Dramatis Personae
KING EDWARD THE FOURTH
Sons to the king
EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES afterwards
KING EDWARD V
RICHARD, DUKE OF YORK
Brothers to the king
GEORGE, DUKE OF CLARENCE
RICHARD, DUKE OF GLOSTER, afterwards
KING RICHARD III
A YOUNG SON OF CLARENCE
HENRY, EARL OF RICHMOND, afterwards
KING HENRY VII
CARDINAL BOURCHIER, ARCHBISHOP OF
CANTERBURY
THOMAS ROTHERHAM, ARCHBISHOP OF YORK
JOHN MORTON, BISHOP OF ELY
DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM
DUKE OF NORFOLK
EARL OF SURREY, his son
EARL RIVERS, brother to King
Edward's Queen
MARQUIS OF DORSET and LORD GREY, her
sons
EARL OF OXFORD
LORD HASTINGS
LORD STANLEY
LORD LOVEL
SIR THOMAS VAUGHAN
SIR RICHARD RATCLIFF
SIR WILLIAM CATESBY
SIR JAMES TYRREL
SIR JAMES BLOUNT
SIR WALTER HERBERT
SIR ROBERT BRAKENBURY, Lieutenant of
the Tower
CHRISTOPHER URSWICK, a priest
Another Priest
LORD MAYOR OF LONDON
SHERIFF OF WILTSHIRE
ELIZABETH, Queen to King Edward IV
MARGARET, widow to King Henry VI
DUCHESS OF YORK, mother to King
Edward IV, Clarence, and Gloster
LADY ANNE, widow to Edward, Prince
of Wales, son to King
Henry VI; afterwards married to the
Duke of Gloster
A YOUNG DAUGHTER OF CLARENCE
Lords, and other Attendants; two
Gentlemen, a Pursuivant, Scrivener, Citizens, Murderers, Messengers,
Ghosts, Soldiers, &c.
SCENE: England
Act 1
Scene 1
London. A street.
Enter GLOUCESTER, solus
GLOUCESTER
Now is the winter of our
discontentMade glorious summer by this sun of York;And all
the clouds that lour'd upon our houseIn the deep bosom of the
ocean buried.Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;Our
bruised arms hung up for monuments;Our stern alarums changed to
merry meetings,Our dreadful marches to delightful
measures.Grim-visaged war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front;And
now, instead of mounting barded steedsTo fright the souls of
fearful adversaries,He capers nimbly in a lady's chamberTo
the lascivious pleasing of a lute.But I, that am not shaped for
sportive tricks,Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;I,
that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majestyTo strut before a
wanton ambling nymph;I, that am curtail'd of this fair
proportion,Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,Deformed,
unfinish'd, sent before my timeInto this breathing world, scarce
half made up,And that so lamely and unfashionableThat dogs
bark at me as I halt by them;Why, I, in this weak piping time of
peace,Have no delight to pass away the time,Unless to spy my
shadow in the sunAnd descant on mine own deformity:And
therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,To entertain these fair
well-spoken days,I am determined to prove a villainAnd hate
the idle pleasures of these days.Plots have I laid, inductions
dangerous,By drunken prophecies, libels and dreams,To set my
brother Clarence and the kingIn deadly hate the one against the
other:And if King Edward be as true and justAs I am subtle,
false and treacherous,This day should Clarence closely be mew'd
up,About a prophecy, which says that 'G'Of Edward's heirs the
murderer shall be.Dive, thoughts, down to my soul: hereClarence
comes.
Enter CLARENCE, guarded, and
BRAKENBURY
Brother, good day; what means this
armed guardThat waits upon your grace?
CLARENCE
His majestyTendering my person's
safety, hath appointedThis conduct to convey me to the Tower.
GLOUCESTER
Upon what cause?
CLARENCE
Because my name is George.
GLOUCESTER
Alack, my lord, that fault is none
of yours;He should, for that, commit your godfathers:O,
belike his majesty hath some intentThat you shall be
new-christen'd in the Tower.But what's the matter, Clarence? may
I know?
CLARENCE
Yea, Richard, when I know; for I
protestAs yet I do not: but, as I can learn,He hearkens after
prophecies and dreams;And from the cross-row plucks the letter
G.And says a wizard told him that by GHis issue disinherited
should be;And, for my name of George begins with G,It follows
in his thought that I am he.These, as I learn, and such like toys
as theseHave moved his highness to commit me now.
GLOUCESTER
Why, this it is, when men are ruled
by women:'Tis not the king that sends you to the Tower:My
Lady Grey his wife, Clarence, 'tis sheThat tempers him to this
extremity.Was it not she and that good man of worship,Anthony
Woodville, her brother there,That made him send Lord Hastings to
the Tower,From whence this present day he is deliver'd?We are
not safe, Clarence; we are not safe.
CLARENCE
By heaven, I think there's no man is
secureBut the queen's kindred and night-walking heraldsThat
trudge betwixt the king and Mistress Shore.Heard ye not what an
humble suppliantLord hastings was to her for his delivery?
GLOUCESTER
Humbly complaining to her deityGot
my lord chamberlain his liberty.I'll tell you what; I think it is
our way,If we will keep in favour with the king,To be her men
and wear her livery:The jealous o'erworn widow and herself,Since
that our brother dubb'd them gentlewomen.Are mighty gossips in
this monarchy.
BRAKENBURY
I beseech your graces both to pardon
me;His majesty hath straitly given in chargeThat no man shall
have private conference,Of what degree soever, with his brother.
GLOUCESTER
Even so; an't please your worship,
Brakenbury,You may partake of any thing we say:We speak no
treason, man: we say the kingIs wise and virtuous, and his noble
queenWell struck in years, fair, and not jealous;We say that
Shore's wife hath a pretty foot,A cherry lip, a bonny eye, a
passing pleasing tongue;And that the queen's kindred are made
gentle-folks:How say you sir? Can you deny all this?
BRAKENBURY
With this, my lord, myself have
nought to do.
GLOUCESTER
Naught to do with mistress Shore! I
tell thee, fellow,He that doth naught with her, excepting
one,Were best he do it secretly, alone.
BRAKENBURY
What one, my lord?
GLOUCESTER
Her husband, knave: wouldst thou
betray me?
BRAKENBURY
I beseech your grace to pardon me,
and withalForbear your conference with the noble duke.
CLARENCE
We know thy charge, Brakenbury, and
will obey.
