/
richard_iii_gut.txt
6455 lines (5045 loc) · 172 KB
/
richard_iii_gut.txt
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590
591
592
593
594
595
596
597
598
599
600
601
602
603
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636
637
638
639
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671
672
673
674
675
676
677
678
679
680
681
682
683
684
685
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710
711
712
713
714
715
716
717
718
719
720
721
722
723
724
725
726
727
728
729
730
731
732
733
734
735
736
737
738
739
740
741
742
743
744
745
746
747
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790
791
792
793
794
795
796
797
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868
869
870
871
872
873
874
875
876
877
878
879
880
881
882
883
884
885
886
887
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922
923
924
925
926
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954
955
956
957
958
959
960
961
962
963
964
965
966
967
968
969
970
971
972
973
974
975
976
977
978
979
980
981
982
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF KING RICHARD III
by William Shakespeare
Persons Represented.
KING EDWARD THE FOURTH
Sons to the king
EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES afterwards KING EDWARD V
RICHARD, DUKE OF YORK
Brothers to the king
GEORGE, DUKE OF CLARENCE
RICHARD, DUKE OF GLOSTER, afterwards KING RICHARD III
A YOUNG SON OF CLARENCE
HENRY, EARL OF RICHMOND, afterwards KING HENRY VII
CARDINAL BOURCHIER, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
THOMAS ROTHERHAM, ARCHBISHOP OF YORK
JOHN MORTON, BISHOP OF ELY
DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM
DUKE OF NORFOLK
EARL OF SURREY, his son
EARL RIVERS, brother to King Edward's Queen
MARQUIS OF DORSET and LORD GREY, her sons
EARL OF OXFORD
LORD HASTINGS
LORD STANLEY
LORD LOVEL
SIR THOMAS VAUGHAN
SIR RICHARD RATCLIFF
SIR WILLIAM CATESBY
SIR JAMES TYRREL
SIR JAMES BLOUNT
SIR WALTER HERBERT
SIR ROBERT BRAKENBURY, Lieutenant of the Tower
CHRISTOPHER URSWICK, a priest
Another Priest
LORD MAYOR OF LONDON
SHERIFF OF WILTSHIRE
ELIZABETH, Queen to King Edward IV
MARGARET, widow to King Henry VI
DUCHESS OF YORK, mother to King Edward IV, Clarence, and Gloster
LADY ANNE, widow to Edward, Prince of Wales, son to King
Henry VI; afterwards married to the Duke of Gloster
A YOUNG DAUGHTER OF CLARENCE
Lords, and other Attendants; two Gentlemen, a Pursuivant,
Scrivener, Citizens, Murderers, Messengers, Ghosts, Soldiers, &c.
SCENE: England
King Richard the Third
ACT I.
SCENE I. London. A street
[Enter GLOSTER.]
GLOSTER
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums chang'd to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
Grim-visag'd war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front;
And now,--instead of mounting barbed steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,--
He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
But I,--that am not shap'd for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deform'd, unfinish'd, sent before my time
Into this breathing world scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;--
Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun,
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore,--since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,--
I am determined to prove a villain,
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels, and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the king
In deadly hate the one against the other:
And if King Edward be as true and just
As I am subtle, false, and treacherous,
This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up,--
About a prophecy which says that G
Of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul:--here Clarence comes.
[Enter CLARENCE, guarded, and BRAKENBURY.]
Brother, good day: what means this armed guard
That waits upon your grace?
CLARENCE.
His majesty,
Tendering my person's safety, hath appointed
This conduct to convey me to the Tower.
GLOSTER.
Upon what cause?
CLARENCE.
Because my name is George.
GLOSTER.
Alack, my lord, that fault is none of yours;
He should, for that, commit your godfathers:--
O, belike his majesty hath some intent
That you should be new-christen'd in the Tower.
But what's the matter, Clarence? may I know?
CLARENCE.
