William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (422 page)
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Authors: William Shakespeare
Tags: #Drama, #Literary Criticism, #Shakespeare
BOOK: William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
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OSWALD I, madam?
REGAN
I speak in understanding, for I know’t.
Therefore I do advise you take this note.
My lord is dead. Edmund and I have talked,
And more convenient is he for my hand
Than for your lady’s. You may gather more.
If you do find him, pray you give him this,
And when your mistress hears thus much from you,
I pray desire her call her wisdom to her.
So, farewell.
If you do chance to hear of that blind traitor,
Preferment falls on him that cuts him off.
Therefore I do advise you take this note.
My lord is dead. Edmund and I have talked,
And more convenient is he for my hand
Than for your lady’s. You may gather more.
If you do find him, pray you give him this,
And when your mistress hears thus much from you,
I pray desire her call her wisdom to her.
So, farewell.
If you do chance to hear of that blind traitor,
Preferment falls on him that cuts him off.
OSWALD
Would I could meet him, madam. I would show
What lady I do follow.
What lady I do follow.
REGAN Fare thee well.
Exeunt severally
Sc. 20Exeunt severally
Enter Edgar disguised as a peasant, with a staff, guiding the blind Duke of Gloucester
GLOUCESTER
When shall we come to th’ top of that same hill?
EDGAR
You do climb up it now. Look how we labour.
GLOUCESTER
Methinks the ground is even.
EDGAR Horrible steep.
Hark, do you hear the sea?
GLOUCESTER No, truly.
EDGAR
Why, then your other senses grow imperfect
By your eyes’ anguish.
By your eyes’ anguish.
GLOUCESTER So may it be indeed.
Methinks thy voice is altered, and thou speak’st
With better phrase and matter than thou didst.
With better phrase and matter than thou didst.
EDGAR
You’re much deceived. In nothing am I changed
But in my garments.
But in my garments.
GLOUCESTER Methinks you’re better spoken.
EDGAR
Come on, sir, here’s the place. Stand still. How fearful
And dizzy ’tis to cast one’s eyes so low!
The crows and choughs that wing the midway air
Show scarce so gross as beetles. Halfway down
Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade!
Methinks he seems no bigger than his head.
The fishermen that walk upon the beach
Appear like mice, and yon tall anchoring barque
Diminished to her cock, her cock a buoy
Almost too small for sight. The murmuring surge
That on the unnumbered idle pebble chafes
Cannot be heard, it’s so high. I’ll look no more,
Lest my brain turn and the deficient sight
Topple down headlong.
And dizzy ’tis to cast one’s eyes so low!
The crows and choughs that wing the midway air
Show scarce so gross as beetles. Halfway down
Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade!
Methinks he seems no bigger than his head.
The fishermen that walk upon the beach
Appear like mice, and yon tall anchoring barque
Diminished to her cock, her cock a buoy
Almost too small for sight. The murmuring surge
That on the unnumbered idle pebble chafes
Cannot be heard, it’s so high. I’ll look no more,
Lest my brain turn and the deficient sight
Topple down headlong.
GLOUCESTER Set me where you stand.
EDGAR
Give me your hand. You are now within a foot
Of th’extreme verge. For all beneath the moon
Would I not leap upright.
Of th’extreme verge. For all beneath the moon
Would I not leap upright.
GLOUCESTER Let go my hand.
Here, friend, ’s another purse; in it a jewel
Well worth a poor man’s taking. Fairies and gods
Prosper it with thee! Go thou farther off.
Bid me farewell, and let me hear thee going.
Well worth a poor man’s taking. Fairies and gods
Prosper it with thee! Go thou farther off.
Bid me farewell, and let me hear thee going.
EDGAR
Now fare you well, good sir.
He stands aside
GLOUCESTER With all my heart.
EDGAR (
aside
)
aside
)
Why I do trifle thus with his despair
Is done to cure it.
Is done to cure it.
GLOUCESTER O you mighty gods,
He kneels
This world I do renounce, and in your sights
Shake patiently my great affliction off!