GLOUCESTER
We are the queen's abjects, and must
obey.Brother, farewell: I will unto the king;And whatsoever
you will employ me in,Were it to call King Edward's widow
sister,I will perform it to enfranchise you.Meantime, this
deep disgrace in brotherhoodTouches me deeper than you can
imagine.
CLARENCE
I know it pleaseth neither of us
well.
GLOUCESTER
Well, your imprisonment shall not be
long;Meantime, have patience.
CLARENCE
I must perforce. Farewell.
Exeunt CLARENCE, BRAKENBURY, and
Guard
GLOUCESTER
Go, tread the path that thou shalt
ne'er return.Simple, plain Clarence! I do love thee so,That I
will shortly send thy soul to heaven,If heaven will take the
present at our hands.But who comes here? the new-deliver'd
Hastings?
Enter HASTINGS
HASTINGS
Good time of day unto my gracious
lord!
GLOUCESTER
As much unto my good lord
chamberlain!Well are you welcome to the open air.How hath
your lordship brook'd imprisonment?
HASTINGS
With patience, noble lord, as
prisoners must:But I shall live, my lord, to give them
thanksThat were the cause of my imprisonment.
GLOUCESTER
No doubt, no doubt; and so shall
Clarence too;For they that were your enemies are his,And have
prevail'd as much on him as you.
HASTINGS
More pity that the eagle should be
mew'd,While kites and buzzards prey at liberty.
GLOUCESTER
What news abroad?
HASTINGS
No news so bad abroad as this at
home;The King is sickly, weak and melancholy,And his
physicians fear him mightily.
GLOUCESTER
Now, by Saint Paul, this news is bad
indeed.O, he hath kept an evil diet long,And overmuch
consumed his royal person:'Tis very grievous to be thought
upon.What, is he in his bed?
HASTINGS
He is.
GLOUCESTER
Go you before, and I will follow
you.
Exit HASTINGS
He cannot live, I hope; and must not
dieTill George be pack'd with post-horse up to heaven.I'll
in, to urge his hatred more to Clarence,With lies well steel'd
with weighty arguments;And, if I fall not in my deep
intent,Clarence hath not another day to live:Which done, God
take King Edward to his mercy,And leave the world for me to
bustle in!For then I'll marry Warwick's youngest daughter.What
though I kill'd her husband and her father?The readiest way to
make the wench amendsIs to become her husband and her father:The
which will I; not all so much for loveAs for another secret close
intent,By marrying her which I must reach unto.But yet I run
before my horse to market:Clarence still breathes; Edward still
lives and reigns:When they are gone, then must I count my gains.
Exit
Scene 2
The same. Another street.
Enter the corpse of KING HENRY the
Sixth, Gentlemen with halberds to guard it; LADY ANNE being the
mourner
LADY ANNE
Set down, set down your honourable
load,If honour may be shrouded in a hearse,Whilst I awhile
obsequiously lamentThe untimely fall of virtuous Lancaster.Poor
key-cold figure of a holy king!Pale ashes of the house of
Lancaster!Thou bloodless remnant of that royal blood!Be it
lawful that I invocate thy ghost,To hear the lamentations of Poor
Anne,Wife to thy Edward, to thy slaughter'd son,Stabb'd by
the selfsame hand that made these wounds!Lo, in these windows
that let forth thy life,I pour the helpless balm of my poor
eyes.Cursed be the hand that made these fatal holes!Cursed be
the heart that had the heart to do it!Cursed the blood that let
this blood from hence!More direful hap betide that hated
wretch,That makes us wretched by the death of thee,Than I can
wish to adders, spiders, toads,Or any creeping venom'd thing that
lives!If ever he have child, abortive be it,Prodigious, and
untimely brought to light,Whose ugly and unnatural aspectMay
fright the hopeful mother at the view;And that be heir to his
unhappiness!If ever he have wife, let her he madeA miserable
by the death of himAs I am made by my poor lord and thee!Come,
now towards Chertsey with your holy load,Taken from Paul's to be
interred there;And still, as you are weary of the weight,Rest
you, whiles I lament King Henry's corse.
Enter GLOUCESTER
GLOUCESTER
Stay, you that bear the corse, and
set it down.
LADY ANNE
What black magician conjures up this
fiend,To stop devoted charitable deeds?
GLOUCESTER
Villains, set down the corse; or, by
Saint Paul,I'll make a corse of him that disobeys.
Gentleman
My lord, stand back, and let the
coffin pass.
GLOUCESTER
Unmanner'd dog! stand thou, when I
command:Advance thy halbert higher than my breast,Or, by
Saint Paul, I'll strike thee to my foot,And spurn upon thee,
beggar, for thy boldness.
LADY ANNE
What, do you tremble? are you all
afraid?Alas, I blame you not; for you are mortal,And mortal
eyes cannot endure the devil.Avaunt, thou dreadful minister of
hell!Thou hadst but power over his mortal body,His soul thou
canst not have; therefore be gone.
GLOUCESTER
Sweet saint, for charity, be not so
curst.
LADY ANNE
Foul devil, for God's sake, hence,
and trouble us not;For thou hast made the happy earth thy
hell,Fill'd it with cursing cries and deep exclaims.If thou
delight to view thy heinous deeds,Behold this pattern of thy
butcheries.O, gentlemen, see, see! dead Henry's woundsOpen
their congeal'd mouths and bleed afresh!Blush, Blush, thou lump
of foul deformity;For 'tis thy presence that exhales this
bloodFrom cold and empty veins, where no blood dwells;Thy
deed, inhuman and unnatural,Provokes this deluge most
unnatural.O God, which this blood madest, revenge his death!O
earth, which this blood drink'st revenge his death!Either heaven
with lightning strike themurderer dead,Or earth, gape open
wide and eat him quick,As thou dost swallow up this good king's
bloodWhich his hell-govern'd arm hath butchered!
GLOUCESTER
Lady, you know no rules of
charity,Which renders good for bad, blessings for curses.
LADY ANNE
Villain, thou know'st no law of God
nor man:No beast so fierce but knows some touch of pity.
GLOUCESTER
But I know none, and therefore am no
beast.
LADY ANNE
O wonderful, when devils tell the
truth!
GLOUCESTER
More wonderful, when angels are so
angry.Vouchsafe, divine perfection of a woman,Of these
supposed-evils, to give me leave,By circumstance, but to acquit
myself.
LADY ANNE
Vouchsafe, defused infection of a
man,For these known evils, but to give me leave,By
circumstance, to curse thy cursed self.
GLOUCESTER
Fairer than tongue can name thee,
let me haveSome patient leisure to excuse myself.
