The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated)

by William Shakespeare

  I swear, I am no wiser than a jackdaw.

  PLANTAGENET.

  Tut, tut, here is a mannerly forbearance:

  The truth appears so naked on my side

  That any purblind eye may find it out.

  Tut tut, you're just being polite:

  it's so obvious that truth is on my side

  that the blindest man could see it.

  SOMERSET.

  And on my side it is so well apparell'd,

  So clear, so shining and so evident,

  That it will glimmer through a blind man's eye.

  And it's so obvious on my side,

  so clear and so bright,

  that a blind man could see it shining.

  PLANTAGENET.

  Since you are tongue-tied and so loath to speak,

  In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts:

  Let him that is a true-born gentleman

  And stands upon the honor of his birth,

  If he suppose that I have pleaded truth,

  From off this brier pluck a white rose with me.

  Since you are tongue tied and don't wish to speak,

  you can show your thoughts in sign language.

  That person who is a true born gentleman

  and has faith in his noble birth,

  if he thinks that I have spoken the truth,

  let him pick a white rose from this bush with me.

  SOMERSET.

  Let him that is no coward nor no flatterer,

  But dare maintain the party of the truth,

  Pluck a red rose from off this thorn with me.

  Let the one who is not a coward or flatterer,

  who dares to stick to the truth,

  pick a red rose from this bush with me.

  WARWICK.

  I love no colours, and without all colour

  Of base insinuating flattery

  I pluck this white rose with Plantagenet.

  I don't like taking sides,

  but without any sort of low motives

  I shall pluck this white rose with Plantagenet.

  SUFFOLK.

  I pluck this red rose with young Somerset,

  And say withal I think he held the right.

  I shall pluck this red rose with young Somerset,

  and furthermore say I think he was in the right.

  VERNON.

  Stay, lords and gentlemen, and pluck no more,

  Till you conclude that he, upon whose side

  The fewest roses are cropp'd from the tree

  Shall yield the other in the right opinion.

  Wait, lords and gentlemen, and pick no more,

  until you have agreed that the person who has

  the fewest roses picked from the tree

  should accept the other is in the right.

  SOMERSET.

  Good Master Vernon, it is well objected:

  If I have fewest, I subscribe in silence.

  Good Master Vernon, you're quite right:

  if I have the fewest, I shall give in without speaking.

  PLANTAGENET.

  And I.

  I agree.

  VERNON.

  Then for the truth and plainness of the case,

  I pluck this pale and maiden blossom here,

  Giving my verdict on the white rose side.

  Then for the obvious truth of the case,

  I shall pluck this pale and virginal blossom,

  giving my judgement on the side of the white rose.

  SOMERSET.

  Prick not your finger as you pluck it off,

  Lest bleeding, you do paint the white rose red,

  And fall on my side so, against your will.

  Don't prick your finger as you pick it,

  in case you bleed and paint the white rose red,

  and fall on my side, against your will.

  VERNON.

  If I, my lord, for my opinion bleed,

  Opinion shall be surgeon to my hurt

  And keep me on the side where still I am.

  If I am to bleed for my opinion, my lord,

  my opinion shall be my doctor

  and keep me on the side I've chosen.

  SOMERSET.

  Well, well, come on: who else?

  Very good, come on: who else?

  LAWYER.

  Unless my study and my books be false,

  The argument you held was wrong in you;

  [To Somerset.]

  In sign whereof I pluck a white rose too.

  Unless my studying and my books are wrong,

  your argument was mistaken;

  and so I pick a white rose too.

  PLANTAGENET.

  Now, Somerset, where is your argument?

  Now, Somerset, where is your case?

  SOMERSET.

  Here in my scabbard, meditating that

  Shall dye your white rose in a bloody red.

  Here in my scabbard, thinking of ways

  I can dye your white rose bloody red.

  PLANTAGENET.

  Meantime your cheeks do counterfeit our roses;

  For pale they look with fear, as witnessing

  The truth on our side.

  In the meantime your cheeks imitate our roses;

  they look pale with fear, having seen

  the truth on our side.

  SOMERSET.

  No, Plantagenet,

  'Tis not for fear but anger that thy cheeks

  Blush for pure shame to counterfeit our roses,

  And yet thy tongue will not confess thy error.

  No, Plantagenet,

  it is not out of fear but anger, seeing your cheeks

  blush with shame to imitate our roses,

  but your tongue will not admit you are wrong.

  PLANTAGENET.

  Hath not thy rose a canker, Somerset?

  Hasn't your rose some disease, Somerset?

  SOMERSET.

  Hath not thy rose a thorn, Plantagenet?

