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ACT I.
Scene I. King Lear's palace.
Enter Kent, Gloucester, and Edmund.[2424]
Kent. I thought the king had more affected the Duke[2425][2426]
of Albany than Cornwall.[2425][2426]
of Albany than Cornwall.[2425][2426]
Glou. It did always seem so to us: but now, in the[2425][2426][2427]
division of the kingdom, it appears not which of the dukes[2425][2426][2428]
he values most; for equalities are so weighed that curiosity[2425][2426][2429] 5
in neither can make choice of either's moiety.[2425][2426]
division of the kingdom, it appears not which of the dukes[2425][2426][2428]
he values most; for equalities are so weighed that curiosity[2425][2426][2429] 5
in neither can make choice of either's moiety.[2425][2426]
Kent. Is not this your son, my lord?[2425]
Glou. His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge: I[2425]
have so often blushed to acknowledge him that now I am[2425]
brazed to it.[2425][2430] 10
have so often blushed to acknowledge him that now I am[2425]
brazed to it.[2425][2430] 10
Kent. I cannot conceive you.[2425]
Glou. Sir, this young fellow's mother could: whereupon[2425]
she grew round-wombed, and had indeed, sir, a son for her[2425]
cradle ere she had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a[2425]
fault?[2425] 15
she grew round-wombed, and had indeed, sir, a son for her[2425]
cradle ere she had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a[2425]
fault?[2425] 15
Glou. But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some year[2425][2431]
elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my account: though[2425][2432]
this knave came something saucily into the world before he[2425][2433] 20
was sent for, yet was his mother fair; there was good sport[2425]
at his making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged.[2425][2434]
Do you know this noble gentleman, Edmund?[2425][2435]
elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my account: though[2425][2432]
this knave came something saucily into the world before he[2425][2433] 20
was sent for, yet was his mother fair; there was good sport[2425]
at his making, and the whoreson must be acknowledged.[2425][2434]
Do you know this noble gentleman, Edmund?[2425][2435]
Edm. My services to your lordship.[2425]
Kent. I must love you, and sue to know you better.[2425]
Sennet. Enter one bearing a coronet, King Lear, Cornwall, Albany, Goneril, Regan, Cordelia, and Attendants.[2440]
Lear. Attend the lords of France and Burgundy, Gloucester.[2441]
Glou. I shall, my liege. [Exeunt Gloucester and Edmund.[2442]
Lear. Meantime we shall express our darker purpose.[2443]
Give me the map there. Know we have divided[2444] 35
In three our kingdom: and 'tis our fast intent[2445]
To shake all cares and business from our age,[2446]
Conferring them on younger strengths, while we[2447][2448]
Unburthen'd crawl toward death. Our son of Cornwall,[2448]
And you, our no less loving son of Albany,[2448][2449] 40
We have this hour a constant will to publish[2448]
Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife[2448][2450]
May be prevented now. The princes, France and Burgundy,[2448][2451]
Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love,[2452]
Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn, 45
And here are to be answer'd. Tell me, my daughters,[2453]
Since now we will divest us both of rule,[2454]
Interest of territory, cares of state,[2454][2455]
Which of you shall we say doth love us most?
That we our largest bounty may extend 50
Where nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril,[2456]
Our eldest-born, speak first.[2457]
Give me the map there. Know we have divided[2444] 35
In three our kingdom: and 'tis our fast intent[2445]
To shake all cares and business from our age,[2446]
Conferring them on younger strengths, while we[2447][2448]
Unburthen'd crawl toward death. Our son of Cornwall,[2448]
And you, our no less loving son of Albany,[2448][2449] 40
We have this hour a constant will to publish[2448]
Our daughters' several dowers, that future strife[2448][2450]
May be prevented now. The princes, France and Burgundy,[2448][2451]
Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love,[2452]
Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn, 45
And here are to be answer'd. Tell me, my daughters,[2453]
Since now we will divest us both of rule,[2454]
Interest of territory, cares of state,[2454][2455]
Which of you shall we say doth love us most?
