Chapter: Scoena Quinta.

Flourish. Enter Bullingbrooke, Yorke, with other Lords &
attendants.

  Bul. Kinde Vnkle Yorke, the latest newes we heare,
Is that the Rebels haue consum'd with fire
Our Towne of Cicester in Gloucestershire,
But whether they be tane or slaine, we heare not.
Enter Northumberland.

Welcome my Lord: What is the newes?
  Nor. First to thy Sacred State, wish I all happinesse:
The next newes is, I haue to London sent
The heads of Salsbury, Spencer, Blunt, and Kent:
The manner of their taking may appeare
At large discoursed in this paper heere

   Bul. We thank thee gentle Percy for thy paines,
And to thy worth will adde right worthy gaines.
Enter Fitzwaters.

  Fitz. My Lord, I haue from Oxford sent to London,
The heads of Broccas, and Sir Bennet Seely,
Two of the dangerous consorted Traitors,
That sought at Oxford, thy dire ouerthrow

   Bul. Thy paines Fitzwaters shall not be forgot,
Right Noble is thy merit, well I wot.
Enter Percy and Carlile.

  Per. The grand Conspirator, Abbot of Westminster,
With clog of Conscience, and sowre Melancholly,
Hath yeelded vp his body to the graue:
But heere is Carlile, liuing to abide
Thy Kingly doome, and sentence of his pride

   Bul. Carlile, this is your doome:
Choose out some secret place, some reuerend roome
More then thou hast, and with it ioy thy life:
So as thou liu'st in peace, dye free from strife:
For though mine enemy, thou hast euer beene,
High sparkes of Honor in thee haue I seene.
Enter Exton with a Coffin.

  Exton. Great King, within this Coffin I present
Thy buried feare. Heerein all breathlesse lies
The mightiest of thy greatest enemies
Richard of Burdeaux, by me hither brought

   Bul. Exton, I thanke thee not, for thou hast wrought
A deede of Slaughter, with thy fatall hand,
Vpon my head, and all this famous Land.

Ex.

From your owne mouth my Lord, did I this deed

   Bul. They loue not poyson, that do poyson neede,
Nor do I thee: though I did wish him dead,
I hate the Murtherer, loue him murthered.
The guilt of conscience take thou for thy labour,
But neither my good word, nor Princely fauour.
With Caine go wander through the shade of night,
And neuer shew thy head by day, nor light.
Lords, I protest my soule is full of woe,
That blood should sprinkle me, to make me grow.
Come mourne with me, for that I do lament,
And put on sullen Blacke incontinent:
Ile make a voyage to the Holy-land,
To wash this blood off from my guilty hand.
March sadly after, grace my mourning heere,
In weeping after this vntimely Beere.

Exeunt.

FINIS. The life and death of King Richard the Second.

 In prison at Pomfret Castle, Richard gives a long, weird, but very poetic speech about his loneliness. He says he can't compare his prison to the rest of the world because the world is full of people and he is all alone in prison. Then he imagines that his brain is female and his soul is male. If his brain and soul could get together and breed, he could "people" his prison with a bunch of his thoughts. Then he imagines digging his way out of his walls and takes comfort in imagining other people who have also suffered. In this way he plays the roles of many people, though none of them are happy. Sometimes he is a king and wishes he were a beggar, since beggars are immune to treason. But poverty makes him think he was better off as king. In the end, he decides no man will be happy until he is "eased with being nothing" - that is, dead. A Groom comes in and tells Richard that he just saw Henry riding Richard's old horse through the streets on his way to be officially crowned king. Richard asks how "Barbary" behaved under his new master. Proudly, the groom says. Richard declares that his horse is an ingrate and a traitor. A Keeper comes in with a dish of food and tells the Groom to leave. The Groom reluctantly does so. The Keeper invites Richard to chow down, but Richard thinks this isn't a great idea. Maybe the Keeper should taste the food first, just to see what will happen. The Keeper says he doesn't dare: Sir Piers of Exton, who comes from the king, told him not to. Richard figures the plate of food has been poisoned. He declares, "The devil take Henry of Lancaster and thee!" and attacks the Keeper. Exton and four of his servants rush in. Richard snatches one of the servants' weapons and kills him with it. Then Richard kills another. Then Exton stabs Richard. Richard's not about to go down quietly. He accuses Exton of staining "the king's own land" with royal blood. Then he dies. Exton admires Richard's courage and says he feels kind of bad about killing the former king. He wishes he hadn't done it. They exit with the dead bodies.

