The dark and vicious place where thee he got, Cost him his eyes. Edm. Thou hast spoken right, 'tis true; The wheel is come full circle; I am here. Alb. Methought, thy very gate did prophecy A royal nobleness:-I must embrace thee; Let sorrow split my heart, if ever I Did hate thee, or thy father! Edg. I know it well. Alb. Worthy prince, Where have you hid yourself? How have you known the miseries of your father? Edg. By nursing them, my lord. tale ; List a brief And, when 'tis told, O, that my heart would burst!The bloody proclamation to escape, That follow'd me so near, (O our lives' sweetness! That with the pain of death we'd hourly die, Rather than die at once!) taught me to shift Into a madman's rags; to assume a semblance "Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief, Burst smilingly. Edm. This speech of yours hath mov'd me, And shall, perchance, do good: but speak you on; You look as you had something more to say. Alb. If there be more, more woful, hold it in; For I am almost ready to dissolve, Hearing of this. [Edg. 96 This would have seem'd a period To such as love not sorrow; but another, To amplify too-much, would make much more, Whilst I was big in clamour, came there a man, As he'd burst heaven; threw him on my father: Alb. But who was this? Edg. Kent, sir, the banish'd Kent; who in dis guise Follow'd his enemy king, and did him service Enter a Gentleman hastily, with a bloody knife. Gent. Help! help! O help! Gent. Your lady, sir, your lady: and her sister By her is poison'd; she confesses it. Edm. I was contracted to them both; all three Now marry in an instant. Alb. Produce their bodies, be they alive or dead!— This judgement of the heavens, that makes us tremble, Touches us not with pity. [Exit Gent. Enter KENT. Edg. Here comes Kent, sir. · Alb. O! it is he. The time will not allow the compliment, Which very manners urges. Kent. I am come To bid my king and master aye good night; Is he not here? Alb. Great thing of us forgot!- Speak, Edmund, where's the king? and where's Cordelia? See'st thou this object, Kent? [The bodies of Goneril and Regan are brought in. Kent. Alack, why thus? Edm. Yet Edmund was belov'd: The one the other poison'd for my sake, And after slew herself. Alb. Even so.-Cover their faces. Edm. I pant for life:-Some good I mean to do, Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send,Be brief in it,-to the castle; for my writ Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia :Nay, send in time. Alb. Run, run, O, run Edg. To who, my lord?-Who has the office? send Thy token of reprieve. Edm. Well thought on; take my sword, Give it the captain. Alb. Haste thee, for thy life. [Exit Edgar. Edm. He hath commission from thy wife and me To hang Cordelia in the prison, and To lay the blame upon her own despair, That she fordid herself. Alb. The gods defend her! Bear him hence awhile. [Edmund is borne off. Enter LEAR, with CORDELIA dead in his arms; Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl!-O, you are men of stones; Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so That heaven's vault should crack:-O, she is gone for ever! I know when one is dead, and when one lives; Kent. 97 Is this the promis'd end? Edg. Or image of that horror? Alb. Fall, and cease! Lear. This feather stirs ; she lives! if it be so, It is a chance that does redeem all sorrows That ever I have felt. Kent. Lear. Pry'thee, away. Edg. O my good master! [kneeling. "Tis noble Kent, your friend. Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all! I might have sav'd her; now she's gone for ever!Cordelia, Cordelia, stay a little. Ha! What is't thou say'st?-Her voice was ever soft, Off. 'Tis true, my lords, he did. Lear. Did I not, fellow? I have seen the day, with my good biting faulchion I would have made them skip: I am old now, And these same crosses spoil me.-Who are you? Mine eyes are none o'the best:-I'll tell you straight. Kent. If fortune brag of two she lov'd and hated, One of them we behold. Lear. This is a dull sight: Are you not Kent? |