What do i fear myself

Ratcliffe, about the mid of night come to my tent And help to arm me. Leave me, I say. Richard gets his wine and calls for ink and paper. His last instructions are to Ratcliffe, who should come and arm him in the early morning. Then, instead of doing any crunch-time writing or planning for the battle, Richard goes to bed and falls asleep right away. Tell me, how fares our loving mother?

The silent hours steal on, And flaky darkness breaks within the east. In brief, for so the season bids us be, Prepare thy battle early in the morning, And put thy fortune to the arbitrament 95 Of bloody strokes and mortal-staring war. I, as I may—that which I would I cannot— With best advantage will deceive the time And aid thee in this doubtful shock of arms. The leisure and the fearful time Cuts off the ceremonious vows of love And ample interchange of sweet discourse, Which so-long-sundered friends should dwell upon.

God give us leisure for these rites of love! Once more, adieu. Be valiant and speed well. Back at Richmond's camp, Richmond's stepfather Stanley has arrived for a secret meeting. The two greet each other lovingly, and Stanley gives Richmond the inside scoop that he should be prepared for battle very, very early. Stanley says he'll try to do whatever he can to help Richmond by misleading Richard's forces.

He has to appear to fight on Richard's side, though, or else the king will kill Richmond's stepbrother, George Stanley. Once more, good night, kind lords and gentlemen.

O Thou, whose captain I account myself, Look on my forces with a gracious eye. Make us Thy ministers of chastisement, That we may praise Thee in the victory. Sleeping and waking, O, defend me still! Then Richmond does the opposite of what Richard did. He doesn't drink, and, having done all his homework, lies down to get as much sleep as possible so he'll be well rested for his big day tomorrow.

As if he weren't already perfect enough, Richmond says his prayers before bed. He talks to God, reiterating that he's humbly in His service. He also asks that God bless his men so they can crush their foes with irons of wrath. Despair therefore, and die! To Richmond. He exits. Think on the Tower and me. Despair and die! Harry the Sixth bids thee despair and die. Virtuous and holy, be thou conqueror. Harry, that prophesied thou shouldst be king, Doth comfort thee in thy sleep.

Live and flourish. Tomorrow in the battle think on me, And fall thy edgeless sword. Good angels guard thy battle. Awake, and win the day. They exit. Sleep, Richmond, sleep in peace and wake in joy. Live, and beget a happy race of kings. Quiet, untroubled soul, awake, awake. Tomorrow, in the battle, think on me, And fall thy edgeless sword. Thou quiet soul, sleep thou a quiet sleep. She exits. O, in the battle think on Buckingham, And die in terror of thy guiltiness.

Dream on, dream on, of bloody deeds and death. Fainting, despair; despairing, yield thy breath. I died for hope ere I could lend thee aid, But cheer thy heart, and be thou not dismayed. We then get a parade of ghosts. Each ghost speaks to Richard and then Richmond, and with some variance they establish a general pattern. They each describe who they are and the circumstances of their death to Richard. They often go on to wish or prophesy that Richard be killed in battle the next day.

Most important, every one of the ghosts also tells Richard to, in so many words, "Despair and die! After each ghost speaks with Richard, it makes its way to Richmond to deliver a counterbalancing speech of hope, love, and encouragement. Richmond is hailed as England's new king and father to a race of kings. But he is seized with renewed horror when he realizes that he himself is the most frightening person he could be left alone with. He asks himself rhetorically whether there is a murderer with him, and he realizes that he himself is a mass-murderer.

Frightened, Richard tells himself to run away, but he realizes that he cannot flee from himself. He asks himself whether he is frightened of his own revenge against himself. This idea is very interesting—the forces driving Richard have always been mysterious, and here he seems to allude to some inner demon from which even he is not safe.

But he quickly moves past this thought to assert that he could not hurt himself because he loves himself. However, he immediately realizes that he does not love himself, because he has never done anything good that merits love. Instead, he hates himself for the evil he has done to others.

But rather than feel that he has achieved his goal, Richard is suddenly afflicted with moral loathing and self-doubt, a psychological undermining that may contribute to his downfall during the battle.

SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Themes Motifs Symbols. Dream on, dream on, of bloody deeds and death. Fainting, despair; despairing, yield thy breath. He exits. Bind up my wounds! O coward conscience, how dost thou afflict me! The lights burn blue. It is now dead midnight. Cold fearful drops stand on my trembling flesh. What do I fear? Then fly! Great reason why: Lest I revenge.

What, myself upon myself? Alack, I love myself. For any good That I myself have done unto myself? O, no!