SCENE I.
A Heath.
A storm is heard, with thunder and lightning. Enter Kent, and a Gentleman, meeting.
Kent.
Who's there, beside foul weather?
Gent.
One minded like the weather, most unquietly.
Kent.
I know you; Where's the king?
Gent.
Contending with the fretful element:
Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea,
Or swell the curled waters 'bove the main3 note
9Q1087,
That things might change, or cease: 4 note
tears his white hair;
Which the impetuous blasts, with eyeless rage,
Catch in their fury, and make nothing of:
Strives in his little world of man to out-scorn
The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain.
5 note
This night, wherein the cub-drawn bear would couch,
-- 450 --
The lion and the belly-pinched wolf
Keep their fur dry, unbonneted he runs,
And bids what will take all.
Kent.
But who is with him?
Gent.
None but the fool; who labours to out-jest
His heart-struck injuries.
Kent.
Sir, I do know you;
And dare, upon the warrant of 6 note
my note,
Commend a dear thing to you. There is division,
Although as yet the face of it be cover'd
With mutual cunning, 'twixt Albany and Cornwall;
7 note
Who have (as who have not, that their great stars
Throne and set high?) servants, who seem no less;
Which are to France the spies and speculations
Intelligent of our state; what hath been seen8 note,
-- 451 --
9 note
Either in snuffs and packings of the dukes;
Or the hard rein which both of them have borne
Against the old kind king; or something deeper,
Whereof, perchance, these 1 note
are but furnishings;—
[2 noteBut, true it is, 3 note
from France there comes a power
-- 452 --
Into this scatter'd kingdom; who already,
Wise in our negligence, have secret fee
In some of our best ports, and are at point
-- 453 --
To shew their open banner,—Now to you:
If on my credit you dare build so far
To make your speed to Dover, you shall find
Some that will thank you, making just report
Of how unnatural and bemadding sorrow
The king hath cause to plain.
I am a gentleman of blood and breeding,
And from some knowledge and assurance, offer
This office to you.]
Gent.
I will talk further with you.
Kent.
No, do not.
For confirmation that I am much more
Than my out wall, open this purse, and take
What it contains: If you shall see Cordelia,
(As fear not but you shall) shew her this ring;
And she will tell you who your fellow is
That yet you do not know. Fie on this storm!
I will go seek the king.
Gent.
Give me your hand: Have you no more to say?
Kent.
Few words, but, to effect, more than all yet;
That, when we have found 4 note
the king, (in which your pain
That way; I'll this,) he that first lights on him,
Holla the other.
[Exeunt severally.
-- 454 --
SCENE II.
Another part of the heath.
Storm still. Enter Lear, and Fool.
Lear.
Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!
You cataracts, and hurricanoes, spout
'Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!
You sulphurous and 5 notethought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers6 note
to oak-cleaving thunder-bolts,
Singe my white head! And thou all-shaking thunder,
7 noteStrike flat the thick rotundity o' the world!
8 note
Crack nature's moulds; all germens spill at once9 note
,
That make ingrateful man!
-- 455 --
Fool.
O nuncle, court holy-water1 note in a dry house
is better than this rain-water out o' door. Good
nuncle, in, and ask thy daughters blessing; here's a
night pities neither wise men nor fools.
Lear.
Rumble thy belly full! Spit, fire! spout, rain!
Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters:
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness,
I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children,
2 noteYou owe me no subscription; why then let fall
Your horrible pleasure; 3 note
here I stand, your slave,
A poor, infirm, weak, and despis'd old man:—
But yet I call you servile ministers,
That have with two pernicious daughters join'd
Your high-engender'd battles, 'gainst a head
So old and white as this. O! O! 4 note'tis foul!
Fool.
He that has a house to put's head in, has a
good head-piece.
-- 456 --
The cod-piece that will house,
Before the head has any:
The head and he shall louse;—
5 noteSo beggars marry many.
The man that makes his toe
What he his heart should make,
Shall of a corn cry, woe!
And turn his sleep to wake.
—for there was never yet fair woman, but she
made mouths in a glass.
Enter Kent.
Lear.
6 note
No, I will be the pattern of all patience,
I will say nothing.
Kent.
Who's there?
Fool.
Marry, here's grace, and a cod-piece7 note;
that's a wise man, and a fool.
Kent.
