Earth gapes, hell burns, fiends roar, faints pray,
To have him fuddenly convey'd from hence :---
Cancel his bond of life, dear God, I pray,
That I may live to fay, The dog is dead! [come,
Queen. O, thou didst prophefy, the time would
That I should wish for thee to help me curfe
That bottled spider, that foul bunch-back'd toad.
2. Mar. I call'd thee then, vain flourish of my
fortune;

5

Queen. Windy attorneys to their client woes,
Airy fucceeders of inteftate joys 3,
Poor breathing orators of miferies!

[part Let them have fcope: though what they do imHelp nothing elfe, yet they do eafe the heart. [me, Dutch. If fo, then be not tongue-ty'd go with And in the breath of bitter words let's fmother My damned fon, that thy two fweet fons fmother'd. [Drum, within.

I call'd thee then, poor fhadow, painted queen; 10I hear his drum,---be copious in exclaims.
The presentation of but what I was,

The flattering index of a direful pageant ",
One heav'd a-high, to be hurl'd down below:
A mother only mock'd with two fair babes;
A dream of what thou waft; a garish flag,
To be the a'm of every dangerous shot 2;
A fign of dignity, a breath, a bubble;
A queen in jeft, only to fill the fccne.
Where is thy husband now? where be thy brothers?
Where be thy two fons? wherein doft thou joy?
Who fues, and kneels, and fays---God fave the

queen?

Where be the bending peers that flatter'd thee?
Where be the thronging troops that follow'd thee
Decline all this, and fee what now thou art.
For happy wife, a most distressed widow;
For joyful mother, one that wails the name;
For one being fu'd to, one that humbly fues;
For queen, a very caitiff crown'd with care;
For one that fcorn'd at me, now fcorn'd of me;
For one being fear'd of all, now fearing one;
For one commanding all, obey'd of none.
Thus hath the course of justice wheel'd about,
And left thee but a very prey to time;
Having no more but thought of what thou wert,
To torture thee the more, being what thou art.
Thou didst ufurp my place, And doft thou not
Ufurp the juft proportion of my forrow?
Now thy proud neck bears half my burden'd yoke
From which even here I flip my wearied head,
And leave the burden of it all on thee.
Farewel, York's wife, and queen of fad mifchance,
Thefe English woes fhall make me fimile in France.
Queen. O thou well fkill'd in curfes! ftay a while,
And teach me how to curfe mine enemies.

2. Mar. Forhear to fleep the night, and faft
the day;

Compare dead happiness with living woe;
Think that thy babes were fairer than they were,
And he, that flew them, fouler than he is:
Bettering thy lofs makes the bad caufer worfe;
Revolving this will teach thee how to curfe.
Queen. My words are dull, O, quicken them
with thine!

Enter King Richard, and bis train, marching. K. Rich. Who intercepts me in my expedition? Dutch. O, fhe, that might have intercepted thee, 15By ftrangling thee in her accurfed womb, From all the flaughters, wretch, that thou haft done. [crown,

20

Queen. Hid'st thou that forehead with a golden Where fhould be branded, if that right were right, The flaughter of the prince that ow'd that crown, And the dire death of my poor fons, and brothers? Tell me, thou villain-flave, where are my children? Dutch. Thou toad, thou toad, where is thy brother Clarence?

25 And little Ned Plantagenet, his fon?

[Grey?

Queen. Where is the gentle Rivers, Vaughan, Dutch. Where is kind Haftings? [drums! K. Rib. A flourish, trumpets! ftrike alarum, Let not the heavens hear thefe tell-tale women 30 Rail on the Lord's anointed: Strike, I fay.--[Flourish. Alarumi.

35

Either be patient, and entreat me fair,
Or with the clamorous report of war
Thus will I drown your exclamations.
Dutch. Art thou my fon?

[self.

K. Rich. Ay, I thank God, my father, and your-
Dutch. Then patiently hear my impatience.
K. Rich. Madam, I have a touch of your con-
dition,

40 That cannot brook the accent of reproof.
Dutch. O, let me speak.

45

2. Mar. Thy woes will make them fharp, and 55 pierce like mine. [Exit Margaret.

Dut.b. Why should calamity be full of words?

The pageants displayed on public occafions in thofe days, were generally preceded by a short account of the order in which the characters were to walk. Thele indexes were diftributed among the fpectators, that they might underftand the meaning of the allegory exhibited. The index of every book was anciently placed before the beginning of it. 2 This alludes to the dangerous situation of thofe perfons to whofe care the ftandards of armies were entrusted. 3 i. e. words,. tun'd to complaints, fucceed joys that are dead; and unbequeath'd to them, to whom they should properly defcend. i. e. a spice or particle of your disposition.

