Richard III

Richard III

ACT II SCENE III	London. A street.
	Enter two Citizens meeting
First Citizen	Neighbour, well met: whither away so fast?
Second Citizen	I promise you, I scarcely know myself:
	Hear you the news abroad?
First Citizen	Ay, that the king is dead.	5
Second Citizen	Bad news, by'r lady; seldom comes the better:
	I fear, I fear 'twill prove a troublous world.
	Enter another Citizen
Third Citizen	Neighbours, God speed!
First Citizen	Give you good morrow, sir.
Third Citizen	Doth this news hold of good King Edward's death?	10
Second Citizen	Ay, sir, it is too true; God help the while!
Third Citizen	Then, masters, look to see a troublous world.
First Citizen	No, no; by God's good grace his son shall reign.
Third Citizen	Woe to the land that's govern'd by a child!
Second Citizen	In him there is a hope of government,	15
	That in his nonage council under him,
	And in his full and ripen'd years himself,
	No doubt, shall then and till then govern well.
First Citizen	So stood the state when Henry the Sixth
	Was crown'd in Paris but at nine months old.	20
Third Citizen	Stood the state so? No, no, good friends, God wot;
	For then this land was famously enrich'd
	With politic grave counsel; then the king
	Had virtuous uncles to protect his grace.
First Citizen	Why, so hath this, both by the father and mother.	25
Third Citizen	Better it were they all came by the father,
	Or by the father there were none at all;
	For emulation now, who shall be nearest,
	Will touch us all too near, if God prevent not.
	O, full of danger is the Duke of Gloucester!	30
	And the queen's sons and brothers haught and proud:
	And were they to be ruled, and not to rule,
	This sickly land might solace as before.
First Citizen	Come, come, we fear the worst; all shall be well.
Third Citizen	When clouds appear, wise men put on their cloaks;	35
	When great leaves fall, the winter is at hand;
	When the sun sets, who doth not look for night?
	Untimely storms make men expect a dearth.
	All may be well; but, if God sort it so,
	'Tis more than we deserve, or I expect.	40
Second Citizen	Truly, the souls of men are full of dread:
	Ye cannot reason almost with a man
	That looks not heavily and full of fear.
Third Citizen	Before the times of change, still is it so:
	By a divine instinct men's minds mistrust	45
	Ensuing dangers; as by proof, we see
	The waters swell before a boisterous storm.
	But leave it all to God. whither away?
Second Citizen	Marry, we were sent for to the justices.
Third Citizen	And so was I: I'll bear you company.	50
	Exeunt