LADY ANNE
Fouler than heart can think thee,
thou canst makeNo excuse current, but to hang thyself.
GLOUCESTER
By such despair, I should accuse
myself.
LADY ANNE
And, by despairing, shouldst thou
stand excused;For doing worthy vengeance on thyself,Which
didst unworthy slaughter upon others.
GLOUCESTER
Say that I slew them not?
LADY ANNE
Why, then they are not dead:But
dead they are, and devilish slave, by thee.
GLOUCESTER
I did not kill your husband.
LADY ANNE
Why, then he is alive.
GLOUCESTER
Nay, he is dead; and slain by
Edward's hand.
LADY ANNE
In thy foul throat thou liest: Queen
Margaret sawThy murderous falchion smoking in his blood;The
which thou once didst bend against her breast,But that thy
brothers beat aside the point.
GLOUCESTER
I was provoked by her slanderous
tongue,which laid their guilt upon my guiltless shoulders.
LADY ANNE
Thou wast provoked by thy bloody
mind.Which never dreamt on aught but butcheries:Didst thou
not kill this king?
GLOUCESTER
I grant ye.
LADY ANNE
Dost grant me, hedgehog? then, God
grant me tooThou mayst be damned for that wicked deed!O, he
was gentle, mild, and virtuous!
GLOUCESTER
The fitter for the King of heaven,
that hath him.
LADY ANNE
He is in heaven, where thou shalt
never come.
GLOUCESTER
Let him thank me, that holp to send
him thither;For he was fitter for that place than earth.
LADY ANNE
And thou unfit for any place but
hell.
GLOUCESTER
Yes, one place else, if you will
hear me name it.
LADY ANNE
Some dungeon.
GLOUCESTER
Your bed-chamber.
LADY ANNE
Ill rest betide the chamber where
thou liest!
GLOUCESTER
So will it, madam till I lie with
you.
LADY ANNE
I hope so.
GLOUCESTER
I know so. But, gentle Lady Anne,To
leave this keen encounter of our wits,And fall somewhat into a
slower method,Is not the causer of the timeless deathsOf
these Plantagenets, Henry and Edward,As blameful as the
executioner?
LADY ANNE
Thou art the cause, and most
accursed effect.
GLOUCESTER
Your beauty was the cause of that
effect;Your beauty: which did haunt me in my sleepTo
undertake the death of all the world,So I might live one hour in
your sweet bosom.
LADY ANNE
If I thought that, I tell thee,
homicide,These nails should rend that beauty from my cheeks.
GLOUCESTER
These eyes could never endure sweet
beauty's wreck;You should not blemish it, if I stood by:As
all the world is cheered by the sun,So I by that; it is my day,
my life.
LADY ANNE
Black night o'ershade thy day, and
death thy life!
GLOUCESTER
Curse not thyself, fair creature
thou art both.
LADY ANNE
I would I were, to be revenged on
thee.
GLOUCESTER
It is a quarrel most unnatural,To
be revenged on him that loveth you.
LADY ANNE
It is a quarrel just and
reasonable,To be revenged on him that slew my husband.
GLOUCESTER
He that bereft thee, lady, of thy
husband,Did it to help thee to a better husband.
LADY ANNE
His better doth not breathe upon the
earth.
GLOUCESTER
He lives that loves thee better than
he could.
LADY ANNE
Name him.
GLOUCESTER
Plantagenet.
LADY ANNE
Why, that was he.
GLOUCESTER
The selfsame name, but one of better
nature.
LADY ANNE
Where is he?
GLOUCESTER
Here.
She spitteth at him
Why dost thou spit at me?
LADY ANNE
Would it were mortal poison, for thy
sake!
GLOUCESTER
Never came poison from so sweet a
place.
LADY ANNE
Never hung poison on a fouler
toad.Out of my sight! thou dost infect my eyes.
GLOUCESTER
Thine eyes, sweet lady, have
infected mine.
LADY ANNE
Would they were basilisks, to strike
thee dead!
GLOUCESTER
I would they were, that I might die
at once;For now they kill me with a living death.Those eyes
of thine from mine have drawn salt tears,Shamed their aspect with
store of childish drops:These eyes that never shed remorseful
tear,No, when my father York and Edward wept,To hear the
piteous moan that Rutland madeWhen black-faced Clifford shook his
sword at him;Nor when thy warlike father, like a child,Told
the sad story of my father's death,And twenty times made pause to
sob and weep,That all the standers-by had wet their cheeksLike
trees bedash'd with rain: in that sad timeMy manly eyes did scorn
an humble tear;And what these sorrows could not thence
exhale,Thy beauty hath, and made them blind with weeping.I
never sued to friend nor enemy;My tongue could never learn sweet
smoothing word;But now thy beauty is proposed my fee,My proud
heart sues, and prompts my tongue to speak.
She looks scornfully at him
Teach not thy lips such scorn, for
they were madeFor kissing, lady, not for such contempt.If thy
revengeful heart cannot forgive,Lo, here I lend thee this
sharp-pointed sword;Which if thou please to hide in this true
bosom.And let the soul forth that adoreth thee,I lay it naked
to the deadly stroke,And humbly beg the death upon my knee.
He lays his breast open: she offers
at it with his sword
Nay, do not pause; for I did kill
King Henry,But 'twas thy beauty that provoked me.Nay, now
dispatch; 'twas I that stabb'd young Edward,But 'twas thy
heavenly face that set me on.
Here she lets fall the sword
Take up the sword again, or take up
me.
LADY ANNE
Arise, dissembler: though I wish thy
death,I will not be the executioner.
GLOUCESTER
Then bid me kill myself, and I will
do it.
LADY ANNE
I have already.
GLOUCESTER
Tush, that was in thy rage:Speak
it again, and, even with the word,That hand, which, for thy love,
did kill thy love,Shall, for thy love, kill a far truer love;To
both their deaths thou shalt be accessary.
LADY ANNE
I would I knew thy heart.
GLOUCESTER
'Tis figured in my tongue.
LADY ANNE
I fear me both are false.
GLOUCESTER
Then never man was true.
LADY ANNE
Well, well, put up your sword.
GLOUCESTER
Say, then, my peace is made.
LADY ANNE
That shall you know hereafter.
GLOUCESTER
But shall I live in hope?
LADY ANNE
All men, I hope, live so.
GLOUCESTER
Vouchsafe to wear this ring.
LADY ANNE
To take is not to give.
