Internet Shakespeare Editions

Author: William Shakespeare
Editor: Sonia Massai
Not Peer Reviewed

Edward III (Quarto 1, 1596)

Edward the third.
Will not beware how shees insnard againe:
Or what is he so senceles and secure,
That hauing hardely past a dangerous gulfe,
Will put him selfe in perill there againe.
1855Vil: Ah but it is mine othe my gratious Lord,
Which I in conscience may not violate,
Or else a kingdome should not draw me hence.
Ch: Thine othe, why that doth bind thee to abide:
Hast thou not sworne obedience to thy Prince?
1860Vil: In all things that vprightly he commands:
But either to perswade or threaten me,
Not to performe the couenant of my word,
Is lawlesse, and I need not to obey.
Ch: Why is it lawfull for a man to kill,
1865And not to breake a promise with his foe?
Vil: To kill my Lord when warre is once proclaymd,
So that our quarrel be for wrongs receaude,
No doubt is lawfully permitted vs:
But in an othe we must be well aduisd,
1870How we do sweare, and when we once haue sworne,
Not to infringe it though we die therefore:
Therefore my Lord, as willing I returne,
As if I were to flie to paradise.
Ch: Stay my Villeirs, thine honorable minde,
1875Deserues to be eternally admirde,
Thy sute shalbe no longer thus deferd:
Giue me the paper, Ile subscribe to it,
And wheretofore I loued thee as Villeirs,
Heereafter Ile embrace thee as my selfe,
1880Stay and be still in fauour with thy Lord.
Vil: I humbly thanke your grace, I must dispatch,
And send this pasport first vnto the Earle,
And then I will attend your highnes pleasure.
Ch. Do so Villeirs, and Charles when he hath neede,
1885Be such his souldiers, howsoeuer he speede. Exit Villeirs.
Enter King Iohn.
K. Io: Come Charles and arme thee, Edward is intrapt,
The Prince of Wales is falne into our hands,
H An