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As Richard III opens, Richard is Duke of Gloucester and his brother, Edward IV, is king. Richard is eager to clear his way to the crown. He manipulates Edward into imprisoning their brother, Clarence, and then has Clarence murdered in the Tower. Meanwhile, Richard succeeds in marrying Lady Anne, even though he killed her father-in-law, Henry VI, and her husband.
When the ailing King Edward dies, Prince Edward, the older of his two young sons, is next in line for the throne. Richard houses the Prince and his younger brother in the Tower. Richard then stages events that yield him the crown.
After Richard’s coronation, he has the boys secretly killed. He also disposes of Anne, his wife, in order to court his niece, Elizabeth of York. Rebellious nobles rally to Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond. When their armies meet, Richard is defeated and killed. Richmond becomes Henry VII. His marriage to Elizabeth of York ends the Wars of the Roses and starts the Tudor dynasty.
ACT 1
Scene 1
Made glorious summer by this son of York ,
And all the clouds that loured upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried .
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths ,
Our bruisèd arms hung up for monuments ,
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings ,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures .
Grim-visaged war hath smoothed his wrinkled front ;
And now , instead of mounting barbèd steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries ,
He capers nimbly in a lady’s chamber
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute .
But I , that am not shaped for sportive tricks ,
Nor made to court an amorous looking glass ;
I , that am rudely stamped and want love’s majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph ;
I , that am curtailed of this fair proportion ,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature ,
Deformed , unfinished , sent before my time
Into this breathing world scarce half made up ,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them —
[11] ACT 1. SC. 1 Why , I , in this weak piping time of peace ,
Have no delight to pass away the time ,
Unless to see my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity .
And therefore , since I cannot prove a lover
To entertain these fair well-spoken days ,
I am determinèd to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days .
Plots have I laid , inductions dangerous ,
By drunken prophecies , libels , and dreams ,
To set my brother Clarence and the King
In deadly hate , the one against the other ;
And if King Edward be as true and just
As I am subtle , false , and treacherous ,
This day should Clarence closely be mewed up
About a prophecy which says that ‘G’
Of Edward’s heirs the murderer shall be .
Dive , thoughts , down to my soul . Here Clarence
comes .
Brother , good day . What means this armèd guard
That waits upon your Grace ?
Tend’ring my person’s safety , hath appointed
This conduct to convey me to the Tower .
George .
He should , for that , commit your godfathers .
O , belike his Majesty hath some intent
That you should be new christened in the Tower .
But what’s the matter , Clarence ? May I know ?
[13]ACT 1. SC. 1
As yet I do not . But , as I can learn ,
He hearkens after prophecies and dreams ,
And from the crossrow plucks the letter G ,
And says a wizard told him that by ‘G’
His issue disinherited should be .
And for my name of George begins with G ,
It follows in his thought that I am he .
These , as I learn , and such like toys as these
Hath moved his Highness to commit me now .
’Tis not the King that sends you to the Tower .
My Lady Grey his wife , Clarence , ’tis she
That tempers him to this extremity .
Was it not she and that good man of worship ,
Anthony Woodeville , her brother there ,
That made him send Lord Hastings to the Tower ,
From whence this present day he is delivered ?
We are not safe , Clarence ; we are not safe .
But the Queen’s kindred and night-walking heralds
That trudge betwixt the King and Mistress Shore .
Heard you not what an humble suppliant
Lord Hastings was to her for his delivery ?
Got my Lord Chamberlain his liberty .
I’ll tell you what : I think it is our way ,
If we will keep in favor with the King ,
To be her men and wear her livery .
The jealous o’erworn widow and herself ,
Since that our brother dubbed them gentlewomen ,
Are mighty gossips in our monarchy .
[15]ACT 1. SC. 1
His Majesty hath straitly given in charge
That no man shall have private conference ,
Of what degree soever , with your brother .
You may partake of anything we say .
We speak no treason , man . We say the King
Is wise and virtuous , and his noble queen
Well struck in years , fair , and not jealous .
We say that Shore’s wife hath a pretty foot ,
A cherry lip , a bonny eye , a passing pleasing tongue ,
And that the Queen’s kindred are made gentlefolks .
How say you , sir ? Can you deny all this ?
fellow ,
He that doth naught with her , excepting one ,
Were best to do it secretly , alone .
Forbear your conference with the noble duke .
Brother , farewell . I will unto the King ,
And whatsoe’er you will employ me in ,
Were it to call King Edward’s widow ‘sister ,’
I will perform it to enfranchise you .
Meantime , this deep disgrace in brotherhood
Touches me deeper than you can imagine .
[17]ACT 1. SC. 1
I will deliver you or else lie for you .
Meantime , have patience .
Simple , plain Clarence , I do love thee so
That I will shortly send thy soul to heaven ,
If heaven will take the present at our hands .
But who comes here ? The new-delivered Hastings ?
Well are you welcome to the open air .
How hath your Lordship brooked imprisonment ?
But I shall live , my lord , to give them thanks
That were the cause of my imprisonment .
For they that were your enemies are his
And have prevailed as much on him as you .
Whiles kites and buzzards prey at liberty .
[19] ACT 1. SC. 1 The King is sickly , weak , and melancholy ,
And his physicians fear him mightily .
O , he hath kept an evil diet long ,
And overmuch consumed his royal person .
’Tis very grievous to be thought upon .
Where is he , in his bed ?
He cannot live , I hope , and must not die
Till George be packed with post-horse up to heaven .
I’ll in to urge his hatred more to Clarence
With lies well steeled with weighty arguments ,
And , if I fail not in my deep intent ,
Clarence hath not another day to live ;
Which done , God take King Edward to His mercy ,
And leave the world for me to bustle in .
For then I’ll marry Warwick’s youngest daughter .
What though I killed her husband and her father ?
The readiest way to make the wench amends
Is to become her husband and her father ;
The which will I , not all so much for love
As for another secret close intent
By marrying her which I must reach unto .
But yet I run before my horse to market .
Clarence still breathes ; Edward still lives and reigns .
When they are gone , then must I count my gains .
[21]ACT 1. SC. 2
Scene 2
Halberds to guard it , Lady Anne being the mourner ,
accompanied by Gentlemen .
If honor may be shrouded in a hearse ,
Whilst I awhile obsequiously lament
Th’ untimely fall of virtuous Lancaster .
Poor key-cold figure of a holy king ,
Pale ashes of the house of Lancaster ,
Thou bloodless remnant of that royal blood ,
Be it lawful that I invocate thy ghost
To hear the lamentations of poor Anne ,
Wife to thy Edward , to thy slaughtered son ,
Stabbed by the selfsame hand that made these
wounds .
Lo , in these windows that let forth thy life
I pour the helpless balm of my poor eyes .
O , cursèd be the hand that made these holes ;
Cursèd the heart that had the heart to do it ;
Cursèd the blood that let this blood from hence .
More direful hap betide that hated wretch
That makes us wretched by the death of thee
Than I can wish to wolves , to spiders , toads ,
Or any creeping venomed thing that lives .
If ever he have child , abortive be it ,
Prodigious , and untimely brought to light ,
Whose ugly and unnatural aspect
May fright the hopeful mother at the view ,
And that be heir to his unhappiness .
If ever he have wife , let her be made
More miserable by the death of him
Than I am made by my young lord and thee . —
[23] ACT 1. SC. 2 Come now towards Chertsey with your holy load ,
Taken from Paul’s to be interrèd there .
And still , as you are weary of this weight ,
Rest you , whiles I lament King Henry’s corse .
To stop devoted charitable deeds ?
I’ll make a corse of him that disobeys .
Advance thy halberd higher than my breast ,
Or by Saint Paul I’ll strike thee to my foot
And spurn upon thee , beggar , for thy boldness .
Alas , I blame you not , for you are mortal ,
And mortal eyes cannot endure the devil . —
Avaunt , thou dreadful minister of hell .
Thou hadst but power over his mortal body ;
His soul thou canst not have . Therefore begone .
not ,
For thou hast made the happy Earth thy hell ,
[25] ACT 1. SC. 2 Filled it with cursing cries and deep exclaims .
If thou delight to view thy heinous deeds ,
Behold this pattern of thy butcheries .
O , gentlemen , see , see dead Henry’s wounds
Open their congealed mouths and bleed afresh ! —
Blush , blush , thou lump of foul deformity ,
For ’tis thy presence that exhales this blood
From cold and empty veins where no blood dwells .
Thy deeds , inhuman and unnatural ,
Provokes this deluge most unnatural . —
O God , which this blood mad’st , revenge his death !
O Earth , which this blood drink’st , revenge his
death !
Either heaven with lightning strike the murderer
dead ,
Or Earth gape open wide and eat him quick ,
As thou dost swallow up this good king’s blood ,
Which his hell-governed arm hath butcherèd .
Which renders good for bad , blessings for curses .
No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity .
Vouchsafe , divine perfection of a woman ,
Of these supposèd crimes to give me leave
By circumstance but to acquit myself .
[27] ACT 1. SC. 2 Of these known evils but to give me leave
By circumstance to curse thy cursèd self .
Some patient leisure to excuse myself .
No excuse current but to hang thyself .
For doing worthy vengeance on thyself
That didst unworthy slaughter upon others .
But dead they are , and , devilish slave , by thee .
Thy murd’rous falchion smoking in his blood ,
The which thou once didst bend against her breast ,
But that thy brothers beat aside the point .
That laid their guilt upon my guiltless shoulders .
That never dream’st on aught but butcheries .
Didst thou not kill this king ?
[29] ACT 1. SC. 2 Thou mayst be damnèd for that wicked deed .
O , he was gentle , mild , and virtuous .
For he was fitter for that place than Earth .
To leave this keen encounter of our wits
And fall something into a slower method :
Is not the causer of the timeless deaths
Of these Plantagenets , Henry and Edward ,
As blameful as the executioner ?
Your beauty , that did haunt me in my sleep
To undertake the death of all the world ,
So I might live one hour in your sweet bosom .
[31] ACT 1. SC. 2 These nails should rend that beauty from my
cheeks .
You should not blemish it , if I stood by .
As all the world is cheerèd by the sun ,
So I by that . It is my day , my life .
To be revenged on him that loveth thee .
To be revenged on him that killed my husband .
Did it to help thee to a better husband .
thou spit at me ?
[33]ACT 1. SC. 2
Out of my sight ! Thou dost infect mine eyes .
For now they kill me with a living death .
Those eyes of thine from mine have drawn salt
tears ,
Shamed their aspects with store of childish drops .
These eyes , which never shed remorseful tear —
No , when my father York and Edward wept
To hear the piteous moan that Rutland made
When black-faced Clifford shook his sword at him ;
Nor when thy warlike father , like a child ,
Told the sad story of my father’s death
And twenty times made pause to sob and weep ,
That all the standers-by had wet their cheeks
Like trees bedashed with rain — in that sad time ,
My manly eyes did scorn an humble tear ;
And what these sorrows could not thence exhale
Thy beauty hath , and made them blind with
weeping .
I never sued to friend nor enemy ;
My tongue could never learn sweet smoothing word .
But now thy beauty is proposed my fee ,
My proud heart sues and prompts my tongue to
speak .
Teach not thy lip such scorn , for it was made
[35] ACT 1. SC. 2 For kissing , lady , not for such contempt .
If thy revengeful heart cannot forgive ,
Lo , here I lend thee this sharp-pointed sword ,
Which if thou please to hide in this true breast
And let the soul forth that adoreth thee ,
I lay it naked to the deadly stroke
And humbly beg the death upon my knee .
she offers at it with his sword .
Nay , do not pause , for I did kill King Henry —
But ’twas thy beauty that provokèd me .
Nay , now dispatch ; ’twas I that stabbed young
Edward —
But ’twas thy heavenly face that set me on .
Take up the sword again , or take up me .
I will not be thy executioner .
Speak it again and , even with the word ,
This hand , which for thy love did kill thy love ,
Shall for thy love kill a far truer love .
To both their deaths shalt thou be accessory .
[37]ACT 1. SC. 2
Even so thy breast encloseth my poor heart .
Wear both of them , for both of them are thine .
And if thy poor devoted servant may
But beg one favor at thy gracious hand ,
Thou dost confirm his happiness forever .
To him that hath most cause to be a mourner ,
And presently repair to Crosby House ,
Where , after I have solemnly interred
At Chertsey monast’ry this noble king
And wet his grave with my repentant tears ,
I will with all expedient duty see you .
For divers unknown reasons , I beseech you ,
Grant me this boon .
To see you are become so penitent . —
Tressel and Berkeley , go along with me .
But since you teach me how to flatter you ,
Imagine I have said ‘farewell’ already .
[39] ACT 1. SC. 2 Was ever woman in this humor wooed ?
Was ever woman in this humor won ?
I’ll have her , but I will not keep her long .
What , I that killed her husband and his father ,
To take her in her heart’s extremest hate ,
With curses in her mouth , tears in her eyes ,
The bleeding witness of my hatred by ,
Having God , her conscience , and these bars against
me ,
And I no friends to back my suit at all
But the plain devil and dissembling looks ?
And yet to win her , all the world to nothing !
Ha !
Hath she forgot already that brave prince ,
Edward , her lord , whom I some three months since
Stabbed in my angry mood at Tewkesbury ?
A sweeter and a lovelier gentleman ,
Framed in the prodigality of nature ,
Young , valiant , wise , and , no doubt , right royal ,
The spacious world cannot again afford .
And will she yet abase her eyes on me ,
That cropped the golden prime of this sweet prince
And made her widow to a woeful bed ?
On me , whose all not equals Edward’s moiety ?
On me , that halts and am misshapen thus ?
My dukedom to a beggarly denier ,
I do mistake my person all this while !
Upon my life , she finds , although I cannot ,
Myself to be a marv’lous proper man .
I’ll be at charges for a looking glass
And entertain a score or two of tailors
To study fashions to adorn my body .
