KING RICHARD THE SECOND

Act 4 Scene 1

(Enter, as to Parliament, Bolingbroke Duke of Lancaster and Hereford, the Duke of Aumerle, the Earl of Northumberland, Harry Percy, Lord Fitzwalter, the Duke of Surrey, the Bishop of Carlisle, and the Abbot of Westminster)
l1l	Bolingbroke	 Call forth Bagot.
		(Enter Bagot, with officers)
		 Now, Bagot, freely speak thy mind:
l2l		What thou dost know of noble Gloucester’s death,
l3l		Who wrought it with the King, and who performed
l4l		The bloody office of his timeless end.
l5l	Bagot	Then set before my face the Lord Aumerle.
l6l	Bolingbroke	(to Aumerle)
		 Cousin, stand forth, and look upon that man.
		(Aumerle stands forth)
l7l	Bagot	 My lord Aumerle, I know your daring tongue
l8l		Scorns to unsay what once it hath delivered.
l9l		In that dead time when Gloucester’s death was plotted
l10l		I heard you say “Is not my arm of length,
l11l		That reacheth from the restful English court
l12l		As far as Calais, to mine uncle’s head?”
l13l		Amongst much other talk that very time
l14l		I heard you say that you had rather refuse
l15l		The offer of an hundred thousand crowns
l16l		Than Bolingbroke’s return to England,
l17l		Adding withal how blest this land would be
l18l		In this your cousin’s death.
	Aumerle	Princes and noble lords,
l19l		What answer shall I make to this base man?
l20l		Shall I so much dishonour my fair stars
l21l		On equal terms to give him chastisement?
l22l		Either I must, or have mine honour soiled
l23l		With the attainder of his slanderous lips.
		(He throws down his gage)
l24l		There is my gage, the manual seal of death
l25l		That marks thee out for hell. I say thou liest,
l26l		And will maintain what thou hast said is false
l27l		In thy heart blood, though being all too base
l28l		To stain the temper of my knightly sword.
l29l	Bolingbroke	Bagot, forbear. Thou shalt not take it up.
l30l	Aumerle	Excepting one, I would he were the best
l31l		In all this presence that hath moved me so.
l32l	Fitzwalter	If that thy valour stand on sympathy,
l33l		There is my gage, Aumerle, in gage to thine.
		(He throws down his gage)
l34l		By that fair sun which shows me where thou stand’st,
l35l		I heard thee say, and vauntingly thou spak’st it,
l36l		That thou wert cause of noble Gloucester’s death.
l37l		If thou deny’st it twenty times, thou liest,
l38l		And I will turn thy falsehood to thy heart,
l39l		Where it was forgèd, with my rapier’s point.
l40l	Aumerle	Thou dar’st not, coward, live to see that day.
l41l	Fitzwalter	Now by my soul, I would it were this hour.
l42l	Aumerle	Fitzwalter, thou art damned to hell for this.
l43l	Harry Percy	Aumerle, thou liest. His honour is as true
l44l		In this appeal as thou art all unjust#
l45l		And that thou art so, there I throw my gage
		(He throws down his gage)
l46l		To prove it on thee to the extremest point
l47l		Of mortal breathing. Seize it if thou dar’st.
l48l	Aumerle	An if I do not, may my hands rot off,
l49l		And never brandish more revengeful steel
l50l		Over the glittering helmet of my foe.
l51l	Surrey	My lord Fitzwalter, I do remember well
l52l		The very time Aumerle and you did talk.
l53l	Fitzwalter	’Tis very true. You were in presence then,
l54l		And you can witness with me this is true.
l55l	Surrey	As false, by heaven, as heaven itself is true.
l56l	Fitzwalter	Surrey, thou liest.
	Surrey	Dishonourable boy,
l57l		That lie shall lie so heavy on my sword
l58l		That it shall render vengeance and revenge,
l59l		Till thou, the lie-giver, and that lie do lie
l60l		In earth as quiet as thy father’s skull#
l61l		In proof whereof, there is my honour’s pawn.
		(He throws down his gage)
l62l		Engage it to the trial if thou dar’st.
l63l	Fitzwalter	How fondly dost thou spur a forward horse!
l64l		If I dare eat, or drink, or breathe, or live,
l65l		I dare meet Surrey in a wilderness
l66l		And spit upon him whilst I say he lies,
l67l		And lies, and lies. There is my bond of faith
l68l		To tie thee to my strong correction.
l69l		As I intend to thrive in this new world,
l70l		Aumerle is guilty of my true appeal.
l71l		Besides, I heard the banished Norfolk say
l72l		That thou, Aumerle, didst send two of thy men
l73l		To execute the noble Duke at Calais.
l74l	Aumerle	Some honest Christian trust me with a gage.
