William Shakespeare

“ We mourn, France smiles; we lose, they daily get;
♦ All ’long of this vile traitor Somerset.
Lucy. Then God take mercy on brave Talbot’s soul;
35 And on his son young John, who two hours since
♦ I met in travel toward his warlike father!
This seven years did not Talbot see his son;
And now they meet where both their lives are done.
York. Alas, what joy shall noble Talbot have
40 To bid his young son welcome to his grave?
Away! vexation almost stops my breath,
♦ That sunder’d friends greet in the hour of death.
Lucy, farewell: no more my fortune can,
But curse the cause I cannot aid the man. ”

“ Nay, Gloucester, know that thou art come too soon,
Unless thou wert more loyal than thou art:
I do arrest thee of high treason here.
♦ Glou. Well, Suffolk, thou shalt not see me blush
Nor change my countenance for this arrest:
100 A heart unspotted is not easily daunted.
The purest spring is not so free from mud
As I am clear from treason to my sovereign:
Who can accuse me? wherein am I guilty?
♦ York. ’Tis thought, my lord, that you took bribes of France,
105 And, being protector, stayed the soldiers’ pay ”

“ O Margaret, Margaret, now thy heavy curse
95 Is lighted on poor Hastings’ wretched head!
♦ Rat. Dispatch, my lord; the duke would be at dinner:
Make a short shrift; he longs to see your head.
♦ Hast. O momentary grace of mortal men,
♦ Which we more hunt for than the grace of God!
100 Who builds his hopes in air of your fair looks,
Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast,
Ready, with every nod, to tumble down
Into the fatal bowels of the deep.
♦ Lov. Come, come, dispatch; ’tis bootless to exclaim.
105 Hast. O bloody Richard! miserable England! ”

“ Drown desperate sorrow in dead Edward’s grave,
100 And plant your joys in living Edward’s throne.
Enter GLOUCESTER, BUCKINGHAM, DERBY, HASTINGS, and RATCLIFF.
♦ Glou. Madam, have comfort: all of us have cause
To wail the dimming of our shining star;
♦ But none can cure their harms by wailing them.
Madam, my mother, I do cry you mercy;
105 I did not see your grace: humbly on my knee
I crave your blessing.
♦ Duch. God bless thee, and put meekness in thy mind,
Love, charity, obedience, and true duty!
♦ Glou. [Aside] Amen; and make me die a good old man! ”

“ K. Hen. Sad-hearted men, much overgone with care,
Here sits a king more woful than you are.
Alarums: excursions. Enter QUEEN MARGARET, the PRINCE, and EXETER.
125 Prince. Fly, father, fly! for all your friends are fled,
And Warwick rages like a chafed bull:
Away! for death doth hold us in pursuit.
Q. Mar. Mount you, my lord; towards Berwick post amain:
Edward and Richard, like a brace of greyhounds
130 Having the fearful flying hare in sight,
With fiery eyes sparkling for very wrath,
And bloody steel grasp’d in their ireful hands,
Are at our backs; and therefore hence amain. ”

“ Enter the Ghost of CLARENCE.
♦ Ghost. [To Richard] Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow!
♦ I, that was wash’d to death with fulsome wine,
Poor Clarence, by thy guile betrayed to death.
To-morrow in the battle think on me,
135 And fall thy edgeless sword: despair, and die!
[To Richmond] Thou offspring of the house of Lancaster,
The wronged heirs of York do pray for thee:
Good angels guard thy battle! live, and flourish!
Enter the Ghosts of RIVERS, GREY, and VAUGHAN.
♦ Ghost of R. [To Richard] Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow,
140 Rivers, that died at Pomfret! despair, and die! ”

“ While Gloucester bears this base and humble mind.
Were I a man, a duke, and next of blood,
I would remove these tedious stumbling-blocks
65 And smooth my way upon their headless necks;
And, being a woman, I will not be slack
To play my part in Fortune’s pageant.
♦ Where are you there? Sir John! nay, fear not, man,
♦ We are alone; here’s none but thee and I.
Enter HUME.
70 Hume. Jesus preserve your royal majesty!
♦ Duch. What say’st thou? majesty! I am but grace.
Hume. But, by the grace of God, and Hume’s advice,
Your grace’s title shall be multiplied.
Duch. What say’st thou, man? ”

“ That head of thine doth not become a crown;
Thy hand is made to grasp a palmer’s staff,
And not to grace an awful princely sceptre.
♦ That gold must round engirt these brows of mine,
100 Whose smile and frown, like to Achilles’ spear,
Is able with the change to kill and cure.
Here is a hand to hold a sceptre up
♦ And with the same to act controlling laws.
Give place: by heaven, thou shalt rule no more
105 O’er him whom heaven created for thy ruler.
Som. O monstrous traitor! I arrest thee, York,
Of capital treason ’gainst the king and crown:
Obey, audacious traitor; kneel for grace. ”