  Hasn't your rose got a thorn, Plantagenet?

  PLANTAGENET.

  Ay, sharp and piercing, to maintain his truth;

  Whiles thy consuming canker eats his falsehood.

  Yes, sharp and piercing, to uphold his truth;

  while your disease eats its own leaves.

  SOMERSET. Well, I 'll find friends to wear my bleeding roses,

  That shall maintain what I have said is true,

  Where false Plantagenet dare not be seen.

  Well, I shall find friends who will wear my bleeding roses,

  who will agree that what I have said is true,

  in places where false Plantagenet dare not show his face.

  PLANTAGENET.

  Now, by this maiden blossom in my hand,

  I scorn thee and thy fashion, peevish boy.

  Now, by this virginal blossom in my hand,

  I reject you and your sort, miserable boy.

  SUFFOLK.

  Turn not thy scorns this way, Plantagenet.

  Don't be so scornful, Plantagenet.

  PLANTAGENET.

  Proud Pole, I will, and scorn both him and thee.

  Proud Pole, I shall, and I scorn you and him.

  SUFFOLK.

  I'll turn my part thereof into thy throat.

  I'll shove my share of that back down your throat.

  SOMERSET.

  Away, away, good William de la Pole!

  We grace the yeoman by conversing with him.

  Come away, good William de la Pole!

  We're giving this peasant too much honour by talking to him.

  WARWICK.

  Now, by God's will, thou wrong'st him, Somerset;

  His grandfather was Lionel Duke of Clarence,

  Third son to the third Edward King of England:

  Spring crestless yeomen from so deep a root?

  Now, I swear, you are insulting him, Somerset;

  his grandfather was Lionel Duke of Clarence,

  the third son of Edwa
rd the Third, King of England:

  do unmarked peasants spring from such heritage?

  PLANTAGENET.

  He bears him on the place's privilege,

  Or durst not, for his craven heart, say thus.

  He's relying on the laws of this place,

  or otherwise, coward that he is, he wouldn't dare say it.

  SOMERSET.

  By Him that made me, I'll maintain my words

  On any plot of ground in Christendom.

  Was not thy father, Richard Earl of Cambridge,

  For treason executed in our late king's days?

  And, by his treason, stand'st not thou attainted,

  Corrupted, and exempt from ancient gentry?

  His trespass yet lives guilty in thy blood;

  And, till thou be restored, thou art a yeoman.

  By God, I'll say this

  on any piece of ground in Christendom.

  Wasn't your father, Richard Earl of Cambridge,

  executed for treason in the days of our late King?

  And, due to his treason, haven't you lost your rights,

  your place amongst the old noble families?

  His sin is still living in your blood;

  and until you're given your place back, you are a peasant.

  PLANTAGENET.

  My father was attached, not attainted,

  Condemn'd to die for treason, but no traitor;

  And that I'll prove on better men than Somerset,

  Were growing time once ripen'd to my will.

  For your partaker Pole and you yourself,

  I'll note you in my book of memory,

  To scourge you for this apprehension:

  Look to it well and say you are well warn'd.

  My father was arrested, not penalised,

  condemned to die for treason, but not a traitor;

  and I'll prove that to better men than Somerset,

  if time allows me.

  As for your accomplice Pole and you yourself,

  I'll make a mental note

  to punish you for your attacks:

  remember it and don't complain you haven't been warned.

  SOMERSET.

  Ay, thou shalt find us ready for thee still;

  And know us by these colors for thy foes,

  For these my friends in spite of thee shall wear.

  Yes and you will find we're ready for you;

  you'll know we're your enemies from our colours,

  which my friends shall wear, in spite of you.

  PLANTAGENET.

  And, by my soul, this pale and angry rose,

  As cognizance of my blood-drinking hate,

  Will I for ever and my faction wear,

  Until it wither with me to my grave,

  Or flourish to the height of my degree.

  And I swear, in recognition of my bloodthirsty hate,

  myself and my party will always

  wear this pale and angry rose,

  until it dies with me in my grave,

  or grows along with my rank.

  SUFFOLK.

  Go forward, and be chok'd with thy ambition!

  And so farewell until I meet thee next.

  Off you go, and may your ambition choke you!

  And so farewell until I see you next.

  [Exit.]

  SOMERSET.

  Have with thee, Pole. Farewell, ambitious Richard.

  Enough of you, Pole. Farewell, ambitious Richard.

  [Exit.]

  PLANTAGENET.

  How I am braved and must perforce endure it!

  What challenges I have to put up with!

  WARWICK.