More

More mild, but yet more harmful, kind in hatred :
What comfortable hour canst thou name,
That ever grac'd' me in thy company?

K. Rich. Faith, none, but Humphry Houre 2,
that call'd your grace

To breakfast once, forth of my company.
If I be fo difgracious in your fight,

Let me march on, and not offend you, madam.-
Strike up the drum.

Dutch. I pr'ythee, hear me speak.

K. Rich. You speak too bitterly.
Dutch. Hear me a word;

For I shall never speak to thee again.

K. Rich. So.

[nance,

20

Dutch. Either thou wilt die, by God's just ordi-15
Ere from this war thou turn a conqueror;
Or I with grief and extreme age shall perish,
And never look upon thy face again.
Therefore, take with thee my moft heavy curfe;
Which, in the day of battle, tire thee more,
Than all the compleat armour that thou wear'ft!|
My prayers on the adverfe party fight;
And there the little fouls of Edward's children
Whisper the spirits of thine enemies,
And promise them fuccefs and victory!
Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end;
Shame ferves3 thy life, and doth thy death attend.
[Exit.
Queen. Though far more caufe, yet much leis
fpirit to curfe

Abides in me; I fay Amen to her.

[Going.

K. Rich. Stay, madam, I must speak a word with you.

Queen. I have no more fons of the royal blood, For thee to murder: for my daughters, Richard, They fhall be praying nuns, not weeping queens And therefore level not to hit their lives.

K. Rich. You have a daughter call'd-Elizabeth, Virtuous and fair, royal and gracious.

K. Rich. Madam, fo thrive I in my enterprize,
And dangerous fuccefs of bloody wars,
As I intend more good to you and yours,
Than ever you or yours by me were harm'd!
Queen. What good is cover'd with the face of
heaven,

gentle lady.

To be difcover'd, that can do me good?
K. Rich. The advancement of your children,
[heads.
Queen. Up to fome scaffold, there to lose their
K. Rich. No, to the dignity and height of
fortune,

25 The high imperial type of this earth's glory.
Queen. Flatter my forrows with report of it;
Tell me, what ftate, what dignity, what honour,
Canft thou demife to any child of mine? [all,

K. Rich. Even all I have; ay, and myself and
30 Will I withal endow a child of thine;
So in the Lethe of thy angry foul

35

Queen. And must the die for this? O, let her live, 40
And I'll corrupt her manners, stain her beauty;
Slander myself, as falfe to Edward's bed;
Throw over her the veil of infamy:

So the may live unfcarr'd of bleeding flaughter,
1 will confefs fhe was not Edward's daughter.
K. Ricb. Wrong not her birth, fhe is of royal

blood.

45

Thou drown the fad remembrance of those wrongs,
Which, thou fuppofeft, I have done to thee.

Queen. Be brief, left that the procefs of thy
kindness

Laft longer telling than thy kindness' date.
K. Rich. Then know, that, from my foul, I love

thy daughter.

[foul.

Queen. My daughter's mother thinks it with her K. Rich. What do you think? [thy foul: Queen. That thou doft love my daughter, from So, from thy foul's love, didit thou love her

1 i. e. blefs'd, or made me happy. 2 Mr. Steevens remarks, that this may probably be an allufion to fome affair of gallantry of which the Dutchefs had been fufpected; or, that the poet's fondness for a quibble may perhaps have induced him at once to perfonify and chriften that bour of the day which fummon'd his mother to breakfast. 3. e. accompanies. 4 i. e. exhibition, fhew.

Uu3

A pair

35 Queen. But fhe, your fubject, loaths fuch
K. Rich. Be eloquent in my behalf to her.
Queen. An honeft tale speeds best, being plainly
[tale.

K. Rich. Then, in plain terms tell her my loving 40 Queen. Plain, and not honest, is too harsh a style. K. Rich. Your reasons are too shallow and too quick. [dead;Queen. O, no, my reasons are too deep and Two deep and dead, poor infants, in their graves. K. Rich. Harp not on that string, madam; that [break. Queen. Harp on it still shall I, 'till heart-strings K. Rich. Now, by my george, my garter, and my

50 Queen.Profan'd,dishonour'd,and the third usurp'd.

Queen. By nothing; for this is no oath. The george, profan'd, hath loft his holy honour; The garter, blemish'd, pawn'd his knightly virtue; 55 The crown, ufurp'd, disgrac'd his kingly glory: If fomething thou wouldst fwear to be believ'd, Swear then by fomething that thou haft not wrong'd.

