ACT IV
SCENE VI Fields near Dover.


 [Enter GLOUCESTER, and EDGAR dressed like a peasant]

GLOUCESTER When shall we come to the top of that same hill?

EDGAR You do climb up it now: look, how we labour.

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.

GLOUCESTER So may it be, indeed:
 Methinks thy voice is alter'd; and thou speak'st
 In better phrase and matter than thou didst.

EDGAR You're much deceived: in nothing am I changed
 But in my garments.

GLOUCESTER Methinks you're 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 choughs that wing the midway air
 Show scarce so gross as beetles: half way down
 Hangs one that gathers samphire, dreadful trade!
 Methinks he seems no bigger than his head:
 The fishermen, that walk upon the beach,
 Appear like mice; and yond tall anchoring bark,
 Diminish'd to her cock; her cock, a buoy
 Almost too small for sight: the murmuring surge,
 That on the unnumber'd idle pebbles chafes,
 Cannot be heard so high. I'll look no more;
 Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight
 Topple down headlong.

GLOUCESTER Set me where you stand.

EDGAR Give me your hand: you are now within a foot
 Of the extreme verge: for all beneath the moon
 Would I not leap upright.

GLOUCESTER Let go my hand.
 Here, friend, 's another purse; in it a jewel
 Well worth a poor man's taking: fairies and gods
 Prosper it with thee! Go thou farther off;
 Bid me farewell, and let me hear thee going.

EDGAR Now fare you well, good sir.

GLOUCESTER With all my heart.

EDGAR Why I do trifle thus with his despair
 Is done to cure it.

GLOUCESTER [Kneeling]  O you mighty gods!
 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 quarrel with your great opposeless wills,
 My snuff and loathed part of nature should
 Burn itself out. If Edgar live, O, bless him!
 Now, fellow, fare thee well.

 [He falls forward]

EDGAR Gone, sir: farewell.
 And yet I know not how conceit may rob
 The treasury of life, when life itself
 Yields to 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 pass 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,
 Thou'dst shiver'd like an egg: but thou dost breathe;
 Hast heavy substance; bleed'st not; speak'st; art sound.
 Ten masts at each make not the altitude
 Which thou hast perpendicularly fell:
 Thy life's a miracle. Speak yet again.

GLOUCESTER But have I fall'n, or no?

EDGAR From the dread summit of this chalky bourn.
 Look up a-height; the shrill-gorged 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 beguile the tyrant's rage,
 And frustrate his proud will.

EDGAR Give me your arm:
 Up: so. How is 't? Feel you your legs? You stand.

GLOUCESTER Too well, too well.

EDGAR This is above all strangeness.
 Upon the crown o' the cliff, what thing was that
 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 whelk'd and waved like the enridged sea:
 It was some fiend; therefore, thou happy father,
 Think that the clearest gods, who make them honours
 Of men's impossibilities, 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 free and patient thoughts. But who comes here?

 [Enter KING LEAR, fantastically dressed with wild flowers]

 The safer sense will ne'er accommodate
 His master thus.

KING LEAR No, they cannot touch me for coining; I am the
 king himself.

EDGAR O thou side-piercing sight!

KING LEAR Nature's above art in that respect. There's your
 press-money. That fellow handles his bow like a
 crow-keeper: draw me a clothier's yard. Look,
 look, a mouse! Peace, peace; this piece of toasted
 cheese will do 't. There's my gauntlet; I'll prove
 it on a giant. Bring up the brown bills. O, well
 flown, bird! i' the clout, i' the clout: hewgh!
 Give the word.

EDGAR Sweet marjoram.

KING LEAR Pass.

GLOUCESTER I know that voice.

KING LEAR Ha! Goneril, with a white beard! They flattered
 me like a dog; and told me I had white hairs in my
 beard ere the black ones were there. To say 'ay'
 and 'no' to every thing that I said!--'Ay' and 'no'
 too was no good divinity. 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 every
 thing; 'tis a lie, I am not ague-proof.

GLOUCESTER The trick of that voice I do well remember:
 Is 't not the king?

