Scene + 

IV + 

The New Temple. + 

Enter Lancaster, Warwick, Pembroke, the Elder Mortimer, the Younger Mortimer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Attendants. + 

Lancaster + 

Here is the form of Gaveston’s exile; + 

May it please your lordship to subscribe your name. + 

Archbishop of Canterbury + 

Give me the paper. He subscribes, as the others do after him. + 

Lancaster + 

Quick, quick, my lord; I long to write my name. + 

Warwick + 

But I long more to see him banished hence. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

The name of Mortimer shall fright the king, + 

Unless he be declined from that base peasant. + 

Enter King Edward, Gaveston, and Kent. + 

King Edward + 

What, are you moved that Gaveston sits here? + 

It is our pleasure; we will have it so. + 

Lancaster + 

Your grace doth well to place him by your side, + 

For nowhere else the new earl is so safe. + 

Elder Mortimer + 

What man of noble birth can brook this sight? + 

Quam male conveniunt!⁠— + 

See, what a scornful look the peasant casts! + 

Pembroke + 

Can kingly lions fawn on creeping ants? + 

Warwick + 

Ignoble vassal, that, like Phaeton, + 

Aspir’st unto the guidance of the sun! + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Their downfall is at hand, their forces down: + 

We will not thus be faced and over-peered. + 

King Edward + 

Lay hands on that traitor Mortimer! + 

Elder Mortimer + 

Lay hands on that traitor Gaveston! + 

Kent + 

Is this the duty that you owe your king? + 

Warwick + 

We know our duties; let him know his peers. + 

King Edward + 

Whither will you bear him? stay, or ye shall die. + 

Elder Mortimer + 

We are no traitors; therefore threaten not. + 

Gaveston + 

No, threaten not, my lord, but pay them home. + 

Were I a king⁠— + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Thou, villain! wherefore talk’st thou of a king, + 

That hardly art a gentleman by birth? + 

King Edward + 

Were he a peasant, being my minion, + 

I’ll make the proudest of you stoop to him. + 

Lancaster + 

My lord⁠—you may not thus disparage us.⁠— + 

Away, I say, with hateful Gaveston! + 

Elder Mortimer + 

And with the Earl of Kent that favours him. + 

Attendants remove Gaveston and Kent. + 

King Edward + 

Nay, then, lay violent hands upon your king: + 

Here, Mortimer, sit thou in Edward’s throne; + 

Warwick and Lancaster, wear you my crown. + 

Was ever king thus overruled as I? + 

Lancaster + 

Learn, then, to rule us better, and the realm. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

What we have done, our heart-blood shall maintain. + 

Warwick + 

Think you that we can brook this upstart’s pride? + 

King Edward + 

Anger and wrathful fury stops my speech. + 

Archbishop of Canterbury + 

Why are you not moved? be patient, my lord, + 

And see what we your counsellors have done. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

My lords, now let us all be resolute, + 

And either have our wills, or lose our lives. + 

King Edward + 

Meet you for this, proud over-daring peers! + 

Ere my sweet Gaveston shall part from me, + 

This isle shall fleet upon the ocean, + 

And wander to the unfrequented Inde. + 

Archbishop of Canterbury + 

You know that I am legate to the Pope: + 

On your allegiance to the see of Rome, + 

Subscribe, as we have done, to his exile. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Curse him, if he refuse; and then may we + 

