Whom I encounter'd as the battles 3 join'd.

Rich. Speak thou for me, and tell them what I did. [Throwing down SOMERSET's head. York. Richard hath best deserved of all my sons. What,

Is your Grace dead, my Lord of Somerset ?

Norf. Such hap have all the line of John of Gaunt ! Rich. Thus do I hope to shake King Henry's head. War. And so do I. — Victorious Prince of York, Before I see thee seated in that throne

Which now the House of Lancaster usurps,

I vow by Heaven these eyes shall never close.
This is the palace of the fearful King,

And this the regal seat: possess it, York;

For this is thine, and not King Henry's heirs'.

York. Assist me, then, sweet Warwick, and I will;

For hither we have broken in by force.

Norf. We'll assist you; he that flies shall die.

York. Thanks, gentle Norfolk :-stay by me, my lords ;

And, soldiers, stay, and lodge by me this night.

War. And when the King comes, offer him no violence, Unless he seek to thrust you out perforce.

[The Soldiers retire.

York. The Queen, this day, here holds her Parliament,

But little thinks we shall be of her Council:

By words or blows here let us win our right.

Rich. Arm'd as we are, let's stay within this house.

War. The Bloody Parliament shall this be call'd,

Unless Plantagenet, Duke of York, be king,

And bashful Henry 4 deposed, whose cowardice
Hath made us by-words to our enemies.

8 The use of battle for army was very common.

4 Henry is here a trisyllable, as if spelt Henery. Repeatedly so in this

play.

York. Then leave me not, my lords; be resolute;

I mean to take possession of my right.

War. Neither the King, nor he that loves him best, The proudest he that holds up Lancaster,

Dares stir a wing, if Warwick shake his bells.5

I'll plant Plantagenet, root him up who dares : —
Resolve thee, Richard; claim the English crown.

[WARWICK leads YORK to the throne, who seats himself. Flourish. Enter King HENRY, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBERLAND, WESTMORELAND, EXETER, and others, with red roses in their hats.

King. My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits, Even in the chair of state! belike he means

Back'd by the power of Warwick, that false peer —

T'aspire unto the crown, and reign as king.

Earl of Northumberland, he slew thy father;

And thine, Lord Clifford; and you both have vow'd revenge On him, his sons, his favourites, and his friends.

North. If I be not, Heavens be revenged on me!
Clif. The hope thereof makes Clifford mourn in steel.
West. What, shall we suffer this? let's pluck him down:
My heart for anger burns; I cannot brook it.

King. Be patient, gentle Earl of Westmoreland.
Clif. Patience is for poltroons, and such is he :
He durst not sit there, had your father lived.
My gracious lord, here in the Parliament
Let us assail the family of York.

North. Well hast thou spoken, cousin : be it so.
King. Ah, know you not the city favours them,

And they have troops of soldiers at their beck?

Exe. But, when the duke is slain, they'll quickly fly.

5 The allusion is to falconry. Hawks had sometimes little bells hung on

them, perhaps to dare the birds; that is, to fright them from rising.

King. Far be the thought of this from Henry's heart,
To make a shambles of the Parliament-house!

Cousin of Exeter, frowns, words, and threats
Shall be the war that Henry means to use.

[They advance to the Duke.

Thou factious Duke of York, descend my throne,

And kneel for grace

I am thy sovereign.

York.

and mercy at my feet;

Thou'rt deceived; I'm thine.

Exe. For shame, come down: he made thee Duke of York.
York. 'Twas my inheritance, as the earldom was.6
Exe. Thy father was a traitor to the crown.

War. Exeter, thou'rt a traitor to the crown

In following this usurping Henry.

Clif. Whom should he follow but his natural king?

War. True, Clifford; and that's Richard, Duke of York. King. And shall I stand, and thou sit in my throne? York. It must and shall be so: content thyself. War. Be Duke of Lancaster; let him be king. West. He is both king and Duke of Lancaster: And that the Lord of Westmoreland shall maintain. War. And Warwick shall disprove it. You forget That we are those which chased you from the field, And slew your fathers, and with colours spread March'd through the city to the palace-gates.

North. No, Warwick, I remember't to my grief; And, by his soul, thou and thy House shall rue it. West. Plantagenet, of thee, and these thy sons, Thy kinsmen, and thy friends, I'll have more lives Than drops of blood were in my father's veins.

6 The earldom here intended was the earldom of March, which York inherited from his mother. His title to the crown was not as Duke of York, but as Earl of March; and by naming this he covertly asserts his right to the crown.

Clif. Urge it no more; lest that, instead of words,

I send thee, Warwick, such a messenger

As shall revenge his death before I stir.

War. Poor Clifford ! how I scorn his worthless threats!

York. Will you we show our title to the crown?

If not, our swords shall plead it in the field.

King. What title hast thou, traitor, to the crown?
Thy father was, as thou art, Duke of York;7
Thy grandfather, Roger Mortimer, Earl of March:
I am the son of Henry the Fifth,

Who made the Dauphin and the French to stoop,

And seized upon their towns and provinces.

War. Talk not of France, sith thou hast lost it all.

King. The Lord Protector lost it, and not I:

When I was crown'd I was but nine months old.

Rich. You're old enough now, yet, methinks, you lose. —

Tear the crown, father, from th' usurper's head.

Edw. Sweet father, do so; set it on your head.

Mont. [To YORK.] Good brother, as thou lovest and honour'st arms,

Let's fight it out, and not stand cavilling thus.

Rich. Sound drums and trumpets, and the King will fly. York. Sons, peace!

North. Peace thou! and give King Henry leave to speak. War. Plantagenet shall speak first: hear him, lords; And be you silent and attentive too,

For he that interrupts him shall not live.

King. Think'st thou that I will leave my kingly throne, Wherein my grandsire and my father sat?

7 His father was not Duke of York, but Earl of Cambridge, and even that title was forfeited, leaving the present duke plain Richard Plantagenet, until he was advanced by the present King. Accordingly, Exeter has said, a few lines before," He made thee Duke of York." So that here we have another discrepancy. See vol. viii. page 41, note I.

No; first shall war unpeople this my realm;

Ay, and their colours - often borne in France,
And now in England to our heart's great sorrow
Shall be my winding-sheet.-Why faint you, lords?
My title's good, and better far than his.

War. But prove it, Henry, and thou shalt be king.
King. Henry the Fourth by conquest got the crown.
York. 'Twas by rebellion against his king.

King. [Aside.] I know not what to say; my title's weak. Tell me, may not a king adopt an heir?

York. What then?

King. An if he may, then am I lawful king;

For Richard, in the view of many lords,
Resign'd the crown to Henry the Fourth,

Whose heir my father was, and I am his.

York. He rose against him, being his sovereign, And made him to resign his crown perforce.

War. Suppose, my lords, he did it unconstrain'd,
Think you 'twere prejudicial to his crown?

Exe. No; for he could not so resign his crown
But that the next heir should succeed and reign.
King. Art thou against us, Duke of Exeter?
Exe. His is the right, and therefore pardon me.
York. Why whisper you, my lords, and answer not?

Exe. My conscience tells me he is lawful king.

King. [Aside.] All will revolt from me, and turn to him. North. Plantagenet, for all the claim thou lay'st,

Think not that Henry shall be so deposed.

War. Deposed he shall be, in despite of all.

North. Thou art deceived: 'tis not thy southern power,

Of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk, nor of Kent

Which makes thee thus presumptuous and proud –
Can set the duke up, in despite of me.

Cf. King Henry, be thy title right or wrong,