Act 1, Scene 4

The Same

[Alarum. Enter YORK.]
Richard, Duke of York
408 The army of the queen hath got the field.
409 My uncles both are slain in rescuing me;
410 And all my followers to the eager foe
411 Turn back and fly like ships before the wind,
412 Or lambs pursu'd by hunger-starved wolves.
413 My sons—God knows what hath bechanced them;
414 But this I know,—they have demean'd themselves
415 Like men born to renown by life or death.
416 Three times did Richard make a lane to me,
417 And thrice cried 'Courage, father! fight it out!'
418 And full as oft came Edward to my side
419 With purple falchion painted to the hilt
420 In blood of those that had encount'red him;
421 And when the hardiest warriors did retire
422 Richard cried 'Charge! and give no foot of ground!'
423 And cried 'A crown, or else a glorious tomb!
424 A sceptre, or an earthly sepulchre!'
425 With this, we charg'd again; but, out, alas!
426 We budg'd again, as I have seen a swan
427 With bootless labour swim against the tide
428 And spend her strength with overmatching waves.
[A short alarum within.]
Richard, Duke of York
429 Ah, hark! the fatal followers do pursue,
430 And I am faint and cannot fly their fury;
431 And were I strong, I would not shun their fury.
432 The sands are number'd that make up my life;
433 Here must I stay, and here my life must end.—
[Enter QUEEN MARGARET, CLIFFORD, NORTHUMBERLAND, and Soldiers]
Richard, Duke of York
434 Come, bloody Clifford, rough Northumberland,
435 I dare your quenchless fury to more rage.
436 I am your butt, and I abide your shot.
Earl of Northumberland
437 Yield to our mercy, proud Plantagenet.
Lord Clifford
438 Ay, to such mercy as his ruthless arm
439 With downright payment show'd unto my father.
440 Now Phaethon hath tumbled from his car,
441 And made an evening at the noontide prick.
Richard, Duke of York
442 My ashes, as the phoenix, may bring forth
443 A bird that will revenge upon you all;
444 And in that hope I throw mine eyes to heaven
445 Scorning whate'er you can afflict me with.
446 Why come you not?—what! multitudes, and fear?
Lord Clifford
447 So cowards fight when they can fly no further;
448 So doves do peck the falcon's piercing talons;
449 So desperate thieves, all hopeless of their lives,
450 Breathe out invectives 'gainst the officers.
Richard, Duke of York
451 O Clifford, but bethink thee once again,
452 And in thy thought o'errun my former time;
Richard, Duke of York
453 And, if thou canst for blushing, view this face,
454 And bite thy tongue, that slanders him with cowardice
455 Whose frown hath made thee faint and fly ere this.
Lord Clifford
456 I will not bandy with thee word for word,
457 But buckle with thee blows, twice two for one.
Queen Margaret
458 Hold, valiant Clifford! for a thousand causes
459 I would prolong awhile the traitor's life.—
460 Wrath makes him deaf; speak thou, Northumberland.
Earl of Northumberland
461 Hold, Clifford! do not honour him so much
462 To prick thy finger, though to wound his heart.
463 What valour were it, when a cur doth grin,
464 For one to thrust his hand between his teeth,
465 When he might spurn him with his foot away?
466 It is war's prize to take all vantages,
467 And ten to one is no impeach of valour.
[They lay hands on York, who struggles.]
Lord Clifford
468 Ay, ay; so strives the woodcock with the gin.
Earl of Northumberland
469 So doth the cony struggle in the net.
[York is taken prisoner.]
