822.8
553
1788
B4
ARTES
1817
SCIENTIA
LIBRARY
VERITAS
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
TCEBOR
SI-QUÆRIS PENINSULAM-AMŒENAMB
CIRCUMSPICE
From the Library
of
E. A. Barnes
The Gift of
Mrs. Barnard Pierce
Mrs. Carl Haessler
Mrs. Howard Luce
Miss Margaret Knight
THE
DRAMATICK WRITINGS
O F
له
WILL. SHAKSPERE,
V
With the Notes of all the various Commentators;
PRINTED COMPLETE FROM THE BEST EDITIONS OF
SAM. JOHNSON and GEO. STEEVENS.
Uolume the Seventeenth.
CONTAINING
TIMON of ATHENS.
KING LEAR.
LONDON:
Printed for, and under the Direction of,
JOHN BELL, British Library, STRAND,
Bookseller to His Royal Highness the PRINCE of WALES.
M DCC LXXXVIII.
Bell's Edition.
TIMON of ATHENS.
B Y
WILL. SHAKSPERE:
Printed Complete from the TEXT of
SAM. JOHNSON and GEO. STEEVENS,
And revised from the last Editions.
When Learning's triumph o'er her barb'rous foes
First rear'd the Stage, immortal SHAKSPERE rose;
Each change of many-colour'd life he drew,
Exhausted worlds, and then imagin'd new:
Existence saw him spurn her bounded reign,
And panting Time toil'd after him in vain :
His pow'rful strokes presiding Truth confess'd,
And unresisted Passiou storm'd the breast,
DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON
LONDON:
Printed for, and under the direction of,
JOHN BELL, British-Library, STRAND.
MDCCLXXXV.
OBSERVATIONS
ON THE Fable AND Composition of
ΤΙΜΟΝ
of ATHENS.
THE story of the Misanthrope is told in almost every col-
lection of the time, and particularly in two books, with
which Shakspere was intimately acquainted; the Palace of
Pleasure, and the English Plutarch. Indeed, from a passage
in an old play, called Jack Drum's Entertainment, I conjec-
ture that he had before made his appearance on the stage.
FARMER.
The play of Timon is a domestic tragedy, and therefore
strongly fastens on the attention of the reader. In the plan
there is not much art, but the incidents are natural, and the
characters various and exact. The catastrophe affords a very
powerful warning against that ostentatious liberality, which
scatters bounty, but confers no benefits, and buys flattery, but
not friendship.
In this tragedy, are many passages perplexed, obscure, and
probably corrupt, which I have endeavoured to rectify, or ex-
plain, with due diligence; but having only one copy, cannot
promise myself that my endeavours shall be much applauded.
JOHNSON.
Aij
Dramatis Perfonae.
MEN.
TIMON, a noble Athenian.
LUCIUS,
LUCULLUS,
SEMPRONIUS,
Lords.
APEMANTUS, a Philosopher.
ALCIBIADES.
FLAVIUS, Steward to Timon.
FLAMINIUS,
LUCILIUS,
SERVILIUS,
Timon's Servants.
CAPHIS,
VARRO,
PHILO,
Servants.
TITUS,
LUCIUS,
HORTENSIUS,
VENTIDIUS, one of Timon's Friends.
CUPID and Maskers.
Strangers.
WOMEN.
PHRYNIA,
TIMANDRA,
}
Mistresses to Alcibiades.
Thieves, Senators, Poet, Painter, Jeweller, and Merchant;
with Servants and Attendants.
SCENE, Athens; and the Woods not far from it.
TIMON of ATHENS.
ACT I. SCENE I.
Athens. A Hall in TIMON's House. Enter Poet, Painter.
Jeweller, and Merchant, at several Doors.
Good day, sir.
D
Poet.
Pain. I am glad you are well.
Poet. I have not seen you long; How goes the
world?
Pain. It wears, sir, as it grows.
Poet. Ay, that's well known:
But what particular rarity? what strange,
Which manifold record not matches? See,
Magick of bounty! all these spirits thy power
Hath conjur'd to attend. I know the merchant.
Pain. I know them both; the other's a jeweller. 10
Mer. O, 'tis a worthy lord!
Jew. Nay, that's most x d.
Aij
Mer.
6
A&t I.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Mer. A most incomparable man; breath'd, as it
were,
To an untirable and continuate goodness:
He passes.
Jew. I have a jewel here.
Mer. O, pray, let's see't: For the lord Timon, sir?
Jew. If he will touch the estimate: But, for that-
Poet. When we for recompence have prais'd the vile,
It stains the glory in that happy verse
Which aptly sings the good.
Mer. 'Tis a good form.
20
[Looking on the Jewel.
Jew. And rich: here is a water, look you.
Pain. You are rapt, sir, in some work, some de-
dication
To the great lord.
Poet. A thing slipt idly from me.
Our poesy is as a gum, which oozes
From whence 'tis nourished: The fire i' the flint
Shews not, 'till it be struck; our gentle flame
Provokes itself, and, like the current, flies
32
Each bound it chafes.
What have you there?
When comes your book
Pain. A picture, sir.
forth?
Poet. Upon the heels of my presentment, sir.
Let's see your piece.
Pain. 'Tis a good piece.
Poct. So 'tis: this comes off well and excellent.
Pain. Indifferent.
Poct. Admirable: How this grace
Speaks his own standing? what a mental power
This
A&t 1.
7
TIMON OF ATHENS.
This eye shoots forth how big imagination
Moves in this lip? to the dumbness of the gesture
One might interpret.
Pain. It is a pretty mocking of the life.
Here is a touch; Is't good?
Poet. I'll say of it,
It tutors nature: artificial strife
Lives in these touches, livelier than life.
Enter certain Senators.
Pain. How this lord is follow'd!
Port. The senators of Athens;-Happy men!
Pain. Look, more?
40
50
Poet. You see this confluence, this great flood of
visitors.
I have, in this rough work, shap'd out a man,
Whom this beneath world doth embrace and hug
With amplest entertainment: My free drift
Halts not particularly, but moves itself
In a wide sea of wax: no levell'd malice
Infects one comma in the course I hold;
But flies an eagle flight, bold, and forth on,
Leaving no tract behind.
Pain. How shall I understand you?
Poet. I'll unbolt to you.
You see, how all conditions, how all minds
(As well of glib and slippery creatures, as
Of grave and austere quality) tender down
Their services to lord Timon: his large fortune,
Upon his good and gracious nature hanging,
2
60
Subdue
8
Aa 1.
TIMON, OF ATHENS.
Subdues and properties to his love and tendance
All sorts of hearts; yea, from the glass-fac'd flatterer
To Apemantus, that few things loves better
Than to abhor himself; even he drops down
The knee before him, and returns in peace
Most rich in Timon's nod.
Pain. I saw them speak together.
70
Poet. Sir, I have upon a high and pleasant hill
Feign'd Fortune to be thron'd: The base o'the
mount
Is rank'd with all deserts, all kind of natures,
That labour on the bosom of this sphere
To propagate their states: amongst them all,
Whose eyes are on this sovereign lady fix'd,
One do I personate of Timon's frame,
Whom Fortune with her ivory hand wafts to her;
Whose present grace to present slaves and servants
Translates his rivals.
Pain. 'Tis conceiv'd to scope.
This throne, this Fortune, and this hill, methinks,
With one man beckon'd from the rest below,
Bowing his head against the steepy mount
To climb his happiness, would be well express'd
In our condition.
Poet. Nay, sir, but hear me on:
All those which were his fellows but of late
(Some better than his value), on the moment
Follow his strides, his lobbies fill with tendance,
Rain sacrificial whisperings in his ear,
Make sacred even his stirrup, and through him
80
90
Drink
A& I.
9
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Drink the free air.
Pain. Ay, marry, what of these?
Poct. When Fortune, in her shift and change of
mood,
Spurns down her late belov'd, all his dependants,
Which labour'd after him to the mountain's top, 100
Even on their knees and hands, let him slip down,
Not one accompanying his declining foot.
Pain. 'Tis common:
A thousand moral paintings I can shew,
That shall demonstrate these quick blows of fortune
More pregnantly than words. Yet you do well,
To shew lord Timon, that mean eyes have seen
The foot above the head.
Trumpets sound. Enter TIMON, addressing himself
courteously to every Suitor.
Tim. Imprison'd is he, say you? [To a Messenger.
Mes. Ay, my good lord: five talents is his debt;
His means most short, his creditors most strait: 111
Your honourable letter he desires.
To those have shut him up; which failing him,
Periods his comfort.
Tim. Noble Ventidius! Well;
I am not of that feather, to shake off
My friend when he must need me. I do know him
A gentleman, that well deserves a help, .
Which he shall have: I'll pay the debt, and free him.
Mes. Your lordship ever binds him.
120
Tim. Commend me to him: I will send his ransom;
And,
10
A& I.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
And, being enfranchis'd, bid him come to me :—
'Tis not enough to help the feeble up,
But to support him after.-Fare you well.
Mes. All happiness to your honour!
Enter an Old Athenian
Old Ath. Lord Timon, hear me speak.
Tim. Freely, good father,
Old Ath. Thou hast a servant nam'd Lucilius.
Tim. I have so: What of him?
[Exit.
Old Ath. Most noble Timon, call the man before
thee.
Tim. Attends he here, or no?-Lucilius!
Enter LUCILIUS.
Luc. Here, at your lordship's service.
130
Old Ath. This fellow here, lord Timon, this thy
creature,
By night frequents my house. I am a man
That from my first have been inclin'd to thrift,
And my estate deserves an heir more rais'd,
Than one which holds a trencher.
Tim. Well; what further?
Old Ath. One only daughter have I, no kin else,
On whom I may confer what I have got:
The maid is fair, o'the youngest for a bride,
And I have bred her at my dearest cost,
In qualities of the best. This man of thine
Attempts her love: I pr'ythee, noble lord,
Join with me to forbid him her resort;
140
Myself
A& I.
11
TIMON OF ATHENS,
Myself have spoke in vain.
Tim. The man is honest.
Old. Ath. Therefore he will be, Timon:
His honesty rewards him in itself,
It must not bear my daughter.
Tim. Does she love him?
Old Ath. She is young, and apt :
Our own precedent passions do instruct us
What levity is in youth.
Tim. [To LUCIL.] Love you the maid?
Luc. Ay, my good lord, and she accepts of it.
150
Old Ath. If in her marriage my consent be missing,
I call the gods to witness, I will choose
Mine heir from forth the beggars of the world,
And dispossess her all.
Tim. How shall she be endow'd
If she be mated with an equal husband?
160
Old Ath. Three talents on the present; in future,
all.
Tim. This gentleman of mine hath serv'd me long;
To build his fortune, I will strain a little,
For 'tis a bond in men. Give him thy daughter:
What you bestow, in him I'll counterpoise,
And make him weigh with her.
Old. Ath. Most noble lord,
Pawn me to this your honour, she is his.
170
Tim. My hand to thee; mine honour on my pro-
mise.
Luc. Humbly I thank your lordship: Never may
That state or fortune fall into my keeping,
Which
12
Act 1.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Which is not ow'd to you!
[Ex. LUCIL. and Old Ath.
Poet. Vouchsafe my labour, and long live your
lordship!
Tim. I thank you; you shall hear from me anon:
Go not away.-What have you there, my friend?
Pain. A piece of painting; which I do beseech
Your lordship to accept.
Tim. Painting is welcome.
The painting is almost the natural man;
For since dishonour trafficks with man's nature,
He is but outside: These pencil'd figures are
Even such as they give out. I like your work ;
And you shall find, I like it: wait attendance
'Till you hear further from me.
Pain. The gods preserve you!
130
Tim. Well fare you, gentleman: Give me your
hand;
We must needs dine together.-Sir, your jewel
Hath suffer'd under praise.
Jew. What, my lord? dispraise ?
Tim. A mere satiety of commendations.
If I should pay you for't as 'tis extoll'd,
It would unclew me quite.
Jew. My lord, 'tis rated
190
As those, which sell, would give: But you well know,
Things of like value, differing in the owners,
Are prized by their masters: believe it, dear lord,
You mend the jewel by the wearing it.
Tim. Well mock'd.
200
Mer.
A& I.
13
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Mer. No, my good lord; he speaks the common
tongue,
Which all men speak with him.
Tim. Look, who comes here. Will you be chid ?
Enter APEMANTUS.
Jew. We will bear with your lordship.
Mer. He'll spare none.
Tim. Good morrow to thee, gentle Apemantus!
Apem. 'Till I be gentle, stay for thy good morrow;
When thou art Timon's dog, and these knaves
honest.
Tim. Why dost thou call them knaves? thou
know'st them not.
Apem. Are they not Athenians ?
Tim. Yes.
Apem. Then I repent not.
Jew. You know me, Apemantus.
210
Apem. Thou know'st, I do; I call'd thee by thy
name.
Tim. Thou art proud, Apemantus.
Apem. Of nothing so much, as that I am not like
Timon.
Tim. Whither art going?
Apem. To knock out an honest Athenian's brains.
Tim. That's a deed thou'lt die for.
219
Apem. Right, if doing nothing be death by the law.
Tim. How lik'st thou this picture, Apemantus?
Apem. The best, for the innocence.
Tim. Wrought he not well, that painted it ?
E
Apem.
14
A& I.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Apem. He wrought better, that made the painter;
and yet he's but a filthy piece of work.
Poct. You are a dog.
Apem. Thy mother's of my generation; What's
she, if I be a dog?
Tim. Wilt dine with me, Apemantus ?
Apem. No; I eat not lords.
Tim. An thou should'st, thoud'st anger ladies.
230
Apem. O, they eat lords; so they come by great
bellies.
Tim. That's a lascivious apprehension.
Apem. So thou apprehend'st it: Take it for thy
labour.
Tim. How dost thou like this jewel, Apemantus ?
Apem. Not so well as plain-dealing, which will not
cost a man a doit.
Tim. What dost thou think 'tis worth?
Apem. Not worth my thinking.
poet?
Poet. How now, philosopher?
Apem. Thou liest.
Poet. Art not one?
How now,
240
Apem. Yes.
Poet. Then I lie not.
Apem. Art.not a poet?
Poet. Yes.
Apem. Then thou liest: look in thy last work,
where thou hast feign'd him a worthy fellow.
Peet. That's not feign'd, he is so.
3.
250
Арств.
A&t I.
15
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Apem. Yes, he is worthy of thee, and to pay thee
for thy labour: He, that loves to be flatter'd, is wor-
thy o' the flatterer. Heavens, that I were a lord!
Tim. What would'st do then, Apemantus?
Apem. Even as Apemantus does now, hate a lord
with my heart.
Tim. What, thyself?
Apem. Ay.
Tim. Wherefore?
Apem. That I had no angry wit to be a lord.- 260
Art thou not a merchant ?
Mer. Ay, Apemantus.
Apem. Traffick confound thee, if the gods will not!
Mer. If traffick do it, the gods do it.
Apem. Traffick's thy god, and thy god confound
thee !
Trumpets sound. Enter a Messenger.
Tim. What trumpet's that?
Mes. 'Tis Alcibiades, and some twenty horse,
All of companionship.
Tim. Pray, entertain them; give them guide to us.
You must needs dine with me:- -Go not you hence,
'Till I have thank'd you; and, when dinner's done,
Shew me this piece.-I am joyful of your sights.- 272
Enter ALCIBIADES, with the rest.
Most welcome, sir!
Apem. So, so; there!-
Aches contract and starve your supple joints!
Bij
That
16
A& I.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
That there should be small love 'mongst these sweet
knaves,
And all this courtesy! The strain.of man's bred out
Into baboon and monkey.
Alc. Sir, you have sav'd my longing, and I feed
Most hungrily on your sight.
Tim. Right welcome, sir:
Ere we depart, we'll share a bounteous time
In different pleasures. Pray you, let us in.
280
[Exeunt all but APEMANTUS.
Enter two Lords.
1 lord. What time a day is't, Apemantus?
Apem. Time to be honest.
1 Lord. That time serves still.
Abem. The most accursed thou, that still omit'st it.
2 Lord. Thou art going to lord Timon's feast?
Apem. Ay; to see meat fill knaves, and wine heat
fools.
2 Lord. Fare thee well, fare thee well.
290
Apem. Thou art a fool, to bid me farewel twice.
2 Lord. Why, Apemantus?
Apem. Should'st have kept one to thyself, for I
mean to give thee none.
1 Lord. Hang thyself.
Apem. No, I will do nothing at thy bidding: make
thy requests to thy friend.
2 Lord. Away, unpeaceable dog, or I'll spurn
thee hence.
Apem. I will fly, like a dog, the heels of the ass.
1 Lord.
АЯ І.
17
TIMON OF ATHENS.
1 Lord. He's opposite to humanity. Come, shall
we in,
And taste lord Timon's bounty? he out-goes
The very heart of kindness.
301
2 Lord. He pours it out; Plutus, the god of gold,
Is but his steward: no meed, but he repays
Sevenfold above itself; no gift to him,
But breeds the giver a return exceeding
All use of quittance.
1 Lord. The noblest mind he carries,
That ever govern'd man.
310
2 Lord. Long may he live in fortunes! Shall we in´?
1 Lord. I'll keep you company.
[Exeunt.
SCENE II.
Another Apartment in TIMON's House. Hautboys playing
loud Musick. A great Banquet serv'd in; and then
enter TIMON, ALCIBIADES, LUCIUS, LUCULLUS,
SEMPRONIUS, and other Athenian Senators, with
VENTIDIUS. Then comes, dropping after all, APÈ-
MANTUS discontentedly, like himself.
Ven. Most honour'd Timon, it hath pleas'd the
gods to remember
My father's age, and call him to long peace.
He is gone happy, and has left me rich' :
Then, as in grateful virtue I am bound
To your free heart, I do return those talents,
:
Biij
Doubled
18
A&t I.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Doubled with thanks, and service, from whose help
I deriv'd liberty.
Tim. O, by no means,
Honest Ventidius: you mistake my love;
I gave it freely ever; and there's none
Can truly say, he gives, if he receives :
320
If our betters play at that game, we must not dare
To imitate them; Faults that are rich, are fair.
Ven. A noble spirit.
[They all stand ceremoniously looking on TIMON.
Tim. Nay, my lords, ceremony
Was but devis'd at first
To set a gloss on faint deeds, hollow welcomes,
Recanting goodness, sorry ere 'tis shown;
330
But where there is true friendship, there needs none.
Pray, sit; more welcome are ye to my fortunes,
Than they to me.
[They sit.
1 Lord. My lord, we always have confest it.
Apem. Ho, ho, confest it? hang'd it, have you not?
Tim. O, Apemantus !-you are welcome.
Apem. No; you shall not make me welcome :
I come to have thee thrust me out of doors.
Tim. Fye, thou art a churl; you have got a hu-
mour there
Does not become a man, 'tis much to blame :-
340
They say, my lords, ira furor brevis est,
But yonder man is ever angry.-
Go, let him have a table by himself;
For he does neither affect company,
Nor is he fit for it, indeed.
Apem.
A& I.
19
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Apem. Let me stay at thine own peril, Timon;
I come to observe; I give thee warning on't
Tim. I take no heed of thee; thou art an Athenian,
Therefore welcome: I myself would have no power:
I pr'ythee, let my meat make thee silent.
359
Apem. I scorn thy meat; 'twould choak me, for I
should
Ne'er flatter thee.-O you gods! what a number
Of men eat Timon, and he sees them not!
It grieves me, to see so many dip their meat
In one man's blood; and all the madness is,
He cheers them up too.
I wonder, men dare trust themselves with men :
Methinks, they should invite them without knives;
Good for their meat, and safer for their lives.
There's much example for't; the fellow, that
Sits next him now, parts bread with him, pledges
The breath of him in a divided draught,
360
Is the readiest man to kill him: it has been prov'd.
If I were a huge man, I should fear to drink at
meals;
Lest they should spy my wind-pipe's dangerous notes:
Great men should drink with harness on their throats.
Tim. My lord, in heart; and let the health go
round.
2 Lord. Let it flow this way, my good lord.
Apem. Flow this way!
A brave fellow!-he keeps his tides well. Timon, 370
Those healths will make thee, and thy state, look ill.
Here's
20
A& I.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Here's that, which is too weak to be a sinner,
Honest water, which ne'er left man i̇' the mire :
This, and my food, are equals; there's no odds.
Feasts are too proud to give thanks to the gods.
APEMANTUS'S GRACE.
Immortal gods, I crave no pelf;
I pray for no man but myself:
Grant I may never prove so fond,
To trust man on his oath, or bond
Or a harlot, for her weeping;
Or a dog, that seems a sleeping;
Or a keeper with my freedom;
;
Or my friends, if I should need 'em.
Amen. So fall to't :
Rich men sin, and I eat root.
380
[Eats and drinks.
Much good dich thy good heart, Apemantus!
Tim. Captain Alcibiades, your heart's in the field
now.
Alc. My heart is ever at your service, my lord.
Tim. You had rather be at a breakfast of enemies,
than a dinner of friends.
391
Alc. So they were bleeding new, my lord, there's
no meat like 'em; I could wish my best friend at
such a feast.
Apem. 'Would all those flatterers were thine ene-
mies then; that thou might'st kill 'em, and bid me
to 'em.
1 Lord.
A&t I.
21
TIMON OF ATHENS.
↑ Lord. Might we but have that happiness, my lord,
that you would once use our hearts, whereby we might
express some part of our zeals, we should think our-
selves for ever perfect.
401
Tim. O, no doubt, my good friends, but the gods
themselves have provided that I shall have much
help from you: How had you been my friends else?
why have you that charitable title from thousands,
did not you chiefly belong to my heart? I have
told more of you to myself, than you can with mo-
desty speak in your behalf; and thus far I confirm
you. O, you gods, think I, what need we have
any friends, if we should never have need of them?
they were the most needless creatures living, should
we ne'er have use for them: and would most resemble
sweet instruments hung up in cases, that keep their
sounds to themselves. Why, I have often wish'd
myself poorer, that I might come nearer to you.
We are born to do benefits: and what better or pro-
perer can we call our own, than the riches of our
friends? O, what a precious comfort 'tis, to have
so many, like brothers, commanding one another's
fortunes! O joy, e'en made away ere it can be born!
Mine eyes cannot hold water, methinks: to forget
their faults, I drink to you.
422
Apem. Thou weep'st to make them drink, Timon.
2 Lord. Joy had the like conception in our eyes,
And, at that instant, like a babe sprung up,
Apem. Ho, ho! I laugh to think that babe a bas-
tard.
3 Lord.
22
A&t 1.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
3 Lord. I promise you my lord, you mov'd me
much.
Apem. Much.
Sound Tucket.
Tim. What means that trump ?-How now?
Enter a Servant.
Seru. Please you, my lord, there are certain ladies
most desirous of admittance.
Tim. Ladies? What are their wills?
431
Serv. There comes with them a fore-runner, my
lord, which bears that office, to signify their pleasures.
Tim. I pray, let them be admitted.
Enter Cupid.
Cup. Hail to thee, worthy Timon ;—and to all
That of his bounties taste!-The five best senses
Acknowledge thee their patron; and come freely
To gratulate thy plenteous bosom :
The ear, taste, touch, smell, pleas'd from thy table
rise;
They only now come but to feast thine eyes.
440
Tim. They are welcome all; let 'em have kind ad-
mittance :-
Musick, make their welcome.
[Exit Cupid.
1 Lord. You see, my lord, how ample you are be-
lov'd.
Musick.
Act 1.
23
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Musick. Re-enter Cupid, with a Masque of Ladies as
Amazons, with Lutes in their Hands, dancing, and
playing.
Apem. Heyday! what a sweep of vanity comes this
way!
They dance! they are mad women.
Like madness is the glory of this life,
As this pomp shews to a little oil, and root.
We make ourselves fools, to disport ourselves;
And spend our flatteries, to drink those men,
Upon whose age we void it up again,
450
With poisonous spite and envy. Who lives, that's
not
Depraved, or depraves? who dies, that bears
Not one spurn to their graves of their friends' gift?
I should fear, those, that dance before me now,
Would one day stamp upon me: It has been done;
Men shut their doors against a setting sun.
The Lords rise from Table, with much adoring of Timon;
and, to shew their Loves, each singles out an Amazon,
and all dance, Men with Women; a lofty Strain or twe
to the Hautboys, and cease.
Tim. You have done our pleasures much grace,
fair ladies,
Set a fair fashion on our entertainment,
Which was not half so beautiful and kind;
You have added worth unto't, and lively lustre,
And entertain'd me with mine own device;
460
I am
24
А& 1.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
I am to thank you for it.
1 Lady. My lord, you take us even at the best.
Apem. 'Faith, for the worst is filthy; and would
not hold
Taking, I doubt me.
Tim. Ladies, there is an idle banquet attends you.
Please you to dispose yourselves.
All Lad. Most thankfully, my lord.
Tim. Flavius.-
Flav. My lord.
Tim. The little casket bring me hither.
Flav. Yes, my lord.-More jewels yet!
There is no crossing him in his humour;
[Exeunt.
470
[Aside.
Else I should tell him,-Well,-i'faith, I should,
When all's spent, he'd be cross'd then, an he could.
'Tis pity, bounty had not eyes behind;
That man might ne'er be wretched for his mind.
[Exit, and returns with the Casket,
1 Lord. Where be our men?
Serv. Here, my lord, in readiness.
2 Lord. Our horses.
Tim. O my friends, I have one word
To say to you :-Look you, my good lord, I must
Entreat you, honour me so much, as to
480
Advance this jewel; accept, and wear it, kind my
lord.
1 Lord. I am so far already in your gifts,—
All. So are we all.
Enter
A&t I.
25
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Enter a Servant.
Serv. My lord, there are certain nobles of the se-
nate
Newly alighted, and come to visit you.
Tim. They are fairly welcome.
Flav. I beseech your honour,
Vouchsafe me a word; it doth concern you near.
490
Tim. Near? why then another time I'll hear thee:
I pr'ythee, let us be provided
To shew them entertainment.
Flav. [Aside.] I scarce know how.
Enter another Servant.
2 Serv. May it please your honour, lord Lucius,
Out of his free love, hath presented to you
Four milk-white horses, trapt in silver.
Tim. I shall accept them fairly let the presents
Be worthily entertain'd.-How now? what news?
Enter a third Servant.
499
3 Serv. Please you, my lord, that honourable gen-
tleman, lord Lucullus, entreats your company to-
morrow to hunt with him; and hath sent your hon-
our two brace of greyhounds.
Tim. I'll hunt with him; And let them be receiv'd,
Not without fair reward.
Flav. [Aside.] What will this come to?
He commands us to provide, and give great gifts,
And all out of an empty coffer.-
С
510
Nor
g6
Aa I,
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Nor will he know his purse; or yield me this,
To shew him what a beggar his heart is,
Being of no power to make his wishes good:
His promises fly so beyond his state,
That what he speaks is all in debt, he owes
For every word; he is so kind, that he now
Pays interest for't; his land's put to their books,
Well, 'would I were gently put out of office,
Before I were forc'd out!
Happier is he that has no friend to feed,
Than such that do even enemies exceed.
I bleed inwardly for my lord.
520
[Exit.
Tim. You do yourselves much wrong, you bate
too much
Of your own merits :-Here, my lord; a trifle of
our love.
2 Lord. With more than common thanks I will re-
ceive it.
3 Lord. O, he is the very soul of bounty!
Tim. And now I remember, my lord, you gave
Good words the other day of a bay courser
I rode on it is yours, because you lik'd it.
:
530
2 Lord. O, I beseech you, pardon me, my lord,
In that.
Tim. You may take my word, my lord; I know,
no man
Can justly praise, but what he does affect:
I weigh my friend's affection with mine own;
I tell you true. I'll call on you.
All Lords. O,
none so welcome.
Tim.
Act I.
27
TIMON OF ATHENS.
་
Tim. I take all and your several visitations
So kind to heart, 'tis not enough to give;
Methinks, I could deal kingdoms to my friends,
And ne'er be weary.-Alcibiades,
541
Thou art a soldier, therefore seldom rich,
It comes in charity to thee: for all thy living
Is 'mongst the dead; and all the lands thou hast
Lie in a pitch'd field.
Alc. In defiled land, my lord.
1 Lord. We are so virtuously bound,-
Tim, And so am I to you.
2 Lord. So infinite endear'd,-
Tim. All to you.-Lights! more lights.
1 Lord. The best of happiness,
550
Honour, and fortunes, keep with you, lord Ti-
mon!
Tim. Ready for his friends.
[Exeunt ALCIBIADES, Lords, &c.
Apcm. What a coil's here!
Serving of becks, and jutting out of bums!
I doubt, whether their legs be worth the sums
That are given for 'em. Friendship's full of dregs :
Methinks, false hearts should never have sound legs.
Thus honest fools lay out their wealth on court'sies.
Tim. Now, Apemantus, if thou wert not sullen,
I would be good to thee.
Apem. No, I'll nothing: for,
561
If I should be brib'd too, there would be none left
To rail upon thee; and then thou would'st sin the
faster.
Cij
Thou
28
A& II.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Thou giv'st so long, Timon, I fear me, thou
Wilt give away thyself in paper shortly:
What need these feasts, pomps, and vain-glories?
Tim. Nay,
If you begin to rail once on society,
I am sworn, not to give regard to you.
Farewel; and come with better musick.
Apem. So;-
570
[Exit.
Thou wilt not hear me now,-thou shalt not then,
I'll lock
Thy heaven from thee. O, that men's ears should be
To counsel deaf, but not to flattery!
[Exit.
ACT II. SCENE I.
A public Place in the City.
Enter a Senator.
Senator.
AND
ND late, five thousand to Varro; and to Isidore,
He owes nine thousand ;-besides my former sum,
Which makes it five and twenty.-Still in motion
Of raging waste? It cannot hold it will not.
If I want gold, steal but a beggar's dog,
And give it Timon, why, the dog coins gold:
If I would sell my horse, and buy twenty more
Better than he, why give my horse to Timon,
Ask nothing, give it him, it foals me, straight,
And able horses: No porter at his gate;
10
But
Aа N.
29
TIMON OF ATHENS.
But rather one that smiles, and still invites
All that pass by. It cannot hold; no reason
Can found his state in safety,—Caphis, ho!
Caphis, I say!
Enter CAPHIS.
Caph. Here, sir; What is your pleasure?
Sen. Get on your cloak, and haste you to lord
Timon;
Importune him for my monies; be not ceas'd
With slight denial; nor then silenc'd, when-
Commend me to your master-and the cap
21
Plays in the right hand, thus:—but tell him, sirrah,
My uses cry to me, I must serve my turn
Out of mine own; his days and times are past,
And my reliances on his fracted dates
Has smit my credit: I love, and honour him;
Put must not break my back, to heal his finger:
Immediate are my needs; and my relief
Must not be tost and turn'd to me in words,
But find supply immediate. Get you gone :
Put on a most importunate aspect,
A visage of demand; for, I do fear,
When every feather sticks in his own wing,
Lord Timon will be left a naked gull,
Which flashes now a phoenix. Get you gone.
Caph. I go, sir.
Sen. I go, sir?-take the bonds along with you,
And have the dates in compt.
Ciij
30
Caph.
30
A&t II.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Caph. I will, sir.
Sen. Go.
[Exeunt.
SCENE II.
TIMON'S Hall. Enter FLAVIUS, with many Bills in his
Hand.
Flav. No care, no stop! so senseless of expence,
That he will neither know how to maintain it,
Nor cease his flow of riot; Takes no account
How things go from him; nor resumes no care
Of what is to continue; Never mind
Was to be so unwise, to be so kind.
What shall be done? He will not hear, 'till feel:
40
I must be round with him, now he comes from hunt-
ing.
Enter CAPHIS, with the Servants of ISIDORE and
Fye, fye, fye, fyel
VARRO.
Caph. Good even, Varro: What,
You come for money?
Var. Is't not your business too?
50
Caph. It is :—And your's too, Isidore?
Isid. It is so.
Caph. 'Would we were all discharg'd!
Var. I fear it.
Caph. Here comes the lord.
Enter
Act II.
31
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Enter TIMON, ALCIBIADES, &c.
Tim. So soon as dinner's done, we'll forth again,
My Alcibiades.—With me? What is your will ?
[They present their Bills.
Caph. My lord, here is a note of certain dues.
Tim. Dues? Whence are you?
Caph. Of Athens here, my lord.
Tim. Go to my steward.
60
Caph. Please it your lordship, he hath put me off
To the succession of new days this month:
My master is awak'd by great occasion,
To call upon his own; and humbly prays you,
That with your other noble parts you'll suit,
In giving him his right.
Tim. Mine honest friend,
I pr'ythee, but repair to me next morning.
Caph. Nay, good my lord,-
Tim. Contain thyself, good friend.
Var. One Varro's servant, my good lord,-
Isid. From Isidore;
He humbly prays your speedy payment,-
70
Caph. If you did know, my lord, my master's
wants,-
Var. 'Twas due on forfeiture, my lord, six weeks,
And past.-
Isid. Your steward puts me off, my lord; and I
Am sent expressly to your lordship.
Tim. Give me breath:-
80
I do
32
A&t H.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
I do beseech you, good my lords, keep on;
[Exeunt ALCIBIADES, &c.
I'll wait upon you instantly.-Come hither, pray
you.
[TO FLAVIUS.
How goes the world, that I am thus encounter'd,
With clamorous demands of broken bonds,
And the detention of long-since-due debts,
Against my honour ♪
Flav. Please you, gentlemen,
The time is unagreeable to this business :
Your importunacy cease, 'till after dinner;
That I may make his lordship understand
Wherefore you are not paid.
90
Tim. Do so, my friends: See them well enter-
tain'd.
Flav. Pray draw near.
[Exit TIMON.
[Exit FLAVIUS.
Enter APEMANTUS, and a Fool.
Caph. Stay, stay, here comes the fool with Ape-
mantus;
Let's have some sport with 'em.
Var. Hang him, he'll abuse us.
Isid. A plague upon him, dog!
Var. How dost, fool?
Apem. Dost dialogue with thy shadow ?
Var. I speak not to thee.
Apem. No, 'tis to thyself.-Come away.
100
[To the Fool.
Isid. [To Var.] There's the fool hangs on your
back already.
Apem.
- A&t !!.
33
TIMON OF ATHENS,
+
Apem. No, thou stand'st single, thou art not on
him yet.
Caph. Where's the fool now ?
Apem. He last ask'd the question. Poor rogues,
and usurers' men! bawds between gold and want!
All. What are we Apemantus?
Apem. Asses.
All. Why?
110
Apem. That you ask me, what you are, and do not
know yourselves.—Speak to 'em, fool.
Fool. How do you, gentlemen?
All. Gramercies, good fool: How does your mis-
tress?
Fool. She's e'en setting on water to scald such
chickens as you are.
Corinth.
'Would, we could see you at
Apem. Good! gramercy.
Enter Page.
120
Fool. Look you, here comes my master's page.
Page. [To the Fool.] Why, how now, captain?
what do you in this wise company?-How dost thou,
Apemantus?
Apem. 'Would I had a rod in my mouth, that I
might answer thee profitably.
Page. Pr'ythee, Apemantus, read me the super-
scription of these letters; I know not which is which.
Apem. Can'st not read è
Page. No.
130
Apem.
34
A& II.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
thou art hang'd.
Apem. There will little learning die then, that day
This is to lord Timon; this to
Alcibiades. Go;
thou wast born a bastard, and
thou'lt die a bawd.
Page. Thou wast whelp'd a dog; and thou shalt
famish, a dog's death.
Answer not, I am gone.
[Exit.
Apem. Even so, thou out-run'st grace.
Fool, I will go with you to lord Timon's.
Fool. Will you leave me there ?-
Apem. If Timon stay at home.-You three serve
three usurers?
All. Ay; 'would they serv'd us!
141
Apem. So would I,—as good a trick as ever hang-
man serv'd thief.
Fool. Are you three usurers' men?
All. Ay, fool.
Fool. I think, no usurer but has a fool to his ser-
vant My mistress is one, and I am her fool. When
men come to borrow of your masters, they approach
sadly, and go away merry; but they enter my mas-
ter's house merrily, and go away sadly: The reason
of this?
Var. I could render one.
152
Apem. Do it then, that we may account thee a
whore-master, and a knave; which notwithstanding,
thou shalt be no less esteemed.
Var. What is a whore-master, fool?
Fool. A fool in good clothes, and something like
thee. 'Tis a spirit: sometime, it appears like a lord;
sometime,
A& II.
35
TIMON OF ATHENS.
sometime, like a lawyer; sometime, like a philoso-
pher, with two stones more than's artificial one:
He is very often like a knight; and generally, in all
shapes, that man goes up and down in, from four-
score to thirteen, this spirit walks in.
164
Var. Thou art not altogether a fool.
Fool. Nor thou altogether a wise man: as much
foolery as I have, so much wit thou lack'st.
Apem. That answer might have become Apemantus.
All. Aside, aside; here comes lord Timon.
Re-enter TIMON, and FLAVIUS.
Apem. Come with me, fool, come.
170
Fool. I do not always follow lover, elder brother,
and woman; sometime the philosopher.
Flav. Pray you, walk near; I'll speak with you
Exeunt APEMANTUS, and Fool.
Tim. You make me marvel: Wherefore, ere this
anon.
time,
Had you not fully laid my state before me;
That I might so have rated my expence,
As I had leave of means?
Flav. You would not hear me,
At many leisures I propos'd.
Tim. Go to:
Perchance, some single vantages you took,
When my indisposition put you back;
And that unaptness made you minister,
Thus to excuse yourself.
Flav. O my good lord
183
Ai
36
A& II.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
189
At many times I brought in my accounts,
Laid them before you; you would throw them off,
And say, you found them in mine honesty.
When, for some trifling present, you have bid me
Return so much, I have shook my head and wept;
Yea, 'gainst the authority of manners, pray'd you
To hold your hand more close: I did endure
Not seldom, nor no slight checks; when I have
Prompted you, in the ebb of your estate,
And your great flow of debts. My dear-lov'd lord,
Though you hear now, yet now's too late a time;
The greatest of your having lacks a half
To pay your present debts.
Tim. Let all my land be sold.
200
Flav. 'Tis all engag'd, some forfeited and gone;
And what remains will hardly stop the mouth
Of present dues: the future comes apace:
What shall defend the interim and at length
How goes our reckoning?
Tim. To Lacedæmon did my land extend.
Flav. O my good lord, the world is but a word;
Were it all yours, to give it in a breath,
How quickly were it gone?
Tim. You tell me true.
21C
Flav. If you suspect my husbandry, or falsehood,
Call me before the exactest auditors,
And set me on the proof. So the gods bless me,
When all our offices have been opprest
With riotous feeders; when our vaults have wept
With drunken spilth of wine; when every room
Hath
A&t II.
37
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Hath blaz'd with lights, and bray'd with minstrelsy;
I have retir'd me to a wasteful cock,
And set mine eyes at flow.
Tim. Pr'ythee, no more.
220
Flav. Heavens, have I said, the bounty of this
lord!
How many prodigal bits have slaves, and peasants,
This night englutted! Who is not Timon's?
What heart, head, sword, force, means, but is lord.
Timon's?
Great Timon's, noble, worthy, royal Timon's ?
Ah! when the means are gone, that buy this praise,
The breath is gone whereof this praise is made :
Feast-won, fast-lost; one cloud of winter showers,
These flies are couch'd.
Tim. Come, sermon me no further:
No villainous bounty yet hath past my heart;
Unwisely, not ignobly, have I given.
230
Why dost thou weep? Can'st thou the conscience
lack,
To think I shall lack friends? Secure thy heart;
If I would broach the vessels of my love,
And try the argument of hearts by borrowing,
Men, and men's fortunes, could I frankly use,
As I can bid thee speak.
Flav. Assurance bless your thoughts!
Tim. And, in some sort, these wants of mine are
crown'd,
That I account them blessings; for by these
Shall I try friends: You shall perceive, how you
D
240
Mistake
38
Act II.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Mistake my fortunes; I am wealthy in my friends.
Within there,-Flaminius! Servilius!
Enter FLAMINIUS, SERVILIUS, and other Servants.
Serv. My lord, my lord,-
Tim. I will dispatch you severally,-You, to lord
Lucius,-
To lord Lucullus you; I hunted with his
Honour to-day ;-You, to Sempronius,—
Commend me to their loves; and, I am proud, say,
That my occasions have found time to use them 250
Toward a supply of money: let the request
Be fifty talents.
Flam. As you have said, my lord.
Flav. Lord Lucius, and Lucullus? hum!-
Tim. Go you, sir, to the senators
[To FLAV.
(Of whom, even to the state's best health, I have
Deserv'd this hearing), bid 'em send o' the instant
A thousand talents to me.
Flav. I have been bold
(For that I knew it the most general way),
To them to use your signet, and your name;
But they do shake their heads, and I am here
No richer in return.
Tim. Is't true? can't be ?
260
Flav. They answer, in a joint and coporate voice,
That now they are at fall, want treasure, cannot
Do what they would; are sorry-you are honour-
able,—
But yet they could have wish'd-they know not-
Something
A&t II.
39
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Something hath been amiss-a noble nature
And so, intending other serious matters,
269
May catch a wrench-would all were well-'tis pity-
After distasteful looks, and these hard fractions,
With certain half-caps, and cold-moving nods,
They froze me into silence.
Tim. You gods reward them!-
280
I pr'ythee, man, look cheerly: These old fellows
Have their ingratitude in them hereditary :
Their blood is cak'd, 'tis cold, it seldom flows;
'Tis lack of kindly warmth, they are not kind;
And nature, as it grows again toward earth,
Is fashion'd for the journey, dull, and heavy.—
Go to Ventidius,-Pr'ythee, be not sad,
Thou art true, and honest; ingenuously I speak,
No blame belongs to thee: -Ventidius lately
Bury'd his father: by whose death, he's stepp'd
Into a great estate: when he was poor,
Imprison'd, and in scarcity of friends,
I clear'd him with five talents: Greet him from me;
Bid him suppose, some good necessity
289
Touches his friend, which craves to be remember'd
With those five talents :-that had, give it these
fellows
To whom 'tis instant due. Ne'er speak, or think,
That Timon's fortunes 'mong his friends can sink.
Flav. I would, I could not think it; That thought
is bounty's foe;
Being free itself, it thinks all others so.
[Exeunt.
Dij
ACT
40
A& III.
TIMON OF ATHENS,
ACT III. SCENE I.
LUCULLUS's House in Athens. FLAMINIUS waiting.
Enter a Servant to him.
I
Servant.
HAVE told my lord of you, he is coming down
to you.
Flam. I thank you, sir.
Enter LUCULLUS.
Serv. Here's my lord.
Lucul. [Aside.] One of lord Timon's men? a gift,
I warrant. Why, this hits right; I dreamt of a
silver bason and ewer to-night. Flaminius, honest
Flaminius; you are very respectively welcome, sir.
-Fill me some wine.-And how does that honour-
able, complete, free-hearted gentleman of Athens,
thy very bountiful good lord and master?
Flam. His health is well, sir.
11
Lucul. I am right glad that his health is well, sir:
And what hast thou there under thy cloak, pretty
Flaminius?
Flam. 'Faith, nothing but an empty box, sir;
which, in my lord's behalf, I come to entreat your
honour to supply; who, having great and instant
occasion to use fifty talents, hath sent to your lord-
ship to furnish him; nothing doubting your present
assistance therein.
2.1
Lucul.
A&t III.
41
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Lucul. La, la, la, la,—nothing doubting says he?
alas, good lord! a noble gentleman 'tis, if he
would not keep so good a house. Many a time and
often I ha' din'd with him, and told him on't; and
come again to supper to him, of purpose to have him
spend less and yet he would embrace no counsel,
take no warning by my coming. Every man has his
fault, and honesty is his; I ha' told him on't, but I
could never get him from't.
Re-enter Servant, with Wine.
30
Serv. Please your lordship, here is the wine.
Lucul. Flaminius, I have noted thee always wise.
Here's to thee.
Flam. Your lordship speaks your pleasure.
Lucul. I have observ'd thee always for a towardly
prompt spirit,-give thee thy due, and one that
knows what belongs to reason; and canst te the
time well, if the time use thee well: good parts in
thee. Get you gone sirrah. [To the Servant, who
goes out.]-Draw nearer, honest Flaminius. Thy
lord's a bountiful gentleman: but thou art wise;
and thou know'st well enough, although thou
com'st to me, that this is no time to lend money;
especially upon bare friendship, without security.
Here's three solidares for thee; good boy, wink
at me, and say, thou saw'st me not.
well.
Fare thee
47
Flam. Is't possible, the world should so much dif-
for;
Diij
And
42
A& III.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
And we alive, that liv'd? Fly, damned baseness,
To him that worships thee.
[Throwing the Money away.
Lucul. Ha! Now I see, thou art a fool, and fit for
[Exit LUCULLUS.
Flam. May these add to the number that may scald
thy master.
thee!
Let molten coin be thy damnation,
Thou disease of a friend, and not himself!
Has friendship such a faint and milky heart,
It turns in less than two nights? O you gods,
I feel my master's passion! This slave,
Unto his honour, has my lord's meat in him :
Why should it thrive, and turn to nutriment,
When he is turn'd to poison?
O, may diseases only work upon't!
60
And, when he's sick to death, let not that part of
nature
Which my lord paid for, be of any power
To expel sickness, but prolong his hour!
[Exit.
SCENE II.
A public Street. Enter LUCIUS, with three Strangers.
Luc. Who, the lord Timon? he is my very good
friend, and an honourable gentleman.
1 Stran. We know him for no less, though we are
but strangers to him. But I can tell you one thing,
my lord, and which I hear from common rumours,
now
A& III.
43
TIMON OF ATHENS.
نقره
now lord Timon's happy hours are done and past,
and his estate shrinks from him.
72
Luc. Fye, no, do not believe it; he cannot want
for money.
2 Stran. But believe you this, my lord, that, not
long ago, one of his men was with the lord Lucullus,
to borrow so many talents; nay, urg'd extremely
for't, and shew'd what necessity belong'd to't, and
yet was deny'd.
Luc. How?
2 Stran. I tell you, deny'd, my lord.
80
Luc. What a strange case was that? now, before
the gods, I am asham'd on't. Deny'd that honour-
able man? there was very little honour shew'd in't.
For my own part, I must needs confess, I have re-
ceiv'd some small kindnesses from him, as money,
plate, jewels, and such like trifles, nothing com-
paring to his; yet, had he mistook him, and sent
to me, I should ne'er have deny'd his occasion so
many talents.
90
Enter SERVILIUS.
Ser. See, by good hap, yonder's my lord; I have
sweat to see his honour.-My honour'd lord,—
[TO LUCIUS.
Luc. Servilius! you are kindly met, sir. Fare thee
well :-Commend me to thy honourable-virtuous
lord, my very exquisite friend.
Ser. May it please your honour, my lord hath
sent
Luc
44
A&t HI.
TIMON OF ATHENS,
•
Luc. Ha! what hath he sent ? I am so much en-
dear'd to that lord; he's ever sending; How shall
I thank him, think'st thou? And what has he sent
now?
100
Ser. He has only sent his present occasion now, my
lord; requesting your lordship to supply his instant
use with so many talents.
Luc. I know, his lordship is but merry with me;
He cannot want fifty-five hundred talents.
Ser. But in the mean time he wants less, my lord.
If his occasion were not virtuous,
I should not urge it half so faithfully.
Luc. Dost thou speak seriously, Servilius?
Ser. Upon my soul, 'tis true, sir.
110
Luc. What a wicked beast was I, to disfurnish
myself against such a good time, when I might
have shewn myself honourable? how unluckily it
happen'd, that I should purchase the day before
for a little part, and undo a great deal of honour ?—
Servilius, now before the gods, I am not able to
do't; the more beast, I say :-I was sending to use
lord Timon myself, these gentlemen can witness ;
but I would not, for the wealth of Athens, I had
done it now, Commend me bountifully to his good
lordship; and, I hope, his honour will conceive
the fairest of me, because I have no power to be
kind-And tell him this from me, I count it one
of my greatest afflictions, say, that I cannot plea-
sure such an honourable gentleman. Good Servilius,
will
A& III.
45
TIMON OF ATHENS.
will you befriend me so far, as to use my own words
to him?
Ser. Yes, sir, I shall.
Luc. I'll look you out a good turn, Servilius.—
[Exit SERVILIUS.
True, as you said, Timon is shrunk, indeed;
And he, that's once deny'd, will hardly speed.
1 Stran. Do you observe this, Hostilius?
2 Stran. Ay, too well.
1 Stran. Why, this is the world's sport;
130
[Exit.
And just of the same piece is every flatterer's soul.
Who can call him his friend,
That dips in the same dish? for, in my knowing,
Timon has been this lord's father,
And kept his credit with his purse;
Supported his estate; nay, Timon's money
Has paid his men their wages: He ne'er drinks,
But Timon's silver treads upon his lip;
And yet (O, see the monstrousness of man,
When he looks out in an ungrateful shape !)
He does deny him, in respect of his,
What charitable men afford to beggars.
3 Stran. Religion groans at it.
1 Stran. For mine own part,
I never tasted Timon in my life,
140
Nor came any of his bounties over me,
150
To mark me for his friend; yet, I protest,
For his right noble mind, illustrious virtue,
And honourable carriage,
Had
46
AЯ III.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Had his necessity made use of me,
I would have put my wealth into donation,
And the best half should have return'd to him,
So much I love his heart: But, I perceive,
Men must learn now with pity to dispense;
For policy sits above conscience.
[Exeunt.
SCENE III.
SEMPRONIUS's House.
Enter SEMPRONIUS, with a
Servant of TIMON'S.
Sem, Must he needs trouble me in't? Hum! 'Bove
all others?
He might have try'd lord Lucius, or Lucullus;
And now Ventidius is wealthy too,
Whom he redeem'd from prison: All these
Owe their estates unto him.
Serv. My lord,
160
f
They have all been touch'd, and found base metal
for
They have all deny'd him!
Sem. How have they deny'd him?
Has Ventidius and Lucullus deny'd him?
And does he send to me? Three? hum!
170
It shews but little love or judgment in him.
Must I be his last refuge? His friends, like physici-
ans,
Thrive, give him over; Must I take the cure upon
me?
He
A& III.
47
TIMON OF ATHENS.
He has much disgrac'd me in't; I am angry at him,
That might have known my place: I see no sense
for't,
But his occasions might have woo'd me first;
For, in my conscience, I was the first man
That e'er receiv'd gift from him:
And does he think so backwardly of me now,
That I'll requite it last? No:
So it may prove an argument of laughter
180
To the rest, and I 'mongst lords be thought a fool.
I had rather than the worth of thrice the sum,
He had sent to me first, but for my mind's sake;
I had such a courage to do him good. But now re-
turn,
And with their faint reply this answer join;
Who bates mine honour, shall not know my coin.
[Exit.
Serv. Excellent! Your lordship's a goodly vil-
lain. The devil knew not what he did, when he
made man politick; he cross'd himself by't: and I
cannot think, but, in the end, the villainies of man
will set him clear. How fairly this lord strives to
appear foul? takes virtuous copies to be wicked;
like those that, under hot ardent zeal, would set
whole realms on fire.
Of such a nature is his politick love.
This was my lord's best hope; now all are fled,
Save only the gods: Now his friends are dead,
Doors, that were ne'er acquainted with their wards
Many a bounteous year, must be employ'd
200
Now
48
A&t 111.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Now to guard sure their master.
And this is all a liberal course allows;
Who cannot keep his wealth, must keep his house.
[Exit.
SCENE IV.
TIMON'S Hall. Enter VARRO, TITUS, HORTEN-
SIUS, LUCIUS, and other Servants of TIMON's Cre-
ditors, who wait for his coming out.
Var. Well met; good morrow, Titus, and Hor-
tensius.
Tit. The like to you, kind Varro.
Hor. Lucius?
What, do we meet together?
Luc. Ay, and, I think,
One business does command us all; for mine
Is money.
Tit. So is theirs, and ours.
Enter PHILOTUS.
Luc. And sir Philotus too!
Phi. Good day at once.
210
Luc. Welcome, good brother. What do you think
the hour?
Phi. Labouring for nine.
Luc. So much?
Phi. Is not my lord seen yet?
Luc. Not yet.
Phi.
A&t III.
49
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Phi. I wonder on't; he was wont to shine at seven.
Luc. Ay, but the days are waxed shorter with him
You must consider, that a prodigal's course
Is like the sun's; but not, like his, recoverable
I fear,
'Tis deepest winter in lord Timon's purse;
That is, one may reach deep enough, and yet
Find little.
Phi. I am of your fear for that.
Tit. I'll shew you how to observe a strange event.
Your lord sends now for money.
Hor. Most true, he does.
Tit. And he wears jewels now of Timon's gift,
For which I wait for money.
Hor. It is against my heart.
Luc. Mark, how strange it shows,
Timon in this should pay more than he owes :
And e'en as if your lord should wear rich jewels,
And send for money for 'em.
230
Hor. I am weary of this charge, the gods can wit-
ness :
I know, my lord hath spent of Timon's wealth, 240
And now ingratitude makes it worse than stealth.
Var. Yes, mine's three thousand crowns: What's
yours?
Luc. Five thousand mine.
Var. 'Tis much deep and it should seem by the
sum,
:
Your master's confidence was above mine;
Else, surely, his had equall'd.
E
Enter
50
A&t 111
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Enter FLAMINIUS.
Tit. One of lord Timon's men.
Luc. Flaminius! sir, a word: Pray, is my lord
Ready to come forth?
Flam. No, indeed, he is not.
250
Tit. We attend his lordship; pray, signify so
much.
Flam. I need not tell him that; he knows, you are
too diligent.
[Exit FLAMINIUS.
Enter FLAVIUS in a Cloak, muffled.
Luc. Ha! is not that his steward muffled so?
He goes away in a cloud: call him, call him.
Tit. Do you hear, sir?
Var. By your leave, sir,——
Flav. What do you ask of me, my friend?
Tit. We wait for certain money here, sir.
Flav. Ay, if money were as certain as your wait-
ing,
"Twere sure enough.
260
Why then preferr'd you not your sums and bills,
When your false masters eat of my lord's meat ?
Then they would smile, and fawn upon his debts,
And take down the interest in their gluttonous maws;
You do yourselves but wrong, to stir me up ;
Let me pass quietly:
Believ't, my lord and I have made an end;
I have no more to reckon, he to spend.
Luc. Ay, but this answer will not serve,
270
2
Flav
Act III.
51
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Flav. If 'twill not serve, 'tis not so base as you;
For you serve knaves.
[Exit.
Var. How! what does his cashier'd worship mutter?
Tit. No matter what; he's poor,
And that's revenge enough. Who can speak broader
Than he that has no house to put his head in?
Such may rail 'gainst great buildings.
Enter SERVILIUS.
Tit. O, here's Servilius; now we shall know
Some answer.
Serv. If I might beseech you, gentlemen,
To repair some other hour, I should
Derive much from it: for, take it on my soul,
My lord leans wondrously to discontent :
280
His comfortable temper has forsook him;
He is much out of health, and keeps his chamber.
Luc. Many do keep their chambers, are not sick :
And, if he be so far beyond his health,
Methinks, he should the sooner pay his debts,
And make a clear way to the gods.
Ser. Good gods!
Tit. We cannot take this for answer, sir.
290
Flam. [Within.] Servilius, help!-my lord! my
lord 1
Enter TIMON, in a Rage.
Tim. What, are my doors oppos'd against my pas-
sage?
Have I been ever free, and must my house
Eij
Be
52
A&t III.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Be my retentive enemy, my jail?
The place, which I have feasted, does it now,
Like all mankind, shew me an iron heart?
Luc. Put in now, Titus.
Tit. My lord, here is my bill.
Luc. Here's mine.
Var. And mine, my lord.
Caph. And ours, my lord.
Phi. All our bills.
300
Tim. Knock me down with 'em, cleave me to the
girdle.
Luc. Alas! my lord,-
Tim. Cut my heart in sums.
Tit. Mine, fifty talents.
Tim. Tell out my blood.
Luc. Five thousand crowns, my lord.
310
Tim. Five thousand drops pays that.-
What yours?—and yours?
1 Var. My lord,-
2 Var. My lord,
Tim. Tear me, take me, and the gods fall upon
you!
[Exit.
Hor. 'Faith, I perceive, our masters may throw
their caps at their money; these debts may be well
call'd desperate ones, for a madman owes 'em.
Re-enter TIMON, and FLAVIUS.
[Exeunt.
Tim. They have e'en put my breath from me, the
slaves:
Creditors!
A& III.
53
TIMON OF ATHENS.
320
Creditors!-devils.
Flav. My dear lord,-
Tim. What if it should be so ?
Flav. My lord,-
Tim. I'll have it so :-My steward!
Flav. Here, my lord.
Tim. So fitly?-Go, bid all my friends again,
Lucius, Lucullus, and Sempronius, all;
I'll once more feast the rascals.
Flav. O my lord,
You only speak from your distracted soul;
There is not so much left, to furnish out
A moderate table.
Tim. Be it not in thy care; go,
:
I charge thee, invite them all let in the tide
Of knaves once more; my cook and I'll provide.
330
[Exeunt.
SCENE V.
The Senate-House. Senators, and ALCIBIADES.
1 Sen. My lord, you have my voice to't; the fault's
bloody;
'Tis necessary he should die :
Nothing emboldens sin so much as mercy.
2 Sen. Most true; the law shall bruise 'em.
339
Alc. Honour, health, and compassion to the senate!
1 Sen. Now, captain?
Alc. I am an humble suitor to your
Eiij
virtues
; ܪ
For
1
54
A&t III.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
For pity is the virtue of the law,
And none but tyrants use it cruelly.
It pleases time, and fortune, to lie heavy
Upon a friend of mine, who, in hot blood,
Hath stept into the law, which is past depth
To those that, without heed, do plunge into it.
He is a man, setting his fate aside,
Of comely virtues :
Nor did he soil the fact with cowardice
(An honour in him, which buys out his fault);
But, with a noble fury, and fair spirit,
Seeing his reputation touch'd to death,
He did oppose his foe :
And with such sober and unnoted passion
He did behave his anger, ere 'twas spent,
As if he had but prov'd an argument.
1 Sen. You undergo too strict a paradox,
Striving to make an ugly deed look fair :
350
ვნი
Your words have took such pains, as if they labour`d
To bring man-slaughter into form, and set quarrel-
ling
Upon the head of valour; which, indeed,
Is valour misbegot, and came into the world
When sects and factions were newly born:
He's truly valiant, that can wisely suffer
The worst that man can breathe; and make his
wrongs
His outsides; to wear them like his raiment, carc-
jessly;
And ne'er prefer his injuries to his heart,
To
A& III.
55
TIMON OF ATHENS.
To bring it into danger.
If wrongs be evils, and enforce us kill,
What fully 'tis, to hazard life for ill?
dle. My lord,—
Sen. You cannot make gross sins look clear;
To revenge is no valour, but to bear.
Alc. My lords, then, under favour, pardon me,
If I speak like a captain.-
Why do fond men expose themselves to battle,
And not endure all threats; sleep upon it,
And let the foes quietly cut their throats,
Without repugnancy? If there be
370
380
Such valour in the bearing, what make we
Abroad? why then, women are more valiant,
That stay at home, if bearing carry it;
The ass, more captain than the lion; and the fellow,
Loaden with irons, wiser than the judge,
If wisdom be in suffering. O my lords,
As you are great, be pitifully good:
Who cannot condemn rashness in cold blood?
To kill, I grant, is sin's extremest gust;
But, in defence, by mercy, 'tis most just.
To be in anger, is impiety;
But who is man, that is not angry?
Weigh but the crime with this.
2 Sen. You breathe in vain.
Alc. In vain? his service done
At Lacedæmon, and Byzantium,
Were a sufficient briber for his life.
Sen. What's that?
390
Alc.
56
A&t III.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Alc. Why, I say, my lords, he has done fair ser-
vice,
And slain in fight many of your enemies :
How full of valour did he bear himself
In the last conflict, and made plenteous wounds?
400
2 Sen. He has made too much plenty with 'em; he
Is a sworn rioter: he has a sin
That often drowns him, and takes his valour prisoner:
If there were no foes, that were enough
To overcome him: in that beastly fury
He has been known to commit outrages,
And cherish factions: 'Tis inferr'd to us,
His days are foul, and his drink dangerous.
1 Sen. He dies.
Alc. Hard fate! he might have died in war.
My lords, if not for any parts in him
410
(Though his right arm might purchase his own time,
And be in debt to none), yet, more to move you,
Take my deserts to his, and join 'em both :
And, for I know, your reverend ages love
Security, I'll pawn my victories, all
My honours to you, upon his good returns.
If by this crime he owes the law his life,
Why, let the war receive't in valiant gore;
For law is strict, and war is nothing more.
420
1 Sen. We are for law, he dies; urge it no more,
On height of our displeasure: Friend, or brother,
He forfeits his own blood, that spills another.
Alc. Must it be so it must not be. My lords,
I do beseech you, know me.
2 Sen.
A& III.
57
TIMON OF ATHENS.
2 Sen. How?
Alc. Call me to your remembrances.
3 Sen. What?
!
430
Alc. I cannot think, but your age has forgot me ;
It could not else be, I should prove so base,
To sue, and be deny'd such common grace:
My wounds ake at you.
i
1 Sen. Do you dare our anger?
'Tis in few words, but spacious in effect;
We banish thee for ever.
Alc. Banish me?
Banish your dotage; banish usury,
That makes the senate ugly.
440
1 Sen. If, after two days' shine, Athens contain
thee,
Attend our weightier judgment.
And, not to swell our spirit,
He shall be executed presently.
[Exeunt Senate.
Alc. Now the gods keep you old enough; that you
may live
Only in bone, that none may look on you!
450
I am worse than mad: I have kept back their foes,
While they have told their money, and let out
Their coin upon large interest; I myself,
Rich only in large hurts.-All those, for this?
Is this the balsam, that the usuring senate
Pours into captains' wounds? Ha! banishment?
It comes not ill; I hate not to be banish'd;
It is a cause worthy my spleen and fury,
That I may strike at Athens. I'll cheer up
My
58
A& III.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
My discontented troops, and lay for hearts.
'Tis honour, with most lands to be at odds;
Soldiers as little should brook wrongs, as gods.
SCENE VI.
[Exit.
TIMON'S House.
Enter divers Senators at several
Doors.
460
1 Sen. The good time of day to you, sir.
2 Sen. I also wish it to you. I think, this honour-
able lord did but try us this other day.
1 Sen. Upon that were my thoughts tiring, when
we encounter'd: I hope, it is not so low with him,
as he made it seem in the trial of his several friends.
2 Sen. It should not be, by the persuasion of his
new feasting.
1 Sen. I should think so: He hath sent me an ear-
nest inviting, which many my near occasions did urge
me to put off; but he hath conjur'd me beyond them,
and I must needs appear.
471
2 Sen. In like manner was I in debt to my impor-
tunate business, but he would not hear my excuse.
I am sorry, when he sent to borrow of me, that my
provision was out.
1 Sen. I am sick of that grief too, as I understand
how all things go.
2 Sen. Every man here's so.
man here's so. What would he have
borrow'd of you?
1 Sen.
Act III.
59
TIMON OF ATHENS.
1 Sen. A thousand pieces.
480
2 Sen. A thousand pieces!
1 Sen. What of you?
3 Sen. He sent to me, sir,-Here he comes.
Enter TIMON, and Attendants.
Tim. With all my heart, gentlemen both :-And
how fare you?
1 Sen. Ever at the best, hearing well of your lord-
ship.
2 Sen. The swallow follows not summer more wil-
lingly, than we your lordship. -
489
Tim. [Aside.] Nor more willingly leaves winter;
such summer-birds are men.-Gentlemen, our dinner
will not recompense this long stay: feast your ears
with the musick awhile; if they will fare so harshly
as on the trumpet's sound: we shall to't presently.
1 Sen. I hope, it remains not unkindly with your
lordship, that I return'd you an empty messenger.
Tim. O, sir, let it not trouble you.
2 Sen. My noble lord,-
Tim. Ah, my good friend! what cheer?
499
[The Banquet brought in.
2 Sen. My most honourable lord, I am e'en sick of
shame, that, when your lordship this other day sent
to me, I was so unfortunate a beggar.
Tim. Think not on't, sir.
2 Sen. If you had sent but two hours before,-
Tim. Let it not cumber your better remembrance.
-Come, bring in all together.
2 Sen.
бо
A&t III.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
2 Sen. All cover'd dishes!
1 Sen. Royal cheer, I warrant you.
Sen. Doubt not that, if money, and the season
can yield it.
1 Sen. How do you? What's the news?
Sen. Alcibiades is banish'd: Hear you of it?
Both. Alcibiades banish'd!
3 Sen. 'Tis so, be sure of it.
1 Sen. How? how?
2 Sen. I pray you, upon what?
Tim. My worthy friends, will you draw near?
510
3 Sen. I'll tell you more anon. Here's a noble feast
toward.
2 Sen. This is the old man still.
3 Sen. Will't hold? will't hold ?
2 Sen. It does: but time will-and so-
3 Sen. I do conceive.
520
Tim. Each man to his stool, with that spur as he
would to the lip of his mistress: your diet shall be
in all places alike. Make not a city feast of it, to let
the meat cool ere we can agree upon the first place :
Sit, sit. The gods require our thanks.
You great benefactors, sprinkle our society with thank-
fulness. For your own gifts, make yourselves prais’d: but
reservc still to give, lest your deities be despised. Lend to
cach man enough, that one need not lend to another: for,
were your godheads to borrow of men, men would forsake
the gods. Make the meat be beloved, more than the man that
gives it. Let no assembly of twenty be without a score of
3
villains:
A&t III.
61
TIMON OF ATHENS.
villains: If there sit twelve women at the table, let a dozen
of them be as they are.-The rest of your fees, O gods,-
the senators of Athens, together with the common lag of
people,-what is amiss in them, you gods, make suitable for
destruction. For these my present friends,—as they are to
mẹ nothing, so in nothing bless them, and to nothing are
they welcome.
Uncover, dogs, and lap.
542
[The Dishes uncovered are full of warm Water.
Some speak. What does his lordship mean?
Some other. I know not.
Tim. May you a better feast never behold,
You knot of mouth-friends! smoke, and luxe-warm
water
Is your perfection. This is Timon's last ;
Who stuck and spangled you with flatteries,
Washes it off, and sprinkles in your faces
550
[Throwing Water in their Faces.
Your reeking villainy. Live loath'd, and long,
Most smiling, smooth, detested parasites,
Courteous destroyers, affable wolves, meek bears,
You fools of fortune, trencher-friends, time's flies,
Cap and knee slaves, vapours, and minute-jacks!
Of man, and beast, the infinite malady
Crust you quite o'er!-What, dost thou go
Soft, take thy physick first,-thou too,-and thou ;-
[Throws the Dishes at them.
Stay, I will lend thee money, borrow none.
What, all in motion? Henceforth be no feast,
Whereat a villain's not a welcome guest.
F
560
Burn,
62
A& IV.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Burn, house; sink, Athens! henceforth hated be
Of Timon, man, and all humanity!
Re-enter the Senators.
1 Sen. How now, my lords?
[Exit.
2 Sen. Know you the quality of lord Timon's fury?
3 Sen. Pish! did you see my cap?
♣ Sen. I have lost my gown.
1 Sen. He's but a mad lord, and nought but hu-
mour sways him. He gave me a jewel the other day,
and now he has beat it out of my hat :-Did you see
my jewel?
2 Sen. Did you see my cap?
3 Sen. Here 'tis.
4 Sen. Here lies my gown.
1 Sen. Let's make no stay.
2 Sen. Lord Timon's mad.
3 Sen. I feel't upon my bones.
571
4 Sen. One day he gives us diamonds, next day
stones.
[Exeunt.
ACT IV. SCENE I.
Without the Walls of Athens. Enter TIMON.
LET M
Timon.
ET me look back upon thee, O thou wall,
That girdlest in those wolves! Dive in the earth,
And fence not Athens! Matrons, turn incontinent;
Obedience
से
de Louthobourg del
TIMON of ATHENS
London Printed for IBell,Brath Library Strer March 201788
A&t IV.
63
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Obedience fail in children! slaves, and fools,
Pluck the grave wrinkled senate from the bench,
And minister in their steads! to general filths
Convert o'the instant, green virginity!
9
Do't in your parents' eyes! bankrupts, hold fast;
Rather than render back, out with your knives,
And cut your trusters' throats! bound servants, steal;
Large-handed robbers your grave masters are,
And pill by law maid, to thy master's bed,
Thy mistress is o'the brothel! son of sixteen,
Pluck the lin'd crutch from thy old limping sire,
With it beat out his brains! piety, and fear,
Religion to the gods, peace, justice, truth,
Domestick awe, night-rest, and neighbourhood,
Instruction, manners, mysteries, and trades,
Degrees, observances, customs, and laws,
Decline to your confounding contraries,
And yet confusion live!-Plagues, incident to men,
Your potent and infectious fevers heap
On Athens, ripe for stroke! thou cold sciatica,
Cripple our senators, that their limbs may halt
As lamely as their inanners! lust and liberty
Creep in the minds and marrows of our youth;
That 'gainst the stream of virtue they may strive,
And drown themselves in riot! itches, blains,
Sow all the Athenian bosoms; and their crop
Be general leprosy! breath infect breath ;
That their society, as their friendship, may
Be merely poison! Nothing I'll bear from thee,
20
30
But nakedness, thou detestable town!
Fij
Take
64
A& IV.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Take thou that too, with multiplying banns!
Timon will to the woods; where he shall find
The unkindest beast more kinder than mankind.
The gods confound (hear me, you good gods all)
The Athenians both within and out that wall!
And grant, as Timon grows, his hate may grow
To the whole race of mankind, high, and low!
Amen.
40
[Exit.
SCENE II.
TIMON'S House. Enter FLAVIUS, with two or three
Servants.
1 Serv. Hear you, master steward, where is our
master?
Are we undone ? cast off? nothing remaining?
Flav. Alack, my fellows, what should I say to you?
Let me be recorded by the righteous gods,
I am as poor as you.
1 Serv. Such a house broke!
So noble a master fallen! All gone! and not
One friend, to take his fortune by the arm,
And go along with him!
2 Serv. As we do turn our backs
From our companion, thrown into his
grave,
So his familiars from his buried fortunes
Slink all away; leave their false vows with him,
Like empty purses pick'd: and his poor self,
A dedicated beggar to the air,
50
With
A&t IV.
65
TIMON OF ATHENS.
With his disease of all-shunn'd poverty,
Walks, like contempt, alone.-More of our fellows.
Enter other Servants.
Flav. All broken implements of a ruin'd house.
3 Serv. Yet do our hearts wear Timon's livery, 60
That see I by our faces; we are fellows still,
Serving alike in sorrow: Leak'd is our bark;
And we, poor mates, stand on the dying deck,
Hearing the surges threat: we must all part
Into this sea of air.
Flav. Good fellows all,
The latest of my wealth I'll share amongst you.
Wherever we shall meet, for Timon's sake,
Let's yet be fellows; let's shake our heads, and say,
As 'twere a knell unto our master's fortunes,
We have seen better days. Let each take some;
70
[Giving them Money.
Nay, put out all your hands. Not one word more :
Thus part we rich in sorrow, parting poor.
[Exeunt Servants.
O, the fierce wretchedness that glory brings us!
Who would not wish to be from wealth exempt,
Since riches point to misery and contempt ?
Who'd be so mock'd with glory? or to live
But in a dream of friendship?
To have his pomp, and all what state compounds,
But only painted, like his varnish'd friends?
Poor honest lord, brought low by his own heart;
Undone by goodness! Strange, unusual blood,
Fiij
80
When
66
A& IV.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
When man's worst sin is, he does too much good!
Who then dares to be half so kind again?
For bounty, that makes gods, does still mar men.
My dearest lord,—blest, to be most accurs'd,
Rich, only to be wretched ;thy great fortunes
Are made thy chief afflictions. Alas, kind lord!
He's flung in rage from this ungrateful seat
Of monstrous friends: nor has he with him to
Supply his life, or that which can command it.
I'll follow, and inquire him out :
I'll ever serve his mind with my best will ;
Whilst I have gold, I'll be his steward still.
90
[Exit.
SCENE III.
The Woods. Enter TIMON.
