Speeches (Lines) for Duke of Gloucester
in "Henry VI, Part I"
Total: 48

1

I,1,12

England ne'er had a king until his time.
Virtue he had, deserving to command:
His brandish'd sword did blind men with his beams:
His arms spread wider than a dragon's wings;
His sparking eyes, replete with wrathful fire,
More dazzled and drove back his enemies
Than mid-day sun fierce bent against their faces.
What should I say? his deeds exceed all speech:
He ne'er lift up his hand but conquered.

2

I,1,37

The church! where is it? Had not churchmen pray'd,
His thread of life had not so soon decay'd:
None do you like but an effeminate prince,
Whom, like a school-boy, you may over-awe.

3

I,1,45

Name not religion, for thou lovest the flesh,
And ne'er throughout the year to church thou go'st
Except it be to pray against thy foes.

4

I,1,70

Is Paris lost? is Rouen yielded up?
If Henry were recall'd to life again,
These news would cause him once more yield the ghost.

5

I,1,104

We will not fly, but to our enemies' throats.
Bedford, if thou be slack, I'll fight it out.

6

I,1,175

I'll to the Tower with all the haste I can,
To view the artillery and munition;
And then I will proclaim young Henry king.

7

I,3,352

I am come to survey the Tower this day:
Since Henry's death, I fear, there is conveyance.
Where be these warders, that they wait not here?
Open the gates; 'tis Gloucester that calls.

8

I,3,362

Who willed you? or whose will stands but mine?
There's none protector of the realm but I.
Break up the gates, I'll be your warrantize.
Shall I be flouted thus by dunghill grooms?
[Gloucester's men rush at the Tower Gates, and]
WOODVILE the Lieutenant speaks within]

9

I,3,369

Lieutenant, is it you whose voice I hear?
Open the gates; here's Gloucester that would enter.

10

I,3,375

Faint-hearted Woodvile, prizest him 'fore me?
Arrogant Winchester, that haughty prelate,
Whom Henry, our late sovereign, ne'er could brook?
Thou art no friend to God or to the king:
Open the gates, or I'll shut thee out shortly.

11

I,3,385

Peel'd priest, dost thou command me to be shut out?

12

I,3,388

Stand back, thou manifest conspirator,
Thou that contrivedst to murder our dead lord;
Thou that givest whores indulgences to sin:
I'll canvass thee in thy broad cardinal's hat,
If thou proceed in this thy insolence.

13

I,3,396

I will not slay thee, but I'll drive thee back:
Thy scarlet robes as a child's bearing-cloth
I'll use to carry thee out of this place.

14

I,3,400

What! am I dared and bearded to my face?
Draw, men, for all this privileged place;
Blue coats to tawny coats. Priest, beware your beard,
I mean to tug it and to cuff you soundly:
Under my feet I stamp thy cardinal's hat:
In spite of pope or dignities of church,
Here by the cheeks I'll drag thee up and down.

15

I,3,408

Winchester goose, I cry, a rope! a rope!
Now beat them hence; why do you let them stay?
Thee I'll chase hence, thou wolf in sheep's array.
Out, tawny coats! out, scarlet hypocrite!
[Here GLOUCESTER's men beat out BISHOP OF]
WINCHESTER's men, and enter in the hurly-
burly the Mayor of London and his Officers]

16

I,3,417

Peace, mayor! thou know'st little of my wrongs:
Here's Beaufort, that regards nor God nor king,
Hath here distrain'd the Tower to his use.

17

I,3,427

I will not answer thee with words, but blows.

18

I,3,439

Cardinal, I'll be no breaker of the law:
But we shall meet, and break our minds at large.

19

I,3,445

Mayor, farewell: thou dost but what thou mayst.

20

III,1,1228

Presumptuous priest! this place commands my patience,
Or thou shouldst find thou hast dishonour'd me.
Think not, although in writing I preferr'd
The manner of thy vile outrageous crimes,
That therefore I have forged, or am not able
Verbatim to rehearse the method of my pen:
No, prelate; such is thy audacious wickedness,
Thy lewd, pestiferous and dissentious pranks,
As very infants prattle of thy pride.
Thou art a most pernicious usurer,
Forward by nature, enemy to peace;
Lascivious, wanton, more than well beseems
A man of thy profession and degree;
And for thy treachery, what's more manifest?
In that thou laid'st a trap to take my life,
As well at London bridge as at the Tower.
Beside, I fear me, if thy thoughts were sifted,
The king, thy sovereign, is not quite exempt
From envious malice of thy swelling heart.

