Edward II by Christopher Marlowe, Arthur Henry Bullen
Act III
SCENE I
[Enter Gaveston mourning, James, and the Earl of Pembroke's men.]
GAV O treacherous Warwick! thus to wrong thy friend.
JAMES I see it is your life these arms pursue.
GAV Weaponless must I fall, and die in bands? O! must this day be period of my life? Centre of all my bliss! An ye be men, Speed to the king.
[Enter Warwick and his company.]
WAR My lord of Pembroke's men, Strive you no longer—I will have that Gaveston.
JAMES Your lordship does dishonour to yourself, And wrong our lord, your honourable friend.
WAR No, James, it is my country's cause I follow. Go, take the villain; soldiers, come away. We'll make quick work. Commend me to your master, My friend, and tell him that I watched it well. Come, let thy shadow parley with King Edward.
GAV Treacherous earl, shall I not see the king?
WAR The king of Heaven perhaps, no other king. Away! [Exeunt Warwick and his Men with Gaveston.
JAMES Come, fellows, it booted not for us to strive, We will in haste go certify our lord. [Exeunt.
SCENE II
[Enter King Edward and Young Spencer, Baldock, and Nobles of the king's side, with drums and fifes.]
EDW I long to hear an answer from the barons Touching my friend, my dearest Gaveston. Ah! Spencer, not the riches of my realm Can ransom him! ah, he is marked to die! I know the malice of the younger Mortimer, Warwick I know is rough, and Lancaster Inexorable, and I shall never see My lovely Pierce of Gaveston again! The barons overbear me with their pride.
Y. SPEN Were I King Edward, England's sovereign, Son to the lovely Eleanor of Spain, Great Edward Longshanks' issue, would I bear These braves, this rage, and suffer uncontrolled These barons thus to beard me in my land, In mine own realm? My lord, pardon my speech, Did you retain your father's magnanimity, Did you regard the honour of your name, You would not suffer thus your majesty Be counterbuft of your nobility. Strike off their heads, and let them preach on poles! No doubt, such lessons they will teach the rest, As by their preachments they will profit much, And learn obedience to their lawful king.
EDW Yea, gentle Spencer, we have been too mild, Too kind to them; but now have drawn our sword, And if they send me not my Gaveston, We'll steel it on their crest, and poll their tops.
BALD This haught resolve becomes your majesty Not to be tied to their affection, As though your highness were a schoolboy still, And must be awed and governed like a child.
[Enter Hugh Spencer, father to the Young Spencer, with his truncheon and Soldiers.]
O. SPEN Long live my sovereign, the noble Edward— In peace triumphant, fortunate in wars!
EDW Welcome, old man, com'st thou in Edward's aid? Then tell thy prince of whence, and what thou art.
O. SPEN Lo, with a band of bowmen and of pikes, Brown bills and targeteers, four hundred strong, Sworn to defend King Edward's royal right, I come in person to your majesty, Spencer, the father of Hugh Spencer there, Bound to your highness everlastingly, For favour done, in him, unto us all.
EDW Thy father, Spencer?
Y. SPEN True, an it like your grace, That pours, in lieu of all your goodness shown, His life, my lord, before your princely feet.
EDW Welcome ten thousand times, old man, again. Spencer, this love, this kindness to thy king, Argues thy noble mind and disposition. Spencer, I here create thee Earl of Wiltshire, And daily will enrich thee with our favour, That, as the sunshine, shall reflect o'er thee. Beside, the more to manifest our love, Because we hear Lord Bruce doth sell his land, And that the Mortimers are in hand withal, Thou shalt have crowns of us t'outbid the barons And, Spencer, spare them not, lay it on. Soldiers, a largess, and thrice welcome all!
Y. SPEN My lord, here comes the queen.
[Enter the Queen and her Son, and Levune, a Frenchman.]
EDW Madam, what news?
QUEEN News of dishonour, lord, and discontent. Our friend Levune, faithful and full of trust, Informeth us, by letters and by words, That Lord Valois our brother, King of France, Because your highness hath been slack in homage, Hath seizèd Normandy into his hands. These be the letters, this the messenger.
EDW Welcome, Levune. Tush, Sib, if this be all, Valois and I will soon be friends again.— But to my Gaveston; shall I never see, Never behold thee now? —Madam, in this matter, We will employ you and your little son; You shall go parley with the King of France. Boy, see you bear you bravely to the king. And do your message with a majesty.
PRINCE Commit not to my youth things of more weight Than fits a prince so young as I to bear, And fear not, lord and father, heaven's great beams On Atlas' shoulder shall not lie more safe, Than shall your charge committed to my trust.
