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Queen Margaret complete text
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| Queen Margaret. Enforced thee! art thou king, and wilt be forced? | 1.1.233
| I shame to hear thee speak. Ah, timorous wretch! | 1.1.234
| Thou hast undone thyself, thy son and me; | 1.1.235
| And given unto the house of York such head | 1.1.236
| As thou shalt reign but by their sufferance. | 1.1.237
| To entail him and his heirs unto the crown, | 1.1.238
| What is it, but to make thy sepulchre | 1.1.239
| And creep into it far before thy time? | 1.1.240
| Warwick is chancellor and the lord of Calais; | 1.1.241
| Stern Falconbridge commands the narrow seas; | 1.1.242
| The duke is made protector of the realm; | 1.1.243
| And yet shalt thou be safe? such safety finds | 1.1.244
| The trembling lamb environed with wolves. | 1.1.245
| Had I been there, which am a silly woman, | 1.1.246
| The soldiers should have toss'd me on their pikes | 1.1.247
| Before I would have granted to that act. | 1.1.248
| But thou preferr'st thy life before thine honour: | 1.1.249
| And seeing thou dost, I here divorce myself | 1.1.250
| Both from thy table, Henry, and thy bed, | 1.1.251
| Until that act of parliament be repeal'd | 1.1.252
| Whereby my son is disinherited. | 1.1.253
| The northern lords that have forsworn thy colours | 1.1.254
| Will follow mine, if once they see them spread; | 1.1.255
| And spread they shall be, to thy foul disgrace | 1.1.256
| And utter ruin of the house of York. | 1.1.257
| Thus do I leave thee. Come, son, let's away; | 1.1.258
| Our army is ready; come, we'll after them. | 1.1.259
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| Queen Margaret. Brave warriors, Clifford and Northumberland, | 1.4.66
| Come, make him stand upon this molehill here, | 1.4.67
| That raught at mountains with outstretched arms, | 1.4.68
| Yet parted but the shadow with his hand. | 1.4.69
| What! was it you that would be England's king? | 1.4.70
| Was't you that revell'd in our parliament, | 1.4.71
| And made a preachment of your high descent? | 1.4.72
| Where are your mess of sons to back you now? | 1.4.73
| The wanton Edward, and the lusty George? | 1.4.74
| And where's that valiant crook-back prodigy, | 1.4.75
| Dicky your boy, that with his grumbling voice | 1.4.76
| Was wont to cheer his dad in mutinies? | 1.4.77
| Or, with the rest, where is your darling Rutland? | 1.4.78
| Look, York: I stain'd this napkin with the blood | 1.4.79
| That valiant Clifford, with his rapier's point, | 1.4.80
| Made issue from the bosom of the boy; | 1.4.81
| And if thine eyes can water for his death, | 1.4.82
| I give thee this to dry thy cheeks withal. | 1.4.83
| Alas poor York! but that I hate thee deadly, | 1.4.84
| I should lament thy miserable state. | 1.4.85
| I prithee, grieve, to make me merry, York. | 1.4.86
| What, hath thy fiery heart so parch'd thine entrails | 1.4.87
| That not a tear can fall for Rutland's death? | 1.4.88
| Why art thou patient, man? thou shouldst be mad; | 1.4.89
| And I, to make thee mad, do mock thee thus. | 1.4.90
| Stamp, rave, and fret, that I may sing and dance. | 1.4.91
| Thou wouldst be fee'd, I see, to make me sport: | 1.4.92
| York cannot speak, unless he wear a crown. | 1.4.93
| A crown for York! and, lords, bow low to him: | 1.4.94
| Hold you his hands, whilst I do set it on. | 1.4.95
Putting a paper crown on his head
| | Ay, marry, sir, now looks he like a king! | 1.4.96
| Ay, this is he that took King Henry's chair, | 1.4.97
| And this is he was his adopted heir. | 1.4.98
| But how is it that great Plantagenet | 1.4.99
| Is crown'd so soon, and broke his solemn oath? | 1.4.100
| As I bethink me, you should not be king | 1.4.101
| Till our King Henry had shook hands with death. | 1.4.102
| And will you pale your head in Henry's glory, | 1.4.103
| And rob his temples of the diadem, | 1.4.104
| Now in his life, against your holy oath? | 1.4.105
| O, 'tis a fault too too unpardonable! | 1.4.106
| Off with the crown, and with the crown his head; | 1.4.107
| And, whilst we breathe, take time to do him dead. | 1.4.108
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| Queen Margaret. Those gracious words revive my drooping thoughts | 3.3.22
| And give my tongue-tied sorrows leave to speak. | 3.3.23
| Now, therefore, be it known to noble Lewis, | 3.3.24
| That Henry, sole possessor of my love, | 3.3.25
| Is of a king become a banish'd man, | 3.3.26
| And forced to live in Scotland a forlorn; | 3.3.27
| While proud ambitious Edward Duke of York | 3.3.28
| Usurps the regal title and the seat | 3.3.29
| Of England's true-anointed lawful king. | 3.3.30
| This is the cause that I, poor Margaret, | 3.3.31
| With this my son, Prince Edward, Henry's heir, | 3.3.32
| Am come to crave thy just and lawful aid; | 3.3.33
| And if thou fail us, all our hope is done: | 3.3.34
