Cornwall. Cunning.
Regan. And false.
Cornwall. Where hast thou sent the King?
Gloucester. To Dover.
Regan. Wherefore to Dover? Wast thou not charged at peril°—
Cornwall. Wherefore to Dover? Let him answer that.35 s.d. plucks his beard (a deadly insult) 38 Naughty wicked
40 quicken come to life
41 hospitable favors face of your host
42 ruffle tear at violently
43 late recently
44 simple-answered straightforward in answering
48 guessingly without certain knowledge
53 charged at peril ordered under penalty
Gloucester. I am tied to th’ stake, and I must stand the course. °
Regan. Wherefore to Dover?
Gloucester. Because I would not see thy cruel nailsPluck out his poor old eyes; nor thy fierce sister
In his anointed° flesh rash° boarish fangs.
The sea, with such a storm as his bare head
In hell-black night endured, would have buoyed° up
And quenched the stellèd° fires.
Yet, poor old heart, he holp° the heavens to rain.
If wolves had at thy gate howled that dearn° time,
Thou shouldst have said, “Good porter, turn the
key.”°
All cruels else subscribe.° But I shall see
The wingèd° vengeance overtake such children.
Cornwall. See’t shalt thou never. Fellows, hold the chair.Upon these eyes of thine I’ll set my foot.
Gloucester. He that will think° to live till he be old,Give me some help.—O cruel! O you gods!
Regan. One side will mock° another. Th’ other too.
Cornwall. If you see vengeance—
First Servant. Hold your hand, my lord!I have served you ever since I was a child;
But better service have I never done you
Than now to bid you hold.
Regan. How now, you dog?
First Servant. If you did wear a beard upon your chin,55 course coursing (in which a relay of dogs baits a bull or bear tied in the pit)
59 anointed holy (because king)
59 rash strike with the tusk, like a boar
61 buoyed risen
62 stellèd (1) fixed (as opposed to the planets or wandering stars) (2) starry
63 holp helped
64 dearn dread
65 turn the key i.e., unlock the gate
66 All cruels else subscribe all cruel creatures but man are compassionate
67 wingèd (1) heavenly (2) swift
70 will think expects
72 mock make ridiculous (because of the contrast)
I’d shake it° on this quarrel. What do you mean!°
Cornwall. My villain!°
Draw and fight.
First Servant. Nay, then, come on, and take the chance of anger.
Regan. Give me thy sword. A peasant stand up thus?She takes a sword and runs at him behind, kills him.
First Servant. O, I am slain! my lord, you have one eye leftTo see some mischief° on him. O!
Cornwall. Lest it see more, prevent it. Out, vile jelly. Where is thy luster now?
Gloucester. All dark and comfortless. Where’s my son Edmund?Edmund, enkindle all the sparks of nature°
To quit° this horrid act.
Regan. Out, treacherous villain,Thou call‘st on him that hates thee. It was he
That made the overture° of thy treasons to us;
Who is too good to pity thee.
Gloucester. O my follies! Then Edgar was abused.°Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him.
Regan. Go thrust him out at gates, and let him smellHis way to Dover. Exit [one] with Gloucester.
How is‘t, my lord? How look you?°
Cornwall. I have received a hurt. Follow me, lady.Turn out that eyeless villain. Throw this slave
Upon the dunghill. Regan, I bleed apace.78 shake it (an insult comparable to Regan’s plucking of Gloucester’s beard)
78 What ... mean i.e., what terrible thing arc you doing
79 villain serf (with a suggestion of the modem meaning)
83 mischief injury
87 enkindle ... nature fan your natural feeling into flame
88 quit requite
90 overture disclosure
92 abused wronged.
95 How look you how are you
Untimely comes this hurt. Give me your arm.
Exeunt.
Second Servant. I’ll never care what wickedness I do, If this man come to good.
Third Servant. If she live long,And in the end meet the old course of death,° Women will all turn monsters.
Second Servant. Let’s follow the old Earl, and get the BedlamTo lead him where he would. His roguish madness Allows itself to anything.°
Third Servant. Go thou. I’ll fetch some flax and whites of eggsTo apply to his bleeding face. Now heaven help him. [Exeunt severally.]
102 meet ... death die the customary death of old age
105-6 His ... anything his lack of all self-control leaves him open to any suggestion
ACT 4
Scene 1. [The heath.]
Enter Edgar.
Edgar. Yet better thus, and known to be contemned,°Than still contemned and flattered. To be worst,
The lowest and most dejected° thing of fortune,
Stands still in esperance,° lives not in fear:
The lamentable change is from the best,
The worst returns to laughter.° Welcome then,
Thou unsubstantial air that I embrace!
