Nor. I go, my lord.

K. Rich. Stir with the lark to-morrow, gentle Nor

folk.

Nor. I warrant you, my lord.

K. Rich. Ratcliff9!

Rat. My lord?

K. Rich.

Send out a pursuivant at arms

To Stanley's regiment: bid him bring his power
Before sun-rising, lest his son George fall
Into the blind cave of eternal night.-

Fill me a bowl of wine.-Give me a watch 10:

Saddle white Surrey for the field to-morrow.
Look that my staves be sound, and not too heavy.
Ratcliff!-

Rat. My lord?

[Exit.

K. Rich. Saw'st thou the melancholy lord Northumland?

Rat. Thomas the earl of Surrey, and himself,

Much about cock-shut time, from troop to troop
Went through the army, cheering up the soldiers.

K. Rich. So: I am satisfied. 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?

Rat. It is, my lord.

K. Rich. 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.

[King RICHARD retires into his Tent. Exeunt RATCLIFF and CATESBY.

9 Ratcliff!] In the quartos Richard calls Catesby. According to the folio Richard calls Ratcliff twice, here, and at the end of his speech.

10

- Give me a watch :-] i. e. probably, a light, then called a watch-light; but Richard may only mean, let me have a guard, and he afterwards orders that his guard should watch. Modern editors have addressed "Give me a watch" to Catesby, but there is no such stage-direction in any of the old copies.

RICHMOND'S Tent opens, and discovers him and his

Officers, &c.

Enter STANLEY.

Stan. Fortune and victory sit on thy helm! Richm. All comfort that the dark night can afford, Be to thy person, noble father-in-law!

Tell me, how fares our loving mother'?

Stan. I, by attorney, bless thee from thy mother,
Who prays continually for Richmond's good:
So much for that.-The silent hours steal on,
And flaky darkness breaks within the east.
In brief, for so the season bids us be,
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, thy brother, tender George,
Be executed in his father's sight.

Farewell. The leisure and the fearful time
Cuts off the ceremonious vows of love,
And ample interchange of sweet discourse,
Which so long sunder'd friends should dwell upon.
God give us leisure for these rites of love!
Once more, adieu.-Be valiant, and speed well!
Richm. Good lords, conduct him to his regiment.
I'll strive, with troubled thoughts, to take a nap2;
Lest leaden slumber peise me down to-morrow,

1

our LOVING mother?] So the quartos: the folio has "our noble mother," but noble has occurred in the preceding line.

66 Thoughts" is from

2 I'll strive, with troubled THOUGHTS, to take a nap ;] the quarto, which is much preferable to noise, the reading of the folio. To peise down, in the next line, is to weigh down. See Vol. ii. p. 520, and Vol. iv. p. 37. The word was common to Shakespeare, and to nearly all the writers of his time.

When I should mount with wings of victory.

Once more, good night, kind lords, and gentlemen.
[Exeunt Lords, &c. with STANLEY.
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
Th' usurping helmets of our adversaries!
Make us thy ministers of chastisement,
That we may praise thee in thy 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!

[Sleeps.

The Ghost of Prince EDWARD, Son to HENRY the Sixth, rises between the two Tents3.

Ghost. Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow!

[To King RICHARD. Think, how thou stab'dst me in my prime of youth At Tewksbury: despair, therefore, and die.

Be cheerful, Richmond; for the wronged souls
Of butcher'd princes fight in thy behalf:
King Henry's issue, Richmond, comforts thee.

The Ghost of King HENRY the Sixth rises. Ghost. When I was mortal, my anointed body [To King RICHARD.

By thee was punched full of deadly holes1.
Think on the Tower, and me: despair, and die;
Harry the sixth bids thee despair and die.—
Virtuous and holy, be thou conqueror !

[TO RICHMOND.

3 The Ghost, &c., rises between the two Tents.] In the old copies, quarto and folio, the ghosts are said to "enter;" but at that date there were trap-doors in the stage by which spirits and fiends sometimes ascended. Such may have been the case here.

By thee was punched full of DEADLY holes.] The epithet "deadly," introduced by modern editors without notice, is not in the folio: it is, however, necessary to the verse, and is warranted by the quarto editions.

Harry that prophesy'd thou should'st be king,
Doth comfort thee in sleep': live, and flourish.

The Ghost of CLARENCE rises.

Ghost. Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow! [To King RICHARD. I, that was wash'd to death with fulsome wine, Poor Clarence, by thy guile betray'd 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,

[To RICHMOND. The wronged heirs of York do pray for thee; Good angels guard thy battle! Live and flourish.

The Ghosts of RIVERS, GREY, and VAUGHAN, rise. Riv. Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow". [To King RICHARD. Rivers, that died at Pomfret. Despair, and die. Grey. Think upon Grey, and let thy soul despair. [To King RICHard. Vaugh. Think upon Vaughan, and with guilty fear Let fall thy lance. Despair, and die.—

[To King RICHARD. All. Awake! and think our wrongs in Richard's

bosom

[TO RICHMOND.

Will conquer him.-Awake, and win the day!

The Ghost of HASTINGS rises'.

Ghost. Bloody and guilty, guiltily awake;

[To King RICHARD.

5 Doth comfort thee in sleep :] Malone inserted thy before sleep from the quarto; but needlessly, and it is not in the folio.

6 Let me sit heavy on thy soul to-morrow.] By a misprint in the quartos of 1597 and 1598, this line has the prefix King: the error was corrected in the quarto, 1602, and consequently in the folio, 1623.

7 The Ghost of Hastings rises.] In the quartos the ghosts of the two young princes"enter" before the ghost of Hastings.

VOL. V.

I i

And in a bloody battle end thy days.

Think on lord Hastings. Despair, and dies.-
Quiet untroubled soul, awake, awake!

[TO RICHMOND.

Arm, fight, and conquer, for fair England's sake.

The Ghosts of the two young Princes rise. Ghosts. Dream on thy cousins smother'd in the Tower:

Let us be lead within thy bosom, Richard',

And weigh thee down to ruin, shame, and death.
Thy nephews' souls bid thee despair, and die.-

Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace, and wake in joy;
Good angels guard thee from the boar's annoy!
Live, and beget a happy race of kings.
Edward's unhappy sons do bid thee flourish.

The Ghost of Queen ANNE rises.

Ghost. 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.

[TO RICHMOND.

Think on lord Hastings. Despair, and die.-] Modern editors have thrust and into this line without the slightest authority; as if to amend Shakespeare's verse, when "Think on lord Hastings; and despair, and die," is infinitely less forcible than our text, which corresponds exactly with the conclusions of previous speeches.

9 Let us be LEAD within thy bosom, Richard,] The folio and the later quartos read, "Let us be laid," &c.: considering the next line, we should have been disposed to think it a misprint for lead, and so it appears to have been by the quarto, 1597, which has "lead" for "laid." It is the only quarto in which the line is correctly given, and another proof of its value is thus afforded.