Scene 5Alarum. Enter Richard and Richmond. They fight.
Richard is slain. Then retreat being sounded, Richmond
exits, and Richard’s body is removed. Flourish. Enter
Richmond, Stanley, Earl of Derby, bearing the crown,
with other Lords, and Soldiers. RICHMOND
God and your arms be praised, victorious friends!
The day is ours; the bloody dog is dead. STANLEY, offering him the crown
Courageous Richmond, well hast thou acquit thee.
Lo, here this long-usurpèd royalty
From the dead temples of this bloody wretch 5
Have I plucked off, to grace thy brows withal.
Wear it, enjoy it, and make much of it. RICHMOND
Great God of heaven, say amen to all!
But tell me, is young George Stanley living? STANLEY
He is, my lord, and safe in Leicester town, 10
Whither, if it please you, we may now withdraw us. RICHMOND
What men of name are slain on either side? STANLEY
John, Duke of Norfolk, Walter, Lord Ferrers,
Sir Robert Brakenbury, and Sir William Brandon. | [Note: In the Folger's edition, this is Scene 5.] Richard and Richmond are onstage together in a fierce battle. Richmond slays Richard. Now it's time for speeches, and the counting of the dead. George Stanley still lives, and they go over notable soldiers who have died on each side. Stanley plucks the crown from Richard's bleeding corpse and puts it on Richmond's head. |
RICHMOND
Inter their bodies as becomes their births. 15
Proclaim a pardon to the soldiers fled
That in submission will return to us.
And then, as we have ta’en the sacrament,
We will unite the white rose and the red;
Smile heaven upon this fair conjunction, 20
That long have frowned upon their enmity.
What traitor hears me and says not “Amen”?
England hath long been mad and scarred herself:
The brother blindly shed the brother’s blood;
The father rashly slaughtered his own son; 25
The son, compelled, been butcher to the sire.
All this divided York and Lancaster,
Divided in their dire division.
O, now let Richmond and Elizabeth,
The true succeeders of each royal house, 30
By God’s fair ordinance conjoin together,
And let their heirs, God, if Thy will be so,
Enrich the time to come with smooth-faced peace,
With smiling plenty and fair prosperous days.
Abate the edge of traitors, gracious Lord, 35
That would reduce these bloody days again
And make poor England weep in streams of blood.
Let them not live to taste this land’s increase,
That would with treason wound this fair land’s peace.
Now civil wounds are stopped, peace lives again. 40
That she may long live here, God say amen. They exit. | Richmond asks that everyone be buried according to his stature, and that repentant soldiers on Richard's side be forgiven. Finally he turns to talk of his impending marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of Queen Elizabeth and the deceased King Edward IV. As Richmond comes from the Lancastrian line, and Elizabeth is a York, their union will finally bring the red and white roses together, ending the very long Wars of the Roses. Richmond happily declares that the time of division in England is over. He hopes they'll rule a unified and happy England under a lasting and unchallenged peace. |