That we our largest bounty may extend 50
Where nature doth with merit challenge. Goneril,[2456]
Our eldest-born, speak first.[2457]
Gon. Sir, I love you more than words can wield the matter,[2457][2458]
Dearer than eye-sight, space and liberty,[2459]
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare, 55
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour,
As much as child e'er loved or father found;[2460]
A love that makes breath poor and speech unable;
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.[2461]
Dearer than eye-sight, space and liberty,[2459]
Beyond what can be valued, rich or rare, 55
No less than life, with grace, health, beauty, honour,
As much as child e'er loved or father found;[2460]
A love that makes breath poor and speech unable;
Beyond all manner of so much I love you.[2461]
Cor. [Aside] What shall Cordelia do? Love, and be silent.[2462]60
Lear. Of all these bounds, even from this line to this,
With shadowy forests and with champains rich'd,[2463][2464][2465]
With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads,[2464]
We make thee lady. To thine and Albany's issue[2466]
Be this perpetual. What says our second daughter,[2467] 65
Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak.[2468]
With shadowy forests and with champains rich'd,[2463][2464][2465]
With plenteous rivers and wide-skirted meads,[2464]
We make thee lady. To thine and Albany's issue[2466]
Be this perpetual. What says our second daughter,[2467] 65
Our dearest Regan, wife to Cornwall? Speak.[2468]
Reg. I am made of that self metal as my sister,[2469]
And prize me at her worth. In my true heart[2470]
I find she names my very deed of love;[2471]
Only she comes too short: that I profess[2471][2472] 70
Myself an enemy to all other joys[2471]
Which the most precious square of sense possesses,[2473]
And find I am alone felicitate[2474][2475]
In your dear highness' love.[2474]
And prize me at her worth. In my true heart[2470]
I find she names my very deed of love;[2471]
Only she comes too short: that I profess[2471][2472] 70
Myself an enemy to all other joys[2471]
Which the most precious square of sense possesses,[2473]
And find I am alone felicitate[2474][2475]
In your dear highness' love.[2474]
Cor. [Aside] Then poor Cordelia![2476][2477][2478]
And yet not so, since I am sure my love's[2479][2480] 75
More ponderous than my tongue.[2477][2480][2481]
And yet not so, since I am sure my love's[2479][2480] 75
More ponderous than my tongue.[2477][2480][2481]
Lear. To thee and thine hereditary ever
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom,
No less in space, validity and pleasure,
Than that conferr'd on Goneril. Now, our joy,[2482][2483][2484] 80
Although the last, not least, to whose young love[2483][2485]
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy[2483]
Strive to be interess'd, what can you say to draw[2483][2486]
A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.[2483][2487]
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom,
No less in space, validity and pleasure,
Than that conferr'd on Goneril. Now, our joy,[2482][2483][2484] 80
Although the last, not least, to whose young love[2483][2485]
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy[2483]
Strive to be interess'd, what can you say to draw[2483][2486]
A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.[2483][2487]
Cor. Nothing, my lord. 85
Lear. Nothing![2488]
Cor. Nothing.[2488]
Lear. Nothing will come of nothing: speak again.[2489]
Cor. Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave[2490][2491]
My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty[2490] 90
According to my bond; nor more nor less.[2490][2492]
My heart into my mouth: I love your majesty[2490] 90
According to my bond; nor more nor less.[2490][2492]
Cor. Good my lord,
You have begot me, bred me, loved me: I[2495][2496]
Return those duties back as are right fit,[2496][2497] 95
Obey you, love you, and most honour you.
Why have my sisters husbands, if they say[2498]
They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed,[2498][2499][2500]
That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry[2500]
Half my love with him, half my care and duty:[2500] 100
Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters,[2500][2501][2502]
To love my father all.[2502][2503]
You have begot me, bred me, loved me: I[2495][2496]
Return those duties back as are right fit,[2496][2497] 95
Obey you, love you, and most honour you.
Why have my sisters husbands, if they say[2498]
They love you all? Haply, when I shall wed,[2498][2499][2500]
That lord whose hand must take my plight shall carry[2500]
Half my love with him, half my care and duty:[2500] 100
Sure, I shall never marry like my sisters,[2500][2501][2502]
To love my father all.[2502][2503]
Lear. But goes thy heart with this?
Cor. Ay, good my lord.[2504]
Lear. So young, and so untender?
Cor. So young, my lord, and true. 105
Lear. Let it be so; thy truth then be thy dower:[2505]
For, by the sacred radiance of the sun,
The mysteries of Hecate, and the night;[2506]
By all the operation of the orbs[2507]
From whom we do exist and cease to be; 110
Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
Propinquity and property of blood,
And as a stranger to my heart and me
Hold thee from this for ever. The barbarous Scythian,[2508]
Or he that makes his generation messes[2509] 115
To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom[2509][2510]
Be as well neighbour'd, pitied and relieved,[2510]
As thou my sometime daughter.
For, by the sacred radiance of the sun,
The mysteries of Hecate, and the night;[2506]
By all the operation of the orbs[2507]
From whom we do exist and cease to be; 110
Here I disclaim all my paternal care,
Propinquity and property of blood,
And as a stranger to my heart and me
Hold thee from this for ever. The barbarous Scythian,[2508]
Or he that makes his generation messes[2509] 115
To gorge his appetite, shall to my bosom[2509][2510]
Be as well neighbour'd, pitied and relieved,[2510]
As thou my sometime daughter.
Kent. Good my liege,—[2511]
Lear. Peace, Kent![2512]
Come not between the dragon and his wrath.[2512] 120
I loved her most, and thought to set my rest
On her kind nursery. Hence, and avoid my sight![2513]
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,[2514] 125
With my two daughters' dowers digest this third:[2515]
Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.
I do invest you jointly with my power,[2516]
Pre-eminence and all the large effects[2517]
That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly course,[2518] 130
With reservation of an hundred knights
By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode
Make with you by due turns. Only we still retain[2519]
The name and all the additions to a king;[2520][2521]
The sway, revenue, execution of the rest,[2520][2522] 135
Beloved sons, be yours: which to confirm,
This coronet part betwixt you.[2523]
Come not between the dragon and his wrath.[2512] 120
I loved her most, and thought to set my rest
On her kind nursery. Hence, and avoid my sight![2513]
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,[2514] 125
With my two daughters' dowers digest this third:[2515]
Let pride, which she calls plainness, marry her.
