Lear. O, ho, are you there with me? No eyes in your head, nor no money in your purse? Your Lear. No, they cannot touch me for coining; I eyes are in a heavy case, your purse in a light : Yet am the king himself. you see how this world goes.

Lear. Nature's above art in that respect.-There's Lear. What, art mad? A man may see how this your press-money. That fellow handles his bow world goes, with no eyes. Look with thine ears: like a crow-keeper: draw me a clothier's yard.-see how yon' justice rails upon yon' simple thief Look, look, a mouse; Peace, peace ;-this piece of Hark, in thine ear: Change places; and, handy toasted cheese will do't.-There's my gauntlet: I'll dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief?— prove it on a giant.-Bring up the brown bills.-Thou hast seen a farmer's dog bark at a beggar? O, well flown, bird!-i'the clout, i'the clout: hewgh! -Give the word."

Lear. Ha! Goneril!-with a white beard! Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip thine own They flatter'd me like a dog; and told me, I had

white hairs in my beard, ere the black ones were Thou hotly lust'st to use her in that kind

there. To say ay, and no, to every thing I said!-For

(1) Thus might he die in reality.

(2) i. e. This chalky boundary of England.

(3) The main body is expected to be descried every hour.

whereof deliver me, and supply the place for your

labour.

Your wife (so I would say,) and your
affectionate servant,

GONERIL.

O undistinguish'd space of woman's will!-
A plot upon her virtuous husband's life:

Cor. Had you not been their father, these white
flakes

Had challeng'd pity of them. Was this a face
To be expos'd against the warring winds?
To stand against the deep dread-bolted thunder?
In the most terrible and nimble stroke

Of quick, cross lightning? to watch (poor perdu!")

And the exchange, my brother!-Here, in the With this thin helm ? Mine enemy's dog,

sands;

Thee I'll rake up,' the post unsanctified

Of murderous lechers: and, in the mature time,
With this ungracious paper strike the sight
Of the death-practis'd duke: For him 'tis well,
That of thy death and business I can tell.

[Exit Edgar, dragging out the body.
Glo. The king is mad: How stiff is my vile sense,
That I stand up, and have ingenious feeling
Of my huge sorrows! Better I were distract:
So should my thoughts be sever'd from my griefs;
And woes, by wrong imaginations, lose
The knowledge of themselves.

Re-enter Edgar.

Edg.
Give me your hand.
Far off, methinks, I hear the beaten drum.
Come, father, I'll bestow you with a friend.

[Exe.

Lear

SCENE VII-A tent in the French camp.
on a bed asleep; Physician, Gentleman, and
others, attending: Enter Cordelia and Kent.

Cor. O thou good Kent, how shall I live, and
work,

To match thy goodness? My life will be too short,
And every measure fail me.

Kent. To be acknowledg'd, madam, is o'er-paid.
All my reports go with the modest truth;
Nor more, nor clipp'd, but so.
Cor.
Be better suited:2
These weeds are memories of those worser hours;
I pr'ythee, put them off.

Kent.
Pardon me,
dear madam;
Yet to be known, shortens my made intent:4
My boon I make it, that you know me not,
Till time and I think meet.
Cor. Then be it so, my good lord.-How does
the king?
[To the Physician.

Phys. Madam, sleeps still.

Cor. O you kind gods,

Cure this great breach in his abused nature!
The untun'd and jarring senses, O, wind up
Of this child-changed father!
Phys.

So please your majesty,
That we may wake the king? he hath slept long.
Cor. Be govern'd by your knowledge, and pro-
ceed

I'the sway of your own will. Is he array'd?
Gent. Ay, madam; in the heaviness of his sleep,
We put fresh garments on him.

Phys. Be by, good madam, when we do awake
him;

I doubt not of his temperance.

Very well.

Cor.
Phys. Please you, draw near.-Louder the mu-

sic there.

Cor. O my dear father! Restoration, hang
Thy medicine on my lips; and let this kiss
Repair those violent harms, that my two sisters
Have in thy reverence made!
Kent.

Kind and dear princess!

(1) I'll cover thee (the dead steward) in the sands. (2) Dressed. (3) Memorials. (4) Intent formed. (5) French, enfans perdus.

Though he had bit me, should have stood that night
Against my fire; And wast thou fain, poor father,
To hovel thee with swine, and rogues forlorn,
In short and musty straw? Alack, alack!
'Tis wonder, that thy life and wits at once
Had not concluded all.-He wakes; speak to him.
Phys. Madam, do you; 'tis fittest.

Cor. How does my royal lord? How fares your
majesty?