Depose him, and elect another king. + 

King Edward + 

Ay, there it goes! but yet I will not yield: + 

Curse me, depose me, do the worst you can. + 

Lancaster + 

Then linger not, my lord, but do it straight. + 

Archbishop of Canterbury + 

Remember how the bishop was abused: + 

Either banish him that was the cause thereof, + 

Or I will presently discharge these lords + 

Of duty and allegiance due to thee. + 

King Edward + 

Aside. It boots me not to threat; I must speak fair: + 

The legate of the Pope will be obeyed.⁠— + 

My lord, you shall be Chancellor of the realm; + 

Thou, Lancaster, High-Admiral of our fleet; + 

Young Mortimer and his uncle shall be earls; + 

And you, Lord Warwick, President of the North; + 

And thou of Wales. If this content you not, + 

Make several kingdoms of this monarchy, + 

And share it equally amongst you all, + 

So I may have some nook or corner left, + 

To frolic with my dearest Gaveston. + 

Archbishop of Canterbury + 

Nothing shall alter us; we are resolved. + 

Lancaster + 

Come, come, subscribe. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Why should you love him whom the world hates so? + 

King Edward + 

Because he loves me more than all the world. + 

Ah, none but rude and savage-minded men + 

Would seek the ruin of my Gaveston! + 

You that be noble-born should pity him. + 

Warwick + 

You that are princely-born should shake him off: + 

For shame, subscribe, and let the clown depart. + 

Elder Mortimer + 

Urge him, my lord. + 

Archbishop of Canterbury + 

Are you content to banish him the realm? + 

King Edward + 

I see I must, and therefore am content: + 

Instead of ink, I’ll write it with my tears. Subscribes. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

The king is lovesick for his minion. + 

King Edward + 

’Tis done: and now, accursed hand, fall off! + 

Lancaster + 

Give it me: I’ll have it published in the streets. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

