I feel this pin prick. Would I were assured
Of my condition!

Cor.

Oh, 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,

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 I 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.

I pray, weep not:

Cor.
And so I am, I am!
Lear. Be your tears wet? Yes, 'faith.
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.

Lear. Am I in France?
Kent.

Lear. Do not abuse me.

No cause, no cause !

In your own kingdom, sir.

Doct. Be comforted, good madam. The great rage,
You see, is killed in him: and yet it is danger

To make him even o'er the time he has lost.

Desire him to go in; trouble him no more
Till further settling.

Cor. Will 't please your highness walk?
Lear.

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You must bear with me.

Pray you now, forget and forgive: I am old and foolish.

[Exeunt all but Kent and Gentleman.

Gent. Holds it true, sir, that the Duke of Cornwall was so slain?

Kent. Most certain, sir.

Gent. Who is conductor of his people?

Kent. As 'tis said, the bastard son of Gloucester.

Gent. They say Edgar, his banished son, is with the Earl of Kent

in Germany.

Kent. Report is changeable. 'Tis time to look about: the powers of the kingdom approach apace.

231

Gent. The arbitrement* is like to be bloody. Fare you well,

[Exit.

sir.

Kent. My point and period will be throughly wrought,
Or well or ill, as this day's battle's fought.

[Exit.

SCENE A FIELD BETWEEN THE TWO CAMPS.

Alarum within. Enter, with drum and colours, Lear, 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'll bring you comfort.

Glou.

Re-enter EDGAR.

Alarum and retreat within.

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:
Ripeness is all: come on.

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Glou.

And that's true too.

[Exeunt.

SCENE 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

Who, with best meaning, have incurred the worst.—
For thee, oppressèd 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:
When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down,
And ask of thee forgiveness: so we'll live,
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh

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260

At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues

Talk of court news; and we'll 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'll wear out,
In a walled prison, packs* and sects of great ones,
That ebb and flow by the moon.

Edm.

Take them away.

Lear. Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia,
The gods themselves throw incense. Have I caught thee?
He that parts us shall bring a brand from heaven,
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'll see 'em starve first.
Come.

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[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
To noble fortunes: know thou this, that men
Are as the time is: to be tender-minded

Does not become a sword.-Thy great employment
Will not bear question: either say thou❜lt do't,
Or thrive by other means.

Capt.

I'll 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'll do't.'

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[Exeunt.

Flourish. Enter EDGAR, ALBANY, another Captain, and Soldiers; EDMUND and EDGAR fight, and EDMUND falls; Enter a Gentle

man, with a bloody knife.

Gent. Help! help! oh, help!

Edg.

Alb.

What kind of help?

Speak, man.

'Tis hot, it smokes;

Edg. What means that bloody knife?
Gent.

It came even from the heart of-oh, she's dead!
Alb. Who dead? speak, man.

Gent. Your lady, sir, your lady: and her sister
By her is poisoned; she hath confessed 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 :
This judgment of the heavens, that makes us tremble,
Touches us not with pity.-

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[Exit Gentleman.

Enter KENT.

Oh, is this he?

I am come

The time will not allow the compliment
Which very manners urges.

Kent.

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

310

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 poisoned for my sake,
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..

Alb.

Run! run! oh, run!

Edg. To who, my lord? Who hath the office? send

Thy token of reprieve.

Edm. Well thought on: take my sword,

Give it the captain.

Alb. Haste thee, for thy life.

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.

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330

[Exit Edgar.

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!-Oh, you are men of stones: Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so

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

340

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,
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.

Kent. [Kneeling] O my good master!
Lear. Prithee, away.

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"Tis noble Kent, your

friend.

Edg.
Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all!
I might have saved 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 killed the slave that was a-hanging* thee.
Capt. 'Tis 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'll tell you straight.
Kent. If Fortune brag of two she loved and hated,
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'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,
Have followed your sad steps,—

Lear.

You are welcome hither.

Kent. Nor no man else: all's cheerless, dark, and deadly.— 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.

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380

Edg.

Very bootless.*

Enter a Captain.

That's but a trifle here.

Capt. Edmund is dead, my lord.

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.-[To Edgar and Kent] You, to

your rights;

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.-Oh, see, see!

Lear. And my poor fool is hanged! 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!

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400

[Dies.