QUEEN Ah, boy! this towardness makes thy mother fear Thou art not marked to many days on earth.
EDW Madam, we will that you with speed be shipped, And this our son; Levune shall follow you With all the haste we can despatch him hence. Chuse of our lords to bear you company; And go in peace, leave us in wars at home.
QUEEN Unnatural wars, where subjects brave their king; God end them once! My lord, I take my leave, To make my preparation for France. [Exit with Prince.
[Enter Arundel.]
EDW What, Lord Arundel, dost thou come alone?
ARUN Yea, my good lord, for Gaveston is dead.
EDW Ah, traitors! have they put my friend to death? Tell me, Arundel, died he ere thou cam'st, Or didst thou see my friend to take his death?
ARUN Neither, my lord; for as he was surprised, Begirt with weapons and with enemies round, I did your highness' message to them all; Demanding him of them, entreating rather, And said, upon the honour of my name, That I would undertake to carry him Unto your highness, and to bring him back.
EDW And tell me, would the rebels deny me that?
Y. SPEN Proud recreants!
EDW Yea, Spencer, traitors all.
ARUN I found them at the first inexorable; The Earl of Warwick would not bide the hearing, Mortimer hardly, Pembroke and Lancaster Spake least: and when they flatly had denied, Refusing to receive my pledge for him, The Earl of Pembroke mildly thus bespake; "My lord, because our sovereign sends for him, And promiseth he shall be safe returned, I will this undertake, to have him hence, And see him re-delivered to your hands."
EDW Well, and how fortunes [it] that he came not?
Y. SPEN Some treason, or some villany, was the cause.
ARUN The Earl of Warwick seized him on his way; For being delivered unto Pembroke's men, Their lord rode home thinking his prisoner safe; But ere he came, Warwick in ambush lay, And bare him to his death; and in a trench Strake off his head, and marched unto the camp.
Y. SPEN A bloody part, flatly 'gainst law of arms.
EDW O shall I speak, or shall I sigh and die!
Y. SPEN My lord, refer your vengeance to the sword Upon these barons; hearten up your men; Let them not unrevenged murder your friends! Advance your standard, Edward, in the field, And march to fire them from their starting holes. [Edward kneels.
EDW By earth, the common mother of us all, By heaven, and all the moving orbs thereof, By this right hand, and by my father's sword, And all the honours 'longing to my crown, I will have heads, and lives for him, as many RISES ave manors, castles, towns, and towers! [Rises. Treacherous Warwick! traitorous Mortimer! If I be England's king, in lakes of gore Your headless trunks, your bodies will I trail, That you may drink your fill, and quaff in blood, And stain my royal standard with the same, That so my bloody colours may suggest Remembrance of revenge immortally On your accursèd traitorous progeny, You villains, that have slain my Gaveston! And in his place of honour and of trust, Spencer, sweet Spencer, I adopt thee here: And merely of our love we do create thee Earl of Gloucester, and Lord Chamberlain, Despite of times, despite of enemies.
Y. SPEN My Lord, here is a messenger from the barons Desires access unto your majesty.
EDW Admit him near.
[Enter the Herald from the Barons, with his coat of arms.]
HER Long live King Edward, England's lawful lord!
EDW So wish not they, I wis, that sent thee hither. Thou com'st from Mortimer and his complices, A ranker rout of rebels never was. Well, say thy message.
HER The barons up in arms, by me salute Your highness with long life and happiness; And bid me say, as plainer to your grace, That if without effusion of blood You will this grief have ease and remedy, That from your princely person you remove This Spencer, as a putrefying branch, That deads the royal vine, whose golden leaves Empale your princely head, your diadem, Whose brightness such pernicious upstarts dim, Say they; and lovingly advise your grace, To cherish virtue and nobility, And have old servitors in high esteem, And shake off smooth dissembling flatterers: This granted, they, their honours, and their lives, Are to your highness vowed and consecrate.
Y. SPEN Ah, traitors! will they still display their pride?
EDW Away, tarry no answer, but be gone! Rebels, will they appoint their sovereign His sports, his pleasures, and his company? Yet, ere thou go, see how I do divorce [Embraces Spencer. Spencer from me.—Now get thee to thy lords, And tell them I will come to chastise them For murdering Gaveston; hie thee, get thee gone! Edward with fire and sword follows at thy heels. My lord[s], perceive you how these rebels swell? Soldiers, good hearts, defend your sovereign's right, For now, even now, we march to make them stoop. Away! [Exeunt. Alarums, excursions, a great fight, and a retreat.