Since I am crept in favor with myself ,
I will maintain it with some little cost .
But first I’ll turn yon fellow in his grave
[41] ACT 1. SC. 3 And then return lamenting to my love .
Shine out , fair sun , till I have bought a glass ,
That I may see my shadow as I pass .
Scene 3
Lord Rivers , and Lord Grey .
Majesty
Will soon recover his accustomed health .
Therefore , for God’s sake , entertain good comfort
And cheer his Grace with quick and merry eyes .
To be your comforter when he is gone .
Is put unto the trust of Richard Gloucester ,
A man that loves not me nor none of you .
But so it must be if the King miscarry .
[43]ACT 1. SC. 3
To your good prayer will scarcely say amen .
Yet , Derby , notwithstanding she’s your wife
And loves not me , be you , good lord , assured
I hate not you for her proud arrogance .
The envious slanders of her false accusers ,
Or if she be accused on true report ,
Bear with her weakness , which I think proceeds
From wayward sickness and no grounded malice .
Are come from visiting his Majesty .
Between the Duke of Gloucester and your brothers ,
And between them and my Lord Chamberlain ,
And sent to warn them to his royal presence .
[45]ACT 1. SC. 3
I fear our happiness is at the height .
Who is it that complains unto the King
That I , forsooth , am stern and love them not ?
By holy Paul , they love his Grace but lightly
That fill his ears with such dissentious rumors .
Because I cannot flatter and look fair ,
Smile in men’s faces , smooth , deceive , and cog ,
Duck with French nods and apish courtesy ,
I must be held a rancorous enemy .
Cannot a plain man live and think no harm ,
But thus his simple truth must be abused
With silken , sly , insinuating Jacks ?
When have I injured thee ? When done thee
wrong ? —
Or thee ? — Or thee ? Or any of your faction ?
A plague upon you all ! His royal Grace ,
Whom God preserve better than you would wish ,
Cannot be quiet scarce a breathing while
But you must trouble him with lewd complaints .
The King , on his own royal disposition ,
And not provoked by any suitor else ,
Aiming belike at your interior hatred
That in your outward action shows itself
Against my children , brothers , and myself ,
Makes him to send , that he may learn the ground .
[47]ACT 1. SC. 3
That wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch .
Since every Jack became a gentleman ,
There’s many a gentle person made a Jack .
Gloucester .
You envy my advancement , and my friends’ .
God grant we never may have need of you .
you .
Our brother is imprisoned by your means ,
Myself disgraced , and the nobility
Held in contempt , while great promotions
Are daily given to ennoble those
That scarce some two days since were worth a
noble .
From that contented hap which I enjoyed ,
I never did incense his Majesty
Against the Duke of Clarence , but have been
An earnest advocate to plead for him .
My lord , you do me shameful injury
Falsely to draw me in these vile suspects .
Of my Lord Hastings’ late imprisonment .
She may do more , sir , than denying that .
She may help you to many fair preferments
[49] ACT 1. SC. 3 And then deny her aiding hand therein ,
And lay those honors on your high desert .
What may she not ? She may , ay , marry , may she —
A bachelor , and a handsome stripling too .
Iwis , your grandam had a worser match .
Your blunt upbraidings and your bitter scoffs .
By heaven , I will acquaint his Majesty
Of those gross taunts that oft I have endured .
I had rather be a country servant-maid
Than a great queen with this condition ,
To be so baited , scorned , and stormèd at .
Small joy have I in being England’s queen .
Thy honor , state , and seat is due to me .
Tell him and spare not . Look , what I have said ,
I will avouch ’t in presence of the King ;
I dare adventure to be sent to th’ Tower .
’Tis time to speak . My pains are quite forgot .
Thou killed’st my husband Henry in the Tower ,
And Edward , my poor son , at Tewkesbury .
I was a packhorse in his great affairs ,
A weeder-out of his proud adversaries ,
[51] ACT 1. SC. 3 A liberal rewarder of his friends .
To royalize his blood , I spent mine own .
Were factious for the House of Lancaster . —
And , Rivers , so were you . — Was not your husband
In Margaret’s battle at Saint Albans slain ?
Let me put in your minds , if you forget ,
What you have been ere this , and what you are ;
Withal , what I have been , and what I am .
Ay , and forswore himself — which Jesu pardon ! —
And for his meed , poor lord , he is mewed up .
I would to God my heart were flint , like Edward’s ,
Or Edward’s soft and pitiful , like mine .
I am too childish-foolish for this world .
Thou cacodemon ! There thy kingdom is .
Which here you urge to prove us enemies ,
We followed then our lord , our sovereign king .
So should we you , if you should be our king .
Far be it from my heart , the thought thereof .
[53]ACT 1. SC. 3
You should enjoy were you this country’s king ,
As little joy you may suppose in me
That I enjoy , being the queen thereof .
For I am she , and altogether joyless .
I can no longer hold me patient .
Hear me , you wrangling pirates , that fall out
In sharing that which you have pilled from me !
Which of you trembles not that looks on me ?
If not , that I am queen , you bow like subjects ,
Yet that , by you deposed , you quake like rebels . —
Ah , gentle villain , do not turn away .
sight ?
That will I make before I let thee go .
Than death can yield me here by my abode .
A husband and a son thou ow’st to me ;
of you , allegiance .
This sorrow that I have by right is yours ,
And all the pleasures you usurp are mine .
When thou didst crown his warlike brows with
paper ,
[55] ACT 1. SC. 3 And with thy scorns drew’st rivers from his eyes ,
And then , to dry them , gav’st the Duke a clout
Steeped in the faultless blood of pretty Rutland —
His curses then , from bitterness of soul
Denounced against thee , are all fall’n upon thee ,
And God , not we , hath plagued thy bloody deed .
And the most merciless that e’er was heard of !
Ready to catch each other by the throat ,
And turn you all your hatred now on me ?
Did York’s dread curse prevail so much with
heaven
That Henry’s death , my lovely Edward’s death ,
Their kingdom’s loss , my woeful banishment ,
Should all but answer for that peevish brat ?
Can curses pierce the clouds and enter heaven ?
Why then , give way , dull clouds , to my quick
curses !
Though not by war , by surfeit die your king ,
As ours by murder to make him a king .
Prince of Wales ,
For Edward our son , that was Prince of Wales ,
Die in his youth by like untimely violence .
Thyself a queen , for me that was a queen ,
[57] ACT 1. SC. 3 Outlive thy glory , like my wretched self .
Long mayst thou live to wail thy children’s death
And see another , as I see thee now ,
Decked in thy rights , as thou art stalled in mine .
Long die thy happy days before thy death ,
And , after many lengthened hours of grief ,
Die neither mother , wife , nor England’s queen . —
Rivers and Dorset , you were standers-by ,
And so wast thou , Lord Hastings , when my son
Was stabbed with bloody daggers . God I pray Him
That none of you may live his natural age ,
But by some unlooked accident cut off .
me .
If heaven have any grievous plague in store
Exceeding those that I can wish upon thee ,
O , let them keep it till thy sins be ripe
And then hurl down their indignation
On thee , the troubler of the poor world’s peace .
The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul .
Thy friends suspect for traitors while thou liv’st ,
And take deep traitors for thy dearest friends .
No sleep close up that deadly eye of thine ,
Unless it be while some tormenting dream
Affrights thee with a hell of ugly devils .
Thou elvish-marked , abortive , rooting hog ,
Thou that wast sealed in thy nativity
The slave of nature and the son of hell ,
Thou slander of thy heavy mother’s womb ,
Thou loathèd issue of thy father’s loins ,
Thou rag of honor , thou detested —
[59]ACT 1. SC. 3
That thou hadst called me all these bitter names .
O , let me make the period to my curse !
Why strew’st thou sugar on that bottled spider ,
Whose deadly web ensnareth thee about ?
Fool , fool , thou whet’st a knife to kill thyself .
The day will come that thou shalt wish for me
To help thee curse this poisonous bunch-backed
toad .
Lest to thy harm thou move our patience .
duty .
Teach me to be your queen , and you my subjects .
O , serve me well , and teach yourselves that duty !
[61]ACT 1. SC. 3
Your fire-new stamp of honor is scarce current .
O , that your young nobility could judge
What ’twere to lose it and be miserable !
They that stand high have many blasts to shake
them ,
And if they fall , they dash themselves to pieces .
Our aerie buildeth in the cedar’s top ,
And dallies with the wind and scorns the sun .
Witness my son , now in the shade of death ,
Whose bright out-shining beams thy cloudy wrath
Hath in eternal darkness folded up .
Your aerie buildeth in our aerie’s nest .
O God , that seest it , do not suffer it !
As it is won with blood , lost be it so .
you dealt ,
And shamefully my hopes by you are butchered .
My charity is outrage , life my shame ,
And in that shame still live my sorrows’ rage .
[63] ACT 1. SC. 3 In sign of league and amity with thee .
Now fair befall thee and thy noble house !
Thy garments are not spotted with our blood ,
Nor thou within the compass of my curse .
The lips of those that breathe them in the air .
And there awake God’s gentle sleeping peace .
yonder dog !
Look when he fawns , he bites ; and when he bites ,
His venom tooth will rankle to the death .
Have not to do with him . Beware of him .
Sin , death , and hell have set their marks on him ,
And all their ministers attend on him .
And soothe the devil that I warn thee from ?
O , but remember this another day ,
When he shall split thy very heart with sorrow ,
And say poor Margaret was a prophetess . —
Live each of you the subjects to his hate ,
And he to yours , and all of you to God’s .
[65] ACT 1. SC. 3 She hath had too much wrong , and I repent
My part thereof that I have done to her .
I was too hot to do somebody good
That is too cold in thinking of it now .
Marry , as for Clarence , he is well repaid ;
He is franked up to fatting for his pains .
God pardon them that are the cause thereof .
To pray for them that have done scathe to us .
For had I cursed now , I had cursed myself .
And for your Grace , — and yours , my gracious
lords .
The secret mischiefs that I set abroach
I lay unto the grievous charge of others .
Clarence , who I indeed have cast in darkness ,
I do beweep to many simple gulls ,
Namely , to Derby , Hastings , Buckingham ,
And tell them ’tis the Queen and her allies
That stir the King against the Duke my brother .
[67] ACT 1. SC. 3 Now they believe it and withal whet me
To be revenged on Rivers , Dorset , Grey ;
But then I sigh and , with a piece of scripture ,
Tell them that God bids us do good for evil ;
And thus I clothe my naked villainy
With odd old ends stol’n forth of Holy Writ ,
And seem a saint when most I play the devil .
But soft , here come my executioners . —
How now , my hardy , stout , resolvèd mates ?
Are you now going to dispatch this thing ?
That we may be admitted where he is .
When you have done , repair to Crosby Place .
But , sirs , be sudden in the execution ,
Withal obdurate ; do not hear him plead ,
For Clarence is well-spoken and perhaps
May move your hearts to pity if you mark him .
Talkers are no good doers . Be assured
We go to use our hands and not our tongues .
tears .
I like you lads . About your business straight .
Go , go , dispatch .
[69]ACT 1. SC. 4
Scene 4
So full of fearful dreams , of ugly sights ,
That , as I am a Christian faithful man ,
I would not spend another such a night
Though ’twere to buy a world of happy days ,
So full of dismal terror was the time .
And was embarked to cross to Burgundy ,
And in my company my brother Gloucester ,
Who from my cabin tempted me to walk
Upon the hatches . Thence we looked toward
England
And cited up a thousand heavy times ,
During the wars of York and Lancaster ,
That had befall’n us . As we paced along
Upon the giddy footing of the hatches ,
Methought that Gloucester stumbled , and in falling
Struck me , that thought to stay him , overboard
Into the tumbling billows of the main .
O Lord , methought what pain it was to drown ,
What dreadful noise of waters in my ears ,
What sights of ugly death within my eyes .
Methoughts I saw a thousand fearful wracks ,
A thousand men that fishes gnawed upon ,
Wedges of gold , great anchors , heaps of pearl ,
Inestimable stones , unvalued jewels ,
All scattered in the bottom of the sea .
[71] ACT 1. SC. 4 Some lay in dead men’s skulls , and in the holes
Where eyes did once inhabit , there were crept —
As ’twere in scorn of eyes — reflecting gems ,
That wooed the slimy bottom of the deep
And mocked the dead bones that lay scattered by .
To gaze upon these secrets of the deep ?
To yield the ghost , but still the envious flood
Stopped in my soul and would not let it forth
To find the empty , vast , and wand’ring air ,
But smothered it within my panting bulk ,
Who almost burst to belch it in the sea .
O , then began the tempest to my soul .
I passed , methought , the melancholy flood ,
With that sour ferryman which poets write of ,
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night .
The first that there did greet my stranger-soul
Was my great father-in-law , renownèd Warwick ,
Who spake aloud ‘What scourge for perjury
Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence ?’
And so he vanished . Then came wand’ring by
A shadow like an angel , with bright hair
Dabbled in blood , and he shrieked out aloud
‘Clarence is come — false , fleeting , perjured
Clarence ,
That stabbed me in the field by Tewkesbury .
Seize on him , furies . Take him unto torment .’
With that , methoughts , a legion of foul fiends
[73] ACT 1. SC. 4 Environed me and howlèd in mine ears
Such hideous cries that with the very noise
I trembling waked , and for a season after
Could not believe but that I was in hell ,
Such terrible impression made my dream .
I am afraid , methinks , to hear you tell it .
That now give evidence against my soul ,
For Edward’s sake , and see how he requites me . —
O God , if my deep prayers cannot appease thee ,
But thou wilt be avenged on my misdeeds ,
Yet execute thy wrath in me alone !
O , spare my guiltless wife and my poor children ! —
Keeper , I prithee sit by me awhile .
My soul is heavy , and I fain would sleep .
Makes the night morning , and the noontide night .
