The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works
Page 80
Good Captain Blunt, bear my good night to him,
And by the second hour in the morning
Desire the Earl to see me in my tent.
Yet one thing more, good Captain, do for me:
Where is Lord Stanley quartered, do you know?
BLUNT
Unless I have mista’en his colours much,
Which well I am assured I have not done,
His regiment lies half a mile, at least,
South from the mighty power of the King.
HENRY EARL OF RICHMOND
If without peril it be possible,
Sweet Blunt, make some good means to speak with him,
And give him from me this most needful note.
BLUNT
Upon my life, my lord, I’ll undertake it.
And so God give you quiet rest tonight.
HENRY EARL OF RICHMOND
Good night, good Captain Blunt.
Exit Blunt
Come, gentlemen.
Give me some ink and paper in my tent.
I’ll draw the form and model of our battle,
Limit each leader to his several charge,
And part in just proportion our small power.
Let us consult upon tomorrow’s business.
Into my tent: the dew is raw and cold.
They withdraw into the tent
5.5 ⌈A table brought in.⌉ Enter King Richard, Sir Richard Ratcliffe, the Duke of Norfolk, Sir William Catesby, and others
KING RICHARD What is’t o’clock?
CATESBY
It’s supper-time, my lord. It’s nine o’clock.
KING RICHARD
I will not sup tonight. Give me some ink and paper.
What, is my beaver easier than it was?
And all my armour laid into my tent?
CATESBY
It is, my liege, and all things are in readiness.
KING RICHARD
Good Norfolk, hie thee to thy charge.
Use careful watch; choose trusty sentinels.
NORFOLK I go, my lord.
KING RICHARD
Stir with the lark tomorrow, gentle Norfolk.
NORFOLK
I warrant you, my lord.
Exit
KING RICHARD
Catesby.
CATESBY
My lord?
KING RICHARD
Send out a pursuivant-at-arms
To Stanley’s regiment. Bid him bring his power
Before sun-rising, lest his son George fall
Into the blind cave of eternal night.
Fill me a bowl of wine. Give me a watch.
Saddle white Surrey for the field tomorrow.
Look that my staves be sound, and not too heavy.
Ratcliffe.
⌈Exit Catesby⌉
RATCLIFFE My lord?
KING RICHARD
Saw’st thou the melancholy Lord Northumberland?
RATCLIFFE
Thomas the Earl of Surrey and himself,
Much about cockshut time, from troop to troop
Went through the army, cheering up the soldiers.
KING RICHARD
So, I am satisfied. Give me some wine.
I have not that alacrity of spirit,
Nor cheer of mind, that I was wont to have.
The wine is brought
Set it down. Is ink and paper ready?
RATCLIFFE
It is, my lord.
KING RICHARD
Leave me. Bid my guard watch.
About the mid of night come to my tent,
Ratcliffe, and help to arm me. Leave me, I say.
Exit Ratcliffe with others. Richard writes, and later sleeps
Enter Lord Stanley Earl of Derby to Henry Earl of Richmond and the lords in his tent
STANLEY
Fortune and victory sit on thy helm!
HENRY EARL OF RICHMOND
All comfort that the dark night can afford
Be to thy person, noble father-in-law.
Tell me, how fares our loving mother?
STANLEY
I, by attorney, bless thee from thy mother,
Who prays continually for Richmond’s good.
So much for that. The silent hours steal on,
And flaky darkness breaks within the east.
In brief—for so the season bids us be—
Prepare thy battle early in the morning,
And put thy fortune to th’arbitrement
Of bloody strokes and mortal-sharing war.
I, as I may—that which I would, I cannot—
With best advantage will deceive the time,
And aid thee in this doubtful shock of arms.
But on thy side I may not be too forward—
Lest, being seen, thy brother, tender George,
Be executed in his father’s sight.
Farewell. The leisure and the fearful time
Cuts off the ceremonious vows of love
And ample interchange of sweet discourse,
Which so long sundered friends should dwell upon.
God give us leisure for these rights of love.
Once more, adieu. Be valiant, and speed well.
HENRY EARL OF RICHMOND
Good lords, conduct him to his regiment.
I’ll strive with troubled thoughts to take a nap,
Lest leaden slumber peise me down tomorrow,
When I should mount with wings of victory.
Once more, good night, kind lords and gentlemen.
Exeunt Stanley and the lords
⌈Richmond kneels⌉
O thou, whose captain I account myself,
Look on my forces with a gracious eye.
Put in their hands thy bruising irons of wrath,
That they may crush down with a heavy fall
Th’usurping helmets of our adversaries.
Make us thy ministers of chastisement,
That we may praise thee in the victory.
To thee I do commend my watchful soul,
Ere I let fall the windows of mine eyes.
