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 THE ARDEN SHAKESPEARE 
 
 General Editor, C. H. Herford, Litt.D., University oj Manchester 
 
 KING LEAR 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 D. NICHOL SMITH, M.A. 
 
 EDINBURGH 
 REVISED BY 
 
 ERNEST BERNBAUM 
 
 PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY 
 
 BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 
 
 ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO DALLAS 
 
 LONDON 
 
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^^^' 
 
 D.-'D 
 
 
 THE ARDEN SHAKESPEARE 
 
 The following titles are available: 
 
 AS YOU LIKE IT 
 
 THE COMEDY OF ERRORS 
 
 LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST 
 
 THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 
 
 A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM 
 
 MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING 
 
 THE TEMPEST 
 
 TWELFTH NIGHT 
 
 THE WINTER'S TALE 
 
 HENRY IV — PART I 
 HENRY IV — PART II 
 HENRY V 
 HENRY VIII 
 KING JOHN 
 RICHARD II 
 RICHARD III 
 
 ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA 
 
 CORIOLANUS 
 
 CYMBELINE 
 
 HAMLET 
 
 JULIUS C^SAR 
 
 KING LEAR 
 
 MACBETH 
 
 OTHELLO 
 
 ROMEO AND JULIET 
 
 TIMON OF ATHENS 
 
 coptkight, 1917 
 By D. C. Heath and Company 
 
 3rO 
 Printed in the United States of America 
 
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 Sons Amer.Rev-Liby 
 
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GENERAL PREFACE 
 
 In this edition of Shakespeare an attempt is made 
 to present the greater plays of the dramatist in their 
 literary aspect, and not merely as material for the study 
 of philology or grammar. Criticism purely verbal and 
 textual has only been included to such an extent as 
 may serve to help the student in the appreciation of 
 the essential poetry. Questions of date and literary 
 history have been fully dealt with in the Introductions, 
 but the larger space has been devoted to the interpre- 
 tative rather than the matter-of-fact order of scholar- 
 ship. Esthetic judgments are never final, but the 
 Editors have attempted to suggest points of view from 
 which the analysis of dramatic motive and dramatic 
 character may be profitably undertaken. In the Notes 
 likewise, while it is hoped that all unfamiliar expressions 
 and allusions have been adequately explained, yet it 
 has been thought even more important to consider the 
 dramatic value of each scene, and the part which it 
 plays in relation to the whole. These general princi- 
 ples are common to the whole series; in detail each 
 Editor is alone responsible for the play or plays that 
 have been intrusted to him. 
 
 Every volume of the series has been provided with a 
 Glossary, an Essay upon Metre, and an Index ; and 
 Appendices have been added upon points of special 
 interest which could not conveniently be treated in the 
 Introduction or the Notes. The text is based by the 
 several Editors on that of the Globe edition. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction v 
 
 Dramatis Person^e xxii 
 
 King Lear 1 
 
 Notes 133 
 
 Appendix A — The Sources of the Plot . . . 183 
 
 Appendix B — Metre 194 
 
 Glossary 203 
 
 Index of Words o . . 213 
 
 General Index » o , » , 217 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 1. LITERARY HISTORY OF THE PLAY 
 
 Two quarto editions of King Lear bear the date 1608. Their 
 relationship and order of publication were long doubtful, but it is 
 now certain that the earlier is that which bears the following title- 
 page: 
 
 M. William Shak-speare : i His | True Chronicle Historie of the 
 life and | death of King Lear and his three | Daughters. | With the 
 vnfortunate life of Edgar, sonne \ and heire to the Earle of Gloster, 
 and his | sullen and assumed humor of | Tom of Bedlam : | As it 
 was played before the Kings Maiestie at Whitehall vpon \ S. Stephans 
 night in Christmas Hollidayes. \ By his Maiesties seruants playing 
 vsually at the Gloabe | on the Bancke-side, | London. | Printed for 
 Nathaniel Butter, and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls \ Church- 
 yard at the signe of the Pide Bull neere | S*- Austins Gate. 1608. 
 
 This edition was, as usual, authorized neither by Shakespeare nor 
 by the theatrical company for which he wrote. Probably it was 
 based upon a surreptitious stenographic report of a performance; 
 and it is to be regarded as a carelessly printed issue of King Lear in 
 approximately the form in which the play was at first acted. 
 
 The Second Quarto has the same title, except that it omits the 
 words from "and are to be sold" to "St. Austins Gate." The date 
 1608 is fraudulent, for this edition was not issued until 1619. It 
 was based upon the First Quarto, many of the faults of which it 
 reproduced and aggravated; and it is useless in determining the 
 true text of King Lear.^ 
 
 The next edition of the play was that in the Folio of 1623. It 
 is the most valuable, for it appears to have been taken from an 
 acting copy preserved at the theatre. The independent origin of 
 
 1 The relationship of the Quartos was first established by the Cambridge 
 editors, though the editor of King Lear . . . collated with the old and modem 
 editions, published in 1770, had already concluded that the so-called Pide 
 Bull edition was the first. See also Mr. P. A. Daniel's introduction to the 
 facsimile reprints of the two Quartos (1885). Mr. A. W. Pollard and 
 Mr. W. W. Greg have shown that the Second Quarto was issued in 1619. 
 Another Quarto, a careless reprint of the second, was "printed by Jane Bell" 
 in 1655. 
 
vi INTRODUCTION 
 
 the Folio and Quarto texts gives rise to marked divergences. Apart 
 from verbal variations, there is considerable diflFerence in the length 
 of the versions. The Quartos contain about three hundred lines 
 that are not given in the Folio, and on the other hand about a 
 hundred and ten lines in the Folio are omitted in the Quartos.^ 
 These omissions cannot definitely be explained ; but it is probable 
 that the divergences are due to the actors and printers. The First 
 Quarto may follow a slightly condensed copy used in the perform- 
 ance at court in 1606, while the Folio gives the more abridged acting 
 copy of the theatre. The bibliographical difficulties are further 
 complicated by the fact that, though the two editions are based on 
 different texts, the Folio reproduces some of the errors of the 
 Quartos. The explanation of this would seem to be that the printer 
 of the Folio did not work directly on the acting copy, but employed 
 an edition of the First Quarto that had been corrected roughly in 
 accordance with the manuscript. The modern text is considerably 
 longer than that of the original editions by the inclusion of all the 
 passages that occur only in one or the other of them. On the 
 assumption that Shakespeare took no further care of the play after 
 he had given it to the actors, the King Lear which we now have is 
 a nearer approach to what it was when it left his hands. 
 
 King Lear is one of the Shakespearean plays which were mangled 
 at the Restoration. It appears to have been acted "as Shakespeare 
 wrote it" between 1662 and 1665, and again in 1671 or 1672,^ but 
 it was more popular in the adapted version of Nahum Tate, which 
 was produced and published in 1681.^ Tate considered the play 
 "a heap of jewels, unstrung and unpolished," and he set himself to 
 give it what Restoration taste demanded. '"Twas my good for- 
 tune," he says, "to light on one expedient to rectify what was want- 
 ing in the regularity and probability of the tale, which was to run 
 through the whole a Love betwixt Edgar and Cordelia, that never 
 changed word with each other in the original. This renders Cor- 
 delia's indifference and her father's passion in the first scene prob- 
 
 1 The chief passages omitted in the Quartos are : i. 1. 41-46 ; i. 2. 118-124, 
 181-187; i. 4. 345-356; ii. 4. 46-55, 142-147; iii. 1. 22-29; iii. 2. 80-95; 
 iii. 6. 13-15 ; iv. 1. 6-9 ; iv. 6. 169-174. The chief passages omitted in the 
 Folios are: i. 2. 156-163; i. 3. 16-20; i. 4. 154-169; ii. 2. 148-152; iii. 
 1. 7-15, 30-42; iii, 6. 18-58, 103-122; iii. 7. 99-107; iv. 2. 31-50, 53-59, 
 62-69 ; iv. 3. (the whole scene) ; iv. 7. 85-97 ; v. 3. 204-221. It is sometimes 
 stated erroneously that only about fifty lines are omitted in the Quartos, 
 and about two hundred and twenty in the Folios. 
 
 * See Downes, Roscius Anglicanus (ed. Davies, 1789), pp. 36 and 43. 
 
 ' The History of King Lear. Acted at the Duke's Theatre. Reviv'd with 
 Alterations. By N. Tate. London, 1681. Reprinted 1771. 
 
INTRODUCTION vii 
 
 able. It likewise gives countenance to Edgar's disguise, making 
 that a generous design that was before a poor shift to save his life. 
 The distress of the story is evidently heightened by it; and it 
 particularly gave occasion of a new scene or two, of more success 
 (perhaps) than merit. This method necessarily threw me on mak- 
 ing the tale conclude in a success to the innocent distrest Persons. 
 . . . Yet I was wracked with no small fears for so bold a change, 
 till I found it well received by my audience." 
 
 The love-making and betrothal of Edgar and Cordelia, the res- 
 toration of Lear to his kingdom, the enforced moral that "truth and 
 virtue shall at last succeed," the interpolated scenes, and the entire 
 omission of the Fool, make this version a perfect botch of the original. 
 But it held the stage unchallenged till the time of Garrick, and its 
 tinkerings were not totally discarded until well on in the nineteenth 
 century. Garrick's version, which was produced in 1756, was 
 generally accepted for about fifty years.^ With all his enthusiasm 
 for Shakespeare, Garrick showed little regard for the plays as 
 Shakespeare left them, and of none did he represent a more garbled 
 version than of King Lear. It may not unfitly be described as an 
 adaptation of Tate's. He restored certain passages and omitted 
 many of Tate's additions, but he retained the love scenes and the 
 happy ending, and after serious consideration decided that he could 
 not include the Fool. The version that Colman produced in 1768 
 was a decided improvement. He endeavored in it, he says, "to 
 purge the tragedy of Lear of the alloy of Tate, which has so long 
 been suflFered to debase it." He had the taste to recognize that the 
 love scenes between Edgar and Cordelia were entirely out of place, 
 and that, far from heightening the distress of the story, as Tate 
 had asserted, they diffused a languor over all the scenes from which 
 Lear is absent. But he did not condemn Tate entirely. "To 
 reconcile," he says, "the catastrophe of Tate to the original story 
 was the first grand object which I proposed to myself in this altera- 
 tion." He thus expelled Tate from the first four acts, but retained 
 him in the fifth ; but, like Tate and Garrick, he would have none of 
 the Fool, being "convinced that such a character in a tragedy would 
 not be endured on the modern stage." Colman's version, however, 
 was not popular because of the absence of the love scenes, and 
 Garrick's or Tate's kept possession of the stage .^ 
 
 1 The version of 1756 was not printed, but it is presumably the same as that 
 published by Bell in 1772 or 1773. 
 
 2 See Genest, English Stage, iv. 475; v. 191-203; viii. 131. Another 
 version was produced by Kemble in 1809, but it was worse than Garrick's, for 
 Kemble restored passages from Tate that Garrick had omitted. 
 
viii INTRODUCTION 
 
 Throughout the eighteenth century the happy ending, though 
 invariably adopted by the actors, was a moot point of the critics. 
 Addison condemned it and the "ridiculous doctrine" of poetical 
 justice urged in its defense. "King Lear is an admirable tragedy," 
 he says, "as Shakespeare wrote it; but as it is reformed according 
 to the chimerical notion of poetical justice, in my humble opinion it 
 has lost half its beauty." ^ Johnson was of the opposite opinion, 
 and represents the prevailing taste of the time when he states with 
 evident satisfaction that "Cordelia, from the time of Tate, has 
 always retired with victory and felicity." 
 
 The new school of Shakespearean critics at the beginning of the 
 nineteenth century, and particularly Lamb and Hazlitt, induced 
 Kean to abandon the inartistic conclusion that had been in vogue 
 for over a hundred and forty years. In 1820 he had followed Tate's 
 version, but he had declared that "the London audience have no 
 notion what I can do until they see me over the dead body of 
 Cordelia," and in 1823, in obedience to his dramatic instincts and 
 "the suggestion of men of literary eminence from the time of 
 Addison," he gave the last act as originally written by Shakespeare. 
 But even Kean did not restore the true version in the rest of the 
 play, for Tate's love scenes were retained and the Fool was still 
 excluded. Not till Macready's performance of the play in 1838 was 
 the Fool again permitted to appear. But even in making this restor- 
 ation Macready had considerable misgivings. " My opinion of the 
 introduction of the Fool," he wrote in his diary, "is that, like many 
 such terrible contrasts in poetry and painting, in acting-representa- 
 tion it will fail in effect; it will either weary, or annoy, or distract 
 the spectator. I have no hope of it, and think that at the last we 
 shall be obliged to dispense with it." Though he doubted the pro- 
 priety of this part, he has the credit of restoring to the stage the 
 true King Lear. 
 
 2. THE DATE OF THE PLAY 
 
 The date of King Lear is not definitely known ; but it is certain 
 that the play was written between 1603 and 1606. The later limit 
 is fixed by external evidence. The First Quarto was entered in the 
 Stationers' Registers under the date November 26, 1607, as "A 
 Booke called Master William Shakespeare his 'historye of Kinge 
 Lear' as yt was played before the kinges maiestie at Whitehall vppon 
 Sainct Stephens night at Christmas Last." The performance at 
 
 1 Spectator, No. 40> 
 
INTRODUCTION ix 
 
 court must therefore have taken place on St. Stephen's night 
 (December 26), 1606. This is the only piece of external evidence 
 that bears on the date of the play. 
 
 But there is internal evidence to show that King Lear was not 
 written before 1603. As the notes point out, there are several 
 passages that prove Shakespeare's knowledge of Harsnet's Declara- 
 tion of Egregious Popishe Impostures. The names of the devils 
 mentioned . by Edgar when feigning madness are undoubtedly 
 borrowed from this book,^ while certain other remarks made by him 
 in his role of Tom of Bedlam point to a like indebtedness.^ Hars- 
 net's book was entered in the Stationers' Registers on March 16, 
 1603, and appeared later in the same year. 
 
 Unfortunately this is the only evidence that is at all definite. 
 It is highly probable that the play was written in 1606, though the 
 arguments urged in support of a date nearer the end than the begin- 
 ning of the period from 1603 to Christmas, 1606, are not conclusive. 
 Some students would assign King Lear to 1605 because they sur- 
 mise that the publication in that year of an old play on the same 
 subject {The True Chronicle History of King Leir) was caused by 
 the successful appearance of Shakespeare's version on the stage. 
 Malone notes that in iii. 4. 189 Edgar says "I smell the blood of a 
 British man," and he argues therefrom that this must have been 
 written after James's proclamation as King of Great Britain on 
 October 24, 1604. But it has been pointed out that as early as 
 1603, even before James's arrival in London, the poet Daniel ad- 
 dressed to him a Panegyrike Congratulatory, which has the lines : 
 
 "Shake hands with union, O thou mightie state, 
 Now thou art all Great Britain, and no more, 
 No Scot, no English now, nor no debate." 
 
 His argument, therefore, has little value. 
 
 More weight attaches to the plea put forward by Mr. Aldis 
 Wright, for, though it does not force acceptance, it strengthens the 
 supposition of a late date. In the second scene of the first act 
 there are references to "these late eclipses in the sun and moon." 
 In October, 1605, there was a great eclipse of the sun following an 
 eclipse of the moon in the previous month, and Mr. Wright argues 
 that "it can scarcely be doubted that Shakespeare had in his mind 
 the great eclipse, and that Lear was written while the recollection 
 of it was still fresh, and while the ephemeral literature of the day 
 
 1 See iii. 4. 120 ; iii. 6. 7, 31 ; and iv. 1. 62. 
 
 2 See ii. 3. 20 ; iii. 4. 51 ; and iv. 1 . 54. 
 
X INTRODUCTION 
 
 abounded with pamphlets foreboding the consequences that were 
 to follow." ^ Similarly, he hazards the further plausible suggestion 
 that the reference in the same scene to "machinations, hollo wness, 
 treachery, and all ruinous disorders" may have been prompted by 
 the Gunpowder Plot of November 5, 1605. All this, however, is 
 mere supposition. There were eclipses of the sun and moon in 1598 
 and again in 1601,^ and it is not impossible that Shakespeare's words 
 were suggested by a recollection of them. None the less, the trend 
 of the arguments, though inconclusive in themselves, is to support 
 the date 1606 ; and as King Lear was acted before James at Christ- 
 mas, 1606, and as the plays represented at court were usually new 
 plays, that date may be accepted.^ 
 
 3. THE SOURCES OF THE PLOT 
 
 The story of King Lear was familiar in various forms to the 
 Elizabethans. From the twelfth to the sixteenth century it had 
 been told again and again in chronicles and romances, both French 
 and English.^ It is first found in the Historia Britonum of Geoffrey 
 of Monmouth, written in Latin about 1135. Geoffrey attached an 
 immemorially old folk tale about a father and three daughters to 
 a mythical British king, to whom he gave the name of a Celtic sea- 
 god, Leir. From Geoffrey the story passed into Wace's French 
 poem. Brut (c. 1155), and thence into Layamon's Brut (c. 1200), 
 where the story is first given in English. Thereafter it is told in the 
 metrical chronicles of Robert of Gloucester (c. 1300), Robert Man- 
 ning (c. 1338), and John Harding (c. 1450), and in the more detailed 
 prose chronicles of Robert Fabyan (1516), John Rastell (The Past- 
 time of the People, 1530), Richard Grafton (1568), and Raphael 
 Holinshed (1577), while a similar story is given in Camden's Re- 
 mains (1605). Two versions of it occur in translations of the Gesta 
 Romanorum, the great mediaeval storehouse of legendary tales. 
 And it found a poetical setting in Elizabethan literature in John 
 Higgins's contribution to The Mirror for Magistrates (1574), in 
 Warner's Albion's England (1586, ch. 14), and in Spenser's Faerie 
 
 1 Preface to the Clarendon Press edition, p. xvi. 
 
 2 See King Lear, ed. W. J. Craig (1901), p. xxiii. 
 
 3 The metrical evidence affords little or no assistance. For a statement of 
 the metrical characteristics, see Fleay's Shakespeare Manual, p. 136, and Prof. 
 Ingram's paper on " Light and Weak Endings" in the Transactions of the New 
 Shakspere Society, 1874, pt. ii. Cf. Table I in chapter iv of W. A. Neilson 
 and A. H. Thorndike's The Facts about Shakespeare (1913). 
 
 * See Wilfred Perrett, The Story of King Lear, Berlin, 1904. 
 
INTRODUCTION xi 
 
 Queene (1590, Book ii, canto x). Including the early play entitled 
 The True Chronicle History of King Leir, which appeared in 1605,^ 
 there are extant at least eight Elizabethan versions of earlier date 
 than the drama by which it has been immortalized. 
 
 Of the contemporary versions Shakespeare may have known 
 those in Holinshed's Chronicle, The Mirror for Magistrates, and the 
 Faerie Queene,^ as well as the early play. 
 
 Holinshed's Chronicle was the great source of Shakespeare's 
 histories. Certain passages in some of them, e.g. Henry V and 
 Henry VIII, are little more than versified renderings of Holinshed's 
 prose. But the fact that it provided so much material for Shake- 
 speare's other plays has led to overstatement of its influence on 
 King Lear. In Holinshed's account Leir loves Cordeilla far above 
 her two elder sisters, and intends her to succeed to his kingdom ; 
 but, being displeased with her answer at the love-test, he determines 
 that his land shall be divided after his death between Gonorilla 
 and Regan (who so far were unmarried), .and that a half thereof 
 shall immediately be assigned them, while to Cordeilla he reserves 
 nothing. But in time the two dukes whom the two eldest daughters 
 had married rise against Leir and deprive him of the government, 
 assigning him a portion on which to live. The daughters, however, 
 seem to think that w^hatever the father has is too much, and grad- 
 ually curtail his retinue. Leir is constrained to flee the country and 
 seek comfort of Cordeilla, who has married a prince of Gallia. In 
 Gallia he is honored as if he were king of the whole country. Cor- 
 deilla and her husband then raise a mighty army, cross over to 
 Britain with Leir, and defeat the forces of Gonorilla and Regan. 
 Leir is restored and rules for two years, and is succeeded by Cor- 
 deilla. It will be seen that Holinshed's story, meager as it is, differs 
 in many points from Shakespeare's. It was certainly not used as 
 the basis of King Lear. Indeed there is absolutely nothing to prove 
 
 1 There is entered in the Registers of the Stationers' Company, under the 
 date May 14, 1594, The moste famous Chronicle historye of Leire kinge of 
 England and his Three Daughters. No copy of this is known, but it is probably 
 the same as The Tragecall historie of kinge Leir and his Three Daughters, which 
 was entered on May 8, 1605, and appeared in the same year with the following 
 title. The True Chronicle History of King Leir and his three Daughters, Gonorill, 
 Ragan, and Cordelia. As it hath bene diuers and sundry times lately acted. 
 This is reprinted in George Steevens' Six Old Plays (1779), vol. ii ; in W. C. 
 Hazlitt's Shakespeare' s Library (1875), pt. ii, vol. ii ; by W. W. Greg for the 
 Malone Society (1907) ; and by Sidney Lee in the Shakespeare Classics 
 (1909). An abstract is given in Furness's Variorum Shakespeare. See R. A, 
 Law's "The Date of King Lear" in the Publications of the Modern Language 
 Association of America, vol. xxi. 
 
 2 These three versions are reprinted in Appendix A. 
 
xii INTRODUCTION 
 
 that Shakespeare consulted it, though the probability is, considering 
 his use of other parts of the Chronicle, that he had read Holinshed's 
 version. 
 
 The story in The Mirror for Magistrates has more points of 
 similarity. According to it, Leire intended "to guerdon most where 
 favour most he found" (cf. i, 1, 53-54); and Cordell in her reply 
 refers to the chance of bearing another more good-will, meaning a 
 future husband (cf. i. 1. 103-104). Leire does not resign the gov- 
 ernment at once, but is deprived of his crown and right by the 
 husbands of Gonerell and Ragan, who promise him a guard of sixty 
 knights. This number Gonerell reduces by half, whereupon Leire 
 goes to Cornwall to stay with Ragan, who after a time takes away 
 all his retinue but ten, then allows him but five, and finally but one. 
 Another indignity he has to suffer is that "the meaner upstart 
 courtiers think themselves his mates." And his daughters call him 
 a "doting fool." As in Holinshed, Leire flees to France, returns 
 with Cordell and an army which proves victorious, and is restored 
 to his kingdom. But, generally, this account bears a much closer 
 resemblance than Holinshed's to the story of King Lear. Some of 
 the details of The Mirror for Magistrates are paralleled in Shake- 
 speare's play.^ This, however, is a circumstance on which too great 
 stress is apt to be laid, for similarity or even identity of idea does 
 not prove indebtedness. The most striking point is Cordell's 
 allusion in the love-test to her future husband. But it happens that 
 llrCamden's Remains a similar story of the love-test is told of Ina, 
 king of the West Saxons, and there the youngest daughter replies to 
 her father "flatly, without flattery, that albeit she did love, honour, 
 and reverence him, and so would whilst she lived, as much as nature 
 and daughterly duty at the uttermost could expect, yet she did think 
 that one day it would come to pass that she should affect another 
 more fervently, meaning her husband, when she were married." 
 Malone, who drew attention to this passage, thinks that Shakespeare 
 had it in his thoughts rather than the lines in The Mirror for 
 Magistrates, as Camden's book had recently been published, and 
 as a portion near at hand "furnished him with a hint in Coriolanus.'^ 
 No definite opinion can be advanced; but the effect is only to 
 render Shakespeare's debt to The Mirror for Magistrates more 
 doubtful. 
 
 In one striking point Shakespeare is indebted to Spenser. In 
 
 1 Perhaps the parallelisms are due to the intermediary of the early play, 
 which resembles in several points the story in The Mirror for Magistrates, 
 There would be less difficulty in showing the early dramatist's acquaintance 
 with it than there is in showing Shakespeare's. 
 
INTRODUCTION xiii 
 
 Holinshed's Chronicle the heroine's name is Cordeilla, in The Mirror 
 for Magistrates it is Cordell, and in the early play it is Cordelia; 
 in King Lear the name has the beautiful form first adopted in the 
 Faerie Queene} The two great Elizabethans are alike also in their 
 division of Lear's kingdom, for neither makes Lear reserve to him- 
 self any share in the government, while in Holinshed and in The 
 Mirror for Magistrates the two elder daughters are not given at once 
 their full share, and wrest the supreme power by force of arms. 
 Shakespeare is sometimes said to be indebted to the simile ^ in 
 Spenser's account ; but this is a point that cannot be pressed. 
 
 We are on surer ground in dealing with the early play, the anony- 
 mous True Chronicle History of King Leir. The main incidents of 
 this drama, and in particular some of its deviations from the usual 
 story, have their counterpart in King Lear. In one of his snatches 
 of song, Shakespeare's fool speaks of "That lord that counsell'd thee 
 to give away thy land" (i. 4. 154-155). There is nothing in the rest 
 of the play to explain the allusion ; but we find that in the old play 
 the love-test is proposed by a courtier, Skalliger by name, and that 
 Lear at once resigns his whole kingdom to Gonorill and Ragan. 
 Another courtier, Perillus, who is entirely the early dramatist's 
 own invention, is the prototype of Kent. He pleads for Cordelia, 
 but in vain, and afterwards, with Kent's fidelity, attends in disguise 
 on the old king. A messenger, and the miscarriage of letters, play 
 an important part in the development of the plot. Again, in the 
 pathetic scene in which Leir comes to recognize Cordelia, he kneels 
 to her (cf. iv. 7. 59). These are some of the most striking points 
 of similarity in the development of the two plays. But indebted- 
 ness may be traced even in minor matters. We seem to catch an 
 echo now and then of some of the statements and phrases of the old 
 play. Thus : 
 
 " I am as kind as is the pellican, 
 That kils it selfe to save her young ones lives" 
 
 reminds us of Lear's reference to his "pelican daughters" (iii. 4. 77). 
 The allusion to Gonorill' s "young bones" — 
 
 "poore soule, she breeds yong bones, 
 And that is it makes her so tutchy sure ' ' — 
 
 suggests ii. 4. 165, while the sentiment is the same as that expressed 
 in ii. 4. 107-113. It is probable, too, that Perillus's description of 
 
 1 Spenser once has the form "Cordeill," apparently shortened from Holin- 
 shed's "Cordeilla." It would appear that the exigencies of metre suggested 
 "Cordelia." Spenser was undoubtedly indebted to Holinshed for the story. 
 
 2 See i. 4. 237. 
 
xiv INTRODUCTION 
 
 his master as "the mirror of mild patience" had seme bearing on the 
 finer phrase which Shakespeare puts in the mouth of Lear himself, 
 "the pattern of all patience" (iii. 2. 37). There can be no doubt 
 that Shakespeare knew this early play. In itself it is of little ac- 
 count; and yet there are not wanting qualities which show that the 
 story only awaited the master hand to touch it to finer issues. 
 
 It is also certain that Sidney's Arcadia ^ is the source of the 
 Gloucester story — the underplot that is interwoven with marvel- 
 lous skill and is so striking a foil to the main theme. The prototypes 
 of Gloucester and Edgar are the " Paphlagonian unkind king and his 
 kind son," whose "pitiful state" is recounted in the second book of 
 Sidney's pastoral romance. Though the story is reproduced in all 
 its essentials, it has furnished Shakespeare with nothing but the 
 bare facts of his underplot.^ 
 
 But when all Shakespeare's borrowings are put together — even 
 though account be taken of those matters in which his debt is very 
 doubtful — how small a part do they form of King Lear! The inter- 
 mingling of the Gloucester episode has entailed new incidents and 
 changed the working out of the catastrophe. The presence of 
 Edmund enhances the villainy of Goneril and Regan, and their 
 adulterous love leads to their deaths. In the older versions their 
 part was ended with the victory of Lear. Shakespeare alone has 
 given a sad ending to the play ; and although, as we have seen, he 
 incurred thereby the censure of eighteenth century critics and actors, 
 it is the only ending that is artistically possible. That Lear should 
 be restored and reign happily is fitting enough in the meager stories 
 of Holinshed or the early dramatist, but the tragic intensity which 
 Shakespeare could give the more easily by the addition of the 
 Gloucester episode makes any other ending than his lame and inept. 
 There is no borrowing in the feigned madness of Edgar, nor in the 
 real madness of Lear — the central circumstance, the very essence 
 of the play ; and the character of the Fool is Shakespeare's creation. 
 In these points, as in all that gives the play its value, the only 
 "source" is Shakespeare himself. In addition there is the whole 
 setting, and in particular the storm which symbolizes the "great 
 
 1 The passage from which Shakespeare borrowed is reprinted in Ap- 
 pendix A. 
 
 2 Some of the older critics, e.g. Johnson and Hazlitt, thought that the play 
 was "founded upon an old ballad," A Lamentable Song of the Death of King 
 Leare and his Three Daughters. But this is apparently of later date than 
 Shakespeare's play. It was published, probably for the first time, in Richard 
 Johnson's Golden Garlands of Princely Pleasures and Delicate Delights (1620), 
 and has been reprinted in Wilfrid Perrett's The Story of King Lear (1904), 
 pp. 125-142. 
 
INTRODUCTION xv 
 
 commotion in the moral world" ; and there is the characterization, 
 by which the shadows and puppets of the early stories are turned 
 into flesh and blood. 
 
 4. CRITICAL APPRECIATION 
 
 The play of King Lear presents certain peculiarities in point of 
 structure. It diverges considerably from the form of the Shake- 
 spearean dramas with which it is generally associated — Hamlet, 
 Othello, and Macbeth — and it is even more irregular than the first 
 of these. It is unique in the importance of the opening scene. 
 There is no introductory passage to explain or throw light on the 
 story that is to be unfolded, or, as in Macbeth, to symbolize it. We 
 are introduced straightway to the action on which the whole play 
 depends. The first scene on this account has been stigmatized by 
 Goethe as irrational ; but the structure of the play emphasizes the 
 fact that the deeds which call the play into being are in themselves of 
 little importance. King Lear recounts the consequences following 
 inevitably on a rash and foolish act. Another arrangement of the 
 opening scenes would have tended to give more prominence than 
 the theme of the drama allowed to an act which is important only 
 in so far as it is the occasion of others. 
 
 The importance of the underplot is the most notable point in the 
 structure of King Lear. Its bearing on the whole play seems 
 almost to mark it out as a survival of the discarded parallelisms of 
 the earlier comedies. But it has a purely artistic value, for it is 
 added not in order to complicate the story, but to enforce its motive. 
 It is in fact a triumphant vindication of the underplot, a character- 
 istic of the romantic drama on which the formal classical critics 
 looked askance. The Gloucester'story has had its full share of con- 
 demnation by those who are prejudiced by recognized dramatic 
 rules. Joseph Warton, for instance, singled out, as one of the 
 "considerable imperfections" with which the play is chargeable, 
 "the plot of Edmund against his brother, which distracts the atten- 
 tion and destroys the unity of the fable." ^ His other observations 
 on King Lear contain passages of wholehearted and eloquent praise, 
 but on this point he was so blinded by the prevailing classicism of 
 the eighteenth century as to fail to recognize that the underplot, 
 far from distracting the attention, really adds to the intensity. 
 Such objections have been answered once and for all in a memorable 
 
 1 The Adventurer, No. 122, January 5, 1754, Warton's third and concluding 
 paper of "Observations on King Lear." 
 
xvi INTRODUCTION 
 
 passage by Schlegel. "The incorporation of the two stories has 
 been censured as destructive of the unity of action. But whatever 
 contributes to the intrigue of the denouement must always possess 
 unity. And with what ingenuity and skill are the two main parts 
 of the composition dovetailed into one another ! The pity felt 
 by Gloucester for the fate of Lear becomes the means which enables 
 his son Edmund to effect his complete destruction, and affords the 
 outcast Edgar an opportunity of being the saviour of his father. 
 f On the other hand, Edmund is active in the cause of Regan and 
 Goneril, and the criminal passion which they both entertain for 
 him induces them to execute justice on each other and on themselves. 
 The laws of the drama have therefore been sufficiently complied 
 with ; but that is the least. It is the very combination which con- 
 stitutes the sublime beauty of the work. The two cases resemble 
 each other in the main : an infatuated father is blind towards his 
 well-disposed child, and t^elinnatural children, whom he prefers, 
 requite him by the ruin of all his happiness. But all the circum- 
 stances are so different that these stories, while they each make a 
 correspondent impression on the heart, form a complete contrast for 
 the imagination. Were Lear alone to suffer from his daughters, 
 the impression would be limited to the powerful compassion felt 
 by us for his private misfortune. But two such unheard-of examples 
 taking place at the same time have the appearance of a great com- 
 motion in the moral world." ^ The story of the victim of his own 
 misdeeds is so skillfully interwoven with the story of the victim 
 of his indiscretions, and is brought into so suggestive opposition, 
 that the effect of each is more impressive. The Gloucester story in 
 itself does not offer any striking chance of successful dramatic treat- 
 ment, and in respect to the feigned madness of Edgar it rather 
 lends itself to comedy, but attains a tragic power by its association 
 with the story of Lear. On the other hand, the main theme is 
 raised by this conjunction above a purely personal matter, and we 
 are the more readily brought to think of Lear, not as the man, but 
 as the victim of filial ingratitude. 
 
 Despite these apparently discordant elements. King Lear has 
 complete unity of spirit. But in achieving this unity the art of 
 Shakespeare has nowhere triumphed more completely than in the 
 case of the Fool. In less skillful hands his presence would have 
 been inimical to the pity and terror of the tragedy. We have seen 
 how actors, for a period of over a hundred and fifty years, from the 
 
 1 A. W. Schlegel, Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature (English trans- 
 lation, 1879, p. 412). 
 
INTRODUCTION . xvii 
 
 days of Tate to Macready, banislied the Fool from the stage because 
 of their failure to recognize the importance of his part. Even in re- 
 storing him Macready did not do him justice, for he regarded him as 
 a mere youth, and accordingly intrusted the part to an actress. The 
 Fool's remarks are those of a man of full and rich experience of life. 
 He is not a clown like Othello's servant, introduced merely for the 
 sake of variety. He bears a much closer resemblance to the Fools 
 of the later comedies, to Touchstone in As You Like It and Feste 
 in Twelfth Night. Like Touchstone, " he uses his folly like a stalking- 
 horse, and under the presentation of that he shoots his wit." At 
 first there is a sharpness in his taunts, for he hopes thereby, with the 
 frankness that is the privilege of his position, to awaken the king 
 to a knowledge of what he has done. Afterward, when the worst 
 has come to the worst, his wit has the gentler aim of relieving Lear's 
 anguish. He no longer "teaches" Lear, but "labours to outjest 
 his heart-struck injuries." He seems to give expression to the 
 thought lurking deep in Lear's mind, as is shown by the readiness 
 with which Lear catches at everything he says, or to voice the 
 counsels of discretion. And he finally disappears from the play 
 when Lear is mad. The Fool is, in fact, Lear's familiar spirit. 
 He is Lear's only companion in the fateful step of going out into the 
 night and braving the storm. Even then, as if in astonishment 
 that his sorrows had not destroyed all his regard for others, Lear 
 says, "I have one part in my heart that's sorry yet for thee." How, 
 then, may it be asked, can the Fool possibly be omitted from King 
 Lear? 
 
 Apart from this consideration, the Fool has an important function 
 in the drama. The eighteenth century actors unconsciously testified 
 to this, for when they banished the Fool as "a character not to be 
 endured on the modern stage," they with one exception — and 
 success did not attend this efifort — made good the want by maw- 
 kish love scenes. These they preferred to a role that was regarded 
 only as burlesque. But the artful prattle of the Fool does more 
 than give variety and relax the strain on one's feelings. It makes 
 Lear's lot endurable to us, but at the same time it gives us a keener 
 sense of its sadness. The persistent reminders of Lear's folly, the 
 recurring presentment of ideas in a new and stronger light, the 
 caustic wit hidden in a seemingly casual remark, all bring home 
 more forcibly the pity of Lear's plight. In a word, the Fool in- 
 tensifies the pathos by relieving it.^ 
 
 1 In this connection it is well to record the opinion of Shelley, expressed in 
 his Defence of Poetry : "The modern practice of blending comedy with tragedy, 
 
xviii ' INTRODUCTION 
 
 The character of Lear is distinct from those of most of Shake- 
 speare's heroes in that it is not revealed gradually. He is described 
 fully in the very first scene. He has had a successful reign, but he 
 is not a strong man. He is headstrong and rash, and old age has 
 brought "unruly waywardness" and vanity. The play as a whole 
 deals with the effects produced upon this passionate character by 
 a foolish act for which he alone is responsible. The story is strictly 
 that of a British king who began to rule "in the year of the world 
 3105, at what time Joas reigned in Juda." But Shakespeare has 
 converted it into a tale of universal interest. He makes it but a 
 basis for what Keats has called "the fierce dispute betwixt Hell 
 torment and impassioned clay." ^ All the details of the story are of 
 little importance in themselves, and the art of Shakespeare makes us 
 forget them in thinking of the total effect to which they contribute. 
 The real subject of the play is not so much I^ear as the outraged 
 passion of filial affection. "Nobody from reading Shakespeare," 
 says Hazlitt, "would know (except from the Dramatis Personoe) 
 that Lear was an English king. He is merely a king and a father. 
 The ground is common : but what a well of tears has he dug out of 
 it! There are no data in history to go upon; no advantage is 
 taken of costume, no acquaintance with geography or architecture or 
 dialect is necessary ; but there is an old tradition, human nature, 
 — an old temple, the human mind, — and Shakespeare walks into 
 it and looks about him with a lordly eye, and seizes on the sacred 
 spoils as his own. The story is a thousand or two years old, and yet 
 the tragedy has no smack of antiquarianism in it." ^ 
 
 It is this universal quality which allows such anachronisms as 
 that one character should personate a madman of the seventeenth 
 century and speak a southwestern dialect, or that another should 
 refer to the rules of chivalry. The very greatness of King Lear, 
 the subordination and even abrogation of all detail, abundant 
 though it is, made Charles Lamb declare the play essentially im- 
 possible to be represented on a stage. "The greatness of Lear," he 
 says, "is not in corporal dimension, but in intellectual: the explo- 
 
 though liable to great abuse in point of practice, is undoubtedly an extension of 
 the dramatic circle ; but the comedy should be, as in King Lear, universal, 
 ideal, sublime. It is perhaps the intervention of this principle which deter- 
 mines the balance in favour of King Lear against (Edipus Tyrannus or the 
 Agamemnon. . . . King Lear, if it can sustain this comparison, may be judged 
 to be the most perfect specimen of the dramatic art existing in the world, in 
 spite of the narrow conditions to which the poet was subjected by the igno- 
 rance of the philosophy of the drama which has prevailed in modern Europe." 
 
 1 Sonnet written before re-reading "King Lear." 
 
 2 Hazlitt, "Scott, Racine, and Shakespeare," in The Plain-Speaker. 
 
INTRODUCTION xix 
 
 sions of liis passion are terrible as a volcano : they are storms turn- 
 ing up and disclosing to the bottom that sea, his mind, with all its 
 vast riches. It is his mind which is laid bare. This case of flesh 
 and blood seems too insignificant to be thought on ; even as he him- 
 self neglects it. On the stage we see nothing but corporal infirmities 
 and weakness, the impotence of rage ; while we read it, we see not 
 Lear, but we are Lear." ^ His sufferings bring out good qualities 
 that have been stunted in fortune. When we first know him he is 
 so self-centred as to be absolutely regardless of others. But he comes 
 to suspect his own "jealous curiosity" (i. 4. 75), tries to find an 
 excuse for his enemies (ii. 4. 106-113), and is finally moved to con- 
 trition for his former indifference to the lot of even his meanest 
 subjects (iii. 4. 28-36). He knows he must be patient. "You 
 heavens, give me that patience, patience I need" (ii. 4. 274). He 
 asserts that he will be "the pattern of all patience" (iii. 2. 37). But 
 the blow has come too late. His fond old heart cannot endure the 
 outrage of "the offices of nature, bond of childhood, effects of 
 courtesy, dues of gratitude." He is too old to learn resignation. 
 His remarks only increase in intensity. When he meets Began after 
 his rebuff by Goneril, he can greet her only by saying that if she is 
 not glad to see him, her mother must have been an adulteress 
 (ii. 4. 132-134). At last he becomes almost inarticulate with 
 passion (ii. 4. 281-289). The strain is too great, and the bonds of 
 reason snap. Of this the premonitions have been so skillfully given 
 that his madness seems inevitable.^ Yet he could never more truly 
 say that he was "every inch a king" than when he threw" aside the 
 lendings of royalty and stood against the deep dread-bolted thunder, 
 and defied the villainy of his unnatural daughters. If he baffles our 
 sympathy or regard in the height of his fortune, he wins our rev- 
 erence now; and the imagination fondly lingers over his recogni- 
 tion of Cordelia and his contentment with prison if only she is 
 with him, and finds his early folly nobly expiated in his conduct at 
 her death and his inability to live without her.^ 
 
 Yet this ending, as beautiful as it is inevitable, has been con- 
 
 ^Lamb, On the Tragedies of Shakespeare. 
 
 2 Several accounts of the course of Lear's madness have been given by- 
 medical men. See, for example, Bucknill's Mad Folk of Shakespeare, pp. 160- 
 235. 
 
 3 The (Edipus Coloneus of Sophocles offers a remarkable comparison with 
 King Lear. CEdipus, too, is a man more sinned against than sinning (see note, 
 iii. 2. 60), but he has learned patience and self control and has a strength of 
 character wanting in the aged Lear. His curse on Polynices is even more 
 terrible than Lear's on Goneril, because it is deliberate, and does not spring 
 from a passionate desire for revenge. And Antigone is his Cordelia. 
 
XX INTRODUCTION 
 
 demned on the score of what is called "poetical justice." As Lear 
 is a man more sinned against than sinning, some would have him 
 restored to his kingdom. But crime is not the chief tragic motive 
 in the Shakespearean drama any more than in that of Greece. 
 Lear is guilty of an error, and through it he meets his fate. The 
 play of Macbeth is an exception to the general rule, in that the 
 tragedy is founded upon crime; on the other hand, Hamlet and 
 Othello, for instance, resemble Lear in being the victims of their 
 own character and the circumstances in which they are placed. 
 Cordelia can well say, "we are not the first. Who with best meaning 
 have incurred the worst." That she and Lear, after all that has 
 happened, should not incur the worst would be contrary to the 
 Shakespearean method, if only for the reason that it would be 
 glaringly inartistic. Much as we regret Lear's fate, it alone can 
 satisfy our sense of the fitness of things. As Charles Lamb has put 
 it with admirable force: "A happy ending! — as if the living 
 martyrdom that Lear had gone through, the flaying of his feelings 
 alive, did not make a fair dismissal from the stage of life the only 
 decorous thing for him. If he is to live and be happy after, if he 
 could sustain this world's burden after, why all this pudder and 
 preparation, why torment us with all this unnecessary sympathy? 
 As if the childish pleasure of getting his gilt robes and sceptre again 
 could tempt him to act over again his misused station, — as if at his 
 years, and with his experience, anything was left but to die." But, 
 it may be asked, does this ending, which is in accordance with 
 artistic necessity, entirely fail to satisfy the claims of poetical 
 justice? Lear is not troubled by the loss of his kingdom. Why, 
 then, should his kingdom be restored to him, the more especially 
 as he had in his sane mind given it away ? What he feels is not- the 
 actual diminution of his train by his daughters and their other 
 unkindnesses so much as the brutality which prompted these acts. 
 Justice can be done him, not by restoration to his kingdom, but by 
 restoration to filial respect, and it is satisfied by the love of Cordelia, 
 This alone " does redeem all sorrows that ever I have felt." 
 
KING LEAR 
 
DRAMATIS PERSON.E 
 
 Lear King of Britain 
 
 King of France 
 Duke of Burgundy 
 Duke of Cornwall 
 Duke of Albany 
 Earl of Kent 
 Earl of Gloucester 
 
 Edgar Son to Gloucester 
 
 Edmund Bastard Son to Gloucester 
 
 CuRAN A courtier 
 
 Old Man Tenant to Gloucester 
 
 Doctor 
 Fool 
 
 Oswald Steward to Goneril 
 
 A Captain employed by Edmund 
 Gentleman attendant on Cordelia 
 A Herald 
 
 Servants to Cornwall 
 Goneril ] 
 
 Regan ^ Daughters to Lear 
 
 Cordelia J 
 
 Knights of Lear's train. Captains, Messengers, 
 Soldiers, and Attendants 
 
 SCENE — Britain 
 
King Lear 
 
 ACT I 
 
 Scene I — King Lear's 'palace 
 Enter Kent, Gloucester, and Edmund 
 
 Kent. I thought the king had more affected 
 the Duke of Albany than Cornwall. 
 
 Glou. It did always seem so to us : but now, in 
 the division of the kingdom, it appears not which 
 of the dukes he values most ; for equalities are so 
 weighed, that curiosity in neither can make choice 
 of cither's moiety. 
 
 Kent. Is not this your son, my lord ? 
 
 Glou. His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge : 
 I have so often blushed to acknowledge him, that lo 
 now I am brazed to it. 
 
 Kent. I cannot conceive you. 
 
 Glou. Sir, this young fellow's mother could : 
 whereupon she grew round-wombed, and had, in- 
 deed, sir, a son for her cradle ere she had a hus- 
 band for her bed. Do you smell a fault .? 
 
 Kent. I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue 
 of it being so proper. 
 
 Glou. But I have, sir, a son by order of law, 
 some year elder than this, who yet is no dearer 20 
 in my account : though this knave came some- 
 thing saucily into the world before he was sent 
 
2 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 for, yet was his mother fair; there was good 
 sport at his making, and the whoreson must be ac- 
 knowledged. Do you know this noble gentleman, 
 Edmund ? 
 
 Edm. No, my lord. 
 
 Glou. My lord of Kent : remember him hereafter 
 as my honourable friend. 
 
 Ed.m. My services to your lordship. 
 
 Kent. I must love you, and sue to know you so 
 better. 
 
 Edm. Sir, I shall study deserving. 
 
 Glou. He hath been out nine years, and away 
 he shall again. The king is coming. 
 
 Sennet. Enter King Lear, Cornwall, Albany, 
 GoNERiL, Regan, Cordelia, and Attendants 
 
 Lear. Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, 
 Gloucester. 
 
 Glou. I shall, my liege. 
 
 [Exeunt Gloucester and Edmund, 
 Lear. Meantime we shall express our darker 
 purpose. 
 Give me the map there. Know that we have di- 
 vided 
 In three our kingdom : and 't is our fast intent 
 To shake all cares and business from our age ; 40 
 
 Conferring them on younger strengths, while we 
 Unburthen'd crawl toward death. Our son of 
 
 Cornwall, 
 And you, our no less loving son of Albany, 
 We have this hour a constant will to publish 
 Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife 
 
Scene One] KING LEAR 3 
 
 May be prevented now. The princes, France and 
 
 Burgundy, 
 Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love, 
 Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn. 
 And here are to be answer'd. Tell me, my 
 
 daughters, — 
 Since now we will divest us, both of rule, so 
 
 Interest of territory, cares of state, — 
 Which of you shall we say doth love us most ? 
 That we our largest bounty may extend 
 Where nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril, 
 Our eldest-born, speak first. 
 
 Gon. Sir, I love you more than words can wield 
 
 the matter ; 
 Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty ; 
 Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare ; 
 No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, 
 
 honour ; 
 As much as child e'er loved, or father found ; 60 
 
 A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable ; 
 Beyond all manner of so much I love you. 
 
 Cor. [Aside] What shall Cordelia do.? Love, 
 
 and be silent. 
 Lear. Of all these bounds, even from this line 
 
 to this. 
 With shadowy forests and with champains rich'd. 
 With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads. 
 We make thee lady : to thine and Albany's issue 
 Be this perpetual. What says our second daughter. 
 Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall ? Speak. 
 
 Reg. Sir, I am made 70 
 
 Of the self -same metal that my sister is. 
 
4 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 And prize me at her worth. In my true heart 
 
 I find she names my very deed of love ; 
 
 Only she comes too short : that I profess 
 
 Myself an enemy to all other joys, 
 
 Which the most precious square of sense possesses ; 
 
 And find I am alone felicitate 
 
 In your dear highness' love. 
 
 Cor. [Aside] Then poor Cordelia ! 
 
 And yet not so ; since, I am sure, my love's 
 More ponderous than my tongue. so 
 
 Lear. To thee and thine hereditary ever 
 Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom ; 
 No less in space, validity, and pleasure. 
 Than that conferr'd on Goneril. Now, our joy. 
 Although the last, not least ; to whose young love 
 The vines of France and milk of Burgundy 
 Strive to be interess'd, what can you say to draw 
 A third more opulent than your sisters ? Speak. 
 
 Cor. Nothing, my lord. 
 
 Lear. Nothing ! 90 
 
 Cor. Nothing. 
 
 Lear. Nothing will come of nothing : speak 
 again. 
 
 Cor. Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave 
 My heart into my mouth : I love your majesty 
 According to my bond ; nor more nor less. 
 
 Lear. How, how, Cordelia ! mend your speech a 
 little, 
 Lest it may mar your fortunes. 
 
 Cor. Good, my lord. 
 
 You have begot me, bred me, loved me : I 
 Return those duties back as are right fit. 
 
Scene One] KING LEAR 5 
 
 Obey you, love you, and most honour you. io3 
 
 Why have my sisters husbands, if they say 
 They love you all ? Haply, when I shall wed. 
 That lord whose hand must take my plight shall 
 
 carry 
 Half my love with him, half my care and duty : 
 Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters. 
 To love my father all. 
 
 Lear. But goes thy heart with this ? 
 
 Cor. Ay, good my lord. 
 
 Lear. So young, and so untender.? 
 
 Cor. So young, my lord, and true. 
 
 Lear. Let it be so ; thy truth, then, be \hy 
 
 dower : no 
 
 For, by the sacred radiance of the sun. 
 The mysteries of Hecate, and the night ; 
 By all the operation of the orbs 
 From whom we do exist and cease to be ; 
 Here I disclaim all my paternal care. 
 Propinquity and property of blood. 
 And as a stranger to my heart and me 
 Hold thee, from this, for ever. The barbarous 
 
 Scythian, 
 Or he that makes his generation messes 
 To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom 120 
 
 Be as well neighbour'd, pitied, and relieved. 
 As thou my sometime daughter. 
 
 Kent. Good my liege, — 
 
 Lear. Peace, Kent ! 
 Come not between the dragon and his wrath. 
 I loved her most, and thought to set my rest 
 On her kind nursery. Hence, and avoid my sight ! 
 
6 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 So be my grave my peace, as here I give 
 
 Her father's heart from her ! Call France ; who 
 
 stirs ? 
 Call Burgundy. Cornwall and Albany, 
 With my two daughters' dowers digest this third : lao 
 Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her. 
 I do invest you jointly with my power, 
 Pre-eminence, and all the large effects 
 That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly 
 
 course. 
 With reservation of an hundred knights. 
 By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode 
 Make with you by due turns. Only we still retain 
 The name, and all the additions to a king ; 
 The sway, revenue, execution of the rest. 
 Beloved sons, be yours : which to confirm, i40 
 
 This coronet part betwixt you. [Giving the crown, 
 
 Kent. Royal Lear, 
 
 Whom I have ever honour'd as my king. 
 Loved as my father, as my master foUow'd, 
 As my great patron thought on in my prayers, — 
 
 Lear. The bow is bent and drawn, make from 
 the shaft. 
 
 Kent. Let it fall rather, though the fork invade 
 The region of my heart : be Kent unmannerly. 
 When Lear is mad. What wilt thou do, old 
 
 man? 
 Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak. 
 When power to flattery bows.? To plainness 
 
 honour's bound, 150 
 
 When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom. 
 And, in thy best consideration, check 
 
Scene One] KING LEAR 7 
 
 This hideous rashness : answer my life my judge- 
 ment, 
 Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least ; 
 Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound 
 Re verbs no hollo wness. 
 
