and halters in his pew; set ratsbane by his porridge; [ wild field were like an old lecher's heart: a small made him proud of heart, to ride on a bay trotting-spark, all the rest of his body cold.-Look, here horse over four-inched bridges, to course his own comes a walking fire. 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 there,-and there, and there again, and there. [Storm continues. Lear. What, have his daughters brought him to this pass?— Could'st 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! Kent. He hath no daughters, sir. Lear. Death, traitor! nothing could have sub- To such a lowness, but his unkind daughters.- Edg Pillicock sat on pillicock's-hill ;— Fool. This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen. Edg. Take heed of the foul fiend: Obey thy parents; keep thy word justly; swear not; commit 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,2 served the lust of my mistress's heart, and did the act of 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 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 rustling of silks, betray thy poor heart to women: Keep thy foot out of brothels, thy hand out of plackets, thy pen from lenders' books, and defy the foul fiend. -Still through the hawthorn blows the cold wind Says suum, mun, ha no nonny, dolphin, my boy, my boy, sessa; let him trot by. [Storm still continues. Lear. Why, thou were 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 of us are sophisticated!-Thou 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.3 [Tearing off his clothes. Fool. Pr'ythee, nuncle, be contented; this is a naughty night to swim in.-Now a little fire in a (1) To take is to blast, or strike with malignant influence. (2) It was the custom to wear gloves in the hat, as the favour of a mistress. (3) The words unbutton here, are probably only a marginal direction crept into the matter. (4) Diseases of the eye. Edg. This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet: he begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock; he gives the web and the pin,4 squints the eye, and makes the hare-lip; mildews the white wheat, and hurts the poor creature of earth. Saint Witholds footed thrice the wold, And her troth plight, And, aroint' thee, witch, aroint thee! Kent. How fares your grace? Enter Gloster, with a torch. Lear. What's he? 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 water;8 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 tything to tything,9 and stocked, 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, Smolkin ;10 peace, thou fiend! Glo. What, hath your grace no better company ? Edg. The prince of darkness is a gentleman; Modo he's called, and Mahu.11 Glo. Our flesh and blood, my lord, is grown so vile, That it doth hate what gets it. Edg. Poor Tom's a-cold. Glo. 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 ventur'd 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? Kent. Good my lord, take his offer; Go into the house. Lear. I'll talk a word with this same learned Theban : What is your study? Edg. How to prevent the fiend, and to kill vermin. Lear. Let me ask you one word in private. Kent. Importune him once more to go, my lord, His wits begin to unsettle. Glo. Canst thou blame him? 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'll tell thee, friend, I am almost mad myself: I had a son, (5) A saint said to protect his devotees from the disease called the night-mare. (6) Wild downs, so called in various parts of England. (7) Avaunt. (8) i. e. The water-newt. (9) A tything is a division of a county. (10) Name of a spirit. (11) The chief devil. No words, no words : Hush. [Exeunt. SCENE V-A room in Gloster'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 reproveable badness in himself. Edm. How malicious is my fortune, that I must repent to be just! This is the letter he spoke 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 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 Gloster. Seek out where thy father is, that he may be ready for our apprehension. Edm. [Aside.] If I find him comforting the 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 father in my love. [Exeunt. SCENE VI-A chamber in a farm-house, adjoining the castle. Enter Gloster, Lear, Kent, Fool, and Edgar. Glo. 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 has given way to his impatience:-The gods reward ness! your kind[Exit Gloster. Edg. Frateretto calls me; and tells me, Nero is an angler in the lake of darkness. Pray, innocent,2 and beware the foul fiend. Fool. Pr'ythee, nuncle, tell me, whether a mad man be a gentleman, or a yeoman? Lear. A king, a king! (1) Child is an old term for knight. Lear. It shall be done, I will arraign them straight: : Come, sit thou here, most learned justicer ; [To Edgar. Thou, sapient sir, sit here. [To the Fool.]