William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (534 page)
Read William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition Online
Authors: William Shakespeare
Tags: #Drama, #Literary Criticism, #Shakespeare
BOOK: William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
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CORNWALL
I have received a hurt. Follow me, lady.
(
To Servants
) Turn out that eyeless villain. Throw this
slave
Upon the dunghill. Regan, I bleed apace.
Untimely comes this hurt. Give me your arm.
(
To Servants
) Turn out that eyeless villain. Throw this
slave
Upon the dunghill. Regan, I bleed apace.
Untimely comes this hurt. Give me your arm.
Exeunt
⌈
with the body
⌉
4.1⌈
with the body
⌉
Enter Edgar as a Bedlam beggar
EDGAR
Yet better thus and known to be contemned
Than still contemned and flattered. To be worst,
The low’st and most dejected thing of fortune,
Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear.
The lamentable change is from the best;
The worst returns to laughter. Welcome, then,
Thou unsubstantial air that I embrace.
The wretch that thou hast blown unto the worst
Owes nothing to thy blasts.
Than still contemned and flattered. To be worst,
The low’st and most dejected thing of fortune,
Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear.
The lamentable change is from the best;
The worst returns to laughter. Welcome, then,
Thou unsubstantial air that I embrace.
The wretch that thou hast blown unto the worst
Owes nothing to thy blasts.
Enter the Duke of Gloucester led by an Old Man
But who comes here?
My father, parti-eyed? World, world, O world!
But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee,
Life would not yield to age.
But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee,
Life would not yield to age.
⌈
Edgar stands aside
⌉
OLD MAN (
to Gloucester
) O my good lord,
to Gloucester
) O my good lord,
I have been your tenant and your father’s tenant
These fourscore years.
These fourscore years.
GLOUCESTER
Away, get thee away, good friend, be gone.
Thy comforts can do me no good at all;
Thee they may hurt.
Thy comforts can do me no good at all;
Thee they may hurt.
OLD MAN
You cannot see your way.
GLOUCESTER
I have no way, and therefore want no eyes.
I stumbled when I saw. Full oft ’tis seen
Our means secure us, and our mere defects
Prove our commodities. O dear son Edgar,
The food of thy abused father’s wrath-
Might I but live to see thee in my touch
I’d say I had eyes again.
I stumbled when I saw. Full oft ’tis seen
Our means secure us, and our mere defects
Prove our commodities. O dear son Edgar,
The food of thy abused father’s wrath-
Might I but live to see thee in my touch
I’d say I had eyes again.
OLD MAN
How, now? Who’s there?
EDGAR (
aside
)
aside
)
O gods! Who is’t can say ‘I am at the worst’?
I am worse than e’er I was.
I am worse than e’er I was.
OLD MAN (
to Gloucester
)
to Gloucester
)
’Tis poor mad Tom.
EDGAR (
aside
)
aside
)
And worse I may be yet. The worst is not
So long as we can say ‘This is the worst.’
So long as we can say ‘This is the worst.’
OLD MAN (
to Edgar
) Fellow, where goest?
to Edgar
) Fellow, where goest?
GLOUCESTER Is it a beggarman?
OLD MAN Madman and beggar too.
GLOUCESTER
A has some reason, else he could not beg.
I’th’ last night’s storm I such a fellow saw,
Which made me think a man a worm. My son
Came then into my mind, and yet my mind
Was then scarce friends with him. I have heard more
since.
As flies to wanton boys are we to th’ gods;
They kill us for their sport.
I’th’ last night’s storm I such a fellow saw,
Which made me think a man a worm. My son
Came then into my mind, and yet my mind
Was then scarce friends with him. I have heard more
since.
As flies to wanton boys are we to th’ gods;
They kill us for their sport.
EDGAR (
aside
) How should this be?
aside
) How should this be?
Bad is the trade that must play fool to sorrow,
Ang’ring itself and others.
Ang’ring itself and others.
⌈
He comes forward
⌉
Bless thee, master.
GLOUCESTER
Is that the naked fellow?
OLD MAN
Ay, my lord.
GLOUCESTER
Get thee away. If for my sake
Thou wilt o‘ertake us hence a mile or twain
I’th’ way toward Dover, do it for ancient love,
And bring some covering for this naked soul,
Which I’ll entreat to lead me.
Thou wilt o‘ertake us hence a mile or twain
I’th’ way toward Dover, do it for ancient love,
And bring some covering for this naked soul,
Which I’ll entreat to lead me.
OLD MAN
Alack, sir, he is mad.
GLOUCESTER
’Tis the time’s plague when madmen lead the blind.
Do as I bid thee; or rather do thy pleasure.
Above the rest, be gone.
Do as I bid thee; or rather do thy pleasure.
