K. Rich. Madam, so thrive I in my enterprise, And dangerous success of bloody wars, To be discover'd, that can do me good? Q. Eliz. Up to some scaffold, there to lose their heads? K. Rich. Unto the dignity and height of fortune, The high imperial type of this earth's glory. Q. Eliz. Flatter my sorrow with report of it; Tell me, what state, what dignity, what honour, Canst thou demise to any child of mine? K. Rich. Even all I have; ay, and myself K. Rich. What do you think? Q. Eliz. That thou dost love my daughter, from thy soul: So, from thy soul's love, didst thou love her brothers; And, from my heart's love, I do thank thee for it. K. Rich. Be not so hasty to confound my meaning; I mean, that with my soul I love thy daughter, K. Rich. Even he that makes her queen: K. Rich. A pair of bleeding hearts; thereon engrave Did to thy father steep'd in Rutland's blood,— K. Rich. You mock me, madam; this is not the way To win your daughter. Q. Eliz. There is no other way; Unless thou could'st put on some other shape, And not be Richard that hath done all this. K. Rich. Say, that I did all this for love of her? Q. Eliz. Nay, then indeed, she cannot choose but hate thee, a Having bought love with such a bloody spoil. Men shall deal unadvisedly sometimes, a Hate thee-so the clear reading of the folio. Upon the suggestion of M. Mason this has been corrupted into the low phrase, "she cannot choose but have thee." The king, that calls your beauteous daughter wife, Familiarly shall call thy Dorset brother; Prepare her ears to hear a wooer's tale; Q. Eliz. What were I best to say? her father's brother Would be her lord? Or shall I say, her uncle? Q. Eliz. Which she shall purchase with still lasting war. K. Rich. Tell her, the king, that may command, entreats. Q. Eliz. That at her hands which the king's King forbids. K. Rich. Say, she shall be a high and mighty K. Rich. Say, I, her sovereign, am her subject low. Q. Eliz. But she, your subject, loathes such sov'reignty. K. Rich. Be eloquent in my behalf to her. Q. Eliz. An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told. K. Rich. Then, plainly to her tell my loving tale.a Q. Eliz. Plain, and not honest, is too harsh a style. K. Rich. Your reasons are too shallow and too quick. Q. Eliz. O, no, my reasons are too deep and dead; Too deep and dead, poor infants, in their graves. K. Rich. Harp not on that string, madam; that is past. Q. Eliz. Harp on it still shall I, till heartstrings break. K. Rich. Now, by my George, my garter, and my crown, Q. Eliz. Profan'd, dishonour'd, and the third usurp❜d. K. Rich. I swear. Q. Eliz. By nothing for this is no oath. Thy George, profan'd, hath lost his lordly bo nour; : b Thy garter, blemish'd, pawn'd his knightly virtue; K. Rich. Then, by myself,- Thyself is self-misused." Tis full of thy foul wrongs. K. Rich. Now, by the world,- Thy life hath it dishonour'd. K. Rich. Why then, by God,Q. Eliz. God's wrong is most of all. If thou had'st fear'd to break an oath by him, The unity the king my husbanda made Thou hadst not broken, nor my brothers died.* If thou hadst fear'd to break an oath by him, The imperial metal, circling now thy head, Had grac'd the tender temples of my child; And both the princes had been breathing here, a So the folio; the quartos, Then, in plain terms, tell her b Lordly, in the folio; the quartos, holy. c In the folio Richard first proposes to swear by himself; in the quartos the order is changed. d My husband, in the folio; in the quartos, my brother-an evident mistake of the pronoun. The modern editors correct the mistake, and keep brother. e So the folio. The quartos "Had not been broken, nor my brother slain." Q. Eliz. That thou hast wronged in the time o'er-past; For I myself have many tears to wash Ungovern'd youth, to wail it in their age; Old barren plants, to wail it with their age. Swear not by time to come; for that thou hast Misused ere used, by times ill-used o'er-past. K. Rich. As I intend to prosper, and repent, I tender not thy beauteous princely daughter! Q. Eliz. Shall I be tempted of the devil thus ? Q. Eliz. Yet, thou didst kill my children. K. Rich. But in your daughter's womb I bury them : Where, in that nest of spicery, they will breed Selves of themselves to your recomforture. Q. Eliz. Shall I go win my daughter to thy will? K. Rich. And be a happy mother by the deed. Q. Eliz. I go.