King Richard The Third

1 Enter old Queen Margaret.
2 QUEEN MARGARET.
3 So now prosperity begins to mellow,
4 And drop into the rotten mouth of death.
5 Here in these confines slily have I lurked
6 To watch the waning of mine enemies.
7 A dire induction am I witness to,
8 And will to France, hoping the consequence
9 Will prove as bitter, black, and tragical.
10 Withdraw thee, wretched Margaret. Who comes here?
11 [_Retires._]
12 Enter Duchess of York and Queen Elizabeth.
13 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
14 Ah, my poor Princes! Ah, my tender babes,
15 My unblown flowers, new-appearing sweets!
16 If yet your gentle souls fly in the air
17 And be not fixed in doom perpetual,
18 Hover about me with your airy wings
19 And hear your mother’s lamentation.
20 QUEEN MARGARET.
21 [_Aside_.] Hover about her; say that right for right
22 Hath dimmed your infant morn to aged night.
23 DUCHESS.
24 So many miseries have crazed my voice
25 That my woe-wearied tongue is still and mute.
26 Edward Plantagenet, why art thou dead?
27 QUEEN MARGARET.
28 [_Aside_.] Plantagenet doth quit Plantagenet;
29 Edward for Edward pays a dying debt.
30 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
31 Wilt thou, O God, fly from such gentle lambs,
32 And throw them in the entrails of the wolf?
33 When didst Thou sleep when such a deed was done?
34 QUEEN MARGARET.
35 [_Aside_.] When holy Harry died, and my sweet son.
36 DUCHESS.
37 Dead life, blind sight, poor mortal living ghost,
38 Woe’s scene, world’s shame, grave’s due by life usurped,
39 Brief abstract and record of tedious days,
40 Rest thy unrest on England’s lawful earth,
41 [_Sitting_.] Unlawfully made drunk with innocent blood.
42 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
43 Ah, that thou wouldst as soon afford a grave
44 As thou canst yield a melancholy seat,
45 Then would I hide my bones, not rest them here.
46 [_Sitting_.] Ah, who hath any cause to mourn but we?
47 QUEEN MARGARET.
48 [_Coming forward._]
49 If ancient sorrow be most reverend,
50 Give mine the benefit of seigniory,
51 And let my griefs frown on the upper hand.
52 If sorrow can admit society,
53 [_Sitting down with them._]