| Scotland hath will to help, but cannot help; | 3.3.35
| Our people and our peers are both misled, | 3.3.36
| Our treasures seized, our soldiers put to flight, | 3.3.37
| And, as thou seest, ourselves in heavy plight. | 3.3.38
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| Queen Margaret. King Lewis and Lady Bona, hear me speak, | 3.3.66
| Before you answer Warwick. His demand | 3.3.67
| Springs not from Edward's well-meant honest love, | 3.3.68
| But from deceit bred by necessity; | 3.3.69
| For how can tyrants safely govern home, | 3.3.70
| Unless abroad they purchase great alliance? | 3.3.71
| To prove him tyrant this reason may suffice, | 3.3.72
| That Henry liveth still: but were he dead, | 3.3.73
| Yet here Prince Edward stands, King Henry's son. | 3.3.74
| Look, therefore, Lewis, that by this league and marriage | 3.3.75
| Thou draw not on thy danger and dishonour; | 3.3.76
| For though usurpers sway the rule awhile, | 3.3.77
| Yet heavens are just, and time suppresseth wrongs. | 3.3.78
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| Queen Margaret. Great lords, wise men ne'er sit and wail their loss, | 5.4.1
| But cheerly seek how to redress their harms. | 5.4.2
| What though the mast be now blown overboard, | 5.4.3
| The cable broke, the holding-anchor lost, | 5.4.4
| And half our sailors swallow'd in the flood? | 5.4.5
| Yet lives our pilot still. Is't meet that he | 5.4.6
| Should leave the helm and like a fearful lad | 5.4.7
| With tearful eyes add water to the sea | 5.4.8
| And give more strength to that which hath too much, | 5.4.9
| Whiles, in his moan, the ship splits on the rock, | 5.4.10
| Which industry and courage might have saved? | 5.4.11
| Ah, what a shame! ah, what a fault were this! | 5.4.12
| Say Warwick was our anchor; what of that? | 5.4.13
| And Montague our topmost; what of him? | 5.4.14
| Our slaughter'd friends the tackles; what of these? | 5.4.15
| Why, is not Oxford here another anchor? | 5.4.16
| And Somerset another goodly mast? | 5.4.17
| The friends of France our shrouds and tacklings? | 5.4.18
| And, though unskilful, why not Ned and I | 5.4.19
| For once allow'd the skilful pilot's charge? | 5.4.20
| We will not from the helm to sit and weep, | 5.4.21
| But keep our course, though the rough wind say no, | 5.4.22
| From shelves and rocks that threaten us with wreck. | 5.4.23
| As good to chide the waves as speak them fair. | 5.4.24
| And what is Edward but ruthless sea? | 5.4.25
| What Clarence but a quicksand of deceit? | 5.4.26
| And Richard but a ragged fatal rock? | 5.4.27
| All these the enemies to our poor bark. | 5.4.28
| Say you can swim; alas, 'tis but a while! | 5.4.29
| Tread on the sand; why, there you quickly sink: | 5.4.30
| Bestride the rock; the tide will wash you off, | 5.4.31
| Or else you famish; that's a threefold death. | 5.4.32
| This speak I, lords, to let you understand, | 5.4.33
| If case some one of you would fly from us, | 5.4.34
| That there's no hoped-for mercy with the brothers | 5.4.35
| More than with ruthless waves, with sands and rocks. | 5.4.36
| Why, courage then! what cannot be avoided | 5.4.37
| 'Twere childish weakness to lament or fear. | 5.4.38
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| Queen Margaret. Lords, knights, and gentlemen, what I should say | 5.4.73
| My tears gainsay; for every word I speak, | 5.4.74
| Ye see, I drink the water of mine eyes. | 5.4.75
| Therefore, no more but this: Henry, your sovereign, | 5.4.76
| Is prisoner to the foe; his state usurp'd, | 5.4.77
| His realm a slaughter-house, his subjects slain, | 5.4.78
| His statutes cancell'd and his treasure spent; | 5.4.79
| And yonder is the wolf that makes this spoil. | 5.4.80
| You fight in justice: then, in God's name, lords, | 5.4.81
| Be valiant and give signal to the fight. | 5.4.82
Alarum. Retreat. Excursions. Exeunt
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| Queen Margaret. O Ned, sweet Ned! speak to thy mother, boy! | 5.5.51
| Canst thou not speak? O traitors! murderers! | 5.5.52
| They that stabb'd Caesar shed no blood at all, | 5.5.53
| Did not offend, nor were not worthy blame, | 5.5.54
| If this foul deed were by to equal it: | 5.5.55
| He was a man; this, in respect, a child: | 5.5.56
| And men ne'er spend their fury on a child. | 5.5.57
| What's worse than murderer, that I may name it? | 5.5.58
| No, no, my heart will burst, and if I speak: | 5.5.59
| And I will speak, that so my heart may burst. | 5.5.60
| Butchers and villains! bloody cannibals! | 5.5.61
| How sweet a plant have you untimely cropp'd! | 5.5.62
| You have no children, butchers! if you had, | 5.5.63
| The thought of them would have stirr'd up remorse: | 5.5.64
| But if you ever chance to have a child, | 5.5.65
| Look in his youth to have him so cut off | 5.5.66
| As, deathmen, you have rid this sweet young prince! | 5.5.67
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