Page:Henry VI Part 3 (1923) Yale.djvu/41

King Henry the Sixth, II. i

Attend me, lords. The proud insulting queen,

With Clifford and the haught Northumberland,

And of their feather many moe proud birds,

Have wrought the easy-melting king like wax.

He swore consent to your succession,

His oath enrolled in the parliament;

And now to London all the crew are gone,

To frustrate both his oath and what beside

May make against the house of Lancaster.

Their power, I think, is thirty thousand strong:

Now, if the help of Norfolk and myself,

With all the friends that thou, brave Earl of March,

Amongst the loving Welshmen canst procure,

Will but amount to five and twenty thousand,

Why, Via! to London will we march,

And once again bestride our foaming steeds,

And once again cry, 'Charge upon our foes!'

But never once again turn back and fly.

Rich. Ay, now methinks I hear great Warwick speak:

Ne'er may he live to see a sunshine day,

That cries 'Retire,' if Warwick bid him stay.

Edw. Lord Warwick, on thy shoulder will I lean;

And when thou fail'st—as God forbid the hour!—

Must Edward fall, which peril heaven forfend!

War. No longer Earl of March, but Duke of York:

The next degree is England's royal throne;

For King of England shalt thou be proclaim'd

In every borough as we pass along;

And he that throws not up his cap for joy

Shall for the fault make forfeit of his head.

 169 haught: proud

170 moe: more

171 wrought: worked, moulded

173 enrolled: formally written in a parchment roll

182 Via: forward

187 sunshine: bright

193 degree: step 