Doctor. There is means, madam: Our foster-nursedeg of nature is repose,
The which he lacks: that to provokedeg in him,
Are many simples operative,deg whose power
Will close the eye of anguish.
Cordelia. All blest secrets, All you unpublished virtuesdeg of the earth,
Spring with my tears! be aidant and remediatedeg
In the good man's distress! Seek, seek for him,
Lest his ungoverned rage dissolve the life
That wants the means to lead it.deg
Enter Messenger.
Messenger. News, madam; The Brittish pow'rs are marching hitherward.
Cordelia. 'Tis known before. Our preparation stands In expectation of them. O dear father,
It is thy business that I go about;
Thereforedeg great France
My mourning and importuneddeg tears hath pitied.
No blowndeg ambition doth our arms incite,
But love, dear love, and our aged father's right:
Soon may I hear and see him! Exeunt.
8 What can man's wisdom what can science accomplish
9 bereaved impaired
10 outward material
12 foster-nurse fostering nurse
13 provoke induce
14 simples operative efficacious medicinal herbs
16 unpublished virtues i.e., secret remedial herbs
17 remediate remedial
20 wants ... it i.e., lacks the reason to control the rage
25 Therefore because of that
26 importuned importunate
27 blown puffed up
[Scene 5. Gloucester's castle.]
Enter Regan and Oswald.
Regan. But are my brother's pow'rs set forth?
Oswald. Ay, madam.
Regan. Himself in person there?
Oswald. Madam, with much ado:deg Your sister is the better soldier.
Regan. Lord Edmund spake not with your lord at home?
Oswald. No, madam.
Regan. What might importdeg my sister's letter to him? Oswald. I know not, lady.
Regan. Faith, he is posteddeg hence on serious matter. It was great ignorance,deg Gloucester's eyes being
out,
To let him live. Where he arrives he moves
All hearts against us: Edmund, I think, is gone,
In pity of his misery, to dispatch
His nighteddeg life; moreover, to descry
The strength o' th' enemy.
Oswald. I must needs after him, madam, with my letter.
Regan. Our troops set forth tomorrow: stay with us; The ways are dangerous.
Oswald. I may not, madam: My lady charged my dutydeg in this business.
4.5.2 ado bother and persuasion
6 import purport, carry as its message
8 is posted has ridden speedily
9 ignorance folly
13 nighted (1) darkened, because blinded (2) benighted
18 charged my duty ordered me as a solemn duty
Regan. Why should she write to Edmund? Might not you Transport her purposesdeg by word? Belike,deg
Some things I know not what. I'll love thee much,
Let me unseal the letter.
Oswald. Madam, I had rather--
Regan. I know your lady does not love her husband; I am sure of that: and at her latedeg being here She gave strange eliadsdeg and most speaking looks
To noble Edmund. I know you are of her bosom.deg
Oswald. I, madam?
Regan. I speak in understanding: y'are; I know 't: Therefore I do advise you, take this note:deg
My lord is dead; Edmund and I have talked;
And more convenientdeg is he for my hand
Than for your lady's: you may gather more.deg
If you do find him, pray you, give him this;deg
And when your mistress hears thus much from you,
I pray, desire her calldeg her wisdom to her.
So, fare you well.
If you do chance to hear of that blind traitor,
Perfermentdeg falls on him that cuts him off.
Oswald. Would I could meet him, madam! I should show What party I do follow.
Regan. Fare thee well.
Exeunt.
20 Transport her purposes convey her intentions
20 Belike probably
24 late recently 25 eliads amorous looks
26 of her bosom in her confidence
29 take this note take note of this
31 convenient fitting
32 gather more surmise more yourself
33 this this advice 35 call recall
38 Preferment promotion
[Scene 6. Fields near Dover.]
Enter Gloucester and Edgar.
Gloucester. When shall I come to th' top of that same hill?
Edgar. You do climb up it now. Look, how we labor.
Gloucester. Methinks the ground is even.
Edgar. Horrible steep. Hark, do you hear the sea?
Gloucester. No, truly.
Edgar. Why then your other senses grow imperfect By your eyes' anguish.deg
Gloucester. So may it be indeed. Methinks thy voice is altered, and thou speak'st
In better phrase and matter than thou didst.
Edgar. Y'are much deceived: in nothing am I changed But in my garments.
Gloucester. Methinks y'are better spoken.
Edgar. Come on, sir; here's the place: stand still. How fearful And dizzy 'tis to cast one's eyes so low!
The crows and choughsdeg that wing the midway airdeg
Show scarce so grossdeg as beetles. Half way down
Hangs one that gathers sampire,deg dreadful trade!
Methinks he seems no bigger than his head.
The fishermen that walk upon the beach
Appear like mice; and yond tall anchoringdeg bark
Diminished to her cock;deg her cock, a buoy 4.6.6 anguish pain
13 choughs a kind of crow
13 midway air i.e., halfway down the cliff
14 gross large
15 sampire samphire, an aromatic herb associated with Dover Cliffs
18 anchoring anchored
19 cock cock-boat, a small boat usually towed behind the ship
Almost too small for sight. The murmuring surge
That on th' unnumb'red idle pebbledeg chafes
Cannot be heard so high. I'll look no more,
Lest my brain turn and the deficient sight
Toppledeg down headlong.
