And pitied me, and kindly kiss'd my cheek; 24
Bade me rely on him, as on my father,
And he would love me dearly as a child.
Duch. Ah! that deceit should steal such gentle shape,
And with a virtuous visor hide deep vice. 28
He is my son, ay, and therein my shame,
Yet from my dugs he drew not this deceit.
Edw. Think you my uncle did dissemble, grandam?
Duch. Ay, boy. 32
Edw. I cannot think it. Hark! what noise is this?
Enter the Queen [Elizabeth] with her hair about her ears; Rivers and Dorset after her.
Q. Eliz. 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, 36
And to myself become an enemy.
Duch. What means this scene of rude impatience?
Q. Eliz. To make an act of tragic violence:
Edward, my lord, thy son, our king, is dead! 40
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; 44
Or, like obedient subjects, follow him
To his new kingdom of ne'er-changing night.
Duch. Ah! so much interest have I in thy sorrow
As I had title in thy noble husband. 48
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, 52
24 Cf. n.
27 shape: outward appearance
28 visor: mask
40 Edward; cf. n.
50 images: i.e. children
