King Lear

CORNWALL    This is a fellow of the self-same colour¹³⁵

Our sister speaks of. Come, bring away¹³⁶ the stocks!

GLOUCESTER    Let me beseech your grace not to do so:

The king his master needs must take it ill

That he so slightly valued in his messenger,

Should have him thus restrained.

CORNWALL    I’ll answer¹⁴¹ that.

REGAN    My sister may receive it much more worse

To have her gentleman abused, assaulted.

Kent put in the stocks

CORNWALL    Come, my lord, away.

Exeunt. [Gloucester and Kent remain]

GLOUCESTER    I am sorry for thee, friend: ’tis the duke’s pleasure¹⁴⁵,

Whose disposition all the world well knows

Will not be rubbed¹⁴⁷ nor stopped. I’ll entreat for thee.

KENT    Pray do not, sir. I have watched¹⁴⁸ and travelled hard:

Some time I shall sleep out, the rest I’ll whistle.

A good man’s fortune may grow out at heels¹⁵⁰.

Give you good morrow¹⁵¹.

GLOUCESTER    The duke’s to blame in this: ’twill be ill taken.

Exit

KENT    Good king, that must approve the common saw¹⁵³,

Thou out of heaven’s benediction com’st¹⁵⁴

To the warm sun.

Pulls out a letter

Approach, thou beacon to this under globe¹⁵⁶,

That by thy comfortable¹⁵⁷ beams I may

Peruse this letter. Nothing almost sees miracles¹⁵⁸

But misery. I know ’tis from Cordelia,

Who hath most fortunately been informed

Of my obscurèd course¹⁶¹, and shall find time

From this enormous state¹⁶², seeking to give

Losses their remedies. All weary and o’erwatched¹⁶³,

Take vantage¹⁶⁴, heavy eyes, not to behold

This shameful lodging.

Fortune, goodnight: smile once more, turn thy wheel¹⁶⁶!

Sleeps

Enter Edgar

EDGAR    I heard myself proclaimed¹⁶⁷,

And by the happy¹⁶⁸ hollow of a tree

Escaped the hunt. No port is free, no place

That guard and most unusual vigilance

Does not attend my taking¹⁷¹. Whiles I may scape,

I will preserve myself, and am bethought¹⁷²

To take the basest and most poorest shape

That ever penury in contempt of man¹⁷⁴

Brought near to beast: my face I’ll grime with filth,

Blanket my loins, elf¹⁷⁶ all my hairs in knots,

And with presented¹⁷⁷ nakedness outface

The winds and persecutions of the sky.

The country gives me proof and precedent

Of Bedlam¹⁸⁰ beggars, who with roaring voices

Strike in their numbed and mortifièd¹⁸¹ arms

Pins, wooden pricks¹⁸², nails, sprigs of rosemary,

And with this horrible object, from low¹⁸³ farms,

Poor pelting¹⁸⁴ villages, sheepcotes, and mills,

Sometimes with lunatic bans¹⁸⁵, sometime with prayers,

Enforce their charity. Poor Turlygod, poor Tom¹⁸⁶!

That’s something yet: Edgar I nothing am¹⁸⁷.

Exit

Enter Lear, Fool and Gentleman

LEAR    ’Tis strange that they¹⁸⁸ should so depart from home

And not send back my messengers.

GENTLEMAN    As I learned,

The night before there was no purpose in them

Of this remove.

Wakes

KENT    Hail to thee, noble master!

LEAR    Ha? Mak’st thou this shame thy pastime?

KENT    No, my lord.

FOOL    Ha, ha, he wears cruel¹⁹⁶ garters. Horses are tied by

the heads, dogs and bears by th’neck, monkeys by th’loins,

and men by th’legs: when a man’s over-lusty at legs¹⁹⁸, then he

wears wooden nether-stocks¹⁹⁹.

LEAR    What’s he that hath so much thy place²⁰⁰ mistook

To²⁰¹ set thee here?

KENT    It is both he and she:

Your son²⁰³ and daughter.

LEAR    No.

KENT    Yes.

LEAR    No, I say.

KENT    I say, yea.

LEAR    By Jupiter, I swear, no.

KENT    By Juno²⁰⁹, I swear, ay.

LEAR    They durst not do’t:

They could not, would not do’t: ’tis worse than murder

To do upon respect²¹² such violent outrage.

Resolve me with all modest haste which way²¹³

Thou might’st deserve or they impose this usage²¹⁴,

Coming from us²¹⁵.

KENT    My lord, when at their home

I did commend²¹⁷ your highness’ letters to them,

Ere I was risen from the place that showed

My duty kneeling, came there a reeking post²¹⁹,

Stewed²²⁰ in his haste, half breathless, panting forth

From Goneril his mistress salutations,

Delivered letters, spite of intermission²²²,

Which presently²²³ they read: on those contents

They summoned up their meiny, straight²²⁴ took horse,

Commanded me to follow and attend²²⁵

The leisure of their answer, gave me cold looks:

And meeting here the other messenger,

Whose welcome I perceived had poisoned mine —

Being the very fellow which of late

Displayed so saucily against²³⁰ your highness —

Having more man than wit about me, drew²³¹.

He raised the house with loud and coward cries:

Your son and daughter found this trespass worth

The shame which here it suffers.

FOOL    Winter’s not gone yet if the wild geese fly that way²³⁵.

Sings

    Fathers that wear rags

    Do make their children blind²³⁷,

    But fathers that bear bags²³⁸

    Shall see their children kind.

    Fortune, that arrant²⁴⁰ whore,

    Ne’er turns the key²⁴¹ to th’poor.

But, for all this, thou shalt have as many dolours²⁴² for thy

    daughters as thou canst tell²⁴³ in a year.