Speeches (Lines) for (stage directions)
in "Richard II"
Total: 82

1

I,1,1

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter KING RICHARD II, JOHN OF GAUNT, with other]
Nobles and Attendants]

2

I,1,22

King Richard II. Then call them to our presence; face to face,
And frowning brow to brow, ourselves will hear
The accuser and the accused freely speak:
High-stomach'd are they both, and full of ire,
In rage deaf as the sea, hasty as fire.

(stage directions). [Enter HENRY BOLINGBROKE and THOMAS MOWBRAY]

3

I,1,201

Henry IV. O, God defend my soul from such deep sin!
Shall I seem crest-fall'n in my father's sight?
Or with pale beggar-fear impeach my height
Before this out-dared dastard? Ere my tongue
Shall wound my honour with such feeble wrong,
Or sound so base a parle, my teeth shall tear
The slavish motive of recanting fear,
And spit it bleeding in his high disgrace,
Where shame doth harbour, even in Mowbray's face.

(stage directions). [Exit JOHN OF GAUNT]

4

I,1,212

King Richard II. We were not born to sue, but to command;
Which since we cannot do to make you friends,
Be ready, as your lives shall answer it,
At Coventry, upon Saint Lambert's day:
There shall your swords and lances arbitrate
The swelling difference of your settled hate:
Since we can not atone you, we shall see
Justice design the victor's chivalry.
Lord marshal, command our officers at arms
Be ready to direct these home alarms.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

5

I,2,213

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter JOHN OF GAUNT with DUCHESS]

6

I,2,288

Duchess of Gloucester. Yet one word more: grief boundeth where it falls,
Not with the empty hollowness, but weight:
I take my leave before I have begun,
For sorrow ends not when it seemeth done.
Commend me to thy brother, Edmund York.
Lo, this is all:—nay, yet depart not so;
Though this be all, do not so quickly go;
I shall remember more. Bid him—ah, what?—
With all good speed at Plashy visit me.
Alack, and what shall good old York there see
But empty lodgings and unfurnish'd walls,
Unpeopled offices, untrodden stones?
And what hear there for welcome but my groans?
Therefore commend me; let him not come there,
To seek out sorrow that dwells every where.
Desolate, desolate, will I hence and die:
The last leave of thee takes my weeping eye.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

7

I,3,289

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter the Lord Marshal and the DUKE OF AUMERLE]

8

I,3,505

Thomas Mowbray. No, Bolingbroke: if ever I were traitor,
My name be blotted from the book of life,
And I from heaven banish'd as from hence!
But what thou art, God, thou, and I do know;
And all too soon, I fear, the king shall rue.
Farewell, my liege. Now no way can I stray;
Save back to England, all the world's my way.

(stage directions). [Exit]

9

I,3,549

King Richard II. Cousin, farewell; and, uncle, bid him so:
Six years we banish him, and he shall go.

(stage directions). [Flourish. Exeunt KING RICHARD II and train]

10

I,3,611

Henry IV. Then, England's ground, farewell; sweet soil, adieu;
My mother, and my nurse, that bears me yet!
Where'er I wander, boast of this I can,
Though banish'd, yet a trueborn Englishman.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

11

I,4,612

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter KING RICHARD II, with BAGOT and GREEN at one]
door; and the DUKE OF AUMERLE at another]

12

I,4,680

All. Amen.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

13

II,1,681

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter JOHN OF GAUNT sick, with the DUKE OF YORK,]
&c]

14

II,1,823

John of Gaunt. O, spare me not, my brother Edward's son,
For that I was his father Edward's son;
That blood already, like the pelican,
Hast thou tapp'd out and drunkenly caroused:
My brother Gloucester, plain well-meaning soul,
Whom fair befal in heaven 'mongst happy souls!
May be a precedent and witness good
That thou respect'st not spilling Edward's blood:
Join with the present sickness that I have;
And thy unkindness be like crooked age,
To crop at once a too long wither'd flower.
Live in thy shame, but die not shame with thee!
These words hereafter thy tormentors be!
Convey me to my bed, then to my grave:
Love they to live that love and honour have.

(stage directions). [Exit, borne off by his Attendants]

15

II,1,832

King Richard II. Right, you say true: as Hereford's love, so his;
As theirs, so mine; and all be as it is.

(stage directions). [Enter NORTHUMBERLAND]

16

II,1,903

Edmund of Langley. I'll not be by the while: my liege, farewell:
What will ensue hereof, there's none can tell;
But by bad courses may be understood
That their events can never fall out good.

