Alb.

Know'st thou this paper?

Gon.

Most monstrous!

Ask me not what I know3.

[Exit GONERIL.

Alb. Go after her: she's desperate; govern her.

[Exit an Officer. Edm. What you have charg'd me with, that have

I done,

And more, much more; the time will bring it out :
"Tis past, and so am I. But what art thou,

That hast this fortune on me? If thou'rt noble,
I do forgive thee.

Edg.

Let's exchange charity.

I am no less in blood than thou art, Edmund;

If more, the more thou hast wrong'd me.

My name is Edgar, and thy father's son.

The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to plague us1:

The dark and vicious place where thee he got,
Cost him his eyes.

Edm.

Thou hast spoken right, 'tis true;

The wheel is come full circle: I am here.

Alb. Methought, thy very gait did prophesy
A royal nobleness. I must embrace thee:
Let sorrow split my heart, if ever I

Did hate thee, or thy father.

Edg.

Worthy prince, I know't.

Alb. Where have you hid yourself?

How have you known the miseries of your father?

3 Ask me not what I know.] Albany again appeals to Goneril whether she knows the paper, and in all the quartos the answer is assigned to her, who then goes out. The folio, having erroneously fixed her exit earlier, transfers “Ask me not what I know" to Edmund.

and of our pleasant VICES

Make instruments to PLAGUE us:] The quartos read rirtues for "vices," and scourge for " plague."

Thou hast spoken right, 'tis true ;] In the quartos, "Thou hast spoken truth;" and in the next line, for "full circle" of the folio, they have "full circled." In all the old copies the scene is ill printed, and no one text can be followed at all implicitly.

Edg. By nursing them, my lord.-List a brief tale; And, when 'tis told, O, that my heart would burst!— The bloody proclamation to escape,

That follow'd me so near, (O, our lives' sweetness !
That with the pain of death we'd hourly die,
Rather than die at once!) taught me to shift
Into a madman's rags, t' assume a semblance
That very dogs disdain'd; and in this habit
Met I my father with his bleeding rings,
Their precious stones new lost; became his guide,
Led him, begg'd for him, sav'd him from despair;
Never (O fault!) reveal'd myself unto him,
Until some half hour past, when I was arm'd,
Not sure, though hoping, of this good success,
I ask'd his blessing, and from first to last
Told him my pilgrimage: but his flaw'd heart,
(Alack! too weak the conflict to support)
'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief,
Burst smilingly.

Edm.

This speech of yours hath mov'd me, And shall, perchance, do good; but speak you on: You look as you had something more to say.

Alb. If there be more more woful, hold it in, For I am almost ready to dissolve,

Hearing of this.

Edg.

This would have seem'd a period

To such as love not sorrow; but another,
To amplify too-much, would make much more,
And top extremity.

Whilst I was big in clamour, came there a man,
Who, having seen me in my worst estate,
Shunn'd my abhorr'd society; but then, finding
Who 'twas that so endur'd, with his strong arms

6 That WITH the pain of death wE'D hourly die,] So the quartos, excepting that for "we'd," would is printed: the folio reads, "That we the pain of death would hourly die." Lower down the folio reads " our pilgrimage."

7 This would have seem'd a period] From hence, until the entrance of the Gentleman, is not in the folio.

He fasten'd on my neck, and bellow'd out
As he'd burst heaven; threw me on my father;
Told the most piteous tale of Lear and him,
That ever ear receiv'd; which in recounting,
His grief grew puissant, and the strings of life
Began to crack: twice, then, the trumpets sounded,
And there I left him tranc'd.

Alb.

But who was this?

Edg. Kent, sir, the banish'd Kent; who in disguise Follow'd his enemy king, and did him service Improper for a slave.

Enter a Gentleman hastily, with a bloody Knife.

Gent. Help, help! O help!

Edg.

Alb.

What kind of help?

Speak, man".

Edg. What means that bloody knife?
Gent.