Tim. O blessed breeding sun, draw from the earth
Rotten humidity; below thy sister's orb
Infect the air! Twinn'd brothers of one womb,——
Whose procreation, residence, and birth,
Scarce is dividant,-touch them with several for-
tunes;
The greater scorns the lesser: Not nature,
100
To whom all sores lay siege, can bear great fortune,
But by contempt of nature.
Raise me this beggar, and denude that lord;
The senator shall bear contempt hereditary,
The beggar native honour.
It is the pastor lards the brother's sides,
The
Act 4
Scene 3.
TIMON of ATHENS.
J
Ramberg del
N
باان
OF
第二
​Sharp Sculp
2
M'KEMBLE in TIMON,
London Printed for J.Bell British Library Strand Sept 21 1785.
AG IV.
67
TIMON OF ATHENS.
The want that makes him leave. Who dares, who
dares,
110
In purity of manhood stand upright,
And say, This man's a flatterer? if one be,
So are they all; for every grize of fortune
Is smooth'd by that below: the learned pate
Ducks, to the golden fool: All is oblique ;
There's nothing level in our cursed natures,
But direct villainy. Therefore, be abhorr'd
All feasts, societies, and throngs of men!
His semblable, yea, himself, Timon disdains:`
Destruction fang mankind!-Earth, yield me roots!
[Digging the Earth.
Who seeks for better of thee, sauce his palate
With thy most operant poison! What is here ?
Gold? yellow, glittering, precious gold? No, gods,
I am no idle votarist: Roots, you clear heavens !
Thus much of this, will make black, white; foul,
fair ;
Wrong, right; base, noble; old, young; coward,
valiant.
Ha! you gods! why this? What this, you gods?
Why this
Will lug your priests and servants from your sides
Pluck stout men's pillows from below their heads:
This yellow slave
Will knit and break religions; bless the accurs'd;
Make the hoar leprosy ador'd; place thieves,
And give them title, knee, and approbation,
With senators on the bench; this is it,
130
That
68
A& IV.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
That makes the wappen'd widow wed again;
She, whom the spital-house and ulcerous sores
Would cast the gorge at,
To the April day again.
this embarms and spices
Come, damned earth,
Thou common whore of mankind, that put'st odds
Among the rout of nations, I will make thee
Do thy right nature. -[ March afur ff.]-Ha! a
drum ?-Thou'rt quick,
But yet I'll bury thee: Thou'lt go, strong thief,
When gouty keepers of thee cannot stand :—
Nay, stay thou out for earnest.
140
[Keeping some Gold.
Enter ALCIBIADES, with Drum and Fife, in warlike
manner, and PHRYNIA and TIMANDRA.
Alc. What art thou there?
speak.
Tim. A beast, as thou art.
The canker gnaw thy
heart,
For shewing me again the eyes of man!
Alc. What is thy name? Is man so hateful to thee,
That art thyself a man?
Tim. I am misanthropos, and hate mankind.
For thy part, I do wish thou wert a dog,
That I might love thee something.
Alc. I know thee well;
But in thy fortunes am unlearn'd and strange.
150
Tim. I know thee too; and more, than that I know
thee,
I not desire to know. Follow thy drum ;
With man's blood paint the ground, gules, gules:
Religious canons, civil laws are cruel;
Then
At IV.
69
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Then what should war be? This fell whore of thine
Hath in her more destruction than thy sword,
For all her cherubin look.
Phr. Thy lips rot off!
Tim. I will not kiss thee; then the rot returns.
To thine own lips again.
159
Alc. How came the noble Timon to this change?
Tim. As the moon does, by wanting light to give:
But then renew I could not, like the moon ;
There were no suns to borrow of.
Alc. Noble Timon,
What friendship may I do thee?
Tim. None, but to
Maintain my opinion.
Alc. What is it, Timon?
170
Tim. Promise me friendship, but perform none: If
Thou wilt not promise, the gods plague thee, for
Thou art a man! if thou dost perform, confound
thee,
For thou art a man!
Alc. I have heard in some sort of thy miseries.
Tim. Thou saw'st them, when I had prosperity.
Alc. I see them now; then was a blessed time.
Tim. As thine is now, held with a brace of harlots.
Timan. Is this the Athenian minion, whom the
world
Voic'd so regardfully?
Tim. Art thou Timandra ?
Timan. Yes.
180
Tim.
70
A& IV.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Tim. Be a whore still! they love thee not, that use
thee;
Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust.
Make use of thy salt hours: season the slaves
For tubs, and baths; bring down rose-cheeked youth
To the tub-fast, and the diet.
Timan. Hang thee, monster!
Alc. Pardon him, sweet Timandra; for his wits
Are drown'd and lost in his calamities.-
190
I have but little gold of late, brave Timon,
The want whereof doth daily make revolt
In my penurious band: I have heard, and griev'd,
How cursed Athens, mindless of thy worth,
Forgetting thy great deeds, when neighbour states,
But for thy sword and fortune, trod upon them,-
Tim. I pr'ythee, beat thy drum, and get thee gone.
Alc. I am thy friend, and pity thee, dear Timon.
Tim. How dost thou pity him, whom thou dost
trouble?
I had rather be alone.
Alc. Why, fare thee well:
Here is some gold for thee.
Tim. Keep it, I cannot eat it.
200
Alc. When I have laid proud Athens on a heap,-
Tim. Warr'st thou 'gainst Athens ?
Alc. Ay, Timon, and have cause.
Tim. The gods confound them all in thy conquest;
and
Thee after, when thou hast conquer'd!
Alc. Why me, Timon?
209
Tim.
A&t IV.
72
TIMON OF ATHENS,
Tim. That, by killing of villains, thou wast born
To conquer my country.
Put up thy gold; Go on,-here's gold,—go on ;
Be as a planetary plague, when Jove
Will o'er some high-vic'd city hang his poison
In the sick air: Let not thy sword skip one:
Pity not honour'd age for his white beard,
He is an usurer: Strike me the counterfeit matron,
It is her habit only that is honest,
Herself's a bawd: Let not the virgin's check
219
Make soft thy trenchant sword; for those milk-paps,
That through the window-bars bore at men's eyes,
Are not within the leaf of pity writ,
Set them down horrible traitors: Spare not the babe,
Whose dimpled smiles from fools exhaust their
mercy;
Think it a bastard, whom the oracle
Hath doubtfully pronounc'd thy throat shall cut,
And mince it sans remorse: Swear against objects;
Put armour on thine ears, and on thine eyes;
Whose proof, nor yells of inothers, maids, nor babes,
Nor sight of priests in holy vestments bleeding, 230
Shall pierce a jot. There's gold to pay thy soldiers :
Make large confusion; and, thy fury spent,
Confounded be thyself! Speak not, be gone.
Alc. Hast thou gold yet? I'll take the gold thou
giv'st me,
Not all thy counsel.
Tim. Dost thou, or dost thou not, heaven's curse
upon thee!
Phr.
72
A& IV.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Phr. and Timan. Give us some gold, good Timon :
Hast thou more?
Tim. Enough to make a whore forswear her trade,
And to make whores, a bawd. Hold up, you sluts,
Your aprons mountant: You are not oathable,- 240
Although, I know, you'll swear, terribly swear,
Into strong shudders, and to heavenly agues,
The immortal gods that hear you,--spare your
oaths,
I'll trust to your conditions: Be whores still;
And he whose pious breath seeks to convert you,
Be strong in whore, allure him, burn him up;
Let your close fire predominate his smoke,
And be no turn-coats : Yet may your pains, six
months,
Be quite contrary: And thatch your poor thin roofs
With burdens of the dead;-some that were hang'd,
No matter wear them, betray with them: whore
still;
Paint 'till a horse may mire upon your face,
A pox of wrinkles!
251
Phr. and Timan. Well, more gold ;-What then?-
Believe't, that we'll do any thing for gold.
Tim. Consumptions sow
In hollow bones of man; strike their sharp shins,
And mar men's spurring. Crack the lawyer's voice,
That he may never more false title plead,
Nor sound his quillets shrilly: hoar the flamen, 200
That scolds against the quality of flesh,
And not believes himself: down with the nose,
Down
A& IV.
73
TIMON OF ATHENS,
Down with it flat; take the bridge quite away
Of him, that his particular to foresee,
Smells from the general weal: make curl'd-pate
ruffians bald;
And let the unscarr'd braggarts of the war
Derive some pain from you: Plague all ;
That your activity may defeat and quell
The source of all erection.-There's more gold :-
Do you damn others, and let this damn you,
And ditches grave you all!
270
Phr. and Timan. More counsel, with more money,
bounteous Timon.
Tim. More whore, more mischief first; I have
given you earnest.
Alc. Strike up the drum towards Athens. Fare-
wel, Timon;
If I thrive well, I'll visit thee again,
Tim. If I hope well, I'll never see thee more.
Alc. I never did thee harm.
Tim. Yes, thou spok'st well of me.
Alc. Call'st thou that harm?
Tim. Men daily find it.
Get thee away, and take thy beagles with thee.
Alc. We but offend him.-Strike.
230
Drum beats. Excunt ALCIBIADES,
PHRYNIA, and TIMANDRA.
Tim. [Digging.] That nature, being sick of man's
unkindness,
Should yet be hungry! Common mother, thou
Whose womb unmeasurable, and infinite breast,
G
1
Teems,
74
A& IV.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Teems, and feeds all; whose self-same mettle,
Whereof thy proud child, arrogant man, is puft,
Engenders the black toad, and adder blue,
The gilded newt, and eyeless venom'd worm,
With all the abhorred births below crisp heaven, 290
Whereon Hyperion's quickening fire doth shine;
Yield him, who all thy human sons doth hate,
From forth thy plenteous bosom, one poor root!
Ensear thy fertile and conceptious womb,
Let it no more bring out ingrateful man !
Go great with tigers, dragons, wolves, and bears;
Teem with new monsters, whom thy upward face
Hath to the marbled mansion all above
Never presented !-O, a root,-Dear thanks!
Dry up thy marrows, vines, and plough-torn leas;
Whereof ingrateful man, with liquorish draughts,
And morsels unctuous, greases his pure mind,
That from it all consideration slips!
Enter APEMANTUS.
More man? Plague! plague !
299
Apem. I was directed hither: Men report,
Thou dost affect my manners, and dost use them.
Tim. 'Tis then, because thou dost not keep a dog
Whom I would imitate: Consumption catch thee!
Apem. This is in thee a nature but affected;
A poor unmanly melancholy, sprung
From change of fortune. Why this spade? this place?
This slave-like habit? and these looks of care?
Thy flatterers yet wear silk, drink wine, lie soft;
810
Hug
A&t IV.
75
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Hug their diseas'd perfumes, and have forgot
That ever Timon was. Shame not these woods,
By putting on the cunning of a carper.
Be thou a flatterer now, and seek to thrive
By that which has undone thee: hinge thy knee,
And let his very breath, whom thou'lt observe,
Blow off thy cap; praise his most vicious strain, 320
And call it excellent: Thou wast told thus ;
Thou gav'st thine ears, like tapsters, that bid wel-
come,
To knaves, and all approachers: 'Tis most just,
That thou turn rascal; hadst thou wealth again,
Rascals should have't. Do not assume my likeness.
Tim. Were I like thee, I'd throw away myself.
Apem. Thou hast cast away thyself, being like thy-
self;
A madman so long, now a fool; What, think'st
That the bleak air, thy boisterous chamberlain,
Will put thy shirt on warm? Will these moist trees,
That have out-liv'd the eagle, page thy heels,
331
And skip when thou point'st out? will the cold
brook,
Candied with ice, caudle thy morning taste
To cure thy o'er-night's surfeit? Call the creatures,--
Whose naked natures live in all the spight
Of wreakful heaven; whose bare unhoused trunks,
To the conflicting elements expos'd,
Answer mere nature,-bid them flatter thee;
O! thou shalt find-
Tim. A fool of thee: Depart.
Gij
310
Apem.
76
A& IV.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Apem. I love thee better now than e'er I did.
Tim. I hate thee worse.
Apem. Why?
Tim. Thou flatter'st misery.
Apem. I flatter not; but say, thou art a caitiff.
Tim. Why dost thou seek me out ?
Apem. To vex thee.
Tim. Always a villain's office, or a fool's.
Dost please thyself in't?
Apem. Ay.
Tim. What! a knave too?
Apem. If thou didst put this sour cold habit on
To castigate thy pride, 'twere well but thou
Dost it enforcedly; thou'dst courtier be again,
Wert thou not beggar. Willing misery
Out-lives incertain pomp, is crown'd before:
The one is filling still, never complete;
The other, at high wish: Best state, contentless,
Hath a distracted and most wretched being,
Worse than the worst, content.
Thou should'st desire to die, being miserable.
350
360
Tim. Not by his breath, that is more miserable.
Thou art a slave, whom fortune's tender arm
With favour never clasp'd; but bred a dog.
Hadst thou, like us, from our first swath, proceeded
The sweet degrees that this brief world affords
To such as may the passive drugs of it
Freely command, thou would'st have plung'd thyself
In general riot; melted down thy youth
370
In different beds of lust; and never learn'd
The
A& IV.
77
TIMON OF ATHENS.
The icy precepts of respect, but follow'd
The sugar'd game before thee.
But myself,
Who had the world as my confectionary;
The mouths, the tongues, the eyes, and hearts of men
At duty, more than I could frame employment
(That numberless upon me stuck, as leaves
Do on the oak, have with one winter's brush
Fell from their boughs, and left me open, bare
For every storm that blows); I to bear this,
That never knew but better, is some burden:
Thy nature did commence in sufferance, time
Hath made thee hard in't. Why should'st thou hate
men?
They never flatter'd thee: What hast thou given ?
If thou wilt curse,-thy father, that poor rag,
Must be thy subject; who in spight, put stuff
To some she beggar, and compounded thee
Poor rogue hereditary. Hence! be gone!-
If thou hadst not been born the worst of men,
Thou hadst been a knave, and flatterer.
Apem. Art thou proud yet?
Tim. Ay, that I am not thee.
Apem. I, that I was no prodigal.
Tim. I, that I am one now :
Were all the wealth I have, shut up in thee,
I'd give thee leave to hang it. Get thee gone.-
That the whole life of Athens were in this!
Thus would I eat it.
Apem. Here; I will mend thy feast.
380
390
[Eating a Root.
[Offering him something.
Giij
Tim.
78
A& I
TIMON GF ATHENS.
Tim. First mend my company, take away thyself.
Apem. So I shall mend my own, by the lack of
thine.
Tim. 'Tis not well mended so, it is but botch'd;
If not, I would it were.
Apem. What wouldst thou have to Athens ?
Tim. Thee thither in a whirlwind.
400
If thou wilt,
Tell them there I have gold; look, so I have.
Apem. Here is no use for gold.
Tim. The best, and truest:
For here it sleeps, and does no hired harm.
Apem. Where ly'st o'nights, Timon?
Tim. Under that's above me.
Where feed'st thou o'days, Apemantus?
410
Apem. Where my stomach finds meat; or, rather,
where I eat it.
Tim. 'Would poison were obedient, and knew iny
mind!
Apem. Where wouldst thou send it?
Tim. To sauce thy dishes.
Apcm. The middle of humanity thou never knew-
est, but the extremity of both ends: When thou wast
in thy gilt, and thy perfume, they mock'd thee for too
much curiosity; in thy rags thou knowest none, but
art despis'd for the contrary. There's a medlar for
thee, eat it.
Tim. On what I hate, I feed not.
Apem. Dost hate a medlar?
Tim. Ay, though it look like thee.
423
Apem. An thou hadst hated medlers sooner, thou
shoulder
AQ Ir.
79
TIMON OF ATHENS.
What man
should'st have lov'd thyself better now.
didst thou ever know unthrift, that was belov'd after
his means?
Tim. Who, without those means thou talk'st of,
didst thou ever know belov'd?
Apem. Myself.
433
Tim. I understand thee; thou had'st some means
to keep a dog.
Apem. What things in the world canst thou nearest
compare to thy flatterers?
Tim. Women, nearest; but men, men are the
things themselves. What would'st thou do with the
world, Apemantus, if it lay in thy power?
Apem. Give it the beasts, to be rid of the men.
Tim. Wouldst thou have thyself fall in the confu-
sion of men, and remain a beast with the beasts?
Apem. Ay, Timon.
441
Tim. A beastly ambition, which the gods grant thee
to attain to! If thou wert the lion, the fox would be-
guile thee if thou wert the lamb, the fox would eat
thee if thou wert the fox, the lion would suspect
thee, when, peradventure, thou wert accus'd by the
ass: if thou wert the ass, thy dulness would torment
thee; and still thou liv'dst but as a breakfast to the
wolf if thou wert the wolf, thy greediness would
afflict thee, and oft thou should'st hazard thy life for
thy dinner wert thou the unicorn, pride and wrath
would confound thee, and make thine ownself the
conquest of thy fury: wert thou a bear, thou wouldst
be kill'd by the horse; wert thou a horse, thou wouldst
:
be
80
A& IV.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
be seiz'd by the leopard; wert thou a leopard, thou
wert german to the lion, and the spots of thy kindred.
were jurors on thy life: all thy safety were remo-
tion; and thy defence, absence. What beast couldst
thou be, that were not subject to a beast? and what a
beast art thou already, and seest not thy loss in trans-
formation?
464
Apem. If thou couldst please me with speaking to
me, thou might'st have hit upon it here: The com-
monwealth of Athens is become a forest of beasts.
Tim. How has the ass broke the wall, that thou art
out of the city?
Apem. Yonder comes a poet, and a painter. The
plague of company light upon thee! I will fear to
catch it, and give way: When I know not what else
to do, I'll see thee again.
Tim. When there is nothing living but thee, thou
shalt be welcome. I had rather be a beggar's dog,
than Apemantus.
476
Apem. Thou art the cap of all the fools alive.
Tim. 'Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon.
A plague on thee!
Apem. Thou art too bad to curse!
Tim. All villains, that do stand by thee, are pure.
Apem. There is no leprosy, but what thou speak’st,
Tim. If I name thee.-
I'll beat thee,—but I should infect my hands.
Apem. I would my tongue could rot them off!
Tim. Away, thou issue of a mangy dog!
Choler does kill me, that thou art alive;
I swoon
Act IV.
81
TIMON OF ATHENS.
I swoon to see thee.
Apem. 'Would thou wouldst burst!
Tim. Away.
Thou tedious rogue! I am sorry, I shall lose
A stone by thec.
Apem. Beast!
490
Tim. Slave!
Apem. Toad!
Tim. Rogue, rogue, rogue!
[APEMANTUS retreats backward, as going.
I am sick of this false world; and will love nought
But even the mere necessities upon it.
Then, Timon, presently prepare thy grave;
Lie where the light foam of the sea may beat
Thy grave-stone daily make thine epitaph,
That death in me at others' lives may laugh.
O thou sweet king-killer, and dear divorce
*
500
[Looking on the Gold.
'Twixt natural son and sire! thou bright defiler
Of Hymen's purest bed! thou valiant Mars!
Thou ever young, fresh, lov'd, and delicate wooer,
Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated snow
That lies on Dian's lap! thou visible god,
That solder'st close impossibilities,
And mak'st them kise! that speak'st with every
tongue,
To every purpose! O thou touch of hearts!
Think, thy slave man rebels; and by thy virtue
Set them into confounding odds, that beasts
May have the world in empire!
Apem. 'Would 'twere sp;-
510
But
82
A& IV.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
But not 'till I am dead!-I'll say, thou hast gold :
Thou wilt be throng'd to shortly.
Tim. Throng'd to?
Apem. Ay.
Tɩm. Thy back, I pr’ythee.
Apem. Live, and love thy misery!
520
Tim. Long live so, and so die!-I am quit.
[Exit APEMANTUS.
More things like men?-Eat, Timon, and abhor
them.
Enter Thieves.
1 Thief. Where should he have this gold? It is
some poor fragment, some slender ort of his remain-
der: The mere want of gold, and the falling-froin of
his friends, drove him into this melancholy.
2 Thief. It is nois'd, he hath a mass of treasure.
3 Thief. Let us make the assay upon him; if he
care not for't, he will supply us easily; If he covet-
ously reserve it, how shall's get it ?
2 Thief. True; for he bears it not about him, 'tis
hid.
1 Thief. Is not this he?
All. Where?
2 Thief. 'Tis his description.
3 Thief. He; I know him.
All. Save thee, Timon.
Tim. Now, thieves?
510
All. Soldiers, not thieves.
Tim. Both too; and women's sons.
All.
A&t IV.
83
TIMON OF ATHENS.
All. We are not thieves, but men that much do
want.
Tim. Your greatest want is, you want much of
meat.
Why should you want? Behold, the earth hath roots;
Within this mile break forth an hundred springs:
The oaks bear mast, the briers scarlet hips;
The bounteous huswife, nature, on each bush
Lays her full mess before you. Want? why want?
1 Thief. We cannot live on grass, on berries, water,
As beasts, and birds, and fishcs.
551
Tim. Nor on the beasts themselves, the birds, and
fishes
You must eat men. Yet thanks I must you con,
That you are thieves profest; that you work not
In holier shapes: for there is boundless theft
In limited professions. Rascal thieves,
Here's gold: Go, suck the subtle blood o'the grape,
'Till the high fever seeth your blood to froth,
And so 'scape hanging: trust not the physician;
His antidotes are poison, and he slays
560
More than you rob: take wealth and lives together;
Do villainy, do, since you profess to do't,
Like workmen : I'll example you with thievery.
The sun's a thief, and with his great attraction
Robs the vast sea: the moon's an arrant thief,
And her pale fire she snatches from the sun;
The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves
The moon into salt tears; the earth's a thief,
That feeds and breeds by a composture stolen
From
84
Act V.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
From general excrement: each thing's a thief; 570
The laws, your curb and whip, in their rough power
Have uncheck'd theft. Love not yourselves; away;
Rob one another. There's more gold: Cut throats;
All that you meet are thieves: To Athens, go,
Break open shops; nothing can you steal,
But thieves do lose it: Steal not less, for this
I give you; and gold confound you howsoever!
Amen.
[Exit.
3 Thief. He has almost charm'd me from my pro-
fession, by persuading me to it.
580
1 Thief. 'Tis in the malice of mankind, that he
thus advises us; not to have us thrive in our mys-
tery.
2 Thief. I'll believe him as an enemy, and give
over my trade.
1 Thief. Let us first see peace in Athens: There is
no time so miserable, but a man may be true.
ACT V. SCENE I.
[Excunt.
The Woods, and TIMON's Cave.
Enter FLAVIUS.
Flavius.
O Y
You gods!
Is yon despis'd and ruinous man my lord?
Full of decay and failing? O monument
And
A&t V.
85
TIMON OF ATHENS.
And wonder of good deeds evilly bestow'd!
What an alteration of honour has
Desperate want made!
What viler thing upon the earth, than friends,
Who can bring noblest minds to basest ends!
How rarely does it meet with this time's guise,
When man was wish'd to love his enemies :
Grant, I may ever love, and rather woo
Those that would mischief me, than those that do!
He has caught me in his eye: I will present
My honest grief unto him; and, as my lord,
Still serve him with my life.-My dearest master!
TIMON comes forward from his Cave.
Tim. Away! what art thou?
Flav. Have you forgot me, sir?
10
Tim. Why dost ask that? I have forgot all men;
Then, if thou grant'st thou art a man, I have
Forgot thee.
Flav. An honest poor servant of yours.
Tim. Then I know thee not:
I ne'er had honest man about me, I; all
I kept were knaves, to serve in meat to villains.
Flav. The gods are witness,
Ne'er did poor steward wear a truer grief
For his undone lord, than mine eyes for you.
Tim. What, dost thou weep?-Come nearer ;-
then I love thee,
Because thou art a woman, and disclaim'st
H
20
Flinty
86
All Y.
TIMON OF ATHENS,
Flinty mankind; whose eyes do never give,
But thorough lust, and laughter. Pity's sleeping :
Strange times, that weep with
weeping!
30
laughing, not with
Flav. I beg of you to know me, good my lord,
To accept my grief, and, whilst this poor wealth
lasts,
To entertain me as your steward still.
Tim. Had I a steward
So true, so just, and now so comfortable?
It almost turns my dangerous nature wild.
—Let me behold thy face.—Surely, this man
Was born of woman.-
Forgive my general and exceptless rashness,
Perpetual-sober gods! I do proclaim
One honest man,-mistake me not,-But one;
No more, I pray, -and he is a steward.-
How fain would I have hated all mankind,
And thou redeem'st thyself; But all, save thee,
I fell with curses.
Methinks, thou art more honest now, than wise;
For, by oppressing and betraying me,
40
Thou might'st have sooner got another service: 50
For many so arrive at second masters,
Upon their first lord's neck. But tell me true,
(For I must ever doubt, though ne'er so sure)
Is not thy kindness subtle, covetous,
If not a usuring kindness; and as rich men deal
gifts,
3
Expecting
AQ V.
87
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Expecting in return twenty for one ?
Flav. No, my most worthy master, in whose
breast
Doubt and suspect, alas, are plac'd too late :
You should have fear'd false times, when you did
feast:
Suspect still comes where an estate is least.
60
That which I shew, heaven knows, is merely love,
Duty and zeal to your unmatched mind,
Care of your food and living: and, believe it,
My most honour'd lord,
For any benefit that points to me,
Either in hope, or present, I'd exchange it
For this one wish, That you had power and wealth'
To requite me, by making rich yourself.
70
Tim. Look thee, 'tis so!-thou singly honest man,
Here, take-the gods out of my misery
Have sent thee treasure. Go, live rich, and happy:
But thus condition'd; Thou shalt build from men;
Hate all, curse all: shew charity to none;
But let the famish'd flesh slide from the bone,
Ere thou relieve the beggar: give to dogs
What thou deny'st to inen; let prisons swallow 'em,
Debts wither 'em to nothing: Be men like blasted
woods,
And may diseases lick up their false bloods!
And so, farewel, and thrive.
Flav. O, let me stay, and comfort you, my master.
Tim. If thou hat'st curses,
Hij
81
Stay
88
AЯ V.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Stay not; but fly, whilst thou art blest and free:
Ne'er see thou man, and let me ne'er see thee.
SCENE II.
[Exeunt severally.
The same.
Enter Poet, and Painter.
Pain. As I took note of the place, it cannot be far
where he abides.
Poct. What's to be thought of him? Does the ru
mour hold for true, that he is so full of gold?
:
Pain. Certain Alcibiades reports it; Phrynia and
Timandra had gold of him: he likewise enrich'd
poor straggling soldiers with great quantity: 'Tis said,
he gave his steward a mighty sum.
91
Poet. Then this breaking of his has been but a try
for his friends?
Pain. Nothing else you shall see him a palm in
Athens again, and flourish with the highest. There-
fore, 'tis not amiss, we tender our loves to him, in
this suppos'd distress of his: it will shew honestly in
us; and is very likely to load our purposes with what
they travel for, if it be a just and true report that
goes of his having.
100
Poet. What have you now to present unto him?
Pain. Nothing at this time but my visitation: only
I will promise him an excellent piece.
Poct.
A&t V:
89-
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Poet. I must serve him so too; tell him of an in-
tent that's coming toward him.
Pain. Good as the best. Promising is the very air
o'the time; it opens the eyes of expectation: per-
formance is ever the duller for his act; and, but in
the plainer and simpler kind of people, the deed of
saying is quite out of use. To promise is most court-
ly and fashionable: performance is a kind of will, or
testament, which argues a great sickness in his judg-
ment that makes it.
Re-enter TIMON from his Cave, unseen.
113
Tim. Excellent workman! Thou canst not paint a
man so bad as thyself.
,
Poet. I am thinking, what I shall say I have provi-
ded for him: It must be a personating of himself: a
satire against the softness of prosperity; with a dis-
covery of the infinite flatteries, that follow youth and
opulency.
120
Tim. Must thou needs stand for a villain in thine
own work? Wilt thou whip thine own faults in other
men? Do so, I have gold for thee.
Poet. Nay, let's seek him:
Then do we sin against our own estate,
When we may profit meet, and come too late.
Pain. True;
When the day serves, before black-corner'd night,
Find what thou want'st by free and offer'd light.
Come.
Hiij
130
Tim.
90
A& V.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Tim. I'll meet you at the turn.
gold,
What a god's
That he is worshipp'd in a baser temple,
Than where swine feed!
'Tis thou that rigg'st the bark, and plow'st the foam;
Settlest admired reverence in a slave :
To thee be worship! and thy saints for aye
Be crown'd with plagues, that thee alone obey!
Fit I meet them.
Poet. Hail! worthy Timon.
Pain Our late noble master.
Tim. Have I once liv'd to see two honest men?
Poet. Sir,
Having often of your open bounty tasted,
Hearing you were retir'd, your friends fall'n off,
Whose thankless natures-O abhorred spirits!
Not all the whips of heaven are large enough-
What to you!
140
Whose star-like nobleness gave life and influence
To their whole being! I am rapt, and cannot cover
The monstrous bulk of this ingratitude
With any size of words.
150
Tim. Let it go naked, men may see't the better:
You, that are honest, by being what you are,
Make them best seen, and known.
Pain. He, and myself,
Have travell'd in the great shower of your gifts,
And sweetly felt it.
Tim. Ay, you are honest men.
Pain. We are hither come to offer you our service.
Tim.
A&t V.
91
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Tim. Most honest men! Why, how shall I requite
you?
Can you eat roots, and drink cold water? no.
160
Both. What we can do, we'll do, to do you service.
Tim. You are honest men! You have heard that
I have gold;
I am sure, you have: speak truth: you are honest men.
Pain. So it is said, my noble lord: but therefore
Came not my friend, nor I.
Tim. Good honest men :-Thou draw'st a counter-
feit
Best in all Athens: thou art, indeed, the best ;
Thou counterfeit'st most lively.
L
Pain. So, so, my lord.
170
Tim. Even so, sir, as I say :-And, for thy
fiction,
[To the Poet.
Why, thy verse swells with stuff so fine and smooth,
That thou art even natural in thine art.-
But, for all this, my honest-natur'd friends,
I must needs say, you have a little fault :
Marry, 'tis not monstrous in you; neither wish I,
You take much pains to mend.
Both. Beseech your honour
To make it known to us.
Tim. You'll take it ill.
180
Both. Most thankfully my lord.
Tim. Will you, indeed?
Both. Doubt it not, worthy lord.
Tim. There's ne'er a one of you but trusts a knave,
That mightily deceives you.
Both,
92.
A&t V.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Both. Do we, my lord?
Tim. Ay, and you hear him cog, see him dissemble,
Know his gross patchery, love him, feed him,
Keep in your bosom : yet remain assur'd,
That he's a made-up villain.
Pain. I know none such, my lord.
Poet. Nor I.
190
Tim. Look you, I love you well; I'll give you
gold,
Rid me these villains from your companies
Hang them, or stab them, drown them in a draught,
Confound them by some course, and come to me,
I'll give you gold enough.
Both. Name them, my lord, let's know thein.
Tim. You that way, and you this.-But two in
company,-
Each man apart,—all single, and alone,―
Yet an arch-villain keeps him company.—
If, where thou art, two villains shall not be,
200
[To the Painter.
Come not near him.-If thou wouldst not reside
[To the Poet.
But where one villain is, then him abandon.-
Hence! pack! there's gold, ye came for gold, ye
slaves :
You have work for me, there is payment: Hence!
You are an alchymist, make gold of that:
Out, rascal dogs! [Exit, beating and driving them out.
SCENE
{
}
SHAKSPERE.
Jet 5
TIMON of ATHENS,
Cut rasah dogs:
Scène 2
I. M. Moreau Inv. del.
N. to Hape Scul
Printed for J.Boll Briti Library Strand London Sep*81785.
A& V.
93
TIMON OF ATHENS.
SCENE III.
Enter FLAVIUS, and two Senators.
Flav. It is in vain that you would speak with
Timon;
For he is set so only to himself,
That nothing, but himself, which looks like man,
Is friendly with him.
1 Sen. Bring us to his cave:
It is our part, and promise to the Athenians,
To speak with Timon.
2 Sen. At all times alike
210
Men are not still the same: 'Twas time, and griefs,
That fram'd him thus: time, with his fairer hand,
Offering the fortunes of his former days,
The former man may make him: Bring us to him,
And chance it as it may.
Flav. Here is his cave.-
221
Peace and content be here! lord Timon! Timon!
Look out, and speak to friends: The Athenians,
By two of their most reverend senate, greet thee :
Speak to them, noble Timon.
Enter TIMON.
Tim. Thou sun, that comfort'st, burn!-Speak,
and be hang'd!
For each true word, a blister, and each false
Be as a cauterizing to the root o' the tongue,
Consuming
94
A& V.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
230
Consuming it with speaking!
1 Sen. Worthy Timon,-
Tim. Of none but such as you, and you of Timon.
2 Sen. The senators of Athens greet thee, Timon.
Tim. I thank them; and would send them back
the plague,
Could I but catch it for them.
1 Sen. O, forget
What we are sorry for ourselves in thee.
The senators, with one consent of love,
Entreat thee back to Athens; who have thought
On special dignities, which vacant lie
For thy best use and wearing.
2 Sen. They confess,
Toward thee, forgetfulness too general, gross:
And now the publick body,-which doth seldom
Play the recanter,-feeling in itself
A lack of Timon's aid, hath sense withal
Of its own fall, restraining aid to Timon;
240
And sends forth us, to make their sorrowed render,
Together with a recompence more fruitful
Than their offence can weigh down by the dram; 250
Ay, even such heaps and sums of love and wealth,
As shall to thee blot out what wrongs were theirs,
And write in thee the figures of their love,
Ever to read them thine
Tim. You witch me in it;
Surprize me to the very brink of tears:
Lend me a fool's heart, and a woman's eyes,
And I'll beweep these comforts, worthy senators.
1 Sen.
Act V.
95
TIMON OF ATHENS.
260
1 Sen. Therefore, so please thee to return with us,
And of our Athens (thine, and ours) to take
The captainship, thou shalt be met with thanks,
Allow'd with absolute power, and thy good name
Live with authority ;-so soon shall we drive back
Of Alcibiades the approaches wild;
Who, like a boar too savage, doth root up
His country's peace.
2 Sen. And shakes his threat'ning sword
Against the walls of Athens.
1 Sen. Therefore, Timon,-
Tim. Well, sir, I will; therefore I will, sir;
Thus,-
If Alcibiades kill my countrymen,
Let Alcibiades know this of Timen,
270
That-Timon cares not. But if he sack fair Athens,
And take our goodly aged men by the beards,
Giving our holy virgins to the stain
Of contumelious, beastly, mad-brain'd war;
Then let him know,-and, tell him, Timon speaks it,
In pity of our aged, and our youth,
I cannot choose but tell him, that-I care not,
And let him take't at worst; for their knives care-
not,
While you have throats to answer: for myself,
There's not a whittle in the unruly camp,
But I do prize it at my love, before
280
The reverend'st throat in Athens. So I leave you
To the protection of the prosperous gods,
As thieves to keepers.
Flav-
96
AEL V.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Flav. Stay not, all's in vain.
Tim. Why, I was writing of my epitaph,
It will be seen to-morrow; My long sickness
Of health, and living, now begins to mend,
And nothing brings me all things. Go, live still;
Be Alcibiades your plague, you his,
And last so long enough!
1 Sen. We speak in vain.
Tim. But yet I love my country; and am not
One that rejoices in the common wreck,
As common bruit doth put it.
1 Sen. That's well spoke,
290
Tim. Commend me to my loving countrymen,—
1 Sen. These words become your lips as they pass
through them.
300
2 Sen. And enter in our ears, like great triumphers
In their applauding gates.
Tim. Commend me to them;
And tell them, that, to ease them of their griefs,
Their fears of hostile strokes, their aches, losses,
Their pangs of love, with other incident throes
That nature's fragil vessel doth sustain
In life's uncertain voyage, I will some kindness do
them ;-
I'll teach them to prevent wild Alcibiades' wrath.
2 Sen. I like this well, he will return again.
Tim. I have a tree, which grows here in my close,
310
That mine own use invites me to cut down,
And shortly must I fell it; Tell my friends,
Tell
A&t V.
97.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Tell Athens, in the sequence of degree,
From high to low throughout, that whoso please
To stop affliction, let him take his haste,
Come hither, ere my tree hath felt the axe,
And hang himself:-I pray you, do my greeting.
Flav. Trouble him no further, thus you still shall
find him.
Tim. Come not to me again: but say to Athens,
Timon hath made his everlasting mansion
Upon the beached verge of the salt flood,
Which once a day with his embossed froth
The turbulent surge shall cover; thither come,
And let my grave-stone be your oracle.
Lips, let sour words go by, and language end:
What is amiss, plague and infection mend!
321
Graves only be men's works; and death, their gain!
Sun, hide thy beams! Timon hath done his reign.
[Exit TIMON.
1 Sen. His discontents are unremovably
Coupled to nature.
2 Sen. Our hope in him is dead: let us return,
And strain what other means is left unto us
In our dear peril.
330
1 Sen. It requires swift foot.
[Exeunt.
I
SCENE
98
AEL V.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
SCENE IV.
The Walls of Athens. Enter two other Senators, with
a Messenger.
1 Sen. Thou hast painfully discover'd;
files
As full as thy report?
Mes. I have spoke the least:
Besides, his expedition promises
Present approach.
are his
340
2 Sen. We stand much hazard, if they bring not
Timon.
Mes. I met a courier, one mine ancient friend ;-
Who, though in general part we were oppos'd,
Yet our old love made a particular force,
And made us speak like friends;-this man was
riding
From Alcibiades to Timon's cave,
With letters of entreaty, which imported.
His fellowship in the cause against your city,
In part for his sake mov'd.
Enter the other Senators.
1 Sen. Here come our brothers.
850
8 Sen. No talk of Timon, nothing of him ex.
pect.-
The enemies' drum is heard, and fearful scouring
Doth
A&t.V.
99
TIMON OF ATHENS.
[Exeunt.
Doth choke the air with dust: In, and prepare;
Ours is the fall, I fear, our foes the snare.
SCENE V.
Changes to the Woods.
Enter a Soldier, seeking
TIMON.
Sol. By all description, this should be the place.
Who's here? speak, ho!-No answer -What is
this?
Timon is dead, who hath out-stretch'd his span:
Some beast read this; there does not live a man.
Dead, sure; and this his grave.
tomb?
What's on this
I cannot read; the character I'll take with wax; 360
Our captain hath in every figure skill;
An ag'd interpreter, though young in days:
Before proud Athens he's set down by this,
Whose fall the mark of his ambition is.
[Exit.
SCENE VI.
Before the Walls of Athens. Trumpets sound.
ALCIBIADES, with his Powers.
Alc. Sound to this coward and lascivious town
Our terible approach.
Enter
Sound a Parley. The Senators appcar upon the Walls.
Iij
'Till
100
Aa v.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
'Till now you have gone on, and fill'd the time
With all licentious measure, making your wills
The scope of justice; 'till now, myself, and such
As slept within the shadow of your power,
370
Have wander'd with our traverst arms, and breath'd
Our sufferance vainly: Now the time is flush,
When crouching marrow, in the bearer strong,
Cries, of itself, No more: now breathless wrong
Shall sit and pant in your great chairs of ease;
And pursy insolence shall break his wind,
With fear, and horrid flight.
1 Sen. Noble, and young,
When thy first griefs were but a mere conceit,
Ere thou hadst power, or we had cause to fear, 380
We sent to thee; to give thy rages balm,
To wipe out our ingratitudes with loves
Above their quantity.
2 Sen. So did we woo
Transformed Timon to our city's love,
By humble message, and by promis'd means;
We were not all unkind, nor all deserve
The common stroke of war.
1 Sen. These walls of ours
Were not erected by their hands, from whom
You have receiv'd your griefs: nor are they such,
390
That these great towers, trophies, and schools should
fall
For private faults in them.
2 Sen. Nor are they living,
Who were the motives that you first went out;
Shame
· A& V.
101
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Shame, that they wanted cunning, in excess
Hath broke their hearts.
March, noble lord, ·
Into our city with thy banners spread :
By decimation, and a tithed death
(If thy revenges hunger for that food,
400
Which nature loaths), take thou the destin'd tenth;
And by the hazard of the spotted die,
Let die the spotted.
1 Sen. All have not offended;
For those that were, it is not square, to take,
On those that are, revenges; crimes, like lands,
Are not inherited. Then, dear countryman,
Bring in thy ranks, but leave without thy rage :
Spare thy Athenian cradle, and those kin,
Which in the bluster of thy wrath, must fall
With those that have offended like a shepherd,
Approach the fold, and cull the infected forth,
But kill not altogether.
Sen. What thou wilt,
Thou rather shalt enforce it with thy smile,
Than hew to't with thy sword.
1 Sen. Set but thy foot
Against our rampir'd gates, and they shall ope;
So thou wilt send thy gentle heart before,
To say, thou'lt enter friendly.
2 Sen. Throw thy glove,
Or any token of thine honour else,
That thou wilt use the wars as thy redress,
And not as our confusion, all thy powers
Shall make their harbour in our town, 'till we
410
420
Have
102
A& V.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Have seal'd thy full desire.
Alc. Then there's my glove;
Descend, and open your uncharged ports:
Those enemies of Timon's, and mine own,
Whom you yourselves shall set out for reproof, 430
Fall, and no more: and,—to atone your fears
With my more noble meaning,—not a man
Shall pass his quarter, or offend the stream
Of regular justice in your city's bounds,
But shall be remedy'd by your public laws
At heaviest answer.
Both. 'Tis most nobly spoken.
Alc. Descend, and keep your words.
Enter a Soldier.
Sol. My noble general, Timon is dead;
Entomb'd upon the very hem o' the sea:
And, on his grave-stone, this insculpture; which
With wax I brought away, whose soft impression
Interpreteth for my poor ignorance.
[ALCIBIADES reads the Epitaph.]
440
Here lies a wretched corse, of wretched soul bereft:
Seek not my name: A plague consume you wicked caitiffs
Left!
Here lie I Timon; who, alive, all living men did hate:
Pass by, and curse thy fill; but pass, and stay not here
thy gait.
These well express in thee thy latter spirits:
Though
AЯ V.
103
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Though thou abhor'dst in us our human griefs,
Scorn'dst our brain's flow, and those our droplets
which
From niggard nature fall, yet rich conceit
Taught thee to make vast Neptune weep for aye
On thy low grave.—On :-Faults forgiven.-Dead
Is noble Timon; of whose memory
Hereafter more.—Bring me into your city,
And I will use the olive with my sword:
450
Make war breed peace; make peace stint war; make
each
Prescribe to other, as each other's leach.-
Let our drums strike.
the
THE END.
[Exeunt,
ANNOTATIONS
BY
SAM. JOHNSON & GEO. STEEVENS,
AND
THE VARIOUS COMMENTATORS,
UPON
TIMON OF ATHENS,
WRITTEN BY
WILL. SHAKSPERE.
SIC ITUR AD ASTRA.
VIRG.
LONDON:
Printed for, and under the Direction of,
JOHN BELL, British-Library. STRAND,
Bookseller to His Royal Highness the PRINCE of WALES.
M DCC LXXXVII,
ANNOTATIONS
UPON
TIMON OF ATHENS.
TIMON of ATHENS.] Mr. Strutt the engraver,
to whom our antiquaries are under no inconsiderable
obligations, has in his possession a MS. play on this
subject. It appears to have been written, or tran-
scribed, about the year 1600. There is a scene in it
resembling Shakspere's banquet given by Timon to
his flatterers. Instead of warm water he sets before
them stones painted like artichokes, and afterwards beats
them out of the room. He then retires to the woods,
attended by his faithful steward, who (like Kent in K.
Lear) has disguised himself to continue his services.
to his master. Timon, in the last act, is followed by
his fickle mistress, &c. after he was reported to have
discovered a hidden treasure by digging. The piece
A ij
itself
4
ANNOTATIONS UPON
itself, (though it appears to be the work of an acade-
mick), is a wretched one. The Personæ Dramatis are
as follows:
Timon.
The actors names.
Laches, his faithful servant.
Eutrapelus, a dissolute young man.
Gelasimus, a cittie heyre.
Pseudocheus, a lying trevailer.
Demeas, an orator.
Philargurus, a covetous churlish ould man.
Hermogenes, a fidler.
Abyssus, a usurer.
Lollio, a cuntrey clowne, Philargurus' sonne.
Stilpo,
Speusippus,
}
Two lying philosophers.
Grunnio, a lean servant of Philargurus.
Obba, Tymon's butler,
Padio, Gelasimus' Page.
Two serjeants.
A sailor.
Callimela, Philargurus' daughter.
Blatte, her prattling nurse.
SCENE, Athens.
STEEVENS.
4CT.
AF 1.
5
TIMON OF ATHENS.
ACT I
IN the old copy: Enter &c. Merchant and Mercer, &c.
STEEVENS.
Line 1.
abrupt, to begin the play thus :
Poet. Good day, Sir.] It would be less
Poet. Good day.
Pain. Good day, Sir: I am glad you're well.
FARMER.
6. But what particular rarity, &c.] Our author,
it is observable, has made his poet in this play a knave.
But that it might not reflect upon the profession, he has
made him only a pretender to it, as appears from his
having drawn him all the way, with a false taste and
judgment. One infallible mark of which is, a fond-
ness for every thing strange, surprizing, and porten-
tous; and a disregard for whatever is common, or
in nature. Shakspere therefore has, with great deli-
cacy of judgment, put his poetaster upon this inquiry.
WARBURTON.
The learned commentator's note must shift for it-
self. I cannot but think that this passage is at present
in coufusion. The poet asks a question, and stays
not for an answer, nor has his question any apparent
drift or consequence, I would range the passage
thus:
Poet. Ay, that's well known.
But what particular rarity? what so strange ?
A iij
That
6
Act I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
:
That manifold record not matches ?
Pain.
See!
Poet. Magick of bounty, &c.
It may not be improperly observed here, that as
there is only one copy of this play, no help can be had
from collation, and more liberty must be allowed to
conjecture.
JOHNSON.
13.
-breath'd, as it were,
To an untirable and continuate goodness.]
Breathed is inured by constant practice; so trained as not
to be wearied. To breathe a horse, is to exercise him
for the course.
JOHNSON.
-continuate] This word is used by many an-
cient English writers. Thus, by Chapman, in his ver-
sion of the 4th book of the Odyssey:
"Her handmaids join'd in a continuate yell.”
STEEVENS.
15. He passes.] i. e. he exceeds, goes beyond com-
mon bounds. So, in the Merry Wives of Windsor:
Why this passes, master Ford." STEEVENS.
-touch the estimate:-] Come up to the
18.
price.
JOHNSON.
19. When we for recompence, &c.] We must here
suppose the poet busy in reading his own work; and
that these three lines are the introduction of the poem
addressed to Timon, which he afterwards gives the
painter an account of.
WARBURTON.
27 As a gum which oozes] The only ancient copy
reads: Our pocsie is as a gowne which uses.
STEEVENS.
30.
Act I.
7
TIMON OF ATHENS.
30.
-and, like the current, flies
Each bound it chafes.. -] Thus the folio
reads, and rightly. In later editions—chases.
WARBURTON.
This speech of the poet is very obscure. He seems
to boast the copiousness and facility of his vein, by
declaring that verses drop from a poet as gums from
odoriferous trees, and that his flame kindles itself
without the violence necessary to elicit sparkles from
the flint. What follows next? that it, like a current,
flies each bound it chafes. This may mean, that it ex-
pands itself notwithstanding all obstructions: but the
images in the comparison are so ill-sorted, and the ef-
fect so obscurely expressed, that I cannot but think
something omitted that connected the last sentence
with the former. It is well known that the players
often shorten speeches to quicken the representation :
and it may be suspected, that they sometimes performed
their amputations with more haste than judgment.
JOHNSON.
Perhaps the sense is, that having touch'd on one sub-
ject, it flies off in quest of another. The old copy seems
to read:
Each bound it chases.-
The letters fand s are not always to be distinguished
from each other, especially when the types have been
much worn, as in the first folio. If chases be the true
reading, it is best explained by the "——se sequiturque
fugit" of the Roman poet.
STEEVENS.
-
This
8
At 1.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
This jumble of incongruous images, seems to have
been designed, and put into the mouth of the poet-
aster, that the reader might appreciate his talents :
his language therefore should not be considered in the
abstract.
HENLEY.
33. Upon the heels, &c.] As soon as my book has
been presented to lord Timon.
JOHNSON.
-presentment- -] The patrons of Shakspere's
age do not appear to have been all Timons.
"I did determine not to have dedicated my play to
any body, because forty shillings I care not for, and
above, few or none will bestow on these matters."
Preface to a Woman is a Weathercock, by N. Field, 1612.
STEEVENS.
36. this comes off well and excellent.] The
meaning is: The figure rises well from the canvas.
C'est bien relevè.
JOHNSON.
What is meant by this term of applause I do not ex-
actly know. It occurs again in the Widow, by B.
Jonson, Fletcher, and Middleton:
"It comes off very fair yet."
Again, in A Trick to catch the old One, 1616: "Put a good
tale in his ear, so that it comes off cleanly, and there's
a horse and man for us. I warrant thee." Again, in
the first part of Marston's Antonio and Mellida :
"Fla. Faith, the song will seem to come off
hardly.
“Catz. Troth, not a whit, if you seem to come off
quickly.”
STEEVENS.
38.
Act 1.
TIMON OF ATHENS,
38.
How this grace
Speaks his own standing ?———— -] This relates to
the attitude of the figure; and means that it stands judi-
ciously on its own centre. And not only so, but that
it has a graceful standing likewise. Of which the poet
in Hamlet, speaking of another picture, says,
"A Station like the Herald, Mercury,
"New-lighted on a heav'n-kissing hill.'
Which lines Milton seems to have had in view, where
he says of Raphael:
"At once on th' eastern cliff of Paradise
"He lights, and to his proper shape returns.
-Like Maia's son he stood.”
WARBURTON,
This sentence seems to me obscure, and, however
explained, not very forcible. This grace speaks his own
standing, is only, The gracefulness of this figure shows
how it stands. I am inclined to think something cor-
rupted.
The passage, to my apprehension at least, speaks its
own meaning, which is, how the graceful attitude of
this figure proclaims that it stands firm on its centre,
or gives evidence in favour of its own fixure. Grace
is introduced as bearing witness to propriety. A similar
expression occurs in Cymbeline, act ii. scene iv.
41.
——————never saw I figures
"So likely to report themselves.
to the dumbness of the gesture
STEEVENS.
One might interpret.] The allusion is to the
puppet-shows, or motions, as they were termed in our
author's time. The person who spoke for the puppets
was
10
Act I,
ANNOTATIONS UPON
!
was called an interpreter. See a note on Ilamlet, act iii.
scene v.
46.
MALONE.
artificial strife] Strife is either the contest
of art with nature,
"Hic ille est Raphael, timuit, quo sospite vinci
"Rerum magna parens, & moriente mori ;”
or it is the contrast of forms or opposition of colours.
JOHNSON.
That artificial strife means, as Dr. Johnson has ex-
plained it, the contest of art with nature, and not the
contrast of forms or opposition of colours-may appear
from our author's l'enus and Adonis, where the same.
thought is more clearly expressed:
"Look when a painter would surpass the life,
"In limning out a well-proportion'd steed,
"His art with nature's workmanship at strife,
"As if the dead the living should exceed ;
"So, did this horse excell," &c. MALONE.
So, under the print of Noah Bridges, by Faithorne:
Faithorne, with nature at a noble strife,
"Hath paid the author a great share of life," &c.
STEEVENS.
And Ben Jonson, on the head of Shakspere by
Droeshout:
"This figure that thou here seest put,
"It was for gentle Shakspere cut:
"Wherein the graver had a strife
“With nature, to out-doo the life."
IICNLEY.
49. —Happy men!] I think we had better read:
Happy man! It is the happiness of Timon, and
not
Act I.
11
TIMON OF ATHENS.
V
not of the senators, upon which the poet means to
exclaim.
STEEVENS.
The text is right. The poet envies or admires the
felicity of the senators in being Timon's friends, and
familiarly admitted to his table, to partake of his good
chear, and experience the effects of his bounty.
51.
REMARKS.
this confluence, this great flood of visitors.]
"Manc salutantûm totis vomit ædibus undam."
55. Halts not particularly,
stop at any single characters.
JOHNSON.
] My design does not
JOHNSON.
56. In a wide sea of wax:] Anciently they wrote
upon waxen tables with an iron stile. HANMER.
I once thought with Hanmer, that this was only an
allusion to the Roman practice of writing with a style
on waxen tablets; but it appears that the same cus-
tom prevailed in England about the year 1395. It
seems also to be pointed out by implication in many of
our old collegiate establishments. See Warton's Hist.
of English Poetry, Vol. III. p. 151. STEEVENS.
-no levell'd malice] To level is to aim, to point
the shot at a mark. Shakspere's meaning is, my
poem is not a satire written with any particular view,
or levelled at any single person; I fly like an eagle into
the general expanse of life, and leave not, by any
private mischief, the trace of my passage. JOHNSON.
61. I'll unbolt-] I'll open, I'll explain.
JOHNSON.
63.
12
A&t I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
smooth, unresisting.
63. glib and slipp'ry creatures,] Slippery is
JOHNSON.
68. glass-fac'd flatterer] That shows in his
own look, as by reflection, the looks of his patron.
70.
JOHNSON.
-even he drops down, &c.] Either Shakspere
meant to put a falsehood into the mouth of his poet,
or had not yet thoroughly planned the character of
Apemantus; for in the ensuing scenes, his behaviour is
as cynical to Timon as to his followers. STEEVENS.
The poet, seeing that Apemantus paid frequent visits
to Timon, naturally concluded that he was equally
courteous with his other guests.
76.
-rank'd with all deserts,—]
ranks of all kinds of men.
78. To propagate their states:—
REMARKS.
Cover'd with
JOHNSON.
To advance or
improve their various conditions of life. JOHNSON.
conceiv'd to scope,] Properly imagined, ap-
84.
positely to the purpose.
89. In our condition.] Condition for art.
JOHNSON.
WARBURTON.
94. Rain sacrificial whisp'rings in his ear,] The sense
is obvious, and means, in general, flattering him. The
particular kind of flattery, may be collected from the
circumstance of its being offered up in whispers: which
shews it was the calumniating those whom Timon hated
or envied, or whose vices were opposite to his own.
This offering up, to the person flattered, the mur-
dered reputation of others, Shakspere, with the ut-
most
ACLI.
13
TIMON OF ATHENS.
ake my Ast de
most beauty of thought and expression, calls sacrificial
whisp'rings, alluding to the victims offered up to idols.
95. through him
WARBURTON.
Drink the free air.] e. i. catch his breath in af-
fected fondness.
So, in our author's Venus and Adonis:
"His nostrils drink the air.”
101.
JOHNSON,
MALONE.
-let him slip down,] The old copy reads,
-let him sit down.
The emendation was made by Mr. Rowe. STEEVENS.
104. A thousand moral paintings I can shew,] Shak-
spere seems to intend in this dialogue to express some
competition between the two great arts of imitation.
Whatever the poet declares himself to have shewn,
the painter thinks he could have shewn better.
JOHNSON.
104. -mcan eyes——————]i. e. inferior spectators. So,
in Wotton's Letter to Bacon, dated March the last, 1613:
"Before their majestics, and almost as many other
meaner eyes," &c.
TOLLLT.
114 Periods his comfort.] To period is, perhaps,
a verb of Shakspere's introduction into the English
language. I find it, however used, by Heywood, after
him, in A Maidenhead Well Lust, 1634:
"How easy could I peried all my care.
Again in the Country Girl, by T. B. 1647:
"To period our vain grievings.”
117.
STEEVENS.
-must nced me.] i. e. when he is compelled
to have need of my assistance.
STEEVENS.
B
123.
14
A& I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON.
123. 'Tis not enough, &c.] This thought is better
expressed by Dr. Madden in his Elegy on archbishop
Boulter,
1
"He thought it mean
"Only to help the poor to beg again."
125.
JOHNSON.
your honour!] The common address to a
lord in our author's time, was your honour, which was
indifferently used with your lordship. See any old
letter, or dedication of that age.
148. Therefore he will be, Timon:
STEEVENS.
] The thought
is closely expressed, and obscure: but this seems the
meaning: If the man be honest, my Lord, for that reason
he will be so in this; and not endeavour at the injustice of
gaining my daughter without my consent.
So, in K. Henry VIII:
-May he continue
WARBURTON.
"Long in his highness' favour; and do justice
"For truth's sake and his conscience.” STEEVENS.
172.
Never may
That state or fortune fall into my keeping,
Which is not ow'd to you!] The meaning
is, let me never henceforth consider any thing that I
possess, but as owed or due to you; held for your ser-
vice, and at your disposal.
JOHNSON.
183.
-pencil'd figures are
Even such as they give out.] Pictures have no
hypocrisy; they are what they profess to be.
JOHNSON.
194
Act I.
15
TIMON OF ATHENS.
194.
-unclew me quite.] To unclew, is to unwind
a ball of thread. To unclew a man, is to draw out the
whole mass of his fortunes.
JOHNSON.
198. Are prized by their masters -] Are rated
according to the esteem in which their possessor is
held.
JOHNSON.
204. Enter Apemantus.] See this character of a
cynick finely drawn by Lucian, in his Auction of the
Philosophers; and how well Shakspere has copied it.
WARBURTON.
208. When thou art Timon's dog,] When thou
hast gotten a better character, and instead of being
Timon, as thou art, shalt be changed to Timon's dog,
and become more worthy of kindness and salutation.
When thou art Timon's dog,—] This is spoken
deintinãng, as Mr. Upton says some where :-striking his
hand on his breast.
"Wote you who named me first the king's dogge?"
says Aristippus in Damon and Pythias. FARMER.
237. Not so well as plain-dealing,] Alluding to
the proverb: "Plain dealing is a jewel, but they that
use it die beggars."
STEEVENS.
260. That I had no angry wit to be a lord.——] This
reading is absurd, and unintelligible. But, as I have
restored the text, that I had so hungry a wit, to be a
lord, it is satirical enough of conscience, viz. I would
hate myself, for having no more wit than to covet so
insignificant a title. In the same sense, Shakspere uses
lean-witted in his Richard II.
B ij
" And
16
Act I
ANNOTATIONS UPON
"And thou a lunatick, lean-witted fool."
WARBURTON.
The meaning may be, I should hate myself for pa-
tiently enduring to be a lord. This is ill enough ex-
pressed. Perhaps some happy critick may set it right.
I have tried, and can do nothing, yet I cannot heartily
concur with Dr. Warburton.
JOHNSON.
If I hazard one conjecture, it is with the smallest
degree of confidence. By an angry wit Apemantus
may mean the poet, who has been provoking him. The
sense will then be this: I should hate myself, because I
could prevail on no captious wit (like him) to take the title in
my stead. The Revisal reads:
"That I had so wrong'd my wit to be a lord."
STEEVENS.
Perhaps the compositor has transposed the words,
and they should be read thus :
Or,
Angry that I had no wit,-to be a lord.
Angry to be a lord,-that I had no wit.
BLACKSTONE.
268. All of companionship.] This expression does.
not mean barely that they all belong to one company,
but that they are all such as Alcibiades honours with his
acquaintance, and sets on a level with himself.
277.
STEEVENS.
The strain of man's bred out
Into baboon and monkey.] Man is exhausted and
degenerated; his strain or lineage is worn down into
a monkey.
JOHNSON.
282.
Act I.
17
TIMON OF ATHENS.
282. Ere we depart,] Depart and part have the
same meaning. So, inK. John,
"Hath willingly departed with a part.”
i. e. Hath willingly parted with a part of the thing in
question.
STEEVENS.
305. no meed,—] Meed, which in general
signifies reward or recompence, in this place seems to
mean desert. So, in Heywood's Silver Age, 1613:
"And yet thy body meeds a better grave."
i. e deserves. Again, in a comedy called Look about
you, 1600:
"Thou shalt be rich in honour, full of speed;
"Thou shalt win foes by fear, and friends by
meed."
STEEVENS.
308. All use of quittance.] i. e. All the customary
returns made in discharge of obligations.
WARBURTON.
342. But yonder man is ever angry.] The old copy
reads:
But yond man is very angry.
Ever was introduced by Mr. Rowe.
MALONE.
349. -I myself would have no power:] I under-
stand Timon's meaning to be: I myself would have no
power to make thee silent,
let my mate make thee silent.
but I wish thou would'st
Timon, like a polite land-
lord, disclaims all power over the meanest or most trou-
TYRWHITT.
blesome of his guests.
351. I scorn thy meat; 'twould choak me, for I should
Ne'er flatter thee,-] The meaning is, I
could not swallow thy meat, for I could not pay for it
B iij
with
18
Act I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
with flattery; and what was given me with an ill-will
would stick in my throat.
354.
—so many dip their meat
In one man's blood;
JOHNSON.
The allusion is to
a pack of hounds, trained to pursuit, by being gratified
with the blood of an animal which they kill; and the
wonder is that the animal on which they are feeding
cheers them to the chace.
JOHNSON.
365. —wind-pipe's dangerous notes:] The notes
of the wind-pipe seem to be only the indications which
shew where the wind-pipe is.
JOHNSON.
Shakspere is very fond of making use of musical
terms, when he is speaking of the human body, and
wind-pipe and notes savour strongly of a quibble.
STEEVENS.
367. My lord, in heart; -] That is, my lord's
health with sincerity.
JOHNSON.
So, in the Queen of Corinth, by Beaumont and Fletcher:
"I will be never more in heart to you."
Again, in Love's Labour's Lost, act V. sc. ii,
-Dost thou not wish in heart,
"The chain were longer, and the letter short.
STEEVENS.
385. Rich men sin,-] Dr. Farmer proposes to
read sing.
401.
for ever perfect.] That is, arrived at the
perfection of happiness.
405.
JOHNSON.
-How had you been my friends else? why have
you that charitable title from thousands,-] Charitable
signifies, dear, endearing.
Milton
Act I.
19
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Milton hath used charities in a similar sense :
"Relations dear, and all the charities
"Of father, son, and brother—”
Alms, in English, are called charities, and from thence
we may collect that our ancestors knew well in what
the virtue of alms-giving consisted; not in the act,
but the disposition.
WARBURTON.
406. -why have you, &c.] The meaning is pro-
bably this; Why are you distinguished from thou-
sands by that title of endearment, was there not a par-
ticular connection and intercourse of tenderness be-
tween you and me.
408. -I confirm you. -] I fix your characters
firmly in my own mind.
411.
JOHNSON.
JOHNSON.
they were the most needless creatures living,
-] This pas-
should we ne'er have use for them: and-
sage I have restored from the old copy.
STEEVENS.
420. O joy, e'en made away ere it can be born!] Tears
being the effect of both joy and grief, supplied our
author with an opportunity of conceit, which he sel-
dom fails to indulge. Timon, weeping with a kind of
tender pleasure, cries out, O joy, e'en made away, de-
stroyed, turned to tears, before it can be born, before it
can be fully possessed.
JOHNSON.
421. Mine eyes, &c.] In the original edition the
words stand thus: Mine eyes cannot hol dout water, me-
thinks. To forget their faults, I drink to you. Perhaps
the true reading is this, Mine eyes cannot hold out; they
water. Methinks, to forget their faults, I will drink to you.
Or if it may be explained without any change: Mine
eyes
1
20
Act I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON.
eyes cannot hold out water, that is, cannot keep water
from breaking in upon them.
423.
JOHNSON.
to make them drink,-] Hanmer reads,
to make them drink thee:
and is again followed by Dr. Warburton, I think,
without sufficient reason. The covert sense of Ape-
mantus is, what thou losest, they get.
425.
JOHNSON.
-like a babe- -] That is, a weeping babe.
JOHNSON.
To look for babies in the eyes of another, is no un-
common expression.
So, in Love's Mistress, by Heywood, 1636:
Joy'd in his looks, look'd babies in his eyes.”
Again, in The Christian turn'd Turk, 1612:
"She makes him sing songs to her, looks fortunes
in his fists, and babies in his eyes."
Does not Lucullus dwell on Timon's metaphor by
referring to circumstances preceding the birth; and
mean that joy was conceived in their eyes, and sprung
up there, like the motion of a babe in the womb ?
440. In former copies:
TOLLET.
There taste, touch, all pleas'd from thy table rise,
They only now,
] The five senses are talk-
ed of by Cupid, but three of them only are made
out; and those only in a very heavy unintelligible
manner. It is plain therefore we should read :
Th'ear, taste, touch, smell, pleas'd from thỳ table
rise,
These only now, &c.
i. e.
Act I.
21
TIMON OF ATHENS.
i. e. the five senses, Timon, acknowledge thee their
patron; four of them, viz. the hearing, taste, touch,
and smell, are all feasted at thy board; and these
ladies come with me to entertain your sight in a
masque. Massinger, in his Duke of Millaine, copied
the passage from Shakspere; and apparently before it
was thus corrupted; where, speaking of a banquet,
he says:
All that may
be had
To pleass the eye, the ear, taste, touch, or smell,
Are carefully provided.
WARBURTON.
446. They dance! They are mad women.
Like madness, is the glory of this life,
As this pomp shews to a little oil, and root.] The
glory of this life is very near to madness, as may be made
appear from this pomp, exhibited in a place where a
philosopher is feeding on oil and roots. When we see
by example how few are the necessaries of life, we
learn what madness there is in so much superfluity.
JOHNSON.
They dance!—-] I believe They dance to be a mar-
ginal note only; and perhaps we shonld read,
These are mad women.
TYRWHITT.
454. —of their friends' gift?] That is, given
them by their friends.
JOHNSON.
462. -mine own device;] The mask appears to
have been design'd by Timon to surprise his guests.
JOHNSON.
A mask of this kind may be seen in Strutt's porda
Angel-cýnnan, Vol. III. plate xi.
HENLEY.
464.
22
A&t I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
464. My lord,] This answer seems rather to
belong to one of the ladies. It was probably only
mark'd L in the copy.
JOHNSON.
In the old copy this speech is given to the 1 Lord.
I have ventured to change it to the 1 Lady, as the
author of the Revisal, and Mr. Edwards, as well as
Dr. Johnson, concur in the emendation. There may
not, however, be sufficient reason for the change;
especially if the preceding line, "I am to thank you
for it,” be addressed to the lords by whom this masque
appears to have been contrived.
STEEVENS.
—even at the best.] Take us even at the best,
means, you have seen the best we can do. They are
supposed to be hired dancers, and therefore there is
no impropriety in such a confession. STEEVENS.
476.
-he'd be cross'd then, an he could.] The
poet does not mean here, that he would be cross'd in
humour, but that he would have his hand cross'd with
money, if he could. He is playing on the word, and
alluding to our old silver penny, used before K. Ed-
ward the first's time, which had a cross on the reverse
with a crease, that it might be more easily broke into
halves and quarters, half-pence and farthings. From
this penney, and other pieces, was our common ex-
pression derived, I have not a cross about me; i. e. not
a piece of money.
THEOBALD.
477.
-eyes behind ;] To see the miseries that
JOHNSON.
are following her.
478, for his mind.] For nobleness of soul.
JOHNSON.
484.
A& I.
23
TIMON OF ATHENS.
484.
-to
Advance this jewel;] To prefer it; to
raise it to honour by wearing it.
JOHNSON.
536. I tell you true.————— -] The other modern edi-
tions :
I'll tell you.
539.
-'tis not enough to give;
JOHNSON.
Methinks, I could deal kingdoms] i. e. I
could dispense them on every side with an ungrudging
distribution, like that with which I could deal out
cards.
STEEVENS.
546. In defiled land,-] This is the old reading,
which apparently depends on a very low quibble.
Alcibiades is told, that his estate lies in a pitch'd field.
Now pitch, as Falstaff says, doth defile. Alcibiades
therefore replies, that his estate lies in defiled land.
This, as it happened, was not understood, and all
the editors published,
I defy land,-
JOHNSON.
"I defy
We should read-" Ay, [I] defiled land, my lord;"
for so the passage stands in the first folio.
land," is the corrupt reading of the second folio.
MALONE.
550. All to you.—] i. e. all good wishes, or all
happiness to you. So, Macbeth:
“All to all.'
STEEVENS.
555. Serving of becks,——] To serve a beck, means,
to pay a courtly obedience to a nod. Thus, in The Death
of Robert Earl of Huntington, 1601:
"And
24
Aa I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
"And with a low beck
"Prevent a sharp check."
Again, in The Play of the Four P's, 1569:
"Then I to every soul again,
"Did give a beck them to retain."
In Ram-alley or Merry Tricks, 1611, I find the same
word :
"I had my winks, my becks, treads on the toe.”
Again, in Heywood's Rape of Lucrece, 1630:
(6 wanton looks,
"And privy becks, savouring incontinence.”
Again, in Lilly's Woman in the Moon, 1597:
"And he that with a beck controuls the heavens.”
It happens that the word beck has no less than four
distinct significations. In Drayton's Polyolbion, it is
enumerated among the appellations of small streams of
water. In Shakspere's Antony and Cleopatra, it has its
common meaning—a sign of invitation made by the hand.
In Timon, it appears to denote a bow, and in Lylly's
play, a nod of dignity or command, as well as in Marius
and Sylla, 1594:
"Yea Sylla with a beck could break thy neck."
Again, in the interlude of Jacob and Esau, 1568:
"For what, O Lord, is so possible to man's
judgment
"Which thou canst not with a beck perform in-
continent?"
STEEVINS.
ง
See Surrey's Poems, p. 29.
"And with a becke full lowe he bowed at her
feete."
TYRWHITT.
556.
Act II.
25
TIMON OF ATHENS.
1
556,
I doubt, whether their legs, &c.] He plays upon
the word leg, as it signifies a limb and a bow or act of
obeisance.
565.
I fear me, thou
JOHNSON.
Wilt give away thyself in paper shortly:]i. c. be
ruin'd by his securities entered into. WARBURTON.
574. Thy heaven-] The pleasure of being flattered.
JOHNSON.
ACT II.
Line 7.
10.
TWENTY-] Perhaps, twain.
No porter at his gate;
FARMER.
But rather one that smiles, and still invites] Stern-
ness was the characteristick of a porter. There appear-
ed at Killingworth castle, "a porter, tall of parson,
big of lim, and stearn of countinauns.” FARMER.
17.
-be not ceas'd] i. e. stopp'd. So, in Clau-
dius Tiberius Nerc, 1607:
(C
Why should Tiberius' liberty be ceased.”
Again, in the Valiant Welchman, 1515:
r
18.
when.
-pity thy people's wrongs,
"And cease the clamours both of old and young."
STEEVENS.
nor then silenc'd,-] The old copy reads-
STEEVENS.
C
32.
26
Act II.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
32.
-a naked gull,] A gull is a bird as remark-
able for the poverty of its feathers, as a phoenix is
supposed to be for the richness of its plumage.
STEEVENS.
33. Which flashes, &c.] Which, the pronoun re-
lative, relating to things, is frequently used, as in this
instance, by Shakspere, instead of who, the pronoun
relative, applied to persons. The use of the former
instead of the latter is still preserved in the Lord's
prayer.
STEEVENS.
43.
·Never mind
Was to be so unwise, to be so kind.] Of this
mode of expression, conversation affords many exam-
ples: "I was always to be blamed, whatever hap-
pened." "I am in the lottery, but I was always to
draw blanks."
JOHNSON.
48. Good even, Varro: ] It is observable, that
this good evening is before dinner; for Timon tells
Alcibiades, that they will go forth again as soon as din·
ner's done, which may prove that by dinner our author
meant not the cana of ancient times, but the mid-day's
repast. I do not suppose the passage corrupt: such
inadvertencies neither author nor editor can escape.
There is another remark to be made. Varro and
Isidore sink a few lines afterwards into the servants
of Varro and Isidore. Whether servants, in our au-
thor's time, took the names of their masters, I know
not. Perhaps it is a slip of negligence. JOHNSON.
. In the old copy it stands: Enter Caphis, Isidore, and
Varro.-
STEEVENS.
Good
A& II.
27
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Good even, or, as it is sometimes less accurately writ-
ten, Good den, was the usual salutation from noon,. the
moment that Good-morrow became improper. This
appears plainly from the following passage. Romco
and Juliet, act II. sc. iv.
"Nurse. God ye good morrow, gentlemen.
"Mercutio. God ye gcod den, fair gentlewoman.
"Nur. Is it good den?
"Merc. 'Tis no less I tell you; for the ..... hand
of the dial is now upon.
noon."
So, in Hamlet's greeting to Marcellus. Act I. scene i.
