University of Virginia Library

Actus primus.

The Order of the dōme shewe before the firste Acte, and the Signification therof.

Firste the Musicke of Uiolenze began to playe, durynge whiche came in vppon the Stage sixe wilde men clothed in leaues. Of whom the first bare in his necke a Fagot of smal stickes, whiche thei all both seuerallie and togither assaied with all their strengthes to breake, but it could not be broken by them. At the length one of them plucked out one of the stickes and brake it: And the rest pluckinge oute all the other stickes one after an other did easelie breake, the same beynge seuered: which beyng conioyned they had before attempted in vayne. After they had this done, they departed the Stage, and the Musicke ceased Hereby was signified, that a state knit in vnytie doth continue stronge against all force. But beynge deuyded, is easely destroied. As befell vpon Duke Gorboduc deuidinge his Lande to his two sonnes which he before held in Monarchie. And vpon the discention of the Brethrene to whome it was deuided.

Scena prima.

Viden. Ferrex.
Viden.
The silent night that bringes the quiet pawse,
From painefull trauailes of the wearie Daie:
Prolonges my carefull thoughtes and makes me blame
The slowe Aurore that so for loue or shame
Doth longe delaye to shewe her blusshing face,
And nowe the Daie renewes my griefull plainte.

Ferrex.
My gracious Lady and mother deare,
Pardon my griefe, for your so grieued minde
To aske what cause tormenteth so your harte.

Viden.
So great a wronge and so vniust despite,
Without all cause against all course of kinde.

Ferrex.
Suche causeles wronge and so vniust despite,
Maye haue redresse, or at the least reuenge.

Viden.
Neither my Sonne, suche is the frowarde will,
The person suche, suche my mishap and thyne.

Ferrex.
Myne know I none, but griefe for your distresse:

Viden.
Yes: myne for thyne my sonne: A father? no:
In kynde a Father, but not in kyndlynes.

Ferrex.
My Father: whie? I knowe nothynge at all,
Wherin I haue misdone vnto his Grace.

Viden.
Therfore, the more vnkinde to thee and mee.
For knowynge well (my sonne) the tendre loue
That I haue euer borne and beare to thee,
He greued therat, is not content alone,
To spoyle thee of my sight my chiefest Ioye,
But thee, of thy birth, right and Heritage
Causeles, vnkindly and in wrongfull wise,
Against all Lawe and right he will bereaue,
Halfe of his kyngdome he will geue awaye.

Ferrex.
To whome?

Viden.
Euen to Porrex his younger sonne
Whose growinge Pride I do so sore suspecte,
That beynge raysed to equall Rule with thee,
Mee thinkes I see his enuious harte to swell
Fyllde with Disdaine and with ambicious Pride
The ende the Goddes do know, whose Aulters I
Full oft haue made in vaine of Cattell slayne,
To sende the sacred smoke to Heauens Throne,
For thee my sonne if thinges so succede,
As nowe my Ielious minde misdemeth sore.

Ferrex.
Madame leaue care and carefull plaint for me.
Iust hath my Father ben to euery wight,
His firste vniustice he will not extende
To me I truste, that geue no cause therof,
My brothers pride shall hurt him selfe, not mee.

Viden.
So graunt the Goddes: But yet thy father so
Hath firmely fixed his vnmoued mynde
That plaints & praiers can no whit auaile,
For those haue I assaied, but euen this daie,
He wyll endeuour to procure assent
Of all his Counsell to his fonde deuise.

Ferrex.
Their Auncestours from race to race haue borne
True fayth to my forefathers and their seede,
I truste thei eke wyll beare the lyke to me.

Viden.
There resteth all, but if they fayle therof,
And if the ende bringe forth an euyll successe
On them and theirs the mischiefe shall befall,
And so I praie the Goddes requite it them,
And so they will, for so is wont to bee
When Lordes and trusted Rulers vnder kynges
To please the present fancie of the Prince,
With wrong transpose the course of gouernaunce
Murders, mischiefe, or ciuyll sworde at length,
Or mutuall treason, or a iust reuenge,
When right succedinge Line returnes againe
By Ioues iust Iudgement and deserued wrathe
Bringes them to ciuill and reprochefull death,
And rootes their names & kindredes frō the earth.