Alas sir, 8 noteare you here? things that love night,
Love not such nights as these; the wrathful skies
9 note
Gallow the very wanderers of the dark,
And make them keep their caves: Since I was man,
-- 457 --
Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder,
Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never
Remember to have heard: man's nature cannot carry
The affliction, nor the 1 notefear.
Lear.
Let the great gods,
That keep 2 note
this dreadful pother o'er our heads,
Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou wretch,
That hast within thee undivulged crimes,
Unwhipt of justice: Hide thee, thou bloody hand;
Thou perjur'd, and 3 note
thou simular man of virtue
That art incestuous: Caitiff, to pieces shake,
4 noteThat under covert and convenient seeming
Hast practis'd on man's life!—Close pent-up guilts,
Rive your 5 note
concealing continents, 6 note
and cry
-- 458 --
These dreadful summoners grace.—I am a man7 note
,
More sinn'd against, than sinning.
Kent.
Alack, bare-headed!
Gracious my lord, hard by here is a hovel;
Some friendship will it lend you 'gainst the tempest;
Repose you there: while I to this hard house,
(More hard than is the stone whereof 'tis rais'd;
Which even but now, demanding after you,
Deny'd me to come in) return, and force
Their scanted courtesy.
Lear.
My wits begin to turn.—
Come on, my boy: How dost, my boy? Art cold?
I am cold myself.—Where is this straw, my fellow?
The art of our necessities is strange,
That can make vile things precious. Come, your hovel.—
Poor fool and knave, I have 8 note
one part in my heart
That's sorry yet for thee.
Fool.
9 note
He that has a little tiny wit,—
With heigh, ho, the wind and the rain—
-- 459 --
Must make content with his fortunes fit;
For the rain it raineth every day.
Lear.
True, my good boy.—Come, bring us to
this hovel.
[Exit.
Fool.
This is a brave night to cool a courtezan.
1 note
I'll speak a prophecy ere I go:
-- 460 --
When priests are more in word than matter;
When brewers mar their malt with water;
2 noteWhen nobles are their tailors' tutors;
3 noteNo heretics burn'd, but wenches' suitors:
Then comes the time, who lives to see't,
That going shall be us'd with feet.—
When every case in law is right;
No squire in debt, nor no poor knight;
When slanders do not live in tongues;
Nor cut-purses come not to throngs;
When usurers tell their gold i' the field;
And bawds, and whores, do churches build;—
Then shall the realm of Albion
Come to great confusion.
-- 461 --
4 note
This prophecy Merlin shall make; for I live before
his time.
[Exit.
SCENE III.
An apartment in Gloster's castle.
Enter Gloster, and Edmund.
Glo.
Alack, alack, Edmund, I like not this unnatural
dealing: When I desir'd their leave that I
might pity him, they took from me the use of mine
own house; charg'd me, on pain of their perpetual
displeasure, neither to speak of him, entreat for him,
nor any way sustain him.
Edm.
Most savage, and unnatural!
Glo.
Go to; say you nothing: There is division
between the dukes; and a worse matter than that: I
have received a letter this night;—'tis dangerous to
be spoken.—I have lock'd the letter in my closet:
these injuries the king now bears will be revenged
home; there is part of a power already footed:
we must incline to the king. I will seek him, and
privily relieve him: go you, and maintain talk
with the duke, that my charity be not of him perceived:
If he ask for me, I am ill, and gone to
bed. If I die for it, as no less is threaten'd me,
the king my old master must be relieved. There is
some strange thing toward, Edmund; pray you, be
careful.
[Exit.
-- 462 --
Edm.
This courtesy, forbid thee, shall the duke
Instantly know; and of that letter too:—
This seems a fair deserving, and must draw me
That which my father loses; no less than all:
The younger rises, when the old doth fall.
[Exit.
SCENE IV.
A part of the heath, with a hovel.
Enter Lear, Kent, and Fool.
Kent.
Here is the place, my lord; good my lord, enter:
The tyranny of the open night's too rough
For nature to endure.
[Storm still.
Lear.
Let me alone.
Kent.
Good my lord, enter here.
Lear.
Wilt break my heart?
Kent.
I'd rather break mine own: Good my lord, enter.
Lear.
Thou think'st 'tis much, that this contentious storm
Invades us to the skin: so 'tis to thee;
But where the greater malady is fix'd,
The lesser is scarce felt5 note
. Thou'dst shun a bear;
But if thy flight lay toward the 6 noteraging sea,
Thou'dst meet the bear i' the mouth. When the mind's free,
The body's delicate: the tempest in my mind
-- 463 --
Doth from my senses take all feeling else,
Save what beats there.—Filial ingratitude!
Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand,
For lifting food to't?—But I will punish home:—
No, I will weep no more.—In such a night7 note
To shut me out!—Pour on; I will endure:—
In such a night as this! O Regan, Goneril!—
Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave you all,—
O, that way madness lies; let me shun that;
No more of that,—
Kent.
Good my lord, enter here.
Lear.
Pr'ythee, go in thyself; seek thine own ease;
This tempest will not give me leave to ponder
On things would hurt me more.—But I'll go in:—
8 noteIn, boy: go first.—[To the Fool.] You houseless poverty,—
Nay, get thee in. I'll pray, and then I'll sleep.—
[Fool goes in.
Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are,
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads, and unfed sides,
Your loop'd and window'd raggedness9 note
, defend you
-- 464 --
From seasons such as these? O, I have ta'en
Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp;
Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel;
That thou may'st shake the superflux to them,
And shew the heavens more just.9Q1088
Edg. [within.]
Fathom and half1 note, fathom and half! Poor Tom!
Fool.
Come not in here, nuncle, here's a spirit.
Help me, help me!
[The Fool runs out from the hovel.
Kent.
Give me thy hand.—Who's there?
Fool.
A spirit, a spirit; he says his name's poor Tom.
Kent.
What art thou that dost grumble there i' the straw?
Come forth.
Enter Edgar, disguised as a madman.
Edg.
Away! the foul fiend follows me!—
Through the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind.—
2 note
Humph! go to thy cold bed, and warm thee.
Lear.
Hast thou given all to thy two daughters3 note?
And art thou come to this?
Edg.
Who gives any thing to poor Tom? whom
the foul fiend hath 4 noteled through fire and through
flame, through ford and whirlpool, over bog and
-- 465 --
quagmire; that hath 5 note
laid knives under his pillow,
and halters in his pew; set ratsbane by his porridge;
made him proud of heart, to ride on a bay trotting
horse over four-inch'd bridges, to course his own
shadow for a traitor:—6 note
Bless thy five wits! Tom's
a-cold.—O, do de, do de, do de.—Bless thee from
-- 466 --
whirlwinds, star-blasting, and 7 note
taking! Do poor
Tom some charity, whom the foul fiend vexes:—
There could I have him now,—and there,—and
there,—and there again, and there.
[Storm still.
Lear.
What, have his daughters brought him to this pass?—
Could'st thou save nothing? Didst thou give them all?
Fool.
Nay, he reserv'd a blanket, else we had been
all shamed.
Lear.
Now, all the plagues that in the pendulous air
Hang fated o'er men's faults, light on thy daughters!
Kent.
He hath no daughters, sir.
Lear.
Death, traitor! nothing could have subdu'd nature
To such a lowness, but his unkind daughters.—
Is it the fashion, that discarded fathers
Should have thus little mercy on their flesh?
Judicious punishment! 'twas this flesh begot
Those 8 note
pelican daughters.
Edg.
Pillicock sat on pillicock-hill;—
Halloo, halloo, loo, loo!
Fool.
This cold night will turn us all to fools and
madmen.
Edg.
Take heed o' the foul fiend: Obey thy parents;
keep thy word justly; swear not; commit
-- 467 --
not9 note
with man's sworn spouse; set not thy sweet
heart on proud array:—Tom's a-cold.
Lear.
What hast thou been?
Edg.
A serving-man, proud in heart and mind;
that curl'd my hair, 1 note
wore gloves in my cap, serv'd the
lust of my mistress's heart, and did the act of darkness
with her: swore as many oaths as I spake words, and
broke them in the sweet face of heaven: one, that slept
in the contriving of lust, and wak'd to do it: Wine
lov'd I deeply; dice dearly; and in woman, out-paramour'd
the Turk: False of heart, 2 note
light of ear,
bloody of hand; 3 noteHog in sloth, fox in stealth,
-- 468 --
wolf in greediness, dog in madness, lion in prey.
Let not the creaking of shoes, nor the rustling of
silks, betray thy poor heart to women: Keep thy
foot out of brothels, thy hand out of plackets4 note
,
thy pen from lenders' books5 note
, and defy the foul
fiend.—Still through the hawthorn blows the cold
wind: 6 note
Says suum, mun, ha no nonny, dolphin
my boy, boy, Sessy; let him trot by.
