Kent. Good my lord, enter here. [Storm still. Kent. I'd rather break mine own: Good my The lesser is scarce felt. Thou'dst shun a bear; The body's delicate: the tempest in my mind O, that way madness lies; let me shun that; [ease; uagmire; 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-inch'd bridges, to course 5his own shadow for a traitor:-Bless thy five wits! ---Tom's a-cold.---O, do de, do de, do de.---Bless thee from whirlwinds, star-blasting, and taking! Do poor Tom some charity, whom the foul fiend vexes:There could I have him now,---and 10there,---and there, and there again, and there. [Storm still. 15 20 Lear. What, have his daughters brought him to this pass?[all? Could'st thou save nothing? Didst thou give them Fool. Nay, he reserv'd a blanket, else we had been all shamed. lous air Lear, Now, all the plagues that in the pendu[ters! Hang fated o'er men's faults, light on thy daugh Kent. He hath no daughters, sir. Lear, Death, traitor! nothing could have sub- Tosuch a lowness, but his unkind daughters.- Kent. Good my lord, enter here. Nay, get thee in. I'll pray, and then I'll sleep.- Edg. [within,] Fathom and half, fathom and Fool. Come not in here, nuncle, here's a spirit. -Who's there? i' 35 Edg. Pillicock sat on pillicock-hill ;- Fool. This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen. Edg. Take heed o' the foul fiend: Obey thy parents; keep thy word justly; swear not; 'cominit 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 curl'd my hair, wore gloves in my cap, serv'd the lust of my mistress's heart, and did the act of 40 darkness with her: swore as many oaths as I spake words, and broke them in the sweet face of heaven: one that slept in the contriving of lust, and wak'd to do it: Wine lov'd I deeply; dice dearly; and in woman, out-paramour'd the Turk: 45 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 rustling of silks, betray thy poor heart to women: Keep thy foot out of brothels, 50thy hand out of plackets, thy pen from lenders' books, and defy the foul fiend.--Still through the hawthorn blows the cold wind: Say's suum, mun, ha no nonny, dolphin my boy, boy, Sessy; let him trot by. [Storm still Enter Edgar, disguised as a madman. Leur. Hast thou given all to thy two daughters? Edg. Who gives any thing to poor Tom? whom the foul fiend hath led through fire and through flame, through ford and whirlpool, over bog and Lear. Why thou wert better in thy grave, than to answer with thy uncover'd 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 of us are sophisticated!-Thou art the thing itself: unaccommodated man is no So the five senses were called by our old writers. 2 To take is to blast, or strike with malignant influence. The young pelican is fabled to suck the mother's blood. * i. e. his mistress' favours: which was the fashion of that time. i. e, ready to receive malicious reports. 1 more more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou Fool. Pr'ythee, nuncle, be contented; this is a naughty night to swim in.-Now a little fire in a 5 wildfield, were like an old lecher's heart; a smal spark, and all the rest of his body cold.-Look, here comes a walking fire. Edg. This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet: he [min. Edg. How to prevent the fiend, and to kill verLear. Let me ask you one word in private. Kent. Importune him once more to go, my lord, His wits begin to unsettle. Kent! Glo. Canst thou blame him? [Storm still. begins at curfew, and walks 'till the first cock; he 10 His daughters seek his death :-Ah, that good 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. Saint Withold footed thrice the world' ; And her troth plight, And, Aroynt thee, witch, aroynt thee3! Kent. How fares your grace? Enter Gloster, with a torch. Lear. What's he? He said it would be thus :---Poor banish'd man! Thou say'st, the king grows mad; I'll tell thee, friend, 15I am almost mad myself; I had a son, Now out-law'd from my blood; he sought my life Kent. Who's there? What is 't you seek? Glo. What are you there? Your names? Edg. Poor Tom; that eats the swimming frog, the toad, the tadpole, the wall-newt, and the wa-25 ter-newt; 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 whipt from tything to tything, and stock'd, punish'd, 30 and imprison'd; 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, Smolkin; peace, thou fiend! Glo. What, hath your grace no better company? Edg. The prince of darkness is a gentleman; Modo he's