Richard II Famous Quotes

This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars.

Gaunt's famous speech on England in Act 2, Scene 1, delivered by a dying man to a king he cannot reach — the praise of England is not comfort; it is accusation, building to the charge that Richard has rented the country out.

This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall, Or as a moat defensive to a house.

Gaunt continuing in Act 2, Scene 1 — the sea as a wall rather than a limit, making England a fortress by geography. The image still gets quoted in political speeches, extracted from the context of a deathbed accusation.

This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.

Gaunt's roll call of the same object in Act 2, Scene 1 — the four-part repetition is a lament, not a celebration. Each word slightly different, and none of them Richard's fault yet, which is what makes the speech a charge rather than a tribute.

For God's sake, let us sit upon the ground And tell sad stories of the death of kings.

Richard in Act 3, Scene 2, having received news that his armies have failed — the shift from royal posture to sitting on the ground is both theatrical and accurate about what is happening to him.

For within the hollow crown That rounds the mortal temples of a king Keeps Death his court.

Richard in Act 3, Scene 2, meditating on the nature of kingship — the crown is hollow because Death lives inside it. Every king is already sentenced; the ceremony is a delay, not a reprieve.

Nothing can we call our own but death And that small model of the barren earth Which serves as paste and cover to our bones.

Richard in Act 3, Scene 2, as the news gets worse — the 'small model of barren earth' is a grave. He has just been told his army is gone and his supporters have been executed.

Not all the water in the rough rude sea Can wash the balm off from an anointed king.

Richard in Act 3, Scene 2, reasserting his divine right moments before it becomes clear the assertion is wrong — 'balm' is the holy oil used in the coronation ceremony. God's anointing cannot be undone by politics. It will be.

Of comfort no man speak: Let's talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs.

Richard stopping his advisers from offering hope in Act 3, Scene 2 — his preference is to dwell in the worst possible reading rather than be misled by comfort. It is not wise, but it is honest about the situation.

Now is this golden crown like a deep well That owes two buckets, filling one another.

Richard before his forced abdication in Act 4, Scene 1, using the image of a well with two buckets to describe himself and Bolingbroke — as one rises, the other descends. The crown can only be in one place.

I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.

Richard alone in his prison in Act 5, Scene 5, composing his thoughts — the reversal is exact: time he should have used, now using him. The line is also a late acknowledgement that the accusations against him were accurate.

I have been studying how I may compare This prison where I live unto the world.

Richard's opening soliloquy in prison in Act 5, Scene 5 — a man who spent his reign performing kingship now performs philosophy in a cell. The comparison he works out (the world is a prison too) comforts him exactly as much as it should.

Down, down I come; like glistering Phaethon, Wanting the manage of unruly jades.

Richard descending from the castle walls in Act 3, Scene 3 to meet Bolingbroke — Phaethon drove the sun-chariot and could not control the horses, plunging toward earth. Richard uses the myth to make his own descent feel cosmic.

The lion dying thrusteth forth his paw, And wounds the earth, if nothing else, with rage.

Richard to Northumberland in Act 5, Scene 1, on his way to prison — the lion image is his claim to dignity in defeat. Whether his actual behaviour supports this reading is something the play leaves open.

The shadow of your sorrow hath destroy'd The shadow of your face.

Bolingbroke to Richard in Act 4, Scene 1, after Richard calls for a mirror and smashes it — Bolingbroke's point is that grief has already done more damage than the broken glass, and the mirror just confirmed it.

Time hath set a blot upon my pride.

Richard in Act 3, Scene 2, acknowledging that time has marked him — a blot is a stain on a page, and the metaphor imagines his reign as a text now marked by events he should have anticipated and prevented.