From some forefather grief; mine is not so; But what it is, that is not yet known; what Enter GREEN. Green. God save your majesty!—and well met, gentlemen. I hope the king is not yet shipped for Ireland. Queen. Why hop'st thou so? 'tis better hope he is; For his designs crave haste, his haste good hope; Then wherefore dost thou hope he is not shipped? Green. That he, our hope, might have retired his power,1 And driven into despair an enemy's hope, Queen. Now, God in heaven forbid! Green. O, madam, 'tis too true; and that is worse,The lord Northumberland, his young son Henry Percy, The lords of Ross, Beaumond, and Willoughby, With all their powerful friends, are fled to him. Bushy. Why have you not proclaimed Northumberland, And all the rest of the revolted faction, traitors? 2 1 Retired, i. e. drawn it back; a French sense. 2 The first quarto, 1597, reads :— "And all the rest of the revolted faction, traitors?" The folio, and the quarto of 1598 and 1608: "And the rest of the revolting faction, traitors?" Queen. So, Green, thou art the midwife to my woe, And Bolingbroke my sorrow's dismal heir. Now hath my soul brought forth her prodigy; And I, a gasping, new-delivered mother, Have woe to woe, sorrow to sorrow joined. Bushy. Despair not, madam. Queen. I will despair, and be at enmity Who shall hinder me? With cozening hope; he is a flatterer, Who gently would dissolve the bands of life, Enter YORK. Green. Here comes the duke of York. Uncle, For Heaven's sake, speak comfortable words. York. Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts. Who, weak with age, cannot support myself.― Enter a Servant. Serv. My lord, your son was gone before I came. York. He was?-Why, so!-go all which way it will! The nobles they are fled, the commons they are cold, Sirrah, get thee to Plashy, to my sister Gloster; VOL. III. 50 Serv. My lord, I had forgot to tell your lordship: To-day, as I came by, I called there; But I shall grieve you to report the rest. York. What is it, knave? Serv. An hour before I came, the duchess died. York. Heaven for his mercy! what a tide of woes Comes rushing on this woful land at once! I know not what to do.-I would to Heaven me. Go, fellow, [To the Servant.] get thee home, provide some carts, And bring away the armor that is there. [Exit Servant. If I know Gentlemen, will you go muster men? Is my kinsman, whom the king hath wronged; I should to Plashy too; But time will not permit.-All is uneven, [Exeunt YORK and Queen. Bushy. The wind sits fair for news to go to Ireland, But none returns. For us to levy power, 1 Disloyalty, treachery. 2 Not one of York's brothers had his head cut off, either by the king or any one else. Gloster, to whose death he probably alludes, was smothered between two beds at Calais. 3 York is talking to the queen, his cousin, but the recent death of his sister is uppermost in his mind. Proportionable to the enemy, Is all impossible. Green. Besides, our nearness to the king in love, Is near the hate of those love not the king. Bagot. And that's the wavering commons; for their love Lies in their purses; and whoso empties them, Bushy. Wherein the king stands generally condemned. Bagot. If judgment lie in them, then so do we, Because we ever have been near the king. Green. Well, I'll for refuge straight to Bristol castle; The earl of Wiltshire is already there. Bushy. Thither will I with you; for little office Will the hateful commons perform for us; Bagot. No; I'll to Ireland to his majesty. broke. Green. Alas, poor duke! the task he undertakes Is-numbering sands, and drinking oceans dry; Where one on his side fights, thousands will fly. Bushy. Farewell at once; for once, for all, and ever. Green. Well, we may meet again. Bagot. I fear me, never. [Exeunt. SCENE III. The Wilds in Glostershire. Enter BOLINGBROKE and NORTHUMBERLAND, with Forces. Boling. How far is it, my lord, to Berkley now? North. Believe me, noble lord, I am a stranger here in Glostershire. These high, wild hills, and rough, uneven ways, Than hope enjoyed. By this the weary lords Enter HARRY PERCY. North. It is my son, young Harry Percy, Percy. I had thought, my lord, to have learned his health of you. North. Why, is he not with the queen? Percy. No, my good lord; he hath forsook the court, Broken his staff of office, and dispersed The household of the king. North. What was his reason? He was not so resolved, when last we spake together. Percy. Because your lordship was proclaimed traitor. But he, my lord, is gone to Ravenspurg, To offer service to the duke of Hereford; And sent me o'er by Berkley, to discover What power the duke of York had levied there; 1 To joy is here used as a verb; it is equivalent with to rejoice. “To joy, to clap hands, to rejoyce.”—Baret. |