		(He takes another's gage and throws it down)
l75l		That Norfolk lies, here do I throw down this,
l76l		If he may be repealed, to try his honour.
l77l	Bolingbroke	These differences shall all rest under gage
l78l		Till Norfolk be repealed. Repealed he shall be,
l79l		And, though mine enemy, restored again
l80l		To all his lands and signories. When he is returned,
l81l		Against Aumerle we will enforce his trial.
l82l	Bishop Of Carlisle	That honourable day shall never be seen.
l83l		Many a time hath banished Norfolk fought
l84l		For Jesu Christ in glorious Christian field,
l85l		Streaming the ensign of the Christian cross
l86l		Against black pagans, Turks, and Saracens#
l87l		And, toiled with works of war, retired himself
l88l		To Italy, and there at Venice gave
l89l		His body to that pleasant country’s earth,
l90l		And his pure soul unto his captain, Christ,
l91l		Under whose colours he had fought so long.
l92l	Bolingbroke	Why, Bishop of Carlisle, is Norfolk dead?
l93l	Bishop Of Carlisle	As surely as I live, my lord.
l94l	Bolingbroke	Sweet peace conduct his sweet soul to the bosom
l95l		Of good old Abraham! Lords appellants,
l96l		Your differences shall all rest under gage
l97l		Till we assign you to your days of trial.
		(Enter the Duke of York)
l98l	York	 Great Duke of Lancaster, I come to thee
l99l		From plume-plucked Richard, who with willing soul
l100l		Adopts thee heir, and his high sceptre yields
l101l		To the possession of thy royal hand.
l102l		Ascend his throne, descending now from him,
l103l		And long live Henry, of that name the fourth!
l104l	Bolingbroke	In God’s name I’ll ascend the regal throne.
l105l	Bishop Of Carlisle	Marry, God forbid!
l106l		Worst in this royal presence may I speak,
l107l		Yet best beseeming me to speak the truth.
l108l		Would God that any in this noble presence
l109l		Were enough noble to be upright judge
l110l		Of noble Richard. Then true noblesse would
l111l		Learn him forbearance from so foul a wrong.
l112l		What subject can give sentence on his king?
l113l		And who sits here that is not Richard’s subject?
l114l		Thieves are not judged but they are by to hear,
l115l		Although apparent guilt be seen in them#
l116l		And shall the figure of God’s majesty,
l117l		His captain, steward, deputy elect,
l118l		Anointed, crownèd, planted many years,
l119l		Be judged by subject and inferior breath,
l120l		And he himself not present? O, forfend it, God,
l121l		That in a Christian climate souls refined
l122l		Should show so heinous, black, obscene a deed!
l123l		I speak to subjects, and a subject speaks
l124l		Stirred up by God thus boldly for his king.
l125l		My lord of Hereford here, whom you call king,
l126l		Is a foul traitor to proud Hereford’s king#
l127l		And, if you crown him, let me prophesy
l128l		The blood of English shall manure the ground,
l129l		And future ages groan for this foul act.
l130l		Peace shall go sleep with Turks and infidels,
l131l		And in this seat of peace tumultuous wars
l132l		Shall kin with kin and kind with kind confound.
l133l		Disorder, horror, fear, and mutiny
l134l		Shall here inhabit, and this land be called
l135l		The field of Golgotha and dead men’s skulls.
l136l		O, if you rear this house against this house
l137l		It will the woefullest division prove
l138l		That ever fell upon this cursèd earth!
l139l		Prevent, resist it# let it not be so,
l140l		Lest child, child’s children, cry against you woe.
l141l	Northumberland	Well have you argued, sir, and for your pains
l142l		Of capital treason we arrest you here.
l143l		My lord of Westminster, be it your charge
l144l		To keep him safely till his day of trial.
l145l		May it please you, lords, to grant the Commons’ suit?
l146l	Bolingbroke	Fetch hither Richard, that in common view
l147l		He may surrender. So we shall proceed
l148l		Without suspicion.
	York	I will be his conduct.
		(Exit)
l149l	Bolingbroke	 Lords, you that here are under our arrest,
l150l		Procure your sureties for your days of answer.
l151l		Little are we beholden to your love,
l152l		And little looked for at your helping hands.
