Thon worse than any name, read thine own evil :No tearing, lady; I perceive, you know it. [Gives the letter to Edmund. Gon. Say, if I do; the laws are mine not thine: Who shall arraign me for't? Alb. Know'st thou this paper? Most monstrous! Ask me not what I know. [Exit Goneril. Alb. Go after her: she's desperate; govern her. [To an Officer, who goes out. Edm. What you have charg'd me with, that have I done; And more, much more: the time will bring it out; That hast this fortune on me? If thou art noble, Edg. The dark and vicious place where thee he got, Edm. Thou hast spoken right, 'tis true; Did hate thee, or thy father! Edg. I know it well. Alb. Worthy prince, Where have you hid yourself? How have you known the miseries of your father? Edg. By nursing them, my lord.-List1 a brief tale ; And, when 'tis told, O, that my heart would burst!(1) Hear. The bloody proclamation to escape, That follow'd me so near, (O our lives' sweetness! Edm. This speech of yours hath mov'd me, Hearing of this. Edg. This would have seem'd a period To such as love not sorrow; but another, To amplify too much, would make much more, And top extremity. Whilst I was big in clamour, came there a man, Shunn'd my abhorr'd society; but then, finding Alb. Edg. Kent, sir, the banish'd Kent; who in dis guise Follow'd his enemy king, and did him service Enter a Gentleman hastily, with a bloody knife. Gent. Help! help! O help! Edg. What kind of help? Speak, man. 'Tis hot, it smokes ; Edg. What means that bloody knife? It came even from the heart of Alb. Who, man? speak. Gent. Your lady, sir, your lady: and her sister By her is poison'd; she confesses it. Edm. I was contracted to them both; all three Now marry in an instant. Alb. Produce their bodies, be they alive or dead! This judgment of the heavens, that makes us tremble, Touches us not with pity. [Exit Gentleman. Enter Kent. Edg. Here comes Kent, sir. Alb. O! it is he... The time will not allow the compliment, Which very manners urges. Kent. I am come To bid my king and master ayel good night; Alb. Great thing of us forgot!Speak, Edmund, where's the king? and where's Cordelia? See'st thou this object, Kent? [The bodies of Gon. and Reg, are brought in. Kent. Alack, why thus? Edm. Yet Edmund was belov'd: The one the other poison'd for my sake, (1) For ever. And after slew herself. Alb. Even so.-Cover their faces. Edm. I pant for life :-Some good I mean to do, Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia : Alb. Run, run, O, run Edg. To who, my lord?-Who has the office? send Thy token of reprieve. Edm. Well thought on; take my sword, Give it the captain. Alb. Haste thee, for thy life. [Exit Edgar. Edm. 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 fordid1 herself. Alb. The gods defend her! Bear him hence a while. [Edmund is borne off. Enter Lear, with Cordelia dead in his arms; Edgar, Officer, and others. 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 :-O, she is 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. Is this the promis'd end?? Edg. Or image of that horror? Alb. (1) Destroyed herself. Fall, and cease !3 (2) The end of the world, or the horrible circumstances preceding it. (3) 1. e. Die; Albany speaks to Lear. Lear. This feather stirs; she lives if it be so, It is a chance that does redeem all sorrows That ever I have felt. Kent. O my good master! [Kneeling. Lear. Pr'ythee, away. Edg. '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. Off. '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 none 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. Kent. No, my good lord; I am the very man ;— Kent. That, from your first of difference and 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 fore-doom'd themselves, And desperately are dead. Lear. Ay, so I think. Alb. He knows not what he says; and vain it is That we present us to him. |