And clamour moisten'd:9 then away she started Kent. It is the stars, The stars above us, govern our conditions ;1 Else one self mate and mate2 could not beget Such different issues. You spoke not with her since? Gent. No. Kent. Was this before the king return'd? Gent. No, since. Kent. Well, sir; the poor distress'd Lear is i' the town; Who sometime, in his better tune, remembers What we are come about, and by no means Will yield to see his daughter. Gent. Why, good sir? Kent. A sovereign shame so elbows him: his own unkindness, That stripp'd her from his benediction, turn'd her To his dog-hearted daughters, these things sting 9 And clamour moisten'd:] It is not impossible but Shakspeare might have formed this fine picture of Cordelia's agony from holy wr., in the conduct of Joseph; who, being no longer able to restrain the vehemence of his affection, commanded all his retinue from his presence; and then wept aloud, and discovered himself to his brethTheobald. ren. clamour moisten'd:] That is, her out-cries were accompanied with tears. Johnson. The old copies read-And clamour moisten'd her. I have no doubt that the word her was inserted by the compositor's eye glancing on the middle of the preceding line, where that word occurs; and therefore have omitted it. It may be observed that the metre is complete without this word. A similar error has happened in The Winter's Tale. See Vol. VI, p. 302, n. 3. She moisten'd clamour, or the exclamations she had uttered, with tears. This is perfectly intelligible; but clamour moisten'd her, is certainly nonsense. Malone. 1- •govern our conditions;] i. e. regulate our dispositions. See Vol. IX, p. 374, n. 9. Malone. 2 one self mate and mate-] The same husband and the same wife. Johnson. Self is used here, as in many other places in these plays, for selfMalone. same. 3 these things sting His mind so venomously, that burning shame-] The metaphor is here preserved with great knowledge of nature. The venom of poi Detains him from Cordelia. Gent. Alack, poor gentleman! Kent. Of Albany's and Cornwall's powers you heard not? Gent. 'Tis so; they are afoot.* Kent. Well, sir, I'll bring you to our master Lear, And leave you to attend him: some dear cause5 Will in concealment wrap me up awhile; When I am known aright, you shall not grieve Lending me this acquaintance. I pray you, go Along with me.] [Exeunt. SCENE IV. The same. A Tent. Enter CORDELIA, Physician, and Soldiers. sonous animals being a high caustick salt, that has all the effect of fire upon the part. Warburton. 4 'Tis so; they are afoot.] Dr. Warburton thinks it necessary to read, 'tis said, but the sense is plain, So it is that they are on foot. Johnson. 'Tis so, means, I think, I have heard of them; they do not exist in report only; they are actually on foot. Malone. 5 some dear cause-] Some important business. See Timon of Athens, Act V, sc. ii, Vol. XV. Malone. So, in Romeo and Juliet: 6 tery. 66 —a ring, that I must use "In dear employment." Steevens. • fumiter,] i. e. fumitory: by the old herbalists written fumit Harris. 7 With harlocks, hemlock, &c.] The quartos read-With hordocks; the folio-With hardokes. Malone. I do not remember any such plant as a hardock, but one of the most common weeds is a burdock, which I believe should be read here; and so Hanmer reads. Johnson. Hardocks should be harlocks. Thus Drayton, in one of his Eclogues: "The honey-suckle, the harlocke, "The lilly, and the lady-smocke,” &c. Farmer. One of the readings offered by the quartos (though misspelt) is perhaps the true one. The hoar-dock, is the dock with whitish woolly leaves. Steevens. Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow And bring him to our eye. [Exit an Officer.]—What can man's wisdom do,9 In the restoring his bereaved sense? He, that helps him, take all my outward worth. Our foster-nurse of nature is repose, The which he lacks; that to provoke in him, Cor. All bless'd secrets, All you unpublished virtues of the earth, Spring with my tears! be aidant, and remediate, That wants the means to lead it.1 Mess. Enter a Messenger. Madam, news; The British powers are marching hitherward. Therefore great France My mourning, and important2 tears, hath pitied. Harlocks, must be a typographical error for charlock, the common name of sinapis aroensis, wild mustard. Harris. 