King Lear (Folger Shakespeare Library)

by William Shakespeare

  To shield thee from diseasesdeg of the world,

  And on the sixth to turn thy hated back

  Upon our kingdom. If, on the tenth day following,

  Thy banished trunkdeg be found in our dominions,

  The moment is thy death. Away! By Jupiter,

  This shall not be revoked.

  Kent. Fare thee well, King. Sithdeg thus thou wilt appear, Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here.

  [To Cordelia] The gods to their dear shelter take

  thee, maid,

  That justly think'st, and hast most rightly said.

  [To Regan and Goneril] And your large speeches

  may your deeds approve,deg

  That good effectsdeg may spring from words of love.

  Thus Kent, O Princes, bids you all adieu;

  He'll shape his old coursedeg in a country new. Exit.

  Flourish.deg Enter Gloucester, with France and

  Burgundy; Attendants.

  Gloucester. Here's France and Burgundy, my noble lord.

  Lear. My Lord of Burgundy, We first address toward you, who with this king

  Hath rivaled for our daughter. What in the least

  Will you require in presentdeg dower with her,

  Or cease your quest of love?

  Burgundy. Most royal Majesty, I crave no more than hath your Highness offered, 171 strained forced (and so excessive)

  172 sentence judgment, decree

  174 Our poteacy made good my royal authority being now asserted

  175 for provision for making preparation

  176 deseases troubles

  179 trunk body

  182 Sith since

  186 approve prove true

  187 effects results

  189 shape... course pursue his customary way

  189 s.d. Flourish trumpet fanfare

  194 present immediate

  Nor will you tenderdeg less.

  Lear. Right noble Burgundy, When she was deardeg to us, we did hold her so;

  But now her price is fallen. Sir, there she stands.

  If aught within that little seeming substance,deg

  Or all of it, with our displeasure pieced,deg

  And nothing more, may fitly likedeg your Grace,

  She's there, and she is yours.

  Burgundy. I know no answer.

  Lear. Will you, with those infirmities she owes,deg Unfriended, new adopted to our hate,

  Dow'red with our curse, and strangereddeg with our

  oath,

  Take her, or leave her?

  Burgundy. Pardon me, royal sir. Election makes not updeg on such conditions.

  Lear. Then leave her, sir; for, by the pow'r that made me, I tell you all her wealth. [To France.] For you,

  great King,

  I would not from your love make such a stray

  Todeg match you where I hate; therefore beseechdeg you

  T' avert your liking a more worthier waydeg

  Than on a wretch whom nature is ashamed

  Almost t' acknowledge hers.

  France. This is most strange, That she whom even but now was your best object,deg

  The argumentdeg of your praise, balm of your age,

  The best, the dearest, should in this trice of time

  Commit a thing so monstrous to dismantledeg 197 tender offer

  198 dear (1) beloved (2) valued at a high price

  200 little seeming substance person who is (1) inconsiderable (2) outspoken

  201 pleced added to it

  202 fitly like please by its fitness

  204 owes possesses

  206 strangered made a stranger

  208 Election makes not up no one can choose

  211-12 make such a stray / To stray so far as to

  212 beseech I beseech

  213 avert ... way turn your affections from her and bestow them on a better person

  216 best object i.e., the one you loved most

  217 argument subject

  219 disamantle strip off

  So many folds of favor. Sure her offense

  Must be of such unnatural degree

  That monsters it,deg or your fore-voucheddeg affection

  Fall into taint;deg which to believe of her

  Must be a faith that reason without miracle

  Should never plant in me.deg

  Cordelia. I yet beseech your Majesty, If fordeg I want that glib and oily art

  To speak and purpose not,deg since what I well intend

  I'll do't before I speak, that you make known

  It is no vicious blot, murder, or foulness,

  No unchaste action or dishonored step,

  That hath deprived me of your grace and favor;

  But even for want of that for which I am richer,

  A still-solicitingdeg eye, and such a tongue

  That I am glad I have not, though not to have it

  Hath lostdeg me in your liking.

  Lear. Better thou Hadst not been born than not t' have pleased me better.

  France. Is it but this? A tardiness in naturedeg Which often leaves the history unspokedeg

  That it intends to do. My Lord of Burgundy,

  What say youdeg to the lady? Love's not love

  When it is mingled with regardsdeg that stands

  Aloof from th' entire point.deg Will you have her?

  She is herself a dowry.

  Burgundy. Royal King, Give but that portion which yourself proposed,

  And here I take Cordelia by the hand,

  Duchess of Burgundy.

  222 That monsters it as makes it monstrous, unnatural

  222 fore-vouched previously sworn

  223 Fall into taint must be taken as having been unjustified all along i.e., Cordelia was unworthy of your love from the first

  224-25 reason... me my reason would have to be supported by a miracle to make me believe

  226 for because

  227 purpose not not mean to do what I promise

  233 still-soliciting always begging

  235 lost ruined

  237 tordiness in nature natural reticence

  238 leaves the history unspoke does not announce the action

  240 What say you i.e., will you have 2

  41 regards considerations (the dowry)

  241-42 stands ... point have nothing to do with the essential question (love)

  Lear. Nothing. I have sworn. I am firm.

