The Same. | |
| |
Alarums; excursions; retreat. Enter KING JOHN, ELINOR, ARTHUR, the BASTARD, HUBERT, and and Lords. | |
| K. John. [To ELINOR.] So shall it be; your grace shall stay behind | |
| So strongly guarded. [To ARTHUR.] Cousin, look not sad: | 4 |
| Thy grandman loves thee; and thy uncle will | |
| As dear be to thee as thy father was. | |
| Arth. O! this will make my mother die with grief. | |
| K. John. [To the BASTARD.] Cousin, away for England! haste before; | 8 |
| And, ere our coming, see thou shake the bags | |
| Of hoarding abbots; set at liberty | |
| Imprison’d angels: the fat ribs of peace | |
| Must by the hungry now be fed upon: | 12 |
| Use our commission in his utmost force. | |
| Bast. Bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back | |
| When gold and silver becks me to come on. | |
| I leave your highness. Grandam, I will pray,— | 16 |
| If ever I remember to be holy,— | |
| For your fair safety; so I kiss your hand. | |
| Eli. Farewell, gentle cousin. | |
| K. John. Coz, farewell. [Exit BASTARD. | 20 |
| Eli. Come hither, little kinsman; hark, a word. [She takes ARTHUR aside. | |
| K. John. Come hither, Hubert. O my gentle Hubert, | |
| We owe thee much: within this wall of flesh | |
| There is a soul counts thee her creditor, | 24 |
| And with advantage means to pay thy love: | |
| And, my good friend, thy voluntary oath | |
| Lives in this bosom, dearly cherished. | |
| Give me thy hand. I had a thing to say, | 28 |
| But I will fit it with some better time. | |
| By heaven, Hubert, I am almost asham’d | |
| To say what good respect I have of thee. | |
| Hub. I am much bounden to your majesty. | 32 |
| K. John. Good friend, thou hast no cause to say so yet; | |
| But thou shalt have; and creep time ne’er so slow, | |
| Yet it shall come for me to do thee good. | |
| I had a thing to say, but let it go: | 36 |
| The sun is in the heaven, and the proud day, | |
| Attended with the pleasures of the world, | |
| Is all too wanton and too full of gawds | |
| To give me audience: if the midnight bell | 40 |
| Did, with his iron tongue and brazen mouth, | |
| Sound one into the drowsy race of night; | |
| If this same were a churchyard where we stand, | |
| And thou possessed with a thousand wrongs; | 44 |
| Or if that surly spirit, melancholy, | |
| Had bak’d thy blood and made it heavy-thick, | |
| Which else runs tickling up and down the veins, | |
| Making that idiot, laughter, keep men’s eyes | 48 |
| And strain their cheeks to idle merriment, | |
| A passion hateful to my purposes; | |
| Or if that thou couldst see me without eyes, | |
| Hear me without thine ears, and make reply | 52 |
| Without a tongue, using conceit alone, | |
| Without eyes, ears, and harmful sound of words; | |
| Then, in despite of brooded watchful day, | |
| I would into thy bosom pour my thoughts: | 56 |
| But ah! I will not: yet I love thee well; | |
| And, by my troth, I think thou lov’st me well. | |
| Hub. So well, that what you bid me undertake, | |
| Though that my death were adjunct to my act, | 60 |
| By heaven, I would do it. | |
| K. John. Do not I know thou wouldst? | |
| Good Hubert! Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye | |
| On yon young boy: I’ll tell thee what, my friend, | 64 |
| He is a very serpent in my way; | |
| And wheresoe’er this foot of mine doth tread | |
| He lies before me: dost thou understand me? | |
| Thou art his keeper. | 68 |
| Hub. And I’ll keep him so | |
| That he shall not offend your majesty. | |
| K. John. Death. | |
| Hub. My lord? | 72 |
| K. John. A grave. | |
| Hub. He shall not live. | |
| K. John. Enough. | |
| I could be merry now. Hubert, I love thee; | 76 |
| Well, I’ll not say what I intend for thee: | |
| Remember. Madam, fare you well: | |
| I’ll send those powers o’er to your majesty. | |
| Eli. My blessing go with thee! | 80 |
| K. John. For England, cousin; go: | |
| Hubert shall be your man, attend on you | |
| With all true duty. On toward Calais, ho! [Exeunt. | |
