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# RICHARD III

---

RICHARD III

---

[Mournful music]

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
Daughter, well met.

---

## LADY ANNE:
God give your graces both



A happy and a joyful time of day!

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
As much to you, good sister! Whither away?

---

## LADY ANNE:
No farther than the Tower; and, as I guess,

---

Upon the like devotion as yourselves,



To gratulate the gentle princes there.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Kind sister, thanks: we'll enter all together.



And, in good time, here the lieutenant is.

---

Master lieutenant, pray you, by your leave,

---

How doth the prince, and my young son of York?

---

## BRAKENBURY:
Right well, dear madam. By your patience,

---

I may not allow you to visit them;



The king hath straitly charged the contrary.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
The king! why, who's that?

---

## BRAKENBURY:
I cry you mercy: I mean the lord protector.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
The Lord protect him from that kingly title!

---

Hath he set bounds betwixt their love and me?



I am their mother; who should keep me from them?

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
I am their fathers mother; I will see them.

---

## LADY ANNE:
Their aunt I am in law, in love their mother:

---

Then bring me to their sights; I'll bear thy blame



And take thy office from thee, on my peril.

---

## BRAKENBURY:
No, madam, no; I may not leave it so:



I am bound by oath, and therefore pardon me.

---

## STANLEY:
Let me but meet you, ladies, one hour hence,



And I'll salute your grace of York as mother,

---

And reverend looker on, of two fair queens.



Come, madam, you must straight to Westminster,

---

There to be crowned Richard's royal queen.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
O, cut my lace in sunder, that my pent heart

---

May have some scope to beat, or else I swoon



With this dead-killing news!

---

## LADY ANNE:
Despiteful tidings! O unpleasing news!

---

## DORSET:
Be of good cheer, mother: how fares your grace?

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
O Dorset, speak not to me, get thee hence!

---

If thou wilt outstrip death, go cross the seas,

And live with Richmond, from the reach of hell

---

Go, hie thee, hie thee from this slaughter-house,



Lest thou increase the number of the dead;

---

And make me die the thrall of Margaret's curse,



Nor mother, wife, nor England's counted queen.

---

## STANLEY:
Full of wise care is this your counsel, madam.



Take all the swift advantage of the hours;

---

You shall have letters from me to my son



To meet you on the way, and welcome you.

---

Come, madam, come; I in all haste was sent.

---

## LADY ANNE:
And I in all unwillingness will go.

---

Anointed let me be with deadly venom,



And die, ere men can say, God save the queen!

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Go, go, poor soul, I envy not thy glory

---

## LADY ANNE:
No! why? When he that is my husband now



Came to me, as I follow'd Henry's corse,

---

When scarce the blood was well wash'd from his hands



Which issued from my other angel husband

---

And that dead saint which then I weeping follow'd;



O, when, I say, I look'd on Richard's face,

---

This was my wish: 'Be thou,' quoth I, ' accursed,



For making me, so young, so old a widow!

---

And, when thou wed'st, let sorrow haunt thy bed;



And be thy wife--if any be so mad--

---

As miserable by the life of thee



As thou hast made me by my dear lord's death!

---

Lo, ere I can repeat this curse again,



I am proved the subject of my own soul's curse,

---

Which ever since hath kept my eyes from rest;



For never yet one hour in his bed

---

Have I enjoy'd the golden dew of sleep,



But have been waked by his timorous dreams.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Poor heart, adieu! I pity thy complaining.

---

## LADY ANNE:
No more than from my soul I mourn for yours.

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
Go thou to Richmond, and good fortune guide thee!



Go thou to Richard, and good angels guard thee!

---

Go thou to sanctuary, and good thoughts possess thee!



I to my grave, where peace and rest lie with me!

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Stay, yet look back with me unto the Tower.

---

---

Pity, you ancient stones, those tender babes



Whom envy hath immured within your walls!

---

Rough cradle for such little pretty ones!



Rude ragged nurse, old sullen playfellow

---

For tender princes, use my babies well!



So foolish sorrow bids your stones farewell.

---

[Drumming]

---

---

[Guitar plays]

---

[Regal trumpet fanfare]

---

[Clapping]

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Cousin of Buckingham!

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
My gracious sovereign?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Give me thy hand.

---

---

Thus high, by thy advice



And thy assistance, is King Richard seated;

---

But shall we wear these honours for a day?