54 Tell o’er your woes again by viewing mine.
55 I had an Edward, till a Richard killed him;
56 I had a husband, till a Richard killed him.
57 Thou hadst an Edward, till a Richard killed him;
58 Thou hadst a Richard, till a Richard killed him.
59 DUCHESS.
60 I had a Richard too, and thou didst kill him;
61 I had a Rutland too; thou holp’st to kill him.
62 QUEEN MARGARET.
63 Thou hadst a Clarence too, and Richard killed him.
64 From forth the kennel of thy womb hath crept
65 A hell-hound that doth hunt us all to death:
66 That dog, that had his teeth before his eyes,
67 To worry lambs and lap their gentle blood;
68 That excellent grand tyrant of the earth,
69 That reigns in galled eyes of weeping souls;
70 That foul defacer of God’s handiwork
71 Thy womb let loose to chase us to our graves.
72 O upright, just, and true-disposing God,
73 How do I thank thee that this carnal cur
74 Preys on the issue of his mother’s body,
75 And makes her pew-fellow with others’ moan!
76 DUCHESS.
77 O Harry’s wife, triumph not in my woes!
78 God witness with me, I have wept for thine.
79 QUEEN MARGARET.
80 Bear with me. I am hungry for revenge,
81 And now I cloy me with beholding it.
82 Thy Edward he is dead, that killed my Edward;
83 The other Edward dead, to quit my Edward;
84 Young York, he is but boot, because both they
85 Matched not the high perfection of my loss.
86 Thy Clarence he is dead that stabbed my Edward;
87 And the beholders of this frantic play,
88 Th’ adulterate Hastings, Rivers, Vaughan, Grey,
89 Untimely smothered in their dusky graves.
90 Richard yet lives, hell’s black intelligencer,
91 Only reserved their factor to buy souls
92 And send them thither. But at hand, at hand
93 Ensues his piteous and unpitied end.
94 Earth gapes, hell burns, fiends roar, saints pray,
95 To have him suddenly conveyed from hence.
96 Cancel his bond of life, dear God, I pray,
97 That I may live to say “The dog is dead.”
98 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
99 O, thou didst prophesy the time would come
100 That I should wish for thee to help me curse
101 That bottled spider, that foul bunch-backed toad!
102 QUEEN MARGARET.
103 I called thee then, vain flourish of my fortune;
104 I called thee then, poor shadow, painted queen,
105 The presentation of but what I was,
106 The flattering index of a direful pageant;
107 One heaved a-high to be hurled down below,
108 A mother only mocked with two fair babes;
109 A dream of what thou wast; a garish flag,
110 To be the aim of every dangerous shot;
111 A sign of dignity, a breath, a bubble;
112 A queen in jest, only to fill the scene.
113 Where is thy husband now? Where be thy brothers?
114 Where are thy two sons? Wherein dost thou joy?
115 Who sues, and kneels, and says, “God save the Queen?”
116 Where be the bending peers that flattered thee?
117 Where be the thronging troops that followed thee?
118 Decline all this, and see what now thou art:
119 For happy wife, a most distressed widow;
120 For joyful mother, one that wails the name;
121 For one being sued to, one that humbly sues;
122 For Queen, a very caitiff crowned with care;
123 For she that scorned at me, now scorned of me;
124 For she being feared of all, now fearing one;
125 For she commanding all, obeyed of none.
126 Thus hath the course of justice wheeled about
127 And left thee but a very prey to time,
128 Having no more but thought of what thou wast
129 To torture thee the more, being what thou art.
130 Thou didst usurp my place, and dost thou not
131 Usurp the just proportion of my sorrow?
132 Now thy proud neck bears half my burdened yoke,
133 From which even here I slip my weary head,
134 And leave the burden of it all on thee.
135 Farewell, York’s wife, and Queen of sad mischance.
136 These English woes shall make me smile in France.
137 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
138 O thou well skilled in curses, stay awhile,
139 And teach me how to curse mine enemies.
140 QUEEN MARGARET.
141 Forbear to sleep the night, and fast the days;
142 Compare dead happiness with living woe;
143 Think that thy babes were sweeter than they were,
144 And he that slew them fouler than he is.
145 Bettering thy loss makes the bad-causer worse.
146 Revolving this will teach thee how to curse.
147 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
148 My words are dull. O, quicken them with thine!
149 QUEEN MARGARET.
150 Thy woes will make them sharp and pierce like mine.
151 [_Exit._]
152 DUCHESS.
153 Why should calamity be full of words?
154 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
155 Windy attorneys to their clients’ woes,
156 Airy succeeders of intestate joys,
157 Poor breathing orators of miseries,
158 Let them have scope, though what they do impart
159 Help nothing else, yet do they ease the heart.
160 DUCHESS.
161 If so, then be not tongue-tied. Go with me,
162 And in the breath of bitter words let’s smother
163 My damned son, that thy two sweet sons smothered.
164 [_A trumpet sounds._]
165 The trumpet sounds. Be copious in exclaims.
166 Enter King Richard and his Train, including Catesby, marching.
167 KING RICHARD.
168 Who intercepts me in my expedition?
169 DUCHESS.
170 O, she that might have intercepted thee,
171 By strangling thee in her accursed womb,
172 From all the slaughters, wretch, that thou hast done.
173 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
174 Hid’st thou that forehead with a golden crown
175 Where should be branded, if that right were right,
176 The slaughter of the Prince that owed that crown,
177 And the dire death of my poor sons and brothers?
178 Tell me, thou villain-slave, where are my children?
179 DUCHESS.
180 Thou toad, thou toad, where is thy brother Clarence,
181 And little Ned Plantagenet his son?
182 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
183 Where is the gentle Rivers, Vaughan, Grey?
184 DUCHESS.
185 Where is kind Hastings?
186 KING RICHARD.
187 A flourish, trumpets! Strike alarum, drums!
188 Let not the heavens hear these tell-tale women
189 Rail on the Lord’s anointed. Strike, I say!
190 [_Flourish. Alarums._]
