Who begs, and kneels, and says ‘God save the Queen’?
Where are the bowing peers who flattered you?
Where are the crowds of troops who followed you?
Think about all this, and see what you are now:
the happy wife is now a terribly distressed widow;
the joyful mother who wails for her children;
someone who was begged who is now a humble beggar;
a queen who has become an outcast, her only crown is sorrow;
the one who scorned me is now scorned by me;
the one who was feared by everyone is now afraid of one;
she who used to command everything is now obeyed by no one.
So the wheel of justice has spun around
and left you a victim of time,
left with nothing but memories of what you were
to torture you more, being what you are.
You stole my place, and now do you not
steal your fair share of my sorrow?
Now your proud neck carries half of my burden,
and right now I take away my tired head
and leave you to manage all of it.
Farewell, York's wife, the Queen of sorrowful bad luck;
your English woes will make me smile in France.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
O thou well skill'd in curses, stay awhile
And teach me how to curse mine enemies!
You are so good at curses, stay a while
and teach me how to curse my enemies!
QUEEN MARGARET.
Forbear to sleep the nights, and fast the
days;
Compare dead happiness with living woe;
Think that thy babes were sweeter than they were,
And he that slew them fouler than he is.
Bett'ring thy loss makes the bad-causer worse;
Revolving this will teach thee how to curse.
Do not sleep at night, and do not eat in the day;
compare your dead happiness with your living sorrows;
imagine that your babies were sweeter than they were,
and the one who killed them is fouler than he is.
Making your loss seem greater makes the one who caused it seem worse;
thinking of this will teach you how to curse.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
My words are dull; O, quicken them
with thine!
My words are dull; oh, sharpen them with yours!
QUEEN MARGARET.
Thy woes will make them sharp and
pierce like mine.
Your sorrows will sharpen them and make them stab like mine.
Exit
DUCHESS.
Why should calamity be full of words?
Why must disaster be full of words?
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Windy attorneys to their client woes,
Airy succeeders of intestate joys,
Poor breathing orators of miseries,
Let them have scope; though what they will impart
Help nothing else, yet do they ease the heart.
They are the windy lawyers of their client sorrows,
airy inheritors of intestate happiness,
the poor breathing speakers of misery,
let them run free; even if what they say
helps nothing else, they can ease the heart.
DUCHESS.
If so, then be not tongue-tied. Go with me,
And in the breath of bitter words let's smother
My damned son that thy two sweet sons smother'd.
The trumpet sounds; be copious in exclaims.
If that's true, then let your speech out. Come with me,
and with a gale of bitter words let’s smother
my damned son who smothered your two sweet sons.
The trumpet sounds; be profligate with your curses.
Enter KING RICHARD and his train, marching with
drums and trumpets
KING RICHARD.
Who intercepts me in my expedition?
Who intercepts me on my journey?
DUCHESS.
O, she that might have intercepted thee,
By strangling thee in her accursed womb,
From all the slaughters, wretch, that thou hast done!
Oh, she who might have intercepted you
by strangling you in her cursed womb,
and prevented all the slaughters, wretch, you have committed!
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Hidest thou that forehead with a golden
crown
Where't should be branded, if that right were right,
The slaughter of the Prince that ow'd that crown,
And the dire death of my poor sons and brothers?
Tell me, thou villain slave, where are my children?
Are you hiding your forehead with a golden crown,
where you should be branded, if there was any justice,
with the slaughter of the Prince who owned that Crown,
and the terrible death of my poor sons and brothers?
Tell me, you slavish villain, where are my children?
DUCHESS.
Thou toad, thou toad, where is thy brother
Clarence?
And little Ned Plantagenet, his son?
You toad, you toad, where is your brother Clarence?
And little Ned Plantagenet, his son?
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Where is the gentle Rivers, Vaughan,
Grey?
Where are the gentle Rivers, Vaughan and Grey?
DUCHESS.
Where is kind Hastings?
Where is kind Hastings?
KING RICHARD.
A flourish, trumpets! Strike alarum, drums!
Let not the heavens hear these tell-tale women
Rail on the Lord's anointed. Strike, I say!
