Page:Richard III (1927) Yale.djvu/117

Richard the Third, IV. iv

Young York he is but boot, because both they

Match'd not the high perfection of my loss:

Thy Clarence he is dead that stabb'd my Edward;

And the beholders of this frantic play,

Th' adulterate Hastings, Rivers, Vaughan, Grey,

Untimely smother'd in their dusky graves.

Richard yet lives, hell's black intelligencer,

Only reserv'd their factor, to buy souls

And send them thither; but at hand, at hand,

Ensues his piteous and unpitied end:

Earth gapes, hell burns, fiends roar, saints pray,

To have him suddenly convey'd from hence.

Cancel his bond of life, dear God! I pray,

That I may live and say, The dog is dead.

Q. Eliz. O! thou didst prophesy the time would come

That I should wish for thee to help me curse

That bottled spider, that foul bunchback'd toad.

Q. Mar. I call'd thee then vain flourish of my fortune;

I call'd thee then poor shadow, painted queen;

The presentation of but what I was;

The flattering index of a direful pageant;

One heav'd a-high to be hurl'd down below;

A mother only mock'd with two fair babes;

A dream of what thou wast, a garish flag

To be the aim of every dangerous shot;

A sign of dignity, a breath, a bubble,

A queen in jest, only to fill the scene.

Where is thy husband now? where be thy brothers?

Where be thy two sons? wherein dost thou joy?

Who sues and kneels and says, 'God save the queen'?

 65 boot: something given in addition, to make up a deficiency of value

69 adulterate: adulterous

71 intelligencer: secret agent, spy

72 their: refers to hell

84 presentation: semblance

85 index pageant: cf. n.

88–90 Cf. n.

88 garish: gaudy