Lear. You do me wrong to take me out o'the

am mightily abus'd.-I should even die with pity,
To see another thus.-I know not what to say.-
I will not swear, these are my hands:-let's see,
I feel this pin prick. 'Would I were assur'd
Of my condition.

Cor.
O, look upon me, sir,
And hold your hands in benediction o'er me:
No, sir, you must not kneel.

Lear.

Pray, do not mock me
I am a very foolish fond old man,
Fourscore and upward; and, to deal plainly,
I fear, I am not in my perfect mind.
Methinks, I should know you, and know this man.
Yet I am doubtful: for I am mainly ignorant
What place this is; and all the skill I have
Remembers not these garments; nor I know not
Where I did lodge last night: Do not laugh at me;
For, as I am a man, I think this lady
To be my child Cordelia.

Cor.
And so I am, I am.
Lear. Be your tears wet? Yes, 'faith. I pray,

weep not:

If you have poison for me, I will drink it.

I know, you do not love me; for your sisters
Have, as I do remember, done me wrong:
You have some cause, they have not.
Cor.

Lear. Am I in France?
Kent.

No cause, no cause.

In your own kingdom, sir.

Lear. Do not abuse me.
Phys. Be comforted, good madam: the great

His banished son, is with the earl of Kent

In Germany.

Kent.

Report is changeable.

'Tis time to look about; the powers' o'the kingdom

Approach apace.

Gent. The arbitrement2 is like to be a bloody. Fare you well, sir.

[Exit.

Reg. 'Tis most convenient; pray you, go with us.
Gon. O, ho, I know the riddle! [Aside.] I will go.
As they are going out, enter Edgar, disguised.
Edg. If e'er your grace had speech with man
'so poor,

Hear me one word.

Alb.

I'll overtake you.-Speak.
[Exeunt Edmund, Regan, Goneril, Officers
Soldiers, and Attendants.

Edg. Before you fight the battle, ope this letter.
If you have victory, let the trumpet sound
For him that brought it: wretched though I seem,

Kent. My point and period will be throughly I can produce a champion, that will prove
wrought,

Or well, or ill, as this day's battle's fought.

ACT V.

[Exit.

SCENE I.-The camp of the British forces,
near Dover. Enter, with drums and colours,
Edmund, Regan, Officers, Soldiers, and others.
Edm. Know of the duke, if his last purpose hold;
Or, whether since he is advis'd by aught
To change the course: He's full of alteration,
And self-reproving:-bring his constant pleasure."'
[To an officer, who goes out.
Reg. Our sister's man is certainly miscarried.
Edm. 'Tis to be doubted, madam.
Reg.
Now, sweet lord,
You know the goodness I intend upon you:
Tell me,-but truly,-but then speak the truth,
Do you not love my sister?

Edm.

In honour'd love.

Reg. But have you never found my brother's way
To the forefended place?
Edm.
That thought abuses you.
Reg. I am doubtful that you have been conjunct
And bosom'd with her, as far as we call hers.
Edm. No, by mine honour, madam.

Reg. I never shall endure her: Dear my lord,
Be not familiar with her.

Edm.

Fear me not:

She, and the duke her husband,—

Enter Albany, Goneril, and Soldiers.
Gon. I had rather lose the battle, than that sister
Should loosen him and me.

[Aside.

Alb. Our very loving sister, well be met.-
Sir, this I hear,-The king is come to his daughter,
With others, whom the rigour of our state
Forc'd to cry out. Where I could not be honest,
I never yet was valiant: for this business,
It touches us as France invades our land,
Not bolds the king; with others, whom, I fear,
Most just and heavy causes make oppose."
Edm. Sir, you speak nobly.
Why is this reason'd?
Reg.
Gon. Combine together 'gainst the enemy:
For these domestic and particular broils

Edm. The enemy's in view, draw up your powers.
Here is the guess of their true strength and forces
By diligent discovery ;-but your haste
Is now urg'd on you.

Alb.
We will greet the time." [Exit.
Edm. To both these sisters have I sworn my love;
Each jealous of the other, as the stung

Are of the adder. Which of them shall I take?

Botl. ? one? or neither? Neither can be enjoy'd,
If both remain alive: To take the widow,
Exasperates, makes mad her sister Goneril;
And hardly shall I carry out my side, 10
Her husband being alive. Now then, we'll use
His countenance for the battle; which being done,
Let her, who would be rid of him, devise
His speedy taking off. As for the mercy,
Which he intends to Lear, and to Cordelia,-
The battle done, and they within our power,
Shall never see his pardon: for my stale
Stands on me to defend, not to debate.
SCENE II-A field between the two camps.
Alarum within. Enter, with drums and colours,
Lear, Cordelia, and their forces; and exeunt.
Enter Edgar and Gloster.

[Exu.