Sir T. Hanmer and Dr. Warburton, not being aware,
I presume, of this wide sense of Good even, have altered
it to Good morning; without any necessity, as from the
course of the incidents, precedent and subsequent, the
day may well be supposed to be turn'd of noon-
TYRWHITT.
56.
-we'll forth again,] i. e. to hunting. It
may be here observed, that in our author's time it was
the custom to hunt as well after dinner as before.
Thus in Lancham's Account of the Entertainment at Kencl-
worth Castle, we find, that Queen Elizabeth always,
while there, hunted in the afternoon. So, in Tancred
and Gismunda, 1592, Act II. sc. i.
"He means this evening in the park to hunt."
REED.
66. That with your other noble parts you'll suit,] i. e.
that you will behave on this occasion in a manner
consistent with your other noble qualities.
Cij
STEEVENS.
84.
28
Act II.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
84.
94.
ofbroken bonds,] The first fclio reads:
cf debt; broken bonds.
STEEVENS.
Enter Apemantus, and a Fool.] I suspect some
scene to be lost, in which the entrance of the fool, and
the page that follows him, was prepared by some in-
troductory dialogue, in which the audience was in-
formed that they were the fool and page of Phrynia,
Timandra, or some other courtesan, upon the know-
ledge of which depends the greater part of the ensuing
jocularity.
JOHNSON.
107.
Poor rogues, and usurers' men! bawds, &c.]
This is said so abruptly, that I am inclined to think it
misplaced, and would regulate the passage thus:
Caph. Where's the fool now?
Apem. He last ask'd the question.
All. What are we, Apemantus?
Apem. Asses.
All. Why?
Apem. That you ask me what you are, and do not
know yourselves. Poor rogues, and usurers' men! bawds
between gold and want! Speak, &c.
Thus every word will have its proper place. It is
likely that the passage transposed was forgot in the
copy, and inserted in the margin, perhaps a little
beside the proper place, which the transcriber wanting
either skill or care to observe, wrote it where it now
stands.
JOHNSON.
117.
She's e'en setting on water to scald, &c.] The
old name for the disease got at Corinth was the bren-
ning,
Act II.
29
TIMON OF ATHENS.
ning, and a sense of scalding is one of the first symp-
toms.
JOHNSON.
The same thought appears in the Old Law, by Mas-
singer :
(6
-look parboil'd
"As if they came from Cupid's scalding-house."
STEEVENS.
It was anciently the practice, and in inns perhaps.
still continues, to scald off the feathers of poultry,
instead of plucking them. Chaucer hath referred to
it, in his Romaunt of the Rosc, 6820:
"Without scalding they hem pulle.”
HENLEY.
118. 'Would we could see you at Corinth.] A cant
name for a bawdy-house, I suppose, from the disso-
luteness of that ancient Greek city; of which Alex-
ander ab Alexandro has these words: "CORINTHI
super mille prostituta in templo Veneris assiduæ degere, &
inflammata libidine quæstui merctricio operam dare, & vc-
lut sacrorum ministra Dea famulari solebant." Milton,
in his Apology for Smectymnus, says: "Or searching
for me at the Bordellos, where, it may be, he has lost
himself, and raps up, without pity, the sage and rheu-
matic old prelatess, with all her young Corinthian laity,
to enquire for such a one."
WARBURTON.
-my master's page.] In the first passage
the Fool speaks of his master, in the second of his mis-
tress. In the old copy it is master in both places. It
should rather, perhaps, be mistress in both, as it is in a
following and a preceding passage :
121.
کریم
C iij
"All.
30
Að 11,
ANNOTATIONS UPON
"All. How does your mistress ?"
"Fool. My mistress is one, and I am her fool."
STEEVENS.
161. -than's artificial one-] Meaning the cele-
brated philosopher's stone, which was in those times
much talked of. Sir Thomas Smith was one of those
who lost considerable sums in seeking of it.
JOHNSON.
Sir Richard Steele was one of the last eminent men
who entertained hopes of being successful in this pur-
suit. His laboratory was at Poplar, a village near Lon-
don, and is now converted into a garden-house.
204.
and at length
STEEVENS.
How goes our reckoning?] It is common
enough to propose, interrogatively, that of which
neither the speaker nor the hearer has any doubt.
JOHNSON.
Sc. xi...
215. With riotous feeders ;] Feeders are servants,
whose low debaucheries are practised in the offices of
a house. See a note on Anthony and Cleopatra, act III.
-one who looks on feeders." It appears
that what we now call offices, were anciendly called
houses of office. So, in Chaucer's Clerkes Tale, late edit.
v. 8140:
"Houses of office stuffed with plentee
"Ther mayst thou see of deinteous vittaille."
218.
STEEVENS.
a wasteful cock] Is what we call a wuste
pipe; a pipe which is continually running, and thereby
prevents
1
A&t II.-
81
TIMON OF ATHENS.
prevents the overflow of cisterns and other reservoirs,
by carrying off their superfluous water. This circum-
stance served to keep the idea of Timon's unceasing
prodigality in the mind of the steward, while its re-
moteness from the scenes of luxury within the house,
was favourable to meditation.
COLLINS.
231. No villanous bounty yet hath past my heart;
Unwisely, not ignobly, have I given.] Every
reader must rejoice in this circumstance of comfort
which presents itself to Timon, who, although beg-
gar'd through want of prudence, consoles himself with
reflection, that his ruin was not brought on by the
pursuit of guilty pleasures.
STEEVENS.
236. And try the argument-] Argument for na-
WARBURTON.
ture.
How argument should stand for nature I do not see.
But the licentiousness of our author forces us often
upon far fetched expositions. Argument may mean
content, as the arguments of a book; or for evidences and
proofs.
JOHNSON.
260.
-I knew it the most general way] General is
not speedy, but compendious, the way to try many at
a time.
271.
JOHNSON.
intending] Is regarding, turning their
JOHNSON.
notice to other things.
To intend and to attend had anciently the same
meaning. So, in the Spanish Curate of Beaumont and
Fletcher:
STEEVENS.
"Good sir, intend this business."
272. -and these hard fractions,] Flavius, by frac
tions,
32
A&t II.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
1
tions, means broken hints, interrupted sentences, abrupt
remarks.
273.
moved, not put off.
JOHNSON.
half-caps,] Ahalf-capis a cap slightly
JOHNSON.
-cold-moving nods,] Cold-moving is the same as
coldly-moving. So-perpetual-sober god, for perpetually
sober; lazy-pacing clouds-loving-jealous-flattering-
sweet, &c.-Such distant and uncourteous salutations.
are properly termed cold-moving, as proceeding from
a cold and unfriendly disposition.
MALONE.
277. Have their ingratitude in them hereditary :] He
reditary, for by natural constitution. But some dis-
tempers of natural constitution being called hereditary,
he calls their ingratitude so.
WARBURTON.
280. And nature as it grows again toward earth,
Is fashion'd for the journey, dull and heavy.
The same thought occurs in The Wife for a Month, of
Beaumont and Fletcher:
"Beside, the fair soul's old too, it grows covetous,
"Which shews all honour is departed from us,
"And we are earth again."
289. Bid him suppese, some good necessity
-]
STEEVENS.
Touches his friend,————]. Good, as it may afford
Ventidius an opportunity of exercising his bounty, and
relieving his friend, in return for his former kindness:
—or, some honest necessity, not the consequence of a
villanous and ignoble bounty. I rather think this latter
is the meaning.
MALONE.
ACT
A&t III.
33
TIMON OF ATHENS.
ACT. III.
Line 8. VERY respectively welcome, &c.] i. e.
respectfully.
45.
STEEVENS.
three solidares] I believe this coin is
from the mint of the poet.
STEEVENS.
49. And we alive, that liv'd?——] i. e. And we who
were alive then, alive now. As much as to say, in so
short a time.
WARBURTON.
54. Let molten coin be thy damnation,] Perhaps the
poet alludes to the punishment inflicted on M. Aqui-
lius by Mithridates. In the Shepherd's Calendar, how-
ever, Lazarus declares himself to have seen in hell
"a great number of wide cauldrons and kettles, full
of boyling lead and oyle, with other hot metals mol-
ten, in the which were plunged and dipped the cove-
tous men and women, and to fullfill and replenish them,
of their insatiate covetise."
Again, in an ancient bl. let. ballad, entitled The Dead
Man's Song:
"And ladles full of melted gold
"Were poured downe their throates.'
STEEVENS.
57. It turns in less than two nights ?--] Alluding
to the turning or acescence of milk.
JOHNSON.
59. Unto his honour-] Thus the old copy. What
Flaminius seems to mean is,-This slave (to the honour
of his character) has, &c.
STEEVENS.
63.
34
A& III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
€3. of nature] Flaminius considers that nutri-
ment which Lucullus had for a length of time received
at Timon's table, as constituting a great part of his
animal system.
STEEVENS.
me,————
77. -to borrow so many talents,—] Such is the
reading of the old copy. So many is not an uncommon
colloquial expression for an indefinite number. The
stranger might not know the exact sum. STEEVENS.
88. yet, had he mistook him, and sent to me,
Lucius has just declared, that he had fewer presents
from Timon than Lucullus had received, who there-
fore ought to have been the first to assist him. Yet,
says he, had Timon mistook him, or overlooked that cir-
cumstance, and sent to me, I should not have denied,
&c.
STEEVENS.
107. If his occasion were not virtuous,] The mean-
ing may be;—If he did not want it for a good use.
JOHNSON.
Dr. Johnson's explication is certainly right.-We
had before,
"Some good necessity touches his friend."
MALONE.
10S. half so faithfully.] Faithfully, for fer-
vently.
114.
WARBURTON.
-that I should purchase the day before for a
little part, and undo a great deal of honour ?—] By
purchasing what brought me but little honour, I have
lost the more honourable opportunity of supplying
the wants of my friend. Dr. Farmer, however, su-
spects a quibble between honour in its common accep-
tation,
Act III.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
35
tation, and honour (i. e. the lordsip of a place) in a legal
sense. See Jacobs' Law Dictionary.
STEEVENS.
145. -in repect of his,] i. e. considering Timon's
claim for what he asks.
WARBURTON.
-in respect of his,] i. e. in respect of his fortune,
what Lucius denies to Timom is in proportion to what
Lucius possesses, less than the usnal alms given by
good men to beggars.
JOHNSON.
Does not his, refer to the lip of Timon ?—Though
Lucius himself drink from a silver cup which was
Timon's gift to him, he refuses to Timon, in return,
drink from any cup.
HENLEY.
155. I would have put my wealth into donation,
And the best half should have return'd to him,]
Hanmer reads,
I would have put my wealth into partition,
And the best half should have attorn'd to him.
Dr. Warburton receives attorn'd. The only difficulty
is in the word return'd, which, since he had received
nothing from him, cannot be used but in a very low
and licentious meaning.
JOHNSON.
Had his necessity made use of me, I would have put my
fortune into a condition to be alicnated, and the best half of
what I had gained myself, or received from others, should
have found its way to him. Either such licentious ex-
position must be allowed, or the passage must remain in
obscurity, as some readers may not chuse to receive
Hanmer's emendation.
See
There is, however, such a word as attern'd.
Holinshed's Reign of K. Richard II.
P. 418:
CC
-they
plainly
36
Act III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
plainly told him they would not atturne to him, nor be
under his jurisdiction," &c. The following lines in
Hamlet, act ii. scene ii. persuade me that my explanati-
on of put my wealth into donation-is very doubtful:
"Put your dread pleasures more into command
"Than to entreaty.'
Again, in Cymbeline, act iii. scene iv.
"And mad'st me put into contempt the suits
"Of princely fellows," &c.
Perhaps the stranger means to say, I would have
treated my wealth as a present originally received from
him, and on this occasion have return'd him the half
of that whole for which I supposed myself to be in-
debted to his bounty.
STEEVENS.
162. And now Ventidius is wealthy too,
Whom he redeem'd from prison :- -] This cir-
cumstance likewise occurs in the annonymous unpub-
lished comedy of Timon:
"O yee ingrateful! have I freed yee
"From bonds in prison, to requite me thus,
"To trample ore mee in my misery?"
MALONE.
166. They have all been touch'd,————] i. e. tried, al-
luding to the touchstone.
172. The original reading is,
-his friends, like physicians
JOHNSON.
Thrive, give him over:] Perhaps the following
passage in Webster's Dutchess of Malfy is the best
L
comment:
-Phy-
Act III.
37
TIMON OF ATHENS.
¢¢
Physicians thus
"With their hands full of money, use to give o'er
"Their patients."
The passage will then mean:
"
"His friends, like
physicians, thrive by his bounty and fees, and either
relinquish, and forsake him, or give his case up as des-
perate. To give over in the Taming of the Shrew has
no reference to the irremediable condition of a patient,
but simply means to leave, to forsake, to quit;
"And therefore let me be thus bold with you
"To give you over at this first encounter,
"Unless you will accompany me thither.”
STEEVENS.
The passage quoted by Mr. Steevens from The
Dutchess of Malfy', is a strong confirmation of the old
reading; for Webster appears both in that and in
another piece of his (The White Devil) to have fre-
quently imitated Shakspere.
MALONE.
185. I had such a courage-] Such an ardour,
such an eager desire.
JOHNSON.
188.- Excellent, &c.] I suppose the former part of
this speech to have been originally written in verse, as
well as the latter; though the players having printed
it as prose (omitting several syllables necessary to the
metre) it cannot now be restored without such addi-
tions as no editor is at liberty to insert in the text.
STEEVENS.
189. -The devil knew not what he did,—————] I cannot
but think that the negative not has intruded into this
D
passage,
1
38
Act III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
passage, and the reader will think so too, when he
reads Dr. Warburton's explanation of the next words.
-will set him clear ;
JOHNSON.
193.
] The meaning, I
think, is this :-The devil did not know what he was
about [or how much his reputation for wickedness
would be diminished] when he made man crafty: he
thwarted himself [by thus raising up rivals to contend
with him in iniquity, and at length to surpass him ;]
and I cannot but think that at last the enormities of
mankind will rise to such a height, as to make even
Satan himself, in comparison, appear (what he would
least of all wish to be) spotless and innocent.
Clear is in many other places used by our author
and the contemporary writers, for innocent
MALONE.
194.
-takes virtuous copies to be wicked; like
thosc, &c.] This is a reflection on the puritans of that
time. These people were then set upon the project
of new-modelling the ecclesiastical and civil govern-
ment according to scripture rules and examples; which
makes him say, that under zcal for the word of God,
they would set whole realms on fire. So Sempronius pre-
tended to that warm affection and generous jealousy
of friendship, that is affronted, if any other be applied
to before it. At best the similitude is an awkward
one but it fitted the audience, though not the speaker.
WARBURTON.
203.
fear of duns.
keep his house.] i. e. keep within doors for
CO
3
JOHNSON.
204.
AR III.
39
TIMON OF ATHENS.
204.
Lucius,—] Lucius is here again for the
servant of Lucius.
229.
-a prodigal's course
JOHNSON.
Is like the sun's ;
] That is, like him in
blaze and splendour.
"Soles occidere & redire possunt." Catul.
239. I am weary of this charge,-
this commission, of this employment.
246. Else, surely, his had equall'd.]
be, Else, surely, mine had equall'd.
JOHNSON.
] That is, of
JOHNSON.
Should it not
JOHNSON.
Your master, it
The meaning of the passage is :
scems, had more confidence in lord Timon than mine, other-
wise his (i. e. my master's) dcbt (i. e. the money due to
him from Timon) would certainly have been as great as'
your master's (i. e. as the money which Timon owes to
your master); that is, my master being as rich as
your's, could and would have advanced Timon ast
large a sum as your master has advanced him, if he
(my master) had thought it prudent to do so.
REMARKS.
278. Enter Servilius.] It may be observed that
Shakspere has unskilfully filled his Greek story with
Roman names.
JOHNSON.
304. Knock me down with 'em,——]`Timon quibbles.
They present their written bills; he catches at the
word, and alludes to the bills, or battle-axes, which
the ancient soldiery carried, and were still used by
the watch in Shakspere's time. See the scene between
Dogberry, &c. in Much ado about Nothing. STEEVENS.
D ij
327.
40
Act III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
327. Lucius, Lucullus, &c.]' The old copy reads:
Lucius, Lucullus, and Sempronius Vllorxa: all.
STEEVENS.
349. He is a man, &c.] I have printed these lines
after the original copy, except that, for an honour, it is
there, and honour.
JOHNSON.
-setting his fate aside,] i. e. putting this action of
his, which was pre-determined by fate, out of the
question.
STEEVENS.
356.
-and unnoted passion
He did behave his anger, ere 'twas spent,] I
would rather read:
and unnoted passion
He did behave, ere was his anger spent.
Unnoted passion means, I believe, an uncommon com-
mand of his passion, such a one as has not hitherto
been observed. Behave his anger may, however, be
right. In Sir W. Davenant's play of the Just Italian,
1630, behave is used in as singular a manner :
"How well my stars behave their influence."
Again :
-You an Italian, sir, and thus
"Behave the knowledge of disgrace!"
In both these instances, to behave is to manage.
STEEVENS.
359. You undergo too strict a paradox,] You under-
take a paradox too hard.
JOHNSON.
382.
-what make we
Abroad?-
-] What do we, or what have we
to do in the field?
JOHNSON.
385
A& III.
41
TIMON OF ATHENS.
385. The ass, more captain than the lion; &c.] I
would regulate and point these lines thus:
Why do fond men expose themselves to battle,
And not endure all threats? sleep on't, and let
The foes quietly cut their throats, without
Repugnancy? If there be such valour
In the bearing, what make we abroad! why
Then, women are more valiant that stay
At home; if bearing carry it, the ass
More captain than the lion, and the felon, &c.
As the words-more captain than the lion—are found
in the old copy, on what principle can they be changed,
however harsh the phrase may sound to our ears?—
That it was the author's, appears, I think, not only
from the introduction to this speech of Alcibiades :-
My lord, then under favour pardon me
"If I speak like a captain:"
but from Shakspere's 66th Sonnet, where the word
captain is used with at least as much harshness as in
the text:
"And captive good attending captain ill.”
Again, in another of his. Sonnets:
1
"Like stones of worth they thinly placed are,
"Or captain jewels in the carkanet." MALONE.
390. sinn'd extremest gust;] I believe gust
means rashness. The allusion may be to a sudden gust
of wind.
STEEVENS.
391.
-by mercy, 'tis most just.] The meaning,
I think is, Homicide in our own defence, by a merciful
D iij
and
42
Act III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
and lenient interpretation of the laws, is considered as
justifiable.
MALONE.
404.
-with 'em ;
-] The folio, with him.
JOHNSON.
405.
thus:
He has made too much plenty with 'em; he
Is a sworn rioter; he has a sin
That often drowns him, and takes his valour pri-
soner:] I would rather regulate these lines
He has made too much plenty with them; he's
A sworn rioter: he has a sin that often
Drowns him, and takes his valour prisoner.
The expression, a sworn rioter, seems to be similar
to that of sworn brothers. See Mr. Whalley's note on
King Henry V. A&I.
MOLONE.
418.
-your reverend ages love
Security,] He charges them obliquely
with being usurers.
433.
nour'd.
JOHNSON
I should prove so base,] Base, for disho-
436. Do you dare our anger?
WARBURTON.
'Tis in few words, but spacious in effect;] This
reading may pass, but perhaps the author wrote:
444.
·our anger?
'Tis few in words, but spacious in effect. JOHNSON.
And not to swell our spirit,] Not to swell our
spirit, I believe, means, not to put ourselves into any
tumour of rage, take our definitive resolution. So, in
King Henry VIII. act III. sc. i.
"The hearts of princes kiss obedience,
"So
Act III.
43
TIMON OE ATHENS.
"So much they love it: bui, to stubborn spirits,
"They swell and grow as terrible as storms.
STEEVENS.
463. Upon that were my thoughts tiring,—] ^
hawk, I think, is said to tire, when she amuses her-
self with pecking a pheasant's wing, or any thing that
puts her in mind of prey. To tire upon a thing, is
therefore, to be idly employed upon it. JOHNSON.
525. ――your diet shall be in all places alike.————]
See a note on the Winter's Tale, Act I. sc. i. STEEVENS.
548. Is your perfection—] Perfection for exact or
perfect likeness.
WARBURTON.
Your perfection is the highest of your excellence.
551.
JOHNSON.
-Live loath'd, and long,] This thought has
occurred twice before:
-let not that part
"Of nature my lord paid for, be of power
"To expel sickness, but prolong his hour:"
Again :
554.
555.
"Gods keep you old enough," &c. STEEVINS.
-time's flies,] Flies of a season. JOHNSON.
-minute-jacks !] A minute-jack is what was
called formerly a Jack of the clock-house; an image
whose office was the same as one of those at St. Dun-
stan's church in Fleet-street. See Sir John Hawkins's
note on a passage in Richard III.
STEEVENS.
556.
the infinite malady] Every kind of disease
incident to man and beast.
JOHNSON.
ACT
44
AC IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
ACT IV.
Line 1.
YET confusion] Hanmer reads,
let confusion; but the meaning may be, though by such
confusion all things seem to hasten to dissolution, yet let not
dissolution come, but the miseries of confusion continue.
JOHNSON.
42. Enter Flavius,] Nothing contributes more to
the exaltation of Timon's character than the zeal and
fidelity of his servants. Nothing but real virtue can
be honoured by domesticks; nothing but impartial
kindness can gain affection from dependents.
7+
JOHNSON.
O, the fierce wretchedness—] I believe fierce
is here used for hasty, precipitate. Perhaps it is em-
ployed in the same sense by Ben Jonson in his Poetaster:
"And Lupus, for your fierce credulity,
"One fit him with a large pair of ears.
''
In another play our author has fierce vanities. In all
instances it may mean glaring, conspicuous, violent. So,
in Ben Johnson's Bartholomew Fair, the Puritan says:
"Thy hobby-horse is an idol, a fierce and rank
STEEVENS.
ლი.
idol."
-Sirange, unnsual blood,] In the Yorkshire
Tragedy, 1609, attributed to Shakspere, blood seems
to be used for inclination, propensity :
"For 'tis our blood to love what we are forbidden."
Strange
[
-
Act IV.
45
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Strange, unusual blood, may therefore mean, strange
unusual disposition.
STEEVENS.
96. thy sister's orb] That is, the moon's, this
sublunary world.
101.
Not nature,
To whom all sores lay siege,
JOHNSON.
The meaning
I take to be this: Brother, when his fortune is cnlarged,
will scorn brother; for this is the general depravity of
human nature, which, besieged as it is by misery, ad-
monished as it is by want and imperfection, when ele-
vated by fortune, will despise beings of nature like its own.
JOHNSON.
106. It is the pastor lards the brother's sides,
The want that makes him leave. -]
Dr.
Warburton found the passage already changed thus :
It is the pasture lards the beggar's sides,
The want that makes him lean.
And upon this reading of no authority, raised another
equally uncertain.
Alterations are never to be made without necessity.
Let us see what sense the genuine reading will afford.
Poverty, says the poet, bears contempt hereditary, and
wealth native honour. To illustrate this position, hay-
ing already mentioned the case of a poor and rich
brother, he remarks, that this preference is given to
wealth by those whom it least becomes; it is the pas-
tour that greases or flutters the rich brother, and will
grease him on till want make him leave.
goes on to ask, Who dares to
say
this
The poet then
man, this pastour,
is a flatterer; the crime is universal;
through all the
world
46
Act IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
world the learned pate, with allusion to the pastour,
ducks to the golden fool. If it be objected, as it may
justly be, that the mention of a pastour is unsuitable,
we must remember the mention of grace and cherubims
in this play, and many such anachronisms in many
others. I would therefore read thus:
It is the pastour lards the brother's sides,
'Tis want that makes him leave.
The obscurity is still great. Perhaps a line is lost.
I have at least given the original reading. JOHNSON.
I am strongly inclined to Dr. Warburton's emen-
dation. In As you like It we have--" good pasture
makes fat sheep;" and in King Richard II. quarto,
1615, as also in the folio, we again find pastors printed
by mistake for pastures:
CC
-and bedew
"Her pastors' grasse with faithful English blood."
Leave in the old copy is only leane with the n inverted.
it was rightly corrected in the second folio.
MALONE.
Perhaps Shakspere wrote pasterer, for I meet with
such a word in Greene's Farewell to Follie, 1617,
"Alexander before he fell into the Persian delicacies,
refused those cooks and pasterers that Ada queen of
Caria sent to him." There is likewise a proverb
among Ray's collection, which seems to afford much
the same meaning as this passage in Shakspere. “Eve-
ry one basteth the fat hog, while the lean one burn-
eth."
STEEVENS.
110.
Act. II.
47
TIMON OF ATHENS.
110.
or degree.
117.
for every grize of fortune] Grize for step
POPE.
-fang mankind!———] i. c. seize, gripe.
This verb is used by Decker in his Match me at Lon-
don, 1631:
121.
-bite any catchpole that fangs for you.”
STEEVENS.
no idle votarist:—] No insincere or in-
constant supplicant. Gold will not serve me instead
of roots.
JOHNSON.
-you clear heavens!] This may mean either ye
cloudless skies, or ye deities exempt from guilt. Shakspere
mentions the clearest gods in K. Lear; and in Acolastus,
a Comedy, 1540, a stranger is thus addressed, "Good
stranger or alyen, clere guest," &c. Again, in the
Rape of Lucrece:
"Then Collatine again by Lucrece side,
"In his clear bed might have reposed still."
i. e. his uncontaminated bed.
124.
Why this
STEEVENS.
Will lug your priests and servants from your
sides;] Aristophanes, in his Plutus, act V. sc. ii.
makes the priest of Jupiter desert his service to live
with Plutus.
WARBURTON.
126. Pluck stout men's pillows from below their heads :]
¿. e. men who have strength yet remaining to struggle
with their distemper. This alludes to an old custom
of drawing away a pillow from under the heads of men
in their last agonies, to make their departure the
easier.
WARBURTON.
•
129.
48
A& IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
129.
-the hoar leprosy] So in P. Holland's
Translation of Pliny's Nat. Hist. b. xxviii. c. 12:
"the foul white leprie called elephantiasis.”
STEEVENS.
132. That makes the wappen'd widow wed again ;]
Waped or wappen'd signifies both sorrowful and terrified,
either for the loss of a good husband, or by the treat -
ment of a bad. But gold, he says, can overcome both
her affection and her fears.
WARBURTON.
In the comedy of the Roaring Girl, by Middleton
and Decker, 1611, I meet with a word very like this,
which the reader will easily explain for himself, when
he has seen the following passage:
"Moll. And there you shall wap with me.
"Sir B. Nay, Moll, what's that wap?
(،
"Moll. Wappening and niggling is all one, the
rogue my man can tell you."
Again, in Ben Jonson's Masque of Gypsies Metamor-
phosed:
"Boarded at Tappington,
"Bedded at Wappington."
Again, in Martin Mark-all's Apologie to the Bel-man of
London, 1610: "Niggling is company-keeping with a
woman; this word is not used now, but wapping, and
thereof comes the name wapping-morts for whores."
It must not, however, be concealed, that Chaucer,
in the Complaint of Annelida, line 217, uses the word
with the sense in which Dr. Warburton explains it:
My sewertye in waped countenance."
5
Wappened,
Act IV.
49
TIMON OF ATHENS,
Wappened, according to the quotations I have already
given, would mean-The widow whose curiosity and pas-
sions had been already gratified. So in Hamlet:
"The instances that second marriage move,
"Are base respects of thrift, but none of love."
And if the word defunct, in Othello, be explained ac-
cording to its primitive meaning, the same senti-
ment may be discovered there. There may, however,
be some corruption in the Text. After all, I had
rather read-weeping widow. So in the ancient black
letter ballad entitled Thelittle Barly Corne:
“'Twill make a weeping widow laugh,
"And soon incline to pleasure."
STEEVENS.
The following passage in The Two Noble Kinsmen in-
duces me to think that wappen'd means stale:
(C
We come towards the gods
"Young and unwapper'd, not-halting under crimes.
"Many and stale."
I suppose we should have read unwappen'd, or per-
haps in the text we ought to read the wapper'd
widow.
MALONE.
I believe, unwapper'd means undebilitated by ve
nery, i. e. not halting under crimes many and stale.
STEEVENS.
Mr. Tyrwhitt explains wap'd in the line cited from
Chaucer by stupified; a sense which accords with the
other instances adduced by Mr. Steevens, as well as
with Shakspere.-The wappen'd widow, is one who
is no longer alive to those pleasures, the desire of
which was her first inducement to marry. HENLEY.
E.
135
50
A&t IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
135. To the April day again.—] That is, to the
Wedding day, called by the poet, satirically, April day,
or fool's day.
JOHNSON.
The April day does not relate to the widow, but to
the other deceased female, who is represented as the
outcast of an hospital. She it is whom gold embalms and
spices to the April day again: i. e. gold restores her to
all the freshness and sweetness of youth. Such is the
power of gold, that it will
-76
-make black, white; foul, fair;
"Wrong, right;" &c.
A quotation or two may perhaps support this inter-
pretation. Sidney's Arcadia, p. 262. edit. 1633: "Do
you see how the spring time is full of flowers, decking
itself with them, and not aspiring to the fruits of
autumn? What lesson is that unto you, but that in
the April of your age you should be like April."
Again, in Stephens's Apology for Herodotus, 1607, "He
is a young man, and in the April of his age." Peacham's
Compleat Gentleman, chap. iii. calls youth "the April of
man's life." Shakspere's Sonnet, entitled Love's Cru-
elty, has the same thought:
"Thou art thy mother's glass, and she in thee
"Calls back the lovely April of her prime."
Daniel's 31st sonnet has, "the April of my years.”
Master Fenton "smells April and May." TOLLET.
138. Do thy right nature.-] Lie in the earth where
nature laid thee.
JOHNSON.
Thou'rt quick,] Thou hast life and motion in thee.
JOHNSON.
169.
Act IV.
51
TIMON OF ATHENS.
160. I will not kiss thee;-] This alludes to an opi-
nion in former times, generally prevalent, that the
venereal infection transmitted to another, left the in-
fector free. I will not, says Timon, take the rot
from thy lips by kissing thee.
Thus the Humourous Lieutenant says:
JOHNSON.
"He has some wench, or such a toy to kiss over,
"Before he go: 'would I had such another,
"To draw this foolish pain down.”
171.
-If
STEEVENS.
Thou wilt not promise, &c.] That is, how-
ever thou may'st act, since thou art man, hated man,
I wish thee evil.
JOHNSON.
183. Be a whore still! They love thee not, that use thee;
Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust:
Make usc of thy salt hours, &c.] There is here
a slight transposition. I would read :
-They love thee not that use thee,
Leaving with thee their lust; give them dieases,
Make use of thy salt hours, season the slaves
JOHNSON.
For tubs and baths;
187. To the tub-fast, and the diet.] The author al-
ludes to the lues venerea, and its effects. At that
time the cure of it was performed either by guaiacum,
or mercurial unctions and in both cases the patient
was kept up very warm and close; that in the first
application the sweat might be promoted; and lest in
the other, he should take cold, which was fatal. "The
regimen for the course of guaiacum (says Dr. Freind
E ij
in
52
Act IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON.
in his History of Physick, vol. II. p. 380.) was at first
strangely circumstantial; and so rigorous, that the
patient was put into a dungeon in order to make him
sweat; and in that manner, as Fallopius expresses it,
the bones, and the very man himself, was macerated."
Wiseman says, in England they used a tub for this
purpose, as abroad, a cave, or oven, or dungeon.
And as for the unction it was sometimes continued for
thirty-seven days (as he observes, p. 375.) and during
this time there was necessarily an extraordinary absti-
rence required. Hence the term of the tub-fast.
WARBURTON.
"
In Jasper Maine's City Match, 1639:
You had better match a ruin'd bawd,
“One ten times cur'd by sweating, and the tub.”
· The diet was likewise a customary term for the re-
gimen prescribed in these cases. So, in Springes to
catch Woodcocks, a collection of Epigrams, 1606:
"Priscus gave out, &c.
"Priscus had tane the diet all the while."
Again, in another Collection of ancient Epigrams
called the Mastive, &c.
19
"She took not diet nor the sweat in season.
So, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the burning
Pestle :
whom I in diet keep,
"Send lower down into the cave,
"And in a tub that's heated smoaking hot," &c.
Again, in the same play:
“ ———caught
A& IV.
ere
TIMON OF ATHENS.
53
66
-caught us, and put us in a tub,
"Where we this two months sweat, &c.
"This bread and water hath our diet been," &c.
STEEVENS.
Of the tub mentioned in this note there is a print
in Holmes's Storehouse of Armory and Blazon, with an ac-
count of it in book III. chap. xi. p. 421. which the
reader, whose curiosity is alive to such subjects, may
be referred to.
M. C. T.
213. Be as a plenatory plague, when Jove
Will o'er some high-vic'd city hang his poison
] This is wonderfully
In the sick air:
sublime and picturesque.
WARBURTON.
We meet with the same image again in King Ri-
chard II.
or suppose,
"Devouring Pestilence hangs in our air.'
MALONE.
224. -exhaust their mercy;] Exhaust here signi-
fies literally to draw forth.
JOHNSON.
225. bastard] An allusion to the tale of
Oedipus.
JOHNSON.
227. Swear against objects;] So in our author's
152d sonnet :
"Or made them swear against the thing they see.'
STEEVENS.
239. And to make whores a bawd.]i. e. enough to make
a whore leave whoring, and a bawdle ave making of whores.
JOHNSON.
}
243་
54
Act IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
243.
The immortal gods that hear you,
] The
same thought is found in Antony and Cleopatra, act i.
scene iii.
"Though you with swearing shake the throned
gods."
Again, in the Winters Tale:
66
. 244.
Though you would seek to unsphere the stars
with oaths."
STEEVENS.
I'll trust to your conditions:] You need not
swear to continue whores, I will trust to
nations.
your incli.
JOHNSON.
248. And be no turn-coats: ] By an old sta-
tute, those women who lived in a state of prostitution,
were, amongst other articles concerning their dress,
enjoined to wear their garments with the wrong-side
outward, on pain of forfeiting them. Perhaps there is
in this passage a reference to it.
HENLEY.
248.
Yet may your pains, six months,
Be quite contrary:] I believe this means,
-Yet for half the year at least, may you suffer such pu-
nishment as is inflicted on harlots in houses of correction.
STEEVENS.
249.
-thatch your poor thin roofs, &c.] About
the year 1595, when the fashion became general in
England of wearing a greater quantity of hair than
was ever the produce of a single head, it was dange-
rous for any child to wander, as nothing was more
common than for women to entice such as had fine
locks into private places, and there to cut them off.
I have this information from Stubbs's Anatomy of Abu-
seso
[
A&t IV.
55
TIMON OF ATHENS.
ses, which I have often quoteḍ on the article of dress.
To this fashion the writers of Shakspere's age do not
So, in A Mad World
appear to have been reconciled.
my Masters, 1608: “
to wear perriwigs made of
another's hair, is not this against kind ?"
Again, in Drayton's Mooncalf:
“And with large sums they stick not to procure
"Hair from the dead, yea, and the most unclean;
"To help heir pride they nothing would disdain."
Again, in Shakspere's 68th Sonnet :
"Before the golden tresses of the dead,
“The right of sepulchres, were shorn away
"To live a second life on second head,
"Ere beauty's dead fleece made another gay."
Warner, in his Albion's England, 1602, b. ix. c. 47, is
likewise very severe on this fashion. Stowe informs
us, that "women's perriwigs were first brought into
England about the time of the massacre of Paris.”
STEEVENS.
258. men's spurring.- -] The disease that
enfeebled their shins would have this effect.
STEEVENS.
260. Nor sound his quillets shrilly:-] Quillets are
subtilties. So, in Law Tricks, &c. 1608: “—a
quillet well applied!"
STEEVENS.
-hoar the flamen,] Give the flamen the hoary le-
prosy. So, in Webster's Dutchess of Malfy, 1623:
-shew like leprosy,
་
"The whiter the fouler."
And before, in this play,
3
"Make
56
Act IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
"Make the hoar leprosy ador'd."
STEEVENS.
264. -that his particular to foresee,] The meta-
phor is apparently incongruous, but the sense is good.
To foresee his particular, is to provide for his private ad-
vantage, for which he leaves the right scent of publick
good. In hunting, when hares have cross'd one another,
it is common for some of the hounds to smell from the
general weal, and foresee their own particular. Shakspere,
who seems to have been a skilful sportsman, and has
alluded often to falconry, perhaps alludes here to
hunting.
JOHNSON.
271. And ditches grave you all!] To grave is to en-
tomb. The word is now obsolete, though sometimes
used by Shakspere and his contemporary authors. So,
in Lord Surrey's Translation of the fourth book of
Virgil's Æneid:
“Cinders (think'st thou) mind this? of graved
ghostes?"
To ungrave was likewise to turn out of a grave. Thus,
in Marston's Sophonisba :
-and me, now dead,
"Deny a grave: hurl us among the rocks
"To staunch beasts hunger: therefore, thus un-
grav'd,
"I seek slow rest."
STEEVENS.
278. Yes, thou spok'st well of me.] Shakspere, in
this, as in many other places, appears to allude to the
sacred writings: "Woe unto him of whom all men
speak well!"
MALONE.
285.
Act IV.
57
TIMON OF ATHENS.
285. Whose womb unmeasurable, infinite breast,] This
image is taken from the ancient statues of Diana Ephe-
sia Multimanımia, called παναίολος Φύσις πάντων Μήτηρ;
and is a very good cominent on those extraordinary
figures. See Montfauçon, l' Antiquité expliqucé. 1. iii.
c. 15. Hesiod, alluding to the same representations
calls the earth, ΓΑΙ ΕΥΡΥΣΤΕΡΝΟΣ WARBURTON.
Whose infinite breast means no more than whose bound-
less surface. Shakspere probably knew nothing of the
statue to which the commentator alludes. STEEVENS.
289. -eyeless venom'd worm,] The serpent which
we, from the smallness of his eyes, call the blind worm,
and the Latins, cæcilia.
JOHNSON.
290.
—below crisp heaven,] We should read cript,
i. c. vaulted, from the Latin crypta, a vault.
WARBURTON.
Mr. Upton declares for crisp, curled, bent, hollow.
JOHNSON.
Perhaps Shakspere means curl'd, from the ap-
pearance of the clouds. In the Tempest, Ariel talks of
riding
"On the curl'd clouds."
Chaucer in his House of Fame, says,
"Her here that was oundie and crisp."
i. e. wavy and curled. Again, in the Philosophers Sa-
tires, by Robert Anton.
"Her face as beauteous as the crisped morn.'
STEEVENS..
294. Ensear thy fertile and conceptious womb, ]`So,
in K. Lear:
"Dry
}
58
A&t IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
"Dry up in her the organs of encrease."
STEEVENS.
295. Let it no more bring out ingrateful man!] This
is an absurd reading. Shakspere wrote,
-bring out to ungrateful man!
i. e. fruits for his sustenance and support; but let it
rather teem with monsters to his destruction. Nor is
it to be pretended, that this alludes to the fable; for
he is speaking of what the earth now brings forth;
which thought he repeats afterwards:
Dry up thy harrow'd veins, and plow-torn leas," &c.
WARBURTON.
It is plain that bring out is bring forth, with which
the following lines correspond so plainly, that the
commentator might be suspected of writing his note
without reading the whole passage.
JOHNSON.
Neither Dr. Warburton nor Dr. Johnson seem to
have been aware of the import of this passage. It was the
great boast of the Athenians that they were αυτοχθονες ;
sprung from the soil on which they lived; and it is in allu-
sion to this, that the terms common mother and bring
out, are applied to the ground.
HENLEY.
298.
b. iii. 1. 564:
(C
the marbled mansion] So, Milton,
Through the pure marble air”.
STEEVENS,
309. This is in thee a nature but affected;
A poor unmanly melancholy, sprung
From change of Fortune.
-] The first and
second folio read infected, and change of future. Rowe
made the alteration.
MALONE.
316.
A& IV.
TIMON OF ATHENS.
59
316. the cunning of a carper.] Cunning here
seems to signify counterfeit appearance. JOHNSON.
The cunning of a carper, is the insidious art of a
critick. "Shame not these woods," says Apemantus,
"by coming here to find fault." Maurice Kyffin in the
preface to his translation of Terence's Andria, 1588,
says, " Of the curious carper I look not to be fa-
voured." Again, Ursula speaking of the sarcasms of
Beatrice, observes,
Why sure, such carping is not commendable.”
330. moist trees,] Hanmer reads very elegantly,
-moss'd trees.
JOHNSON.
Shakspere uses the same epithet in As you like it, act iv.
"Under an oak, whose boughs were moss'd with
331.
age.'
STEEVENS.
outliv'd the eagle-] Aquila Senectus is
a proverb. I learn from Turbervile's book of falconry,
1575, that the great age of this bird has been ascer-
tained from the circumstance of its always building its
eyrie, or nest, in the same place.
STEEVENS.
338. Answer mere nature,-
act ii.
-] So, in K. Lear,
"And with presented nakedness outface
"The winds," &c.
STEEVENS.
356. -is crown'd before :] Arrives sooner at high
wish; i. e. at the completion of its wishes. JOHNSON.
360. Worse than the worst, content.] Best states con-
tentless have a wretched being, a being worse than
that of the worst states that are content. JOHNSON.
4
362.
60
A& IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
362.
by his breath,] It means, I believe,
by his counsel, by his direction.
-by his breath,-
JOHNSON.
I believe, is meant his sen-
tence. To breathe is as licentiously used by Shakspere
in the following instance from Hamlet:
"Having ever seen, in the prenominate crimes,
"The youth you breathe of, guilty," &c.
STEEVENS.
363. Thou art a slave, whom Fortune's tender arm
With favour never clasp'd ;] In a collec-
tion of sonnets entitled Chloris, or the Complaint of the
passionate despised Shepheard, by William Smith, 1596,
nearly the same image is found:
"Doth any live that ever had such hap
"That all their actions are of none effect?
"Whom Fortune never dandled in her lap,
"But as an abject still doth me reject.”
364.
MALONE.
but bred a dog.] Alluding to the word.
WARBURTON.
Cynick, of which sect Apemantus was.
365. Had'st thou, like us,—] There is in this
speech a sullen haughtiness, and malignant dignity,
suitable at once to the lord and the man-hater. The
impatience with which he bears to have his luxury re-
proached by one that never had luxury within his reach,
is natural and graceful.
There is in a letter, written by the earl of Essex,
just before his execution, to another nobleman, a pas-
sage somewhat resembling this, with which, I believe
every
Act IV.
61
TIMON OF ATHENS.
every reader will be pleased, though it is so serious
and solemn that it can scarcely be inserted without
irreverence.
"God grant your lordship may quickly feel the
comfort I now enjoy in my unfeigned conversion, but
that you may never feel the torments I have suffered
for my long delaying it. I had none but deceivers to call
upon me, to whom I said, if my ambition could have entered
into their narrow breasts, they would not have been so hum-
ble; or if my delights had been once tasted by them, they
would not have been so precise. But your lordship hath one
to call upon you, that knoweth what it is you now enjoy;
and what the greatest fruit and end is of all contentment
that this world can afford. Think, therefore, dear earl,
that I have staked and buoyed all the ways of plea-
sure unto you, and left them as sea-marks for you to
keep the channel of religious virtue. For shut your
eyes never so long, they must be open at the last, and
then you must say with me, there is no peace to the un-
JOHNSON.
godly."
365.
first-swath] From infancy. Swath
JOHNSON.
is the dress of a new-born child,
So, in Heywood's Golden Age, 1625:
"No more their cradles shall be made their
tombs,
"Nor their soft swaths become their winding-
sheets."
STEEVENS.
366. The sweet degrees] Thus the folio. The
modern editors have, without authority, read Through,
F
&c.
62
Act IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
&c. but this neglect of the preposition was common
to many other writers of the age of Shakspere.
371.
to laws.
STEEVENS.
-precepts of respect,-] Of obedience
JOHNSON.
Respect, I believe, means the qu'en dira-t-on ? the
regard of Athens, that strongest restraint on. licen-
tiousness the icy precepts, i. e. that cool hot blood.
STEEVENS.
372.
But myself,] Thé connection here requires
some attention. But is here used to denote opposition;
but what immediately precedes is not opposed to that
which follows. The adversative particle refers to the
two first lines,
Thou art a slave, whom fortune's tender arm
With favour never claspt; but bred a dog.
·But myself,
Who had the world as my confectionary, &c.
The intermediate lines are to be considered as a pa-
renthesis of passion.
JOHNSON.
A similar thought occurs in the metrical romance of
William and the Werwolf, preserved in the library of
King's College, Cambridge:
"For heretofore of hardnesse hadest thou never
"But were brought forth in blisse as swich a
burde ought
Wyth alle maner gode metes, and to misse them
now
"It were a botles bale," &c. p. 26. b.
STEEVENS.
377.
Act IV.
63
TIMON OF ATHENS.
377.
with one winter's brush, &c.] So, in Mas-
singer's Maid of Honour:
"O summer friendship,
"Whose flatt'ring leaves that shadow'd us in our
Prosperity, with the least gust drop off
"In the autumn of adversity."
STEEVENS.
384. that poor rag,] So, in Richard III. Mar-
garet calls Gloster rag of honour; and in the same
play, the overweening rags of France are mentioned.
STEEVENS.
389. Thou had'st been knave, and flatterer.] Dry-
den has quoted two verses of Virgil to shew how well
he could have written satires. Shakspere has here
given a specimen of the same power by a line bitter
beyond all bitterness, in which Timon tells Apemantus,
that he had not virtue enough for the vices which he
condemns. Dr. Warburton explains worst by lowest,
which somewhat weakens the sense, and yet leaves it
sufficiently vigorous.
•
I have heard Mr. Burke commend the subtilty of
discrimination with which Shakspere distinguishes the
present character of Timon from that of Apemantus,
whom to vulgar eyes he would now resemble.
JOHNSON.
Knave is here to be understood of a man who en-
deavours to recommend himself by a hypocritical ap-
pearance of attention, and superfluity of fawning of
ficiousness; such a one as is called in K. Lear, a finical
superserviceable rogue.-If he had had virtue enough to
attain
Fij
64
A&t IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
attain the profitable vices, he would have been pro-
fitably vicious.
STEEVENS.
399. -take away thyself.] This thought seems
to have been adopted from Plutarch's life of Antony.
It stands thus in Sir Tho. North's translation, "Ape-
mantus said unto the other; O, here is a trimme ban-
ket Timon. Timon aunswei ed againe, yea, said he, so
thou wert not herc."
STEEVENS.
421.
-for too much curiosity;] i. e. for too
much finical delicacy.
WARBURTON.
Dr. Warburton has explained the word justly. So,
in Jervas Markham's English Arcadia, 1606, “
-for
all those eye charming graces, of which with such
curiosity she had boasted." So, in Hobby's translation
of Castiglone's Cortegiano, 1556, "A waiting gentle-
woman should flee affection or curiosity." Curiosity is
here inserted as a synonymous affection, which means
affectation. Curiosity likewise seems to have meant ca-
priciousness. So, in Green's Mamillia, 1593, "Pharicle
hath shewn me some curtesy, and I have not altogether
requited him with curiosity: he hath made some shew
of love, and I have not wholly seemed to mislike."
STEEVENS.
426. Ay, though it look like thee.] Timon here sup-
poses that an objection against hatred, which through
the whole tenor of the conversation appears an argu-
ment for it. One would have expected him to have
answered,
Yes, for it looks like thee.
The
A&t IV.
65
TIMON OF ATHENS.
The old edition, which always gives the pronoun in-
stead of the affirmative particle, has it,
I, though it look like thee.
JOHNSON.
454. -the unicorn, &c.] The account given of
the unicorn is this: that he and the lion being enemies
by nature, as soon as the lion sees the unicorn he be-
takes himself to a tree: the unicorn in his fury, and
with all the swiftness of his course, running at him,
sticks his horn fast in the tree, and then the lion falls
upon him and kills him. Gesner Hist. Animal.
HANMER,
See a note on Julius Cæsar, act ii. sc. i. STEEVENS.
459. thou wert german to the lion,] This seems to be
an allusion to Turkish policy:
"Bears, like the Turk, no brother near the
STEEVENS.
throne." Pope.
461. —were remotion;] i. c. removal from place
to place. So, in K. Lear:
"'Tis the remotion of the duke and her."
STEEVENS.
477. Thou art the cap, &c.] The top, the principal.
The remaining dialogue has more malignity than wit.
JOHNSON.
479. A plague on thee!
Apem. Thou art too bad to curse!] In the for-
mer editions, this whole verse was placed to Apeman-
tus: by which absurdity, he was made to curse Timon,
and immediately to subjoin that he was too bad to
curse.
THEOBALD.
Fiij
504.
66
A& IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
504. 'Twixt natural son and sire!—
Διὰ τῦτον ἐκ ἀδελφοί
τῦτον ἐ τοχλες.
Anac.
JOHNSON.
507. Whose blush doth thaw the consecrated Snow
That lies on Dian's lap !] The imagery
is here exquisitely beautiful and sublime.
WARBURTON,
Dr. Warburton might have said-Here is a very
elegant turn given to a thought more coarsely ex-
pressed in K. Lear :
«
-you simpering dame,
"Whose face between her forks presages snow."
STEEVENS.
511. Thou touch of hearts!] Touch, for touchstone.
STEEVENS.
523. More things like men ?———] This line, in the
old edition, is given to Apemantus, but apparently be-
longs to Timon.
JOHNSON.
525. Enter Thieves.] The old copy reads,-Enter
the Banditti.
STEEVENS.
544. you want much of meat.] Thus both the
player and poetical editor have given us this passage;
quite sand-blind, as honest Launcelot says, to our au-
thor's meaning. If these poor thieves wanted meat,
what greater want could they be cursed with, as they
could not live on grass, and berries, and water? but
I dare warrant the poet wrote,
-you much want of meet.
i. e. Much of what you ought to be; much of the qua-
lities befitting you as human creatures.
THEOBALD.
Such
A& IV.
67
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Such is Mr. Theobald's emendation, in which he
is followed by Dr. Warburton. Sir T. Hanmer reads,
-you want much of meat.
The thieves tell him, that they are men that much do
want. Here is an ambiguity between much want and
want of much. Timon takes it on the wrong side, and
tells them that their greatest want is, that, like other
men, they want much of meat; then telling them where
meat may be had, he asks, Want? why want?
545.
-the earth hath roots, &c.]
JOHNSON.
Vile olus, & duris hærentia mora rubetis
Pugnantis stomachi composuere famem :
Flumine vicino stultus sitit.
I do not suppose these to be imitations, but only to be
similar thoughts on similar occasions.
553.
JOHNSON.
-Yet thanks I must you con,] To con thanks
is a very common expression among our old dramatick
writers.
STEEVENS.
556. In limited professions.] Limited, for legal.
562.
copy has,
WARBURTON.
-since you profess to do't,-] The old
-since you protest to do't—— MALONE.
567. The sea's a thief, whose liquid surge resolves
The moon into salt tears; ] The sea
melting the moon into tears is, I believe, a secret in
philosophy, which nobody but Shakspere's deep edi-
tors ever dreamed of. There is another opinion, which
'tis more reasonable to believe that our author may
allude
68
A&t IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
allude to, viz. that the saltness of the sea is caused by
several ranges, or mounds of rock-salt under water,
with which resolving liquid the sea was impregnated.
This I think a sufficient authority for changing moon
into mound.
WARBURTON.
I am not willing to receive mounds, which would not
be understood but by him that suggested it. The
moon is supposed to be humid, and perhaps a source of
humidity, but cannot be resolved by the surges of the
sea. Yet I think moon is the true reading. Here is a
circulation of thievery described: The sun, moon, and
sea, all rob, and are robbed.
JOHNSON.
He says, that the sun, the moon, and the sea rob one
another by turns, but the earth robs them all: the
seas, i. e. liquid surge, by supplying the moon with
moisture, robs her in her turn of the soft tears of dew
which the poets always fetch from this planet. Soft
for salt is an easy change. In this sense Milton speaks
of her moist continent. Par. Lust, b. v. 1. 422. And,
in Hamlet, Horatio says,
<<
the moist star
"Upon whose influence Neptune's empire stands."
STEEVENS.
The moon is the governess of the floods, "but can-
not be resolved by the surges of the sea." This seems
incontestable, and therefore an alteration of the text
appears to be necessary. I propose to read,
whose liquid surge resolves
The main into salt tears;
i. e.
A& IV.
69
TIMON OF ATHENS.
i. e. resolves the main land or the continent into sea. In
Bacon, as also in Shakspere's K. Lear, act iii. scene i.
main occurs in this signification, and the earth is men-
tioned in the preceding line, as here it is in the same
verse:
"Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea,
"Or swell the curled waters 'bove the main.”
This thought is like that in Ovid's Metamorphosis, lib. xv.
-resolutaque tellus
CC
"In liquidas rorescit aquas:"
which Sandys thus translates,
"Resolved earth to water rarifies."
Earth melting to sea is not an uncommon idea in our
poets. So, in Ben Jonson, edit. 1756, vol. v. p. 381.
"Melt earth to sea, sea flow to air."
So, in Shakspere's K. Henry IV. part ii. act ii. scene i.
""
"The continent melt itself into the sea. I might
add that in Chaucer, mone, which is very near to the
traces of the old reading, seems to mean the globe of
the earth, or a map of it, from the French, monde, the
world; but I think main is the true reading here, and
might easily be mistaken for moon by a hasty transcri-
ber, or a careless printer, who might have in their
thoughts the moon, which is mentioned in a preceding
line.
TOLLET.
If it be asked:-In what consists the theft of the
moon from the sun more than in reflecting his light?—
we shall at once be supplied with an easy solution of
the old and true reading: for as the moon snatches her
pale
7༠
A&t IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
pale fire from the sun, so, the sea's liquid surge resolves the
moon into salt tears by communicating to every drop
dashed from its head a part of that light which, on its
glassy side, had composed her reflected image.
In Hamlet, the verb resolve is used precisely in the
same manner.
"O that this too solid flesh would melt,
"Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!"
HENLEY.
I cannot say for a certainty whether Albumazar or
this play was first written, as Timon made its earliest
appearance in the folio, 1623. Between Albumazar
and the Alchemist there has been likewise a contest for
the right of eldership. The originalof Albumazar was
an Italian comedy called Lo Astrologo, written by Bat-
tista Porta, the famous physiognomist of Naples, and
printed at Venice in 1606. The translator is said to
have been a Mr. Tomkins, a Fellow of Trinity Col-
lege. The Alchymist was brought on in 1610, which
is four years before Albumazar was performed for the
entertainment of K. James; and Ben Jonson in his
title-page boldly claims the merit of having introduced
a new subject and new characters on the stage:
-petere inde coronam
Unde prius nulli velarint tempora musæ.
The play of Albumazar was not entered on the books
of the Stationers' Company till April 28, 1615. In
Albumazar, however, such examples of thievery like-
wise occur:
« The
A& IV.
7t
TIMON OF ATHENS.
"The world's a theatre of theft: Great rivers
"Rob smaller brooks; and them the ocean.
"And in this world of ours, this microcosm,
"Guts from the stomach steal; and what they spare
"The meseraicks filch, and lay't i' the liver;
"Where (lest it should be found) turn'd to red nectar,
“'Tis by a thousand thievish veins convey'd,
“And hid in flesh, nerves, bones, muscles, and sinews,
"In tendons, skin, and hair; so that the property
"Thus alter'd, the theft can never be discovered.
"Now all these pilf'ries, couch'd, and compos'd in
order,
“Frame thee and me; Man's a quick mass of thievery.”
STEEVENS.
Puttenham in his Arte of English Poesie, 1589,
quotes some one of a "reasonable good facilitie in
translation, who finding certaine of Anacreon's odes
very well translated by Ronsard the French poet-
comes our minion, and translates the same out of
French into English :" and his strictures upon him
evince the publication. Now, this identical ode is to
be met with in Ronsard! and as his works are in few
hands, I will take the liberty of transcribing it.
"La terre les eaux va boivant,
"L'arbre la boit par sa racine,.
"La mer salée boit le vent,
"Et le soleil boit la marine.
"Le soleil est beu de la lune,.
"Tout boit soit en haut ou én bas:
* Suivant
ANNOTATIONS UPON
A& V.
"Suivant ceste regle commune,
"Pourquoy donc ne boirons-nous pas ?"
569.
compost.
Edit. fol. p. 507.
FARMER.
by a composture—] i. e. composition,
by a composture-
STEEVENS.
581. 'Tis in the malice of mankind, that he thus advises
us; not to have us thrive in our mistery.] The reason of
his advice, says the thief, is malice to mankind, not
any kindness to us, or desire to have us thrive in our
mystery.
JOHNSON.
586. Let us first see peace in Athens, &c.] This and
the concluding little speech have in all the editions
been placed to one speaker: But, it is evident, the
latter words ought to be put in the mouth of the second '
thief, who is repenting, and leaving off his trade.
ACT V.
WARBURTON.
How rarely does it meet
-] Rarely for
WARBURTON.
Line 9.
fitly; not for seldom.
10.
When man was wish'd—] Wish'd means recom-
REED.
mended.
11. Grant, I may ever love, and rather woo
Those that would mischief me, than those that do!]
The
Act V.
73
TIMON OF ATHENS.
The sense is, Let me rather woo or caress those that would
mischief, that profess to mean me mischief, than those
that really do me mischief, under false pretensions of hind-
ness. The Spaniards, I think, have this proverb; De-
fend me from my friends, and from my enemies I will de-
fend myself. This proverb is a sufficient comment on
the passage.
JOHNSON.
24. Knave is here in the compound sense of a ser-
vant and a rascal.
JOHNSON.
31.
eyes do never give,
To
But thorough lust, and laughter. Pity's sleeping:]
Eyes never flow (to give is to dissolve as saline bodies in
moist weather) but by lust or laughter. JOHNSON.
38. It almost turns my dangerous nature wild.]
turn wild is to distract. An appearance so unexpected,
says Timon, almost turns my savageness to distraction.
Accordingly, he examines with nicety lest his phrenzy
should deceive him :
Let me behold thy face. Surely this man
Was born of woman.
And to this suspected disorder of mind he alludes:
Perpetual-sober, gods!
Ye powers whose intellects are out of the reach of
perturbation.
JOHNSON.
55. If not an usuring-] Timon asks—Has not thy
kindness some covert design? Is it not proposed with a view
to gain an equivalent in return, or rather to gain a great
deal- more than thou offerest? Is it not at least the offspring
of avarice, if not of something worse, of usury? MALONE.
G
72.
74
A&t V.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
72.
from men ;] Away from human habitations.
JOHNSON.
84. Enter Poet, and Painter.] The Poet and the
Painter were within view when Apemantus parted
from Timon, and might then have seen Timon, since
Apemantus, standing by him, could see them: But
the scenes of the thieves and steward have passed be-
fore their arrival, and yet passed, as the drama is now
conducted, within their view. It might be suspected
that some scenes are transposed, for all these difficul-
ties would be removed by introducing the Poet and
Painter first, and the thieves in this place. Yet I am
afraid the scenes must keep their present order; for
the Painter alludes to the thieves when he says; he
likewise enriched poor straggling soldiers with great quan- ·
tity. This impropriety is now heightened by placing.
the thieves in one act, and the Poet and Painter in
another: but it must be remembered, that in the
original edition this play is not divided into separate
acts, so that the present distribution is arbitrary, and
may be changed if any convenience may be gained, or
impropriety obviated by alteration. JOHNSON.
In the immediately preceding scene, Flavius, Ti-
mon's steward, has a conference with his master, and
receives gold from him. Between this and the pre-
sent scene, a single minute cannot be supposed to pass;
and yet the Painter tells his companion :— —'Tis said
he gave his steward a mighty sum.
2.-Where was it said?
Why in Athens, whence, it must therefore seem, they
ş
arc
I
Act V.
75
TIMON OF ATHENS.
are but newly come. Here then should be fixed the
commencement of the fifth Act, in order to allow
time for Flavius to return to the city, and for rumour
to publish his adventure with Timon. But how are
we in this case to account for Apemantus's announ-
cing the approach of the Poet and the Painter in the
last scene of the preceding act, and before the thieves
appear? It is possible, that when this play was abridg-
ed for representation, all between this passage, and
the entrance of the Poet and Painter, may have been
omitted by the players, and these words put into the
mouth of Apemantus to introduce them; and that
when it was published at large, the interpolation was
unnoticed. Or, if we allow the Poet and the Painter
to see Apemantus, it may be conjectured that they did
not think his presence necessary at their interview
with Timon, and had therefore returned back into the
city.
REMARKS.
" I am
I concur with Mr. Reed, who observes:
afraid many of the difficulties which the commentators
on our author have employed their abilities to remove,
arise from the negligence of Shakspere, who appears
to have been less attentive to the connection of his
scenes, than a less hasty writer may be supposed to
have been." On this occasion Mr. Reed hath changed
the beginning of the act, as he conceived some impro-
priety might be obviated by the alteration. The same
regulation had been before adopted by a preceding
editor.
Gij
* * *
109.
7.6
?
ANNOTATIONS UFON
A& V.
109. -the deed of saying is—] The deed of say-
ing, though a harsh expression, is perfectly intelli-
gible, and much in Shakspere's manner.-The doing
of that which we have said we would do, the accomplishment
and performance of our promise, is, except among the lower
classes of mankind, quite out of use. So, in Hamlet :
"As he, in his peculiar act and force,
"May give his saying deed."
Again, in King Lear:
in my true heart
"I find she names my very deed of love."
117.
MALONE.
-It must be a personating of himself :—]
Personating, for representing simply. For the subject
of this projected satire was Timon's
son.
128.
case, not his per-
WARBURTON.
When the day serves, before black-corner'd
night,] An anonymous correspondent sent me this
observation: "As the shadow of the earth's body,
which is round, must be also conical over the hemis-
phere which is opposite to the sun, should we not read
black-coned? See Paradise Lost, book IV."
To this observation I might add a sentence from
Philemon Holland's translation of Pliny's Natural
History, b. ii. "Neither is the night any thing else
but the shade of the earth. Now the figure of this
shadow resembleth a pyramis pointed forward, or a
top turned upside down.
I believe, nevertheless, that Shakspere, by this ex-
pression,
Act V.
77
TIMON OF ATHENS.
pression, meant only as Night, which is as obscure as
In Measure for Measure, Lucio calls the
STEEVENS.
a dark corner.
(C
Duke, a duke of dark corners.
152. Let it go naked, men may see't the better:] The
humour of this reply is incomparable. It insinuates
not only the highest contempt of the flatterer in par-
ticular, but this useful lesson in general, that the
images of things are clearest seen through a simpli-
city of phrase; of which in the words of the precept,
and in those which occasioned it, he has given us ex-
amples.
WARBURTON.
167.
-a counterfeit.] It has been already ob-
served, that a portrait was so called in our author's
time.
190.
STEEVENS.
a made-up villain.] That is, a villain that
adopts qualities and characters not properly belonging
to him: a hypocrite.
195.
199.
JOHNSON.
in a draught,] That is, in the jakes.
But two in company,
JOHNSON.
-] This is an
imperfect sentence, and is to be supplied thus:
But two in company spoils all.
WARBURTON.
This passage is obscure. I think the meaning is
this: but two in company, that is, stand apart, let only
two be together; for even when each stands single there
are two, he himself and a villain.
JOHNSON.
But, in the North, signifies, without. See a note on
Antony and Cleopatra, act iv. sc. x.
This passage may likewise receive some illustrations
G iij
from
78
A& V.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
"My
from another in the Two Gentlemen of Verona.
master is a kind of knave; but that's all one, if he be
but one knave." The sense is, each man is a double
villain; i. e. a villain with more than a single share of
guilt. See Dr. Farmer's note on the third act of the
Two Gentlemen of Verona, &c.
Cassandra, 1578:
Again, in Promos and
"Go, and a knave with thee."
Again, in The Storye of King Darius, 1565, an inter-
lude:
if you needs will go away,
"Take two knaves with you by my faye."
There is a thought not unlike this in The Scornful
Lady of Beamont and Fletcher" Take to your
chamber when you please, there goes a black one with
you, lady."
STEEVENS.
The old copy reads,
229.
-a cauterizing-
cantherizing: the poet might have written, cancerizing.
STEEVENS.
244. And now- -] So Hanmer. The old editions
have,
Which now
JOHNSON.
247. Of its own fall,—-] Falling off in the quota-
tion is defection. The Athenians had sense, that is felt
the danger of their own fall, by the arms of Alcibiades.
JOHNSON.
-restraining aid to Timon ;] I think it should
be refraining aid, that is, with-holding aid that should
nave been given to Timon.
JOHNSON.
—
248.
Aa V.
79
TIMON OF ATHENS.
248.
-sorrowed render,] Thus the old copy.
Render is confession. So in Cymbeline, act IV. sc. iv :
-may drive us to a render,
"Where we have liv'd."
STEEVENS.
250. Than their offence can weigh down by the dram;]
This which was in the former editions can scarcely be
right, and yet I know not whether my reading will
be thought to rectify it. I take the meaning to be,
We will give thee a recompence that our offences can.
not outweigh, heaps of wealth down by the dram, or de-
livered according to the exactest measure. A little
disorder may perhaps have happened in transcribing,
which may be reformed by reading:
Ay, ev'n such heaps
And sums of love and wealth, down by the dram,
As shall to thee-
JOHNSON.
262. Allow'd with absolute power,-] Allowed is li-
censed, privileged, uncontrolled. So of a buffoon, in
Love's Labour lost, it is said, that he is allowed, that is,
at liberty to say what he will, a privileged scoffer.
JOHNSON.
282. There's not a whittle in th' unruly camp,) A
whittle is still in the midland counties the common
name for a pocket clasp knife, such as children use.
Chaucer speaks of a "Sheffield whittell.”
STEEVENS.
Not of a clasp, but a sheath-knife, carried in a side.
pocket.
**
£89.
80
A&V.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
289. My long sickness] The disease of life be-
gins to promise me a period.
JOHNSON.
311. I have a tree, &c.] Perhaps Shakspere was
indebted to Chaucer's Wife of Bath's prologue for this
thought. He might however have found it in Painter's
Palace of Pleasure. Tom. I. Nov. 28, STEEVENS.
314. in the sequence of degree,] Methodically,
from highest to lowest.
JOHNSON.
323.
-embossed froth] When a deer was run
hard and foamed at the mouth, he was said to be em-
boss'd. The thought is from Painter's Palace of Plea-
sure, Tom. I. Nov. 28.
STEEVENS.
334. In our dear peril.] Dear may in this instance
signify immediate. It is an enforcing epithet with not
always a distinct meaning. To enumerate the seem-
ingly various senses in which it may be supposed to
have been used by our author, would at once fatigue
the reader and myself.
STEEVENS.
358. Some beast read this; here does not live a man.]
Some beast read what? The soldier had yet only seen
the rude pile of earth heap'd up for Timon's grave,
and not the inscription upon it. We should read,
Some beast rear'd this ;
The soldier seeking, by order, for Timon, sees such
an irregular mole, as he concludes must have been the
workmanship of some beast inhabiting the woods;
and such a cavity as must either have been so over-
arched, or happened by the casual falling in of the
ground.
WARBURTON.
Notwithstanding
A&t V.
81
TIMON OF ATHENS.
Notwithstanding this remark, I believe the old
reading to be the right. The soldier had only seen the
rude heap of earth. He had evidently seen something
that told him Timon was dead; and what could tell
that but his tomb? The tomb he sees, and the inscrip-
tion upon it, which not being able to read, and find-
ing none to read it for him, he exclaims peevishly,
some beast read this, for it must be read, and in this
place it cannot be read by man.
There is something elaborately unskilful in the
contrivance of sending a soldier, who cannot read, to
take the epitaph in wax, only that it may close the
play by being read with more solemnity in the last
JOHNSON.
scene.
The author of THE REMARKS, dissatisfied with Dr.
Johnson's explanation, says: “———-it is evident, that
the soldier, when he first sees the heap of earth, does
not know it to be a tomb. He concludes Timon must
be dead because he receives no answer. It is likewise
evident, that when he utters the words some beasi, &c.
he has not seen the inscription. And Dr. Warburton's
emendation is therefore not only just and happy, but
absolutely necessary. What can this heap of carth be?
says the soldier; Timon is certainly dead, some bcast must
have erected this, for there does not live a man to do it.
Yes, he is dead, sure enough, and this must be his grave.
What is the writing upon it?
871.
·traverst arms—] Arms across.
JOHNSON.
372.
32
Act V.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
372,
-the time is flush,] A bird is flush when
his feathers are grown, and he can leave the nest.
Flush is mature.
JOHNSON.
373 When crouching marrow, in the bearer strong,
Cries, of itself, No more :-] The marrow
was supposed to be the original of strength. This
image is from a camel kneeling to take up his load,
who rises immediately when he finds he has as much
laid on as he can bear.
WARBURTON.
Pliny says, that the camel will not carry more than
his accustomed and usual load. Holland's Translation,
b. VIII. c. xviii.
REED.
383. Above their quantity.] Their refers to rages.
405..
equitable.
428.
ed gates.
432.
WARBURTON.
-not square] Not regular, not
A
· JOHNSON.
uncharged ports:] That is, unguard-
•not a man
JOHNSON.
Shall pass his quarter,
] Not a soldier shall
quit his station, or be let loose upon you; and, if any
commits violence, he shall answer it regularly to the
law.
JOHNSON.
445. caitiffs left!] This epitaph is found in Sir
Tho. North's translation of Plutarch, with the dif
ference of one word only, viz. wretches instead of cai-
tiffs.
450.
our brines flow.
STEEVENS.
our brains flow,] but we may read,
So,
AЯ V.
83
TIMON OF ATHENS.
So, in Sir Giles Goosecap, 1606 :
"I shed not the tears of my brain."
Again, in the Miracles of Moses, by Drayton:
"But he from rocks that fountains can command,
"Cannot yet stay the fountains of his brain.”
STEEVENS.
So likewise in the prophet Jeremiah :-"O that
mine eyes were waters, and my head a fountain of
HENLEY.
tears!"
453 On-Faults forgiven.I suspect that we
ought to read
On thy low grave.-One fault's forgiven.-
Dead
Is noble Timon, &c.
One fault (viz. the ingratitude of the Athenians to
Timon) is forgiven, i. e. exempted from punishment
by the death of the injured person.
TYRWHITT.
I have no doubt that Mr. Tyrwhitt's conjecture is
right, and deserves a place in the text. On and one
were anciently sounded alike, and in the plays of
Fletcher and Massinger are perpetually confounded.
Hence the transcriber's ear might have been easily de-
ceived.
458. leach.] i. e. physician.
MALONE.
STEEVENS.
THE END.
Bell's Edition.
KING LEAR,
BY
WILL. SHAKSPERE:
Printed Complete from the TEXT of
SAM. JOHNSON and GEO. Steevens,
And revised from the last Editions.
When Learning's triumph o'er her barb'rous foes
First rear'd the Stage, immortal SHAKSPERE rose;
Each change of many-colour'd life he drew,
Exhausted worlds, and then imagin'd new:
Existence saw him spurn her bounded reign,
And panting Time toil'd after him in vain :
His pow'rful strokes presiding Truth confess'd,
And unresisted Passion storm'd the breast.
DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON
LONDON:
Printed for, and under the direction of,
JOHN BELL, British-Library, STRAND.
MDCCLXXXV.
OBSERVATIONS
ON THE Fable AND Composition of
KING LEAR.
TH
HE story of this tragedy had found its way into many
ballads and other metrical pieces; yet Shakspere seems to
have been more indebted to the True Chronicle History of King
Leir and his Three Daughters, Gonorill, Ragan, and Cor-
della, 1605 (which I have already published at the end of a
collection of the quarto copies), than to all the other perform-
ances together. It appears from the books at Stationers' Hall,
that some play on this subject was entered by Edward White,
May 14, 1594• "A booke entituled, The moste famous
Chronicle Hystorie of Leire, King of England, and his thrce
Daughters." A piece with the same title is enter'd again,
May 8, 1605; and again Nov. 26, 1607. See the extracts
from these Entries at the end of the Prefaces, &c. From The
Mirror of Magistrates, 1586, Shakspere has, however, taken
the hint for the behaviour of the Steward, and the reply of
Cordelia to her father concerning her future marriage. The
episode of Gloster and his sons must have been borrowed
from Sidney's Arcadia, as I have not found the least trace of
it in any other work.