GLOUCESTER
Look, how this ring encompasseth
finger.Even so thy breast encloseth my poor heart;Wear both
of them, for both of them are thine.And if thy poor devoted
suppliant mayBut beg one favour at thy gracious hand,Thou
dost confirm his happiness for ever.
LADY ANNE
What is it?
GLOUCESTER
That it would please thee leave
these sad designsTo him that hath more cause to be a mourner,And
presently repair to Crosby Place;Where, after I have solemnly
interr'dAt Chertsey monastery this noble king,And wet his
grave with my repentant tears,I will with all expedient duty see
you:For divers unknown reasons. I beseech you,Grant me this
boon.
LADY ANNE
With all my heart; and much it joys
me too,To see you are become so penitent.Tressel and
Berkeley, go along with me.
GLOUCESTER
Bid me farewell.
LADY ANNE
'Tis more than you deserve;But
since you teach me how to flatter you,Imagine I have said
farewell already.
Exeunt LADY ANNE, TRESSEL, and
BERKELEY
GLOUCESTER
Sirs, take up the corse.
GENTLEMEN
Towards Chertsey, noble lord?
GLOUCESTER
No, to White-Friars; there attend my
coining.
Exeunt all but GLOUCESTER
Was ever woman in this humour
woo'd?Was ever woman in this humour won?I'll have her; but I
will not keep her long.What! I, that kill'd her husband and his
father,To take her in her heart's extremest hate,With curses
in her mouth, tears in her eyes,The bleeding witness of her
hatred by;Having God, her conscience, and these barsagainst
me,And I nothing to back my suit at all,But the plain devil
and dissembling looks,And yet to win her, all the world to
nothing!Ha!Hath she forgot already that brave prince,Edward,
her lord, whom I, some three months since,Stabb'd in my angry
mood at Tewksbury?A sweeter and a lovelier gentleman,Framed
in the prodigality of nature,Young, valiant, wise, and, no doubt,
right royal,The spacious world cannot again affordAnd will
she yet debase her eyes on me,That cropp'd the golden prime of
this sweet prince,And made her widow to a woful bed?On me,
whose all not equals Edward's moiety?On me, that halt and am
unshapen thus?My dukedom to a beggarly denier,I do mistake my
person all this while:Upon my life, she finds, although I
cannot,Myself to be a marvellous proper man.I'll be at
charges for a looking-glass,And entertain some score or two of
tailors,To study fashions to adorn my body:Since I am crept
in favour with myself,Will maintain it with some little cost.But
first I'll turn yon fellow in his grave;And then return lamenting
to my love.Shine out, fair sun, till I have bought a glass,That
I may see my shadow as I pass.
Exit
Scene 3
The palace.
Enter QUEEN ELIZABETH, RIVERS, and
GREY
RIVERS
Have patience, madam: there's no
doubt his majestyWill soon recover his accustom'd health.
GREY
In that you brook it in, it makes
him worse:Therefore, for God's sake, entertain good comfort,And
cheer his grace with quick and merry words.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
If he were dead, what would betide
of me?
RIVERS
No other harm but loss of such a
lord.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
The loss of such a lord includes all
harm.
GREY
The heavens have bless'd you with a
goodly son,To be your comforter when he is gone.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
Oh, he is young and his minorityIs
put unto the trust of Richard Gloucester,A man that loves not me,
nor none of you.
RIVERS
Is it concluded that he shall be
protector?
QUEEN ELIZABETH
It is determined, not concluded
yet:But so it must be, if the king miscarry.
Enter BUCKINGHAM and DERBY
GREY
Here come the lords of Buckingham
and Derby.
BUCKINGHAM
Good time of day unto your royal
grace!
DERBY
God make your majesty joyful as you
have been!
QUEEN ELIZABETH
The Countess Richmond, good my Lord
of Derby.To your good prayers will scarcely say amen.Yet,
Derby, notwithstanding she's your wife,And loves not me, be you,
good lord, assuredI hate not you for her proud arrogance.
DERBY
I do beseech you, either not
believeThe envious slanders of her false accusers;Or, if she
be accused in true report,Bear with her weakness, which, I think
proceedsFrom wayward sickness, and no grounded malice.
RIVERS
Saw you the king to-day, my Lord of
Derby?
DERBY
But now the Duke of Buckingham and
IAre come from visiting his majesty.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
What likelihood of his amendment,
lords?
BUCKINGHAM
Madam, good hope; his grace speaks
cheerfully.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
God grant him health! Did you confer
with him?
BUCKINGHAM
Madam, we did: he desires to make
atonementBetwixt the Duke of Gloucester and your brothers,And
betwixt them and my lord chamberlain;And sent to warn them to his
royal presence.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
Would all were well! but that will
never beI fear our happiness is at the highest.
Enter GLOUCESTER, HASTINGS, and
DORSET
GLOUCESTER
They do me wrong, and I will not
endure it:Who are they that complain unto the king,That I,
forsooth, am stern, and love them not?By holy Paul, they love his
grace but lightlyThat fill his ears with such dissentious
rumours.Because I cannot flatter and speak fair,Smile in
men's faces, smooth, deceive and cog,Duck with French nods and
apish courtesy,I must be held a rancorous enemy.Cannot a
plain man live and think no harm,But thus his simple truth must
be abusedBy silken, sly, insinuating Jacks?
RIVERS
To whom in all this presence speaks
your grace?
GLOUCESTER
To thee, that hast nor honesty nor
grace.When have I injured thee? when done thee wrong?Or thee?
or thee? or any of your faction?A plague upon you all! His royal
person,--Whom God preserve better than you would wish!--Cannot
be quiet scarce a breathing-while,But you must trouble him with
lewd complaints.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
Brother of Gloucester, you mistake
the matter.The king, of his own royal disposition,And not
provoked by any suitor else;Aiming, belike, at your interior
hatred,Which in your outward actions shows itselfAgainst my
kindred, brothers, and myself,Makes him to send; that thereby he
may gatherThe ground of your ill-will, and so remove it.
GLOUCESTER
I cannot tell: the world is grown so
bad,That wrens make prey where eagles dare not perch:Since
every Jack became a gentlemanThere's many a gentle person made a
Jack.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
Come, come, we know your meaning,
brotherGloucester;You envy my advancement and my
friends':God grant we never may have need of you!
