The family Shakspeare Author:William Shakespeare Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Bushy. Old John of Gaunt is grievous sick, my lord; Suddenly taken; and hath sent post-haste, To entreat your majesty to visit him. K. Rich. Where lies he ... more »? Bushy. At Ely-house. K. Rich. Now put it, heaven, in his physician's mind, To help him to his grave immediately! The lining of his coffers shall make coats To deck our soldiers for these Irish wars. — Come, gentlemen, let's all go visit him: Pray Heaven, we may make haste, and come too late! [Exeunt. ACT II. SCENE I.—London. A Room in Ely-house. Gaunt on a Couch ; the Duke Q/tork, and others standing by him. Gaunt. Will the king come ? that I may breathe my last In wholesome counsel to his unstayed youth. York. Vex not yourself, nor strive not with your breath; —-For all in vain comes counsel to his ear. Gaunt. O, but they say, the tongues of dying men Enforce attention, like deep harmony : Where words are scarce, they are seldom spent in vain: For they breathe truth, that breathe their words in pain. He, that no more must say, is listen'd more Than they whom youth and ease have taught to glose;4 More are men's ends mark'd, than their lives before: The setting sun, and musick at the close, As the last taste of sweets, is sweetest last; Writ in remembrance, more than things long past: Though Richard my life's counsel would not hear, My death's sad tale may yet undeaf his ear. York. No; it is stopp'd with other flattering sounds, As, praises of his state: then, there are found Lascivious metres; to whose venom sound The open ear of youth doth always listen: Report of fashions in proud Italy; Whose manners still our tardy apish nation Limps after, in base imitation, Where doth the world thrust forth a vanity, (So it be new, there's no respect how vile,) That is not ...« less