Page:Henry VI Part 3 (1923) Yale.djvu/113

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King Henry the Sixth, V. iv
101

And Somerset, with Oxford, fled to her:
If she have time to breathe, be well assur'd16
Her faction will be full as strong as ours.

K. Edw. We are advertis'd by our loving friends
That they do hold their course toward Tewkesbury.
We, having now the best at Barnet field,20
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.24

Exeunt.


Scene Four

[Plains near Tewkesbury]

Flourish. March. Enter the Queen, young Edward, Somerset, Oxford, and Soldiers.

Queen. Great lords, wise men ne'er sit and wail their loss,
But cheerly seek how to redress their harms.
What though the mast be now blown overboard,
The cable broke, the holding anchor lost,4
And half our sailors swallow'd in the flood?
Yet lives our pilot still: is 't meet that he
Should leave the helm and like a fearful lad
With tearful eyes add water to the sea,8
And give more strength to that which hath too much;
Whiles in his moan the ship splits on the rock,
Which industry and courage might have sav'd?
Ah, what a shame! ah, what a fault were this!12
Say, Warwick was our anchor; what of that?
And Montague our top-mast; what of him?

21 rids way: does away with distance

1–38 cf. n.
2 cheerly: blithely