GLOUCESTER
Meantime, God grants that we have
need of you:Your brother is imprison'd by your means,Myself
disgraced, and the nobilityHeld in contempt; whilst many fair
promotionsAre daily given to ennoble thoseThat scarce, some
two days since, were worth a noble.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
By Him that raised me to this
careful heightFrom that contented hap which I enjoy'd,I never
did incense his majestyAgainst the Duke of Clarence, but have
beenAn earnest advocate to plead for him.My lord, you do me
shameful injury,Falsely to draw me in these vile suspects.
GLOUCESTER
You may deny that you were not the
causeOf my Lord Hastings' late imprisonment.
RIVERS
She may, my lord, for--
GLOUCESTER
She may, Lord Rivers! why, who knows
not so?She may do more, sir, than denying that:She may help
you to many fair preferments,And then deny her aiding hand
therein,And lay those honours on your high deserts.What may
she not? She may, yea, marry, may she--
RIVERS
What, marry, may she?
GLOUCESTER
What, marry, may she! marry with a
king,A bachelor, a handsome stripling too:I wis your grandam
had a worser match.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
My Lord of Gloucester, I have too
long borneYour blunt upbraidings and your bitter scoffs:By
heaven, I will acquaint his majestyWith those gross taunts I
often have endured.I had rather be a country servant-maidThan
a great queen, with this condition,To be thus taunted, scorn'd,
and baited at:
Enter QUEEN MARGARET, behind
Small joy have I in being England's
queen.
QUEEN MARGARET
And lessen'd be that small, God, I
beseech thee!Thy honour, state and seat is due to me.
GLOUCESTER
What! threat you me with telling of
the king?Tell him, and spare not: look, what I have saidI
will avouch in presence of the king:I dare adventure to be sent
to the Tower.'Tis time to speak; my pains are quite forgot.
QUEEN MARGARET
Out, devil! I remember them too
well:Thou slewest my husband Henry in the Tower,And Edward,
my poor son, at Tewksbury.
GLOUCESTER
Ere you were queen, yea, or your
husband king,I was a pack-horse in his great affairs;A
weeder-out of his proud adversaries,A liberal rewarder of his
friends:To royalize his blood I spilt mine own.
QUEEN MARGARET
Yea, and much better blood than his
or thine.
GLOUCESTER
In all which time you and your
husband GreyWere factious for the house of Lancaster;And,
Rivers, so were you. Was not your husbandIn Margaret's battle at
Saint Alban's slain?Let me put in your minds, if you forget,What
you have been ere now, and what you are;Withal, what I have been,
and what I am.
QUEEN MARGARET
A murderous villain, and so still
thou art.
GLOUCESTER
Poor Clarence did forsake his
father, Warwick;Yea, and forswore himself,--which Jesu pardon!--
QUEEN MARGARET
Which God revenge!
GLOUCESTER
To fight on Edward's party for the
crown;And for his meed, poor lord, he is mew'd up.I would to
God my heart were flint, like Edward's;Or Edward's soft and
pitiful, like mineI am too childish-foolish for this world.
QUEEN MARGARET
Hie thee to hell for shame, and
leave the world,Thou cacodemon! there thy kingdom is.
RIVERS
My Lord of Gloucester, in those busy
daysWhich here you urge to prove us enemies,We follow'd then
our lord, our lawful king:So should we you, if you should be our
king.
GLOUCESTER
If I should be! I had rather be a
pedlar:Far be it from my heart, the thought of it!
QUEEN ELIZABETH
As little joy, my lord, as you
supposeYou should enjoy, were you this country's king,As
little joy may you suppose in me.That I enjoy, being the queen
thereof.
QUEEN MARGARET
A little joy enjoys the queen
thereof;For I am she, and altogether joyless.I can no longer
hold me patient.
Advancing
Hear me, you wrangling pirates, that
fall outIn sharing that which you have pill'd from me!Which
of you trembles not that looks on me?If not, that, I being queen,
you bow like subjects,Yet that, by you deposed, you quake like
rebels?O gentle villain, do not turn away!
GLOUCESTER
Foul wrinkled witch, what makest
thou in my sight?
QUEEN MARGARET
But repetition of what thou hast
marr'd;That will I make before I let thee go.
GLOUCESTER
Wert thou not banished on pain of
death?
QUEEN MARGARET
I was; but I do find more pain in
banishmentThan death can yield me here by my abode.A husband
and a son thou owest to me;And thou a kingdom; all of you
allegiance:The sorrow that I have, by right is yours,And all
the pleasures you usurp are mine.
GLOUCESTER
The curse my noble father laid on
thee,When thou didst crown his warlike brows with paperAnd
with thy scorns drew'st rivers from his eyes,And then, to dry
them, gavest the duke a cloutSteep'd in the faultless blood of
pretty Rutland--His curses, then from bitterness of
soulDenounced against thee, are all fall'n upon thee;And God,
not we, hath plagued thy bloody deed.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
So just is God, to right the
innocent.
HASTINGS
O, 'twas the foulest deed to slay
that babe,And the most merciless that e'er was heard of!
RIVERS
Tyrants themselves wept when it was
reported.
DORSET
No man but prophesied revenge for
it.
BUCKINGHAM
Northumberland, then present, wept
to see it.
QUEEN MARGARET
What were you snarling all before I
came,Ready to catch each other by the throat,And turn you all
your hatred now on me?Did York's dread curse prevail so much with
heaven?That Henry's death, my lovely Edward's death,Their
kingdom's loss, my woful banishment,Could all but answer for that
peevish brat?Can curses pierce the clouds and enter heaven?Why,
then, give way, dull clouds, to my quick curses!If not by war, by
surfeit die your king,As ours by murder, to make him a
king!Edward thy son, which now is Prince of Wales,For Edward
my son, which was Prince of Wales,Die in his youth by like
untimely violence!Thyself a queen, for me that was a
queen,Outlive thy glory, like my wretched self!Long mayst
thou live to wail thy children's loss;And see another, as I see
thee now,Deck'd in thy rights, as thou art stall'd in mine!Long
die thy happy days before thy death;And, after many lengthen'd
hours of grief,Die neither mother, wife, nor England's
queen!Rivers and Dorset, you were standers by,And so wast
thou, Lord Hastings, when my sonWas stabb'd with bloody daggers:
God, I pray him,That none of you may live your natural age,But
by some unlook'd accident cut off!
GLOUCESTER
Have done thy charm, thou hateful
wither'd hag!
