Richard II (12 page)
Authors: William Shakespeare
NORTHUMBERLAND
My lord, in the
base court
177
he doth attend
To speak with you. May it please you to come down?
KING RICHARD
Down, down I come, like
glist’ring
179
Phaethon,
Wanting the
manage
180
of unruly jades.
In the base court? Base court where kings grow base,
To come at traitors’ calls and
do them grace
182
.
In the base court, come down: down court, down king,
For
night-owls shriek
184
where mounting larks should sing.
[
Exeunt from above
]
BULLINGBROOK
What says his majesty?
NORTHUMBERLAND
Sorrow and grief of heart
Makes him speak
fondly
187
, like a frantic man
Yet he is come.
[
Enter King Richard and his Attendants below
]
BULLINGBROOK
Stand all
apart
189
,
And show fair duty to his majesty.
My gracious lord—
Kneels
KING RICHARD
Fair cousin, you
debase
192
your princely knee
To make the base earth proud with kissing it.
Me rather had
194
my heart might feel your love
Than my unpleased eye see your
courtesy
195
.
Up
196
, cousin, up! Your heart is up, I know,
Thus high at least, although your knee be low.
BULLINGBROOK
My gracious lord, I come but for mine own.
KING RICHARD
Your own is yours, and I am yours, and all.
BULLINGBROOK
So far be mine, my most
redoubted
200
lord,
As my true service shall deserve your love.
KING RICHARD
Well you deserved. They well deserve to have,
That know the strong’st and surest way to get.—
Bullingbrook rises
To York
Uncle, give me your hand: nay, dry your eyes.
Tears show their love, but
want their remedies
205
.—
Cousin, I am too young to be your father,
To Bullingbrook
Though you are old enough to be my heir.
What you will have, I’ll give, and
willing
208
too,
For do we must what force will have us do.
Set on towards London, cousin, is it so?
BULLINGBROOK
Yea, my good lord.
KING RICHARD
Then I must not say no.
Flourish. Exeunt
running scene 12
Location:
the Duke of York’s garden
Enter the Queen and two Ladies
QUEEN
What sport shall we devise here in this garden,
To drive away the
heavy
2
thought of care?
LADY
Madam, we’ll play at bowls.
QUEEN
’Twill make me think the world is full of
rubs
4
,
And that my fortune runs
against the bias
5
.
LADY
Madam, we’ll dance.
QUEEN
My legs can keep no
measure
7
in delight
When my poor heart no
measure
8
keeps in grief:
Therefore, no dancing, girl, some other sport.
LADY
Madam, we’ll tell tales.
QUEEN
Of sorrow or of joy?
LADY
Of either, madam.
QUEEN
Of neither, girl.
For if of joy, being altogether
wanting
14
,
It doth
remember
15
me the more of sorrow.
Or if of grief,
being altogether had
16
,
It adds more sorrow to my
want
17
of joy.
For what I have I need not to repeat,
And what I want it
boots not
19
to complain.
LADY
Madam, I’ll sing.
QUEEN
’Tis well that thou hast cause
21
,
But thou shouldst please me better, wouldst thou weep.
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 Servants
But stay, here come the gardeners.
Let’s step into the shadow of these trees.
My
28
wretchedness unto a row of pins,
They’ll talk of
state
29
, for everyone doth so
Against
30
a change; woe is forerun with woe.
Queen and Ladies stand aside
GARDENER
Go bind thou up yond dangling
apricocks
31
,
Which, like unruly children, make their
sire
32
Stoop with
oppression
33
of their prodigal weight.
Give some
supportance
34
to the bending twigs.
Go thou, and like an executioner,
Cut off the heads of too fast-growing
sprays
36
,
That look too
lofty
37
in our commonwealth:
All must be
even
38
in our government.
You thus employed, I will go root away
The
noisome
40
weeds, that without profit suck
The soil’s fertility from
wholesome
41
flowers.
SERVANT
Why should we in the
compass
42
of a pale
Keep law and form and due proportion,
Showing, as in a
model
44
, our firm estate,
When our sea-wallèd garden, the whole land,
Is full of weeds, her fairest flowers choked up,
Her fruit-trees all unpruned, her hedges ruined,
Her
knots
48
disordered and her wholesome herbs
Swarming with caterpillars?
GARDENER
Hold thy peace.
He that hath
suffered
51
this disordered spring
Hath now himself met with the
fall of leaf
52
.
The weeds that his broad-spreading leaves did shelter,
That seemed in eating him to hold him up,
Are pulled up root and all by Bullingbrook —
I mean the Earl of Wiltshire, Bushy, Green.
SERVANT
What, are they dead?
GARDENER
They are. And Bullingbrook
Hath
seized
59
the wasteful king. O, what pity is it
That he had not so
trimmed
60
and dressed his land
As we this garden: we
at time of year
61
Do wound the bark, the skin of our fruit-trees,
Lest, being
over-proud
63
with sap and blood,
With too much riches it
confound
64
itself.
