8. Excerpt fromHenry VIII, by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare (1623)

A prophecy about a royal line, seen in the tablet left by Jupiter and interpreted by the Soothsayer in Cymbeline, recurs in this passage from John Fletcher and William Shakespeare's Henry VIII. In each play, the princess—Imogen in one, and the future Queen Elizabeth in the other—is associated with a phoenix for her virtue and chastity; and the collocation of "peace" and "plenty," along with the image of the mountain cedar symbolizing a monarch, further links the two plays and their related themes.

CRANMER
Let me speak, sir,
For Heaven now bids me; and the words I utter,
Let none think flattery, for they'll find 'em truth.
This royal infant--Heaven still move about her--
Though in her cradle yet now promises
Upon this land a thousand thousand blessings
Which time shall bring to ripeness. She shall be
(But few now living can behold that goodness)
A pattern to all princes living with her
And all that shall succeed: Saba{equated with the Queen of Sheba in 1 Kings 10, who visits King Solomon because she has heard of his wisdom} was never
More covetous of wisdom and fair virtue
Than this pure soul shall be. All princely graces
That mold up such a mighty piece as this is,
With all the virtues that attend the good,
Shall still be doubled on her. Truth shall nurse her;
Holy and heavenly thoughts still counsel her.
She shall be loved and feared: her own shall bless her,
Her foes shake like a field of beaten corn
And hang their heads with sorrow.
Good grows with her.
In her days, every man shall eat in safety
Under his own vine what he plants, and sing
The merry songs of peace to all his neighbors.
God shall be truly known, and those about her
From her shall read the perfect way of honor,
And by those{i.e., the ways of honor} claim their greatness, not by blood.
Nor shall this peace sleep with her, but as when
The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix,
Her ashes new create another heir
As great in admiration as herself,
So shall she leave her blessedness to one{i.e., King James},
When Heaven shall call her from this cloud of darkness,
Who, from the sacred ashes of her honor,
Shall star-like rise as great in fame as she was
And so stand fixed. Peace, plenty, love, truth, terror,
That were the servants to this chosen infant
Shall then be his, and like a vine grow to him;
Wherever the bright sun of Heaven shall shine,
His honor and the greatness of his name
Shall be and make new nations. He shall flourish
And like a mountain cedar reach his branches
To all the plains about him; our children's children
Shall see this and bless Heaven.