Edg. Here, father, take the shadow of this tree
For your good host; pray that the right may thrive.
If ever I return to you again,
I'll bring you comfort.
Glo.

Grace go with you, sir!
[Exit Edgar
Alarums; afterwards a retreal. Re-enter Edgar,
Edg. Away, old man, give me thy hand, away;
King Lear hath lost, he and his daughter ta'en:
Give me thy hand, come on.

Glo. No further, sir; a man may rot even here.
Edg. What, in ill thoughts again? Men must
endure

Their going hence, even as their coming hither:
Ripeness is all:"1 Come on.
Glo.

queen;

SCENE III.-The British camp near Dover. Which ao command them. With him I sent the Enter, in conquest, with drum and colours, Edmund; Lear and Cordelia, as prisoners; Oficers, Soldiers, &c.

Edm. Some officers take them away: good guard;
Until their greater pleasures first be known
That are to censure1 them.
Cor.

We are not the first,
Who, with best meaning, have incurr'd the worst.
For thee, oppressed king, am I cast down;
Myself could else out-frown false fortune's frown.-
Shall we not see these daughters, and these sisters?
Lear. No, no, no, no! Come, let's away to
prison:

My reason all the same; and they are ready
To-morrow, or at further space, to appear
We sweat, and bleed: the friend hath lost his
Where you shall hold your session. At this time,
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."
Alb.
hold you but a subject of this war,
Sir, by your patience,
Not as a brother.

I

Reg.
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 himself your brother.
Gon.

Not so hot:

We two alone will sing like birds i'the cage:
When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down,
And ask of thee forgiveness: So we'll live,
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh
At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues
Talk of court news; and we'll talk with them too,—
Who loses, and who wins: who's in, who's out;-In his own grace he doth exalt himself
And take upon us the mystery of things,
As if we were God's spies: And we'll wear out,
More than in your advancement.
In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones,
Reg.
That ebb and flow by the moon.
Edm.

Take them away.
Lear. Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia,
The gods themselves throw incense. Have I caught
thee?

He, that parts us, shall bring a brand from heaven,
And fire us hence, like foxes. Wipe thine eyes;
The goujeers shall devour them, flesh and fell,'
Ere they shall make us weep: we'll see them starve
first.

Come.

[Exe. Lear and Cor. guarded.
Edm. Come hither, captain; hark.
Take thou this note; [Giving a paper.] go, follow
them to prison:

One step I have advane'd thee; if thou dost
As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way
To noble fortunes: Know thou this,-that men
Are as the time is: to be tender-minded

Does not become a sword:-Thy great employment
Will not bear question; either say, thou'it do',
Or thrive by other means.
I'll do't, my lord.

Offi.

Edm. About it; and write happy, when thou hast

done.

Mark,-I say, instantly; and carry it so,
As I have set it down."

Offi. I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dried oats;
If it be man's work, I will do it. [Exit Officer.
Flourish. Enter Albany, Goneril, Regan, Offi-
cers, and Attendants.

Alb. Sir, you have shown to-day your valiant
strain,

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.

Edm.

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

(1) Pass judgment on them.
(2) The French disease.

(4) Admit of debate.

(3) Skin.

(5) To be discoursed of in greater privacy.

In my rights,
By me invested, he compeers the best.
Gon. That were the most, if he should husband

you.

Reg. Jesters do oft prove prophets.

Gon.

Holloa, holloa!
That eye, that told you so, look'd but a-squint."
Reg. Lady, I am not well; else I should answer
From a full-flowing stomach.-General,
Dispose of them, of me; the walls are thine:
Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony;
Witness the world, that I create thee here
My lord and master.

Gon.
Mean you to enjoy him?
Alb. The let-alone lies not in your good will.
Edm. Nor in thine, lord.

Alb.

Half-blooded fellow, yes. Reg. Let the drum strike, and prove my title [To Edmund. Alb. Stay yet; hear reason:-Edmund, I arrest thee

thine.

On capital treason; and, in thy arrest,
This gilded serpent: [Pointing to Gon.]-For your
I bar it in the interest of my wife;
claim, fair sister,
"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.

Gon.

An interlude!

Alb. Thou art arm'd, Gloster :-Let the trumpet
sound:

Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons,
If none appear to prove upon thy person,
There is my pledge; [Throwing down a glove.] In
prove it on thy heart,

Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing less
Than I have here proclaim'd thec.

Reg.

Sick, O, sick!

Gon. If not, I'll ne'er trust poison. [Aside.
Edm. 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 honour firmly.

(6) Authority to act on his own judgment.
(7) Alluding to the proverb: Love being jeal
ous makes a good eye look a-squint.'
(8) The hindrance.