A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 07
General
A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 07
English drama
HEN. Herald, fetch Lancaster and Leicester coronets,
Suffer no marquis, earl, nor countess enter,
Except their temples circled are in gold.
[_He delivers coronets to_ LEICESTER _and_ LANCASTER.
Shew them our viceroys: by our will controll'd,
As at a coronation, every peer
Appears in all his pomp; so at this feast,
Held for our birthright, let them be adorn'd,
Let Gloster be brought in, crowned like an earl. [_Exit_ HERALD.
This day we'll have no parley of his death,
But talk of jouissance and gleeful mirth.
Let Skink come in; give him a baron's seat.
High is his spirit, his deserts are great.
KING. You wrong the honour of nobility
To place a robber in a baron's stead.
QUEEN. It's well ye term him not a murderer.
KING. Had I misterm'd him?
QUEEN. Ay, that had you, Henry.
He did a piece of justice at my bidding.
KING. Who made you a justice?
HEN. I, that had the power.
KING. You had none then.
_Enter_ GLOSTER _and_ SKINK.
LEI. Yes, he was crown'd before.
HEN. Why does not Gloster wear a coronet?
GLO. Because his sovereign doth not wear a crown.
HEN. By heaven, put on thy coronet, or that heaven,
Which now with a clear [arch] lends us this light,
Shall not be curtain'd with the veil of night,
Ere on thy head I clap a burning crown
Of red-hot iron, that shall sear thy brains.
RICH. Good Gloster, crown thee with thy coronet.
LAN. Do, gentle earl.
SKINK. Swounds, do; would I had one. [_Aside_.
QUEEN. Do not, I prythee, keep thy proud heart still.
GLO. I'll wear it but to cross thy froward will.
HEN. Sit down, and take thy place.
GLO. It's the low earth;
To her I must, from her I had my birth.[540]
HEN. We are pleas'd thou shalt sit there.
Skink, take thy place among my nobles.
_Enter_ JOHN _and_ ISABEL, _with coronets_.
SKINK. Thanks to King Henry's grace.
JOHN. John, Earl of Morton and of Nottingham,
With Isabel his countess, bow themselves
Before their brother Henry's royal throne!
HEN. Ascend your seats; live in our daily love.
_Enter_ RICHARD _and_ ROBERT, _with coronets_.
RICH. Richard, the Prince of England, with his ward,
The noble Robert Hood, Earl Huntington,
Present their service to your majesty.
HEN. Y'are welcome, too, though little be your love. [_Aside_.]
_Enter_ FAUCONBRIDGE _with his_ LADY, _she a coronet_.
FAU. Old Richard Fauconbridge, Knight of the Cross,
Lord of the Cinque Ports, with his noble wife,
Dame Marian, Countess of West-Hereford,[541]
Offer their duties at this royal meeting.
HEN. Sit down, thou art a neuter, she a foe.
Thy love we doubt; her heart too well we know. [_Aside_.
What suitors are without? let them come in.
GLO. And have no justice, where contempt is king.
HEN. Madman, I give no ear to thy loose words.
JOHN. O sir, y'are welcome; you have your old seat.
GLO. Though thou sit higher, yet my heart's as great.
QUEEN. Great heart, we'll make you lesser by the head.
GLO. Ill comes not ever to the threatened[542].
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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