Sleeping and waking, O defend me still! He sleeps
Enter the Ghost of young Prince Edward ⌈above⌉
GHOST OF PRINCE EDWARD (to Richard)
Let me sit heavy on thy soul tomorrow,
Prince Edward, son to Henry the Sixth.
Think how thou stabbedst me in my prime of youth
At Tewkesbury. Despair, therefore, and die.
(To Richmond) Be cheerful, Richmond, for the wronged
souls
Of butchered princes fight in thy behalf.
King Henry’s issue, Richmond, comforts thee. Exit
Enter ⌈above⌉ the Ghost of King Henry the Sixth
GHOST OF KING HENRY (to Richard)
When I was mortal, my anointed body
By thee was punched full of deadly holes.
Think on the Tower and me. Despair and die.
Harry the Sixth bids thee despair and die.
(To Richmond) Virtuous and holy, be thou conqueror.
Harry that prophesied thou shouldst be king
Comforts thee in thy sleep. Live and flourish! ⌈Exit⌉
Enter ⌈above⌉ the Ghost of George Duke of Clarence
GHOST OF CLARENCE (to Richard)
Let me sit heavy on thy soul tomorrow,
I that was washed to death with fulsome wine,
Poor Clarence, by thy guile betrayed to death.
Tomorrow in the battle think on me,
And fall thy edgeless sword. Despair and die.
(To Richmond) Thou offspring of the house of
Lancaster,
The wronged heirs of York do pray for thee.
Good angels guard thy battle. Live and flourish!
⌈Exit⌉
Enter ⌈above⌉ the Ghosts of Lord Rivers, Lord Gray, and Sir Thomas Vaughan
GHOST OF RIVERS (to Richard)
Let me sit heavy on thy soul tomorrow,
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br /> Rivers that died at Pomfret. Despair and die.
GHOST OF GRAY (to Richard)
Think upon Gray, and let thy soul despair.
GHOST OF VAUGHAN (to Richard)
Think upon Vaughan, and with guilty fear
Let fall thy pointless lance. Despair and die.
ALL THREE (to Richmond)
Awake, and think our wrongs in Richard’s bosom
Will conquer him. Awake, and win the day!
⌈Exeunt Ghosts⌉
Enter ⌈above⌉ the Ghosts of the two young Princes
⌈GHOSTS OF THE PRINCES⌉ (to Richard)
Dream on thy cousins, smothered in the Tower.
Let us be lead within thy bosom, Richard,
And weigh thee down to ruin, shame, and death.
Thy nephews’ souls bid thee despair and die.
(To Richmond) Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace and wake in joy.
Good angels guard thee from the boar’s annoy.
Live, and beget a happy race of kings!
Edward’s unhappy sons do bid thee flourish.
⌈Exeunt Ghosts⌉
Enter ⌈above⌉ the Ghost of Lord Hastings
GHOST OF HASTINGS (to Richard)
Bloody and guilty, guiltily awake,
And in a bloody battle end thy days.
Think on Lord Hastings, then despair and die.
(To Richmond) Quiet, untroubled soul, awake, awake!
Arm, fight, and conquer for fair England’s sake.
⌈Exit⌉
Enter ⌈above⌉ the Ghost of Lady Anne
GHOST OF LADY ANNE (to Richard)
Richard, thy wife, that wretched Anne thy wife,
That never slept a quiet hour with thee,
Now fills thy sleep with perturbations.
Tomorrow in the battle think on me,
And fall thy edgeless sword. Despair and die.
(To Richmond) Thou quiet soul, sleep thou a quiet sleep.
Dream of success and happy victory.
Thy adversary’s wife doth pray for thee. ⌈Exit⌉
Enter ⌈above⌉ the Ghost of the Duke of Buckingham
GHOST OF BUCKINGHAM (to Richard)
The first was I that helped thee to the crown;
The last was I that felt thy tyranny.
O in the battle think on Buckingham,
And die in terror of thy guiltiness!
Dream on, dream on, of bloody deeds and death;
Fainting, despair; despairing, yield thy breath.
(To Richmond) I died for hope ere I could lend thee aid.
But cheer thy heart, and be thou not dismayed.
God and good angels fight on Richmond’s side,
And Richard falls in height of all his pride. ⌈Exit⌉
Richard starteth up out of a dream
KING RICHARD
Give me another horse! Bind up my wounds!
Have mercy, Jesu!—Soft, I did but dream.
O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me?
The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight.
Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
What do I Fear? Myself? There’s none else by.
Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I.
Is there a murderer here? No. Yes, I am.
Then fly! What, from myself? Great reason. Why?
Lest I revenge. Myself upon myself?
Alack, I love myself. Wherefore? For any good
That I myself have done unto myself?
O no, alas, I rather hate myself
For hateful deeds committed by myself.
I am a villain. Yet I lie: I am not.
Fool, of thyself speak well.—Fool, do not flatter.
My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.
Perjury, perjury, in the high‘st degree!
Murder, stern murder, in the dir’st degree!
