THE THIRD PART OF

KING HENRY THE SIXTH

ACT I

SCENE I.-London.

Alarum.

The Parliament House.

Enter the DUKE OF YORK, EDWARD, RICHARD, NORFOLK, MONTAGUE, WARWICK, and Soldiers.

War. I wonder how the king escaped our hands.
York. While we pursued the horsemen of the north,
He slily stole away and left his men :
Whereat the great Lord of Northumberland,
Whose war-like ears could never brook retreat,
Cheer'd up the drooping army; and himself,
Lord Clifford, and Lord Stafford, all abreast,
Charged our main battle's front, and breaking in

5

Alarum. Enter the Duke of York J Alarum. Enter Plantagenet... Ff. and Soldiers] and Souldiers, with white Roses in their hats Q. [Other differences occur in Folio and Quarto stage-direction.]

retreat] 1-5. War. I wonder omitted Q. 7. Lord Clifford Clifford abreast Q.

and therewith him Q.

retrait Q. Stafford 8. Charged.

I. I wonder .] See first line of Act ii.

5. brook] put up with. Characteristic of these three plays, where it occurs about a dozen times; elsewhere almost confined to Shakespeare's early work. Frequent in Greene's plays.

5. retreat] Used here with reference to the bugle call or sounding of retreat. See note at "sound retreat (2 Henry VI. IV. viii. 4), which expression occurs again in 1 Henry IV. and in Henry V. Hence the appropriate use of "warlike ," "retreat "signifying the sound

ears,

3

1-5. War. I wonder 6. Cheer'd. himself] abreast] 6. Lord Stafford in] 7. Chargde . front,

ing. Peele gives us the old spelling (as in Q) in The Honour of the Garter (589, b, Dyce, 1874):—

"And by and by a loud retraite he

rung.

The train retired."

See
Grafton, i. 518, quoted at
"Ascribes the glory to God" (Henry
VI. III. iv. 10-12).

8. main battle] Again in Richard III. v. iii. 299. This is the earliest example in New Eng. Dict. It is earlier in Peele's Battle of Alcazar, IV. i. :

Were by the swords of common soldiers slain.
Edw. Lord Stafford's father, Duke of Buckingham,
Is either slain or wounded dangerous;

I cleft his beaver with a downright blow:
That this is true, father, behold his blood.

Mont. And, brother, here's the Earl of Wiltshire's blood,
Whom I encounter'd as the battles join'd.

Rich. Speak thou for me, and tell them what I did.

ΙΟ

15

[Throwing down the Duke of Somerset's head. York. Richard hath best deserved of all my sons.

But is your grace dead, my Lord of Somerset ?
Norf. Such hope have all the line of John of Gaunt !
Rich. Thus do I hope to shake King Henry's head.
War. And so do I. Victorious Prince of York,
Before I see thee seated in that throne
Which now the house of Lancaster usurps,

I vow by heaven these eyes shall never close.
This is the palace of the fearful king,

20

25

9. Were... slain] 8. Brake in and were by the hands of common souldiers slain Q. 10-13. Lord Stafford's downright blow: That this is true, father blood] 9-12. Lord "Staffords downe right blow: Father that this is... bloud Q. 15. battles] 14. battailes Q. 16. [Throwing down 17. Richard sons] omitted Q. 18. But is] 19-26. Such hope the fearful king, And this that fearefull King, And that Yorke Q.

head.] Theobald.

16. York. What is Q.
.. York] 17-24. Such hope..
"ten thousand horse:
The main battle of harquebuze on
foot,

And twenty thousand horsemen in
their troops.'
The main body of the army. "Main
battle" had an earlier sense of import-
ant or great fight as compared with
skirmishing. So in Greene's Pene-
lope's Web (Grosart, v. 165): "inua-
sion either by skirmish, Camizado, or
maine battell." It is in Grafton's
Chronicle.

9. swords of common soldiers] See note at 2 Henry VI. v. ii. 58. The statement here is an inadvertency (Malone). See below, line 55 and 1. iii. 5.

II. dangerous] So Folio. The Q gives dangerouslie, adopted by Theobald, unnecessarily. Shakespeare uses adjectives adverbially very often.

12. beaver] helmet, as in 1 Henry IV. IV. i. 104, and Richard III. v. iii. 50. Elsewhere in Shakespeare it is the visor of the helmet, as in Faerie Queene, II. v. 6, etc. Fr. bavière.

12. downright blow] Only again in 2 Henry VI. II. iii. 92, where see note. The expression is in Holland's Plinie (1601): "let drive and lay at them either with full down-right or crossblowes" (bk. xv. ch. iii. p. 431, c).