 Lear. Kent, on thy life, no more. 
 
 Kent. My life I never held but as a pawn 
 To wage against thy enemies ; nor fear to lose it. 
 Thy safety being the motive. 
 
 Lear. Out of my sight ! 
 
 Kent. See better, Lear ; and let me still remain leo 
 The true blank of thine eye. 
 
 Lear. Now, by Apollo, — 
 
 Kent. Now, by Apollo, king, 
 
 Thou swear'st thy gods in vain. 
 
 Lear. O, vassal ! miscreant ! 
 
 [Laying his hand on his sword. 
 
 Alb. 
 
 ^ , Dear sir, forbear. 
 Corn. J 
 
 Kent. Do ; 
 Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow 
 Upon thy foul disease. Revoke thy doom ; 
 Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat, 
 I'll tell thee thou dost evil. 
 
 Lear. Hear me, recreant ! 
 
 On thine allegiance, hear me ! 170 
 
 Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow, 
 Which we durst never yet, and with strain'd pride 
 To come between our sentence and our power, 
 Which nor our nature nor our place can bear, 
 Our potency made good, take thy reward. 
 Five days we do allot thee, for provision 
 
8 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 To shield thee from diseases of the world ; 
 
 And on the sixth to turn thy hated back 
 
 Upon our kingdom : if, on the tenth day following. 
 
 Thy banish'd trunk be found in our dominions, iso 
 
 The moment is thy death. Away ! by Jupiter, 
 
 This shall not be revoked. 
 
 Kent. Fare thee well, king : sith thus thou wilt 
 
 appear. 
 Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here. 
 [To Cordelia] The gods to their dear shelter take 
 
 thee, maid, 
 That justly think'st, and hast most rightly said ! 
 [ To Regan and Goneril] And your large speeches may 
 
 your deeds approve. 
 That good effects may spring from words of love. 
 Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu ; 
 He '11 shape his old course in a country new. [Exit. i90 
 
 Flourish. Re-enter Gloucester, with France, 
 Burgundy, and Attendants 
 
 Glou. Here 's France and Burgundy, my noble 
 lord. 
 
 Lear. My lord of Burgundy, 
 We first address towards you, who with this king 
 Hath rivall'd for our daughter : what, in the least. 
 Will you require in present dower with her. 
 Or cease your quest of love ? 
 
 Rur. Most royal majesty, 
 
 I crave no more than what your highness offer'd. 
 Nor will you tender less. 
 
 Lear. Right noble Burgundy, 
 
 When she was dear to us, we did hold her so ; 
 
Scene One] KING LEAR 9 
 
 But now her price is fall'n. Sir, there she stands : 200 
 If aught within that Httle seeming substance. 
 Or all of it, with our displeasure pieced. 
 And nothing more, may fitly like your grace. 
 She 's there and she is yours. 
 
 Bur. I know no answer. 
 
 Lear. Will you, with those infirmities she owes, 
 Unfriended, new-adopted to our hate, 
 Dower'd with our curse, and stranger'd with our 
 
 oath. 
 Take her, or leave her ? 
 
 Bur. Pardon me, royal sir; 
 
 Election makes not up on such conditions. 
 
 Lear. Then leave her, sir; for, by the power 
 
 that made me, 21c 
 
 I tell you all her wealth. [To France] For you, great 
 
 king, 
 I would not from your love make such a stray. 
 To match you where I hate ; therefore beseech you 
 To avert your liking a more worthier way 
 Than on a wretch whom nature is ashamed 
 Almost to acknowledge hers. 
 
 France. This is most strange. 
 
 That she, that even but now was your best object. 
 The argument of your praise, balm of your age, 
 Most best, most dearest, should in this trice of 
 
 time 
 Commit a thing so monstrous, to dismantle 220 
 
 So many folds of favour. Sure, her offence 
 Must be of such unnatural degree. 
 That monsters it, or your fore-vouch'd affection 
 Fall'n into taint : which to believe of her. 
 
10 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 Must be a faith that reason without miracle 
 Could never plant in me. 
 
 Cor. I yet beseech your majesty, — 
 
 If for I want that glib and oily art, 
 To speak and purpose not, — since what I well 
 
 intend, 
 I '11 do 't before I speak, — that you make known 
 It is no vicious blot, murder, or foulness, 23c 
 
 No unchaste action, or dishonour'd step. 
 That hath deprived me of your grace and favour ; 
 But even for want of that for which I am richer, 
 A still-soliciting eye, and such a tongue 
 As I am glad I have not, though not to have it 
 Hath lost me in your liking. 
 
 Lear. Better thou 
 
 Hadst not been born than not to have pleased me 
 better. 
 
 France. Is it but this, — a tardiness in nature 
 Which often leaves the history unspoke 
 That it intends to do "^ My lord of Burgundy, 24G 
 What say you to the lady ? Love 's not love 
 When it is mingled with regards that stand 
 Aloof from the entire point. Will you have her ? 
 She is herself a dowry. 
 
 Bur. Royal Lear, 
 
 Give but that portion which yourself proposed. 
 And here I take CordeHa by the hand, 
 Duchess of Burgundy. > 
 
 Lear. Nothing; I have sworn; I am firm. 
 
 Bur. I am sorry, then, you have so lost a father 
 That you must lose a husband. 
 
 Cor. Peace be with Burgundy ! 250 
 
Scene One] KING LEAR 11 
 
 Since that respects of fortune are his love, 
 I shall not be his wife. 
 
 France. Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich, 
 
 being poor ; 
 Most choice, forsaken ; and most loved, despised ! 
 Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon : 
 Be it lawful I take up what 's cast away. 
 Gods, gods! 'tis strange that from their cold'st 
 
 neglect 
 My love should kindle to inflamed respect. 
 Thy dowerless daughter, king, thrown to my 
 
 chance. 
 Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France : 260 
 
 Not all the dukes of waterish Burgundy 
 Can buy this unprized precious maid of me. 
 Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind : 
 Thou losest here, a better where to find. 
 
 Lear. Thou hast her, France : let her be thine ; 
 
 for we 
 Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see 
 That face of hers again. Therefore be gone 
 Without our grace, our love, our benison. 
 Come, noble Burgundy. 
 
 [Flourish. Exeunt all hut France, 
 Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. 
 France. Bid farewell to your sisters. 270 
 
 Cor. The jewels of our father, with wash'd eyes 
 Cordelia leaves you : I know you what you are ; 
 And like a sister am most loath to call 
 Your faults as they are named. Use well our 
 
 father : 
 To your professed bosoms I commit him : 
 
12 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 But yet, alas, stood I within his grace, 
 I would prefer him to a better place. 
 So, farewell to you both. 
 
 Reg. Prescribe not us our duties. 
 
 Gon. Let your study 
 
 Be to content your lord, who hath received you 28o 
 At fortune's alms. You have obedience scanted, 
 And well are worth the want that you have wanted. 
 
 Cor. Time shall unfold what plaited cunning 
 hides : 
 Who cover faults, at last shame them derides. 
 Well may you prosper ! 
 
 France. Come, my fair Cordelia. 
 
 [Exeunt France and Cordelia. 
 
 Gon. Sister, it is not a little I have to say of what 
 most nearly appertains to us both. I think our 
 father will hence to-night. 
 
 Reg. That 's most certain, and with you ; next 
 month with us. 290 
 
 Gon. You see how full of changes his age is ; the 
 observation we have made of it hath not been little : 
 he always loved our sister most ; and with what poor 
 judgement he hath now cast her off appears too 
 grossly. 
 
 Reg. 'T is the infirmity of his age : yet he hath 
 ever but slenderly known himself. 
 
 Gon. The best and soundest of his time hath 
 been but rash; then must we look to receive 
 from his age, not alone the imperfections of long- 300 
 engraffed condition, but therewithal the unruly 
 waywardness that infirm and choleric years bring 
 with them. 
 
Scene Two] KING LEAR 13 
 
 Reg. Such unconstant starts are we like to have 
 from him as this of Kent's banishment. 
 
 Gon. There is fm*ther compHment of leave- 
 taking between France and him. Pray you, let's 
 hit together : if our father carry authority with such 
 dispositions as he bears, this last surrender of his 
 will but offend us. 3iQ 
 
 Reg. We shall further think on 't. 
 
 Gon. We must do something, and i' the heat. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene II — The Earl of Gloucester's castle i 
 
 Enter Edmund, with a letter K^^ 
 
 Edm. Thou, nature, art my goddess ; to thy law 
 My services are bound. Wherefore should I 
 Stand in the plague of custom, and permit 
 The curiosity of nations to deprive me. 
 For that I am some twelve or fourteen moon- 
 shines 
 Lag of a brother ? Why bastard ? wherefore base ? 
 When my dimensions are as well compact, 
 My mind as generous, and my shape as true. 
 As honest madam's issue ? Why brand they us 
 With base ? with baseness ? bastardy ? base, base ? ic 
 Who, in the lusty stealth of nature, take 
 More composition and fierce quality 
 Than doth, within a dull, stale, tired bed. 
 Go to the creating a whole tribe of fops. 
 Got 'tween asleep and wake ? Well, then. 
 Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land : 
 Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund 
 As to the legitimate : fine word, — legitimate ! 
 
14 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed. 
 And my invention thrive, Edmund the base 2© 
 
 Shall top the legitimate. I grow ; I prosper : 
 Now, gods, stand up for bastards ! 
 
 Enter Gloucester 
 
 Glou. Kent banish'd thus ! and France in choler 
 parted ! 
 And the king gone to-night ! subscribed his power ! 
 Confined to exhibition ! All this done 
 Upon the gad ! Edmund, how now ! what news ? 
 
 Edm. So please your lordship, none. 
 
 [Putting wp the letter. 
 
 Glou. Why so earnestly seek you to put up that 
 letter .? 
 
 Edm. I know no news, my lord. 
 
 Glou. What paper were you reading .^ so 
 
 Edm. Nothing, my lord. 
 
 Glou. No.f^ What needed, then, that terrible 
 dispatch of it into your pocket .^^ the quality of 
 nothing hath not such need to hide itself. Let 's 
 see : come, if it be nothing, I shall not need 
 spectacles. 
 
 Edm. I beseech you, sir, pardon me : it is a 
 letter from my brother, that I have not all o'er-read ; 
 and for so much as I have perused, I find it not fit 
 for your o'er-looking. ^^ 
 
 Glou. Give me the letter, sir. 
 
 Edm. I shall offend, either to detain or give 
 it. The contents, as in part I understand them, 
 are to blame. 
 
 Glou. Let 's see, let 's see. 
 
Scene Two] KING LEAR 15 
 
 Edm, I hope, for my brother's justification, 
 he wrote this but as an essay or taste of my 
 virtue. 
 
 Glou. [Reads] ''This policy and reverence of age 
 makes the world bitter to the best of our 50 
 times ; keeps our fortunes from us till our 
 oldness cannot relish them. I begin to find 
 an idle and fond bondage in the oppression of 
 aged tyranny ; who sways, not as it hath 
 power, but as it is suffered. Come to me, 
 that of this I may speak more. If our father 
 would sleep till I waked him, you should 
 enjoy half his revenue for ever, and live the 
 beloved of your brother, Edgar." 
 Hum — conspiracy ! — "Sleep till I waked him, — 
 you should enjoy half his revenue," — My son 
 Edgar ! Had he a hand to write this ? a heart and 60 
 brain to breed it m? — When came this to you ? 
 who brought it ? 
 
 Edm. It was not brought me, my lord ; there 's 
 the cunning of it ; I found it thrown in at the case- 
 ment of my closet. 
 
 Glou. You know the character to be your 
 brother's ? 
 
 Edm. If the matter were good, my lord, I durst 
 swear it were his ; but, in respect of that, I would 
 fain think it were not. 7o 
 
 Glou. It is his. 
 
 Edm. It is his hand, my lord; but I hope his 
 heart is not in the contents. 
 
 Glou. Hath he never heretofore sounded you in 
 this business ? 
 
16 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 Edm. Never, my lord : but I have heard him 
 oft maintain it to be fit, that, sons at perfect age, 
 and fathers declining, the father should be as ward 
 to the son, and the son manage his revenue. 
 
 Glou. O villain, villain ! His very opinion in so 
 the letter ! Abhorred villain ! Unnatural, de- 
 tested, brutish villain ! worse than brutish ! Go, 
 sirrah, seek him ; I'll apprehend him : abominable 
 villain ! Where is he ? 
 
 Edm. I do not well know, my lord. If it shall 
 please you to suspend your indignation against my 
 brother till you can derive from him better testi- 
 mony of his intent, you shall rjm a certain course ; 
 where, if you violently proceed against him, mis- 
 taking his purpose, it would make a great gap in 9o 
 your own honour, and shake in pieces the heart of 
 his obedience. I dare pawn down my life for him, 
 that he hath wrote this to feel my affection to 
 your honour, and to no further pretence of danger. 
 
 Glou. Think you so .^ 
 
 Edm. If your honour judge it meet, I will place 
 you where you shall hear us confer of this, and 
 by an auricular assurance have your satisfaction; 
 and that without any further delay than this very loo 
 evening. 
 
 Glou. He cannot be such a monster — 
 
 Edm. Nor is not, sure. 
 
 Glou. To his father, that so tenderly and entirely 
 loves him. Heaven and earth ! Edmund, seek 
 him out ; wind me into him, I pray you : frame the 
 business after your own wisdom. I would unstate 
 myself, to be in a due resolution. 
 
Scene Two] KING LEAR 17 
 
 Edm. I will seek him, sir, presently ; convey the 
 business as I shall find means, and acquaint you no 
 withal. 
 
 Glou. These late eclipses in the sun and moon 
 portend no good to us : though the wisdom of na- 
 ture can reason it thus and thus, yet nature finds 
 itseK scourged by the sequent effects : love cools, 
 friendship falls off, brothers divide : in cities, 
 mutinies; in countries, discord; in palaces, trea- 
 son; and the bond cracked 'twixt son and father. 
 This villain of mine comes under the prediction; 
 there 's son against father : the king falls from 120 
 bias of nature ; there 's father against child. We 
 have seen the best of our time : machinations, 
 hollo wness, treachery, and all ruinous disorders, 
 follow us disquietly to our graves. Find out this 
 villain, Edmund; it shall lose thee nothing; do 
 it carefully. And the noble and true-hearted 
 Kent banished ! his offence, honesty ! 'T is strange. 
 
 [Exit. 
 
 Edm. This is the excellent foppery of the world, 
 that, when we are sick in fortune, — often the sur- 
 feit of our own behaviour, — we make guilty of our 130 
 disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars : as if we 
 were villains by necessity ; fools by heavenly com- 
 pulsion : knaves, thieves, and treachers, by spheri- 
 cal predominance ; drunkards, liars, and adulterers, 
 by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; 
 and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on : 
 an admirable evasion of whore-master man, to lay 
 his goatish disposition to the charge of a star ! 
 My father compounded with my mother under the 
 
18 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 dragon's tail ; and my nativity was under Ursa i4o 
 major ; so that it follows, I am rough and lecher- 
 ous. Tut, I should have been that I am, had the 
 maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my 
 bastardizing. Edgar — 
 
 Enter Edgar 
 
 and pat he comes like the catastrophe of the old 
 comedy : my cue is villanous melancholy," with a 
 sigh like Tom o' Bedlam. O, these eclipses do 
 portend these divisions ! fa, sol, la, mi. 
 
 Edg. How now, brother Edmund ! what serious iso 
 contemplation are you in ? 
 
 Edm. I am thinking, brother, of a prediction I 
 read this other day, what should follow these 
 eclipses. 
 
 Edg. Do you busy yourself about that ? 
 
 Edm. I promise you, the effects he writes of 
 succeed unhappily; as of unnaturalness between 
 the child and the parent; death, dearth, dissolu- 
 tions of ancient amities; divisions in state, men- 
 aces and maledictions against king and nobles ; leo 
 needless diffidences, banishment of friends, dissi- 
 pation of cohorts, nuptial breaches, and I know 
 not what. 
 
 Edg. How long have you been a sectary astro- 
 nomical ? 
 
 Edm. Come, come; when saw you my father 
 last.?^ 
 
 Edg. Why, the night gone by. 
 
 Edm. Spake you with him ^ 
 
 Edg. Ay, two hours together. i70 
 
Scene Two] KING LEAR 19 
 
 Edm. Parted you in good terms? Found you 
 no displeasure in him by word or countenance ? 
 
 Edg. None at all. 
 
 Edm. Bethink yourself wherein you may have 
 offended him : and at my entreaty forbear his 
 presence till some little time hath qualified the heat 
 of his displeasure ; which at this instant so rageth in 
 him, that with the mischief of your person it would 
 scarcely allay. 
 
 Edg. Some villain hath done me wrong. isi 
 
 Edm. That 's my fear. I pray you, have a 
 continent forbearance till the speed of his rage goes 
 slower ; and, as I say, retire with me to my lodging, 
 from whence I will fitly bring you to hear my lord 
 speak : pray ye, go ; there 's my key : if you do stir 
 abroad, go armed. 
 
 Edg. Armed, brother ! 
 
 Edm. Brother, I advise you to the best; go 
 armed : I am no honest man if there be any good 
 meaning towards you : I have told you what I have i90 
 seen and heard ; but faintly, nothing like the image 
 and horror of it : pray you, away. 
 
 Edg. Shall I hear from you anon ? 
 
 Edm. I do serve you in this business. 
 
 [Exit Edgar. 
 A credulous father ! and a brother noble. 
 Whose nature is so far from doing harms. 
 That he suspects none ; on whose foolish honesty 
 My practices ride easy ! I see the business. 
 Let me, if not by birth, have lands by wit : 
 All with me 's meet that I can fashion fit. [Exit 200 
 
20 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 Scene III — The Duke of Albany's 'palace 
 
 Enter Goneril, and Oswald, her steward 
 
 Gon. Did my father strike my gentleman for 
 chiding of his fool ? 
 
 Osw. Yes, madam. 
 
 Gon. By day and night he wrongs me; every 
 hour 
 He flashes into one gross crime or other, 
 That sets us all at odds : I 11 not endure it : 
 His knights grow riotous, and himself upbraids us 
 On every trifle. When he returns from hunting, 
 I will not speak with him ; say I am sick : 
 If you come slack of former services, 
 You shall do well ; the fault of it I '11 answer. lo 
 
 Osw. He 's coming, madam ; I hear him. 
 
 [Horns within. 
 
 Gon. Put on what weary negligence you please. 
 You and your fellows ; I 'Id have it come to question : 
 If he dislike it, let him to our sister, 
 Whose mind and mine, I know, in that are one, 
 Not to be over-ruled. Idle old man. 
 That still would manage those authorities 
 That he hath given away ! Now, by my life, 
 Old fools are babes again ; and must be used 
 With checks as flatteries, — when they are seen 
 
 abused. 20 
 
 Remember what I tell you. 
 
 Osw. Well, madam. 
 
 Gon. And let his knights have colder looks 
 among you ; 
 What grows of it, no matter ; advise your fellows so : 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAR 21 
 
 I would breed from hence occasions, and I shall. 
 That I may speak : I '11 write straight to my sister. 
 To hold my very course. Prepare for dinner. 
 
 [Exeunt, 
 Scene IV — A hall in the same 
 
 Enter Kent, disguised 
 
 Kent. If but as well I other accents borrow. 
 That can my speech defuse, my good intent 
 May carry through itself to that full issue 
 For which I razed my likeness. Now, banish'd 
 
 Kent, 
 If thou canst serve where thou dost stand con- 
 
 demn'd. 
 So may it come, thy master, whom thou lovest. 
 Shall find thee full of labours. 
 
 Horns within. Enter Lear, Knights, 
 and Attendants 
 
 Lear. Let me not stay a jot for dinner ; go get 
 it ready. [Exit an Attendant.] How now ! what 
 art thou ? ic 
 
 Kent. A man, sir. 
 
 Lear. What dost thou profess? whatwouldst 
 thou with us ? 
 
 Kent. I do profess to be no less than I seem ; to 
 serve him truly that will put me in trust : to love 
 him that is honest; to converse with him that is 
 wise, and says little; to fear judgement; to fight 
 when I cannot choose ; and to eat no fish. 
 
 Lear. What art thou.? 
 
 Kent. A very honest-hearted fellow, and as 20 
 poor as the king. 
 
22 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 Lear. If thou be as poor for a subject as he 
 is for a king, thou art poor enough. What wouldst 
 thou? 
 
 Kent. Service. 
 
 Lear. Who wouldst thou serve? 
 
 Kent. You. 
 
 Lear, Dost thou know me, fellow ? 
 
 Kent. No, sir ; but you have that in your coun- 
 tenance which I would fain call master. 30 
 
 Lear. What 's that ? 
 
 Kent. Authority. 
 
 Lear. What services canst thou do ? 
 
 Kent. I can keep honest counsel, ride, run, 
 mar a curious tale in telling it, and deliver a plain 
 message bluntly : that which ordinary men are 
 fit for, I am qualified in; and the best of me is 
 diligence. 
 
 Lear. How old art thou ? 
 
 Kent. Not so young, sir, to love a woman for40 
 singing, nor so old to dote on her for anything : I 
 have years on my back forty-eight. 
 
 Lear. Follow me ; thou shalt serve me : if 
 I like thee no worse after dinner, I will not part 
 from thee yet. Dinner, ho, dinner ! Where 's 
 my knave? my fool? Go you, and call my fool 
 hither. [Exit an Attendant, 
 
 Enter Oswald 
 
 You, you, sirrah, where 's my daughter ? 
 
 Osw. So please you, — [Exit. 
 
 Lear. What says the fellow there? Call the 50 
 clotpoll back. [Exit a Knight.] Where 's my fool, 
 ho ? I think the world 's asleep. 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAR 23 
 
 Re-enter Kniglat 
 
 How now ! where 's that mongrel ? 
 
 Knight. He says, my lord, your daughter is not 
 well. 
 
 Lear. Why came not the slave back to me when 
 I called him ? 
 
 Knight. Sir, he answered me in the roundest 
 manner, he would not. 
 
 Lear. He would not ! 60 
 
 Knight. My lord, I know not what the matter 
 is; but, to my judgement, your highness is not 
 entertained with that ceremonious affection as 
 you were wont; there 's a great abatement of 
 kindness appears as well in the general depend- 
 ants as in the duke himself also and your 
 daughter. 
 
 Lear. Ha ! sayest thou so } 
 
 Knight. I beseech you, pardon me, my lord, if I 
 be mistaken; for my duty cannot be silent when 70 
 I think your highness wronged. 
 
 Lear. Thou but rememberest me of mine own 
 conception : I have perceived a most faint neglect 
 of late; which I have rather blamed as mine own 
 jealous curiosity than as a very pretence and pur- 
 pose of unkindness : I will look further into 't. 
 But where 's my fool .? I have not seen him this 
 two days. 
 
 Knight. Since my young lady's going into 
 France, sir, the fool hath much pined away. so 
 
 Lear. No more of that; I have noted it well. 
 Go you, and tell my daughter I would speak with 
 
24 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 her. [Exit an Attendant.] Go you, call hither my 
 
 fool. [Exit an Attendant. 
 
 Re-enter Oswald 
 
 O, you sir, you, come you hither, sir: who 
 am I, sir? 
 
 Osw. My lady's father. 
 
 Lear. '*My lady's father"! my lord's knave: 
 you whoreson dog ! you slave ! you cur ! 
 
 Osw. I am none of these, my lord; I beseech 90 
 your pardon. 
 
 Lear. Do you bandy looks with me, you 
 rascal ? [Striking him. 
 
 Osw. I '11 not be struck, my lord. 
 
 Kent. Nor tripped neither, you base foot-ball 
 player. [Tripping up his heels. 
 
 Lear. I thank thee, fellow ; thou servest me, and 
 I '11 love thee. 
 
 Kent, Come, sir, arise, away ! I '11 teach you 
 differences : away, away ! If you will measure 100 
 your lubber's length again, tarry : but away ! go 
 to ; have you wisdom ? so. [Pushes Oswald out. 
 
 Lear. Now, my friendly knave, I thank thee : 
 there 's earnest of thy service. [Giving Kent money. 
 
 Enter Fool 
 
 Fool. Let me hire him too : here's my cox- 
 comb. [Offering Kent his cap. 
 
 Lear. How now, my pretty knave ! how dost 
 thou.? 
 
 Fool. Sirrah, you were best take my cox- 
 comb. 
 
 Kent. Why, fool ? no 
 
Scene Fouq] KING LEAR 25 
 
 Fool. Why, for taking one's part that 's out of 
 favour : nay, an thou canst not smile as the wind 
 sits, thou 'It catch cold shortly : there, take my 
 coxcomb : why, this fellow has banished two on 's 
 daughters, and did the third a blessing against his 
 will : if thou follow him, thou must needs wear my 
 coxcomb. How now, nuncle ! Would I had two 
 coxcombs and two daughters ! 
 Lear. Why, my boy ? 
 
 Fool. If I gave them all my living, I 'Id keep my 120 
 coxcombs myself. There 's mine ; beg another of 
 thy daughters. 
 
 Lear. Take heed, sirrah ; the whip. 
 Fool. Truth 's a dog must to kennel ; he must 
 be whipped out, when Lady the brach may stand 
 by the fire and stink. 
 
 Lear. A pestilent gall to me ! 
 Fool. Sirrah, I '11 teach thee a speech. 
 Lear. Do. 
 
 Fool. Mark it, nuncle : iso 
 
 Have more than thou showest. 
 Speak less than thou knowest. 
 Lend less than thou owest. 
 Ride more than thou goest. 
 Learn more than thou trowest. 
 Set less than thou throwest ; 
 Leave thy drink and thy whore, 
 And keep in-a-door. 
 And thou shalt have more 
 Than two tens to a score. 140 
 
 Kent. This is nothing, fool. 
 Fool. Then 't is like the breath of an unfee'd 
 
26 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 lawyer ; you gave me nothing for 't. Can you 
 make no use of nothing, nuncle ? 
 
 Lear. Why, no, boy ; nothing can be made out 
 of nothing. 
 
 Fool. [To Kent] Prithee, tell him, so much 
 the rent of his land comes to : he will not believe 
 a fool. 
 
 Lear. A bitter fool ! i5o 
 
 Fool. Dost thou know the difference, my boy, 
 between a bitter fool and a sweet fool ? 
 Lear. No, lad ; teach me. 
 Fool. That lord that counsell'd thee 
 To give away thy land. 
 Come place him here by me. 
 
 Do thou for him stand : 
 The sweet and bitter fool 
 Will presently appear ; 
 The one in motley here, leo 
 
 The other found out there. 
 Lear. Dost thou call me fool, boy "^ 
 Fool. All thy other titles thou hast given away ; 
 that thou wast born with. 
 
 Kent. This is not altogether fool, my lord. 
 Fool. No, faith, lords and great men will not 
 let me ; if I had a monopoly out, they would have 
 part on 't : and ladies too, they will not let me 
 have all fool to myself; they 'U be snatching. 
 Give me an Q;gg, nuncle, and I '11 give thee two 170 
 crowns. 
 
 Lear. What two crowns shall they be.^^ 
 Fool. Why, after I have cut the egg i' the middle, 
 and eat up the meat, the two crowns of the egg. 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAR 27 
 
 When thou clovest thy crown i' the middle, and 
 gavest away both parts, thou borest thy ass on thy 
 back o'er the dirt : thou hadst little wit in thy bald 
 crown, when thou gavest thy golden one away. If 
 I speak like myself in this, let him be whipped that 
 first finds it so. iso 
 
 [Singing] Fools had ne'er less wit in a year ; 
 
 For wise men are grown foppish, 
 They know not how their wits to wear. 
 
 Their manners are so apish. 
 Lear. When were you wont to be so full of songs, 
 sirrah ? 
 
 Fool. I have used it, nuncle, ever since thou 
 madest thy daughters thy mother : for when thou 
 gavest them the rod, and put'st down thine own 
 breeches, i90 
 
 [Singing] Then they for sudden joy did weep, 
 
 And I for sorrow sung. 
 That such a king should play bo-peep. 
 
 And go the fools among. 
 Prithee, nuncle, keep a schoolmaster that can teach 
 thy fool to lie : I would fain learn to lie. 
 
 Lear. An you lie, sirrah, we '11 have you 
 whipped. 
 
 Fool. I marvel what kin thou and thy daughters 
 are : they '11 have me whipped for speaking true, 200 
 thou 'It have me whipped for lying ; and sometimes 
 I am whipped for holding my peace. I had rather 
 be any kind o' thing than a fool : and yet I would 
 not be thee, nuncle; thou hast pared thy wit o' 
 both sides, and left nothing i' the middle : here 
 comes one o' the parings. 
 
28 KING LEAR [Act On?? 
 
 Enter Goneril 
 
 Lear. How now, daughter ! what makes that 
 frontlet on ? Methinks you are too much of late i' 
 the frown. 
 
 Fool. Thou wast a pretty fellow when thou hadst 210 
 no need to care for her frowning ; now thou art an 
 
 without a figure : I am better than thou art now ; 
 
 1 am a fool, thou art nothing. [To Gon.] Yes, 
 forsooth, I will hold my tongue ; so your face bids 
 me, though you say nothing. Mum, mum, 
 
 He that keeps nor crust nor crum. 
 Weary of all, shall want some. 
 [Pointing to Lear] That 's a shealed peascod. 
 
 Gon. Not only, sir, this your all-licensed fool, 220 
 But other of your insolent retinue 
 Do hourly carp and quarrel ; breaking forth 
 In rank and not- to-be-endured riots. Sir, 
 I had thought, by making this well known unto you. 
 To have found a safe redress ; but now grow fearful. 
 By what yourself too late have spoke and done, 
 That you protect this course, and put it on 
 By your allowance ; which if you should, the fault 
 Would not 'scape censure, nor the redresses sleep. 
 Which, in the tender of a wholesome weal, 230 
 
 Might in their working do you that offence, 
 Which else were shame, that then necessity 
 Will call discreet proceeding. 
 
 Fool. For, you know, nuncle. 
 
 The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long. 
 That it had it head bit off by it young. 
 So, out went the candle, and we were left darkling. 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAR 29 
 
 Lear. Are you our daughter ? 
 
 Gon. Come, sir. 
 I would you would make use of that good wisdom, 240 
 Whereof I know you are fraught ; and put away 
 These dispositions, that of late transform you 
 From what you rightly are. 
 
 Fool. May not an ass know when the cart draws 
 the horse "? Whoop, Jug ! I love thee. 
 
 Lear. Doth any here know me.^^ This is not 
 Lear: 
 Doth Lear walk thus ^ speak thus ^ Where are his 
 
 eyes .^ 
 Either his notion weakens, his discernings 
 Are lethargied — Ha ! waking .^ 't is not so. 
 Who is it that can tell me who I am ? 250 
 
 Fool. Lear's shadow. 
 
 Lear. I would learn that ; for, by the marks of 
 sovereignty, knowledge, and reason, I should be 
 false persuaded I had daughters. 
 
 Fool. Which they will make an obedient father. 
 
 Lear. Your name, fair gentlewoman ? 
 
 Gon. This admiration, sir, is much o' the savour 
 Of other your new pranks. I do beseech you 
 To understand my purposes aright : 260 
 
 As you are old and reverend, you should be wise. 
 Here do you keep a hundred knights and squires ; 
 Men so disorder'd, so debosh'd and bold. 
 That this our court, infected with their manners, 
 Shows like a riotous inn : epicurism and lust 
 Make it more like a tavern or a brothel 
 Than a graced palace. The shame itself doth speak 
 For instant remedy : be then desired 
 
so KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 By her, that else will take the thing she begs, 
 
 A little to disquantity your train ; 270 
 
 And the remainder that shall still depend, 
 
 To be such men as may besort your age, 
 
 And know themselves and you. 
 
 Lear. Darkness and devils ! 
 
 Saddle my horses ; call my train together. 
 Degenerate bastard ! I '11 not trouble thee : 
 Yet have I left a daughter. 
 
 Gon. You strike my people, and your disorder'd 
 rabble 
 Make servants of their betters. 
 
 Enter Albany 
 
 Lear. Woe, that too late repents, — [To Alb.] 
 O, sir, are you come "^ 
 Is it your will .? Speak, sir. Prepare my horses. 280 
 Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend, 
 More hideous when thou show'st thee in a child 
 Than the sea-monster ! 
 
 Alb. Pray, sir, be patient. 
 
 Lear. [To Gon.] Detested kite ! thou liest : 
 My train are men of choice and rarest parts. 
 That all particulars of duty know. 
 And in the most exact regard support 
 The worships of their name. O most small fault. 
 How ugly didst thou in Cordelia show ! 
 That, like an engine, wrench'd my frame of nature 290 
 From, the fix'd place ; drew from my heart all love. 
 And added to the gall. O Lear, Lear, Lear ! 
 Beat at this gate, that let thy folly in, 
 
 [Striking his head. 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAR 31 
 
 And thy dear judgement out ! Go, go, my 
 people. 
 
 Alb. My lord, I am guiltless, as I am ignorant 
 Of what hath moved you. 
 
 Lear. It may be so, my lord. 
 
 Hear, nature, hear ; dear goddess, hear ! 
 Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend 
 To make this creature fruitful ! 
 
 Into her womb convey sterility ! 300 
 
 Dry up in her the organs of increase ; 
 And from her derogate body never spring 
 A babe to honour her ! If she must teem. 
 Create her child of spleen ; that it may live 
 And be a thwart disnatured torment to her ! 
 Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth ; 
 With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks ; 
 Turn all her mother's pains and benefits 
 To laughter and contempt ; that she may feel 
 How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is sio 
 
 To have a thankless child ! Away, away ! [Exit. 
 
 Alb. Now, gods that we adore, whereof comes 
 this ? 
 
 Gon. Never afflict yourself to know the cause ; 
 But let his disposition have that scope 
 That dotage gives it. 
 
 Re-enter Lear 
 
 Lear. What, fifty of my followers at a clap ! 
 Within a fortnight ! 
 
 Alb. What 's the matter, sir.^ 
 
 Lear. I '11 tell thee : [To Gon.] Life and death ! 
 I am ashamed 
 
32 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 That thou hast power to shake my manhood thus ; 
 That these hot tears, which break from me perforce, 320 
 Should make thee worth them. Blasts and fogs 
 
 upon thee ! 
 The untented woundings of a father's curse 
 Pierce every sense about thee ! Old fond eyes, 
 Beweep this cause again, I '11 pluck ye out. 
 And cast you, with the waters that you lose, 
 To temper clay. Yea, is it come to this ? 
 Let it be so : yet have I left a daughter. 
 Who, I am sure, is kind and comfortable : 
 When she shall hear this of thee, with her nails 
 She '11 flay thy wolvish visage. Thou shalt find 330 
 That I '11 resume the shape which thou dost think 
 I have cast off for ever : thou shalt, I warrant thee. 
 [Exeunt Lear, Kent, and Attendants. 
 Gon. Do you mark that, my lord ? 
 Alb. I cannot be so partial, Goneril, 
 To the great love I bear you, — 
 
 Gon. Pray you, content. What, Oswald, ho ! 
 [To the Fool] You sir, more knave than fool, after 
 your master. 
 Fool. Nuncle Lear, nuncle Lear, tarry and take 
 the fool with thee. 
 
 A fox, when one has caught her, 340 
 
 And such a daughter. 
 Should sure to the slaughter. 
 If my cap would buy a 'halter : 
 So the fool follows after. [Exit. 
 
 Gon. This man hath had good counsel : — a 
 hundred knights ! 
 'T is politic and safe to let him keep 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAR 3S 
 
 At point a hundred knights : yes, that on every 
 
 dream, 
 Each buzz, each fancy, each complaint, dislike, 
 He may enguard his dotage with their powers. 
 And hold our lives in mercy. Oswald, I say ! 350 
 
 Alb. Well, you may fear too far. 
 
 Gon. Safer than trust too far : 
 
 Let me still take away the harms I fear. 
 Not fear still to be taken : I know his heart. 
 What he hath utter'd I have writ my sister : 
 If she sustain him and his hundred knights, 
 When I have show'd the unfitness, — 
 
 Re-enter Oswald 
 
 How now, Oswald ! 
 What, have you writ that letter to my sister ? 
 
 Osw. Yes, madam. 
 
 Gon. Take you some company, and away to 
 horse : 
 Inform her full of my particular fear ; 360 
 
 And thereto add such reasons of your own 
 As may compact it more. Get you gone ; 
 And hasten your return. [Exit Oswald.] No, no, 
 
 my lord. 
 This milky gentleness and course of yours 
 Though I condemn not, yet, under pardon. 
 You are much more attask'd for want of wisdom 
 Than praised for harmful mildness. 
 
 Alb. How far your eyes may pierce I cannot tell : 
 Striving to better, oft we mar what 's well. 
 
 Gon. Nay, then — 370 
 
 Alb. Well, well ; the event. [Exeunt. 
 
34 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 Scene V — Court before the same 
 Enter Lear, Kent, and Fool 
 
 Lear. Go you before to Gloucester with these 
 letters. Acquaint my daughter no further with 
 any thing you know than comes from her demand 
 out of the letter. If your diligence be not speedy, I 
 shall be there afore you. 
 
 Kent. I will not sleep, my lord, till I have 
 delivered your letter. [Exit. 
 
 Fool. If a man's brains were in 's heels, were 't 
 not in danger of kibes ? 
 
 Lear. Ay, boy. 10 
 
 Fool. Then, I prithee, be merry ; thy wit shall 
 ne'er go slip-shod. 
 
 Lear. Ha, ha, ha ! 
 
 Fool. Shalt see thy other daughter will use thee 
 kindly ; for though she 's as like this as a crab 's 
 like an apple, yet I can tell what I can tell. 
 
 Lear. Why, what canst thou tell, my boy .? 
 
 Fool. She will taste as like this as a crab does to 
 a crab. Thou canst tell why one's nose stands i' 
 the middle on 's face ? 20 
 
 Lear. No. 
 
 Fool. Why, to keep one's eyes of either side 's 
 nose ; that what a man cannot smell out, he may 
 spy into. 
 
 Lear. I did her wrong — 
 
 Fool. Canst tell how an oyster makes his shell ? 
 
 Lear. No. 
 
 Fool. Nor I neither ; but I can tell why a snail 
 has a house. 30 
 
Scene Five] KING LEAR 35 
 
 Lear. Why ? 
 
 Fool. Why, to put his head in ; not to give it 
 away to his daughters, and leave his horns without a 
 case. 
 
 Lear. I will forget my nature. So kind a father ! 
 Be my horses ready 2 
 
 Fool. Thy asses are gone about 'em. The rea- 
 son why the seven stars are no more than seven is a 
 pretty reason. 
 
 Lear. Because they are not eight ? 40 
 
 Fool. Yes, indeed : thou wouldst make a good 
 fool. 
 
 Lear. To take 't again perforce ! Monster in- 
 gratitude ! 
 
 Fool. If thou wert my fool, nuncle, I 'Id have 
 thee beaten for being old before thy time. 
 
 Lear. How 's that "^ 
 
 Fool. Thou shouldst not have been old till thou 
 hadst been wise. 
 
 Lear. O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet 
 
 heaven ! so 
 
 Keep me in temper : I would not be mad ! 
 
 Enter Gentleman 
 
 How now ! are the horses ready ? 
 Gent. Beady, my lord. 
 
 Lear. Come, boy. [Exeunt. 
 
 Fool. She that's a maid now, and laughs at my 
 departure, 
 Shall not be a maid long, unless things be cut 
 shorter. 
 
36 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 ACT II 
 
 Scene I — The Earl of Gloucester's castle 
 Enter Edmund and Curan meets him 
 
 Edm. Save thee, Curan. 
 
 Cur. And you, sir. I have been with your 
 father, and given him notice that the Duke of Corn- 
 wall and Regan his duchess will be here with him 
 this night. 
 
 Edm. How comes that ? 
 
 Cur. Nay, I know not. You have heard of the 
 news abroad ; I mean the whispered ones, for they 
 are yet but ear-kissing arguments ? 
 
 Edm. Not I : pray you, what are they ? lo 
 
 Cur. Have you heard of no likely wars toward, 
 'twixt the Dukes of Cornwall and Albany ? 
 
 Edm. Not a word. 
 
 Cur. You may do, then, in time. Fare you 
 well, sir. [Exit. 
 
 Edm. The duke be here to-night ? The better ! 
 best! 
 This weaves itself perforce into my business. 
 My father hath set guard to take my brother ; 
 And I have one thing, of a queasy question. 
 Which I must act : briefness and fortune, work ! 20 
 Brother, a word ; descend : brother, I say ! 
 
 Enter Edgar 
 
 My father watches : O sir, fly this place ; 
 
 Intelligence is given where you are hid ; 
 
 You have now the good advantage of the night : 
 
Scene One] KING LEAR 37 
 
 Have you not spoken 'gainst the Duke of Cornwall ? 
 He 's coming hither ; now, i' the night, i' the haste. 
 And Regan with him : have you nothing said 
 Upon his party 'gainst the Duke of Albany ? 
 Advise yourself. 
 
 Edg. I am sure on 't, not a word. 
 
 Edm. I hear my father coming : pardon me ; so 
 In cunning I must draw my sword upon you : 
 Draw ; seem to defend yourself ; now quit you well. 
 Yield : come before my father. Light, ho, here ! 
 Fly, brother. Torches, torches ! So, farewell. 
 
 [Exit Edgar. 
 Some blood drawn on me would beget opinion 
 
 \Woiinds his arm. 
 Of my more fierce endeavour : I have seen drunk- 
 ards 
 Do more than this in sport. Father, father ! 
 Stop, stop ! No help "^ 
 
 Enter Gloucester, and Servants with torches 
 
 Glou. Now, Edmund, where 's the villain ? 
 Edm. Here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword 
 
 out, 40 
 
 Mumbling of wicked charms, conjuring the moon 
 To stand auspicious mistress, — 
 
 Glou. But where is he ? 
 
 Edm. Look, sir, I bleed. 
 
 Glou. Where is the villain, Edmund ? 
 
 Edm. Fled this way, sir. When by no means 
 
 he could — 
 Glou. Pursue him, ho ! Go after. [Exeunt some 
 
 servants.] By no means what.f^ 
 
38 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 Edm. Persuade me to the murder of your lord- 
 ship; 
 But that I told him, the revenging gods 
 'Gainst parricides did all their thunders bend ; 
 Spoke, with how manifold and strong a bond 
 The child was bound to the father ; sir, in fine, so 
 Seeing how loathly opposite I stood 
 To his unnatural purpose, in fell motion, 
 With his prepared sword, he charges home 
 My unprovided body, lanced mine arm : 
 But when he saw my best alarum'd spirits, 
 Bold in the quarrel's right, roused to the encounter, 
 Or whether gasted by the noise I made, 
 Full suddenly he fled. 
 
 Glou, Let him fly far : 
 
 Not in this land shall he remain uncaught ; 
 And found — dispatch. The noble duke my 
 
 master, 60 
 
 My worthy arch and patron, comes to-night : 
 By his authority I will proclaim it. 
 That he which finds him shall deserve our thanks, 
 Bringing the murderous coward to the stake ; 
 He that conceals him, death. 
 
 Edm. When I dissuaded him from his intent. 
 And found him pight to do it, with curst speech 
 I threaten'd to discover him : he replied, 
 "Thou unpossessing bastard ! dost thou think. 
 If I would stand against thee, would the reposal 70 
 Of any trust, virtue, or worth in thee 
 Make thy words faith'd ? No : what I should 
 
 deny, — 
 As this I would ; ay, though thou didst produce 
 
Scene One] KING LEAR 39 
 
 My very character, — I 'Id turn it all 
 To thy suggestion, plot, and damn'd practice : 
 And thou must make a dullard of the world, 
 If they not thought the profits of my death 
 Were very pregnant and potential spurs 
 To make thee seek it." 
 
 Glou. Strong and fasten'd villain ! 
 
 Would he deny his letter ? I never got him. so 
 
 [Tucket within. 
 Hark, the duke's trumpets ! I know not why he 
 
 comes. 
 All ports I '11 bar ; the villain shall not 'scape ; 
 The duke must grant me that : besides, his picture 
 I will send far and near, that all the kingdom 
 May have due note of him ; and of my land, 
 Loyal and natural boy, I '11 work the means 
 To make thee capable. 
 
 Enter Cornwall, Regan, and Attendants 
 
 Corn. How now, my noble friend ! since I came 
 hither. 
 Which I can call but now, I have heard strange 
 news. 
 Reg. If it be true, all vengeance comes too short 90 
 Which can pursue the offender. How dost, my 
 lord? 
 Glou. O, madam, my old heart is crack'd, is 
 
 crack 'd ! 
 Reg. What, did my father's godson seek your 
 life? 
 He whom my friend named ? your Edgar ? 
 
 Glou. O, lady, lady, shame would have it hid I 
 
40 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 Reg. Was he not companion with the riotous 
 knights 
 That tend upon my father ? 
 
 Glou. I know not, madam : 't is too bad, 
 too bad. 
 
 Edm. Yes, madam, he was of that consort. 
 
 Reg. No marvel, then, though he were ill 
 
 affected : ion 
 
 'T is they have put him on the old man's death, 
 To have the expense and waste of his revenues. 
 I have this present evening from my sister 
 Been well inform'd of them; and with such cau- 
 tions, 
 That if they come to sojourn at my house, 
 I '11 not be there. 
 
 Corn. Nor I, assure thee, Regan. 
 
 Edmund, I hear that you have shown your father 
 A child-like office. 
 
 Edm. 'T was my duty, sir. 
 
 Glou. He did bewray his practice ; and received 
 This hurt you see, striving to apprehend him. no 
 
 Corn. Is he pursued ? 
 
 Glou. Ay, my good lord. 
 
 Corn. If he be taken, he shall never more 
 Be fear'd of doing harm : make your own purpose. 
 How in my strength you please. For you, Edmund, 
 Whose virtue and obedience doth this instant 
 So much commend itself, you shall be ours : 
 Natures of such deep trust we shall much need ; 
 You we first seize on. 
 
 Edm. I shall serve you, sir, 
 
 Truly, however else. 
 
Scene Two] KING LEAR 41 
 
 Glou. For him I thank your grace. 
 
 Corn. You know not why we came to visit 
 
 you, — 120 
 
 Reg. Thus out of season, threading dark-eyed 
 night : 
 Occasions, noble Gloucester, of some poise. 
 Wherein we must have use of your advice : 
 Our father he hath writ, so hath our sister, 
 Of differences, which I least thought it fit 
 To answer from our home ; the several messengers 
 From hence attend dispatch. Our good old friend. 
 Lay comforts to your bosom ; and bestow 
 Your needful counsel to our business, 
 Which craves the instant use. 
 
 Glou. I serve you, madam : isc 
 
 Your graces are right welcome. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene II — Before Gloucester's castle 
 Enter Kent and Oswald, severally 
 
 Osw. Good dawning to thee, friend : art of this 
 house ? 
 
 Kent. Ay. 
 
 OsiD. Where may we set our horses ? 
 
 Kent. V the mire. 
 
 Osw. Prithee, if thou lovest me, tell me. 
 
 Kent. I love thee not. 
 
 Osw. Why, then, I care not for thee. 
 
 Kent. If I had thee in Lipsbury pinfold, I would 
 make thee care for me. lo 
 
 Osw. Why dost thou use me thus ? I know thee 
 not. 
 
 Kent. Fellow, I know thee. 
 
42 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 Osw. What dost thou know me for ? 
 
 Kent. A knave ; ^ rascal ; an eater of broken 
 meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three- 
 suited, hundred-pound, filthy, worsted-stocking 
 knave; a lily-livered, action-taking knave; a 
 whoreson, glass-gazing, superserviceable, finical 
 rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that 20 
 wouldst be a bawd in way of good service, and art 
 nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, 
 coward, pandar, and the son and heir of a mongrel 
 bitch : one whom I will beat into clamorous whining, 
 if thou deniest the least syllable of thy addition. 
 
 Osw. Why, what a monstrous fellow art thou, 
 thus to rail on one that is neither known of thee nor 
 knows thee ! 
 
 Kent. What a brazen-faced varlet art thou, to 30 
 deny thou knowest me ! Is it two days ago since 
 I tripped up thy heels, and beat thee before the 
 king ? Draw, you rogue : for, though it be night, 
 yet the moon shines ; I '11 make a sop o' the moon- 
 shine of you : draw, you whoreson cuUionly barber- 
 monger, draw. [Drawing his sword. 
 
 Osw. Away ! I have nothing to do with thee. 
 
 Kent. Draw, you rascal : you come with letters 
 against the king; and take vanity the puppet's 
 part against the royalty of her father : draw, you 40 
 rogue, or I '11 so carbonado your shanks : draw, 
 you rascal ; come your ways. 
 
 Osw. Help, ho ! murder ! help ! 
 
 Kent. Strike, you slave; stand, rogue, stand; 
 you neat slave, strike. [Beating him. 
 
 Osw. Help, ho ! murder ! murder ! 
 
Scene Two] KING LEAR 43 
 
 Enter Edmund with his rapier drawn, Cornwall, Regan, 
 Gloucester, and Servants 
 
 Edm. How now ! What 's the matter ? 
 
 Kent. With you, goodman boy, an you please : 
 come, I '11 flesh ye ; come on, young master. 
 
 Glou. Weapons ! arms ! What 's the matter so 
 here ? 
 
 Corn. Keep peace, upon your lives : 
 He dies that strikes again. What is the matter ? 
 
 Reg. The messengers from our sisters and the 
 king. 
 
 Corn. What is your difference ? speak. 
 
 Osw. I am scarce in breath, my lord. 
 
 Kent. No marvel, you have so bestirred your 
 valour. You cowardly rascal, nature disclaims in 
 thee : a tailor made thee. 60 
 
 Corn. Thou art a strange fellow : a tailor make a 
 man.? 
 
 Kent. Ay, a tailor, sir : a stone-cutter or a 
 painter could not have made him so ill, though he 
 had been but two hours at the trade. 
 
 Corn. Speak yet, how grew your quarrel ? 
 
 Osw. This ancient ruffian, sir, whose life I have 
 spared at suit of his gray beard, — 
 
 Kent. Thou whoreson zed ! thou unnecessary 
 letter ! My lord, if you will give me leave, I will 70 
 tread this unbolted villain into mortar, and daub 
 the walls of a jakes with him. Spare my gray 
 beard, you wagtail ? 
 
 Corn. Peace, sirrah ! 
 You beastly knave, know you no reverence ? 
 
44 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 Kent. Yes, sir ; but anger hath a privilege. 
 
 Corn. Why art thou angry ? 
 
 Kent. That such a slave as this should wear a 
 sword, 
 Who wears no honesty. Such smiling rogues as 
 
 these. 
 Like rats, oft bite the holy cords a-twain so 
 
 Which are too intrinse t' unloose ; smooth every 
 
 passion 
 That in the natures of their lords rebel ; 
 Bring oil to fire, snow to their colder moods ; 
 Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks 
 With every gale and vary of their masters, 
 Knowing nought, like dogs, but following. 
 A plague upon your epileptic visage ! 
 Smile you my speeches, as I were a fool ^ 
 Goose, if I had you upon Sarum plain, 
 I 'Id drive ye cackling home to Camelot. 9o 
 
 Corn. What, art thou mad, old fellow ? 
 
 Glou. How fell you out ? say that. 
 
 Kent. No contraries hold more antipathy 
 Than I and such a knave. 
 
 Corn. Why dost thou call him knave ? What 's 
 his offence ^ 
 
 Kent. His countenance likes me not. 
 
 Corn, No more, perchance, does mine, nor his, 
 nor hers. 
 
 Kent. Sir, 't is my occupation to be plain : 
 I have seen better faces in my time 
 Than stands on any shoulder that I see loo 
 
 Before me at this instant. 
 
 Corn. This is some fellow. 
 
