Die to themselves. Sweet roses do not so;

Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odours made:

And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth,
When that shall fade, my verse distils your truth.

DEFIANCE TO TIME.

(Sonnet Cxxiii.)

No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change:
Thy pyramids built up with newer might
To me are nothing novel, nothing strange;
They are but dressings of a former sight..

Our dates are brief, and therefore we admire
What thou dost foist upon us that is old,

And rather make them born to our desire

Than think that we before have heard them told.

Thy registers and thee I both defy,

Not wondering at the present nor the past, For thy records and what we see do lie, Made more or less by thy continual haste.

This I do vow and this shall ever be ;
I will be true, despite thy scythe and thee.

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CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE.

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EDWARD THE SECOND.

[The king being deposed, surrenders his crown into the hands of the bishop of Winchester and the earl of Leicester.]

Leicester. Be patient, good my lord, cease to lament, Imagine Killingworth castle were your court,

And that you lay for pleasure here a space,

Not of compulsion or necessity.

Edward.

Leicester, if gentle words might comfort me,

Thy speeches long ago had eased my sorrows;
For kind and loving hast thou always been.
The griefs of private men are soon allay'd,
But not of kings. The forest deer being struck,
Runs to an herb that closeth up the wounds;
But when the imperial lion's flesh is gored,
He rends and tears it with his wrathful paw,
And highly scorning that the lowly earth
Should drink his blood, mounts up to the air.
And so it fares with me, whose dauntless mind
The ambitious Mortimer would seek to curb,
And that unnatural queen, false Isabel,
That thus hath pent and mew'd me in a prison:
For such outrageous passions claw my soul,
As with the wings of rancour and disdain
Full oft am I soaring up to high heaven,
To plain me to the gods against them both.
But when I call to mind I am a king,
Methinks I should revenge me of the wrongs
That Mortimer and Isabel have done.

But what are kings when regiment is gone
But perfect shadow in a sunshine day?
My nobles rule, I bear the name of king;
I wear the crown, but am controll'd by them,
By Mortimer, and my unconstant queen,
Who spots my nuptial bed with infamy;
Whilst I am lodged within this cave of care,
Where sorrow at my elbow still attends,
To company my heart with sad laments,
That bleeds within me for this sad exchange.
But tell me, must I now resign my crown,
To make usurping Mortimer a king?

Bishop. Your grace mistakes; it is for England's good,

And princely Edward's right, we claim the crown.

Edw. No, 'tis for Mortimer, not Edward's head;

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For he's a lamb, encompassed by wolves,
Which in a moment will abridge his life.
But if proud Mortimer do wear this crown,
Heaven turn it to a blaze of quenchless fire,
Or like the snaky wrath of Tisiphon,
Engirt the temples of his hateful head;
So shall not England's vines be perished,
But Edward's name survive, though Edward dies.
Leic. My lord, why waste you thus the time away?
They stay your answer: will you yield your crown?
Edw. Ah, Leicester, weigh how hardly I can brook
To lose my crown and kingdom without cause;
To give ambitious Mortimer my right,
That like a mountain overwhelms

my bliss,
In which extreme my mind here murder'd is.
But what the Heavens appoint, I must obey.
Here, take my crown; the life of Edward too;
Two kings in England cannot reign at once —
But stay awhile, let me be king till night,
That I may gaze upon this glittering crown;
So shall my eyes receive their last content,
My head the latest honour due to it,

And jointly both yield up their wished rights.

Continue ever, thou celestial 'sun;

Let never silent night possess this clime;
Stand still, you witches of the element;
All times and seasons rest you at a stay,
That Edward may be still fair England's king.
But day's bright beam doth vanish fast away,
And needs I must resign my wished crown.
Inhuman creatures! nursed with tigers' milk!
Why gape you for your sovereign's overthrow?
My diadem, I mean, and guiltless life.

See, monsters, see, I'll wear my crown again.
What, fear you not the fury of your king?
But, hapless Edward, thou art fondly led;
They pass not for thy frowns as late they did,
But to seek to make a new-elected king;

Which fills my mind with strange despairing thoughts,
Which thoughts are martyred with endless torments,
And in this torment, comfort find I none,

But that I feel the crown upon my head:

And therefore let me wear it yet awhile.

Messenger. My lord, the parliament must have present

And therefore say, will you resign or no?

Edw. I'll not resign! but whilst I live, be king.
Traitors be gone and join with Mortimer.
Elect, conspire, install, do what you will;

[news,

Their blood and yours shall seal these treacheries.
Bishop. This answer we'll return, and so farewell.
Leic. Call them again, my lord, and speak them fair;
For if they go, the prince shall lose his right.

Edw.

Call thou them back; I have no power to speak. Leic. My lord, the king is willing to resign.

Bishop. If he be not, let him choose.

Edw. O, would I might! but heaven and earth conspire

To make me miserable! here, receive my crown;

Receive it? no, these innocent hands of mine

Shall not be guilty of so foul a crime.

He of you all that most desires my blood,

And will be call'd the murderer of a king,

Take it. What, are you moved? pity you me?
Then send for unrelenting Mortimer,

And Isabel, whose eyes, being turned to steel,
Will sooner sparkle fire than shed a tear.
Yet stay, for rather than I will look on them
Here, here! now sweet God of heaven,
Make me despise this transitory pomp,
And sit for ever enthronized in heaven!

Come death, and with thy fingers close my eyes,
Or if I live, let me forget myself.

[Berkley Castle. The king is left alone with Lightborn, a murderer.] Edw. Who's there? what light is that? wherefore comest

[thou? Lightborn. To comfort you, and bring you joyful news. Edw. Small comfort finds poor Edward in thy looks. Villain, I know thou comest to murder me.

Light. To murder you, my most gracious lord'

Far is it from my heart to do you harm.

The queen sent me to see how you were used,

For she relents at this your misery:

And what eyes can refrain from shedding tears,

To see a king in this most piteous state?

Edw. Weep'st thou already? list awhile to me, And then thy heart, were it as Gurney's is,

Or as Matrevis', hewn from the Caucasus,

Yet will it melt, ere I have done my tale.

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This dungeon where they keep me is a sink
Wherein the filth of all the castle falls.

Light. O villains!

Edw. And there in mire and puddle have I stood

This ten days' space; and lest that I should sleep,

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One plays continually upon a drum.

They give me bread and water being a king;
So that, for want of sleep and sustenance,
My mind's distemper'd, and my body's numb'd,
And whether I have limbs or no, I know not.
O, would my blood drop out from every vein,

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