KING RICHARD THE THIRD

Act AP Scene J

	[[After 4.4.221]]
l1l	King Richard	 You speak as if that I had slain my cousins.
l2l	Queen Elizabeth	Cousins indeed, and by their uncle cozened
l3l		Of comfort, kingdom, kindred, freedom, life.
l4l		Whose hand soever lanced their tender hearts,
l5l		Thy head all indirectly gave direction.
l6l		No doubt the murd’rous knife was dull and blunt
l7l		Till it was whetted on thy stone-hard heart
l8l		To revel in the entrails of my lambs.
l9l		But that still use of grief makes wild grief tame,
l10l		My tongue should to thy ears not name my boys
l11l		Till that my nails were anchored in thine eyes—
l12l		And I in such a desp’rate bay of death,
l13l		Like a poor barque of sails and tackling reft,
l14l		Rush all to pieces on thy rocky bosom.