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Needs must I like it well. I weep for joy
To stand upon my kingdom once again.
Dear earth, I do salute thee with my hand,
Though rebels wound thee with their horses’ hoofs.
As a long-parted mother with her child
Plays fondly with her tears and smiles in meeting,
So, weeping, smiling, greet I thee, my earth,
And do thee favors with my royal hands.
Feed not thy sovereign’s foe, my gentle earth,
Nor with thy sweets comfort his ravenous sense,
But let thy spiders, that suck up thy venom,
And heavy-gaited toads lie in their way,
Doing annoyance to the treacherous feet
Which with usurping steps do trample thee.
(Act 3, scene 2, lines 4–17)
King Richard speaks these words when he first sets foot on British soil upon returning from the war in Ireland. He has heard of Bolingbroke’s return to England, and he has rushed home as quickly as possible. Relieved to have reached land after a rough sea journey, Richard praises England. He also explicitly “salute[s]” the land and calls on it to aid him in his defense of the crown. After comparing himself to a mother reunited with her child after a long departure, he asks the land to offer no sustenance to his enemies, and to trample the “usurping steps” of foes who “trample thee.” Richard’s earnest salute to the land is ironic in two distinct ways. First, his speech clearly echoes the monologue John of Gaunt delivered at the top of act 2. Gaunt’s speech begins as a paean to England, but eventually transforms into a fierce lament for the kingdom’s increasing degradation. Gaunt attributes the desecration of the soil to Richard’s villainy and ineptitude. Ironically, Richard’s words here echo this speech that, though meant for his ears, he never actually heard, since he cruelly delayed his arrival at Gaunt’s deathbed.
Richard’s speech is also ironic for the more immediate reason that, even before his arrival in Wales, he has already effectively lost his kingdom. Just the previous day, the Welsh army that had been posted to aid him in defeating Bolingbroke disbanded, believing the king to be dead. Without an army, Richard lacks the material means to defend his claim to the throne. But even if Richard still had an army to engage in battle, Bolingbroke has already won the war. With a few careful maneuvers he has preemptively converted most of the royal court to his side and placed the queen under watch, essentially imprisoning her. Richard doesn’t yet know any of this when he utters these words, but the audience does, which suffuses this speech the pathos of tragic irony. Whereas Richard begins this scene assured of his position, by the scene’s end he acknowledges his profound loss: “Subjected thus, / How can you say to me I am a king?” (3.2.181–82).