  This blot that they object against your house

  Shall be wiped out in the next parliament

  Call'd for the truce of Winchester and Gloucester;

  And if thou be not then created York,

  I will not live to be accounted Warwick.

  Meantime, in signal of my love to thee,

  Against proud Somerset and William Pole,

  Will I upon thy party wear this rose:

  And here I prophesy: this brawl to-day,

  Grown to this faction in the Temple-garden,

  Shall send between the red rose and the white

  A thousand souls to death and deadly night.

  This stain that they say is on your house

  shall be wiped out in the next Parliament,

  that was called for the truce between Winchester and Gloucester;

  and if you are not then made Duke of York,

  then I shall not be called Warwick.

  Meanwhile, as a sign of my love for you,

  against proud Somerset and William Pole,

  I shall wear this rose for your party:

  and I predict this: this brawl today,

  which grew to become this disagreement in the Temple garden,

  shall, between the red rose and the white,

  mean the death of a thousand souls.

  PLANTAGENET.

  Good Master Vernon, I am bound to you,

  That you on my behalf would pluck a flower.

  Good Master Vernon, I am obliged to you,

  that you would pick a flower on my behalf.

  VERNON.

  In your behalf still will I wear the same.

  I shall wear it on your behalf.

  LAWYER.

  And so will I.

  And so will I.

  PLANTAGENET.

  Thanks, gentle sir.

  Come, let us four to dinner: I dare say

  This quarrel will drink blood another day.

  Thank you, kind sir.

  Come, let the four of us go to dinner: I dare say

  blood will be spilt over this quarrel some other day.

  [Exeunt.]

  [Enter Mortimer, brought in a chair, and Jailers.]

  MORTIMER.

  Kind keepers of my weak decaying age,

  Let dying Mortimer here rest himself.

  Even like a man new haled from the rack,

  So fare my limbs with long imprisonment;

  And these gray locks, the pursuivants of death,

  Nestor-like aged in an age of care,

  Argue the end of Edmund Mortimer.

  These eyes, like lamps whose wasting oil is spent,

  Wax dim, as drawing to their exigent;

  Weak shoulders, overborne with burdening grief,

  And pithless arms, like to a wither'd vine

  That droops his sapless branches to the ground:

  Yet are these feet, whose strengthless stay is numb,

  Unable to support this lump of clay,

  Swift-winged with desire to get a grave,

  As witting I no other comfort have.

  But tell me, keeper, will my nephew come?

  Kind guardians of my weakened fading age,

  let the dying Mortimer have a rest here.

  Long imprisonment has made my limbs feel like

  those of a man just pulled off the rack;

  and these grey hairs, the forerunners of death,

  aged like Nestor through ages of care,

  say that the end of Edmund Mortimer is near.

  These eyes, like lamps whose oil is running out,

  grow dim, reaching their end;

  weak shoulders, overloaded with grief,

  and feeble arms, like a shrivelled vine

  that trails its dead branches along the ground:

  both these feet, which are numb and unsupportive,

  and cannot support this lump of clay,

  are filled with the desire to speed to the grave,

  knowing that it will be my only comfort.

  But tell me, jailer, will my nephew come?

  FIRST JAILER.

  Richard Plantagenet, my lord, will come:

  We sent unto the Temple, unto his chamber;

  And answer was return'd that he will come.

  Richard Plantagenet will come, my lord:


  we sent messages to the Temple, to his rooms;

  and he returned the answer that he will come.

  MORTIMER.

  Enough: my soul shall then be satisfied.

  Poor gentleman! his wrong doth equal mine.

  Since Henry Monmouth first began to reign,

  Before whose glory I was great in arms,

  This loathsome sequestration have I had;

  And even since then hath Richard been obscured,

  Deprived of honour and inheritance.

  But now the arbitrator of despairs,

  Just Death, kind umpire of men's miseries,

  With sweet enlargement doth dismiss me hence:

  I would his troubles likewise were expired,

  That so he might recover what was lost.

  That's enough for me, my soul will then be happy.

  Poor gentleman! The wrongs done to him are the equal of mine.

  Since Henry Monmouth began his reign

  (before his ascendancy I was a great soldier)

  I have been locked away in this horrible fashion;

  and since that time Richard has been overlooked,

  deprived of his titles and his inheritance.

  But now the arbitrator of sorrow,

  Just Death, the kind umpire of men's misery,

  will give me my freedom and take me from here:

  I wish his troubles were over for him,

  so that he might get back what has been lost.

  [Enter Richard Plantagenet.]

  FIRST JAILER.

  My lord, your loving nephew now is come.

  My lord, your loving nephew has now come.