My widow-comfort,and my sorrows'cure!
Exit KING PHILIP I fear some outrage,and I'll follow her.
Exit LEWIS There's nothing in this world can make me joy:
Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man;And bitter shame hath spoil'd the sweet world's taste That it yields nought but shame and bitterness.CARDINAL PANDULPH Before the curing of a strong disease,Even in the instant of repair and health,The fit is strongest;evils that take leave,On their departure most of all show evil:
What have you lost by losing of this day?LEWIS All days of glory,joy and happiness.CARDINAL PANDULPH If you had won it,certainly you had.
No,no;when Fortune means to men most good,She looks upon them with a threatening eye.
'Tis strange to think how much King John hath lost In this which he accounts so clearly won:
Are not you grieved that Arthur is his prisoner?LEWIS As heartily as he is glad he hath him.CARDINAL PANDULPH Your mind is all as youthful as your blood.
Now hear me speak with a prophetic spirit;
For even the breath of what I mean to speak Shall blow each dust,each straw,each little rub,Out of the path which shall directly lead Thy foot to England's throne;and therefore mark.
John hath seized Arthur;and it cannot be That,whiles warm life plays in that infant's veins,The misplaced John should entertain an hour,One minute,nay,one quiet breath of rest.
A sceptre snatch'd with an unruly hand Must be as boisterously maintain'd as gain'd;And he that stands upon a slippery place Makes nice of no vile hold to stay him up:
That John may stand,then Arthur needs must fall;So be it,for it cannot be but so.LEWIS But what shall I gain by young Arthur's fall?CARDINAL PANDULPH You,in the right of Lady Blanch your wife,May then make all the claim that Arthur did.LEWIS And lose it,life and all,as Arthur did.CARDINAL PANDULPH How green you are and fresh in this old world!