[Storm still.
-- 469 --
Lear.
Why thou were better in thy grave, than
to answer with thy uncover'd body this extremity of
the skies.—Is man no more than this? Consider him
well: Thou owest the worm no silk, the beast no
hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume:—
Ha! here's three of us are sophisticated!—Thou
art the thing itself: unaccommodated man is no
more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou
art.—Off, off, you lendings:—Come8 note
; unbutton
here.—
[Tearing off his clothes.
Fool.
Pr'ythee, nuncle, be contented; this is a
naughty night to swim in.—Now a little fire in a
wild field, were like an old lecher's heart9 note
; a small
-- 470 --
spark, and all the rest of his body cold.—Look, here
comes a walking fire.
Edg.
This is the foul fiend 1 note
Flibbertigibbet: he
begins at curfew, and walks 'till the first cock; he
gives the 2 note
web and the pin, squints the eye, and
makes the hare-lip; mildews the white wheat, and
hurts the poor creature of earth.
3 note
Saint Withold footed thrice the wold;
He met the night-mare, and her nine-fold;
-- 471 --
Bid her alight,
And her troth plight,
And, Aroynt thee, witch, aroynt thee!
Kent.
How fares your grace?
-- 472 --
Enter Gloster, with a torch.
Lear.
What's he?
Kent.
Who's there? What is't you seek?
Glo.
What are you there? Your names?
Edg.
Poor Tom; that eats the swimming frog,
the toad, the tadpole, the wall-newt, and the water-newt;
that in the fury of his heart, when the foul
fiend rages, eats cow-dung for sallets; swallows the
old rat, and the ditch-dog; drinks the green mantle
of the standing pool; who is 4 notewhipt from tything
to tything, and stock'd, punish'd, and imprison'd;
who hath had three suits to his back, six shirts to his
body, horse to ride, and weapon to wear,—
-- 473 --
But mice, and rats, and such 5 note
small deer,
Have been Tom's food for seven long year.
Beware my follower:—Peace, Smolkin6 note; peace, thou fiend!
Glo.
What, hath your grace no better company?
Edg.
The prince of darkness is a gentleman7 note;
8 noteModo he's call'd, and Mahu.
-- 474 --
Glo.
Our flesh and blood, my lord, is grown so vile,
That it doth hate what gets it.
Edg.
Poor Tom's a-cold.
Glo.
Go in with me; my duty cannot suffer
To obey in all your daughters' hard commands:
Though their injunction be to bar my doors,
And let this tyrannous night take hold upon you;
Yet have I ventur'd to come seek you out,
And bring you where both fire and food is ready.
Lear.
First let me talk with this philosopher:—
What is the cause of thunder?
Kent.
My good lord, take his offer;
Go into the house.
Lear.
I'll talk a word with this same learned Theban9 note:—
What is your study?
Edg.
How to prevent the fiend, and to kill vermin.
Lear.
Let me ask you one word in private.
Kent.
Importune him once more to go, my lord,
His wits begin to unsettle.
Glo.
Canst thou blame him?
[Storm still.
His daughters seek his death:—Ah, that good Kent!—
He said, it would be thus:—Poor banish'd man!—
Thou say'st, the king grows mad; I'll tell thee, friend,
I am almost mad myself: I had a son,
Now out-law'd from my blood; he sought my life,
But lately, very late; I lov'd him, friend,—
No father his son dearer: true to tell thee,
-- 475 --
The grief hath craz'd my wits. What a night's this!
I do beseech your grace,—
Lear.
O, cry you mercy, sir:—
Noble philosopher, your company.
Edg.
Tom's a-cold.
Glo.
In, fellow, there, to the hovel: keep thee warm.
Lear.
Come, let's in all.
Kent.
This way, my lord.
Lear.
With him;
I will keep still with my philosopher.
Kent.
Good my lord, sooth him; let him take the
fellow.
Glo.
Take him you on.
Kent.
Sirrah, come on; go along with us.
Lear.
Come, good Athenian.
Glo.
No words, no words; hush.
Edg.
1 note
Child Rowland to the dark tower came,
His word was still,—Fie, foh, and fum,
I smell the blood of a British man.
[Exeunt.
-- 476 --
SCENE V.
Gloster's castle.
Enter Cornwall, and Edmund.
Corn.
I will have my revenge, ere I depart his house.
Edm.
How, my lord, I may be censur'd, that nature
thus gives way to loyalty, something fears me
to think of.