The reader will also find the story of K. Lear, in the se-
cond book and 10th canto of Spenser's Faery Queen, and in
the 15th chapter of the third book of Warner's Albion's
England, 1602.
Aij
The
iv
OBSERVATIONS, &c.
The whole of this play, however, could not have been
written till after 1603. Harsnet's pamphlet, to which it con-
tains so many references, was not published 'till that year.
STEEVENS.
Camden, in his Remains (p. 306. ed. 1674.), tells a simi-
lar story to this of Leir or Lear, of Ina king of the West-
Saxons; which, if the thing ever happened, probably was
the real origin of the Fable. See under the head of Wise
Speeches. PERCY.
The tragedy of Lear is deservedly celebrated among the
dramas of Shakspere. There is, perhaps, no play which
keeps the attention so strongly fixed; which so much agitates
our passions, and interests our curiosity. The artful involu-
tions of distinct interests, the striking opposition of contrary
characters, the sudden changes of fortune, and the quick
succession of events, fill the mind with a perpetual tumult of
indignation, pity, and hope. There is no scene which does
not contribute to the aggravation of the distress or conduct of
the action, and scarce a line which does not conduce to the
progress of the scene. So powerful is the current of the poet's
imagination, that the mind, which once ventures within it,
is hurried irresistibly along.
On the seeming improbability of Lear's conduct, it may be
observed, that he is represented according to histories at that
time vulgarly received as true. And, perhaps, if we turn
our thoughts upon the barbarity and ignorance of the age to
which this story is referred, it will appear not so unlikely as
while we estimate Lear's manners by our own.
Such prefer-
ence of one daughter to another, or resignation of dominion
on such conditions, would be yet credible, if told of a petty
prince of Guinea of Madagascar. Shakspere, indeed, by the
mention of his earls and dukes, has given us the idea of times
more
OBSERVATIONS, &c.
amore civilized, and of life regulated by softer manners; and
the truth is, that though he so nicely discriminates, and so
minutely describes the characters of men, he commonly ne-
glects and confounds the characters of ages, by mingling cus
toms ancient and modern, English and foreign.
My learned friend Mr. Warton, who has in the Adventurer
very minutely criticised this play, remarks, that the instances
of cruelty are too savage and shocking, and that the interven-
tion of Edmund destroys the simplicity of the story. These
objections may, I think, be answered, by repeating, that the
cruelty of the daughters is an historical fact, to which the
poet has added little, having only drawn it into a series by
dialogue and action. But I am not able to apologize with
equal plausibility for the extrusion of Gloster's eyes, which
seems an act too horrid to be endured in dramatic exhibition,
and such as must always compel the mind to relieve its dis-
tress by incredulity. Yet let it be remembered that our
author well knew what would please the audience for which
he wrote.
The injury done by Edmund to the simplicity of the action
is abundantly recompensed by the addition of variety, by the
art with which he is made to co-operate with the chief de-
sign, and the opportunity which he gives the poet of com
bining perfidy with perfidy, and connecting the wicked son
with the wicked daughters, to impress this important moral,
that villany is never at a stop, that crimes lead to crimes,
and at last terminate in ruin.
But though this moral be incidentally enforced, Shakspere
has suffered the virtue of Cordelia to perish in a just cause,
contrary to the natural ideas of justice, to the hope of the
reader, and, what is yet more strange, to the faith of chro-
nicles. Yet this conduct is justified by The Spectator, who
blames
Aiij
}
vi
OBSERVATIONS, &c.
blames Tate for giving Cordelia success and happiness in his
alteration, and declares, that, in his opinion, the tragedy has
lost half its beauty. Dennis has remarked, whether justly or
not, that, to secure the favourable reception of Cato, the town
was poisoned with much false and abominable criticism, and
that endeavours had been used to discredit and decry poetical
justice. A play in which the wicked prosper, and the vir-
tuous miscarry, may doubtless be good, because it is a just
representation of the common events of human life: but since
all reasonable beings naturally love justice, I cannot easily be
persuaded, that the observation of justice makes a play worse;
or, that if other excellencies are equal, the audience will not
always rise better pleased from the final triumph of perse-
cuted virtue.
Cordelia, from
In the present case the public has decided.
the time of Tate, has always retired with victory and felicity.
And, if my sensations could add any thing to the general suf-
frage, I might relate, I was many years ago so shocked by
Cordelia's death, that I know not whether I ever endured to
read again the last scenes of the play 'till I undertook to re-
vise them as an editor.
There is another controversy among the critics concerning
this play. It is disputed whether the predominant image in
Lear's disordered mind be the loss of his kingdom or the
cruelty of his daughters. Mr. Murphy, a very judicious.
critic, has evinced, by induction of particular passages, that
the cruelty of his daughters is the primary source of his dis-
tress, and that the loss of royalty affects him only as a
secondary and subordinate evil. He observes with great just-
ness, that Lear would move our compassion but little, did
we not rather consider the injured father than the degraded
king.
The
OBSERVATIONS, &c.
vii
The story of this play, except the episode of Edmund,
which is derived, I think, from Sidney, is taken originally
from Geoffry of Monmouth, whom Holingshed generally
copied ; but perhaps immediately from an old historical
ballad. My reason for believing that the play was posterior
to the ballad, rather than the ballad to the play, is, that the
ballad has nothing of Shakspere's nocturnal tempest, which
is too striking to have been omitted, and that it follows the
chronicle; it has the rudiments of the play, but none of its
amplifications: it first hinted Lear's madness, but did not
array it in circumstances. The writer of the ballad added
something to the history, which is a proof that he would
have added more, if more had occurred to his mind, and more
must have occurred if he had seen Shakspere. JOHNSON.
A lamentable SONG of the Death of King LEIR and
his three Daughters.
King Leir once ruled in this land,
With princely power and peace;
And had all things with heart's content,
That might his joys increase.
Amongst those things that nature gave,
Three daughters fair had he,
So princely seeming beautiful,
As fairer could not be.
Sa
viii
& C
OBSERVATIONS,
Go on a time it pleas'd the king
A question thus to move,
Which of his daughters to his grace.
Could shew the dearest love:
For to my age you bring content,
Quoth he, then let me hear
Which of you three in plighted troth
The kindest will appear,
To whom the eldest thus began ;
Dear father, mind, quoth she,
Before your face, to do you good,
My blood shall render'd be :
And for your sake my bleeding heart
Shall here be cut in twain,
Ere that I see your reverend age
The smallest grief sustain.
And so will I, the second said
Dear father, for your sake,
The worst of all extremities
I'll gently undertake :
And serve your highness night and day
With diligence and love;
That sweet content and quietness
Discomforts may remove.
In doing so, you glad my soul,
The aged king reply'd;
But what say'st thou, my youngest girl,
How is thy love ally'd ›
My
OBSERVATIONS, &c.
ix
My love (quoth young Cordelia then)
Which to your grace I owe,
Shall be the duty of a child,
And that is all I'll show.
And wilt thou shew no more, quoth he,
Than doth thy duty bind?
I well perceive thy love is small,
When as no more I find :
Henceforth I banish thee my court,
Thou art no child of mine ;
Nor any part of this my realm
By favour shall be thine.
Thy elder sisters loves are more
Than well I can demand,
To whom I equally bestow
My kingdome and my land,
My pompal state and all my goods,
That lovingly I may
With those thy sisters be maintain'd
Until my dying day.
Thus flatt'ring speeches won renown
By these two sisters here:
The third had causeless banishment,
Yet was her love more dear:
For poor Cordelia patiently
Went wand'ring up and down,
Unhelp'd, unpity'd, gentle maid,
Through many an English town.
Until
Σ
OBSERVATIONS, &c.
Until at last in famous France
She gentler fortunes found;
Though poor and bare, yet she was deem'd
The fairest on the ground:
Where when the king her virtues heard,
And this fair lady seen,
With full consent of all his court
He made his wife and queen.
Her father, old king Leir, this while
With his two daughters staid;
Forgetful of their promis'd loves,
Full soon the same decay'd;
And living in queen Ragan's court,
The eldest of the twain,
She took from him his chiefest means,
And most of all his train.
For whereas twenty men were wont
To wait with bended knee
She gave allowance but to ten,
And after scarce to three:
Nay, one she thought too much for him :
So took she all away,
In hope that in her court, good king,
He would no longer stay.
Am I rewarded thus, quoth he,
In giving all I have
Unto my children, and to beg
For what I lately gave?
Pl
OBSERVATIONS, &c.
zi
I'll go unto my Gonorell;
My second child, I know,
Will be more kind and pitiful,
And will relieve my woe.
Full fast he hies then to her court;
Where when she hears his moan
Return'd him answer, That she griev'd
That all his means were gone :
But no way could relieve his wants;
Yet if that he would stay
Within her kitchen, he should have
What scullions gave away.
When he had heard with bitter tears,
He made his answer then
In what I did let me be made
Example to all men.
I will return again, quoth he,
Unto my Ragan's court;
She will not use me thus, I hope,
But in a kinder sort.
Where when he came, she gave command
To drive him thence away :
When he was well within her court,
(She said) he would not stay.
Then back again to Gonorell
The woeful king did hie,
That in her kitchen he might have
What scullion boys set by.
But
xii
OBSERVATIONS, &c.
But there of that he was deny'd,
Which she had promised late:
For once refusing, he should not
Come after to her gate.
Thus 'twixt his daughters, for relief
He wander'd up and down;
Being glad to feed on beggar's food,
That lately wore a crown.
And calling to remembrance then
His youngest daughter's words,
That said, the duty of a child
Was all that love affords :
But doubting to repair to her,
Whom he had banish'd so,
Grew frantic mad; for in his mind
He bore the wounds of woe.
Which made him rend his milk-white locks
And tresses from his head,
And all with blood bestain his cheeks,
With age and honour spread :
To hills, and woods, and wat❜ry founts,
He made his hourly moan,
'Till hills, and woods, and senseless things,
Did seem to sigh and groan.
Even thus possess'd with discontents,
He passed o'er to France,
In hope from fair Cordelia there
To find some gentler chance.
Most
OBSERVATIONS, &c.
xiii
Most virtuous dame! which when she heard
Of this her father's grief,
As duty bound, she quickly sent
Him comfort and relief:
And by a train of noble peers,
In brave and gallant sort,
She gave in charge he should be brought
To Aganippus' court;
Whose royal king, with noble mind,
So freely gave consent,
To muster up his knights at arms,
To fame and courage bent.
And so to England came with speed,
To repossess king Leir,
And drive his daughters from their thrones
By his Cordelia dear :
Where she, true-hearted noble queen,
Was in the battle slain:
Yet he, good king, in his old days,
Possess'd his crown again.
But when he heard Cordelia's death,
Who dy'd indeed for love
Of her dear father, in whose cause
She did this battle move;
He swooning fell upon her breast,
From whence he never parted:
But on her bosom left his life,
That was so truly hearted.
B
The
siv
OBSERVATIONS, &c.
The lords and nobles when they saw
The ends of these events,
The other sisters unto death
They doomed by consents;
And being dead their crowns they left
Unto the next of kin :
Thus have you seen the fall of pride,
And disobedient sin.
Dramatis Personae.
MEN.
LEAR, King of Britain.
King of France.
Duke of Burgundy.
Duke of Cornwall.
Duke of Albany.
Earl of Gloster.
Earl of Kent.
EDGAR, Son to Gloster.
EDMUND, Bastard Son to Gioster.
CURAN, a Courtier.
Physician.
Fool.
OSWALD, Steward to Goneril.
A Captain, employed by Edmund.
Gentleman, Attendant on Cordelia.
A Herald.
Old Man, Tenant to Gloster.
Servants to Cornwall.
WOMEN.
GONERIL,
REGAN,
Daughters to Lear.
JOHNSON.
CORDELIA,
Knights attending on the King, Officers, Messengers, Soldiers,
and Attendants.
SCENE, Britain.
KING LEA R.
ACT I. SCENE I.
King LEAR'S Palacc. Enter KENT, GLOSTER, and
EDMUND.
Kent.
I THOUGHT, the king had more affected the duke
of Albany, than Cornwall.
Glo. It did always seem so to us: but now, in the
division of the kingdom, it appears not which of the
dukes he values most; for equalities are so weigh'd,
that curiosity in neither can make choice of either's
moiety.
Kent. Is not this your son, my lord?
Glo. His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge: I
have so often blush'd to acknowledge him, that now
I am braz'd to't.
Kent. I cannot conceive you.
11
Glo. Sir, this young fellow's mother could: where-
upon she grew round-wombed; and had, indeed, sir,
Bij
a son
16
A& I.
KING LEAR.
a son for her cradle, ere she had a husband for her
bed. Do you smell a fault?
Kent. I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of
it being so proper.
18
Glo. But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some
year elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my ac-
count, though this knave came somewhat saucily
into the world before he was sent for: yet was his
mother fair; there was good sport at his making, and
the whoreson must be acknowledged.--Do you know
this noble gentleman, Edmund ?
Edm. No, my lord.
Glo. My lord of Kent: remember him hereafter as
my honourable friend.
Edm. My services to your lordship.
29
Kent. I must love you, and sue to know you better.
Edm. Sir, I shall study deserving.
Glo. He hath been out nine years, and away he
shall again :-The king is coming.
[Trumpets sound within.
Enter LEAR, CORNWALL, ALBANY, GONERIL,
REGAN, CORDELIA, and Attendants.
Lear. Attend the lords of France and Burgundy,
Gloster.
Glo. I shall, my liege.
[Exeunt GLOSTER, and EDMUND.
Lear. Mean time we shall express our darker pur-
pose.
The
A& I.
17
KING LEAR
The map there.-Know, that we have divided,
In three, our kingdom: and 'tis our fast intent
To shake all cares and business from our age;
Conferring them on younger strengths, while we
Unburden'd crawl toward death.-Our son of Corn-
wall,
And you, our no less loving son of Albany,
We have this hour a constant will to publish
41
Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife
May be prevented now. The princes, France and
Burgundy,
Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love,
Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn,
And here are to be answer'd.-Tell me, my daughters.
(Since now we will divest us, both of rule,
Interest of territory, cares of state),
Which of you, shall we say, doth love us most?
That we our largest bounty may extend
Where nature doth with merit challenge.-Goneril,
Our eldest-born, speak first.
Gon. Sir, I
Do love you more than words can wield the matter,
Dearer than eye-sight, space, and liberty;
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare;
.50
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour: :
As much as child e'er lov'd, or father found.
A love that makes breath poor, and speech unable;
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.
60
Cor. What shall Cordelia do? Love, and be silent.
[Aside.
Biij
Lear.
28
A& I.
KING LEAR.
Lear. Of all these bounds, even from this line to
this,
With shadowy forests and with champains rich'd,
With plenteous rivers and wide skirted meads,
We make thee lady: To thine and Albany's issue
Be this perpetual.—What says our second daughter,
Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak.
Reg. I am made of that self metal as my sister,
And prize me at her worth. In my true heart
I find, she names my very deed of love;
Only she comes too short: that I profess
Myself an enemy to all other joys,
Which the most precious square of sense possesses;
And find, I am alone felicitate
In your dear highness' love.
Cor. Then poor Cordelia!
And yet not so; since, I am sure, my love's
More pond'rous than my tongue.
71
[Aside.
Lear. To thee, and thine, hereditary ever,
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom;
No less in space, validity, and pleasure,
Than that confirm'd on Goneril.-Now, our joy,
Although the last, not least; to whose young love
The vines of France, and milk of Burgundy,
Strive to be interess'd; what can you say, to draw
A third, more opulent than your sisters? Speak.
Cor. Nothing, my lord.
Lear. Nothing?
Cor. Nothing.
Lear. Nothing can come of nothing: speak again.
80
go
Cor.
AS I.
19
KING LEAR.
܂
Cor. Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave
My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty
According to my bond; nor more, nor less.
Lear. How, how, Cordelia mend your speech a
little,
Lest it may mar your fortunes.
Cor. Good my lord,
100
You have begot me, bred me, lov'd me: I
Return those duties back as are right fit,
Obey you, love you, and most honour you.
Why have my sisters husbands, if they say,
They love you, all? Haply, when I shall wed,
That lord, whose hand must take my plight, shall
carry
Half my love with him, half my care, and duty :
Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters,
To love my father all.
Lear. But goes thy heart with this?
Cor. Ay, my good lord.
Lear. So young, and so untender?
Cor. So young, my lord, and true.
110
Lear. Let it be so-Thy truth then be thy dower:
For, by the sacred radiance of the sun;
The mysteries of Hecate, and the night;
By all the operations of the orbs,
From whom we do exist, and cease to be;
Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
Propinquity and property of blood,
And as a stranger to my heart and me
Hold
20
Act I.
KING LEAR.
Hold thee, from this, for ever. The barbarous
Scythian,
Or he that makes his generation messes
To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom
Be as well neighbour'd, pitied, and reliev'd,
As thou, my sometime daughter.
Kent. Good my liege-
Lear. Peace, Kent!
120
Come not between the dragon and his wrath:
I lov'd her most, and thought to set my rest
On her kind nursery.-Hence, and avoid my sight!——
[ TO CORDELIA.
130
So be my grave my peace, as here I give
Her father's heart from her!-Call France;-Who
stirs ?
Call Burgundy.Cornwall, and Albany,
With my two daughters dowers digest this third:
Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.
I do invest you jointly with my power,.
Preeminence, and all the large effects
That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly courșe,
With reservation of an hundred knights,
By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode
139
Make with you by due turns. Only we shall retain
The name, and all the addition to a king;
The sway, revenue, execution of the rest,
Beloved sons be yours: which to confirm,
This coronet part between you.
Kent. Royal Lear,
[Giving the Crown.
Whom I have ever honour'd as my king,
1
Lov'd
A& I.
21
KING LEAR.
Lov'd as my father, as my master follow'd,
As my great patron thought on in my prayers-
Lear. The bow is bent and drawn, make from the
shaft.
Kent. Let it fall rather, though the fork invade
The region of my heart: be Kent unmannerly,
When Lear is mad.
man?
149
What wouldst thou do, old
Think'st thou that duty should have dread to speak,
When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour's
bound,
When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom;
And, in thy best consideration, check
;
This hideous rashness: answer my life my judgment,
Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least
Nor are those empty-hearted, whose low sound
Reverbs no hollowness.
Lear. Kent, on thy life, no more.
160
Kent. My life I never held but as a pawn
To wage against thine enemies: nor fear to lose it,
Thy safety being the motive.
Lear. Out of my sight!
Kent. See better, Lear; and let me still remain
The true blank of thine eye.
Lear. Now, by Apollo-
Kent. Now, by Apollo, king,
Thou swear'st thy gods in vain.
Lear. O, vassal! miscreant!
170
[Laying his Hand on his Sword.
Alb. Corn. Dear sir, forbear,
Kent.
22
Aεt I.
KING LEAR.
Kent. Do; kill thy physician, and the fee bestow
Upon the foul disease. Revoke thy gift;
Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat,
I'll tell thee, thou dost evil.
Lear. Hear me, recreant!
On thine allegiance hear me !—
181
Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow
(Which we durst never yet), and, with strain'd pride,
To come betwixt our sentence and our power
(Which nor our nature nor our place can bear),
Our potency made good, take thy reward.
Five days we do allot thee, for provision
To shield thee from disasters of the world;
And, on the sixth, to turn thy hated back
Upon our kingdom: if, on the tenth day following,
Thy banish'd trunk be found in our dominions,
The moment is thy death: Away! By Jupiter,
This shall not be revok’d.
190
Kent. Why, fare thee well, king: since thus thou
wilt appear,
Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here.-
The gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid,
[To CORDELIA.
That justly think'st, and hast most rightly said!-
And your large speeches may your deeds approve,
[To REGAN, and GONERIL.
That good effects may spring from words of love.—
Thus Kent, O princes! bids you all adieu ;
He'll shape his old course in a country new.
[Exit.
Re-enter
A&t 1.
$3
KING LEAR.
Re-enter GLOSTER, with FRANCE, BURGUNDY, and
Attendants.
Glo. Here's France and Burgundy, my noble lord.
Lear. My lord of Burgundy,
200
We first address towards you, who with this king
Have rivall'd for our daughter; What, in the least,
Will you require in present dower with her,
Or cease your quest of love?
Bur. Most royal majesty,
I crave no more than hath your highness offer'd,
Nor will you tender less.
Lear. Right noble Burgundy,
When she was dear to us, we did hold her so;
But now her price is fall'n: Sir, there she stands;
If aught within that little, seeming substance,
Or all of it, with our displeasure piec'd,
And nothing more, may fitly like your grace,
She's there, and she is your's.
Bur. I know no answer.
211
Lear. Sir, will you, with those infirmities she
owes,
Unfriended, new-adopted to our hate,
Dower'd with our curse, and stranger'd with our
oath,
Take her, or leave her?
Bur. Pardon me, royal sir;
Election makes not up on such conditions.
220
Lear. Then leave her, sir; for, by the power that
made me,
I tell
24
48 1.
KING LEAR.
I tell you all her wealth.-For you, great king,
[TO FRANCE.
I would not from your love make such a stray,
To match you where I hate; therefore beseech you
To avert your liking a more worthier way,
Than on a wretch whom nature is asham'd
Almost to acknowledge her's.
France. This is most strange !
That she, who even but now was your best object,
The argument of your praise, balm of your age,
The best, the dearest; should in this trice of time
Commit a thing so monstrous, to dismantle
So many folds of favour! Sure, her offence
Must be of such unnatural degree,
That monsters it, or your fore-vouch'd affection
Fall into taint: which to believe of her,
Must be a faith, that reason without miracle
Should never plant in me.
Cor. I yet beseech your majesty
(If for I want that glib and oily art,
229
240
To speak and purpose not; since what I well intend,
I'll do't before I speak), that you make known
It is no vicious blot, murder, or foulness,
No unchaste action, or dishonour'd step,
That hath depriv'd me of your grace and favour:
But even for want of that, for which I am richer;
A still-scliciting eye, and such a tongue
That I am glad I have not, though, not to have it,
Hath lost me in your liking.
Lear. Better thou
250
५
Hadst
Aa 1.
25
KING LEAR.
Hadst not been born, than not to have pleas'd me
better.
France. Is it no more but this a tardiness in
nature,
Which often leaves the history unspoke,
That it intends to do?-My lord of Burgundy,
What say you to the lady? Love is not love,
When it is mingled with regards, that stand
Aloof from the entire point. Will you have her ?
She is herself a dowry.
Bur. Royal Lear,
Give but that portion which yourself propos'd,
And here I take Cordelia by the hand,
Dutchess of Burgundy.
Lear. Nothing: I have sworn; I am firm.
Bur. I am sorry then, you have so lost a father,
That you must lose a husband.
Cor. Peace be with Burgundy!
Since that respects of fortune are his love,
I shall not be his wife.
260
France. Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich, being
poor;
270
Most choice, forsaken; and most lov'd, despis`d!
Thee and thy virtues here I seize upon :
Be it lawful, I take up what's cast away.
Gods, gods! 'tis strange, that from their cold'st
neglect
My love should kindle to inflam'd respect..
Thy dowerless daughter, king, thrown to my chance,
Is queen of us, of ours, and our fair France:
C
Not
26
Act I.
KING LEAR.
Not all the dukes of wat'rish Burgundy
Shall buy this unpriz'd precious maid of me.
Bid them farewel, Cordelia, though unkind :
Thou losest here, a better where to find.
280
Lear. Thou hast her, France: let her be thine; for
we
Have no such daughter, nor shall ever see
That face of her's again :-Therefore be gone,
Without our grace, our love, our benizon.
Come, noble Burgundy.
[Flourish. Excunt LEAR, BURGUNDY, &c.
France. Bid farewel to your sisters.
Cor. The jewels of our father, with wash'd eyes
Cordelia leaves you: I know you what you are;
And, like a sister, am most loth to call
290
Your faults, as they are nam'd. Use well our father:
To your professing bosoms I commit him:
But yet, alas! stood I within his grace,
I would prefer him to a better place.
So farewel to you both.
Reg. Prescribe not us our duties.
Gon. Let your study
Be to content your lord; who hath receiv'd you
At fortune's alms: You have obedience scanted, 299
And well are worth the want that you have wanted.
Cor. Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides,
Who cover faults, at last shame them derides.
Well may you prosper
France. Come, my fair Cordelia.
[Exeunt FRANCE, and CORDELIA.
Gon.
f
A&t I.
27
KING LEAR.
Gon. Sister, it is not a little I have to say, of what
most nearly appertains to us both. I think, our fa-
ther will hence to-night.
Reg. That's most certain, and with you; next
month with us.
309
Gon. You see how full of changes his age is; the
observation we have made of it hath not been little :
he always lov'd our sister most; and with what poor
judgment he hath now cast her off, appears too
grossly.
Reg. 'Tis the infirmity of his age; yet he hath ever
but slenderly known himself.
Gon. The best and soundest of his time hath been
but rash; then must we look to receive from his age,
not alone the imperfections of long-engrafted con-
dition, but, therewithal, the unruly waywardness
that infirm and cholerick years bring with them. 321
Reg. Such unconstant starts are we like to have
from him, as this of Kent's banishment.
Gon. There is further compliment of leave-taking
between France and him. Pray you, let us hit
together: If our father carry authority with such dis-
positions as he bears, this last surrender of his will
but offend us.
Reg. We shall further think of it.
Gon. We must do something, and i' the heat.
330
[Exeunt.
Cij
SCENE
28
A& 1.
KING LEAR.
SCENE II.
A Castle belonging to the Earl of Gloster. Enter
EDMUND, with a Letter.
Edm. Thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy law
My services are bound: Wherefore should I
Stand in the plague of custom; and permit
The curiosity of nations to deprive me,
341
For that I am some twelve or fourteen moon-shines
Lag of a brother? Why bastard? Wherefore base
When my dimensions are as well compact,
My mind as generous, and my shape as true,
As honest madam's issue? Why brand they us
With base? with baseness? bastardy? base, base!
Who, in the lusty stealth of nature, take
More composition and fierce quality,
Than doth, within a dull, stale, tired bed,
Go to the creating of a whole tribe of fops,
Got 'tween asleep and wake?-Well then,
Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land :
Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund,
As to the legitimate: Fine word—legitimate!
Well, my legitimate, if this letter speed,
And my invention thrive, Edmund the base
Shall top the legitimate. I grow; I prosper
Now, gods, stand up for bastards !
350
Enter
AQ I
29
KING LEAR
Enter GLOSTER.
Glo. Kent banish'd thus! And France in choler
parted!
And the king gone to-night! subscrib'd his power!
Confin'd to exhibition! All this done
Upon the gad!-Edmund! How now? what news?
Edm. So please your lordship, none.
[Putting up the Letter,
Glo. Why so earnestly seek you to put up that
letter?
Edm. I know no news, my lord.
Glo. What paper were you reading?
Edm. Nothing, my lord.
360
Glo. No? What needed then that terrible dispatch'
of it into your pocket? the quality of nothing hath
not such need to hide itself. Let's see: Come, if it
be nothing, I shall not need spectacles.
Edm. I beseech you, sir, pardon me: it is a letter
from my brother, that I have not all o'er-read; and
for so much as I have perus'd, I find it not fit for
your over-looking.
Glo. Give me the letter, sir.
370
Edm. I shall offend, either to detain or give it.
The contents, as in part I understand them, are to
blame.
Glo. Let's see, let's see.
Edm. I hope, for my brother's justification, he wrote
this but as an essay or taste of my virtue.
Cij
Glo.
૩૦
Л& I.
KING LEAR.
Glo. reads.] This policy, and reverence of age, makes
the world bitter to the best of our times; keeps our for-
tunes from us, 'till our oldness cannot relish them. I begin
to find an idle and fond bondage in the oppression of aged
tyranny; who sways, not as it hath power, but as it is
suffered. Come to me, that of this I may speak more.
If our father would sleep 'till I wak'd him, you should
enjoy half his revenue for ever, and live the beloved of
your brother, Edgar. - Hum.- Conspiracy !
'till I wak'd him,-you should enjoy half his revenue !—
My son Edgar! Had he a hand to write this? a heart
and brain to breed it in ?-When came this to you?
Who brought it?
Sleep,
389
Edm. It was not brought me, my lord, there's the
cunning of it; I found it thrown in at the casement
of my closet.
Glo. You know the character to be your brother's?
Edm. If the matter were good, my lord, I durst
swear it were his; but, in respect of that, I would
fain think it were not.
Glo. It is his.
Edm. It is his hand, my lord; but, I hope, his
heart is not in the contents.
Glo. Hath he never heretofore sounded you in this
business?
401
Edm. Never, my lord: But I have often heard
him maintain it to be fit, that, sons at perfect age,
and fathers declining, the father should be as ward to
the son, and the son manage his revenue.
Glo. O villain, villain!-His very opinion in the
letter!
A&t I.
31
KING LEAR,
!
letter !-
Abhorred villain! Unnatural, detested
brutish villain! worse than brutish!-Go, sirrah,
seek him; I'll apprehend him :-Abominable vil-
lain! Where is he?
410
Edm. I do not well know, my lord. If it shall
please you to suspend your indignation against my
brother, 'till you can derive from him better testimony
of his intent, you should run a certain course; where,
if you violently proceed against him, mistaking his
purpose, it would make a great gap in your own
honour, and shake in pieces the heart of his obedience.
I dare pawn down my life for him, that he hath
writ this to feel my affection to your honour, and to
no other pretence of danger.
Glo. Think you so ?
420
Edm. If your honour judge it meet, I will place
you where you shall hear us confer of this, and by an
auricular assurance have your satisfaction; and that
without any further delay than this very evening.
Glo. He cannot be such a monster.
Edm. Nor is not, sure.
Glo. To his father, that so tenderly and entirely
loves him.-Heaven and earth !-Edmund, seek him
out; wind me into him, I pray you: frame the busi-
ness after your own wisdom: I would unstate myself,
to be in a due resolution.
432
Edm. I will seek him, sir, presently convey
the business as I shall find means, and acquaint you
withal.
Glo. These late eclipses in the sun and moon por-
tend
32
Aat I.
KING LEAR.
tend no good to us: Though the wisdom of naturə
can reason it thus and thus, yet nature finds itself
scourg'd by the sequent effects: love cools, friend-
ship falls off, brothers divide in cities, mutinies
in countries, discord; in palaces, treason; and the
bond crack'd 'twixt son and father. This villain
of mine comes under the prediction; there's son
against father: the king falls from bias of nature;
there's father against child. We have seen the best
of our time: Machinations, hollowness, treachery,
and all ruinous disorders, follow us disquietly to
our graves! Find out this villain, Edmund;
it shall lose thee nothing; do it carefully:
-And
the noble and true-hearted Kent banish'd! his of-
fence, honesty! -Strange! strange!
[Exit.
Edm. This is the excellent foppery of the world!
that, when we are sick in fortune (often the surfeit of
our own behaviour), we make guilty of our disasters,
the sun, the moon, and the stars as if we were
villains by necessity; fools, by heavenly compulsion;
knaves, thieves, and treachers, by spherical predo-
minance; drunkards, liars, and adulterers, by an en-
forc'd obedience of planetary influence; and all that
we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on: An admi-
rable evasion of whore-master man, to lay his goatish
disposition to the charge of a star! My father com-
pounded with my mother under the dragon's tail; and
my nativity was under ursa major; so that it follows,
I am rough and lecherous. -Tut, I should have been
that
A&t 1.
33
KING LEAR.
3
that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament
twinkled on my bastardizing. Edgar
Enter EDGAR.
467
and pat he comes, like the catastrophe of the old
comedy: My cue is villanous melancholy, with a sigh
like Tom o' Bedlam.-O, these eclipses do portend
these divisions! fa, sol, la, me——
Edg. How now, brother Edmund? What serious
contemplation are you in?
Edm. I am thinking, brother, of a prediction I
read this other day, what should follow these
eclipses.
Edg. Do you busy yourself with that?
477
Edm. I promise you, the effects he writes of, suc-
ceed unhappily; as of unnaturalness between the
child and the parent; death, dearth, dissolutions of
ancient amities; divisions in state, menaces and male-
dictions against king and nobles; needless diffidences,
banishment of friends, dissipation of cohorts, nup-
tial breeches, and I know not what.
Edg. How long have you been a sectary astrono-
mical ?
Edm. Come, come; when saw you my father last?
Edg. Why, the night gone by.
Edm. Spake you with him?
Edg. Ay, two hours together.
489
Edm. Parted you in good terms? Found you no
displeasure in him, by word, or countenance?
Edg. None at all.
Edm.
34
A&t I.
KING LEAR.
Edm. Bethink yourself, wherein you may have
offended him and at my entreaty, forbear his pre-
sence, until some little time hath qualified the heat
of his displeasure; which at this instant so rageth in
him, that with the mischief of your person it would
scarcely allay.
Edg. Some villain hath done me wrong.
499
Edm. That's my fear. I pray you, have a con-
tinent forbearance, 'till the speed of his rage goes
slower and, as I say, retire with me to my lodg
ing, from whence I will fitly bring you to hear my
lord speak: Pray you, go; there's my key : — If
you do stir abroad, go arm'd.
Edg. Arm'd, brother?
Edm. Brother, I advise you to the best; go arm'd;
I am no honest man, if there be any good meaning
towards you: I have told you what I have seen and
heard, but faintly; nothing like the image and hor-
ror of it: Pray you, away.
Edg. Shall I hear from you anon?
Edm. I do serve you in this business.-
511
[Exit EDGAR.
A credulous father, and a brother noble,
Whose nature is so far from doing harms,
That he suspects none; on whose foolish honesty.
My practices ride easy!-I see the business..
Let me, if not by birth, have lands by wit:
All with me's meet, that I can fashion fit.
[Exit.
SCENE
Aat 1.
35
KING LEAR.
SCENE III.
The Duke of ALBANY's Palace. Enter GONERIL, and
Steward.
Gon. Did my father strike my gentleman for chid-
ing of his fool?
Stew. Ay, madam.
521
Gon. By day and night! he wrongs me; every hour
He flashes into one gross crime or other,
That sets us all at odds: I'll not endure it:
His knights grow riotous, and himself upbraids us
On every trifle :-When he returns from hunting,
I will not speak with him; say, I am sick :
If you come slack of former services,
You shall do well; the fault of it I'll answer.
Stew. He's coming, madam; I hear him.
530
[Horns within.
Gon. Put on what weary negligence you please,
You and your fellows; I'd have it come to question:
If he dislike it, let him to my sister,
Whose mind and mine, I know, in that are one,
Not to be over-rul'd. Idle old man,
That still would manage those authorities,
That he hath given away!-Now, by my life,
Old fools are babes again; and must be us'd
With checks, as flatteries when they are seen abus'd.
Remember what I have said.
Stew. Very well, madam.
541
3
Gon,
36
Act F.
KING LEAK.
Gon. And let his knights have colder looks among
you;
What grows of it, no matter; advise your fellows so:
I would breed from hence occasions, and I shall,
That I may speak :-I'll write straight to my sister,
To hold my very course :-Prepare for dinner.
[Exeunt.
SCENE IV.
An open Place before the Palace.
Enter KENT, dis-
guised.
Kent. If but as well I other accents borrow,
That can my speech diffuse, my good intent
May carry through itself to that full issue
550
For which I raz'd my likeness.-Now, banish'd Kent,
If thou canst serve where thou dost stand condemn'd,
(So may it come!) thy master, whom thou lov'st,
Shall find thee full of labours.
Horns within. Enter LEAR, Knights, and Attendants.
Lear. Let me not stay a jot for dinner; go, get it
ready.
How now,
what art thou?
Kent. A man, sir.
Lear. What dost thou profess? What would'st
thou with us?
559
Kent. I do profess to be no less than I seem; to
serve him truly, that will put me in trust; to love
2
him
A&t I.
27
KING LEAR.
€
him that is honest; to converse with him that is
wise, and says little; to fear judgment; to fight,
when I cannot choose; and to cat no fish.
Lear. What art thou?
Kent. A very honest-hearted fellow, and as poor as
the king.
Lear. If thou be as poor for a subject, as he is
for a king, thou art poor enough. What would'st
thou?
Kent. Service.
Lear. Whom would'st thou serve?
Kent. You.
Lear. Dost thou know me, fellow?
579
Kent. No, sir; but you have that in your counte-
nance, which I would fain call master.
Lear. What's that?
Kent. Authority.
Lear. What services canst thou do?
579
Kent. I can keep honest counsel, ride, run, mar a
curious tale in telling it, and deliver a plain message
bluntly that which ordinary men are fit for, I am
qualify'd in; and the best of me is diligence.
Lear. How old art thou?
Kent. Not so young, sir, to love a woman for sing-
ing; nor so old, to dote on her for any thing: I have
years on my back forty-eight.
Lear. Follow me; thou shalt serve me: if I like
thee no worse after dinner, I will not part from thee
yet.-Dinner, ho, dinner!-Where's my knave? my
fool? Go you, and call my fool hither:
D
591
Enter
33
AG 1.
KING LEAR.
Enter Steward.
You, you, sirrah, where's my daughter?
Stew. So please you-
[Exit.
Lear. What says the fellow there? Call the clot-
pole back.—Where's my fool, ho?- -I think the
world's asleep.-How now? where's that mungrel ?
Knight. He says, my lord, your daughter is not well.
Lear. Why came not the slave back to me, when I
call'd him?
Knight. Sir, he answer'd me in the roundest man-
ner, he would not.
601
Lear. He would not!
Knight. My lord, I know not what the matter is ;
but, to my judgment, your highness is not entertain'd
with that ceremonious affection as you were wont;
there's a great abatement of kindness appears, as
well in the general dependants, as in the duke him-
self also, and your daughter.
Lear. Ha! say'st thou so?
Knight. I beseech you, pardon me, my lord, if I
be mistaken; for my duty cannot be silent, when I
think your highness is wrong'd.
612
Lear. Thou but remember'st me of mine own con-
ception: I have perceived a most faint neglect of
late; which I have rather blamed as mine own jea-
lous curiosity, than as a very pretence and purpose of
unkindness: I will look further into't.-But where's
my fool? I have not seen him these two days.
Knight. Since my young lady's going into France,
sir,
A&t I.
39
KING LEAR.
sir, the fool hath much pin'd away.
620
Lear. No more of that; I have noted it well.-
Go you, and tell my daughter I would speak with
her.-Go you, call hither my fool.-
Re-enter Steward.
O, you sir, you sir, come you hither: Who am I,
sir?
Stew. My lady's father.
Lear. My lady's father! my lord's knave: you
whoreson dog! you slave! you cur!
Stew. I am none of these, my lord; I beseech you,
pardon me.
Lear. Do you bandy looks with me, you rascal ?
Stew. I'll not be struck, my lord.
629
[Striking him.
Kent. Nor tript neither; you base foot-ball player.
[Tripping up his Hecls.
Lear. I thank thee, fellow; thou serv'st me, and
I'll love thee.
Kent. Come, sir, arise, away; I'll teach you dif-
ferences; away, away: If you will measure your
lubber's length again, tarry but away: go to;
Have you wisdom? so. [Pushes the Steward out.
knave, I thank thee:
Lear. Now, my friendly
there's earnest of thy service.
:
[Giving KENT Money.
Enter Fool.
Fool. Let me hire him too ;-Here's my coxcomb.
Dij
[Giving KENT his Cap.
Lear.
40
A& I.
KING LEAR.
Lear. How now, my pretty knave? how dost
thou?
Fool. Sirrah, you were best take my coxcomb.
Kent. Why, fool?
643
Fool. Why? For taking one's part that is out of
favour: Nay, an thou canst not smile as the wind sits,
thou❜lt catch cold shortly: There, take my cox-
comb: Why, this fellow has banish'd two of his
daughters, and did the third a blessing against his
will; if thou follow him, thou must needs wear
my coxcomb.-How now, nuncle? 'Would I had
two coxcombs, and two daughters !
Lear. Why, my boy?
653
Fool. If I gave them all my living, I'd keep my
coxcombs myself: There's mine; beg another of
thy daughters.
Lear. Take heed, sirrah; the whip.
Fool. Truth's a dog that must to kennel; he must
be whipp'd out, when the lady brach may stand by
the fire and stink.
Lear. A pestilent gall to me !
661
Fool. Sirrah, I'll teach thee a speech. [To KEnt.
Lear. Do.
Fool. Mark it, nuncle:-
Have more than thou showest,
Speak less than thou knowest,
Lend less than thou owest,
Ride more than thou goest,
Learn
A& I.
41
KING LEAR.
Learn more than thou trowest,
Set less than thou throwest;
Leave thy drink and thy whore,
And keep in-a-door,
And thou shalt have more
Than two tens to a score.
Kent. This is nothing, fool.
670
Fool. Then it is like the breath of an unfee'd
lawyer; you gave me nothing for't :-Can you make
no use of nothing, nuncle?
679
Lear. Why, no, boy; nothing can be made out
of nothing.
Fool. Pr'ythee, tell him, so much the rent of his land
comes to; he will not believe a fool.
Lear. A bitter fool!
[TO KENT.
Fool. Dost thou know the difference, my boy, be.
tween a bitter fool and a sweet fool?
Lear. No, lad, teach me.
Fool. That lord, that counsel'd thee
To give away thy land,
Come place him here by me-
Or do thou for him stand:
The sweet and bitter fool
Will presently appear;
The one in motley here,
The other found out there.
Lear. Dost thou call me fool, boy?
Diij
690
Feci.
42
A&t I.
KING LEAR.
Fool. All thy other titles thou hast given away;
that thou wast born with.
Kent. This is not altogether fool, my lord. 699
Fool. No, 'faith, lords and great men will not let
me; if I had a monopoly out, they would have part
on't and ladies too, they will not let me have all fool
to myself; they'll be suatching.———-Give me an egg,
nuncle, and I'll give thee two crowns.
Lear. What two crowns shall they be?
Fool. Why, after I have cut the egg i'the middle,
and eat up the meat, the two crowns of the egg.
When thou clovest thy crown i' the middle, and
gavest away both parts, thou borest thine ass on thy
back over the dirt: Thou hadst little wit in thy bald
crown, when thou gavest thy golden one away. If
I speak like myself in this, let him be whipp'd that
first finds it so.
Fools ne'er had less grace in a year;
For wise men are grown foppish;
And know not how their wits to wear,
Their manners are so apish.
713
[Singing.
Lear. When were you wont to be so full of songs,
sirrah ?
719
Fool. I have used it, nuncle, ever since thou mad’st
thy daughters thy mothers: for when thou gavest
them the rod, and put'st down thine own breeches,
Then
A&t I.
43
KING LEAR.
Then they for sudden joy did weep,
[Singing.
}
And I for sorrow sung,
That such a king should play bo-peep,
And go the fools among.
Pr'ythee, nuncle, keep a school-master that can teach
thy fool to lie; I would fain learn to lie.
728
Lear. If you lie, sirrah, we'll have you whipt.
Fool. I marvel, what kin thou and thy daughters
are: they'll have me whipt for speaking true, thou❜lt
have me whipt for lying; and, sometimes, I am whipt
for holding my peace.
thing, than a fool
I had rather be any kind of
and yet I would not be thee,
nuncle; thou hast pared thy wit o' both sides, and left
nothing in the middle: Here comes one o' the parings.
Enter GONERIL.
Lear. How now, daughter? what makes that front-
let on?
Methinks, you are too much of late i' the frown.
Fool. Thou wast a pretty fellow, when thou had'st
no need to care for her frowning; now thou art an O
without a figure: I am better than thou art now; I
am a fool, thou art nothing.-Yes, forsooth, I will
hold my tongue; [To GONERIL.] so your face bids
me, though you say nothing. Mum, mum,
He that keeps nor crust nor crum,
Weary of all, shall want some.—
744
That's a sheal'd peascod!
[Pointing to LEAR.
Gon
44
A& I.
KING LEAR.
Gon. Not only, sir, this your all-licens'd fool,
But other of your insolent retinue
Do hourly carp and quarrel; breaking forth
In rank and not-to-be-endured riots. Sir,
750
I had thought, by making this well known unto you,
To have found a safe redress; but now grow fearful,
By what yourself too late have spoke and done,
That you protect this course, and put it on
By your allowance; which if you should, the fault
Would not 'scape censure, nor the redresses sleep;
Which, in the tender of a wholesome weal,
Might in their working do you that offence,
Which else were shame, that then necessity
Would call discreet proceeding.
Fool. For you trow, nuncle,
The hedge sparrow fed the cuckoo so long,
That it had its head bit off by its young.
760
So, out went the candle, and we were left darkling.
Lear. Are you our daughter?
Gon. Come, sir,
I would, you would make use of that good wisdom
Whereof I know you are fraught; and put away
These dispositions, which of late transform you
From what you rightly are.
771
Fool. May not an ass know when the cart draws the
horse?—Whoop, Jug, I love thee.
Lear. Does any here know me?-Why this is not
Lear:
Does
A& I.
45
KING LEAR.
Does Lear walk thus speak thus -Where are his
eyes?
Either his notion weakens, or his discernings
Are lethargy'd-Ha! waking ?-'Tis not so.—
Who is it that can tell me who I am?-Lear's shadow?
I would learn that: for by the marks
Of sov'reignty, of knowledge, and of reason,
I should be false persuaded I had daughters.-
Your name, fair gentlewoman ?
Gon. Come, sir;
This admiration is much o' the favour
Of other your new pranks. I do beseech you
To understand my purposes aright:
As you are old and reverend, you should be wise:
Here do you keep a hundred knights and squires;
Men so disorder'd, so debauch'd, and bold,
That this our court, infected with their manners,
Shews like a riotous inn: epicurism and lust
Make it more like a tavern, or a brothel,
780
791
Than a grac'd palace. The shame itself doth speak
For instant remedy: Be then desir'd
By her, that else will take the thing she begs,
A little to disquantity your train;
And the remainder, that shall still depend,
To be such men as may besort your age,
And know themselves and you.
Lear. Darkness and devils!
Saddle my horses; call my train together.
Degenerate bastard! I'll not trouble thee;
Yet have I left a daughter.
8c0
Gon.
46
A&t L.
KING LEAR.
Gon. You strike my people; and your disorder'd
rabble
Make servants of their betters.
Enter ALBANY.
Lear. Woe, that too late repents-O, sir, are you
come?
Is it your will speak, sir.-Prepare my horses.
Ingratitude! thou marble-hearted fiend,
[TO ALBANY.
More hideous, when thou shew'st thee in a child,
Than the sea-monster!
Alb. Pray, sir, be patient.
Lear. Detested kite! thou liest.
810
[To GONERIL.
My train are men of choice and rarest parts,
That all particulars of duty know ;
And in the most exact regard support
The worships of their name.-O most small fault,
How ugly didst thou in Cordelia shew!
Which, like an engine, wrench'd my frame of na-
ture
From the fixt place; drew from my heart all love,
And added to the gall. O Lear, Lear, Lear!
Beat at this gate, that let thy fully in,
820
[Striking his Head.
And thy dear judginent out!-Go, go, my people!
Alb. My lord, I am guiltless, as I am ignorant
Of what hath mov'd you.
Lear. It may be so, my lord.——————
Hear, nature, hear! dear goddess, hear!
Suspend
A&t I.
47
KING LEAR.
Suspend thy purpose, if thou didst intend
To make this creature fruitful!
Into her womb convey sterility;
Dry up in her the organs of increase;
And from her derogate body never spring
A babe to honour her! If she must teem,
Create her child of spleen; that it may live,
And be a thwart disnatur'd torment to her!
Let it stamp wrinkles in her brow of youth;
With cadent tears fret channels in her cheeks;
Turn all her mother's pains, and benefits,
To laughter and contempt; that she may feel
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child!-Away, away!
830
[Exit.
Alb. Now, gods, that we adore, whereof comes
this?
Gon. Never afflict yourself to know the cause;
But let his disposition have that scope
That dotage gives it.
Re-enter LEAR.
Lear. What, fifty of my followers at a clap!
Within a fortnight!
Alb. What's the matter, sir?
811
Lear. I'll tell thee;-Life and death! I am asham'd
That thou hast power to shake my manhood thus:
[To GONERIL.
That these hot tears, which break from me perforce,
Should make thee worth them.--Blasts and fogs upon
thee!
851
The
48
A&t I.
KING LEAR.
The untented woundings of a father's curse
Pierce every sense about thee!—Old fond eyes,
Beweep this cause again, I'll pluck you out ;
And cast you, with the waters that you lose,
To temper clay.-Ha! is it come to this?
Let it be so :-Yet I have left a daughter,
Who, I am sure, is kind and comfortable;
When she shall hear this of thee, with her nails
She'll flea thy wolfish visage. Thou shalt find, 860
That I'll resume the shape, which thou dost think
I have cast off for ever; thou shalt, I warrant thee.
[Exeunt LEAR, KENT, and Attendants.
Gon. Do you mark that, my lord ?
Alb. I cannot be so partial, Goneril,
To the great love I bear you-
•
Gon. Pray you, content.-What, Oswald, ho!
You, sir, more knave than fool, after your master.
To the Fool.
Fool. Nuncle Lear, nuncle Lear, tarry, and take
the fool with thee.
A fox, when one has caught her,
And such a daughter,
Should sure to the slaughter,
870
If my cap would buy a halter;
So the fool follows after.
[Exit.
Gon. This man hath had good counsel :-A hun-
dred knights!
'Tis politic, and safe, to let him keep
At
A& I.
49
KING LEAR.
•
At point, a hundred knights. Yes, that on every
dream,
Each buz, each fancy, each complaint, dislike,
He may enguard his dotage with their
powers,
And hold our lives at mercy.-Oswald, I say!-
Alb. Well, you may fear too far.
Gon. Safer than trust too far:
Let me still take away the harms I fear,
Not fear still to be taken. I know his heart :
What he hath utter'd, I have writ my sister:
If she sustain him and his hundred knights,
When I have shew'd the unfitness-
Oswald ?
Enter Steward.
881
How now,
What, have you writ that letter to my sister?
Stew. Ay, madam.
Gon. Take you some company, and away to horse:
Inform her full of my particular fear;
And thereto add such reasons of your own,
As may compact it more.
Get you gone;
And hasten your return. No, no, my lord,
891
[Exit Steward.
This milky gentleness, and course of your's,
Though I condemn it not, yet, under pardon,
You are much more at task for want of wisdom,
Than prais'd for harmful mildness.
Alb. How far your eyes may pierce, I cannot
tell;
Striving to better, oft we mar what's well.
E
950
Gen.
50
A&t I.
KING LEAR.
Gon. Nay, then——
Alb. Well, well; the event.
[Exeunt.
SCENE V.
A Court-Yard before the Duke of ALBANY's Palace.
Enter LEAR, KENT, and Fool.
Lear. Go you before to Gloster with these letters :
acquaint my daughter no further with any thing you
know, than comes from her demand out of the letter:
If your diligence be not speedy, I shall be there be-
fore you.
Kent. I will not sleep, my lord, 'till I have deli-
vered your letter.
[Exit.
Fool. If a man's brains were in his heels, wer't not
in danger of kibes?
Lear. Ay, boy.
911
Fool. Then, I pr'ythee, be merry; thy wit shall
not go slip-shod.
Lear. Ha, ha, ha!
Fool. Shalt see, thy other daughter will use thee
kindly for though she's as like this as a crab is like
an apple, yet I can tell what I can tell.
Lear. Why, what canst thou tell, boy?
Feel. She will taste as like this, as a crab does to a
crab. Thou canst tell, why one's nose stands i'the
middle of one's face?
Lear. No.
922
Fool. Why, to keep one's eyes on either side one's
nose;
Act 1.
51
KING LEAR.
nose; that what a man cannot smell out, he may spy
into.
Lear. I did her wrong.-
Fool. Canst tell how an oyster makes his shell?
Lear. No.
Fool. Nor I neither; but I can tell why a snail has
a house.
Lear. Why?
931
Fool. Why, to put his head in; not to give it away
to his daughters, and leave his horns without a case.
Lear. I will forget my nature.-So kind a father!-
Be my horses ready?
Fool. Thy asses are gone about 'em. The reason
why the seven stars are no more than seven, is a pretty
reason.
Lear. Because they are not eight?
940
Fool. Yes, indeed Thou would'st make a good
fool.
Lear. To take it again perforce !-Monster ingra-
titude!
Fool. If thou wert my fool, nuncle, I'd have thee
beaten for being old before thy time.
Lear. How's that?
Fool. Thou should'st not have been old, before
thou hadst been wise.
Lear. O, let me not be mad, not mad, sweet heaven!
Keep me in temper; I would not be mad!-
Enter Gentleman.
How now! Are the horses ready?
Eij
950
Gent.
52
A& II.
KING LEAR.
Gent. Ready, my lord.
Lear. Come, boy.
Fool. She that's a maid now, and laughs at my de-
parture,
Shall not be a maid long, unless things be cut shorter.
ACT II. SCENE I.
[Exeunt.
A Castle belonging to the Earl of Gloster.
EDMUND, and CURAN, meeting.
SAVE thee, Curan.
Edmund.
Enter
Cur. And you, sir. I have been with your father;
and given him notice, that the duke of Cornwall,
and Regan his dutchess, will be here with him to-
night.
Edm. How comes that?
Cur. Nay, I know not
you have heard of the
news abroad ; I mean, the whisper'd ones, for they
are yet but ear-kissing arguments.
Edm. Not I; Pray you, what are they?
10
Cur. Have you heard of no likely wars toward,
'twixt the dukes of Cornwall and Albany ?
Edm. Not a word.
Cur. You may then, in time. Fare you well, sir.
[Exit.
Edm.
A& II.
53
KING LEAR.
Edm. The duke be here to-night? The better! Best!
This weaves itself perforce into my business!
My father hath set guard to take my brother:
And I have one thing, of a queazy question,
Which I must act :-Briefness, and fortune, work!—
Brother, a word ;-descend:-Brother, I say;
Enter EDGAR.
My father watches:-O sir, fly this place;
Intelligence is given where you are hid;
You have now the good advantage of the night :-
Have you not spoken 'gainst the duke of Cornwall ?
He's coming hither; now, i' the night, i' the haste,
And Regan with him; Have you nothing said
Upon his party 'gainst the duke of Albany ?
Advise yourself.
Edg. I am sure on't, not a word.
20
29
Edm. I hear my father coming-Pardon me :
In cunning, I must draw my sword upon you :-
Draw Seem to defend yourself: Now quit you well.
Yield :-come before my father;-Light, ho, here !—
Fly, brother;-Torches! torches !-So, farewel.-
[Exit EDGAR.
Some blood drawn on me would beget opinion
[Wounds his Arm.
Of my more fierce endeavour: I have seen drunkards
Do more than this in sport.-Father! father!
Stop, stop! No help?
Eiij
Enter
54
A& II.
KING LEAR.
Enter GLOSTER, and Servants with Torches.
Glo. Now, Edmund, where's the villain?
Edm. Here stood he in the dark, his sharp sword
out,
Mumbling of wicked charms, conjuring the moon
To stand his auspicious mistress-
Glo. But where is he?
Edm. Look, sir, I bleed.
40
Glo. Where is the villain,
Edmund ?
Edm. Fled this way, sir.
When by no means he
could
By no
Glo. Pursue him, ho! Go after.
means, what?
50
Edm. Persuade me to the murder of your lordship;
But that I told him, the revenging gods
'Gainst parricides did all their thunders bend;
Spoke, with how manifold and strong a bond
The child was bound to the father;
Seeing how lothly opposite I stood
Sir, in fine,
To his unnatural purpose, in fell motion,
With his prepared sword, he charges home
My unprovided body, lanc'd mine arı:
But when he saw my best alarum'd spirits,
Bold in the quarrel's right, rous'd to the encounter,
Or whether gasted by the noise I made,
Full suddenly he fled.
Glo. Let him fly far:
Not in this land shall he remain uncaught;
6-
And found-Dispatch.-The noble duke my master,
My
A& II.
55
KING LEAR.
My worthy arch and patron, comes to-night :
By his authority I will proclaim it,
That he, which finds him, shall deserve our thanks,
Bringing the murderous coward to the stake;
He, that conceals him, death.
Edm. When I dissuaded him from his intent,
And found him pight to do it, with curst speech 70
I threaten'd to discover him: He replied,
Thou unpossessing bastard! dost thou think,
If I would stand against thee, would the reposal
Of any trust, virtue, or worth, in thee
Make thy words faith'd? No: What I should deny
(As.´´s I would; ay, though thou didst produce
My very character), I'd turn it all
To thy suggestion, plot, and damned practice:
And thou must make a dullard of the world,
If they not thought the profits of my death
Were very pregnant and potential spurs
To make thee seek it.
80
[Trumpets within.
Glo. O strange, fasten'd villain!
Would he deny his letter, said he?-I never got him.
Hark, the duke's trumpets! I know not why he
comes:
All ports I'll bar; the villain shall not scape;
The duke must grant me that: besides, his picture
I will send far and near, that all the kingdom
May have due note of him: and of my land-
Loyal and natural boy, I'll work the means
To make thee capable.
90
Enter
56
A& 11.
KING LEAK.
Enter CORNWALL, REGAN, and Attendants.
Corn. How now, my noble friend? since I came
hither
(Which I can call but now), I have heard strange
news.
Reg. If it be true, all vengeance comes too short,
Which can pursue the offender. How does my lord?
Glo. O, madam, my old heart is crack'd, is crack'd!
Reg. What, did my father's godson seek your
life?
He whom my father nam'd? your Edgar?
Glo. O, lady, lady, shame would have it hid!
Reg. Was he not companion with the riotous
knights
100
That tend upon my father?
Glo. I know not, madam:
It is too bad, too bad.-
Edm. Yes, madam, he was of that consort.
Reg. No marvel then, though he were ill affected;
'Tis they have put him on the old man's death,
To have the expence and waste of his revenues.
I have this present evening from my sister
Been well inform'd of them; and with such cautions,
That, if they come to sojourn at my house,
I'll not be there.
Corn. Nor I, assure thee, Regan.-
Edmund, I hear that you have shewn your father
A child-like office.
Edm. 'Twas my duty, sir.
110
Glo.
Act II.
57
KING LEAR.
Glo. He did bewray his practice; and receiv'd
This hurt you see, striving to apprehend him.
Corn. Is he pursu'd?
Glo. Ay, my good lord.
Corn. If he be taken, he shall never more
120
Be fear'd of doing harm: make your own purpose,
How in my strength you please.-For you, Edmund,
Whose virtue and obedience doth this instant
So much commend itself, you shall be ours;
Natures of such deep trust we shall much need; ;
You we first seize on.
Edm. I shall serve you, sir,
Truly, however else.
Glo. For him I thank your grace.
Corn. You know not why we came to visit you-
Reg. Thus out of season; threading dark-ey'd
night.
131
Occasions, noble Gloster, of some prize,
Wherein we must have use of your advice:
Our father he hath writ, so hath our sister,
Of differences, which I best thought it fit
To answer from our home; the several messengers
From hence attend dispatch. Our good old friend,
Lay comforts to your bosom; and bestow
Your needful counsel to our businesses,
Which crave the instant use.
Glo. I serve you, madam:
Your graces are right welcome.
140
[Exeunt.
SCENE
58
A& II.
KING LEAR.
SCENE II.
Enter KENT and Steward, severally.
Stew. Good even to thee, friend: Art of this
house?
Kent. Ay.
Stew. Where may we set our horses?
Kent. I' th' mire.
Stew. Pr'ythee, if thou love me, tell me.
Kent. I love thee not.
Stew. Why, then I care not for thee.
149
Kent. If I had thee in Lipsbury pinfold, I would
make thee care for me.
Stew. Why dost thou use me thus? I know thee
not.
Kent. Fellow, I know thee.
Stew. What dost thou know me for?
155
Kent. A knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats,
a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hun-
dred-pound, filthy worsted-stocking knave; a lily-
liver'd, action-taking knave; a whoreson, glass-gazing,
super-serviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting
slave; one that would'st be a bawd, in way of good
service, and art nothing but the composition of a
knave, beggar, coward, pandar, and the son and heir
of a mungrel bitch: one whom I will beat into cla-
morous whining, if thou deny'st the least syllable of
thy addition.
166
Stew. Why, what a monstrous fellow art thou, thus
to
Ʌ& II.
59
KING LEAR.
1
to rail on one, that is neither known of thee, nor
knows thee?
Kent. What a brazen-fac'd varlet art thou, to deny
thou know'st me? Is it two days ago, since I tript up
thy heels, and beat thee, before the king? Draw, you
rogue: for, though it be night, yet the moon shines ;
I'll make a sop o' the moonshine of you: Draw you
whoreson cullionly barber-monger, draw.
[Drawing his Sword.
Stew. Away; I have nothing to do with thee.
Kent. Draw, you rascal: you come with letters
against the king; and take vanity, the puppet's part,
against the royalty of her father: Draw, you rogue,
or I'll so carbonado your shanks :-draw, you rascal;
come your ways.
Stew. Help, ho! murder! help!
181
Kent. Strike, you slave; stand, rogue, stand; you
neat slave, strike.
Stew. Help, ho! murder! murder!
[Beating him.
Enter EDMUND, CORNWALL, REGAN, GLOSTER,
and Servants.
Edm. How now? What's the matter? Part.
Kent. With you, goodman boy, if you please; come,
I'll flesh you; come on, young master.
Glo. Weapons! arms! What's the matter here?
Corn. Keep peace, upon your lives;
190
He dies, that strikes again: What is the matter ?
Reg. The messengers from our sister and the king,
Corn. What is your difference? speak.
Stew. I am scarce in breath, my lord,
Kent.
бо
An II.
KING LEAR.
Kent. No marvel, you have so bestir'd your valour.
You cowardly rascal, nature disclaims in thee;
A tailor made thee.
Corn. Thou art a strange fellow :
A tailor make a man?
199
Kent. Ay, a tailor, sir: a stone-cutter, or a painter,
could not have made him so ill, though they had
been but two hours at the trade.
Corn. Speak yet, how grew your quarrel?
Stew. This ancient ruffian, sir, whose life I have
spar'd,
At suit of his grey beard-
Kent. Thou whoreson zed! thou unnecessary let-
ter! My lord, if you will give me leave, I will tread
this unbolted villain into mortar, and daub the wall
of a jakes with him.-Spare my grey beard, you
wagtail!
Corn. Peace, sirrah!
You beastly knave, know you no reverence?
Kent. Yes, sir; but anger hath a privilege.
Corn. Why art thou angry?
210
Kent. That such a slave as this should wear a sword,
Who wears no honesty. Such smiling rogues as these
Like rats, oft bite the holy cords in twain
Too intrinsicate t'unloose: sooth every passion
That in the nature of their lords rebels;
Bring oil to fire, snow to their colder moods;
Renege, affirm, and turn their halcyon beaks
With every gale and vary of their masters;
Knowing nought, like dogs, but following.-
220
A plague
A&t II.
KING LEAR.
61
A plague upon your epileptic visage!
Smile you my speeches, as I were a fool?
Goose, if I had you upon Sarum plain,
I'd drive ye cackling home to Camelot.
Corn. What, art thou mad, old fellow?
Glo. How fell you out? say that.
Kent. No contraries hold more antipathy,
Than I and such a knave.
£30
Corn. Why dost thou call him knave? What's his
offence?
Kent. His countenance likes me not.
Corn. No more, perchance, does mine, or his, or
her's.
Kent. Sir, 'tis my occupation to be plain;
I have seen better faces in my time,
Than stand on any shoulder that I see
Before me at this instant.
Corn. This is some fellow,
Who, having been prais'd for bluntness, doth affect
A saucy roughness; and constrains the garb,
Quite from his nature: He cannot flatter, he!—
An honest mind and plain-he must speak truth:
An they will take it, so; if not, he's plain.
These kind of knaves I know, which in this plainness
Harbour more craft, and more corrupter ends,
Than twenty silly ducking observants,
That stretch their duties nicely.
Kent. Sir, in good sooth, or in sincere verity,
Under the allowance of your grand aspect,
Whose influence, like the wreath of radiant fire
F
250
On
62
Act II.
KING LEAR.
On flickering Phoebus' front-
Corn. What mean'st thou by this?
Kent. To go out of my dialect, which you discom-
mend so much. I know, sir, I am no flatterer: he
that beguil'd you, in a plain accent, was a plain
knave; which, for my part, I will not be, though
I should win your displeasure to entreat me to it.
Corn. What was the offence you gave him?
Stew. I never gave him any :
It pleas'd the king his master, very late,
To strike at me, upon his misconstruction;
When he, conjunct, and flattering his displeasure,
Tript me behind; being down, insulted, rail'd,
And put upon him such a deal of man, that
That worthy'd him, got praises of the king
For him attempting who was self-subdu’d;
And, in the fleshment of this dread exploit,
Drew on me here again.
Kent. None of these rogues, and cowards,
But Ajax is their fool.
Corn. Fetch forth the stocks, ho!
260
270
You stubborn ancient knave, you reverend braggart,
We'll teach you-
Kent. Sir, I am too old to learn :
Call not your stocks for me: I serve the king;
On whose employment I was sent to you:
You shall do small respect, shew too bold malice
Against the grace and person of my master,
Stocking his messenger.
Corn. Fetch forth the stocks :--
280
Aş
A&t 11.
63
KING LEAR.
As I have life and honour, there shall he sit 'till noon.
Regan. 'Till noon! 'till night, my lord; and all
night too.
Kent. Why, madam, if I were your father's dog,
You should not use me so.
Reg. Sir, being his knave, I will.
[Stocks brought out.
Corn. This is a fellow of the self-same colour
Our sister speaks of:-Come, bring away the stocks.
Glo. Let me beseech your grace not to do so:
His fault is much, and the good king his master 290
Will check him for't: your purpos'd low correction
Is such, as basest and the meanest wretches,
For pilferings and most common trespasses,
Are punish'd with: the king must take it ill,
That he, so slightly valu'd in his messenger,
Should have him thus restrain'd.
Corn. I'll answer that.
Reg. My sister may receive it much more worse,
To have her gentleman abus'd, assaulted,
For following her affairs.-Put in his legs.-
300
[KENT is put in the Stocks.
Come, my good lord: away.
[Exeunt REGAN, and CORNWALL.
Glo. I am sorry for thee, friend; 'tis the duke's
pleasure,
Whose disposition, all the world well knows,
Will not be rubb'd, nor stopp'd: I'll entreat for thee.
Kent. Pray, do not, sir: I have watch'd, and
travell'd hard;
Fij
Some
64
Act II.
KING LEAR.
Some time I shall sleep out, the rest I'll whistle.
A good man's fortune may grow out at heels:
Give you good morrow!
Glo. The duke's to blame in this; 'twill be ill taken.
[Exit.
Kent. Good king, that must approve the common
saw !
Thou out of heaven's benediction com'st
To the warm sun!
Approach, thou beacon to this under globe,
310
[Looking up to the Moon.
That by thy comfortable beams I may
Peruse this letter!-Nothing almost sees miracles;
But misery, I know, 'tis from Cordelia;
م
[Reading the Letter.
Who hath most fortunately been inform'd
Of my obscured course;—and shall find time
From this enormous state-seeking to give
Losses their remedies ;—All weary and o'er-watch'd,
Take 'vantage, heavy eyes, not to behold
This shameful lodging.
321
Fortune, good night; smile once more; turn thy
wheel!
SCENE III.
A Part of the Heath. Enter EDGAR.
Edg. I heard myself proclaim'd;
[He sleeps.
And, by the happy hollow of a tree,
Escap'd
A& II.
65
KING LEAR.
Escap'd the hunt. No port is free; no place,
That guard, and most unusual vigilance,
Does not attend my taking. While I may 'scape,
I will preserve myself: and am bethought
To take the basest and most poorest shape,
That ever penury, in contempt of man,
;
330.
Brought near to beast: my face I'll grime with filth;
Blanket my loins; elf all my hair in knots
And with presented nakedness out-face
The winds, and persecutions of the sky.
The country gives me proof and precedent
Of Bedlam beggars, who, with roaring voices,
Strike in their numb'd and mortify'd bare arms
Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary;
And with this horrible object, from low farms,
Poor pelting villages, sheep-cotes, and mills,
Sometime with lunatic bans, sometime with prayers,
Enforce their charity. - Poor Turlygood!
Tom!
That's something yet ;-Edgar I nothing am.
340
poor
[Exit.
SCENE IV.
Earl of GLOSTER's Castle.
Enter LEAR, Fool, and
Gentleman.
Lear. 'Tis strange, that they should so depart from
home,
Fiij
And
66
A& II.
KING LEAR.
And not send back my messenger.
Gent. As I learn'd, .
The night before there was no purpose in them
Of this remove.
Kent. Hail to thee, noble master!
350
Lear. How! mak'st thou this shame thy pastime?
Kent. No, my lord.
Fool. Ha, ha! look he wears cruel garters!
Horses are ty'd by the heads; dogs, and bears, by
the neck; monkies by the loins, and men by the legs:
when a man is over-lusty at legs, then he wears
wooden nether-stocks.
Lear. What's he, that hath so much thy place
mistook
To set thee here?
Kent. It is both he and she,
Your son and daughter.
Lear. No.
Kent. Yes.
Lear. No, I say.
Kent. I say, yea.
Lear. No, no; they would not.
Kent. Yes, they have.
Lear. By Jupiter, I swear, no,
360
Kent. By Juno, I swear, ay.
Lear. They durst not do't;
370
They could not, would not do't; 'tis worse than
murder,
To do upon respect such violent outrage :
Resolve
Aa M.
67
KING LEAR.
Resolve me, with all modest haste, which way
Thou might'st deserve, or they impose, this usage,
Coming from us.
Kent. My lord, when at their home
I did commend your highness' letters to them,
Ere I was risen from the place that shew'd
My duty kneeling, came there a reeking post,
Stew'd in his haste, half breathless, panting forth
From Goneril his mistress, salutations;
Deliver'd letters, spight of intermission,
381
Which presently they read: on whose contents,
They summon'd up their meiny, straight took horse;
Commanded me to follow, and attend
The leisure of their answer; gave me cold looks :
And meeting here the other messenger,
Whose welcome, I perceiv'd, had poison'd mine
(Being the very fellow which of late
Display'd so saucily against your highness),
Having more man than wit about me, I drew;
He rais'd the house with loud and coward cries:
Your son and daughter found this trespass worth
The shame which here it suffers.
390
Fool. Winter's not gone yet, if the wild geese fly
that way.
Fathers, that wear rags,
Do make their children blind;
But fathers, that bear bags,
Shall see their children kind.
Fortune,
68
A&t II.
KING LEAR.
Fortune, that arrant whore,
Ne'er turns the key to the poor.
400
But, for all this, thou shalt have as many dolours.
from thy dear daughters, as thou canst tell in a year.
Lear. O, how this mother swells up toward my
heart!
Hysterica passio! down, thou climbing sorrow,
Thy element's below!-Where is this daughter?
Kent. With the earl, sir, here within.
Lear. Follow me not; stay here.
[Exit.
Gent. Made you no more offence than what you
speak of?
Kent. None.
410
How chance the king comes with so small a train ?
Fool. An thou hadst been set i' the stocks for that
question, thou hadst well deserv'd it.
Kent. Why, fool?
Fool. We'll set thee to school to an ant, to teach
thee there's no labouring in the winter. All that fol-
low their noses are led by their eyes, but blind men ;
and there's not a nose among twenty, but can smell
him that's stinking. Let go thy hold, when a great
wheel runs down a hill, lest it break thy neck with
following it; but the great one that goes up the
hill, let him draw thee after. When a wise man
gives thee better counsel, give me mine again: I
would have none but knaves follow it, since a fool
gives it.
425
That,
AG II.
69
KING LEAR.
That, sir, which serves and seeks for gain,
And follows but for form,
Will pack, when it begins to rain,
And leave thee in the storm.
But I will tarry; the fool will stay,
And let the wise man fly:
430
The knave turns fool, that runs away;
The fool no knave, perdy.
Kent. Where learn'd you this, fool?
Fool. Not i' the stocks, fool.
Re-enter LEAR, with GLOSTER.
Lear. Deny to speak with me? They are sick?
they are weary?
They have travell'd hard to-night? Mere fetches;
The images of revolt and flying off!
Fetch me a better answer.
Glo. My dear lord,
You know the fiery quality of the duke;
How unremovable and fixt he is
In his own course.
440
Lear. Vengeance! plague! death! confusion!-
Fiery what quality? Why, Gloster, Gloster,
I'd speak with the duke of Cornwall, and his wife.
Glo. Well, my good lord, I have inform'd them so.