Or shall they last, and we rejoice in them?

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
Still live they and for ever may they last!

---

## KING RICHARD III:
O Buckingham, now do I play the touch,



To try if thou be current gold indeed

---

Young Edward lives: think now what I would say.

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
Say on, my loving lord.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Why, Buckingham, I say, I would be king,

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
Why, so you are, my thrice renowned liege.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Ha! am I king? But young prince Edward lives.

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
Your grace may do your pleasure.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Cousin, thou wert not wont to be so dull:



Shall I be plain? I wish the bastards dead;

---

And I would have it suddenly perform'd.



What sayest thou? speak suddenly; be brief.

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
Give me some breath, some little pause, my lord



Before I positively herein:

---

I will resolve your grace immediately.

---

---


## KING RICHARD III:
Ratcliffe!

---


## RATCLIFFE:
My lord?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Know'st thou not any whom corrupting gold



Would tempt unto a close exploit of death?

---

## RATCLIFFE:
My lord, I know a discontented gentleman,



Whose humble means match not his haughty mind:

---

Gold were as good as twenty orators,



And will, no doubt, tempt him to any thing.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
What is his name?

---

## RATCLIFFE:
His name, my lord, is Lovell.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
I partly know the man: go, call him hither.

---

---

The deep-revolving witty Buckingham



No more shall be the neighbour to my counsel:

---

Hath he so long held out with me untired,



And stops he now for breath?

---

How now! what news with you?

---

## STANLEY:
My lord, I hear the Marquis Dorset's fled



To Richmond, in those parts beyond the sea



Where he abides.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Catesby!

---

## CATESBY:
My lord?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Rumour it abroad



That Anne, my wife, is sick and like to die:

---

I must be married to my brother's daughter,



Or else my kingdom stands on brittle glass.

---

Murder her brothers, and then marry her!



Uncertain way of gain! But I am in

---

So far in blood that sin will pluck on sin:



Tear-falling pity dwells not in this eye.

---

## LOVELL:
Your most obedient subject.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Art thou, indeed?

---

## LOVELL:
Prove me, my gracious sovereign.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Darest thou resolve to kill a friend of mine?

---

## LOVELL:
For you my lord;



I had rather kill two enemies.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Why, there thou hast it: two deep enemies,



Foes to my rest and my sweet sleep's disturbers

---

Are they that I would have thee deal upon:



Lovell, I mean those bastards in the Tower.

---

## LOVELL:
Let me have open means to come to them,



And soon I'll rid you from the fear of them.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Thou sing'st sweet music. Hark, come hither, Lovell

---

Go, by this token: say it is done,



And I will love thee, and prefer thee too.

---

## LOVELL:
'Tis done, my gracious lord.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Shall we hear from thee, Lovell, ere we sleep?

---

## LOVELL:
Ye shall, my Lord.

---

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
My Lord, I have consider'd in my mind



The late demand that you did sound me in.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Well, let that pass. Dorset is fled to Richmond.

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
I hear that news, my lord.

---

My lord, I claim your gift, my due by promise,



For which your honour and your faith is pawn'd;

---

The earldom of Hereford and the moveables



The which you promised I should possess.

---

What says your highness to my just demand?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
As I remember, Henry the Sixth



Did prophesy that Richmond should be king,

---

When Richmond was a little peevish boy.



A king, perhaps, perhaps,--

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
My lord!

---

## KING RICHARD III:
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 III:
Ay, what's o'clock?

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
I am thus bold to put your grace in mind



Of what you promised me.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Well, but what's o'clock?

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
Upon the stroke of ten.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Well, let it strike.

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
Why let it strike?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
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 III:
Tut, tut,



Thou troublest me; am not in the vein.

---

---


## 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!

---

[Drumming]

---

## LOVELL:
The tyrannous and bloody deed is done.

---

The most arch deed of piteous massacre



That ever yet this land was guilty of.

---

Thus both are gone with conscience and remorse;



And now he comes, the bloody king.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Kind Lovell, am I happy in thy news?

---

## LOVELL:
If to have done the thing you gave in charge



Beget your happiness, be happy then,

---

For it is done, my lord.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Come to me, Lovell, 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.

---

---


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



His sights at Elizabeth’s maiden daughter,

---

And, by that knot, looks proudly o'er the crown,



To her I go, a jolly thriving wooer.