Yea, Richard, when I know; for I protest
As yet I do not: but, as I can learn,
He hearkens after prophecies and dreams;
And from the cross-row plucks the letter G,
And says a wizard told him that by G
His issue disinherited should be;
And, for my name of George begins with G,
It follows in his thought that I am he.
These, as I learn, and such like toys as these,
Hath mov'd his highness to commit me now.
GLOSTER.
Why, this it is when men are rul'd by women:--
'Tis not the king that sends you to the Tower;
My Lady Grey his wife, Clarence, 'tis she
That tempers him to this extremity.
Was it not she and that good man of worship,
Antony Woodville, her brother there,
That made him send Lord Hastings to the Tower,
From whence this present day he is deliver'd?
We are not safe, Clarence; we are not safe.
CLARENCE.
By heaven, I think there is no man is secure
But the queen's kindred, and night-walking heralds
That trudge betwixt the king and Mistress Shore.
Heard you not what an humble suppliant
Lord Hastings was to her for his delivery?
GLOSTER.
Humbly complaining to her deity
Got my Lord Chamberlain his liberty.
I'll tell you what,--I think it is our way,
If we will keep in favour with the king,
To be her men and wear her livery:
The jealous o'er-worn widow, and herself,
Since that our brother dubb'd them gentlewomen,
Are mighty gossips in our monarchy.
BRAKENBURY.
I beseech your graces both to pardon me;
His majesty hath straitly given in charge
That no man shall have private conference,
Of what degree soever, with your brother.
GLOSTER.
Even so; an't please your worship, Brakenbury,
You may partake of any thing we say:
We speak no treason, man;--we say the king
Is wise and virtuous; and his noble queen
Well struck in years, fair, and not jealous;--
We say that Shore's wife hath a pretty foot,
A cherry lip, a bonny eye, a passing pleasing tongue;
And that the queen's kindred are made gentlefolks:
How say you, sir? can you deny all this?
BRAKENBURY.
With this, my lord, myself have naught to do.
GLOSTER.
Naught to do with Mistress Shore! I tell thee, fellow,
He that doth naught with her, excepting one,
Were best to do it secretly alone.
BRAKENBURY.
What one, my lord?
GLOSTER.
Her husband, knave:--wouldst thou betray me?
BRAKENBURY.
I do beseech your grace to pardon me; and, withal,
Forbear your conference with the noble duke.
CLARENCE.
We know thy charge, Brakenbury, and will obey.
GLOSTER.
We are the queen's abjects and must obey.--
Brother, farewell: I will unto the king;
And whatsoe'er you will employ me in,--
Were it to call King Edward's widow sister,--
I will perform it to enfranchise you.
Meantime, this deep disgrace in brotherhood
Touches me deeper than you can imagine.
CLARENCE.
I know it pleaseth neither of us well.
GLOSTER.
Well, your imprisonment shall not be long;
I will deliver or else lie for you:
Meantime, have patience.
CLARENCE.
I must perforce: farewell.
[Exeunt CLARENCE, BRAKENBURY, and guard.]
GLOSTER.
Go tread the path that thou shalt ne'er return.
Simple, plain Clarence!--I do love thee so
That I will shortly send thy soul to heaven,
If heaven will take the present at our hands.--
But who comes here? The new-delivered Hastings?
[Enter HASTINGS.]
HASTINGS.
Good time of day unto my gracious lord!
GLOSTER.
As much unto my good Lord Chamberlain!
Well are you welcome to the open air.
How hath your lordship brook'd imprisonment?
HASTINGS.
With patience, noble lord, as prisoners must;
But I shall live, my lord, to give them thanks
That were the cause of my imprisonment.
GLOSTER.
No doubt, no doubt; and so shall Clarence too;
For they that were your enemies are his,
And have prevail'd as much on him as you.
HASTINGS.
More pity that the eagles should be mew'd
Whiles kites and buzzards prey at liberty.
