King John & Henry VIII (7 page)
Read King John & Henry VIII Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
Indicates Arthur
Look here upon thy brother
Geoffrey’s
99
face:
These eyes, these brows, were moulded out of his;
This little
abstract
101
doth contain that large
Which died in Geoffrey, and the hand of time
Shall draw this
brief
103
into as huge a volume:
That Geoffrey was thy elder brother born,
And this his son: England was Geoffrey’s right,
And this is Geoffrey’s in the name of God:
How comes it then that thou art called a king,
When living blood doth in these temples beat
Which
owe
109
the crown that thou o’ermasterest?
KING JOHN
From whom hast thou this great
commission
110
, France,
To draw my answer from thy
articles
111
?
KING PHILIP
From that
supernal judge
112
that stirs good thoughts
In any breast of strong authority,
To look into the blots and stains of right:
That judge hath made me guardian to this boy,
Under whose warrant I
impeach
116
thy wrong,
And by whose help I mean to chastise it.
KING JOHN
Alack
118
, thou dost usurp authority.
KING PHILIP
Excuse it is to beat usurping down
119
.
QUEEN ELINOR
Who is it thou dost call usurper, France?
CONSTANCE
Let me make answer: thy usurping son.
QUEEN ELINOR
Out
122
, insolent! Thy bastard shall be king,
That thou mayst be a queen, and
check
123
the world.
CONSTANCE
My bed was ever to thy son as true
As thine was to thy husband, and this boy
Liker in feature
126
to his father Geoffrey
Than thou and John,
in manners
127
being as like
As rain to water, or devil to his
dam
128
.
My boy a bastard? By my soul I think
His father never was so true begot
130
:
It cannot be,
an if
131
thou wert his mother.
QUEEN ELINOR
There’s a good mother, boy, that
blots
132
thy father.
CONSTANCE
There’s a good
grandam
, boy, that would
blot
133
thee.
AUSTRIA
Peace!
BASTARD
Hear the
crier
135
.
AUSTRIA
What the devil art thou?
BASTARD
One that will
play the devil
137
, sir, with you,
An a
may
catch
your
hide
138
and you alone:
You are the
hare of whom the proverb goes
139
,
Whose valour plucks dead lions by the beard.
I’ll
smoke
your skin-coat
an
141
I catch you right:
Sirrah,
look to’t
142
: i’faith I will, i’faith.
BLANCHE
O, well did he
become
143
that lion’s robe
That did disrobe the lion of that robe.
BASTARD
It lies as
sightly
145
on the back of him
As great
Alcides’
146
shoes upon an ass:
But, ass, I’ll take that burden from your back,
Or
lay on that
148
shall make your shoulders crack.
With this abundance of superfluous breath?
KING PHILIP
Lewis, determine what we shall do
straight
151
.
LEWIS
Women and fools, break off your conference.
King John, this is the
very sum
153
of all:
England and Ireland, Anjou, Touraine, Maine,
In right of Arthur do I claim of thee:
Wilt thou resign them and lay down thy arms?
KING JOHN
My life as soon: I do defy thee, France.
Arthur of
Bretagne
158
, yield thee to my hand,
And out of my dear love I’ll give thee more
Than e’er the coward hand of France can win.
Submit thee, boy.
QUEEN ELINOR
Come to thy grandam, child.
CONSTANCE
Do, child, go to
it
163
grandam, child:
Give grandam kingdom, and it grandam will
Give it a plum, a cherry, and a
fig
165
:
There’s a good grandam.
ARTHUR
Good my mother, peace.
I would that I were low laid in my grave:
I am not worth this
coil
169
that’s made for me.
QUEEN ELINOR
His mother
shames
170
him so, poor boy, he weeps.
CONSTANCE
Now shame upon you, whe’er she does or no:
His grandam’s wrongs, and not his mother’s shames,
Draws those heaven-moving
pearls
173
from his poor eyes,
Which heaven shall take
in nature of a fee
174
:
Ay, with these crystal
beads
175
heaven shall be bribed
To do him justice and revenge on you.
QUEEN ELINOR
Thou
monstrous
177
slanderer of heaven and earth!