Richard, Duke of York
470 So triumph thieves upon their conquer'd booty;
471 So true men yield, with robbers so o'ermatch'd.
Earl of Northumberland
472 What would your grace have done unto him now?
Queen Margaret
473 Brave warriors, Clifford and Northumberland,
474 Come, make him stand upon this molehill here,
475 That raught at mountains with outstretched arms,
476 Yet parted but the shadow with his hand.—
477 What! was it you that would be England's king?
478 Was 't you that revell'd in our Parliament,
479 And made a preachment of your high descent?
480 Where are your mess of sons to back you now?
481 The wanton Edward and the lusty George?
482 And where's that valiant crook-back prodigy,
483 Dicky your boy, that with his grumbling voice
484 Was wont to cheer his dad in mutinies?
485 Or, with the rest, where is your darling Rutland?
486 Look, York; I stain'd this napkin with the blood
487 That valiant Clifford with his rapier's point
488 Made issue from the bosom of the boy,
489 And, if thine eyes can water for his death,
490 I give thee this to dry thy cheeks withal.
491 Alas, poor York! but that I hate thee deadly
492 I should lament thy miserable state.
493 I prithee, grieve to make me merry, York;
494 Stamp, rave, and fret, that I may sing and dance.
495 What, hath thy fiery heart so parch'd thine entrails
496 That not a tear can fall for Rutland's death?
497 Why art thou patient, man? thou shouldst be mad;
498 And I, to make thee mad, do mock thee thus.
499 Thou wouldst be feed, I see, to make me sport;
500 York cannot speak unless he wear a crown.—
501 A crown for York!—and, lords, bow low to him.—
502 Hold you his hands whilst I do set it on.—
[Putting a paper crown on his head.]
Queen Margaret
503 Ay, marry, sir, now looks he like a king.
504 Ay, this is he that took King Henry's chair;
505 And this is he was his adopted heir.—
506 But how is it that great Plantagenet
507 Is crown'd so soon and broke his solemn oath?
508 As I bethink me, you should not be king
509 Till our King Henry had shook hands with Death.
510 And will you pale your head in Henry's glory,
511 And rob his temples of the diadem,
512 Now in his life, against your holy oath?
513 O, 't is a fault too too unpardonable.—
514 Off with the crown, and with the crown his head!
515 And whilst we breathe take time to do him dead.
Lord Clifford
516 That is my office, for my father's sake.
Queen Margaret
517 Nay, stay; let's hear the orisons he makes.
Richard, Duke of York
518 She-wolf of France, but worse than wolves of France,
519 Whose tongue more poisons than the adder's tooth,
520 How ill-beseeming is it in thy sex
521 To triumph, like an Amazonian trull,
522 Upon their woes whom fortune captivates!
523 But that thy face is, vizard-like, unchanging,
524 Made impudent with use of evil deeds,
Richard, Duke of York
525 I would assay, proud queen, to make thee blush.
526 To tell thee whence thou cam'st, of whom deriv'd,
527 Were shame enough to shame thee, wert thou not shameless.
528 Thy father bears the type of King of Naples,
529 Of both the Sicils and Jerusalem,
530 Yet not so wealthy as an English yeoman.
531 Hath that poor monarch taught thee to insult?
532 It needs not, nor it boots thee not, proud queen;
533 Unless the adage must be verified,
534 That beggars mounted run their horse to death.
535 'T is beauty that doth oft make women proud;
536 But, God he knows, thy share thereof is small.
537 'T is virtue that doth make them most admir'd;
538 The contrary doth make thee wond'red at.
539 'T is government that makes them seem divine;
540 The want thereof makes thee abominable.
541 Thou art as opposite to every good
542 As the Antipodes are unto us,
543 Or as the south to the Septentrion.
544 O tiger's heart wrapp'd in a woman's hide!
545 How couldst thou drain the life-blood of the child,
546 To bid the father wipe his eyes withal,
547 And yet be seen to bear a woman's face?
548 Women are soft, mild, pitiful, and flexible;
549 Thou stern, obdurate, flinty, rough, remorseless.
550 Bid'st thou me rage? why, now thou hast thy wish:
551 Wouldst have me weep? why, now thou hast thy will;
552 For raging wind blows up incessant showers,
553 And when the rage allays the rain begins.
554 These tears are my sweet Rutland's obsequies,
555 And every drop cries vengeance for his death,
556 'Gainst thee, fell Clifford, and thee, false Frenchwoman.
Earl of Northumberland
557 Beshrew me, but his passion moves me so
558 That hardly can I check my eyes from tears.
Richard, Duke of York
559 That face of his the hungry cannibals
560 Would not have touch'd, would not have stain'd with blood;
561 But you are more inhuman, more inexorable,
562 O, ten times more, than tigers of Hyrcania.
563 See, ruthless queen, a hapless father's tears;
564 This cloth thou dipp'dst in blood of my sweet boy,
565 And I with tears do wash the blood away.
566 Keep thou the napkin, and go boast of this;
567 And if thou tell'st the heavy story right,
568 Upon my soul, the hearers will shed tears,
569 Yea, even my foes will shed fast-falling tears
570 And say 'Alas! it was a piteous deed!'—
571 There, take the crown, and with the crown my curse;
572 And in thy need such comfort come to thee
573 As now I reap at thy too cruel hand!—
574 Hard-hearted Clifford, take me from the world;
575 My soul to heaven, my blood upon your heads!
Earl of Northumberland
576 Had he been slaughter-man to all my kin,
577 I should not, for my life, but weep with him,
578 To see how inly sorrow gripes his soul.
Queen Margaret
579 What! weeping-ripe, my Lord Northumberland?
580 Think but upon the wrong he did us all,
581 And that will quickly dry thy melting tears.
Lord Clifford
582 Here's for my oath, here's for my father's death.
[Stabbing him.]