All several sins, all used in each degree,
Throng to the bar, crying all, ‘Guilty, guilty!’
I shall despair. There is no creature loves me,
And if I die no soul will pity me.
Nay, wherefore should they?—Since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself.
Methought the souls of all that I had murdered
Came to my tent, and every one did threat
Tomorrow’s vengeance on the head of Richard.
Enter Ratcliffe
RATCLIFFE My lord?
KING RICHARD ‘Swounds, who is there?
RATCLIFFE
My lord, ’tis I. The early village cock
Hath twice done salutation to the morn.
Your friends are up, and buckle on their armour.
KING RICHARD
O Ratcliffe, I have dreamed a fearful dream.
What thinkest thou, will all our friends prove true?
RATCLIFFE
No doubt, my lord.
KING RICHARD
Ratcliffe, I fear, I fear.
RATCLIFFE
Nay, good my lord, be not afraid of shadows.
KING RICHARD
By the Apostle Paul, shadows tonight
Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard
Than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers
Armed in proof and led by shallow Richmond.
’Tis not yet near day. Come, go with me.
Under our tents I’ll play the eavesdropper,
To see if any mean to shrink from me.
Exeunt Richard and Ratcliffe
Enter the lords to Henry Earl of Richmond, sitting in his tent
⌈LORDS⌉ Good morrow, Richmond.
HENRY EARL OF RICHMOND
Cry mercy, lords and watchful gentlemen,
That you have ta’en a tardy sluggard here.
⌈A LORD⌉How have you slept, my lord?
HENRY EARL OF RICHMOND
The sweetest sleep and fairest boding dreams
That ever entered in a drowsy head
Have I since your departure had, my lords.
Methought their souls whose bodies Richard murdered
Came to my tent and cried on victory.
I promise you, my soul is very jocund
In the remembrance of so fair a dream.
How far into the morning is it, lords?
A LORD Upon the stroke of four.
HENRY EARL OF RICHMOND
Why then, ’tis time to arm, and give direction.His oration to his soldiers
Much that I could say, loving countrymen,
The leisure and enforcement of the time
Forbids to dwell on. Yet remember this:
God and our good cause fight upon our side.
The prayers of holy saints and wrongèd souls,
Like high-reared bulwarks, stand before our forces.
Richard except, those whom we fight against
Had rather have us win than him they follow.
For what is he they follow? Truly, friends,
A bloody tyrant and a homicide;
One raised in blood, and one in blood established;
One that made means to come by what he hath,
And slaughtered those that were the means to help him;
A base, foul stone, made precious by the foil
Of England’s chair, where he is falsely set;
One that hath ever been God’s enemy.
Then if you fight against God’s enemy,
God will, in justice, ward you as his soldiers.
If you do sweat to put a tyrant down,
You sleep in peace, the tyrant being slain.
If you do fight against your country’s foes,
Your country’s foison pays your pains the hire.
If you do fight in safeguard of your wives,
Your wives shall welcome home the conquerors.
If you do free your children from
the sword,
Your children’s children quites it in your age.
Then, in the name of God and all these rights,
Advance your standards! Draw your willing swords!
For me, the ransom of this bold attempt
Shall be my cold corpse on the earth’s cold face;
But if I thrive, to gain of my attempt,
The least of you shall share his part thereof.
Sound, drums and trumpets, bold and cheerfully!
God and Saint George! Richmond and victory!
Exeunt to the sound of drums and trumpets⌉
5.6 Enter King Richard, Sir Richard Ratcliffe, Sir William Catesby, and others
KING RICHARD
What said Northumberland, as touching Richmond?
RATCLIFFE
That he was never trained up in arms.
KING RICHARD
He said the truth. And what said Surrey then?
RATCLIFFE
He smiled and said, ‘The better for our purpose.’
KING RICHARD
He was in the right, and so indeed it is.
Clock strikes
Tell the clock there. Give me a calendar.
Who saw the sun today?
A book is brought⌉
RATCLIFFE
Not I, my lord.
KING RICHARD
Then he disdains to shine, for by the book
He should have braved the east an hour ago.
A black day will it be to somebody.
Ratcliffe.
RATCLIFFE
My lord?
KING RICHARD The sun will not be seen today.
The sky doth frown and lour upon our army.
I would these dewy tears were from the ground.
Not shine today—why, what is that to me
More than to Richmond? For the selfsame heaven
That frowns on me looks sadly upon him.
Enter the Duke of Norfolk
NORFOLK
Arm, arm, my lord! The foe vaunts in the field.
KING RICHARD
Come, bustle, bustle! Caparison my horse.⌈Richard arms⌉
Exit one
Call up Lord Stanley, bid him bring his power.
I will lead forth my soldiers to the plain,
And thus my battle shall be orderèd.
My forward shall be drawn out all in length,
Consisting equally of horse add foot,