Act 5, Scene 2

The same. A roomin the DUKE OF YORK's palace.

[Enter YORK and his DUCHESS.]
Duchess of York
2339 My Lord, you told me you would tell the rest,
2340 When weeping made you break the story off,
2341 Of our two cousins' coming into London.
Duke of York
2342 Where did I leave?
Duchess of York
2343 At that sad stop, my lord,
2344 Where rude misgoverned hands from windows' tops
2345 Threw dust and rubbish on King Richard's head.
Duke of York
2346 Then, as I said, the Duke, great Bolingbroke,
2347 Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed
2348 Which his aspiring rider seem'd to know,
2349 With slow but stately pace kept on his course,
2350 Whilst all tongues cried 'God save thee, Bolingbroke!'
2351 You would have thought the very windows spake,
2352 So many greedy looks of young and old
2353 Through casements darted their desiring eyes
2354 Upon his visage; and that all the walls
2355 With painted imagery had said at once
2356 'Jesu preserve thee! Welcome, Bolingbroke!'
2357 Whilst he, from the one side to the other turning,
2358 Bareheaded, lower than his proud steed's neck,
2359 Bespake them thus, 'I thank you, countrymen:'
2360 And thus still doing, thus he pass'd along.
Duchess of York
2361 Alack, poor Richard! where rode he the whilst?
Duke of York
2362 As in a theatre, the eyes of men
2363 After a well-grac'd actor leaves the stage
2364 Are idly bent on him that enters next,
2365 Thinking his prattle to be tedious;
2366 Even so, or with much more contempt, men's eyes
2367 Did scowl on Richard: no man cried 'God save him;'
2368 No joyful tongue gave him his welcome home;
2369 But dust was thrown upon his sacred head,
2370 Which with such gentle sorrow he shook off,
2371 His face still combating with tears and smiles,
2372 The badges of his grief and patience,
2373 That had not God, for some strong purpose, steel'd
2374 The hearts of men, they must perforce have melted,
2375 And barbarism itself have pitied him.
2376 But heaven hath a hand in these events,
2377 To whose high will we bound our calm contents.
2378 To Bolingbroke are we sworn subjects now,
2379 Whose state and honour I for aye allow.
Duchess of York
2380 Here comes my son Aumerle.
Duke of York
2381 Aumerle that was;
2382 But that is lost for being Richard's friend,
2383 And madam, you must call him Rutland now.
2384 I am in Parliament pledge for his truth
2385 And lasting fealty to the new-made king.
[Enter AUMERLE.]
Duchess of York
2386 Welcome, my son: who are the violets now
2387 That strew the green lap of the new come spring?
Duke of Aumerle
2388 Madam, I know not, nor I greatly care not.
2389 God knows I had as lief be none as one.
Duke of York
2390 Well, bear you well in this new spring of time,
2391 Lest you be cropp'd before you come to prime.
2392 What news from Oxford? hold those justs and triumphs?
Duke of Aumerle
2393 For aught I know, my lord, they do.
Duke of York
2394 You will be there, I know.
Duke of Aumerle
2395 If God prevent not, I purpose so.
Duke of York
2396 What seal is that that without thy bosom?
2397 Yea, look'st thou pale? Let me see the writing.
Duke of Aumerle
2398 My lord, 'tis nothing.
Duke of York
2399 No matter, then, who see it.
2400 I will be satisfied; let me see the writing.
Duke of Aumerle
2401 I do beseech your Grace to pardon me;
2402 It is a matter of small consequence
2403 Which for some reasons I would not have seen.
Duke of York
2404 Which for some reasons, sir, I mean to see.
2405 I fear, I fear—
Duchess of York
2406 What should you fear?
2407 'Tis nothing but some bond that he is ent'red into
2408 For gay apparel 'gainst the triumph day.
Duke of York
2409 Bound to himself! What doth he with a bond
2410 That he is bound to? Wife, thou art a fool.
2411 Boy, let me see the writing.
Duke of Aumerle
2412 I do beseech you, pardon me; I may not show it.
Duke of York
2413 I will be satisfied; let me see it, I say.
[Snatches it and reads.]