GLOSTER.
What news abroad?
HASTINGS.
No news so bad abroad as this at home,--
The king is sickly, weak, and melancholy,
And his physicians fear him mightily.
GLOSTER.
Now, by Saint Paul, that news is bad indeed.
O, he hath kept an evil diet long,
And overmuch consum'd his royal person:
'Tis very grievous to be thought upon.
What, is he in his bed?
HASTINGS.
He is.
GLOSTER.
Go you before, and I will follow you.
[Exit HASTINGS.]
He cannot live, I hope; and must not die
Till George be pack'd with posthorse up to heaven.
I'll in, to urge his hatred more to Clarence
With lies well steel'd with weighty arguments;
And, if I fail not in my deep intent,
Clarence hath not another day to live;
Which done, God take King Edward to his mercy,
And leave the world for me to bustle in!
For then I'll marry Warwick's youngest daughter:
What though I kill'd her husband and her father?
The readiest way to make the wench amends
Is to become her husband and her father:
The which will I; not all so much for love
As for another secret close intent,
By marrying her, which I must reach unto.
But yet I run before my horse to market:
Clarence still breathes; Edward still lives and reigns:
When they are gone, then must I count my gains.
[Exit.]
SCENE II. London. Another street.
[Enter the corpse of King Henry the Sixth, borne in an open
coffin, Gentlemen bearing halberds to guard it; and Lady
Anne as mourner.]
ANNE.
Set down, set down your honourable load,--
If honour may be shrouded in a hearse,--
Whilst I awhile obsequiously lament
Th' untimely fall of virtuous Lancaster.--
Poor key-cold figure of a holy king!
Pale ashes of the house of Lancaster!
Thou bloodless remnant of that royal blood!
Be it lawful that I invocate thy ghost,
To hear the lamentations of poor Anne,
Wife to thy Edward, to thy slaughter'd son,
Stabb'd by the self-same hand that made these wounds!
Lo, in these windows that let forth thy life,
I pour the helpless balm of my poor eyes:--
O, cursed be the hand that made these holes!
Cursed the heart that had the heart to do it!
Cursed the blood that let this blood from hence!
More direful hap betide that hated wretch
That makes us wretched by the death of thee,
Than I can wish to adders, spiders, toads,
Or any creeping venom'd thing that lives!
If ever he have child, abortive be it,
Prodigious, and untimely brought to light,
Whose ugly and unnatural aspect
May fright the hopeful mother at the view;
And that be heir to his unhappiness!
If ever he have wife, let her be made
More miserable by the death of him
Than I am made by my young lord and thee!--
Come, now towards Chertsey with your holy load,
Taken from Paul's to be interred there;
And still, as you are weary of this weight,
Rest you, whiles I lament King Henry's corse.
[The Bearers take up the Corpse and advance.]
[Enter GLOSTER.]
GLOSTER.
Stay, you that bear the corse, and set it down.
ANNE.
What black magician conjures up this fiend,
To stop devoted charitable deeds?
GLOSTER.
Villains, set down the corse; or, by Saint Paul,
I'll make a corse of him that disobeys!
FIRST GENTLEMAN.
My lord, stand back, and let the coffin pass.
GLOSTER.
Unmanner'd dog! stand thou, when I command:
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.
[The Bearers set down the coffin.]
ANNE.
What, do you tremble? are you all afraid?
Alas, I blame you not; for you are mortal,
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.
GLOSTER.
Sweet saint, for charity, be not so curst.
ANNE.
Foul devil, for God's sake, hence and trouble us not;
For thou hast made the happy earth thy hell,
Fill'd it with cursing cries and deep exclaims.
If thou delight to view thy heinous deeds,
Behold this pattern of thy butcheries.--
O, gentlemen, see, see! dead Henry's wounds
Open their congeal'd mouths and bleed afresh!