-Now, you she foxes!— Edg. Look, where he stands and glares !3— Come o'er the bourn,4 Bessy, to me :→ And she must not speak Will you lie down and rest upon the cushions? Thou robed man of justice, take thy place; Edg. Let us deal justly. Sleepest, or wakest thou, jolly shepherd? Thy sheep be in the corn; And for one blast of thy minikin mouth, Lear. Arraign her first; 'tis Goneril. I here take my oath before this honourable assembly, she kicked the poor king her father. Fool. Come hither, mistress; Is your name Goneril? Lear. She cannot deny it. Fool. Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool. proclaim What store her heart is made of.-—Stop her there! That Kent. O pity!-Sir, where is the patience now, Be thy mouth or black or white, Tom will make them weep and wail: (3) Edgar is speaking in the character of a mad (2) Addressed to the fool, who was anciently man, who thinks he sees the fiend. called an innocent. (4) Brook or rivulet. (5) A blood-hound. For, with throwing thus my head, Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled. 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 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 like the fashion of your garments: you will say, they are Persian attire; but let them be changed. {To Edgar. Kent. Now, good my lord, lie here, and rest a while. 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; we are bound to the like. Our posts shall be swift and intelligent betwixt us. Farewell, dear sister;—farewell, my lord of Gloster.3 Enter Steward. 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, Lear. Make no noise, make no noise; draw the curtains: So, so, so: We'll go to supper i'the morn-Are gone with him towards Dover; where they ing: So, so, so. Fool. And I'll go to bed at noon. Oppress'd nature sleeps: This rest might yet have balm'd try broken senses, Which, if convenience will not albw, Stand in hard cure.-Come, help tabear thy master; Thou must not stay behind. [To the Fool. Come, come, away. [Exeunt Kent, Gloster, and the Fool, bearing off the King. Glo. Edg. When we our betters see bearing our woes, He childed, as I father'd!-Tom away: thee, In thy just proof, repeals, and reconciles thee. What will hap more to-night, safe 'scape the king! Lurk, lurk. boast To have well-armed friends. Corn. Pinion him like a thief, bring him before us. [Exeunt other Servants. Though well we may not pass upon his life Re-enter Servants, with Gloster. Reg. Ingrateful fox! 'tis he. Glo. What mean your graces?-Good my friends, consider You are my guests: do me no foul play, friends. Naughty lady, Reg. So white, and such a traitor! Glo. These hairs, which thou dost ravish from my chin, Will quicken,7 and accuse thee: I am your host; With robbers' hands, my hospitable favours8 You should not ruffle thus. What will you do? Corn. Come, sir, what letters had you late from France? Reg. Be simple-answer'd, for we know the truth. Corn. And what confederacy have you with the traitors Late footed in the kingdom? Reg. To whose hands have you sent the lunatic king? [Exit. Speak. Glo. I have a letter guessingly set down, SCENE VII-A room in Gloster's castle. En-Which came from one that's of a neutral heart, ter Cornwall, Regan, Goneril, Edmund, and Ser- And not from one oppos'd. vants. Corn. Reg. Cunning. And false. Corn. Where hast thou sent the king? Glo. 3 To Dover. Reg. Wherefore To Dover? Wast thou not charg'd at thy peril Corn. Wherefore to Dover? Let him first answer that. Glo. I am tied to the stake, and I must stand the course. Reg. Wherefore to Dover? Gio. Because I would not see thy cruel nails If wolves had at thy gate howl'd that stern time, Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot. Glo. He, that will think to live till he be old, Give me some help :-O cruel! O ye gods! Reg. One side will mock another; the other too. Corn. If you see vengeance,— Serv. Hold your hand, my lord. I have serv'd you ever since I was a child; But better service have I never done you, Than now to bid hold. Reg. How now, you dog? you 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 of anger. [Draws. They fight. Cornwall is wounded. Reg. Give me thy sword.-[To another Servant.] A peasant stand up thus! [Snatches a sword, comes behind, and stabs him. Serv. O, I am slain !-My lord, you have one eye left To see some mischief on him :-0! [Dies. Corn. Lest it see more, prevent it:-Out, vile jelly! Where is thy lustre now? [Tears out Gloster's other eye, and throws it on the ground. Glo. All dark and comfortless.