The beaten, routed Edgar, brave his conqueror?
From all thy troops and thee 1 forced the field;
Thou hast lost the gen❜ral stake, and art thou now
Come with thy petty single stock to play
This after-game?

Edg. Half-blooded man,

Thy father's sin first, then his punishment,
From thy licentious mother

Thou draw'st thy villainy; but, for thy part
Of Gloster's blood, I hold thee worth my sword.
Edm. Thou bear'st thee on thy mother's piety,
Which I despise; thy mother being chaste,
Thou art assured thou art but Gloster's son;
But mine, disdaining constancy, leaves me
To hope that I am sprung from nobler blood,
And possibly a king might be my sire:
But be my birth's uncertain chance as 'twill,
Who 'twas that had the hit to father me
I know not; 'tis enough that I am I;
Of this one thing I'm certain, that I have
A daring soul, and so have at thy heart.

[Trumpets sound;-they fight ;-EDMUND falls. 'Tis past, and so am I.

Edg. As thou art

my father's son,

Exchange we charity on thy repentance.

Edm. Thy sword has proved thy truth.-Forgive me, Edgar.

Oh! ere life leaves me, let me do some good,
Despight of my own nature:-Quickly send,
Be brief, into the castle; for my order

Is on the life of Lear, and of Cordelia.

Edg. O, let us fly, my lord, to save their lives! Alb. The heav'ns defend them!-Bear him hence a while.

[Exeunt the DUKE OF ALBANY and EDGAR, with

a Part of the SOLDIERS, and the other Part bear EDMUND away.

SCENE V.

A Prison.

KING LEAR asleep, with his Head on CORDELIA's Lap.

Cord. What toils, thou wretched king, hast thou
endured,

To make thee draw, in chains, a sleep so sound!
Thy better angel charm thy ravish'd mind
With fancied freedom! Peace is used to lodge
On cottage straw; thou hast the beggar's bed;
Therefore shouldst have the beggar's careless thought-
And now, my Edgar, I remember thee:

What fate has seized thee in this general wreck
I know not, but I know thou must be wretched,
Because Cordelia holds thee dear.-

O gods! a sudden gloom o'erwhelms me, and the image

Of death o'erspreads the place.-Ha! who are these?

Enter CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD, another OFFICER, and SOLDIERS, with Cords.

Capt. Now, sirs, dispatch; already you are paid. In part, the best of your reward's to come.

Lear. Charge, charge upon their flank; their left
wing halts;

Push, push the battle, and the day's our own;
Their ranks are broken; down, down with Albany,-
Who holds my hands?-O, thou deceiving sleep,
I was this very minute on the chase,

And now a pris'ner here !-What mean the slaves?
You will not murder me?

Cord. Help, earth and heaven!

For your soul's sake, dear sir, and for the gods',-
Offi. No tears, good lady; no pleading against gold
and preferment.

Come, sirs, make ready your cords.
Cord. You, sir, I'll seize,

You have a human form; and, if no prayers
Can touch your soul to spare a poor king's life,
If there be any thing that you hold dear,
By that I beg you to dispatch me first.

Capt. Comply with her request; dispatch her first. Lear. Off, hell-hounds! by the gods I charge you, spare her;

'Tis my Cordelia, my true pious daughter;

No pity?-Nay, then take an old man's vengeance. [KING LEAR Snatches a sword from the OFFI

CER, and strikes down the Two SOLDIERS who had seized Cordelia.

Enter EDGAR, the DUKE OF ALBANY, and KING LEAR'S KNIGHTS.

Edg. Death! hell! ye vultures, hold your impious hands,

Or take a speedier death than you would give.
Alb. Guards, seize those instruments of cruelty.
Cord. Oh, my Edgar!

Edg. My dear Cordelia! lucky was the minute
Of our approach; the gods have weigh'd our suff'rings;
We've pass'd the fire, and now must shine to ages.
Knight. Look here, my lord; see, where the gene-
rous king

Has slain two of them.

Lear. Did I not, fellow?

I've seen the day, with my good biting falchion
I could have made them skip ;-I am old now,
And these vile crosses spoil me; out of breath,
Fie, oh! quite out of breath, and spent.

Alb. Bring in old Kent, [Exit a KNIGHT.] and, Edgar, guide you hither

Your father, who, you said, was near. [Exit EDGAR.

Enter KENT and the KNIGHT.

Lear. Who are you?

My eyes are none o' th' best, I'll tell

you straight:
Oh, Albany! Well, sir, we are your captives,
And you are come to see death pass upon us.
Why this delay ?-Or is't your highness' pleasure
To give us first the torture? Say you so?
Why, here's old Kent, and I, as tough a pair
As e'er bore tyrant stroke;-but my Cordelia,
My poor Cordelia here, O pity-

Alb. Thou injured majesty,

The wheel of fortune now has made her circle,
And blessings yet stand 'twixt thy grave and thee.
Lear. Com'st thou, inhuman lord, to sooth us back
To a fool's paradise of hope, to make

Our doom more wretched? Go to; we are too well
Acquainted with misfortune, to be gull'd

With lying hope; no, we will hope no more.

Alb. I have a tale t' unfold, so full of wonder,
As cannot meet an easy faith;

But, by that royal injured head, 'tis true.
Kent. What would your highness?

Alb. Know, the noble Edgar

Impeach'd Lord Edmund, since the fight, of treason,
And dared him for the proof to single combat,
In which the gods confirm'd his charge by conquest ; ·
I left e'en now the traitor wounded mortally.
Lear. And whither tends this story?

Alb. Ere they fought,

Lord Edgar gave into my hands this paper,
A blacker scroll of treason and of lust
Than can be found in the records of hell:
There, sacred sir, behold the character

Of Goneril, the worst of daughters, but
More vicious wife.

Cord. Could there be yet addition to their guilt? What will not they, who wrong a father, do ?

Alb. Since then my injuries, Lear, fall in with thine, I have resolved the same redress for both.

Kent. What says my lord?

Cord. Speak; for methought I heard The charming voice of a descending god.

Alb. The troops, by Edmund raised, I have dis-
banded :

Those, that remain, are under my command.
What comfort may be brought to cheer your age,
And heal your savage wrongs, shall be apply'd;
For to your majesty we do resign

Your kingdom, save what part yourself conferr'd
On us in marriage.

Kent. Hear you that, my liege?

Cord. Then there are gods, and virtue is their care.
Lear. Is't possible?

Let the spheres stop their course, the sun make halt,
The winds be hush'd, the seas and fountains rest,
All nature pause, and listen to the change!

Where is my Kent, my Caius?

Kent. Here, my liege.

Lear, Why, I have news, that will recall thy youth; Ha! didst thou hear't?—or did th' inspiring gods Whisper to me alone-Old Lear shall be

A king again?

Kent. The prince, that like a god has power, has

said it.

Lear. Cordelia then shall be a queen, mark that; Cordelia shall be queen; winds, catch the sound, And bear it on your rosy wings to heav'n, Cordelia is a queen.

Enter EDGAR, with GLOSTER.

Alb. Look, sir, where pious Edgar comes,