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  • William Shakespeare: Henry VI (Pt 2), Act II

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Act IIScene ISaint Alban’sEnter King Henry VI, Queen Margaret, Gloucester, Cardinal, and Suffolk, with Falconers halloingQueen MargaretBelieve me, lords, for flying at the brook, I saw not better sport these seven years’ day: Yet, by your leave, the wind was very high; And, ten to one, old Joan had not gone out.King Henry VIBut what a point, my lord, your falcon made, And what a pitch she flew above the rest! To see how God in all his creatures works! Yea, man and birds are fain of climbing high.SuffolkNo marvel, an it like your majesty, My lord protector’s hawks do tower so well; They know their master loves to be aloft, And bears his thoughts above his falcon’s pitch.GloucesterMy lord, ’tis but a base ignoble mind That mounts no higher than a bird can soar.CardinalI thought as much; he would be above the clouds.GloucesterAy, my lord cardinal? how think you by that? Were it not good your grace could fly to heaven?King Henry VIThe treasury of everlasting joy.CardinalThy heaven is on earth; thine eyes and thoughts Beat on a crown, the treasure of thy heart; Pernicious protector, dangerous peer, That smooth’st it so with king and commonweal!GloucesterWhat, cardinal, is your priesthood grown peremptory? Tantaene animis coelestibus irae? Churchmen so hot? good uncle, hide such malice; With such holiness can you do it?SuffolkNo malice, sir; no more than well becomes So good a quarrel and so bad a peer.GloucesterAs who, my lord?SuffolkWhy, as you, my lord, An’t like your lordly lord-protectorship.GloucesterWhy, Suffolk, England knows thine insolence.Queen MargaretAnd thy ambition, Gloucester.King Henry VII prithee, peace, good queen, And whet not on these furious peers; For blessed are the peacemakers on earth.CardinalLet me be blessed for the peace I make, Against this proud protector, with my sword!GloucesterAside to CardinalFaith, holy uncle, would ’twere come to that!CardinalAside to GloucesterMarry, when thou darest.GloucesterAside to CardinalMake up no factious numbers for the matter; In thine own person answer thy abuse.CardinalAside to GloucesterAy, where thou darest not peep: an if thou darest, This evening, on the east side of the grove.King Henry VIHow now, my lords!CardinalBelieve me, cousin Gloucester, Had not your man put up the fowl so suddenly, We had had more sport.Aside to GloucesterCome with thy two-hand sword.GloucesterTrue, uncle.CardinalAside to GloucesterAre ye advised? the east side of the grove?GloucesterAside to CardinalCardinal, I am with you.King Henry VIWhy, how now, uncle Gloucester!GloucesterTalking of hawking; nothing else, my lord.Aside to CardinalNow, by God’s mother, priest, I’ll shave your crown for this, Or all my fence shall fail.CardinalAside to GloucesterMedice, teipsum— Protector, see to’t well, protect yourself.King Henry VIThe winds grow high; so do your stomachs, lords. How irksome is this music to my heart! When such strings jar, what hope of harmony? I pray, my lords, let me compound this strife.Enter a Townsman of Saint Alban’s, crying ‘A miracle!‘GloucesterWhat means this noise? Fellow, what miracle dost thou proclaim?TownsmanA miracle! a miracle!SuffolkCome to the king and tell him what miracle.TownsmanForsooth, a blind man at Saint Alban’s shrine, Within this half-hour, hath received his sight; A man that ne’er saw in his life before.King Henry VINow, God be praised, that to believing souls Gives light in darkness, comfort in despair!Enter the Mayor of Saint Alban’s and his brethren, bearing Simpcox, between two in a chair, Simpcox’s Wife followingCardinalHere comes the townsmen on procession, To present your highness with the man.King Henry VIGreat is his comfort in this earthly vale, Although by his sight his sin be multiplied.GloucesterStand by, my masters: bring him near the king; His highness’ pleasure is to talk with him.King Henry VIGood fellow, tell us here the circumstance, That we for thee may glorify the Lord. What, hast thou been long blind and now restored?SimpcoxBorn blind, an’t please your grace.WifeAy, indeed, was he.SuffolkWhat woman is this?WifeHis wife, an’t like your worship.GloucesterHadst thou been his mother, thou couldst have better told.King Henry VIWhere wert thou born?SimpcoxAt Berwick in the north, an’t like your grace.King Henry VIPoor soul, God’s goodness hath been great to thee: Let never day nor night unhallow’d pass, But still remember what the Lord hath done.Queen MargaretTell me, good fellow, camest thou here by chance, Or of devotion, to this holy shrine?SimpcoxGod knows, of pure devotion; being call’d A hundred times and oftener, in my sleep, By good Saint Alban; who said, ‘Simpcox, come, Come, offer at my shrine, and I will help thee.