And in a bloody battle end thy days!

Think on Lord Hastings; and despair, and die!Quiet untroubled soul, awake, awake!

[To RICHMOND.

Arm, fight, and conquer, for fair England's sake!

The Ghosts of the two young Princes rise.
Ghosts. Dream on thy cousins smother'd in the
Tower;

Let us be lead within thy bosom, Richard,
And weigh thee down to ruin, shame, and death!
Thy nephews' souls bid thee despair, and die.-

Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace, and wake in joy;
Good angels guard thee from the boar's annoy!
Live, and beget a happy race of kings!
Edward's unhappy sons do bid thee flourish.

The Ghost of Queen Anne rises.

Ghost. Richard, thy wife, that wretched Anne
thy wife,

That never slept a quiet hour with thee,
Now fills thy sleep with perturbations :
To-morrow in the battle think on me,

And fall thy edgeless sword; Despair, and die!—
Thou, quiet soul, sleep thou a quiet sleep;

[TO RICHMOND.

Dream of success and happy victory;

Thy adversary's wife doth pray for thee.

The Ghost of Buckingham rises.

Ghost. The first was I, that help'd thee to the

crown;

[TO KING RICHARD.

The last was I that felt thy tyranny:

O, in the battle think on Buckingham,
And die in terror of thy guiltiness!

Dream on, dream on, of bloody deeds and death;

Fainting, despair; despairing, yield thy breath!--
I died for hope 21, ere I could lend thee aid;
[To RICHMOND.
But cheer thy heart, and be thou not dismay'd:
God, and good angels fight on Richmond's side;
And Richard falls in height of all his pride.

[The Ghosts vanish. KING RICHARD

starts out of his dream. K. Rich. Give me another horse,-bind up my wounds,

Have mercy, Jesu!—Soft; I did but dream.-
O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me!-
The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight.
Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh.
What do I fear? myself? there's none else by:
Richard loves Richard; that is, I am I 22.

Is there a murderer here? No;-Yes; I am :
Then fly,What, from myself? Great reason: Why?
Lest I revenge. What? Myself on myself?
I love myself. Wherefore? for any good,
That I myself have done unto myself?
O, no: alas, I rather hate myself,
For hateful deeds committed by myself.
I am a villain: Yet I lie, I am not.

Fool, of thyself speak well:-Fool, do not flatter.

21 Buckingham's hope of aiding Richmond induced him to take up arms: he lost his life in consequence, and therefore may be said to have died for hope; hope being the cause which led to that event.

22 There is in this, as in many of the poet's speeches of passion, something very trifling, and something very striking. Richard's debate, whether he should quarrel with himself, is too long continued; but the subsequent exaggeration of his crimes is truly tragical.-Johnson.

Steevens conjectures that this and the twenty following lines were crossed out of the stage manuscript by Shakspeare himself, and afterwards restored by the original but tasteless editor of this play. Every one must wish with Ritson that they could be omitted, or degraded to the margin.

My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.
Perjury, perjury, in the high'st degree,
Murder, stern murder, in the dir'st degree;
All several sins, all us'd in each degree,
Throng to the bar, crying all-Guilty! guilty!
I shall despair.-There is no creature loves me;
And, if I die, no soul will pity me:-

Nay, wherefore should they? since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself.

Methought, the souls of all that I had murder'd
Came to my tent: and every one did threat
To-morrow's vengeance on the head of Richard.

Rat. My lord,

Enter RATCLIFF.

K. Rich. Who's there?

Rat. Ratcliff, my lord; 'tis I. The early village cock

Hath twice done salutation to the morn:

Your friends are up, and buckle on their armour. K. Rich. O, Ratcliff, I have dream'd a fearful

dream!

What thinkest thou? will our friends prove all true? Rat. No doubt, my lord.

K. Rich. Ratcliff, I fear, I fear,Rat. Nay, good my lord, be not afraid of shadows. K. Rich. By the apostle Paul, shadows to-night Have struck more terror to the soul of Richard, Than can the substance of ten thousand soldiers, Armed in proof, and led by shallow Richmond. It is not yet near day. Come, go with me; Under our tents I'll play the eaves-dropper, To hear, if any mean to shrink from me.

[Exeunt KING RICHARD and RATCLIFF.

RICHMOND wakes.

Enter OXFORD and Others.

Lords. Good morrow, Richmond.

Richm. 'Cry mercy, lords, and watchful gentle

men,

That you have ta'en a tardy sluggard here.

Lords. How have you slept, my lord?

Richm. The sweetest sleep, and fairest-boding dreams,

That ever enter'd in a drowsy head,

Have I since your departure had, my lords. Methought, their souls, whose bodies Richard murder'd,

Came to my tent, and cried-On! victory!
I promise you, my heart is very jocund
In the remembrance of so fair a dream.
How far into the morning is it, lords?
Lords. Upon the stroke of four.

Richm. Why, then 'tis time to arm, and give di[He advances to the troops.

rection.

More than I have said, loving countrymen,

The leisure and enforcement of the time
Forbids to dwell on: Yet remember this,-
God, and our good cause, fight upon our side:
The prayers of holy saints, and wronged souls,
Like high rear'd bulwarks, stand before our faces;
Richard except, those, whom we fight against,
Had rather have us win, than him they follow.
For what is he they follow? truly, gentlemen,
A bloody tyrant, and a homicide;

One rais'd in blood, and one in blood establish'd;
One that made means 23 to come by what he hath,

23 Vide note on p. 144. Made means here is used as in the passage there cited from The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and signifies made such interest, used such disingenuous measures.

And slaughter'd those that were the means to help

him;

A base foul stone, made precious by the foil
Of England's chair 24, where he is falsely set;
One that hath ever been God's enemy:
Then, if you fight against God's enemy,
God will, in justice, ward you as his soldiers;
If you do sweat to put a tyrant down,
You sleep in peace, the tyrant being slain;
If you do fight against your country's foes,
Your country's fat shall pay your pains the hire;
If you do fight in safeguard of your wives,
Your wives shall welcome home the conquerors;
If you do free your children from the sword,
Your children's children quit 25 it in your age.
Then, in the name of God, and all these rights,
Advance your standards, draw your willing swords;
For me, the ransom 26 of my bold attempt

Shall be this cold corpse on the earth's cold face;
But if I thrive, the gain of my attempt

The least of you shall share his part thereof.
Sound, drums and trumpets, boldly and cheerfully;
God, and Saint George 27! Richmond, and victory!

[Exeunt.

Re-enter KING RICHARD, RATCLIFF, Attendants, and Forces.

K. Rich. What said Northumberland, as touching Richmond?

Rat. That he was never trained

up in arms.

24 England's chair is the throne. The allusion is to the practice of setting gems of little worth, with a bright coloured foil under them. Thus in a Song in England's Helicon:

"False stones by foiles have many one abus'd.'

25 Requite.

26 i. e. the fine paid by me in atonement for my rashness.

27 Saint George was the common cry of the English soldiers when they charged the enemy.