Princes have but their titles for their glories ,
An outward honor for an inward toil ,
And , for unfelt imaginations ,
They often feel a world of restless cares ,
So that between their titles and low name
There’s nothing differs but the outward fame .
[75]ACT 1. SC. 4
hither ?
came hither on my legs .
Let him see our commission , and talk no more .
The noble Duke of Clarence to your hands .
I will not reason what is meant hereby
Because I will be guiltless from the meaning .
There lies the Duke asleep , and there the keys .
I’ll to the King and signify to him
That thus I have resigned to you my charge .
Fare you well .
sleeps ?
when he wakes .
great Judgment Day .
sleeping .
hath bred a kind of remorse in me .
but to be damned for killing him , from the which
no warrant can defend me .
[77]ACT 1. SC. 4
and tell him so .
this passionate humor of mine will change . It was
wont to hold me but while one tells twenty .
are yet within me .
deed’s done .
reward .
purse .
our reward , thy conscience flies out .
few or none will entertain it .
man a coward : a man cannot steal but it accuseth
him ; a man cannot swear but it checks him ; a man
cannot lie with his neighbor’s wife but it detects
him . ’Tis a blushing , shamefaced spirit that mutinies
in a man’s bosom . It fills a man full of
obstacles . It made me once restore a purse of gold
that by chance I found . It beggars any man that
keeps it . It is turned out of towns and cities for a
dangerous thing , and every man that means to live
well endeavors to trust to himself and live without it .
persuading me not to kill the Duke .
[79] ACT 1. SC. 4 believe him not . He would insinuate with thee but
to make thee sigh .
with me .
thy reputation . Come , shall we fall to work ?
hilts of thy sword , and then throw him into the
malmsey butt in the next room .
sop of him !
Your eyes do menace me . Why look you pale ?
Who sent you hither ? Wherefore do you come ?
[81]ACT 1. SC. 4
And therefore cannot have the hearts to do it .
Wherein , my friends , have I offended you ?
To slay the innocent ? What is my offense ?
Where is the evidence that doth accuse me ?
What lawful quest have given their verdict up
Unto the frowning judge ? Or who pronounced
The bitter sentence of poor Clarence’ death
Before I be convict by course of law ?
To threaten me with death is most unlawful .
I charge you , as you hope to have redemption ,
By Christ’s dear blood shed for our grievous sins ,
That you depart , and lay no hands on me .
The deed you undertake is damnable .
Hath in the table of His law commanded
That thou shalt do no murder . Will you then
Spurn at His edict and fulfill a man’s ?
Take heed , for He holds vengeance in His hand
To hurl upon their heads that break His law .
[83] ACT 1. SC. 4 For false forswearing and for murder too .
Thou didst receive the sacrament to fight
In quarrel of the House of Lancaster .
Didst break that vow , and with thy treacherous
blade
Unrippedst the bowels of thy sovereign’s son .
When thou hast broke it in such dear degree ?
For Edward , for my brother , for his sake .
He sends you not to murder me for this ,
For in that sin he is as deep as I .
If God will be avengèd for the deed ,
O , know you yet He doth it publicly !
Take not the quarrel from His powerful arm ;
He needs no indirect or lawless course
To cut off those that have offended Him .
When gallant-springing , brave Plantagenet ,
That princely novice , was struck dead by thee ?
Provoke us hither now to slaughter thee .
I am his brother , and I love him well .
If you are hired for meed , go back again ,
[85] ACT 1. SC. 4 And I will send you to my brother Gloucester ,
Who shall reward you better for my life
Than Edward will for tidings of my death .
you .
Go you to him from me .
Blessed his three sons with his victorious arm ,
He little thought of this divided friendship .
Bid Gloucester think of this , and he will weep .
yourself .
’Tis he that sends us to destroy you here .
And hugged me in his arms , and swore with sobs
That he would labor my delivery .
From this Earth’s thralldom to the joys of heaven .
To counsel me to make my peace with God ,
And are you yet to your own souls so blind
[87] ACT 1. SC. 4 That you will war with God by murd’ring me ?
O sirs , consider : they that set you on
To do this deed will hate you for the deed .
Which of you — if you were a prince’s son
Being pent from liberty , as I am now —
If two such murderers as yourselves came to you ,
Would not entreat for life ? Ay , you would beg ,
Were you in my distress .
in thy looks .
O , if thine eye be not a flatterer ,
Come thou on my side and entreat for me .
A begging prince what beggar pities not ?
do ,
I’ll drown you in the malmsey butt within .
How fain , like Pilate , would I wash my hands
Of this most grievous murder .
not ?
[89] ACT 1. SC. 4 By heavens , the Duke shall know how slack you
have been .
Take thou the fee , and tell him what I say ,
For I repent me that the Duke is slain .
Well , I’ll go hide the body in some hole
Till that the Duke give order for his burial .
And when I have my meed , I will away ,
For this will out , and then I must not stay .
[93]
ACT 2
Scene 1
Lord Marquess Dorset , Rivers , Hastings , Buckingham ,
Woodeville , Grey , and Scales .
You peers , continue this united league .
I every day expect an embassage
From my Redeemer to redeem me hence ,
And more in peace my soul shall part to heaven
Since I have made my friends at peace on Earth .
Rivers and Hastings , take each other’s hand .
Dissemble not your hatred . Swear your love .
And with my hand I seal my true heart’s love .
Lest He that is the supreme King of kings
Confound your hidden falsehood and award
Either of you to be the other’s end .
[95]ACT 2. SC. 1
Nor you , son Dorset , — Buckingham , nor you .
You have been factious one against the other . —
Wife , love Lord Hastings . Let him kiss your hand ,
And what you do , do it unfeignedly .
Our former hatred , so thrive I and mine .
Marquess .
Upon my part shall be inviolable .
With thy embracements to my wife’s allies
And make me happy in your unity .
Upon your Grace , but with all duteous love
Doth cherish you and yours , God punish me
With hate in those where I expect most love .
When I have most need to employ a friend ,
And most assurèd that he is a friend ,
Deep , hollow , treacherous , and full of guile
Be he unto me : this do I beg of God ,
When I am cold in love to you or yours .
[97] ACT 2. SC. 1 Is this thy vow unto my sickly heart .
There wanteth now our brother Gloucester here
To make the blessèd period of this peace .
Here comes Sir Richard Ratcliffe and the Duke .
And , princely peers , a happy time of day .
Gloucester , we have done deeds of charity ,
Made peace of enmity , fair love of hate ,
Between these swelling , wrong-incensèd peers .
Among this princely heap , if any here
By false intelligence or wrong surmise
Hold me a foe ,
If I unwittingly , or in my rage ,
Have aught committed that is hardly borne
By any in this presence , I desire
To reconcile me to his friendly peace .
’Tis death to me to be at enmity ;
I hate it , and desire all good men’s love .
First , madam , I entreat true peace of you ,
Which I will purchase with my duteous service ; —
Of you , my noble cousin Buckingham ,
If ever any grudge were lodged between us ; —
Of you and you , Lord Rivers and of Dorset ,
That all without desert have frowned on me ; —
Of you , Lord Woodeville and Lord Scales ; — of you ,
Dukes , earls , lords , gentlemen ; indeed , of all .
I do not know that Englishman alive
With whom my soul is any jot at odds
[99] ACT 2. SC. 1 More than the infant that is born tonight .
I thank my God for my humility .
I would to God all strifes were well compounded .
My sovereign lord , I do beseech your Highness
To take our brother Clarence to your grace .
To be so flouted in this royal presence ?
Who knows not that the gentle duke is dead ?
You do him injury to scorn his corse .
But his red color hath forsook his cheeks .
And that a wingèd Mercury did bear .
Some tardy cripple bare the countermand ,
That came too lag to see him burièd .
God grant that some , less noble and less loyal ,
Nearer in bloody thoughts , and not in blood ,
Deserve not worse than wretched Clarence did ,
And yet go current from suspicion .
[101]ACT 2. SC. 1
Who slew today a riotous gentleman
Lately attendant on the Duke of Norfolk .
And shall that tongue give pardon to a slave ?
My brother killed no man ; his fault was thought ,
And yet his punishment was bitter death .
Who sued to me for him ? Who , in my wrath ,
Kneeled at my feet , and bade me be advised ?
Who spoke of brotherhood ? Who spoke of love ?
Who told me how the poor soul did forsake
The mighty Warwick and did fight for me ?
Who told me , in the field at Tewkesbury ,
When Oxford had me down , he rescued me ,
And said ‘Dear brother , live , and be a king’ ?
Who told me , when we both lay in the field
Frozen almost to death , how he did lap me
Even in his garments and did give himself ,
All thin and naked , to the numb-cold night ?
All this from my remembrance brutish wrath
Sinfully plucked , and not a man of you
Had so much grace to put it in my mind .
But when your carters or your waiting vassals
Have done a drunken slaughter and defaced
The precious image of our dear Redeemer ,
[103] ACT 2. SC. 2 You straight are on your knees for pardon , pardon ,
And I , unjustly too , must grant it you .
But for my brother , not a man would speak ,
Nor I , ungracious , speak unto myself
For him , poor soul . The proudest of you all
Have been beholding to him in his life ,
Yet none of you would once beg for his life .
O God , I fear Thy justice will take hold
On me and you , and mine and yours for this ! —
Come , Hastings , help me to my closet . —
Ah , poor Clarence .
How that the guilty kindred of the Queen
Looked pale when they did hear of Clarence’ death ?
O , they did urge it still unto the King .
God will revenge it . Come , lords , will you go
To comfort Edward with our company ?
Scene 2
children of Clarence .
And cry ‘O Clarence , my unhappy son’ ?
[105] ACT 2. SC. 2 And call us orphans , wretches , castaways ,
If that our noble father were alive ?
I do lament the sickness of the King ,
As loath to lose him , not your father’s death .
It were lost sorrow to wail one that’s lost .
The King mine uncle is to blame for it .
God will revenge it , whom I will importune
With earnest prayers , all to that effect .
well .
Incapable and shallow innocents ,
You cannot guess who caused your father’s death .
Told me the King , provoked to it by the Queen ,
Devised impeachments to imprison him ;
And when my uncle told me so , he wept ,
And pitied me , and kindly kissed my cheek ,
Bade me rely on him as on my father ,
And he would love me dearly as a child .
And with a virtuous visor hide deep vice .
He is my son , ay , and therein my shame ,
Yet from my dugs he drew not this deceit .
[107]ACT 2. SC. 2
Rivers and Dorset after her .
To chide my fortune and torment myself ?
I’ll join with black despair against my soul
And to myself become an enemy .
Edward , my lord , thy son , our king , is dead .
Why grow the branches when the root is gone ?
Why wither not the leaves that want their sap ?
If you will live , lament . If die , be brief ,
That our swift-wingèd souls may catch the King’s ,
Or , like obedient subjects , follow him
To his new kingdom of ne’er-changing night .
As I had title in thy noble husband .
I have bewept a worthy husband’s death
And lived with looking on his images ;
But now two mirrors of his princely semblance
Are cracked in pieces by malignant death ,
And I , for comfort , have but one false glass
That grieves me when I see my shame in him .
Thou art a widow , yet thou art a mother ,
And hast the comfort of thy children left ,
But death hath snatched my husband from mine
arms
And plucked two crutches from my feeble hands ,
Clarence and Edward . O , what cause have I ,
Thine being but a moiety of my moan ,
To overgo thy woes and drown thy cries !
[109]ACT 2. SC. 2
How can we aid you with our kindred tears ?
Your widow-dolor likewise be unwept !
I am not barren to bring forth complaints .
All springs reduce their currents to mine eyes ,
That I , being governed by the watery moon ,
May send forth plenteous tears to drown the world .
Ah , for my husband , for my dear lord Edward !
Alas , I am the mother of these griefs .
Their woes are parceled ; mine is general .
She for an Edward weeps , and so do I ;
I for a Clarence weep ; so doth not she .
These babes for Clarence weep , and so do I ;
I for an Edward weep ; so do not they .
Alas , you three , on me , threefold distressed ,
[111] ACT 2. SC. 2 Pour all your tears . I am your sorrow’s nurse ,
And I will pamper it with lamentation .
That you take with unthankfulness His doing .
In common worldly things , ’tis called ungrateful
With dull unwillingness to repay a debt
Which with a bounteous hand was kindly lent ;
Much more to be thus opposite with heaven ,
For it requires the royal debt it lent you .
Of the young prince your son . Send straight for
him .
Let him be crowned . In him your comfort lives .
Drown desperate sorrow in dead Edward’s grave
And plant your joys in living Edward’s throne .
Stanley , Earl of Derby , Hastings , and Ratcliffe .
To wail the dimming of our shining star ,
But none can help our harms by wailing them . —
Madam my mother , I do cry you mercy ;
I did not see your Grace . Humbly on my knee
I crave your blessing .
Love , charity , obedience , and true duty .
That is the butt end of a mother’s blessing ;
I marvel that her Grace did leave it out .
[113] ACT 2. SC. 2 That bear this heavy mutual load of moan ,
Now cheer each other in each other’s love .
Though we have spent our harvest of this king ,
We are to reap the harvest of his son .
The broken rancor of your high-swoll’n hates ,
But lately splintered , knit , and joined together ,
Must gently be preserved , cherished , and kept .
Meseemeth good that with some little train
Forthwith from Ludlow the young prince be fet
Hither to London , to be crowned our king .
Buckingham ?
The new-healed wound of malice should break out ,
Which would be so much the more dangerous
By how much the estate is green and yet
ungoverned .
Where every horse bears his commanding rein
And may direct his course as please himself ,
As well the fear of harm as harm apparent ,
In my opinion , ought to be prevented .
And the compact is firm and true in me .
Yet since it is but green , it should be put
To no apparent likelihood of breach ,
Which haply by much company might be urged .
Therefore I say with noble Buckingham
That it is meet so few should fetch the Prince .
