about a prophecy, which says that G of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be
I said I'd transcribe this bit, since I figure there are quite a few people on my flist who would enjoy it, so here it is -- I got bored compiling the bibliography I've been working on.
You can see the influence of Shakespeare here and there: this play was written around 1599-1600, which means that it actually does postdate both of Shakespeare's tetralogies in all likelihood (it's basically contemporary with Shakespeare's Henry V). This surprised me; I didn't think there were any significant post-Shakespearean Elizabethan dramatic treatments of the Wars of the Roses narrative, as for the most part Shakespeare's cycle did to the English history play what Paradise Lost did to the English epic, but apparently there were a few (of course, there's also the kerfuffle about the date of Thomas of Woodstock but that's neither here nor there -- and of course once James I succeeds to the throne there's a whole bunch of history plays about the Tudors, but again, that's another thing entirely. Mostly. Obviously the Wars of the Roses are a big deal in, e.g., Ford's Perkin Warbeck.) At any rate, you'll recognize places where the wording lifts from Shakespeare's Richard III and 3 Henry VI almost verbatim.
Enter Clarence, Gloucester, and Shaw.
GLOUCESTER I cannot see this prophecy you speak of
Should any way so much displease the King;
And yet I promise you, good brother Clarence,
'Tis such a letter as concerns us both.
That G should put away King Edward's children,
And sit upon his throne! That G should? Well.
CLARENCE God bless the King and those two sweet young princes.
GLOUCESTER Amen, good brother Clarence.
SHAW Amen.
GLOUCESTER [aside] And send them all to heaven shortly, I beseech him!
CLARENCE The King's much troubled, in his sickness, with it.
GLOUCESTER I promise you he is, and very much.
But, Doctor Shaw, who prophecied that G
Should be so sadly ominous to us?
SHAW My lord of Gloucester, I received the same
From old Friar Anselm of St. Bartholomew's.
GLOUCESTER A great learn'd man he was, and, as I have heard,
Hath prophecied of very many things:
I promise you, it troubles me.
[Aside] I hope in me his prophecy is true!
CLARENCE And so it does me, I tell you, brother Gloucester.
GLOUCESTER I am sure it does, for look you, brother Clarence,
We know not how his Highness will apply it:
We are but two, yourself, my lord, and I.
Should the young princes fail, which God defend --
CLARENCE Which God defend!
SHAW Which God defend!
GLOUCESTER [aside] -- but they should be cut off! [Aloud] Amen, amen.
You, brother, first, and should your issue fail,
Poor I am next, the youngest of the three.
But how far I am from a thought of that,
Heav'n witness with me [aside] -- that I wish you dead.
CLARENCE Brother, I durst be sworn.
GLOUCESTER God bless you all!
[Aside] And take you to him, if it be his will!
Now, brother, this prophecy of G troubling the King,
He may as well apply it unto Gloucester,
My dukedom's name, if he be jealous,
As unto George, your name, good brother Clarence.
God help, God help, i'faith it troubles me,
You would not think how [aside] -- that any of you live.
CLARENCE It cannot choose: how innocent I am,
And how unspotted are my loyal thoughts
Unto his Highness and those sweet young princes,
God be my record.
GLOUCESTER Who, you? Ay, I durst answer for you
[Aside] -- that I shall cut you off ere it be long.
But, reverend doctor, you can only tell,
Being his Highness' confessor, how he takes it.
[Aside to Shaw] Shaw, you know my mind, a villain like myself.
SHAW My lord of Clarence, I must tell your lordship,
His Highness is much troubled in his sickness
With this same prophecy of G. "Who is this G?"
Oft-times he will demand; then will he sigh,
And name his brother George, yourself, my lord.
And then he strikes his breast, I promise you.
This morning, in the extremest of his fit,
He lay so still, we all thought he had slept,
When suddenly, "George is the G!" quoth he,
And gave a groan, and turned his face away.
CLARENCE God be my witness, witness with my soul,
My just and upright thoughts to him and his,
I stand so guiltless and so innocent
As I could wish my breast to be transparent,
And my thoughts written in great letters there,
The world might read the secrets of my soul.
