The Tragedy of King Richard the Second Read Online

RICH.

Well you deserve; they well deserve to have

That know the strong'st and surest way to get.

Uncle, give me your hands; nay, dry your eyes –

Tears show their love, but want their remedies.

Cousin, I am too young to be your father,

Though you are old enough to be my heir.

What you will have, I'll give, and willing too,

For do we must what force will have us do.

Set on towards London, cousin, is it so?

BULL.

Yea, my good lord.

K. RICH.

Then I must not say no.

[Flourish. Exeunt.]

[Scene IV]

Enter the Queen with [two Ladies,] her attendants.

QUEEN.

What sport shall we devise here in this garden

To drive away the heavy thought of care?

[1.] LADY.

Madam, we'll play at bowls.

QUEEN.

'Twill make me think the world is full of rubs,

And that my fortune runs against the bias.

[1.] LADY.

Madam, we'll dance.

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.

QUEEN.

Of neither, girl;

For if of joy, being altogether wanting,

It doth remember me the more of sorrow;

Or if of grief, being altogether had,

It adds more sorrow to my want of joy;

For what I have I need not to repeat,

And what I want it boots not to complain.

[1.] LADY.

Madam, I'll sing.

QUEEN.

'Tis well that thou hast cause,

But thou shouldst please me better wouldst thou weep.

[1.] LADY.

I could weep, madam, would it do you good.

QUEEN.

And I could sing, would weeping do me good,

And never borrow any tear of thee.

Enter [a Gardener and two of his Men].

But stay, here come the gardeners.

Let's step into the shadow of these trees.

My wretchedness unto a row of [pins],

They will talk of state, for every one doth so

Against a change; woe is forerun with woe.

[Queen and Ladies retire.]

GARD.

Go bind thou up young dangling apricocks,

Which like unruly children make their sire

Stoop with oppression of their prodigal weight;

Give some supportance to the bending twigs.

Go thou, and like an executioner

Cut off the heads of [too] fast growing sprays,

That look too lofty in our commonwealth:

All must be even in our government.

You thus employed, I will go root away

The noisome weeds which without profit suck

The soil's fertility from wholesome flowers.

[1.] MAN.

Why should we in the compass of a pale

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 disordered, and her wholesome herbs

Swarming with caterpillars?

GARD.

Hold thy peace.

He that hath suffered this disordered spring

Hath now himself met with the fall of leaf.

The weeds which his broad-spreading leaves did shelter,

That seem'd in eating him to hold him up,

Are pluck'd up root and all by Bullingbrook,

I mean the Earl of Wiltshire, Bushy, Green.

[1.] MAN.

What, are they dead?

GARD.

They are; and Bullingbrook

Hath seiz'd the wasteful King. O, what pity is it

That he had not so trimm'd and dress'd his land

As we this garden! [We] at time of year

Do 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 of idle hours hath quite thrown down.

[1.] MAN.

What, think you the King shall be deposed?

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 unpleassing news?

What Eve, what serpent, hath suggested thee

To make a second fall of cursed man?

Why dost thou say King Richard is depos'd?

Dar'st thou, thou little better thing than earth,

Divine his downfall? Say, where, when, and how,

[Cam'st] thou by this ill tidings? Speak, thou wretch.

GARD.

Pardon me, madam, little joy have I

To breathe this news, yet what I say is true:

King Richard, he is in the mighty hold

Of Bullingbrook; their fortunes both are weigh'd.

In your lord's scale is nothing but himself,

And some few vanities that make him light;

But in the balance of great Bullingbrook,

Besides himself, are all the English peers,

And with that odds he weighs King Richard down.

Post you to London and you will find it so,

I speak no more than every one doth know.

QUEEN.

Nimble mischance, that art so light of foot,

Doth not thy embassage belong to me,

And am I last that knows it? O, thou thinkest

To serve me last that I may longest keep

Thy sorrow in my breast. Come, ladies, go

To meet at London London's king in woe.

What, was I born to this, that my sad look

Should grace the triumph of great Bullingbrook?