[115] ACT 2. SC. 3 Who they shall be that straight shall post to
Ludlow . —
Madam , and you , my sister , will you go
To give your censures in this business ?
For God’s sake let not us two stay at home .
For by the way I’ll sort occasion ,
As index to the story we late talked of ,
To part the Queen’s proud kindred from the Prince .
My oracle , my prophet , my dear cousin ,
I , as a child , will go by thy direction .
Toward Ludlow then , for we’ll not stay behind .
Scene 3
Hear you the news abroad ?
I fear , I fear , ’twill prove a giddy world .
[117]ACT 2. SC. 3
Which , in his nonage , council under him ,
And , in his full and ripened years , himself ,
No doubt shall then , and till then , govern well .
Was crowned in Paris but at nine months old .
For then this land was famously enriched
With politic grave counsel ; then the King
Had virtuous uncles to protect his Grace .
Or by his father there were none at all ,
For emulation who shall now be nearest
Will touch us all too near if God prevent not .
O , full of danger is the Duke of Gloucester ,
And the Queen’s sons and brothers haught and
proud ,
And were they to be ruled , and not to rule ,
This sickly land might solace as before .
[119]ACT 2. SC. 4
cloaks ;
When great leaves fall , then winter is at hand ;
When the sun sets , who doth not look for night ?
Untimely storms makes men expect a dearth .
All may be well ; but if God sort it so ,
’Tis more than we deserve or I expect .
You cannot reason almost with a man
That looks not heavily and full of dread .
By a divine instinct , men’s minds mistrust
Ensuing danger , as by proof we see
The water swell before a boist’rous storm .
But leave it all to God . Whither away ?
Scene 4
Queen Elizabeth , and the Duchess of York .
And at Northampton they do rest tonight .
Tomorrow or next day they will be here .
[121]ACT 2. SC. 4
I hope he is much grown since last I saw him .
Has almost overta’en him in his growth .
My uncle Rivers talked how I did grow
More than my brother . ‘Ay ,’ quoth my uncle
Gloucester ,
‘Small herbs have grace ; great weeds do grow
apace .’
And since , methinks I would not grow so fast
Because sweet flowers are slow and weeds make
haste .
In him that did object the same to thee !
He was the wretched’st thing when he was young ,
So long a-growing and so leisurely ,
That if his rule were true , he should be gracious .
I could have given my uncle’s Grace a flout
To touch his growth nearer than he touched mine .
[123]ACT 2. SC. 4
That he could gnaw a crust at two hours old .
’Twas full two years ere I could get a tooth .
Grandam , this would have been a biting jest .
And , with them , Sir Thomas Vaughan , prisoners .
Why , or for what , the nobles were committed
Is all unknown to me , my gracious lord .
[125]ACT 2. SC. 4
The tiger now hath seized the gentle hind .
Insulting tyranny begins to jut
Upon the innocent and aweless throne .
Welcome , destruction , blood , and massacre .
I see , as in a map , the end of all .
How many of you have mine eyes beheld ?
My husband lost his life to get the crown ,
And often up and down my sons were tossed
For me to joy , and weep , their gain and loss .
And being seated , and domestic broils
Clean overblown , themselves the conquerors
Make war upon themselves , brother to brother ,
Blood to blood , self against self . O , preposterous
And frantic outrage , end thy damnèd spleen ,
Or let me die , to look on Earth no more .
Madam , farewell .
And thither bear your treasure and your goods .
For my part , I’ll resign unto your Grace
The seal I keep ; and so betide to me
As well I tender you and all of yours .
Go . I’ll conduct you to the sanctuary .
[129]
ACT 3
Scene 1
Richard Duke of Gloucester , Buckingham ,
the Cardinal , Catesby , and others .
The weary way hath made you melancholy .
Have made it tedious , wearisome , and heavy .
I want more uncles here to welcome me .
Hath not yet dived into the world’s deceit ;
Nor more can you distinguish of a man
Than of his outward show , which , God He knows ,
Seldom or never jumpeth with the heart .
Those uncles which you want were dangerous .
Your Grace attended to their sugared words
But looked not on the poison of their hearts .
God keep you from them , and from such false
friends .
[131]ACT 3. SC. 1
I thought my mother and my brother York
Would long ere this have met us on the way .
Fie , what a slug is Hastings that he comes not
To tell us whether they will come or no !
The Queen your mother and your brother York
Have taken sanctuary . The tender prince
Would fain have come with me to meet your Grace ,
But by his mother was perforce withheld .
Is this of hers ! — Lord Cardinal , will your Grace
Persuade the Queen to send the Duke of York
Unto his princely brother presently ? —
If she deny , Lord Hastings , go with him ,
And from her jealous arms pluck him perforce .
[133] ACT 3. SC. 1 Can from his mother win the Duke of York ,
Anon expect him here ; but if she be obdurate
To mild entreaties , God in heaven forbid
We should infringe the holy privilege
Of blessèd sanctuary ! Not for all this land
Would I be guilty of so deep a sin .
Too ceremonious and traditional .
Weigh it but with the grossness of this age ,
You break not sanctuary in seizing him .
The benefit thereof is always granted
To those whose dealings have deserved the place
And those who have the wit to claim the place .
This prince hath neither claimed it nor deserved it
And therefore , in mine opinion , cannot have it .
Then taking him from thence that is not there ,
You break no privilege nor charter there .
Oft have I heard of sanctuary men ,
But sanctuary children , never till now .
Come on , Lord Hastings , will you go with me ?
Say , uncle Gloucester , if our brother come ,
Where shall we sojourn till our coronation ?
If I may counsel you , some day or two
Your Highness shall repose you at the Tower ;
Then where you please and shall be thought most fit
For your best health and recreation .
[135]ACT 3. SC. 1
Did Julius Caesar build that place , my lord ?
Which , since , succeeding ages have re-edified .
Successively from age to age , he built it ?
Methinks the truth should live from age to age ,
As ’twere retailed to all posterity ,
Even to the general all-ending day .
I moralize two meanings in one word .
With what his valor did enrich his wit ,
His wit set down to make his valor live .
Death makes no conquest of this conqueror ,
For now he lives in fame , though not in life .
I’ll tell you what , my cousin Buckingham —
I’ll win our ancient right in France again
Or die a soldier , as I lived a king .
[137]ACT 3. SC. 1
Cardinal .
Too late he died that might have kept that title ,
Which by his death hath lost much majesty .
You said that idle weeds are fast in growth .
The Prince my brother hath outgrown me far .
But you have power in me as in a kinsman .
And being but a toy , which is no grief to give .
[139]ACT 3. SC. 1
In weightier things you’ll say a beggar nay .
Uncle , your Grace knows how to bear with him .
Uncle , my brother mocks both you and me .
Because that I am little , like an ape ,
He thinks that you should bear me on your
shoulders .
To mitigate the scorn he gives his uncle ,
He prettily and aptly taunts himself .
So cunning and so young is wonderful .
[141] ACT 3. SC. 1 Myself and my good cousin Buckingham
Will to your mother , to entreat of her
To meet you at the Tower and welcome you .
My grandam told me he was murdered there .
Thinking on them , go I unto the Tower .
and Hastings exit . Richard , Buckingham ,
and Catesby remain .
Was not incensèd by his subtle mother
To taunt and scorn you thus opprobriously ?
Bold , quick , ingenious , forward , capable .
He is all the mother’s , from the top to toe .
Thou art sworn as deeply to effect what we intend
As closely to conceal what we impart .
Thou knowest our reasons , urged upon the way .
[143] ACT 3. SC. 1 What thinkest thou ? Is it not an easy matter
To make William Lord Hastings of our mind
For the installment of this noble duke
In the seat royal of this famous isle ?
That he will not be won to aught against him .
And , as it were far off , sound thou Lord Hastings
How he doth stand affected to our purpose
And summon him tomorrow to the Tower
To sit about the coronation .
If thou dost find him tractable to us ,
Encourage him and tell him all our reasons .
If he be leaden , icy , cold , unwilling ,
Be thou so too , and so break off the talk ,
And give us notice of his inclination ;
For we tomorrow hold divided councils ,
Wherein thyself shalt highly be employed .
His ancient knot of dangerous adversaries
Tomorrow are let blood at Pomfret Castle ,
And bid my lord , for joy of this good news ,
Give Mistress Shore one gentle kiss the more .
[145]ACT 3. SC. 2
Lord Hastings will not yield to our complots ?
And look when I am king , claim thou of me
The earldom of Hereford , and all the movables
Whereof the King my brother was possessed .
Come , let us sup betimes , that afterwards
We may digest our complots in some form .
Scene 2
First , he commends him to your noble self .
[147]ACT 3. SC. 2
He dreamt the boar had razèd off his helm .
Besides , he says there are two councils kept ,
And that may be determined at the one
Which may make you and him to rue at th’ other .
Therefore he sends to know your Lordship’s
pleasure ,
If you will presently take horse with him
And with all speed post with him toward the north
To shun the danger that his soul divines .
Bid him not fear the separated council .
His Honor and myself are at the one ,
And at the other is my good friend Catesby ,
Where nothing can proceed that toucheth us
Whereof I shall not have intelligence .
Tell him his fears are shallow , without instance .
And for his dreams , I wonder he’s so simple
To trust the mock’ry of unquiet slumbers .
To fly the boar before the boar pursues
Were to incense the boar to follow us
And make pursuit where he did mean no chase .
Go , bid thy master rise and come to me ,
And we will both together to the Tower ,
Where he shall see the boar will use us kindly .
[149]ACT 3. SC. 2
What news , what news in this our tott’ring state ?
And I believe will never stand upright
Till Richard wear the garland of the realm .
crown ?
Before I’ll see the crown so foul misplaced .
But canst thou guess that he doth aim at it ?
Upon his party for the gain thereof ;
And thereupon he sends you this good news ,
That this same very day your enemies ,
The kindred of the Queen , must die at Pomfret .
Because they have been still my adversaries .
But that I’ll give my voice on Richard’s side
To bar my master’s heirs in true descent ,
God knows I will not do it , to the death .
That they which brought me in my master’s hate ,
I live to look upon their tragedy .
Well , Catesby , ere a fortnight make me older
I’ll send some packing that yet think not on ’t .
[151]ACT 3. SC. 2
When men are unprepared and look not for it .
With Rivers , Vaughan , Grey ; and so ’twill do
With some men else that think themselves as safe
As thou and I , who , as thou know’st , are dear
To princely Richard and to Buckingham .
Come on , come on . Where is your boar-spear , man ?
Fear you the boar and go so unprovided ?
You may jest on , but , by the Holy Rood ,
I do not like these several councils , I .
And never in my days , I do protest ,
Was it so precious to me as ’tis now .
Think you but that I know our state secure ,
I would be so triumphant as I am ?
Were jocund and supposed their states were sure ,
And they indeed had no cause to mistrust ;
But yet you see how soon the day o’ercast .
This sudden stab of rancor I misdoubt .
Pray God , I say , I prove a needless coward !
What , shall we toward the Tower ? The day is spent .
[153]ACT 3. SC. 2
Today the lords you talked of are beheaded .
Than some that have accused them wear their hats .
But come , my lord , let’s away .
How now , sirrah ? How goes the world with thee ?
Than when thou met’st me last where now we meet .
Then was I going prisoner to the Tower
By the suggestion of the Queen’s allies .
But now , I tell thee — keep it to thyself —
This day those enemies are put to death ,
And I in better state than e’er I was .
[155] ACT 3. SC. 3 I am in your debt for your last exercise .
Come the next sabbath , and I will content you .
Your friends at Pomfret , they do need the priest ;
Your Honor hath no shriving work in hand .
The men you talk of came into my mind .
What , go you toward the Tower ?
I shall return before your Lordship thence .
Come , will you go ?
Scene 3
nobles Rivers , Grey , and Vaughan to death at Pomfret .
Today shalt thou behold a subject die
For truth , for duty , and for loyalty .
A knot you are of damnèd bloodsuckers .
[157]ACT 3. SC. 3
Fatal and ominous to noble peers !
Within the guilty closure of thy walls ,
Richard the Second here was hacked to death ,
And , for more slander to thy dismal seat ,
We give to thee our guiltless blood to drink .
When she exclaimed on Hastings , you , and I ,
For standing by when Richard stabbed her son .
Buckingham .
Then cursed she Hastings . O , remember , God ,
To hear her prayer for them as now for us !
And for my sister and her princely sons ,
Be satisfied , dear God , with our true blood ,
Which , as thou know’st , unjustly must be spilt .
Farewell until we meet again in heaven .
[159]ACT 3. SC. 4
Scene 4
Hastings , Bishop of Ely , Norfolk , Ratcliffe , Lovell , with
others , at a table .
Is to determine of the coronation .
In God’s name , speak . When is the royal day ?
Who is most inward with the noble duke ?
mind .
He knows no more of mine than I of yours ,
Or I of his , my lord , than you of mine . —
Lord Hastings , you and he are near in love .
But for his purpose in the coronation ,
I have not sounded him , nor he delivered
His gracious pleasure any way therein .
But you , my honorable lords , may name the time ,
And in the Duke’s behalf I’ll give my voice ,
Which I presume he’ll take in gentle part .
[161]ACT 3. SC. 4
I have been long a sleeper ; but I trust
My absence doth neglect no great design
Which by my presence might have been concluded .
William Lord Hastings had pronounced your part —
I mean your voice for crowning of the King .
His Lordship knows me well and loves me well . —
My lord of Ely , when I was last in Holborn
I saw good strawberries in your garden there ;
I do beseech you , send for some of them .
Catesby hath sounded Hastings in our business
And finds the testy gentleman so hot
That he will lose his head ere give consent
His master’s child , as worshipfully he terms it ,
Shall lose the royalty of England’s throne .
Tomorrow , in my judgment , is too sudden ,
For I myself am not so well provided
As else I would be , were the day prolonged .
[163]ACT 3. SC. 4
I have sent for these strawberries .
morning .
