King Lear
Page 22
And machination° ceases. Fortune love you.
Albany. Stay till I have read the letter.
Edgar. I was forbid it.When time shall serve, let but the herald cry, And I’ll appear again.
Albany. Why, fare thee well: I will o‘erlook° thy paper. Exit [Edgar].
Enter Edmund.
Edmund. The enemy’s in view: draw up your powers.Here is the guess° of their true strength and
forces
By diligent discovery;° but your haste34 us me (rather than Edmund)
36 convenient fitting, desirable
37 riddle real reason (for Regan’s curious request)
41-42 sound/For summon
43 prove i.e., by trial of combat
44 avouchèd maintained
45 of in
46 machination plotting
50 o‘erlook read over
52 guess estimate
53 By diligent discovery obtained by careful reconnoitering
Is now urged on you.
Albany. We will greet° the time. Exit.
Edmund. To both these sisters have I sworn my love;Each jealous° of the other, as the stung
Are of the adder. Which of them shall I take?
Both? One? Or neither? Neither can be enjoyed,
If both remain alive: to take the widow
Exasperates, makes mad her sister Goneril;
And hardly° shall I carry out my side,°
Her husband being alive. Now then, we’ll use
His countenance° for the battle; which being done,
Let her who would be rid of him devise
His speedy taking off. As for the mercy
Which he intends to Lear and to Cordelia,
The battle done, and they within our power,
Shall never see his pardon; for my state
Stands on me to defend, not to debate.° Exit.
Scene 2. [A field between the two camps.]
Alarum° within. Enter, with drum and colors, Lear, Cordelia, and Soldiers, over the stage; and exeunt.
Enter Edgar and Gloucester.
Edgar. Here, father,° take the shadow of this treeFor your good host; pray that the right may thrive.
If ever I return to you again,
I’ll bring you comfort.
Gloucester. Grace go with you, sir. Exit [Edgar]. 54 greet i.e., meet the demands of
56 jealous suspicious
61 hardly with difficulty
61 carry ... side (1) satisfy my ambition (2) fulfill my bargain (with Goneril)
63 countenance authority
68-69 for ... debate my position requires me to act, not to reason about right and wrong 5.2. s.d. Alarum a trumpet call to battle I father i.e., venerable old man (Edgar has not yet revealed his identity)
Alarum and retreat° within. [Re-]enter Edgar.
Edgar. Away, old man; give me thy hand; away!King Lear hath lost, he and his daughter ta‘en:° Give me thy hand; come on.
Gloucester. No further, sir; a man may rot even here.
Edgar. What, in ill thoughts again? Men must endureTheir going hence, even as their coming hither:
Ripeness° is all. Come on.
Gloucester. And that’s true too.
Exeunt.
Scene 3. [The British camp near Dover.]
Enter, in conquest, with drum and colors, Edmund; Lear and Cordelia, as prisoners; Soldiers, Captain.
Edmund. Some officers take them away: good guard,°Until their greater pleasures° first be known That are to censure° them.
Cordelia. We are not the firstWho with best meaning° have incurred the worst.
For thee, oppressèd King, I am cast down;
Myself could else out-frown false fortune’s frown.
Shall we not see these daughters and these sisters?
Lear. No, no, no, no! Come, let’s away to prison:We two alone will sing like birds i’ th’ cage:
When thou dost ask me blessing, I’ll kneel down
And ask of thee forgiveness: so we’ll live,
And pray, and sing, and tell old tales, and laugh4 s.d. retreat (signaled by a trumpet)
6 ta‘en captured
11 Ripeness maturity, as of fruit that is ready to fall
5.3.1 good guard let there be good guard
2 their greater pleasures the will of those in command, the great ones
3 censure pass judgment on
4 meaning intentions
At gilded butterflies,° and hear poor rogues
Talk of court news; and we’ll talk with them too,
Who loses and who wins, who’s in, who’s out;
And take upon’s the mystery of things,
As if we were God’s spies:° and we’ll wear out,°
In a walled prison, packs and sects of great ones
That ebb and flow by th’ moon.°
Edmund. Take them away.
Lear. Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia,The gods themselves throw incense.° Have I caught
thee?
He that parts us shall bring a brand from heaven,
And fire us hence like foxes.° Wipe thine eyes;
The good years° shall devour them,° flesh and fell,°
Ere they shall make us weep. We’ll see ‘em starved
first.
Come. [Exeunt Lear and Cordelia, guarded.]
Edmund. Come hither, captain; hark.Take thou this note: go follow them to prison:
One step I have advanced thee; if thou dost
As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way
To noble fortunes: know thou this, that men
Are as the time is:° to be tender-minded
Does not become a sword:° thy great employment
Will not bear question;° either say thou‘lt do ’t,
Or thrive by other means.