I’ll see him presently despatched away. + 

Archbishop of Canterbury + 

Now is my heart at ease. + 

Warwick + 

And so is mine. + 

Pembroke + 

This will be good news to the common sort. + 

Elder Mortimer + 

Be it or no, he shall not linger here. + 

Exeunt all except King Edward. + 

King Edward + 

How fast they run to banish him I love! + 

They would not stir, were it to do me good. + 

Why should a king be subject to a priest? + 

Proud Rome, that hatchest such imperial grooms, + 

With these thy superstitious taper-lights, + 

Wherewith thy antichristian churches blaze, + 

I’ll fire thy crazed buildings, and enforce + 

The papal towers to kiss the lowly ground! + 

With slaughtered priests make Tiber’s channel swell, + 

And banks raised higher with their sepulchres! + 

As for the peers, that back the clergy thus, + 

If I be king, not one of them shall live. + 

Reenter Gaveston. + 

Gaveston + 

My lord, I hear it whispered everywhere, + 

That I am banished and must fly the land. + 

King Edward + 

’Tis true, sweet Gaveston: O were it false! + 

The legate of the Pope will have it so, + 

And thou must hence, or I shall be deposed. + 

But I will reign to be revenged of them; + 

And therefore, sweet friend, take it patiently. + 

Live where thou wilt, I’ll send thee gold enough; + 

And long thou shalt not stay; or, if thou dost, + 

I’ll come to thee; my love shall ne’er decline. + 

Gaveston + 

Is all my hope turned to this hell of grief? + 

King Edward + 

Rend not my heart with thy too-piercing words: + 

Thou from this land, I from myself am banished. + 

Gaveston + 

To go from hence grieves not poor Gaveston; + 

But to forsake you, in whose gracious looks + 

The blessedness of Gaveston remains; + 

For nowhere else seeks he felicity. + 

King Edward + 

And only this torments my wretched soul, + 

That, whether I will or no, thou must depart. + 

Be governor of Ireland in my stead, + 

And there abide till fortune call thee home. + 

Here, take my picture, and let me wear thine: + 

They exchange pictures. + 

O, might I keep thee here, as I do this, + 

Happy were I! but now most miserable. + 

Gaveston + 

’Tis something to be pitied of a king. + 

King Edward + 

Thou shalt not hence; I’ll hide thee, Gaveston. + 

Gaveston + 

I shall be found, and then ’twill grieve me more. + 

King Edward + 

Kind words and mutual talk makes our grief greater: + 

Therefore, with dumb embracement, let us part⁠— + 

Stay, Gaveston; I cannot leave thee thus. + 

Gaveston + 

For every look, my love drops down a tear: + 

Seeing I must go, do not renew my sorrow. + 

King Edward + 

The time is little that thou hast to stay, + 

And, therefore, give me leave to look my fill. + 

But, come, sweet friend; I’ll bear thee on thy way. + 

Gaveston + 

The peers will frown. + 

King Edward + 

I pass not for their anger. Come, let’s go: + 

O, that we might as well return as go! + 

Enter Queen Isabella. + 

Queen Isabella + 

Whither goes my lord? + 

King Edward + 

Fawn not on me, French strumpet; get thee gone! + 

Queen Isabella + 

On whom but on my husband should I fawn? + 

Gaveston + 

On Mortimer; with whom, ungentle queen⁠— + 

I judge no more⁠—judge you the rest, my lord. + 

Queen Isabella + 

In saying this, thou wrong’st me, Gaveston: + 

Is’t not enough that thou corrupt’st my lord, + 

And art a bawd to his affections, + 

But thou must call mine honour thus in question? + 

Gaveston + 

I mean not so; your grace must pardon me. + 

King Edward + 

Thou art too familiar with that Mortimer, + 

And by thy means is Gaveston exiled: + 

But I would wish thee reconcile the lords, + 

Or thou shalt ne’er be reconciled to me. + 

Queen Isabella + 

Your highness knows, it lies not in my power. + 

King Edward + 

Away, then! touch me not.⁠—Come, Gaveston. + 

Queen Isabella + 

Villain, ’tis thou that robb’st me of my lord. + 

Gaveston + 

Madam, ’tis you that rob me of my lord. + 

King Edward + 

Speak not unto her: let her droop and pine. + 

Queen Isabella + 

Wherein, my lord, have I deserved these words? + 

Witness the tears that Isabella sheds, + 

Witness this heart, that, sighing for thee, breaks, + 

How dear my lord is to poor Isabel! + 

King Edward + 

And witness heaven how dear thou art to me: + 

There weep; for, till my Gaveston be repealed, + 

Assure thyself thou com’st not in my sight. + 

Exeunt King Edward and Gaveston. + 

Queen Isabella + 

O miserable and distressed queen! + 

Would, when I left sweet France, and was embarked, + 

That charming Circe, walking on the waves, + 

Had changed my shape! or at the marriage-day + 

The cup of Hymen had been full of poison! + 

Or with those arms, that twined about my neck, + 

I had been stifled, and not lived to see + 

The king my lord thus to abandon me! + 

Like frantic Juno, will I fill the earth + 

With ghastly murmur of my sighs and cries; + 

For never doted Jove on Ganymede + 

So much as he on cursed Gaveston: + 

But that will more exasperate his wrath; + 

I must entreat him, I must speak him fair, + 

And be a means to call home Gaveston: + 

And yet he’ll ever dote on Gaveston; + 

And so am I forever miserable. + 

Reenter Lancaster, Warwick, Pembroke, the Elder Mortimer, and the Younger Mortimer. + 

Lancaster + 

Look, where the sister of the king of France + 

Sits wringing of her hands and beats her breast! + 

Warwick + 

The king, I fear, hath ill-treated her. + 

Pembroke + 

Hard is the heart that injures such a saint. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

I know ’tis ’long of Gaveston she weeps. + 

Elder Mortimer + 

Why, he is gone. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Madam, how fares your grace? + 

Queen Isabella + 

Ah, Mortimer, now breaks the king’s hate forth, + 

And he confesseth that he loves me not! + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Cry quittance, madam, then, and love not him. + 

Queen Isabella + 

No, rather will I die a thousand deaths: + 

And yet I love in vain; he’ll ne’er love me. + 

Lancaster + 

Fear ye not, madam; now his minion’s gone, + 

His wanton humour will be quickly left. + 

Queen Isabella + 

O, never, Lancaster! I am enjoined, + 

To sue unto you all for his repeal: + 

This wills my lord, and this must I perform, + 

Or else be banished from his highness’ presence. + 

Lancaster + 

For his repeal, madam! he comes not back, + 

Unless the sea cast up his shipwrecked body. + 

Warwick + 

And to behold so sweet a sight as that, + 

There’s none here but would run his horse to death. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