---

## CATESBY:
My lord!

---

## KING RICHARD III:
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 III:
Come, I have heard that fearful commenting



Is leaden servitor to dull delay;

---

Come, muster men: my counsel is my shield;



We must be brief when traitors brave the field.

---

[Mournful music and drumming]

---

---


## QUEEN MARGARET:
So, now prosperity begins to mellow



And drop into the rotten mouth of death.

---

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: 

---

[Wailing cries offstage]

---

## QUEEN MARARET:
Who comes here?

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Ah, my young princes! ah, my tender babes!

---

If yet your gentle souls fly in the air



Hover about me with your airy wings

---

And hear your mother's lamentation!

---

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?

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
Blind sight, dead life, poor mortal living ghost,

---

Rest thy unrest on England's lawful earth,



Unlawfully made drunk with innocents' blood!

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
O, who hath any cause to mourn but I?

---

## QUEEN MARGARET:
If ancient sorrow be most reverend,



Give mine the benefit of seniory,

---

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;

---

Thou hadst a Clarence too, and Richard kill'd him.

---

From forth the kennel of thy womb hath crept



A hell-hound that doth hunt us all to death:

---

O upright, just, and true-disposing God,



How do I thank thee, that this carnal cur

---

Preys on the issue of his mother's body,



And the beholders of this tragic play,

---

The adulterate Hastings, Rivers, Grey,



Untimely smother'd in their dusky graves.

---

Richard yet lives, hell's black intelligencer,



Cancel his bond of life, dear God, I pray,

---

That one may live to say, the dog is dead!

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
O, thou didst prophesy the time would come

---

That I should wish for thee to help me curse



That bottled spider, that foul bunch-back'd toad!

---

## QUEEN MARGARET:
I call'd thee then vain flourish of my fortune;

---

Where is thy husband now? where be thy brothers?



Where are thy children? wherein dost thou, joy?

---

Who sues to thee and cries 'God save the queen'?



Where be the bending peers that flatter'd thee?

---

Where be the thronging troops that follow'd thee?



Decline all this, and see what now thou art:

---

For happy wife, a most distressed widow;



For joyful mother, one that wails the name;

---

For queen, a very cowrd crown'd with care;



For one being sued to, one that humbly sues;

---

For one that scorn'd at me, now scorn'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;

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
O thou well skill'd in curses, stay awhile,



And teach me how to curse mine enemies!

---

## QUEEN MARGARET:
Forbear to sleep the nights, and fast the days;



Compare dead happiness with living woe;

---

Think that thy babes were fairer than they were,



And he that slew them fouler than he is:

---

Bettering thy loss makes the bad causer worse:



Revolving this will teach thee how to curse.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
My words are dull; O, quicken them with thine!

---

## QUEEN MARGARET:
Thy woes will make them sharp, and pierce like mine.

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
Why should calamity be full of words?

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Poor breathing orators of miseries!

---

Let them have scope: though what they do impart



Help not all, yet do they ease the heart.

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
If so, then be not tongue-tied: go with me.

---

And in the breath of bitter words let's smother



My damned son, which thy two sweet sons smother'd.

---

I hear his drum: be copious in exclaims.

---

[Drumming]

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Who intercepts me?

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
O, she that might have intercepted thee,



By strangling thee in her accursed womb

---

From all the slaughters, wretch, that thou hast done!

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Hidest thou that forehead with a golden crown,



Where should be graven, if that right were right,

---

The slaughter of the prince that owed that crown,



And the dire death of my two sons and brothers?

---

Tell me, thou villain slave, where are my children?

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
Thou toad, thou toad, where is thy brother Clarence?

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Where is kind Hastings, Rivers, Grey?

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
Art thou my son?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Ay, I thank God, my father, and yourself.

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
O, then let me speak!

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Be brief, good mother; for I am in haste.

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
Art thou so hasty? I have stay'd for thee,



God knows, in anguish, pain and agony.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
And came I not at last to comfort you?

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
No, by the holy rood, thou know'st it well,



Thou camest on earth to make the earth my hell.