Queen Margaret
583 And here's to right our gentle-hearted king.
[Stabbing him.]
Richard, Duke of York
584 Open thy gate of mercy, gracious God!
585 My soul flies through these wounds to seek out thee.
[Dies.]
Queen Margaret
586 Off with his head, and set it on York gates;
587 So York may overlook the town of York.
[Flourish. Exeunt.]

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Notes

TLN 408historical topical
“army of the queen hath got the field”
The scene is set immediately after the Lancastrian victory at Wakefield (December 1460), where Margaret's army defeated and killed the Duke of York. 'Got the field' means won the battle — 'field' was the standard Elizabethan term for a pitched battle or its site.
historical Holinshed's Chronicleshistorical The Wars of the Roses
TLN 411rhetorical device
“fly like ships before the wind, Or lambs pursu'd by hunger-starved wolves”
York uses two rapid similes for his fleeing troops — ships running helplessly before a gale, then lambs chased by starving wolves. The pairing of the helpless and the predatory sharpens the sense of panic before York steadies himself into defiance.
TLN 419archaic vocab
“purple falchion painted to the hilt In blood”
A 'falchion' is a curved, broad-bladed sword with a single cutting edge — heavier and less pointed than a rapier. 'Purple' here means dark reddish-crimson, the color of blood drying on metal. York is picturing his son Edward's sword stained with blood to the very guard.
TLN 426rhetorical device
“budg'd again, as I have seen a swan With bootless labour swim against the tide”
'Budged' means gave ground or flinched — to 'budge' is to move slightly under pressure, a word used with contempt for retreat. York's simile of a swan exhausting itself fighting a tidal current captures both the beauty and futility of the Yorkist stand: powerful, effortful, and ultimately washed back.
TLN 432rhetorical device
“The sands are number'd that make up my life”
York figures his remaining moments as grains of sand — finite and countable, almost run out. The image of sand as a measure of time comes from the hourglass, which Elizabethan audiences would have recognized immediately. York is saying he has counted down to his last few moments of life.
TLN 436archaic vocab
“I am your butt, and I abide your shot”
A 'butt' was a mound of earth set up as a target for archery practice; to 'abide' means to await or stand firm for. York is challenging his enemies to do their worst — 'I am your target, and I will not run from your attack.' The archery metaphor suits the martial setting.
TLN 440classical allusion
“Phaethon hath tumbled from his car, And made an evening at the noontide prick”
Clifford mocks York's fall by comparing him to Phaethon, the reckless young man in Greek myth who borrowed his father's sun-chariot and lost control of it. Jove struck him with a thunderbolt before he could scorch the earth, plunging the world into sudden darkness — 'made an evening at the noontide prick' means brought darkness at the midday hour, when York's power was at its height.
classical Phaethon and the chariot of the sunhistorical The fall of princes (de casibus tragedy)
TLN 442classical allusion
“My ashes, as the phoenix, may bring forth A bird that will revenge upon you all”
York compares himself to the phoenix, the legendary bird of classical mythology that burns to ash every few hundred years and is reborn from its own ashes. He is prophesying that his sons will rise from his death to avenge him — a prophecy the rest of the play fulfills.
TLN 468archaic vocab
“strives the woodcock with the gin. So doth the cony struggle in the net”
A 'gin' is a snare or trap (short for 'engine' in its old mechanical sense); a 'woodcock' was proverbially the most easily caught bird — considered stupid enough to walk into an obvious trap. A 'cony' is a rabbit. Clifford and Northumberland mock York's struggles as no better than a trapped bird or rabbit: he is already caught and his thrashing is futile.
TLN 475archaic vocab
“raught at mountains with outstretched arms, Yet parted but the shadow with his hand”
'Raught' is the past tense of 'reach' — an archaic form no longer used in modern English. Margaret mocks York as someone who 'reached for mountains' (the crown) but grasped only their shadow: he had nothing real, only the illusion of power. The image echoes the myth of Tantalus, though it may simply be a proverbial gesture.