Captain. I’ll do ‘t, my lord.
13 gilded butterflies i.e., gorgeously attired courtiers, fluttering after nothing
16-17 take ... spies profess to read the riddle of existence, as if endowed with divine omniscience
17 wear out outlast
18-19 packs ... moon intriguing and partisan cliques of those in high station, whose fortunes change every month
20-21 Upon... incense i.e., the gods approve our renunciation of the world
22-23 He... foxes no human agency can separate us, but only divine interposition, as of a heavenly torch parting us like foxes who arc driven from their place of refuge by fire and smoke
24 good years plague and pestilence (“undefined malefic power or agency,”. N.E.D.)
24 them i.e., the enemies of Lear and Cordelia
24 fell skin 32 as the time is i.e., absolutely determined by the exigencies of the moment
33 become a sword befit a soldier
34 bear question admit of discussion
Edmund. About it; and write happy° when th’ hast done.Mark; I say, instantly, and carry it so° As I have set it down.
Captain. I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dried oats;If it be man’s work, I’ll do ’t. Exit Captain.
Flourish. Enter Albany, Goneril, Regan [another
Captain, and] Soldiers.
Albany. Sir, you have showed today your valiant strain,°And fortune led you well: you have the captives
Who were the opposites of° this day’s strife:
I do require them of you, so to use them
As we shall find their merits° and our safety
May equally determine.
Edmund. Sir, I thought it fitTo send the old and miserable King
To some retention and appointed guard;°
Whose° age had charms in it, whose title more,
To pluck the common bosom on his side,°
And turn our impressed lances in our eyes°
Which do command them. With him I sent the
Queen:
My reason all the same; and they are ready
Tomorrow, or at further space,° t’ appear
Where you shall hold
your session.° At this time
We sweat and bleed: the friend hath lost his friend;
And the best quarrels, in the heat, are cursed
By those that feel their sharpness.°
The question of Cordelia and her father36 write happy style yourself fortunate
37 carry it so manage the affair in exactly that manner (as if Cordelia had taken her own life)
41 strain (1) stock (2) character
43 opposites of opponents in
45 merits deserts 48 retention ... guard confinement under duly appointed guard 49 Whose i.e., Lear’s
50 pluck ... side win the sympathy of the people to himself
51 turn... eyes turn our conscripted lancers against us
54 further space a later time
55 session trial
57-58 the ... sharpness the worthiest causes may be judged badly by those who have been affected painfully by them, and whose passion has not yet cooled
Requires a fitter place.
Albany. Sir, by your patience,I hold you but a subject of° this war, Not as a brother.
Regan. That’s as we list to grace° him.Methinks our pleasure might have been demanded,
Ere you had spoke so far. He led our powers,
Bore the commission of my place and person;
The which immediacy may well stand up
And call itself your brother.°
Goneril. Not so hot:In his own grace he doth exalt himself More than in your addition.°
Regan. In my rights,By me invested, he compeers° the best.
Goneril. That were the most,° if he should husband you.°
Regan. Jesters do oft prove prophets.
Goneril. Holla, holla!That eye that told you so looked but a-squint.°
Regan. Lady, I am not well; else I should answerFrom a full-flowing stomach.° General,
Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony;°
Dispose of them, of me; the walls is thine:°
Witness the world, that I create thee here
My lord, and master.
Goneril. Mean you to enjoy him?
Albany. The let-alone° lies not in your good will.
61 subject of subordinate in
62 list to grace wish to honor
65-67 Bore ... brother was authorized, as my deputy, to take command; his present status, as my immediate representative, entitles him to be considered your equal
69 your addition honors you have bestowed on him
70 compeers equals
71 most most complete investing in your rights
71 husband you become your husband
73 a-squint cross-eyed
75 From ... stomach angrily
76 patrimony inheritance
77 walls is thine i.e., Regan’s person, which Edmund has stormed and won
80 let-alone power to prevent
Edmund. Nor in thine, lord.
Albany. Half-blooded° fellow, yes.
Regan. [To Edmund] Let the drum strike, and prove my title thine.°
Albany. Stay yet; hear reason. Edmund, I arrest theeOn capital treason; and in thy attaint°
This gilded serpent [pointing to Coneril]. For
your claim, fair sister,
I bar it in the interest of my wife.
‘Tis she is subcontracted° to this lord,
And I, her husband, contradict your banes.°
If you will marry, make your loves° to me;
My Lady is bespoke.°
Goneril. An interlude!°
Albany. Thou art armed, Gloucester: let the trumpet sound:If none appear to prove upon thy person
Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons,
There is my pledge° [throwing down a glove]:
I’ll make° it on thy heart,
Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing less
Than I have here proclaimed thee.