There’s some conceit or other likes him well
When that he bids good morrow with such spirit .
I think there’s never a man in Christendom
Can lesser hide his love or hate than he ,
For by his face straight shall you know his heart .
By any livelihood he showed today ?
For were he , he had shown it in his looks .
That do conspire my death with devilish plots
Of damnèd witchcraft , and that have prevailed
Upon my body with their hellish charms ?
Makes me most forward in this princely presence
To doom th’ offenders , whosoe’er they be .
I say , my lord , they have deservèd death .
Look how I am bewitched ! Behold mine arm
Is like a blasted sapling withered up ;
[165] ACT 3. SC. 4 And this is Edward’s wife , that monstrous witch ,
Consorted with that harlot , strumpet Shore ,
That by their witchcraft thus have markèd me .
Talk’st thou to me of ‘ifs’ ? Thou art a traitor . —
Off with his head . Now by Saint Paul I swear
I will not dine until I see the same . —
Lovell and Ratcliffe , look that it be done . —
The rest that love me , rise and follow me .
with the Lord Hastings .
For I , too fond , might have prevented this .
Stanley did dream the boar did raze his helm ,
And I did scorn it and disdain to fly .
Three times today my foot-cloth horse did stumble ,
And started when he looked upon the Tower ,
As loath to bear me to the slaughterhouse .
O , now I need the priest that spake to me !
I now repent I told the pursuivant ,
As too triumphing , how mine enemies
Today at Pomfret bloodily were butchered ,
And I myself secure in grace and favor .
O Margaret , Margaret , now thy heavy curse
Is lighted on poor Hastings’ wretched head .
dinner .
Make a short shrift . He longs to see your head .
Which we more hunt for than the grace of God !
[167] ACT 3. SC. 5 Who builds his hope in air of your good looks
Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast ,
Ready with every nod to tumble down
Into the fatal bowels of the deep .
I prophesy the fearfull’st time to thee
That ever wretched age hath looked upon . —
Come , lead me to the block . Bear him my head .
They smile at me who shortly shall be dead .
Scene 5
marvelous ill-favored .
color ,
Murder thy breath in middle of a word ,
And then again begin , and stop again ,
As if thou were distraught and mad with terror ?
Speak , and look back , and pry on every side ,
Tremble and start at wagging of a straw ,
Intending deep suspicion . Ghastly looks
Are at my service , like enforcèd smiles ,
And both are ready , in their offices ,
At any time to grace my stratagems .
But what , is Catesby gone ?
[169]ACT 3. SC. 5
The dangerous and unsuspected Hastings .
I took him for the plainest harmless creature
That breathed upon the Earth a Christian ;
Made him my book , wherein my soul recorded
The history of all her secret thoughts .
So smooth he daubed his vice with show of virtue
That , his apparent open guilt omitted —
I mean his conversation with Shore’s wife —
He lived from all attainder of suspects .
That ever lived . —
Would you imagine , or almost believe ,
Were ’t not that by great preservation
We live to tell it , that the subtle traitor
[171] ACT 3. SC. 5 This day had plotted , in the council house ,
To murder me and my good lord of Gloucester ?
Or that we would , against the form of law ,
Proceed thus rashly in the villain’s death ,
But that the extreme peril of the case ,
The peace of England , and our persons’ safety
Enforced us to this execution ?
And your good Graces both have well proceeded
To warn false traitors from the like attempts .
After he once fell in with Mistress Shore .
Yet had we not determined he should die
Until your Lordship came to see his end
( Which now the loving haste of these our friends ,
Something against our meanings , have prevented ) ,
Because , my lord , I would have had you heard
The traitor speak and timorously confess
The manner and the purpose of his treasons ,
That you might well have signified the same
Unto the citizens , who haply may
Misconster us in him , and wail his death .
As well as I had seen and heard him speak ;
And do not doubt , right noble princes both ,
But I’ll acquaint our duteous citizens
With all your just proceedings in this case .
T’ avoid the censures of the carping world .
[173]ACT 3. SC. 5
Yet witness what you hear we did intend .
And so , my good Lord Mayor , we bid farewell .
The Mayor towards Guildhall hies him in all post .
There , at your meetest vantage of the time ,
Infer the bastardy of Edward’s children .
Tell them how Edward put to death a citizen
Only for saying he would make his son
Heir to the Crown — meaning indeed his house ,
Which , by the sign thereof , was termèd so .
Moreover , urge his hateful luxury
And bestial appetite in change of lust ,
Which stretched unto their servants , daughters ,
wives ,
Even where his raging eye or savage heart ,
Without control , lusted to make a prey .
Nay , for a need , thus far come near my person :
Tell them when that my mother went with child
Of that insatiate Edward , noble York
My princely father then had wars in France ,
And , by true computation of the time ,
Found that the issue was not his begot ,
Which well appearèd in his lineaments ,
Being nothing like the noble duke my father .
Yet touch this sparingly , as ’twere far off ,
Because , my lord , you know my mother lives .
As if the golden fee for which I plead
Were for myself . And so , my lord , adieu .
[175] ACT 3. SC. 6 Where you shall find me well accompanied
With reverend fathers and well-learnèd bishops .
Look for the news that the Guildhall affords .
both
Meet me within this hour at Baynard’s Castle .
Now will I go to take some privy order
To draw the brats of Clarence out of sight ,
And to give order that no manner person
Have any time recourse unto the Princes .
Scene 6
Which in a set hand fairly is engrossed ,
That it may be today read o’er in Paul’s .
And mark how well the sequel hangs together :
Eleven hours I have spent to write it over ,
For yesternight by Catesby was it sent me ;
The precedent was full as long a-doing ,
And yet within these five hours Hastings lived ,
Untainted , unexamined , free , at liberty .
Here’s a good world the while ! Who is so gross
That cannot see this palpable device ?
Yet who so bold but says he sees it not ?
[177] ACT 3. SC. 7 Bad is the world , and all will come to naught
When such ill dealing must be seen in thought .
Scene 7
The citizens are mum , say not a word .
And his contract by deputy in France ;
Th’ unsatiate greediness of his desire
And his enforcement of the city wives ;
His tyranny for trifles ; his own bastardy ,
As being got , your father then in France ,
And his resemblance being not like the Duke .
Withal , I did infer your lineaments ,
Being the right idea of your father ,
Both in your form and nobleness of mind ;
Laid open all your victories in Scotland ,
Your discipline in war , wisdom in peace ,
Your bounty , virtue , fair humility ;
Indeed , left nothing fitting for your purpose
Untouched or slightly handled in discourse .
And when mine oratory drew toward end ,
I bid them that did love their country’s good
Cry ‘God save Richard , England’s royal king !’
[179]ACT 3. SC. 7
But , like dumb statues or breathing stones ,
Stared each on other and looked deadly pale ;
Which when I saw , I reprehended them
And asked the Mayor what meant this willful silence .
His answer was , the people were not used
To be spoke to but by the Recorder .
Then he was urged to tell my tale again :
‘Thus saith the Duke . Thus hath the Duke
inferred’ —
But nothing spoke in warrant from himself .
When he had done , some followers of mine own ,
At lower end of the hall , hurled up their caps ,
And some ten voices cried ‘God save King Richard !’
And thus I took the vantage of those few .
‘Thanks , gentle citizens and friends ,’ quoth I .
‘This general applause and cheerful shout
Argues your wisdoms and your love to Richard’ —
And even here brake off and came away .
speak ?
Will not the Mayor then and his brethren come ?
Be not you spoke with but by mighty suit .
And look you get a prayer book in your hand
And stand between two churchmen , good my lord ,
For on that ground I’ll make a holy descant .
And be not easily won to our requests .
Play the maid’s part : still answer ‘nay ,’ and take it .
As I can say ‘nay’ to thee for myself ,
No doubt we bring it to a happy issue .
[181]ACT 3. SC. 7
Welcome , my lord . I dance attendance here .
I think the Duke will not be spoke withal .
Now , Catesby , what says your lord to my request ?
To visit him tomorrow or next day .
He is within , with two right reverend fathers ,
Divinely bent to meditation ,
And in no worldly suits would he be moved
To draw him from his holy exercise .
Tell him myself , the Mayor , and aldermen ,
In deep designs , in matter of great moment
No less importing than our general good ,
Are come to have some conference with his Grace .
He is not lolling on a lewd love-bed ,
But on his knees at meditation ;
Not dallying with a brace of courtesans ,
But meditating with two deep divines ;
Not sleeping , to engross his idle body ,
But praying , to enrich his watchful soul .
Happy were England would this virtuous prince
[183] ACT 3. SC. 7 Take on his Grace the sovereignty thereof .
But sure I fear we shall not win him to it .
Now , Catesby , what says his Grace ?
Such troops of citizens to come to him ,
His Grace not being warned thereof before .
He fears , my lord , you mean no good to him .
Suspect me that I mean no good to him .
By heaven , we come to him in perfect love ,
And so once more return and tell his Grace .
When holy and devout religious men
Are at their beads , ’tis much to draw them thence ,
So sweet is zealous contemplation .
To stay him from the fall of vanity ;
And , see , a book of prayer in his hand ,
True ornaments to know a holy man . —
Famous Plantagenet , most gracious prince ,
Lend favorable ear to our requests ,
[185] ACT 3. SC. 7 And pardon us the interruption
Of thy devotion and right Christian zeal .
I do beseech your Grace to pardon me ,
Who , earnest in the service of my God ,
Deferred the visitation of my friends .
But , leaving this , what is your Grace’s pleasure ?
And all good men of this ungoverned isle .
That seems disgracious in the city’s eye ,
And that you come to reprehend my ignorance .
Grace ,
On our entreaties , to amend your fault .
The supreme seat , the throne majestical ,
The sceptered office of your ancestors ,
Your state of fortune , and your due of birth ,
The lineal glory of your royal house ,
To the corruption of a blemished stock ,
Whiles in the mildness of your sleepy thoughts ,
Which here we waken to our country’s good ,
The noble isle doth want her proper limbs —
Her face defaced with scars of infamy ,
Her royal stock graft with ignoble plants ,
And almost shouldered in the swallowing gulf
Of dark forgetfulness and deep oblivion ;
Which to recure , we heartily solicit
[187] ACT 3. SC. 7 Your gracious self to take on you the charge
And kingly government of this your land ,
Not as Protector , steward , substitute ,
Or lowly factor for another’s gain ,
But as successively , from blood to blood ,
Your right of birth , your empery , your own .
For this , consorted with the citizens ,
Your very worshipful and loving friends ,
And by their vehement instigation ,
In this just cause come I to move your Grace .
Or bitterly to speak in your reproof
Best fitteth my degree or your condition .
If not to answer , you might haply think
Tongue-tied ambition , not replying , yielded
To bear the golden yoke of sovereignty ,
Which fondly you would here impose on me .
If to reprove you for this suit of yours ,
So seasoned with your faithful love to me ,
Then on the other side I checked my friends .
Therefore , to speak , and to avoid the first ,
And then , in speaking , not to incur the last ,
Definitively thus I answer you :
Your love deserves my thanks , but my desert
Unmeritable shuns your high request .
First , if all obstacles were cut away
And that my path were even to the crown
As the ripe revenue and due of birth ,
Yet so much is my poverty of spirit ,
So mighty and so many my defects ,
That I would rather hide me from my greatness ,
Being a bark to brook no mighty sea ,
Than in my greatness covet to be hid
And in the vapor of my glory smothered .
But , God be thanked , there is no need of me ,
[189] ACT 3. SC. 7 And much I need to help you , were there need .
The royal tree hath left us royal fruit ,
Which , mellowed by the stealing hours of time ,
Will well become the seat of majesty ,
And make , no doubt , us happy by his reign .
On him I lay that you would lay on me ,
The right and fortune of his happy stars ,
Which God defend that I should wring from him .
But the respects thereof are nice and trivial ,
All circumstances well considerèd .
You say that Edward is your brother’s son ;
So say we too , but not by Edward’s wife .
For first was he contract to Lady Lucy —
Your mother lives a witness to his vow —
And afterward by substitute betrothed
To Bona , sister to the King of France .
These both put off , a poor petitioner ,
A care-crazed mother to a many sons ,
A beauty-waning and distressèd widow ,
Even in the afternoon of her best days ,
Made prize and purchase of his wanton eye ,
Seduced the pitch and height of his degree
To base declension and loathed bigamy .
By her in his unlawful bed he got
This Edward , whom our manners call ‘the Prince .’
More bitterly could I expostulate ,
Save that , for reverence to some alive ,
I give a sparing limit to my tongue .
Then , good my lord , take to your royal self
This proffered benefit of dignity ,
If not to bless us and the land withal ,
Yet to draw forth your noble ancestry
From the corruption of abusing times
Unto a lineal , true-derivèd course .
[191]ACT 3. SC. 7
I am unfit for state and majesty .
I do beseech you , take it not amiss ;
I cannot , nor I will not , yield to you .
Loath to depose the child , your brother’s son —
As well we know your tenderness of heart
And gentle , kind , effeminate remorse ,
Which we have noted in you to your kindred
And equally indeed to all estates —
Yet know , whe’er you accept our suit or no ,
Your brother’s son shall never reign our king ,
But we will plant some other in the throne ,
To the disgrace and downfall of your house .
And in this resolution here we leave you . —
Come , citizens . Zounds , I’ll entreat no more .
If you deny them , all the land will rue it .
Call them again . I am not made of stones ,
But penetrable to your kind entreaties ,
Albeit against my conscience and my soul .
[193] ACT 3. SC. 7 Cousin of Buckingham and sage , grave men ,
Since you will buckle Fortune on my back ,
To bear her burden , whe’er I will or no ,
I must have patience to endure the load ;
But if black scandal or foul-faced reproach
Attend the sequel of your imposition ,
Your mere enforcement shall acquittance me
From all the impure blots and stains thereof ,
For God doth know , and you may partly see ,
How far I am from the desire of this .
