Imatges de pàgina
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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,
[out;-
Who loses, and who wins; who's in, who's
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,
That ebb and flow by the moon.
Edm.
Take them away.
Lear. Upon such sacrifices, my Cordelia,
The gods themselves throw incense. Have I
caught thee?
[heaven,
He, that parts us, shall bring a brand from
And fire us hence, like foxes. Wipe thine eyes;
The goujeers shall devour them, flesh aud
fell t,
starve first.
Ere they shall make us weep: we'll see them
Come. [Exeunt LEAR and COR. guarded.
Edm. Come hither, captain; hark.
Take thou this note; [Giving a Paper.] go,

follow them to prison:

One step I have advanced thee; if thou dost As this instructs thee, thou dost make thy way Tonoble fortunes: Know thou this,-that men Are asthe time is: to be tender-minded [meant Does not become a sword:-Thy great empicyWill not bear question; either say, thou'lt do't, Or thrive by other means.

Off.

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.

Off. I cannot draw a cart, nor eat dried oats; If it be man's work, I will do it. [Exit Officer. Flourish. Enter ALBANY, GONERIL,REGAN, Officers, and Attendants.

Alb. Sir, you have shown to-day your valiant strain, [tives And fortune led you well: You have the capWho 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 impress'd lances in our eyes Which do command them. With him I sent the queen;

My reason all the same; and they are ready To-morrow, or at further space, to appear Where you shall hold your session. At this time, [friend: We sweat and bleed: the friend hath lost his

And the best quarrels, in the heat, are cursed
By those that feel their sharpness:-
The question of Cordelia, and her father,
Requires a fitter places.
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 de-
manded,

Ere you had spoke so far. He led our powers;
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.
Gon. That were the most, if he should hus-
band you.

Reg. Jesters do oft prove prophets.
Gon.

Holloa, holloa! That eye, that told you so, look'd but a-squint ¶. Reg. Lady, I am not well; else I should

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Reg. Let the drum strike, and prove my title thine. [TO EDMUND. Alb. Stay yet; hear reason: Edmund, I arrest thee

On capital treason; and, in thy arrest,
This gilded serpent: [Pointing to GoN.]-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 bans.
If you will marry, make your love to me,
My lady is bespoke.

Gon.

An interlude! [pet sound: Alb. Thou art arm'd, Gloster:-Let the trumIf none appear to prove upon thy person, Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons, There is my pledge; [Throwing down a Glove.] 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. [Aside. Edm. There's my exchange: [Throwing down a Glove.] 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!

• The French disease. + Skin. Admit of debate. To be discoursed of in greater privacy. Authority to act on his own judgment. Alluding to the proverb, " Love being jealous makes a good eye look a-squint. ** The hinderance.

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Edm. Himself;-What sayst thou to him?
Edg.
Draw thy sword;
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,-
Maugret thy strength, youth, place, and emi-
nence,

Despite 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; 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;

.15! * i. e., Valour.

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An unknown opposite; thou art not vauquish'd,
But cozen'd and beguiled.
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.
[Gives the letter to EDMUND.
Gon. Say, if I do; the laws are mine, not thine:
Who shall arraign me for't?
Alb.
Know'st thou this paper?
Gon.

Most monstrous!

Ask me not what I know, [Exit GONERIL. Alb. Go after her: she's desperate; govern her. [To an Officer, who goes out. Edm. What you have charged me with, that have I done; [ont;

And more, much more: the time will bring it
'Tis past, and so am I: But what art thon,
That hast this fortune on me? If thou art noble,
I do forgive thee.
Edg.
Let's exchange charity.
I am no legs in blood than thou art, Edmund;
If more, the more thou hast wrong'd me.
My name is Edgar, and thy father's son.
The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices
Make instruments to scourge us:
The dark and vicious place where thee he got,
Cost him his eyes.

Edm. Thou hast spoken right, 'tis true; The wheel is come full circle; I am here.

Alb. Methought, thy very 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. I know it well.

Alb.

Worthy prince,

Where have you hid yourself? How have you known the miseries of your father? [brief tale;

Edg. By nursing them, my lord-List a And, when 'tis told, O, that my heart would The bloody proclamation to escape, [burst! That follow'd me so near, (O, our lives' sweet

ness!

