Page:Richard III (1927) Yale.djvu/46

32

With that sour ferryman which poets write of,

Unto the kingdom of perpetual night.

The first that there did greet my stranger soul

Was my great father-in-law, renowned Warwick;

Who spake aloud, 'What scourge for perjury

Can this dark monarchy afford false Clarence?'

And so he vanish'd: then came wand'ring by

A shadow like an angel, with bright hair

Dabbled in blood; and he shriek'd out aloud,

'Clarence is come,—false, fleeting, perjur'd Clarence,

That stabb'd me in the field by Tewkesbury;—

Seize on him, Furies; take him unto torment!'

With that, methought, a legion of foul fiends

Environ'd me, and howled in mine ears

Such hideous cries, that with the very noise

I trembling wak'd, and for a season after

Could not believe but that I was in hell,

Such terrible impression made my dream.

Keep. No marvel, lord, though it affrighted you;

I am afraid, methinks, to hear you tell it.

Clar. Ah Keeper, Keeper! I have done these things,

That now give evidence against my soul,

For Edward's sake; and see how he requites me.

O God! if my deep prayers cannot appease thee,

But thou wilt be aveng'd on my misdeeds,

Yet execute thy wrath on me alone:

O, spare my guiltless wife and my poor children!

Keeper, I prithee sit by me a while;

My soul is heavy, and I fain would sleep.

Keep. I will, my lord. God give your Grace good rest!

[Clarence sleeps.]

 46 ferryman: Charon

49 father-in-law; cf. n.

50 scourge for perjury; cf. n.

53 A shadow: cf. n.

55 fleeting: vacillating

56 stabb'd Tewkesbury; cf. n.

64 No though: it is not strange that

74 fain: gladly

