Richard II, Act 2 Scene 4 runs 24 lines of dialogue, spoken by 2 speakers. That is shorter than the play’s average scene length of about 147 lines. This scene is part of Act 2 of Richard II.
Full Dialogue
Captain ♂
My lord of Salisbury, we have stay'd ten days,
And hardly kept our countrymen together,
And yet we hear no tidings from the king;
Therefore we will disperse ourselves: farewell.
And hardly kept our countrymen together,
And yet we hear no tidings from the king;
Therefore we will disperse ourselves: farewell.
Earl Of Salisbury ♂
Stay yet another day, thou trusty Welshman:
The king reposeth all his confidence in thee.
The king reposeth all his confidence in thee.
Captain ♂
'Tis thought the king is dead; we will not stay.
The bay-trees in our country are all wither'd
And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven;
The pale-faced moon looks bloody on the earth
And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change;
Rich men look sad and ruffians dance and leap,
The one in fear to lose what they enjoy,
The other to enjoy by rage and war:
These signs forerun the death or fall of kings.
Farewell: our countrymen are gone and fled,
As well assured Richard their king is dead.
The bay-trees in our country are all wither'd
And meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven;
The pale-faced moon looks bloody on the earth
And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change;
Rich men look sad and ruffians dance and leap,
The one in fear to lose what they enjoy,
The other to enjoy by rage and war:
These signs forerun the death or fall of kings.
Farewell: our countrymen are gone and fled,
As well assured Richard their king is dead.
Earl Of Salisbury ♂
Ah, Richard, with the eyes of heavy mind
I see thy glory like a shooting star
Fall to the base earth from the firmament.
Thy sun sets weeping in the lowly west,
Witnessing storms to come, woe and unrest:
Thy friends are fled to wait upon thy foes,
And crossly to thy good all fortune goes.
I see thy glory like a shooting star
Fall to the base earth from the firmament.
Thy sun sets weeping in the lowly west,
Witnessing storms to come, woe and unrest:
Thy friends are fled to wait upon thy foes,
And crossly to thy good all fortune goes.
24 lines rendered verbatim from the dialogue corpus.
Who’s On Stage
Speaking characters in this scene
| Character | Lines | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Captain | 15 | 62.5% |
| Earl Of Salisbury | 9 | 37.5% |
Line distribution
The top speaker in this scene delivers 15 lines, while the scene’s average per speaker is about 12 lines.
Total speakers on stage
2 named characters speak in this scene.
Scene in Context
Position within Act 2
This is Scene 4 of 4 in Act 2 of Richard II.
Scene length vs. play average
At 24 lines, this scene is shorter than the Richard II average scene in Richard II (~147 lines).
Adjacent scenes
Previous: Act 2 Scene 3 · Next: Act 3 Scene 1