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, 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, 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 Sir, by your patience, Reg. Ere you had spoke so far. He led our powers; Not so hot: In my rights, Reg. Jesters do oft prove prophets. Holloa, holloa! That eye, that told you so, look'd but a-squint ¶. Reg. Lady, I am not well; else I should 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, I bar it in the interest of my wife; 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. Edm. Himself;-What sayst thou to him? Despite thy victor sword, and fire-new fortune, To prove upon thy heart, whereto I speak, 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 .15! * i. e., Valour. An unknown opposite; thou art not vauquish'd, No tearing, lady: I perceive, you know it. 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 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, ↑ 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. Edg. This would have seem'd a period Whilst I was big in clamour, came there a man, 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. 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. 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, Mine eyes are none o'the best :-I'll tell you Lear. This is a dull sight: Are you not Kent? Your servant Kent: Where is your servant 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 Kent. That from your first of difference and 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. 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, Look there, look there! [He dies. That would upon the rack of this tough world 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. Alb.The weight of this sad time we must obey; Shall never see so much, nor live so long. 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. VOLTIMAND, CORNELIUS, ROSENCRANTZ, 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 Mar. Horatio says, 'tis but our fantasy; Fran. Nay, answer me: stand, and unfold Touching this dreaded sight, twice seen of us; Yourself. Ber. Hor. Friends to this ground. 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! Say. Therefore I have entreated him, along Where now it burns, Marcellus and myself, 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. • Partners. + Make good or establish. Conquers. |