  Burgundy. I am sorry then you have so lost a father That you must lose a husband.

  Cordelia. Peace be with Burgundy Since that respects of fortunedeg are his love,

  I shall not be his wife.

  France. Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich being poor, Most choice forsaken, and most loved despised,

  Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon.

  Be it lawful I take up what's cast away.

  Gods, gods! 'Tis strange that from their cold'st

  neglect

  My love should kindle to inflamed respect.deg

  Thy dow'rless daughter, King, thrown to my

  chance,deg

  Is Queen of us, of ours, and our fair France.

  Not all the dukes of wat'rishdeg Burgundy

  Can buy this unprized preciousdeg maid of me.

  Bid them farewell, Cordelia, though unkind.

  Thou losest here, a better wheredeg to find.

  Lear. Thou hast her, France; let her be thine, for we Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see

  That face of hers again. Therefore be gone,

  Without our grace, our love, our benison.deg

  Come, noble Burgundy.

  Flourish. Exeunt [Lear, Burgundy, Cornwall,

  Albany, Gloucester, and Attendants].

  France. Bid farewell to your sisters.

  Cordelia. The jewels of our father,deg with washeddeg eyes Cordelia leaves you. I know you what you are, 250 respects of fortune mercenary considerations

  257 inflamed respect more ardent affection

 
258 chance lot

  260 wat'rish (1) with many rivers (2) weak, diluted

  261 unprized precious unappreciated by others, and yet precious

  263 here ... where in this place, in another place

  267 benison blessing

  270 The jewels of our father you creatures prized by our father

  270 washed (1) weeping (2) clear-sighted

  And, like a sister,deg am most loath to call

  Your faults as they are named.deg Love well our

  father.

  To your professeddeg bosoms I commit him.

  But yet, alas, stood I within his grace,

  I would preferdeg him to a better place.

  So farewell to you both.

  Regan. Prescribe not us our duty.

  Goneril. Let your study Be to content your lord, who hath received you

  At Fortune's alms.deg You have obedience scanted,deg

  And well are worth the want that you have wanted.deg

  Cordelia. Time shall unfold what plighteddeg cunning hides, Who covers faults, at last shame them derides.deg

  Well may you prosper.

  France. Come, my fair Cordelia. Exit France and Cordelia.

  Goneril. Sister, it is not little I have to say of what most nearly appertains to us both. I think our father will hence tonight.

  Regan. That's most certain, and with you; next month with us.

  Goneril. You see how full of changes his age is. The observation we have made of it hath not been little. He always loved our sister most, and with what poor judgment he hath now cast her off appears too grossly.deg

  Regan. 'Tis the infirmity of his age; yet he hath ever but slenderly known himself.

  272 like a sister because I am a sister i.e., loyal, affectionate

  273 as they are named ie., by their right and ugly names

  274 professed pretending to love

  276 prefer recommend

  280 At Fortune's alms as a charitable bequest from Fortune (and so, by extension, as one beggared or cast down by Fortune)

  280 scanted stinted

  281 worth... wanted deserve to be denied, even as you have denied

  282 plighted pleated. enfolded

  283 Who ... derides those who hide their evil are finally exposed and shamed ("He that hideth his sins, shall not prosper")

  294 grossly obviously

  Goneril. The best and soundest of his timedeg hath been but rash; then must we look from his age to receive not alone the imperfections of long-ingrafteddeg condition,deg but therewithaldeg the unruly waywardness that infirm and choleric years bring with them.

  Regan. Such unconstant startsdeg are we like to have from him as this of Kent's banishment.

  Goneril. There is further complimentdeg of leave-taking between France and him. Pray you, let's hitdeg together ; if our father carry authority with such disposition as he bears,deg this last surrenderdeg of his will but offenddeg us.

  Regan. We shall further think of it.

  Goneril. We must do something, and i' th' heat.deg

  Exeunt.

  Scene 2. [The Earl of Gloucester's castle.]

  Enter Edmund [with a letter].

  Edmund. Thou, Nature,deg art my goddess; to thy law My services are bound. Wherefore should I

  Stand in the plague of custom,deg and permit

  The curiositydeg of nations to deprive me,

  For thatdeg I am some twelve or fourteen

  moonshinesdeg 297 of his time period of his life up to now

  299-300 long-ingrafted implanted for a long time

  300 condition disposition

  300 therewithal with them

  303 unconstant starts impulsive whims

  305 compliment formal courtesy

  306 hit agree

  307-8 carry ... bears continues, and in such frame of mind, to wield the sovereign power

  308 last surrender recent abdication 309 offend vex

  311 i' th' heat while the iron is hot

  1.2.1 Nature (Edmund's conception of Nature accords with our description of a bastard as a natural child)

  3 Stand... custom respect hateful convention

  4 curiosity nice distinctions

  5 For that because

  5 moonshines months

  Lag ofdeg a brother? Why bastard? Wherefore base?

  When my dimensions are as well compact,deg

  My mind as generous,deg and my shape as true,

  As honestdeg madam's issue? Why brand they us

  With base? With baseness? Bastardy? Base? Base?