Above the rest, be gone.
OLD MAN
I’ll bring him the best ’parel that I have, so
Come on’t what will. Exit
Come on’t what will. Exit
GLOUCESTER
Sirrah, naked fellow!
EDGAR
Poor Tom’s a-cold. (
Aside
) I cannot daub it further.
Aside
) I cannot daub it further.
GLOUCESTER
Come hither, fellow.
EDGAR (
aside
)
aside
)
And yet I must.
(
To Gloucester
) Bless thy sweet eyes, they bleed.
To Gloucester
) Bless thy sweet eyes, they bleed.
GLOUCESTER
Know’st thou the way to Dover?
EDGAR Both stile and gate, horseway and footpath. Poor Tom hath been scared out of his good wits. Bless thee, goodman’s son, from the foul fiend.
GLOUCESTER
Here, take this purse, thou whom the heavens’
plagues
Have humbled to all strokes. That I am wretched
Makes thee the happier. Heavens deal so still.
Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man
That slaves your ordinance, that will not see
Because he does not feel, feel your power quickly.
So distribution should undo excess,
And each man have enough. Dost thou know Dover?
plagues
Have humbled to all strokes. That I am wretched
Makes thee the happier. Heavens deal so still.
Let the superfluous and lust-dieted man
That slaves your ordinance, that will not see
Because he does not feel, feel your power quickly.
So distribution should undo excess,
And each man have enough. Dost thou know Dover?
EDGAR Ay, master.
GLOUCESTER
There is a cliff whose high and bending head
Looks fearfully in the confined deep.
Bring me but to the very brim of it
And I’ll repair the misery thou dost bear
With something rich about me. From that place
I shall no leading need.
Looks fearfully in the confined deep.
Bring me but to the very brim of it
And I’ll repair the misery thou dost bear
With something rich about me. From that place
I shall no leading need.
EDGAR Give me thy arm.
Poor Tom shall lead thee.
Exit Edgar guiding Gloucester
4.2Enter Goneril and Edmond the bastard
⌈
at one door
⌉
and Oswald the steward
⌈
at another
⌉
GONERIL
Welcome, my lord. I marvel our mild husband
Not met us on the way. (
To Oswald
) Now, where’s
your master?
Not met us on the way. (
To Oswald
) Now, where’s
your master?
OSWALD
Madam, within; but never man so changed.
I told him of the army that was landed;
He smiled at it. I told him you were coming;
His answer was ‘The worse’. Of Gloucester’s treachery
And of the loyal service of his son
When I informed him, then he called me sot,
And told me I had turned the wrong side out.
What most he should dislike seems pleasant to him;
What like, offensive.
I told him of the army that was landed;
He smiled at it. I told him you were coming;
His answer was ‘The worse’. Of Gloucester’s treachery
And of the loyal service of his son
When I informed him, then he called me sot,
And told me I had turned the wrong side out.
What most he should dislike seems pleasant to him;
What like, offensive.
GONERIL (
to Edmond
) Then shall you go no further.
to Edmond
) Then shall you go no further.
It is the cowish terror of his spirit
That dares not undertake. He’ll not feel wrongs
Which tie him to an answer. Our wishes on the way
May prove effects. Back, Edmond, to my brother.
Hasten his musters and conduct his powers.
I must change names at home, and give the distaff
Into my husband’s hands. This trusty servant
Shall pass between us. Ere long you are like to hear,
If you dare venture in your own behalf,
A mistress’s command. Wear this. Spare speech.
Decline your head. This kiss, if it durst speak,
Would stretch thy spirits up into the air.
That dares not undertake. He’ll not feel wrongs
Which tie him to an answer. Our wishes on the way
May prove effects. Back, Edmond, to my brother.
Hasten his musters and conduct his powers.
I must change names at home, and give the distaff
Into my husband’s hands. This trusty servant
Shall pass between us. Ere long you are like to hear,
If you dare venture in your own behalf,
A mistress’s command. Wear this. Spare speech.
Decline your head. This kiss, if it durst speak,
Would stretch thy spirits up into the air.
⌈
She
kisses
him
⌉
Conceive, and fare thee well.
EDMOND Yours in the ranks of death.
GONERIL My most dear Gloucester.
Exit
Edmond
Edmond
O, the difference of man and man!
To thee a woman’s services are due;
My fool usurps my body.
To thee a woman’s services are due;
My fool usurps my body.
OSWALD
Madam, here comes my lord.
Enter the Duke of
Albany
GONERIL
I have been worth the whistling.
ALBANY
O Goneril,
You are not worth the dust which the rude wind
Blows in your face.
Blows in your face.
GONERIL
Milk-livered man,
That bear’st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs;
Who hast not in thy brows an eye discerning
Thine honour from thy suffering—
Who hast not in thy brows an eye discerning
Thine honour from thy suffering—
ALBANY
See thyself, devil.