Long live Richard , England’s worthy king !
And so most joyfully we take our leave .
Farewell , my cousin . Farewell , gentle friends .
[197]
ACT 4
Scene 1
the Lord Marquess of Dorset , at one door ; Anne ,
Duchess of Gloucester with Clarence’s daughter , at
another door .
Led in the hand of her kind aunt of Gloucester ?
Now , for my life , she’s wandering to the Tower ,
On pure heart’s love , to greet the tender prince . —
Daughter , well met .
A happy and a joyful time of day .
Upon the like devotion as yourselves ,
To gratulate the gentle princes there .
And in good time here the Lieutenant comes . —
Master Lieutenant , pray you , by your leave ,
How doth the Prince and my young son of York ?
[199]ACT 4. SC. 1
I may not suffer you to visit them .
The King hath strictly charged the contrary .
Hath he set bounds between their love and me ?
I am their mother . Who shall bar me from them ?
Then bring me to their sights . I’ll bear thy blame
And take thy office from thee , on my peril .
I am bound by oath , and therefore pardon me .
And I’ll salute your Grace of York as mother
And reverend looker-on of two fair queens .
Westminster ,
There to be crownèd Richard’s royal queen .
That my pent heart may have some scope to beat ,
Or else I swoon with this dead-killing news !
[201]ACT 4. SC. 1
Death and destruction dogs thee at thy heels .
Thy mother’s name is ominous to children .
If thou wilt outstrip death , go , cross the seas ,
And live with Richmond , from the reach of hell .
Go , hie thee , hie thee from this slaughterhouse ,
Lest thou increase the number of the dead
And make me die the thrall of Margaret’s curse ,
Nor mother , wife , nor England’s counted queen .
hours .
You shall have letters from me to my son
In your behalf , to meet you on the way .
Be not ta’en tardy by unwise delay .
O my accursèd womb , the bed of death !
A cockatrice hast thou hatched to the world ,
Whose unavoided eye is murderous .
O , would to God that the inclusive verge
Of golden metal that must round my brow
Were red-hot steel to sear me to the brains !
Anointed let me be with deadly venom ,
And die ere men can say ‘God save the Queen .’
To feed my humor , wish thyself no harm .
[203]ACT 4. SC. 1
Came to me as I followed Henry’s corse ,
When scarce the blood was well washed from his
hands
Which issued from my other angel husband
And that dear saint which then I weeping followed —
O , when , I say , I looked on Richard’s face ,
This was my wish : be thou , quoth I , accursed
For making me , so young , so old a widow ;
And , when thou wedd’st , let sorrow haunt thy bed ;
And be thy wife , if any be so mad ,
More miserable by the life of thee
Than thou hast made me by my dear lord’s death .
Lo , ere I can repeat this curse again ,
Within so small a time my woman’s heart
Grossly grew captive to his honey words
And proved the subject of mine own soul’s curse ,
Which hitherto hath held my eyes from rest ,
For never yet one hour in his bed
Did I enjoy the golden dew of sleep ,
But with his timorous dreams was still awaked .
Besides , he hates me for my father Warwick ,
And will , no doubt , shortly be rid of me .
tend thee .
[205] ACT 4. SC. 2
good thoughts possess thee .
I to my grave , where peace and rest lie with me .
Eighty-odd years of sorrow have I seen ,
And each hour’s joy wracked with a week of teen .
Pity , you ancient stones , those tender babes
Whom envy hath immured within your walls —
Rough cradle for such little pretty ones .
Rude ragged nurse , old sullen playfellow
For tender princes , use my babies well .
So foolish sorrows bids your stones farewell .
Scene 2
Catesby , Ratcliffe , Lovell , and others , including a Page .
Thus high , by thy advice
And thy assistance is King Richard seated .
But shall we wear these glories for a day ,
Or shall they last and we rejoice in them ?
To try if thou be current gold indeed :
Young Edward lives ; think now what I would speak .
[207]ACT 4. SC. 2
That Edward still should live ‘true noble prince’ !
Cousin , thou wast not wont to be so dull .
Shall I be plain ? I wish the bastards dead ,
And I would have it suddenly performed .
What sayst thou now ? Speak suddenly . Be brief .
Say , have I thy consent that they shall die ?
Before I positively speak in this .
I will resolve you herein presently .
And unrespective boys . None are for me
That look into me with considerate eyes .
High-reaching Buckingham grows circumspect . —
Boy !
Will tempt unto a close exploit of death ?
[209]ACT 4. SC. 2
Whose humble means match not his haughty spirit .
Gold were as good as twenty orators ,
And will , no doubt , tempt him to anything .
No more shall be the neighbor to my counsels .
Hath he so long held out with me , untired ,
And stops he now for breath ? Well , be it so .
How now , Lord Stanley , what’s the news ?
The Marquess Dorset , as I hear , is fled
To Richmond , in the parts where he abides .
That Anne my wife is very grievous sick .
I will take order for her keeping close .
Inquire me out some mean poor gentleman ,
Whom I will marry straight to Clarence’ daughter .
The boy is foolish , and I fear not him .
Look how thou dream’st ! I say again , give out
That Anne my queen is sick and like to die .
About it , for it stands me much upon
To stop all hopes whose growth may damage me .
Or else my kingdom stands on brittle glass .
[211] ACT 4. SC. 2 Murder her brothers , and then marry her —
Uncertain way of gain . But I am in
So far in blood that sin will pluck on sin .
Tear-falling pity dwells not in this eye .
Is thy name Tyrrel ?
Foes to my rest , and my sweet sleep’s disturbers ,
Are they that I would have thee deal upon .
Tyrrel , I mean those bastards in the Tower .
And soon I’ll rid you from the fear of them .
Go , by this token . Rise , and lend thine ear .
to him . Then Tyrrel steps back .
There is no more but so . Say it is done ,
And I will love thee and prefer thee for it .
[213]ACT 4. SC. 2
The late request that you did sound me in .
For which your honor and your faith is pawned —
Th’ earldom of Hereford and the movables
Which you have promisèd I shall possess .
Letters to Richmond , you shall answer it .
Did prophesy that Richmond should be king ,
When Richmond was a little peevish boy .
A king perhaps —
Have told me , I being by , that I should kill him ?
The Mayor in courtesy showed me the castle
And called it Rougemont , at which name I started ,
Because a bard of Ireland told me once
I should not live long after I saw Richmond .
[215]ACT 4. SC. 3
Of what you promised me .
Betwixt thy begging and my meditation .
I am not in the giving vein today .
With such contempt ? Made I him king for this ?
O , let me think on Hastings and be gone
To Brecknock , while my fearful head is on !
Scene 3
The most arch deed of piteous massacre
That ever yet this land was guilty of .
Dighton and Forrest , who I did suborn
To do this piece of ruthless butchery ,
Albeit they were fleshed villains , bloody dogs ,
Melted with tenderness and mild compassion ,
[217] ACT 4. SC. 3 Wept like two children in their deaths’ sad story .
‘O thus ,’ quoth Dighton , ‘lay the gentle babes .’
‘Thus , thus ,’ quoth Forrest , ‘girdling one another
Within their alabaster innocent arms .
Their lips were four red roses on a stalk ,
And in their summer beauty kissed each other .
A book of prayers on their pillow lay ,
Which once ,’ quoth Forrest , ‘almost changed my
mind ,
But , O , the devil —’ There the villain stopped ;
When Dighton thus told on : ‘We smotherèd
The most replenishèd sweet work of nature
That from the prime creation e’er she framed .’
Hence both are gone with conscience and remorse ;
They could not speak ; and so I left them both
To bear this tidings to the bloody king .
And here he comes . — All health , my sovereign lord .
Beget your happiness , be happy then ,
For it is done .
But where , to say the truth , I do not know .
When thou shalt tell the process of their death .
Meantime , but think how I may do thee good ,
[219] ACT 4. SC. 3 And be inheritor of thy desire .
Farewell till then .
His daughter meanly have I matched in marriage ,
The sons of Edward sleep in Abraham’s bosom ,
And Anne my wife hath bid this world goodnight .
Now , for I know the Breton Richmond aims
At young Elizabeth , my brother’s daughter ,
And by that knot looks proudly on the crown ,
To her go I , a jolly thriving wooer .
And Buckingham , backed with the hardy Welshmen ,
Is in the field , and still his power increaseth .
Than Buckingham and his rash-levied strength .
Come , I have learned that fearful commenting
Is leaden servitor to dull delay ;
Delay leads impotent and snail-paced beggary ;
Then fiery expedition be my wing ,
Jove’s Mercury , and herald for a king .
Go , muster men . My counsel is my shield .
We must be brief when traitors brave the field .
[221]ACT 4. SC. 4
Scene 4
And drop into the rotten mouth of death .
Here in these confines slyly have I lurked
To watch the waning of mine enemies .
A dire induction am I witness to ,
And will to France , hoping the consequence
Will prove as bitter , black , and tragical .
Withdraw thee , wretched Margaret . Who comes
here ?
My unblown flowers , new-appearing sweets ,
If yet your gentle souls fly in the air
And be not fixed in doom perpetual ,
Hover about me with your airy wings
And hear your mother’s lamentation .
Hath dimmed your infant morn to agèd night .
That my woe-wearied tongue is still and mute .
Edward Plantagenet , why art thou dead ?
Edward for Edward pays a dying debt .
And throw them in the entrails of the wolf ?
When didst thou sleep when such a deed was done ?
[223]ACT 4. SC. 4
Woe’s scene , world’s shame , grave’s due by life
usurped ,
Brief abstract and record of tedious days ,
Rest thy unrest on England’s lawful earth ,
Unlawfully made drunk with innocent blood .
As thou canst yield a melancholy seat ,
Then would I hide my bones , not rest them here .
Ah , who hath any cause to mourn but we ?
Give mine the benefit of seigniory ,
And let my griefs frown on the upper hand .
If sorrow can admit society ,
Tell over your woes again by viewing mine .
I had an Edward till a Richard killed him ;
I had a husband till a Richard killed him .
Thou hadst an Edward till a Richard killed him ;
Thou hadst a Richard till a Richard killed him .
I had a Rutland too ; thou holp’st to kill him .
From forth the kennel of thy womb hath crept
A hellhound that doth hunt us all to death —
That dog , that had his teeth before his eyes ,
To worry lambs and lap their gentle blood ;
That excellent grand tyrant of the Earth ,
That reigns in gallèd eyes of weeping souls ;
That foul defacer of God’s handiwork
[225] ACT 4. SC. 4 Thy womb let loose to chase us to our graves .
O upright , just , and true-disposing God ,
How do I thank thee that this carnal cur
Preys on the issue of his mother’s body
And makes her pew-fellow with others’ moan !
God witness with me , I have wept for thine .
And now I cloy me with beholding it .
Thy Edward he is dead , that killed my Edward ,
Thy other Edward dead , to quit my Edward ;
Young York , he is but boot , because both they
Matched not the high perfection of my loss .
Thy Clarence he is dead that stabbed my Edward ,
And the beholders of this frantic play ,
Th’ adulterate Hastings , Rivers , Vaughan , Grey ,
Untimely smothered in their dusky graves .
Richard yet lives , hell’s black intelligencer ,
Only reserved their factor to buy souls
And send them thither . But at hand , at hand
Ensues his piteous and unpitied end .
Earth gapes , hell burns , fiends roar , saints pray ,
To have him suddenly conveyed from hence .
Cancel his bond of life , dear God I pray ,
That I may live and say ‘The dog is dead .’
That I should wish for thee to help me curse
That bottled spider , that foul bunch-backed toad !
I called thee then poor shadow , ‘painted queen ,’
The presentation of but what I was ,
The flattering index of a direful pageant ,
[227] ACT 4. SC. 4 One heaved a-high to be hurled down below ,
A mother only mocked with two fair babes ,
A dream of what thou wast , a garish flag
To be the aim of every dangerous shot ,
A sign of dignity , a breath , a bubble ,
A queen in jest , only to fill the scene .
Where is thy husband now ? Where be thy brothers ?
Where are thy two sons ? Wherein dost thou joy ?
Who sues and kneels and says ‘God save the
Queen ?’
Where be the bending peers that flattered thee ?
Where be the thronging troops that followed thee ?
Decline all this , and see what now thou art :
For happy wife , a most distressèd widow ;
For joyful mother , one that wails the name ;
For one being sued to , one that humbly sues ;
For queen , a very caitiff crowned with care ;
For she that scorned at me , now scorned of me ;
For she being feared of all , now fearing one ;
For she commanding all , obeyed of none .
Thus hath the course of justice whirled about
And left thee but a very prey to time ,
Having no more but thought of what thou wast
To torture thee the more , being what thou art .
Thou didst usurp my place , and dost thou not
Usurp the just proportion of my sorrow ?
Now thy proud neck bears half my burdened yoke ,
From which even here I slip my weary head
And leave the burden of it all on thee .
Farewell , York’s wife , and queen of sad mischance .
These English woes shall make me smile in France .
And teach me how to curse mine enemies .
[229]ACT 4. SC. 4
Compare dead happiness with living woe ;
Think that thy babes were sweeter than they were ,
And he that slew them fouler than he is .
Bettering thy loss makes the bad causer worse .
Revolving this will teach thee how to curse .
mine .
Airy succeeders of intestate joys ,
Poor breathing orators of miseries ,
Let them have scope ; though what they will impart
Help nothing else , yet do they ease the heart .
And in the breath of bitter words let’s smother
My damnèd son that thy two sweet sons smothered .
The trumpet sounds . Be copious in exclaims .
By strangling thee in her accursèd womb ,
From all the slaughters , wretch , that thou hast done .
[231]ACT 4. SC. 4
Where should be branded , if that right were right ,
The slaughter of the prince that owed that crown
And the dire death of my poor sons and brothers ?
Tell me , thou villain-slave , where are my children ?
And little Ned Plantagenet his son ?