The wretch that thou hast blown unto the worst
Owes° nothing to thy blasts.
Enter Gloucester, led by an Old Man.
But who comes here?
My father, poorly led?° World, world, O world!
But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee,
Life would not yield to age.°
Old Man. O, my good lord, I have been your tenant, and your father’s tenant, these fourscore years.
Gloucester. Away, get thee away; good friend, be gone:4.1.1 known to be contemned conscious of being despised
3 dejected abased
4 esperance hope
6 returns to laughter changes for the better
9 Owes is in debt for
10 poorly led (1) led like a poor man, with only one attendant (2) led by a poor man
11-12 But ... age we should not agree to grow old and hence die, except for the hateful mutability of life
Thy comforts° can do me no good at all;
Thee they may hurt.°
Old Man. You cannot see your way.
Gloucester. I have no way and therefore want° no eyes;I stumbled when I saw. Full oft ‘tis seen,
Our means secure us, and our mere defects
Prove our commodities.° Oh, dear son Edgar,
The food° of thy abusèd° father’s wrath!
Might I but live to see thee in° my touch,
I’d say I had eyes again!
Old Man. How now! Who’s there?
Edgar. [Aside] O Gods! Who is ’t can say “I am at the worst”?I am worse than e‘er I was.
Old Man. ‘Tis poor mad Tom.
Edgar. [Aside] And worse I may be yet: the worst is notSo long as we can say “This is the worst.”°
Old Man. Fellow, where goest?
Gloucester. Is it a beggar-man?
Old Man. Madman and beggar too.
Gloucester. He has some reason,° else he could not beg.I’ th’ last night’s storm I such a fellow saw,
Which made me think a man a worm. My son
Came then into my mind, and yet my mind
Was then scarce friends with him. I have heard
more since.
As flies to wanton° boys, are we to th’ gods,16 comforts ministrations
17 hurt injure
18 want require
20-21 Our ... commodities our resou
rces make us overconfident, while our afflictions make for our advantage
22 food i.e., the object on which Gloucester’s anger fed
22 abusèd deceived
23 in i.e., with, by means of
27-28 the ... worst so long as a man continues to suffer (i.e., is still alive), even greater suffering may await him
31 reason faculty of reasoning
36 wanton (1) playful (2) reckless
They kill us for their sport.
Edgar. [Aside] How should this be?°Bad is the trade that must play fool to sorrow,
Ang‘ring° itself and others. Bless thee, master!
Gloucester. Is that the naked fellow?
Old Man. Ay, my lord.
Gloucester. Then, prithee, get thee gone: if for my sakeThou wilt o‘ertake us hence a mile or twain
I’ th’ way toward Dover, do it for ancient° love,
And bring some covering for this naked soul,
Which I’ll entreat to lead me.
Old Man. Alack, sir, he is mad.
Gloucester. ‘Tis the times’ plague,° when madmen lead the blind.Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure;°
Above the rest,° be gone.
Old Man. I’ll bring him the best ‘parel° that I have, Come on ’t what will. Exit.
Gloucester. Sirrah, naked fellow—
Edgar. Poor Tom’s a-cold. [Aside] I cannot daub it° further.
Gloucester. Come hither, fellow.
Edgar. [Aside] And yet I must.—Bless thy sweet eyes, they bleed.
Gloucester. Know‘st thou the way to Dover?
Edgar. Both stile and gate, horse-way and footpath.Poor Tom hath been scared out of his good wits.
Bless thee, good man’s son, from the foul fiend!
Five fiends have been in Poor Tom at once; of lust,37 How should this be i.e., how can this horror be?
39 Ang‘ring offending
43 ancient (1) the love the Old Man feels, by virtue of his long tenancy (2) the love that formerly obtained between master and man
46 times’ plague characteristic disorder of this time
47 thy pleasure as you like
48 the rest all
49 ‘parel apparel
52-53 daub it lay it on (figure from plastering mortar)
as Obidicut;° Hobbididence, prince of dumb
ness;° Mahu, of stealing; Modo, of murder; Flib
bertigibbet, of mopping and mowing;° who since
possesses chambermaids and waiting-women. So,
bless thee, master!
Gloucester. Here, take this purse, thou whom the heavens’ plaguesHave humbled to all strokes:° that I am wretched
Makes thee the happier. Heavens, deal so still!
Let the superfluous° and lust-dieted° man,
That slaves° your ordinance,° that will not see
Because he does not feel, feel your pow‘r quickly;
So distribution should undo excess,°
And each man have enough. Dost thou know
Dover?
Edgar. Ay, master.
Gloucester. There is a cliff whose high and bending° headLooks fearfully° in the confinèd deep:°
Bring me but to the very brim of it,
And I’ll repair the misery thou dost bear
With something rich about me: from that place
I shall no leading need.