Ferrex.
Mother content you, you shall see the ende.

Viden.
The ende? thie ende I feare, Ioue ende me first.

Scena secunda.

Gorboduc. Arostus. Philander. Eubulus.
Gorboduc.
My Lordes whose graue aduise & faithfull aide
Haue long vpheld my Honour & my Realme
And brought me from this age from tender yeres,
Guidynge so great estate with great renowme:
Nowe more importeth mee the erst to vse
Your faith and wisdome wherby yet I reigne,
That when by death my liefe and rule shall cease,
The kingdome yet maye with vnbroken course,
Haue certayne Prince, by whose vndoubted right,
Your wealth and peace, may stand in quiet staie,
And eke that thei whome Nature hath preparde,
In time to take my place in Princelie Seate,
While in their Fathers tyme their pliant youth
Yeldes to the frame of skilfull gouernaunce
Maye so be taught and trayned in noble Artes,
As what their fathers whiche haue reigned before
Haue with great fame deriued downe to them
With honour they maye leaue vnto their seede:
And not be taught for their vnworthie life,
And for their Laweles swaruynge out of kinde,
Worthie to lose what Lawe and kind them gaue
But that they may preserue the cōmon peace,
The cause that first began and still mainteines
The Lyneall course of kinges inheritaunce,
For me, for myne, for you, and for the state
Wherof both I and you haue charge and care.
Thus do I meane to vse your wonted fayth
To me and myne, and to your natyue Lande,
My Lordes be playne without all wrie respect
Or poysonous crafte to speake in pleasyng wise,
Lest as the blame of yll succedynge thinges
Shall light on you, so light the harmes also.

Arostus.
Your good acceptaunce so (most noble kinge)
Of suche your faithfulnes as heretofore
We haue employed in dueties to your Grace,
And to this Realme whose worthie head you are,
Well proues that neyther you mistruste at all,
Nor we shall nede no boasting wise to shewe,
Our trueth to you, nor yet our wakefull care
For you, for yours, and for our natiue Lande,
Wherfore (O kynge) I speake for one as all,
Sithe all as one do beare you egall faith:
Doubt not to vse their Counselles and their aides
Whose honours, goods & lyues are whole auowed
To serue, to ayde, and to defende your Grace.

Gorboduc.
My Lordes I thanke you all. This is the case
Ye know, the Gods, who haue the soueraigne care
For kings, for kingdomes, and for cōmen weales,
Gaue me two sonnes in my more lustie Age,
Who nowe in my deceyuynge yeres are growen
Well towardes ryper state of minde and strength,
To take in hande some greater Princely charge,
As yet they lyue and spende their hopefull daies,
With me and with their Mother here in Courte
Their age nowe asketh other place and trade,
And myne also doth aske an other chaunge,
Theirs to more trauaile, myne to greater ease:
Whan fatall death shall ende my mortall lyfe,
My purpose is to leaue vnto them twaine
The Realme deuided into two sondrie partes:
The one Ferrex myne elder sonne shall haue,
The other shall the other Porrex rule
That both my purpose may more framelie stande,
And eke that they may better rule their charge,
I meane forthwith to place them in the same:
That in my life they maye both learne to rule,
And I may Ioye to see their rulynge well.
This is in sōme, what I woulde haue ye wey:
First: whether ye allowe my whole deuise,
And thinke it good for me, for them, for you,
And for our Countrey, mother of vs all:
And if ye lyke it and allowe it well,
Than for their guydinge and their gouernaunce,
Shewe forthe suche meanes of circumstaunce,
As ye thinke meete to be both knowne and kept:
Loe, this is all, nowe tell me your aduise.