Blush, blush, thou lump of foul deformity;
For 'tis thy presence that exhales this blood
From cold and empty veins, where no blood dwells;
Thy deeds, inhuman and unnatural,
Provokes this deluge most unnatural.--
O God, which this blood mad'st, revenge his death!
O earth, which this blood drink'st, revenge his death!
Either, heaven, with lightning strike the murderer dead;
Or, earth, gape open wide and eat him quick,
As thou dost swallow up this good king's blood,
Which his hell-govern'd arm hath butchered!
GLOSTER.
Lady, you know no rules of charity,
Which renders good for bad, blessings for curses.
ANNE.
Villain, thou knowest nor law of God nor man:
No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity.
GLOSTER.
But I know none, and therefore am no beast.
ANNE.
O wonderful, when devils tell the truth!
GLOSTER.
More wonderful when angels are so angry.--
Vouchsafe, divine perfection of a woman,
Of these supposed crimes to give me leave,
By circumstance, but to acquit myself.
ANNE.
Vouchsafe, diffus'd infection of a man,
Of these known evils but to give me leave,
By circumstance, to accuse thy cursed self.
GLOSTER.
Fairer than tongue can name thee, let me have
Some patient leisure to excuse myself.
ANNE.
Fouler than heart can think thee, thou canst make
No excuse current but to hang thyself.
GLOSTER.
By such despair I should accuse myself.
ANNE.
And by despairing shalt thou stand excus'd;
For doing worthy vengeance on thyself,
That didst unworthy slaughter upon others.
GLOSTER.
Say that I slew them not?
ANNE.
Then say they were not slain:
But dead they are, and, devilish slave, by thee.
GLOSTER.
I did not kill your husband.
ANNE.
Why, then he is alive.
GLOSTER.
Nay, he is dead; and slain by Edward's hand.
ANNE.
In thy foul throat thou liest: Queen Margaret saw
Thy murderous falchion smoking in his blood;
The which thou once didst bend against her breast,
But that thy brothers beat aside the point.
GLOSTER.
I was provoked by her slanderous tongue
That laid their guilt upon my guiltless shoulders.
ANNE.
Thou wast provoked by thy bloody mind,
That never dreamt on aught but butcheries:
Didst thou not kill this king?
GLOSTER.
I grant ye.
ANNE.
Dost grant me, hedgehog? then, God grant me too
Thou mayst be damned for that wicked deed!
O, he was gentle, mild, and virtuous.
GLOSTER.
The better for the king of Heaven, that hath him.
ANNE.
He is in heaven, where thou shalt never come.
GLOSTER.
Let him thank me that holp to send him thither,
For he was fitter for that place than earth.
ANNE.
And thou unfit for any place but hell.
GLOSTER.
Yes, one place else, if you will hear me name it.
ANNE.
Some dungeon.
GLOSTER.
Your bed-chamber.
ANNE.
Ill rest betide the chamber where thou liest!
GLOSTER.
So will it, madam, till I lie with you.
ANNE.
I hope so.
GLOSTER.
I know so.--But, gentle Lady Anne,--
To leave this keen encounter of our wits,
And fall something into a slower method,--
Is not the causer of the timeless deaths
Of these Plantagenets, Henry and Edward,
As blameful as the executioner?
ANNE.
Thou wast the cause and most accurs'd effect.
GLOSTER.
Your beauty was the cause of that effect;
Your beauty, that did haunt me in my sleep
To undertake the death of all the world,
So I might live one hour in your sweet bosom.
ANNE.
If I thought that, I tell thee, homicide,
These nails should rend that beauty from my cheeks.
GLOSTER.
These eyes could not endure that beauty's wreck;
You should not blemish it if I stood by:
As all the world is cheered by the sun,
So I by that; it is my day, my life.
ANNE.
Black night o'ershade thy day, and death thy life!
GLOSTER.
Curse not thyself, fair creature; thou art both.
ANNE.
I would I were, to be reveng'd on thee.
GLOSTER.