Scene Two] KING LEAR 45 
 
 Who, having been praised for bluntness, doth affect 
 A saucy roughness, and constrains the garb 
 Quite from his nature : he cannot flatter, he. 
 An honest mind and plain, he must speak truth ! 
 An they will take it, so ; if not, he 's plain. 
 These kind of knaves I know, which in this plain- 
 ness 
 Harbour more craft and more corrupter ends 
 Than twenty silly ducking observants 
 That stretch their duties nicely. no 
 
 Kent. Sir, in good sooth, in sincere verity. 
 Under the allowance of your great aspect. 
 Whose influence, like the wreath of radiant fire 
 On flickering Phoebus' front, — 
 
 Corn. What mean'st by this .f^ 
 
 Kent. To go out of my dialect, which you dis- 
 commend so much. I know, sir, I am no flatterer : 
 he that beguiled you in a plain accent was a plain 
 knave ; which for my part I will not be, though I 
 should win your displeasure to entreat me to 't. 120 
 
 Corn. What was the offence you gave him ? 
 
 Osiv. I never gave him any : 
 It pleased the king his master very late 
 To strike at me, upon his misconstruction ; 
 When he, conjunct, and flattering his displeasure, 
 Tripp'd me behind ; being down, insulted, rail'd, 
 And put upon him such a deal of man. 
 That worthied him, got praises of the king 
 For him attempting who was self-subdued ; 
 And, in the fleshment of this dread exploit, 130 
 
 Drew on me here again. 
 
 Kent. None of these rogues and cowards 
 
46 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 But Ajax is their fool. 
 
 Corn. Fetch forth the stocks ! 
 
 You stubborn ancient knave, you reverent braggart. 
 We '11 teach you — 
 
 Kent. Sir, I am too old to learn : 
 
 Call not your stocks for me : I serve the king ; 
 On whose employment I was sent to you : 
 You shall do small respect, show too bold malice 
 Against the grace and person of my master. 
 Stocking his messenger. 
 
 Corn. Fetch forth the stocks ! As I have life 
 
 and honour, . 140 
 
 There shall he sit till noon. 
 
 Reg. Till noon! till night, my lord; and all 
 night too. 
 
 Kent. Why, madam, if I were your father's dog, 
 You should not use me so. 
 
 Reg- Sir, being his knave, I will. 
 
 Corn. This is a fellow of the self -same colour 
 Our sister speaks of. Come, bring away the stocks ! 
 
 [Stocks brought out. 
 
 Glou. Let me beseech your grace not to do so : 
 His fault is much, and the good king his master 
 Will check him for 't : your purposed low correction 
 Is such as basest and contemned'st wretches iso 
 
 For pilferings and most common trespasses 
 Are punish'd with : the king must take it ill. 
 That he, so slightly valued in his messenger. 
 Should have him thus restrain'd. 
 
 Corn. I '11 answer that. 
 
 Reg. My sister may receive it much more worse. 
 To have her gentleman abused, assaulted, 
 
Scene Two] KING LEAR 47 
 
 For following her affairs. Put in his legs. 
 
 [Kent is put in the stocks. 
 Come, my good lord, away. 
 
 [Exeunt all but Gloucester and Kent. 
 Glou. I am sorry for thee, friend ; 't is the * 
 duke's pleasure. 
 Whose disposition, all the world well knows, leo 
 
 Will not be rubb'd nor stopp'd : I '11 entreat for 
 thee. 
 Kent. Pray, do not, sir : I have watched and 
 travel!' d hard ; 
 Some time I shall sleep out, the rest I '11 whistle. 
 A good man's fortune may grow out at heels : 
 Give you good morrow ! 
 
 Glou. The duke 's to blame in this ; 't will be 
 ill- taken. [Exit. 
 
 Kent. Good king, that must approve the com- 
 mon saw. 
 Thou out of heaven's benediction comest 
 To the warm sun ! 
 
 Approach, thou beacon to this under globe, i70 
 
 That by thy comfortable beams I may 
 Peruse this letter ! Nothing almost sees miracles 
 But misery : I know 't is from Cordelia, 
 Who hath most fortunately been inform'd 
 Of my obscured course ; and shall find time 
 From this enormous state, seeking to give 
 Losses their remedies. All weary and o'er-watch'd. 
 Take vantage, heavy eyes, not to behold 
 This shameful lodging. 
 Fortune, good night : smile once more ; turn thy 
 
 wheel ! [Sleeps, iso 
 
48 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 Scene III — A wood 
 
 Enter Edgar 
 
 Edg. I heard myself proclaim'd ; 
 And by the happy hollow of a tree 
 Escaped the hunt. No port is free ; no place, 
 That guard, and most unusual vigilance, 
 Does not attend my taking. Whiles I may 'scape, 
 I will preserve myself : and am bethought 
 To take the basest and most poorest shape 
 That ever penury, in contempt of man, 
 Brought near to beast : my face I '11 grime with 
 
 filth: 
 Blanket my loins ; elf all my hair in knots ; lo 
 
 And with presented nakedness out-face 
 The winds and persecutions of the sky. 
 The country gives me proof and precedent 
 Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices, 
 Strike in their numb'd and mortified bare arms 
 Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary ; 
 And with this horrible object, from low farms, 
 Poor pelting villages, sheep-cotes, and mills. 
 Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers. 
 Enforce their charity. Poor Turlygod ! poor Tom ! 20 
 That 's something yet : Edgar I nothing am. [Exit. 
 
 Scene IV — Before Gloucester's castle, Kent 
 in the stocks 
 
 Enter Lear, Fool, and Gentleman 
 
 Lear. 'T is strange that they should so depart 
 from home, 
 And not send back my messenger. 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAR 49 
 
 Gent. As I learn'd, 
 
 The night before there was no purpose in them 
 Of this remove. 
 
 Kent. Hail to thee, noble master ! 
 
 Lear. Ha ! 
 Makest thou this shame thy pastime ? 
 
 Kent. No, my lord. 
 
 Fool. Ha, ha ! he wears cruel garters. Horses 
 are tied by the heads, dogs and bears by the neck, 
 monkeys by the loins, and men by the legs : when 
 a man's over-lusty at legs, then he wears wooden lo 
 nether-stocks. 
 
 Lear. What 's he that hath so much thy place 
 mistook 
 To set thee here } 
 
 Kent. It is both he and she ; 
 
 Your son and daughter. 
 
 Lear. No. 
 
 Kent. Yes. 
 
 Lear. No, I say. 
 
 Kent. I say, yea. 
 
 Lear. No, no, they would not. 
 
 Kent. Yes, they have. 20 
 
 Lear. By Jupiter, I swear, no. 
 
 Kent. By Juno, I swear, ay. 
 
 Lear. They durst not do 't ; 
 
 They could not, would not do 't ; 't is worse than 
 
 murder. 
 To do upon respect such violent outrage : 
 Resolve me, with all modest haste, which way 
 Thou mightst deserve, or they impose, this usage. 
 Coming from us. 
 
50 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 Kent. My lord, when at their home 
 
 I did commend your highness' letter to them, 
 Ere I was risen from the place that show'd 
 My duty kneeling, came there a reeking post, m 
 
 Stew'd in his haste, half breathless, panting forth 
 From Goneril his mistress salutations ; 
 Deliver'd letters, spite of intermission. 
 Which presently they read : on whose contents. 
 They summon'd up their meiny, straight took horse ; 
 Commanded me to follow, and attend 
 The leisure of their answer ; gave me cold looks : 
 And meeting here the other messenger. 
 Whose welcome, I perceived, had poison'd mine, — 
 Being the very fellow that of late 40 
 
 Display'd so saucily against your highness, — 
 Having more man than wit about me, drew : 
 He raised the house with loud and coward cries. 
 Your son and daughter found this trespass worth 
 The shame which here it suffers. 
 
 Fool. Winter 's not gone yet, if the wild-geese 
 fly that way. 
 
 Fathers that wear rags 
 
 Do make their children blind ; 
 
 But fathers that bear bags 50 
 
 Shall see their children kind. 
 
 Fortune, that arrant whore. 
 
 Ne'er turns the key to the poor. 
 But, for all this, thou shalt have as many dolours for 
 thy daughters as thou canst tell in a year. 
 
 Lear. O, how this mother swells up toward my 
 
 heart ! 
 Hysterica passio, down, thou climbing sorrow. 
 
Scene Fouk] KING LEAR 51 
 
 Thy element 's below ! Where is this daughter ? 
 Kent. With the earl, sir, here within. 
 Lear. Follow me not ; 
 
 Stay here. [Exit. 60 
 
 Gent. Made you no more offence but what you 
 speak of ? 
 
 Kent. None. 
 How chance the king comes with so small a train ? 
 Foci. An thou hadst been set i' the stocks for 
 that question, thou hadst well deserved it. 
 Kent. Why, fool.? 
 
 Fool. We '11 set thee to school to an ant, to 
 teach thee there 's no labouring i' the winter. All 
 that follow their noses are led by their eyes but70 
 blind men ; and there 's not a nose among twenty 
 but can smell him that 's stinking. Let go thy hold 
 when a great wheel runs down a hill, lest it break 
 thy neck with following it ; but the great one that 
 goes up the hill, let him draw thee after. When a 
 wise man gives thee better counsel, give me mine 
 again : I would have none but knaves follow it, 
 since a fool gives it. 
 
 That sir which serves and seeks for gain, 
 
 And follows but for form, 80 
 
 Will pack when it begins to rain, 
 
 And leave thee in the storm. 
 But I will tarry ; the fool will stay. 
 
 And let the wise man fly : 
 The knave turns fool that runs away ; 
 The fool no knave, perdy. 
 Kent. Where learned you this, fool ^ 
 Fool. Not i' the stocks, fool. 
 
52 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 Re-enter Lear, with Gloucester 
 
 Lear. Deny to speak with me ? They are sick ? 
 they are weary ? 
 They have travell'd all the night ? Mere fetches ; 90 
 The images of revolt and flying off. 
 Fetch me a better answer. 
 
 Glou. My dear lord, 
 
 You know the fiery quality of the duke ; 
 How unremoveable and fix'd he is 
 In his own course. 
 
 Lear. Vengeance ! plague ! death ! confusion ! 
 Fiery.? what quality.? Why, Gloucester, Glouces- 
 ter, 
 I 'Id speak with the Duke of Cornwall and his wife. 
 
 Glou. Well, my good lord, I have inform'd them 
 so. 
 
 Lear. Inform'd them ! Dost thou understand 
 
 me, man? loo 
 
 Glou. Ay, my good lord. 
 
 Lear. The king would speak with Cornwall ; the 
 dear father 
 Would with his daughter speak, commands her 
 
 service : 
 Are they inform'd of this .? My breath and blood ! 
 Fiery .? the fiery duke .? Tell the hot duke that — 
 No, but not yet : may be he is not well : 
 Infirmity doth still neglect all office 
 Whereto our health is bound ; we are not ourselves 
 When nature, being oppress'd, commands the mind 
 To suffer with the body : I '11 forbear ; no 
 
 And am fall'n out with my more headier will, 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAR 53 
 
 To take the indisposed and sickly fit 
 For the sound man. Death on my state ! where- 
 fore [Looking on Kent. 
 Should he sit here ? This act persuades me 
 That this remotion of the duke and her 
 Is practice only. Give me my servant forth. 
 Go tell the duke and 's wife I 'Id speak with them, 
 Now, presently : bid them come forth and hear me, 
 Or at their chamber-door I '11 beat the drum 
 Till it cry sleep to death. 120 
 
 Glou. I would have all well betwixt you. [Exit. 
 
 Lear. O me, my heart, my rising heart ! but, 
 down ! 
 
 Fool. Cry to it, nuncle, as the cockney did to 
 the eels when she put 'em i' the paste alive; 
 she knapped 'em o' the coxcombs with a stick, 
 and cried " Down, wantons, down !" 'T was her 
 brother that, in pure kindness to his horse, but- 
 tered his hay. 
 
 Enter Cornwall, Regan, Gloucester, and Servants 
 
 Lear, Good morrow to you both. 
 Corn. Hail to your grace ! 
 
 [Kent is set at liberty. 
 Reg. I am glad to see your highness. iso 
 
 Lear. Regan, I think you are; I know what 
 reason 
 I have to think so : if thou shouldst not be glad, 
 I would divorce me from thy mother's tomb, 
 Sepulchring an adul tress. [To Kent] O, are you 
 
 free? 
 Some other time for that. Beloved Regan, 
 
54 ' KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 Thy sister 's naught : O Regan, she hath tied 
 Sharp-tooth' d unkindness, Hke a vulture, here : 
 
 [Points to his heart. 
 I can scarce speak to thee ; thou 'It not beheve 
 With how depraved a quahty — O Regan ! 
 
 Reg. I pray you, sir, take patience : I have hope i40 
 You less know how to value her desert 
 Than she to scant her duty. 
 
 Lear. Say, how is that? 
 
 Reg. I cannot think my sister in the least 
 Would fail her obligation : if, sir, perchance 
 She have restrain' d the riots of your followers, 
 'T is on such ground, and to such wholesome end, 
 As clears her from all blame. 
 
 Lear. My curses on her ! 
 
 Reg. O, sir, you are old ; 
 
 Nature in you stands on the very verge 
 Of her confine : you should be ruled and led iso 
 
 By some discretion, that discerns your state 
 Better than you yourself. Therefore, I pray you. 
 That to our sister you do make return ; 
 Say you have wrong'd her, sir. 
 
 Lear. Ask her forgiveness ? 
 
 Do you but mark how this becomes the house : 
 "Dear daughter, I confess that I am old; [Kneeling. 
 Age is unnecessary : on my knees I beg 
 That you '11 vouchsafe me raiment, bed, and food." 
 
 Reg. Good sir, no more; these are unsightly 
 tricks : 
 Return you to my sister. 
 
 Lear. [Rising] Never, Regan : leo 
 
 She hath abated me of half my train ; 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAR 55 
 
 Look'd black upon me ; struck me with her tongue 
 
 Most serpent-like, upon the very heart : 
 
 All the stored vengeances of heaven fall 
 
 On her ingrateful top ! Strike her young bones, 
 
 You taking airs, with lameness ! 
 
 Corn. Fie, sir, fie ! 
 
 Lear. You nimble lightnings, dart your blinding 
 flames 
 Into her scornful eyes ! Infect her beauty. 
 You fen-suck' d fogs, drawn by the powerful sun. 
 To fall and blast her pride ! 170 
 
 Reg. O the blest gods ! so will you wish on 
 me. 
 When the rash mood is on. 
 
 Lear. No, Regan, thou shalt never have my 
 curse : 
 Thy tender-hefted nature shall not give 
 Thee o'er to harshness : her eyes are fierce ; but 
 
 thine 
 Do comfort and not burn. 'T is not in thee 
 To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train, 
 To bandy hasty words, to scant my sizes, 
 And in conclusion to oppose the bolt 
 Against my coming in : thou better know'st iso 
 
 The offices of nature, bond of childhood. 
 Effects of courtesy, dues of gratitude ; 
 Thy half o' the kingdom hast thou not forgot, 
 Wherein I thee endow' d. 
 
 Reg. Good sir, to the purpose. 
 
 Lear. Who put my man i' the stocks ? 
 
 [Tucket within. 
 
 Corn. What trumpet 's that ? 
 
5Q KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 Reg. I know 't, my sister's : this approves her 
 letter, 
 That she would soon be here. 
 
 Enter Oswald 
 
 Is your lady come ? 
 Lear. This is a slave, whose easy-borrow'd pride 
 Dwells in the fickle grace of her he follows. 
 Out, varlet, from my sight ! 
 
 Corn. What means your grace ? i^^o 
 
 Lear. Who stock'd my servant .^^ Regan, I 
 have good hope 
 Thou didst not know on 't. Who comes here ? 
 O heavens, 
 
 . Enter Goneril 
 
 If you do love old men, if your sweet sway 
 Allow obedience, if yourselves are old. 
 Make it your cause ; send down, and take my part ! 
 [To Gon.] Art not ashamed to look upon this 
 
 beard ? 
 O Regan, wilt thou take her by the hand ? 
 
 Gon. Why not by the hand, sir.^^ How have I 
 offended ? 
 All 's not offence that indiscretion finds 
 And dotage terms so. 
 
 Lear. O sides, you are too tough ; 200 
 
 Will you yet hold.^^ How came my man i' the 
 stocks ? 
 
 Corn. I set him there, sir : but his own disorders 
 Deserved much less advancement. 
 
 Lear. You ! did you ? 
 
 Reg. I pray you, father, being ^eak, seem so. 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAE 57 
 
 If, till the expiration of your month, 
 You will return and sojourn with my sister. 
 Dismissing half your train, come then to me : 
 I am now from home, and out of that provision 
 Which shall be needful for your entertainment. 
 
 Lear. Return to her, and fifty men dismiss'd ? 210 
 No, rather I abjure all roofs, and choose 
 To wage against the enmity o' the air ; 
 To be a comrade with the wolf and owl, — 
 Necessity's sharp pinch ! Return with her ? 
 Why, the hot-blooded France, that dowerless took 
 Our youngest born, I could as well be brought 
 To knee his throne, and, squire-like, pension beg 
 To keep base life afoot. Return with her ^ 
 Persuade me rather to be slave and sumpter 
 To this detested groom. [Pointing at Oswald. 
 
 Gon. At your choice, sir. 220 
 
 Lear. I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad : 
 I will not trouble thee, my child ; farewell : 
 We '11 no more meet, no more see one another : 
 But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter ; 
 Or rather a disease that 's in my flesh. 
 Which I must needs call mine : thou art a boil, 
 A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle. 
 In my corrupted blood. But I '11 not chide thee ; 
 Let shame come when it will, I do not call it : 
 I do not bid the thunder-bearer shoot, 230 
 
 Nor tell tales of thee to high- judging Jove : 
 Mend when thou canst ; be better at thy leisure : 
 I can be patient ; I can stay with Regan, 
 I and my hundred knights. 
 
 Reg. Not altogether so : 
 
58 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 I look'd not for you yet, nor am provided 
 For your fit welcome. Give ear, sir, to my sister ; 
 For those that mingle reason with your passion 
 Must be content to think you old, and so — 
 But she knows what she does. 
 
 Lear. Is this well spoken ? 
 
 Reg. I dare avouch it, sir : what, fifty followers ? 240 
 Is it not well .? What should you need of more ? 
 Yea, or so many, sith that both charge and danger 
 Speak 'gainst so great a number? How, in one 
 
 house. 
 Should many people, under two commands. 
 Hold amity ? 'T is hard ; almost impossible. 
 
 Gon, Why might not you, my lord, receive 
 attendance 
 From those that she calls servants or from mine ? 
 
 Reg. Why not, my lord .^ If then they chanced 
 to slack you. 
 We could control them. If you will come to me, — 
 For now I spy a danger, — I entreat you 26O 
 
 To bring but five-and-twenty : to no more 
 Will I give place or notice. 
 
 Lear. I gave you all — 
 
 Reg. And in good time you gave it. 
 
 Lear. Made you my guardians, my depositaries ; 
 But kept a reservation to be followed 
 With such a number. What, must I come to you 
 With five-and-twenty, Regan ? said you so .? 
 
 Reg. And speak 't again, my lord ; no more with 
 me. 
 
 Lear. Those wicked creatures yet do look well- 
 favour'd, 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAR 59 
 
 When others are more wicked ; not being the worst 260 
 Stands in some rank of praise. [To Gon.] I '11 go 
 
 with thee : 
 Thy fifty yet doth double five-and-twenty, 
 And thou art twice her love. 
 
 Gon. Hear me, my lord : 
 
 What need you five-and-twenty, ten, or five, 
 To follow in a house where twice so many 
 Have a command to tend you ? 
 
 Reg, What need one ? 
 
 Lear. O, reason not the need : our basest 
 beggars 
 Are in the poorest thing superfluous : 
 Allow not nature more than nature needs, 
 Man's life 's as cheap as beast's : thou art a lady ; 270 
 If only to go warm were gorgeous. 
 Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st, 
 Which scarcely keeps thee warm. But, for true 
 
 need, — 
 You heavens, give me that patience, patience I 
 
 need ! 
 You see me here, you gods, a poor old man, 
 As full of grief as age ; wretched in both ! 
 If it be you that stirs these daughters' hearts 
 Against their father, fool me not so much 
 To bear it tamely ; touch me with noble anger. 
 And let not women's weapons, water-drops, 28O 
 
 Stain my man's cheeks ! No, you unnatural hags, 
 I will have such revenges on you both, 
 That all the world shall — I will do such things, — 
 What they are, yet I know not ; but they shall be 
 The terrors of the earth. You think I '11 weep ; 
 
60 KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 No, I '11 not weep : 
 
 I have full cause of weeping ; but this heart 
 Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws, 
 Or ere I '11 weep. O fool, I shall go mad ! 
 
 [Exeunt Lear, Gloucester, Kent, and Fool. 
 Storm and tempest. 
 Corn. Let us withdraw ; 't will be a storm. 290 
 
 Reg. This house is little : the old man and his 
 people 
 Cannot be well bestow'd. 
 
 Gon. 'T is his own blame ; hath put himself 
 from rest. 
 And must needs taste his folly. 
 
 Reg. For his particular, I '11 receive him gladly. 
 But not one follower. 
 
 Gon. So am I purposed. 
 
 Where is my lord of Gloucester ? 
 
 Corn. Follow'd the old man forth : he is re- 
 turn'd. 
 
 Re-enter Gloucester 
 
 Glou. The king is in high rage. 
 
 Corn. Whither is he going ? 
 
 Glou. He calls to horse; but will I know not 
 
 whither. soo 
 
 Corn. 'T is best to give him way ; he leads 
 
 himself. 
 Gon. My lord, entreat him by no means to stay. 
 Glou. Alack, the night comes on, and the bleak 
 
 winds 
 Do sorely ruffle ; for many miles about 
 There 's scarce a bush. 
 
SosNE One] KING LEAR 61 
 
 Reg. O, sir, to wilful men, 
 
 The injuries that they themselves procure 
 Must be their schoolmasters. Shut up your doors. 
 He is attended with a desperate train ; 
 And what they may incense him to, being apt 
 To have his ear abused, wisdom bids fear. 3io 
 
 Corn. Shut up your doors, my lord ; 't is a wild 
 night : 
 My Regan counsels well : come out o' the storm. 
 
 [Exeunt 
 
 ACT III 
 
 Scene I — A heath 
 Storm still. Enter Kent and a Gentleman, meeting 
 
 Kent. Who 's there, besides foul weather ? 
 
 Gent. One minded like the weather, most un- 
 unquietly. 
 
 Kent. I know you. Where 's the king ? 
 
 Gent. Contending with the fretful element; 
 Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea. 
 Or swell the curled waters 'bove the main. 
 That things might change or cease ; tears his white 
 
 hair. 
 Which the impetuous blasts, with eyeless rage. 
 Catch in their fury, and make nothing of ; 
 Strives in his little world of man to out-scorn lo 
 
 The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain. 
 This night, wherein the cub-drawn bear would 
 
 couch. 
 The lion and the belly-pinched wolf 
 
m KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 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- 
 jest 
 His heart-struck injuries. 
 
 Kent. Sir, I do know you ; 
 
 And dare, upon the warrant of my note. 
 Commend a dear thing to you. There is division. 
 Although as yet the face of it be cover'd 20 
 
 With mutual cunning, 'twixt Albany and Corn- 
 wall; 
 Who have — as who have not, that their great stars 
 Throned and set high ? — servants, who seem no 
 
 less. 
 Which are to France the spies and speculations 
 Intelligent of our state ; what hath been seen, 
 Either in snuffs and packings of the dukes. 
 Or the hard rein which both of them have borne 
 Against the old kind king ; or something deeper. 
 Whereof perchance these are but furnishings ; 
 But, true it is, from France there comes a power so 
 Into this scatter'd kingdom ; who already. 
 Wise in our negligence, have secret feet 
 In some of our best ports, and are at point 
 To show their open banner. Now to you : 
 If on my credit you dare build so far 
 To make your speed to Dover, you shall find 
 Some that will thank you, making just report 
 Of how unnatural and bemadding sorrow 
 The king hath cause to plain. 
 I am a gentleman of blood and breeding ; 40 
 
Scene Two] KING LEAR 63 
 
 And, from some knowledge and assurance, offer 
 This office to you. 
 
 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 
 What it contains. If you shall see Cordelia, — 
 As fear not but you shall, — show her this ring ; 
 And she will tell you who your fellow is 
 That yet you do not know. Fie on this storm ! 
 I will go seek the king. 50 
 
 Gent. Give me your hand : have you no more to 
 
 say.? 
 Kent. Few words, but, to effect, more than all 
 yet; 
 That, when we have found the king, — in which 
 
 your pain 
 That way, I '11 this, — he that first lights on him 
 Holla the other. [E±eunt severally. 
 
 Scene II — Another part of the heath. Storm still 
 Enter Lear and Fool 
 
 Lear. Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks ! 
 
 rage ! blow ! 
 You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout 
 Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the 
 
 cocks ! 
 You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, 
 Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts. 
 Singe my white head ! And thou, all-shaking 
 
 thunder. 
 
64 KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world ! 
 Crack nature's moulds, all germens spill at once, 
 That make ingratef ul man ! 
 
 Fool. O nuncle, court holy- water in a dryio 
 house is better than this rain-water out o' door. 
 Good nuncle, in, and ask thy daughters' bless- 
 ing : here 's a night pities neither wise man nor 
 fool. 
 
 Lear, Rumble thy bellyful ! Spit, fire ! spout, 
 rain ! 
 Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters : 
 I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness ; 
 I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children. 
 You owe me no subscription : then let fall 
 Your horrible pleasure ; here I stand, your slave, 
 A poor, infirm, weak, and despised old man : 20 
 
 But yet I call you servile ministers. 
 That have with two pernicious daughters join'd 
 Your high engender'd battles 'gainst a head 
 So old and white as this. O ! O ! 't is foul ! 
 
 Fool. He that has a house to put 's head in has 
 a good head-piece. 
 
 The cod-piece that will house 
 
 Before the head has any. 
 The head and he shall louse ; 
 
 So beggars marry many. 30 
 
 The man that makes his toe 
 
 What he his heart should make 
 Shall of a corn cry woe. 
 
 And turn his sleep to wake. 
 For there was never yet fair woman but she made 
 mouths in a glass. 
 
Scene Two] KING LEAR, 65 
 
 Lear. No, I will be the pattern of all patience ; I 
 will say nothing. 
 
 Enter Kent 
 
 Kent. Who 's there ? 
 
 Fool. Marry, here 's grace and a cod-piece ; 40 
 that 's a wise man and a fool. 
 
 Kent. Alas, sir, are you here? things that love 
 night 
 Love not such nights as these ; the wrathful skies 
 Gallow the very wanderers of the dark. 
 And make them keep their caves : since I was man. 
 Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder, 
 Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never 
 Remember to have heard : man's nature cannot 
 
 carry 
 The affliction nor the fear. 
 
 Lear. Let the great gods. 
 
 That keep this dreadful pother o'er our heads, 50 
 
 Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou 
 
 wretch. 
 That hast within thee undivulged crimes, 
 Unwhipp'd of justice : hide thee, thou bloody 
 
 hand; 
 Thou perjured, and thou simular man of virtue 
 That are incestuous : caitiff, to pieces shake, 
 That under covert and convenient seeming 
 Hast practised on man's life : close pent-up guilts 
 Rive your concealing continents, and cry 
 These dreadful summoners grace. I am a man 
 More sinn'd against than sinning. 
 
 Kent. Alack, bare-headed ! 60 
 
 Gracious my lord, hard by here is a hovel ; 
 
66 KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 Some friendship will it lend you 'gainst the tem- 
 pest : 
 Repose you there ; while I to this hard house — 
 More harder than the stones whereof 't is raised ; 
 Which even but now, demanding after you, 
 Denied me to come in — return, and force 
 Their scanted courtesy. 
 
 Lear. My wits begin to turn. 
 
 Come on, my boy : how dost, my boy "? art cold ? 
 I am cold myself. Where is this straw, my fellow .? 
 The art of our necessities is strange, 70 
 
 That can make vile things precious. Come, your 
 
 hovel. 
 Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart 
 That 's sorry yet for thee. 
 
 Fool. [Singing] He that has and a little tiny wit, — 
 With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, — 
 Must make content with his fortunes fit. 
 For the rain it raineth every day. 
 
 Lear. True, my good boy. Come, bring us to 
 this hovel. [Exeunt Lear and Kent. 
 
 Fool. This is a brave night to cool a courtezan. 
 I '11 speak a prophecy ere I go : so 
 
 When priests are more in word than matter ; 
 
 When brewers mar their malt with water ; 
 
 When nobles are their tailors' tutors ; 
 
 No heretics burn'd, but wenches' suitors ; 
 
 When every case in law is right ; 
 
 No squire in debt, nor no poor knight ; 
 
 When slanders do not live in tongues ; 
 
 Nor cutpurses come not to throngs ; 
 
 When usurers tell their gold i' the field ; 
 
Scene Three] KING LEAR 67 
 
 And bawds and whores do churches build ; 9o 
 
 Then shall the realm of Albion 
 Come to great confusion : 
 Then comes the time, who lives to see 't. 
 That going shall be used with feet. 
 This prophecy Merlin shall make ; for I live before 
 his time. [Exit. 
 
 Scene III — Gloucester's castle 
 Enter Gloucester and Edmund 
 
 Glou. Alack, alack, Edmund, I like not this 
 unnatural dealing. When I desired their leave that 
 I might pity him, they took from me the use of 
 mine own house ; charged me, on pain of their 
 perpetual displeasure, neither to speak of him, 
 entreat for him, nor any way sustain him. 
 
 Edm. Most savage and unnatural ! 
 
 Glou. Go to ; say you nothing. There 's a 
 division betwixt the dukes ; and a worse matter 
 than that : I have received a letter this night ; 't is lo 
 dangerous to be spoken; I have locked the letter 
 in my closet : these injuries the king now bears will 
 be revenged home ; there 's part of a power already 
 footed : we must incline to the king. I will seek 
 him, and privily relieve him : go you and maintain 
 talk with the duke, that my charity be not of him 
 perceived : if he ask for me, I am ill, and gone to 
 bed. Though I die for it, as no less is threatened 
 me, the king my old master must be relieved. 
 There is some strange thing toward, Edmund ; pray 20 
 you, be careful. [Exit. 
 
68 KING LEAK [Act Three 
 
 Edm. This courtesy, forbid thee, shall the duke 
 Instantly know ; and of that letter too : 
 This seems a fair deserving, and must draw me 
 That which my father loses ; no less than all : 
 The younger rises when the old doth fall. [Exit 
 
 Scene IV — The heath. Before a hovel 
 Enter Lear, Kent, and Fool 
 
 Kent. Here is the place, my lord; good my 
 lord, enter : 
 The tyranny of the open night 's too rough 
 For nature to endure. [Storm still. 
 
 Lear. Let me alone. 
 
 Kent. Good my lord, enter here. 
 
 Lear. Wilt break my heart ? 
 
 Kent. I had rather break mine own. Good my 
 lord, enter. 
 
 Lear. Thou think'st 't is much that this con- 
 tentious storm 
 Invades us to the skin : so 't is to thee ; 
 But where the greater malady is fixed. 
 The lesser is scarce felt. Thou 'Idst shun a bear ; 
 But if thy flight lay toward the raging sea, lo 
 
 Thou 'Idst meet the bear i' the mouth. When the 
 
 mind 's free, 
 The body 's delicate : the tempest in my mind 
 Doth from my senses take all feeling else 
 Save what beats there. Filial ingratitude ! 
 Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand 
 For lifting food to 't .^ But I will punish home : 
 No, I will weep no more. In such a night 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAH 69 
 
 To shut me out ! Pour on ; I will endure. 
 In such a night as this ! O Regan, Goneril ! 
 Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave 
 
 all, — 20 
 
 O, that way madness lies ; let me shun that ; 
 No more of that. 
 
 Kent. Good my lord, enter here. 
 
 Lear. Prithee, go in thyself; seek thine own 
 ease : 
 This tempest will not give me leave to ponder 
 On things would hurt me more. But I '11 go in. 
 [To the Fool] In, boy; go first. You houseless 
 
 poverty, — 
 Nay, get thee in. I '11 pray, and then I '11 sleep. 
 
 [Fool goes, in. 
 Poor naked wretches, whereso'er you are, 
 That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm. 
 How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides, so 
 Your loop'd and window' d raggedness, defend 
 
 you 
 From seasons such as these ? O, I have ta'en 
 Too little care of this ! Take physic, pomp ; 
 Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel. 
 That thou mayst shake the superflux to them, 
 And show the heavens more just. 
 
 Edg. [Within] Fathom and half, fathom and half ! 
 Poor Tom ! [The Fool runs out from the hovel. 
 
 Fool. Come not in here, nuncle, here 's a spirit. 
 Help me, help me ! 4o 
 
 Kent. Give me thy hand. Who 's there ? 
 
 Fool. A spirit, a spirit : he says his name 's 
 poor Tom. 
 
70 KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 Kent. What art thou that dost grumble there i' 
 the straw? Come forth. 
 
 Enter Edgar disguised as a madman 
 
 Edg. Away ! the foul fiend follows me ! 
 Through the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind. 
 Hum ! go to thy cold bed, and warm thee. 
 
 Lear. Hast thou given all to thy two daughters ? 
 And art thou come to this ? 50 
 
 Edg. Who gives any thing to poor Tom ? whom 
 the foul fiend hath led through fire and through 
 flame, through ford and whirlpool, o'er bog and 
 quagmire; that hath laid knives under his pillow, 
 and halters in his pew ; set ratsbane by his porridge ; 
 made him proud of heart, to ride on a bay trotting- 
 horse over four-inched bridges, to course his own 
 shadow for a traitor. Bless they five wits ! Tom 's 
 a-cold, — O, do de, do de, do de. Bless thee from 60 
 whirlwinds, star-blasting, and taking ! Do poor 
 Tom some charity, whom the foul fiend vexes : 
 there could I have him now, — and there, — and 
 there again, and there. [Storm still. 
 
 Lear. What, have his daughters brought him 
 to this pass ? 
 Couldst thou save nothing ? Didst thou give them 
 all.? 
 
 Fool. Nay, he reserved a blanket, else we had 
 been all shamed. 
 
 Lear. Now, all the plagues that in the pendulous 
 air 
 Hang fated o'er men's faults light on thy daughters ! 70 
 
 Kent. He hath no daughters, sir. 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAR 71 
 
 Lear. Death, traitor ! nothing could have sub- 
 dued nature 
 To such a lowness but his unkind daughters. 
 Is it the fashion that discarded fathers 
 Should have thus httle mercy on their flesh ? 
 Judicious punishment ! 't was this flesh begot 
 Those pehcan daughters. 
 
 Edg. Pilhcock sat on Pilhcock-hill : 
 Halloo, halloo, loo, loo ! 
 
 Fool. This cold night will turn us all to fools and so 
 madmen. 
 
 Edg. Take heed o' the foul fiend : obey thy 
 parents ; keep thy word justly ; swear not ; com- 
 mit not with man's sworn spouse ; set not thy sweet 
 heart on proud array. Tom 's a-cold. 
 
 Lear. What hast thou been ? 
 
 Edg. A serving-man, proud in heart and mind ; 
 that curled my hair ; wore gloves in my cap ; served 
 the lust of my mistress' heart, and did the act of 
 darkness with her ; swore as many oaths as I spake 90 
 words, and broke them in the sweet face of heaven : 
 one that slept in the contriving of lust, and waked 
 to do it : wine loved I deeply, dice dearly ; and in 
 woman out-paramoured the Turk : false of heart, 
 light of ear, bloody of hand; hog in sloth, fox in 
 .stealth, wolf in greediness, dog in madness, lion in 
 prey. Let not the creaking of shoes nor the rus- 
 tling of silks betray thy poor heart to woman : keep 
 thy foot out of brothels, thy hand out of plackets. 100 
 thy pen from lenders' books, and defy the foul fienvl. 
 Still through the hawthorn blows the cold wind ; 
 Says suum, mun, ha, no, nonny. 
 
72 KING LEAK [Act Three 
 
 Dolphin my boy, my boy, sessa ! let him trot by. 
 
 [Storm still. 
 
 Lear. Why, thou wert better in thy grave than 
 to answer with thy uncovered body this extremity 
 of the skies. Is man no more than this ? Consider 
 him well. Thou owest the worm no silk, the beast 
 no hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume. 
 Ha ! here 's three on 's are sophisticated ! Thou no 
 art the thing itself: unaccommodated man is no 
 more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as 
 thou art. Off, off, you lendings ! come, unbutton 
 here. [Tearing off his clothes. 
 
 Fool. Prithee, nuncle, be contented ; 't is a 
 naughty night to swim in. Now a little fire in a 
 wild field were like an old lecher's heart ; a small 
 spark, all the rest on's body cold. Look, here 
 comes a walking fire. 
 
 Enter Gloucester, with a torch 
 
 Edg. This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet : he 120 
 begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock ; he 
 gives the web and the pin, squints the eye, and 
 makes the hare-lip ; mildews the white wheat, and 
 hurts the poor creature of earth. 
 
 S. Withold footed thrice the old ; 
 He met the night-mare, and her nine-fold ; 
 Bid her alight. 
 And her troth plight, 
 And, aroint thee, witch, aroint thee ! 
 Kent. How fares your grace ? 130 
 
 Lear. What 's he.^ 
 Kent. Who 's there? What is 't you seek? 
 
Scene Four] KING LEAR 73 
 
 Glou. What are you there ? Your names ? 
 
 Edg. Poor Tom ; that eats the swimming frog, 
 the toad, the tadpole, the wall-newt and the water ; 
 that in the fury of his heart, when the foul fiend 
 rages, eats cow-dung for sallets ; swallows the old 
 rat and the ditch-dog; drinks the green mantle of 
 the standing-pool ; who is whipped from tithing to 140 
 tithing, and stock-punished, and imprisoned ; who 
 hath had three suits to his back, six shirts to his 
 body, horse to ride, and weapon to wear ; 
 But mice and rats, and such small deer, 
 Have been Tom's food for seven long year. 
 Beware my follower. Peace, Smulkin ; peace, 
 thou fiend ! 
 
 Glou. What, hath your grace no better com- 
 pany? 
 
 Edg. The prince of darkness is a gentleman : 
 Modo he 's call'd, and Mahu. 
 
 Glou. Our flesh and blood is grown so vile, my 
 
 lord, 15C 
 
 That it doth hate what gets it. 
 
 Edg. Poor Tom 's a-cold. 
 
 Glou. Go in with me : my duty cannot suffer 
 To obey in all your daughters' hard commands : 
 Though their injunction be to bar my doors. 
 And let this tyrannous night take hold upon you, 
 Yet have I ventured to come seek you out. 
 And bring you where both fire and food is ready. 
 
 Lear. First let me talk with this philosopher. 
 What is the cause of thunder ? leo 
 
 Kent. Good my lord, take his offer ; go into the 
 house. 
 
74 KING LEAE [Act Three 
 
 LeaTo I 11 talk a word with this same learned 
 Theban. 
 What is your study ? 
 
 Edg. How to prevent the fiend, and to kill ver- 
 min. 
 
 Lear. Let me ask you one word in private. 
 
 Kent, Importune him once more to go, my lord ; 
 His wits begin to unsettle. 
 
 Glou. Canst thou blame him .? [Storm still. 
 
 His daughters seek his death ; ah, that good Kent ! 
 He said it would be thus, poor banish'd man ! 
 Thou say'st the king grows mad; I '11 tell thee, 
 
 friend, i70 
 
 I am almost mad myself : I had a son. 
 Now outlaw'd from my blood ; he sought my life, 
 But lately, very late : I loved him, friend ; 
 No father his son dearer : truth to tell thee. 
 The grief hath crazed my wits. What a night's 
 
 this! 
 I do beseech your grace, — 
 
 Lear. O, cry you mercy, sir. 
 
 Noble philosopher, your company. 
 
 Edg. Tom 's a-cold. 
 
 GUu. In, fellow, there, into the hovel : keep thee 
 warm. 
 
 Lear. Come, let 's in all. 
 
 Kent. This way, my lord. 
 
 Lear. With him ; iso 
 
 I will keep still with my philosopher. 
 
 Kent. Good my lord, soothe him ; let him take 
 the fellow. 
 
 Glou. Take him you on. 
 
Scene Five] KING LEAK 75 
 
 Kent. Sirrah, come on ; go along with us. 
 Lear. Come, good Athenian. 
 Glou. No words, no words : hush. 
 Edg. Child Rowland to the dark tower came. 
 His word was still, — Fie, foh, and fum, 
 
 I smell the blood of a British man. [Exeunt, 
 
 Scene V — Gloucester's castle 
 Enter Cornwall and Edmund 
 
 Corn. I will have my revenge ere I depart his 
 house. 
 
 Edm. How, my lord, I may be censured, that 
 nature thus gives way to loyalty, something fears 
 me to think of. 
 
 Corn. I now perceive, it was not altogether 
 your brother's evil disposition made him seek his 
 death ; but a provoking merit, set a- work by a re- 
 proveable badness in himself. 
 
 Edm. How malicious is my fortune, that I must lo 
 repent to be just ! This is the letter he spoke of, 
 which approves him an intelligent party to the ad- 
 vantages of France. O heavens ! that this treason 
 were not, or not I the detector ! 
 
 Corn. Go with me to the duchess. 
 
 Edm. If the matter of this paper be certain, you 
 have mighty business in hand. 
 
 Corn. True or false, it hath made thee Earl of 
 Gloucester. Seek out where thy father is, that he 
 may be ready for our apprehension. 20 
 
 Edm. [Aside] If I find him comforting the 
 king, it will stuff his suspicion more fully. — I will 
 
76 KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 persevere in my course of loyalty, though the con- 
 flict be sore between that and my blood. 
 
 Corn. I will lay trust upon thee ; and thou shalt 
 find a dearer father in my love. . [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VI — A chamber in a farmhouse adjoin- 
 ing the castle 
 
 Enter Gloucester, Lear, Kent, Fool, and Edgar 
 
 Glou, Here is better than the open air ; take it 
 thankfully. I will piece out the comfort with what 
 addition I can ; I will not be long from you. 
 
 Kent. All the power of his wits have given 
 sway to his impatience: the gods reward your 
 kindness ! [Exit Gloucester, 
 
 Edg. Frateretto calls me; and tells me Nero 
 is an angler in the lake of darkness. Pray, inno- 
 cent, and beware the foul fiend. 
 
 Fool. Prithee, nuncle, tell me whether a mad-io 
 man be a gentleman or a yeoman ? 
 
 Lear. A king, a king ! 
 
 Fool. No, he 's a yeoman that has a gentleman 
 to his son; for he 's a mad yeoman that sees his 
 son a gentleman before him. 
 
 Lear. To have a thousand with red burning spits 
 Come hissing in upon 'em, — 
 
 Edg. The foul fiend bites my back. 
 
 Fool. He 's mad that trusts in the tameness of a 
 wolf, a horse's health, a boy's love, or a whore's 20 
 oath. 
 
 Lear. It shall be done; I will arraign them 
 straight. 
 
Scene Six] KING LEAR 77 
 
 [To Edgar] Come, sit thou here, most learned 
 
 justicer ; 
 [To the Fool] Thou, sapient sir, sit here. Now, 
 you she foxes ! 
 Edg. Look, where he stands and glares ! Want- 
 est thou eyes at trial, madam ? 
 
 Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me, — 
 Fool. Her boat hath a leak, 
 
 And she must not speak 
 Why she dares not come over to thee. 39 
 Edg. The foul fiend haunts poor Tom in the 
 voice of a nightingale. Hopdance cries in Tom's 
 belly for two white herring. Croak not, black 
 angel ; I have no food for thee. 
 
 Kent. How do you, sir.^ Stand you not so 
 amazed : 
 Will you lie down and rest upon the cushions ? 
 Lear. I '11 see their trial first. Bring in the 
 evidence. 
 [To Edgar] Thou robed man of justice, take thy 
 
 place ; 
 [To the Fool] And thou, his yoke-fellow of equity. 
 Bench by his side: [To Kent] you are o' the com- 
 mission, 40 
 Sit you too. 
 
 Edg. Let us deal justly. 
 
 Sleepest or wakes t thou, jolly shepherd ? 
 
 Thy sheep be in the corn ; 
 And for one blast of thy minikin mouth. 
 Thy sheep shall take no harm. 
 Pm* ! the cat is gray. 
 
 Lear. Arraign her first ; 't is Goneril. I here 
 
78 KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 take my oath before this honourable assembly, she 
 kicked the poor king her father. 50 
 
 Fool. Come hither, mistress. Is your name 
 Goneril ? 
 Lear. She cannot deny it. 
 
 Fool. Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint- 
 stool. 
 Lear, And here's another, whose warp'd looks 
 proclaim 
 What store her heart is made on. Stop her 
 
 there ! 
 Arms, arms, sword, fire ! Corruption in the place ! 
 False justicer, why hast thou let her 'scape ? 
 
 Edg. Bless thy five wits ! 6o 
 
 Kent. O pity ! Sir, where is the patience now, 
 That you so oft have boasted to retain ? 
 
 Edg. [Aside] My tears begin to take his part 
 so much. 
 They '11 mar my counterfeiting. 
 Lear. The little dogs and all, 
 Tray, Blanch, and Sweet-heart, see, they bark at 
 me. 
 Edg. Tom will throw his head at them. Avaunt, 
 you curs ! 
 
 Be thy mouth or black or white, 
 
 Tooth that poisons if it bite ; 7o 
 
 Mastijff, greyhound, mongrel grim. 
 
 Hound or spaniel, brach or lym, 
 
 Or bobtail tike or trundle-tail, 
 
 Tom will make them weep and wail : 
 
 For, with throwing thus my head, 
 
 Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled. 
 
Sf:ENE Six] KING LEAR 79 
 
 Do de, de, de. Sessa ! Come, march to wakes and 
 fairs and market-towns. Poor Tom, thy horn is 
 dry. 
 
 Lear. Then let them anatomize Regan; see so; 
 what breeds about her heart. Is there any cause 
 in nature that makes these hard hearts? [To 
 Edgar] You, sir, I entertain for one of my hundred ; 
 only I do not like the fashion of your garments : 
 you will say they are Persian attire ; but let them 
 be changed. 
 
 Kent. Now, good my lord, lie here and rest 
 awhile. 
 
 Lear. Make no noise, make no noise ; draw the 
 curtains : so, so, so. We '11 go to supper i' the 90 
 morning. So, so, so. 
 
 Fool. And I '11 go to bed at noon. 
 
 Re-enter Gloucester 
 
 GloiA. Come hither, friend: where is the king 
 
 my master .? 
 Kent. Here, sir; but trouble him not, his wits 
 
 are gone. 
 Glou. Good friend, I prithee, take him in thy 
 arms; 
 I have o'erheard a plot of death upon him : 
 There is a litter ready ; lay him in 't. 
 And drive towards Dover, friend, where thou shall 
 
 meet 
 Both welcome and protection. Take up thy 
 
 master : 
 If thou shouldst dally half an hour, his life, lOO 
 
 With thine, and all that offer to defend him, 
 
80 KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 Stand in assured loss : take up, take up ; 
 And follow me, that will to some provision 
 Give thee quick conduct. 
 
 Kent. Oppressed nature sleeps : 
 
 This rest might yet have balm'd thy broken 
 
 sinews. 
 Which, if convenience will not allow. 
 Stand in hard cure. [To the Fool] Come, help to 
 
 bear thy master : 
 Thou must not stay behind. 
 
 Glou. Come, come, away. 
 
 1 [Exeunt all hut Edgar. 
 
 Edg. When we our betters see bearing our 
 
 woes. 
 We scarcely think our miseries our foes. no 
 
 Who alone suffers suffers most i' the mind, 
 Leaving free things and happy shows behind : 
 But then the mind much sufferance doth 
 
 o'erskip 
 When grief hath mates, and bearing fellow- 
 ship. ■ 
 How light and portable my pain seems now, 
 When that which makes me bend makes the king 
 
 bow; 
 He childed as I father'd ! Tom, away ! 
 Mark the high noises, and thyself bewray 
 When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles 
 
 thee. 
 In thy just proof repeals and reconciles thee. 120 
 
 What will hap more to-night, safe 'scape the 
 
 king ! 
 Lurk, lurk. [Exii, 
 
Scene Seven] KING LEAR 81 
 
 Scene VII — Gloucester's castle 
 
 Enter Cornwall, Regan, Goneril, Edmund, 
 and Servants 
 
 Corn. Post speedily to my lord your husband; 
 show him this letter : the army of France is landed. 
 Seek out the villain Gloucester. 
 
 [Exeunt some of the Servants. 
 
 Reg. Hang him instantly. 
 
 Gon. Pluck out his eyes. 
 
 Corn. Leave him to my displeasure. Edmund, 
 keep you our sister company : the revenges we are 
 bound to take upon your traitorous father are not 
 fit for your beholding. Advise the duke, where 
 you are going, to a most festinate preparation : lo 
 we are bound to the like. Our posts shall be swift 
 and intelligent betwixt us. Farewell, dear sister: 
 farewell, my lord of Gloucester. 
 
 Enter Oswald 
 
 How now ! where 's the king ? 
 
 Osw. My lord of Gloucester hath convey'd him 
 hence : 
 Some ^we or six and thirty of his knights. 
 Hot questrists after him, met him at gate ; 
 Who, with some other of the lords dependants. 
 Are gone with him towards Dover ; where they boast 
 To have well-armed friends. 
 
 Corn. Get horses for your mistress. 20 
 
 Gon. Farewell, sweet lord, and sister. 
 
 Corn. Edmund, farewell. 
 
 {Exeunt Goneril, Edmund, and Oswald. 
 
82 KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 Go seek the traitor Gloucester, 
 Pinion him like a thief, bring him before us. 
 
 [Exeunt other Servants. 
 Though well we may not pass upon his life 
 Without the form of justice, yet our power 
 Shall do a courtesy to our wrath, which men 
 May blame, but not control. Who 's there? the 
 traitor ? 
 
 Enter Gloucester, brought in by two or three 
 
 Reg. Ingrateful fox ! 't is he. 
 
 Corn. Bind fast his corky arms. 
 
 Glou. What mean your graces? Good rhy 
 
 friends, consider so 
 
 You are my guests : do me no foul play, friends. 
 
 Corn. Bind him, I say. [Servants bind him. 
 
 Reg. Hard, hard. O filthy traitor ! 
 
 Glou. Unmerciful lady as you are, I'm none. 
 
 Corn. To this chair bind him. Villain, thou 
 shalt find — [Regan plucks his beard. 
 
 Glou. By the kind gods, 't is most ignobly done 
 To pluck me by the beard. 
 
 Reg. So white, and such a traitor ! 
 
 Glou. Naughty lady, 
 
 These hairs, which thou dost ravish from my chin. 
 Will quicken, and accuse thee : I am your host : 
 With robbers' hands my hospitable favours 40 
 
 You should not ruflie thus. What will you do ? 
 
 Corn. Come, sir, what letters had you late from 
 France ? 
 
 Reg. Be simple answerer, for we know the 
 truth. 
 
Scene Seven] KING LEAR 83 
 
 Corn. And what confederacy have you with the 
 traitors 
 Late footed in the kingdom ? 
 
 Reg. To whose hands have you sent the lunatic 
 king ? 
 Speak. 
 
 Glou. I have a letter guessingly set down, 
 Which came from one that 's of a neutral heart. 
 And not from one opposed. 
 
 Corn. Cunning. 
 
 Reg. And false. 
 
 Corn. Where hast thou sent the king ? 50 
 
 Glou. To Dover. 
 
 Reg. Wherefore to Dover .^ Wast thou not 
 charged at peril — 
 
 Corn. Wherefore to Dover .^^ Let him first 
 answer that. 
 
 Glou. I am tied to the stake, and I must stand 
 the course. 
 
