Page:Richard III (1927) Yale.djvu/23

Richard the Third, I. ii

Or, by Saint Paul, I'll strike thee to my foot,

And spurn upon thee, beggar, for thy boldness.

[The Bearers set down the coffin.]

Anne. What! do you tremble? are you all afraid?

Alas! I blame you not; for you are mortal,

And mortal eyes cannot endure the devil.

Avaunt, thou dreadful minister of hell!

Thou hadst but power over his mortal body,

His soul thou canst not have: therefore, be gone.

Rich. Sweet saint, for charity, be not so curst.

Anne. Foul devil, for God's sake hence, and trouble us not;

For thou hast made the happy earth thy hell,

Fill'd it with cursing cries and deep exclaims.

If thou delight to view thy heinous deeds,

Behold this pattern of thy butcheries.

O, gentlemen, see! see! dead Henry's wounds

Open their congeal'd mouths and bleed afresh.

Blush, blush, thou lump of foul deformity,

For 'tis thy presence that exhales this blood

From cold and empty veins, where no blood dwells.

Thy deed, inhuman and unnatural,

Provokes this deluge most unnatural.

O God! which this blood mad'st, revenge his death;

O earth! which this blood drink'st, revenge his death;

Either heaven with lightning strike the murtherer dead,

Or earth, gape open wide, and eat him quick,

As thou dost swallow up this good king's blood,

Which his hell-govern'd arm hath butchered!

Rich. Lady, you know no rules of charity,

Which renders good for bad, blessings for curses.

 49 curst: malignant, shrewish

52 exclaims: exclamations

54 pattern: example

56 Open afresh; cf. n.

58 exhales: draws forth

65 quick: alive

