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109

Began to crack: twice, then, the trumpets sounded,
And there I left him tranc'd.

Allany.

But who was this?

Edar. Kent, Sir, the banish'd Kent; who in disguise Follow his enemy king, and did him service

Impropr for a slave.

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1lb. Who dead? speak, man.

O she's dead!

rent. Your lady, Sir, your lady: and her sister
Byer is poison'd; she hath confess'd it.

Edm. I was contracted to them both: all three
N marry in an instant.

Edg.

Here comes Kent. Alb. Produce the bodies, be they alive or dead! Tjudgment of the heavens, that makes us tremble, ches us not with pity. [Exit Gentleman.

Enter KENT.

O! is this he?

1

I am come

e time will not allow the compliment, hich very manners urges.

Kent.

2

bid my king and master aye good night: he not here?

Alb.

Great thing of us forgot!

beak, Edmund, where's the king? and where 's Cordelia? eest thou this object, Kent?

[The bodies of GONERIL and REGAN are brought in. Kent. Alack! why thus?

Edm.

Yet Edmund was belov'd:

1. Which even manners (4. e. po-ceived as one idea, and govern the liteness) itself dictates. Manners, like news and some other words, although constructed in the plural, may be con

verb in the singular.
2. i. e. for aye, for ever.

The one the other poison'd for my sake,
And after slew herself.

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Albany. Even so. Cover their faces.
Edmund. 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
Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia.
Nay, send in time.

Alb.

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Run, run! O, run!

Edgar. To whom, my lord?

Thy token of reprieve.

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Who has the office? send

Edm. Well thought on: take my sword,

Give it the captain.
Alb.

Haste thee, for thy life. [Exit EDGAR. Edm. He hath commission from thy wife and me To hang Cordelia in the prison, and

To lay the blame upon her own despair,

That she fordid 2 herself.

Alb. The gods defend her! Bear him hence awhile.

[EDMUND is borne off.

Enter LEAR, with CORDELIA dead in his Arms; EDGAR, Officer, and Others.

Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl!

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O! you are men of

Had I your tongues and eyes, I 'd use them so

stones;

That heaven's vault should crack. She's gone for ever.

I know when one is dead, and when one lives;
She's dead as earth. Lend me a looking-glass;
If that her breath will mist or stain the stone, 3
Why, then she lives.

Kent.

Is this the promis'd end?4
Edg. Or image of that horror?
Alb.
Fall, and cease !5
Lear. This feather stirs; she lives! if it be so,

1. i. e. for my written order has gone forth touching the life of, &c.

2. To fordo, or foredo, to destroy.

Obsolete.

3. It must be recollected that mirrors of polished metal were formerly used. 4. i. e. end of the world.

5. Albany is looking with attention at the pains employed by Lear

to recover his child, and knows to what miseries he must survive, when he finds them to be ineffectual. Having these images present to his eyes and imagination, he cries out, Rather fall, and cease to be, at once, than continue in existence only to be wretched.

It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows

That ever I have felt.

Kent.

O, my good master!

[Kneeling.

Lear. Pr'ythee, away. Edgar. 'T is noble Kent, your friend. Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all! I might have sav'd her; now, she 's gone for ever! Cordelia, Cordelia! stay a little. Ha!

What is 't thou say'st? Her voice was ever soft,
Gentle, and low an excellent thing in woman.

I kill'd the slave that was a hanging thee.
Officer. T is true, my, lords, he did.

Lear.

Did I not, fellow? I have seen the day, with my good biting faulchion I would have made them skip: I am old now, And these same crosses spoil me. 1 Who are you? Mine eyes are not o' the best: - I'll tell you straight. Kent. If fortune brag of two she lov'd and hated,

One of them we behold. 2

Lear. This is a dull sight.
Kent.

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Are you not Kent?

The same,

Your servant Kent. Where is your servant Caius? 3

Lear. He's a good fellow, I can tell you that; He'll strike, and quickly too. He's dead and rotten. Kent. No, my good lord; I am the very man —

Lear. I'll see that straight.

Kent. That from your first of difference and decay,5 Have follow'd your sad steps.

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Albany. He knows not what he says; and vain is it, That we present us to him.

Edgar.

Very bootless. 1

Enter an Officer.

Officer. Edmund is dead, my lord.

That 's but a trifle here.

-

Alb.
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 our absolute power.

You, to your rights,

[To EDGAR and KENT.

With boot, 2 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.
3

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 'lt 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,
Look there, look there!

Edg.

He dies.

He faints!

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My lord, my lord!

Look up, my lord.

Kent. Break, heart; I pr'ythee, break!

Edg.

Kent. Vex not his ghost: O! let him pass: he hates him, That would upon the rack of this tough world

Stretch him out longer.

Edg.

He is gone, indeed.

Kent. The wonder is, he hath endur'd so long: He but usurp'd his life.

Alb. Bear them from hence. Is general woe. - Friends of my

Our present business

soul, you twain

[To KENT and EDGAR.

Rule in this realm, and the gor'd state sustain.

1. Bootless, useless, unavailing. 2. See note 3, page 91.

3. Cup as in Matthew, cap. xxvI. ver. 39: "0 my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me."

4. Meaning Cordelia. Poor fool, in

the age of Shakspeare, was an
pression of endearment.

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5. It has been remarked that the swelling and heaving of the heart is described by this most expressive circumstance.

Kent. I have a journey, Sir, shortly to go; My master calls me, I must not say no.

Albany. 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.

5. This last speech in commonly given to Edgar, according to the edition of the players, but Theobald remarks, that the case was this: he who played Edgar, being a more fa

5

[Exeunt with a dead march.

vorite actor than he who personated Albany, in spite of decorum it was thought proper he should have the last word.

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