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Duch. Either thou wilt die by God's just | To be discover'd, that can do me good?

ordinance,

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Ere from this war thou turn a conqueror,
Or I with grief and extreme age shall perish
And never more behold thy face again.
Therefore take with thee my most grievous curse;
Which, in the day of battle, tire thee more
Than all the complete armour 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.
Exit.
Q. Eliz. Though far more cause, yet much less
spirit to curse

Abides in me: I say amen to her.

Going.

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Q. Eliz. I have no more sons of the royal blood For thee to slaughter: for my daughters, Richard, They shall be praying nuns, not weeping queens; And therefore level not to hit their lives.

K. Rich. You have a daughter call'd Elizabeth, Virtuous and fair, royal and gracious.

Q. Eliz. And must she die for this? O! let her live,

And I'll corrupt her manners, stain her beauty; Slander myself as false to Edward's bed; Throw over her the veil of infamy:

209

So she may live unscarr'd of bleeding slaughter,
I will confess she was not Edward's daughter.
K. Rich. Wrong not her birth; she is a royal
princess.

Q. Eliz. To save her life, I'll say she is not so.
K. Rich. Her life is safest only in her birth.
Q. Eliz. And only in that safety died her
brothers.

K. Rich. Lo at their birth good stars were opposite.

Q. Eliz. No, to their lives ill friends were contrary.

K. Rich. All unavoided is the doom of destiny. Q. Eliz. True, when avoided grace makes destiny.

220

My babes were destin'd to a fairer death,
If grace had bless'd thee with a fairer life.
K. Rich. You speak as if that I had slain my
cousins.

Q. Eliz. Cousins, indeed; and by their uncle cozen'd

Of comfort, kingdom, kindred, freedom, life.
Whose hand soever lanc'd their tender hearts,
Thy head, all indirectly, gave direction :
No doubt the murderous knife was dull and blunt
Till it was whetted on thy stone-hard heart,
To revel in the entrails of my lambs.

229

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 anchor'd in thine eyes;
And I, in such a desperate bay of death,
Like a poor bark, of sails and tackling reft,
Rush all to pieces on thy rocky bosom.

K. Rich. Madam, so thrive I in my enterprise
And dangerous success of bloody wars,
As I intend more good to you and yours
Than ever you or yours by me were harm'd.

Q. Eliz. What good is cover'd with the face of heaven,

240

K. Rich. The advancement of your children, gentle lady.

Q. Eliz. Up to some scaffold, there to lose their heads?

K. Rich. Unto the dignity and height of fortune, The high imperial type of this earth's glory.

Q. Eliz. Flatter my sorrow with report of it, Tell me what state, what dignity, what honour, Canst thou demise to any child of mine?

K. Rich. Even all I have; ay, and myself and all 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. Q. Eliz. Be brief, lest that the process of thy kindness

Last longer telling than thy kindness' date. K. Rich. Then know, that from my soul I love thy daughter.

Q. Eliz. My daughter's mother thinks it with her soul.

K. Rich. What do you think?

Q. Eliz. That thou dost love my daughter from thy soul:

So from thy soul's love didst thou love her brothers;

And from my heart's love I do thank thee for it. K. Rich. Be not so hasty to confound my meaning:

I mean, that with my soul I love thy daughter, And do intend to make her Queen of England. Q. Eliz. Well then, who dost thou mean shall be her king?

K. Rich. Even he that makes her queen: who else should be?

Q. Eliz. What! thou?

K. Rich. Even so: how think you of it?
Q. Eliz. How canst thou woo her?
K. Rich.

That I would learn of you, As one being best acquainted with her humour. Q. Eliz. And wilt thou learn of me?

K. Rich.
Madam, with all my heart.
Q. Eliz. Send to her, by the man that slew
her brothers,

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, steep'd in Rutland's blood,
A handkerchief, which, say to her, did drain
The purple sap from her sweet brothers' 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.

K. Rich. You mock me, madam; this is not
the way
To win your daughter.
Q. Eliz.
There is no other way
Unless thou could'st put on some other shape,
And not be Richard that hath done all this.
K. Rich. Say that I did all this for love of her!
Q. Eliz. Nay, then indeed she cannot choose
but hate thee,

Having bought love with such a bloody spoil. K. Rich. Look, what is done cannot be noW amended:

SCENE IV.]

KING RICHARD III.

