I see old Gaunt alive. O, then, my father,
Will you permit that I shall stand condemn'd
A wandering vagabond; my rights and royalties
Pluck'd from my arms perforce, and given away
To upstart unthrifts? Wherefore was I born?
If that my cousin king, be king of England,
It must be granted I am duke of Lancaster.
You have a son, Aumerle, my noble kinsman;
Had you first died, and he been thus trod down,
He should have found his uncle Gaunt a father,
To rouse his wrongs, and chase them to the bay.
I am denied to sue my livery here,
And yet my letters-patents give me leave:
My father's goods are all distrain'd, and sold,
And these, and all, are all amiss employ'd.
What would you have me do? I am a subject,
And I* challenge law attorneys are denied me;
And therefore personally I lay my claim
To my inheritance of free descent.

NORTH. The noble duke hath been too much abus'd.

Ross. It stands your grace upon," to do him right.

WILLO. Base men by his endowments are made great.

YORK. My lords of England, let me tell you this,

I have had feeling of my cousin's wrongs,
And labour'd all I could to do him right:
But in this kind to come, in braving arms,
Be his own carver, and cut out his way,
To find out right with wrong,† it may not be;
And you that do abet him in this kind,
Cherish rebellion, and are rebels all.

NORTH. The noble duke hath sworn, his coming is

But for his own: and, for the right of that,
We all have strongly sworn to give him aid;
And let him ne'er see joy that breaks that oath.
YORK. Well, well, I see the issue of these arms;
I cannot mend it, I must needs confess,
Because my power is weak, and all ill left:
But, if I could, by Him that gave me life,
I would attach you all, and make you stoop
Unto the sovereign mercy of the king;
But, since I cannot, be it known to you,
I do remain as neuter. So, fare you well ;-
Unless you please to enter in the castle,

And there repose you for this night.
BOLING. An offer, uncle, that we will accept.
But we must win your grace to go with us
To Bristol castle; which, they say, is held
By Bushy, Bagot, and their complices,
The caterpillars of the commonwealth,
Which I have sworn to weed, and pluck away.
YORK. It may be I will go with you :--but yet
I'll pause;

For I am loth to break our country's laws.
Nor friends, nor foes, to me welcome you are :
Things past redress are now with me past care.
[Exeunt.

not stay.

The bay-trees in our country are all withered,(6)
And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven;
The pale-fac'd moon looks bloody on the earth,
And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change;
Rich men look sad, and ruffians dance and leap,
The one, in fear to lose what they enjoy,
The other, to enjoy by rage and war:
These signs forerun the death or fall of kings.-
Farewell; our countrymen are gone and fled,
As well assur'd Richard their king is dead. [Exit.
SAL. Ah, Richard! with the eyes of heavy
mind,

I see thy glory, like a shooting star,
Fall to the base earth from the firmament.
Thy sun sets weeping in the lowly west,
Witnessing storms to come, woe, and unrest;
Thy friends are fled, to wait upon thy foes,
And crossly to thy good, all fortune goes. [Exit.

(*) First folio omits, the.

"He that stirs next to carve forth his own rage."

C SALISBURY.] John Montacute, earl of Salisbury.

d The death or fall of kings.-] So the first quarto only: other editions, folio included, omit the words, or fall.

Enter BOLINGBROKE, YORK, NORTHUMBERLAND, PERCY, WILLOUGHBY, Ross: Officers behind, with BUSHY and GREEN, prisoners.

BOLING. Bring forth these men.— Bushy, and Green, I will not vex your souls (Since presently your souls must part your bodies,) With too much urging your pernicious lives, For 't were no charity: yet, to wash your blood From off my hands, here, in the view of men, I will unfold some causes of your deaths. You have misled a prince, a royal king, A happy gentleman in blood and lineaments, By you unhappied and disfigur'd clean." You have, in manner, with your sinful hours, Made a divorce betwixt his queen and him; Broke the possession of a royal bed,

And stain'd the beauty of a fair queen's cheeks

a Clean.] That is, utterly, completely.

b Dispark'd my parks.-] "To dispark, is a legal term, and signifies, to divest a park, constituted by royal grant or prescripsion, of its name and character, by destroying the enclosures of such a park, and also the vert (or whatever bears green leaves,

With tears drawn from her eyes by* your foul

wrongs.

Myself a prince, by fortune of my birth;
Near to the king in blood, and near in love,
Till you did make him misinterpret me,-
Have stoop'd my neck under your injuries,
And sigh'd my English breath in foreign clouds,
Eating the bitter bread of banishment:
While you have fed upon my seignories,
Dispark'd my parks, and fell'd my forest woods;
From mine own windows torn my household coat,
Raz'd out my impress, leaving me no sign-
Save men's opinions, and my living blood-
To show the world I am a gentleman.

