Richard III by William Shakespeare
Act 5 - Scene 3
Bosworth Field.
Earl of Surrey : My heart is ten times lighter than my looks.
Richmond (Henry VII) : The weary sun hath made a golden set,
[p]And by the bright track of
his fiery car,
[p]Gives signal, of a goodly day to-morrow.
[p]Sir
William Brandon, you shall bear my standard.
[p]Give me some ink and
paper in my tent
[p]I'll draw the form and model of our
battle,
[p]Limit each leader to his several charge,
[p]And part in
just proportion our small strength.
[p]My Lord of Oxford, you, Sir
William Brandon,
[p]And you, Sir Walter Herbert, stay with me.
[p]The
Earl of Pembroke keeps his regiment:
[p]Good Captain Blunt, bear my
good night to him
[p]And by the second hour in the morning
[p]Desire
the earl to see me in my tent:
[p]Yet one thing more, good Blunt,
before thou go'st,
[p]Where is Lord Stanley quarter'd, dost thou
know?
Blunt : Unless I have mista'en his colours much,
[p]Which well I am assured I
have not done,
[p]His regiment lies half a mile at least
[p]South from
the mighty power of the king.
Richmond (Henry VII) : If without peril it be possible,
[p]Good Captain Blunt, bear my
good-night to him,
[p]And give him from me this most needful scroll.
Blunt : Upon my life, my lord, I'll under-take it;
[p]And so, God give you
quiet rest to-night!
Richmond (Henry VII) : Good night, good Captain Blunt. Come gentlemen,
[p]Let us consult upon
to-morrow's business
[p]In to our tent; the air is raw and
cold.
[p][They withdraw into the tent]
[p][Enter, to his tent, KING
RICHARD III, NORFOLK,]
[p]RATCLIFF, CATESBY, and others]
Sir William Catesby : It's supper-time, my lord;
[p]It's nine o'clock.
Sir William Catesby : If is, my liege; and all things are in readiness.
Sir William Catesby : My lord?
Sir Richard Ratcliff : My lord?
Sir Richard Ratcliff : Thomas the Earl of Surrey, and himself,
[p]Much about cock-shut time,
from troop to troop
[p]Went through the army, cheering up the
soldiers.
Sir Richard Ratcliff : It is, my lord.
Richmond (Henry VII) : All comfort that the dark night can afford
[p]Be to thy person, noble
father-in-law!
[p]Tell me, how fares our loving mother?
Richmond (Henry VII) : Good lords, conduct him to his regiment:
[p]I'll strive, with troubled
thoughts, to take a nap,
[p]Lest leaden slumber peise me down
to-morrow,
[p]When I should mount with wings of victory:
[p]Once more,
good night, kind lords and gentlemen.
[p][Exeunt all but
RICHMOND]
[p]O Thou, whose captain I account myself,
[p]Look on my
forces with a gracious eye;
[p]Put in their hands thy bruising irons
of wrath,
[p]That they may crush down with a heavy fall
[p]The
usurping helmets of our adversaries!
[p]Make us thy ministers of
chastisement,
[p]That we may praise thee in the victory!
[p]To thee I
do commend my watchful soul,
[p]Ere I let fall the windows of mine
eyes:
[p]Sleeping and waking, O, defend me still!
Lord Grey : [To KING RICHARD III]
[p]Think upon Grey, and let thy soul despair!
Sir Thomas Vaughan : [To KING RICHARD III]
[p]Think upon Vaughan, and, with guilty
fear,
[p]Let fall thy lance: despair, and die!
All : [To RICHMOND]
[p]Awake, and think our wrongs in Richard's
bosom
[p]Will conquer him! awake, and win the day!
Princes : [To KING RICHARD III]
[p]Dream on thy cousins smother'd in the
Tower:
[p]Let us be led within thy bosom, Richard,
[p]And weigh thee
down to ruin, shame, and death!
[p]Thy nephews' souls bid thee despair
and die!
[p][To RICHMOND]
[p]Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace, and wake
in joy;
[p]Good angels guard thee from the boar's annoy!
