Rut. O, let me pray before I take my death.— To thee I pray; sweet Clifford, pity me!

Clif. Such pity as my rapier's point affords.

Rut. I never did thee harm; why wilt thou slay me? Clif. Thy father hath.

Rut.

But 'twas ere I was born.

Thou hast one son; for his sake pity me;

Lest, in revenge thereof,-sith God is just,-
He be as miserably slain as I.

Ah, let me live in prison all my days;
And when I give occasion of offence,

Then let me die, for now thou hast no cause.
Clif. No cause?

Thy father slew my father; therefore, die.

[CLIFFORD stabs him. Rut. Dii faciant, laudis summa sit ista tux! Clif. Plantagenet! I come, Plantagenet!

And this thy son's blood, cleaving to my blade,
Shall rust upon my weapon, till my blood,

[Dies.

Congealed with this, do make me wipe off both. [Exit.

SCENE IV. The same.

Alarum. Enter YORK.

York. The army of the queen hath got the field. My uncles both are slain in rescuing me;

And all my followers to the eager foe

Turn back, and fly, like ships before the wind,
Or lambs pursued by hunger-starved wolves.

My sons - God knows what hath bechanced them;
But this I know,- they have demeaned themselves
Like men born to renown, by life, or death.
Three times did Richard make a lane to me;
And thrice cried,-Courage, father, fight it out!
And full as oft came Edward to my side,
With purple falchion, painted to the hilt
In blood of those that had encountered him;
And when the hardiest warriors did retire,

Richard cried,-Charge! and give no foot of ground!
And cried,-A crown, or else a glorious tomb!

A sceptre, or an earthly sepulchre !

With this we charged again; but, out, alas!
We bodged again; as I have seen a swan
With bootless labor swim against the tide,

And spend her strength with overmatching waves.

VOL. III.-7

[A short alarum within.

Ah, hark! the fatal followers do pursue;
And I am faint, and cannot fly their fury:
And, were I strong, I would not shun their fury.
The sands are numbered that make up my life;
Here must I stay, and here my life must end.

Enter QUEEN MARGARET, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBERLAND, and Soldiers.

Come, bloody Clifford,-rough Northumberland,-
I dare your quenchless fury to more rage;
I am your butt, and I abide your shot.

North. Yield to our mercy, proud Plantagenet.
Clif. Ay, to such mercy as his ruthless arm,
With downright payment, showed unto my father.
How Phaeton hath tumbled from his car,
And made an evening at the noontide prick.

York. My ashes, as the Phoenix, may bring forth
A bird that will revenge upon you all;

And, in that hope, I throw mine eyes to heaven,
Scorning whate'er you can afflict me with.

Why come you not? what! multitudes, and fear?

Clif. So cowards fight, when they can fly no further; So doves do peck the falcon's piercing talons; So desperate thieves, all hopeless of their lives, Breathe out invectives 'gainst the officers.

York. O, Clifford, but bethink thee once again, And in thy thought o'errun my former time. And, if thou canst for blushing, view this face; And bite thy tongue that slanders him with cowardice, Whose frown hath made thee faint and fly ere this. Clif. I will not bandy with thee word for word; But buckle with thee blows, twice two for one. [Draws. Q. Mar. Hold, valiant Clifford! for a thousand causes, I would prolong awhile the traitor's life. Wrath makes him deaf; speak thou, Northumberland. North. Hold, Clifford; do not honor him so much, To prick thy finger, though to wound his heart What valor were it, when a cur doth grin, For one to thrust his hand between his teeth, When he might spurn him with his foot away? It is war's prize to take all vantages;

And ten to one is no impeach of valor.

[They lay hands on YORK, who struggles. Clif. Ay, ay, so strives the woodcock with the gin. North. So doth the cony struggle in the net.

[YORK is taken prisoner.

York. So triumph thieves upon their conquered booty; So true men yield, with robbers so o'ermatched.

North. What would your grace have done unto him now?
Q. Mar. Brave warriors, Clifford and Northumberland,
Come make him stand upon this molehill here;
That raught at mountains with outstretched arms,
Yet parted but the shadow with his hand.-
What! was it you that would be England's king?
Was't you that revelled in our parliament,
And made a preachment of your high descent ?
Where are your mess of sons to back you now?
The wanton Edward, and the lusty George?
And where's that valiant, crookback prodigy,
Dicky, your boy, that, with his grumbling voice,
Was wont to cheer his dad in mutinies?

Or, with the rest, where is your darling Rutland?
Look, York; I stained this napkin with the blood
That valiant Clifford, with his rapier's point,
Made issue from the bosom of the boy;
And, if thine eyes can water for his death,
I give thee this to dry thy cheeks withal.
Alas, poor York! but that I hate thee deadly,
I should lament thy miserable state.

