His speedy taking off. As for the mercy
Which he intends to Lear, and to Cordelia,-
The battle done, and they within our power,
Shall never see his pardon: for my state
Reg. But have you never found my brother's way Stands on me to defend, not to debate.
To the forfended place?
Edm. That thought abuses you.
Reg. I am doubtful, that you have been conjunct And bosom'd with her, as far, as we call hers. Edm. No, by mine honour, madam!
Reg. I never shall endure her. Dear my lord, Be not familiar with her.
Edm. Fear me not:
She, and the duke her husband,
Enter ALBANY, GONERIL, and Soldiers.
Gon. I had rather lose the battle, than that sister
Should loosen him and me.
[Aside.
Alb. Our very loving sister, well be met!
Sir, this I hear, The king is come to his daughter,
With others, whom the rigour of our state
Forc'd to cry out. Where I could not be honest,
I never yet was valiant: for this business,
It toucheth us as France invades our land,
Not bolds the king; with others, whom, I fear,
Most just and heavy causes make oppose.
Edm. Sir, you speak nobly!
Reg. Why is this reason'd?
Gon. Combine together 'gainst the enemy:
For these domestic and particular broils
Are not to question here.
Alb. Let us then determine
With the ancient of war on our proceedings.
Edm. I shall attend you presently at your tent.
Reg. Sister, you'll go with us?
Gon. No.
Reg. 'Tis most convenient; pray you, go with us!
Gon. O, ho, I know the riddle: [Aside.] - I will go.
As they are going out, enter EDGAR, disguised.
Edg. If e'er your grace had speech with man so
Hear me one word!
Alb. I'll overtake you. - Speak!
[Exeunt Edmund, Regan, Goneril, Officers, Soldiers, and Attendants.
Edg. Before you fight the battle, ope this letter!
If you have victory, let the trumpet sound
For him that brought it: wretched though I seem,
I can produce a champion, that will prove
What is avouched there. If you miscarry,
Your business of the world hath so an end,
And machination ceases. Fortune love you!
Alb. Stay till I have read the letter.
Edg. I was forbid it.
When time shall serve, let but the herald cry,
And I'll appear again.
[Exit. Alb. Why, fare thee well I will o'erlook thy paRe-enter EDMUND.
Edm. The enemy's in view, draw up your powers. Here is the guess of their true strength and forces By diligent discovery;- but your haste ls now urg'd on you.
Alb. We will greet the time.
Edm. To both these sisters have I sworn my love; Each jealous of the other, as the stung
Are of the adder. Which of them shall I take?
Both? one? or neither? Neither can be enjoy'd,
If both remain alive. To take the widow,
Exasperates, makes mad her sister Goneril;
And hardly shall I carry out my side,
Her husband being alive. Now then, we'll use
His countenance for the battle; which being done,
Let her, who would be rid of him, devise
SCENE II. A field between the two camps.
Alarum within. Enter, with drum and colours LE,
CORDELIA, and their forces; and exeunt.
Enter EDGAR and GLOSTER.
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.
Glo. Grace go with you, sir!
Alarums; afterwards a retreat. Re-enter EDGAR.
Edg. Away, old man, give me thy hand, away!
Give me thy hand, come on!
King Lear hath lost, he and his daughter ta'en:
Glo. No further, sir! a man may rot even here.
Edg. What, in ill thoughts again? Men must er
SCENE III.-The British camp near Dover. Enter, in conquest, with drum and colours, EDD; LEAR and CORDELIA, as Prisoners; Officers, Sol diers, etc.
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 incurr'd the worst. For thee, oppressed 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 At gilded butterflies, and hear poor rogues Talk of court news; and we'll talk with them
Edm. About it, and write happy, when thou hast | If none appear to prove upon thy person, done.
Mark, I say, instantly; and carry it so,
As I have set it down.
To send the old and miserable king
To some retention, and appointed guard;
Whose age has charms in it, whose title more,
To pluck the common bosom on his side,
And turn our impress'd lances in our eyes
Which do command them. With him I sent the queen;
My reason all the same; and they are ready
To-morrow, or at farther space, to appear
Where you shall hold your session. At this time,
We sweat, and bleed: the friend hath lost his friend;
And the best quarrels, in the heat, are curs'd
By those that feel their sharpness:-
The question of Cordelia, and her father,
Requires a fitter place.
Alb. Sir, by your patience,
I hold you but a subject of this war,
Reg. That's as we list to grace him.
Methinks our pleasure might have been demanded,
Ere you had spoke so far. He led our powers;
Bore the commission of my place and person;
The which immediacy may well stand up,
And call itself your brother.
By me invested, he compeers the best.
Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons,
There is my pledge: [Throwing down a glove.] I'll
prove it on thy heart,
Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing less,
Than I have here proclaim'd thee.
