Be rush'd upon. Thy thrice-noble cousin, [returns. K. Rich. Northumberland, say,-thus the king His noble cousin is right welcome hither; And all the number of his fair demands Shall be accomplish'd without contradiction. With all the gracious utterance thou hast, Speak to his gentle hearing kind commends. [NORTHUMBERLAND retires to BOLINGBROKE. We do debase ourself, cousin, [To AUMERLE.] do To look so poorly, and to speak so fair? [we not, Shall we call back Northumberland, and send Defiance to the traitor, and so die? swords. [words, Aum. No, good my lord: let's fight with gentle Till time lend friends, and friends their helpful [of mine, K. Rich. O God! O God! that e'er this tongue That laid the sentence of dread banishment On yond' proud man, should take it off again With words of sooth. O! that I were as great As is my grief, or lesser than my name, Or that I could forget what I have been, Or not remember what I must be now. Swell'st thou, proud heart? I'll give thee scope to beat, 2[Unbuttoning. Since foes have scope to beat both thee and me. Aum. Northumberland comes back from Boling [submit? broke. K. Rich. What must the king do now? Must he The king shall do it. Must he be depos'd? The king shall be contented. Must he lose The name of king? o' God's name, let it go: I'll give my jewels for a set of beads, My gorgeous palace for a hermitage, My gay apparel for an alms-man's gown, My figur'd goblets for a dish of wood, My sceptre for a palmer's walking staff, My subjects for a pair of carved saints, And my large kingdom for a little grave, A little little grave, an obscure grave: Or I'll be buried in the king's highway, Some way of common trade, where subjects' feet May hourly trample on their sovereign's head; For on my heart they tread, now whilst I live, And, buried once, why not upon my head?— Aumerle, thou weep'st; my tender-hearted cousin!— We'll make foul weather with despised tears; Our sighs and they shall lodge the summer corn, And make a dearth in this revolting land: Or shall we play the wantons with our woes, And make some pretty match with shedding tears? As thus;-to drop them still upon one place, Till they have fretted us a pair of graves Within the earth; and, therein laid, there lies Two kinsmen digg'd their graves with weeping eyes. • Commit.-"Of sooth," i. e., of sweetness, kindness."Of common trade," i. e., of frequent resort. Would not this ill do well?-Well, well, I see North. My lord, in the base court he doth attend For night-owls shriek, where mounting larks should sing. [Exeunt, from above. Boling. What says his majesty ? North. Sorrow and grief of heart 3 Make him speak ffondly, like a frantic man: Yet he is come. Enter King RICHARD, and his Attendants, below. And show fair duty to his majesty.- [Kneeling. K. Rich. Fair cousin, you debase your princely knee, To make the base earth proud with kissing it: Me rather had, my heart might feel your love, Than my unpleas'd eye see your courtesy. Up, cousin, up: your heart is up, I know, Thus high at least, although your knee be low. Boling. My gracious lord, I come but for mine own. K. Rich. Your own is yours, and I am yours, and all. Boling. So far be mine, my most redoubted lord, As my true service shall deserve your love. [have, K. Rich. Well you deserve:-they well deserve to That know the strong'st and surest way to get.— Uncle, give me your hand: nay, dry your eyes; Cousin, I am too young to be your father, Tears show their love, but want their remedies.Though you are old enough to be my heir. For do we must what force will have us do.What you will have I'll give, and willing too, Set on towards London.-Cousin, is it so? Boling. Yea, my good lord. K. Rich. Then, I must not say no. [Flourish. Exeunt. SCENE IV.-Langley. The Duke of YORK'S Garden. Queen. My legs can keep no measure in delight, When my poor heart no measure keeps in grief: Therefore, no dancing, girl; some other sport. 1 Lady. Madam, we'll tell tales. Queen. Of sorrow, or of joy? 1 Lady. Of either, madam. For if of joy, being altogether wanting, "A leg," i. e., a bow. The base court was the lower court of the castle.- Foolishly.- Profits. 1 Lady. Madam, I'll sing. Queen. 