Fool. Pr'ythee, nuncle, tell me, whether a mad-man P be a gentleman or a yeoman?

Lear. A king, a king.

9 Fool. No, he's a yeoman, that has a gentleman to his fon: for he's a mad yeoman, that fees his fon a gentleman before him.

Lear. To have a thoufand with red burning fpits come hiffing in upon them

Edg. The foul fiend bites my back.

Fool. He's mad that trufts in the tameness of a wolf, "a horfe's health, a boy's love, or a whore's oath.

W

Lear. It fhall be done, I will arraign them ftrait.

Come, fit thou here, most learned * justice;

Thou fapient fir, fit here-now, ye fhe foxes

Edg. y Look where she ftands and glares. Wanton'st thou

eyes,

At trial, madam.

Ꮓ

Come o'er the brook, Belly, to me.

P The 2d q. reads may be, &c.

4 This fpeech is not in the qu's.

The 3d and 4th fo's, R. P. and H. omit mad.
So the id q.; the 1ft hifzing; the rest hizzing.
What follows in italic is not in the fo's or R.

u P. alters this, the health of a horse, the love of a boy, or the oath of a whore; followed by the rest. But Shakespeare was not fuch a nice obfèrver of uniformity of expreffion; the Fool's character does not require it; neither indeed does that of the moft fenfible, ferious man, or the most accurate author.

ww.fays, without doubt we should read heels, i. e. to stand behind him. x T. alters this to jufficer; followed by the after-editors.

y The qu's read Look where he ftands and glares wantft thou, eyes at trial (ift q. trall) madam. T. who is the first that restored this fpeech from the qu's, altered be to fhe; and wanton'ft for wanteft is a conjecture of Seyward. Thefe two fpeeches of Edgar and the Fool are omitted by P. and H.

2 All the editions read broom for brook. 7. conjectures brook.

Fool.

Fool. Her boat hath a leak, and she must not speak,

Why fhe 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 * berrings. Groak not, black angel, I have no food for thee. b Kent. How do you, fir? Stand you not fo amaz'd. Will you lie down and rest upon the cufbions?

d

e

Lear. I'll fee their trial firft, bring in the evidence! Thou robed man of justice, take thy place;

And thou his yoke-fellow of equity,

Bench by his fide. You are o'th' commiffion, fit you too.

Edg. Let us deal justly.

Sleepest, or wakeft thou, jolly Shepherd?

Thy sheep be in the corn;

And for one blaft of thy minikin mouth,

Thy sheep fhall take no harm.

Purre, the cat, is grey.

Lear. Arraign her first; 'tis Gonerill. I here take my oath before this honourable assembly, he kick'd the poor king

her father.

h

Fool. Come hither, miftrefs; is your name Gonerill?

Lear. She cannot deny it.

Fool. Cry you mercy, I took you for a 1 joint-stoal

a The qu's read herring.

This speech is omitted by P. and H.

eP. and H. omit first.

So the qu's; P. and the rest infert me before in.

← The qu's read their for the.

This fpeech is omitted by P. and H.

The remaining part of this speech is omitted by P. and H.

The 1ft q. omits fee.

1 The ift q. reads joyne ftoole.

H 2

Lear

* Lear. And here's another, whofe warpt looks proclaim What ftore her heart is made m of. Stop her there;

*

Arms, arms, fword, fire!-- Corruption in the place? Falfe jufticer, why haft thou let her fcape?

Edg. Blefs thy five wits.

Kent. O pity! fir, where is the patience now

That you

fo oft have boasted to " retain?

Edg. My tears begin to take his part fo much,
They'll mar my counterfeiting.

Lear. The little dogs and all,

Tray, Blanch, and fweet-heart, fee, they bark at me.

[Afide.

Edg. Tom will throw his head at them. Avaunt, you

k The two first lines in this speech are omitted in P. and H.

1 Perhaps Shakespeare wrote ftuff inftead of store.

m The qu's read an.

H. reads corruption's.

n The 3d and 4th fo's and R. read remain.

So the qu's; the rest they mar, &c.

P So H. who explains it to be a lime-hound: quafi line-hound, fays Minfhew, i. c. led always in a line, which woodmen, forrefters, and huntfmen call, a lime for a hound. All other editions read hym for lym.

4 So the qu's; the reft infert or before bobtail.

The three first fo's read tight for tike.

The fo's read troudle for trundie.

The qu's read them for him,

Do,

Lear. Then let them anatomize Regan. See what breeds about her heart. Is there any cause in nature that

makes y these hard hearts?-You, fir, I entertain for one of my hundred; only, I do not like the fashion of your a garments. You'll fay, they are Perfian attire; but let them be chang'd.

Re-enter Glo'fter.

Kent. Now, good my lord, lie here and rest awhile. Lear. Make no noife, make no noife, draw the curtains. So, fo, fo; we'll go to fupper i'th' morning; fo, so, so. f Fool. And I'll go to bed at noon.

Glo. Come hither, friend. Where is the king, my mafter? Kent. Here, fir; but trouble him not; his wits are gone. Glo. Good friend, I pr'ythee, take him in thy arms. I have o'erheard a plot of death upon him.

There is a litter ready, lay him in't,

And drive toward Dover, friend, where thou shalt meet Both welcome and protection. Take up thy mafter.

■ The qu's read_loudla, doodla, come march, &c.

The fo's and R. read fefe for Seffey.

* The fo's and R. read make.

The qu's read this hardness.

2 The qu's read you again after entertain

a The 2d q. reads garment.

So the qu's; all the rest omit attire.

The qu's omit and rest.

So the qu's; the reft repeat so but twice.

Thefe Jo's are omitted in all but the qu's.

f This speech is omitted in the qu's.

The qu's read towards.

H 3

If thou fhould'ft dally half an hour, his life,
With thine, and all that offer to defend him,
Stand in affured lofs. i Take up, take up,
And follow me, that will to fome provision
Give thee quick conduct.

k

Kent. Oppreffed nature fleeps.

This reft might yet have balm'd thy broken 'fenfes,

m

Which, if convenience will not allow,

Stand in hard cure. Come help to bear thy mafter;

Thou must not stay behind.

Glo. Come, come away.

[To the Foot

[Exeunt, bearing off the king.

Manet Edgar.

Edg. When we our betters fee bearing our woes, We fcarcely think our miseries our foes.

n

Who alone fuffers, " fuffers most i'th' mind;
Leaving free things, and happy fhows behind:
But then the mind much fufferance doth o'erskip,
When grief bath mates, and bearing, fellowship.
How light and portable my pain seems now,
When that which makes me bend, makes the king bow;

h F. reads should.

The qu's read take up to keep and follow, &c.

What is in italic is omitted in the fo's, R. P. and H.

The qu's read oppreffed, whereby the accent falls right to complete the verfe, the hemiftich before confifting of a trochee and an amphibrach; but T. W. and J. read oppreft, whereby the verfe is fpoiled.

The qu's read finews. Senfes is a conjecture of T.

m So the qu's; T. reads conveniency to complete the verfe, but convenience is a word of four fyllables; fo that the verfe was complete before. Followed by W. and J.

The 2d q. has fuffers but once.
So the qu's; T. W. and J. docs.

He