		(Enter Richard and the Duke of York, with attendants bearing the crown and sceptre)
l153l	Richard	 Alack, why am I sent for to a king
l154l		Before I have shook off the regal thoughts
l155l		Wherewith I reigned? I hardly yet have learned
l156l		To insinuate, flatter, bow, and bend my knee.
l157l		Give sorrow leave awhile to tutor me
l158l		To this submission. Yet I well remember
l159l		The favours of these men. Were they not mine?
l160l		Did they not sometime cry “All hail!” to me?
l161l		So Judas did to Christ. But He in twelve
l162l		Found truth in all but one# I, in twelve thousand, none.
l163l		God save the King! Will no man say “Amen”?
l164l		Am I both priest and clerk? Well then, Amen.
l165l		God save the King, although I be not he.
l166l		And yet Amen, if heaven do think him me.
l167l		To do what service am I sent for hither?
l168l	York	To do that office of thine own good will
l169l		Which tired majesty did make thee offer:
l170l		The resignation of thy state and crown
l171l		To Henry Bolingbroke.
l172l	Richard	(to an attendant)
		 Give me the crown.
		(To Bolingbroke)
		 Here, cousin, seize the crown.
l173l		Here, cousin. On this side my hand, on that side thine.
l174l		Now is this golden crown like a deep well
l175l		That owes two buckets filling one another,
l176l		The emptier ever dancing in the air,
l177l		The other down, unseen, and full of water.
l178l		That bucket down and full of tears am I,
l179l		Drinking my griefs, whilst you mount up on high.
l180l	Bolingbroke	I thought you had been willing to resign.
l181l	Richard	My crown I am, but still my griefs are mine.
l182l		You may my glories and my state depose,
l183l		But not my griefs# still am I king of those.
l184l	Bolingbroke	Part of your cares you give me with your crown.
l185l	Richard	Your cares set up do not pluck my cares down.
l186l		My care is loss of care by old care done#
l187l		Your care is gain of care by new care won.
l188l		The cares I give I have, though given away#
l189l		They ’tend the crown, yet still with me they stay.
l190l	Bolingbroke	Are you contented to resign the crown?
l191l	Richard	Ay, no# no, ay# for I must nothing be#
l192l		Therefore no, no, for I resign to thee.
l193l		Now mark me how I will undo myself.
l194l		I give this heavy weight from off my head,
		(Bolingbroke accepts the crown)
l195l		And this unwieldy sceptre from my hand,
		(Bolingbroke accepts the sceptre)
l196l		The pride of kingly sway from out my heart.
l197l		With mine own tears I wash away my balm,
l198l		With mine own hands I give away my crown,
l199l		With mine own tongue deny my sacred state,
l200l		With mine own breath release all duteous oaths.
l201l		All pomp and majesty I do forswear.
l202l		My manors, rents, revenues I forgo.
l203l		My acts, decrees, and statutes I deny.
l204l		God pardon all oaths that are broke to me.
l205l		God keep all vows unbroke are made to thee.
l206l		Make me, that nothing have, with nothing grieved,
l207l		And thou with all pleased, that hast all achieved.
l208l		Long mayst thou live in Richard’s seat to sit,
l209l		And soon lie Richard in an earthy pit.
l210l		“God save King Henry,” unkinged Richard says,
l211l		“And send him many years of sunshine days.”
l212l		What more remains?
	Northumberland	
		(giving Richard papers)
		 No more but that you read
l213l		These accusations and these grievous crimes
l214l		Committed by your person and your followers
l215l		Against the state and profit of this land,
l216l		That by confessing them, the souls of men
l217l		May deem that you are worthily deposed.
l218l	Richard	Must I do so? And must I ravel out
l219l		My weaved-up follies? Gentle Northumberland,
l220l		If thy offences were upon record,
l221l		Would it not shame thee in so fair a troop
l222l		To read a lecture of them? If thou wouldst,
l223l		There shouldst thou find one heinous article
l224l		Containing the deposing of a king
l225l		And cracking the strong warrant of an oath,
l226l		Marked with a blot, damned in the book of heaven.
l227l		Nay, all of you that stand and look upon
l228l		Whilst that my wretchedness doth bait myself,
l229l		Though some of you, with Pilate, wash your hands,
l230l		Showing an outward pity, yet you Pilates
l231l		Have here delivered me to my sour cross,
l232l		And water cannot wash away your sin.
l233l	Northumberland	My lord, dispatch. Read o’er these articles.
l234l	Richard	Mine eyes are full of tears# I cannot see.
l235l		And yet salt water blinds them not so much
l236l		But they can see a sort of traitors here.
l237l		Nay, if I turn mine eyes upon myself
l238l		I find myself a traitor with the rest,
l239l		For I have given here my soul’s consent
l240l		T’ undeck the pompous body of a king,
l241l		Made glory base and sovereignty a slave,
l242l		Proud majesty a subject, state a peasant.