15. as the battles join'd] See below, II. i. 121, the only other example in Shakespeare of this old expression for beginning the fight. "To join," in the sense of entering on any serious business, is a common northern provincialism. Joined ploughing or reaping, joined at the turf, joined to fight, joined to rain, are usual. Compare Grafton, i. 30: "At the length they ioyned battaile and met together nere a Ryuer called Stoore"; and again p. 238. See Genesis xiv. 8. And see Grosart's Greene, xiii. 318, James the Fourth ("as the Kings are joyning battaile," stage-direction). But taking "battles" to mean troops simplifies the expression. See Kyd, Spanish Tragedy, 1. iii. 60:

"When both the armies were in battell ioynd."

And this the regal seat: possess it, York;
For this is thine and not King Henry's heirs'.
York. Assist me then, sweet Warwick, and I will;
For hither we have broken in by force.
Norf. We'll all assist you; he that flies shall die.
York. Thanks, gentle Norfolk. Stay by me, my lords;
And, soldiers, stay and lodge by me this night.

30

[They go up.

War. And when the King comes, offer him no violence,
Unless he seek to thrust you out perforce.

York. The queen this day here holds her parliament,
But little thinks we shall be of her council :
By words or blows here let us win our right.
Rich. Arm'd as we are, let's stay within this house.
War. The bloody parliament shall this be call'd,

Unless Plantagenet, Duke of York, be king,
And bashful Henry deposed, whose cowardice
Hath made us by-words to our enemies.
York. Then leave me not, my lords; be resolute;
I mean to take possession of my right.

War. Neither the king, nor he that loves him best,
The proudest he that holds up Lancaster,
Dares stir a wing if Warwick shake his bells.

27-29. For this

...

thrust you

35

40

45

hither

33,

hither we have... force] 25-27. For this . . . are we ... . force Q. 30. you; he] 28. thee, and he Q. 31, 32. Thanks stay] 29, 30. Thanks. staie you here and lodge this night Q. 34. And when perforce] 31, 32. And when . out by force Q. 35-37. York. The queen. right] omitted Q. we are] 33. as we be Q. 39-42. The bloody enemies] 34-37. The bloudie. Henrie be deposde

Then leave.

...

...

Henry deposed
enemies Q.

43-49.

be resolute; I mean . . . nor he that proudest he.

26. regal seat] This is the expression of Holinshed, not of Hall or Grafton. The latter uses "throne roiale," or siege royal." It is in Locrine, "True Honour in her regale seat" (495, b, ed. Tyrrell).

32. lodge] lie, sleep. See 2 Henry VI. 1. i. 80; and below, Iv. iii. 13.

41. And... cowardice] "Henry" must be allowed three syllables here with the accent on the last, and "cowardice" with two final unaccented syllables-for scansion.

42. by-words] objects of reproach and derision, as in Deuteronomy xxviii. 37, and Psalms xliv. 14.

46. The proudest he] Occurs again in Taming of Shrew, 111. ii. 236, and

Henry VIII. v. iii. 130. See note at
"the proudest of you all" (1 Henry VI.
IV. vii. 84). Peele used it earlier in
Edward I. :-

"Follow pursue! spare not the
proudest he

That havocks England's sacred royalty"

(Dyce, 406, a, 1874). And Greene, James the Fourth (Grosart, xiii. 233):

"her virtues may compare With the proudest she that waits upon your Queen." Halliwell thinks "bird" of the Quarto carries out the metaphor better. So it does, but it is far tamer.

47. if Warwick shake his bells] A metaphor from falconry; a favourite

I'll plant Plantagenet, root him up who dares.
Resolve thee, Richard: claim the English crown.

Flourish. Enter King HENRY, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBER-
LAND, WESTMORELAND, EXETER, and the rest.

K. Hen. My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits,
Even in the chair of state! belike he means,
Back'd by the power of Warwick, that false peer,
To aspire unto the crown and reign as king.
Earl of Northumberland, he slew thy father,
And thine, Lord Clifford; and you both have vow'd
revenge

50

55

On him, his sons, his favourites, and his friends. North. If I be not, heavens be revenged on me!

Clif. The hope thereof makes Clifford mourn in steel.

West. What! shall we suffer this? let's pluck him down :
My heart for anger burns: I cannot brook it.

60

K. Hen. Be patient, gentle Earl of Westmoreland.

Clif. Patience is for poltroons, such as he :

He durst not sit there had your father liv'd.
My gracious lord, here in the parliament

Let us assail the family of York.

root him up crown] 38-44. Then leave that proudest burd.

