f Whereof I know you are fraught, and put away These difpofitions, which of late 1 transform you From what you rightly are. Fool. May not an afs know when the cart draws the horse? Whoop, Jug, I love thee. Lear. Does any here know me? i Why this is not Lear. Does Lear walk thus? fpeak thus ? where are his eyes? Either his notion weakens, or his difcernings k Are lethargy'd-" Ha! waking? 'Tis not fo. 0 Who is it that can tell me who I am? Lear's fhadow? I would learn P that; for by the marks • Of substantiality, knowledge, and reason, I fhould be faft persuaded I had daughters. Fool, 4 Perhaps this is a mistake of the printer, for wherewith. To be fraught ef, is hardly English. 8 The qu's read that for which. h So the qu's; the rest transport. i All but the qu's omit why. The 1ft q. reads weaknes; the ad q. weakness. 1 All but the qu's omit or, m The qu's read lethergy. The qu's read fleeping or waking; ha! fure 'tis not fo. o The fo's, R. and J. read who I am. Fool. Lear's fhadow. Lear. Your name, fair gentlewoman, &c. All but the qu's omit that. 4 The qu's read (bating that they have not the two of's between the crotchets which are put in by P. and read by T. H. and W.) of fovereignty, [f] knowledge, and [of] reafon, I should be falfe perfuaded I had daughters. Now it is plain that knowledge and reafon are not the marks of fovereignty, for then every man would be a king: therefore Shakespear could never write fovereignty, as it stands in the qu's. Again if we admit of P.'s of's (but it unlikely that two omiffions of the fame word should happen fo near toge ther) Fool. Which of thee will make an obedient father. Lear. Your name, fair gentlewoman? This admiration is much of the favour Of other your new pranks. I do befeech you To understand my purpofes aright. W "As you are old and reverend, you should be wife. Here do you keep a hundred knights and fquires, That this our court infected with their manners, z Make a it more like a tavern or a brothel, b с Than a grac'd palace. The fhame itself doth speak ther) then by W.'s explanation of it, the fovereignty of knowledge is the understanding. So we shall have this fenfe, For by the marks of understanding and of reafon I fould be falfe perfuaded I had daughters. Who fees not how bald this is? The plain cafe is this; Lear fays he would learn whether he is a feadow or no: for by knowledge and reafon, the consciousness of which prove him to be a fubftance, he should be fully perfuaded he had daughters; though the behaviour of this is enough to make him doubt it. So that the fense seems naturally to lead us to alter fovereignty to fubftantiality, and falfe to faft, full, or firm. This speech is omitted in all but the qu's. * The qu's read which they will make, &c. So that of thee is fet down conjecturally. So the qu's; the reft omit come, and read fir after admiration. u R. and all after read, you, as you're old, &c. All but the qu's omit you. The 1ft q. reads a hundred; the ad one hundred. The qu's read deboy; the fo's and R.'s oft. debofh'd; all the reft debauch'd. 2 The fo's read makes. The qu's omit it. The qu's read great for grac'd. P. omits the followed by all but J. For For inftant remedy. Be d then defir'd By her, that else will take the thing the begs, And the remainder that shall still depend, Lear. Darkness and devils! Saddle my horfes, call my train together.- Gon. You ftrike my people, and your diforder'd rabble Make fervants of their betters. SCEN E XV. To them Enter Albany. Lear. Fool! that too late repent'ft-i O, fir, are you come? Is it your will? fpeak, fir. [To Alb.] k — my horfes. The qu's read thou for then. e All before P. read a little for of fifty. Prepare [To his fervants. Ingratitude, A little is the common reading; but it appears from what Lear fays in the next scene, that this number fifty was required to be cut off, (which as the edition ftood) is no where specified by Gonerill. P. f So the qu's; all the reft remainders. g So the ad q. the ift reads that for and; the fo's and R. which. h The 1ft q. reads we that too late repent's; the ad we that too late re pent's us: the rest woe! that too late repents. But what fenfe can be made of any of thefe readings? The above is not an unlikely conjecture. The fo's, R. and P. omit 0, fir, are you come? k R. and all after direct this whole verfe to be fpoken to Albany; but the latter part of it is certainly spoke to his fervants. He was going to ask whe ther Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend, More hideous, when thou fhew'ft thee in a child, 1 Than the fea-monster. Alb. m Pray, fir, be patient. Lear. Detefted kite! thou lieft. My train are men of choice and rarest parts, And in the most exact regard fupport The worfhips of their P name. [To Gonerill. O moft fmall fault! How ugly didst thou in Cordelia fhew! s Which, like an engine, wrencht my frame of nature From the fixt place, drew from my heart all love, And added to the gall. O Lear, Lear! Beat at this gate that let thy folly in, [Striking his head. And thy dear judgment out.-Go, go, my people. Lear. It may be fo, my lord t 'Hear, nature, hear; dear goddess, hear!" Sufpend thy purpofe, if thou didst intend ther it was Albany's will that he should be used thus; but his rage and impatience make him ftart from the point, and order his horfes a fecond time. The qu's read is it your will that we prepare any horses? 1 Upton (on Shakespear p. 203) conjectures, than i'th' sea monster. H. reads pray you, fir, be patient. The qu's omit this speech. The 1ft q. reads lift for lieft; the ad lessen. • The qu's read and for are. P So the qu's and fo's; all the rest read names. The qu's read that for which. So the qu's and H. the reft read O Lear, Lear, Lear! • The qu's omit of what bath moved you. The qu's read harke for hear. This bear is omitted in the qu's. After bear, P. and all after him but J. read a father. Το To make this creature fruitful; Into her womb convey fterility, Dry up in her the organs of increafe, W Let it ftamp wrinkles in her brow of youth, X Turn all her mother's pains and benefits To laughter and contempt; that she may feel To have a thanklefs child.- Away, away. [Exit. Alb. Now, gods, that we adore, z whereof comes this? Gon. Never afflict yourself to know a the cause, But let his difpofition have that scope, b That dotage gives it. Re-enter Lear. Lear. What, fifty of my followers at a clap? Within a fortnight? Alb. What's the matter, fir? w The qu's read thou'rt difuctur’d for thwart difnatur`d. * The qu's read accent tears; W. and T. read candent tears. The qu's read go, go, my people. But away, away, feems better than a repetition of the words he had used at the end of the fpeech before. At the fame time (for the fo's and R. direct Exit, which is omitted by P. and all after) he flings out in a rage; but returns prefently to vent more reproaches and curfes, which his rage fuggefted. 27. reads wherefore. a So the qu's; the 1ft f. reads for the caufe, more of it; the rest of it, omitting more. The fo's, F. F. and H. read as for that. Lear |