  Who, in the lusty stealth of nature, take

  More compositiondeg and fiercedeg quality

  Than doth, within a dull, stale, tired bed,

  Go to th' creating a whole tribe of fopsdeg

  Gotdeg 'tween asleep and wake? Well then,

  Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land.

  Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund

  As to th' legitimate. Fine word, "legitimate."

  Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed,deg

  And my inventiondeg thrive, Edmund the base

  Shall top th' legitimate. I grow, I prosper.

  Now, gods, stand up for bastards.

  Enter Gloucester.

  Gloucester. Kent banished thus? and France in choler parted? And the King gone tonight? prescribeddeg his pow'r?

  Confined to exhibition?deg All this done

  Upon the gad?deg Edmund, how now? What news?

  Edmund. So please your lordship, none.

  Gloucester. Why so earnestly seek you to put updeg that letter?

  Edmund. I know no news, my lord.

  Gloucester. What paper were you reading?

  Edmund. Nothing, my lord.

  Gloucester. No? What needed then that terrible dispatchdeg of it into your pocket? The quality of noth- 6 Lag of short of being (in age)

  7 compact framed

  8 penerons gallant

  9 honest chaste

  12 composition completeness

  12 fierce energetic

  14 fops fools

  15 Got begot

  19 speed prosper

  20 invention plan

  24 prescribed limited

  25 exhibition an allowance or pension

  26 Upon the gad on the spur of the moment (as if pricked by a gad or goad)

  28 put up put away, conceal 33-34 terrible dispatch hasty putting away

  ing hath not such need to hide itself. Let's see. Come, if it be nothing, I shall not need spectacles.

  Edmund. I beseech you, sir, pardon me. It is a letter from my brother that I have not all o'er-read; and for so much as I have perused, I find it not fit for your o'erlooking.deg

  Gloucester. Give me the letter, sir.

  Edmund. I shall offend, either to detain or give it. The contents, as in part I understand them, are to blame.deg

  Gloucester. Let's see, let's see.

  Edmund I hope, for my brother's justification, he wrote this but as an essay or tastedeg of my virtue.

  Gloucester. (Reads) "This policy and reverencedeg of age makes the world bitter to the best of our times;deg keeps our fortunes from us till our oldness cannot relishdeg them. I begin to find an idle and fonddeg bondage in the oppression of aged tyranny, who sways, not as it hath power, but as it is suffered. deg Come to me, that of this I may speak more. If our father would sleep till I waked him, you should enjoy half his revenuedeg for ever, and live the beloved of your brother, EDGAR." Hum! Conspiracy? "Sleep till I waked him, you should enjoy half his revenue." My son Edgar! Had he a hand to write this? A heart and brain to breed it in? When came you to this? Who brought it?

  Edmund. It was not brought me, my lord; there's the cunning of it. I found it thrown in at the casement of my closet.deg

  40 o'erlooking inspection

  44 to blame blameworthy

  47 essay or taste test

  48 policy and reverence policy of reverencing (hendiadys)

  49-50 best of
our times best years of our lives (i.e., our youth)

  51 relish enjoy

  51-52 idle and fond foolish

  53-54 who ... suffered which rules, not from its own strength, but from our allowance

  56 revenue income

  64-65 casement of my closet window of my room

  Gloucester. You know the characterdeg to be your brother's?

  Edmund If the matter were good, my lord, I durst swear it were his; but in respect of that,deg I would faindeg think it were not.

  Gloucester. It is his.

  Edmund. It is his hand, my lord; but I hope his heart is not in the contents.

  Gloucester. Has he never before soundeddeg you in this business?

  Edmund Never, my lord. But I have heard him oft maintain it to be fit that, sons at perfectdeg age, and fathers declined, the father should be as ward to the son, and the son manage his revenue.

  Gloucester. O villain, villain! His very opinion in the letter. Abhorred villain, unnatural, detested,deg brutish villain; worse than brutish! Go, siffah,deg seek him. I'll apprehend him. Abominable villain! Where is he?

  Edmund. I do not well know, my lord. If it shall please you to suspend your indignation against my brother till you can derive from him better testimony of his intent, you should run a certain course;deg where, if you violently proceed against him, mistaking his purpose, it would make a great gapdeg in your own honor and shake in pieces the heart of his obedience. I dare pawn downdeg my life for him that he hath writ this to feeldeg my affection to your honor, and to no other pretense of danger.deg

  Gloucester. Think you so?

  66 character handwriting

  69 in respect of that in view of what it is

  70 fain prefer to

  74 sounded sounded you out

  71 perfect mature

  81 detested detestable

  82 sirrah sir (familiar form of address)

  88-89 run a certain course i.e., proceed safely, know where you are going

  91 gap breach

  92 pawn down stake

  93 feel test

  94-95 pretense of danger dangerous purpose

  Edmund. If your honor judge it meet,deg I will place you where you shall hear us confer of this, and by an auricular assurancedeg have your satisfaction, and that without any further delay than this very evening.

  Gloucester. He cannot be such a monster.