Thy half o' the kingdom hast thou not forgot, Reg. I know 't, my sister's: this approves her letter, What means your grace? Corn. Lear. Who stock'd my servant? Regan, I have good hope Thou didst not know on 't.-Who comes here? O heavens, Enter GONERIL. If you do love old men, if your sweet sway Make it your cause; send down, and take my part!-- O, Regan, wilt thou take her by the hand? [To GON. Gon. Why not by the hand, sir? How have I offended? All's not offence that indiscretion finds, And dotage terms so. Lear. O, sides, you are too tough! Will you yet hold ?-How came my man i' the stocks? ? Lear. To knee his throne, and, squire-like, pension beg Gon. [Looking on the Steward. Which I must needs call mine; thou art a boil, In my corrupted blood. But I'll not chide thee; Nor tell tales of thee to high-judging Jove: Reg. Not altogether so; I look'd not for you yet, nor am provided For your fit welcome: Give ear, sir, to my sister; But she knows what she does. Is this well spoken? Lear. Hold amity? "T is hard; almost impossible. Gon. Why might not you, my lord, receive attendance From those that she calls servants, or from mine? Reg. Why not, my lord? If then they chanc'd to slack you, We could control them: If you will come to me, (For now I spy a danger,) I entreat you To bring but five-and-twenty; to no more Will I give place, or notice. Lear. I gave you all— Reg. And in good time you gave it, Lear. Made you my guardians, my depositaries; But kept a reservation to be follow'd With such a number: What, must I come to you Reg. And speak 't again, my lord; no more with me. Lear. Those wicked creatures yet do look well-favour'd! When others are more wicked, not being the worst Stands in some rank of praise:-I'll go with thee; Thy fifty yet doth double five-and-twenty, [To GONERIL. Gon. Reg. What need one? Lear. O, reason not the need: our basest beggars Are in the poorest thing superfluous: Allow not nature more than nature needs, Man's life is cheap as beast's: thou art a lady; If only to go warm were gorgeous, Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st, weep: That all the world shall-I will do such things- [Exeunt LEAR, GLOSTER, KENT, and Fool. Flaw. Douce conjectures that flaw might signify a fragment iss Shakspere's time, as well as a crack. II. ACT V.-SCENE III. Enter LEAR, with CORDELIA dead in his arms; EDGAR, Officer, and others. Lear. Howl, howl, howl!-O, 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! I know when one is dead, and when one lives; Kent. Is this the promis'd end? a Fall and cease! That ever I have felt. Kent. O my good master! [Kneeling. Lear. Prithee, away. What is 't thou say'st ?-Her voice was ever soft, Off. 'Tis true, my lords, he did. Lear. Lear. This is a dull sight. Are you not Kent? Lear. He's a good fellow, I can tell you that; He'll strike, and quickly too: He's dead and rotten. The promis'd end-the end of the world foretold in the Scriptures. The image of that horror" is the same as "the great doom's image" of Macbeth.' Kent. No, my good lord; I am the very man ;-- Kent. That, from your first of difference and decay, Lear. You are welcome hither. Kent. Nor no man else; all 's cheerless, dark, and dead ly. Your eldest daughters have fore-done 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. Edg. Very bootless. Enter an Officer. That's but a trifle here. Off. Edmund is dead, my lord. Alb. To him our absolute power:-You, to your rights; To EDGAR and KENT. With boot, and such addition as your honours The cup of their deservings.-O, see, see! Lear. And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life: And thou no breath at all? Thou 'lt come no more. Pray you undo this button: Thank you, sir.- Edg. [He dies. He faints! My lord, my lord,— Kent. Break, heart; I prithee, 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. |