GLOUCESTER Ah, brother Clarence, when you are suspected,
Well, well, it is a wicked world the while;
But shall I tell you, brother, in plain terms,
I fear yourself and I have enemies
About the King, God pardon them;
The world was never worser to be trusted.
Ah, brother George, where is the love that was?
Ah, it is banished, brother, from the world.
Ah, conscience, conscience, and true brotherhood,
'Tis gone, 'tis gone. Brother, I am your friend,
I am your loving brother, your own self,
And love you as my soul; use me in what you please,
And you shall see I'll do a brother's part --
[Aside] Send you to heaven, I hope, ere it be long;
I am a true-stamped villain as ever lived.
CLARENCE I know you will. Then, brother, I beseech you,
Plead you mine innocence unto the King,
And in mean time, to tell my loyalty,
I'll keep within my house at Baynard's Castle,
Until I hear how my dread sovereign takes i.
GLOUCESTER Do so, good brother.
CLARENCE Farewell, good brother Gloucester.
GLOUCESTER My tears will scarcely let me take my leave,
I love you so: farewell, sweet George. [Exit Clarence.]
So, is he gone? Now, Shaw, 'tis in thy power
To bind me to thee everlastingly,
And there is not one step that I shall rise,
But I will draw thee with me unto greatness.
Thou shalt sit in my bosom as my soul.
Incense the King, now being as thou art
So near about him, and his confessor,
That this G only is George, Duke of Clarence.
Doctor, thou need'st not my instruction;
Thou hast a searching brain, a nimble spirit,
Able to master any man's affections.
Effect it, Shaw, and bring it to pass once,
I'll make thee the greatest Shaw that ever was.
SHAW My lord, I am going by commandment
Unto the Marshalsea, to Captain Stranguidge,
For piracy of late condemned to die,
There to confess him and his company;
That done, I'll come with speed back to the King,
And make no doubt but I'll effect the thing.
GLOUCESTER Farewell, gentle doctor.
SHAW Farewell, my lord of Gloucester. [Exit.]
GLOUCESTER Let me awake my sleeping wits a while.
Ha, the mark thou aim'st at, Richard, is a crown,
And many stand betwixt thee and the same.
What of all that? Doctor, play thou thy part;
I'll climb up by degrees, through many a heart. [Exit.]
You can see the influence of Shakespeare here and there: this play was written around 1599-1600, which means that it actually does postdate both of Shakespeare's tetralogies in all likelihood (it's basically contemporary with Shakespeare's Henry V). This surprised me; I didn't think there were any significant post-Shakespearean Elizabethan dramatic treatments of the Wars of the Roses narrative, as for the most part Shakespeare's cycle did to the English history play what Paradise Lost did to the English epic, but apparently there were a few (of course, there's also the kerfuffle about the date of Thomas of Woodstock but that's neither here nor there -- and of course once James I succeeds to the throne there's a whole bunch of history plays about the Tudors, but again, that's another thing entirely. Mostly. Obviously the Wars of the Roses are a big deal in, e.g., Ford's Perkin Warbeck.) At any rate, you'll recognize places where the wording lifts from Shakespeare's Richard III and 3 Henry VI almost verbatim.
Enter Clarence, Gloucester, and Shaw.
GLOUCESTER I cannot see this prophecy you speak of
Should any way so much displease the King;
And yet I promise you, good brother Clarence,
'Tis such a letter as concerns us both.
That G should put away King Edward's children,
And sit upon his throne! That G should? Well.
CLARENCE God bless the King and those two sweet young princes.
GLOUCESTER Amen, good brother Clarence.
SHAW Amen.
GLOUCESTER [aside] And send them all to heaven shortly, I beseech him!
CLARENCE The King's much troubled, in his sickness, with it.
GLOUCESTER I promise you he is, and very much.
But, Doctor Shaw, who prophecied that G
Should be so sadly ominous to us?
SHAW My lord of Gloucester, I received the same
From old Friar Anselm of St. Bartholomew's.
GLOUCESTER A great learn'd man he was, and, as I have heard,
Hath prophecied of very many things:
I promise you, it troubles me.
[Aside] I hope in me his prophecy is true!
CLARENCE And so it does me, I tell you, brother Gloucester.