It is a quarrel most unnatural,
To be reveng'd on him that loveth thee.
ANNE.
It is a quarrel just and reasonable,
To be reveng'd on him that kill'd my husband.
GLOSTER.
He that bereft thee, lady, of thy husband,
Did it to help thee to a better husband.
ANNE.
His better doth not breathe upon the earth.
GLOSTER.
He lives that loves thee better than he could.
ANNE.
Name him.
GLOSTER.
Plantagenet.
ANNE.
Why, that was he.
GLOSTER.
The self-same name, but one of better nature.
ANNE.
Where is he?
GLOSTER.
Here.
[She spits at him.]
Why dost thou spit at me?
ANNE.
Would it were mortal poison, for thy sake!
GLOSTER.
Never came poison from so sweet a place.
ANNE.
Never hung poison on a fouler toad.
Out of my sight! thou dost infect mine eyes.
GLOSTER.
Thine eyes, sweet lady, have infected mine.
ANNE.
Would they were basilisks to strike thee dead!
GLOSTER.
I would they were, that I might die at once;
For now they kill me with a living death.
Those eyes of thine from mine have drawn salt tears,
Sham'd their aspects with store of childish drops:
These eyes, which never shed remorseful tear,
No, when my father York and Edward wept,
To hear the piteous moan that Rutland made
When black-fac'd Clifford shook his sword at him;
Nor when thy warlike father, like a child,
Told the sad story of my father's death,
And twenty times made pause, to sob and weep,
That all the standers-by had wet their cheeks,
Like trees bedash'd with rain; in that sad time
My manly eyes did scorn an humble tear;
And what these sorrows could not thence exhale,
Thy beauty hath, and made them blind with weeping.
I never su'd to friend nor enemy;
My tongue could never learn sweet smoothing word;
But, now thy beauty is propos'd my fee,
My proud heart sues, and prompts my tongue to speak.
[She looks scornfully at him.]
Teach not thy lip such scorn; for it was made
For kissing, lady, not for such contempt.
If thy revengeful heart cannot forgive,
Lo, here I lend thee this sharp-pointed sword;
Which if thou please to hide in this true breast
And let the soul forth that adoreth thee,
I lay it naked to the deadly stroke,
And humbly beg the death upon my knee,
Nay, do not pause; for I did kill King Henry,--
[He lays his breast open; she offers at it with his sword.]
But 'twas thy beauty that provoked me.
Nay, now dispatch; 'twas I that stabb'd young Edward,--
[She again offers at his breast.]
But 'twas thy heavenly face that set me on.
[She lets fall the sword.]
Take up the sword again, or take up me.
ANNE.
Arise, dissembler: though I wish thy death,
I will not be thy executioner.
GLOSTER.
Then bid me kill myself, and I will do it.
ANNE.
I have already.
GLOSTER.
That was in thy rage:
Speak it again, and even with the word,
This hand, which for thy love did kill thy love;
Shall, for thy love, kill a far truer love;
To both their deaths shalt thou be accessary.
ANNE.
I would I knew thy heart.
GLOSTER.
'Tis figured in my tongue.
ANNE.
I fear me both are false.
GLOSTER.
Then never was man true.
ANNE.
Well, well, put up your sword.
GLOSTER.
Say, then, my peace is made.
ANNE.
That shalt thou know hereafter.
GLOSTER.
But shall I live in hope?
ANNE.
All men, I hope, live so.
GLOSTER.
Vouchsafe to wear this ring.
ANNE.
To take is not to give.
[She puts on the ring.]
GLOSTER.
Look, how this ring encompasseth thy finger,
Even so thy breast encloseth my poor heart;
Wear both of them, for both of them are thine.
And if thy poor devoted servant may
But beg one favour at thy gracious hand,
Thou dost confirm his happiness for ever.
ANNE.
What is it?
GLOSTER.