Gloucester. Set me where you stand.
Edgar. Give me your hand: you are now within a foot Of th' extreme verge: for all beneath the moon
Would I not leap upright.deg
Gloucester. Let go my hand. Here, friend, 's another purse; in it a jewel
Well worth a poor man's taking. Fairiesdeg and gods
Prosper it with thee! Go thou further off;
Bid me farewell, and let me hear thee going.
Edgar. Now fare ye well, good sir.
Gloucester. With all my heart.
Edgar. [Aside] Why I do trifle thus with his despair Is done to cure it.deg
Gloucester. O you mighty gods!
He kneels.
This world I do renounce, and in your sights
Shake patiently my great affliction off:
If I could bear it longer and not fall
To quarreldeg with your great opposelessdeg wills,
My snuffdeg and loathed part of nature should
Burn itself out. If Edgar live, O bless him!
Now, fellow, fare thee well.
He falls.
Edgar. Gone, sir, farewell. 21 unnumb'red idle pebble innumerable pebbles, moved to and fro by the waves to no purpose
23-24 the deficient sight/Topple my failing sight topple me
27 upright i.e., even up in the air, to say nothing of forward, over the cliff
29 Fairies (who are supposed to guard and multiply hidden treasur
e)
33-34 Why ... if I play on his despair in order to cure it
37-38 fall/To quarrel with rebel against
38 opposeless not to be, and not capable of being, opposed
39 snuff the guttering (and stinking) wick of a burnt-out candle
And yet I know not howdeg conceitdeg may rob
The treasury of life, when life itself
Yields todeg the theft. Had he been where he thought,
By this had thought been past. Alive or dead?
Ho, you sir! friend! Hear you, sir! speak!
Thus might he passdeg indeed: yet he revives.
What are you, sir?
Gloucester. Away, and let me die.
Edgar. Hadst thou been aught but gossamer, feathers, air, So many fathom down precipitating,deg
Thou'dst shivered like an egg: but thou dost
breathe;
Hast heavy substance; bleed'st not; speak'st; art
sound.
Ten masts at eachdeg make not the altitude
Which thou hast perpendicularly fell:
Thy life'sdeg a miracle. Speak yet again.
Gloucester. But have I fall'n, or no?
Edgar. From the dread summit of this chalky bourn.deg Look up a-height;deg the shrill-gorgeddeg lark so far Cannot be seen or heard: do but look up.
Gloucester. Alack, I have no eyes. Is wretchedness deprived that benefit,
To end itself by death? 'Twas yet some comfort,
When misery could beguiledeg the tyrant's rage
And frustrate his proud will.
Edgar. Give me your arm. Up, so. How is 't? Feel youdeg your legs? You stand.
Gloucester. Too well, too well.
Edgar. This is above all strangeness. Upon the crown o' th' cliff, what thing was that 42 how but what
42 conceit imagination
44 Yields to allows
47 pass die
50 precipitating falling
53 at each one on top of the other
55 life's survival
57 bourn boundary
58 a-height on high
58 gorged throated, voioed
63 beguile cheat (i.e., by suicide)
65 Feel you have you any feeling in
Which parted from you?
Gloucester. A poor unfortunate beggar.
Edgar. As I stood here below, methought his eyes Were two full moons; he had a thousand noses,
Horns whelkeddeg and waved like the enridgeddeg sea:
It was some fiend; therefore, thou happy father,deg
Think that the clearestdeg gods, who make them
honors
Of men's impossibilities,deg have preserved thee.
Gloucester. I do remember now: henceforth I'll bear Affliction till it do cry out itself
"Enough, enough," and die. That thing you speak
of,
I took it for a man; often 'twould say
"The fiend, the fiend"--he led me to that place.
Edgar. Bear freedeg and patient thoughts. Enter Lear [fantastically dressed with wild
flowers].
But who comes here?
The saferdeg sense will ne'er accommodatedeg
His master thus.
Lear. No, they cannot touch me for coining;deg I am the King himself.
Edgar. O thou side-piercing sight!
Lear.- Nature's above art in that respect.deg There's your press-money.deg That fellow handles his bow 71 whelked twisted
71 enridged i.e., furrowed into waves
72 happy father fortunate old man
73 dearest purest
73-74 who ... impossibilities who cause themselves to be honored and revered by performing miracles of which men are incapable
80 free i.e., emancipated from grief and despair, which fetter the soul
81 safer sounder, saner
81 accommodate dress, adom
83 touch me for coining arrest me for minting coins (the king's prerogative)
86 Nature's ... respect i.e., a born king is superior to legal (and hence artificial) inhibition. There is also a glance here at the popular Renaissance debate, concerning the relative importance of nature (inspiration) and art (training)
87 press-money (paid to conscripted soldiers)
like a crow-keeper;deg draw me a clothier's yard.deg Look, look, a mouse! Peace, peace; this piece of toasted cheese will do 't. There's my gauntlet;deg I'll prove it ondeg a giant. Bring up the brown bills.deg O, well flown,deg bird! i' th' clout, i' th' clout:deg hewgh!deg Give the word.deg
Edgar. Sweet marjoram.deg
Lear. Pass.