---

A grievous burthen was thy birth to me;



Tetchy and wayward was thy infancy;

---

Thy school-days frightful, desperate, wild, and furious,

---

Thy prime of manhood daring, bold, and venturous,

---

Thy age confirm'd, proud, subdued, bloody,

treacherous,

---

More mild, but yet more harmful, kind in hatred:

---

What comfortable hour canst thou name,



That ever graced me in thy company?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Faith, none, but If I be so disgracious in your sight,



Let me march on, and not offend your grace.

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
I prithee, hear me speak.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
You speak too bitterly.

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
Hear me a word;



For I shall never speak to thee again.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
So.

---

## DUCHESS OF YORK:
Either thou wilt die, by God's just ordinance,



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 most heavy curse;



My prayers on the adverse party fight;

---

And there the little souls of Edward's children



Whisper the spirits of thine enemies

---

And promise them success and victory.



Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy end;

---

Shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Though far more cause, yet much less spirit to curse abides in me; I say amen to all.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Stay, madam; I must speak a word with you.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
I have no more sons of the royal blood


For thee to murder: 

---

for my daughters, Richard,



They shall be praying nuns, not weeping queens;

---

## KING RICHARD III:
You have a daughter call'd Elizabeth,



Virtuous and fair, royal and gracious.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
And must she die for this? O, let her live,



And I'll corrupt her manners, stain her beauty;

---

I will confess she was not Edward's daughter.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Wrong not her birth, she is of royal blood.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
To save her life, I'll say she is not so.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Her life is only safest in her birth.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
And only in that safety died her brothers.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
You speak as if that I had slain my nephews.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Nephews, indeed; and by their uncle cozen'd



Of comfort, kingdom, kindred, freedom, life.

---

No doubt the murderous knife was dull and blunt



Till it was whetted on thy stone-hard heart,

---

To revel in the entrails of my lambs.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Madam, I intend more good to you and yours,



Than ever you or yours were by me wrong'd!

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
What good  that can do me good?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
The advancement of your children, gentle lady.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Up to some scaffold, there to lose their heads?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
No, to the dignity and height of honour

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Be brief, lest that be process of thy kindness



Last longer telling than thy kindness' date.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Then know, that from my soul I love thy daughter.



And mean to make her queen of England.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Say then, who dost thou mean shall be her king?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Even he that makes her queen who should be else?

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
What, thou?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
I, even I: what think you of it, madam?

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
How canst thou woo her?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
That would I learn of you,

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Send to her, by the man that slew her brothers,

---

A pair of bleeding-hearts; thereon engrave



Edward and York; then haply she will weep:

---

If this inducement force her not to love,



Send her a story of thy noble acts;

---

Tell her thou madest away her uncle Clarence,



Her uncle Rivers; yea, and, for her sake,

---

Madest quick conveyance with her good aunt Anne.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Come, come, you mock me; this is not the way



To win your daughter.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
There is no other way



Unless thou couldst put on some other shape,

---

And not be Richard that hath done all this.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Look, what is done cannot be now amended:



Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes,

---

If I did take the kingdom from your sons,



To make amends, Ill give it to your daughter.

---

If I have kill'd the issue of your womb,



To quicken your increase, I will beget

---

Mine issue of your blood upon your daughter

---

Your children were vexation to your youth,



But mine shall be a comfort to your age.

---

The loss you have is but a son being king,



And by that loss your daughter is made queen.

---

And when this arm of mine hath chastised



The petty rebel, dull-brain'd Buckingham,

---

Bound with triumphant garlands will I come



And lead thy daughter to a conqueror's bed;

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
What were I best to say? her father's brother



Would be her lord? or shall I say, her uncle?

---

Or, he that slew her brothers and her uncles?



Under what title shall I woo for thee?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Say, she shall be a high and mighty queen.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
To wail the tide, as her mother doth.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Say, I will love her everlastingly.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
But how long shall that title 'ever' last?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
So long as heaven and nature lengthens it.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
So long as hell and Richard likes of it..

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Be eloquent in my behalf to her.



Now, by my George, my garter, and my crown,--

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Profaned, dishonour'd, and the third usurp'd.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
I swear—



## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
By nothing; for this is no oath:

---

The George, profaned, hath lost his holy honour;



The garter, blemish'd, pawn'd his knightly virtue;

---

The crown, usurp'd, disgraced his kingly glory.



if something thou wilt swear to be believed,

---

Swear then by something that thou hast not wrong'd.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Now, by the world—



## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
'Tis full of thy foul wrongs.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Then, by myself—



## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Thyself thyself misusest.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Why then, by God—

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
God's wrong is most of all.



