Should have thus little mercy on their flesh? Judicious punishment! 't was this flesh begot Those pelican daughters. Edg. Pillicock sat on pillicock-hill ;— Halloo, halloo, loo, loo: [madmen. Fool. This cold night will turn us all to fools and Edg. Take heed o' the foul fiend: Obey thy parents; keep thy word's justice; 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, 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 dearly; dice dearly; and in woman out-paramoured the Turk: False of heart, light of ear, bloody of hand; hog in sloth, fox in 179 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 woman: 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, nonny, dolphin my boy, boy, Sesey; let him trot by. [Storm still continues. Lear. Thou wert better in a 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. [Tearing off his clothes. Fool. Prithee, nuncle, be contented; 'this a naughty night to swim in.-Now a little fire in a M 2 Kent. Lear. wild field were like an old lecher's heart,-a small spark, all the rest of his body cold.—Look, here comes a walking fire. Edg. This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet: he 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. Swithold footed thrice the old ; He met the night-mare, and her nine-fold; And her troth plight, And, aroint thee, witch, aroint thee! Kent. How fares your grace? Enter Gloster, with a torch. Lear. What's he? What is Kent. Who's there? 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; 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, 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; 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. ? 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 TheWhat is your study? Edg. How to prevent the fiend, and to kill vermin., [ban :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 ! [friend, He said it would be thus :-Poor banish'd man !— The grief hath craz'd my wits. What a night's this! [Storm continues. I do beseech your grace,— Glo. In, fellow, there, into the hovel: keep thee Lear. Come, let's in all. [warm. I will keep still with my philosopher. Kent. Sirrah, come on; go along with us. Glo. Hush. [fellow. No words, no words : 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 which 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 Out-building adjoining the Castle. Enter Gloster and Kent. 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 your kindness! [Exit Gloster. Enter Lear, Edgar, and Fool. Edg. Frateretto calls me; and tells me, Nero is an angler in the lake of darkness. Pray, innocent, and beware the foul fiend. Fool. Prithee, nuncle, tell me, whether a madman 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 them : 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 oath. 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, ye she foxes! Edg. Look where she stands and glares !— Wantonest 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. Edg. The foul fiend haunts poor Tom in the voice of a nightingale. Hopdance cries in Tom's belly for two white herrings. Croak not, black angel; I have no food for thee. Kent. How do you, sir? Stand you not so amaz'd: Will you lie down and rest upon the cushions? Lear. I'll see their trial first :-Bring in the evidence. Thou robed man of justice, take thy place ;- Sleepest or wakest thou jolly shepherd? And for one blast of thy minikin mouth, Pur! the cat is grey. Lear. Arraign her first; 't is Goneril. I here take my oath before this honourable assembly, she kicked the poor king her father. [Goneril? Fool. Come hither, mistress. Is your name What store her heart is made of.-Stop her there! Kent. O pity!-Sir, where is the patience now, That you so oft have boasted to retain ? Edg. My tears begin to take his part so much, They mar my counterfeiting, Lear. The little dogs and all, [Aside. 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; Mastiff, grey-hound, mongrel grim, Hound or spaniel, brach 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. Sesey. 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 for one of my hundred; only, I do not like the fashion of your garments: you will say they are Persian; but let them be changed. [To Edgar. Kent. Now, good my lord, lie here, and rest awhile. Lear. Make no noise, make no noise; draw the curtains: So, so: We'll go to supper i' the morning. Fool. And I'll go to bed at noon. Re-enter Gloster. Glo. Come hither, friend: Where is the king my master? [gone. Kent. Here, sir; but trouble him not, his wits are Glo. 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, [meet And drive toward Dover, friend, where thou shalt Both welcome and protection. Take up thy master; If thou shouldst dally half an hour, his life, With thine, and all that offer to defend him, 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 senses, Glo. [Exeunt Kent, Gloster, and the Fool, bearing off the King. Edg. When we our betters see bearing our woes, He childed, as I father'd !-Tom, away : SCENE VII.