QUEEN MARGARET
And leave out thee? stay, dog, for
thou shalt hear me.If heaven have any grievous plague in
storeExceeding those that I can wish upon thee,O, let them
keep it till thy sins be ripe,And then hurl down their
indignationOn thee, the troubler of the poor world's peace!The
worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul!Thy friends suspect for
traitors while thou livest,And take deep traitors for thy dearest
friends!No sleep close up that deadly eye of thine,Unless it
be whilst some tormenting dreamAffrights thee with a hell of ugly
devils!Thou elvish-mark'd, abortive, rooting hog!Thou that
wast seal'd in thy nativityThe slave of nature and the son of
hell!Thou slander of thy mother's heavy womb!Thou loathed
issue of thy father's loins!Thou rag of honour! thou detested--
GLOUCESTER
Margaret.
QUEEN MARGARET
Richard!
GLOUCESTER
Ha!
QUEEN MARGARET
I call thee not.
GLOUCESTER
I cry thee mercy then, for I had
thoughtThat thou hadst call'd me all these bitter names.
QUEEN MARGARET
Why, so I did; but look'd for no
reply.O, let me make the period to my curse!
GLOUCESTER
'Tis done by me, and ends in
'Margaret.'
QUEEN ELIZABETH
Thus have you breathed your curse
against yourself.
QUEEN MARGARET
Poor painted queen, vain flourish of
my fortune!Why strew'st thou sugar on that bottled spider,Whose
deadly web ensnareth thee about?Fool, fool! thou whet'st a knife
to kill thyself.The time will come when thou shalt wish for meTo
help thee curse that poisonous bunchback'd toad.
HASTINGS
False-boding woman, end thy frantic
curse,Lest to thy harm thou move our patience.
QUEEN MARGARET
Foul shame upon you! you have all
moved mine.
RIVERS
Were you well served, you would be
taught your duty.
QUEEN MARGARET
To serve me well, you all should do
me duty,Teach me to be your queen, and you my subjects:O,
serve me well, and teach yourselves that duty!
DORSET
Dispute not with her; she is
lunatic.
QUEEN MARGARET
Peace, master marquess, you are
malapert:Your fire-new stamp of honour is scarce current.O,
that your young nobility could judgeWhat 'twere to lose it, and
be miserable!They that stand high have many blasts to shake
them;And if they fall, they dash themselves to pieces.
GLOUCESTER
Good counsel, marry: learn it, learn
it, marquess.
DORSET
It toucheth you, my lord, as much as
me.
GLOUCESTER
Yea, and much more: but I was born
so high,Our aery buildeth in the cedar's top,And dallies with
the wind and scorns the sun.
QUEEN MARGARET
And turns the sun to shade; alas!
alas!Witness my son, now in the shade of death;Whose bright
out-shining beams thy cloudy wrathHath in eternal darkness folded
up.Your aery buildeth in our aery's nest.O God, that seest
it, do not suffer it!As it was won with blood, lost be it so!
BUCKINGHAM
Have done! for shame, if not for
charity.
QUEEN MARGARET
Urge neither charity nor shame to
me:Uncharitably with me have you dealt,And shamefully by you
my hopes are butcher'd.My charity is outrage, life my shameAnd
in that shame still live my sorrow's rage.
BUCKINGHAM
Have done, have done.
QUEEN MARGARET
O princely Buckingham I'll kiss thy
hand,In sign of league and amity with thee:Now fair befal
thee and thy noble house!Thy garments are not spotted with our
blood,Nor thou within the compass of my curse.
BUCKINGHAM
Nor no one here; for curses never
passThe lips of those that breathe them in the air.
QUEEN MARGARET
I'll not believe but they ascend the
sky,And there awake God's gentle-sleeping peace.O Buckingham,
take heed of yonder dog!Look, when he fawns, he bites; and when
he bites,His venom tooth will rankle to the death:Have not to
do with him, beware of him;Sin, death, and hell have set their
marks on him,And all their ministers attend on him.
GLOUCESTER
What doth she say, my Lord of
Buckingham?
BUCKINGHAM
Nothing that I respect, my gracious
lord.
QUEEN MARGARET
What, dost thou scorn me for my
gentle counsel?And soothe the devil that I warn thee from?O,
but remember this another day,When he shall split thy very heart
with sorrow,And say poor Margaret was a prophetess!Live each
of you the subjects to his hate,And he to yours, and all of you
to God's!
Exit
HASTINGS
My hair doth stand on end to hear
her curses.
RIVERS
And so doth mine: I muse why she's
at liberty.
GLOUCESTER
I cannot blame her: by God's holy
mother,She hath had too much wrong; and I repentMy part
thereof that I have done to her.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
I never did her any, to my
knowledge.
GLOUCESTER
But you have all the vantage of her
wrong.I was too hot to do somebody good,That is too cold in
thinking of it now.Marry, as for Clarence, he is well repaid,He
is frank'd up to fatting for his painsGod pardon them that are
the cause of it!
RIVERS
A virtuous and a Christian-like
conclusion,To pray for them that have done scathe to us.
GLOUCESTER
So do I ever:
Aside
being well-advised.For had I
cursed now, I had cursed myself.
Enter CATESBY
CATESBY
Madam, his majesty doth call for
you,And for your grace; and you, my noble lords.
QUEEN ELIZABETH
Catesby, we come. Lords, will you go
with us?
RIVERS
Madam, we will attend your grace.
Exeunt all but GLOUCESTER
GLOUCESTER
I do the wrong, and first begin to
brawl.The secret mischiefs that I set abroachI lay unto the
grievous charge of others.Clarence, whom I, indeed, have laid in
darkness,I do beweep to many simple gullsNamely, to Hastings,
Derby, Buckingham;And say it is the queen and her alliesThat
stir the king against the duke my brother.Now, they believe it;
and withal whet meTo be revenged on Rivers, Vaughan, Grey:But
then I sigh; and, with a piece of scripture,Tell them that God
bids us do good for evil:And thus I clothe my naked villanyWith
old odd ends stolen out of holy writ;And seem a saint, when most
I play the devil.
Enter two Murderers
But, soft! here come my
executioners.How now, my hardy, stout resolved mates!Are you
now going to dispatch this deed?
First Murderer
We are, my lord; and come to have
the warrantThat we may be admitted where he is.
GLOUCESTER
Well thought upon; I have it here
about me.
Gives the warrant
When you have done, repair to Crosby
Place.But, sirs, be sudden in the execution,Withal obdurate,
do not hear him plead;For Clarence is well-spoken, and
perhapsMay move your hearts to pity if you mark him.
First Murderer
Tush!Fear not, my lord, we will
not stand to prate;Talkers are no good doers: be assuredWe
come to use our hands and not our tongues.