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310

Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes,
Which after-hours give 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 kill'd 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 mettle, of your very blood;
Of all one pain, save for a night of groans
Endur'd 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
Repair'd 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, transform'd to orient pearl,
Advantaging their loan with interest
Of ten times double gain of happiness.
Go then, my mother; to thy daughter go:
Make bold her bashful years with your experience;
Prepare her ears to hear a wooer's tale;
Put in her tender heart the aspiring flame
Of golden sovereignty; acquaint the princess 330
With the sweet silent hours of marriage joys:
And when this arm of mine hath chastised
The petty rebel, dull-brain'd 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 victress, Cæsar's Cæsar.
Q. Eliz. What were I best to say? her father's
brother

320

Would be her lord? or shall I say her uncle?
Or he that slew her brothers and her uncles? 340
Under what title shall I woo for thee,
That God, the law, my honour, and her love,
Can make seem pleasing to her tender years?
K. Rich. Infer fair England's peace by this
alliance.

Q. Eliz. Which she shall purchase with still
lasting war.

K. Rich. Tell her, the king, that may com-
mand, entreats.

Q. Eliz. That at her hands which the kings'
King forbids.

K. Rich. Say she shall be a high and mighty

queen.

Q. Eliz. To wail the title, as her mother doth.
K. Rich. Say I will love her everlastingly. 350
Q. Eliz. But how long shall that title 'ever' last?
K. Rich. Sweetly in force unto her fair life's end.
Q. Eliz. But how long fairly shall her sweet
life last?

K. Rich. As long as heaven and nature
lengthens it

Q. Eliz. As long as hell and Richard likes of it.
K. Rich. Say, I, her sovereign, am her subject
low.

Q. Eliz. But she, your subject, loathes such
sovereignty.

K. Rich. Be eloquent in my behalf to her.
Q. Eliz. An honest tale speeds best being
plainly told.

359

K. Rich. Then plainly to her tell my loving tale.
Q. Eliz. Plain and not honest is too harsha style.
K. Rich. Your reasons are too shallow and too
quick.

Q. Eliz. O, no! my reasons are too deep and
dead;

Too deep and dead, poor infants, in their graves.
K. Rich. Harp not on that string, madam;
that is past.

Q. Eliz. Harp on it still shall I till heartstrings
break.

K. Rich. Now, by my George, my garter, and

my crown,—

Q. Eliz. Profan'd, dishonour'd, and the third
usurp'd.

K. Rich. I swear-
Q. Eliz.

By nothing; for this is no oath.
Thy George, profan'd, hath lost his holy honour;
Thy garter, blemish'd, pawn'd his knightly virtue;
Thy crown, usurp'd, disgrac'd his kingly glory.
If something thou would'st swear to be believ'd,
Swear then by something that thou hast not
wrong'd.

K. Rich. Now, by the world,
Q. Eliz.

"Tis full of thy foul wrongs.

K. Rich. My father's death,-
Q. Eliz.

Thy life hath it dishonour'd.
K. Rich. Then, by myself,-
Q. Eliz.

Thyself is self-misus'd.

K. Rich. Why then, by God,---
Q. Eliz.

380

God's wrong is most of all.
If thou hadst fear'd to break an oath by him,
The unity the king my husband made
Thou hadst not broken, nor my brothers died :
If thou hadst fear'd to break an oath by him,
The imperial metal, circling now thy head,
Had grac'd the tender temples of my child,
Which now, two tender bedfellows for dust,
And both the princes had been breathing here,
Thy broken faith hath made the prey for worms.
What canst thou swear by now?

The time to come.
K. Rich.
Q. Eliz. That thou hast wronged in the time
o'erpast;

390

Hereafter time for time past wrong'd by thee.
For I myself have many tears to wash
slaughter'd,
The children live, whose fathers thou hast

The parents live, whose children thou hast
Ungovern'd youth, to wail it in their age:
butcher'd,

Old barren plants, to wail it with their age.
Misus'd ere us'd, by times ill-us'd o'erpast.
Swear not by time to come; for that thou hast

400

K. Rich. As I intend to prosper, and repent,
So thrive I in my dangerous affairs
Of hostile arms! myself myself confound!
Heaven and fortune bar me happy hours!
Be opposite all planets of good luck
Day, yield me not thy light; nor, night, thy rest!
Immaculate devotion, holy thoughts,
To my proceeding, if, with dear heart's love,

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, good 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-fond in great designs.

410

Q. Eliz. Shall I be tempted of the devil thus? K. Rich. Ay, if the devil tempt thee to do good. Q. Eliz. Shall I forget myself to be myself? 421 K. Rich. Ay, if yourself's remembrance wrong yourself.

Q. Eliz. Yet thou didst kill my children.

K. Rich. But in your daughter's womb I bury them :

Where, in that nest of spicery, they will breed Selves of themselves to your recomforture.

Q. Eliz. Shall I go win my daughter to thy will? K. Rich. And be a happy mother by the deed. Q. Eliz. I go. Write to me very shortly, And you shall understand from me her mind. 430 K. Rich. Bear her my true love's kiss; and so farewell. Exit Queen ELIZABETH. Relenting fool, and shallow changing woman!

Enter RATCLIFF; CATESBY following. How now! what news?