Regan. Sick, O, sick! Goneril. [Aside] If not, I’ll ne‘er trust medicine.°
Edmund. [Throwing down a glove] There’s my exchange:° what in the world he isThat names me traitor, villain-like he lies:°
Call by the trumpet:° he that dares approach,81 Half blooded bastard, and so only half noble
82 prove ... thine prove by combat your entitlement to my rights
84 in thy attaint as a sharer in the treason for which you are impeached
87 subcontracted pledged by a contract which is called into question by the existence of a previous contract (Goneril’s marriage)
88 contradict your banes forbid your announced intention to marry (by citing the precontract)
89 loves love-suits
90 bespoke already pledged
90 interlude play
94 pledge gage
94 make prove
97 medicine poison
98 exchange (technical term, denoting the glove Edmund throws down)
99 villain-like he lies (the lie direct, a challenge to mortal combat)
100 trumpet trumpeter
On him, on you—who not?—I will maintain
My truth and honor firmly.
Albany. A herald, ho!
Edmund. A herald, ho, a herald!
Albany. Trust to thy single virtue;° for thy soldiers,All levied in my name, have in my name
Took their discharge.
Regan. My sickness grows upon me.
Albany. She is not well; convey her to my tent.
[Exit Regan, led.]
Enter a Herald.
Come hither, herald. Let the trumpet sound—And read out this.
Captain. Sound, trumpet!
A trumpet sounds.
Herald. (Reads.) “If any man of quality or degree° within the lists° of the army will maintain upon Edmund, supposed Earl of Gloucester, that he is a manifold traitor, let him appear by the third sound of the trumpet: he is bold in his defense.”
Edmund. Sound!First trumpet.
Herald. Again!Second trumpet.
Herald. Again!Third trumpet.
Trumpet answers within. Enter Edgar, at the third sound, armed, a trumpet before him.°
Albany. Ask him his purposes, why he appearsUpon this call o’ th’ trumpet.
Herald. What are you?104 single virtue unaided valor
III quality or degree rank or position
112 lists rolls
118 s.d. trumpet before him trumpeter preceding him
Your name, your quality,° and why you answer This present summons?
Edgar. Know, my name is lost;By treason’s tooth bare-gnawn and canker-bit:°
Yet am I noble as the adversary
I come to cope.°
Albany. Which is that adversary?
Edgar. What’s he that speaks for Edmund, Earl of Gloucester?
Edmund. Himself: what say‘st thou to him?
Edgar. Draw thy sword,That if my speech offend a noble heart,
Thy arm may do thee justice: here is mine.
Behold it is my privilege,
The privilege of mine honors,
My oath, and my profession.° I protest,
Maugre° thy strength, place, youth, and eminence,
Despite thy victor sword and fire-new° fortune,
Thy valor and thy heart,° thou art a traitor,
False to thy gods, thy brother, and thy father,
Conspirant° ‘gainst this high illustrious prince,
And from th’ extremest upward° of thy head
To the descent and dust below thy foot,°
A most toad-spotted traitor.° Say thou “No,”
This sword, this arm and my best spirits are bent°
To prove upon thy heart, whereto I speak,°
Thou liest.
Edmund. In wisdom° I should ask thy name,But since thy outside looks so fair and warlike,121 quality rank
123 canker-bit eaten by the caterpillar
125 cope encounter
130-32 it ... profession my knighthood entitles me to challenge you, and to have my challenge accepte
d
133 Maugre despite 134 fire-new fresh from the forge or mint
135 heart courage
137 Conspirant conspiring, a conspirator
138 extremest upward the very top
139 the ... foot your lowest part (sole) and the dust beneath it
140 toad-spotted traitor spotted with treason (and hence venomous, as the toad is allegedly marked with spots that exude venom)
141 bent directed
142 whereto I speak (Edgar speaks from the heart, and speaks to the heart of Edmund)
143 wisdom prudence (since he is not obliged to fight with one of lesser rank)
And that thy tongue some say° of breeding
breathes,
What safe and nicely° I might well delay°
By rule of knighthood, I disdain and spurn:
Back do I toss these treasons° to thy head;
With the hell-hated° lie o‘erwhelm thy heart;
Which for they yet glance by and scarcely bruise,
This sword of mine shall give them instant way,
Where they shall rest for ever.° Trumpets, speak!
Alarums. [They] fight. [Edmund falls.]
Albany. Save° him, save him!
Goneril. This is practice,° Gloucester:By th’ law of war thou wast not bound to answer