Bol.
So that by this intelligence we learn,
The Welshmen are dispers'd; and Salisbury
Is gone to meet the king, who lately landed,
With some few private friends, upon this coast.

Nor.
The news is very fair and good, my lord;
Richard not far from hence hath hid his head.

Yor.
It would beseem the lord Northumberland,
To say—king Richard:—Alack the heavy day,
When such a sacred king should hide his head!

Nor.
Your grace mistakes me; only to be brief,
Left I his ^note title out.

Yor.
The time hath been,
Would you ^note have been so brief with him, he would
Have been so brief with you ^note, to shorten you,
For taking so the head, your whole head's length.

Bol.
Mistake, not uncle, farther ^note than you should.

Yor.
Take not, good cousin, farther ^note than you should,
Lest you mis-take; The heavens are o'er your ^note head ^note.

Bol.
I know it, uncle; and will not oppose ^note
Myself against ^note their will ^note.—But who comes here?— Enter Percy.
Well, Harry ^note;14Q0590 what, will not this castle yield?

Per.
The castle royally is ^note man'd, my lord,
Against thy entrance.

Bol.
Royally! how so?
Why, it contains no king?

Per.
Yes, my good lord,
It doth contain a king; king Richard lies
Within the limits of yon' lime and stone:
And with him are ^note the lord Aumerle, lord Salisbury,
Sir Stephen Scroop; besides a clergyman
Of holy reverence, who, I cannot learn.

Nor.
Belike, it is the bishop of Carlisle.

Bol.
Noble lord ^note, [to Nor.
Go to the rude ribs of that ancient caftle; ^note
Through brazen trumpet send the breath of parle ^note
Into his ruin'd ears, and thus deliver.
Harry ^note of Bolingbroke, upon his ^note knees,
Doth kiss king Richard's hand;
And sends allegiance, and true faith of heart,
To his most ^note royal person: hither come
Even at his feet to lay my arms and power;
Provided that, my banishment repeal'd,
And lands restor'd again, be freely granted:
If not, I'll use the advantage of my power;
And lay the summer's dust with showers of blood,
Rain'd from the wounds of slaughter'd Englishmen:
The which, how far off from the mind of Bolingbroke
It is, such crimson tempest should bedrench ^note
The fresh green lap of fair king Richard's land,
My stooping duty tenderly shall shew.
Go, signify as much; while here we march
Upon the grassy carpet of this plain.— [Nor. bows; and approaches the Castle, with a Trumpet, &c.
Let's march without the noise of threat'ning drum,
That from the castle's totter'd ^note battlements
Our fair appointments may be well perus'd.

Methinks, king Richard and myself should meet
With no less terror than the elements
Of fire and water, when their thund'ring shock ^note
At meeting tears the cloudy cheeks of heaven.
Be he the fire, I'll be the yielding water:
The rage be his, while on the earth I rain ^note
My waters; on the earth, and not on him.
March on, and mark king Richard how he looks. A Parle sounded: is answer'd by another Trumpet from within. Flourish; and Enter, upon the Walls, King Richard; Aumerle, and his other Followers, with him.
See, see, king Richard doth himself appear,
As doth the blushing discontented sun
From out the fiery portal of the east;
When he perceives, the envious clouds are bent
To dim his glory, and to stain the track ^note
Of his bright passage to the occident.

Yor.
Yet looks he like a king; behold, his eye,
As bright as is the eagle's, lightens forth
Controuling majesty: Alack, alack ^note, for woe,
That any harm should stain so fair a show!

Ric.
We are amaz'd; [to Nor.] and thus long have we stood
To watch the fearful bending of thy knee,
Because we thought ourself thy lawful ^note king:
And if we be, how dare thy joints forget
To pay their awful ^note duty to our ^note presence?
If we be not, shew us the hand of God
That hath dismiss'd us from our stewardship;
For well we know, no hand of blood and bone
Can gripe the sacred handle of our scepter,

Unless he do prophane, steal, or usurp.
And though you think, that all, as you have done,
Have torn their souls, by turning them from us,
And we are barren, and bereft of friends;—
Yet know, my master,14Q0591 God omnipotent
Is must'ring in his clouds, on our behalf,
Armies of pestilence; and they shall strike
Your children yet unborn, and unbegot,
That lift your vassal hands against my head,
And threat the glory of my precious crown.
Tell Bolingbroke, (for yon', methinks, he is ^note)
That every stride he makes upon my land,
Is dangerous treason: He is come to ope ^note
The purple testament of bleeding war;
But ere the crown he looks for light in ^note peace,
Ten thousand bloody crowns of mothers' sons
Shall ill become the flower of England's face,
Change the complexion of her ^note maid-pale peace
To scarlet indignation, and bedew
Her pastures' ^note grass with faithful English blood.