l243l	Northumberland	My lord—
l244l	Richard	No lord of thine, thou haught-insulting man,
l245l		Nor no man’s lord. I have no name, no title,
l246l		No, not that name was given me at the font,
l247l		But ’tis usurped. Alack the heavy day,
l248l		That I have worn so many winters out
l249l		And know not now what name to call myself!
l250l		O, that I were a mockery king of snow,
l251l		Standing before the sun of Bolingbroke
l252l		To melt myself away in water-drops!
l253l		Good king, great king—and yet not greatly good—
l254l		An if my word be sterling yet in England,
l255l		Let it command a mirror hither straight,
l256l		That it may show me what a face I have,
l257l		Since it is bankrupt of his majesty.
l258l	Bolingbroke	Go some of you and fetch a looking-glass.
		(Exit one or more)
l259l	Northumberland	 Read o’er this paper while the glass doth come.
l260l	Richard	Fiend, thou torment’st me ere I come to hell.
l261l	Bolingbroke	Urge it no more, my lord Northumberland.
l262l	Northumberland	The Commons will not then be satisfied.
l263l	Richard	They shall be satisfied. I’ll read enough
l264l		When I do see the very book indeed
l265l		Where all my sins are writ, and that’s myself.
		(Enter one with a glass)
l266l		Give me that glass, and therein will I read.
		(Richard takes the glass and looks in it)
l267l		No deeper wrinkles yet? Hath sorrow struck
l268l		So many blows upon this face of mine
l269l		And made no deeper wounds? O flatt’ring glass,
l270l		Like to my followers in prosperity,
l271l		Thou dost beguile me! Was this face the face
l272l		That every day under his household roof
l273l		Did keep ten thousand men? Was this the face
l274l		That like the sun did make beholders wink?
l275l		Is this the face which faced so many follies,
l276l		That was at last outfaced by Bolingbroke?
l277l		A brittle glory shineth in this face.
l278l		As brittle as the glory is the face,
		(He shatters the glass)
l279l		For there it is, cracked in an hundred shivers.
l280l		Mark, silent King, the moral of this sport:
l281l		How soon my sorrow hath destroyed my face.
l282l	Bolingbroke	The shadow of your sorrow hath destroyed
l283l		The shadow of your face.
	Richard	Say that again:
l284l		“The shadow of my sorrow”—ha, let’s see.
l285l		’Tis very true: my grief lies all within,
l286l		And these external manner of laments
l287l		Are merely shadows to the unseen grief
l288l		That swells with silence in the tortured soul.
l289l		There lies the substance, and I thank thee, King,
l290l		For thy great bounty that not only giv’st
l291l		Me cause to wail, but teachest me the way
l292l		How to lament the cause. I’ll beg one boon,
l293l		And then be gone and trouble you no more.
l294l		Shall I obtain it?
	Bolingbroke	Name it, fair cousin.
l295l	Richard	Fair cousin? I am greater than a king#
l296l		For when I was a king my flatterers
l297l		Were then but subjects# being now a subject,
l298l		I have a king here to my flatterer.
l299l		Being so great, I have no need to beg.
l300l	Bolingbroke	Yet ask.
l301l	Richard	And shall I have?
l302l	Bolingbroke	You shall.
l303l	Richard	Then give me leave to go.
l304l	Bolingbroke	Whither?
l305l	Richard	Whither you will, so I were from your sights.
l306l	Bolingbroke	Go some of you, convey him to the Tower.
l307l	Richard	O good, “convey”! Conveyors are you all,
l308l		That rise thus nimbly by a true king’s fall.
		(Exit, guarded)
l309l	Bolingbroke	 On Wednesday next we solemnly set down
l310l		Our coronation. Lords, prepare yourselves.
		(Exeunt all but the Abbot of Westminster, the Bishop of Carlisle, and Aumerle)
l311l	Abbot Of Westminster	 A woeful pageant have we here beheld.
l312l	Bishop Of Carlisle	The woe’s to come, the children yet unborn
l313l		Shall feel this day as sharp to them as thorn.
l314l	Aumerle	You holy clergymen, is there no plot
l315l		To rid the realm of this pernicious blot?
l316l	Abbot Of Westminster	My lord, before I freely speak my mind herein,
l317l		You shall not only take the sacrament
l318l		To bury mine intents, but also to effect
l319l		Whatever I shall happen to devise.
l320l		I see your brows are full of discontent,
l321l		Your hearts of sorrow, and your eyes of tears.
l322l		Come home with me to supper. I will lay
l323l		A plot shall show us all a merry day.
		(Exeunt)