Corn.
I now perceive, it was not altogether your
brother's evil disposition made him seek his death;
2 notebut a provoking merit, set a-work by a reprovable
badness in himself.
Edm.
How malicious is my fortune, that I must
repent to be just! This is the letter which he spoke
-- 477 --
of, which approves him an intelligent party to the
advantages of France. O heavens! that this treason
were not, or not I the detector!
Corn.
Go with me to the dutchess.
Edm.
If the matter of this paper be certain, you
have mighty business in hand.
Corn.
True, or false, it hath made thee earl of
Gloster. Seek out where thy father is, that he may
be ready for our apprehension.
Edm. [Aside.]
If I find him 3 notecomforting the king,
it will stuff his suspicion more fully.—I will persevere
in my course of loyalty, though the conflict be sore
between that and my blood.
Corn.
I will lay trust upon thee; and thou shalt
find a dearer father in my love.
[Exeunt.
SCENE VI.
A chamber, in a Farm house.
Enter Gloster, Lear, Kent, Fool, and Edgar.
Glo.
Here is better than the open air; take it
thankfully: I will piece out the comfort with what
addition I can: I will not be long from you.
[Exit.
Kent.
All the power of his wits has given way to
his impatience:—The gods reward your kindness!
Edg.
Frateretto calls me; and tells me, Nero is
an angler in the lake of darkness. Pray, innocent,
and beware the foul fiend.
Fool.
Pr'ythee, nuncle, tell me, whether a madman
be a gentleman, or a yeoman?
Lear.
A king, a king!
Fool.4 note
No; he's a yeoman, that has a gentleman
-- 478 --
to his son: for he's a mad yeoman, that sees his son
a gentleman before him.
Lear.
To have a thousand with red burning spits
5 note
Come hizzing in upon them:—
Edg.6 note
The foul fiend bites my back.
Fool.
He's mad, that trusts in the tameness of a
wolf, 7 note
a horse's health, a boy's love, or a whore's
oath.
Lear.
It shall be done, I will arraign them straight:—
Come, sit thou here, most learned justicer;—
[To Edgar.
Thou, sapient sir, sit here. [To the Fool.]—Now, you she foxes!—
Edg.
Look, where he stands and glares!—Wantest thou eyes8 note
at trial, madam?
-- 479 --
9 note
Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me:9Q1090—.
Fool.
Her boat hath a leak,
And she must not speak
Why she dares not come over to thee.
-- 480 --
Edg.
The foul fiend haunts poor Tom in the
voice 1 noteof a nightingale. 2 noteHopdance cries in Tom's
belly for two white herring* note. Croak not, black angel;
I have no food for thee.
Kent.
How do you, sir? Stand you not so amaz'd:
Will you lie down and rest upon the cushions?
Lear.
I'll see their trial first:—Bring in the evidence.—
Thou robed man of justice, take thy place;—
[To Edgar.
And thou, his yoke-fellow of equity,
[To the Fool.
Bench by his side:—You are of the commission,
Sit you too.
[To Kent.
Edg.
Let us deal justly.
3 note
Sleepest, or wakest thou, jolly shepherd?
Thy sheep be in the corn;
-- 481 --
And for one blast of thy minikin mouth,
Thy sheep shall take no harm.
Purre! the cat is grey.
Lear.
Arraign her first; 'tis Goneril. I here take
my oath before this honourable assembly, she kick'd
the poor king her father.
Fool.
Come hither, mistress; Is your name Goneril?
Lear.
She cannot deny it.
Fool.
Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool4 note.
Lear.
And here's another, whose warpt looks proclaim
What store her heart is made on.—Stop her there!
Arms, arms, sword, fire!—Corruption in the place!
False justicer, why hast thou let her 'scape?
Edg.
Bless thy five wits!
Kent.
O pity!—Sir, where is the patience now,
That you so oft have boasted to retain?
Edg.
My tears begin to take his part so much,
They'll mar my counterfeiting.
[Aside.
Lear.
The little dogs and all,
Tray, Blanch, and Sweet-heart, see, they bark at me5 note
.
-- 482 --
Edg.
Tom will throw his head at them:—Avaunt, you curs!
Be thy mouth or black or white6 note,
Tooth that poisons if it bite;
Mastiff, grey-hound, mungril grim,
Hound, or spaniel, 7 note
brache, or lym;
Or bobtail tike8 note
, or trundle-tail9 note
;
Tom will make him weep and wail:
-- 483 --
For, with throwing thus my head,
Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled.