Rat. Most mighty sovereign, on the western

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K. Rich. Some light-foot friend post to the
Duke of Norfolk :

Ratcliff, thyself, or Catesby; where is he?
Cates. Here, my good lord.
K. Rich.
Catesby, fly to the duke.
Cates. I will, my lord, with all convenient haste.
K. Rich. Ratcliff, come hither. Post to Salisbury:
When thou com'st thither,- To CATESBY. Dull,
unmindful villain,

Why stay'st thou here, and go'st not to the duke? Cates. First, mighty liege, tell me your highness' pleasure,

What from your grace I shall deliver to him. K. Rich. O true, good Catesby: bid him levy straight

450

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Nor none so bad but well may be reported. 459
K. Rich. Heyday, ariddle! neither good nor bad!
What need'st thou run so many miles about,
When thou may'st tell thy tale the nearest way!
Once more, what news?
Stan.

Richmond is on the seas K. Rich. There let him sink, and be the seas on him!

White-liver'd runagate! what doth he there! Stan. I know not, mighty sovereign, but by guess, K. Rich. Well, as you guess?

Stan. Stirr'd up by Dorset, Buckingham and Morton,

He makes for England, here to claim the crown. K. Rich. Is the chair empty is the sword unsway'd?

Is the king dead? the empire unpossess'd?
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!

Stan. Unless for that, my liege, I cannot guess. K. Rich. Unless for that he comes to be your liege,

You cannot guess wherefore the Welshman

comes.

Thou wilt revolt and fly to him I fear.

Stan. No, my good lord; therefore mistrust

me not.

K. Rich. Where is thy power then to beat him back?

Where be thy tenants and thy followers?
Are they not now upon the western shore,
Safe-conducting the rebels from their ships!

Stan. No, my good lord, my friends are in the north.

K. Rich. Cold friends to me: what do they in the north

When they should serve their sovereign in the west?

Stan. They have not been commanded, mighty king.

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.
K. Rich. Ay, ay, thou would'st be gone to join
with Richmond:

But I'll not trust thee.
Stan.
Most mighty sovereign,
You have no cause to hold my friendship doubtful.
I never was nor never will be false.

K. Rich. Go then and muster men: but leave behind

Your son, George Stanley: look your heart be firm, Or else his head's assurance is but frail.

Stan. So deal with him as I prove true to you.

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Enter a third Messenger. Third Mess. My lord, the army of great Buck. ingham

K. Rich. Out on ye, owls! nothing but songs of death? He strikes him. There, take thou that, till thou bring better news. Third Mess. The news I have to tell your majesty Is, that by sudden floods and fall of waters, 511 Buckingham's army is dispers'd and scatter'd ; And he himself wander'd away alone,

No man knows whither.

K. Rich.

I cry thee mercy:

There is my purse to cure that blow of thine. Hath any well-advised friend proclaim'd Reward to him that brings the traitor in? Third Mess. Such proclamation hath been made, my liege.

Enter a fourth Messenger.

Fourth Mess. Sir Thomas Lovel and Lord
Marquess Dorset,

'Tis said, my liege, in Yorkshire are in arms: 520
But this good comfort bring I to your highness,
The Breton navy is dispers'd 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 answer'd him, they came from Buckingham
Upon his party: he, mistrusting them,

Hois'd sail and made away for Brittany.

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SCENE I.-Salisbury. An open Place. Enter the Sheriff and Guard, with BUCKINGHAM, led to execution.

Buck. Will not King Richard let me speak with him?

Sher. No, my good lord; therefore be patient. Buck. Hastings, and Edward's children, Grey, and Rivers,

Holy King Henry, and thy fair son Edward,
Vaughan, and all that have miscarried
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, fellows, is it not?
Sher. It is, my lord.

10

Buck. Why, then All-Souls' day is my body's doomsday.

This is the day that, in King Edward's time,

K. Rich. March on, march on, since we are up I wish'd might fall on me, when I was found

in arms;

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taken;

That is the best news: that the Earl of Richmond
Is with a mighty power landed at Milford
Is colder news, but yet they must be told.

K. Rich. Away towards Salisbury! while we reason here

A royal battle might be won and lost.
Some one take order Buckingham be brought
To Salisbury; the rest march on with me.
Flourish. Exeunt.
SCENE V.- The Same. A Room in Lord
STANLEY'S House.

Enter STANLEY and Sir CHRISTOPHER
URSWICK.

Stan. Sir Christopher, tell Richmond this from me:

That in the sty of the most bloody boar
My son George Stanley is frank'd 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 con-
sented

He should espouse Elizabeth her daughter.
But, tell me, where is princely Richmond now?
Chris. At Pembroke or at Ha'rford-west, in
Wales.