Let not the heavens hear these telltale women
Rail on the Lord’s anointed . Strike , I say !
Either be patient and entreat me fair ,
Or with the clamorous report of war
Thus will I drown your exclamations .
That cannot brook the accent of reproof .
[233]ACT 4. SC. 4
God knows , in torment and in agony .
Thou cam’st on Earth to make the Earth my hell .
A grievous burden was thy birth to me ;
Tetchy and wayward was thy infancy ;
Thy school days frightful , desp’rate , wild , and
furious ;
Thy prime of manhood daring , bold , and venturous ;
Thy age confirmed , proud , subtle , sly , and bloody ,
More mild , but yet more harmful , kind in hatred .
What comfortable hour canst thou name ,
That ever graced me with thy company ?
Grace
To breakfast once , forth of my company .
If I be so disgracious in your eye ,
Let me march on and not offend you , madam . —
Strike up the drum .
For I shall never speak to thee again .
Ere from this war thou turn a conqueror ,
Or I with grief and extreme age shall perish
And nevermore behold thy face again .
Therefore take with thee my most grievous curse ,
[235] ACT 4. SC. 4 Which in the day of battle tire thee more
Than all the complete armor that thou wear’st .
My prayers on the adverse party fight ,
And there the little souls of Edward’s children
Whisper the spirits of thine enemies
And promise them success and victory .
Bloody thou art ; bloody will be thy end .
Shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend .
curse
Abides in me . I say amen to her .
For thee to slaughter . For my daughters , Richard ,
They shall be praying nuns , not weeping queens ,
And therefore level not to hit their lives .
Virtuous and fair , royal and gracious .
And I’ll corrupt her manners , stain her beauty ,
Slander myself as false to Edward’s bed ,
Throw over her the veil of infamy .
So she may live unscarred of bleeding slaughter ,
I will confess she was not Edward’s daughter .
[237]ACT 4. SC. 4
My babes were destined to a fairer death
If grace had blessed thee with a fairer life .
Of comfort , kingdom , kindred , freedom , life .
Whose hand soever launched their tender hearts ,
Thy head , all indirectly , gave direction .
No doubt the murd’rous knife was dull and blunt
Till it was whetted on thy stone-hard heart ,
To revel in the entrails of my lambs .
But that still use of grief makes wild grief tame ,
My tongue should to thy ears not name my boys
Till that my nails were anchored in thine eyes ,
And I , in such a desp’rate bay of death ,
Like a poor bark of sails and tackling reft ,
Rush all to pieces on thy rocky bosom .
And dangerous success of bloody wars
As I intend more good to you and yours
Than ever you or yours by me were harmed !
To be discovered , that can do me good ?
[239]ACT 4. SC. 4
The high imperial type of this Earth’s glory .
Tell me what state , what dignity , what honor ,
Canst thou demise to any child of mine ?
Will I withal endow a child of thine ;
So in the Lethe of thy angry soul
Thou drown the sad remembrance of those wrongs
Which thou supposest I have done to thee .
Last longer telling than thy kindness’ date .
So from thy soul’s love didst thou love her brothers ,
And from my heart’s love I do thank thee for it .
I mean that with my soul I love thy daughter
And do intend to make her Queen of England .
[241]ACT 4. SC. 4
As one being best acquainted with her humor .
A pair of bleeding hearts ; thereon engrave
‘Edward’ and ‘York .’ Then haply will she weep .
Therefore present to her — as sometime Margaret
Did to thy father , steeped in Rutland’s blood —
A handkerchief , which say to her did drain
The purple sap from her sweet brother’s body ,
And bid her wipe her weeping eyes withal .
If this inducement move her not to love ,
Send her a letter of thy noble deeds ;
Tell her thou mad’st away her uncle Clarence ,
Her uncle Rivers , ay , and for her sake
Mad’st quick conveyance with her good aunt Anne .
To win your daughter .
Unless thou couldst put on some other shape
And not be Richard , that hath done all this .
Having bought love with such a bloody spoil .
[243]ACT 4. SC. 4
Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes ,
Which after-hours gives leisure to repent .
If I did take the kingdom from your sons ,
To make amends I’ll give it to your daughter .
If I have killed the issue of your womb ,
To quicken your increase I will beget
Mine issue of your blood upon your daughter .
A grandam’s name is little less in love
Than is the doting title of a mother .
They are as children but one step below ,
Even of your metal , of your very blood ,
Of all one pain , save for a night of groans
Endured of her for whom you bid like sorrow .
Your children were vexation to your youth ,
But mine shall be a comfort to your age .
The loss you have is but a son being king ,
And by that loss your daughter is made queen .
I cannot make you what amends I would ;
Therefore accept such kindness as I can .
Dorset your son , that with a fearful soul
Leads discontented steps in foreign soil ,
This fair alliance quickly shall call home
To high promotions and great dignity .
The king that calls your beauteous daughter wife
Familiarly shall call thy Dorset brother .
Again shall you be mother to a king ,
And all the ruins of distressful times
Repaired with double riches of content .
What , we have many goodly days to see !
The liquid drops of tears that you have shed
Shall come again , transformed to orient pearl ,
Advantaging their love with interest
Of ten times double gain of happiness .
Go then , my mother ; to thy daughter go .
[245] ACT 4. SC. 4 Make bold her bashful years with your experience ;
Prepare her ears to hear a wooer’s tale ;
Put in her tender heart th’ aspiring flame
Of golden sovereignty ; acquaint the Princess
With the sweet silent hours of marriage joys ;
And when this arm of mine hath chastisèd
The petty rebel , dull-brained Buckingham ,
Bound with triumphant garlands will I come
And lead thy daughter to a conqueror’s bed ,
To whom I will retail my conquest won ,
And she shall be sole victoress , Caesar’s Caesar .
Would be her lord ? Or shall I say her uncle ?
Or he that slew her brothers and her uncles ?
Under what title shall I woo for thee ,
That God , the law , my honor , and her love
Can make seem pleasing to her tender years ?
[247]ACT 4. SC. 4
Too deep and dead , poor infants , in their graves .
Thy George , profaned , hath lost his lordly honor ;
[249] ACT 4. SC. 4 Thy Garter , blemished , pawned his knightly virtue ;
Thy crown , usurped , disgraced his kingly glory .
If something thou wouldst swear to be believed ,
Swear then by something that thou hast not
wronged .
If thou didst fear to break an oath with Him ,
The unity the King my husband made
Thou hadst not broken , nor my brothers died .
If thou hadst feared to break an oath by Him ,
Th’ imperial metal circling now thy head
Had graced the tender temples of my child ,
And both the Princes had been breathing here ,
Which now , two tender bedfellows for dust ,
Thy broken faith hath made the prey for worms .
What canst thou swear by now ?
For I myself have many tears to wash
Hereafter time , for time past wronged by thee .
The children live whose fathers thou hast
slaughtered ,
Ungoverned youth , to wail it in their age ;
[251] ACT 4. SC. 4 The parents live whose children thou hast
butchered ,
Old barren plants , to wail it with their age .
Swear not by time to come , for that thou hast
Misused ere used , by times ill-used o’erpast .
So thrive I in my dangerous affairs
Of hostile arms ! Myself myself confound ,
Heaven and fortune bar me happy hours ,
Day , yield me not thy light , nor night thy rest ,
Be opposite all planets of good luck
To my proceeding if , with dear heart’s love ,
Immaculate devotion , holy thoughts ,
I tender not thy beauteous princely daughter .
In her consists my happiness and thine .
Without her follows to myself and thee ,
Herself , the land , and many a Christian soul ,
Death , desolation , ruin , and decay .
It cannot be avoided but by this ;
It will not be avoided but by this .
Therefore , dear mother — I must call you so —
Be the attorney of my love to her ;
Plead what I will be , not what I have been ;
Not my deserts , but what I will deserve .
Urge the necessity and state of times ,
And be not peevish found in great designs .
[253]ACT 4. SC. 4
Where , in that nest of spicery , they will breed
Selves of themselves , to your recomforture .
And you shall understand from me her mind .
Relenting fool and shallow , changing woman !
How now , what news ?
Rideth a puissant navy . To our shores
Throng many doubtful hollow-hearted friends ,
Unarmed and unresolved to beat them back .
’Tis thought that Richmond is their admiral ;
And there they hull , expecting but the aid
Of Buckingham to welcome them ashore .
Norfolk —
Ratcliffe thyself , or Catesby . Where is he ?
unmindful villain ,
Why stay’st thou here and go’st not to the Duke ?
What from your Grace I shall deliver to him .
The greatest strength and power that he can make
And meet me suddenly at Salisbury .
Stanley , what news with you ?
Nor none so bad but well may be reported .
What need’st thou run so many miles about
When thou mayst tell thy tale the nearest way ?
Once more , what news ?
White-livered runagate , what doth he there ?
[257]ACT 4. SC. 4
He makes for England , here to claim the crown .
Is the King dead , the empire unpossessed ?
What heir of York is there alive but we ?
And who is England’s king but great York’s heir ?
Then tell me , what makes he upon the seas ?
You cannot guess wherefore the Welshman comes .
Thou wilt revolt and fly to him , I fear .
Where be thy tenants and thy followers ?
Are they not now upon the western shore ,
Safe-conducting the rebels from their ships ?
When they should serve their sovereign in the west ?
Pleaseth your Majesty to give me leave ,
I’ll muster up my friends and meet your Grace
Where and what time your Majesty shall please .
But I’ll not trust thee .
[259]ACT 4. SC. 4
You have no cause to hold my friendship doubtful .
I never was nor never will be false .
Your son George Stanley . Look your heart be firm ,
Or else his head’s assurance is but frail .
As I by friends am well advertisèd ,
Sir Edward Courtney and the haughty prelate ,
Bishop of Exeter , his elder brother ,
With many more confederates are in arms .
And every hour more competitors
Flock to the rebels , and their power grows strong .
There , take thou that till thou bring better news .
Is that by sudden floods and fall of waters
Buckingham’s army is dispersed and scattered ,
[261] ACT 4. SC. 4 And he himself wandered away alone ,
No man knows whither .
There is my purse to cure that blow of thine .
Hath any well-advisèd friend proclaimed
Reward to him that brings the traitor in ?
’Tis said , my liege , in Yorkshire are in arms .
But this good comfort bring I to your Highness :
The Breton navy is dispersed by tempest .
Richmond , in Dorsetshire , sent out a boat
Unto the shore to ask those on the banks
If they were his assistants , yea , or no —
Who answered him they came from Buckingham
Upon his party . He , mistrusting them ,
Hoised sail and made his course again for Brittany .
If not to fight with foreign enemies ,
Yet to beat down these rebels here at home .
That is the best news . That the Earl of Richmond
Is with a mighty power landed at Milford
Is colder tidings , yet they must be told .
A royal battle might be won and lost .
[263] ACT 4. SC. 5 Someone take order Buckingham be brought
To Salisbury . The rest march on with me .
Scene 5
That in the sty of the most deadly boar
My son George Stanley is franked up in hold ;
If I revolt , off goes young George’s head ;
The fear of that holds off my present aid .
So get thee gone . Commend me to thy lord .
Withal , say that the Queen hath heartily consented
He should espouse Elizabeth her daughter .
But tell me , where is princely Richmond now ?
Sir Gilbert Talbot , Sir William Stanley ,
Oxford , redoubted Pembroke , Sir James Blunt ,
And Rice ap Thomas , with a valiant crew ,
And many other of great name and worth ;
And towards London do they bend their power ,
If by the way they be not fought withal .
My letter will resolve him of my mind .
Farewell .
[267]
ACT 5
Scene 1
execution .
Holy King Henry and thy fair son Edward ,
Vaughan , and all that have miscarrièd
By underhand , corrupted , foul injustice ,
If that your moody , discontented souls
Do through the clouds behold this present hour ,
Even for revenge mock my destruction . —
This is All Souls’ Day , fellow , is it not ?
This is the day which , in King Edward’s time ,
I wished might fall on me when I was found
False to his children and his wife’s allies .
This is the day wherein I wished to fall
By the false faith of him whom most I trusted .
This , this All Souls’ Day to my fearful soul
[269] ACT 5. SC. 2 Is the determined respite of my wrongs .
That high All-seer which I dallied with
Hath turned my feignèd prayer on my head
And given in earnest what I begged in jest .
Thus doth he force the swords of wicked men
To turn their own points in their masters’ bosoms .
Thus Margaret’s curse falls heavy on my neck :
‘When he ,’ quoth she , ‘shall split thy heart with
sorrow ,
Remember Margaret was a prophetess .’ —
Come , lead me , officers , to the block of shame .
Wrong hath but wrong , and blame the due of blame .
Scene 2
with Drum and Colors .
Bruised underneath the yoke of tyranny ,
Thus far into the bowels of the land
Have we marched on without impediment ,
And here receive we from our father Stanley
Lines of fair comfort and encouragement .
The wretched , bloody , and usurping boar ,
That spoiled your summer fields and fruitful vines ,
Swills your warm blood like wash , and makes his
trough
In your embowelled bosoms — this foul swine
Is now even in the center of this isle ,
Near to the town of Leicester , as we learn .
From Tamworth thither is but one day’s march .
In God’s name , cheerly on , courageous friends ,
[271] ACT 5. SC. 3 To reap the harvest of perpetual peace
By this one bloody trial of sharp war .
To fight against this guilty homicide .
Which in his dearest need will fly from him .
True hope is swift , and flies with swallow’s wings ;
Kings it makes gods , and meaner creatures kings .
Scene 3
the Earl of Surrey , with Soldiers .
My lord of Surrey , why look you so sad ?
[273] ACT 5. SC. 3 But where tomorrow ? Well , all’s one for that .
Who hath descried the number of the traitors ?
Besides , the King’s name is a tower of strength
Which they upon the adverse faction want . —
Up with the tent ! — Come , noble gentlemen ,
Let us survey the vantage of the ground .
