Page:Henry VI Part 2 (1923) Yale.djvu/84

72 

Queen. Whither goes Vaux so fast? what news, I prithee?

Vaux. To signify unto his majesty

That Cardinal Beaufort is at point of death;

For suddenly a grievous sickness took him,

That makes him gasp and stare, and catch the air,

Blaspheming God, and cursing men on earth.

Sometime he talks as if Duke Humphrey's ghost

Were by his side; sometime he calls the king,

And whispers to his pillow, as to him,

The secrets of his overcharged soul:

And I am sent to tell his majesty

That even now he cries aloud for him.

Queen. Go tell this heavy message to the king.

Exit [Vaux].

Ay me! what is this world! what news are these!

But wherefore grieve I at an hour's poor loss,

Omitting Suffolk's exile, my soul's treasure?

Why only, Suffolk, mourn I not for thee,

And with the southern clouds contend in tears,

Theirs for the earth's increase, mine for my sorrows?

Now get thee hence: the king, thou know'st, is coming;

If thou be found by me thou art but dead.

Suf. If I depart from thee I cannot live;

And in thy sight to die, what were it else

But like a pleasant slumber in thy lap?

Here could I breathe my soul into the air,

As mild and gentle as the cradle-babe,

Dying with mother's dug between its lips;

Where, from thy sight, I should be raging mad,

And cry out for thee to close up mine eyes,

 369 Cf. n.

381 hour's poor loss: petty transitory grief

382 Omitting: ignoring

384 southern: i.e. fog-laden

387 by: with

393 its; cf. n. 