CONSTANCE
Thou monstrous injurer of heaven and earth,
Call not me slanderer: thou and thine usurp
The
dominations
,
royalties
180
, and rights
Of this oppressed boy: this is thy
eldest son’s son
181
,
Infortunate
182
in nothing but in thee:
Thy sins are
visited
183
in this poor child:
The
canon of the law
184
is laid on him,
Being
but
185
the second generation
Removèd
186
from thy sin-conceiving womb.
KING JOHN
Bedlam
187
, have done.
CONSTANCE
I have but this to say:
That he is not only plaguèd for her sin,
But God hath made
her sin
190
and her the plague
On this
removèd issue
, plagued
for
191
her,
And with her plague her sin:
his injury
192
Her injury the
beadle
193
to her sin,
All punished in the person of this child,
And all
for
195
her: a plague upon her!
QUEEN ELINOR
Thou
unadvisèd
196
scold, I can produce
A will that bars the
title
197
of thy son.
CONSTANCE
Ay, who doubts that? A will: a wicked will,
A woman’s
will
, a
cankered
199
grandam’s will!
KING PHILIP
Peace, lady: pause, or be more
temperate
200
:
It ill
beseems
this
presence
to
cry aim
201
To these
ill-tunèd
repetitions
202
.
Some
trumpet
203
summon hither to the walls
These men of Angiers: let us hear them speak
Whose title they
admit
205
, Arthur’s or John’s.
Trumpet sounds. Enter a Citizen upon the walls
[
with others
]
CITIZEN
Who is it that hath
warned
206
us to the walls?
KING PHILIP
’Tis
France, for England
207
.
KING JOHN
England for itself:
You men of Angiers, and my loving subjects—
KING PHILIP
You loving men of Angiers, Arthur’s subjects,
KING JOHN
For our advantage; therefore hear us first:
These flags of France that are
advancèd
213
here
Before the eye and
prospect
214
of your town,
Have hither marched to your
endamagement
215
.
The cannons have their
bowels
216
full of wrath,
And ready mounted are they to spit forth
Their iron indignation gainst your walls:
All preparation for a bloody siege
And merciless proceeding by these French
Confronts your city’s eyes, your winking gates:
And but for our approach, those sleeping
stones
222
,
That as a
waist
223
doth girdle you about,
By the compulsion of their
ordinance
224
By this time from their fixèd beds of
lime
225
Had been
dishabited
226
, and wide havoc made
For
bloody power
227
to rush upon your peace.
But on the sight of us your lawful king,
Who painfully with
much expedient
229
march
Have brought a
countercheck
230
before your gates,
To save unscratched your city’s threatened cheeks,
Behold, the French,
amazed
,
vouchsafe
232
a parle:
And now instead of
bullets
233
wrapped in fire
To make a shaking fever in your walls,
They shoot but calm words,
folded up in smoke
235
,
To make a
faithless error
236
in your ears,
Which trust
accordingly
237
, kind citizens,
And let us in. Your king, whose
laboured
238
spirits,
Forwearied
239
in this action of swift speed,
Craves
harbourage
240
within your city walls.
KING PHILIP
When I have
said
241
, make answer to us both.
He takes Arthur’s hand
Lo
242
, in this right hand, whose protection
Is most divinely vowed upon the
right
243
Of him it holds, stands young Plantagenet,
Son to the elder brother of this man,
And king o’er him and all that he
enjoys
246
:
For
this
downtrodden equity
, we
tread
247
In warlike march these
greens
248
before your town,
Being no further enemy to you
Than the
constraint
250
of hospitable zeal
In the relief of this oppressèd child
Religiously provokes. Be pleasèd then
To pay that duty which you truly owe
To him that
owes
254
it, namely this young prince:
And then our arms, like to a muzzled bear,
Save
in
aspect
, hath all
offence
sealed up
256
:
Our cannons’ malice vainly shall be
spent
257
Against th’invulnerable clouds of heaven,
And with a blessèd and
unvexed
retire
259
,
With
unhacked
260
swords and helmets all unbruised,
We will bear home that
lusty
261
blood again
Which here we came to spout against your town,
And leave your children, wives, and you in peace.
But if you
fondly
pass
264
our proffered offer,
’Tis not the
roundure
265
of your old-faced walls
Can hide you from our
messengers of war
266
,
Though
all these English and their
discipline
267
Were harboured in their
rude
268
circumference:
Then tell us, shall your city call us lord,
In that behalf which
270
we have challenged it?
Or shall we give the signal to our rage,
And stalk in blood to our possession?