1 i. c. havock. 2. Bid is in the paft fenfe from bide. Levitical law, Sec Leviticus xviii, 14,

K. Rich. My father's death,—

Queen. Thy life hath that dishonour'd.

K. Rich. Then, by myself,

Queen. Thyfelf is felf-mif-us'd.

K. Rich. Why then, by heaven,

Queen. Heaven's wrong is most of all.

If thou didst fear to break an oath with heaven,

The unity, the king my husband made,
Had not been broken, nor my brother slain.
If thou hadft fear'd to break an oath by him,
The imperial metal, circling now thy head,
Had grac'd the tender temples of my child,
And both the princes had been breathing here,
Which now, two tender bed-fellows for duft,
Thy broken faith hath made a prey for worms.
What canft thou fwear by now?
K. Rich. By time to come.

[paft;

Queen. That thou haft wrong'd in the time o'erFor I myself have many tears to wash

Hereafter time, for time paft, wrong'd by thee.
The children live, whofe parents thou haft flaugh-
ter'd,

Ungovern'd youth, to wail it in their age:
The parents live, whofe children thou haft but-
cher'd,

Old barren plants, to wail it with their age.
Swear not by time to come; for that thou haft
Mifus'd ere us'd, by times ill-us'd o'er-past.

K. Rich. As I intend to profper, and repent!
So thrive I in my dangerous attempt
Of hostile arms! myself myself confound!
Heaven, and fortune, bar me happy hours!
Day, yield me not thy light; nor, night, thy rest!
Be oppofite all planets of good luck

To my proceeding, if, with pure heart's love,
Immaculate devotion, holy thoughts,
I tender not thy beauteous princely daughter!
In her confifts my happiness, and thine;
Without her, follows to myself, and thee,
Herfelf, the land, and many a christian soul,
Death, defolation, ruin, and decay:

Queen. I go.-Write to me very shortly,
And you shall understand from me her mind.
K. Rich. Bear her my true love's kifs, and fo
farewel. [Killing ber. Exit Queen.

5 Relenting fool, and fhallow, changing-woman!
How now? what news?

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

It cannot be avoided, but by this;

It will not be avoided, but by this;

Therefore, dear mother, (I must call you fo)
Be the attorney of my love to her:

45

Plead what I will be, not what I have been,

Not my deferts, but what I will deferve:

Urge the neceffity and state of times,

And be not peevish found in great defigns.
Queen. Shall I be tempted of the devil thus ?
K. Ricb. Ay, if the devil tempt thee to do good.
Queen. Shall I forget myself, to be myself?
K. Rich. Ay, if yourself's remembrance wrong
yourself.

Queen. But thou didst kill my children.

55

K. Rich. But in your daughter's womb I bury them :

Where, in that neft of spicery 1, they shall breed
Selves of themselves, to your recomforture.

50

Enter Ratcliff, and Catesby.

Rat. Moft mighty fovereign, on the weftern coaft

Rideth a puiffant navy; to the shore

Throng many doubtful hollow-hearted friends,
Unarm'd, and unrefolv'd to beat them back:
'Tis thought, that Richmond is their admiral;
And there they hull, expecting but the aid
Of Buckingham, to welcome them afhore.
K. Rich. Some light-foot friend post to the duke
of Norfolk ;-

Ratcliff, thyfelf,-or Catesby; where is he?
Catef. Here, my good lord.

K. Rich. Catesby, fly to the duke.

Catef. I will, my lord, with all convenient hafte.
K. Rich. Ratcliff, come hither: Post'to Salisbury;
When thou com'ft thither,--Dull unmindful villain,
[To Catesby.
Why ftay'ft thou here, and go'ft not to the duke?.
Catef. First, mighty liege, tell me your highness'
pleasure,

What from your grace I fhall deliver to him.
K. Rich. O, true, good Catefby ;-Bid him levy
ftraight

The greatest ftrength and power he can make,
And meet me fuddenly at Salisbury.

K. Rich. My mind is chang'd.-Stanley,, what news with you?

Stanl. None good, my liege, to please you with the hearing;

Nor none fo bad, but well may be reported.

K. Rich. Heyday, a riddle! neither good, nor bad! What need'st thou run fo many miles about, When thou may'ft tell thy tale the nearest way? Once more, what news?

Stanley. Richmond is on the seas.

