Mor. I am sorry I should force you to believe[3299]105
That which I would to God I had not seen;[3300]
But these mine eyes saw him in bloody state,
Rendering faint quittance, wearied and outbreathed,
To Harry Monmouth; whose swift wrath beat down[3301]
The never-daunted Percy to the earth,110
From whence with life he never more sprung up.
In few, his death, whose spirit lent a fire
Even to the dullest peasant in his camp,
Being bruited once, took fire and heat away
From the best-temper'd courage in his troops;115
For from his metal was his party steel'd;[3302]
Which once in him abated, all the rest[3303]
Turn'd on themselves, like dull and heavy lead:
And as the thing that's heavy in itself,
Upon enforcement flies with greatest speed,120
So did our men, heavy in Hotspur's loss,
Lend to this weight such lightness with their fear
That arrows fled not swifter toward their aim[3304]
Than did our soldiers, aiming at their safety,
Fly from the field. Then was that noble Worcester[3305]125
Too soon ta'en prisoner; and that furious Scot,[3306]
The bloody Douglas, whose well-labouring sword
Had three times slain the appearance of the king,
'Gan vail his stomach and did grace the shame
Of those that turn'd their backs, and in his flight,130
Stumbling in fear, was took. The sum of all
Is that the king hath won, and hath sent out
A speedy power to encounter you, my lord,
Under the conduct of young Lancaster
And Westmoreland. This is the news at full.135
North. For this I shall have time enough to mourn.
In poison there is physic; and these news,[3307]
Having been well, that would have made me sick,[3308]
Being sick, have in some measure made me well:[3309]
And as the wretch, whose fever-weaken'd joints,140
Like strengthless hinges, buckle under life,[3310]
Impatient of his fit, breaks like a fire
Out of his keeper's arms, even so my limbs,
Weaken'd with grief, being now enraged with grief,[3311]
Are thrice themselves. Hence, therefore, thou nice crutch![3312]145
A scaly gauntlet now with joints of steel
Must glove this hand: and hence, thou sickly quoif!
Thou art a guard too wanton for the head
Which princes, flesh'd with conquest, aim to hit.[3313]
Now bind my brows with iron; and approach150
The ragged'st hour that time and spite dare bring[3314]
To frown upon the enraged Northumberland!
Let heaven kiss earth! now let not Nature's hand
Keep the wild flood confined! let order die!
And let this world no longer be a stage[3315]155
To feed contention in a lingering act;
But let one spirit of the first-born Cain
Reign in all bosoms, that, each heart being set
On bloody courses, the rude scene may end,
And darkness be the burier of the dead!160
Tra. This strained passion doth you wrong, my lord.[3316]
L. Bard. Sweet earl, divorce not wisdom from your honour.
Mor. The lives of all your loving complices
Lean on your health; the which, if you give o'er[3317]
To stormy passion, must perforce decay.165
You cast the event of war, my noble lord,[3318]
And summ'd the account of chance, before you said[3318]
'Let us make head.' It was your presurmise,[3318]
That, in the dole of blows, your son might drop:[3318]
You knew he walk'd o'er perils, on an edge,[3318]170
More likely to fall in than to get o'er;[3318]
You were advised his flesh was capable[3318]
Of wounds and scars and that his forward spirit[3318]
Would lift him where most trade of danger ranged:[3318]
Yet did you say 'Go forth;' and none of this,[3318]175
Though strongly apprehended, could restrain[3318]
The stiff-borne action: what hath then befallen,[3318]
Or what hath this bold enterprise brought forth,[3318][3319]
More than that being which was like to be?[3318]
L. Bard. We all that are engaged to this loss180
Knew that we ventured on such dangerous seas
That if we wrought out life 'twas ten to one;[3320]
And yet we ventured, for the gain proposed[3321]
Choked the respect of likely peril fear'd;
And since we are o'erset, venture again.185
Come, we will all put forth, body and goods.[3322]
Mor. 'Tis more than time: and, my most noble lord,
I hear for certain, and do speak the truth,[3323]
The gentle Archbishop of York is up[3324]
With well-appointed powers: he is a man[3324]190
Who with a double surety binds his followers.[3324]
My lord your son had only but the corpse,[3324][3325]
But shadows and the shows of men, to fight;[3324]
For that same word, rebellion, did divide[3324]
The action of their bodies from their souls;[3324]195
And they did fight with queasiness, constrain'd,[3324]
As men drink potions, that their weapons only[3324]
Seem'd on our side; but, for their spirits and souls,[3324]
This word, rebellion, it had froze them up,[3324]
As fish are in a pond. But now the bishop[3324][3326]200
Turns insurrection to religion:[3324]
Supposed sincere and holy in his thoughts,[3324]
He's followed both with body and with mind;[3324]
And doth enlarge his rising with the blood[3324][3327]
Of fair King Richard, scraped from Pomfret stones;[3324]205
Derives from heaven his quarrel and his cause;[3324]
Tells them he doth bestride a bleeding land,[3324]
Gasping for life under great Bolingbroke;[3324]
And more and less do flock to follow him.[3324]
North. I knew of this before; but, to speak truth,210
This present grief had wiped it from my mind.
Go in with me; and counsel every man
The aptest way for safety and revenge:
Get posts and letters, and make friends with speed:
Never so few, and never yet more need.[3328] [Exeunt.215