That it may please you leave these sad designs
To him that hath most cause to be a mourner,
And presently repair to Crosby Place;
Where,--after I have solemnly interr'd
At Chertsey monastery, this noble king,
And wet his grave with my repentant tears,--
I will with all expedient duty see you:
For divers unknown reasons, I beseech you,
Grant me this boon.
ANNE.
With all my heart; and much it joys me too
To see you are become so penitent.--
Tressel and Berkeley, go along with me.
GLOSTER.
Bid me farewell.
ANNE.
'Tis more than you deserve;
But since you teach me how to flatter you,
Imagine I have said farewell already.
[Exeunt Lady Anne, Tress, and Berk.]
GLOSTER.
Sirs, take up the corse.
GENTLEMEN.
Towards Chertsey, noble lord?
GLOSTER.
No, to White Friars; there attend my coming.
[Exeunt the rest, with the Corpse.]
Was ever woman in this humour woo'd?
Was ever woman in this humour won?
I'll have her; but I will not keep her long.
What! I that kill'd her husband and his father,
To take her in her heart's extremest hate;
With curses in her mouth, tears in her eyes,
The bleeding witness of her hatred by;
Having God, her conscience, and these bars against me,
And I no friends to back my suit withal,
But the plain devil and dissembling looks,
And yet to win her,--all the world to nothing!
Ha!
Hath she forgot already that brave prince,
Edward, her lord, whom I, some three months since,
Stabb'd in my angry mood at Tewksbury?
A sweeter and a lovelier gentleman,--
Fram'd in the prodigality of nature,
Young, valiant, wise, and, no doubt, right royal,--
The spacious world cannot again afford:
And will she yet abase her eyes on me,
That cropp'd the golden prime of this sweet prince,
And made her widow to a woeful bed?
On me, whose all not equals Edward's moiety?
On me, that halt and am misshapen thus?
My dukedom to a beggarly denier,
I do mistake my person all this while:
Upon my life, she finds, although I cannot,
Myself to be a marvellous proper man.
I'll be at charges for a looking-glass;
And entertain a score or two of tailors,
To study fashions to adorn my body:
Since I am crept in favour with myself,
I will maintain it with some little cost.
But first I'll turn yon fellow in his grave;
And then return lamenting to my love.--
Shine out, fair sun, till I have bought a glass,
That I may see my shadow as I pass.
[Exit.]
SCENE III. London. A Room in the Palace.
[Enter QUEEN ELIZABETH, LORD RIVERS, and LORD GREY.]
RIVERS.
Have patience, madam: there's no doubt his majesty
Will soon recover his accustom'd health.
GREY.
In that you brook it ill, it makes him worse:
Therefore, for God's sake, entertain good comfort,
And cheer his grace with quick and merry eyes.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
If he were dead, what would betide on me?
GREY.
No other harm but loss of such a lord.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
The loss of such a lord includes all harms.
GREY.
The heavens have bless'd you with a goodly son
To be your comforter when he is gone.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Ah, he is young; and his minority
Is put unto the trust of Richard Gloster,
A man that loves not me, nor none of you.
RIVERS.
Is it concluded he shall be protector?
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
It is determin'd, not concluded yet:
But so it must be, if the king miscarry.
[Enter BUCKINGHAM and STANLEY.]
GREY.
Here come the Lords of Buckingham and Stanley.
BUCKINGHAM.
Good time of day unto your royal grace!
STANLEY.
God make your majesty joyful as you have been!
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
The Countess Richmond, good my Lord of Stanley,
To your good prayer will scarcely say amen.
Yet, Stanley, notwithstanding she's your wife,
And loves not me, be you, good lord, assur'd
I hate not you for her proud arrogance.
STANLEY.
I do beseech you, either not believe
The envious slanders of her false accusers;
Or, if she be accus'd on true report,
Bear with her weakness, which I think proceeds
From wayward sickness, and no grounded malice.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Saw you the king to-day, my Lord of Stanley?
