| ACT V SCENE V | Another part of the field. | |
| [
Alarum. Enter KING RICHARD III and RICHMOND; they
fight. KING RICHARD III is slain. Retreat and
flourish. Re-enter RICHMOND, DERBY bearing the
crown, with divers other Lords
] |
| RICHMOND | God and your arms be praised, victorious friends, |
| The day is ours, the bloody dog is dead. |
| DERBY | Courageous Richmond, well hast thou acquit thee. |
| Lo, here, this long-usurped royalty |
| From the dead temples of this bloody wretch | 5 |
| Have I pluck'd 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? |
| DERBY | 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? |
| DERBY | John Duke of Norfolk, Walter Lord Ferrers, |
| Sir Robert Brakenbury, and Sir William Brandon. |
| 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 frown'd upon their enmity! |
| What traitor hears me, and says not amen? |
| England hath long been mad, and scarr'd herself; |
| The brother blindly shed the brother's blood, |
| The father rashly slaughter'd his own son, | 25 |
| The son, compell'd, 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 stopp'd, peace lives again: | 40 |
| That she may long live here, God say amen! |
| [Exeunt] |
Richard III: Plot Summary