Do de, de de. 1 note
Sessy, come, march to wakes and fairs,
And market towns:—Poor Tom, 2 note
thy horn is dry.
-- 484 --
Lear.
Then let them anatomize Regan, see what
breeds about her heart: Is there any cause in nature,
that makes these hard hearts?—You, sir, I entertain
you for one of my hundred; only, I do not like the
fashion of your garments: 3 noteyou will say, they are
Persian attire; but let them be chang'd.
[To Edgar.
Kent.
Now, good my lord, lie here, and rest awhile.
Lear.
Make no noise, make no noise; draw the curtains:
So, so, so: We'll go to supper i' the morning: So, so, so.
Fool.
And I'll go to bed at noon4 note.
Re-enter Gloster.
Glo.
Come hither, friend: Where is the king my master?
Kent.
Here, sir; but trouble him not, his wits are gone.
Glo.
Good friend, I pr'ythee take him in thy arms;
I have o'er-heard a plot of death upon him:
There is a litter ready; lay him in't,
And drive toward Dover, friend, where thou shalt meet
Both welcome and protection. Take up thy master:
If thou should'st dally half an hour, his life,
-- 485 --
With thine, and all that offer to defend him,
Stand in assured loss: Take up, take up5 note;
And follow me, that will to some provision
Give thee quick conduct.
[Kent.
6 note
Oppressed nature sleeps:—
This rest might yet have balm'd 7 notethy broken senses,
Which, if convenience will not allow,
Stand in hard cure.—Come, help to bear thy master;
Thou must not stay behind.
[To the Fool.
Glo.
Come, come, away.
[Exeunt, bearing off the king.
Manet Edgar.
Edg.
When we our betters see bearing our woes,
We scarcely think our miseries our foes.
Who alone suffers, suffers most i' the mind;
Leaving 8 notefree things, and happy shows, behind:
But then the mind much sufferance doth o'erskip,
When grief hath mates, and bearing fellowship.
-- 486 --
How light and portable my pain seems now,
When that, which makes me bend, makes the king bow;
He childed, as I father'd!—Tom, away:
9 note
Mark the high noises; and thyself bewray1 note
,
When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee,
In thy just proof, repeals, and reconciles thee,
What will hap more to-night, safe scape the king!
Lurk, Lurk.]—
[Exit.
SCENE VII.
Gloster's castle.
Enter Cornwall, Regan, Goneril, Edmund, and Servants.
Corn.
Post speedily to my lord your husband; shew
him this letter:—the army of France is landed:—
Seek out the traitor Gloster.
[Exeunt servants.
Reg.
Hang him instantly.
Gon.
Pluck out his eyes.
Corn.
Leave him to my displeasure.—Edmund,
keep you our sister company; the revenges we are
bound to take upon your traitorous father, are not
fit for your beholding. Advise the duke, when you
are going, to a most festinate preparation; we are
-- 487 --
bound to the like. Our posts shall be swift, and
intelligent betwixt us2 note
. Farewel, dear sister;—
farewel, 3 notemy lord of Gloster.
Enter Steward.
How now? Where's the king?
Stew.
My lord of Gloster hath convey'd him hence:
Some five or six and thirty of his knights,
4 noteHot questrists after him, met him at gate;
Who, with some other of the lord's dependants,
Are gone with him towards Dover; where they boast
To have well-armed friends.
Corn.
Get horses for your mistress.
Gon.
Farewel, sweet lord, and sister.
[Exeunt Goneril, and Edmund.
Corn.
Edmund, farewel.—Go, seek the traitor Gloster,
Pinion him like a thief, bring him before us:—
5 note
Though well we may not pass upon his life
-- 488 --
Without the form of justice; yet our power
Shall do a courtesy to our wrath, which men
May blame, but not controul. Who's there? The traitor?
Enter Gloster, brought in by servants.
Reg.
Ingrateful fox! 'tis he.
Corn.
Bind fast his 6 note
corky arms.
Glo.
What mean your graces?—Good my friends, consider
You are my guests: do me no foul play, friends.
Corn.
Bind him, I say,
[They bind him.
Reg.
Hard, hard:—O filthy traitor!
Glo.
Unmerciful lady as you are, I am none.
Corn.
To this chair bind him:—Villain, thou shalt find—
[Regan plucks his beard.
Glo.