191 Either be patient and entreat me fair,
192 Or with the clamorous report of war
193 Thus will I drown your exclamations.
194 DUCHESS.
195 Art thou my son?
196 KING RICHARD.
197 Ay, I thank God, my father, and yourself.
198 DUCHESS.
199 Then patiently hear my impatience.
200 KING RICHARD.
201 Madam, I have a touch of your condition,
202 That cannot brook the accent of reproof.
203 DUCHESS.
204 O, let me speak!
205 KING RICHARD.
206 Do then, but I’ll not hear.
207 DUCHESS.
208 I will be mild and gentle in my words.
209 KING RICHARD.
210 And brief, good mother, for I am in haste.
211 DUCHESS.
212 Art thou so hasty? I have stayed for thee,
213 God knows, in torment and in agony.
214 KING RICHARD.
215 And came I not at last to comfort you?
216 DUCHESS.
217 No, by the Holy Rood, thou know’st it well
218 Thou cam’st on earth to make the earth my hell.
219 A grievous burden was thy birth to me;
220 Tetchy and wayward was thy infancy;
221 Thy school-days frightful, desp’rate, wild, and furious;
222 Thy prime of manhood daring, bold, and venturous;
223 Thy age confirmed, proud, subtle, sly, and bloody,
224 More mild, but yet more harmful, kind in hatred.
225 What comfortable hour canst thou name
226 That ever graced me with thy company?
227 KING RICHARD.
228 Faith, none but Humphrey Hower, that called your Grace
229 To breakfast once, forth of my company.
230 If I be so disgracious in your eye,
231 Let me march on and not offend you, madam.
232 Strike up the drum.
233 DUCHESS.
234 I prithee, hear me speak.
235 KING RICHARD.
236 You speak too bitterly.
237 DUCHESS.
238 Hear me a word,
239 For I shall never speak to thee again.
240 KING RICHARD.
241 So.
242 DUCHESS.
243 Either thou wilt die by God’s just ordinance
244 Ere from this war thou turn a conqueror,
245 Or I with grief and extreme age shall perish
246 And never more behold thy face again.
247 Therefore take with thee my most grievous curse,
248 Which in the day of battle tire thee more
249 Than all the complete armour that thou wear’st.
250 My prayers on the adverse party fight;
251 And there the little souls of Edward’s children
252 Whisper the spirits of thine enemies
253 And promise them success and victory.
254 Bloody thou art; bloody will be thy end.
255 Shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend.
256 [_Exit._]