call'd, and Mahu. 35 [vile, 40 Glo. Our flesh and blood, my lord, is grown so That it doth hate what gets it. Edg. Poor Tom 's a-cold. Glo. Go in with me; my duty cannot suffer Kent. My good lord, take his offer; I Lear. O, cry you mercy, sir:- [warm. Glo. In, fellow, there, to the hovel: keep thee Kent. This way, my lord. Lear. With him; will keep still with my philosopher. Kent. Good my lord, sooth him; let him take the fellow. Glo. Take him you on. Kent. Sirrah, come on; go along with us. Glo. No words, no words; hush. SCENE Gloster's Castle. V. Enter Cornwall, and Edmund. Corn. I will have my revenge, ere I depart this house. Edm. How, my lord, I may be censur'd, 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 reprovable badness in himself. Edm. How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be just!This is the letter which he spoke 3 These • Diseases of the eye. 2 Wold signifies a down, or ground hilly and void of wood. verses were no other than a popular charm, or night-spell against the Epialtes; and the last line is the formal execration or apostrophe of the speaker of the charm to the witch, aroynt thee right, i. e. dcpart forthwith.-Bedlams, gipsies, and such-like vagabonds, used to sell these kind of spells or charms to the people. They were of various kinds for various disorders. A tything is a division of a place, a district; the same in the country, as a ward in the city. In the Saxon times, every hundred was divided into tythings. "Deer in old language is a general word for wild animals. 6 In the old times of chivalry, the noble youth who were candidates for knighthood, during the season of their probation, were called Infans, Varlets, Damoysels, Bacheliers; the most noble of the youth particularly, Infans. Here a story is told, in some old ballad, of the famous hero and giant-killer Roland, before he was knighted, who is, therefore, called Infans; which the ballad-maker translated, Child Roland. of, which approves him an intelligent party to the advantages of France. O heavens! that this treason were not, or not I the detector! Corn. Go with me to the dutchess. Edm. If the matter of this paper be certain, 5 you have mighty business in hand. Corn. True or false, it hath made thee carl of Gloster. Seek out where thy father is, that he may be ready for our apprehension. Ed». [Aside.] If I find him comforting the 10 king, it will stuff his suspicion more fully.-I will persevere in my course of loyalty, though the conflict be sore between that and my blood. Corn. I will lay trust upon thee; and thou shalt find a dearer rather in my love [Excuni. 15 4 Edg. Tom will threw his head at them:Avaunt, you curs! Be thy mouth or black or white, Tooth that poisons if it bite; Mastiff, grey-hound, mungril grim, Hound, or spaniel, brache, or lym®; Or bobtail tike, or trundle-tail; Tom will make him weep and wail: For, with throwing thus my head, Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled. Do de, de de. Sessy, come, march to wakes and fairs, [dry. And market towns:-Poor Tom, thy horn is Lear. Then let them anatomize Regan, see what breeds about her heart: Is there any cause in nature,that makes these hard hearts?--You, sir, I entertain you for one of my hundred; only, I do not ike the fashion of your garment: you will say, they are Persian attire; but let them be chang'd. [To Edgar. 'i. e. supporting, helping. A bourn in the North signifies a rivulet or brook. Hence the names of many of our villages terminate in burn, as Milburn, Sherburn, &c. White herrings are pickled herrings. * Minikin was anciently a term of endearment. This is a proverbial expression. To have the roof of the mouth black is in some dogs a proof that their breed is genuine. A rache is a dog that hunts by scent wild beasts, birds, and even fishes; and the female of it is called a brache. A limmer or leamer, a dog of the chace, was so called from the leam or leash in which he was held till he was let slip. Tijk is the Runic word for a little, or worthless dog. 9 Kent. Glo. Come hither, friend: Where is the king my master? [are gone. 5 when you are going, to a most festinate prepara- How now? Where's the king? Stew. My lord of Gloster hath convey'd him hence: Some five or six and thirty of his knights, Who, with some other of the lord's dependents, gone with him towards Dover; where they boast Are Kent. Here, sir; but trouble him not, his wits 10 Hot questrists' after him, met him at gate; master; If thou should'st dally half an hour, his life, [senses, Kent. Oppressed nature sleeps:- [ter: To have well-armed friends. Corn. Get horses for your mistress. [Exeunt Goneril, and Edmund. Corn. Edmund, farewell. tor Gloster, 20 Pinion him like a thief, bring him before us :- Stand in hard cure.