If I could bear it longer, and not fall
To quarrel with your great opposeless wills,
My snuff and loathed part of nature should
Burn itself out. If Edgar live, O bless him!—
Now, fellow, fare thee well.
Shake patiently my great affliction off!
If I could bear it longer, and not fall
To quarrel with your great opposeless wills,
My snuff and loathed part of nature should
Burn itself out. If Edgar live, O bless him!—
Now, fellow, fare thee well.
EDGAR Gone, sir. Farewell.
Gloucester falls forward
(Aside) And yet I know not how conceit may rob
The treasury of life, when life itself
Yields to the theft. Had he been where he thought,
By this had thought been past.—Ative or dead?
(
To Gloucester
) Ho you, sir; hear you, sir? Speak.
(
Aside
) Thus might he pass indeed. Yet he revives.
(
To Gloucester
) What are you, sir?
The treasury of life, when life itself
Yields to the theft. Had he been where he thought,
By this had thought been past.—Ative or dead?
(
To Gloucester
) Ho you, sir; hear you, sir? Speak.
(
Aside
) Thus might he pass indeed. Yet he revives.
(
To Gloucester
) What are you, sir?
GLOUCESTER Away, and let me die.
EDGAR
Hadst thou been aught but goss‘mer, feathers, air,
So many fathom down precipitating
Thou hadst shivered like an egg. But thou dost breathe,
Hast heavy substance, bleed’st not, speak’st, art sound.
Ten masts a-length make not the altitude
Which thou hast perpendicularly fell.
Thy life’s a miracle. Speak yet again.
So many fathom down precipitating
Thou hadst shivered like an egg. But thou dost breathe,
Hast heavy substance, bleed’st not, speak’st, art sound.
Ten masts a-length make not the altitude
Which thou hast perpendicularly fell.
Thy life’s a miracle. Speak yet again.
GLOUCESTER But have I fallen, or no?
EDGAR
From the dread summit of this chalky bourn.
Look up a-height. The shrill-gorged lark so far
Cannot be seen or heard. Do but look up.
Look up a-height. The shrill-gorged lark so far
Cannot be seen or heard. Do but look up.
GLOUCESTER Alack, I have no eyes.
Is wretchedness deprived that benefit
To end itself by death? ’Twas yet some comfort
When misery could beguile the tyrant’s rage
And frustrate his proud will.
To end itself by death? ’Twas yet some comfort
When misery could beguile the tyrant’s rage
And frustrate his proud will.
EDGAR Give me your arm.
Up. So, how now? Feel you your legs? You stand.
GLOUCESTER
Too well, too well.
EDGAR This is above all strangeness.
Upon the crown of the cliff what thing was that
Which parted from you?
Which parted from you?
GLOUCESTER A poor unfortunate beggar.
EDGAR
As I stood here below, methoughts his eyes
Were two full moons. A had a thousand noses,
Horns whelked and waved like the enridged sea.
It was some fiend. Therefore, thou happy father,
Think that the clearest gods, who made their honours
Of men’s impossibilities, have preserved thee.
Were two full moons. A had a thousand noses,
Horns whelked and waved like the enridged sea.
It was some fiend. Therefore, thou happy father,
Think that the clearest gods, who made their honours
Of men’s impossibilities, have preserved thee.
GLOUCESTER
I do remember now. Henceforth I’ll bear
Affliction till it do cry out itself
‘Enough, enough,’ and die. That thing you speak of,
I took it for a man. Often would it say
‘The fiend, the fiend!’ He led me to that place.
Affliction till it do cry out itself
‘Enough, enough,’ and die. That thing you speak of,
I took it for a man. Often would it say
‘The fiend, the fiend!’ He led me to that place.
EDGAR
Bear free and patient thoughts.
Enter King Lear mad,
⌈
crowned with weeds and
flowers
⌉
But who comes here?
The safer sense will ne’er accommodate
His master thus.
The safer sense will ne’er accommodate
His master thus.
LEAR No, they cannot touch me for coining. I am the King himself.
EDGAR O thou side-piercing sight!