'Tis well that thou hast cause; But thou should'st please me better, would'st thou weep. [good, 1 Lady. I could weep, madam, would it do you good. Queen. And I could sing, would weeping do me And never borrow any tear of thee. But stay, here come the gardeners: Let's step into the shadow of these trees.My wretchedness unto a row of pins, They'll talk of state; for every one doth so Against a change. Woe is forerun with woe. [QUEEN and Ladies retire. Enter a Gardener and two Servants. Cut off the heads of too-fast-growing sprays, pale, 1 Serv. Why should we, in the compass of a Keep law, and form, and due proportion, Showing, as in a model, our firm estate, When our sea-walled garden, the whole land, Is full of weeds; her fairest flowers chok'd up, Her fruit-trees all unprun'd, her hedges ruin'd, Her knots disorder'd, and her wholesome herbs Swarming with caterpillars? Gard. Hold thy peace. He that hath suffer'd this disorder'd spring, Hath now himself met with the fall of leaf: The weeds that his broad-spreading leaves did shelter, That seem'd in eating him to hold him up, Are pluck'd up, root and all, by Bolingbroke; I mean, the earl of Wiltshire, Bushy, Green. 1 Serv. What! are they dead? Gard. They are; and Bolingbroke Hath seiz'd the wasteful king.-'What pity is it, That he had not so trimm'd and dress'd his land, As we this garden. At the time of year 3 We wound the bark, the skin of our fruit-trees, Lest, being over-proud in sap and blood, With too much riches it confound itself: Had he done so to great and growing men, They might have liv'd to bear, and he to taste Their fruits of duty. Superfluous branches We lop away, that bearing boughs may live: Had he done so, himself had borne the crown, Which waste and idle hours have quite thrown down. 1 Serv. What! think you, then, the king shall be depos'd? e Gard. Depress'd he is already; and depos'd, 'Tis doubt, he will be: letters came last night To a dear friend of the good duke of York's, That tell black tidings. Queen. O! I am press'd to 'death, through want of speaking. [Coming forward. Thou, old Adam's likeness, set to dress this garden, How dares thy harsh, rude tongue sound this unpleasing news? What Eve, what serpent hath suggested thee "Woe is forerun with woe," i, e., woe is a harbinger to woe-b Sprouts; twigs.-"A pale," i. c., an enclosure. -Knots were corresponding garden patches or beds."Tis doubt," i. e., doubtless; there is little doubt. An allusion to the ancient punishment of pressing to death, inflict ed upon prisoners refusing to plead. Why dost thou say king Richard is depos'd? Queen. Nimble mischance, that art so light of foot, ACT IV. SCENE I.-London. Westminster Hall. The Lords spiritual on the right side of the Throne; the Lords temporal on the left; the Commons below. Enter BOLINGBROKE, AUMERLE, SURREY, NORTHUMBERLAND, PERCY, FITZWATER, another Lord, the Bishop of Carlisle, the Abbot of Westminster, and Attendants.5 Boling. Call forth Bagot. 6 Enter BAGOT, guarded. Now, Bagot, freely speak thy mind, What thou dost know of noble Gloster's death; Who wrought it with the king, and who perform'd The bloody office of his timeless end. Bagot. Then, set before my face the lord Aumerle. Boling. Cousin, stand forth, and look upon that man. Bagot. My lord Aumerle, I know your daring tongue Scorns to unsay what once it hath deliver'd. In that dead time when Gloster's death was plotted, I heard you say," Is not my arm of length, That reacheth from the restful English court, As far as Calais, to mine uncle's head?" Amongst much other talk, that very time, I heard you say, that you had rather refuse The offer of an hundred thousand crowns, Than Bolingbroke's return to England; Adding withal, how blest this land would be In this your cousin's death. Aum. Princes, and noble lords, What answer shall I make to this base man? Shall I so much dishonor my fair stars, On equal terms to give him chastisement? Either I must, or have mine honor soil'd With the attainder of his slanderous lips. Drop. Untimely.-"My fair stars," i. e., the superior stars that presided at my birth. Only the inferior stars, according to Pliny, were supposed to be predominant at the birth of persons in the lower ranks of life. There is my gage, the manual seal of death, Fitz. If that thy valor stand on sympathy, Aum. Thou dar'st not, coward, live to see that day. Fitz. Now, by my soul, I would it were this hour. Aum. Fitzwater, thou art damn'd to hell for this. Percy. Aumerle, thou liest; his honor is as true In this appeal, as thou art all unjust; And, that thou art so, there I throw my gage, To prove it on thee to th' extremest point Of mortal breathing. Seize it if thou dar'st. Aum. And if I do not, may my hands rot off, And never brandish more revengeful steel Over the glittering helmet of my foe! Many a time hath banish'd Norfolk fought Boling. Why, bishop, is Norfolk dead? York. Great duke of Lancaster, I come to thee, Worst in this royal presence may I speak, Lord. I task the earth to the like, forsworn Aumerle; Were enough noble to be upright judge And spur thee on with full as many lies As may be holla'd in thy treacherous ear From sun to