Sweet Spencer, gentle Baldock, part we must!
Hence feigned weeds! unfeigned are my woes;

[Throws off his disguise.

Father, farewell! Leicester, thou stay'st for me,
And go I must. Life, farewell, with my friends.

[Exeunt KING EDWARD and LEICESTER.
Y. Spen. O! is he gone? is noble Edward gone?
Parted from hence? never to see us more?
Rend, sphere of Heaven! and, fire, forsake thy orb !
Earth, melt to air! gone is my sovereign,
Gone, gone, alas! never to make return.

Bald. Spencer, 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 hands to Heaven's immortal throne;
Pay nature's debt with cheerful countenance;
Reduce we all our lessons unto this,

To die, sweet Spencer, therefore live we all;
Spencer, 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?

Mow. Your lordship, I trust, will remember me?

Rice. Remember thee, fellow! what else? Follow me to the town.

[Exeunt.

ACT V

SCENE I.IN KENILWORTH CASTLE

Enter KING EDWARD, LEICESTER, the BISHOP of WINCHESTER, and

L

TRUSSEL.

EICES. 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 eased my sorrows;

For kind and loving hast thou always been.

The griefs of private men are soon allayed,

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

Runs to an herb that closeth up the wounds;

1 Dittany, a species of Origanum. Elizabethan poets often allude to the supposed virtues of this herb.

But, when the imperial lion's flesh is gored,
He rends and tears it with his wrathful paw,
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
The ambitious Mortimer would seek to curb,
And that unnatural queen, false Isabel,
That thus hath pent and mewed 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 controlled by them,
By Mortimer, and my unconstant queen,
Who spots my nuptial bed with infamy;
Whilst I am lodged 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?

B. 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;

For he's a lamb, encompassèd 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 a snaky wreath of Tisiphon,
Engirt the temples of his hateful head;
So shall not England's vine be perished,

But Edward's name survives, though Edward dies.
Leices. My lord, why waste you thus the time away?
They stay your answer; will you yield your crown?

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,

1 Rule.

In which extreme my mind here murdered is.
But what the heavens appoint, I must obey!
Here, take my crown; the life of Edward too;

[Taking off the crown.

Two kings in England can not reign at once.
But stay awhile, 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,
And jointly both yield up their wishèd right.
Continue ever thou celestial sun;

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 wished 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 own crown again!

I

[He puts on the crown.

What, fear you not the fury of your king?
But, hapless Edward, thou are fondly 1 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,

But that I feel the crown upon my head:
And therefore let me wear it yet awhile.

Trus. My lord, the parliament must have present news,

And therefore say, will you resign or no?

[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!
B. 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.

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

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,
And will be called the murderer of a king,
Take it. What, are you moved? pity you me?
Then send for unrelenting Mortimer,

And Isabel, whose eyes, being turned to steel,
Will sooner sparkle fire than shed a tear.
Yet stay, for rather than I'll look on them,
Here, here!

Now, sweet God of Heaven,

Make me despise this transitory pomp,

And sit for aye enthronized in Heaven!

[Gives the crown.

Come, death, and with thy fingers close my eyes,

Or if I live, let me forget myself.

B. of Win. My lord

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. Bear this to the queen,
Wet with my tears, and dried again with sighs;

[Gives a handkerchief.

If with the sight thereof she be not moved,
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 transgressed,
Unless it be with too much clemency?

Trus. And thus most humbly do we take our leave.
K. Edw. Farewell;

[Exeunt the BISHOP of WINCHESTER and TRUSSEL.
I know the next news that they bring

Will be my death; and welcome shall it be;

To wretched men, death is felicity.

Enter BERKELEY, who gives a paper to LEICESTER.

Leices. Another post! what news brings he

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

Tell thy message to my naked breast.

Berk. My lord, think not a thought so villainous

Can harbour in a man of noble birth.

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.

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 rend his name that rends my heart!
This poor revenge has something eased my mind.
So may his limbs be torn, as is this paper!

Hear me, immortal Jove, and grant it too!

[Tears it.

Berk. Your grace must hence with me to Berkeley straight. K. Edw. Whither you will; all places are alike,

And every earth is fit for burial.

Leices. Favour him, my lord, as much as lieth in you.
Berk. Even so betide my soul as I use him.
K. Edw. Mine enemy hath pitied my estate,

And that's the cause that I am now removed.

Berk. And thinks your grace that Berkeley will be cruel? K. Edw. I know not; but of this am I assured, That death ends all, and I can die but once.

Leicester, farewell!

Leices. Not yet, my lord; I'll bear you on your way.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.-AN APARTMENT IN THE ROYAL PALACE
Enter QUEEN ISABELLA and Young MORTIMER.

Y. Mor. Fair Isabel, now have we our desire;
The proud corrupters of the light-brained king
Have done their homage to the lofty gallows,
And he himself lies in captivity.

Be ruled by me, and we will rule the realm.
In any case take heed of childish fear,
For now we hold an old wolf by the ears,
That, if he slip, will seize upon us both,
And gripe the sorer, being griped himself.
Think therefore, madam, that imports us much
To erect your son with all the speed we may,
And that I be protector over him ;
For our behoof will bear the greater sway
Whenas a king's name shall be under writ.

Q. Isab. Sweet Mortimer, the life of Isabel,
Be thou persuaded that I love thee well,
And therefore, so the prince my son be safe,
Whom I esteem as dear as these mine eyes,