Proper deformity shows not in the fiend
So horrid as in woman.
So horrid as in woman.
GONERIL
O vain fool!
Enter a Messenger
MESSENGER
O my good lord, the Duke of Cornwall’s dead,
Slain by his servant going to put out
The other eye of Gloucester.
Slain by his servant going to put out
The other eye of Gloucester.
ALBANY
Gloucester’s eyes?
MESSENGER
A servant that he bred, thrilled with remorse,
Opposed against the act, bending his sword
To his great master, who thereat enraged
Flew on him, and amongst them felled him dead,
But not without that harmful stroke which since
Hath plucked him after.
Opposed against the act, bending his sword
To his great master, who thereat enraged
Flew on him, and amongst them felled him dead,
But not without that harmful stroke which since
Hath plucked him after.
ALBANY
This shows you are above,
You justicers, that these our nether crimes
So speedily can venge. But O, poor Gloucester!
Lost he his other eye?
So speedily can venge. But O, poor Gloucester!
Lost he his other eye?
MESSENGER
Both, both, my lord.—µ
This letter, madam, craves a speedy answer.
’Tis from your sister.
’Tis from your sister.
GONERIL (aside)
One way I like this well;
But being widow, and my Gloucester with her,
May all the building in my fancy pluck
Upon my hateful life. Another way
The news is not so tart.—I’ll read and answer.
May all the building in my fancy pluck
Upon my hateful life. Another way
The news is not so tart.—I’ll read and answer.
⌈
Exit
with Oswald
⌉
ALBANY
Where was his son when they did take his eyes?
MESSENGER
Come with my lady hither.
ALBANY
He is not here.
MESSENGER
No, my good lord; I met him back again.
ALBANY Knows he the wickedness?
MESSENGER
Ay, my good lord; ’twas he informed against him,
And quit the house on purpose that their punishment
Might have the freer course.
And quit the house on purpose that their punishment
Might have the freer course.
ALBANY
Gloucester, I live
To thank thee for the love thou showed‘st the King,
And to revenge thine eyes.—Come hither, friend.
Tell me what more thou know’st.
And to revenge thine eyes.—Come hither, friend.
Tell me what more thou know’st.
Exeunt
4.3Enter with a drummer and colours, Queen Cordelia, Gentlemen, and soldiers
CORDELIA
Alack, ’tis he! Why, he was met even now,
As mad as the vexed sea, singing aloud,
Crowned with rank fumitor and furrow-weeds,
With burdocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers,
Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow
In our sustaining corn. A century send forth.
Search every acre in the high-grown field,
And bring him to our eye.
As mad as the vexed sea, singing aloud,
Crowned with rank fumitor and furrow-weeds,
With burdocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers,
Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow
In our sustaining corn. A century send forth.
Search every acre in the high-grown field,
And bring him to our eye.
⌈
Exit
one or more
⌉
Exit
one or more
⌉
What can man’s wisdom
In the restoring his
He that helps him take all my outward worth.
He that helps him take all my outward worth.
⌈FIRST⌉GENTLEMAN There is means, madam.
Our foster-nurse of nature is repose,
The which he lacks. That to provoke in him
Are many simples operative, whose power
Will close the eye of anguish.
The which he lacks. That to provoke in him
Are many simples operative, whose power
Will close the eye of anguish.
CORDELIA
All blest secrets,
All you unpublished virtues of the earth,
Spring with my tears, be aidant and remediate
In the good man’s distress!—Seek, seek for him,
Lest his ungoverned rage dissolve the life
That wants the means to lead it.
Spring with my tears, be aidant and remediate
In the good man’s distress!—Seek, seek for him,
Lest his ungoverned rage dissolve the life
That wants the means to lead it.
Enter
a Messenger
MESSENGER
News, madam.
The British powers are marching hitherward.
CORDELIA
’Tis known before; our preparation stands
In expectation of them.—O dear father,
It is thy business that I go about;
Therefore great France
My mourning and importuned tears hath pitied.
No blown ambition doth our arms incite,
But love, dear love, and our aged father’s right.
Soon may I hear and see him!
In expectation of them.—O dear father,
It is thy business that I go about;
Therefore great France
My mourning and importuned tears hath pitied.
No blown ambition doth our arms incite,
But love, dear love, and our aged father’s right.
Soon may I hear and see him!
Exeunt
4.4Enter Regan and Oswald the steward
REGAN
But are my brother’s powers set forth?
OSWALD
Ay, madam.
REGAN
Himself in person there?
OSWALD
Madam, with much ado.
Your sister is the better soldier.
REGAN
Lord Edmond spake not with your lord at home?
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