Lear. Inform'd them! dost thou understand me,
man ?
Glo. Ay, my good lord.
Lear.
70
Act II.
KING LEAR.
Lear. The king would speak with Cornwall; the
dear father
450
Would with his daughter speak, commands her
service :
Are they inform'd of this?-My breath and blood!
Fiery the fiery duke!
No, but not yet
Tell the hot duke, that—
may be, he is not well:
Infirmity doth still neglect all office,
Whereto our health is bound; we are not ourselves,
When nature, being oppress'd, commands the mind.
To suffer with the body: I'll forbear;
And am fallen out with my more headier will,
To take the indispos'd and sickly fit
For the sound man.-Death on my state! wherefore
460
[Looking on KEnt.
Should he sit here? This act persuades me,
That this remotion of the duke and her
Is practice only. Give me my servant forth:
Go, tell the duke and his wife, I'd speak with them,
Now, presently; bid them come forth and hear me,
Or at their chamber door I'll beat the drum,
'Till it cry, Sleep to death!
Glo. I would have all well betwixt you.
[Exit.
Lear. O me, my heart, my rising heart!-but,
down.
470
Fool. Cry to it, nuncle, as the cockney did to the
eels, when she put them i' the paste alive; she rapt
'em o' the coxcombs with a stick, and cry'd, Down,
wantons, down! 'Twas her brother, that, in pure
kindness to his horse, butter'd his hay.
Enter
A&t 11.
71
KING LEAR.
Enter CORNWALL, REGAN, GLOSTER, and Servants.
Lear. Good morrow to you both.
Corn. Hail to your grace!
[KENT is set at Liberty.
Reg. I am glad to see your highness.
Lear. Regan, I think you are; I know what reason
I have to think so: if thou should'st not be glad, 480
I would divorce me from thy mother's tomb,
Sepulch'ring an adultress.—O, are you free?
[TO KENT.
Some other time for that.-Beloved Regan,
Thy sister's naught: O Regan, she hath tied
Sharp-tooth'd unkindness, like a vulture, here-
[Points to his Heart.
I can scarce speak to thee; thou'lt not believe,
Of how deprav'd a quality-O Regan!
Reg. I pray you, sir, take patience; I have hope,
You less know how to value her desert,
Than she to scant her duty.
Lear. Say? How is that?
Reg. I cannot think, my sister in the least.
Would fail her obligation; If, sir, perchance,
She have restrain'd the riots of your followers,
'Tis on such ground, and to such wholesome end,
As clears her from all blame.
Lear. My curses on her!
Reg. O, sir, you are old;
499
Nature in you stands on the very verge
Of her confine: you should be rul'd, and led
500
By some discretion, that discerns your state
Better
72
A& II.
KING LEAR.
Better than you yourself: Therefore, I pray you,
That to our sister you do make return;
Say, you have wrong'd her, sir.
Lear. Ask her forgiveness?
Do you but mark how this becomes the house?
Dear daughter, I confess that I am old;
Age is unnecessary: on my knees I beg,
[Kneeling.
That you'll vouchsafe me raiment, bed, and food.
Reg. Good sir, no more; these are unsightly tricks :
Return you to my sister.
Lear. Never, Regan :
She hath abated me of half my train;
518
Look'd black upon me; struck me with her tongue,
Most serpent-like, upon the very heart:
All the stor'd vengeances of heaven fall
On her ingrateful top! Strike her young bones,
You taking airs, with lameness!
Corn. Fie, sir, fie!
Lear. You nimble lightnings, dart your blinding
flames
Into her scornful eyes! Infect her beauty,
You fen-suck'd fogs, drawn by the powerful sun,
To fall and blast her pride!
Reg. O the blest gods!
520
So will you wish on me, when the rash mood is on.
Lear. No, Regan, thou shalt never have my curse;
Thy tender-hefted nature shall not give
Thee o'er to harshness; her eyes are fierce, but thine
Do comfort, and not burn: 'Tis not in thee
To grudge my pleasures, to cut off my train,
530
2
Το
A& IĮ.
73*
KING LEAR.
To bandy hasty words, to scant my sizes,
And, in conclusion, to oppose the bolt
Against my coming in: thou better know'st
The offices of nature, bond of childhood,
Effects of courtesy, dues of gratitude;
Thy half o' the kingdom thou hast not forgot,
Wherein I thee endow'd.
Reg. Good sir, to the purpose.
[Trumpets within.
540
Lear. Who put my man i' the stocks?
Corn. What trumpet's that?
Reg.
Enter Steward.
I know't, my sister's: this approves her
letter,
That she would soon be here.-Is your lady come?
Lear. This is a slave, whose easy-borrow'd pride
Dwells in the fickle grace of her he follows:-
Out, varlet, from my sight!
Corn. What means your grace?
Lear. Who stock'd my servant? Regan, I have
good hope
Thou did'st not know on't.-Who comes here? 0
heavens,
Enter GONERIL.
If you do love old men, if your sweet sway
Allow obedience, if yourselves are old,
550
Make it your cause; send down, and take my part!-
Art not asham'd to look upon this beard?
O, Regan, wilt thou take her by the hand?
Ꮐ
[ToGoN.
Gon.
71
A&L TI.
KING LEAR.
Gon. Why not by the hand, sir? How have I
offended?
All's not offence, that indiscretion finds,
And dotage terms so.
Lear. O, sides, you are too tough!
Will you yet hold?-How came my man i' the stocks?
Corn. I set him there, sir: but his own disorders
Deserv'd much less advancement.
Lear. You! did you?
Reg. I pray you, father, being weak, seem sc.
If, 'till the expiration of your month,
You will return and sojourn with my sister,
Dismissing half your train, come then to me;
I am now from home, and out of that provision
Which shall be needful for your entertainment.
Lear. Return to her, and fifty men dismiss'd ?
No, rather I abjure all roofs, and choose
To wage against the enmity of the air ;
To be a comrade with the wolf and owl-
t
560
570
Necessity's sharp pinch Return with her?
Why, the hot-blooded France, that dowerless took
Our youngest born, I could as well be brought
To knee his throne, and, squire-like, pension beg
To keep base life afoot;
Return with her?
Persuade me rather to be slave and sumpter
To this detested groom. [Looking on the Steward.
Gon. At your choice, sir.
Lear. Now I pr'y thee, daughter, do not make me
mad;
I will not trouble thee, my child; farewel:
580
We'll
A& II.
75
KING LEAR.
We'll no more meet, no more see one another :-
But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter;
Or, rather, a disease that's in my flesh,
Which I must needs call mine: thou art a bile,
A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle,
In my corrupted blood. But I'll not chide thee;
Let shame come when it will, I do not call it :
I do not bid the thunder-bearer shoot,
Nor tell tales of thee to high-judging Jove :
Mend, when thou canst; be better, at thy leisure:
I can be patient; I can stay with Regan,
I, and my hundred knights.
Reg. Not altogether so, sir;
I look'd not for you yet, nor am provided
590
For your fit welcome: Give ear, sir, to my sister;
For those that mingle reason with your passion,
Must be content to think you old, and so
But she knows what she does.
Lear. Is this well spoken now?
၆:၁
Reg. I dare avouch it, sir: What, fifty followers ?
Is it not well? What should you need of more?
Yea, or so many? sith that both charge and danger
Speak 'gainst so great a number? How, in one house,
Should many people, under two commands,
Hold amity? 'Tis hard; almost impossible.
Gon. Why might not you, my lord, receive at-
tendance
From those that she calls servants, or from mine?
Reg. Why not, my lord? If then they chanc'd to
slack you,
Gij
We
76
A&t II.
KING LEAR.
We could control them: If you will come to me
(For now I spy a danger), I entreat you
To bring but five and twenty; to no more
Will I give place, or notice.
Lear. I gave you all-
Reg. And in good time you gave it.
611
Lear. Made you my guardians, my depositaries;
But kept a reservation to be follow'd
With such a number: What, must I come to you
With five and twenty, Regan? said you so ?
Reg. And speak it again, my lord; no more with
me.
620
Lear. Those wicked creatures yet do look well-
favour'd,
When others are more wicked; not being the worst,
Stands in some rank of praise :-I'll go with thee;
[TO GONERIL.
Thy fifty yet doth double five and twenty,
And thou art twice her love.
Gon. Hear me, my lord;
What need you five and twenty, ten, or five,
To follow in a house, where twice so many
Have a command to tend you?
Reg. What need one?
630
Lear. O, reason not the need: our basest beggars
Are in the poorest thing superfluous :
Allow not nature more than nature needs,
Man's life is cheap as beast's: thou art a lady;
If only to go warm were gorgeous,
Why, nature needs not what thou gorgeous wear'st;
Which
AS 11.
77
KING LEAR.
Which scarcely keeps thee warm.-But, for true
need-
640
You heavens, give me that patience, patience I need !
You see me here, you gods; a poor old man,
As full of grief as age; wretched in both!
If it be you that stir these daughters' hearts
Against their father, fool me not so much
To bear it tamely; touch me with noble anger!
O, let not women's weapons, water-drops,
Stain my man's cheeks!-No, you unnatural hags,
I will have such revenges on you both,
That all the world shall-I will do such things-
What they are, yet I know not; but they shall be
The terrors of the earth.
You think, I'll weep:
No, I'll not weep :—
I have full cause of weeping; but this heart
Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws,
Or e'er I'll weep:-O, fool, I shall go mad!
650
[Exeunt LEAR, GLOSTER, KENT, and Fool.
Corn. Let us withdraw, 'twill be a storm.
Reg. This house is little;
Cannot be well bestow'd.
[Storm and Tempest heard.
the old man and his people
Gon. 'Tis his own blame; he hath put himself from
rest,
And must needs taste his folly.
Reg. For his particular, I'll receive him gladly,
But not one follower.
Gon. So am I purpos'd.
Where is my lord of Gloster?
660
Giij
Re-enter
F
78
Act III.
KING LEAR
Re-enter GLOSTER.
Corn. Follow'd the old man forth :-he is return'd.
Glo. The king is in high rage.
Corn. Whither is he going?
Glo. He calls to horse: but will I know not whither.
Corn. 'Tis best to give him way; he leads himself.
Gon. My lord, entreat him by no means to stay.
Glo. Alack, the night comes on, and the bleak winds
Do sorely ruffle; for many miles about
There's scarce a bush.
Reg. O, sir, to wilful men,
The injuries, that they themselves procure,
670
Must be their school-masters: Shut up your doors;
He is attended with a desperate train;
And what they may incense him to, being apt
To have his ear abus'd, wisdom bids fear.
Corn. Shut up your doors, my lord; 'tis a wild
night;
My Regan counsels well: come out o' the storm 679
[Exeunt.
ACT III. SCENE I.
A Heath. A Storm is heard, with Thunder and Light-
ning. Enter KENT, and a Gentleman, meeting.
Kent.
WHO's there, beside foul weather?
Gent. One minded like the weather, most un-
quietly.
Kent.
A& 111.
79
KING LEAR.
Kent. I know you; Where's the king?
Gent. Contending with the fretful element:
Bids the wind blow the earth into the sea,
Or swell the curled waters 'bove the main,
That things might change, or cease: tears his white
hair;
Which the impetuous blasts, with eyeless rage,
Catch in their fury, and make nothing of:
Strives in his little world of man to out-scorn
The to-and-fro-conflicting wind and rain.
10
This night, wherein the cub-drawn bear would
couch,
The lion and the belly-pinched wolf
Keep their fur dry, unbonneted he runs,
And bids what will take all.
Kent. But who is with him?
Gent. None but the fool; who labours to out-jest
His heart-struck injuries.
Kent. Sir, I do know you:
And dare, upon the warrant of my note,
Commend a dear thing to you. There is division,
Although as yet the face of it be cover'd
20
With mutual cunning, 'twixt Albany and Cornwall;
Who have (as who have not, that their great stars
Throne and set high?) servants, who seem no less;
Which are to France the spies and speculations
Intelligent of our state; what hath been seen,
Either in snuff's and packings of the dukes;
Or the hard rein which both of them have borne
Against the old kind king; or something deeper, go
Whereof,
80
A& III.
KING LEAR.
Whereof, perchance, these are but furnishings;—
[But, true it is, from France there comes a power
Into this scatter'd kingdom; who already,
Wise in our negligence, have secret fee
In some of our best ports, and are at point
To shew their open banner-Now to you;
If on my credit you dare build so far
To make your speed to Dover, you shall find
Some that will thank you, making just report
Of how unnatural and bemadding sorrrow
The king hath cause to plain.
I am a gentleman of blood and breeding,
And from some knowledge and assurance, offer
This office to you.]
Gent. I will talk further with you.
Kent. No, do not.
For confirmation that I am much more
Than my out wall, open this purse, and take
What it contains: If you shall see Cordelia
40
(As fear not but you shall), shew her this ring; 50
And she will tell you who your fellow is
That yet you do not know. Fie on this storm!
I will go seek the king.
Gent. Give me your hand: Have you no more to
say?
Kent. Few words, but, to effect, more than all yet;
That, when we have found the king (in which your pain
That way; I'll this), he that first lights on him,
Holla the other.
[Excunt severally.
SCENE
1
Till
17
KING LEAR!
L
Lear – Blow, winds, § crack
zar checks
A 3
pena 211
J.B.Tilliard Sculp
PJ. Loutherbourg
uw.
I.onlon Printed for J. Bell, British Library Str md, June 161785.
Aa III.
81
KING LEAR.
SCENE II.
Another Part of the Heath. Storm still. Enter LEAR,
and Fool.
Lear. Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage !
blow!
You cataracts, and hurricanoes, spout
60
'Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the
cocks!
You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunder-bolts,
Singe my white head! And thou all-shaking thunder,
Strike flat the thick rotundity o' the world!
Crack nature's moulds; all germens spill at once,
That make ingrateful man!
Fool. O nuncle, court holy-water in a dry house is
better than this rain-water out o' door. Good nuncle,
in, and ask thy daughters' blessing; here's a night
pities neither wise men nor fools.
71
Lear. Rumble thy belly full! Spit, fire! spout, rain!
Nor rain, wind, thunder, fire, are my daughters :
I tax not you, you elements, with unkindness,
I never gave you kingdom, call'd you children,
You owe me no subscription; why then let fall
Your horrible pleasure; here I stand, your slave,
A poor, infirm, weak, and despis'd old man :—
But yet I call you servile ministers,
That have with two pernicious daughters join'd
80
Your
82
A& III.
KING LEAR.
Your high-engender'd battles, 'gainst a head
So old and white as this. O! O! 'tis foul!
Fool. He that has a house to put's head in, has
good head-piece.
The cod-piece that will house,
Before the head has any :
The head and he shall louse ;-
So beggars marry many.
The man that makes his toe
What he his heart should make,
go
Shall of a corn cry, woe!
And turn his sleep to wake.
-for there was never yet fair woman, but she made
mouths in a glass.
Enter KENT.
Lear. No, I will be the pattern of all patience,
I will say nothing.
Kent. Who's there?
Fool. Marry, here's grace, and a cod-piece; that's
a wise man, and a fool.
Kent. Alas sir, are you here? things that love
night,
100
Love not such nights as these; the wrathful skies
Gallow the very wanderers of the dark,
And make them keep their caves: Since I was man,
Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder,
Such groans of rearing wind and rain, I never
Remember
A&t III.
83
KING LEAR.
Remember to have heard: man's nature cannot carry
The affliction, nor the fear.
Lear. Let the great gods,
That keep this dreadful pother o'er our heads,
111
Find out their enemies now. Tremble, thou wretch,
That hast within thee undivulged crimes,
Unwhipt of justice: Hide thee, thou bloody hand;
Thou perjur'd, and thou simular man of virtue
That art incestuous: Caitiff, to pieces shake,
That under covert and convenient seeming
Hast practis'd on man's life !-Close pent-up guilts,
Rive your concealing continents, and cry
These dreadful summoner's grace.—I am a man,
More sinn'd against, than sinning.
Kent. Alack, bare-headed!
120
Gracious my lord, hard by here is a hovel;
Some friendship will it lend you 'gainst the tempest;
Repose you there: while I to this hard house
(More hard than is the stone whereof 'tis rais'd;
Which even but now, demanding after you,
Deny'd me to come in), return, and force
Their scanted courtesy.
Lear. My wits begin to turn.
Come on, my boy: How dost, my boy? Art cold?
I am cold myself.-Where is this straw, my fellow?
The art of our necessities is strange,
131
That can make vile things precious, Come, your
hovel.-
Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart
That's sorry yet for thee.
Fool.
84
A& III.
KING LEAR.
Fool. He that has a little tiny wit—-
With heigh, ho, the wind and the rain-
Must make content with his fortunes fit ;
For the rain it raineth every day.
Lear. True, my good boy.-Come bring us to this
hovel.
[Exit.
Fool. This is a brave night to cool a courtezan. 141
I'll speak a prophecy ere I go :
When priests are more in word than matter;
When brewers mar their malt with water;
When nobles are their tailors' tutors;
No heretics burn'd, but wenches' suitors:
Then comes the time, who lives to see't,
That going shall be us'd with feet.-
When every case in law is right;
No squire in debt, nor no poor knight;
When slanders do not live in tongues;
Nor cut-purses come not to throngs;
When usurers tell their gold i' the field;
And bawds, and whores, do churches build ;~
Then shall the realm of Albion
Come to great confusion.
150
This prophecy Merlin shall make; for I live before
his time.
[Exit.
2
SCENE
A& III.
85
KING LEAR.
SCENE III.
An Apartment in GLOSTER's Castle. Enter GLOSTER,
and EDMUND.
•
Glo. Alack, alack, Edmund, I like not this unna-
tural dealing: When I desir'd their leave that I might
pity him, they took from me the use of mine own
house; charg'd me, on pain of their perpetual dis-
pleasure, neither to speak of him, entreat for him,
nor any way sustain him.
Edm. Most savage, and unnatural!
164
Glo. Go to; say you nothing: There is division
between the dukes; and a worse matter than that: I
have received a letter this night ;-'tis dangerous to
be spoken. I have lock'd the letter in my closet :
these injuries the king now bears will be revenged
home; there is part of a power already footed: we
must incline to the king. I will seek him, and
privily relieve him :
go you, and maintain talk
with the duke, that my charity be not of him per-
ceived: If he ask for me, I am ill, and gone to
bed. If I die for it, as no less is threaten'd me,
the king my old master must be relieved. There is
some strange thing toward, Edmund; pray you, be
careful.
[Exit.
Edm. This courtesy, forbid thee, shall the duke
Instantly know; and of that letter too :
This seems a fair deserving, and must draw me
H
181
That
86
A& III.
KING LEAR.
That which my father loses; no less than all:
The younger rises, when the old doth fall.
[Exit.
SCENE IV.
A Part of the Heath, with a Hovel.
KENT, and Fool.
Enter LEAR,
Kent. Here is the place, my lord; good my lord,
enter:
The tyranny of the open night's too rough
For nature to endure.
Lear. Let me alone.
Kent. Good my lord, enter here.
Lear. Wilt break my heart?
[Storm still.
190
Kent. I'd rather break mine own: Good my lord,
enter.
Lear. Thou think'st 'tis much, that this contentious
storm
Invades us to the skin so 'tis to thee;
But where the greater malady is fix'd,
The lesser is scarce felt. Thou'dst shun a bear;
But if thy flight lay toward the raging sea,
Thou'dst meet the bear i' the mouth.
mind's free,
When the
The body's delicate: the tempest in my mind
Doth from my senses take all feeling else,
Save what beats there-Filial ingratitude!
Is it not as this mouth should tear this hand,
For lifting food to't?-But I will punish home :-
200
No,
Att III.
87
KING LEAR.
No, I will weep no more.-In such a night
To shut me out!-Pour on; I will endure:-
In such a night as this! O Regan! Goneril!—
Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave you
all-
O, that way madness lies; let me shun that;
No more of that.
Kent. Good my lord, enter here.
211
Lear. Pr'ythee, go in thyself; seek thine own ease;
This tempest will not give me leave to ponder
On things would hurt me more.-But I'll go in :-
In, boy; go first.-[To the Fool.] You houseless
poverty-
Nay, get thee in. I'll pray, and then I'll sleep.—
[Fool goes in.
Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are,
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads, and unfed sides,
Your loop'd and window'd raggedness, defend you
From seasons such as these? O, I have ta’en
Too little care of this! Take physic, pomp;
Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel;
That thou may'st shake the superflux to them,
And shew the heavens more just.
220
Edg. [Within.] Fathom and half, fathom and half!
Poor Tom!
Fool. Come not in here, nuncle, here's a spirit.
Help me, help me!
[The Fool runs out from the Hovel.
Kent. Give me thy hand.-Who's there?
Hij
Fool.
88
A&t III.
KING LEAR.
Fool. A spirit, a spirit? he says his name's poor
Tom.
Kent. What art thou that dost grumble there i' the
straw?
Come forth.
Enter EDGAR disguised as a Madman.
Edg. Away! the foul fiend follows me!
230
Through the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind.-
Humph! go to thy cold bed, and warm thee,
Lear. Hast thou given all to thy two daughters?
And art thou come to this?
235
Edg. Who gives any thing to poor Tom? whom
the foul fiend hath led through fire and through
flame, through ford and whirlpool, over bog and
quagmire; that hath laid knives under his pillow,
and halters in his pew; set ratsbane by his porridge:
made him proud of heart, to ride on a bay trotting
horse over four-inch'd bridges, to course his own
shadow for a traitor :-Bless thy five wits! Tom's
a-cold.—O, do, de, do de, do de.-Bless thee from
whirlwinds, star-blasting, and taking! Do poor
Tom some charity, whom the foul fiend vexes :
There could I have him now-and there-and there-
and there again, and there.
[Storm still.
Lear. What, have his daughters brought him to
this pass!-
249
Could'st thou save nothing? Did'st thou give them all?
Fool. Nay, he reserv'd a blanket, else we had been
all shamed.
Lear.
Act III.
89
KING LEAR.
Lear. Now, all the plagues that in the pendulous
air
Hang fated o'er men's faults, light on thy daughters!
Kent. He hath no daughters, sir.
Lear. Death, traitor! nothing could have subdu'd
nature
To such a lowness, but his unkind daughters.
Is it the fashion, that discarded fathers
Should have thus little mercy on their flesh?
Judicious punishment! 'twas this flesh begot
Those pelican daughters.
Edg. Pillicock sat on pillicock-hill;-
Halloo, halloo, loo, loo!
260
Fool. This cold night will turn us all to fools and
madmen.
Edg. Take heed o' the foul fiend: Obey thy pa-
rents; keep thy word justly; swear not; commit
not with man's sworn spouse; set not thy sweet heart
on proud array-Tom's a cold.
Lear. What hast thou been?
270
Edg. A serving-man, proud in heart and mind;
that curl'd my hair, wore gloves in my cap, serv'd the
Just of my mistress's heart, and did the act of darkness
with her swore as many oaths as I spake words, and
broke them in the sweet face of heaven: one, that slept
in the contriving of lust, and wak'd to do it: Wine
lov'd I deeply; dice dearly; and, in woman, out-
paramour'd the Turk: False of heart, light of ear,
bloody of hand; Hog in sloth, fox in stealth, wolf
in greediness, dog in madness, lion in prey. Let not
Hiij
the
90
A&t III.
KING LEAR.
the creaking of shoes, nor the rustling of silks, be-
tray thy poor heart to women: Keep thy foot out
of brothels, thy hand out of plackets, thy pen
from lenders' books, and defy the foul fiend.
Still through the hawthorn blows the cold wind:
Says suum, mun, ha no nonny, dolphin my boy,
boy, Sessy; let him trot by.
[Storm still.
Lear. Why thou were better in thy grave, than
to answer with thy uncover'd body this extremity of
the skies.-Is man no more than this? Consider him
well: Thou owest the worm no silk, the beast no
hide, the sheep no wool, the cat no perfume :-
Ha! here's three of us are sophisticated! - Thou
art the thing itself: unaccommodated man is no
more but such a poor, bare, forked animal as thou
art.-Off, off, you lendings!-Come; unbutton
here.-
[Tearing off his Clothes.
Fool. Pr'ythee, nuncle, be contented;
this is a
naughty night to swim in.-Now a little fire in a
wild field, were like an old lecher's heart; a small
spark, and all the rest of his body cold.-Look, here
comes a walking fire.
302
Edg. This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet: he be-
gins at curfew, and walks 'till the first cock; he
gives the web and the pin, squints the eye, and makes
the hare-lip; mildews the white wheat, and hurts the
poor creature of earth.
Saint Withold footed thrice the wold;
He met the night-mare, and her nine-fold;
Bid
A& III.
91
..KING LEAR.
!
Bid her alight,
And her troth plight,
And, Aroyni thee, witch, aroynt thee!
Kent. How fares your grace?
Enter GLOSTER, with a Torch.
Lear. What's he?
Kent. Who's there? What is't you seek?
Glo. What are you there? Your names?
310
Edg. Poor Tom; that eats the swimming frog,
the toad, the tadpole, the wall-newt, and the water-
newt; that in the fury of his heart, when the foul
fiend rages, eats cow-dung for sallets; swallows the
old rat, and the ditch-dog; drinks the green mantle
of the standing pool; who is whipt from tything to
tything, and stock'd, punish'd, and imprison'd;
who hath had three suits to his back, six shirts to his
body, horse to ride, and weapon to wear――
But mice, and rats, and such small deer,
Have been Tom's food for seven long year.
325
Beware my follower :-Peace, Smolkin; peace, thou
fiend!
Glo. What, hath your grace no better company?
Edg. The prince of darkness is a gentleman; 330
Modo he's call'd, and Mahu.
Glo. Our flesh and blood, my lord, is grown so
vile,
That it doth hate what gets it.
Edg.
92
A&t III.
KING LEAR.
Edg. Poor Tom's a-cold.
Glo. Go in with me; my duty cannot suffer
To obey in all your daughters' hard commands:
Though their injunction be to bar my doors,
And let this tyrrannous night take hold upon you;
Yet have I ventur'd to come seek you out,
And bring you where both fire and food is ready. 840
Lear. First let me talk with this philosopher :-
What is the cause of thunder?
Kent. My good lord, take his offer;
Go into the house.
Lear. I'll talk a word with this same learned
Theban:
What is your study?
Edg. How to prevent the fiend, and to kill vermin.
Lear. Let me ask you one word in private.
Kent. Importune him once more to go, my lord,
His wits begin to unsettle.
Glo. Canst thou blame him?
350
[Storm still.
His daughters seek his death ; —- Ah, that good
Kent!-
He said, it would be thus :-Poor banish'd man !—
Thou say`st, the king grows mad; I'll tell thee, friend,
I am almost mad myself: I had a son,
Now out-law'd from my blood; he sought my life,
But lately, very late; I lov'd him, friend-
No father his son dearer true to tell thee,
The grief hath craz'd my wits. What a night's this!
I do beseech your grace—
360
Lear
A& III.
93
KING LEAR.
Lear. O, cry you mercy, sir :-
Noble philosopher, your company.
Edg. Tom's a-cold.
Glo. In, fellow, there, to the hovel: keep thee
warm.
Lear. Come, let's in all.
Kent. This way, my lord.
Lear. With him;
I will keep still with my philosopher.
Kent. Good my lord, sooth him; let him take the
fellow.
Glo. Take him you on.
Kent. Sirrah, come on; go along with us.
Lear. Come, good Athenian.
Glo. No words, no words; hush.
Edg. Child Rowland to the dark tower came,
His word was still, -Fie, foh, and fum,
I smell the blood of a British man.
370
[Exeunt.
SCENE V.
GLOSTER's Castle. Enter CORNWALL, and EDMUNd.
Corn. I will have my revenge, ere I depart his house.
Edm. How, my lord, I may be censur'd, that na-
ture thus gives way to loyalty, something fears me to
think of.
381
Corn. I now perceive, it was not altogether your
brother's evil disposition made him seek his death;
but
94
A&t III.
KING LEAR.
but a provoking merit, set a-work by a reprovable
badness in himself.
Edm. How malicious is my fortune, that I must
repent to be just! This is the letter which he spoke
of, which approves him an intelligent party to the
advantages of France. O heavens! that this trea-
son were not, or not I the detector!
390
Corn. Go with me to the dutchess.
Edm. If the matter of this paper be certain, you
have mighty business in hand.
Corn. True, or false, it hath made thee earl of
Gloster. Seek out where thy father is, that he may
be ready for our apprehension.
Edm. [Aside.] If I find him comforting the king,
it will stuff his suspicion more fully.—I will persevere
in my course of loyalty, though the conflict be sore
between that and my blood.
400
Corn. I will lay trust upon thee; and thou shalt
find a dearer father in my love.
[Exeunt.
SCENE VI.
A Chamber, in a Farm House. Enter GLOSTER, LEAR,
KENT, Fool, and EDGAR.
Glo. Here is better than the open air; take it thank-
fully: I will piece out the comfort with what addition
I can: I will not be long from you.
[Exit.
Kent. All the power of his wits has given way to
his impatience:-The gods reward your kindness!
Edg.
A&t III.
KING LEAR.
95
Edg. Frateretto calls me; and tells me, Nero is an
angler in the lake of darkness. Pray, innocent, and
beware the foul fiend.
410
Fool. Pr'ythee, nuncle, tell me, whether a mad-
man be a gentleman, or a yeoman ?
Lear. A king, a king!
Fool. No; he's a yeoman, that has a gentleman
to his son for he's a mad yeoman, that sees his son
a gentleman before him.
Lear. To have a thousand with red burning spits
Come hizzing in upon them :————
Edg. The foul fiend bites my back.
Fool. He's mad, that trusts in the tameness of a
wolf, a horse's health, a boy's love, or a whore's
oath.
422
Lear. It shall be done, I will arraign them straight:
Come, sit thou here, most learned justicer;-
[To EDGAR.
Thou, sapient sir, sit here. [To the Fool.]-Now, you
she foxes!-
Edg. Look, where he stands and glares;-Wantest
thou eyes at trial, madam?
Fool.
Come o'er the bourn, Bessy, to me :
Her boat hath a leak,
And she must not speak
Why she dares not come over to thee.
430
Edg. The foul fiend haunts poor Tom in the voice
of a nightingale.
two white herring.
no food for thee.
Hopdance cries in Tom's belly for
Croak not, black angel; I have
Kent.
96
A& III.
KING LEAR.
Kent. How do you, sir? Stand you not so amaz’d :
Will you lie down and rest upon the cushions?
Lear. I'll see their trial first :-
dence.-
-Bring in the evi-
Thou robed man of justice, take thy place;
And thou, his yoke-fellow of equity,
[To EDGAR.
[To the Fool.
[TO KENT.
Bench by his side :-You are of the commission, 440
Sit you too.
Edg. Let us deal justly.
Sleepest, or wakest thou, jolly shepherd?
Thy sheep be in the corn;
And for one blast of thy minikin mouth,
Thy sheep shall take no harm.
Purre! the cat is grey.
Lear. Arraign her first; 'tis Goneril. I here take
my oath before this honourable assembly, she kick'd
the poor king her father.
450
Fool. Come hither, mistress,; Is your name Goneril ?
Lear. She cannot deny it.
Fool. Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint-stool.
Lear. And here's another whose warpt looks pro-
claim
What store her heart is made on.-Stop her there!
Arms, arms, sword, fire!-Corruption in the place!
False justicer, why hast thou let her 'scape?
Edg. Bless thy five wits!
Kent. O pity!-Sir, where is the patience now,
That you so oft have boasted to retain ?
460
Edg.
Act III.
97
KING LEAR.
[Aside.
Edg. My tears begin to take his part so much,
They'll mar my counterfeiting.
Lear. The little dogs and all,
Tray, Blanch, and Sweet-heart, see, they bark at me.
Edg. Tom will throw his head at them :-Avaunt,
you curs!
47@
Be thy mouth or black or white,
Tooth that poisons if it bite
Mastiff, grey-hound, mungril grim,
Hound, or spaniel, brache, or lym;
Or bobtail tike, or trundle-tail;
Tom will make him weep and wail :
For, with throwing thus my head,
Dogs leap the hatch, and all are fied.
Do de, de de. Sessy, come, march to wakes and
fairs,
And market-towns:-Poor Tom, thy horn is dry.
Lear. Then let them anatomize Regan, see what
breeds about her heart: Is there any cause in nature,
that makes these hard hearts?-You, sir, I entertain
you for one of my hundred; only, I do not like the
fashion of your garments: you will say, they are
Persian attire; but let them be chang'd. [To EDGAR.
Kent. Now, good my lord, lie here, and rest
awhile.
482
Lear. Make no noise, make no noise; draw the
curtains:
So, so, so: We'll go to supper i' the morning: So,
so, so.
Fool. And I'll go to bed at noon.
I
Re-enter
98
A&t III.
KING LEAR.
Re-enter GLOSTER.
Glo. Come hither, friend: Where is the king my
master?
Kent. Here, sir; but trouble him not, his wits are
gone.
Glo. Good friend, I pr'ythee take him in thy arms;
I have o'er-heard a plot of death upon him :
There is a litter ready; lay him in't,
490
And drive toward Dover, friend, where thou shalt
meet
Both welcome and protection.
Take up thy master;
If thou should'st dally half an hour, his life,
With thine, and all that offer to defend him,
Stand in assured loss: Take up, take up;
And follow me, that will to some provision
Give thee quick conduct.
[Kent. Oppressed nature sleeps:
This rest might yet have bálm'd thy broken senses,
Which, if convenience will not allow,
500
Stand in hard cure.-Come, help to bear thy master;
Thou must not stay behind.
[To the Fool.
Glo. Come, come, away.
[Exeunt, bearing off the King.
Manet EDGAR.
Edg. When we our betters see bearing our woes,
We scarcely think our miseries our foes.
Who alone suffers, suffers most i' the mind;
Leaving free things, and happy shows, behind :
3
But
A&t III.
99
KING LEAR.
But then the mind much sufferance doth o'erskip,
When grief hath mates, and bearing fellowship.
How light and portable my pain seems now,
510
When that, which makes me bend, makes the king
bow;
He childed, as I father'd!-Tom, away:
Mark the high noises; and thyself bewray,
When false opinion, whose wrong thought defiles thee,
In thy just proof, repeals, and reconciles thee.
What will hap more to-night, safe scape the king!
Lurk, Lurk.]————
[Exit.
SCENE VII.
GLOSTER'S Castle. Enter CORNWALL, REGAN,
GONERIL, EDMUND, and Servants.
Corn. Post speedily to my lord your husband; shew
him this letter :-the army of France is landed :
Seek out the traitor Gloster.
Reg. Hang him instantly.
Gon. Pluck out his eyes.
[Exeunt Servants.
521
Corn. Leave him to my displeasure. - Edmund,
keep you our sister company; the revenges we are
bound to take upon your traiterous father, are not
fit for your beholding. Advise the duke, when you
are going, to a most festinate preparation; we are
bound to the like. Our posts shall be swift, and in-
telligent betwixt us. Farewel, dear sister;-farewel,
my lord of Gloster.
Iij
530
Enter
100
Act III.
KING LEAR.
Enter Steward.
How now? Where's the king?
Stew. My lord of Gloster hath convey'd him hence:
Some five or six and thirty of his knights,
Hot questrists after him, met him at gate;
Who, with some other of the lord's dependants,
Are gone with him towards Dover; where they boast
To have well-armed friends.
Corn. Get horses for your mistress.
Gon. Farewel, sweet lord, and sister.
[Exeunt GONERIL, and EDMUND.
Corn. Edmund, farewel.-Go, seek the traitor
Gloster,
Pinion him like a thief, bring him before us :----
Though well we may not pass upon his life
Without the form of justice; yet our power
Shall do a courtesy to our wrath, which men
May blame, but not control.
traitor?
540
Who's there? The
Enter GLOSTER, brought in by Servants.
Reg. Ingrateful fox! 'tis he.
Corn. Bind fast his corky arms.
Glo. What mean your graces ?-Good my friends,
consider
You are my guests: do me no foul play, friends.
Corn. Bind him, I say.
[They bind him.
Reg. Hard, hard :-O filthy traitor!
551
Glo. Unmerciful lady as you are, I am none.
Corn.
Act III.
101
KING LEAR.
Corn. To this chair bind him ;-Villain, thou shalt
find-
[REGAN plucks his Beard.
Glo. By the kind gods, 'tis most ignobly done
To pluck me by the beard.
Reg. So white, and such a traitor !
Glo. Naughty lady,
These hairs, which thou dost ravish from my chin,
Will quicken, and accuse thee: I am your host;
With robber's hands, my hospitable favours
You should not ruffle thus.
What will
What will you do?
560
Corn. Come, sir, what letters had you late from
France?
Reg. Be simple-answer'd, for we know the truth.
Corn. And what confederacy have you with the
traitors
Late footed in the kingdom?
Reg. To whose hands have you sent the lunatic
king?
Speak.
Glo. I have a letter guessingly set down,
Which came from one that's of a neutral heart,
And not from one oppos'd.
Corn. Cunning.
Reg. And false.
Corn. Where hast thou sent the king?
Glo. To Dover.
Reg. Wherefore to Dover?
Wast thou not charg'd at peril-
579
Corn. Wherefore to Dover? Let him first answer
that.
Iiij
Glo.
102
A&t III.
KING LEAR.
Glo. I'm ty'd to the stake, and I must stand the
course.
Reg. Wherefore to Dover?
Glo. Because I would not see thy cruel nails
Pluck out his poor old eyes; nor thy fierce sister
In his anointed flesh stick boarish fangs.
The sea, with such a storm as his bare head
580
In hell-black night endur'd, would have buoy'd up,
And quench'd the stelled fires: yet, poor old heart,
He holp the heavens to rain.
If wolves had at thy gate howl'd that stern time,
Thou should'st have said, Good porter, turn the key;
All cruels else subscrib'd :-But I shall see
The winged vengeance overtake such children.
590
Corn. See it shalt thou never :-Fellows, hold the
chair:
Upon these eyes of thine I'll set my foot.
[GLOSTER is held down, while CORNWALL treads
out one of his eyes.
Glo. He, that will think to live 'till he be old,
Give me some help : O cruel! O ye gods!
S
Reg. One side will mock another; the other too.
Corn. If you see vengeance-
Serv. Hold your hand, my lord:
I have serv'd you ever since I was a child;
But better service have I never done you,
6co
Than now to bid you hold.
Reg. How now, you dog?
Serv. If you did wear a beard upon your chin,
I'd shake it on this quarrel! What do you mean ?
Corn.
A&t III.
103
KING LEAR.
Corn. My villain !
[Draws, and runs at him.
Serv. Nay, then come on, and take the chance of
anger. [Fight; CORNWALL is wounded.
Reg. [To another Servant.] Give me thy sword -A
peasant stand up thus!
[Comes behind, and hills him.
Serv. O, I am slain 1-My lord, yet you have one
eye left
To see some mischief on him :-
[Dies.
Corn. Lest it see more, prevent it :-Out, vile jelly!
Where is thy lustre now?
[Treads the other out.
Glo. All dark and comfortless.-Where's my son
Edmund ?
Edmund, enkindle all the sparks of nature,
To quit this horrid act.
Reg. Out, treacherous villain!
Thou call'st on him that hates thee: it was he
That made the overture of thy treasons to us;
Who is too good to pity thee.
Glo. O my follies !
Then Edgar was abus’d.—
Kind gods, forgive me that, and prosper him!
611
620
Reg. Go, thrust him out at gates, and let him
}
smell
His way to Dover.-How is't, my lord? How look
you?
Corn. I have receiv'd a hurt :—Follow me, lady.-
Turn out that eyeless villain;-throw this slave
Upon the dunghill.-Regan, I bleed apace:
Untimely
104
Act IV.
KING LEAR.
Untimely comes this hurt: Give me your arm.
[Exit CORNWALL, led by REGAN ;-Servants lead
GLOSTER out.
1 Serv. I'll never care what wickedness I do,
If this man come to good.
2 Serv. If she live long,
And, in the end, meet the old course of death, 630
Women will all turn monsters.
1 Serv. Let's follow the old earl, and get the
Bedlam
To lead him where he would; his roguish madness
Allows itself to any thing.
2 Serv. Go thou; I'll fetch some flax, and whites
of eggs,
To apply to his bleeding face. Now, heaven help
[Excunt severally,
him!
ACT IV. SCENE I.
An open Country. Enter EDGAR.
Edgar.
YET
ET better thus, and known to be contemn'd
Than still contemn'd and flatter'd. To be worst,
The lowest, and most dejected thing of fortune,
Stands still in esperance, lives not in fear :
The Lamentable change is from the best;
'The worst returns to laughter. Welcome then,
Thou unsubstantial air, that I embrace!
The
AQ IV.
105
KING LEAR.
The wretch, that thou hast blown unto the worst,
Owes nothing to thy blasts.-But who comes here ?
Enter GLOSTER, led by an old Man.
My father, poorly led ?-World, world, O world!
But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee,
Life would not yield to age.
12
Old Man. O my good lord, I have been your tenant,
and your father's tenant, these fourscore years.
Glo. Away, get thee away; good friend, be gone:
Thy comforts can do me no good at all,
Thee they may hurt.
Old Man. Alack, sir, you cannot see your way.
Glo. I have no way, and therefore want no eyes;
I stumbled when I saw: Full oft 'tis seen,
Our mean secures us; and our mere defects
Prove our commodities.- O, dear son Edgar,
The food of thy abused father's wrath!
Might I but live to see thee in my touch,
I'd say, I had eyes again !
Old Man. How now? Who's there?
20
Edg. [Aside.] O gods! Who is't can say, I am at
the worst?
I am worse than e'er I was.
Old Man. 'Tis poor mad Tom.
Edg. [Aside.] And worse I may be yet: The worst
is not,
So long as we can say, This is the worst.
Old Man. Fellow, where goest?
Glo. Is it a beggar-man ?
30
Old Man.
106
A& IV.
KING LEAR.
Old Man. Madman and beggar too.
Glo. He has some reason, else he could not beg.
I' the last night's storm I such a fellow saw;
Which made me think a man a worm: My son
Came then into my mind; and yet my mind
Was then scarce friends with him: I have heard
more since:
As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods;
They kill us for their sport.
Edg. How should this be?-
40
Bad is the trade, that must play the fool to sorrow,
Ang'ring itself and others. [Aside.]— Bless thee,
master!
Glo. Is that the naked fellow ?
Old Man. Ay, my lord.
Glo. Then, pr'ythee, get thee gone: If, for my
sake,
Thou wilt o'ertake us, hence a mile or twain,
I' the way to Dover, do it for ancient love;
And bring some covering for this naked soul,
Whom I'll entreat to lead me.
Old Man. Alack, sir, he is mad.
50
Glo. 'Tis the time's plague, when madmen lead
the blind :
Do as I bid thee, or rather do thy pleasure;
Above the rest, be gone.
Old Man. I'll bring him the best 'parel that I have,
Come on't what will.
Glo. Sirrah, naked fellow.
[Exit.
Edg.
Act IV.
107
KING LEAR.
Edg. Poor Tom's a-cold.-I cannot daub it fur-
ther.
Glo. Come hither, fellow.
Edg. [Aside,] And yet I must.
-Bless thy sweet eyes, they bleed.
Glo. Know'st thou the way to Dover ?
[Aside.
60
Edg. Both stile and gate, horse-way and foot-path.
Poor Tom hath been scar'd out of his good wits:
Bless thee, good man's son, from the foul fiend!
[Five fiends have been in poor Tom at once; of
lust, as Obidicut; Hobbididance, prince of dunibness:
Mahu, of stealing; Modo, of murder; and Flibber-
tigibbet, of mopping and mowing; who since pos-
sesses chamber-maids and waiting-women. So, bless
thee, master!]
72
Glo. Here, take this purse, thou whom the heaven's
plagues
Have humbled to all strokes: that I am wretched,
Makes thee the happier :-Heavens, deal so still!
Let the superfluous, and lust-dieted man,
That slaves your ordinance, that will not see
Because he doth not feel, feel your power quickly;
So distribution should undo excess,
And each man have enough.-Dost thou know
Dover ?
Edg. Ay, master.
ზა
Glo. There is a cliff, whose high and bending head
Looks fearfully on the confined deep :
Bring me but to the very brin of it,
And I'll repair the misery thou dost bear,
With
108
A& IV.
KING LEAR.
With something rich about me; from that place
I shall no leading need.
Edg. Give me thy arm;
Poor Tom shall lead thee.
[Exeunt.
SCENE II.
The Duke of ALBANY's Palace. Enter GONERIL, and
EDMUND.
Gon. Welcome, my lord: I marvel, our mild hus-
band
90
Not met us on the way :-Now, where's your master?
Enter Steward.
Stew. Madam, within; but never man so chang'd:
I told him of the army that was landed;
He smil'd at it: I told him, you were coming;
His answer was, The worse: of Gloster's treachery,
And of the loyal service of his son,
When I inform'd him, then he call'd me sot;
And told me, I had turn'd the wrong side out :~~
What most he should dislike, seems pleasant to him;
What like, offensive.
100
Gon. Then shall you go no further. [To EDMUND.
It is the cowish terror of his spirit,
That dares not undertake: he'll not feel wrongs,
Which tie him to an answer: Our wishes, on the
way,
May prove effects. Back, Edmund, to my brother;
Hasten
A&t IV.
109
KING LEAR.
Hasten his musters, and conduct his powers:
must change arms at home, and give the distaff
Into my husband's hands. This trusty servant
Shall pass between us: ere long you are like to hear,
If you dare venture in your own behalf,
110
A mistress's command. Wear this; spare speech;
[Giving a Favour.
Decline your head: this kiss, if it durst speak,
Would stretch thy spirits up into the air;-
Conceive, and fare thee well.
Edm. Your's in the ranks of death.
Gon. My most dear Gloster!
O, the difference of man, and man!
To thee a woman's services are due;
My fool usurps my body.
[Exit EDMUND.
Stew. Madam, here comes my lord.
Enter ALBANY.
Gon. I have been worth the whistle.
Alb. O Goneril!
You are not worth the dust which the rude wind
Blows in your face. I fear your disposition:
That nature, which contemns its origin,
Cannot be border'd certain in itself;
She that herself will sliver and disbranch
From her maternal sap, perforce must wither,
And come to deadly use.
Gon. No more; the text is foolish.
120
130
Alb. Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile:
Filths savour but themselves. What have you done?
K
Tygers,
110
A& IV.
KING LEAR.
Tygers, not daughters, what have you perform'd?
A father, and a gracious aged man,
Whose reverence the head-lugg'd bear would lick,
Most barbarous, most degenerate! have you madded ?
Could my good brother suffer you to do it?
A man, a prince, by him so benefited?
If that the heavens do not their visible spirits
Send quickly down to tame these vile offences,
'Twill come, humanity must perforce prey on
Itself, like monsters of the deep.
Gon. Milk-liver'd man!
140
That bear'st a cheek for blows, a head for wrongs;
Who hast not in thy brows an eye discerning
Thine honour from thy suffering; that not know'st,
Fools do those villains pity, who are punish'd
Ere they have done their mischief. Where's thy
drum ?
France spreads his banners in our noiseless land;
With plumed helm thy slayer begins threats;
Whilst thou, a moral fool, sit'st still, and cry'st,
Alack! why does he so ?
Alb. See thyself, devil!
Proper deformity seems not in the fiend
So horrid, as in woman.
Gon. O vain fool!
150
Alb. Thou changed and self-cover'd thing, for
shame,
Be-monster not thy feature. Were it my fitness
To let these hands obey my blood,
They are apt enough to dislocate and tear
160
Thy
A& IV.
112
KING LEAR.
Thy flesh and bones :-Howe'er thou art a fiend,
A woman's shape doth shield thee.
Gon. Marry, your manhood now!
Enter Messenger.
Alb. What news?
Mes. O, my good lord, the duke of Cornwall's
dead;
Slain by his servant, going to put out
The other eye of Gloster.
Alb. Gloster's eyes!
Mes. A servant that he bred, thrill'd with remorse,
Oppos'd against the act, bending his sword
To his great master; who, thereat enrag'd,
Flew on him, and amongst them fell'd him dead:
But not without that harmful stroke, which since
Hath pluck'd him after.
Alb. This shews you are above,
You justicers, that these our nether crimes
So speedily can venge!-But, O poor Gloster!
Lost he his other eye?
Mes. Both, both, my lord.
This letter, madam, craves a speedy answer;
'Tis from your sister.
Gon. [Aside.] One way I like this well;
But, being widow, and my Gloster with her,
May all the building in my fancy pluck
Upon my hateful life: Another way,
The news is not so tart.--I'll read, and answer.
170
180
Kij
[Exit.
Albo
112
A& IV.
KING LEAR.
Alb. Where was his son, when they did take his
eyes?
Mes. Come with my lady hither.
Alb. He is not here.
Mes. No, my good lord; I met him back again.
Alb. Knows he the wickedness?
189
Mes. Ay, my good lord; 'twas he inform'd against
him;
And quit the house on purpose, that their punish-
ment
Might have the freer course,
Alb. Gloster, I live
To thank thee for the love thou shew'dst the king,
And to revenge tliine eyes.-Come hither, friend;
Tell me what more thou knowest.
[Exeunt.
[SCENE III.
The French Camp, near Dover. Enter KENT, and a
Gentleman.
Kent. Why the king of France is so suddenly gone
back
Know you the reason?
200
Gent. Something he left imperfect in the state,
Which since his coming forth is thought of; which
Imports to the kingdom so much fear and danger,
That his personal return was most requir'd and ne-
cessary.
Kent. Who hath he left behind him general ?
Gent
AN IV.
113
KING LEAR.
Gent. The mareschal of France, Monsieur le Fer.
Kent. Did your letters pierce the queen
To any demonstration of grief?
Gent. Ay, sir; she took them, read them in my
presence;
And now and then an ample tear trill'd down
Her delicate cheek: it seem'd, she was a queen
Over her passion; who, most rebel-like,
Sought to be king o'er her.
Kent. O, then it mov`d her.
210
Gent. Not to a rage: patience and sorrow strove
Who should express her goodliest. You have seen
Sunshine and rain at once: her smiles and tears.
Were like a better day. Those happy smiles,
That play'd on her ripe lip, seem'd not to know 219
What guests were in her eyes; which parted thence,
As pearls from diamonds dropt.-In brief, sorrow
Would be a rarity most belov'd, if all
Could so become it.
Kent. Made she no verbal question?
Gent. Yes; once, or twice, she heav'd the name of
father
Pantingly forth; as if it press'd her heart;
Cry'd, Sisters! sisters!-Shame of ladies! sisters!
Kent! father! sisters! What? i' the storm! i' the night!
Let pity not be believed!-There she shook
The holy water from her heavenly eyes,
239
And clamour moisten'd her: then away she started
To deal with grief alone.
Kent. It is the stars,
Kiij
The
114
A& IV.
KING LEAR.
The stars above us, govern our conditions;
Else one self mate and mate could not beget
Such different issues. You spoke not with her since
Gent. No.
Kent. Was this before the king return'd?
Gent. No, since.
Kent. Well, sir: The poor distressed Lear is i' the
town:
Who sometimes, in his better tune, remembers
What we are come about, and by no means
Will yield to see his daughter.
Gent. Why, good sir?
240
Kent. A sovereign shame so elbows him: his own
unkindness,
That stripp'd her from his benediction, turn'd her
To foreign casualties, gave her dear rights
To his dog-hearted daughters-these things sting
His mind so venomously, that burning shame
Detains him from Cordelia.
Gent. Alack, poor gentleman!
250
Kent. Of Albany's and Cornwall's powers you
heard not?
Gent. 'Tis so; they are afoot.
Kent. Well, sir, I'll bring you to our master Lear,
And leave you to attend him: some dear cause
Will in concealment wrap me up awhile;
When I am known aright, you shall not grieve
Lending me this acquaintance. I pray you, go
Along with me.]
[Exeunt.
SCENE
A&t IV.
115
KING LEAR,
SCENE IV.
Enter CORDELIA,
A Tent in the Camp at Dover.
Physician, and Soldiers.
Cor. Alack, 'tis he; why, he was met even now
As mad as the vex'd sea: singing aloud;
Crown'd with rank fumiter, and furrow weeds,
With harlocks, hemlock, nettles, cuckoo-flowers,
Darnel, and all the idle weeds that grow
In our sustaining corn.-A century send forth;
Search every acre in the high-grown field,
261
And bring him to our eye.-What can man's wisdom
do,
In the restoring his bereaved sense?
He, that helps him, take all my outward worth.
Phy. There is means, madam :
Our foster nurse of nature is repose,
The which he lacks; that to provoke in him,
Are many simples operative, whose power
Will close the eye of anguish.
Cor. All blest secrets,
All you unpublish'd virtues of the earth,
Spring with my tears! be aidant, and remediate,
270
In the good man's distress!—Seek, seek for him!
Lest his ungovern'd rage dissolve the life
That wants the means to lead it.
280
Enter a Messenger.
Mes. News, madam;
The
KING LEAR.
A& IV.
The British powers are marching hitherward.
Cor. 'Tis known before; our preparation stands
In expectation of them.-O dear father,
It is thy business that I go about;
Therefore great France
My mourning, and important tears, hath pitied.
No blown ambition doth our arms incite,
But love, dear love, and our ag'd father's right:
Soon may I hear, and see him!
[Exeunt.
SCENE V.
REGAN'S Palace. Enter REGAN, and Steward.
Reg. But are my brother's powers set forth? 291
Stew. Ay, madam.
Reg. Himself in person there ?
Stew. Madam, with much ado:
Your sister is the better soldier.
Reg. Lord Edmund spake not with your lady at
home?
Stew. No, madam.
Reg. What might import my sister's letter to him?
Stew. I know not, lady.
299
Reg. 'Faith, he is posted hence on serious matter.
It was great ignorance, Gloster'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
2
His
Act 4.
KING LEAR.
Scene F.
Burner del
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MISS BRUNTON in CORDELIA,
Odear Father
it is thy business that I go about?
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Act IV.
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KING LEAR.
His nighted life; moreover, to descry
The strength o' the enemy.
Stew. I must needs after him, madam, with my
letter.
Reg. Our troops set forth to-morrow; stay with
us ;.
The ways are dangerous.
Stew. I may not, madam;
My lady charg'd my duty in this business.
310
Reg. Why should she write to Edmund? Might
not you
Transport her purposes by word? Belike,
Something I know not what-I'll love thee much,
Let me unseal the letter.
Stew. Madam, I had rather-
Reg. I know, your lady does not love her husband:
I am sure of that: and, at her late being here,
She gave strange œiliads, and most speaking looks
To noble Edmund: I know, you are of her bosom.
Stew. I, madam?
321
Reg. I speak in understanding; you are, I know it;
Therefore, I do advise you, take this note:
My lord is dead; Edmund and I have talk'd;
And more convenient is he for my hand,
Than for your lady's :-You may gather more.
If
you
do find him, pray you, give him this;
And when your mistress hears thus much from you,
I pray, desire her call her wisdom to her.
So fare you well.
If you do chance to hear of that blind traitor,
330
Preferment
11
A& IV.
KING LEAR.
Preferment falls on him that cuts him off.
Stew. 'Would I could meet him, madam! I would
shew
What party I do follow.
Reg. Fare thee well.
[Exeunt.
SCENE VI.
The Country near Dover. Enter GLOSTER, and EDGAR
as a Peasant.
Glo. When shall we come to the top of that same
kill?
Edg. You do climb up it now: look, how we
labour.
Glo. Methinks, the ground is even.
Edg. Horrible steep :
Hark, do you hear the sea?
Glo. No, truly.
340
Edg. Why, then your other senses grow imperfect
By your eyes' anguish.
Glo. So may it be, indeed:
Methinks, thy voice is alter'd; and thou speak'st
In better phrase, and matter, than thou didst.
Edg. You are much deceiv'd; in nothing am I
chang'd,
But in my garments.
Glo. Methinks, you are better spoken.
Edg. Come on, sir; here's the place :-stand still.
How fearful
350
And
AC IT.
119
KING LEAR.
And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eyes so low?
The crows, and choughs, that wing the midway air,
Shew 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 yon' 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.
Glo. Set me where you stand.
360
Edg. Give me your hand: You are now within a
foot
Of the extreme verge: for all beneath the moon
Would I not leap upright.
Glo. Let go my hand.
Here, friend, is another purse; in it, a jewel
371
Well worth a poor man's taking: Fairies, and gods,
Prosper it with thee! Go thou further off;
Bid me farewel, and let me hear thee going.
Edg. Now fare ye well, good sir.
Glo. With all my heart.
[Seems to go.
Edg. Why do I trifle thus with his despair ?–
'Tis done to cure it.
Glo. O you mighty gods!
This world I do renounce; and, in your sights,
Shake patiently my great affliction off:
If
120
A& IV.
KING LEAR.
{
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.
Edg. Gone, sir? farewel,
380
[He leaps, and falls along.
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, sirl friend!-Hear you, sir?-speak!
Thus might he pass, indeed :-Yet he revives.
What are you, sir?
Glo. Away, and let me die.
392
Edg. Hadst thou been aught but gossamer, fea-
thers, air,
So many fathom down precipitating,
Thou hadst 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 fallen;
Thy life's a miracle: Speak yet again.
Glo. But have I fallen, or no?
40.0
Edg. From the dread summit of this chalky bourn :
Look up a height;-the shrill-gorg`d lark so far
Cannot be seen or heard: do but look up.
Gle. Alack, I have no eyes.-
Is
A& IV.
122
KING LEAR.
Is wretchedness depriv'd that benefit,
To end itself by death? 'Twas yet some comfort,
When misery could beguile the tyrant's rage,
And frustrate his proud will.
Edg. Give me your arm:
410
Up: So ;-How is't? Feel you your legs? You
stand.
Glo. Too well, too well.
Edg. This is above all strangeness.
Upon the crown o' the cliff, what thing was that
Which parted from you ?
Glo. A poor unfortunate beggar.
Edg. As I stood here below, methought, his eyes
Were two full moons; he had a thousand noses,
Horns welk'd, and wav'd like the enridged sea;
It was some fiend: Therefore, thou happy father,
Think that the clearest gods, who make them ho-
nours
Of men's impossibilities, have preserv'd thee.
Glo. I do remember now: henceforth I'll bear
Affliction, 'till it do cry out itself,
421
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.
Edg. Bear free and patient thoughts.But whọ
comes here?
Enter LEAR, fantastically drest up with Flowers.
The safer sense will ne'er accommodate
His master thus.
L
480
Lear.
122
A& IV.
KING LEAR,
Lear. No, they cannot touch me for coining; I amı
the king himself.
Edg. O thou side-piercing sight!
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.-0, well
flown, bird !—i' the clout, i' the clout; hewgh!
Give the word.
Edg. Sweet marjoram.
Lear. Pass.
Glo. I know that voice.
441
Lear. Ha! Goneril!-with a white beard!-They
flatter'd 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 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 them, there I smelt them
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.
Glo. The trick 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. 459
I pardon that man's life: What was the cause?——.
Adultery.
Buner det.
Hall Saul
Printed for J.Bell, British Library Strand. London Dec" 29.1785.
A&t IV.
123
KING LEAR.
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 Gloster's bastard son
Was kinder to his father, than my daughters
Got 'tween the lawful sheets.
To't, luxury, pell-pell, for I lack soldiers.-
Behold yon' simpering dame,
Whose face between her forks presageth snow;
That minces virtue, and does shake the head
To hear of pleasure's name;
The fitchew, nor the soyled horse, goes to't
With a more riotous appetite.
遵
​Down from the waist they are centaurs,
Though women all above :
But to the girdle do the gods inherit,
469
Beneath is all the fiends'; 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, good apothecary,
480
To sweeten my imagination! there's money for thee.
Glo. O, let me kiss that hand!
Lear. Let me wipe it first; it smells of mortality.
Glo. O ruin'd piece of nature! This great world
Shall so wear out to nought.-Dost thou know me?
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.
Lij
489
Gle
124
A& IV.
KING LEAR.
Glo. Were all the letters suns, I could not see one,
Edg. I would not take this from report;—it is,
And my heart breaks at it.
Lear. Read.
Glo. What, with the case of eyes?
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.
Glo. I see it feelingly.
499
Lear. What, art mad? A man may see how this
world goes, with no eyes. Look with thine ears: see
how yon' justice rails upon yon' 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 ?
Glo. Ay, sir.
Lear. And the creature run from the cur? There
thou might'st behold the great image of authority: a
dog's obey'd in office.——————
Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand :
510
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 doth pierce it.
None
Aa IV.
125
KING LEAR.
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; 520
And, like a scurvy politician, seem
To see the things thou dost not.-Now, now, now,
now:
Pull off my boots ;-harder, harder; so.
Edg. O, matter and impertinency mixt!
Reason in madness!
Lear. If thou wilt weep my fortunes, take my eyes.
I know thee well enough; thy name is Gloster:
Thou must be patient; we came crying hither.
Thou know'st, the first time that we smell the air,
We wawle, and cry :-I will preach to thee; mark
me.
Glo. Alack, alack the day!
531
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 it in proof;
And when I have stolen upon these sons-in-law,
Then kill, kill, kill, kill, kill, kill!
Enter a Gentleman, with Attendants,
Gent. O, here he is; lay hand upon him.—Sir,
Your most dear daughter-
Lear. No rescue? What, a prisoner? I am even
The natural fool of fortune. Use me well;
You shall have ransom.
Let me have a surgeon,
541
I am cut to the brains.
Liij
Gent.
126
A& IV.
KING LEAR.
Gent. You shall have any thing.
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.-
Gent. Good sir-
Lear. I will die bravely, like a bridegroom; what?
I will be jovial; come, come, I am a king,
My masters, know you that?
Gent. You are a royal one, and we obey you.
551
Lear. Then there's life in it. Nay, come, an yoù
get it,
You shall get it by running. Sa, sa, sa, sa.
[Exit.
Gent. 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.
Edg. Hail, gentle sir.
560
Gent. Sir, speed you: What's your will?
Edg. Do you hear aught, sir, of a battle toward ?
Gent. Most sure, and vulgar: every one hears that,
Which can distinguish sound.
Edg. But, by your favour,
How near's the other army?
Gent. Near, and on speedy foot: the main descry
Stands on the hourly thought.
Edg. I thank you, sir: that's all.
Gent. Though that the queen on special cause is
here,
Her army is mov'd on.
570
Edg.
A& IV.
127
KING LEAR.
Edg. I thank you, sir.
[Exit Gent.
Glo. You ever-gentle gods, take my breath from me;
Let not my worser spirit tempt me again
To die before you please!
Edg. Well pray you, father.
Glo. Now, good sir, what are you?
Edg. 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.
581
Glo. Hearty thanks :
The bounty and the benizon of heaven
To boot, and boot!
Enter Steward.
Stew. A proclaim'd prize! Most happy!
That eyeless head of thine was first fram'd flesh
To raise my fortunes.-Thou old unhappy traitor,
Briefly thyself remember :-The sword is out
That must destroy thee.
Glo. Now let thy friendly hand
Put strength enough to it.
Stew. Wherefore, bold peasant,
590
[EDGAR opposes,
Dar'st thou support a publish'd traitor? Hence;
Lest that the infection of his fortune take
Like hold on thee. Let go his arm.
Edg. Ch'ill not let go, zir, without vurther 'casion.
Stew. Let go, slave, or thou dy'st.
Edg. Good gentleman, go your gait, and let poor
volk
128
A& IV.
KING LEAR.
Volk pass. And ch’ud ha' been zwagger'd out of my
life, 'twould not ha' been zo long as 'tis by a vort-
night. Nay, come not near the old man; keep out,
che vor'ye, or ise try whether your costard or my bat
be the harder: Ch'ill be plain with you.
603
Stew. Out, dunghill!
Edg. Ch'ill pick your teeth, zir: Come; no mat-
ter vor your foyns.
[EDGAR knocks him down.
Stew. Slave, thou hast slain me :-Villain, take
my purse;
If ever thou wilt thrive, bury my body;
610
And give the letters, which thou find'st about me,
To Edmund, earl of Gloster; seek him out
Upon the English party :-0, untimely death,
death!
[Dies.
Edg. I know thee well: A serviceable villain;
As duteous to the vices of thy mistress,
As badness would desire.
Glo. What, is he dead?
Edg. Sit you down, father; rest you.-
Let's see his pockets: these 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'd rip their hearts;
Their papers are more lawful.
Reads the Letter.
Let our reciprocal vows be remember'd.
622
You have many
opportunities to cut him off: if your will want not, time
and
Act IV.
129
KING LEAR.
and place will be fruitfully offered. There is nothing
done, if he return the conqueror: Then am I the pri-
soner, and his bed my gaol; from the loath'd warmth
whereof deliver me, and supply the place for your la-
bour.
Your (wife, so I would say) affectionate servant,
O undistinguish'd space of woman's will!
A plot upon her virtuous husband's life;
GONERIL.
633
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-practis'd duke: For him 'tis well,
That of thy death and business I can tell.
[Exit EDGAR, removing the Body.
Glo. 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.
Re-enter EDGAR.
Edg. Give me your hand :
Far off, methinks, I hear the beaten drum.
641
Come, father, I'll bestow you with a friend. [Exeunt.
SCENE
130
KING LEAR.
A& IV.
SCENE VII.
A Tent in the French Camp. Enter CORDELIA, Kent,
and Physician.
Cor. O thou good Kent, how shall I live, and
work,
649
To match thy goodness? My life will be too short,
And every measure fail me.
Kent. To be acknowledg'd, madam, is o'erpay'd.
All my reports go with the modest truth;
Nor more, nor clipt, but so.
Cor. Be better suited:
These weeds are memories of those worser hours:
I pr'ythee, put them off.
Kent. Pardon me, dear madam;
Yet to be known, shortens my made intent :
My boon I make it, that you know me not,
'Till time and I think meet.
Cor. Then be it so, my good lord.
How does the king?
Phys. Madam, sleeps still.
Cor. O you kind gods,
660
[To the Physician.
Cure this great breach in his abused nature!
The untun'd and jarring senses, O, wind up
Of this child-changed father!
Phys. So please your majesty,
669
That we may wake the king he hath slept long.
Cor. Be govern'd by your knowledge, and proceed
I' the sway of your own will. Is he array'd?
LEAR
A& IV.
131
KING LEAR.
LEAR is brought in in a Chair.
Gent. Ay, madam; in the heaviness of his sleep,
We put fresh garments on him.
Phys. Be by, good madam, when we do awake him;
I doubt not of his temperance.
Cor. Very well.
Phys. Please you, draw near.-Louder the musick
there !
Cor. O my dear father! Restoration, hang
Thy medicine on my lips; and let this kiss
Repair those violent harms, that my two sisters
Have in thy reverence made!
Kent. Kind and dear princess!
680
Cor. Had you not been their father, these white
flakes
Had challeng'd pity of them.
Was this a face
To be expos'd against the warring winds?
To stand against the deep dread-bolted thunder?
In the most terrible and nimble stroke
Of quick, cross lightning? to watch (poor perdu!)
With this thin helm? Mine enemy's dog,
690
Though he had bit me, should have stood that night
Against my fire; And wast thou fain, poor father,
To hovel thee with swine, and rogues forlorn,
In short and musty straw? Alack, alack!
'Tis wonder, that thy life and wits at once
Had not concluded all.-He wakes; speak to him.
Phys. Madam, do you; 'tis fittest,
Cor.
132
AEL IV.
KING LEAR.
Cor. How does my royal lord? How fares your
majesty ?
Lear. You do me wrong, to take me out o' the
grave:
Thou art a soul in bliss; but I am bound
Upon a wheel of fire, that mine own tears
Do scald like molten lead.
Cor. Sir, do you know me?
Lear. You are a spirit, I know: When did you
Cor. Still, still, far wide!
Phys. He's scarce awake; let him alone awhile.
700
die?
Lear. Where have I been? Where am I?-Fair
day-light-
I am mightily abus’d.—I should even die with pity,
To see another thus.-I know not what to say.-
I will not swear these are my hands :-let's see;
I feel this pin prick. 'Would I were assur'd
Of my condition.
Cor. O, look upon me, sir,
And hold your hands in benediction o'er me :
No, sir, you must not kneel.
Lear. Pray, do not mock me :
I am a very foolish fond old man,
Fourscore and upward;
Not an hour more, nor less: and, to deal plainly,
I fear, I am not in my perfect mind.
712
720
Methinks, I should know you, and know this man ;
Yet I am doubtful: for I am mainly ignorant,
What place this is; and all the skill I have
Remembers not these garments; nor I know not
Where
Act IV.
133
RING LEAR.
Where I did lodge last night: Do not laugh at me;
For, as I am a man, I think this lady
To be my child Cordelia.
Cor. And so I am, I am!
Lear. Be your tears wet? Yes, "faith.
weep not:
If you have poison for me, I will drink it.
I know you do not love me; for your sisters
Have, as I do remember, done me wrong:
You have some cause, they have not.
Cor. No cause, no cause.
Lear. Am I in France?
Kent. In your own kingdom, sir.
Lear. Do not abuse me.
I pray,
730
Phys. Be comforted, good madam: the great rage,
You see, is cur'd in him: [and yet it is danger
To make him even o'er the time he has lost. ]
Desire him to go in; trouble him no more,
*Till further settling.
Cor. Will't please your highness walk ?
Lear. You must bear with me:
740
Pray you now, forget and forgive: I am old, and
foolish.
[Exeunt LEAR, CORDELIA, Physician, and Attendants.
[Gent. Holds it true, sir,
That the duke of Cornwall was so slain ?
Kent. Most certain, sir.
Gent. Who is conductor of his people?
Kent. As it is said, the bastard son of Gloster. 750
M
Gent.
134
A& V.
KING LEAR.
Gent. They say, Edgar,
His banish'd son, is with the earl of Kent
In Germany.
Kent. Report is changeable.
'Tis time to look about; the powers o' the kingdom
Approach apace.
Gent. The arbitrament is like to be bloody.
Fare you well, sir.
[Exit.
Kent. My point and period will be throughly
wrought,
Or well, or ill, as this day's battle's fought.] 760
[Exit.
ACT V. SCene 1.
The Camp of the British Forces, near Dover. Enter, with
Drums and Colours, EDMUND, REGAN, Gentlemen,
and Soldiers.
Edmund.
Now of the duke, if his last purpose hold;
Or whether since he is advis'd by aught
To change the course: He's full of alteration,
And self-reproving:-bring his constant pleasure.
Reg. Our sister's man is certainly miscarry'd.
Edm. 'Tis to be doubted, madam.
Reg. Now, sweet lord,
You know the goodness I intend upon you:
Tell
Aa V.
135
KING LEAR.
Tell me but truly-but then speak the truth,
Do you not love my sister?
Edm. In honour'd love.
10
[Reg. But have you never found my brother's way
To the fore-fended place?
Edm. That thought abuses you.
Reg. I am doubtful that you have been conjunct
And bosom'd with her, as far as we call her's.
Edm. No, by mine honour, madam.]
Reg. I never shall endure her: Dear my lord,
Be not familiar with her.
Edm. Fear me not :-
She, and the duke her husband-
Enter ALBANY, GONERIL, and Soldiers.
Gon. I had rather lose the battle, than that sister
Should loosen him and me.
20
[Aside.
Alb. Our very loving sister, well be met.
Sir, this I hear, The king is come to his daughter,
With others, whom the rigour of our state
Forc'd to cry out. [Where I could not be honest,
I never yet was valiant: for this business,
It touches us as France invades our land,
Not bolds the king; with others, whom, I fear, 30
Most just and heavy causes make oppose.
Edm. Sir, you speak nobly.]
Reg. Why is this reason'd?
Gon. Combine together 'gainst the enemy :
For these domestic and particular broils
Are not to question here.
Mij
Alb.
136
A&V.
KING LEAR.
Alb. Let us then determine
With the ancient of war on our proceedings.
Edm. I shall attend you presently at your tent.
Reg. Sister, you'll go with us?
Gon. No.
40
Reg. 'Tis most convenient; pray you, go with us.
Gon. [Aside.] O, ho, I know the riddle: I will go.
As they are going out, enter EDGAR disguised.
Edg. If e'er your grace had speech with man so
poor,
Hear me one word.
Alb. I'll overtake you.-Speak.
50
[Exeunt EDM. REG. GON. and Attendants.
Edg. Before you fight the battle, ope this letter.
If you have victory, let the trumpet sound
For him that brought it: wretched though I seem,
I can produce a champion, that will prove
What is avouched there: If you miscarry,
Your business of the world hath so an end,
And machination ceases. Fortune love you!