K. Rich. There let him fink, and be the feas
on him!

White-liver'd runagate, what doth he there?
Stanl. I know not, mighty fovereign, but by guess.
K. Rich. Well, as you guess? [Morton,
Stanl. Stirr'd up by Dorfet, Buckingham, and
He makes for England, here to claim the crown.
K. Rich. Is the chair empty? is the sword un-
fway'd?

Queen, Shall I go win my daughter to thy will? 60 Is the king dead? the empire unpoffefs'd?
What heir of York is there alive, but we?

K. Rich. And be a happy mother by the deed.

1 Alluding to the phoenix.
U u 4

And

5

K. Rich. Oh, I cry you mercy:
There is my puríe, to cure that blow of thine.
Hath any well-advised friend proclaim'd
Reward to him that brings the traitor in? [liege.
3 Mef. Such proclamation hath been made, my
Enter another Meffenger.

4 Mef. Sir Thomas Lovel, and lord marquis Dor-
'Tis faid, my liege, in Yorkshire are in arms. [fet,
But this good comfort bring I to your highness,→
To The Bretagne navy is difpers'd by tempest:
Richmond, in Dorsetshire, fent out a boat
Unto the fhore, to ask thofe on the banks,
If they were his affiftants, yea, or no;
Who anfwer'd him, they came from Buckingham
Upon his party : he, mistrusting them,
Hois'd fail, and made his courfe again for Bretagne.
K. Rich. March on, march on, fince we are up
If not to fight with foreign enemies, [in arms;
Yet to beat down these rebels here at home.

Where be thy tenants, and thy followers?
Are they not now upon the western shore,
Safe-conducting the rebels from their ships?
Stanl. No, my good lord, my friends are in the
north.
[north,
K. Rich. Cold friends to me: What do they in the 15
When they should ferve their fovereign in the weft?
Stanl. They have not been commanded, mighty
king:

Pleafeth your majesty to give me leave,

I'll mufter up my friends; and meet your grace, 20
Where, and what time, your majefty fhall please.
K. Rich. Ay, ay, thou wouldst be gone to join
with Richmond:

Your fon, George Stanley: look your heart be firm,|30|
Or elfe his head's affurance is but frail.

Stanl. So deal with him, as I prove true to you.
[Exit Stanley.

Enter a Meffenger.

Mef. My gracious fovereign, now in Devonshire, 35
As I by friends am well advertised,

Sir Edward Courtney, and the haughty prelate,
Bishop of Exeter, his elder brother,
With many more confederates are in arms.
Enter a Meflenger.

2 Mef. In Kent, my liege, the Guilfords are in And every hour more competitors 1 [arms; Flock to the rebels, and their power grows ftrong. Enter another Messenger.

Enter Lord Stanley, and Sir Chriftopher Urfweck.

Stanl. Sir Chriftopher 2, tell Richmond this from
That, in the ftye of this most bloody boar [me ;-
My fon George Stanley is frank'd up in hold;
If I revolt, off goes young George's head;
The fear of that withholds my present aid.
40 But, tell me, where is princely Richmond now?
Chri. At Pembroke, or at Ha'rford-weft, in
Stanl. What men of name refort to him? [Wales.
Chri. Sir Walter Herbert, a renown'd foldier;
Sir Gilbert Talbot, and Sir William Stanley;
Oxford, redoubted Pembroke, Sir James Blunt,
And Rice ap Thomas, with a valiant crew;
And many other of great name and worth:
And towards London do they bend their course,
If by the way they be not fought withal. [to him;
Stanl. Well, hie thee to thy lord; commend me
Tell him, the queen hath heartily confented
He fhall efpoufe Elizabeth her daughter.
Thefe letters will refolve him of my mind.
Farewel.

3 Mef. My lord, the army of great Bucking-45 ham

K. Rich. Out on ye, owls! nothing but fongs of death? [He frikes bim. There, take thou that, 'till thou bring better news. 3 Mef. The news I have to tell your majesty, Is, that, by fudden floods and fall of waters, Buckingham's army is difpers'd and scatter'd; And he himself wander'd away alone, No man knows whither.

|50|

[Exeunt.

1 i. e. opponents. 2 The perfon who is called Sir Chriftopher here, appears by the Chronicles to have been Chriftopher Urfwick, a batchelor in divinity; and chaplain to the countess of Richmond, who had intermarried with the lord Stanley. This prieft, the hiftory tells us, frequently went backwards and forwards, unfufpected, on meffages betwixt the countefs of Richmond and her husband, and the young carl of Richmond, whilft he was preparing to make his defcent on England. Dr. Johnfon has obferved, that Sir was anciently a title affumed by graduates.

ACT