257 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
258 Though far more cause, yet much less spirit to curse
259 Abides in me, I say amen to her.
260 KING RICHARD.
261 Stay, madam, I must talk a word with you.
262 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
263 I have no more sons of the royal blood
264 For thee to slaughter. For my daughters, Richard,
265 They shall be praying nuns, not weeping queens,
266 And therefore level not to hit their lives.
267 KING RICHARD.
268 You have a daughter called Elizabeth,
269 Virtuous and fair, royal and gracious.
270 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
271 And must she die for this? O, let her live,
272 And I’ll corrupt her manners, stain her beauty,
273 Slander myself as false to Edward’s bed,
274 Throw over her the veil of infamy.
275 So she may live unscarred of bleeding slaughter,
276 I will confess she was not Edward’s daughter.
277 KING RICHARD.
278 Wrong not her birth; she is a royal princess.
279 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
280 To save her life I’ll say she is not so.
281 KING RICHARD.
282 Her life is safest only in her birth.
283 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
284 And only in that safety died her brothers.
285 KING RICHARD.
286 Lo, at their births good stars were opposite.
287 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
288 No, to their lives ill friends were contrary.
289 KING RICHARD.
290 All unavoided is the doom of destiny.
291 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
292 True, when avoided grace makes destiny.
293 My babes were destined to a fairer death,
294 If grace had blessed thee with a fairer life.
295 KING RICHARD.
296 You speak as if that I had slain my cousins.
297 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
298 Cousins, indeed, and by their uncle cozened
299 Of comfort, kingdom, kindred, freedom, life.
300 Whose hand soever lanced their tender hearts,
301 Thy head, all indirectly, gave direction.
302 No doubt the murd’rous knife was dull and blunt
303 Till it was whetted on thy stone-hard heart,
304 To revel in the entrails of my lambs.
305 But that still use of grief makes wild grief tame,
306 My tongue should to thy ears not name my boys
307 Till that my nails were anchored in thine eyes,
308 And I, in such a desp’rate bay of death,
309 Like a poor bark of sails and tackling reft,
310 Rush all to pieces on thy rocky bosom.
311 KING RICHARD.
312 Madam, so thrive I in my enterprise
313 And dangerous success of bloody wars,
314 As I intend more good to you and yours
315 Than ever you or yours by me were harmed!
316 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
317 What good is covered with the face of heaven,
318 To be discovered, that can do me good?
319 KING RICHARD.
320 Th’ advancement of your children, gentle lady.
321 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
322 Up to some scaffold, there to lose their heads.
323 KING RICHARD.
324 Unto the dignity and height of fortune,
325 The high imperial type of this earth’s glory.
326 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
327 Flatter my sorrows with report of it.
328 Tell me what state, what dignity, what honour,
329 Canst thou demise to any child of mine?
330 KING RICHARD.
331 Even all I have—ay, and myself and all
332 Will I withal endow a child of thine;
333 So in the Lethe of thy angry soul
334 Thou drown the sad remembrance of those wrongs
335 Which thou supposest I have done to thee.
336 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
337 Be brief, lest that the process of thy kindness
338 Last longer telling than thy kindness’ date.
339 KING RICHARD.
340 Then know, that from my soul I love thy daughter.
341 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
342 My daughter’s mother thinks it with her soul.
343 KING RICHARD.
344 What do you think?
345 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
346 That thou dost love my daughter from thy soul.
347 So from thy soul’s love didst thou love her brothers,
348 And from my heart’s love I do thank thee for it.
349 KING RICHARD.
350 Be not so hasty to confound my meaning.
351 I mean that with my soul I love thy daughter,
352 And do intend to make her Queen of England.
353 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
354 Well, then, who dost thou mean shall be her king?
355 KING RICHARD.
356 Even he that makes her Queen. Who else should be?
357 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
358 What, thou?
359 KING RICHARD.
360 Even so. How think you of it?
361 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
362 How canst thou woo her?
363 KING RICHARD.
364 That would I learn of you,
365 As one being best acquainted with her humour.
366 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
367 And wilt thou learn of me?
368 KING RICHARD.
369 Madam, with all my heart.
370 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
371 Send to her, by the man that slew her brothers,
372 A pair of bleeding hearts; thereon engrave
373 “Edward” and “York.” Then haply will she weep.