 Reg. Wherefore to Dover, sir.^^ 
 
 Glou. Because I would not see thy cruel nails 
 Pluck out his poor old eyes ; nor thy fierce sister 
 In his anointed flesh stick boarish fangs. 
 The sea, with such a storm as his bare head 
 In hell-black night endured, would have buoy'd up, 60 
 And quench'd the stelled fires : 
 Yet, poor old heart, he holp the heavens to rain. 
 If wolves had at thy gate howl'd that stern time. 
 Thou shouldst have said "Good porter, turn the 
 
 key." 
 All cruels else subscribed : but I shall see 
 The winged vengeance overtake such children. 
 
84 KING LEAR [Act Thbee 
 
 Com. See 't shalt thou never. Fellows, hold the 
 chair. 
 Upon these eyes of thine I 'U set my foot. 
 
 Glou, He that will think to live till he be old, 
 Give- me some help ! O cruel ! O you gods ! 70 
 
 Reg. One side will mock another ; the other too. 
 Corn. If you see vengeance, — 
 First Serv. Hold your hand, my lord : 
 
 I have served you ever since I was a child ; 
 But better service have I never done you 
 Than now to bid you hold. 
 
 Reg. How now, you dog ! 
 
 First Serv. If you did wear a beard upon your 
 chin, 
 I 'd shake it on this quarrel. What do you mean ? 
 Corn. My villain! [They draw and fight. 
 
 First Serv. Nay, then, come on, and take the 
 
 chance of anger. 
 Reg. Give me thy sword. A peasant stand up 
 thus ! 80 
 
 [Takes a sword, and runs at him behind. 
 First Serv. O, I am slain ! My lord, you have 
 one eye left 
 To see some mischief on him. O ! [Dies. 
 
 Corn. Lest it see more, prevent it. Out, vile 
 jelly! 
 Where is thy lustre now ? 
 
 Glou. All dark and comfortless. Where 's my 
 son Edmund ? 
 Edmund, enkindle all the sparks of nature, 
 To quit this horrid act. 
 
 Reg. Out, treacherous villain ! 
 
Scene Seven] KING LEAR 85 
 
 Thou call's! on him that hates thee : it was he 
 That made the overtm-e of thy treasons to us ; 
 Who is too good to pity thee. 9o 
 
 Glou. O my follies ! then Edgar was abused. 
 Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him ! 
 Reg. Go thrust him out at gates, and let him 
 smell 
 His way to Dover. [Exit one with Gloucester. 
 
 How is 't, my lord ? how look you ? 
 Corn. I have received a hurt : follow me, lady ; 
 Turn out that eyeless villain ; throw this slave 
 Upon the dunghill. Regan, I bleed apace : 
 Untimely comes this hurt : give me your arm. 
 
 [Exit Cornwall led by Regan. 
 Sec. Serv. I'll never care what wickedness I do, 
 If this man come to good. 
 
 Third Serv. If she live long, ioq 
 
 And in the end meet the old course of death. 
 Women will all turn monsters. 
 
 Sec. Serv. Let 's follow the old earl, and get the 
 Bedlam 
 To lead him where he would : his roguish madness 
 Allows itself to any thing. 
 
 Third Serv. Go thou : I'll fetch some flax and 
 whites of eggs 
 To apply to his bleeding face. Now, heaven help 
 him ! [Exeunt severally. 
 
86 KING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 ACT IV 
 
 ScENB I — The heath 
 
 Enter Edgar 
 
 Edg. Yet better thus, and known to be con- 
 temned 
 Than still contemn'd and flatter'd. To be worst. 
 The lowest and most dejected thing of fortune, 
 Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear : 
 The lamentable change is from the best ; 
 The worst returns to laughter. Welcome, then. 
 Thou unsubstantial air that I embrace ! 
 The wretch that thou hast blown unto the worst 
 Owes nothing to thy blasts. But who comes here ? 
 
 Enter Gloucester, led by an Old Man 
 
 My father, poorly led ? World, world, O world ! lo 
 But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee, 
 Life would not yield to age. 
 
 Old Man. O, my good lord, I have been your 
 tenant, and your father's tenant, these fourscore 
 years. 
 
 Glou. Away, get thee away; good friend, be 
 gone : 
 Thy comforts can do me no good at all ; 
 Thee they may hurt. 
 
 Old Man. Alack, sir, you cannot see your way. 
 
 Glou. I have no way, and therefore want no 
 
 eyes ; 20 
 
 I stumbled when I saw : full oft 't is seen, 
 Our means secure us, and our mere defects 
 
Scene One] KING LEAR 87 
 
 Prove our commodities. O dear son Edgar, 
 The food of thy abused father's wrath ! 
 Might I but live to see thee in my touch, 
 I 'Id say I had eyes again ! 
 
 Old Man. How now ! Who 's there ? 
 
 Edg. [Aside] O gods ! Who is 't can say "I am 
 at the worst " ? 
 I am worse than e'er I was. 
 
 Old Man. 'T is poor mad Tom. 
 
 Edg. [Aside.] And worse I may be yet : the 
 worst is not 
 So long as we can say "This is the worst." 30 
 
 Old Man. Fellow, where goest ? 
 
 Glou. Is it a beggar-man? 
 
 Old Man. Madman and beggar too. 
 
 Glou. He has some reason, else he could not beg. 
 I' the last night's storm I such a fellow saw ; 
 Which made me think a man a worm : my son 
 Came then into my mind ; and yet my mind 
 Was then scarce friends with him : I have heard 
 
 more since. 
 As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods ; 
 They kill us for their sport. 
 
 Edg. [Aside] How should this be .? 
 
 Bad is the trade that must play fool to sorrow, 40 
 Angering itself and others. — Bless thee, master ! 
 
 Glou. Is that the naked fellow ? 
 
 Old Man. Ay, my lord. 
 
 Glou. Then, prithee, get thee gone : if, for my 
 sake. 
 Thou wilt o'ertake us, hence a mile or twain, 
 I' the way toward Dover, do it for ancient love ; 
 
88 KING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 And bring some covering for this naked soul. 
 Who I '11 entreat to lead me. 
 
 Old Man. Alack, sir, he is mad. 
 
 Glou. 'T is the times' plague, when madmen 
 lead the blind. 
 Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure ; 
 Above the rest, be gone. 6C 
 
 Old Man. I '11 bring him the best 'parel that I 
 have, 
 Come on 't what will. [Exit 
 
 Glou. Sirrah, naked fellow, — 
 
 Edg. Poor Tom 's a-cold. [Aside] I cannot daub 
 it further. 
 
 Glou. Come hither, fellow. 
 
 Edg. [Aside] And yet I must. — Bless thy sweet 
 eyes, they bleed. 
 
 Glou. Know'st thou the way to Dover ? 
 
 Edg. Both stile and gate, horse-way and foot- 
 path. Poor Tom hath been scared out of his good 
 wits : bless thee, good man's son, from the foul eo 
 fiend ! five fiends have been in poor Tom at once ; 
 of lust, as Obidicut : Hobbididance, prince of dumb- 
 ness ; Mahu, of stealing ; Modo, of murder ; Flib- 
 bertigibbet, of mopping and mowing, who since 
 possesses chambermaids and waiting- women. So, 
 bless thee, master ! 
 
 Glou. Here, take this purse, thou whom the 
 heavens' plagues 
 Have humbled to all strokes : that I am wretched 
 Makes thee the happier : heavens, deal so still ! 
 Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man, 70 
 
 That slaves your ordinance, that will not see 
 
Scene Two] KING LEAR 89 
 
 Because he doth not feel, feel your power quickly ; 
 So distribution should undo excess, 
 And each man have enough. Dost thou know 
 Dover ? 
 
 Edg. Ay, master. 
 
 Glou. There is a cliff, whose high and bending 
 head 
 Looks fearfully in the confined deep : 
 Bring me but to the very brim of it. 
 And I '11 repair the misery thou dost bear 
 With something rich about me : from that place 
 I shall no leading need. 
 
 Edg. Give me thy arm : 
 
 Poor Tom shall lead thee. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene II — Before the Duke of Albany's palace 
 
 Enter Goneril and Edmund 
 
 Gon. Welcome, my lord : I marvel our mild hus- 
 band 
 Not met us on the way. 
 
 Enter Oswald 
 
 Now, where 's your master ? 
 Osw. Madam, within; but never man so 
 
 changed. 
 I told him of the army that was landed ; 
 He smiled at it : I told him you were coming ; 
 His answer was "The worse": of Gloucester's 
 
 treachery, 
 And of the loyal service of his son. 
 When I inform'd him, then he call'd me sot, 
 And told me I had turn'd the wrong side out : 
 
90 KING LEAR [Act Fouk 
 
 What most he should dislike seems pleasant to him ; lo 
 What like, offensive. 
 
 Gon. [To Edm.] Then shall you go no further. 
 It is the cowish terror of his spirit, 
 That dares not undertake : he '11 not feel wrongs 
 Which tie him to an answer. Our wishes on the way 
 May prove effects. Back, Edmund, to my brother ; 
 Hasten his musters and conduct his powers : 
 I must change arms at home, and give the distaff 
 Into my husband's hands. This trusty servant 
 Shall pass between us : ere long you are like to hear. 
 If you dare venture in your own behalf, 20 
 
 A mistress's command. Wear this; spare speech; 
 
 [Giving a favour. 
 Decline your head : this kiss, if it durst speak, 
 Would stretch thy spirits up into the air : 
 Conceive, and fare thee well. 
 
 Edm. Yours in the ranks of death. 
 
 Gon. My most dear Gloucester ! 
 
 [Exit Edmund. 
 O, the difference of man and man ! 
 To thee a woman's services are due : 
 My fool usurps my body. 
 
 Osw. Madam, here comes my lord. [Exit 
 
 Enter Albany 
 
 Gon. I have been worth the whistle. 
 
 Alb. O Goneril 
 
 You are not worth the dust which the rude wind 30 
 Blows in your face. I fear your disposition : 
 That nature, which contemns it origin, 
 Cannot be border'd certain in itself ; 
 
Scene Two] KING LEAR 91 
 
 She that herself will sliver and disbranch 
 From her material sap, perforce must wither 
 And come to deadly use. 
 
 Gon. No more; the text is foolish. 
 
 Alb. Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem 
 vile : 
 Filths savour but themselves. What have you 
 
 done ? 
 Tigers, not daughters, what have you perform'd ? 4o 
 A father, and a gracious aged man. 
 Whose reverence even the head-lugg'd bear would 
 
 lick. 
 Most barbarous, most degenerate ! have you 
 
 madded. 
 Could my good brother suffer you to do it ? 
 A man, a prince, by him so benefited ! 
 If that the heavens do not their visible spirits 
 Send quickly down to tame these vile offences. 
 It will come, 
 
 Humanity must perforce prey on itself, 
 Like monsters of the deep. 
 
 Gon. Milk-liver'd man ! 50 
 
 That bear*st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs : 
 Who hast not in thy brows an eye discerning 
 Thine honour from thy suffering ; that not know'st 
 Fools do those villains pity who are punish'd 
 Ere they have done their mischief. Where 's thy 
 
 drum? 
 France spreads his banners in our noiseless land. 
 With plumed helm thy state begins to threat ; 
 Whiles thou, a moral fool, sit'st still, and criest 
 *' Alack, why does he so.^" 
 
92 KING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 Alb. See thyself, devil ! 
 
 Proper deformity seems not in the fiend 60 
 
 So horrid as in woman. 
 
 Gon. O vain fool ! 
 
 Alb. Thou changed and self-cover'd thing, for 
 shame, 
 Be-monster not thy feature. Were 't my fitness 
 To let these hands obey my blood. 
 They are apt enough to dislocate and tear 
 Thy flesh and bones : howe'er thou art a fiend, 
 A woman's shape doth shield thee. 
 
 Gon. Marry, your manhood ! mew ! 
 
 Enter a Messenger 
 
 Alb. What news ? 
 
 Mess. O, my good lord, the Duke of Cornwall's 
 
 dead ; 70 
 
 Slain by his servant, going to put out 
 The other eye of Gloucester. 
 
 Alb. Gloucester's eyes ! 
 
 Mess. A servant that he bred, thrill 'd with re- 
 morse, 
 Opposed against the act, bending his sword 
 To his great master ; who, thereat enraged. 
 Flew on him, and amongst them fell'd him dead ; 
 But not without that harmful stroke, which since 
 Hath pluck'd him after. 
 
 Alb. This shows you are above. 
 
 You justicers, that these our nether crimes 
 So speedily can venge ! But, O poor Gloucester ! so 
 Lost he his other eye ? 
 
 Mess, Both, both, my lord. 
 
Scene Three] KING LEAR 93 
 
 This letter, madam, craves a speedy answer ; 
 'T is from your sister. 
 
 Gon. [Aside] One way I like this well ; 
 But being widow, and my Gloucester with her, 
 May all the building in my fancy pluck 
 Upon my hateful life : another way. 
 The news is not so tart. — I '11 read, and answer. 
 
 [Exit. 
 
 Alb. Where was his son when they did take his 
 eyes ? 
 
 Mess. Come with my lady hither. 
 
 Alb. He is not here. 90 
 
 Mess. No, my good lord ; I met him back again. 
 
 Alb. Knows he the wickedness ? 
 
 Mess. Ay, my good lord; 't was he inform'd 
 against him ; 
 And quit the house on purpose, that their punish- 
 ment 
 Might have the freer course. 
 
 Alb. Gloucester, I live 
 
 To thank thee for the love thou show'dst the king. 
 And to revenge thine eyes. Come hither, friend : 
 Tell me what more thou know'st. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene III — The French camp near Dover 
 Enter Kent and a Gentleman 
 
 Kent. Why the King of France is so suddenly 
 gone back know you the reason ? 
 
 Gent. Something he left imperfect in the state, 
 which since his coming forth is thought of ; which 
 imports to the kingdom so much fear and danger. 
 
94 KING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 that his personal return was most required and nec- 
 essary. 
 
 Kent. Who hath he left behind him general ? 
 
 Gent. The Marshall of France, Monsieur La Far. lo 
 
 Kent. Did your letters pierce the queen to any 
 demonstration of grief ? 
 
 Gent. Ay, sir ; she took them, read them in my 
 presence ; 
 And now and then an ample tear trill'd down 
 Her delicate cheek : it seem'd she was a queen 
 Over her passion ; who, most rebel-like. 
 Sought to be king o'er her. 
 
 Kent. O, then it moved her. 
 
 Gent. Not to a rage : patience and sorrow 
 strove 
 Who should express her goodliest. You have seen 
 Sunshine and rain at once : her smiles and tears 20 
 Were like, a better way : those happy smilets. 
 That play'd on her ripe lip, seem'd not to know 
 What guests were in her eyes ; which parted thence, 
 As pearls from diamonds dropp'd. In brief, 
 Sorrow would be a rarity most beloved, 
 If all could so become it. 
 
 Kent. Made she no verbal question ? 
 
 Gent. 'Faith, once or twice she heaved the name 
 of "father" 
 Pantingly forth, as if it press'd her heart ; 
 Cried " Sisters ! sisters ! Shame of ladies ! sisters ! 
 Kent ! father ! sisters ! What, i' the storm .^ i' the 
 
 night.? 30 
 
 Let pity not be believed ! " There she shook 
 The holy water from her heavenly eyes. 
 
Scene Three] KING LEAR 95 
 
 And clamour moisten'd : then away she started 
 To deal with grief alone. 
 
 Kent. It is the stars. 
 
 The stars above us, govern our conditions ; 
 Else one self mate and mate 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 's i' 
 the town ; 40 
 
 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 foreign casualties, gave her dear rights 
 To his dog-hearted daughters, these things sting 
 His mind so venomously, that burning shame 
 Detains him from Cordelia. 
 
 Gent. Alack, poor gentleman ! 
 
 Kent. Of Albany's and Cornwall's powers you 
 heard not ? so 
 
 Gent. 'T is so, they are afoot. 
 
 Kent. Well, sir, I '11 bring you to our master 
 Lear, 
 And leave you to attend him : some dear cause 
 Will in concealment wrap me up awhile ; 
 When I am known aright, you shall not grieve 
 
96 KING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 Lending me this acquaintance. I pray you, go 
 Along with me. [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene IV — The same. A tent 
 
 Enter, with drum and colours, Cordelia, 
 Doctor, and Soldiers 
 
 Cor. Alack, 't is he : why, he was met even now 
 As mad as the vex'd sea ; singing aloud ; 
 Crown'd with rank fumiter and furrow-weeds, 
 With hor-docks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers, 
 Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow 
 In our sustaining corn. A century send forth ; 
 Search every acre in the high-grown field, 
 And bring him to our eye. [Exit an Officer.] What 
 
 can man's wisdom 
 In the restoring his bereaved sense ? 
 He that helps him take all my outward worth. lo 
 
 Doct. There is means, madam : 
 Our foster-nurse of nature is repose. 
 The which he lacks ; that to provoke in him. 
 Are many simples operative, whose power 
 Will close the eye of anguish. 
 
 Cor. All blest secrets, 
 
 All you unpublished virtues of the earth. 
 Spring with my tears ! be aidant and remediate 
 In the good man's distress ! Seek, seek for him ; 
 Lest his ungovern'd rage dissolve the life 
 That wants the means to lead it. 
 
 Enter a Messenger 
 Mess. News, madam ; 20 
 
 The British powers are marching hitherward. 
 
Scene Five] KING LEAR 97 
 
 Cor. 'T is known before; our preparation 
 stands 
 In expectation of them. O dear father, 
 It is thy business that I go about ; 
 Therefore great France 
 
 My mourning and important tears hath pitied. 
 No blown ambition doth our arms incite, 
 But love, dear love, and our aged father's right : 
 Soon may I hear and see him ! [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene V — Gloucester's castle 
 Enter Regan and Oswald 
 
 Reg. But are my brother's powers set forth ? 
 
 Osw. Ay, madam, 
 
 Reg. Himself in person there ? 
 
 Osw. Madam, with much ado : 
 
 Your sister is the better soldier. 
 
 Reg. Lord Edmund spake not with your lord at 
 home ? 
 
 Osw. No, madam. 
 
 Reg. What might import my sister's letter to 
 him ? 
 
 Osw. 1 know not, lady. 
 
 Reg. 'Faith, he is posted hence on serious 
 matter. 
 It was great ignorance, Gloucester's eyes being out, 
 To let him live : where he arrives he moves lo 
 
 All hearts against us : Edmund, I think, is gone. 
 In pity of his misery, to dispatch 
 His nighted life ; moreover, to descry 
 The strength o' the enemy. 
 
98 KING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 Osw. I must needs after him, madam, with my 
 letter. 
 
 Reg. Our troops set forth to-morrow : stay with 
 us; 
 The ways are dangerous. 
 
 Osw. I may not, madam : 
 
 My lady charged my duty in this business. 
 
 Reg. Why should she write to Edmund ? Might 
 not you 
 Transport her purposes by word ? Belike, 20 
 
 Something — I know not what : I '11 love thee 
 
 much. 
 Let me unseal the letter. 
 
 Osw. Madam, I had rather — 
 
 Reg. I know your lady does not love her hus- 
 band ; 
 I am sure of that : and at her late being here 
 She gave strange oeillades and most speaking looks 
 To noble Edmund. I know you are of her bosom. 
 
 Osw. I, madam .f^ 
 
 Reg. I speak in understanding; you are, I 
 know 't : 
 Therefore I do advise you, take this note : 
 My lord is dead ; Edmund and I have talk'd ; 30 
 
 And more convenient is he for my hand 
 Than for your lady's : you may gather more. 
 If you do find him, pray you, give him this ; 
 And when your mistress hears thus much from you, 
 I pray, desire her call her wisdom to her. 
 So, fare you well. 
 
 If you do chance to hear of that blind traitor, 
 Preferment falls on him that cuts him off. 
 
Scene Six] KING LEAR 99 
 
 OsiD. Would I could meet him, madam ! I 
 should show 
 What party I do follow. 
 
 Reg. Fare thee well. [Exeunt. 40 
 
 Scene VI — Fields near Dover 
 Enter Gloucester, and Edgar dressed like a peasant 
 
 Glou. When shall we come to the top of that 
 
 same hill "^ 
 Edg. You do climb up it now: look, how we 
 
 labour. 
 Glou. Methinks the ground is even. 
 Edg. Horrible steep. 
 
 Hark, do you hear the sea ? 
 
 Glou. No, truly. 
 
 Edg. Why, then, your other senses grow im- 
 perfect 
 By your eyes' anguish. 
 
 Glou. So may it be, indeed : 
 
 Methinks thy voice is alter'd ; and thou speak'st 
 In better phrase and matter than thou didst. 
 Edg. You 're much deceived : in nothing am I 
 changed 
 But in my garments. 
 
 Glou. Methinks you 're better spoken, lo 
 
 Edg. Come on, sir ; here 's the place : stand 
 still. How fearful 
 And dizzy 't is, to cast one's eyes so low ! 
 The crows and choughs that wing the midway 
 
 air 
 Show scarce so gross as beetles : half way down 
 
100 KING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade ! 
 Methinks he seems no bigger than his head : 
 The fishermen, that walk upon the beach. 
 Appear like mice ; and yond tall anchoring bark, 
 Diminish'd to her cock ; her cock, a buoy 
 Almost too small for sight : the murmuring surge, 2^ 
 That on the unnumber'd idle pebbles chafes. 
 Cannot be heard so high. I '11 look no more, 
 Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight 
 Topple down headlong. 
 
 Glou. Set me where you stand, 
 
 Edg. Give me your hand : you are now within 
 a foot 
 Of the extreme verge : for all beneath the moon 
 Would I not leap upright. 
 
 Glou. Let go my hand. 
 
 Here, friend, 's another purse ; in it a jewel 
 Well worth a poor man's taking : fairies and gods 
 Prosper it with thee ! Go thou farther off ; 30 
 
 Bid me farewell, and let me hear thee going. 
 
 Edg. Now fare you well, good sir. 
 
 G^ou. With all my heart. 
 
 Edg. Why I do trifle thus with his despair 
 Is done to cure it. 
 
 Glou. [Kneeling] O you mighty gods ! 
 This world I do renounce, and, in your sights. 
 Shake patiently my great affliction off : 
 If I could bear it longer, and not fall 
 To quarrel with your great opposeless wills. 
 My snuff and loathed part of nature should 
 Burn itself out. If Edgar live, O, bless him ! 40 
 
 Now, fellow, fare thee well. [He falls forward. 
 
Scene Six] KING LEAR 101 
 
 Edg. Gone, sir : farewell. 
 
 And yet I know not how conceit may rob 
 The treasury of life, when life itself 
 Yields to the theft : had he been where he thought. 
 By this had thought been past. Alive or dead ^ 
 Ho, you sir ! friend ! Hear you, sir ! speak ! 
 Thus might he pass indeed : yet he revives. 
 What are you, sir .^^ 
 
 Glou. Away, and let me die. 
 
 Edg. Hadst thou been aught but gossamer, 
 feathers, air. 
 So many fathom down precipitating, 50 
 
 Thou 'dst shiver'd like an egg : but thou dost 
 
 breathe ; 
 Hast heavy substance; bleed'st not; speak'st; 
 
 art sound. 
 Ten masts at each make not the altitude 
 Which thou hast perpendicularly fell : 
 Thy life 's a miracle. Speak yet again. 
 
 Glou. But have I fall'n, or no ? 
 
 Edg. From the dread summit of this chalky 
 bourn. 
 Look up a-height ; the shrill-gorged lark so far 
 Cannot be seen or heard : do but look up. 
 
 Glou. Alack, I have no eyes. 60 
 
 Is wretchedness deprived that benefit, 
 To end itself by death "^ 'T was yet some comfort, 
 When misery could beguile the tyrant's rage. 
 And frustrate his proud will. 
 
 Edg. Give me your arm : 
 
 Up : so. How is 't ? Feel you your legs .^ You 
 stand. 
 
102 KING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 Glou. Too well, too well. 
 
 Edg. This is above all strangeness. 
 
 Upon the crown o' the cliff, what thing was that 
 Which parted from you ? 
 
 Glou. A poor unfortunate beggar. 
 
 Edg. As I stood here below, me thought his eyes 
 Were two full moons ; he had a thousand noses, 70 
 Horns whelk'd and waved like the enridged sea : 
 It was some fiend ; therefore, thou happy father. 
 Think that the clearest gods, who make them 
 
 honours 
 Of men's impossibilities, have preserved thee. 
 
 Glou. 1 do remember now : henceforth I '11 bear 
 Affliction till it do cry out itself 
 "Enough, enough," and die. That thing you 
 
 speak of, 
 I took it for a man ; often 't would say 
 "The fiend, the fiend" : he led me to that place. 
 
 Edg. Bear free and patient thoughts. But who 
 comes here ? so 
 
 Enter Lear, fantastically dressed with wild flowers 
 
 The safer sense will ne'er accommodate 
 His master thus. 
 
 Lear. No, they cannot touch me for coining; 
 I am the king himself. 
 
 Edg. O thou side-piercing sight ! 
 
 Lear. Nature's above art in that respect. 
 There 's your press-money. That fellow handles 
 his bow like a crow-keeper : draw me a clothier's 
 yard. Look, look, a mouse ! Peace, peace ; this 
 piece of toasted cheese will do 't. There 's mygo 
 
Scene Six] KING LEAR 103 
 
 gauntlet; I '11 prove it on a giant. Bring up the 
 brown bills. O, well flown, bird ! i' the clout, i' 
 the clout : hewgh ! Give the word. 
 
 Edg. Sweet marjoram. 
 
 Lear. Pass. 
 
 Glou. I know that voice. 
 
 Lear. Ha ! Goneril, with a white beard ! They 
 flattered me like a dog ; and told me I had white 
 hairs in my beard ere the black ones were there. 
 To say " ay " and " no " to every thing that I said ! — loo 
 "Ay" and "no" too was no good divinity. When the 
 rain came to wet me once, and the wind to make 
 me chatter ; when the thunder would not peace at 
 my bidding ; there I found 'em, there I smelt 'em 
 out. Go to, they are not men o' their words : they 
 told me I was every thing; 't is a lie, I am not 
 ague-proof. 
 
 Glou. The trick of that voice I do well remem- 
 ber : 
 Is 't not the king ^ 
 
 Lear. Ay, every inch a king : 
 
 When I do stare, see how the subject quakes. no 
 
 I pardon that man's life. What was thy cause .^ 
 Adultery ? 
 
 Thou shalt not die : die for adultery ! No : 
 The wren goes to 't, and the small gilded fly 
 Does lecher in my sight. 
 
 Let copulation thrive ; for Gloucester's bastard son 
 Was kinder to his father than my daughters 
 Got 'tween the lawful sheets. 
 To 't, luxury, pell-mell ! for I lack soldiers. 
 Behold yond simpering dame, 120 
 
104 KING LEAK [Act Four 
 
 Whose face between her forks presages snow ; 
 That minces virtue, and does shake the head 
 To hear of pleasure's name ; 
 The fitchew, nor the soiled horse, goes to 't 
 With a more riotous appetite. 
 Down from the waist they are Centaurs, 
 Though women all above : 
 But to the girdle do the gods inherit, 
 Beneath is all the fiends' ; 
 
 There 's hell, there 's darkness, there 's the sul- 
 phurous pit, 130 
 Burning, scalding, stench, consumption; fie, fie, 
 fie ! pah ! pah ! Give me an ounce of civet, good 
 apothecary, to sweeten my imagination : there 's 
 money for thee. 
 
 Glou. O, let me kiss that hand ! 
 
 Lear. Let me wipe it first ; it smells of mortality. 
 
 Glou. O ruin'd piece of nature ! This great 
 world 
 Shall so wear out to nought. Dost thou know me ? 
 
 Lear. I remember thine eyes well enough. 
 Dost thou squiny at me ? No, do thy worst, blind i4o 
 Cupid; I '11 not love. Read thou this challenge; 
 mark but the penning of it. 
 
 Glou. Were all the letters suns, I could not see 
 one. 
 
 Edg. I would not take this from report ; it is. 
 And my heart breaks at it. 
 
 Lear. Read. 
 
 Glou. What, with the case of eyes ? 
 
 Lear. O, ho, are you there with me? No eyes 
 in your head, nor no money in your purse ? Your 
 
Scene Six] KING LEAR 105 
 
 eyes are in a heavy case, your purse in a light : yet i50 
 you see how this world goes. 
 
 Glou. I see it feelingly. 
 
 Lear. What, art mad ? A man may see how this 
 world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears : 
 see how yond justice rails upon yond simple thief. 
 Hark, in thine ear : change places ; and, handy- 
 dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief .f* 
 Thou hast seen a farmer's dog bark at a beggar ? 
 
 Glou. Ay, sir. leo 
 
 Lear. And the creature run from the cur? 
 There thou mightst behold the great image of au- 
 thority : a dog 's obeyed in office. 
 Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand ! 
 Why dost thou lash that whore ? Strip thine own 
 
 back; 
 Thou hotly lust'st to use her in that kind 
 For which thou whipp'st her. The usurer hangs 
 
 the cozener. 
 Through tatter' d clothes small vices do appear ; 
 Robes and furr'd gowns hide all. Plate sin with 
 
 gold. 
 And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks ; 17Q 
 Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw does pierce it. 
 None does offend, none, I say, none ; I '11 able 'em ; 
 Take that of me, my friend, who have the power 
 To seal the accuser's lips. Get thee glass eyes ; 
 And, like a scurvy politician, seem 
 To see the things thou dost not. Now, now, now, 
 
 now: 
 Pull off my boots : harder, harder : so. 
 
 Edg. O, matter and impertinency mix'd ! 
 
106 KING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 Reason in madness ! 
 
 Lear. If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my 
 
 eyes. iso 
 
 I know thee well enough ; thy name is Gloucester : 
 Thou must be patient ; we came crying hither : 
 Thou know'st, the first time that we smell the air, 
 We wawl and cry. I will preach to thee : mark. 
 
 Glou. Alack, alack the day ! 
 
 Lear. When we are born, we cry that we are 
 come 
 To this great stage of fools : this' a good block ; 
 It were a delicate stratagem, to shoe 
 A troop of horse with felt : I '11 put 't in proof ; 
 And when I have stol'n upon these sons-in-law, 190 
 Then, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill ! 
 
 Enter a Gentleman, with Attendants 
 
 Gent. O, here he is ; lay hand upon him. Sir, 
 Your most dear daughter — 
 
 Lear. No rescue.? What, a prisoner? I am 
 even 
 The natural food of fortune. Use me well ; 
 You shall have ransom. Let me have surgeons ; 
 I am cut to the brains. 
 
 ^^^^- You shall have any thing. 
 
 Lear. No seconds ? all myself .? 
 Why, this would make a man a man of salt. 
 To use his eyes for garden water-pots, 200 
 
 Ay, and laying autumn's dust. 
 
 Gent. Good sir, — 
 
 Lear. I will die bravely, like a smug bridegroom. 
 What ! 
 
Scene Six] KING LEAR 107 
 
 I will be jovial : come, come ; I am a king, 
 My masters, know you that. 
 
 Gent. You are a royal one, and we obey you. 
 
 Lear. Then there 's life in 't. Nay, if you get 
 it, you shall get it with running. Sa, sa, sa, sa. 
 
 [Exit running ; Attendants follow. 
 
 Gent. A sight most pitiful in the meanest wretch, 
 Past speaking of in a king ! Thou hast one 
 
 daughter. 
 Who redeems nature from the general curse 210 
 
 Which twain have brought her to. 
 
 Edg. Hail, gentle sir. 
 
 Gent. Sir, speed you : what 's your will ? 
 
 Edg. Do you hear aught, sir, of a battle toward '^ 
 
 Gent. Most sure and vulgar : every one hears 
 that, 
 Which can distinguish sound. 
 
 Edg. But, by your favour, 
 
 How near 's the other army ^ 
 
 Gent. Near and on speedy foot ; the main descry 
 Stands on the hourly thought. 
 
 Edg. I thank you, sir : that 's all. 
 
 Gent. Though that the queen on special cause 
 is here. 
 Her army is moved on. 
 
 Edg. I thank you, sir. [Exit Gent. 220 
 
 Glou. You ever-gentle gods, take my breath 
 from me ; 
 Let not my worser spirit tempt me again 
 To die before you please ! 
 
 Edg. Well pray you, father. 
 
 Glou. Now, good sir, what are you ? 
 
108 KING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 Edg. A most poor man, made tame to fortune's 
 blows ; 
 Who, by the art of known and feeling sorrows. 
 Am pregnant to good pity. Give me your hand, 
 I '11 lead you to some biding. 
 
 Glou. Hearty thanks : 
 
 The bounty and the benison of heaven 
 To boot, and boot ! 
 
 Enter Oswald 
 
 Osw. A proclaimed prize ! Most happy ! 230 
 
 That eyeless head of thine was first framed flesh 
 To raise my fortunes. Thou old unhappy traitor. 
 Briefly thyself remember : the sword is out 
 That must destroy thee. 
 
 Glou. Now let thy friendly hand 
 
 Put strength enough to 't. [Edgar interposes, 
 
 Osw. Wherefore, bold peasant, 
 
 Darest thou support a publish'd traitor ? Hence ; 
 Lest that the infection of his fortune take 
 Like hold on thee. Let go his arm. 
 
 Edg. Chill not let go, zir, without vurther 
 'casion. 240 
 
 Osw. Let go, slave, or thou diest ! 
 
 Edg. Good gentleman, go your gait, and let 
 poor volk pass. An chud ha' bin zwaggered out 
 of my life, 't would not ha' bin zo long as 't is by 
 a vortnight. Nay, come not near th' old man; 
 keep out, che vor ye, or ise try whether your 
 costard or my ballow be the harder : chill be plain 
 with you. 
 
 Osw. Out, dunghil] ! 
 
Scene Six] KING LEAR 109 
 
 Edg. Chill pick your teeth, zir : come ; no 250 
 matter vor your foins. 
 
 [They fight, and Edgar knocks him down. 
 
 Osw. Slave, thou hast slain me : villain, take 
 my purse : 
 If ever thou wilt thrive, bury my body ; 
 And give the letters which thou find'st about me 
 To Edmund earl of Gloucester ; seek him out 
 Upon the British party : O, untimely death ! 
 
 [Dies. 
 
 Edg. I know thee well : a serviceable villain 
 As duteous to the vices of thy mistress 
 As badness would desire. 
 
 Glou. What, is he dead ? 
 
 Edg. Sit you down, father ; rest you. 26o 
 
 Let 's see these pockets : the letters that he 
 
 speaks of 
 May be my friends. He 's dead ; I am only sorry 
 He had no other death's-man. Let us see : 
 Leave, gentle wax ; and, manners, blame us not : 
 To know our enemies' minds, we 'Id rip their hearts ; 
 Their papers, is more lawful. 
 
 [Reads] *' Let our reciprocal vows be remembered. 
 You have many opportunities to cut him off : if 
 your will want not, time and place will be fruitfully 
 offered. There is nothing done, if he return the 270 
 conqueror : then am I the prisoner, and his bed 
 my gaol ; from the loathed warmth whereof deliver 
 me, and supply the place for your labour. 
 
 " Your — wife, so I would say — 
 
 "Affectionate servant, 
 
 **G0NERIL," 
 
110 XING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 O undistinguish'd space of woman's will ! 
 
 A plot upon her virtuous husband's life ; 
 
 And the exchange my brother ! Here, in the sands, 28o 
 
 Thee I '11 rake up, the post un sanctified 
 
 Of murderous lechers : and in the mature time 
 
 With this ungracious paper strike the sight 
 
 Of the death-practised duke : for him 't is well 
 
 That of thy death and business I can tell. 
 
 Glou. 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 290 
 
 The knowledge of themselves. 
 
 Edg. Give me your hand : 
 
 [Drum afar ojf. 
 Far off, methinks, I hear the beaten drum : 
 Come, father, I '11 bestow you with a friend. 
 
 [Exeunt. 
 
 Scene VII — A tent in the French camp. Lear on 
 a bed asleep, soft music playing; Gentleman, 
 and others attending 
 
 Enter Cordelia, Kent, and Doctor 
 
 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 acknowledged, madam, is o'erpaid. 
 All my reports go with the modest truth ; 
 
Scene Seven] KING LEAR 111 
 
 Nor more nor clipp'd, but so. 
 
 Cor. Be better suited : 
 
 These weeds are memories of those worser hours i 
 I prithee, put them off. 
 
 Kent. Pardon me, dear madam ; 
 
 Yet to be known shortens my made intent : 
 My boon I make it, that you know me not lo 
 
 Till time and I think meet. 
 
 Cor. Then be 't so, my good lord. [To the 
 Doctor] How does the king ^ 
 
 Doct. Madam, sleeps still. 
 
 Cor. O you kind gods, 
 Cure this great breach in his abused nature ! 
 The untuned and jarring senses, O, wind up 
 Of this child-changed father ! 
 
 Doct. 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 ? 20 
 
 Gent. Ay, madam ; in the heaviness of his sleep 
 We put fresh garments on him. 
 
 Doct. Be by, good madam, when we do awake 
 him 
 I doubt not of his temperance. 
 
 Cor. Very well. 
 
 Doct. Please you, draw near. Louder the 
 music 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 ! 
 
112 KING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 Kent. Kind and dear princess ! 
 
 Cor. Had you not been their father, these white 
 flakes 30 
 
 Had challenged pity of them. Was this a face 
 To be opposed 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 ! — 
 With this thin helm ? Mine enemy's dog. 
 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 ! 40 
 
 'T is wonder that thy life and wits at once 
 Had not concluded all. He wakes ; speak to him. 
 
 Dod. Madam, do you ; 't is fittest. 
 
 Cor. How does my royal lord } How fares your 
 majesty ? 
 
 Lear. You do me wrong to take me out o' the 
 grave : 
 Thou art a soul in bliss ; but I am bound 
 Upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears 
 Do scald like molten lead. 
 
 Cor. Sir, do you know me ? 
 
 Lear. You are a spirit, I know : when did you 
 die.? 
 
 Cor. Still, still, far wide I 50 
 
 Doct. He 's scarce awake : let him alone awhile. 
 
 Lear. Where have I been ? Where am I ? Fair 
 daylight ? 
 I am mightily abused. I should e'en die with pity. 
 
Scene Seven] KING LEAR 113 
 
 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 assured 
 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, 60 
 
 Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less ; 
 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 1 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. 70 
 
 Lear. Be your tears wet.f^ 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. No cause, no cause. 
 
 Lear. Am I in France ? 
 
 Kent. In your own kingdom, sir. 
 
 Lear. Do not abuse me. 
 
 Doct. Be comforted, good madam : the great 
 rage, 
 
114 KING LEAR [Act Five 
 
 You see, is kill'd in him : and yet it is danger 
 
 To make him even o'er the time he has lost. so 
 
 Desire him to go in : trouble him no more 
 
 Till further settling. 
 
 Cor. Will 't please your highness, walk ? 
 
 Lear. You must bear with me : 
 
 Pray you now, forget and forgive : I am old and 
 foolish. 
 
 [Exeunt all hut Kent and Gentleman. 
 
 Gent. Holds it true, sir, that the Duke of Corn- 
 wall was so slain ? 
 
 Kent. Most certain, sir. 
 
 Gent. Who is conductor of his people ? ♦ 
 
 Kent. As 't is said, the bastard son of Gloucester. 
 
 Gent. They say Edgar, his banished son, is with 90 
 the Earl of Kent in Germany. 
 
 Kent. Report is changeable. 'T is time to look 
 about ; the powers of the kingdom approach apace. 
 
 Gent. The arbitrement is like to be bloody. 
 Fare you well, sir. [Exit. 
 
 Kent. My point and period will be thoroughly 
 wrought. 
 Or well or ill, as this day's battle 's fought. [Exit. 
 
 ACT V 
 
 Scene I — The British camp near Dover 
 
 Enter, with drum and colours, Edmund, Regan, 
 Gentlemen, and Soldiers 
 
 Edm. Know of the duke if his last purpose hold. 
 Or whether since he is advised by aught 
 
Scene One] KING LEAR 115 
 
 To change the course : he 's full of alteration 
 And self -reproving : bring his constant pleasure. 
 
 [To a Gentleman, who goes out. 
 
 Reg. Our sister's man is certainly miscarried. 
 
 Edm. 'T is 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 10 
 
 To the forf ended 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, with drum and colours, Albany, Goneril, 
 and Soldiers 
 
 Gon. [Aside] I had rather lose the battle than 
 that sister 
 Should loosen him and me. 
 
 Alb. Our very loving sister, well be-met. 20 
 
 Sir, this I hear ; the king is come to his daughter. 
 With others whom the rigour of our state 
 Forced to cry out. Where I could not be honest, 
 I never yet was valiant : for this business. 
 
116 KING LEAR [Act Five 
 
 It toucheth us, as France invades our land. 
 Not holds the king, with others, whom, I fear. 
 Most just and heavy causes make oppose. 
 
 Edm. Sir, you speak nobly. 
 
 ^^9' Why is this reason'd .? 
 
 Gon. Combine together 'gainst the enemy ; 
 For these domestic and particular broils 30 
 
 Are not the question here. 
 
 ^l^' Let *s then determine 
 
 With the ancient of war on our proceedings. 
 
 Edm, I shall attend you presently at your 
 tent. 
 
 Reg. Sister, you '11 go with us .^ 
 
 Gon. No. 
 
 Reg. 'T is most convenient ; pray you, go with 
 us. 
 
 Gon. [Aside] O, ho, I know the riddle. — 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. 
 
 Al^' I '11 overtake you. Speak. 
 
 [Exeunt all hut Albany and Edgar. 
 Edg. Before you fight the battle, ope this letter. 40 
 If you have victory, let the trumpet sound 
 For him that brought it: wretched though I 
 
 seem, 
 I can produce a champion that will prove 
 What is avouched there. If you miscarry. 
 Your business of the world hath so an end, 
 
Scene One] KING LEAR 117 
 
 And machination ceases. Fortune love you ! 
 
 Alb. Stay till I have read the letter. 
 
 Edg. I was forbid it. 
 
 When time shall serve, let but the herald cry, 
 And I '11 appear again. 
 
 Alb. Why, fare thee well : I will o'erlook thy 
 paper. [Exit Edgar, so 
 
 Re-enter Edmund 
 
 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 urged 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 ? 
 Both ? one ? or neither ? Neither can be enjoy 'd, 
 If both remain alive : to take the widow 
 Exasperates, makes mad her sister Goneril ; 60 
 
 And hardly shall I carry out my side. 
 Her husband being alive. Now then we '11 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 state 
 Stands on me to defend, not to debate. [Exit. 
 
118 KING LEAR [Act Five 
 
 Scene II — A field between the two camps 
 
 Alarum, within. Filter, with drum and colours, Leab, 
 Cordelia, and Soldiers, over the stage; and exeunt 
 
 Enter Edgar and Gloucester 
 
 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 '11 bring you comfort. 
 
 Glou. Grace go with you, sir ! 
 
 [Exit Edgar. 
 
 Alarum and retreat within. 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. 
 
 Glou. No farther, sir ; a man may rot even here. 
 
 Edg. What, in ill thoughts again.? Men must 
 endure 
 Their going hence, even as their coming hither : lo 
 Ripeness is all : come on. 
 
 Glou. And that 's true too. [Exeunt, 
 
 Scene III — The British camp near Dover 
 
 Enter, in conquest, with drum and colours, Edmund; 
 Lear and Cordelia, prisoners; Captain, Soldiers, &c. 
 
 Edm. Some officers take them away : good 
 guard, 
 Until their greater pleasures first be known 
 That are to censure them. 
 
 Cor. We are not the first 
 
Scene Three] KING LEAR 119 
 
 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 : 
 We two alone will sing like birds i' the cage : 
 W^hen thou dost ask me blessing, I '11 kneel down, lo 
 And ask of thee forgiveness : so we '11 live. 
 And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh 
 At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues 
 Talk of court news ; and we '11 talk with them too. 
 Who loses and who wins ; who 's in, who 's out ; 
 And take upon 's the mystery of things. 
 As if we were God's spies : and we '11 wear out. 
 In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones, 
 That ebb and flow by the moon. 
 
 Edm. Take them away. 
 
 Lear. Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia, 20 
 
 The gods themselves throw incense. Have I 
 
 caught thee ? 
 He that parts us shall bring a brand from heavens. 
 And fire us hence like foxes. Wipe thine eyes ; 
 The good-years shall devour them, flesh and fell. 
 Ere they shall make us weep : we '11 see 'em starve 
 
 first. 
 Come. [Exeunt Lear and Cordelia, guarded. 
 
 Edm. Come hither, captain ; hark. 
 Take thou this note [giving a paper] ; go follow them 
 
 to prison : 
 One step I have advanced thee ; if thou dost 
 As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way 
 
no KING LEAR [Act Five 
 
 To noble fortunes : know thou this, that men 30 
 
 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 't. 
 Or thrive by other means. 
 
 Capt. I '11 do 't, my lord. 
 
 Edm. About it; and write happy when thou 
 hast done. 
 Mark, I say, instantly ; and carry it so 
 As I have set it down. 
 
 Capt. I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dried oats ; 
 If it be man's work, I '11 do 't. [Exit. 
 
 Flourish. Enter Albany, Goneril, Regan, another 
 Captain, and Soldiers 
 
 Alb. Sir, you have shown to-day your valiant 
 strain, 40 
 
 And fortune led you well : you have the captives 
 That 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 50 
 
 Which do command them. With him I sent the 
 
 queen ; 
 My reason all the same ; and they are ready 
 To-morrow, or at further space, to appear 
 
Scene Three] KING LEAR 121 
 
 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 cursed 
 By those that feel their sharpness : 
 The question of Cordelia and her father 
 Requires a fitter place. 
 
 Alb. Sir, by your patience, 
 
 I hold you but a subject of this war, 60 
 
 Not as a brother. 
 
 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 itself your brother. 
 
 Gon. Not so hot : 
 
 In his own grace he doth exalt himself, 
 More than in your addition. 
 
 Reg. In my rights, 
 
 By me invested, he compeers the best. 
 
 Gon. That were the most, if he should husband 
 you. 70 
 
 Reg. Jesters do oft prove prophets, 
 
 Gon. Holla, holla ! 
 
 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, 
 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. 
 
 Gon. Mean you to enjoy him ? 
 
122 KING LEAR [Act Five 
 
 Alb. The let-alone lies not in your good will. 
 
 Edm. Nor in thine, lord. 
 
 Alb. Half-blooded fellow, yes. so 
 
 Reg. [To Edmund] Let the drum strike, and 
 prove my title thine. 
 
 Alb. Stay yet ; hear reason. Edmund, I arrest 
 thee 
 On capital treason ; and, in thine attaint. 
 This gilded serpent [pointing to Goneril]. For your 
 
 claim, fair sister, 
 I bar it in the interest of my wife ; 
 'T is she is sub-contracted to this lord. 
 And I, her husband, contradict your bans. 
 If you will marry, make your loves to me, 
 My lady is bespoke. 
 
 Gon. An interlude ! 
 
 Alb. Thou art arm'd, Gloucester : let the trum- 
 pet sound : 90 
 If none appear to prove upon thy head 
 Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons. 
 There is my pledge [throwing down a glove]; I '11 
 
 prove it on thy heart. 
 Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing less 
 Than I have here proclaim'd thee. 
 
 Reg. Sick, O, sick ! 
 
 Gon. [Aside] If not, I '11 ne'er trust medicine. 
 
 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 loo 
 
 My truth and honour firmly. 
 
Scene Three] KING LEAR 123 
 
 Alb. A herald, ho ! 
 
 Edm. A herald, ho, a herald ! 
 
 Alb. Trust to thy single virtue ; for thy soldiers. 
 All levied in my name, have in my name 
 Took their discharge. 
 
 Reg. My sickness grows upon me. 
 
 Alb. She is not well ; convey her to my tent. 
 
 [Exit Regan, led. 
 
 Enter a Herald—" — — 
 
 Come hither, herald, — Let the trumpet sound, — 
 And read out this. 
 
 Capt. Sound, trumpet ! [A trumpet sounds. 
 
 Her. [Reads] "If any man of quality or degree no 
 {vithin the lists of the army will maintain upon 
 Edmund, supposed Earl of Gloucester, that he is 
 a manifold traitor, let him appear by the third 
 sound of the trumpet : he is bold in his defence." 
 
 Edm. Sound ! [First trumpet. 
 
 Her. Again ! [Second trumpet. 
 
 Her. Again ! [Third trumpet. 
 
 [Trumpet answers within. 
 
 Enter Edgar, at the third sound, armed, with a 
 trumpet before him 
 
 Alb. Ask him his purposes, why he appears 
 Upon this call o' the trumpet. 
 
 Her. What are you ? 
 
 Your name, your quality ? and why you answer 120 
 This present summons ? 
 
 Edg. Know, my name is lost ; 
 
 By treason's tooth bare-gnawn and canker-bit : 
 Yet am I noble as the adversary 
 
124 KING LEAR [Act Pivb 
 
 I come to cope. 
 
 Alb. Which is that adversary ? 
 
 Edg. What 's he that speaks for Edmund Earl 
 of Gloucester? 
 
 Edm. Himself : what say'st thou to him ? 
 
 Edg. Draw thy swordj 
 
 That, if my speech offend a noble heart, 
 Thy arm may do thee justice : here is mine. 
 Behold, it is the privilege of mine honours, 
 My oath, and my profession : I protest, iso 
 
 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 the 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, ko 
 
 Thou liest. 
 
 Edm. 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 ; 
 With the hell-hated lie o'erwhelm thy heart ; 
 Which, for they yet glance by and scarcely bruise, 
 This sword of mine shall give them instant way, 
 Where they shall rest for ever. Trumpets, speak ! i5P 
 [Alarums. They fight. Edmund falls. 
 
Scene Three] KING LEAR 125 
 
 Alb. Save him, save him ! 
 
 Gon. This is practice, Gloucester : 
 
 By the law of arms thou wast not bound to 
 
 answer 
 An unknown opposite ; thou art not vanquish' d, 
 But cozen'd and beguiled. 
 
 Alb. Shut your mouth, dame, 
 
 Or with this paper shall I stop it. Hold, sir; 
 Thou 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 can arraign me for 't ? 
 
 Alb. Most monstrous ! oh ! 
 
 Know'st thou this paper ? 
 
 Gon. Ask me not what I know. [Exit, leo 
 
 Alb. Go after her : she 's desperate ; govern her. 
 
 Edm. What you have charged me with, that 
 have I done ; 
 And more, much more ; the time will bring it out : 
 'T is past, and so am I. But what art thou 
 That hast this fortune on me ? If thou 'rt noble, 
 I do forgive thee. 
 
 Edg. 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. 
 The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices 170 
 
 Make instruments to plague us : 
 The dark and vicious place where thee he got 
 Cost him his eyes. 
 
 Edm. Thou hast spoken right, 't is true ; 
 
126 KING LEAR [Act Five 
 
 The wheel is come full circle ; I am here. 
 
 Alb. Me thought 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 ! 
 
 Edg. Worthy prince, I know 't. 
 
 Alb. Where have you hid yourself ? 
 How have you known the miseries of your father ? iso 
 
 Edg. By nursing them, my lord. List a brief 
 tale; 
 And when 't is told, O, that my heart would burst ! 
 The bloody proclamation to escape. 
 That follow'd me so near, — O, cur lives' sweetness ! 
 That we the pain of death would hoiuly die 
 Rather than die at once ! — taught me to shift 
 Into a madman s rags ; to assume a semblance 
 That very dogs disdain'd : and in this habit 
 Met I my father with his bleeding rings. 
 Their precious stones new lost ; became his guide, 190 
 Led him, begg'd for him, saved him from despair ; 
 Never, — O fault ! — reveal'd myself unto him. 
 Until some half -hour past, when I was arm'd : 
 Not sure, though hoping, of this good success, 
 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. 
 
 Edm. This speech of yours hath moved me. 
 