This, and much more, much more than twice all this,

Condemns you to the death.-See them deliver'd

Over

(*) First folio, with.

whether wood or underwood), and the beasts of chase therein; and laying it open."-MALONE.

c Raz'd out my impress,-] An impress signified a device or motto.

To execution and the hand of death.

BUSHY. More welcome is the stroke of death to me,

Than Bolingbroke to England. Lords, farewell.* GREEN. My comfort is, that heaven will take

our souls,

And plague injustice with the pains of hell. BOLING. My lord Northumberland, see them despatch'd.

[Exeunt NORTHUMBERLAND and others, with
Prisoners.

Uncle, you say, the queen is at your house;
For God's sake, fairly let her be entreated:
Tell her, I send to her my kind commends ;
Take special care my greetings be deliver❜d.

YORK. A gentleman of mine I have dispatch'd With letters of your love to her at large.

BOLING. Thanks, gentle uncle.-Come, lords, away;

To fight with Glendower and his complices;
Awhile to work, and, after, holiday.

[Exeunt.

CAR. Fear not, my lord; that Power that made you king,

Hath power to keep you king, in spite of all."
The means that heaven yields + must be embrac'd,
And not neglected; else, if heaven would,
And we will not, heaven's offer we refuse,
The proffer'd means of succour and redress.

AUм. He means, my lord, that we are too remiss;

Whilst Bolingbroke, through our security, d Grows strong and great, in substance, and in power.‡ [not,

K. RICH. Discomfortable cousin! know'st thou
That, when the searching eye of heaven is hid
Behind the globe that lights the lower world,
Then thieves and robbers range abroad unseen,
In murders, and in outrage bloody, here;
But when, from under this terrestrial ball,
He fires the proud tops of the eastern pines,
And darts his light § through every guilty hole,
Then murders, treasons, and detested sins,
The cloak of night being pluck'd from off their
backs,

Stand bare and naked, trembling at themselves?
So when this thief, this traitor, Bolingbroke,—
Who all this while hath revell'd in the night,
Whilst we were wandering with the Antipodes,5-
Shall see us rising in our throne, the east,
His treasons will sit blushing in his face,
Not able to endure the sight of day,
But, self-affrighted, tremble at his sin.
Not all the water in the rough rude sea
Can wash the balm from an anointed king:
The breath of worldly men cannot depose
The deputy elected by the Lord:

For every man that Bolingbroke hath press'd,
To lift shrewd steel against our golden crown,
God for his Richard hath in heavenly pay

(*) First folio omits, Lords, farewell.

(+) First folio, Heavens. (1) First folio, you.

a So, weeping, smiling,-] These words were probably intended to form a compound, "weeping-smiling."

In spite of all.] The four lines that follow are omitted in the folio.

If heaven would.-] Pope inserted if.

d Through our security,-] See note (b), p. 462.

e Behind the globe that lights the lower world,-] It is customary to read "and lights," but no alteration can reconcile the

(*) First folio, rebellious. (t) Old copies, heavens yield. (1) First folio, friends. ($) First folio, lightning. () First folio, Heaven.

confused imagery of a passage which Shakespeare, intending to say poetically "after sunset," evidently wrote currente calamo. f He fires the proud tops of the eastern pines,-] "It is not easy to point out an image more striking and beautiful than this in any poet, whether ancient or modern."-STEEVENS.

g Whilst we were wandering with the Antipodes,-] This line is not in the first folio.

We'll serve him too, and be his fellow so.
Revolt our subjects? that we cannot mend;
They break their faith to God, as well as us:
Cry, woe, destruction, ruin, loss, decay;
The worst is death, and death will have his day.
SCROOP. Glad am I that your highness is so
arm'd

To bear the tidings of calamity.

Like an unseasonable stormy day,

Which makes the silver rivers drown their shores,
As if the world were all dissolv'd to tears;
So high above his limits swells the rage
Of Bolingbroke, covering your fearful land
With hard bright steel, and hearts harder than steel.
White-beards* have arm'd their thin and hairless

scalps

Against thy majesty; and boys, with women's voices,

Strive to speak big, and clap their female joints
In stiff unwieldy arms; against thy crown
Thy very beadsmen learn to bend their bows
Of double-fatal yew; against thy state,
Yea, distaff-women manage rusty bills;
Against thy seat both young and old rebel,"
And all goes worse than I have power to tell.
K. RICH. Too well, too well, thou tell'st a tale
so ill.

Where is the earl of Wiltshire? where is Bagot?
What is become of Bushy? where is Green?
That they have let the dangerous enemy
Measure our confines with such peaceful steps?
If we prevail, their heads shall pay for it.

I warrant they have made peace with Bolingbroke. SCROOP. Peace have they made with him, indeed, my lord.

K. RICH. O villains, vipers, damn'd without redemption !

Dogs, easily won to fawn on any man!
Snakes, in my heart-blood warm'd, that sting my

heart!