What canst thou swear by now?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
The time to come.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Swear not by time to come; for that thou hast



Misused ere used, by time misused o'erpast.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
As I intend to prosper and repent,



So thrive I in my dangerous attempt.

---

In her consists my happiness and thine;



Without her, follows to this land and me,

---

To thee, herself, and many a Christian soul,



Death, desolation, ruin and decay:

---

It cannot be avoided but by this;



It will not be avoided but by this.

---

Therefore, good mother,--I must call you so--



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

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Shall I be tempted of the devil thus?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Ay, if the devil tempt thee to do good.

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
But thou didst kill my children.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
But in your daughter's womb I bury them:

---

## QUEEN ELIZABETH:
Shall I go win my daughter to thy will?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
And be a happy mother by the deed.

---

Bear her my true love's kiss; and so, farewell.

---

---



Relenting fool, and shallow, changing woman!

---

How now! what news?

---

## RATCLIFF:
My gracious sovereign, on the western coast



Rideth a puissant navy; to our shores.

---

'Tis thought that Richmond is their admiral;



And there they hull, expecting but the aid

---

Of Buckingham to welcome them ashore.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Catesby; where is he?

---

## CATESBY:
Here, my lord.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
O, true, good Catesby:


---

Meet me presently at Salisbury.

---

## CATESBY:
I go.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
How now, what news with you?

---

## STANLEY:
Richmond is on the seas.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
There let him sink, and be the seas on him!



What doth he there?

---

## STANLEY:
I know not, mighty sovereign, but by guess.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Well, sir, as you guess, as you guess?

---

## STANLEY:
He makes for England, there to claim the crown.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Is the king dead? the empire unpossess'd?



What heir of York is there alive but we?

---

Then, tell me, what doth he upon the sea?

---

## STANLEY:
Unless for that, my liege, I cannot guess.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Thou wilt revolt, and fly to him, I fear.

---

## STANLEY:
No, mighty liege; therefore mistrust me not.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Ay, ay. thou wouldst be gone to join with Richmond:



I will not trust you, sir.

---

## STANLEY:
Most mighty sovereign,



You have no cause to hold my friendship doubtful:

---

I never was nor never will be false.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Well, go muster men; but, hear you, leave behind



Your son, George: look your faith be firm.

---

Or else his head's assurance is but frail.

---

## STANLEY:
So deal with him as I prove true to you.


---

---

## MESSENGER:
My gracious sovereign, now in Devonshire,



Sir Edward Courtney, and the haughty prelate

---

Bishop of Exeter, his brother there,



With many more confederates, are in arms.

---

## MESSENGER:
My liege, in Kent the Guildfords are in arms;

---

And every hour more competitors



Flock to their aid, and still their power increaseth.

---

## MESSENGER:
My lord, the army of the Duke of Buckingham—

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Out on you, owls! nothing but songs of death?

---

Take that, until thou bring me better news.

---

## MESSENGER:
The news I have to tell your majesty



Is, that by sudden floods and fall of waters,

---

Buckingham's army is dispersed and scatter'd;

---

## KING RICHARD III:
I cry thee mercy:



There is my purse to cure that blow of thine.

---

## MESSENGER 
Sir William Brandon and Lord Marquis Dorset,



'Tis said, my liege, in Yorkshire are in arms.

---

Yet this good comfort bring I to your grace,



The Breton navy is dispersed by tempest:

---

## KING RICHARD III:
March on, march on, since we are up in arms;

---

If not to fight with foreign enemies,



Yet to beat down these rebels here at home.

---

## RATCLIFFE:
My liege, the Duke of Buckingham is taken;



That is the best news: that the Earl of Richmond

---

Is with a mighty power landed at Milford,



Is colder tidings, yet they must be told.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Away towards Salisbury! while we reason here,



A royal battle might be won and lost

---

---


## STANLEY:
Good servant, tell Richmond this from me:

---

My son George is frank'd up in hold:



If I revolt, off goes young George's head;

---

The fear of that withholds my present aid.



Return unto Richmond; commend me to him:

---

Tell him the queen hath heartily consented



He shall marry Elizabeth her daughter.

---

These letters will resolve him of my mind. Farewell.