 And shall perchance do good : but speak you on ; 200 
 You look as you had something more to say. 
 Alb. If there be more, more woeful, hold it in ; 
 
Scene Three] • KING LEAH 1^7 
 
 For I am almost ready to dissolve, 
 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 in a 
 
 man, 
 Who, having seen me in my worst estate, 
 Shunn'd my abhorr'd society ; but then, finding 210 
 Who 't was that so endured, with his strong arms 
 He fasten'd on my neck, and bellow'd out 
 As he 'Id burst heaven ; threw him on my father ; 
 Told the most piteous tale of Lear and him 
 That ever ear received : which in recounting 
 His grief grew puissant, and the strings of life 
 Began to crack : twice then the trumpets sounded, 
 And there I left him tranced. 
 
 Alb. But who was this ^ 
 
 Edg. Kent, sir, the banish'd Kent ; who in dis- 
 guise 
 FoUow'd his enemy king, and did him service 220 
 
 Improper for a slave. 
 
 Enter a Gentleman, with a bloody knife 
 
 Gent. Help, help, O, help ! 
 Edg. What kind of help .? 
 
 Alb. Speak, man. 
 
 Edg. What means that bloody knife ? 
 Gent. 'T is hot, it smokes ; 
 
 It came even from the heart of — O, she's dead ! 
 
 Alb. Who dead ? speak, man. 
 
1£8 KING LEAR • [Act Five 
 
 Gent. Your lady, sir, your lady : and her sister 
 By her is poisoned ; she hath confess'd it. 
 
 Edm. I was contracted to them both : all three 
 Now marry in an instant. 
 
 Edg. Here comes Kent. 
 
 Alb. Produce their bodies, be they alive or dead : 230 
 This judgement of the heavens, that makes us 
 
 tremble. 
 Touches us not with pity. [Exit Gentleman, 
 
 Enter Kent 
 
 O, is this he ? 
 The time will not allow the compliment 
 Which very manners urges. 
 
 Kent. I am come 
 
 To bid my king and master aye good night. 
 Is he not here "^ 
 
 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 Goneril and Regan are brought in. 
 
 Kent. Alack, why thus "^ 
 
 Edm. Yet Edmund was beloved : 
 
 The one the other poison'd for my sake, 240 
 
 And after slew herself. 
 
 Alb. Even so. Cover their faces. 
 
 Edm. I pant for life : 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 : 
 Nay, send in time. 
 
Scene Three] KING LEAR 129 
 
 Alb. Run, run, O, run ! 
 
 Edg. To who, my lord ? Who hath the office ? 
 send 
 Thy token of reprieve. 
 
 Edm, Well thought on : take my sword, 250 
 
 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 fordid herself. 
 
 Alb. The gods defend her ! Bear him hence 
 awhile. [Edmund is borne off. 
 
 Re-enter Lear, with Cordelia dead in his arms; 
 Edgar, Captain, and others following 
 
 Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl ! O, you are 
 men of stones : 
 Had I your tongues and eyes, I 'Id use them so 
 That heaven's vault should crack. She 's gone for 
 
 ever ! 
 I know when one is dead, and when one lives ; 26O 
 
 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 promised end ? 
 
 Edg. Or image of that horror ? 
 
 Alb. Fall, and cease ! 
 
 Lear. This feather stirs : she lives ! if it be so. 
 It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows 
 That ever I have felt. 
 
130 KING LEAR [Act Five 
 
 Kent. [Kneeling] O my good master ! 
 
 Lear. Prithee, away. 
 
 Edg. 'T is noble Kent, your friend. 
 
 Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors 
 all! 
 I might have saved her ; now she 's gone for ever ! 270 
 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. 
 
 Cajpt. 'T is true, my lords, he did. 
 
 Lear. Did I not, fellow? 
 
 I have seen the day, with my good biting falchion 
 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 '11 tell you straight. 
 
 Kent. If fortune brag of two she loved and 
 
 hated, 280 
 
 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 '11 strike, and quickly too : he 's dead and rotten. 
 
 Kent. No, my good lord ; I am the very man, — 
 
 Lear. I 'U see that straight. 
 
 Kent. That, from your first of 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. 290 
 
Scene Three] KING LEAR 131 
 
 Your eldest daughters have fordone 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. 
 
 Edg. Very bootless. 
 
 Enter a Captain 
 
 Capt. Edmund is dead, my lord. 
 
 Alb. That 's but a trifle here. 
 
 You lords and noble friends, know our intent. 
 What comfort to this great decay may come 
 Shall be applied : for us, we will resign. 
 During the life of this old majesty, 
 To him om- absolute power: [To Edgar and Kent] 
 
 you, to your rights ; 300 
 
 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 'It come no 
 
 more. 
 Never, never, never, never, never ! 
 Pray you, undo this button : thank you, sir. 
 Do you see this "^ Look on her, look, her lips, 310 
 
 Look there, look there ! [Dies. 
 
 Edg. He faints ! My lord, my lord ! 
 
 Kent. Break, heart ; I prithee, break ! 
 
 Edg. Look up, my lord. 
 
/v 
 
 132 KING LEAR [Act Five 
 
 Kent. Vex not his ghost : O, let him pass ! he 
 hates him much 
 That would upon the rack of this tough world 
 Stretch him out longer. 
 
 Edg. He is gone, indeed. 
 
 Kent. The wonder is, he hath endured so long : 
 He but usurp'd his life. 
 
 Alb. Bear them from hence. Our present busi- 
 ness 
 Is general woe. [To Kent and Edgar] Friends of 
 
 my soul, you twain 
 Rule in this realm, and the gored state sustain. 320 
 
 Kent. I have a journey, sir, shortly to go ; 
 My master calls me, I must not say no. 
 
 Edg. The weight of this sad time we must obey ; 
 Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. 
 The oldest hath borne most : we that are young 
 Shall never see so much, nor live so long. 
 
 [Exeunt, with dead march. 
 
NOTES 
 
 ABBREVIATIONS 
 
 Abbott . . 
 
 . . Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar. 
 
 Fl . . . 
 
 . . First Folio (1623) of Shakespeare's plays. 
 
 F2 . . . 
 
 . . Second Folio (1632). 
 
 F3 . . . 
 
 . . Third Folio (1663 and 1664). 
 
 F4 . . . 
 
 . . Fourth Folio (1685). 
 
 Ff . . . 
 
 . . The four Folios. 
 
 Kellner . 
 
 . . Kellner' s Historical Outlines of English 
 
 
 Syntax. 
 
 0. E. . . 
 
 . . Old English (Anglo-Saxon). 
 
 M. E. . . 
 
 . . Middle English. 
 
 E. E. . . 
 
 . . Elizabethan English. 
 
 Mod. E. . 
 
 . . Modern English. 
 
 Ql . . . 
 
 . . First Quarto (1608) of King Lear. 
 
 Q2 . . . 
 
 . . Second Quarto (1608 [?]1619). 
 
 Qq . . . 
 
 . . The two Quartos. 
 
 For the meaning of words not given in these notes, the student 
 is referred to the Glossary at the end of the volume. 
 
 The numbering of the lines corresponds to that of the Globe 
 edition ; this applies also to the scenes in prose. 
 
 Dramatis Personx. This list is not in the Quartos or Folios. 
 It was first given by Rowe (1709). 
 
 The division into acts and scenes is not marked in the Quartos. 
 
 ACT I — SCENE 1 
 
 The first scene of King Lear is of unusual importance. It 
 both enacts the events on which the whole play is founded and 
 brings out prominently the characters of all the principal 
 actors. As a general rule the first scene is confined to giving 
 information necessary for the understanding of the story ; or 
 it may, as in Macbeth, symbolize the drama. But in King Lear 
 
 133 
 
134 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 we are introduced at once, without any preparation, to the cir- 
 cumstance on which the story turns. The play as a whole 
 is the representation of the effects of its opening incidents. 
 Goethe considered this scene " irrational " in its want of prep- 
 aration. 
 
 I. affected, had affection for, favored — the common mean- 
 ing in Shakespeare. Cf. Twelfth Night, ii. 5. 28, " Maria 
 once told me she did affect me." 
 
 5. equalities are so weighed, . . . , their shares are so bal- 
 anced that close scrutiny will not show one to be better than 
 the other. For curiosity, see Glossary. 
 
 II. brazed, hardened. Cf. " brazen-faced." 
 18. proper, handsome, as frequently in E. E. ' 
 
 20. some year, a year or so, about a year. See i. 2. 5. 
 
 32. deserving, i.e. to be better known by you. 
 
 33. out, abroad, in foreign lands. Cf. Two Gentlemen of 
 Verona, i. 3. 7, " Put forth their sons to seek preferment out." 
 
 37. our darker purpose, our more secret design. Lear 
 makes a full statement of what is already known by Kent and 
 Gloucester. 
 
 39. fast intent, fixed intention ; synonymous with " constant 
 will " in 1. 44. 
 
 41-46. while we . . . now. Omitted in the Qq. 
 
 54. challenge, claim as due : " where there are both the 
 claims of nature {i.e. of birth) and merit." Cf. iv. 7. 31. 
 
 56. wield the matter, express. 
 
 62. Beyond all manner of so much, beyond all such com- 
 parisons. 
 
 65. shadowy, shady. 
 
 73. names my very deed of love, states exactly my love; 
 expresses my love in very deed. 
 
 76. the most precious square of sense, the most exquisitely 
 sensitive part of our nature. 
 
 77. felicitate, made happy, Regan's protestations are as 
 forced as Goneril's. Her stilted phraseology betokens her 
 insincerity. It is in ominous contrast to the simplicity of all 
 that Cordelia can bring herself to say. 
 
 80. more ponderous. So the Ff . The Qq read more richer. 
 The double comparative and superlative (e.g. 1. 219) were com- 
 monly used in E. E. to give emphasis. 
 
 83. validity, value, worth ; not in the modern sense of " good 
 title." 
 
Scene One] NOTES 135 
 
 85. Although the last, not least. This phrase occurs also in 
 Julius Coesar, iii. 1, 189, " Though last, not least in love " ; and 
 there are several other instances of it in Elizabethan literature. 
 
 The Ff read, " Our last and least," which is preferred by 
 some editors ; while the Qq have " Although the last, not least 
 in our dear love," but omit from to whose young love to interess'd. 
 The usual reading of this passage is therefore founded on both 
 texts. 
 
 86. milk: referring to the rich pasture land of Burgundy. 
 
 87. interess'd. See Glossary for unusual words. 
 
 92. Nothing will come of nothing. Cf . i. 4. 145-146, and the 
 proverb. Ex nihilo nihil fit. 
 
 95. bond, bounden duty, obligation. 
 
 97. Good my lord, a common form of transposition when 
 the possessive is unemphatic. Cf. 1. 122 and iii. 2. 61. The 
 transposition occurs most commonly when the address begins 
 a sentence; contrast ii. 1. Ill, iv. 2. 70 and 91. 
 
 102. all, exclusively, only. So also 1. 106. 
 
 109. All that Cordelia says has the sincerity and abrupt 
 simplicity inevitable on being goaded to give expression to 
 feelings too heartfelt for words. It has been remarked by 
 some critics that Cordelia's conduct bears in its tactless obsti- 
 nacy traces of her father's headstrong nature. Coleridge, for 
 instance, says : " There is something of disgust at the ruthless 
 hypocrisy of her sisters, and some little faulty admixture of 
 pride and sullenness in Cordelia's ' Nothing ' ; and her tone 
 is well contrived, indeed, to lessen the glaring absurdity of 
 Lear's conduct." But the prevailing note of her character 
 is simplicity and truth. She feels so deeply that she is un- 
 able to frame a formal statement of her love for her father, 
 and she is the less able to do so from her abhorrence of her 
 sisters' rank insincerity. 
 
 110. Wounded vanity is the cause of Lear's anger. He had 
 already determined on a division of his kingdom among his 
 three daughters. He says definitely, on his very entrance, 
 " we have divided in three our kingdom," and Kent and Glouces- 
 ter have already discussed two of the shares. But that his 
 vanity may be ministered unto, he wishes to hear the pro- 
 fessions of his daughters' love. " The trial is but a trick," 
 says Coleridge; "the grossness of the old king's rage is in 
 part the natural result of a silly trick suddenly and most un- 
 expectedly bafiled and disappointed." 
 
136 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 112. Hecate, the goddess in classical mythology of enchant- 
 ments and sorcery. In the Middle Ages she was regarded as 
 the queen of witches. Cf. Macbeth, ii. 1. 52 and iii. 5. The 
 word is pronounced as a dissyllable in Shakespeare. 
 
 113. operation of the orbs, influence of the stars. 
 
 116. property, equivalent to " identity." Cf. proper, iv. 2. 60. 
 
 119. generation, generally said to mean " offspring," as in 
 the phrase " generation of vipers," St. Matthew, iii. 7, etc. It 
 is plausibly suggested by Mr. W. J. Craig, however, that gen- 
 eration may here mean parents, as progeny does in Coriolanus, 
 i. 8. 12. " Though Purchas in his Pilgrimes has a curious pas- 
 sage mentioning different kinds of cannibalism, he does not 
 mention eating of children by their parents, nor do I know any 
 reference to it. On the other hand, Herodotus tells us that the 
 Scythians ate their aged and impotent relations, and Chapman 
 in Byron's Tragedy, iv. 1, has the following passage : ' to teach 
 . . . The Scythians to inter not eat their parents.' " 
 
 125-126. to set my rest On her kind nursery. This appears 
 to have a double meaning. " To set one's rest " is a phrase used 
 in the game of primero, meaning " to stake all upon the cards 
 in one's hand," and hence it came to mean generally to stake 
 one's all. To set my rest on her kind nursery would therefore 
 mean " to rely absolutely on her care." But it is probable 
 that Shakespeare had the simpler interpretation also in view, 
 viz. " to find rest for my old age with her." There is a similar 
 usage in Romeo and Juliet, v. 3. 110, " O here Will I set up my 
 everlasting rest " ; and in this the phrase cannot well have 
 the first meaning exclusively. 
 
 126. nursery, nursing. 
 
 Hence, and avoid my sight ! Addressed to Cordelia. 
 
 130. digest, divide, dispose of. See Glossary. 
 
 131. Let her pride find her a husband, as she won't have a 
 dowry to do so. 
 
 133. effects, signs, manifestations. Cf. ii. 4. 182. 
 
 138. additions, titles, as commonly in Shakespeare. Cf. ii. 
 2. 26 and v. 3. 68. 
 
 141. This coronet : referring to the one originally intended 
 for Cordelia. 
 
 145. make from, get out of the way of. 
 
 146. the fork, the barbed arrow-head. 
 
 147. " Almost the first burst of that noble tide of passion 
 which runs through the play is in the remonstrance of Kent 
 
Scene One] NOTES 137 
 
 to his royal master on the injustice of his sentence against his 
 youngest daughter : ' Be Kent unmannerly, when Lear is mad ! ' 
 This manly plainness, which draws down on him the displeas- 
 ure of the unadvised king, is worthy of the fidelity with which 
 he adheres to his fallen fortunes " (Hazlitt). 
 
 151. Reverse thy doom (change your sentence) is the reading 
 of the Qq ; the Ff have Reserve thy state, retain your royal power. 
 
 153. answer my life my judgement, let my life answer for 
 my judgment. 
 
 161. blank, literally the white centre of a target. 
 
 163. swear' st, adjurest, swearest by. For the omission of 
 the preposition, cf. ii. 2. 88, and see Abbott, § 200. 
 
 175. our potency made good, our royal authority being 
 maintained. 
 
 " Kent's opposition . . . displays Lear's moral incapability 
 of resigning the sovereign power in the very act of disposing 
 of it " (Coleridge). 
 
 177. diseases, discomforts, absence of ease. 
 
 187. approve, justify, confirm, as commonly in E. E. Cf. 
 ii. 2. 167, ii. 4. 187, and iii. 5. 12. 
 
 191. Here's France and Burgundy. For the common 
 Shakespearean use of a singular verb preceding a plural sub- 
 ject, see Abbott, § 335. 
 
 193-194. you who . . . Hath. A singular verb often follows 
 a relative whose antecedent is plural. Cf. stirs, ii. 4. 277, and 
 see Abbott, § 247. 
 
 199. so, i.e. " dear," with the meaning " of high price." 
 
 201. that little seeming substance. A diflBcult phrase. 
 Johnson takes seeming in the sense of beautiful, little seeming 
 being thus equivalent to ugly; Steevens and Schmidt give it 
 the sense of specious; while Wright understands it to mean in 
 appearance. The second interpretation is the best. There 
 appears to be little point in " that substance which is but little 
 in appearance," and Johnson's explanation is forced. 
 
 203. like, please, as commonly in E. E. Cf. ii. 2. 96. 
 
 205. owes, possesses. 
 
 209. makes not up, does not decide. " There is no choice 
 on such conditions." 
 
 212. make such a stray, stray so far. 
 
 213. To match. For the omission of as, see Abbott, § 281, 
 and cf. 1. 220. 
 
 beseech, i.e. I beseech. " The Elizabethan authors objected 
 
138 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 to scarcely any ellipsis, provided the deficiency could be easily 
 supplied from the context." See Abbott, §§ 399-401. Cf. ii. 
 4. 42 and v. 1. 68. 
 
 218. argument, theme, subject ; as commonly in E. E. 
 
 223. monsters it, makes it monstrous. A similar use occurs 
 in Coriolanus, ii. 2. 81 : " idly sit To hear my nothings 
 monster'd." 
 
 224. Fall'n into taint, (must have) fallen into decay. 
 227. for, because. 
 
 234. still-soliciting, ever-begging. Cf. i. 4. 353, ii. 4, 107, 
 and The Tempest, i. 2. 229, " the still-vex'd Bermoothes." 
 
 242. regards, considerations. Cf. 1. 251. 
 
 243. the entire point, the sole consideration, the object of 
 pure love. 
 
 253-264. France's tender declaration appears the more beau- 
 tiful by contrast with the prosaic selfish remarks of his rival, 
 who has amply merited Cordelia's " Peace be with Burgundy ! " 
 
 261. waterish, well-watered ; used in contempt. 
 
 262. unprized, beyond price. " The sufiix -ed in past parti- 
 ciples had in E. E. gone far to acquire the sense of ' what may 
 be done ' in addition to that of ' what has been done.' For the 
 most part this heightened meaning occurs in combination with 
 a negative prefix '' (Herford). Cf. untented, i. 4. 322; unnum- 
 herd, iv. 6. 21 ; and undistinguish' d, iv. 6. 278. Unprized may, 
 however, be used here in the simple sense of " not prized." 
 
 264. here and where are used as nouns. 
 
 271. Cordelia from the first has seen through her sisters' 
 deceit ; but pity for her father, despite the wrong he has done 
 her, at last forces her to speak plainly. Note how she has 
 gradually worked herself up to this declaration. 
 
 The jewels of our father, in apposition with " you." 
 
 with wash'd eyes, i.e. with tears. 
 
 275. professed, full of professions. For this active sense of the 
 past participle, cf. better spoken, iv. 6. 10, and see Kellner, § 408. 
 
 277. prefer, recommend, direct ; as commonly in Shakespeare. 
 
 279. As Hazlitt remarks, the true character of the two eldest 
 daughters, who have not spoken since the very beginning of 
 the love test, breaks out in Regan's answer to Cordelia, " their 
 hatred of advice being in proportion to their determination to 
 do wrong, and to their hypocritical pretensions to do right." 
 But most striking of all is Goneril's odious self-righteousness in 
 telling her sister " You have obedience scanted." 
 
Scene Two] NOTES 139 
 
 281. At, used in statements of price or value ; hence, " as an 
 alms of fortune." 
 
 282. This line presents some difficulty. It is best rendered 
 thus, " And well deserve that absence of affection from your 
 father which you have shown towards him." It is possible, 
 however, to take want as referring specifically to the dowry, 
 and in this case, as Wright says, the want that you have wanted 
 would be an instance of a verb and its cognate accusative. 
 
 286-312. The closing dialogue of this scene shows Goneril 
 to be the stronger and more assertive of the two sisters. It 
 is she who broaches the discussion of their position, and de- 
 clares, when Regan purposes merely to " think " on their 
 policy, that they must strike while the iron is hot. But the 
 dialogue is also of considerable importance in the structure of 
 the play, as it serves to prepare us for Lear's fate. The very 
 waywardness to which they owe their fortunes they make a 
 reason for their treacherous design to deprive him of authority. 
 Lear's faults, it appears, are not due to senility, though this has 
 aggravated them, for he " hath ever but slenderly known him- 
 self," and " the best and soundest years of his life have been 
 but rash." 
 
 Note the change from verse to prose. We pass with it from 
 the higher plane of passion to that of underhand scheming. 
 
 295. grossly, plainly, evidently. 
 
 304. like, likely. Cf. iv. 2. 19. 
 
 310. offend, harm. 
 
 SCENE 2 
 
 In the second scene we turn to the minor web of the play, 
 the Gloucester story, which has already been indicated by the 
 opening conversation of the previous scene. This underplot 
 is in striking parallelism with the main story, and each in turn 
 acts as a foil to the other. See Introduction, p. xv. 
 
 1. Thou, nature, art my goddess, as he is a natural son. 
 
 3. Stand in the plague of custom, be subject to the injustice 
 of custom. 
 
 4. curiosity, scruples. See Glossary. 
 6. Lag of, later than. 
 
 8. generous : used in the obsolete sense of " gallant," 
 " noble," " natural to one of noble birth or spirit." 
 
 21. top the. The commonly accepted emendation of the old 
 
y 
 
 140 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 reading to the. It is supported by several other passages in 
 Shakespeare, e.g. v. 3. 207. 
 
 24. subscri&ec?, surrendered ; literally " signed away." Cf. 
 subscription, iii. 2. 18. 
 
 25. exhibition, allowance. 
 
 26. Upon the gad, suddenly, as if pricked by a gad {i.e. a 
 goad). Cf. " upon the spur of the moment." 
 
 32. terrible, terrified. 
 
 48. policy and reverence of age, i.e. policy of reverencing 
 age. Cf. other instances of this figure of speech — hendiadys 
 — in 11. 191-192, " image and horror," and i. 4. 364, " This milky 
 gentleness and course." 
 
 49. the best of our times, the best part of our lives, as in 
 i. 1. 298 and i. 2. 122. 
 
 53. suffered, allowed, endured. 
 
 89. where, whereas, as commonly in Shakespeare. 
 
 93. wrote. Cf. mistook, ii. 4. 12; fell, iv. 6. 54; and see 
 Abbott, §§ 343, 344. 
 
 94. pretence of danger, dangerous intention. Cf. i. 4. 75. 
 106. wind me into him, worm yourself into his confidence. 
 
 Me is an ethical dative. Cf. iv. 6. 88. 
 
 107-108. / would unstate myself, ... I should give up 
 my position and dignity in order to be certain how matters 
 stand. 
 
 109. convey, discharge, carry out ; commonly with a notion 
 of secrecy. 
 
 111-127. As Wright has pointed out, this passage may have 
 been suggested by the eclipses of the sun and moon in September 
 and October, 1605. See Introduction, p. ix. 
 
 There is perhaps a reference to the Gunpowder Plot (Nov. 
 5, 1605) in the words " in palaces, treason " and " machi- 
 nations, hollowness, treachery." 
 
 113-114. though the wisdom of nature ..." Though 
 natural philosophy can give account of eclipses, yet we feel 
 their consequences " (Johnson). 
 
 119-124. This villain . . . graves. Omitted in the Qq. 
 
 120-121. bias of nature, i.e. natural bias or inclination. 
 
 126-127. Gloucester's superstitiousness has made him an easy 
 prey to Edmund's cunning. His reference to the injustice done 
 to Kent gives point to the folly of his own credulity. Lear 
 was no more unjust to the " noble and true-hearted Kent " than 
 Gloucester himself is to Edgar. 
 
Scene Three] NOTES 141 
 
 128. foppery, folly, the original meaning of fop being a 
 " fool." Cf. foppish, i. 4. 182. 
 
 133-134. spherical predominance, synonymous with " plan- 
 etary influence." 
 
 136. divine thrusting on, impulse from above. 
 
 146. pat he comes like the catastrophe ... An allusion 
 to the clumsy structure of the early comedies, in which the 
 conclusion seemed to come by chance at the very moment it 
 was wanted. 
 
 148. Tom o' Bedlam. See ii. 3. 14. Thanks to Edmund's 
 treachery, Tom o' Bedlam is yet to be Edgar's cue. 
 
 157. succeed, ensue, turn out; used, like the noun success, 
 indifferently of good or bad consequences. Cf. " this good 
 success," V. 3. 194. 
 
 157-166. as of . . . Come, come. Omitted in the Ff . 
 
 161. diffidences, suspicions, distrust ; now used only of dis- 
 trust of one's self. 
 
 161-162. dissipation of cohorts. Probably corrupt; the 
 phrase does not suit the context, and neither of the words occurs 
 elsewhere in Shakespeare. Of the emendations that have been 
 suggested, the best is " disputation of consorts " (Craig). 
 
 164-165. a sectary astronomical, a devotee of astrology. 
 
 178-179. with the mischief . . . allay, would scarcely be 
 allayed even by doing harm to your person. 
 
 181-187. I pray you . . . Armed, brother! Omitted in the 
 
 185. ye is strictly a nominative, but it is frequently used in 
 E. E., and especially by the dramatists, instead of the objective 
 you. Cf. i. 4. 324 and ii. 2. 50. 
 
 191-192. image and horror. See note on 1. 48, above. 
 
 198. practices, plots, artifices; a common sense in E. E. 
 Cf. ii. 1. 75, 109, etc., and practised, iii. 2. 57, etc. 
 
 SCENE 3 
 
 This scene takes up the main thread of the story and follows 
 directly on the closing dialogue of scene 1. In. the interval 
 Goneril is fully instated in her new power, and has gained 
 confidence in her ability to deprive Lear of the remnants of his 
 authority. 
 
 1. for chiding of. See note on ii. 1. 41. 
 
 10. answer, answer for. Cf. i. 1. 153. 
 
142 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 20. With checks as flatteries, . . . The line is best ren- 
 dered, " With rebukes instead of flatteries, when flatteries are 
 seen to feed their folly." As has the force of " instead of " 
 rather than of " as well as." They in the second half of the line 
 is sometimes taken to refer to " old fools," i.e. " when old fools 
 are seen to be deceived." Possibly the line is corrupt. LI. 
 16-20 are omitted in the Ff. 
 
 24. Goneril has more initiative than her sister. It is she who 
 " breeds occasion " to humble Lear completely, and she dictates 
 her sister's policy also. 
 
 SCENE 4 
 
 Lear comes to realize the position in which he has placed 
 himself. Hitherto he has appeared merely hasty, wayward, 
 and imperious, but now we begin to see the better elements 
 of his character. The pathos of his lot is emphasized by the 
 solicitude of Kent and the significant utterances of the Fool, 
 and he wins our sympathy. 
 
 2. defuse, confuse, hence disguise; an obsolete form of 
 diffuse. 
 
 12. What dost thou profess? What is thy profession.? 
 Note the play on the word in Kent's reply. 
 
 16. converse, associate; the common meaning in Shake- 
 speare. 
 
 18. to eat no fish. Warburton explained this as a refer- 
 ence to the Roman Catholic custom of eating fish on Fridays. 
 " In Queen Elizabeth's time the Papists were esteemed enemies 
 to the government. Hence the proverbial phrase of ' He's an 
 honest man and eats no fish,' to signify he's a friend to the 
 government and a Protestant." Capell explained it as meaning 
 that Kent was " no lover of such meagre diet as fish." Cf. 
 2 Henry IV, iv. 3. 99 ; but this gives the phrase little point. If 
 Warburton's explanation is correct, Kent uses this phrase as 
 an indirect way of expressing his loyalty. 
 
 26. Who. See Abbott, § 274. Cf. iv. i. 47. 
 
 35. curious, complicated. See Glossary. 
 
 51. clotpoll, blockhead, "clod-pate." The form " clodpole " 
 occurs in Twelfth Night, iii. 4. 208. 
 
 59. roundest, plainest. Cf. Othello, 1. 3. 90, " a round un- 
 varnished tale " ; and Twelfth Night, ii. 3. 102, " I must be 
 round with you." 
 
Scene Four] NOTES 143 
 
 64. For the construction, see note on iii. 2. 13. 
 
 72-78. We have here the first indication of Lear's finer 
 qualities. Though hasty in temper, he is at least generous. 
 Sooner than believe in any purposed unkindness, he blames his 
 own suspicions. 
 
 73. faint, cold, indifferent, half-hearted, 
 
 75. pretence, offer. It is commonly synonymous with pur- 
 pose (e.g. i. 2. 95), but here it has a stronger force. 
 
 77-78. this two days, a common Shakespearean usage. 
 
 81. In Lear's " No more of that," etc., we detect the first 
 hint of his regret for his treatment of Cordelia. 
 
 107. The Fool plays a very important part in King Lear. 
 He is not to be regarded as an accessory suited to the public 
 taste, and he has a higher function than merely to relieve the 
 intensity of the situation. His rambling remarks do relax the 
 strain on our feelings, but their chief effect is, by reason of their 
 deep significance, to heighten the pathos. See Introduction 
 p. xvii. 
 
 coxcomb, the Fool's cap. 
 
 111. you were best, a common construction in E. E. It is a 
 corrupted survival of an O. E. usage, in which you is the dative 
 and the whole phrase is impersonal. That Shakespeare used 
 you as a nominative may be seen from such lines as " I were 
 better to be eaten to death," 2 Henry IV, i. 2. 245, and " She 
 were better love a dream," Twelfth Night, ii. 2. 27. Cf. iii. 4. 
 105. 
 
 114. on's, a euphonic contraction of of his. See Abbott, 
 § 182. Cf. i. 5. 20, and ont, 1. 168 below. 
 
 117. nuncle, the customary address of a fool to his master; 
 a contraction of mine uncle. 
 
 125. Lady the brach, i.e. the bitch-hound. Cf. iii. 6. 72. 
 
 131. showest, seemest to have. Cf. shows (appears), 1. 265. 
 
 133. owest, i.e. ownest. Cf. i. 1. 205. 
 
 134. goest, i.e. walkest, as often in Shakespeare. 
 
 135. Learn more than thou trowest. Don't believe all you 
 hear. 
 
 136. Set, stake, offer wagers at dice. Cf. Richard II, iv. 1. 
 57, " Who sets me else ? by heaven I'll throw at all " {i.e. who 
 else lays down stakes, challenges me). The meaning seems to 
 be, " offer lower wagers than your dice-throws bring to you, 
 than you win at a throw," or " stake lower than the chances of 
 your game." 
 
144 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 143-144. Can you make no use of nothing? The Fool 
 suggests that his lines have a significance which Lear has not 
 realized. Kent is the first to see that " this is not altogether 
 fool." 
 
 154-169. That lord . . . snatching. Omitted in the Ff. 
 Johnson suggests that there was perhaps a political reason in 
 their omission, " as they seemed to censure the monopolies " ; 
 but this objection does not apply to the Fool's verses. 
 
 The first two verses are explained by a passage in the old 
 play. King Leir. See Introduction, pp. xiii. 
 
 167. monopoly. " A satire on the gross abuses of monop- 
 olies at that time, and the corruption and avarice of the 
 courtiers, who commonly went shares with the patentee " 
 (Warburton). 
 
 out, taken out, granted to me. 
 
 176-177. thou borest thy ass on thy back. An allusion to 
 ^sop's fable. 
 
 179. like myself, i.e. like a fool. He again insists on his 
 seriousness. 
 
 181-184. " There never was a time when fools were less in 
 favour ; and the reason is, that they were never so little wanted, 
 for wise men now supply their place " (Johnson). 
 
 182. foppish, foolish. Ci. foppery, i. 2. 128. 
 
 191-192. These two lines, like several others farther on, are 
 probably taken from ,an old song. Steevens points out a 
 similar couplet in Heywood's Rape of Lucrece (1608) : 
 
 " When Tarquin first in court began. 
 And was approved king. 
 Some men for sudden joy 'gan weep, 
 But I for sorrow sing." 
 
 208. frontlet, literally a band worn on the forehead; here 
 used metaphorically for " frown." 
 
 211-212. an O, a mere cipher, of no value unless joined to a 
 figure. 
 
 219. shealed, shelled. This form survives in Scotch and in 
 provincial English. 
 
 221. other, i.e. others. Other is now plural only when it is 
 used attributively (e.g. other men). In O. E. other was used in 
 both numbers, the plural form being othre. The final e was 
 dropped in time; hence the E. E. plural form other, which is 
 
Scene Fouk] NOTES 145 
 
 found in the authorized version of the Bible along with the 
 modern form others (see St. Luke, xxiii. 32). 
 
 227. put on, encourage. Cf. note on ii. 1. 101. 
 
 228. allowance, approval. 
 
 229-233. nor the redresses sleep. . . , nor would the 
 punishment (for the riotous conduct of your retinue) fail to be 
 put into operation, which punishment, given to preserve 
 soundly the peace of the commonwealth, might in its course 
 give you an affront that would be a shame under other circum- 
 stances, but which under these necessarily would be called a 
 well chosen procedure. 
 
 230. tender, care, tendance. Cf. 1 Henry IV, v. 4. 49, 
 " thou makest some tender of my life." 
 
 weal, commonwealth. 
 
 233. The somewhat embarrassed syntax and the indirect 
 expressions betoken Goneril's hesitation. Her statements have 
 been direct enough while she merely objected to Lear's conduct. 
 Now for the first time she threatens him to his face. 
 
 236. it. This possessive form is of fairly common occur- 
 rence in E. E. Cf. iv. 2. 32. The ordinary neuter possessive 
 in E. E. is his. Its is not found in Spenser, and occurs very 
 seldom in Shakespeare (e.g. Henry VIII, i. 1. 18), but it began 
 about this time to replace his. For the form it, cf. the West 
 Midland uninflected genitive hit. See Abbott, § 228. 
 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds remarks on the incoherent words with 
 which Shakespeare often finishes this Fool's speeches : " We 
 may suppose that they had a custom of taking off the edge of 
 too sharp a speech by covering it hastily with the end of an old 
 song, or any glib nonsense that came into mind." This may 
 apply to " Whoop, Jug ! I love thee " in 1. 245 ; but in the pres- 
 ent case there is a very pertinent meaning in the " glib non- 
 sense." 
 
 237. A similar figure of speech occurs in Spenser's story of 
 Lear, Faerie Queene, ii. 10. 30. See Appendix A. 
 
 245. Jug, a colloquial name for a sweetheart or mistress, 
 derivatively a substitute for the feminine name Joan or Joanna. 
 According to Steevens, " Whoop, Jug ! I love thee " is a quota- 
 tion from an old song. 
 
 248. notion, understanding, intellect ; the only meaning of 
 the word in Shakespeare. 
 
 Lear's awakening is so sudden that he can hardly believe 
 his senses. This reference to his intellect is prophetic. It is 
 the first hint of his madness. 
 
146 KING LEAR [Act One 
 
 252-254. On hearing the Fool's reply, Lear says he should 
 like to know if he is only Lear's shadow. His marks of sover- 
 eignty, his knowledge, and his reason all tell him that he is 
 Lear himself, and therefore the father of Goneril, but he may 
 be falsely persuaded to that effect. This passage is omitted in 
 the Ff. 
 
 Note the change, from this juncture, in Lear's attitude to- 
 ward the Fool. 
 
 255. Which, whom. See Abbott, § 266. 
 
 258. admiration, astonishment, wonder. 
 
 265. Shows, appears. 
 
 epicurism, sensuality, though found in E. E. also in the 
 specialized sense of " gluttony." 
 
 267. graced, honorable. 
 
 269. Goneril admits her own masterfulness. Her threats are 
 no longer hesitating or cloaked in obscure phraseology. 
 
 271. depend, attend on you, be dependants. For the con- 
 struction, see Abbott, § 354. 
 
 277. Goneril's objection to the conduct of Lear's servants is 
 no doubt justified. We are ready to believe that, on the prin- 
 ciple of like master like man, they are impetuous and noisy. 
 Goneril has the ability to avail herself of every opportunity of 
 criticism, and to turn every fault, however small, into an excuse 
 for her conduct. 
 
 283. sea-monster. Cf. iv. 2. 50. This is often said to be 
 the hippopotamus, which in Egyptian tradition was a monster 
 of impiety and ingratitude. But as the hippopotamus does not 
 live in the sea, some commentators think the reference is to the 
 whale. Mr. Craig suggests that Shakespeare had not " any 
 special kind of monster in his thoughts, but was thinking of 
 those monsters of classical mythology slain by Hercules and 
 by Perseus in defence of beauty — these stories were then very 
 popular." Cf. Merchant of Venice, iii. 2. 57. 
 
 285. choice and rarest, i.e. choicest and rarest, the super- 
 lative form applying to both ; a common construction in E. E. 
 
 290. engine, i.e. an engine of torture, the rack. 
 
 294. dear, precious. Dear is used regularly in E. E. to ex- 
 press extremeness or intensity : thus " my dearest foe " = 
 my greatest foe. 
 
 302. derogate, deteriorated, debased* 
 
 306. thwart, perverse. 
 
 disnatured, unnatural. 
 
Scene Five] NOTES 147 
 
 316. With characteristic masterfulness and deceit, Goneril 
 had given orders for the number of Lear's followers to be 
 decreased before desiring him " a little to disquantity his train." 
 Before the threat was uttered, it had been carried out. 
 
 322. untented, incurable; literally, not to be probed by a 
 tent. See i. 1. 262. 
 
 324. Beweep, i.e. if you beweep. 
 
 328. comfortable, ready to comfort. Cf. ii. 2. 171. 
 
 334. Albany appears, at the beginning of the play, to be a 
 mere puppet in the hands of Goneril. He has his qualms of 
 conscience at her conduct, but is very reluctant to pass any 
 criticism, and he is stopped short before he can do more than 
 suggest his disapproval. But events show that he is not 
 wanting in moral force. 
 
 345-356. This man . . . unfitness, omitted in the Qq. 
 
 347. At point, in readiness, fully equipped. Cf. iii. 1. 33. 
 
 348. buzz, whisper, rumor. 
 353. taken, i.e. by the harms. 
 
 360. full, the adjective for the adverb. Cf. iv. 6. 3. 
 
 366. attask'd, taken to task, blamed. The Ff read " at 
 task." 
 
 369. Malone compares Shakespeare's Sonnets, ciii : 
 
 " Were it not sinful then, striving to mend. 
 To mar the subject that before was well? " 
 
 371. the event, the issue ; time will show. 
 
 SCENE 5 
 
 This scene contains little of importance to the action of the 
 story. Its purpose is to convey a fuller sense of Lear's mis- 
 fortune ; and this is achieved by the subtle prattle of the Fool 
 (who knows better tljan Lear how Regan will act), Lear's own 
 involuntary reference to Cordelia (1. 24), and, above all, his 
 foreboding of madness. 
 
 1. Gloucester, probably the city, not the earl, whose castle 
 was in its vicinity. 
 
 2. Acquaint my daughter no further. Contrast Goneril's 
 instruction to Oswald in the preceding scene. 
 
 8. brains, used in the singular, as elsewhere occasionally in 
 Shakespeare. Cf. All's Well, iii. 2. 16, " The brains of my 
 Cupid's knocked out." 
 
148 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 11-12. I.e. as you have no brains, you run no risk of kibes and 
 therefore of needing to wear slippers. 
 
 kibes, sores on the heels ; also chilblains. 
 
 15. kindly : used equivocally with the two meanings " with 
 kindness " and " after her nature." 
 
 crab, crab apple. 
 
 25. / did her wrong. " This and Lear's subsequent ejacu- 
 lations to himself are in verse ; his distracted replies to the Fool 
 in prose " (Herford). 
 
 36. Be : generally used in E. E. to express doubt (a) in 
 questions, and (6) after verbs of thinking. See Abbott, § 299. 
 
 38. the seven stars, the Pleiades. 
 
 43. To take't again perforce ! " He is meditating on the 
 resumption of his royalty." This is the interpretation of 
 Johnson, which is better than that of Steevens, to the effect 
 that he is thinking of his daughter's having so violently de- 
 prived him of the privileges she had agreed to grant him. 
 
 50. " The mind's own anticipation of madness ! The 
 deepest tragic notes are often struck by a half sense of an 
 impending blow " (Coleridge). 
 
 ACT II — SCENE 1 
 
 The minor thread of the story is again taken up, and is now 
 interwoven with the principal one. Edmund, after succeeding 
 in his plot to turn his father against Edgar, fitly joins the party 
 of Regan and Cornwall. 
 
 ^ 1. Save thee, i.e. God save thee — a common form of saluta- 
 tion. 
 
 8. news : used indifferently in E. E. in the singular (as in 
 89, 90) and plural (as here). 
 
 9. ear-kissing, whispered, arguments, cf. i. 1. 218. 
 12. toward, near at hand. Cf. iii. 3. 2?) and iv. 6. 213. 
 
 One of Lear's objects in dividing his kingdom, it will be 
 remembered, was " that future strife may be prevented now " 
 (i. 1. 46). 
 
 19. of a queasy question, requiring delicate handling; 
 queasy, strictly " squeamish," " sickly." 
 
 20. briefness, promptitude. 
 
 28. Upon his party. The usual explanation of this line is 
 that Edmund, in order to confuse his brother and alarm him 
 to a speedy flight, asks Edgar whether he has not spoken 
 
Scene One] NOTES 149 
 
 against the Duke of Cornwall, and then, reversing the ques- 
 tion, asks whether he has not spoken against the Duke of 
 Albany. U'pon his party elsewhere in Shakespeare invariably 
 means " on his side " (cf. iv. 6. 256). But this is not an in- 
 superable obstacle to the simpler interpretation, " Have you 
 said nothing upon the party formed by him against the Duke 
 of Albany ? " 
 
 33. Yield . . . here. Spoken loudly, so that Gloucester may 
 hear. 
 
 41. Edmund knows how to turn to account Gloucester's 
 superstitiousness. 
 
 Mumbling of. The preposition of shows mumbling to have 
 the force of a verbal noun. The full construction would be on 
 mumbling of; d. for chiding of, i. 3. 1. But in E. E. the verbal 
 noun was influenced by the present participle ; hence the 
 omission of the anterior preposition here, and of the posterior 
 preposition in v. 3. 274, a-hanging thee. 
 
 48. bend, direct. Cf. iv. 2. 74. 
 
 51. loathly, with abhorrence, loathingly. 
 
 52. motion, a fencing term for " attack," " thrust." 
 
 54. lanced (for the Quarto's lancht). The Ff have latch' d^ 
 caught. 
 
 61. arch, master, chief; a substantival use of the adjective. 
 
 67. pight, determined, resolved; an old past tense of pitch. 
 Cf. Troilus and Cressida, v. 10. 24 : 
 
 " You vile abominable tents. 
 Thus proudly pight upon our Phrygian plains." 
 
 curst, angry, sharp; the same word as cursed. 
 
 69. Thou unpossessing bastard. " Thus the secret poison 
 in Edmund's own heart steals forth; and then observe poor 
 Gloucester's ' Loyal and natural boy,' as if praising the crime 
 of Edmund's birth " (Coleridge). 
 
 unpossessing : since a bastard cannot inherit. 
 
 75. practice. Cf. note on i. 2. 198. 
 
 77. If they not thought : a common construction in E. E. 
 The auxiliary was not required when the negative* preceded the 
 verb. See Abbott, § 305, and cf. iv. 2. 2. 
 
 79. fastened, determined. 
 
 80. got, i.e. begot. Cf. iii. 4. 151. 
 
 87. capable, legally able to inherit. The New English Dic- 
 tionary gives the following quotation from Guillim's Heraldry 
 (1610), " Bastards are not capable of their fathers patrimony." 
 
150 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 99. consort, company, set; accented on the last syllable. 
 
 101. put on, incited to. 
 
 102. expense, the spending, expenditure. 
 
 103. Regan takes her cue from Goneril. She is perhaps 
 even more repulsive than her sister, for she is cringingly spite- 
 
 ^ ful, and lacks courage as well as initiative. " Regan is not, 
 in fact, a greater monster than Goneril, but she has the power 
 of casting more venom " (Coleridge). 
 
 108. 'Twas my duty : the crowning touch of Edmund's sub- 
 lime hypocrisy. 
 
 109. bewray, reveal, with no sense of perfidy, as now. 
 Cf.. iii. 6. 118. 
 
 his practice, Edgar's plot. 
 
 113. make your own purpose . . . , carry out your own 
 design, availing yourself as you please of my power. 
 
 115. virtue and obedience doth. A singular verb is common 
 in E. E. after two nouns which enforce the same idea or are 
 not meant to be thought of separately. Cf. iii. 4. 150 and 158. 
 
 121-130. Regan interposes to explain on her own account the 
 reason of their visit. It is not necessary to hold that Regan 
 interrupts Cornwall, much less that the interruption is " char- 
 acteristic." She could not behave to Cornwall in the overbear- 
 ing manner that Goneril does to Albany. Cornwall's remark is 
 complete in itself, and Regan merely takes it up and adds to it, 
 as she is the person mainly concerned in their visit. It was to her 
 that both her father and sister had written. Moreover, we are 
 distinctly told in the following scene that it is the Duke's dis- 
 position " not to be rubb'd nor stopp'd." Cf. also ii. 4. 94-96. 
 
 121. threading dark-eyed night. Note the pun. There is 
 another instance of it in King John, v, 4. 11, " Unthread the 
 rude eye of rebellion." 
 
 122. poise, weight, moment. 
 
 125. which. The antecedent is some such word as " letters " 
 
 understood. The relative is used with great freedom in E. E. 
 
 127. attend dispatch, await to be dispatched. Cf. ii. 4. 36. 
 
 SCENE 2 
 
 The events of this scene are not important in themselves, 
 though they emphasize Regan's and Cornwall's hostility to 
 Lear. They are essentially preparatory to the fourth scene 
 of this act. 
 
Scene Two] NOTES 151 
 
 1. dawning, morning. 
 
 9. Lipsbury pinfold. This phrase remains unexplained. 
 The suggestion received with most favor is that " It may be a 
 coined name, and it is just possible that it might mean the teeth, 
 as being the pinfold within the lips "(Nares) ; cf. epKos odbvTuv. 
 This explanation, however, is not entirely satisfactory. There 
 is probably an allusion to some place of which record has been 
 lost. 
 
 16-17. three-suited. . . . Some of Kent's allusions are 
 explained by a passage in Ben Jonson's Silent Woman, iii. 1, in 
 which a rich wife rails at her husband in the following terms : 
 " Who gives you your maintenance, I pray you.^* Who allows 
 you your horse-meat, and man's meat.^ your three suits of 
 apparel a year.'^ your four pair of stockings, one silk, three 
 worsted?" Cf. also Middleton's Phoenix, iv. 3 (quoted by 
 Steevens) : " How's this "^ Am I used like a hundred-pound 
 gentleman .f* " Three-suited, menials being generally allowed 
 three suits a year ; hundred-pound, a term of reproach implying 
 poverty; worsted-stocking, likewise implying poverty or menial 
 employment, silk stockings being invariably worn by people 
 who could afford them. 
 
 18. lily-livered. Cf. iv. 2. 50, " Milk-livered man." The 
 liver being regarded as the seat of courage, a bloodless liver 
 was said to betoken cowardice. Cf. 2 Henry IV, iv. 3. 113: 
 " left the liver white and pale, which is the badge of pusilla- 
 nimity and cowardice." 
 
 action-taking, settling disputes by law rather than by the 
 sword; hence likewise " cowardly," " mean-spirited." 
 
 19. glass-gazing, looking in the mirror, foppish. 
 superserviceable, above his work (Wright). Johnson and 
 
 Schmidt give " over-officious." 
 
 20. one-trunk-inheriting, possessing enough for one trunk 
 only. For inheriting, see Glossary. 
 
 26. addition. See note on i. 1. 138. 
 
 34-35. sop o' the moonshine: perhaps an allusion to an old 
 dish of eggs cooked in oil, called " eggs in moonshine," re- 
 ferred to in Gabriel Harvey's Pierce's Supererogation (1593) and 
 other contemporary works. 
 
 35. cullionly, rascally, wretched, like a cullion. 
 
 35-36. barber-monger, a frequenter of barbers' shops, a fop. 
 
 39. vanity the puppet. " Vanity " was a cbmmon character 
 in the old Moralities. 
 
152 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 41. carbonado, slash, hack; literally, make into a car- 
 bonado, i.e. a piece of flesh cut crosswise and grilled. 
 
 42. come your ways, come on. 
 45. neat, foppish, spruce. 
 
 48. With you. Kent purposely takes Edmund's " matter " 
 in the sense of " cause of quarrel." 
 
 goodman, a familiar name of address, used contemptuously. 
 
 49. flesh, initiate in bloodshed; primarily, to initiate in 
 the taste of flesh, as hunting-dogs. 
 
 59. disclaims in, disowns. 
 
 69-70. zed ! thou unnecessary letter. Cf . Ben Jonson's Eng- 
 lish Grammar (ed. Gifford and Cunningham, iii, p. 435) : " Z is 
 a letter often heard amongst us, but seldom seen," its place 
 being commonly taken in writing by S. The letter Z was 
 often omitted in the dictionaries of the time. 
 
 71. unbolted, i.e. unsifted ; hence, coarse. " Unbolted 
 mortar is mortar made of unsifted lime, and to break the 
 lumps it is necessary to tread it by men in wooden shoes " 
 (Toilet). 
 
 81. intrinse, intricate. 
 
 84. turn their halcyon beaks ... An allusion to the old 
 idea that the kingfisher, if hung up by the neck, always turned 
 so as to face straight against the wind. 
 
 87. epileptic, distorted with a grin. 
 
 88. Smile, smile at. See note on i. 1. 163. 
 
 89-90. Goose . . . Camelot. Large flocks of geese were 
 bred on Sarum Plain near Cadbury, in Somersetshire, the tra- 
 ditional site of Camelot; and defeated knights were required 
 to report at King Arthur's Court there; but the connection 
 between these allusions is obscure, 
 
 98. The keynote of Kent's character, and the source of all 
 his troubles. Cf. ii. 4. 42. 
 
 101. some, with the force of the indefinite article, a survival 
 of the O. E. sum. 
 
 103. constrains the garb Quite from his nature, carries the 
 assumed manner to a wholly unnatural extent. 
 
 107. These kind of knaves. See Kellner, §§ 167-172. 
 
 109. observants, obsequious courtiers. Similarly observance 
 = homage {As You Like It, v. 2. 102), and observe = to show 
 
 respect to, as in "the observed of all observers" {Hamlet^ 
 iii. 1. 162). Note that observants is accented on the first syllable. 
 
 110. nicely, punctiliously. See Glossary. 
 
Scene Two] NOTES 153 
 
 112. aspect, accented on the second syllable, as always in 
 Shakespeare, Both aspect and influence have an astrological 
 reference. 
 
 120. win your displeasure, etc., i.e. win you in your dis- 
 pleasure to ask me to be a plain knave {i.e. a flatterer). 
 
 124. upon his misconstruction, through his misunderstand- 
 ing me. 
 
 125. conjunct, in agreement with him. Cf. v. 1. 12. 
 
 128. worthied him, made him appear worthy. 
 
 129. For him attempting who was self-subdued, for attack- 
 ing one who had not really been subdued by him, but who had 
 fallen. 
 
 130. in the fleshment of, being fleshed with, made eager. 
 Cf. note on 1. 50. 
 
 133. Ajax is their fool : either, Ajax is a fool compared with 
 them, i.e. is outdone by them in bragging; or, a man like the 
 plain, blunt Ajax is the kind of man these rogues and cowards 
 always try to make a fool of. 
 
 145. colour, sort, kind. 
 
 148-152. His fault . . . punish'd with. Omitted in the 
 Ff, which read for 1. 152, " The king his master needs must 
 take it ill." 
 