LEAR Nature is above art in that respect. There’s your press-money. That fellow handles his bow like a crow-keeper. Draw me a clothier’s yard. Look, look, a mouse! Peace, peace, this toasted cheese will do it. There’s my gauntlet. I’ll prove it on a giant. Bring up the brown bills. O, well flown, bird, in the air. Hal Give the word.
EDGAR Sweet marjoram.
LEAR Pass.
GLOUCESTER I know that voice.
LEAR Ha, Gonorill Ha, Regan! They flattered me like a dog, and told me I had white hairs in my beard ere the black ones were there. To say ‘ay’ and ‘no’ to everything I said ‘ay’ and ‘no’ to was no good divinity. When the rain came to wet me once, and the wind to make me chatter, when the thunder would not peace at my bidding, there I found them, there I smelt them out. Go to, they are not men of their words. They told me I was everything; ’tis a lie, I am not ague-proof.
GLOUCESTER
The trick of that voice I do well remember.
Is’t not the King?
Is’t not the King?
LEAR Ay, every inch a king.
⌈
Gloucester kneels
⌉
Gloucester kneels
⌉
When I do stare, see how the subject quakes!
I pardon that man’s life. What was thy cause?
Adultery? Thou shalt not die for adultery.
No, the wren goes to‘t, and the small gilded fly
Does lecher in my sight.
Let copulation thrive, for Gloucester’s bastard son
Was kinder to his father than my daughters
Got ’tween the lawful sheets. To‘t, luxury, pell-mell,
For I lack soldiers. Behold yon simp’ring dame,
Whose face between her forks presageth snow,
That minces virtue, and does shake the head
To hear of pleasure’s name:
The fitchew nor the soiled horse goes to’t
With a more riotous appetite. Down from the waist
They’re centaurs, though women all above.
But to the girdle do the gods inherit;
Beneath is all the fiend’s. There’s hell, there’s
darkness,
There’s the sulphury pit, burning, scalding,
Stench, consummation. Fie, fie, fie; pah, pah!
Give me an ounce of civet, good apothecary,
To sweeten my imagination.
There’s money for thee.
I pardon that man’s life. What was thy cause?
Adultery? Thou shalt not die for adultery.
No, the wren goes to‘t, and the small gilded fly
Does lecher in my sight.
Let copulation thrive, for Gloucester’s bastard son
Was kinder to his father than my daughters
Got ’tween the lawful sheets. To‘t, luxury, pell-mell,
For I lack soldiers. Behold yon simp’ring dame,
Whose face between her forks presageth snow,
That minces virtue, and does shake the head
To hear of pleasure’s name:
The fitchew nor the soiled horse goes to’t
With a more riotous appetite. Down from the waist
They’re centaurs, though women all above.
But to the girdle do the gods inherit;
Beneath is all the fiend’s. There’s hell, there’s
darkness,
There’s the sulphury pit, burning, scalding,
Stench, consummation. Fie, fie, fie; pah, pah!
Give me an ounce of civet, good apothecary,
To sweeten my imagination.
There’s money for thee.
GLOUCESTER O, let me kiss that hand!
LEAR Here, wipe it first; it smells of mortality.
GLOUCESTER
O ruined piece of nature! This great world
Shall so wear out to naught. Do you know me?
Shall so wear out to naught. Do you know me?
LEAR I remember thy eyes well enough. Dost thou squiny on me?
No, do thy worst, blind Cupid, I’ll not love.
Read thou that challenge. Mark the penning of’t.
Read thou that challenge. Mark the penning of’t.
GLOUCESTER
Were all the letters suns, I could not see one.
EDGAR (
aside
)
aside
)
I would not take this from report; it is,
And my heart breaks at it.
And my heart breaks at it.
LEAR (
to Gloucester
) Read.
to Gloucester
) Read.
GLOUCESTER What—with the case of eyes?
LEAR O ho, are you there with me? No eyes in your head, nor no money in your purse? Your eyes are in a heavy case, your purse in a light; yet you see how this world goes.
GLOUCESTER I see it feelingly.
