With best advantage will deceive the time, And aid thee in this doubtful shock of arms: But on thy side I may not be too forward, Lest, being seen, thy brother, tender George, Be executed in his father's sight. Farewell: the leisure and the fearful time Cuts off the ceremonious vows of love And ample interchange of sweet discourse, Which so long sunder'd friends should dwell upon: God give us leisure for these rites of love! Once more, adieu: be valiant, and speed well! Richm. Goodlords, conduct him to his regiment. I'll strive, with troubled thoughts, to take a nap, Lest leaden slumber peise me down to-morrow, When I should mount with wings of victory. Once more, good night, kind lords and gentlemen. Exeunt all but RICHMOND.
O! thou, whose captain I account myself, Look on my forces with a gracious eye; Put in their hands thy bruising irons of wrath, That they may crush down with a heavy fall The usurping helmets of our adversaries. Make us thy ministers of chastisement, That we may praise thee in thy victory! To thee I do commend my watchful soul, Ere I let fall the windows of mine eyes: Sleeping and waking, O! defend me still.
The Ghost of Prince EDWARD, Son to HENRY the Sixth, rises between the two tents.
Ghost. To King RICHARD. Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow!
Think how thou stabb'dst me in my prime of youth At Tewksbury: despair therefore, and die! To RICHMOND. Be cheerful, Richmond; for the wronged souls
Of butcher'd princes fight in thy behalf: King Henry's issue, Richmond, comforts thee.
The Ghost of King HENRY the Sixth rises. Ghost. To King RICHARD. When I was mortal, my anointed body
By thee was punched full of deadly holes : Think on the Tower and me; despair, and die! Harry the Sixth bids thee despair, and die. To RICHMOND. Virtuous and holy, be thou conqueror !
Harry, that prophesied thou should'st be king, Doth comfort thee in sleep: live, and flourish!
The Ghost of CLARENCE rises.
Ghost. To King 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 betray'd to death! To-morrow in the battle think on me,
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! The Ghosts of RIVERS, GREY, and VAUGHAN, rise. Ghost of Rivers. To King RICHARD. Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow! Rivers, that died at Pomfret: despair, and die! Ghost of Grey. To King RICHARD. Think upon Grey, and let thy soul despair! Ghost of Vaughan. To King RICHARD. Think upon Vaughan, and with guilty fear
Let fall thy lance: despair, and die! All. To RICHMOND. Awake, and think our wrongs in Richard's bosom
Will conquer him: awake, and win the day! The Ghost of HASTINGS rises.
Ghost. To King RICHARD. Bloody and guilty, guiltily awake;
And in a bloody battle end thy days! Think on Lord Hastings: despair, and die! 150 To RICHMOND. Quiet untroubled soul, awake, awake!
Arm, fight, and conquer, for fair England's sake! The Ghosts of the two young Princes rise. Ghosts. To King RICHARD. Dream on thy cousins smother'd in the Tower:
Let us be lead within thy bosom, Richard, And weigh thee down to ruin, shame, and death! Thy nephews' souls bid thee despair, and die! To RICHMOND. Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace, and wake in joy;
Good angels guard thee from the boar's annoy Live, and beget a happy race of kings! Edward's unhappy sons do bid thee flourish. 160 The Ghost of Lady ANNE rises.
Ghost. To King RICHARD. Richard, thy wife, that wretched Anne thy wife, That never slept a quiet hour with thee, Now fills thy sleep with perturbations: To-morrow in the battle think on me, And fall thy edgeless sword: despair, and die! To RICHMOND. Thou, quiet soul, sleep thou a quiet sleep;
Dream of success and happy victory! Thy adversary's wife doth pray for thee.
The Ghost of BUCKINGHAM rises. Ghost. To King RICHARD. The first was I that help'd thee to the crown; The last was I that felt thy tyranny. O! in the battle think on Buckingham, And die in terror of thy guiltiness.
