Y. Spen. Oh, is he gone? is noble Edward gone?
Parted from hence, never to see us more?

Rent, sphere of heaven! and, fire, forsake thy orb!
Earth, melt to air! gone is my sovereign,

Gone, gone, alas, never to make return!

Bald. Spenser, I see our souls are fleeting hence ;
We are deprived the sunshine of our life.
Make for a new life, man; throw up thy eyes
And heart and hand to heaven's immortal throne ;

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Pay nature's debt with cheerful countenance ;
Reduce we all our lessons unto this,-

To die, sweet Spenser, therefore live we all;
Spenser, all live to die, and rise to fall.

Rice. Come, come, keep these preachments till you come to the place appointed. You, and such as you are, have made wise work in England. Will your lordships away?

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Mow. Your lordship, I trust, will remember me? Rice. Remember thee, fellow! what else? Follow me to the town.

[Exeunt.

ACT V.

SCENE I. Killingworth Castle.

Enter KING EDWARD, LEICESTER, the BISHOP OF
WINCHESTER, and TRUSSEL.

Leices. Be patient, good my lord, cease to lament;
Imagine Killingworth-Castle were your court,

And that you lay for pleasure here a space,

Not of compulsion or necessity.

K. Edw. Leicester, if gentle words might comfort me, Thy speeches long ago had eas'd my sorrow, For kind and loving hast thou always been. The griefs of private men are soon allay'd;

But not of kings. The forest deer, being struck,

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s to an herb that closeth up the wounds; But when the imperial lion's flesh is gor'd,

ΙΟ

rends and tears it with his wrathful paw, Bradley [and], highly scorning that the lowly earth Should drink his blood, mounts up to the air: And so it fares with me, whose dauntless mind Th' ambitious Mortimer would seek to curb, And that unnatural queen, false Isabel,.

That thus hath pent and mew'd me in a prison;
For such outrageous passions cloy my soul,
As with the wings of rancour and disdain,
Full often am I soaring up to heaven,
To plain me to the gods against them both.
But when I call to mind I am a king,
Methinks I should revenge me of my wrongs,
That Mortimer and Isabel have done.
But what are kings, when regiment is gone,
But perfect shadows in a sunshine day?
My nobles rule; I bear the name of king;
I wear the crown but am controll'd by them,
By Mortimer, and my unconstant queen
Who spots my nuptial bed with infamy.
Whilst I am lodg'd within this cave of care,
Where sorrow at my elbow still attends,
To company my heart with sad laments,

That bleeds within me for this strange exchange.
But tell me, must I now resign my crown,

To make usurping Mortimer a king?

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30%

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Bish. of Win. Your grace mistakes, it is for England's good

And princely Edward's right we crave the crown.

K. Edw. No, 'tis for Mortimer, not Edward's head; 40 For he's a lamb, encompassed by wolves,

Which in a moment will abridge his life.

But, if proud Mortimer do wear this crown,

Heavens turn it to a blaze of quenchless fire!
Or, like the snaky wreath of Tisiphon,
Engirt the temples of his hateful head!

F

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So shall not England's vine be perished,

But Edward's name survive, though Edward dies.

Leices. My lord, why waste you thus the time away? They stay your answer; will you yield your crown?

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K. Edw. Ah, Leicester, weigh how hardly I can brook To lose my crown and kingdom without cause; To give ambitious Mortimer my right, That like a mountain overwhelms my bliss ; In which extreme my mind here murder'd is! But that, the heavens appoint, I must obey.— Here, take my crown; the life of Edward too;

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[Taking off the crown.

Two kings in England cannot reign at once.
But stay a while: let me be king till night,
That I may gaze upon this glittering crown;
So shall my eyes receive their last content,
My head, the latest honour due to it,

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And jointly both yield up their wishèd right.
Continue ever, thou celestial sun;

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Let never silent night possess this clime:
Stand still, you watches of the element;
All times and seasons, rest you at a stay,
That Edward may be still fair England's king!
But day's bright beam doth vanish fast away,
And needs I must resign my wishèd crown.
Inhuman creatures, nursed with tiger's milk,
Why gape you for your sovereign's overthrow?
My diadem, I mean, and guiltless life.
See, monsters, see! I'll wear my crown again.
[Putting on the crown.

What, fear you not the fury of your king?—
But, hapless Edward, thou art fondly led;
They pass not for thy frowns as late they did,
But seek to make a new-elected king;
Which fills my mind with strange despairing thoughts,
Which thoughts are martyrèd with endless torments;
And in this torment comfort find I none,

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But that I feel the crown upon my head ;
And therefore let me wear it yet a while.

Trus. My lord, the parliament must have present news; And therefore say, will you resign or no?

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[The KING rageth.

K. Edw. I'll not resign, but whilst I live [be king]. Traitors, be gone, and join you with Mortimer! Elect, conspire, install, do what you will:`

Their blood and yours shall seal these treacheries.

Bish. of Win. This answer we 'll return, and so farewell. [Going with TRUSSEL. Leices. Call them again, my lord, and speak them fair; For if they go, the prince shall lose his right.

K. Edw. Call thou them back; I have no power to speak.

Leices. My lord, the king is willing to resign.

Bish. of Win. If he be not, let him choose.

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K. Edw. O would I might! but heavens and earth conspire

To make me miserable. Here, receive my crown.

Receive it? no, these innocent hands of mine

Shall not be guilty of so foul a crime:

He of you all that most desires my blood,

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And will be call'd the murderer of a king,

Take it. What, are you mov'd? pity you me?
Then send for unrelenting Mortimer,

And Isabel, whose eyes, being turn'd to steel,
Will sooner sparkle fire than shed a tear.

Yet stay; for rather than I'll look on them,

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Here, here! [Gives the crown.] Now, sweet God of

heaven,

Make me despise this transitory pomp,

And sit for aye enthronizèd in heaven!

Come, death, and with thy fingers close my eyes,
Or if I live, let me forget myself!

Bish, of Win. My lord,

ΠΙΟ

K. Edw. Call me not lord; away, out of my sight!
Ah, pardon me! grief makes me lunatic.
Let not that Mortimer protect my son;
More safety there is in a tiger's jaws
Than his embracements.
Wet with my tears, and dried again with sighs;

Bear this to the queen,

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[Gives a handkerchief.

If with the sight thereof she be not mov'd,
Return it back and dip it in my blood.
Commend me to my son, and bid him rule
Better than I yet how have I transgress'd

:

Unless it be with too much clemency?

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Trus. And thus, most humbly do we take our leave. [Exeunt the BISHOP OF WINCHESTER and TRUSSEL with the crown.

K. Edw. Farewell; I know the next news that they bring

Will be my death; and welcome shall it be;

To wretched men death is felicity.

Leices. Another post! what news brings he?

Enter BERKELEY, who gives a paper to LEICESTER.

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K. Edw. Such news as I expect.-Come, Berkeley,

come,

And tell thy message to my naked breast.

Berk. My lord, think not a thought so villanous

Can harbour in a man of noble birth.

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To do your highness service and devoir,

And save you from your foes, Berkeley would die.

Leices. My lord, the council of the queen commands That I resign my charge.

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K. Edw. And who must keep me now? Must you, my lord?

Berk. Ay, my most gracious lord; so 'tis decreed.

K. Edw. [taking the paper]. By Mortimer, whose name is written here!

Well may I rent his name that rends my heart. [Tears it.