History of Richard III (1592-3)

Intro
Title Variant: The Tragedy of Richard the Third
Online Critical Edition in Progress - Version 1.b.
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Act IV, Scene 2

London. The palace.

Duke of Buckingham
My gracious sovereign?

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Give me thy hand.
[Here he ascendeth his throne]
Thus high, by thy advice
And thy assistance, is King Richard seated;
But shall we wear these honours for a day?
Or shall they last, and we rejoice in them?

Duke of Buckingham
Still live they and for ever may they last!

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
O Buckingham, now do I play the touch,
To try if thou be current gold indeed
Young Edward lives: think now what I would say.

Duke of Buckingham
Say on, my loving lord.

Duke of Buckingham
Why, so you are, my thrice renowned liege.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Ha! am I king? 'tis so: but Edward lives.

Duke of Buckingham
True, noble prince.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
O bitter consequence,
That Edward still should live! 'True, noble prince!'
Cousin, thou wert not wont to be so dull:
Shall I be plain? I wish the bastards dead;
And I would have it suddenly perform'd.
What sayest thou? speak suddenly; be brief.

Duke of Buckingham
Your grace may do your pleasure.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Tut, tut, thou art all ice, thy kindness freezeth:
Say, have I thy consent that they shall die?

Duke of Buckingham
Give me some breath, some little pause, my lord
Before I positively herein:
I will resolve your grace immediately.

Sir William Catesby
[Aside to a stander by]
The king is angry: see, he bites the lip.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
I will converse with iron-witted fools
And unrespective boys: none are for me
That look into me with considerate eyes:
High-reaching Buckingham grows circumspect.
Boy!

Page
My lord?

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Know'st thou not any whom corrupting gold
Would tempt unto a close exploit of death?

Page
My lord, I know a discontented gentleman,
Whose humble means match not his haughty mind:
Gold were as good as twenty orators,
And will, no doubt, tempt him to any thing.

Page
His name, my lord, is Tyrrel.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
I partly know the man: go, call him hither.
[Exit Page]
The deep-revolving witty Buckingham
No more shall be the neighbour to my counsel:
Hath he so long held out with me untired,
And stops he now for breath?
[Enter STANLEY]
How now! what news with you?

Sir William Stanley
My lord, I hear the Marquis Dorset's fled
To Richmond, in those parts beyond the sea
Where he abides.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Rumour it abroad
That Anne, my wife, is sick and like to die:
I will take order for her keeping close.
Inquire me out some mean-born gentleman,
Whom I will marry straight to Clarence' daughter:
The boy is foolish, and I fear not him.
Look, how thou dream'st! I say again, give out
That Anne my wife is sick and like to die:
About it; for it stands me much upon,
To stop all hopes whose growth may damage me.
[Exit CATESBY]
I must be married to my brother's daughter,
Or else my kingdom stands on brittle glass.
Murder her brothers, and then marry her!
Uncertain way of gain! But I am in
So far in blood that sin will pluck on sin:
Tear-falling pity dwells not in this eye.
[Re-enter Page, with TYRREL]
Is thy name Tyrrel?

Sir James Tyrrel
James Tyrrel, and your most obedient subject.

Sir James Tyrrel
Prove me, my gracious sovereign.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Darest thou resolve to kill a friend of mine?

Sir James Tyrrel
Ay, my lord;
But I had rather kill two enemies.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Why, there thou hast it: two deep enemies,
Foes to my rest and my sweet sleep's disturbers
Are they that I would have thee deal upon:
Tyrrel, I mean those bastards in the Tower.

Sir James Tyrrel
Let me have open means to come to them,
And soon I'll rid you from the fear of them.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Thou sing'st sweet music. Hark, come hither, Tyrrel
Go, by this token: rise, and lend thine ear:
[Whispers]
There is no more but so: say it is done,
And I will love thee, and prefer thee too.

Sir James Tyrrel
'Tis done, my gracious lord.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Shall we hear from thee, Tyrrel, ere we sleep?

Sir James Tyrrel
Ye shall, my Lord.

Duke of Buckingham
My Lord, I have consider'd in my mind. The late demand that you did sound me in.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Well, let that pass. Dorset is fled to Richmond.

Duke of Buckingham
I hear that news, my lord.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Stanley, he is your wife's son well, look to it.

Duke of Buckingham
My lord, I claim your gift, my due by promise,
For which your honour and your faith is pawn'd;
The earldom of Hereford and the moveables
The which you promised I should possess.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Stanley, look to your wife; if she convey
Letters to Richmond, you shall answer it.

Duke of Buckingham
What says your highness to my just demand?

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
As I remember, Henry the Sixth
Did prophesy that Richmond should be king,
When Richmond was a little peevish boy.
A king, perhaps, perhaps,--

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
How chance the prophet could not at that time
Have told me, I being by, that I should kill him?

Duke of Buckingham
My lord, your promise for the earldom,--

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Richmond! When last I was at Exeter,
The mayor in courtesy show'd me the castle,
And call'd it Rougemont: at which name I started,
Because a bard of Ireland told me once
I should not live long after I saw Richmond.

Duke of Buckingham
I am thus bold to put your grace in mind
Of what you promised me.

Duke of Buckingham
Upon the stroke of ten.

Duke of Buckingham
Why let it strike?

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Because that, like a Jack, thou keep'st the stroke
Betwixt thy begging and my meditation.
I am not in the giving vein to-day.

Duke of Buckingham
Why, then resolve me whether you will or no.

Richard - Duke of Gloucester - Richard III after enthronement
Tut, tut,
Thou troublest me; am not in the vein.

Duke of Buckingham
Is it even so? rewards he my true service
With such deep contempt made I him king for this?
O, let me think on Hastings, and be gone
To Brecknock, while my fearful head is on!

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© Copyright 2017-2026 Shakespeare Network - Maximianno Cobra - All rights reserved.