Reg. Sick, O, sick!
Gon. If not, I'll ne'er trust poison.
Edm. There's my exchange: [Throwing down a
glove.] what in the world he is,
That names me traitor, villain-like he lies!
Call by thy trumpet! he, that dares approach,
On him, on you, (who not?) I will maintain
My truth and honour firmly.
Alb. A herald, ho!
Edm. A herald, ho, a herald!
Alb. Trust to thy single virtue; for thy soldiers,
All levied in my name, have in my name
Took their discharge.
Reg. This sickness grows upon me.
Enter a Herald.
Alb. Shs is not well; convey her to my tent.
[Exit Regan, led.
Come hither, herald! Let the trumpet sound, -
And read out this!
Gon. That were the most, if he should husband By treason's tooth bare-gnawn, and canker-bit :
That eye, that told you so, look'd but a-squint.
Reg. Lady, I am not well; else I should answer
From a full-flowing stomach.
Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony;
Dispose of them, of me; the walls are thine:
Witness the world, that I create thee here
My lord and master!
Gon. Mean you to enjoy him?
Alb. The let alone lies not in your good will.
Edm. Nor in thine, lord!
Alb. Half-blooded fellow, yes.
Reg. Let the drum strike, and prove my title thine. [To Edmund. Alb. Stay yet; hear reason! Edmund, I arrest
On capital treason; and in thy arrest,
Edm. Himself. What say'st thou to him?
Edg. Draw thy sword!
That, if my speech offend a noble heart,
Thy arm may do thee justice: here is mine!
Behold, it is the privilege of mine honours,
My oath, and my profession! I protest,
Maugre thy strength, youth, place, and eminence,
Despite thy victor sword, and fire-new fortune,
Thy valour, and thy heart, thou art a traitor!
False to thy gods, thy brother, and thy father!
Conspirant 'gainst this high illustrious prince;
And, from the extremest upward of thy head,
To the descent and dust beneath thy feet,
A most toad-spotted traitor! Say thou, No,
This gilded serpent: [Pointing to Gon.]-for your This sword, this arm, and my best spirits, are bent
To prove upon thy heart, whereto I speak,
Thou liest!
Edm. In wisdom, I should ask thy name:
But, since thy outside looks so fair and warlike,
And that thy tongue some 'say of breeding breathes,
What safe and nicely I might well delay
By rule of knighthood, I disdain and spurn:
Alb. Thou art arm'd, Gloster!- Let the trumpet Back do I toss these treasons to thy head;
With the hell-hated lie o'erwhelm thy heart;
Which, (for they yet glance by, and scarcely bruise,), And top extremity.
This sword of mine shall give them instant way,
Where they shall rest for ever. Trumpets, speak!
[Alarums. They fight. Edmund falls.
Alb. O save him, save him!
Gon. This is mere practice, Gloster!
By the law of arms, thou wast not bound to answer
An unknown opposite; thou art not vanquish'd,
But cozen'd and beguil'd.
Alb. Shut your mouth, dame,
Or with this paper shall I stop it!-Hold, sir!-
Thou worse than any name, read thine own evil!
No tearing, lady! I perceive, you know it.
[Gives the letter to Edmund.
Gon. Say, if I do; the laws are mine, not thine:
Who shall arraign me for't?
Alb. Most monstrous!
Know'st thou this paper?
Gon. Ask me not what I know. [Exit Goneril.
Alb. Go after her: she's desperate; govern her!
[To an Officer who goes out.
Edm. What you have charg'd me with, that have
I done;
And more, much more: the time will bring it out;
'Tis past, and so am I. But what art thou,
That hast this fortune on me? If thou art noble,
I do forgive thee!
Edg. Let's exchange charity.
I am no less in blood, than thou art, Edmund;
If more, the more thou hast wrong'd me.
My name is Edgar, and thy father's son.
The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to scourge us:
The dark and vicious place where thee he got,
Cost him his eyes.
Edm. Thou hast spoken right, 'tis true;
The wheel is come full circle; I am here.
Alb. Methought thy very gait did prophecy
A royal nobleness: I must embrace thee;
Let sorrow split my heart, if ever I
Did hate thee, or thy father!.
Edg. Worthy prince,
Alb. Where have you hid yourself?
How have you known the miseries of your father?
Edg. By nursing them, my lord! List a brief tale;
And, when 'tis told, O, that my heart would burst!
The bloody proclamation to escape,
That follow'd me so near, (9 our lives' sweetness!
