The Complete Works of William Shakespeare In Plain and Simple English (Translated) (72 page)

God will revenge it; whom I will importune

With earnest prayers all to that effect.

So you believe, grandmother, that he is dead.

My uncle the king is to blame for it.

God will take revenge; and I will beg

for him to do so in my prayers.

DAUGHTER.

And so will I.

And so will I.

DUCHESS.

Peace, children, peace! The King doth love you

well.

Incapable and shallow innocents,

You cannot guess who caus'd your father's death.

Peace, children, peace! The King loves you very much.

You are ignorant of the ways of the world,

you cannot guess who caused your father's death.

SON.

Grandam, we can; for my good uncle Gloucester

Told me the King, provok'd to it by the Queen,

Devis'd impeachments to imprison him.

And when my uncle told me so, he wept,

And pitied me, and kindly kiss'd my cheek;

Bade me rely on him as on my father,

And he would love me dearly as a child.

Grandmother, we can; my good uncle Gloucester

told me that the King, egged on by the Queen,

invented charges to have him imprisoned.

And when my uncle told me about it, he wept,

and pitied me, and affectionately kissed my cheeks;

he said to regard him as my father, and

that he would love me as dearly as his own child.

DUCHESS.

Ah, that deceit should steal such gentle shape,

And with a virtuous vizor hide deep vice!

He is my son; ay, and therein my shame;

Yet from my dugs he drew not this deceit.

How terrible that deceit should assume such a gentle form,

and hide his deep sins behind a mask of virtue!

He is my son; that is shameful to me;

but he did not learn this deceit at my breast.

SON.

Think you my uncle did dissemble, grandam?

Do you think my uncle was lying, grandmother?

DUCHESS.

Ay, boy.

Yes, boy.

SON.

I cannot think it. Hark! what noise is this?

I can't believe it. Listen! What's this noise?

Enter QUEEN ELIZABETH, with her hair about her

ears; RIVERS and DORSET after her

QUEEN ELIZABETH.

Ah, who shall hinder me to wail and

weep,

To chide my fortune, and torment myself?

I'll join with black despair against my soul

And to myself become an enemy.

Ah, who can stop me wailing and weeping,

cursing my fortune, and torturing myself?

I'll ally myself with black despair and attack my soul,

becoming my own enemy.

DUCHESS.

What means this scene of rude impatience?

What is the meaning of this vulgar hysteria?

QUEEN ELIZABETH.

To make an act of tragic violence.

 Edward, my lord, thy son, our king, is dead.

Why grow the branches when the root is gone?

Why wither not the leaves that want their sap?

If you will live, lament; if die, be brief,

That our swift-winged souls may catch the King's,

Or like obedient subjects follow him

To his new kingdom of ne'er-changing night.

I am marking an act of tragic violence.

Edward, my lord, your son, our King, is dead.

Why do the branches grow when the root is dead?

Why don't the leaves, lacking sap, die?

If you want to live, grieve; if you're going to die, do it quickly,

so that our swift winged souls may catch up with the King's,

following him like obedient subjects

into his new kingdom of eternal darkness.

DUCHESS.

Ah, so much interest have I in thy sorrow

As I had title in thy noble husband!

I have bewept a worthy husband's death,

And liv'd with looking on his images;

But now two mirrors of his princely semblance

Are crack'd in pieces by malignant death,

And I for comfort have but one false glass,

That grieves me when I see my shame in him.

Thou art a widow, yet thou art a mother

And hast the comfort of thy children left;

But death hath snatch'd my husband from mine arms

And pluck'd two crutches from my feeble hands-

Clarence and Edward. O, what cause have I-

Thine being but a moiety of my moan-

To overgo thy woes and drown thy cries?

I share as much in your sorrow

as I shared in the rights to your noble husband.

I have wept for the death of a good husband,

and spent my life looking at his images:

but now two copies of his royal appearance

have been smashed to pieces by malignant death;

and all I have to comfort me is one false copy,

that makes me sorrowful to see my shame in him.

You are widowed–but you are a mother,

and have the comfort of your children left;

but death has snatched my husband from my arms

and torn my two crutches from my feeble hands:

Clarence and Edward. Oh, what good reasons I have,

your sorrows being just a fraction of mine,

to exceed your lamenting and drown out your cries.

SON.

Ah, aunt, you wept not for our father's death!

How can we aid you with our kindred tears?