65

for now I meane . . • nor him root him out .. crowne Q. 49. Flourish.] F 1; omitted Ff 2, 3, 4; Q. Enter and the rest.] Ff; Enter [somewhat varied]. with red Roses in their hats Q. 50. My lords, look] 45. Looke Lordings Q. 50-56. where the sturdy thine, Lord Clifford . friends] 45-51. where the sturdy . . . thine Clifford . . . friends Q. 57. If I be] 52. And if I be Q. 57-60. heavens be pluck him. . burns: I cannot brook it] 52-55. heavens be... Pull him. . . breakes, I cannot speake Q. 61-66. K. Hen. Be patient... be it so] 56-61. King. Be patient be it so Q.

source with Shakespeare. See Othello, III. iii. 261-3 (in this edition, notes); and As You Like It, I. iii. 89. Compare Lucrece, 510, 511 :—

"Harmless Lucretia, marking what
he tells

With trembling fear, as fowl hear
falcon's bells."

The bell was attached above the foot.
So in Greene's Tullies Love (Grosart,
vii. 116): "Lentulus, willing to make
flight at the foule, and yet not to have
a bel at his heele, answered thus."

50. lords] lordings in Q; see note at Part II. 1. i. 143. Shakespeare discards this word, later, entirely.

50. sturdy] Only again in Venus and Adonis, 152, of trees; strong, stout. Here it has the bad sense of Spenser's Faerie Queene, II. vii. 40:—

...

"therein did wayt

...

A sturdie villein, stryding stiffe and bold."

Greene was fond of the word. Compare this speech with the King's in 2 Henry VI. v. i. 161-174. Backbone is being put into his construction; but uselessly, line 72.

51. belike] as it seems, probably. No one so fond of this word as Shakespeare; it occurs half-a-dozen times in this play. For the original form, "by like," see note at "safeguard,' below, II. ii. 18.

58. mourn in steel] Compare "why mourn we not in blood" (1 Henry VI. I. i. 17).

62. poltroon] lazy coward. Only here in Shakespeare. Capell inserts "and" (F 2) before "such."

North. Well hast thou spoken, cousin : be it so.
K. Hen. Ah, know you not the city favours them,

And they have troops of soldiers at their beck?
Exe. But when the duke is slain they'll quickly fly.
K. Hen. Far be the thought of this from Henry's heart,
To make a shambles of the parliament-house!
Cousin of Exeter, frowns, words and threats,
Shall be the war that Henry means to use.
Thou factious Duke of York, descend my throne,
And kneel for grace and mercy at my feet;

York.

I am thy sovereign.

I am thine.

Exe. For shame, come down: he made thee Duke of York.
York. It was my inheritance, as the earldom was.
Exe. Thy father was a traitor to the crown.

War. Exeter, thou art a traitor to the crown

In following this usurping Henry.

70

75

80

Clif. Whom should he follow but his natural king?

War. True, Clifford and that's Richard, Duke of York.

K. Hen. And shall I stand, and thou sit in my throne?
York. It must and shall be so: content thyself.
War. Be Duke of Lancaster: let him be king.

85

67-69. K. Hen. Ah, know you. • quickly fly] 62-64. King. O know you quicklie flie Q. 70-74. Far be · from Henry's heart. • frowns, words .. my thronej 65-69. Far be it from the thoughtes of Henries heart words, frowns, the warres... my throne Q.

the war.

75. And ... feet] omitted Q. 76. I am thine] 70, 71. I am thy soueraigne. York. Thou art deceiv'd: I am thine Q. 77, 78. For shame.. earldom was] 72, 73. For shame. 'Twas mine inheritance as the kingdome is Q. 7983. Thy father that's Richard, Duke of York] 74-78. Thy father that is Richard Duke of Yorke [F 1 reads that 's (omitting and)] Q. 84, 85. And. It must content thyself] 80, 81. And while thou sittest . . . Content thyselfe it must . so Q. 86-88. Be

and thou sit

68. at their beck] Again in Sonnet 58; Taming of Shrew, Ind. ii. 36; and Hamlet, III. i. 127.

69. Exeter] Folios give this speech erroneously to Westmoreland. Corrected by Theobald.

71. shambles] Again in Othello, IV. ii. 66. The number of butcher metaphors in these plays has been noted in Part II., at "slaughterhouse" (III. i. 212).

74. factious] rebellious. Often in these plays; see Part I. IV. i. 113, 190; and Part II. II. i. 39 (note).

74. descend] climb down, as of a hill, or a flight of steps; the throne includes the steps to the dais.

76. sovereign. I am thine] Theobald, followed by Malone and Steevens, inserted "Thou 'rt deceived," from Q.

78. It was my inheritance] If the reading of the Folio is to be altered to that of the Quarto, harmony would demand the whole ""Twas mine inheritance." The alteration of "kingdom" to "earldom" here "only exhibits the same meaning more obscurely" (Malone).

78. earldom] the earldom of March, by which, through his mother, he claimed the throne.

82. natural] rightful.