-A Room in Gloster'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 traitor Gloster. [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; we are bound to the like. Our posts shall be swift, and intelligent betwixt us. Farewell, dear sister;-farewell, my lord of Gloster. S Shall do a courtesy to our wrath, which men traitor? Re-enter Servants, with Gloster. Reg. Ingrateful fox! 't is he. [consider Glo. What mean your graces?-Good my friends, You are my guests: do me no foul play, friends. Corn. Bind him, I say. [Servants bind him. Reg. Hard, hard :-O filthy traitor ! Glo. Unmerciful lady as you are, I'm none. Corn. To this chair bind him :-Villain, thou shalt find[Regan plucks his beard. Glo. By the kind gods, 't is most ignobly done To pluck me by the beard. Reg. So white, and such a traitor! Gio. 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 favour. 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 Late footed in the kingdom? [traitors Reg. To whose hands have you sent the lunatic Speak. [king? Glo. I have a letter guessingly set down, Which came from one that 's of a neutral heart, And not from one oppos'd. Reg. And false. To Dover. Corn. Where hast thou sent the king? Reg. Wherefore to Dover? Wast thou not charg'd at peril Corn. Wherefore to Dover? Let him answer that. Glo. I am tied to the stake, and I must stand the Reg. Wherefore to Dover? [course. 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 In hell-black night endur'd, would have buoy'd up, 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 All cruels else subscrib'd :-But I shall see [key ;' The winged vengeance overtake such children. Corn. See't shalt thou never :-Fellows, hold the Reg. One side will mock another; the other too. Hold your hand, my lord; 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 Serv. I'll never care what wickedness I do, If this man come to good. 2 Serv. If she live long, And, in the end, meet the whole course of death, Women will all turn monsters. [lam 1 Serv. Let's follow the old earl, and get the BedTo lead him where he would; his roguish madness Allows itself to anything. [of eggs. 2 Serv. Go thou; I'll fetch some flax andwhites, To apply to his bleeding face. him! ACT IV. Now, heaven help [Exeunt severally. SCENE I.-An open Country. Enter Edgar. Edg. Yet better thus, and known to be contemn'd, 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 blast.-But who comes here?— Enter Gloster, led by an Old Man. My father, poorly led?-World, world, O world! 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. Glo. Away, get thee away; good friend, be gone : Thy comforts can do me no good at all, Thee they may hurt. Old Man. You cannot see your way. Glo. I have no way, and therefore want no eyes; I stumbled when I saw Full oft 't is seen Our means secure us; and our mere defects 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'd say, I had eyes again! Old Man. How now? Who's there? Edg. [Aside.] O gods! Who is 't can say, 'I am I am worse than e'er I was. Edg. Poor Tom 's a-cold.-I cannot daub it further. [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 foot-path, Poor Tom hath been scared out of his good wits: Bless thee, good man's son, from the foul fiend! Five fiends have been in poor Tom at once: of lust, as Obidicut; Hobbididence, prince of dumbness; Mahu, of stealing; Modo, of murder; Flibbertigibbet, of mopping and mowing; who since possesses chamber-maids and waiting-women. So, bless thee, master! [plagues Glo. Here, take this purse, you whom the heavens' Have humbled to all strokes: that I am wretched, Makes thee the happier :-Heavens, deal so still! Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man, That slaves your ordinance, that will not see Because he does not feel, feel your power quickly; So distribution should undo excess, And each man have enough.-Dost thou know Edg. Ay, master. [Dover? Glo. 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'll 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; Steward meeting them. Gon. Welcome, my lord: I marvel, our mild husband [ter? Not met us on the way ;-Now, where's your mas 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 treachAnd of the loyal service of his son, [ery, When I inform'd him, then he call'd me sot; And told me, I had turn'd the wrong side out :What most he should dislike seems pleasant to him; What like, offensive. Gon. Then shall you go no further. I must change names at home, and give the distaff Edm. Yours in the ranks of death. [Exit Edmund. You are not worth the dust which the rude wind She that herself will sliver and disbranch Gon. No more; the text is foolish. Alb. Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile : Filths savour but themselves. What have you done? [lick, Tigers, not daughters, what have you perform'd? If that the heavens do not their visible spirits Humanity must perforce prey on itself, Gon. Milk-liver'd man! France spreads his banners in our noiseless land; Alb. See thyself, devil! in the fiend Gon. O vain fool! |