DRAMATIS PERSONAE
KING
EDWARD THE SECOND.
PRINCE
EDWARD, his son, afterwards KING EDWARD THE THIRD.
KENT,
brother to KING EDWARD THE SECOND.
GAVESTON.
ARCHBISHOP
OF CANTERBURY.
BISHOP
OF COVENTRY.
BISHOP
OF WINCHESTER.
WARWICK.
LANCASTER.
PEMBROKE.
ARUNDER.
LEICESTER.
BERKELEY.
MORTIMER
the elder.
MORTIMER
the younger, his nephew.
SPENSER
the elder.
SPENSER
the younger, his son.
BALDOCK.
BAUMONT.
TRUSSEL.
GURNEY.
MATREVIS.
LIGHTBORN.
SIR
JOHN OF HAINAULT.
LEVUNE.
RICE
AP HOWEL.
ABBOT.
MONKS.
HERALD.
LORDS,
POOR MEN, JAMES, MOWER, CHAMPION,
MESSENGERS, SOLDIERS, and ATTENDANTS.
QUEEN
ISABELLA, wife to KING EDWARD THE SECOND.
NIECE
to KING EDWARD THE SECOND, _daughter to
the DUKE OF GLOCESTER.
LADIES.
Enter GAVESTON, reading a letter.
Gaveston. My
father is deceas'd. Come, Gaveston,
And share the kingdom with thy dearest
friend.
Ah, words that make me surfeit with delight!
What greater bliss can hap to Gaveston
Than live and be the favourite of a king!
Sweet prince, I come! these, thy amorous
lines
Might have enforc'd me to have swum from
France,
And, like Leander, gasp'd upon the sand,
So thou wouldst smile, and take me in thine
arms.
The sight of London to my exil'd eyes
Is as Elysium to a new-come soul:
Not that I love the city or the men,
But that it harbours him I hold so dear,—
The king, upon whose bosom let me lie,
And with the world be still at enmity.
What need the arctic people love star-light,
To whom the sun shines both by day and
night?
Farewell base stooping to the lordly peers!
My knee shall bow to none but to the king.
As for the multitude, that are but sparks,
Rak'd up in embers of their poverty,—
Tanti,—I'll fawn first on the wind,
That glanceth at my lips, and flieth away.
Enter three Poor Men.
But how now! what are these?
Poor Men.
Such as desire your worship's service.
Gaveston.
What canst thou do?
First Poor Man. I
can ride.
Gaveston. But
I have no horse.—What art thou?
Second Poor Man. A
traveller.
Gaveston. Let
me see; thou wouldst do well
To wait at my trencher, and tell me lies at
dinner-time;
And, as I like your discoursing, I'll have
you.—
And what art thou?
Third Poor Man. A
soldier, that hath serv'd against the Scot.
Gaveston.
Why, there are hospitals for such as you:
I have no war; and therefore, sir, be gone.
Third Poor Man. Farewell,
and perish by a soldier's hand,
That wouldst reward them with an hospital!
Gaveston. Ay,
ay, these words of his move me as much
As if a goose should play the porcupine,
And dart her plumes, thinking to pierce my
breast.
But yet it is no pain to speak men fair;
I'll flatter these, and make them live in
hope.— [Aside.
You know that I came lately out of France,
And yet I have not view'd my lord the king:
If I speed well, I'll entertain you all.
All. We thank your
worship.
Gaveston. I
have some business: leave me to myself.
All. We will wait here
about the court.
Gaveston. Do. [Exeunt Poor Men.
These are not men for me;
I must have wanton poets, pleasant wits,
Musicians, that with touching of a string
May draw the pliant king which way I please:
Music and poetry is his delight;
Therefore I'll have Italian masks by night,
Sweet speeches, comedies, and pleasing
shows;
And in the day, when he shall walk abroad,
Like sylvan nymphs my pages shall be clad;
My men, like satyrs grazing on the lawns,
Shall with their goat-feet dance the antic
hay;
Sometime a lovely boy in Dian's shape,
With hair that gilds the water as it glides
Crownets of pearl about his naked arms,
And in his sportful hands an olive-tree,
To hide those parts which men delight to
see,
Shall bathe him in a spring; and there, hard
by,
One like Actæon, peeping through the grove,
Shall by the angry goddess be transform'd,
And running in the likeness of an hart,
By yelping hounds pull'd down, shall semm to
die:
Such things as these best please his
majesty.—
Here comes my lord the king, and the nobles,
From the parliament. I'll stand aside. [Retires.
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