But, madam, would you have us call him home? + 

Queen Isabella + 

Ay, Mortimer, for, till he be restored, + 

The angry king hath banished me the court; + 

And, therefore, as thou lov’st and tender’st me, + 

Be thou my advocate unto these peers. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

What, would you have me plead for Gaveston? + 

Elder Mortimer + 

Plead for him that will, I am resolved. + 

Lancaster + 

And so am I, my lord: dissuade the queen. + 

Queen Isabella + 

O, Lancaster, let him dissuade the king! + 

For ’tis against my will he should return. + 

Warwick + 

Then speak not for him; let the peasant go. + 

Queen Isabella + 

’Tis for myself I speak, and not for him. + 

Pembroke + 

No speaking will prevail; and therefore cease. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Fair queen, forbear to angle for the fish + 

Which, being caught, strikes him that takes it dead; + 

I mean that vile torpedo, Gaveston, + 

That now, I hope, floats on the Irish seas. + 

Queen Isabella + 

Sweet Mortimer, sit down by me a while, + 

And I will tell thee reasons of such weight + 

As thou wilt soon subscribe to his repeal. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

It is impossible: but speak your mind. + 

Queen Isabella + 

Then, thus;⁠—but none shall hear it but ourselves. Talks to the Younger Mortimer, apart. + 

Lancaster + 

My lords, albeit the queen win Mortimer, + 

Will you be resolute and hold with me? + 

Elder Mortimer + 

Not I, against my nephew. + 

Pembroke + 

Fear not; the queen’s words cannot alter him. + 

Warwick + 

No? do but mark how earnestly she pleads! + 

Lancaster + 

And see how coldly his looks make denial! + 

Warwick + 

She smiles: now, for my life, his mind is changed! + 

Lancaster + 

I’ll rather lose his friendship, I, than grant. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Well, of necessity it must be so.⁠— + 

My lords, that I abhor base Gaveston + 

I hope your honours make no question. + 

And therefore, though I plead for his repeal, + 

’Tis not for his sake, but to our avail; + 

Nay, for the realm’s behoof, and for the king’s. + 

Lancaster + 

Fie, Mortimer, dishonour not thyself! + 

Can this be true, ’twas good to banish him? + 

And is this true, to call him home again? + 

Such reasons make white black, and dark night day. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

My Lord of Lancaster, mark the respect. + 

Lancaster + 

In no respect can contraries be true. + 

Queen Isabella + 

Yet, good my lord, hear what he can allege. + 

Warwick + 

All that he speaks is nothing; we are resolved. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Do you not wish that Gaveston were dead? + 

Pembroke + 

I would he were! + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Why, then, my lord, give me but leave to speak. + 

Elder Mortimer + 

But, nephew, do not play the sophister. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

This which I urge is of a burning zeal + 

To mend the king and do our country good. + 

Know you not Gaveston hath store of gold, + 

Which may in Ireland purchase him such friends + 

As he will front the mightiest of us all? + 

And whereas he shall live and be beloved, + 

’Tis hard for us to work his overthrow. + 

Warwick + 

Mark you but that, my lord of Lancaster. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

But, were he here, detested as he is, + 

How easily might some base slave be suborned + 

To greet his lordship with a poniard, + 

And none so much as blame the murderer, + 

But rather praise him for that brave attempt, + 

And in the chronicle enrol his name + 

For purging of the realm of such a plague! + 

Pembroke + 

He saith true. + 

Lancaster + 

Ay, but how chance this was not done before? + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Because, my lords, it was not thought upon. + 

