Richard III - Act 2 - Scene 3

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.

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?

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,
    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.

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.

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!
    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;
    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.

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
    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.

    Exeunt