Dream on, dream on, of bloody deeds and death: Fainting, despair; despairing, yield thy breath! To RICHMOND. I died for hope ere I could lend
But cheer thy heart, and be thou not dismay'd: God and good angels fight on Richmond's side; And Richard falls in height of all his pride.
The Ghosts vanish. King RICHARD starts out of his dream. K. Rich. Give me another horse! bind up my wounds!
Have mercy, Jesu! Soft! I did but dream. 180 O! coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me. The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight. Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. What do I fear myself? there's none else by: Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I. Is there a murderer here? No. Yes; I am : Then fly: what! from myself? Great reason why; Lest I revenge. What myself upon myself? Alack! I love myself. Wherefore? for any good That I myself have done unto myself? O! no: alas! I rather hate myself For hateful deeds committed by myself. I am a villain. Yet I lie; I am not. Fool, of thyself speak well: fool, do not flatter. My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale, And every tale condemns me for a villain. Perjury, perjury, in the high'st degree; Murder, stern murder, in the dir'st degree; All several sins, all us'd in each degree, Throng to the bar, crying all, 'Guilty! guilty!' I shall despair. There is no creature loves me; And if I die. no soul shall pity me: Nay, wherefore should they, since that I myself Find in myself no pity to myself? Methought the souls of all that I had murder'd Came to my tent; and every one did threat To-morrow's vengeance on the head of Richard. Enter RATCLIFF.
Hath twice done salutation to the morn; Your friends are up, and buckle on their armour. K. Rich. O Ratcliff! I have dream'd a fearful dream.
What thinkest thou, will our friends prove all true?
Rat. No doubt, my lord. K. Rich. O Ratcliff! I fear, I fear,Rat. Nay, good my lord, be not afraid of shadows. K. Rich. By the apostle Paul, shadows to-night Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard Than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers Armed in proof, and led by shallow Richmond. It is not yet near day. Come, go with me; 222 Under our tents I'll play the eaves-dropper, To hear if any mean to shrink from me. Exeunt. RICHMOND wakes. Enter OXFORD and Others. Lords. Good morrow, Richmond!
Richm. Cry mercy, lords and watchful gentle
His oration to his soldiers. More than I have said, loving countrymen, The leisure and enforcement of the time Forbids to dwell on yet remember this, God and our good cause fight upon our side; The prayers of holy saints and wronged souls. Like high-rear'd bulwarks, stand before our faces; Richard except, those whom we fight against Had rather have us win than him they follow. For what is he they follow? truly, gentlemen, A bloody tyrant and a homicide;
One rais'd in blood, and one in blood establish'd; One that made means to come by what he hath, And slaughter'd those that were the means to help him;
A base foul stone, made precious by the foil Of England's chair, where he is falsely set ; One that hath ever been God's enemy. Then, if you fight against God's enemy, God will in justice ward you as his soldiers; If you do sweat to put a tyrant down, You sleep in peace, the tyrant being slain; If you do fight against your country's foes, Your country's fat shall pay your pains the hire; If you do fight in safeguard of your wives, Your wives shall welcome home the conquerors; If you do free your children from the sword, Your children's children quit it in your age. Then, in the name of God and all these rights, Advance your standards, draw your willing swords.
For me, the ransom of my bold attempt Shall be this cold corpse on the earth's cold face; But if I thrive, the gain of my attempt The least of you shall share his part thereof. Sound, drums and trumpets, boldly and cheer- fully;
God and Saint George! Richmond and victory! Exeunt.
Re-enter King RICHARD, RATCLIFF, Attendants, and Forces.
K. Rich. What said Northumberland as touching Richmond?
Rat. That he was never trained up in arms. K. Rich. He said the truth: and what said Surrey then?
Rat. He smil'd and said, 'The better for our purpose.'
K. Rich. He was i' the right; and so indeed it is. Clock strikes.
Tell the clock there. Give me a calendar. Who saw the sun to-day?
