No pity?--nay, then take an old man's vengeance. seized Cordelia) enter EDGAR, the duke of ALBANY, and king Lear's KNIGHTS. Edg. Death! hell! ye vultures, hold your impious hands, Or take a speedier death than you would give. Alb. Guards, seize those instruments of cruelty. Edg. My dear Cordelia ! lucky was the minute Has slain two of them. Lear. Did I not, fellow ? I've seen the day, with my good biting falchion Alb. Bring in old Kent [exit a knight] and, Edgar, Your father, who. you said, was near. enter KENT and the knight. Lear. Who are you? [exit Edgar My eyes are none o' th' best, I'll tell you straight: Alb. Thou injured majesty, The wheel of fortune now has made her circle, Lear. Com'st thou, inhuman lord, to soothe us back To a fool's paradise of hope, to make Our doom more wretched? go to ; we are too well With lying hope; no, we will hope no more. Alb. I have a tale t' unfold, so full of wonder, But, by that royal injured head, tis true. Alb. Know, the noble Edgar Impeach'd lord Edmund, since the fight, of treason, Lord Edgar gave into my hands this paper, Cord. Could there be yet addition to their guilt? Alb. Since then my injuries, Lear, fall in with thine, I have resolved the same redress for both. Kent. What says my lord ?. Cord. Speak: for methought I heard The charming voice of a descending god. Alb. The troops, by Edmund raised, I have disbanded: Those, that remain, are under command. What comfort may be brought to cheer your age, Your kingdom, save what part yourself conferr'd Kent. Hear you that, my liege? Cord. Then there are gods, and virtue is their care, Let the spheres stop their course, the sun make halt, The winds be hush'd, the seas and fountains rest, Kent. Here, my liege. Lear. Why, I have news, that will recall thy youth; Ha! did'st thou hear't ?-or did th' inspiring gods Whisper to me alone-old Lear shall be A king again? Kent. The prince, that like a god has power, has said it. Lear. Cordelia then shall be a queen, mark that; Cordelia shall be queen; winds catch the sound, And bear it on your rosy wings to heaven, Cordelia is a queen. enter EDGAR, with GLOSTER. Alb. Look, sir, where pious Edgar comes, Glost. Where's my liege? conduct me to his knees, to hail His second birth of empire: my dear Edgar Has, with himself, reveal'd the king's blest restoration. Lear. My poor dark Gloster ! Glost. O, let me kiss once more that scepter'd hand! Lear. Hold, thou mistakest the majesty; kneel here; Cordelia has our power, Cordelia's queen. Glost. My pious son, more dear than my lost eyes. Edmund, but that's a trifle, is expired. What more will touch you, your imperious daughters, Cord. O, fatal period of ill govern'd life! Lear. Ingrateful as they were, my heart feels yet A pang of nature for their wretched fall. But, Edgar, I defer thy joys too long: Thou served'st distress'd Cordelia; take her crown'd, Edg Divine Cordelia, all the gods can witness Thy bright example shall convince the world, Glost. Now, gentle gods, give Gloster his dis- Lear. No, Gloster, thou hast business yet for life; Thou, Kent, and I, retired to some close cell, Will gently pass our short reserves of time In calm reflections on our fortunes past, Cheer'd with relation of the prosperous reign Of this celestial pair; thus our remains Shall in an even course of thought be past, Enjoy the present hour, nor fear the last. [exeunt omnes END OF KING LEAR. SCOTCH SHAVING. If north of Aberfoil you've ever been, A face as thin and hardy as a hatchet. There lived in Dornoch, long ago, a man With jaws more lank I think than e'er you saw, Dame nature had surpassed her usual plan, And out be-scotchified a lanthorn jaw: From that to Solway-Firth not one could match it. This fellow one day for a barber sent The barber brought his shave-pot and his case, And having lathered Mac- to labor went, To clean the crop of stubble from his face, Which every son of soap among them follows: E'er touch the bristles down among the hollows. Now this way Frizzle took, to dress the leather er, Still laboring on with more of haste than care, Because forsooth he hadn't time to linger: |