As full of grief as age; wretched in both! i To bear it tamely; touch me with noble anger; Stain my man's cheeks. No, you unnatural hags, That all the world fhall-I will do fuch things- 1 I have full caufe of weeping; m but this heart Shall break into a Or ere P I weep. hundred thousand° flaws O fool, I fhall go mad. [Exeunt Lear, Glo'fter, Kent, and Fool. [Storm and tempeft. Corn. Let us withdraw, 'twill be a storm. Reg. This houfe is little; the old man and his people Cannot be well beftow'd. g The qu's and fo's read firs. h The ft q reads to; the 2d too for fo. i The qu's read lamely. k The fo's and R. read and for 0. 1 H. reads though before I have, to make up the omiffion of but in this line, in which he had followed R. in So all before P. who, with all after, omits but. n So all before P. he and all after omit hundred. The qu's read flowes for flaws. P The qu's and 1ft f. read Ile for I. Gen. Gon. 'Tis his own blame; he 'ath put himfelf from reft, And needs must tafte his folly. Reg. For his particular, I'll receive him gladly; But not one follower. Gon. So am I purpos'd. Where is my lord of Glofter? Enter Glo'fter. Corn. Follow'd the old man forth. He is return'd. 1 Corn. Whither is he going? Glo. He calls to horfe; but will I know not whither. Corn. "Tis beft to give him way, he leads himself. Gon. My lord, intreat him by no means to stay. Glo. Alack, the night comes on, and the u bleak winds. Do forely rufsle, for many miles about W There's not a bush. Reg. O fir, to wilful men, The injuries, that they themselves procure, Must be their schoolmafters. Shut up your doors: He is attended with a defperate train, And what they may incenfe him to, being apt To have his ear abus'd, wifdom bids fear. Corn. Shut up your doors, my lord; 'tis a wild night. My Regan counfels well: come out o'th' ftorm. So H. for he hath; all other editions bath. What is in italic is not in the qu's, P. T. IV. and J. The qu's, P. T. W. and J. read and for but. The qu's read good for beft. So the qu's; the rest high for bleak. w The fo's, R. T. W. and J. read ruffle for russle. So the qu's; the rest read fearce for not. [Exeunt. ACT АСТ III. SCENE I. A Heath. a Aftorm is heard, with thunder and lightning. Enter Kent, and a Gentleman, feverally. Kent. 2 WHAT's here, beside foul weather? Gent. One minded like the weather, most unquietly. Kent. I know you. Where's the king? b Gent. Contending with the fretful elements; Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea; с Or fwell the curled waters 'bove the moon, a So the qu's; the rest read who's there, besides, &c. b The qu's read element. Though all the editions have main, it is very likely Shakespeare wrote moon, which is much better, because it more strongly expreffes (according to Shakespeare's custom) the confusion which Lear in his rage would have introduced into nature; befides main is ambiguous, applicable to sea or land: it is ufed of land only by feamen that I know of: the poets always underftood by this word the main fea. The effect of overflowing the land is not fo great nor fo certain confusion: the fea often does that and returns to his ufual bounds whereas the fwelling of the waters above the moon is antirely præternatural, and beft answers the madness of bidding the wind blow the earth into the sea. There is a strong resemblance between this passage in Shakespeare and the following of Æfchylus in his Prometheus vinctus; who talks of swelling the fea, not above the moon, but above the very ftars. Χθόνα δ ̓ ἐκ πυθμένων Αυταῖς ῥίζαις πνεῦμα κραδαίνοι, Συγχώσειεν, τῶν τ ̓ ἐρανίων Ακρων διόδεις That That things might charge or ceafe; dtears his white hair, • Strives in his little world of man t'out-fcorn The to-and-fro conflicting wind and rain. This night, wherein the cub-drawn bear would couch, 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-jeft His heart-ftruck injuries. Kent. Sir, I do know you, g And dare upon the warrant of my note, Commend a dear thing to you. There is divifion, (Although as yet the face of ith be cover'd 1 With mutuali cunning) 'twixt Albany and Cornwall, d What is in italic is omitted by the fo's and R. e P. and H. omit the two following lines. f P. and H. read in which for wherein. The qu's read art for note.. h So the qu's; the reft is for be. i P. and H. read craft for cunning. * What is in italic is omitted in the qu's. 1 So the fo's, and R.'s 8vo; the reft whom for that. T.'s 12mo, W. and F. read throne. P.'s 12mo reads have for bath. Or Or the hard rein, which both of them ° have born "To make your speed to Dover, you shall find S "The king hath cause to plain. "I am a gentleman of blood, and breeding, 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 o The 1ft f. reads hath for have. P Thefe lines with commas prefixed are not in the fo's. ¶ For scatter'd, H, reads shatter'd, W. Scathed. So the 2d q. and J.; the 1ft feet for fee; P. T. and H. sca; W. seize. s P. and H. madding for bemadding. So the qu's; P. and all the reft read Offer this office. and affurance of you, u P. and all after read I'll. w So the qu's and fo's; the reft that for this. So the fo's. For that the qu's read your; R. and all after this. |