Arostus.
And this is muche, and asketh great aduise,
But for my parte my Soueraigne Lord and kyng
This do I thinke your Maiestie doth knowe,
Howe vnder you in Iustice and in peace,
Great wealth and Honour, long we haue enioyed
So as we can not seeme with gredie mindes
To wisshe for chaunge of Prince or gouernaunce,
But if ye lyke your purpose and deuise,
Our lykynge must be deemed to procede,
Of rightfull reason, and of heedefull care,
Not for our selues, but for our cōmen state:
Sithe our owne state doth nede no better chaunge
I thinke in all as erst your Grace hath saide:
Firste when you shall vnlode your aged mynde,
Of heuye care and troubles manyfolde,
And laye the same vpon my Lordes your sonnes
Whose growing yeres may bere the burden long
And longe I praye the Goddes to graunt it so:
And in your lyfe while you shall so beholde
Their rule, their vertues and their noble deedes,
Suche as their kinde behighteth to vs all,
Great be the profites that shall growe therof,
Your age in quiet shall the longer last,
Your lastynge age shalbe their longer staie,
For cares of kynges, that rule as you haue rulde
For publique wealth and not for priuate ioye,
Do wast mannes lyfe and hasten crooked age,
With furrowed face and with enfeebled lymmes,
To drawe on creepynge Death a swifter pace.
They two yet yonge shall beare the partie reigne
With greater ease, than one nowe olde alone
Can welde the whole, for whom muche harder is
with lessened strength the double weight to beare
Your eye, your Counsell, and the graue regarde
Of Fathers, yea of suche a fathers name,
Nowe at beginning of their sondred reigne,
When it is hazarde of their whole successe,
Shall bridle so their force of youthfull heates,
And so restreine the rage of insolence,
Whiche most assailes the yonge and noble minds,
And so shall guide and traine in tempred staie
Their yet greene bending wittes wt reuerent awe
And now inured with vertues at the first.
Custome (O king) shall bringe delightfulnes
By vse of Uertue, Uice shall growe in hate,
But if you so dispose it, that the daye,
Which endes your life, shal first begin their reign
Great is the perill, what will be the ende,
When suche beginning of suche liberties
Uoide of suche staies as in your liefe do lye,
Shall leaue them to free randon of their will
An open praie to traiterous flatterie,
The greatest pestilence of noble youthe:
Whiche perill shalbe past, if in your life,
Their tempred youthe with aged fathers awe
Be brought in vre of skilfull staidnes
And in your life, their liues disposed so,
Shall length your noble liefe in ioyfulnes.
Thus thinke I yt your grace hath wiselie thought
And that your tender care of cōmen weale,
Hath bred this thought, so to deuide your Lande
And plant your sonnes to beare the present rule
While you yet liue to see their rulynge well,
That you may longer lyue by ioye therein.
What furder meanes behouefull are and meete
At great leisure maye your Grace deuise,
When all haue saide, and when we be agreed
If this be best to parte the Realme in twaine,
And place your sonnes in present gouernement
Whereof as I haue plainely saide my mynde,
So woulde I here the rest of all my Lordes.

