOYEUX
MUGEROUN
A CUTPURSE
DUCHESS OF GUISE
MAID to the Duchess of Guise
BARTUS
A MESSENGER
CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD
THREE MURDERERS
THE GUISE’S SON
A FRIAR
A SURGEON
AN ENGLISH AGENT
ATTENDANTS]
[Scene 1]
Enter CHARLES the French King, [CATHERINE] the
QUEEN-MOTHER, the KING OF NAVARRE, the PRINCE OF
CONDÉ, the LORD HIGH ADMIRAL, and [MARGARET] the
QUEEN OF NAVARRE, with others.
CHARLES
Prince of Navarre, my honourable brother,
Prince Condé, and my good Lord Admiral,
I wish this union and religious league,
Knit in these hands, thus joined in nuptial rites,
May not dissolve till death dissolve our lives,
And that the native sparks of princely love,
That kindled first this motion in our hearts,
May still be fuelled in our progeny.
NAVARRE
The many favours which your grace hath shown
From time to time, but specially in this,
10 Shall bind me ever to your highness’ will,
In what queen-mother or your grace commands.
CATHERINE
Thanks, son Navarre, you see we love you well
That link you in marriage with our daughter here;
And, as you know, our difference in religion
Might be a means to cross you in your love.
CHARLES
Well, madam, let that rest.
And now, my lords, the marriage-rites performed,
We think it good to go and consummate
20 The rest with hearing of a holy mass.
Sister, I think yourself will bear us company.
MARGARET I will, my good lord.
CHARLES
The rest that will not go, my lords, may stay.
Come, mother, let us go to honour this solemnity.
CATHERINE [aside]
Which I’ll dissolve with blood and cruelty.
Exeunt the KING [CHARLES], the QUEEN-MOTHER, and
the QUEEN OF NAVARRE [with others]; NAVARRE, the
PRINCE OF CONDÉ, and the LORD HIGH ADMIRAL
remain.
NAVARRE
Prince Condé, and my good Lord Admiral,
Now Guise may storm, but do us little hurt,
Having the king, queen-mother on our sides,
To stop the malice of his envious heart
30 That seeks to murder all the protestants.
Have you not heard of late how he decreed
If that the king had given consent thereto,
That all the protestants that are in Paris
Should have been murderèd the other night?
ADMIRAL
My lord, I marvel that th’aspiring Guise
Dares once adventure, without the king’s consent,
To meddle or attempt such dangerous things.
CONDÉ
My lord, you need not marvel at the Guise,
For what he doth the Pope will ratify,
40 In murder, mischief, or in tyranny.
NAVARRE
But He that sits and rules above the clouds
Doth hear and see the prayers of the just,
And will revenge the blood of innocents
That Guise hath slain by treason of his heart,
And brought by murder to their timeless ends.
ADMIRAL
My lord, but did you mark the Cardinal,
The Guise’s brother, and the Duke Dumaine,
How they did storm at these your nuptial rites,
Because the house of Bourbon now comes in
50 And joins your lineage to the crown of France?
NAVARRE
And that’s the cause that Guise so frowns at us
And beats his brains to catch us in his trap,
Which he hath pitched within his deadly toil.
Come, my lords, let’s go to the church, and pray
That God may still defend the right of France
And make His Gospel flourish in this land.
Exeunt.
[Scene 2]
Enter the DUKE OF GUISE.
GUISE
If ever Hymen loured at marriage-rites,
And had his altars decked with dusky lights;
If ever sun stained heaven with bloody clouds,
And made it look with terror on the world;
If ever day were turned to ugly night,
And night made semblance of the hue of hell;
This day, this hour, this fatal night,
Shall fully show the fury of them all.
Apothecary!
Enter the APOTHECARY.
10 APOTHECARY My lord?
GUISE
Now shall I prove and guerdon to the full
The love thou bear’st unto the house of Guise.
Where are those perfumèd gloves which I sent
To be poisonèd? Hast thou done them? Speak!
Will every savour breed a pang of death?
APOTHECARY
See where they be, my good lord,
And he that smells but to them dies.
GUISE
Then thou remainest resolute?
APOTHECARY
I am, my lord, in what your grace commands,
20 Till death.
GUISE
Thanks, my good friend, I will requite thy love.
Go, then, present them to the Queen Navarre;
For she is that huge blemish in our eye
That makes these upstart heresies in France.
Be gone, my friend, present them to her straight.
Exit APOTHECARY.
Soldier!
Enter a SOLDIER.
SOLDIER My lord?
GUISE
Now come thou forth and play thy tragic part.
Stand in some window opening near the street,
30 And when thou see’st the Admiral ride by,
Discharge thy musket and perform his death,
And then I’ll guerdon thee with store of crowns.
SOLDIER I will, my lord.
Exit.
GUISE
Now, Guise, begin those deep-engendered thoughts
To burst abroad those never-dying flames
Which cannot be extinguished but by blood.
Oft have I levelled, and at last have learned
That peril is the chiefest way to happiness,
And resolution honour’s fairest aim.
40 What glory is there in a common good
That hangs for every peasant to achieve?
&nbs
p; That like I best that flies beyond my reach.
Set me to scale the high pyramides,
And thereon set the diadem of France;
I’ll either rend it with my nails to naught,
Or mount the top with my aspiring wings,
Although my downfall be the deepest hell.
For this I wake, when others think I sleep,
For this I wait, that scorns attendance else,
For this, my quenchless thirst whereon I build,
50 Hath often pleaded kindred to the king.
For this, this head, this heart, this hand and sword,
Contrives, imagines, and fully executes
Matters of import aimed at by many,
Yet understood by none.
For this, hath heaven engendered me of earth,
For this, this earth sustains my body’s weight,
And with this weight I’ll counterpoise a crown,
Or with seditions weary all the world.
For this, from Spain the stately Catholics
60 Sends Indian gold to coin me French écues;
For this, have I a largess from the Pope,
A pension and a dispensation too;
And by that privilege to work upon,
My policy hath framed religion.
Religion: O Diabole!
Fie, I am ashamed, how ever that I seem,
To think a word of such a simple sound,
Of so great matter should be made the ground.
The gentle king, whose pleasure uncontrolled
70 Weak’neth his body and will waste his realm,
If I repair not what he ruinates –
Him, as a child, I daily win with words,
So that for proof he barely bears the name;
I execute, and he sustains the blame.
The mother queen works wonders for my sake,
And in my love entombs the hope of France,
Rifling the bowels of her treasury
To supply my wants and necessity.
80 Paris hath full five hundred colleges –
As monasteries, priories, abbeys, and halls –
Wherein are thirty thousand able men,
Besides a thousand sturdy student Catholics;
And more – of my knowledge, in one cloister keeps
Five hundred fat Franciscan friars and priests.
All this, and more, if more may be comprised,
To bring the will of our desires to end.
Then, Guise, since thou hast all the cards within thy hands
To shuffle or cut, take this as surest thing:
90 That, right or wrong, thou deal thyself a king.
Ay, but Navarre, Navarre, ’tis but a nook of France,
Sufficient yet for such a petty king,
That, with a rabblement of his heretics,
Blinds Europe’s eyes and troubleth our estate.
Him will we –
Pointing to his sword.
But first let’s follow those in France
That hinder our possession to the crown.