That with the pain of death we'd hourly die,
Rather than die at once!) taught me to shift
Into a madurian's rags; to assume a semblance
That very dogs disdain'd: and in this habit
Met I my father with his bleeding rings,
Their precious stones new lost; became his
guide,
[despair;
Led him, begg'd för him, saved him from

↑ Notwithstanding.

Because if his adversary was not of equal rank, Edmund might have declined the combat.

Sample.

Stratagem.

Hear,

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, aud, 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 yours hath moved me, And shall, perchance, do good: but speak you on;

You look as you had something more to say.
Alb. If there be more, more woful, hold it in;
For I am almost ready to dissolve,
Hearing of this.

Edg. 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.

Whilst I was big in clamour, came there a man,
Who having seen me in my worst estate,
Shunn'd my abhorr'd society; but then, finding
Who 'twas that so endured, with his strong arms-
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 received: which in recounting
His grief grew puissant, and the strings of life
Began to crack: Twice then the trumpet
And there I left him tranced. [sounded,
Alb.
But who was this? [disguise
Edg. Kent, sir, the banish'd Kent; who in
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 that bloody knife? Gent. 'Tis hot, it smokes; It came even from the heart of Alb. Who, man? speak. Gent. Your lady, sir, your lady: and her By her is poison'd; she confesses it. [sister Edm.I was contracted to them both; all three Now marry in an instant.

Alb. Produce their bodies, be they alive or dead![tremble, This judgment of the heavens, that makes us Touches us not with pity. [Exit Gentleman. Enter KENT.

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Edm. Yet Edmund was beloved: The one the other poison'd for my sake, And after slew herself.

[to do,

Alb. Even so.-Cover their faces. Edm. I pant for life.-Some good I mean Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send,Be brief in it,-to the castle; for my writ Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia :→ Nay, send in time. Alb. Run, run, O, runEdg. To who, my lord?-Who has the office? Thy token of reprieve. [send Edm. Well thought on; take my sword, Give it the captain.

Alb. Haste thee, for thy life. [Exit EDG. Edm. He hath commission from thy wife To hang Cordelia in the prison, aud [and me, To lay the blame upon her own despair, That she fordid herself.

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Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so That heaven's vault should crack:-0, 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; If that her breath will mist or stain the stone, Why, then she lives.

Kent. Is this the promised end? Edg. Or image of that horror? Alb. Fall, and cease! Lear. This feather stirs; she lives! if it be so, It is a chance that does redeem all sorrows That ever I have felt.

Kent. O my good master! [Kneeling. Lear. Pr'ythee, away.

Edg.

all!

'Tis noble Kent, your friend. Lear. A plague upon you,murderers, traitors, [ever!I might have saved her; now she's gone for Cordelia, Cordelia, stay a little. Ha! What is't thou sayst?-Her voice was ever soft, Gentle,and low; an excellent thing in woman:I kill'd the slave that was a hanging thee. Off. 'Tis true, my lords, he did. Lear.

I

Did I not, fellow? have seen the day, with my good biting falchion

I would have made them skip: I am old now,
And these same crosses spoil me.-Who are
you?
[straight.

Mine eyes are none o'the best :-I'll tell you
Kent. If fortune brag of two she loved and
One of them we behold.
[hated,

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 yon that; He'll strike, and quickly too :-fle's dead and

rotten.

The end of the world, or the horrible §. e., Die; Albany speaks to Lear.

Kent.No,my good lord; I am the very man- | And thou no breath at all? O, thou wilt come
Lear, I'll see that straight.
Never, never, never, never, never!- [no more,
Pray you, undo this button: Thank you, sir.-
Do you see this?-Look on her,-look,-her
lips,-

Kent. That from your first of difference and
Have follow'd your sad steps. [decay,
Lear.
You are welcome hither.
Kent. Nor no man else; all's cheerless, dark,
and deadly.-
[selves,
Your eldest daughters have fore-doom'd them-
And desperately are dead.

Lear.

Ay, so I think.

Atb. He knows not what he says, and vain it is That we present us to him.

Edg.

Very bootless*.

Enter an Officer.

