The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (257 page)

O Clifford, how thy words revive my heart!

O Clifford, how cheering your words are!

YORK.

Henry of Lancaster, resign thy crown.--

What mutter you, or what conspire you, lords?

Henry of Lancaster, give up your crown–

what are you muttering about, what are you plotting, lords?

WARWICK.

Do right unto this princely Duke of York,

Or I will fill the house with armed men,

And over the chair of state where now he sits

Write up his title with usurping blood.

Give this princely Duke of York his rights,

or I will fill the house with armed men,

and over the throne where he now sits

I will write up his title with the blood of rebels.

[He stamps, and the soldiers show themselves.]

KING HENRY.

My Lord of Warwick, hear but one word:

Let me for this my lifetime reign as king.

My Lord Warwick, let me just ask one thing:

let me be king for the rest of my life.

YORK.

Confirm the crown to me, and to mine heirs,

And thou shalt reign in quiet while thou liv'st.

Agree that the crown is mine, and will pass to my heirs,

and you shall reign in peace while you remain alive.

KING HENRY.

I am content; Richard Plantagenet,

Enjoy the kingdom after my decease.

I am satisfied; Richard Plantagenet,

you will be king when I die.

CLIFFORD.

What wrong is this unto the prince your son!

How terrible this is for your son the prince!

WARWICK.

What good is this to England and himself!

How good this is for England and himself!

WESTMORELAND.

Base, fearful, and despairing Henry!

Low, cowardly and despairing Henry!

CLIFFORD.

How hast thou injur'd both thyself and us!

What harm you're doing to yourself and to us!

WESTMORELAND.

I cannot stay to hear these articles.

I can't stay here and listen to this agreement.

NORTHUMBERLAND.

Nor I.

Me neither.

CLIFFORD.

Come, cousin, let us tell the queen these news.

Come, cousin, let us go and tell the Queen this news.

WESTMORELAND.

Farewell, faint-hearted and degenerate king,

In whose cold blood no spark of honour bides.

Farewell, cowardly and degenerate king,

who has no spark of honour anywhere in his cold blood.

NORTHUMBERLAND.

Be thou a prey unto the house of York,

And die in bands for this unmanly deed!

Make yourself a victim of the house of York,

and die in chains for this unmanly deed!

CLIFFORD.

In dreadful war mayst thou be overcome,

Or live in peace abandon'd and despis'd!

May you be killed in a dreadful war,

or if you live in peace be isolated and hated!

[Exeunt Northumberland, Clifford, and Westmoreland.]

WARWICK.

Turn this way, Henry, and regard them not.

Look over here, Henry, and don't pay attention to them.

EXETER.

They seek revenge, and therefore will not yield.

They're looking for revenge, and they will not back down.

KING HENRY.

Ah, Exeter!

Ah, Exeter!

WARWICK.

Why should you sigh, my lord?

Why are you sighing, my lord?

KING HENRY.

Not for myself, Lord Warwick, but my son,

Whom I unnaturally shall disinherit.--

But be it as it may, I here entail

The crown to thee, and to thine heirs for ever;

Conditionally, that here thou take an oath

To cease this civil war, and whilst I live

To honour me as thy king and sovereign,

And neither by treason nor hostility

To seek to put me down and reign thyself.

Not for myself, Lord Warwick, but my son,

whom I am unnaturally disinheriting.

But be that as it may, I hereby sign over

the crown to you, and to your heirs for ever;

on condition that you now take an oath

that you will end the civil war, and while I live

you will honour me as your King and ruler,

and that you won't try to overthrow me

by either treason or war.

YORK.

This oath I willingly take and will perform.

I gladly take this oath, I shall do it.

[Coming from the throne.]

WARWICK.

Long live King Henry!--Plantagenet, embrace him.

Long live king Henry! Plantagenet, embrace him.

KING HENRY.

And long live thou, and these thy forward sons!

And may you live long, and these brave sons of yours!

YORK.

Now York and Lancaster are reconcil'd.

Now York and Lancaster have made up.

EXETER.

Accurs'd be he that seeks to make them foes!

A curse on anyone who tries to make them enemies!

[Sennet. The Lords come forward.]

YORK. Farewell, my gracious lord; I'll to my castle.

