William Shakespeare: King Henry VI, First Part

ACT THIRD 1. SCENE I. London. The Parliament-house. (continued)

GLOUCESTER.
Your ships already are in readiness.

[Sennet. Flourish. Exeunt all but Exeter.]

EXETER.
Aye, we may march in England or in France,
Not seeing what is likely to ensue.
This late dissension grown betwixt the peers
Burns under feigned ashes of forged love,
And will at last break out into a flame;
As fest'red members rot but by degree,
Till bones and flesh and sinews fall away,
So will this base and envious discord breed.
And now I fear that fatal prophecy
Which in the time of Henry named the fifth
Was in the mouth of every sucking babe;
That Henry born at Monmouth should win all
And Henry born at Windsor lose all:
Which is so plain, that Exeter doth wish
His days may finish ere that hapless time.

[Exit.]