GLOUCESTER
Your eyes drop millstones, when
fools' eyes drop tears:I like you, lads; about your business
straight;Go, go, dispatch.
First Murderer
We will, my noble lord.
Exeunt
Scene 4
London. The Tower.
Enter CLARENCE and BRAKENBURY
BRAKENBURY
Why looks your grace so heavily
today?
CLARENCE
O, I have pass'd a miserable
night,So full of ugly sights, of ghastly dreams,That, as I am
a Christian faithful man,I would not spend another such a
night,Though 'twere to buy a world of happy days,So full of
dismal terror was the time!
BRAKENBURY
What was your dream? I long to hear
you tell it.
CLARENCE
Methoughts that I had broken from
the Tower,And was embark'd to cross to Burgundy;And, in my
company, my brother Gloucester;Who from my cabin tempted me to
walkUpon the hatches: thence we looked toward England,And
cited up a thousand fearful times,During the wars of York and
LancasterThat had befall'n us. As we paced alongUpon the
giddy footing of the hatches,Methought that Gloucester stumbled;
and, in falling,Struck me, that thought to stay him,
overboard,Into the tumbling billows of the main.Lord, Lord!
methought, what pain it was to drown!What dreadful noise of
waters in mine ears!What ugly sights of death within mine
eyes!Methought I saw a thousand fearful wrecks;Ten thousand
men that fishes gnaw'd upon;Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps
of pearl,Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,All scatter'd in
the bottom of the sea:Some lay in dead men's skulls; and, in
those holesWhere eyes did once inhabit, there were crept,As
'twere in scorn of eyes, reflecting gems,Which woo'd the slimy
bottom of the deep,And mock'd the dead bones that lay scatter'd
by.
BRAKENBURY
Had you such leisure in the time of
deathTo gaze upon the secrets of the deep?
CLARENCE
Methought I had; and often did I
striveTo yield the ghost: but still the envious floodKept in
my soul, and would not let it forthTo seek the empty, vast and
wandering air;But smother'd it within my panting bulk,Which
almost burst to belch it in the sea.
BRAKENBURY
Awaked you not with this sore agony?
CLARENCE
O, no, my dream was lengthen'd after
life;O, then began the tempest to my soul,Who pass'd,
methought, the melancholy flood,With that grim ferryman which
poets write of,Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.The first
that there did greet my stranger soul,Was my great father-in-law,
renowned Warwick;Who cried aloud, 'What scourge for perjuryCan
this dark monarchy afford false Clarence?'And so he vanish'd:
then came wandering byA shadow like an angel, with bright
hairDabbled in blood; and he squeak'd out aloud,'Clarence is
come; false, fleeting, perjured Clarence,That stabb'd me in the
field by Tewksbury;Seize on him, Furies, take him to your
torments!'With that, methoughts, a legion of foul
fiendsEnviron'd me about, and howled in mine earsSuch hideous
cries, that with the very noiseI trembling waked, and for a
season afterCould not believe but that I was in hell,Such
terrible impression made the dream.
BRAKENBURY
No marvel, my lord, though it
affrighted you;I promise, I am afraid to hear you tell it.
CLARENCE
O Brakenbury, I have done those
things,Which now bear evidence against my soul,For Edward's
sake; and see how he requites me!O God! if my deep prayers cannot
appease thee,But thou wilt be avenged on my misdeeds,Yet
execute thy wrath in me alone,O, spare my guiltless wife and my
poor children!I pray thee, gentle keeper, stay by me;My soul
is heavy, and I fain would sleep.
BRAKENBURY
I will, my lord: God give your grace
good rest!
CLARENCE sleeps
Sorrow breaks seasons and reposing
hours,Makes the night morning, and the noon-tide night.Princes
have but their tides for their glories,An outward honour for an
inward toil;And, for unfelt imagination,They often feel a
world of restless cares:So that, betwixt their tides and low
names,There's nothing differs but the outward fame.
Enter the two Murderers
First Murderer
Ho! who's here?
BRAKENBURY
In God's name what are you, and how
came you hither?
First Murderer
I would speak with Clarence, and I
came hither on my legs.
BRAKENBURY
Yea, are you so brief?
Second Murderer
O sir, it is better to be brief than
tedious. Showhim our commission; talk no more.
BRAKENBURY reads it
BRAKENBURY
I am, in this, commanded to
deliverThe noble Duke of Clarence to your hands:I will not
reason what is meant hereby,Because I will be guiltless of the
meaning.Here are the keys, there sits the duke asleep:I'll to
the king; and signify to himThat thus I have resign'd my charge
to you.
First Murderer
Do so, it is a point of wisdom: fare
you well.
Exit BRAKENBURY
Second Murderer
What, shall we stab him as he
sleeps?
First Murderer
No; then he will say 'twas done
cowardly, when he wakes.
Second Murderer
When he wakes! why, fool, he shall
never wake tillthe judgment-day.
First Murderer
Why, then he will say we stabbed him
sleeping.
Second Murderer
The urging of that word 'judgment'
hath bred a kindof remorse in me.
First Murderer
What, art thou afraid?
Second Murderer
Not to kill him, having a warrant
for it; but to bedamned for killing him, from which no warrant
can defend us.
First Murderer
I thought thou hadst been resolute.
Second Murderer
So I am, to let him live.
First Murderer
Back to the Duke of Gloucester, tell
him so.
Second Murderer
I pray thee, stay a while: I hope my
holy humourwill change; 'twas wont to hold me but while onewould
tell twenty.
First Murderer
How dost thou feel thyself now?
Second Murderer
'Faith, some certain dregs of
conscience are yetwithin me.
First Murderer
Remember our reward, when the deed
is done.
Second Murderer
'Zounds, he dies: I had forgot the
reward.
First Murderer
Where is thy conscience now?
Second Murderer
In the Duke of Gloucester's purse.
First Murderer
So when he opens his purse to give
us our reward,thy conscience flies out.
Second Murderer
Let it go; there's few or none will
entertain it.
First Murderer
How if it come to thee again?
Second Murderer
I'll not meddle with it: it is a
dangerous thing: itmakes a man a coward: a man cannot steal, but
itaccuseth him; he cannot swear, but it cheques him;he cannot
lie with his neighbour's wife, but itdetects him: 'tis a blushing
shamefast spirit thatmutinies in a man's bosom; it fills one full
ofobstacles: it made me once restore a purse of goldthat I
found; it beggars any man that keeps it: itis turned out of all
towns and cities for adangerous thing; and every man that means
to livewell endeavours to trust to himself and to livewithout
it.
