Act 4, Scene 2

A Plain in Warwickshire

[Enter WARWICK and OXFORD with French and other Forces.]
Earl of Warwick
2024 Trust me, my lord, all hitherto goes well;
2025 The common people by numbers swarm to us.
2026 But see where Somerset and Clarence comes!—
[Enter CLARENCE and SOMERSET.]
Earl of Warwick
2027 Speak suddenly, my lords, are we all friends?
George, Duke of Clarence
2028 Fear not that, my lord.
Earl of Warwick
2029 Then, gentle Clarence, welcome unto Warwick;—
2030 And welcome, Somerset.—I hold it cowardice
2031 To rest mistrustful where a noble heart
2032 Hath pawn'd an open hand in sign of love;
2033 Else might I think that Clarence, Edward's brother,
2034 Were but a feigned friend to our proceedings.
2035 But welcome, sweet Clarence; my daughter shall be thine.
2036 And now what rests but, in night's coverture,
2037 Thy brother being carelessly encamp'd,
2038 His soldiers lurking in the towns about,
2039 And but attended by a simple guard,
2040 We may surprise and take him at our pleasure?
2041 Our scouts have found the adventure very easy;
2042 That as Ulysses and stout Diomede
2043 With sleight and manhood stole to Rhesus' tents,
2044 And brought from thence the Thracian fatal steeds,
2045 So we, well cover'd with the night's black mantle,
2046 At unawares may beat down Edward's guard,
2047 And seize himself,—I say not slaughter him,
2048 For I intend but only to surprise him.—
2049 You that will follow me to this attempt,
2050 Applaud the name of Henry with your leader.
[They all cry, 'Henry!']
Earl of Warwick
2051 Why then, let's on our way in silent sort;
2052 For Warwick and his friends, God and Saint George!
[Exeunt.]

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Notes

TLN 2030archaic vocab
“I hold it cowardice To rest mistrustful where a noble heart Hath pawn'd an open hand in sign of love”
Warwick says it would be cowardice — a failure of trust — to stay suspicious once a person of noble character has pledged their loyalty in the open. 'Pawn'd an open hand' means given one's hand as a pledge or hostage: as a debtor 'pawns' (surrenders as security) an object, a man pledging his faith literally extends his open hand as a physical token that he means what he says. Warwick is reassuring himself — and the audience — that Clarence's defection from Edward is genuine.
TLN 2036archaic vocab
“night's coverture”
'Coverture' means cover or concealment — the darkness of night as a cloak hiding the raiders from sight. Warwick is saying they will strike under cover of darkness, while Edward's army is carelessly dispersed in nearby towns.
TLN 2042classical allusion
“Ulysses and stout Diomede With sleight and manhood stole to Rhesus' tents, And brought from thence the Thracian fatal steeds”
Warwick compares the planned night raid to a famous episode from the Trojan War: Ulysses (the cunning Greek strategist) and Diomedes crept by night into the camp of Rhesus, a Thracian king allied with Troy, and stole his magical horses. A prophecy said that if those horses once ate the grass of Troy or drank from the river Xanthus, Troy could never be taken — so stealing them before dawn was a decisive coup. 'Sleight and manhood' means guile plus courage.
TLN 2052cultural context
“God and Saint George”
'God and Saint George!' is the traditional English battle-cry. Saint George — a soldier-martyr of the third century and patron saint of England since the reign of Edward III — was invoked before combat as England's divine protector. The cry is paradoxical here: Warwick is rallying a Lancastrian and French-backed force against the Yorkist English king in the name of England's own patron saint.
historical The Order of the Garter