“ Enter EDWARD, running.
Edw. Smile, gentle heaven! or strike, ungentle death!
For this world frowns, and Edward’s sun is clouded.
♦ War. How now, my lord! what hap? what hope of good?
Enter GEORGE.
♦ Geo. Our hap is loss, our hope but sad despair;
10 Our ranks are broke, and ruin follows us:
♦ What counsel give you? whither shall we fly?
Edw. Bootless is flight, they follow us with wings;
And weak we are and cannot shun pursuit.
Enter RICHARD.
Rich. Ah, Warwick, why hast thou withdrawn thyself? ”

“ I’ll make a corse of him that disobeys.
♦ Gent. My lord, stand back, and let the coffin pass.
♦ Glou. Unmanner’d dog! stand thou, when I command:
40 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.
Anne. What, do you tremble? are you all afraid?
Alas, I blame you not; for you are mortal,
45 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, be gone. ”

“ Women and children of so high a courage,
And warriors faint! why, ’twere perpetual shame.
O brave young prince! thy famous grandfather
Doth live again in thee: long mayst thou live
To bear his image and renew his glories!
55 Som. And he that will not fight for such a hope,
Go home to bed, and like the owl by day,
If he arise, be mock’d and wonder’d at.
Q. Mar. Thanks, gentle Somerset; sweet Oxford, thanks.
Prince. And take his thanks that yet hath nothing else.
Enter a Messenger.
60 Mess. Prepare you, lords, for Edward is at hand,
Ready to fight; therefore be resolute. ”

“ Queen. God forbid any malice should prevail,
That faultless may condemn a nobleman!
25 Pray God he may acquit him of suspicion!
♦ King. I thank thee, Nell; these words content me much.
Re-enter SUFFOLK.
How now! why look’st thou pale? why tremblest thou?
Where is our uncle? what’s the matter, Suffolk?
Suf. Dead in his bed, my lord; Gloucester is dead.
30 Queen. Marry, God forfend!
Car. God’s secret judgement: I did dream to-night
♦ The duke was dumb and could not speak a word. ”

“ The curse my noble father laid on thee,
175 When thou didst crown his warlike brows with paper
♦ And with thy scorns drew’st rivers from his eyes,
And then, to dry them, gavest the duke a clout
♦ Steep’d in the faultless blood of pretty Rutland,—
His curses, then from bitterness of soul
180 Denounced against thee, are all fall’n upon thee;
♦ And God, not we, hath plagued thy bloody deed.
♦ Q. Eliz. So just is God, to right the innocent. ”

“ Enter Mayor.
♦ May. O, my good lords, and virtuous Henry,
♦ Pity the city of London, pity us!
♦ The bishop and the Duke of Gloucester’s men,
Forbidden late to carry any weapon,
80 Have fill’d their pockets full of pebble stones
♦ And banding themselves in contrary parts
♦ Do pelt so fast at one another’s pate
That many have their giddy brains knock’d out:
Our windows are broke down in every street
85 And we for fear compell’d to shut our shops.
Enter Serving-men, in skirmish, with bloody pates. ”

“ I thank thee, Clifford: say, what news with thee?
♦ Nay, do not fright us with an angry look:
We are thy sovereign, Clifford, kneel again;
For thy mistaking so, we pardon thee.
Clif. This is my king, York, I do not mistake;
130 But thou mistakest me much to think I do:
To Bedlam with him! is the man grown mad?
King. Ay, Clifford; a bedlam and ambitious humour
Makes him oppose himself against his king.
Clif. He is a traitor ”

“ 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,
30 This sickly land might solace as before.
♦ First Cit. Come, come, we fear the worst; all shall be well.
♦ Third Cit. When clouds appear, wise men put on their cloaks;
♦ When great leaves fall, the winter is at hand;
When the sun sets, who doth not look for night?
35 Untimely storms make men expect a dearth.
♦ All may be well; but, if God sort it so,
’Tis more than we deserve, or I expect. ”

“ Lord cardinal, if thou think’st on heaven’s bliss,
♦ Hold up thy hand, make signal of thy hope.
He dies, and makes no sign. O God, forgive him!
30 War. So bad a death argues a monstrous life.
King. Forbear to judge, for we are sinners all. ”

“ Despiteful tidings! O unpleasing news!
♦ Dor. Be of good cheer: mother, how fares your grace?
♦ Q. Eliz. O Dorset, speak not to me, get thee hence!
40 Death and destruction dog thee at the 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 slaughter-house,
45 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. ”