Edgar. Give me thy arm: Poor Tom shall lead thee. Exeunt.
61 Obidicut Hoberdicut, a devil (like the four that follow, from Harsnett’s Declaration)
61-62 dumbness muteness (like the crimes and afflictions in the next lines, the result of diabolic possession)
63 mopping and mowing grimacing and making faces
67 humbled to all strokes brought so low as to bear anything humbly
69 superfluous possessed of super- fluities
69 lust-dieted whose lust is gratified (like Gloucester’s)
70 slaves (1) tramples, spurns like a slave (2) ? tears, rends (Old English slaefan)
70 ordinance law
72 So ... excess then the man with too much wealth would distribute it among those with too little
75 bending overhanging
76 fearfully occasioning fear
76 confinèd deep the sea, hemmed in below
Scene 2. [Before the Duke of Albany’s palace. ]
Enter Goneril and Edmund.
Goneril. Welcome, my lord: I marvel our mild husband
Not met° us on the way.
Enter Oswald.
Now, where’s your master? Oswald. Madam, within; but never man so changed.I told him of the army that was landed:
He smiled at it. I told him you were coming;
His answer was, “The worse.” Of Gloucester’s
treachery,
And of the loyal service of his son
When I informed him, then he called me sot,°
And told me I had turned the wrong side out:
What most he should dislike seems pleasant to him;
What like,° offensive.
Goneril. [To Edmund] Then shall you go no further.It is the cowish° terror of his spirit,
That dares not undertake:° he’ll not feel wrongs,
Which tie him to an answer.° Our wishes on the
way
May prove effects.° Back, Edmund, to my brother;
Hasten his musters° and conduct his pow‘rs.°4.2.2 Not met did not meet
8 sot fool
11 What like what he should like
12 cowish cowardly
13 undertake venture
14 tie him to an answer oblige him to retaliate
14-15 Our ... effects our desires (that you might be my husband), as we journeyed here, may be fulfilled
16 musters collecting of troops
16 conduct his pow‘rs lead his army
I must change names° at home and give the
distaff°
Into my husband’s hands. This trusty servant
Shall pass between us: ere long you are like to hear,
If you dare venture in your own behalf,
A mistress’s° command. Wear this; spare speech;
[Giving a favor]
Decline your head.° This kiss, if it durst speak,
Would stretch thy spirits up into the air:
Conceive,° and fare thee well.
Edmund. Yours in the ranks of death.
Goneril. My most dear Gloucester! Exit [Edmund].O, the difference of man and man!
To thee a woman’s services are due:
My fool usurps my body.°
Oswald. Madam, here comes my lord. Exit.
Enter Albany.
Goneril. I have been worth the whistle.°
Albany. O Goneril!You are not worth the dust which the rude wind
Blows in your face. I fear your disposition:°
That nature which contemns° its origin
Cannot be bordered certain in itself;°
She that herself will sliver and disbranch°17 change names i.e., exchange the name of “mistress” for that of “master”
17 distaff spinning stick (wifely symbol)
21 mistress’s lover’s (and also, Albany having been disposed of, lady’s or wife’s)
22 Decline your head i.e., that Goneril may kiss him
24 Conceive understand (with a sexual implication, that includes “stretch thy spirits,” 1. 23; and “death,” 1. 25: “to die,” meaning “to experience sexual intercourse”)
28 My fool usurps my body my husband wrongfully enjoys me
29 I ... whistle i.e., once you valued me (the proverb is implied, “It is a poor dog that is not worth the whistling”)
31 disposition nature
32 contemns espises
33 bordered ... itself kept within its normal bounds
34 sliver and disbranch cut off
From her material sap,° perforce must wither
And come to deadly use.°
Goneril. No
more; the text° is foolish.
Albany. Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile:Filths savor but themselves.° What have you done?
Tigers, not daughters, what have you performed?
A father, and a gracious agèd man,
Whose reverence even the head-lugged bear°
would lick,
Most barbarous, most degenerate, have you
madded.°
Could my good brother suffer you to do it?
A man, a prince, by him so benefited!
If that the heavens do not their visible spirits°
Send quickly down to tame these vile offenses,
It will come,
Humanity must perforce prey on itself,
Like monsters of the deep.
Goneril. Milk-livered° man!That bear‘st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs;
Who hast not in thy brows an eye discerning
Thine honor from thy suffering;° that not know’st
Fools do those villains pity who are punished
Ere they have done their mischief.° Where’s thy
drum?
France spreads his banners in our noiseless°
land,
With plumèd helm° thy state begins to threat,°35 material sap essential and life-giving sustenance
King Lear Page 18
