JOHN OF OXFORD.
And I can easily swear to these as being
The King's will and God's will and justice; yet
I could but read a part to-day, because----
FITZURSE.
Because my lord of Canterbury----
DE TRACY.
Ay,
This lord of Canterbury----
DE BRITO.
As is his wont
Too much of late whene'er your royal rights
Are mooted in our councils----
FITZURSE.
--made an uproar.
HENRY.
And Becket had my bosom on all this;
If ever man by bonds of gratefulness--
I raised him from the puddle of the gutter,
I made him porcelain from the clay of the city--
Thought that I knew him, err'd thro' love of him,
Hoped, were he chosen archbishop, Church and Crown,
Two sisters gliding in an equal dance,
Two rivers gently flowing side by side--
But no!
The bird that moults sings the same song again,
The snake that sloughs comes out a snake again.
Snake--ay, but he that lookt a fangless one,
Issues a venomous adder.
For he, when having dofft the Chancellor's robe--
Flung the Great Seal of England in my face--
Claim'd some of our crown lands for Canterbury--
My comrade, boon companion, my co-reveller,
The master of his master, the King's king.
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