[Flourish. Alarums]
Either be patient and entreat me fair,
Or with the clamorous report of war
Thus will I drown your exclamations.
Blow the trumpets! Sound the alarm, drums!
Don't let the heavens hear these tell-tale women
insulting the Lord's anointed. Sound, I say!
Either be calm and speak to me nicely,
or I will drown out everything you say
with these warlike noises.
DUCHESS.
Art thou my son?
Are you my son?
KING RICHARD.
Ay, I thank God, my father, and yourself.
Yes, I thank God, I am made from my father and yourself.
DUCHESS.
Then patiently hear my impatience.
Then listen patiently to my anger.
KING RICHARD.
Madam, I have a touch of your condition
That cannot brook the accent of reproof.
Madam, I have some of your characteristic
of not being able to listen to reprimands.
DUCHESS.
O, let me speak!
O, let me speak!
KING RICHARD.
Do, then; but I'll not hear.
Speak then, but I won't listen.
DUCHESS.
I will be mild and gentle in my words.
I will be sweet and kind with my words.
KING RICHARD.
And brief, good mother; for I am in haste.
And brief, good mother, for I am in a hurry.
DUCHESS.
Art thou so hasty? I have stay'd for thee,
God knows, in torment and in agony.
Are you in such a hurry? I waited for you,
God knows, in tortured agony.
KING RICHARD.
And came I not at last to comfort you?
And didn't I come in the end to comfort you?
DUCHESS.
No, by the holy rood, thou know'st it well
Thou cam'st on earth to make the earth my hell.
A grievou
s burden was thy birth to me;
Tetchy and wayward was thy infancy;
Thy school-days frightful, desp'rate, wild, and furious;
Thy prime of manhood daring, bold, and venturous;
Thy age confirm'd, proud, subtle, sly, and bloody,
More mild, but yet more harmful-kind in hatred.
What comfortable hour canst thou name
That ever grac'd me with thy company?
No, by the holy blood, you know well
that you came on earth to make it hell for me.
Your birth was a terrible burden for me;
as a child you were tetchy and disobedient;
your school days were terrible, desperate, wild and furious;
in the prime of your manhood you were daring, bold and adventurous;
as you got older you became proud, cunning, sly and bloodthirsty,
less aggressive, but more deceitfully spiteful in your hatred.
Can you name me one hour
that you ever gave me of your company?
KING RICHARD.
Faith, none but Humphrey Hour, that call'd
your Grace
To breakfast once forth of my company.
If I be so disgracious in your eye,
Let me march on and not offend you, madam.
Strike up the drum.
Only Humphrey Hour, a member of my company
who once called your Grace to come to breakfast.
If I am so unpleasing to your eye,
let me march on and not offend you, madam.
Strike up the drum.
DUCHESS.
I prithee hear me speak.
I pray you to listen to me.
KING RICHARD.
You speak too bitterly.
You speak too bitterly.
DUCHESS.
Hear me a word;
For I shall never speak to thee again.
Just listen to a word from me;
For I shall never speak to you again.
KING RICHARD.
So.
Very well.
DUCHESS.
Either thou wilt die by God's just ordinance
Ere from this war thou turn a conqueror;
Or I with grief and extreme age shall perish
And never more behold thy face again.
Therefore take with thee my most grievous curse,
Which in the day of battle tire thee more
Than all the complete armour that thou wear'st!
My prayers on the adverse party fight;
And there the little souls of Edward's children
Whisper the spirits of thine enemies
And promise them success and victory.
Bloody thou art; bloody will be thy end.
Shame serves thy life and doth thy death attend.
Either you shall die by God's just orders
before you triumph in this war,
or I shall perish from grief and old age
and never see your face again.
So take with you my most terrible curse,
and on the day of battle may it tire you more
than all the full suit of armour you wear!
My prayers go with your adversaries;
and the little souls of Edward's children
whisper to the ghosts of your enemies
and promise them success and victory.
You are bloodthirsty; your death will be bloody.
Shame follows your life and will be with you in your death.
Exit
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Though far more cause, yet much less
spirit to curse
Abides in me; I say amen to her.