I pr'ythee, grieve, to make me merry, York;
Stamp, rave, and fret, that I may sing and dance.
What, hath thy fiery heart so parched thine entrails,
That not a tear can fall for Rutland's death?
Why art thou patient, man? thou shouldst be mad;
And I, to make thee mad, do mock thee thus.
Thou wouldst be feed, I see, to make me sport;
York cannot speak unless he wear a crown.-
A crown for York; and, lords, bow low to him.-
Hold you his hands, whilst I do set it on.-
[Putting a paper crown on his head.
Ay, marry, sir, now looks he like a king!
Ay, this is he that took king Henry's chair;
And this is he was his adopted heir.-
But how is it that great Plantagenet

Is crowned so soon, and broke his solemn oath?
As I bethink me, you should not be king,

Till our king Henry had shook hands with death.
And will you pale your head in Henry's glory,
And rob his temples of the diadem,

Now in his life, against your holy oath?
O, 'tis a fault too, too unpardonable!—

Off with the crown; and, with the crown, his head;
And, whilst we breathe, take time to do him dead.
Clif. That is my office, for my father's sake.

Q. Mar. Nay, stay; let's hear the orisons he makes.
York. She' wolf of France, but worse than wolves of
France,

Whose tongue more poisons than the adder's tooth!
How ill-beseeming is it, in thy sex,

To triumph like an Amazonian trull,
Upon their woes, whom fortune captivates!
But that thy face is, visor-like, unchanging,
Made impudent with use of evil deeds,

I would assay, proud queen, to make thee blush.

To tell thee whence thou cam'st, of whom derived,
Were shame enough to shame thee, wert thou not shameless.
Thy father bears the type of king of Naples,

Of both the Sicils, and Jerusalem;

Yet not so wealthy as an English yeoman.
Hath that poor monarch taught thee to insult?
It needs not, nor it boots thee not, proud queen;
Unless the adage must be verified,-

That beggars, mounted, run their horse to death.
'Tis beauty that doth oft make women proud;
But, God he knows, thy share thereof is small.
'Tis virtue that doth make them most admired;
The contrary doth make thee wondered at.
'Tis government, that makes them seem divine;
The want thereof makes thee abominable.
Thou art as opposite to every good,
As the antipodes are unto us,

Or as the south to the septentrion.

O, tiger's heart, wrapped in a woman's hide!
How couldst thou drain the life-blood of the child,
To bid the father wipe his eyes withal,

And yet be seen to bear a woman's face?
Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible;

Thou stern, obdurate, flinty, rough, remorseless.

Bidd'st thou me rage? why, now thou hast thy wish:
Wouldst have me weep? why, now thou hast thy will;
For raging wind blows up incessant showers,
And, when the rage allays, the rain begins.
These tears are my sweet Rutland's obsequies;
And every drop cries vengeance for his death,-

'Gainst thee, fell Clifford,-and thee, false Frenchwoman. North. Beshrew me, but his passions move me so, That hardly can I check my eyes from tears.

York. That face of his the hungry cannibals

Would not have touched, would not have stained with blood;
But you are more inhuman, more inexorable,—

O, ten times more,- than tigers of Hyrcania.
See, ruthless queen, a hapless father's tears;
This cloth thou dipp'dst in blood of my sweet boy,
And I with tears do wash the blood away.
Keep thou the napkin, and go boast of this;

[He gives back the handkerchief.

And, if thou tell'st the heavy story right,
Upon my soul, the hearers will shed tears;
Yea, even my foes will shed fast-falling tears,
And say,-Alas, it was a piteous deed!-

There, take the crown, and, with the crown, my curse;
And, in thy need, such comfort come to thee,
As now I reap at thy too cruel hand!

Hard-hearted Clifford, take me from the world;
My soul to heaven, my blood upon your heads!
North. Had he been slaughterman to all my kin,
I should not for my life but weep with him,

To see how inly-sorrow gripes his soul.

Q. Mar. What, weeping-ripe, my lord Northumberland? Think but upon the wrong he did us all,

And that will quickly dry thy melting tears.

Clif. Here's for my oath, here's for my father's death.

[Stabbing him.

Q. Mar. And here's to right our gentle-hearted king.

[Stabbing him.

York. Open thy gate of mercy, gracious God! My soul flies through these wounds to seek out thee. [Dies. Q. Mar. Off with his head, and set it on York gates; So York may overlook the town of York.

[Exeunt.

ACT II.

SCENE I. A Plain near Mortimer's Cross in Herefordshire. Drums.

Enter EDWARD and RICHARD, with their Forces, marching.

Edw. I wonder how our princely father 'scaped;
Or whether he be 'scaped away, or no,
From Clifford's and Northumberland's pursuit.
Had he been ta'en, we should have heard the news;