Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me: — Fool. Her boat hath a leak, And she must not speak Why she dares not come over to thee. Edg. The foul fiend haunts poor Tom in the voice of a nightingale. Hopdance cries in Tom's belly for two white herring. Croak not, black angel; I have no food for thee. Kent. How do you, sir? Stand you not so amaz❜d: Will you lie down and rest upon the cushions? Lear. I'll see their trial first: Bring in the evidence. Thou robed man of justice, take thy place; And thou, his yoke-fellow of equity, [TO EDGAR. [To the Fool. [TO KENT. Bench by his side:- You are of the commission, Sleepest, or wakest thou, jolly shepherd? Thy sheep be in the corn; And for one blast of thy minikin mouth, Thy sheep shall take no harm. Pur! the cat is grey. Lear. Arraign her first; 'tis Goneril. I here take my oath before this honourable assembly, she kicked the poor king her father. Fool. Come hither, mistress; Is your name Goneril? Lear. She cannot deny it. Fool. Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool. Lear. And here's another, whose warp'd looks proclaim 8 Come o'er the bourn,-] A bourn in the north signifies a rivulet or brook. What store her heart is made of. Stop her there! Kent. O pity!-Sir, where is the patience now, Edg. My tears begin to take his part so much, They'll mar my counterfeiting. Lear. The little dogs and all, [Aside. Tray, Blanch, and Sweet-heart, see, they bark at me. Edg. Tom will throw his head at them:- Avaunt, you curs! Be thy mouth or black or white, Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fled. Do de, de, de. Sessa. Come, march to wakes and fairs, and market towns:- Poor Tom, thy horn is dry. Lear. Then let them anatomize Regan, see what breeds about her heart: Is there any cause in nature, that makes these hard hearts? -You, sir, I entertain you for one of my hundred; only, I do not like the fashion of your garments: you will say, they are Persian attire'; but let them be changed. [TO EDGAR. Kent. Now, good my lord, lie here, and rest awhile. Lear. Make no noise, make no noise; draw the curtains: So, so, so: We'll go to supper i'the morning: So, so, so. 9 brach, or lym; &c.] Names of particular sorts of dogs. - you will say, they are Persian attire;] Alluding, perhaps, to Clytus refusing the Persian robes offered him by Alexander. Fool. And I'll go to bed at noon. Re-enter GLOSTER. Glo. Come hither, friend: Where is the king my master? Kent. Here, sir; but trouble him not, his wits are gone. Glo. Good friend, I pr'ythee, take him in thy arms; I have o'er-heard a plot of death upon him : There is a litter ready; lay him in't, And drive towards Dover, friend, where thou shalt meet Both welcome and protection. Take up thy master: Kent. Oppress'd nature sleeps: This rest might yet have balm'd thy broken senses, Stand in hard cure. Come, help to bear thy master; Thou must not stay behind. Glo. [To the Fool. Come, come, away. [Exeunt KENT, GLOSTER, and the Fool, bearing off the King. Edg. When we our betters see bearing our woes, We scarcely think our miseries our foes. Who alone suffers, suffers most i'the mind; Leaving free things2, and happy shows, behind: But then the mind much sufferance doth o'erskip, When grief hath mates, and bearing fellowship. How light and portable my pain seems now, When that, which makes me bend, makes the king bow; 2 VOL. VIII. free things,] States clear from distress. G He childed, as I father'd!-Tom, away: Mark the high noises3; and thyself bewray,* When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee, What will hap more to-night, safe scape the king! [Exit. SCENE VII. A Room in Gloster's Castle. Enter CORNWALL, REGAN, GONERIL, EDMUND, and Servants. Corn. Post speedily to my lord your husband; show him this letter:- the army of France is landed : — Seek out the villain Gloster. [Exeunt some of the Servants. Reg. Hang him instantly. Gon. Pluck out his eyes. Corn. Leave him to my displeasure. - Edmund, keep you our sister company; the revenges we are bound to take upon your traitorous father, are not fit for your beholding. Advise the duke, where you are going, to a most festinate preparation; we are bound to the like. Our posts shall be swift, and intelligent betwixt Farewell, dear sister; - farewell, my lord of us. Gloster. 5 Enter Steward. How now? Where's the king? 3 Mark the high noises;] Attend to the great events that are approaching, and make thyself known when that false opinion now prevailing against thee shall, in consequence of just proof of thy integrity, revoke its erroneous sentence. 5 and thyself bewray,] i. e. discover. my lord of Gloster.] Meaning Edmund, newly invested with his father's titles. The steward, speaking immediately after, mentions the old earl by the same title. Stew. My lord of Gloster hath convey'd him hence : Some five or six and thirty of his knights, Hot questrists after him, met him at gate; Who, with some other of the lord's dependants, Corn. Get horses for Gon. Farewell, sweet lord, and sister. your mistress. [Exeunt GONERIL and EDMUND. Corn. Edmund, farewell. Go, seek the traitor Gloster, Pinion him like a thief, bring him before us: [Exeunt other Servants. Though well we may not pass upon his life Without the form of justice; yet our power Re-enter Servants, with GLOSter. Reg. Ingrateful fox! 'tis he. Corn. Bind fast his corky arms. 8 Glo. What mean your graces? Good my friends, consider You are my guests: do me no foul play, friends. Corn. Bind him, I say. Reg. [Servants bind him. Hard, hard:-O filthy traitor! Glo. Unmerciful lady as you are, I am none. find 6 Hot questrists after him.] A questrist is one who goes in search or quest of another. 7 Though well we may not pass upon his life yet our power Shall do a courtesy to our wrath,] To do a courtesy is to gratify, to comply with. To pass, is to pass a judicial sentence. corky arms.] Dry, withered, husky arms. |