Richard III

boy.
A king, perhaps, perhaps⁠— Buckingham My lord! King Richard

How chance the prophet could not at that time
Have told me, I being by, that I should kill him?

Buckingham My lord, your promise for the earldom⁠— King Richard

Richmond! When last I was at Exeter,
The mayor in courtesy show’d me the castle.
And call’d it Rougemont: at which name I started,
Because a bard of Ireland told me once,
I should not live long after I saw Richmond.

Buckingham My Lord! King Richard Ay, what’s o’clock? Buckingham

I am thus bold to put your grace in mind
Of what you promised me.

King Richard Well, but what’s o’clock? Buckingham Upon the stroke of ten. King Richard Well, let it strike. Buckingham Why let it strike? King Richard

Because that, like a Jack, thou keep’st the stroke
Betwixt thy begging and my meditation.
I am not in the giving vein to-day.

Buckingham Why, then resolve me whether you will or no. King Richard

Tut, tut,
Thou troublest me; am not in the vein. Exeunt all but Buckingham.

Buckingham

Is it even so? rewards he my true service
With such deep contempt? made I him king for this?
O, let me think on Hastings, and be gone
To Brecknock, while my fearful head is on! Exit.

Scene III

The same.

	Enter Tyrrel.
Tyrrel	The tyrannous and bloody deed is done, The most arch of piteous massacre That ever yet this land was guilty of. Dighton and Forrest, whom I did suborn To do this ruthless piece of butchery, Although they were flesh’d villains, bloody dogs, Melting with tenderness and kind compassion Wept like two children in their deaths’ sad stories. “Lo, thus,” quoth Dighton, “lay those tender babes:” “Thus, thus,” quoth Forrest, “girdling one another Within their innocent alabaster arms: Their lips were four red roses on a stalk, Which in their summer beauty kiss’d each other. A book of prayers on their pillow lay; Which once,” quoth Forrest, “almost changed my mind; But O! the devil’⁠—there the villain stopp’d; Whilst Dighton thus told on: “We smothered The most replenished sweet work of nature, That from the prime creation e’er she framed.” Thus both are gone with conscience and remorse; They could not speak; and so I left them both, To bring this tidings to the bloody king. And here he comes.
	Enter King Richard.
	All hail, my sovereign liege!
King Richard	Kind Tyrrel, am I happy in thy news?
Tyrrel	If to have done the thing you gave in charge Beget your happiness, be happy then, For it is done, my lord.
King Richard	But didst thou see them dead?
Tyrrel	I did, my lord.
King Richard	And buried, gentle Tyrrel?
Tyrrel	The chaplain of the Tower hath buried them; But how or in what place I do not know.
King Richard	Come to me, Tyrrel, soon at after supper, And thou shalt tell the process of their death. Meantime, but think how I may do thee good, And be inheritor of thy desire. Farewell till soon. Exit Tyrrel. The son of Clarence have I pent up close; His daughter meanly have I match’d in marriage; The sons of Edward sleep in Abraham’s bosom, And Anne my wife hath bid the world good night. Now, for I know the Breton Richmond aims At young Elizabeth, my brother’s daughter, And, by that knot, looks proudly o’er the crown, To her I go, a jolly thriving wooer.
	Enter Catesby.
Catesby	My lord!
King Richard	Good news or bad, that thou comest in so bluntly?
Catesby	Bad news, my lord: Ely is fled to Richmond; And Buckingham, back’d with the hardy Welshmen, Is in the field, and still his power increaseth.
King Richard	Ely with Richmond troubles me more near Than Buckingham and his rash-levied army. Come, I have heard that fearful commenting Is leaden servitor to dull delay; Delay leads impotent and snail-paced beggary: Then fiery expedition be my wing, Jove’s Mercury, and herald for a king! Come, muster men: my counsel is my shield; We must be brief when traitors brave the field. Exeunt.

Scene IV

Before the palace.

	Enter Queen Margaret.
Queen Margaret	So, now prosperity begins to mellow And drop into the rotten mouth of death. Here in these confines slily have I lurk’d, To watch the waning of mine adversaries. A dire induction am I witness to, And will to France, hoping the consequence Will prove as bitter, black, and tragical. Withdraw thee, wretched Margaret: who comes here?
	Enter Queen Elizabeth and the Duchess of York.
Queen Elizabeth	Ah, my young princes! ah, my tender babes! My unblown flowers, new-appearing sweets! If yet your gentle souls fly in the air And be not fix’d in doom perpetual, Hover about me with your airy wings And hear your mother’s lamentation!
Queen Margaret	Hover about her; say, that right for right Hath dimm’d your infant morn to aged night.
Duchess	So many miseries have crazed my voice, That my woe-wearied tongue is mute and dumb, Edward Plantagenet, why art thou dead?
Queen Margaret	Plantagenet doth quit Plantagenet. Edward for Edward pays a dying debt.
Queen Elizabeth	Wilt thou, O God, fly from such gentle lambs, And throw them in the entrails of the wolf? When didst thou sleep when such a deed was done?
Queen Margaret	When holy Harry died, and my sweet son.
Duchess	Blind sight, dead life, poor mortal living ghost, Woe’s scene, world’s shame, grave’s due by life usurp’d, Brief abstract and record of tedious days, Rest thy unrest on England’s lawful earth, Sitting down. Unlawfully made drunk with innocents’ blood!
Queen Elizabeth	O, that thou wouldst as well afford a grave As thou canst yield a melancholy seat! Then would I hide my bones, not rest them here. O, who hath any cause to mourn but I? Sitting down by her.
Queen Margaret	If ancient sorrow be most reverend, Give mine the benefit of seniory, And let my woes frown on the upper hand. If sorrow can admit society, Sitting down with them. Tell o’er your woes again by viewing mine: I had an Edward, till a Richard kill’d him; I had a Harry, till a Richard kill’d him: Thou hadst an Edward, till a Richard kill’d him; Thou hadst a Richard, till a Richard killed him;
Duchess	I had a Richard too, and thou didst kill him; I had a Rutland too, thou holp’st to kill him.
Queen Margaret	Thou hadst a Clarence too, and Richard kill’d him. From forth the kennel of thy womb hath