TLN 501historical topical
“A crown for York! and, lords, bow low to him”
Margaret forces her captors to stage a grotesque mock coronation — a paper crown placed on the captive York's head while lords bow to him in sarcastic obeisance. The scene is drawn from Holinshed, though Shakespeare elaborates and intensifies it, making it the scene's central theatrical act and turning Margaret's cruelty into a dark parody of the royal ceremonies York claimed.
historical Holinshed's Chronicles
TLN 518rhetorical device
“She-wolf of France, but worse than wolves of France, Whose tongue more poisons than the adder's tooth”
York attacks Margaret with two stacked animal comparisons: the 'she-wolf of France' (a female wolf, emblem of predatory savagery — French wolves were proverbially fiercer than English ones) and the adder, whose bite was said to be poisonous. The phrase 'She-wolf of France' became the most memorable tag for Margaret across the trilogy and later in literature.
TLN 521classical allusion
“triumph, like an Amazonian trull, Upon their woes whom fortune captivates”
The Amazons were a nation of warrior women in classical mythology, famous for fighting men on equal or superior terms. To call Margaret an 'Amazonian trull' (a low woman who fights like an Amazon) is to insult her simultaneously as unnatural — a woman who acts like a warrior — and as sexually degraded. York is condemning not just her cruelty but her violation of expected female behavior.
TLN 528historical topical
“Thy father bears the type of King of Naples, Of both the Sicils and Jerusalem, Yet not so wealthy as an English yeoman”
York mocks Margaret's father, Rene of Anjou, for bearing an impressive list of royal titles — King of Naples, King of Sicily, King of Jerusalem — none of which came with actual territory or income. 'Type' means title or style. A 'yeoman' was a middling English landowner; York is saying Rene's empty titles made him poorer in real wealth than a minor English farmer.
historical Holinshed's Chronicles
TLN 533cultural context
“the adage must be verified, That beggars mounted run their horse to death”
York is quoting a proverb: a beggar who suddenly acquires a horse will ride it recklessly to death, having no experience of horsemanship or care for property. Applied to Margaret, the point is that she was nobody — a poor queen from a penniless father — who, having married up into English royalty, now abuses her newfound power with the recklessness of one unused to it.
historical The great chain of being (order and degree)
TLN 541archaic vocab
“opposite to every good As the Antipodes are unto us, Or as the south to the Septentrion”
'Antipodes' are the people or places diametrically opposite on the globe — literally those who stand with feet opposite to yours, on the other side of the earth. 'Septentrion' (or septentrione) means the north, from the Latin for the seven stars of the Great Bear. York is saying Margaret is as opposite to virtue as the far side of the earth or as south is to north: perfectly, absolutely contrary.
TLN 544rhetorical device
“O tiger's heart wrapp'd in a woman's hide”
This is among the most famous lines in the Henry VI plays, and the only line Shakespeare critics know was parodied by a contemporary: Robert Greene in 1592 attacked Shakespeare as an 'upstart crow' who had written 'tiger's heart wrapp'd in a player's hide,' closely echoing this line. York condemns Margaret's cruelty as a predatory animal's nature disguised inside a woman's body.
TLN 554archaic vocab
“These tears are my sweet Rutland's obsequies, And every drop cries vengeance for his death”
'Obsequies' are funeral rites — the prayers, mourning, and ceremonies performed after a death. York is saying his tears are the only funeral service he can offer for his murdered son Rutland, since he has no time or freedom for a proper burial. The word is Latin-derived (obsequiae, from obsequi, to follow) and was common in formal Elizabethan usage.
TLN 575biblical allusion
“My soul to heaven, my blood upon your heads”
York's dying words echo a legal and biblical formula for pronouncing guilt on one's killers — 'your blood be upon your own head' means you are responsible for your own death. But inverted here ('my blood upon your heads'), it is a curse: the guilt of his murder will rest on Margaret and Clifford, who must answer for it before God. The formula comes from several Old Testament passages and recurs in the New Testament.
TLN 586historical topical
“Off with his head, and set it on York gates; So York may overlook the town of York”
After executions, the heads of traitors were commonly displayed on the gates of towns and on London Bridge as a warning and a mark of disgrace. Margaret's final act is to order York's head mounted on the Micklegate Bar, the principal gate of the city of York — a real historical action recorded by Holinshed. The grim pun ('York may overlook the town of York') is Margaret's parting cruelty.
historical Holinshed's Chronicles