‘WifeMost true, forsooth; and many time and oft Myself have heard a voice to call him so.CardinalWhat, art thou lame?SimpcoxAy, God Almighty help me!SuffolkHow camest thou so?SimpcoxA fall off of a tree.WifeA plum-tree, master.GloucesterHow long hast thou been blind?SimpcoxBorn so, master.GloucesterWhat, and wouldst climb a tree?SimpcoxBut that in all my life, when I was a youth.WifeToo true; and bought his climbing very dear.GloucesterMass, thou lovedst plums well, that wouldst venture so.SimpcoxAlas, good master, my wife desired some damsons, And made me climb, with danger of my life.GloucesterA subtle knave! but yet it shall not serve. Let me see thine eyes: wink now: now open them: In my opinion yet thou seest not well.SimpcoxYes, master, clear as day, I thank God and Saint Alban.GloucesterSay’st thou me so? What colour is this cloak of?SimpcoxRed, master; red as blood.GloucesterWhy, that’s well said. What colour is my gown of?SimpcoxBlack, forsooth: coal-black as jet.King Henry VIWhy, then, thou know’st what colour jet is of?SuffolkAnd yet, I think, jet did he never see.GloucesterBut cloaks and gowns, before this day, a many.WifeNever, before this day, in all his life.GloucesterTell me, sirrah, what’s my name?SimpcoxAlas, master, I know not.GloucesterWhat’s his name?SimpcoxI know not.GloucesterNor his?SimpcoxNo, indeed, master.GloucesterWhat’s thine own name?SimpcoxSaunder Simpcox, an if it please you, master.GloucesterThen, Saunder, sit there, the lyingest knave in Christendom. If thou hadst been born blind, thou mightest as well have known all our names as thus to name the several colours we do wear. Sight may distinguish of colours, but suddenly to nominate them all, it is impossible. My lords, Saint Alban here hath done a miracle; and would ye not think his cunning to be great, that could restore this cripple to his legs again?SimpcoxO master, that you could!GloucesterMy masters of Saint Alban’s, have you not beadles in your town, and things called whips?MayorYes, my lord, if it please your grace.GloucesterThen send for one presently.MayorSirrah, go fetch the beadle hither straight.Exit an AttendantGloucesterNow fetch me a stool hither by and by. Now, sirrah, if you mean to save yourself from whipping, leap me over this stool and run away.SimpcoxAlas, master, I am not able to stand alone: You go about to torture me in vain.Enter a Beadle with whipsGloucesterWell, sir, we must have you find your legs. Sirrah beadle, whip him till he leap over that same stool.BeadleI will, my lord. Come on, sirrah; off with your doublet quickly.SimpcoxAlas, master, what shall I do? I am not able to stand.After the Beadle hath hit him once, he leaps over the stool and runs away; and they follow and cry, ‘A miracle!‘King Henry VIO God, seest Thou this, and bearest so long?Queen MargaretIt made me laugh to see the villain run.GloucesterFollow the knave; and take this drab away.WifeAlas, sir, we did it for pure need.GloucesterLet them be whipped through every market-town, till they come to Berwick, from whence they came.Exeunt Wife, Beadle, Mayor, &cCardinalDuke Humphrey has done a miracle to-day.SuffolkTrue; made the lame to leap and fly away.GloucesterBut you have done more miracles than I; You made in a day, my lord, whole towns to fly.Enter BuckinghamKing Henry VIWhat tidings with our cousin Buckingham?BuckinghamSuch as my heart doth tremble to unfold. A sort of naughty persons, lewdly bent, Under the countenance and confederacy Of Lady Eleanor, the protector’s wife, The ringleader and head of all this rout, Have practised dangerously against your state, Dealing with witches and with conjurers: Whom we have apprehended in the fact; Raising up wicked spirits from under ground, Demanding of King Henry’s life and death, And other of your highness’ privy-council; As more at large your grace shall understand.CardinalAside to GloucesterAnd so, my lord protector, by this means Your lady is forthcoming yet at London. This news, I think, hath turn’d your weapon’s edge; ‘Tis like, my lord, you will not keep your hour.GloucesterAmbitious churchman, leave to afflict my heart: Sorrow and grief have vanquish’d all my powers; And, vanquish’d as I am, I yield to thee, Or to the meanest groom.King Henry VIO God, what mischiefs work the wicked ones, Heaping confusion on their own heads thereby!Queen MargaretGloucester, see here the tainture of thy nest. And look thyself be faultless, thou wert best.GloucesterMadam, for myself, to heaven I do appeal, How I have loved my king and commonweal: And, for my wife, I know not how it stands; Sorry I am to hear what I have heard: Noble she is, but if she have forgot Honour and virtue and conversed with such As, like to pitch, defile nobility, I banish her my bed and company And give her as a prey to law and shame, That hath dishonour’d Gloucester’s honest name.King Henry VIWell, for this night we will repose us here: To-morrow toward London back again, To look into this business thoroughly And call these foul offenders to their answers And poise the cause in justice’ equal scales, Whose beam stands sure, whose rightful cause prevails.Flourish. Exeunt

The Second Part of Henry the Sixth

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William Shakespeare: Henry VI (Pt 2), Act I, Scene III

  • William Shakespeare: Henry VI (Pt 2), Act I, Scene III

TrendingHere are the facts and trivia that people are buzzing about.

Did Birds Evolve from Dinosaurs?

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Current Events This Week: January 2023

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Andersen’s Fairy Tales: Contents

The Celtic Twilight: A Teller of Tales

TrendingHere are the facts and trivia that people are buzzing about.

Did Birds Evolve from Dinosaurs?

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

Current Events This Week: January 2023

African Americans by the Numbers

Andersen’s Fairy Tales: Contents

The Celtic Twilight: A Teller of Tales

  • Did Birds Evolve from Dinosaurs?
  • The Twelve Dancing Princesses
  • Current Events This Week: January 2023
  • African Americans by the Numbers
  • Andersen’s Fairy Tales: Contents
  • The Celtic Twilight: A Teller of Tales