Gard'ner, for telling me these news of woe,

Pray God the plants thou graft'st may never grow.

Exit [with Ladies].

GARD.

Poor queen, so that thy state might be no worse,

I would my skill were subject to thy curse.

Here did she fall a tear, here in this place

I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace.

Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen,

In the remembrance of a weeping queen.

Exeunt.

Act IV,

[Scene I]

Enter Bullingbrook with the Lords [Aumerle, Northumberland, Percy, Fitzwater, Surrey, the Bishop of Carlisle, the Abbot of Westminster, and another Lord] to parliament; [Herald].

BULL.

Call forth Bagot.

Enter [Officers with] Bagot.

Now, Bagot, freely speak thy mind,

What thou dost know of noble Gloucester'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.

BULL.

Cousin, stand forth, and look upon that man.

BAGOT.

My Lord Aumerle, I know your daring tongue

Scorns to unsay what once it hath delivered.

In that dead time when Gloucester's death was plotted,

I heard you say, »Is not my arm of length,

That reacheth from the restful English court

As far as Callice, 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 Bullingbrook'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.

There is my gage, the manual seal of death,

That marks thee out for hell. I say thou liest,

And will maintain what thou hast said is false

In thy heart-blood, though being all too base

To stain the temper of my knightly sword.

BULL.

Bagot, forbear, thou shalt not take it up.

AUM.

Excepting one, I would he were the best

In all this presence that hath mov'd me so.

FITZ.

If that thy valure stand on sympathy,

There is my gage, Aumerle, in gage to thine.

By that fair sun which shows me where thou stand'st,

I heard thee say, and vauntingly thou spak'st it,

That thou wert cause of noble Gloucester's death.

If thou deniest it twenty times, thou liest,

And I will turn thy falsehood to thy heart,

Where it was forged, with my rapier's point.

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 the 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!

ANOTHER LORD.

I task the earth to the like, forsworn Aumerle,

And spur thee on with full as many lies

As may be hollowed in thy treacherous ear

From [sun] to [sun]. There is my honor's pawn,

Engage it to the trial, if thou darest.

AUM.

Who sets me else? By heaven, I'll throw at all!

I have a thousand spirits in one breast,

To answer twenty thousand such as you.

SURREY.

My Lord Fitzwater, I do remember well

The very time Aumerle and you did talk.

FITZ.

'Tis very true, you were in presence then,

And you can witness with me this is true.

SURREY.

As false, by heaven, as heaven itself is true.

FITZ.

Surrey, thou liest.

SURREY.

Dishonorable boy!

That lie shall lie so heavy on my sword,

That it shall render vengeance and revenge

Till thou the lie-giver and that lie do lie

In earth as quiet as thy father's skull;

In proof whereof, there is my honor's pawn,

Engage it to the trial, if thou dar'st.

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 banished Norfolk say

That thou, Aumerle, didst send two of thy men

To execute the noble Duke at Callice.

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.

BULL.

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 is return'd,

Against Aumerle we will enforce his trial.

CAR.

That honorable day shall never be seen.

Many a time hath banish'd Norfolk fought

For Jesu Christ in glorious Christian field,

Streaming the ensign of the Christian cross

Against black pagans, Turks, and Saracens,

And toil'd with works of war, retir'd himself

To Italy, and there at Venice gave

His body to that pleasant country's earth,

And his pure soul unto his captain Christ,

Under whose colors he had fought so long.

BULL.

Why, Bishop, is Norfolk dead?

CAR.

As surely as I live, my lord.

BULL.

Sweet peace conduct his sweet soul to the bosom

Of good old Abraham! Lords appellants,

Your differences shall all rest under gage

Till we assign you to your days of trial.

Enter York [attended].

YORK.

Great Duke of Lancaster, I come to thee

From plume-pluck'd Richard, who with willing soul

Adopts [thee] heir, and his high sceptre yields

To the possession of thy royal hand.

Ascend his throne, descending now from him,

And long live Henry, fourth of that name!

BULL.

In God's name I'll ascend the regal throne.

CAR.

Marry, God forbid!

