Be thy mouth or black or white,
Tooth that poisons if it bite;
Mastiff, grey-hound, mongrel grim,
Hound, or spaniel, brach, or lym ;1
Or bobtail tike," or trundle-tail;"
Tom will make them weep and wail:
For, with throwing thus my head,
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.P

Lear. Then let them anatomize to 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.

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

1

brach, or lym,] Names for particular sorts of dogs.-Brach seems to have been a female lurcher or beagle, or any fine-nosed hound; a lym was a blood hound.-NARES and MALONE.

m

22

P

tike,] i. e. A little worthless dog, from Tijk, Runick.

-trundle-tail,] i. e. Curly-tail: a trundle was any thing round.-NARES. -Sessa,] i. e. Be quiet.

thy horn is dry.] This was a proverbial expression, signifying that a person had said all he had to say. The allusion is to the horn which is still used in many places in the country as a cup for drinking.-STEVENS.

Both welcome and protection. Take up thy master:
If thou should'st dally half an hour, his life,
With thine, and all that offer to defend him,
Stand in assured loss: Take up, take up;

And follow me, that will to some provision
Give thee quick conduct.

Kent.

Oppress'd nature sleeps:

This rest might yet have balm'd thy broken senses,
Which, if convenience will not allow,

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 things, 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; He childed, as I father'd!-Tom, away:

Mark the high noises; and thyself bewray,'

When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee,
In thy just proof, repeals, and reconciles thee.
What will hap more to-night, safe scape the king!
Lurk, lurk.

[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

१ -free things,] States clear from distress.-JOHNSON.

Mark the high noises; and thyself bewray,] 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. To bewray is to discover.-JOHNSON and STEEVENS.

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 us. Farewell, dear sister;-farewell, my lord of Gloster.'

Enter Steward.

How now? Where's the king?

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,

Are gone with him towards Dover; where they boast
To have well-armed friends.

Corn.

Get horses for your mistress.

Gon. Farewell, sweet lord, and sister.

[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

Shall do a courtesy to our wrath, which men

May blame, but not control. Who's there? The traitor?

Re-enter Servants, with GLOSTER.

Reg. Ingrateful fox! 'tis he.

Corn. Bind fast his corky* arms.

- festinate-] i. e. Husty.

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.-JOHNSON.

11

questrists-] i. e. Persons who go in search or quest of another.

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.

Corn. To this chair bind him:-Villain, thou shalt

find

[REGAN plucks his Beard.

Glo. By the kind gods, 'tis most ignobly done

To pluck me by the beard.

Reg. So white, and such a traitor!

Naughty lady,

Glo.
These hairs, which thou dost ravish from my chin,
Will quicken, and accuse thee: I am your host;
With robbers' hands, my hospitable favours'

What will you do?

You should not ruffle thus. What will

Corn. Come, sir, what letters had you late from France?

Reg. Be simple-answer'd, for we know the truth.

Corn. And what confederacy have you with the traitors Late footed in the kingdom?

Reg. To whose hands have you sent the lunatick king? Speak.

Glo. I have a letter guessingly set down,

Which came from one that's of a neutral heart,

And not from one oppos'd.

To Dover? Wast thou not charg'd at thy peril

Corn. Wherefore to Dover? Let him first answer that. Glo. I am tied to the stake, and I must stand the course.a

Reg. Wherefore to Dover?

▾ Will quicken,] i. e. Quicken into life.-M. MASON.

2

-favours-] i. e. Features. The different parts of which a face is composed.-STEEVens.

the course.] The running of the dogs upon me.-JOHNSON.

Glo. Because I would not see thy cruel nails Pluck out his poor old eyes; nor thy fierce sister In his anointed flesh stick boarish fangs.

The sea, with such a storm as his bare head

In hell-black night endur'd, would have buoy'd up,
And quench'd the stelled fires: yet, poor old heart,
He holp the heavens to rain.

If wolves had at thy gate howl'd that stern time,
Thou should'st have said, Good porter, turn the key;
All cruels else subscrib'd:-But I shall see

The winged vengeance overtake such children.

Corn. See it shalt thou never :-Fellows, hold the chair:

Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot.

[GLOSTER is held down in his Chair, while CORNWALL plucks out one of his Eyes, and sets his Foot on it.

Glo. He that will think to live till he be old,

Give me some help :-O cruel! O ye gods!

Reg. One side will mock another; the other too.
Corn. If you see vengeance,—

Hold your hand, my lord:

Serv.
I have serv'd you ever since I was a child;
But better service have I never done you,
Than now to bid you hold.

Reg.

How now, you dog?

Serv. If you did wear a beard upon your chin, I'd shake it on this quarrel: What do you mean ?

Corn. My villain !d

Serv. Nay, then come on, and

[Draws. They fight.

[Draws and runs at him.

take the chance of anger. CORNWALL is wounded.

Reg. Give me thy sword.-[To another Servant.] A peasant stand up thus!

[Snatches a Sword, comes behind, and stabs him.

Serv. O, I am slain !-My lord, you have one eye left To see some mischief on him :-O!

C

JOHNSON.

[Dies.

stelled,] i. e. Fixed, from stell, a fixed place of abode.-NARES. subscrib'd.] Yielded, submitted to the necessity of the occasion.—

d My villain!] The word is here used in its original sense of one in servitude.-STEEVENS.