(stage directions). [Exit]

17

II,1,992

Lord Willoughby. Hold out my horse, and I will first be there.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

18

II,2,993

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter QUEEN, BUSHY, and BAGOT]

19

II,2,1034

Queen. 'Tis nothing less: conceit is still derived
From some forefather grief; mine is not so,
For nothing had begot my something grief;
Or something hath the nothing that I grieve:
'Tis in reversion that I do possess;
But what it is, that is not yet known; what
I cannot name; 'tis nameless woe, I wot.

(stage directions). [Enter GREEN]

20

II,2,1069

Queen. Who shall hinder me?
I will despair, and be at enmity
With cozening hope: he is a flatterer,
A parasite, a keeper back of death,
Who gently would dissolve the bands of life,
Which false hope lingers in extremity.

(stage directions). [Enter DUKE OF YORK]

21

II,2,1083

Edmund of Langley. Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts:
Comfort's in heaven; and we are on the earth,
Where nothing lives but crosses, cares and grief.
Your husband, he is gone to save far off,
Whilst others come to make him lose at home:
Here am I left to underprop his land,
Who, weak with age, cannot support myself:
Now comes the sick hour that his surfeit made;
Now shall he try his friends that flatter'd him.

(stage directions). [Enter a Servant]

22

II,2,1122

Edmund of Langley. God for his mercy! what a tide of woes
Comes rushing on this woeful land at once!
I know not what to do: I would to God,
So my untruth had not provoked him to it,
The king had cut off my head with my brother's.
What, are there no posts dispatch'd for Ireland?
How shall we do for money for these wars?
Come, sister,—cousin, I would say—pray, pardon me.
Go, fellow, get thee home, provide some carts
And bring away the armour that is there.
[Exit Servant]
Gentlemen, will you go muster men?
If I know how or which way to order these affairs
Thus thrust disorderly into my hands,
Never believe me. Both are my kinsmen:
The one is my sovereign, whom both my oath
And duty bids defend; the other again
Is my kinsman, whom the king hath wrong'd,
Whom conscience and my kindred bids to right.
Well, somewhat we must do. Come, cousin, I'll
Dispose of you.
Gentlemen, go, muster up your men,
And meet me presently at Berkeley.
I should to Plashy too;
But time will not permit: all is uneven,
And every thing is left at six and seven.

(stage directions). [Exeunt DUKE OF YORK and QUEEN]

23

II,2,1151

Bagot. I fear me, never.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

24

II,3,1152

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter HENRY BOLINGBROKE and NORTHUMBERLAND, with Forces]

25

II,3,1173

Henry IV. Of much less value is my company
Than your good words. But who comes here?

(stage directions). [Enter HENRY PERCY]

26

II,3,1211

Hotspur (Henry Percy). There stands the castle, by yon tuft of trees,
Mann'd with three hundred men, as I have heard;
And in it are the Lords of York, Berkeley, and Seymour;
None else of name and noble estimate.

(stage directions). [Enter LORD ROSS and LORD WILLOUGHBY]

27

II,3,1223

Henry IV. Evermore thanks, the exchequer of the poor;
Which, till my infant fortune comes to years,
Stands for my bounty. But who comes here?

(stage directions). [Enter LORD BERKELEY]

28

II,3,1237

Lord Berkeley. Mistake me not, my lord; 'tis not my meaning
To raze one title of your honour out:
To you, my lord, I come, what lord you will,
From the most gracious regent of this land,
The Duke of York, to know what pricks you on
To take advantage of the absent time
And fright our native peace with self-born arms.

(stage directions). [Enter DUKE OF YORK attended]

29

II,3,1240

Henry IV. I shall not need transport my words by you;
Here comes his grace in person. My noble uncle!

(stage directions). [Kneels]

30

II,3,1329

Edmund of Langley. It may be I will go with you: but yet I'll pause;
For I am loath to break our country's laws.
Nor friends nor foes, to me welcome you are:
Things past redress are now with me past care.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

31

II,4,1330

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter EARL OF SALISBURY and a Welsh Captain]

32

II,4,1348

Captain. 'Tis thought the king is dead; we will not stay.
The bay-trees in our country are all wither'd
And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven;
The pale-faced moon looks bloody on the earth
And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change;
Rich men look sad and ruffians dance and leap,
The one in fear to lose what they enjoy,
The other to enjoy by rage and war:
These signs forerun the death or fall of kings.
Farewell: our countrymen are gone and fled,
As well assured Richard their king is dead.