7 note
By the kind gods, 'tis most ignobly done
To pluck me by the beard.
-- 489 --
Reg.
So white, and such a traitor!
Glo.
Naughty lady,
These hairs, which thou dost ravish from my chin,
Will quicken, and accuse thee: I am your host;
With robbers' hands, 8 note
my hospitable favours
You should not ruffle thus. What will you do?
Corn.
Come, sir, what letters had you late from France?
Reg.
9 noteBe simple-answer'd, for we know the truth.
Corn.
And what confederacy have you with the traitors
-- 490 --
Late footed in the kingdom?
Reg.
To whose hands have you sent the lunatic king?
Speak.
Glo.
I have a letter guessingly set down,
Which came from one that's of a neutral heart,
And not from one oppos'd.
Corn.
Cunning.
Reg.
And false.
Corn.
Where hast thou sent the king?
Glo.
To Dover.
Reg.
Wherefore to Dover?
Wast thou not charg'd at peril—
Corn.
Wherefore to Dover? Let him first answer that.
Glo.
9 note
I'm ty'd to the stake, and I must stand 1 notethe course.
Reg.
Wherefore to Dover?
Glo.
Because I would not see thy cruel nails
Pluck out his poor old eyes; nor thy fierce sister
In his anointed flesh stick boarish fangs2 note
.
The sea, with such a storm as his bare head
In hell-black night endur'd, would have buoy'd up,
And quench'd the stelled fires: yet, poor old heart,
He holp the heavens to rain3 note.
-- 491 --
If wolves had at thy gate howl'd 3 note
that stern time,
Thou should'st have said, Good porter, turn the key;
All cruels else 4 notesubscrib'd:—But I shall see
The winged vengeance overtake such children.
Corn.
See it shalt thou never:—Fellows, hold the chair:—
Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot5 note
.
[Gloster is held down, while Cornwall treads out one of his eyes.
Glo.
He, that will think to live 'till he be old,
Give me some help:—O cruel! O ye gods!
Reg.
One side will mock another; the other too.
Corn.
If you see vengeance,—
Serv.
Hold your hand, my lord:
I have serv'd you ever since I was a child;
But better service have I never done you,
Than now to bid you hold.
Reg.
How now, you dog?
Serv.
If you did wear a beard upon your chin,
-- 492 --
I'd shake it on this quarrel: What do you mean?
Corn.
My villain6 note!
[Draws, and runs at him.
Serv.
Nay, then come on, and take the chance of anger.
[Fight; Cornwall is wounded.
Reg. [To another servant.]
Give me thy sword.—A peasant stand up thus!
[Comes behind, and kills him.
Serv.
O, I am slain!—My lord, yet you have one eye left
To see some mischief on him:—O!
[Dies.
Corn.
Lest it see more, prevent it:—Out, vile jelly!
Where is thy lustre now?
[Treads the other out.
Glo.
All dark and comfortless.—Where's my son Edmund?
Edmund, enkindle all the sparks of nature,
To quit this horrid act.
Reg.
Out, treacherous villain!
Thou call'st on him that hates thee: it was he
That made the overture of thy treasons to us;
Who is too good to pity thee.
Glo.
O my follies!
Then Edgar was abus'd.—
Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him!
Reg.
Go, thrust him out at gates, and let him smell
His way to Dover.—How is't, my lord? How look you?
Corn.
I have receiv'd a hurt:—Follow me, lady.—
Turn out that eyeless villain;—throw this slave
Upon the dunghill.—Regan, I bleed apace:
Untimely comes this hurt: Give me your arm.
[Exit Cornwall, led by Regan;—Servants lead Gloster out.
1st Serv.
7 note
I'll never care what wickedness I do,
-- 493 --
If this man come to good,
2d Serv.
If she live long,
And, in the end, meet the old course of death,9Q1091
Women will all turn monsters.
1st Serv.
Let's follow the old earl, and get the Bedlam
To lead him where he would; his roguish madness
Allows itself to any thing.
2d Serv.
Go thou; I'll fetch 8 note
some flax, and whites of eggs,
To apply to his bleeding face. Now, heaven help him!
[Exeunt severally.
Samuel Johnson [1778], The plays of William Shakspeare. In ten volumes. With the corrections and illustrations of various commentators; to which are added notes by Samuel Johnson and George Steevens. The second edition, Revised and Augmented (Printed for C. Bathurst [and] W. Strahan [etc.], London) [word count] [S10901].
