Or shall we beat the stones about thine ears?WARWICK.Alas,I am not coop'd here for defence!I will away towards Barnet presently And bid thee battle,Edward,if thou dar'st.KING EDWARD.Yes,Warwick,Edward dares and leads the way.Lords,to the field;Saint George and victory!Exeunt YORKISTS [March.WARWICK and his company follow]
SCENE II.A field of battle near Barnet
Alarum and excursions.Enter KING EDWARD,bringing forth WARWICK,wounded
KING EDWARD.So,lie thou there.Die thou,and die our fear;For Warwick was a bug that fear'd us all.Now,Montague,sit fast;I seek for thee,That Warwick's bones may keep thine company.Exit WARWICK.Ah,who is nigh?Come to me,friend or foe,And tell me who is victor,York or Warwick?Why ask I that?My mangled body shows,My blood,my want of strength,my sick heart shows,That I must yield my body to the earth And,by my fall,the conquest to my foe.Thus yields the cedar to the axe's edge,Whose arms gave shelter to the princely eagle,Under whose shade the ramping lion slept,Whose top-branch overpeer'd Jove's spreading tree And kept low shrubs from winter's pow'rful wind.These eyes,that now are dimm'd with death's black veil,Have been as piercing as the mid-day sun To search the secret treasons of the world;The wrinkles in my brows,now fill'd with blood,Were lik'ned oft to kingly sepulchres;For who liv'd King,but I could dig his grave?And who durst smile when Warwick bent his brow?Lo now my glory smear'd in dust and blood!My parks,my walks,my manors,that I had,Even now forsake me;and of all my lands Is nothing left me but my body's length.what is pomp,rule,reign,but earth and dust?And live we how we can,yet die we must.
Enter OXFORD and SOMERSET
SOMERSET.Ah,Warwick,Warwick!wert thou as we are,We might recover all our loss again.The Queen from France hath brought a puissant power;Even now we heard the news.Ah,couldst thou fly!WARWICK.Why then,I would not fly.Ah,Montague,If thou be there,sweet brother,take my hand,And with thy lips keep in my soul a while!Thou lov'st me not;for,brother,if thou didst,Thy tears would wash this cold congealed blood That glues my lips and will not let me speak.Come quickly,Montague,or I am dead.SOMERSET.Ah,Warwick!Montague hath breath'd his last;And to the latest gasp cried out for Warwick,And said 'Commend me to my valiant brother.'And more he would have said;and more he spoke,Which sounded like a clamour in a vault,That mought not be distinguish'd;but at last,I well might hear,delivered with a groan,'O farewell,Warwick!'WARWICK.Sweet rest his soul!Fly,lords,and save yourselves:For Warwick bids you all farewell,to meet in heaven.[Dies]OXFORD.Away,away,to meet the Queen's great power![Here they bear away his body]
SCENE III.Another part of the field
Flourish.Enter KING in triumph;with GLOUCESTER,CLARENCE,and the rest
KING EDWARD.Thus far our fortune keeps an upward course,And we are grac'd with wreaths of victory.But in the midst of this bright-shining day I spy a black,suspicious,threat'ning cloud That will encounter with our glorious sun Ere he attain his easeful western bed-I mean,my lords,those powers that the Queen Hath rais'd in Gallia have arriv'd our coast And,as we hear,march on to fight with us.CLARENCE.A little gale will soon disperse that cloud And blow it to the source from whence it came;Thy very beams will dry those vapours up,For every cloud engenders not a storm.GLOUCESTER.The Queen is valued thirty thousand strong,And Somerset,with Oxford,fled to her.If she have time to breathe,be well assur'd Her faction will be full as strong as ours.KING EDWARD.are advertis'd by our loving friends That they do hold their course toward Tewksbury;We,having now the best at Barnet field,Will thither straight,for willingness rids way;And as we march our strength will be augmented In every county as we go along.Strike up the drum;cry 'Courage!'and away.Exeunt