---

[Drumming]

---

[Slow drum beat]

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
Will not King Richard let me speak with him?

---

## BRAKENBURY:
No, my good lord; therefore be patient.

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
This is All-Souls' day, fellow, is it not?

---

## BRAKENBURY:
It is, my lord.

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
Why, then All-Souls' day is my body's doomsday.

---

[Chuckles]



This is the day that, in King Edward's time,

---

I wish't might fall on me, when I was found



False to his children or his wife's allies

---

This is the day wherein I wish'd to fall



By the false faith of him I trusted most;

---

This, this All-Souls' day to my fearful soul



Is the determined respite of my wrongs:

---

That high All-Seer that I dallied with



Hath turn'd my feigned prayer on my head

---

And given in earnest what I begg'd in jest.



Thus doth he force the swords of wicked men

---

To turn their own points on their masters' bosoms:



Now Margaret's curse is fallen upon my head;

---

'When he,' quoth she, 'shall split thy heart with sorrow, remember Margaret was a prophetess.'

---

Come, sir, convey me to the block of shame;



Wrong hath but wrong, and blame the due of blame.

---

[Drumming]

---

[Trumpet fanfare]

---



---

## RICHMOND:
Fellows in arms, and my most loving friends,



Bruised underneath the yoke of tyranny,

---

The wretched, bloody, and usurping king,



Lies now even in the centre of this isle.

---

In God's name, cheerly on, courageous friends,



To reap the harvest of perpetual peace

---

By this one bloody trial of sharp war.



True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings:

---

Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings.

---



---

[Distant thunder]

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Here pitch our tents, even here in Bosworth field.



My Lord Ratcliffe, why look you so sad?

---

## RATCLIFFE:
My heart is ten times lighter than my looks.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Ratcliffe, we must have knocks; ha! must we not?

---

## RATCLIFFE:
We must both give and take, my gracious lord.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Up with my tent there! here will I lie tonight;



But where to-morrow? Well, all's one for that.

---

Who hath descried the number of the foe?

---

## RATCLIFFE:
Six or seven thousand is their utmost power.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Why, our battalion trebles that account:



Besides, the king's name is a tower of strength,

---

Which they upon the adverse party want.



Let us survey the vantage of the field

---

Let's want no discipline, make no delay,



For, lords, to-morrow is a busy day.

---

[Distant thunder continues]

---

## RICHMOND:
The weary sun hath made a golden set,



And by the bright track of his fiery car,

---

Gives signal, of a goodly day to-morrow.



Yet one thing more, Dorset, before thou go'st,

---

Where is Lord Stanley quarter'd, dost thou know?

---

## DORSET:
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.

---

## RICHMOND:
If without peril it be possible,



Good Dorset, bear my good-night to him,

---

And give him from me this most needful scroll.

---

## DORSET:
Upon my life, my lord, I'll under-take it;



And so, God give you quiet rest to-night!

---

## RICHMOND:
Come, Dorset, Let us consult upon to-morrow's business in to our tent; the air is raw and cold.

---



[Rolling thunder]

---

## KING RICHARD III:
What is't o'clock?

---

## CATESBY:
It's supper-time, my lord;



It's nine o'clock.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
I will not sup to-night.



Give me some ink and paper.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Catesby!

---

## CATESBY:
My lord?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Send out a man at arms



To Stanley's regiment; bid him bring his power

---

Before sunrising, lest his son George fall



Into the blind cave of eternal night.

---

Ratcliff! 



Give me a bowl of wine:

---

I have not that alacrity of spirit,



Nor cheer of mind, that I was wont to have.

---

Set it down. Is ink and paper ready?

---

## RATCLIFF:
It is, my lord.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Bid my guard watch; leave me.

---

Ratcliff, about the mid of night come to my tent



And help to arm me. Leave me, I say.

---

---


## STANLEY:
Fortune and victory sit on thy helm!

---

## 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 his mother



Who prays continually for Richmond's good:

---

Prepare thy battle early in the morning,



And put thy fortune to the arbitrement

---

Of bloody strokes and mortal-staring 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, my dear son, tender George,

---

Be executed in his father's sight.



Once more, adieu: be valiant, and speed well!

