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  Home : English : Shakespeare Classic Books : Richard III : Act IV, Scene ii
Richard III
  

READ STUDY GUIDE: Act IV, scenes i–iii

Act IV, Scene ii:
London. A Room of State in the Palace.
 
[Flourish of trumpets. RICHARD, as King, upon his throne;BUCKINGHAM, CATESBY, RATCLIFF, LOVEL, a Page, and others.]
KING RICHARD:
Stand all apart—Cousin of Buckingham,—
BUCKINGHAM:
My gracious sovereign?
KING RICHARD:
Give me thy hand. Thus high, by thy advice
And thy assistance, is King Richard seated:—
But shall we wear these glories for a day?
Or shall they last, and we rejoice in them?
BUCKINGHAM:
Still live they, and for ever let them last!
KING RICHARD:
Ah, Buckingham, now do I play the touch,
To try if thou be current gold indeed:—
Young Edward lives;—think now what I would speak.
BUCKINGHAM:
Say on, my loving lord.
KING RICHARD:
Why, Buckingham, I say I would be king.
BUCKINGHAM:
Why, so you are, my thrice-renowned lord.
KING RICHARD:
Ha! am I king? 'tis so: but Edward lives.
BUCKINGHAM:
True, noble prince.
KING RICHARD:
O bitter consequence,
That Edward still should live,—true, noble Prince!—
Cousin, thou wast not wont to be so dull:—
Shall I be plain?—I wish the bastards dead;
And I would have it suddenly perform'd.
What say'st thou now? speak suddenly, be brief.
BUCKINGHAM:
Your grace may do your pleasure.
KING RICHARD:
Tut, tut, thou art all ice, thy kindness freezes:
Say, have I thy consent that they shall die?
BUCKINGHAM:
Give me some little breath, some pause, dear lord,
Before I positively speak in this:
I will resolve your grace immediately.
[Exit.]
CATESBY:
[Aside.] The king is angry: see, he gnaws his lip.
KING RICHARD:
I will converse with iron-witted fools
[Descends from his throne.]
And unrespective boys; none are for me
That look into me with considerate eyes:
High-reaching Buckingham grows circumspect.
Boy!—
PAGE:
My lord?
KING RICHARD:
Know'st thou not any whom corrupting gold
Will tempt unto a close exploit of death?
PAGE:
I know a discontented gentleman
Whose humble means match not his haughty spirit:
Gold were as good as twenty orators,
And will, no doubt, tempt him to anything.
KING RICHARD:
What is his name?
PAGE:
His name, my lord, is Tyrrel.
KING RICHARD:
I partly know the man: go, call him hither, boy.
[Exit PAGE.]
The deep-revolving witty Buckingham
No more shall be the neighbour to my counsels:
Hath he so long held out with me untir'd,
And stops he now for breath?—well, be it so.
[Enter STANLEY.]
How now, Lord Stanley! what's the news?
STANLEY:
Know, my loving lord,
The Marquis Dorset, as I hear, is fled
To Richmond, in the parts where he abides.
KING RICHARD:
Come hither, Catesby: rumour it abroad
That Anne, my wife, is very grievous sick;
I will take order for her keeping close:
Inquire me out some mean poor 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 queen, 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?
TYRREL:
James Tyrrel, and your most obedient subject.
KING RICHARD:
Art thou, indeed?
TYRREL:
Prove me, my gracious lord.
KING RICHARD:
Dar'st thou resolve to kill a friend of mine?
TYRREL:
Please you. But I had rather kill two enemies.
KING RICHARD:
Why, then 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:—
Tyrell, I mean those bastards in the Tower.
TYRREL:
Let me have open means to come to them,
And soon I'll rid you from the fear of them.
KING RICHARD:
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 for it.
TYRREL:
I will despatch it straight.
[Exit.]
[Re-enter BUCKINGHAM.]
BUCKINGHAM:
My lord, I have consider'd in my mind
The late request that you did sound me in.
KING RICHARD:
Well, let that rest. Dorset is fled to Richmond.
BUCKINGHAM:
I hear the news, my lord.
KING RICHARD:
Stanley, he is your wife's son:—well, look to it.
BUCKINGHAM:
My lord, I claim the gift, my due by promise,
For which your honour and your faith is pawn'd:
The earldom of Hereford, and the movables
Which you have promised I shall possess.
KING RICHARD:
Stanley, look to your wife: if she convey
Letters to Richmond, you shall answer it.
BUCKINGHAM:
What says your highness to my just request?
KING RICHARD:
I do remember me:—Henry the Sixth
Did prophesy that Richmond should be king,
When Richmond was a little peevish boy.
A king!—perhaps,—
BUCKINGHAM:
My lord,—
KING RICHARD:
How chance the prophet could not at that time
Have told me, I being by, that I should kill him?
BUCKINGHAM:
My lord, your promise for the earldom,—
KING RICHARD:
Richmond!—When last I was at Exeter,
The mayor in courtesy show'd me the castle
And call'd it Rougemount; at which name I started,
Because a bard of Ireland told me once
I should not live long after I saw Richmond.
BUCKINGHAM:
My lord—
KING RICHARD:
Ay, what's o'clock?
BUCKINGHAM:
I am thus bold to put your grace in mind
Of what you promis'd me.
KING RICHARD:
Well, but what's o'clock?
BUCKINGHAM:
Upon the stroke of ten.
KING RICHARD:
Well, let it strike.
BUCKINGHAM:
Why let it strike?
KING RICHARD:
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.
BUCKINGHAM:
Wht then, resolve me whether you will or no.
KING RICHARD:
Thou troublest me; I am not in the vein.
[Exeunt KING RICHARD and Train.]
BUCKINGHAM:
And is it thus? repays he my deep service
With such contempt? made I him king for this?
O, let me think on Hastings, and be gone
To Brecknock while my fearful head is on!
[Exit.]
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