“ At Beaufort’s pride, at Somerset’s ambition,
At Buckingham and all the crew of them,
Till they have snared the shepherd of the flock,
That virtuous prince, the good Duke Humphrey:
75 ’Tis that they seek, and they in seeking that
Shall find their deaths, if York can prophesy.
♦ Sal. My lord, break we off; we know your mind at full.
War. My heart assures me that the Earl of Warwick
Shall one day make the Duke of York a king.
80 York. And, Nevil, this I do assure myself:
Richard shall live to make the Earl of Warwick
The greatest man in England but the king. ”

“ And Somerset another goodly mast?
♦ The friends of France our shrouds and tacklings?
And, though unskilful, why not Ned and I
20 For once allow’d the skilful pilot’s charge?
We will not from the helm to sit and weep,
But keep our course, though the rough wind say no,
From shelves and rocks that threaten us with wreck.
As good to chide the waves as speak them fair.
25 And what is Edward but a ruthless sea?
What Clarence but a quicksand of deceit?
♦ And Richard but a ragged fatal rock?
All these the enemies to our poor bark.
Say you can swim; alas, ’tis but a while! ”

“ My lord of Gloucester, ’tis my special hope
140 That you will clear yourself from all suspect:
My conscience tells me you are innocent.
Glou. Ah, gracious lord, these days are dangerous:
Virtue is choked with foul ambition
And charity chased hence by rancour’s hand ”

“ Enter another Messenger.
♦ Mess. Jack Cade hath gotten London bridge:
50 The citizens fly and forsake their houses:
The rascal people, thirsting after prey,
Join with the traitor, and they jointly swear
To spoil the city and your royal court.
Buck. Then linger not, my lord; away, take horse.
55 King. Come, Margaret; God, our hope, will succour us.
Queen. My hope is gone, now Suffolk is deceased.
♦ King. Farewell, my lord: trust not the Kentish rebels.
♦ Buck. Trust nobody, for fear you be betray’d. ”

“ Why, this it is, when men are ruled by women:
’Tis not the king that sends you to the Tower;
My Lady Grey his wife, Clarence, ’tis she
65 That tempers him to this extremity. ”

“ Neither the king, nor he that loves him best,
The proudest he that holds up Lancaster,
Dares stir a wing, if Warwick shake his bells.
♦ I’ll plant Plantagenet, root him up who dares:
♦ Resolve thee, Richard; claim the English crown.
Flourish. Enter KING HENRY, CLIFFORD, NORT­HUMB­ER­LAND, WEST­MORE­LAND, EXETER, and the rest.
50 K. Hen. My lords, look where the sturdy rebel sits,
Even in the chair of state: belike he means,
Back’d by the power of Warwick, that false peer,
To aspire unto the crown and reign as king.
Earl of Northumberland, he slew thy father,
55 And thine, Lord Clifford ”

“ The sun will not be seen to-day;
The sky doth frown and lour upon our army.
I would these dewy tears were from the ground.
285 Not shine to-day! Why, what is that to me
More than to Richmond? for the selfsame heaven
That frowns on me looks sadly upon him.
Re-enter NORFOLK.
♦ Nor. Arm, arm, my lord; the foe vaunts in the field.
K. Rich. Come, bustle, bustle. Caparison my horse.
290 Call up Lord Stanley, bid him bring his power:
I will lead forth my soldiers to the plain,
And thus my battle shall be ordered:
♦ My foreward shall be drawn out all in length,
Consisting equally of horse and foot ”

“ And, live we how we can, yet die we must.
Enter OXFORD and SOMERSET.
Som. Ah, Warwick, Warwick! wert thou as we are,
30 We might recover all our loss again:
The queen from France hath brought a puissant power:
Even now we heard the news: ah, couldst thou fly! ”

“ Cate. ’Tis a vile thing to die, my gracious lord,
65 When men are unprepared and look not for it.
♦ Hast. O monstrous, monstrous! and so falls it out
With Rivers, Vaughan, Grey: and so ’twill do
♦ With some men else, who think themselves as safe
♦ As thou and I; who, as thou know’st, are dear
70 To princely Richard and to Buckingham.
Cate. The princes both make high account of you;
♦ [Aside] For they account his head upon the bridge.
♦ Hast. I know they do; and I have well deserved it.
Enter LORD STANLEY.
♦ Come on, come on; where is your boar-spear, man? ”

“ Fear not, my lord, we will not stand to prate;
♦ Talkers are no good doers: be assured
♦ We come to use our hands and not our tongues. ”