That with the pain of death we'd hourly die,
Rather than die at once!) taught me to shift
Into a madman's rags; to assume a semblance
That very dogs disdain'd: and in this habit
Met I my father with his bleeding rings,
Their precious stones new lost; became his guide,
Led him, begg'd for him, sav'd him from despair;
Never (0 fault!) reveal'd myself unto him,
Until some half hour past, when I was arm'd,
Not sure, though hoping, of this good success,
I ask'd his blessing, and from first to last
Told him my pilgrimage. But his flaw'd heart,
(Alack, too weak the conflict to support!)
'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief,
Burst smilingly.
Edm. This speech of yours hath mov'd me,
And shall, perchance, do good: but speak you on;
You look as you had something more to say.
Aib. If there be more, more woful, hold it in;
For I am almost ready to dissolve,
Hearing of this.
Edg. This would have seem'd a period
To such as love not sorrow; but another,
To amplify too much, would make much more,
Whilst I was big in clamour, came there a man,
Who having seen me in my worst estate,
Shunn'd my abhorr'd society; but then, finding
Who 'twas that so endur'd, with his strong arms
He fasten'd on my neck, and bellow'd out
As he'd burst heaven; threw him on my father;
Told the most piteons tale of Lear and him,
That ever ear receiv'd: which in recounting
His grief grew puissant, and the strings of life
Began to crack: twice then the trumpet sounded,
And there I left him tranc'd.
Alb. But who was this?
Edg. Kent, sir, the banish'd Kent; who in dis-
guise
Follow'd his enemy king, and did him service
Improper for a slave.
Enter a Gentleman hastily, with a bloody knife.
Gent. Help! help! O help!
Edg. What kind of help?
Alb. Speak, man!
Edg. What means that bloody knife?
Gent. 'Tis hot, it smokes;
It came even from the heart of-
Alb. Who, man? speak!
Gent. Your lady, sir, your lady! and her sister
By her is poison'd; she confesses it!
Edm. I was contracted to them both; all three
Now marry in an instant.
Alb. Produce their bodies, be they alive or dead!-
This judgment of the heavens, that makes as tremble,
Tonches us not with pity.
Enter KENT.
Edg. Here comes Kent, sir!
Alb. O! it is he!
The time will not allow the compliment,
Which very manners urges.
See'st thou this object, Kent?
[The bodies of Goneril and Regan ar brought in.
Kent. Alack, why thus?
Edm. Yet Edmund was belov'd:
The one the other poison'd 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! O, run!
Edg. To who, my lord?-Who has the office? send
Thy token of reprieve.
Edg. Well thought on; take my sword,
Give it the captain!
Alb. Haste thee, for thy life!
[Exit Edgy
Edm. He hath commission from thy wife and m
To hang Cordelia in the prison, and
To lay the blame upon her own despair,
That she fordid herself.
Alb. The gods defend her! Bear him hence awhile
[Edmund is horne)
Enter LEAR, with CORDELIA dead in his are
EDGAR, Officer, and Others.
Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl!-0, you are mea
Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so,
That heaven's vault should crack! — O, she is gone_Alb. He knows not what he says; and vain it is, for ever!
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 promis'd 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 that does redeem all sorrows
That ever I have felt.
Kent. O my good master!
Lear. Pr'ythee, away!
Edg. 'Tis noble Kent, your friend!
Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors, all!
I might have sav'd 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 kill'd the slave, that was a hanging thee.
Off. 'Tis true, my lords, he did.
I have seen the day, with my good biting faulchion
I would have made them skip: I am old now,
And these same crosses spoil me. Who are you?
Mine eyes are none o'the best:-I'll tell you straight.
Kent. If fortune brag of two she lov'd 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 follow'd your sad steps.
Lear. You are welcome hither!
Kent. Nor no man else; all's cheerless, dark, and deadly.
Your eldest daughters have foredoom'd themselves,
And desperately are dead.
Lear. Ay, so I think.
That we present us to him.
Enter an Officer.
Off. Edmund is dead, my lord!
Alb. That's but a trifle here.
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.
You, to your rights;
[To Edgar and Kent.
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.- O see, see!
Lear. And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life!
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,
And thou no breath at all? O, thou wilt some no
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!-
[He dies.
Edg. He faints! - My lord, my lord, -
Kent. Break, heart! I pry'thee, break!
Edg. Look up, my lord!
Kent. Vex not his ghost: O let him pass! he hates him,
That would upon the rack of this tough world
Stretch him out longer.
Edg. O, he is gone, indeed.
Kent. The wonder is, he hath endur'd so long: He but usurp'd his life.
Alb. Bear them from hence! Our present business Is general woe. Friends of my soul, you twain [To Kent and Edgar.
Rule in this realm, and the gor'd state sustain.
Kent. I have a journey, sir, shortly to go;
My master calls, and I must not say, no.
Alb. The weight of this sad time we must obey;
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most: we, that are young,
Shall never see so much, nor live so long.
[Exeunt, with a dead march.
