Page 1615 - Shakespeare - Vol. 2

Was lineal of the Lady Ermengare,
Daughter to Charles the foresaid Duke of Lorraine:
By the which marriage the line of Charles the Great
Was re-united to the crown of France. [85]

So that, as clear as is the summer’s sun,
King Pepin’s title, and Hugh Capet’s claim,
King Lewis his satisfaction, all appear
To hold in right and title of the female:

So do the kings of France unto this day; [90]
Howbeit they would hold up this Salic law
To bar your highness claiming from the female;
And rather choose to hide them in a net

Than amply to imbar their crookèd titles
Usurp’d from you and your progenitors. [95]

KING HENRY
May I with right and conscience make this claim?

CANTERBURY
The sin upon my head, dread sovereign!
For in the Book of Numbers is it writ:

“When the man dies, let the inheritance
Descend unto the daughter”. Gracious lord, [100]
Stand for your own; unwind your bloody flag;
Look back into your mighty ancestors:

Go, my dread lord, to your great-grandsire’s tomb,
From whom you claim; invoke his war-like spirit,
And your great-uncle’s, Edward the Black Prince,
Who on the French ground play’d a tragedy, [105]

Making defeat on the full power of France;
Whiles his most mighty father on a hill
Stood smiling to behold his lion’s whelp
Forage in blood of French nobility. [110]

O noble English, that could entertain
With half their forces the full pride of France,
And let another half stand laughing by,
All out of work, and cold for action!