STANLEY.
But now the Duke of Buckingham and I
Are come from visiting his majesty.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
What likelihood of his amendment, lords?
BUCKINGHAM.
Madam, good hope; his grace speaks cheerfully.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
God grant him health! Did you confer with him?
BUCKINGHAM.
Ay, madam; he desires to make atonement
Between the Duke of Gloster and your brothers,
And between them and my lord chamberlain;
And sent to warn them to his royal presence.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Would all were well!--but that will never be:
I fear our happiness is at the height.
[Enter GLOSTER, HASTINGS, and DORSET.]
GLOSTER.
They do me wrong, and I will not endure it:--
Who are they that complain unto the king
That I, forsooth, am stern and love them not?
By holy Paul, they love his grace but lightly
That fill his ears with such dissentious rumours.
Because I cannot flatter and look fair,
Smile in men's faces, smooth, deceive, and cog,
Duck with French nods and apish courtesy,
I must be held a rancorous enemy.
Cannot a plain man live, and think no harm,
But thus his simple truth must be abus'd
With silken, sly, insinuating Jacks?
GREY.
To who in all this presence speaks your grace?
GLOSTER.
To thee, that hast nor honesty nor grace.
When have I injur'd thee? when done thee wrong?--
Or thee?--or thee?--or any of your faction?
A plague upon you all! His royal grace,--
Whom God preserve better than you would wish!--
Cannot be quiet scarce a breathing while,
But you must trouble him with lewd complaints.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Brother of Gloster, you mistake the matter.
The king, on his own royal disposition,
And not provok'd by any suitor else--
Aiming, belike, at your interior hatred
That in your outward action shows itself
Against my children, brothers, and myself--
Makes him to send; that thereby he may gather
The ground of your ill-will, and so remove it.
GLOSTER.
I cannot tell: the world is grown so bad
That wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch:
Since every Jack became a gentleman,
There's many a gentle person made a Jack.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Come, come, we know your meaning, brother Gloster;
You envy my advancement, and my friends';
God grant we never may have need of you!
GLOSTER.
Meantime, God grants that we have need of you:
Our brother is imprison'd by your means,
Myself disgrac'd, and the nobility
Held in contempt; while great promotions
Are daily given to ennoble those
That scarce, some two days since, were worth a noble.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
By Him that rais'd me to this careful height
From that contented hap which I enjoy'd,
I never did incense his majesty
Against the Duke of Clarence, but have been
An earnest advocate to plead for him.
My lord, you do me shameful injury
Falsely to draw me in these vile suspects.
GLOSTER.
You may deny that you were not the mean
Of my Lord Hastings' late imprisonment.
RIVERS.
She may, my lord; for,--
GLOSTER.
She may, Lord Rivers?--why, who knows not so?
She may do more, sir, than denying that:
She may help you to many fair preferments;
And then deny her aiding hand therein,
And lay those honours on your high desert.
What may she not? She may,--ay, marry, may she,--
RIVERS.
What, marry, may she?
GLOSTER.
What, marry, may she! marry with a king,
A bachelor, and a handsome stripling too:
I wis your grandam had a worser match.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
My Lord of Gloster, I have too long borne
Your blunt upbraidings and your bitter scoffs:
By heaven, I will acquaint his majesty
Of those gross taunts that oft I have endur'd.
I had rather be a country servant-maid
Than a great queen with this condition,--
To be so baited, scorn'd, and stormed at.
[Enter old QUEEN MARGARET, behind.]
Small joy have I in being England's queen.
QUEEN MARGARET.
And lessen'd be that small, God, I beseech Him!
Thy honour, state, and seat, is due to me.
GLOSTER.
What! Threat you me with telling of the king?
Tell him, and spare not: look what I have said
I will avouch in presence of the king:
I dare adventure to be sent to the Tower.
'Tis time to speak,--my pains are quite forgot.
QUEEN MARGARET.