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? Adultery?
 Thou shalt not die: die for adultery! No:
 The wren goes to 't, and the small gilded fly
 Does lecher in my sight.
 Let copulation thrive; for Gloucester's bastard son
 Was kinder to his father than my daughters
 Got 'tween the lawful sheets.
 To 't, luxury, pell-mell! for I lack soldiers.
 Behold yond simpering dame,
 Whose face between her forks presages snow;
 That minces virtue, and does shake the head
 To hear of pleasure's name;
 The fitchew, nor the soiled horse, goes to 't
 With a more riotous appetite.
 Down from the waist they are Centaurs,
 Though women all above:
 But to the girdle do the gods inherit,
 Beneath is all the fiends';
 There's hell, there's darkness, there's the
 sulphurous pit,
 Burning, scalding, stench, consumption; fie,
 fie, fie! pah, pah! Give me an ounce of civet,
 good apothecary, to sweeten my imagination:
 there's money for thee.

GLOUCESTER O, let me kiss that hand!

KING LEAR Let me wipe it first; it smells of mortality.

GLOUCESTER O ruin'd piece of nature! This great world
 Shall so wear out to nought. Dost thou know me?

KING LEAR I remember thine eyes well enough. Dost thou squiny
 at me? No, do thy worst, blind Cupid! I'll not
 love. Read thou this challenge; mark but the
 penning of it.

GLOUCESTER Were all the letters suns, I could not see one.

EDGAR I would not take this from report; it is,
 And my heart breaks at it.

KING LEAR Read.

GLOUCESTER What, with the case of eyes?

KING LEAR O, ho, are you there with me? No eyes in your
 head, nor no money in your purse? Your eyes are in
 a heavy case, your purse in a light; yet you see how
 this world goes.

GLOUCESTER I see it feelingly.

KING 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 simple thief. Hark, in
 thine ear: change places; and, handy-dandy, which
 is the justice, which is the thief? Thou hast seen
 a farmer's dog bark at a beggar?

GLOUCESTER Ay, sir.

KING LEAR And the creature run from the cur? There thou
 mightst behold the great image of authority: a
 dog's obeyed in office.
 Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand!
 Why dost thou lash that whore? Strip thine own back;
 Thou hotly lust'st to use her in that kind
 For which thou whipp'st her. The usurer hangs the cozener.
 Through tatter'd clothes small vices do appear;
 Robes and furr'd gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold,
 And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks:
 Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw does pierce it.
 None does offend, none, I say, none; I'll able 'em:
 Take that of me, my friend, who have the power
 To seal the accuser's lips. Get thee glass eyes;
 And like a scurvy politician, seem
 To see the things thou dost not. Now, now, now, now:
 Pull off my boots: harder, harder: so.

EDGAR O, matter and impertinency mix'd! Reason in madness!

KING LEAR If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my eyes.
 I know thee well enough; thy name is Gloucester:
 Thou must be patient; we came crying hither:
 Thou know'st, the first time that we smell the air,
 We wawl and cry. I will preach to thee: mark.

GLOUCESTER Alack, alack the day!

KING LEAR When we are born, we cry that we are come
 To this great stage of fools: this a good block;
 It were a delicate stratagem, to shoe
 A troop of horse with felt: I'll put 't in proof;
 And when I have stol'n upon these sons-in-law,
 Then, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!

 [Enter a Gentleman, with Attendants]

Gentleman O, here he is: lay hand upon him. Sir,
 Your most dear daughter--

KING LEAR No rescue? What, a prisoner? I am even
 The natural fool of fortune. Use me well;
 You shall have ransom. Let me have surgeons;
 I am cut to the brains.

Gentleman You shall have any thing.

KING LEAR No seconds? all myself?
 Why, this would make a man a man of salt,
 To use his eyes for garden water-pots,
 Ay, and laying autumn's dust.

Gentleman Good sir,--

KING LEAR I will die bravely, like a bridegroom. What!
 I will be jovial: come, come; I am a king,
 My masters, know you that.

Gentleman You are a royal one, and we obey you.

KING LEAR Then there's life in't. Nay, if you get it, you
 shall get it with running. Sa, sa, sa, sa.

 [Exit running; Attendants follow]

Gentleman A sight most pitiful in the meanest wretch,
 Past speaking of in a king! Thou hast one daughter,
 Who redeems nature from the general curse
 Which twain have brought her to.