 161. ruhh'd, hindered, obstructed; a term in the game of 
 bowls, the noun ruh signifying anything that hinders a bowl's 
 course. Cf. King John, iii. 4. 128 : 
 
 " For even the breath of what I mean to speak 
 Shall blow each dust, each straw, each little rub. 
 Out of the path." 
 
 162. watched, kept awake. Cf. " o'er-watch'd," 1. 177. 
 164. out at heels. Cf. " out at elbows." 
 
 167. approve, confirm, prove the truth of. Cf. i. 1. 186. 
 
 168-169. out of heaven's . . . sun, a proverbial expression 
 for a change from better to worse. The earliest known in- 
 stance of it occurs in the Proverbs of John Heywood, 1546 (ed. 
 Sharman, 1874, p. 115) : 
 
 " In your running from him to me, yee runne ' 
 
 Out of God's blessing into the warme sunne." 
 
 Cf. also Lyly's Euphues (ed. Arber, pp. 196 and 320). But 
 the origin of this " common saw " is not known. Hanmer said 
 
\ 
 
 154 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 it was applied to those who are turned out of house and home 
 to the open weather, and Johnson suggested that it was used 
 of men dismissed from a hospital or house of charity. A 
 recent explanation — that " the proverb refers to the haste of 
 the congregation to leave the shelter of the church immediately 
 after the priest's benediction, running from God's blessing into 
 the warm sun " — need net be treated seriously. For the idea 
 of the proverb, cf. Psalms, Hi. 8. 
 
 175-177. Many explanations of this difficult sentence have 
 been suggested. Some hold that the lines are a portion of 
 Cordelia's letter read aloud by Kent. Others correct the 
 syntax, reading " she'll " for " shall " ; and taking " state- 
 seeking " as a compound word. Others, again, accept the in- 
 completeness of the sentence and ascribe it to Kent's being 
 " weary and o'erwatched," the halting syntax indicating that 
 Kent is dropping off to sleep. The text is apparently corrupt, 
 and some words or lines may have been omitted. 
 
 SCENE 3 
 
 " Edgar's assumed madness serves the great purpose of 
 taking off part of the shock which would otherwise be caused 
 by the true madness of Lear " (Coleridge). 
 
 Bedlam beggars or Tom o' Bedlams (i. 2. 148), also known 
 as Abraham-men, were convalescent or harmless patients of 
 Bedlam asylum who were turned out to wander or beg. The 
 custom was in vogue in Shakespeare's time, but appears to 
 have ceased about the middle of the seventeenth century. (See 
 note, iii. 6. 78-79.) The following account of an Abraham-man, 
 quoted by Steevens from Dekker's Bell-man of London, 1608, is 
 an interesting parallel to Shakespeare's description of Edgar: 
 " He sweares he hath been in Bedlam, and will talke fran- 
 tickely of purpose : you see pinnes stuck in sundry places of 
 his naked flesh, especially in his armes, which paine he gladly 
 puts himself to, only to make you believe he is out of his wits. 
 He calls himselfe by the name of Poore Tom, and comming near 
 any body cries out. Poor Tom is a-cold. Of these Abraham-men, 
 some be exceeding merry, and doe nothing but sing songs 
 fashioned out of their own braines : some will dance, others will 
 doe nothing but either laugh or weepe ; others are dogged and 
 so sullen both in loke and speech, that spying but a small 
 company in a house, they boldly and bluntly enter, compelling 
 the servants through fear to give them what they demand." 
 
Scene Four] NOTES 155 
 
 I, 3. proclaim' d, port. Cf. ii. 1. 62 and 82. 
 
 6. am bethought, am minded, intend. 
 
 10. elf, mat, tangle, — as an elf might do. 
 
 17. object, appearance. 
 
 20. Turlygod, apparently a common name for a Bedlam 
 beggar; perhaps an English variation of Turlwpin, the name 
 of a similar class of beggars in France in the fourteenth cen- 
 tury. 
 
 SCENE 4 
 
 This great scene brings us to the crisis of Lear's anguish. 
 Finding Regan and Cornwall unexpectedly absent from their 
 own home, Lear has followed them to Gloucester's castle. 
 
 7. cruel, with a play upon crewel, worsted ; apparently a 
 common pun at the time. 
 
 II. nether-stocks, literally stockings; another pun. Cf. 
 1 Henry IV, ii. 4. 130, " I'll sew nether stocks and mend them 
 and foot them too." Breeches appear to have been called 
 " over-stocks " or " upper-stocks." 
 
 24. upon respect, deliberately, upon consideration. 
 
 25. Resolve, inform, satisfy. Cf. resolution, i. 2. 108. 
 28. commend, deliver. See Glossary. 
 
 33. spite of intermission, though my business was thus 
 interrupted. 
 
 34. on, in accordance with, on the ground of; this sense, 
 which is very common in Shakespeare, arises from the tem- 
 poral sense " immediately after." Cf. iii. 7. 77. 
 
 42. Admirable as is Kent's character in point of honesty and 
 manliness, he is an unfortunate messenger for Lear to have 
 chosen. He has Lear's hastiness and want of tact in an exag- 
 gerated degree, and he only prejudices his master's cause. 
 In a sense all Lear's friends are his enemies, as they play into 
 Goneril's and Regan's hands. 
 
 46-53. Winter's . . . year. Omitted in the Qq. 
 
 52. dolours: another pun, suggested by (money) "bags" 
 in 1. 50. The same pun occurs in The Tempest, ii. 1. 18-19 and 
 Measure for Measure, i. 2. 50. 
 
 54, 55. mother and Hysterica passio were the popular and 
 medical names for the complaint now known as hysteria. The 
 use of these terms was probably suggested by a passage in 
 Harsnet's Declaration of Popish Impostures, 1603, to which 
 Shakespeare is otherwise indebted in this play. Lear's anguish 
 
156 KING LEAR [Act Two 
 
 of heart makes him ascribe to himself the complaint which, 
 according to Harsnet, " riseth of a winde in the bottome of the 
 belly, and proceeding with a great swelling, causeth a very 
 painful collicke in the stomach, and an extraordinary giddiness 
 in the head " (quoted by Bishop Percy). Hence Lear's words, 
 " climbing sorrow " and " swells up towards my heart." 
 
 63. How chance was a common construction in questions 
 for " how chances it that." " Here chance takes no inflection 
 and almost assumes the character of an adverb " ( New Eng. 
 Did.). Cf. Merry Wives, v. 5. 230, " How chance you went 
 not with Master Slender.? " 
 
 68-69. school to an ant . . . winter. See Proverbs, vi. 6-8. 
 A king's followers are only summer friends; Lear has "so 
 small a train " because he is in adversity. 
 
 72. stinking, referring likewise to Lear's adversity. Malone 
 quotes in illustration All's Well, v. 2. 4, etc. : " I am now, sir, 
 muddied in fortune's mood, and smell somewhat strong of her 
 strong displeasure. . . . Truly fortune's displeasure is but 
 sluttish, if it smell so strongly as thou speakest of." 
 
 79. sir, man; frequently so used as a common noun in 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 85-86. After referring to the wise man flying, the Fool adds 
 that the wise man who is such a knave as to run away is in 
 reality a fool, while on the other hand the fool who remains is 
 no knave. The antecedent to that is knave. 
 
 89. Deny, refuse. 
 
 90. fetches, subterfuges, tricks. Note the play on the word 
 in 1. 92. 
 
 106-110. Lear's generous attempt to excuse Cornwall sug- 
 gests that he is mellowing with his misfortunes. The " fiery 
 quality " that he complains of is one of his own strongest char- 
 acteristics, and he himself was " unremovable and fixed " when 
 he disinherited Cordelia and banished Kent. His misfortunes 
 have so far dazed him that he almost seems to be learning self- 
 control. But the sight of Kent, and the thought of the indig- 
 nity thus done him in his messenger, throw him back on his 
 old impetuosity. 
 
 107. office, duty. 
 
 111. more headier. For the double comparative, see note 
 on i. 1. 80. The comparative has here merely an intensive 
 force, " more headier " meaning " very heady," " too heady." 
 Cf. Cymbeline, iii. 4. 164, " the harder heart." Heady = 
 impetuous. 
 
Scene Four] NOTES 157 
 
 112. To take, for taking. This gerundial infinitive is com- 
 mon in E. E. 
 
 115. remotion, removal. 
 
 120. cry sleep to death, put an end to sleep. 
 
 123. cockney, a pampered, aflFected woman. The context 
 suggests that the word is used also in the sense of " cook " ; 
 but there is no evidence to show that it had ever any such mean- 
 ing. See Glossary. 
 
 137. An allusion to the story of Prometheus, who was 
 chained to a rock on Mount Caucasus, where a vulture fed on 
 his liver. 
 
 141-142. The literal meaning is the opposite of what is 
 intended. The sense, however, is clear, — You rather fail to 
 value, are more likely to undervalue. 
 
 142-147. Say, how . . . blame. Omitted in the Qq. 
 
 157. unnecessary, of no account, useless. 
 
 165. top, head. 
 
 young bones, a fairly common phrase in Elizabethan litera- 
 ture for an " unborn child." 
 
 166. taking, malignant, infecting, blasting; " used of the 
 malignant influence of superhuman powers " (Schmidt). Cf. 
 iii. 4. 61, and Hamlet, i. 1. 163: 
 
 " then no planets strike. 
 No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm." 
 
 174. tender-hefted, tenderly fitted, delicately framed. Heft 
 is an old form for haft, a handle. 
 
 181. bond of childhood. Lear himself is now constrained 
 to refer to the " bond of childhood." Cf. Cordelia's words, 
 i. 1. 95. 
 
 182. Effects, manifestations. Cf. i. 1. 133. 
 
 184. So far Regan has said nothing to incense Lear. She 
 has been cold and heartless, but she wants the courage to show 
 herself in her true light before the arrival of her sister. Once 
 she has Goneril's presence to support her, she can screw herself 
 up to actions which are a maddening sequel to the praises 
 Lear has just uttered. 
 
 186. approves. See note on ii. 2. 167. 
 
 194. Allow, approve of. 
 
 " When Lear calls upon the heavens to avenge his cause, 
 * for they are old like him,' there is nothing extravagant or 
 impious in this sublime identification of his age with theirs ; for 
 
\i 
 
 158 KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 there is no other image which could do justice to the agonising 
 sense of his wrongs and his despair" (Hazlitt). 
 
 203. much less advancement, a much less respectable 
 punishment. 
 
 219. sumpter, literally a packhorse; used in the secondary- 
 sense of " drudge." 
 
 248. slack, neglect, be careless in their attendance on. 
 
 259-261. I.e. Goneril, wicked as she is, appears well favored 
 in comparison with Regan; it is something to be said for 
 Goneril that there is another even more wicked. 
 
 267. " Observe that the tranquillity which follows the first 
 stunning of the blow permits Lear to reason " (Coleridge). 
 
 268. superfluous, possessed of more than what is necessary. 
 289. The disjointed syntax, the short words, and their 
 
 directness show Lear's difficulty in expressing himself. In this 
 awful picture of passion the very structure of the lines refiects 
 the incoherence of Lear's rage. He begins by asking Heaven 
 for patience, but in the next breath asks to be touched with 
 noble anger, and, struggling against his gentler impulses, 
 defiantly threatens the " terrors of the earth." 
 
 295. For his particular, as to him himself. Cf. Troilus and 
 Cressida, ii. 2. 9, " As far as toucheth my particular," i.e. as 
 far as I myself am concerned. 
 
 308. a desperate train. Not a fair description of Lear's 
 present attendants, Kent and the Fool. But see iii. 7. 16-17. 
 
 309. incense, incite, provoke. 
 
 ACT III — SCENE 1 
 
 So far, everything has gone well with Regan and Goneril. 
 In this scene we have the first hint of their retribution, in the 
 announcement that the King of France has planned an inva- 
 sion. But though the tide is turning against Regan and 
 Goneril, Lear's lot becomes only more pitiable. The agitation 
 and tempest in his own mind are symbolized in the raging of 
 the elements. 
 
 6. main, apparently in the uncommon sense of mainland, 
 though other instances of this use have been pointed out in 
 E. E., but not in Shakespeare. 
 
 7-15. tears . . . take all. Omitted in the Ff. 
 
 10. little world of man. An allusion to the old theory 
 according to which man — the " microcosm, " gr little world — 
 
Scene Two] NOTES 159 
 
 was an epitome of the universe or great world — the " macro- 
 cosm." This theory was the basis of the astrological belief, 
 so often alluded to in this play, in the connection of the move- 
 ments of the planets with the fortunes of men. 
 
 12. cub-drawn, i.e. " with udders all drawn dry," " sucked 
 and hungry," as in As You Like It, iv. 2, 115, 127. 
 
 18. upon the warrant of my note, on the strength of my 
 information. 
 
 19. dear, important, momentous ; cf. i. 4. 294. 
 
 22-29. who have . . . furnishings. Omitted in the Qq. 
 23-24. who. Which. See Abbott, § 266. 
 
 24. speculations, observers ; an instance of abstract for 
 concrete. Cf. iii, 4. 26. 
 
 25. Intelligent, informative, giving information. Cf. iii. 
 7. 12. 
 
 26. snuffs, resentments, quarrels. " To take in snuff " was 
 a regular phrase (used elsewhere in Shakespeare) for " to take 
 offence at." 
 
 packings, plottings. Cf. packs (confederacies), v. 3. 18, 
 and the use of the verb ( = to arrange or manipulate fraudu- 
 lently), as in the phrases " to pack a jury," " to pack cards." 
 
 29. furnishings, outward signs. 
 
 30-42. But, true . . . to you. Omitted in the Ff. 
 
 43. / will talk further with you. An attempt to postpone or 
 evade the matter. But Kent refuses to be put off. 
 
 47. fear, doubt. Cf. v. 1. 16. 
 
 53-54. in which your pain That way, I'll this, i.e. your work 
 of search lies that way, while I'll go this. 
 
 SCENE 2 
 
 2. hurricanoes, waterspouts. 
 
 3. cocks, weathercocks. 
 
 4. thought-executing, doing execution with the speed of 
 thought. 
 
 8. germens, seeds of life. 
 
 10. court holy-water, a proverbial phrase for flattery, fair 
 words, " soft sawder." Cf. the French eau henite de cour. 
 
 13. here's a night pities. This construction is frequently 
 explained as due to the omission of the relative (see Abbott, 
 § 244) ; but it is really a survival of the construction called 
 &irb KOLvov, in which one subject serves for two predicates, and 
 
160 KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 from which the relative clause was developed. See Kellner, 
 §§ 109-111. Cf. i. 4. 64-65, iii. 4. 110-111, and iv. 3. 34-35. 
 
 18. subscription, submission. Cf. subscribed, i. 2. 24. 
 
 23, battles, battalions, as commonly in E. E. 
 
 27-34. It is difficult to draw a satisfactory meaning from 
 these verses, though the Fool's remarks have generally a deep 
 significance. The best explanation is by that Furness : " A 
 man who prefers or cherishes a mean member in place of a 
 vital one shall suffer enduring pain where others would suffer 
 merely a twinge. Lear had preferred Regan and Goneril to 
 Cordelia." 
 
 48-49. It is too great for man to suffer or to dread. 
 
 54. simular man, i.e. a simulator. This is the reading of the 
 Ff ; the Qq omit man, which makes simular a noun. 
 
 57. practised. See note on i. 2. 198. 
 
 58. concealing continents, shrouds of secrecy. For this 
 use of continent in the sense of " that which contains," cf. 
 Antony and Cleopatra, iv. 14. 40, " Heart, once be stronger 
 than thy continent." 
 
 58-59. cry These dreadful summoners grace. A common 
 construction. Cf. " cry you mercy," iii. 4. 176 and iii. 6. 54. 
 
 grace, mercy. 
 
 60. More sinn'd against than sinning. Cf. the similar 
 statement of (Edipus in the CEdipus Coloneus of Sophocles, 
 U. 266-267 : 
 
 iirel rd y epya fxov 
 
 TreirovObT icrrl fiaXKop t) dedpaKdra. 
 
 (" Since mine acts, at least, have been in suffering rather 
 than in doing.") 
 
 66. Denied, did not allow. Cf. note on ii. 4. 89. 
 
 67. My wits begin to turn. Note the succession of Lear's 
 statements as to his mental condition and their increasing 
 definiteness. In i. 4. 248-249 he says : 
 
 *' Either his notion weakens, his discernings 
 Are lethargied — Ha ! waking .f* 'tis not so " ; 
 
 in i. 5. 50-51 : 
 
 " O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven ! 
 Keep me in temper : I would not be mad ! " : 
 in ii. 4. 221 : 
 
 " I prithee, daughter, do not make me mad " ; 
 
Scene Foub] NOTES 161 
 
 in ii. 4. 289: 
 
 " O fool, 1 shall go mad ! " 
 
 Now he says definitely, " My wits begin to turn." 
 
 74-77. Apparently a variation of the first verse of -the 
 Clown's song at the end of Twelfth Night: 
 
 " When that I was and a little tiny boy. 
 With hey, ho, the wind and the rain, 
 A foolish thing was but a toy. 
 
 For the rain it raineth every day." 
 
 80-95. Omitted in the Qq, and probably an actor's inter- 
 polation. The verses are modelled on some well-known lines 
 commonly called " Chaucer's Prophecy." They are referred 
 to as by Chaucer in Puttenham's Art of English Poesie (ed. 
 Arber, p. 232), but are certainly not his. See Skeat's Chaucer, 
 vol. i, p. 46, where they are reprinted from Caxton. There is 
 in the Bodleian (see Professor Skeat's letter to the Athenoeum, 
 December 19, 1896) a MS. copy of this very prophecy with 
 the heading " Prophecia Merlini doctoris perfecti." In 1 Henry 
 IV, iii. 1. 150, Shakespeare speaks of " the dreamer Merlin 
 and his prophecies." Some of Merlin's prophecies are given 
 in Holinshed. 
 
 SCENE 3 
 
 The Gloucester plot is again taken up and interwoven more 
 closely with the main story. Hitherto Gloucester has only 
 hinted disapproval of Goneril's and Regan's conduct (ii. 4. 303), 
 but now he definitely throws in his lot with Lear. He confides 
 in Edmund, and so plays into the hands of his enemies. The 
 parallelisms in the two stories become more marked. 
 
 13. home, to the utmost, thoroughly. Cf. iii. 4. 16. 
 
 power already footed. See iii. 1. 30-32. 
 
 20. toward, near at hand. Cf. ii. 1. 12. 
 
 22. forbid thee, which you were forbidden to do him. 
 
 SCENE 4 
 
 " O, what a world's convention of agonies is here ! All 
 external nature in a storm, all moral nature convulsed, — the 
 real madness of Lear, the feigned madness of Edgar, the 
 babbling of the Fool, the desperate fidelity of Kent — surely 
 
162 KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 such a scene was never conceived before or since! Take it 
 but as a picture for the eye only, it is more terrific than any 
 which a Michael Angelo, inspired by a Dante, could have 
 conceived, and which none but a Michael Angelo could have 
 executed. Or let it have been uttered to the blind, the bowl- 
 ings of nature would seem converted into the voice of conscious 
 humanity. This scene ends with the first symptoms of posi- 
 tive derangement; and the intervention of the fifth scene is 
 particularly judicious, — the interruption allowing an inter- 
 val for Lear to appear in full madness in the sixth scene " 
 (Coleridge). 
 
 28-36. Lear's affliction incites compassion in him for the 
 poorest of his subjects. The finer elements in his character 
 are brought out by his sufferings. " Expose thyself to feel 
 what wretches feel " is utterly alien to the Lear of the first 
 scene. Compare Gloucester's similar remark after he too has 
 suffered (iv. 1. 70-72). 
 
 31. loop'd, full of holes, loop-holed. Cf . 1 Henry I V, iv. 1. 71 : 
 
 *' Stop all sight-holes, every loop from whence 
 The eye of reason may pry in upon us." 
 
 37. Fathom and half, as if he were taking soundings at 
 sea, the idea being suggested apparently by the rain. 
 
 47. Through the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind. 
 Probably a line from an old song or ballad. Cf. Percy's Friar 
 of Orders Grey, 1. 87. 
 
 48. go to thy cold bed and warm thee. This phrase occurs 
 also in The Taming of the Shrew, Induction, 1. 10. It was 
 apparently proverbial. 
 
 54-55. laid knives . . . pew. This passage likewise (cf. 
 ii. 4. 54-55) seems to owe something to Harsnet's Declaration 
 of Popish Impostures, 1603. Malone quotes from it a story of 
 how an apothecary, in order to tempt a girl to suicide, " hav- 
 ing brought with him ... a new halter, and two blades of 
 knives, did leave the same upon the gallerie floore in her mais- 
 ter's house " ; and how " it was reported that the devil layd 
 them in the gallery that some of those that were possessed 
 might either hang themselves with the halter or kill themselves 
 with the blades." 
 
 58. four-inched, four inches broad. 
 
 59. five wits, not the five senses, but " common wit, imagi- 
 nation, fantasy, estimation, and memory," according to a line 
 
Scene Four] NOTES 163 
 
 in Stephen Hawes's Pastime of Pleasure (quoted by Malone). 
 The two terms are often confounded, but Shakespeare keeps 
 them distinct. Thus Sonnets, cxH : 
 
 " But my five wits nor my five senses can 
 Dissuade one fooHsh heart from serving thee." 
 
 Cf. iii. 6. 60 and Twelfth Night, iv. 2. 92. 
 
 61. star-blasting, being " struck " or bHghted by the influ- 
 ence of the stars. 
 
 taking. See note on ii. 4. 166. 
 
 72. " What a bewildered amazement, what a wrench of the 
 imagination, that cannot be brought to conceive of any other 
 cause of misery than that which has bowed it down, and absorbs 
 all other sorrow in its own ! His sorrow, like a flood, supplies 
 the sources of all other sorrow." And again, " It is the mere 
 natural ebullition of passion, urged nearly to madness, and that 
 will admit no other cause of dire misfortune but its own, which 
 swallows up all other griefs" (Hazlitt). 
 
 77. Pelican daug hters. An allusion to the legend that 
 young pelicans fed upon their parents' blood. The story occurs 
 in the mediaeval Bestiaries, among others in the Ancren Riwle. 
 Cf. Hamlet, iv. 5. 146, and Richard II, ii. 1. 126. A similar 
 allusion occurs in the old play of King Leir: 
 
 " I am as kind as is the pelican 
 
 That kills it selfe to save her yong ones lives." 
 
 78. Pillicock — here suggested by " pelican " — was a term of 
 endearment meaning " my pretty boy." There is perhaps an 
 allusion to the old rhyme : , 
 
 " Pillicock, Pillicock sat on a hill. 
 If he's not gone, he sits there still." 
 
 (Quoted by Collier from Gammer Gurtons Garland.) 
 88. wore gloves in my cap, as his mistress's favors. 
 103. Dolphin my boy. Apparently another allusion to a 
 
 song. The saijie phrase occurs in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew 
 
 Fair, v. 3, " He shall be Dauphin my boy." Steevens adducied 
 
 a stanza from which he said it was taken : 
 
 " Dolphin, my boy, my boy. 
 Cease, let him trot by ; 
 It seemeth not that such a foe 
 From me or you would fly." 
 
164 KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 This was a stanza, he said, from a very old ballad written on 
 some battle fought in France, and repeated to him by an old 
 gentleman. Unfortunately, no trace of this ballad is discover- 
 able. Dolphin is an old form of Dauphin. 
 
 sessa, on ! an exhortation to speed. Cf . iii. 6. 77. 
 
 109. the cat, i.e. the civet-cat. 
 
 116. naughty, bad, disagreeable. See Glossary. 
 
 120. Flibbertigibbet. The name of a fiend, probably sug- 
 gested, like Smulkin, Modo, Mahu, and Frateretto (iii. 6. 7) 
 below, by a passage in Harsnet's Declaration of Popish Impos- 
 tures. The word, however, was fairly common at the time, 
 though in different forms, e.g. " flebergebet," and it was used 
 in the sense of a gossiping or frivolous woman. Cf. Scott's 
 Kenilworth, ch. x. 
 
 122. the web and the pin, an old name for cataract. Cf. 
 Winter's Tale, i. 2. 291 : 
 
 " and all eyes 
 Blind with the web and pin but theirs." 
 
 125. S. Withold, Saint Vitalis, who was invoked against 
 nightmare. The Ff have Swithold, a reading preserved by 
 several editors. 
 
 old, i.e. wold, a down. Old is a common provincial pro- 
 nunciation ; the form is often found in E. E. 
 
 126. nine-fold, " nine familiars, in the form of ' foals ' " 
 (Herford). 
 
 129. aroint thee, begone, away with thee. The origin of 
 the word is unknown. Cf. Macbeth, i. 3. 6. 
 136. wall-newt, the lizard. 
 water, water-newt. 
 
 138. sallets, salads ; a common form in E. E. 
 
 139. ditch-dog, a dead dog thrown into a ditch. 
 
 144-145. A quotation from the romance of Sir Bevis of 
 Hamptoun: 
 
 " Rattes and myce and suche small dere 
 Was his meate that seven yere." 
 
 deer. See Glossary. 
 
 164. prevent, with the old sense of anticipating, and so 
 defeating by forestalling. 
 
 169. He said. See i. 1. 157-159. 
 
 172. outlaw'd from my blood. One of the legal conse- 
 
Scene Six] NOTES 165 
 
 quences of outlawry is " corruption of blood," i.e. inability to 
 inherit or bequeath. Cf. 1 Henry VI, iii. 1. 159 : 
 
 " Our pleasure is 
 That Richard be restored to his blood." 
 
 In Gloucester's words " he sought my life," Edgar has the 
 first explanation of his father's attitude. 
 
 176. O, cry you mercy, I beg your pardon; a common 
 phrase in the Elizabethan dramatists. Cf. iii. 2. 58. 
 
 182. soothe, humor, as frequently in Shakespeare. 
 
 187. Child Rowland . . . These lines may perhaps be 
 taken from the ballad of " Child Rowland and Burd Ellen," 
 fragments of which are given in Child's English and Scottish 
 Ballads, 1861, vol. i. Two of the lines (p. 251) are: 
 
 " With fi, fi, fo, and fum 
 
 I smell the blood of a Christian man." 
 
 For British, see Introduction, p. ix. 
 
 SCENE 5 
 
 Edmund now appears at the height of his villainy and of his 
 fortune. He has already supplanted his elder brother in his 
 father's regard and has been declared heir ; he now supplants 
 his father himself and is made, by Cornwall, Earl of Gloucester. 
 
 3. censured, judged (not necessarily judged adversely). 
 This is the usual meaning in Shakespeare. Cf. the similar 
 tendency in the word criticism. 
 
 4-5. something fears me, frightens me somewhat. 
 
 8. provoking merit, set-a-work . . . , a strenuous merit (in 
 Edgar) incited by a reprehensible badness in Gloucester. 
 
 12. approves him, proves him to be. Cf. note on i. 1. 187. 
 
 intelligent, well-informed, though it may have the same force 
 as in iii. 1. 25 and iii. 7. 12. 
 
 18. Edmund's plans have succeeded. Cf. iii. 2. 24-25. 
 
 21. comforting, assisting. See Glossary. 
 
 SCENE 6 
 
 4. have, plural by attraction. 
 
 7. Frateretto. See note on iii. 4. 120. 
 
 7-8. Nero . . . darkness. Said to be an allusion to Rabe- 
 lais, Gargantua and Pantagruel, ii. 30, where Nero is described as 
 
166 KING LEAR [Act Three 
 
 a fiddler and Trajan as an angler. There is another reference 
 to Rabelais in As You Like It, iii. 2. 238, " You must borrow 
 me Gargantua's mouth." 
 
 8. innocent, a mild term for simpleton, fool. 
 
 13-15. No, he's a yeoman . . . him. Omitted in the Qq. 
 It has been surmised that in writing this passage Shakespeare 
 was humorously thinking of his own experience. In 1599 his 
 family had been granted a coat of arms by the College of 
 Heralds. Probably it was Shakespeare himself who suggested 
 to his father that these insignia of the gentleman be applied 
 for. His father however, does not fall into the Fool's category 
 of " mad yeoman " ; for the application was in John Shake- 
 speare's name, and consequently William was not made " a 
 gentleman before him." 
 
 18-59. The foul fiend . . . let her 'scape? Omitted in the Ff. 
 
 20. horse's health, the horse being specially liable to disease. 
 Cf. Taming of the Shrew, iii. 2. 50-56. 
 
 25-26. Wantest thou eyes. . . . This is a doubtful pas- 
 sage, possibly corrupt. It may mean " Dost thou want to be 
 stared at by the fiend while thou art on trial," or " Canst thou 
 not see the fiend at thy trial ? " 
 
 27. Come o'er the bourn, Bessy. The first line of a ballad 
 by William Birche, written in 1558, the year of the queen's 
 accession, and entitled A Songe betwene ihe Queues Majestie 
 and Englande. It is printed in full in the Harleian Miscellany, 
 vol. X, p. 260, edition of 1813. The first lines are: 
 
 " Come over the born, Bessy, 
 Come over the born, Bessy, 
 Swete Bessey come over to me." 
 
 bourn, brook ; a variant of burn. 
 
 32. Hopdance : probably suggested by " Hoberdidance," 
 the name of another fiend in Harsnet's Declaration. Hobbidi- 
 dance (iv. 1. 62) apparently is another form of the same word. 
 
 33. white herring, fresh herring. 
 40. Bench, sit on the judge's bench. 
 
 43-46. Steepest or wakest thou . . .? Apparently another 
 snatch of a song. 
 
 45. minikin, dainty, pretty. 
 
 47. Pur! Perhaps only an imitation of the noise made by a 
 cat, though, as Malone pointed out, Purre is the name of on(^ 
 of the devils mentioned in Harsnet's book. 
 
Scene Six] NOTES 167 
 
 54-55. / took you for a joint-stool, a proverbial expression, 
 of which the precise meaning is not now known. 
 
 57. store. Some editions read " stone," others " stuff." 
 
 60. five wits. See note on iii. 4. 59. 
 
 61-62. See ii. 4. 233 and 274, and iii. 2. 37. 
 
 65. " When he exclaims in the mad scene ' The little dogs ' 
 etc., it is passion lending occasion to imagination to make 
 every creature in league against him, conjuring up ingratitude 
 and insult in their least-looked-for and most galling shapes, 
 searching every thread and fibre of his heart, and finding out 
 the last remaining image of respect or attachment in the bottom 
 of his breast only to torture and kill it ! " And again, " All 
 nature was, as he supposed, in a conspiracy against him, and 
 the most trivial and insignificant creatures concerned in it were 
 the most striking proofs of its malignity and extent " (Hazlitt). 
 
 72. brack: cf. note on i. 4. 125. 
 
 lym, a bloodhound ; called also a lyam or lime-hound, " from 
 the learn or leash in which he was held till he was let slip." 
 
 73. trundle-tail, a dog with a curled tail. 
 
 78-79. tky korn is dry. The allusion is explained by the fol- 
 lowing passage in Aubrey's Natural History of Wiltshire (quoted 
 by Halliwell-Phillipps) : " Till the breaking out of the Civill 
 Warres, Tom o' Bedlams did trauell about the countery. They 
 had been poore distracted men that had been putt into Bedlam, 
 where recovering to some sobernesse, they were licentiated to 
 goe a begging. . . . They wore about their necks a great horn 
 of an oxe in a string or bawdric, which, when they came to an 
 house for almes, they did wind ; and they did putt the drink 
 given them into this horn, whereto they did putt a stopple." 
 Edgar's meaning, of course, is that he has come to the end of 
 his role. 
 
 85. Persian, i.e. rich and gorgeous ; spoken ironically. Cf. 
 Horace's " Persicos apparatus," Odes, i. 38. 
 
 92. I'll go to bed at noon. The Fool's last speech, by some 
 critics supposed to mean that he feels a premonition of death, 
 
 102. Stand in assured loss, will assuredly be lost. Cf. 1. 
 107, stand in hard cure, will be hard to cure, is almost incurable ; 
 ii. 4. 261, iv. 1. 4, etc. In this common idiom stand is an em- 
 phatic substitute for the auxiliary. 
 
 104-108. Oppressed . . . bekind. Omitted in the Ff. 
 
 105. sinews : used in the sense of nerves. Cf. Venus and 
 Adonis, 903, " A second fear through all her sinews spread." 
 
168 KING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 109-122. When we . . . lurk. This soliloquy is not in the 
 Ff. Its genuineness has been doubted on the score of its 
 style. In point of its rhythm and verse mechanism generally, it 
 is inferior to the other rhymed passages in this play. But, on 
 the other hand, it has much closer connection with the action 
 of the play than an interpolation would be likely to have, and 
 certain parts, e.g. " he childed as I father' d," are undoubtedly 
 in the Shakespearean manner. The inferiority of the opening 
 lines prejudices us against the passage, but there is nothing to 
 disprove its genuineness. 
 
 117. He childed as I father' d, even as he had cruel children, 
 so I had a cruel father. 
 
 118. bewray. Cf. ii. 1. 109, " Show thyself when false opinion, 
 which now does thee wrong, thinks of thee justly and recalls 
 thee to reconciliation." 
 
 121. What will hap more, whatever else happens. 
 
 SCENE 7 
 
 vt 
 
 The Gloucester plot again supplements the main story. The 
 yillainy of Edmund is at last unmasked, but not until Glouces- 
 er, like Lear, has suffered by filial treachery. His mutila- 
 tion on the stage has been the subject of much criticism. 
 Johnson considered it " an act too horrid to be endured in 
 dramatic exhibition " ; and Coleridge declared that " in this 
 one point the tragic in this play has been urged beyond the 
 outermost mark and ne plus ultra of the dramatic." There 
 is no denying the repulsiveness of the blinding of Gloucester. 
 It is no extenuation that there are other instances, as several 
 editors point out, of mutilation on the Elizabethan stage. Yet 
 it may be urged that a bold and direct treatment of this second 
 case of barbarity was necessary after the terrible scene on the 
 heath, as a bare narration of it would not, under the circum- 
 stances, have conveyed an adequate impression. 
 
 11. bound, ready, prepared ; as perhaps also in 1. 8. 
 
 13. my lord of Gloucester, Edmund's new title (see iii. 
 5. 18-19) ; purposely contrasted with Oswald's use of the 
 title. 
 
 17. questrists, searchers ; not found again in Shakespeare. 
 
 18. lords dependants. Some editors read lord's dependants, 
 i.e. Gloucester's dependants. The reading in the text means 
 lords dependent directly upon Lear. 
 
Scene One] NOTES 169 
 
 24. pass upon, pass sentence upon. Cf. Measure for Measure, 
 ii. 1. 19, " The jury, passing on the prisoner's life." 
 29. corky, shrivelled, withered with age. 
 
 39. quicken, come to life. 
 
 40. favours, features : " the features of your host." See 
 Glossary. 
 
 32. simple, straightforward. This is the reading of the 
 Qq ; the Ff read simple-answer d. 
 47. set down, written. 
 54. / am tied to the stake. Cf . Macbeth, v. 7. 1-2 : 
 
 " They have tied me to a stake : I cannot fly. 
 But, bear-like, I must fight the course." 
 
 The course is a technical term in bear-baiting for each attack 
 of the dogs ; cf. " round " in boxing, " bout," etc. 
 
 56-66. Gloucester is turned to bay. 
 
 57. Pluck out his . . . eyes. One of the most striking of 
 the many instances of dramatic irony in the play. Gloucester 
 unwittingly mentions his own fate. 
 
 63. stern. The Qq have dearn, — an obsolete word mean- 
 ing dark, drear, dire, — which occurs also in Pericles, iii. 15. 
 
 65. All cruels else subscribed (the Quarto reading), probably 
 " all their other cruelties being forgiven." Cruels is an instance 
 of the Elizabethan use of an adjective as a noun ; see Kellner, 
 § 236. Subscribed, yielded, hence condoned, forgiven ; cf . i. 2. 
 24. The Ff read : All cruels else subscribe, probably meaning 
 " All other cruel creatures, except you, forgive." 
 
 87-90. The climax of Gloucester's agony and of Regan's 
 brutality. 
 
 89. overture, disclosure. 
 
 92. prosper. Cf. the transitive use in iv. 6. 30. 
 
 99-107. ril never . . . help him. Omitted in the Ff. 
 
 lOl. old, usual, natural. 
 
 106. flax and white of eggs, a common application at that 
 time for wounds. 
 
 ACT IV — SCENE 1 
 
 This scene is a direct sequel to the closing passage of the 
 previous act. The help that Edgar gives to his father, who 
 is in a sense the cause of the sufferings of both, is an exact 
 counterpart to Cordelia's solicitude for Lear. 
 
170 KING LEA.R [Act Pour 
 
 1. known to be, conscious of being. 
 
 6. laughter, i.e. a happy or better condition. 
 
 6-9. Welcome . . . blasts. Omitted in the Qq. 
 
 22. Our means secure us, etc. Our resources make us 
 confident and careless, and our unalloyed defects prove our 
 benefits. For this common E. E. sense of secure, cf. Othello, 
 i. 3. 10, " I do not so secure me in the error," and for com- 
 modities, cf . 2 Henry I V, i. 2. 278, " I will turn diseases to 
 commodity." 
 
 24. abused, deceived. Cf. iv. 7. 53, 77, and v. i. 11. This 
 sense is retained in the negative disabuse. 
 
 54. daub it further, keep up the disguise. 
 
 62. Obidicut, probably suggested by Hoberdicut, one of 
 Harsnet's fiends. 
 
 Hobbididance. See note on iii. 6. 32. 
 
 64. mopping and mowing, making grimaces ; the two words 
 are practically synonymous. Cf. The Tempest, iv. 1. 47, 
 " Will be here with mop and mow." Malone quotes from 
 Harsnet, " If she have a little helpe of the mother, epilepsie, or 
 cramp, to teach her . . . make antike faces, grinne, mow and 
 mop hke an ape, then no doubt the young girle is owleblasted 
 and possessed." 
 
 71. slaves, treats as a slave, makes subservient to his desire. 
 
 This passage is Gloucester's counterpart to Lear's utterance 
 on pomp, iii. 4. 33-36. 
 
 SCENE 2 
 
 V^ The clue to the denouement is now given in thevadulterous 
 love of Goneril for Edmund, j and in the conduct\f Albany. 
 When we last saw Albany (ii 4) he appeared in an unfavor- 
 able light as a passive witness of his wife's schemes, or at best 
 only able to hint his disapproval; and in this scene Goneril 
 begins by treating him as a " milk-livered man." But the 
 monstrous conduct of Goneril at last awakens him to think for 
 himself and to take up firmly a line of his own. 
 
 2. Not met us. Cf. 1. 53 and ii. 1. 77. 
 
 12. cowish, cowardly. 
 
 14-15. Our wishes, etc. The wishes we expressed on the way 
 hither may be realized. 
 
 28. My fool usurps my body. The reading of the Ff. There 
 are three distinct readings of this phrase in the Qq. Ql, un- 
 corrected, has " My foot usurps my body " ; Ql, corrected. 
 
Scene Two] NOTES 171 
 
 has " A fool usurps my bed ; " while Q2 reads " My foot usurps 
 my head." 
 
 29. Goneril refers to Albany's indifference to her. This 
 proverbial expression is given in the Proverbs of John Heywood, 
 1546, " It is ... A poor dog that is not worth the whistling " 
 (ed. Sharman, 1874, p. 76). 
 
 31-50. I fear . . . deep. Omitted in the Ff. 
 
 31. fear, fear for. Cf. Richard III, i. 1. 137, " his physicians 
 fear him mightily." 
 
 32. it. See note on i. 4. 236. 
 
 33. border'd certain, contained with certainty. 
 
 34. sliver, break off, strip off. Cf. Macbeth, iv. 1. 28, 
 
 " slips of yew 
 Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse." 
 
 39. savour, have a relish for. 
 
 42. head-lugg'd, drawn by the head. 
 
 50. Milk-liver' d. See note on ii. 2. 18. 
 
 53-59. that not knows't . . . doe she so. Omitted in the 
 Ff. 
 
 54. villains. Probably an allusion to Lear ; possibly to Al- 
 bany, France, or Gloucester. 
 
 58. moral, moralizing. Cf. the use of moral as a verb in As 
 You Like It, ii. 7. 29, 
 
 " I did hear 
 The motley fool thus moral on the time." 
 
 59-67. Albany's violent speeches are obscure. Some 
 scholars believe that he speaks of Goneril inconsistently, — 
 first as a woman who has taken on a fiendish shape (" bemon- 
 stering " her " feature "), and then as a fiend in woman's shape. 
 Others believe that throughout he addresses her as a fiend who 
 has " self-covered " himself in the inappropriate form of 
 woman. The following notes are in harmony with the latter 
 view. 
 
 60. Proper deformity seems not in the fiend, deformity 
 seems not so horrid in a fiend, because proper to his immoral 
 character, as it seems in a woman. 
 
 62-69. Omitted in the Ff. 
 
 63. Be-monster not thy feature, do not take on the outward 
 form of a woman, unnatural to a devil. 
 
 Were't my fitness, were it fit for me, a man. 
 
172 KING LEAR [Apt Four 
 
 65. apt, ready. 
 
 68. your manhood! mew! The uncorrected sheetk^of the 
 Ql and Q2 read your manhood now, — a reading adopted by 
 some editors ; the corrected sheets read your manhood mew, — 
 explained as " suppress, restrain your manhood." The reading in 
 the text, your manhood! mew! is that given in the second edition 
 of the Cambridge Shakespeare (1891), in accordance with a sug- 
 gestion in Mr. Daniel's introduction to the facsimile reprint of Q 1 
 (1885). Here mew is an interjection of disgust and contempt. 
 There are many contemporary instances of it. 
 
 73. remorse, pity, as generally in Shakespeare. 
 
 74. bending, turning, directing; cf. ii. 1. 48. 
 79. nether, earthly. 
 
 83. One way, in so far as Cornwall has been got out of the 
 road — an idea to which she reverts in 11. 86-87, "another way, 
 the news is not so tart." 
 
 85. all the building in my fancy, all my castles in the air. 
 The fact that she is a widow and that Gloucester is with her may 
 frustrate all my hopes and make life hateful to me. 
 
 91. back, i.e. going back. 
 
 SCENE 3 
 
 This scene is omitted in the Ff . It is accordingly not essential 
 to the development of the plot. But it stands in dramatic con- 
 trast to the previous scene, while the description of Cordelia's 
 grief on learning what has happened is one of the most beautiful 
 of the gentler passages in the play. 
 
 21. Were like, a better way, were like sunshine and rain, 
 but in a more beautiful manner. Several explanations and 
 emendations of this difficult phrase have been given. War- 
 burton reads " like a wetter May," and Malone, " like a better 
 May; " but neither of these gives better sense than the original 
 reading. Many editors omit the comma after " like." 
 
 33. clamour moisten' d, i.e. tears succeeded her cries of 
 indignation at her sisters. This is Capell's emendation of the 
 Quarto reading. And clamour moistened, her. 
 
 34-37. A recurrence to the astrological theories expressed 
 earlier in the play by Gloucester. 
 
 36. self, i.e. self-same. This adjectival use of " self," which 
 is a survival from O. E., was still common in Shakespeare's 
 time. 
 
Scene Five] NOTES 173 
 
 44. elbows, jostles, torments ; literally, " thrusts with the 
 elbow." 
 
 46. foreign casualties, hazards abroad. 
 
 53. dear, important. See note on i. 4. 294 and on iii. 1. 19. 
 
 SCENE 4 
 
 This scene likewise does not further the action of the drama ; 
 but it reintroduces Cordelia, who has not appeared since the 
 very first scene. 
 
 4. hor-docks, the reading of the Qq ; the Ff have hardokes 
 and hardocks. The plant has not been identified. Many edi- 
 tions adopt the emendation burdocks. 
 
 cuckoo-flowers, a name given to several wild flowers which 
 bloom when the cuckoo is heard ; here probably the cowslip. 
 
 6. century. Generally defined as " a troop of a hundred 
 men," as in Coriolanus, i. 7. 3. But century was an old variant 
 of sentry — the Neio English Dictionary cites an example of this 
 form as late as 1759 — and this is perhaps the meaning of the 
 word here. 
 
 10. helps, cures; a common meaning in E. E. and later. Cf. 
 Tennyson's Locksley Hall, 1. 105 : 
 
 " But the jingling of the guinea helps the hurt that 
 Honour feels." 
 
 15. anguish : used commonly in E. E. of physical as well as of 
 mental suffering. Cf. iv. 6. 6. 
 
 26. important, importunate. Cf. Much Ado, ii. 1. 73-75, " if 
 the prince be too important, tell him there is measure in every 
 thing." 
 
 SCENE 5 
 
 This scene likewise does not advance the plot ; but it prepares 
 us for the denouement by showing theLincreasing jealousy of 
 Goneril and Regan. J 
 
 13. nighted, benighted, darkened. 
 
 18. The fidelity of Oswald to Goneril is the only thing 
 that at all relieves the utter baseness and blackness of his 
 character. 
 
 25. ceillades, amorous glances. See Glossary. 
 
 29. take this note, take note of this. 
 
174 KING LEAR [Act Four 
 
 SCENE 6 
 
 This important scene is divided roughly into three parts. 
 The jfirst, which contains the famous description of Dover Cliff, 
 is a direct continuation of the opening scene of this act; the 
 second brings into comparison Lear and Gloucester in the 
 height of their suffering; and the third, unhke the others, is 
 devoted mainly to the unravelling of the plot. 
 
 10. better spoken. See note on i. 1. 275. 
 
 11-24. The following criticism of the description of Dover 
 Cliff was made by Johnson : " The description is certainly not 
 mean, but I am far from thinking it wrought to the utmost ex- 
 cellence of poetry. He that looks from a precipice finds himself 
 assailed by one great and dreadful image of irresistible destruc- 
 tion. But this overwhelming idea is dissipated and enfeebled 
 from the instant that the mind can restore itself to the observa- 
 tion of particulars, and diffuse its attention to distinct objects. 
 The enumeration of the choughs and crows, the samphire-man, 
 and the fishers counteracts the great effect of the prospect, as it 
 peoples the desert of intermediate vacuity, and stops the mind in 
 the rapidity of its descent through emptiness and horror." A 
 similar opinion is recorded by Boswell in his Life of Johnson. 
 " No, Sir; it should be all precipice — all vacuum. The crows 
 impede your falL The diminished appearance of the boats, and 
 other circumstances, are all very good description, but do not 
 impress the mind at once with the horrible idea of immense 
 height. The impression is divided; you pass on, by compu- 
 tation, from one stage of the tremendous space to another." 
 
 This criticism amounts simply to a condemnation of the 
 " romantic " method of description. The " classical" manner 
 for which Johnson here pleads aims at a unity of impression 
 by means of generalized statements. Avoiding the mention of 
 particulars, so as not to give them undue importance or to take 
 away from the general effect, it leaves these particulars' to be 
 filled in by the reader's imagination. The romantic manner, 
 on the other hand, follows an opposite course, and trusts to 
 particulars as a means of conveying the general impression. 
 There can be no question which manner is the more vivid in 
 its effect, and accordingly better suited for the drama. A 
 generalized description could present only a vague image of 
 altitude. It would never make us feel the giddy height. 
 
 16. samphire, sea-fennel, an herb which grows on cliffs and 
 
Scene Six] NOTES 175 
 
 is used for pickling. The gathering of samphire was a regular 
 trade in Shakespeare's time, and Dover Cliff appears to have 
 been particularly famous for the herb. Cf. Drayton's Poly^ 
 olbion, the Eighteenth Song (Spenser Society Publications, 1889, 
 p. 300) : 
 
 " Rob Dovers neighboring cleeues of sampyre, to excite 
 His dull and sickly taste, and stirre vp appetite." 
 
 The common Elizabethan spelling was sampire (so the Qq and 
 Ff). 
 
 19. cock, i.e. cock-boat. 
 
 21. unnumber'd, innumerable. See note on i. 1. 262. 
 
 28. another purse. See iv. 1. 67. 
 
 33-34. Note the confusion of constructions. 
 
 39. My snuff, the useless remnant of my life. The metaphor 
 is taken from the smoking wick of a candle. 
 
 42-43. The illusion of death may actually cause death. For 
 conceit, see Glossary. 
 
 46. Edgar here assumes a different character, and pretends 
 that he has come upon Gloucester at the bottom of the cliff. 
 
 47. pass, i.e. pass away. Cf. v. 3. 313. 
 53. at each, one on the top of the other. 
 
 57. bourn, boundary, i.e. to the sea. 
 
 58. a-height, i.e. on high, aloft. 
 shrill-gorged, shrill-throated. 
 
 L 71. whelk'd, rugged as with whelks. 
 
 r 72. father, a term of address to an old man, though used by 
 Edgar to insinuate his relationship. See v. 3. 192. 
 
 73. clearest, most pure, as frequently in Shakespeare. Cf. 
 The Tempest, iii. 3. 82, " a clear life." 
 
 81. The safer sense, i.e. sanity; safer = sounder, saner. 
 
 87-93. Lear's thought wanders from collecting recruits 
 (" pre^-money ") to archery, then to mouse-catching, then to 
 battle, then back again to archery and hawking, and then to 
 sentry duty. 
 
 88. crow-keeper, one who keeps crows off fields. The 
 comparison to a crow-keeper appears to have been common 
 in describing an awkward archer ; cf . Ascham, Toxophilus 
 (ed. Arber, p. 145), " An other coureth downe, and layeth out 
 his buttockes, as though he shoulde shoote at crowes." 
 
 88-89. clothier's yard, a " cloth-yard shaft," a common name 
 for an arrow of the long-bow. Cf. the ballad of Chevy Chase: 
 
176 KING LEAR [Act Foub 
 
 " An arrow that a cloth-yarde was lang 
 To the harde stele halyde he." 
 
 Cf. also The Lay of the Last Minstrel, iv. 15. 
 
 92. brown bills, halberds painted brown, used by foot- 
 soldiers. 
 
 clout, the mark shot at in archery. Cf. Love's Labour's Lost, 
 iv. 1. 136, " Indeed, a' must shoot nearer, or he'll never hit the 
 clout." 
 
 98-99. had white hairs, etc., had the wisdom of age while yet 
 a boy. 
 
 108. trick, characteristic, peculiarity. 
 
 111. What was thy cause? What were you accused oi? 
 
 137. piece, equivalent to " masterpiece." Cf. The Tempest, 
 i. 2. 56, " Thy mother was a piece of virtue " ; and Antony 
 and Cleopatra, v. 2. 99, " to imagine An Antony, were nature's 
 piece 'gainst fancy." 
 
 140. squiny, squint, make eyes at. Lear does not yet re- 
 cognize that Gloucester is blind. He is incapable in his mad- 
 ness of sympathizing with, or even appreciating, Gloucester's 
 fate. 
 
 148. are you there with me ? is that what you mean .? 
 
 157-158. handy-dandy. A children's game in which the on- 
 lookers are asked to say in which hand an object, that has 
 frequently been changed from one hand to the other, finally 
 remains ; hence equivalent here to " choose which you will." 
 
 169-174. Plate sin . . . lips. Omitted in the Qq. 
 
 172. able, warrant, vouch for. 
 
 187. The " reason " in Lear's madness is but fitful. He has 
 no sooner begun to moralize to Gloucester on the folly of this 
 world than his thoughts again wander. 
 
 this', this is. 
 
 block, probably the shape of a hat ; hence the succeeding 
 thought, the hat being of felt. 
 
 199. a man of salt, i.e. a man of tears. Cf. Hamlet, i. 2. 
 154, " the salt of most unrighteous tears " ; and Coriolanus, 
 V. 6. 93, " for certain drops of salt." 
 
 212. speed you, i.e. God speed you. 
 
 214. vulgar, commonly known. 
 
 217. the main descry, etc., the appearance of the main body 
 is hourly expected. 
 
 226. art, acquired faculty, experience. 
 
Scene Seven] NOTES 177 
 
 feeling, heartfelt; a quasi-passive sense. 
 
 227. pregnant, ready, disposed. Cf. ii. 1. 78. 
 
