Interlude to Shakespeare's 'Henry VI - Part III'
(Covering Act III, scene III -
Commissioned for London Shakespeare Workout)
So plots the dastard Dick his dev'lish deed
And many by his murderous hand shall bleed.
He steels his heart and conscience(,) feels no prick
Where Nature has denied the lover's trick.
He'll shun the amorous looking-glass
to win
A crown and pave his crookèd path with sin.
But brother Edward, wanton to the core,
And pledged a French-maid Bona to adore,
Forswore his promises and Warwick's plea
When Earl Grey's widow was his cup of tea.
This, Warwick does not know, when to the French,
He wends his way to match a comely wench.
Now Margaret too has gone to France for aid
That Edward's usurpation be repaid.
She brings her son, the other Edward, there
To plead for him as England's rightful heir.
The French King, Louis, hears with gentle ear,
But at that moment Warwick doth appear,
Ambassador to stir both wind and tide,
That Margaret fears her suit shall be denied.
He makes his courtly plea in Edward's name
To woo the Lady Bona, beauty's fame
And Louis' sister, so in unity
By nuptial knot
to seal their amity,
For English kings find witchcraft in French lips
And Henry Fifth once launched a fleet of ships
For Princess Katherine fifty years before
And put the French to flight at Agincourt.
Margaret, it seems, has lost the argument
When unto Warwick Louis gives consent.
But brief the victory this meeting brings
The setter-up and puller-down of kings.
Now comes a post with all dispatch to say
What Edward's lust hath hatched with Lady Grey.
Louis is outraged, Warwick turns again
To think his sovereign the worst of men.
He vows he shall serve Margaret in her quest
Upholding Henry, and the kingdom wrest
From Edward. Planning to invade the coast
Of England with a hand-picked foreign host
Of French soldiers, he shall avenge the slight
To Lady Bona and for Louis fight.
With Oxford at his side, he'll cross the seas
And as a pledge, with Margaret agrees
To give his eldest daughter to her son.
Now we resume what History's begun.
Warwick the chief that raised him to the crown
Has vowed to bring the perjured Edward down.
|