[p]Live, and
beget a happy race of kings!
[p]Edward's unhappy sons do bid thee
flourish.
Lady Anne : [To KING RICHARD III]
[p]Richard, thy wife, that wretched Anne thy
wife,
[p]That never slept a quiet hour with thee,
[p]Now fills thy
sleep with perturbations
[p]To-morrow in the battle think on
me,
[p]And fall thy edgeless sword: despair, and die!
[p][To
RICHMOND]
[p]Thou quiet soul, sleep thou a quiet sleep
[p]Dream of
success and happy victory!
[p]Thy adversary's wife doth pray for
thee.
Sir Richard Ratcliff : My lord!
Sir Richard Ratcliff : Ratcliff, my lord; 'tis I. The early village-cock
[p]Hath twice done
salutation to the morn;
[p]Your friends are up, and buckle on their
armour.
Sir Richard Ratcliff : No doubt, my lord.
Sir Richard Ratcliff : Nay, good my lord, be not afraid of shadows.
Lords : Good morrow, Richmond!
Richmond (Henry VII) : Cry mercy, lords and watchful gentlemen,
[p]That you have ta'en a
tardy sluggard here.
Lords : How have you slept, my lord?
Richmond (Henry VII) : The sweetest sleep, and fairest-boding dreams
[p]That ever enter'd in
a drowsy head,
[p]Have I since your departure had, my
lords.
[p]Methought their souls, whose bodies Richard
murder'd,
[p]Came to my tent, and cried on victory:
[p]I promise you,
my soul is very jocund
[p]In the remembrance of so fair a
dream.
[p]How far into the morning is it, lords?
Lords : Upon the stroke of four.
Richmond (Henry VII) : Why, then 'tis time to arm and give direction.
[p][His oration to his
soldiers]
[p]More than I have said, loving countrymen,
[p]The leisure
and enforcement of the time
[p]Forbids to dwell upon: yet remember
this,
[p]God and our good cause fight upon our side;
[p]The prayers of
holy saints and wronged souls,
[p]Like high-rear'd bulwarks, stand
before our faces;
[p]Richard except, those whom we fight
against
[p]Had rather have us win than him they follow:
[p]For what is
he they follow? truly, gentlemen,
[p]A bloody tyrant and a
homicide;
[p]One raised in blood, and one in blood establish'd;
[p]One
that made means to come by what he hath,
[p]And slaughter'd those that
were the means to help him;
[p]Abase foul stone, made precious by the
foil
[p]Of England's chair, where he is falsely set;
[p]One that hath
ever been God's enemy:
[p]Then, if you fight against God's
enemy,
[p]God will in justice ward you as his soldiers;
[p]If you do
sweat to put a tyrant down,
[p]You sleep in peace, the tyrant being
slain;
[p]If you do fight against your country's foes,
[p]Your
country's fat shall pay your pains the hire;
[p]If you do fight in
safeguard of your wives,
[p]Your wives shall welcome home the
conquerors;
[p]If you do free your children from the sword,
[p]Your
children's children quit it in your age.
[p]Then, in the name of God
and all these rights,
[p]Advance your standards, draw your willing
swords.
[p]For me, the ransom of my bold attempt
[p]Shall be this cold
corpse on the earth's cold face;
[p]But if I thrive, the gain of my
attempt
[p]The least of you shall share his part thereof.
[p]Sound
drums and trumpets boldly and cheerfully;
[p]God and Saint George!
Richmond and victory!
[p][Exeunt]
[p][Re-enter KING RICHARD, RATCLIFF,
Attendants]
[p]and Forces]
Sir Richard Ratcliff : That he was never trained up in arms.
Sir Richard Ratcliff : He smiled and said 'The better for our purpose.'
Sir Richard Ratcliff : Not I, my lord.
Sir Richard Ratcliff : My lord?
Messenger : My lord, he doth deny to come.
Previous: Act 5 - Scene 2
Next: Act 5 - Scene 4
