a What comfort to this great decay may come To him our absolute power :-[to Edgar With boot, and such addition as your honors The wages of their virtue, and all foes Why should a dog, a horse, a rat have life, no more. Never, never, never, never, never!— 300 Pray you undo this button: thank you, sir.- 310 Do you see this? Look on her,—look,—her lips,— Look there, look there!— [He dies. Edg. He faints! My lord, my lord,— That would upon the rack of this tough world Edg. He is gone, indeed. Kent. The wonder is he hath endured so long: He but usurp'd his life. Alb. Bear them from hence.—Our present business Is general woe. [To Kent and Edgar.] Friends of my soul, you twain [tain. 320 Rule in this realm, and the gored state susKent. I have a journey, sir, shortly to go; My master calls me,—I must not say no. Alb. The weight of this sad time we must obey; [say. Speak what we feel, not what we ought to The oldest hath borne most: we that are young Shall never see so much, nor live so long. [Exeunt with a dead march. NOTES. The following contractions are employed In the notes: Cl. P. S. Clarendon Press Series; Co. S. Colllns's Series; Abbott Dr. Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar; Cf. confer (compare), Cogs.cognates; Gr. = Greek; Lat. Latin; N. Fr. = Norman-French; O. E. = Old English; O. Fr. — Old French. Notes without name appended are Prof. Meiklejohn's. ACT FIRST. King Lear had at first intended to divide his kingdom equally among his children. 1. Affected, used in the literal Latin sense of affectãre, the primary meaning of which is to aim at, the second to be inclined to. Equalities, equal, or what may prove to be equal, good points Weighed, balanced against each other. Curiosity, in its original Latin sense of careful or scrupulous investigation. In much the same sense Shakespeare employs the adjective curious. 6. Moiety, from Low Lat. medietas, half, through the Fr. moitié. It is just as frequently used by Shakespeare in the vague sense of share. 14. Sue, try. From Low Lat. sequere, to follow, which gave the Fr. suivre. Cogs- are, Suit, suite; pursue, ensue, etc. 15. Deserving to deserve your esteem. 16. Out abroad. 20. Darker purpose, design which we have kept secret or in the dark till now. Lear's general intentions were known, but not his specific purposes. Lear's love of mystery is part of the weakness of his character. = 22. In three into three. = -Fast firm. The same meaning is found in steadfast (= firm in its place or stead). 24. Strengths, the abstract for the concrete = strong men. So we employ forces for soldiers; and Shakespeare has cruelty for cruel person, diligence for diligent servant, judgment for judge, prudence for sensible man, and virtue for good man. And he also does the opposite—puts the concrete in place of the abstract, as in Tempest, I. i. 32, 'His complexion is perfect gallows.' 'He speaks nothing but madman.' 27. Constant, settled. We still use the noun constancy in this sense. Shakespeare has the phrase, 'my stomach is not constant.' 28. Several respective. From the verb sever; as sundry comes from sunder. 31. Amorous = for the sake of making love. 37. Nature with merit. That I may extend my largest bounty where natural affection meritoriously challenges it. Furnivall. 40. Space, which implies the power of motion. 43. Found love. 44. Unable = powerless. 45. All manner of so much, all possibility of expression by word or gesture. Probably the so much was accompanied by a wide opening out of the arms. Or the so much may indicate the various comparisons which Goneril has employed to indicate the strength and value of her love. 48. Shadowy shady. Champains plains. From Lat. campus, a plain, through Fr. champ. Rich'd =en riched. 53. Self = = self-same. So Shakespeare has such phrases as this self; that self; shoot an arrow that self way. 55. My very deed the true and real nature of my love. 56. That in that or for that. 58. Precious square, etc., the most delicately sensitive part of my nature is capable of enjoying. Cl. P. S. 59. Felicitate =made happy. This is the only instance of Shakespeare's using the word. 65. Validity, value. 68. Milk. Burgundy was noted for its pastures. In line 241 it is called 'waterish Burgundy,' because it was so well watered. 69, Interess'd, interested in. The word seems to have been employed in this sense in the 17th century by Ben Jonson, Massinger, and others. 77. Bond, the tie or bond of nature that unites us. 79. Good my lord. The my is more closely and usually attached to lord than tho word good; it therefore comes next it. In the same way, we say a poor old man, and not an old poor man. 94. Hecate, a triple deity—called Phoebe, or the Moon, in heaven; Diana on the earth; and Hecate or Proserpine in the under-world. 95. Operation, a reference to astrology. One part of the belief in astrology is preserved in the word influence, which indicated that something flowed (fluo, I flow, and in, upon) down from the stars upon the inhabitants of the earth. 98. Property of blood = identity and ownness' of blood. 6 101. Generation, children, offspring. Co. S. 106. Set my rest = fix all my hopes. 107. Nursery = nursing. 109. From away from. 111. Digest, incorporate. 119. Additions = titles. 126. Make from = get out of the way of. We still use the phrase make for (a port, etc.) 127. Fork = point. Invade = penetrate. 130. Have dread = be afraid. 132. Doom, "sentence pronounced upon Cordelia." 133. Consideration: reflection. 134. Answer my life, let my life be answerable for the correctness of my judgment. 137. Reverb, reverberate. This is the only instance where the word occurs in Shakespeare. 139. Wage: = wager. From O. Fr. wager, gager, to pledge. 142. Blank, the white mark in the centre of the butt or target. 144. Swear'st = adjurest.Miscreant (literally) un |