I do invest you jointly with my power,[2516]
Pre-eminence and all the large effects[2517]
That troop with majesty. Ourself, by monthly course,[2518] 130
With reservation of an hundred knights
By you to be sustain'd, shall our abode
Make with you by due turns. Only we still retain[2519]
The name and all the additions to a king;[2520][2521]
The sway, revenue, execution of the rest,[2520][2522] 135
Beloved sons, be yours: which to confirm,
This coronet part betwixt you.[2523]
Kent. Royal Lear,
Whom I have ever honour'd as my king,[2524]
Loved as my father, as my master follow'd,[2525]
As my great patron thought on in my prayers,—[2526] 140
Whom I have ever honour'd as my king,[2524]
Loved as my father, as my master follow'd,[2525]
As my great patron thought on in my prayers,—[2526] 140
Lear. The bow is bent and drawn; make from the shaft.
Kent. Let it fall rather, though the fork invade[2527]
The region of my heart: be Kent unmannerly,
When Lear is mad. What wouldst thou do, old man?[2528]
Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak, 145
When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour's bound,[2529]
When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom,[2530]
And in thy best consideration check[2531]
This hideous rashness: answer my life my judgement,[2532]
Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least; 150
Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound[2533]
Reverbs no hollowness.[2533]
The region of my heart: be Kent unmannerly,
When Lear is mad. What wouldst thou do, old man?[2528]
Think'st thou that duty shall have dread to speak, 145
When power to flattery bows? To plainness honour's bound,[2529]
When majesty stoops to folly. Reverse thy doom,[2530]
And in thy best consideration check[2531]
This hideous rashness: answer my life my judgement,[2532]
Thy youngest daughter does not love thee least; 150
Nor are those empty-hearted whose low sound[2533]
Reverbs no hollowness.[2533]
Lear. Kent, on thy life, no more.[2534]
Kent. My life I never held but as a pawn[2535]
To wage against thy enemies, nor fear to lose it,[2536]
Thy safety being the motive.[2537]
To wage against thy enemies, nor fear to lose it,[2536]
Thy safety being the motive.[2537]
Lear. Out of my sight! 155
Lear. Now, by Apollo,—
Lear. O, vassal! miscreant!
[Laying his hand on his sword.[2540]
Alb. } Dear sir, forbear.[2541] 160
Corn.}
Corn.}
Kent. Do;[2542]
Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow[2543][2544]
Upon the foul disease. Revoke thy doom;[2543][2545]
Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat,[2543]
I'll tell thee them dost evil.[2543]
Kill thy physician, and the fee bestow[2543][2544]
Upon the foul disease. Revoke thy doom;[2543][2545]
Or, whilst I can vent clamour from my throat,[2543]
I'll tell thee them dost evil.[2543]
Lear. Hear me, recreant![2546][2547] 165
On thy allegiance, hear me![2546][2548]
Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow,[2549]
Which we durst never yet, and with strain'd pride[2550]
To come between our sentence and our power,[2551]
Which nor our nature nor our place can bear, 170
Our potency made good, take thy reward.[2552]
Five days we do allot thee, for provision[2553]
To shield thee from diseases of the world,[2554]
And on the sixth to turn thy hated back[2555]
Upon our kingdom: if on the tenth day following[2556] 175
Thy banish'd trunk be found in our dominions,
The moment is thy death. Away! By Jupiter,[2557]
This shall not be revoked.
On thy allegiance, hear me![2546][2548]
Since thou hast sought to make us break our vow,[2549]
Which we durst never yet, and with strain'd pride[2550]
To come between our sentence and our power,[2551]
Which nor our nature nor our place can bear, 170
Our potency made good, take thy reward.[2552]
Five days we do allot thee, for provision[2553]
To shield thee from diseases of the world,[2554]
And on the sixth to turn thy hated back[2555]
Upon our kingdom: if on the tenth day following[2556] 175
Thy banish'd trunk be found in our dominions,
The moment is thy death. Away! By Jupiter,[2557]
This shall not be revoked.
Kent. Fare thee well, king: sith thus thou wilt appear,[2558]
Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here.[2559] 180
[To Cordelia] The gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid,[2560]
That justly think'st and hast most rightly said![2561]
[To Regan and Goneril] And your large speeches may your deeds approve,[2562]
That good effects may spring from words of love.
Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu; 185
He'll shape his old course in a country new. [Exit.[2563]
Freedom lives hence, and banishment is here.[2559] 180
[To Cordelia] The gods to their dear shelter take thee, maid,[2560]
That justly think'st and hast most rightly said![2561]
[To Regan and Goneril] And your large speeches may your deeds approve,[2562]
That good effects may spring from words of love.
Thus Kent, O princes, bids you all adieu; 185
He'll shape his old course in a country new. [Exit.[2563]
Flourish. Re-enter Gloucester, with France, Burgundy, and Attendants.[2564]