SCENE III. London. A street. The Life and Death of Richard the Third  Shakespeare homepage  |  Richard III  | Act 2, Scene 3 

 Previous scene  |  Next scene  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. 



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