Call for some men of sound direction ;
Let’s lack no discipline , make no delay ,
For , lords , tomorrow is a busy day .
Dorset , Herbert , Blunt , and others who set up
Richmond’s tent .
And by the bright track of his fiery car
Gives token of a goodly day tomorrow . —
Sir William Brandon , you shall bear my standard . —
Give me some ink and paper in my tent ;
I’ll draw the form and model of our battle ,
Limit each leader to his several charge ,
And part in just proportion our small power . —
My Lord of Oxford , you , Sir William Brandon ,
And you , Sir Walter Herbert , stay with me .
The Earl of Pembroke keeps his regiment . —
Good Captain Blunt , bear my goodnight to him ,
And by the second hour in the morning
Desire the Earl to see me in my tent .
Yet one thing more , good captain , do for me .
Where is Lord Stanley quartered , do you know ?
[275]ACT 5. SC. 3
Which well I am assured I have not done ,
His regiment lies half a mile , at least ,
South from the mighty power of the King .
Sweet Blunt , make some good means to speak with
him ,
And give him from me this most needful note .
And so God give you quiet rest tonight .
Come , gentlemen ,
Let us consult upon tomorrow’s business .
Into my tent . The dew is raw and cold .
withdraw into the tent .
Catesby , with Soldiers .
What , is my beaver easier than it was ,
And all my armor laid into my tent ?
Use careful watch . Choose trusty sentinels .
[277]ACT 5. SC. 3
To Stanley’s regiment . Bid him bring his power
Before sunrising , lest his son George fall
Into the blind cave of eternal night .
watch .
Saddle white Surrey for the field tomorrow .
Look that my staves be sound and not too heavy . —
Ratcliffe .
Much about cockshut time , from troop to troop
Went through the army cheering up the soldiers .
I have not that alacrity of spirit
Nor cheer of mind that I was wont to have .
Set it down . Is ink and paper ready ?
Ratcliffe , about the mid of night come to my tent
And help to arm me . Leave me , I say .
which is guarded by Soldiers .
[279]ACT 5. SC. 3
Be to thy person , noble father-in-law .
Tell me , how fares our loving mother ?
Who prays continually for Richmond’s good .
So much for that . The silent hours steal on ,
And flaky darkness breaks within the east .
In brief , for so the season bids us be ,
Prepare thy battle early in the morning ,
And put thy fortune to the arbitrament
Of bloody strokes and mortal-staring war .
I , as I may — that which I would I cannot —
With best advantage will deceive the time
And aid thee in this doubtful shock of arms .
But on thy side I may not be too forward ,
Lest , being seen , thy brother , tender George ,
Be executed in his father’s sight .
Farewell . The leisure and the fearful time
Cuts off the ceremonious vows of love
And ample interchange of sweet discourse ,
Which so-long-sundered friends should dwell upon .
God give us leisure for these rites of love !
Once more , adieu . Be valiant and speed well .
I’ll strive with troubled thoughts to take a nap ,
Lest leaden slumber peise me down tomorrow
When I should mount with wings of victory .
Once more , good night , kind lords and gentlemen .
[281] ACT 5. SC. 3
O Thou , whose captain I account myself ,
Look on my forces with a gracious eye .
Put in their hands Thy bruising irons of wrath ,
That they may crush down with a heavy fall
The usurping helmets of our adversaries .
Make us Thy ministers of chastisement ,
That we may praise Thee in the victory .
To Thee I do commend my watchful soul ,
Ere I let fall the windows of mine eyes .
Sleeping and waking , O , defend me still !
the Sixth .
Think how thou stabbed’st me in my prime of
youth
At Tewkesbury . Despair therefore , and die !
wrongèd souls
Of butchered princes fight in thy behalf .
King Henry’s issue , Richmond , comforts thee .
By thee was punchèd full of deadly holes .
Think on the Tower and me . Despair and die !
Harry the Sixth bids thee despair and die .
Harry , that prophesied thou shouldst be king ,
Doth comfort thee in thy sleep . Live and flourish .
[283]ACT 5. SC. 3
I , that was washed to death with fulsome wine ,
Poor Clarence , by thy guile betrayed to death .
Tomorrow in the battle think on me ,
And fall thy edgeless sword . Despair and die !
Lancaster ,
The wrongèd heirs of York do pray for thee .
Good angels guard thy battle . Live and flourish .
Rivers , that died at Pomfret . Despair and die !
Let fall thy lance . Despair and die !
Will conquer him . Awake , and win the day .
Let us be lead within thy bosom , Richard ,
And weigh thee down to ruin , shame , and death .
Thy nephews’ souls bid thee despair and die .
and wake in joy .
[285] ACT 5. SC. 3 Good angels guard thee from the boar’s annoy .
Live , and beget a happy race of kings .
Edward’s unhappy sons do bid thee flourish .
And in a bloody battle end thy days .
Think on Lord Hastings . Despair and die !
Arm , fight , and conquer for fair England’s sake .
That never slept a quiet hour with thee ,
Now fills thy sleep with perturbations .
Tomorrow , in the battle , think on me ,
And fall thy edgeless sword . Despair and die !
sleep .
Dream of success and happy victory .
Thy adversary’s wife doth pray for thee .
The last was I that felt thy tyranny .
O , in the battle think on Buckingham ,
And die in terror of thy guiltiness .
Dream on , dream on , of bloody deeds and death .
Fainting , despair ; despairing , yield thy breath .
thee aid ,
[287] ACT 5. SC. 3 But cheer thy heart , and be thou not dismayed .
God and good angels fight on Richmond’s side ,
And Richard fall in height of all his pride .
Have mercy , Jesu ! — Soft , I did but dream .
O coward conscience , how dost thou afflict me !
The lights burn blue ; it is now dead midnight .
Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh .
What do I fear ? Myself ? There’s none else by .
Richard loves Richard , that is , I am I .
Is there a murderer here ? No . Yes , I am .
Then fly ! What , from myself ? Great reason why :
Lest I revenge . What , myself upon myself ?
Alack , I love myself . Wherefore ? For any good
That I myself have done unto myself ?
O , no . Alas , I rather hate myself
For hateful deeds committed by myself .
I am a villain . Yet I lie ; I am not .
Fool , of thyself speak well . Fool , do not flatter .
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues ,
And every tongue brings in a several tale ,
And every tale condemns me for a villain .
Perjury , perjury , in the highest degree ;
Murder , stern murder , in the direst degree ;
All several sins , all used in each degree ,
Throng to the bar , crying all ‘Guilty , guilty !’
I shall despair . There is no creature loves me ,
And if I die no soul will pity me .
And wherefore should they , since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself ?
Methought the souls of all that I had murdered
Came to my tent , and every one did threat
Tomorrow’s vengeance on the head of Richard .
[289]ACT 5. SC. 3
Hath twice done salutation to the morn .
Your friends are up and buckle on their armor .
What think’st thou , will our friends prove all true ?
Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard
Than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers
Armed in proof and led by shallow Richmond .
’Tis not yet near day . Come , go with me .
Under our tents I’ll play the eavesdropper
To see if any mean to shrink from me .
That you have ta’en a tardy sluggard here .
That ever entered in a drowsy head
Have I since your departure had , my lords .
[291] ACT 5. SC. 3 Methought their souls whose bodies Richard
murdered
Came to my tent and cried on victory .
I promise you , my soul is very jocund
In the remembrance of so fair a dream .
How far into the morning is it , lords ?
His oration to his soldiers .
More than I have said , loving countrymen ,
The leisure and enforcement of the time
Forbids to dwell upon . Yet remember this :
God , and our good cause , fight upon our side .
The prayers of holy saints and wrongèd souls ,
Like high-reared bulwarks , stand before our faces .
Richard except , those whom we fight against
Had rather have us win than him they follow .
For what is he they follow ? Truly , gentlemen ,
A bloody tyrant and a homicide ;
One raised in blood , and one in blood established ;
One that made means to come by what he hath ,
And slaughtered those that were the means to help
him ;
A base foul stone , made precious by the foil
Of England’s chair , where he is falsely set ;
One that hath ever been God’s enemy .
Then if you fight against God’s enemy ,
God will , in justice , ward you as his soldiers .
If you do sweat to put a tyrant down ,
You sleep in peace , the tyrant being slain .
If you do fight against your country’s foes ,
Your country’s fat shall pay your pains the hire .
If you do fight in safeguard of your wives ,
Your wives shall welcome home the conquerors .
[293] ACT 5. SC. 3 If you do free your children from the sword ,
Your children’s children quits it in your age .
Then , in the name of God and all these rights ,
Advance your standards ; draw your willing swords .
For me , the ransom of my bold attempt
Shall be this cold corpse on the Earth’s cold face ,
But if I thrive , the gain of my attempt
The least of you shall share his part thereof .
Sound drums and trumpets boldly and cheerfully .
God , and Saint George , Richmond , and victory !
Tell the clock there . Give me a calendar .
Who saw the sun today ?
He should have braved the east an hour ago .
A black day will it be to somebody .
Ratcliffe !
[295] ACT 5. SC. 3 The sky doth frown and lour upon our army .
I would these dewy tears were from the ground .
Not shine today ? Why , what is that to me
More than to Richmond , for the selfsame heaven
That frowns on me looks sadly upon him .
Call up Lord Stanley ; bid him bring his power . —
I will lead forth my soldiers to the plain ,
And thus my battle shall be orderèd :
My foreward shall be drawn out all in length ,
Consisting equally of horse and foot ;
Our archers shall be placèd in the midst .
John Duke of Norfolk , Thomas Earl of Surrey ,
Shall have the leading of this foot and horse .
They thus directed , we will follow
In the main battle , whose puissance on either side
Shall be well wingèd with our chiefest horse .
This , and Saint George to boot ! — What think’st
thou , Norfolk ?
This found I on my tent this morning .
For Dickon thy master is bought and sold .
A thing devisèd by the enemy . —
Go , gentlemen , every man unto his charge .
Let not our babbling dreams affright our souls .
Conscience is but a word that cowards use ,
Devised at first to keep the strong in awe .
[297] ACT 5. SC. 3 Our strong arms be our conscience , swords our law .
March on . Join bravely . Let us to it pell mell ,
If not to heaven , then hand in hand to hell .
His oration to his army .
What shall I say more than I have inferred ?
Remember whom you are to cope withal ,
A sort of vagabonds , rascals , and runaways ,
A scum of Bretons and base lackey peasants ,
Whom their o’ercloyèd country vomits forth
To desperate adventures and assured destruction .
You sleeping safe , they bring to you unrest ;
You having lands and blessed with beauteous wives ,
They would restrain the one , distain the other .
And who doth lead them but a paltry fellow ,
Long kept in Brittany at our mother’s cost ,
A milksop , one that never in his life
Felt so much cold as overshoes in snow ?
Let’s whip these stragglers o’er the seas again ,
Lash hence these overweening rags of France ,
These famished beggars weary of their lives ,
Who , but for dreaming on this fond exploit ,
For want of means , poor rats , had hanged
themselves .
If we be conquered , let men conquer us ,
And not these bastard Bretons , whom our fathers
Have in their own land beaten , bobbed , and
thumped ,
And in record left them the heirs of shame .
Shall these enjoy our lands , lie with our wives ,
Ravish our daughters ?
Hark , I hear their drum .
Fight , gentlemen of England . — Fight , bold
yeomen . —
Draw , archers ; draw your arrows to the head . —
[299] ACT 5. SC. 4 Spur your proud horses hard , and ride in blood .
Amaze the welkin with your broken staves . —
What says Lord Stanley ? Will he bring his power ?
After the battle let George Stanley die .
Advance our standards . Set upon our foes .
Our ancient word of courage , fair Saint George ,
Inspire us with the spleen of fiery dragons .
Upon them ! Victory sits on our helms .
Scene 4
Catesby .
The King enacts more wonders than a man ,
Daring an opposite to every danger .
His horse is slain , and all on foot he fights ,
Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death .
Rescue , fair lord , or else the day is lost .
[301]ACT 5. SC. 5
And I will stand the hazard of the die .
I think there be six Richmonds in the field ;
Five have I slain today instead of him .
A horse , a horse , my kingdom for a horse !
Scene 5
Richard is slain .
exits , and Richard’s body is removed .
Richmond , Stanley , Earl of Derby , bearing the crown ,
with other Lords , and Soldiers .
The day is ours ; the bloody dog is dead .
Lo , here this long-usurpèd royalty
From the dead temples of this bloody wretch
Have I plucked off , to grace thy brows withal .
Wear it , enjoy it , and make much of it .
But tell me , is young George Stanley living ?
Whither , if it please you , we may now withdraw us .
Sir Robert Brakenbury , and Sir William Brandon .
[303]ACT 5. SC. 5
Proclaim a pardon to the soldiers fled
That in submission will return to us .
And then , as we have ta’en the sacrament ,
We will unite the white rose and the red ;
Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction ,
That long have frowned upon their enmity .
What traitor hears me and says not ‘Amen’ ?
England hath long been mad and scarred herself :
The brother blindly shed the brother’s blood ;
The father rashly slaughtered his own son ;
The son , compelled , been butcher to the sire .
All this divided York and Lancaster ,
Divided in their dire division .
O , now let Richmond and Elizabeth ,
The true succeeders of each royal house ,
By God’s fair ordinance conjoin together ,
And let their heirs , God , if Thy will be so ,
Enrich the time to come with smooth-faced peace ,
With smiling plenty and fair prosperous days .
Abate the edge of traitors , gracious Lord ,
That would reduce these bloody days again
And make poor England weep in streams of blood .
Let them not live to taste this land’s increase ,
That would with treason wound this fair land’s peace .
Now civil wounds are stopped , peace lives again .
That she may long live here , God say amen .
Appendix A
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- Citation Suggestion for this Edition
- TextGrid Repository (2025). Shakespeare, William. Richard III. The Folger Digital Texts in TextGrid. https://hdl.handle.net/21.11113/0000-0016-848C-5