(stage directions). [Exit]

33

II,4,1356

Earl of Salisbury. Ah, Richard, with the eyes of heavy mind
I see thy glory like a shooting star
Fall to the base earth from the firmament.
Thy sun sets weeping in the lowly west,
Witnessing storms to come, woe and unrest:
Thy friends are fled to wait upon thy foes,
And crossly to thy good all fortune goes.

(stage directions). [Exit]

34

III,1,1357

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter HENRY BOLINGBROKE, DUKE OF YORK,]
NORTHUMBERLAND, LORD ROSS, HENRY PERCY, LORD
WILLOUGHBY, with BUSHY and GREEN, prisoners]

35

III,1,1406

Henry IV. Thank, gentle uncle. Come, lords, away.
To fight with Glendower and his complices:
Awhile to work, and after holiday.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

36

III,2,1407

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Drums; flourish and colours. Enter KING RICHARD]
II, the BISHOP OF CARLISLE, DUKE OF AUMERLE, and Soldiers]

37

III,2,1500

King Richard II. I had forgot myself; am I not king?
Awake, thou coward majesty! thou sleepest.
Is not the king's name twenty thousand names?
Arm, arm, my name! a puny subject strikes
At thy great glory. Look not to the ground,
Ye favourites of a king: are we not high?
High be our thoughts: I know my uncle York
Hath power enough to serve our turn. But who comes here?

(stage directions). [Enter SIR STEPHEN SCROOP]

38

III,2,1632

King Richard II. He does me double wrong
That wounds me with the flatteries of his tongue.
Discharge my followers: let them hence away,
From Richard's night to Bolingbroke's fair day.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

39

III,3,1633

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter, with drum and colours, HENRY BOLINGBROKE,]
DUKE OF YORK, NORTHUMBERLAND, Attendants, and forces]

40

III,3,1828

King Richard II. Down, down I come; like glistering Phaethon,
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.

(stage directions). [Exeunt from above]

41

III,3,1833

Earl of Northumberland. Sorrow and grief of heart
Makes him speak fondly, like a frantic man
Yet he is come.

(stage directions). [Enter KING RICHARD and his attendants below]

42

III,3,1859

King Richard II. Then I must not say no.

(stage directions). [Flourish. Exeunt]

43

III,4,1860

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter the QUEEN and two Ladies]

44

III,4,1892

Queen. And I could sing, would weeping do me good,
And never borrow any tear of thee.
[Enter a Gardener, and two Servants]
But stay, here come the gardeners:
Let's step into the shadow of these trees.
My wretchedness unto a row of pins,
They'll talk of state; for every one doth so
Against a change; woe is forerun with woe.

(stage directions). [QUEEN and Ladies retire]

45

III,4,1969

Queen. Nimble mischance, that art so light of foot,
Doth not thy embassage belong to me,
And am I last that knows it? O, thou think'st
To serve me last, that I may longest keep
Thy sorrow in my breast. Come, ladies, go,
To meet at London London's king in woe.
What, was I born to this, that my sad look
Should grace the triumph of great Bolingbroke?
Gardener, for telling me these news of woe,
Pray God the plants thou graft'st may never grow.

(stage directions). [Exeunt QUEEN and Ladies]

46

III,4,1976

Gardener. Poor queen! so that thy state might be no worse,
I would my skill were subject to thy curse.
Here did she fall a tear; here in this place
I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace:
Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen,
In the remembrance of a weeping queen.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

47

IV,1,1977

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter, as to the Parliament, HENRY BOLINGBROKE,]
DUKE OF AUMERLE, NORTHUMBERLAND, HENRY PERCY, LORD
FITZWATER, DUKE OF SURREY, the BISHOP OF CARLISLE,
the Abbot Of Westminster, and another Lord, Herald,
Officers, and BAGOT]

48

IV,1,2090

Henry IV. Sweet peace conduct his sweet soul to the bosom
Of good old Abraham! Lords appellants,
Your differences shall all rest under gage
Till we assign you to your days of trial.

(stage directions). [Enter DUKE OF YORK, attended]

49

IV,1,2143

Edmund of Langley. I will be his conduct.

(stage directions). [Exit]

50

IV,1,2258

Henry IV. Go some of you and fetch a looking-glass.

