And go I must.-Life, farewell, with my friends!

[Exeunt KING EDWARD and LEICESTER. Y. SPEN. Oh, is he gone? is noble Edward gone? Parted from hence, never to see us more? Rent, sphere of heaven! and, fire, forsake thy orb! Earth, melt to air! gone is my sovereign,

Gone, gone, alas, never to make return!

BALD. Spenser, I see our souls are fleeting hence;
We are depriv'd the sunshine of our life.
Make for a new life, man; throw up thy eyes
And heart and hand to heaven's immortal throne;
Pay nature's debt with cheerful countenance:
Reduce we all our lessons unto this,-

To die, sweet Spenser, therefore live we all;
Spenser, all live to die, and rise to fall.

RICE. Come, come, keep these preachments till you come to the place appointed. You, and such as you are, have made wise work in England. Will your lordships away?

Mow. Your lordship I trust will remember me? RICE. Remember thee, fellow! what else? Follow me to the town. [Exeunt.

Enter KING EDWARD†, LEICESTER, the BISHOP OF WINCHESTER, and TRUSSEL.

LEICES. Be patient, good my lord, cease to lament; Imagine Killingworth-Castle were your court, And that you lay for pleasure here a space,

Enter King Edward, &c.] Scene, an apartment in Killingworth [Kenilworth] Castle.

Not of compulsion or necessity.

EDW. Leicester, if gentle words might comfort me, Thy speeches long ago had eas'd my sorrows, For kind and loving hast thou always been. The griefs of private men are soon allay'd; But not of kings. The forest deer, being struck †, Runs to an herb that closeth up the wounds: But when the imperial lion's flesh is gor'd, He rends and tears it with his wrathful paw, [And], highly scorning that the lowly earth. Should drink his blood, mounts up to the air: And so it fares with me, whose dauntless mind Th' ambitious Mortimer would seek to curb, And that unnatural queen, false Isabel, That thus hath pent and mew'd me in a prison; For such outrageous passions cloy my soul, As with the wings of rancour and disdain Full oft am I soaring § up to heaven, To plain me to the gods against them both.

The forest deer, being struck, &c.]—

"But I suppose not that the earth doth yeeld In Hill or Dale, in Forrest or in Field, A rarer Plant then Candian Dittanie; Which wounded Dear eating, immediately Not onely cures their wounds exceeding well, But 'gainst the Shooter doth the shaft repell." Sylvester's Du Bartas,—The Third Day of the First Week, p. 27, ed. 1641.

§ soaring] Used here perhaps as a trisyllable.-The modern editors choose to print, "Full often am I soaring up to high heaven."

But when I call to mind I am a king,
Methinks I should revenge me of my wrongs,
That Mortimer and Isabel have done.

But what are kings, when regiment T is gone,
But perfect shadows in a sunshine day?
My nobles rule; I bear the name of king;
I wear the crown; but am controll'd by them,
By Mortimer, and my unconstant queen,
Who spots my nuptial bed with infamy;
Whilst I am lodg'd within this cave of care,
Where sorrow at my elbow still attends,
To company my heart with sad laments,
That bleeds within me for this strange exchange.
But tell me, must I now resign my crown,

To make usurping Mortimer a king?

BISH. OF WIN. Your grace mistakes; it is for Eng land's good,

And princely Edward's right, we crave the crown.
EDW. No, 'tis for Mortimer, not Edward's head;
For he's a lamb, encompassèd by wolves,
Which in a moment will abridge his life.

But, if proud Mortimer do wear this crown,
Heavens turn it to a blaze of quenchless fire!
Or, like the snaky wreath of Tisiphon,
Engirt the temples of his hateful head!

So shall not England's vine+ be perished,

But Edward's name survive ‡, though Edward dies.

¶regiment] i. e. rule, government.

+ vine] Old eds. "vines."

survive] So 4to 1622.-2tos 1598, 1612, "suruiues" and "suruies."

LEICES. My lord, why waste you thus the time away? They stay your answer: will you yield your crown?

Enw. Ah, Leicester, weigh how hardly I can brook
To lose my crown and kingdom without cause;
To give ambitious Mortimer my right,

That, like a mountain, overwhelms my bliss;
In which extreme† my mind here murder'd is!
But that the heavens appoint I must obey.-
Here, take my crown; the life of Edward too:
[Taking off the crown.
Two kings in England cannot reign at once.
But stay a while: let me bet king till night,
That I may gaze upon this glittering crown;
So shall my eyes receive their last content,
My head, the latest honour due to it,

And jointly both yield up their wished right.
Continue ever, thou celestial sun;
Let never silent night possess this clime;
Stand still, you watches of the element;
All times and seasons, rest you at a stay,
That Edward may be still fair England's king!
But day's bright beam doth vanish fast away,
And needs I must resign my wished crown.
Inhuman creatures, nurs'd with tiger's milk,
Why gape you for your sovereign's overthrow?
My diadem, I mean, and guiltless life.
See, monsters, see! I'll wear my crown again.
[Putting on the crown.

+ extreme] So 4to 1598.-2tos 1612, 1622, "extreams" and "extreames."

be] So 4tos 1612, 1622.-Not in 4to 1598.

What, fear you not the fury of your king?—
But, hapless Edward, thou art fondly§ led;
They pass || not for thy frowns as late they did,
But seek ¶ to make a new-elected king;

Which fills my mind with strange desparing thoughts,
Which thoughts are martyrèd with endless torments;
And in this torment comfort find I none,
But that I feel the crown upon my head;

And therefore let me wear it yet a while.

TRUS. My lord, the parliament must have pre

sent news;

And therefore say, will you resign or no?

[The king rageth. EDW. I'll not resign, but, whilst I livet, [be king]. Traitors, begone, and join you* with Mortimer; Elect, conspire, install, do what you will: Their blood and yours shall seal these treacheries. BISH. OF WIN. This answer we'll return; and so, farewell. [Going with Trussel.

LEICES. Call them again, my lord, and speak them

fair;

For, if they go, the prince shall lose his right.

$ fondly] i. e. foolishly, vainly.

pass] i. e. care.

¶ seek] So 4to 1622.-2tos 1598, 1612, "seekes."

+ Trus.] The old eds. mark the presence of Trussel only by prefixing to his speeches "Tru.",-which one modern editor extended into "Trusty," and another altered to "Bishop "!!

‡ but, whilst I live] So 4to 1598.-2tos 1612, 1622, "not whilst I live."

you] Thrown out by the modern editors,-rightly perhaps.