R., who range across the back.
Albany. (C.)
Sir, you have shown to-day your valiant strain,
-- 74 --
And fortune led you well. You have the captives
Who were the opposites of this day's strife:
We do require them of you, so to use them,
As we shall find their merits, and our safety,
May equally determine.
Edmund. (L.)
Sir, I thought it fit
To send the old and miserable king
To some retention, and appointed guard;
Whose age has charms in it, whose title more,
To pluck the common bosom on his side,
And turn our impress'd lances in our eyes,
Which do command them. With him I sent the queen:
My reason all the same; and they are ready
To-morrow, or at farther space, t'appear
Where you shall hold your session. At this time,
We sweat, and bleed: the friend hath lost his friend;
And the best quarrels in the heat are curs'd
By those that feel their sharpness.—
The question of Cordelia, and her father,
Requires a fitter place.
Albany.
Sir, by your patience,
I hold you but a subject of this war,
Not as a brother.
Regan. (L. C.)
That's as we list to grace him:
Methinks, our pleasure might have been demanded,
Ere you had spoke so far. He led our powers,
Bore the commission of my place and person;
The which immediacy may well stand up,
And call itself your brother.
Goneril. (R.)
Not so hot:
In his own grace he doth exalt himself,
More than in your addition.
Regan.
In my rights,
In me invested, he compeers the best.
Goneril.
That were the most, if he should husband you.
Regan.
Jesters do oft prove prophets.—General,
Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony:
Dispose of them, of me; the walls are thine.
Witness the world, that I create thee here
My lord and master.
Goneril.
Mean you to marry him?
-- 75 --
Albany. (R. C.)
The let-alone lies not in your good will.
Edmund. (L. C.)
Nor in thine, lord.
Albany.
Half-blooded fellow, yes.
Regan.
Let the drum strike, and prove my title thine.
(to Edmund)
Albany.
Stay yet; hear reason.—Edmund, I arrest thee
On capital treason; and, in thy arrest,
This gilded serpent. (pointing to Goneril) For your claim, fair sister,
I bar it in the interest of my wife;
'Tis she is sub-contracted to this lord,
And I, her husband, contradict your bans.
If you will marry, make your love to me,
My lady is bespoke.
Goneril.
An interlude!
Albany.
Thou art arm'd, Gloster.—Let the trumpet sound:
If none appear to prove upon thy person
Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons,
There is my pledge. (throwing down a glove) I'll prove it on thy heart,
Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing less
Than I have here proclaim'd thee.
Regan. (L.)
Sick! O, sick!
(aside)
Goneril. (R.)
If not, I'll ne'er trust poison.
(goes up, R.)
Edmund. (L. C.)
There's my exchange. (throwing down a glove) What in the world he is
That names me traitor, villain-like he lies.
Call by thy trumpet: he that dares approach,
On him, on you, who not? I will maintain
My truth and honor firmly.
Albany.
Trust to thy single virtue; for thy soldiers,
All levied in thy name, have in my name
Took their discharge.
Regan.
My sickness grows upon me.
Albany.
She is not well; convey her to my tent.
Exit Regan led, R.
Come hither, herald. (Herald advances) Let the trumpet sound,
And read out this.
Herald.
Sound, trumpet. (a trumpet sounds—Herald
reads, C.) “If any man of quality, or degree, within the
-- 76 --
lists of the army, will maintain upon Edmund, supposed
Earl of Gloster, that he is a manifold traitor, let him
appear at the third sound of the trumpet. He is bold in
his defence.”
Edmund.
Sound!
(first trumpet)
Herald.
Again.
(second trumpet)
Herald.
Again.
(third trumpet, trumpet answers within)
Enter Edgar, R., armed, preceded by a Trumpet.
Albany. (up, C.)
Ask him his purposes, why he appears
Upon this call o' the trumpet.
Herald. (up, L. C.)
What are you?
Your name? your quality? and why you answer
This present summons?
Edgar.
Know my name is lost;
By treason's tooth bare-gnawn, and canker-bit:
Yet am I noble as the adversary
I come to cope withal.
Albany.
Which is that adversary?
Edgar.
What's he, that speaks for Edmund Earl of Gloster?
Edmund. (L.)
Himself: what say'st thou to him?
Edgar. (R.)
Draw thy sword,
That if my speech offend a noble heart,
Thy arm may do thee justice. I protest,
Maugre thy strength, youth, place, and eminence,
Despite thy victor sword, and fire-new fortune,
Thy valour, and thy heart, thou art a traitor:
False to thy gods, thy brother, and thy father;
Conspirant 'gainst this high illustrious prince;
And, from th' extremest upward of thy head,
To the descent and dust below thy foot,
A most toad-spotted traitor. Say thou, “No,”
This sword, this arm, and my best spirits, are bent
To prove upon thy heart, whereto I speak,
Thou liest.
Edmund.
In wisdom, I should ask thy name:
But since thy outside looks so fair and warlike,
And that thy tongue some say of breeding breathes,
What safe and nicely I might well delay
By rule of knighthood, I disdain and spurn.
Back do I toss these treasons to thy head;
-- 77 --
With the hell-hated lie o'erwhelm thy heart
Which, for they yet glanced by, and scarcely bruise,
This sword of mine shall give them instant way,
Where they shall rest for ever.—Trumpets speak.
(alarms—they fight, Edmund falls)
Goneril.
O, save him! save him!
(goes to Edmund)
This is mere pratice, Gloster.
By the law of arms, thou wast not bound to answer
An unknown opposite: thou art not vanquish'd,
But cozen'd and beguil'd.