Three Judases, each one thrice worse than Judas! Would they make peace? terrible hell make war Upon their spotted souls for this offence! +

SCROOP. Sweet love, I see, changing his property, Turns to the sourest and most deadly hate: Again uncurse their souls; their peace is made With heads, and not with hands: those whom you

curse,

Have felt the worst of death's destroying wound,+
And lie full low, grav'd in the hollow ground.
AUM. Is Bushy, Green, and the earl of Wiltshire,
dead?

(*) Quartos, coward.

(+) First folio, forty.

Of double-fatal yew-] Fatal alike from the poisonous nature of the leaves, and from the wood being formed into instruments of death.

b Both young and old rebel,-] The punctuation of this

(*) First folio, White beares.

(+) First quarto omits, offence. (1) First folio, hand.

passage, beginning and boys, with women's voices," is that ef the folio, 1623, which certainly yields a finer and more impressive sense than the pointing adopted in all modern editions.

SCROOP. Yea, all of them at Bristol lost their heads.

AUM. Where is the duke my father with his power?

K. RICH. No matter where. Of comfort no man speak:

*

a

Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;
Make dust our paper, and with rainy eyes
Write sorrow on the bosom of the earth.
Let's choose executors, and talk of wills:
And yet not so,-for what can we bequeath,
Save our deposed bodies to the ground?
Our lands, our lives, and all, are Bolingbroke's,
And nothing can we call our own but death;
And that small model of the barren earth,
Which serves as paste and cover to our bones.
For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground,
And tell sad stories of the death of kings:-
How some have been depos'd, some slain in war,
Some haunted by the ghosts they have depos'd;
Some poison'd by their wives, some sleeping kill'd;
All murder'd.-For within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king,
Keeps Death his court; and there the antic sits,
Scoffing his state, and grinning at his pomp ;(2)
Allowing him a breath, a little scene
To monarchize, be fear'd, and kill with looks;
Infusing him with self and vain conceit,-
As if this flesh, which walls about our life,
Were brass impregnable, and, humour'd thus,
Comes at the last, and with a little pin
Bores through his castle wall,† and farewell king!
Cover your heads, and mock not flesh and blood
With solemn reverence; throw away respect,
Tradition, form, and ceremonious duty,
For you have but mistook me all this while :
I live with bread like you, feel want, taste grief,
Need friends-subjected thus,

How can you say to me--I am a king?

CAR. My lord, wise men ne'er sit and wail their woes,b

But presently prevent the ways to wail.
To fear the foe, since fear oppresseth strength,
Gives, in your weakness, strength unto your foe,
And so your follies fight against yourself.
Fear, and be slain? no worse can come, to fight:
And fight and die, is death destroying death;
Where fearing-dying, pays death servile breath.
AUM. My father hath a power, inquire of him;
And learn to make a body of a limb.

a And that small model of the barren earth,-] Douce and other critics thought model, in the present passage, meant no more than a measure, portion, or quantity; but with Shakespeare's intense objectivity, it was more probably intended to signify the hillock of mould which, covering the dead body, assumes its shape.

b Wise men ne'er sit and wail their woes,-] So the quarto copies. The folio reading, usually adopted, is,

"Wise men ne'er wail their present woes."

K. RICH. Thou chid'st me well.-Proud Bolingbroke, I come,

To change blows with thee for our day of doom.
This ague-fit of fear is over-blown,
An task it is to win our own.-

easy

Say, Scroop, where lies our uncle with his power? Speak sweetly, man, although thy looks be sour. SCROOP. Men judge by the complexion of the sky

The state and inclination of the day;

So may you by my dull and heavy eye,
My tongue hath but a heavier tale to say.
I play the torturer, by small and small,
To lengthen out the worst that must be spoken:-
Your uncle York is join'd with Bolingbroke,
And all your northern castles yielded up,
And all your southern gentlemen in arms,
Upon his party.*

K. RICH. Thou hast said enough.Beshrew thee, cousin, which didst lead me forth [To AUM.

Of that sweet way I was in, to despair!
What say you now? What comfort have we now ?
By heaven, I'll hate him everlastingly,
That bids me be of comfort any more.
Go to Flint castle, there I'll pine away;
A king, woe's slave, shall kingly woe obey.
That power I have, discharge; and let them go
To eard the land that hath some hope to grow,
For I have none. Let no man speak again

To alter this, for counsel is but vain.
AUм. My liege, one word-

K. RICH.

He does me double wrong,

That wounds me with the flatteries of his tongue. Discharge my followers, let them hence away, From Richard's night to Bolingbroke's fair day.

SCENE III.-Wales.

[Exeunt.

Before Flint Castle.

e And so your follies, &c.] This line is not found in the first folio. d To ear the land-] That is, to plough, to till it. So, in "All's Well that Ends Well," Act I. Sc. 3:

"He that ears my land, spares my team." And also in Shakespeare's Dedication of "Venus and Adonis" to Lord Southampton: "And never after ear so barren a land, for fear it yield me still so bad a harvest."