GLOUCESTER I am sure it does, for look you, brother Clarence,
We know not how his Highness will apply it:
We are but two, yourself, my lord, and I.
Should the young princes fail, which God defend --
CLARENCE Which God defend!
SHAW Which God defend!
GLOUCESTER [aside] -- but they should be cut off! [Aloud] Amen, amen.
You, brother, first, and should your issue fail,
Poor I am next, the youngest of the three.
But how far I am from a thought of that,
Heav'n witness with me [aside] -- that I wish you dead.
CLARENCE Brother, I durst be sworn.
GLOUCESTER God bless you all!
[Aside] And take you to him, if it be his will!
Now, brother, this prophecy of G troubling the King,
He may as well apply it unto Gloucester,
My dukedom's name, if he be jealous,
As unto George, your name, good brother Clarence.
God help, God help, i'faith it troubles me,
You would not think how [aside] -- that any of you live.
CLARENCE It cannot choose: how innocent I am,
And how unspotted are my loyal thoughts
Unto his Highness and those sweet young princes,
God be my record.
GLOUCESTER Who, you? Ay, I durst answer for you
[Aside] -- that I shall cut you off ere it be long.
But, reverend doctor, you can only tell,
Being his Highness' confessor, how he takes it.
[Aside to Shaw] Shaw, you know my mind, a villain like myself.
SHAW My lord of Clarence, I must tell your lordship,
His Highness is much troubled in his sickness
With this same prophecy of G. "Who is this G?"
Oft-times he will demand; then will he sigh,
And name his brother George, yourself, my lord.
And then he strikes his breast, I promise you.
This morning, in the extremest of his fit,
He lay so still, we all thought he had slept,
When suddenly, "George is the G!" quoth he,
And gave a groan, and turned his face away.
CLARENCE God be my witness, witness with my soul,
My just and upright thoughts to him and his,
I stand so guiltless and so innocent
As I could wish my breast to be transparent,
And my thoughts written in great letters there,
The world might read the secrets of my soul.
GLOUCESTER Ah, brother Clarence, when you are suspected,
Well, well, it is a wicked world the while;
But shall I tell you, brother, in plain terms,
I fear yourself and I have enemies
About the King, God pardon them;
The world was never worser to be trusted.
Ah, brother George, where is the love that was?
Ah, it is banished, brother, from the world.
Ah, conscience, conscience, and true brotherhood,
'Tis gone, 'tis gone. Brother, I am your friend,
I am your loving brother, your own self,
And love you as my soul; use me in what you please,
And you shall see I'll do a brother's part --
[Aside] Send you to heaven, I hope, ere it be long;
I am a true-stamped villain as ever lived.
CLARENCE I know you will. Then, brother, I beseech you,
Plead you mine innocence unto the King,
And in mean time, to tell my loyalty,
I'll keep within my house at Baynard's Castle,
Until I hear how my dread sovereign takes i.
GLOUCESTER Do so, good brother.
CLARENCE Farewell, good brother Gloucester.
GLOUCESTER My tears will scarcely let me take my leave,
I love you so: farewell, sweet George. [Exit Clarence.]
So, is he gone? Now, Shaw, 'tis in thy power
To bind me to thee everlastingly,
And there is not one step that I shall rise,
But I will draw thee with me unto greatness.
Thou shalt sit in my bosom as my soul.
Incense the King, now being as thou art
So near about him, and his confessor,
That this G only is George, Duke of Clarence.
Doctor, thou need'st not my instruction;
Thou hast a searching brain, a nimble spirit,
Able to master any man's affections.
Effect it, Shaw, and bring it to pass once,
I'll make thee the greatest Shaw that ever was.
SHAW My lord, I am going by commandment
Unto the Marshalsea, to Captain Stranguidge,
For piracy of late condemned to die,
There to confess him and his company;
That done, I'll come with speed back to the King,
And make no doubt but I'll effect the thing.
GLOUCESTER Farewell, gentle doctor.
SHAW Farewell, my lord of Gloucester. [Exit.]
GLOUCESTER Let me awake my sleeping wits a while.
Ha, the mark thou aim'st at, Richard, is a crown,
And many stand betwixt thee and the same.
What of all that? Doctor, play thou thy part;
I'll climb up by degrees, through many a heart. [Exit.]