"Tis hot, it smokes;

It came even from the heart of-O! she's dead:

10

Alb. Who dead? speak, man1o.

Gent. Your lady, sir, your lady: and her sister By her is poison'd; she hath confess'd it.

Edm. I was contracted to them both all three Now marry in an instant.

Alb. Produce the bodies, be they alive or dead!— This judgment' of the heavens, that makes us tremble, Touches us not with pity. [Exit Gentleman.

8 threw ME on my father ;] So every quarto; but some modern editors read, "threw him on my father," without assigning any reason for the unauthorised change. We adhere to the old text, admitting, however, that it is more likely that Kent, in grief, should have thrown himself upon Gloster, than that, in his awkward violence, he should have thrown Edgar upon his father's body. 9 Speak, man.] Only in the folio.

10 Who dead? speak, man.] We follow the folio: the quartos read thus :"Gent. It's hot, it smokes: it came from the heart of,

Alb. Who, man? speak."

In the next line but one, "she hath confess'd it" of the quarto seems more proper, than "she confesses it" of the folio.

1 This JUDGMENT] The quartos "This justice of the heavens."

Enter KENT?.

Edg.

Here comes Kent.

Alb. O! it is he3.

The time will not allow the compliment,

Which very manners urges.

Kent.

I am come

To bid my king and master aye good night:

Is he not here?

Alb.

Great thing of us forgot!

Speak, Edmund, where's the king? and where's Cor

delia ?

Seest thou this object, Kent?

[The Bodies of GONERIL and REgan are brought in.

Kent. Alack! why thus?

Edm.

Yet Edmund was belov'd:

The one the other poison'd for my sake,

And after slew herself.

Alb. Even so.-Cover their faces.

Edm. I pant for life:-some good I mean to do,
Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send,-

Be brief in it,-to the castle; for my writ
Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia.-
Nay, send in time.

Alb.

Run, run! O, run!

Edg. To whom, my lord?-Who has the office?

send

Thy token of reprieve.

Edm. Well thought on take my sword,

Give it the captain*.

2 Enter Kent.] In the folio the entrance of Kent is marked too early, and Edgar's speech," Here comes Kent," is erroneously placed before "Produce the bodies," &c. The folio also places the bringing out of the bodies of Goneril and Regan too early. The quartos are right in this respect.

3 O! it is he.] The folio "O! is this he?"

Give it the captain.]

Steevens says that the quartos read,
"Take my sword, the captain

Give it the captain."

Only one quarto so reads: the others (without the publisher's address) have

Alb.

Haste thee, for thy life. [Exit EDGAR.

Edm. He hath commission from thy wife and me

To hang Cordelia in the prison, and

To lay the blame upon her own despair,

That she fordid herself.

Alb. The gods defend her! Bear him hence awhile.

[EDMUND is borne off.

Enter LEAR, with CORDELIA dead in his Arms; EDGAR, Officer, and Others.

Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl!-O! you are men of

stones;

Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so

That heaven's vault should crack. She's gone for

ever.

I know when one is dead, and when one lives;
She's dead as earth.-Lend me a looking-glass;
If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,
Why, then she lives.

Kent.

Is this the promis'd end3?
Edg. Or image of that horror?
Alb.

Fall, and cease!

Lear. This feather stirs; she lives! if it be so,

It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows

That ever I have felt.

Kent.

O, my good master! [Kneeling.

Lear. Pr'ythee, away.

Edg. "Tis noble Kent, your friend. Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all"!

the same text as the folio. One quarto omits the words "That she fordid herself" at the close of Edmund's next speech; but all assign "Haste thee for thy life," to Albany, and not to Edgar as in the folio: Edgar was the person dispatched, and the words are, therefore, addressed to him.

5 Is this the promis'd end?] i. e. "the promis'd end" of the world, according to the interpretation of Monck Mason, in which Steevens and Malone concur. Consistently with this notion, Edgar returns "Or image of that horror?" namely doomsday.

6 murderers, traitors all!] So the folio: the quartos "murderous traitors all."