Ah, aunt, you did not weep at the death of our father!

How can we help you with similar tears?

DAUGHTER.

Our fatherless distress was left unmoan'd;

Your widow-dolour likewise be unwept!

You did not support us in our fatherless distress;

and so may the sorrow of your widowhood be unmourned in the same way!

QUEEN ELIZABETH.

Give me no help in lamentation;

I am not barren to bring forth complaints.

All springs reduce their currents to mine eyes

That I, being govern'd by the watery moon,

May send forth plenteous tears to drown the world!

Ah for my husband, for my dear Lord Edward!

I don't need your help in sorrowing;

I can do enough on my own.

The streams of all springs run into my eyes,

so that I, being under the influence of the watery moon,

can send out a flood of tears to drown the world.

Alas for my husband, for my dear lord Edward!

CHILDREN.

Ah for our father, for our dear Lord Clarence!

Alas for our father, for our dear Lord Clarence!

DUCHESS.

Alas for both, both mine, Edward and Clarence!

Alas for both, both of them mine, Edward and Clarence!

QUEEN ELIZABETH.

What stay had I but Edward? and he's

gone.

What support did I have apart from Edward? And he is gone.

CHILDREN.

What stay had we but Clarence? and he's gone.

What support did we have apart from Clarence? And he is gone.

DUCHESS.

What stays had I but they? and they are gone.

What supports did I have but those two? And they are gone.

QUEEN ELIZABETH.

Was never widow had so dear a loss.

No widow ever suffered such a grievous loss.

CHILDREN.

Were never orphans had so dear a loss.

No orphans ever suffered such a grievous loss.

DUCHESS.

Was never mother had so dear a loss.

Alas, I am the mother of these griefs!

Their woes are parcell'd, mine is general.

She for an Edward weeps, and so do I:

I for a Clarence weep, so doth not she.

These babes for Clarence weep, and so do I:

I for an Edward weep, so do not they.

Alas, you three on me, threefold distress'd,

Pour all your tears! I am your sorrow's nurse,

And I will pamper it with lamentation.

No mother ever suffered such a grievous loss.

Alas, I am the mother of these sorrows!

Their sorrows are partial, mine are overwhelming.

She weeps for Edward, and so do I:

I weep for Clarence, and she does not.

These children weep for Clarence, and so do I:

I weep for Redwood, and they do not.

Alas, you three, with your triple distress,

Pour all your tears on me! I am the nurse to your sorrow,

and I will feed it with wailing.

DORSET.

Comfort, dear mother. God is much displeas'd

That you take with unthankfulness his doing.

In common worldly things 'tis called ungrateful

With dull unwillingness to repay a debt

Which with a bounteous hand was kindly lent;

Much more to be thus opposite with heaven,

For it requires the royal debt it lent you.

Be calm, dear mother. God is very displeased

that you are ungrateful for his deeds.

In the ordinary way of the world it is called ungrateful

to be sullenly unwilling to repay a debt

which was generously and kindly lent;

it is much worse to be ungrateful to heaven,

when it reclaims this royal person it lent to you.

RIVERS.

Madam, bethink you, like a careful mother,

Of the young prince your son. Send straight for him;

Let him be crown'd; in him your comfort lives.

Drown desperate sorrow in dead Edward's grave,

And plant your joys in living Edward's throne.

Madam, consider, like a good mother,

the young Prince, your son. Sent forhim at once;

let him be crowned; that's where your comfort lies.

Bury your desperate sorrow in the grave of dead Edward,

and grow your happiness from the throne of the living Edward.

Enter RICHARD, BUCKINGHAM, DERBY,

HASTINGS, and RATCLIFF

RICHARD.

Sister, have comfort. All of us have cause

To wail the dimming of our shining star;

But none can help our harms by wailing them.

Madam, my mother, I do cry you mercy;

I did not see your Grace. Humbly on my knee

I crave your blessing.

Sister, be comforted. All of us have reason

to be sorrowful at the death of our leader;

but wailing about it won't do any good.

Madam, my mother, I beg you to forgive me;

I did not see your Grace. I humbly kneel

and ask for your blessing.

DUCHESS.

God bless thee; and put meekness in thy breast,

Love, charity, obedience, and true duty!

God bless you; may he make you meek, with

love, charity, obedience and true duty!

RICHARD.

Amen![Aside]And make me die a good old

man!