(stage directions). [Exit an attendant]

51

IV,1,2313

King Richard II. O, good! convey? conveyers are you all,
That rise thus nimbly by a true king's fall.

(stage directions). [Exeunt KING RICHARD II, some Lords, and a Guard]

52

IV,1,2332

Abbot. My lord,
Before I freely speak my mind herein,
You shall not only take the sacrament
To bury mine intents, but also to effect
Whatever I shall happen to devise.
I see your brows are full of discontent,
Your hearts of sorrow and your eyes of tears:
Come home with me to supper; and I'll lay
A plot shall show us all a merry day.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

53

V,1,2333

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter QUEEN and Ladies]

54

V,1,2385

King Richard II. A king of beasts, indeed; if aught but beasts,
I had been still a happy king of men.
Good sometime queen, prepare thee hence for France:
Think I am dead and that even here thou takest,
As from my death-bed, thy last living leave.
In winter's tedious nights sit by the fire
With good old folks and let them tell thee tales
Of woeful ages long ago betid;
And ere thou bid good night, to quit their griefs,
Tell thou the lamentable tale of me
And send the hearers weeping to their beds:
For why, the senseless brands will sympathize
The heavy accent of thy moving tongue
And in compassion weep the fire out;
And some will mourn in ashes, some coal-black,
For the deposing of a rightful king.

(stage directions). [Enter NORTHUMBERLAND and others]

55

V,1,2438

King Richard II. We make woe wanton with this fond delay:
Once more, adieu; the rest let sorrow say.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

56

V,2,2439

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter DUKE OF YORK and DUCHESS OF YORK]

57

V,2,2488

Edmund of Langley. Aumerle that was;
But that is lost for being Richard's friend,
And, madam, you must call him Rutland now:
I am in parliament pledge for his truth
And lasting fealty to the new-made king.

(stage directions). [Enter DUKE OF AUMERLE]

58

V,2,2535

Edmund of Langley. Bring me my boots: I will unto the king.

(stage directions). [Re-enter Servant with boots]

59

V,2,2565

Edmund of Langley. Make way, unruly woman!

(stage directions). [Exit]

60

V,2,2573

Duchess of York. After, Aumerle! mount thee upon his horse;
Spur post, and get before him to the king,
And beg thy pardon ere he do accuse thee.
I'll not be long behind; though I be old,
I doubt not but to ride as fast as York:
And never will I rise up from the ground
Till Bolingbroke have pardon'd thee. Away, be gone!

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

61

V,3,2574

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter HENRY BOLINGBROKE, HENRY PERCY, and other Lords]

62

V,3,2597

Henry IV. 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?

(stage directions). [Enter DUKE OF AUMERLE]

63

V,3,2618

Henry IV. Villain, I'll make thee safe.

(stage directions). [Drawing]

64

V,3,2623

Edmund of Langley. [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.

(stage directions). [Enter DUKE OF YORK]

65

V,3,2666

Edmund of Langley. If thou do pardon, whosoever pray,
More sins for this forgiveness prosper may.
This fester'd joint cut off, the rest rest sound;
This let alone will all the rest confound.

(stage directions). [Enter DUCHESS OF YORK]

66

V,3,2672

Duchess of York. Sweet York, be patient. Hear me, gentle liege.

(stage directions). [Kneels]

67

V,3,2733

Duchess of York. Come, my old son: I pray God make thee new.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

68

V,4,2734

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter EXTON and Servant]

69

V,4,2747

Sir Pierce of Exton. And speaking it, he wistly look'd on me,
And 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.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

70

V,5,2748

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Enter KING RICHARD]

