Windsor Castle
Enter BOLINGBROKE as King, PERCY, and other LORDS
BOLINGBROKE. Can no man tell me of my unthrifty son?
'Tis full three months since I did see him last.
If any
plague hang over us, 'tis he.
I would to God, my lords, he might be found.
Inquire at London, 'mongst the taverns there,
For there, they say, he daily doth frequent
With unrestrained loose companions,
Even such, they say, as stand in narrow lanes
And beat our watch and rob our passengers,
Which he, young
wanton and
effeminate boy,
Takes on the point of honour to support
So dissolute a crew.
PERCY. My lord, some two days since I saw the Prince,
And told him of those triumphs held at Oxford.
BOLINGBROKE. And what said the gallant?
PERCY. His answer was, he would unto the stews,
And from the common'st creature pluck a glove
And wear it as a favour; and with that
He would unhorse the lustiest challenger.
BOLINGBROKE. As dissolute as
desperate; yet through both
I see some sparks of better hope, which elder years
May happily bring forth. But who comes here?
Enter AUMERLE amazed
AUMERLE. Where is the King?
BOLINGBROKE. What means our cousin that he stares and looks
So wildly?
AUMERLE. God save your Grace! I do
beseech your Majesty,
To have some
conference with your Grace alone.
BOLINGBROKE. Withdraw yourselves, and leave us here alone.
Exeunt PERCY and LORDS
What is the matter with our cousin now?
AUMERLE. For ever may my knees grow to the earth,
[Kneels]
My tongue
cleave to my roof within my mouth,
Unless a
pardon ere I rise or speak.
BOLINGBROKE. Intended or committed was this fault?
If on the first, how heinous e'er it be,
To win thy after-love I
pardon thee.
AUMERLE. Then give me leave that I may turn the key,
That no man enter till my tale be done.
BOLINGBROKE. Have thy desire.
[The DUKE OF YORK knocks at the door and crieth]
YORK. [Within] My liege,
beware; look to thyself;
Thou hast a
traitor in thy presence there.
BOLINGBROKE. [Drawing] Villain, I'll make thee safe.
AUMERLE. Stay thy revengeful hand; thou hast no cause to fear.
YORK. [Within] Open the door, secure, foolhardy King.
Shall I, for love, speak
treason to thy face?
Open the door, or I will break it open.
Enter YORK
BOLINGBROKE. What is the matter, uncle? Speak;
Recover
breath; tell us how near is danger,
That we may arm us to
encounter it.
YORK. Peruse this
writing here, and thou shalt know
The
treason that my haste forbids me show.
AUMERLE. Remember, as thou read'st, thy promise pass'd.
I do
repent me; read not my name there;
My heart is not
confederate with my hand.
YORK. It was,
villain, ere thy hand did set it down.
I tore it from the
traitor's bosom, King;
Fear, and not love, begets his penitence.
Forget to pity him, lest thy pity prove
A
serpent that will sting thee to the heart.
BOLINGBROKE. O heinous, strong, and bold conspiracy!
O loyal father of a
treacherous son!
Thou sheer,
immaculate, and silver fountain,
From
whence this
stream through muddy passages
Hath held his current and defil'd himself!
Thy
overflow of good converts to bad;
And thy
abundantgoodness shall excuse
This
deadly blot in thy digressing son.
YORK. So shall my
virtue be his vice's bawd;
And he shall spend mine honour with his shame,
As thriftless sons their scraping fathers' gold.
Mine honour lives when his dishonour dies,
Or my sham'd life in his dishonour lies.
Thou kill'st me in his life; giving him
breath,
The
traitor lives, the true man's put to death.
DUCHESS. [Within] I What ho, my liege, for God's sake, let me in.
BOLINGBROKE. What shrill-voic'd suppliant makes this eager cry?
DUCHESS. [Within] A woman, and thine aunt, great King; 'tis I.
Speak with me, pity me, open the door.
A
beggar begs that never begg'd before.
BOLINGBROKE. Our scene is alt'red from a serious thing,
And now chang'd to 'The Beggar and the King.'
My dangerous cousin, let your mother in.
I know she is come to pray for your foul sin.
YORK. If thou do
pardon whosoever pray,
More sins for this
forgivenessprosper may.
This fest'red joint cut off, the rest rest sound;
This let alone will all the rest confound.
Enter DUCHESS
DUCHESS. O King, believe not this hard-hearted man!
Love
loving not itself, none other can.
YORK. Thou
frantic woman, what dost thou make here?