Worst in this royal presence may I speak,

Yet best beseeming me to speak the truth.

Would God that any in this noble presence

Were enough noble to be upright judge

Of noble Richard! Then true noblesse would

Learn him forbearance from so foul a wrong.

What subject can give sentence on his king?

And who sits here that is not Richard's subject?

Thieves are not judg'd but they are by to hear,

Although apparent guilt be seen in them,

And shall the figure of God's majesty,

His captain, steward, deputy, elect,

Anointed, crowned, planted many years,

Be judg'd by subject and inferior breath,

And he himself not present? O, forfend it, God,

That in a Christian climate souls refin'd

Should show so heinous, black, obscene a deed!

I speak to subjects, and a subject speaks,

Stirr'd up by God, thus boldly for his king.

My Lord of Herford here, whom you call king,

Is a foul traitor to proud Herford's king,

And if you crown him, let me prophesy,

The blood of English shall manure the ground,

And future ages groan for this foul act.

Peace shall go sleep with Turks and infidels,

And in this seat of peace tumultuous wars

Shall kin with kin and kind with kind confound.

Disorder, horror, fear, and mutiny

Shall here inhabit, and this land be call'd

The field of Golgotha and dead men's skulls.

O, if you raise this house against this house,

It will the woefullest division prove

That ever fell upon this cursed earth.

Prevent it, resist it, let it not be so,

Lest child, child's children, cry against you »woe!«

NORTH.

Well have you argued, sir, and, for your pains,

Of capital treason we arrest you here.

My Lord of Westminster, be it your charge

To keep him safely till his day of trial.

May it please you, lords, to grant the commons' suit?

BULL.

Fetch hither Richard, that in common view

He may surrender; so we shall proceed

Without suspicion.

YORK.

I will be his conduct.

Exit.

BULL.

Lords, you that here are under our arrest,

Procure your sureties for your days of answer.

Little are we beholding to your love,

And little look'd for at your helping hands.

Enter Richard and York [with Officers bearing the crown and sceptre].

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 knee.

Give sorrow leave a while 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,

Found truth in all but one; I, in twelve thousand, none.

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 Henry Bullingbrook.

K. RICH.

Give me the crown. Here, cousin, seize the crown;

Here, cousin,

On this side my hand, [and] on that side thine.

Now is this golden crown like a deep well

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 griefs, whilst you mount up on high.

BULL.

I thought you had been willing to resign.

K. RICH.

My crown I am, but still my griefs are mine.

You may my glories and my state depose,

But not my griefs; still am I king of those.

BULL.

Part of your cares you give me with your crown.

K. RICH.

Your cares set up do not pluck my cares down:

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.

BULL.

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 duteous oaths;

All pomp and majesty I do forswear;

My manors, rents, revenues I forgo;

My acts, decrees, and statutes I deny;

God pardon all oaths that are broke to me!

God keep all vows unbroke are made to thee!

Make me, that nothing have, with nothing griev'd,

And thou with all pleas'd, that hast all achiev'd!

Long mayst 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?

NORTH.

No more, but that you read

[Presenting 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

May deem that you are worthily depos'd.

K. RICH.

Must I do so? and must I ravel out

My weav'd-up follies? Gentle Northumberland,

If thy offenses were upon record,

Would it not shame thee in so fair a troop

To read a lecture of them? If thou wouldst,

There shouldst thou find one heinous article,

Containing the deposing of a king,

And cracking the strong warrant of an oath,

Mark'd with a blot, damn'd in the book of heaven.

Nay, all of you that stand and look upon me

Whilst that my wretchedness doth bait myself,

Though some of you, with Pilate, wash your hands,

Showing an outward pity, yet you Pilates

Have here deliver'd me to my sour cross,

And water cannot wash away your sin.

NORTH.

My lord, dispatch, read o'er these articles.

K. 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

T' undeck the pompous body of a king;

Made glory base, [and] sovereignty a slave;

Proud majesty a subject, state a peasant.

NORTH.

My lord –

K. RICH.

No lord of thine, thou haught insulting man,

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.