374 Therefore present to her—as sometimes Margaret
375 Did to thy father, steeped in Rutland’s blood—
376 A handkerchief, which, say to her, did drain
377 The purple sap from her sweet brothers’ body,
378 And bid her wipe her weeping eyes withal.
379 If this inducement move her not to love,
380 Send her a letter of thy noble deeds;
381 Tell her thou mad’st away her uncle Clarence,
382 Her uncle Rivers, ay, and for her sake
383 Mad’st quick conveyance with her good aunt Anne.
384 KING RICHARD.
385 You mock me, madam; this is not the way
386 To win your daughter.
387 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
388 There is no other way,
389 Unless thou couldst put on some other shape,
390 And not be Richard, that hath done all this.
391 KING RICHARD.
392 Say that I did all this for love of her?
393 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
394 Nay, then indeed she cannot choose but hate thee,
395 Having bought love with such a bloody spoil.
396 KING RICHARD.
397 Look what is done cannot be now amended.
398 Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes,
399 Which after-hours gives leisure to repent.
400 If I did take the kingdom from your sons,
401 To make amends I’ll give it to your daughter.
402 If I have killed the issue of your womb,
403 To quicken your increase I will beget
404 Mine issue of your blood upon your daughter.
405 A grandam’s name is little less in love
406 Than is the doting title of a mother;
407 They are as children but one step below,
408 Even of your mettle, of your very blood;
409 Of all one pain, save for a night of groans
410 Endured of her, for whom you bid like sorrow.
411 Your children were vexation to your youth,
412 But mine shall be a comfort to your age.
413 The loss you have is but a son being King,
414 And by that loss your daughter is made Queen.
415 I cannot make you what amends I would;
416 Therefore accept such kindness as I can.
417 Dorset your son, that with a fearful soul
418 Leads discontented steps in foreign soil,
419 This fair alliance quickly shall call home
420 To high promotions and great dignity.
421 The King, that calls your beauteous daughter wife,
422 Familiarly shall call thy Dorset brother;
423 Again shall you be mother to a king,
424 And all the ruins of distressful times
425 Repaired with double riches of content.
426 What, we have many goodly days to see.
427 The liquid drops of tears that you have shed
428 Shall come again, transformed to orient pearl,
429 Advantaging their loan with interest
430 Of ten times double gain of happiness.
431 Go then, my mother, to thy daughter go.
432 Make bold her bashful years with your experience;
433 Prepare her ears to hear a wooer’s tale;
434 Put in her tender heart th’ aspiring flame
435 Of golden sovereignty; acquaint the Princess
436 With the sweet silent hours of marriage joys,
437 And when this arm of mine hath chastised
438 The petty rebel, dull-brained Buckingham,
439 Bound with triumphant garlands will I come
440 And lead thy daughter to a conqueror’s bed;
441 To whom I will retail my conquest won,
442 And she shall be sole victoress, Caesar’s Caesar.
443 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
444 What were I best to say? Her father’s brother
445 Would be her lord? Or shall I say her uncle?
446 Or he that slew her brothers and her uncles?
447 Under what title shall I woo for thee,
448 That God, the law, my honour, and her love
449 Can make seem pleasing to her tender years?
450 KING RICHARD.
451 Infer fair England’s peace by this alliance.
452 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
453 Which she shall purchase with still-lasting war.
454 KING RICHARD.
455 Tell her the King, that may command, entreats.
456 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
457 That at her hands, which the King’s King forbids.
458 KING RICHARD.
459 Say she shall be a high and mighty queen.
460 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
461 To vail the title, as her mother doth.
462 KING RICHARD.
463 Say I will love her everlastingly.
464 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
465 But how long shall that title “ever” last?
466 KING RICHARD.
467 Sweetly in force unto her fair life’s end.
468 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
469 But how long fairly shall her sweet life last?
470 KING RICHARD.
471 As long as heaven and nature lengthens it.
472 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
473 As long as hell and Richard likes of it.
474 KING RICHARD.
475 Say I, her sovereign, am her subject low.
476 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
477 But she, your subject, loathes such sovereignty.
478 KING RICHARD.
479 Be eloquent in my behalf to her.
480 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
481 An honest tale speeds best being plainly told.
482 KING RICHARD.
483 Then plainly to her tell my loving tale.
484 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
485 Plain and not honest is too harsh a style.
486 KING RICHARD.
487 Your reasons are too shallow and too quick.
488 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
489 O no, my reasons are too deep and dead—
490 Too deep and dead, poor infants, in their graves.
491 KING RICHARD.
492 Harp not on that string, madam; that is past.
493 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
494 Harp on it still shall I till heart-strings break.
495 KING RICHARD.
496 Now, by my George, my Garter, and my crown—
497 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
498 Profaned, dishonoured, and the third usurped.
499 KING RICHARD.
500 I swear—
501 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
502 By nothing, for this is no oath.
503 Thy George, profaned, hath lost his lordly honour;
504 Thy Garter, blemished, pawned his knightly virtue;
505 Thy crown, usurped, disgraced his kingly glory.
506 If something thou wouldst swear to be believed,
507 Swear then by something that thou hast not wronged.
508 KING RICHARD.
509 Now, by the world—
510 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
511 ’Tis full of thy foul wrongs.