---

## RICHMOND:
Good Dorset, conduct him to his regiment:



I'll strive, with troubled thoughts, to take a nap,

---

Lest leaden slumber peise me down to-morrow,



When I should mount with wings of victory:

---

Once more, good night, kind lords and gentlemen.

---

---

## RICHMOND:
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



The 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!

---

---

[Angry ghosts whisper]

---

## CLARENCE:
[Gasping] Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow!



Poor Clarence, by thy guile betrayed to death!

---

To-morrow in the battle think on me,



And fall thy edgeless sword: despair, and die!--

---

---

Thou offspring of the house of Lancaster



The wronged heirs of York do pray for thee

---

Good angels guard thy battle! Live, and flourish!

---

## RIVERS:
Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow,



Rivers. That died at Pomfret! Despair, and die!

---

## GREY:
Think upon Grey, and let thy soul despair!

---

---

## RIVERS:
Awake,

---

## GREY:
And think our wrongs in Richard’s bosom



Will conquer him!

---

## RIVERS:
Awake, and win the day!

---

---

## YORK:
Dream on thy cousins smother’d in the Tower:

---

## PRINCE EDWARD:
Let us be led within thy bosom, Richard,



And weigh thee down to ruin, shame, and death!

---

## YORK:
Thy nephews’ souls bid thee despair and die!

---

---

## PRINCE EDWARD:
Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace, and wake in joy;



Good angels guard thee from the boar’s annoy!

---

## YORK:
Live, and beget a happy race of kings!

---

## YORK AND PRINCE EDWARD:
Edward’s unhappy sons do bid thee flourish.

---

---

## LADY ANNE:
Richard, thy wife, that wretched Anne thy wife,



That never slept a quiet hour with thee,

---

Now fills thy sleep with perturbations



To-morrow in the battle think on me,

---

And fall thy edgeless sword: despair, and die!

---

---

Thou quiet soul, sleep thou a quiet sleep

---

Dream of success and happy victory!

---

Thy adversary’s wife doth pray for thee.

---

---

## BUCKINGHAM:
[Choking] 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!

---

---

God and good angel fight on Richmond’s side;

---

And Richard falls in height of all his pride.

---

[Distant thunder]

---

## KING RICHARD III:
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.



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 direst 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 shall 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 murder'd



Came to my tent; and every one did threat

---

To-morrow's vengeance on the head of Richard.

---

---

## RATCLIFF:
My lord!

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Who is there?

---

## RATCLIFF:
Ratcliff, my lord; 'tis I. 



Your friends are up, and buckle on their armour.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
O Ratcliff, I have dream'd a fearful dream!



What thinkest thou, will our friends prove all true?

---

## RATCLIFF:
No doubt, my lord.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
O Ratcliff, I fear, I fear,--

---

## RATCLIFF:
Nay, good my lord, be not afraid of shadows.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
By the apostle Paul, shadows to-night



Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard

---

Than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers



It is not yet near day. Come, go with me;


---

---

## DORSET:
Good morrow, Richmond!

---

## RICHMOND:
Cry mercy, Dorset,



That you have ta'en a tardy sluggard here.

---

## DORSET:
How have you slept, my lord?

---

## RICHMOND:
The sweetest sleep, and fairest-boding dreams



That ever enter'd in a drowsy head.

---

Methought their souls, whose bodies Richard murder'd,



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?

---

## DORSET:
Upon the stroke of four.

---

## RICHMOND:
Why, then 'tis time to arm and give direction.

---

[Crowd noises]

---

Remember this,



God and our good cause fight upon our side;

---

The prayers of holy saints and wronged souls,



Like high-rear'd bulwarks, stand before our faces;

---

For what is he they follow? truly, gentlemen,



A bloody tyrant and a homicide;

---

One raised in blood, and one in blood establish'd;



One that made means to come by what he hath,

---

And slaughter'd those that were the means to help him;


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;

---

Then, in the name of God and all these rights,



Advance your standards, draw your willing swords.

---

For me, the ransom of my bold attempt



Shall be this cold corpse on the earth's cold face;

---

Sound drums and trumpets boldly and cheerfully;



God and Saint George! Richmond and victory!

---

[A hunting horn signals]
[Crowd cheers]

---
---

## KING RICHARD III:
Who saw the sun to-day?

---

## RATCLIFF:
Not I, my lord.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
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. Ratcliff!

