William Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition (535 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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OSWALD No, madam.
REGAN
What might import my sister’s letters to him?
OSWALD I know not, lady.
REGAN
Faith, he is posted hence on serious matter.
It was great ignorance, Gloucester’s eyes being out,
To let him live. Where he arrives he moves
All hearts against us. Edmond, I think, is gone,
In pity of his misery, to dispatch
His ‘nighted life, moreover to descry
The strength o’th’ enemy.
It was great ignorance, Gloucester’s eyes being out,
To let him live. Where he arrives he moves
All hearts against us. Edmond, I think, is gone,
In pity of his misery, to dispatch
His ‘nighted life, moreover to descry
The strength o’th’ enemy.
OSWALD
I must needs after, madam, with my letter.
REGAN
Our troops set forth tomorrow. Stay with us.
The ways are dangerous.
The ways are dangerous.
OSWALD
I may not, madam.
My lady charged my duty in this business.
REGAN
Why should she write to Edmond? Might not you
Transport her purposes by word? Belike—
Some things—I know not what. I’ll love thee much:
Let me unseal the letter.
Transport her purposes by word? Belike—
Some things—I know not what. I’ll love thee much:
Let me unseal the letter.
OSWALD
Madam, I had rather—
REGAN
I know your lady does not love her husband.
I am sure of that, and at her late being here
She gave strange oeillades and most speaking looks
To noble Edmond. I know you are of her bosom.
I am sure of that, and at her late being here
She gave strange oeillades and most speaking looks
To noble Edmond. I know you are of her bosom.
OSWALD I, madam?
REGAN
I speak in understanding. Y’are, I know’t.
Therefore I do advise you take this note.
My lord is dead. Edmond 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, fare you well.
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. Edmond 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, fare you well.
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 should show
What party I do follow.
What party I do follow.
REGAN
Fare thee well.
Exeunt severally
4.5Enter Edgar disguised as a peasant, with a staff, guiding the blind Duke of Gloucester
GLOUCESTER
When shall I 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
In better phrase and matter than thou didst.
In 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 th’unnumbered idle pebble chafes
Cannot be heard 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 th’unnumbered idle pebble chafes
Cannot be heard 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 further 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 further off.
Bid me farewell, and let me hear thee going.
EDGAR
Now fare ye 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 (
keeling
) O you mighty gods,
keeling
) O you mighty gods,
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.—Alive or dead?
(To Gloucester) Ho, you, sir, friend; 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.—Alive or dead?
(To Gloucester) Ho, you, sir, friend; 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 gossamer, feathers, air,
So many fathom down precipitating
Thou‘dst 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‘dst 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 fall’n, 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 is’t? Feel you your legs? You stand.
GLOUCESTER
Too well, too well.
EDGAR
This is above all strangeness.
Upon the crown o’th’ 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. He had a thousand noses,
Horns whelked and waved like the enraged sea.
It was some fiend. Therefore, thou happy father,
Think that the clearest gods, who make them honours
Of men’s impossibilities, have preserved thee.
Were two full moons. He had a thousand noses,
Horns whelked and waved like the enraged sea.
It was some fiend. Therefore, thou happy father,
Think that the clearest gods, who make them 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 ‘twould 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 ‘twould 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
⌉
⌈
crowned with weeds and flowers
⌉
But who comes here?
The safer sense will ne’er accommodate
His master thus.
His master thus.
LEAR No, they cannot touch me for crying. I am the King himself.
EDGAR O thou side-piercing sight!
LEAR Nature’s 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 piece of toasted cheese will do’t. There’s my gauntlet. I’ll prove it on a giant. Bring up the brown bills. O, well flown, bird, i‘th’ clout, i’th’ clout! Whew! Give the word.
EDGAR Sweet marjoram.
LEAR Pass.
GLOUCESTER I know that voice.
LEAR Ha! Goneril with a white beard? They flattered me like a dog, and told me I had the white hairs in my beard ere the black ones were there. To say ‘ay’ and ‘no’ to everything that 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 ‘em, there I smelt ’em out. Go to, they are not men o’ 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⌉
When I do stare, see how the subject quakes!
I pardon that man’s life. What was thy cause?
Adultery? Thou shalt not die. 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 presages snow,
That minces virtue, and does shake the head
To hear of pleasure’s name.
The fitchew nor the soilèd 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 is the sulphurous pit, burning, scalding, stench,
consumption. Fie, fie, fie; pah, pah! Give me an ounce
of civet, good apothecary, sweeten my imagination.
There’s money for thee.
I pardon that man’s life. What was thy cause?
Adultery? Thou shalt not die. 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 presages snow,
That minces virtue, and does shake the head
To hear of pleasure’s name.
The fitchew nor the soilèd 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 is the sulphurous pit, burning, scalding, stench,
consumption. Fie, fie, fie; pah, pah! Give me an ounce
of civet, good apothecary, sweeten my imagination.
There’s money for thee.
GLOUCESTER
O, let me kiss that hand!
LEAR Let me wipe it first; it smells of mortality.
GLOUCESTER
O ruined piece of nature! This great world
Shall so wear out to naught. Dost thou know me?
Shall so wear out to naught. Dost thou know me?
LEAR I remember thine eyes well enough. Dost thou squiny at me?
No, do thy worst, blind Cupid, I’ll not love.
Read thou this challenge. Mark but the penning of it.
Read thou this challenge. Mark but the penning of it.
GLOUCESTER
Were all thy letters suns, I could not see.
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 this world goes with no eyes; look with thine ears. See how yon justice rails upon yon simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change places, and handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief? 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 thy own back.
Thou hotly lusts to use her in that kind
For which thou whip‘st her. The usurer hangs the
cozener.
Through tattered clothes great vices do appear;
Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold,
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks;
Arm it in rags, a pygmy’s straw does pierce it.
None does offend, none, I say none. I’ll able ’em.
Take that of me, my friend, who have the power
To seal th’accuser’s lips. Get thee glass eyes,
And, like a scurvy politician, seem
To see the things thou dost not. Now, now, now, now!
Pull off my boots. Harder, harder! So.
Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip thy own back.
Thou hotly lusts to use her in that kind
For which thou whip‘st her. The usurer hangs the
cozener.
Through tattered clothes great vices do appear;
Robes and furred gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold,
And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks;
Arm it in rags, a pygmy’s straw does pierce it.
None does offend, none, I say none. I’ll able ’em.
Take that of me, my friend, who have the power
To seal th’accuser’s lips. Get thee glass eyes,
And, like a scurvy politician, seem
To see the things thou dost not. Now, now, now, now!
Pull off my boots. Harder, harder! So.
EDGAR (aside)
O, matter and impertinency mixed—170
Reason in madness!
Reason in madness!
LEAR
If thou wilt weep my fortunes, 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 waul and cry. I will preach to thee. Mark.
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 waul and cry. I will preach to thee. Mark.
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 180
A troop of horse with felt. I’ll put’t in proof,
And when I have stol’n 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 180
A troop of horse with felt. I’ll put’t in proof,
And when I have stol’n upon these son-in-laws,
Then kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!
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