Alb. Stay 'till I have read the letter.
Edg. I was forbid it.
When time shall serve, let but the herald cry,
And I'll appear again.
[Exit.
Alb. Why, fare thee well I will o'erlook thy
paper.
;
Re-enter EDMUND.
Edm. The enemy's in view, draw up your powers.
Here
A& V.
137
KING LEAR.
Here is the guess of their true strength and forces 60
By diligent discovery;-but your haste
Is now urg'd on you.
Alb. We will greet the time.
[Exit.
Edm. 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 enjoy'd,
If both remain alive: To take the widow,
Exasperates, makes mad her sister Goneril;
And hardly shall I carry out my side,
70
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 II.
A Field between the two Camps. Alarum within. Enter,
with Drum and Colours, LEAR, CORDELIA, and
Soldiers over the Stage; and exeunt.
Enter EDGAR,
and GLOSTER.
Edg. Here, father, take the shadow of this tree
For your good host; pray that the right may thrive :
Miij
If
138
A& V.
KING LEAR.
If ever I return to you again.
I'll bring you comfort.
81
Glo. Grace go with you, sir!
[Exit EDGAR.
[Alarum, and retreat within.
Re-enter EDGAR.
Edg. Away, old man, give me thy hand, away;
King Lear hath lost, he and his daughter ta'en:
Give me thy hand, come on.
Glo. No further, sir; a man may rot even here.
Edg. What, in ill thoughts again? Men must
endure
Their going hence, even as their coming hither :
Ripeness is all: Come on.
Glo. And that's true too.
90
[Exeunt.
SCENE III.
Enter in Conquest, with Drum and Colours, EDMUND;
LEAR, and CORDELIA, as Prisoners; Soldiers,
Captain.
Edm. Some officers take them away: good guard;
Until their greater pleasures first be known
That are to censure them.
Cor. We are not the first,
Who, with best meaning, have incurr'd the worst.
For thee, oppressed king, am I cast down;
Myself could else out-frown false fortune's frown.-
Shall we not see these daughters, and these sisters ?
Lear.
A& V.
£39
KING LEAR.
L
101
Lear. No, no, no, no! Come, let's away to prison :
We two alone will sing like birds i' the 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 laugh
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 us the mystery of things,
As if we were God's spies: And we'll wear out,
In a wall'd prison, packs and sects of great ones, 110
That ebb and flow by the moon.
Edm. Take them away.
Lear. Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia,
The gods themselves throw incense.
thee?
Have I caught
He, that parts us, shall bring a brand from heaven,
And fire us hence, like foxes. Wipe thine eyes;
The goujeers shall devour them, flesh, and fell,
Ere they shall make us weep: we'll see them starve first.
Come. [Exeunt LEAR, and CORDELIA, guarded.
Edm. Come hither, captain; hark,
Take thou this note; go, follow them to prison :
One step I have advanc'd 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
120
Does not become a sword :-Thy great employment
Will not bear question; either say, thou'lt do't,
Or thrive by other means.
Capt.
140
A& V.
KING LEAR,
Capt. I'll do't, my lord.
Edm. About it; and write happy, when thou hast
done.
Mark,—I say, instantly; and carry it so,
As I have set it down.
Capt. I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dry'd oats;
If it be man's work, I will do it.
Flourish.
130
[Exit Capt.
Enter ALBANY, GONERIL, REGAN, and
Soldiers.
Alo. Sir, you have shewn to-day your valiant strain,
And fortune led you well: You have the captives
Who were the opposites of this day's strife :
We do require them of you; so to use them,
As we shall find their merits and our safety
May equally determine.
Edm. Sir, I thought it fit
To send the old and miserable king
To some retention, and appointed guard;
Whose age has charms in it, whose title more,
To pluck the common bosom on his side,
And turn our imprest lances in our eyes
140
Which do command them. With him I sent the
queen;
My reason all the same; and they are ready
To-morrow, or at a further space, to appear
149
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 curs'd
By those that feel their sharpness :-----
The
!{、
A&t V.
142
KING LEAR.
}
The question of Cordelia, and her father,
Requires a fitter place.]
Alb. Sir, by your patience,
I hold you but a subject of this war,
Not as a brother.
Reg. 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; 161
Bore the commission of my place and person;
The which immediacy may well stand up,
And call itself your brother.
Gon. Not so hot :
In his own grace he doth exalt himself,
More than in your advancement.
Reg. In my rights,
By me invested, he compeers the best.
Alb. That were the most, if he should husband you.
Reg. Jesters do oft prove prophets.
Gon. Holla, holla!
That eye, that told you so, look'd but a-squint.
171
Reg. Lady, I am not well; else I should answer
From a full-flowing stomach.-General,
Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony;
Dispose of them, of me; the walls are thine:
Witness the world, that I create thee here
My lord and master.
Gon. Mean you to enjoy him?
180
Alb. The let alone lies not in your good will.
Edm. Nor in thine, lord.
Alb. Half-blooded fellow, yes.
Reg.
142
A& V.
KING LEAR.
Reg. Let the drum strike, and prove my title thine.
Alb. Stay yet; hear reason:-Edmund, I arrest
thee
On capital treason; and, in thy arrest,
[Pointing to GONERIL.
This gilded serpent:-for your claim, fair sister,
I bar it in the interest of my wife;
'Tis she is sub-contracted to this lord,
And I, her husband, contradict your banes. 190
If you will marry, make your love to me,
My lady is bespoke.
Gon. An interlude !
Alb. Thou art arm'd, Gloster :-Let the trumpet
sound:-
If none appear to prove upon thy person
Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons,
There is my pledge; I'll prove it on thy heart,
Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing less
Than I have here proclaim'd thee.
Reg. Sick, O sick!
Gon. If not, I'll ne'er trust poison.
200
[Aside.
Edm. There's my exchange; what in the world
he is
That names me traitor, villain-like he lies:
Call by thy trumpet: he that dares approach,
On him, on you (who not?) I will maintain
My truth and honour firmly.
Alb. A herald, ho!
Edm. A herald, ho, a herald !
Enter
A&t 17.
143
KING LEAR.
Enter a Herald.
Alb. Trust to thy single virtue; for thy soldiers,
All levied in my name, have in my name
Took their discharge.
Reg. This sickness grows upon me.
Alb. She is not well; convey her to my tent.
210
[Exit REGAN, led.
Come hither, herald-Let the trumpet sound—
And read out this.
Capt. 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
Gloster, that he is a manifold traitor, let him appear by
the third sound of the trumpet: He is bold in his defence.
Edm. Sound.
Her. Again.
[1 Trumpet.
[2 Trumpet.
Her. Again.
[3 Trumpet.
[Trumpet answers, within.
Enter EDGAR, armed.
Alb. Ask him his purposes, why he appears
Upon this call o' the trumpet.
Her. What are you?
Your name, your quality? and why you answer
This present summons ?
Edg. Know, my name is lost;
By treason's tooth bare- gnawn, and canker-bit:
230
Yet
144
A&t Y.
KING LEAR.
Yet am I noble, as the adversary
I come to cope withal.
Alb. Which is that adversary?
Edg. What's he, that speaks for Edmund earl of
Gloster?
Edm. Himself;-What say'st thou to him?
Edg. Draw thy sword;
240
That, if my speech offend a noble heart,
Thy arm may do thee justice: here is mine.
Behold, it is the privilege of mine honours,
My oath, and my profession: I protest-
Maugre thy strength, youth, place, and eminence,
Despight thy victor sword, and fire-new fortune,
Thy valour, and thy heart-thou art a traitor
False to thy gods, thy brother, and thy father;
Conspirant 'gainst this high illustrious prince;
And, from the extremest upward of thy head,
To the descent and dust beneath thy feet,
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.
Edm. In wisdom, I should ask thy name;
250
But, since thy outside looks so fair and warlike,
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
A& V.
145
KING LEAR.
This sword of mine shall give them instant way, 250
Where they shall rest for ever.—Trumpets, speak.
[Alarm. Fight. Edmund falls.
All. Save him, save him I
Gon. This is mère practice, Gloster:
By the law of arms, thou wast not bound to answer
An unknown opposite; thou art not vanquish'd,
But cozen'd and beguil’d.
Alb. Shut your mouth, dame,
Or with this paper shall I stop it :-Hold, sir:-
Thou worse than any name, read thine own evil :-
No tearing, lady; I perceive you know it.
270
[Gives the Letter to EDMUND.
Gon. Say, if I do; the laws are mine, not thine:
Who shall arraign me for't?
Alb. Monster, know'st thou this paper?
Gon. Ask me not what I know.
[Exit GoN.
Alb. Go after her; she's desperate; govern her.
Edm. What you have charg'd me with, that I
have done;
And more, much more: the time will bring it out;
"Tis past, and so am I: But what art thou,
That hast this fortune on me If thou art noble,
I do forgive thee.
Edg. Let us exchange charity.
I am no less in blood than thou art, Edmund;
If more, the more thou hast wrong'd me.
280
My name is Edgar, and thy father's son.
The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to scourge us :
N
The
146
AEL V.
KING LEAR,
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.
A. Methought, thy very gait did prophesy
A royal nobleness:-I must embrace thee:
Let sorrow split my heart, If ever I
Did hate thee, or thy father!
Edg. Worthy prince, I know it.
Alb. Where have you hid yourself?
290
How have you known the miseries of your father?
Edg. By nursing them, my lord. List a brief tale;
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 we the pain of death would hourly bear,
Rather than die at once!) taught me to shift
Into a mad-man's rags; to assume a semblance
越
​That very dogs disdain'd: and in this habit
Met I my father with his bleeding rings,
300
310
Their precious stones new lost; became his guide,
Led him, begg'd for him, sav'd him from despair ;
Never (O fault!) reveal'd myself unto him,
Until some half hour past, when I was arm'd,
Not sure, though hoping, of this good success,
I ask'd his blessing, and from first to last
Told him my pilgrimage: But his flaw'd heart,
(Alack, too weak the conflict to support!)
'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief,
Burst smilingly.
Edm. This speech of your's hath mov'd me,
And
AGV.
147
KING LEAR.
;
And shall, perchance, do good: but speak you on
You look as you had something more to say.
Alb. If there be more, more woeful, hold it in ;
For I am almost ready to dissolve,
Hearing of this.
[Edg. This would have seem'd a period
To such as love not sorrow; but, another;—
To amplify too much, would make much more,
And top extremity :
321
Whilst I was big in clamour, came there in a man,
Who having seen me in my worst estate,
Shunn'd my abhorr'd society; but then, finding
Who 'twas that so endur'd, with his strong arms 330
He fasten'd on my neck, and bellow'd out
As he'd burst heaven; threw him on my father;
Told the most piteous tale of Lear and him,
That ever ear receiv'd: which in recounting,
His grief grew puissant, and the strings of life
Began to crack: Twice then the trumpet sounded,
And there I left him tranc'd.
Alb. But who was this?
Edg. Kent, sir, the banish'd Kent; who in disguise
'Follow'd his enemy king, and did him service
Improper for a slave.]
Enter a Gentleman hastily, with a bloody Knife.
Gent. Help! help! O help!
Edg. What kind of help?
Alb. Speak, man.
Edg. What means this bloody knife ?
Gent. 'Tis hot, it smokes;
Nij
340
148
A& V.
KING LEAR.
It came even from the heart of O! she's dead!
Alb. Who, man? speak.
Gent. Your lady, sir, your lady: and her sister
By her is poison'd; she hath confess'd it.
Edm. I was contracted to them both; all three
Now marry in an instant.
Enter KENT.
Alb. Produce the bodies, be they alive or dead!
350
[GONERIL and REGAN's Bodies brought out.
This judgment of the heavens, that makes us tremble,
Touches us not with pity.-
Edg. Here comes Kent, sir.
Alb. O is this he? The time will not allow
The compliment which very manners urge.
Kent. I am come
To bid my king and master aye good night;
Is he not here?
Alb. Great thing of us forgot!
360
Speak, Edmund, where's the king? and where's
Cordelia ?—
See'st thou this object, Kent?
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,
Despight of mine own nature. Quickly send-
Ee brief in it-to the castle; for my writ
369
Is
Act V.
149
KING LEAR.
Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia :-
Nay, send in time.
Alb. Run, run, O, run-
Edg. To whom, my lord?-Who has the office?
send
Thy token of reprieve.
Edm. Well thought on; take my sword,
Give it the captain.
Edg. Haste thee for thy life.
379
[Exit Messenger.
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;
She's dead as earth :-Lend me a looking-glass; 399
If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,
Why, then she lives.
Kent. 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
150
A& V.
'KING LEAR.
It is a chance that does redeem all sorrows
That ever I have felt.
Kent. O my good master!
Lear. Pr'ythee, away.
Edg. 'Tis noble Kent, your friend.
[Kneeling.
400
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,
Gentle, and low; an excellent thing in woman :-
I kill'd the slave that was a hanging thee.
Kent. 'Tis true, my lords, he did.
Lear. Did I not, fellow ?
411
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?
Kent. The same; your servant,Kent:
Where is your servant Caius ?
Lear. He's a good fellow, I can tell you that; 419
He'll strike, and quickly too :--He's dead and rotten.
Kent. No, my good lord; I am the very man ;-
Lear. I'll see that straight.
Kent. That, from your first of difference and decay,
Have follow'd your sad steps.
Lear. You are welcome hither.
Kent. Nor no man else; all's cheerless, dark, and
deadly.-
Your
A& V.
151
KING LEAR.
Your eldest daughters have fore-doom'd themselves,
And desperately are dead.
Lear. Ay, so I think.
Alb. He knows not what he says; and vain it is
That we present us to him.
Edg. Very bootless.
Enter a Messenger.
Mes. Edmund is dead, my lord.
Alb. That's but a trifle here.————
You lords, and noble friends, know our intent.
What comfort to this great decay may come,
Shall be apply'd: For us, we will resign,
During the life of this old majesty,
431
To him our absolute power :-You, to your rights ;
[TO EDGAR.
With boot, and such addition as your honours
Have more than merited. All friends shall taste
The wages of their virtue, and all foes
The cup of their deservings.-O, see, see!
440
Lear. And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no
life:
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,
And thou no breath at all? O, thou wilt come no
more,
Never, never, never, never, never!-
Pray you, undo this button: Thank you, sir.-
Do you see this? Look on her, look on her lips, 449
Look there, look there!
Edg. He faints;-My lord, my lord-
Kent. Break, heart; I pr'ythce, break!
3
[He dies.
Edg.
152
Act V.
KING LEAR.
!
Edg. Look up, my lord.
Kent. Vex not his ghost: O, let him pass! he
hates him,
That would upon the rack of this tough world
Stretch him out longer.
Edg. O, he is gone, indeed!
Kent. The wonder is, he hath endur'd so long;
He but usurp'd his life.
459
Alb. Bear them from hence.-Our present business
Is general woe. Friends of my soul, you twain
[To KENT and EDGAR.
Rule in this realm, and the gor`d state sustain.
Kent. I have a journey, sir, shortly to go;
My master calls, and I must not say, no.
Alb. The weight of this sad time we must obey;
Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.
The oldest hath borne most: we, that are young,
Shall never see so much, nor live so long.
[Exeunt, with a dead March.
THE END.
ANNOTATIONS
BY
SAM. JOHNSON & GEO. STEEVENS,
AND
THE VARIOUS COMMENTATORS,
UPON
KING LEAR,
WRITTEN BY
WILL. SHAKSPERE.
-SIC ITUR AD ASTRA.
VIRG.
LONDON:
Printed for, and under the Direction of,
JOHN BELL, British-Library, STRAND,
Bookseller to His Royal Highness the PRINCE OF WALES,
M DCC LXXXVII.
1.
ANNOTATIONS
UPON
KING LEAR.
ACT I
Line 4.
something of obscurity or inaccuracy in this prepara- ·
tory scene. The king has already divided his king-
dom, and yet when he enters he examines his daughters,
to discover in what proportions he should divide it.
Perhaps Kent and Gloster only were privy to his de-
sign, which he still kept in his own hands, to be
changed or performed as subsequent reasons should
determine him.
JOHNSON.
IN the division of the kingdom-] There
6. —that curiosity in neither-] Curiosity is scrupu-
lousness, or captiousness. So, in the Taming of a
Shrew, act iv. line 569.
"For curious I cannot be with you." STEEVENS.
A ij
8.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
A& I.
8. -make choice of either's moiety.] The strict
sense of the word moiety is half, one of two equal parts;
but Shakspere commonly uses it for any part or di-
vision.
Methinks my moiety north from Burton here,
In quantity equals not one of yours:
and here the division was into three parts. STEEVENS.
19. -some year elder than this—] Some year, is
an expression used when we speak indefinitely.
STEEVENS.
35. -express our darker purpose.] We shall ex-
press our darker purpose: that is, we have already
made known in some measure our desire of parting
the kingdom; we will now discover what has not been
told before, the reasons by which we shall regulate
the partition. This interpretation will justify or pal-
liate the exordial dialogue.
JOHNSON.
38. —from our age;] The quartos read-off our
state.
STEEVENS.
39. Conferring them on younger strengths,] is the
reading of the folio; the quartos read, Confirming
them on younger years.
STEEVENS.
-while we, &c.] From while we, down to
prevented now, is omitted in the quartos. STEEVENS.
43. constant will] Constant is firm, determined.
The same epithet is used with the same meaning in
The Merchant of Venice:
else nothing in the world
Could turn so much the constitution
Of any constant man.
STEEVENS.
49.
A&t 1.
5
KING LEAR.
49. Since now, &c.] These two lines are omitted
in the quartos.
STEEVENS.
53. Where nature doth with merit challenge.. -]
Where the claim of merit is superadded to that of
nature; or where a superior degree of natural filial
affection is joined to the claim of other merits.
STEEVENS.
62. Beyond all manner of so much—] Beyond all
assignable quantity. I love you beyond limits, and
cannot say it is so much, for how much soever I should
name, it would be yet more.
JOHNSON.
-do? -] So the quarto; the folio has
63.
speak.
65.
With plenteous rivers
and with champains rich'd,
JOHNSON.
These words are
omitted in the quartos. To rich is an obsolete verb.
It is used by Tho. Drant in his translation of Horace's
Epistles, 1567:
"To ritch his country let his words lyke flowing
STEEVENS.
water fall."
Rich'd is used for enrich'd, as 'tice for entice, 'bate for
abate, strain for constrain, &c. MONCK MASON.
70. I am made, &c.] Thus the folio. The quarto
reads, Sir, I am made of the scif-same metal that my
sister is.
STEEVENS.,
71. And prize me] I believe this passage should
rather be pointed thus.:
And prize me at her worth, in my true heart
Į find, she.names, &c.
Aiij
That
6
A&t I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
That is, And so may you prize me at her worth, as in my
truc heart I find, that she names, &c.
I believe we should read:
"And prize you at her worth;"
TYRWHITT,
That is, set the same high value upon you that she
does.
MONCK MASON.
And prize me at her worth, perhaps means, I think
myself as worthy of your favour as she is. HENLEY.
73.
that I profess] That seems to stand without
relation, but is referred to find, the first conjunction
being inaccurately suppressed. I find that she names
my deed, I find that I profess, &c. JOHNSON.
The true meaning is this :-" My sister has equally
expressed my sentiments, only she comes short of me
in this, that I profess myself an enemy to all joys but
you."-That I profess, means, in that I profess.
MONCK MASON.
75. Which the most precious square of sense possesses;}
Square means only compass, comprehension. JOHNSON.
So, in a Parænesis to the Prince, by lord Sterline,
1604:
"The square of reason, and the mind's clear eye."
STEEVENS.
80. More pond'rous than my tongue.] Thus the
folio: the quarto reads, more richer. STEEVENS.
83. No less in space, validity] Validity, for
worth, valuc; not for integrity, or good title.
WARBURTON.
24. confirm'd] The folio reads, conferr'd.
STEEVENS.
}
$1.
AЯ I.
་་
KING LEAR.
84.
Now our joy,] Here the true reading is
picked out of two copies.
-But now our joy,
Butter's quarto reads :
Although the last, not least in our dear love,
What can you say to win a third, &c.
The folio:
-Now our joy,
Although our last, and least; to whose young love
The vines of France, and milk of Burgundy,
Strive to be int'ress'd, What can you say, &c.
JOHNSON.
85. Although our last, not least, &c.] So, in the old
anonymous play, King Leir speaking to Mumford:
-to thee last of all;
"Not greeted last, 'cause thy desert was small."
STEEVENS.
Again, in The Spanish Tragedy, written before 1593:
"The third and last, not least, in our account."
MALONE.
87. Strive to be interess'd;] So, in the Preface to
Drayton's Polyolbion: "—there is scarce any of the
nobilitie or gentry of this land, but he is some way or
other by his blood interessed therein."
Again, in Ben Jonson's Sejanus :
“Our sacred laws and just authority
"Are interessed therein."
To interest and to interesse, are not, perhaps, different
spellings of the same verb, but are two distinct
words, though of the same import; the one being
derived
ANNOTATIONS UPON
At 1..
derived from the Latin, the other from the French
interesser.
87.
say, 'to win.
89.
STEEVENS.
to draw] The quarto reads—what can you
STLEVENS.
These two speeches are wanting in the quartos.
STEEVENS.
96. How, how, Cordelia?] Thus the folio. The
quarto reads-Go to, go to.
103.
STEEVENS.
-Haply, when I shall wed, &c.] So, in The
Mirror of Magistrates, 1586, Cordila says:
"To love you as I ought, my father, well;
"Yet shortly I may chance, if fortune will,
"To find in heart to beare another more good
will:
"Thus much I said of nuptial loves that meant.'
STEEVENS.
107. To love my father all.-] These words are
restored from the first edition, without which the
sense was not complete.
A
POPE.
119. Hold thee, from this,~~] i. e. from this time.
STEEVENS.
148. As my great patron thought on in my prayers,—}
An allusion to the custom of clergymen praying for.
their patrons, in what is commonly called the bidding
HENLEY.
prayer.
See also the last note on King Henry IV: Part II.
153.
Think'st thou, that duty shall have dread to
spcak,] I have given this passage according to the old
folio. The quarto agrees with the folio, except that
for reserve thy state, it gives, reverse thy doom, and has
stoops
A&t I.
9
KING LEAR.
stoops, instead of falls to folly. The meaning of an-
swer my life my judgment, is, Let my life be answerable
for my judgment, or, I will stake my life on my opinion.
-The reading which, without any right, has pos-
sessed all the modern copies, is this:
to plainness honour
Is bound, when majesty to folly falls.
Reserve thy state; with better judgment check
This hideous rashness; with my life I answer,
Thy youngest daughter, &c.
I am inclined to think that reverse thy doom was Shak-
spere's first reading, as more apposite to the present
occasion, and that he changed it afterwards to reserve
thy state, which conduces more to the progress of the
action.
JOHNSON.
160. Reverbs—] This is, perhaps, a word of
the poet's own making, meaning the same as rever-
berates.
STEEVENS,
162.
-a pawn
To wage against thine enemies ;
¿. e. I never regarded my life, as my own, but
merely as a thing of which I had the possession, not
the property; and which was entrusted to me as a
pawn or pledge, to be employed in waging war against
your enemies.
To wage against is an expression used in a letter
from Guil. Webbe to Rob. Wilmot, prefixed to
Tancred and Guismund, 1592: CC -you shall not be
able to wage against me in the charges growing upon
this action,"
STEEVENS.
My
10
A&t I..
ANNOTATIONS UPON
My life I never held but as a pawn
To wage against thine enemies.
That is, I never considered my life as of more value
than that of the commonest of your subjects. A pawn
in chess is a common man, in contradistinétion to the-
knight; and Shakspere has several allusions to this
game, particularly in King John:
Who painfully with much expedient march,"
Have brought a counter-check before your gates.
Again, in King Henry V:
Therefore take heed how you impawn our person.
HENLEY.
167. The true blank of thine eye.] The blank is the
white, or exact mark at which the arrow is shot. Sce
better, says Kent, and keep me always in your view.
JOHNSON.
172. Dear sir, forbear.] This speech is omitted in
the quartos.
STEEVENS..
174. —thy gift.] The quartos read-thy doom:
180.
STEEVENS.
-strain'd pride] The oldest copy - reads ·
strayed pride; that is, pride exorbitant; pride passing ·
JOHNSON.
due bounds.
181,
To come betwixt our sentence and our power;]
Power, for execution of the sentence. WARBURTON.
Rather, as Mr. Edwards observes, cur power to
execute that sentence.
STEEVENS.
182. Which nor our nature, nor our place, can bear,
Our potency make good;] Mr. Theobald, by
putting the first line into a parenthesis, and altering ·
make
AQ 1.
11
KING LEAR.
make to made in the second line, had destroyed the
sense of the whole; which, as it stood before he cor-
rupted the words, was this: "You have endeavour-
ed, says Lear, to make me break my oath; you have
presumed to stop the execution of my sentence: the
latter of these attempts neither my temper nor high
station will suffer me to bear; and the other, had I
yielded to it, my power could not make good, or
-Which, in the first line, referring to both
attempts but the ambiguity of it, as it might refer
only to the latter, has occasioned all the obscurity of
WARBURTON.
excuse."
the passage.
Theobald only inserted the parenthesis; he found
made good in the best copy of 1623. Dr. Warburton
has very acutely explained and defended the reading
that he has chosen; but I am not certain that he has
chosen right. If we take the reading of the folio, our
potency made good, the sense will be less profound
indeed, but less intricate, and equally commodious.
As thou hast come with unreasonable pride between the sen-
tence which I had passed, and the power by which I shall
execute it, take thy reward in another sentence, which
shall make good, shall establish, shall maintain, that
power. If Dr. Warburton's explanation be chosen,
and every reader will wish to choose it, we may bet
ter read:
Which nor our nature, nor our state can bear,
Or potency make good..
Mr. Davies thinks, that our potency made good, relates
only to our place.-Which our nature cannot bear, nor
our
12
Act 1.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
our place, without departure from the potency of that
place. This is easy and clear.-Lear, who is charac-
terized as hot, heady, and violent, is, with very just
observation of life, made to entangle himself with
vows, upon any sudden provocation to vow revenge,
and then to plead the obligation of a vow in defence
of implacability.
JOHNSON.
185. disasters.] The quartos read diseases.
STEEVENS.
192. Freedom lives hence] So the folio. The
quartos concur in reading-Friendship lives hence.
STEEVENS.
193. dear shelter-] The quartos read-protection.
STEEVENS,
198. He'll shape his old course—] He will follow
his old maxims; he will continue to act upon the
same principles.
JOHNSON.
204.
A
-quest of love.] Quest of love is amorous
expedition. The term originated from Romance.
quest was the expedition in which a knight was en-
gaged. This phrase is often to be met with in the
Faery Queen.
211. Seeming] is beautiful.
STEEVENS.
JOHNSON.
Seeming rather means specious. So, in The Merry
Wives of Windsor :
("
-pluck the borrow'd veil of modesty front
the so seeming mistress Page.”
Again, in Measure for Measure :
-hence shall we see,
"If power change purpose, what our seemers be.”
STEEVENS.
216.
Act I.
13
KING LEAR.
216.
-owes,] i. e. Is possessed of.
STEEVENS.
221. Elecion makes not up on such conditions j To
make up signifies to complete, to conclude; as, they
made up the bargain; but in this sense it has, I think,
always the subject noun after it. To make up, in
familiar language, is neutrally, to come forward, to
make advances, which, I think, is meant here.
See make up, catch-word Alphabet.
232.
JOHNSON.
The best, the dearest ;· ] The quartos read-
Most best, most dearest.
STEEVENS.
236. That monsters it.] This uncommon verb
occurs again in Coriolanus, act ii. scene ii :
"To hear my nothings monster'd.
237.
-sure, her offence
Must be of such unnatural degree,
STEEVENS.
That monsters it, or your fore-vouch'd affection
Fall into taint:] The word must refers to
fall, as well as to be. Her offence must be monstrous,
or the former affection which you professed for her,
must fall into taint; that is, become the subject of
reproach.
MONCK MASON.
Taint is a term belonging to falconry. So, in the
Booke of Haukyng, &c. bl. let. no date: "A taint is
a thing that goeth overthwart the fethers, &c. like as
it were eaten with wormes."
STEEVENS.
257.
reads:
with regards that stand.] The quarto
with respecs that stands.
STEEVENS.
B
258.
14
A& I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
258. —from the entire point.] Entire, for single,
unmixed with other considerations.
JOHNSON.
The meaning of the passage is, that his love wants
something to mark its sincerity:
"Who seeks for aught in love but love alone?”
STEEVENS.
259. She is herself a dowry.] The quartos read :
She is herself and dower.
STEEVENS.
260. Royal Lear,] So the quarto; the folio has-
Royal king.
STEEVENS.
281. Thou losest here
-] Here and where have
the power of nouns.
Thou losest this residence to
find a better residence in another place.
See Where, catch-word Alphabet.
JOHNSON.
292.
-professing bosoms.] All the ancient edi-
tions read-professed. The alteration is Mr. Pope's ;
but, perhaps, is unnecessary, as Shakspere often uses
one participle for the other ;-longing for longed in the
Two Gentlemen of Verona, and all-obeying for all-obeyed
in Antony and Cleopatra.
STEEVENS.
300. And well are worth the want that you have want-
ed.] I explain the passage thus: You are well
deserving of the want of dower that you are without.
So, in the third part of K. Henry VI, act iv. sc. 1:
"Though I want a kingdom," i. e. though I am with-
out a kingdom. Again, in Stowe's Chronicle, p. 137:
"Anselm was expelled the realm, and wanted the
whole profits of his bishoprick," i. e. he did not
receive the profits, &c.
TOLLET.
301. -plaited cunning-] Or (as the quarto has
it)
A& I.
16
KING LEAR.
it) pleated. So, in Venus and Adonis :
"For that he colour'd with his high estate,
"Hiding base sin in pleats of majesty."
MALONE.
302. Who cover faults, &c.] The quartos read,
Who covers faults; at last shame them derides.
This I have replaced. The former editors read with
the folio:
Who covers faults at last with shame derides.
STEEVENS.
Mr. Monck Mason believes the folio, with the
alteration of a letter, to be the right reading:
Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides,
Who covert faults at last with shame derides.
The word who referring to time.
In the third act, Lear says:
Caitiff shake to pieces,
That under covert, and convenient seeming,
Hath practised on man's life.
REED.
In this passage Cordelia is made to allude to a pas-
sage of Scripture: Prov. xxviii. 13. "He that cover-
eth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth
and forsaketh them shall have mercy." HENLEY.
—of long engrafted condition,] i. e. vices of
the mind confirmed by habit.
MALONE.
1
319.
The same figure occurs both in Hamlet and Othello.
325:
***.
let us hit] So the old quarto.
The folio, let us fit.
-let us hit-] ¿. e. agree.
Bij
JOHNSON.
STEEVENS.
339.
16
A& I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
330.
iron's hot.
-i'the heat] i. e. We must strike while the
STEEVENS.
331. Thou, nature, art my goddess ;- -] Dr. War-
burton says that Shakspere has made his bastard an
atheist; when it is very plain that Edmund only speaks
of nature in opposition to custom, and not (as he sup-
poses) to the existence of a God. Edmund means
only, as he came not into the world as custom or law
had prescribed, so he had nothing to do but to follow
nature and her laws, which make no difference between
legitimacy and illegitimacy, between the eldest and
the youngest.
To contradict Dr. Warburton's assertion yet more
strongly, Edmund concludes this very speech by an
invocation to heaven.
"Now, gods, stand up for bastards!" STEEVENS.
333. Stand in the plague of custom] Shakspere
seems to mean by this expression: Wherefore should
I remain in a situation where I shall be plagued and
tormented only in consequence of the contempt with
which custom regards those who are not the issue of a
lawful bed?
STEEVENS.
334. The courtesy of nations] Curiosity, in the
time of Shakspere, was a word that signified an over-
nice scrupulousness in manners, dress, &c. In this sense
it is used in Timon: "When thou wast (says Ape-
mantus) in thy gilt and thy perfume, they mock'd
thee for too much curiosity." Barret, in his Alvearie,
or Quadruple Dictionary, 1580, interprets it, piked dili-
gence: something too curious, or too much affectated: and
again,
A& I.
17
KING LEAR.
again, in this play of King Lear, Shakspere seems to
use it in the same sense, "which I have rather
blamed as my own jealous curiosity.”
STEEVENS.
334. to deprive me,] To deprive was, in our
author's time, synonymous to disinherit. The old
dictionary renders exhæredo by this word: and Holin-
shed speaks of the line of Henry before deprived.
Again, in Warner's Albion's England, 1602, B. III.
ch. xvi.
"To you, if whom ye have depriv'd ye shall re-
store again."
Again, Ibid.
"The one restor'd, for his late depriving nothing
STEEVENS.
mov'd."
336. Lag of a brother?] Edmund inveighs against
the tyranny of custom, in two instances, with respect
to younger brothers, and to bastards. In the former
he must not be understood to mean himself, but the
argument becomes general by implying more than is
said, Wherefore should I, or any man?
HANMER.
341. Who, in the lusty stealth of nature, &c.] These
fine lines are an instance of our author's admirable
art in giving proper sentiments to his characters.
The bastard's is that of a confirmed atheist; and his
being made to ridicule judicial astrology, was designed
as one mark of such a character. For this impious
juggle had a religious reverence paid to it at that
time. And therefore the best characters in this play
acknowledge the force of the stars' influence. But
how much the lines following this are in character,
Biij
may
18
A&t 1.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
may be seen by that monstrous wish of Vanini, the
Italian atheist, in his tract De admirandis Naturæ, &c.
printed at Paris, 1616, the very year our poet died.
“O utinam extra legitimum & connubialem thorum essem
procreatus! Ita enim progenitores mei in venerem incalu-
issent ardentiùs, ac cumulatim affatimque generosa
semina contulissent, è quibus ego forma blanditiam &
elegantiam, robustas corporis vires, mentemque innubilem
consequutus fuissem. At quia conjugatorum sum sobo-
les, his orbatus sum bonis." Had the book been
published but ten or twenty years sooner, who would
not have believed that Shakspere alluded to this pas-
sage? But the divinity of his genius foretold, as it
were, what such an atheist as Vanini would say, when
he wrote upon such a subject.
WARBURTON.
Mr. Steevens hath, in a former note, confuted the
imputed atheism of Edmund.
351.
Shall top the legitimate.] Here the Oxford
editor would shew us that he is as good at coining
phrases as his author, and so alters the text thus :
Shall toe th' legitimate.-————
i. e. says he, stand on even ground with him; as he
would do with his author.
WARBURTON.
Hanmer's emendation will appear very plausible to
him that shall consult the original reading. Butter's
quarto reads:
Edmund the base
Shall tooth' legitimate.-
The folio.
-Edmund the basc
Shall to th' legitimate.-
Hanmer,
A&t I.
19
KING LEAR.
Hanmer, therefore, could hardly be charged with
coining a word, though his explanation may be doubt-
ed. To toe him, is perhaps to kick him out, a phrase
yet in vulgar use; or, to toe, may be literally to sup-
plant.
JOHNSON.
Mr. Edwards would read-Shall top the legitimate.
I have received this emendation, because the suc-
ceeding expression, I grow, seems to favour it.
So, in Macbeth:
Not in the legions
STEEVENS.
"Of horrid hell can come a devil more damn'd,
"To top Macbeth."
354.
MALONE.
-subscrib'd his power!] Subscrib'd
WARBURTON.
for transferred, alienated.
To subscribe, is, to transfer by signing or subscrib-
ing a writing of testimony. We now use the term,
He subscribed forty pounds to the new building.
The folio reads—prescribed.
355.
JOHNSON.
STEEVENS.
JOHNSON.
-exhibition !—] Is allowance. The
term is yet used in the universities.
All this done
Upon the gad!-
]
So the old copies: the later editions read :
-All is gone
Upon the gad!-
which, besides that it is unauthorized, is less proper.
To do upon the gad, is, to act by the sudden stimu
lation
20
Aa I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
lation of caprice, as cattle run madding when they are
stung by the gad fly.
JOHNSON.
A thing done upon the gad is done suddenly, or (as
before) while the iron is hot. A gad is an iron bar.
REMARKS.
See Gad, catch-word Alphabet.
375.
taste of my virtue.] Though taste may
stand in this place, yet I believe we should read,
assay or test of my virtue: they are both metallurgi-
cal terms, and properly joined. So, in Hamlet:
66 Bring me to the test.”
JOHNSON.
The old reading is the true one. See Mr. Steevens's
note on the word say, act v. line 254. In the eastern
parts of the kingdom this expression is still retained.
HENLEY.
379.
420.
—idle and fond] Weak and foolish.
JOHNSON.
-pretence— -] Pretence is design, purpose.
So, afterwards, in this play:
Pretence and purpose of unkindness. JOHNSON.
427. Edm.] From Nor is, to heaven and earth! are
words omitted in the folio.
STEEVENS.
430. wind me into him-
-wind me into him-] So, in Twelfth-
Night: "challenge me the duke's youth to fight with
him." Instances of this phraseology occur in The
Merchant of Venice, K. Henry IV. Part I. and in Othello.
STEEVENS.
431. -I would unstate myself to be in a due reso-
lution.] The same word occurs in Antony and Cleo-
patra:
"Yes,
Act I.
21
KING LEAR.
"Yes, like enough, high-battl❜d Cæsar will
"Unstate his happiness, and be urg'd to shew
"Against a sworder."
To unstate, in both these instances, seems to have
the same meaning. Edgar has been represented as
wishing to possess his father's fortune, i. e. to unstate
him; and therefore his father says he would unstate
himself to be sufficiently resolved to punish him.
To enstate is to confer a fortune. So, in Measure for
Measure:
-his possessions
We do enstate and widow'you withal. STEEVENS.
It seems to me, that I would unstate myself in this
passage means simply I would give my estate (including
rank as well as fortune.)
TYRWHITT.
Gloster cannot bring himself thoroughly to believe
what Edmund told him of Edgar; he says, Can he
be such a monster? He afterwards desires Edmund to
sound his intentions, and then says, he would give all
he possessed to be certain of the truth; for that is the
meaning of the words to be in a due resolution.
Othello uses the word resolved in the same sense
more than once:
-I will be resolved,
"For once to be in doubt, is once to be resolved."
In both which places, to be resolved means to be certain
of the fact.
In Beaumont and Fletcher's Maid's Tragedy, Amin-
tor says to Evadne,
" 'Tis
ANNOTATIONS UPON
A& I.
<< "Tis not his crown
"Shall buy me to thy bed, now I resolve,
"He hath dishonour'd thee."
And afterwards in the same play the King says:
"Well, I am resolved
"You lay not with her."
433.
-convey the business
MONCK MASON.
] To convey, is to
that he has
manage artfully: we say of a juggler,
a clean conveyance.
So, in Mother Bombie, by Lilly, 1599:
JOHNSON.
"Two, they
say, may keep counsel if one be away; but to convey
knavery two are too few, and four are too many.”
Again, in A mad World, My Masters, by Middleton,
1608:
-thus I've convey'd it ;
"I'll counterfeit a fit of violent sickness."
STEEVENS.
So, in Lord Sterline's Julius Cæsar, 1607:
"A circumstance, or an indifferent thing,
"Doth oft mar all, when not with care convey'd."
MALONE.
437. the wisdom of nature] That is, though
natural philosophy can give account of eclipses, yet
we feel their consequences.
JOHNSON.
442. This villain-] These words, and all to
graves inclusive, are omitted in the quartos.
STEEVENS.
452. This is the excellent foppery of the world, &c.]
In Shakspere's best plays, besides the vices that arise
from the subject, there is generally some peculiar
prevailing
Д& I.
23
KING LEAR,
prevailing folly, principally ridiculed, that runs
through the whole piece. Thus, in The Tempest, the
lying disposition of travellers; and, in As You Like It,
the fantastick humour of courtiers is exposed and
satirised with infinite pleasantry. In like manner, in
this play of Lear, the dotages of judicial astrology are
severely ridiculed. I fancy, was the date of its first
performance well considered, it would be found that
something or other happened at that time which gave
a more than ordinary run to this deceit, as these words
seem to intimate; I am thinking, brother, of a prediction
I read this other day, what should follow these eclipses.
WARBURTON.
457. and treachers———] The modern editors
read treacherous; but the reading of the first copies,
which I have restored to the text, may be supported
from most of the old contemporary writers. So, in
Doctor Dodypoll, a comedy, 1600:
"How smooth the cunning treacher look'd upon
it!"
Chaucer, in his Romaunt of the Rosc, mentions "the
false treacher," and Spenser often uses the same word.
462.
STEEVENS.
of a star.] Both the quartos read-to
the charge of stars.
468.
STEEVENS.
-pat he comes- ] The quartos read,
and out he comes.
STEEVENS.
Pat he comes, like the catastrophe of the old
comedy :—] Instead of admitting with Dr. Warbur-
ton that Shakspere meant this as a panegyrick, on "the
natural
24
AЯ I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
natural winding up of the plot in the comedy of the
ancients;" or with Mr. Warner, that it is “satire,
and intended to ridicule the awkward conclusions of
our old comedies."-Is it not more probable, that a
particular comedy was referred to, and which perhaps
gave rise to the proverb: "Talk of the devil, and his
horns will appear ?"—At least, this used to be the case
in the puppet-show of Punch.
HENLEY.
478. I promise you] The folio edition com-
monly differs from the first quarto, by augmentation
or insertions; but in this place it varies by omission,
and by the omission of something which naturally
introduces the following dialogue. It is easy to re-
mark, that in this speech, which ought, I think, to
be inserted as it now is in the text, Edmund, with the
common craft of fortune-tellers, mingles the past and
future, and tells of the future only what he already
foreknows by confederacy, or can attain by probable
conjecture.
JOHNSON.
479. as of] These words, and all that
follow to come, come, inclusive, are omitted in the
folio.
STEEVENS,
484. For breeches read breaches.
485. How long have you] This line I have
restored from the two eldest quartos, and have regu-
lated the following speech according to the same
copies.
STEEVENS.
500. That's my fear.] All between this and the
next speech of Edmund, is omitted in the quartos.
STEEVENS.
523.
A& 1.
25
KING LEAR.
523. By day and night he wrongs me:] This passage
has hitherto been printed as an adjuration :
By day and night! &c.
But wrongly, as was observed to me by Mr. Whalley.
STEEVENS.
536. -Idle old man,] The lines from Not to be
over-rul'd, &c. to Remember, as they are fine in them-
selves, and very much in character for Goneril, I
have restored from the old quarto. The last verse,
which I have ventured to amend, is there printed
thus :
With checks, like flatt'ries when they are seen
THEOBALD.
abus'd.
These lines hardly deserve a note, though Mr.
Theobald thinks them very fine. The controverted
line is yet in the cld quarto, not as the editors repre-
sent it, but thus :
With checks as flatteries when they are seen
abus'd.
I am in doubt whether there is any error of transcrip-
tion. The sense seems to be this: Old men must be
treated with checks, when as they are seen to be deceived
with flatteries: or, when they are weak enough to be seen
abused by flatteries, they are then weak enough to be
used with checks. There is a play of the words used
and abused: to abuse is, in our author, very fre-
quently the same as to deceive. This construction is
harsh and ingrammatical; Shakspere perhaps thought
it vicious, and chose to throw away the lines rather
than correct them, nor would now thank the officious-
С
ness
£6
Aa I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
ness of his editors, who restore what they do not un-
derstand.
JOHNSON.
The plain meaning, I believe, is-old fools must
be used with checks, as flatteries must be check'd
when they are made a bad use of.
TOLLET.
I understand this passage thus: Old fools-must be
used with checks, as well as flatteries, when they Ți. e.
flatteries] are seen to be abused.
TYRWHITT.
The sentiment of Goneril is obviously this: "When
old fools will not yield to the appliances of persuasion,
harsh treatment must be employed to compel their
submission." When flatteries are seen to be abus'd by
them, checks must be used, as the only means left to
subdue them.
HENLEY.
548. If but as well I other accents borrow,
And can my speech disuse.. -] Thus Rowe,
Pope, and Johnson, in contradiction to all the ancient
copies.
The first folio reads the whole passage as follows:
If but as will I otlier accents borrow,
That can my speech defuse, my good intent
May carry through, &c.
We must suppose that Kent advances looking on his
disguise. This circumstance very naturally leads to
his speech, which otherwise would have no very appa-
rent introduction. If I can change my specch as well as
I have changed my dress. To diffuse speech, signifies to
disorder it, and so to disguise it; as in the Merry Wives
of Windsor, act iv. scene 4:
‹‹ —rush
A& 1.
27
KING LEAR.
rush at once
"With some diffused song."
Again, in the Nice Valour, &c. by Beaumont and
Fletcher, Cupid says to the Passionate Man, who ap.
pears disordered in his dress:
Go not so diffusedly."
Again, in our author's King Henry V:
(C
-swearing, and stern looks, diffus'd attire."
Again, in a book entitled, A Green Forest, or A Natural
History, &c. by John Maplet, 1567:-" In this stone
is apparently seene verie often the verie forme of a
tode, with bespotted and coloured feete, but those
uglye and defusedly."-To diffuse speech may, however,
mean to speak broad, with a clownish accent. -The
two eldest quartos concur with the folio, except that
they read well instead of will.
STEEVENS.
562. -him that is wise, and says little ;—] To
converse signifies immediately and properly to keep
company, not to discourse or talk. His meaning is,
that he chuses for his companions men of reserve and
Caution; men who are no tatlers nor tale-bearers.
JOHNSON.
564.—and to eat no fish.] In queen Elizabeth's
time the Papists were esteemed, and with good rea-
son, enemies to the government.
Hence the pro-
verbial phrase of, He's an honest man, and eats no fish ;
to signify he's a friend to the government, and a Pro-
testant. The eating fish, on a religious account,
being then esteemed such a badge of Popery, that
when it was enjoined for a season by act of parlia-
Cij
ment,
28
A& I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
ment, for the encouragement of the fish-towns, it
was thought necessary to declare the reason; hence
it was called Cecil's fast. To this disgraceful badge
of Popery Fletcher alludes in his Woman-hater, who
makes the courtezan say, when Lazarillo, in search
of the Umbrano's head, was seized at her house by
the intelligencers for a traitor: "Gentlemen, I am
glad you have discovered him. He should not have
eaten under my roof for twenty pounds. And sure I
did not like him, when he called for fish." And
Marston's Dutch Courtezan: "I trust I am none of
the wicked that eat fish a Fryday." WARBURTON.
616. a very pretence.] Pretence, in Shakspere,
generally signifies design. So, in a foregoing scene in
this play: " -to no other pretence of danger."
630.
Tennis:
STEEVENS.
bandy looks] A metaphor from
"Come in, take this bandy with the racket of
patience."
Decker's Satiromastix.
Again:
644.
-buckle with them hand to hand,
"And bandy blows as thick as hailstones fall."
Wily Beguiled.
STEEVENS.
-take my coxcomb.] Meaning his cap,
called so, because on the top of the fool or jester's
cap was sewed a piece of red cloth, resembling the
comb of a cock. The word, afterwards, was used
to denote a vain, conceited, meddling fellow.
WARBURTON.
See
AG I.
KING LEAR.
29
See Fig. XII. in the plate at the end of the first
part of King Henry IV. with Mr. Tollet's explanation,
who has since added, that Minshew, in his Dictionary,
1627, says,
"Natural ideots and fools have, and still
do accustome themselves to weare in their cappes
cockes feathers, or a hat with a neck and head of a coche
on the top, and a bell thereon," &c. STEEVENS.
645. Why, fool?] The folio reads-why, my boy?
and gives this question to Lear.
STEEVENS.
648. -thou'lt catch cold shortly] i. c. be turned
out of doors, and exposed to the inclemency of the
weather.
FARMER.
653. -two coxcombs—] Two fools caps; in-
tended, as it seems, to mark double folly in the man
that gives all to his daughters.
JOHNSON.
This seems to be inaccurate. The fool assigns the
first cap to Lear for having given up half his king-
dom to one daughter, and the second, for not with-
holding the remaining half from the other. HENLEY.
lady brach—] Brach is a bitch of the
66).
hunting kind.
"Nos quidem hodie brach dicimus de cane foeminea,
quæ leporem ex odore persequitur." Spelm. Gloss. in
voce Bracco.
Dr. Letherland, on the margin of Dr. Warburton's
edition, proposed lady's brach, i. e. favour'd animal.
The third quarto has a much more unmannerly read-
ing, which I would not wish to establish: but all
the other editions concur in reading lady brack. Lady
is still a common name for a hound. So Hotspur:
Ciij
"I had
30
Act I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
"I had rather hear lady, my brach, howl in Irish."
Again, in Ben Jonson's Poem to a Friend, &c.
"Do all the tricks of a salt lady bitch."
In the old black letter Booke of Huntyng, &c. no date,
the list of dogs concludes thus: " -and small ladi
popies that bere awai the fleas and divers small fautes.”
We might read-" when lady the brach," &c.
STEEVENS.
668. Lend less than thou owest,] That is, do not lend
all that thou hast. To owe, in old English, is to possess.
JOHNSON.
670. Learn more than thou trowest,] To trow, is an
old word which signifies to believe.
admirable.
The precept is
WARBURTON.
676. This is nothing, fool.] The quartos give this
speech to Lear.
STEEVENS.
687. No, lad→] This dialogue, from No, lad,
teach me, down to Give me an egg, was restored from
the first edition by Mr. Theobald. It is omitted in
the folio, perhaps for political reasons, as it seemed
to censure monopolies.
JOHNSON.
701. -if I had a monopoly out, they would have a
part on't:] A satire on the gross abuses of monopolies
at that time; and the corruption and avarice of the
courtiers, who commonly went shares with the patentee.
WARBURTON.
Monopolies were in Shakspere's time the common
objects of satire. So, in Decker's Match me in London,
1631:
-Give him a court loaf, stop his mouth with
a menopoly."
བ
3
Again,
A&t I.
KING LEAR.
Again, in Ram-Alley, or Merry Tricks, 1611:
31
"A knight, and never heard of smock-fees! I
would I had a monopoly of them, so there was no im-
post set on them."
Again, in the birth of Merlin, 1662:
So foul a monster would be a fair monopoly
worth the begging."
In the books of the Stationers-Company, I meet
with the following entry. "John Charlewoode, Oct.
1587: lycensed unto him by the whole consent of the
assistants, the onlye ymprynting of all manner of billes
for plaiers." Again, Nov. 6, 1615, The liberty of
printing all billes for fencing was granted to Mr.
Purfoot.
STEEVENS.
714. Fools ne'er had less grace in a year,] There
never was a time when fools were less in favour;
and the reason is, that they were never
so little
wanted, for wise men now supply their place. Such
I think is the meaning. Both the quartos read wit
JOHNSON.
723. Then they for sudden joy did weep, &c.] So, in
the Rape of Lucrece, by Heywood, 1630:
for grace.
"When Tarquin first in court began,
"And was approved king,
"So men for sudden joy did weep,
“But I for sorrow sing:
""
I cannot ascertain in what year T. Heywood first pub-
lished this play, as the copy in 1630, which I have
used, was the fourth impression.
737.
that frontlet-
STEEVENS.
-] Lear alludes to the
frontlet,
32
A& 1.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
frontlet, which was anciently part of a woman's dress.
So, in the play called the Foure P's, 1569:
"Forsooth women have many lets,
"And they be masked in many nets:
"As frontlets, fillets, partlets, and bracelets:
"And then their bonnets and their pionets."
Again, in Lylly's Midas, 1592:
"Hoods, frontlets, wires, cauls, curling-irons,
perriwigs, bodkins, fillets, hair-laces, ribbons, roles,
knot-strings, glasses, &c."
740.
STEEVENS.
·now thou art an O without a figure:] The
fool means to say, that Lear, " having pared his wit
on both sides, and left nothing in the middle," is be-
come a mere cypher; which has no arithmetical value,
unless preceded or followed by some figure.
747.
MALONE.
That's a sheal'd peascod.] i. e. Now a mere
husk, which contains nothing. The outside of a king
remains, but all the intrinsick parts of royalty are
gone: he has nothing to give.
JOHNSON.
That's a sheal'd peascod.] i. c. The robing of
Richard II.'s effigy in Westminster-Abbey is wrought
with peascods open, and the peas out; perhaps in allu-
sion to his being once in full possession of sovereignty,
but soon reduced to an empty title. See Camden's
Remains, 1671, P. 453. edit. 1657, p. 340. TOLLET.
755. put it on] i. e. promote, push it forward.
So, in Macbeth:
CC
-the pow'rs
Put on their instruments.'
STEEVENS.
756.
AR I.
33
KING LEAR.
756. By your allowance;] By your approbation.
765.
MALONE.
were left darkling.] This word is used
by Milton, Paradise Lost, book I :
<<
as the wakeful bird
"Sings darkling.".
Dr. Farmer concurs with me in supposing, that the
words-So out went the candle, &c. are a fragment of
some old song.
STEEVENS.
770. -transform you.] Thus the quartos. The
folio reads-transport you.
STEEVENS.
773. Whoop, Jug, I love thee.] This, as I am
informed, is a quotation from the burthen of an old
song.
STEEVENS.
Whoop, Jug, I'll do thee no harm, occurs in The
Winter's Tale.
774.
MALONE.
this is not Lear:] This passage appears
to have been imitated by Ben Jonson in his Sad Shep-
herd:
this is not Marian!
"Nor am 1 Robin Hood! I pray you ask her!
“Ask her, good shepherds! ask her all for me:
“Or råber ask yourselves, if she be she;
"Cribe I."
L
STEEVENS.
777. -Ha! waking?—'Tis not so.] Thus the folio.
The quartos read :
sleeping or waking; ha! sure 'tis not so.
STEEVENS.
778. —Lear's shadow ?] The folio gives these words
to the Fool.
STEEVENS.
779.
84
A& I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
779.
for by the marks
Of sov'reignty, of knowledge, and of reason]
The meaning appears to me to be this :
"Were I to judge from the marks of sovereignty,
of knowledge, or of reason, I should be induced to
think I had daughters; yet that must be a false per-
suasion-It cannot be."
MONCK MASON.
781. I had daughters.-] Here the quarto in-
terposes the following short and useless speech of the
fool:
"Which they will make an obedient father.”
Which, is on this occasion used with two deviations
from present language. It is referred, contrary to
the rules of grammarians, to the pronoun I, and is
employed, according to a mode now obsolete, for
whom, the accusative case of who.
STEEVENS.
793. a grac'd palace.-] A palace grac'd by
the presence of a sovereign.
WARBURTON.
796. A little to disquantity your train;] A little is
the common reading; but it appears, from what Lear
says in the next scene, that this number fifty was re-
quired to be cut off, which (as the editions stood) is
no where specified by Goneril.
POPE.
Offifty to disquantity your train;] If Mr. Pope had
examined the old copies as accurately as he pretended
to have done, he would have found, in the first folio,
that Lear had an exit marked for him after these
words-
To have a thankless child.-Away, away!
and goes out while Albany and Goneril have a short
conference
A& 1.
25
KING LEAR.
conference of two speeches; and then returns in a still
greater passion, having been informed (as it should
seem) of the express number, without.
What? fifty of my followers at a clap ?
This renders all change needless; and away, away!
being restored, prevents the repetition of go, go, my
people! which, as the text stood before this regulation,
concluded both that and the foregoing speech. Gone.
ril with great art is made to avoid mentioning the
limited number; and leaves her father to be informed
of it by accident, which she knew would be the case
as soon as he left her presence.
STEEVENS.
797.
for continue in service.
that shall still depend,] Depend,
WARBURTON.
810. Than the sca-monster!] Mr. Upton observes,
that the sea-monster is the Hippopotamus, the hiero-
glyphical symbol of impiety and ingratitude. Sandys,
in his travels, says" that he killeth his sire, and
ravisheth his own dam."
STEEVENS.
811. Pray, sir, be patient.] The quartos omit this
STEEVENS.
speech.
818. like an engine-] Mr. Edwards conjectures
that by an engine is meant the rack. He is right. To
engine is, in Chaucer, to strain upon the rack; and in
the following passage from the Three Lords of London,
1590, engine seems to be used for the same instrument
of torture:
"From Spain they come, with engine and intent,
"To slay, subdue, to triumph, and torment.”
Again, in the Night-Walker, by Beaumont and Fletcher:
4
"Ther
36
A& I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
"Ther souls shot through with adders torn, on
822.
engines."
STEEVENS.
Go, go, my people!] Perhaps these words
ought to be regulated differently:
Go; go-my people!
By Albany's answer it should seem that he had
endeavoured to appease Lear's anger; and perhaps it
was intended by the author that he should here be put
back by the king with these words" Go; go;" and
that Lear should then turn hastily from his son-in-
law, and call his train: "My people!" Mes Gens,
French. So, in a former part of this scene:
"You strike my people; and your disorder'd rabble
"Make servants of their betters."
Again, in Othello:
Call up my people."
However the passage be understood, these latter
words must bear this sense.
The meaning of the
whole, indeed, may be only-" Away, away, my
followers!"
MALONE.
824. Of what hath mov'd you.] Omitted in the
quartos.
STEEVENS.
831. --from her derogate body——] Derogate for
WARBURTON.
unnatural.
Rather, I think, degraded; blasted. JOHNSON.
834. -thwart] Thwart, as a noun adjective, is not
frequent in our language; it is however to be found in
Promos and Cassandra, 1578, "Sith fortune thwart
doth crosse my joys with care." The quarto reads,
a thourt
Aa I.
37
KING LEAR.
a thourt disvetur'd torment, which I apprehend to be
HENDERSON.
disfeatur'd.
834.
disnatur'd] Disnatur'd is wanting natural
affection. So, Daniel in Hymen's Triumph, 1623:
"I am not so disnatured a man.” STLEVENS.
836. -cadent tears--] i. e. Falling tears.
Dr. Warburton would read candent.
STEEVENS.
Dr. Warburton proposes to read candent; and the
words-these hot tears, in Lear's next speech, may
seem to authorise the amendment; but the present
reading is right. It is a more severe imprecation to
wish, that tears by constant flowing may fret channels
in the cheeks; which implies a long life of wretched-
ness, than to wish that those channels should be made
by scalding tears, which alone do not mark the
same continuation of misery.
The same thought occurs in Troilus and Cressida,
act v. sc. iii.
"Not Priamus and Hecuba on knees,
"Their eyes o'er-galled with recourse of tears,”
should prevent his going to the field.
MONCK MASON.
837. Turn all her mother's pains and benefits
To laughter and contempt;] "Her mother's
pains" here signifies, not bodily sufferings, or the
throes of child-birth (with which this "disnatured
babe" being unacquainted, it could not deride or de-
spise them), but maternal cares; the solicitude of a
mother for the welfare of her child. Benefits mean
good offices; her kind and beneficent attention to the
education
D
38
A& I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
education of her offspring, &c. Mr. Roderick has,
in my opinion, explained both these words wrong.
He is equally mistaken in supposing that the sex of
this child is ascertained by the word her ; which
clearly relates, not to Goneril's issue, but to herself.
"Her mother's pains" means-the pains she takes as
a mother.
MALONE.
849. I will transcribe this passage from the first
edition, that it may appear to those who are un-
acquainted with old books, what is the difficulty of
revision, and what indulgence is due to those that
endeavour to restore corrupted passages. That
these hot tears, that breake from me perforce, should make
the worse blasts and fogs upon the untender woundings of a
father's curse, peruse every sense about the old fond eyes,
beweep this cause again, &c.
852. The untented woundings-
JOHNSON.
] Untented
wounds, mean wounds in their worst state, not hav-
ing a tent in them to digest them; and may possibly
signify here such as will not admit of having a tent
put into them for that purpose.
One of the quartos
reads untcnder.
855.
that you make.
STEEVENS.
that you lose.] The quartos read-
STEEVENS.
857. Let it be so, &c ] The reading is here gleaned.
up, part from the first, and part from the second
edition.
JOHNSON,
Let it be so, is omitted in the quartos. STEEVENS.
875. Gon.] All from hence, to How now, is omitted
in the quartos.
STEEVENS.
877.
Act 1.
39
KING LEAR.
877. At point,] I believe, means completely arm-
ed, and consequently ready at appointment or com-
mand on the slightest notice.
STEEVENS.
887. How now, Oswald ?] The quartos read—
What, Oswald, ho!
Osw. Here, madam.
Gon. What, have you writ this letter, &c.
893.
STEEVENS.
compact it more.] Unite one circum-
stance with another, so as to make consistent account.
JOHNSON.
897.
now with parents and governesses. I'll take you to
task, i. e. I will reprehend and correct you. To be at
task, therefore, is to be liable to reprehension and cor-
rection.
JOHNSON.
more at task-] It is a common phrase
Both the quartos, instead of at task-read, alapt. A
late editor of King Lear, says, that the first quarto
reads attask'd; but unless there be a third quarto,
which I have never seen or heard of, his assertion is
STEEVENS.
erroneous.
The word task is frequently used by Shakspere,
and indeed by other writers of his time, in the sense
of tax. Goneril means to say, that he was more
taxed for want of wisdom, than praised for mildness.
So, in The Island Princess :
“You are too saucy, too impudent,
" To task me with those errors."
MONCK MASON.
Dij
90..
40
A&t I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
900. Striving to better, oft we mar what's well.] So,
in our author's 103d Sonnet:
"Were it not sinful then, striving to mend,
"To mar the subject that before was well ?”
906.
MALONE.
there before you.] He seems to in-
tend to go to his daughter; but it appears afterwards
that he is going to the house of Gloster.
JOHNSON.
916. -thy other daughter will use thee kindly :]
The Fool uses the word kindly here in two senses; it
means affectionately, and like the rest of her kind.
MONCK MASON.
927. I did her wrong-] He is musing on Cor-
delia.
JOHNSON.
943. To take it again perforce!] He is medi-
tating on the resumption of his royalty. JOHNSON.
He is rather meditating on his daughter's having in
so violent a manner deprived him of those privileges
which before she had agreed to grant him.
STEEVENS.
The subject of Lear's meditation is the resumption
of that moiety of his kingdom which he had given to
Goneril. This was what Albany apprehended, when
he replied to the upbraidings of his wife :-" Well,
well; the event:"-what Lear himself projected when
he left Goneril to go to Regan :—
"Yet I have left a daughter,
"Who, I am sure, is kind and comfortable;
"When she shall hear this of thee, with her nails.
"She'll flea thy wolfish visage. Thou shalt find,
"That
Act II.
41
KING LEAR.
“That I'll resume the shape, which thou dost think,
"I have cast off for ever; thou shalt, I warrant
thee."
And what Curan afterwards refers to, when he asks
Edmund: "Have you heard of no likely wars toward,
'twixt the dukes of Cornwall and Albany ?" HENLEY.
ACT II.
Line 9.
EAR-kissing arguments.] Ear-kissing
arguments means that they are yet in reality only whis-
per'd ones.
STEEVENS.
11. Cur. This and the following speech are omit-
ted in one of the quartos.
STEEVENS.
18. -queazy question,] Queazy, I believe, means
delicate, what requires to be handled nicely. So, Ben
Jonson, in Sejanus:
"Those times are somewhat queasy to be touch'd.—
"Have you not seen or read part of his book ?"
So, in Ben Jonson's New Inn:
"Notes of a queasy and sick stomach, labouring
"With want of a true injury."-
Again, in Much Ado about Nothing :
(3
Despight of his quick wit and queasy stomach.”
STEEVENS.
Queazy is still used in Devonshire, to express that
Diij
sickishness
42
A&t II.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
sickishness of stomach which the slightest disgust is
apt to provoke.
25.
HENLEY.
-i' the haste,] I should suppose we ought
to read only in haste;
by the compositor.
26.
the being repeated accidentally
STEEVENS.
have you nothing said
Upon his party 'gainst the duke of Albany ?]
The meaning is, have you said nothing upon the party
formed by him against the duke of Albany?
HANMER.
I cannot but think the line corrupted, and would
read :
Against his party, for the duke of Albany?
JOHNSON.
Upon his party, means simply on his behalf.
HENLEY.
41. Mumbling of wicked charms, conjuring the moon]
This was a proper circumstance to urge to Gloster;
who appears, by what passed between him and his
bastard son in a foregoing scene, to be very supersti-
tious with regard to this matter.
WARBURTON.
First quarto: the
50.
rest have it, the thunder.
59.
their thunders
gasted] Frighted.
JOHNSON.
JOHNSON.
So, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Wit at several Wea-
pons:
“ ——either the sight of the lady has gasted him,
or else he's drunk."
STEEVENS.
62. Not in this land shall he remain uncaught;
And found-Dispatch.-] The sense is here
interrupted.
!
At 11.
43
KING LEAR.
interrupted. He shall be caught-and found, he shall
be punish'd. Dispatch.
64.
arch-
JOHNSON.
-arch—] i. e. Chief; a word now used
only in composition, as arch-angel, arch-duke.
So, in Heywood's If you know not me, you know
Nobody, 1613:
"Poole, that arch for truth and honesty."
67.
STEEVENS.
-murderous coward-
] The first edi-
JOHNSON.
tion reads, caitiff.
70. And found him pight to do it, with curst speech.}
Pight is pitched, fixed, settled. Curst is severe, harsh,
vehemently angry.
JOHNSON.
Thus, in Troilus and Cressida :
C
tents
"Thus proudly pight upon our Phrygian plains.”
So, in the old morality of Lusty Juventus, 1561:
"Therefore my heart is surely pyght
"Of her alone to have a sight." STEEVENS.
·would the reposal] i. e. Would any opinion
that men have reposed in thy trust, virtue, &c.
73.
WARBURTON.
The old quarto reads, could the reposure.
STEEVENS.
83. Strange and, &c.] Strong and fastened. Quarto.
JOHNSON.
91. Capable of my land――] i. e. capable of suc-
ceeding to my land, notwithstanding the legal bar of
thy illegitimacy.
So, in the Life and Death of Will Summers, &c.-
"The
44
A&t II.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
"The king next demanded of him (he being a fool)
whether he were capable to inherit any land," &c.
STEEVENS.
116. He did bewray his practice ;-] i. e. Discover,
betray.
So, in The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington, 1601:
"We were bewray'd, beset, and forc'd to yield.”
Again, in The Devil's Charter, 1607:
"Thy solitary passions should bewray
"Some discontent.".
Practice is always used by Shakspere for insidious mis-
chief.
So, in Revenge for Honour, by Chapman :
"Howe'er thou scap'st my practices with life."
The quartos read betray.
131.
reads:
STEEVENS.
threading dark-ey'd night.] The quarto
threat'ning dark-ey'd night. JOHNSON,
Shakspere uses the former of these expressions in
Coriolanus, act iii. line 155.
'They would not thread the gates." STEEVENS.
132. Occasions, noble Gloster, of some prize,] We
should read, poize, i. e. weight,
WARBURTON.
JOHNSON.
Prize, or price, for value.
Shakspere having elsewhere used to peize for to
balance or weigh, and the letter r in his own autograph
(see the plate of fac simile) being made more like an
e, I conclude that peize was the original word, and
was used to signify deliberation,
HENLEY,
136,
+
AG 11.
45
KING LEAR.
136.
--from our home: -] Not at home, but
at some other place.
JOHNSON.
143. Good even.] Thus the quarto, The folio-
STEEVENS.
Good dawning.
We should read with the folio-" Good dawning to
thee, friend." The latter-end of this scene shews that
it passed in the morning; for when Kent is placed in
the stocks, Cornwall says, "There he shall sit 'till
noon; and Regan replies, "'Till noon, 'till night!”
and it passed very early in the morning; for Regan
tells Gloster, in the preceding page, that she had
been threading dark-ey'd night to come to him.
150. --Lipsbury pin fold-
MONCK MASON.
·Lipsbury pin fold——] The allusion which
seems to be contained in this line I do not understand.
In the violent eruption of reproaches which bursts
from Kent in this dialogue, there are some epithets
which the commentators have left unexpounded, and
which I am not very able to make clear. Of a three-
suited knave I know not the meaning, unless it be that
he has different dresses for different occupations.
Lilly-liver'd is cowardly; white-blooded and white-liver'd
are still in vulgar use. A one-trunk-inheriting slave,
I take to be a wearer of old cast-off clothes, an in-
heritor of torn breeches.
JOHNSON.
I do not find the name of Lipsbury: it may be a cant
phrase, with some corruption, taken from a place
where the fines were arbitrary. Three-suited should, I
believe, be third-suited, wearing clothes at the third hand.
Edgar, in his pride, had three suits only. FARMER.
Lipsbury
46
A&t II.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
Lipsbury pinfold may be a cant expression importing
the same as Lob's Pound. So, in Massinger's Duke of
Milan:
"To marry her, and say he was the party
"Found in Lob's Pound."
A Pinfold is a pound. Thus in Gascoigne's Dan
Bartholomew of Bathe, 1587:
"In such a pin-folde were his pleasures pent,"
Three-suited knave night mean, in an age of esten-
tatious finery like that of Shakspere, one who had no
greater change of rayment than three suits would fur-
nish him with; so, in Ben Jonson's Silent Woman:
wert a pitiful fellow, and hadst nothing but
three suits of apparel:" or it may signify a fellow thrice-
sued at law, who has three suits for debt standing out
against him. Dr. Farmer would read third suited,
i. e. at third hand. Edgar in his pride had three suits;
but he says he had been a serving-man. A one trunk-
inheriting slave may be used to signify a fellow, the
whole of whose possessions are confined to one coffer,
and that too inherited from his father, who was no
better provided, or had nothing more to bequeath to
his successor in poverty; a poor rogue hereditary, as
Timon calls Apemantus.
A worsted-stocking knave is
another reproach of the same kind. The stockings
in England, in the reign of queen Elizabeth (as I
learn from Stubbs's Anatomie of Abuses, printed in
1595), were remarkably expensive, and scarce any
other kind than silk were worn (even as this author
says) by those who had not above forty shillings a
year
La II.
47
KING LEAR.
}
year wages. So, in an old comedy, called The Hog
hath lost his Pearl, 1611, by R. Taylor:
"L
-good parts are no more set by in these
times, than a good leg in a woollen stocking.".
Again, in The Captain, by Beaumont and Fletcher:
"Green sicknesses, and serving-men light on you,
"With greasy breeches, and in woollen stockings."
Again, in the Miseries of inforc'd Marriage, 1607:
Two sober young men come to claim their portion from
their elder brother who is a spendthrift, and tell him :
"Our birth-right, good brother: this town craves
maintenance; silk stockings must be had, &c."
Silk stockings were not made in England till 1563,
the second year of queen Elizabeth's reign. Of this
extravagance Drayton takes notice in the 16th song of
his Polyolbien:
"Which our plain fathers erst would have ac-
counted sin,
"Before the costly coach and silken stock came in."
STEEVENS.
158. -hundred-pound-] Ahundred-pound gen-
tleman is a term of reproach used in Middleton's
Phanix, 1607.
STEEVENS.
159. -aƐtion-taking knave;—] i. e. a fellow,
who, if you beat him, would bring an action for the
assault, instead of resenting it like a man of courage.
MONCK MASON.
166.
addition.] i. e. titles. The act 1 Hen. V.
ch. v. which directs that in certain writs, a description
should be added to the name of the defendant, ex-
pressive
$8
A& I.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
pressive of his estate, mystery, degree, &c. is called
the statute of Additions.
MALONE.
Kent is not only boisterous in his manners, but
abusive in his language. His expressive ribaldry pro-
ceeds from an over solicitude to prevent being dis-
like St. Peter's swearing from a similar
covered
motive.
HENLEY.
174. I'll make a sop o' the moonshine of you.] Per-
haps here an equivoque was intended. In the Old
Shepherd's Kalendar, among the dishes recommended
for Prymetyne, "One is egges in moneshine." FARMER.
Again, in some verses within a letter of Howell's
to Sir Thomas How:
Could I those whitely stars go nigh,
Which make the milky way i' th' skie.
I'd poach them, and as moonshine dress,
f
To make my Delia a curious mess. STEEVENS.
175.
-barber-monger-] Barber-monger may
mean, dealer in the lower tradesmen: a slur upon the
steward, as tąking fees for a recommendation to the
business of the family.
FARMER.
178.
vanity the puppet's] Alluding to the
mysteries or allegorical shews, in which vanity, ini-
quity, and other vices, were personified. JOHNSON.
So, in Fulpone, or The Fox:
"Get you a cittern, Lady Vanity." STEEVENS.
The description is applicable only to the old mora-
lities, between which and the mysteries there was an
essential difference.
REMARKS,
184,
A& II.