Albany.
Shut your mouth, dame;
Or with this paper shall I stop it?—Hold, sir!—
Thou worse than any name, read thou thine own evil:
No tearing, lady. Know'st thou this paper?
Goneril.
Ask me not what I know.
Exit Goneril, R. 2 E.
Albany.
Go after her: she's desperate; govern her.
Exit an Officer, R. 2 E.
Edmund.
What you have charg'd me with, that have I done,
And more, much more; the time will bring it out:
'Tis past, and so am I. But what art thou,
That hast this fortune on me? If thou'rt noble,
I do forgive thee.
Edgar.
Let's exchange charity.
I am no less in blood than thou art, Edmund;
If more, the more thou hast wrong'd me.
My name is Edgar, and thy father's son.
Thy gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to plague us;
The dark and vicious place where thee he got,
Cost him his eyes.
Edmund.
Thou hast spoken right, 'tis true;
The wheel is come full circle: I am here.
Albany.
Methought, thy very gait did prophesy
A royal nobleness. I must embrace thee:
Let sorrow split my heart, if ever I
Did hate thee, or thy father.
Edgar.
Worthy prince, I know't. In his habit
Met I my father with his bleeding rings,
Their precious stones new lost; became his guide,
-- 78 --
Led him, begg'd for him, sav'd him from despair;
I ask'd his blessing, and from first to last
Told him my pilgrimage: but his flaw'd heart,
(Alack! too weak the conflict to support)
'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief,
Burst smilingly.
Enter a Gentleman hastily, with a bloody knife, R.
Gentleman.
Help, help! O help!
Edgar.
What means this bloody knife?
Gentleman.
'Tis hot, it smokes;
It came even from the heart of—O! she's dead.
Albany.
Who dead? speak, man.
Gentleman.
Your lady, sir, your lady: and her sister
By her is poison'd; she hath confess'd it.
Edmund.
I was contracted to them both: all three
Now marry in an instant.
Enter Kent, R.
Kent.
I am come
To bid my king and master aye good night:
Is he not here?
Albany.
Great thing of us forgot!—
Speak, Edmund, where's the king? and where's Cordelia?
Edmund.
I pant for life:—(Officers assist him to rise) some good I mean to do.
Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send,—
Be brief in it,—to the castle; for my writ
Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia.—
Edgar.
Who has the office? send
Thy token of reprieve.
Edmund.
Take my sword,
Give it to the Captain.
Albany.
Haste thee, for thy life
Exit Edgar, and Kent, L. U. E.
Edmund.
He hath commission from thy wife and me
To hang Cordelia in the prison, and
To lay the blame upon her own despair,
That she fordid herself.—Oh!
(dies in the arms of the Knights)
-- 79 --
Albany.
The gods defend her! Bear him hence.
Edmund is borne off, L. 1 E.
Enter Lear, with Cordelia dead in his arms; Edgar, Officers, Kent, and others, L. U. E.
Lear.
Howl, howl, howl, howl!—O! you are men of stones;
Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so
That heaven's vault should crack.—She's gone for ever.—
I know when one is dead, and when one lives;
She's dead as earth.—Lend me a looking-glass;
If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,
Why, then she lives.
Kent. (R.)
Is this the promis'd end?
Edgar. (L.)
Or image of that horror?
Lear.
This feather stirs; she lives! if it be so,
It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows
That ever I have felt.
Kent.
O, my good master!
(kneeling)
Lear.
Pr'ythee away.
Edgar.
'Tis noble Kent, your friend.
Lear.
A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all!
I might have sav'd her; now, she's gone for ever!—
Cordelia, Cordelia! stay a little. Ha!
What is't thou say'st?—Her voice was ever soft,
Gentle, and low—an excellent thing in woman.—
I kill'd the slave that was a hanging thee.
Kent.
'Tis true, my lords, he did.
Lear.
Did I not, fellow?
I have seen the day, with my good biting faulchion,
I would have made them skip: I am old now,
And these same crosses spoil me.—Who are you?
Mine eyes are not o' the best.—I'll tell you straight.
Kent.
If fortune brag of two she lov'd and hated,
One of them we behold.
Lear.
This is a dull sight.—Are you not Kent?
Kent.
The same,
Your servant Kent. Where is your servant Caius?
Lear.
He's a good fellow, I can tell you that;
He'll strike, and quickly too.—He's dead and rotten.
-- 80 --
Kent.
No, my good lord; I am the very man—
Lear.
I'll see that straight.
Kent.
That from your first difference and decay,
Have follow'd your sad steps—
Lear.
You are welcome hither.
Kent.
Nor no man else. All's cheerless, dark, and deadly:
Your eldest daughters have fordone themselves,
And desperately are dead.
Lear.
Ay, so I think.
Albany.
He knows not what he says; and vain is it,
That we present us to him. For us: we will resign,
During the life of this old majesty,
To him our absolute power.—You, to your rights,
(to Edgar and Kent)
With boot, and such addition, as your honours
Have more than merited.—All friends shall taste
The wages of their virtue, and all foes
The cup of their deservings.—O! see, see!
Lear.
And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life:
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,
And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never!—
Pray you, undue this button: thank you, sir,—
Do you see this? Look on her—look,—her lips,—
Look there, look there!—
(he dies—dead march, commences piano)
Edgar.
He faints!—My lord, my lord!—
(he gives a convulsive gasp, and falls back supported by Kent and Edgar)
Kent. (slowly and sadly)
Vex not his ghost: O! let him pass: he hates him,
That would upon the rack of this tough world
Stretch him out longer.