---

## RATCLIFF:
My lord?

---

## KING RICHARD III:
The sun will not be seen to-day;



The sky doth frown and lour upon our army.

---

I would these dewy tears were from the ground.



Call up Lord Stanley, bid him bring his power:

---

[Crowd noises]

---

What shall I say more than I have inferr'd?



Remember whom you are to cope withal;

---

A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and runaways,



A scum of Bretons, and base lackey peasants,

---

And who doth lead them but a paltry fellow,



A milk-sop, one that never in his life

---

Felt so much cold as over shoes in snow?



If we be conquer'd, let men conquer us,

---

And not these bastard Bretons; whom our fathers



And in record, left them the heirs of shame.

---

Shall these enjoy our lands? 

---

Lie with our wives?

---

Ravish our daughters?

---

[Snare drum march]

---

Fight, gentlemen of England! fight, bold yoemen!

---

Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head!



Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood;

---

[Crowd cheers]

---

## KING RICHARD III:
What says Lord Stanley? will he bring his power?

---

## RATCLIFF:
My lord, he doth deny to come.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Off with his son George's head!

---

## RATCLIFF:
My lord, the enemy is past the marsh



After the battle let George Stanley die.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
A thousand hearts are great within my bosom:



Advance our standards, set upon our foes

---

Our ancient word of courage, fair Saint George,



Inspire us with the strength of fiery dragons!

---

Upon them! victory sits on our helms.

---

[Crowd roars]

---

[Thunder clap]

---

[Sounds of a raging battle]

---

## CATESBY:
Rescue, my Lord Stanley, rescue, rescue!


The king enacts more wonders than a man,

---

Daring an opposite to every danger:



His horse is slain, and all on foot he fights,

---

Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death.



Rescue, fair lord, or else the day is lost!

---
[Swords clanging]

---
[Shouts and battle cries]

---

## KING RICHARD III:
A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!

---

## CATESBY:
Withdraw, my lord; I’ll help you to a horse.

---

## KING RICHARD III:
Slave, I have set my life upon a cast,



And I will stand the hazard of the die:

---

I think there be six Richmonds in the field;



Five have I slain to-day instead of him.

---

A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!

---

## RICHMOND:
Richard!

---

[Screams and clashing metal]

---

[Thunder clap]

---

## STANLEY:
Courageous Richmond, well hast thou acquit thee.

---

Lo, here, this long-usurped royalty



From the dead temples of this bloody wretch

---

Have I pluck'd off, to grace thy brows withal:



Wear it, enjoy it, and make much of it.

---

## RICHMOND:
Great God of heaven, say Amen to all!



But, tell me, is young George living?

---

## STANLEY:
He is, my lord, and safe.

---

## RICHMOND:
Proclaim a pardon to the soldiers fled



That in submission will return to us:

---

England hath long been mad, and scarr'd herself;



The brother blindly shed the brother's blood,

---

The father rashly slaughter'd his own son,



The son, compell'd, been butcher to the sire:

---

[Crowd cheering]

---

## ELIZABETH: 
All this divided York and Lancaster,



Divided in their dire division,

---

O, let Richmond and Elizabeth’s daughter,



The true succeeders of each royal house,

---

By God's fair ordinance conjoin together!

---

## RICHMOND:
And let their heirs, God, if thy will be so.



Enrich the time to come with smooth-faced peace,

---

With smiling plenty and fair prosperous days!



Abate the edge of traitors, gracious Lord,

---

That would reduce these bloody days again,



And make poor England weep in streams of blood!

---

Now civil wounds are stopp'd, peace lives again:



That she may long live here, God say amen!

---

## SOLDIERS:
Amen!

---

## RICHMOND:
God and your arms be praised, victorious friends,



The day is ours, the bloody dog is dead!

---

[Crowd cheers]

---

[“Magic Arrow” by Timbre Timbre plays]

---

[Thrumming bass and percussion beat]

[Ominous guitar riff]

---

♪ Mystic palm, gem and tarot ♪

---

♪ A few escape your magic arrow ♪

---

♪ I saw you reel them in for miles ♪

---

♪ Each captivated crooked smile ♪

---

♪ And you know you can heal them all ♪

---

♪ Your double diamond disposition ♪

---

♪ Refractions of your center prism ♪

---

♪ Your magic arrow flies precision... ♪

---

---

RICHARD III