49
KING LEAR.
184.
slave.
neat slave] You mere slave, you very
JOHNSON.
You neat slave, I believe, means no more than you
finical rascal, you who are an assemblage of foppery
and poverty. Ben Jonson uses the same epithet in his
Poetaster:
"By thy leave, my neat scoundrel." STEEVENS.
196. -nature disclaims in thee;] So, in R.
Broome's Northern Lass, 1633:
-I will disclaim in your favour hereafter."
Again, in The Case is Alter'd, by Ben Jonson, 16ɔ9:
“ Thus to disclaim in all th' effects of pleasure.”
Again,
"No, I disclaim in her, I spit at her."
Again, in Warner's Albion's England, 1632. B. III.
chap. xvi.
"Not these, my lords, make me disclaim in it
which all pursue.
STEEVENS.
206. Thou whoreson zed! thou unnecessary letter !—]
Zed is here probably used as a term of contempt, be-
cause it is the last letter in the English alphabet, and
as its place may be supplied by S, and the Roman al-
phabet has it not; neither is it read in any word
originally Teutonick. In Barret's Alvcarie, or Qua-
druple Difionary, 1580, it is quite omitted, as the
author affirms it to be rather a syllable than a letter.
STEEVENS.
Thou whoreson zed! thou unnecessary letter. This is
taken from the grammarians of the time. Mulcaster
says, "Z is much harder amongst us, and seldom
E
seen:
50
A& 11,
ANNOTATIONS UPON
seen: S is become its lieutenant-general. It is lightlie
expressed in English, saving in foren enfranchisments."
208.
—into mortar
FARMER.
-] This expression was
much in use in our author's time. So, Massinger, in
his New Way to pay old Debts, Act I. sc. i.
-I will help your memory,
"And tread thee into mortar.”
STEEVENS.
Unbolted mortar is mortar made of unsifted lime,
and therefore to break the lumps it is necessary to
tread it by men in wooden shoes. This unbolted vil-
lain is therefore this coarse rascal.
TOLLET.
217. Like rats oft bite the holy cords atwaine,
Which are t'intrince, t' unloose ;·
Thus
the first editors blundered this passage into unintel-
ligible nonsense. Mr. Pope so far has disengaged it,
as to give us plain sense; but by throwing out the epi-
thet holy, it is evident that he was not aware of the
poet's fine meaning. I will first establish and prove
the reading, then explain the allusion. Thus the
poet gave it:
Like rats, oft bite the holy cords in twain,
Too intrinsicate t' unloose:
This word again occurs in our author's Antony and
Cleopatra, where she is speaking to the aspick :
-Come, mortal wretch;
"With thy sharp teeth this knot intrinsicate,
"Of life at once untie."
And we meet with it in Cynthia's Revels, by Ben Jon-
Yet there are certain punctilios, or, as I may more
son.
nakedly
Act II.
51
KING LEAR.
And now
nakedly insinuate them, certain intrinsicate strokes and
words, to which your activity is not yet amounted, &c.
It means, inward, hidden, perplext; as a knot, hard
to be unravelled: it is derived from the Latin adverb
intrinsecus; from which the Italians have coined a very
beautiful phrase, intrinsicarsi col une, i. e. to grow in-
timate with, to wind one self into another.
to our author's sense. Kent is rating the steward, as
a parasite of Goneril's; and supposes very justly,
that he has fomented the quarrel betwixt that princess
and her father: in which office he compares him to a
sacrilegious rat: and by a fine metaphor, as Mr.
Warburton observed to me, styles the union between
parents and children the holy cords. THEOBALD.
Like rats oft bite the holy cords in twain
] By these holy
Too intrinsicate t' unloose:
cords the poet means the natural union between parents
and children. The metaphor is taken from the cords
of the sanctuary; and the fomenters of family differ-
ences are compared to these sacrilegious rats. The
expression is fine and noble.
WARBURTON.
Too intrinsicate t' unloose:] The word that Mr.
Theobald has restored, and which is undoubtedly the
true reading, was but newly introduced into the lan-
guage, when this play was written. See the preface
to Marston's Scourge of Villanie, 1598: "I know he
will vouchsafe it some of his new-minted epithets; as
real, intrinsicate, Delphicke," &c.
MALONE.
218.
sooth every passion] Sooth is the reading
of neither the folio nor the quarto; in both of which
Eij
we
52
A&t 11.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
we find sooth, which is, I think, the true reading.
So, in Sir John Oldcastle, 1600:
"Traitor unto his country! how he smooth'd,
"And seem'd as innocent as truth itself!
Again, in our author's Pericles, 1609:
"The sinful father
"Seem'd not to strike, but smooth.”
Sooth was first introduced by Mr. Pope.
221.
MALONE.
-and turn their halcyon beaks
With ev'ry gale and vary of their masters;]
The halcyon is the bird otherwise called the king-fisher.
The vulgar opinion was, that this bird, if hung up,
would vary with the wind, and by that means shew
from what point it blew.
So, in Marlow's Jew of Malta, 1633:
"But how now stands the wind?
"Into what corner peers my Halcyon's bill?”
224.
STEEVENS.
-epileptic visage!] The frighted counte-
nance of a man ready to fall in a fit.
227.
JOHNSON.
Camelot.] In Somersetshire, near
Camelot, are many large moors, where are bred
great quantities of geese, so that many other places
are from hence supplied with quills and feathers.
HANMER.
Mr. Blake observes, that in an ancient map of En-
field-Chace, &c. the name of Camelot is given to a
large pond, which in all probability was once a place
where geese were bred.
MALONE.
230.
AR II.
53
KING LEAR.
230. No contraries hold more antipathy,
Than I and such a hnave.] Hence Mr. Pope's
expression:
"The strong antipathy of good to bad."
TOLLET.
233.
likes me not.] i. e. pleases me not.
STEEVENS.
See Likes, catch-word Alphabet.
-constrains the garb
241.
Quite from his nature.
] Forces his out-
side or his appearance to something totally different from
his natural disposition.
JOHNSON.
247. Than twenty silly ducking observants,] Silly
means simple, or rustick. So, in Cymbeline, act v.
scene 3:
"There was a fourth man in a silly habit." meaning
Posthumus in the dress of a peasant. Nicely is foolishly.
Niais. Fr.
STEEVENS.
252. On flickering Phabus' front-] Dr. Johnson
in his Dictionary says this word means to flutter. I
meet with it in The History of Clyomon, Knight of the
Golden Shield, 1599:
By flying force of flickering fame your grace
shall understand."
Again, in The Pilgrim of Beaumont and Fletcher:
-some castrel
CC
"That hovers over her, and dares her daily;
"Some flickring slave.".
Stanyhurst, in his translation of the fourth book of
Virgil's Eneid, 1532, describes Iris,
Eiij
"From
5+
Act II
ANNOTATIONS UPON
"From the sky down flickering," &c.
And again in the old play, entitled, Fuimus Trocs,
1633 :
"With gaudy pennons flickering in the air.”
STEEVENS.
Dr. Johnson's interpretation is too vague for the
purpose. To flicker is indeed to flutter; but in a par-
ticular manner, which may be better exemplified by
the motion of a flame, than explained by any verbal
description.
HENLEY.
257. —though I should win your displeasure to en-
treat me to't.] Though I should win you, displeased as
you now are, to like me so well as to entreat me to be
a knave.
JOHNSON.
To entreat me to't.] i. e. to become a plain knave and
Aalter you.
263. Conjunt is the reading of the old quartos;
compact, of the folio.
HENLEY.
STEEVENS.
268. Fleshment] A young soldier is said to flesh his
sword, the first time he draws blood with it, fleshment,
therefore, is here metaphorically applied to the first
act of service which Kent, in his new capacity, had
performed for his master; and, at the same time, in
a sarcastick sense, as though he had esteemed it an
heroick exploit to trip a man behind, that was actually
falling.
271.
HENLEY.
But Ajax is their fool.] Their fool means here,
their butt, their laughing-stock. These finical puppies
(says Kent), these rogues and cowards, never meet with
a man superior to themselves, but they make him
3
their
Act II.
55
KING LEAR.
their jest, like Ajax with Thersites. Shakspere's idea
of Ajax may be seen in his Troilus and Cressida, where
he is the fool of the play, and the constant object of
Thersites' ridicule, for a scurvy valiant ass, Mars's idiot,
&c.
STEEVENS.
Mr. Monck Mason explains the passage thus:
Ajax is a fool to them, there are none of these
knaves and cowards, that if you believe themselves
are not so brave, that Ajax is a fool compared to
them; alluding to the steward's account of their
quarrel, where he says of Kent, This ancient ruffian,
whose life I have spared in pity to his beard. When
a man is compared to one who excels him very much
in any art or quality, it is a vulgar expression to say,
He is but a fool to him.
272. stocks] This is not the first time that stocks
had been introduced on the stage. In Hick-Scorner,
which was printed early in the reign of K. Henry VIII.
Pity is put into them, and left there till he is freed by
Perseveraunce and Contemplacyon.
STEEVENS,
273. ancient knave.] Two of the quartos read
-miscreant knave, and one of them-unreverent, in-
stead of reverend.
287.
STEEVENS.
-colour.] The quartos read, nature.
STEEVENS.
290. His fault] All from these words, to are
punish'd with, is omitted in the folio.
299.
STEEVENS.
the meanest―] This is a conjectural
emendation by Mr. Pupe. The quartos read-and
temnest, perhaps, for contemned'st.
STEEVENS.
300.
56
Act II.
ΑΝΝΟΤΑTIONS UPON
300. I know not whether this circumstance of
putting Kent in the stocks be not ridiculed in the punish-
ment of Numps, in Ben Jonson's Bartholomew-Fair.
It should be remembered, that formerly in great
houses, as still in some colleges, there were move-
able stocks for the correction of the servants. FARMER.
304. Will not be rubb'd, nor stopp’a.—] Metaphor
from bowling.
WARBURTON.
310. Goed king, that must approve the common saw !]
That art now to exemplify the common proverb,
That out of, &c. That changest better for worsc.
Hanmer observes, that it is a proverbial saying, ap-
plied to those who are turned out of house and home
to the open weather. It was, perhaps, first used of
men dismissed from an hospital, or house of charity,
such as was erected formerly in many places for tra-
vellers. Those houses had names properly enough
alluded to by heaven's benediction.
JOHNSON.
The saw alluded to, is in Heywood's Dialogues on
Picverbs, book II. chap. v.
"In your renning from him to me, ye runne
"Out of God's blessing into the warme sunne.
315.
folio.
wrack.
318.
TYRWHITT.
Nothing almost sees miracles,] Thus the
The quartos read-Nothing almost sees my
STEEVENS.
-and shall find time
From this enormous state, secking to give
Losses their remedies
-] I confess I do
not understand this passage, unless it may be consi-
dered
Аa II.
57
KING LEAR.
dered as divided parts of Cordelia's letter, which he is
reading to himself by moonlight: it certainly conveys
the sense of what she would have said. In reading a
letter, it is natural enough to dwell on those circum-
stances in it that promise the change in our affairs
which we most wish for; and Kent having read Cor-
delia's assurances that she will find a time to free the
injured from the enormous misrule of Regan, is willing
to go to sleep with that pleasing reflection uppermost
in his mind. But this is mere conjecture.
STEEVENS.
It seems to me, that the verb, shall find, is not go-
verned by the word Cordelia, but by the pronoun I,
in the beginning of the sentence; and that the words,
from this enormous state, do not refer to Cordelia, but
to Kent himself, dressed like a clown, and condemned
to the stocks-an enormous state indeed for a man of
his high rank.
The difficulty of this passage has arisen from a mis-
take in all the former editors, who have printed these
three lines as if they were a quotation from Cordelia's
letter, whereas they are in fact the words of Kent
himself; let the reader consider them in that light,
as part of Kent's own speech, the obscurity is at an
end, and the meaning is clearly this: "I know that
the letter is from Cordelia (who hath been informed of
my obscured course), and shall gain time, by this
strange disguise and situation, which I shall employ
in seeking to remedy our present losses.
MONCK MASON.
Notwith-
58
Aa II.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
Notwithstanding the ingenuity and confidence of
Mr. Mason (who has not however done justice to his
own idea), I cannot but concur with Mr. Steevens, in
ascribing these broken expressions to the letter of
Cordelia.
For, if the words were Kent's, there will
be no intimation from the letter that can give the
least insight to Cordelia's design; and the only ap-
parent purport of it will be, to tell Kent that she
knew his situation. But exclusive of this conside-
ration, What hopes could Kent entertain, in a con-
dition so deplorable as his-unless Cordelia should
take an opportunity, from the anarchy of the king-
dom, and the broils subsisting between Albany and
Cornwall-of finding a time, to give losses their reme-
dies?-Curan had before mentioned to Edmund, the
rumour of wars toward, between these dukes. This
report had reached Cordelia, who, having also dis-
covered the situation and fidelity of Kent, writes to
inform him, that she should avail herself of the first
opportunity which the enormities of the times might
offer, of restoring him to her father's favour, and her
father to his kingdom. [See act iii. sc. 1. act iv. sc. 3.]
HENLEY.
333.
elf all my hair in knots;] Hair, thus
knotted, was vulgarly supposed to be the work of
elves and fairies in the night. So, in Romeo and
Juliet:
plats the manes of horses in the night,
"And bakes the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs,
"Which, once untangled, much misfortune
bodes."
STEEVENS.
337.
Aa II.
59
KING LEAR.
337. Of Bedlam-beggars,] In the Bell-man of Lon-
don, by Decker, 5th edit. 1640, is the following ac-
count of one of these characters, under the title of an
Abraham-Man: " he sweares he hath been in
Bedlam, and will talke frantickely of purpose: you
see pinnes stuck in sundry places of his naked flesh,
especially in his armes, which paine he gladly puts
himselfe to, only to make you believe he is out of his
wits. He calles himselfe by the name of Poore Tom,
and comming near any body cries out, Poor Tom is a-
cold. Of these Abraham-Men, some be exceeding
merry, and doe nothing but sing songs fashioned out
of their owne braines: some will dance, others will
doe nothing but either laugh or weepe: others are
dogged, and so sullen both in loke and speech, that
spying but a small company in a house, they boldly
and bluntly enter, compelling the servants through
feare to give them what they demand." To sham
Abraham, a cant term, still in use among sailors and
the vulgar, may have this origin.
STELVENS.
339.
-wooden pricks,] i. e. skewers. So, in
The Wyll of the Deuyll, bl. let. no date. “I give tọ
the butchers, &c. pricks inough to set up their thin
meate, that it may appeare thicke and well fedde."
STEEVENS.
The euonymus, of which the best skewers are made,
MONCK MASON.
is called prick wood.
349.
low farms,] The quartos read, low service.
STEEVENS.
341.
60
A& II.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
341. Poor pelting villages-] Pelting is, I be-
lieve, only an accidental depravation of petty. Shak-
spere uses it in the Midsummer Night's Dream of small
brooks.
JOHNSON.
Beaumont and Fletcher often use the word in the
same sense as Shakspere. So in King and No King,
act iv.
"This pelting, prating piece is good for nothing."
Spanish Curate, act ii. sc. ult.- "To learn the
pelting law." Shakspere's Midsummer Night's Dream-
every pelting river." Measure for Measure, act ii.
scene. 7.
"And every pelting petty officer."
Again, in Troilus and Cressida, Hector says to Achilles:
"We have had pelting wars since you refus`d
"The Grecian cause. ''
From the first of the two last instances it appears not
to be a corruption of petty, which is used the next word
to it, but seems to be the same as paltry. STEEVENS,
312. -lunatick bans,] To ban, is to curse.
So, in Mother Bombie, 1594, a comedy by Lilly:
Well, be as be may is no banning."
So, in Arden of Feversham, 1592:
"Nay, if those ban, let me breathe curses forth.”
STEEVENS.
343.
poor Turlygood! poor Tom!] We
should read Turlupin. In the fourteenth century there
was a new species of gipsies, called Turlupius, a fra-
ternity of naked beggars, which ran up and down
Europe. However, the church of Rome hath dig-
nified
AR II.
61
KING LEAR.
But what sort of re-
nified them with the name of hereticks, and actually
burned some of them at Paris.
ligionists they were, appears from Genebrard's account
of them: "Turlupin Cynicorum sectam suscitantes,
de nuditate pudendorum, & publico coitu." Plainly,
nothing but a band of Tom-o'-Bedlams.
WARBURTON.
Hanmer reads, poor Turlurù. It is probable the
word Turlygoodwas the common corrupt pronunciation.
JOHNSON.
314. Edgar I nothing am.] As Edgar I am
outlawed, dead in law; I have no longer any political
existence.
JOHNSON.
The critick's idea is both too complex and too
puerile for one in Edgar's situation. He is pursued,
it seems, and proclaimed, i. e. a reward has been
offered for taking or killing him. In assuming this
character, says he, I may preserve myself; as Edgar,
I am inevitably gone.
REMARKS.
352. No, my lord.] Omitted in the quartos.
STEEVENS.
253. he wears cruel garters.-] I believe a quibble
was here intended. Crewil signifies worsted, of which
garters, &c. are made; and it is used in that sense
in the comedy of The Two angry Women of Abington,
printed 1599:
<<
I'll warrant you, he'll have
"His cruell garters cross about the knee."
So again, in The Bird in a Cage, 1633 :
F
"I speak
ཀླ
Aa II.
63
ANNOTATIONS UPON
"I speak the prologue to our silk and cruel
"Gentlemen in. the hangings.
356.
STEEVENS.
over-lusty, in this place, has a double signi-
fication. Lustiness anciently meant sauciness.
So, in Decker's If this be not a good Play the Devil
is in it, 1612:
CC
upon pain of being plagued for their
Lustyness."
Again, in Claudius Tiberius Nero, 1607:
she'll snarl and bite,
"And take up Nero for his lustiness."
Again, in sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch:
"Cassius' soldiers did shewe themselves verie
stubborne and lustie in the campe," &c. STEEVENS.
3.57.
then he wears wooden nether-stocks.]
Nether-stocks is the old word for stockings. Breeches
were at that time called "men's overstockes,” as I
learn from Barret's Alvcarie, or Quadruple Di&tionary,
1580.
It appears from the following passage in the second
part of The Map of Mock Beggar Hall, &c. an ancient
ballad, that the stockings were formerly sewed to the
breeches :
"Their fathers went in homely frees,
"And good plain broad cloth breeches ;
"Their stockings with the same agrees,
"Sow'd cn with good strong stitches.”
Stubbs, in his Anatomie of Abuses, has a whole
chapter on The Diversitie of Nether-Stockes worne in
England,
A& II.
63
KING LEAR.
England, 1505. Heywood among his Epigrams, 1562,
has the following:
Thy upper-stocks, be they stuft with silke or
flocks,
"Never become thee like a nether paire of stocks."
Again, in Reginald Scott's Discovery of Witchcraft,
1585:
-to cover the pot with my right netherstock."
STEEVENS.
366. Lear.] This and the next speech are omitted
in the folio.
STEEVENS.
369. By Juno, I swear, ay.] Omitted in the quartos.
STEEVENS.
372. To do upon respect such violent outrage:] To
violate the publick and venerable character of a mes-
senger from the king.
JOHNSON.
382. Deliver'd letters, spight of intermission,] Spight
of intermission is without pause, without suffering time to
intervene. So, in Macbeth:
-gentle heaven,
“Cut short all intermission," &c. STEEVENS.
384. They summ'd up their meiny—] Meiny, i. e.
people.
Mesne, a house. Mesnie, a family, Fr.
So, in Monsieur D'Olive, 1606.
"C
-if she, or her sad meiny,
"Be towards sleep, I'll wake them."
POPE.
Again, in the bl. let. Romance of Syr Eglamoure of
Artoys, no date :
"Of the emperoure took he leave ywys,
"And of all the meiny that was there."
Fij
Again:
64
A& II.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
Again:
"Here cometh the king of Israel,
"With a fayre meinye.'
STEEVENS.
Though the word meiny be now obsolete, the word
menial, which is derived from it, is still in use. On
whose contents, means the contents of which.
MONCK MASON.
395. Winter's not gone yet, &c.] If this be their be-
haviour, the king's troubles are not yet at an end.
JOHNSON.
This speech is omitted in the quartos. STEEVENS.
-dolours.] Quibble intended between
402.
dolours and dollars.
HANMER.
The same quibble had occurred in The Tempest, and
in Measure for Measure.
STEEVENS.
404. Oh, how this mother, &c.] Lear here affe Ets
to pass off the swelling of his heart ready to burst
with grief and indignation, for the disease called the
Mother, or Hysterica Passio, which, in our author's
time, was not thought peculiar to women only. In
Harsnet's Declaration of Popish Impostures, Richard
Mainy, Gent. one of the pretended demoniacs, de-
poses, p. 263, that the first night that he came to
Denham, the seat of Mr. Peckham, where these im-
postures were managed, he was somewhat evill at
ease, and he grew worse and worse with an old dis-
ease that he had, and which the priests persuaded him
was from the possession of the devil, viz. "The
disease I spake of was a spice of the Mother, where-
with I had bene troubled. . . before my going into
Fraunce:
Act II.
65
KING LEAR.
Fraunce: whether I doc rightly term it the Mother or
no, I knowe not... When I was sick of this disease.
in Fraunce, a Scottish doctor of physick, then in Paris,
called it, as I remember, Vertiginem Capitis. It
riseth.... of a winde in the bottome of the belly, and
proceeding with a great swelling, causeth a very pain-
full collicke in the stomack, and an extraordinary
giddines in the head."
It is at least very probable, that Shakspere would
not have thought of making Lear affect to have the
Hysterick Passion, or Mother, if this passage in Hars-
net's pamphlet had not suggested it to him, when he
was selecting the other particulars from it, in order
to furnish out his character of Tom of Bedlam, to
whom this demoniacal gibberish is admirably adapted.
PERCY.
416. All that follow their noses are led by their eyes,
but blind men; and there's not a nose among twenty, but
can smell, &c.] The word twenty refers to the noses. of
the blind men, and not to the men in general.
422.
STEEVENS.
-when a wise man gives thee, &c.] One
cannot too much commend the caution which our
moral poet uses, on all occasions, to prevent his sen-
timent from being perversely taken. So here, having
given an ironical precept in commendation of perfidy
and base desertion of the unfortunate, for fear it
should be understood seriously, though delivered by
his buffoon or jester, he has the precaution to add
this beautiful corrective, full of fine sense :-"I
Fiij
would
66
Aa II.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
would have none but knaves follow it, since a fool
gives it."
WARBURTON.
130. But I will tarry; the fool will stay,
And let, &c.] I think this passage erroneous,
though both the copies concur.
mended if we read:
The sense will be
But I will tarry; the fool will stay,
And let the wise man fly;
The fool turns knave, that runs away;
The knave no fool-
That I stay with the king is a proof that I am a fool,
the wise men are deserting him. There is knavery in
this desertion, but there is no folly. JOHNSON.
447 Glo.] This, with the following speech, is
omitted in the quartos.
STEEVENS.
453. Till the hot duke, that―] The quartos
read-Tell the hot duke, that Lear
-]
STEEVENS.
Practice is in
464. Is practice only.-
Shakspere, and other old writers, used commonly in
an ill sense for unlawful artifice.
JOHNSON.
471. -the cockney] It is not easy to determine
the exact power of this term of contempt, which, as
the editor of the Canterbury Tales of Chaucer observes,
might have been originally borrowed from the kitchen.
From the ancient ballad of the Turnament of Tottenham,
published by Dr. Percy in his second volume of An-
cient Poetry, p. 24, it should seem to signify a cook :
"At that feast were they served in rich array;
"Every five and five had a cokenay.”
i. e. a cook, or scullion, to attend them.
Shakspere,
A& II,
67
KING LEAR.
"many cockney and
but in faith they
Shakspere, however, in Twelfth Night, makes his
Clown say, "I am afraid this great lubber the world,
will prove a cockney." In this place it seems to have
a signification not unlike that which it bears at pre-
sent; and, indeed, Chaucer in his Reve's Tale, ver.
4205, appears to employ it with such a meaning :
"And when this jape is tald another day,
"I shall be halden a daffe or a cokenay."
Meres likewise, in the second part of his Wit's Com-
monwealth, 1598, observes, that
wanton women are often sick,
cannot tell where." Decker also, in his Newes from
Hell, &c. 1606, has the following passage, "Tis
not their fault, but our mother's, our cockering mo-
thers, who for their labour made us to be called
cockncys.” See the notes on the Canterbury Tales of
Chaucer, vol. iv. p. 253. where the reader will meet
with more information on this subject. STEEVENS.
Dr. Percy imagines it signifies a cook, in the ballad
of the Turnament of Tottenham:
Every five and five had a cokenay,"
Certainly it cannot be a cook or scullion, but is some
dish which I cannot ascertain. My authority is the
following epigram from Davies :
"He that comes every day, shall have a cocknay,
"And he that comes but now and then, shall
have a fut hen."
Ep. on Engl. Prov. 179.
WHALLEY.
17
68
Aat 11.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
479. -the eels, when she put them i' the paste—]
Hinting that the eel and Lear are in the same danger.
JOHNSON.
This reference is not sufficiently explained.-The
paste, or crust of a pie, in Shakspere's time, was called
a coffin.
See catch-word Alphabet.
HENLEY.
482. sepulchring, &c.] This word is accented in
the same manner by Fairfax and Milton:
"As if his work should his sepulcher be,"
C. i. st. 25.
"And so sepulcher'd in such pomp doe lie.'
Milton on Shakspere, 1. xv.
484.
she hath tied
STEEVENS.
Sharp-tooth'd unkindness, like a vulture here,]
Alluding to the fable of Prometheus. WARBURTON.
487. Of how deprav'd a quality] Thus the
quarto. The folio reads,
With how deprav'd a quality
JOHNSON.
490. Than she to scant her duty.] The word scant
is directly contrary to the sense intended. The
quarto reads, slack. You less know how to value her
desert, than she (knows) to scant her duty, i. e. than
she can be capable of being wanting in her duty.
STEEVENS.
491. Say, &c.] This, as well as the following
speech, is omitted in the quartos.
STEEVENS.
507. Do you but mark how this becomes the house?]
Becomes the house; i. e. the order of families, duties
of relations.
4
བ་
WARBURTON.
Dr.
A& 11.
69
KING LEAR.
Dr. Warburton's explanation may be supported by
the following extract from Sir Thomas Smith's Com-
monwealth of England, 4to. 16ɔ1. chap. ii.
"They
two together [man and wife] ruleth the house. The
house I call here, the man, the woman, their children,
their servants, bond and free," &c.
TOLLET.
"The
Again, in Painter's Palace of Pleasure:
gentleman's wife one day could not refi aine (beholding
a stagges head set up in the gentleman's house) from
breaking into a laughter before his face, saying how
that head became the house very well." HENDERSON.
509. Age is unnecessary: ] Age is unnecessary,
may mean, old people are useless. So, in The Old Law,
by Massinger :
your laws extend not to desert,
"But to unnecessary years; and, my lord,
"His are not such."
STEEVENS.
Unnecessary in Lear's speech, I believe, means-in
want of necessaries, unable to procure them.
TYRWHITT.
514. Look'd black upon me;
;· -] To look black, may
easily be explained to look cloudy or gloomy.
So Helinshed, vol. iii. p. 1157:
bishops thereat repined, and looked black."
523. To fall, and blast her pride !]
quarto: The folio reads not so
I think there is still a fault,
mended by changing a letter :
<<
JOHNSON.
-The
TOLLET.
Thus the
well, to fall and blister.
which may be easily
Infect
70
AЯ II.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
-Infect her beauty,
You fen-suck'd fogs, drawn by the powerful sun,
Do fall, and blast her pride!
JOHNSON.
I see no occasion for Dr. Johnson's alteration.
The plain meaning is this, "You fen-suck'd fogs,
drawn up by the sun in order to fall down again and
blast her pride.”
MONCK MASON.
Shakspere certainly could never intend Lear to utter
the nonsense here ascribed to him. According to this
gentleman's explanation, there was at hand a stock of
ready made fogs, which the sun had taken care to
provide for the nonce, and the only thing left for
Lear, was to summon them to their office. The
slight alteration proposed by Dr. Johnson hath re-
stored sense and beauty to the passage, and made it
consistent with the context.
525.
-when the rash mood is on.] Thus the
folio. The quartos read only——when the rash mood.
perhaps leaving the sentence purposely un-
finished.
STEEVENS.
527. Thy tender-hefted nature—] Hefted seems to
mean the same as heaved. Tender-hefted, i. e. whose
bosom is agitated by tender passions. The formation
of such a participle, I believe, cannot be grimmma-
tically accounted for. Shakspere uses hefts for
heavings in The Winter's Tale, act ii. Both the quarios
however read, "tender-hested nature;" which may
mean a nature which is governed by gentle dispositions.
Hest is an old word signifying command. So, in The
Wars of Cyrus, &c. 1594:
" Must
A&t 11.
71
KING LEAK.
"Must yield to hest of others that be free."
Hefted is the reading of the folio.
532.
STEEVENS.
to scant my sizes.] To contract my
JOHNSON.
allowances or proportions settled.
A sizer is one of the lowest rank of students at
Cambridge, and lives on a stated allowance.
Sizes are certain portions of bread, beer, or other
victuals, which in publick societies are set down to the
account of particular persons:
a word still used in
colleges.
See a size in Minshew's Dictionary.
STEEVENS.
TOLLET.
519. If you do love old men, if your sweet sway
Allow obedience, if yourselves are old,]
Mr. Upton has proved by irresistable authority,
that to allow, signifies not only to permit, but to ap
prove, and has deservedly replaced the old reading,
which Dr. Warburton had changed into hallow obe-
dience, not recollecting the scripture expression, The
Lord alloweth the righteous, Psalm xi. ver. 6. So, in
Greene's Never too Laie, 1616:-" she allows of thee
for love, not for lust." Again, in Greene's Fare-
well to Follie, 1617: "I allow those pleasing poems of
Guazzo, which begin, &c."
STEEVENS.
560.
-much less advancement] Cornwall
certainly means, that Kent's disorders had entitled
him even a post of less honour than the stocks.
STEEVENS.
56º. I pray you, father, being weak, seem so.] The
meaning is, since you are weak, be content to think
yourself weak.
JOHNSON.
569.
72
Aa II.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
569. No, rather I abjure all roofs, and choose
To wage against the enmity o' the air;] To
wage is often used absolutely without the word war
after it, and yet signifies to make war; as before in this
play:
My life I never held but as a pawn
To wage against thine enemies.
572. Necessity's sharp pinch!—] These words ap-
pear to be the reflection of Lear on the wretched sort
of existence he had described in the preceding lines.
576.
577.
STEEVENS.
-base life-] i. e. In a servile state.
JOHNSON.
-and sumpter] Sumpter is a horse that
carries necessaries on a journey.
585.
-thou art a bile,
STEEVENS.
A plague sore, an embossed carbuncle,
In my corrupted blood.] The context clearly
shows that we ought to read-boil. So, in Coriolanus:
-boils and plagues
"
"Plaster you o'er!"
The word loil, being pronounced as if written bile,
occasioned the mistake. In the folio, both here and
in Coriolanus, it is spelt in the same manner-byle.
MALONE.
586. embossed carbuncle,] Embossed is swelling,
protuberant.
JOHNSON.
621. Those wicked creatures yet do look well-favour'd,
When others are more wicked,-
thought occurs in Cymbeline, act v.
-] A similar
A&t 11.
73
KING LEAR.
it is I
"That all the abhorred things o' the earth named,
"By being worse than they."
To be not the worst deserves some praise.
639.
fellow.
STEEVFNS.
TYRWHITT.
-poor old man,] The quarto has, poor old
JOHNSON.
643.
touch me with noble anger!] It would
sense, the drift, and
For if the gods sent
puzzle one at first to find the
the coherence of this petition.
this evil for his punishment, how could he expect
that they should defeat their own design, and assist
him to revenge his injuries? The solution is, that
Shakspere here makes his speaker allude to what the
ancient poets tells us of the misfortunes of particular
families namely, that when the anger of the gods,
for an act of impiety, was raised against an offending
house, their method of punishment was, first to
inflame the breasts of the children to unnatural acts
against their parents; and then, of the parents
against their children, in order to destroy one ano-
ther; and that both these outrages were at the insti-
gation of the gods. To consider Lear as alluding to
this divinity, makes his prayer exceeding pertinent
and fine.
647.
-I will do such things.
What they are, yet I know not ;]
WARBURTON.
magnum est quodcunque peravi,
Quid sit, adhuc dubito.
Ovid. Met. lib. vi.
haud quid sit scio,
Sed grande quiddam est.
G
Seneca Thyestes.
Let
74
A& III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
Let such as are unwilling to allow that copiers of na-
ture must occasionally use the same thoughts and
expressions, remember, that of both these authors
there were early translations.
STEEVENS.
665. Whither is he going?
Glo. He calls to horse; ] Omitted in the quartos.
STEEVENS.
670. Do sorely ruffle-] Thus the folio. The
quartos read, Do sorely russel, i. e. rustle. STEEVENS.
Ruffle is certainly the true reading. A ruffler, in our
author's time, was a noisy, boisterous swaggerer.
MALONE.
ACT III.
Line 6. OR swell the curled waters 'bove the main,] The
main seems to signify here the main land, the continent.
So, in Bacon's War with Spain: "In 1589, we turned
challengers, and invaded the main of Spain."
This interpretation sets the two objects of Lear's
desire in proper opposition to each other. He wishes
for the destruction of the world, either by the
winds blowing the land into the waters, or raising
the waters so as to overwhelm the land. STEEVENS.
The old reading, and Mr. Steevens's explanation of
it, are strongly confirmed by a passage in Troilus and
Cressida :
66
"" - The
AR III.
75
KING LEAR.
The bounded waters
"Should lift their bosoms higher than the shores,
"And make a sop of all this solid globe."
The main is again used for the land, in Hamlet:
“Goes it against the main of Poland, Sir?”
7.
MALONE.
-tears his white hair ;] The six following
verses were omitted in all the late editions: I have
replaced them from the first, for they are certainly
Shakspere's.
POPE.
The first folio ends the speech at change or cease, and
begins again at Kent's question, But who is with him?
The whole speech is forcible, but too long for the
occasion, and properly retrenched. JOHNSON.
12. This night, wherein the cub-drawn bear would
couch,] Cub-drawn has been explained to signify drawn
by nature to its young; whereas it means, whose dugs
are drawn dry by its young. For no animals leave their
dens by night but for prey.
So that the meaning is,
"that even hunger, and the
support of its young,
would not force the bear to leave his den in such a
night."
WARBURTON.
Shakspere has the same image in As You Like It:
"A lioness, with udders all drawn dry,
૨.
Lay couching."
Again,
"Food to the suck'd and hungry lioness."
STEEVENS.
20.
my note,] My observation of your cha-
racter.
JOHNSON.
Gij
The
76
A& III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
The quartos read :
upon the warrant of my art:
i. e. on the strength of my skill in physiognomy.
STEEVENS.
24. Who have (as who have not, •] The eight
subsequent verses were degraded by Mr. Pope as un-
intelligible, and to no purpose. For my part, I see
nothing in them but what is very easy to be under-
stood; and the lines seem absolutely necessary to clear
up the motives upon which France prepared his in-
vasion nor without them is the sense of the context
:
complete.
The quartos omit these lines.
THEOBALD.
STEEVENS.
27.
-what hath been seen,] What follows, are
the circumstances in the state of the kingdom, of
which he supposes the spies gave France the intel-
ligence.
STEEVENS.
28. Either in snuffs or packings-] Snuffs are
dislikes, and packings underhand contrivances.
So, in Henry IV. first part:
and in King Edward III. 1599:
"Took it in snuff;"
“This packing evil, we both shall tremble for it.”
Again, in Stanyhurst's Virgil, 1582:
"With two gods packing one woman silly to
cozen."
We still talk of packing juries, and Antony says of
Cleopatra, that she has "pack'd cards with Cæsar."
31.
STEEVENS.
are but furnishings.] A furnish an-
ciently signified a sample. So, in the Preface to
Greene's
A& III.
77
KING LEAR.
Greene's Groatsworth of Wit, 1621: "To lend the
world a furnish of wit, she lays her own to pawn."
STEEVENS.
32. But, true it is, &c.] In the old cditions are
the five following lines which I have inserted in the
text, as they seem necessary to the plot, and prepa-
ratory to the arrival of the French army with Cor-
delia, in act iv. How both these, and a whole scene
between Kent and this gentleman, in the fourth act,
came to be left out in all the later editions, I cannot
tell; they depend upon each other, and very much
contribute to clear that incident.
32.
POPE.
from France there comes a power
Into this scatter'd kingdom; who already,
Wise in our negligence, have secret sea
In some of our best ports
] This speech,
as it now stands, is collected from two editions: the
eight lines, degraded by Mr. Pope, are found in the
folio, not in the quarto; the following lines enclosed
in crotchets are in the quarto, not in the folio. So
that if the speech be read with omission of the former,
it will stand according to the first edition; and if the
former are read, and the lines that follow them omitted,
it will then stand according to the second. The
speech is now tedious, because it is formed by a coa-
tion of both. The second edition is generally best,
and was probably nearest to Shakspere's last copy,
but in this passage the first is preferable; for in the
folio, the messenger is sent, he knows not why, he
knows not whither. I suppose Shakspere thought his
Giij
plot
78
A& III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
plot opened rather too early, and made the alteration
to veil the event from the audience; but trusting too
much to himself, and full of a single purpose, he did
not accommodate his new lines to the rest of the
scene.-Scattered naturally means divided, unsettled,
disunited-Warburton has offered with great pomp a
change of sea to seize; but in the first edition the
word is fee, for hire, in the sense of having any one
in fee, that is, at devotion for money. Fee is in the
second quarto changed to see, from which one made
sca and another seize.
JOHNSON.
One of the quartos (for there are two that differ
from each other, though printed in the same year, and
for the same printer) reads secret feet. Perhaps the
author wrote secret foot, i. e. footing. So, in a fol-
lowing scene:
-what confederacy have you with the traitors
Late footed in the kingdom?
STEEVENS.
That foot is the true reading is, I think, clearly as-
certained, both by the passage quoted by Mr. Stee-
vens, and another in the third act, which is still more
apposite: -"these injuries the king now bears, will be
revenged home; there is part of a power already
footed: we must incline to the king.”
Again, in Coriolanus :
56.
CC
-Why, thou Mars, I'll tell thee,
“We have a power on foot.”
MALONE.
the king, in which your pain,
That way, I'll this: he that first, &c.] Thus
the folio. The quartos read:
That
A& III.
79
KING LEAR.
62.
That when we have found the king,
I'll this way, you that, he that first lights
On him, hollow the other.
STEEVENS.
thought-executing-] Doing execution.
with rapidity equal to thought.
JOHNSON.
63. Vaunt-couriers.] Avant couriers, Fr. This phrase
is not unfamiliar to other writers of Shakspere's time.
It originally meant the foremost scouts of an army.
So, in Jarvis Markham's English Arcadia, 1607:
"-As soon as the first vancurrer encountered him
face to face."
Again, in The Tragedy of Mariam, 1613:
"Might to my death, but the vaunt-currier
prove."
Again, in Darius, 1603:
"Th' avaunt-corours, that came for to examine."
STEEVENS.
65. Strike flat, &c.] The quarto reads-Smite flat.
STEEVENS.
66. Crack nature's moulds; all germins spill at once,]
The old editions all gave germains. Mr. Theobald
restored the sense of the passage, and supported his
emendation by producing the same thought from the
Winter's Tale:
"Let nature crush the sides o' the earth together,
"And mar the seeds within".
which Mr. Steevens hath further confirmed, by point-
ing out in Macbeth the occurrence of the word:
+
-and the sum
"Of nature's germins tumble together. "HENLEY.
66.
80
AS III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
66.
spill at once,] To spill is to destroy. So, in
Gower De Confessione Amantis, lib. iv. fol. 67:
--court
"So as I shall myself spill." STEEVENS.
68. -court holy-water-] Ray, among his
proverbial phrases, p. 184. mentions court holy-water
to mean fair words. The French have the same
phrase. Eau benite de cour; fair empty words.-
Chambaud's Dictionary.
STEEVENS.
76.
You owe me no subscription ;--] Subscription
for obedience.
WARBURTON.
So in Rowley's Search for Money, 1690, p. 17. "I
tell yee besides this he is an obstinat wilfull fellow,
for since this idolatrous adoration given to him here
by men, he has kept the scepter in his owne hand and
commands every man: which rebellious man now
seeing (or rather indeed too obedient to him) in-
clines to all his hests, yeelds no subscription, nor will
he be commanded by any other power," &c. REED.
38. So beggars marry many.] i. e. A beggar mar-
JOHNSON.
That is, "So many beggars marry ;" meaning, that
they marry in the manner he has described, before
they have houses to put their heads in.
ries a wife and lice.
MONCK MASON.
95. No, I will be the pattern of all patience,
I will say nothing.] So Perillus, in the old
anonymous play, speaking of Leir :
"But he, the myrrour of mild patience,
"Puts up all wrongs, and never gives reply."
STEEVENS.
98.
AЯ III.
81
KING LEAR.
98. —and a cod-piece, that's a wise man and a fool.]
Alluding perhaps to the saying of a contemporary
wit; that there is no discretion below the girdle.
100.
sit you here?
102.
STEEVENS.
are you here?--] The quartos read-
STEEVENS.
Gallow the very wanderers of the dark,] Gal-
low, a west-country word, signifies to scare or frighten.
WARBURTON.
So, the Somersetshire proverb : "The dunder do
gally the beans." Beans are vulgarly supposed to
shoot up faster after thunder-storms. STEEVENS.
By some late experiments, it has been discovered,
that this vulgar supposition is founded in fact.
HENLEY.
107. --fear.] So the folio: the later editions
read, with the quarto, force for fear, less elegantly.
JOHNSON.
109. this dreadful pother--] Thus one of
the quartos and the folio. The other quarto reads
thund'ring.
The reading in the text, however, is an expression
common to others. So, in the Scornful Lady of Beau-
mont and Fletcher :
—faln out with their meat, and kept a pudder.'
STEEVENS.
115. That under covert and convenient seeming,]
Convenient needs not be understood in any other than
its usual and proper sense; accommodate to the present
purpose; suitable to a design. Convenient seeming is
appearance
82
A& III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
appearance such as may promote his purpose to de-
stroy.
JOHNSON.
117. -concealing continents-] Continent stands for
that which contains or encloses.
Thus in Antony and Cleopatra :
JOHNSON.
"Heart, once be stronger than thy continent!”"
The quartos read, concealed centers.
-and cry
STEEVENS.
These dreadful summoners grace. 1 Sum-
moners are here the officers that summon offenders be-
fore a proper tribunal.
134.
read,
STEEVENS.
That's sorry yet for thee.] The old quartós
That sorrows yet for thee.
STEEVENS.
135. He that has a little tiny wit-] I fancy that the
second line of this stanza had once a termination that
rhymed with the fourth; but I can only fancy it; for
both the copies agree. It was once perhaps written,
With heigh ho, the wind and the rain in his way.
The meaning seems likewise to require this insertion.
"He that has wit, however small, and finds wind and
rain in his way, must content himself by thinking, that
somewhere or other it raineth every day, and others
are therefore suffering like himself." Yet I am
afraid that all this is chimerical, for the burthen ap-
pears again in the song at the end of Twelfth Night,
and seems to have been an arbitrary supplement,
without any reference to the sense of the song.
JOHNSON.
11。
A& III.
83
KING LEAR.
1
142. I'll speak a prophecy ere I go:
When priests are more in words than maiter;
When brewers marr their malt with water;
When nobles are their tailors' tutors;
No hereticks burn'd, but wenches' suitors;
When every case in law is right;
No squire in debt, nor no poor knight;
When slanders do not live in tongues,
And cut-purses come not to throngs;
When usurers tell their gold i' the field,
And bawds and whores do churches build;
Then shall the realm of Albion
Come to great confusion.
Then comes the time, who lives to see't,
That going shall be us'd with fict. ] The judicious
reader will observe, through this heap of nonsense and
confusion, that this is not one but two prophecies. The
first, a satyrical description of the present manners as
future: and the second, a satyrical description of fu-
ture manners; which the corruption of the present would
prevent from ever happening. Each of these prophecies
has its proper inference or deduction: yet, by an un-
accountable stupidity, the first editors took the whole
to be all one prophecy, and so jumbled the two con-
trary inferences together. The whole then should be
read as follows, only premising that the first line is
corrupted by the loss of a word-or ere I ge, is not
English, and should be helped thus:
1, I'll speak a prophecy or two ere I go :
When priests are more in words than matter;
When brewers marr their malt with water;
When
84
A& III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
When nobles are their tailors' tutors ;
No hereticks burnt, but wenches' suitors;
Then comes the time, who lives to see't,
That going shall be us'd with feet.-i. e. Now.
2. When every case in law is right;
No squire in debt, and no poor knight;
When slanders do not live in tongues,
And cut-purses come not to throngs;
When usurers tell their gold i' the field,
And bawds and whores do churches build;
Then shall the realm of Albion
Come to great confusion.-i. e. Never.
WARBURTON.
The sagacity and acuteness of Dr. Warburton are
very conspicuous in this note. He has disentangled
the confusion of the passage, and I have inserted his
emendation in the text. Or e'er, is proved by Mr. Up-
ton to be good English; but the controversy was not
necessary, for or is not in the old copies. JOHNSON.
145. When nobles are their tailors' tutors ;] 2. e. In-
vent fashions for them.
WARBURTON.
146. No hereticks burn'd, but wenches' suitors ;] The
disease to which wenches' suitors are particularly ex-
posed, was called in Shakspere's time the brenning or
burning.
JOHNSON.
157. This prophecy-] This prophecy is not in
the quartos.
Then shall the realm of Albion
Come to great confusion.]
These
A& III.
85
KING LEAR.
These lines are taken from Chaucer. Puttenham, in
his Art of Poetry, 1589, quotes them as follows:
"When faith fails in priestes saws,
"And lords hests are holden for laws,
"And robbery is tane for purchase,
"And letchery for solace,
"Then shall the realm of Albion
"Be brought to great confusion."
STEEVENS.
194. But where the greater malady is fix'd,
The lesser is scarce felt.]
So, in Spenser's Faery Queen, b. I. c. vi.
"He lesser pangs can bear who hath endur'd the
196.
chief."
STEEVENS.
-raging sea,] Such is the reading of
that which appears to be the elder of the two quartos.
The other, with the folio, reads-roaring sea.
203.
In such a night
STEEVENS.
To shut me out!-Pour on, I will endure:
-1
STEEVENS.
Omitted in the quartos.
213. In, boy; go first.] These two lines were
added in the author's revision, and are only in the
folio. They are very judiciously intended to re-
present that humility, or tenderness, or neglect of
forms, which affliction forces on the mind.
JOHNSON.
218. loop'd and window'd raggedness] Loops are
small apertures in ancient buildings, particularly
castles and towers, for the admission of light, where
H
windows
86
A& III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
windows would have been incommodious. Shakspere
in Othello, and other places, hath alluded to them.
The folio reads lop'd.
-window'd raggedness-
So in the Amorous War, 1648:
HENLEY.
HENDERSON.
spare me a doublet which
"Hath linings in't, and no glass windows."
This allusion is as old as the time of Plautus, in one
of whose plays it is found.
Again, in the comedy already quoted:
224.
this jerkin
"Is wholly made of doors."
·Take physick, pomp!
STEEVENS:
Expose thyself to feel what wretches feel;
That thou may'st shake the superflux to them,
And shew the heavens more-just.]
A kindred thought occurs in Pericles, Prince of Tyre:
"O let those cities that of plenty's cup
And her prosperities so largely taste,
“With their superfluous ricts-hear these
tears;
"The misery of Tharsus may be theirs."
MALONE.
233. Fathom, &c.] This speech of Edgar is omitted
in the quartos. He gives the sign used by those whọ
are sounding the depth at sea.
STEEVENS.
234. Hlumph! go to thy bed-] So the folio. The
quarto,
Go to thy cold bed, and warm thee. JOHNSON.
So,
:
:
A& III.
87
KING LEAR.
So, in the introduction to The Taming of a Shrew, Sly
says, go to thy cold bed, and warın thee." A ridi-
(C
cule, I suppose, on some passage in a play as absurd
as the Spanish Tragedy.
STEEVENS.
237. Hast thou given all to thy two daughters?] Thus
the quartos. The folio reads, Didst thou give all to
thy daughters?
239.
STEEVENS.
led through fire and through flame-] Al-
luding to the ignis futuus, supposed to be lights kindled.
by mischievous beings to lead travellers into de-
struction.
JOHNSON.
243.
laid knives under his pillow] He re-
counts the temptations by which he was prompted to
suicide; the opportunities of destroying himself,
which often occurred to him in his melancholy moods.
JOHNSON.
Shakspere found this charge against the fiend, with
many others of the same nature, in Harsenet's Decla-
ration, and has used the very words of it. The book
was printed in 1603. See Dr. Warburton's note, on
line 71, act iv.
Infernal spirits are always represented as urging the
wretched to self-destruction. So, in Dr. Faustus, 1604:
"Swords, poisons, halters, and envenom'd steel,
“Are laid before me to dispatch myself.
""
STEEVENS.
245.
bless thy five wits.] So the five senses were
called by our old writers. Thus in the very ancient
interlude of The Fyve Elements, one of the characters
Hij
is
88
A& III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
is Sensual Appetite, who with great simplicity thus in-
troduces himself to the audience:
"I am callyd sensual apetyte,
“All creatures in me delyte,
« I comforte the wyttys five ;
"The tastyng smellyng and herynge
"I refreshe the syghte and felygne
"To all creaturs alyve."
Sig. B. iij.
So again, in Every Man, a Morality:
PERCY.
"Every man, thou arte made, thou hast thy
wyttes fyve."
Again, in Hycke Scorner:
"I have spent amys my v wittes."
STEEVENS.
Shakspere, however, in his 141st Sonnet, seems to
have considered the five wits, as distinct from the
senses:
"But my five wits, nor my five senses can
“Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee."
245.
MALONE.
-taking ] To take is to blast, or strike
with malignant influence:
261.
-strike her young bones,
Ye taking airs, with lameness.
JOHNSON.
pelican daughters.] The young pelican
JOHNSON.
is fabled to suck the mother's blood.
So, in Decker's Honest Whore, 1630, second part:
"Shall a silly bird pick her own breast to nourish her
young ones the pelican does it, and shall not I?
Again, in Love in a Maze, 1632:
"The
Act III.
89
KING LEAR.
"The pelican loves not her young so well,
"That digs upon her breast a hundred springs."
STEEVENS.
267. Commit not, &c.] The word commit is used in
this sense by Middleton, in Women beware Women:
"His weight is deadly who commits with strum-
STEEVENS.
pets."
272.
wore gloves in my cap-] i. e. His mis-
tress's favours: which was the fashion of that time.
So in the play called Campaspe: "Thy men turned to
women, thy soldiers to lovers, gloves worn in velvet caps,
instead of plumes in graven helmets." WARBURTON.
It was anciently the custom to wear gloves in the hat
on three distinct occasions, viz. as the favour of a
mistress, the memorial of a friend, and as a mark to
be challenged by an enemy. Prince Henry boasts that
he will pluck a glove from the commonest creature, and
fix it in his helmet; and Tucca says to sir Quintilian,
in Decker's Satiromastix:
-Thou shalt wear her glove in thy worshipful
hat, like to a leather brooch:" and Pandora in Lylly's
Woman in the Moon, 1597:
-he that first presents me with his head,
"Shall wear my glove in favour of the deed.
Portia, in her assumed character, asks Bassanio for his
gloves, which she says she will wear for his sake: and
king Henry V. gives the pretended glove of Alençon
to Fluellen, which afterwards occasions his quarrel
with the English soldier.
STEEVENS.
Hiij
278.
90
Aa III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
278. light of ear--] i. e. Credulous.
WARBURTON.
Not merely credulous, but credulous of evil, ready to
receive malicious reports.
JOHNSON.
279. -Hog in sloth, fox in stealth, wolf in greedi-
ness, &c.] The Jesuits pretended to cast the seven
deadly sins out of Mainy in the shape of those ani-
mals that represented them; and before each was
cast out, Mainy by gestures acted that particular sin;
curling his hair to shew pride, vomiting, for gluttony,
gaping and snoring for sloth, &c.-Harsenet's book,
Pp. 279, 280, &c. To this probably our author
alludes.
STEEVENS.
283.thy hand out of plackets.] See Placket in
catch-word Alphabet.
285. Thy pen from lenders' books.] So, in All Fools,
a comedy by Chapman, 1605:
"If I but write my name in mercers' books,
"I am as sure to have at six months end
"A rascal at my elbow with his mace," &c.
STEEVENS,
286. Ha no nonny, &c.] Hey no nonny is the bur-
then of a ballad in The Two Noble Kinsmen (said to be
written by Shakspere in conjunction with Fletcher),
and was probably common to many others. The
folio introduces it into one of Ophelia's songs.
STEEVENS.
It is observable that the two songs, to which Mr.
Steevens refers for the burden of Hey no nonny, are both
sung by girls distracted from disappointed love.
The
I
A& III.
91
KING LEAR.
The meaning of this burden may be inferred from
what follows:-Drayton's Shepherd's Garland, 1593,
4to.
"Who ever heard thy pipe and pleasing vaine,
"And doth but heare this scurrill minstraley,
"These noninos of filthie ribauldry,
"That doth not muse.
Again, in White's Wit of a Woman:
"
"-these-dauncers, sometimes do teach them trickes:
above trenchmore, yea and sometimes such la voltas,
that they mount so high, that you may see their hey
HENLEY.
nony, nony, nony, no."
286. Dolphin, my boy, &c.]
Dolphin, my boy, my boy,
Cease, let him trot by;
It seemeth not that such a foe
From me or you would fly.
This is a stanza from a very old ballad written on
some battle fought in France, during which the king,
unwilling to put the suspected valour of his son the
Dauphin, i. e. Dolphin (so called and spelt at those
times) to the trial, is represented as desirous to re-
strain him from any attempt to establish an opinion
of his courage on an adversary who wears the least
appearance of strength; and at last assists in propping
up a dead body against a tree for him to try his man-
hood upon. Therefore, as different champions are
supposed crossing the field, the king always discovers
some objection to his attacking each of them, and
repeats
i
92
A&t III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
repeats these two lines as every fresh personage is in-
troduced.
Dolphin, my boy, my boy, &c.
The song I have never seen, but had this account
from an old gentleman, who was only able to repeat
part of it, and died before I could have supposed the
discovery would have been of the least importance
to me.- -As for the words, says suum, mun, they
are only to be found in the first folio, and were pro-
bably added by the players, who, together with the
compositors, were likely enough to corrupt what they
did not understand, or to add more of their own to
what they already concluded to be nonsense.
Cokes cries out in Bartholomew-Fair:
STEEVENS.
"God's my life !-He shall be Dauphin, my boy!"
FARMER.
296. Come; unbutton here.] Thus the folio. One
of the quartos reads:
300.
Come on, be true.
STEEVENS.
an old lecher's heart.] This image ap-
pears to have been imitated by Beaumont and Fletcher
in the Humourous Lieutenant :
tr
an old man's loose desire
"Is like the glow-worm's light the apes so
wonder'd at;
"Which, when they gather'd sticks, and laid
upon't,
"And blew and blew, turn'd tail, and went out
ac
presently."
STEEVENS,
303.
Aa iii.
93
KING LEAR.
303. Flibbertigibbet ;--] We are not much
acquainted with this fiend. Latimer in his sermons
mentions him; and Heywood, among his sixte
hundred of Epigrams, edit. 1576, has the following,
Of calling one Flebergibet :
"Thou Flebergibet, Flebergibet, thou wretch!
"Wottest thou whereto last part of that word
doth stretch?
"Leave that word, or I'le baste thee with a libet ;
"Of all woords I hate woords that end with
STEEVENS.
gibet."
"Frateretto, Fliberdigibet, Hoberdidance, Toco-
batto, were four devils of the round or morice ....
These four had forty assistants under them, as them-
selves doe confesse.' Harsenet, p. 49.
PERCY.
305. —-web and the pin—] Diseases of the eye.
JOHNSON.
So, in Every Woman in her Humour, 16:0. One of
the characters is giving a ludicrous description of a
lady's face, and when he comes to her eyes he says,
“ a pin and web argent in hair duroy.” STEEVENS.
308. Saint Withold footed thrice the wold,
He met the night-mare, and her nine-fold,
Bid her alight, and her troth plight,
And aroynt thee, witch, aroynt thee !]
We should read it thus:
Saint Withold footed thrice the wold,
He met the night-mare, and her name told,
Bid her alight, and her troth plight,.
And aroynt thee, witch, aroynt thee right!
i. c.
91
Act III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
i. e. Saint Withold, traversing the wold or downs, met
the night-mare; who having told her name, he ob-
liges her to alight from those persons whom she rides,
and plight her troth to do no more mischief. This is
taken from a story of him in his legend. Hence he
was invoked as the patron saint against that distemper.
And these verses were no other than a popular charm,
or night-spell against the Epilepsy. The last line is the
fornial execration or apostrophe of the speaker of the
charm to the witch, aroynt thee right, i. e. depart forth-
with. Bedlams, gipsies, and such like vagabonds,
used to sell these kinds of spells or charms to the
people. They were of various kinds for various dis-
orders. We have another of them in the Monsieur
Thomas of Fletcher, which he expressly calls a night-
spell, and is in these words:
"Saint George, Saint George, our lady's knight,
"He walks by day, so he does by night;
"And when he had her found,
"He her beat and her bound;
Until to him her troth she plight,
"She would not stir from him that night."
WARBURTON.
This is likewise one of the "magical cures" for
the incubus, quoted, with little variation, by Reginald
Scott, in his Discovery of Witchcraft, 1584.
STEVENS.
In the old quarto the corruption is such as may de-
serve to be noted. "Swithald footed thrice the olde
anelthu night moore and her nine fold bid her, O
light
A& III.
95
KING LEAR.
light and her troth plight and arint thee, with arint
thee."
JOHNSON.
Shakspere might have met with St. Withold in the
old spurious play of King John, where this saint is in-
voked by a Franciscan friar. The wold I suppose to
be the true reading. So in the Coventry Collection of
Mysteries, Mus. Prit. Vesp. D. viii. p. 93. Herod
says to one of his officers:
"Seyward bolde, walke thou on wolde,
"And wysely behold all abowte," &c.
STEEVENS.
The ancient reading is the olds: which is pompously
corrected by Mr. Theobald, with the help of his
friend Mr. Bishop, to the wolds: in fact, it is the same
word. Spelman writes, Burton upon olds: the provin-
cial pronunciation is still the oles: and that probably
was the vulgar orthography. Let us read then,
"St. Withold footed thrice the oles,
"He met the night-mare, and her nine foles," &c.
FARMER.
Both the quarto and folio have old, and not olds.
MALONE.
Aroynt, see catch-word Alphabet.
218.
-wall-newt,] The quarto reads wall wort.
HENDERSON.
322.
whipt from tything to tything] A
tything is a division of a place, a district; the same in
the country, as a ward in the city. In the Saxon
times every hundred was divided into tythings. Edgar
4
alludes
96
A& III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
alludes to the acts of Queen Elizabeth and James I.
against rogues, vagabonds, &c. In the Statute,
39 Eliz. ch. 4. it is enacted, that every vagabond,
&c. shall be publickly whipped and sent from parish
to parish.
STEEVENS.
326.
small deer] This distich is part of a
description in the old metrical romance of Sir Bevis
of Southampton, of the hardships suffered by Bevis
when confined for seven years in a dungeon:
"Rattes and myce, and such smal dere,
"Was his meate that seven yere."
PERCY.
329. -Peace, Smolkin, peace-] "The names
of other punie spirits cast out of Trayford were these:
Hilco, Smolkin, Hillio, &c." Harsenet, p. 49. PERCY.
330. The prince of darkness is a gentleman;] This
is spoken in resentment of what Gloster had just said
"Has your grace no better company?" STEEVENS.
331. Modo he's call'd, and Mahu.] So in Harsenet's
Declaration, Maho was the chief devil that had pos-
session of Sarah Williams; but another of the pos-
sessed, named Richard Mainy, was molested by a
still more considerable fiend called Modu. See the
book already mentioned, p. 268, where the said
Richard Mainy deposes: "Furthermore it is pre-
tended, that there remaineth still in mee the prince of
all other devils, whose name should be Modu; he is
elsewhere called, "the prince Modu" so, p. 269,
"When the said priests had dispatched theire busi-
ness at Hackney (where they had been exorcising
Sarah Williams) they then returned towards mee,
uppon
;
:
A& III.
97
KING LEAR.
uppon pretence to cast the great prince Modu . . . out
mec.”
STEEVENS.
345.
learned Theban.] Ben Jonson, in his
Masque of Pan's Anniversary, has introduced a Tinker,
whom he calls a learned Theban, perhaps in ridicule of
STEEVENS.
this passage.
350. His wits begin to unsettle.] On this occasion,
I cannot prevail on myself to omit the following ex-
cellent remark of Mr. Horace Walpole, inserted in
the postscript to his Mysterious Mother. He observes,
that when" Belvidera talks of
"Lutes, laurels, seas of milk, and ships of amber-
she is not mad, but light-headed. When madness
has taken possession of a person, such character ceases
to be fit for the stage, or at least should appear there
but for a short time; it being the business of the
theatre to exhibit passions, not distempers. The
finest picture ever drawn, of a head discomposed by
misfortune, is that of King Lear. His thoughts dwell
on the ingratitude of his daughters, and every sen-
tence that falls from his wildness excites reflection and
pity. Had phrenzy entirely seized him, our com-
passion would abate: we should conclude that he no
longer felt unhappiness. Shakspere wrote as a philo-
sopher, Otway as a poet.”
STEEVENS.
375. Child Rowland.] The word child (however it
came to have this sense) is often applied to Knights,
&c. in old historical songs and romances; of this,
innumerable instances occur in the Reliques of ancient
English Poetry. See particularly in Vol. I. s. iv. v. 97.
I
where,
98
AQ III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
:
where, in a description of a battle between two knights,
we find these lines :
+
"The Eldridge knighte, he prick'd his steed;
"Syr Cawline bold abode :
"Then either shook his trusty spear,
"And the timber these two children bare
"So soon in sunder slode.”
See in the same volumes the ballads concerning the
child of Elle, child Waters, child Maurice [Vol. III. s. xx.
x.]
&c. The same idiom occurs in Spenser's Faerie Queen,
where the famous knight Sir Tristram is frequently
called Child Tristram. See B. V. c. ii. st. 8.
13.
B. VI. c. ii. st. 36. Ibid. c. viii. st. 15. PERCY.
Shakspere here alludes to an antiquated ballad, or
some story of Roland. Mr. Steevens has marked a
similar reference in The Woman's Prize of Beaumont
and Fletcher:
-a mere hobby-horse
"She made the Child Rowland."
376. Fie, foh, and fum, &c.] In Have with you to
Saffron-Walden, er Gabriel Harvey's Hunt is Up, 1598,
part of the lines repeated by Edgar is quoted :—“ a
pedant, who will find matter inough to dilate a whole
daye of the first invention of
(6
Fy, fa, fum,
"I smell the blood of an Englishman.”
Both the quartos read:
to the dark town come.
384.
STEEVENS.
but a provoking merit,] Provoking here
means stimulating; a merit he felt in himself, which
irritated
Aa III.
99
KING LEAR.
irritated him against a father that had none.
397.
comforting
means giving comfort or assistance.
the beginning of the next scene:
-I will piece out the comfort
I can.
MONCK MASON.
•]
Comforting here
So Gloster says in
with what addition
MONCK MASON.
-] And
''
402. Fool Pr'ythee, nuncle, tell me.——
before, in the same act, sc. iii.-" Cry to it, nuncle.'
Why does the Fool call the old king, nuncle? But we
have the same appellation in The Pilgrim, by Fletcher:
"Farewel, Nunele,”——Act iv. sc. 1.
And in the next scene, alluding to Shakspere,
"What mops and mowes it makes.”
WHALLEY.
404. This speech is omitted in the quartos.
STEEVENS.
] Then fol-
4c8. Come hizzing in upon 'em.
low in the old edition several speeches in the mad
way, which probably were left out by the players, or
by Shakspere himself: I shall however insert them
here, and leave them to the reader's mercy. POPE.
As Mr. Pope had begun to insert several speeches
in the mad way, in this scene, from the old edition,
I have ventured to replace several others, which
stand upon the same footing, and had an equal right
of being restored.
THEOBALD.
409. Edgar.] This and the next fourteen speeches
(which Dr. Johnson had enclosed in crotchets) are
only in the quartos.
STEEVENS.
Iij
421,
100
A&t III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
421.
-the health of a horse,-] Shakspere is
here speaking of things uncertain.
all other animals subject to diseases.
A horse is above
JOHNSON.
426. Wantest, &c.] I am not confident that I un-
derstand the meaning of this desultory speech. When
Edgar says, Look where he stands and glares! he seems
to be speaking in the character of a madman, who
thinks he sees the fiend. Wantest thou eyes at trial,
madam? is a question which appears to be addressed
to the visionary Goneril, or some other abandon'd
female, and may signify, Do you want to attract admi-
ration, even while you stand at the bar of justice? Mr.
Seward proposes to read, wanton'st instead of wantest.
STEEVENS.
At trial, madam?] It may be observed that Edgar,
being supposed to be found by chance, and therefore
to have no knowledge of the rest, connects not his
ideas with those of Lear, but pursues his own train
of delirious or fantastick thought. To these words,
At trial, madam? I think therefore that the name of
Lear should be put. The process of the dialogue will
support this conjecture.
JOHNSON.
428. Come o'er the broom, Bessy, to me :] As there
is no relation between broom and a boat, we may bet-
ter read:
Come o'er the brook, Bessy, to me. JOHNSON.
At the beginning of A very merry and pythie commedie,
called, The longer thou Livest, the more Foole thou art, &c.
Imprinted at London by Wyllyam How, &c. black
letter, no date, "Entreth Moros, counterfaiting a
vaine
A&t III.
101
KING LEAR.
vaine gesture and foolish countenance, synging the
foote of many songs, as fooles were wont;" and
among them is this passage, which Dr. Johnson has
very justly suspected of corruption :
"Com over the boorne Bessé'
"My little pretie Bessé
"Com over the boarne Bessé to me.
This song was entered on the books of the Station-
ers-Company in the year 1564.
A bourn signifies a rivulet or brook. Hence the
names of many of our villages terminate in burn, as
Milburn, Sherburn, &c.
STEEVENS.
There is a peculiar propriety in this address that
has not, I believe, been hitherto observed. Bessy and
poor Tom, it seems, usually travelled together. The
author of The Court of Conscience, or Dick Whipper's
Sessions, 1607, describing beggars, idle rogues, and
counterfeit madmen, thus speaks of these associates:
Another sort there is among you; they
"Do rage with furie as if they were so frantique
"They knew not what they did, but every day
"Make sport with stick and flowers like an
antique ;
"Stowt roge and harlot counterfeited gomme,
"One calls herself poor Besse, the other Tom."
MALONE.
The author of THE REMARKS has printed from an
old manuscript the song itself.
431.
in the voice of a nightingale.] Another
deponent in Harsenet's book (p. 225, says),
Iiij
that the
mistress
10%
A& 111,
ANNOTATIONS UPON
mistress of the house kept a nightingale in a cage,
which being one night killed, and conveyed away into
the garden, it was pretended the devil had killed it
in spite. Perhaps this passage suggested to Shakspere
the circumstance of Tom's being haunted in the voice
of a nightingale.
PERCY.
432.
·Hopdance cries in Tom's belly.
In Harsenet's book, p. 194, 195, Sarah Williams (one
of the pretended demoniacks) deposeth, "—that if
at any time she did belch, as oftentimes she did by
reason that she was troubled with a wind in her sto-
macke, the priests would say at such times, that then
the spirit began to rise in her. and that the wind
was the devil." And, as she saith, "if they heard
any croaking in her belly. . . . then they would make
a wonderful matter of that."
tioned before in Dr. Percy's note.
•
Hoberdidance is men-
STEEVENS.
433. -white herring.] White herrings are pickled
herrings. See the Northumberland Household Book, p. 8.
STEEVENS.
443. Sleepest, or wakest, &c.] This seems to be a
stanza of some pastoral song. A shepherd is desired
to pipe, and the request is enforced by a promise,
that though his sheep be in the corn, i. e. committing
a trespass by his negligence, implied in the question,
Sleepest thou, or wakest? Yet a single tune upon his
pipe shall secure them from the pound. JOHNSON.
Minikin was anciently a term of endearment. So,
in the interlude of the Repentance of Marie Magdalaine,
1567, the Vice says, "What mynikin carnal concu-
piscence !”.
A& III.
103
KING LEAR.
piscence!" Barret, in his Alvearie, or Quadruple Dicti-
onary, 1580, interprets feat, by " proper, well-
fashioned, minikin, handsome.” In the Interlude of
the Four Elements, &c. printed by Rastell, 1519,
Ignorance sings a song composed of the scraps of seve-
ral others. Among them is the following line, on
which Shakspere may have designed a parody:
"Sleepyst thou, wakyst thou, Geffery Coke."
STEEVENS.
453. Cry you mercy, I took you for a joint stool.]
This is a proverbial expression.
STEEVENS.
464. --see they bark at me.] The hint for this
circumstance might have been taken from the pre-
tended madness of one of the brothers in the transla-
tion of the Menæchmi of Plautus, 1595:
"Here's an old mastiff bitch stands barking at
STEEVENS.
me," &c.
If Shakspere had access to the Odyssey, I should
rather have supposed that the affectionate recognition
of Ulysses by his dog, might have suggested the
circumstance here marked by Lear.
HENLEY.
467. Be thy mouth or black or white,] To have the
roof of the mouth black, is in some dogs a proof that their
breed is genuine.
469.
STEEVENS.
brache or hym, &c.] Names of par-
ticular sorts of dogs.
Sir T. Hanmer for hym reads lym.
POPE.
JOHNSON.
In Ben Jonson's Bartholomew-Fair, Quarlous says,
- all the lime-hounds of the city should have drawn
after you by the scent."- A limmer or leamer, a dog
of
104
ANNOTATIONS UPON
A& III.
of the chace, was so called from the leam or leash in
which he was held till he was let slip. I have this
information from Caius de Canibus Britannicis.——So,
in the book of Ancient Tenures, by T. B. 1679, the
words, "canes domini regis lesos," are translated
"Leash hounds, such as draw after a hurt deer in a
leash, or liam.”
Again, in the Muses Elysium, by Drayton :
“My dog-hook at my belt, to which my lyam's
ty'd."
Again:
My hound then in my lyam, &c."
Among the presents sent from James I. to the king
and queen of Spain were "A cupple of lymc-houndes
of singular qualities."
Again, in Massinger's Bashful Lover:
-smell out
"Her footing like a lime-hound."
The late Mr. Hawkins, in his notes to the Return
from Parnassus, p. 237, says, that a rache is a dog that
hunts by scent wild beasts, birds, and even fishes,
and that the female of it is called a brache: and in
Magnificence, an ancient interlude or morality, by
Skelton, printed by Rastell, no date, is the following
line:
"Here is a leyshe of ratches to renne an hare.”
STEEVENS.
What is here said of a rache might perhaps be taken
by Mr. Hawkins from Holinshed's Description of Scot-
land, p. 14, where the sleuthound means a blood-
hound. The females of all dogs were once called
braches;
Aa III.
105
KING LEAR.
braches; and Ulitius upon Gratius observes, "Racha
Saxonibus canem significabat unde Scoti hodie Rache
pro cane fœmina habent, quod Anglis est Brache.”
TULLET.
470.
-bobtail tike- ] Tijk is the Runick
word for a little, or worthless dog;
"Are Mr. Robinson's dogs turn'd tikes with a
Witches of Lancaster, 1634,
wanion?"
470.
STEEVENS.
-trundle-tail.] This sort of dog is men-
tioned in A Woman killed with Kindness, 1617:
-your dogs are trundle-tails and curs.
Again, in The Booke of Huntyng, &c. bl. let. no date:
-dunghill dogs, trindle-tails, &c."
STEEVENS.
474. Sessey, come, &c.] Here is sessey again, which
I take to be the French word cessez pronounced cessey,
which was, I suppose, like some others, in common
use among us. It is an interjection enforcing cessation
of any action, like, be quiet, have done. It seems to
have been gradually corrupted into so, so. JOHNSON.