512 KING RICHARD.
513 My father’s death—
514 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
515 Thy life hath that dishonoured.
516 KING RICHARD.
517 Then, by myself—
518 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
519 Thyself is self-misused.
520 KING RICHARD.
521 Why, then, by God—
522 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
523 God’s wrong is most of all.
524 If thou didst fear to break an oath with Him,
525 The unity the King my husband made
526 Thou hadst not broken, nor my brothers died.
527 If thou hadst feared to break an oath by Him,
528 Th’ imperial metal circling now thy head
529 Had graced the tender temples of my child,
530 And both the Princes had been breathing here,
531 Which now, two tender bedfellows for dust,
532 Thy broken faith hath made a prey for worms.
533 What canst thou swear by now?
534 KING RICHARD.
535 The time to come.
536 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
537 That thou hast wronged in the time o’erpast;
538 For I myself have many tears to wash
539 Hereafter time, for time past wronged by thee.
540 The children live whose fathers thou hast slaughtered,
541 Ungoverned youth, to wail it in their age;
542 The parents live whose children thou hast butchered,
543 Old barren plants, to wail it with their age.
544 Swear not by time to come, for that thou hast
545 Misused ere used, by times ill-used o’erpast.
546 KING RICHARD.
547 As I intend to prosper and repent,
548 So thrive I in my dangerous affairs
549 Of hostile arms! Myself myself confound!
550 Heaven and fortune bar me happy hours!
551 Day, yield me not thy light, nor, night, thy rest!
552 Be opposite all planets of good luck
553 To my proceeding if with dear heart’s love,
554 Immaculate devotion, holy thoughts,
555 I tender not thy beauteous princely daughter.
556 In her consists my happiness and thine;
557 Without her follows to myself and thee,
558 Herself, the land, and many a Christian soul,
559 Death, desolation, ruin, and decay.
560 It cannot be avoided but by this;
561 It will not be avoided but by this.
562 Therefore, dear mother—I must call you so—
563 Be the attorney of my love to her;
564 Plead what I will be, not what I have been;
565 Not my deserts, but what I will deserve.
566 Urge the necessity and state of times,
567 And be not peevish found in great designs.
568 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
569 Shall I be tempted of the devil thus?
570 KING RICHARD.
571 Ay, if the devil tempt you to do good.
572 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
573 Shall I forget myself to be myself?
574 KING RICHARD.
575 Ay, if your self’s remembrance wrong yourself.
576 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
577 Yet thou didst kill my children.
578 KING RICHARD.
579 But in your daughter’s womb I bury them,
580 Where, in that nest of spicery, they will breed
581 Selves of themselves, to your recomforture.
582 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
583 Shall I go win my daughter to thy will?
584 KING RICHARD.
585 And be a happy mother by the deed.
586 QUEEN ELIZABETH.
587 I go. Write to me very shortly,
588 And you shall understand from me her mind.
589 KING RICHARD.
590 Bear her my true love’s kiss; and so, farewell.
591 [_Kissing her. Exit Queen Elizabeth._]
592 Relenting fool, and shallow, changing woman!
593 Enter Ratcliffe.
594 How now, what news?
595 RATCLIFFE.
596 Most mighty sovereign, on the western coast
597 Rideth a puissant navy; to our shores
598 Throng many doubtful hollow-hearted friends,
599 Unarmed, and unresolved to beat them back.
600 ’Tis thought that Richmond is their admiral;
601 And there they hull, expecting but the aid
602 Of Buckingham to welcome them ashore.
603 KING RICHARD.
604 Some light-foot friend post to the Duke of Norfolk.
605 Ratcliffe, thyself, or Catesby. Where is he?
606 CATESBY.
607 Here, my good lord.
608 KING RICHARD.
609 Catesby, fly to the Duke.
610 CATESBY.
611 I will my lord, with all convenient haste.
612 KING RICHARD.
613 Ratcliffe, come hither. Post to Salisbury.
614 When thou com’st thither—
615 [_To Catesby._] Dull, unmindful villain,
616 Why stay’st thou here, and go’st not to the Duke?
617 CATESBY.
618 First, mighty liege, tell me your Highness’ pleasure,
619 What from your Grace I shall deliver to him.
620 KING RICHARD.
621 O, true, good Catesby. Bid him levy straight
622 The greatest strength and power that he can make,
623 And meet me suddenly at Salisbury.
624 CATESBY.
625 I go.
626 [_Exit._]