Philander.
In parte I thinke as haue ben saide before,
In parte againe my minde is otherwise
As for deuiding of this Realme in twaine
And lotting out the same in egall partes,
To either of my Lordes your Graces sonnes,
That thinke I best for this your Realmes behofe,
For profite and aduauncement of your sonnes,
And for your comforte and your honour eke:
But so to place them while your life do last,
To yelde to them your Royall gouernaunce,
To be aboue them onely in the name
Of father, not in kingly state also,
I thinke not good for you, for them, nor vs,
This kingdome since the bloodie ciuill fielde
Where Morgan slaine did yeld his conquered parte
Unto his Cosyns sworde in Camberlande
Conteineth all that whilome did suffice,
Three noble sonnes of your forefather Brute,
So your two sonnes, it maye also suffice,
The moe the stronger, if thei gree in one:
The smaller compasse that the Realme doth holde
The easier is the swey therof to welde,
The nearer Iustice to the wronged poore,
The smaller charge, and yet ynoughe for one.
And whan the Region is deuided so
That Brethrene be the Lordes of either parte,
Such strength doth nature knit betwene the both,
In sondrie bodies by conioyned loue
That not as two, but one of doubled force,
Eche is to other as a sure defence,
The Noblenes and glorie of the one
Doth sharpe the courage of the others mynde
With vertuous enuie to contende for praise,
And suche an egalnes hath nature made,
Betwene the Brethren of one Fathers seede,
As an vnkindlie wronge it seemes to bee,
To throwe the other Subiect vnder feete
Of him, whose Peere he is by course of kinde,
And nature that did make this egalnes,
Ofte so repineth at so great a wronge,
That ofte she rayseth vp a grudgynge griefe,
In yonger Brethren at the elders state:
Wherby both townes & kingdoms haue ben rased
And famous stockes of Royall blood distroied:
The Brother that should be the Brothers aide
And haue a wakefull care for his defence,
Gapes for his death, & blames the lyngering yeres
That brings not forth his ende with faster course
And oft impacient of so longe delayes,
With hatefull slaughter he presentes the fates
And keepes a iust rewarde for Brothers bloode,
With endles vengeaunce on his stocke for aye:
Suche mischiefes here are wisely mette withall:
If egall state maye nourishe egall loue,
Where none hath cause to grudge at others good,
But nowe the head to stoupe beneth them bothe,
Ne kinde, ne reason, ne good ordre beares,
And oft it hath ben seene, that where Nature
Hath ben preuerted in disordered wise,
When Fathers cease to know that thei shuld rule
And Children cease to knowe they should obey,
And often our vnkindly tendrenes;
Is Mother of vnkindly Stubbornes:
I speake not this in enuie or reproche,
As if I grudged the glorie of your sonnes,
Whose honour I beseche the Goddes to encrease:
Nor yet as if I thought there did remaine,
So filthie Cankers in their noble brestes,
Whome I esteme (whiche is their greatest praise,
Undoubted children of so good a kynge,
Onelie I meane to shewe my certeine Rules,
Whiche kinde hath graft within the mind of man
That Nature hath her ordre and her course,
Whiche (being broken) doth corrupt the state
Of myndes and thinges euen in the best of all
My Lordes your sonnes may learne to rule of you
Your owne example in your noble Courte
Is fittest Guyder of their youthfull yeares,
If you desire to seeke some present Ioye
By sight of their well rulynge in your lyfe,
See them obey, so shall you see them rule,
Who so obeyeth not with humblenes
Will rule without rage and with insolence.
Longe maye they rule I do beseche the Goddes,
But longe may they learne ere they begyn to rule
If kinde and fates woulde suffre I would wisshe
Them aged Princes and immortall kinges:
Wherfore most noble kynge I well assent,
Betwene your sonnes yt you deuide your Realme.
And as in kinde, so matche them in degree
But while the Goddes prolongue your Royal life
Prolongue your reigne, for therto lyue you here,
And therfore haue the Goddes so longe forborne
To ioyne you to them selues, that still you might
Be Prince and father of our cōmon weale:
They when they se your children ripe to rule
Will make them roume, & wil remoue you hence,
That yours in right ensuynge of your life
Maye rightlie honour your mortall name.

