Richard III by William Shakespeare
Act 4 - Scene 4
Before the palace.
Duchess of York : So many miseries have crazed my voice,
[p]That my woe-wearied tongue
is mute and dumb,
[p]Edward Plantagenet, why art thou dead?
Duchess of York : Blind sight, dead life, poor mortal living ghost,
[p]Woe's scene,
world's shame, grave's due by life usurp'd,
[p]Brief abstract and
record of tedious days,
[p]Rest thy unrest on England's lawful
earth,
[p][Sitting down]
[p]Unlawfully made drunk with innocents'
blood!
Duchess of York : I had a Richard too, and thou didst kill him;
[p]I had a Rutland too,
thou holp'st to kill him.
Duchess of York : O Harry's wife, triumph not in my woes!
[p]God witness with me, I have
wept for thine.
Duchess of York : Why should calamity be full of words?
Duchess of York : If so, then be not tongue-tied: go with me.
[p]And in the breath of
bitter words let's smother
[p]My damned son, which thy two sweet sons
smother'd.
[p]I hear his drum: be copious in exclaims.
Duchess of York : O, she that might have intercepted thee,
[p]By strangling thee in her
accursed womb
[p]From all the slaughters, wretch, that thou hast
done!
Duchess of York : Thou toad, thou toad, where is thy brother Clarence?
[p]And little Ned
Plantagenet, his son?
Duchess of York : Art thou my son?
Duchess of York : Then patiently hear my impatience.
Duchess of York : O, let me speak!
Duchess of York : I will be mild and gentle in my speech.
Duchess of York : Art thou so hasty? I have stay'd for thee,
[p]God knows, in anguish,
pain and agony.
Duchess of York : No, by the holy rood, thou know'st it well,
[p]Thou camest on earth to
make the earth my hell.
[p]A grievous burthen was thy birth to
me;
[p]Tetchy and wayward was thy infancy;
[p]Thy school-days
frightful, desperate, wild, and furious,
[p]Thy prime of manhood
daring, bold, and venturous,
[p]Thy age confirm'd, proud, subdued,
bloody,
[p]treacherous,
[p]More mild, but yet more harmful, kind in
hatred:
[p]What comfortable hour canst thou name,
[p]That ever graced
me in thy company?
Duchess of York : I prithee, hear me speak.
Duchess of York : Hear me a word;
[p]For I shall never speak to thee again.
Duchess of York : Either thou wilt die, by God's just ordinance,
[p]Ere from this war
thou turn a conqueror,
[p]Or I with grief and extreme age shall
perish
[p]And never look upon thy face again.
[p]Therefore take with
thee my most heavy curse;
[p]Which, in the day of battle, tire thee
more
[p]Than all the complete armour that thou wear'st!
[p]My prayers
on the adverse party fight;
[p]And there the little souls of Edward's
children
[p]Whisper the spirits of thine enemies
[p]And promise them
success and victory.
[p]Bloody thou art, bloody will be thy
end;
[p]Shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend.
Sir Richard Ratcliff : My gracious sovereign, on the western coast
[p]Rideth a puissant navy;
to the shore
[p]Throng many doubtful hollow-hearted
friends,
[p]Unarm'd, and unresolved to beat them back:
[p]'Tis thought
that Richmond is their admiral;
[p]And there they hull, expecting but
the aid
[p]Of Buckingham to welcome them ashore.
Sir William Catesby : Here, my lord.
Sir William Catesby : First, mighty sovereign, let me know your mind,
[p]What from your
grace I shall deliver to him.
Sir William Catesby : I go.
Sir Richard Ratcliff : What is't your highness' pleasure I shall do at
[p]Salisbury?
Sir Richard Ratcliff : Your highness told me I should post before.
Messenger : My gracious sovereign, now in Devonshire,
[p]As I by friends am well
advertised,
[p]Sir Edward Courtney, and the haughty prelate
[p]Bishop
of Exeter, his brother there,
[p]With many more confederates, are in
arms.
Second Messenger : My liege, in Kent the Guildfords are in arms;
[p]And every hour more
competitors
[p]Flock to their aid, and still their power increaseth.
Third Messenger : My lord, the army of the Duke of Buckingham--
Third Messenger : The news I have to tell your majesty
[p]Is, that by sudden floods and
fall of waters,
[p]Buckingham's army is dispersed and
scatter'd;
[p]And he himself wander'd away alone,
[p]No man knows
whither.
Third Messenger : Such proclamation hath been made, my liege.
Fourth Messenger : Sir Thomas Lovel and Lord Marquis Dorset,
[p]'Tis said, my liege, in
Yorkshire are in arms.
[p]Yet this good comfort bring I to your
grace,
[p]The Breton navy is dispersed by tempest:
[p]Richmond, in
Yorkshire, sent out a boat
[p]Unto the shore, to ask those on the
banks
[p]If they were his assistants, yea or no;
[p]Who answer'd him,
they came from Buckingham.
[p]Upon his party: he, mistrusting
them,
[p]Hoisted sail and made away for Brittany.
Sir William Catesby : My liege, the Duke of Buckingham is taken;
[p]That is the best news:
that the Earl of Richmond
[p]Is with a mighty power landed at
Milford,
[p]Is colder tidings, yet they must be told.
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Next: Act 4 - Scene 5