10

Stan. What men of name resort to him? Chris. Sir Walter Herbert, a renowned soldier, Sir Gilbert Talbot, Sir William Stanley, Oxford, redoubted Pembroke, Sir James Blunt,

False to his children or his wife's allies;

20

This is the day wherein I wish'd to fall
By the false faith of him whom most I trusted;
This, this All-Souls' day to my fearful soul
Is the determin'd respite of my wrongs.
That high All-Seer which I dallied with
Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head,
And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest.
Thus doth he force the swords of wicked men
Toturntheirown points on 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.
Exeunt.

SCENE II.-A Plain near Tamworth. Enter, with drum and colours, RICHMOND, Oxford, Sir JAMES BLUNT, Sir WALTER HERBERT, and Others, with Forces, marching.

Richm. Fellows in arms, and my most loving friends,

Bruis'd underneath the yoke of tyranny,
Thus far into the bowels of the land
Have we march'd on without impediment:
And here receive we from our father Stanley
Lines of fair comfort and encouragement.
The wretched, bloody, and usurping boar,
That spoil'd your summer fields and fruitful vines,
Swills your warm blood like wash, and makes
his trough

In your embowell'd bosoms, this foul swine 10
Lies now even in the centre 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,

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SCENE III.-Bosworth Field.

Enter King RICHARD and Forces; the Duke of NORFOLK, Earl of SURREY, and Others.

K. Rich. Here pitch our tents, even here in Bosworth field.

My Lord of Surrey, why look you so sad?

Sur. My heart is ten times lighter than my looks.

K. Rich. My Lord of Norfolk,-
Nor.

Here, most gracious liege. K. Rich. Norfolk, we must have knocks; ha! must we not?

Nor. We must both give and take, my gracious lord.

K. Rich. Up with my tent! here will I lie tonight;

But where to-morrow? Well, all's one for that. Who hath descried the number of the traitors?

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Nor. Six or seven thousand is their utmost

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Enter, on the other side of the field, RICHMOND, Sir
WILLIAM BRANDON, OXFORD, and other Officers.
Some of the Soldiers pitch RICHMOND'S tent.
Richm. The weary sun hath made a golden set,
And, by the bright track of his fiery car,
Gives token of a goodly day to-morrow.

20

31

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 good-night 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 quarter'd, do you know?
Blunt. Unless I have mista'en his colours much,
Which well I am assur'd I have not done,
His regiment lies half a mile at least
South from the mighty power of the king.
Richm. If without peril it be possible,
Good Captain Blunt, bear my good-night to him,
And give him from me this most needful scroll.

39

Blunt. Upon my life, my lord, I'll undertake it; And so, God give you quiet rest to-night! Richm. Good night, good Captain Blunt. Come, gentlemen,

Let us consult upon to-morrow's business;
In to my tent; the dew is raw and cold.

They withdraw into the tent.

Enter, to his tent, King RICHARD, NORFOLK,
RATCLIFF, and CATESBY.

K. Rich. What is 't o'clock ?
Cates.

It's nine o'clock.

It's supper-time, my lord;

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K. Rich. I will not sup to-night. Give me some ink and paper. What, is my beaver easier than it was, And all my armour laid into my tent? Cates. It is, my liege; and all things are in readiness.

K. Rich. Good Norfolk, hie thee to thy charge: Use careful watch; choose trusty sentinels. Nor. I go, my lord.

K. Rich. Stir with the lark to-morrow, gentle
Norfolk.

Nor. I warrant you, my lord.
K. Rich. Ratcliff!

Rat. My lord! K. Rich.

Erit.

Send out a pursuivant at arms To Stanley's regiment; bid him bring his power Before sun-rising, lest his son George fall Into the blind cave of eternal night. Fill me a bowl of wine. Give me a watch. Look that my staves be sound, and not too heavy, Saddle white Surrey for the field to-morrow.

Ratcliff!

Rat. My lord!

K. Rich Saw'st thou the melancholy Lord Northumberland?

Rat. Thomas the Earl of Surrey, and himself, Much about cock-shut time, from troop to troop Went through the army, cheering up the soldiers. K. Rich. So; I am satisfied. Give me a bowl of wine:

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?
Rat. It is, my lord.

K. Rich. Bid my guard watch; leave me. Ratcliff, about the mid of night come to my tent And help to arm me. Leave me, I say.

King RICHARD retires into his tent. Exeunt RATCLIFF and CATESBY. RICHMOND'S tent opens, and discovers him and his Officers, etc.

Enter STANLEY.

Stan. Fortune and victory sit on thy helm! Richm. All comfort that the dark night can afford

Be to thy person, noble father-in-law !
Tell me, how fares our loving mother?

Stan. I, by attorney, bless thee from thy 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 arbitrement
Of bloody strokes and mortal-staring war.
I, as I may, that which I would I cannot,

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