Nay, more, when he shall know it lies in us + 

To banish him, and then to call him home, + 

’Twill make him vail the top flag of his pride, + 

And fear to offend the meanest nobleman. + 

Elder Mortimer + 

But how if he do not, nephew? + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Then may we with some colour rise in arms; + 

For, howsoever we have borne it out, + 

’Tis treason to be up against the king; + 

So shall we have the people of our side, + 

Which, for his father’s sake, lean to the king, + 

But cannot brook a night-grown mushroom, + 

Such a one as my Lord of Cornwall is, + 

Should bear us down of the nobility: + 

And, when the commons and the nobles join, + 

’Tis not the king can buckler Gaveston; + 

We’ll pull him from the strongest hold he hath. + 

My lords, if to perform this I be slack, + 

Think me as base a groom as Gaveston. + 

Lancaster + 

On that condition Lancaster will grant. + 

Warwick + 

And so will Pembroke and I. + 

Elder Mortimer + 

And I. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

In this I count me highly gratified, + 

And Mortimer will rest at your command. + 

Queen Isabella + 

And when this favour Isabel forgets, + 

Then let her live abandoned and forlorn.⁠— + 

But see, in happy time, my lord the king, + 

Having brought the Earl of Cornwall on his way, + 

Is new returned. This news will glad him much: + 

Yet not so much as me; I love him more + 

Than he can Gaveston: would he loved me + 

But half so much! then were I treble-blest. + 

Reenter King Edward, mourning. + 

King Edward + 

He’s gone, and for his absence thus I mourn: + 

Did never sorrow go so near my heart + 

As doth the want of my sweet Gaveston; + 

And, could my crown’s revenue bring him back, + 

I would freely give it to his enemies, + 

And think I gained, having bought so dear a friend. + 

Queen Isabella + 

Hark, how he harps upon his minion! + 

King Edward + 

My heart is as an anvil unto sorrow, + 

Which beats upon it like the Cyclops’ hammers, + 

And with the noise turns up my giddy brain, + 

And makes me frantic for my Gaveston. + 

Ah, had some bloodless Fury rose from hell, + 

And with my kingly sceptre struck me dead, + 

When I was forced to leave my Gaveston! + 

Lancaster + 

Diablo, what passions call you these? + 

Queen Isabella + 

My gracious lord, I come to bring you news. + 

King Edward + 

That you have parled with your Mortimer? + 

Queen Isabella + 

That Gaveston, my lord, shall be repealed. + 

King Edward + 

Repealed! the news is too sweet to be true. + 

Queen Isabella + 

But will you love me, if you find it so? + 

King Edward + 

If it be so, what will not Edward do? + 

Queen Isabella + 

For Gaveston, but not for Isabel. + 

King Edward + 

For thee, fair queen, if thou lov’st Gaveston; + 

I’ll hang a golden tongue about thy neck, + 

Seeing thou hast pleaded with so good success. + 

Queen Isabella + 

No other jewels hang about my neck + 

Than these, my lord; nor let me have more wealth + 

Than I may fetch from this rich treasury. + 

O, how a kiss revives poor Isabel! + 

King Edward + 

Once more receive my hand; and let this be + 

A second marriage ’twixt thyself and me. + 

Queen Isabella + 

And may it prove more happy than the first! + 

My gentle lord, bespeak these nobles fair, + 

That wait attendance for a gracious look, + 

And on their knees salute your majesty. + 

King Edward + 

Courageous Lancaster, embrace thy king; + 

And, as gross vapours perish by the sun, + 

Even so let hatred with thy sovereign’s smile: + 

Live thou with me as my companion. + 

Lancaster + 

This salutation overjoys my heart. + 

King Edward + 

Warwick shall be my chiefest counsellor: + 

These silver hairs will more adorn my court + 

Than gaudy silks or rich embroidery. + 

Chide me, sweet Warwick, if I go astray. + 

Warwick + 

Slay me, my lord, when I offend your grace. + 

King Edward + 

In solemn triumphs and in public shows + 

Pembroke shall bear the sword before the king. + 

Pembroke + 

And with this sword Pembroke will fight for you. + 

King Edward + 

But wherefore walks young Mortimer aside? + 

Be thou commander of our royal fleet; + 

Or, if that lofty office like thee not, + 

I make thee here Lord Marshal of the realm. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