Shall thy old dugs once more a
traitor rear?
DUCHESS. Sweet York, be patient. Hear me, gentle liege.
[Kneels]
BOLINGBROKE. Rise up, good aunt.
DUCHESS. Not yet, I thee
beseech.
For ever will I walk upon my knees,
And never see day that the happy sees
Till thou give joy; until thou bid me joy
By
pardoning Rutland, my transgressing boy.
AUMERLE. Unto my mother's prayers I bend my knee.
[Kneels]
YORK. Against them both, my true joints bended be.
[Kneels]
Ill mayst thou
thrive, if thou grant any grace!
DUCHESS. Pleads he in
earnest? Look upon his face;
His eyes do drop no tears, his prayers are in jest;
His words come from his mouth, ours from our breast.
He prays but
faintly and would be denied;
We pray with heart and soul, and all beside.
His weary joints would
gladly rise, I know;
Our knees still kneel till to the ground they grow.
His prayers are full of false hypocrisy;
Ours of true zeal and deep integrity.
Our prayers do out-pray his; then let them have
That mercy which true prayer ought to have.
BOLINGBROKE. Good aunt, stand up.
DUCHESS. do not say 'stand up';
Say '
pardon' first, and afterwards 'stand up.'
An if I were thy nurse, thy tongue to teach,
'Pardon' should be the first word of thy speech.
I never long'd to hear a word till now;
Say '
pardon,' King; let pity teach thee how.
The word is short, but not so short as sweet;
No word like '
pardon' for kings' mouths so meet.
YORK. Speak it in French, King, say '
pardonne moy.'
DUCHESS. Dost thou teach
pardonpardon to destroy?
Ah, my sour husband, my hard-hearted lord,
That sets the word itself against the word!
Speak '
pardon' as 'tis current in our land;
The chopping French we do not understand.
Thine eye begins to speak, set thy tongue there;
Or in thy piteous heart plant thou thine ear,
That
hearing how our plaints and prayers do
pierce,
Pity may move thee '
pardon' to rehearse.
BOLINGBROKE. Good aunt, stand up.
DUCHESS. I do not sue to stand;
Pardon is all the suit I have in hand.
BOLINGBROKE. I
pardon him, as God shall
pardon me.
DUCHESS. O happy
vantage of a kneeling knee!
Yet am I sick for fear. Speak it again.
Twice
saying '
pardon' doth not
pardon twain,
But makes one
pardon strong.
BOLINGBROKE. With all my heart
I
pardon him.
DUCHESS. A god on earth thou art.
BOLINGBROKE. But for our
trustybrother-in-law and the Abbot,
With all the rest of that consorted crew,
Destruction straight shall dog them at the heels.
Good uncle, help to order several powers
To Oxford, or where'er these
traitors are.
They shall not live within this world, I swear,
But I will have them, if I once know where.
Uncle,
farewell; and, cousin, adieu;
Your mother well hath pray'd, and prove you true.
DUCHESS. Come, my old son; I pray God make thee new. Exeunt
SCENE 4.
Windsor Castle
Enter SIR PIERCE OF EXTON and a servant
EXTON. Didst thou not mark the King, what words he spake?
'Have I no friend will rid me of this living fear?'
Was it not so?
SERVANT. These were his very words.
EXTON. 'Have I no friend?' quoth he. He spake it twice
And urg'd it twice together, did he not?
SERVANT. He did.
EXTON. And,
speaking it, he wishtly look'd on me,
As who should say 'I would thou wert the man
That would
divorce this
terror from my heart';
Meaning the King at Pomfret. Come, let's go.
I am the King's friend, and will rid his foe. Exeunt
SCENE 5.
Pomfret Castle. The
dungeon of the Castle
Enter KING RICHARD
KING RICHARD. I have been studying how I may compare
This prison where I live unto the world
And, for because the world is populous
And here is not a creature but myself,
I cannot do it. Yet I'll
hammer it out.
My brain I'll prove the
female to my soul,
My soul the father; and these two beget
A
generation of still-breeding thoughts,
And these same thoughts people this little world,
In humours like the people of this world,
For no thought is
contented. The better sort,
As thoughts of things
divine, are intermix'd
With scruples, and do set the word itself
Against the word,
As thus: 'Come, little ones'; and then again,
'It is as hard to come as for a camel
To thread the postern of a small needle's eye.'
Thoughts tending to
ambition, they do plot
Unlikely wonders: how these vain weak nails
May tear a passage through the flinty ribs
Of this hard world, my
ragged prison walls;