Off. Edmund is dead, my lord.
Alb.
You, lords, and noble friends, know our intent,
What comfort to this great decayt may come.
Shall be applied: for us, we will resign,
During the life of this old majesty,
To him our absolute power:-You, to your
rights;
[To EDGAR and KENT.
With boot, and such addition as your honours
Have more than merited:-All friends shall
The wages of their virtue, and all foes [taste
The cup of their deservings.-O, see, see!

That's but a trifle here.

Leur. And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life:

Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,

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Look there, look there!

[He dies.
Edg. He faints!-My lord, my lord,-
Kent. Break, heart; I pr'ythee, break!
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 endured so long:

He but usurp'd his life.

[business Alb. Bear them from hence.-Our present Is general woe. Friends of my soul, you twain, [To KENT and EDGAR.

Rule in this realm, and the gored 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.

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Poor fool, in the time of Shakspeare, was an expression of endearment.

Die.

The tragedy of Lear is deservedly celebrated among the dramas of Shakspeare. There is perhaps no play which keeps the attention so strongly fixed; which so much agitates our passions, and interests our curiosity. The artful involutions of distinct interests, the striking oppositions 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 valgarly 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 preference of one daughter to another, or resignation of dominion on such conditions, would be yet cre dible, if told of a petty prince of Guinea or Madagascar. Shakspeare, indeed, by the men tion of his earls and dukes, has given us the idea of times more 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 neglects and confounds the characters of ages by mingling customs ancient and modern, English and foreign.

My learned friend, Mr. Warton*, who has, in THE ADVENTURER, very minutely criti cised this play, remarks, that the instances of cruelty are too savage and shocking, and tha the intervention 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 of 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 distress 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

* Dr. Joseph Warton.

Α

HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK.

CLAUDIUS, king of Denmark.

Persons represented.

FRANCISCO, a soldier.

HAMLET, Son to the former, and nephew to REYNALDO, servant to Polonius.

the present, king.

POLONIUS, lord chamberlain.
HORATIO, friend to Hamlet.
LAERTES, son to Polonius.

VOLTIMAND, CORNELIUS, ROSENCRANTZ,
GUILDENSTERN, courtiers.
OSRIC. A Courtier.

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SCENE I. Elsinore. A Platform before | the Castle.

FRANCISCO on his Post. Enter to him

BERNARDO.

Ber. Who's there?

Ber. Welcome, Horatio; welcome, good
Marcellus.
[to night?
Hor. What, has this thing appear'd again
Ber. I have seen nothing.

Mar. Horatio says, 'tis but our fantasy;
And will not let belief take hold of him.

Fran. Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us; Yourself.

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Ber.
He.
Fran. You come most carefully upon your
hour.
[bed, Francisco.
Ber. 'Tis now struck twelve, get thee to
Fran. For this relief much thanks: 'tis
And I am sick at heart.
[bitter cold,
Ber. Have you had quiet guard?
Fran.
Not a mouse stirring.
Ber. Well, good night,
If you do meet Horatio and Marcellus,
The rivals* of my watch, bid them make haste.
Enter HORATIO and MARCELLUS.
Fran. I think I hear them.-Stand, ho!
Who is there?

Hor. Friends to this ground.
Mar.

And liegemen to the Dane.

Fran. Give you good night. Mar.

O, farewell, honest soldier:

Who hath relieved you? Fran. Give you good night. Mar.

Ber..

Bernardo hath my place. [Exit FRANCISCO. Holla! Bernardo!

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Say.

Therefore I have entreated him, along
With us to watch the minutes of this night;
That, if again this apparition come,
He may approve+ our eyes, and speak to it.
Hor. Tush! tush! 'twill not appear.
Ber.
Sit down awhile;
And let us once again assail your ears,
That are so fortified against our story,
What we two nights have seen.
Hor.
Well, sit we down,
And let us hear Bernardo speak of this.
Ber. Last night of all,
[the pole,
When yon same star that's westward from
Had made his course to illume that part of
heaven

Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself,
The bell then beating one,-

Mar. Peace, break thee off; look, where it comes again! [Enter Ghost. Ber. In the same figure like the king that's dead. [ratio. Mar. Thon art a scholar, speak to it, HoBer. Looks it not like the king? mark it, Horatio. [fear and wonder. Hor. Most like:-it harrows me with Ber. It would be spoke to.

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• Partners. + Make good or establish.

Conquers.

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