Page 484 - Shakespeare - Vol. 1

ACT I IT

Scene I IT

Flourish of trumpets; then hautboys. Enter King [Henry], Duke
Humphrey [of Gloucester], Salisbury, Warwick, and Beaufort [Bishop of

Winchester]; on the
one side; the Queen [Margaret], Suffolk, York, Somerset, and

Buckingham on the other.

SUFFOLK

As, by your high imperial majesty,
I had in charge at my depart for France,
As Procurator to your excellence,
To marry Princess Margaret for your grace;
So, in the famous ancient city Tours, [5]
In presence of the Kings of France and Sicil,
The Dukes of Orléans, Calaber, Bretagne, and Alençon,
Seven earls, twelve barons, and twenty reverend bishops,
I have performed my task, and was espoused;
And humbly now upon my bended knee, [10]
In sight of England and her lordly peers,
Deliver up my title in the queen
To your most gracious hands that are the substance
Of that great shadow I did represent;
The happiest gift that ever marquess gave, [15]
The fairest queen that ever king received.

KING HENRY

Suffolk, arise. - Welcome, Queen Margaret:
I can express no kinder sign of love
Than this kind kiss. - O Lord, that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness! [20]
For Thou hast given me in this beauteous face
A world of earthly blessings to my soul,
If sympathy of love unite our thoughts.