Duke of York
2414 Treason, foul treason! Villain! traitor! slave!
Duchess of York
2415 What is the matter, my lord?
Duke of York
2416 Ho! who is within there?
[Enter a Servant.]
Duke of York
2417 Saddle my horse.
2418 God for his mercy! what treachery is here!
Duchess of York
2419 Why, what is it, my lord?
Duke of York
2420 Give me my boots, I say; saddle my horse.
2421 Now, by mine honour, by my life, my troth,
2422 I will appeach the villain.
[Exit Servant.]
Duchess of York
2423 What is the matter?
Duke of York
2424 Peace, foolish woman.
Duchess of York
2425 I will not peace. What is the matter, Aumerle?
Duke of Aumerle
2426 Good mother, be content; it is no more
2427 Than my poor life must answer.
Duchess of York
2428 Thy life answer!
Duke of York
2429 Bring me my boots. I will unto the King.
[Re-enter Servant with boots.]
Duchess of York
2430 Strike him, Aumerle. Poor boy, thou art amaz'd.
[To Servant.]
Duchess of York
2431 Hence, villain! never more come in my sight.
[Exit Servant.]
Duke of York
2432 Give me my boots, I say.
Duchess of York
2433 Why, York, what wilt thou do?
2434 Wilt thou not hide the trespass of thine own?
2435 Have we more sons? or are we like to have?
2436 Is not my teeming date drunk up with time?
2437 And wilt thou pluck my fair son from mine age
2438 And rob me of a happy mother's name?
2439 Is he not like thee? Is he not thine own?
Duke of York
2440 Thou fond mad woman,
2441 Wilt thou conceal this dark conspiracy?
2442 A dozen of them here have ta'en the sacrament,
2443 And interchangeably set down their hands
2444 To kill the King at Oxford.
Duchess of York
2445 He shall be none;
2446 We'll keep him here: then what is that to him?
Duke of York
2447 Away, fond woman! were he twenty times my son
2448 I would appeach him.
Duchess of York
2449 Hadst thou groan'd for him
2450 As I have done, thou'dst be more pitiful.
2451 But now I know thy mind: thou dost suspect
2452 That I have been disloyal to thy bed
2453 And that he is a bastard, not thy son:
2454 Sweet York, sweet husband, be not of that mind.
2455 He is as like thee as a man may be
2456 Not like to me, or any of my kin,
2457 And yet I love him.
Duke of York
2458 Make way, unruly woman!
[Exit.]
Duchess of York
2459 After, Aumerle! Mount thee upon his horse;
2460 Spur post, and get before him to the king,
2461 And beg thy pardon ere he do accuse thee.
2462 I'll not be long behind; though I be old,
2463 I doubt not but to ride as fast as York:
2464 And never will I rise up from the ground
2465 Till Bolingbroke have pardon'd thee. Away! be gone.
[Exeunt.]

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Notes

TLN 2344historical topical
“rude misgoverned hands from windows' tops”
The Duchess of York reminds her husband where he broke off his account: London crowds pelting the deposed Richard II with dirt from upper-story windows as he rode captive through the city. 'Rude' here means rough and disorderly, not impolite; 'misgoverned' means unruly. Holinshed records that people threw 'filth and garbage' on Richard during his entry into London in 1399.
historical Holinshed's Chronicles
TLN 2347rhetorical device
“hot and fiery steed / Which his aspiring rider seem'd to know”
York describes Bolingbroke's horse as if it senses its rider -- the animal 'seems to know' the man it carries. This is personification: the horse is given human insight. The word 'aspiring' means aiming upward, and in Elizabethan usage it often carried a negative charge of ambitious overreach (the word applied to usurpers and men who reach above their station).