LEAR What, art mad? A man may see how the world goes with no eyes; look with thy ears. See how yon justice rails upon yon simple thief. Hark in thy ear: handy-dandy, which is the thief, which is the justice? Thou hast seen a farmer’s dog bark at a beggar?
GLOUCESTER Ay, sir.
LEAR An the creature run from the cur, there thou mightst behold the great image of authority. A dog’s obeyed in office.
Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand.
Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip thine own back.
Thy blood as hotly lusts to use her in that kind
For which thou whip’st her. The usurer hangs the
cozener.
Through tattered rags small vices do appear;
Robes and furred gowns hides all. Get thee glass eyes,
And, like a scurvy politician, seem
To see the things thou dost not. No tears, now.
Pull off my boots. Harder, harder! So.
Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip thine own back.
Thy blood as hotly lusts to use her in that kind
For which thou whip’st her. The usurer hangs the
cozener.
Through tattered rags small vices do appear;
Robes and furred gowns hides all. Get thee glass eyes,
And, like a scurvy politician, seem
To see the things thou dost not. No tears, now.
Pull off my boots. Harder, harder! So.
EDGAR (
aside
)
aside
)
O, matter and impertinency mixed—
Reason in madness!
Reason in madness!
LEAR
If thou wilt weep my fortune, take my eyes.
I know thee well enough: thy name is Gloucester.
Thou must be patient. We came crying hither.
Thou know’st the first time that we smell the air
We wail and cry. I will preach to thee. Mark me.
I know thee well enough: thy name is Gloucester.
Thou must be patient. We came crying hither.
Thou know’st the first time that we smell the air
We wail and cry. I will preach to thee. Mark me.
GLOUCESTER Alack, alack, the day!
LEAR ⌈
removing his crown of weeds
⌉
removing his crown of weeds
⌉
When we are born, we cry that we are come
To this great stage of fools. This’ a good block.
It were a delicate stratagem to shoe
A troop of horse with felt; and when I have stole
upon
These son-in-laws, then kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!
To this great stage of fools. This’ a good block.
It were a delicate stratagem to shoe
A troop of horse with felt; and when I have stole
upon
These son-in-laws, then kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!
Enter three Gentlemen
⌈FIRST⌉ GENTLEMAN
O, here he is. Lay hands upon him, sirs.
(
To Lear
) Your most dear—
(
To Lear
) Your most dear—
LEAR
No rescue? What, a prisoner? I am e’en
The natural fool of fortune. Use me well.
You shall have ransom. Let me have a surgeon;
I am cut to the brains.
The natural fool of fortune. Use me well.
You shall have ransom. Let me have a surgeon;
I am cut to the brains.
⌈FIRST⌉ GENTLEMAN You shall have anything.
LEAR No seconds? All myself?
Why, this would make a man a man of salt,
To use his eyes for garden water-pots,
Ay, and laying autumn’s dust.
To use his eyes for garden water-pots,
Ay, and laying autumn’s dust.
⌈FIRST⌉ GENTLEMAN Good sir—
LEAR
I will die bravely, like a bridegroom.
What, I will be jovial. Come, come,
I am a king, my masters, know you that?
What, I will be jovial. Come, come,
I am a king, my masters, know you that?
⌈FIRST⌉ GENTLEMAN
You are a royal one, and we obey you.
LEAR Then there’s life in’t. Nay, an you get it, you shall get it with running.
Exit running, pursued by two Gentlemen
⌈FIRST⌉ GENTLEMAN
A sight most pitiful in the meanest wretch,
Past speaking in a king. Thou hast one daughter
Who redeems nature from the general curse
Which twain hath brought her to.
Past speaking in a king. Thou hast one daughter
Who redeems nature from the general curse
Which twain hath brought her to.
EDGAR Hail, gentle sir.
⌈FIRST⌉ GENTLEMAN Sir, speed you. What’s your will?
EDGAR
Do you hear aught of a battle toward?
⌈FIRST⌉ GENTLEMAN
Most sure and vulgar, everyone hears that
That can distinguish sense.
That can distinguish sense.
EDGAR But, by your favour,
How near’s the other army?
⌈FIRST⌉ GENTLEMAN
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