SCENE III
[Enter the King, Old Spencer, Young Spencer, and the Noblemen of the King's side.]
EDW Why do we sound retreat? upon them, lords! This day I shall pour vengeance with my sword On those proud rebels that are up in arms, And do confront and countermand their king.
Y. SPEN I doubt it not, my lord, right will prevail.
O. SPEN 'Tis not amiss, my liege, for either part To breathe awhile; our men, with sweat and dust All choked well near, begin to faint for heat; And this retire refresheth horse and man.
Y. SPEN Here come the rebels.
[Enter Young Mortimer, Lancaster, Warwick, Pembroke, &c.]
E. MOR Look, Lancaster, yonder is Edward Among his flatterers.
LAN And there let him be Till he pay dearly for their company.
WAR And shall, or Warwick's sword shall smite in vain.
EDW What, rebels, do you shrink and sound retreat?
Y. MOR No, Edward, no, thy flatterers faint and fly.
LAN They'd best betimes forsake thee, and their trains, For they'll betray thee, traitors as they are.
Y. SPEN Traitor on thy face, rebellious Lancaster!
PEM Away, base upstart, bravest thou nobles thus?
O. SPEN A noble attempt, and honourable deed, Is it not, trow ye, to assemble aid, And levy arms against your lawful king!
EDW For which ere long their heads shall satisfy, To appease the wrath of their offended king.
Y. MOR Then, Edward, thou wilt fight it to the last, And rather bathe thy sword in subjects' blood, Than banish that pernicious company?
EDW I, traitors all, rather than thus be braved, Make England's civil towns huge heaps of stones, And ploughs to go about our palace-gates.
WAR A desperate and unnatural resolution! Alarum!—to the fight! St. George for England, and the barons' right.
EDW St. George for England, and King Edward's right. [Alarums. Exeunt.
[Re-enter Edward and his followers, with the Barons and Kent, captives.]
EDW Now, lusty lords, now, not by chance of war, But justice of the quarrel and the cause, Vailed is your pride; methinks you hang the heads, But we'll advance them, traitors; now 'tis time To be avenged on you for all your braves, And for the murder of my dearest friend, To whom right well you knew our soul was knit, Good Pierce of Gaveston, my sweet favourite: Ah, rebels! recreants! you made him away.
KENT Brother, in regard of thee, and of thy land, Did they remove that flatterer from thy throne.
EDW So, sir, you have spoke; away, avoid our presence. [Exit Kent. Accursèd wretches, was't in regard of us, When we had sent our messenger to request He might be spared to come to speak with us, And Pembroke undertook for his return, That thou, proud Warwick, watched the prisoner, Poor Pierce, and headed him 'gainst law of arms; For which thy head shall overlook the rest, As much as thou in rage outwent'st the rest.
WAR Tyrant, I scorn thy threats and menaces, It is but temporal that thou canst inflict.
LAN The worst is death, and better die to live Than live in infamy under such a king.
EDW Away with them, my lord of Winchester! These lusty leaders, Warwick and Lancaster, I charge you roundly—off with both their heads! Away!
WAR Farewell, vain world!
LAN Sweet Mortimer, farewell.
Y. MOR England, unkind to thy nobility, Groan for this grief, behold how thou art maimed!
EDW Go, take that haughty Mortimer to the Tower, There see him safe bestowed; and for the rest, Do speedy execution on them all. Begone!
Y. MOR What, Mortimer! can ragged stony walls Immure thy virtue that aspires to heaven? No, Edward, England's scourge, it may not be, Mortimer's hope surmounts his fortune far. [The captive Barons are led off.
EDW . Sound drums and trumpets! March with me, my friends, Edward this day hath crowned him king anew. [Exeunt all except Young Spencer, Levune, and Baldock.
Y. SPEN Levune, the trust that we repose in thee, Begets the quiet of King Edward's land. Therefore begone in haste, and with advice Bestow that pleasure on the lords of France, That, therewith all enchanted, like the guard That suffered Jove to pass in showers of gold To Danae, all aid may be denied To Isabel, the queen, that now in France Makes friends, to cross the seas with her young son, And step into his father's regiment.
LEVUNE That's it these barons and the subtle queen Long levelled at.
BAL Yea, but, Levune, thou seest These barons lay their heads on blocks together; What they intend, the hangman frustrates clean.
LEVUNE Have you no doubt, my lords, I'll clap so close Among the lords of France with England's gold, That Isabel shall make her plaints in vain, And France shall be obdurate with her tears.
Y. SPEN Then make for France, amain—Levune, away! Proclaim King Edward's wars and victories. [Exeunt omnes.