Rat. Not I, my lord. K. Rich. Then he disdains to shine; for by the book
A black day will it be to somebody. He should have brav'd the east an hour ago :
Ratcliff!
Rat. My lord! K. Rich.
The sky doth frown and lour upon our army. The sun will not be seen to-day; I would these dewy tears were from the ground. Not shine to-day! Why, what is that to me More than to Richmond? for the self-same heaven That frowns on me looks sadly upon him.
K. Rich. Come, bustle, bustle; caparison my horse.
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; Our archers shall be placed in the midst : John Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Earl of Surrey, Shall have the leading of this foot and horse. They thus directed, we will follow In the main battle, whose puissance on either side Shall be well winged with our chiefest horse. This, and Saint George to boot! What think'st thou, Norfolk ?
Nor. A good direction, war-like sovereign. This found I on my tent this morning.
Giving a scroll. K. Rich. Jockey of Norfolk, be not too bold, For Dickon thy master is bought and sold.
A thing devised by the enemy.
Go, gentlemen; every man to his charge: Let not our babbling dreams affright our souls; Conscience is but a word that cowards use, Devis'd at first to keep the strong in awe : Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law.
March on, join bravely, let us to 't pell-mell; If not to heaven, then hand in hand to hell. His oration to his army.
What shall I say more than I have inferr'd? Remember whom you are to cope withal; A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and runaways, A scum of Bretons and base lackey peasants, Whom their o'er-cloyed country vomits forth Todesperate adventures and assur'd destruction. You sleeping safe, they bring to you unrest; 322 You having lands, and bless'd with beauteous wives,
They would restrain the one, distain the other. And who doth lead them but a paltry fellow, Long kept in Bretagne at our mother's cost? A milksop, one that never in his life
Felt so much cold as over shoes in snow? Let's whip these stragglers o'er the seas again; Lash hence these overweening rags of France, These famish'd beggars, weary of their lives; Who, but for dreaming on this fond exploit, 332 For want of means, poor rats, had hang'd them- selves.
If we be conquer'd, let men conquer us,
And not these bastard Bretons, whom our fathers Have in their own land beaten, bobb'd, and thump'd,
And in record, left them the heirs of shame. Shall these enjoy our lands? lie with our wives? Ravish our daughters? Drum afar off. Hark! I hear their drum. Fight, gentlemen of England! fight, bold yeomen! Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head! Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood; Amaze the welkin with your broken staves!
Daring an opposite to every danger: His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights, Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death. Rescue, fair lord, or else the day is lost!
Alarum. Enter King RICHARD.
K. Rich. A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
Cates. Withdraw, my lord; I'll help you to a horse.
K. Rich. Slave! I have set my life upon a cast, And I will stand the hazard of the die. I think there be six Richmonds in the field; Five have I slain to-day instead of him. A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse! Exeunt.
Alarums. Enter King RICHARD and RICHMOND; and exeunt fighting. Retreat and flourish. Reenter RICHMOND, STANLEY bearing the crown, with divers other Lords, and Forces.
Richm. God and your arms be prais'd, victorious friends;
The day is ours, the bloody dog is dead.
Stan. Courageous Richmond, well hast thou acquit thee.
Lo! here, this long-usurped royalty From the dead temples of this bloody wretch Have I pluck'd off, to grace thy brows withal : Wear it, enjoy it, and make much of it.
Richm. Great God of heaven, say amen to all! But tell me, is young George Stanley living? Stan. He is, my lord, and safe in Leicester town, Whither, if it please you, we may now withdraw us.
Richm. What men of name are slain on either side?