 228. biding, i.e. biding-place. 
 
 230. To boot, and boot. " By the repetition Gloucester 
 wishes to convey both meanings of ' to boot,' in addition (to my 
 thanks) and (the bounty of heaven) be your help" (Herford). 
 
 231. framed, formed. 
 
 233. thyself remember, remember and confess thy sins. 
 
 240. Edgar adopts the Somersetshire dialect. It is com- 
 monly put into the mouths of rustics in the Elizabethan drama. 
 Chill is a contraction of " ich will," chud of " ich would " ; while 
 the V in vurther, voile, etc. represents the southwestern pro- 
 nunciation of /. Che vor ye stands for " I warn you," and ise 
 for " I shall." 
 
 247. costard, a humorous term for the head, literally a' large 
 kind of apple. Cf. the modern " nut." 
 
 ballow, cudgel ; a dialectal word. 
 
 251. foins, thrusts in fencing. 
 
 256. British. So the Qq. The Ff read " English." Cf. 
 iii. 4. 189. 
 
 264. Leave, by your leave. A similar expression occurs in 
 Cymheline, iii. 2. 35, " Good wax, thy leave," and in Twelfth 
 Night, ii. 5. 103, " By your leave, wax." 
 
 275. servant, a regular term for a lover. 
 
 278. undistinguish'd space, undefinable scope. See note on 
 i. 1. 262. 
 
 will, desire. 
 
 281. rake up, cover over, bury. 
 
 284. death-practised, whose death was plotted. See note on 
 i. 2. 198. 
 
 286. ingenious, sensitive, lively. 
 
 SCENE 7 
 
 This is another of the great scenes of the play. In point of 
 bearing on the action of the drama, it is less important than 
 i. 4 or ii. 4, the scenes with which it ranks in dramatic power. 
 But the play contains no more affecting picture than that of 
 Cordelia's care for Lear, his restoration to reason in her presence, 
 and his recognition of her. 
 
 6. suited, clothed. 
 
 7. memories, memorials ; abstract for concrete. 
 
178 KING LEAR [Act Five 
 
 9. Yet to he known shortens . . . , to be known as yet would 
 impair the plan I have made. 
 
 17. child-changed, changed by the conduct of his children. 
 
 24. temperance, calmness. 
 
 38. Against, at, before, over against ; as commonly in E. E. 
 
 42. aZZ, altogether; used adverbially. Cf. i. 1. 102. 
 
 47. that, so that. 
 
 53. abused, deceived. Cf. 1. 77 and iv. 1. 24. 
 
 65. mainly, perfectly. See Glossary. 
 
 67. nor . . . not, one of the commonest forms in E. E. of 
 the double negative. Cf. v. 3. 290. 
 
 70. " The ' so I am ' of Cordelia gushes from her heart like 
 a torrent of tears, relieving it of a weight of love and of sup- 
 posed ingratitude which had pressed upon it for years " 
 (Hazlitt). 
 
 80. even o'er, account for, fill in fully, remember clearly. 
 The metaphor is apparently from the language of accountants. 
 Craig compares Macbeth, v. 8. 60-62 : 
 
 " We shall not spend a large expense of time 
 Before we reckon with your several loves. 
 And make us even with you." 
 
 85-97. Holds it true . . . fought. Omitted in the Ff, 
 like the concluding lines of iii. 7. 
 
 91. It will be remembered that Kent had declared his inten- 
 tion to " shape his old course in a country new " (i. 1. 190). 
 
 96. periody end aimed at. Cf. Henry VIII, i. 2. 209, 
 
 " There's his period. 
 To sheathe his knife in us." 
 
 ACT V — SCENE 1 
 
 This scene is a preparation for the catastrophe. I It shows 
 how the evildoers are hastening to their destruction! What- 
 ever Albany's sympathy for Lear, he has to oppose tafe French 
 invasion; but his life is plotted against by Edmund, whose 
 patriotism is subordinate to his ambition to assume the su- 
 preme power ; jfand Goneril and Regan are now so bitterly di- 
 vided by jealousy of Edmund that the issue of the battle is to 
 them of secondary interest. 
 
 4. constant pleasure, fixed, final resolve. Cf. i. 1. 44. 
 
Scene Two] NOTES 179 
 
 13. bosom' d, in her confidence. Cf. iv. 5. 26. 
 
 as far as we call hers, as far as anything is hers ; to the 
 utmost. 
 
 16. Fear, doubt. Cf. iii. 1. 47, and contrast iii. 5. 4 and 
 iv. 2. 31. 
 
 23-27. Where I could not he honest, etc. In these words 
 Albany gives the explanation of his weakness at the beginning 
 of the play. But he is not the weak character that Goneril 
 thought him, or that he is so often said to be. 
 
 26. holds, emboldens : " not in so far as France emboldens 
 {i.e. supports) the king." 
 
 32. ancient of war, experienced soldiers, veterans. 
 
 36. convenient, befitting, expedient. 
 
 50. o'erlook, i.e. " look o'er." Cf. i. 2. 40. 
 
 54. greet the time, meet the occasion. 
 
 56. jealous, suspicious. 
 
 61. carry out my side, succeed in my plan, win my object. 
 The metaphor is taken from games. Mason quotes from Mas- 
 singer's Great Duke of Florence (iv. 2) : 
 
 " If I hold your cards, I shall pull down the side ; 
 I am not good at the game." 
 
 68. Shall, i.e. they shall. Cf. i. 1. 213. 
 
 69. Stands on me, requires me. See note, iii. 6. 102. 
 
 SCENE 2 
 
 Mr. Spedding suggested {New Shalspere Society's Transac- 
 tions, 1877-1879, pt. i) that the acts of King Lear have been 
 wrongly divided, and that the fourth act ends at the fourth line 
 of this scene. According to his arrangement, the battle would 
 take place between the fourth and fifth acts. He was prompted 
 to this suggestion by the unsatisfactory description of the battle 
 compared with other similar descriptions in Shakespeare. " In 
 other cases a few skilful touches bring the whole battle before 
 us — a few rapid shiftings from one part of the field to another, 
 a few hurried greetings of friend or foe, a few short passages 
 of struggle, pursuit, or escape, give us token of the conflict 
 which is raging on all sides ; and, when the hero falls, we feel 
 that his army is defeated. A page or two does it ; but it is 
 done." But in this scene " the army so long looked for, and 
 on which everything depends, passes over the stage, and all 
 
180 KING LEAR [Act Five 
 
 our hopes and sympathies go with it. Four lines are spoken. 
 The scene does not change ; but ' alarums ' are heard, and 
 • afterwards a retreat,' and on the same field over which that 
 great army has this moment passed, fresh and full of hope, 
 reappears, with tidings that all is lost, the same man who last 
 left the stage to follow and fight in it." The suggested re- 
 arrangement is plausible, for it would remove the defects 
 alluded to without altering a word of the text. But there is 
 nothing to show that the scene is not as Shakespeare left it. 
 A fuller description of the battle would have tended to divert 
 the attention from the main interest of the story. Indeed the 
 dramatic purpose would have been as adequately fulfilled by 
 a bare narration of the result of the battle. Moreover, the 
 circumstances of the play demand the sympathy of the audi- 
 ence for the French army rather than for the British, and the 
 sturdy Elizabethan patriotism probably weighed with Shake- 
 speare in making the description so meager. 
 
 11. Ripeness, readiness. Cf. Hamlet, v. 2. 234, " if it be 
 not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all." 
 
 SCENE 3 
 
 " The wheel is come full circle." All the chief characters, 
 who, contrary to Shakespeare's general custom, had been 
 brought on to the stage at the very beginning of the play to 
 participate in an event on which the whole play turns, re- 
 appear in this last scene to " taste the wages of their virtue 
 and the cup of their deservings." The denouement, as in so 
 many of Shakespeare's plays, is rapidly achieved, and some- 
 what resembles, with its bustle and wealth of incident, the 
 closing scene of Hamlet; and, as in Hamlet, the guiltless fall 
 with the guilty. 
 
 2. their greater pleasures, the wills of these greater personso 
 
 3. censure, pass sentence on. See note on iii. 5. 3. 
 18. packs, confederacies. See note on iii. 1. 26. 
 
 23. fire us hence like foxes. An allusion to the practice of 
 smoking foxes out of their holes. 
 
 24. good-years. See Glossary. 
 
 35. write happy, call yourself happy. Cf. All's Well, ii. 3. 
 208, " I must tell thee, sirrah, I write man." 
 
 49. To pluck . . . side, to win the affection of the common 
 people. 
 
Scene Three] NOTES 181 
 
 50. impress'd, pressed into our service. 
 
 lances, i.e. lancers. 
 
 65. immediacy, close connection with nothing intervening, 
 i.e. direct tenure of authority. 
 
 68. addition, title. Cf. i. 1. 138. 
 
 72. That eye, etc. " Alluding to the proverb : ' Love being 
 jealous makes a good eye look asquint' " (Steevens). 
 
 74. stomach. The stomach was supposed to be the seat of 
 anger, as the liver was of courage (ii. 2. 18). Cf. Titus An- 
 dronicus, iii. 1. 234, " To ease their stomachs with their bitter 
 tongues." 
 
 76. the walls are thine: apparently a metaphor signifying 
 complete surrender. Wright thinks the words refer to Regan's 
 castle, mentioned in 1. 245. Theobald conjectured " they are 
 all thine." 
 
 79. The let-alone, the prohibition. As events prove, Goneril 
 has already taken means to frustrate Regan's wishes. 
 
 103. virtue, valor, as frequently in E. E. Cf. Latin virtus. 
 
 124. cope, commonly used transitively in E. E., as here. 
 
 129. I.e. It is my privilege, as I am a knight, to engage you, 
 who are a traitor. 
 
 132. fire-new, brand-new ; fresh from the fire or forge. 
 
 137. descent, " that to which one descends, the lowest part " ; 
 the only known instance of this use. 
 
 138. toad-spotted, treasonable as the toad is spotted. 
 
 143. say, proof. See Glossary. 
 
 144. nicely. See Glossary. 
 
 Edmund's character is not all bad. He could have refused to 
 fight a nameless antagonist, but he manfully will not avail him- 
 self of this excuse. His subsequent statement, " Some good I 
 mean to do, despite of mine own nature," is not out of keeping 
 with his character, as it would have been with Goneril's or 
 Regan's. Great as is his villainy, he had to some extent been 
 prompted to it by the disabilities which he incurred by his 
 birth and the taunts which he had to suffer even from his father. 
 
 147. hell-hated, hated like hell. 
 
 151. Save him, save him! Albany is anxious not to have 
 Edmund killed on the spot, so that his guilt may be made 
 known before his death. 
 
 practice, false play, treachery. Cf. i. 2. 198. 
 
 155. this paper, Goneril's love letter to Edmund ; see iv 
 o. 267. 
 
18^ KING LEAR [Act Five 
 
 160. Ask me not what I know. The Ff assign this speech to 
 Edmund, the Qq give it to Goneril, and modern editors are 
 divided in their choice. Those who follow the Ff ask why 
 the question, " Know'st thou this paper.? " should be ad- 
 dressed to Goneril, considering Albany has already said to her, 
 " I perceive you know it." But this objection is not conclusive. 
 
 194. success, issue, result. Cf. i. 2. 157. 
 
 196. flaw'd, broken. Cf. ii. 4. 288. 
 
 204-221. This would . . . slave. Omitted in the Ff. 
 
 204. period, termination ; note the different sense in iv. 7. 96. 
 
 205-207. but another, etc., but another story, amplifying 
 what is already too much, would make what is much even more, 
 and so pass the extreme limits. 
 
 234. manners: treated as a singular; but contrast i. 4. 184 
 and iv. 6. 264. 
 
 235. It is fitting that at this juncture attention should be 
 drawn to Lear by Kent, who at the beginning of the play had 
 professed his constant devotion to the king. 
 
 255. fordid, destroyed. Cf. 1. 291. 
 
 262. stone, a crystal mirror. 
 
 263. the promised end, i.e. of the world. Mason compares 
 St. Mark, xiii. 12 and 19. For image of that horror, cf. Macbeth, 
 ii. 3. 82-83, 
 
 " up, up, and see 
 The great doom's image ! " 
 
 285. Lear's thoughts again begin to wander. He cannot 
 realize what Kent's devotion has been, and even the announce- 
 ment of Regan's and Goneril's death has no effect. 
 
 288. your first of difference, beginning of your change. 
 
 290. Nor no man else, i.e. No, nor is any other man welcome. 
 
 301. boot, increase, enhancement. 
 
 305. poor fool, i.e. Cordelia; a common term of endearment. 
 Some (e.g. Sir Joshua Reynolds) think that Lear refers to his 
 Fool ; but the Fool was not " hanged " ; he has long since passed 
 out of the play (iii. 6) ; and it is not likely that Lear would 
 think of him when dying of grief at the death of Cordelia. 
 
 313. pass. Cf. iv. 6. 47. 
 
 322. My master, i.e. Lear. Kent's devotion is unbroken. 
 
 323-326. This concluding speech is given in the Qq to Al- 
 bany, in the Ff to Edgar. It is assigned more fittingly to the 
 latter. 
 
APPENDIX A 
 
 THE SOURCES OF THE PLOT 
 
 * 
 
 The Lear story is here given as told by Raphael Holin- 
 shed, in his Chronicles (1577 ; second edition, 1587), by Hig- 
 gins in The Mirror for Magistrates (1574), and by Spenser 
 in the Faerie Queene (1590), and is followed by the passage 
 in Sidney's Arcadia (1590), which is the undoubted original of 
 the Gloucester story. 
 
 I. Holinshed's Chronicles. — The Historic of Britain, 
 second edition,^ Book ii, chapter 5, pp. 12-13. 
 
 Leir the sonne of Baldud was admitted ruler ouer the Britaines in 
 the yeare of the world 3105, at what time Joas reigned in Juda. 
 This Leir was a prince of right noble demeanor, gouerning his land 
 and subiects in great wealth. He made the towne of Caerleir now 
 called Leicester, which standeth vpon the riuer of Sore. It is 
 written that he had by his wife three daughters without other 
 issue, whose names were Gonorilla, Regan, and Cordeilla, which 
 daughters he greatly loued, but specially Cordeilla the yoongest 
 farre aboue the two elder. When tliis Leir therefore was come to 
 great yeres, and began to waxe vnweldie through age, he thought 
 to vnderstand the affections of his daughters towards him, and 
 preferre hir whome he best loued, to the succession ouer the king- 
 dome. Whervpon he first asked Gonorilla the eldest, how well 
 she loued him : who calling hir gods to record, protested that she 
 loued him more than hir owne life, which by right and reason should 
 be most deere vnto hir. With which answer the father being well 
 pleased, turned to the second, and demanded of hir how well she 
 loued him : who answered (confirming hir saiengs with great 
 othes) that she loued him more than toong could expresse, and 
 farre aboue all other creatures of the world. 
 
 Then called he his yoongest daughter Cordeilla before him, and 
 asked of hir what account she made of him, vnto whome she made 
 this answer as foUoweth : "Knowing the great loue and fatherlie 
 zeale that you haue alwaies borne towards me (for the which I 
 
 ^ The evidence of other plays shows that Shakespeare used the second 
 edition ; see Shakspere's Holinshed, The Chronicle and the Historical Plays 
 compared, by W, G, Boswell-Stone. 
 
 183 
 
184 APPENDIX A 
 
 maie not answere you otherwise than I thinke, and as my conscience 
 leadeth me) I protest vnto you, that I haue loued you euer, and 
 shall continuallie (while I liue) loue you as my naturall father. 
 And if you would more vnderstand of the loue that I beare you, 
 assertaine your selfe, that so much as you haue, so much you are 
 worth, and so much I loue you, and no more." The father being 
 nothing content with this answere, married his two eldest daughters, 
 the one vrito Henninus the duke of Cornewall, and the other vnto 
 Maglanus the duke of Albania, betwixt whome he willed and 
 ordeined that his land should be deuided after his death, and the 
 one halfe thereof immediatelie should be assigned to them in hand : 
 but for the third daughter Cordeilla he reserued nothing. 
 
 Nevertheless it fortuned that one of the princes of Gallia (which 
 now is called France) whose name was Aganippus, hearing of the 
 beautie, womanhood, and good conditions of the said Cordeilla, 
 desired to haue hir in mariage, and sent ouer to hir father, requiring 
 that he might haue hir to wife : to whome answer was made, that 
 he might haue his daughter, but as for anie dower he could haue 
 none, for all was promised and assured to hir other sisters already. 
 Aganippus notwithstanding this answer of deniall to receiue anie 
 thing by way of dower with Cordeilla, tooke hir to wife, onlie moued 
 thereto (I saie) for respect of hir person and amiable vertues. This 
 Aganippus was one of the twelue kings that ruled Gallia in those 
 dales, as in the British historie it is recorded. But to proceed. 
 
 After that Leir was fallen into age, the two dukes that had mar- 
 ried his two eldest daughters, thinking it long yer the gouernment 
 of the land did come to their hands, arose against him in armour, 
 and reft from him the gouernance of the land, vpon conditions to be 
 continued for terme of life : by the which he was put to his portion, 
 that is, to liue after a rate assigned to him for the maintenance of 
 his estate, which in processe of time was diminished as well by 
 Maglanus as by Henninus. But the greatest griefe that Leir 
 tooke, was to see the vnkindnesse of his daughters, which seemed to 
 thinke that all was too much which their father had, the same being 
 neuer so little : in so muche that going from the one to the other, he 
 was brought to that miserie, that scarslie they would allow him one 
 seruaunt to wait vpon him. 
 
 In the end, such was the vnkindnesse, or (as I maie saie) the 
 vnnaturalnesse which he found in his two daughters, notwithstand- 
 ing their faire and pleasant words vttered in time past, that being 
 constreined of necessitie, he fled the land, & sailed into Gallia, there 
 to seeke some comfort of his yongest daughter Cordeilla, whom 
 before time he hated. The ladie Cordeilla hearing that he was 
 arriued in poore estate, she first sent to him priuilie a certeine summe 
 of monie to apparell himself e withall, and to reteine a certeine 
 number of seruants that might attend vpon hina in honorable wise, 
 as apperteined to the estate which he had borne : and then so 
 accompanied, she appointed him to come to the court, which he 
 
APPENDIX A 185 
 
 did, and was so ioifullie, honorablie, and louinglie receiued, both 
 by his Sonne in law Aganippus, and also by his daughter Cordeilla, 
 that his hart was greatlie comforted : for he was no lesse honored, 
 than if he had beene king of the whole countrie himselfe. 
 
 Now when he had informed his sonne in law and his daughter in 
 what sort he had beene vsed by his other daughters, Aganippus 
 caused a mightie armie to be put in a readinesse, and Ukewise a 
 great nauie of ships to be rigged, to passe ouer into Britaine with 
 Leir his father in law, to see him againe restored to his kingdome. 
 It was accorded, that Cordeilla should also go with him to take 
 possession of the land, the which he promised to leaue vnto hir, as 
 the rightfuU inheritour after his decesse, notwithstanding any for- 
 mer grant made to hir sisters or to their husbands in anie maner of 
 wise. 
 
 Herevpon, when this armie and nauie of ships were readie, Leir 
 and his daughter Cordeilla with hir husband tooke the sea, and 
 arriuing in Britaine, fought with their enimies, and discomfited 
 them in battell, in the which Maglanus and Henninus were slaine ; 
 and then was Leir restored to his kingdome, which he ruled after 
 this by the space of two yeeres, and then died, fortie yeeres after 
 he first began to reigne. His bodie was buried at Leicester in a 
 vaut vnder the chanell of the riuer of Sore beneath the towne. 
 
 The Sixth Chapter. — Cordeilla the yoongest daughter of Leir 
 was admitted Q. and supreme gouernesse of Britaine in the yeere 
 of the world 3155, before the bylding of Rome 54 ; Uzia was then 
 reigning in Juda, and Jeroboam ouer Israeli. This Cordeilla after 
 hir fathers deceasse ruled the land of Britaine right worthilie dur- 
 ing the space of fine yeeres, in which meane time hir husband died, 
 and then about the end of those fine yeeres, hir two nephewes 
 Margan and Cunedag, sonnes to hir aforesaid sisters, disdaining to 
 be vnder the gouernment of a woman, leuied warre against hir, and 
 destroied a great part of the land, and finallie tooke hir prisoner, 
 and laid hir fast in ward, wherewith she tooke suche griefe, being a 
 woman of a manlie courage, and despairing to recouer libertie, 
 there she slue hirselfe, when she had reigned (as before is mentioned) 
 the tearme of fine yeeres. 
 
 II. The Mirror for Magistrates. — From the story of 
 Queene Cordila, written by John Higgins, edited by Hasle- 
 wood, 1815, vol. i, pp. 124-132. 
 
 6. My grandsire Bladud hight, that found the bathes by skill, 
 A fethered King that practis'd high to soare. 
 Whereby hee felt the fall, God wot against his will, 
 And neuer went, road, raygnd, nor spake, nor flew no more. 
 After whose death my father Leire therefore 
 
 Was chosen King, by right apparent heyre, 
 Which after bmlt the towne of Leircestere. 
 
186 APPENDIX A 
 
 7. Hee had three daughters, first and eld'st hight Gonerell, 
 Next after her his yonger Ragan was begot : 
 
 The third and last was I the yongest, nam'd Cordell. 
 
 Vs all our father Leire did loue to well, God wot. 
 
 But minding her that lou'd him best to note, 
 Because hee had no sonne t'enioy his land, 
 Hee thought to guerdon most where fauour most hee fand. 
 
 8. What though I yongest were, yet men mee iudg'd more wise 
 Than either Gonerell or Ragan more of age, 
 
 And fairer farre : wherefore my sisters did despise 
 My grace and giefts, and sought my wrecke to wage. 
 But yet though vice on vertue dye with rage. 
 It cannot keepe her vnderneath to drowne : 
 For still she flittes aboue, and reaps renowne. 
 
 9. My father thought to wed vs vnto princely peeres. 
 And vnto them and theirs deuide and part the land. 
 For both my sisters first hee cal'd (as first their yeares 
 Requir'd), their minds, and loue, and fauoure t'vnderstand. 
 (Quoth hee) all doubts of duty to aband, 
 
 I must assay your friendly faithes to proue : 
 My daughters, tell mee how you doe mee loue. 
 
 10. Which when they aunswerd him. they lou'd their father more 
 Then they themselues did loue, or any worldly wight, 
 
 He praised them, and sayd hee would therefore 
 The louing kindnes they deseru'd in fine requite. 
 So found my sisters fauour in his sight. 
 
 By flattery faire they won their fathers heart ; 
 
 Which after turned hym and mee to smart. 
 
 11. But not content with this, hee asked mee likewise 
 If I did not him loue and honour v/ell. 
 
 No cause (quoth I) there is I should your grace despise: 
 For nature so doth binde and duty mee compell 
 To loue you, as I ought my father, well. 
 
 Yet shortely I may chaunce, if Fortune will, 
 
 To finde in heart to beare another more good will. 
 
 12. Thus much I sayd of nuptiall loues that ment, 
 Not minding once of hatred vile or ire, 
 
 And partly taxing them, for which intent 
 
 They set my fathers heart on wrathfull fire. 
 
 "Shee neuer shall to any part aspire 
 
 Of this my realme (quoth hee) among'st you twayne : 
 But shall without all dowry aie remaine." 
 
APPENDIX A 187 
 
 Then to Maglaurus Prince, with Albany hee gaue 
 
 My sister Gonerell, the eldest of vs all : 
 
 And eke my sister Ragan to Hinniue to haue, 
 
 And for her dowry Camber and Cornwall. 
 
 These after him should haue his Kingdome aU. 
 
 Betweene them both hee gaue it franke and free, 
 But nought at all hee gaue of dowry mee. 
 
 At last it chaunst a Prince of Fraunce to heare my fame. 
 My beauty braue, my wit was blaz'd abroad ech where. 
 My noble vertues prais'd mee to my fathers blame, 
 Who did for flattery mee lesse friendly fauour beare. 
 Which when tliis worthy Prince (I say) did heare, 
 
 Hee sent ambassage, lik'd mee more then life, 
 
 And soone obtayned mee to bee his wife. 
 
 Prince Aganippus reau'd mee of my woe, 
 
 And that for vertues sake, of dowryes all the best : 
 
 So I contented was to Fraunce my father fro 
 
 For to depart, and hoapt t'enioy some greater rest. 
 
 Where lining well belou'd, my ioyes encreast : 
 
 I gate more fauour in that Prince his sight, 
 
 Then euer Princesse of a Princely wight. 
 
 But while that I these ioyes so well enioy'd in Fraunce, 
 
 My father Leire in Britayne waxt unweldy old. 
 
 Whereon his daughters more themselues aloft t'aduance 
 
 Desir'd the Realme to rule it as they wolde. 
 
 Their former loue and friendship waxed cold. 
 
 Their husbands rebels voyde of reason quite 
 Rose vp, rebeld, bereft his crowne and right : 
 
 Caus'd him agree they might in parts equall 
 
 Deuide the Realme, and promist him a gard 
 
 Of sixty Knights on him attending still at call. 
 
 But in six monthes such was his hap to hard, 
 
 That Gonerell of his retinue barde 
 
 The halfe of them, shee and her husband reft, 
 And scarce alow'd the other halfe they left. 
 
 Eke as in Albany lay hee lamenting fates, 
 
 When as my sister so sought all his vtter spoyle : 
 
 The meaner vpstart courtiers thought themselues his mates, 
 
 His daughter him disdayn'd and forced not his foyle. 
 
 Then was hee fayne for succoure his to toyle 
 
 With halfe his trayne to Cornwall, there to lie 
 
 In greatest neede, his Ragans loue to try. 
 
188 APPENDIX A 
 
 19. So when hee came to Cornwall, shee with ioy 
 Receiued him, and Prince Maglaurus did the like. 
 There hee abode a yeare, and liu'd without anoy : 
 But then they tooke all his retinue from him quite 
 Saue only ten, and shew'd him daily spite : 
 
 Which he bewayl'd complayning durst not striue, 
 Though in disdayne they last alow'd but fiue. 
 
 20. What more despite could deuelish beasts deuise, 
 Then ioy their fathers woefull days to see ? 
 What vipers vile could so their King despise, 
 Or so vnkinde, so curst, so cruell bee? 
 
 From thence agayn hee went to Albany, 
 
 Where they bereau'd his seruants all saue one, 
 Bad him content him selfe with that, or none. 
 
 21. Eke at what time hee ask'd of them to haue his gard, 
 To gard his noble grace where so hee went : 
 
 They cal'd him doting foole, all his requests debard, 
 Demaunding if with life hee were not well content : 
 Then hee to late his rigour did repent 
 
 Gaynst mee, my sisters' fawning loue that knew, 
 Found flattery false, that seem'd so faire in vew. 
 
 22. To make it short, to Fraunce hee came at last to mee, 
 And told mee how my sisters euell their father vsde. 
 Then humbly I besought my noble King so free, 
 That he would aide my father thus by his abusde : 
 Who nought at all my humble hest refusde. 
 
 But sent to euery coast of Fraunce for aide, 
 Whereby King Leire might home bee well conueyde. 
 
 23. The souldiours gathered from ech quarter of the land 
 Came at the length to know the noble Princes will : 
 Who did commit them vnto captaynes euery band, 
 And I likewise of loue and reuerent meere good will 
 Desir'd my Lord, he would not take it ill 
 
 If I departed for a space withall. 
 
 To take a part, or ease my father's thrall. 
 
 24. Hee granted my request : Thence wee ariued here. 
 And of our Britaynes came to aide likewise his right 
 Full many subiects, good and stout that were : 
 By-martiall feats, and force, by subiects sword and might, 
 The British Kings were f ayne to yeeld our right : 
 
 Which wonne, my father well this Realme did guide 
 Three yeares in peace, and after that hee dyde. 
 
APPENDIX A 189 
 
 III. Spensefs Faerie Queene. — Book ii, canto x, 27-32. 
 
 27. Next him king Leyr in happie peace long raynd, 
 But had no issue male him to succeed, 
 
 But three faire daughters, which were well uptraind 
 In all that seemed fitt for kingly seed ; 
 Mongst whom his realme he equally decreed 
 To have divided. Tho when feeble age 
 Nigh to his utmost date he saw proceed. 
 He cald his daughters, and with speeches sage 
 Inquyrd, which of them most did love her parentage. 
 
 28. The eldest, Gonorill, gan to protest, 
 
 That she much more than her owne life him lov'd ; 
 And Regan greater love to him profest 
 Then all the world, when ever it were proov'd ; 
 But Cordeill said she lov'd him as behoov'd : 
 Whose simple answer, wanting colours fayre 
 To paint it forth, him to displeasaunce moov'd, 
 That in his crowne he counted her no hayre, 
 But twixt the other twaine his kingdom whole did shayre. 
 
 29. So wedded th'one to Maglan King of Scottes, 
 And thother to the king of Cambria, 
 
 And twixt them shayrd his realme by equall lottes ; 
 But without dowre the wise Cordelia 
 Was sent to Aggannip of Celtica. 
 Their aged syre, thus eased of his crowne, 
 A private life led in Albania 
 With Gonorill, long had in great renowne, 
 That nought him griev'd to beene from rule deposed downCc 
 
 30. But true it is that, when the oyle is spent, 
 
 The light goes out, and weeke is throwne away ; 
 So when he had resignd his regiment. 
 His daughter gan despise his drouping day, 
 And wearie wax of his continuall stay. 
 Tho to his daughter Regan he repayrd. 
 Who him at first well used every way ; 
 But when of his departure she despayrd. 
 Her bountie she abated, and his cheare empayrd. 
 
 31. The wretched man gan then avise too late, 
 That love is not where most it is profest ; 
 Too truely tryde in his extremest state. 
 At last resolv'd likewise to prove the rest, 
 He to Cordelia him selfe addrest, 
 
190 APPENDIX A 
 
 Who with entyre affection him receav'd, 
 As for her syre and king her seemed best ; 
 And after all an army strong she leav'd, 
 To war on those which him had of his realme bereav'd. 
 
 32. So to his crowne she him restor'd againe, 
 
 In which he dyde, made ripe for death by eld, 
 And after wild it should to her remaine : 
 Who peacefully the same long time did weld, 
 And all mens harts in dew obedience held ; 
 Till that her sisters children, woxen strong, 
 Through proud arabition against her rebeld, 
 And overcommen kept in prison long, 
 Till weary of that wretched life her selfe she hong. 
 
 IV. Sidney's Arcadia. — Book ii, chapter 10 ; edition of 1590, 
 fol. 142-144. 
 
 The pitifull state, and storie of the Paphlagonian vnkinde King, and 
 his kind sonne, first related by the son, then by the blind father. 
 
 It was in the kingdome of Galacia, the season being (as in the 
 depth of winter) very cold, and as then sodainely growne to so 
 extreame and foule a storme, that neuer any winter (I thinke) 
 brought foorth a fowler child : so that the Princes were euen com- 
 pelled by the haile, that the pride of the winde blew into their 
 faces, to seeke some shrowding place within a certaine hollow rocke 
 offering it vnto them, they made it their shield against the tempests 
 furie. And so staying there, till the violence therof was passed, 
 they heard the speach of a couple, who not perceiuing them (being 
 hidde within that rude canapy) helde a straunge and pitifull 
 disputation which made them steppe out ; yet in such sort, as 
 they might see vnseene. There they perceaued an aged man, 
 and a young, scarcely come to the age of a man, both poorely 
 arayed, extreamely weather-beaten ; the olde man blinde, the 
 young man leading him: and yet through all those miseries, in 
 both these seemed to appeare a kind of noblenesse, not sutable to 
 that affliction. But the first words they heard, were these of the 
 old man. Well Leonatus (said he) since I cannot perswade thee to 
 lead me to that which should end my griefe, & thy trouble, let me now 
 entreat thee to leaue me : feare not, my miserie cannot be greater 
 then it is, & nothing doth become me but miserie ; feare not the 
 danger of my blind stieps, I cannot fall worse then I am. And 
 doo not I pray thee, doo not obstinately continue to infect thee 
 with my wretchednes. But flie, flie from this region, onely worthy 
 of me. Deare father (answered he) doo not take away from me 
 the onely remnant of my happinesse : while I haue power to doo 
 you seruice, I am not wholly miserable. Ah my sonne (said he, 
 
APPENDIX A 191 
 
 and with that he groned, as if sorrow straue to breake his hearte) 
 how eiiill fits it me to haue such a sonne, acd how mucb doth thy 
 kindnesse vpbraide my wickednesse ? These dolef ull speeches, and 
 some others to Hke purpose (well shewing they had not bene borne 
 to the fortune they were in,) moued the Princes to goe out vnto 
 them, and aske the younger what they were? Sirs (answered he, 
 with a good grace, and made the more agreable by a certaine noble 
 kinde of pitiousnes) I see well you are straungers, that know not our 
 miserie so well here knowne, that no man dare know, but that we 
 must be miserable. In deede our state is such, as though nothing 
 is so needfull vnto vs as pittie, yet nothing is more daungerous 
 vnto vs, then to make our selues so knowne as may stirre pittie. 
 But your presence promiseth, that cruelty shall not ouer-runne 
 hate. And if it did, in truth our state is soncke below the degree 
 of feare. 
 
 This old man (whom I leade) was lately rightfuU Prince of this 
 countrie of Paphlagonia, by the hard-hearted vngratefulnes of a 
 sonne of his, depriued, not onely of his kingdome (wherof no for- 
 raine forces were euer able to spoyle him) but of his sight, the riches 
 which Nature graunts to the poorest creatures. Whereby, & by 
 other his vnnaturall dealings, he hath bin driuen to such griefe, 
 as euen now he would haue had me to haue led him to the toppe of 
 this rocke, thence to cast himselfe headlong to death : and so would 
 haue made me (who receiued my life of him) to be the worker of 
 his destruction. But noble Gentlemen (said he) if either of you 
 haue a father, and feele what duetifuU affection is engraffed in a 
 sonnes hart, let me intreate you to conuey this afflicted Prince to 
 some place of rest & securitie. Amongst your worthie actes it 
 shall be none of the least, that a King, of such might and fame, and 
 so vniustly oppressed, is in any sort by you relieued. 
 
 But before they could make him answere, his father began to 
 speake. Ah my sonne (said he) how euill an Historian are you, that 
 leaue out the chiefe knotte of all the discourse? my wickednes, my 
 wickednes. And if thou doest it to spare my eares, (the onely sense 
 nowe left me proper for knowledge) assure thy selfe thou dost mis- 
 take me. And I take witnesse of that Sunne which you see (with 
 that he cast vp his blinde eyes, as if he would hunt for light,) and 
 wish my selfe in worse case then I do wish my selfe, which is as 
 euill as may be, if I speake vntruly ; that nothing is so welcome to 
 my thoughts, as the publishing of my shame. Therefore know you 
 Gentlemen (to whom from my harte I wish that it may not proue 
 ominous foretoken of misfortune to haue mette with such a miser 
 as I am) that whatsoeuer my sonne (6 God, that trueth binds me 
 to reproch him with the name of my sonne) hath said, is true. But 
 besides those truthes, this also is true, that hauing had in lawful 
 mariage, of a mother fitte to beare royall children, this sonne (such 
 one as partly you see, and better shall knowe by my shorte declara- 
 tion) and so enioyed the expectations in the world of him, till he was 
 
19^ APPENDIX A 
 
 growen to iustifie their expectations (so as I needed enuie no father 
 for the chief e comfort of mortalitie, to leaue an other ones-self e 
 after me) I was caried by a bastarde sonne of mine (if at least I be 
 bounde to beleeue the words of that base woman my concubine, 
 his mother) first to mislike, then to hate, lastly to destroy, to doo 
 my best to destroy, this sonne (I thinke you thinke) vndeseruing 
 destruction. What waies he vsed to bring me to it, if I should tell 
 you, I should tediously trouble you with as much poysonous hypo- 
 crisie, desperate fraude, smoothe malice, hidden ambition, & smil- 
 ing enuie, as in anie lining person could be harbored. But I list 
 it not, no remembrance, (no, of naughtines) delights me, but mine 
 own ; & me thinks, the accusing his traines might in some manner 
 excuse my fault, which certainly I loth to doo. But the conclusion 
 is, that I gaue order to some seruants of mine, whom I thought as 
 apte for such charities as my selfe, to leade him out into a forrest, 
 & there to kill him. 
 
 But those theeues (better natured to my sonne then my selfe) 
 spared his life, letting him goe, to learne to Hue poorely : which he 
 did, giuing himselfe to be a priuate souldier, in a countrie here by. 
 But as he was redy to be greatly aduanced for some noble peeces 
 of seruice which he did, he hearde newes of me : who (dronke in 
 my affection to that vnlawfull and vnnaturall sonne of mine) 
 suffered my self so to be gouerned by him, that all fauours and 
 punishments passed by him, all offices, and places of importance, 
 distributed to his fauo rites ; so that ere I was aware, I had left 
 my self nothing but the name of a King : which he shortly wearie 
 of too, with many indignities (if any thing may be called an indig- 
 nity, which was laid vpon me) threw me out of my seat, and put 
 out my eies ; and then (proud in his tyrannie) let me goe, nether 
 imprisoning, nor killing me : but rather delighting to make me 
 feele my miserie ; miserie indeed, if euer there were any ; full of 
 wretchednes, fuller of disgrace, and fullest of guiltines. And as he 
 came to the crowne by so vniust meanes, as vniustlie he kept it, by 
 force of stranger souldiers in Cittadels, the nestes of tyranny, & 
 murderers of libertie ; disarming all his own countrimen, that no 
 man durst shew himself a wel- wilier of mine : to say the trueth 
 (I think) few of them being so (considering my cruell follie to my 
 good sonne, and foolish kindnes to my vnkinde bastard :) but if 
 there were any who fell to pitie of so great a fall, and had yet any 
 sparkes of vnstained duety lefte in them towardes me, yet durst 
 they not shewe it, scarcely with giuing me almes at their doores ; 
 which yet was the onelie sustenance of my distressed life, no bodie 
 daring to shewe so much charitie, as to lende me a hande to guide 
 my darke steppes : Till this sonne of mine (God knowes, woorthie 
 of a more vertuous, and more fortunate father) forgetting my 
 abhominable wrongs, not recking daunger, & neglecting the pres- 
 ent good way he was in doing himselfe good, came hether to doo 
 this kind office you see him performe towards me, to my vnspeak- 
 
APPENDIX A 193 
 
 able griefe ; not onely because his kindnes is a glasse euen to my 
 blind eyes, of my naughtines, but that aboue all griefes, it greeues 
 me he should desperatly aduenture the losse of his soul-deseruing 
 life for mine, that yet owe more to fortune for my deserts, as if he 
 would cary mudde in a chest of christall. For well I know, he that 
 now raigneth, how much soeuer (and with good reason) he des- 
 piseth me, of all men despised ; yet he will not let slippe any ad- 
 uantage to make away him, whose iust title (ennobled by courage 
 and goodnes) may one day shake the seate of a neuer secure ty- 
 rannic. And for this cause I craued of him to leade me to the toppe 
 of this rocke, indeede I must confesse, with meaning to free him 
 from so serpentine a companion as I am. But he finding what I 
 purposed, onely therein since he was borne, shewed himselfe diso- 
 bedient vnto me. And now Gentlemen, you haue the true storie, 
 which I pray you publish to the world, that my mischieuous pro- 
 ceedings may be the glorie of his filiall pietie, the onely reward now 
 left for so great a merite. And if it may be, let me obtaine that of 
 you, which my sonne denies me : for neuer was there more pity 
 in sauing any, then in ending me ; both because therein my agonies 
 shall ende, and so shall you preserue this excellent young man, 
 who els wilfully folowes his owne ruine. 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 METRE 1 
 
 1. Blank Verse 
 
 The normal verse consists of ten syllables alternately stressed 
 and unstressed, beginning with an unstressed syllable, without 
 rhyme (hence called "blank verse"), and with a sense pause at the 
 end of the line, e.g.: 
 
 He raised' the house' with loud' and cow'ard cries' (ii. 4. 43). 
 Return' to her,' and fifty men' dismiss'd'? (ii. 4. 210). 
 
 As the line contains five feet, each of two syllables, and each 
 stressed on the second syllable, it is commonly called an iambic 
 pentameter. 
 
 2. Normal Variations 
 
 A succession of such lines, however, would be monotonous. 
 Accordingly, there are several variations in the rhythm. 
 
 (a) Stress Inversion. — The normal order of non-stress and 
 stress may be inverted; e.g. in the various feet: 
 
 (1) Why' have | my sisters husbands, if they say (i. 1. 101). 
 
 (2) But love, I dear' love, | and our aged father's right (iv. 4. 28). 
 
 (3) Which I must act: | briefness | and fortune, work ! (ii. 1. 20). 
 
 (4) Let me beseech your grace | not' to | do so (ii. 2. 147). 
 
 (5) Though I condemn not, yet, under | par'don (i. 4. 365). 
 
 This inversion occurs commonly after a pause, and is thus found 
 most frequently in the first, third, and fourth feet, i.e. after the 
 pauses at the beginning or centre of the line. It is seldom found 
 in the second foot, and it is very rare in the fifth foot. When it 
 occurs in the fifth foot the effect is generally unrhythmical. 
 There are occasionally two inversions in the same line, e.g.: 
 
 (1, 4) Broth'er, | a word; descend: | broth'er, | I say! (ii. 1. 21). 
 (1, 4) Bold' in | the quarrel's right, | roused' to | the encounter 
 
 (ii. 1. 56). 
 
 ^ This appendix has been suggested largely by the "Outline of Shake- 
 speare's Prosody" in Professor Herford's Richard II. 
 
 194 
 
APPENDIX B 195 
 
 (1, 3) None' does | offend, | none,' I | say, none; I '11 able 'em 
 
 (iv. 6. 172). 
 
 Two inversions rarely come together, as in i. 4. 365. 
 
 (b) Stress Variation. — The stresses may vary in degree ; a 
 iv^eak or intermediate stress C) may be substituted for a strong 
 stress ( ). 
 
 And dare, | upon' | the war | rant of | my note (iii. 1. 18). 
 
 The weak stress is particularly common in the fifth foot, e.g.: 
 
 Which else were shame, that then neces | sity' (i. 4. 232). 
 
 There are, in fact, comparatively few lines with the normal five 
 strong stresses. But there are certain limits to the variations: 
 e.g. there are never more than two weak-stressed feet in a line, and 
 two weak-stressed feet rarely come together (see, however, iii. 4. 
 15). Frequently the absence of a strong stress in a foot is made up 
 for by (1) two weak stresses, as : 
 
 Prith'ee | go^ in | thyself ; seek thine own ease (iii. 4. 23) ; 
 
 or (2) an additional stress in a neighboring foot, either before or 
 after, as: 
 
 Both' wel' I come and [ protection. Take up thy master 
 
 (iii. 6. 99). 
 The les | ser is^ | scarce' felt.' | Thou 'Idst shun a bear (iii. 4. 9). 
 
 Two strong stresses are fairly common in the fifth foot, e.g.: 
 
 Although I the last | not least, | to whose | young' love'. 
 
 (Cf. i. 1. 148, iii. 2. 42, iv. 6. 187.) 
 
 (c) Addition of Unstressed Syllables. — An unstressed syllable 
 is frequently added. It may be introduced in any foot, which 
 then corresponds to an anapaest instead of an iambus. 
 
 (1) I am al | most mad myself : I had a son (iii. 4. 171). 
 
 (2) And when | I have stol'n | upon these sons-in-law (iv. 6. 190), 
 
 (3) Thou 'Idst meet the bear | i' the mouth. | When the mind 's 
 
 free (iii. 4. 11). 
 
 (4) Whereto our health is bound ; | we are not | ourselves 
 
 (ii. 4. 108). 
 
 (5) You sulphurous and thought-exe i cuting fires (iii. 2. 4). 
 
 Occasionally there are two such extra syllables in the same line, 
 e.g.: 
 
 (2, 4) When maj I esty stoops ] to fol | ly. Reverse | thy doom 
 
 (i. 1. 151). 
 
196 APPENDIX B 
 
 But see 4 (6) (1) (2). These additional syllables within the line 
 occur commonly at the pause or cob sura. 
 
 Extra-metrical. — This additional unstressed syllable is most 
 commonly found at the end of the line, where it is extra-metrical, 
 e.g.: 
 
 I tax not you, you elements, with unkind I ness ; 
 
 I never gave you kingdom, call'd you chil | dren (iii. 2. 16-17). 
 
 It forms what is known as a double or feminine ending. It is 
 comparatively r^ire in Shakespeare's early plays, but it becomes 
 more and more common, until in The Tempest it occurs once in 
 every three lines. Of the 2238 lines of blank verse in King Lear, 
 567 have double endings.^ 
 
 Two extra unstressed syllables are occasionally found at the end 
 of a line, e.g. : 
 
 My heart into my mouth : I love your maj [ esty (i. 1. 94). 
 That he suspects none : on whose foolish hon | esty (i. 2. 197). 
 
 But no sharp division can be made between a line such as this and 
 a six-stressed line or Alexandrine (3 (a)) ; and it is sometimes best 
 to consider the first of the two extra syllables as slurred (4 (6) 
 
 (1) (2)). 
 
 Examples of these extra syllables are common in lines contain- 
 ing proper names, e.g. : 
 
 And you, our no less loving son of Al | bany (i. 1. 43). 
 
 But most lines containing proper names contain an extra stressed 
 syllable, e.g. i. 1. 46. Such lines are especially common in the 
 English Histories. "They appear to be often on principle extra- 
 metrical, and in any case comply very loosely with the metre." 
 (d) Omission of Unstressed Syllables. — On the other hand, an 
 unstressed syllable is sometimes, though rarely, omitted, e.g.: 
 
 — Ay, I and lay | ing au | tumn's dust. | Good sir (iv. 6. 201). 
 As may | compact | it more. | — Get | you gone (i. 4. 362). 
 
 Such omissions generally occur after a marked pause, and hence 
 (1) are found commonly, like stress inversion, in the first, third, 
 and fourth feet; and (2) are frequently caused by a change of 
 speaker, e.g.: 
 
 Edg. Hark, do | you hear | the sea? 
 
 Glou. — No' I truly (iv. 6. 4). 
 
 1 See Fleay's Shakespeare Manual, p. 136. 
 
APPENDIX B 197 
 
 (e) Pauses. — The normal verse has a sense pause at the end 
 of the Hne, and a slighter pause (caesura) within it. These are 
 clearly marked in early blank verse {e.g. Gorboduc), where the pause 
 within the line falls commonly after the second foot. The varied 
 position of this pause, and the omission of the pause at the end of 
 the line, constitute, in Shakespeare's later plays, his commonest 
 departure from the normal type. The lines in which the sense is, 
 in Milton's words, "variously drawn out from one verse into an- 
 other," are called run-on or unstopped lines ; while the non-coinci- 
 dence of the full sense with the end of the line forms what is 
 known as enjamhement or overflow. Like the double or feminine 
 ending, the run-on line was gradually used more and more by 
 Shakespeare. In Love's Labour s Lost, a typical early play, it 
 occurs about once in every eighteen lines, while in The Tempest, 
 Cymbeline, and The Winter s Tale it occurs on an average of twice 
 in every five lines. 
 
 (/) Light and Weak Endings. — The most pronounced form 
 of the run-on line is that with a light or weak ending. Such end- 
 ings have the distinctive quality of being monosyllabic. Thus : 
 
 Let it fall rather, though the fork invade 
 The region of my heart (i. 1. 146). 
 
 is merely an instance of a run-on line. But there is a light ending 
 in 
 
 You have begot me, bred me, loved me ! I 
 Return those duties (i. 1. 98-99). 
 and in 
 
 How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is 
 To have a thankless child (i. 4. 310-311). 
 
 The difference between light and weak endings is that "the voice 
 can to a small extent dwell" on the former; while the latter so 
 "precipitate the reader forward" that he is "forced to run them, 
 in pronunciation no less than in sense, into the closest connec- 
 tion with the opening words of the succeeding line." Hence light 
 endings consist of the auxiliaries, personal pronouns, etc., and weak 
 endings of prepositions, conjunctions, etc. They are characteristic 
 of Shakespeare's later plays ; some of his earlier plays, e.g. the 
 Comedy of Errors and the Two Gentlemen of Verona, do not contain 
 a single instance of them. Of the two, the light ending was the 
 earlier in use, and it is always the commoner; but its relative 
 importance gradually diminished. Thus, in Macbeth, for 21 light 
 endings there are only 2 weak endings, but in The Winter's Tale the 
 
198 APPENDIX B 
 
 numbers are respectively 57 and 43.^ There does not appear to be 
 any instance in King Lear of a weak ending ; the following example 
 is taken from Henry VIII, iii. 2. 173 : 
 
 To the good of your most sacred person and 
 The profit of the state. 
 
 It should be noted that the closing of a line with a preposition or 
 other similar word is not alone sufficient to constitute a weak end- 
 ing; e.g. iv. 7. 16. Lines closing in so followed by as {e.g. v. 3. 36) 
 generally form light endings. 
 
 3. Occasional Variations 
 
 (a) Addition of Stressed Syllables. — Lines are occasionally found 
 with six stressed syllables {i.e. with an additional foot), e.g. : 
 
 To speak and purpose not : since what I well intend (i. 1. 228). 
 
 The pause in the six-stressed line (commonly called an Alexan- 
 drine) is found most frequently after the third foot. It occurs 
 after the first in ii. 2. 153, and after the fourth in iv. 3. 44. It is 
 generally very marked ; hence it often occurs when there is a change 
 of speaker, e.g.: 
 
 France. Could never plant in me. 
 
 Cor. I yet beseech your majesty (i. 1. 226). 
 
 (6) Omission of Stressed Syllables. — Lines with only four stressed 
 syllables are much rarer. The omission of the stress likewise may 
 generally be accounted for by a marked pause. Hence it also 
 occurs most commonly at a break in the dialogue, e.g. : 
 
 Lear. Come. 
 
 Edm. Come hither, captain; hark (v. 3. 26). 
 
 Indeed a marked pause is the source of most metrical irregularities. 
 (c) Short or Broke?! Lines. — There are many short lines con- 
 taining only one to four feet. They occur most frequently at the 
 beginning or end of a speech; but there are several examples of 
 them in King Lear in the middle of a speech, where they mark the 
 completion or change of a subject or idea. These short lines, 
 however, generally consist of questions, commands, exclamations, 
 addresses, etc. : e.g. i. 4. 239, i. 1. 278, iv. 5. 36, i. 4. 284. Some of 
 
 1 See Professor Ingram's paper in the Transactions of the New Shakspere 
 Society, 1874, pt. ii. 
 
APPENDIX B 199 
 
 the shorter lines may be regarded as extra-metrical. It will be 
 noted that the short line is especially frequent in the more passion- 
 ate speeches : e.g. i. 4. 299, ii. 4. 286, and iv. 6. 112-129. 
 
 The broken speech ending is a characteristic of the later plays. 
 
 4. Apparent Variations 
 
 Many apparent irregularities are due to difference of pronuncia- 
 tion in Shakespeare's time. 
 
 (a) Accentual. — The accent has changed in many words : 
 e.g. Shakespeare always has aspect (ii. 2. 112), impdrtune (iii. 4. 
 166) and sepillchre — the verb — (ii. 4. 134). Retinue has the ac- 
 cent on the second syllable in i. 4. 221, and observants has it on the 
 first in ii. 2. 109 — the only occasions in Shakespeare in which 
 these words occur in verse. Consort, as a noun in the sense of 
 company, is accented on the last syllable (ii. 1. 99). 
 