Nor.
The King of heaven forbid, our lord the king
Should so with civil and uncivil arms
Be rush'd upon! No, thy thrice-noble cousin,
Harry of Bolingbroke, doth kiss ^note thy hand:
And by the honourable tomb he swears,
That stands upon thy royal grandsire's bones;
And by the royalties of both your bloods,
Currents that spring from one most gracious head;
And by the bury'd hand of warlike Gaunt;
And by the worth and honour of himself,
Comprising all that may be sworn or said,—
His coming hither hath no further scope,

Than for his lineal royalties, and to beg
Enfranchisement immediate on his knees:
Which on thy royal party granted once,
His glittering arms he will commend to rust,
His barbed steeds to stables, and his heart
To faithful service of your majesty.
This swears he, as he is a prince, is just ^note;
And, as I am a gentleman, I credit him.

Ric.
Northumberland, say, thus the king returns;—
His noble cousin is right welcome hither;
And all the number of his fair demands
Shall be accomplish'd without contradiction:
With all the gracious utterance thou ^note hast,
Speak to his gentle hearing kind commends.—
  We do debase us ^note, cousin ^note, do we not,
To look so poorly, and to speak so fair?
Shall we call back Northumberland, and send
Defiance to the traitor, and so die?

Aum.
No, my good lord; let's fight with gentle words,
'Till time lend friends, and friends their helpful swords.

Ric.
O God! o God! that e'er this tongue of mine,
That lay'd the sentence of dread banishment
On yon' proud ^note man, should take it off again
With words of sooth! O, that I were as great
As is my grief, or lesser than my name!
Or that I could forget what I have been!
Or not remember what I must be now!
Swell'st thou, proud heart? I'll give thee scope to beat,
Since foes have scope to beat both thee and me.

Aum.
Northumberland comes back from Bolingbroke.

Ric.
What must the king do now? Must he submit?
The king shall do it? Must he be depos'd?

The king shall be contented: Must he lose
The name of king ^note? o' God's name, let it go:
I'll give my jewels for a set of beads;
My gorgeous palace, for a hermitage;
My gay apparel, for an alms-man's gown;
My figur'd goblets, for a dish of wood;
My scepter, for a palmer's walking-staff;
My subjects, for a pair of carved saints;
And my large kingdom, for a little grave,
A little little grave, an obscure grave:—
Or I'll be bury'd in the king's high-way,
Some way of common trade, ^note14Q0592 where subjects' feet
May hourly trample on their sovereign's head:
For on my heart they tread, now whilst I live;
And, bury'd once, why not upon my head?—
Aumerle, thou weep'st; My tender-hearted cousin!—
We'll make foul weather with despised tears;
Our sighs, and they, shall lodge the summer corn,
And make a dearth in this revolting land.
Or shall we play the wantons with our woes,
And make some pretty match with shedding tears?
As thus ^note;—To drop them still upon one place,
'Till they have fretted us a pair of graves
Within the earth; and, therein lay'd,—There lies
Two kinsmen, dig'd their graves with weeping eyes?
Would not this ill do well? Well, well, I see
I talk but idly, and you mock at ^note me.—
  Most mighty prince, my lord Northumberland,
What says king Bolingbroke? will his majesty
Give Richard leave to live 'till Richard die?
You make a leg, and Bolingbroke says—ay.

Nor.
My lord, in the base court he doth attend

To speak with you; may't please you to come down.

Ric.
Down, down, I come; like glist'ring Phaeton,
Wanting the manage of unruly jades.
In the base court? Base court, where kings grow base,
To come at traitors' calls, and do them grace.
In the base court? Come down? Down, court! down, king!
For night-owls shriek where mounting larks should sing. [Exeunt, from above.

Bol.
What says his majesty?

Nor.
Sorrow and grief of heart
Makes him speak fondly, like a frantick man:
Yet he is come, my lord. Enter Richard, and his Attendants, below.

Bol.
Stand all apart,
And shew fair duty to his majesty.—
My gracious lord,— [kneeling.

Ric.
Fair cousin, you debase your princely knee,
To make the base earth proud with kissing it:
Me rather had, my heart might feel your love,
Than my unpleas'd eye see your courtesy.
Up, cousin, up; [raising him.] your heart is up, I know,
Thus high † at least, although your knee be low.

Bol.
My gracious lord, I come but for mine own.

Ric.
Your own is yours, and I am yours, and all.

Bol.
So far be mine, my most redoubted lord,
As my true service shall deserve your love.

Ric.
Well you deserve ^note; They well deserve to have,
That know the strong'st and surest way to get.—
Uncle, give me your hand ^note: nay, dry your eyes;
Tears shew their love, but want their remedies.—
Cousin, I am too young to be your father,
Though you are old enough to be my ^note heir.

What you will have, I'll give, and willing too;
For do we must, what force will have us do.—
Set on towards London:—Cousin, is it so?

Bol.
Yea, my good lord.

Ric.
Then I must not say, no. [Flourish. Exeunt.

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