-Where's my son Edmund? Edmund, enkindle all the sparks of nature, Reg. Out, treacherous villain! Thou call'st on him that hates thee: it was he That made the overture4 of thy treasons to us; Who is too good to pity thee. Glo. Then Edgar was abus'd.— O my follies! Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him! Corn. I have receiv'd 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;-Servants unbind Gloster, and lead him out. 1 Sery. I'll never care what wickedness I do, If this man comes to good. If she live long, 2 Serv. And, in the end, meet the old course of death, Women will all turn monsters. 1 Serv. Let's follow the old earl, and get the Bedlams To lead him where he would; his roguish madness Allows itself to any thing. 2 Serv. Go thou; I'll fetch some flax, and whites of eggs, To apply to his bleeding face. Now, heaven help him! [Exeunt severally. ACT IV. SCENE I-The heath. Enter Edgar. Edg. Yet better thus, and known to be contemm'd, Than still contemn'd and flatter'd.6 To be worst, Enter Gloster, led by an Old Man. Old Man. O my good lord, I have been your tenant, and your father's tenant, these fourscore years. Glo. Away, getthee 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. Glo. I have no way, and therefore want no eyes; I stumbled when I saw : Full oft 'tis seen, Our mean secures us; and our mere defects Prove our commodities.-Ah, dear son Edgar, The food of thy abused father's wrath! Might I but live to see thee in my touch, I'd say, I had eyes again! Old Man. How now? Who's there? Edg. [Aside.] 0 gods! Who is't can say, I am at the worst? am worse than e'er I was. Old Man. 'Tis 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. As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods; (6) i. e. It is better to be thus contemned and know it, than to be flattered by those who secretly Edg. How should this be?-||When I inform'd him, then he call'd me sot; Bad is the trade must play the fool to sorrow, And told me, I had turn'd the wrong side out :Ang'ring itself and others. [Aside.]-Bless thee,|| What most he should dislike, seems pleasant to him; What like, offensive. Gon. master! Glo. Is that the naked fellow? Ay, my lord. Then shall you go no further. Old Man. [To Edmund. Glo. Then, pr'ythee, get thee gone: If, for myIt is the cowish terror of his spirit, That dares not undertake: he'll not feel wrongs, Which tie him to an answer: Our wishes, on the sake, Thou wilt o'ertake us, hence a mile or twain, Old Man. the blind. [Aside. Glo. Come hither, fellow. Edg. [Aside.] And yet I must.-Bless thy sweet eyes, they bleed. Glo. Know'st thou the way to Dover? Edg. Both stile and gate, horse-way, and footpath. Poor Tom hath been scared out of his good wits: Bless the good man from the foul fiend! Five fiends have been in poor Tom at once; of lust, as Obidicut; Hobbididance, prince of dumbness; Mahu, of stealing; Modo, of murder; and Flibbertigibbet, of mopping and mowing; who since possesses chamber-maids and waiting-women. So, bless thee, master! Glo. Here, take this purse, thou whom the heaven's plagues Have humbled to all strokes: that I am wretched, And each man have enough.-Dost thou know Edg. Ay, master. Glo. There is a cliff, whose high and bending head Looks fearfully in the confined deep: Give me thy arm; [Exeunt. way, May prove effects.3 Back, Edmund, to my brother; Edm. Yours in the ranks of death. My most dear Gloster! Madam, here comes my lord. Enter Albany. Gon. I have been worth the whistle.4 O Goneril! 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? A father, and a gracious aged man, Whose reverence the head-lugg'd bear would lick, Most barbarous, most degenerate! have you madded. Could my good brother suffer you to do it? Humanity must perforce prey on itself, Gon. Milk-liver'd man! That bear'st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs; SCENE II.-Before the Duke of Albany's pal-Who hast not in thy brows an eye discerning ace. Enter Goneril and Edmund; Steward meeting them. Gon. Welcome, my lord: I marvel, our mild husband Not met us on the way :-Now, where's your master? Stew. Madam, within; but never man so chang'd: I told him of the army that was landed; He smil'd at it: I told him, you were coming; His answer was, The worse: of Gloster's treachery, And of the loyal service of his son, (1) Disguise. Thine honour from thy suffering; that not know'st, France spreads his banners in our noiseless land: Alb. O vain fool! (3) . e. Our wishes on the road may be com(5) Tear off, (2) i. e. To make it subject to us, instead of pleted. acting in obedience to it. VOL. II. (4) Worth calling for. 3 P |