Had he done so to great and growing men,
They might have lived to bear and he to taste
Their fruits of duty. Superfluous branches
We lop away, that
bearing
68
boughs may live.
Had he done so, himself had borne the
crown
69
,
Which waste and idle hours hath quite thrown down.
SERVANT
What, think you the king shall be deposed?
GARDENER
Depressed
72
he is already, and deposed
’Tis
doubted
73
he will be. Letters came last night
To a dear friend of the Duke of York’s,
That tell black tidings.
QUEEN
O, I am
pressed to death
76
through want of speaking!
Comes forward
Thou, old
Adam
77
’s likeness, set to dress this garden,
How dares thy harsh rude tongue sound this unpleasing news?
What Eve, what serpent, hath
suggested
79
thee
To make a second fall of cursèd man?
Why dost thou say King Richard is deposed?
Dar’st thou, thou little better thing than earth,
Divine
83
his downfall? Say, where, when, and how,
Cam’st thou by this ill tidings? Speak, thou wretch.
GARDENER
Pardon me, madam. Little joy have I
To breathe these news; yet what I say is true.
King Richard, he is in the mighty
hold
87
Of Bullingbrook. Their fortunes both are weighed:
In your lord’s scale is nothing but himself,
And some few
vanities
90
that make him light.
But in the balance of great Bullingbrook,
Besides himself, are all the English peers,
And with that
odds
93
he weighs King Richard down.
Post
94
you to London, and you’ll find it so,
I speak no more than everyone doth know.
QUEEN
Nimble mischance, that art so light of foot,
Doth not thy
embassage
97
belong to me,
And am I last that knows it? O, thou think’st
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
103
of great Bullingbrook?
Gard’ner, for telling me this news of woe,
I would the plants thou graft’st may never grow.
Exeunt
[
Queen and Ladies
]
GARDENER
Poor queen,
so
106
that thy state might be no worse,
I would my skill were subject to thy curse.
Here did she drop a tear. Here in this place
I’ll set a bank of
rue
109
, sour herb of grace.
Rue,
e’en for ruth
110
, here shortly shall be seen,
In the remembrance of a weeping queen.
Exeunt
running scene 13
Location:
Westminster Hall, London
Enter, as to the Parliament, Bullingbrook, Aumerle, Northumberland, Percy, Fitzwaters, Surrey, Carlisle, Abbot of Westminister, Herald, Officers and Bagot
BULLINGBROOK
Call forth Bagot.—
Bagot is brought forward
Now, Bagot, freely speak thy mind,
What thou dost know of noble Gloucester’s death,
Who
wrought
4
it with the king, and who performed
The bloody
office
5
of his timeless end.
BAGOT
Then set before my face the lord Aumerle.
BULLINGBROOK
Cousin, stand forth, and look upon that man.
To Aumerle
BAGOT
My lord Aumerle, I know your daring tongue
Scorns to
unsay
9
what it hath once delivered.
In that
dead
10
time when Gloucester’s death was plotted,
I heard you say, ‘Is not my arm
of length
11
,
That reacheth from the restful English court
As far as Calais, to my 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
16
Than
17
Bullingbrook’s return to England;
Adding
withal
18
how blest this land would be
In this your cousin’s death.
AUMERLE
Princes and noble lords,
What answer shall I make to this
base
21
man?
Shall I so much dishonour my fair
stars
22
,
On equal terms to give him chastisement?
23
Either I must, or have mine honour soiled
With
th’attainder
25
of his sland’rous lips.—
Throws down his gage
There is my gage, the
manual seal of death
26
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
30
of my knightly sword.
BULLINGBROOK
Bagot,
forbear
31
. Thou shalt not take it up.
AUMERLE
Excepting
one
32
, I would he were the best
In all this presence that hath
moved
33
me so.
FITZWATERS
If that thy valour
stand
34
on sympathy,
To Aumerle
There is my gage, Aumerle,
in gage
35
to thine.
Throws down his gage
By that fair sun that shows me where thou stand’st,
I heard thee say, and
vauntingly
37
thou spak’st it,
That thou wert cause of noble Gloucester’s death.
If thou
deniest
39
it twenty times, thou liest,
And I will
turn
40
thy falsehood to thy heart,
Where it was forgèd, with my rapier’s point.
AUMERLE
Thou dar’st not, coward, live to see the day.
FITZWATERS
Now by my soul, I would it were this hour.
AUMERLE
Fitzwaters, thou art damned to hell for this.
PERCY
Aumerle, thou liest: his honour is as true
In this
appeal
46
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
48
. Seize it, if thou dar’st.
Throws down his gage
AUMERLE
An if
50
I do not, may my hands rot off
Picks up the gage
And never brandish
more
51
revengeful steel
Over the glittering helmet of my foe!
SURREY
My lord Fitzwaters, I do remember well
The very time Aumerle and you did talk.
FITZWATERS
My lord, ’tis very true. You were
in presence
55
then
And you can witness with me this is true.
SURREY
As false, by heaven, as heaven itself is true.
FITZWATERS
Surrey, thou liest.
SURREY
Dishonourable boy!