8 Darnel,] According to Gerard, is the most hurtful of weeds among corn. It is mentioned in The Witches of Lancashire, 1634: "That cockle, darnel, poppy wild, "May choak his grain," &c. See Vol. X, p. 68, n. 4. 9 Steevens. What can man's wisdom do,] Do should be omitted, as needless to the sense of the passage, and injurious to its metre. Thus, in Hamlet: 66 Try what repentance can: what can it not?" Do, in either place, is understood, though suppressed. Steevens. the means to lead it.] The reason which should guide it. 1 2 Johnson. important] In other places of this author for importunate. Johnson. See Comedy of Errors, Act V, sc. i. The folio reads, importuned. Steevens. No blown ambition3 doth our arms incite, SCENE V. A Room in Gloster's Castle. Enter REGAN and Steward. Reg. But are my brother's powers set forth? [Exeunt. Ay, madam. Himself Madam, with much ado: Your sister is the better soldier. Reg. Lord Edmund spake not with your lord at home? Stew. No, madam. Reg. What might import my sister's letter to him? Reg. 'Faith, he is posted hence on serious matter. 3 No blown ambition -] No inflated, no swelling pride. Beza on the Spanish Armada : "Quam bene te ambitio mersit vanissima, ventus, "Et tumidos tumidæ vos superastis aquæ." Johnson. In the Mad Lover of Beaumont and Fletcher, the same epithet is given to ambition. Again, in The Little French Lawyer: "I come with no blown spirit to abuse you." Steevens. your lord —] The folio reads, your lord; and rightly. Goneril not only converses with Lord Edmund, in the Steward's presence, but prevents him from speaking to, or even seeing her husband. Ritson. The quartos read-with your lady. In the manuscripts from which they were printed an L only was probably set down, according to the mode of that time. It could be of no consequence to Regan, whether Edmund spoke with Goneril at home, as they had travelled together from the Earl of Gloster's castle to the Duke of Albany's palace, and had on the road sufficient opportunities for laying those plans of which Regan was apprehensive. On the other hand, Edmund's abrupt departure without even speaking to the Duke, to whom he was sent on a commission, could not but appear mysterious, and excite her jealousy. Malone. In pity of his misery, to despatch Stew. I must needs after him, madam, with my letter. Reg. Our troops set forth to-morrow; stay with us; The ways are dangerous. Stew. I may not, madam; My lady charg❜d my duty in this business. Reg. Why should she write to Edmund? Might not you Transport her purposes by word? Belike, Something-I know not what:-I'll love thee much, Let me unseal the letter." Stew. Madam, I had rather Reg. I know, your lady does not love her husband; I am sure of that: and, at her late being here, She gave strange œiliads, and most speaking looks To noble Edmund: I know, you are of her bosom. Stew. I, madam? Reg. I speak in understanding; you are, I know it :" Therefore, I do advise you, take this note :1 My lord is dead; Edmund and I have talk'd; Than for your lady's :-You may gather more. 5 His nighted life;] i. e. His life made dark as night, by the extinction of his eyes. Steevens. 6 - with my letter.] So the folio. The quartos read-letters. The meaning is the same. Malone. 7 Let me unseal &c.] I know not well why Shakspeare gives the Steward, who is a mere factor of wickedness, so much fidelity. He now refuses the letter; and afterwards, when he is dying, thinks only how it may be safely delivered. Johnson. 8 She gave strange œiliads,] Oeillade, Fr. a cast, or significant glance of the eye. Greene, in his Disputation between a He and She Coney-catcher, 1592, speaks of "amorous glances, smirking oeiliades," &c. Steevens. 9 I speak in understanding; you are, I know it.] Thus the folio. The quartos read-in understanding, for I know't. Malone. So, in The Winter's Tale: "I speak as my understanding instructs Steevens. me." 1 I do advise you, take this note :] Note means in this place not a letter, but a remark. Therefore observe what I am saying. Johnson. So, in Measure for Measure: 66 takes note of what is done." Steevens. |