King Richard II
Act V, Scene 6
Windsor Castle.
King Henry
19th century
- Flourish. Enter Bullingbrook, now King Henry, with the Duke
- of York with other Lords and Attendants.
King Henry IV
1 - 5- Kind uncle York, the latest news we hear
- Is that the rebels have consum’d with fire
- Our town of Ciceter in Gloucestershire,
- But whether they be ta’en or slain we hear not.
- Enter Northumberland.
- Welcome, my lord, what is the news?
Northumberland
6 - 10- First, to thy sacred state wish I all happiness.
- The next news is, I have to London sent
- The heads of Salisbury, Spencer, Blunt, and Kent.
- The manner of their taking may appear
- At large discoursed in this paper here.
King Henry IV
11 - 12- We thank thee, gentle Percy, for thy pains,
- And to thy worth will add right worthy gains.
- Enter Lord Fitzwater.
Fitzwater
13 - 16- My lord, I have from Oxford sent to London
- The heads of Brocas and Sir Bennet Seely,
- Two of the dangerous consorted traitors
- That sought at Oxford thy dire overthrow.
King Henry IV
17 - 18- Thy pains, Fitzwater, shall not be forgot,
- Right noble is thy merit, well I wot.
- Enter Harry Percy and the Bishop of Carlisle.
Percy
19 - 23- The grand conspirator, Abbot of Westminster,
- With clog of conscience and sour melancholy
- Hath yielded up his body to the grave;
- But here is Carlisle living, to abide
- Thy kingly doom and sentence of his pride.
King Henry IV
24 - 29- Carlisle, this is your doom:
- Choose out some secret place, some reverent room,
- More than thou hast, and with it joy thy life.
- So as thou liv’st in peace, die free from strife,
- For though mine enemy thou hast ever been,
- High sparks of honor in thee have I seen.
- Enter Exton with Attendants bearing the coffin.
Henry of Bolingbroke claims the throne
circa 1400
Exton
30 - 33- Great King, within this coffin I present
- Thy buried fear. Herein all breathless lies
- The mightiest of thy greatest enemies,
- Richard of Bordeaux, by me hither brought.
King Henry IV
34 - 36- Exton, I thank thee not, for thou hast wrought
- A deed of slander with thy fatal hand
- Upon my head and all this famous land.
Exton
37- From your own mouth, my lord, did I this deed.
King Henry IV
38 - 52- 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 labor,
- But neither my good word nor princely favor.
- With Cain go wander thorough 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 what 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.
- Exeunt.