627 RATCLIFFE.
628 What, may it please you, shall I do at Salisbury?
629 KING RICHARD.
630 Why, what wouldst thou do there before I go?
631 RATCLIFFE.
632 Your Highness told me I should post before.
633 KING RICHARD.
634 My mind is changed.
635 Enter Stanley Earl of Derby.
636 Stanley, what news with you?
637 STANLEY.
638 None good, my liege, to please you with the hearing;
639 Nor none so bad but well may be reported.
640 KING RICHARD.
641 Hoyday, a riddle! Neither good nor bad.
642 What need’st thou run so many miles about
643 When thou mayst tell thy tale the nearest way?
644 Once more, what news?
645 STANLEY.
646 Richmond is on the seas.
647 KING RICHARD.
648 There let him sink, and be the seas on him!
649 White-livered runagate, what doth he there?
650 STANLEY.
651 I know not, mighty sovereign, but by guess.
652 KING RICHARD.
653 Well, as you guess?
654 STANLEY.
655 Stirred up by Dorset, Buckingham, and Morton,
656 He makes for England, here to claim the crown.
657 KING RICHARD.
658 Is the chair empty? Is the sword unswayed?
659 Is the King dead? The empire unpossessed?
660 What heir of York is there alive but we?
661 And who is England’s King but great York’s heir?
662 Then tell me, what makes he upon the seas?
663 STANLEY.
664 Unless for that, my liege, I cannot guess.
665 KING RICHARD.
666 Unless for that he comes to be your liege,
667 You cannot guess wherefore the Welshman comes.
668 Thou wilt revolt and fly to him, I fear.
669 STANLEY.
670 No, my good lord; therefore mistrust me not.
671 KING RICHARD.
672 Where is thy power, then, to beat him back?
673 Where be thy tenants and thy followers?
674 Are they not now upon the western shore,
675 Safe-conducting the rebels from their ships?
676 STANLEY.
677 No, my good lord, my friends are in the north.
678 KING RICHARD.
679 Cold friends to me. What do they in the north,
680 When they should serve their sovereign in the west?
681 STANLEY.
682 They have not been commanded, mighty King.
683 Pleaseth your Majesty to give me leave,
684 I’ll muster up my friends, and meet your Grace
685 Where and what time your Majesty shall please.
686 KING RICHARD.
687 Ay, ay, thou wouldst be gone to join with Richmond.
688 But I’ll not trust thee.
689 STANLEY.
690 Most mighty sovereign,
691 You have no cause to hold my friendship doubtful.
692 I never was nor never will be false.
693 KING RICHARD.
694 Go then, and muster men, but leave behind
695 Your son George Stanley. Look your heart be firm,
696 Or else his head’s assurance is but frail.
697 STANLEY.
698 So deal with him as I prove true to you.
699 [_Exit._]
700 Enter a Messenger.
701 MESSENGER.
702 My gracious sovereign, now in Devonshire,
703 As I by friends am well advertised,
704 Sir Edward Courtney, and the haughty prelate,
705 Bishop of Exeter, his elder brother,
706 With many more confederates, are in arms.
707 Enter another Messenger.
708 SECOND MESSENGER.
709 In Kent, my liege, the Guilfords are in arms,
710 And every hour more competitors
711 Flock to the rebels, and their power grows strong.
712 Enter another Messenger.
713 THIRD MESSENGER.
714 My lord, the army of great Buckingham—
715 KING RICHARD.
716 Out on you, owls! Nothing but songs of death?
717 [_He strikes him._]
718 There, take thou that till thou bring better news.
719 THIRD MESSENGER.
720 The news I have to tell your Majesty
721 Is, that by sudden floods and fall of waters,
722 Buckingham’s army is dispersed and scattered,
723 And he himself wandered away alone,
724 No man knows whither.
725 KING RICHARD.
726 I cry thee mercy.
727 There is my purse to cure that blow of thine.
728 Hath any well-advised friend proclaimed
729 Reward to him that brings the traitor in?
730 THIRD MESSENGER.
731 Such proclamation hath been made, my lord.
732 Enter another Messenger.
733 FOURTH MESSENGER.
734 Sir Thomas Lovell and Lord Marquess Dorset,
735 ’Tis said, my liege, in Yorkshire are in arms.
736 But this good comfort bring I to your Highness:
737 The Breton navy is dispersed by tempest.
738 Richmond, in Dorsetshire, sent out a boat
739 Unto the shore, to ask those on the banks
740 If they were his assistants, yea or no?—
741 Who answered him they came from Buckingham
742 Upon his party. He, mistrusting them,
743 Hoised sail, and made his course again for Brittany.
744 KING RICHARD.
745 March on, march on, since we are up in arms,
746 If not to fight with foreign enemies,
747 Yet to beat down these rebels here at home.
748 Enter Catesby.
749 CATESBY.
750 My liege, the Duke of Buckingham is taken.
751 That is the best news. That the Earl of Richmond
752 Is with a mighty power landed at Milford
753 Is colder tidings, yet they must be told.
754 KING RICHARD.
755 Away towards Salisbury! While we reason here
756 A royal battle might be won and lost.
757 Someone take order Buckingham be brought
758 To Salisbury; the rest march on with me.
759 [_Flourish. Exeunt._]