Gloucester. I know that voice.
Lear. Ha! Goneril, with a white beard! They flattered me like a dog,deg and told me I had white hairs in my beard ere the black ones were there.deg To say "ay" and "no" to everything that I said! "Ay" and "no" too was no good divinity.deg When the rain came to wet me once and the wind to make me chatter; when the thunder would not peace at my bidding; there I found 'em, there I smelt 'em out. Go to, they are not men o' their words: they told me I was everything; 'tis a lie, I am not ague proof.deg
Gloucester. The trickdeg of that voice I do well remember: Is't not the king?
Lear. Ay, every inch a king. When I do stare, see how the subject quakes.
I pardon that man's life. What was thy cause?deg 88 crow-keeper a farmer scaring away crows
88 clothier's yard (the standard English arrow was a cloth-yard long. Here the injunction is to draw the arrow back, like a powerful archer, a full yard to the car)
90 gauntlet armored glove, thrown down as a challenge
91 prove it on maintain my challenge even against
91 brown bills halberds varnished to prevent rust (here the reference is to the soldiers who carry them)
92 well flown (falconer's cry; and perhaps a reference to the flight of the arrow)
92 clout the target shot at
92 hewgh ? imitating the whizzing of the arrow
93 word password
94 Sweet marjoram herb, used as a remedy for brain disease
96 like a dog as a dog flatters
98-99 I ... there I was wise before I had even grown a beard
101 no good divinity (bad theology, because contrary to the Biblical, saying [II Corinthians 1:18], "Our word toward you was not yea and nay." See also James 5:12 "But let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation"; and Matthew 5:36-37)
106-07 ague-proof secure against fever
108 trick intonation
111 cause offense
Adultery?
Thou shalt not die: die for adultery! No:
The wren goes to 't, and the small gilded fly
Does lecherdeg in my sight.
Let copulation thrive; for Gloucester's bastard son
Was kinder to his father than my daughters
Gotdeg 'tween the lawful sheets.
To 't, luxury,deg pell-mell! for I lack soldiers.deg
Behold yond simp'ring dame,
Whose face between her forks presages snow,deg
That mincesdeg virtue and does shake the head
To hear of pleasure's name.deg
The fitchew,deg nor the soileddeg horse, goes to 't
With a more riotous appetite.
Down from the waist they are Centaurs,deg
Though women all above:
But to the girdledeg do the gods inherit,deg
Beneath is all the fiend's.
There's hell, there's darkness, there is the
sulphurous pit,
Burning, scalding, stench, consumption; fie, fie, fie!
pah, pah! Give me an ounce of civet;deg good apothe-
cary, sweeten my imagination: there's money for thee.
Gloucester. O, let me kiss that hand!
Lear. Let me wipe it first; it smells of mortality.deg
Gloucester. O ruined piece of nature! This great world Shall so wear out to nought.deg Dost thou know me?
115 lecher copulate
118 Got begot
119 luxury lechery
119 for ... soldiers i.e., ? (1) whom copulation will supply (2) and am therefore powerless
121 Whose ... snow whose cold demeanor seems to promise chaste behavior ("forks": legs)
122 minces squeamishly pretends to
123 pleasure's name the very name of sexual pleasure
124 fitchew polecat (and slang for "prostitute")
124 soiled put to pasture, and hence wanton with feeding
126 Centaurs lustful creatures, half man and half horse
128 girdle waist
128 inherit possess
132 civet perfume
135 mortality (1) death (2) existence
136-37 This ... nought i.e., the universe (macrocosm) will decay to nothing in the same way as the little world of man (microcosm)
Lear. I remember thine eyes well enough. Dost thou squinydeg at me? No, do thy worst, blind Cupid;deg I'll not love. Read thou this challenge;deg mark but the penning of it.
Gloucester. Were all thy letters suns, I could not see.
Edgar. I would not takedeg this from report: it is, And my heart breaks at it.
Lear. Read.
Gloucester. What, with the casedeg of eyes?
Lear. O, ho, are you there with me?deg No eyes in your head, nor no money in your purse? Your eyes are in a heavy case,deg your purse in a light,deg yet you see how this world goes.
Gloucester. I see it feelingly.deg
Lear. What, art mad? A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears: see how yond justice rails upon yond simpledeg thief. Hark, in thine ear: change places, and, handy-dandy,deg which is the justice, which is the thief? Thou hast seen a farmer's dog bark at a beggar?
Gloucester. Ay, sir.
Lear. And the creature run from the cur? There thou mightst behold the great image of authority:deg a dog's obeyed in office.deg Thou rascal beadle,deg hold thy bloody hand!
Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip thy own
back;
Thou hotly lusts to use her in that kinddeg 139 squiny squint, look sideways, like a prostitute
139 blind Cupid the sign hung before a brothel
140 challenge a reminiscence of 11.
89-90
143 take believe
146 case empty sockets
King Lear (Folger Shakespeare Library) Page 19