-Come, help to bear thy mas-25 Glo. Come, come, away. [To the Fool. [Exeunt, bearing off the King. Edg. When we our betters see bearing our woes, 30 He childed, as I father'd!Tom, away: thee, 35 40 Enter Gloster, brought in by servants. Corn. Bind fast his corky arms.' Glo. What mean your graces?-Good my You are my guests: do me no foul play, friends. Reg. So white, and such a traitor! These hairs which thou dost ravish from my chin, Reg. Be simple-answer'd', for we know the 50 Late footed in the kingdom? [king? Reg. To whose hands have you sent the lunatic Speak. Glo. I have a letter guessingly set down, Which came from one that's of a neutral heart, 55 And not from one oppos'd. 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 traiterous father, are not fit for your beholding. Advise the duke, 60 1i. e. States clear from distress. Corn. Cunning. Reg. And false. Corn. Where hast thou sent the king? Reg. Wherefore to Dover? A questrist is one who goes in search or quest of another. 'To do a courtesy is to gratify, to comply with.-To pass, is to pass a judicial sentence. i. e. dry, Favours here means the same as features, i. e. the different parts of • Simple means plain. wither'd, husky arms. which a face is composed. 3P4 Wast Wast thou not charg'd at peril Corn. Wherefore to Dover? Let him first an swer that. [the course'. Glo. I'm ty'd to the stake, and I must stand Reg. Wherefore to Dover? Glo. 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 [up, jelly! Where is thy lustre now? [Treads the other out. Glo. All dark and comfortless.-Where's my son Edmund? Edmund, enkindle all the sparks of nature, In hell-black night endur'd, would have buoy'd 10 To quit this horrible act. And quench'd the stelled fires: yet, poor old heart, If wolves had at thy gate howl'd that stern time, Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot. 15 [Gloster is held down, while Cornwall treads 20 out one of his eyes. Glo. He, that will think to live 'till he be old, Reg. One side will mock another; the other too. I have serv'd you ever since I was a child; Reg. How now, you dog? Serv. If you did wear a beard upon your chin, I'd shake it on this quarrel: What do you mean? Corn. My villain ! [Draws, and runs at him. Serv. Nay, then come on, and take the chance 1251 Reg. Out, treacherous villain! Thou call'st on him that hates thee: it was he Glo. O my follies! Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him! Corn. I have receiv'da hurt:---Follow me, lady.-- 1st Serv. I'll never care what wickedness I do, If this man come to good. 2d Serv. If she live long, 30 And, in the end, meet the old course of death, of anger. [Fight; Cornwall is wounded. 35 Reg.[Toanother servant.]Give me thy sword.A peasant stand up thus! [Comes behind, and kills him. 2d Serv. Go thou; I'll fetch some flax, and whites of eggs, [him! To apply to his bleeding face. Now, heaven help [Exeunt severally. Enter Edgar. The lamentable change is from the best; The wretch, that thou hast blown unto the worst, Edg. YET better thus, and known to be con- 50 Owes nothing tothyblasts.---But who comes here? temn'd, Than still contemn'd and flatter'd. To be worst, Enter Gloster, led by an old man. My father, poorly led?-World, world, O world! 1i. e. the running of the dogs upon me. 2 i. e. yielded, submitted to the necessity of the occasion. Villain is here perhaps used in its original sense of one in servitude. The sense of this obscure passage is, O world! so much are human minds captivated with thy pleasures, that were it not for those successive miseries, each worse than the other, which overload the scenes of life, we should never be willing to submit to death, though the infirmities of old age would teach us to choose it as a proper asylum. Besides, by uninterrupted prosperity, which leaves the mind at ease, the body would generally preserve such a state of vigour as to bear up long against the decays of time. These are the two reasons, it is supposed, why he said, "Life would not yield to age." And how much the plea sures of the body pervert the mind's judgement, and the perturbations of the mind disorder the body's frame, is known to all. Old |