ESCALUS, prince of Verona.
PARIS, a young nobleman, kinsman to the prince.
MONTAGUE, heads of two houses, at variance
CAPULET,
with each other.
An Old Man, uncle to Capulet.
ROMEO, son to Montague.
MERCUTIO, kinsman to the prince, and friend to Ro
ABRAM, servant to Montague. An Apothecary.
Three Musicians.
Chorus, Boy; Page to Paris; Peter; an Officer.
Lady MONTAGUE, wife to Montague.
Lady CAPULET, wife to Capulet.
BENVOLIO, nephew to Montague, and friend to Ro-JULIET, daughter to Capulet.
Citizens of Verona; several Men and Women, relations to both houses; Maskers, Guards, Watchmen, and Attendants.
SCENE.-during the greater part of the Play, in Verona: once in the fifth Act, at Mantua.
Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
Fair ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth the fatal loins of these two foes
A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life;
Whose misadventur'd piteous overthrows
Do, with their death, bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which,but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffick of our stage:
The which, if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.
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Sam. A dog of that house shall move me to stand: I will take the wall of any man or maid of Montague's. Gre. That shows thee a weak slave; for the weakest goes to the wall.
Sam. True; and therefore women, being the weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall::~ therefore I will push Montague's men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall.
Gre. The quarrel is between our masters, and us their men.
Sam. 'Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant: when I have fought with the men, I will be cruel with the maids; I will cut off their heads.
Gre. The heads of the maids?
Sam. No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir; but I bite my thumb, sir!
Gre. Do you quarrel, sir?
Abr. Quarrel, sir? no, sir!
Sam. If you do, sir, I am for you;
Sam. Draw, if you be men!-Gregory, remember
thy swashing blow!
[They fight
Ben. Part, fools! put up your swords; you know
not what you do!
[Beats down their swords.
Enter TYBALT.
Tyb. What, art thou drawn among these heartless
hinds?
Turn thee, Benvolio, look upon thy death!
Ben. I do but keep the peace; put up thy sword,
Or manage it to part these men with me!
Tyb. What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate the
word,
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee!
Have at thee, coward!
[They fight
Enter several partizans of both houses, who join
the fray; then enter Citizens, with clubs.
1 Cit. Clubs, bills, and partizans! strike! beat them
down!
Down with the Capulets! down with the Montagues!
Enter CAPULET, in his gown; and Lady CAPULET.
Cap. What noise is this?-Give me my long sword,be!
La. Cap. A crutch, a crutch!-Why call you for
Cap. My sword, I say!-Old Montague is come,
And flourishes his blade in spite of me.
Enter MONTAGUE, and Lady MONTAGUE.
Mon. Thou villain, Capulet!-Hold me not, let me go!
La. Mon. Thou shalt not stir one foot to seek a fee.
Enter Prince, with Attendants.
Prin. Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace,
Profaners of this neighbour-stained steel,-
Will they not hear?-What,ho! you men, you beasts,
That quench the fire of your pernicious rage,
With purple fountains issuing from your veins,
Sam. Ay, the heads of the maids, or their maiden- On pain of torture, from those bloody hands heads; take it in what sense thou wilt.
Gre. They must take it in sense, that feel it. Sam. Me they shall feel, while I am able to stand: and, 'tis known, I am a pretty piece of flesh. Gre. 'Tis well, thou art not fish; if thou hadst, thou hadst been Poor John. Draw thy tool; comes two of the house of the Montagues.
Enter ABRAM and BALTHASAR.
Throw your mis-temper'd weapons to the ground,
And hear the sentence of your moved prince.
Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word,
By thee, old Capulet, and Montague,
Have thrice disturb'd the quiet of our streets;
And made Verona's ancient citizens
Cast by their grave beseeming ornaments,
To wield old partizans, in hands as old,
Canker'd with peace, to part your canker'd hate:
Sam. My naked weapon is out; quarrel, I will back If ever you disturb our streets again,
thee.
Gre. How? turn thy back, and run?
Sam. Fear me not.
Gre. No, marry: I fear thee!
bSam. Let us take the law of our sides; let them egin.
Gre. I will frown, as I pass by; and let them take it as they list.
Sam. Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb at
them; which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it.
Abr. Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
Sam. I do bite my thumb, sir!
Abr. Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?
Sam. Is the law on our side, if I say-ay?
Gre. No.
Your lives shall pay the forfeit of the peace.
For this time, all the rest depart away:
You, Capulet, shall go along with me;
And, Montague, come you this afternoon,
To know our farther pleasure in this case,
To old Free-town, our common
judgment-place.
Once more, on pain of death, all men depart!
[Exeunt Prince, and Attendants; Capu
let, Lady Capulet, Tybalt, Citizens,
|