This word is wanting in the quarto: in the folio it
is printed sese. It is difficult in this place to say what
is meant by it. It should be remembered, that just
before, Edgar had been calling on Bessy to come to
him; and he may now with equal propriety invite
Sessy (perhaps a female name corrupted from Cecilia)
to attend him to wakes and fairs. Nor is it impossible
but that this may be a part of some old song, and
originally stood thus:
Sissy,
}
105
Act III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
Sissy, come march to wakes,
And fairs, and market towns.
So, in Humor's Ordinarie, an ancient collection of
satires, no date :
"To make Sisse in love withal."
Again:
(C
My heart's deare blood, sweet Sisse, is my ca-
rouse."
There is another line in the character of Edgar which
I am very confident I have seen in an old ballad, viz.
Through the sharp hawthorn blows the cold wind.
STEEVENS.
Dr. Johnson is surely right, in supposing that sessy
is a corruption of cessez, be quiet, stop, hold, let alone.
It is so used by Christofero Sly, the drunken Tinker,
in The Taming of the Shrew, and by Edgar himself in
a preceding scene-" Dolphin, by boy, Sessy; let him
trot by."-But it does not seem equally clear that it
has been corrupted into so, so.
REMARKS.
475- thy horn is dry.] Men that begged
under pretence of lunacy used formerly to carry a
horn, and blow it through the streets. JOHNSON.
A horn is at this day employed in many places in the
country as a cup for drinking, but anciently the use
of it was much more general. Thy horn is dry, ap-
pears to be a proverbial expression, introduced when
a man has nothing further to offer, when he has said.
all he had to say. Such a one's pipe's out, is a phrase
Current in Ireland on the same occasion.
I suppose Edgar to speak these words aside. Being
quite
A&E III.
107
KING LEAR.
quite weary of his Tom o' Bedlam's part, and finding
himself unable to support it any longer, he says pri-
vately, "I can no more: all my materials for
sustaining the character of Poor Tom are now ex-
hausted; my horn is dry :
horn is dry: i. e. has nothing more in it;
and accordingly we have no more of his dissembled
madness till he meets his father in the next act, when
he resumes it for a speech or two, but not without
expressing the same dislike of it that he expresses
here, "I cannot daub it further."
STEEVENS.
480. You will say they are Persian ; ] Al-
luding perhaps to Clytus refusing the Persian robes
offered him by Alexander.
STEEVENS.
485. And I'll go to bed at noon.] Omitted in the
STEEVENS.
quartos.
495. Take up, take up.] One of the quartos reads
-Take up the king, &c. the other-Take up to keep,
STEEVENS.
&c.
498. --Oppressed nature sleeps. -] These two
concluding speeches by Kent and Edgar, and which
by no means ought to have been cut off, I have re-
stored from the old quarto.
THEOBALD.
499. — thy broken senses,] The quarto, from
whence this speech is taken, reads-thy broken sinews.
Senses is the conjectural emendation of Theobald.
STEEVENS.
Theobald might have supported his emendation by
a passage in Macbeth :
..
the innocent sleep,
"Balm of hurt minds.-
MALONE.
507,
108
Act III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
507. -free things-] States clear from distress.
Thus Lear, before:
JOHNSON.
“When the mind's free, the body's delicate.”
508. But then the mind much sufferance doth o'erskip,
When grief hath mates, and bearing fellow-
ship.]
So, in our author's Rape of Lucrece :
"And fellowship in woe doth woe assuage."
Again, in Romeo and Juliet:
“Or, if sour woe delights in fellowship.
Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris.-Incer.
Au&.
MALONE.
513. Mark the high noises !—] Attend to the
great events that are approaching, and make thyself
known when that false opinion now prevailing against
thee shall, in consequence of just proof of thy inte-
grity, revoke its erroneous sentence, and recall thee
to honour and reconciliation.
JOHNSON.
Bewray, which at
anciently signified
STEEVENS.
513. -and thyself bewray,]
present has only a dirty meaning,
to betray, to discover.
Thus in the Scripture, "thy speech bewrayeth thee."
See Bewray, catch-word Alphabet.
528.
mer scene:
-and intelligent betwixt us.] So, in a for-
spies and speculations
Intelligent of our state.
STEEVENS.
530. my lord of Gloster.] Meaning Edmund,
newly
A&t III.
109
KING LEAR.
the same title.
newly invested with his father's titles. The steward,
speaking immediately after, mentions the old earl by
JOHNSON.
534. Hot questrists after him-] A questrist is
one who goes in search or quest of another.
STEEVENS.
542. Though well we may not pass upon his life,
-yet our pow'r
Shall do a courtesy to our wrath.] To do
a courtesy is to gratify, to comply with. To pass, is to
pass a judicial sentence.
JOHNSON.
The original of the expression, to pass on any one,
may be traced from Magna Charta:
-nec super eum ibimus, nisi per legale judicium
parium suorum.”
It is common to most of our early writers. So, in
Acolastus, a comedy, 1529: "I do not nowe consider
the myschievous pageants he hath played; I do not
now passe upon them." Again, in If this be not a good
Play, the Devil is in It, 1612: “ A jury of brokers,
impanel'd, and deeply sworn to passe on all villains in
hell."
STEEVENS.
547. —corky arms.] Dry, wither'd, husky arms.
JOHNSON.
As Shakspere appears from other passages of this
play to have had in his eye Bishop Harsenet's Declaration
of egregious Popish Impostures, &c. 1603, 4to. it is
probable, that this very expressive, but peculiar epi-
thet, corky, was suggested to him by a passage in that
very curious pamphlet, "It would pose all the
cunning
K
110
A& III.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
cunning exorcists, that are this day to be found, to
teach an old corkie woman to writhe, tumble, curvet,
and feich her morice gamboles, as Martha Bressier
(one of the possessed mentioned in the pamplet) did."
554. By the kind gods,-
PERCY.
] People always invoke
their deities as they would have them shew themselves
at particular times in their favour; Gloster accord-
ingly calls those kind gods whom he would wish to
find so on this occasion. He does so yet a second
time in this scene. Our own liturgy will sufficiently
evince the truth of my supposition.
STEEVENS.
559. Will quichen,-] i. e. quicken into life.
MONCK MASON.
560.
my hospitable favours] Favours means
the same as features, i. e. the different parts of which
a face is composed. So, in David and Bethsabe, 1599:
"To daunt the favours of his lovely face."
STEEVENS.
563. Be simple-answer'd, —] The old quarto
reads, Be simple answerer. - Either is good sense:
simple means plain.
STEEVENS.
578. I am ty'd to the stake,—] So, in Macbeth.
They have chain'd me to a stake; I cannot fly,
"But, bear-like, I must stand the course."
STEEVENS.
-the course.] The running of the dogs uponme.
JOHNSON.
582. -stick learish fangs.] The quartos read—
rash
A& III.
111
KING LEAR.
rash boarish fangs. This verb occurs in Spenser's
Faery Queen, B. IV. c. ii.
"And shields did share, and mailes did rash, and
helmes did hew."
Again, B. V. c. iii.
"Rashing off helmes, and ryving plates asunder."
To rash is the old hunting term for the stroke
made by a wild boar with his fangs.
STEEVENS.
586.
--to rain.] Thus the folio. The quartos
read-to rage.
STEEVENS.
587. that stern time,] Thus the folio. Both
the quartos read-that dearn time. -Dearn is a
north-country word, signifying lonely, solitary, melan-
choly, far from neighbours. So, in the Valiant Scot:
"Of all thy joys the dearne and dismal end.”
Again, in Spenser's Faery Queen, B. II. c. i.
They heard a rueful voice that dearnly cride."
STEEVENS.
589. -subscrib'd:--] Yielded, submitted to
the necessity of the occasion.
JOHNSON.
592. Upon these eyes, &c.] In Selimus, Emperor of
the Turks, one of the sons of Bajazet pulls out the eyes
of an aga on the stage, and says,
"Yes, thou shalt live, but never see that day,
"Wanting the tapers that should give thee light."
[Pulls out his cyes.
Immediately after, his hands are cut off. I have in-
troduced this passage, to shew that Shakspere's drama
was not more sanguinary than that of his contem-
poraries.
STEEVENS.
Kij
In
112
A& IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
In Marston's Antonio and Mellida, p. ii. 1602.
Piero's tongue is torn out on the stage. MALONE.
604, My villain !] Villain is here perhaps used in
its original sense of one in servitude.
STEEVENS.
627. I'll never care what wickedness I do,] This short
dialogue I have inserted from the old quarto, because
I think it full of nature. Servants could hardly see
such a barbarity committed on their master, without
pity; and the vengeance that they presume must over-
take the actors of it, is a sentiment and doctrine well
worthy of the stage.
THEOBALD.
It is not necessary to suppose them the servants of
Gloster; for Cornwall was opposed to extremity by
his own servant.
JOHNSON.
ACT IV.
Line 1.
The sentiment is this:-It is better to be thus con-
temned and know it, than to be flattered by those who
secretly contemn us.
HENLEY.
YET better thus, and known to be contemn'd,]
The quarto edition has no stop after flatter'd. The
first folio, which has a comma there, has a colon at
the end of the line.
The expression in this speech-owes nothing to thy
blasts-(in a more learned writer) might seem to be
copied from Virgil, Æn. xi. 51,
"Nos
A&t IV.
113
KING LEAR.
"Nos juvenem exanimum, et nil jam cœlestibus
ullis
"Debentem, vano masti comitamur honore."
TYRWHITT.
4.
B. III.
6.
-lives not in fear.] So in Milton's Par. Reg.
"For where no hope is left, is left no fear.”
STEEVENS.
-Welcome then,] The next two lines and a half
are omitted in the quartos.
10.
STEEVENS.
O world!
But that thy strange mutations make us hate thee,
Life would not yield to age.]
obscure passage is, O world! so
The sense of this
much are human
minds captivated with thy pleasures, that were it not
for those successive miseries, each worse than the
other, which overload the scenes of life, we should
never be willing to submit to death, though the infir-
mities of old age would teach us to choose it as a pro-
per asylum. Besides, by uninterrupted prosperity,
which leaves the mind at ease, the body would gene,
rally preserve such a state of vigour as to bear up
long against the decays of time. These are the two
reasons, I suppose, why he said,
Life would not yield to age.
And how much the pleasures of the body pervert the
mind's judgment, and the perturbations of the mind
disorder the body's frame, is known to all.
WARBURTON,
Field to, signifies no more than give way to, sink
Kiij
under,
114
A& IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
under, in opposition to the struggling with, bearing up
against the infirmities of age.
12.
Our mean secures us;
diocre condition.
HANMER.
WARBURTON,
]i. e. Moderate, me-
The two original editions have:
Our meanes secures us..
JOHNSON.
Mean is here a substantive, and signifies a middle
state, as Dr. Warburton rightly interprets it. So,
again in The Merchant of Venice, "it is no mean hap-
piness therefore to be seated in the mean.” See more
instances in Dr. Johnson's Dictionary.
21. —to see thee in my touch.]
scene, I see it feelingly.
24.
STEEVENS,
So, in another
STEEVENS.
who is't can say, I am at the worst ?
-the worst is not,
So long as we can say, This is the worst.]
i. e. While we live; for while we yet continue to
have a sense of feeling, something worse than the
present may still happen. What occasioned this re-
flection was his rashly saying in the beginning of this
scene,
To be worst,
The lowest, most dejected thing of fortune, &c.
The wretch, that thou hast blown unto the worst,
WARBURTON.
&c.
40. As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods;
They kill us for their sport.]
"Dii nos quasi pilas homines habent."- Plaut.
Captiv. Prol. 1. 22,
STEEVENS,
44.
AS IV.
115
KING LEAR.
44.
I cannot daub it—]. i. e. Disguise,
So, in King Richard III:
WARBURTON.
"So smooth he daub'd his vice with shew of vir-
tue."
The quartos read, "I cannot dance it further."
STEEVENS,
59. Five fiends, &c.] The rest of this speech is
omitted in the folio. In Harsenet's Book, already
quoted, p. 278, we have an extract from the account
published by the exorcists themselves, viz. " By
commaundement of the exorcist . . . the devil in Ma.
Mainy confessed his name to be Modu, and that he
had besides himself seaven other spirits, and all of them
captains, and of great fame." "Then Edmundes
(the exorcist) began againe with great earnestness,
and all the company cried out, &c. . . so as both
that wicked prince Modu and his company might be
cast out," This passage will account for five fiends
having been in poor Tum at once,
PERCY.
67. -mopping and mowing;] So in Beaumont
and Fletcher's Pilgrim, act iv. sc. ii
"The devil in a fool's coat, is he turn'd inno,
cent ?
"What mops and mowes it makes.”
WHALLEY,
The proper meaning of these expressions may be
drawn from the passages that follow :-Thus, in
Harsenet's Declaration of Popish Impostures, "His rea-
sons that moove him to think so well of us are, be-
3
cause
116
A&t IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
cause we do not tumble, wallow, foame, howle, scricke,
and make mouthes and mops, as the popish possessed
used to do."—And again -"to frame themselves
iumpe and fit unto the priest's humors, to mop, mow,
iest, raile, rave, roare," &c.
HENLEY,
70. -possesses chamber-maids and waiting-women.—}
Shakspere has made Edgar, in his feigned distraction,
frequently allude to a vile imposture of some English
jesuits, at that time much the subject of conversation;
the history of it having been just then composed with
great art and vigour of style and composition by Dr.
S. Harsenet, afterwards archbishop of York, by order
of the privy-council, in a work entitled, A Declaration
of egregious Popish Impostures to withdraw her Majesty's
Subjects from their Allegiance, &c. practised by Edmunds,
alias Weston, a Jesuit, and divers Romish Priests his
wicked Associates: printed 1603. The imposture was
in substance this. While the Spaniards were pre-
paring their armado against England, the jesuits were
here busy at work to promote it, by making converts:
one method they employed was to dispossess pretend-
ed demoniacks, by which artifice they made several
hundred converts amongst the common people. The
principal scene of this farce was laid in the family of
one Mr. Edmund řeckham, a Roman-Catholick,
where Marwood, a servant of Anthony Babington's
(who was afterwards executed for treason), Trayford,
an attendant upon Mr. Peckham, and Sarah and
Friswood Williams, and Anne Smith, three chamber-
maids in that family, came into the priest's hands for
cure.
Act IV.
117
KING LEAR.
cure. But the discipline of the patients was so long
and severe, and the priests so elate and careless with
their success, that the plot was discovered on the
confession of the parties concerned, and the contrivers
of it deservedly punished. The five devils here men-
tioned, are the names of five of those who were made
to act in this farce upon the chamber-maids and waiting-
women; and they were generally so ridiculously nick-
named, that Harsenet has one chapter on the strange
names of their devils; lest, says he, meeting them other-
wise by chance, you mistake them for the names of tapsters
or jugglers.
WARBURTON.
The passage in crotchets is omitted in the folio, be-
cause, I suppose, as the story was forgotten, the jest
was lost.
JOHNSON,
76.
Let the superfluous,] Lear has before uttered
the same sentiment, which indeed cannot be too
strongly impressed, though it may be too often re-
peated.
77. That slaves your ordinance,
JOHNSON.
] To slave an
ordinance, is to treat it as a slave, to make it subject
to us, instead of acting in obedience to it.
So, in Heywood's Brazen Age, 1613:
none
"Could slave him like the Lydian Omphale."
Again, in A New Way to pay Old Debts, by Massinger :
-that slaves me to his will." STEEVENS.
90. our mild husband] It must be remembered
that Albany, the husband of Goneril, disliked, in the
end
118
A&t IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
end of the first act, the scheme of oppression and in-
gratitude.
our wishes, on the way,
104.
May prove effects.
]
JOHNSON.
The wishes we have formed and communicated to
each other, on our journey, may be carried into effect
MONCK MASON.
107.
I must change arms, &c.] Thus the
quartos. The folio reads-change names. STEEVENS.
Decline your head: this kiss, if it durst speak,
Would stretch thy spirits up into the air.]
112.
She bids him decline his head, that she might give
him a kiss (the steward being present), and that it
might appear only to him as a whisper. STEEVENS.
117. O, the difference of man and man!] Omitted in
the quartos.
STEEVENS.
119. My fool usurps my body.] One of the quartos
reads:
My foot usurps my head; the other,
My foot usurps my body.
STEEVENS.
121. I have been worth the whistle.] This expression
is a reproach to Albany for having neglected her;
though you disregard me thus, I have been worth the
whistle, I have found one that thinks me worth calling.
JOHNSON.
This expression is a proverbial one. Heywood, in
one of his dialogues, consisting entirely of proverbs,
says:
"It is a poor dog that is not worth the whistling."
Goneril's meaning seems to be-There was a time
when
A& IV.
119
KING LEAR.
when you would have thought me worth the calling to you;
reproaching him for not having summoned her to
consult with on the present critical occasion.
124.
STEEVENS.
-I fear your disposition :] These and
the speech ensuing are in the edition of 1608, and are
but necessary to explain the reasons of the detestation
which Albany here expresses to his wife.
126.
POPE.
Cannot be border'd certain •] Certain, for
within the bounds that nature prescribes.
WARBURTON.
127. She that herself will shiver and disbranch,]
Thus all the editions, but the old quarto, that reads
sliver, which signifies to tear off or disbranch. So, in
Macbeth:
slips of yew
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse.
WARBURTON.
135. Head-lugg'd bear] Is it not probable that
Shakspere wrote, the teat-lugg'd bear ?-So, before,
act iii. line 10:
"This night wherein the cub-drawn bear would
couch."
HENLEY.
129. And come to deadly use.] Alluding to the use
that witches and inchanters are said to make of wither'd
branches in their charms. A fine insinuation in the
speaker, that she was ready for the most unnatural
mischief, and a preparative of the poet to her plotting
with the bastard against her husband's life.
135.
WARBURTON.
would lick.] This line, which had been
omitted
120
A& IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
omitted by all my predecessors, I have restored from
the quartos.
142.
STEEVENS.
like monsters of the deep.] Fishes are the
only animals that are known to prey upon their own
species.
JOHNSON.
The good doctor should have excepted mankind.-
Besides the proofs with which the late South-Sea
voyages abound, of the existence of Cannibals, the 4th
book of Strabo brings the fact nearer home. In it
he thus speaks of Ireland:-" Concerning this island
I have nothing authentick to relate, except that its
inhabitants are more savage than the Britons, being
both anthropophagi and voracious; and esteeming it an
honour to cat up the dead bodies of their fathers.”
146.
HENLEY.
that not, &c.] The rest of this speech is
omitted in the folio.
STEEVENS.
154. Proper deformity] i. e. Diabolick qualities
appear not so horrid in the devil to whom they be-
long, as in woman who unnaturally assumes them.
WARBURTON.
157.
Thou changed, and self-cover'd thing,—] Of
these lines there is but one copy, and the editors are
forced upon conjecture. They have published this
line thus:
Thou chang'd, and self-converted thing;
but I cannot but think that by self-cover'd the author
meant, thou that hast disguised nature by wickedness;
thou that hast hid the woman under the fiend.
JOHNSON.
This
A& IV.
121
KING LEAR.
This and the next speech are omitted in the folio.
STEEVENS.
I have no doubt but that self-cover'd was Shakspere's
expression, and perhaps alludes to 2 Cor. xi. 14.
"Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."
-for, just before, Albany had said to her:
"See thyself, devil!
"Proper deformity seems not in the fiend
"So horrid as in woman.
And, almost immediately after, he adds :
"Howe'er thou art a fiend,
"A woman's shape doth shield thee."
By the phrase," Thou changed and self-cover'd
thing," we are to understand Albany, as meaning, that
Goneril, having thrown off the convenient seeming of
female gentleness, now no longer played the hypo-
crite, but exhibited in her face the self-same passions
she had covered in her heart.
HENLEY.
182. One way, I like this well;] Goneril's plan was
to poison her sister-to marry Edmund-to murder
Albany—and to get possession of the whole kingdom;
as the death of Cornwall facilitated the last part of
her scheme, she was pleased at it; but disliked it, as
it put it in the power of her sister to marry Edmund.
MONCK MASON.
199. Scene III.] This scene, left out in all the
common books, is restored from the old edition; it
being manifestly of Shakspere's writing, and necessary
to continue the story of Cordelia, whose behaviour is
here most beautifully painted.
POPE.
L
It
122
A& IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
It is extant only in the quarto, being omitted in
the first folio.
199.
JOHNSON.
a Gentleman.] The gentleman whom he
sent in the foregoing act with letters to Cordelia.
217.
JOHNSON.
-her smiles and tears
a wetter May.-
Were like a better day.-
It is plain, we should read-
i. e. A spring season wetter than ordinary.
WARBURTON.
The thought is taken from Sidney's Arcadia, p. 244.
"Her tears came dropping down like rain in sun-
shine." Cordelia's behaviour on this occasion is ap-
parently copied from Pholoclea's. The same book, in
another place, says- "that her tears followed one
another like a precious rope of pearl." The quartos
read-a better way-which may be an accidental inver-
sion of the M.
A better day, however, is the best day, and the best
day is a day most favourable to the productions of the
earth. Such are the days in which there is a due
mixture of rain and sunshine.
It must be observed that the comparative is used by
Milton and others, instead of the positive and super-
lative, as well as by Shakspere himself, in the play
before us:
"The safer sense will ne'er accommodate
"Its master thus."
Again, in Macbeth :
CC
-it hath cow'd my better part of man.”
Again,
A&t IV.
123
KING LEAR.
Again,
-Go not my horse the better."
Mr. Pope makes no scruple to say of Achilles, that
"The Pelian javelin in his better hand
"Shot trembling rays," &c.
i. e. his best hand, his right.
STEEVENS.
Doth not Dr. Warburton's alteration infer, that
Cordelia's sorrow was superior to her patience? But
it seemed that she was a queen over her passion; and
the smiles on her lip appeared not to know that tears
were in her eyes. Her smiles and tears were like a
better day, or like a better May, may signify that
they were like such a season where sunshine prevailed
over rain. So in All's Well that Ends Well, act v.
scene 3, we see in the king
"sunshine and hail at once;
but to the brightest beams distracted clouds give way:
the time is fair again, and he is like a day of season,
i. e. better day.
218.
TOLLET.
-smiles,] The quartos read smilets. This
may be a diminutive of Shakspere's coinage.
221.
STEEVENS.
As pearls from diamonds dropt.-] A similar
thought to this of Shakspere, occurs in Middleton's
Game at Chess, 1625:
-the holy dew lies like a pearl
"Dropt from the opening eye-lids of the morn
<<
Upon the bashful rose."
Milton has transplanted this image into his Lycidas :
"Under the opening eye-lids of the morn.
}
Lij
STEEVEŃS:
That
124
Act IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
That humidity of the eye which emits a sparkling
radiance, and was the attribute of Venus herself
[-ΥΓΡΟΝ, ὡς Κυθήρης] the poet here compares to
the scintillations of the diamond, and the drop which
it forms in departing from the eye-lid (for in a falling
state it becomes opaque) to a pearl.-Thus, Fairfax,
from Tasso :
"-drops bright, white, round, like pearls of Inde,
"Her humid eyes shot forth,
"That like sun-beams in silver fountains shin'd."
HENLEY.
224. Made she no verbal question?] Means only,
Did she enter into no conversation with you? In this
sense our poet frequently uses the word question, and
not simply as the act of interrogation. Did she give
you to understand her meaning by words, as well as
by the foregoing external testimonies of sorrow?
So, in All's Well that Ends Well:
-she told me
STEEVENS.
Let not such a
Thus the old
STEEVENS.
"In a sweet verbal brief,” &c.
229. Let pity not be believ'd!] i. e.
thing as pity be supposed to exist!
copies.
231. And clamour-moisten'd—] It is not impos-
sible but Shakspere might have formed this fine picture
of Cordelia's agony from holy writ, in the conduct of
Joseph; who, being no longer able to restrain the
vehemence of his affection, commanded all his retinue
from his presence; and then wept aloud, and discovered
himself to his brethren,
THEOBALD.
Clamour
A& IV.
125
KING LEAR.
Clamour moisten'd her;] that is, her out-cries were
accompanied with tears.
235.
JOHNSON.
one self-mate and mate] The same
husband and the same wife.
248.
-these things sting him
So venomously, that burning shame]
JOHNSON.
The metaphor is here preserved with great know-
ledge of nature; the venom of poisonous animals being
a high caustick salt, that has all the effect of fire upon
the part.
WARBURTON.
263. With hardocks, hemlock, &c.] Hardocks should
be harlocks. Thus Drayton in one of his Eclogues:
"The honey-suckle, the harlocke,
"The lily, and the lady-smocke," &c.
FARMER.
264. Darnel,] According to Gerard, is the most
hurtful of weeds among corn. It is mentioned in The
Witches of Lancashire, 1634:
“That cockle, darncl, poppy wild,
"May choke his grain," &c.
STEEVENS.
280. -the means to lead it.] The reason which
should guide it.
JOHNSON.
287.
-important-
] In other places of
this author for importunate.
The folio reads, importuned.
288. No blown ambition
JOHNSON.
STEEVENS.
] No inflated, no
swelling pride. Beza on the Spanish armada:
CC
Quam bene te ambitio mersit vanissima, ventus,
"Et tumidos tumidæ vos superastis aquæ."
Liij
JOHNSON.
In
126
A& IV.
ΑΝΝΟΤΑTIONS UPON
In the Mad Lover of Beaumont and Fletcher, the
same epithet is given to ambition.
Again, in the Little French Lawyer:
"I come with no blown spirit to abuse you."
STEEVENS,
296. your lady--] The folio reads, your
lord; and rightly. Goneril not only converses with
Lord Edmund, in the Steward's presence, but pre-
vents him from speaking to, or even seeing her hus-
REMARKS.
band.
305.
night, by the extinction of his eyes.
His nighted life;] i. e. His life made dark as
STEEVENS.
319. She gave strange œiliads,—] Oeillade, Fr.
a cast, or significant glance of the eye.
Greene, in his Disputation between a He and She
Coney-Catcher, 1592, speaks of "amorous glances,
şmirking ociliades," &c.
STEEVENS.
323. - -I do advise you, take this note :] Note
means in this place not a letter, but a remark. There-
fore observe what I am saying.
JOHNSON.
Therefore, I do advise you, take this note :
My lord is dead; Edmund and I have talk'd;
And more convenient is he for my
hand
Than for your lady's. You may gather more.
If you do find him, pray you give him this ;
And when your mistress hears thus much from you,
I pray, desire her call her wisdom to her.]
This passage, by a word being left out, and a word
misplaced, and a full stop put where there should be
but a comma, has led all our editors into a very great
mistake;
A& IV.
127
KING LEAR.
mistake; as will, I hope, appear, when we proceed
a little further in the same play. The emendation is
as follows:
Therefore I do advise you, * take note of this;
My lord is dead, &c.
If you so find him, pray you give him this:
i. e. This answer by word of mouth. The editors,
not so regardful of consistency as they ought to have
been, ran away with the thought that Regan delivered
a letter to the steward; whereas she only desired him
to give or deliver so much by word of mouth. And
by this means another blunder, as egregious as the
former, and arising out of it, presents itself to view
in the same act, scene 6.
And give the letters, which thou find’st about me,
To Edmund, earl of Gloster, &c.
Edg. Let's see his pockets: these letters, that he
speaks of,
May be my friends..
[Reads the letter.]
Observe, that here is but one letter produced and
read, which is Goneril's. Had there been one of
Regan's too, the audience no doubt should have heard
it as well as Goneril's. But it is plain, from what is
amended and explained above, that the Steward had
*The like expression, Twelfth Night, act ii. sc. 4.-
"Sir Toby. Challenge me the duke's youth, to fight with
him; hurt him in eleven places; my niece shall take note
of it.??
no
128
A& IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
no letter from Regan, but only a message to be de-
livered by word of mouth to Edmund, earl of Gloster.
So that it is not to be doubted, but the last passage
should be read thus:
And give the letter, which thou find'st about me,
To Edmund, earl of Gloster.
Edg. Let's see these pockets: the letter, tha: he
speaks of,
May be my friend.-
Thus the whole is connected, clear, and consistent.
326.
GREY.
You may gather more.] You may infer
JOHNSON.
more than I have directly told you.
334. What party-] Quarto, What lady.
JOHNSON.
336. Scene VI.] This scene, and the stratagem by
which Gloster is cured of his desperation, are wholly
borrowed from Sidney's Arcadia.
JOHNSON.
345. -thy voice is alter'd, &c.] Edgar alters his
voice in order to pass afterwards for a malignant spirit.
JOHNSON.
354 dreadful trade!] "Samphire grows in great
plenty on most of the sea-cliffs in this country: it is
terrible to see how people gather it, hanging by a rope
several fathom from the top of the impending rocks,
as it were in the air." Smith's History of Waterford,
P. 315. edit. 1774.
258.
her cock;] Her cock-boat.
TOLLET.
JOHNSON.
Sey
Aa IV.
129
KING LEAR.
So, in the ancient bl. let. comedy, called Commons
Conditions:
"Lanche out the cocke boies, and set the maister
ashoare,
"The cocke is lanched, eche man to his care,
"Boie come up and grounde the cocke on the
sande."
Hence the term cockswain, a petty officer in a ship.
STEEVENS.
363. Topple down headlong.] To topple is to tumble.
STEEVENS.
This word is still in daily use in the eastern counties.
367.
for all beneath the moon,
Would I not leap upright.]
So, in The Wife of Bath's Prologue:
"Some let their lechour dight them all the night,
"While that the cors lay on the flore upright."
FARMER.
Upright has the same sense as the Latin supinus (with
the face upward).
In A wonderful, strange, and miraculous Astrological
Prognostication for this Year, &c. 1591:
"Maidens
this winter shall have strange stitches and gripings of
the collicke, which diseases proceed from lying too
much upright."
STEEVENS.
375. Why do I trifle thus with his despair ?—
'Tis done to cure it.]
Perhaps the reading of the folio is better-
}
Why
130
A& IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
Why I do trifle thus with his despair,
Is done to cure it.
STEEVENS.
385. Gone, sir? farewel.] Thus the quartos and
folio.
387.
-when life itself
Yields to the theft.-
]
STEEVENS.
When life is willing to be destroyed.
JOHNSON.
391. Thus might he pass, indeed :-] Thus might
he die in reality. We still use the word passing bell.
JOHNSON.
394. Hadst thou been aught but gossomer, feathers,
air,] Gossomore, the white and cobweb-like exhala-
tions that fly about in hot sunny weather. Skinner
says, in a book called The French Gardener, it signifies
the down of the sow-thistle, which is driven to and
fro by the wind:
"As sure some wonder on the cause of thunder,
"On ebb and flood, on gossomer and mist,
"And on all things, till that the cause is wist."
Dr. GREY.
398. Ten masts at each make not the altitude,] So
Mr. Pope found it in the old editions; and seeing it
corrupt, judiciously corrected it to attacht. But Mr.
Theobald restores again the old nonsense, at each.
WARBURTON.
Mr. Pope's conjecture may stand, if the word which
he uses were known in our author's time; but I think
it is of later introduction. We may say:
Ten masts on end.
JOHNSON.
Perhaps
A& IV.
131
KING LEAR.
Perhaps we should read—at reach, i. e. extent.
STEEVENS.
402. chalky bourn :] Bourn seems here to
signify a hill. Its common signification is a broek.
Milton in Comus uses bosky bourn, in the same sense
perhaps with Shakspere. But in both authors it may
mean only a boundary.
JOHNSON.
419. -enridged sea.] Thus the quarto. The
folio, enraged.
STEEVENS.
Enridged was certainly our author's word; for he
has the same expression in his Venus and Adonis :
"Till the wild waves will have him seen no more,
"Whose ridges with the meeting clouds contend."
MALONE.
420. -the clearest gods-] The purest; the
most free from evil.
JOHNSON.
427. Bear free and patient thoughts.] To be melan-
choly is to have the mind chained down to one painful
idea; there is therefore great propriety in exhorting
Gloster to free thoughts, to an emancipation of his soul
from grief and despair.
JOHNSON.
429.
The safer sense will ne'er accommodate
His master thus.
So, in Measure for Measure:
-]
"Nor do I think the man of safe discretion
"That does affect it "
STEEVENS.
435. That fellow handles his bow like a crow-keeper.]
So, in the 48th Idea of Drayton :
“Or if thou'lt not thy, archery forbear,
"To some base rustic do thyself prefer;
“And
132
À& IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
"And when corn's sown, or grown into the ear,
"Practise thy quiver, and turn crow-keeper.”
Mr. Tollet informs me, that Markham, in his
Farewell to Husbandry, says, that such servants are call-
ed field-keepers, or crow-keepers.
STEEVENS.
436. Draw me a clothier's yard.] Perhaps the poet
had in his mind a stanza of the old ballad of Chevy-
Chace:
"An arrow of a cloth-yard long,
"Up to the head drew he," &c.
439.
STEEVENS.
the brown bills.] A bill was a kind of
battle-axe:
"Which is the constable's house?
"At the sign of the brown bill.'
>>
Blurt Mr. Constable, 1602.
Again, in Marlow's King Edward II. 1622:
"Lo, with a band of bowmen and of pikes,
"Brown bills, and targetiers," &c. STEEVENS.
440. O, well-flown bird!] Lear is here raving of
archery, and shooting at buts, as is plain by the words
i' the clout, that is, the white mark they set up and aim
at hence the phrase, to hit the white. So that we
must read, 0, well-flown barb! i. e. the barbed or
bearded arrow.
WARBURTON.
So, in the Two Maids of Moreclacke, 1609:
"Change your mark, shoot at a white; come stick
me in the clout, sir."
Again, in Tamburlaine, &c. 1590 :
"For kings are clouts that every man shoots at.
Well-flown bird was the falconers expression when the
3
hawk
A&t IV:
133
KING LEAR.
hawk was successful in her flight; and is so used in
A Woman kill'd with Kindness.
·
441.
STEEVENS.
Give the word.] Lear supposes himself in
a garrison, and before he lets Edgar pass, requires
the watch-word.
JOHNSON.
445. -Ha! Goneril!-with a white beard!
-] So
reads the folio, properly; the quarto, which the latter
editors have followed, has, Ha! Goneril, ha! Regan!
they flattered me, &c. which is not so forcible.
JOHNSON.
446. —They flattered me like a dog;-] They played
the spaniel to me.
JOHNSON.
449. When the rain came to wet me, &c.] This
seems to be an allusion to king Canute's behaviour,
when his courtiers flattered him as lord of the sea.
STEEVENS.
455. The trick of that voice-] Trick (says Sir Tho-
mas Hanmer, is a word frequently used for the air,
or that peculiarity in a face, voice, or gesture, which dis-
tinguishes it from others. We still say,
he has a
trick of winking with his eyes, of speaking loud," &c.
STEEVENS.
468. To't luxury, &c.] Luxury was the ancient
appropriate term for incontinence. See Mr. Collins's
note on Troilus and Cressida, act v. sc. 2. STEEVENS.
470. Whose face between her forks-] The construc-
tion is not "whose face between her forks," &c. but
"whose face presages snow between her forks." So,
in Timon, aết iv. sc. 3.
M
"Whose
134
A& IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
"Whose blush does thaw the consecrated snow
"That lies on Dian's lap." Canons of Criticism.
To preserve the modesty of Mr. Edwards's happy
explanation, I can only hint a reference to the word
fourcheure in Cotgrave's Dictionary.
473. The fitchew,] A pole-cat.
See before in catch-word Alphabet.
STEEVENS.
POPE.
-nor the soyled horse,—] Soyled horse, is
a term used for a horse that has been fed with hay and
corn in the stable during the winter, and is turned
out in the spring to take the first flush of grass, or has
it cut and carried in to him.
This at once cleanses
the animal, and fills him with blood,
STEEVENS.
475. Down to the waist they're centaurs,] In the
Malecontent, is a thought as singular as this:
"'Tis now about the immodest waist of night.”
STEEVENS.
478. Beneath is all the fiends' ;] According to
Grecian superstition, every limb of us was consigned
to the charge of some particular deity. Gower, De
Confessione Amantis, enlarges much on it, and concludes
by saying:
"And Venus throughe the letcherie
"For whiche thei hir deifie,
"She kept all doune the remenant
COLLINS.
494. What, with the case of cyes?] The case of eyes
"To thilke office appertainant."
is the socket of either eye.
has a similar expression.
says:
Statius in his first Thebaid,
Speaking of Oedipus, hẹ
"Tunc
A&t IV.
135
KING LEAR.
"Tunc vacuos orbes crudum ac miserabile vitæ
"Supplicium, ostentat cœlo, manibusque cruentis
"Pulsat inane solum.
"Inane solum, i. e. vacui oculorum loci."
Shakspere has the expression again in The Winter's
Tale:
“ —they seem'd almost, with staring on one ano-
ther, to tear the cases of their eyes.”
STEEVENS.
515. Robes, and furr'd gowns, hide all.] From
hide all to accuser's lips, the whole passage is wanting
in the first edition, being added, I suppose, at his
revisal.
518.
JOHNSON.
I'll able 'em:] An old phrase signifying
to qualify, or uphold them. So Scogan, contem-
porary with Chaucer, says:
"Set all my life after thyne ordinance,
"And able me to mercie or thou deme.”
WARBURTON.
529. Thou know'st, the first time that we smell the air,
We wawle and cry.—]
"Vagitûque locum lugubri complet, ut æquum
est
"Cui santum in vitâ restat transire malorum.”
Lucretius.
STEEVENS.
533.
This a good block? ] Upon the
king's saying, I will preach to thee, the poet seems to
have meant him to pull off his hat, and keep turning
it, and feeling it, in the attitude of one of the preachers
of those times (whom I have seen so represented in
ancient prints) till the idea of felt, which the good
Mij
hat
136
ANNOTATIONS UPON
A& IV,
hat or block was made of, raises the stratagem in his
brain of shoeing a troop of horse with a substance soft
as that which he held and moulded between his hands.
This makes him start from his preachment.-Block
anciently signified the head part of the hat, or the thing
on which a hat is formed, and sometimes the hat itself.
-See Much Ado about Nothing:
"He weares his faith but as the fashion of his hat ;
"it changes with the next block.”
Again, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Wit at several
Weapons:
"I am so haunted with this broad-brim'd hat
"Of the last progress block, with the young hat-
band."
Shakspere, however, might have adopted the stra-
tagem of shoeing a troop of horse with felt, from the
following passage in Fenton's Tragicall Discourses, 4to
bl. let. 1567:
he attyreth himselfe for the
purpose in a night gowne girt to hym, with a paire of
shoes of filte, leaste the noyse of his feete shoulde dis-
cover his goinge." P. 58.
Again, in Hay any Worke for a Cooper, an ancient
pamphlet, no date: "Their adversaries are very
eager the saints in heaven have felt o' their tongues.
STEEVENS.
541. The natural fool of fortune.] So, in Romeo and
Juliet:
546.
'O, I am fortune's fool!
STEEVENS.
a man of salt,] I believe, a man of
salt is a man made up of tears,
In All's Well that Ends
Well,
A& IV.
137
KING LEAR.
Well, we meet with your salt tears' head; and in
Troilus and Cressida, the salt of broken tears.
Again, in Coriolanus:
"He has betray'd your business, and giv'n up,
"For certain drops of salt, your city Rome."
MALONE.
549. Gent. Good sir,- -] These words I have
restored from one of the quartos. In the other, they
are omitted. The folio reads :
-a smug bridegroom-
STEEVENS.
554. Then there's life in't.] The case
-] The case is not yet
desperate.
557.
-the main descry
Stands on the hourly thought.]
JOHNSON.
The main body
is expected to be descry'd every hour. The expression
is harsh.
JOHNSON.
578. made tame to fortune's blows.] The quar-
tos read:
-made lame by fortune's blows. STEEVENS.
588. Briefly thyself remember. -] i. e. Quickly
recollect the past offences of thy life, and recommend
thyself to heaven.
WARBURTON.
598.
-go your gait,—] Gang your gate is a
common expression in the North. In the last rebel-
ion, when the Scotch soldiers had finished their ex-
ercise, instead of our term of dismission, their phrase
was, Gang your gaits.
STEEVENS.
] I warn you. Edgar
602.
Counterfeits the western dialect.
che vor'ye,
Miij
JOHNSON.
602.
138
A& IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
602.
"
your costard,—] Costard, i. e. head.
STEEVENS,
-my bat,] i. e. club. So, in Spenser :
a handsome bat he held,
"On which he leaned, as one far in eld."
So, in Mucedorus, 1668:
"With this my bat I will beat out thy brains.”
Again, in the Pinner of Wakefield, 1599:
let every thing be ready,
"And each of you a good bat on his neck."
STEEVENS,
605.
-no matter vor your foins.] To foyn, is to
make what we call a thrust in fencing. Shakspere
often uses the word.
631.
STEEVENS.
affectionate servant.] After servant, one
of the quartos has this strange continuation :
"-and
for you her owne for venter, Gonerill."
STEEVENS.
632. O undistinguish'd space of woman's wit!] So the
first quarto reads, but the first folio better, will. I
have no idea of the meaning of the first reading, but
the other is extremely satirical; the varium & mutabile
semper, of Virgil, more strongly and happily expres-
sed. The mutability of a woman's will, which is so
sudden, that there is no space or distance between the
present will and the next. Honest Sancho explains
this thought with infinite humour, Entre el si y el no de
la muger, no me atreveria yo à poner una punta d'alfiler..
Between a woman's yes and no I would not undertake to
thrust a pin's point.
WARBURTON.
635. Thee I'll rake up,—] I'll cover thee, In
Staffordshire,
A& IV.
139
KING LEAR.
Staffordshire, to rake the fire, is to cover it with fuel
for the night.
638.
JOHNSON.
the death-practis'd duhe:] The duke of
Albany, whose death is machinated by practice or
JOHNSON.
treason.
641. and have ingenious feeling] Ingenious feeling
signifies a feeling from an understanding not disturbed
or disordered, but which, representing things as they
are, makes the sense of pain the more exquisite.
643.
651.
•
WARBURTON.
sever'd] The quartos read fenced.
STEEVENS.
—every measure fail me.] All good which
I shall allot thee, or measure out to thee, will be
scanty.
JOHNSON.
655. Be better suited:] i. e. Be better drest, put
on a better suit of clothes.
STEEVENS,
656. These weeds are memories of those worser
hours;] Memories, i. e. Memorials, remembrancers.
Shakspere uses the word in the same sense, As You
Like It, act ii. sc. 3.
O, my sweet master! O you memory
"Of old Sir Rowland !".
STEEVENS.
So, in Stowe's Survey of London, 1618:—“ A printed
memorie hanging up in a table at the entrance into the
church-door."
MALONE,
659. - shortens my made intent ;] An intent
made, is an intent formed. So we say in common lan-
guage, to make a design, and to make a resolution.
JOHNSON.
668
140
AR IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
668. Of this child-changed father !] i. e. Changed
to a child by his years and wrongs; or, perhaps, re-
duced to this condition by his children. STEEVENS.
Lear is become insane, and this is the change re-
ferred to. Insanity is not the property of second
childhood, but dotage. Consonant to this explana-
tion is what Cordelia almost immediately adds:
"O my dear father! restoration hang
"Thy medicine on my lip; and let this kiss
"Repair those violent harms that my two sisters
"Have in thy reverence made !” HENLEY.
673. Ay, madam, &c.] The folio gives these four
lines to a Gentleman. One of the quartos (they were
both printed in the same year, and for the same
Printer) gives the two first to the Doctor, and the two
next to Kent. The other quarto appropriates the two
first to the Doctor, and the two following ones to a
Gentleman. I have given the two first, which best
belong to an attendant, to the Gentleman in waiting,
and the other two to the Physician, on account of the
caution contained in them, which is more suitable to
his profession.
STEEVENS.
In the folio the Gentleman and (as he is here called)
the Physician, is one and the same person.
677. Very well.] This and the
have restored from the quartos:
679.
Restoration, hang
Thy medicine on my lips ;
is recovery, personified.
REMARKS.
following line I
STEEVENS.
] Restoration
STEEVENS.
687.
A& IV.
141
KING LEAR.
687. All from warring winds? to helm inclusive, is
omitted in the folio.
689.
·To watch (poor perdue!)
-]
With this thin helm ?.
The allusion is to the forlorn hope in an army, which
are put upon desperate adventures, and called in
French enfans perdus; she therefore calls her father,
poor perdu.
WARBURTON.
The same allusion occurs in Sir W. Davenant's
Love and Honour, 1649:
66
-I have endur'd
"Another night would tire a perdu,
"More than a wet furrow and a great frost."
Again, in Cartwright's Ordinary:
<<
as for perdues,
"Some choice sous'd fish brought couchant in a
dish
"Among some fennel or some other grass,
"Shews how they lye i' th' field." STEEVENS.
Amongst other separate services in which the for-
Lorn hope, or enfans perdu, were engaged, the night-
watches seem to have been a common one. So Beau-
mont and Fletcher:
"I am set here like a perdu,
"To watch a fellow that has wrong'd my mis-
tress."
Little French Lawyer, act ii. sc. 2.
WHALLEY.
690. Mine enemy's dog,] Thus the folio. Both
the quartos read, Mine injurious dog. Possibly the
poet wrote-Mine injurer's dog.
STEEVENS,
696.
142
Act IV.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
696. Had not concluded all.-] The plain construc-
tion is this; It is wonder that thy wits and life had not
all ended.
JOHNSON.
So, in Spenser's Faery Queen, c. viii.
"Ne spared they to strip her naked all."
Again, in Timon:
"And dispossess her all."
STEEVENS.
708. I am mightily abus'd.———] I am strangely im-
posed on by appearances; I am in a strange mist of
uncertainty.
JOHNSON.
716. No, sir, you must not kneel.] This circum-
stance I find in the old play on the same subject,
apparently written by another hand, and published
before any edition of Shakspere's tragedy had made
its appearance. As it is always difficult to say whe-
ther these accidental resemblances proceed from imi-
tation, or a similarity of thinking on the same occa-
sion, I can only point out this to the reader, to whose
determination I leave the question.
STEEVENS.
718. Pray do not mock me.] So, in The Winter's Tale,
act v.
<< Let no man mock me,
"For I will kiss her."
STEEVENS.
] Here the folio
720. Fourscore and upward;
(and the folio only) adds-not an hour more or less.
The authenticity of this passage Sir Joshua Reynolds
justly suspects. It was probably the interpolation of
some player, and is better omitted, both in regard to
sense and versification.
STEEVENS.
739-
A&t IV.
143
KING LEAR.
739. I fcar, I am not in my perfect mind.] The
quarto reads:
I fear, I am not perfect in my mind. JOHNSON.
So one of the quartos. The other reads according
to the present text.
STEEVENS.
Both expressions have one meaning, and are equi-
valent to ow@povovoτa (St. Luke viii. 35.), in the nar-
rative of the lunatick demoniack who had been just
restored to his reason, and is represented as
(C clothed,
and in his right mind."
739.
folio reads,
HENLEY.
is cur'd] Thus the quartos. The
-is kill'd.
STEEVENS.
739. And yet, &c.] This is not in the folio.
JOHNSON.
740. To make him even o'er the time—] i. e. To
WARBURTON.
reconcile it to his apprehension.
746. What is printed in crotchets is not in the
folio. It is at least proper, if not necessary; and
was omitted by the author, I suppose, for no other
reason than to shorten the representation.
JOHNSON.
ACT
111
Aa P.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
A
ACT V.
Line 3.
reads,
4.
tion.
12.
OF alteration,] One of the quartos
of abdication.
STEEVENS.
his constant pleasure.] His settled resolu-
JOHNSON.
But have you never, &c.] The first and last of
these speeches, printed within crotchets, are inserted
in Sir Thomas Hanmer's, Theobald's, and Dr. War-
burton's editions; the two intermediate ones, which
were omitted in all others, I have restored from the
old quartos, 1608. Whether they were left out
through negligence, or because the imagery contained
in them might be thought too luxuriant, I cannot
determine; but sure a material injury is done to the
character of the Bastard by the omission; for he is
made to deny that flatly at first, which the poet only
meant to make him evade, or return slight answers
to, till he is urged so far as to be obliged to shelter
himself under an immediate falsehood. Query, how.
ever, whether Shakspere meant us to believe that
Edmund had actually found his way to the forefended
place?
STEEVENS.
13. -fore-fended place?] Fore-fended means
prohibited, forbidden.
STEEVENS.
16. ——bosom'd with her,--] Bosom❜d is used
in
A& V.
145
KING LEAR,
in this sense by Heywood, in The Fair Maid of the
West, 1631:
"We'll crown our hopes and wishes with more
pomp
"And sumptuous cost, than Priam did his son
"That night he bosom'd Helen.”
Again, in Heywood's Silver Age, 1613:
"With fair Alcmena, she that never bosom'd
"Mortal, save thee.”
STEEVENS.
27. What is within the crotchets is omitted in the
folio.
28.
Where I could not be honest,
STEEVENS.
I never yet was valiant :-] This sentiment
has already appeared in Cymbeline:
Thou may'st be valiant in a better cause,
But now thou seem'st a coward.
Again, in an ancient MS. play, entitled, The Second
Maiden's Tragedy:
"That worke is never undertooke with corage,
"That makes his master blush." STEEVENS.
30. Not bolds the king;] The quartos read
bolds, and this may be the true reading. This business
(says Albany) touches us, as France invades our land,
not as it bolds the king, &c. i. e. emboldens him to assert
his former title. Thus in the ancient interlude of
Hycke Scorner:
"Alas, that I had not one to bold me!”
STEEVENS.
35. For these domestick and particular broils] This is
the reading of the folio. The quartos have it,
N
For
}
146
AЯ V.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
For these domestick doore particulars.
STEEVENS.
36. Are not to question here.] Thus the quartos.
The folio reads,
Are not the question here.
STEEVENS.
39. Edm.] This speech is wanting in the folio.
STEEVENS.
65. Here is the guess, &c.] The modern editors
read, Hard is the guess. So the quartos. But had
the discovery been diligent, the guess could not have
proved so difficult. I have given the true reading
from the folio.
STEEVENS.
63. We will greet the time.] We will be ready to
meet the occasion.
70. And hardly shall I carry out my side,
Her husband being alive.
JOHNSON.
That is, "I
shall scarcely be able to make out my game." The
allusion is to a party at cards, and he is afraid he shall
not be able to make his side successful.
The phrase is clearly explained in Massinger's
Great Duke of Florence, where Cozemo says to Petro-
nella, who had challenged him to drink a second bow
of wine:
<<
Pray you, pause a little,
“If I hold your cards, I shall pull down the side;
"I am not good at the game."
MONCK MASON.
77.
-for my state
Stands on me, &c.]
I do not think that for stands in this place as a word
of
Aεt V.
147
KING LEAR.
of inference or causality. The meaning is rather,
Such is my determination concerning Lear; as for my state
it requires now, not deliberation, but defence and sup-
port.
JOHNSON.
For the import of the word FOR in this, and many
other passages of Shakspere, see Mr. Horne Tooke's
Diversions at Purley.
HENLEY.
79. The reader, who is curious to know how far
Shakspere was indebted to the Arcadia, will find a
chapter entitled-" The pitifull State and Storie of
the Paphlagonian unkinde King, and his kinde Sonne;
first related by the Sonne, then by the blind Father."
P. 141. edit. 1590. quarto.
STEEVENS.
90. Ripeness is all.-] i. e. To be ready, prepared,
is all. The same sentiment occurs in Hamlet, act v.
"if it be not now, yet it will come: the readi-
STEEVENS.
ness is all."
91. And that's true too.] Omitted in the quarto.
STEEVENS,
108. And take upon us the mystery of things,
As if we were God's spies.
-]
As if we were angels commissioned to survey and re-
port the lives of men, and were consequently endowed
with the power of prying into the original motives of
action and the mysteries of conduct. JOHNSON.
110.
-packs and seƐts—] Packs is used for
combinations or collection, as is a pack of cards. For
sects, I think sets might be more commodiously read.
So we say, affairs are now managed by a new set. Sect,
however, may well stand.
JOHNSON.
Nij
113.
148
A& V.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
] The
113. Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia,
The gods themselves throw incense.
thought is extremely noble, and expressed in a su-
blime of imagery that Seneca fell short of on the like
occasion. "Ecce spectaculum dignum ad quod res-
piciat intentus operi suo Deus: ecce par Deo dignum,
vir fortis cum mala fortuna compositus."
WARBURTON.
116. And fire us hence, like foxes.-] I have been
informed that it is usual to smoke foxes out of their
holes.
So, in Harrington's translation of Ariosto, book
xxvii. stan. 17.
"Ev'n as a foxe whom smoke and fire doth fright
"So as he dare not in the ground remaine,
“Bolts out, and thro' the smoke and fire he flieth
"Into the tarrier's mouth, and there he dieth."
Again, in Every Man out of his Humour :
66
-my walk, and all,
"You smoke me from, as if I were a fox."
STEEVENS.
] The
117. The goujeers shall devour them,
goujeres, i. e. Morbus Gallicus. Gouge, Fr. signifies
one of the common women attending a camp; and as
that disease was first dispersed over Europe by the
French army, and the women who followed it, the
first name it obtained among us was the gougeries, i. e.
the disease of the gouges.
HANMER.
The resolute John Florio has sadly mistaken these
goujeers. He writes "With a good yeare to thee!
and
t
A&t V.
149
KING LEAR.
and gives it in Italian, "Il mal' anno che dio ti dia.”
117.
p. 257:
FARMER.
-flesh and fell.] So, Skelton's Works,
'Nakyd asyde
"Neither flesh nor fell.”
Chaucer uses fell and bones for skin and bones :
"And said that he and all his kinne at once,
"Were worthy to be brent with fell and bone.”
Troilus and Cresseide.
GREY,
In the Dyar's Play, among the Chester Collection of
Mysteries, in the Museum, Antichrist says:
“I made thee man of flesh and fell.”
126.
Thy great employment
STEEVENS.
Will not bear question ;———] The meaning,
I apprehend, is, that the important business in hand,
did not admit of debate: he must instantly resolve to
do it, or not. Question, here, as in many other places
in these plays, signifies discourse-conversation.
See Hamlet, act i.
“Thou com’st in such a questionable shape.'
-and the note there.
MALONE.
133. I cannot draw, &c.] These two lines I have
restored from the old quarto.
STEEVENS.
146. And turn our imprest lances in our eyes,] i. e.
Turn the launcemen, which are press'd into our service,
against us.
So, in Antony and Cleopatra, act iii. sc. vii:
Niij
-people
150
Aa V.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
-people
"Ingrost by swift impress.'
STEEVENS.
150. At this time, &c.] This passage, well worthy
of restoration, is omitted in the folio.
JOHNSON.
155. Requires a fitter place.] i. e. The determina-
tion of the question, what shall be done with Cordelia
and her father, should be reserved for greater pri-
vacy.
STEEVENS.
162. Bore the commission of--] Commission, for
authority.
WARBURTON.
163. The which immediacy-] Immediacy here
implies proximity without intervention; in rank, or
such a plenary delegation of authority as to constitute
the person on whom it is conferred, another SELF:
alter et idem.
HENLEY.
166. In his own grace--] Grace here means
accomplishments or honours.
STEEVENS.
173. The eye that told you so, look'd but a-squint.]
Alluding to the proverb: "Love being jealous makes
a good eye look asquint." See Ray's Collection.
177.
STEEVENS.
-the walls are thine :] A metaphorical
phrase taken from the camp, and signifying, to sur-
render at discretion.
WARBURTON.
181. The let alone lies not in your good-will.] Whe-
ther he shall not or shall, depends not on your choice.
JOHNSON.
Albany means to tell his wife, that, however she
might want the power, she evidently did not want the
inclination to prevent the match,
REMARKS.
186.
A& V.
151
KING LEAR.
186.
attaint.
thy arrest.] The quartos read-thine
STEEVENS.
193. An interlude !--] This short exclamation of
Goneril is added in the folio edition, I suppose, only
to break the speech of Albany, that the exhibition on
the stage might be more distinct and intelligible.
JOHNSON.
195. -thy person.] The quartos read-thy
head.
201.
208.
STEEVENS.
poison.] The folio reads medicine.
STEEVENS.
-a herald.] This speech I have restored
from the quartos.
STEEVENS.
STEEVENS.
216. Sound trumpet.] I have added this from the
quartos.
217. within the lists of the army,-] The
quartos read:
—————within the host of the army.-
STEEVENS.
231. Yet am I noble, &c.] One of the quartos reads:
-yet are I mou't
Where is the adversarie I come to cope withal?
―are I mou't, is, I suppose, a corruption of-ere I
move it.
STEEVENS.
239. Behold, it is the privilege of mine honours,
My oath, and my profession.]
The privilege of this oath means the privilege gained
by taking the oath administered in the regular initi-
ation of a knight professed.
JOHNSON.
The quartos read-it is the privilege of my tongue.
STEEVENS.
245
152
Aa V.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
245. Conspirant 'gainst――] The quartos read:
Conspicuate 'gainst
STEEVENS.
254. And that thy tongue some say of breeding breathes ;]
Say is sample, a taste. So, in Sidney:
"So good a say invites the eye
"A little downward to espy-—
Again, in Holinshed, p. 847: "He (C. Wolsey)
made dukes and erles to serve him of wine, with a say
taken," &c. To take the assaie was the technical term.
STEEVENS.
262. Alb. Save him, save him!] He desired that
Edmund's life might be spared at present, only to
obtain his confession, and to convict him openly by
his own letter.
JOHNSON.
254. thou wast not bound to answer] One of the
quartos reads:
-thou art not bound to offer, &c. STEEVENS.
273. Monster, know'st thou this paper?] So the
quarto; but the folio:
Most monstrous! O, know'st thou, &c.
JOHNSON.
“Knowest thou these letters?" says Leir to Ragan,
in the old anonymous play, when he shews her both
her own and her sister's letters, which were written to
procure his death. Upon which she snatches the let-
ters and tears them.
STEEVENS.
281. Let us exchange charity.] Our author by negli-
gence gives his Heathens the sentiments and practices
of Christianity. In Hamlet there is the same solemn
act of final reconciliation, but with exact propriety,
for the personages are Christians :
"Exchange
A& V.
153
KING LEAR.
&c.
"Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet,"
JOHNSON.
This is a hasty observation.-In the Cyropædia of
Xenophon, the dying declaration of the Preceptor
bears a striking resemblance to "Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do!"
286.
folio reads:
290.
HENLEY.
to scourge us:] Thus the quartos. The
to plague us.
STEEVENS.
-full circle ;—~] Quarto, full circled.
JOHNSON.
302. That we the pain of death would hourly bear,
Rather than die at once)-
The folio reads,
-1
That we the pain of death would hourly die.
Mr. Pope, whom I have followed, reads,
-would hourly bear.
The quartos give the passage thus:
That with the pain of death would hourly die,
Rather than die at once-
STEEVENS.
323. Edg.] The lines between crotchets are not in
the folio.
323.. This would have seem'd a period
JOHNSON.
To such as love not sorrow; but, another ;-
To amplify too much, would make much more,
And top extremity ! —]
The sense may probably be this. This would have
seemed a period to such as love not sorrow; but-another,
i.e. but I must add another, i. e. another period,
another
154
Aεt V
ANNOTATIONS UPON
another kind of conclusion to my story, such as will
increase the horrors of what has been already told.
So, in King Richard II:
I play the torturer, by small and small,
To lengthen out the worst-
332.
read,
STEEVENS.
-threw him on my father;] The quartos
-threw me on my father."
The modern editors have corrected the passage, as it
is now printed.
.347.
STEEVENS.
-O! she's dead!] Omitted in the quartos.
STEEVENS.
348. Who, man, speak ?] The folio reads, Who
dead? Speak man.
STEEVENS.
354. This judgment, &c.] If Shakspere had studied
Aristotle all his life, he would not perhaps have been
able to mark with more precision the distinct opera-
tions of terror and pity,
TYRWHITT.
356. Here comes Kent, sir.] The manner in which
Edgar here mentions Kent, seems to require the lines
which are inserted from the first edition in the fore-
going scene.
JOHNSON.
379. Give it the captain.] The quartos read:
Take my sword, the captain.
Give it the captain.
STEEVENS.
384. That she fordid herself.] To fordo, signifies to
destroy. It is used again in Hamlet, act v:
"
did, with desperate hand,
"Fordo his own life."
STEEVENS.
386.
A& V.
155
KING LEAR.
1
386.
-Cordelia dead in his arms.] This princess,
according to the old historians, retired with victory
from the battle which she conducted in her father's
cause, and thereby replaced him on the throne: but
in a subsequent one fought against her (after the death
of the old king) by the sons of Goneril and Regan,
she was taken, and died miserably in prison. The
poet found this in history, and was therefore willing
to precipitate her death, which he knew had happened
but a few years after. The dramatick writers of this
age suffered as small a number of their heroes and
heroines to escape, as possible; nor could the filial
piety of this lady, any more than the innocence of
Ophelia, prevail on Shakspere to extend her life be-
yond her misfortunes.
STEEVENS.
394. Or image, &c.] These two exclamations are
given to Edgar and Albany in the folio, to animate
the dialogue, and employ all the persons on the stage;
but they are very obscure.
JOHNSON.
Or image of that horror?] In the first folio this
short speech of Edgar (which seems to be only an
addition to the preceding one of Kent) has a full stop
at the end. Is this conclusion, says Kent, such as the
present turn of affairs seemed to promise? Or is it only,
replies Edgar, a representation of that horror which we
suppose to be real? A similar expression occurs at the
beginning of the play.-I have told you what I have seen
and heard, but faintly; nothing like the image and horror
of it.
STEEVENS.
It appears to me, that by the promised end, Kent
does
156
A&t V.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
does not mean that conclusion which the state of their
affairs seemed to promise, but the end of the world.
In St. Mark's Gospel, when Christ foretells to his
disciples the end of the world, and is describing to
them the signs that were to precede and mark the
approach of our final dissolution, he says, "For in
those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the
beginning of the creation, which God created, unto
this time, neither shall be:" and afterwards, he says,
7
Now the brother shall befray the brother to death;
and the father the son; and children shall rise up against
their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death."
Kent, in contemplating the unexampled scene of ex-
quisite affliction which was then before him, and the
unnatural attempt of Goneril and Regan against their
father's life, recollects these passages, and asks,
"whether that was the end of the world, that had
been foretold us?" To which Edgar adds, “or only
a representation and resemblance of that horror.”
There is evidently an allusion to the same passages
in Scripture, in a speech of Gloster's, which he makes
in the second scene of the first act:
These late eclipses in the sun, &c.-
If any criticks should urge it as an objection to this
explanation, that the persons of the drama are Pagans,
and of course unacquainted with the Scriptures, they
give Shakspere credit for more accuracy than I fear he
possessed.
MONCK MASON.
Does not the exclamation (which is uttered in so-
liloquy by Kent, whilst he is contemplating the dead
Cordelia
A& V.
157
KING LEAR.
Cordelia in the arms of her distracted father) refer
to the confidence expressed in her letter to himself,
"that-seeking to give losses their remedies-she
should find a time amidst the enormities of the state,
to obtain the full effect of her purpose?".
"Is this the promised end !"-
As the words promised end (supposing this to be
their reference in the mouth of Kent) were not ad-
dressed to Edgar, there is no necessity for considering
them as understood by him in their proper sense: his
resumption therefore, or rather adaptation of them,
may not only admit, but even require a different in-
terpretation. Mr. Mason's is an ingenious, and may
be the true one. For, though the passage of St.
Mark which he cites, does NOT refer to the end of the
world (as he might have learnt from the 30th verse of
the same chapter), but to the destruction of Jerusalem
and the Jewish state, yet the prediction itself is vul-
garly received in the sense to which he applies it.
HENLEY.
395. Fall, and cease!] This exclamation of Albany,
like the other, may have a meaning affixed to it. He
is looking with attention on the pains employed by
Lear to recover his child, and knows to what miseries
he must survive, when he finds them to be ineffec-
tual. Having these images present to his eyes and
imagination, he cries out, Rather fall, and cease to be,
at once, than continue in existence only to be wretched,
So, in All's Well, &c. to cease is used for to die and
in
158
A& V.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
in Hamlet, the death of majesty is called "the cease of
majesty."
Again, in All's Well that Ends Well:
"Or, ere they meet, in me, O nature, cease!
"Both suffer under this complaint you bring,
"And both shall cease, without your remedy."
STEEVENS.
896. This feather stirs ;-] So, in Vittoria Corom-
bona, 1612:
"Fetch a looking-glass, see if his breath will not
stain it; or pull some feathers from my pillow, and
lay them to his lips."
STEEVENS.
A common experiment of applying a light feather
to the lips of a person supposed to be dead, to see
whether he breathes. There is the same thought in
Henry IV. Part II. act iv. sc. 4 :
4:
By his gates of breath
There lies a downy feather, which stirs not.
And to express a total stillness in the air, in Donne's
poem, called The Calm, there is the like sentiment,
which Jonson, in his conversation with Drummond
of Hawthornden, highly commended:
in one place lay
"Feathers and dust, to-day and yesterday."
WHALLEY.
410. I have seen the day, with my good biting faulchion
I would have made them skip-]
It is difficult for an author who never peruses his first
works, to avoid repeating some of the same thoughts
in
AJ V.
159
KING LEAR.
in his later productions. What Lear has just said,
had been anticipated by Justice Shallow in The Merry
Wives of Windsor: "I have seen the time with my long
sword I would have made you four tall fellows skip
like rats." It is again repeated in Othello:
I have seen the day
"That with this little arm and this good sword
"I have inade my way," &c.
416. This is a dull sight.
wanting in the quartos. -
423.
fortunes.
STELVENS.
] This passage is
-]
STEEVENS.
-of difference and decay,] Decay for mis-
The quartos read :
WARBURTON.
"That from your life of difference and decay."
427.
STEEVENS.
fore-doom'd themselves,] Thus the
quartos. The folio reads—fordone.
Have fore-doom'd themselvcs is-have anticipated their
own doom. To fordo is to destroy.
430. -he says.] The quartos read-
which may be right.
STEEVENS.
he secs,
STEEVENS.
436. What comfort to this great decay, may come,]
This great decay is Lear, whom Shakspere poetically
calls so, and means the same as if he had said, this
piece of decay'd royalty, this ruin'd majesty. STEEVENS.
A preceding passage, in which Gloster laments
Lear's frenzy, fully supports Mr. Steevens's interpre-
tation :
MALONE.
"O, ruin'd piece of nature! This great world
Shall so wear out to nought."
O i j
439.
160
A& V.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
439.
You, to your rights;
With boot, and such addition as your honours
Have more than merited.
-]
These lines are addressed to Kent as well as to Edgar,
else the word honours would not have been in the plural
number. By honours is meant honourable conduct.
MONCK MASON.
440. With boot,-] With advantage, with increase.
JOHNSON.
444. And
my poor fool is hang'd!—] This is an
expression of tenderness for his dead Cordelia (not his
fool, as some have thought), on whose lips he is still
intent, and dies away while he is searching for life
there.
Poor fool, in the age of Shakspere, was an expres-
sion of endearment.
I may add, that the Fool of Lear was long ago for-
gotten. Having filled the space allotted him in the
arrangement of the play, he appears to have been
silently withdrawn in the 6th scene of the third act.-
That the thoughts of a father, in the bitterest of all
moments, while his favourite child lay dead in his
arins, should recur to the antick who had formerly
diverted him, has somewhat in it that I cannot recon-
cile to the idea of genuine sorrow and despair.
Besides this, Cordelia was recently hanged; but we
know not that the Fool had suffered in the same man-
ner, nor can imagine why he should. The party
adverse to Lear was little interested in the fate of his
jester. The only use of him was to contrast and
alleviate
E
A&t V.
161
KING LEAR.
alleviate the sorrows of his master; and that pur-
pose being fully answered, the poet's solicitude about
him was at an end.
The term-poor fool, might indeed have misbecome
the mouth of a vassal commiserating the untimely end
of a princess, but has no impropriety when used by a
weak, old, distracted king; in whose mind the dis-
tinctions of nature only survive, while he is uttering
his last frantick exclamations over a murdered daugh-
ter.
Should the foregoing remark, however, be thought
erroneous, the reader will forgive it, as it serves to
introduce some contradictory observations from a cri-
tick, in whose taste and judgment too much confidence
cannot easily be placed.
STEEVENS.
I confess, I am one of those who have thought that
Lear means his Fool, and not Cordelia. If he means
Cordelia, then what I have always considered as a
beauty, is of the same kind as the accidental stroke of
the pencil that produced the foam.-Lear's affectionate
remembrance of the Fool in this place, I used to think,
was one of those strokes of genius, or of nature, which
are so often found in Shakspere, and in him only.
Lear appears to have a particular affection for this
Fool, whose fidelity in attending him, and endeavour-
ing to divert him in his distress, seems to deserve all
his kindness.
Poor fool and knave, says he, in the midst of the
thunder-storm, I have one part in my heart that's sorry
yet for thee.
It
162
A& V.
ANNOTATIONS UPON
It does not therefore appear to me, to be allowing
too much consequence to the Fool, in making Lear
bestow a thought on him, even when in still greater
distress. Lear is represented as a good-natured,
passionate, and rather weak old man; it is the old age
of a cocker'd spoilt boy. There is no impropriety in
giving to such a character those tender domestick af-
fections, which would ill become a more heroick cha-
racter, such as Othello, Macbeth, or Richard III.
There
The words-No, no, no life; I suppose to be spoken,
not tenderly, but with passion: Let nothing now live
-let there be universal destruction;-Why should a
dog, a horse, a rat have life, and thou no breath at all?
It may be observed, that as there was a necessity,
the necessity of propriety at least, that this Fool, the
favourite of the author, of Lear, and consequently of
the audience, should not be lost or forgot, it ought to
be known what became of him. However, it must
be acknowledged, that we cannot infer much from
thence; Shakspere is not always attentive to finish the
figures of his groups.
I have only to add, that if an actor, by adopting the
interpretation mentioned above, of applying the words
poor fool to Cordelia, the audience would, I should:
imagine, think it a strange mode of expressing the
grief and affection of a father for his dead daughter,
and that daughter a queen. -The words poor foel,
are undoubtedly expressive of endearment; and Shak-
spere himself, in another place, speaking of a dying
animal, calls it poor dappled fool: but it never is, nor
I
t
never
АЯУ.
163
KING LEAR.
1
វ
never can be used with any degree of propriety, but
to commiserate some very inferior object, which may
be loved, without much esteem or respect.
Sir JOSHUA REYNOLDS.
448. Pray you, undo this button,] The Rev.
Dr. J. Warton judiciously observes, that the swelling
and heaving of the heart is described by this most
expressive circumstance.
So, in the Honest Lawyer, 1616:
oh my heart!
"It beats so it has broke my
Again, in King Richard III:
<<
buttons."
-Ah, cut my lace asunder,
"That my pent heart may have some scope to
beat,
"Or else I swoon with this dead-killing news!"
Again, in The Winter's Tale:
"O, cut my lace; lest my heart, cracking it,
"Break too !".
and, as Mr. Malone adds, from N. Field's A Woman's
a Weathercock, 1612:
"C
-swell heart! buttons fly open!
"Thanks, gentle doublet, else my heart had
455.
broke."
STEEVENS.
this tough world.] Thus all the old copies.
Mr. Pope changed it to rough, but, perhaps, without
necessity. This tough world is this obdurate rigid
world.
STEEVENS.
I must not say, no.] The modern editors.
have supposed that Kent expires after he has repeated
these
164
A&Y.
ANNOTATIONS, &c.
these two last lines; but the speech rather appears to
be meant for a despairing than a dying man; and as
the old editions give no marginal direction for his
death, I have forborn to insert any.
I take this opportunity of retracting a declaration
which I had formerly made on the faith of another
person, viz. that the quartos, 1608, were exactly
alike. I have since discovered that they vary one
from another in many instances.
STEEVENS.
The second folio, at the end of this speech, has the
word-Dyes, in the margin.
REMARKS.
:
465. The weight of this sad time, &c.] This speech,
from the authority of the old quarto, is rightly placed
to Albany in the edition by the players, it is given
to Edgar, by whom, I doubt not, it was of custom
spoken. And the case was this: he who played
Edgar, being a more favourite actor than he who per-
formed Albany, in spite of decorum it was thought
proper he should have the last word.
THE END.
THEOBALD.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 01371 9995
A 504309
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