Edward II quotes
The lines readers remember from Edward II, by Christopher Marlowe.
14 quotes · About the book
Standout lines
The sight of London to my exiled eyes Is as Elysium to a new-come soul:
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Sweet prince, I come! these, thy amorous lines Might have enforced me to have swum from France, And, like Leander, gasped upon the sand, So thou wouldst smile, and take me in thine arms.
The sight of London to my exiled eyes Is as Elysium to a new-come soul:
Not that I love the city or the men, But that it harbours him I hold so dear— The king, upon whose bosom let me lie, And with the world be still at enmity.
What need the arctic people love starlight, To whom the sun shines both by day and night?
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Not that I love the city or the men, But that it harbours him I hold so dear— The king, upon whose bosom let me lie, And with the world be still at enmity.
What need the arctic people love starlight, To whom the sun shines both by day and night?
Farewell base stooping to the lordly peers! My knee shall bow to none but to the king. As for the multitude, that are but sparks, Raked up in embers of their poverty— Tanti;
Because he loves me more than all the world.
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Why should you love him whom the world hates so?
Because he loves me more than all the world.
Ah, none but rude and savage-minded men Would seek the ruin of my Gaveston! You that be noble-born should pity him.
The griefs of private men are soon allayed; But not of kings.
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Leicester, if gentle words might comfort me, Thy speeches long ago had eased my sorrows, For kind and loving hast thou always been.
The griefs of private men are soon allayed; But not of kings.
The forest deer, being struck, Runs to an herb that closeth up the wounds:
To wretched men death is felicity.
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Farewell; I know the next news that they bring Will be my death; and welcome shall it be:
To wretched men death is felicity.
Enter Berkeley, who gives a paper to Leicester.
Feared am I more than loved;—let me be feared, And, when I frown, make all the court look pale.
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The prince I rule, the queen do I command, And with a lowly congé to the ground The proudest lords salute me as I pass; I seal, I cancel, I do what I will.
Feared am I more than loved;—let me be feared, And, when I frown, make all the court look pale.
I view the prince with Aristarchus’ eyes, Whose looks were as a breeching to a boy. They thrust upon me the protectorship, And sue to me for that that I desire;
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Act I, Scene I
The sight of London to my exiled eyes Is as Elysium to a new-come soul:
Show the passage
Sweet prince, I come! these, thy amorous lines Might have enforced me to have swum from France, And, like Leander, gasped upon the sand, So thou wouldst smile, and take me in thine arms.
The sight of London to my exiled eyes Is as Elysium to a new-come soul:
Not that I love the city or the men, But that it harbours him I hold so dear— The king, upon whose bosom let me lie, And with the world be still at enmity.
What need the arctic people love starlight, To whom the sun shines both by day and night?
Show the passage
Not that I love the city or the men, But that it harbours him I hold so dear— The king, upon whose bosom let me lie, And with the world be still at enmity.
What need the arctic people love starlight, To whom the sun shines both by day and night?
Farewell base stooping to the lordly peers! My knee shall bow to none but to the king. As for the multitude, that are but sparks, Raked up in embers of their poverty— Tanti;
Act I, Scene IV
Because he loves me more than all the world.
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Why should you love him whom the world hates so?
Because he loves me more than all the world.
Ah, none but rude and savage-minded men Would seek the ruin of my Gaveston! You that be noble-born should pity him.
Instead of ink, I’ll write it with my tears.
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I see I must, and therefore am content:
Instead of ink, I’ll write it with my tears.
Subscribes.
Thou from this land, I from myself am banished.
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Rend not my heart with thy too-piercing words:
Thou from this land, I from myself am banished.
To go from hence grieves not poor Gaveston; But to forsake you, in whose gracious looks The blessedness of Gaveston remains; For nowhere else seeks he felicity.
Fair queen, forbear to angle for the fish Which, being caught, strikes him that takes it dead;
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No speaking will prevail; and therefore cease.
Fair queen, forbear to angle for the fish Which, being caught, strikes him that takes it dead;
I mean that vile torpedo, Gaveston, That now, I hope, floats on the Irish seas.
The mightiest kings have had their minions;
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Nephew, I must to Scotland; thou stay’st here. Leave now to oppose thyself against the king: Thou seest by nature he is mild and calm; And, seeing his mind so dotes on Gaveston, Let him without controlment have his will.
The mightiest kings have had their minions;
Great Alexander loved Hephaestion, The conquering Hercules for Hylas wept, And for Patroclus stern Achilles drooped. And not kings only, but the wisest men; The Roman Tully loved Octavius, Grave Socrates wild Alcibiades.
Act IV, Scene VI
Spenser, all live to die, and rise to fall.
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Make for a new life, man; throw up thy eyes And heart and hand to heaven’s immortal throne; Pay nature’s debt with cheerful countenance; Reduce we all our lessons unto this— To die, sweet Spenser, therefore live we all;
Spenser, all live to die, and rise to fall.
Come, come, keep these preachments till you come to the place appointed. You, and such as you are, have made wise work in England. Will your lordships away?
Act V, Scene I
The griefs of private men are soon allayed; But not of kings.
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Leicester, if gentle words might comfort me, Thy speeches long ago had eased my sorrows, For kind and loving hast thou always been.
The griefs of private men are soon allayed; But not of kings.
The forest deer, being struck, Runs to an herb that closeth up the wounds:
But what are kings, when regiment is gone, But perfect shadows in a sunshine day?
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But when I call to mind I am a king, Methinks I should revenge me of my wrongs, That Mortimer and Isabel have done.
But what are kings, when regiment is gone, But perfect shadows in a sunshine day?
My nobles rule; I bear the name of king, I wear the crown; but am controlled by them, By Mortimer, and my unconstant queen, Who spots my nuptial bed with infamy;
Two kings in England cannot reign at once.
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To give ambitious Mortimer my right, That, like a mountain, overwhelms my bliss; In which extreme my mind here murdered is! But that the heavens appoint I must obey.— Here, take my crown; the life of Edward too: Taking off the crown.
Two kings in England cannot reign at once.
But stay a while: let me be king till night, That I may gaze upon this glittering crown; So shall my eyes receive their last content, My head, the latest honour due to it, And jointly both yield up their wished right.
To wretched men death is felicity.
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Farewell; I know the next news that they bring Will be my death; and welcome shall it be:
To wretched men death is felicity.
Enter Berkeley, who gives a paper to Leicester.
Act V, Scene III
O, miserable is that commonweal, Where lords keep courts, and kings are locked in prison!
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Exeunt Matrevis and Gurney with King Edward.
O, miserable is that commonweal, Where lords keep courts, and kings are locked in prison!
Wherefore stay we? on, sirs, to the court!
Act V, Scene IV
Feared am I more than loved;—let me be feared, And, when I frown, make all the court look pale.
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The prince I rule, the queen do I command, And with a lowly congé to the ground The proudest lords salute me as I pass; I seal, I cancel, I do what I will.
Feared am I more than loved;—let me be feared, And, when I frown, make all the court look pale.
I view the prince with Aristarchus’ eyes, Whose looks were as a breeching to a boy. They thrust upon me the protectorship, And sue to me for that that I desire;
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