sun. There is my honor's pawn: Engage it to the trial, if thou dar'st. [at all. Aum. Who sets me else? by heaven, I'll throw I have a thousand spirits in one breast, To answer twenty thousand such as you. Surrey. My lord Fitzwater, I do remember well Dishonorable boy! In proof whereof, there is my honor's pawn: d Fitz. How fondly dost thou spur a forward horse. If I dare eat, or drink, or breathe, or live, I dare meet Surrey in a wilderness, And spit upon him, whilst I say he lies, And lies, and lies. There is my bond of faith, To tie thee to my strong correction. As I intend to thrive in this new world, Aumerle is guilty of my true appeal: Besides, I heard the banish'd Norfolk say, That thou, Aumerle, didst send two of thy men To execute the noble duke at Calais. Aum. Some honest Christian trust me with a gage. That Norfolk lies, here do I throw down this, If he may be repeal'd to try his honor. Boling. These differences shall all rest under gage, Till Norfolk be repeal'd: repeal'd he shall be, And, though mine enemy, restor'd again To all his lands and signories. When he's return'd, Against Aumerle we will enforce his trial. Bishop. That honorable day shall ne'er be seen. "On sympathy," i. e., on equality of blood and rank"From sun to sun," i. e., from sunrise to sunset," Who sets me else," i. e., Who else offers me the pledge of battle? "In a wilderness," i. e., where no help can be had against hime" In this new world," i. e., where I have just commenced my career. Of noble Richard: then, true nobless would Shall here inhabit, and this land be call'd York. Nobleness.- Forbid.- Conductor. Re-enter YORK, with King RICHARD, and Officers bearing the Crown, &c. K. Rich. Alack! why am I sent for to a king, Before I have shook off the regal thoughts Wherewith I reign'd? I hardly yet have learn'd To insinuate, flatter, bow, and bend my limbs: Give sorrow leave awhile to tutor me To this submission. Yet I well remember The favors of these men: were they not mine? Did they not sometimes cry, All hail! to me? So Judas did to Christ; but he, in twelve, [none. Found truth in all, but one: I, in twelve thousand, God save the king!-Will no man say, amen? Am I both priest and clerk? well then, amen. God save the king! although I be not he; And yet, amen, if heaven do think him me.To do what service am I sent for hither? York. To do that office of thine own good will, Which tired majesty did make thee offer; The resignation of thy state and crown To Harry Bolingbroke. crown. K. Rich. Give me the crown.-Here, cousin, seize the crown; [Crown brought. Here, cousin, on this side my hand, and on that side, Now is this golden crown like a deep well, [yours. That owes two buckets, filling one another; The emptier ever dancing in the air, The other down, unseen, and full of water: That bucket down, and full of tears, am I, Drinking my grief, whilst you mount up on high. Boling. I thought you had been willing to resign. K. Rich. My crown, I am; but still my griefs are You may my glories and my state depose, [mine. But not my griefs: still am I king of those. Boling. Part of your cares you give me with your [down. K. Rich. Your cares set up do not pluck my cares My care is loss of care, by old care done; Your care is gain of care, by new care won: The cares I give, I have, though given away; They tend the crown, yet still with me they stay. Boling. Are you contented to resign the crown? K. Rich. Ay, no; no, ay ;-for I must nothing be; Therefore no no, for I resign to thee. Now mark me how I will undo myself.I give this heavy weight from off my head, And this unwieldy sceptre from my hand, The pride of kingly sway from out my heart: With mine own tears I wash away my balm, With mine own hands I give away my crown, With mine own tongue deny my sacred state, With mine own breath release all duties, rites: All pomp and majesty I do forswear; My manors, rents, revenues, I forego; My acts, decrees, and statutes, I deny: God pardon all oaths that are broke to me! God keep all vows unbroke that swear to thee! Make me, that nothing have, with nothing griev'd, And thou with all pleas'd, that hast all achiev'd! Long may'st thou live in Richard's seat to sit, And soon lie Richard in an earthy pit! God save king Henry, unking'd Richard says, And send him many years of sunshine days!What more remains? No more, but that you read [Offering a paper. These accusations, and these grievous crimes, Committed by your person, and your followers, Against the state and profit of this land; That, by confessing them, the souls of men North. May deem that you are worthily depos'd. K. Rich. Must I do so? and must I ravel out My weav'd up folly? Gentle