21

III,1,1262

As good!
Thou bastard of my grandfather!

22

III,1,1266

Am I not protector, saucy priest?

23

III,1,1268

Yes, as an outlaw in a castle keeps
And useth it to patronage his theft.

24

III,1,1271

Thou art reverent
Touching thy spiritual function, not thy life.

25

III,1,1321

You of my household, leave this peevish broil
And set this unaccustom'd fight aside.

26

III,1,1334

Stay, stay, I say!
And if you love me, as you say you do,
Let me persuade you to forbear awhile.

27

III,1,1350

Compassion on the king commands me stoop;
Or I would see his heart out, ere the priest
Should ever get that privilege of me.

28

III,1,1357

Here, Winchester, I offer thee my hand.

29

III,1,1367

[Aside] Ay, but, I fear me, with a hollow heart.—
See here, my friends and loving countrymen,
This token serveth for a flag of truce
Betwixt ourselves and all our followers:
So help me God, as I dissemble not!

30

III,1,1384

Well urged, my Lord of Warwick: or sweet prince,
And if your grace mark every circumstance,
You have great reason to do Richard right;
Especially for those occasions
At Eltham Place I told your majesty.

31

III,1,1413

Now will it best avail your majesty
To cross the seas and to be crown'd in France:
The presence of a king engenders love
Amongst his subjects and his loyal friends,
As it disanimates his enemies.

32

III,1,1420

Your ships already are in readiness.

33

III,4,1722

Yes, if it please your majesty, my liege.

34

IV,1,1759

Lord bishop, set the crown upon his head.

35

IV,1,1761

Now, governor of Paris, take your oath,
That you elect no other king but him;
Esteem none friends but such as are his friends,
And none your foes but such as shall pretend
Malicious practises against his state:
This shall ye do, so help you righteous God!

36

IV,1,1790

To say the truth, this fact was infamous
And ill beseeming any common man,
Much more a knight, a captain and a leader.

37

IV,1,1811

What means his grace, that he hath changed his style?
No more but, plain and bluntly, 'To the king!'
Hath he forgot he is his sovereign?
Or doth this churlish superscription
Pretend some alteration in good will?
What's here?
[Reads]
'I have, upon especial cause,
Moved with compassion of my country's wreck,
Together with the pitiful complaints
Of such as your oppression feeds upon,
Forsaken your pernicious faction
And join'd with Charles, the rightful King of France.'
O monstrous treachery! can this be so,
That in alliance, amity and oaths,
There should be found such false dissembling guile?

38

IV,1,1828

He doth, my lord, and is become your foe.

39

IV,1,1830

It is the worst, and all, my lord, he writes.

40

IV,1,1888

Confirm it so! Confounded be your strife!
And perish ye, with your audacious prate!
Presumptuous vassals, are you not ashamed
With this immodest clamorous outrage
To trouble and disturb the king and us?
And you, my lords, methinks you do not well
To bear with their perverse objections;
Much less to take occasion from their mouths
To raise a mutiny betwixt yourselves:
Let me persuade you take a better course.

41

V,1,2358

I have, my lord: and their intent is this:
They humbly sue unto your excellence
To have a godly peace concluded of
Between the realms of England and of France.

42

V,1,2363

Well, my good lord; and as the only means
To stop effusion of our Christian blood
And 'stablish quietness on every side.

43

V,1,2370

Beside, my lord, the sooner to effect
And surer bind this knot of amity,
The Earl of Armagnac, near knit to Charles,
A man of great authority in France,
Proffers his only daughter to your grace
In marriage, with a large and sumptuous dowry.

44

V,1,2397

And for the proffer of my lord your master,
I have inform'd his highness so at large
As liking of the lady's virtuous gifts,
Her beauty and the value of her dower,
He doth intend she shall be England's queen.

45

V,5,2878

So should I give consent to flatter sin.
You know, my lord, your highness is betroth'd
Unto another lady of esteem:
How shall we then dispense with that contract,
And not deface your honour with reproach?

46

V,5,2889

Why, what, I pray, is Margaret more than that?
Her father is no better than an earl,
Although in glorious titles he excel.

47

V,5,2897

And so the Earl of Armagnac may do,
Because he is near kinsman unto Charles.

48

V,5,2956

Ay, grief, I fear me, both at first and last.