That lie shall lie so heavy on my sword
That it shall
render
61
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 mine honour’s pawn.
Throws down his gage
Engage it to the trial
65
, if thou dar’st.
FITZWATERS
How
fondly
66
dost thou spur a forward horse!
If I dare eat, or drink, or breathe, or live,
I dare meet Surrey in a
wilderness
68
,
And spit upon him, whilst I say he lies,
And lies, and lies. There is my bond of faith,
Throws down his gage
To
tie
71
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 Calais.
AUMERLE
Some honest Christian trust me with a gage.
Borrows a gage, then throws it down
That
78
Norfolk lies, here do I throw down this,
If he may be
repealed
79
, to try his honour.
BULLINGBROOK
These
differences
80
shall all rest under gage
Till Norfolk be repealed. Repealed he shall be,
And, though mine enemy, restored again
To all his lands and
signories
83
. When he’s returned,
Against Aumerle we will
enforce his trial
84
.
CARLISLE
That honourable day shall ne’er be seen.
Many a time hath banished Norfolk fought
For Jesu Christ in glorious Christian
field
87
,
Streaming the ensign
88
of the Christian cross
Against black pagans, Turks and Saracens,
And
toiled
90
with works of war, retired 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
colours
94
he had fought so long.
BULLINGBROOK
Why, bishop, is Norfolk dead?
CARLISLE
As sure as I live, my lord.
BULLINGBROOK
Sweet peace conduct his sweet soul to the
bosom
Of good old Abraham
97
! Lords
appellants
98
,
Your differences shall all rest under gage
Till we assign you to your days of trial.
Enter York
YORK
Great Duke of Lancaster, I come to thee
From
plume-plucked
102
Richard, who with willing soul
Adopts thee heir, and his high sceptre yields
To the possession of thy royal hand.
Ascend his throne,
descending
105
now from him,
And long live Henry, of that name the fourth!
BULLINGBROOK
In God’s name, I’ll ascend the regal throne.
CARLISLE
Marry
108
, heaven forbid!
Worst
109
in this royal presence may I speak,
Yet best
beseeming
110
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
113
would
Learn
114
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 judged but they are
by
117
to hear,
Although
apparent
118
guilt be seen in them.
And shall the
figure
119
of God’s majesty,
His captain, steward, deputy-elect,
Anointed, crownèd, planted many years,
Be judged by
subject
122
and inferior breath,
And he himself not present? O, forbid it, God,
That in a Christian climate souls refined
Should show so
heinous
125
, black, obscene a deed.
I speak to subjects, and a subject speaks,
Stirred up by heaven, thus boldly for his king.
My lord of Hereford here, whom you call king,
Is a foul traitor to proud Hereford’s king.
And if you crown him, let me prophesy
The blood of English shall
manure
131
the ground,
And future ages groan for his foul act.
Peace shall go sleep with Turks and infidels,
And in this seat of peace tumultuous wars
Shall kin with kin and
kind
135
with kind confound.
Disorder, horror, fear and mutiny
Shall here inhabit, and this land be called
The
field
138
of Golgotha and dead men’s skulls.
O, if you rear this
house
139
against this house,
It will the woefullest division prove
That ever fell upon this cursèd earth.
Prevent it, resist it, and let it not be so,
Lest child, child’s children, cry against you ‘Woe!’
NORTHUMBERLAND
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
148
?
BULLINGBROOK
Fetch hither Richard, that in common view
He may
surrender
150
, so we shall proceed
Without suspicion.
YORK
I will be his
conduct
152
.
Exit
BULLINGBROOK
Lords, you that here are under our arrest,
Procure your
sureties
154
for your days of answer.
Little are we
beholding
155
to your love,
And
little looked for
156
at your helping hands.
Enter Richard and York
[
with Officers bearing the regalia
]
KING RICHARD
Alack, why am I sent for to a king,
Before I have shook off the regal thoughts
Wherewith I reigned? I hardly yet have learned
To
insinuate
160
, flatter, bow, and bend my knee.
Give sorrow leave awhile to tutor me
To this submission. Yet I well remember
The
favours
163
of these men: were they not mine?
Did they not
sometime
164
cry, ‘All hail!’ to me?
So Judas did to Christ, but he in
twelve
165
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
168
? 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
171
am I sent for hither?
YORK
To do that office of thine own good will
Which
tired majesty
173
did make thee offer:
The resignation of thy state and crown
To Henry Bullingbrook.
KING RICHARD
Give me the crown.— Here, cousin,
seize
176
the crown:
Takes the crown
and offers it to Bullingbrook
Here cousin, on this side my hand, on that side thine.
Now is this golden crown like a deep well
That
owes
179
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.
BULLINGBROOK
I thought you had been willing to resign.
KING RICHARD
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.
BULLINGBROOK
Part of your cares you give me with your crown.
KING RICHARD
Your cares set up do not pluck my cares down
189
.
My care is loss of care,
by old care done
190
:
Your care is gain of care, by new care won.
The cares I give I have, though given away,
They
tend
193
the crown, yet still with me they stay.