Stan. John Duke of Norfolk, Walter Lord Ferrers,
Sir Robert Brakenbury, and Sir William Brandon. Richm. Inter their bodies as becomes their births:
Proclaim a pardon to the soldiers fled That in submission will return to us; And then, as we have ta'en the sacrament, We will unite the white rose and the red: Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction, That long hath frown'd upon their enmity! What traitor hears me, and says not amen? England hath long been mad, and scarr'd herself; The brother blindly shed the brother's blood, The father rashly slaughter'd his own son, The son, compell'd, been butcher to the sire: All this divided York and Lancaster Divided in their dire division,
O! now, let Richmond and Elizabeth, The true succeeders of each royal house, By God's fair ordinance conjoin together; And let their heirs, God, if thy will be so, Enrich the time to come with smooth-fac'd peace, With smiling plenty, and fair prosperous days! Abate the edge of traitors, gracious lord, That would reduce these bloody days again, And make poor England weepin streams of blood! Let them not live to taste this land's increase, That would with treason wound this fair land's peace!
Now civil wounds are stopp'd, peace lives again: That she may long live here, God say amen! Exeunt.
THE FAMOUS HISTORY OF THE LIFE OF
KING HENRY THE EIGHTH.
Several Lords and Ladies in the Dumb-shows; Women attending upon the Queen; Scribes, Officers, Guards, and other Attendants.
SCENE.-Chiefly in London and Westminster; once, at Kimbolton.
I come no more to make you laugh: things now, That bear a weighty and a serious brow, Sad, high, and working, full of state and woe, Such noble scenes as draw the eye to flow, We now present. Those that can pity, here May, if they think it well, let fall a tear; The subject will deserve it. Such as give Their money out of hope they may believe, May here find truth too. Those that come to see Only a show or two, and so agree
The play may pass, if they be still and willing, I'll undertake may see away their shilling Richly in two short hours. Only they That come to hear a merry, bawdy play, A noise of targets, or to see a fellow In a long motley coat guarded with yellow, Will be deceiv'd; for, gentle hearers, know, To rank our chosen truth with such a show As fool and fight is, beside forfeiting Our own brains, and the opinion that we bring, To make that only true we now intend,
Will leave us never an understanding friend.
I was my chamber's prisoner. Nor.
Then you lost The view of earthly glory: men might say, Till this time pomp was single, but now married To one above itself. Each following day Became the next day's master, till the last Made former wonders its. To-day the French All clinquant, all in gold, like heathen gods, Shone down the English; and to-morrow they Made Britain India: every man that stood Show'd like a mine. Their dwarfish pages were As cherubins, all gilt: the madams too, Not us'd to toil, did almost sweat to bear The pride upon them, that their very labour Was to them as a painting. Now this masque Was cried incomparable; and the ensuing night Made it a fool and beggar. The two kings, Equal in lustre, were now best, now worst, As presence did present them; him in eye, Still him in praise; and, being present both, 'Twas said they saw but one; and no discerner Durst wag his tongue in censure. When these
For so they phrase 'em, by their heralds challeng'd The noble spirits to arms, they did perform Beyond thought's compass; that former fabu
The peace between the French and us not values The cost that did conclude it. Buck.
Every man, After the hideous storm that follow'd, was A thing inspir'd; and, not consulting, broke Into a general prophecy: That this tempest, Dashing the garment of this peace, aboded The sudden breach on 't.
Which is budded out; For France hath flaw'd the league, and hath attach'd
Our merchants' goods at Bourdeaux. Aber.
The ambassador is silenc'd? Nor.
Aber. A proper title of a peace; and purchas'd At a superfluous rate! Buck.
Why, all this business Our reverend cardinal carried. Nor. Like it your grace, 100 The state takes notice of the private difference Betwixt you and the cardinal. I advise you, And take it from a heart that wishes towards
Honour and plenteous safety, that you read The cardinal's malice and his potency Together; to consider further that What his high hatred would effect wants not A minister in his power. You know his nature, That he's revengeful; and I know his sword Hath a sharp edge: it's long, and 't may be said, It reaches far; and where 'twill not extend, 11 Thither he darts it. Bosom up my counsel, You'll find it wholesome. Lo! where comes
That I advise your shunning.
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