71

V,5,2816

King Richard II. 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,
And, for they cannot, die in their own pride.
Thoughts tending to content flatter themselves
That they are not the first of fortune's slaves,
Nor shall not be the last; like silly beggars
Who sitting in the stocks refuge their shame,
That many have and others must sit there;
And in this thought they find a kind of ease,
Bearing their own misfortunes on the back
Of such as have before endured the like.
Thus play I in one person many people,
And none contented: sometimes am I king;
Then treasons make me wish myself a beggar,
And so I am: then crushing penury
Persuades me I was better when a king;
Then am I king'd again: and by and by
Think that I am unking'd by Bolingbroke,
And straight am nothing: but whate'er I be,
Nor I nor any man that but man is
With nothing shall be pleased, till he be eased
With being nothing. Music do I hear?
[Music]
Ha, ha! keep time: how sour sweet music is,
When time is broke and no proportion kept!
So is it in the music of men's lives.
And here have I the daintiness of ear
To cheque time broke in a disorder'd string;
But for the concord of my state and time
Had not an ear to hear my true time broke.
I wasted time, and now doth time waste me;
For now hath time made me his numbering clock:
My thoughts are minutes; and with sighs they jar
Their watches on unto mine eyes, the outward watch,
Whereto my finger, like a dial's point,
Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears.
Now sir, the sound that tells what hour it is
Are clamorous groans, which strike upon my heart,
Which is the bell: so sighs and tears and groans
Show minutes, times, and hours: but my time
Runs posting on in Bolingbroke's proud joy,
While I stand fooling here, his Jack o' the clock.
This music mads me; let it sound no more;
For though it have holp madmen to their wits,
In me it seems it will make wise men mad.
Yet blessing on his heart that gives it me!
For 'tis a sign of love; and love to Richard
Is a strange brooch in this all-hating world.

(stage directions). [Enter a Groom of the Stable]

72

V,5,2846

King Richard II. So proud that Bolingbroke was on his back!
That jade hath eat bread from my royal hand;
This hand hath made him proud with clapping him.
Would he not stumble? would he not fall down,
Since pride must have a fall, and break the neck
Of that proud man that did usurp his back?
Forgiveness, horse! why do I rail on thee,
Since thou, created to be awed by man,
Wast born to bear? I was not made a horse;
And yet I bear a burthen like an ass,
Spurr'd, gall'd and tired by jouncing Bolingbroke.

(stage directions). [Enter Keeper, with a dish]

73

V,5,2850

Groom. What my tongue dares not, that my heart shall say.

(stage directions). [Exit]

74

V,5,2857

King Richard II. The devil take Henry of Lancaster and thee!
Patience is stale, and I am weary of it.

(stage directions). [Beats the keeper]

75

V,5,2859

Keeper. Help, help, help!

(stage directions). [Enter EXTON and Servants, armed]

76

V,5,2870

King Richard II. How now! what means death in this rude assault?
Villain, thy own hand yields thy death's instrument.
[Snatching an axe from a Servant and killing him]
Go thou, and fill another room in hell.
[He kills another. Then Exton strikes him down]
That hand shall burn in never-quenching fire
That staggers thus my person. Exton, thy fierce hand
Hath with the king's blood stain'd the king's own land.
Mount, mount, my soul! thy seat is up on high;
Whilst my gross flesh sinks downward, here to die.

(stage directions). [Dies]

77

V,5,2877

Sir Pierce of Exton. As full of valour as of royal blood:
Both have I spill'd; O would the deed were good!
For now the devil, that told me I did well,
Says that this deed is chronicled in hell.
This dead king to the living king I'll bear
Take hence the rest, and give them burial here.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]

78

V,6,2878

(beginning of scene)

(stage directions). [Flourish. Enter HENRY BOLINGBROKE, DUKE OF YORK,]
with other Lords, and Attendants]

79

V,6,2893

Henry IV. We thank thee, gentle Percy, for thy pains;
And to thy worth will add right worthy gains.

(stage directions). [Enter LORD FITZWATER]

80

V,6,2900

Henry IV. Thy pains, Fitzwater, shall not be forgot;
Right noble is thy merit, well I wot.

(stage directions). [Enter HENRY PERCY, and the BISHOP OF CARLISLE]

81

V,6,2912

Henry IV. Carlisle, this is your doom:
Choose out some secret place, some reverend room,
More than thou hast, and with it joy thy life;
So as thou livest in peace, die free from strife:
For though mine enemy thou hast ever been,
High sparks of honour in thee have I seen.

(stage directions). [Enter EXTON, with persons bearing a coffin]

82

V,6,2936

Henry IV. They love not poison that do poison need,
Nor do I thee: though I did wish him dead,
I hate the murderer, love him murdered.
The guilt of conscience take thou for thy labour,
But neither my good word nor princely favour:
With Cain go wander through shades of night,
And never show thy head by day nor light.
Lords, I protest, my soul is full of woe,
That blood should sprinkle me to make me grow:
Come, mourn with me for that I do lament,
And put on sullen black incontinent:
I'll make a voyage to the Holy Land,
To wash this blood off from my guilty hand:
March sadly after; grace my mournings here;
In weeping after this untimely bier.

(stage directions). [Exeunt]