-Write to me very shortly, And you shall understand from me her mind. Fathers, in the folio; the quartos, parents. Affairs, in the folio; the quartos, attempts. e Dear, in the folio; the quartos, pure. K. Rich. Bear her my true love's kiss, and so farewell. [Kissing her. Exit Q. ELIZABETH. Relenting fool, and shallow changing woman! How now? what news? Enter RATCLIFF; CATESBY following. Rat. Most mighty sovereign, on the western coast a Rideth a puissant navy; to our shores K. Rich. Some light-foot friend post to the duke of Norfolk : Ratcliff, thyself,-or Catesby; where is he? Catesby, fly to the duke. Cute. I will, my lord, with all convenient haste. K. Rich. Ratcliff, come hither: Post to Salis K. Rich. There let him sink, and be the seas on him! White-liver'd runagate, what doth he there? Stan. I know not, mighty sovereign, but by guess. K. Rich. Well, as you guess? Stan. Stirr'd up by Dorset, Buckingham, and Morton, He makes for England, here to claim the crown. K. Rich. Is the chair empty? Is the sword | unsway'd? Is the king dead? the empire unpossess'd? You cannot guess wherefore the Welshman comes? Stan. No, my good lord, therefore mistrust me not. K. Rich. Where is thy power then, to beat him back? Where be thy tenants and thy followers? K. Rich. Cold friends to me: What do they in the north, When they should serve their sovereign in the west? Stan. They have not been commanded, mighty king: Pleaseth your majesty to give me leave, But I'll not trust thee.b Stan. Most mighty soveriegn, You have no cause to hold my friendship doubtful; I never was, nor never will be, false. K. Rich. Go then, and muster men. But leave behind Your son, George Stanley; look your heart be firm, Or else his head's assurance is but frail. Enter a Messenger. Mess. My gracious sovereign, now in Devonshire, As I by friends am well advertised, 2 Mess. In Kent, my liege, the Guildfords are in arms; And every hour more competitors Enter another Messenger. 3 Mess. My lord, the army of great Bucking. ham K. Rich. Out on ye, owls! nothing but songs of death? [He strikes him. There, take thou that, till thou bring better news. 3 Mess. The news I have to tell your majesty, Is, that, by sudden floods and fall of waters, Buckingham's army is dispers'd and scatter'd; And he himself wander'd away alone, No man knows whither. K. Rich. I cry thee mercy: There is my purse, to cure that blow of thine. Hath any well-advised friend proclaim'd Reward to him that brings the traitor in? 3 Mess. Such proclamation hath been made, my liege. Enter another Messenger. 4 Mess. Sir Thomas Lovel, and lord marquis Dorset, 'Tis said, my liege, in Yorkshire are in arms. K. Rich. March on, march on, since we are up in arms; If not to fight with foreign enemies, a Competitors-associates. Is with a mighty power landed at Milford, K. Rich. Away towards Salisbury; while we reason here A royal battle might be won and lost: [Exeunt. SCENE V.-A Room in Lord Stanley's House. That, in the sty of this most bloody boar," This most bloody boar Is the reading of the quartos; the folio, the most deadly. b Holds off, in the folio; the quartos, withholds. He shall espouse Elizabeth her daughter. Stan. What men of name resort to him? If by the way they be not fought withal. My letter will resolve him of my mind. a Power, in the folio; the quartos, course. [Exeunt. b This is the literal meaning of the folio, and it appears unexceptionable. The quartos read "Return unto my lord, commend me to him. |