First Murderer
'Zounds, it is even now at my elbow,
persuading menot to kill the duke.
Second Murderer
Take the devil in thy mind, and
relieve him not: hewould insinuate with thee but to make thee
sigh.
First Murderer
Tut, I am strong-framed, he cannot
prevail with me,I warrant thee.
Second Murderer
Spoke like a tail fellow that
respects hisreputation. Come, shall we to this gear?
First Murderer
Take him over the costard with the
hilts of thysword, and then we will chop him in the
malmsey-buttin the next room.
Second Murderer
O excellent devise! make a sop of
him.
First Murderer
Hark! he stirs: shall I strike?
Second Murderer
No, first let's reason with him.
CLARENCE
Where art thou, keeper? give me a
cup of wine.
Second murderer
You shall have wine enough, my lord,
anon.
CLARENCE
In God's name, what art thou?
Second Murderer
A man, as you are.
CLARENCE
But not, as I am, royal.
Second Murderer
Nor you, as we are, loyal.
CLARENCE
Thy voice is thunder, but thy looks
are humble.
Second Murderer
My voice is now the king's, my looks
mine own.
CLARENCE
How darkly and how deadly dost thou
speak!Your eyes do menace me: why look you pale?Who sent you
hither? Wherefore do you come?
Both
To, to, to--
CLARENCE
To murder me?
Both
Ay, ay.
CLARENCE
You scarcely have the hearts to tell
me so,And therefore cannot have the hearts to do it.Wherein,
my friends, have I offended you?
First Murderer
Offended us you have not, but the
king.
CLARENCE
I shall be reconciled to him again.
Second Murderer
Never, my lord; therefore prepare to
die.
CLARENCE
Are you call'd forth from out a
world of menTo slay the innocent? What is my offence?Where
are the evidence that do accuse me?What lawful quest have given
their verdict upUnto the frowning judge? or who pronouncedThe
bitter sentence of poor Clarence' death?Before I be convict by
course of law,To threaten me with death is most unlawful.I
charge you, as you hope to have redemptionBy Christ's dear blood
shed for our grievous sins,That you depart and lay no hands on
meThe deed you undertake is damnable.
First Murderer
What we will do, we do upon command.
Second Murderer
And he that hath commanded is the
king.
CLARENCE
Erroneous vassal! the great King of
kingsHath in the tables of his law commandedThat thou shalt
do no murder: and wilt thou, then,Spurn at his edict and fulfil a
man's?Take heed; for he holds vengeance in his hands,To hurl
upon their heads that break his law.
Second Murderer
And that same vengeance doth he hurl
on thee,For false forswearing and for murder too:Thou didst
receive the holy sacrament,To fight in quarrel of the house of
Lancaster.
First Murderer
And, like a traitor to the name of
God,Didst break that vow; and with thy treacherous
bladeUnrip'dst the bowels of thy sovereign's son.
Second Murderer
Whom thou wert sworn to cherish and
defend.
First Murderer
How canst thou urge God's dreadful
law to us,When thou hast broke it in so dear degree?
CLARENCE
Alas! for whose sake did I that ill
deed?For Edward, for my brother, for his sake: Why, sirs,He
sends ye not to murder me for thisFor in this sin he is as deep
as I.If God will be revenged for this deed.O, know you yet,
he doth it publicly,Take not the quarrel from his powerful
arm;He needs no indirect nor lawless courseTo cut off those
that have offended him.
First Murderer
Who made thee, then, a bloody
minister,When gallant-springing brave Plantagenet,That
princely novice, was struck dead by thee?
CLARENCE
My brother's love, the devil, and my
rage.
First Murderer
Thy brother's love, our duty, and
thy fault,Provoke us hither now to slaughter thee.
CLARENCE
Oh, if you love my brother, hate not
me;I am his brother, and I love him well.If you be hired for
meed, go back again,And I will send you to my brother
Gloucester,Who shall reward you better for my lifeThan Edward
will for tidings of my death.
Second Murderer
You are deceived, your brother
Gloucester hates you.
CLARENCE
O, no, he loves me, and he holds me
dear:Go you to him from me.
Both
Ay, so we will.
CLARENCE
Tell him, when that our princely
father YorkBless'd his three sons with his victorious arm,And
charged us from his soul to love each other,He little thought of
this divided friendship:Bid Gloucester think of this, and he will
weep.
First Murderer
Ay, millstones; as be lesson'd us to
weep.
CLARENCE
O, do not slander him, for he is
kind.
First Murderer
Right,As snow in harvest. Thou
deceivest thyself:'Tis he that sent us hither now to slaughter
thee.
CLARENCE
It cannot be; for when I parted with
him,He hugg'd me in his arms, and swore, with sobs,That he
would labour my delivery.
Second Murderer
Why, so he doth, now he delivers
theeFrom this world's thraldom to the joys of heaven.
First Murderer
Make peace with God, for you must
die, my lord.
CLARENCE
Hast thou that holy feeling in thy
soul,To counsel me to make my peace with God,And art thou yet
to thy own soul so blind,That thou wilt war with God by murdering
me?Ah, sirs, consider, he that set you onTo do this deed will
hate you for the deed.
Second Murderer
What shall we do?
CLARENCE
Relent, and save your souls.
First Murderer
Relent! 'tis cowardly and womanish.
CLARENCE
Not to relent is beastly, savage,
devilish.Which of you, if you were a prince's son,Being pent
from liberty, as I am now,if two such murderers as yourselves
came to you,Would not entreat for life?My friend, I spy some
pity in thy looks:O, if thine eye be not a flatterer,Come
thou on my side, and entreat for me,As you would beg, were you in
my distressA begging prince what beggar pities not?
Second Murderer
Look behind you, my lord.
First Murderer
Take that, and that: if all this
will not do,
Stabs him
I'll drown you in the malmsey-butt
within.
Exit, with the body
Second Murderer
A bloody deed, and desperately
dispatch'd!How fain, like Pilate, would I wash my handsOf
this most grievous guilty murder done!
Re-enter First Murderer
First Murderer
How now! what mean'st thou, that
thou help'st me not?By heavens, the duke shall know how slack
thou art!
Second Murderer
I would he knew that I had saved his
brother!Take thou the fee, and tell him what I say;For I
repent me that the duke is slain.
Exit
First Murderer
So do not I: go, coward as thou
art.Now must I hide his body in some hole,Until the duke take
order for his burial:And when I have my meed, I must away;For
this will out, and here I must not stay.