My lord, I’ll marshal so your enemies, + 

As England shall be quiet, and you safe. + 

King Edward + 

And as for you, Lord Mortimer of Chirke, + 

Whose great achievements in our foreign war + 

Deserve no common place nor mean reward, + 

Be you the general of the levied troops + 

That now are ready to assail the Scots. + 

Elder Mortimer + 

In this your grace hath highly honoured me, + 

For with my nature war doth best agree. + 

Queen Isabella + 

Now is the king of England rich and strong, + 

Having the love of his renowned peers. + 

King Edward + 

Ay, Isabel, ne’er was my heart so light.⁠— + 

Clerk of the crown, direct our warrant forth, + 

For Gaveston, to Ireland! + 

Enter Beaumont with warrant. + 

Beaumont, fly + 

As fast as Iris or Jove’s Mercury. + 

Beaumont + 

It shall be done, my gracious lord. Exit. + 

King Edward + 

Lord Mortimer, we leave you to your charge. + 

Now let us in, and feast it royally. + 

Against our friend the Earl of Cornwall comes + 

We’ll have a general tilt and tournament; + 

And then his marriage shall be solemnised; + 

For wot you not that I have made him sure + 

Unto our cousin, the Earl of Gloucester’s heir? + 

Lancaster + 

Such news we hear, my lord. + 

King Edward + 

That day, if not for him, yet for my sake, + 

Who in the triumph will be challenger, + 

Spare for no cost; we will requite your love. + 

Warwick + 

In this or aught your highness shall command us. + 

King Edward + 

Thanks, gentle Warwick. Come, let’s in and revel. + 

Exeunt all except the Elder Mortimer and the Younger Mortimer. + 

Elder Mortimer + 

Nephew, I must to Scotland; thou stay’st here. + 

Leave now to oppose thyself against the king: + 

Thou seest by nature he is mild and calm; + 

And, seeing his mind so dotes on Gaveston, + 

Let him without controlment have his will. + 

The mightiest kings have had their minions; + 

Great Alexander loved Hephaestion, + 

The conquering Hercules for Hylas wept, + 

And for Patroclus stern Achilles drooped. + 

And not kings only, but the wisest men; + 

The Roman Tully loved Octavius, + 

Grave Socrates wild Alcibiades. + 

Then let his grace, whose youth is flexible, + 

And promiseth as much as we can wish, + 

Freely enjoy that vain lightheaded earl; + 

For riper years will wean him from such toys. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Uncle, his wanton humour grieves not me; + 

But this I scorn, that one so basely-born + 

Should by his sovereign’s favour grow so pert, + 

And riot it with the treasure of the realm, + 

While soldiers mutiny for want of pay. + 

He wears a lord’s revenue on his back, + 

And, Midas-like, he jets it in the court, + 

With base outlandish cullions at his heels, + 

Whose proud fantastic liveries make such show + 

As if that Proteus, god of shapes, appeared. + 

I have not seen a dapper Jack so brisk: + 

He wears a short Italian hooded cloak, + 

Larded with pearl, and in his Tuscan cap + 

A jewel of more value than the crown. + 

While others walk below, the king and he, + 

From out a window, laugh at such as we, + 

And flout our train, and jest at our attire. + 

Uncle, ’tis this that makes me impatient. + 

Elder Mortimer + 

But, nephew, now you see the king is changed. + 

Younger Mortimer + 

Then so I am, and live to do him service: + 

But, whiles I have a sword, a hand, a heart, + 

I will not yield to any such upstart. + 

You know my mind: come, uncle, let’s away. + 

Exeunt. + 