 Certain words had not a fixed pronunciation. It is often only 
 by the position of the word in the verse that we can decide on 
 which syllable the accent falls. Thus the noun sepulchre has usually 
 the accent on the first syllable, but in Richard II, i. 3. 196, it is 
 pronounced, like the verb, with the accent on the second syllable. 
 Similarly revenue in i. 1. 139 and ii. 1. 102, but revenue in Richard II, 
 i. 4. 46; Sxtreme (iv. 6. 26), but extremest (v. 3. 136). Note also 
 sincere in ii. 2. 111. In general an adjective preceding a noun of 
 one syllable, or a noun accented on the first syllable, is not accented 
 on the last. A striking example of this accentual change is found 
 in Henry VIII, v. i. 132 : 
 
 Might corrupt minds procure knaves as corrupt. 
 
 The same change invariably takes place in such two-syllabled 
 adjectives as complete, exact, obscure, extreme, sincere, etc.^ The 
 pronunciation which now survives is generally that which repre- 
 sents most closely the Latin quantity. The English accentuation 
 of these Romance words tended in Shakespeare's time to make the 
 stress fall on the first syllable ; but the influence of Latin has fre- 
 quently in Modern English restored the accent to its original place. 
 
 (6) Syllabic. — (1) A vowel may be lost before a consonant at 
 thfe beginning of a word : e.g. 'scape, 'gainst, 'bove; and's for and 
 his, 't for it, 's for his (i. 4. 114), for us (iii. 4. 110), and for is (iv. 6. 
 163). Cf. this' for this is (iv. 6. 187). 
 
 The same omission takes place within a word (syncope) : 
 
 ^ See Schmidt's Shakespeare Lexicon, vol. ii, Appendix. 
 
200 APPENDIX B 
 
 a. In the inflexion, as in the past tense and past participle, in the 
 second person singular, as meanst (ii. 2. 114), in the possessive, 
 as Phwbus' (ii. 2. 114), and in the superlative {'st for est). These 
 shortened forms become more and more common in Shakespeare. 
 
 6. In the second last syllable of words of three syllables accented 
 on the first : e.g. courtesi/ ^ (ii. 4. 182) and majesty (i. 1. 151), 
 though ma-jes-ty (v. 3. 299). This contracted pronunciation has 
 become fixed in such words as business, medicine. It is most 
 commonly caused by a "vowel-like" (see (3) below). 
 
 (2) Two vowels coming together may coalesce, whether in the 
 same word or in adjacent words: e.g. influence (ii. 2. 113), radiant 
 (ii. 2. 113), material (iv. 2. 35), violent (iv. 7. 28), immediacy {v. S. 
 65), society (v. 3. 210), thfexpense (ii. 1. 102), theuntented (i. 4. 322). 
 Royal and loyal are generally dissyllabic. 
 
 There is no definite pronunciation of the terminations -ion, 
 '■ions, -eous, etc. Thus we find conditi-on (iv. 7. 57), but benediction 
 (iv. 7. 58), and gorge-ous (ii. 4. 271) but gorgeous (ii. 4. 272). The 
 contracted pronunciation — that now in vogue — is the more 
 common in Shakespeare's verse, though the dissyllabic pronuncia- 
 tion was recognized throughout the seventeenth century. ^ 
 
 (3) The liquids I, m, n, and r have the function of either a con- 
 sonant or a vowel, and are therefore called "vowel-likes." 
 
 a. By the consonant (non-syllabic) function they may cause 
 the loss of a syllable, either immediately before or after : e.g. 
 amorous (i. 1. 48), murderous (ii. 1. 64), stubborn (ii. 2. 134), pelican 
 (iii. 4. 77), memories (iv. 7. 7), temperance (iv. 7. 24), victory (v. 1. 
 41), countenance (v. 1. 63), prisoners (v. 3. 75), interest (v. 3. 85), 
 privilege (v. 3. 129), absolute (v. 3. 300). Also in words of four 
 syllables : e.g. unfortunate (iv. 6. 68), desperately (v. 3. 292), and 
 particular (v. 1. 30), though partic-u-lars (i. 4. 286). 
 
 b. By the vowel (syllabic) function they may form a new 
 syllable : e.g. entrance, sometimes written enter ance, through, 
 sometimes written thorough, hel-m (iv. 7. 36), but helm (iv. 2. 57), 
 light-n-ing (iv. 7. 35), but light-ning (ii. 4. 167). 
 
 The vowel-like r frequently resolves a preceding long vowel or 
 diphthong into two syllables : e.g. such words as hour, hire, fire are 
 sometimes dissyllabic. 
 
 (4) Sometimes a consonant, usually th or v, coming between 
 two vowels is omitted, the vowels coalescing; in these cases the 
 second vowel is followed by r or n. Thus even (adv.) is generally 
 
 1 The mark (.) under a vowel means that it is mute. 
 * See Sweet's History of English Sounds, § 915. 
 
APPENDIX B 201 
 
 a monosyllable ; so also ever, never, over, often written e'er, ne'er, o'er. 
 The^^ is often omitted in whether (sometimes written where), rather, 
 etc. 
 
 5. Rhyme 
 
 According to Mr. Fleay's calculation, there are seventy-four 
 rhymed lines in King Lear. Shakespeare's use of rhyme gradually 
 diminished, but he retained throughout his career the couplet at 
 the end of a scene. There are several instances of it in King Lear, 
 e.g. i. 2, iv. 7, v. 1, and v. 3. Rhyme also marks the close of a 
 speech and the exit of an actor, e.g. i. 1. 257-264. In iv. 6. 284-285 
 it is used to mark a change of subject. It has also the closely 
 connected purpose of giving point to the expression (e.g. i. 1. 276- 
 277, i. 4. 338-339) ; and hence it readily lends itself, by reason of 
 this epigrammatic force, to clinching the argument and making an 
 effective ending. The only rhymed passage of any length occurs 
 at the end of iii. 6. It illustrates the use of rhyme in passages of 
 moralizing or of "plaintive emotion." Rhyme is not used in pas- 
 sages of passionate emotion, — the tendency is rather to pass into 
 prose, — nor for narrative, nor for the development of the action 
 of the drama. 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 advise (ii. 1. 29), reflect, con- 
 sider ; used reflexively. Simi- 
 larly advice = consideration, 
 judgment. O.Fr. aviser, avis, 
 Late Lat. ad-visum. Originally 
 " the way in which a matter 
 is looked at, opinion, judg- 
 ment " (Murray). 
 
 aidant (iv. 4. 17), helpful. O.Fr. 
 aidant, pres. part, of aider. 
 
 alarum' d (ii. 1. 55), aroused, 
 called to arms. Alarum is an- 
 other form of alarm. O.Fr. 
 alarme, Italian allarme = alV 
 arme! "To arms!" Thus 
 originally an interjection, but 
 used later as, a name for the 
 summons to arms. The deriv- 
 ative sense of " fright," which 
 is confined to the form alarm, 
 is not found in Shakespeare. 
 
 allow (ii. 4. 194), approve of, 
 sanction. O.Fr. alouer, repre- 
 senting both Lat. allaudare, to 
 praise, and allocare, to place, 
 assign. Hence the two senses 
 of " approving " and " grant- 
 ing," which are so close as to 
 blend. The former sense is 
 more common in M.E. and 
 E.E., the latter in Mod. E. 
 Cf. allowance (i. 4. 228), ap- 
 proval. 
 
 an (i. 4. 112 ; ii. 2. 48, 106 ; ii. 4. 
 65), if. Spelled and in the 
 Qq and Fl, and generally in 
 E.E. Its derivation is uncer- 
 tain, but it is probably the 
 same word as the coordinate. 
 
 attaint (v. 3. 83), impeachment. 
 O.Fr. ateinte, from p.p. of 
 ateindre, " to attain," hence 
 " to strike, condemn." Lat. 
 attingere, " to touch upon." 
 
 It is a distinct word from taint, 
 " stain," which comes from 
 Fr. teindre, Lat. tingere or 
 tinguere. 
 
 attend (ii. 1. 127 ; ii. 4. 36), await. 
 O.Fr. atendre, L. ad -\- tendre. 
 Primarily " to stretch to." 
 Hence the meanings " to direct 
 the mind to," " to look after," 
 " wait upon," and " to wait 
 for." 
 
 avaunt (iii. 6. 68), begone! Fr. 
 avant, forward! Lat. ah ante. 
 
 bandy (i. 4. 92 ; ii. 4. 178). The 
 origin is obscure. Fr. bander, 
 to strike a ball to and fro, as 
 in tennis ; perhaps from bande, 
 
 benison"(i. 1. 269; iv. 6. 229), 
 blessing. M.E. beneysun, 
 
 O.Fr. beneison, Lat. benedic- 
 tionem; hence a doublet of 
 " benediction." 
 
 boot (iv. 6. 230 ; v. 3. 301) . O.E. 
 bot, advantage, good, profit ; 
 related in derivation to " bet- 
 ter," " best." It occurs com- 
 monly in the phrase to boot, 
 " to the good," " in addition," 
 as in iv. 6. 230. The verb is 
 represented in M.E. by boten. 
 
 caitiff (iii. 2. 55), wretch. Norm. 
 Fr. caitif, " captive," " miser- 
 able," Lat. captivum. Its Nor- 
 man origin is shown by the 
 retention of the Latin c before 
 a. French dialects generally 
 represented this c by ch : cf. 
 castle and Fr. chdteau, caitiff 
 and Fr. chetif. There was an 
 early English variant chaitif, 
 which came from a central Fr. 
 
 203 
 
204 
 
 GLOSSARY 
 
 form. The word is occasion- 
 ally used in E.E. in the original 
 sense, " captive." 
 
 can (iv. 4. 8). O.E. cunnan, 
 " The O. Teut. sense was ' to 
 know, know how, be mentally 
 or intellectually able,' whence 
 ' to be able generally, be physi- 
 cally able, have the power ' " 
 (Murray) . 
 
 champains (i. 1. 65), or cham- 
 paigns, plains. M.E. cham- 
 payne, O.Fr, champaigne, Lat. 
 Campania; ultimately from 
 Lat. campus, a level field. The 
 word was taken into English 
 in the central French form 
 champaigne, not in the Norman 
 French form campaigne (Mur- 
 ray) ; contrast caitiff. 
 
 cockney (ii. 4. 123), a pampered, 
 affected woman ; see note. 
 M.E. cokeney, apparently coken, 
 " of cocks " + ey, " egg " ; 
 thus literally " cock's egg." 
 The word was either a child's 
 name for an egg, or a name for 
 a small or misshapen egg. It 
 was then applied as a humor- 
 ous or derisive name for an 
 unduly pampered child, a milk- 
 sop. From this it was applied 
 to a townsman, as being effemi- 
 nate in comparison with a 
 countryman . Finally it has got 
 its modern special reference to 
 a native of London (Murray). 
 
 comforting (iii. 5. 21), aiding, 
 assisting ; a common legal 
 sense. O.Fr. conforter, Lat. 
 confortare, to strengthen, con 
 intensive -\- fortis, strong. In 
 legal phraseology it is com- 
 monly used along with the syn- 
 onymous word " aiding," e.g. 
 " aiding and comforting," 
 " giving aid and comfort." 
 
 commend (ii. 4. 28; iii. 1. 19), 
 deliver, commit. Through 
 O.Fr. from Lat. commendare, 
 com -{- mandare, to commit to 
 one's care. The secondary 
 sense of " praising " arose from 
 the idea that what is com- 
 mitted is worthy of accept- 
 
 ance. The sense of " com- 
 mitting " survives in such 
 phrases as " commend to 
 memory " ; but it was much 
 commoner in E.E. than the 
 sense of " praising." 
 
 compeers (v. 3. 69), equals, is a 
 compeer with. O.Fr. comper, 
 com -|- per, a peer (in Mod. Fr. 
 pair), Lat. par em. 
 
 conceit (iv. 6. 42), imagination, 
 illusion. Probably formed 
 from conceive on the analogy of 
 deceit, deceive, there being 
 apparently no corresponding 
 O.Fr. word. It never occurs 
 in Shakespeare in the modern 
 sense of " high opinion of one- 
 self." 
 
 convey (i. 2. 109), carry out, do 
 secretly. M.E. conveien, O.Fr. 
 conveier, Late Lat. conviare, 
 con -{■ via. Originally " to ac- 
 company on the way," " to 
 convoy " ; but used later of 
 inanimate things = " to trans- 
 port, carry," and especially 
 with a sense of secrecy. Cf . i. 
 4. 300. 
 
 cozen'd (v. 3. 154), cheated, be- 
 guiled. The derivation is un- 
 certain. It has commonly 
 been connected with Fr. cousi- 
 ner, defined by Cotgrave, 1611, 
 as "to clayme kindred for ad- 
 vantage, or particular ends ; 
 as he who, to save charges in 
 travelling, goes from house to 
 house as cosin to the honor of 
 everyone." But there is no 
 idea of " pretext of relation- 
 ship " in cozen in E.E., in 
 which the meaning is simply 
 to " cheat." Cf. cozener, iv. 
 6. 167. 
 
 curious (i. 4. 35), complicated, 
 intricate. O.Fr. curius, Lat. 
 curiosus, full of care, scrupu- 
 lous. Cf. curiosity, " scruples," 
 i. 2. 4, " nicety of suspicion," 
 i. 4. 75, and " careful investi- 
 gation," i. 1. 6. 
 
 darkling (i. 4. 207), in the dark. 
 M.E. darkeling, dark + ling. 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 205 
 
 an old adverbial formative. 
 Cf . flatling or flatlong, headling 
 or headlong, sidelong. 
 
 debosh'd (i. 4. 237), an early 
 variant of " debauched." 
 Taken, about 1600, from Fr. 
 debaucher, to draw away from 
 duty ; hence to lead astray, 
 corrupt. " Obsolete in Eng- 
 lish before the middle of the 
 seventeenth century ; retained 
 longer in Scotch ; revived by 
 Scott, and now frequent in 
 literary English with some- 
 what vaguer sense than de- 
 bauched " (Murray). De- 
 boshed is the only form in 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 deer (iii. 4. 144). Not used in 
 its modern special sense, but 
 applied to animals generally, 
 usually to quadrupeds as dis- 
 tinct from birds and fishes. 
 O.E. deor. Not connected 
 with Gr. e-qp, a wild beast. 
 
 demand (iii. 2. 65; v. 3. 62), 
 ask ; the commoner meaning 
 of the word in Shakespeare. 
 Cf. the substantive, i. 5. 3. 
 Fr. demander, Lat. de + man- 
 dare. 
 
 digest (i. 1. 130), divide, dispose 
 of. Lat. digerere, to carry 
 asunder, divide, dis + gerere. 
 Schmidt's explanation that it 
 is used figuratively in the sense 
 of " enjoy " is untenable. 
 
 earnest (i. 4. 104), money paid 
 beforehand as a pledge. The 
 derivation is uncertain. Cf. 
 O. Fr. erres, Mod. Fr. arrhes, 
 from Lat. arrha. The Scottish 
 form arles is apparently from 
 the same root. 
 
 engrafifed (i. 1. 301), engrafted. 
 Graff was the original form, 
 and was in common use in E.E. 
 The current form graft prob- 
 ably arose from the use of graft 
 {graffed) as the p. part, of the 
 old form. O.Fr. grafe, greffe 
 (Mod. Fr. greffe), a slip of 
 a tree, originally a pointed 
 instrument. Late Lat. gra- 
 
 phium, a writing style. Gr. 
 ypd<f)ei.v, to Write. The Qq 
 have the form ingrafted. 
 
 enormous (ii. 2. 176), abnormal, 
 monstrous. Lat, enormis, e + 
 norma, pattern, rule. This is 
 the only instance of the word 
 in Shakespeare's plays. The 
 usual sense now — " huge " — 
 is derivative. 
 
 entertain (iii. 6. 83), take into 
 service ; a common meaning in 
 E.E. Cf. Two Gentlemen of 
 Verona, ii. 4. 110, " entertain 
 him for your servant." Fr. 
 entretenir, Lat. inter -{• tenere. 
 
 esperance (iv. 1. 4), hope. O.Fr. 
 esperance. Late Lat. sperantia, 
 sperare, to hope. 
 
 essay (i. 2. 47), trial, test. 
 O.Fr. essai or assai, Lat. exa- 
 gium, " weighing," hence " ex- 
 amination," exigere, " to 
 weigh, consider," ex + ago. 
 The commoner form in Shake- 
 speare is assay; essay occurs 
 only here and in Sonnets, ex. 8. 
 Cf. say. 
 
 exhibition (i. 2. 25), allowance. 
 O.Fr. exhibicion. Late Lat. ex- 
 hibitionem, maintenance, exhi- 
 bere, to maintain, support, in 
 legal sense. (Cf. exhibitio et 
 tegumentum = food and rai- 
 ment.) Its original meaning 
 was " maintenance, support " ; 
 hence, as here, " allowance, 
 pension." This sense survives 
 only in its specialized use as a 
 kind of scholarship given by an 
 English college, etc. It has 
 the sense of " present " in 
 Othello, iv. 3. 75 : "I would 
 not do such a thing for a joint- 
 ring . . . nor any petty exhi- 
 bition." The meaning " dis- 
 play," etc., is comparatively 
 late. 
 
 favours (iii. 7. 40), features. 
 M.E. favour. Nor. Fr. favor, 
 Lat. favorem, kindliness. The 
 meaning " face," " features," 
 arose from the common trans- 
 ition from the feeling or dis- 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 position to that which expresses 
 it. The meaning " face " is 
 more common than the special- 
 ized meaning " features of the 
 face"; but cf. 1 Henry IV, 
 iii, 2. 136, " and stain my 
 favours in a bloody mask." 
 Cf. the colloquial use of the 
 verb in the sense of "to re- 
 semble." 
 
 feature (iv. 2. 63), outward form, 
 appearance. O.Fr. failure, 
 Lat. factura, from facere, to 
 make. In E.E. it preserved 
 its original general sense of 
 " make, form, shape." It is 
 not used in Shakespeare in the 
 specialized modern sense of the 
 parts of the face. 
 
 fell (v. 3. 24), strictly a hide, 
 skin with the hair on ; but 
 often used of the human skin, 
 as in the phrase flesh and fell, 
 which means the whole body. 
 O.E. fel, cognate with Lat. 
 pellis. 
 
 flaws (ii. 4. 288), shivers, splin- 
 ters ; akin to flake and flag 
 (stone). Cf. flaw'd, broken, 
 cracked (v. 3. 196). 
 
 fond (i. 2. 51 ; i. 4. 323 ; iv. 7. 
 60), foolish. ^ M.E. fanned, 
 p.p. of fon, primarily " to lose 
 savour," hence "to be foolish" ; 
 probably the source of M.E. 
 fon, " foolish," " a fool," as 
 well as of the later word fun. 
 From meaning " foolish, silly," 
 it came to mean " foolishly 
 tender," then " affectionate," 
 the change arising from the as- 
 sociation of warm feeling with 
 mental weakness. The inverse 
 process has taken place in the 
 M.E. silly, which comes ulti- 
 niately from O.E. s^l, " hap- 
 piness." 
 
 forf ended (v. 1. 11), forbidden. 
 M.E. forfenden, ward off, /or + 
 fenden, a shortened form of de- 
 fenden, from Lat. defender e. 
 As for is an English prefix — 
 of similar force to the Latin 
 prefix de — forfenden is thus a 
 hybrid. 
 
 fret (i. 4. 307), wear, eat away. 
 O.E. strong verb fretan, con- 
 sume, from O.Teut. /ra + etan, 
 to eat. The verb is weak in 
 E.E., but a strong p.p. sur- 
 vives in fretten, the Quarto 
 reading of The Merchant of 
 Venice, iv. 1. 77. 
 
 frontlet (i. 4. 208). See note. 
 O.F. frontelet, dim. of frontel, 
 ultimately from Lat. frons, the 
 forehead. 
 
 fumiter (iv. 4. 3), fumitory. 
 O.Fr. fumeterre, Med. Lat. 
 fumus terrae, " smoke of the 
 earth " ; so called because " it 
 springeth . . . out of the 
 earth in great quantity." 
 Hence " rank fumiter." 
 
 gallow (iii. 2. 44), terrify. An 
 obsolete form of gaily. O.E. 
 agcelwan, to alarm. Cf. galli- 
 crow, used in Wessex for 
 " scarecrow." 
 
 gasted (ii. 1. 57), frightened. 
 O.E. gdestan. The verb gast 
 is the same as the verb agast, 
 of which the only part in use 
 is the p.p. agast, now errone- 
 ously spelled aghast. 
 
 germens (iii. 2. 8), germs, the 
 seeds of life. Lat. germen. 
 Cf. Macbeth, iv. 1. 59, " though 
 the treasure Of nature's ger- 
 mens tumble all together." 
 
 good-years (v. 3. 24). An in- 
 definite name for an evil power 
 or agency. The word was first 
 used as a meaningless expletive, 
 as in the phrase " What the 
 good year!" But apparently 
 from the equivalence of this 
 phrase with " What the devil ! 
 plague! " etc., it came to be 
 used in imprecations and curses 
 for an undefined evil power. 
 The phrase " What the good- 
 year," which was probably 
 adopted from the Dutch wat 
 goedjaar, occurs in The Merry 
 Wives, i. 4. 129 (spelled good- 
 jer). Much Ado, i. 3. 1, and 2 
 Henry IV, ii. 4. 64 and 191. 
 The present is the only in- 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 207 
 
 stance in Shakespeare in which 
 it is used in its secondary force. 
 The word is commonly defined, 
 since Sir Thomas Hanmer's 
 edition of Shakespeare, 1744, 
 as the name of a disease. It is 
 said to be a corruption of the 
 Fr. goujeres, a hypothetical 
 derivative of gouje, a camp- 
 follower. But this derivation 
 and definition are erroneous 
 (Bradley). 
 
 help (iii. 7. 62). Of the strong 
 inflexions of help, the normal 
 M.E. past tense was halp; the 
 pi. was holpen, later holp or 
 holpe, which c. 1500 was ex- 
 tended also to the sing., and 
 continued in frequent use till 
 the seventeenth century (Mur- 
 ray). 
 
 hurricanoes (iii. 2. 2), water- 
 spouts. Span, huracan. The 
 modern form hurricane was 
 established only in the latter 
 half of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury. It is not found in 
 Shakespeare. The form hurri- 
 cano occurs also in Troilus and 
 Cressida, v. 2. 172, where also 
 it has the sense of water- 
 spout. 
 
 inheriting (ii. 2. 20), possessing. 
 M.E. inheriten, enheriien, O.Fr. 
 en-heriter, Lat. hereditare, to 
 inherit. Often used in E.E. 
 in the loose sense of " come 
 into possession of." Cf. the 
 Biblical phrase, " shall inherit 
 the earth." 
 
 interess'd (i. 1. 87), have an 
 interest (or right) in. Interess 
 (noun and verb) is the early 
 form of interest, and is com- 
 mon in E.E. From M.E. and 
 Anglo-Fr. interesse (subst.), 
 Lat. interesse, to concern, be of 
 importance. 
 
 intrinse (ii. 2. 81), intricate, in- 
 volved. Perhaps an abbrevia- 
 tion of intrinsicate; see An- 
 tony and Cleopatra, v. 2. 307. 
 Cf. reverbs, i. 1. 156. 
 
 justicer (iii. 6. 23, 59). O.Fr. 
 justicier, Late Lat. justitiarius ; 
 thus identical in derivation 
 with " justiciar " or " justi- 
 ciary." It is used by Shake- 
 speare in the sense of " justi- 
 ciar " or " administrator of 
 justice " ; but it has often the 
 less specialized meaning of 
 " one who maintains justice, 
 upholds the right," as in iv. 2. 
 79. In iii. 6. 23 the Ff and 
 Qq read justice; Theobald's 
 emendation justicer is sup- 
 ported by line 59. 
 
 knapped (ii. 4. 125), knocked, 
 struck. Of onomatopoetic for- 
 mation, the original meaning 
 being "to strike with a hard, 
 sharp sound." 
 
 knave (i. 1. 21; i. 4. 46, 103), 
 boy, servant. M.E. knaue, 
 O.E. cnafa, cnapa, a boy. Cf. 
 Ger. knabe. From meaning a 
 male child, it came to mean a 
 boy employed as a servant, in 
 both of which senses it is used 
 in King Lear. Shakespeare 
 uses it also in its modern sense 
 of " rascal," " villain." 
 
 liege (i. 1. 36), sovereign. M.E. 
 lige, lege, liege, O.Fr. lige, liege, 
 O.H.G. ledic, free, unrestrained. 
 Hence properly used, as in the 
 title liege-lord, of the feudal 
 suzerain. Skeat quotes from 
 Barbour's Bruce, " Bot and I 
 lif in lege pouste " = but if I 
 survive in free and indisputed 
 sovereignty. But by supposed 
 connection with Lat. ligatus, 
 ligare, to bind, the word was 
 applied to the vassals of the 
 liege-lord. Hence the modern 
 use in the sense of citizens, as 
 in the phrase " the safety of 
 the lieges." 
 
 mainly (iv. 7. 65), perfectly. 
 Cf. main = chief, principal. 
 O.Fr. maine, magne, great, Lat. 
 magnus. Commonly in Shake- 
 speare with the sense " forci- 
 bly," " mightily." 
 
^08 
 
 GLOSSARY 
 
 marry (iii. 2. 40; iv. 2. 68), an 
 exclamation derived from the 
 oath " by the Virgin Mary.'' 
 
 maugre (v. 3. 131), in spite of, 
 O.Fr. maulgre (Mod. Fr. mal- 
 gre), literally " ill will." Ulti- 
 mately from Lat. malus, bad, 
 and gratum, a pleasant thing. 
 
 meiny (ii. 4. 35), household, 
 M.E. meinee, mainee, a house- 
 hold, O.Fr. maisnee, Low Lat. 
 mansionata, a household, Lat. 
 mansio, a dwelling. The word 
 is spelled many in Spenser, 
 Faerie Queene, v. 11. 3, 2. It 
 is the source of menial. 
 
 mere (iv. 1. 22), unalloyed, pure. 
 O.Fr. mier, Lat. merus, un- 
 mixed, especially of wine. 
 
 mess (i. 1. 119), dish of food. 
 O.Fr. mes, a dish, literally that 
 which is placed on the table ; 
 Low Lat. missum, miftere, to 
 place ; Lat. mittere, to send. 
 Cf. Mod. Fr. mets. 
 
 minikin (iii. 6. 45), dainty, 
 pretty. Cf. Dutch minnekyn, 
 a cupid, darling, a diminutive 
 of minne, love, cognate with 
 O.H.G. minna, love. Allied to 
 minion and Fr. mignon. 
 
 miscreant (i. 1. 163), wretch. 
 Originally an " unbeliever," 
 and perhaps used here in this 
 sense. O.Fr. mescreant, Lat. 
 minus + credentem. Cf. rec- 
 reant, below. 
 
 modest (ii. 4. 25 ; iv. 7. 5), mod- 
 erate. Fr. modeste, Lat. mo- 
 destus, moderate, measurable, 
 from m,odus, a measure. 
 Shakespeare uses the word 
 both in this original sense and 
 in its derivative and currerrt 
 sense, " decent " or " diffi- 
 dent." 
 
 moiety (i, 1. 7), part, portion: 
 strictly a half. Anglo-Fr. 
 moyte (Mod. Fr. moitie), a half, 
 Lat. medietatem, from medius, 
 middle. Shakespeare uses it 
 in both senses, " half " and 
 " part." 
 
 motley (i. 4. 160), M.E. motte- 
 lee, O.Fr. mattele, " curdled." 
 
 Hence " spotted," " varie- 
 gated." Strictly an adjective, 
 but used by Shakespeare as a 
 substantive : (1) as the dress 
 of the Fool, as here ; and (2) as 
 the Fool himself, e.g. " And 
 made myself a motley to the 
 view," Sonnets, ex. 2. 
 
 naughty (iii. 4. 116; iii. 7. 36), 
 bad, wicked, as frequently in 
 E.E. M.'E. naught, O.'E.nawhit, 
 na, no -|- whit, thing ; hence 
 " worthless," " good for noth- 
 ing," " wicked." The sense 
 " mischievous " is modern. 
 Cf. naught = wicked, ii. 4. 136. 
 
 nicely (ii. 2. 110; v. 3. 144), 
 punctiliously, with nicety. 
 O.Fr. nice, simple, Lat. nes- 
 cius, ignorant. The original 
 meaning in English was " fool- 
 ish," as in Chaucer; but in 
 E.E. it had acquired the mean- 
 ing of " fastidious " as applied 
 to persons, and " petty," 
 " trifling " as applied to things. 
 " The remarkable changes in 
 sense may have been due to 
 confusion with E. nesh, which 
 sometimes meant ' delicate ' 
 as well as ' soft ' " (Skeat). 
 Shakespeare does not use the 
 word in the modern sense 
 " pleasant." 
 
 oeillades (iv. 5. 25), glances, 
 amorous or inviting. The Qq 
 read aliads, the Ff eliads (1st) 
 and iliads (2d, 3d, and 4th). 
 " It cannot be decided whether 
 Shakespeare wrote the French 
 word or some anglicized form 
 of it." The word occurs also 
 in Merry Wives, i. 3. 68. 
 
 offend (i. 1. 310), hurt, harm. 
 M.E. offenden, Fr. offendre, 
 Lat. offendere, to strike or dash 
 against. Offend is strictly the 
 opposite of defend, this sense 
 surviving in the phrase " on 
 the offensive," etc. The 
 strong sense of " hurt," 
 " harm "is comparatively rare 
 in Shakespeare, who uses the 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 209 
 
 word chiefly in its modern sig- 
 nification ; but cf . 2 Henry I V, 
 ii. 4, 126, " She is pistol-proof, 
 sir ; you shall hardly offend 
 her." 
 
 or ere (ii. 4. 289), before. The 
 two words are identical in 
 meaning, both being derived 
 from the O.E. ar, before. 
 But it is probable that ere was 
 considered a contraction for 
 ever = e'er. Shakespeare has 
 both forms, or ere and or ever 
 (Hamlet, i. 2. 183). 
 
 owes (i. 1. 205), possesses; 
 owest (i. 4. 133). M.E. owen, 
 awen, O.E. agan, ah, " possess." 
 The current sense of " obliga- 
 tion " arises from the idea of 
 possessing what belongs to an- 
 other. The word is used in 
 this modern sense in iii. 4. 
 108. 
 
 pelting (ii. 3. 18), paltry — 
 which has partly the same 
 source. The Northern word 
 paltrie or peltrie, a substantive 
 meaning " trash," was prob- 
 ably the source of E.E. paul- 
 tring, peltering, " petty," and 
 pelter, " a mean person." By 
 association with these, pelt, 
 " skin," acquired the sugges- 
 tion of " trash," and from it 
 appears to have been formed, 
 during the sixteenth century, 
 the word pelting, on the anal- 
 ogy of peltrie, peltering (Her- 
 ford). Note the modern pelt- 
 ing, a distinct word, in iii. 4. 
 29. 
 
 perdu (iv. 7. 35). Not from Fr. 
 enfant perdu, a soldier of a for- 
 lorn hope, but from sentinelle 
 perdue, a sentry placed in a 
 very advanced and dangerous 
 position. Thus "to watch — 
 poor perdu ! " 
 
 perdy (ii. 4. 86), an exclamation. 
 From Fr. par Dieu. 
 
 plaited (i. 1. 283), folded. M.E. 
 plaiten, O.Fr. pleit, plet, a fold 
 (Mod. Fr. pli) ; Lat. plicatus, 
 plicare, to fold. The Qq read 
 
 pleated, the Ff plighted, which 
 are both doublets of plaited. 
 The form plight, which is found 
 in Spenser, — e.g. " with many 
 a folded plight," Faerie Queene, 
 ii. 3. 26, 5, — conies from M.E. 
 pliten, the gh being an intru- 
 sion. It is quite distinct from 
 plight (i. 1. 103), pledge, which 
 comes from O.E. pliht, risk, 
 danger, cognate with Ger. 
 pflicht, duty. 
 
 pother (iii. 2. 50), turmoil. 
 From the same source as potter 
 and poke; not connected with 
 ' ' bother. ' ' The Ff read pudder, 
 another form of the same word. 
 
 power (iii. 1. 30; iv. 2. 16; iv. 
 5. 1 ; V. 1. 51), army : a com- 
 mon meaning in E.E. M.E. 
 pouer, O.Fr. povoir. Late Lat. 
 potere = posse, to be able. 
 Thus derivatively a substanti- 
 val use of the infinitive mood. 
 Cf. Fr. pouvoir. 
 
 presently (i. 4. 159; ii. 4. 34, 
 118), immediately, at once; 
 the usual sense in E.E. 
 
 puissant (v. 3. 216), strong, great. 
 F. puissant. Low Lat. possens, 
 a pres. part, due to confusion 
 between the correct form 
 potens and the inf. posse. A 
 doublet of potent. 
 
 quit (iii. 7. 87), requite. M.E. 
 quiten, O.Fr. quiter, Lat. quie- 
 tare, to set at rest. Quit is de- 
 rivatively a shorter form of 
 quiet. 
 
 recreant (i. 1. 169), coward. 
 Strictly, one who has changed 
 his faith. O.Fr. recreant, Lat. 
 re + credentem. Cf . miscreant 
 above. 
 
 renege (ii. 2. 84), deny. M.E. 
 reneye, Low Lat. renegare, 
 whence " renegade," etc. The 
 g is pronounced hard. The 
 spelling of the Qq is reneag. 
 
 reverbs (i. 1. 156), reverberates. 
 Perhaps " a coined word, by 
 contraction " (Skeat). Cf. m- 
 trinse, ii. 2. 81. 
 
210 
 
 GLOSSARY 
 
 saw (ii. 2. 167), saying, proverb. 
 M.E. sawe, sa'Se, O.E. sagu, a 
 saying, allied to secgan, to say. 
 Cf. As You Like It, ii. 7. 156, 
 " Full of wise saws." 
 
 say (v. 3. 143), proof, taste; a 
 common aphetic form of assay 
 or essay (q.v.). Cf. the verbal 
 use in Pericles, i. 1. 59-60, 
 " Of all say'd yet, mayst thou 
 prove prosperous. Of all say'd 
 yet, I wish thee happiness ! " 
 
 sennet (i. 1, stage direction), a 
 set of notes on a trumpet an- 
 nouncing the entry or exit of 
 a procession. The word does 
 not appear in the text of 
 Shakespeare. The forms syn- 
 net, sonnet, cynet, and signet 
 also occur. 
 
 several (i. 1. 45), respective, as 
 commonly in E.E. O.Fr. 
 several. Low Lat. separale; a 
 doublet of " separate." 
 
 sith (i. 1. 183; ii. 4. 242), since. 
 M.E. sithen. O.E. si^tJan, 
 from sid Sam, after that. A 
 doublet of since, which is from 
 M.E. sithens, i.e. sithen + the 
 adverbial termination -s or -es, 
 as in whiles. Note that sith 
 usually has the sense of " as," 
 " seeing that," though it has 
 a temporal force in Hamlet, ii. 
 2. 12. 
 
 sizes (ii. 4. 178), allowances. 
 Short for assize, a fixed quan- 
 tity. M.E. assise, O.Fr. assis, 
 " an assembly of judges," " a 
 sitting," " an impost," " quan- 
 tity adjudged," ultimately 
 from Lat. sedere, to sit. Hence 
 the Cambridge term sizar, a 
 scholar to whom certain " al- 
 lowances " are made. 
 
 spill (iii. 2. 8), destroy. M.E. 
 spillen, O.E. spillan, spildan, 
 to destroy. Cf. Hamlet, iv. 5. 
 20: 
 
 So full of artless jealousy is guilt, 
 It spills itself in fearing to be spilt. 
 
 stelled (iii. 7. 61), starry, stel- 
 late. Lat. stellatus, stella, a 
 star. Schmidt and Craig take 
 
 it to mean " fixed " ; cf. Son' 
 nets, xxiv. 1, " Mine eye hath 
 played the painter and hath 
 stell'd Thy beauty's form," 
 and Lucrece, 1444, " To find a 
 face where all distress is 
 stell'd." 
 suggestion (ii. 1, 75), underhand 
 action, the usual meaning of 
 the word in Shakespeare. Cf. 
 suggest, to prompt, incite 
 criminally. M.E. suggesten, 
 from p.p. of Lat. suggerere, 
 literally " to carry or lay 
 under," suh -f gerere. Sug- 
 gest and suggestion are com- 
 monly used in a bad sense in 
 E.E. 
 
 tell (ii. 4. 55), count. M.E. 
 tellen, O.E. tellan, to count, 
 narrate. 
 
 tithing (iii. 4. 140), district. 
 Originally a district containing 
 ten families. O.E. ted^a, a 
 tenth. 
 
 treachers (i. 2. 133), traitors. 
 M.E. trecchour, trychor, O.Fr. 
 trecher, to cheat ; ultimately 
 of Teutonic origin ; cognate 
 with trick. This is the only 
 instance of the word in Shake- 
 speare, but it was common in 
 E.E. 
 
 trowest (i. 4. 135), believest. 
 M.E. trowen, O.E. tredwian, to 
 have trust in, tredwa, trust. 
 
 tucket (ii. 1, stage direction), a 
 flourish on a trumpet or cornet. 
 Cf . Henry V, iv. 2. 35 : 
 
 Then let the trumpets sound 
 The tucket sonance and the note 
 to mount. 
 
 It. toccata, from loccare, to touch. 
 
 vaunt-couriers (iii. 2. 5), fore- 
 runners. Fr. avant-coureur 
 (see avaunt). Cf. the contrac- 
 tion in van, vanguard (Fr. 
 avant-garde) . 
 
 villain (iii. 7. 87 ; iv. 6. 257), serv- 
 ant. O.Fr. vilein, Low Lat. 
 villanus, a farm-servant ; villa, 
 
GLOSSARY 
 
 211 
 
 a farmhouse. The word has 
 here its original sense, but the 
 current degraded sense 
 " scoundrel " is the more 
 common in Shakespeare (e.g. 
 1. 2. 180). 
 
 whiles (ii. 3. 5 ; iv. 2. 58), strictly 
 the genitive of while, time, used 
 
 adverbially. Cf. twice, from 
 twi-es. This old genitive sur- 
 vives in whilst. 
 worships (i. 4. 288), dignities, 
 credit. M.E. worschip, wur'd- 
 scipe, O.E. weor^scipe, wyrd- 
 scipe, honor ; a contraction of 
 worthship, the th being lost in 
 the fourteenth century. 
 
INDEX OF WORDS 
 
 (The references are to the Notes ad loc. 
 found in the Glossary.) 
 
 Other words will be 
 
 action-taking, ii. 2. 18. 
 additions, i. 1. 138 ; v. 3. 68. 
 admiration, i. 4. 258. 
 affected, i. 1. 1. 
 ancient of war, v. 1. 32. 
 approve, i. 1. 187. 
 argument, i. 1. 218. 
 at point, i. 4. 347. 
 
 ballow, iv. 6. 247. 
 
 battles, iii. 2. 23. 
 
 Bedlam beggars, ii. 3, init. 
 
 bewray, ii. 1. 109; iii. 6. 118. 
 
 blank, i. 1. 161. 
 
 holds, V. 1. 26. 
 
 bond, i. 1. 95. 
 
 bourn, iii. 6. 27 ; iv. 6. 57. 
 
 briefness, ii. 1. 20. 
 
 carbonado, ii. 2. 41. 
 censure, iii. 5. 3; v. 3. 3. 
 century, iv. 4. 6. 
 clotpoll, i. 4. 51. 
 clout, iv. 6. 92. 
 colour, ii. 2. 145. 
 comfortable, i. 4. 328. 
 consort, ii. 1. 99. 
 converse, i. 4. 16. 
 convey, i. 2. 109. 
 costard, iv. 6. 247. 
 court holy-water, iii. 2. 10. 
 cowish, iv. 2. 12. 
 coxcomb, i. 4. 109. 
 curst, ii. 1. 67. 
 
 dear, i. 4. 294. 
 defuse, i. 4. 2. 
 
 depend, i. 4. 271. 
 derogate, i. 4. 302. 
 descent, v. 3. 137. 
 diffidences, i. 2. 161. 
 diseases, i. 1. 177. 
 disnatured, i. 4. 305. 
 Dolphin, iii. 4. 104. 
 
 ear-kissing, ii. 1. 9. 
 effects, i. 1. 133. 
 elf, ii. 3. 10. 
 engine, i. 4. 290. 
 epicurism, i. 4. 265. 
 equalities, i. 1. 5. 
 event, the, i. 4. 371. 
 
 faint, i. 4. 73. 
 
 fetches, ii. 4. 90. 
 
 fire-new, v. 3. 132. 
 
 first of difference, your, v. 3. 288. 
 
 flesh, ii. 2. 49. 
 
 fleshment of, in the, ii. 2. 130. 
 
 Flibbertigibbet, iii. 4. 120. 
 
 foins, iv. 6. 251. 
 
 foppery, i. 2. 128. 
 
 foppish, i. 4. 182. 
 
 fordid, V. 3. 255. 
 
 fork, the, i. 1. 146. 
 
 Frateretto, iii. 6. 7. 
 
 frontlet, i. 4. 208. 
 
 gad, upon the, i. 2. 26, 
 generation, i. 1. 119. 
 generous, i. 2. 8. 
 goest, i. 4. 134. 
 graced, i. 4. 267. 
 grossly, i. 1. 295. 
 213 
 
214 
 
 INDEX OF WORDS 
 
 handy-dandy, iv. 6. 156-157. 
 Hecate, i. 1. 112. 
 home, iii. 3. 13. 
 Hopdance, iii. 6. 32. 
 Hysterica passio, ii. 4. 57. 
 
 immediacy, v. 3. 65. 
 incense, ii. 4. 309. 
 ingenious, iv. 6. 287. 
 
 Jug, i. 4. 245. 
 
 kibes, i. 5. 9. 
 
 Lady the brach, i. 4. 125. 
 
 lag of, i. 2. 6. 
 
 lances, v. 3. 50. 
 
 like, i. 1. 203 ; i. 1. 304 ; iv. 2. 19. 
 
 loathly, ii. 1. 51. 
 
 main, iii. 1. 6. 
 milk, i. 1. 86. 
 monsters it, i. 1. 223. 
 mother, ii. 4. 56. 
 
 names my very deed of love, i. 1. 
 
 73. 
 nether, iv. 2. 79. 
 notion, i. 4. 248. 
 nuncle, i. 4. 117. 
 nursery, i. 1. 126. 
 
 Obidicut, iv. 1. 62. 
 
 observants, ii. 2. 109. 
 
 office, ii. 4. 107. 
 
 old, iii. 4. 125. 
 
 on 's, i. 4. 114; i. 5. 20. 
 
 on 't, i. 4. 168. 
 
 out, i. 1. 33. 
 
 owes, i. 1. 205. 
 
 owest, i. 4. 133. 
 
 packings, iii. 1. 26. 
 packs, V. 3. 18. 
 pelican daughters, iii. 4. 77. 
 pight, ii. 1. 67. 
 Pillicock, iii. 4. 78. 
 poise, ii. 1. 122. 
 
 practices, i. 2. 198; ii. 1. 75, 109; 
 
 V. 3. 151. 
 practised, iii. 2. 57. 
 prefer, i. 1. 277. 
 pretence, i. 2. 95 ; i. 4. 75. 
 proper, i. 1, 18. 
 property, i. 1. 116. 
 Pur ! iii. 6. 47. 
 put on, i. 4. 227. 
 
 queasy, ii. 1. 19. 
 
 questrists, iii. 7. 17. 
 
 regards, i. 1. 242. 
 resolve, ii. 4. 25. 
 ripeness, v. 2. 11. 
 roundest, i. 4. 58. 
 rubb'd, ii. 2. 161. 
 
 sallets, iii. 4. 138. 
 
 sectary astronomical, i. 2. 164- 
 
 165. 
 set, i. 4. 136. 
 set my rest, to, i. 1. 125. 
 shealed, i. 4. 219. 
 showest, i. 4. 131. 
 sliver, iv. 2. 34. 
 snuffs, iii. 1. 26. 
 some year, i. 1. 20. 
 soothe, iii. 4. 182. 
 sop o' the moonshine, ii. 2. 34-35. 
 spherical predominance, i. 2. 133- 
 
 134. 
 square of sense, i. 1. 76. 
 squiny, iv. 6. 140. 
 subscribed, i. 2. 24. 
 subscription, iii. 2. 18. 
 succeed, i. 2. 157. 
 success, V. 3. 194. 
 sumpter, ii. 4. 219. 
 superserviceable, ii. 2. 19 
 
 taking, ii. 4. 166. 
 tender, i. 4. 230. 
 terrible, i. 2. 32. 
 thought-executing, iii. 2. 4. 
 three-suited, ii. 2. 16-17. 
 thwart, i. 4. 305. 
 
INDEX OF WORDS 
 
 215 
 
 toad-spotted, v. 3. 138. 
 toward, ii. 1. 11 ; iii. 3. 20. 
 trowest, i. 4. 135. 
 Turlygod, ii. 3. 20. 
 
 unbolted, ii. 2. 71. 
 unpossessing, ii. 1. 69. 
 unprized, i. 1. 262. 
 untented, i. 4. 322. 
 upon his party, ii. 1. 28. 
 upon respect, ii. 4. 24. 
 
 validity, i. 1. 83. 
 virtue, v. 3. 103. 
 
 wash'd eyes, with, i. 1. 271. 
 
 waterish, i. 1. 261. 
 
 web and the pin, the, iii. 
 
 122. 
 where, i. 2. 89. 
 wield the matter, i. 1. 56. 
 
 young bones, ii. 4. 165. 
 
GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Abbott, Shalcespearian Grammar, 
 
 i. 1. 213; i. 2. 93; i. 4. 26, 
 
 114,236,255, 271; i. 5. 36; ii. 
 
 1. 77; iii. 1. 23-24; iii. 2. 13. 
 abstract used for concrete, iv. 7. 
 
 7. 
 adjective, adverbial use of the, 
 
 i. 4. 360 ; iv. 6. 3. 
 adjective, substantival use of, ii. 
 
 1. 61 ; iii. 7. Q5. 
 iEsop's Fables, allusion to, i. 4. 
 
 176-177. 
 antecedent, omission of the, ii. 1. 
 
 125. 
 as, omission of, i. 1. 213. 
 auxiliary, omission of the, ii. 1. 
 
 77 ; iv. 2. 2. 
 
 be in E.E., uses of, i. 5. 36. 
 Bedlam beggars, ii. 3. init. 
 
 Capell, i. 4. 18. 
 
 Chapman, i. 1. 119. 
 
 Coleridge, i. 1. 109, 110, 175; 
 
 i. 5. 50; ii. 1. 69, 103; ii. 4. 
 
 267; iii. 4. init. 
 comparative and superlative, 
 
 double, i. 1. 80. 
 constructions, confusion of, iv. 
 
 6. 33-34. 
 contractions, euphonic, i. 4. 114. 
 Craig, W. J., i. 1. 119; i. 2. 161- 
 
 162; i. 4. 283. 
 
 Declaration of Popish Impostures, 
 Harsnet's, ii. 4. 54-55 ; iii. 4. 
 54-55, 120; iii. 6. 32. 
 
 Dekker's Bell-man of London, ii. 
 3. init. 
 
 -ed in past participles, i. 1. 262. 
 ellipsis, examples of, i. 1. 213. 
 ethic dative, example of, i. 2. 106, 
 Ex nihilo nihil fit, i. 1. 92. 
 
 fish on Fridays, i. 4. 18. 
 Fm-ness, iii. 2. 27-34. 
 
 gerundial infinitive, ii. 4. 112. 
 Guillim's Heraldri/, ii. 1. 87. 
 Gunpowder Plot, i. 2. 111-127. 
 
 Hanmer, ii. 2. 168-169. 
 Harvey's (Gabriel), Pierce's 
 
 Supererogation, ii. 2. 34-35. 
 Hazlitt, i. 1. 147, 279; iii. 4. 72; 
 
 iii. 6. 65. 
 hendiadys, examples of, i. 2. 48, 
 
 191-192; i. 4. 364. 
 here, substantival use of, i. 1. 264. 
 Herford, i. 5. 25 ; iii. 4. 126. 
 Horace's Odes, iii. 6. 85. 
 
 Johnson, i. 1. 201; i. 2. 113-114; 
 
 i. 4. 181-184; i. 5. 43; ii. 2. 
 
 19; ii. 2. 168-169; iv. 6. 11- 
 
 24. 
 Jonson's, Ben, English Grammar, 
 
 ii. 2. 69-70 ; Bartholomeiv Fair, 
 
 iii. 4. 103; Silent Woman, ii. 
 
 2. 16-17. 
 
 Kellner, i. 1. 275; ii. 2. 107; iii. 
 2. 13; iii. 7. 65. 
 
 Lipsbury pinfold, ii. 2. 9. 
 
 liver, as the seat of courage, ii. 2. 
 
 18. 
 Lyly's Euphues, ii. 2. 168-169. 
 
 217 
 
218 
 
 GENERAL INDEX 
 
 Malone, i. 4. 369; iii. 4. 54-55; 
 
 iv. 3. 21. 
 Middleton's Phoenix, ii. 2. 16-17. 
 
 neuter possessive, forms of the, 
 i. 4. 236 ; iv. 2. 32. 
 
 one superlative form applying to 
 two superlatives, i. 4, 285. 
 
 other, forms of the plural of, i. 4. 
 221. 
 
 past participles, with active 
 
 sense, i. 1. 275; iv. 6. 10; 
 
 suffix -ed in, i. 1. 262. 
 preposition, omission of, i. 1. 
 
 163 ; i. 3. 1 ; ii. 1. 41 ; ii. 2. 88. 
 Proverbs of John Hey wood, ii. 2. 
 
 168-169. 
 puns, ii. 1. 121 ; ii. 4. 7, 11, 52. 
 Purchas's Pilgrimes, i. 1. 119. 
 
 Rabelais, Gargantua and Pan- 
 
 tagruel, iii. 6. 7-8. 
 Reynolds, Sir Joshua, i. 4. 236. 
 
 Schmidt, Shakespearian Lexicon, 
 ^ ii. 2. 19. 
 
 singular verb, preceding a plural 
 subject, i. 1. 191 ; following a 
 pronoun with a plural ante- 
 cedent, i. 1. 193-194 ; follow- 
 ing two nouns, ii. 1. 115. 
 
 Sir Bevis of Hamptoun, iii. 4. 
 144-145. 
 
 some, with force of indefinite 
 article, ii. 2. 101. 
 
 Sophocles' (Edipus Coloneus, iii. 
 
 2. 60. 
 
 Steevens, i. 4. 191-192, 245; 
 
 i. 5. 43; V. 3. 72. 
 stomach the seat of anger, v. 3. 74. 
 superlatives, one superlative form 
 
 with two, i. 4. 285. 
 
 textual notes, i. 1. 41-46, 80, 85, 
 151; i. 2. 21, 119-124, 157- 
 166, 161-162, 181-187; i. 3. 
 20; i. 4. 154-169, 345-356, 
 366; ii. 1. 54; ii. 2. 148-152, 
 175-177; ii. 4. 45-53, 142- 
 147; iii. 1. 7-15, 22-29, 30- 
 42; iii. 2. 54, 80-95; iii. 4. 
 125 ; iii. 6. 13-15, 57, 104-108, 
 109-122; iii. 7. 18, 32, 63, 
 65, 99-107; iv. 1. 6-9; iv. 2, 
 28, 31-50, 62-69; iv. 3. init, 
 21; iv. 4. 4; iv. 6. 15, 169- 
 174, 256; iv. 7. 85-97; v. 
 
 3. 160, 204-221, 323-326. 
 Toilet, ii. 2. 71. 
 transposition, form of, i. 1. 97. 
 
 Warburton, i. 4. 18, 167; iv. 3. 21. 
 where, substantival use of, i. 1. 
 
 264. 
 Wright, i. 1. 282; i. 2. 111- 
 
 127; ii. 2. 19. 
 
 ye for you, the use of, i. 2. 185; 
 
 i. 4. 324 ; ii. 2. 50. 
 you were best, i. 4. 111. 
 
 Z, the letter, ii. 2. 69-70. 
 
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