Goodbye, my gracious lord; I'll go to my castle.

WARWICK.

And I'll keep London with my soldiers.

I'll keep on to London with my soldiers.

NORFOLK.

And I to Norfolk with my followers.

My followers and I shall go to Norfolk.

MONTAGUE.

And I unto the sea from whence I came.

I'll go back to the sea from where I came.

[Exeunt York and his Sons, Warwick, Norfolk, Montague,

Soldiers, and Attendants.]

KING HENRY.

And I, with grief and sorrow, to the court.

And I shall go to the court, grieved and sorrowful.

[Enter QUEEN MARGARET and the PRINCE OF WALES.]

EXETER.

Here comes the queen, whose looks bewray her anger.

I'll steal away.

Here comes the Queen, you can see her anger in her looks.

I'll sneak off.

KING HENRY.

Exeter, so will I.

[Going.]

Exeter, so will I.

QUEEN MARGARET.

Nay, go not from me; I will follow thee.

No, don't run away from me; I will follow you.

KING HENRY.

Be patient, gentle queen, and I will stay.

If you are calm, gentle queen, I will stay.

QUEEN MARGARET.

Who can be patient in such extremes?

Ah, wretched man! would I had died a maid,

And never seen thee, never borne thee son,

Seeing thou hast prov'd so unnatural a father!

Hath he deserv'd to lose his birthright thus?

Hadst thou but lov'd him half so well as I,

Or felt that pain which I did for him once,

Or nourish'd him as I did with my blood,

Thou wouldst have left thy dearest heart-blood there

Rather than have made that savage duke thine heir

And disinherited thine only son.

Who can be calm in such extreme situations?

You wretched man! I wish I'd died a virgin,

and never seen you, never had a son with you,

now that you have shown yourself to be such an unnatural father!

Did he deserve to lose his inheritance like this?

If you loved him half as much as I do,

or suffered the way I did giving birth to him,

or fed him with your own blood as I did,

you would have given up your own life

rather than have made that savage Duke your heir

and disinherited your only son.

PRINCE.

Father, you cannot disinherit me.

If you be king, why should not I succeed?

Father, you cannot disinherit me.

If you are king, why shouldn't I inherit?

KING HENRY.

Pardon me, Margaret;--pardon me, sweet son;

The Earl of Warwick and the duke enforc'd me.

Forgive me, Margaret; forgive me, sweet son;

the Earl of Warwick and the Duke forced me.

QUEEN MARGARET.

Enforc'd thee! art thou king, and wilt be

forc'd?

I shame to hear thee speak. Ah, timorous wretch!

Thou hast undone thyself, thy son, and me,

And given unto the house of York such head

As thou shalt reign but by their sufferance.

To entail him and his heirs unto the crown,

What is it but to make thy sepulchre

And creep into it far before thy time?

Warwick is chancellor and the lord of Calais;

Stern Falconbridge commands the narrow seas;

The duke is made protector of the realm;

And yet shalt thou be safe? such safety finds

The trembling lamb environed with wolves.

Had I been there, which am a silly woman,

The soldiers should have toss'd me on their pikes

Before I would have granted to that act.

But thou prefer'st thy life before thine honour;

And seeing thou dost, I here divorce myself,

Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed,

Until that act of parliament be repeal'd

Whereby my son is disinherited.

The northern lords that have forsworn thy colours

Will follow mine if once they see them spread;

And spread they shall be to thy foul disgrace

And utter ruin of the house of York.

Thus do I leave thee.--Come, son, let's away:

Our army is ready; come, we'll after them.

Forced you! You are the king, and you can be forced?

It makes me ashamed to hear you speak. You cowardly wretch!

You have betrayed yourself, your son and me,

and given the house of York such an advantage

that you will only reign with their permission.

To give the crown to him and his heirs

is like digging your own grave

and creeping into it long before your natural time.

Warwick is Chancellor and the Lord of Calais;

Stern Falconbridge is commanding the Navy;

the Duke has been made protector of the realm;

and you think you will be safe? This is the safety that

the trembling lamb has when he surrounded by wolves.

If I'd been there, just a weak woman,

the soldiers would have had to spit me on their pikes

before I agreed to this business.

But you chose life before your honour;

and as you do, I hereby remove myself,