Although I have far more cause to curse you,
I have less ability at it; I second what she has said.
KING RICHARD.
Stay, madam, I must talk a word with you.
Wait, madam, I must speak to you.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
I have no moe sons of the royal blood
For thee to slaughter. For my daughters, Richard,
They shall be praying nuns, not weeping queens;
And therefore level not to hit their lives.
I have no other royal sons
for you to slaughter. As from my daughters, Richard,
they shall be praying nuns, not weeping queens;
and so don't plan to take their lives.
KING RICHARD.
You have a daughter call'd Elizabeth.
Virtuous and fair, royal and gracious.
You have a daughter called Elizabeth.
Good and beautiful, royal and gracious.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
And must she die for this? O, let her
live,
And I'll corrupt her manners, stain her beauty,
Slander myself as false to Edward's bed,
Throw over her the veil of infamy;
So she may live unscarr'd of bleeding slaughter,
I will confess she was not Edward's daughter.
And she must die for that? O, let her live,
and I will corrupt her manners, spoil her beauty,
lie and say that I betrayed Edward,
I will make her ill thought of;
if it means she can escape bloody slaughter,
I will swear that she was not Edward's daughter.
KING RICHARD.
Wrong not her birth; she is a royal
Princess.
Do not lie about her birth; she is a royal princess.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
To save her life I'll say she is not so.
To save her life I'll say she isn't.
KING RICHARD.
Her life is safest only in her birth.
Her birth is the only thing saving her life.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
And only in that safety died her
brothers.
It was their birth that killed her brothers.
KING RICHARD.
Lo, at their birth good stars were opposite.
Well, the stars werecontrary when they were born.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
No, to their lives ill friends were
contrary.
No, it was poor friends who were contrary to their lives.
KING RICHARD.
All unavoided is the doom of destiny.
Fate cannot be avoided.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
True, when avoided grace makes destiny.
My babes were destin'd to a fairer death,
If grace had bless'd thee with a fairer life.
Truth, when avoiding grace brings destiny.
My babies were destined to have a sweeter death,
if grace had blessed you with a sweeter life.
KING RICHARD.
You speak as if that I had slain my cousins.
You speak as if it was I who killed my cousins.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Cousins, indeed; and by their uncle
cozen'd
Of comfort, kingdom, kindred, freedom, life.
Whose hand soever lanc'd their tender hearts,
Thy head, an indirectly, gave direction.
No doubt the murd'rous knife was dull and blunt
Till it was whetted on thy stone-hard heart
To revel in the entrails of my lambs.
But that still use of grief makes wild grief tame,
My tongue should to thy ears not name my boys
Till that my nails were anchor'd in thine eyes;
And I, in such a desp'rate bay of death,
Like a poor bark, of sails and tackling reft,
Rush all to pieces on thy rocky bosom.
They were indeed your cousins; and you their uncle cheated them
of comfort, kingdom, family, freedom, life.
Whoever's hand it was which stabbed their tender hearts
it was you who gave the orders.
No doubt the murderous knife
was dull and blunt
until it was sharpened on your stony heart
before it went to tear around the innards of my lambs.
But this calm talk of grief calms my wild grief,
my tongue should not be speaking the names of my boys to you
until my nails were scratching out your eyes;
and I, a poor ship with all its tackle gone,
smash myself to pieces on your rocky heart
in this desperate bay of death.
KING RICHARD.
Madam, so thrive I in my enterprise
And dangerous success of bloody wars,
As I intend more good to you and yours
Than ever you or yours by me were harm'd!
Madam, if I succeed in this business
of dangerous and bloody war,
I plan for you and yours to receive more good
from me than you ever got harm.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
What good is cover'd with the face of
heaven,
To be discover'd, that can do me good?
What good is hiding behind the clouds,
that when revealed could do me good?
KING RICHARD.
Advancement of your children, gentle
lady.
Advancement of your children, gentle lady.
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
Up to some scaffold, there to lose their
heads?
Advancement up some scaffold, where they will lose their heads?
KING RICHARD.
Unto the dignity and height of Fortune,
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) Page 55
