ARKCODEX
Act II, Scene 3
1London. A street.
2Enter two Citizens, meeting.
3First CitizenNeighbour, well met: whither away so fast?
4Second CitizenI promise you, I scarcely know myself:
Hear you the news abroad?
5First CitizenAy, that the king is dead.
6Second CitizenBad news, by’r lady; seldom comes the better:
I fear, I fear ’twill prove a troublous world.
7Enter another Citizen.
8Third CitizenNeighbours, God speed!
9First CitizenGive you good morrow, sir.
10Third CitizenDoth this news hold of good King Edward’s death?
11Second CitizenAy, sir, it is too true; God help the while!
12Third CitizenThen, masters, look to see a troublous world.
13First CitizenNo, no; by God’s good grace his son shall reign.
14Third CitizenWoe to the land that’s govern’d by a child!
15Second CitizenIn 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.
16First CitizenSo stood the state when Henry the Sixth
Was crown’d in Paris but at nine months old.
17Third CitizenStood 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.
18First CitizenWhy, so hath this, both by the father and mother.
19Third CitizenBetter 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.
20First CitizenCome, come, we fear the worst; all shall be well.
21Third CitizenWhen 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.
22Second CitizenTruly, the souls of men are full of dread:
Ye cannot reason almost with a man
That looks not heavily and full of fear.
23Third CitizenBefore 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?
24Second CitizenMarry, we were sent for to the justices.
25Third CitizenAnd so was I: I’ll bear you company. Exeunt.