TLN 2353archaic vocab
“Through casements darted their desiring eyes”
'Casements' are windows, specifically hinged windows that swing open on a vertical hinge — like a door — rather than sliding up and down. The word was standard in Shakespeare's day for any opening window. York is picturing Londoners leaning out of their windows (and possibly opening the hinged frames wider) to stare greedily at Bolingbroke riding past.
TLN 2358historical topical
“Bareheaded, lower than his proud steed's neck”
To ride through a public street 'bareheaded' — without a hat — was a deliberate act of deference and humility in Elizabethan England; men removed their hats only before royalty, God, or to show extraordinary respect. Bolingbroke bowing so low that his head drops below his horse's neck is a theatrical performance of modesty, thanking the crowd who are cheering him to power. York's admiring account unintentionally shows how calculated the gesture is.
historical Holinshed's Chronicles
TLN 2381historical topical
“Aumerle that was; / But that is lost for being Richard's friend, / And madam, you must call him Rutland now”
York explains that his son Edward's title of Duke of Aumerle has been stripped from him by the new king as punishment for his close friendship with the deposed Richard. He is now merely Earl of Rutland, a lesser title. The new Lancastrian regime has begun rewarding loyalty and punishing association with the old king — stripping titles was a real political tool of Henry IV's government.
historical Holinshed's Chronicles
TLN 2386rhetorical device
“who are the violets now / That strew the green lap of the new come spring”
The Duchess of York asks who the new court favorites are under Henry IV, using a seasonal metaphor: 'violets' are the first flowers to bloom in spring, meaning the early courtiers who rush to flatter and attach themselves to the new king. 'The new come spring' is the new reign. The image of scattering flowers (strewing) on spring's lap is an elaborate way of asking who is jostling for royal favor now that the political season has changed.
TLN 2391wordplay
“Lest you be cropp'd before you come to prime”
York warns Aumerle to behave carefully in the new reign or he will be cut down before he reaches his best. 'Cropp'd' means cut off — both as a plant cut at the stem and as a person executed or ruined. 'Prime' means the peak of vigor and growth in a plant, and the prime of life in a person. The gardening and seasonal language the Duchess began is extended here into a quiet death-threat.
TLN 2392historical topical
“hold those justs and triumphs”
'Justs' (jousts) are knightly combat tournaments on horseback; 'triumphs' here means festive public celebrations — tournaments, pageants, and similar shows of chivalric sport, not military victories. York is asking whether the Oxford tournament scheduled for the Epiphany season is still going ahead. The tournament is the cover under which the conspirators plan to assassinate Henry IV: the gathering of armed noblemen at Oxford provides the perfect screen.
historical Holinshed's Chronicles
TLN 2422archaic vocab
“I will appeach the villain”
'Appeach' is a legal term meaning to accuse or inform against someone — specifically, to bring a formal charge of treason before a judge or the king. York is saying he will go directly to Henry IV and denounce his own son as a traitor. The word survives in the modern legal term 'impeach,' but in Shakespeare's day 'appeach' carried the specific force of an accusation before sovereign authority.
TLN 2436archaic vocab
“Is not my teeming date drunk up with time”
The Duchess of York is saying that her years of childbearing are over — 'teeming' means producing offspring abundantly (a teeming woman is one who can still conceive), and her 'date' is her term, her allotted span of fertility. 'Drunk up with time' means consumed and used up by the passing years. She is arguing that Aumerle is her only remaining child, so York cannot treat his life as expendable.
TLN 2442historical topical
“A dozen of them here have ta'en the sacrament / And interchangeably set down their hands / To kill the King at Oxford”
York reveals that roughly twelve conspirators have sworn a binding oath -- in the play, on the sacrament (the Eucharist, Christian Communion) -- and each signed the same document, pledging to murder Henry IV at Oxford. 'Ta'en the sacrament' means they swore on the consecrated host, the most binding oath in Christian practice. 'Interchangeably set down their hands' means each man signed in turn, so the document is evidence of treason by all of them.
historical Holinshed's Chronicles