Eubulus.
Your wonted true regarde of faithfull hartes,
Makes me (O kinge) the bolder to presume
To speake what I conceiue within my brest,
Althoughe the same do not agree at all
With that whiche other here my Lords haue said
Nor whiche your selfe haue seemed best to lyke,
Pardon I craue and that my wordes be deemde
To flowe from hartie zeale vnto your Grace,
And to the safetie of your cōmon weale:
To parte your Realme vnto my Lords your sōnes
I thinke not good for you, ne yet for them,
But worste of all, for this our Natiue Lande:
For with one Lande, one single rule is best:
Deuided Reignes do make deuided hartes.
But Peace preserues the Countrey & the Prince.
Suche is in man the gredie minde to reigne,
So great is his desire to climbe alofte,
In worldly Stage the stateliest partes to beare,
That faith and Iustice and all kindly loue,
Do yelde vnto desire of Soueraigntie:
Where egall state doth raise an egall hope
To winne the thing that either wold attaine
Your grace remembreth howe in passed yeres
The mightie Brute, first Prince of all this Lande
Possessed the same and ruled it well in one,
He thinking that the compasse did suffice
For his three sonnes, three kingdoms eke to make
Cut it in three, as you would nowe in twaine:
But how much Brutish blod hath sithence bē spilt
To ioyne againe the sondred vnitie?
What Princes slaine before their timely honour?
What wast of townes and people in the Lande?
What Treasons heaped on murders & on spoiles?
Whose iust reuenge euen yet is scarcely ceased,
Ruthefull remembraunce is yet had in minde:
The Gods forbyd the like to chaunce againe
And you (O king) geue not the cause therof:
My Lorde Ferrex your elder sonne, perhappes
Whome kinde and custome geues a rightfull hope
To be your Heire and to succede your Reigne,
Shall thinke that he doth suffre greater wronge
Than he perchaunce will beare, if power serue
Porrex the younger so vnpaised in state,
Perhappes in courage will be raised also,
If Flatterie then whiche fayles not to assaile
The tendre mindes of yet vnskilfull Youthe,
In one shall kindle and encrease disdaine:
And Enuie in the others harte enflame,
This fire shall waste their loue, their liues, their land,
And rutheful ruine shal destroy them both.
I wisshe not this (O kyng) so to befall
But feare the thing, that I do most abhorre
Geue no beginning to so dreadfull ende,
Kepe them in order and obedience:
And let them both by nowe obeyinge you,
Learne suche behauiour as beseemes their state.
The Elder, myldenes in his gouernaunce,
The younger, a yeldyng contentednes:
And kepe them neare vnto your presence still,
That they restreined by the awe of you,
Maye liue in compasse of well tempred staie,
And passe the perilles of their youthfull yeares.
Your aged life drawes on to febler tyme,
Wherin you shall lesse able be to beare
The trauailes that in youth you haue susteined
Both in your persons and your Realmes defence
If planting nowe your sonnes in furder partes,
You sende them furder from your present reache
Lesse shal you know how they thē selues demaund
Traiterous corrupters of their pliant youthe,
Shall haue vnspied a muche more free accesse,
And of ambition and inflamed disdaine
Shall arme the one, the other, or them bothe
To cyuill warre, or to vsurpinge pride.
Late shall you rue, that you ne recked before:
Good is I graunt of all to hope the best,
But not to liue still dreadles of the worst.
So truste the one, that the other be forsene,
Arme not vnskilfulnes with princely power
But you that longe haue wisely ruled the reignes
Of royaltie within your noble Realme
So holde them, while the Gods for our auayles
Shall stretche the threde of your prolonged daies
To soone he clāme, into the flamyng Carte
Whose want of skyll did set the earth on fire,
Time and example of your noble Grace,
Shall teache your sonnes both to obey and rule:
Whan time hath taught thē, time shall make thē pace
The place that nowe is full: and so I praie
Longe it remaine, to comforte of vs all.

Gorboduc.
I take your faithfull hartes in thankfull parte
But sithe I see no cause to drawe my minde,
To feare the nature of my louyng sonnes,
Or to misdeme that Enuie or disdaine,
Can there worke hate, where nature planteth loue
In one selfe purpose do I still abide,
My loue extendeth egally to bothe,
My Lande suffiseth for them bothe also:
Humber shall parte the Marches of their Realmes:
The Sotherne parte the elder shall possesse,
The Northerne shall Porrex the yonger rule,
In quiet I will passe mine aged daies,
Free from the trauaile and the painefull cares
That hasten age vpon the worthiest kinges.
But lest the fraude that ye do seeme to feare
Of flatteryng tongues, corrupt their tender youth
And wrieth them to the waies of youthfull lust,
To climyng pride, or to reuengyng hate
Or to neglecting of their carefull charge
Lewdely to lyue in wanton recklenesse,
Or to oppressinge of the rightfull cause
Or not to wreke the wronges done to the poore
To treade downe trueth, or fauour false deceite
I meane to ioyne to eyther of my sonnes
Some one of those whose longe approued faith
And wisdome tryed may well assure my harte:
That mynyng fraude shall finde no way to crepe
Into their fensed eares with graue aduise:
This is the ende, and so I praye you all
To beare my sonnes the loue and loyaltie
That I haue founde within your faithful breasts.

Arostus.
You, nor your sonnes, our soueraigne Lord shall want
Our faith & seruice while our liues do last.

Chorus.