Northumberland, If thy offences were upon record, e Would it not shame thee, in so fair a troop, [cles. North. My lord, dispatch: read o'er these artiK. Rich. Mine eyes are full of tears, I cannot see; And yet salt water blinds them not so much, But they can see a 'sort of traitors here. Nay, if I turn mine eyes upon myself, I find myself a traitor with the rest; For I have given here my soul's consent, To undeck the pompous body of a king; Made glory base, and sovereignty a slave, Proud majesty a subject; state a peasant. North. My lord, [man, K. Rich. No lord of thine, thou haught, insulting Nor no man's lord: I have no name, no title, No, not that name was given me at the font, But 'tis usurp'd.-Alack, the heavy day! That I have worn so many winters out, And know not now what name to call myself. O! that I were a mockery king of snow, Standing before the sun of Bolingbroke, To melt myself away in water drops!Good king,-great king,—and yet not greatly good, And if my name be sterling yet in England, Let it command a mirror hither straight, That it may show me what a face I have, Since it is bankrupt of his majesty. Boling. Go some of you, and fetch a looking-glass. [Exit an Attendant. North. Read o'er this paper, while the glass doth [to hell. K. Rich. Fiend! thou torment'st me ere I come Boling. Urge it no more, my lord Northumberland. come. North. The commons will not then be satisfied. Thou dost beguile me. Was this face the face, [Dashes the Glass against the ground. For there it is, crack'd in a hundred shivers.Mark, silent king, the moral of this sport: "If thou would'st," i. e., if thou would'st read a list of thy own deeds." Sort," i. e., set; company.-s Haughty. His is used for its. The shadow of my sorrow? Ha! let's see :- K. Rich. Fair cousin! I am greater than a king; For, when I was a king, my flatterers Were then but subjects; being now a subject, Being so great, I have no need to beg. K. Rich. And shall I have it? Boling. You shall. K. Rich. Why then give me leave to go. [sights. K. Rich. Whither you will, so I were from your Boling. Go, some of you; convey him to the Tower. [all, K. Rich. O, good! Convey ?-^ Conveyors are you That rise thus nimbly by a true king's fall. [Exeunt K. RICHARD, and Guard. Boling. On Wednesday next we solemnly set Our coronation lords, prepare yourselves. [down [Exeunt all but the Abbot, Bishop of Carlisle, and AUMERLE. Abbot. A woeful pageant have we here beheld. I see your brows are full of discontent, ACT V. [Exeunt. SCENE I.-London. A Street leading to the Tower. Enter QUEEN, and Attendants. Queen. This way the king will come: this is the To Julius Cæsar's bill-erected tower, [way To whose flint bosom my condemned lord Is doom'd a prisoner by proud Bolingbroke. Here let us rest, if this rebellious earth Have any resting for her true king's queen. Enter King RICHARD, and Guard. But soft, but see, or rather do not see, My fair rose wither: yet look up, behold, That you in pity may dissolve to dew, And wash him fresh again with true-love tears. Ah! thou, the model where old Troy did stand; a "Conveyors," i. e., jugglers; thieves.-b"Ill-erected," i. e., erected for evil purposes.The model where old Troy did stand," i. e., the likeness of that cheerless waste where proud Troy once stood. Thou map of honor; thou king Richard's tomb, K. Rich. Join not with grief, fair woman, do not Will keep a league till death. Hie thee to France, Transform'd and weaken'd? Hath this Bolingbroke And wounds the earth, if nothing else, with rage [beasts, K. Rich. A king of beasts, indeed; if aught but I bad been still a happy king of men. Good sometime queen, prepare thee hence for France: Think I am dead; and that even here thou tak'st, As from my death-bed, my last living leave. In winter's tedious nights sit by the fire With good old folks, and let them tell thee tales Of woeful ages long ago betid; And, ere thou bid good night, to quit their grief, Tell thou the lamentable tale of me, And send the hearers weeping to their beds. For why, the senseless brands will sympathize The heavy accent of thy moving tongue, And in compassion weep the fire out; And some will mourn in ashes, some coal-black, For the deposing of a rightful king. Enter NORTHUMBERLAND, attended. The mounting Bolingbroke ascends my throne, And he shall think, that thou, which know'st the way To pluck him headlong from the usurped throne. North. My guilt be on my head, and there an end. 2[They embrace. And yet not so, for with a kiss 'twas made.- "Map," i. e., picture.- "Inn," i. e., mansion; residence. "Sworn brother," i. e., partner. Passed. “ To quil their grief," i. e., to requite their mournful stories. |