EDGAR Hail, gentle sir.

Gentleman                   Sir, speed you: what's your will?

EDGAR Do you hear aught, sir, of a battle toward?

Gentleman Most sure and vulgar: every one hears that,
 Which can distinguish sound.

EDGAR But, by your favour,
 How near's the other army?

Gentleman Near and on speedy foot; the main descry
 Stands on the hourly thought.

EDGAR I thank you, sir: that's all.

Gentleman Though that the queen on special cause is here,
 Her army is moved on.

EDGAR I thank you, sir.

 [Exit Gentleman]

GLOUCESTER You ever-gentle gods, take my breath from me:
 Let not my worser spirit tempt me again
 To die before you please!

EDGAR Well pray you, father.

GLOUCESTER Now, good sir, what are you?

EDGAR A most poor man, made tame to fortune's blows;
 Who, by the art of known and feeling sorrows,
 Am pregnant to good pity. Give me your hand,
 I'll lead you to some biding.

GLOUCESTER Hearty thanks:
 The bounty and the benison of heaven
 To boot, and boot!

 [Enter OSWALD]

OSWALD A proclaim'd prize! Most happy!
 That eyeless head of thine was first framed flesh
 To raise my fortunes. Thou old unhappy traitor,
 Briefly thyself remember: the sword is out
 That must destroy thee.

GLOUCESTER Now let thy friendly hand
 Put strength enough to't.

 [EDGAR interposes]

OSWALD Wherefore, bold peasant,
 Darest thou support a publish'd traitor? Hence;
 Lest that the infection of his fortune take
 Like hold on thee. Let go his arm.

EDGAR Ch'ill not let go, zir, without vurther 'casion.

OSWALD Let go, slave, or thou diest!

EDGAR Good gentleman, go your gait, and let poor volk
 pass. An chud ha' bin zwaggered out of my life,
 'twould not ha' bin zo long as 'tis by a vortnight.
 Nay, come not near th' old man; keep out, che vor
 ye, or ise try whether your costard or my ballow be
 the harder: ch'ill be plain with you.

OSWALD Out, dunghill!

EDGAR Ch'ill pick your teeth, zir: come; no matter vor
 your foins.

 [They fight, and EDGAR knocks him down]

OSWALD Slave, thou hast slain me: villain, take my purse:
 If ever thou wilt thrive, bury my body;
 And give the letters which thou find'st about me
 To Edmund earl of Gloucester; seek him out
 Upon the British party: O, untimely death!

 [Dies]

EDGAR I know thee well: a serviceable villain;
 As duteous to the vices of thy mistress
 As badness would desire.

GLOUCESTER What, is he dead?

EDGAR Sit you down, father; rest you
 Let's see these pockets: the letters that he speaks of
 May be my friends. He's dead; I am only sorry
 He had no other death's-man. Let us see:
 Leave, gentle wax; and, manners, blame us not:
 To know our enemies' minds, we'ld rip their hearts;
 Their papers, is more lawful.

 [Reads]

 'Let our reciprocal vows be remembered. You have
 many opportunities to cut him off: if your will
 want not, time and place will be fruitfully offered.
 There is nothing done, if he return the conqueror:
 then am I the prisoner, and his bed my goal; from
 the loathed warmth whereof deliver me, and supply
 the place for your labour.
  'Your--wife, so I would say--
  'Affectionate servant,
  'GONERIL.'
 O undistinguish'd space of woman's will!
 A plot upon her virtuous husband's life;
 And the exchange my brother! Here, in the sands,
 Thee I'll rake up, the post unsanctified
 Of murderous lechers: and in the mature time
 With this ungracious paper strike the sight
 Of the death practised duke: for him 'tis well
 That of thy death and business I can tell.

GLOUCESTER The king is mad: how stiff is my vile sense,
 That I stand up, and have ingenious feeling
 Of my huge sorrows! Better I were distract:
 So should my thoughts be sever'd from my griefs,
 And woes by wrong imaginations lose
 The knowledge of themselves.

EDGAR Give me your hand:

 [Drum afar off]

 Far off, methinks, I hear the beaten drum:
 Come, father, I'll bestow you with a friend.

 [Exeunt]




 KING LEAR


ACT IV